#zack sabre jr fanfic

[bullet-clubs-bitch]

Oh! I had a prompt idea for Zack

Can you please do on where Y/N is a jui jutsu practitioner & Y/N is getting a belt promotion & then Z realizes how much her body goes through and wants to pamper her?

Namaste

Zack Sabre Jr X Fem Reader Main Masterlist

An: I don't like the way this turned out but I was having some pretty bad writers block

Looking in the mirror I wondered if I should cancel my date with Zack. My left eye was bruised and my lip was busted. Makeup could only do so much, I didn’t want people to stare at us in public. Against my own judgment, I decided to go out with Zack, it wound’t be the first time he saw me battered and bruised. Although it was normally the other way around. Despite my appearance, I tried to still look my best for the occasion. All was going well until it started to rain. Of course, it would rain, why wouldn’t it? 

Tonight I planned to take Y/n out on a date. I knew how hard she had been working and I wanted to do something special for her tonight. When Y/n arrived I was a bit taken back. “Do I look that bad?” She asked “You should see the other person” As I watched Y/n walk into the room I could see just what kind of state she was in. She had a black eye and a busted lip that she tried to cover with makeup. She walked with a slight limp, her hair was wet from the rain. “What happened?” I asked “Well, as you know I was supposed to get my black belt. The guy I was fighting was a real asshole, it got very personal and very real very fast. I had to stand my ground you know” I wasn’t surprised by her response. “Maybe we should stay in tonight? It’s all gross outside. When was the last time I cooked for you?” “You don’t have to do that, I’m fine to go out Zack,” she said. “But I want to, cone on Y/n. It would be like old times” I could tell that she was hesitant at first but she gave in. 

I decided to prepare a vegetable stirfry, some stuffed peppers and a sweet potato mash. As we sat at the table and caught up I found myself studying Y/n like she was a book. I noticed the bruising on her knuckles, the scab on the bridge of her nose. It made me glad we decided to stay inside this evening. After our meal, we relaxed on the couch and ended up watching some old matches. 

Even though the night didn't go the way I had originally planned, it was nice having a lazy evening. Sometimes, all you need is a home-cooked meal and good company after a hard day at work.

[inastrangerskiss]

minding manners

Zack Sabre Jr x Reader

content warning: zack acting pissy but what else is new

summary: zack gets injured and you're tasked with trying to make him feel better.

He stood with his arm raised but you knew by the way his foot hovered off the ground, something was wrong with his leg. It had been a hard fought battle, and he had indeed come out on top but, after one dragon screw too many, he was looking worse for wear. He grimaced as his hand was lowered and he brought himself back to the mat. He sat for a moment and ducked his head between his legs before raising his eyes back up and looking directly at you.

You and Zack had never had a good relationship. You thought he was cocky and he thought you were standoffish. You simply couldn’t be in the same room as him for more than two minutes before he would chirp something at you and you would bite right back and it would devolve into an exhausting passive aggressive war of words. 

But, despite your rocky relationship, you knew Zack well.

And, in that moment, you knew he wasn’t leaving the ring alone.

With just a bit of help you draped his arm around your neck and guided him backstage. He breathed heavily against you, leaning his weight on your shoulder. 

And that was how you ended up with him laid on his stomach on your exam table, propped up by his elbows, his head tucked to his chest as you dug your fingers into his hamstring. With every attempt to feel the muscle and identify the issue and potentially massage out any aches and pains, he would shift and move and try to escape your grasp.

“Stop squirming.” You ordered.

“You’re killing me.” He grumbled.

“I’ll be done in a second.”

“You could have been done ten minutes ago and it would’ve been thirty minutes too late.”

“You’re the one who needed me to get you back here.” You reminded him. “I hardly think you have room to complain right now.”

Zack scoffed. “I did not need you.”

A smirk spread across your face and, although he couldn’t see it, you knew he could feel it in the air.

“So you’re telling me you could’ve walked back here yourself?” You asked. “Did you just want me to carry you back here because you like hanging out with me?”

Zack’s head did it’s best to look over his shoulder, shooting you at least a thousand daggers through the corners of his eyes.

“No.” He spoke plainly. “My leg hurt. I’m fine now.”

“Because I’ve made it better, right? So you can walk out of here on your own now?” You gave him a gentle pat on the lower back. “Go on, then.”

Zack moved as though he were about to get up, as though he were truly about to commit to his word. And, as quickly as he had shifted just a bit, he shifted back, laying his head against his arms. 

“You’re awful.” He muttered into his hands.

You rolled your eyes but went back to the task at hand. Zack was silent for a while but continued to flinch as you worked through his potential injury. 

“You know this would hurt less if you didn’t move so much.” You chided, softly.

“This would hurt less if you didn’t have it out for me.” He grumbled.

“Maybe if you were nicer.” 

“Maybe if you were gentler.”

There was no getting through to him. No matter how hard you tried it always seemed like he had a problem with everything you did, even as you tried to make him feel better. It was rare that he found himself on your table and you had always assumed that maybe if you did make him feel better he might go easier on you. 

But, clearly, that was hardly the case.

And you weren’t sure why that bothered you so much.

You slowed your movements and bent his leg just enough before bending it back so it was laying flat. You continued this motion as he stared at the wall. 

“How’s that?” You asked. “Still hurt?”

He repeated the motion, reaching his hand back to assess the current state of the muscle.

“Feels better.” He murmured. 

Slowly, he moved to get off the table, finding his way to his feet. 

“You strained it but I don’t think it’ll be a problem going forward. Not at least with a few days rest.”

“Mhm.”

Zack tentatively put weight on the limb, limping at first before finding he could, in fact, walk normally. He began heading to the door, barely sparing a glance in your direction.

“A ‘thank you’ would be nice.” You chirped, your arms crossed over your chest.

Without turning around, he let out a loud sigh, dropping his shoulders in defeat. Slowly, he turned, frustration written over his brow.

“You really need that from me?” He asked.

“It’s just polite.”

“Sorry. Thank you.” He exhaled, the kindness clearly disingenuous.

The spark to your fuse finally reached its end as you felt your head begin to explode.

“What in the world is your problem?”

“My problem?” He retorted, eyes wide.

“Yes! I’ve made you feel better and you can barely manage an ounce of kindness?”

“After putting me through hell!”

“But it helped, didn’t it?!”

Zack was rendered speechless, his mouth gaping open as he desperately tried to find the words to justify his attitude. You beat him to the punch before he could succeed in stringing together a sentence.

“See! You don’t even know why you’re such an ass.”

“I’m an ass? You’ve been smug the entire time! You were probably waiting for this day!”

“It’s my job, Zack! It’s literally my job to wait for you to get injured-”

“You don’t have to be smug about it though!”

You scrubbed your hands over your face, feeling like you were running in circles. Nothing you said would break his cold exterior. 

And the look on his face told you he wasn’t backing down.

“Tell me,” You finally spoke. “What is your issue with me?”

“I don’t have a problem with you!”

“Clearly, you do! You hate me!”

Zack’s eyes went wide at your statement and a strange anxiety crept into you. You weren’t sure why he suddenly looked as though he were being strangled by an invisible force but it certainly wasn't the reaction you had expected when you opened your mouth.

“I don’t hate you!” He exclaimed.

“Yes you do! Admit it!”

“I don’t-”

“Christ alive, I’ll still fix you when you’re broken. Just do me the favor of being honest!”

The words had hardly slipped past your lips when Zack’s voice drowned yours out.

“I don’t hate you! I like you! A lot!” He yelled quickly, almost faster than you could comprehend. “But, right now, I’m really starting to loathe you.”

The final sentence was spoken as though it were an afterthought, his breath weighing heavy with each word.

All you could manage to do was stand still, replaying the words over and over in your head until they all but lost meaning. 

“You don’t like me, Zack. You’re just being an asshole now.” 

Your words came out slowly, almost cautious that he might change his mind. As you stood in his deer in the headlights gaze, a slow trickle of electricity rippled down your spine. You felt nervous and you couldn’t quite gauge why.

“You have been the bane of my existence since you started here because I can’t think straight when you walk into a room. You’re kind and you’re sweet to everyone but me and it makes me crazy. I spend every day just wondering if I’ll see you and it’s disappointing when I don’t. Of course I like you. Now can I please go?”

You ignored his plea for release, shaking your head. “If you like me, why are you such a dick to me?”

“Because you act like a dick to me!”

As you stood, unmoving across from Zack, you thought back on all of the insults you had tossed in his direction over the years. They had never been unprovoked but they hadn’t exactly been nice. The longer you thought the longer you realized that maybe you didn’t actually hate him all that much. 

“I only act like a dick because that’s how you treat me!” You fought back.

“So if I was nice to you, you’d be nice to me?” Zack asked, a raised brow and softened demeanor complementing the question. 

“Yes!”

“Really?” His tone dropped, as though he were caught off guard. 

“Really.” You nodded. “I don’t hate you.”

“You don’t?”

“No. In fact, I like you too. Like, a lot.”

Zack nodded slowly, his eyes searching the ground as he tried to figure out his next steps. After what felt like a century, he looked up to you tentatively.

“Right. Well, glad we figured that out together. Bloody, gave me a headache, though.”

His hand raked through his short blonde hair, a heavy sigh falling free of his lips.

“Do you want my help?” You asked.

A curious smile spread across his cheeks. He shook his head while softly chuckling. 

“I’m afraid you’ll only make it worse.”

“I made your leg better, didn’t I?”

Once more, you found yourself trapped in his gaze. You worried maybe he would leave. For the first time since you met him you didn’t want to watch him walk away. 

But then again, maybe you never wanted to watch him walk away in the past either. Maybe that was why you continued to volley barbs back and forth in catering. Maybe that was why you would always try to get in the last word during your many verbal wars.

Zack walked back to your table, his eyes remaining on you. 

“Laying down? Sitting up? What should I do?” He asked. 

“Stay sitting.”

You approached him, rubbing your hands together to make sure they were warm when they made contact with the nape of his neck. Carefully, you massaged the area, feeling his shorter, bristly hairs move beneath your fingertips. You pressed your thumbs into the base of his skull and continued to exert a gentle amount of force on his head. 

Zack didn’t squirm or wince or mutter under his breath as you worked.

He sat perfectly still the entire time. 

“Feeling any better?”

You pulled away, giving him a chance to feel things out for himself. After tilting one ear to one shoulder and then the other ear to the other shoulder he gave a subtle nod. 

“You’re two for two.” He laughed, softly.

“I told you I’m good.”

Zack stood once more and made his way back to the door, walking slowly as though he hadn’t quite yet committed to the act of exiting.

“A ‘thank you’ would be nice.” You called, once again, a self-satisfied grin on your face.

“You’re impossible, aren’t you?” He sighed, turning back to you. 

“You really aren’t very polite.” 

Zack’s eyebrows shot into his forehead as he stared at you incredulously. “You want polite?”

“It’d be nice.”

“How about this? You’ve been very helpful, can I take you to dinner tomorrow as my way of saying ‘thank you’?”

A furious blush rushed over your skin, dyeing you a shade of crimson. You had simply wanted a bit of appreciation. You hadn’t expected such an offer.

“Do you want to take me to dinner because I helped you or because you like me?” You challenged.

Zack bit his lower lip, fighting the urge to fall back into old habits of saying something rude simply because it was easier.

“I want to take you out… because I like you.” He muttered slowly, as though each word caused him incredible pain.

You nodded and feigned a look of deliberation, pretending to weigh the options of either going to dinner with Zack or sitting alone in your home like you often did most nights. 

“Oh why not?” You shrugged. “But you have to try to be nice.”

Zack walked back towards you and you knew this would be the last time in this encounter. You wanted to savor his presence as he drew near, a look on his face you had never seen before. One that was warm and kind and curious and affectionate. 

His hand reached up to you, finding purchase in the space behind your jaw, just below your ear. He held you so gently you almost didn’t know if he was actually there. He leaned in so his breath was hot on your neck, the words spelling out against your skin. 

“I’d get a muscle cramp any day if it meant spending more time with you and your smug comments.” He murmured before pulling back. “How’s that for nice?”

With that, he turned away and walked into the hall, not stopping, until he was gone from your sight, leaving you and your cheeks burning. You tried to replay the events that had unfolded but found yourself incapable of piecing everything together. 

All you knew was that he had been there, on your table.  

That he had been there, next to you.

That he had been there, his fingertips pressing into your skin. 

And now he was gone. 

And when the next evening came, he took you to dinner and acted like the perfect gentleman. 

He pulled your chair out for you. He let you order first. He paid the check. 

And he kissed you goodnight.

And you knew that the next day at work would see more childish insults thrown at one another. But this time you were doing it with a smile on your face, knowing he’d be the one to walk you to your car at the end of the night. 

[war-dawrgz]

kosei fujita x zack sabre jr x chris brookes x ftm!reader | gone with the sin

minors dni [16+]

word count| 3,345

warnings| Consensual Non-Consent, Gun Play, Knife Play, Bondage, Unprotected Sex, Breeding Kink, Size Kink, Vaginal Sex, Anal Sex, Crying, Begging, Feminine Terms Used (Pussy, Cunt)

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You smooth out your dress in the uber, Fujita is sitting next to you obviously nervous. You put your hand on his thigh and kiss his cheek, 

“It’s okay Fooj. It’s gonna go exactly how we talked about it and if you need to you remember our safeword right?” Kosei nods. “And what is it?”

“Bubblegum.” 

“Good boy, Fooj.” He blushes lightly as you kiss his cheek again. The uber stops in front of the restaurant you had picked out and Kosei gets out first before helping you out of the car. He shuts the car door and leads you inside the restaurant, he tells the host the name that the reservation is under and you take a minute to look around the restaurant, you spot Zack and Chris sitting in the back of the restaurant, eyes already set on you two. You shake your head and bring your focus back to Kosei, who leads you to the table towards the back of the restaurant. Kosei holds your chair out for you and you thank him before sitting down, he pushes you in before getting in his own chair. 

-

Your date with Kosei goes off without a hitch, you are walking hand in hand with him when someone comes up behind you, pressing a gun against your temple and the other person holds a gun to Kosei’s spine.

“You two look awfully lonely. Why don’t we keep you both some company?” You shudder at the familiar voice of  Zack. Chris grabs your arm and hides his gun in his jacket but presses it against your back. You glance at Kosei who has fear written across his face and he isn’t the only one. Chris leans down and growls at you and Kosei,

“Use those pretty little legs of yours and walk.” Out of fake fear you follow his directions, letting him lead you towards his place. You and Kosei stay quiet, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to your group. It doesn’t take long for you to be forced into Chris’s flat, Kosei and Zack not far behind you. You finally face the two men who had taken you, tears building in your eyes. 

“What are you going to do to us? Please don’t hurt us.” Kosei glances between you and Chris and Zack, unsure of how to continue. “I’ll do anything if you don’t hurt my boyfriend. Please.” Kosei notices how hard Chris is in his pants and he finally faces Zack, who still has the gun pointed at Kosei. 

“Please don’t hurt me, I’ll do anything.” You reach out your hand and gently squeeze Kosei’s hand. Zack steps towards you two, he grabs Kosei’s face and growls out.

“I’m not gonna hurt you baby, I’m just gonna have some fun with you.” Kosei freezes next to you and you squeeze his hand again, tears start to stream down his face.

“W-Wait I didn’t mean that.” 

“Don’t worry sweet boy.” Zack coos at him, “We’re not going there for a little bit. Isn’t that right, Chris?” Chris nods in agreement,

"You two look so pretty together, why not entertain us before we have our fun?” You gulp and glance at Kosei, both of you shaking your heads. Zack and Chris step toward you both, both of them putting the guns under your jaws, pressing them into your skin hard. “Oh pretty boys, you don’t have a choice. Now strip.” 

They step away from you, Kosei looks at you with wide eyes and you nod, there is no other way to get out of this then follow their orders. You carefully strip from your dress and kick off your heels, Chris takes a step toward you, pressing the barrel of the gun against your sides and dragging it down the curves of your body.

“Such a pretty body that you’ve been hiding from us. Can’t wait to get my hands on you.” You look to your left to see Zack jerking Kosei while Kosei sobs loudly, telling him to stop. Chris forces you to look away from them and forces you to the ground, he forces your legs apart and quickly ties your hands to your feet, you struggle as best you can but he cocks the gun and presses it against the back of your head. You whimper and go limp, letting Chris do whatever he wants to you. You can’t see what is happening but suddenly someone is behind you, their cock is forced into your pussy and you moan out. Kosei whispers out to you, 

“‘M so sorry.” Zack and Chris work quickly together to tie you and Kosei together. They step back to admire their work and Kosei shakes his head. 

“I won’t do it.” Zack cocks his gun and points it at Kosei, Kosei just shakes his head. 

“Since you don’t care about your own life, maybe you care about your boyfriend’s.” Zack says as he points the gun at you. You whimper loudly and Kosei immediately gives in. 

“F-fine.. Just don’t hurt him.” Zack chuckles and nods, uncocking his gun and waving it to silently tell Kosei to get on with it. Kosei hesitantly puts his hands on your hips and starts thrusting into you. Tears stream down your face as you try not to moan, 

“Please don’t do this to us. We’ve done nothing wrong, we’re innocent people.” 

“Barely fucking innocent.” Zack chuckles, “I can hear how wet your pussy is from here, sweet boy.” His words make you clench around Kosei’s cock, pulling him deeper in your cunt. “The two of you like this, your ‘innocent’ boyfriend got hard as I whispered to him that I was going to force him to fuck you. He got hard knowing two men with guns are going to force you two to become our sluts, isn’t that right pretty boy?” 

“N-No it’s not like that. I-I got hard cause he was touching me.” 

“Oh? You only got hard cause the man that is threatening you was touching your pathetic little dick, is that right?” Kosei lets out a loud sob and shakes his head, he leans down kissing your shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry, my love.” He whispers in your ear and you shudder. You hear the click of a camera and turn to look at Zack and Chris, Chris has a camera in his hand and a wide smirk on his face. 

“D-Don’t.” 

“You don’t want pictures taken love? We’re just commemorating your cute little date.” 

“It’s not-” 

“What, it's not a cute date between you and your boyfriend?” 

“Not anymore thanks to you two bastards.” 

“Oh look at that, the sweet little angel knows some bad words.” Zack cackles, “Maybe we should wash your mouth out, love?”

“I-I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry.” You sob out. You are clawing at your feet, trying to ground yourself through the pleasure that Kosei is bringing you, the pleasure that Zack and Chris are bringing you. Your cunt clenches around Kosei’s cock hard, your mouth falls open with a loud moan and you cum hard. 

“Look at that angel, you came. It’s just like you and your boyfriend are making love.” 

“N-no it’s not.” You mutter out and Chris and Zack cackle while Chris takes more photos of the two of you. Your orgasm sets Kosei closer to the edge, you can feel his cock throbbing inside of you, how his thrusts become sloppier. “Please untie us. Please.”

“Why should we, angel?” 

“I don’t want him to knock me up. We’re not ready for a kid.” You cry. Chris laughs and kneels down next to you, ruffling your hair. 

“If pretty boy doesn’t knock you up. I sure will, baby.” You can’t help but break a little and smile at Chris, the thought of him knocking you up is just too sweet. But you quickly get back into the scene, crying and begging the two men. 

“Please please please please please.” Meanwhile Kosei is humping you like a mutt in rut while whispering out soft apologies. Your cunt clenches around his cock again and he cums hard, filling you up with his seed. You let out a loud sob, “No, no, no. This can’t be happening. I don’t want to get pregnant.” 

Zack and Chris force Kosei to stop moving inside of you and cut the ropes binding you together. Kosei is pulled away from you and you whimper as you cunt clenches around nothing, searching for something to fill it again. You both let out a sigh of relief thinking that it’s over but Zack chuckles as Chris smacks your ass, watching as Kosei’s cum spills from your cunt. 

“Don’t think we’re stopping just because you came. Now it’s our turn to have our fun with you.” Zack growls as he pulls Kosei toward, you can hear a loud whimper and try to turn to see what happened but your view is obstructed by Chris. Zack forces Kosei to the floor, keeping the gun pointed at him so he knows to follow Zack’s directions. Zack unzips his pants and spits on Kosei’s hole, rubbing his cock between Koser’s ass cheeks. Kosei whimpers,

“Please don’t do this. I… I’m still a virgin. I want my first time to be special. Please.” Zack cackles maniacally as he guides his cock into Kosei’s hole.

“Oh it’s going to be special pretty boy, I promise you that.” All Kosei can do is whimper and cry as Zack forces all of his cock into Kosei’s hole. Your attention is taken away from Zack and Kosei as Chris presses the barrel of the gun against your head and slips two of his fingers into your pussy. He moves his finger oh so slowly and you are half-tempted to beg him to go faster. 

“Oh you’re so wet pretty boy. Perfect for my fat cock. Gonna take me so good pretty boy.” You whimper and shake your head, hating that your pussy clenches around his fingers and his words. “Such a naughty fucking boy, getting wet when he has a gun pointed to his head.”

“It’s not like that, I don’t like this.” You stutter out, your cheeks bright red. Chris chuckles darkly, he pulls his fingers out of you and easily picks you and places you on the bed, still hogtied in doggy. 

“Then why are you fucking dripping?” He laughs as he takes a picture of you like this. “Oh sweet boy, if you're worried about taking my cock, I can prep you.” You let out a sigh of relief, thinking he is going to go back to fingering you but your worst fears are met when you feel the cold metal of the barrel of his gun sliding into your pussy. Your body shakes with sobs as you cry out for him not to hurt you. Kosei can’t keep his eyes off of you, he is completely entranced by the scene in front of him. Zack notices and cackles before picking up his own gun and shoving it against Kosei’s lips,

“Why don’t we shut you up, huh? Open wide.” And all Kosei can do is whimper and accept the gun, sucking on it like a dick as Zack roughly fucks him. You try and look back at Chris, begging him.

“Please I can take your cock, just don’t put the gun in me.”

“You don’t wanna take the gun? Maybe I should just blow your fucking brains out right now?” You whimper loudly, gulping down fear as it becomes hard to breathe. You manage to catch your breath and beg at Chris.

“No, wait. I’m sorry. Please, I'll do anything, please.” 

“Then take the gun like the good bitch I know you are.” You nod, biting down on your bottom lip to stifle your noises of pleasure as Chris forces the gun deeper into you. He is staring straight at your pussy, watching it as clenches around the barrel of his gun. “You’re pathetic. Dripping wet, I can see your pussy clenching down on my gun. You better fucking cum on it or I’m going to have to shoot this pretty little head of yours.”

You try not to let his words affect you, to not let them go to your pussy. But the head of the gun is abusing your g-spot and his words are just oh so hot. Your mouth falls open with a loud scream as you squirt around the gun. Your cheeks are painted bright red with a blush as you realize what you have done as you come down from your second orgasm of the night. Chris cackles maniacally as he pulls the gun from your pussy, watching as you try to chase after it, wanting the pleasure to continue. 

“Oh you don’t like my gun?” Chris mocks your words from earlier and you nod, “Yet you just squirted on it like a fucking slut.” 

“‘M not a slut.”

“Yea yea. Who’s the one that just came with a gun in their pussy? You did, love.” 

“I didn’t mean to.” You cry out, the tears that had started to dry are only added to as tears drip down your cheeks. Chris flips you over and throws the gun to the side and pulls a switchblade from his pocket. You gulp and don’t dare look at Chris but he grabs your chin, forcing you to look at him. He pulls a switchblade from his pocket and flicks it open. You look up at him with fear and watch as he strips with one hand, pointing the knife at you. 

“Gonna breed this little pussy. Gonna really make you mine.” You whimper loudly, trying not to buck your hips with his words. He pushes his cock into your pussy and you moan loudly, the stretch of his fat cock is almost too much for you and you almost cum again. You can’t help but break character, thrashing against the ropes to try and touch Chris, softly begging him to breed you. Tears of pleasure start streaming down your face as Chris starts to thrust into you. And Chris can tell that you have broken, that your tears aren’t of fear but of pleasure. 

“Chris, please I need it.” You beg softly as not to disturb the scene for Zack and Kosei. Chris immediately cuts your binds so you can hold him, he puts the knife to the side for now, just far enough away that you wouldn’t hurt yourself accidentally. “Breed me please, Chris. Please.” 

“Don’t worry baby, I will. I’m gonna put a baby in you tonight, I promise.” He responds just as softly and kisses your forehead. You cling to him, nails clawing at his back. As much as you want to focus on the scene, to make Kosei’s first time good, now that Chris is on top of you that's all you can think about. You can only think about how he is enveloping you, about how big his hands are on your waist, about how you are solely his. 

“Please please please Chris. I need you to cum in me.” He nods, kissing you with such love. A shrill moan pulls your attention away from Chris, you turn to see Zack balls deep in Kosei, who is crying and shaking with pleasure. Kosei looks up at you with such an innocent look in his eyes and your heart melts a little bit. You can see the drool puddle under Kosei’s mouth from how he’s been sucking on Zack’s gun. You moan at the scene in front of you, Zack is ruining your best friend and god it is the hottest thing you have ever seen. Suddenly there is a soft hand on your chin and turning your head back to Chris.

“Baby, look at me now, okay? Look at me.” Chris begs you, your pussy clenches around his cock. He rarely begged and when he did, you instantly became a mess. You arch into his chest, clawing at his back even more. 

“Fuck I need your baby.” 

“You’re gonna get it, love. I’m gonna fucking knock you up, I swear.” Chris’s voice is so soft, so loving. It makes your heart flutter and you hold Chris even tighter. “You’re gonna be so pretty with my baby.” His cock hits your g-spot head on and you let out a lewd moan. “You take me so well baby boy. You’re gonna make such a good daddy.” 

Chris rests his forehead on yours and looks at you with such love in his eyes which you return. You lean up and kiss his lips softly. The constant abuse to your g-spot has you close to another orgasm in minutes. You whine at him, telling him that you are close and he tightens his hold on your hips. His thrusts quicken as you cunt clenches around his cock. Soft plea’s stumble from your lips, sounding like a soft prayer.

“Gonna make your little belly swell with my baby.” Chris rubs your stomach lovingly as he speaks. Your mouth falls open with a loud moan as you cum around your lover’s cock. His cock pulses inside of you and you look him deep in the eyes, panting through your orgasm. 

"Put your kid in me, Chris. I need you to get me pregnant.” Chris moans at your words. His thrust get sloppy but you can tell that he is fucking you with the intent of breeding you. He continues rubbing your stomach, telling you that you are going to be such a good dad.

“There we go baby, watch as I put a baby in your stomach.” He groans out as rope after rope of cum spills into you. You whine at the feeling, sure Chris had bred you before but this is something different, this is something special. Tears start rolling down your cheeks, these aren’t out of fear or pleasure, these are happy tears. You are clinging to Chris, softly crying, putting your hand on top of his on your stomach. 

“Thank you baby. Thank you so much.” He looks up at you and wipes your tears away, softly kissing each of your cheeks. 

“No need to cry my love.” His voice is full of worry.

“No no, they’re happy tears. So so happy.” You kiss him, a wide smile playing on your lips. “You may have just put a little Brookes in me.” 

“I hope I did.” 

“We can keep trying until the test comes up positive.” You giggle out. Chris gives a few hard thrusts, fucking his cum deep into you, making sure it breaches your womb. Chris is looking at you with pure love and you are looking at him the same way. You cup his cheeks and pull him into a loving kiss, “Thank you my love. So so much.” 

“You’re welcome baby.” You and Chris are so caught up in your own world that you don’t notice that Zack and Kosei have finished their scene and are cuddling as they look at you. Kosei is completely entranced with the way that you and Chris are looking at each other, the way you act together, the love that you have for each other. Chris pulls out of you and rests his head on your chest while he rubs your stomach lovingly.  “I can’t wait to start a family with you. This time it took.” 

“You think so?” You ask excitedly.

“I hope so, sweet boy.” Chris smiles up at you. Kosei smiles at the two of you and quickly pulls Zack in for a soft kiss. Zack pulls Kosei closer, his lips ghosting over his lover’s. 

“What was that for, baby boy?” Zack asks softly as not to disturb you and Chris. 

“I love you.” Kosei smiles at the older man. Zack pecks his lips, whispering out an ‘I love you’ back. You call Zack and Kosei over to the bed, it would be big enough for all four of you to sleep on for one night and you wanted them off of the uncomfortable floor.

[debbiechanclub]

Knights and Kings

A “Take My Hand, Wreck My Plans” fic

Pairing: Zack Sabre Jr. x OFC Word Count: 4,650 Warnings: ANGST; alcohol use; language

Nellie and Torrance are both in need of relationship advice, and they expected to find it at the bottom of wine bottles and ice cream cartons―not a deck of tarot cards.

TMHWMP Timeline | Masterlist

Read it on AO3

Tag squad: @comeasyoudar @statdaddy @knifepervert @sldghmmr @rusevday @missbrownstone @meteora-fc @bec0m @thatgirlforever5 @rocca09

Saturday, August 1, 2020 Tokyo, Japan

“Thank you for letting me crash here,” Torrance said. “I promise I won’t overstay my welcome.”

“Stop,” Nellie returned. She handed her a large glass of Sauvignon Blanc and sat down on the opposite end of the couch, pulling her feet up onto the cushion. “You can stay as long as you need. I’m sure it won’t be long, anyway.”

Torrance laughed dryly to herself as she eagerly lifted the glass to her mouth. “That makes one of us.”

She took a long drink, and Nellie frowned. When Torrance had called and told her she needed a place to stay because she and Ishimori were “taking some time apart,” Nellie had thought she meant just for the night. But when she’d shown up at her apartment just over an hour later—suitcase in tow, eyes red from crying—Nellie had realized it was a bit more serious than just a night.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked. “Or do you just want to drink and binge-watch K-dramas?”

Torrance laughed again, a bit more genuine that time. “All of the above.”

Empathy surged in Nellie’s veins. “I didn’t realize you and Ishimori were having issues again.”

“Again,” because Torrance and Ishimori were one of those couples who always seemed to be either hot or cold. Nellie had seen it for herself during the two months she’d crashed in their spare bedroom after she and Zack had broken up. But she’d also seen their love in all the little things they did, in the way they chose each other every single day. From where she was sitting, this break had come out of left field.

But that wasn’t the case for Torrance. “It started not long after you moved out,” she revealed. “I think you were providing a buffer for us, and we didn’t realize it until you were gone.”

Nellie’s frown deepened. So this had been building for a month, then. She had noticed that Torrance hadn’t been her usual self the last few weeks, but she hadn’t thought too much of it—most people weren’t themselves these days. New COVID cases were surging again in Tokyo, and Stardom had just two shows planned for August after only just starting up again at the end of June after a three-month hiatus. So, Nellie had just assumed Torrance was depressed over the general state of things; she hadn’t thought to ask if anything else was going on.

And plus, Nellie had been dealing with her own personal matters lately.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts and refocused on Torrance. “So what exactly started, then?” she asked. “After I moved out.”

“Just, bickering,” Torrance breathed. “Constantly, about everything, about the stupidest, littlest shit. And I’d been hoping it was just a rough patch and that we’d get through it, but we haven’t and now… I’m doubting our entire relationship.”

A weight settled on Nellie’s chest, and she looked regretfully down into her own glass of wine. She could relate all too well.

“It’s exactly like what happened to you and Zack.”

Nellie flicked her eyes back up at her. Torrance was already shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, you’re not wrong,” Nellie ruefully returned. “It is exactly like what happened to me and Zack.” She paused to take a sip of wine, her mouth suddenly dry. “You know you could have talked to me about it.”

“I know,” she quietly said. “I actually almost did call you after Taiji and I got into it last week, but then I realized it was Zack’s birthday and I didn’t want to bother you with my shit when I knew you were probably dealing with your own.”

Nellie’s mouth moved too fast for her brain. “It probably would have been better if you did call.”

There was a beat of silence as they both realized what she’d said. Nellie froze. Torrance noticed.

“Why? Did something happen?”

Nellie shifted uncomfortably.

“Shit, something did happen, didn’t it?” Torrance figured, and Nellie knew there was no avoiding it now. So, she spit it out.

“I slept with Zack.”

Torrance’s jaw unhinged. “On his birthday?”

She nodded.

Torrance stared at her a few seconds longer, mouth agape. “Well, I’m glad I didn’t call, then,” she remarked.

“No, it’s not good, Torr,” Nellie woefully returned—but Torrance was already asking her next question.

“Did it happen here or at his place?”

Nellie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She might as well just give her all the details. “His place. I texted him happy birthday because it felt like the right thing to do; we’re still friends. But then we started talking, and he said he was getting takeout from this udon place we both love, and asked if I wanted to come over. It was only like six-thirty, so I figured it was fine and I could leave before it turned into hook-up hours, but then one thing led to another and… yeah.”

She took a gulp of wine, her heart pulsing in her neck. In truth, she knew she should have declined Zack’s invitation that night; she should have called Torrance and had her talk her down. But she was having a harder time moving on from Zack than she was willing to admit. Some days, she gave herself grace for it. Of course she was having a hard time—she’d uprooted her whole life and moved across the world with the person she loved only to have it all fall apart. Anyone would have a hard time moving on from that.

But other days—like today, the entire last week—she felt like a fool.

“Was it good, at least?” Torrance asked, cutting into her thoughts.

“Torr,” Nellie breathed, half a smile on her lips. “You’re not helping.”

Torrance pulled her mouth to the side of her face. “Well, I guess we both need tonight.” She let out a tired sigh. “Please tell me you have ice cream or chocolate or something else we can eat our feelings with.”

Nellie pushed out her bottom lip. “I don’t. But there’s a 7-Eleven a few blocks away.”

* * * *

Neither of them was concerned about impressing anyone, and a few minutes later they both left Nellie’s apartment in oversized t-shirts, bike shorts, messy buns, and masks to walk the few blocks to 7-Eleven as the last remnants of twilight died in the darkening sky. And it didn’t take long for Torrance to resume her line of questioning.

“Have you and Zack talked about it at all?”

Nellie snorted. “No. I left practically as soon as the sun came up. It was my first walk of shame since back when I was hooking up with Riley,” she lowly added.

“You snuck out?” Torrance balked.

“No, I didn’t sneak out,” Nellie clarified. “I told him I was leaving. But he was still half-asleep, so.” She left it at that and gestured to an alleyway on their right. “It’s this way.”

They cut into the alleyway, lined with tightly packed open-air bars and restaurants. Paper lanterns and electric signs hung every few feet advertising food and drink in kanji, but the atmosphere wasn’t as lively as it would have been under normal circumstances. It made Nellie recall one of her very first dates with Zack at an izakaya just like these, a smile on her face as she turned toward him on a barstool, his hand on her thigh—

“Would you like your cards read, my dears?”

Nellie and Torrance both slowed to a stop. An older woman with kind, dark eyes stood outside a stall toward the end of the alley. Nellie looked up at the sign overhead; in bright neon letters it read in English, “PSYCHIC TAROT PALMISTRY TEA LEAVES.” Her brow furrowed in confusion. This stall hadn’t been there any of the previous times she’d walked through here.

Torrance hesitated. “Oh, I don’t know—”

But the woman cut her off. “Yes, come. You especially need a love reading; I can tell from your aura.”

She beckoned them into the stall. Torrance and Nellie exchanged an uncertain glance.

“Come, come!” the woman repeated. “You want to know if you and your partner are too incompatible, yes?”

Torrance’s eyes widened. Nellie could see her overthinking it in real time.

“Okay, that’s a really general statement,” she quietly attempted to assuage her.

“There’s no need to be afraid,” the woman said. “The cards will only tell you what you need to hear.”

Torrance and Nellie tapped eyes again. “Yeah, that’s what worries me,” Torrance muttered under her breath; but she moved forward into the stall. Nellie followed. She had to admit, she was intrigued—and there was something comforting about the old woman’s presence.

There wasn’t much to her set-up; just a small folding table covered by a woven tapestry with one chair on one side and two on the other, a neatly stacked deck of tarot cards set in the middle. An electric tea kettle and paper cups sat in the corner, presumably for those who wished to have their tea leaves read. They all sat down around the table. The woman looked at Torrance first.

“All I need are your name and the name of your partner, nothing more.”

Torrance shifted; so they were jumping right into it. Her voice wavered a bit as she answered. “Um, I’m Torrance, and my boyfriend’s given name is Taiji.”

The woman hummed as she nodded and reached for the cards. She held them intentionally in her hands for a moment, her eyes closed, focused; and then she reopened them and started to shuffle. Overhand, varying her pace—sometimes quick, sometimes slow—until one of the cards popped out from the pile, making itself known. She laid it facedown on the table, and then repeated the process two more times. When she was done, she set the rest of the cards off to the side. The air in the room seemed to thicken as she did.

“This is a traditional three-card love spread,” she explained, deliberately pronouncing each word. “Many people think, ‘the more cards, the better.’ But with too many cards, the message can become muddy and lost. A three-card spread cuts right to the heart of the situation.”

She placed her finger on the card on the right. “This card represents you.” She moved to the card on the left. “This card represents your partner.” Finally, she put her finger on the card in the middle. “And this card represents your relationship together.”

“Okay,” Torrance breathed, nervous. But the woman smiled at her, and even though her mouth was hidden behind her mask they could see it in her eyes, sympathetic and kind.

“Again, the cards will not tell you anything you do not need to hear,” she repeated; and then, without warning, she flipped over the card on the right. It displayed a striking graphic image of an angel pouring water between two cups. At the bottom, it read in capital letters, TEMPERANCE.

“Ah, a major arcana card!” she noted. “This is an important message.”

Torrance’s brow furrowed with anxiety. The woman went on.

“Now, the card looks upright to you because we are sitting opposite one another. But because I am the one doing the reading, it is reversed. And Temperance reversed indicates that you must look inward first before you can move forward.”

Nellie glanced at Torrance out of the corner of her eye. She fidgeted in her seat again, the corners of her mouth turned down. But she remained quiet, interested in what else the woman had to say. And so, she continued.

“Something is imbalanced in your life, and you must think about what it is that you truly want. Not anyone else—you. It is the only way to find harmony again.”

Torrance went rigid. Clearly, the woman’s words resonated with her; perhaps too much.

“It’s not a bad card,” Nellie cut in. “It’s just saying you should take a step back and figure things out. You’re doing that now.”

The woman smiled. “Your friend is right. And if you’re doing this, you are already on the forward path.”

Torrance nodded in understanding. “Okay,” she said again.

“Let’s see Taiji’s card now…” The woman reached for the left card and flipped it over. It pictured a robed king holding a longsword in his hands: the KING OF SWORDS.

The woman considered the card for a few seconds. And then she asked, “Does Taiji have very high standards?”

“Yes,” Nellie immediately commented. Torrance rolled her eyes; but she didn’t disagree.

“Yeah, he does,” she dolefully confirmed. “For everything.”

The woman nodded. “The King of Swords is someone who is very controlled and ambitious, and sometimes that can come off as…” she fluttered her fingers, searching for the right word. “Overbearing—cold—especially in relationships, as they tend to be reserved in showing their emotions. To them, love means pushing their partner to do and be their very best, and they desire someone who will do the same for them. When the two partners are aligned in this concept, it makes for a very strong and beneficial relationship.

“But,” she pointed meaningfully back at the Temperance card. “Do not forget what Temperance has told you. If your desires and needs don’t align with Taiji’s, then it will benefit neither of you.”

Torrance gnawed on the inside of her lip. Nellie couldn’t think of a positive way to spin that message.

“Alright,” the woman said with a single nod. “Now, your relationship together…”

She flipped over the middle card. A knight sat atop a gallant horse, a cup in his outstretched hand. The KNIGHT OF CUPS.

“Hm,” the woman remarked.

“What?” Torrance asked, leaning forward, an edge of panic to her voice. “What does that mean?”

The woman thought for a beat. “Well,” she began, “the Knight of Cups could mean one of two things here, both very positive. First, it could indicate that you and Taiji will take the positive actions necessary for you to move forward together as a couple… or, alternatively, it could represent someone new coming into your life. Someone much more emotionally in-tune with your needs than the King of Swords.”

Nellie snapped her eyes at Torrance. She sat frozen, shocked; but Nellie swore it looked like someone specific had popped into her head.

The woman noticed it, too. “Ah… is there someone else already who could be the Knight of Cups?”

“What?” Torrance reacted. “No,” she shook her head, cleared her throat. “I’m just surprised. This is… eye-opening, for sure.”

The woman smiled again, her dark eyes wrinkling at the corners. “Good! That is the cards’ entire purpose! And now, we will see what they have to say to you.”

Nellie snapped to attention. That meant her.

“You are single, yes?” the woman asked. “Newly single.”

Goosebumps prickled over Nellie’s skin. How had she figured that? “About three months now, yeah,” she returned.

“Mm,” the woman hummed and nodded again. “Then you have a choice. Either I can do a general love reading, or, if there is someone specific on your mind,” she said this as if she already knew, “you can give me their name and I will do a reading like your friend’s.”

Nellie hesitated, a lump in her throat. If Zack knew she was doing this, he would give her so much shit. He was a hardline atheist; he didn’t believe in anything but provable facts, something that had been a point of contention in their relationship. She had always believed in something more, some force bigger than herself.

And she wanted to know.

“His name is Zack.”

The woman picked up the deck. “And yours?”

“Oh. Nellie.”

“Thank you,” the woman nodded, and she started to shuffle.

The first card popped out almost immediately; she pulled it from the deck and laid it on the right. A few seconds later, the second card emerged, and she laid it on the left. Not long after, the final card seemed to jump from the deck of its own volition. The woman laughed lightly to herself as she placed it in the center.

“That was quick.”

Nellie rubbed clammy palms on her legs. She didn’t know if that was a good or bad sign.

The woman reached for the first card. “Your card,” she said; and as she flipped it over, Nellie was struck by the imagery. A large red heart pierced through its center by three swords, storm clouds in the background.

She scoffed to herself. That was a little on-the-nose.

“Ah… the Three of Swords reversed,” the woman noted. “You are having trouble moving on from the relationship that recently ended.”

It was a statement, not a question. Nellie stiffened. “You could say that,” she quietly returned.

“Mm,” the woman hummed again. “It is not so bad, though. The Three of Swords indicates that you need to go through this period of grieving to move forward. But you must be careful not to live in that grief and get stuck. You must keep yourself open to what lies ahead.”

But what lies ahead? Nellie wanted to ask. Maybe the cards would tell her.

“Now Zack’s card,” the woman continued. She picked up the left card and flipped it over. A knight charged forward on a horse, a staff in his hand. At the bottom, it read KNIGHT OF WANDS—and like Nellie’s card, it was reversed.

“He’s the person you recently broke up with, yes?” the woman asked.

Nellie blanched. How did she keep doing that? “Yeah,” she confirmed. “After almost two years. We moved here together in January and then… yeah.” She looked down, surprised at her candor. Maybe she’d just needed to say it.

The woman studied her a beat longer before looking back down at the card. “Like the King of Swords in the previous reading, the Knight of Wands is highly ambitious. But he is more impulsive than disciplined. He struggles with impatience, and sometimes fails to think before he speaks.”

“Do you know Zack personally?” Nellie quipped. The woman’s eyes crinkled in amusement before she continued.

“However, because the card is reversed, it indicates that he’s been feeling very frustrated. There are obstacles in his way, ones he cannot control, and he’s unsure how to proceed. Additionally, his frustration might not have anything to do with your relationship at all, but it affected it nonetheless. He must reconcile all this before he can move forward to what he wants.”

Nellie curled her hands into fists on her legs. There had been extraneous strains on her and Zack’s relationship that had played a factor in their break-up, of that there was no doubt. Living together for the first time in a foreign country where neither of them spoke the language, in the midst of a fucking pandemic, unable to do their job, the thing they loved, the thing that had brought them together in the first place. It had piled up on top of them, and they’d broken under the weight of it all.

“Does this resonate with you?” the woman asked. Again, Nellie had a sense that she already knew the answer.

“Yeah, it does,” she said. “But I don’t know if I’m part of what he wants.”

The woman’s eyes sparkled. “Well, let’s see if the final card will tell us.”

She reached for the third and final card, and Nellie reflexively held her breath as she watched her flip it over. The first thing she noticed was the bright red background. Then, a man and a woman, each holding a cup in their hand, the man reaching out toward the woman. TWO OF CUPS, it read.

“I believe you are part of what he wants,” the woman said. “The Two of Cups. This a soulmate card, my dear.”

* * * *

Nellie tried to pay the woman for the readings, but she refused the money. “The spirits had me seek you out,” she said. Nellie didn’t argue. She just thanked her and practically ran out of the stall, her head spinning.

Soulmates? Her and Zack? Please. She didn’t even think he believed in the concept.

“Wait up!” Torrance called as they exited the alleyway. Nellie spotted the 7-Eleven up ahead and started walking faster. Torrance had to jog to catch up with her. “Well, that was intense,” she remarked.

Nellie didn’t respond.

“Nell.”

“What?”

“That woman just said you and Zack are soulmates, and you’re clearly feeling some type of way about it.”

They came to an intersection, and Nellie jabbed the crosswalk button with her fingers. “She also said that card didn’t necessarily signify romantic soulmates.”

“Okay, but that was a love reading.”

Nellie kept her gaze trained on the crosswalk signal, willing it to change. “It was probably a bunch of bullshit,” she dismissed.

But Torrance shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know, she seemed pretty intuitive to me.”

“Oh yeah?” Nellie returned. “Who’s the Knight of Cups?”

She looked probingly down at her. Torrance blanched. “Okay fine, we won’t talk about it.”

* * * *

But long after they’d returned to the apartment, loaded up with ice cream, Japanese pastries, and more wine, Nellie still couldn’t stop thinking about it. And then, two more glasses deep and well into a Netflix binge session, she got a text. From Zack.

Are you free?

She nudged Torrance and wordlessly showed her the message. Her eyes bulged.

“Now he chooses to mince words?”

Nellie rolled her eyes. “I’m telling him I’m not,” she said and started to type back—but Torrance stopped her.

“No, don’t! You two need to talk.”

Nellie’s brow furrowed in disagreement. “I’m not leaving you here by yourself to go talk to Zack.”

“What, don’t trust me with your stuff?” she joked.

“That’s not—”

“I know,” Torrance interjected. “And seriously, I’ll be fine. Please go talk to him. We don’t both need to be miserable tonight.”

Nellie ran an uncertain hand through her hair. On the contrary, there was no guarantee that talking to Zack wouldn’t just make her more miserable. But Torrance was right. They did need to talk.

“Fine,” she said. “But I’m coming back.”

She didn’t bother changing, but she did pull her long, dark hair out from its messy bun and comb it out with her fingers, double-checking in the bathroom mirror that she looked decent, and then she was out the door. Zack lived two buildings over in the same complex, in what used to be their apartment. Nellie admitted it wasn’t ideal still living so close to him, but options were limited in the current market, and she hadn’t wanted to overstay her welcome with Torrance and Ishimori. Besides, she liked this neighborhood; she was familiar with it. She needed that more than ever right now.

Less than five minutes and she was at his door. She’d never responded to his text, she realized, but it was just as well. He wanted to see her; at least, it had sounded like he did. So, she raised her hand and knocked.

It wasn’t long before Zack answered. He seemed surprised to see her. “So I guess you are free, then?”

A swell of embarrassment flushed Nellie’s face. She was wrong, she shouldn’t have just showed up. Maybe he’d just wanted to talk on the phone, over text—not face-to-face. She must look like an overeager fool.

“Sorry, I should’ve—”

“No,” he cut her off with a shake of his head. “Come in.”

He pulled the door open further, and she gave him a tight smile and moved inside. Soft music floated out from the record player in the corner of the living room; a half-full glass of beer sat on the coffee table. So he’d been drinking, too.

“Do you want anything to drink?”

She looked back at him as he shut the door. “Um, water, actually. I had some wine and I’m starting to get a headache.”

“Ah,” he smirked. “Wine drunk. So that explains you just turning up.”

He disappeared into the kitchen, and Nellie let out a breath. She needed to relax. She moved around to the couch and sank down into the cushions, listening to the music. It was one of Zack’s favorite bands; they’d seen them live in England before all this. She’d gotten him that record player for Christmas. It made her wonder what was going through his head before he’d texted her.

“Here you go.”

Zack reappeared with a glass of ice water. She thanked him and took a long drink as he sat down next to her. It wasn’t until she set the glass atop a coaster on the coffee table and sat back that she realized how close they were.

“So were you just drinking by yourself?” he asked. Cheeky like always.

Nellie pursed her lips. “Not that that would be anything to judge someone for these days... but no. Torrance is over.”

Zack’s brow furrowed. “She is over? And you just left?”

“She practically shoved me out the door, trust me,” Nellie returned, and the implication was obvious: she’d told Torrance what had happened. The mood shifted like the needle on the record player to the next track on the vinyl. There was no avoiding it now.

“So, why’d you want to know if I was free?” she opened.

He laughed shortly. “Is it not obvious?”

“No, it is,” she said. And then, more quietly, “Where’s your head at?”

Zack sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Honestly, I don’t know, Nell. But it shouldn’t have happened, should it?”

Nellie’s heart dropped to her stomach. She felt the same didn’t she? Then why did it hurt so much hearing him say it? “I guess not,” she returned.

“I’m not saying that I regret it,” he quickly clarified. “I don’t, at all. Nell, I would take you to my bed right now.”

“But?”

“But. There’s a reason we broke up. Reasons, plural.”

Nellie’s nose burned. She thought of the tarot reading again, the Knight of Wands reversed, all the outside stresses that they’d been under, that they were still under. She wanted to bring it up to him—the circumstances, not the tarot reading; he’d laugh her out of the apartment if she brought up the tarot reading—but it felt like it wouldn’t make a difference.

And yet. “What if the reasons were all extraneous?”

Zack looked confused. “What?”   

She pivoted to face him on the couch, and her knee bumped his. “I mean, what if the reasons we broke up weren’t actually issues between us, but outside issues that affected us?”

He sighed again. “Nell, we were fighting about everything.”

“Yeah, because we were cooped up here together, unable to work, unable to go anywhere or do anything, really. You don’t think that maybe that had something to do with it, that maybe it was just the circumstances we were under and not actually us?”

“I’m sure it did have something to do with it, but what if it just sped up the inevitable?”

The air was knocked from Nellie’s lungs. Was that really how he felt? “Oh.” She was a fool.

“Darling,” Zack started—and then he caught himself, realized what he’d said. Nellie’s eyes steeled.

“Don’t call me that right now.” She stood up from the couch. “You’re right; it shouldn’t have happened.”

She started for the door.

“Nell—”

“I should get back to Torrance,” she said, and with that she walked out.

The Knight of Wands, his impulsiveness.

The Three of Swords, its necessary heartbreak.

The Two of Cups—soulmates.

Nellie wanted to believe that maybe there was something to it. But it felt like it was all just bullshit.

[milk-crater]

My headcannon is that Zack Sabre JR Orange Cassidy have actually been married for years and Forbidden Door season is just them doing some public role play.

[watchtheleavesfall]

NJPW ships? 👀

I love me some Zack Sabre Jr, so him with…well, anybody really. 🤭 But especially Shane Haste, Robbie Eagles, DOUKI, Will Ospreay (if we rewind time a bit), and Chris Brookes (if you don’t mind a little dip into DDT).

I can’t wait to see what you come up with! ❤️

- Verenestra

This one challenged me a lot, because they're not pairings I'd usually gravitate towards for Zack - Chris Brookes not withstanding, who I just don't know enough about to write. It ended up being tricky but rewarding, though. So thanks for prompting me! ~~~ "If asked who he likes best in TMDK, Fujita is most definitely the one he'd say, and he'd even say it out loud, but in the quiet corners of an arena, when Shane holds him tight until all his muscles relax, he thinks he might be lying to himself." -> You can find the fic here. <-

[sydsaint]

I'm not ready for Sunday 😭

Summary: The reader is Danielson's sister who has an encounter with Zack before his match with her brother.

"Come on, Y/N, keep up!" Bryan shouts from in front of you.

"Slow down! I hate you!" You groan as you break into a sprint to keep up with your brother.

You hear Bryan laugh as you make it back to his side. You glare at him through gritted teeth as he grins at you. "Come on, Y/N. We're almost done last stretch." He encourages you.

"Yeah yeah." You huff.

Bryan takes off in a sprint and you curse before taking off after him. The two of you round the last corner of your journey and come to a stop in front of the gym.

Bryan laughs at you as you come up behind him huffing and puffing for your life. You come to a full stop and put your hands on your knees to catch your breath.

"Please tell me that we're done?" You plead, lungs burning in your chest.

"Well, I was going to head inside and do some weight training." Bryan laughs as your eyes widen in desperation. "But I know you've been working hard all morning. So let's go get changed and get some lunch. My treat."

You perk up at the mention of lunch. "Yes! I am starving. Just please, can we go to a normal place for lunch? No vegan exclusive food?" You ask him.

"Vegan food is good for you," Bryan argues. "And for the environment." He adds.

"Yeah yeah." You gruff. "Vegetarian place then." You compromise with him.

Bryan nods and agrees to your terms. The two of you get changed out of your sweaty clothes and head out for lunch.

"So, are you feeling nervous about your match against Zack this weekend?" You ask Bryan at the restaurant while waiting for your food.

"Uhh, I wouldn't say nervous." Bryan shrugs. "I know it's going to be one hell of a match."

You laugh and agree. "That's for sure." You tease him. "Have you even met Zack before?" You ask him.

"Not in person, no." Bryan shakes his head. "I've seen a bunch of his work though. Been studying tapes with Mox and Claudio all week." He adds.

"Good. You're gonna need it." You muse and pick up your drink.

Bryan raises a brow at you while picking up his own drink. "You seem awfully interested in my match with Zack all of a sudden?" He comments. "Usually you couldn't care less about who I'm going up against."

"So?" You reply. "You're always nagging me about getting more involved in you and the rest of BCC. So that's what I'm doing." 

"No, that's not it." Bryan narrows his eyes at you. 

You roll your eyes and finish lunch with your suspicious brother. The two of you part ways until the weekend. 

Sunday afternoon, you arrive at the Climate Pledge Arena in a rainy Seattle. Bryan and the rest of his group have already arrived and are planning no doubt, so you hurry to join them. On your way through the backstage area you run into someone interesting, Bryan's opponent for the night. Zack Sabre Jr. 

"Well, what do we have here." Zack spots you from across the room, a mischievous grin on his face. He'd recognized you from some of the tapes and research on Danielson he'd been doing. "Excuse me, love. You're, Y/N, right? Bryan Danielson's sister?" He walks over to you with a charming smile. 

"Me?" You point to yourself nervously and swallow hard. "Yeah, that's me." You nod your head. "It's nice to meet you, Zack. I'm a big fan." You admit, betraying your brother in favor of the devilishly handsome Brit in front of you. 

Zack chuckles and the sound makes you weak in the knees. "Please, the pleasure is all mine, love." Sabre insists. "I've seen some of your work in the ring as well, love. And I must say, you aren't too bad in the ring  yourself." He adds. 

"Me?" You laugh. "I'm alright in the ring. Bryan is the prodigy of the family, trust me." You assure him with a nervous smile. 

"Maybe so," Zack replies. "Regardless, I'd love to train with you sometime if you're free." He informs you with a smile that makes your heart pump in your chest like it's about to explode. "Here's my personal number. Give me a call sometime, love. Lunch is on me." He winks at you and hands over a piece of paper with a number written on it. 

"Y-yeah, okay." You nod and take the slip of paper. 

Zack walks off and you hurry along to the BCC locker room giddy with glee and hoarding your new phone number like it's gold. 

"Y/N, there you are." Bryan greets you when you finally arrive. "We've been waiting for you. What, did you get lost?" He asks you. 

"No, I just...ran into someone." You reply. "I'm here now. So let's get on with it." 

Your brother once again narrows his eyes at you. He can tell with one look that something is up with you. But he chooses to ignore it for the time being. He's got one hell of a match against Zack later, and the last thing he needs is to be worried about you. 

Everyone links up and schemes about the plan for the night. You agree to go out with Daniel for support instead of Wheeler since he's got a match against Ricky Starks now. You wonder if you should tell Bryan about your encounter with Zack earlier, but chose not to. You know that it'll just distract him from the task at hand. 

The time comes for Bryan and Zacks match, so you head out with your brother. You and Bryan are the first ones out to the ring, so you take up a spot on the floor below Bryan's corner. Zack heads out a few minutes later and can't help but make a pass at you. 

"Come to get a front-row seat to the show, love?" Zack cheekily asks you as he passes you. "You know, we could always move that lunch to a dinner. Say, after the show?" He suggests. 

"What!?" Bryan hears his opponent's proposition and hurries over to the corner. "Y/N! Quit flirting!" He scolds you. 

You roll your eyes and turn to look up at Bryan. "I wasn't flirting!" You shout at him before turning back to Zack. "Sure, I can do dinner. If you win." You find a surge of confidence within yourself. 

"Brilliant." Zack chuckles. "Please do enjoy the show, love. We'll talk more soon." He winks at you before making his way over to his corner.

[ghostofviperwrites]

NSFW Alphabet - Zack Sabre Jr.

Full NSFW Alphabet after the cut 

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Aftercare is a very important to Zack.  Sessions with him are always very intense and emotional.  There’s a strong connection between him and his partners and the let down can be extreme.  Bottles of water and a small charcuterie plate are at the ready after vigorous round with him.  

B = Body part (Their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Zack is particularly fond of his legs.   They are long and lean and incredibly flexible, something he takes a lot of pride in.   On his partner, Zack loves lips.  Thick and full, he loves dragging a pouty bottom lip through is teeth and delivering stinging bites.  

C = Cum (anything to do with cum)

Being with Zack isn’t a one orgasm and you’re done deal.  For either of you.  It will be marathons of lovemaking that lasts for hours and copious amounts of cum and sweat.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Zack enjoys being cuddled, particularly being the little spoon.  

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

He isn’t overly experienced as he is particularly choosy about his partners.  He wants someone who is going to match him move for move and can go all night long just like him.  But don’t make the mistake of thinking a lack of partners means he doesn’t know who to bring intense pleasure.  

F = Favorite Position (This goes without saying)  

He doesn’t particularly have a favorite position.  Zack is all about variety and trying different things, so he is always experimenting to find a new position.   His favorite changes as often as his underwear.  

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

He is very serious and intense, completely focused on bringing his partner the upmost pleasure.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Zack waxes and keeps himself hairless.  With the tiny briefs he wears in the ring, stray hairs are a no-no so he keeps it nice and smooth.  

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

With the right person and if he truly feels a connection there will be a more romantic aspect to Zack’s lovemaking.  He’s generally intense and focused regardless of his partner, but if there is a more of a connection than a more lover-like side will emerge.  

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Zack enjoys masturbating and treats it much like his sexual encounters.  He isn’t in it for a quickie or just to get off.  He takes his time and takes care of himself properly with oils, scented candles and relaxing music.  He isn’t getting off to dirty movies on his phone, but rather through memories and fantasies of his partners.  

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Tantric sex and the kama sutra.  Zack is all about stamina, marathon sex and going all night long in every position he can twist you into.  Flexibility is a requirement when it comes to being with Zack as he wants to stretch and bend you in ways you can’t even imagine.  

L = Location (Favorite places to do the do)

The bedroom.  Pretty much the only place he wants to do it as his particular style works best in a bed.  

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Confidence.  He is a cocky confident guy and he wants a partner who can match him.  A self-assured confident person immediately draws his eye and attention.  

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

There isn’t anything that Zack has come across yet that he isn’t willing to give a try at least once. He is very open-minded and willing to experiment.  

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Zack prefers to give rather than receive, though he certainly enjoys receiving.  He loves to pleasure his partner with his tongue and lips, spreading them wide or pushing their legs behind their head to give him unobstructed access.

P = Pace (Are they fats and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Slow and sensual all the way.  There is no rushing when it comes to Zack.  

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Not generally happening. Zack will never say never, but with his preferences, quick is not the way to go.  

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

He is always open to experimentation.  Zack will never outright turn down an idea and will give anything  a go once.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Zack can seriously go all night long and can recover amazingly quickly after finishing, ready to go for the next round almost immediately.  

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Zack owns vibrators and rope.  He likes to bind his partners into uncomfortable positions, and turnabout is always fair play.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Zack isn’t much into teasing. He is all about the pleasure, giving and receiving and the end goal is orgasms for everyone.  

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

There isn’t a lot of noise coming from Zack.  The occasional grunts and moans but nothing outlandish.  

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Zack is a switch. He can play dominant or submissive and enjoys both equally.  His mood can even switch mid-encounter, so his partners must be adaptable as well.  

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants)

Long and thin, just like the rest of him.  

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

His sex drive isn’t overly high. He doesn’t need to have sex all the time, but when he is ready to get dirty, it takes a lot to wear him down.  

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

He likes to cuddle with his partner, having a reflective conversation on the encounter while its fresh in mind while replenishing their energy with water and a small snack before drifting off.  

[anerdysouthernbelle]

Zack|Stay|Sabre Jr.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0jn2XqaHliEpWd04ZykIHy

OC x Zack Sabre Jr.

Tag list: (please let me know if you want to be added or removed!)

@lavitabella87 @wrasslin-x @wrasslesmut  @wrestlewriting @wrestlingfae @bruiserw8 @thedeboniardevistation @nahmooste @shieldgirl95 @ghostofviper   @breakfastwiththesun @spine-buster @tvrnbvckle  @caramara3 @lclb13 @korrasborra @wrasslin-rollins @kakakatey @empress-with-the-crown @anglophilestymie @neversatisfiedgirl @never-shuts-up @chickenwingsuplex @theworldiscolorful @nopeitsnat  @wwesmutdonedirtcheap  @sunflowers-and-swear-words @rabidwrestlingfan @indywrestlinglover-life @alafairftw @vivalavonvon @verysharpteeth @themurdererwriter @sonjashuterbugjohnson @kaleywwefan @kinghelmsley @urieshood @vexingfelon

Warnings: angst, lots of angst, mentions of cheating

Word count: 900

“Baby, why don’t you stay?”

(this was the only normal gif I could find of him cause the rest of them, he was either an asshole or it was pretty fucking gay cause boy’s got a shitton of chemistry with everyone, if you catch my drift 😏😏)

“Please don’t go,” she begged him.

“I have to,” Zack told her.

“No you don’t. You don’t have to go to her. You can stay with me. You said you’d stay with me this time.”

“I can’t. Not tonight. But just remember this - you’re still first for me,” he told her as he walked out.

It doesn’t feel like it, she thought as she watched him leave yet again. She laid down on the bed and covered her face as she began to cry. She hated crying, especially over him. She also hated how frequently it happened now - he’d spend time with her, get a text, then he was gone again. She also hated how it made her feel - like she was crazy. She hated herself for it because she knew he’d come back sooner or later. She knew he had to leave for his job but it almost always for someone else and she hated feeling like she was holding him back.

She always tried to drown out her warring emotions and it never worked. The worst part was after he left. The sinking loneliness she always felt inside her actually physically pained her, almost as if her heart was threatening to break apart inside her chest. It was always the same thoughts turning over and over in her mind: was she doing something wrong? Was she not enough for him? Was she not good enough or sexy enough or anything for him?

  He always told her that this was temporary; that one day they’d be together for good. Some days she believed that because it was the only thing that would keep her going while he was gone.

 She wanted nothing more than for Zack to stay with her and her only but she knew that couldn’t happen because if it wasn’t the current woman he was with, it would be someone else. It would always, always be someone else, whether it was a coworker of his or an adoring fan. Someone else to make her feel jealous and crazy. Someone else to make her angry with him every time he told her he had to go. Someone else to make her feel like her heart was breaking. Someone else to make her feel like he was stabbing her in the back.

  She knew it was wrong, that she shouldn’t be feeling this way and that he shouldn’t be worth it because he was going to be the one to finally break her heart completely, but she let him do it anyways. She let him go every time and she hated herself for it. She always told him she didn’t share because she was selfish and he laughed because to him, her selfishness was one of her little quirks that he adored. But her selfishness wasn’t a silly quirk to laugh at and think it was cute, she knew if she wasn’t, then she’d get walked on and over.

So she waited. Waited for him to come back to her because that’s what she did - she waited, even though it hurt. She took the pain and pushed it down because she couldn’t let him see how much he was hurting her. Maybe he knew but he never did anything about it except apologize and tell her how much she meant to him and be with her until it was time to go again.

One day, she couldn’t take it anymore. Zack had gotten another text. He told her that he had to go and quickly packed his bags to leave yet again. That’s when she told him this:

“Why don’t you stay?”

“I can’t. I have to go.”

“That’s not what I meant.” She sat straight up and took a deep breath, steeling herself. She looked into his eyes and realized what she had to do now.

“What do you mean?” he asked her.

“I mean, why don’t you stay? With her.”

“It’s only for a little while, darling. I’ll be back, you know this.”

“No. Not anymore. Stay with her. Forever. Until you get bored. I’m not doing this anymore. I can’t. I can’t wait around for you anymore. I can’t share you with her or anyone else anymore.”

“What are you saying, babe?” Zack wanted to know, his brown eyes searching hers, trying to find answers.

“I’m saying… once you leave tonight, don’t bother coming back. At all. I can’t keep putting myself through this with you or anyone else. I’m tired. I’m tired of feeling this way. I’m tired of feeling like I’m the psycho, clingy woman.”

“You’re not. I told you that what you’re feeling is okay. It’s normal. I’m sorry I’m hurting you. Please.”

“You always said you’d hurt me. You’ve done it - one too many times. And I’m done. I’m done being hurt by you. I’ve given you the best of me, but she gets the best of you. So I’m done.”

“Don’t do this,” Zack whispered, his voice cracking a little. She shook her head.

“Just go. Please,” she told him with finality in her voice. He dropped his head as he sighed.

“Okay. I’ll go. If that’s what you really want,” he told her.

“It is.”

He turned around to leave, but before he left, he told her,

“I never meant to hurt you like that. And I’m truly sorry.”

“Goodbye.”

He left and she let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding. She took another deep breath and suddenly, she felt better almost - like a weight had been lifted off her heart. When she went to bed that night, she didn’t cry or feel any of the usual emotions she had always felt when he left. She felt better than she ever had in awhile.

[majorheelturn]

it’s here it’s here!

it’s @wrestlebang time and though the last month or so has been…. a challenge…. I got the best kind of escape through writing one of my favorite pairs of mutual pining dorks, El Desperado and Zack Sabre Jr.

I can’t wait for you all to see the absolute brilliance that @mellivora came up with- I was BLESSED to get connected with an artist who loves these two and was willing to talk NJPW D&D classes on the side.

for now, enjoy the drama, the submission holds as kink, and the pining to fluff pipeline.

heaven help a fool who falls in love

el desperado/zack sabre jr

10,589 words & outtakes to follow

[elitehunter]

Zack Sabre Jr.: You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas

Title: You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas Theme: Day 3 - Candles for @12daysofchristmas Fandom/Character(s): NJPW/Zack Sabre Jr. x OFC Warnings: none, a minor mention of the final Suzuki-gun match if that gets you too deep in your feels but tbh it's just stating there's a match. Word Count: 2,341

There are some very special traditions she's been planning on passing along to her nieces and nephews for the first Christmas she'll get to be home for in years. But when inclement weather keeps her grounded in Tokyo, he decides nothing should get in the way of the plans she made.

Read it on AO3

[bullet-clubs-bitch]

can I request a zack sabre jr fic? Maybe leading up to forbidden door the reader is in a feud with a wrestler that has a male partner who interferes and zack comes out to save them, surprising the crowd. Even the commentary table seems confused. When the reader asks why he came out he just gives a flirty response. You can end it however you want 😁

Forbidden Love

Summary: Zack saves you from JAS

Zack Sabre Jr X fem reader

Main Masterlist

That familiar door was soon about to open and although I was excited I was also nervous. Forbidden Door was my favourite event of the year, not only because I would get to see old friends with the joint event but I would also get to see my boyfriend Zack Sabre Jr. As far as I knew it looked like Zack wound’t be able to make it out to the event. Of course, I was devastated but I was more upset about the predicament I was currently in. I have spent the last few weeks feuding with Anna Jay, we are supposed to end this whole rivalry at forbidden door but If you ask me this storyline has overstayed its welcome. Every week it’s the same old boring thing. 

I told Zack about my frustrations but he was no help. “Y/n you should be lucky you are even a part of the show,” Zack told me “I know but I wish you would be too. I miss you, I’m bored. Save me, Zack!” I dramatically told the Brit on the phone. “I’ll see you soon love, you don’t need to worry,” he told me soothingly. What was that supposed to mean? “Tell me again why you won’t come to forbidden door?” I asked him “I’m tied up with meetings in Japan, it’s not easy being a champion,” he told me 

That week me and Anna would put an end to the ongoing rivalry, two weeks before we initially intended it to be. The two of us were given the main event spot of Dynamite and a slot of 15 minutes to put together a clean fight. I should have known that nothing about this fight would be clean. Anna and I beat the living hell out of each other, this needed to be over for good. I had her beat. Anna lied in the ring lifeless after I delivered my finisher, all I needed to do was pin her and it was over. I hocked the leg and went for the pin. 1…2… just as referee Aubrey Edward’s hand was about to hit the canvas for the third time I felt someone pull me out of the ring. My body crashed hard to the floor as I didn’t have time to brace myself for the fall. I looked up to be greeted by Daniel Garcia and Daddy Magic. 

“What the fuck!” I yelled at the men who stood over me. “We can’t let you win,” Daniel told me. 

Just as I started to get up I felt Anna kick me in the back of the head, forcing me back to the ground. This had become a 3 on one assault. Just then I was greeted with a familiar song I didn’t think I would get to hear. It was Zack Sabre Jr. Once his theme started to blare around the arena the three stopped their assault, too shocked to move an inch. The crowd erupted at the surprised, even the commentators were shocked. 

Zack came to my aid and helped me fend off the JAS. My match with Anna ended in a DQ and it was announced for Forbidden Door it would be me and Zack Vs Anna and Daniel Garcia in a no-holds-barred match. The two of us were far from being over. 

Once we got backstage I just had to ask Zack “What was all that for?” to which he replied, “I thought you told me you needed to be saved?” 

[inastrangerskiss]

rush

Zack Sabre Jr. x Reader

content warning: a pub is referenced as is a drink but that is the only thing aside from that it's straight fluff

summary: they say that distance makes the heart grow fonder

a/n: this is the first fresh zsj fic i've posted in months and months (everything else was backlogged) and the first fic i've written in months and months. i hope you all enjoy!

i.

“You don’t need to rush.” He laughed.

“I’m not rushing.” 

“You’re going fifteen over the speed limit.” He said with a smirk.

You looked at the odometer and realized you were in fact going fifteen over the speed limit and Zack was gripping the handle over the door with white knuckles. Carefully, you tapped the brakes, bringing the car back to a reasonable speed.

“That’s more like it.” He said, lessening his grip just barely. “Slightly less deadly.”

Your face flushed as you watched his smile grow. You tried taking deep breaths and you tried focusing on the road but nothing could distract you from the way his body next to yours in the car made you feel. His hand gripped the middle console and you wished with all your being that maybe he’d trade the leather clad installation for your thigh. Perhaps that’d be more comforting to him anyways.

“I just want to get you to the airport on time.”

“I have over two hours. I don’t think security will be that heinous.”

“You never know.” You shrugged, trying to act casual.

It didn’t take much longer for your car to arrive at the intricate weaving that was the airport. You slowed down considerably more and tried your best to read the signs as they came. Arrivals or departures? Departures. Did you want AerLingus and JetBlue or Delta? You turned in the right direction, almost sideswiping the car on your right. 

Zack gasped but tried to maintain a calm demeanor. It was your first time driving him and he knew how seriously you were taking the task.

If he missed his flight he missed his booking. And if he missed his booking he would certainly hold it against you, you thought. And you didn’t want that.

When you approached the drop off area you put the car in park and opened your door.

“You don’t need to help me.” He laughed.

“I just want to make sure you get everything out of my trunk.” You responded.

So you pulled his suitcase from your hatch and handed them to him as he loaded the luggage onto the sidewalk. His hand touched yours as you passed one handle to him and then the next. After his suitcase came his carry-on and his personal duffel. His fingers grazed yours with every single pass.

And you tried to contain the shiver in your spine.

But, god, it was difficult.

You finished unloading everything and he hugged you tightly.

“I’ll see you when you come bacK?” You asked, as he pulled away, his hand remaining on the small of your back.

“You’re my ride, yeah?” He responded.

“Of course.” You nodded.

You’d taken a day from work just to ensure you’d be around for him.

“Well, until then.” He smiled.

You wanted to be pulled in by his strong arms just one last time. Instead, he squeezed your shoulder and started towards the entry to the airport.

He had to tag his bags. He had to check them. He had to check in for his flight.

You were last of mind.

ii.

The conversation started simply. 

Zack sent a picture of a statue and you smiled. 

“Thought this might be something you liked.” The text read. 

Then another picture came through. This time the image was a box of intricately decorated chocolate confections. 

“Want me to bring you back some?” He asked in his next text.

“Absolutely.” You responded.

You shut your phone and moved about your business, assuming that was where the conversation would be left. But, before long, you heard vibrations and saw someone had begun to call you. 

Zack’s beaming face sparkled on the screen, his contact image being a picture from the first time you had hung out one on one. He had put his arm around your waist and insisted you take a picture together to send to your other friends. You had hid your face in his chest and he laughed. 

It was still your favorite picture.

“Hello?” You asked.

“Hey!” His chipper voice responded.

“What’s up? How’s the tour?”

You tried to busy your hands that shook in the wake of excitement. He had called you. He had wanted to speak to you.

It means nothing, you tried to tell yourself. He’s just bored.

“It’s good. A bit dull.” He said. “How’s home?”

“It’s good. A bit dull.” You repeated his words, earning a laugh.

You heard a quiet beep and the sound of a door handle turning and realized he must be returning to his hotel room. Gentle shuffling followed as Zack unloaded the bags from his time exploring the new city onto the wardrobe. It was silent but you didn’t need words - you were more than happy to listen to the ambient noises of your friend settling in for the night after a long day out and about.

“Any big matches coming up?” You asked.

He was silent for a moment and you couldn’t quite understand why but you didn’t think too hard about it.

“Nah.” He sighed. “Just multi-man warm up type matches now.”

You frowned. “Mm, I’m sorry.”

“No worries.” You could tell his phone was pressed between his shoulder and his ear as he moved about. “I’m having fun.”

“More fun than you’d have at home?” You asked.

You were teasing but a part of you hoped he’d say “no”.

“Hmm.” He deliberated. “Let’s see. I could spend time exploring new cities and seeing new things and eating new food or I could explore the same old city, see the same old things, eat the same old food.”

You nodded, having expected a response of that caliber. You couldn’t be mad.

“But,” He started again, catching you off guard. “Home does have you, after all.”

Your face flushed and you were thankful there was a phone screen and a few thousand miles separating the two of you. The last thing you needed Zack to know was that his words got you flustered. 

“So, I guess maybe being home would be better.” He continued, suddenly making you starkly aware of the fact that you’d been silent for far too long. “As long as I’m not in a car with you.”

“Well you’ll be home in a few weeks.” You offered with a laugh, kicking yourself for not having anything better to put into the conversation.

“‘Spose I will be.” He said with a heavy exhale. After some more prolonged shuffling he spoke again. “And you’ll still be there.”

“Waiting for you.” You smiled, trying hard to mask the overwhelming fondness you were feeling. “And we can explore the same old city, see the same old things, and eat the same old food.”

“Speaking of food, are you taking your lunch now?” Zack asked, abruptly switching tones leaving you to feel slightly jarred.

“Haven’t yet.” You shook your head, regaining your composure. “It’s been busy.”

“Take your lunch.” He pressed. “The shop can survive without you for a little bit.”

“I have to -”

“You don’t have to do anything. You need to eat.” He said, more forcefully this time. “Don’t make me come all the way back from Japan just to make sure you take care of yourself.”

“Alright, alright.” You relented. “I’ll take my lunch when you hang up.”

“That’s not fair.” 

His words confused you, causing your eyebrow to arch as you walked to turn the sign on the door to “Closed”. 

“Why’s that not fair?” You asked.

“Because I intended to talk to you for a bit longer.”

“Guess you’ll have to save your words for another day.” You shrugged, fully aware Zack couldn’t see the physical action through the phone.

He smiled and you could hear it in his words. “Guess I will.”

“I’ll text you while I eat.” You promised.

“Don’t let me bother you.” 

“I want to talk to you, Zack.” You responded.

A small laugh slipped through the receiver. “That’s good.”

“That’s good?” You asked, once again unsure of what his words meant.

“Yeah.”

“Why’s that good?” 

“Because.” He started and you feared he’d stop there. You were thankful when he began speaking again. “I want to talk to you too.”

As you tried to find a sentence that was an appropriate mix of friendly and flirty in the mess that was your brain, his voice broke your concentration, trickling slow as honey through the receiver.

“I miss you.”

Had you started your lunch prior to this call you likely would’ve choked at the surprise of his words. Blush crept up your cheeks and you began to feel silly, the elation that came with what felt like a schoolyard crush filling your heart.

“Alright, go get yourself food.” He chirped as though his previous words had held no wait. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Talk to you tomorrow.” You nodded.

When you hung up the silence felt too silent. The absence of Zack’s voice against your ear made you feel as though you were missing something vital. An emptiness followed the dial tone.

You shook your head, trying to dislodge the dull ache of loneliness from your chest. It was meaningless.

However, five thousand miles away, as Zack picked at the leftovers from his lunch he felt that same exact dull ache. 

And he couldn’t place why.

iii.

You sat in the cell phone lot waiting. 

You felt your nerves multiplying. Zack had been texting you the entire plane ride but it had only just hit you that he was coming home. It had been a long month without him and you were worried that the Zack you had been speaking to on the phone might be different from the Zack that would be sitting next to you in your car.

“I’m excited to see you tomorrow!” He had said over the phone the night before.

“I’m excited to see you too.” You had responded.

“I’ve been wishing you were here.” He had murmured, almost as though he were self conscious of his words.

You still hadn’t recovered from that comment.

Your phone vibrated and a text from Zack saying he had gotten to baggage claim lit up your phone. That was your cue to put your car in drive and start making your way to the pick up lane. 

It may have only taken ten minutes to get from point A to point B but it felt like hours. With every rotation of your car’s tires you wondered if Zack would be the Zack you had known prior to dropping him off at the airport or if he’d be the Zack you’d been introduced to in his absence. You wondered if he remembered all of the words he had said over the phone or if he’d forget them the moment his suitcase was in your trunk.

When you saw him you couldn’t help but accept the beaming smile that unfurled across your face. You were thankful when he mirrored you, his cheeks blooming fondly.

You put the car in park and hopped out of the driver’s side, pulling the latch to pop open the trunk. As you reached for his suitcase his hand caught yours.

“C’mere.” He murmured, pulling you tight to his chest. 

You hardly knew how to react but you certainly had no complaints as you reciprocated the affection.

“Been a month since I last saw my best mate.” He said, his cheek pressed to the crown of your head. “Think a quick hug is in order.”

Best mate. The words rang out in your head as you forced a small laugh trying to not appear as heartbroken as you were beginning to feel.

He released you with a small exhale. Before you could reach for his suitcase once more he waved you back, signaling he could handle it himself.

“Don’t worry about this. Go get warm and I’ll be there in a second.” He said, gesturing to the interior of the car.

“You sure?” You asked.

“Yeah. No need for both of us to freeze to death.” He carefully maneuvered the suitcase into the trunk. “Don’t want you catching a cold or something.”

His words hit you as though they were an afterthought as you made your way back to the driver’s seat. You could’ve missed them if you weren’t listening close enough. A spark of hope lit up in your chest as you thought perhaps the comment was more than just a courteous gesture. 

Within minutes the trunk slammed shut and Zack hopped into the passenger seat, shivering for dramatic effect.

“It’s abysmal out there.” He commented as he dropped his carry on at his feet and pulled his seatbelt on.

“You say that like you’re surprised.” You laughed.

As you pulled away from the curb you could feel Zack’s gaze zero in on you and you expected some sort of smart ass remark in response. But, once you were comfortably on the road and headed away from the arrivals, you could see from the corner of your eye that he was simply smiling. The moment was fleeting as he turned to face the windshield, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. You had hoped it might last forever.

“I’m dropping you at yours. Right?” You asked.

“Mhm.”

“I’ll have to get some gas.” You noted.

“No worries.”

You looked over to Zack, hoping to catch his eye. He was transfixed, however, by his own hands as they kneaded and picked at each other. His eyes darted to his carry-on, sitting at his feet and seemed to zone out. At first you thought he was tired. He was fresh from a long flight and a big timezone shift. It made sense if he was not in the mood to make small talk. But then, as he looked back to his hands a realization dawned upon you.

He was anxious.

You took a hand off the wheel and squeezed his bicep, garnering his attention.

“You okay?” You asked. “I promise to drive more carefully than I did when I dropped you off.”

You thought he might laugh at the comment or perhaps make fun of you but instead he offered a tight-lipped smile that could very nearly be confused for a grimace.

“Yeah, no. I’m fine.” He shook his head. 

“You sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry about me.” He tacked a half hearted laugh at the end of his words, causing you more concern.

You shrugged and brought your hand from his arm back to the wheel. The drive was quiet as Zack opened the carry-on and fiddled with a bag while you kept your eye open for a service station. You turned the radio on but even that couldn’t assuage the tension.

“I’m gonna pull in here.” You pointed to a rest stop. “It’ll be quick.”

Zack remained silent as you pulled the car up to a gas pump. You parked and took the keys out of the ignition, offering one final glance towards the man sitting beside you. When he kept his eyes trained on his window you opened the door and re-entered the chilly outside world.

You could feel your head spinning as you unscrewed the gas cap and selected your grade of gasoline. He was never normally this quiet. He always had something to say and, while you didn’t always welcome every word that came out of his mouth, you were sorely beginning to miss the talkative person you had called every night while he was away.

You watched the price on the screen slowly go up. You wondered if he regretted everything he had said during his time away and was now trying to find a way to return to the platonic standard you were both used to. The thought alone caused your heart to ache. It was becoming more and more clear that you had potentially fallen head over heels for someone that was very clearly not on the same page as you.

You let your mind wander to the tune of gas pouring into your tank. You didn’t hear the passenger side door open and close. You didn’t hear Zack as he came around to your side of the car.

“Christ!” You gasped as he appeared next to you. “What’re you doing? Go back-”

“I got you something.” He blurted, not allowing you to finish your sentence.

His eyes were wide like a deer in the headlights. You couldn’t look away from him. You didn’t want to look away from him.

The gas pump clicked as the tank filled up, peeling your attention back, if only for a second. You placed the nozzle in its holster and declined a receipt.

Zack didn’t move. When you turned to face him you noticed his hand outstretched to you. In it sat an unassuming brown jewelry box, a small, dark green ribbon tied in a bow around it. This was not the box of chocolates he said he’d bring back. This was not something you had ever expected to receive - especially not from him.

Your heart began to pick up pace as you took the box from him, offering a brief, confused glance up to his still terrified face.

“I just - I thought of you when I saw it.” He started.

You pulled the ribbon slowly, no longer aware of the cars as they came and went, speeding back onto the highway. The lid of the box took a small amount of effort to remove but it came off. Zack stuck his hand out, offering to hold it for you while you peeled away a tiny rectangle of cottony gauze.

Your heart started slamming against your chest.

In the tiny, unassuming box sat a thin gold bracelet adorned with a matching golden sun charm. It was delicate and you worried if you dropped it you may never find it again. With the most care you could possibly offer a piece of jewelry you lifted it up and held it from your fingers.

“If you don’t like it that’s okay.” Zack continued. “I just saw it and I thought it was something you might want and I wanted to - after all of our conversations while I was gone I just wanted to-”

You held your hand out, palm facing the ground, silencing the stuttering man. You then held the bracelet up to him in your other hand. He stared at you with his head slightly tilted. 

“Put it on me.” You smiled.

The fear in Zack’s eyes quickly melted to reveal a warm grin. You could feel the anxiety rolling off his back and disappearing into the earth as he took the bracelet from you and clasped it around your wrist. His hand lingered on your skin as he admired how it looked on you, his thumb rubbing small circles against your forearm.

“You really like it?” He asked. “Because I don’t want you taking the piss or making a joke about this. If you’re fucking with me just tell me now.”

Laughter escaped from deep within you, quickly causing Zack to glare at you.

“You’re fucking with me, aren’t you?” He muttered, a slight sneer on his face.

With a deep inhale you managed to pull yourself together. 

“No. No.” You shook your head fervently. “I swear I love it. I really do.”

“I don’t believe you.” He said, beginning to walk away, back to his side of the car. “You’re a pain in the-”

Before he could finish his insult or walk too far, you reached out for his arm and pulled him back to you. You hadn’t planned your next move as he stood, his chest nearly aligned with yours, so you did the one thing your brain had been dying to do for the last month.

You reached up and pulled his head down and quickly pressed your lips to his. He hesitated for an agonizingly long second. He had only ever thought this was possible in his dreams and a fear ignited in him that perhaps he was, in fact, asleep. You worried you had overstepped and wondered when it was right to break away but you waited one last moment.

And then he reciprocated the kiss. And it was full of need and want and love. And you smiled against his face.

When you pulled back you looked up at him.

“I love it.” You murmured, clouds of your breath getting carried away with the wind. “Swear.”

His eyes studied you, a satisfied look twinkling in his eyes. 

“Your hand smells like gasoline.” He responded, his eyes looking at your hand that was currently cupping his cheek.

“You’re the worst.” You said, trying to contain the grin that was threatening to break across your lips.

“I don’t think you mean that.” He chimed, his nose brushing yours.

“I don’t.”

He pressed a kiss to your forehead and you took a step backwards.

“Get back in the car. You’re gonna get sick if you stay out here.” He noted, gesturing indiscriminately to the weather.

You shook your head but followed his orders, getting back in the car with every intention of cranking the heat up. Zack sat beside you, still smiling from ear to ear.

“So, I’m dropping you off at your place now?” You asked.

Zack appeared to consider the question before pursing his lips. “Maybe we could get a bite to eat first.”

“I could eat.” You nodded.

“I think we might have some catching up to do.” He said, resolutely. “And anyways, my flat isn’t really the best place to have a first date.”

As though it were the pin in the grenade a hot blush rushed across your face and you didn’t bother hiding it. Instead, you shifted into drive and began rolling back towards the highway.

“I’ve seen that place. It’s definitely not first date material.” You joked.

“No. It’s not.” He agreed. “But the pub around the corner might be.”

So you drove and parked outside of the pub. You ate subpar, greasy food and laughed over a drink and watched the game playing on the television. And Zack ran a thumb over your brand new bracelet and then took your hand in his, winding his fingers between yours. 

And he kissed you once more. Slowly, this time.

There was no need to rush.

[waywardwrestlewritingwaif]

Bad Guy

Here’s a bit of NJPW angst/ mild smut with an OFC who’s the worst person ever.

Pairing: Will Ospreay/ Bea Priestley/ Zack Sabre Jr./ OFC(Lauren)

Word Count: 4,573

Content advisory: somewhat explicit sexual content, language, mature themes

It wasn’t often that you let yourself into Zack’s apartment but today felt like a bit of an emergency. You were sitting on his kitchen counter, enjoying your third glass of wine when he walked in, jumping back in shock before giving you a warm grin. 

“Damn, Lauren, you could have at least texted me to tell me you were going to be here!” he exclaimed, pretending to give you a punch in the nose. 

“I know, I’m sorry, I just needed to talk to someone and I wasn’t sure what you might have heard.” You gave him the most apologetic puppy dog eyes you could muster. He’d given you his spare keys in case of emergency, not to let yourself in and lie in wait so you could ambush him with emotional baggage and drama. 

“What I might have heard?” He reached into the fridge and took out a beer. 

“You know, yeasts are living things, Zack,” you mock him, knowing he hates how you constantly try to parse his veganism. 

“You know, you can get the fuck out of here any time you want,” is his response. 

“I’m sorry,” you whine, slipping off the counter and following him to his living room. “I’m in trouble, Zacky.”

The use of the pet name gets his attention and he shakes his head as he drops to the puffy chair he loves best. You crawl onto the sofa, getting yourself as close as possible so that he can see your expression is so pathetic and helpless and he knows that you need him. 

“What kind of trouble?” he sighs. 

“Relationship trouble.”

“Again?” He sounds exasperated and takes a long pull of his beer. “What’s wrong now?”

“It’s just…”

“I thought things with Bea were cool,” he groans. 

Yes, it’s true, you take advantage of Zack’s shoulder to cry on way too often. He was the first friend you made in Japan and as a result, the person who’d become your go-to for all the relationship angst you went through. You would be there for him, too, of course, except that he never seemed to have any of the drama that you did. Not long after you’d arrived, you’d hooked up with a much older man and then discovered he was married. Then you’d taken up with a woman who worked as a photographer for New Japan and who was a visual artist outside her job. You’d found it frustrating how she always seemed too busy for you and had ended up cheating on her with a woman who worked in one of the galleries where she had an exhibit. Then it had been some wannabe biker who’d turned out to be living with his parents and tens of thousands of dollars in debt, looking for a sugar mommy. Then there was a torrid affair with a trainer at Stardom, which eventually led to misery and made you determined that you were going to get back on your feet by seducing their top gaijin star, Bea Priestley.  

You’d always found Bea hot with her punk look and blase attitude, but after you’d been definitively dumped by the trainer at Stardom, you’d decided that she was the reason you really wanted to be around that promotion. Your job required you to flit back and forth between New Japan and Stardom ever since they’d been joined under the same corporate umbrella; but you convinced yourself that the reason you were spending time at Stardom was not because of the woman you’d been on-and-off with for months, but because you’d really wanted to be close to Bea. 

Yes, you knew that she was in a relationship with Will Ospreay. And you knew that she identified as straight. Nevertheless, you’d been almost embarrassingly flirtatious with her, encouraged at every step by the fact that she seemed flattered and a bit excited to receive your attention. You’d test her occasionally by making a point of flirting with someone else and were gratified that it always resulted in her clinging to you. Yes, you decided, this was the person you had a future with. 

The two of you hung out quite a bit: she’d come over to your place to watch movies, or you’d go out together and end up drunk in some karaoke bar laughing yourselves stupid, or you’d drag her to modern art exhibits as a way of introducing her to the culture. You never pushed the sexual element. You waited for that to happen on its own. 

One night, she’d come over to watch movies and you’d carefully made some selections you’d hoped would raise questions in her mind: The Runaways, Henry and June, Bound. 

You hadn’t been wrong. After the first bottle of wine, she’d begun shyly asking you what it was like having sex with a woman, giggling a little when you seemed surprised that she’d never tried it. She admitted that she’d made out with girls before but she felt like she hadn’t really known what to do from there. You’d laughed and reassured her that pleasing women was even easier than pleasing men if you already knew how to please yourself. You kept to your end of the sofa so that she wouldn’t feel like you were pressuring her.

By the end of the second bottle of wine, you had your face buried in her pussy, listening to her scream and cry as you brought her to orgasm again and again, her juices coating your face. She swore up and down that no one had ever made her cum like that and you could see from the dazed look in her eyes that it was true. You’d eventually had to help her to the bed when you decided to go to sleep. She was still gasping as you guided her under the covers. You made a point of tucking yourself in at a discrete distance from her. 

The next morning, you’d awoken to her stroking your thigh, eyes locked on you with a feverish intensity. 

“I want to try,” she whispered, rubbing her fingers over your pussy. “I want to make you cum too.”

You’d given her a knowing smile and separated your legs to give her access. 

“I don’t know what to do,” she added shyly. 

“Sweetheart, I have the same parts as you do. Start with what you like.”

She had and you’d given her only slight prompts to make sure she could get you off. You made a big show of thrashing against her hand, of moaning and telling her how good she was, how amazing she was making you feel, and when you reached orgasm, you made sure that it looked like the orgasm of the century. Her face was priceless, turned on by your excitement and thrilled that she’d been able to excite you so much. You’d fingered her to orgasm twice before packing her off home to her boyfriend. 

It had taken you less than two weeks to claim her as your own. You helped her move her things out of the apartment she shared with Will as he watched in shock fighting the tears that periodically welled up in his eyes and the telltale quiver of his bottom lip. Like any man, he couldn’t believe that she was abandoning him for another woman. It had been hard for you not to laugh in his face. 

“Sure,” you mumbled, helping yourself to another glass of wine, “Bea’s fine. We’re, you know, we’re ok.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like you’re ok at all,” Zack grumbled, going to retrieve another beer from the fridge. 

“It’s weird, you know? Living with someone. It’s really… close.”

He gives you a little smack on the head as he re-enters the living room and settles in his chair once again. 

“Yeah, that’s how living together works. You get close. You share all each other’s shitty personal stuff.”

“Well I haven’t done this before,” you whine. “I’m not even sure I like women.”

“Then why do you keep dating them?” he exclaims, frustration ripe in his voice. 

“I mean, I like them. But I like men too.”

Zack’s eyes lock onto you with an annoyed expression. “Fucking hell. There’s a guy in the picture, isn’t there?”

You widen your eyes, trying to look as innocent as possible. 

“I didn’t mean for anything to start, I just…”

“Goddamnit, Lauren. Why do you always do this to yourself? Why do you always do it to other people? You get into a stable relationship and you sabotage it. You wanted Bea. You wanted her for months and now you have her and you’re running around with some guy because you can’t handle that things worked out. Every fucking time you do this.”

“No,” you insist, “this was different. This was just messed up and I don’t know what happened.”

Zack rolls his soft brown eyes. “I’m guessing what happened is that you fucked some guy and now you’re thinking you’re over Bea because you want this guy. And when you get him, you’ll want something else.”

You lower your head, tears welling up in your eyes. “I’m serious, Zack, I’m in trouble.”

His expression changes immediately to one of concern. “What kind of trouble? What do you need me to do?”

Although you’d wanted to avoid being around the New Japan talent, you’d been sent on the road with them for the G1, making sure everything was properly organized. You’d wanted to be assigned to work with the B Block, where Zack was competing. Instead, you’d been assigned to work with the A Block, which included Will Ospreay. Since you couldn’t very well avoid him in that case, you made a point of looking as confident and arrogant as possible every time you crossed paths. 

You couldn’t miss the murderous looks he directed at you. You knew he was still sending sad, lovelorn messages to Bea, begging for a reconciliation, telling her that you could never give her what he could. Lately, you’d been inclined to tell her that maybe he was right and she should consider going back, but you weren’t going to let on to him. 

The guys generally gathered around him when you were anywhere in the vicinity. They didn’t want to expose him to the radiation of the toxic dyke who’d stolen his girlfriend away. You also suspected that a lot of the men worried you were going to come for their wives and girlfriends while you were at it, something that gave you no small amount of pride. 

Having his insecure mates forming a wall between you was fine as far as you were concerned but then Bea had forwarded you a text he’d sent her, basically saying that you were fucking around while on tour. The story was a straight-up lie and you were furious that he’d make up such a story, and even more so that you had thought about it but hadn’t acted, so you were being accused of something that you’d gallantly decided not to do. Bea didn’t actually take it seriously because the story came from Will and, as she put it, he was the last person to figure anything out, ever. 

Nevertheless, you were indignant that your good-girlfriendship was being questioned by this poor loser and you’d marched into the chaos locker rooms right after his match, landing a solid punch on his pectoral muscle before he’d managed to hurl an insult in your direction. 

“What the fuck?!” he yelped, swatting at the hand that you’d already withdrawn. 

“What the fuck yourself? Where do you get off making up stories about me, telling my girlfriend that I’m cheating on her?” You folded your arms tightly across your chest and scowled at him, hoping you came off as dangerous and not funny despite your tiny stature. “Oh, wait,” you added venomously, “I know where you get off. It’s right there in the palm of your greasy little hand because the woman you’re in love with would rather be with me.”

Something exploded in the depths of Will’s eyes and you saw all the muscles in his chest and arms, so alarmingly inflated since he had his heart broken, tense up as he took a few steps towards you. 

Goto appeared at your side and laid a light but firm hand on your arm. “You’re leaving now, Lauren,” he said in his even, commanding voice. 

“You’re damn right I am,” you snapped, shaking his hold and storming out the door in the same rage you’d come in a moment earlier. 

You heard a quick exchange of voices behind you before the familiar voice with its football-hooligan English accent, shouting at you to hold up. 

It was a sort of blur of insults and cursing for a few minutes, the stormcloud of fury building behind you. You can’t clearly remember what happened between the clash of words and being up against the wall with him buried inside you, only that some kind of insane rush seemed to overtake you at the same moment. He had one of your legs draped over his arm and his hold on your ass is so tight it was painful. At the same time, your fingernails dug deep enough into his shoulders that you knew he’d be sporting a telltale ring of bruises the next time he stepped into the ring. You’d indulged in hatefucks before but this was a whole other level, your bodies incandescent with anger, slamming into each other like weapons as you both tried- unsuccessfully- to muffle your moans of pleasure. Anyone could have seen you going at it, and what a juicy morsel of gossip that would have been, but in the moment you hadn’t cared a bit. 

Neither of you even acknowledged the other as you shifted your clothing back into its proper position and gone your separate ways. You’d barely even breathed. You hoped that he hadn’t looked back and seen that you were unsteady on your legs as you made your way down the hall, reassuring yourself that you wouldn’t have to face the consequences of this. You’d go back to avoiding each other. Neither one of you was going to want to confront this. 

Bea didn’t receive any other provocative text messages. The G1 tour went on. Things went back to normal. 

But it wasn’t normal. If you even caught a glimpse of Will’s fluffy blonde hair, you felt hot all over for a good quarter hour. The two of you still glared at each other when you were in proximity, but it wasn’t the same. The hate was edged with want. You found yourself mindlessly drifting closer to wherever Chaos had converged and at the same time, he seemed to show up in your field of vision more than ever, often alone. So, of course, it wasn’t very long at all until it happened again. And again. Then it was like you found yourself bent over a table or bouncing on his lap or on your knees in front of him every day, a couple of times more than once in a day. 

The pure hatred and anger morphed so that you were having hot, passionate, dirty sex that you found yourself daydreaming about between the times it was actually happening. The two of you noticed little things about the other, like how the sound of you moaning and whimpering softly drove him into a flat-out frenzy, or how he figured out that the feeling of his breath on the sensitive shell of your ear was enough to take you from teetering on the edge to going right over it. These sessions stayed wordless, other than a few exclamations during the act itself, and always in places where you were able to escape immediately. 

Other things changed too. You were lax and forgetful about contacting Bea or responding to her messages, even more so when she seemed to be hurt by your indifferent behavior. Even observing him from a distance, you could see that Will was cheerier, less brooding. The spoken exchanges the two of you had remained barbed, but rather than vicious, they became a little playful. Once, you caught yourself smirking that you’d fucked him well enough to get him over his broken heart and then you remembered why that was an insane thing for you of all people to feel good about. 

It was by chance, you were certain, that the two of you had ended up checking into your hotel at the same time after he’d had a particularly gruelling match and a truly impressive win and you couldn’t even bring yourself to take a humorous shot at him. 

So instead you gave him a sort of half-sarcastic smile and said, “Ok, you were actually pretty good tonight.”

He rolled his eyes as if you hadn’t just complimented him for the first time ever. 

“Come celebrate?” he mumbled, barely audible. 

“Yeah,” you grunted in response as the two of you entered the elevator. 

That night had been completely different. It wasn’t like you could avoid speaking or making eye contact for hours and it wasn’t like you were just going for a quickie in a dark corner. For the first time, you’d been able to take your time with each other and spread the passion you’d built over hours. You’d really enjoyed the arrogant prick who’d fucked you like he was trying to make you disintegrate but seeing that pride and arrogance mixed with a boyish desire to please was hot in a different, profound way. You’d passed out in his bed without even bothering to ask if it was ok. 

The next morning, you were both still tender from your exertions and he was feeling every hit from his match. You woke up slowly, exchanging gentle touches and made slow, romantic love. It wasn’t your preference when it came to sex but it felt thrilling because of where it had come from. 

Zack is on his fourth beer, the bottle hovering before his lips as he stares at you, jaw slack as you share your story. 

“Please tell me you’re joking,” he gasps. 

You shake your head. 

He drains the bottle in one long gulp and slams it down on the table, making you jump. “You cannot be serious, Lauren! Of all the things to pull! Of all the people! I have seen you do some heinous shit but even for you this is vile.”

You press your eyes closed and nod, blinking and putting on your most contrite face. 

“Have you told Bea any of this? What am I saying, of course you fucking haven’t. You’re just going to wait for her to find out by accident. I cannot believe you!”

“I want to talk to her,” you squeak. “Really I do. I want to do the right thing.” Catching his arched eyebrows, you add, “I want to make it as right as I can.”

Zack shakes his head and stares out the window into the sparkling Tokyo night. “I have never met anyone like you. I hope to god there aren’t anymore people like you.”

He’s silent for so long that you’re afraid you’ve finally crossed a dreaded line, that he’s going to tell you to leave and stay the hell away from him. At the same time, you feel like anything you say is only going to make things worse. So you let him have his quiet and wait meekly, hoping he’ll come back to you. 

“Do you have feelings for him?”

“I do,” you admit. 

His face is angled away from you, so you could almost miss the little twitch of the muscles around his eyes and mouth. 

“You know you’re a rebound for him,” he growls, turning back to face you.

“Probably. I mean, I think he has feelings too but I know he has to be all over the place with everything that’s happened.”

“What’s the best outcome you can possibly envision here? You think the two of you just hook up and get married and keep working in this business?”

“No,” you answer shame-facedly. 

“The two of you are awe-inspiringly stupid. And I say that as someone who loves you both.”

“I know.”

“So what do you want to do now?”

“I don’t know and I’m afraid. I know I screw up all the time. I make a mess of everything. But this is different. This is… if I can get through it then I’m done with being that person.”

Zack gives a little laugh and his expression softens. “Well I’ve never heard you say that before.”

“You don’t think I can change?”

“I don’t think you’ve tried. But if you did… I think you could do anything you put your mind to.”

“I know that I’m constantly running to you and getting you involved in my drama. And I have no right to do that and I certainly do have the right to come begging you for help again but I really need you.”

“You know I’m never going to tell you to get lost. No matter how horrible you are.”

“Zacky, I’m pregnant.”

His eyes grow impossibly wide as a whole catalogue of emotions run through them. 

“How?” he stammers. 

You gape at him. 

“I mean,” he’s so flustered he can barely form words. “You did all this and you didn’t use any kind of protection?”

“Well the first few times it wasn’t the sort of situation where we were thinking of it and I guess after that, there just didn’t seem to be a point.”

“Lauren, there was a very good bloody point.” He huffs in exasperation. “Does he know?”

You shake your head. 

“You’re putting me in a hell of a position here. He’s my friend too.”

“Please don’t yell at me,” you plead. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

He rises from his chair and comes to sit next to you, taking your hand in his. “What are you going to do?” he asks gently. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I can do.” A few tears fall down your face and you wipe them away with vigor. 

“Lauren,” he takes a deep breath and squeezes your hand tighter, “you know I’ll be there for you, you know I’ll support you whatever you decide to do, but I need to say this for the record just this once: you would be a terrible mother.”

More tears fall and his face contorts a little, obviously hating that he’s said something hurtful, even if it was necessary. He uses his free hand to wipe your face and looks at you with a sad, caring expression. 

“I know I would. But I don’t know, maybe I could do it.”

“Do you want a child?”

“No. Yes. Eventually. I don’t know what my medical situation is here and it’s not like I have tons of time. I’m scared to death and then I start thinking that I’m never going to decide that I’m ready so I should just treat this like fate and go for it but I can’t even imagine what my life is going to be like, or if I could be happy as a mother…”

“This would not be about wanting to change. You’d have to change and fucking quick.”

Your head drops and you give a dry sob. “I never mean for these things to happen.”

Zack wraps his arms around you and presses his head against yours, shaking it a little. 

“I know you don’t,” he reassures you. “But you do have an exceptional gift for bringing chaos.”

He holds you close like that, keeping you warm and safe and letting you melt into the feeling that someone cares for you no matter how badly you screw up. After resting like that for a while, you ease your knee between his legs. His body stiffens a little but gradually relaxes again and you stay like that for several minutes before edging the knee just a bit higher. This time you can feel something else stiffen a little. You lift your face, nuzzling against his cheek, brushing your lips against his flushed skin. The lean muscles in his arms are twitchy, nervous, but he doesn’t pull away. 

You’ve always been dimly aware that Zack’s feelings for you aren’t entirely friendly. You figure he’s seen too much to risk making any kind of move or declaration, but while he has been a great friend, better than you deserve, you know that it’s partly because he just wants to be around you. But you’d never really thought about it until that moment tonight when you thought he might be about to tell you to get out. 

Ever so slowly, you tilt your head so that your lips brush against his and you let them stay like that a second before you start to kiss him. Relief and gratification wash over you as he returns the kiss, your lips tapping softly at each other’s, but before it can become more, he pulls back a little. 

“What is this?”

“I think this is what I really want. I think maybe I just do all these stupid things because they don’t matter as long as I have you. I think I’d like to stop being stupid.”

“What about Will? And Bea?”

“I’ll figure it out. I made this mess and I’ll find a way to clean it up. I just want you with me when I do.”

You lean in and kiss him, really kiss him, open lips, pressing your body against him, and he responds. He presses his tongue into your mouth letting out a thrilling gasp when you respond in kind, as if he still thought you were going to change your mind and run away. He eases you onto his lap and you rock your hips against him as your kiss deepens and grows more urgent. There’s no missing how excited he is now and you lean back, letting him see the smile on your face as you feel what he has waiting for you. Biting his lip he pushes you down and rubs harder against you. 

“You really mean it?” he moans.

“I always mean what I say to you. And you’re the only person I’ve ever really needed.”

You curl your arms around him, relishing the way his breath catches in response to your movements, the feeling of his heart going at a rabbit’s pace. 

“I mean, if you don’t want anything else, I’m a free fuck. I’m already pregnant.”

He slows his movements and looks you in the eyes, all seriousness and intensity. 

“You know I want more than that.”

“So do I,” you whisper, staring back and trying to match his sincerity. 

The two of you kiss again, feverishly, no longer worrying about where things are going. 

Yes, you’ve made a big mistake. You’ve made a lot of big mistakes and compounded them. But Zach is there and he can make things ok, you tell yourself. Whatever you decide to do, you can change this time, you can make this work. It’s not the wild passion you have with Will, or the sense of satisfaction you got from winning Bea, but this can be nice, it can be secure and intimate, things you’ve never tried before. You could learn to love those things, you think as Zack gently lifts your shirt over your head. You could learn. 

[spine-buster]

Life in Six Acts - Zack Sabre Jr.

“Can we sit here?  The other tables are full.”

You weren’t even supposed to go out that night. You had papers to grade.  Your comp exams were coming up that you needed to study for.  You had your own papers to read; scholarship proposals to write; emails to catch up on; conference requests to accept or deny; research to conduct for your own dissertation; hell, one of your brighter students even asked you for a reference letter, which you agreed to write.   This was your life as a PhD student at Columbia University.  Despite the near constant stress and pressure due to the amount of work that you seemingly always needed to do, you couldn’t deny that you were living your dream.  You had dreamed of being in university since you were twelve, when you were tormented by classmates for keeping your head in your books instead of having them wander toward boys.  When girls snickered behind your back and called you a browner for knowing the name of Marie-Antoinette’s mother and how she was a Hapsburg.  

Your classmates just didn’t understand you, and you resolved early on that that was okay.  People were just different.  You never got angry about it.  They just had different interests, different priorities than you.  And though most of them went on to university just like you did, you knew it didn’t bring the same feeling to them as it did to you: the feeling of freedom, of independence.  The feeling that finally, finally, like-minded people surrounded you and they had the same drive you did.

University changed things for you drastically.  In second year, you fell for Thomas Brown and dated for ten months, but even he couldn’t handle your academic prowess; how you would rather actually do your readings than attend parties with him and his friends.  The split was mutual but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less.  Eventually, you found a core group of people who shared the same priorities as you did and actually encouraged your academic pursuits.  Many followed you in their own fields of study, and one night, in a pub near campus, sharing beers and celebrating that everyone’s applications to grad school were finally submitted, you finally felt loved, accomplished, respected; all the good things you wanted to feel in high school but never did. And now, you found yourself in a pub in Brooklyn, dragged by your best friend Amy who knew how to handle her liquor better than anybody else you knew.  It was never supposed to be a quiet night out (Amy never did quiet nights out) but you hoped for something a bit more low-key.  There was a group of you: Amy, the ringleader; Joe, the affable bearded second-in-command; Daniela and Sebastian, the married soon-to-be professors; you, the quiet but headstrong gin lover; and Tristan, the human equivalent of a golden retriever puppy. You were having a blast – you always did when you were out with your group – and then it happened. You saw him, tall and lanky, enter the bar with another guy wearing a rounded pair of sunglasses.  You tried to keep your focus on your gin and tonic, or on the story Daniela was telling, but you couldn’t stop your eyes from wandering to him, now at the bar, ordering a drink with his shorter friend.   When he caught your eye, he started to do the exact same thing. You both played the game for about half an hour.  He and his friend stayed near the bar, chatting amongst themselves, sometimes with the bartender.  You stayed relatively quiet, listening to whatever story your friends were telling, or commenting here and there on the topic of discussion.  Your waitress had brought you another gin and tonic in the meantime.  Amy refused another drink, which was unusual for her.  She would have usually ordered the table a round of shots by now. “Nora, can you come with me to the bar to get another drink?” Amy said all of the sudden, standing up from her seat and grabbing your arm before you had a chance to reply.  She basically dragged you towards the end of the bar, still in sight of the lanky man and his shorter friend.  Not even bothering to try and call over the bartender, she sat you down at small, free, four-seater table tucked into the corner, right beside the end of the bar.  “Okay, that guy you’ve been staring at is way cute,” she smiled devilishly. “What are you talking about?” you played dumb. “Oh my God, get over yourself,” Amy narrowed her eyes.  “Please tell me it’s the lanky one, cause I caught the eye of the other one, and God he looks like a good time.” “Amy!” “Am I right or am I right?” You blushed for a moment before conceding defeat.  “Yes, the lanky one.” “He’s right up your alley,” Amy commented.  “Although I don’t think Tristan would be very happy.” You rolled your eyes slightly.  It was a known fact amongst you, Amy, Joe, Daniela and Sebastian that Tristan harboured a crush on you.  He had told Sebastian, who of course told his wife, and pretty soon everyone knew, but you weren’t sure if Tristan knew that you knew.  It was so messy – what you imaged high school drama to be like, except it was happening amongst six friends all getting their PhDs soon.  You weren’t even sure whether or not Tristan actually wanted everyone to know or not, but if he told Sebastian, surely he knew the entire group would find out eventually?  You liked him well enough but never saw him as boyfriend material.  To you, your relationship was purely platonic.  “Don’t bring him up, please.” “I bet he’s looking over here right now and asking Joe where we went,” Amy said. Before you could get another word in, a British accent interrupted yours and Amy’s conversation.  “Excuse me ladies, do you mind if my friend and I sit here?  All the other tables are full.” You and Amy looked up at the same time to see the shorter friend, a beer in his hand, looking down at you both with a smirk on his face.  The tall, lanky one stood behind him, his own beer half-empty.   You noticed a few tables around you empty and smirked, giving a quick look to Amy, who caught it.  She was already smiling.  “Of course you boys can,” she said.  With the invitation, the boys made their way into their seats – the lanky one beside you, the shorter one beside Amy.  “I hope that English accent isn’t fake,” Amy said. “Absolutely not,” the short one shook his head.  “Born and bred English, miss.  The both of us.” “Are you from London?” Amy asked. “Fuck no,” he spit out, causing both women to laugh.  “I’ll do you one better.  Here’s the first game we’ll play – try and guess where in England I’m from,” he winked at Amy. You already knew, but wanted to give Amy a fighting chance.  You smiled as Amy started to name English cities that she knew.  “Birmingham?  Liverpool?  Newcastle?”  All were met with a shake of the head.  It didn’t take long for her to feel exasperated.  “God, help me out here!” she looked to you. “East Anglia,” you said, a small smile playing on your lips.  “I want to say Norwich, but I know I’m wrong.  Maybe Cambridge?” The man looked shocked, and you knew you had gotten it dead on.  He bowed his head to you and raised his drink to toast to your correct guess.  “Your friend is a genius.  How the hell did you know that?” he asked you. Amy decided to answer for you.  “Nora’s the smartest cookie you’ll ever meet.  And I’m not exaggerating when I say that.” “Well I’ll be damned,” the man laughed.  You were acutely aware that the lanky one hadn’t said anything yet, that he was only really staring at you for most of the time, looking only to his friend when he spoke.   “So what’s our prize for guessing correctly?” Amy asked, cocking her head to the side.  God, she was such a great flirt.  You would kill to be able to do that. “You two get to learn our names,” the man responded cheekily.  “I’m Marty,” he extended his hand, shaking both yours and Amy’s politely. You turned towards the lanky one and noticed he was already looking at you.  “I’m Zack,” he extended his hand out to you first. “Nora,” you smiled, shaking his hand, looking straight into his eyes.  “It’s nice to meet you.” “Quick!  Where’s he from?” Marty asked, pointing at Zack. “He’s said two words!” you argued.  “Say something!” “Do you come here often?” Zack asked, a wry smile on his face. “Kentish,” you deadpanned, rolling your eyes for dramatic effect because this was just so easy, taking a sip of your drink. Marty’s jaw was practically on the floor.  He looked to Amy, who was giggling, the straw of her drink seductively in between her teeth.  “How does she do that?” “I told you, she’s the smartest cookie you’ll ever meet!”

“Can I take you out to dinner?”

Our bodies, our choice!  Our bodies, our choice!   We’re here to fight!  Don’t take back our rights! This is what democracy looks like! Hands too small, can’t build a wall!  Hands too small, can’t build a wall! Surrounded by crowds of women, you chanted along with everyone else, fist raised in the air.  Beside you, Amy held up a sign that read “Nasty Women Get PhDs”, with arrows pointing down to the both of you.  You had both traveled to Washington DC to participate in the Women’s March in January, complete with ‘Nasty Woman’ t-shirts.   Now, on the International Women’s Day, you were participating again, except this time in your home base of New York City.   Ever since the night you met Zack, the two of you had been texting.  The rest of the night had been full of more talking and even dancing.  Zack seemed to be completely enraptured by everything you had to say, especially during your more than hour-long discussion about your research for your PhD in political theory.  You were almost positive Amy wasn’t explaining her own research into Classical Rome to Marty, but it was nice to have someone so interested in what you did with your time.  It was one of those nights you lost track of time.  You talked and you talked and you talked – him about his life as a professional wrestler, you about your experiences at Columbia – interrupted only by the waitress bringing you more drinks and your friends saying goodbye to you and Amy.  When Marty found out there was a deejay downstairs playing classic music, he forced everyone downstairs where you danced the night away. He was busy with traveling and wrestling, you with your research and responsibilities as a TA, so you weren’t able to meet up again.  But that didn’t stop you from developing feelings.  It was stupid of you, when you really think about it: chance encounter with a seemingly perfect guy at a bar, find out one of the main requirements of his job is traveling all over the world, and still fall for him anyway.  Amy encouraged you, because it meant she’d see Marty again – they had hooked up that night and it was all she reminisced about these days, because it was apparently that good.  You and Zack hadn’t hooked up, mostly because you were a nervous wreck, and he could tell, and he didn’t want to force you into something you were clearly so nervous about.  ‘If it means we should get to know each other better before anything happens, I’m okay with that.  I was planning for this to last longer than one night anyway.’ “God I love a good protest,” Amy’s voice brought you back to reality.  “This is the kind of shit I live for.  I’m so glad I can do this with you.” You heart swelled at Amy’s words.  She said things like this to you all the time, but it never got boring.  For someone who didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, those types of comments never got old to you.  You cherished them completely, and Amy knew it.  “Me too,” you smiled at her, hearing the next chant being started beside you.  “Women’s rights are human rights!  Women’s rights are human rights!” you began to chant. As the two of your paraded through the streets and ended up in Washington Square Park, with the infamous arch in view, you snapped pictures of clever signs and took videos of the crowd chanting in all their glory.  As a student of politics you couldn’t deny that you were in your element, amongst all the chanting, signs, and banners.  You wondered to yourself if you could use all these photos and videos in a lecture one day, when you taught your own undergrad students – if you were going to become a professor, of course.  You weren’t 100% sure what you were going to do once you got your PhD.  You didn’t really want to think about it yet, although you knew you should be.   No ban!  No fear!  Immigrants are welcome here!  No ban!  No fear!  Immigrants are welcome here!   The chants became louder and louder, more passionate with each breath.  You looked around yourself in admiration – the mothers and daughters that surrounded you; the fathers accompanying and supporting them; the high school and college students standing atop the edge of the fountain.   And then you saw him.  Zack Sabre Jr., standing tall on the edge of the fountain, chanting with his fist in the air.   You were pretty sure your jaw dropped.  What was he doing here?  What was he doing here?!  For half a second you thought it could be a doppelganger, but you knew that was impossible.  It was him.  It was really him. “Zack!” you yelled out, trying to get his attention.  “Zack!”  The sheer volume of everyone cheering made Zack unable to hear your calls.  You decided to move closer, manoeuvring yourself through the crowd to get closer to him.  You didn’t notice Amy looking over, or her smirk, as you decided to move closer to him. “ZACK!” you screamed at the top of your lungs through the chants.  He stopped mid-chant, looking around to see who had called his name.  When his eyes landed on you, smiling up at him, he broke out into a wide grin.  He jumped off the fountain, meeting you where you stood.   Before another word could come out of your mouth, he bent down and scooped you up in his arms, giving you a strong hug.  You inhaled his scent and couldn’t help but relax in his arms.  “What are you doing here?” you asked him. “Supporting the march, of course,” he smiled.  “Why am I not surprised that I see you here?” “I can’t…I…wow!” you were breathless.  You pulled away from him for a quick moment to look at him, make sure that it was actually him you were hugging.  When you saw him looking down at you, a sparkle in his eye, you couldn’t help but smile. “Are you busy after this?” he asked suddenly, his hands dropping from around your waist to grab your own hands.   “No,” you answered quickly, shaking your head.  “No, no.  Absolutely not.  I’m not busy.” “Can I take you out to dinner?  A proper date this time, now that I’m in town,” he offered. “Yes,” you nodded your head vehemently, probably too over-eagerly.  He smiled, and you weren’t sure if it was at your answer of ‘yes’ or the fact you were nodding your head like a walrus that just caught a fish.   You stayed together for the rest of the march, Amy playing it cool when you brought him over to her.  You told her of your dinner plans and she wiggled her eyebrows at you, telling you the equivalent of “get some” in Latin.  You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help but laugh.  Zack didn’t hear, thankfully.   When the march was over, you and Zack popped into a taxi and went over to Williamsburg in Brooklyn, where his apartment was.  He surprised you with ramen, both of you ordering the vegan variety (him because he was actually vegan, you because you took his recommendation seriously).  When the bowls arrived and you tasted its deliciousness, you thought back to undergrad, making instant ramen noodles with other people in your dorm.  You basically lived off the stuff during your Master’s.  It was the quintessential student food. “This is so much better than the powdered dust packets and hot water I’m used to at one in the morning,” you said, slurping some of the broth from the spoon.   Zack snorted and laughed at your awful joke, hanging his head in embarrassment as he reached across the table to grab your hand.  “Oh my God, I didn’t even think of the abysmal grad school diet,” he mused as he rubbed his thumb over the back of your hand.  “I’m so sorry.  I should have taken you for steak instead.” “God no.  This is great.  I have too many steak dinners whenever I attend conferences.  This is a welcome change,” you told him. Zack smiled.  “I bet you’re sharing the room with a bunch of toffs.” You arched your eyebrow.  “You don’t even know the half of it.  I could go on and on.” “Tell me,” he urged, squeezing your hand.   “No way,” you shook your head.  “It’s not exactly date talk.” “Nonsense.  I’d love to hear about the things you’re doing,” Zack smiled slightly.  “Besides, we already established you’re neither graceful nor sexy, especially while dancing to Stevie Wonder.” You couldn’t help but chuckle as he brought up the first night you met.  “You got that right.” “I’m serious, Nora,” Zack said.  You looked at him, and he had the most earnest look on his face.  “Tell me more about what you do.  It’s so fascinating to me.” And so you did.  You spoke at length at the type of conferences you spoke at, the different people you met there – professors, former politicians and heads of countries, and yes, even stuck up toffs – and he ate it all up, asking questions and making comments and urging you to talk more and more.  You were probably going to get a sore throat.  It was all worth it.   By the time you two left the restaurant, you were hand in hand, unable to keep your eyes off of him.  When he proposed going back to his place, you didn’t hesitate this time in saying yes.  And when he kissed you, in the privacy of his bedroom after he politely offered you a cup of tea and you politely declined, you knew that there was something, something, between the two of you, and you were both terrified and excited of what the future would hold.  

“I’m flirting with you.”

You still were not 100% sure what was going on between you and Zack, but what shocked you the most was that you didn’t really mind.  You and Zack were both adults, and you had very adult conversations about this, and you were satisfied with whatever this was.  Officially dating?  You didn’t think so.  Was there a label?  No.  Friends with benefits?  Probably the closest thing you could think of to describe your relationship, but at the same time, you had both acknowledged there were feelings between the two of you.  You both were just fully aware that you led completely different, somewhat incompatible lifestyles.  But that didn’t stop the feelings.  It didn’t stop the handholding; the kisses; the cuddling; the movie nights and late night conversations about music, life, research, wrestling, and everything in between.   It had been just over three months since you met.  In between his travels for wrestling, he always came back to his apartment in Williamsburg, and that’s when you two saw each other.  You hated to admit it, but when he was in town, you were at your happiest.  The sky seemed just a little bit bluer, the sun just a little bit brighter.  You two would explore new restaurants, indulge in vegan desserts, and wander around Brooklyn or Manhattan before retreating back to either his or yours. Whatever it was, it was perfect.   But now, it would be the longest you would ever be away from him.  He had to leave for Japan for two months, where he really made his bread and butter, and you knew you would miss him.  You’d bury yourself in your research, of course, and work adamantly to make yourself reach your goal of at least another 20 pages written for your dissertation.  You wondered if he’d distract himself, too. When you got home from a day of lectures and tutorial teaching, you mulled about the small apartment you shared with Amy, making yourself an unappetizing dinner.  When you made your way into your room, you looked at your heaping pile of laundry and decided to do a load.  As you separated your colours, out of the corner of your eye, you saw an unfamiliar blue garment near your pillow.  When you picked it up, you grinned to yourself, realizing it was one of Zack’s zip-up hoodies.  It hadn’t been washed – there was still the small ice cream stain on the left side.  Then you noticed another one of his hoodies, a grey one, underneath your pillow, and your grin turned into a full-blown smile.   That cheeky bastard.  He definitely left them here on purpose.  God, it even smelled like him. You slipped on the navy blue one as you did your chores, starting the laundry and cleaning up your dirty dishes.  Once you were finished, you decided to sit at your desk in your room to revise the last of what you had written in your dissertation.  Just as you were able to call it a night, the Skype icon on your laptop began to wiggle, and the familiar ringtone began to blare into your headphones.  The thumbnail of Zack’s face appeared on screen, and you smiled to yourself, subconsciously running your fingers through your hair to smooth it out.  You pressed accept and waited for everything to connect.   “Hello darling,” you saw Zack smiling on the other end.   “Hi,” you were unable to control the size of the smile on your face.  “I see you got to Japan all in one piece.” “I did,” Zack nodded his head.  “Killer flight though.” “Did you get to sleep?” “Just a little bit,” he shrugged his shoulders.  “Not like when I’m in bed with you.” You felt your cheeks flush.  “Charmer.” “I’m flirting with you.  Can’t you tell?” “I bet you do that to all the girls,” you said, rolling your eyes teasingly.   “No,” he shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.  “But I see you’ve found my hoodies.” You looked down at your torso as if you didn’t realize you were wearing an article of his clothing.  “I did.  It’s so comfy.” “Now you understand why I wear them all the time,” he smiled.  “Next time I’m in town I’ll bring you to Suplex, and we’ll get something made for you.” You would definitely take him up on his generous offer, but something inside of you wanted to tease him just a little bit more.  “Why would we get something made for me when I can just steal your hoodies?” you asked, a small smile playing on your lips. “I won’t have any clothes left, woman!” Zack laughed.   “Do you leave your clothes in all the bedrooms you’re ever in?” “Only for you, darling,” he said, licking his lips.  You saw his expression change slightly.  He was eyeing you more carefully, really taking in the visual of you wearing his clothes.  “You look sexy in my clothes,” he said in a low voice.  “So sexy.” You couldn’t help but blush at how he was practically undressing you with his eyes.  Despite vocalizing how good you looked with it on, it seemed as if all he wanted to do was take it off of you – even though he was thousands of miles away.  “Thanks darling,” you said, mimicking his English accent.   “Do you do that to all your gentleman callers?  Put on their clothes and make them go crazy?” he asked, biting down on his bottom lip subconsciously. You smiled shyly.  “No.  Only for you, darling,” you repeated his earlier sentiments.   “I miss you already,” he blurted out.  He huffed a little bit, looking down shyly.  It was clear that he meant it, but that his mouth spoke quicker than his head could tell him not to say it out loud – at least, not just yet.   “I miss you too,” you said.   “I knew I would…I just didn’t imagine it would happen this soon,” Zack admitted.  “Seeing you on a computer screen just made it that much more real.” You weren’t sure what to think about what Zack was saying.  Obviously you took everything to heart – you knew he meant every word – but you were also painfully aware that things between you weren’t official.  He was saying such sweet things and making you feel like you were the only girl in the world.  “Just think…you’ll be back in seven weeks,” you tried to keep his morale up. “I’ve set up one of those countdown clocks on my phone.  52 days to be exact,” he smiled shyly.   “Not that you’re counting,” you winked. He said nothing, smiling and looking down shyly for a moment.  “What time is it there?” “It’s just past 11 at night,” you informed him.  “What about there?” “Just past noon lunch.  Am I keeping you up?  Do you need to go to bed?” “Absolutely not,” you said.  “I didn’t have a particularly busy day.  Am I keeping you from eating?” “I wouldn’t have called you if you were,” he said.  “You know nothing gets between me and food.” You couldn’t help but giggle slightly.  As you two continued to talk about his dojo training (which sounded like serious business), about the shows he would perform in, about his colleagues, and more, you settled into a relaxed, earnest happiness.  Just hearing his voice put you at ease.   It was two hours before your eyes started to get heavy.  You had moved to your bed by this point, and were lying on your side, still in Zack’s hoodie.  You had been listening to everything he had to say intently the entire time, but you were finding it harder and harder as time passed.  You tried not to let it show, because you wanted to keep talking with him, keep seeing him through the computer screen.  It made him feel that much closer, 13 hours apart. When you started rubbing your eyes, Zack knew it was time to call it a night.  “You could have told me to shut up an hour ago, you know,” he said suddenly, a small smile playing on his lips.  “I wouldn’t have minded.” “No,” you said as if it was the stupidest idea you ever heard.  “Why would I do that?” “Because my voice is annoying and you need to sleep.” “Nonsense.  I could listen to you all day because of your accent,” you said. Zack laughed.  “Ah, so it’s just my accent, is it?  The actual content that comes out of my mouth isn’t remotely interesting otherwise?” “Nope,” you smirked. Zack scrunched up his face in protest.  “You’re mean.” “You’ll get over it.” “I’m going to let you go to bed now darling,” Zack said.  “I’m not going to be responsible for you falling asleep during a lecture.” “Zaaaaack,” you whined. “I’m going to be training all day tomorrow, so I can’t reach out, but I promise to call you the day after tomorrow, same time,” he said.  It was your turn to scrunch up your face now.  “I promise,” he emphasized. “Okay,” you said, your voice soft.  “Have a good lunch,” you smiled meekly.   “Have a good night’s sleep,” he said, blowing you an air kiss.   It was so cheesy, but so incredibly charming.

“You’re the best part of me.”

How had it been a year? One year since you met Zack.  Six months since you both acted on the crazy idea that, hell fucking yes, you two should be in a relationship despite being on virtually opposite ends of the earth more than half of the time.  Now, you found yourself in Reseda, California, after a series of guest lectures done at UCLA, backstage at PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles.  Zack was participating in the tournament, and as a former PWG World Champion, you had high hopes for him.  He had high hopes for himself.  You weren’t sure if he’d be winning the tournament or not, mostly because he refused to tell you – even after you pouted, bribed him with his favourite dessert…hell, you even offered sex.  His mouth stayed zipped through it all.  His reasoning was because he wanted you to watch the entire thing like a real, true wrestling fan.  You could see his point, but you thought it valid that as a girlfriend, you’d want to know his fate ahead of time. Marty was there, which didn’t make you feel completely alone amongst the giant litany of other wrestlers you were introduced to.  Everyone was very relaxed and chilled, not to mention friendly and welcoming to an outsider like you.  You were convinced that you stuck out like a sore thumb, but a really nice woman named Candice took it upon herself to be attached to your hip.  As you ate your lunch – Mexican food from a food truck down the street everyone in the room raved about – you listened intently as the wrestlers spoke about their matches.  It all sounded so foreign to you, but you were positive that if they came to see you at UCLA earlier in the week, they’d feel like fish out of water too.   As you sat in the ring with Candice, the man introduced to you as Chuck Taylor intervened in your conversation politely, joking that Candice shouldn’t be corrupting you – that just because Candice was cute, it didn’t mean you had to listen to everything she had to say.  Candice defended herself, citing the fact that you were “secretly Canadian” as reason why you two were destined to become best friends.  Chuck wasn’t having any of it.   “But wait, so are you the doctor that Zack’s been mentioning?” Chuck asked suddenly, throwing you a bit off guard.  You knew Zack would have mentioned you to his friends by now, but you were never sure how truly in-depth he went.  You were always curious to know what he said about you.   “Well, I’m technically not a doctor yet…but I guess so?” you offered. “So can you be our doctor when you become one?” he asked again. “Oh, oh no!  Not that type of doctor,” you shook your head.  “I faint at the sight of blood.  I’m getting a doctorate in politics.” “Oh, that type of doctor,” Chuck Taylor came to the realization.  “So are you gonna like, run the world one day?” You couldn’t help but chuckle at his comment.  “That’s the plan,” you winked. “I’d trust you,” Chuck deadpanned.  “I mean, I met you all of an hour ago but I trust you.” “Me too,” Candice piped in.  “I’d trust any Canadian to rule the world.” “I wouldn’t!” Zack called out from the outside of the ring.  “They’d make us bathe in maple syrup and eat poutine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!” “Way to feed the stereotype!” Candice yelled back at him.  “While we’re at it, why don’t you pop around shop and get me some fish and chips and a pint of Guinness?” she put on her best impression of Zack. “A pint of Guinness?  I’m not Irish, Candice, for God’s sake,” Zack rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean!” Zack got up from his chair, standing at the side of the ring, near where you and Candice were sitting.  “Care to explore any more British stereotypes?” he asked Candice. “I can’t think of any right now because I’m too tired,” she smiled.  Looking over to you, she placed her hand on your lap gently.  “I hope you don’t mind, but I call your boyfriend Pip Pip Innit when he pisses me off, which is about 67% of the time we’re around each other.” You laughed out loud at the nickname, glancing over at Zack who was hanging his head.  Clearly he didn’t want you knowing about this nickname.  “That’s fucking brilliant,” you said through your laughing.  “Oh, I’m going to have to borrow that.” “It’ll be our little nickname,” Candice affirmed. “I need to get you away from her,” Zack said, causing you and Candice to laugh again.  “Come darling,” he said, extending his hand for you to hold.  “I’ll show you around the building – you’ll see where you’ll stay until my match happens.  Maybe we’ll stumble upon Legion Larry.” Although slightly reluctant to leave Candice, you slid out of the ring (with the help of Zack – you were seriously so ungraceful in every way) and followed him past the curtain, revealing the backstage area.  It was small, as you imagined it would be, a maze of corridors leading to small rooms (offices for the Legion, you guessed).  Zack held your hand tightly in his, and when you looked up at him, he automatically looked down at you.  “You alright?” he asked in a soft voice. “Yeah,” you nodded your head.  “I’m actually really excited for tonight.  It’ll be fun to actually watch you wrestle live instead of through a YouTube video.” Zack smiled, and before either of you said another word, he pulled you close to his body and practically dragged you into an empty room, locking the door quickly behind him.  You only had a moment to look around – there was a desk, a few filing cabinets, even a whiteboard on one of the walls, which meant this was definitely someone’s office – before you had the sense to ask what in the world he was doing. “Shhhhh…” he put his finger over your lip.  “Stop asking questions.” He bent down to kiss you.  There was a certain feeling to it; the way his hands settled on the small of your back before wandering up and down underneath your shirt.  Your skin felt like it was on fire.  It always did when he touched you.  He just had that effect on you.   “What about everyo --” “Stop asking questions,” he repeated, more seriously but with a smirk.  Instead of going back to kissing you, he looked down at you, his eyes trying to tell you something his lips weren’t quite ready to say yet.  “Thank you for coming to this.  It really means a lot to me that you took time to be here.” The sincerity in his voice almost made you cry.  You both knew that this whole thing, this whole relationship, was crazy.  You were away from each other most of the time, having Skype dinner dates instead of real ones.  The most popular question you asked him was ‘Where are you right now?’, followed closely by ‘What time is it there?’.  Normal people didn’t have relationships like this.  But you did.  And even though it was hard, even though sometimes you physically ached because Zack wasn’t lying in bed with you, even though sometimes you cried because the sweaters he would leave behind would stop smelling like him and start smelling like you instead since you wore them so often, it was all worth it to you.   Biting your lip, you stood on your tippy toes and pressed your lips to his.  You snaked your arms around his neck and pressed your body against yours.  You pulled away slightly, just enough to have your lips still grazing his.  “You think these walls are soundproof?” Zack smirked, picking you up and pinning you against the door.  “Let’s find out.” His hands were everywhere, as were his lips.  Every time you and Zack were intimate, it was passionate and left you wanting to do it over and over again.  He always, always made you sure you were attended to, and vice versa.  It started against the door but finished on the desk (you didn’t want to think about who had to work here once all these wrestlers were gone) with your legs wrapped around him.  It was so heated that the both of you were catching your breaths, trying to come down from your mutual highs.  Despite the fact you were both out of breath, Zack took to giving you one last kiss, and you were aware of the fact that he was still in you.   You looked directly into his eyes, as they seemed to search for something in you.  You could feel his chest heaving against yours.  Grazing his lips with your thumb, you said what had been on your mind all day.  “I love you.” He took a moment to take in the words.  “And I love you,” he said in a breathless voice.  “You are the best part of me.” Later that night, as you squirmed in your seat watching Marty ‘break’ someone’s finger, held your breath when Candice dove off the top rope, or cringed at the way Zack bent his opponent’s limbs, you felt an overwhelming sense of bliss that felt like it would never go away.  You felt the giddiness of a schoolgirl.  And it was all because of Zack.  

“You are the single best thing that has ever happened to me.”

You made it.  Graduation.  You were officially Doctor Nora Collins.   Your dad had flown in from Toronto to see you graduate for the third time.  You were his only child, so anything and everything you did was met by grand celebratory gestures from him.  He actually stopped in the airport just to buy you flowers and you were sure he’d have another bouquet for you today.  Your apartment was going to smell of roses and wildflowers for a week.   Despite the emptiness you felt about Zack not being able to make it because of his busy schedule in Japan, you were excited to have your dad with you.  He was staying in New York City for a week, finally taking some time off from his job as a lawyer.  He hadn’t taken a vacation in years, since he jokingly reminded you “Someone needs to pay for your schooling, Nora,” though you had been on full scholarship for both your Master’s and PhD programs.  To be able to spend a week with him would be fun.  You had planned some great activities: he was a big foodie, so you knew you’d be eating well at some of New York’s best restaurants for the entire week.  He wanted to go to Ellis Island, so you bought the boat tickets.  You both loved to cycle, so you thought to cycle through Central Park with him.   Though you had walked across the stage twice before, this time was the most special.  Years of hard word culminated in this moment and, if you could be honest, you couldn’t have been prouder of yourself.  This was your best accomplishment to date, the one that meant the most to you.  There was a polite applause for you, and you knew the loud whistle was from your dad.  You smiled at the president of the university, shook his hand, and shook the hands of all the others on stage as well.  You were handed your diploma before stepping off the stage.  You were sure your smile was beaming ear to ear.  You only wished for Zack to be there; to see you walk across the stage and become Dr. Nora Collins. After the ceremony, you entered into a giant crowd of waiting family.  This was typical, and you immediately took out your phone and texted your dad, asking him where he was.  You looked around, trying to see through groups of people hugging their families or posing for pictures.  When your dad texted back his location, you began walking towards it.  You were thankful that you were wearing flats because you saw a lot of women’s heels sinking into the grass.   “Nora!” you heard a voice call your name.  It definitely did not sound like your dad.  “Nora!” You looked around you – to your left, then to your right – only for your eyes to lay upon Zack, in a smart navy blue suit, holding a small bouquet of flowers. You stood still for a moment, in complete and utter shock.  He was supposed to be in Japan.  You were supposed to be mad at him.  You were supposed to be longing for him to be with you.  He wasn’t supposed to be standing there with flowers and his dumb grin plastered on his face, looking like he belonged on the cover of GQ thanks to his navy suit fitting him like a glove.   You did the first thing you thought of doing: you dashed towards him and launched yourself on to him.  He grabbed you with perfect timing and picked you up, your feet kicking back dramatically.  God, you guys probably looked like a movie scene.  You crashed your lips against his and he responded just as feverishly. “What are you doing here?!” you demanded of him, though of course you fully knew the answer.  You wanted him to explain to you exactly how he managed to be in New York despite endless shows in Japan. “I pulled some strings, and you have me for 72 hours,” he said.  “You honestly thought I would miss this?” “But you said --” “Besides wrestling you are the single best thing that has ever fucking happened to me,” he said, kissing you again quickly.  “I love you so fucking much, Nora.  I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” You crashed your lips on to his again, savouring the feeling of his lips against yours.  You hadn’t seen him in almost two months.  He was real.  He was there.  For you. When you heard another voice call your name, you definitely knew it was that of your father.  You stopped kissing Zack and he set you down fairly quickly.  “Dad!” you exclaimed. “This must be the famous Zack,” he said as he approached the two of you.  Zack stood pin straight and played with the button on his suit jacket nervously.  Your dad extended his hand and Zack shook it politely.   “It’s nice to finally meet you Mr. Collins,” Zack said. “Weren’t you supposed to be in Japan?” your dad asked. “I managed to convince my superiors to give me three days off,” Zack informed him.  “I definitely don’t want to intrude on your time with your daughter though.  I know you two have a lot of things planned and --” “Nonsense!” your dad exclaimed.  “You’re more than welcome to partake in whatever we’re doing.  Hell, I wasn’t even supposed to meet you during this trip yet here you are.  I went to spend as much time with you as possible.” “Dad,” you scolded him slightly.  “Stop scaring him.  He’s probably jetlagged.” “Anywho, we’ve got a lot of time until our dinner reservations, don’t we?  It’s for six, and it’s only two-thirty,” your dad changed the subject immediately, looking at his watch.  “Let’s take some pictures.  Then I’m going to the Museum of Natural History since you never want to go, and I’ll meet you at…what’s the restaurant called again?  Alexander?  Daniel!  I’ll meet you and Zack at Daniel at six.  I’ll call them to make the reservation for three.” You were thankful that your dad was so understanding and…well, mature about Zack surprising you, so after you took a bunch of pictures and returned your robes, you hailed your dad a taxi to go to the Natural History Museum while you and Zack returned to your apartment.   After a few heated rounds throughout your apartment, you laid in bed together, limbs entwined with each other’s.  The feel of Zack’s bare skin on your own, his calloused fingers grazing lazily up your thigh, over the curve of your ass, and back down again sent shivers through your body.  You tried not to think about the fact that you only had him for 72 hours; that he had to be an ocean away from you again. “God, I fucking missed you,” you breathed out, still trying to catch your breath.  You kissed him quickly.  “You have no fucking idea.” “Oh, I think I do,” Zack smiled, leaning in to kiss you again.  Except this time, he didn’t pull away like you had.  He kept kissing you, moving from your lips to your neck and collarbone.   “Zack, please,” you moaned out as he began to nip at your skin.  You had barely recovered from the last round.  His stamina was outrageous. Your lazy attempt to make him stop were futile; if anything, they only made him more eager as he kissed his way back up to your ear.  Just when you thought he’d move back to your lips, he whispered something you weren’t expecting.  “Will you come to Japan with me?” Your body immediately stiffened at his words.  You pulled away briefly, making sure you were looking him in the eye.  “Like, to move there?” “No, silly,” Zack said, and you couldn’t help but relax slightly.  “I’m saying, if I buy you a ticket, will you come visit me in Japan soon?” It didn’t take you very long to weigh your options.  You had jobs to apply for, plus universities were recruiting you to become part of their faculty and teach.  These weren’t paltry universities, either; UC-Berkeley had called, as did the University of Chicago.  Your thesis advisor was well connected and had mentioned your name to numerous people, and this is where you found yourself.  But interviews wouldn’t happen for at least another month, and you had time to burn until then.  No money, but time.  “Of course.  But I’d buy my own ticket, Zack.” “Nonsense.  Now that I’m earning that Japanese money I’m buying a ticket,” he smiled, nuzzling his head into the crook of your neck. “Zaaaaack.” “Let me do this for you,” he mumbled, his lips grazing against your skin.  “You deserve it, doctor.” You couldn’t help but feel a smile creep on to your face.  His generosity was one for the ages.  You’d never been to Japan and you didn’t think you’d ever be able to repay him for what he wanted to do for you.  “How can I deny you?” “Just don’t say no.”

“The world works in mysterious ways.”

As Zack brought in the last of the boxes, you couldn’t help but focus on something else besides his arm muscles flexing: the slim, diamond band on your ring finger. Zack had gotten it for you two weeks ago.  You weren’t a flashy person, he argued, and neither was he, but he had to get you something, and you agreed, thinking it was perfect.  One week ago, your dad flew in to Berkeley, and his parents and sister flew in from England, and you had surprised them with a wedding at the San Francisco City Hall.  You two hadn’t planned on it but, well, you hadn’t planned on getting together all those years ago, either.   Now, the little craftsman style house just a stone’s throw away from the university campus was home.  You had settled into Berkeley, becoming a professor and doing some post-doctoral research.  Zack was in and out of Japan, down in Reseda, all over Europe – like he always was.  But like always, you two had managed to make it work.  You had even traveled with him a few times, when you could take the time off.  Japan had been exhilarating, the three times you made the trip.  So had Germany, even though you made the decision on a whim.  Your trips to Canada were always fun, since it was always nice to be home, and sometimes you’d even go to Florida.  And every trip back to his hometown, in the Isle of Sheppey, was where you made your fondest memories, since he always took you on a boat ride along the coast. “I think that’s it, love,” Zack’s voice interrupted you from your thoughts.  You looked over at him and he had stacked the box next to all the other living room boxes.  It was probably the blankets.  “Do you need me to do anything else?” You chuckled to yourself.  Such a good husband already.  “Come here,” you said, beckoning him over with your hands.   “Why?  Did I do something wrong?” he asked. You snorted.  “No, Zack.  I just want to hug you.” A small smile crept on to his face as he made his way over to you.  He snaked his arms around your waist while yours went around his neck, and in one swift movement he tugged you off the ground.  You wrapped your legs around his waist instinctively.  You had definitely been in this position more than a few times.  “You good?” he asked.  You nodded your head.  “You sure I didn’t do anything wrong?” You snorted again.  “No way.  So far you’ve been the perfect husband.” “Really?” he was shocked at your statement. “Shush.  You know you are.” “So I guess now would be a good time to tell you I have to fly out to Chicago next week, but only for two days,” he informed you. You shrugged your shoulders.  “I knew what I was getting in to when I married you.” “Talk about a perfect wife,” he rolled his eyes, leaning forward to kiss you.  When he pulled away, he looked you in the eye, setting you down on your feet.  Your arms were still wrapped around him.  “I still can’t believe I got to marry you,” he whispered, his fingertips grazing over your exposed skin near your hips.  “God, that night I met you in the bar was the best night of my life.” “Mine too,” you smiled. “You know, I wasn’t even supposed to go out that night.  Marty forced me to,” he revealed. You couldn’t help but smile.  “I wasn’t supposed to go out either.  I had a stack of essays to mark but Amy forced me to check out the bar with her.” “The world works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it,” he whispered. “It does,” you agreed.  “Cause it brought an academic and a wrestler together in perfect harmony.  You don’t hear that pairing everyday.” Zack smiled down at you, kissing you quickly.  “I was thinking we order some Indian food and pop open the Netflix,” he suggested.  “Let’s celebrate our first night in the new house.” “I can think of other ways we can celebrate,” you wiggled your eyebrows at him. It didn’t take much.  Zack’s smile turned into a wry grin.  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, picking you up and swinging you over his shoulders, carrying you towards your bedroom.  

FIN.

[siderealscribblings]

Do you have any opinions about Zak Storm and/or potential (fanfic) crossovers with Miraculous Ladybug?

The only Zack in my life is Zack Sabre Jr so no