#yeah…….. we’re gonna just leave this here to stew

[louloulemons-posts]

Cinderella and Warm Milk

Eddie Munson x SingleMom!Reader

Part One : Margot

Part Three : Cuddles and Stew

Summary : Eddies first night looking after Margot.

Word Count : 1.8k

Warnings : FLUFF. Pure family fluff. Girl dad Eddie. Minor mention of Chrissys death. Little bit of sad baby Margot. A whole lot of cuteness.

Authors note : I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all of the support on my recent fics, it’s so kind of you all. I hope you enjoy this addition to Margot, Eddie and the reader 🤍

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“Hello?” A familiar voice spoke.

“Hey Wayne, is Eddie there?” you asked.

“Uh yeah he is, let me just get him for you Sweetheart.” You heard a muffled shout, “Eddie.” Wayne clearly covering the phone with his hand to save your ear.

“Hey gorgeous,” he spoke, you could hear his grin. “Hiya Eds. I’m really sorry to ask, but could you do me a huge favour?”

“Sure baby, what’s up?”

“Me and Maeve have accidentally double booked something. She’s going on a date with Annie that I refuse to let her cancel,” he hummed understanding why.

“But I can’t get out of my shift. Would you be okay to watch Margot?” Eddie went quiet on the other end. “You know what I know it’s a big ask, I’ll figure it all out-” he cut you off.

“You trust me to do that?” You laughed at that.

“Of course I do. And she loves you so much, so do I. So could you?”

“Sure I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

There was a knock on the door. “Eddie Eddie Eddie!” Margot squealed running towards it.

Chuckling, you picked up the girl, sliding the latch and pulling the door open. There he was. “Eddie!” Margot leaned forward holding out her arms to him.

“Hey Sweetheart,” he smiled, taking her from you and hugging her close. “And hello you,” he said before pecking your lips. “I can’t say thank you enough for this.”

“It’s no big deal, we’re gonna have fun right?” he asked Margot, who nuzzled into his neck and smiled.

“Well she’s had dinner, and her jammies are on the couch for her. You know where her nappies and everything are right?” you asked, to which he nodded. “Great, her bedtime is 7:30. If she doesn’t settle, warm milk and Cinderella. Her bottles are in the cupboard by the glasses. And if you need me just call-”

“Baby breath. We’ve got this. Don’t worry we will be perfectly fine. We’re gonna get into our jammies and play for a while and then, get tucked into bed. Go to work,” he pecked your lips.

“Okay okay. Margot baby, you be good for Eddie, I’ll see you in the morning,” you took her back from Eddie, cuddling her. It was the first time you’d left her with someone who wasn’t Maeve and you had to be honest you were nervous. But it was Eddie. Your Eddie. The Eddie who loved you and Margot.

“Mm’kay Mama,” she smiled, giving you a slobbery kiss to the cheek. “Okay I’ve got to run,” you gave Margot and Eddie final kisses and were on your way. “Bye Mama,” Margot waved. “Bye My Love.”

“Okay kid, jammies?” he asked, holding his hand out to the small girl. She nodded and took it. It was almost 6:30 so she must have been getting tired. He smiled seeing that you’d left her a pair of pink pyjamas with small white bunnies on, a fresh diaper, wipes and baby powder.

“You want to use the potty before we get you dressed?” She made an affirmative noise, so the pair headed to the bathroom. “You need help?” Eddie asked her.

“Pick up.” He lifted her on to her toilet seat and turned around, giving her some privacy.

“Done!” she said a few moments later. After the pair cleaned their hands they went back to the couch. Once her diaper was in place and she was comfy, he helped her step into her pyjamas pants, and slid her shirt over her head.

“There you go, nice and snug.”

“Eddie jammies?” she tilted her head slightly.

“Okay I’ll get mine on.” He paused, did he just leave her here? Did he take her with him? Was that weird? Should he stress over this? Probably not, but here he was.

She looked at him with her big eyes. “Drink pwease,” she said. Okay there’s a plan, he lifted her up and placed her into her high chair making sure she was secure. “What do you want to drink kid?”

“Juice!”

Moments later she had juice in hand, wiggling in her seat happily. “Okay Eddies just gonna get changed, you sit tight okay?”

“‘kay!” she copied.

“Okay,” he huffed, running to the bathroom, changing as fast as he could to sprint back to her.

“Jammies Eddie!” she squealed.

“Yeah kiddo,” he smiled, picking her up out of her seat. He wore a simple black tee with a pair of grey flannel pants, tying his hair back in a low ponytail. He read 7:00 on the clock. “So kid what do you want to do for the next half an hour?”

“Story!”

“Okay let’s go pick a story.”

They went over to the bookshelf in the living room, the lowest shelf full of her books. “Which one do you want?” Eddie asked, placing her on the floor. “Not these! Eddie story!” she exclaimed, as if it’s something he should have known.

“Eddies story?” she hummed and smiled up at him. “Eddie story book!” Oh! He knew what she meant now, she’d seen him reading the Hobbit in bed the last time he stayed over.

He grabbed his bag and pulled out his worn copy that Wayne had brought him not long after he moved in with him. “Come on then Kid, let me educate you on Hobbits.” She laughed at that. “What’s so funny?” he asked, unable to keep a straight face as she cackled. “Hobbits’ what’s a hobbits’?” she laughed.

“Well I’ll tell you all about them, but we have to get nice and comfy. So let’s get bunny and your dummy and have a cuddle okay?”

“‘kay,” she said still giggling a bit.

Sat comfy by Eddies side, he opened the book and began to read. “In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.” Margot let out another laugh.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Half an hour later, Eddie closed the book and looked down at the small snoring girl next to him. Gently moving himself, he picked her up, placing her head on his shoulder, and grabbing her bunny.

Climbing the stairs, his heart melted as she snuggled into him. Laying her down carefully he clicked on her nightlight and place her bunny in her arms. “Goodnight kid, I love you.”

“Wove you Da,” she mumbled back. That had become a common thing when she was tired, she’d called him Da, or Daddy. But he was mostly still Eddie. He didn’t mind, he’d love her no matter what.

He kissed her head and left the room, heading back downstairs to see what needed to be done for you. The house was mainly clean, just some washing up that needed putting away, which he did with ease.

He closed the blinds and curtains, turning on a few lamps here and there. Settling down to continue his magical adventure.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“Mama! Mommy!” Eddie jumped awake to the sound of a familiar shout. Margot. Running up the stairs he saw the small girl walking out of her mothers room. “Mama,” she cried, extremely upset.

“Hey kiddo,” he said gently, not wanting to scare her. “Daddy!” she cried, running to him. She wrapped her little arms around his neck and cried harder. “Hey kiddo, it’s okay.” She sobbed. “It’s okay baby, Daddy’s got you,” he rocked her gently in his arms, shushing her.

He did take your advice and took her downstairs, placing her on the sofa and turning on Cinderella. Once he was sure she would be alright he headed to the kitchen to warm some milk for the pair.

Checking it wasn’t too hot, he handed her bottle over, which seemed to comfort her straight away. Watching the beautiful princess on the screen and giggling at Gus Gus she seemed more like herself.

“You feeling better baby?” he asked brushing her curls. “Mhm. Cuddle?” she titled her head.

He nodded, taking her bottle and placing it by his empty glass. He lifted the girl and lay down, putting her on his chest. Her head rested in his neck and she snuggled in, placing her dummy back in and grabbing her bunny tightly.

Eddie pulled a blanket over the pair of them and rubbed her back, gently playing with her curls every now and again. 10:56 the clock read.

The movie finished. Margot had been asleep for a while, since Cinderella went to the ball actually, but he didn’t want to risk moving her. He sat up carefully, placing her on the couch, making sure she was snuggled up.

Placing the glass and bottle in the sink, he began to turn off the lamps, minus the one in the front hall so you got in safe. He walked back to see Margot still snoozing and couldn’t help but smile.

He never thought he’d get this, he knew he wasn’t her biological dad, but his heart melted that she saw him as that. That she loved him as that. That you loved him. He thought after what happened with Chrissy he’d be alone forever.

He shook his head to remove the thought, he had you and Margot, Wayne and Maeve. He had his friends too, who also adored Margot, thinking she was the cutest thing.

Carefully picking her up, he draped the blanket over the back of the couch. Grabbing his book and her bunny in one hand, holding her with the other.

When he placed Margot down on her bed she whined, pulling his back down to her. “Stay,” she mumbled, half asleep still. Bringing her too him again, he turned off her nightlight and carried her to your room.

Placing the book on the bedside table, he tucked both of them in. Margot snoozed up against his chest, he kissed her head. “Goodnight baby, Daddy loves you.”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

3:30am. Walking into the house, you slipped off your shoes and sighed. That had been a hell of a shift, but the tips were great. Your home was silent, the lamp in the hall left on which you smiled at, knowing it was a gesture of Eddies love.

Hanging your bag on the hook, you headed up the stairs. Popping your head into Margots room you became confused. She wasn’t there.

Trying not to panic, you almost jogged to your own room. Heart melting at the sight that greeted you. Eddie and Margot cuddled up together.

Changing into your own pyjamas, you climbed in next to them, cuddling in. Eddie kissed your forehead, still very much asleep, pulling you closer, but leaving enough room for Margot not to be squished.

This was the most loved you’d felt in so long. You, Eddie and your girl, Margot. Your little family.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave any requests 🤍

[avastrasposts]

The Pilot and his Girl - ch. 14

I'm sorry. Please feel free to yell at me.

Warnings Contain spoilers

Word count: 5.7k Chapter 15

You start pulling on your clothes as you come back from the bathroom, Frankie is already wrapped up in the bed sheets, half asleep as he pries open an eye to look at you. 

“I was thinking we should maybe not both sleep at the same time,” you say, reaching down for your boots. Frankie loses his sleepy look almost immediately and shoots up in bed, but you’re already holding your palm up to him.

“I’m taking the first watch, Frankie, no arguments. You didn’t sleep last night, I did, albeit behind the couch, but still. You need to sleep because to be frank, we’re gonna need you alert tomorrow more than me.”

“Cariño…” he starts to protest but you physically push him down onto the bed with your hands on his shoulders, and he lets you topple him over.

“Sleep, Frankie, I’m going to be outside the door, you’ll hear me shout if anything happens.” 

He looks up at you, trying to find an argument for taking the whole watch himself, but his brain is scrambled by adrenaline and sleep deprivation. The post-orgasm hormones don’t help either. 

“Leave the door open, wake me at three,” is all he manages before you kiss his lips and stroke his cheek, you swear he’s already asleep by the time you leave the room. 

Staying awake was harder than you thought, sitting on one of the bar stools by the kitchen counter stops you from dozing off, but you still feel like your jaw is going to pop as you yawn widely. Your gun is on the counter in front of you as you study the ring Frankie slipped onto your finger. The delicate gold band is thin, three simple diamonds set in a row, with room, you notice, for more diamonds along the band. You know Frankie isn’t the kind of guy to spend three months pay on a ring just so that it’s as big as possible, he would pick the ring that meant something to him and make it mean something to you too. You run your fingers over the diamonds, three in a row, you’ll have to ask him tomorrow. 

At three am you gently walk into the bedroom to wake Frankie, but he sleeps too lightly, your footsteps wake him up and he shoots up in bed. 

“It’s ok, Frankie,” you say in a low voice, “It’s three am.” 

“Ok,” he rumbles, his voice rough with sleep as he rubs the heel of his hand into his eyes. You pull off your boots and crawl into bed with your clothes on next to Frankie. He catches your chin between his thumb and fingers, giving you a slow kiss, before letting go. 

When you wake up a few hours later daylight is starting to slip through the shutters of the window. Frankie’s hand is on your shoulder, gently shaking you. 

“Hermosa, time to wake up,” he murmurs as he bends and presses his lips to your temple. “The night was quiet and I made coffee.”

“Thank you,” you mumble and push the covers back, sitting up as Frankie hands you a mug. 

You drink it while you get ready, which only means you put your boots back on and stick the gun into the back of your trousers. Frankie’s heated up another can of stew from Denny’s supplies and you both eat it in silence. You’re apprehensive about leaving the safety and quiet of the cabin and move back into populated areas, but you can see Frankie’s nerves too. His jaw is clenched as he goes through both your packs, swapping out some of the food for Denny’s supplies. As soon as you put down your spoon into the empty bowl he grabs it from you and starts readying up to leave. 

“We should leave a note for Pope or anyone else who comes here,” you say and Frankie nods.

“Yeah, I did already,” he points to a folded piece of paper on the dining room table, “Read it and tell me if it makes sense.” 

You pick it up and flip it open, reading Frankie’s neat handwriting; 

September 29th 

To anyone of the guys

My girl and I are safe up here for now. We’re heading to L’s place today. Pope was here on the 27th, also went for L but hasn’t returned yet. 

We’ll return here when we have L, hope to see you all safe. 

Catfish

You fold it up and put it back on the table, “Looks good to me, I really hope they’re all here when we get back,” you say, looking over at Frankie who’s picked up your backpack and walked over to you with it.  

“Yeah, I really hope so too,” he replies as he helps you on with the pack, turning you around and adjusting the straps before he pulls your gun from behind your back. 

“I made you this while I was keeping watch,” he holds up a makeshift leg holster. “You can’t wear a regular holster with a backpack on and you won’t be able to get the gun from behind the pack, and I don’t want you walking around with the gun in your hand.” 

He kneels down and straps it to your thigh, using a snap-link to attach it to your belt. “Denny had a couple of old holsters for his hunting gear so I repurposed them.” He’s got a similar holster on his leg, his gun already in it and now he slides your gun into yours. 

“Feel good?” he asks, looking up at you from the floor, tugging on the holster, making sure it’s not too tight. 

“Yeah, but I’m not sure how much use I’ll be, Frankie, I’ve never even fired a gun.” 

“Hopefully you won’t have to but I can’t show you, I don’t know when we’ll get more bullets,” he gets up and gives your backpack a final look over, “Denny didn’t keep any guns or ammo up here so we’ll have to grab any that we find.” 

Once outside the cabin, Frankie locks up and puts the key back into the lock box before turning towards the lake. 

“There are a couple of canoes down by the small boat house,” he says, “we can use one of them to get across the lake, saves us walking around it, we’re heading in that direction.” 

You nod and follow him down the gentle slope to the lake, the morning is calm and quiet, and again you’re struck by how normal everything feels. If it wasn’t for the slightly heavy feeling in your stomach, a small hot ball of anxiety, you’d think it was just Frankie and you heading out for a couple of days camping. 

The trip over the lake is smooth and when you get to the other side, about a mile from the cabin, you get the packs out before Frankie paddles the canoe into some thick, tall reeds to camouflage it as much as possible. Luckily it’s an old wood canoe and it all but disappears into the reeds. 

Frankie glances down at his compass, attached to his belt, and motion for you to follow him. You’ve agreed to speak as little as possible and move quietly. There probably won’t be any infected out here but Frankie doesn’t want to take any chances. So in silence you walk behind him for three hours, stopping when he holds up his hand, checking his direction or listening intently. At one point he signals for you to stop and crouch and as you sink down behind a bush, you hear rustling in the shrubs ahead. Your skin goes cold as you mimic Frankie’s movement and pull out your gun, moving it slowly out of your leg holster. The rustling continues, coming closer until, finally, you see the source of the sound, a white tail deer, slowly ambling through the forest, nibbling at leaves here and there as it goes. You let your breath out slowly, as Frankie stands up, startling the deer enough to make it prance away into the underbrush. 

At the three hour mark Frankie finds a good spot for a break, a small stream that lets you refill your water bottles. Stretching out your legs on the ground, your back against a large boulder, you try to savor your lunch sandwich. Frankie sinks down next to you and gives you a little nudge with his shoulder. 

“How you holding up, cariño?” he asks in a low voice. 

“I’m alright, just jumpy,” you reply, leaning your head on his solid shoulder for a little bit. He caresses your cheek with his warm palm and you feel his lips press into the top of your head before he begins to unwrap his sandwich. 

After lunch you get even jumpier, you’re still following hiking trails through the forest but every now and then you have to cross main roads, you start seeing houses, you even skirt around a small town. In the distance you see a group of people, you can’t tell if they’re infected or not, but as Frankie leads the two of you in a wide circle around the group, you keep watching them. They don’t move and you think they’re too unnaturally still for humans. 

Just as you’ve managed to clear a small ridge and put some distance between yourself and them, a loud collective shriek goes up from the group of people. Frankie immediately grabs you and pulls you down into the tall grass next to the trail. It feels like your heart is going to claw itself out of your chest as you feel Frankie’s weight on top of you, he’s half covered you with his body. You glance up at his face and you see him carefully lift his head out of the tall grass. 

“It’s ok, they’re running, but in the other direction,” he whispers and pulls you up. In a crouch Frankie starts to jog down the other side of the ridge, holding on to your hand as you run to keep up with him. You continue running until your lungs are about to give up and Frankie slows down but starts walking next to you, keeping a brutal pace, still holding onto your hand. 

“We need to get away from them as fast as possible, we can’t fight that many on foot,” he pants, giving your hand another squeeze. 

Not until you’ve covered about three miles does he slow down to a regular pace, you’re drenched in sweat and breathing hard, your legs aching. He pulls you off the side of the trail you’ve been following, into the forest and behind a thick shrub. 

“Sit down,” he motions, pointing to the ground, “catch your breath and drink some water.” 

You gratefully sink down and pull out your water bottle while Frankie remains standing. 

“We’re about half a mile from the bridge and the river crossing,” he says, looking at the map. “We need to be extra careful as we approach, if people in this area were trying to get away from any towns they’d probably have to cross there which means a potential traffic jam and potentially infected.” 

You nod and sip the water, offering Frankie your bottle when you’re done. He gratefully takes a long swig while you get back to your feet. You’re still exhausted after the sprint but you want to keep moving. The countryside around you makes you nervous, there are small farms dotted across it, three days ago you would’ve thought it looked quaint and rural, now the sight of every farm house makes you edgy. 

Putting away your water bottle, you follow Frankie back to the trail and after a short time it emerges from the forest onto a large country road, up ahead you can see the bridge. As Frankie had feared, it’s jammed with cars. You can walk between them, but the thought of what might be hiding among them makes panic claw its way up your throat and you take a tight hold of Frankie’s hand. He looks back and sees the fear in your eyes. Pulling you back into the trees he wraps his arms around you. Holding you tight to his chest for a minute, he pulls back and cups your cheeks, his large hands are warm and dry on your skin, as he kisses you deeply before he looks down at you and traces his fingers over your lips. 

“I’m sorry, cariño, it’s the only way forward.” His eyes rake over your face as if he’s committing it to memory and you suddenly realize what he’s doing. 

“Don’t say goodbye, Frankie,” you croak, your voice catching in your throat. 

“Just in case, mi amor,” he says in a low voice, pressing his lips to yours again. When he pulls back he turns and takes your hand, leading you back to the road where he lets go of it. 

“Stay six feet behind me, gun out, safety off, but keep it pointed to the ground. If you have to fire, squeeze the trigger, don’t pull it.” He gives you a final look, a small smile, before turning back to the road. 

It’s slow going, following Frankie’s lead you move carefully in his footsteps, trying to make as little noise as possible. Frankie stops and surveys the cars in front of you regularly but nothing seems out of the ordinary, you see no humans, only open car doors, luggage that’s been left behind. 

As you’ve crossed about two thirds of the bridge a dog suddenly launches itself at the cage door keeping it shut in, barking loudly from inside a large SUV. Frankie and you both drop into a crouch, trying to see if the loud noise will draw in any infected, but the dog quietens down and the landscape around the bridge remains silent. You breathe a sigh of relief as Frankie carefully stands up again and motions for you to follow him. He carefully approaches the dog in the cage, a golden retriever you think, mumbling soft words to it, calming it down. Soon the dog is licking his fingers through the bars of the cage and Frankie slides back the lock, opening the door. The dog jumps down, its tail happily wagging as you scratch its ears. 

“Good boy,” you mumble, patting its flank as Frankie starts moving forward again. You give the dog a final scratch before you follow him towards the end of the bridge. The dog trails behind you for a while before it falls behind, going back to the SUV. 

As you get to the end of the bridge Frankie holds his hand up, signaling for you to stop. He points to the last pillar of the bridge, written on it, in what looks like black magic marker, are the letters SOF, underneath is a rectangle with a single line through the middle and the number 1 just outside the box. 

“Special Operations Force,” Frankie says, “Pope’s been through here but he’s alone. The rectangle means he’s motorized.” He walks over to the pillar, pulling a marker from his side pocket and crouching down he writes SOF underneath Pope’s message, but he adds an odd looking cross underneath, two sides are flat and two are rounded. Then he writes ‘2’ next to it. 

“Special Operations Aviation,” he explains while he stands up and puts the marker away. “I don’t think any of the other guys will come past here but if Pope comes back the same way he’ll see that we’ve been here.” 

You continue down the road, it’s still about an hour's walk to Lucía’s house and you’re forced to stay on the road, there are no hiking trails leading in the right direction. Frankie’s head is on a swivel, his gun drawn as you both walk off to the side of the road, creating some distance between  yourselves and the cars. There are less of them now, and up ahead you can see an almost clear road. You crest a hill in the road, carefully trying to see over to the other side before you’re too exposed, when a pickup truck just ahead rumbles to life and barrels towards you with a screech of tires. Frankie grabs your hand and pulls you behind one of the few cars on the road, his gun aimed at the truck. “They’ve got to be ok, right Frankie?” you say, his hand still holding you down behind the car. “Infected can’t drive!”

“Stay down, cariño,” he snaps, his eyes focused on the truck. You hear it come to a stop and the engine goes silent as the doors are opened. Frankie lets go of you and grabs his gun with both hands. You turn and peek over the bonnet of the car and see two men get out, staying behind the doors of the truck, as another two jump down from the flatbed. 

“You know how to use that gun, sonny?” the oldest man calls from behind the driver’s door. He’s big and burly looking, a cowboy hat squashed down on a very round head. 

“Sure,” Frankie calls back, shifting his stance. 

“Why don’t you lower it and toss it over here. And any gun your cute girl might be carrying.” The man’s voice is saccharine and makes your neck hairs stand on end, you glance up at Frankie and see the muscle in his jaw working. 

“We’re just passing through, trying to get to some friends, we don’t want any trouble.” 

“Then why you pointing a gun at me, son?” The older man looks over his shoulder and nods at the two men who got off the truck and they slowly move to the sides, circling the two of you. 

“Cariño, get your gun up and stand behind me, aim at the man on the left,” Frankie says in a low voice, his eyes never leaving the older man. You do as he says, trying to have a steady grip on the gun to keep your hands from shaking. Copying Frankie’s stance, you hold your gun in both hands, your feet apart and steady, aiming at the man on the left. With a thumb you flick the safety off and draw a deep breath. 

“Steady there, girlie,” the old man drawls, as he sees you move, holding up a hand to stop the two men. “Son, you don’t want to do anything stupid and get your girl in trouble here.” He moves out from behind the car door, and from the corner of your eye you see the rifle he’s holding low in his hands. “We’re just out here making sure no one’s looting these cars, especially of any guns they might find.” 

“These guns are mine, like I said, we’re just passing through.” Frankie calls back through gritted teeth. You can hear the sharp tone in his voice as his eyes flick from the man in the cowboy hat and the man still standing behind the passenger side door. 

“You’re outnumbered, pal,” the man on the right calls out with a chuckle, “just hand over the guns and any supplies, and we’ll let you pass.” 

“Might keep your girl though,” the man on your left drawls, the man you’ve got your gun aimed at, he’s eyeing you with a smirk on his face that makes your skin crawl. “She’s shaking like a leaf but I bet she’d put up a nice little fight.” 

Frankie glances over at the man on the left, before he looks back at the man in the cowboy hat, he’s got a crooked smile on his lips as he shoulders the rifle. 

“C’mon, sonny, the guns and the girl, and then you can walk away.” 

Frankie’s gun is loud on the silent road, and the man in the cowboy hat crumples over, his shot going wide as the rifle hits the ground. The man on the left throws himself forward and you feel the recoil in your arms as you fire, you don’t even know if your bullets hit, you can hear several shots from Frankie’s gun and your own, and Frankie’s hand on your shoulder as he pushes you to the ground. Two more shots ring out and Frankie ducks behind the car, his gun raised, listening. When nothing stirs he quickly glances over the bonnet before he stands up. Three of the men are dead on the ground, the fourth one, the one behind the passenger door, is scrabbling for something and with a few long steps, Frankie is on him, kicking the gun out of his reach. 

He’s on the ground, you can see him beneath the door, Frankie towering above him, his gun aimed at the man. As you watch, the man lifts his palms up, pleading, but the shot rings out and the man slumps back. Frankie bends down and picks up the man’s gun, quickly patting him down and fishing an ammo box from his pants. When he straightens up and walks back towards you his face is impassive, blank and you remember when you last saw that look; the bar that night you thought Frankie was a violent man. Now you know, he is violent, but only when he needs to and for now, you’re very grateful for his skills.  

You put your hands out to push yourself off the ground and a burning pain shoots through your shoulder, wincing you get to your feet and look at your torn shirt. Blood is seeping through and you suddenly feel faint. Frankie is on you in two fast steps, grabbing your arm and pulling back your shirt. 

“You’re hit,” his voice suddenly sharp with worry, as his gentle fingers push at the fabric, making you wince again. He unbuttons your shirt and pulls it over your shoulder. “Thank god,” he breathes out as he sees the shallow gash, “you’ve been grazed, it didn’t go in.” He pulls up his arm as if he’s about to pull his backpack off but changes his mind. 

“Come here, get in the truck,” he guides you over to the passenger side, “close your eyes, don’t look,” he mumbles as you have to step over the corpse.  You breathe in deeply and keep your eyes closed until Frankie closes the door. He bends down to pick up the other man’s rifle, putting it behind the bench seat, before he gets in and starts up the engine. It rumbles to life and Frankie turns it around, heading back down the almost empty road, and as soon as he sees a secluded spot he pulls over and kills the engine. 

“I’ve got to clean your arm, cariño,” says, opening up his backpack for the first aid kit. “Does it hurt?” He looks over at you, his eyes are worried and you shake your head to calm him. 

“Only a little, it stings more than anything.” 

“Ok, just keep breathing in and out while I do this.” 

The iodine solution makes you whimper but Frankie is fast and efficient, when the compress is on your shoulder the pain is already subsiding. He pulls your shirt back on, gives you a soft kiss, cradling the back of your head with his large hand. 

“You ok?” he asks in a low voice, “not just the injury, with what just happened too?” 

You let out a shuddering breath as you allow yourself to think about the situation, “I’m very glad you used to be a soldier, Frankie,” you say, leaning your forehead against his, “I think that’s the fourth time you’ve saved my life in twenty four hours.” 

“Me too,” he breathes, his thumb is caressing your cheek as he looks at you. His deep brown eyes are strained, but calm, “Things are going to get worse before they get better, cariño. I’ve seen it before, when society crumbles, it brings out the worst in people and they become very dangerous. I need you and Lucía safe at the cabin until we know things are getting back to normal, whenever that might be.” 

You nod and he turns back to the wheel and starts up the truck, “At least we got a truck out of it, this will make things easier as long as we have gas.” 

The truck rumbles through the landscape, in the distance you see a group of infected running towards something but the road curves and you move away from them. Frankie has driven this road hundreds of times, every time he came to pick up or drop off Lucía, and now he wonders at how eerily still it is. There are no people as the truck drives past the first few houses of the small town, cars line the main street but they’ve been pushed to the side. The dents and scrapes on them indicate that something big came through and shoved them out of the way. 

Frankie turns down a smaller side street, and then another small street, coming to the end of town. There are a few cars still parked outside the houses but most are gone. You glance over at him, his fingers are drumming on the steering wheel as his restless eyes bounce around the street, looking for infected, people, anything. He’s grinding his teeth, the muscle in his jaw flexing and when he pulls up outside a small bungalow you hear his white knuckles make the steering wheel creak. 

“This is their place,” he says in a low voice, “the car is still here.” He opens the truck door and steps down, listening for any movement as you follow him out. Pulling his gun he moves carefully up the porch and tests the handle on the door, it’s locked. 

“Stay by the truck,” he says to you, “if anything happens, if anyone comes, fire once in the air, ok?” 

You nod and do as he says. Frankie carefully walks down the side of the house, easily scaling the wooden fence that closes off the backyard. He disappears from view and you nervously wait, looking around the quiet neighborhood. When he opens the door to the house from the inside you jump but he holds up his hand in a placating sign, signaling for you to stay where you are. He disappears into the house again, you guess this means Lucía isn’t here, and neither is anyone else. 

You hear him walking through the house and before long he comes back out, a note in his hand. 

“They’ve been evacuated,” he says, showing you the note from Lucía’s mom. It’s dated the day before yesterday, Saturday, the note says the soldiers came at night and gave them fifteen minutes to pack up essentials. 

“She says they told her they’re going to a quarantine zone in Franklin. I’ve got to see if I can get them out of there.” He breathes a sigh of relief, “At least they’re safe for now.” he says, getting back into the truck and starting it up. 

As the truck rumbles through town you start seeing more infected, they stumble out of a few of the shops, attracted to the sound of the truck. At one intersection you see a large number of them fallen into a pile, bullet wounds to their heads, and you quickly look away. Their pallid skin, starting to show strange looking lesions, no longer looks human, but their clothes are still bright and colorful, reminds you terribly of the people who would’ve put them on, maybe on Friday morning, expecting just another day. 

Frankie speeds up, leaving town, and the shrieking infected behind, heading for Franklin. It’s less than an hour away, the nearest big city, and like before you see the cars pushed to the side of the road. Frankie’s fingers are drumming on the steering wheel again, his grip tight, his jaw clenched. He’s getting closer to Lucía, now he knows she’s safe, he just needs to get to her. 

“When we get to the quarantine zone, do you think we should stay there?” you ask him. “It doesn’t sound like a ‘quarantine zone’ is somewhere they’ll let you in and out of. Maybe it’ll be safer for us there too?” 

“I don’t know,” Frankie says, glancing over at you, “I need to see it first, how are they quarantining people? Keeping them separate enough so that if someone is already infected, they can’t attack and infect more people?” His fingers drum faster against the wheel, “I just need to see her, see her safe.” 

You put your hand on his leg and give it a squeeze and he drops his hand, curling his fingers around yours. 

“How’s your shoulder?”

“Still stings a bit, but it’s dulled, hurts when I move it.” You test moving your arm up and down, feeling the pull of the compress.

“It’ll give you gnarly looking scar,” he grins, “match some of mine.” He pulls your hand up to his lips and gives it a kiss, his eyes leaving the road for a second. When he looks back again he sees birds circling up ahead. 

“Buzzards,” he points them out to you. “Looks like they’re circling just over the road.” He slows down the truck as you come around a bend, clearing a small group of trees. The rumble of the truck startles the birds and you see more of them rise into the sky from the field bordering the road. Frankie stops the truck, leaving it in neutral, watching the birds circle, waiting to see if something moves. When nothing stirs he opens the door, signaling for you to stay put, and he steps on to the instep of the truck, hoisting himself up so that he can look over the door of the truck. 

“Oh fuck…” you hear him breathe out. 

“What, Frankie, what is it?” you ask but he doesn’t answer so you open your own door and swing yourself up on the instep. Frankie glances back at you and motions for you to get back inside. 

“Cariño, don’t, you don’t wanna- “

It’s too late, you look over the field, it looks like almost a hundred people are lying in it, none of them moving. The buzzards are settling back down, walking across the still bodies. 

“Oh my god…” you gasp, your hand going over your mouth as your eyes widen in horror. “What killed them?” you whisper, “are they infected?” 

“Get into the driver’s seat,” he says, “I’m going closer but I need you to be ready to drive if they are infected.”

“I’m not leaving without you, Frankie!” you say in a hard voice, as you slide over the bench seat and get behind the wheel.

“I’m counting on it, cariño,” he grips your hand before jumping down onto the ground. Grabbing the rifle from the back he loads it before he starts moving slowly towards the field. 

You step up onto the instep on the driver’s side, watching Frankie’s back as he makes his way across the road and into the field. As he reaches the first body he crouches down and seems to inspect them. Nothing moves, none of the bodies are jerking, they’re just dead. He stands up again and walks around the outskirts of where they’ve fallen. Suddenly he stops, slinging the rifle onto his back, before he steps into the mass of bodies, he must be stepping on them as he bends down and pulls at one of them, turning it over to face him. He stumbles back, losing his footing and falls onto his back among the bodies. 

Without thinking you jump down from the truck and run to him, grabbing hold of his arm as he scrambles to stand up, getting away from the bodies. 

“It’s Helena, she’s the mom of Lucía’s best friend,” he pants, standing up. You look over at the blonde woman, her open eyes looking sightless to the sky. Her torso has at least three bullet holes in the pale blue shirt she’s wearing, blood staining the light fabric dark. 

“They lived across the street from Lucía,” Frankie croaks and you suddenly realize what he’s saying, gripping his arm hard. 

He tears himself away from you as he starts circling around the bodies, crouching down, looking under those who have fallen on top of others, his eyes desperately scanning every face, every piece of visible clothing, looking for something he recognizes, praying he doesn’t. His heart is racing, his vision narrows into one long tunnel, focused on the bodies, praying, cursing, he can’t hear you call after him. 

And then he sees it. 

The hem of a dress he’d know anywhere because her abuela made it for her. 

With a shout he steps into the mass of bodies. You rush up behind him, tears are welling up into  your eyes, as you watch him scramble over to the small body. Skinny little legs in sneakers you bought for her birthday, you bite down hard on your lip to stop yourself from wailing. 

The dress is sticking out from underneath a woman, and as he gets closer he realizes it’s his ex-girlfriend, her arms hugging her daughter tight, even in death. The back of her tan coat is dark with coagulated blood that sticks to his hands as he bends back her arms to release her grip. As he shoves her aside a strangled cry goes up from the small body underneath, Lucia’s head moves as a rattled breath escapes her lungs and Frankie cries out in relief, grabbing hold of her waist to gently turn her over, scanning her body for injuries, he sees no blood on her. 

“Mija, I’m here, I’m here,” he gasps, “daddy’s here, Lucía, I’m here.” 

He’s holding out his arms to lift her up when he sees it. 

Trailing under the skin of her small throat. 

Up under the pallid skin of her cheeks, spreading out in a fine net. 

Tendrils reaching out from her small mouth. 

“Frankie!” you cry as the small body shrieks and reaches for him. He almost takes her hand, almost takes the small hand that’s grasping after his. You can see it, even from behind him, you can see the empty eyes, the twitching movement. 

Infected. 

His hand is still in the air, halfway to reaching out for her, his Lucía, her hand outstretched to him. As she screams, his hand drops to his gun. 

You turn your head when the gunshot rings out.

Chapter 15

Taglist: @pimosworld @i-own-loki @casa-boiardi @littlenosoul @stormseyer @mxtokko  @javicstories

[hunieday]

Yuki - Idol Star Prince Stage Rabbit Chat

Please note that I am not a professional translator and I'm only doing this to share the side materials to those who cannot access them, if you notice any mistakes please let me know nicely. Enjoy!

Yuki: momo

Yuki: please talk to me about anything

Momo: Yuki?! Thank you for your hard work!

Momo: 

Momo: I know you’re composing a song right now so are you stuck…？

Yuki: mhm

Yuki: I feel like im turning into an exhaustion stew

Momo: A Yuki stew, now that’s a new one?! I’d love stewed radish on my plate! 😋

Yuki: Then I’ll turn into a radish now. I’ll even add chili peppers free of charge

Momo: lololol

Momo: I only see you like this when you’re tired…are you okay? I can talk to you as much as you want, but is there anything else I could do for you?

Yuki: right now

Momo: Right now?

Yuki: dr

Momo: Dr?

Momo: Huh

Momo: Yukiiiii, are you okay?😭

Yuki: dri

Momo: Are you making me piece your quiz together one letter at a time?!

Momo: Driver?

Yuki: 

Momo: You fell asleep…was I wrong…

Yuki: you were right up until the v

Momo: lololol I was close

Momo: Wait, is your word “a drive”?!

Yuki: yeah, somehow i want to go on a drive with you rather than talk through rabbichat

Yuki: it’s about time your magazine shoot wrapped up

Momo: Ahhh!!! Right!!!!! That was the plan but…

Momo: We’re waiting to shoot the last images with the sunset in the background, but there are clouds obstructing it…

Yuki: the clouds are holding momo back….

Momo: 

Momo: I’m sorry to keep you waiting, it might be better to call it off for today…

Yuki: i’ll wait for you

Momo: huh

Yuki: i’ll wait for you. I don't think i’ll do anything if i just sit here in front of a computer screen

Momo: Yukiiiiiiii~~~~~~

Yuki: i know

Momo: I haven’t even said it yet!!!!! But the fact that you knew I was about to call you handsome makes you ultra handsome!!!!! >u<😍😆😍💚 

Momo: Haah… and I’m double nervous now because I was staring at a picture I took of you during your idol star costume fitting right before you messaged me 😍💚 

Yuki: hehe, you were staring at me?

Yuki: ah, I haven’t filled the idol star survey yet 

Momo: It must’ve been tough since you have so much on your plate, especially the composing stuff 😭😭

Yuki: What kind of questions did you get?

Momo: Mostly questions about princely stuff 🤔 “have you ever thought about being a prince?” something like that!

Yuki: never

Momo: Obviously! Yuki is already a handsome prince who takes me out on drives 🤴 ✨ 

Momo: There were also questions about whether I read adventure books where the prince fights to save the princess, especially as kids!

Yuki: i didn’t. we didn’t have books like that at home

Momo: I bet a dad like that wouldn’t buy those kinda books! 😆

Yuki: i knew such stories existed though. I thought it was weird to voluntarily go through to such lengths just to save a princess.

Yuki: why not leave it to a strong valiant knight. he has a better shot at succeeding anyways

Momo: That’s right!!!! lolol it would be meaningless to go help then get beat up and defeated 🤣

Momo: But the Yuki I know wouldn’t leave it up to some strong knight, he’d rush to the rescue himself 

Yuki: You think so?

Momo: For the juniors’ sake, you would greet the producers and tell them to “take care of those children”, then you strike a conversation with them during recordings! You’re so cool and dependable！

Momo: That’s the Yuki I know!

Yuki: thank you, Momo

Yuki: If you were the captured one and not the princess, I would definitely come running.

Yuki: So, if you don’t want to put me in danger, don’t keep secrets from me.

Momo: Yuki…

Momo: I’m sorry to interrupt this very heartfelt moment, but the sun is setting!! I’m gonna dash to wrap this up, so let’s talk about this in person!!!!!!!!!!

Momo: I’ll never do anything that would put you in danger, I promise, and I won't let you do anything reckless!!!!

Yuki: you better keep that promise

Yuki: I might not have a horse carriage or tea that’d suit a princess, but I’ll be waiting for you in my own car with momorin for you.

Momo: You are too good ✨ ‼️

Momo: Yuki, you’re the absolute best prince!

Momo: 

Yuki:

[harley-sunday]

August Rush [10]

Summary: You’ve known Carlos for almost as long as you have been working in Formula One but you never expected it would take you seven years and a concussion to realise that maybe you like him as more than just a friend.

Pairing: Carlos Sainz jr x reader (OFC nicknamed Pip) | Max Verstappen x reader (best friends)

Warnings: Language. Slightly NSFW. 

Word count: 6.9k.

AN: This is it, babes. The final part of this wild ride we all went on almost a year ago. I’m gonna miss writing for these two but I think the story I wanted to tell got told and it’s time for them to have their happy ending. I couldn’t have done this without my Devious Friend™, my editor-in-chief, and my greatest support. eL, this one’s for you, babe ♥ And for all of you - I meant what I said last time, please feel free to come yell at me in the comments. I would love to hear what you think!

Masterlist

Despite the weather forecast predicting nothing but rain this race weekend, it’s actually quite nice when you make it to Spa on Wednesday and so you’re enjoying a walk through the paddock in your Alpha Tauri-issued team polo with your sunglasses on and an iced coffee in your hand. Something about the calm before the storm, you think idly. 

Spa is- It’s hectic. It’s the first race after the summer break and so there’s always a lot to catch up on, the last remnants of silly season still echoing through the paddock and some of the announced driver changes for next year raising a few eyebrows here and there. Like you expected, the news that your team has chosen to focus on the development of next year’s car has been met with very few questions and so, except for a press conference that isn't scheduled until tomorrow morning, there isn’t much for you to do except catch up with the other press officers and a few of your driver friends.

First stop is the Red Bull garage, where you find Max joking around with some of his pit crew, comparing tans and exchanging stories about their summer holidays. His smile grows even wider when he spots you and he gives you a quick wave, motioning for you to come over, “Hello.” 

You step into his outstretched arms without a moment’s thought, “God, I’ve missed you, Maxy.”

He hugs you closer, “How are you?”

“Good,” you tell him, before you let go and take a step back. “I just wanted to hear if we’re still on for dinner with your mom tonight?”

“She’s been talking about nothing else ever since she got here,” Max chuckles. “I think we’re staying in the same hotel, right?” He waits for you to nod before he continues, “Ok, so why don’t we meet in the lobby at seven and I’ll ask mum to meet us there? I think she wants to go to that restaurant we went to last year also.”

“With that housemade ‘Stoofvlees’,” you try, no doubt butchering the pronunciation. Your mouth starts to water just thinking about the dish, a beef and onion stew that Sophie convinced you to try last year and that you have thought about ever since. 

Max laughs, “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Perfect,” you agree with a nod as you start to walk backwards towards the pitlane, “I’ll see you at seven then.”

***

“Oh my God,” you roll your eyes and lean back in your chair, savouring the taste of your final bite. Holding your hand in front of your mouth then, because you still have some manners left, “That was so good!”

Sophie and Max share a look before they both let out a laugh and Max continues telling you about his holiday in Brazil, after you’ve already told them a little about your time in Mallorca, leaving out a few choice details of course.

Dinner with Sophie and Max is nice, it always is. You don’t get to see Sophie that often and when you do it’s usually just a quick hello in the paddock after quali or before the race and so to be able to sit down with her and Max and have a couple of hours to catch up is a small treat in and of itself. 

When Max excuses himself to go to the bathroom, Sophie leans forwards and waits until he’s out of earshot before she softly says, “There’s something different about you, Pip.” 

You smile and look down, trying to avoid her curious gaze because you know if she looks at you long enough you’ll just spill everything. Instead you trace the rim of your water glass with your fingers and shrug, “I’m just really in a good place, I guess. Work is going well and-”

“Hmm,” Sophie agrees half-heartedly, seeing right through your act. “It’s ok if you don’t want to tell me yet, sweetheart. I know how exciting it can be to keep something to yourself for a while.”

“Yeah,” you nod and look up at her, smiling almost apologetically, “I think I should tell Max first-” 

She reaches over the table and puts her hand on yours, “Whatever it is or-” she smiles, “Whoever it is, I’m sure Max will be fine.” 

“I know. It’s just-” you take a deep breath.

“He cares about you so much,” Sophie looks up then and when you follow her eyes you see Max making his way back to the table. She leans in closer, squeezes your hand and whispers, “He’ll be fine.” 

***

During the drivers’ interviews on Thursday, pairing Pierre with Mick and Yuki with Fernando, you stay in the media room for all ten interviews like you always do, smiling when you see Carlos and Daniel walk on stage. 

You’re all the way in the back of the room but still Carlos’ eyes find yours and the smile he sends you makes the heat rise to your cheeks. Daniel is too busy cracking jokes with one of the journalist to notice anything but then Carlos gets asked what he did over his summer holidays, which he answers with a very vague, “Not much, I enjoyed having some time off while also making sure I kept up with the training schedule,”, and all of a sudden Daniel’s all over him with cheeky grins and cheesy winks that are meant to let everyone know that, as far as Daniel’s concerned, Carlos is not telling the full story.

For a moment you’re worried Daniel knows- Something, but- He couldn’t, can’t he? Still, you clear your throat loud enough to catch Daniel’s attention and when his eyes land on you, you tell him to cut it out with a miniscule shake of your head. 

He furrows his brows and you know he’ll give you shit for it later, but for now you’ve averted the crisis because the next journalist is already asking Carlos what he thinks of the weather forecast for this weekend and if he’s worried about the race being delayed.

***

“What was that all about, babe?”

You startle a little when Daniel’s warm breath hits your neck and so you curse quietly, which in turn makes him laugh, turning a few heads in your direction. You try to smile apologetically, knowing it’s best not to have the pinnacle of F1 journalism on your bad side.

“Bad conscience, huh?” He pinches your side and puts his mouth even closer to your ear, “So come on, spill the tea, what were you and Sainz up to this summer?”

“Nothing,” you whisper in his direction. “I just didn’t think it would be good for either team if they found out during a press conference that an Alpha Tauri employee spent their summer at a Ferrari driver’s house. There’s a time and place for that, Dan.”

Daniel sucks some air between his teeth, “Yeah, that could get nasty real’ quick, huh?” He slings his arm around your shoulder then and holds up his other hand, extending his pinky to you, “Pinky promise nothing happened?”

You don’t hesitate and hook your finger behind his, “Pinky promise.”

“Good,” he says and oddly enough it sounds as if he believes you because he nods to the podium then, “Let’s hear what these two have to say for themselves then, babe.”

You follow his eyes towards the podium, where Max and Charles are answering some rather boring answers about strategy and their expectations for this weekend.

***

Carlos finds you in the Alpha Tauri hospitality early on Friday morning, the paddock still relatively quiet and not too many other drivers yet around. It’s been your race week ritual ever since he moved from Toro Rosso to Renault and so you were already waiting with an espresso for him and a cappuccino for you. It’s weird, having to act as if you’re still just friends because God, you really want to kiss him. To distract yourself you keep playing with the charm on your bracelet.

He notices, of course he does, and says, with one raised eyebrow and a rather mischievous grin, “If you would just tell him we could- You know-”

“Carlos-” You add a dramatic sigh for full effect. “Later. Ok?”

“Later today, or-” Carlos lets out a laugh when you throw him a look, “What? I need to know how to plan my day, cariño. Can I kiss you? Can I not ki-”

“Carlos!” You put your hand over his mouth and look around rather panicked, hoping nobody has heard him. It doesn’t seem anyone did, “You are a menace, you know that.”

Carlos wiggles his eyebrows and nips at the palm of your hand.

“Oh Jesus Christ.” You let out a sigh and pull back your hand, “I will tell him after the race, ok? I promise.”

He pouts. Of course he does. 

You shake your head but can’t help but laugh, “Two more days, babe. You’ll manage.”

“Babe?”

Shit. You turn around and try your best to act cool, “Hi Lando.”

Lando seems unimpressed and points at Carlos, “What are you calling him ‘babe’ for?”

“She’s angry,” Carlos says before you even have the chance to come up with an excuse. When Lando looks between you and Carlos and back, looking more confused than ever, Carlos leans in and whispers, “Did you never notice she calls people ‘babe’ whenever she tries to get her point across even though she knows you’re not gonna listen?”

And, oh damn if that isn’t the truth. You just never knew he picked up on that.

Landos squints at you but doesn’t say anything for a few seconds and just as you’re convinced he’s not buying it he starts nodding enthusiastically, “She does!”

“Lando!” You playfully smack his chest, “You’re supposed to disagree, babe.”

Lando’s eyes widen and then he lets out a cackle, “You’re literally doing it right now.”

You can’t help but laugh but throw Carlos a quick wink when Lando isn’t looking and mouth a quiet, “Nice save.”

***

While the first free practice is rather uneventful, FP2 has Max losing control of the rear of his car and spinning out at Malmedy, hitting the wall. Despite that he still manages to set the fastest time and so you’re not too worried about him or the car, although you still send him a text to make sure he’s ok. 

It’s nearing the end of the day and so you’re busy  gathering your things when you hear your name being called from outside the garage. When you look up and see your best friend standing there, waving enthusiastically, you can’t help but run over to her and throw yourself at her for a hug, “Hi friend!”

“Hi babe,” she hugs you closer. “I’ve missed you.” 

“I’ve missed you too,” you admit easily enough. 

She lets go then and puts her hands on your arms, “Now tell me, how are things with that boy toy of yours? I want to know everything.”

“Flo,” you warn through gritted teeth, a quick look around to make sure Pierre isn’t within earshot, “not here.”

“Fine,” she huffs. “During dinner then.” She looks at you expectantly, “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, let me just grab my things-” you say and nod towards your bag and jacket. “I do want to get changed first though, so we’re stopping at my hotel first, ok?”

“Ok,” she echoes, the word dramatically drawn out, “but you're driving.” 

***

“So yeah, friends with benefits,” you conclude your story of your time with Carlos. 

Flo eyes you suspiciously but doesn’t say anything.

“We’re just having fun-” you try again but it sounds rather unconvincing and you hope she’s not going to push it. You feel terrible lying to your best friend but you really want to tell Max first and so you add with a cheek grin, “-and great sex, so win-win.”

“Hmm,” she hums, leaning back in her chair, a glass of wine dangling between her fingers. “There’s something you’re not telling me, though.” A wicked grin then, “Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.”

“Counting on it,” you challenge her, holding up your glass. “Cheers, babe.” 

***

Saturday has a change of weather and all of a sudden you find yourself waiting in the garage, the first qualifying session delayed by fifteen minutes because of the rain that’s absolutely pouring down. You’re not really needed for qualifying but you like to show your support to both Yuki and Pierre and so you tend to hang around anyway.

When it’s finally time to get started, you find your way to the TV screens lining the wall and watch the first round of quali unfold with Pyry, Pierre’s trainer, standing next to you, absolutely towering over you. Flo is standing on Pyry’s other side, nervously chewing on the cuticle of her thumb as her eyes are glued on the screen. You know Spa holds some horrendous memories for her and that she’s not just watching Pierre but Charles as well and so you stand next to her and take her free hand in yours, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Together you see Yuki getting eliminated after the first stint and Carlos and Charles stranding in Q2, while Pierre and Max advance to Q3, where a crash from Lando brings out the red flags after only a few minutes of racing, which means Max takes pole and Pierre starts sixth on the grid tomorrow. 

***

You’re in the media pen with Pierre once qualifying is over and zone out a little when he’s answering questions from Ziggo Sports because their reporter Jack has a very roundabout way of asking something that’s always rather simple. You can’t wait to get out of this cold and so you’re sort of daydreaming about the hot shower waiting for you in your hotel room. It’s then you see Carlos walking over to Sky Sports who are lined up next to where you’re standing and you can feel your heart skip a beat because God, he looks good. 

He catches you looking and throws you a wink, taking off his cap and running a hand through his hair, knowing exactly what it does to you.

You quickly avert your eyes and try to focus on Jack’s next question but it turns out the interview is over and thus so are Pierre’s media duties. You walk back to the garage together in silence, both of you lost in thought. Before he disappears into his driver's room to get changed, you remind him there’s a scheduled post going up on his Instagram in an hour or so and then  continue on towards the Alpha Tauri offices to collect your bag so you can head out and call it a day. 

You’re in a relatively quiet part of the paddock when you feel someone walking up behind you and before you can even turn around there are two hands on your hips, gently pushing you into a dark corner in between the Alpha Tauri and Ferrari garages. You gasp, ready to punch whoever has grabbed you but then you hear a low chuckle that you’d recognize anywhere and so instead you turn around and gently slap his chest, whispering a berating, “Carlos!”

“What?” He tries to act all innocent while grinning wickedly, “There’s no one around, cariño. And I really, really want to kiss you. If I have to wait until Sunday evening I won’t survive.”

You let out a giggle, hiding your face against his chest, “You’re so dramatic.”

“It’s why you love me,” he counters almost instantly. “Let me kiss you?”

“We can’t-” you try but you know it’s a losing battle when he puts his fingers under your chin and tilts your head back, making you look up at him. 

He licks his lips and lets his eyes fall to your mouth, “Please?”

You don’t say anything but instead push yourself up, brushing your lips against his, letting out a tiny whimper when he kisses back, hard. Soon enough you feel yourself getting lost in the kiss, your hands sneaking into his hair, wishing you could stop time for just five minutes or so. 

Carlos has just slipped his tongue inside your mouth, making you moan a little, when you hear a manic laugh coming from somewhere close by.

Both you and Carlos pull back at the same time and you hold onto his arms as you look around him, trying to find the culprit. Maybe it’s not that bad. Maybe they were laughing at something else. Maybe it’s-

It’s Pierre.

Oh shit.

You curse quietly and step to the side, rounding Carlos, arms outstretched to your driver as if any sudden movements will set something in motion you’re not ready to deal with yet. 

Pierre shakes his head, still laughing, and holds up his phone, snapping a picture, “C’est chaud ça, hein?”

“Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly,” you warn him, using your best mom-voice as you slowly walk towards him, “don’t you dare. Delete that.” Dropping your voice then, hoping it will get your point across, “Now.”

It’s no use, his fingers are already hovering over the screen, his lips curled up in a manic grin, “Oh, this is so good-” 

“What are you doing?” Your voice is a little high-pitched but Jesus, if he puts any of this on Instagram-

It’s then he looks up and when he sees how close you are he tries to act very innocent all of a sudden, dropping his smile and shrugging, “Nothing.” 

You take a deep breath, trying your hardest not to panic, “Give me your phone.”

“What? No.” Pierre takes a step back and hides his phone behind his back.

“Cabrón,” Carlos says from over your shoulder, his voice low and a warning there that makes a shiver run down your spine. “Give her your phone.”

“I didn’t do anything stupid, ok? I just wanted proof. So I can collect my winnings-” He seems to realise his mistake the moment the words leave his mouth and he tries to cover it up by adding, “It’s not online, I swear.”

You look at him in shock, starting to connect dots you’re not sure you want to connect, “Winnings? What? Do you have a bet going on or-?” It’s then you remember your call with Flo, where she told you to figure things out before Spa and- You can’t believe Pierre and Flo would actually bet on you getting together with Carlos. Then again- You shake your head, figure you can worry about that later. Your first priority is getting Pierre’s phone and if he wants to piss you off some more by not giving it to you, fine. You’ll go get it yourself.

Out of nowhere you lunge forward, pushing Pierre against the back of the Ferrari garage and distracting him with a well aimed flick to his cheek-

“Oi!”

-and reach behind him, taking the phone and running back to hide behind Carlos. Pierre’s phone is locked but of course you know the code and so you pull up his last used app, a little surprised to see it’s Whatsapp, and open the most recent message thread, which is a group chat called “Chili and Pip 2021” and for a brief moment you wonder how many previous group chats there have been that they had to add a year to the name. You file that away for later because there are too many contacts in the group for it to just be him and Flo. Jesus. 

The last message Pierre sent in the chat is the picture he took, showing Carlos’ back and you behind him, looking absolutely livid. The message he attached a very eloquent, ‘Busted!’

“I can explain-” Pierre tries, and at least now he has the decency to look a little guilty. 

“I want you-” you point his phone at him, “-Flo, and everyone else in this fuckin’ group chat in my office in ten minutes,” you tell him through gritted teeth, stepping in front of Carlos then to make your point. “And I’m keeping your phone so you can’t pull any more bullshit, Gasly.”

“But-”

“Nine minutes and forty seconds,” you warn him, turning on your heels then and hold out your hand, waiting until Carlos takes it before you tug him towards the Alpha Tauri building.

When you reach your office, you can’t help but laugh, “Oh, this is going to be fuckin’ awesome.”

Carlos seems confused.

You let go of his hand and lean against your desk, “I know this is not the reaction you expected but- Ok. So. Honestly? I’m actually not surprised they made a bet out of it, I mean- It’s- It’s what we do. When Charles and Flo first started to realise that maybe they liked each other as more than friends, Pierre and I bet on how long it would take him to make it Instagram official so- I won, by the way,” you add with a grin. You wave your hand around, “Not really the point. Anyway, the thing I’m most upset about is that I didn’t figure this out sooner-”

“Why?” He looks at you like he’s afraid you’ve lost your mind, which honestly, after the way you’ve been rambling, you can understand.

“So we could have messed up their wagers,” you explain. “We could have pretended to have gotten into a big fight or- I could have made up a boyfriend, you know? Just, mess with them a little.”

Carlos visibly relaxes and nods, admitting with a shy smile, “Pierre once bet me that Charles would cry during his first podium.” He shrugs and his smile grows wider then, “He lost.”

You can’t help but laugh, “I should have known this would happen. Ugh-” you let out a frustrated sigh but then clap your hands together, “Ok. Here’s what we’re going to do-”

***

“Everyone here?” You look at Pierre, who nods. You’re not convinced, “Where’s Max?”

“Max isn’t in on this-”

Oh, thank God.

“-he doesn’t know anything about this,” Daniel pipes up from where he’s leaning against the wall. “We know how protective he is of you and-"

“Ok. Thank you, Daniel.” You have to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing when you see Daniel shrink back against the wall like a naughty schoolboy who has been told off by the headmaster. You’re leaning against your desk, hands resting on the cool surface on either side of you, and look across the room. 

All the usual suspects are here; Pierre, Charles, Flo, Lando, Daniel- You’re a little surprised to see Yuki here but then again, are you really? You know from experience that Pierre can be quite persuasive and so he probably bullied the younger driver into taking part. No, the one that surprises you most is Rupert, Carlos’ personal trainer. When your eyes land on him you shake your head, hoping it conveys your disbelief, “Really Rupert?”

He laughs and shrugs, “I’ve been seeing you two-” he says with a nod towards Carlos, “- dance around each other since his first year in Formula One, darling. I’m honestly surprised it has taken you this long to figure it out.”

The rest of the drivers in the room nod in agreement. Flo even has the audacity to throw you a look that says ‘Told you so.’

“Anyway,” you continue, focusing on Pierre again. “Since you seem to be the ringleader, Gasly, please explain what’s going on here?”

“Well, I-” Pierre runs a hand through his hair and looks at Flo for backup. 

“No. nu-uh.” She shakes her head, “This was all you, Gas.” 

His eyes widen in shock at the betrayal by his friend, “Do I need to remind you about-”

“You do not,” Flo bites back. “We both know what happened that night.” As always, they only need half a word to have a full conversation. Flo crosses her arms in front of her chest then, “You’re the one who created the group chat, non?”

Next to her Lando and Yuki nod but then Pierre throws them a warning look and suddenly their shoes are much more interesting to look at. Lando, at least, has the decency to blush.

“I can’t believe you’re going to let me take the blame for this,” Pierre says under his breath before he turns back to you. “Fine. Ok. So-”

You hold up your hand to get him to stop talking and shake your head, “I don’t need all the details. Just tell me who got it right and how much they won.”

Pierre shrugs, a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth, “I did.” 

“Hey. No,” Yuki says then. “You said race day at Spa, Pierre. It’s not race day yet, is it?”

“Exactly,” Flo joins in. “So I won.” 

“No. No, no,” Lando jumps in and points at Flo, “You said before Spa. So technically you both got it wrong.”

You let out what you hope is a frustrated sigh, “Ok, so did no one get it right, or-” 

Charles shakes his head in reply, “No. But I think Pierre is the closest.”

“That doesn’t count though, does it?” Carlos says from where he’s standing next to you and when you risk a glance in his direction you can tell he’s trying his hardest not to laugh. 

“I guess not,” Charles agrees quietly, hanging his head.

“Ok, so then the money is ours,” you say with a shrug as if that settles it. “Perfect.”

A round of protests starts across the room, Pierre arguing that that’s not how it works, while Yuki suggests using the money for a new bet instead, and Lando saying that because you weren’t in on the bet you couldn’t possibly win.

From the corner of your eye you see Daniel push himself off the wall, drawing your attention with a quick wave, “Babe, it has been swell, but Michael’s waiting on me for some guided meditation or- Whatever. I gotta skedaddle out of here.” He reaches into the pocket of his jeans then and pulls out a folded fifty Euro bill, reaching over Yuki to hand it to you, “I’ll make sure Michael pays you tomorrow, yeah?” 

“Michael’s in on this as well?” 

“Yep,” Daniel nods. “He had you down for Abu Dhabi, by the way-” he throws you a wink, “-So I’ll let him know he’s way off.” 

“Sure. Ok. Whatever,” you reply, not surprised. Daniel is just about to open the door when you call out to him, “Dan?” When he turns around you lock eyes with him, “Not a word about this to Max, ok?” You look at everyone in the room then, “I mean it, guys. He can’t hear this from you.”

A chorus of, “We know,” echoes across the room.

“Good.” A smile then, “Thank you.” 

“So,” Pierre starts hesitantly, testing the waters, “can we go now, or-”

“Well first of all, you are an idiot for thinking we would announce our relationship on race day.” You scoff, “Have I taught you nothing in our years of working together?”

Pierre hangs his head and repeats from memory, a mocking tone to his voice, “No important news during race weekends. We wait until we’re in between races before we put out personal news.”

“Exactly.” You push yourself off your desk then, “And second of all, it looks like you all owe me fifty Euros, suckers-” you hold out your hand and grin, “- so pay up.”

***

“I really should go see Max,” you tell Carlos once it’s just you and him, and an unexpected three hundred Euros in your back pocket. 

“Do you want me to come with you?”

You think about it for a second and then nod, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Ok,” Carlos presses a kiss to your temple. “Do you know where he is?”

“Probably still in the garage,” 

Carlos laughs, “Yes, I think that might be our best shot.” 

***

Sure enough you find Max in the back of the Red Bull garage, going over some data with GP. You walk up to him, Carlos waiting outside because even though they tolerate employees of the sister team in here, you’re not sure it would go over well if you invited one of Red Bull’s main competitors into the lion’s den.

“Max?” You smile as he looks up from the screen and nod towards the pit lane, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

He looks at GP, who nods, “Yeah, we are done here anyway.” Max follows you outside without asking questions and if he’s surprised to see Carlos standing there he doesn’t show it and instead looks at you expectantly, “What do you want to talk about?”

“So,” you draw out, hoping a few extra seconds will help you find the right words, “I have to tell you something. And I need you to not freak out-”

“I won’t-”

“You freak out, Max,” you tell him with a kind smile. “Remember when I told you I missed my flight from Amsterdam and caught a ride with that guy who was driving to Paris so I could take a train from there?”

“Yeah, but that was of course dangerous, Pip,” Max berates you, arms folded in front of his chest now. “He could have been a murderer, or-”

“Yeah, ok,” you hold up your hand to stop him. “This is not that, ok. I am not in danger, so-”

“I’m not going to freak out,” Max says with a heavy sigh, “but you are getting on my nerves. Just tell me what’s going on.”

You take a deep breath and risk one last glance at Carlos, who gives you an encouraging nod, that does nothing to calm your nerves, “CarlosandIareinarelationship,”

Max furrows his brows, “What?”

“Carlos and I,” you repeat, slower this time. “We’re together. In a relationship. It’s very serious, at least uh- For me it is. And I uh-” you know you’re rambling but you can’t seem to stop, “I think Carlos is serious about it as well. I mean, he gave me a bracelet so-”

“Pip,” Carlos puts his hand on your arm and shakes his head, a smile tugging on his lips, “stop.” 

You blow out a breath and look at Max, trying one last time, “Carlos and I are in a relationship.”

Max stays silent for a bit but then deadpans in that way only he can, “I of course know.”

“I-” you echo, confused. “You know?”

“Yes.”

“Ho- How?”

Then, as if it’s the most obvious thing ever, “I saw you kissing in the paddock earlier today.”

“Huh.” You look at Carlos, still panicking a little,  pointing from you to him and back, “He saw us kissing in the paddock.” 

“Seems like he did,” Carlos answers calmly as if somehow he knew Max knew all along. 

“Did you know he saw us, or-”

Carlos shakes his head, “I did not but-”

You turn back to Max, “And you’re ok with this?” You’re not sure why you’re trying to self sabotage here but the question comes out almost on its own.

“Of course,” Max looks from you to Carlos as if he’s confused why you’re even having this conversation. 

“Ok.” You nod, relieved, “Ok. Cool. Uhm-” you look at Carlos and shrug, “Well, I guess that’s that then.” 

“That doesn’t mean I won’t seriously hurt you if you ever hurt her,” Max says then, looking at Carlos with that determined look he gets whenever he tries to get his point across.

“I know, cabrón,” Carlos agrees easily enough. He claps Max on his back, “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

***

EPILOGUE

It’s after Abu Dhabi and its controversial last race, where Max beats Lewis on the last lap and thus wins the championship, after post-season testing, after a hug goodbye and a promise to stay in contact over the winter break to both Yuki and Pierre, and after a quick stop in Monaco where Max gets off his plane and wishes you safe travels, leaving you in the hands of his trusted cabin crew, that you find yourself on your way Mallorca once again. 

This time Carlos is waiting for you at the airport, standing a little to the side so as to not draw attention to himself, a black baseball cap drawn over his eyes, and his hands in the pockets of his jeans. You spot him before he sees you and you swear your heart skips a beat the moment he looks up and you lock eyes with him.

God, you’ve missed him. 

Sure, you’ve seen him just about every other weekend since you left Mallorca in August but other than some stolen glances in the paddock, your regular coffee dates, and some very spicy text messages and phone calls, you haven’t actually been with him and it’s gotten more and more difficult as time went by and so it takes everything you have not to run up to him.

Instead, there’s a chaste hug when he greets you, knowing the airport arrivals hall is too much of a public space to do anything but.

It isn’t until you sit down in the passenger’s seat of his car that’s parked in a far away corner in the garage, that he leans in and kisses you fiercely, tongue running between your lips almost immediately. You open your mouth greedily, your tongue chasing his into his mouth before you lick the inside of his cheek, savouring his taste.

Carlos pulls back then and mutters something in Spanish that you don’t quite catch but can figure out the meaning of soon enough when he steps back and rounds the car, leaving you to catch your breath on your own. When he steps inside he throws you a look that makes you shiver but doesn’t say anything, instead starting the car and backing up out of the parking space.

You put your seatbelt on and turn towards him in your seat, whispering a quiet, “Take me home, Carlos.”

***

Carlos circles your nipple with his tongue, making your arch your back, and you can feel him smile against your skin when you let out a quiet moan. He’s cupping your other breast with one hand while the other has two fingers inside you, slowly scissoring you open as his thumb rubs circles over your clit. 

You haven’t even made it into the kitchen yet because he’s got you flush against the wall in the hallway, your dress pushed up to your hips and your panties discarded somewhere between the front door and here. “Carlos,” you sigh, your hands cupping his face and guiding his mouth back to yours, the kiss drenched in want and need and-

“I don’t care how we do it,” Carlos says against the corner of your mouth, “but I’m done hiding you from the rest of the world, mami.” He pulls back a little and looks at you, pupils blown wide, “I want everyone to know that you’re mine.”

You hum in agreement, throwing your head back so he can kiss his way back to your chest, your hands in his hair now to keep him in place. “All yours, baby,” you whisper, your voice a little hoarse. You cry out when he adds a third finger without warning, your eyes flying open when you feel him drag his mouth from your breasts to your stomach and further down, watching as he drops to his knees and laps at your clit, “Fuck, that’s it. Right there-”

He looks up at you and actually winks before he slides his hand behind your knee and pulls your leg up onto his shoulder for better access. 

The quiet whimper you let out when he pulls his fingers out of you is quickly replaced by a moan when you feel his tongue slide inside and he starts eating you out for real. You grip onto his hair a little tighter and grind your hips against his face, quietly pleading, “Don’t stop,” over and over and over again.

***

“Can’t we just stay here forever,” you muse quietly, your fingers ghosting over his chest, sometimes playing with the charm that’s hanging from his necklace. Behind the curtains the sky is a vivid orange, casting a faint glow into the bedroom that makes it feel like you’re in a movie. “I’ve saved up a nice bit of money and I’m sure you don’t have to work like, ever again-” above you Carlos chuckles, “-so I think we could make it work.” 

“Maybe. But I know mamà would kill us if we don’t make it home for Christmas, cariño,” Carlos reasons, pressing a kiss to the top of your head, “so-”

“Yeah, you’re right,” you agree quietly. You look up at him then, “Speaking of Christmas-I have an early Christmas present for you.”

Carlos raises his eyebrows, “Oh?”

You reach over him and grab your phone, pulling up the app you use for scheduled posts and angling the screen towards him, “I want to post this tonight. I’m done keeping you a secret.”

He takes your phone from you and scrolls through the five pictures you’ve edited, showing a curated timeline of your relationship since August, the first one a picture of him that you secretly took yesterday, when you were waiting on your food in a café in Cala d’Or, the rest of them selfies of you and him throughout the moments you shared together until now. His smile grows wider when he reads the caption before he looks at you again, “You sure?”

“Very,” you confirm easily enough and push yourself up so you can let your lips ghost over his. “We’ve waited long enough.” 

***

“Ok,” you refresh the page to confirm. “Done.”

Next to you Carlos nods, “Good.”

You’re on the couch in the living room, your feet resting in Carlos’ lap, both of you enjoying a glass of red wine. Before you even have a chance to lock your phone it rings, the name of your best friend popping up on your screen and you can’t help but grin when you show Carlos before you accept the call and put it on speaker, “Hi Maxy,”

“Pip-” his voice catches and so he tries again, “Pip, I think you made a mistake.”

“What are you-”

“You posted to your public account,” Max continues, panic seeping through his voice. “I don’t think- This should of course go on your private account. What if anyone- Oh Godverdomme” he lets out a shaky sigh, “you already have a hundred likes. You need to take it down, Pip, before-”

“Maxy,” you interrupt him with a smile, “breathe.” He’s still rambling and so you try again, “Max Emilian Verstappen, stop. Breathe. And go to Carlos’ profile.”

“But-”

“Do it.” You bite your lip to keep from laughing, Carlos already looking at you with a very bemused smile. In your head you count down, waiting for Max to understand, from three, to two, to one, to-

“Oh,”

“Yeah,” you agree easily enough, knowing Max has just seen the same caption with mostly the same pictures, on Carlos’ page. Except for the first one, where Carlos opted for a picture of you and Piñon sleeping together in the garden.

“So this was on purpose?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“And the team is ok with this?”

You let out a laugh, “Max, I love you but if you really think we posted this without running it by our bosses first I wonder if you even really know me.”

“Yeah, ok, that’s fair.” You can just imagine the way Max hangs his head. “Well, in that case I didn’t call.” 

You can hear him start to say his goodbyes and so you quickly say, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

It stays quiet on the other end of the line for a few seconds but then you hear him let out a heavy sigh that you know is fake because you can hear the smile in his voice when he says, “Of course. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Maxy,” you say with a self-satisfied smile. “I’ll call you on Christmas Day, ok? Love you.”

“Ik ook van jou.” He clears his throat then, “Oh and Carlos?” 

Carlos leans in, apparently not surprised that Max knows he was listening in, “Yes, cabrón?

“You’re very lucky to have her, mate. Don’t fuck it up.”

Carlos shakes his head even though Max can’t see him and looks at you with a warm smile, his hand wrapping around your wrist and his thumb rubbing the charm on your bracelet, “Never.”

Once you’ve said your goodbyes you put your phone on silent and toss it aside and when Carlos looks at you with a frown, you grin, “Everyone else can wait until tomorrow.”

“God, I love you,” Carlos mutters as he leans forward, swinging one leg over your hips so he’s lying on top of you, holding some of his weight off by resting on his elbows. He looks down at you and dips his head then, finding your mouth with his.

The kiss is different, slower, like you’re both desperate to savour every minute because you know there’s no rush. Not anymore. You let your hands run through his hair and when after a while he pulls back and collapses on top of you, burying his face in the crook of your neck, his warm breath hitting your skin in regular breaths, you wrap one leg around his waist and let out a content sigh, feeling your eyes grow heavy when you whisper, “I love you.” 

“Te amo, mi reina.”

- FIN -

Taglist:  @shes-homeward-bound | @chiogarza | @oyesmendes | @thatchickwiththecamera | @sanne-p | @your-favourite-blonde | @internetgremlin | @watermel0nsugarhigh | @fictional-l0v3r | @nochillnel | @dr3lover | @dan3avacado | @idkiwantchocolatee | @nicke0115 | @desperate-and-broken | @iamasimpingh0e | @guardians-ofthe-lastyoungkilljoy​ | @vroomvroommbtch

[baejax-the-great]

tell us about pillow talk I beg!!!!

Pillow talk is a Mass Effect WIP that I swear I am going to update one day for real. I have like four half-chapters that every once in a while I add a couple sentences to. Here's part of one:

“Researching something?” Shepard asked, peering through the glass case over her desk down to Garrus below on the sofa.

Garrus cursed under his breath. It was impossible to know how much she saw on his datapad over his shoulder. Lying was too much of a liability for getting rightfully roasted, and there was no telling that EDI would keep his secrets. He might as well show it to her, even if it made him feel like an idiot. After half an hour of searching, it was becoming clear the entirety of Citadel knowledge could not solve this particular mystery.

Shepard walked around to stand in front of him, wrapped only in a towel after her shower, and he handed the datapad to her.

“Human circadian vocal variations,” she read out loud, sounding unimpressed. “Is someone talking weird? Do I talk in my sleep? Or wait, do I snore?”

“Nah. Well, not that I’ve noticed. You’d have to actually sleep for me to hear anything. What I have noticed is that sometimes at night, your voice sounds different. I thought it was a translator glitch, but it only happens at night.”

Nadia grinned, tossing the datapad to her coffee table. “At night? Or specifically when we’re in my cabin?”

“Huh. I guess… in your cabin.” It had never happened in the field. Or on missions or on shore leave. In fact, it had only ever occurred when they were alone. Was it some sort of human mating thing? A different voice only for their lover? He was almost flattered, but that would have come up in one of those romantic vids Tali had sent him, probably. Unless it was too personal to include…

Nadia was still smiling, even bigger now. She had already figured it out, and she didn’t look too upset he had noticed whatever this was. “What do I sound like?”

“Hm. It’s like you have a different accent, I guess. During the day, you sound like you are from my area of Palaven. The capital.”

“And right now?”

“An area that’s pretty far east of where I was born, somewhat north.”

Shepard had already pulled up a map of Palaven on her own omnitool, and Garrus pointed at the region.

“What are they known for over there?”

“A spicy fish stew and really boring music.”

“Huh. Anyone else on the crew sound have a different Palaven accent?”

“Kasumi and Chakwas. Oh, and Miranda.”

“Show me.”

They dropped pins across the map, and Shepard nodded at each one, like it was just where she suspected.

“It looks like whoever made your translation software decided to overlay a map of Earth onto Palaven with the Alliance HQ on top of your capital and just assign accents from there. Of course, Australia looks to be in the middle of an ocean, so they had to adjust earth continents for it… huh. You said my night time accent was here?”

“Yeah.”

“I definitely don’t sound like I’m from here?” Nadia pointed at a completely different region.

“Almost nobody lives on those islands, but no.”

“My father would be rolling in his grave if he had one.”

“You gonna enlighten me anytime soon, Shep? I’ve been awfully patient here.”

“The official language of the Alliance is English. It originated here” –her finger pointed to a sparsely populated region on Palaven and a small island on Earth— “And that is the accent Chakwas has. My accent is standard to here, North America, but English is not my first language.”

“I’ve heard that Earth has an unusually high number of languages.”

“Yeah. Someone told me that before globalization you could go five kilometers in any direction and find people finding a different one. Don’t know if that’s true. I grew up on Mindoir, though, and our entire colony was French-speaking. I haven’t had any reason to speak it in a long time, but I realized in here, with you, there was no reason not to when we already relied on the translator.”

“So when we’re alone—”

“I speak French, which comes from here, France, which is where my mother was born. My father was from here” –she pointed to the sparsely populated islands north of Palaven. “He would be very disappointed to learn I sounded more French than French Canadian. He tried very hard to make sure I used their slang and variations over my mother’s. I wonder if it’s a limitation of the software.”  

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

Burnin’ Up - Firefighter!Chris AU (Part 9: Up in flames)

A/N: AND WE’RE BACK!! I’m so glad to b back posting this series because I love it so much!! I’ve been working to get ahead of myself so hopefully updates will be more regular!

Summary: Following your argument both you and Chris are left to stew, but fate has other ideas...

Word Count: 6.5k

Warnings: ANGST! Talk of Divorce! Emergency situation! Language! Major Injury! Near death experience! 

Dividers by @firefly-graphics​

Meet the Characters!

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

Part 9: Up in flames

You let out a long sigh as you leant forward, resting your elbows against your knees as you look through your binoculars at the apartment across the street.

“I think my mind might actually be turning to mush” you mumble dropping the binoculars and rubbing your forehead tiredly.

“its not that bad” Benny shrugs as he looks through the viewfinder of the long lensed camera he held.

“yes it is, we have been here all day and nothing has happened, no one’s been or gone, there’s barely any movement in the apartment” you groan shaking your head.

“well this guy is smart, he wants to appear like he’s a totally regular guy, not someone who runs a massive drug ring” Ben points out as he reclines back in his chair “plus nothing can be too bad when I get to spend the day with my bestie” he grins as he turns the camera on you and takes a couple of shots.

“the captain isn’t gonna be happy if that thing is full of useless pictures” you grumble turning your attention back to the apartment across the street.

“right what’s wrong?” Ben sighs putting the camera down and turning to face you.

“Nothing, I just want to catch this guy” you state not turning to face him, keeping your sights on the job at hand.

“no offence but bullshit, you’ve been in a bad mood all week” Ben points out.

“no I haven’t I was perfectly happy yesterday when we were on patrol, remember that funny street performer” you argue finally looking over at him.

“Okay fine you’ve not been in a bad mood all week but you’ve been more withdrawn as if something is bothering you, is it your father or something?” Ben asks his voice gentle as leans forward and puts a hand on your knee.

You let out a long sigh dropping your head “no, well at least not really… it’s Chris” you sigh looking over at him.

“what do you mean? What happened?” Ben frowns.

“he just stuck his nose in where I didn’t want him, got all worked up, we argued and I kicked him out” you explain with a sigh.

“and I’m guessing this all revolved around your father” Ben says slowly.

“yeah, he said all this bullshit about how he was this monster and didn’t love me,” you say your voice catching slightly.

“whoa” Ben mutters under his breath.

“exactly, and it just exploded out of nowhere,” you say shaking your head as you slumped back in your chair.

“what caused it?” Ben asks rubbing his hands together as he leans forward.

“I’m not sure exactly, he was being weird at dinner, I mentioned how I started cooking when I was seven and he went silent for a moment and it was a bit awkward” you explain shrugging your shoulders, Ben just hums looking down at the floor.

“and then we were about to watch a movie, and while I was waiting for him to tidy up I decided to have a flick through of the lieutenants’ textbook and he flipped out, going on about how horrible my father is and how he’s abusive and a monster and that he doesn’t treat me like a daughter” you recall shaking your head.

Ben remains silent, biting his lips slightly as he nods his head “and I get he’s not gonna win dad of the year but he did the best he could given the circumstances” you sigh.

Ben hums nodding his head slightly as he looks back up at you “and you didn’t agree with anything he said? Like he couldn’t have possibly been right?” Ben asks cautiously.

“no, not at all” you state shaking your head “he can’t be because he doesn’t know everything and I don’t get why he can’t respect me enough to leave it alone! When I said something about his parent’s divorce and saw he didn’t like it I stopped! Why didn’t he!” you exclaim getting more worked up before letting out a long sigh and pinching the bridge of your nose.

“you’re right he should have respected your boundaries,” Ben says putting his hand on your knee and squeezing it “but maybe look at it from his perspective”

Your head snaps towards him, frowning about to argue back but he stops you “just hear me out” ben says holding up his hand.

“from my point of view I can see how much he cares about you, and maybe…” Ben starts before sighing deeply “maybe he got the wrong picture from what he’s heard, we aren’t all heroes in everyone’s stories, sometimes we’re villains and maybe he just heard more of those stories and never got the full picture” he continues “so he was worried and got protective over you”

“if that’s the case he went about it the wrong way” you scoff shaking your head.

“Definitely, and look maybe it’s worth going and talking to him about it all, maybe share some of your stories so he has the full picture” Ben suggests gently.

“I don’t know” you sigh shaking your head.

“look believe it or not I can see you care a lot about this guy, and you should fight for it, don’t just stop at this road bump,” Ben tells you.

You let out a long sigh taking in everything that he said, Ben was right, you did care a lot about Chris and maybe that’s why this hurt so much. But at what point do road bumps become just straight-up red flags because this wasn’t the first bump in the road. And what if he couldn’t see your point of view? Would that be it?

“It's just that my father is all I have left, he’s my only family, I’ve lost my mom, and my grandparents, I just can’t lose him too and what if I have to choose? Between Chris and the only living family member, I have left” you say quietly.

“you won’t have to” Ben reassures you shaking your head “if Chris feels the way I think he does about you then he will do anything, and put up with anyone for you, plus most people don’t like their in-laws anyway, just look at my mom and her mother in law” Ben smirks.

You let out a small snort of laughter nodding your head “thanks Benny” you sigh “I’m not sure we’ll get to the in-laws' stage though”

“hey never say never” Ben winks making you laugh.

“alright enough about me, let's talk about your guy, how did the date go?” you ask with a grin.

You watch as Ben goes uncharismatically bashful “it went really well, we went for a hike in the woods and it was amazing” he smiles.

“aw, benny I’m so happy for you! I can’t wait to meet him” you smile nudging his knee.

“he is pretty great, and I know it’s pretty early days but it just feels so different to everything else, like I can picture myself with Matt for the rest of my life” Ben smiles bashfully.

“wow so the days of one-night stands might be over?” you ask with a lopsided smile.

“yeah, and I’m not mad about it” Ben grins.

“that’s amazing, I’m so happy for you, you deserve it you really do” you smile moving so you could hug him.

“thank you, now let’s pass the time by playing ‘guess the story’ while we wait for the perp to show up” Ben smirks looking back out of his window.

“oh me first!” you exclaim looking through your binoculars at the street “okay see that little old lady just coming around the corner?” you say pointing out the target.

“yep, okay name is Doris, and the story is… she just got back from Singapore where she single-handedly took down a notorious mob with only her little handbag” Ben reels off making you laugh.

“and how on earth did she manage that?” you snort.

“with her black belt in jujitsu obviously” Ben smirks making you laugh even more.

The two of you continue playing this game, going back and forth and making up stories about each passerby you saw. Eventually, it was time to clock off and let the night team start their shift.

“Well, that was a bust” you sigh as you climb into your car.

“yeah hopefully the other locations we have on surveillance got better results, but at least we get to clock off now and head home and have a nice quiet night,” Ben says yawning as he stretched out in the passenger seat.

“Unit 342 do you copy?” the radio buzzes.

You groan rolling your eyes before looking over at ben “that’s your fault you said the Q word” you huff grabbing the radio.

“Unit 342 to control we copy,” you say into the radio as Ben gives you an apologetic look.

“We have an apartment building fire on St Cecelia street, crowd is getting pretty big so need extra units for crowd control” control informs you.

“of course, we’ll head straight over,” you say glancing over at Ben, it looked like you were about to face Chris whether you liked it or not. 

It was early evening and all Chris could hear was his crew laughing as they relaxed after dinner. He however had taken himself away and decided to go over and check that all the chores they had to do had been done. So far everything was in tip-top condition but when he got to the fire engine he notices smudge marks over the metal so decided to clean it himself.

The more he cleaned the more dirt he found making him growl in frustration as he scrubbed harder and got into every nook and cranny. Normally he would just leave it, it wasn’t dirt that would compromise their performance and stop them from doing their job. But today it just pissed him off and he needed to make it right, leaving no stone untouched and no rivet unpolished.

“Hey what are you doing down here?” someone calls out, Chris glances over his shoulder and spots Jamie standing a short distance away, hands in her pockets as she watched him.

“cleaning, whoever was supposed to do the engine didn’t do a good enough job” Chris huffs turning back to the job in hand.

“well I would suggest getting whoever it was to redo it, but considering it was you, you’ve kinda already done that” Jamie smirks as she walks over leaning against the side of the engine.

“do you need something or are you just here to piss me off” Chris states not even bothering to look up at her.

“I’m here to try and work out what’s wrong with you,” Jamie says standing up straight, arms crossed over her chest as she looked down at him with an unimpressed look.

“Nothing is wrong so go back to whatever you were doing Jennings” Chris states as he moves to polish one of the handles.

“yes there is, you’ve been short-tempered all week, you’re normally like this goofy golden retriever, now you’re this grumpy terrier” Jamie states moving so she was back in front of him.

Chris glares over at her before looking back at what he was doing “if this is your attempt at getting me to open up you’re doing a poor job” he tells her.

“so there is something bothering you” Jamie concludes.

“Urgh fine yes, now can we drop it?” Chris groans looking over at her.

“nope that’s not how this works, you’re gonna tell me what’s bothering you so you can stop acting like a stroppy teen” Jamie states crossing her arms over her chest.

Chris lets out a long sigh before dropping his cleaning rag “fine, it’s Y/N we got into a fight about a week ago and I’m still pissed about it”

“what was the fight about?” Jamie frowns.

“her dad” Chris sighed as he tried to work out the best way to explain it “since I’ve gotten to know her all I’ve heard and learnt about her father is horrible things and she just doesn’t see it, she just constantly defends him or shuts down and doesn’t want to even talk about or- or listen to what I have to say”  Chris explains shaking his head in frustrations.

“how bad is it?” Jamie asks carefully.

“like she should cut him out of her life bad” Chris sighs sadly.

“how did you approach it, did you do it calmly?” Jamie’s questions.

“Maybe I could have gone about it a bit more calmly,” Chris says shrugging his shoulders.

“you mean your anger got the better of you and your feelings towards the situation took over and it started an argument” Jamie corrects.

Chris remains silent for a moment looking down at his hands “for lack of better words yes” he sighs, he did regret how it all happened and repeatedly thought about going back and apologising. But then he got frustrated again because he knew that no matter how he approached it, you would never believe him and he’d be unable to help you.

“right… well, we all have our baggage, I mean you and your parent’s divorce” Jamie says gesturing over at him.

Chris instantly freezes when he hears that, standing up straighter. His gaze became cooler as he stared down at Jamie. His jaw clenched tightly and his hands move into fists.

“see is not nice when someone talks about our baggage” Jamie points out with a knowing look.

Chris huffs his shoulders relaxing as he shakes his head looking down at the floor “this is different, what happened with my parents is in the past, I can change what happened but with what’s happening with Y/N and her father is still going on now and she won’t let me try and help her”

“Sometimes people don’t realise they need help, and starting an argument over it isn’t going to help,” Jamie tells him gently “look just picture how you’d feel if she started saying a bunch of things about the divorce that you didn’t agree with”

Chris didn’t need to imagine how he’d feel because he’d already experienced it when you brought it up at the career fair. Except deep down he did agree with everything he said, it was better that he was able to have both parents in a room together and not worry about them fighting. You were right when you said that just because they weren’t married anymore it didn’t mean they didn’t still love each other, it was just a different kind of love. Yet he still struggled to accept it and shut down, and you had approached it much better than he did.

“look I’m not saying you shouldn’t have voiced your concerns, but maybe you should have gone about it differently, tackle it one step at a time, not all at once, let her come to her figure it out instead of telling her,” Jamie tells him gently.

Chris nods his head “thank you Jamie, got any tips on how to make a good apology?” he asks hopefully.

Jamie chuckles gently “I can’t give you all the answers Evans” she smirks “now c’mon stop cleaning and come relax with the rest of us”

“fine but i-“ Chris starts before getting interrupted by the station alarm alerting them to a call out.

“well at least we worked out your issues” Jamie shrugged before the two of them dashed off to put on their gear and get to the fire.

Within minutes the crew was all geared up and on the road ready to face whatever lay ahead. They hadn’t even pulled onto the street yet and Chris could already see the tell-tale signs of a fire. The black smoke billowed up into the air and the orange glow lit up the dark street.

“right team, this is an apartment complex fire, the fire has already spread into multiple units, other stations have already started work on controlling the fire but we’ve been tasked with evac” Captain Jeffords announces once they arrive on the scene.

“on it, captain” the crew call back everyone getting the last of the gear on.

Jimmy and Steve had already run into the building to start evac, Chris and Paul were about to follow in after them when Jamie cursed.

“crap!” Jamie curses, pulling off the mask of her ventilator.

“what’s wrong?” Chris asks turning back.

“the ventilator isn’t working, I’m not getting clean air,” Jamie says as she fiddles with it trying to get it to work.

“Evans give Jennings your ventilator, you can stay out here and help coordinate” Captain Jeffords orders.

Chris nods in agreement, quickly removing his ventilator and helping Jamie put it on, adjusting the straps for her “all good?” he asks, checking the mask.

“all good” Jamie confirms giving him a thumbs up.

Chris pats her helmet before stepping out of the way allowing her and Paul to run into the building to find anyone trapped, he then chucked his gloves into the engine since he wouldn’t be needing them. Chris watched as his team disappeared into the building feeling frustrated that he couldn’t be in there to help himself, desperately hoping the building was already empty.

For the next few minutes, it was an anxious wait for his team to return with any survivors. Chris busied his time by talking to the building manager who was working on getting a headcount of those already out.

“Sir we think everyone is out of the building,” the manager tells Chris.

“Are you absolutely certain?” Chris states not wanting to make a mistake.

“yes” the manager nods.

“team, have we found anyone yet?” Captain Jeffords says into the radio.

“Negative, the fire is getting more out of control, I’m not certain the building is going to be stable for much longer” Paul responds.

“conduct a final sweep and then get out, don’t do anything stupid” Captain Jeffords orders.

Chris glances over at him to nod in agreement but freezes when he spots you and Ben arriving on the scene. He watched as you and ben first talked to the police officers already on crowd control before moving off to help. As you did so your eyes met his and your step faulted slightly. Chris wanted to smile or wave or something but he was frozen, just waiting for you to react. But you just stared at him, an unreadable expression on your face before turning and getting on with your job. 

When you arrived at the fire you got straight to work, you’d just finished talking to a fellow officer on scene when you spotted Chris. He was looking straight at you in a way that made you pause for a moment, you tried to decipher the look on his face but couldn’t. You had to take a deep breath to get yourself under control before turning back to the job at hand.

You and Ben work to separate the crowd, getting any passers-by to move on and stop loitering, making sure any residents of the building were kept far enough away in case the fire got any worse. You had been working for 15 minutes already when you heard that they had stopped evac and banned anyone from entering due to the instability of the building, sparing a glance over your shoulder you could see the fire now spanned multiple floors and wasn’t slowing down. This only caused the crowd to get more restless as they watched their home burn.

You were focusing on one man who was getting aggressive when you heard a blood-curdling scream. You turned in the direction it came from and saw a woman running through the barrier toward the building. You instantly sprung into action, running after the woman and grabbing her arm stopping her before she got too close.

“No! please let go! My baby!” She screamed tears streaming down her face.

“ma’am please calm down” you tried moving so you stood in her way.

“no, she’s in there! my daughter! I only left to get bread and she’s in there!” the mother screeched trying to push past you.

You had to grab hold of her to stop her, trying desperately to stop her from gaining access to the building. Ben had joined you and was trying to calm her down but it wasn’t working. She then tried to hit you to get you to let go, managing to land blows to your gut and face.

“shit” you winced as she pushed you away causing you to stumble.

You however didn’t hit the floor, instead falling into someone who caught you. Glancing up you realised it was Chris, worry clear on his face, his eyes falling on your lips that had been split.

“you okay?” he asked you as he helped you to your feet.

You struggled to find any words so just nodded your head, before looking over to the woman who had thankfully had been stopped by Ben.

“ma’am the building has been cleared, anyone who was in the building is over there,” Chris says calmly to the woman.

“I’ve checked she’s not there! she’s in there still! Please! She’s only 5! Please you have to save her!” the woman cries shaking her head.

You glance up at the building a feeling of dread settling in your gut as you thought of the girl trapped in the building. You knew the outlook didn’t look good if she was still in there. your eyes then instinctively moved to Chris and you instantly saw the look on his face and realised what he was thinking.

“Chris no…” you start but he interrupted you.

“what apartment?” he asked the woman.

“6C,” She told him quickly.

“Chris no you can’t it's too dangerous!” you say grabbing his hand to stop him, realising he wasn’t wearing the correct gear.

“I have to,” he says quietly before pulling his hand from yours and running towards the building.

You scream his name, the rest of his crew doing the same trying to stop him but it was no use. You tried to run after him but Ben stopped you, leaving you screaming Chris’ name as he ran into the blaze.

Chris wished he could say he wasn’t thinking. But he knew exactly what he was doing. As soon as he heard about the little girl he was reminded of that first big call-out he attended, the way he was unable to save that little boy, and he couldn’t let it happen again.

He raced up the stairs as fast as he could, using his jacket to try and keep as much smoke out of his airways as possible, staying as low to the floor as he could. He dodged flames and tried to ignore the sounds of the creaking building as it got weaker and weaker.

On his way, he’d managed to find an extinguisher and started using it to help clear his path but it was doing little against the roaring fire that surrounded him. Eventually, he got to the sixth floor, quickly finding the apartment he needed. The door was already open from where the team had already swept the apartment giving him hope that the girl had already gotten out.

He still checked though, heading into the fire-filled apartment in search of the girl.

“Hello! Fire Department! Anyone here!” he called out and he started searching.

He continues to call out and search everywhere he could. He was about to give up and head outside when he heard a small whimper behind him. Quickly spinning on his heel he runs over to the wardrobe, ripping the door open he finds the small girl still in her nightie curled up into a ball.

“Hey, hey it's okay we’re gonna get you out of here,” Chris says gently as he crouches down.

The girl nods quickly, despite the tears streaming down her face. Chris could already see a few burns on her arms so decided to remove his jacket and wrap it around her.

“here this will keep you safe okay? Just make sure to cover your nose and mouth” Chris instructs moving the jacket so the collar covered her airways.

“Good now we’re gonna get you out and to your mommy okay? Everything is going to be fine” Chris reassures her as he picks her up and starts carrying her through the apartment.

As he makes his way through the building back down to the street he tries to keep as low as possible to avoid the smoke the step carefully to ensure the flooring didn’t collapse beneath them. He moves as quickly as he could trying not to wince as the flames caught his bare arms. He was just on the final set of stairs when he heard the building groan loudly, he instantly knew what that sound meant and started running, but it was too late the stairs collapse underneath him and the both of them fell to the floor below. 

“what the hell is he thinking!” you scream as you try and push yourself out of Ben’s hold.

“Y/N calm down! He’ll be fine, this is what he does!” Ben shouted as he pulled you off to the side.

“he’s not got all his gear on! He doesn’t have a ventilator or even his fucking gloves!” you shout pushing Ben off you.

“he’ll be fine, calm down you’re going to cause a panic,” Ben says grabbing your shoulders and forcing you to look at him.

“you don’t know that! They closed the building off because it was unsafe! What if something happens? What if he doesn’t make it out!” you cry tears rolling down your face.

Ben’s face softens as he squeezes your shoulders “don’t worry he’ll be fine, he’s the best at his job and he’ll make it out okay” he reassures you.

You take a deep shaky breath, hand moving to cover your mouth as you nodded and tried to get control of your emotions, shaking your head as you struggle “I can’t lose him, Benny, I just can’t” you whisper.

“you won’t I promise, he’ll be fine” Ben tells you wrapping his arms around you and hugging you tightly “he’ll be fine”

You nod your head wiping away your tears as you turn to look back towards the building hoping to see some sign that Chris was okay. Glancing over you could see the rest of his crew were getting antsy, all of them shouting at each other, clearly wanting to go in after Chris.

It was at that moment you felt a terrible sensation in your gut, and you instinctively look back at the building. You then hear a horrible groaning noise soon followed by a large crashing sound making everyone duck as flames burst through windows, and glass smashed to the ground. The fire even more intense as it engulfed the entire building.

The world went silent around you, and everything went into slow motion. You felt like you could vomit as you stared at the building Chris was currently trapped in. The crowds around you were more intense and the firefighters had become more frantic but you paid no attention, your knees giving out.

Ben held onto you as you broke down, he was trying to reassure you but you weren’t stupid. There was no way that Chris was coming out now, he never should have gone in. You’d lost him. You weep into your hands, your entire body shaking with grief.

It felt like hours had passed in minutes when you were being shaken by Ben, you tried to push him off but he stops you, pointing at something. You follow his finger spotting Chris stumbling out of the building carrying the little girl. You had to blink a couple of times to make sure weren’t dreaming, but it was definitely him. You’d recognise him anywhere even when he was covered in ash and soot.

You stumble to your feet, a little unsteady as you made your way over to him. You tripped slightly but Ben was right behind you catching you and helping you.

“I told you he’d be fine,” Ben told you but you weren’t paying attention, all you could focus on was Chris.

He’d dropped the girl off at an ambulance before he’d been rushed into one of his own. Once you’d found your footing you ran straight to him, thankfully the paramedic on duty was Emma so she let you in.

“oh my god Chris” you whisper once you got a good look at him.

He was covered in ash and there were burns all over his arms. You could see he was in considerable pain as he winced and let out groans of discomfort. He had an oxygen mask on his face and he was taking deep breaths, coughing occasionally.

As soon as the paramedics were done you rushed to his side “Chris oh my god what were you thinking” you mutter shaking your head.

“Y/N…” Chris breathed out before wincing slightly “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for what I said, I crossed a line and didn’t respect your boundaries” he apologised pulling the oxygen mask from his face so he could talk easier.

“It's okay, it’s okay, I forgive you,” you say sniffling back the tears as you gently brushed his hair back from his face “I’m just mad that you almost killed yourself”

Chris lets out a small huff of a laugh before groaning in pain “I’m sorry for that too” he says.

You couldn’t help but smile “it's okay I forgive you” you chuckle, your hand moving to cup his cheek before sighing deeply “you really scared me, I thought I’d lost you” you whispered “I can’t lose you, you mean too much to me, I- I love you” you admit.

Chris’ hand moves to take yours squeezing it tightly “I love you too” he whispered.

You smile through your tears down at him, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to his lips cautious of his injuries. You felt him smile into the kiss, his hand moving to cup your cheek keeping you there deepening the kiss.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this moment, but we should get you to the hospital,” Emma says stepping back into the ambulance, nodding down to Chris.

“of course, you stay alive okay? I’ll come as soon as I can okay?” you say squeezing Chris’ hand.

“Okay, could- could you call my ma? Tell her I’m okay” Chris asks coughing slightly.

“of course, I’ll see you later” you nod kissing his forehead before heading out of the ambulance to watch it leave.

“so when’s the wedding?” Ben smirks nudging you in the side.

You let out a watery chuckle “shut up” you tell him, despite feeling the happiest you have ever felt. 

Chris had never felt so sore in his life. He’d gotten off easy though, only minor burns on his arms and a couple of broken ribs from when he fell through the stairs. He’d saved the little girl though and the nurse had told him she’d make a full recovery, with only a couple of minor burns.

His mom had given him an earful when she turned up at the hospital, telling him how stupid he was for going in without a ventilator. But she soon switches to her usual caring self, telling him to rest up and get better. All he wanted was to see you, but Lisa told him to get some sleep and that she’d wake him as soon as you arrived. He was exhausted so he agreed, quickly falling asleep.

He was half awake when he heard the sound of whispering, it took him a moment but he soon realised you had turned up and were talking to Lisa. Of course, she wasn’t going to wake him up when you arrived, he should have known.

“I’m so glad he’s going to be okay, I don’t know what I’d do if something bad had happened” he heard you whisper.

“I know, but I’m so happy you two have each other, Chris seems so much happier with you around” Lisa sighed happily.

“thank you, he makes me happy too,” you say quietly.

Chris knew he should probably open his eyes and let you know he was awake, he wanted nothing more than to see you and hold you close and make up for all the lost time. But curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to know what you’d say when he wasn’t awake, so he pretended to still be asleep.

 “when he isn’t driving me crazy that is” you add with a chuckle, making Lisa laugh gently.

“yes he does have that ability, he was such a terrible teen” Lisa smiled.

Silence falls in the room and Chris almost opens his eyes but then he heard you speak up, a strange tone in your voice “Lisa can I ask you something?”

“Sure anything dear,” Lisa said gently.

“does it get easier? This sort of thing?” you ask quietly.

“what do you mean sweetie?” Lisa asked.

“Knowing he’s going into dangerous situations all the time, knowing something could go horribly wrong and never knowing if he’d make it home,” you say your voice barely above a whisper.

“no, not really” Lisa sighed “when he told me he wanted to be a firefighter like his dad I really tried to talk him out of it, it was hard enough watching his father go off and risk his life, but watching him too was unbearable”

“but there was no convincing him, he’s far too stubborn for his own good, but you get used to it, you trust that he’s not going to do anything stupid and his crewmates will keep him safe, jobs like today are rare and accidents even rarer, but that fear never goes” Lisa continues “it takes a really strong person to date a firefighter, but I’m sure you know that being a police officer”

“yeah” you whisper “I just- I’ve never felt so scared in my entire life, I’ve done some scary things in my career, things that will stay with me for life,” you say, Chris instantly thinking of the active shooter story you’d told him “but today, watching him go into that building and seeing it collapse around him, not knowing if he was dead or alive was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced”

Chris could hear you sniffling and the sound of Lisa getting up and moving to comfort you “I honestly don’t know what I’d do if he’d died today” you muttered through the tears.

“I know dear, I know” Lisa whispered as he comforted you.

Chris suddenly didn’t know what to do. He wanted to wake up fully and reassure you that he’d always be okay, but he couldn’t, there was no way he’d be able to promise that to you. Today was a perfect example, he easily could have died today and he was damned lucky that he only had minor injuries.

He knew how hard it was on his mom, watching both him and his father go fight fires, he saw how terrified she was whenever a fire engine drove past their house. He wished he could make it easier but he couldn’t. the idea of you living in constant fear whenever he went to work didn’t sit right with him, he knew it could only end in disaster. You’d either leave him because you couldn’t handle it, or he’d leave you heartbroken because the worst had happened.

He decided then and there what he had to do, he had to put away his hopeless romantic side for good and end this before anyone got hurt.

He blinked a couple of times ‘waking up’ his eyes falling on yours as you wiped away the last of your tears, solidifying his decision in his mind. When his eyes met yours he saw them light up, you instantly jumped up from your chair and rushed to his side.

“God I am so happy to see you awake” you smile squeezing his hand.

Chris gave you a small forced smile as he swallowed nodding his head “it’s nice to see you too” he said his voice a little hoarse.

“How are you feeling? Does your head hurt?” you ask your hand brushing over his forehead and into his hair.

“good, they’re just keeping me in overnight to make sure the smoke inhalation hasn’t done any damage,” he tells you swallowing slightly.

“Good, that’s good” you smile, but Chris could tell it was just a brave face.

“I’m just going to get us all a drink, I’ll be back in a few minutes” Lisa smiled grabbing her jacket before heading out.

Silence fell in the room as you smiled down at Chris, holding onto his hand gently “you’re gonna be in so much trouble, your captain really wasn’t happy with you” you told him chuckling gently.

“I guess I deserve that” Chris muttered his eyes downcast.

“hey is everything okay? You seem really quiet. Do you feel sick or are in pain or something?” you ask your brows furrowing in concern.

“no I- I just wanted to talk about- about us” Chris muttered, his gaze quickly meeting yours before dropping again.

“oh- um yeah of course, what- what do you want to talk about?” you say stuttering slightly as you tuck some hair behind your ear.

Chris takes a deep breath as he gathers the nerve to tell you what he needed to tell you “what I said… I didn’t mean it” Chris says ripping off the bandage.

He sees you blink a couple of times in shock “what? What do you mean?” you ask.

“I don’t love you, it was the shock and smoke inhalation talking” Chris states keeping his face neutral so he didn’t give away how he was lying through his teeth.

You instantly dropped his hand quickly standing up from your seat “You- you can’t mean that” you stutter shaking your head.

“I do. We’d never work out, it was better when we hated each other” Chris says shaking his head.

You scoff slightly, biting your lip as tears started building up in your eyes, you shook your head “fine, whatever you want Chris” you mutter grabbing your bag and storming out.

Chris dropped his head against his pillow screwing his eyes shut. He hated what he’d just said but he knew deep down it was the right thing to do. You hating him was much better than you love him. You’d realise it eventually, and maybe even thank him one day. It didn’t make it hurt any less though.

“oh, where’s Y/N gone?” Lisa asked surprised when she walked back in.

“work emergency” Chris muttered staring up at the ceiling.

“that’s a shame, but I’m sure she’ll come back as soon as she can” Lisa reassures him putting a hand on his shoulder.

“yeah… sure” Chris sighs.

😬 I’m sorry!!!! Feel free to shout at me in the comments or my ask box!

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Series Masterlist / Masterlist

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Kicho's Main Story Chapter 5 Part 2

These translations are not intended as a replacement for the game. Please support cybird by buying their stories. JP SPOILERS under the cut. Expect mistakes.

Kicho: "It's true that everything you need in life is given to you here."

Kicho: "But that's not the same as this. As long as I'm here, I'll give you a payment based on my standards."

Kicho: "That's why, if you want anything, just say it."

Kicho pointed his finger at a shop with a curtain in front of it.

Kicho: "For example, this shop sells cosmetic products."

Kicho: "It's probably nothing compared to what you have in the future, but this one offers high-quality products."

Kicho: "There are also books, figurines, hairpins, and most other things you could find on this street."

Mai: "Oh, nice! It's like the shopping mall of the Sengoku period."

(I don't know what I want, but I'd like to see everything.)

Mai: "Then can I start with that one first?"

Kicho: "Sure."

And so, with bouncy steps, I went to a couple of shops with him, after which we went into an eatery for a break.

Kicho: "Well, have you decided yet?"

Mai: "No."

Kicho: "To think that after all those shops we've been to, you didn't find anything you wanted."

Mai: "Sorry. They're all pretty, but I don't think I need them."

(Nothing really comes to mind when people say I can have anything.)

(Unless there's something I want, I'll just enjoy looking at different things and be happy with it.)

Kicho: "Well, it's okay. Take your time and choose."

Mai: "But the time一"

Kicho: "You're already aware that there's no more work after this, as you're sharing the schedule with me."

Kicho: “In the first place, I’m the one who brought this up. I’m not gonna rush you.”

Mai: “Thank you. Then I’ll take your word for it and think about it for a little longer.”

Kicho: “Yeah.”

Kicho: “More importantly, we’re gonna eat now. You can at least decide what you want to eat.”

Mai: “Okay! Leave that to me!”

As prompted, I looked up at the paper on the wall.

(Wow, the soba noodles look delicious. The grilled skewers look yummy too.)

(No, the stew is not easy to ignore, either. I’m pretty sure it’s well-seasoned.)

Mai: “I’m so torn.”

Kicho: “I just heard your lively reply earlier.”

Mai: “Because look at this shop’s menu!”

Mai: “It's unfair to put all this delicious-looking food together.”

Kicho: “.............”

Mai: “Sorry! I’m really indecisive when it comes to these things.”

Mai: “Alright! I’m just gonna do an eeny, meeny, miny, moe on this.”

Kicho: “Pfft.”

Mai: “Kicho!?”

He suddenly burst out laughing, making me widen my eyes.

Kicho: “The popular food in this restaurant is the skewers you see written there.”

Kicho: “We can order that for today and ask for a different one the next time we're here.”

Mai: “Sure, thanks for the suggestion.”

(Even though it wasn’t the first time I’d seen it, it still surprised me.)

(His smile is bad for my heart.)

We then finished our meal and went back out into the street.

Mai: "It was really good. I can see why that one is popular."

Kicho: "I see. You like it."

Kicho: "Then, let's continue shopping. Tell me if there's anything you want to see."

Mai: "Okay, thank you."

(That being said, what else would I like to see?)

(I feel like I've seen more than enough stuff already.)

Mai: "Ah!"

I spotted something at the end of the street and walked up to it as if I was being drawn in.

Mai: "Hey, look at all these fabrics. The colors are so beautiful."

Mai: "Um, can I go inside the shop?"

Kicho: "Yeah, do whatever you want."

I quickly entered the shop and looked at the fabrics one by one.

(This elegant one has a soft milky white color. And the pattern is rhododendron?)

(This indigo is also pretty. If the obi is a lighter color, I'm sure一)

Slowly, the cloths took on the shape of a kimono, with an obi wrapped around it.

(Yup, nice. A lovely combination.)

Kicho: "You're very passionate about this."

Mai: "Sorry, I got caught up in my own world."

Kicho: "I knew this shop was for you. Your reaction is different from the other shops we visited."

Kicho: "Here, look at this."

Mai: "Wait! Is that a velvet?"

Kicho: "Yeah. This shop also sells fabrics from other countries."

Kicho: "I'm sure they have more. Tell me what you like."

Mai: "What?"

Kicho: "It's my reward for you."

Kicho: "You can make whatever clothes you want out of whatever you choose."

Kicho: "You'll also need a set of needles. If we backtrack down the road, I'm sure we'll find a shop that sells them."

Kicho: "Let's get them later, okay?"

Mai: "Okay!"

(I'm so happy! I can make clothes again.)

Kicho called the shopkeeper, who explained and helped me choose some fabrics, then we bought a set of needles.

On our way home, he looked ahead and glanced at me.

Kicho: "Is there anything else missing?"

Mai: "No, it's more than enough. Thank you very much."

(It's supposed to be a reward for my work, but is it really okay to get this much?)

(He's done a lot for me, so I'll give him a gift in return.)

(Now that it's decided, I need to think about what kind of clothes to make.)

When I was at Azuchi Castle, Hideyoshi got me to help as a seamstress, but because I didn't have much experience sewing kimonos, I had to assist everyone else.

Thinking that I could make it myself, I began to get more and more ideas in my head.

(As I thought, a kimono would be a safe bet. I'll make it in light and calm tones that are typical of him.)

(Oh, but we have a lot of business meetings, so maybe a foreign outfit?)

Kicho: "Mai, come here."

Mai: "Eh? Why一"

Mai: "Waah!?"

Just as his arm went around my shoulder and pulled me close, a rushing person walked past right next to me.

(I didn't notice him at all.)

Mai: "Sorry, thanks."

Kicho: "Good grief, it's okay to get carried away, but keep your eyes on the road."

(Oh…)

As if to criticize my actions, Kicho tightened his arms around me, and I could feel the strength and warmth of his arms, making my heart beat faster.

Kicho: "If you fall and injure your hand, you won't be able to make clothes."

Mai: "You're right. I'll be careful."

Mai: "Sorry."

(I've been out of sorts ever since I saw the fabrics. I really have to be careful.)

I moved away from him, reflecting on the situation, when...

Motonari: "Heh, looks like you guys are getting along pretty well."

Mai: "Motonari!"

Kicho: "Why are you here?"

Motonari: "I have some business with you, but am I interrupting?"

Motonari: "I didn't expect to see you guys so close to each other in broad daylight."

Motonari: "I heard that you keep her around to monitor her, but I guess this is your aim."

Kicho: "I wouldn't keep a suspicious person in the trading post for such stupid reasons."

Motonari: "Hey, hey, don't answer so seriously. I was just joking."

Motonari: "You don't have to take this countryside girl seriously. With that face, you can get any woman you want."

(Hm? Countryside?)

(So he didn't tell him I came from the future.)

Kicho only shook his head without losing his cool expression.

Kicho: "I don't need it. I have no interest in love."

Kicho: "What happened earlier was only necessary to prevent an accident."

Mai: "That's right. He just saved me!"

Motonari: "Heh."

Motonari smirked and glanced at me, his red eyes teasing me.

Motonari: "You're not convincing anyone with that face."

Mai: "What face?"

Kicho: "Don't worry about it, Mai. He just wants to get some satisfaction out of you."

Mai: "What look is he saying?"

I put my hands on my cheeks and found them faintly hot.

(Am I blushing?)

Kicho: "More importantly, Motonari, if you need me, let's talk at the trading post."

Kicho: "It's probably about that thing. Also, I have something to tell you."

Motonari: "Yeah."

Mai: "Um, what's this all about?"

Motonari: "Oi, oi, are you ignoring my advice again? I told you it's better not to step in too much."

Motonari: "The fact that you're watching him so intently that it looks like you're his lover from the outside means you're not worth trusting."

(-----!)

Motonari: "If you don't want to wear a collar, you'd better behave yourself."

Kicho: "Mai, I'll have those items delivered later. Stay in your room when we return to the trading post."

Mai: "Understood."

With Motonari's words stuck in my heart, the three of us walked down the road, the setting sun shimmering in the distance.

(Kicho still doesn't trust me.)

(I knew that, but it still hurts when it's put into words.)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Sasuke: "You're really here."

Sasuke: "I finally found you. Mai."

The day after Kicho and I went into town一

Mai: "I'm finally done checking and organizing these documents!"

After stretching, I put together the bundle of papers.

(I didn't take a break, so I finished early. I think it's already past lunchtime.)

(I don't have anything to do after this, so maybe I can help someone else with something.)

(Oh, but first一)

I got up from the chair and picked up the perfume I wear every day.

(I don't know what's gonna happen, but I've got to look presentable, just in case.)

As I left the room and went down the hallway, I saw, as expected, a guard standing near the entrance.

(Someone's here.)

(As expected. He's so shrewd.)

------------Flashback------------

Kicho: "Mai. I'm going out with Motonari today. You stay here, okay?"

Mai: "Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?"

Kicho: "Yeah, my men are there. You can freely move around here, but don't go outside."

Kicho: "I'll be back by nightfall."

---------Flashback Ends---------

(Going out with Motonari, huh? They are probably just going to resume their talk yesterday.)

(He doesn't want anyone to hear it, but that's exactly what I want to know.)

(Also, it's not like I can inform someone even if I know.)

Mai: "Alright, time to help with some cleaning."

I was about to turn back down the hallway to get a rag when一

Male voice: "Excuse me, I have a delivery for you."

(It looks like someone's here.)

(I feel like I know this voice.)

Kicho's subordinate opened the door, and the owner of the voice entered, carrying a large package.

Sasuke: "Hi. Sarutobi delivery at your service."

Sasuke: "These are the items you ordered yesterday, miss."

(Sasuke!?)

Mai: "Long time no see! I almost called your name there."

Sasuke: "Yeah, thank God you kept your mouth shut."

Sasuke: "If they found out that you and I knew each other, we wouldn't be able to talk like this."

Mai: "Yes. It's really nice to talk to you."

Mai: "I think the last time we saw each other was when we had tea at Azuchi. What have you been up to since then?"

Sasuke: "My employer told me to return."

Sasuke: "It would probably distract you, so I didn't tell you."

Sasuke: "I told you about Kenshin Uesugi, remember? I'm a ninja under him."

(This means that Sasuke and I are enemies in the eyes of others.)

(That's why he didn't tell me the details.)

Sasuke: "But when I returned to the castle, I found that the turbulent world was in serious trouble again, so this time, I came undercover to the border instead of Azuchi."

Mai: "I see. Then we're the same."

Sasuke: "Are you here as a spy too?"

Mai: "Yeah. Actually..."

When I briefly told him how I came here and my current situation, Sasuke was surprised but kept his usual expression.

Sasuke: "So that's what happened. That must've been tough."

Sasuke: "So, one of the people you were with in town yesterday is Kicho?"

Mai: "The one with the black hair is Kicho. Wait, you saw us yesterday?"

Sasuke: "Yeah, I saw you guys are pretty close."

Mai: "What? Oh!"

(Maybe he saw us from the time when Kicho hugged me?)

I felt my cheeks burning as Sasuke tilted his head at me.

Sasuke: "How do you feel about him?"

Mai: "Well..."

Mai: "I guess he's someone I don't want to become my enemy."

Mai: "I went undercover because I thought he was a bad guy, so I didn't really understand him during our time together."

Mai: "Of course, I'm a pacifist. That's why it's been difficult."

Sasuke: "I think I kind of know the feeling."

Sasuke: "People usually don't consider their enemies human beings."

Mai: "Yes."

Mai: "Anyway, I don't have any special feelings for him."

Sasuke: "Really?"

Mai: "Huh?"

Sasuke: "Sorry, I'm not trying to interfere with your feelings, but I just thought that if something were to happen, you, the spy, would suffer."

Sasuke: "And as your friend, I can't overlook that."

Mai: "Sasuke..."

The seriousness of his eyes showed that he wasn't lying.

(He's saying this because he's worried about me. He's really a good friend, but一)

Mai: “Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I won’t bend my beliefs.”

Mai: “I know it’s not easy to live in this turbulent world, and all lives are important.”

Mai: “That’s why I want to make a path where even one of those lives can be saved by my justice.”

Sasuke: “I see. That’s a relief.”

Sasuke: “Then, as your friend, I’ll help you.”

Mai: “Are you sure? That'll help a lot.”

Mai: “Oh, but I can’t run away from here.”

Sasuke: “No problem. You’re here with Mitsuhide, right?”

Mai: “Yes, I haven’t seen him for a while, so I don’t know if he’s still in Sakai.”

Sasuke: “Don’t worry, I’ll look for him. I stayed in Azuchi for a while, so I know his face.”

Sasuke: “If I can contact him safely, I’ll report to him for you.”

Mai: “Eh? Is that okay? You’re Kenshin’s一”

Sasuke: “Yeah. I’m a Nokizaru ninja, but remember, I'm also your friend and a pacifist."

Mai: “Okay. Then I’ll share the information with you.”

(His being here probably means that Kenshin and Shingen are also wary of Kicho.)

(Also, I don’t think getting this information around will affect the Oda army.)

While sorting everything in my head, I told Sasuke that Motonari Mouri was still alive, the number of weapons, and his goal of continuing the turbulent world.

Sasuke: "Continuing the turbulent world?"

Mai: "Keep this a secret, but Kicho also experienced time slipping like us."

Sasuke: "There's someone other than us!?"

Mai: "He was originally from this period, but apparently, he saw the future through a wormhole and came back."

Sasuke: "I see. So you mean to say that he decided to continue living here even after seeing the unification of Japan."

Sasuke: "What the hell happened to him? Or maybe he got affected by the distortions."

Mai: "Distortion?"

Sasuke: " I believe the Kicho in history was a woman."

Sasuke: "She was the daughter of Dosan Saito, the Lord of Mino, and was also known as Princess Nohime."

Mai: "So, this Kicho who is here now is..."

Sasuke: "I don't know all the details, but I guess he was affected by the distortion of history."

Previous Part╏Masterlist╏Next Part

[najaemism]

heart can’t lose [67]

PAIRING. lee haechan x fem!oc

WARNINGS. none

WORD COUNT. 1.2k

SUMMARY. fourth year pre-med student and neo university student council president, haechan lee does not have the time for relationships. instead, he focuses his attention on his studies and extracurriculars, so as not to disappoint his parents. that is until hera seo came along—and everyone starts to wonder if the university’s golden boy would finally let his heart lose.

“HYUCK?” HERA CALLED out upon stepping foot inside her boyfriend’s condo unit. She received no response, making her furrow her eyebrows as she walked further inside. She stopped by the kitchen to place down the kimchi stew Erin had made for him before she moved towards the hallway where the bedrooms were.

Remembering that the first room was his study room, she gently opened the door and found Donghyuck with his head resting on the desk, an open book about Medical Microbiology beside where he was resting. 

She let out a sigh as she walked closer to him, noticing that he had fallen asleep on some papers scattered all over his desk, as well as opened pens and highlighters—all color coded, she remembered from a conversation they had before (apparently, green was for stuff he understood, yellow was for ones he was still trying to understand, red was for what he couldn’t understand, and blue was just pretty).

She smiled to herself as she looked at him sleeping peacefully, her hand coming up to run her fingers through his hair, “Hyuck?” she called again, softly this time, hand still playing with his hair.

He stirred, eyes still closed as he hummed, as if asking why she was calling him.

“Hey, bub, wake up,” she mumbled.

His eyes slowly opened, eyes adjusting to the light inside the room. “Juno?”

“Hi.” She smiled at him. “You fell asleep while studying.”

He groaned, closing his eyes again. “Need five more minutes,” he grumbled, earning a chuckle from Hera.

“You’re going to hurt your neck sleeping here, Hyuck,” she said, hand sliding down from his hair to his cheek, “and Erin made you kimchi stew, she asked me to bring it to you.”

He let out a huff before raising his head from the desk. “M’tired,” he mumbled.

“How long have you been studying?”

“Since I got back home. I think it was around 1 PM,” he replied, his eyes still closing every few seconds, making her smile as she caressed his cheek.

“Huh. And how long have you been asleep?” 

He shrugged as a response. “Few minutes? An hour? Not really sure.”

“You should take a break and rest more, yeah? But after you eat. I’ll just go set it up,” she told him before she leaned down to press a kiss on his forehead. She then moved away from him and turned to leave the room, but he quickly reached up to hold her forearm, lightly pulling her back until she almost lost her balance and fell on his lap.

He hummed contently. “Feel like I’m already resting now, though,” he said before he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“Just saying I feel less tired now that you’re here, Juno.”

She blinked. “Oh.” 

He chuckled. “Stay here tonight?” he asked.

“You gotta eat your food first, though,” she said as she tapped his hand to make him let her go. “It’s going to get cold.”

“S’fine,” he murmurs, holding her closer to him.

“Donghyuck.”

He let out a whine. “Missed you, though, I don’t want to let go yet.”

She smiled at that. “I’m not going anywhere, Hyuck, we’re just going to eat, yeah?”

He lifted his head from her shoulder, and she turned her head to look at him, only to find him looking at her expectantly. “You’re gonna stay here?”

She didn’t reply, instead she leaned down to place a peck on his lips. “Let’s go eat dinner?”

He sighed deeply, although there was still a smile on his face. He stared at her for a few seconds as if he wanted to tell her something.

“What?” she asked.

“Juno.”

“Yeah?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, as if he was still contemplating what he was going to say, and she narrowed her eyes at him as if trying to figure out what was going on inside his mind.

“Are you gonna tell me what you want to say or…?”

He took a deep breath, “You know,” he began, and she raised her brows at him, waiting for him to continue what he wanted to say, “I’ve already had my future planned out since I was… maybe fourteen? I mean, I already knew what I wanted then—well, I knew what my dad wanted for me, I just told myself it was what I wanted, too—but that’s not the point,” he said. “I told you about my first relationship, right?” 

“Yeah?”

“Because I had everything planned out already, I always wanted to stick by that plan, you know? And being with someone… that was never part of it, which was why when I got into a relationship during my senior year of high school, I didn't put much effort into it.” He let out a sigh, eyes now glazed over as if his mind was now somewhere else.

“When that ended, I told myself I wouldn’t get into a relationship anymore, not when I thought that I’d probably end up doing what I did back then, but then, you came in, and—Jesus, it probably sounds cheesy, but everything just... changed? I kept wanting to see you, and talk to you, and just—be with you?

"Which I didn't expect, because honestly, after I drove you home that first night, I thought we wouldn't talk to each other again, but not even a few hours later you sent me a game on iMessage at one in the morning,” he recalled, and she let out a laugh. “Then after the second time we met, well… you already know about that, I told you that already—”

“Hyuck,” she interrupted, “why are you telling me this?”

“Because I’ve been thinking about it—this—for a while now. I know it's only been three months since we got together, so I didn’t want to just say it out of the blue. I thought it was something that had to be said during something special, not when it’s the middle of midterm exams week and I’m running on two or three hours of sleep—but you’re here, right now, and all I want to do is to just... say it, so might as well just tell you all of this before I say it, right?

“Say what?” she asked with her brows furrowed in confusion.

"That you've wrecked my plans, Seo, do you know that?" She snorted at that, and he couldn’t help but smile fondly at her before continuing. “And that I think… I think I love you.”

Oh, she thought, I did not see that coming. 

Silence hung in the air after the words had left Donghyuck’s lips, but despite that, he didn’t look one bit worried about whether she would say it back or not. He knew that he had wanted to tell her that for a while now, and although this was not how he had imagined saying it, it still felt perfect—it felt natural, normal—and he thought, wasn’t that just the most perfect moment to say it?

She stared back at him, mouth slightly hung open before she asked, "You think?"

He let out a chuckle before shaking his head. "Yeah, no, I don't think I love you—” he paused, then said— “I know I do."

"You… you do?"

"Yeah,” he replied, “I do."

She let out a breath, then her lips curled up into a smile. "I think I love you too, Hyuck," she said, grinning as he rolled his eyes playfully.

"You think?" he teased, raising a brow at her.

"Dumbass," she mumbled before leaning closer to kiss him again. "I know I love you too, Hyuck."

SIXTY SEVEN. | prev / masterlist / next

NOTE. i was listening to 'you are in love' on repeat while writing this....... u can say that is the haera song for now :D how are we feeling besties :D

TAGLIST. @radiorenjun @bluejaem @pink-but-rosie @renjun-pretty @holdinbacksecrets @rynshyuckies @jelllyjae @jenyongcas @whyisquill@beemarkie @morkxlee @hibuki-chan @moonwalkun@lyyhyuck @baekhyunstruly @lilacdreams-00 @ridinhyuck@archivedmkl@najaeminluvbot@jiye0n0 @rensiu @morkleetrash @neo444 @hrjchive @keemburley @soobin-chois @yiz-yo @juune04 @nctasdfghj @hyckio @studywoo @jun5ui @smolpeyy @mahae66 @kkotjia @yoonhanzjaem

HCL TAGLIST. @aedreamzy @rrnhyuck @reinde3r @daegalfangirl @yixingtion @dandelionxgal @thesunsfullmoon @yangsbff @y3jiishot @purpleheejin @prdshobi @vantxx95 @goldryush @minavenue @xpsychoticpandax

[summerwritesfics]

🌎Invite Accepted

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Bi-Han Length: 1674 Words Rating: Mature Warnings: Neighbours AU, Teenager!Kuai Liang, Past Child Abuse, Party, Dogs, Bi-Han is kind of a petty bitch, Really he just has a crush on Hanzo and doesn’t know how to express it, Hanzo is just a concerned neighbour, Trauma recovery

Meanwhile In Another Universe Masterlist

Notes: Enjoy Bi-Han having a crush on Hanzo and only being able to express it in being a bitch, Hanzo just being concerned for the two brothers wellbeing, and Kuai falling head over heels in love with a dog again (if anyone remembers Akuma, you’ve either been reading my fics for a long time and have a good memory or you read that one recently lol).

Bi-han glared out the window, looking at the way the man next door was setting up for some kind of backyard party. Bi-Han hated him. He was the worst. Why? Well… You see…

He just was, okay?

Hanzo seemed all nice and polite on the surface, but he was so goddamn condescending. Not to mention, Bi-Han was certain it was him who had called CPS with concerns for Kuai Liang. That had caused a massive headache, and Bi-Han was thankful they’d managed to see Kuai was fine. That didn’t seem to stop Hanzo from being a busybody however. If he offered Bi-Han and Kuai Liang dinner one more time, he wasn’t going to hold back.

Hell, Hanzo had even invited them to this party, even though it looked like he really didn’t want to. Bi-Han was sure he’d only invited them to try and get Kuai alone and once more bring up the non-issue of if he was safe. Because Kuai was safe. At least, he was now. Now that he was here with Bi-Han and not with their father.

Kuai displayed clear signs of his trauma, but Bi-Han was getting that sorted. All Hanzo had to do was keep to himself. But could he do that? No! Because he was an asshole.

“So, are you just gonna stand there and stew in your weird hate crush, or are we gonna go to the party?” Kuai’s voice questioned, as Bi-Han felt the boy peer around him to look outside.

“You do know that our invite is just an excuse to try and pry into our lives again, right?” Bi-Han huffed, watching as Hanzo took a step back to admire his work. Prick. “And I do not have a crush on him.”

“Yeah, sure,” Kuai replied sarcastically. “But if we went, we’d get free food.”

That was a good point, but also how many times had Bi-Han turned down free food from Hanzo? Why should he start accepting it now?

“Please Bi-Han,” Kuai said in a slightly whiny tone, while pointing to one of the tables. “That cake looks amazing!”

To be fair, the cake did look amazing. It was covered in yellow buttercream and had sprinkles and chocolate bark on top.

“Alright, fine,” Bi-han relented, pushing away from the window sill. Kuai did a little jump of excitement, grabbing Bi-Han’s arm to drag him through the house. “But if he even so much as tries to begin nosing into our business again, we are out of there.”

“Uh huh,” Kuai replied absentmindedly, clearly focused on his mission to eat cake. Well, Bi-Han supposed that if he was so hyperfocused on the cake it’d probably stop him from divulging too much to Hanzo.

It wasn’t long until Bi-Han had been dragged from their home and was at the gate leading into Hanzo’s garden. As they walked in, Hanzo poked his head around to see who was coming. His eyes widened when he saw the duo walk in, clearly surprised his invite had been accepted for once.

“Hi Mr. Hasashi,” Kuai exclaimed with a bright smile and a wave.

“Good afternoon, Kuai Liang,” Hanzo greeted back softly, before his eyes flicked to Kuai’s side. “Bi-Han.”

“Hanzo,” Bi-Han parroted back, and Kuai finally let go of his arm.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t exactly expect my invite to be accepted,” Hanzo admitted, his tone was strange and Bi-Han couldn’t put his finger on what exactly Hanzo meant by that.

“If it’s a problem we’re here, we can leave,” Bi-Han offered, hoping Hanzo would take it so he had a proper excuse to leave. He felt guilty when Kuai gave him a hurt look.

“No, no that isn’t what I meant,” Hanzo quickly assured him, waving his hands in front of him slightly. “Forgive me, of course you are both welcome here.”

Hanzo stepped aside slightly to let them both enter the garden properly. Hanzo’s dog, Akuma, a black shepherd, was sitting on his porch, and picked his head up when he noticed the two guests in the garden. Seconds later, he was up on his feet and practically bounding up to Kuai Liang. Of course, Kuai was smitten by the dog and immediately lost interest in both Bi-Han and Hanzo in favour of him.

“So, what really made you decide to come?” Hanzo asked, low enough that Kuai wouldn’t hear. “Because I get the distinct impression you do not exactly like me.”

“Whatever gave that away,” Bi-Han muttered under his breath, ignoring the dirty look Hanzo shot him in favour of watching his brother. Kuai looked so happy, getting Akuma to perform various tricks like paw. Bi-Han was still searching for the perfect canine companion for Kuai, so it was nice when Kuai could get his dog fix elsewhere for the time being. “We’re here because Kuai Liang wants cake.”

Hanzo actually laughed at that, “that does sound about right for a teenager.”

Bi-Han hesitated, before deciding Kuai was sufficiently distracted, and said “Look, I don’t know what you think is happening with us but-“

“I am merely concerned for your brother’s wellbeing,” Hanzo said, getting briefly distracted when Akuma began to lick Kuai’s face. “I’m a teacher, I’ve worked with kids long enough to be able to notice when they’re showing signs of abuse.”

Bi-Han flinched at that word. He still felt guilty that he didn’t see what was happening until it was almost too late. Coming home from college to find Kuai on the verge of death. Rushing him to the hospital where he was told it was unlikely that Kuai would pull through. The fact he had was a miracle, and not one Bi-Han took lightly. He made a vow that nothing like this would happen to Kuai ever again. Sometimes he wasn’t sure he was doing the right things for Kuai, no matter how much therapists and social services told him he was doing well.

“He’s healing,” Bi-han whispered, not sure if Hanzo would believe him. “I can’t say I always do the right thing, but I am trying to and he is getting better. You didn’t see him this time last year, you’d think he was two completely different teenagers.” Hanzo’s face was blank, but weirdly, Bi-Han got the feeling Hanzo thought he was telling the truth. “Just, know he is safe with me, and those signs he’s showing are a result of his past, not his present.”

“If there is anything I can do to help, just say,” Hanzo replied with a sigh. “Your brother is a sweet kid, I’d hate to just stand by and watch when there’s something I could do to help.”

“Hm, well I suppose there is something.” Bi-Han watched as Akuma ran off for a few seconds, before returning with a ball and placing it at Kuai’s feet. Aw, cute. “Do you have any advice for getting a dog?” Hanzo looked at him like he was mad or at the very least making a mockery of Hanzo’s offer. “His therapist suggested getting one, sort of an emotional support animal. I just have no idea where to start looking.”

Hanzo blinked a few times, realising the question was both real and completely valid.

“Well, any dog can be an emotional support dog,” Hanzo began, rubbing the back of his head. “You just need to have the right training.” His head jerked upwards like he’d had a sudden thought. “Actually, a friend of mine who’ll be attending the party does dog training. Her name’s Sonya, if you like I can introduce you and she might be able to help you out.”

“That’d be… Excellent,” Bi-Han admitted. He really wanted to get Kuai a dog, but he definitely had no idea where to start with even basic training. Sonya may be just what he needed. “Um. Thank you,” he awkwardly added onto the end. “Look I know I’ve been an asshole but-“

“You were just looking out for Kuai Liang.” Hanzo shook his head. “If he’s been through something traumatic, it is only natural that you would be protective of him.” He gave a defeated sigh. “I should also have just talked to you, rather than assuming I knew what was going on.”

“Let’s agree we both probably should have handled this situation better.” Bi-Han wasn’t sure he trusted Hanzo completely, but he supposed as long as he continued to be good to Kuai, that was all that mattered.

“Bi-Han!” Kuai was waving at him, Akuma sitting and watching him intently. “Look what I can do.” Kuai turned to the dog, and made a spinning motion with his hand. “Spin!” The dog stood up briefly, did a little turn on the spot before sitting down again. “Good boy!” He held out a treat for Akuma, who happily accepted it, as well as the head pats and cooing Kuai made over what a good dog he was.

“Looking good,” Bi-Han called over, and he had to smile. Seeing Kuai so happy, after everything they had gone through to get here. It just meant the world to him.

“He’ll definitely get on with Sonya,” Hanzo snorted, and Bi-Han saw the smile on his face too. Bi-han had to look away quickly, because since when was Hanzo that attractive? Oh no. Kuai might be right about the weird crush. “Every time she’s here she���s trying to get Akuma to do tricks.” Hanzo blinked a few times as if something occurred to him. “I just realised I never offered you a drink.”

“Ah, well I wouldn’t say no to one now,” Bi-Han replied, slightly alarmed by the flirtatious tone to his voice.

If Hanzo noticed, he thankfully didn’t say anything about it, as he gestured for Bi-Han to follow him while saying “come, let me show you what I have.”

Bi-Han took one last glance at Kuai Liang, the boy giggling hysterically at the way the dog was tilting his head left and right at him. He followed Hanzo, thinking to himself that maybe, just maybe, they’d get through all this after all.

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

Comfort In Family

Summary - Part 47 in the Comfort series

Pairing - Dean Winchester x Reader, Reader x Sam (platonic), Reader x Bobby (father-figure), Andre (OG Character) x Reader (best friends), Garth x Bess

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

A/N: In case I haven’t been saying it enough lately, I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate you all: all your likes, comments, reblogs and even if you’re a silent supporter I appreciate you all the same. You guys constantly remind me why I love writing so much. So, thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this week’s chapter.

Despite setting up a bedroom of her own next door and an air mattress on the floor, Destiny ends up in bed with you and Dean by morning, every day that week. You’re loving it, but Dean’s really missing his privacy.

As you lay in bed waiting for someone else to wake up you let your thoughts run. Despite your whole conversation in the park, nothing has really changed since you came home. To his credit, Dean hadn’t been on a hunt but you can tell he’s struggling. He’s never done the domestic thing for this long before and with a child cock-blocking him too, he’s had no way to destress. Even sleeping you can see the tension in his shoulders. The sentiment was great, and you still want to get out, but you don’t know how much longer he will last. He needs an outlet. Sometimes that would be the car, but she’s in tip top shape.

Unable to lay there stewing in your own depressive thoughts any longer you carefully get up, wrap a dressing gown around yourself and pad out to the kitchen. As you enter the room you notice the oversized Winchester already sitting at the table with a coffee and his laptop.

“So get this,” he says as soon as he notices you.

“Sam…” you pour yourself a mug of coffee and sit opposite him. “If you’re gonna offer a case, just don’t.”

He nods and shuts his laptop. “You okay?”

You shake your head. “The prospect of getting out seemed good when he said it, but now that we’re home it feels like a fantasy.”

“You’ve only been back a week. Give it time. Destiny hasn’t even settled yet.”

You take a sip of your coffee and then say, “you should tell Dean about the case. He needs to get out and do something. I’ll stay here with Destiny.”

“Are you sure?”

You nod. “I’m holding out hope that we’ll get out. I’ve been looking for places, but in the meantime, Dean needs a few days away with his brother to let off steam. He loves me and he’s great with Destiny, but it’s a lot for him. You just make sure he comes back in one piece, alright?”

Sam nods. “Always.”

“As for you, that goes without saying. Dean would never let anything happen to you.”

“Yeah, but he also has a wife and daughter to consider now.”

“Even so, if it came down to a choice between saving you and sacrificing himself he’ll always make the same choice. That’s who he is. He’s loyal to a fault, Sam. I love him for it, I do. It just scares me is all. I don’t want to lose either of you, you know that.”

“But you’re in love with him.”

You nod.

“He’s not the only loyal one,” Sam says before standing up and taking his laptop to his room to start to pack. Leaving you alone once again. You sit there in the silence for a while, while you finish your coffee and then get up to prepare breakfast for your family. You get a heart out to warm a little and then you make pancakes and bacon for your husband. If he’s going to go out on a hunt he needs a decent breakfast first.

Once everything is ready and served you go back into the bedroom. You find Destiny sitting up looking sad so you sit down beside her and wrap her up in your arms.

“You wanna have a girls day today? We can go out and get some more stuff for your room and maybe some new clothes?”

She nods. You look over as you feel Dean stir.

“Morning ladies,” he says sleepily.

“Morning, handsome,” you say. “Breakfast’s ready. Also, Sam’s looking for you.”

“I’m finally able to sleep in peacefully and you people insist on getting up early.”

“It’s almost 10 o’clock.”

“Really?” He questions.

“Yep. Hurry up, your bacon will be greasy and cold.” Not thinking, you slap his ass and say, “move your ass, Winchester.”

Almost unbelievably, Destiny apes your actions, slapping his ass and copying, “yeah, move your ass, Winchester.”

You gasp and put your hand over your mouth to muffle your laughter. Dean sits up and looks directly at Destiny. You bite your lip, scared of his reaction.

“Only she gets to slap my ass,” he says firmly pointing at you.

She instantly tears up and apologises, “sorry, Dean. I didn’t mean…”

“Come on, don’t cry,” he says softly. “Come here.” He opens his arms up for her but she shakes her head and stays still.

She then looks between you both teary-eyed before getting up and scurrying out of the room. You look pointedly at Dean.

“Come on, it was just a bit of fun. She was finally warming up and starting to feel comfortable enough to have fun.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset her. I just…boundaries, Y/N.”

“I’ll go talk to her. Just get up, get dressed, eat and then talk to Sam.” You stand up and leave in search of Destiny. Luckily she only went into the room next door. You find her cowering and crying under her bed. You sit down on the floor beside the bed and keep her company, not pushing her to talk, just letting her know you’re there and that she’s not alone.

Eventually she says, “Dean doesn’t like me. I want him to like me. I don’t want him to hurt me like my dad. I want to be good. Why doesn’t he like me?”

You sigh, unsure how to answer any of her questions or alleviate her anxiety.

“I can go live with Gertie…” she says sadly.

“Only if you want to,” you say. “But you do have a home here. I want you here, so does Dean. He does like you, he just is having trouble adjusting. I promise he won’t hurt you, not physically anyway. He just needs to realise he can do this his way, he doesn’t need to be like his own dad.”

“What was his dad like?” She asks as she crawls out from under the bed to sit in your lap. You rub her back gently.

“He, John Winchester, was a man with a big heart, like Dean. But he lost his wife, Dean’s mother, and then he struggled to handle it well. So he never gave the boys the childhood they deserved. He trained them to hunt. He did raise them to be good men too, but they just missed out on that empathy and parental love.”

“So, now Dean struggles a little with showing it. But he lives deeper than many. His heart is massive. You just have to look a little harder to see it sometimes. But he’s working on it.”

You sit there cuddling her into your arms. Little do you know Dean has been standing outside the fort the whole time listening. Your ability to comfort her while also making him fall deeper in love with you never ceases to amaze him. He knocks quietly and then comes in. He sits on the edge of the bed just beside where you’re sitting and places a hand on your shoulder. You look up at him and smile.

“I’m sorry, Dee. I was a little harsh back there. Y/N did it so you thought it was okay. And mostly that’s a fine way to judge, but there’s some things that she can do that you shouldn’t. But you couldn’t have known that either, so I shouldn’t have been so harsh about it.” You help her crawl into his lap. He smiles at her as he wraps his arms around her. “Honestly, it was pretty funny. But we all have boundaries.” She nods her head and cuddles into his chest. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

She looks up at him with sad eyes. “Dean? Do you like me?”

“Of course. It’s a big adjustment is all. From the time I was your age my dad told me about other creatures out there. Dangerous ones. He included vampires, werewolves and all that and told me they couldn’t be good. But now I know better. But it’s still hard to believe is all. But you, you’re good Dee, and I know you can continue to be with the right support and self control, which we’re gonna help you with.”

She tears up again, but this time they’re happy tears. “I’m sorry about your dad,” she says.

“It’s alright. He did his best. He just didn’t have a woman as amazing as Y/N here to keep him on track after my mom died. We’re gonna get through all this as a family, okay? It’s a long road, but it’s worth it,” he says as he glances between you and Destiny. You nod and smile.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

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[kernyen-xo]

It’s the weekend! I love weekends.

Took my RAV4 in for service. Had lunch with the kid. Went grocery shopping. I used to like grocery shopping. Well, apparently I’ve changed because I sure don’t like it any more.

It was a hot day, like summer. It was only in the low 80s but I was so hot. It was weird to feel that hot. Oh. Ok, I just looked at the weather temp for today. It was 94 degrees! No wonder.

Moving on.

Tomorrow, I’m spending Mother’s Day at the kid’s place. We’re having linner (the kid’s word for lunch/dinner, not quite one or the other) and a cake for dessert!

In other news, I had about $200 worth off stuff taken from my car. Let me just say I made it easy for the thief or thieves by leaving my vehicle unlocked. That rarely happens, but when I thought back on it, I remember being distracted by a few neighbors standing near my car when I got home from work that night. All I could think about was quickly getting into my condo without exchanging any niceties. Yes, I’m that antisocial. I mean, one of them could have said hi or something. I admit it wasn’t one of my shining moments. Not the antisocial thing, but allowing myself to be distracted by it. Yeah, that.

I’m fixing chicken stew tonight. I love broth and soup a lot. Well, I bought a potato to add to it, and let me say that by the time I peeled and cut it, only half the damned thing was useable. That’s the 2nd time that’s happened to me and I bought each potato from a different market. Despite having only half a potato, the stew smells delicious. I’m going to serve it over brown rice with a side of kimchi. So, that’s my dinner story.

Guess what? I’ve finally learned how to buy enough food for a single person. It’s taken me years to finally get here. I’ve always had too much food on hand. It was ridiculous. The other day, the kid came over. Out of habit, one of the first things she does is open my fridge.

“Why’s your fridge empty, where’s all your food, mom?”

It was not empty (geez). I had food in there, but not tons of it. The kid was a little stunned by it all.

“What am I gonna eat?” She half-whined. She’s 43 for crying out loud :D. I wonder if I whine to my mom. Nah, of course I don’t. Pffft.

Can you believe that I haven’t seen John Wick 4? And, apparently I’m in no hurry to see The Guardians of the Galaxy 3. What about the final Fast and Furious coming out soon? Um…I think my action movie thingy is broken. I still love, love action films, but the desire to go to the theater to watch them? It’s broken. Although, I’ll probably catch the Little Mermaid on the big screen…the kid is making a day of it with the granddaughter. If it involves my granddaughter, I’ll pretty much do anything, no matter what :)

Ok, it’s late and I’m still gonna eat some stew! Don’t be jealous because if you were here, I’d let you watch me. And, I guess I’d share ugh.

Toodles!

-xo

[mymommmy]

PART 1

PART 2

„Tommy just let me do this okay, it’s just a quick run to look for medicine. I promise you I’ll be safe, take care of that wheel and tell Maria I’m back soon.” With that she sat on the horse and rode away

“She always does what she wants to, my god. One day this will get her killed”

———————

“Shit, why can’t I find anything, can’t be possible.”

She search for anything at that point, even a can raviolis or beans would have done it. But no she found nothing.

“I hope I don’t need to eat you when it comes to it, Clarissa” Clarissa just bumped her head against her hand. “ let’s ride out a bit more, maybe we’re lucky.”

With that she rode further into the ghost town, buildings that crash into one another. The cinema she wished she could still go to. What would Joel’s favourite movie be? What movies could be made if the apocalypse didn’t happen? How’s Ellie, are both of them even alive?

“Stop torturing yourself y/n, Ellie is probably already at the fireflies and Joel is back at the QZ”

——————

“Yes I know him, he’s my brother”

“Hey Tommy”…

——————

“Maria y/n is back and she found some medicine and food” a women told her. “Thank you Leah, I will talk to her in a bit. Sorry Ellie I’ll be back in a minute”

Ellie couldn’t believe her ears, did she say y/n? Is it possible that her y/n is still alive and here? No, no joel said she’s dead. ” is it possible that I could see the horses again?” “Ehh, yeah shouldn’t be a problem. I’m on my way there anyways”

“What did you find?” A man asked the y/h/c “eh nothing much but is something, I actually found morphine and a few cans of beans and stew.” She turned around and couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Ellie?”

“Oh my god y/n, I missed you so so so much these last months, Joel said you were dead and and..” the little girl hugged her with everything inside of her

“Hey it’s okay I’m here, I’m here Ellie, alive and well” she strokes the hair on her head in a lovely and calm way.

“ I missed you too el’s, so much.” Ellie looked up to her “Joel missed you too you know, he..he talked in his sleeps. And he always says that he loves you too.”

“You both know each other?” Maria asked” eh yeah, I left my QZ with her and Joel, and we were split a few months ago when you guys saved me.” Y/n explained

“Talking about Joel, is ehm.. is he here? By any chance?” “Yes, he’s with Tommy right know, I’ll call him”

——-

“How has life been Joel?” Tommy asked his big brother, that looked almost as old as he was

“Well I’m still here right…” he was cut off by Maria over radio

“Hey Tommy, you and Joel should head back too us. Here is someone he should meet.” “Alright got it, heading back now” “come on let’s go”

“Any idea who it could be?” Joel asked, weirded out.

“No, no idea”

——-

“And then I jumped down and shot him.” “ how did you feel after?” “I was terrified, I thought I would have nightmares but I didn’t get any” “ I’m proud that you safed Joel sweetheart”

“So who is it that we should met? Thank god y/n your still alive, I hope you didn’t get hurt?” Y/n fell into laughter

“ I’m fine Tommy, I found some good things and didn’t need to fight of any infected.” “Good, oh by the way, this is my brother Joel.” Joel was flabbergasted, perplexed and his old heart was going 130 a minute

“Y/n?” “Hey Joel, good to see you old man” he pulled her into a hug that surprised anybody inside Maria’s office “you both know each other?” Tommy asked confused “they don’t only know each other, they love each other.” Maria whispered into his ear. “We’re gonna give you a minute, come Ellie I’ll show you around”

“You’re alive” “I’m alive” “ you’re here, in my arms” “ I am, my strong big man.” “ you will never ever leave my fucked side y/n, or I swear to everything inside of me I will kill myself” “I love you too Joel Miller”

“I thought I never get to say it, I love you too y/n l/n. Always and forever

The End

[sinsandsuccubus]

SEVEN DEVILS - Jack Harlow (II)

Context: “See, I was dead when I woke up this morning. I'll be dead before the day is done.”

Genre: Fantasy

Word Count: 1.8k

Pairings: Priest!Jack Harlow X Witch!Fem!Reader

Warnings: n/a

A/N: Long time no see, but I am back with Seven Devils after a long delay. There is one more part after this, so stay tuned.

Click here for Part 1!

Masterlist ☽☾

                                          ☽ ☾

Static electricity flickered throughout the room, the fairy lights cascading the room being the only source of light. Pages turned through the book, fingertips emulating deep blue between each flick.

“You know honey, sneaking up on a witch is never ideal.”

She flicks her wrist, spinning around and settling on her feet, her husband facing her with a gust of wind.

“I always forget you can do that.”

“Yeah, you do.” She chuckles, bringing him into a long, loving kiss. They part at the sound of feet rumbling down the steps, the books displayed around the room being tucked away with a flicker of blue light.

“Girls! What have I told you about sneaking up on mommy and I? More importantly, about coming into the basement?”

“But daddy! We’re hungry!”

“How does chili sound for dinner?”

“Come on dad, we had that two nights ago!” The littlest one of out the two followed her towering father up the steps, the man ducking his head to avoid the beams.

“Mommy, why aren’t we allowed in the basement?” The two moved towards the stairs, the woman crouching down to meet eyes with her oldest child.

“You’ll learn soon enough my love. One day mommy will tell you what she doesn’t down here. But for now, let’s head upstairs. Maybe I can convince your father not to make that chili.”

“Thank god mom. I was starting to get sick of it.”

                                          ☽ ☾

Memories flooded your vision as you stood in, your once, family kitchen. The aroma of beef stew filled the kitchen, a plethora of herbs laying on the counter. Weeks had passed since the night of the ritual, and you had only seen Jack a few times in passing; you and Diana spending most of your time preparing for a ritual that was due soon as it took place during the full moon. Smiling to yourself, you brought the steaming broth to your mouth, blowing the steam away before swallowing the liquid.

“It’s missing something…. potatoes!” You exclaimed, flickering your wrist, drawing your tote bag over your shoulder, keys flying into the other hand. Swiftly, you shut and locked the door, standing back to look at it as you thought about your sister.

“She has a key.” You mumbled before moving your way along to the market.

                                          ☽ ☾

Chattering fluttered from each stall as you browsed through the market, some of the patrons waving as you passed. One older gentleman drew your attention, your legs moving you to his stall.

“Good evening Miss. Y/N.”

“Good evening Mr. Johnson. How are your sales today?”

“They’re going pretty well dear, everyone seems to be fond of my wife’s pies. Although I think we should keep them for ourselves.” He leaned in and whispered the last statement, a chuckle leaving your lips, his wife then popping up from behind the booth.

“Andrew! You know we can’t do that! Our produce alone doesn’t just bring home the money. And what about Y/N? What would she do if we kept the pies to ourselves?” The woman winked at you, you picking up on what she was putting down.

“Yeah, Mr. Johnson! What about me? Are you just gonna abandon me… what about my needs?” You spoke in shock, head hung low to resemble pain, and hurt.

“No, no dear! Of course, I’d save some for you.”

“Mhmm. That’s what they all say.” Mrs. Johnson mumbled, to which you both burst out in laughter, your hands clutching your stomach as you doubled over.

“It’s always a pleasure stopping by your stall.”

“It’s always a pleasure to see you Y/N. Is there anything you’d like to purchase?”

“Yes, of course. Some of your red potatoes? And a few spices, I’m making beef stew tonight for Diana and I.”

“Ah, that does sound good. Why don’t you take some of the fresh rolls my wife made this morning, free of charge.”

“Mr. Johnson-“

“Please, dear. Take them. Besides, if you don’t eat them, I will.” The old man spoke with a smile, causing you to shake your head in slight laughter.

“Yes sir.” You handed him the money to pay for your original items, receiving a medium-sized bag full of potatoes and spices, alongside a large bag of bread.

You smiled at the man before noticing his gaze trail off, your eyes following his gaze.

“Ah, Pr-“

“Please, call me Jack.”

“Ah yes. J-Jack. What a pleasure to have you here.”

“Pleasure to meet you, sir. Y/N.” He turned to you and kissed your knuckles with sincerity, heat rushing to your cheeks.

“Have you and Jack already met?”

“Ah yes, in the-“

“In the town square. She was the first person I stumbled upon when I arrived. I was mesmerized by her beauty.” Mrs. Johnson looked at you, a smirk hinting on her lips.

“She offered to show me around town. Right Y/N?”

“Y-yes. Thank you for the groceries, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson.”

“Of course dear! Have fun! And use protection!” The elderly woman yelled out, laughter heard from behind you as you and Jack walked away.

“I’m so sorry for those two.”

“It’s quite alright Y/N.”

“Mesmerized by my beauty huh? What a great response.”

“I like how you remember that outside of our fake meeting.”

“Touché.”

“So… where are you taking me?” Jack mouthed like a kid, making you let out a sigh that turned into a chuckle.

“A secret.”

“Oo~ Some place secretive. How do I know you’re not kidnapping and plotting to kill me?”

“First off, it’s not kidnapping if you’re a willing participant. Second of all, I could say the same thing about you in the woods the other night.”

“Touché.”

The two of you burst out into laughter once more, you taking in Jack’s face. Noticing the crinkle of his eyes while he laughed.

His eyes were a beautiful shade of crystal blue in the light, his curls forming a beautiful aura around his face, almost like a halo.

You could say he was a saint.

Except for the fact he was watching you in the woods.

“You’re staring gorgeous.”

“You’re the one who just called me gorgeous.”

“Well, you are.”

“Are you bold about everything?”

“Pretty much. In fact…” He came to a complete stop on the path, looking between your warm eyes and your plump lips.

“May I?”

“I-“ You pondered the decision before the crunch of a branch startled you, noticing a bunny hopping along the treeline.

“We’re here.” You followed the bunny through the trees, ducking under branches as you turned towards the tall man, who had hung back with a pondering look.

“Trust me.” You held out your hand, which he gracefully grabbed, as you pulled him into the scenery before you.

It was stunning.

Trees towered over the two of you, their leaves colorful for the fall. The sounds of water trickling sent goosebumps over your skin, a ring of stones lining the pond that the water fell into.

Jack watched as you skipped along the edge, fear striking up his spine, visions of you slipping into the pond flashing before him, electricity flying up his hands.

However, it was when you settled on a high-sitting-flat-stone, that he calmed down. He followed you swiftly, sitting down next to you, feet swinging next to yours.

“This is beautiful.”

“Thank you.” You paused.

“I’d like to show you something.” You stood, standing up on the rock. Jack's eyes grew wide as you began to strip, folding your clothing into a neat pile that you set next to him. Once having come down to your bra and underwear, you dove into the water, Jack standing up on his two feet to look for you.

Once your head appeared on the surface, you could see the sigh he let out, a smile spreading across your lips.

“Come on in, the water’s just fine.”

“I don’t know Y/N.”

“Come on Jack.” You spoke softly and seductively, Jack’s eyes instantly filling with lust as he began to strip down to nothing but his boxers, jumping into the water less gracefully. You smiled at him as he swam towards you, his curly hair falling within his face. You brushed it out of the way softly, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

“Follow me.” You spoke softly, swimming out further. He followed you a short distance before the two of you stumbled upon a waterfall. Smiling back at him, you swam through, waiting for him to follow, which he did.

Brushing past the water and vines, you two made it to the cave, light reflecting off the walls.

“Wow…” he spoke almost in a whisper, eyes darting around the area.

“I said the same thing when I first found it. Enchanting isn’t it?” You spoke, pulling yourself up onto a smaller rock. He climbed beside you, plopping down.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Because I trust you. For some reason, even with the very short amount of time we've known each other, I seem to trust you.” He smiled at you faintly.

“Thank you Y/N. For trusting me.”

                                          ☽ ☾

The two of you reached the clearing, bodies slightly damp from the water the two of you swam through to leave.

“Don’t you bring a towel or something with you?” He spoke, attempting to fix his damp curls. You laughed, cheeks hurting with humor.

“Usually yes. But when I don’t…” Your voice faded before Jack looked at you, noticing a spark in your eyes. Suddenly purple energy surrounded your body, the water evaporating off your skin. You reached out to Jack, who didn’t hesitate to your touch, as you dried his skin off.

“I practice magic, Jack. I’m a witch.”

                                          ☽ ☾

The walk back to town was quiet, neither of you two speaking since your revealing of your powers. Jack had simply thanked you for his drying, however, had said nothing to you since. You began to wonder if you had done the right thing. You thought you could trust Jack, you had a sense you could.

Right?

Suddenly, the two of you were approached, a small crowd forming around you.

“Priest! Priest! Thank god you are here! Why are you with this wretched wi-“ The noise of the crowd turned silent, ringing filling your ears as you looked at the man you thought you trusted.

The man you had taken to your secret cave and clearing.

The man you were beginning to develop feelings for.

Then, you were brought out of your trance by your neighbor shaking your shoulder.

“Y/N. Diana has gone missing.”

-

Tags ♡︎

@heavyhitterheauxx

@gassyandsassy1

@velvetstreets

@harlowsbby

@harlowcomehome

@raelorns21

@harlowthot

@lcandothisallday

@pianoisland

@softtcurse

@mortirolo

@inluvwithladybug

[queen-of-deans-booty]

The Great Escape: Part One

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2k

Warnings: canon angst and violence

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated.

The search for Kevin has lasted a whole month, and it's still going. No one has seen him, heard from him, and his GPS signal isn't giving anything off. He either must have turned it off or he's not on Earth. It's crazy to think that he's not on Earth, but there is a very possible idea that Crowley took him.

Maybe it wasn't all in Kevin's head.

You haven't brought this up with the brothers because you have other things on your mind. Like Robert. You're standing outside of his door yet again, but you can't seem to go inside.

"You need to let it in," Dean says from the left of you.

It takes a moment or two for you to respond, and when you do, your voice is beyond sad.

"Do you remember what it was like for me when my dad died? I turned my back on my family and Joanna when you and she needed me the most." You turn to Dean with a sad look in your eyes. "I can't afford to do that again. We have two children now; I don't get the chance to break down. Our kids deserve more than a mother who is a crying mess on the floor. It's gonna hurt if I let it in."

"It's going to hurt more if you don't," Dean sighs.

"I don't care. You of all people should at least understand that."

You leave Dean's side and head to the library where Sam is. He is looking worse by the minute, and you can't do anything about it. This isn't something that can be fixed with soup and fever medicine. Sam should take a step back from the trials, but then you won't be able to close the Gates of Hell.

It's too late for you or Dean to start the trials over.

Dean heads to the kitchen to make soup for Sam even though it may not help. Joanna is eating her breakfast at the same table Sam is sitting at, and Maryann is in her baby swing on the floor. Joanna placed her lucky blanket over Sam's shoulder, and he hasn't removed it since it feels warm.

Dean enters moments later with a tray of food in his hands.

"Alright, here we go. John Winchester's famous cure-all kitchen sink stew. There's enough cayenne pepper in there to burn your lips off, just like Dad used to make."

Sam pushes the tray of food away, but you're not having it.

"Sam, eat the damn food. It's been three days since you last ate. Stop being a baby."

"Yeah, mister," Joanna scowls at her uncle. "Eat your food."

Sam stares at her before dragging the tray of food to him. He takes a bite and relishes the taste of it. Before you know it, it's all gone.

"The bloody handkerchiefs, the fever, and the shaky legs... This is not good," Dean sighs.

"Well, I'm not good, and I'm not going to be good until we can start moving again. Until I can start the third trial."

"Trial? I wouldn't let you start a moped. We're on the rails with this thing, okay, and the only way out of it is through it, believe me, I know. You know how bad I wanna slam the door on all those sons of bitches, but you gotta let me and Y/N take care of you, man. You gotta let us help you get your strength back."

"He's right, Sam."

"This isn't a cold or a fever or whatever it is you're supposed to feed. This is part of it all. Those first two trials are not just things I did. They're doing something to me. They're changing me, Dean."

Sam's laptop makes a noise signaling he got a new email.

"It's from Kevin."

"Thank God," you whisper.

Sam opens Kevin's message with the subject line "WATCH THIS VIDEO NOW". He clicks on the link and it's a video of Kevin inside Garth's houseboat before he disappeared, obviously.

"Sam, Dean, Y/N. I've set up this message with some software on a remote server so it'd send itself to you if I didn't reset it with a command once a week. Which means I didn't reset it this week, and there's only one reason I wouldn't. Which means if you're watching this, then I... I'm dead. I'm dead, you bastards! So screw you, screw God and everybody in between!" Kevin takes a breath or two before continuing. "Crowley must've gotten to me, and the one thing I know is that I won't break this time. Not sure how I know, but I do. I've been uploading all my notes and the translations, and I'm sending you the links so you can get all of it. You guys are gonna have to try to figure out the rest. I'm sorry." Tears ghost in his eyes. "I know it was my job, but I couldn't... I'm sorry."

The video ends, and your heart hurts for Kevin who you brought into this life. He was perfectly fine at college, and you sucked him in. Tears of your own fall for Kevin, but Dean is the most pissed out of the three of you.

He angrily swipes a stack of books off the other table, scaring Joanna and Maryann.

"Damn it!" he yells.

Dean leaves without another word, and you know he needs to take a walk and calm down.

"Mama? Is Daddy okay?" Joanna asks.

"Daddy's fine. Just finish eating your food."

Sam prints off everything Kevin sent over, and it's enough to cover every inch of the entire library table. Dean comes back an hour later on the phone with someone.

"Yeah, I know you haven't seen him, Keel, nobody has. Well, if you talk to Garth, just have him call in."

"Is Garth still MIA?" you ask.

"Yeah."

"How about the other prophets in line? I mean if Kevin is dead, then won't one of them be activated?"

"Not a peep."

"Isn't that a good thing? If there is no news of a new prophet, then Kevin isn't dead. Kevin turned into one because Chuck died. It happened immediately. We'd hear news of a new prophet, so Kevin must not be dead," you kept the hope.

"You saw the message, Y/N."

"That doesn't mean anything. All that means is that he couldn't reset the software. Crowley took him, I just know it."

"Regardless, here we are. No lead and no tablet. We should've moved him here."

Kevin's notes must have something here, so you have to go over every inch of them until you find something you can use.

"There it is again, every time," Sam mutters to himself. He holds up a few papers with the same symbol on it. "I know this symbol. Now, Kevin has it down as sort of like a signature for the Scribe of God. It appears every time Metatron makes one of his, like, editor's notes."

Metatron was discovered when you first encountered Kevin Tran in the hospital with Castiel after he took Sam's pain away from the wall cracking in his head.

"I think I've seen it before. I mean, it was a long time ago. It was one of my humanities courses at Stanford."

"They taught the Word of God at Stanford?" you chuckle.

"No, it was an overview of Native American art. I think it's a petroglyph.

A petroglyph is a rock carving. People would carve images into rock using a stone chisel.

"This one belonged to a tiny tribe in Colorado. It says here they held onto their scrap of mountains when all the other tribes fell to the white men. This glyph was a territorial marker with the closest translation being: 'messenger of God'." Sam takes a moment to think about what he just said and gets excited. "Guys, we have to go there!"

"On that hunch? You can barely function," Dean shakes his head.

"I'm only gonna get worse. I mean, until we get back to the real job, until we find the third trial, we're out of prophets! We're not gonna figure out what Kevin couldn't! I'd say we go to this messenger of God who wrote it in the first place!"

"He does have a point," you side with Sam.

"You think this Metatron is hiding out in the mountains with a bunch of Native Americans?" Dean scoffs.

"Yeah! Yeah, I do."

"It doesn't hurt to look," you shrug.

"Whatever."

Dean slams his book shut and leaves the library to get the car ready. You get the kids ready whileSam tries to get himself ready. Zeus is going to stay behind again, but you make sure he has enough water and food to last you however long this trip will take. It takes all of thirty minutes to get ready and all of eleven hours to travel to New Mexico where this "Messenger of God" is supposedly hiding.

You three walk inside with Joanna walking next to Dean and Maryann in her stroller. There is a bell on the desk that you ring, and moments later, the hotel clerk walks out from the back room.

"Hello, we'd like a room, please. Preferably with two rooms."

Sam wanders the front lobby, but he doesn't look too good. He flinches as if he hears a loud noise, but there isn't anything that is making a loud enough noise to flunch from.

"Did you hear that?" Sam asks you and Dean.

"Hear what?" you whisper to him.

"He has the flu," Dean chuckles at the clerk, taking the keys from him.

After getting your room assigned to you, you three head over to the room on the first floor. Sam immediately grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and sits down on one of the beds.

"Mama, I'm hungry," Joanna whines.

"Okay, eat this. We'll get more food later."

You reach into your bag and hand her one of her snacks, but she throws it on the ground and it goes everywhere.

"No, I don't want that!"

"That is not how you behave. You're in time-out. Go sit in the corner," you say sternly.

"Daddy!"

"You heard your mother."

Joanna whines but does what she's told. She sits in the corner and pouts. You use your magic to clean up the mess, then you grab Maryann since it's time to feed her. You have formula to use since all of your bottled breast milk is in the freezer back home. You settle into the sofa chair when you see Joanna start to move from her spot. Dean leaves to check out the hotel while you feed your daughter.

"Joanna Beth Winchester. Stay where you are."

"We're the only guests in this whole place," Dean says when he returns. "The last entry in the registry was in '06."

"Hey, do you two remember when Dad took us to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, on that pack-mule ride?" Sam smirks. "You're, uh, mule kept farting, just— l-letting go."

"Dude, you were like, four years old. I barely remember that," Dean scoffs.

"You rode a farty donkey," Sam laughs.

He is definitely delirious, you'll give him that.

"Okay. Y/N and I are gonna go check out the Two Rivers Tribal Museum and Trading Post."

"Yeah! I'm gonna follow the hotel manager, Dr. Scowley-scowl. He's like a villain from Scooby-Doo," Sam giggles.

"Okay, you're staying here and getting some sleep."

"Yeah, I can do that too."

Sam falls onto the bed and is quick to sleep.

"We're not leaving our kids with him. We're taking them with us. Joanna, are you ready to come out of your time-out?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to throw another tantrum?"

"No."

"Come on.

You and Dean get the girls ready and head over to the Museum where the clerk is more than happy to talk about the Native American history.

"The people of the Two Rivers tribe came to this land centuries ago. A land that was harsh and stony, but the mighty leader told his people that they must stay here. He claimed that this was the home on Earth of the great spirit's sacred messenger, and that if they'd make offerings, their blessings would be many."

"What were the offerings?" you ask. "What did the great spirit's sacred messenger ask for?"

"Stories. He asked the people to tell him stories."

You're about to ask another question when your phone rings. Sam is calling, and you pick up immediately.

"Sam? Are you okay?" However, you don't hear anything on his end. "Sam? Are you there?" You look at Dean and shake your head. Something is wrong. "Excuse me. We need to be going. Thank you for your time."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[authorautumnbanks]

How To Tame A Sorcerer (12)

A sliver of sunlight peeks through the window, highlighting small areas of the hotel room and settling on Kagome's form. Gojo basks in the softness of her pressed against him with one hand stewed across his chest. He lies there for a while, not wanting to break the peaceful moment of not having the weight of the world on his shoulders. For all of his playful boasting and mindless chatter, even he needs a moment to just be.

He yawns as he reaches over to grab his phone from the nightstand. His lips tilt down in a frown from the numerous missed calls from Ijichi and Yaga. Scrolling through, there's a call from Shoko and a message from Megumi.

Ugh, he'll deal with it when he gets back.

Kagome shifts, the oversized shirt that he loaned her–insisted on–slips, exposing a shoulder. Clicking the camera icon, he snaps a picture of them. The clicking sounds echo in the otherwise quiet room. Crap, he thinks. He forgot to turn the sound off.

"Did you take a picture?" Kagome asks, voice groggy with sleep. She rolls over to her back and then makes a move to sit up. Mentally, he scolds himself for bemoaning the loss of her warmth against him and for thinking about how beautiful she looks with her dark hair sticking in every which way.

He points the phone at her and snaps another picture, laughing when she tries to snatch the device from him. "I need something to look at when I'm on a mission." He sets it back down the nightstand and then sits up, his body angling towards her.

"You should pay attention if you're on a mission," she mumbles while simultaneously trying to block a yawn, and failing.

"I get bored."

"You get bored?"

"Mhmm." He nods his head. "The curses all just so weak." Kagome gives him a look of disbelief and then one of surprise when he leans over further and kisses her. "You're just too cute, Gome-chan." He pinches her cheek, delighting in how her skin flushes pink.

"What time is check out?" She stretches her arms. He figures he'll allow her to change the subject since he's avoiding the fire that is brewing back at home.

"I think we have to be out of here by 11:30 or something like that." He reaches over and hits the home button on his phone. "We've got enough time to order breakfast and then catch the flight."

"We're going back already? We just got here like yesterday." Her face scrunches up in a frown. "Or was it the other day?"

"That's one disadvantage of being so in demand, ya know? Always on the go. Not everyone is cut out for it, but I suppose this is my pension to pay for being the strongest. And the best sensei and boyfriend." He rubs his hands down his face as if everything is so tiresome.

"I don't even know why I put up with you," she jabs.

"Because I'm the world's best boyfriend."

"You're not actually—"

"Do you know what material that shirt is? Its—"

"Don't say it."

"Boyfriend material." He crackles to himself and doubling over at the pure irritation radiating off of her. "You know, you glow red when you're mad?"

"I glow?"

"Yeah." He moves the covers back and gets out of the bed. "I'm going to go grab some breakfast for us." Rummaging around in his suitcase, he pulls out some jeans and a shirt. "What?" he asks, as he slips the pants on over his boxers.

"N-nothing. I'm gonna take a shower, I'll see you when you get back." She stumbles out of the bed, tripping over the cover. She practically runs to the bathroom. The sound of the door slamming shut resonates in his eardrums.

She really is the cutest thing; he thinks as he slips the shirt over his chest.

Over fourteen hours later, give or take–not that he was counting down. They make it back to the apartment. Neither one bothers to take their suitcases to their rooms, opting instead to leave them by the door. Gojo checks in with Megumi first. He doesn't get a chance to say hello before Megumi's voice frantically relays what happened while he was gone.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kagome's voice drifts in and out. His heart constricts, blocking off blood flow from the rest of his body. What was she saying? Megumi's words roll around in his mind, repeating over and over again.

"It's Yuji," he starts. His tongue is like sandpaper dunked in a bowl of water. "He died while out on a mission, that should have gone to me." Tremors wrack his body as he struggles to contain his anger at the higher-ups for sending his students on a suicide mission. "Fucking elders." Kagome wraps her arms around his waist and peers up at him, her hands rub small circles on his back.

It's the most comfort he's ever gotten, he realizes with a pang. "I gotta go." He moves to unwrap her from him, but she tightens her hold. Her fingers grip his shirt.

"I'm coming with you."

"There's no need."

"I'm not asking you. I'm coming with."

"So bossy," he jokes, a simple grin stretching across his face at the determined look in her chocolate eyes. He decides they should just have dessert in place of dinner, something with lots and lots of chocolate to distract him. "It'll be faster to just teleport there. I don't want to waste any more time."

The first thing he hears is Ijichi's screams. It's hard to believe sometimes that the man is actually younger than him, with how much stress marks his face. He wonders how long the Ijichi has been waiting for him to get back.

"Be quiet," Gojo complains, ignoring the raised brow from Shoko. The small room is freezing, as is customary of a morgue. Yuji's body lies on the raised metal table. There's dried blood from where his chest must have been ripped out. Gojo clenches his teeth as he walks himself and Kagome over to the bench.

"I-I'm so sorry," Ijichi rushes out, his hands raised as if Gojo is going to attack him in retaliation. "The mission was supposed to just be a rescue mission and to not engage the curse. I didn't know that it was a special grade."

"Give me the report," Gojo orders, his hand out for the folder. He flips through it, skimming the pages. The whole situation reeks of the higher-ups. Bastards. He hands the folder back to Ijichi, who jumps at the force with which he thrusts it into his hands. "Do you know why someone like me became a teacher?"

"N-no," Ijichi responds, his slicked hair unravels a bit from the amount of perspiration.

"To change the jujutsu world. I could kill the higher-ups, but what would that change?" Kagome grabs his balled fist, coaxing him to unclench his fist and interwind his fingers with hers. "I want to create a world that isn't stuck in old ways of doing things."

"It's not like you to show so much emotion," Shoko interjects as she lights a cigarette, taking a long drag. The smoke is bothersome; tainting the sterile atmosphere and casting a cloud on his own fragile moral compass.

"Why would they want to kill Yuji before he's eaten the rest of those fingers?"

Swallowing back the anger that wants to leak out, Gojo responds to Kagome, "Because they're afraid. They fear the unknown and seek to get rid of anything that poses a threat to them." Her fingers twitch in his hand, and he knows he doesn't have to verbalize that the elders would seek to get rid of her as well.

"Well, now that you've seen him, I can get started." Shoko puts out the cigarette and throws it in the ashtray on the counter near a box of gloves. Slipping on a purple latex glove, Shoko only gets one on when Ijichi's stammering draws their attention.

"He's a zombie!" Ijichi points, his hand shakes with each word spoken. Gojo doesn't need his six eyes to see the fear radiating off of Ijichi.

"Quiet," he commands as he lets go of Kagome's hand and walks over to Yuji's now very much alive body. "Welcome back, Yuji-kun."

Yuji slaps his hand with Gojo's. "Oh! Kagome-san, you're here too."

"Ijichi, can you grab some clothes for Yuji?" Shoko asks as she takes her glove off. "I wanted to dissect him," she mutters with a sigh. "Satoru, a word." She tucks her stray strand back behind her ear.

Gojo follows behind Shoko, waving back at Kagome and Yuji as he leaves out of the morgue. "What is it?" He leans against the building, the warmth of sun a stark contrast to artificial lighting in the room they were just in.

"He was dead," she starts. Her dark eyes look even more tired than usual.

"I'm betting Sukuna had something to do with it. Say, could you keep Yuji dead in the report?"

"Sure, for a price."

"And here I thought we were friends." Gojo clasps at his shirt. "You want to know who Kagome is?"

"I've never known you to be linked to anyone. She must be important if you're turning off your infinity for her. Not to mention, she was unfazed by the dead rising."

"She can bypass my infinity." He smirks at her stupefied expression. "But you want to know who she is." He taps his finger against his chin. Despite his insistence, Kagome insists they are not together, and he wouldn't classify her as a friend. Roommate is too basic of a term. "She's my partner."

"Partner… So, your girlfriend or actual partner?"

He shrugs in response.

"Just be careful, alright." Shoko gives him a small smile and walks back into the morgue. Gojo follows her.

"Oi! Yuji," he calls as he steps into the room. "You'll be staying with me for a bit."

"Really? Not in the dorms?"

"We're keeping you dead for a while, yeah. You'll get personalized training with yours truly, and you'll get to enjoy Gome-Chan's cooking."

"You think they'll try to get him killed on the job again?" Kagome questions, her arms crossed.

"Sure, it would be really easy to slip them a mission they aren't qualified for." Gojo looks over at Yuji "What is it?"

"I'm just so happy," Yuji responds, his face broken out in a gigantic smile. And were those hearts in his eyes?

"Ijichi, take Yuji and Kagome home."

"Um, where is home?" Ijichi's voice quivers as he readjusts his round glasses.

"I'll direct him," Kagome speaks up as she rubs a hand on Ijichi's back. "Come on, Yuji-kun, I'm sure you're tired."

"See you two at home." Gojo waves as the trio leave out, just leaving him and Shoko. "I know, I know." He gets out before Shoko can open her mouth. He knows exactly what he needs to do.

[punkscowardschampions]

Bimmy & JJ

Bobby: [just got far too much time after school to be sat here stewing waiting for Jimothy to get home, me like I hope you washed up your tea mugs or we’ll be SUSPICIOUS honey]

Jimmy: [what a fun mood he’ll be in, having to wait because I’m sure Jimothy doesn’t get home til like 6 or even 6.30 sometimes, I’m also sure that whilst he carried the mugs and her sandwich plate into the kitchen he did not in fact wash them up so unless y’all have a dishwasher he could’ve just quickly shoved them in, which I’m pretty sure we’ve said before they don’t, they will be there]

Bobby: [the drama sis, who else are you going to be having ‘round when Libi is also at school so you know she hasn’t been able to sneak in, poor boy just here freaking out and lowkey looking through all your things like what do we need to take, what can we leave, like you’re gonna flit off tonight]

Jimmy: [you defs should’ve washed up but that just goes to prove how distracted y’all were, cos yeah, has not even occurred to him that Bobby will even notice never mind that he’s fully packing his bags rn, soz boy]

Bobby: [someone was a little too busy lmao, not that that’s crossed our mind, we assume she just came to tell you this terrible news in person so you’ll be fully on board and ready to go when you get home, assuming y’all track each other’s phones so he’s already checked you are at work/on your way home and haven’t gone to kms after this meeting]

Jimmy: [come find him whatever room he is in when you finally do stroll in, under the premise of asking him what he wants for tea so you can sit him down and talk about the pub move and Libi’s bday and the dog and all the things, just there like ? because not expecting the scene he walks in on as he announces himself with the lights on and off move]

Bobby: [when you’re so hyped up but not in a fun way at all, just a LOT of energy lmao ‘when did she come over?’ immediately, no hello here lol]

Jimmy: [a look like that’s like calm down, in a genuinely concerned way obvs not a pisstakey one, because whoa now this is a lot ‘lunchtime’ steering over to somewhere with a hand on his shoulder to sit down ‘we needed to talk’ looking at him cos clearly can’t wait until dinner is ready and on the table as was his initial plan ‘we do an’ all’ me just writing this like he’d say it even though tis signed so we’re not getting that northern-ness across lol, let me live]

Bobby: [‘I already know, Libi told me’ dismissively but in a no we don’t way ‘cos I’m already on the level and up to date don’t worry, sitting wherever but under duress because we’d rather be pacing frankly]

Jimmy: [‘go on, what did she say?’ because wanna hear it from him and thus be able to gauge what he’s feeling more so than the info he does or doesn’t know, cos he’s sure you do have the full jc move goss, boy, but it’s not the knowing that’s as important as how upset you are about it and wtf you think you’re doing packing lol]

Bobby: [‘that she got them kicked out and they have to go live over the pub, so everyone’s gonna find out’ like um hello but also looking at him sympathetically ‘cos it’s you that got the dirty did on you, not us]

Jimmy: [managing not to wince, sigh or squeeze his eyes shut at how blunt that was because tis true tbf, and as much as you don’t relish everybody chatting about it, it’s more for Bobby and Libi’s sake than his, we know that, cos they have to go to school and deal whereas he isn’t an angsty teen anymore and had to deal with peeps chatting worse shit about his dad murdering his mum etc when he was, so, from his POV not nice but also not up there at the top of his priorities re this marriage breakdown in the slightest, so a nod like alright, that’s out of the way, onto the next thing, making a deliberate meal of looking around the room so he can’t miss it ‘and what’s all this?’]

Bobby: [just watching him not react which is as much of a reaction as if you just had, sorry to say, picking up your feet in your seat dramatically because you wanna kick something like for fuck’s sake but you aren’t going to so just fold them up underneath you instead ‘there’s no reason to stay here no more and now all the reason to go, we should before it gets bad’]

Jimmy: [‘mate, here’s our home’ cos it is and jj both know running away doesn’t solve anything actually, as much as they had doing it as teens ‘all the people we’re bothered about and who are bothered about us are here, our family is’ because soz but Libi and Janis and Casey are still your fam and baby Jac also exists ‘we can’t just piss off somewhere else and cross our fingers they’ll be alright on their own, or pretend it’ll solve owt for us two going off however far down the road, it don’t work like that’]

Bobby: [idk if you can laugh, maybe it would just sound odd, no offence, or if it’s just the facial expression of but either way, doing that like you what ‘they’ve all fucked off first, there’s no one but us left, we don’t need to stay here and get humiliated ‘cos of them, what for?’]

Jimmy: [shaking his head but he is nothing if not patient, so sitting down near to him without being right in his grill about it ‘they’ve not, she’s been here today, we were chatting only a bit ago’ like tis simply not true, I’m soz ‘and we’ve said we’ll try and be proper mates, have a better go at this than we have been, that’s what for, for all of us, you and Libi are included right in with it’]

Bobby: [‘and who’s idea was that?’ like I know it weren’t yours ‘you can’t be mates with her, it’s fucked she would even ask you to do that after what she’s done’ because we think this is gross and terrible]

Jimmy: [‘mine’ because it was, he said he wanted to be ‘you know I’ve not been doing well with how things have gone before now, I need to do something different, try to, why I asked her and she’s said she will do, it’s for my sake more than hers, but you heard, it’s for all of ours’]

Bobby: [doing the same thing where you try not to react as you did earlier because we really pity you right now and think you are being played because of your emotions but we know you won’t appreciate that so we’re basically just grimacing like … anyway lmao ‘I’m proposing something different, a total fresh start, that’s just going back to how it was’ like come on]

Jimmy: [‘it’ll be nowt like it were’ using the depression to his advantage to really suppress how heartbreaking that is as a concept to him rn because not trying to break or shut down here in this moment by sending himself on a thought spiral of the way things used to be or are now ‘it can’t be, but we’ve gotta stay here, I ain’t able to chuck you no sort of fresh start on my own at the minute, just us keeping on, that’d be how it got bad’ not him acknowledging to Bobby, a little bit, how mentally ill he is, oh progress]

Bobby: [‘nah, it won’t, but she’ll string you along like she did Case the entire time because that’s what she does’ getting up to your feet ‘cos you got points to make ‘it’s not about me, it’s about you, because if you don’t cut yourself free then you’re gonna get worse and worse and she’ll do fuck all about it like she can’t see it’]

Jimmy: [SUCH a look like DON’T that he cannot stop himself from throwing out because Janis defense squad 5ever ‘if it’s about me, listen to me, she proper helped us earlier when I badly were in need of, I get you don’t trust us, and you’re right to not, but we’ve had a word about where to go and what’ll help us more from here on, it ain’t owt to do with different geography’]

Bobby: [just staring at you exasperatedly, shaking our head like what are you on about ‘I don’t trust her and neither should you, you know, as she cheated on you with your own brother’]

Jimmy: [a DEEP breath ‘yeah, and that won’t go away, no matter how long we spend in the car looking for a new postcode’]

Bobby: [‘you wouldn’t have to think about it every day, risk seeing either of them, hear people talking about it, see all their fucking family all the pissing time’ slapping the back of one of your hands on the other after every point as punctuation and emphasis ‘we’d have each other, you don’t need to be scared’]

Jimmy: [‘there’s sod all that’ll stop us thinking about it every day’ letting that sigh out he didn’t before because of how true and heavy he knows that is until he starts to sort his head out ‘might be what the doctors chuck at me’ll do something, but-’ a pause, to look at him and for emphasis ‘I still have to see her, and I want to’] 

Bobby: [have obviously been signing animatedly this entire time, so slowing it down and being a bit calmer about it ‘you’re just brainwashed, you don’t have to do anything, you’d be better if you didn’t’]

Jimmy: [‘I have to get my head sorted so I can be about for her and Libi as much as to do a better job of it than I have with you, not instead of’ when you have not mentioned the baby because I firmly believe you have never to him, even though he knows about it via Libi]

Bobby: [shaking our head again ‘no, you don’t, you don’t owe them anything, it’s their fault, not yours’ putting a supportive arm on his shoulder for a sec before you have to talk again ‘you need to think about yourself’]

Jimmy: [‘I am doing, it is my fault, and I couldn’t live with myself if this is how things stay, never mind them getting no worse’ doing a fam style feelsy lean because always ‘for none of us, I love the bones of the lot of you’] 

Bobby: [pushing away from it ‘that is a mental thing to say, you got cucked, Jesus, Jim!’ walking off into another room for a second because we can’t deal with you right now but also you’re deaf so that shuts down all conversation unless he follows you and you don’t think he will so you’re coming back in]

Jimmy: [‘I am a bit mental’ when he comes back in, doing the 🤏 to try and make it slightly bants because again, how true and heavy that is with regards to the long slow trek of trying to get better is so much ‘I left her first, I’ll not be doing nowt like that again’]

Bobby: [‘she’s not coming back, she wants everyone to know now’ shrugging ‘and someone else wouldn’t make you feel mental for any of this, they’re the sick ones’]

Jimmy: [‘I’m not hanging about for her on the off chance, I meant what I said, I’ve a life here, my job, mates-’ a pause while he corrects that to ‘a really top mate’ cos shoutout to Pete, that icon ‘so have you’ after another pause like shoutout to Libi too, remember her, boy]

Bobby: [when we really don’t believe you and we’ve literally crossed our arms whilst you’re talking like I won’t be adding to this, almost turning away but only half as if you’re half listening]

Jimmy: [‘things started to go wrong ages ago, I should’ve cracked on with putting them right then’ like a * for what he said about them being the sick ones as if he just realised he didn’t address that]

Bobby: [‘not your fault they’re fucked in the head, always have been’ me like oop and you reap what you sow by acting like Casey was an unfixable and unredeemable nightmare]

Jimmy: [‘it is, I never gave neither of them what I should’ve, instead I let them both down, ‘course they’d stick together for it’]

Bobby: [rolling your eyes like oh please ‘there’s no point staying here, leave out pretending there is’]

Jimmy: [‘there is, and you know it as well as I do, pissing off and pretending you can be chuffed and never look back is what there’s no point to’]

Bobby: [‘leave me out of your sad attempt at playing happy families with them, I’m not interested’ before turning the TV on and throwing yourself on the nearest empty sofa to sprawl out]

Jimmy: [give him some time, go make a tea for you both and leave his within reach when it’s ready but have yours in the kitchen so that again you’re not in his grill cos much to process]

Bobby: [we’ll just be here in a vegetative disassociated state not processing and instead watching mindless television, don’t mind us lol]

Jimmy: [that went well lads]

Bobby: [you love to see it lmao]

Jimmy: [can’t even tell him about this dog now cos he’s made it clear he’s not interested and Jimothy is that bitch who will just leave it, hence you’ve got yourselves in this mess, what a fun stalemate to be in, go make dinner of some sort and bring it to him the same way as if this is in any way casual or a normal night]

Bobby: [at least you’ll have to eat that even though you left the tea because you’re a teenage boy and they are always hungry, and at least it’s physically impossible for you to hold a full conversation and eat so we can pretend this isn’t awkward as it is]

Jimmy: [just eating in silence on opposite sofas, a scene that would be all too familiar of the past month, I really want Jimothy to step his pussy up but I can’t run before he can walk so here we are]

Bobby: [the way this is preferable to us because we’re sick of Libi trying to talk to us in general and we just wanna stay here alone and not deal with any of them or any of that mess of a scenario or any emotions; this’ll be why Jimmy can’t show to her birthday though, tah Bobby]

Jimmy: [I can’t shade him too hard because the level of emotionally exhausted he’d have been all day before the JJ convo even started never mind this one, and at least he has tried to begin this one, but ugh it’s frustrating lol, like, he can’t even be having his own convo with Libi via text rn to make it productive cos there’s only so much he can hack in one day]

Bobby: [it makes perfect sense, if this wasn’t an issue we wouldn’t be here, at least Bobby will be going to his room at some point so you don��t have to just sit and watch him do nothing all night]

Jimmy: [go to bed and sleep sir because we all know you want to for literally a thousand years, at least we can put the JJ convo here as well, like pre-Libi’s bday and getting Peach, him telling her he can’t do whatever they had planned as an outing, cos he said he’d let her know if he couldn’t]

Bobby: [sounds good girl]

Jimmy: Have you said to Libi about [wherever they were going]?

Janis: Not yet, though I will lead with it now I’ve let things cool off

Janis: better than calling her a selfish cow or whatever again, no doubt

Jimmy: don’t, our kid’s having none of it and pissing off without him wouldn’t be a good shout at the minute

Janis: oh, that’s alright

Janis: I did wonder if he’d be up for it

Janis: I can still take her, if you don’t mind us doing it without you?

Jimmy: you’re alright, if you still fancy it, crack on

Janis: It won’t be the same but it's not my birthday so better think of something to do with her

Janis: how is he, stupid question though it is

Jimmy: The kind of question where the answer is, that the other day I came in from work to find him packing the place up, with it in his head we’d just piss off and go

Janis: ah

Janis: I bet he took the news you weren’t after leaving your whole life here behind really well then

Jimmy: Weren’t no 👍

Jimmy: 🖕 more like

Janis: how are you is a better question then 

Janis: 🤏

Janis: trying to take comfort in the fact that’s the expected and normal teenage response?

Jimmy: something like that

Janis: you do know how normal it is, yeah

Janis: Libi is honestly pretty weird for wanting to spend any time with us still

Jimmy: Least she’s weird how I am, ‘cause same

Janis: I’d say you go with her but it’d only be funny to me for the first three seconds to see his reaction to suggesting I keep an eye on him

Janis: he’s only different ‘cos he had a family about to get sick of, you didn’t

Jimmy: Take real comfort in that any road, can’t I?

Janis: 🤞

Janis: I’m sorry, I was looking forward to it too

Jimmy: I’d say tell her I am, but it’s probably better if she don’t have no clue I were ever gonna be there

Janis: depends

Janis: you’re allowed to let her know your intentions but do you want to also let her know in the process that Bobby don’t want to see her

Jimmy: can’t wrap no bow round it and make it look a top birthday gift, bit too gutting for her

Janis: yeah, probably

Janis: there’s an argument for letting him be a dickhead on his own time but

Janis: I appreciate you looking out for her best interest, although she’s going to know regardless when he doesn’t show up to [do their whole rigamarole lol]

Jimmy: Argument for locking them in together somewhere and losing the key ‘til they both stop being dickheads and sort themselves out, but probably best we don’t, nspcc would be right round

Janis: this is going to be dead uncomfortable for us all

Janis: last thing this situation needs is social workers

Jimmy: Long as he don’t ring the rspca on the dog I’ve not said nowt to him about

Janis: bit harsh, poor cow really is blameless 

Janis: she can always stay with my grandparents, don’t forget, if he does kick off or you at least need time to tell him

Jimmy: tah, rather not take you up on the offer, but fact is I might have to

Janis: I mean, ultimately I think he should get over it and deal, you had to keep Twix about for him but I’m not going to force the thing upon you to make that point

Janis: fucking teenagers

Jimmy: Who’d have ‘em, eh?

Janis: 👵👴

Janis: made us feel a bit sick, that

Jimmy: Tell me about it, mate

Jimmy: sick to the back teeth over here, I am

Janis: you ever thought of taking up smoking?

Janis: heard it works wonders

Jimmy: What I’ve heard, an’ all

Janis: but seriously, you’ve gotta do some shit for yourself, catch up with Pete

Janis: or he will drive you actually certifiably insane

Jimmy: Funnily enough, he said the same, when he were trying to get us to never have nowt more to do with you, like, but 

Janis: Oh no, got my biggest hater on my side

Janis: he’ll be gutted

Janis: maybe he has A single point, broken clocks, all that

Jimmy: Thing is, I don’t have the energy to do owt for myself

Janis: yeah, I know that feeling, be a right hypocrite to act as if otherwise

Jimmy: broken clock, all that

Jimmy: Every dickhead wants us to strike HOW many times?!

Janis: proper pisstake

Janis: just pick up a pack, I reckon

Janis: least you won’t be directly fucking up no one if you do

Jimmy: 👍

Jimmy: urge to piss off down the shop for them or a pint of milk’s never been stronger, might be Debbie had A point herself there

Janis: never said she didn’t, no offence to you all, like

Janis: if you wanted to spend some time with Libs, we could meet up after school instead this week, if you’d rather

Janis: chuck a fiver at him for some fish and chips or leave a frozen pizza, be alright

Jimmy: None taken, I get where her head were more with every passing day

Jimmy: and tah, again, but I can’t

Janis: we can admit she’s exhausting too, she can’t hear us here

Jimmy: It’s not her, you didn’t hear, or see, him

Janis: you really don’t want to leave him alone then

Jimmy: you don’t need telling how quick you can get on a train or something and be gone

Janis: no, I don’t

Janis: you reckon he might, proper?

Jimmy: I’d have said not without us before, but after hearing what he reckons of me, I dunno now

Janis: That is knackering

Jimmy: Were when I just about had the stamina to keep up with you being at it

Janis: I was a nightmare, you didn’t need it then either

Jimmy: I needed you, massive nightmare as you could be half the time

Janis: oh, half is it

Janis: generous

Janis: well, I understand, you have to do what you have to do, I just wish I could share some of the responsibility of watching him but I dunno how to now

Jimmy: be the rose-tinted 😎 that will, pissing about with the proper %

Jimmy: You’re alright, he’s my responsibility, always has been

Janis: no one should shoulder anything alone, not even you two dickheads

Jimmy: I tried saying when I were on about what we had to stay for, he won’t be told

Janis: alright but don’t make him right about it

Janis: just angry

Jimmy: Never were much good at sorting out angry though, were I?

Janis: you can’t sort angry, you let angry tire itself out 

Jimmy: Chatting as the punching bag, it don’t get tired quick enough

Janis: oh Jimmy

Janis: send him my way, fuck it, I’m not exhausted he can get some of what he needs to say out on someone else

Jimmy: I’ve had to hack worse, as an actual punching bag

Janis: but it's not the point, if you’re too done in to even defend yourself then it’s the same difference

Janis: you need rest, he needs to get it out somewhere it’ll not do no damage

Jimmy: There’s no defending myself, his head is done in by the situation I’ve put him in

Janis: you haven’t put him in any situation, come on

Jimmy: ‘Course I have, I set it up so owt I do is for him, top when I’m 🥇 but when I fuck up that’s his life I have done

Janis: that’s just the transition from kid to not

Janis: what else were you meant to do, Ian wasn’t gonna step in and step up, you can’t blame yourself for none of that

Jimmy: Why not? Our kid will do

Janis: yeah, whilst he’s a cunty teenager and then he’ll grow the fuck up too

Janis: that’s just life, everyone treats their kids like the sun shines out their hole and then the kid is royally pissed off when they hit 13, 14 and they realise it don’t and the world don’t give a fuck

Jimmy: Alright, but grow up how? No bloody way I wanted him to

Jimmy: say what you like, but it weren’t meant to be like this

Janis: of course you didn’t want this

Janis: everyone fucks it up, that’s the secret

Janis: every twat reckons they can do better and that’s what keeps the world populated

Jimmy: Dead convenient you’ve managed to unlock that secret when you need it most

Janis: I literally had this kid for the most selfish reasons, what’s the point harping on like I’m gonna do it ‘right’ or ‘well’ just to look like a dickhead in 13 years when it’s being a bastard itself

Jimmy: I’d be a bigger dickhead to make a point about trying, so you can have your ‘win’, there 🏆

Janis: it’s not a win it’s a fucking cliche

Janis: yeah, he’s spoilt and fucked up, but you couldn’t have done no better and he’d be a whole load worse off if you hadn’t of tried as hard as you did

Jimmy: be why I nicked your ‘  ’ to put the word in, that 

Janis: you’re a knobhead, but a really good one who cares too fucking much for his own good

Jimmy: Dunno where I could’ve nicked that from an’ all, don’t sound at all like you, or nowt

Janis: nah, never me

Janis: I’m sure you’ve had my faults spelt out to you quite literally if that’s the sort of mood he’s in atm

Jimmy: must’ve mixed you up for your twin again, piss easy done

Jimmy: He’s had it spelt out to him loads more times, I don’t want a bad word said about a lass who’s now my proper mate

Janis: be the nicest review she’s received, would stick out on her dating profile, that

Janis: you don’t have to defend me, you know

Jimmy: He don’t have to badmouth you to us, more like

Jimmy: I know what happened, it happened to me

Janis: fair, if you don’t wanna hear that, you shouldn’t have to

Janis: just don’t do nothing for my sake no more

Jimmy: Can’t stop us, sort of mate I am

Janis: I feel bad that no one warned you what a crap friend I am

Jimmy: I’ll live, nobody else is lining up at the minute

Janis: glad to hear you plan to drop us soon as the invites are rolling in, like

Jimmy: Warned you this were all temporary from day one, girl, why would I have a different plan now it’s mates instead?

Janis: ‘cos now we’re MATES you actually chat to us and I heard you ain’t leaving town, so

Janis: don’t give me that we’ll be off before you know it crap

Jimmy: A petty dickhead would hang on til he don’t fancy it no more and then announce we’re going

Jimmy: never, me

Janis: be no less than I deserve but

Jimmy: Yeah, but 

Janis: stay

Jimmy: You, I said it first 

Janis: if you’re keeping score, lot I said first too, memory serves

Jimmy: You’d be the first to tell us there’s no point keeping score no more, this convo serves

Jimmy: loving a bit of that today, you

Janis: erm I was trying to cheer you up, sorry I’m absolutely shocking at it and nothing matters, who cares is my default

Jimmy: Dunno what you mean, reckon I’ll cancel my doctor’s appointment ‘cause there’s no chance I’m not absolutely 100% cured, tah for that

Janis: 🙃

Janis: I mean, it’s a gift, really, this sunny disposition and knack for saying and doing the right thing at the right time

Jimmy: I don’t need telling 😎 never could come off, even if I had fancied it

Janis: good thing it suited you so well, did you a massive favour there

Jimmy: Handing Ian his perfect asking for it excuse, but I’ll let you off

Janis: asking for it could be his catchphrase, no doubt

Jimmy: depending how thin on the ground Mastermind contestants are nowadays, there’s a specialist subject in there an’ all

Janis: not a waste of a life after all, mate, happy days

Jimmy: 😁☀️

Janis: are you gonna see me this week or what

Jimmy: [drop your work schedule like you used to when you were a barista boy, with the vibe of there maybe being a lunchtime y’all could see each other again if she’s also free]

Janis: [pick one or a couple that you could do too so he has some options]

Jimmy: there we go then, that answers that

Janis: 😁☀️ ain’t exclusive to Ian

Jimmy: Might not be, but ☔️ is fairly exclusive to the time of year

Janis: where do you fucking live, mate

Jimmy: Ask us by [the first day she suggested] and who knows

Janis: I look forward to the house tour then 😏

Jimmy: Look forward to asking Gracie to find out her old vlog camera and be round, personally

Janis: 💔

Jimmy: I were when I remembered that weren’t your past life an’ all, these bloody mixups just keep on 

Janis: never too late to right that wrong

Jimmy: there’s certifiable then there’s certifiable, my dear

Janis: if we are mates now, it’d be proper 🐍 behaviour, babe

Jimmy: Oi, hun, what you chucking that if at us for? 

Janis: ‘cos be nice or I’ll 😭 and you’ll see what it’d be like having her about

Jimmy: not got a dementia diagnosis neither, I reckon I can remember what having her about were like, tah

Janis: not like you had me about

Jimmy: I had nobody about like I had you

Janis: nah, not yet

Jimmy: ?

Janis: it’s just gonna be

Janis: I’m trying to prepare myself for it but

Jimmy: Prepare yourself for what, you heard, nobody’ll take your place

Jimmy: I’ll never have none of that again, not the same

Janis: keep me special and I’ll keep you, I don’t care how sad that makes me sound

Jimmy: I only care how sad it makes me to have to past tense it

Janis: I hate myself but I know that don’t make you feel no better

Jimmy: It makes us feel worse, stop it before I have to really emotionally blackmail you

Janis: any time, mate, any time

Jimmy: doubt it’ll be what the doctor orders, you’re best to listen and leave it out

Janis: leave you alone, I know

Jimmy: Don’t hate yourself for my sake when I don’t hate you

Janis: it’s mine too, you’re alright

Janis: in one life I’d really have loved if I’d not fucked everything up and could have kept hold of you, you know

Jimmy: We only get one, mate

Janis: not according to my mother but as per, perhaps she’s talking total shit

Janis: be too good to be true, that

Jimmy: Yeah, that it would

Janis: I wish I could keep you happy, I really do

Jimmy: I false advertised it, far as jobs go

Janis: I stopped trying too

Janis: you deserve someone who won’t

Jimmy: So do you

Janis: fuck’s sake

Jimmy: A pisstake, I know

Janis: I can’t stop wanting it, I don’t know how

Jimmy: Wrong person to ask, me

Janis: maybe it’s okay, or we can tell ourselves it is

Jimmy: All it needs be is more okay than the alternative

Janis: and if it isn’t for you, you tell me to fuck off, I don’t care how much it hurts me, promise

Jimmy: I can promise you I’ll not say that, hand on heart

Janis: you’re so

Janis: but I love you

Jimmy: the dickhead I am, like it or not

Janis: you heard I do

Janis: doctor’ll teach you to stand it yourself, or some top notch pills will

Jimmy: There’s my ‘win’ then, all the artificial sunshine I can hack

Janis: might be fun, chemical holiday

Jimmy: no worse than the ones I went on as a kid, can’t be

Janis: say that’s practically a given, babe

Jimmy: Alright, near forgot you were a pill expert ‘cause of it being the family trade once upon a time

Janis: my mothers wonderful choice in men

Janis: only a 🤏 jealous they wouldn’t put me on shit right now

Jimmy: Where you’re wrong, all sorts of happy pills are safe to crack on with, barely cause any weird defects or owt

Janis: 🥳 [the dates you suggested]

Janis: safer, though

Jimmy: Do what I can to let the sun in for you

Janis: not afraid of the dark, it’s okay

Jimmy: Just getting your hair wet

Jimmy: hang on, Grace again, that one

Janis: ain’t even hers, make it make sense

Jimmy: gotta show some respect for the animal that died

Janis: 🦡🙌

Jimmy: RIP

Janis: I missed you

Jimmy: I’ve missed you an’ all

Janis: should I ask you how works been, is that a thing mates do, educate me

Jimmy: I’ve only got the one other and he does nowt of the sort

Jimmy: don’t reckon he knows the job I do

Janis: not convinced he remembers his own half the time so sounds about right

Jimmy: can’t say I right blame him, his ain’t rock star like he were after and nor’s mine as ‘fun’ as all that

Janis: could tell him that you get to photograph fit girls all day, he’d be impressed by that

Jimmy: No need to impress him, not in the market for a boyfriend yet

Janis: well, it upsets me less than Grace does as a contender but that’s purely ‘cos I could fantasize about that and not feel dead bad

Jimmy: ready to go from well back in the day, that fantasy of yours, don’t let us stop you

Janis: I’m behaving, honest

Jimmy: You heard, up to you how you want to

Jimmy: whatever gets your broken clock going, ain’t that the saying?

Janis: not at your expense

Janis: or Pete’s, though slightly less relevant as it wouldn’t be the first thing I brought up if I saw him down Tescos

Jimmy: Nor him these days, I don’t doubt

Janis: yeah, another one who’d have all the bad words to say

Jimmy: can get in the queue behind us if you like, he’ll have enough to say he never heard all that bollocks off me before every other dickhead’s told him

Janis: why would you wanna talk about that, like it’s good news

Janis: he’ll understand, remember that girlfriend he had [when you were an age who was clearly just the worst and made him look a fool]

Jimmy: I’m not bothered if he don’t, I ain’t got it in us to keep on trying to make other dickheads understand things

Janis: 😍

Janis: you seen the doctor without us

Jimmy: Soon I will do

Janis: I understand, you know

Janis: you don’t have to tell me nothing twice, though you reckon I never listen in the first place

Jimmy: Wouldn’t say never, you have your moments

Janis: but I ask nicely, got to admit

Jimmy: so nice, you

Janis: oi, be sincere about what a delight I am, dickhead

Jimmy: I am, never could read a room, that there’s a never for you

Janis: fucking hell, make me sound like I’m special in a bad way 

Janis: I’ll be paranoid

Jimmy: made yourself sound it, nowt to do with us, I said you were nice, no truer word for when I saw you the other day

Janis: if I called you nice, you’d say it was 🙂 equivalent

Jimmy: What do you want me to call you then?

Janis: that’d be telling

Jimmy: right, tell us

Janis: I can’t, just gonna have to be nicer this time you see me ‘til you think of it yourself

Jimmy: Back to being fit and mysterious for old time’s sake, are you?

Jimmy: alright

Janis: if you tell me I’m too old for it I will have to fight you

Jimmy: you can still get yourself into it, like your [an item of clothing she still has]

Janis: Libi said I was too old to be a model, that’s a tenner out the card for her

Janis: and she won’t be borrowing [said item of clothing]

Jimmy: She would, age to be discovered now, her

Jimmy: you’re sod all but competition, be costing her loads more than that tenner an’ all

Janis: see, never a nonce, you 

Jimmy: Tah, ‘cause see, I can read how sincere that were

Janis: okay, okay, I believe you

Janis: you’re misguided and you think I’m proper nice

Janis: thank you

Jimmy: Brainwashed our kid called it

Janis: ouch, like

Jimmy: I said, he’s been the delight, never mind you reckoning you’re the nightmare one or owt else but nice

Janis: can’t even be impressed

Janis: wanna talk about one of ‘em coming for my gigs, cheek of it

Jimmy: can’t be bothered, it’s nice to chat to someone who don’t fancy treating us like I’ve got battered missus syndrome off you

Janis: say what you like about the shit he might’ve seen, he hasn’t seen a divorce or nowt of the sort

Janis: he doesn’t know how anything like that goes, that most the time you still love each other and that you don’t hate each other’s guts like the films

Jimmy: How many films they’ve both seen is half the trouble, I should’ve let him have a bit more real life experience

Janis: get ready

Janis: could’ve gone my life without seeing Libi dancing on some spotty little twat but there we go

Jimmy: SO nice of you to remind us of all that

Jimmy: she’s not seen him since sobering up, has she?

Janis: She could barely seem interested drunk, I don’t think so

Janis: was very #triggering, as Gracie might say

Jimmy: Fuck’s sake, between the pair of them, I’ve a headache

Janis: on the plus side, you’ll look very sexy with grey hair

Janis: but I know, I just wish I could help you out more with Bobby so it was properly equal how it should be

Jimmy: I’ll have the compliment as you never noticed my accidental poetry up there, even making us rhyme again now, they are

Janis: if that don’t sum it up, unrecognised genius, you

Jimmy: Piss poor and unloved in my one bloody lifetime 🎻

Janis: 💔

Jimmy: divorce’ll have the first one true any road

Janis: nah, fuck that

Janis: let’s just let it fucking, default, I dunno

Janis: if you reckon I owe you something, come get it

Jimmy: I don’t want nowt like that off you

Janis: weren’t why I married you, be a shite financial decision, respectfully

Jimmy: None taken for the second time, like

Janis: I’ve told you, I don’t want a thing off you you can’t afford to give, I swear

Janis: you aren’t gonna wake up to no letter saying nowt different, never

Jimmy: Nor you, solicitor’s an even worse financial decision

Janis: so unless you fancy one and you wanna make her your 2nd wife, let’s not, yeah

Jimmy: Okay

Janis: okay

Jimmy: Keep us posted about the dog though, when you know what you’re doing with all that, don’t hate the idea of ALL letters

Janis: 💌

Janis: I will

Jimmy: In a bit then?

Janis: yeah, I’m talking your ear off again

Janis: I’m such a mess these days, I can’t work out if I’ll be telling you about the dog first or seeing you for another lunch date but, whichever one, I’m excited to see you again

Jimmy: I started it

Jimmy: I like talking to you

Jimmy: and seeing you

Janis: we don’t have to stop

Janis: I like it as much

Janis: just trying to find the messages with the dog lady, now she is fucking chatty

Jimmy: Rather you than me, poor Libs wouldn’t end up with no dog ‘cause I’d put the lady right off

Janis: ‘cos middle-aged women are the worst preds, never safe, poor boy 😤

Jimmy: leave it out telling her I’m single when you pop up

Janis: she wishes it were a swap

Janis: not happening, Helen

Jimmy: Can see Case in his element

Janis: just handles the wannabe MILFs different, suppose

Jimmy: and if that ain’t #triggering, what is?

Janis: I felt the instant regret

Jimmy: I wish you had of

Janis: it wouldn’t have changed things for us

Jimmy: Depends on the us, me and him it would’ve

Janis: true

Jimmy: Too late now, we’ve both said it before

Janis: I said I’d go, if it meant you two would fix things

Jimmy: It wouldn’t, you might as well stay

Janis: be a pisstake to everyone if I left

Jimmy: It’s your one life

Janis: other people are involved though, we’re both old enough to admit it’s messier than all that

Jimmy: But it’s also been done, there’s no going back and undoing it for nobody that’s involved

Jimmy: they’ll live, we all have to

Janis: I know that

Jimmy: have to get back behind us in that queue if they fancy that, no dickhead does more than me, but there’s no fix, trust us, I’ve had a look everywhere

Janis: I don’t want to go, I would if it would work but it won’t, sorry to Bobs on that one

Jimmy: His brain ain’t done developing, what I’ve heard

Janis: even we’ve got a few months to go, fucking hell, like

Jimmy: 🤞 that’s what 100% cures us, be nice

Janis: but

Janis: fine 🎂

Jimmy: ?

Janis: well, I will miss your underdeveloped brain when it’s gone, that’s all

Jimmy: Stick in a jar for you 🎂

Jimmy: nhs must still do lobotomies, they worked SO well 

Janis: just put us in matching jars and call it a day

Jimmy: you’ve forfeited his and hers, have to be some bollocks BFF jars

Janis: think of a decent caption or I’m tipping you out, dickhead

Jimmy: plan all along, that

Jimmy: bit of peace and quiet down the drain

Janis: some BFF

Jimmy: Never said I were good at it, ask Pete

Janis: I doubt he’s got it in him to slag me off like I need to hear

Jimmy: People can surprise you, I’d be the dickhead to know, these days

Janis: never say never, eh

Jimmy: more of a jumpscare but still, no need for the other huns to take down their toilet signs saying the like of what I just did do

Janis: get it, you’re gonna put all your energy into home decor

Janis: let the glitter and crushed velvet shine now this dickhead’s out the way

Jimmy: Be a pisstake to let Libi or her dog sleep in the spare room as is

Janis: do you want to stay there?

Jimmy: At the minute I’ve got no choice in it either way, every dickhead goes on about how stressful moving is at the best of times

Jimmy: you don’t need telling

Janis: not wrong, if it’s a thing that’s stable and you need that, don’t blame you

Janis: least I know enough cunts ‘round here to fall on my feet, it was alright, no need for sympathy

Jimmy: You don’t like it if there’s a need or there’s not

Janis: I’m the last person who deserves it, always

Janis: and you’re the one person who don’t owe me none about this entire situation

Jimmy: if you say so, Janis

Janis: why are you pretending to know my name now

Jimmy: I do know it, and you

Janis: you just don’t know how to hate me

Jimmy: Make me sound special needs now

Jimmy: I’m fed up of every dickhead telling me what I should or shouldn’t do

Janis: I didn’t tell you to, not today

Janis: I might’ve before, some of it I forget when it was really bad

Jimmy: Hating you don’t make no difference, I’ll still love you

Janis: I’ll never learn how to stop loving you, that’s a never

Jimmy: The hate I’ve got for my dad never got me nowhere, not far enough to be worth owt

Janis: yeah

Janis: so, don’t, tell every dickhead to fuck off

Jimmy: Like a spam NYE text @ this whole town

Janis: exactly

Janis: fuck this town, they’ve always got plenty to talk about and it never mattered as much as what we wanted to do and what we felt

Janis: won’t tell you I support you no matter what again but

Jimmy: It’s mostly about your relatives, tell Gracie she’s due another jilting at the altar or pregnancy scare

Janis: on it

Janis: half the rumours or shit they reckon they know is probably shit they’ve said before, don’t matter to them what’s true, only how it looks

Jimmy: We’ve used it to our advantage before, might as well keep on

Janis: look, we all know I’m not above making up some salacious bullshit about my own blood

Janis: I’ll do it for you, no joke

Jimmy: I don’t care, I’m not a school kid no more, and what bollocks goes round the office already goes over my head, there to work not make no new mates

Janis: cross your heart?

Jimmy: It’s them pair I’m worried about, not myself

Janis: what should we do?

Jimmy: Nowt we can, neither of us have time to homeschool ‘em

Jimmy: have to just 🤞 they hack it alright, whatever they hear, least Libi’s used to it, and he’s deaf, all that’ll help 🤏

Janis: They both know the truth, and what they reckon about it

Janis: nothing no random can say that is worse than all that, that’s always been how it goes, trust us

Jimmy: yeah, exactly

Janis: if he needs a punching bag, I’m serious about it

Janis: he’s angry at me, let him be, yeah, it’ll be better for you both

Jimmy: I’m not suggesting he uses you as one, let him go down gym for an actual like the rest of us have done

Janis: said you know me, when have I ever stood there and taken it?

Janis: fuck fighting a losing battle, all I’m saying, he don’t like me, he don’t like Libi at the minute, is what it is

Jimmy: fuck fighting full stop, us lot at each other’s throats is total bollocks

Janis: he isn’t there yet

Janis: you and me, we’ve had more life experience, we’re supposed to be adults, allegedly

Janis: if you try and rush him into being matey with her or anything, he’ll kick back on it and you

Jimmy: Alright, but that don’t mean I’m giving him a free pass to say what the fuck he wants to you or to her, if it goes on when I ain’t there, sod all I can do, but I’m not chucking him my permission and saying off you go, slide into their DMs and be a twat

Janis: Okay, I see your point

Janis: not a good example for you to set

Jimmy: I’ve worked myself half to death for years to avoid that being the example he has, might as well pack his bags myself and send him to Ian’s

Janis: he’d come running back faster than his legs could carry him

Janis: but no, I know you’re not gonna do that either, nor should you, not that much of a hard cow

Jimmy: A losing battle’s how it feels, all of it

Jimmy: being up, dressed, going to meetings, coming home to cook tea, on and on the list could go

Janis: because he’s throwing it back in your face right now

Janis: that’s why we’ve gotta find shit outside of him for you to care about, for yourself

Janis: because whether he’s being a normal teenager or being a little bastard, you can’t rely on him for anything more

Jimmy: I’ll care about the dog, I said

Janis: okay, the dog

Janis: I’m gonna go get it

Jimmy: Now? 

Janis: yeah, fuck it

Jimmy: You’re 

Janis: it’s important

Janis: and he’ll love it whatever he says, he’s not a psychopath

Jimmy: I love you whatever he says

Jimmy: How could I not?

Janis: I love you

Jimmy: [tell her about whatever dog food or supplies you have, waiting hidden somewhere like your car boot or whatever so Bobby doesn’t know, because he meant what he said about actually taking care of Peach and it’s clearly given him something to do already]

Janis: [likewise tell him about whatever stuff the lady said she’s got like sometimes they have blankets or a toy etc to get comfortable and what things you’ll pick up that he hasn’t got yet]

Jimmy: It’s a plan

Janis: 😁 

Janis: she’s so cute

Jimmy: She’ll do for a start as something to bother about

Janis: who could say no to that face

Jimmy: Even your nan would have a job, I reckon

Janis: sucker for a stray

Jimmy: here I had ideas what me and her had were special, turns out she’s everybody’s with a massive enough sob story 

Janis: didn’t hear that from me

Janis: proper desperate vibes, me slagging off everyone you fancy

Jimmy: Your right as my ex, that

Janis: you’re right though, definitely the least I can do is be the actual psycho ex no boy has ever had

Janis: I’ll go for it, give it my all

Jimmy: Speak for yourself, I’ll be 2 for 2 if you’re gonna act crazy an’ all

Janis: Psh, I’d do a better job at it than that

Jimmy: I’d rather you didn’t, bit of a rep for us to have

Janis: an amazing one, made us go mental losing you

Jimmy: or being with us did

Janis: got to learn how to spin it, see

Janis: and you know you’ve just got questionable taste, actually but no one needs to hear that

Jimmy: questionable actions, there’s nowt wrong with my taste on it’s own

Janis: it’s alright, I’m good looking, put up with more for less, people have

Jimmy: True enough

Janis: not even gonna call me a bighead?

Janis: must be excited

Jimmy: Saves us having to chuck you a compliment you won’t take

Janis: convenient

Jimmy: Very

Janis: you’re

Janis: too

Jimmy: What?

Janis: ?

Jimmy: I’m too? Excited? Nice? Tired? What?

Janis: no, you said I’m-

Janis: you are too, though if you meant I’m well smart, I might have to take it back

Jimmy: I meant you’re as much of all of it as you ever were

Janis: then you can keep it too

Jimmy: Feels fake, but alright

Janis: I know how it feels but

Jimmy: Yeah, that but’s important, I know

Janis: it’s all I’ve got

Jimmy: I know how it feels, no but this time

Janis: all we need is a little right now 🤏 will do

Jimmy: Both of us are clinging to 3 letter words, but for you and dog for me, ghost of Bill would be chuffed to bits by that

Janis: is a bit babies first word, init

Jimmy: could be worse, least I’m trying for mine not being you, as I’ve been there, done that, for dear life already

Janis: yeah

Jimmy: definition of insanity and all that, letting it repeat

Janis: so I’ve heard

Jimmy: there you go then 

Janis: I know what you’re saying

Jimmy: easy spellings, even if I weren’t calling you smart a bit ago, you’re not thick

Janis: its enough, isn’t it

Jimmy: You tell us, is it?

Janis: no, you tell me

Jimmy: Tell you what?

Janis: it can wait, it’s alright

Jimmy: What kind of answer is that?

Janis: I just realised we don’t need to have this conversation now

Janis: we’ve got something good to focus on

Jimmy: Alright

Janis: it’s nothing like, I dunno, I want this to be about you and the dog and just good shit

Jimmy: You say that like my head won’t make it into something

Janis: yeah… fuck it number two then

Janis: you don’t want to hook up again, do you? That’s what’s enough

Jimmy: I don’t know

Janis: okay, that’s an alright answer

Jimmy: I want to same as I’d have you back like a shot if you’d just come home

Jimmy: I know it don’t mean it’s a good idea

Janis: I just feel like I’ve pushed you or something

Jimmy: I’ve been forced into all sorts, that isn’t on the list

Janis: good

Janis: just, if you’re ever sure, let me know?