Tumgik
#I have my first therapy session tomorrow/today so we’ll see
floral-hex · 11 months
Text
Can’t tell if I’m so anxious because of drug withdrawal or it’s just because I have a bad brain 😓
#I took buspar for about 4 nights then had to stop because it put me on edge#first night without it and I’m hit with the same feelings again#just sad and hopeless and my nerves feel sick#I had thought there wasn’t supposed to be any real withdrawal from that stuff#so maybe this is just me being sad#quick rant: I feel so hopless and alone and scared#it’s 4:30am and I know there’s nothing I can do right now about it so I should just chill out#brains suck#just go to sleep!#I have my first therapy session tomorrow/today so we’ll see#and I’m realizing now I really need to bite the bullet and apply to some jobs#any jobs. even if I’m afraid my hearing will go out and I’ll fuck up working#I NEED to get out of this house more. I NEED money. I NEED some hope for a future.#I want moneyyyy so I can go out to eat and take my brothers to the movies and help my mother with bills#I can’t just stay awake all night suffering. I need to be productive.#ian I swear you will feel so much better with a purpose#even if that purpose is just to work a register for a few hours a day#it’ll be okay#we can do this. we’ll talk to the therapist tomorrow. we’ll call our doc and bitch about our meds. we’ll apply for jobs#we’ll shower and eat and go out in the sun and it’ll be okay#baby steps baby#get a job. get money. buy a burger. find someone to kiss once or twice.#I can do this#I feel everything falling apart and fading away and I have to fight that#I’m fighting it now just verbalizing this and it’s helping#it’ll be okay ian!#life can still be beautiful!#you’re afraid of losing everything well then fucking grab it hold it do what you can#I’m so fucking scared but I have to try#text
6 notes · View notes
Text
First Wedding Planning & Preparation
Fanonwriter2023 on AO3
Where CANON and FANON collide!
FANON Future Buddie Fanfic Series
New Buddie Fanfic
Part 12 is now available on AO3: First Wedding Planning & Preparation - Buck and Eddie’s first planning and preparation for their wedding and honeymoon.
Tumblr media
First Wedding Planning & Preparation
28.0K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences
___________
Here's a snippet from one of Buck and Eddie's conversations.
___________
A few moments pass and Eddie says, “We accomplished a lot today with our wedding planning and preparation but there’s a whole lot more we need to do”.
“You’re right and I was thinking we could um… go to the loft in the morning after we clean the house then we can pack my clothes along with the stuff the junk removal company will take away. I can submit my immediate notice to vacate in the resident portal but I’ll still have to check the mailbox while we’re there. We should also order some invitations from the 24-hour office supply company so we can pick them up before we come home and we should go by Sheryl’s bakery to see if our wedding cake can be delivered. Also, on Monday we should uh… go to Bill and Sandra’s to discuss the ceremony and reception layouts that will be in their backyard. What do you think?”
“That sounds good and we can also schedule the junk removal company to be here Monday morning after we take Chris to school and after they pick up my bed, we should be able to make our 10:30AM appointment. Then I think we should hire a moving company to move your bed here so we won’t have to do it and after they leave, we can drive to Will Rogers State Beach then we can pick Chris up from school.”
“I like that but do you think we’ll be doing too much? I mean that’s a lot to accomplish in two days?”
Eddie shrugs his shoulders and replies, “Kind of but after Monday, we’ll be working a 36-hour shift from 10AM Tuesday until 10PM Wednesday so it’ll be better if we get the loft cleaned out as soon as possible. That way Thursday we’ll have time to pack our luggage for our trip, go back to Sandra’s and Bill’s to see what else, if anything they need us to help with because I’m thankful and grateful they’re doing this for us and I want to be there to help with whatever we can.”
“I agree so let’s schedule the junk removal appointments for Monday. The one for here will be in the morning and the one for the loft will be after we go to get our marriage license. We’ll schedule the moving company to get the bed out of the loft and have them bring it here. We’ll also create our wedding invitations online and request to see them when we pick them up. Once we complete all those tasks, we should probably get ready for bed since we’ll need to leave here early tomorrow morning. I’ll uh… cook breakfast and after we clean, we’ll get dressed and go to the loft. We can order lunch while we there if we don’t get finished early.”
Eddie smiles then says, “We’re tying up all the loose ends because we’re getting married in a few days my love”.
“We are and I can’t wait.”
“Me either.” He replies then he leans in and kisses Buck on the lips.
Will Buck and Eddie be able to plan everything and tie up all their loose ends before their wedding day?
____________
First Love Confession -Buck and Eddie share their first real and meaningful love confession.
First Date - Buck and Eddie go on their first date.
First Kiss - Buck and Eddie share their first kiss.
First Argument - Buck and Eddie have their first argument.
First Couples Therapy Session- Buck and Eddie go to their first couples therapy sessions.
First Time - Eddie and Buck make love for the first-time.
First Morning After - The night after Buck and Eddie make love for the first-time, they spend their first morning after together.
First Relationship Reveal - Buck and Eddie’s first relationship reveal.
First Mourning - Buck and Eddie experience their first mourning after a loss together.
First Marriage Proposal - Eddie and Buck’s first marriage proposal.
First Fiancé Introductions - Buck and Eddie’s first introductions as fiancés.
First Wedding Planning & Preparation - Buck and Eddie’s first planning and preparation for their wedding and honeymoon.
Part 13 - Will be posted soon.
__________
Their Firsts, At Last - 118K Words; Currently 8 completed works: A multi-part fanfic series about the romantic “firsts” Buck and Eddie share as they journey through life in an established relationship and their lives as a couple will include some of Buck’s individual “firsts” too. It’s filled with the FANON love, romance, fluff and domesticity their relationship should have been allowed to experience in CANON.  The second part of the series title was adapted from the song “At Last” by Etta James.
This series of FANON future speculation fanfics is being written on a continuous timeline that begins with the start of season 7 (if it were to start in September 2023). Each part ends at a specific point in Buck and Eddie’s relationship so the next part can begin with the ending of the previous part. Therefore, parts 1-6 should be read prior to reading part 7 and the series will continue in that manner until it’s complete.
Parts 1 - 12 are available on AO3
41 notes · View notes
daysofourlivesrecaps · 11 months
Text
Thursday, 8 June 2023
We’re sweeping away the last vestiges of that stressful Colin/Talia thing today, so let’s get that out of the way first.
Talia has a nightmare that Colin has returned to rough her up some more.
Tumblr media
Then Jada comes home and the two of them have a tearful conversation about what went down. Jada talks Talia into going to therapy and we can all thank God (probably literally on this show) that Marlena isn’t dead because she really is the only therapist in this entire town full of traumatized people.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Back at Wendy and Tripp’s place, Johnny still hasn’t shown up or called or even texted since he ghosted Wendy last night. So Tripp subtly reminds Wendy what he looks like without a shirt.
Tumblr media
Wendy is still giving Johnny the benefit of the doubt, because after all, it can’t be that he just ran off with his ex again, right?
Meanwhile, in the town square, Johnny’s holding hands with his ex.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Okay, so they were at the police station all night answering questions about the whole Colin incident. But that still doesn’t explain why he didn’t tell Wendy any of this.
Then he moseys on over to the apartment where he finds Tripp making another meal for Wendy. (Tripp may be the only dude who can “make your girl dinner and breakfast” and still have it be kind of wholesome.)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Then Johnny and Wendy chat. And once again, Johnny gives the absolute bare minimum and Wend issues him yet another Last Chance from her seemingly bottomless bag of Last Chances. Like, is this kid blackmailing her, or…?
Tumblr media
At the police station, Paulina lets herself in to that conference room where they keep suspects and harasses Colin.
Tumblr media
And look, he completely deserves all of this and more. But I continue to be baffled by the fact that any member of the public has free access to any suspected perpetrator with no police supervision of any kind. I used to think it was an occasional oversight but at this point, the only explanation here is that it’s actual department policy.
Sloan intervenes with talk of “due process,” which everyone rolls their eyes at.
Tumblr media
Colin claims to know where Abe is, which gets everyone’s attention.
Tumblr media
Sloan chases them out of That One Room and he admits that he has absolutely no idea where Abe is. He just wants another opportunity to escape.
Tumblr media
And somehow, impossibly, Sloan talks Colin out of it! Even she thinks this bastard needs to answer for some of the awful shit he did. And she’s his sister!
Tumblr media
Then she leaves That One Room and retracts Colin’s obvious lie about Abe.
Tumblr media
Abe, for his part, is still giving us some outstanding reactions to Nurse Kim Coles and her loopy nonsense.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
She also won’t let him watch live TV, claiming it’s because she forgot to pay the cable bill. And we get this shot, which I originally rolled my eyes at, because the RCA cables are obviously connected. Turns out I didn’t recognize a coaxial cable (you know, a cable TV cable) because I haven’t used one in so long. But NBC and Peacock are owned by Comcast, so obviously they know what they’re talking about here. (I mean, we’ve been fighting them for literally a month to get a misbilling corrected, so let’s not give the too much credit.)
Tumblr media
Then Nurse Kim Coles makes a cute meta-reference to a soap she enjoys watching.
Tumblr media
And makes THE GREATEST META JOKE I’VE EVER SEEN about it.
Tumblr media
Yeah, what kind of idiotic corporation pushes a nearly 60 year old show — one of only four soaps left on the air — exclusively to a streaming platform?! Could it possibly be the same idiotic corporation that expects us to pay $100 because they sent some techs out to fix our modem, which was broken and outdated? It sure can!
So she goes off to work and Abe puts the soap on.
Tumblr media
We don’t get to see any of what he’s watching. But I’m holding out hope that we’ll get to see it tomorrow. (Actually I Googled it and we will and I cannot fucking wait.)
Talia arrives at the hospital for her first session with Marlena. (Yes, the therapist has an office at the hospital. No, I have no idea why this is.) There, she runs into Chanel, who once again tears into Talia with no regard for what she’s been through.
She does back off when she hears that Talia’s going to therapy though, which is something. I guess.
Tumblr media
And Rafe, realizing that his only lead regarding the whereabouts of Mayor Abraham Carver is that nurse who never called him back, goes to her house and knocks on the door.
Tumblr media
But I forgot to mention that she told Abe that he was in danger from a guy disguised as a cop (partially true! Sort of!) and he shouldn’t open the door to anyone! I mean, I hope he does open it eventually.  He deserves to be back with his family. But not before we get to see some footage from Body and Soul.
0 notes
agustdakasuga · 3 years
Text
Between The Bloodshed | Chapter 10
Genre: Mafia!AU, Angst, Romance, Fluff
Pairing: OT7 x Reader
Characters: Doctor!Reader, Gangster!Namjoon, Gangster!Seokjin, Gangster!Yoongi, Gangster!Hoseok, Gangster!Jimin, Gangster!Taehyung, Gangster!Jungkook
Summary: Being a freelance doctor, this was just supposed to be any other job, helping a private client and taking care of him through his recovery. But you were not expecting to get caught in something so much darker that would change your life entirely.
It seems that as you get closer to the boys, the more they open up to you. That’s also when you realise just how much they actually left out of their supposedly honest profiles.
Warning: This story is fictional and has nothing to do with real life events or the actual members of BTS. It may contain depictions of violence, blood shed/ gore and mentions of abuse. Please read at your own discretion.
Tumblr media
*BANG*
“What-” The door opened and soon, there was fast padding against your carpeted ground. Another body dove under the cover and curled itself next to yours. You blinked, sitting up immediately.
“Who...” You lifted the blanket to see who the quivering figure was.
“J-Jimin?! What are you doing here?” That was when you stopped, feeling the warmth that he was radiating onto your thigh. Throwing the covers back, Jimin hugged himself and you touched his forehead and cheeks. Reaching into your nightstand, you grabbed your thermometer, turning it on and sticking it into Jimin’s ears.
“You’re running a high fever!” You saw his temperature. Jimin shivered, grabbing your blanket to wrap himself up.
“Chim, can you hear me?” You called.
“C-Cold...” He stuttered. You got out of bed, heading out the door. It was quite early that the hallways were still rather empty. Going into your office, you grabbed what you needed.
“(y/n)?” Jin blinked as you rushed by him. He was always one of the early risers of the family.
“Can’t talk! Jimin! Sick!” You replied, running into your room. You turned Jimin onto his back, making him groan.
“Jimin hardly falls sick but when he does, it’s bad. Been like that since he was a kid.” Jin stood by the door way, arms crossed. You grabbed Jimin’s arm, cleaning it with an alcohol swab and poking the needle in with medication and fluids for him.
(A/N: For those wondering why the OC always put them on IV drips or if you do know some stuff about needle site complications, I’ve researched and spoken to friends in Korea. They actually get IV drips and injections very often for simple things like hangovers and the flu.)
“I got you a pail with iced water.” Jin stood by your side.
“Thanks.” You wrung the dampen towel, placing it on Jimin’s forehead. Taking your phone, you set a two hour timer.
“I’ll go let the others know Jimin is sick. As well as call his office. Let us know if you need anything.” Jin said and you nodded. He left as you wiped Jimin’s neck and arms with a cold towel.
“Omma...” He tensed.
"Shhh, Chim.” You hushed him, placing the towel on his forehead. You went to the bathroom to brush your teeth and change into more presentable clothes.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
“Come in.” You replied, combing your hair. Yoongi stood at the doorway. He looked flustered, rubbing the back of his neck. You blinked at him for two seconds but turned back to the mirror, fixing your hair. Yoongi wordlessly entered your room, standing over Jimin. From the corner of your eyes, you watched him cup Jimin’s cheek.
“How’s he?” Yoongi asked.
“Fine. He came in with a really high temperature so I put him on a drip. I’ll check his temperature again soon. Thankfully he stopped shivering and went back to sleep.” You replied.
“That’s good.” Yoongi mumbled, stroking Jimin’s head gently.
“Jin said when he gets sick, it’s often bad?” You asked. Yoongi nodded in confirmation.
“He got sick often as a kid and had febrile seizures. So he was always in and out of the hospital. His parents thought it would be the best way to keep him healthy. He’s gotten better over the years.” Yoongi explained.
“I don’t remembering reading about febrile seizures in the profiles.” You crossed your arms. Yoongi didn’t seem bothered by your dissatisfaction.
“He didn’t think it was necessary for you to know. It brings back a lot of bad memories for him. That’s why he came to you. He always just looks for someone to sleep next to. I’m sure he called you his mother in his feverish stupor right?” Yoongi asked. You nodded.
“Postpone my therapy session to tomorrow. I want you to care for Jimin today.” Yoongi ordered.
“I can do both, Yoon. He’ll most likely just sleep the whole day anyway.”
“No. I want you to just focus on Jimin today. An extra day won’t kill me. We’ll do it tomorrow.” Yoongi straightened up. You pursed your lips, knowing Yoongi won’t give in.
“Fine. We’ll do it tomorrow.” You gave in.
“Just stay with him. He always just needs someone by his side to help him feel better.” Yoongi instructed. You gave a thumbs up. With an acknowledging nod, the male left the room. You sat by Jimin’s side.
“You’re still so warm.” You sighed, taking his temperature again. After the beep, you saw the numbers and realised he was still running a high temperature so you continued to wipe him down with a towel and iced water. You drew the blanket back and he shivered slightly but you needed his temperature to go back down.
“Come on, Kookie.” Since you lowered the room temperature, you took Kookie out and brought him to Jungkook’s room.
“Huh?” Jungkook woke up.
“Parent duties.” You placed Kookie down on Jungkook’s blanket covered chest. Jungkook yawned and frowned, still trying to process what was going on. But he didn’t seem bothered as he went back to sleep.
“Bye, Kookie. Don’t fall off the bed or get squished by your appa.” You stroked his ears before leaving.
“Oh, doc. Morning.” Hoseok spotted you just as you were leaving Jungkook’s room. You gave a small smile and waved at him.
“I heard what happened to Jimin. How is he?”
“His temperature was rather high when he came. I’ve put him on a drip and iced him down. He should be fine in the next hour or so. I’m keeping my eye on him for the rest of the day. He’s residing in my room anyway.” You chuckled. Hoseok nodded with a sigh of relief.
“I’ll be taking over his duties for the day.” Hoseok informed. You nodded your head, patting his shoulder.
“Good luck.” You smiled. Hoseok gave you a slight hug before leaving you in the hallway. You went back to your room to find Jimin still sleeping, he looked a lot more comfortable, the frown off his face.
“Suffered from febrile seizures since adolescent years. After that, prone to severe fevers.” You noted down in your notepad.
“These boys seriously need to be hooked to a lie detector test for me to get a real background check.” You clicked your tongue and shook your head. You left to get your coffee.
“Can I get some beef mince juk for Jimin? And a glass of juice, with a straw.” You ordered. The maids nodded, rushing immediately. You made a small sandwich for yourself, bringing it back to your room with your iced coffee. As you did your work on the laptop on the bed, beside Jimin, you ate your breakfast and drank your coffee.
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
“Done.” Once the drip was done, you removed the needle from Jimin’s arm and placed a band aid over it. Putting everything aside, you took his temperature.
“Gone down a little...” You sighed and threw all the used materials away. After washing your hands, you left the room and headed to your office to get the necessary medications in a cup. 
“Second time seeing you today. No girlfriend duties?” You asked Jin. 
“You know she’s not a girlfriend, not even an acquaintance. But I’m surprised you asked, curious?” Jin smirked. 
“Not even close. Just wanted to make sure since I have to prepare my ears for that shrill voice of hers.” You patted his shoulder, entering your room with the medication. Jin shook his head with a chuckle at your words. 
“Bye!” He waved at you, to which you saluted. 
“Doctor (y/l/n), this is young master Jimin’s meal that you requested.” The butler came with a tray. You nodded, letting him into the room. He placed the tray on your desk and bowed before leaving. You placed the medication down and opened the metal lid. 
“(y/n)...?” You heard someone call you and turned around. Jimin frowned as he opened his eyes slightly. 
“Good morning, sleeping beauty, right on time. How are you feeling?” You smiled softly, walking to his side. Jimin let out a groan of discomfort, looking around, seemingly confused at where he was. 
“W-Where am I? I... I feel... horrible.” Jimin placed a hand on his forehead. 
“Of course, you do. You’ve been running a high fever the whole morning. You came into my room and I put you on a drip. Thankfully, your fever is gone.” You informed. 
“I-I see...” 
“Come, sit up. Your lunch just came. After that, I’ll give you some medication to feel better.” You used another pillow to prop him up. Jimin pushed himself up slightly into a comfortable sitting position. You placed the glass of juice on the nightstand and pulled a chair, the bowl of warm porridge in your lap. Jimin’s cheeks turned pink. 
“Uh... you don’t have to feed-” 
“Don’t sweat it. I’m on Jimin care duty for the entire day.” You chuckled. You gave him a sip of juice first before blowing on the porridge lightly and feeding it to him. 
“So, would you like to tell me why you left out childhood febrile seizures from your health record?” You asked. Jimin choked and coughed. 
“Oh. You know about that.” 
���You guys need to be honest with me in these things. I told you how important it is for me to know these things. I know you boys want to prove how tough you are but you don’t need to do that with me. You know I don’t care.” You continued to feed him. 
“Yes, ma’am.” Jimin pouted like a scolded child. You laughed and patted his head. Once he finished, you placed the juice in his hands and went to put the empty bowl back on the tray. 
“Here, have these and sleep more.” You gave him the medicine cup. He obediently ate the tablets, washing it down with the juice. 
“Can I-”
“Yes, you can still sleep here. Don’t worry.” You smiled and tucked him back under the blanket. You brought the tray with the empty cup and bowl out to the kitchen, getting a bottle of water for Jimin. 
“He woke up?” Yoongi asked. 
“Wow, I don’t think you’ve ever sought me out so many times in one day, Yoonie. I must say, I’m touched.” You wiped a fake tear. 
“Crazy woman.” Yoongi scoffed. He went to your room and you followed behind him, snickering with your hands tucked into your pockets. Jimin was already asleep when you and Yoongi entered. You pulled the chair at Jimin’s bedside out for Yoongi to sit in. Yoongi placed his hand on Jimin’s forehead, pushing his fringe back. 
“He’s okay, Yoongi. Kept his food down. All he needs now is rest.” You leaned back against your desk, arms crossed. Yoongi hummed, pulling his hand away from Jimin. 
“I’ll go now.” He said and left the room. You sat on your side of the bed, staring at Jimin’s sleeping face. 
When Jimin stirred awake, the sun had set. He squinted his eyes, remembering where he was. Slowly, he turned his head beside him, you had fallen asleep in a sitting position.
“(y/n)... You’re gonna hurt yourself.” Jimin sighed. Even if his body ached, he was still able to push himself up and help you lie down comfortably. He fell back down beside you. You radiated warmth that made the still slightly feverish Jimin subconsciously scooted closer to you. 
--
“Aren’t you going to help me?” Jimin coughed. You stood by the side, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. It was a little late, way past dinner time.
“You took advantage of me when I was asleep.” You glared. 
“I didn’t! Y-You were just warm... So I gravitated to you...” Jimin blushed, looking away. Waking up with you and Jimin snuggling together was... eventful... to say the least. 
“Excuses.” You scoffed. 
“Well, you almost kicked me off the bed!” Jimin exclaimed. You walked down the stairs while Jimin slowly shuffled on his own, the sound of his house slippers brushing against the floor. The others were all chatting in the living room, each with their individual drinks. They turned their heads at the sound of both your footsteps approaching. 
“Look who’s awake.” Hoseok smiled. 
“I’m complaining about being taken advantage of while I was vulnerable.” You shouted as you walked past them to head into the kitchen. Jimin rolled his eyes, falling down onto the couch. 
“Want a-”
“If any of you feed him alcohol, you’re dead!” You threatened from the kitchen. The kitchen was empty with all the staff having gone home. 
“Hmm, let’s see.” With all the ingredients, you decided to make some spicy beef soup for Jimin, to clear his sinuses. While waiting for it to boil, you cut some fruit and made some citrus tea for him. 
“Here, have this first. The soup needs to simmer for a while.” You handed him a tray with the fruit and tea. 
“Smells good!” Jungkook grinned. 
“You can have a bowl too later, if you’d like. I made more than enough” You patted his head. You couldn’t cook like a restaurant chef but you did live alone before this so you made an effort to learn how to cook from your mother and you always tested new recipes on your own.
“Wow, you know how to cook too. You surprise us everyday, doc.” Namjoon chuckled. You scoffed at him. 
“You guys just don’t give me the chance to cook so you wouldn’t know.” You crossed your arms. When Jimin finished, you brought the tray to the kitchen. You checked the soup when someone came into the kitchen. 
“How is it?” Taehyung asked. 
“It’s still simmering. Here.” You let him taste a bit and he nodded his head, giving a thumbs up. Instead of leaving, he sat on one of the island chairs. 
“Can I fix you anything?” You offered, back facing him. 
“No.” He slid off the bar stool, heading to the pantry cupboard and digging for snacks that he could munch on. All you heard was the bubbling of the soup and his munching. Since he was munching on cookies, you warmed a glass of milk for him. Taehyung received the mug gratefully, holding it in both his hands as he took careful sips. 
“Jungkook, do you want a bowl?” You stuck your head out of the kitchen. 
“Yes!” He nodded his head and you took 3 bowls out, rinsing them with some warm water to warm them up. 
“You pay a lot of attention to details.” Taehyung pointed out. 
“Call it a habit, I guess.” You shrugged. After doing one final taste, you ladled some into the bowls and garnished them, putting some freshly cooked rice into the broth to make a rice and soup combination.
“I’ll help.” Taehyung took two bowls from you. 
“Here, Chim. This is yours.” You placed it on the coffee table. He slid to the ground, inhaling the scent and letting out a sigh of happiness. Jungkook clapped his hands excitedly too, taking a seat beside you on the ground as Taehyung placed the bowls down. 
“It looks and smells super good.” Hoseok leaned down to steal some broth from Jungkook, making the maknae whine.
“There’s extras if you’d all like some.” You told them. Soon, the others all had their own bowls of spicy beef broth and rice, some deciding not to dunk the rice in to soak, preferring to eat it separately. 
“You should cook more.” Yoongi said. 
“If you’d let me. I’ll be happy to.” You smiled, putting a spoonful of broth and rice into your mouth. 
“More!” Jungkook placed his second full bowl on the table. 
“Yah, it’s so late and you already ate dinner earlier! You’re going to puff up from all this liquid tomorrow!” Jin scolded. 
“But that was 3 hours ago!” Jungkook snorted, continuing to eat. Seeing as Jungkook took the last bit of broth, you saw Hoseok and Taehyung trying to steal some from him, much to the maknae’s annoyance.
“I’m going to put these in the sink.” You stood up, taking yours and Jimin’s empty bowl to the kitchen. 
“We can bring dishes on our own too. And leave the dishes tomorrow, you’ve done a lot by cooking enough to feed all of us already.” Namjoon patted your head as he walked past you. You nodded your head, heading back out to the living room. You went to your office and got some medications for Jimin to take before he went to bed.
“Here.” You gave it to him with some water. He downed them in one shot and you took a seat on the adjacent couch beside Yoongi. They all spoke business while you tried your best to stay awake but it was all too boring. 
You didn’t know when you fell asleep but when Yoongi felt a weight on his shoulder, he turned to see you fast asleep. 
“Don’t move.” Jin whispered harshly. 
“Why did you think I would?!” Yoongi hissed, stiff as a board. Even though you were only lying on Yoongi, the rest were also frozen, as if them moving would cause you to wake up too. 
“What should we do?” Jimin asked. 
“Jungkook can carry her, like the other time.” Hoseok suggested. Just as Jungkook stood up to head to you, you stirred, snuggling close to Yoongi.
“Maybe don’t move her? For now at least?” Taehyung put his hand out to stop the maknae. Yoongi took another glance at your sleeping figure and nodded in agreement with the younger. 
“Chim, you should turn in first. You’re still ill. If doc wakes up and finds out, we’ll all be dead.” Namjoon chuckled and the rest laughed in agreement. Even when you were asleep, the boys were still afraid of your wrath. Jimin nodded his head obediently, standing up with Taehyung and retreating. 
“Hyung, what about you?” Jungkook asked. 
“I’ll stay here a while more. Maybe she will wake up later. You guys go ahead.” Yoongi waved them all off, unbothered. He took his phone out and began scrolling through it.
“Hmm, you sure?” Jin tilted his head. Yoongi nodded in confirmation. 
“You wanna try and wake her up instead? Be my guest.” Yoongi challenged with a teasing smirk. 
“Goodnight, hyung! Call me if your shoulder breaks!” Jungkook zoomed out of there so quickly no one saw him. The rest put their hands up in defence too, heading out of the room and into their own for the night. Before leaving, Hoseok placed a blanket over the both of you. Yoongi scoffed at the maknae’s words, leaning his head back against the couch. 
The next morning, the butler was patrolling the house when he hushed the maids, seeing two figures on the couch. You were still there, fast asleep with a sleeping Yoongi’s head resting on top of yours. 
~~ 
Ko-fi link
Series Masterlist
Tag list 1
@veronawrites @diamonddia-mond @georgie-me-myself-i @saveme-imfine @openup-yourmind @purelyecstacy @nlost21 @yiyi4657 @kimmieloveswho @i-like-puppy-mg @cait-with-luv @s-tae-rrynight @supertweetycherry @carolinexkpop @unatempesta-dipensieri @telepathylftv @taradevonne @top-crop @ifellinluvwithdorks​ @btslvts @bt21chim​ @kpopiskpopyunho​ @egm09 @designjet​ @lasagnaisjustspaghetticake​ @3musez​ @bangtansleftnut​ @deeepvibes​ @barbikatherine​ @xxminilah​ @missmxqn​ @kimahnjung98​ @jbunnys-world​ @itspwi @gold--gucciempress​ @rainbow-zebra-unicorns​ @sinceritythatcouldntbedelivered​ @holaaaf​ @aconfusedidentity @samararose21​ @shondlenoodle​ @singhsahara @scuzmunkie​ @foulstarfishprincess @fenderbenderr​ @uraveragefangirlsposts​ @jikook-enthusiasts​ @wendyiiwl​ @amyniu​ @bipolargal 
Taglist 2
@vivpurple7 @mintvender @xcharlottemikaelsonx @enchantingbrowneyedgirl @imyourapocalypse @yeotlny @thatonepotatogurl @queenofthe-bitches @rosesolitaire @nello-rie @beach-bitch-bitch-beach @blauuu-adl @chickencrimpyy @purplelady85 @blglmgk01 @nochujeonjk @kevinssecretplace4546 @growlingyu @missseoulite @ngcxjnny @silscintilla @miyochan @skyys-universe @gimmythatjib00ty
788 notes · View notes
mackeydoodledoo · 3 years
Text
I Only Swim Free: Chapter 5
Tumblr media
Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x (Fem!)Reader
Summary: You’ve done swimming all your life. You’ve gotten to your dream college on a scholarship for your outstanding freestyle technique back in high school. Relationships never crossed your mind however, that was before you met your swim team captain: Bela Dimitrescu.
Warning: Broken Heart, Depression, But it gets fluffier when you read more into this chapter, ends in SMUT
A/N: This chapter about to get SPICY
“Busted and Blue” - Gorillaz
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Word got out [rather quickly] that Bela’s now ex-boyfriend had been cheating on her. Since Bela went to look for you during the fraternity house party.. It was also because of how he was seeing you and her always so in close proximity to each other. Although he feels guilty for what he’s done, he’s been trying to reach back out to Bela to tell her how sorry he is and that he’ll be a better guy for her.
Lousy excuse really.. 
“To be honest I’ve heard lousier excuses from my own past exes,” You sigh, looking down at your textbook, writing down some notes for a class you missed because Bela didn’t want to be left alone, even if it was in your own apartment
“I was right about him,” Daniela called it
“What do you want a cookie?” Cassandra jokingly asks
“Yes,” Daniela says, giving her sister the ‘puppy dog eyes’ 
“Go nuts,” You say, pulling out a cookie you bought from the student center
Daniela happily takes the cookie and immediately bites into it.
“You have to unwrap the plastic first dumbass,” Cassandra sighs, deciding to go up into her room
You took Bela back to her house however, she immediately locks herself in her room. Her mother or her sisters check on her, despite her wanting your company the most. You had been trying to focus on your school work but at the same time trying to be there for Bela as much as you could was already a clashing combo to work with. Luckily, your teammates and her two sisters had been there for her too when you weren’t able to.
“Hey thanks Dani for offering to look after her tonight, I owe you one,” You sigh
“No worries, I knew her boyfriend was nothing but trouble,” She sighs, “But-but you- she’s taken a real liking to you though.”
Well, we did kiss in her car after that one fraternity house party she dragged me to, she continuously stays at my place. Not that I’m complaining though..
“Really?” You ask, slightly blushing, “Well, I wouldn’t want that on our minds right now. Thanks again!”
You heard that Dean Dimitrescu had been close to going at his throat for hurting her daughter. However, she also knew it would look bad on her part; taking her personal anger out on a student was not the best idea. 
“I’m angered just as you are Dean,” You sigh, scribbling into your notebook, breaking the lead in the mechanical pencil
Scribbling into your notebook was one way you were able to take out your frustrations.
“We trusted him,” She growls, pacing in her kitchen, “But, I do highly appreciate you being there for my daughter, is there anything I can do to repay you my dear?”
“Nope,” You sigh, “I don’t want to be given one of those special treatments, even if I am helping one of your daughters.”
I would want you to accept me as Bela’s new Lover. Please and Thank you Dean...
“Well, you’re welcome here,” She slightly smiles, “And please, when it’s after classes, you may refer to me as Ma’am, My Lady or Alcina. Alcina is my first name.”
Very fitting for an elegant lady such as yourself Ma’am.
“Yes Ma’am,” You say, “I’m going to get dinner, Do you and your daughters want anything?”
“I’m sure my girls will text you, I will make due with what we have in this fridge my dear. Thank you for the offer,” Alcina smiles
She tips her hat as you make her leave. You casually salute three fingers to her as you were about to do the same hat tip, just minus the hat. You send out a text in the Dimi-Daughters groupchat Daniela had made for the four of you. Almost immediately Bela and Daniela text you with whatever food they wanted, Cassandra being the last one. 
As soon as you and Bela show up to practice the next day, you were excused from classes as Donna had given the email out to all professors regarding State Finals, Donna has you all gathered at the poolside.
“I have the results of the semi finals roster,” She announces, “And... We are going to the State Final championship!”
You and your team cheer and congratulate each other.
“Okay okay girls calm down,” Donna calms her children, “This doesn’t mean we won’t win, so tonight we will prepare for it, this Saturday.”
In an instant all of the girls began giving their all into swim practice. You on the other hand, were just going through the motions. Not sure how to handle the sudden pressure.
“Didn’t I tell you that we all pull through this together or we lose?” Donna asks, coming up to you
“Yes coach,” You say, sighing
“You’re going to do fine, an excellent rookie like yourself should be proud you get to do this your first year,” She smiles
“True,” You sigh, beginning to shake off your nerves
“Now get your ass into the water y/l/n!” Donna yells encouragingly
After coach’s announcement you finally took a shower after skipping them to beeline it to your apartment for Bela. You turn around once you hear the shower curtain open behind you. you wipe your eyes and see Bela stepping into the shower with you. 
“Hey you,” You smile, giving her a hug
“Hey yourself,” She smiles, putting her arms on your shoulders, “Quite the show at practice today..”
“Says you, even after what happened you still managed to get your shit together and nail practice,” You smile
You snake your hands on her hips as the both of you begin washing each other from the chlorine gathered from today’s practice. Even after giving each other a shower, the both of you just settled in each others’ embrace as the hot shower began wasting away. 
“You remember when we first met in the locker room?” Bela asks, slipping on the hoodie you gave her
“How could I forget?” You smile, slipping on some shorts
“You were looking at my ass through the mirror weren’t you?” Bela asks, smirking
You almost drop your brush as your chees go red and begin heating up. You slightly look up from the mirror and see her slowly walking towards you. Like a predator stalking its prey.
“Did you... Enjoy it?” Bela flirts, turning you around and pushing you against the sink
“Well-I-uhmmm-ummm,” You stutter, trying to find the words
“You did didn’t you?” She smirks, putting her hands on your stomach
You felt yourself tense up when her palms touched your bare skin. You could feel them slowly running up your stomach and begin feeling the tips of her fingers go under your sports bra. 
“Bela! Y/n! Hurry it up I’m going to lock the swimming area soon!” Calls Donna from the entrance to the locker room
The both of you snicker as Bela drags her fingers away from your bare skin; you almost growl when her hands moved away from your skin. Bela practically moved into your place when she got the news. Thankfully her exes fraternity brothers kicked removed him from the fraternity house and helped her with her things when she decided to live with you. 
You and Bela had finally settled a day where you’d take her out to her favorite restaurant, as a make-up for not being able to see her very often. 
“Yeah, midterms are such a pain,” You sigh into your phone, “But, I’ll make sure you get tomorrow night with me okay?”
Bela decided to stay with her family for the next couple days as she’s been cooped up in your place for so long, not that she was complaining, she missed being around her family.
“Thanks for the ride y/n,” Bela sighs in relief, “I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” You blush, “Hey, we’ll see each other at practice later okay?”
“Yeah,” She sighs, “I gotta go, mother is calling for me. I love you.”
“Love you too,” You smile through the phone
Wait... She added I into the “love you”.... 
You didn’t say it back, no matter, you’d tell her how you’d feel about her tomorrow night. Even though you haven’t been able to see her, the both of you were able to be on the phone with each other every night before the both of you would go to bed before your classes in the morning. State finals were upon the swim team before finals. So you’ve also been working your butt off for the missed time you’ve had to sit out because of your calf injury from the first meet. 
“Hey you,” Bela smiles as she picks up the phone
“Hey,” you smile, “How you been?”
“Doing a lot better,” Bela smiles, “If you hadn’t hooked me up for that one therapy session, I would have still been sulking.”
“I wouldn’t want that happening to you,” You sigh, “Hey, it’d be better off if you stay at home for tonight. Have an exam tomorrow morning and I have. To. Study!”
“Okay,” Bela sighs, slightly pouting
“Hey,” You say, gently, “We still have dinner tomorrow night. No pouting until before then. Okay?”
She sighs, but shakes it off, “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The next evening, You and Bela settled that you would be driving. Once you reach the Dimitrescu estate, you decide to get out of your car and walk up to the front door and knock on it. Cassandra is the one to greet you. 
“Bela’s finishing up y/n,” She says, “Nice getup by the way.”
“Thanks Cass,” You sigh, adjusting your shirt
You wait around awkwardly but you see Dean Dimitrescu sipping on wine in the kitchen.
“Will you do me one big favor y/n?” She calls from the kitchen
“Of course My lady,” You say, turning to her 
“Prove to me on why you’re worthy of my daughter,” She says calmly
“Yes ma’am,” You smile
“Mother I’ll be fine,” Bela calls from the stairs 
You look up and your eyes widen. Bela is wearing a wine red lace dress; the lace drapes behind her legs. You were a sucker for lace. You were a sucker for Bela Dimitrescu. Seeing Bela Dimitrescu IN lace is a whole show.
“Wow...” you say breathlessly as she takes your hand in hers
“Don’t have too much fun now lovebirds,” Daniela teases the both of you
“Shut your mouth Dani,” Bela sighs as she drags you out the door
“Your family is something Bels,” You smile
You open the passenger seat for Bela and she smiles at you as she gets in. Just as you shut her door, you were going to open yours when you see Bela reaching over to open the door for you as best as she could.
“Why thank you my lady,” You smile, getting into your driver’s seat
As you pull into the restaurant that Bela had made reservations for, you’re again in awe. 
“Are you sure you’re fine with paying?” You ask
“You’ve done enough for me. Both taking care of me when I was heartbroken, setting me up for therapy, teaching me freestyle.. The lost goes on,” Bela smiles, “It’s my turn to treat you.”
You couldn’t argue with that. Bela takes your arm as the both of you walk into the restaurant and basically see class. Something you don’t have however, you managed to find your ‘go-to’ nice outfit and a suit jacket at a nearby thrift store. 
“Did I tell you how fine you look?” Bela whispers right into your ear
You felt a shiver crawl down your spine as she asks you.
“No,” You finally say, “Did I tell you though that you look absolutely beautiful?”
Bela blushes as she leads you to a two-person table away from the rest of the patrons.
“Mother made arrangements for us so no need to worry about money,” Bela smirks as she sips water from a fancy glass, “I can easily tell you’ve never been in a fancy restaurant before.”
“Parents could never afford it,” You say, “So, it was the cheap diners. But hey, nothing wrong with diner food every now and then.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Bela adds
After the restaurant date, the both of you reach your apartment by midnight and you allow Bela to enter your apartment first. However, just as you closed the door, she turns to you.
“What is it?” You ask her
She says nothing as she walks up to you and cups your face in her hands. She doesn’t crash her lips onto yours, giving you the chance to pull away if you so chose to. However, your lips gently mold right onto Bela’s. She lets out a high-pitched gasp as you bring her body closer to your, both of your forms fitting perfectly against each other like puzzle pieces. Your hands trail upward to find the zipper to her dress and slowly remove it, teasing her. She helps you slip her out of the dress. She turns her body towards you, revealing a black lace lingerie set.
“Oh? So you’re wearing these for me? Was this all apart of your little plan Bela Dimitrescu?” You ask, slowly walking towards her
“Whatever do you mean,” She bites back
“You know what I mean,” You coil your arm around her waist, “Any pretty kitty like yourself should be punished for tempting me.”
In one quick motion you pick her up into your arms and place her onto your bed as you settle your hips between her thighs. You dip your head down and begin kissing her along the crook of her neck. You smirk in her neck when you hear her let out a small whimper as the tip of your tongue ran gently along her neckline.
“Hmmm sweet music,” You whisper
You lift her up for her to straddle her in your lap. You give her another kiss on the lips before laying gentle kisses along her breasts. Bela guides one of your hands to cup one of her breasts and you oblige. However, your thumb rolls over her nipple, making it hard. You hear Bela let out a strangled moan. Strangled; your mouth was latched onto her throat.
“More,” Bela breathes out
You reach around her back and with a flick of your fingers, her bra unlatches. She lets it fall off her arms and she discards it somewhere onto the floor. 
“What-what do you think?” She asks, blushing
She tries to hide her flushes cheeks and turns her head away from you. You gently run your fingers along her cheek to have her look at you.
“I think, you are so fucking beautiful my love,” You say
Bela sees the moonlight reflection coming off your eyes and she drops her head down for her lips to meet yours. The kiss was at first soft and gentle however, once you gained yourself, you began losing your self control and turned the kiss to be more intense. Bela lets out a muffled gasp as she felt the pillow at the back of her head. You pull yourself away for a moment to strip off your shirt. Bela knew you were fit because of swimming. She never thought she’d be getting up close and personal with you.
“You’re beautiful,” You whisper against her ear
You kiss and lick your way down until you stopped above her bare chest. You look up at her with pleading eyes. 
‘let me’ your eyes pleaded
She runs her fingers through your hair and pushes your face into her breast. You leech onto her nipple and gently make circles around it. She arches her back, forcing your tongue to gently lick the tip of her nipple.
“Y/n!” She gasps
While you run the flat surface of your tongue along the surface of her nipple. Your hand snakes up to her other breast and you squeeze it. Then, gently squeeze her nipple. 
“Ah!” She screams
Your mouth switches onto the other breast to give the same gentle treatment. 
“Y/n...” She says breathlessly
Your fingers trace her curves as you continue your exploration of her body down to her dripping hot center.
“Are you already wet for me?” You ask, once you arrive to her panties
She nods, “You already made me excited...”
You lowly chuckle as your fingers hook around the thin lining of her panties, lifting them. She lifts her hips to help you fully remove them from her body. You, again discard them somewhere onto the floor. Your hands gently run along her thighs to hoist them over your shoulders.
“Hmm, so you were,” You smile
Bela felt you gently breathing against her wet, dripping center, making her squirm a little bit.
“If you’re just going to keep teasing me ju-”
You drag your tongue along her pulsating lips and you insert your tongue into her, making her let out many small whimpers. Her fingers run along into your hair and you feel her pulling against you. She bucks her hips to feel more of your tongue. Your arm reaches around her hip and you press your palm down, keeping her from moving her hips along with your tongue.
“Babyyyyy I need more,” She whines
You pull your tongue out from inside her and give a small kiss on her clit before crawling up to meet her face. You give her a long, lingering kiss for her to taste herself on you.
“You’ll get more kitten you need to be patient,” You chuckle, “But, damn you taste so good.”
“Give it to me now,” She growls
You hook her leg over your shoulder, so that your arm is under her thigh.
“What-what are you- AH!” Bela chokes
She felt your finger insert itself into her. 
“How does that feel baby?” You ask, looking down at her
“It feels so good,” Bela moans
“Good girl,” You coo
You slide your finger in and out of her slowly, hearing her let out little breathless whimpers was music to your ears. You stop for one moment to add another finger when you slid them back in. Bela again arches her back to feel more of your fingers. Your pace began going faster and faster.
“Y/n... I’m-I’m gonna-”
Before you let Bela climax, you force your fingers out of her and hook both of her legs around your hips. You jerk your hips forward to feel her wetness against yours. You let out a growl whilst she lets out a small whimper. You lean down towards her face as you continue grinding on her. 
“Oh god baby,” You growl, picking up your grinding pace
Bela swings her arm around your shoulder and the other around your hips and begins clawing at your back.
“I’m so close y/n,” She whispers in your ear, “Faster.”
You let out frustrated grunts as you stop for a moment.
“Why-why did you s-stop?” She asks, panting
“I want to look at you,” You smile
However, you don’t really give Bela time to process anything before you jerk your hips again, making her lean her head back into the pillow. 
“Together-together y/n,” Bela requests, “I want to cum with you..”
You smirks as you could feel yourself reaching your climax as well. You cup her face into your hands as you begin letting out pants and slight whimpers. 
“Bela...” You whisper her name into her ear, breathlessly
You could feel her nails sink deeper into your back. You didn’t really feel any pain towards her nails. You only felt her clit against yours.
“Bela... Bela... Bela!” You growl as you come undone
Bela holds onto you for dear life as the both of you slowly come down from your high. Everything was blurry in your vision however, Bela was clear as day. You smile as you lean down to kiss her. Once morning hit, you rub your eyes however, Bela’s arm drags your arm back down across her bare waist. 
“Morning baby,” You smile, kissing the back of her head
She stretches her arms as she turns her body so that she’s facing you, “Morning.”
She gives you a good morning kiss and lays in your embrace.
“Hmmm,” Bela hums
“What?” You ask
“Are you sure you haven’t had sex with a woman?” She asks, smiling
“I’m sure love,” You say, “Why?”
“Those fingers... That tongue of yours.. Worked.. Wonders.. On me,” She says, seductively
Your cheeks flush a faint red as she laughs with a low tone. You let go of her and pull the covers over your head in an attempt to prevent her from seeing you blushing however, she follows you under the covers.
“Oh? Is my girlfriend blushing now?” She smirks
“Enough already,” You groan, pulling the sheets to separate the both of you
Bela yanks on the covers and lets out an enticing giggle as she gets up to straddle you. You sit up to snake your arms around her bare midsection.
“Iubita mea,” Bela says
“Hmmm is that.. Romanian?” You ask, blushing while smiling at the same time
“Maybe,” She teases as she drops her head down to kiss you again
It was an early Saturday morning and you weren’t up for it. But, Bela agreed to drive the both of you there.
“You excited?” Bela asks
“As excited as I’ll ever be,” You sigh, “I just hope there’s no last minute events...”
“Coach gave us the whole events roster,” Bela explains, “Rest assured those are the events that are in there, we’ll be doing.”
You smile in relief, “Good, because I think I would permanently damage my calf if I ever did another 1500 meter freestyle event...”
“You’ll be fine,” Bela reassures you
The Arena was a little ways out of hometown but nothing surprising for State Finals. Your team gets there about the same time you do, and follow whomever your guide was for the day. She shows you to the locker rooms, where all of you get changed into your uniform swimsuits and make any last second preparations for the final meet of the season.
“Dimitresu University Women’s swim and dive, you ready?” Your guide comes back into the locker room
Chapter 6
126 notes · View notes
haikyuuuuuhypeeeee · 3 years
Text
Chapter 4
⚠WARNING: Swearing, mention of previous characters' deaths
• ────── ✾ ────── •
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
“I just don’t get why no one wants to help me plan the shrine visit and picnic lunch.” Oikawa pushes his now-empty plate away and turns his head. You share a look with Makki and Mattsun.
“We just don’t want to get in the way of your vision.” Mattsun replies. “You’re the most creative of us all and we don’t want to bog you down.”
Oikawa only glances towards Mattsun before glancing at you and Makki. You both put on your most sincere faces, hoping to placate your irritated friend. It seems to do the trick, as he huffs and rolls his eyes.
“Well of course I’m the most creative. I guess I can plan everything and tell you all what to do.”
You smile at Oikawa, nodding. “That sounds good.” You enjoy the last bit of your dinner, keeping your eyes on your plate.
Since Hajime’s passing, there’s been a visible gap in your friend group. It’s not a gap that can easily be replaced or filled, but the balance of your group has been thrown way off course.
Makki and Mattsun try to lighten things up with jokes but most of the time they fall flat. And it’s not fair to always depend on them to keep the mood light when they can’t muster the energy to do it.
Most of the time you’ve remained silent on the outings. You’ll laugh at the jokes from Makki and ask everyone about their days, but nine times out of ten you’re hindered by the absence of Hajime to make meaningful conversation.
Surprisingly, the most consistent of your friends is Oikawa. But since there’s no Iwa-chan to reign him in, he has become the leader of your group - making plans, driving conversation and trying to keep your group from falling apart. The only problem is that Oikawa has utilized more...forceful tactics to get what he wants.
“For lunch tomorrow we’ll have to meet somewhere by the gym because I have training in the afternoon.” Oikawa states later, while everyone is leaving the restaurant. “And we have to get salads or something similar, I can’t eat anything heavy before.”
You send a quick glance to Mattsun, pleased to see Makki holding his boyfriend’s hand tightly. Of everyone Mattsun is the one who snaps back against Oikawa the most, unwilling to deal with his antics. Makki is the best at keeping him calm while you would try to keep Oikawa from escalating the issue.
“Oh, I can’t meet tomorrow, sorry. I’m getting lunch with my friend.”
Your friends all give you questioning looks - Makki and Mattsun look more excited (and ready to tease you if necessary.) But Oikawa narrows his eyes.
“Is this the same friend you ditched us for lunch yesterday and today?” His tone is accusatory and you inwardly sigh. So it’s going to be this kind of night.
“Yes.” You don’t want to beat around the bush but you don’t want to antagonize your friend with smart-ass answers. “He wanted to get lunch again so I agreed, I wouldn’t if we were planning on getting lunch.”
Oikawa scoffs. “You should always plan on getting lunch with us, Y/N.”
“Oikawa I think you’re skipping over an important detail.” Makki steps in, inadvertently stopping Oikawa from going off on you. But before you can relax he turns to you with a shit-eating grin. “You’re meeting with a guy?”
Shit.
Mattsun appears over Makki’s shoulder, giving a similar smirk. “Please elaborate, Y/N-chan. Who are you meeting with?”
“And when can we expect an introduction?”
You give Makki an annoyed look at his extra question. “His name is Osamu, and we worked on a project together for one of our classes. We worked well together so we decided to get lunch. It’s no big deal.” Your last sentence is directed to Makki and Mattsun, both waggling their eyebrows.
Despite their childish behavior you’d take it every day over Oikawa’s snide attitude.
“Osamu, huh?” Oikawa looks down at you with his head tilted to the side questionably. “How come this is the first we’ve heard about him?”
You shrug. “It’s no big deal, Oikawa. Don’t be a jerk.”
“Hey I’m just wondering why you never wanted to tell us about him.” He held his hands up innocently. “Are you keeping other secrets from us perhaps?”
You feel your eyes narrow and you can’t help but let a little venom into your words. “I’m not keeping secrets, Oikawa. Osamu and I worked on a project together, he found out about Hajime and I found out that he lost his twin brother, so maybe I’ve found another friend who I can relate to.”
Oikawa’s eyes widen marginally at the mention of Hajime and he doesn’t reply. His hands lower and he looks off to the side. You see Makki and Mattsun stiffen before Mattsun steps closer to his boyfriend.
It’s no wonder that people tell you not to joke about death or dying. It’s easy for people who haven’t understood how devastating the loss of a loved one is to make those simple jokes, because they’ve never experienced the instant the mood of a group plummets. It’s a powerful weapon, made to bring the strongest down a few notches. It’s one you wouldn’t ever use unless absolutely necessary, and even this time mentioning how you and Osamu were able to bond over your shared trauma was a slip made out of anger. But it was effective in shutting Oikawa up.
“Oh.” Makki says into the stifling silence. Oikawa still hasn’t looked away from the ground and now you feel guilty again for bringing the mood down. Twice in two days is not a record you wanted to make. Makki speaks up again. “That’s so sad, how did you find out about that?”
Here is where you hesitate, because you can’t say that you were texting Hajime’s old phone number and serendipitously the stranger receiving those messages not only is a student at the same university you attend but also lost someone close to him, and you agreed to meet with him for coffee after five minutes of your “meeting.”
“I think it just came up organically,” you reply, hoping you sound somewhat nonchalant with your fabricated explanation. “I don’t really remember the conversation exactly.”
“Huh.” Mattsun says. “Well if you guys are going to hang out more maybe see if he wants to come to our group therapy sessions. The next one’s in a few days.”
At this Oikawa whips his head up and glares at Mattsun. He doesn’t say anything in response to Mattsun’s suggestion but he looks livid. Mattsun in turn meets Oikawa glare with his signature, unaffected gaze.
“Okay, we’re gonna head out now.” Makki grabs his boyfriend’s arm and steers him towards their apartment. “Oikawa, we’ll text you about lunch tomorrow. Y/N, I want all the details from your ~date~”
“It’s not a date!” You call, but Makki doesn’t reply save for a little hand wiggle he sends over his shoulder. You sigh out loud and shake your head at your friends’ antics.
You turn to your silent companion, who has taken to glaring at the ground again. “Are you ready to leave?” He doesn’t answer you, not even nodding in agreement, but he stands straight and you both move together towards your apartment buildings.
Oikawa speaks up after a few blocks of walking in silence. “Did Osamu really lose his brother?”
“Excuse me?” You turn to your friend, appalled at such a question. “Are you really fucking asking if he was lying?”
“I’m just looking out for you.” Oikawa doesn’t meet your angry gaze but his voice has lost its disapproving tone. “Some idiots will lie to get sympathy or try to connect and get closer to you. It’s fucked up.”
Still feeling aggravated you turn forward and roll your shoulders. “I guess. But you didn’t see him. You’d have to be blind to take one look and think he’s okay.” His tired face pops into your head again, the look of a person just trying to scrap by one day at a time. It hurts to think about.
“Do you like him?”
You turn back to your friend, angry again, to see him giving you a calculated look. There’s something else there too, almost something like indignant hurt.
You know why he’s looking at you like that and it makes something in your stomach twist.
Oikawa is the only other person to know of your love for Hajime. He pried it from you years ago but had sworn on his own hair products that he wouldn’t tell a soul. In spite of Oikawa’s general obnoxiousness and seemingly fictitiousness, deep down he’s a very loyal friend. And even though he knew one of your deepest secrets, you knew it was safe with him.
But he badgered you for days on end to confess to Hajime and every time you told him no. He was annoyingly persistent, but not once did he say well what now? after Hajime passed.
You missed that annoying weirdo. You don’t like the possessive, mean and cruel Oikawa that’s taken his place.
“I don’t like him like that, Oikawa.” You say now, turning back ahead first this time. “He’s just a friend.”
You feel Oikawa’s gaze on you still but you don’t look back. He doesn’t say another word to you, save for a short remark when you leave to go into your apartment building.
“Have fun on your date tomorrow.”
He drops that line and walks away, leaving you to stare after your friend with your gut twisting.
Why does he have to do this?
Insecurity, jealousy, anger, depression - maybe a mix of all four and more. It’s partly why you’re giving him a pass for now.
Your phone pings when you get into your apartment, and you feel the tension from the day leave your body when you lock the door. You feel wrung out and you honestly just want to sink to the floor and just lay there.
Before you give into your urge to become one with the floor you pull your phone out to see who texted you.
If it’s Oikawa I’m going to flush my phone down the toilet.
But you’re pleasantly surprised to read the screen and not see it was Oikawa who messaged you. You unlock your phone to read the text, feel a smile tug at your lips and send a reply back.
Glancing down at the floor, it suddenly doesn’t look as appealing as it did before. You walk through the apartment, heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
Tumblr media
• ────── ✾ ────── •
A/N: And we get a bit more of a glimpse into Y/N's friend group, and the dynamic is.......not ideal. Hopefully the friends can work through their problems and help each other......anyway, thank you for reading!
Taglist Open! Please send an Ask with the request to be added to It’s [Not] Okay Fic & SMAU: @psycho-nightrose @camcam1617 @kamalymaly @toobsessedsstuff @shookykookie30 @roro-707 @qualitygiantshoepsychic @cerealfrdinner797 @ara-mitsue @gray-444 @tanakasimpcorner @rintarovibes @jellien @everytimeswift @bongofrito
55 notes · View notes
folerdetdufoler · 3 years
Note
What are Magic 8ball Evak doing today? I miss them.
xo
hey, sorry, you sent this a few weeks ago i think and i really got hung up on it.
usually this kind of thing would be fun to think about but because of the way time works i didn’t know how to write around it! like, when you sent it it was late august, and technically that had like, just happened in the story. we’d just had a late august, so i couldn’t figure out if i should write another “late august day” almost a year after the story finished, even though i only finished the story back in april. that felt like too much of a time jump though, and i hadn’t given isak and even enough time to grow after the story ended. someone else had asked for an update in the comments on ao3 and i couldn’t give them one, not the same way i have been doing for mondays. but i do want to do something, so…
even’s birthday fell on a sunday. it was the first one isak would be celebrating with him, so isak wanted it to be special. but so did sigrid, and she worked faster than him. she invited them to their house for dinner months in advance, which annoyed even. the saturday before, when they were all hanging out at elias’s apartment, even spent most of the time grumbling about it.
“i thought things were getting better with you guys?” elias asked from his throne.
even sighed. “yeah, i mean, we’re fine. this guy is her new bff.” even patted the head of curls sitting against the couch between his legs. “but i just know it’s going to be this over-the-top thing that i don’t want to have to deal with on my birthday of all days. i don’t want that attention.”
isak paused the race he was playing against mikael and whipped around. “you love the attention.”
“yours, not hers.” even gave that same head a correcting tap and isak returned to the game. “if she actually wanted to celebrate my birthday with me then she would ask me what i would like to do, and then maybe it would be something i would enjoy.”
isak scoffed but didn’t pause the game this time. “if she did that you would just tell her to leave you alone.”
“happy birthday to me!”
“then you should just tell her no, you don’t want to spend your birthday with her.” elias doled out the reasonable and obvious advice.
“i would have, but she invited both of us and isak accepted immediately. besides, it’s kind of a regular thing now, sunday dinners.”
“that’s cute,” mutta noted as he walked in from the kitchen with a bag of pretzels and jar of peanut butter. mikael pointed to the coffee table, a silent command to place the snack within his reach.
isak felt a little guilty then, but he kept it to himself. they kept playing their game until it was mutta’s turn, and then isak pushed himself to his feet. he gestured to even to follow him to the kitchen.
even had a big smile on his face as they stepped away, because he was probably thinking isak wanted to kiss him in the privacy of another room. isak did pull him in close by the waist, but it wasn’t for kisses. “we can skip tomorrow,” he offered instead.
even froze for a second, but then shook his head. “no, no, we can go. i would only make it worse by skipping.”
“i would be happy to tell her we’re skipping but take her out to dinner on her own another night, smooth things over.”
even chuckled. “i absolutely love that you feel comfortable having one-on-one dates with my mother but it’s really not necessary. I’m just…complaining. and i’ll complain a little bit more in therapy, and then i’ll work through why i’m complaining and then i’ll be in a better mood for tomorrow. okay?” he reached up and rubbed isak’s shoulders in reassurance.
“will you tell me about it when you get home?” sometimes even shared what they’d talked about and sometimes he didn’t. isak was getting better about asking permission to cross the ever-changing border.
even’s eyes shifted to the side. “it depends on what we dig up.”
isak accepted this. “okay.” he leaned in to kiss even’s cheek, physically changing the subject. “my next question is…how angry do you think elias will be if i steal the big pillows?”
―――
isak had moved into even’s apartment right before christmas, hauling bags and suitcases back and forth over a few days until most of his belongings were at even’s. he fit a desk and his nice chair in the bedroom, and somehow all of his clothes fit in even’s closet. the giant pillows he’d bought had stayed at elias’s apartment, mostly because they would get more use there; the boys still gathered on saturdays and needed the extra seating. but after even left for therapy this was isak’s chance to make the steal without ruining his surprise.
mikael helped him carry them to even’s apartment, since he was ready to leave around the same time as isak. they didn’t talk much on the walk over, but isak knew that that was mikael’s preferred level of communication, and they were both comfortable with it. isak would much prefer a mikael at peace than a mikael ready to launch an attack.
they deposited the pillows in the living room and mikael turned to leave. “we should be here at six?” he asked over his shoulder.
“yeah. i don’t know how late we’ll be but if we leave early then that would be a good time.”
“okay. and elias still has his key?”
“yup.” isak followed mikael down the stairs to their shoes.
“aight. we’ll see you tomorrow then.” mikael offered his hand for a casual slap-shake goodbye, the most physical intimacy isak had ever experienced with him.
“thanks for the help!”
mikael disappeared. isak went back upstairs to find his phone and finalize plans with kari anne in the group chat.
―――
isak dressed nicely for dinners at sigrid & jan’s house. this time he had a red fair isle sweater and dark wash jeans, and some chunky socks keeping his feet warm in his leather boots. even wore something very similar, but his sweater was cream with a different pattern. “do you think she’ll want to take pictures of us again?” even wondered while he combed back his hair, then gently mussed it into a style.
“of course. it’s your birthday. and we look handsome.” isak was applying a dot of concealer just because he could, though he would have to ask emma for more if he wanted to keep up this routine. even put his comb bak in the drawer then leaned in to kiss isak on his opposite cheek. he added a smack to his ass on the way out.
isak liked to dress up a bit because it felt like sigrid and jan dressed up too. it was the polite thing to do, but also isak knew that conversation would flow better if they were all on the same page, even with their appearance. they were all putting the same level of effort into the gathering, and then no one would feel out of place. and it wasn’t too much extra effort, because they would just save the same outfits for work the next day…as long as they didn’t get any stains on them.
they gathered their outerwear as they walked down the stairs, pulling hats and scarves and heavy coats from the hooks along the walls. isak checked in with even right before they left. “are you sure?”
even nodded and smiled and isak didn’t doubt the honesty of his response. he’d shared that his session yesterday had gone well, and they’d talked about certain behaviors from sigrid and himself that he wanted to avoid. “like i’ve been remembering things she’s said and reacting to those instead of what she’s actually doing now. when i feel ready to discuss those past…transgressions, then i need to have a conversation specifically about those moments, versus whatever might be triggering those memories now, whether they’re related or not. otherwise it’s kind of like these mixed messages. she won’t understand what’s actually upsetting me.”
on the way over isak suggested a dinner with just his parents, where isak stayed home. “would it be easier, or give you more of an opportunity to discuss those things without me there?”
“maybe another time. sundays are nice with you.” he gave isak’s hand a squeeze.
they held hands in public now, while they were commuting to work or grocery shopping or walking over to elias’s or meeting emma for dinner. if isak happened to catch a stranger’s curious look, he might tense up a bit, but he didn’t let go anymore.
sigrid & jan’s house was a tiny thing that they’d moved into after even went to university. its yard was bigger than the actual house, but it was completely filled with jan’s garden. another nice thing about going to visit was that they always came home with plenty of seasonal crops. and in the winter it was usually canned fruits, jams, or pickled veggies. sigrid greeted them with big hugs and jan immediately presented two very small jars of “blackberry jam! i got just enough off of that bush at the back.”
“i thought it had died!” even exclaimed, the genuine shock and delight at the gift lifting his voice.
“it’s definitely on its last legs…uh, roots.”
“he was out there every day scouring the brambles.” sigrid shook her head but she was clearly proud of his efforts. then she took isak’s hand and pulled him to the kitchen. even and jan went to the tall closet at the back of the living room where jan stored his jars. “you both look so cozy today. remind me to take a picture later.” she brought him to the stove where she had two large pots simmering. she pointed to one. “i need you to blend that while i get this bread finished.”
“what is it?”
“that’s butternut squash, and this…is a ministrone. kind of. i’ve taken some liberties.”
isak picked up the immersion blender that was sitting next to the stove. sigrid had gotten it started but it was still chunky in spots. while he stood there and mixed the soup she sliced a loaf of bread and laid it out on a baking tray. each slice got a thick spread of butter. isak stepped to the side so she could open the oven and slide the tray in for a quick broil.
she flicked her eyes toward the living room and then leaned toward isak’s chest. “how has he been?”
sigrid asked this question every time they were together. isak had thought it was just general curiosity about the new relationship, but once isak revealed that to even he had rolled his eyes. she was asking isak because it was the nervous curiosity that even had tried to distance himself from years ago. eventually he told his mother to stop using isak to get answers about her own son. that turned into an argument where sigrid nearly started crying about how even wouldn't answer her so she had no choice. she excused herself from the table and jan was left to host the boys through the rest of a very quiet dinner.
at this point isak was comfortable pushing back to defend even’s boundary. “sigrid, you know i’m not going to speak for him. how’s this, is it smooth enough?”
she glanced into the pot. “yes, that looks good.” isak’s deflection seemed to work. “now grab some bowls from the shelf for me please. thank goodness he found a tall one to bring home,” she muttered to herself. isak blushed but easily picked four bowls from up high.
even and jan came to the kitchen shortly after, with jan still talking as they headed to the table. isak passed them the silverware and glasses to set out at each seat. then he helped sigrid carry the pots to the table. before she sat down she dropped a kiss on the crown of even’s head. “how are you doing?” she asked as casually as she could as she moved to her chair. isak sat on the other side of the table, so the couples could look at each other directly. isak studied even as he answered.
“i’m fine, mamma. a little nervous about pappa’s grand scheme over here, but everything else is okay.” isak couldn’t hear any tension in his voice so he relaxed a little bit.
“oh, is he trying to get you on his side about buying a van?”
“how else will i transport my vegetables, sigrid?” jan sounded exasperated by her skepticism.
“dearest, you don’t even have the stall permit yet. don’t put the cart—excuse me, the van—before the horse.”
“catch me up?” isak requested of the table in general. jan gleefully started from the beginning with his grand plan to join the farmer’s market that summer, with the full list of his crops and ideas for clever names for his backyard farm.
most of dinner was spent discussing this great undertaking, with even contributing creative enthusiasm and sigrid sprinkling it all with caution and logic. then they pivoted to jan’s work at the office, and how he found his attention shifting so easily in the warmer months. jan and sigrid lived comfortably and were starting to entertain plans for retirement. that led to talking about the cabin, which turned into the perfect segue by the time they were clearing the table for dessert.
Isak fetched smaller plates from an even higher shelf, and even clapped when sigrid revealed his cake. it was a tall layer cake draped in swirls of light blue icing. there were six candles on top and even’s name written in a shaky, dark blue script. “do you remember that picture you put in the folder for me? the close-up of his face?” sigrid asked isak. he nodded. every few weeks he picked a photo (with even’s approval) from his phone and uploaded it as a wordless update for his parents. that one had been from early december, when they went out for lunch on a random tuesday, just to get some sunlight. “i zoomed in on his eyes and picked the blue color from there.” sigrid twisted to even and cupped his cheeks with her small hands. even leaned into the adoring gesture and those blue eyes crinkled up with a smile. they shared a silent moment of connection and then she released him to stand in front of her chair. isak stood up too. jan struck a match to light the candles.
even laughed and gamely clapped while they sang the birthday song. he watched isak spin around with a little flare, and isak genuinely enjoyed performing something he used to roll his eyes at. then even paused to make a wish and blew out the candles. isak knew he would ask him what he wished for later.
the cake was delicious, and they each had two slices. even tried to flick icing across the table at isak but sigrid threatened him with a spoon. “if you get icing on my wall you are cleaning it up, birthday boy.” even agreed to those terms and kept trying. then jan left the table for the bedroom, and returned by sliding a tall, skinny cardboard box through the kitchen. it had a blue bow stuck on top, which was enough, since it would’ve taken an obscene amount of wrapping paper to cover the whole thing.
“eh?” even stood to look at the box.
“happy birthday, dearest.” sigrid looked very proud of the gift and was enjoying even’s puzzlement. jan stepped back and let even walk around it. they had to hold it at the top so it wouldn’t fall over.
“it’s heavy….” even’s eyes scanned each side. “is…did you get me a bed?” he gripped the box to turn it around, showing sigrid and isak the diagram on the other side. it was, in fact, a bed. “thank you,” even whispered, without much conviction.
“it looks like a nice bed,” isak added, coming around the table to look at the dimensions. “we can get the guys to help us carry it upstairs.”
“oh no! no!” sigrid nearly yelled. “it’s not for—it’s for the cabin. you don’t have to carry it anywhere. pappa and i will take it up on our next trip and build it in your room, so now you’ll have a proper bed for when you and isak visit. i didn’t want those flimsy beds from when you were a kid stopping you from staying in ålesund.”
even’s face relaxed as his mother explained and the bed made more sense. he leaned the box against the nearest counter edge and moved around it to give sigrid a hug. “thank you,” he said again, with actual gratitude. “that’s such a lovely gesture for the both of us.” he pressed a heavy kiss on sigrid’s cheek and isak saw her squeeze her eyes closed. she was going to cry. she let out a tiny gasp when even pulled back. he went to jan to give him a hug as well, and sigrid turned away from them to hide her tears. but isak stepped in and opened his arms for a hug as well, and she fell into his chest and let loose against his sweater.
“thank you, sigrid. that means so much to us.” he rubbed her back to calm her down. “let us know when you’d like a family vacation and we’ll try to clear our schedules for it, okay?” her blonde hair scratched at his chin as she nodded. isak knew it was a big promise, committing to a vacation with his boyfriend’s parents, but that seemed to be the least they could do since they bought them a bed. aside from the literal comfort they were providing, it felt like a grander statement since the gift would serve both of them. isak felt like it was his birthday too.
when even and his father separated, jan peeled off the bow and stuck it to even’s chest. they shared a low chuckle, and then jan slid the box back to the bedroom where it had been hiding. “you know, if we have a van, it will be a lot easier to transport this up there!” he sang as he left. isak let go of sigrid and spun into even’s arms. she plucked a napkin off the table to wipe at her tears while isak was crushed into a hug with the bow.
“we’ll keep the little mattresses, of course. you never know when elias and mutta and mikael want to come for a visit too. but yes, this will be a nicer frame for you both.”
“it’s such a thoughtful gift, mamma. thank you so much.”
“you know…i thought of it as soon as you came back from your first trip, when you brought back the clean sheets and blanket. it might’ve been presumptuous but if…if isak was having a nice time then i thought he might want to come back, and then i wanted it to be ready, and you two could have your own space.”
isak laughed as he pulled out of even’s hug. he kept to his side though, and wrapped an arm around even’s waist. “you were very right to presume. though i suspect i would’ve had a wonderful time even if i had to sleep on the floor.”
sigrid looked horrified when he suggested such a crime, but that just made even laugh. jan reappeared. “oh i forgot to bring these out.” he was carrying a colorful quilt and coordinating linens, also with a blue bow on top. even let go of isak to accept them, and both boys admired the pattern.
“pappa helped me pick those out. they were on sale after christmas. oh, and if you bring them back to the city to wash, you could just use them on your regular bed too. everything fits.” sigrid returned to her pleased homemaker attitude, with any remaining tears in her eyes only there out of pride. she’d surprised her son with a useful and enjoyable gift, that doubled as a reason for him to visit her at the cabin. it was a very successful birthday dinner.
―――
they enjoyed a little bit of champagne in the living room before they left, relaxing on the couches and catching up on the skiing gossip from sigrid and jan’s most recent trip. isak disclosed that he hasn’t skied since he was very young, which sent even giggling, picturing his boyfriend flying down the slopes. “this might be even better than my skateboarding fantasy.” luckily neither sigrid nor jan inquired further into what that fantasy actually was.
when isak noticed the time was getting close to seven he made the gentle suggestion to head home. sigrid and jan were happy to let them go, having enjoyed the whole bottle together and noting their earlier bedtime now that they were getting older. but she also demanded photos once they were standing, so isak took a few pictures of even with his parents and then jan took a few of isak and even alone. they had to brainstorm a way to take a picture of all four of them together, but then sigrid cleared a small space on the fireplace mantle to rest a phone. Even set the timer, they lined up with the boys in the middle, and they wrapped their arms around each other. they smiled.
after another round of hugs and kisses they bundled up and went home. isak carried the new linens in an oversized shopping tote over his shoulder. “that went well, yes?” isak looked over to see even nodding into his scarf. he pressed the button for their stop.
“it was really lovely. i had to, like, constantly remind my brain to not interpret what she was saying negatively, but that’s…what i’m supposed to be doing.” they stepped off the bus carefully, navigating the packed snow on the sidewalk. “maybe after a few more visits it will be less of a conscious effort. but even as it was, i enjoyed myself. i liked seeing you with my parents.”
“speaking of me with your parents, i kind of promised sigrid we would go on a family vacation with her to ålesund.”
isak could barely hear the chuckle underneath the scarf but it was there. “i think that was a given. that was the whole point of the bed. it was quite clever on mamma’s part.”
“mm,” isak agreed. “so we’ll have to start looking at our schedules. and now we have the weekend farmer’s market to take into account.”
even’s laugh was louder and drew his mouth up above the warm wool. “he really has leaned into his gardening in the last year, jesus. if you had asked me five years ago what hobby i thought my dad would pick up next, i never would’ve thought ‘fruits and vegetables.’”
“forget hobbies; he’s halfway to his own business.”
they approached their building. isak had his own key now, and he unlocked the first door for them.
“what are you thinking about?”
isak was thinking about the surprise that was waiting for them upstairs, feeling nervous that he didn’t have any texts with updates, even though he didn’t ask for any. but he quickly thought up a work excuse that would explain his distance. “um, how maybe someone from jakob’s team might be interested in profiling jan. has there been a surge of home gardens lately? what’s the process for joining a farmer’s market? how profitable is it to bring produce into the city from a farm versus urban, hyperlocal crops? what resources are there for farmers when it comes to direct-to-consumer sales?” he felt ridiculous spitting out these ideas because they were rushing out without a filter yet they sounded somewhat legitimate. he really should be putting these questions in a voice memo, but even was climbing the stairs in front of him and that was…well that took priority.
the bag of linens landed with a light thump on top of isak’s pile of shoes. they removed their outerwear slowly as they climbed, hanging everything back up. isak listened for noises but didn’t hear anything over the shuffle of their own clothes. there wasn’t any light coming through under the door. and even—even was still undressing. isak reached up and tugged at his belt. “what are you doing?” he hissed. even threw his sweater and undershirt over his shoulder, and they skimmed isak’s head as they fluttered down the steps.
“getting naked. wanna help?” even was still climbing and his hands were at his belt buckle.
“even, no!” isak was torn between holding his boyfriend back and trying to reach for his shirt, while also not pulling them both down the stairs.
“what…what’s going on? you love when i get naked.”
isak blushed, praying whoever was on the other side of the door was far enough away to not hear them. maybe they were hanging out in the living room. even undid his belt but he did stop climbing to look at isak.
“do you want me to blow you down there?” he pointed down to the graffiti door and isak was going to melt from the flames burning his neck.
“shut up, no, just….” he stumbled down the steps to fetch the sweater and chucked it back up at even. “put this back on. we can’t be naked.”
“why not?” even was seriously confused but he did as isak asked. “we always get naked.”
isak pinched the bridge of his nose. “not tonight, okay babe?”
even dropped his sweater and his jaw. “is this…is this the first time you’re saying ‘no’ to a fuck?”
“even! i’m not—that’s not what this is. just please put your clothes back on until…until later or something.”
even reached into the pocket of his sagging pants and pulled out his phone. “i need to document this. for the record.” he snapped a photo of isak staring up at him with an annoyed look on his face. “this was the first time isak denied me.” even snorted. “it looks like you’re about to give me a very angry blowjob though.” he showed isak the photo.
if he weren’t so frustrated by the situation, isak would’ve laughed. that’s exactly what the photo looked like with that angle. unfortunately isak’s face just made even want to persuade him even more, so even tucked his phone under his chin and promptly shoved his pants down to his ankles. he was wearing bright red boxer briefs and he shook his ass in isak’s face. then, before isak could get a grip on his body, sexual or otherwise, even waddled up the few remaining steps and reached for the door. isak screamed, “NO!” at the same time as their kitchen, full of friends and coworkers, screamed “SURPRISE!” at a nearly naked even.
maja screamed, marius howled, and mikael took approximately 50 photos, the flash of his phone camera lighting up the kitchen like a red carpet. isak was so embarrassed he sank down behind even’s legs. even laughed and made no move to get dressed.
“pull up your motherfucking pants even! i came here for your birthday, not a peep show.” kari anne's booming voice had a hint of a laugh in it.
it did not occur to isak until just then that all of their friends were not just seeing even in his underwear—they were seeing even’s boner in his underwear. so despite isak’s desire to melt into a puddle right there on the steps, he now felt enough possessiveness to lunge forward and pull up even’s pants from behind. it was a challenge to dress someone blind, especially when that someone was a giggly, wriggly mess. isak got a flash of the kind of future where he was getting a toddler dressed, but he had no time for that future right then. he got even’s jeans up to his butt and then he had to forcibly turn his boyfriend around in order to navigate his bulge.
“looks like dinner with the parents went well, then!” elias shouted out, making everyone laugh again and isak’s cheeks turn an impossible red.
“oh, babe.” even finally noticed isak’s general struggle. he took over with his pants and hefted them up to his waist. “i’m sorry. i should have listened to you. but this was amazing and hilarious. are you okay?” he buttoned his jeans and cupped isak’s jaw.
isak was still too flustered to say anything. his eyes darted from even’s face to the gleeful faces behind him, checking to see who was still laughing. “come on, bedroom.” even started walking isak backward toward the privacy of their bedroom. “five minutes!” he announced to everyone else.
“i thought you only needed two!” someone else shouted back.
―――
the laughter and voices faded as soon as the door closed. isak spun around and flopped himself on the bed face first. “surprise,” he mumbled. even collapsed on top of him, blanketing him with rough denim and warm skin.
“this was the best surprise ever. i’m sorry i embarrassed you with my penis.” even added a little thrust as if that would convey sincerity. the heat that flushed isak’s cheeks now was a slightly different kind. even nuzzled his face against isak’s cheek and gave him a few kisses. “i’ll get dressed and we can hang out with my favorite people.”
even pushed up and went to the closet. he swapped out his jeans for grey sweatpants and put on a white t-shirt. isak kept his jeans but opted for a clean white t-shirt too. even swept isak into a hug before they went through the door. “i love you in general and i love you for this. thank you for such a nice gift, and the perfect way to relax after the family dinner.” he squeezed across isak’s back and then shifted his head in for a kiss. isak demanded tongue as part of even’s apology and he got it, a nice open, wet kiss that tasted like champagne. even grunted when they parted. “um, yes. friends first, but then we’re definitely revisiting the naked thing.”
isak agreed with an aggressive grip on even’s ass. even kissed his way out of it and wiggled toward the door.
the kitchen roared with another greeting when they appeared, birthday wishes thrown from every direction. even opened his arms and accepted all of them with a wide smile. “thank you all for coming. this is such a fun surprise, and i clearly had no idea.”
“it was a fun surprise for us as well,” kari anne smirked.
“since we’re all here and there is a grotesque amount of alcohol behind mutta, have we agreed to absolutely ruin our sunday night?” another cheer went up. isak moved around even to get to the counter by mutta.
as requested, everyone bought the alcohol isak had assigned them and paid for. he couldn’t bring much into the apartment on his own without raising suspicion, so he spread out the drinks, food, and decorations among their friends. maja and marius picked up a cake from a bakery on their side of town. mutta and kari anne brought most of the alcohol. sana and yousef brought food from mamma bakkoush, enough to last them at least a week. elias and mikael were on decorations & entertainment duty. their friends had started drinking, as was to be expected when you’re trapped in an apartment for a couple of hours. since everyone had helped themselves to the juice and ice in the fridge, isak didn’t bother with setting anything else up. he searched for sana in the small crowd, who was chatting with mikael by the entrance to the hallway. when he caught her eye he nodded a question and she held up a full glass in response. with her taken care of he mixed up a dark & stormy for even.
“here you go, babe.” he only interrupted even’s conversation with marius and maja to put the cup in his hand. then he went back to the counter to assess the food. yousef joined him to point out the options.
“all of even’s favorites. mamma didn’t leave the kitchen all morning. this…this tray is okay. these two should be reheated a bit.”
“okay, thanks.” isak reached over to start the oven.
“and this we actually eat cold sometimes, so it would be fine as is.”
they figured out the food and then isak moved on to the living room. everyone was still in the kitchen, so isak got to see the decoration efforts as intended. streamers looped colorfully from even’s shelves, carefully taped as to not disturb his toys. balloons hovered at the ceiling, their strings becoming vines that dusted isak’s shoulders. on the coffee table was a pile of markers and a large brown envelope. he went right to the envelope to see what was inside. “yesssss.” isak dumped out the contents and spread them out. he had found ten particularly embarrassing photos, a mix of recent shots from isak and childhood ones from sigrid, that he’d ordered temporary tattoos of. he had a good feeling that this group was going to get very creative with the placement. in the very least he knew exactly where he wanted a tattoo of even on his own body. he practically skipped back out to the kitchen to get water and a sponge.
everyone had started eating, so isak joined the queue for a little bit of the bakkoush cuisine. no matter how full they were, isak and even would always make room for mamma’s food. isak refreshed even’s drink and then led some people into the living room to eat, for more seating. even stayed in the kitchen at the table with sana, yousef, and kari anne.
maja screamed again when she saw the tattoos. she and marius abandoned their food immediately and took the sponge to the bathroom. three minutes later marius returned with at least four evens plastered across his face. then he dared mikael to do even more. after that, it was chaos.
elias tried to tie a balloon to the back of sana’s hijab. kari anne was the first one to get a tattoo of even on her ass cheek. mutta and mikael started doing shots, and marius and maja were caught making out in the stairwell when it was time to break open the markers on the door. their defense was that maja could stand on one step above marius and they would be a closer height for kissing.
“like my apartment is the only place with steps, get the fuck out.” isak shoved marius against the door. but that’s exactly where everyone stayed. they all shared the markers and wrote silly birthday messages to even on the door, reading old ones and laughing, and recording new jokes that they now all shared. the graffiti door was due for an update and everyone got a chance to leave their mark. isak made sure no one wrote over his original “shithead,” and he added a couple more questionable names wherever they fit.
unfortunately marius convinced maja to paint her lips with marker ink and kiss the door, but then she was stuck with deep purple lips. sana immediately dragged her up to the bathroom to start exfoliating. isak had to console maja from the doorway. “i’ll get emma to give me some lipsticks that would cover it up if it doesn’t come off.”
“matte,” sana instructed.
isak opened his recording app and noted that: “matte lipsticks from emma for maja.”
“anything from a maroon to a magenta should cover it up.” isak added that. “in the meantime, here, you can use this.” sana pulled a tube of lipstick out of her small crossbody bag and opened a drawer. she plucked an alcohol wipe from where even kept them next to the tweezers and cleaned off the tube and used lipstick. she handed it to maja and maja looked like she was about to cry from the gesture. sana nipped it in the bud with a glare and a single finger held up in maja’s face. “just be glad your friends are so clean.”
isak blushed, assuming sana knew that they had those wipes to clean their toys. but then marius burst into the bathroom, shoving isak aside. “baby, it looks like we just kissed too hard for a little bit. ‘cheer up! a hickey from kenickie is like a hallmark card,’” he quoted in his best american accent. this actually made maja cry so isak excused himself and went to get more alcohol.
eventually yousef was tasked with getting mutta and mikael home. marius gave maja a piggy back ride down four flights of stairs and across the city. they found kari anne had removed her pants and crawled into their bed, so they left her there. sana, even, and elias collapsed onto the couch and giggled their way through a nonsense conversation the way siblings do. isak put the food away, got water for them all, and then joined them on the floor with his giant pillows. even found grease on the tv and they watched and sang along with the few bits they knew. then isak fell asleep, his fingers wrapped lightly around even’s ankle and his head resting against even’s knee.
29 notes · View notes
blu-joons · 3 years
Text
You Have Chronic Pain ~ BTS Reaction
Jin:
Your groan was the first thing he heard as he woke, turning his head to see the pain you were suffering from etched across your face. “Bad night?” He questioned, frowning as your head nodded in response to him.
You turned to face him, “I barely slept for an hour, there was just no chance of getting comfortable.”
“Stay here today, I’ll look after you,” he smiled, slipping out of the duvet to fetch you the necessities you needed when you were having a bad day. “You’re not to move.”
“It’s your one day off Jin, you don’t want to do this.”
His shoulders shrugged, handing you some pain relief, “all I wanted to do with my day off was spend time with you, so if I have to spend it all day in bed, that’s fine, I’m just glad to be with you,” he spoke, sitting back down beside you.
Your head rested against his chest, “it’s such a waste of your day to stay here and look after me.”
“That’s your opinion,” he chuckled, “but you’re in pain and I’m going to stay here and look after you, no arguments or excuses.”
“I’m too tired to argue anymore with you.”
Yoongi:
You sighed, stretching as tall as you could to try and pull the box of pain relief from the cupboard, flinching at the sound of the light switch turning on, a stern voice calling out from behind you, “what are you doing?”
You spun around to face him, “I’m in pain, what does it look like I’m doing? I can’t sleep Yoongi.”
“Then why didn’t you wake me?” He frowned, he hated being left so helpless, knowing how much you just wanted to sleep, the pain often standing in your way from doing son.
“I just didn’t want to disturb you.”
He quickly appeared beside you and grabbed your tablets, “I’ve told you before, you’re not disturbing me. I’d rather get you feeling better quickly than know you’re suffering,” he assured you, pressing a kiss to the side of your head.
You hummed, grabbing your bottle of water, “the suffering is never really going to go away.”
“But we can make it easier,” he smiled, “just don’t suffer through the night alone, you know that I’m here to look after you too.”
“I know, I’m incredibly thankful to have you.”
Hoseok:
Coming home to an empty house terrified him, grabbing his phone to quickly call you and find out exactly where you were having suffered terribly in the night. “Why aren’t you at home resting?” He questioned as you answered.
You chuckled, “I needed to go to work Hobi, the doctor said that it would be a good distraction.”
“But you’re in pain,” he sighed, knowing just how stubborn you were, “stay at work, I’ll drive down and come and pick you up, you shouldn’t drive if you’re in pain.”
“How do you think I got to work?”
He continued to sigh, picking his car keys back up, “leave your car there and I’ll drop you back off in the morning. When you get home you’re not allowed to move for the rest of the day, what if something had happened at work?”
Your head shook, tidying away your desk, “nothing did happen, so stop worrying too much.”
“How can I not worry about you?” He laughed, “you are trouble, you’re supposed to rest and instead you go to work, what am I going to do?”
“Nothing, I promise you that I’m absolutely fine.”
Namjoon:
He frowned as he saw you laid out on the sofa, it was clear straight away your figure hadn’t moved all day, wrapped up in a duvet with all your items laid out on the floor. “I brought takeout; didn’t think you’d be up for cooking.”
You turned around as Namjoon walked into the room, “I don’t feel hungry Joon, you enjoy it.”
“You’ve not eaten all day, I know it’s a bad day, but you need to look after your body,” he sighed, sitting down on the floor in front of you. “What if I fed you?”
“I should be able to feed myself though.”
His shoulders shrugged, “you’re in too much pain to feed yourself, and I want to make sure you get some food in you, so the rest of your body doesn’t suffer. Do you think you can sit up, or do you want me to give you a hand?”
You nodded, feeling his arms wrap around you, “does this ever feel like a burden to you?”
“Not at all,” he quickly assured you, “nothing with you is a burden, I think secretly I like being able to take such care of you.”
“You never fail to impress me Kim Namjoon.”
Jimin:
He jumped up as soon as he caught you standing up from the sofa in the corner of his eye, “what do you need? I’ll get it,” he quickly yelled, but your head shook, stopping him from being able to help you.
You smiled weakly, “I need to keep myself moving before I seize up, I’m just getting a drink.”
“But I could get…” your hand covered his mouth before he had the chance to continue, whilst you appreciated his help, you both knew this was something you had to do.
“Just follow behind me if you’re worried, I need to be strong.”
And he did, tracing every step you took to the kitchen, around the kitchen, and back until you were seated safely back in your chair. “Next time you need something, tell me, you don’t want to make things worse for yourself.”
You nodded, knowing it was no good protesting, “I do actually need to put my phone on charge.”
“I’m on it,” he smiled, without a single groan, taking you by complete surprise. “I’ll get the extension lead so we don’t have to move you.”
“What would I do without you sometimes?”
Taehyung:
He was quick to open the car door for you as you walked out of the rehab centre having completed your first session of physical therapy, he was keen to hear all about it. “So how do you think it went, was it worth it?”
You nodded, taking his hand into the car, “they gave me lots of exercises to do to keep active.”
“That’s good,” he hummed, getting himself into the car, “anything’s got to be worth a try if it keeps your pain minimal. Will you be able to do them?”
“They said that some I might need your help with.”
Straight away he promised himself, and you, that he’d be on hand to help you with everything. “Tell me everything I need to do, and I’ll do it, not questions asked.” You smiled appreciatively back across at him.
Your hand gripped tightly onto the booklet, “there’s quite a lot, and you’re so busy with work.”
“Work can wait,” he assured, “nothing is more important than helping you out and making sure you suffer less.”
“As nice as that is, your boss might say differently.”
Jungkook:
From the moment the two of you stepped outside, Jungkook could tell you were reluctant to walk, but you both knew how important it was to helping you. “Hold my hand, and we’ll go at your pace, there’s no rush.”
You nodded, slipping your hand into his, “I don’t want to walk far Kook, can we just go to the park?”
“We’ll go as far as you want to,” he asserted, “there’s no point getting you too tired otherwise you and I will both regret it tomorrow when you can’t move anywhere.”
“I’m not staying in bed all day.”
He chuckled, hanging back so that you could catch up to him, “well hopefully getting a bit of a walk will prevent all of that from happening.” He knew you didn’t want to go out, but on a good day, it was so important to get you moving.
You smiled gently, inhaling a huge breath, “I need to make the most of all of this fresh air.”
“Just enjoy it,” he told you, “let’s just have a nice, slow walk, and enjoy being in each other’s company, how does that sound?”
“It sounds pretty good to me.”
---
Masterlist
266 notes · View notes
enthusiasticharry · 4 years
Text
Baby Steps
summary: you’re harry’s sons therapist, and he isn't the only one you end up helping.
word count: hi! it has been a long while since I’ve posted on here so I hope you enjoy this 8.6k piece of pure fluff and smut!
masterlist  |    asks
Tumblr media
As a child, Harry had never been given many opportunities to freely express himself. He grew up in a rural area where the sheep overruled the people and the only extra-circular activity available was playing football at the park with his friends that weren’t truly his friends. He was only a mere teenager when he decided that whenever he had kids, he would give them as many opportunities as possible. 
He tried in school, don’t discourage him about that, but it didn’t work out as planned. That’s how he ended up working within the company he did. He started from the bottom, working 9 to 5 within a cubicle everyday until he had worked up to become chief editor. He had his own office, with his name written on a plaque upon the door and his photos sat upon the desk. It made day to day that little bit more enjoyable.
“Finishing early today, Mr. Styles?” Genevieve asked, watching as he closes his door behind him. 
“Yes, I am.” He smiles politely, “It’s been in the calendar for weeks.” 
“I’ve noticed.” He knew she hadn’t. Genevieve was okay at her job, he supposed. She was an apprentice the company had hired straight out of university and of course he didn’t mind that she was still finding her feet, “Enjoy your evening, Mr. Styles.” 
“You too, Genevieve.” He nods his head at the girl and walks towards the exit. 
At the ripe age of twenty-eight, Harry knew that he still had his entire life ahead of him but at the same time he was pretty content. He had his job, his small town house and more importantly his son, Theo. He hadn’t expected his girlfriend of a couple of months to get pregnant but in his mind he knew what had happened and that it was something that the two of them had to take responsibility for, but she didn’t think the same thing. Harry had loved her, and he had hoped that she had loved him and their son as much as he did but it just wasn’t meant to be. He had suspected that she was going to leave, he just hadn’t expected it to be in the middle of the night whilst their son was a month old and still nursing. 
It was the following morning that Harry knew that he was going try his damned hardest to be the best Father possible for his son, try to give him the world and everything good that came along with it. 
“Harry!” Mrs. Walters, the woman who lives next door exclaims as she throws the door open, “Please come in.” 
“Hi Mrs. Walters.” He smiles, following the elderly woman into the living room, “Has he been good today?” 
“We had a little disagreement at nap time but apart from that he’s been perfect!” 
“I’m glad to hear it. He’s never been the biggest fan of naps.” 
Just seeing Theo’s little face light up as he walked into the room was enough reason to keep his heart beating for centuries. Theo was the absolute double of Harry, and he could even see it himself. Even at three years old he had his father’s green eyes and curly brown hair and it was another thing that caused his love for his little man to grown everyday.
“Dada!” He toddled over to his father, only just starting to feel confident upon his feet, and wrapped his arms around Harry’s legs, his chunky cheeks pressed against his shin. 
“Hi bubba.” He picks his son up and rests him upon his hip, “Did you have a nice day with Mrs. West?” 
Theo nods and drops his head down upon Harry’s shoulder with a light sigh of content.
“He’s been amazing, Harry, don’t worry.” The older woman drops her head to Harry’s free shoulder, “I’ll see you two tomorrow.” 
“See you tomorrow, Mrs. West.” 
Tumblr media
Theo’s little hand rests comfortably within Harry’s as they walk through the door of community centre, his little feet tapping upon the wood in his trainers. 
“Harry! Theo!” You exclaim, walking over to the two of them with a large smile across your face, “I’m so glad you could make it this week!” 
“Yeah. Sorry about last week, I couldn’t get out of work on time and then once I did he wasn’t in the best of moods.” 
“Don’t worry about it! It’s totally fine, we understand that you can’t make every week.” 
Harry nods his head. 
“Anyway.” You have a nice smile and it was probably the first thing that Harry noticed about you when you met, “We’re just about to get started.” 
Harry sits down, crossing his legs as he does so. Theo drops down upon his father’s lap straight afterwards, his face pressed into the material of Harry’s crisp white dress shirt. Harry’s eyes bounce to look over the other children, the ones who acted similarly too Theo when they first joined. They all either sat in their parents laps comfortably or on the floor now, not one with a flicker of anxiousness across their features.
Theo and Harry have attended three of these sessions to help with confidence, and Theo had only just started to leave his shell in the last twenty minutes of the last session they went to and now it felt as though Harry had messed everything up again. He felt as though they were back to square one.
Then he feels a hand upon his shoulder. 
“Its okay.” You smile, squeezing gently, “He’ll be okay, don’t worry.” 
He will be, Harry knows that. 
Tumblr media
Another week had passed and Harry was yet again sat in a circle in the children’s room of the community centre with Theo sat upon his lap. Harry felt a little more at ease this week, since his little boy sat forward with a small, very small smile on his lips as he looked at… you? You hadn’t been there to greet them like you were last week, and he certainly hadn’t had the chance to say hello yet. It had been a warm-ish day today and Harry concluded that was probably why you were wearing a cute yellow sundress with small white flowers on it, something he had never seen you in before. You still wore your smile, Harry had noticed. 
“Today.” You always overplayed your facial features to interest the children, “We are all going to write a story together.” 
Theo’s little eyes widened in excitement. 
“You like that idea, bub?” Harry whispered. Theo nodded. 
“So I’ll start.” You touch your chest, “Then we’ll pass to Edith’s mummy and then Edith and we’ll continue that way around the circle!” 
Harry and Theo would be third, which wasn’t too bad. He just hoped that Theo would get involved, he loved stories enough to have a mind spiralling with ideas. 
“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away there lived a princess…” You start, smiling to the person next within the circle. 
“…in a big castle with a swimming pool!” 
“She has dog!” 
“…called muffin who she loves to play with in the…” 
“Park!” 
“Then.” Harry started, leaning so that he was speaking to Theo as well as the rest of the group, “One day, something magical appeared in front of her…”
“Dinosaur!” 
Harry beams and whispers, “Well done Theo!”
The story finishes with the princess riding the dinosaur along a rainbow, courtesy of the little girl called Tara who finishes the circle. Normally the children disperse the last twenty minutes or so to play amongst themselves whilst the adults talk about what type of week they’ve had. They were doing just that, but today, Harry’s heart stopped at the sight of his little boy sat with little Tara drawing at the tiny desk when usually he just does that on his own. 
Harry had honestly never thought that he would be going to group behavioural therapy for his three year old son, but, he promised he would do anything for his little boy.
“Hi everyone.” They were now sat around a table, one fit for adults, whilst a few of your colleagues watched the children, “I’m excited to hear how all your weeks have been!”
Tara’s mum starts, explaining that this week the nursery had phoned up to explain that she hadn’t spoken to anyone at lunchtime but there had been the odd time where she’d had a small conversation with a couple of classmates. 
Harry listens to a few others. How Ryan had bit a kid at school the other day, how Delilah refused to say anything for a couple of days that week. Harry had never experienced Theo biting or injuring other kids but he had experienced him shutting down and not speaking to anyone. 
“Harry.” You smile, “How has little Theo been this week?” 
“He’s, uh, been okay I suppose.” He runs his finger across his bottom lip, “Nothing out of the ordinary. Had an odd hour or so yesterday.” 
“Has he made any friends at nursery, yet?” 
“No. I don’t think so. I’m trying to get him in everyday but it’s proving to be difficult.” 
You smile, “He’ll get there Harry. It might take him a bit longer than normal but he will get there.” 
After listening to the other parents, the meeting for that week finishes. Harry waits for Theo to finish his drawing before helping him into his coat. Your words pondered through his mind — he certainly hoped that Theo would get better but it was a walk, not a sprint. 
“Hi Theo.” You beam as you walk towards the two, “Can I see your drawing?” 
After a few moments of contemplation, he passes the drawing to you.
“Wow! It’s beautiful! Can you draw me one whilst I talk to your Daddy?” 
Theo listens to your request and starts on the drawing straight away, picking up colour after colour whilst Harry looks at you with furrowed eyebrows. 
“I just wanted to have a quick word, nothing bad, I promise.” 
Harry nods. 
“Theo is making excellent progress in the program and I’m sure you’ve seen the results for yourself but as you know he is going a little slower than the rest of the kids.” 
“If this is because we missed one then it’s completely my fault—”
“It’s not! Don’t think that, it’s not!” You’re quick to say, “I was thinking the other day of ways to help and I remembered that my friend runs a group at the weekend for children that are struggling to cope with the loss of a parent.” 
“But I thought he was too young to be affected by that?” 
“I thought so too but I did some more research and even though he was very, very young when his mother left, it could still be affecting him.” You swallow and tuck a piece of your hair behind your ear, “He will have noticed that he doesn’t have two parents and that could be the stem of all of the problems.” 
Of course this had run through Harry’s mind a few time but he always brushed it off because he was so young when it happened. The fact that woman might be the reason his son was so quiet and not himself all of the time caused his stomach to flip. He hadn’t seen her since that night but she was still affecting him day upon day and he hated it. 
“When is this group?” 
“Oh!” You exclaim, happy that he hadn’t just shut the idea down, “It’s on Saturday at ten whilst twelve but you can come and go as you please.” 
“Will you be there?” Why had he just asked that? He probably sounded like such a weirdo. 
“I will.” You smiled, “Just for you.” 
Tumblr media
Harry certainly hadn’t expected to spend his Saturday morning sat at upon a bench outside the community centre watching Theo play with other kids. He was surprised how easily Theo had left his shell around all of these kids but he supposed they all had something in common, that they were raised by only one parent. 
Another thing he hadn’t expected was to be sat sharing the said bench with you, but he wasn’t complaining. 
“Black coffee.” You smile, holding out the cup for him to take. 
“Thank you.” 
“It’s no problem.” You take a sip of your own cup of tea, “He seems to be doing well.” 
“I’m really surprised. The last time I saw him gel to someone so quickly was when he met our neighbour, Mrs. West.” 
You smile, “It’s good. You’ll be able to figure out which group works the best for you both.” 
“Will you be here every week?” 
Is he flirting? You certainly weren’t complaining, anyone with eyes could see that Harry is a very handsome man but never in a million years did you think that he would be flirting with you. Maybe he wasn’t even flirting and you were just letting your imagination run a little too wild. 
“I—”
“I’m sorry.” He’s quick to say, “What I meant is that he’s comfortable around you, and I would hate for him to loose that sort of comfort.”
“I completely understand.” You nod. So he wasn’t flirting with you. There was a part of you that was sort of disappointed and wished that he had been flirting with you, “Well he seems to be enjoying himself here so how about we slowly introduce him to just coming here. I’ll come for the first couple of weeks so that he’s comfortable.” 
“Thank you. I haven’t said that enough but I honestly can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing for my son.” 
“It’s my job, Harry. I do this for a reason.” 
“But you didn’t have to do this. Spend your Saturday morning sat on a bench with me to make sure that Theo is okay. You didn’t have to do this.” 
“But I am. I’m doing it because I care about that little boy and I want him to get better. And you’re certainly not bad company.”
Harry smiles and looks away. It probably makes it more obvious that his cheeks are flushing at her words. You have always made Harry nervous, even from the first meeting when he asked whether you could help his son. Was it wrong? Probably. Did he care? No, as far as he knew this crush was harmless and it wasn’t as though it was reciprocated he supposed. 
“I know I’m not as exciting at Theo but I do try.” 
“I can tell.” You smile, “Was he okay at nursery yesterday?” 
“The same I think. Nursery didn’t say anything when I picked him up and they usually do if something happened. Good or bad.” 
“That’s good. Some will just ignore the problem. I’ve helped a few parents who have struggled with that.” 
“I’m lucky.” He nodded, “We’re lucky.” 
“How are you?” 
“I’m fine. Theo’s getting better, that’s the most important thing.” 
You sigh, “Not Theo. How are you?” 
“I’m getting there. I’m taking each day as it comes, I suppose.” 
“Do you have people that you talk to?” You ask before immediately trying to retract your question, “I understand if you don’t want to tell me. I can be nosey sometimes.” 
“No. It’s fine.” He coughs to clear his voice, his eyes watching as Theo sits in the sand pit with a bucket and spade, “I talk to my mum and sister if there’s anything really wrong.” 
“Nobody else?” You’re daring, and your eyebrow raises in nervousness. 
“I’m single if that’s what you’re asking.” He chuckles. 
Your eyes bug, “Well I—”
“Its okay, YN.” He laughs now, his dimples deepening, “Are you single?” 
“I am.” You smile, “I’m glad you have someone to talk to that isn’t your three year old son. It’s important.” 
“I know. I kept a lot of it to myself at the start and just tried to be the best that I could be for Theo but it hit a point where I needed help, and I knew I did.” 
“It’s commendable that you did that. Too many single parents try to do it on their own and it just doesn’t work. It not only causes them to fizzle out but it causes strain on the kids.” 
“Have you got children?”
“No.” Your lips curl, “I just enjoy working with them — to a degree obviously.” 
A chuckle passes. It’s at this point that Harry realises that this is the first conversation you have had with him that passes the point of being somewhat professional. You’re dipping your toes in the idea of the conversation being about getting to know each other rather than being about Theo or any information about the group. 
“I can’t imagine.” 
“You never know what the days going to hold when you walk through the door. They say to never work with children and animals.” You laugh, “Where you do you work?” 
“I work at a publishing company. I’m the chief editor. It’s not the best but it pays the bills.” 
“It sounds very interesting.” 
“It isn’t. The amount of articles about interior design I read on a weekly basis is sort of absurd.” 
“Interior design?” 
“I work for an interior design magazine. I probably should’ve explained that first.” 
You giggle, “I bet your house is immaculately decorated.” 
“To a degree.” He chuckles, “Living with a three year old sort of means you’re house always looks like a bomb has hit it.” 
“I can imagine.” 
“I wouldn’t change it for anything. Yeah it is a mess but it isn’t too bad and he’s leaning that he won’t get treats if he doesn’t clean up after himself.”
“Nice. I’m sure that works a treat.” 
“It does.” He laughs, “Literally.”
“He’s a good kid, Harry. You can tell. He’ll be perfectly fine.”
You keep saying that. 
Tumblr media
Harry received a message the following Wednesday around lunch time that he hadn’t expected. He was just about to tuck into the salad he had pre-made this morning fort lunch when his phone lit up on the desk. A small message box covers up his wallpaper which was a photo of Theo in the bath, bubbles on his head in a cone shape and upon his chin like a beard. 
Hi Harry, Its YN. I promise I’m not weird I just got your number of the system to send this. I’m just letting you know that tonight’s group is cancelled, I’m bunged up with a cold and would hate to pass it onto any of the kiddies :) Hope you are well.
Hi YN. I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon. See you next week. H. 
Harry couldn’t hide that he was a little disappointed. He was starting to enjoy going to the centre every week. He could say that it was because his son was slowly coming out of his shell, and that was part of it, but ever since your conversation he had that one weekend he enjoyed the few words you spoke to each other. 
If he was more confident in the way you felt about him, he probably would’ve messaged to ask if you needed anything bringing but he thought that it would’ve been a little bit odd. Hopefully in the future it wouldn’t be as odd. 
\\
“You can’t eat your chips yet, buddy, they’re too hot.” Harry explains, picking a couple of the chips from Theo’s plate and blowing on them. The young boy sat and watched his father, waiting for his chips before chewing them happily. 
“Oh! Harry!” 
You’re stood with a drink in your hand, jeans and a floral blouse hanging loosely upon your figure. You looked cute and cuddly, something that Harry had missed seeing over the past week or so. 
“Hi YN.” He smiles, wiping his mouth with his napkin momentarily, “How are you feeling?” 
“Much better, thank you very much.” You smile. 
“Would you like to sit?” He asks, motioning to the spare seat, “You don’t have to if you’re busy or anything.” 
“No. I would love to. Are you okay with that Theo?” 
For the first time since you’ve arrived the little boy looks up at his  eyes immediately light up at the sight of you stood there. 
“Miss YN!” 
“I’m guessing he’s okay with it.” Harry smiles, watching as you pull out the seat and seat and sit down. “You weren’t in a rush, were you?” 
“No.” You smile, sipping on the hot cocoa you had just bought, “I had just finished for the day actually. Did a bit of shopping and then decided to walk over here.” 
“Sounds lovely. Anything exciting?” 
“If fruit and veg is exciting, then exciting.” 
“Hey, take it from me, trying to make fruit and veg exciting for your kids is the most exciting thing about fruit and veg.” 
“Not a fan?” You ask, looking at the young boy who had started to munch on his chicken nuggets. 
“Not really. Can you not tell?” 
You laugh, looking at Theo’s plate which just had chips and chicken nuggets on with a blob of ketchup on the side. 
“He seems to be enjoying those?” 
“Oh god yeah.” Harry laughs, “He can eat for England. Takes after me in that sense.” 
“That’s good. Some parents sometimes come in saying that their children don’t eat and it’s worrying them.” 
“He went through a phase when he turned around two and a half of not eating but he rectified that very quickly himself.”
“That’s good? Have you had work today?” 
It was only then that you had noticed his attire. Jean flares and a shirt that said something about eating honey. On anyone else you it would’ve set warning alarms within your head but he made it look suave and quite attractive. 
“No. I have weekends off so I can spend them with Theo. I sometimes do a bit of work from home but not a lot, do you?” 
“Sometimes. If there’s an emergency I’ll sometimes have to go in.” 
“Is it hard? Do you find working with vulnerable children hard?” 
“Challenging, I’d say. Maybe not hard. Some of the things that have happened to the children to cause them to behave the way they do are hard to listen to. Trying to get them to talk or just explain how they feel is even harder.” 
“You do God’s work, YN.” 
“I wouldn’t say that. I hate the though of children suffering, and I’d like to think I do my best to help with that.” 
“You do. From experience you do.” 
“You’re forever feeding my ego. I kind of like it, keep it coming.” 
“Eh.” He curves his lips and moves his head from side to side, “You’re not that bad to look at either.” 
“Cheeky! But you’re not too bad yourself, Styles.” 
“Daddy!” Theo interrupts, “Toilet, please.”
“Okay bud.” Harry stands up and so do you, “You don’t have to go, I’ll be back in a minute.”
“No it’s okay, I probably should leave.” You smile, “I told Norman that I’d only been ten minutes and that was half an hour ago.”
“Norman?” 
“My dog! God, I probably should’ve specified that. Norman’s my dog.”
“Ah.” Harry laughs, “That makes more sense. I’ll see you later YN.”
“Bye Harry.” 
Tumblr media
When you got home that night, you see the majority of the time sat staring at your phone whilst Norman stares at you as though you’ve gone crazy.
“I should just text him.” You sound crazy talking to your job but it is oddly comforting, “What’s the worst that could happen?” 
Hi Harry! It was lovely seeing you and Theo today. I hope you had a lovely rest of your day :)
You immediately regretted sending the message. Would he think you were weird? Had you just ruined any chance you had of it going any further? Your stomach twisted and your phone lit up. 
We did thank you, YN. I hope Norman wasn’t too mad that we kept you out longer than expected. H.
You giggled. He remembered. 
He got over it pretty quickly. Gave him a treat and everything was back to normal.
That’s good. It’s a good thing dogs are forgiving creatures.
Rather I bribed him to forgive me. He can be stubborn when he wants to be.
I think you might be describing my son. He certainly didn’t get his stubborn side from me.
Good. I would hate to have to bribe you to speak to me.
Well that depends what you would have bribed me with. But hopefully you’ll never be in the bad books.
You seem to have very high expectations of me, Styles. I might just surprise you.
I’m going to hold you to that. The next time I see you I expect to be surprised.
Are you free any time soon?
Not until next weekend really. I finish work at five-ish everyday.
Is there any chance that you’d maybe want to do something after work? I can hopefully surprise you?
I’d like that very much. Tuesday okay?
Perfect! See you then, Harry.
Sweet dreams, YN.
Tumblr media
Tuesday couldn’t come quick enough in your eyes. You were pleasantly surprised that you’d even managed to bag yourself a date with the man, usually you’d shy away from the male species as much as possible. That didn’t mean that you didn’t spend the entire time messaging Harry the other day with warm cheeks and a fuzzy tummy. The fact that he could’ve thrown everything back into your face being the thing that scared you the most. 
You had messaged Harry last night that you were going to a restaurant, not a fancy one but one that required a smart/casual dress code. You spent probably a little too long getting ready, curling your hair and applying the make up you wore too perfection, dressing in some high-waisted trousers with a long-sleeved tucked in to reserve the warmth that the British summertime had selfishly taken away. 
You had hundred’s of thoughts bouncing around in your brain. It wasn’t everyday that you bagged a date with the man of your dreams and even if it didn’t work out — at least you could say that it had happened. If it didn’t work out it was probably a good thing that Theo had started to make the move from your group to your friend’s to avoid uncomfortable confrontation. 
The reservation at the restaurant was for eight, so you had arranged to meet there for around politely declined. The drive was quick but the wait for Harry seemed to take hours. 
When he did arrive, your breath caught within your throat. He was wearing simple dress pants with a silk floral shirt tucked in, the first couple of buttons undone. It revealed tattoos that you were shocked to see that he had upon his chest and stomach. It intrigued you to know whether he had more tattoos. A part of really wanted to see them. 
“Hi.” He smiles and wraps his arms around you in a welcoming hug. He smelt really good. 
“Hi.” 
“You look lovely.” 
“You don’t look so bad yourself, Styles.” 
“Shall we go in?” You nodded. 
The table reserved for the two of you was small but lovely, located in the corner of the restaurant by the floor to ceiling windows. You had been to this Italian plenty of times in the past and it had become one of your favourites. As you sat down, you had ordered a bottle of wine to share between the two of you. 
“Is that your first surprise?” He asked as the two you tapped your glasses together in cheers, “Drinking on a work night?”
“It’s a special occasion.” You shrug, “You’ll have to figure out yourself whether it’s part of the surprise or not.” 
He raised his eyebrow at you before he broke into a smile. 
“I’m looking forward to it.” 
The waiter comes a few ticks after that, asking what we would like. I order a bowl of pasta whilst Harry orders a pizza of some sort. 
“How was Theo when you left him today?” You started to tuck into the bread and dips that the waiter had brought as an appetiser. 
“Absolutely fine. I’ve never seen someone so exciting to spend time with their grandmother.” 
“Weekend’s with my Grandma were the shit!” You exclaim with a smile, “We used to bake and she’d cook me all of my favourite dinners.” 
“You were spoilt rotten, to say the least?” 
“Of course I was! That’s how little Theo is feeling.” 
“Are you close to your family?” 
“Yeah I am. More so my Mum and Grandma. I don’t really have the best relationship with my Dad.” 
He nods, “My mum and Dad divorced when I was young so I was brought up my Mum. She remarried when I was nineteen.” 
You hummed, “Are you close with your stepfather?”
“I was.” Harry coughed to clear his throat, “He died in 2017.” 
You immediately felt bad. 
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” 
He stops the sip of his drink quick, “You haven’t, I promised. How are we supposed to get to know each other if you don’t ask questions?” 
“We sort dived right into the deep shit straight away.” You laughed, “Quick fire questions: favourite band?” 
“I honestly couldn’t pick one.” 
“Well.” You sighed, “I tried but that answer was boring. Pick one!”
“I don’t know.” He shrugs, his smile growing, “I love Fleetwood Mac, The Zombies, The Kinks—”
“Basically anything from the past?” 
“Pretty much.” He laughed, “I grew up listening to Shania Twain and Joni Mitchell with my mum.” 
“I would’ve loved to have that childhood.” You laughed, “My mum was all for Bon Jovi, Meatloaf and Prince. Always said ‘I could’ve been a rock chick’.” 
He laughs and sips his drink. 
The conversation for the rest of the evening flowed better than you could have expected. You honestly don’t think you’ve ever been on such a lovely date before in your life, if you could even call it that. 
You learnt about his childhood living in Holmes Chapel whilst he learnt about yours. You hadn’t expected to enjoy his company so much and even as the night came to a close you found yourself not wanting to leave. 
“I must admit.” He starts as her walks you towards your car, “I was quite disappointed when you said I couldn’t pick you up.” 
“Why was that?” 
“Because I’m not able to drive you home, walk you to your door and hopefully give you a little something to remember me for the night.” 
“Really? Who said that I would have let you?” 
“You wouldn’t have?” 
“I don’t know.” You tease, “Why don’t you come over and try?” 
The smile on his face as he leaned in is something that will haunt your dreams at night for the better. Your eyes flutter closed and sigh in content as his lips touch yours. It was a little embarrassing, but there had been a few moments late at night where you have wondered what this would feel like. Those were enjoyable dreams but the real this was so much better. 
No tongue was involved but you already knew that this was something you could become addicted to. The feeling of his large palm against your cheek as his kissed any worry you had away from the night. Your whole body tingled and if you weren’t in a public car park, you wouldn’t know whether you’d be able to contain yourself. 
You both pull away breathlessly. 
“I think you would’ve let me.” 
“I certainly fucking would.”
Tumblr media
If Harry had any other option — he would’ve taken it in a heartbeat. 
When Harry had woke up this morning, he had expected it to be like his normal Monday morning. Waking up early and making breakfast whilst Theo sleep in. Then he’d wake Theo up to have breakfast and then Harry would dress him for the day. 
That hadn’t happened this morning. 
When Harry had walked into Theo’s room that morning he found his son, already awake with tears streaming down his face. He tried to comfort his son, and tried to get him to talk but he just didn’t stop crying. 
That’s how he ended up stood in the corner of his son’s room with his phone pressed tightly to his ear. 
“Harry? Hello?” 
“Hi.” 
“Is everything okay?” 
“Yeah, well uh, not really.” He scratches the back of his neck, “There’s something wrong with Theo.” 
“Is he okay?” 
“No. I came into his room this morning and he’s non-stop crying and he won’t talk to me.” 
“I’m on my way.” 
You drove as fast as you could. The sound of Harry’s voice, mixed with his words and the faint sniffles in the background was enough to send your heart spiralling. You used the message that Harry had sent with address to navigate your way towards his house. 
Doors unlocked. 
You raced your way up the stairs, taking two at a time and saw Harry waiting at the top of the stairs. 
“Thank you.” 
“It’s no problem.” You squeezed his arm in reassurance, “Is he in there?” 
“Yeah.” 
Then you saw him. The small boy with the brown curly hair and the green eyes that matched his Father’s peering up at you, small sobs leaving his lips. 
“Hi bud.” You smile, “Is it okay if I sit down?” 
The small boy nods and you do so, a small sigh escaping your smiling lips. 
“Your Daddy phoned and said you were feeling a little upset this morning and asked if I could come and talk to you. Is that okay?” 
He nods again, sniffling slightly. 
“Is there anything you want to tell me?” 
He shakes his head. 
“Can you tell me why you’re crying?” 
“Dream.” His chest heaves up and down. 
“Did you have a bad dream?” A nod. Okay, you could work with that. 
You hadn’t realised that Harry was stood at the door, leant against the frame with his eyebrows furrowed and his thumb running across his lip. He honestly wouldn’t know what he was going to do if you hadn’t been so lovely and come to check on Theo at such short notice. 
“Was your dream about Daddy?” Another nod. 
It honestly broke Harry’s heart. He had never ever though that something like this was the reason his son had gotten himself into such a state. 
“Have you been having a lot of these dreams?” Nodding. So much nodding, “Are they scaring you?” 
“Daddy hurt.” His voice was so quiet and unsteady.
“Daddy gets hurt?” Your palms start sweating, “Is that why you’re so upset? And you go quiet sometimes? You think Daddy’s going to get hurt?” 
“I’m right here Theo.” Harry walks over and drops down to be face to face with his son, “I’m not hurt, and I’m not going to hurt.” 
“You don’t move.” He cries become louder and louder the more they spoke. 
Harry leans over and pulls his son off the bed, dropping him onto his lap and wrapping his arms tightly around him. You watch as Harry smooths his hand across his son’s back, hoping that it will calm him down and stop the crying. Harry’s catch yours and your heart physically breaks for him. You’d never seen anything like this in your four year career. 
“Listen to this, bud.” Harry wipes his tear stained face briefly, “How about we take today off nursery and work and we’ll spend the day together.” 
Theo nods and you smile, gently standing up and removing yourself from the situation. For the first time you can look at Harry’s house. It was exactly how you had pictured it to be — immaculately designed with a splash of Theo in ever corner. You drop down upon the sofa with a sigh and use your hand to try to rub the fatigue away from your face. You hadn’t had a morning like this in a long time. 
Twenty minutes or so later, Harry joins you on the sofa with a deep sigh. 
“How is he?” 
“He’s asleep right now. I laid with him and he drifted off.” 
“That’s good.” 
He reaches over to grab your hand that was comfortably rested upon your thigh, threading his fingers nicely between your own. 
“I’m sorry for calling so early. I know you were probably busy and this didn’t help.” 
“It’s okay.” You give his hand another squeeze, “I told you that I’d help in any way that I could.” 
“I know.” He nods, his voice starting to break, “It’s just so fucking hard YN.” 
“Hey, don’t cry.” You move so that you can wrap your arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a comforting hug, “I know it is but we can sort this out, I promise.” 
“Just knowing that this was because he has been worried about me. What kind of parent does that?” 
“I want you to listen to me now, Harry.” You place your hands upon his cheeks, pulling his head up from your shoulder so that he’s looking directly at you, “You have done nothing wrong. This was completely out of your control.” 
He nods and you wipe the tear that had fallen down his cheek away. 
“I’m going to help you now and we’re going to get Theo better.” 
He leans forward and to your surprise places a deep kiss to your lips. 
“Thank you.” 
Tumblr media
Harry had invited you over as a thank you a couple of days later. You had told him multiple times that he didn’t have to thank you for anything and that you’d do anything for him and Theo but he insisted. Theo was still next door with Mrs. West after being picked up from nursery and she made it complete aware that she didn’t mind watching him for a few extra hours so that he could do this for his friend. 
If Harry was honest, he doesn’t have many friends. Mrs. West has spoken to him about it on many occasions and he supposed that the old woman was just excited that he might actually have a friend that wasn’t herself or his son. 
You had arrived at Harry’s house to see the dining room set out with plates and cutlery and wine glasses with delicious smell coming from the kitchen. He greeted you with a soft kiss upon the lips and a small hug. 
“Has Theo been okay?” You ask, leaning against the counter as you watch Harry fry the vegetables for the stir fry.
“He’s been better. He’s been talking a little more according to to the teachers.” He starts to plate up the noodles, “For the first couple of nights he stayed in bed with me, as you suggested but last night he stayed in his own.” 
“Did it go okay?” The two of you walk with full plates to the dining room.
“There were a few tears but he slept through the night.” 
You honestly couldn’t have been happier for the two of them. You have worked with the two of them for a couple of months and now finding out that things were actually starting to work left you feeling happier than you had ever expected to be. 
“That’s really good. I’m happy for you.” 
Before you knew it the time had escaped from the two of you. Somehow, you had made your way to the sofa and now sat with large glasses of red wine in your hands. 
“Are you sure you don’t need to get Theo?” 
It was nearing seven, and you started to worry. 
“If I go now he’ll probably kill me.” He laughs, “Mrs. West brings out the sweet treats around this time.” 
You giggle and lean forward to capture your lips upon his. His hand reaches up to cup your cheek, the other resting lightly upon her thigh. In one confident movement, you shift your body so that your knees are either side of his hips. A part of you still couldn’t believe that this was happening, not only with anyone but with Harry. 
This had all happened quicker than you had expected but you weren’t complaining. 
“YN.” He pulls away breathlessly, “Hey, are you sure?” 
“God yes.” 
“Okay then.’ 
He skilfully picks you up, wrapping your legs around his waist as he carries you towards his bedroom. You land upon the bed with a small thud that causes you both to giggle. He presses his lips to yours one last time in a breath-taking, heart-stopping kiss. 
“Move up.” You shuffle your bum up the bed so that your head is rested upon the lush pillows. Harry’s fingers toy with the zipper of your jeans, his eyes looking for any sign of uncomforted on your face, “This okay?” 
You nod quickly, “It is.” 
He sighs shakily, his fingers slipping into the band of your jeans, pulling them down your legs. You lift your hips up to aid him in the movement. At this point you were glad that a day ago you hd decided to have a pamper session and shave your entire body. 
His lips place small kisses along the inside of your thighs, your body withering under his touch. It had been a long time since someone had touched you in this way, and your senses felt as though they were on override. 
“Harry.” The small moan escapes your lips as he licks a stripe along your clothed centre. 
“God.” He hooks his fingers into the material and pulls them down your legs, “You’re so fucking wet.” 
You hum as his lips wrap around your clit, your chest heaving up and down as he uses his tongue to flick the sensitive nub over and over again. This had all happened so quickly and you felt so overwhelmed that you had no idea if you were going to last very long at all. 
“Fuck.” You moan, “Harry.” 
“That’s it.” He murmurs against your centre, giving your clit a few kitten licks afterwards, “Say my name again.” 
“Harry.” 
He suckles on your clit so quickly that you’re left breathless, your fingers threading through his curly brown hair. You tug on it causing a groan to escape his lips against you, sending your orgasm rushing in. 
“M’coming.” Your chest heaves, “Fuck, baby.” 
Harry pulls away after coaxing you through your high, his lips and chin glistening with your juices. He licks what he can before lifting up so that you can kiss him. He drops down, his head falling into your neck and for the first time you can feel him against your exposed thigh. 
“Do you want me to help?’ 
“No.” He smiles, pushing your hair away from your face, “Tonight was a thanks to you. Hopefully there will plenty more opportunities for you to repay me in the future.” 
“I’m excited for that.” 
Tumblr media
“Daddy?” The little voice wakes the two of you up from your slumber, “Miss. YN?” 
“Hiya buddy.” Harry’s quick to pick the little boy up and drop him in the middle of the two of you, “Did you have a good sleep?” 
Theo hums and cuddles into his Dad’s chest, “Morning Miss. YN.” 
“Morning Theo.” You smile, “I’ve told you before, you can call me just YN.” 
You and Harry had started to see each other frequently since the last date and very recently, in the past few days or so you’ve both made the jump of having sleepovers. With Theo it made it difficult for Harry to stay over at yours so you stayed over at Harry’s — not that you minded one bit. 
“Okay, YN.” He smiles, leaning forward to place a kiss to Harry’s dimpled cheek. 
“What do you fancy doing today bud? If you ask nicely YN might be able to stay with us today.” 
“Really?” His eyes widen in excitement. 
“Of course.” You smile and ruffle his hair, “But it’s your day, what do you want to do?” 
“Can we go to the cinema?” You both nod, seeing as though that’s a very doable request from the little man. 
“What do you want to go see?” 
“Frozen 2 please, daddy.” 
“Of course.” Harry kisses his cheek and your heart swells at the sight. 
Theo sat the entire time in the cinema contently chewing on his popcorn as his eyes never left the screen. Harry’s hand was firmly grasped within yours and you both repeatedly picked it up to kiss the back of each other’s. It was the simple gestures that drew you to Harry in the first place, from that very first day at the centre. 
“Did you enjoy it?” You both have one of Theo’s hands in yours, swinging him up as you walk along the pavement. 
“Yes Daddy.” He beams. 
“What do you fancy doing now? Fancy a McDonalds?” 
“Can I have an ice cream, please?”
“Of course, baby.” 
Tumblr media
It was rare that you and Harry managed to get a night alone with each other, but this specific Saturday night Anne had offered to take Theo and the two of you weren’t complaining. It had been two or so months since your relationship grew from being professional into something more and you were yet to fully consummate your relationship. 
You did other things, of course, in the dead of night when Theo was fast asleep. You were both just uncomfortable with the idea of having sex and reaching that last level of intimacy whilst he was in the other room. 
The thought physically made you shudder. 
“Are you hungry, baby?” 
“I could eat.” You respond, sitting across from Harry as he scrolls through his phone whilst leaning upon the kitchen island. 
“Pizza?” 
You scoff, “Is that even a question?” 
Once the delivery of your pizza’s arrive, you don’t think you’ve ever seen someone inhale a pizza as quickly as Harry did. He even ended up eating a slice of your own. 
Cleaning up was easy and before you knew anything, you were both changing and getting ready for bed. It was at this point you could go through the plan that you’d created a week or so ago when you learnt that this day would be happening. 
You dressed yourself in delicate white lingerie that would have anyone swooning and dropping to their knees. You tousled your hair, applied some lip balm to your lips and walk out to the bedroom. 
“Fucking hell.” He drops his phone onto the bed beside him, “Where have you been keeping that?” 
“It’s one of the surprises I always ramble on about.” 
“Totally worth it.” He throws his hands up and makes grabby movements towards you which you give in to. 
His arms wrap around you waist and pull you down so you could press your lips to his. There was something different within the air today and you could both feel it. 
“You wanna feel me?” 
“Always.” 
His fingers reach up to unclasp your bra, dropping the lace material to the floor as you clamber upon his lap. His lips wrap around your pebbled nipples, the feeling of his swirling tongue earning breathy moans to escape your lips. 
“Sensitive?” 
“Just finished my period.” 
“Ah.” You thread your fingers through his hair, tugging slightly. 
You drop to your knees, looking up at him through your eyelashes as you use your hand to palm him through his boxers. You place two kisses to each of the ferns, another one at the top of his happy trail before you hook your fingers into the material of his briefs, pulling them down as he lifted his hips to help. 
This wasn’t your first rodeo with Harry’s dick, but that didn’t mean that you became any less nervous every time you saw it. 
“Are you just going to stare?” 
“I’m contemplating?” 
“Contemplating what?” 
“Whether or not you deserve me to suck your dick. Leave me to it, baby.” 
He shuts his mouth the second to place one kitten lip to his base, your eyes watching as his stomach heaves up and down at the feeling. Wrapping your lips around the tip, you start to bob your head up and down, using your spit to ease yourself into it. Harry’s hand reaches out to grip your hair, guiding your head up and down but making sure to not go too far. 
“You’re amazing. Fuck, YN baby.” 
You use the free hand that wasn’t aiding you by jerking the length that you couldn’t take to squeeze his thigh, right by his tiger once before allowing your finger to rub over your sensitive nub through your panties, allowing any sort of friction to be released. 
“Gotta stop baby.” He gently pushes you off of him, your mouth releasing him with a pop, “Need to last for you.” 
Once you’re stood up he pulls your panties down your legs, watching as you step out of them. You both switch positions so that you’re laid on top of the plush comforter whilst Harry fumbles through his bedside table, taking a foil packet out. 
Your eyes never leave him as he gives himself a few tugs before rolling the condom on, giving you a once over before bending down. 
“Are you sure you want to do this?” He questions once and you nod, muttering confirmation as he moves to hover above you. 
You feel a little discomfort at first, probably due to how long it had been since you last had sex. 
“Move, Harry.” 
“M’kay.” 
His lips are on yours again as he starts to move his hips, finding his rhythm as he thrusts in and out of you. You whine into his mouth whilst he groans into yours, the feeling becoming all too unbearable for the two of you. 
“Feel so good, H. So big, so full.” 
The chuffed face he pulled as he continued to thrust his hips to yours, his lips wrapping around your nipple briefly was enough for you to fall for him again. 
“M’gonna come, baby.” 
“I know, H, me too.” 
He slipped his hand down between you both to use his fingers to rub your sensitive bundle of nerves, sending you over the edge. A long moan of his name leaves your lips, your back arches and your eyes start to water. 
“That’s it. Fuck! Squeezin’ me so tight.” 
He moans as he comes, spilling into the condom whilst his movements halt inside of you. 
He head drops forward upon your shoulder, the two of you masking in the overwhelming thing your had just experienced. 
“There’s no one else I ever want to do that with.” 
“Looks like you’re stuck with me, then.” 
Tumblr media
“YN.” Theo catches your attention as you wash both of your hands after the painting session you had both just had, “Are you my new Mummy?” 
Your movements halt as you look down at the little boy, his features becoming more and more like Harry’s everyday. 
You look up to Harry who’s stood drying his hand a couple of metres away, a goofy smile present on his lips as he nods at you. 
“If you want me to be Theo, but are you sure?” 
“I love you, YN.” 
“I love you too, now go dry your hands.” 
Harry passes him the towel to dry his hands which he does with little no disagreement. 
“Are you going to go turn the TV on whilst Daddy talks to Mummy?” 
The words felt odd leaving his lips, but a good kind of odd. You watch as he leaves the bathroom and bounds towards the living room. 
You wrap your arms around Harry and sigh contently into his chest. 
“I can’t believe he just said that.” 
“I can. There’s no one else I’d want to be his mother.” 
You stand on your tip toes to kiss his lips once. 
“I love you, Harry.” 
“I love you too.” 
897 notes · View notes
fosterem · 3 years
Text
My kids’ school is in “outbreak” status, so they go fully remote for the foreseeable future. It is what it is, and I’m trying not to dwell on it. I’m assuming in person will resume right when we leave for Florida. They’ll have a week of school left after we get home, and then they’re out for the summer. I can’t believe we’re almost to the finish line.
I have no summer plans for them. I’m at the point with work where I feel pretty comfortable working from home, and away from my supervisor. Besides court, my schedule is completely flexible. We’ll be able to spend some days, poolside, and I can gain some work hours in the evenings.
The teen leaves in the morning. They (preferable pronoun) are going to a family member. All kids are different (and I know the honeymoon phase is real), but this has been the easiest placement. by. far. Super chill kid. Very artistic. Witty, and laughs at my jokes. All of their stuff is in a different state so yesterday we went to Target and Kohl’s to get some essentials. Puck had a soccer game in the afternoon, and then we ordered a pizza and watched a scary movie. Midsommar. Weird movie. The teen’s pick. I want to note that my kids were both so great at using the proper pronouns. They had such a positive, engaging conversation with the teen regarding gender fluidity. They read the situation appropriately and asked respectful questions. The teen was also really awesome and open with them. My kids are enamored and sad the teen is leaving. This weekend was such a positive experience. I’m wishing nothing but easy, safe times for this kid’s life.
Eight had a soccer game today at noon. We all got fried.. I feel bad for not thinking about sunscreen 🤦🏻‍♀️ and feel worse that I’m sending the kid back all red. I took the kids out for ice cream, and came back home to mow. Blah. The worst. I despise mowing. My yard is huge, and I’m really particular about the direction the grass blows, so it took me almost 3 hours. Also. I’m always so worried that there are bunny nests in my yard. Puck stayed out with me the entire time.. climbing trees, running through the farm field, rock hunting (there is a current pile sitting on her desk), picking up sticks.. she’s my wild one in all of the ways. Today during the soccer game, I noticed her leg hair was gone 🙄 I asked her if she shaved her legs and she confirmed. I feel so bummed out about it. I’ve had multiple conversations with her about letting me know when she wants to start. I’ve always told her that I’ll say yes, but just want her to let me know first. In true Puck fashion, she did it solo, not a word about it. I don’t even know how long she’s been doing it for. I wanted to have the moment of going to the store to pick out fancy cream and good razors. I can specifically remember wanting that moment with my own mom, and it never happened. Pretty sure my friend’s big sister taught me. I know I’m projecting my own shit onto her, but I’m still a little sad about it. I’ll still take her to pick out her own stuff, but ouch my heart.
I’ve been consistently attending therapy without many hiccups. I still have moments of complete resistance and get the urge to sabotage it all (see below), but I’ve been pretty good at “sitting with these feelings”. During my last session I brought something up and my therapist responded with, “you know, you’re not as transparent as you think you are”, and now I want that tattooed on my body.
I canceled my appointment for tomorrow. Told her I didn’t want to reschedule, and now feel sad that I don’t have therapy this week 🙂 I am my own greatest downfall.
36 notes · View notes
alwaysachorusgirl · 3 years
Text
Not According To Plan
Pairing: Frederick Chilton x Reader
Word Count: 1,557
TW: none really, just a very brief mention of assault and crime scene photos?
A/N: A follow up to Almost Perfect, but can be read as a stand alone. Just a whole lot of fluff, (sorry, not sorry if it's so sweet it rots your teeth. I still like a sweet, romantic Frederick) This was originally supposed to cover the Cuddling square for #thatesqcrush Valentine's Day Bingo, but it kept getting pushed to the back-burner, and by the time I started working on it again, I knew it wasn't going to be done in time. But I wanted to finish it and get it posted before moving on to something else, so here it is. Better late than never?
Tags: @madamsnape921 (If anyone wants to be tagged in a future fic post, please let me know!)
It was safe to say that your first Valentine’s Day with Frederick Chilton wasn’t going the way you had hoped it would. It had started off well enough, with the both of you waking up early and making love before work, but once you had arrived at work, everything had gone downhill quickly. Yes, Frederick had a bouquet of red roses delivered to your office, but you barely had any time to enjoy them, as you had to rush to finish up a report for the board that wasn’t supposed to have been due until the following week. Then Jack Crawford and Will Graham had showed up needing a psychiatric consult for a new case. The crime scene photos were so gruesome you had rush to the ladies’ room to throw up. The final straw had been when one your patients had attacked you during a therapy session. Thankfully, you knew how to defend yourself and you’d had an orderly with you. You came away from it with a few bumps and bruises and a cut on your cheek. But you were shaken up enough that Frederick had insisted that you go home and relax, promising that he’d finish up his own work and join you as soon as possible.
And now it was going on 4pm and you were standing at the living room window of Frederick’s, no, your house, you lived here now, gazing out at the front yard and street, wishing for Frederick’s car to come into view. He had called you 30 minutes ago to let you know he was leaving the hospital but had a stop to make. The weather forecast was calling for a snowstorm to blow in that evening, and the snow was already starting to fall. You didn’t want Frederick to get caught driving in that. You shivered, feeling the chill through the glass.
You felt something small and furry brush against leg and looked down, smiling when you saw the black kitten looking up at you. She placed her front paws on your leg and meowed, signaling that she wanted “up”. You knelt down and picked her up, snuggling her against your chest. She nuzzled her nose against your chin and let out another soft meow.
“I know, Buttercup, I know, baby, I’m worried about Daddy, too.” You took one last look, then closed the heavy curtains to better insulate the room. You crossed the room to the thermostat and turned up the heat, and then went to the kitchen to pour a glass of wine to calm your nerves.
You and Frederick had been together for about 6 months now, and they’d been the happiest months of your life. Ever since that eventful first date the previous summer, you and Frederick had been practically inseparable. You had moved in with him after New Year’s, and while you had never moved so fast in your previous relationships, Frederick was different. You were completely in love with him. He was the one, there was no doubt about that in your mind. Whenever you imagined your future, you saw him in it, you saw marriage, kids, all of it.
You had expected him to at least put up an argument when you suggested adopting a cat, but your dear, sweet man couldn’t deny you anything. Instead, he started researching what kind of supplies you’d need and looking at the local animal shelter websites to see what your options were. And that was how you found Buttercup. From the moment you saw her picture, you just knew. And when you went to the shelter and held her for the very first time, she fell asleep and started purring. She went home with you that day. She’d only been with you for a few weeks now, but she was already settled in and followed you and Frederick everywhere. She always wanted to cuddle and that suited you and Frederick just fine.
You wanted nothing more than to be cuddled up with Frederick right now. The perfect Valentine’s Day that you had planned was falling apart. The elaborate meal you were going to prepare? You were too tired to cook. That new lingerie you bought? You were no longer in the mood to wear it, or for sex. You would stick with your hoodie and soft, knit lounge pants tonight. Your stomach growled, and your mind went to the desert that you had prepared the night before. The red velvet cake trifle with the raspberry/blackberry red wine reduction sauce was chilling in the fridge.
“Should I?” You asked, looking down at Buttercup, still nestled in your arms.
“Mew?” she replied, looking confused. Then her eyes went to the drawstring on your hoodie and she began batting at it with her paw. “Mew…” You couldn’t help but giggle.
“You’re absolutely right, sweetie, I think some playtime is definitely warranted.”
******************
Buttercup wiggled her backside and pounced, her tiny paws swiping at the oversize peacock feather you were dangling in front of her. You laughed as she grabbed onto it and tried to bite down. When you tried to pull it away, she rolled over onto her back and started kicking it with her hind paws. It was one of the cutest sights in the world and you couldn’t get enough. Seeing her so happy made you happy. You both jumped when you heard the front door open and close, followed by the sound of footsteps and a cane clicking on the hardwood floor.
“Darling?”
You breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of Frederick’s voice. Buttercup went bounding to meet to him and you got up and followed, smiling when you saw Frederick hanging up his coat in the entryway closet. Buttercup was welcoming him home by weaving around his legs, meowing her little head off.
“Hmm…fascinating…” Frederick nodded in reply to the kitten, “and then what did you do today?”
You heart swelled at the sight. You loved the way he interacted with her and spoke to her like she was a human. It made you wonder what he would be like with a little one of your own…He met your gaze and you rushed to him, wrapping your arms around him, burying your face in the crook of his neck. “Thank god, your home! I was so worried about you getting stuck in the snow!”
His arms encircled you, pulling you flush against him. “There is no snowstorm powerful enough to keep me away from you, my love. Forgive me for not getting here sooner. The roads are already a mess, and you said you didn’t feel like cooking, so I picked up some takeout.” He indicated two brown paper bags sitting on the small table by the front door.
You looked up at him and smiled. “Have I ever told you how much I love you? Because I love you.”
He chuckled and placed a soft kiss on your forehead. “I love you, too, Y/N, and I never get tired of hearing it. How are you feeling?”
“Much better now that you’re home.”
Frederick wasted no time in pressing his lips to yours. All the tension melted out of your body as you got lost in the warm sensation. All of his kisses were loving and passionate, and this was no different, his lips melding perfectly with yours. You gently started to run your tongue all his lower lip, intending to deepen the kiss, but were interrupted by a loud yowl and Buttercup headbutting you in the shin. You and Frederick looked down and saw her staring back, giving you the most forlorn look that she could muster
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, we haven’t forgotten about you,” you reassured her. “Do you want your dinner?”
“Mew! Mew!” She answered, insistently rubbing against your leg.
You looked back at Frederick. “I’m going to get her taken care of, then we’ll eat, okay?”
Frederick nodded and kissed you one more time. “I’ll get the food plated while you do that.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.” You rested your forehead against his, hesitant to let him go.
“My love? Is everything alright?”
“Are you okay if we just cuddle on the couch tonight? I just…I just really need you to hold me.”
Frederick placed a gentle kiss on your forehead and gave you a warm smile. “As you wish, my love.”
“Did you just…”
“Yes, I did,” he replied with a chuckle. “Cuddling on the couch sounds perfect. Whatever make you happy is more than fine with me.”
“Thank you,” you said, pulling him in for another kiss. “I love you, Frederick.”
“I love you, too, my darling.”
********************
“So, do you think it will snow enough that we won’t have to go into work tomorrow?”
“One can only hope, my love,” Frederick answered, kissing your temple.
The two of you were cuddled on the couch under a blanket watching your favorite movie. You were curled up on your side with Frederick spooning you from behind, his arms wrapped around your mid-section. Buttercup was snuggled up in front of you, purring away.
“This is perfect,” you remarked, turning your head to glance back at Frederick. “I mean, this isn’t how I thought our first Valentine’s Day would go, but I’m happy, nonetheless. I love you, Frederick.”
“I love you, too, Y/N, Happy Valentine’s Day.”
57 notes · View notes
finleyfray · 3 years
Text
Bittersweet Memories part 7
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (part 6)
Taglist: @ashadash0904
TW: language,nightmares, think that’s it
Finley looks at the door, waiting patiently for her girlfriends to come in. Earlier today J’onn came along announcing there was a mission and if they wanted to go. Of course, Alex and Maggie said no instantly, but Fin almost ordered them to go and have a bit of fun. After arguing with them for a solid ten minutes, they finally agreed, claiming they will be back before their scheduled therapy session.  
The black-haired woman was nervous for the session. She knows they will talk about a lot of stuff that’s troubling them in their relationship. But on the other hand, some things have to be talked about. Maybe if they sit down and list them, it’s going to help. At least now Fin didn’t have to worry about Kelly stealing her girls.  
‘She has a wife and a kid on the way. She wouldn’t leave them. There is no danger from her side.’ Finley thinks as she hears a knock on her door. 
“Come in.” She looks at the door as they open and Kelly enters the room. “Hi.” Finley smiles politely as she greets the woman. 
“Hi, good morning, Finley. How are you doing today?” The older woman sits on a chair ahead of her. 
“I’m better, I think so. Nothing hurts actually, which is a pretty nice feeling.” 
“That is very good. You know when they’ll let you home?” Kelly asks, looking at the woman in bed. 
“Yeah.” Fin sighs. “They took my blood for testing earlier. Will let me know if I can go home tomorrow. I, uh, I kind of don’t want to go home...” She hung her head and looked at her hands. 
“And why is that?” 
“Well, I’m scared. It went wrong the first time, what if it goes wrong again? What if the pain comes back? And here I’ve had both of them by my side, what if I’m all alone again? I don’t want to stay home any more. I feel like I’m too clingy, because I’ve been practically attached to them for the last week, but I’ve missed them. By now they’re probably sick of me.” 
“We’re not sick of you.” Finley turns and sees her redhead girlfriend by the door. “I promise there’s nothing you could do that would make us sick of you.” Alex rushed to the bed and hugged her. Maggie trails behind her and sits on the other side of the bed.  
“I’m sorry.” Fin hugs them both.  
“It’s okay. We’re here to remind you of how we love you.” Her raven-haired girlfriend kisses her cheek. “We’ll just go day by day. I promise we’re not going to leave you.” 
“I’m just... I’m sorry, it’s egoistic, but when we’ll go home, I’m afraid you’ll just go back to work and I don’t want to stay home alone. I’m worried that something will go wrong again.” 
“It’s normal that you feel that way when a certain place brings you trauma.” 
“Yeah.” Fin cut Kelly off. “But I can’t expect them to constantly miss work because of me! They have taken so many free days, and Maggie even resigned from NCPD because of me. That’s not okay, I’m dragging them down.” 
“I didn’t resign because of you. I did resign because of my workload. Of how my boss was treating me.” Maggie looks at her girlfriend.  
“Well, she’s not wrong. You are also forgetting that you are in this state because of me.” Alex sighs, dropping her head. 
“What do you mean?” Finley looks at her girlfriend tilting her head.  
“Fin, you saved me. If I saw that stupid rock coming, you wouldn’t almost die! You just dropped everything and risked your life to save mine!” 
“Of course I did. What, did you expect me to just stand over there and watch you being crushed?” The black-haired woman frowns. 
“I said all these hurtful words and yet, even when you should be mad at me, hate me, you just dropped everything and saved me.” Alex looks at Finley as she wipes away her tears. Maggie takes the redhead hand squeezing it gently.  
“How do you feel about it?” Kelly asks, looking at them.  
“I’m... angry? At myself mostly. Because I acted like a total asshole. But also scared, because I realize such a situation can happen again, and I know she wouldn’t even hesitate to risk her life for me. And I don’t want to lose her.” 
“Well, of course I would risk my life for both of you. How could I ever look at your mother’s face and tell that her daughter is dead because I did not save her. How do you expect me to just stay there and look at you being in danger and do nothing? That’s not an option, it never was.” Finley huffs. What did Alex even think? Of course, she’s going to risk her life for both of them.  
“See, the thing is, and I can’t get why you keep missing it, my mother cares for you too. For her, it’s like she has 5 daughters. You think I ever want to go to her and tell her one of them didn’t make it!?” Alex’s voice broke, she was trying to maintain her tough face, but there were so many emotions inside her that she felt like she would burst.  
“Baby...” Finley sighs and hugs her redhead girlfriend as she feels her shaking from a sob. “I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.” She looks at Maggie who hugged Alex from behind.  
“But you almost did! You stopped breathing in my arms!”  
“Babe!” Finley retreats and looks her girlfriend in the eyes. “I am here now. I promise you it’s not changing. We have so many plans together, we’re getting a dog, we talked about moving to a larger house, your sister is getting married soon! I don’t plan on missing all these things. I want to spend the rest of my life with both of you, and I’m not dying anytime soon. It’s alright, it’s going to be okay.” 
“Promise?” Maggie whispers, her voice trembling from her own tears.  
“I promise.”
***
Alex smiles as she enters the room with coffee in her hand. It was a tough week, Finley was ordered to stay for a few days longer in the medical just to make sure there's no change for the worse. That also made them meet up with Kelly daily, and now Alex was feeling a lot better. The redhead was hopeful for their future in a beautiful house with a dog they really want and some kids. Or at least she hopes so, she still didn't talk about the kids part with her girlfriends. 
Alex always wanted to be a mother. Even if she had a time in her life where she wasn't sure if she likes men or women, Alex was always sure she wanted to have kids. She doesn't know when to talk about it yet, but she's sure she will.
"Hey. Ready to go home?" She looked at Fin, who's sitting on the bed.
"Yea, but Maggie doesn't let me do anything!" The black-haired woman whines and points at their shorter girlfriend who's packing all their stuff. 
"That's because the doctor said you need to take it easy." Maggie rolls her eyes and Alex laughs. Typical Sawyer behaviour. If the kids ever get that trait from her, they're going to be in so much trouble. 
"Come on, I'll help." The redhead walks to her and begins helping her girlfriend with packing. 
"Alright, I think that's it. We're good to go." Maggie informs, looking at their suitcase. "We'll get you a wheelchair, and we can go to the car."
"No! No, no, I can walk!" Finley huffs. "I don't need a wheelchair, I don't have a cast any more, I'll walk!"
"Babe..." Alex sighs. She gets it, it's so frustrating for Fin that she doesn't have the energy to walk so far as she's used to, she gets tired after a few meters, she won't be able to make it to the car. Yes, the black-haired woman is doing her best at physical therapy, and she makes a lot of progress, but she can't make it that far. "Baby..." Alex begins again, but she doesn't know what words to use to not hurt the younger woman but at the same time convince her to use a wheelchair. She looks at Maggie trying to get some support. 
"Finnie… The car is far away. It would really help if we just get you a wheelchair?" The shorter woman says, looking at their girlfriend.
"Oh." Finley hangs her head and looks at the floor. "O...okay."
"Baby…"
"No, just, please go get the wheelchair. Just don't, I get it. I know I'm too slow for you." 
"Okay." Maggie exits the room and they stay alone. 
"You okay?" Alex asks, looking at her girlfriend. 
"Yea. It's just… you know. I want to be able to walk normally. It's so frustrating that I'm getting tired so quickly." Finley sighs looking at the redhead. 
"You'll get better soon. Just not so long ago you could only move in a wheelchair, and now you're able to go alone for a bit. You need to give yourself some time, those injuries don't heal overnight." She walks to Fin and envelops her in a hug.
"Here you go." Maggie walks in with the wheelchair and looks at them. "You okay?"
"Yea." Finley stands up, leaning on Alex. She walks 4 steps and embraces Maggie. "Sorry. I overreacted. I just want to finally feel better and get back to our normal life."
"I know baby, I want this too. But, small steps, you know?" Maggie kissed Finley’s forehead and helped her sit on the wheelchair.
***
Maggie smiles as she enters the elevator. After a successful day at the DEO it's finally time to go home. She presses the button and the elevator closes going up. After a few seconds, the door opens again, and she walks out. Putting the key in the door, she opens them.
"I'm home." She announces, but she's met with silence. She furrows her brows and instinctively grabs her gun. While Finley might sleep, Alex never sleeps during the day. She slowly walks to the living room and chokes on air. There, on the couch, lies Alex with a bullet hole in her head. Maggie wants to scream, but she can't get any sound out of her mouth. She wants to go to her girlfriend, check on her, cry, scream, but she can't. Her legs lead her to the bedroom. 
There on their bed lies her other girlfriend. She looks at her with dead eyes and a hole in her chest. Next to their bed stands a man. She can't see his face, she can only see the gun in his hands. Once again, Maggie can't move. She looks at the man as he speaks.
"I told you…"
Maggie shoots up with a gasp. She looks around and finds her girlfriend's sleeping in bed next to her. The Latino tries to get her breath together. She grabs the duvet with shaky hands and gets out of the bed. She feels her cheeks getting wet and goes to the kitchen. 
"Fucking hell." She closes her eyes, but when she does, she sees her girlfriends dead all over again. She goes to the window and focuses her vision on the sign of the gas station near their home. 
Slowly, the raven-haired woman is able to even her breath and stop crying. She goes to the kettle and puts in water to warm it. 
For a few days now, Maggie has had this nightmare. She comes home and finds her girlfriends dead. She can't see the face of the man that shot them, it's all blurry. Only words spoken "I told you." but they don't mean anything to her. 
She makes herself some coffee. She won't be able to sleep any time soon. 
For the past few days, she went to lay with her girlfriends only to get up when they were asleep. She didn't want to alarm them, but she was just so tired. Maggie misses the good sleep. 
She tries to occupy her mind at night with everything she can think of. Recently, Maggie discovered podcasts, and she loves the criminal ones. She's always able to identify the murderer before them, and it successfully occupies her mind. She loves coloring adult color books while listening to it. The raven-haired woman would never admit to it, but it really calms her and brings her joy.
Maggie brings her cup of coffee to the table, but before she can power her headphones on, she hears footsteps. She quickly turns and is ready to fight when she sees Finley.
"Hey." She hears her girlfriend's sleepy voice, and it brings a little smile to her face. "It's late, what are you doing here?" The blue-eyed woman hobbles in her direction, and Maggie stands up to pick her. She grabs her and goes to sit on the couch nearby. The Latino snuggles into her girlfriend and sighs. She didn't realize how bad she needed a hug. Fin embraces her and softly scratches the back of her head. 
"What's wrong?" She asks, and Maggie can hear a worry in her voice.
"Nothing. I just wanted to snuggle."
"Then why are you here with coffee instead of sleeping?" Her girlfriend asks softly.
"I just can't sleep any more tonight."
"Babe, you look exhausted. What's wrong?" 
"I… Nothing is wrong. I just can't sleep." Maggie rolls her eyes. Finley and her stubbornness are going to be the end of her.
"Baby…" Fin stops and yawns. "Talk to me, please."
The raven-haired woman sighs and leans back a bit to look into her girlfriends blue eyes.
"I just keep having this nightmare for a few days." Maggie cups her girlfriend's cheeks to feel her. She needs to know she's really here. 
"Can you tell me about it?" Fin's hand softly strokes her hair.
"I don't know…"
"Please?" Her girlfriend made a puppy face, and she was gone. She can never say no to that face, and her girlfriend knows that. Damn her. Maggie sighs.
"It begins normally. I come home from work and open the door. I call out, but it's so quiet, I go to the living room and there on the couch lies Alex with a bullet in her head. And I can't do anything about it." She feels her girlfriend wiping away her tears, she didn't know she was crying. "I can't go to her, I can't scream, I can't cry, nothing! And I'm forced to go away, to go to the bedroom. And you're there, looking at me with dead eyes, hole in your chest. There's this man standing next to the bed. He's holding a gun, but he doesn't have a face, his face is blurred." Maggie sobs. "And he's only words are "I told you…". Like, what does this even mean!" She snuggles into Finley’s chest and sobs even more. 
"It's okay, we're okay, you're okay." The black-haired woman embraces her and whispers in her ear. "It's just a nightmare, we're here, and we're safe. Nothing is coming to kill us. We're going to be okay."
Slowly, her sobs become quieter, and she feels herself being maneuvered to lie on Fin. She rests her head on her girlfriend's chest and listens to her heart beat. It's so comfortable, and she feels a duvet on her, giving her more warmth. And right now, as Maggie's fatigue gets the best of her, she really wants to believe that they're going to be okay.
13 notes · View notes
sassyduckqueen · 3 years
Text
Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 58
Alright! So chronologically speaking this is Pixelator's third akumation so I've made him a little more powerful, similar to how Stormy Weather's powers evolved. Anyway, that's this one done!! I'm very happy with how it turned out and I hope you all enjoy it too :D Next up is Love-Eater!
Also for anyone who's interested. Luka was using Psychometry via empathy which is how he was able to view how Vincent was akumatized. His empathy will be growing more and more throughout my season 4 and he will be learning a lot more about Hao Feng and others :D
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Fifty-Eight: Pixelator’s Photo Finish
"So how was therapy today?" Juleka asked as she walked with Luka from the building that Doctor Lang worked in. Luka looked pretty tired but gave her a small smile as they walked down the street.
 "We were talking about my father issues and abandonment issues... and the akumas," He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Hawkmoth had been sending akumas after him again. He seemed to be trying to be more crafty about it but it was obvious what their goal was. However, at this point he had just kind gotten use to it. Juleka nodded as they walked over to the ice cream cart. She had promised to get some with him after his therapy session. "I told her about you,"
 "Oh?" She asked, looking over at him.
 "I told her that you're amazing," He grinned, making her lightly punch him and call him a geek. He laughed a little as they came to a stop at Andre's ice cream and ordered two cones. Andre handed Juleka two scoops with sprinkles. One scoop was strawberry and the other was liqwish. The sprinkles were glittery. He turned to Luka next and gave him one scoop of blueberry and one scoop of strawberry with a flake. Luka smiled and took it before they paid him and walked off. They found a seat and sat down, looking over at the seine as they ate their ice creams. "Thanks for meeting me..."
 "It's fine," Juleka mumbled, looking to the side shyly. "Besides, I managed to get out of class early for it,"
 "Oh so that's why you agreed," Luka teased, grinning at Juleka who mumbled and lightly punched him again. "You are so mean to me,"
 "Hey, you started it," She grinned before they both laughed and continued to eat their ice cream. They both sat in silence as Juleka sighed, causing Luka to look over at her. She was glancing down at her ice cream with a sad expression. He knocked his arm against hers lightly, making her look over at him. "I'm ok,"
 "No, you're not," He replied, making her sigh. "Want to talk about it?"
 "You just got out of a therapy session," She pointed out but he gave her a look. She sighed and looked over at the water. "I'm afraid..."
 "Of what?" He asked, looking at her. She sighed and glanced down at her lap. 
 "Of losing you..." She mumbled, making him look at her. Tears filled her eyes. "It seems like you're always in danger right now. First, there was the akuma and the seizure then hawkmoth targeting you for ages. When it finally calmed down, you were almost kidnapped and then Lila went after you and then you were actually kidnapped, almost killed and that bastard got akumatized and tried to kill you... I was so afraid when Lady Noir told us you were in the hospital again and it was even worse when I saw you laying asleep in the bed. I knew you were asleep but I was so afraid you wouldn't wake up. And now the akumas are back and trying to hurt you. Luka, I d-don't want to lose you,"
 "Jewel, I promise I am not going anywhere," He stated, wrapping his arms around her as tears slid down her cheeks. "You're stuck with me ok?"
 She nodded and rested her head against his shoulder as he gently kissed the top of her head before softly humming as she slowly calmed down. She closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his waist, humming with him.
 "I'm sorry..." She mumbled, looking up at him but he shook his head.
 "Don't be," He replied, smiling softly at her. "And I'll be more careful. I promise,"
 "It's not your fault..." Juleka mumbled as the two of them looked at the Seine. "Issac, Hawkmoth and Lila are the ones at fault,"
 "Hmm, I guess you're right about that," He replied, gently smiling at her. Juleka nodded and leaned against him as he held her, gently rubbing her back as he did. She slowly looked up and wiped her eyes before sighing.
 "I'm sorry," She mumbled, making him look at her.
 "For what?" He asked, frowning a little.
 "Crying on you," She mumbled, looking down ashamed. "I didn't mean to break down on you. You don't need it right now and I should handle my emotions better,"
"Hey, don't say that," He stated, holding her shoulders so she could look at him. "You're my little sister, Jewel and I don't care if I have to go through hell to help you. If you need my help, I'm gonna be there. If you just need me to listen while you rant then I'll do it. I don't care if I'm on the other side of the world... if you need me, I'll be there so don't think you have to bottle up your feelings, can't break down in front of me or talk to me. Just because I'm in therapy doesn't mean I can't listen to you. You're allowed to feel and all of this has been scary for you too. Your feelings are valid too, Jewel,"
 "Thank you," She replied, hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her again. "I just don't want to add to your stress,"
 "Not telling me when you need to will add to my stress," He whispered back, rubbing her back. "You know I won't pressure you to tell me everything but please don't think you can't tell me,"
 She nodded, making him smile.
 "Why don't we head home, get some snacks and watch a movie?" He suggested, making her smile a little before playing with her hands.
 "A-Aren't you meeting Marinette tonight?" She replied, making him blush a little. She grinned at his reaction but he shook his head. "You're not?"
 "There will be other times and she'll understand. Besides, I know she has some new projects for Dad and Clara," He replied, making Juleka look over at him. "Dad kept going on about it,"
 Juleka giggled before getting up.
 "Alright," She replied, making him look at her. "But I get to choose the movie,"
 "Are you gonna torment me with a horror movie?" Luka asked as he took out his phone and texted Marinette, asking for a rain check. She texted back almost instantly, saying sure but asking if he was ok. He smiled a little and replied.
 L: Yeah, I'm fine. It's actually Jewels. She's a bit upset atm. X
 M: Oh, is she ok? I can bake her some cookies. Xx
 L: She'll be alright. She was just upset with all that's been going on. I suggested a movie night with just the two of us. It's been a while and it usually cheers her up but cookies would be lovely :3 xx
 M: Oh, poor juleka. She's lucky to a great brother like you :) tell her I'll bring some to school tomorrow and don't stay up too late! XD We'll hang out another day :D xx
 L: I will :) thanks for understanding though. You're the best xxx
 M: No worries, Lu  😊
 L: Thanks again 😘
 M: 😳😊
 He chuckled at her reply before putting his phone away and catching up to Juleka. They headed to the shop first and brought some drinks, popcorn and chocolate before heading back to the Liberty
 "So is Marinette ok with it?" She asked, making him nod.
 "Yeah. She also said she'll have some cookies for you tomorrow at school," He smiled, making Juleka grin. Marinette's cookies are the best. 
 "So when are you gonna ask her out?" She asked, making him turn bright red and cough a little. She laughed at his reaction. "She's into you you know,"
 "W-We're just friends," He gasped, looking to the side. He did want more with her but he also respected that she liked him as a friend. "Besides, she probably doesn't see me in that way and she probably still likes Adrien,"
 "Adrien is with Kagami,"
 "I know but she might still have a thing for him and is just trying to heal..." He muttered, looking to the side again. "Besides, she hasn't said anything about my confession..."
 "Hold up, you confessed to Marinette?!"
 "Well... yeah..."
 "Well, what did you say? And when?"
 "I said 'you're the most extraordinary girl. As clear as a music note and as sincere as a melody. You're the song that's been playing in my head since I met you'.... just before our performance on TVi," Luka replied, blushing as Juleka stopped and stared at him. "Was it too much? It was, wasn't it?"
 "What? No, that was really romantic," Juleka gasped, making him blush a little. "But it might have been too complicated?"
 "You mean I went overboard?" He asked, making her laugh and held up her fingers to show that maybe just a bit. "Urg I'm such a geek,"
 "Don't worry about that," She stated, making him look at her. "Chics dig geeks,"
 "Did you just quote avengers at me?" He asked as she grinned. He shook his head and laughed as they opened the gang plank and walked onto the Liberty. "So what's your advice, o worthy one?"
 "Just ask her on a date and confess to her like a normal person," She replied, making him roll his eyes a little. She smirked as they headed downstairs. "We're watching Annabelle by the way,"
 "Do we have to?"
 "Hey, it's not my fault you're afraid of dolls,"
 "I'm not afraid of dolls," Luka gasped as he started to make popcorn. "I'm just afraid of that doll,"
 Juleka laughed and put in the DVD as Luka brought the popcorn over.
 ~A Few Days Later~
 Marinette hummed as she walked to the park where she was meeting Luka. She had chose to wear a pink and white summer dress that she had made with her ballet pumps and her hair done in a plait instead of her usual style. She had brought some snacks with her too and a blanket. She didn't think it was a date but part of her hoped it was. They had been kind of dating without actually dating. She saw him and smiled before walking over. He was sat on a bench with his guitar, tuning it.
 "Hey," She smiled, making him look up and smile before he put down the guitar and stood up.
 "Hey," He smiled, hugging her. She hugged back before they pulled away. "You look lovely,"
 "T-Thanks," She blushed, playing with her plait. "S-So I brought some snacks... maybe we could find somewhere to sit and relax,"
 "Sounds like a good plan to me," He smiled, putting the guitar in it's case and placing it over his back before offering his arm. She giggled and took it before they walked off and found a nice area on the grass. Marinette removed her arm and took out the blanket before putting it on the ground and sitting down with the basket. Luka sat down and smiled as she passed him an eclair. "Thanks,"
 "How's Juleka doing?" She asked as she took out a cookie for herself. 
 "She's doing ok," He replied, making her smile. "She's actually thinking about going for therapy herself but she hasn't made up her mind yet,"
 "It's not a choice that should be taken lightly," Marinette stated, making him nod as he ate the eclair. "And how's it going with yours?"
 "It's going ok actually," He smiled, grabbing a bottle of drink. "Dr Lang is pretty cool actually. She's been teaching me breathing exercises to help with the panic attacks and nightmares,"
 "That's good," She smiled as he smiled back. She shuffled a little closer, making him blush a little. She giggled and leaned her head against his arm, making him smile before he cleared his throat, making her look at him.
 "Y-You know how I said about you're the song in my head..." He mumbled, making her sit up straight. She looked a little worried, hoping he wasn't gonna take it back. "I m-mean it, Marinette. You're amazing and I l-"
 "Luka Couffaine!!" A voice suddenly shouted, making both Marinette and Luka jump as a man with blonde and pink hair rushed over. He was wearing a Jagged Stone shirt, blue jeans and lace gloves. He completely ignored Marinette as he rushed over and stood in front of Luka. "Oh my god!! This is so cool!! I have a huge favor to ask you!!"
 "W-Who are you?!" Luka gasped, leaning away from him. Marinette frowned and moved over.
 "Hey! Can't you see we're busy here?!" She gasped, making him look at her before he gasped in surprise as well.
 "And Marinette Dupain-Cheng!!" He gasped, making her look at him in surprise. "Oh my gosh!! You're Jagged Stone's designer!!! I have to have your autography too!! Oh, are you two on a date?! How amazing! Jagged's designer and his son on a date!!"
 "Um-" Marinette gasped, feeling really uncomfortable. She noticed Luka looked the same. "We're busy. Let's head home, Lu,"
 "R-Right," He replied in a quieter then usual voice. They quickly packed up the picnic and began to walk off but the newcomer followed them.
 "Wait!! Can I get a photo of you? Oh and can you ask Jagged for an autograph and photo?!" He gasped, rushing after them. Marinette turned around and glared at him. "Please! I'm Vincent, his biggest fan and I just want a photo of him!!"
 "Leave us alone!" Marinette hissed like a cat as Luka and her walked off quickly. Luka had heard about Vincent before. Jagged had told him the story about how he had tried to capture a photo and became an akuma. He also told Luka that he had a restraining order against him. However, Vincent got closer and actually grabbed Luka's arm, causing him to panic.
 "Please, Luka! Your father is my idol!" He gasped, ignoring Marinette as Luka tried to pull away. She shouted at him to get off but he ignored her. "I need a photo with him!!"
 "Back off!!" Marinette growled. Once again, he ignored her and moved closer to Luka, causing him to panic more. He managed to slip his hand into his pocket, causing Tikki to push the pepper spray into his hand as Marinette tried to pull Vincent away from him. "Hey!!"
 "You have t- Aaahhh!!!" He screamed as Luka sprayed him with the pepper spray. He stumbled back and tripped, falling onto the ground as Luka took deep breathes and calmed down. "My eyes!!"
 "Leave me and Marinette alone!" He stated, grabbing her hand and running back to the bakery with her. As soon as they got inside, Marinette dropped the basket and turned to him as he leaned against the door with his eyes closed, taking slow and calm breathes.
 "Are you ok, Luka?" She asked, making him open his eyes and nod. She gently moved a bit of his hair as she looked at him with a gentle but concerned look. "Why don't we go to the balcony and finish our pinick there if you want?"
 "I-I'd like that," He replied. She smiled and went to pick up the basket but he gently took her hand, making her look at him. "Are you ok?"
 "Yes," She nodded, leaning up and gently kissing his cheek. He smiled a little before picking up the basket and helping her upstairs. The two of them climbed up to her room before making their way to her bed. Marinette climbed on top and reached for her skylight, opening it before pulling herself through it as Luka brought the basket over. He passed it to her, causing her to pull it up onto the balcony before he climbed up and grabbed onto the edge of the skylight, hoisting himself through it. Marinette was placing the food on the little table before she pulled the two chairs together. Luka smiled as she smiled at him before they sat down. She moved the blanket around them and leaned gently against Luka. Instantly, he felt calm now that they were sat on her balcony. "Are you ok?"
 "Yeah..." He muttered, looking out to the sun. "I'm alright,"
 ~Hawkmoth's Lair~
 "Another soul seeking out Luka Couffaine again?" Hawkmoth muttered to himself before smirking and holding out his hand as a butterfly flew over to him and landed on it. He covered it with his other hand, charging it up with his magic. He moved it and allowed it to fly off. "Fly away, my little akuma and akumatized him,"
 The butterfly flew out of the window and into the city. A few minutes later, the connection opened, causing Hawkmoth to smile.
 "Pixalator, I'm returning your powers to capture your idol forever," Hawkmoth declared as Vincent listened. "And in return-"
 "I get the miraculous of Anatis and Lady Noir," He replied, making Hawkmoth smile. "I know the drill,"
 "Yes, you do," Hawkmoth smirked, leaning on his cane. "But while that is part of the deal, I have something else I want... or should I say someone?"
 "Go on,"
 "I want you to capture and bring me a young man called Luka Couffaine," He replied, making Vincent gasp in surprise. "I believe you're familiar with him,"
 "Jagged Stone's son?!" He gasped. "Do you want his designer as well?"
 "Hmm... no, the girl is useless to me. Just bring me Couffaine and miraculous," He ordered, smirking. "Do we have a deal, Pixelator?"
 "Let the photo shoot begin, Hawkmoth..."
 ~Back to Marinette and Luka~
 The two of them climbed back down into her room after spending a good half an hour. They decided to head back into her room and were just chilling on her chaise lounge as she taught Luka to sew. He had his tongue stuck out and was focusing on the task. She smiled a little as she watched him before gently poking his arm, causing him to look up at her.
 "What were you gonna say before that guy turned up?" She asked as he put down the material he was practicing on. 
 "I was going to say that I a- what the hell?" He gasped as he looked at her photos with fear in his eyes. Marinette gasped and turned around as something stepped out of one of her photos. he two of them stared in shock as Pixelator grinned at them in a creepy manner before pointing to his lens.
 "Smile for the camera!" He declared, firing at them. Luckily, the two of them had already jumped up and out of the way. "Hold still, my pretty subjects! I only want a picture!!"
 He jumped over and grabbed Marinette, throwing her out of the way.
 "A little moth wants a word with you, boy," He smirked, cornering Luka in the corner. His eyes widen in fear and shock as he went to grab Luka's arm. "Now come wi- Ahhh!!!"
 Marinette yanked a spare flour sack over him that she had in her room. She was planning to use it for an art project but it made for the perfect distraction. She grabbed Luka's hand as Pixelator tried to escape from it and pulled him over to the trap door. She opened it and pushed him towards the exit, causing him to climb down into the hallway as she followed. However, Pixelator ripped the sack in parts and shot at her, causing her to disappear in a bright light.
 "Marinette!" Luka gasped as Pixelator jumped down, smirking. "What do you want?!"
 "Me? I just want to immortalize Jagged Stone forever but Hawkmoth wishes to talk to you," He declared, roughly grabbing Luka's arm and began to drag him back up towards Marinette's room. Luka looked confused and horrified. "I think you sparked his interest. I'm not surprise that you're special. Just like your father! Oh, I could immortalize you as well!"
 "W-Wait but Hawkmoth knows it was just ep-epilepsy!" Luka gasped, trying to get out of his grip as panic began to fill his mind. "He said he would leave me alone!"
 "That was before the incident with Mob Boss," Pixelator replied but he had the purple mask over his eyes. "Once is chance, twice is coincidence but three times is a pattern and I have akumatized an epileptic before, Mr Couffaine. No one reacted the way you did,"
 "I counted twice, Hawkmoth," Luka pointed out, making him chuckle.
 "Two akumas and an amok," He replied, glaring at him. "I count three and I highly doubt that you're epileptic. I think Anatis is covering up something about you and I will find out what it is!"
 Luka had to take a deep breathe to calm himself down as Pixelator continued to pull him back into the room and towards a photo. He glanced around, trying to work out how to break free but nothing lit up, making him feel more panicked. However, his luck vision kicked in when he looked towards Marinette's mirror, highlighting himself. He blinked with slight confusion. What could he do? He was just Luka and Luka didn't have any super powers... but he did have nature magic. Once he remembered that, it became clear of what he needed to do. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, causing Pixelator to stop and look at him.
 "What are you doing?" He asked. Luka wasn't sure if it was the akuma or Hawkmoth but frankly he didn't care.
 "Trying to stop myself from having a panic attack," He replied, keeping his eyes closed as he spoke calmly. "Unfortunately, I have them thanks to the actions of my asshole of a stepfather. Been kidnapped and beaten up will do that for you,"
 "Well, that makes sense! It was a traumatic event," Well, it looks like Pixelator r is back in control. "But don't worry! Once Hawkmoth has talked to you, I'll immor-"
 Luka suddenly slammed his hand on Pixelator's arm and projected his panic onto him, causing him to yell out and letting go. It wasn't the same level as he did to Issac but it was enough to shock the akuma and possibly cause a backlash onto Hawkmoth. Seeing his chance, he ripped his arm free and scaled the platform that led to Marinette's bed before hoisting himself up to the balcony. He slammed the skylight closed and locked it before moving the table over it. The table jumped slightly as Pixelator tried to break through the skylight. Luka rushed over to the edge and climbed over it, moving over to the edge and towards the brick wall. He ducked behind it as a bright light appeared. Tikki looked up at him, causing him to place his finger to his lip as Pixelator climbed onto the balcony. He growled when he couldn't see Luka.
 "He's not here, Hawkmoth," He stated, glancing around. "He must have escaped,"
 Luka peeked around the edge a little as Pixelator stood still with a purple mask over his eyes. Hawkmoth was talking to him and though Luka couldn't hear it, he could guess what he was saying. Find him and bring him to me. 
 "Of course," He replied before jumping off the balcony and into the city. Luka let out a sigh as Tikki flew out.
 "Are you ok?" She asked, making him nod.
 "But Hawkmoth has decided to hunt me down again," He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I probably haven't helped the situation but I used that trick Feng taught me to escape from Pixelator's grip,"
 "You projected your emotions on him again?"
 "Yeah but just enough to stun him for a couple of minutes," He replied, glancing down. "I only did what I did to Issac because it was the only way to stop him without getting violent..."
 "I know, Luka," She whispered, touching his cheek. "Trust me, I'm not judging you. I'm just surprised at how quickly you mastered that trick that's all. You really are a natural mage,"
 "Thanks, Tikki," He smiled before frowning. "But Pixelator captured Marinette so it's time to transform. Tikki! Spots on!"
 He transformed and took out his yoyo before scrolling through his contacts. Lady Noir wasn't online, making him frown but he shook his head and sent her a quick message, explaining the akuma. With that done, he went onto the ladyblog and scrolled through it's older posts til he came to the article on Pixelator when he first turned up. He read over it as he frowned. Obsessed with Jagged Stone, tried to capture him and ended up capturing multiple victims. He remembered taking him down with Simon Says and using his power to capture many akumas and jury members during Princess Justice's attack but he had no idea who he was as a civilian. With some of the akumas, it was obvious. Either they looked like their normal selves, they revealed who they were when talking, they were famous or he actually knew them in his normal life but with some akumas, he didn't have an idea who they were and Pixelator was one of those ones. It didn't help that technically reporters and bloggers weren't allowed to name their civilian identities but even with those ones, he could usually work who they were. Anatis frowned to himself before looking back at the article and read it over again. The part that stood out to him was the obsessed with Jagged Stone. Pixelator had said it as well. How he wanted to immortalize Jagged Stone. It reminded him of that creepy guy in the park who had interrupted his time with Marinette. He frowned as he thought about it. He had sprayed him with Pepper Spray so maybe he did get akumatized afterwards. Anatis let out a sigh and closed his yoyo. He only knew a few things about this guy. His first name was Vincent and he was obsessed with Jagged. He sighed before throwing his yoyo and swinging across to the Grand Paris Hotel. He landed on the roof and put his yoyo away before he heard his name been squealed. He glanced over and saw Chloe and Sabrina looking at him.
 "Oh hey," He smiled, lifting his hand to wave. Sabrina giggled and followed Chloe as she rushed over. 
 "Are you on patrol?" Chloe asked.
 "Actually, I'm looking for Jagged Stone," He replied, making her gasp in surprise. "He stays here right?"
 "Oh! Yes!! Room 36 on the fourth floor," Sabrina gasped, making him nod. "We can show you to it,"
 "That would be great," He smiled, causing the two girls to pull him over to the lift. The three of them went down the lift and to the fourth floor. Once there, Anatis thanked them and headed towards Jagged's room. He knocked on the door and waited for a few minutes before the door opened, revealing Penny.
 "Anatis?" She asked, surprised.
 "I need to talk to Mr Stone," He stated, causing her to nod and let him in. Jagged looked up from his guitar and gasped in surprise before jumping up and rushing over to him.
 "Anatis! What brings you here?"
 "Um... actually I wanted to ask about Pixelator," He stated, making Jagged frown. "He's returned and I need to know who he is,"
 "Oh well that's easy," Jagged stated, making Anatis nod. "He's called Vincent Asa. He's this super obsessed fan of mine. When he first became Pixelator, it was because Penny caught him trying to take a picture of me without my permission. She kicked him out and well he got akumatized and came after me. Ryuko and Aspik saved me but a lot of other people got captured. I'm not sure how they got out though as they definitely escaped before you turned up. Anyway, they stopped him by destroying his camera,"
 "Hmm," Anatis frowned, nodding to himself before taking out his yoyo and typing Vincent's name, finding his address. "Ok, I'm gonna go and investigate his home. Maybe I can find a clue as to how his power works or why he got akumatized,"
 "Well, he just captures people and traps them in some sort of place," Penny stated, making Anatis shake his head. "Anatis?"
 "It seems his power has grown. He is now able to travel through photos as well as capture people," He replied, frowning. "I recommend not going outside. Pixelator will try and capture you if he sees you, Mr Stone,"
 "R-Right..." Jagged nodded before gasping. "Wait, you don't think he'll go after my son will you?!"
 "Luka?" Anatis asked, making Jagged nod. "Actually, it was him who alerted me about Pixelator but I told him to hide somewhere Pixelator wouldn't think to look,"
 "Like the school?" Jagged asked, making Anatis chuckle.
 "Sure," He replied before opening the window and diving out of it, swinging off into the city. He landed on the building next to the one Vincent lived in before jumping down and climbing through an open window. He glanced around, frowning at all the pictures devoted to Jagged but a shiver came up to his spine as he saw pictures of himself, Juleka, Anarka and even Marinette. There were ones of him walking home from school and a couple of him and Juleka having ice cream. There were ones of Anarka, Jagged and Penny talking as well of ones of Marinette hanging out with him and Juleka and a couple of her meetings with Penny and Jagged. "Ok, this is a whole new level of creepy and I'm pretty sure this is illegal,"
 He took out his yoyo and took photos for evidence. There was no way he was going to let Vincent get away with stalking. He might be Hawkmoth's current victim but this was something that needed to be addressed. He walked over and noticed a cloth on the side by a sink. He walked over and noticed it had black on it. He recognized it was eyeliner, suggesting that Vincent had been using it to wash his face. He frowned and walked over, picking it up. Almost instantly, his vision flashed, causing him to blink. When he opened his eyes, he still stood in front of the mirror but stood next to him was Vincent. Anatis jumped back in surprise but Vincent didn't react to him at all. In fact, he was still looking in the mirror. His eyes were red and watery as he shakily held the cloth. Anatis frowned and moved his hand in front of his face yet he didn't react to him. Instead, he sighed and moved his hand.
 "Stupid brat," He muttered, running it under water before dubbing his eyes. "I just want a photo of Jagged! He didn't have to spray me with damn pepper spray!"
 He slammed the cloth down and walked over to his bed, picking up his camera as an akuma fluttered into the room. Anatis frowned as he saw the akuma enter the camera. Vincent growled as he listened to Hawkmoth.
 "I get the miraculous of Anatis and Lady Noir," He replied, making Anatis frown as he listened. "I know the drill,"
 He didn't turn into Pixelator straight away. Instead, he continued to listen to Hawkmoth.
 "Go on," He stated before gasping. "Jagged Stone's son?! Do you want his designer as well?"
 Anatis frowned as he watched. Is that why he captured Marinette?
 "Let the photo shoot begin, Hawkmoth..." Vincent stated, making Anatis frown as he turned into Pixelator before he blinked again and looked round the room. Vincent was gone and Anatis was still stood in front of the mirror, holding the cloth.
 "That was new..." He muttered, making a mental note to ask Feng about it as he put down the cloth. He went to head to the door before noticing some odd looking pictures. It took a moment but he realized they weren't pictures but in fact, people trapped. He moved over and gasped as he saw a couple of people he didn't recognized but one he did. "Marinette?"
 "Anatis!" She gasped, looking up at him with relief in her eyes. "Oh thank goodness, you're here! You need to find Luka! He's in big trouble,"
 "Luka is safe, Marinette. I know Pixelator is after him so I've hidden him somewhere Pixelator won't think to look," He replied, making Marinette let out a sigh of relief as new pictures appeared on the wall. A few others noticed him and began to ask for help, causing him to look at them in shock. "What happened to you?"
 "We were just walking- Behind you!" One of them gasped, causing Anatis to jump out of the way as Pixelator jumped out of a picture and began to shoot at him. He jumped over the couch as Pixelator aimed at him. He went to throw his yoyo but Pixelator's beam hit his arm, causing him to drop his yoyo. He gasped and jumped across the room, grabbing his yoyo as he did. Pixelator aimed at him, causing him to knock his body into the camera lights. They began to fall on Pixelator, forcing him to take photos of them so they didn't land on him. Seeing his chance, Anatis escaped through the window and swung off through the city, landing on a rooftop and moved behind a wall. He glanced behind and saw Pixelator wasn't following him, causing him to let out a small sigh of relief before he turned his attention back to his arm to see the damage. He looked at it and frowned as he saw it was pixelated. He took a deep breathe and went to touch it with his other hand, only for it to go straight through. 
 "Oh dear," He gasped, wiggling his fingers. "I really hope Tikki can fix that..."
 His yoyo vibrated, causing him to open it with his good hand. It was a notification from the TVi studio. He went to press play but his fingers went through, making him sigh.
 "Yoyo, play the video," He ordered, causing it to make the video play. He didn't use it very often but right now, he was glad he could use voice command on his yoyo. The video played, causing him to frown as he watched the news crew film Pixelator firing at random innocent people as he strolled down the Champs-Élysées before turning to the camera.
 "Anatis, if you don't bring me what I want, I'll make sure everyone in Paris is nothing but memories!" He demanded before firing at the camera man, making the film cut off. Anatis sighed before closing his yoyo and swinging off to the Champs-Élysées. He landed on a bus as Pixelator continued to shoot at people, making him sigh.
 "Got a itchy trigger finger hm?" He asked, causing Pixelator to turn around and face him. He went to fire at him but Anatis held up his hand. "Hold on! If you get rid of me now, you'll never know where I hid your target but more importantly, I have an offer for you that I know you won't be able to resist?"
 "What could you possibly give me?" Pixelator asked, making Anatis smirk.
 "Jagged Stone," He replied, causing the akuma to gasp. "I know you're his biggest fan and if you free the people you have captured, I'll arrange a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. Your very own photoshoot with Jagged Stone himself. He'll be yours forever,"
 "You're lying," Pixelator gasped, making Anatis narrow his eyes.
 "I would never lie," He stated, making Pixelator look at him. "Everyone knows how much I hate liars. Just look at how I reacted to Volpina,"
 "Hmm... You did expose her," He stated, frowning as he tapped his chin.
 "And you're never get a chance like this again," He stated, making Pixelator smile as he brought into it. "What do you say? Free the people you've captured and immortalize your idol forever or lose your chance forever?"
 "How about I free half now then the other half once you bring Jagged here?" He replied, making Anatis pull a face before sighing.
 "Alright, it's a deal," He replied, making Pixelator smirk before he pressed a button on the side of his head. A shockwave of pixels appeared before people began to reappear.
 "Alright, I've kept my part of the deal now you keep yours," Pixelator stated, causing Anatis to nod. He took out his yoyo and opened it before trying to use it. He sighed and began to use his nose, making Pixelator roll his eyes. "Hurry up,"
 "Well, I'd be able to do this faster if you hadn't pixelated my arm!" Anatis snapped back, looking up and moving the yoyo to his ear. "Ms Rolling, it's Anatis. I need you to bring Mr Stone to the Champs-Élysées. I know but it was the only way I could free some of the people. Yes... thank you for understanding,"
 He moved his yoyo and used his chin to close it before looking at Pixelator. 
 "He's on his way," He stated as Lady Noir silently jumped down and slowly moved towards him. "So while we're waiting, why don't I guess where your akuma is or you could release the other half?"
 "I'll release them when Jagged Stone gets here," He replied, stepping forward. "Of course, I could just take your miraculous right now hm? Since you've arranged for Jagged to come here, I no longer need you,"
 "Yeah but I'm the only person who knows where your other target is," Anatis replied, making Pixelator stop. "And I know that's who Hawkmoth really wants. You get rid of me and I'll never tell you where he is,"
 "You drive a hard bargain, Anatis," Pixelator replied, crossing his arms before glancing around. "You better not be lying to me,"
 "I'm not," Anatis replied, tilting his head to the side. "Is it in your head gear?"
 Pixelator snapped his head towards him, causing Anatis to pick up on a hint of panic.
 "It is, isn't it?" He smirked as Lady Noir reached for it but before she could get it, Pixelator realized and turned around, grabbing her hand. She pushed against him before he knocked her down and grabbed her legs, throwing her into Anatis. He tried to catch her but thanks to his pixelated hand, it fails and she landed on him. Pixelator laughed and fired at them, causing Anatis to grab her with his good hand and roll under the car. "You ok?"
 "I'm good," She replied as they jumped up and ran from Pixelator as he fired at the car. Lady Noir frowned as she noticed Anatis cradling his right hand. "What happened to your hand?"
 "Oh, Pixelator hit it with his beam and... well..." He held it up, showing her what it looked like. Pixelator fired at them again, causing them to backflip away before landing on the ground as Pixelator fired at them again. To their surprise, he missed but then Lady Noir saw that he hit a window of a car behind them, causing the beam to bounce and head towards Anatis. She pushed him out of the way, causing her to disappear in pixels as it hit her. Anatis rolled and jumped up, throwing his yoyo at Pixelator who turned to him.
 "When the cat's away, the mice will play," He smirked, pointing to his lens. "Ready to be immortalized forever, Anatis?"
 "Can't wait," He grinned, spinning his yoyo and dodging Pixelator's beams before jumping over him and throwing his yoyo. It wrapped around his wrist as Anatis landed. He yanked it, causing Pixelator to fall forward. He growled and yanked his hand free as Anatis jumped onto a car and threw his yoyo, swinging away from him. Pixelator fired at him, hitting his leg and causing him to fall down as he stalked over.
 "You're very clever, Anatis but it's obvious that you lied to me to distract me," 
 "You were the one who believed me, Pixelator," He replied, moving away from him as best as he could. "I really do hate liars but did you really think I'd actually sacrifice a civilian?"
 "Well played," He replied, smirking. "But I win this game. Look into-"
 "Pixelator!" Jagged's voice echoed, causing Anatis to look over in surprise as Pixelator smirked and turned to him. He called out to him, trying to tell him to run as he was in danger. However, Jagged completely ignored him. "You want me?! Well, here I am!"
 "Jagged!" He gasped, completely losing interesting in Anatis. "At last, I can finally immortalize you! Look into the lens!"
 He went to take his photo but Jagged stopped him and switched pose before repeating the action. He questioned if the lighting was right or if his nose looked small, keeping Pixelator distracted and annoyed. Anatis tried to stand up but fell forward. However, Penny caught him surprising him.
 "We saw the news reporter and it looked like you could use a hand," She whispered as Jagged spun around again, getting on his knees and holding up his hands. "I think it might be time to use your power,"
 "Good suggestion," Anatis replied, throwing his yoyo up with his good hand. "Lucky charm!"
 A compact mirror appeared out of thin and fell to the ground, causing Anatis to try and grab it. However, it phased through his hand but Penny caught it.
 "A compact mirror?" She asked, holding it to him. He took it from her as she frowned. "What are you gonna do with that?"
 "I'm not sure yet," He replied, looking around in his luck vision as Pixelator demanded that Jagged open his eyes. To his and Penny's surprise, a bunch of pixels appeared, causing everyone who got captured to return. Anatis let out a sigh of relief as he saw Lady Noir, causing his luck vision to work. It highlighted her baton and then the compact mirror. "Of course! Batter up!!"
 He lifted it in his good hand and threw it towards Lady Noir, who used her baton as a bat and hit towards Jagged and Pixelator, just as he was about to take a photo of him. Everyone held their breathe as he pressed the button but the mirror flew inbetween him and Jagged as he did. The beam bounced back towards him, turning him into pixels and causing his head gear to fall to the ground. Lady Noir rushed over and grabbed the compact mirror before running over to Anatis. She handed him the compact mirror, causing him to take it and throw it up in the air with his good hand. 
 "Miraculous Ladybugs!" He shouted, causing it to burst into the magical swarm that headed straight for him, flowing around him before moving through Paris, fixing all the damage and returning Pixelator in front of him. With his arm and his leg fixed, Anatis crushed his head set and captured the akuma that escaped from it. Pixelator turned back into Vincent Asa, who looked around confused as Anatis let the butterfly go. However, Anatis stepped in front of him with a stern look at him. Vincent looked up at him and gulped as his expression was grim. "Officer Roger, I think you need to take this man into police custorary,"
 "But he was a victim?" He asked, walking over as relief flooded Vincent's face.
 "Yes, I'm a victim!" He gasped but he shut his mouth as Anatis took out his yoyo and opened it.
 "While I was trying to work out how he got akumatized and his powers, I had to search his apartment," He replied, making Vincent go pale as Anatis turned to him. "I discovered his shrine to Jagged but also these,"
 He showed Officer Roger, Penny and Jagged the pictures of he took of his photos of himself, Marinette, Penny, Anarka and Juleka.
 "He's been stalking Jagged and his family I'd guess since Mr Roth released that information about my friend," He stated, making Vincent gulp as everyone looked at him. "I also know that he became akumatized again because he cornered Mr Couffaine and Miss Dupain-Cheng in the park earlier today, causing Mr Couffaine to panic and react by using pepper spray on him,"
 "H-He assaulted me!" Vincent gasped. "H-He shouldn't have pepper spray!! It's illegal!!"
 "Actually, Mr Couffaine applied for a licence in order to be able to carry a small spray of pepper spray on his person for a form of self defense, due to recent circumstances and it was approved by a court," Penny stated, surprising everyone. "Also, Officer Roger, please arrest this man. We will be pressing charges for stalking and harassing a minor. Anatis would you mind forwarding those to the right authorities for evidence?"
 "Vincent Asa, you're under arrest," Officer Roger stated as Anatis' earrings beeped and Lady Noir's ring beeped. Anatis turned to Penny and Jagged.
 "I'll send them as soon as I'm charged up again... but thank you for your help today," He smiled before turning to Lady Noir. "See you soon, Kitten,"
 "Bye, Annie," She grinned before jumping away.
 ~Hawkmoth's Lair~
 "Sir?" Nathalie asked as Hawkmoth frowned deeply. She walked over to him and placed his hands over his. "Are you ok?"
 "I'm fine," He stated, turning to the window. "It's time to put Miss Rossi's skill to use again and to see how loyal she is to me,"
 "What do you have planned sir?" She asked as he detransformed and led her through his garden and up to his office. He took out his calendar and opened it, scrolling through the dates before stopping on it. "Sir?"
 "In two weeks time, it will be exactly one year since Anatis made his first appearance," He replied, tapping the screen. "And on that way, he will finally fall and I will finally claim his and that annoyed cat's miraculous,"
 "But how will you do that?"
 "With a distraction," He replied, tapping on the screen. "It just happens to be the wedding anniversary of Mr and Mrs Rossi on the same day. Emotions run high and with a little invention on Miss Rossi's part, the happy couple won't be so happy. I'll akumatize them and Anatis will fight them,"
 "He'll defeat them," 
 "Exactly and he won't expect a second akuma straight away," Hawkmoth smirked. "He'll be caught off guard,"
 "An excellent plan," She replied, making Hawkmoth smirk. "Will you go after Mr Couffaine again?"
 "I won't need to," He replied, smirking. "With the second akuma will have him come to me easily but Mr Couffaine is a secondary goal and won't matter if I get the miraculous,"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Chapter: Chapter 59
28 notes · View notes
ayellowcurtain · 3 years
Text
I can be your lover
Part 5
6 months later
Robbe bites the corner of his bottom lip while staring down, pulling the skin of his thumb until it hurts, ripping it off, brushing the dead skin to the ground carelessly. He grew used to just sitting here and being watched, it doesn’t bother him anymore, not too much at least.
He doesn’t know what to say. He’s been coming to therapy every week in hopes it would help him figure himself out but he feels the worst he’s ever felt.
“I feel useless.” Robbe answers the question that he didn’t get today yet. It’s always the first one so he decided to spare them the trouble. He looks through his eyelashes, finding his therapist staring at him in disapproval of using words such as useless to describe himself.
“I feel like everything is out of my control so there’s no point in trying, really.”
There’s a long silence, a slow breath out and Robbe sighs, relaxing on his chair, meeting his doctor’s eyes, finally even if he doesn’t feel completely comfortable doing so. He feels uneasy, exposed and it bothers him to have to deal with it.
“What happened?” Robbe looks at the notepad on her lap, all his stupid insecurities and mental problems probably written down for anyone to read if given the chance.
“Me and Sander had a fight.” It was the worst fight ever, with them talking over each other and loudly. Robbe loves Sander the same but it feels like it’s really the end this time. They can’t go on like this anymore, Robbe is really at the edge. “I don’t want to do this anymore but I still love him so it’s just...fucked up.”
He does some of the breathing exercises he grew used to doing in the past few months like she suggests he to do often when he’s feeling like this but he knows it won’t help this time, he’s too deep inside his head to let the anger and frustration go every time he breathes out, pretending he’s also letting go of the negative thoughts about himself. He should have cancelled this session because it’s not working, not even talking about it makes him change his mind, see things differently.
He should have stayed home and studied for his finals, it would be a better use of his time. She gives him a notepad and a pencil to do whatever he wants with it: write, draw, scribble. She doesn’t say that but it’s obviously her way to keep him from pulling more skin off his fingers. It’s already a little too late, most of his fingers are burning already but he tries to keep his hands busy anyway, drawing random shapes and lines.
Robbe puts his pencil down when there’s no more room in the page to draw.
“I need to walk away. It’s for the best for both of us. I’ll block him everywhere so I can’t see things and I’ll just let him be while he’s away. And if he ever comes back, maybe we’ll talk if he also feels like it.”
“I think you should calm down, think about it for a few days and not make a one way decision when there are two people involved.” Robbe looks at her and gives back the notepad, “I think he would like you to hear what he has to say about your decision. You two have been in an intimate relationship for a while. Not just romantically but as very close friends.”
Robbe shakes his head, putting his hands inside his pockets, closing his fingers around his thumb until it hurts, “I can’t talk to him or I’ll change my mind.”
-
12 months later
Robbe drops his keys on the little bench he bought to put right next to his door, the exact same layout as it was when he lived with Zoe and Milan (and then Senne. And Sander.). It was another long day of college and work, the last one of an endless week. He turns the lights on and takes his shoes off, kicking them under the bench. Tomorrow he will clean and organize properly. For now, he’ll leave everything as it is. The good side of living alone. The rest sucks but Robbe will never tell anyone about feeling like that. He never thought he was the type to need people around him every day, all day until he had to come home to an empty apartment every night.
It doesn’t happen that often, especially on the weekends, considering his friends are all over the city these days but it happens too often for Robbe’s liking. Zoe and Milan are out of town together, Senne offered to keep him company but they would be two grumpy and tired men so it would be useless. Jens is out of town too, Aaron and Amber are not an option - Robbe can’t have a disgustingly in love couple around anymore - and Moyo is with Britt and Noor. It’s good to be alone sometimes, he tries to convince himself as he reaches the kitchen, opening the fridge. Nothing other than the beers at the bottom excites him so ordering something for dinner it is. Robbe is starving so he makes a very quick search of his phone and decides for the italian restaurant that promises to deliver his food in less than half an hour.
Robbe opens his first beer of the night and throws himself on his couch, looking around, feeling like it’s a new place all of a sudden. Sometimes it hits him that he has his own place now. And that he’s alone. Therapy has been helpful and he can tell the difference when he’s about to have some pretty bad days in the worst possible mood and when his reality is just underwhelming in his eyes and he’ll get over it soon enough. He never thought this would be his life. It’s not a bad one but it’s not what he had planned.
He forces himself to get up once he manages to change his mindset and he takes his clothes off, leaving it on the living room so it’s closer to the laundry machine once he’s clean. He turns some music on and puts it to play all over the apartment, putting his phone down, singing along to Bowie as he shaves the scruff that was starting to get out of hand on his face, he takes a quick shower and while he’s putting his clothes to wash, his food gets home.
Robbe rushes down to grab it and thanks the delivery boy, rushing back inside, lighting some candles just because they’re there, getting dusty and old. He never bothered to buy a dinning table because there’s a small island right there. He sits on the stool and eats, staring at his food and the candle in front of them. His instagram isn’t as updated as it used to.
A long time ago Robbe decided to give himself more time offline, focusing on college and his internship and he’s been good at keeping that mindset most of the time, afraid to spend too many hours per day online, looking for what he’s still having to choose, day in and day out, to keep his distance from so he doesn’t hurt Sander even more.
But he doesn’t care as much tonight, so he takes a picture of his dinner for one and the sad candle in front of him and posts it to his stories, locking his phone instantly, putting it down to eat in peace.
He keeps glancing at it, careful like it could burn if he dared to grab his phone and check. It would be a lie if he said he doesn’t miss Sander but he has learned to live with it. Long distance wasn’t going to work. Robbe is happy for the ones that can jump out of their comfort zone but he can’t and he’s okay with it by now, after months and months of therapy. The only thing he can do is not drag other people into living life this way too if they don’t feel like it.
Sander is happy somewhere else and Robbe is happy that he’s happy. Easy as that.
He eats his food and washes the dishes he left this morning right after or else he would get too tired to do it before going to bed and he doesn’t feel like waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes. He washes his clothes and folds them once they’re dry and warm out of the drier. Plays some video games, and finally crashes into his bed, searching for some comfort movie to watch as he falls asleep. He doesn’t last half an hour watching it, he’ll have to start again if he really wants to watch this movie some other time, but thankfully he had already scheduled his tv to turn off after one hour and a half.
He miraculously wakes up only once in the middle of the night and almost as an afterthought, like he would do so often when he was younger, Robbe grabs his phone to check for any new notifications. Robbe read a lot about algorithms when he had nothing better to do one day because it felt like it’s a theme lately so he knows it doesn’t mean shit but he can’t help but stare at the first name on the list of people who watched his sad dinner stories.
earthlinggoddity
There’s the red-ish circle around his name but Robbe puts his phone down, the screen still bright staring at his mattress as he rolls to the other side, pulling the heavy comforter to wrap around him like a tight burrito, and he closes his eyes again. If he’s still thinking about it tomorrow, with an awake and fully functioning brain, he’ll watch whatever Sander posted if it’s still there. He shouldn’t do it now, half asleep or Robbe won’t be able to go back to sleep thinking about how badly he misses Sander.
He can’t remember his dreams when he wakes up, it’s like he blinked and it was morning already. He feels rested but still mentally tired or empty, one of the two.
His phone is still right next to him, under the pillow he never uses and so he grabs it, checking the notification that just popped on his screen a few minutes ago from Moyo.
What are you doing today, my friend? Felt like we could go skate, smoke a little bit, for old time’s sake.
Robbe sighs, clicking on it, opening his conversation with Moyo.
That sounds like a perfect Saturday to me, my friend. Meet in one hour? I’m still in bed…
While he waits for the answer, the three dots already dancing on his screen, Robbe shakes his head. It’s still somewhat early, just now past eleven so he wonders if Moyo had any sleep. He does sound in a great mood though, Robbe is happy for him but also envying his enthusiasm about life, so early on a Saturday morning.
Jesus Christ, bro. You used to be an early bird. Working your ass off isn’t paying off, huh? One hour and don’t be fucking LATE!
Robbe knows what changed that he’s not an early, happy-chappy human anymore but he won’t bother anyone else with that conversation again. He pushes himself up to put some clothes on and go meet Moyo, making a pitstop for a quick breakfast on his way there.
45 notes · View notes
ikleesfiction · 3 years
Text
Will you follow through if I fall for you?
Fandom : One Chicago Word count : 2,409 words Disclaimer
Previously on this fic : Part 1 🞂 Part 2 🞂 Part 3 🞂 Part 4 🞂 Part 5
Part 6
It's been a few days since your date night with Jay. It went much better than you expected. You knew from the start that Jay is a good guy and probably a sweet lover too. But after that night, you found out that there's more to him than his good look and easy-going attitude. Jay's gentleness soothes your insecurities. His understanding warms you from inside. It's hard to feel miserable when he's around. You cannot help but latch on to him.
You and Jay keep texting and calling each other every day, but you only got to meet him once since then. For a coffee date before he ran to work while you went for your PT session. His job doesn't leave a lot of spare time, so you relish all the time he spends with you.
You hear your phone rings when you have your lunch. There is a video call request from your best friend and work-mate, Alex. "Hey, you! I miss your stupid face!" you greet him.
"You know what's not stupid?" Alex ignores your greeting. "The new material I received this morning
He refers to an email you sent him last night. Instead of sleeping, you wrote some lines and tinkered some notes on your electric keyboard. It was still very rough, but you and Alex swap ideas all the time. They could be a bar of melodies or chord progressions. Or maybe a single line that you cannot get out of your head, even there's no context to it.
"Wanna work on it soon?" Alex proposes.
"Yeah, sure!" you easily agree.
"You know I'm gonna ask how you come up with that song idea, right?" Alex probes further. He got an idea about your sudden burst of inspiration, but you haven't told him anything yet so far.
"You can ask. I might not answer", you nonchalantly retort. "Are you asking now?"
"I would, but I just arrived at my parents' house for our weekly dinner", Alex turns his camera phone and shows you his family dining table. "Say hi to Y/N, Pop" He lets his parents know that you're on the phone.
"Hallo, Liefje" Alex's parents greet and wave at you. "I miss you, Y/N. How are you doing, darling?" Alex's mom squeals at you.
"I miss you guys too. I miss home," you utter mournfully.
"I saw your dad last week. He and your mom cannot wait to have you back home next month. As are we." Alex's dad informs you.
Your face gets even more upset. "I haven't told my parents yet, but it's gonna be another two months. It's not working out as good as they wanted"
Alex's parents let out a sympathetic noise. "Oh great, I still have two more months to hide all my chocolate from you" Alex teases you instead. He knows if he doesn't throw any humor here, you're going to weep. The family laughs at your offended look.
"Where's Sara?" you ask them when you didn't notice Alex's little sister on the table.
"She's getting ready for a date after dinner. Said they will go stargazing. Can you believe it?" Alex skeptically recounts to you.
"Hmm, that sounds romantic. Good for her." you hum your appreciation. Alex can see twinkles in your eyes.
"Of course, you thought it was charming", Alex sounds vexed.
"Why are you so grumpy about this? You have a hit song that compared someone's eyes with the moon", you remind him. "Last time I checked, that song already got more than 400 million streams on Spotify". Alex just grumbles incoherently, while you can hear his father's booming laugh in the background.
"Alex, would you please call your sister down for dinner?" Alex's mom orders him.
"Alright, ma. Gotta go, Y/N. I'll call you later when I'm back at the studio. Bye, sis!" Alex ends the call.
◢◤
Kelly Severide comes to your place in the evening after he finished his shift. He called you on your cell several times, but you didn't pick them up. He knocked on your door for a few minutes without answers. Worried that something bad happened to you, he uses his key to open your apartment door. You gave him a spare when you began your recovery from the incident. Since you got nobody in town except for the 51 Family, you thought at least one of them should have access to your place, in case you need help.
Kelly sees you sitting on your corner desk with headphones on. Your head is nodding to the beat you're working on. Relieved to know you okay, but feels a bit annoyed, Kelly taps your shoulder lightly. You jump in surprise, almost fall from your chair if Kelly doesn't hold you down.
"Kelly! What..! Why are you..??" your heart is still pounding in shock, makes you unable to finish your thoughts properly.
"I knocked! And called you many times! Neither you answered! I was afraid that you fell and unconscious so I used my key", Kelly exclaims.
You check your phone and see seven missed calls from Kelly. "Sorry, I left my phone on mute, somehow"
Kelly goes to raid your fridge and takes a bottle of apple juice. "Your fridge needs beers" he judges. "Go, get ready! We'll hang out at Molly's. Everyone misses you", Kelly orders you.
"I'm working, Kelly. Just because my work has no shifts, doesn't mean I can go anytime you want", protest you.
"You work for your best friend, who's in another continent right now. You can slack off for a bit" he dismisses your complaint.
"I'm making big progress here. My writing juice is flowing", you point at your laptop.
"One hour. I give you one hour to work. Then I'm hauling you out of here. In the meantime, I'm gonna order take out for us", Kelly decides.
You only mumble your disagreement, knowing that you're gonna lost the argument anyway. So you just put your headphones back on your head. However, Kelly pokes you again five minutes later, with his phone on hand, "Hey, do you want Thai or Greek? I'm in the mood for Greek right now", Kelly playfully asks you.
"Yeah, Greek is fine" you start to feel bothered.
He leaves to order the food while you're back to do your work. Ten minutes passed, Kelly drags a chair from the kitchen island to your side. He knocks on the table to catch your attention.
"Hey, I just remember, Brett said they saw you rescued somebody at the swimming pool last week. How did that happen?" he questions.
You let out a desperate sigh. "You're not going to let me work in peace, are you?"
Kelly just grins. "C'mon, we haven't hung out for a while. Lots of drama to share"
You save your work in defeat and then move to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Kelly sits on the couch with legs resting on the coffee table. You place yourself next to Kelly.
"They extend my therapy for another month" you restlessly play with your bottle cap.
"Is it not going well?" Kelly asks in concern.
"I got cramps that day at the swimming pool. They worried I damaged something. So they prefer to be cautious" you fill him in.
"That's when you rescued Dr. Manning's son " Kelly tries to clarify.
"Well, I just pulled him out of the water. The pool guard was the one who helped him breathe" you shrug.
"You assisted. It still counts as a rescue", Kelly insists. "Bet if Dr. Manning knew, she would buy you drinks at Molly's forever"
"More like got invited to dinner at their place," you mutter.
"Hmm, that's probably true" Kelly pauses for a moment, thinking. "Wait, did you meet her?" he grills you.
"Yeah. And her fiancé. I came to the hospital to check on Owen. Then next thing I knew I'm having family dinner with Manning/Halstead clan", you convey to him.
Kelly's phone chirps interruptedly. "Food's here" He goes to pick up the food from the delivery guy. "Alright, let's eat then we can go to Molly's"
◢◤
Jay is nursing his first beer as he watches Will bottoms up his third glass of whiskey. Will called him earlier in the evening, claimed that he needs bro night out after a shitty day at Med. Jay's initial plan to have dinner with you got scrapped before he even asked.
"Maybe you need to pace yourself, Will", Jay suggests to him as Will signs to Otis for a refill.
"Yeah, Doc. Maybe you want to switch? We have a nice Dutch craft beer chilling here", Otis offers. But Will is still holding out his empty glass to him, silently demanding for more. "Okay then" sighs Otis as he fills the glass.
Jay hears the commotions at the other end of the bar. He recognizes some people from Firehouse 51 there. Christopher Hermann is cackling, while Matt Casey grins widely. They pay attention to someone that is sitting among the group, but he cannot see who because Severide is blocking his view.
Jay checks his phone while he finishes his beer. He received a text from you beforehand, told him that she's going out to meet her friends tonight. He texted back, wishing her to enjoy her night out, but got no replies. Will notices Jay's scrolling on his phone and asks, "Do you need to go back to work?"
"Nah, just checking my texts" Jay puts his phone back in his pocket. "Are you feeling better now?"
"Not in the slightest. But I still have to go to work tomorrow. If I wanna do better than today, I cannot do that with a hangover" Will sulks. "Hey Gabby, I would like to try that craft beer Otis suggested" he requests to Gabby who passes by.
"Would you like one as well, Jay?" Gabby offers him.
"Alright, why not.." Jay accepts the new bottle.
"Is this a new batch? Don't think I ever have it here before", comments Will after his first sip.
"Yeah! Just start to come in this month. It's a friend's favorite. She hooked us up with a supplier directly from The Netherlands. You like it?" Gabby enthusiastically claims.
"It's good. But still not Bourbon", Will pouts. Jay lets out a snort while Gabby snickers.
Jay looks around the bar as he savors his beer. He paused when he thought he saw you sitting among the 51 Gang. Will notices and looks in the same direction. "Is that Y/N?" asks Will.
Jay stands up for his seat, "I'm gonna go say hi to her"
◢◤
You feel a palm pressed to your back as you hear someone's saying from behind, "Didn't expect to see you here tonight"
You turn your back immediately as you realize whose voice it is, "Jay!" shout you excitedly. You open your arms to hug him. Jay lands a chaste kiss on your lips before hugs you back.
Kelly and Matt look at each other over your head with eyebrows raised. "Well, that's something I didn't expect" goads Kelly.
"Severide, Casey" Jay gives them an acknowledging nod with his hands stay on your hips.
"How do you know each other?" Matt asks curiously.
Jay opens his mouth to reply, but you hear Will's interruption, "You guys finally made it, huh?" Jay rolls his eyes at his brother.
"These guys have been sending heart-eyes at each other since they first met" Will tips off the 51 gang. "Which I arranged, by the way. But this result was unintentional"
"No, we're not!" you try to deny.
"I was there, Y/N, at your almost first kiss" Will divulges.
"Oh my god!" you hide your blushing face behind your palms. Jay smacks a kiss on the side of your head, amused while the group makes fun of you.
"I guess this happened after Y/N rescued Owen?" Sylvie asks to confirm.
"Ooooh yes, our next year candidate!" Hermann yells. The others just clap and whistle in response. You thud your head to the bar table, abashed.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed. We are proud of you" Casey remarks. "That said if you want to go to the academy..." he continues.
"Nuh-uh, I love my job, thank you very much" you quickly state.
You spend the rest of the night beside Jay, chatting and laughing with 51 Family and Halstead brothers until you let out a big yawn. "Tired?" Jay asks you softly.
You nod, "Beer always made me sleepy"
"Let me settle the tabs, then I'll take you home" Jay squeezes your shoulder as he stands up.
Kelly observes you and Jay throughout the night. When Jay left your side, he lowly speaks to you after making sure everyone else is busy conversing elsewhere. "So Jay Halstead is the one who got your juice's flowing, huh?"
"Kelly!" you slap his arm, agape.
"I mean your writing juice! You said it earlier!" Kelly yelps, but his smirk contradicts his words.
"You're the worst" you just shake your head.
Kelly's face turns serious for a moment, "Does he know about your situation?"
"What situation?" you try to sound innocent, but Kelly just gives you a look.
"Told him about the collapsing stage" you deflated.
"Have you told him that you're leaving in two months?" Kelly pushes.
"It's still too early. Who knows, Jay might end this soon", your voice sounds unsure.
"Don't think so. He looks quite smitten by you. Should probably tell him soon", Kelly disagrees.
"I'm happy right now, Kels. Can I just enjoy this for a while?" you start to lose patience with him.
"He deserves to know" Kelly persists.
You look down at the table, your fist is clenched in frustration. Jay comes back and notices the tense atmosphere. "Is everything okay?"
You reply with a forced smile, "Yeah, let's get out of here" then stand up from your seat and give Kelly a quick hug, "Thanks, Kels"
You move to say goodbye to the rest of the group, which takes a bit of time since everyone wants a hug or has something to tell you.
"C'mon guys, my boyfriend has waited long enough" you cry out when Sylvie and Gabby hold you back from going. The group guffaw even louder and playfully nudges Jay, who just beams brightly at you.
"Good night, guys!" you casually shout, finally getting away from the rest of the group, with Jay's hand in yours.
Next on this fic : Part 7
+x Taglist +x
@shipshipshipau @itsdesiree86 @thevelvetseries @annaallicce
86 notes · View notes
actuallybarb · 3 years
Text
The Aftermath ~ Part 7
Tumblr media
Summary: y/n goes to therapy, is a confirmed hoodie stealer, and gets a pep talk from sam wilson and wanda maximoff
Pairing: peter parker x reader
Warnings: swearing, angst, fluff, trauma, me attempting to write a therapy session 
Word Count: 3850
A/N: so many things. 1) i’ve never been to therapy (even tho i desperately need it) so i’m solely basing that off of Freaky Friday with Lindsay Lohan. 2) i live for sleepy tropes and i hella indulged. 3) sorry not sorry
                                                         //////////
“Your projects are due next Monday. Have one partner email me who your group is working with, and no, Mr. Thompson, you can’t work with students from other periods. Class dismissed.”
“Want to work together?”
We had been going to class together for a month now, but it always seemed like Peter was surprised whenever he saw me sitting next to him. Maybe it wasn’t surprise...
“Yeah. When do you want to work on it?” I shoved my notes into my already disorderly backpack and slung it over my shoulders. It was starting to get colder in New York, but I was still wearing t-shirts and shorts (mostly because I could keep myself warm and also because I’m stubborn as hell).
“Thursday? Or do you want to start sooner than that?”
“No, I can do Thursday. Are you going to the compound this weekend?” It wasn’t more than a whisper, but I still checked who was around before asking. You can never be too careful.
“Yeah, May’s driving me up after school on Friday. Want a ride?”
I smiled. “That’d be nice.” People were slowly making their way out of the building to head home for the day, but I was heading to Manhattan.
“You going home?”
“No, I’m seeing my shrink. I’ll see you tomorrow, Peter.”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow, Y/N.” He turned right, I turned left, and I might have turned around and glanced back at him over my shoulder, just for a second.
But so did he.
/////////
Taylor’s office had a billion plants and as many windows in it. She always had a candle burning that smelled like clean laundry, and she liked to talk first whenever we met up. That’s why I liked her so much.
“Remember my crazy neighbor’s dog?” She was watering one of her plants when I walked in. “Guess who I accidentally ran over?”
“You ran over a dog?” I left my backpack by the door and grabbed my own watering can.
“No, not the dog. I ran over my neighbor while he was chasing after the dog.”
I laughed. “Like that’s much better.”
“Running over a dog is unforgivable, Y/N. A person is understandable.” We finished watering the plants then sat down at the huge floor-to-ceiling window that took up her back wall. Another reason I liked Taylor: I actually do stuff while I’m talking with her. It’s not like I’m sitting on a couch staring at her while I talk about my feelings, we’re on equal ground. The last couple visits I’ve worked on painting New York, but I haven’t made much progress because I’m a shit painter. “That’s not the point,” Taylor would say, “it’s all about going with it. Be a shit painter. Own it.” Yeah, we get along great.
“No more panic attacks since the first day.”
“Yeah? That’s great.” Unlike me, Taylor is a phenomenal painter. Her skyline had identifiable buildings. Mine had — I think one looks more like a tree than a building. (That’s one huge tree.) “Any nightmares?”
Oh. We’re going there today. “Just on bad days.”
“How often are the bad days?”
After the Blip and before Europe, my bad days went from every day to maybe once a week. Then Europe fucked me over. Now? I don’t know. “Whenever they feel like it.”
“C’mon, Y/N, you can do better than that.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned. “It’s not like it’s a cycle, like the moon or a period or our meetings. It’s sporadic, Taylor, and fucking exhausting.”
“Why? Why are the bad days so exhausting?”
I may or may not have angrily made a bird smash against a window in my painting. “Because I’m the only one who knows. Mom guesses, most of the time, but it’s like she’s still dancing around me. Dad sees it when he’s home, but he doesn’t know what to do. And—“ I almost said ‘and Peter.’ That would’ve been awkward. “And my friends make it better, but they’ve got their own shit to deal with, and I don’t want to dump any of my problems on them. And I know you’re going to say ‘Internalizing your pain is bad, Y/N,’ but it’s the only solution I can handle right now until I muster up the courage to actually talk to my mom again. I mean, last time I needed Jess by my side, how the hell am I going to handle it without her?”
“For starters, I’m proud of you for acknowledging the way to address the problem. And secondly, you don’t have to do it by yourself. I’ve actually been wanting to have another session with your parents, and now seems like as good of a time as any. Bring them around for your next session, and we’ll talk to them, together, about how you can get through bad days with their help. Okay?”
My lips quirked up, just a smidge. “Okay.”
“Now let’s talk about King T’Challa’s new suit, you can’t pretend you don’t have an opinion on it...”
///////
It was a bad day.
Which sucked, because it was also Thursday, and Peter was supposed to be over in half an hour to work on our project. And I was a mess.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Mom called from the living room. Her elementary school got out twenty minutes before Midtown, so she usually beat me home. “How was school?”
“It’s a bad day,” was all I said before I closed the door to my room. I didn’t slam it (not anymore) but I didn’t know anything else. I couldn’t tell if I wanted a nap, I couldn’t tell if I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, I couldn’t tell if I wanted to fly from rooftop to rooftop until I was too exhausted to come home; I didn’t know. Which sucked, because I’m the only one who could’ve told me the answer.
The was a light knock on my door. “Can I come in?” I didn’t respond, so Mom walked in. “Mind me asking why today was bad?” I still didn’t say anything, my face buried in my pillow. She sat at the edge of my bed, near my knees. “I can usually tell, you know.” It was a hushed voice that came out of her mouth - nothing like the loud and loving woman I’ve known almost my whole life. “You do a good job of trying to cover it up, but I can tell. Your shoulders are tenser than usual, and your eyebrows are crinkled together the second you step out of your room.” She sighed and put a hand on my back - her hands are always warm and usually smell like hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works because she refuses to use the government-issued ones at school. “You dad and I have no idea what you went through while we were gone. We have no idea what you went through in Europe. But we’re here for you now, Y/N. You carry this weight around with you, and I just — I want you to know that you have people to share it with. Maybe not the weight itself, but the pain it’s causing you.” She removed her hand and set both of them in her lap. “I don’t know how to make the bad days better, so I need you to tell me when you’re ready. I’m here for you, baby.” She leaned down and kissed my head, then stood up and started walking toward the door.
When her hand was on the knob, I finally spoke up. “Thank you.” It was barely a grumble, but she heard it.
The door closed quietly, and I finally decided what I wanted to do.
Cry. I cried. For at least twenty minutes. I cried because of my abilities, I cried because I lost Jess as a mom, I cried because I went to Europe, I cried because Quentin Beck was an asshole that fucked up my mental state for probably the rest of my life, I cried because I killed a lot of people, I cried because now I was friends with Peter but at what cost?
He showed up, eventually. I heard him knock on the front door as I blew my nose. Mom, bless her soul, kept him distracted until I came out of my room myself. It took me another twenty minutes to finally convince myself to leave my room, and at that point I was too exhausted to keep myself warm anymore, so the cold breeze blowing through New York hit me in full force. I slipped a hoodie on, grabbed my backpack, and took a deep breath before opening the door.
Peter was sitting at the counter while Mom washed the dishes from breakfast this morning. She was back to talking loud, and he was listening with a smile on his face. My door closed and his eyes immediately darted to me. “Hey, Y/N.”
“Hey, Pete. Is it okay if we’re in the living room?”
Mom glanced between the two of us and tried to hide her little smile, but at least one of us caught it. “Yeah, of course. I’ll be in the office if you need anything.”
He must’ve noticed my bloodshot eyes; he couldn’t stop staring. “Is that my hoodie?”
Shit. Is it? I glanced down at the Midtown Tech logo and remembered getting drenched at the compound after the sprinklers unexpectedly came on. Then Peter gave me his hoodie. “Shit, yeah, it is.” I pulled on the sleeves to take it off, but he shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it, I have at least two more at home.” He pulled out his laptop and it was suddenly back to business. “Any ideas how we’re going to do this?”
We bounced ideas off of each other until we came to a rough draft, but it was getting later, and bad days always get worse at night.
“Shit, is it ten already?” Peter started gathering his things and stuffing them in his bag. “I told May I’d be home by ten, I hate being late.”
I pulled out my phone and sent May a quick text; we’ve had each other’s numbers since my first weekend at the compound. We lost track of time, he’s heading home now.
I figured. See you tomorrow :)
Peter stood up and started walking toward the door, and I followed him. I had spoken maybe twenty sentences the whole time (it’s a miracle we got this far in the project) but I couldn’t convince myself to say anything else before he left. And I wanted to. But I also wanted to cave in on myself — and we both know which option was winning that battle.
“Do you need a hug?” He basically had one foot out the door, but he turned around and asked me this.
“What?”
“Your heartbeat — it’s been off all day. And it still is right now, and — Do you need a hug?”
God, he was perfect. And I was so gone.
All I needed all day was a goddamn hug, and now he’s offering one, and tears started brimming in my eyes before I could even nod yes. He was so warm, and his voice flitted around in his chest, and I would’ve felt bad about getting tears on his shirt, except I didn’t care anymore. All I cared about was how the weight on my shoulders lifted when Peter Parker’s arms were wrapped around them.
“Are you going to be okay?” he mumbled in my hair. I only nodded again. “Okay.” He slowly loosened his grip, but not before he left a quick kiss on my head. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Another nod. “See you tomorrow.”
///////
Peter was going crazy. Since we hadn’t found any footage that could clear Spider-Man’s name without incriminating Peter he wasn’t allowed out as his alter-ego. And he was literally climbing the walls of the compound.
I was blowing gusts of air at him, trying to knock him down from the ceiling. We had officially finished our project only twenty minutes before, so I pulled up the EDITH footage from London, trying to think of how to clear Spider-Man’s name.
And then it hit me.
“Oh my god.” I ran to the computer and started typing away furiously. “I think I figured it out.”
He came back to the ground. “Figured what out?”
“We can just use the audio file from the video. Then your face doesn’t have to be in it at all.”
I found the file and played it over the speakers.
“EDITH! Turn off the drones.”
“Should I execute all cancellation protocols?”
“Yes, execute them all.”
It was perfect. Exactly what we needed.
“Peter.” I turned to him with a huge smile on my face. “This can save Spider-Man.”
“This can save Spider-Man,” he repeated. “Shit, Y/N, you just saved Spider-Man.” He wrapped his arms around me tightly and lifted me in the air, his laugh ringing in my ear. “I can still be Spider-Man!”
I laughed along with him. He set me down after a minute, but we were still standing unbelievably close together. One minuscule step forward and my lips would be on his. His heart beat jumped, and so did mine, but he didn’t pull away. Neither of us pulled away.
His tilted his head and kissed my cheek (which I still freaked out over) and then took a step back.
“We have to call Pepper and tell her.”
“Yeah, yeah.” FRIDAY started the call and Pepper was over the moon.
“We’ll get a press conference set up for tomorrow, and I’ll work on a statement. Peter,” this was the sternest I had ever heard her - even more serious than when she was talking to Morgan, “I know this is all good news, but you have to wait to be Spider-Man still. All of this press has to die down first before you can go out in the open again, okay?”
“Yes, Mrs. Potts.”
“Okay. I’ll see you two bright and early tomorrow.”
She hung up and Peter hugged me again. This one was way more subdued than the last one. “Thank you, Y/N,” he mumbled into my neck.
“You’re welcome, Pete.”
//////////
The press conference went well, according to Rhodey. “I think most of them were relieved to know Spider-Man’s not actually a murderer.” Everyone was dying to have Spider-Man come out and answer questions, but Pepper insisted no questions were being taken at that time, or ever.
MJ called Peter after the press conference was released to the public, and they talked for what felt like forever. The second he got the call I went to the training room: to distract myself or actually train, well, it doesn’t matter because both were done.
A simulation droid was about to “kill” me, but red magic tore it apart at the last second.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because Peter’s been talking on the phone for the same time you’ve been in here.” Wanda gave me a knowing look. You forget that she can read minds because she’s not invasive about it, but she’s always there, holding the information to either back you up or tear you down.
I sighed. “He’s talking to MJ. And I know there’s a high possibility that they’ll get back together but a part of me is hoping they won’t.”
“So you can be with him instead.” I gave a small nod. “Don’t give up yet, Y/N. I see the way he looks at you. You might have more of a chance than you think.”
“She’s right, kid.”
I jumped in surprise. “How long have you been listening?”
Sam smiled from the observation deck of the training room. “Long enough. Boys are stupid, they need all the help they can get.”
“I’ve given him plenty of help already. Literally.”
“Haha, very funny.” He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. If it doesn’t work out with MJ, shoot your shot. I have a feeling you won’t be disappointed.” He winked before leaving, and Wanda followed suit.
I rolled my eyes before telling FRIDAY to pick another random simulation. “Make it a good one.” And, boy, did she. It was the hardest one yet, and all of my concentration was going into it. I was so focused I didn’t even notice Peter walk in until after I had won.
“Damn.”
I turned quickly to see him standing near the door, his hands in his pockets. “Hey. How’d it go?”
“It was okay. She saw the news.”
“But…”
“But it’s not happening. I-“ he looked down at the ground, “I can’t trust her. Not when she lost trust in me. And I- I think I’m interested in someone else.”
I nodded along. I tried to keep my heart as normal as possible but it was beating too hard from my adrenaline to be controllable; I’m almost positive Peter heard it jump at the news. “That’s understandable. Who’s the, uh, the someone else?” God, please be me.
Peter’s lips twitched up to a small smile. “You’ll find out eventually.” He stepped further into the room and relaxed a bit. “Want to do a round together?”
I wanted to. I really wanted to. But I was exhausted, and I think I pulled a muscle, and I could already feel bruises forming where I ungracefully fell on my side. So I just shook my head. “Some other time.”
My room had a bathroom attached to it, and that’s where I spent the next half hour, standing under the blazing hot water coming from the shower. Once I convinced myself to actually get out and change into pajamas, I grabbed my laptop and climbed into bed. I was going home tomorrow, I deserved a few hours of shuteye.
Then someone knocked on my door and ruined the whole ambiance.
“Oh, you’re - I was just - I’ll just go.”
“No, Peter, what’s up?”
He was standing there, hair damp from the shower, black t-shirt and flannel pajama pants on, looking hot as ever. “I was going to ask if you wanted to watch a movie, but you’re already in bed, so never mind.” He turned to walk away, and I almost let him because I was on-my-ass exhausted, but I didn’t. I couldn’t, not when he looked like that (soft, but also hot as fuck).
“Come on.” He turned, and I opened the door wider. “I was about to watch Gilmore Girls, but we can watch a movie if you want.” I pulled back the covers and left plenty of room for Peter to sit beside me.
“We can watch Gilmore Girls, I don’t mind.”
The second I pressed ‘play’ on the third episode was the second my eyes could barely stay open any longer. I tried so hard to watch Jess win Rory back, but sleep caught up with me and I let it win. I used Peter’s shoulder as a pillow and decided sleep was a battle I didn’t mind losing.
////////
I woke up to my alarm, but as quickly as my eyes opened, Peter’s arm pulled me closer to him. I was too tired to feel embarrassed or excited about the fact that Peter Parker was in my bed with an arm wrapped around me. All I wanted to was to turn off my alarm and go back to bed, but my dad was picking me and Peter up in two hours and I wanted to bully Sam into making me pancakes again.
“Let go, Peter,” I ended up mumbling, “I have to turn the alarm off.” He moved his arm off and I sat up and grabbed my phone. “I’m getting breakfast.”
It must’ve been my lucky day, because Sam and Bucky were in the kitchen. “‘Morning, sunshine. Sleep okay?” I looked at Sam with a hard glare, and he laughed. Of course he knew Peter was with me, FRIDAY knows everything.
I sat next to Bucky and thought of fluffy pancakes to ward off my burning hatred for Captain America. “Sam, how much do you love me?”
“Depends on what you’re willing to give me in exchange for the pancakes.”
Of course he already knew my move. Typical.
“I’ll delete half of the embarrassing footage of you saved in FRIDAY’s hard-drive.”
Sam looked at Bucky suddenly, extremely confused. “I thought that was done months ago.”
He just shrugged and drank his coffee. “Must not’ve gone deep enough. Good thing Y/N is here to catch it.”
Sam glanced between the two of us and sighed. “Okay, fine, I’ll make you some stupid pancakes.”
I smiled, then Bucky slipped me ten dollars under the counter and whispered, “Save me the footage.” I winked back.
“Can I have some too?” Peter, soft as hell, came into the kitchen and sat beside me. (His knee was brushing up against mine.)
“Only if you have something to offer.” Sam liked us, I know he did (that’s part of the embarrassing footage FRIDAY has saved) but he was usually a dick to us - anyone who wasn’t Bucky (and even then) - in the morning. It was always playful banter, but we knew not to step too far before eleven o’clock.
“I promise not to test out my new long-lasting webs on anything you own.”
“Deal.”
The pancakes were delicious (“hell yeah they were, I don’t mess around with pancakes”) but my dad was at the compound before we knew it, and it was time to face reality again.
“I saw the press conference,” Dad said when we sat down in the back, “and everything was very convincing. Congrats on getting to be Spider-Man again, Peter.”
He beamed. “Thanks, Mr. Y/L/N. Anything exciting happen at the hospital recently?”
They talked medical, while I sat back and listened to the engine. It covered up their hearts, but that didn’t matter, because both would’ve sent me right back to sleep. And it did.
We pulled up to Peter’s complex an hour and a half later. There were still plenty of daylight hours left, but we both left more homework to today than we would like to admit and neither of our parental figures would be pleased with that.
“See you tomorrow,” he said with a smile.
I smiled back, genuinely, (I was giving those out way more often now) and waved. “Bye.” Dad and I drove back and walked up to the apartment bumping shoulders. Our schedules didn’t line up very often because he was needed in the ER a lot of the time, but we always had a sort of silent understanding. He unlocked the door and let me in first, but when my eyes landed on the kitchen table, I stopped mid-step.
Blood. Everywhere. On the walls, on the floor, on Mom’s floral couch she claimed “added personality” to the living room. No one else was in the apartment, I could tell, but then it just raised more questions:
Who’s blood is everywhere?
Where the hell is Mom?
tags: @eridanuswave​ @vampirestrawberries​ 
27 notes · View notes