#I hope you had a lovely christmas! and have a new year full of laughter and joyyyyy cause that's what you deserve hehe I LOVE YOU MWAH | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anadiasmount · 5 months

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christmas morning with you - jude bellingham x reader.

quick sum: the anticipated time of year arrives. after sharing a night full of laughters, joy and some nerves, dad! jude surprises his babies as santa on christmas morning. insta au at the end! 🤍🎄

wc: 2.6k | masterlist | jude’s masterlist

psa🗣️: i refuse to believe christmas is legit two days away cause what? but dad! jude once again for us girlies! hope you enjoy 🤍🎄

“i look hideous!” jude yelled, trying to fix the super loose santa costume on him. you cried your eyes out laughing, having to sit on the bed and cross your legs or you would pee from laughter. “no please i’m sorry, i’m sorry, not really but i’ll say it so you won't change,” you wiped your eyes and stood up, walking over to jude who was ready to get out of the costume.

“it’s supposed to be funny and cheery baby, you said you wanted to do this? surprise zion and esmeralda?” you reminded him, tiptoeing up to fix the santa hat that clearly was to small for his head. “yes but now instead of them being happy they’ll cry, and i don't like to see my babies crying,” jude sighed.

ever since you had your two little ones, jude was an emotional mess. he would cry just by listening to their small pleads and sniffles to stay when he had away games or international break. jude would tear up at the smallest things zion would do. when he first kicked a small football, to saying his name, even when he spent relentless nights in jude’s arms. looking at zion right now, he looked like baby jude. jude spent so much time that he eventually recognized his small footsteps anywhere around the house.

esmeralda? she was the spitting image of you but had her daddy's eyes that anyone could say the same. she was almost a year old, and jude would often tear up at the fact she's all grown. he brushed the smallest coils and curls back into pigtails, dressed her into baby pink onesies, and held her in his arms when she slept. esmeralda was a chunky toothy baby, who was a daddy’s girl over anything.

“they won't cry trust me. they can recognize you from a mile away. plus i think the illusion they have of santa has been pretty positive after they took pictures with him and didn’t cry,” you reassured him, your thumb stroking his cheek watching him smile and relax into your palm.

“but that’s because they saw the other kids happy, this time santa is in their home,” jude nervously stressed. jude went to sit on the corner of the bed clearly upset now of the idea of surprising the kids. “baby, you're stressing for no reason,” you sat on his lap, a hand resting on one of his shoulders and the other over his chest, “everything will go to plan, they said bye to the elf, and they left cookies and milk. if anything i think this would be the light of their year.”

the elf on the shelf was a new tradition introduced this year. and zion loved it more than anything, the first to wake up to see where it had moved or had done. but it cost small disagreements about where it would go or what it would do between you and jude. while you wanted a sweet and mannered elf, jude wanted to make it seem it was naughty and mischievous.

after spending an hour tonight to find a place in the house, the two of you settled with the elf placed on top of the fireplace with a bitten cookie. the cookies the four of you made together after coming home from christmas eve dinner, jude holding baby esmeralda as he decorated the cookie, zion eating the frosting instead of using it, esme watching her daddy's every move, while you kept perfecting every cookie and poured milk into a glass.

“the last thing i want is them a crying mess and forever being traumatized by christmas,” jude recalled leaning up to kiss you. “stop you’re distracting me,” you push back after getting lost into it. “i’m trying to ease your nerves but you have different ideas,” you state. “if you say everything will be fine and no crying babies, than i trust my love, ok?” he smiled wide and then smirked.

you rolled your eyes at his smirk, and his flimsy hands that made their way up to push the straps of your top down. “so you’ll wear the costume?” you asked in a low voice, he hummed his thumbs drawing small circles on your skin. “good, now change out of it for tomorrow morning,” you smirked and then got up.

“worst comes to worst, they cry and that’s it, but you're their favorite person so they quickly get over it,” you say fixing the straps that felt loose. “you make it sounds like they prefer me over you,” jude replied after taking the santa costume off, putting a loose white tee over his black boxers.

“because they do baby,” you stifled a laugh sounding a bit unsure, getting under the covers and checking the baby camera to make sure the babies were okay. “that’s not true y/n. you spend almost all the time with them, even when you work. they love you and me equally,” jude frowned, sitting on your side of the bed where you lay, jude tucking your hair behind your ear.

“not only are you an amazing mommy to them, but the most wonderful fiance to me. you care for us during the good and bad, not once losing your cool even when you feel like that. they don't have favorites. don't doubt their love because they smile the biggest when you walk into the room. i love you, my sweet girl,” jude rambled, his eyes never leaving yours even when his hand interlocked with yours kissing over your ring finger.

“i didn't want to cry, jude, but oh my gosh you make that hard with this,” you got up and hugged him, kissing over the small scar on his collarbone, “i love you so much. you’re the greatest gift in my life along with our babies zion and esmy. being able to spend christmas with you after is truly the most thing i’m thankful for, because i wouldn't ask anything more in the world for our family to be together,” you sniffled, hearing jude chuckle and kiss your head.

“cmon. i know you're tired after moving up and down all day to make christmas eve perfect. which i kept forgetting to thank you by the way,” jude rubbed your back before going over to the other side and laid next to you, bringing you into his chest. “stop making it seem like it did all the work. i wouldn't have done it without your help jude. listening to my idea or making comments where stuff should go, that’s why i got you a gift,” you giggled at when he let out a small gasp in shock.

“we agreed on no gifts!”

“i know, i know! but i had to, i promise you will love it, and it’s something that will be a reminder everyday,” you had to force yourself to shut up, knowing you were the type to tell someone about their gifts before the day could come. jude hummed in a “we will see” manner, kissing you a last time before going to sleep. “goodnight santa,” you whispered hearing him laugh.

“quit it!”

during the night, the babies joined you in the bed. esmeralda due to being hungry and wanting to be fed, and zion because of a small nightmare he claimed to have. jude was up before any of you, placing a kiss on the babies cheeks and on your forehead. the three of you were heavy sleepers, jude was not, waking up at any small movements or noise.

jude whispered quietly to wake you up, not waiting any longer to surprise his babies and watch them open their gifts. “y/n? wake up its almost 9am, im gonna go change and wait downstairs okay?” you squinted your eyes and nodded, looking at zion and esmeralda sound asleep, small snores leaving their mouths. “i’m gonna change her diaper and we will be down okay? Make coffee please,” you pleaded with your eyes and pout.

“okay hurry please!” jude said with anticipation, quickly grabbing the red santa costume and hat. jude waited by the tree, holding two gifts that belonged to the kids, his white beard helping not give his appearance away. jude heard the small scream zion let out saying it was christmas, and his whines to make you hurry up so they could open gifts.

“zion please be careful! don't run down the stairs or you could get hurt baby,” you scolded but laughed at his cheery mood. esme kicked in your hold, her messy curls everywhere as her face was still slightly puffy after she woke up. zion gasped, and slowly walked forward, “is that santa, mommy?” he asked you with a quiet voice, feeling his small hand hold yours.

zion came to stand behind your leg slightly timid or scared, as esmeralda gave you curious eyes. jude for a second thought this would take a turn and go the opposite way. zion was like this, if he didnt recognize anyone at first he got shy, but jude knew he was quick to happy and cheery. you seemed to have your way as all of the sudden zion peeked his head and then walked to stand back into his original spot.

jude held back a laugh, and walked close to where the three of you were. “it is zion, and look he has your presents! go say hi baby, don't be scared,” zion ran over to jude who slightly stumbled back at the sudden push from the smaller three-year-old as he hugged his leg. “i can’t believe you’re here!” zion laughed and jumped up and down excitedly.

“mommy don't be rude come here and say hi,” the small toddler urged giving you an attempted look of being grumpy. “hi santa,” you said with a laugh sitting on the couch as esmeralda crawled to her brother. “look esmy, that santa! and he's here with our presents,” zion crouched down to say to her. she sat on the floor and pointed at jude with her chubby finger, “dada?, but her brother laughed in denial.

“no esmy, that santa not dada!” the toddler replied. jude’s heart warmed when he heard his babygirl call for him, but he didn't want to spoil anything, it was going to plan and he wanted it to remain that way. The fear and anxiety leaving his body, being afraid they would cry and get scared. he knew it wasn't the case when zion hugged him again, and couldn't stop smiling.

after zion and esmeralda opened the gifts jude had in his hand, zion kept asking question as to why he was here, how many kids he had visited, if he liked the cookies you guys had, if he the eld you guys had, needed to go back or stay. esmeralda knew it was her daddy, as she immediately crawled into his lap and began to tug on his white beard. jude took the whole santa act seriously, changing his voice to go deeper and instead of laughing he did the infamous “ ho ho ho”.

zion believed every single second of it, not even noticing it was jude underneath. jude or well santa had to go back, zion pleaded for him not to go, but jude explained he needed to feed the reindeer, and give him them carrots. that the north pole needed santa claus back or the workshop would fail and there would be no christmas. zion hugged santa tight as possible making him promise to come next year.

jude passed esme to you, giving you a wink before he left through the front door, zion screamed out that he couldnt believe it, that santa was here. he even walked over to the elf and thanked him for making this happen as apparently, it was one of his christmas wishes for santa to visit.

“daddy! daddy! oh my god, santa was here you missed it!” zion yapped, explaining to jude who had the biggest smile on his face as he heard his little toddler ramble and stutter. esmeralda went back to her daddy as you grabbed you and jude a fresh brew of coffee in the christmas-themed mugs, kissing his lips and greeting him a good morning.

the next hour was spent watching your babies laugh and thank you repeatedly at their gifts, zion continuing to talk about santa being here. you took small pictures and videos to look back at the memory, jude kissing your shoulder from time to time, his brown eyes staring into yours.

when you saw the time was right, zion and esme playing with his new toys, you walked over to grab both gifts. the presents neatly wrapped in the red wrapping snowman-themed paper with a small card dedicated to jude. when you sat down, jude did the same, bringing your gifts over to you, where you shook your head in disbelief. “i know we said no gifts but i couldn't help myself. i love to spoil you,” he said.

after you and jude opened every gift, you gave him the final one. jude furrowed his brows, gently unwrapping the gift paper, continuing to eye you. you watched as he opened the red velvet box, and inside was a gold neck with three charms. your baby's heartbeats from your early pregnancy days, and an engraved hearth charm where it was custom themed, your hand writing spelling out ‘jude + y/n’ and your anniversary date where he asked you to be his gf.

jude inspected every piece, his eyes welling up with tears feeling overjoyed with emotion. “there’s one more,” you reached behind you and grabbed the album of photos, jude letting out a nervous laugh as he began to look and reminisce you early relationship days, finding out you were pregnant, the trip to bahamas, zion and esmy when thet were tiny, and your proposal. jude brought you to his lap, where he wiped the tears away and snuck his head into the crook of youe neck.

“i can’t thank you enough for this y/n. for this,” he gestured to the necklace and charms, “this” then the album still in his hand, “and for our little family,” jude felt over the moon. feeling speechless after the christmas morning went better than he imagined. He pulled you in closer, feeling more in love by you, a piece of him being complete after the gift you gave him.

“you’ve made this christmas and year so memorable, and im so lucky to have you jude. it’s the least i could do after everything you've done for me and our kiddos. i’m thankful to have met you, and to have person look after us 24/7. i love you so so so much,” you persisted, wiping the tears still present onto his cheeks.

“i love you more than life itself,” he kissed you, holding your chin as your kiss felt like heaven. your lips made for him to taste and relish, molding perfectly with his. his hand tugged on you hair, not wanting to let go and keep you like this forever. jude had to resist and pulled back feeling breathless, you the same.

hours later, jude was wearing the gold chain necklace, he had fallen asleep on the couch, baby esmeralda on his chest, while zion slept safe and sound, his head leaning onto his shoulder. he spent hours playing with them, the whole morning filled with laughs and screams from them. Jude had woken up, and went to place each baby in their rooms.

he looked around for you, and called out for you and stumbled back in pure shock. you leaned on the door frame wearing nothing but a red lingerie set. a lace bra and thong, and thigh garters that were clipped onto the top waistband. he approached you, getting hard immediately, enamored with your body. he wasn't expecting this, but he sure as hell wasn't going to complain as you stood there with innocent eyes and a smirk on your face.

“you could count this as your last present.”

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judebellingham posted on their feed!

judebellingham and ynusername

liked by: ynusername, jobebellingham, camavinga, realmadrid, brahmin, gioreyna, and 3,235,333 others.

judebellingham: feeling the love more than ever this year! happy holidays to everyone, and cheers to the new year! 🤍🎄

comments.

username30: i forget he’s a dad of two sometimes…

user54: YN APPEARANCE. NOBODY MOVE.

camavinga: feliz navidad bro ❤️

↪️ judebellingham: igualmente bro ❤️

vinijr: merry christmas ❤️🎄

↪️ judebellingham: merry christmas vini 🎄

realmadrid: enhorabuena jude! disfruta con tu familia.

liked by judebellingham!

ynusername: i love you endlessly 🤍

↪️ judebellingham: imposible bc i love you more prettygirl 😍🤍

jobebellingham: do you still have leftovers? will be coming over if you do.

↪️ judebellingham: we do but none for you

↪️ ynusername: ignore him, food will be ready soon, just come by!

gioreyna: miss you bro ❤️ happy holidays

↪️ judebellingham: happy holidays from my family to yours 🤍

user8238: their baby dressed as santa i cant 😣🥹

username328: i legit cant with them ☹️

username76: merry christmas and happy new year!

#jude bellingham #jude bellingham x reader #jude bellingham imagine #jude bellingham blurb #jude bellingham one shot #jude bellingham fic #jude bellingham x y/n #jude bellingham fluff #jude bellingham instagram au #football x you #football fanfic #football x reader #footballer #football imagine #football one shot

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sissyisawitch · 5 months

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I'll Be Home For Christmas

Relationship: Sebastian Sallow x f!MC

Summary: After leaving everything behind and starting a new life almost three years ago, MC returns to Hogsmeade for Christmas Eve. Little does she know that her brief return will be enough for her past to catch up with her…

Word Count: ~9.4k

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol in the beginning? Otherwise it's just pure pining and fluff

Author's Note: Special one shot because I just love Christmas. It should've been even longer, but I had to shorten it, or I'd never have managed to post it in time for Christmas. Anyway, I had a blast writing it, and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas!🎅🎄 Lots of love💕

“Oh, MC, I can’t get over how much we’ve missed of each other’s life. You can’t imagine how much I’ve missed you!”

MC and Poppy sat in a cozy corner of the Three Broomsticks, whose dim lighting and soft hum of conversation provided a comfortable backdrop for their reunion. Excitement and laughter had been echoing for the past hours, as the two best friends shared their numerous respective adventures, and reminisced about the wonderful times they shared while at Hogwarts.

“Life sadly took us on separate journeys after graduation, there was no other way… But I'm so grateful that we haven't lost touch.” MC said as she took a sip of her third Butterbeer of the afternoon. She had never realised how much she had missed the sugary drink, especially after being away from Hogsmeade for so long. It tasted of the good old days when she spent the entire day shopping with her schoolmates, before going for a collation to relax and forget about the homework they had to do.

After Hogwarts, Poppy became a renowned Magizoologist, following in her grandmother's footsteps, like she had always dreamt of doing. As for MC, she had taken a very different path. Barely a few weeks after graduating, the girl had decided to leave everything behind and embark on a life full of travel and adventure. She never stayed in one location for very long. Her aim was to discover as many places as she could.

Now, the only thing left of her former life was her best friend Poppy, and the letters they regularly exchanged. It was for her that MC had exceptionally returned to Hogsmeade, to see her on this Christmas Eve.

“Merlin… I didn’t realise it was so late already.” MC sighed as she looked out the window. The evening sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, casting a warm glow through the pub windows.

Poppy grimaced in response, as if a bittersweet realisation came to her, “Time flies when you’re having fun. I wish I could stay longer... but Gran hasn't been well lately, and I've already left her on her own all afternoon...”

“Don't worry, Poppy. I totally understand.”

“I'd love to offer you a place to stay, especially since it’s Christmas Eve… but as I said, it's complicated at the moment.”

MC offered the girl another genuine and reassuring smile, “It’s okay, I don't mind. I've managed to find a room in an inn for a couple of days.”

“I'm glad to hear that.” Poppy smiled back, although ruefully.

After paying for their drinks, the two girls made their way out. They stood on the porch on the Three Broomstick in contemplative silence, the air thick with unspoken emotions. The time had come to bid farewell once again.

Poppy took a deep breath, as if to get rid of the lump in her throat, before breaking the silence, "MC, it's been wonderful catching up with you. I wish we could freeze time and stay like this forever."

A wistful smile played on MC's lips. "Life moves on, though. We have our own journeys to continue."

Poppy hesitated before uttering her newt words, “…Don't let it be another three years before our next reunion."

“It won’t. I promise.” MC replied weakly, having to bite the inside of her cheek to hold back her tears. She had never been very good at goodbyes.

Maybe that was why she had never said one to Sebastian.

With a lingering hug, they exchanged a few more words, promises to stay in touch, and expressions of hope for the future. It was nightfall when Poppy finally disapparated, leaving MC alone on the village streets, which were neither crowded nor deserted. Most of the people still outside were on their way home, or off to enjoy a late drink with their friends.

MC walked for a while, before stopping at a vantage point overlooking the quaint village which was bathed in the soft glow of Christmas lights that shimmered like a galaxy full of stars. Tremendous decorated Christmas trees could be found on every street corner, perfectly matching the garlands of fir branches that linked the roofs of the various cottages. It was even possible to find some snowmen that were bewitched to fill the air with the enchanting melodies of Christmas carols. The whole scene resembled a holiday postcard brought to life, especially with the thick blanket of snow covering the village.

It was magical. Literally.

As MC gazed at the picturesque view, memories started flooding her mind. The charming village setting reminded her of the spirited Christmases she used to share with Sebastian, spending the best part of their day at Zonko's trying to find a way to prank Ominis, before heading off to Honeydukes to buy Chocolate Frogs, just in case the blond ended up sulking for too long. The inseparable duo then made it back to the Great Hall just in time for the big Christmas feast, where they joined Ominis. The smell of roasted turkey, and the sound of familiar laughter echoed in MC’s thoughts.

After dinner, the group of friends used to return to their common room and sit down by the fire. She could almost hear the crackling of the fireplace, and feel the camaraderie that accompanied their joyful exchange of gifts. After that, Ominis fell asleep very quickly, and MC and Sebastian usually took the opportunity to get a little closer. If she closed her eyes, she could feel the sensation of his shoulder used as a pillow against her cheek, while his woody cologne invaded her nostrils.

MC could never escape these kinds of memories, especially when she was in Hogsmeade.

Everything always led back to Sebastian in Hogsmeade.

That was why she had refused to set foot there for so long.

To forget the insurmountable heartbreak of never having her feelings returned by the love of her life, MC had decided to start a new life. She had wanted to move on, to forget her feelings for Sebastian, but she had known that this would prove to be impossible with him in her life. She had therefore decided to make a clean break – because she knew that bidding Sebastian farewell was not a skill she possessed – and to disappear brutally. To make her plan even more effective, she had also cut ties with Ominis, seeing as he was Sebastian’s best friend, and MC had felt awkward to put him in the middle of her drama. The only thing MC had kept from her old life was Poppy... now her one and only friend.

MC had then spent years travelling around the world, searching for a place where she would feel comfortable enough, and that she would love enough to want to settle there for the rest of her life. The goal to her quest was to find a place that felt like home.

After almost three years, she still had not found her home.

“Ow!” MC suddenly exclaimed. Someone forcefully colliding against her back disrupted her reverie.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. I didn’t see you.”

MC turned at the sound of a deep masculine voice. Indeed, the man could not possibly have seen her, for he was carrying a large pile of children's toys in his arms, up to his eye level, thus blocking his field of vision.

The man shifted the pile of toys into one of his arms instead of both, moving them away from his face to take a look at the unlucky person he had just unintentionally bumped into.

Next thing MC knew, before she could even realise it, MC found herself face to face with none other than Sebastian.

His chocolate eyes widened in recognition as they locked onto hers. An amalgam of shock and bewilderment flashing across his face, washing away his previous apologetic look. He was so flabbergasted that he forgot about the packages in his hands, which began to wobble. MC rushed closer to him, to put the parcels back upright, and prevent them from shattering on the floor.

“…MC?” He asked hesitantly, never tearing his gaze away from her, just to make sure he was not dreaming, that his former best friend was well and truly standing in front of him.

“Hi.” She smiled softly at him. She could not believe that she had not recognised what had once been the only voice capable of soothing her even on her worst days. To be fair, it had changed remarkably. It was more intense, manly... even sexy.

“You’re back?” He questioned eagerly, a beaming grin breaking through the initial stupor.

MC nodded in response. She could not bring herself to tell him that it was only temporary, or even worse to admit to him that she had not come back for him, that she had never had a single intention of ever seeing him again. She could not be the one to wipe that gorgeous smile from his tantalising lips. It would break her own heart all over again.

As she kept staring into those familiar eyes, a rush of emotions overwhelmed MC. The old crush she had once harboured seemed to reignite with an unexpected intensity. It was unbelievably insane that just one glance at him was all it took to make her flamboyant feelings for him resurface. She thought she had managed to eradicate them, but she had actually only been able to bury them deep inside.

However, with that also came the horrid realisation that Sebastian was carrying a large number of toys in his arms. As MC looked once again at the eye-catching bundles in his arms, reality struck her like a cold breeze.

There, nestled in his grasp, was the object of the rude shock that life had evolved without her, in ways she never could have foreseen. Obviously, these toys were for his children, meaning that Sebastian was also married and had a loving wife waiting at home for him.

MC, still quite in denial, racked her brains to find another rational explication, but there was none. There was no other option because Ominis always said he never wanted kids in order not to pass on his ‘cursed Gaunt genes’. As for Anne… well last time MC had heard of Anne was the day Solomon Sallow died. After that, she had severed all contact with everyone except Ominis, who had promised her not to divulge any information about her whereabouts.

MC’s heart sank as her mind kept repeating itself that Sebastian had moved on, embracing a world that now included the joy and responsibility of raising a family.

“Merlin, MC! I thought I’d never see you again! You’ve missed so many things, there’s so much I need to tell you! Do you live here now?” If Sebastian had ever held a grudge against MC for disappearing without warning, no trace of it was visible. His excitement was taking over completely.

“I have a room at the Hog’s Head.”

“What? The Hog’s Head?” He exclaimed in horror – rather dramatically if you asked MC – “You can't possibly stay in this dodgy shithouse!”

MC was surprised by his crude words. She was used to his outspokenness, but she had not expected to hear it again so soon after such a long time. She could only shrug sheepishly, “I don't really have much choice... Sirona didn't have any more rooms available for me. Everything was booked up… you know… with the holidays.”

“Ah... Well, I can't exactly let a lovely lady like you sleep there. I've got room at home, you can come if you like.” Sebastian puffed out his chest, putting on his false air of chivalry.

MC tried her best to conceal the blush creeping up her cheeks, but alas, she could do nothing about her nervous stammering, “Oh… Oh, I… I don’t wanna bother you. Besides, the Hog’s Head’s not that bad…”

“Don't say no. Please. Really, I insist. We could spend the evening drinking and catching up… What d’you say?” Sebastian gave her the sad puppy eyes, and MC could feel all her resolve slipping away at the same second.

Thinking about it twice, the Hog's Head was truly, absolutely dreadful. The few times MC had been there, she had been catcalled far too many times for her liking.

So yes, she knew that staying with Sebastian, his wife and their children was going to be pure torture, but MC still preferred that to the risk of being mugged or assaulted by one of the Hog's Head patrons.

“Okay.” She ended up saying, forcing a smile that masked her internal turmoil.

“Brilliant!” Sebastian looked so excited that it would not have surprised MC if he had started jumping up and down. “Have you got any luggage you need to pick up in your room before going to my place?”

“No, I've just got this." MC replied, pointing to her small rectangular shoulder bag, barely large enough to hold a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. “I travel light.”

“Perfect! Well then, if you will follow me, my lady.” He offered her his arm with a wink, and after a brief moment of surprise, she accepted it.

Sebastian made it so effortless to fall back into their old dynamic, that it made it just as natural and easy for MC to do the same. It was like they had never been apart.

They walked together, sticking close to each other, in the same way they used to do when they were still teenagers. As they strolled through the streets of Hogsmeade, MC assumed Sebastian was taking her to a Floo Flame. The girl was therefore genuinely caught off-guard when he stopped in front of her. a small house typical of the village – made of stone with an excessively pointed roof – and took out a key to open the front door.

“Ladies first.” Sebastian's face lit up with pride and joy, while he let MC in first, still the perfect gentleman as usual. Even married, he could not help being flirty.

Before entering, MC took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, in anticipation of meeting the woman who had succeeded where she had failed, the woman who was better enough than her in Sebastian's eyes to have succeeded in stealing his golden heart.

However, instead of coming face to face with her nemesis, MC found herself immersed in an intimate reflection of Sebastian's essence, overwhelmed by how homey it felt. The house was truly cosy, but a little small for a family in MC's opinion. But then again, it had to be remembered that Sebastian was used to small spaces, having lived in his little one-room cottage in Feldcroft for most of his life.

The living room had the charm of disarray, with stacks of well-read books scattered on the coffee table next to empty mugs, suggesting that Sebastian had not lost his messy habits. The smell of the fireplace and coffee intermingled, creating a comforting atmosphere that reflected precisely the way Sebastian always managed to put MC at ease.

MC guessed that the upstairs, which was in fact a mezzanine, must be the bedroom. She did not dare go upstairs to respect his privacy, but from the ground floor, she could see the top of bookshelves reaching up to the pointed roof, proof that Sebastian was still as thirsty for knowledge as ever.

All these little details showed MC that, although his life had evolved, the man standing a few steps away from her was still her beloved Sebastian.

Sebastian, observing MC's reactions, could not suppress a grin, "It's not much, but it's home. You can have the bedroom, and I'll sleep on the couch.”

On further inspection of the house, MC came upon the kitchen, which was open to the living room. She could not help noticing that the worktops bore the marks of failed culinary experiments. Some pans with burnt bottoms were abandoned on the counter, and dirty cutlery had accumulated in the sink. In short, the kitchen was a mess, just as Sebastian could be in other people's lives.

However, what stood out most to MC was the absence of signs of shared living. There were no visible traces of another person – no stray belongings, no indications of a partner or children. It was as if the whole house resonated with Sebastian alone, as if his whole person had become woven into the fabric of his environment.

As MC continued to stare in silence at his topsy-turvy house, Sebastian scratched the back of his neck nervously, “Don't pay attention to the shambles, please. I didn't clean up... since I wasn't exactly expecting any guests.”

Instead of reassuring him as she would have liked, MC's curiosity was quicker to take over her next words, “Where’s your wife?”

“My wife?” Sebastian frowned.

“Yes. The woman you married.” She added bitterly. Her curiosity slowly lowered its mask to reveal its true self of authentic jealousy.

He looked away, but MC could still see that he was biting the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face, “I’m flattered you think I’m charming enough to get a wife, but I’m afraid there’s still no Mrs. Sallow. Besides Anne, of course.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?” Sebastian chuckled at her enigmatic reaction.

“I thought the toys were for your kids…” She admitted shyly, pretty embarrassed after making so many wrong assumptions about him.

“My kids? Bloody hell, MC, you sure have high expectations for me!” Sebastian exclaimed, clearly amused by the situation. “But no, I don't have kids. The toys are for my niece.”

MC was gob smacked, eyes wide and mouth agape, “Your… niece? You have a niece? Anne had a child? Wait, did she get married? With who?”

“That’s a lot of questions.” He smirked playfully at her, while looking for a bottle in one of his cabinets. “But I think you can guess the answer to the last one.”

MC looked down at her feet, taking a moment to think, when realisation hit her like a bolt of lightning. She turned her head back to Sebastian so fast it almost gave her whiplash, “Ominis?”

“Bingo.” Sebastian replied casually, uncorking a bottle of Firewhiskey. “And he took Anne's name. He's Mr. Sallow now.”

“No way!” She gasped, letting herself fall limply onto the sofa out of utter stupefaction.

“Yes way.” He laughed wholeheartedly, sitting down next to her and pouring two glasses of alcohol for each of them.

"How? When?"

"Apparently, after fifth year, they did more than just keep in touch."

MC took her glass in hand, but did not drink from it. She had far too many questions on her mind to take the time to have a sip, "But how did they deal with Anne's curse?"

"It disappeared once you killed Rookwood, since he was the one who cursed her. Apparently, magic disappears with the caster. I learnt all this a few months after graduation, when Anne got back in touch to invite me to their wedding…”

Sebastian suddenly paused in his explanations to down his glass of Firewhiskey in one gulp.

“She wanted to invite you too… I had to explain to her that you'd disappeared without warning." He continued, looking pained, and MC suspected it was not just because of the bitterness of the alcohol.

"I'm sorry." MC winced at her own words. She was pathetic to listen to, using the most clichéd and basic phrase. But it was all she could muster to respond, because it was exactly how she felt. She was profoundly sorry. Sorry to the people she cherished the most, for abandoning them without looking back. But also sorry for herself, because she now had to accept the bitter realisation that she had been absent for so many crucial milestones of their lives.

Sebastian only shook his head, avoiding her gaze and preferring to stare at his empty glass, "Why did you do that? Why didn't you say anything? I was worried sick ‘cause I thought something bad had happened to you, that some Ashwinders were still out there, and had kidnapped you. I spent months looking for you... I'd even asked the Aurors to search for you.”

MC sipped her drink slowly, using the alcohol as a distraction from the painfully heartbreaking explanations of the man sitting next to her

“…They eventually found you overseas. In perfect health... and in perfect company so I've heard. That's when I realised that you hadn't been taken away, but had gone away of your own free will.” Sebastian poured himself another glass before throwing it back again.

“I'm so sorry.”

He scoffed bitterly, “I don't want to hear that you're sorry. It's no use. I just want to know what you were thinking when you left.”

This time, it was MC's turn to down her glass before pouring her heart out in the most honest way possible, "I just needed to get away from everything, from the past. I just wanted to start again."

Against all odds, he nodded understandingly, "Wish I could stay mad at you for it... but I won’t say that I don’t understand."

What he did next surprised MC in the most pleasant way. Sebastian reached out towards her, placing his large hand on top of hers, which was resting on the brown leather of the sofa. Even if his hand was calloused and weathered by time and experience, MC was amazed by how perfectly it fit around her own.

"What matters is that you're here now." He offered her a tender smile that warmed her heart in the most appeasing way. Only he could do that to her.

"I am." MC smiled in return, even more brightly. It was contagious. She turned her hand over and intertwined their fingers together.

As their conversation died down, MC could not help but steal a moment to observe the transformation in Sebastian’s appearance. The once-adorable teenage boy she remembered had blossomed into a handsome man. His features, chiselled by the passage of time, sculpted a strong jawline that added a touch of rugged refinement to his countenance. The shadow of a beard adorned his face, giving him a distinguished and slightly mysterious air. Sebastian's tousled hair fell with a casual elegance, framing a face that bore the subtle imprints of life's experiences, such as a scar on his eyebrow arch that MC had never seen before.

The only remaining trace of the boyish charm that MC had cherished years ago, was the constellations of freckles that beautifully decorated his face. They had always made MC weak in the knees, but the butterflies in her stomach were multiplied tenfold now that they were highlighted by his light tan.

MC internally begged herself to stop ogling him before she fell further under his spell (if that was even possible, considering how head over heels she was for him).

She poured herself another drink and cleared her throat, “You said you wanted to catch up over drinks, right? Go ahead. Tell me about yourself.”

As Sebastian spoke, MC found herself captivated by the way he carried himself – his confidence unaltered after all these years, and the assurance with which he gestured. There was an understated magnetism in the way he spoke, a reflection of the man he had become since they last parted. As he easily recounted all he had achieved, MC marvelled at the beauty of the journey that had transformed him into the person sitting in front of her.

And so, MC listened attentively, desperate to know everything she had missed about him. She thus learnt that, after Hogwarts, Sebastian had joined the Auror recruitment programme. His first reason was that it was a profession he was passionate about, and that allowed him to do what he loved all day long. The second reason – and perhaps the most important – was because he knew that this career would help him to achieve noble things. In other words, it was his way of making amends for all the mistakes he had made in the past, in the hope that Anne would eventually forgive him too (which had taken a long time, but eventually worked out).

After having been accepted into the programme, Sebastian knew that he would not be able to stay in Feldcroft, firstly because the cottage held too many painful memories, but also because it was now Anne and Ominis' shared home. Consequently, he had found himself a small studio in London, not far from the Ministry. However, even after spending several months there, it just never felt like home to him. He resented the lack of green space, and the fact that he always had to check that none of his Muggle neighbours noticed that he was a wizard. So he moved again.

Looking for a place that was both in the heart of the Highlands and still bustling with life, Sebastian found only one possibility: Hogsmeade. The small, all-wizarding village met all his expectations, and the Ministry was easy to reach thanks to the Floo Network. And so, Sebastian moved into this small cottage, perfect for his life as a bachelor.

“So Auror Sallow, huh?” MC said playfully. “Well, can Auror Sallow win a duel against Ancient Magic Prodigy MC?”

“He sure hopes he can, since it’s supposed to be his job.” Sebastian laughed along with her.

“Do you want to put yourself to the test?” She cocked an eyebrow at him mischievously.

“You know I never shy away from a duel.” He replied with the same spark of deviltry in his eyes.

Without wasting any more time, Sebastian stood up, then turned to MC, holding out his hand to help her up. It was a simple gesture, but it was enough to make MC's cheekbones turn pink, as would any act of affection she received from Sebastian.

The two took their positions, taking a few steps apart before facing each other. It had been years since they last engaged in the exhilarating dance of magical duelling, a pastime that had once defined their youth, especially after being named Crossed Wands champions for three years running.

"Ready?" Sebastian grinned, the confidence of experience illuminating his eyes.

"Always." MC replied, wand at the ready, and they prepared to rediscover the thrill that had bound them together in shared laughter and friendly rivalry.

Ever the perfect gentleman, Sebastian let MC commence hostilities.

“Expelliarmus!”

“You're off to an easy start.” Sebastian laughed after brushing the attack off with a simple Shield Charm. “Confringo!”

MC deflected the spell just as easily, smirking right back at him, “You're off to a predictable start.”

A symphony of lights ensued, as sparks and spells flew, and the air shimmered with the energy of their magical prowess. MC’s spells were fluid and controlled, a testament to the skill she had honed over the years. Sebastian, however, moved with a newfound grace and precision, his every movement reflecting the growth and mastery he had attained thanks to the Auror training.

The duelling only grew in intensity as the two friends weaved intricate spells, each trying to outmanoeuvre the other. Laughter and teasing remarks echoed through the night as memories of their youth resurfaced in the midst of their magical exchange.

After several long and intense minutes of competing against each other, Sebastian unexpectedly directed his wand away from MC, aiming instead at the ceiling, and more precisely at the chandelier hanging from it.

“Glacius!” The candles obviously failed to resist the ice and were instantly extinguished on contact, plunging the room into semi-darkness.

Distracted by the newfound refined strategy established by Sebastian – which he had no doubt learnt to put in place at the speed of light during one of his courses – MC did not notice Sebastian disappear under a Disillusionment Charm, which was all the more effective as there was hardly any light in the living room, apart from the orange flames crackling in the fireplace.

With a final, masterful flick of his wand, Sebastian cast the final blow, “Depulso.”

MC found herself propelled to the floor, her back slamming against the sofa. Judging by the underwhelming low force of the impact, it was easy to guess that he had restrained himself, so as not to hurt her.

“Looks like I've had my long-awaited revenge for fifth year. I've finally bested you in a duel." Sebastian, breathing slightly heavier but grinning ear to ear, extended a hand to help her up.

MC, refusing to admit defeat, grabbed Sebastian's hand but only to make him fall to the ground beside her. She rolled them over until she was astride him, holding him firmly down.

She grinned down at him, “Really? Because I actually think I’ve won.”

He barked a laugh, “And I think you've forgotten the rule that you're not allowed to use physical violence in a wizard duel.”

“Since when do we play by the rules?”

Their gazes met for the umpteenth time that night, but this time was different. It was as if time had come to a standstill, as if the world had momentarily stopped spinning for them, just to let them savour the closeness of the moment.

MC kept staring into Sebastian's chocolate eyes, and was truly taken aback by what she saw in them. His eyes, once full of youthful curiosity, now sparkled with a different kind of radiance. They shone with a brightness that seemed to reflect the happiness and contentment he had found in his life. The laughter lines around his eyes only enhanced their glow, and as MC looked into those bright, expressive eyes, she could not help but feel a sense of joy for the man who had evolved from the adorable teenage friend she once knew, into the confident and content individual currently lying on the ground beneath her.

In those eyes, she saw the echoes of the genuine happiness that had transformed Sebastian into the person he was meant to be, the person she should have met from the very beginning of fifth year, if only Anne had never been cursed by Rookwood.

But now Sebastian was completely fulfilled with every aspect of his life. It was as plain as the nose on his face. And the feeling was made all the clearer by the fact that his lively eyes were perfectly matched by his wide toothy grin, which shone brightly even in the middle of the darkened living room.

After eventually snapping out of her thoughts, MC pulled herself away from Sebastian and helped him straighten up, “I’m proud of you, Seb, of what you’ve become. The future Mrs. Sallow will be very lucky to have a capable man like you by her side.”

Sebastian sat down next to her on the floor, facing the fireplace, and back resting against the sofa behind them, “She’ll never be as lucky as Mr. MC will be. I hope he’ll realise he’s got the most brilliant witch of the world by his side.”

MC grabbed his arm and hugged it close to her chest, while hooking her leg over one of his. Their limbs were tangled together, clinging to each other. Sebastian seemed to have no objection to this new positioning. In fact, he seemed quite delighted as he wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the girl next to him.

“What d’you think he’ll be like, my future husband?” She asked quietly.

“He’ll have to be right for you.” He replied all too solemnly.

A small laugh escaped her, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means it has to be someone who will know how to take care of you, and give you everything you need to be happy, without a single shred of hesitation. It will be someone who's worthy of standing by your side and will be able to protect you from any danger… so basically someone who'll be able to defeat me in a duel."

"Seems like I'll be stuck with you for the rest of my life, then." MC continued to smile, but it was no longer in amusement. It was something more akin to contentment.

Sebastian mirrored her expression, "Perhaps you will. I can’t imagine it'd be too bad, would it?"

"Apart from your occasional bad temper, I think I could take it." She rested her head on his strong shoulder.

MC was not sure whether it was the fatigue accumulated from her perpetual travels, or the feeling of being in a warm, comfortable home, or even the fact of being reunited with Sebastian (it was probably all three), but her eyelids became heavy without her even realising it, leading her into a peaceful sleep.

“I'm going to celebrate Christmas at Anne and Ominis' house tomorrow. You're coming.” Sebastian declared out of the blue, without realising that the girl had started dozing off.

“What? No, Seb, I can’t do that. I can’t just barge in when I wasn’t invited.” MC mumbled groggily.

“You don’t need an invitation, MC. It’s you. You’re always welcome.” He retorted instantly, as if it was the most common fact to ever exist. “Plus, they miss you, so they’ll be the happiest people in the world if you show up.”

“I won't even have a present to give them...” She muttered like a pouting small child, which made it impossible for Sebastian to hold back a chuckle.

“You're back. Believe me, that's better than any present you could buy.”

Sebastian's fingers subconsciously started tracing invisible shapes on her arm, effectively lulling her back to sleep.

❄∗❆∗❅⁂∗☃∗⁂❅∗❆∗❄

The next morning, MC was woken by the few rays of winter sunshine that the curtains had failed to hold back. Keeping her eyes closed to enjoy a few more minutes of rest, she rolled onto her stomach and was pleasantly surprised by the feel of soft sheets against the skin of her face. But what struck her most was that she could smell Sebastian's perfume all around her, as if she were immersed in one of the bottles.

Completely enveloped by the sophisticated fusion of woody undertones and hints of vetiver, and the enigmatic charm it carried, MC opened her eyes and realised that she had indeed spent the night in Sebastian's bed. On seeing this, MC let herself think that Sebastian had slept in the same bed as her, and that perhaps, with a little bit of luck, he reciprocated her feelings.

A flutter of anticipation flickered within her, one that prevented her from staying in bed any longer. Without wasting any more time, MC descended the mezzanine stairs to the living room, where Sebastian was already sitting on the couch, Daily Prophet in hand.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” Sebastian greeted her with a smile when he noticed her standing at the bottom of the stairs.

MC realised he must have been up for quite some time, for he was freshly cleaned up – the lack of stubble which had been present the previous day was testament to it – and already dressed up for the imminent Christmas reunion. He was clad in a tan windowpane shirt, coupled with a gingerbread brown vest matching his tailored pants. The choice of colours could not have been more perfect. All those shades of brown brought out all his most majestic features: his unruly yet soft hair, his freckled skin, his warm and reassuring eyes…

Sebastian was making it humanly impossible to tear one’s gaze away from his god-like appearance, and MC could not resist making a comment about it.

“Morning, handsome.” She smirked playfully back at him.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Better than ever.” MC admitted, a discreet pink tinting her cheekbones. “Just a question, though. How did I get up there?”

“I carried you, of course. Couldn't let you sleep on the floor. What kind of host would I have been?”

“And… you slept…?”

“On the couch. Just like I told you I would.” Sebastian smiled tenderly.

“Right.”

And with these few simple words, reality dawned on MC. Disappointment settled in, like a gentle snowfall dampening the warm embers of her previous hope that Sebastian harboured feelings for her.

The truth was that he had chosen the sofa over sharing the bed with her, a sign that he still viewed MC as nothing more than a friend. The girl felt her heart tug, like a reminder of why she had chosen not to be part of his life any more.

MC took a deep breath, “I'm gonna go and get ready, so we don't arrive late at Anne and Ominis'.”

“Anne likes us all to be dressed up for Christmas. We can go and buy you a dress at Gladrags, if you'd like–”

She immediately shook her head, “No, no, it's fine. Don't worry, I've got everything I need.”

MC took out her wand and pointed it at her small shoulder bag on the floor. With a simple flick, the object grew tenfold in volume until it reached the size of a suitcase. MC opened it, revealing that the bag had been enchanted to be bottomless, and she climbed inside it before disappearing. All that could be heard was the sound of her footsteps, and her bustle as she went through all sorts of outfits.

“Talk about travelling light.” Sebastian snickered.

A few moments later, MC emerged back from the suitcase as if climbing a ladder, wearing an ankle-length cotton mahogany dress. The corset hugged her waist perfectly, and highlighted her bust with its square neckline and short puffed sleeves. The dress was nothing extravagant, but the fact that it fit her like a glove was what made it so charming.

“Is this dress all right? Think it'll be nice enough for Anne?” She gave it a twirl, so that Sebastian could see it from every angle, before putting on a black cloak to protect herself from the winter cold.

“It looks great. You look great. Well, not great, actually. I mean– More like stunning. You look stunning, you do. We’re even matching. The colour, I mean. Because obviously you look better than me.” Sebastian stammered awkwardly, his cheeks tinged with a hint of shyness. “Merlin, this is awful. I need to learn to shut up.”

“It’s alright. I understood what you meant, that's the most important thing.” MC could only chuckle at his new bashfulness. She found it absolutely endearing.

Sebastian took a deep breath before speaking more clearly, “What I’m trying to say is… You're beautiful. You’ve always been.”

“Thank you, Seb.” She met his gaze, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

He tried to divert attention from his nervousness by slipping on his long black coat, and grabbing the wrapped gifts for his niece, “Ready to go?”

MC nodded in response, waiting for Sebastian to apparate them. She expected him to grab her by the arm, but instead he wrapped an arm around her waist. He brought her small figure close to him, as if he wanted to make sure that she would be comfortable during the apparition, that there was not even the slightest chance for her to get splinched.

With a loud crack, the world began to spin. Next thing she knew, MC was standing in the middle of the snowy village of Feldcroft. As she tried to right herself, she staggered slightly, dizzy from the apparition, whose effects were far more brutal when someone was doing it for you. Fortunately, Sebastian still had an arm wrapped around her waist to cradle her against him. With his other hand, he grabbed her elbow to steady her.

Once Sebastian was certain that MC was all right, he guided her towards the Sallow cottage, which she had not seen for years. From the outside, it looked much bigger than she remembered, particularly because it had an extra floor. Sebastian explained that he had helped Anne and Ominis enlarge it after their wedding, so that they would have enough room for their future family.

Sebastian was the first to set foot on the cottage porch. He hid MC behind him with his body, to create an effect of surprise, then knocked on the door. It was Anne who answered, appearing in the doorway wearing a sublime ankle-length midnight-blue velvet dress adorned with cultured pearls.

"Sebastian! I told you to buy only one present! She's going to end up spoiled rotten if this keeps up." Anne exclaimed without even greeting her brother.

"She's my only niece. Who am I to spend my money on if not her?"

"How 'bout your sister?" She raised an accusing eyebrow at him, while clearing him of all the packages in his arms.

"Ah, but I've brought a surprise for you too. Look what I found last night…" He intoned with amusement, and stepped aside to reveal MC. "A lost soul who wanted to spend Christmas alone at the Hog’s Head!"

"Oh my, MC!" Anne swiftly pulled the girl into a bear hug. "Ominis, come here!"

"What is it, sweetie?" The blond man called from afar, carrying his daughter in his arms.

Judging by the way he had stopped dead in his tracks, coming to an abrupt halt, MC knew that he had sensed her presence thanks to his sentient wand.

Sebastian decided to take his brother-in-law’s daughter off his hands, so that the two friends could reunite peacefully, "Hey, little monster! Wanna give a hug to Uncle Seb?"

Meanwhile, MC approached her old friend and spoke softly, "Hello, Ominis."

Knowing that Ominis was not very comfortable with physical contact, especially with people he did not know well, MC was not sure how to greet him. So it came as a great surprise when he made no hesitation whatsoever and took her in his arms, holding her tightly.

"I should be telling you off for disappearing... but I'm not going to. Not today." Ominis whispered in her ear.

She chuckled lightly, "I'm happy to see you too."

"Let me take your coat." He offered after pulling away.

MC untied the ribbon from her cloak, and handed it to Ominis. She then turned to Sebastian to pick up the toddler in his arms, so that he too could remove his thick winter coat.

"Hi, little princess. I'm a friend of your mummy and daddy, and your uncle Sebastian too." MC cooed in a honeyed voice. She could not help noticing that the little girl in her arms was the perfect amalgam of her two parents. She had all her mother's features, but with meadow-blonde hair and grey-blue eyes like her father.

"Unkie! Unkie!" She pouted and made big gestures with her arms to indicate that she wanted to go back to her uncle. She truly was an uncle's little girl.

"I'm here, baby.” Sebastian immediately took her back into his arms, after giving Ominis his coat, to cradle her. “You don't have to be scared of MC. She's really nice too, you know."

"Auntie?" The one-year-old asked hesitantly, reaching out to wrap her hand around MC's index finger.

"That's right, that's Auntie MC." Sebastian encouraged her. It was impressive how he naturally had his way with kids.

It may have been silly, but something as simple as being called Auntie by a child she had just met, as well as by Sebastian, awakened something in her, a sense of belonging that had been dormant for a long time. She truly felt like a fully-fledged member of this family.

Anne suddenly let out a sigh, "I'd love to be able to celebrate the reunion with you, but I've still got lots of things to do in the kitchen. Sebastian, can you look after the baby while Ominis lays the table?"

"I'll come and help you, Anne." MC declared.

"Thank you, MC. You're too kind." Anne exited the living room, followed by MC.

“So… You and Ominis, huh?” MC started once they were alone. She was sitting across from Anne at the small kitchen table which was covered in food stains from preparing the meal.

Anne immediately shook her head, “Oh, no, no. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about my marital life later. Let's talk about how you ended up here with my brother after all these years."

"We ran into each other last night in Hogsmeade. He offered me to sleep over, and we basically spent the better part of the night talking." MC shrugged.

"And?” Anne pried impatiently. “What happened?"

"Nothing. What do you want to happen?”

“Nothing. It was just a random question.” Anne replied coyly while she finished icing the Yule log. “So, update me as well. Where are you in life? Have you met anyone?”

“No, not at all. I haven't really had time for that.”

“That's a shame.”

“What – uhm – What about him?” MC did not look up from the kilted soldiers she was preparing, in an attempt to appear nonchalant. Needless to say, it was a failure.

“Who?” Anne feigned ignorance.

MC heaved a sigh, deciding to finally meet her friend's gaze, “Sebastian. Has he met anyone recently?”

Anne bit the inside of her cheek, "I think you should ask him directly."

"I'm scared it'll be awkward…"

"Well… if you want to know everything, he hasn’t courted anyone since you went away. He claims that he's not interested in dating, that he’s focusing on becoming a proper Auror first. He always finds an excuse to avoid admitting that he's already got a girl on his mind, but is too much of a coward to act upon it."

MC felt her heart skip a beat. A cold realization settled over her, making her stop everything she was doing. Her heart sank, the weight of unspoken truths pressing upon her, and she forced a tight-lipped smile, concealing the ache within as she navigated the sudden revelation that someone else was in Sebastian's heart, and it was not her.

MC swallowed thickly, "Has he known her for long?"

"Several years."

"And is she a good person? Does she treat him well?"

"He's never been happier than when he's with her." Anne admitted with a sincere smile that contrasted drastically with the unsettled look that MC was unable to disguise.

"Who is it?" She asked weakly, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.

"I fear that’s too much information, and that's not for me to tell. Just ask him."

Without another word on the matter, Anne gracefully pivoted, excusing herself to go back to the living room and announce that the meal was ready. MC took a moment to compose herself, swallowing the bitter pill of disappointment before joining the others in the living room.

Seated at the table, surrounded by the warmth of holiday decorations and the aroma of a festive feast, the four friends engaged in a pleasant chatter. The clinking of cutlery and laughter created a veneer of normalcy. They reminisced adventures from their time at Hogwarts, shared stories about their jobs, exchanged anecdotes about Anne and Ominis’s little one, and indulged in the delights of the Christmas meal.

“So, MC, what have you been up to during your travels?” Ominis asked as he had just finished feeding his daughter.

MC swallowed her mouthful of turkey before replying, “Well, you know, trying to explore the world and discover new places. Honestly, I’ve just been searching for a place that makes me want to stay, that feels like home.”

“And have you found that place yet?”

MC was silent for a moment. How was she supposed to explain that she had found this special place years ago, but had fled far away from it, just to search the world for something similar? Because if MC was willing to face the truth, she knew that her home was wherever Sebastian was.

Sebastian was her home.

It was quite ironic that he did not feel the same way about her…

“I… I’m not sure.” MC finally said.

“…Does that mean you’ll be back on the road again?” Ominis questioned again, but this time with caution.

“Yes. I leave tomorrow morning.” MC replied resolutely.

The clatter of dropped cutlery echoed like an unintentional punctuation to the tremendous silence that followed. Eyes widened, gazes met with uncertainty, and an unspoken tension pulsed through the room.

Anne was the first to break the palpable unease by raising her voice, “What? But you just came back! You can’t leave so soon.”

The next sound came from Sebastian's chair legs scraping the floor as he stood up abruptly and threw his napkin on the table, “Excuse me. I need some fresh air.”

His eyes did not meet anyone's as he left the table. Without even grabbing his coat, he stormed out of the house. The door slammed behind him and echoed through the deathly hush inside.

"What’s up with him? Did I say something wrong?" MC asked, disconcerted. She was completely unaware of the weight of her revelation, which had hit her friends like a tidal wave.

Anne huffed in irritation before shouting at her, "Of course you did, MC! You're supposed to be his best friend! Can't you see how cruel you're being to him?"

Ominis rested a hand on his wife's shoulder, "Calm down, sweetie. It's not her fault MC is dense."

"Hey!" The girl exclaimed indignantly, but Ominis ignored her.

"Let me put it simply for you, MC. We were all hurt when you left without saying a word, but Sebastian's been a complete wreck ever since. The usual cheerful Sebastian you know was nowhere to be found for years… until today. And that's only because you came back.”

“And now, you've just brutally told him that you plan to disappear tomorrow, and take his happiness with you! Again!" Anne insisted, determined to keep rubbing it in until realisation eventually hit the girl.

Fortunately, it worked quite quickly, but now MC did not know what to do with herself, "I... I didn't know that... I thought he’d just forget about me and move on."

"I thought you knew him better than that. Haven’t you yet realised that you're everything to him? Because it's more than time you do!"

“I… need to talk to him. Excuse me.”

MC, in turn, rushed out of the cottage, only grabbing Sebastian's coat in her haste.

The freezing air greeted her as she stepped outside, snowflakes landing on her hair and the bare skin of her arms. Thankfully, it did not take her long to spot Sebastian, who had moved slightly away from the house to lean against a tree, his shoulders hunched slightly against the winter chill.

She approached him slowly, but with a determined step, the snow crunching under her feet. She knew he had heard her by the way he straightened up, even though he seemed intent on ignoring her.

“Seb, come back inside. It’s freezing, you’re gonna catch your death.” She implored him, covering herself with her arms to protect herself from the icy wind.

“What’s it to you? You won’t even be there to see it.” He replied even more coldly than the weather, without even turning to look at her.

“…Put on your coat at least.” She insisted, extending it to him.

Sebastian took the coat from her, but instead of putting it on like expected, he draped it over her, so that she would not get cold. His hands lingered on her shoulders, which were now protected by the thick felt.

At last, he met her gaze, his eyes silently pleading with her, “Am I not good enough for you to stay? Not good enough for you to notice me?”

MC grabbed his wrists as if by instinct, “Seb, of course you’re plenty enough. You’re my oldest friend–”

Sebastian sighed in annoyance and pulled away from her, “But can’t you see it’s not enough for me?”

“…What?”

Sebastian reached into his pocket, retrieving a small velvet box. He had always imagined giving her this gift with a broad smile, but now he was opening the box with a rueful frown, to reveal a delicate ring.

“I wanted to give it to you a little after we graduated. I wanted to give it to you to confess my feelings. I wanted that ring to be a symbol of my devotion, and a promise to always remain loyal to you… Turned out life had other plans because you left the day I bought it.”

“Sebastian…” MC croaked out, doing her best to fight back the tears that threatened to fall as she stared at the magnificent jewel that was the poignant representation of all the missed opportunities and lost time.

"Now’s a good time to give it to you, I think. If you’re going to leave again, might as well be honest while I have the chance, before you run away like last time." He said acrimoniously as he placed the ring on her finger.

"Wha…” The shock took away MC's voice before she could even finish her sentence. Her eyes were riveted on the golden band. “What about the girl you like? Anne told me you were interested in someone."

"The girl I like?” He laughed humourlessly. “MC, I've been ridiculously and irrevocably in love with you since fifth year, since the day you kicked my arse in Hecat’s class. You literally knocked me off my feet. I know I didn't always show it well, but it's true, it's always been you.”

MC let out a pained grunt and hid her face in her hands in shame, "Oh Merlin, Seb... I've been such an idiot."

“Why?” Sebastian frowned.

“I've always loved you too. But I was so miserable thinking I'd never be anything more than your friend, that I decided to disappear to try and forget you.”

“And? Please, tell me it didn’t work.” His words came out desperate, almost begging.

She took his face between her hands, and lovingly caressed his cold cheeks, “It didn’t. How could I ever forget you? Being away from you only made me miss you more.”

His hands came down to rest around her waist, bringing her close to his body, in search of both solace and warmth, “It's all right. We're together now. You don't have to leave anymore. All's well that ends well.”

“Well… Not exactly all. You gave me this beautiful ring, and I have nothing to give you in return.”

“I finally have the witch of my dreams back at my side. I couldn’t dream of a better Christmas present.”

Suddenly, MC and Sebastian were interrupted by a cracking sound coming from above them. They looked up and saw a branch of mistletoe sprang out of thin air from one of the branches of the tree they were standing under, its delicate white berries shimmering in the soft glow of the surrounding lights.

Sebastian looked back down at MC, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, “Actually… I’ve just thought of a gift you could give me.”

The snowflakes descended gracefully around them, creating a magical scene that mirrored the fluttering emotions in their hearts. In that enchanting moment, with the world cocooned in a quiet hush, MC found the fiery courage and desire to close the thin gap between them. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, and their hearts were set alight, for the moment they had dreamt of most in their lives had finally become reality.

Out of enthusiasm, Sebastian tightened his grip around MC, with his arms completely wrapped around her petite frame, enveloping her in such warmth that she completely forgot they were both covered in snow. He pressed and secured her tightly against him, and lifted her off the ground. Out of reflex, the girl's hands travelled up to wrap around his neck to steady herself. Her fingertips grazed his soft curls, sending shivers down her spine.

Unfortunately, their winter wonderland moment was abruptly interrupted by the joyful cheers of their friends inside the house. MC and Sebastian reluctantly pulled away from each other, and turned in the direction of the commotion to see Anne and Ominis glued to the window to spy on them. The wand in Anne's hand was proof enough that it was she who had conjured up the mistletoe.

MC giggled, looking back at her boyfriend with stars in her eyes, and her hands resting in his chest, “Merry Christmas, Seb.”

“Merry Christmas, darling.” He answered softly before leaning in to steal another kiss from her.

MC sincerely hoped there would be another Mrs. Sallow other than Anne next Christmas, for she had finally found her home and never planned on leaving ever again.

❄∗❆∗❅⁂∗☃∗⁂❅∗❆∗❄

Part 2 : Christmas at Home (link)

#hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow fanfiction #sebastian sallow fluff #hogwarts legacy fanfic #fanfic #christmas

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libraryofloveletters · 5 months

Text

The Christmas Market

Pierre Gasly x Fem!Reader

Warnings: home sick reader, pierre is trying his best, christmas markets, cheesy couple stuff, pierre is kinda sweet when he's not being an ick, pierre can't skate for shit, cooties as these kids would say.

Word Count: 718

Author's Note: again, my charity of the month writing the man. y'all know I don't fuck with this man like that lmaooo - for @2-fast-2-curious cause this is her pookie

You were missing home quite a bit and Pierre decides to indulge in one of your favourite holiday traditions.

Home sickness was no joke and it was kicking in big time.

You lived in Milan since you had applied to go to University there. You moved during your first year and fell in love with the place and with a certain formula one driver who lived there as well.

As much as you've come to love Milan and Pierre, you always went home for the holidays. For the last three years, you were home for Christmas and in France for new years with your boyfriend, Pierre and his family.

This year was much different, your studies kept you in Milan a lot longer than expected and you would be missing out on a lot of your family traditions.

No tree decorating, no cookie decorating and no Christmas market.

Pierre being the sweet boyfriend he was, was trying his best to cheer you up as much as he could. He usually waited until a week or two before Christmas to get his Christmas tree but this year, he bought the biggest artificial tree one could find and about a million and one ornaments to see if he could improve your mood.

And for a bit, it did work. The 5 hours it took you two to put the tree together, your mood did improve but the next day, it was back to focusing on your exams and the lack of Christmas mood was apparent.

He offered to bake cookies with you but you turned down his offer; you typically baked your mom's famous and secret cookies but you didn't have the recipe, hence the secret part.

Pierre was running out of ideas but then an ad for the Christmas market popped on his Instagram.

He finds you on the couch, finally popping your laptop for the afternoon. "How about a date night?" He asks, reaching for your hand.

"Babe," you groaned, letting him pull you up. "I'm not really in the mood."

"C'mon, some fresh air will make you feel better. You've been glued to your laptop all day."

"Fine," you gave in, the two of you getting ready. Pierre didn't give you any idea as to where you're going other than to dress warm. You figured you'd probably walk to dinner or something but you weren't - he opened the car door for you, driving to some undisclosed location.

To be honest, you weren't paying much attention to him or where he was going until the car came to a full stop, Pierre turning off the engine. You finally look up from your phone to see the sign in front of you; Christmas market.

"You didn't," you turn to face your boyfriend.

The man smiles, nodding. "I know it's not the one at home but, it's still a Christmas market so I hope that counts."

"Of course it does!" You reach over to give him a kiss, your hand resting on his jaw softly.

Pierre gets out of the car and you mirror his action, the two of you holding hands as you walk into the market.

The Christmas trees planted around the place, the lights wrapped around the roof of each stand, the sound of laughter and cheesy Christmas music filled your ears, as did the smell of gingerbread. You two decided to make the rounds.

You walked through the market, taking in all of it. Pierre let you drag him to every booth, buying you whatever your heart desired, even the ridiculously overpriced hot cocoa. You took photos as you went, stopping in at the photo booth; the classic ones of you two smiling, giggling and kissing with the stamp at the bottom - Milan Christmas Market 2023.

The night wrapped up with you attempting to teach Pierre how to skate. His hands in yours as you carefully took him around the skating rink.

He falls against you, you're pinned between him - a man struggling to hold himself up- and the barricade. "Did you have a good time?" He asks and you nod, a smile on your face.

"I did. Thank you for this, baby."

Pierre leans in, almost slipping but he catches himself as he kisses you. There's a little boy skating by, doing better than Pierre you might add, who makes a face at you two kissing. "Ew!"

You and Pierre can't help your laughter.

#holiday extravaganza blurbs 23 #pierre gasly #pierre gasly x reader #pierre gasly x y/n #pierre gasly x you #f1 x reader #f1 x you #f1 x y/n #f1 blurb #f1 imagine

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saidencii · 10 months

Text

back to december; remus lupin

in which you and remus parted after sirius’ arrest and never spoke to each other again. until now.

remus lupin x reader

wc: 786

warnings: none

a/n: short and sad, my first oneshot :’) take this as me being in my feels after btd tv.

It had been twelve years since that fateful night.

Eleven Christmases without a word from Remus Lupin.

You sat in your lowly, run-down cottage, drinking cold tea from a stained cup that used to be ornate. The sun rose, almost reluctantly behind the gray clouds outside. You didn’t know how many more of these lonely December nights you could bear, when they used to be full of laughter and love.

A tap sounded at your window as your old, graying owl appeared. He held a letter in his beak. You opened it, revealing a familiar, scrawling script that made your heart drop.

“Dear Y/N,

I know you are already aware of who I am. It’s been twelve years since I saw you or even attempted to reach you. We didn’t even get to say goodbye.

I’d like to visit you again, you know, but I don’t know where you live now. If you do want to meet me, find me at Hogsmeade this Saturday at three in the afternoon. But if the chain is on your door, I understand.

Send me an owl back. Yours already knows where I live.

xx Remus”

You realized he wanted to meet you on Christmas eve. You wrote a hurried response, pondering whether to send the letter. This could be a trap, a trick by the newly escaped Sirius. Ultimately, you decide to send it back.

•••

It was Saturday, one in the afternoon. You walked along the snow-covered cobblestone paths of Hogsmeade, the bitter cold biting into your skin even through thick gloves. As you ascended the gentle hill, you stopped in your tracks as you saw the familiar face standing in front of you.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Y/N.” Remus said, his tone unreadable. You walked closer to him, analyzing his face. It had changed. There were a few new gashes, a new lengthy scar. But the hazel eyes remained the same. “Should we get inside? It’s cold.”

You nodded, wrapping your scarf tighter around your neck as you enter the Three Broomsticks. The amount of people celebrating Christmas was… a relief, really.

“I… I understand it’s been long. But I wanted to see if you were well,” he said, fidgeting with the buttons on the bottom of his tattered brown coat. “Have you been working?”

“Yes,” you admitted, a slight shame entering your voice. “But I’ve never been able to keep a job. You?”

“I used to work Muggle jobs for a long while but I couldn’t keep them because of… you know. But Dumbledore offered me a teaching position at Hogwarts.”

You felt a pang of happiness for him, but the ache was there as well. Nothing would make up for the time you lost. And he was far away, like always. It would be hard to reach him.

“What job?”

“Defense Against The Dark Arts professor.”

You nodded slowly, understanding. Remus had always been better at that. He’d been better at you than everything, and you were willing to accept that.

“You deserve it, Professor Lupin,” you said, smiling.

A cryptic silence filled the air as you wait for his response. The tranquility broke as soon as he spoke. “Thank you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for ever doubting you.”

“It’s alright. I trusted Sirius… and you didn’t. It was my fault for trusting the wrong person. I’m sorry, too.”

But you didn’t feel like it was over.

“I hope you and I can stay friends,” he said, a slight smile crossing his face. “It’s something that’s weighed on my conscience for a long time.”

“Friends. We’re friends.”

He hesitated before he spoke his next words. “Did I mention I’m teaching James and Lily’s son?”

Your lips parted in shock. You didn’t realize that much time had passed. He was already in his third year, if your memory didn’t fail you. “Harry? How is he?”

“He’s a bright child. Stubborn, but that’s expected from someone that has James Potter’s genes.” You two smiled as you recounted the best memories of your old friend. You missed him dearly.

“Remus, send me owls. Tell me when you’re hurting because someone should at least know.”

“I must admit, I miss having a small horde of unusual animals accompany me through those nights.”

The afternoon dragged on as you made small talk about your lives in the twelve lost years. Nothing could reignite the spark. Nothing he said made your heart skip a beat like it used to. Maybe that was just it. Gone.

As you stepped out of the place, you knew it was goodbye. It was a farewell to your forgotten feelings. You waved at him, forcing a smile.

Eventually, you found yourself hoping to go back to that December, wanting to change his mind.

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onskepa · 9 months

Note

This ask is a bit of a funny, i think of humans trying to explain human celebrations or customs like Christmas or prank wars to na'vi and them trying to emulate it so the humans feel comfortable? Like Dr Augustin mentioned one holiday at her school and na'vi go ham for it!

Oooooooooooooh~!! This one will be interesting~!! Hope you all like this one as much as I did! XD

--------------------------

Happy Holidays!

The Omatikaya clan has plenty of rituals, ceremonies, traditions, and their own special holidays.

So when the humans explain what celebrations were done back on their native planet, the na'vi were VERY interested. They wanted to know everything and what were the stories or reasons behind it.

Grace Augustine explained to her students at one time in her school what holidays were and what type were celebrated back on the Earth.

As the na'vi children took in more information about the holidays, there were three they loved the most: Mother's day, Father's day and Halloween.

Christmas they couldn't understand. How can humans let some large man inside their home through a tiny pipe and can fly top speed across the world while using poor animals to carry the heavy weight of gifts?

So many years later, during the peace with the humans and the na'vi. Those students of Dr. Grace, they never forgotten about their three favorite human holidays.

But as a refresher the students, now fully grown adults, would ask the humans about the holidays once more. And once more, mother's day, father's day, and Halloween remained to be their favorite ones.

That gave the humans an idea, by counting the current time of earth, mother's day is getting close. So that will be the holiday to celebrate.

It was a holiday to look forward to. As mothers, they care and treasure their children. Willing to protect and love their beloved children. Through pain and tears the mothers deliver the future from their body.

Even Eywa was praised more as she is a mother to all of pandora. She is the mother who loved and gives life to the na'vi and their world.

The children and mates would craft, and create things for the mothers to keep and remember forever. Beads, new tops, favorite foods, etc.

During the communal dinner to celebrate, children would sing and dance about what they love about their mothers, mates would praise their beloveds and share moments that are pure and full of love.

Neytiri and other fellow mothers truly felt seen and high appreciated. A day to remember. And all agreed to keep celebrating it every years.

And father's day was no different.

By sharing information, the young children and mates began to prepare for the coming father's day. Despite the na'vi seeing humans strange with their customs, they have to admit, celebrating a parent truly is a wonderful reason to celebrate as parents they give and protect their children. Efforts must be recognized and appreciated.

Hell, even neytiri and her children were preparing things for jake. As he had given and sacrificed much for them.

The males knew something was about but sensing it was something good, they rather not intervene their families suspicious activities as knowing they would find out soon.

So what father's day arrived, it was full of laughter, smiles and wonderful moments. The fathers were given wonderful gifts from their families.

Children crafted their own things believing it would be useful for their strong fathers, mates crafting a bead as a momentum or giving praise. Truly a wonderful day for the strong fathers.

And months later, Halloween came. Now this one the humans loved and put their all in sharing the festivities with the na'vi.

The children had a better concept of what to do. Dressing up and be something you're not for a day? How exciting!

With the help of the adults, many kids had fascinating costumes, some dressed as their favorite animals, pretending to be a different na'vi clan.

The humans dressed up as classical monsters and had fun telling the na'vi what each monster was and telling to many stories during communal dinner.

Of course what is Halloween without treats? Everyone part took in creating sweet treats for the young ones and according to the humans, the children go to each hut and ask for treats.

By the end of the night, stories from Earth was told. From vampires, werewolves, Skinwalkers, ghosts, zombies, etc.

To say...the na'vi were so glad those monsters dont roam on pandora.

aaaaaaaand that is it for this one! Hope you all enjoyed it! Until next time! see ya!

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ficthots · 2 years

Text

4 Times Peter Said I Love You + 1 Time You Said It Back

A/N: Warnings will be added to this one due to smut and violence. However, I’ve been working on this one for awhile and I love it and I hope you guys do. As always let me know what you guys think and enjoy!

Warnings: Smut, 18+ content, DNI if you are under 18! Depictions of violence.

Word Count: 7.4k+

one

The -ber months were the best of the year and no one can argue with that. September meant the crisp air was starting to make its return, October was spooky season, November was stuffing your face with Aunt May’s delectable spread, and December was Christmas. Nothing beat the -ber months.

You sat on the porch steps of Aunt May’s house, a bowl of candy sitting on your lap as you handed out candy to the neighborhood kids. You had picked your costume out specifically for your best friend this year. May had about fallen over in laughter when she saw you walk out of Peter’s old bedroom.

He was supposed to be here over an hour ago, but you and May had been having a blast as you watched the streets become more flooded with kids and parents, begging for candy. The house was decked out with decorations, the lawn filled with an ominous fog and a strobe light, plus faux spider webs along the porch railing that Peter insisted on having. The entire neighborhood had gone in together this year and it looked amazing.

You knew why Peter was late, it had been on the news. Some massive robbery was happening downtown and who else would be there to take care of it other than Spider-Man? You just hoped he would be okay. Whenever his responsibilities came up, it made your heart clench.

Love is a strong word. One that you aren’t entirely comfortable with using. Did you say you loved things? Sure, all the time. You loved when a towel was still warm after being in the dryer. You loved when it rained so hard it looked like mist in the air. You loved the sound of Christmas music playing in department stores during the holidays. But using it towards people was an awkward experience for you.

You said it to May, the woman who had been a second mother to you since middle school, every time you saw her. You said it to Ben occasionally growing up. You said it to your mom whenever you hung up the phone. But it never came out naturally like how you hoped it would. Especially to Peter.

Feelings and Peter went hand in hand in your world. You had been in love with the dorky boy since you had first met him in sixth grade when he stood up to a bully for you when they took your puppy dog notebook that you had begged your mom for and threw it in the garbage, spilling rotten food all over it.

He had been your hero that day and every day since. You were the first person he told about Spider-Man because he had no idea what to do and was in a full blown panic in your room. Your mom had come up the stairs after hearing talking and your eyes just about bugged out of your head when he jumped onto the ceiling and stayed there until she left.

Years later you were still as close as ever and your feelings had only grown, but Peter didn’t see you that way. No, in his eyes you were the shadow he had been stuck with since sixth grade. He would never put it that way to you, unless you pissed him off, but he loved you as a friend. His best friend, as he always liked to remind you, no matter how much it twisted the knife in your gut whenever he said it.

He knew how to handle every problem you threw his way, even when it was something new. He was the smartest person you knew and you felt comfortable going to him with your issues. Peter wouldn’t have it any other way for his best friend.

You could handle being the best friend. It meant that you got to spend time with him whenever you wanted, that you would be a constant in his life no matter what. You had made your peace with that your freshman year of college as you watched Peter blossom. He had come out of his shell, becoming a much more confident figure and you loved that for him.

“We’re almost out of candy. I’m gonna go grab another bag,” you stood from your spot on the porch, handing the bowl to May and heard the costume's plastic rub together as you walked. May’s voice called out your name as you grabbed another bag from the stash in the living room and as you walked out, you peeked out the curtain and saw him there.

His hair was slicked back, some black spray on dye in his hair. His face was painted white and had fake blood around the corners of his mouth or what you hoped was fake blood. His long black cloak popped up at the neck, and the frilly shirt with the puffiest sleeves suited him more than you would like to admit.

You quickly grabbed the mask that was by the front door and slipped it on, trying to hold in your laughter as you did. You opened the door and Peter’s arm went up, covering half his face with the cloak, but before he could start his spiel as Dracula his eyes went wide, the black eye makeup hiding his honey-wheat eyes.

He doubled over, grabbing the porch banister as his laughter boomed, May wiping tears from her eyes at the sight before her. “Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, here to help,” you tried your best to mimic his voice, but failed as the giggles weaved into your words.

“I need a picture of this. Please, do the pose, please!” Peter grabbed his phone and snapped a picture of you as you crouched down into his signature pose, the mask askew, the fake muscle making it difficult to move and squeaking as you attempted to mimic him. May continued handing out candy to the kids as you and Peter laughed about each other's costumes, him more than you.

Peter had taken over helping you hand out candy, letting May head to bed after a long shift at the hospital that day. You took the mask off, gasping for air afterwards, hair standing in a million different directions. “How can you breathe in this thing?” He took the mask from you and put it on over his head and looked around and laughed as he did.

“I can’t see fucking shit out of this thing,” you snorted, handing out a handful of candy to a Winnie the Pooh that walked by. He ripped the mask off, tossing it onto the porch behind you both and took the real one out of his backpack, pulling it onto your head.

It was far too big, hanging loosely around the jaw and neck as you looked at the boy next to you who was fighting another fit of laughter at the sight. “God damn, Peter. Your head is massive,” he clutched at his stomach as you jumped up, doing what could only be described as shitty parkour, trying to mime the moves you had seen him do more than once.

You were out of breath at the end as you hopped off the porch railing. Plopping down next to him, Peter pulled the mask off from your head and wrapped his arm around your neck, pulling you towards him. His lips landed on your temple as he handed out more candy to kids. “God, I love you.”

Butterflies erupted in your stomach as your face burned. The spot where Peter’s lips had landed tingled and you had to fight every urge to touch it. He meant as a friend. Of course he did. Peter loved you as a friend.

You pushed the thoughts to the back of your mind as the pizza delivery guy stood in front of you and you ran to grab your bag to tip him. Peter took the pizza and handed you a slice as he bit into his, throwing his head back and demolishing it in three bites before going in for another slice.

Instinctively, your thumb came to his cheek and wiped the stray sauce away as you smirked at him. “Happy Halloween, Dracula.”

two

You were sloshed. It was a Friday night and that week at work had been hell. Peter stood in your kitchen, dancing around in his socks as he grabbed another beer. You had been drinking Jack and Monsters and two of them had you drunk.

“Okay and get this. That promotion I was up for? You-ya remember that right? I told you ‘bout it like, I dunno three weeks ago. They got rid of the position! Bye-bye promotion. It’s like why the hell do I even try?” Peter stood at the island, eyes gleaming as he watched you, head upside down over the arm of the couch, telling him about your week.

It took a lot to get Peter drunk and while he was most definitely buzzed, he was nowhere near as gone as you were. He had a smirk taking over his plump lips as he watched you try to form actual sentences, your words slurring together.

He knew you were warm from the drinks, but you sat up and pulled your sweater off, leaving you only in the slip you had worn under your dress that day and he felt like he needed to look away, but he couldn’t bring himself to. You stood up and walked into the kitchen, going to make yourself another drink and he shook his head as you attempted to.

“How about water instead?” you pouted and it took every bit of self restraint he had not to kiss the pout away from your lips. “You’re no fun,” your self inhibitions had all but diminished and you didn’t realize how close you were standing to Peter. All you had to do was look up just a tiny bit and your lips would have connected.

His eyes moved between yours and your lips, wanting to make the move so bad, letting the buzz cloud over his rational thoughts. Maybe he was more drunk than he thought. You knew he was, his skin was tinted pink which it always did when he had a bit too much to drink.

Peter rested his forehead against yours and you tilted your head back a bit, letting your lips brush against his for a split second, just wanting to see how it would feel. Your eyes had fluttered shut, Peter took in a shaky breath as he watched you. Your lips slightly parted and your eyelashes touched your cheekbones. It felt like you had been electrocuted, your lips ached to do it again.

His hand landed on your jaw, kissing you again with more force. You wrapped your arms around his neck, lacing your fingers in his chestnut locks, pulling him even closer. His tongue swept across your bottom lip, begging for entry. When your lips parted, his taste flooded your senses.

The cinnamon gun he had been chewing earlier had some remnants, the beer and its nutty aftertaste poured onto your tastebuds, and a flavor that was distinctly Peter had a small whimper leave your throat. His hands had a firm grip on your hips, the silk felt cool under his fingertips as he slowly inched the fabric up.

His hands went to the undersides of your thighs, lifting you with absolute ease. Your legs locked around his waist instinctively. He started moving you both towards your room, gently laying you down on the unmade, messy comforter and sheets, lips never parting until he quickly pulled back, almost ripping his sweater off as you worked on his sweats.

Those damn gray sweats that left nothing to the imagination, even with his boxer briefs acting as the barrier. His finger tilted your chin up, locking eyes as he spoke. “Are you sure you wanna do this, baby?” You nodded eagerly, not wanting to let on how badly you wanted this. How often you thought about this exact scenario happening. That you had touched yourself more than once to the thought of Peter, imagining it was his hands, not yours.

His lips captured yours again, his hands bunching up the dress, removing it from your body. He faltered momentarily, eyes glancing at your bare chest, a strangled moan erupting from his throat at the sight. Light butterfly kisses littered your skin as he moved down your neck, across the tops of your breasts, in the valley between them before his hands cupped them.

Your breathing was ragged as you watched him, his lips wrapped around a nipple as your head fell back against the pillows. Your breathing all but stopped at the feeling. His fingers pinched and rolled the other before switching.

Your fingers pulled at his hair, forcing him to come back to you, tongues fighting for dominance. You pushed Peter onto his back, his eyes widening as you crouched between his legs.

His chest rose and fell rapidly as you moved the briefs down, his cock coming free. His head was weeping with precum as you took him in your hand for the first time. Your thumb swept at the slit, using it as lube as you gently brought your hand down his length.

His eyes slipped shut as you reached the base, a small groan falling from his swollen lips. You watched him in awe, taking him in in a way you hadn’t before.

His jaw was straining, adam's apple bobbing, eyes clenched shut, veins in his neck popping, and a flush color painted his skin. You were curious to see what would happen if you made a sudden move.

You moved the tip of your tongue towards him, tracing the slit on him. His taste exploded in your mouth, instantly watering in response. A shaky breath that faded to an embarrassed chuckle before turning into a moan left him as his eyes watched you.

Your hand slowly pumped him, your tongue flattening on the underside of his shaft. His lips were parted, his tongue darting out to moisten them. Your eyes never left him, wanting to memorize this. Him.

When you reached his head again you pulled back only a couple inches, hearing a whimper leave the flustered boy below you. His knuckles were stark white as he gripped the comforter underneath him.

You spit on him, not that he needed the aid, but out of eagerness at his response. His eyes widened, jaw clicking as he tried to hold in whatever noise threatened to spill out.

You shook your head at him, moving back towards his cock, hand still moving achingly slow, grip never changing or loosening. “I wanna hear you, Peter,” the tension in his jaw released as you took him in your mouth.

You took him to the hilt on the first bob, relaxing your jaw and breathing through your nose, letting him hit the back of your throat. “Oh my god. Holy fuck,” you smirked to yourself at his moan, continuing the motion. His moans filled the room as did the lewd noises of you sucking him until his hands went to your hair.

Quickly releasing him from your mouth, you slapped his hands away. “No touching. I don’t need a guide and if you try again I won’t let you cum,” he swallowed nervously, his dick twitching at your words, nodding his head in response.

You pumped him again and kissed him chastly. “Good boy,” the praise had him moaning, his hands going back to the blanket, gripping like his life depended on it.

Taking him back in your mouth, you felt like you had become an addict. You knew you would never get enough of Peter Parker again. He was going to become an insatiable habit that you didn’t want to kick.

You pulled off, moving up to straddle him, feeling his achingly hard cock rub against your soaking core. You saw his eyes lock on your cunt, waiting to see himself sink into you.

Your clit was swollen after being neglected, but you didn’t want to touch yourself, only wanting to feel him enter you for the first time. You took him in your hand, gliding him into your heat. You could’ve cum from that feeling alone, your lids fluttering shut at the pleasure coursing through you.

Peter’s cries echoed against the walls, hips snapping up into yours. Your hands braced themselves on his chest, shaking your head at him.

“I didn’t tell you to move. Wait until I tell you,” the words were breathless as they escaped your lips. You grabbed his hands and gently guided one to your hip.

You took the other, moving it to your opening where he sat inside you. You let his fingers brush against where you joined together. His thumb moved towards your swollen nub, eliciting a gasp from you. Your head rolled back, exposing the expanse of your bare neck.

Peter committed every one of your movements to his memory. In complete wonderment at how you moved, taking control of this exchange. You leisurely moved your hips, shifting him inside you.

He almost came at the act, over sensitivity wracking him as you used him. You made the motion again, a whine leaving you. You continued the passive operation and Peter could feel himself coming apart as you whispered praises for him into the space between you both.

Peter didn’t move once, letting you drag your hips in the way you wanted, your velvet walls throbbing around him. He had never felt like this before and it was taking every ounce of self restraint to not finish.

Your moans caused goosebumps to erupt over his skin, never having heard a prettier sound before. If he could, he would listen to it all day.

It was what tipped him over, spilling into you, arms enclosing around you and crushing you to his chest as he rode his high.

You tsked at him, looking down at the boy whose skin was incredibly warm to the touch. “Did I say you could cum?” He opened his eyes, seeing your lust heavy lids cover most of your gaze.

Apologies tumbled from him as you sighed, pulling off of his length and moving further up him, your knees landing on either side of his head.

Your fingers tangled in his locks and his gaze fell to your leaking pussy, his seed dripping from your hole, mixing with your own arousal as it fell out.

“Make me cum. Be a good boy and make me cum,” Peter’s hands pulled you down before you finished talking. His eyes rolled back as he ran a stripe up your folds, gently sucking on your clit. “Holy shit, fuck. Petey,” your praises spurred him on as you began writhing on top of him.

You thrust your hips back and forth, feeling Peter’s bruising grip on your thighs, pulling you even closer to him. It took no time at all before you came undone on his face. Your grip loosened on his hair, Peter’s mouth continuing to work you through the aftermath of the best orgasm you’d ever had.

Slowly moving from your best friend's face, he had a shit eating grin plastered on his features. His chin and lips were glistening with your juice. You fell on the mattress next to him as he grabbed you, wrapping you up into him, a lazy kiss shared between you two.

He got up, leaving the space next to you empty, taking his warmth and comfort with him. Your eyes slipped shut, but reopened when you felt a warm washcloth press against you.

Peter had slipped back into his sweats, but he peppered kisses against your bare thighs, hips, and one quick peck to your over sensitive nub. He chuckled as you flinched at his kisses, handing you your discarded clothes.

His arms wrapped around you, securing you to his chest as your breathing evened out. His fingers played with your hair, a breathless laugh leaving him as he spoke while you began to fall asleep.

“You’re literally perfect. I love you, babe,” his lips landed on your hairline, but you were fast asleep by the time he finished.

three

You had seen Peter almost every night since your drunken rendezvous. Every night had ended up with you two sleeping together. He had come in as Spider-Man one night and didn’t even finish taking the suit off before he was in you.

Yet the relationship hadn’t shifted in the slightest. You just felt like you knew him better. The feelings that you had been grappling with for years were becoming almost unmanageable.

Peter was the person who you’d had feelings for since sixth grade and you hadn’t acted on them for a reason. What you had with him was fragile. A new aspect, a new branch, had been added to the complicated web, no pun intended, intricacies of your relationship. You didn’t want to rock the boat because with your luck you would capsize it and drown on the way down and you couldn’t lose Peter like that. He was the stability in your life and had been for about as long as you could remember.

Your thoughts ran through your mind as you checked your texts and saw a message from Peter, an image of your apartment and a text following with a quite lascivious description of what was waiting for you at home.

You giggled, starting to type a response when a hand clamped over your mouth, an arm enclosing around your torso and throwing you into an alley onto the filthy ground. The pain from the fall was nothing compared to the broken glass you landed in, feeling it slice your hands and cheek clean open.

“Give us your purse and you won’t get hurt,” you tossed your bag at the pair of guys, just praying they’d leave you alone if you gave them what they wanted.

The two rifled through your bag, but couldn’t find your wallet. A steel toed boot made impact with your stomach, a scream falling from you. “Where the fuck is your wallet, bitch?” Your eyes watered as a fist connected with your jaw, blood splattering from your mouth onto the grime below you.

You realized you had left it at home on your counter this morning. You and Peter had ordered takeout last night and you had removed it from your purse to tip the delivery boy and forgot to put it back in your bag. You were in a rush this morning, trying to not be late.

Another blinding blow landed on your left eye, it immediately swelled and dwindled your vision. You felt the two continue the assault, but let your mind wander to other thoughts, trying to take away from the reality of what was happening, and the pain that you had never imagined feeling that took you in its grips, not releasing, but only getting worse.

You weren’t sure how long they had been attacking you, but by the time they had finished you were unrecognizable. Blood poured down onto the murky ground below you. Each breath was agonizing as you forced yourself to move to grab your phone.

It was shattered, but the half typed message sat on your screen. “Hey siri, call Spidey and put it on speaker,” you choked out, cries flowing from you mixed with painful grunts and noises you weren’t sure were coming from you. You spit blood out of your mouth as his sweet, excited voice rang through the speaker into the alley.

“You know I don’t mind you working late, but it is just rude to leave-” you cut off his joking tone, a strangled and windless gasp leaving you as a new pain shot through you. “Peter. Help. I need help,” he had frozen as he heard your voice, his spidey-senses going haywire.

“Baby, where are you? How bad are you hurt? Where are you?” It felt like the wind continuously knocked out of you with every excruciating breath you took. “Work. Alley by work,” was all you could manage as you sobbed, the pain taking over every thought that riddled you.

He was talking, but no words were registering as mangled cries and sobs wracked you. Hands landed on you and you screamed, trying to move away from them.

“It’s me, it’s me, baby! It’s me,” your gaze went to him, one eye looking over the features that you knew by heart. Peter thought he would pass out from the rage that coursed through him at the sight of you.

The wail that came from you, crushed Peter. His arms wrapped around you, tugging you into his comforting embrace. You clutched at his shirt, terrified to let go. He whispered soothing words as your tears and blood stained his clothing.

May was working that night and when she heard she was asked for, she ran to the emergency room. You looked worse under the fluorescent lights. Every scratch, bruise, and gash visible.

She gasped, hand covering her mouth as she took in the sight before her. Your hand gripped Peter’s as he sat next to the bed, the nurse working to stitch the last cut on your cheek.

Your chin wobbled as May approached you, Peter fighting the urge to leave and hunt down whoever had done this to you. “Oh, sweetheart,” you whimpered at her words, Peter’s eyes squeezing shut at the pained cry, anger taking over his every thought.

You recanted your story to her as her eyes watered, Peter standing and leaving the room, not able to hear it again. He had been in the room as you told the police, giving vivid descriptions of the two men who had done this and you could tell he was burning it into his memory. She patted your bruised hand and went out to the hallway where he stood, hunched over, tears threatening to spill.

“Peter,” he looked at his aunt, eyes wild and breathing hard and short. “I’m gonna kill them, May. I’m gonna hunt them down and kill ‘em,” she stopped his pacing, hands going to his shoulders, forcing him to look at her.

“Listen to me. I know you’re angry. I know that. I’m angry too, but right now she is hurt and she is scared. You need to go in there, hold her hand, and show her she is safe. We will deal with the rest later,” as she talked, her tone firm to reach him, your shaky voice called out his name.

His head snapped to the door and nodded at his aunt's words. “Go on. Go. I need to talk to her doctor,” he hurried into the room, seeing your worried glance directed towards him.

He took your hand in both of his as he sat down, bringing your hand to his lips. “I’m here, bug. I’m here,” his hand pushed the hair off your forehead, offering a pained smile.

The doctor released you that night and Peter took you home, helping you get into bed. You both laid there in silence for a bit before he kissed the crown of your head. The pills helped you fall asleep, Peter’s tight grip comforting as you drifted off into a painful sleep.

All you wanted to do was say thank you and how much you loved him, but you grappled with your thoughts and couldn’t bring yourself to say them, knowing the repercussions could be too much to deal with.

When you woke up the next morning, Peter was still with you. You went through your morning routine together, turning the tv on in the living room as you sat down, Peter going to make you a smoothie so it would be easier to eat, not having to move your jaw.

“It seems as though Spider-Man had his mind set on vengeance last night. These two, originally unidentified men, were found early this morning, hanging from the Queensborough bridge, strung up by their hands. They were only hanging from the famous webs, their mouths webbed shut as well. They both had notes taped to their chests listing a string of crimes that these men had been tied to, including a vicious mugging that took place just last night resulting in the victim to be hospitalized, but was released in stable condition. Spider-Man saves the day, yet again, but now people are beginning to question his seemingly dark ways,” you stared at the news playing in front of you, muting it as she continued, critiquing the hero who had saved more lives than could be counted.

The two men who had robbed you and brutally beaten you were both strung up on the bridge, hanging only by their hands webbed to the underside of the bridge. Peter stood behind you as your eyes watered, his voice whispering into your ear.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I should’ve been there and I wasn’t. I knew something was wrong when you didn’t respond. I should’ve gone,” you shook your head, turning around on the couch, wrapping your arms around his neck and hugging him, pushing your head into his neck as his arms wrapped around you.

“Stop. You’ve done more than enough, Peter. You wouldn’t have known where I was. You had no idea,” he kissed your forehead, dodging a bruise and cut at your response. “I love you. I will always take care of you. Your smoothies ready, c’mon,” your heart soared and fluttered at his words, not able to respond as he grabbed your hand, taking you into the kitchen.

You sipped the smoothie, letting it easily come into your mouth, not having to do as much work. “Peter, this is just ice cream and milk. You made me a milkshake for breakfast.”

four

It had been weeks since the attack and your bruises had almost completely faded, your stitches had come out the second week. You felt almost completely back to normal, still a tad bit sore, but otherwise okay.

You checked the clock and saw it said just past five in the afternoon. You hadn’t seen Peter in two days and you were having withdrawals from him. Despite your injuries, you didn’t let it slow you both down. Peter was scared shitless to touch you the first time after the attack, but you assured him you were fine. That you needed him and trusted him.

His worries quickly faded as you domineered that night. You stopped at his favorite pizza place on the way to his apartment, opting to surprise your favorite boy with food and drink. His favorite things, despite you. Your love language was acts of service and you knew he would be over the moon with this delivery.

When you arrived at his apartment with your hands full, you kicked at the door. “Peter!” You heard shuffling and the door peeled open, Peter stood with his eyes rimmed red and deep bags under them, still adorning his Spider-Man suit.

“What the hell happened? Are you alright?” You pushed past him, setting the pizza box and beer on the counter as you dropped your bag to the floor, turning around and letting your hands go to his cheeks, observing him to see if he was injured.

He pulled you to him, capturing your lips and moaning at your taste. “God, I’ve missed you. I’m sorry, bug. I haven’t slept in two days. Between work and Spidey I haven’t been around,” you hushed him by taking his bottom lip between yours.

“Go shower, we’ll eat, and then you’re going to bed,” he groaned as you moved from him, hands pawing at you. “Shower with me,” you narrowed your eyes at him and hummed as his lips moved to your neck. “Please? Pretty please? I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been without you for forty-eight hours. I feel like I’m gonna die, baby. Please?” you giggled as his lips moved across your throat as he spoke, a whiny tone lacing through his words.

You sighed and pulled his head up, gazes locking. “Fine. Only cause you asked so nicely,” a victorious smile took over his face as he pulled you to the bathroom with him. You helped him get the suit off, having him enter the shower first as you removed your clothes, stepping into the warm spray of water.

His arms wrapped around you from behind, his fingers dancing over your ribs, lips moving on your shoulder and neck. A content sigh left you, feeling happier than ever when you were with your boy. He smirked as you stepped just a tiny bit backwards, feeling his hard-on press into your ass.

Peter wasted no time, lifting your leg with one hand and setting your foot on the shower built-ins, his dick running between your folds. “Pete, wait. I can’t get my hair wet,” he groaned, pulling it back with a free hand as your breathless response irritated him.

“I have shampoo here that you can use,” he slowly slipped into you as he talked, feeling your gummy walls accept him without restriction. “Ah-Peter, that’s-that’s not what I, fuck, meant,” you could feel how deep he sat in you, having your leg up allowed him to get an entirely new section of you.

Your toes sat pointed on the shower wall built-in as he pulled back and thrusted into you with an earth shattering force. The wind knocked out of you and you were seeing stars. The steam from the shower filled the bathroom as he pounded into you, one of his hands having a death grip on your hip and the other resting on your shoulder.

Your hair was long forgotten, being positively drenched and you would yell at him after, but when his fingers wrapped around your thigh, dipping in between your legs and began rubbing small circles on your clit, you came quickly.

His arms held you up, your back straight against his chest as he continued fucking into you, harder than before as he chased his own high, murmuring sweet praises to you about how good you were doing for him. Your walls fluttered around him as he rode you through your orgasm, his hips crashed into yours once more as he came in you.

He was out of breath, but he turned you around to face him and he looked at the inside of your thigh, seeing his cum drip in a steady stream. He kissed your collarbones and grabbed your hair with his hand and laughed. “I’m sorry about your hair,” you rolled your eyes as you grabbed his shampoo and squeezed it into your palm.

“Are you really, though?” He shook his head, arms wrapping around you again as you began lathering it into your hair. “Hmm, no. Not at all,” his lips kissed along your shoulder blades, you could feel his smirk as he did and you sighed, letting him do whatever he wanted.

Your feet sat in Peter’s lap, your hair wrapped in a towel, sitting in one of Peter’s old shirts as you ate pizza. The shirt hardly covered anything which Peter loved, but you had slipped your panties back on once exiting the shower, much to his dismay.

His head rested on the back of the couch, his hairs wet droplets dripping onto the material as his eyes slipped closed as he ate almost the entire pizza. Your fingers danced through his hair, lightly massaging his scalp. He sighed, hand rubbing on your bare thigh.

You stood up, shutting the apartment down for the night as he watched you move around the space expertly. He smiled to himself, seeing how well you fit in here with him. How much he loved seeing you in his space like it was yours. Because to him it was yours. It had been yours since sixth grade when you first met. He had been yours since you were twelve.

Sure, he had dated around a bit, but not because he really wanted to. You had dated around and he didn’t want you to think he was waiting around for you. In reality, he was. He would always wait for you because he was yours. He just wanted you to figure it out. My god, he had said he loved you and you just hadn’t caught on. He chuckled at how utterly clueless you could be and how much he loved it. Peter knew about your difficulties with love and what it meant and he could wait. He would continue to wait until you were ready.

You heard him laugh and you eyed him, letting the towel fall to the floor, your hair coming loose from its grasp. “What’s so funny?” He grabbed your hand, pulling you onto his lap and shrugged. “Nothin’. You’re pretty that’s all,” your face burned at that, taking his jaw in your hand, connecting your lips together in a sleepy kiss.

He stood you both up, carrying you to his room bridal style. It would never fail to amaze you at how easy he was able to carry you. The man did lift cars and bridges and the occasional building from collapsing, but you weren’t used to it. At all. And he loved seeing how happy it made you and he swore to himself he would do it until the day he died as long as he got to see that dopey smile take over your face.

You took your side of the bed, wiggling under the covers as Peter took the space next to you, a loud sigh leaving him as he quickly felt sleep taking him over. You snuggled into his side, letting his arm wrap around you, his hand tucking your head into his neck.

He mumbled out before he fell asleep, pulling you from sleep's grasp as he did. “Thank you for taking care of me. Love you,” you kissed his neck and went to whisper, but he shushed you loudly. “I’m trying to sleep, ma’am. Please let me,” you smacked his chest, rolling away from him, but he groaned.

“No, no, no. Come back,” his arms wrapped around you from behind, spooning you until you both fell asleep.

You had told Peter you weren’t able to get together tonight because you had a work project that you absolutely had to get done tonight. You had developed the problem of anxiety induced insomnia your junior year of high school. When your anxiety got to be too much, you wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Your record had been three and a half days without sleep and when you told Peter he vowed to help you figure it out. You two had tested the waters for years, trying multiple different combinations of things that would eventually help you sleep. It had only been two years since the perfect concoction had been found.

Luckily, you hardly ever had to use it. Maybe once or twice a year tops and now that you knew the signs, you were able to stop it before it got too bad. However, this was the worst case you had had in years.

You were beginning to run for three days and you were still trying to push through work. You submitted the assignment, happiness and relief coursing through you as you finished. Your eyes roamed to the top of your screen and saw it was past one in the morning.

Dragging yourself to bed, you thought sleep was going to take you easy. It didn’t. You were on the verge of tears, over tired not even beginning to explain how you were feeling. When you checked your phone it read 2:52 am.

You knocked on the door in front of you multiple times until it finally opened, revealing a sleep riddled Peter. His eyes took you in, seeing the angry tears forming in your eyes. Your hair was a mess, you were in pajamas with a large coat over you, and you wrapped your arms around his shirtless torso.

He closed the door behind you, hands tilting your head up to look at you. His hair was an absolute mess, his eyes sleep heavy as he tried to blink to see you clearly in the dark room, the only light from above the stove.

“How long have you been up, bug?” You sniffled and put your head back against his chest. “Three days,” he nodded his head and brought you to his room, taking your coat off and having you lay down. The light streamed in from his bedroom window and you groaned, growing more angry and upset as the minutes passed by.

He came back into the room, a small cup of water and a bottle of pills in his hand. “Bug, I need you to take this for me. Can you do that?” You nodded your head as you held the vile tasting pill in between your teeth, forcing it down with the entire glass of water.

Peter came back to the room with a clip in his hand and two push pins. He clipped the curtains shut, pinning the sides to the wall so no excess light could get into the room. He pulled an extra fan out of the closet, plugging it in and facing it at the bed. Peter grabbed his phone and turned his small speaker on in his room.

The sounds of “Frosty the Snowman” from the Christmas Piano! record lightly played in the background. He shut the door and pulled the covers off of you, removing your sweats and sweatshirt, knowing that if you kept them on you would feel like you were trapped in bed, your mind playing tricks on you after being awake for so long.

Your overtired, frustrated tears all but stopped as he took his spot next to you. He sighed, rubbing lightly circles on your back and arm. He hated when you got like this. When your brain wouldn’t let you rest, it wouldn't shut off on its own. It couldn’t shut off on its own.

But he felt a sense of pride that you went to him for this. That you knew he could get you to sleep. He remembered all of the different trials that had failed as he tried to figure out what was going to get you to stop and rest. When you were exhausted you grew mad with yourself for not being able to get yourself down, but Peter knew he could and he did.

The night when he had figured out the code he wanted to jump for joy. Okay, maybe he did a little. Each time he did it after, it went quicker. The fastest you had ever fallen asleep after he worked his magic was eleven minutes and he was elated as you fell asleep.

You whispered out into the room as you laid with him. “Peter?” He hummed and let his hand go to your hair, scratching your scalp. “Yeah, bug?” You sighed and he felt tears on his neck, worry filling his senses as he pulled your head back to look at you.

His thumbs swept at the tears. “What’s wrong, baby?” You leaned up and kissed him, hearing the relief flow from him at your motion. “I love you so much. You take such good care of me. I love you, Peter,” he wanted to cry from the sheer happiness he felt in that moment. It was the first time in the years since he had known you that those words had come from you.

He kissed you deeper, laughing as he left kisses all over your face. “God, I’ve been waiting since we were twelve to hear those words!” You felt an immense tidal wave of guilt crash over you as you looked at him, his free hand rubbing over his face.

“I’m so sorry, Peter. I don’t know why I can’t say it more. It just doesn’t come easy to me, but I love you and I have for a very long time. I’m sorry,” he shushed you as he pushed your head back down, seeing your eyes getting heavy.

“We’ll talk about it more in the morning, bug. You need to go to sleep. I love you,” you pecked his lips as he finished talking. “I love you, too, Petey,” your words were slurring together as you let your eyes close, listening to Frosty the Snowman play in the background, happier than ever with Peter by your side.

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watchingovergvf · 1 year

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It’s Always Been You- Sam Kiszka

A/N: Hey guys, i’m back with a new Sam fic. I deeply adore Sam and have been wanting to write more for him, so here’s the result. Also, i pretty sure i’m gonna do a part 2 to this, but only if enough people genuinely enjoyed the story. As always, I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear your feedback or just chat about anything and everything!!!

Warnings: Alcohol consumption. Miscommunication a tad bit.

———

Four Months.

It’s only been four months since you’ve seen the boys, but it feels like it’s been years.

Due to their crazy tour schedule and your seemingly never-ending work days, the five of you haven’t been able to see each other. You would get the occasional call or text, but that’s as good as it got.

But that would all change tonight.

The boys finally got a break for Christmas and had been home with family for the past few days. Of course, not being able to sit still for very long, they all decide to throw a New Year’s Eve party, which they graciously invited you to.

Thrilled was an understatement.

You missed both Jake and Josh worrying over you like mother hen, or telling you all about their latest adventures. You missed staying up all night with Danny, talking about anything and everything until the sun hung high in the sky. And Sam…

Well things with Sam where a bit more complicated. See, Danny and Sam happen to be your best friends, always have been. The three of you were attached at the hip for god knows how long. While you missed them both deeply while they were away on tour, you missed Sam a bit differently.

You couldn’t exactly put your finger on when you fell in love with Sam, but it’s been a very long time, to say the least. Of course, you have never shared this information with him before, in fear you would ruin everything you’ve built with him. You had come to terms with hiding your feelings at all costs.

Which leads us back to the present, you were anxious as fuck.

Were you excited? Yes. But, that didn’t stop the pounding of your heart as you quickly got ready.

Smoothing out your dress in the mirror, you look at yourself. The red long-sleeve dress had been the right choice for tonight’s events. After sliding on your shoes, you get a text from Jake that he is outside waiting for you.

Scurrying around your apartment, making sure you have everything. Finally, you trot out the front door in search of his car.

Climbing into the back seat, you grin at Jake and his girlfriend. They both complement your attire for the night, claiming the red suited you best.

“We missed you, Kid. It feels like it’s been years since we have gotten together. Danny and Sam have been itching to see you since we stepped foot into town” Jake says. You agree full heartedly, already giddy about seeing them all.

The ride is short, but full of laughter due to Jake recalling stories from tour. Once the three of you rounded the corner to Sam’s house, your forgotten anxiety seems to find its way back to you, pounding its way to your chest.

Jake and his girlfriend walk ahead of you, while you attempt to catch your breath. Eventually, you follow behind them, all the way up to the front door. The door swings wide open, with Danny standing in the doorway. He greets Jake and his girlfriend, not expecting you behind them. The minute he spots you, he scoops you up into his arms, squeezing you tight. “Bug, holy shit! You’re here. I missed you so much” Danny says, after reluctantly setting you down. You nudge his side, “I missed you too, Dan. It’s been way to long. Now be a good friend and show me where I can get a good drink” you smile at him. He chuckles at you, looping your arms together and leads you in the direction of the kitchen.

“You know, I’m not the only one who missed you. Sammy boy did his fair share of pinning for you as well” he says teasingly.

Okay. To be fair, you didn’t mean to tell Danny about your small Sam predicament. The both of you had a movie night at his house, that turned into drunken confessions at three a.m. He managed to coax the truth out of you and now he won’t let you forget it.

You roll your eyes at Danny and begin to reply, but instead you get pulled in the other direction. Josh bear hugs you and mumbles under his breath about how much he missed you, and couldn’t wait to show you some of the music they had been working on. Rubbing at his back, you gently pull away. You tell him to go drink some water. He grumbles at you, telling you to find him later for a dance and then he stumbles off.

You make it into the kitchen, spotting the makeshift bar on the counter. After successfully making something that doesn’t taste horrible, you stand observing the room, that is until you hear an all too familiar laugh. Butterflies find themselves fluttering inside your stomach. Whipping your head around just to spot Sam chatting it up with some guy you’ve never met before. You decided to find him later, not wanting to interrupt.

You find yourself on Sam’s back porch, gazing at the night sky all alone. Leaning up against the railing of the porch, you hear the backdoor open and close. Figuring it was probably Danny, you don’t make a move to turn and see for yourself. Suddenly, you feel fingers wiggling at your sides. You squirm around in their hold, wanting to see who the culprit was.

Of course, it was him.

Sam.

He had the stupidest grin spread wide across his face. Sam pulled you close, hugging you tightly.

He missed you, you missed him, nothing needed to be said. The embrace was evident enough.

The both of you slip from each other’s grip but remain side by side. The two of you begin sharing stories of anything and everything that happened while the two of you were apart. After gasping and laughing at each other’s stories for what felt like hours, the two of you fell into a comfortable silence, gazing at everything, but each other.

“Bug, I…” Sam calls out to you.

The backdoor busts open and Jake comes staggering out. He starts screeching at you in his iconic British accent, demanding to have one dance with you. Never being able to say no to any of them you reluctantly agree.

Glancing back at Sam, you ask if he is tagging along, but he somberly declines, clearly wanting a moment alone. You nod, but begin to worry you may have caused his saddened mood.

The night carries on with the silliest of antics.

Jake spins you round and round. Josh keeps your cup full. Danny cheers along, encouraging Jake’s ridiculous behavior. All the while, Sam sits in the corner, wishing it was him you were dancing with.

It’s about thirty minutes till midnight, and you’ve managed to pull Jake off of you for the time being. Once again you find yourself on the back porch, alone, but not for long. Sam finds his way back outside eventually.

He sits a bit of distance away from you and lights a cigarette. The both of you are tense and silent, a completely different atmosphere since the first time on the porch. Eventually, you get sick of the silence cornering the both of you.

“Sam, did I do something wrong, you’ve been avoiding me all night since the first time we came out here. You can talk to me, whatever it is” you glance over at him, only to find that he was already looking at you.

He stands and closes the space between the two of you. Reaching his hand over, he pushes a stray hair behind your ear. He gazes at you saying, “I don’t think I can, Bug”.

The two of you stare longingly at each other for what feels like a life time.

You sigh, not wanting to push him on the matter. “You don’t have to but know you can tell me anything, no matter what” you say.

You start to make your way back inside, but before you can even make it two steps away, Sam is tugging you back into him.

“It’s just… I haven’t seen you in months, despite my attempts to push you to the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Every single second of everyday, my mind was full of only you. It always has been and it kills me to watch you from afar. I’ve been so anxious all week because I knew you were coming tonight. And when I caught a glimpse of you tonight, in that pretty dress, all I could think about was how much I would regret not telling you how I actually feel. You haunt my mind day and night, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s always been you, always. I love you, Bug”.

You stare at Sam in disbelief. Bring your hands up to his face, cupping his jaw. “I don’t know what to say, I….” you whisper.

“You don’t have to say anything, I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you” Sam shoots out.

“No Sam, I...”

“I understand if you only see me as a friend, I just wanted-

“Sam!” you holler at him.

He snaps his mouth shut looking down at you.

“Are you kidding me” you chuckle out. “Sam, I’ve been in love with you since we met, dumbass. It’s always been you Sammy, always”.

The New Year’s Eve countdown begins.

10, 9…

You both grin at each other, realizing just how infatuated you are with one another.

6, 5...

“Bug, can I kiss you?” he asks.

2, 1…

“Please do” you whisper, tugging his face down to meet yours.

Cheers are heard all across the house, making toasts to the new year. The both of you stay in your little bubble, not wanting to interrupt it quite yet.

Reluctantly, the both of you pull away from one another. Sam pulls you tight into his chest, whispering melodic words and promises of love.

The outside world long gone, being responsible can wait another day.

The both of you gaze into the sky, watching fireworks, utterly in love with one another.

———

A/N: Part Two???!!!! Hope you enjoyed🫶

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genshin-impact-unofficial · 5 months

Note

Hi! I love the way you write Itto :). Could you please write a fluff scenario of Itto x gn!reader spending Christmas together? 🎄

Ahhhhh! That himbo is my FAVORITE to write. He is so unserious and thinking about him my therapy at this point. MERRY CHRISTMAS and thanks for the request!

Jingle All The Way!

Itto Christmas shenanigans.

Tags: Itto x GN!reader, Silly, Can be read as Established Relationship or not, Fluff, Kisses, Comedy, AU where Teyvat has a Chrismas.

As soon as December hits, something just overcomes Itto.

The man is gonna deck the halls so hard that even Santa will shed a single manly tear. There's no escaping the festivities, especially since you're his partner in crime this year.

It's like a damn speedrun. Cozy sweaters, CHECK. Decorations, CHECK. Egg, NOGGED. Hot Chocolate, GUZZLED. Carols, BELTED. Gingerbread house, DESTROYED.

By the time Christmas rolls around you are beat. At this point the holiday spirit is running through your veins. But at the end of the day, seeing the joy that it brings to the goofy oaf next to you makes it almost worth it.... almost.

"Alright! Next up is the ultimate snowball battle for the ages! Then we gotta- " Your hand quickly covered the oni's mouth, preventing him from saying another word.

"Hold up, I thought we did those things already?" You questioned while raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Yeah, but today's Christmas." Itto explained. "It's the big day so we gotta go out with a bang! All the greatest hits in one epic marathon!" He looked so rearing to go that you could almost get swept up in his boundless determination. Your aching muscles reminded you that you COULD NOT take another day running around Inazuma yelling out Christmas carols and double fisting hot coco.

"You want a finale? Alright then, how about a new exciting experience?" You stepped up, hoping Itto would take the bait. He looked at you as though he was mulling it over, gears cranking in his head.

"Oh yeah? Then whats this grand finale of yours? It's a pretty big order to top my masterfully crafted Christmas extravaganza." Itto challenged meanwhile looking quite proud of himself.

"Well you're just going to have to trust me and see." You taunted, knowing full well that the oni's curiosity would get the better of him. So when you grabbed your coat and headed out, it wasn't a question whether the other was following.

Itto tried his best to remain aloof but you could feel anticipation radiating off the boy. You had to make sure not to skimp him on all the experiences that the holidays had to offer. But before you arrived, you instructed the tall man cover his eyes and led him to stand exactly where you wanted him.

"Alight, open!" You smiled as the hand covering Itto's eyes swung away in excitement. He eagerly looked around and took in the beautiful surroundings. The bustling city really was a sight to behold. From the top tier of stairs you could see the lights that twinkled on every store front and white fluffy snow blanket every surface. Intricate decorations were strung across the main road while last minute shoppers scurried on below it. Laughter, music, and wishes of good faith fill the air.

"I gotta give you, this is a great view, buuuuut....." Itto wore a victorious smile. "I can't say it's a new mind blowing experience. I know it's hard to believe that the great leader of the Arataki gang has done it all but-"

"Ah ah ah, the view wasn't the finale." You interrupted, taking an extra step so you were almost eye level with the large man. You pointed upward to guide Itto's gaze. Affixed to the red arch above you was a dainty mistletoe. The oni's crimson eyes locked onto the small plant while his jaw hung slightly jar. The light pink on his cheeks from the nipping cold quickly began to spread and deepen.

"I - ahhhh HAHAH. I mean I CaN- Do you uh?" Itto's words fumbled from his mouth in half formed thoughts. His wide eyes darted back and forth from you to the mistletoe. You chuckled and although you enjoyed the antics of the flustered boy, you were merciful enough to not let him flounder for too long. It was the holidays after all.

"Merry Christmas Itto." You whisper to him while using your newly gained height to lessen the distance. Your hands gripped onto the front of his ugly sweater to pull him closer until lips met. Itto's arms were quick to envelope you into a warm embrace which was nice in contrast to the chilling temperature.

It wasn't long before you were overtaken, Itto held you even closer and his lips lingered on yours. You broke, leaning back in his arms to breath and then giggle when the oni simply opted to start peppering kisses all over your face. Itto pulled back to look at you, his dopey grin held so much affection that you could practically feel your heart melting away in your chest. Okay, maybe putting up with the oni's crazy agenda was worth it..... sometimes.

#genshin #genshin headcanons #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin imagines #itto x reader #arataki itto #genshin itto #oneshot #drabble

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jawritter · 1 year

Text

My Brother’s Keeper

Chapter 9

Summary: Y/N, Sam’s roommate, so far have a pretty good thing going. Both work and function around one another well. What happens when his big brother comes down for the holidays with his mysterious past, mixed with Sam’s own mysterious previous life? Can Y/N and the grumpy older brother find a way to get along? Or will it be a not so happy holidays at the Winchester house?

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Plus Sized!Reader x Sam

Word Count: 2737

Prompt: Mistletoe

Written for: @spnchristmasbingo

Rating: Mature (because of future chapters, this story is 18 + only, and not fit for minor consumption.)

Warnings: Throws fluff in your face.

A/N: This is the first Christmas fic I have written in a long time! You guys will get this one real time, and I hope to finish it before New Years! Fingers crossed! Anyways, This fic is unbeta’d, so all mistakes are my won! Feedback is golden! My work is 18+ only! No minors! Thanks so much for reading!

Main Masterlist

Where we left off….

“You— you want to stay here because— of me?” She questioned, and narrowed his eyes at her the way he always seemed to do when she wasn’t catching on to whatever it was he was saying as fast as maybe he wanted her to, his dimples always showed when he did that, and fuck if it wasn’t the most beautifully distracting thing she’d ever seen. She’d never get tired of staring at them.

“Yes, I like you Y/N, a lot, and… I don’t know, if you’re not opposed to dating an old man, I’d like to see where this goes between us?”

Y/N blinked and stammered at him for a moment, and if he’d not been watching her so intently, she probably would have pinched herself to see if she was dreaming or not.

“Really?" She questioned in utter disbelief. "You want… really?"

Dean tossed his head back in a beautiful, full-body laugh.

"Yes, I'm serious!" Dean assured her, "Baby, I'm not exactly a young buck anymore, when I see a girl I wanna get to know, I'm serious about it."

Y/N's eyes searched him, REALLY searched him. She could detect no hint of a lie in his eyes that was searching her, waiting patiently. There was only a hint of fear there, that she might reject him.

"I'd love to have you here Dean, get to know you more, see where this goes," Y/N said after a moment, and she watched as Dean visibly sighed in relief, and fell back against the headboard. He really thought she'd reject him, something she could not even fathom doing.

"Well," Dean said, the ghost of a smile dancing in the corner of his pink lips. "Looks like I'll be hanging around then."

"Good," Y/N teased, bumping him with her elbow, "because if you left you'd just have to take me with you."

A grin broke free over Dean's face, as his eyes drifted over her head, to the headboard between them, and he all but snorted with laughter.

"Or I'll just leave my ass here if you think it's so fucking funny!" Y/N shot back, and Dean shook his head, reaching over her, and detecting what had caught his attention.

"No! Stop it!" He insisted as he waved the mistletoe in his fingers between the pair of them. "I'm laughing because I'm pretty sure my baby brother has been in your room while we were outside, that or you like to randomly decorate your headboard with mistletoe?"

Y/N's jaw dropped, and she blinked between Dean and the mistletoe in his hand.

"Why the hell is Sam hanging mistletoe in my room?"

Dean reached to sit the Christmas trinket on top of the headboard again, looking at her with a slight smirk on his face.

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" He questioned, and Y/N shook her head no.

Suddenly doubt flashed over Dean's face, and she watched as a wall started to go up. That fast.

"Maybe I shouldn't say anything… it's not really that important," Dean deflected.

Y/N reached over to grab his hand, "hey," she tried, "talk to me, what's wrong, I won't be mad I promise."

Dean shrugged, playing with the comforter that rested over his lap.

"You might be, and just like that, I'm fucking us up before we even get good and started."

"You don't know that," Y/N argued, "try me."

"Sam… Sam set us up," he admitted in a rush. "I didn't know about it until yesterday, when he brought it up about me moving in. But I swear Y/N, I was interested in getting to know you long before Sam mentioned anything."

"That's why he lied to get you here," Y/N said, and Dean nodded.

"Sam and I, we used to be a lot closer than we are now," Dean said, and Y/N sat quietly, listening, doing her best to keep her emotions in check. If they were going to do this… then trust was going to be a must for her, and that means she is going to have to let him open up without jumping the gun as much as she really wanted to at that moment.

"Then… I got hurt on a job and almost died. We decided we'd change our line of work after that because I couldn't physically hold up to it anymore. Then life just… got in the way. He watched me spiral when Sarah died, and I wouldn't let him in because I'm a stubborn asshole. Then he said he met you, and always thought that we'd work well together."

Dean rubbed his face harshly, and looked her in the eyes, trying to read her.

"God Y/N, I got some dark, DARK, shit in my past. Shit that's—really, really hard to explain. I'm mortified that, when I tell you, and I know I'm gonna have to tell you one day that this is gonna work between us at all, that I'm gonna lose you before I even had the chance to have you."

He moved to get out from under the covers, and away from her, but she grabbed his hand, a silent plea for him to stay and not run away.

"Hey, whatever happened in the past, whatever it is you're so afraid of me finding out and running away, don't be. Give me a little credit. I'm stronger than I look Dean."

Dean didn't seem to feel any better, and her chest tightened. She didn't want to lose him. She never thought she'd have him in the first place, but she didn't want to lose him now that she'd had him.

"Look, you don't have to tell me everything today. Dean, you don't have to tell me everything, well ever. I'm not worried about what happened in the past, the only thing I care about is right now. But if you ever do decide to tell me I won't be angry with you."

Dean turned to face her, chewing on his lip.

"Tomorrow, we'll talk about it more. It's Sam's story too, and I want him to be here for it," Dean suggested after a moment. "Because if you're gonna do this sweetheart, if you really wanna be with me… there are some truths you're gonna need to know, but please, please don't be angry with me. Promise me you'll be open minded, and not run away screaming."

"I promise," she assured him, "I never thought in a million years that you'd even notice I existed when you came here Dean, it is gonna take a lot to make me run away."

Dean looked doubtful, and that made her nervous. What could be so bad, so wrong that he'd done or been a part of that he could be so afraid to tell her?

Dean shook his head as he reached to tuck a strand of fallen hair behind her ear, his eyes searching every in lch of her he could see as he did.

"Y/N you're all I've been able to see since the moment you answered the door."

As if gravity suddenly shifted. Y/N didn't know if Dean felt it, but it was as if something between them suddenly became magnetic, and they drifted towards one another.

It wasn't a continuous decision she'd made, because confidence wasn't exactly something Y/N had a lot of, but suddenly, she found her lips against his. His scent, his hands, his lips, seemed to be everywhere all at once as his arms enveloped her, and pulled her closer into him, and further down into the bed.

Kissing Dean Winchester was something she never got enough of. It was as easy and natural as breathing. It was a safe place that blocked out all of the past pain and hate she'd experienced in her life. It was the best kind of distraction, and it was something she'd never grow tired of doing. Had both of them not had to come up for air, she probably would have never stopped.

"Not yet," Dean whispered thickly, his deep voice strained as he rested his forehead against her own, his massive chest heaving with each breath he took.

"What?" Y/N questioned in confusion. Her Dean fogged brain unable to keep up with his thought process because her whole body seemed to be tingling and on fire all at the same time.

"I want to make love to you so bad I can taste it," Dean revealed, nudging her nose with his own before briefly capturing her lips once again with his own. "But not yet. Because if we do this right now, and you walk away from me tomorrow… I can't handle that."

She didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't know what to say. Everything he said was raw, and carried so many emotions of abandonment, and even resentment maybe, that she didn't know how to convince him that she belonged to him, past be damned.

"Dean, I swear, I'm right here, I'm not gonna leave."

"I hope you're not, but once you hear what I've got to say, you might be glad we waited."

Chapter 10 Coming HERE!!!

Forever:

@whittysunflower

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#my brother's keeper #spnchristmasbingo #spnchristmasbingo2022 #dean winchester #dean winchester series #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x you #dean winchester x y/n #dean x reader #dean x you #dean x y/n #dean winchester x plus sized reader #dean winchester x plus sized you #jawritter #spn fanfic #spn series #spn fanfiction #jensen ackles

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awooghan · 1 year

Text

24 to 25 ✧.* y.ji (TEASER)

➳ PAIRING: jeongin x fem!reader

➳ GENRE: fluff, angst, childhood friends to lovers

➳ WARNINGS: none (teaser only)

➳ WORD COUNT: 1.5k for teaser; 25k+ for full fic 😵‍💫

(UPDATE: i gravely underestimated my final wc t’s actually 47.7k 😭)

➳ SUMMARY: “stay for christmas?” was a phrase jeongin first uttered to you when you were both ten years old, but neither of you had any idea the bond those three little words would hold as the years go by.

➳ NOTES: hey besties! this is a backup account for @//plutominho , i got shadowbanned on there and just made a new account so ppl can actually see this come up in the tags 😭 this is my longest fic yet and i’m honestly still writing the last few parts of it 🫠 but i rly like how it’s turned out so far and i hope y’all will like it too! it’s a rewrite of a fic from last year. i’ll save the actual long note for when i post the final product but thank you so so much to @svtbabies for helping me throughout the course of writing this fic. you’ve helped so much in fleshing out the plot and the little details that i got stuck on and i absolutely adore what’s come out of this. also ty for the lovely banner ahhhhh ilysm 🥹🫂

ALSO LEMME KNOW IF U WANT TO BE TAGGED IN THE FULL FIC <3

@starlighthan @starseungs @crispy-chan @gloseoks @pearlychai @sulfurcosmos …uh hey i’m alive 👁👄👁

“Come on, Y/N, you can’t cling onto my shirt forever,” your mother urges you with a small chuckle.

You stiffen up in your spot at the edge of the picnic bench, and your eyes bounce between the several children on and around the playground equipment. Mixtures of squeals and cheerful laughter ring above the christmas song playing from the outdoor speaker your new neighbors, the Choi family, set up. You forgot if it was the one with the son older than you or the son your age, though—you didn’t exactly bother to learn their names when your mother introduced you.

“Go on, Y/N.” Her voice fills your ears again as she gently pushes you off the bench. Speak of the devil.

Shoving your hands in your pockets, you kick the dust with your feet and you keep your gaze cast down on the ground. You didn’t want to socialize—why would you want to make new friends when you had perfectly good ones back in your old neighborhood? Why couldn’t you just go back there? Or just snatch your mother’s dingy old flip phone for a couple minutes to send them a message?

Besides, most of the children here don’t seem like ones you’d be particularly… compatible with. You shouldn’t be one to judge, but the majority of the ones doing laps on the playground equipment couldn’t have been older than five or six. At your big age of nine years old, there’s not much you would have in common with a literal kindergartener. Plus, it seems like they had all formed a friend group of their own, and you’re more than content just watching them chase each other around, gleeful, high-pitched squeals bubbling from their sticky mouths.

Turning your head slightly, you find a group of teenagers sitting around another bench several feet away from all the adults, two of which had their bottoms perched on top of the table as they faced their friends. You would approach them, but just like how you wouldn’t exactly favor befriending the five-year-olds with crayons up their noses, the teenagers likely thought the same of you. Closing your eyes in despair, you groan to yourself and resort to dragging your feet across the dirt.

Why did you even have to move?

As you let out a sigh, you perk up at the fact you could see it in the cold air. It sparks an insurmountable amount of joy for some reason. Perhaps it’s because of the timing of the puff of air with the line, ’Jack Frost nipping at your nose’ that rings from the speakers at the other end of the small neighborhood park, but it causes a giggle to slip past your lips. It’s almost like a new light under the already-dimming sky, the soft pinks and oranges slowly dissipating as the sun begins to dip behind the mountains and give way to the overcast above.

However, you quickly get distracted by the sight of a boy your age—or at least, you assumed—and you hesitantly step closer.

And there he was.

He was short, upside down on the monkey bars, and wearing the most obnoxious shade of purple you had ever laid eyes on. You aren’t sure what hurts more: the sun in your eyes or staring at his sweater.

Looking away from the light gray clouds that hung above the park, you let your gaze fall to the boy. He watches you quietly as he continues to hang upside down, and you notice the small smile that paints his slowly reddening face.

Here goes nothing, you guess.

“Um… hi.”

He stays silent, staring at you with his beady eyes.

Gulping, you continue. “I'm Y/N.”

He mumbles something back, but you can barely make out what he says and you tilt your head slightly in confusion.

“Huh?”

“My name is Jeongin,” he repeats, only the slightest bit louder.

A smile of your own quickly forms on your face. You raise a hand up for him to shake, and he just stares at it for a second before moving one of his outstretched arms to meet you, his hand grasping yours at an awkward angle. You both can’t help but giggle as you give your best attempt at a handshake.

“Nice to meet you, Jeongin,” you say, slowly pulling your hand away and letting his drop above, or rather, below his upside-down head. “I'm Y/N.”

“You said that already,” He says, and his bluntness makes you chuckle.

Slowly, Jeongin maneuvers himself so he’s sitting on top of the monkey bars instead of hanging upside down. Once he gets upright and steadies himself from the blood rushing down from his head, he stares back down at you.

You stuff your hands into your pockets and heave out a sigh. “My mom says I need a friend,” you explain your current plight to Jeongin, and you find his soft gaze once again. It’s strange, really—you've only exchanged a few words with this boy, but you already feel comfortable enough to complain about your mother’s nagging to him.

You suppose that helps your next words spill out more easily.

“Want to be friends?”

You watch Jeongin expectantly as he looks down, picking at a piece of lint on his hideous purple sweater. He ponders your question for a minute, and you feel a wave of relief wash over you when he finally nods in response. If your mom wanted you to have a friend so badly, there you go. You got one.

You stand there awkwardly, your eyes drifting back up to the sky for a moment. It occurs to you that you’ve never asked someone to be friends with you; it’s always just kind of happened.

And now you’re stuck, unsure what to do next.

You let out another huff of air, another smile tickling your lips as you watch the faint, white puff form in front of your eyes. Then you look back up at the boy in the obnoxious purple sweater, who seems just as amused by the cold air as you as he lets out his own breath, exhaling like a small dragon.

A chuckle escapes your parted lips as you watch him, kicking his legs lightly as he stares up at the sky. After another minute, you speak again.

“Can I sit up there with you too?”

Nodding his head, he mumbles a small “yeah” and the corners of your mouth twitch up as you hurriedly climb your way up onto the monkey bars. You dangle your legs through the same section as Jeongin’s, and you shift your position slightly as you steady yourself.

A gust of cold air causes you to shiver and as a response, you pull your puffy coat closer to you. This seems to make Jeongin chuckle fondly, and you feel his eyes linger on you for a second before he looks out at the horizon. Neither of you are tall enough to see much above the houses in front of you, but you figure you can use your imaginations to picture what lies beyond that. It’ll have to do.

You both remain silent for a while like this, allowing the chatter and Christmas music below to fill the air around you. It’s comfortable, it feels like a weighted blanket wrapped around your shoulders—which is funny to say because you’re sharing this moment with a kid you’ve barely known for ten minutes. You don’t mind, though. By the looks of it, and the friendly glances you exchange with each other, Jeongin doesn’t seem to, either.

Suddenly, a cold, wet spot falls onto your nose, causing you to gasp and look up.

“Is that…”

Jeongin tilts his head up as well, and he chuckles when another wet drop lands on his face. Meanwhile, you’re in awe. You let your mouth fall open, and your eyes swirl with pure wonderment as you watch the white crystals above you flutter down. It sends chills down your spine, but wraps you up in a cocoon of warmth at the same time.

“Snow…” is all you manage to mumble.

Jeongin turns to you, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Have you never seen snow before?”

You glance at him once, shake your head, and look back up at the sky.

The boy’s jaw drops. It almost mirrors your dazed expression, except his features are twisted in surprise. But it’s true—snow was something you had only witnessed in movies. As far as you were concerned, the fluffy, white particles only ever graced the stop-motion characters on the old-timey Christmas cartoons you rewatched every year, or the main couple in whatever cheesy Hallmark movie your parents decided to indulge in.

That is, until now.

You didn’t know at that moment what type of future you had in store, but you know one thing: the snow is beautiful. And as you follow Jeongin down the monkey bars and to your first snowball fight, you have an inkling that you’ll be sticking with him for a while.

Maybe this move won’t be so bad after all.

full version release date: december 25 (hopefully)

#stray kids #stray kids imagines #stray kids fanfic #skz #skz imagines #skz fanfic #skz x reader #stray kids written #jeongin #yang jeongin #jeongin x reader #jeongin fanfic #jeongin fluff #jeongin angst #jeongin imagines

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thegirlfromhawkins · 1 year

Text

A Very Merry Christmas | Eddie Munson x gn! Reader ft. Uncle Wayne

This is seriously something I am so proud of and I truly wrote it with so much love. I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful Holiday time. ❤️

“Um a little more to the left.”

“Like this?” Eddie asked, tilting the star a little like you said.

“That’s too far.” You said, causing Eddie to turn his head, giving you an ‘are you kidding me?’ look.

“I think it looks great.” Uncle Wayne remarked stepping into the living area holding his mug full of hot chocolate.

“Thank you.” Eddie smirked, finally having accomplished decorating the tree with you.

The Munson’s never had a big tree up during the holidays but you managed to find the perfect one to fit in the corner of the trailer. Wayne hadn’t decorated for Christmas in years since Eddie became older. It was nice to have some cheer added to the humble home. He could see you were the one to bring the most joy to Eddie and him.

You brought content to Eddie’s life in this small town and boy was Wayne happy about that. Of course Eddie still would rant on about Hawkins and the population of sheep as he would say. When you came along though something changed in Eddie. You grounded him but also gave him hope for your future together. Living in Hawkins sucks but you have each other and that’s enough.

“Alright kids, I'm off to work.” Uncle Wayne waved to you both and opened the door to the cold winter night.

“We’ll save you some cookies!” You called out to him.

“If you’re lucky!” Eddie added, making you smack his arm.

“I’m feeling very lucky tonight.” He replied before closing the door.

Eddie and you broke into laughter as the Christmas music played through the radio on the countertop in the kitchen. It wasn’t either of yours favorite but hell it was Christmas time.

“Oh you know what time it is?” Eddie questioned looking down at his watch.

“What is it?”

With one swoop you were slung across Eddie’s shoulder with a scream leaving your mouth,”Cookie Time!!”.

The giggles coming from you melted his heart like a snowman in the sun. He carried you into the quaint kitchen then set you down.

“You’re crazy.” You said smiling up at the doe eyed boy.

“Me? No way, that’s you.” He replied in dramatic fashion making you laugh again.

“Only crazy in love with you.” You kissed his lips.

Eddie shook his head at your antics,”That was way too cheesy.”

You only shrugged at him and off to cookie making you went. The next hour was spent destroying the once somewhat clean kitchen and by the time the cookies were in the oven both of you were just as messy.

“I’ll go get some clothes to change into.” Eddie said, starting to walk to his room.

“Wait, I have a surprise!”

“What could it be this time? You know what, I bet it’s clothes.” He replied following you to a bag you had arrived with earlier.

“Very funny.” With a roll of your eyes you stuck your tongue out. Eddie snuck a kiss in when you weren’t expecting it. Smiles spread across your faces. Sure you’d been together for awhile but just as smitten as ever.

Out of the bag you showed three matching sets of flannel red plaid pajamas. Eddie grabbed one looking down at it and smiled,”One for Uncle Wayne too?”.

“One for Uncle Wayne too.” You smiled.

After getting cozy in your new jammies the cookies were out of the oven. You already set a plate of them aside for Wayne when he got home and set his pajamas down on the couch. With the radio still going ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’ began to play.

“A dance m’lady?” Eddie held his arm out bowing while your mouth was still full of cookies.

There you both were in your own world dancing in the kitchen light. The smell of cookies and holiday candles in the air as the snow drifted from the sky outside. And so began the many years of Christmas’ shared together. Each one filled with more love than the last.

#eddie cult #stranger things #stranger things s4 #eddie munson #eddie munson headcanon #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x gender neutral reader #eddie stranger things #st4 #eddie munson fluff #stranger things headcanons #stranger things imagine #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson masterlist #Eddie Munson Christmas #Eddie Munson Christmas Imagine #uncle wayne and eddie #uncle wayne #merry xmas

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eventinelysplayground · 5 months

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Secret Christmas Gift 2

This is the second story I did as a surprise Christmas gift. I wrote this one for @fang-and-feather, I know you like Jean and had this idea for it and I hope you enjoy. As a language note Pepere here is used as a noun not the adjective. If you look it up with translate it just gives the adjective meaning. As a noun it's like a cutesy/childish way to say grandfather. I believe it's used more in northern France but here in Canada it's super common for french children to call their grandfather's Pepere. Source the whole french side of my family and my french friends families lol. Merry early Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Morning

It was Christmas morning, the sun barely peeking above the horizon. Jean and Mitsuki were asleep in each other's arms after a night of celebration with the mansion residents and one another. The door to Jean's room slowly creaked open and two young children poked their heads in before flinging the door wide and rushing in and jumping onto the bed.

Child: Mama! Papa! It's Christmas morning wake up!

Child: Ya come on, Lily and I got up before the sun!

Lily: Mama, Papa!

Lily was shaking Jean by the shoulder and Mitsuki rolled out of his arms desperately clinging the blanket to her chest.

Mitsuki: Wolf, Lily the sun's barely up. Why don't you go back to your rooms for just a little bit and let us get ready okay?

Wolf: We've already waited so long though.

Jean: Why don't you go and wake Pepere then, I'm sure he'd love to go down to the tree with you both. Your Mama and I will be down soon.

Wolf: Okay Papa, come on Lily.

Lily: Yay!!

The children bounded off the bed and out the door, their laughter and excitement filling the hallway. Mitsuki turned and glanced over at Jean who was rubbing his eyes.

Mitsuki: Isn't that a bit mean Jean? You know Comte and Leonardo were still up drinking when we came to bed.

Jean: He made himself Pepere when Wolf was born, I'm just using it to my advantage.

Mitsuki shook her head and laughed then got out of bed and started getting ready for the day. Whether it was from the alcohol or all the celebrations Mitsuki couldn't say but she was moving like molasses that morning. Once she was done she hurried out into the hall after Jean.

Mitsuki: Umm Jean…

Jean: Come along I don't think the kids will be able to wait any longer to open presents. If Le Conte hasn't given in already and let them start opening them.

Mitsuki: But Jean…

Jean tugged on Mitsukis hand and she nodded and followed. They made their way to the parlor where Wolf and Lily were already rummaging around under the tree. Le Comte was there as well directing the children on placing the gifts into neat piles for each resident.

Le Comte: Well it looks like your Mama and Papa have finally joined us.

Lily: Where's everyone else? We all have to celebrate together.

Lily's little voice was full of sadness as she looked at her parents. Le Comte then gave Jean and Mitsuki a devious smile.

Le Comte: Well Sebastian is making breakfast but I think everyone else is still sleeping, don't worry though I'm positive your parents can go and fetch them so we can all celebrate together.

Jean's eyes widened momentarily and Mitsuki giggled as Le Comte just continued to smile. Clearly this was punishment for sending the children to wake him up.

Jean: Fine we will wake everyone up and send them down here.

Jean and Mitsuki had soon roused all the residents and the day seemed to go by in an instant. After breakfast and gifts they sat around talking and laughing while the children played. Mozart, Le Comte and Leonardo all took turns playing Christmas carols until lunch. Lily and Wolf had then commandeered Vincent, Theo, Isaac and Napoleon and took them outside to enjoy the nice weather and play hide and seek. They came in just in time for Christmas stories from Arthur and Dazai. Soon dinner was over and it was time to put the children to bed.

Lily: Oh! Where's Monsieur Quack?

Mitsuki: I don't know darling. Did you leave him in the dining room?

Lily: No I didn't have him at dinner, or for presents. I had him this morning when we woke you and Papa though.

Jean: You likely dropped him when you woke us, I will go and find him.

When Jean returned to his room he almost immediately found what he was looking for. Monsieur Quack was sitting on the lone night table. Jean walked over and picked up the stuffed swan but then he suddenly froze, underneath his daughter's toy was his eye patch. Jean reached up and touched his scar, his eyes widening as the realization hit him that he had been without it all day.

When Jean did not return after quite a while Mitsuki went to see and found him sitting on the edge of his bed turning over his eye patch in his hands. She sat down beside him and placed her hand on his thigh not knowing what exactly she should say to him.

Mitsuki: Jean, are you ok?

Jean: I don't know. It's one thing for you or our children to see me without it but now everyone…

Mitsuki: I'm sorry I should have tried harder to get you to listen to me this morning.

Jean: No it's not your fault, I didn't even notice I wasn't wearing it. Why did no one else mention anything?

Mitsuki looked at Jean thoughtfully for a minute then smiled at him.

Mitsuki: I don't think they said anything because it doesn't matter to them. They care about you and think of you as their friend and family. I don't think anything could make them see you differently.

Mitsuki reached out and ran her fingers along the edge of Jean's scar before leaning in and kissing him gently.

#ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikemen vampire jean #ikevamp jean

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jerzwriter · 1 year

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Comfort & Joy

Artwork done by the amazing @rosefuckinggenius - it will be posted alone, but I had to use it as part of my holiday fic for Eli & Zoe! :)

Book: Wake the Dead

Pairing: Eli Sipes x F!MC (Zoe Rivera)

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Discussion of loved ones who have died

Category: Fluffy Angst

Summary: Zoe and her friends make good on the plans they made that day at the amusement park, and their winter holiday celebration is underway. The night is almost perfect until memories take a toll on Zoe, and she slips away. Eli finds her, and together, they create a precious new memory together.

Words: 2428

A/N: It’s not exactly Christmas, but their own version of it. A little reprieve in the craziness of their world, something I hope each of you will find this year. ❤️

Participating @choicesdecember2022 – Day 28 - I hope I never lose you @choicesflashfics - I never want to stop making memories with you

WTD Masterlist

CHARACTERS BELONG TO PIXELBERRY STUDIOS.

It had been one of the best nights of her life. At least of the nights she could remember. It was possible that another had topped it, but if so, it would have been before the world changed, taking every semblance of safety and normalcy along with it. She didn’t have much recollection of that time, back when she shared a home with Ana and their two loving fathers. But the memories she had were warm and full of love… just like tonight. She moved to the stairs some time ago, quietly observing to take in the scene.

Her once timid friend Shannon may have had too much of that homemade wine. Nevertheless, she was beaming. Flitting around the dancefloor and making sure everyone joined in. The children of Olympus had determined that Angel was their favorite person that night. While she pretended that it was an annoyance, Zoe knew better. That laughter that echoed down the hall and the smile on her face could only come from someone truly happy, finding companionship after a lifetime alone. Troy… well, Troy was Troy. Happy, laughing, the life of the party itself, but even he had changed. His sarcastic charm and wit were ever present, but he was different, in a better way. And then there was Eli. While most of the children had commandeered Angel, Maya had decided Eli was hers for the night. Zoe had been confident that his patience would have worn thin hours ago, yet there he sat next to Maya’s stuffed animal as the young girl fed them cookies and read them a “bedtime story.”

Zoe’s hand covered her chest, wondering if her heart could burst from so much joy, but then again, not everything had changed for the better. She quietly snuck outside while no one was watching. Alone on the deck, she listened to the silence as she gazed at the bucolic setting surrounding them. She made a mental note to thank Troy for what seemed like a ludicrous idea less than a year ago. Who knew that the dreaded Red Meadows would be their home, and who knew that the young woman who needed a sweater when it was seventy degrees would find that winter was her favorite season of all.

It wasn’t the billowing snow that covered every surface, blanketing a horrid world in a sort of peace she never knew. It wasn’t how it glowed like an enchanted forest in the moonlight. It would be easy to assume it was because most zombies were in hibernation this time of year. Having that burden lifted did usher in a relief she couldn’t express. But none of these things were the reason why. It was something… more.

A warm glow emitted from inside, beckoning her to take another peek. The residents of the new colony were having a desperately needed night of levity. Each had endured losses and horrors that the minds of previous generations could not have conceived. But tonight, they ate, drank, conversed, played games, and, most importantly, they laughed and knew how it felt to be surrounded by love. In this ragtag group, Zoe had found something she had been longing for her entire life without even knowing what it was. She found a home.

Tears welled in her eyes, and she was unsure if they were born of sadness or joy. This was the best her life had ever been in almost every way. Yet, her heart ached for what was lost. As grateful as she was, the joy she held in her heart was tempered because the one person who enabled her to lead this life was no longer there.

Lowering her head, she took in a deep breath of the crisp winter air. She didn’t mind how it assaulted her lungs; she deserved to have some pain. That’s what she believed, for she was reaping the rewards her sister didn’t live to see. She was about to surrender to the darkness that never seemed too far away. The torrent of tears building inside her was about to overflow when a strong arm gently encircled her waist and pulled her near.

Neither words nor sight was needed; she knew who it was. She knew his scent, the sound of his breath, and the gentle bliss his touch brought to her heart. Each day was a gift in their world, and tomorrow was unpromised. She knew their happiness was on borrowed time, so she memorized everything. Every sound, feeling, and caress was cataloged in her memory. For if the day were to come when they could no longer be together, that’s what she’d have to rely on because letting him go would never be an option.

“I knew I find you here,” he whispered. “Why are you out in the cold?”

“I’m so happy,” she said with a broken voice, “… and I’m so sad.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder, and she welcomed the warmth of lips on her icy cheek. He had come to know her so well, and now his presence was needed most of all.

“You can talk to me if you want,” he muttered in her ear.

“I know… I…” she started, but the words wouldn’t come.

“But you don’t have to,” he smiled, pulling her under his arm.

“Tonight was amazing, Eli, because of you.”

The snort that escaped him confirmed that he didn’t agree. “Hardly!” He scoffed. “This was a group effort, and you were a big part of that group.”

“It was your idea,” she said with a shake of her head. “You and the others came up with it that day at the amusement park.”

“Yeah, but some of us are more talk than action. You make sure that we see things through.”

“Hmmm, you give me too much credit.”

“Yeah, well, turnaround is fair play,” he smiled, and with that, most of her sadness disappeared. “You’re guilty of doing that with me.”

“But when it comes to you, it’s accurate.”

“That’s your opinion,” he stated, spinning her around to face him. “Why don’t we go inside? You’re freezing, and most have gone to bed, so we’ll be alone. We can talk if you want.”

“I do,” she said, slipping her freezing hand into his. “Let’s go.”

~~~~~

He placed a blanket over her when she sunk into the couch, then stepped away to get her a warm drink, but she pulled him near.

“No. Just stay with me.”

“Sure,” he replied, taking the spot next to her.

“I feel guilty,” she whispered so low he almost didn’t hear.

“For what?”

“For being alive… for being here… having this beautiful night,” she lifted her head to look into his eyes, as hers brimmed with tears, “for having you.”

Eli’s expression softened, and words were unnecessary to express how much he understood. He raised a calloused thumb to her cheek, stroking soft circles against her skin.

“I get it, but a wise woman once told me that our loved ones who had passed would want us to find happiness in whatever time we have left. I didn’t always believe that, but she made me see she was right.”

“Throwing my words back at me, Eli?” she smirked.

“What? Do you think you’re the only wise woman I’ve ever known?” He grinned as she nuzzled against his chest.

“Oh, I keep forgetting you were Mr. Social Butterfuly before I came along,” she teased.

“I know you miss Ana. I miss my family, too, every day. But I’m grateful for the people I have in my life, you most of all. I know that’s what they’d want for me. I know they’re happy I’ve found this. I only got to meet Ana once, but in that little time, I know she’d feel the same way for you.”

“She would,” Zoe smiled. “Sometimes I feel like it’s my obligation to be happy… or all her sacrifices weren’t worthwhile.”

“You should take happiness where you can find it. But you need to be true to what you’re feeling, and you’re allowed to be sad, too.”

Zoe sat up and faced him; much of the pain present on her face had melted away.

“I know. But I want to be happy. Tonight was magical. It almost felt like a scene in one of those Christmas movies from the Old World that Troy plays.”

“That’s what we were aiming for.”

“We succeed,” she beamed, her face aglow from the firelight. He wasn’t sure if she had ever looked more beautiful.

“We did,” he smiled, caressing her hand. “We did good. But… the night is not over.”

“It’s not?”

“No. I have a present for you.”

“Eli! We mentioned exchanging gifts at first, but then we agreed we’d save gifts for the next time. It would be too difficult to….”

“Fortunately, I ignored that,” he smirked as he retrieved a small bag from the back of a shelf. “Because I noticed you had a package with my name in your closet after I got this.”

“Snooping?” She mocked.

“No! Getting you a blanket for the five-hundredth time.”

Zoe narrowed her eyes as she got the package hid in a rarely used desk in the corner. Looking almost bashful, she returned to the seat next to him.

“So how do we do this? I’ve never exchanged gifts before. I know in the movies it’s usually a big chaotic scene where no one knows what they’re opening….”

“That never seemed appealing.”

“I’m glad you agree,” she smiled. “So, you open mine, and then I’ll open yours?”

“We can do that,” he said, accepting the gift wrapped in an old t-shirt from her hands.

A shocked expression registered on his face as he stared at the drawing Zoe had created for him. His body trembled gently as he looked at her, then back to the drawing again.

“Is this,” he swallowed, taking a moment before speaking again. “Is this… my family?”

“That’s what I wanted it to be. I never got to see them, but I really listen when you talk, and this is how I imagine them… I hope I got it….”

The wind escaped her when Eli grabbed her in his arms, pulling her tightly against his chest. Her sweater and hair absorbed his tears as his face nuzzled in her shoulder. He looked at the picture again, and a soft sob escaped him. “It’s remarkable how much it looks like them…. it’s like you knew them. I don’t even know what to….”

“Shhh,” she cradled him close against her chest, kissing softly atop his head. “You don’t have to say anything, Eli. I’m just happy you like it.”

“I love it,” he whispered, wiping away a tear. “Thank you.”

They sat in comfortable silence for several moments. Eli never took his eyes off his gift, and by the time he looked back at Zoe, he appeared more at peace than she had seen him in some time.

“I almost forgot. I have something for you, too.”

He placed the small burlap bag on her lap, gently leaving his hand on her knee as she opened it. She took out a small stack of worn books tied together with a red ribbon.

“Before you open it,” he interrupted. “I know you love to read, and there are two things you always seem to want to know more about…the old world and me… so I think you’ll like this.”

He watched her intently, her eyes wide with wonder as she turned the tattered pages, each covered with writing in beautiful penmanship.

“Eli… are these journals?”

“They are,” he whispered. “They were my mother’s.”

Zoe reflexively dropped the books to her lap, her hands reaching up to cover her mouth. “No!” she gasped, tears already rolling down her cheeks. “That’s impossible…. How?”

“Troy and I were scavenging one day, and I realized we weren’t all that far from my old cabin….”

“Eli!” She wailed. “You went back there! It’s too dangerous and too close to The Tower! And you two went alone!”

“This is why I didn’t tell you,” he chuckled nervously, “but Troy and I….”

“Troy!” she interrupted, “I’m going to kill him! I’m going to kill you! If anything would have happened, I would….”

“Zoe,” he said, steadying her in his arms. “Nothing happened. I’m here.”

“It must have been so hard on you… to be there. If you insisted on going, why didn’t you tell me? I would have come….”

“It wasn’t planned. It’s just one of those things. And, no, it wasn’t easy… but it was better than I would have thought. The place was pretty picked over, and most of our stuff was gone. But Mom kept these hidden under a footboard in her room… I can’t tell you how happy I was to find them. I was going to show you the second we got back, but… then I realized these would make the perfect gift for you.”

“For me,” she breathed, as her hand covered her heart. “Eli, I’ve never been more honored, but I… I can’t accept these. These belong to you, and no one but you, I couldn’t imagine….”

Eli placed his hand atop hers, trembling on her lap.

“If they’re with you, they’ll be with me. Because if I have one or twenty-thousand days left, I’m spending them at your side.”

Zoe fell into his arms, not worried that her crying might wake the others; after all, they were the only two people in the world.

“I love you, Eli Sipes,” she cried into his shoulder. “I love you so much, and… I don’t care what world it’s in, I don’t care what wealth anyone could have… no one could ever give me anything this precious.”

Pulling back, he gazed into her eyes. The pain, sorrow, and tragedy she had endured were all present, but they were obscured, hiding behind the love and wonder they held whenever she looked at him.

“You gave me a reason to be alive again, not survive, but live… who knew that troublemaking pain in the ass that came onto my property….”

Zoe laughed nervously through her tears, “The one you nearly killed?”

“I’ve apologized,” he grinned. “I hope you get to know my Mom a little when you read these. And maybe you’ll get to know me better, too. She wrote about conversations we used to have. In one, she told me how she still held out hope that I’d find happiness one day, even in this world. I didn’t believe it at all… but as usual, she was right… you’ve brought that to me. You’re the most precious gift, Zoe. I’m just glad we found each other.”

“Eli, I’m going to read every word, I promise, and the memory of this night will always be among the happiest in my life.”

“Good. But I never want to stop making memories with you.”

“Neither do I. Is this where we’re supposed to say Merry Christmas?”

“We could,” he smiled. “Or we can make up something of our own.”

“How about I just say I love you.”

“I like that. I love you, too.”

Eli's Family - fan art by @rosefuckinggenius

A/N 2: Someone recently asked me if Eli ever found his mother’s journals, so it got me thinking… I thought this was a great way for it to go. If you wish to learn more about them, you can find i for here:

@choicesficwriterscreations

Tagging separately.

#choices fanfic #wake the dead #eli sipes #eli sipes x f!mc #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #playchoices fanfic #cfwc holidays 2022

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whimsicallyenchantedrose · 5 months

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Christmas Reruns 2023 Day 10: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (3/3)

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and happy holidays if you don’t! One of the things I love about Christmas is watching reruns of all the old classic Christmas movies–Christmas is a big time for nostalgia. A few years ago, I decided to incorporate that tradition into my fandom life and post my CS holiday reruns. So here you go! Enough holiday (mostly) fluff to get you to New Year’s Day. (With a new story posting on Christmas Day.)

Rating: G

Word Count: 1724

Other chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Notes: This story was originally posted in 2014

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

Killian surged forward, lips crashing against hers, body pressing her to the immutable surface of her apartment door, arms binding her to him.

Good thing too. At the touch of his lips against hers, the sensation of his tongue seeking entrance, the feel of his heart racing beneath her hand trapped between them, Emma sagged and her knees threatened to buckle altogether.

Emma opened for him, moaning his name as his tongue came to tangle with hers. She rose to her toes, threading her fingers through his hair, seeking to bring him ever closer, they would never be close enough.

Her apartment complex was normally a busy bustling place, but tonight, at 11:30 on Christmas Eve night, it was as empty as Gold’s black heart. Just as well. The way she and Killian were going at it, anyone passing by was liable to get quite the show—and definitely not one suited to children.

With a groan Killian pulled away, but Emma was having none of it. She wasn’t done kissing him yet; not nearly. She chased his lips with her own, giving her pirate no quarter.

“Emma,” he moaned, as he gave up all attempts at resistance and met her head on.

They’d just returned from the town Christmas party at Granny’s. Her mom had really outdone herself with that one. The food, laughter and eggnog flowed abundantly. Everyone seemed to have imbibed the Christmas spirit, buoyed, no doubt by the fact that they’d gone a full month without a villain in sight.

It seemed Killian had enjoyed his first Christmas party. He’d particularly enjoyed the dirty Santa gift exchange, throwing himself into the spirit of the game with wild abandon. He’d put his pirate skills to good use, stealing one after another of his neighbors’ gifts. Emma suspected it was more for the thrill of mayor-sanctioned theft than it was for the actual gifts he’d gained. She laughingly said as much to him as he gleefully stole a bottle of lavender-scented bath salts from under Ruby’s very nose.

“You’re really going to tell me you want girly bath salts?” she’d teased.

“And why not?” he’d asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “I happen to be well aware that you favor the scent of lavender. It was my hope that were I to acquire these salts I might persuade you to…um…help me put them to use.”

When all was said and done, Killian had been left with a gift certificate for free dinner at Granny’s for a week. She….well, she’d made a last minute swap for the bath salts, a fact that made Killian’s eyes light up like a kid let loose in a candy shop.

When the party broke up, Killian walked her back to her apartment door where he was currently kissing her so thoroughly she could barely remember her own name.

After long moments, Killian pulled away and then rested his forehead against hers. “Best we slow down love,” he said breathlessly. “Much longer, and we’re bound to start a conflagration that will consume this entire building.”

“Yeah,” she said, equally breathless. “But what a way to go.”

He laughed and took a step back. “I suppose it’s time I take my leave. You’re to be at your parents’ bright and early tomorrow for Christmas morning festivities.”

Emma took hold of the lapels of Killian’s coat and gave him another quick peck. “You mean we’re to be at my parents’ bright and early.”

He looked suddenly uncertain. “I don’t wish to impose. It is after all a family event.”

Emma shook her head, her heart turning over with tenderness for this man. “When are you going to learn that you are family? We all want you there, and I, well, I’d really miss you if you bailed on us. Besides, if you don’t join us for Christmas morning, when am I going to get to give you my gift?”

“You bought me a gift?” His voice was awestruck.

“Of course! I have a feeling you’re going to like it too.”

Emma knew how much he enjoyed reading. His cabin on the Jolly Roger had been practically covered, floor to ceiling with books. She’d bought him as many of this realm’s pirate tales and stories as she could get her hands on.

“There’s no doubt of that, love,” he said gently. “I have a gift for you as well, but I have been assured that Christmas is the day for gift giving. It would be quite bad form to spoil my surprise the night before.”

“All the more reason to join us in the morning.”

His smile turned infinitely tender, and he cupped her cheek. “I’d love to be there, Swan. Which is, of course, why I’d best take my leave so that you can get your rest for the big day.”

Emma’s eyes flitted away from his for a moment before focusing back on him. “Stay with me tonight? Henry’s staying with Regina, and, well, no one should have to spend Christmas Eve alone.”

Killian dragged in a ragged breath. “I’d be honored to spend the remainder of Christmas Eve with you.

Emma unlocked her apartment, gave Killian another quick kiss and then waved him in behind her. “Go ahead and plug in the tree; maybe see about starting a fire. I’ll make us some cocoa.”

After their conversation in the woods, Killian and Henry had tag teamed her until she’d agreed to just about every Christmas tradition Henry could think of. The three of them had bought and cut down a Christmas tree, decorated the thing within an inch of its life (Killian’s hook being surprisingly handy in the endeavor), hung all three of their stockings by the chimney with care, and baked and decorated what felt like enough Christmas cookies for the entire town. When Killian learned of the tradition of sending people Christmas cards, he’d even convinced her to send the damn things out—complete with a photo of the three of them sitting before the fire, steaming mugs of cocoa in hand, the lit tree in the background.

It was cheesy as hell.

She loved it.

She finished preparing their drinks—which for her consisted of boiling water and pouring it over packets of cocoa mix—and then headed for the living room.

“Well, you’ve made good use of your time,” she said with a smile. The tree was lit, a roaring fire crackled in the hearth, and a smug pirate sat on the rug before it, surrounded by pillows.

“I aim to please darling.”

She sat beside him, depositing their cocoa on the end table and settling in his waiting arms.

“I do believe you’re forgetting something, love,” he said, mischief in every syllable.

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“Look and see for yourself.”

Emma sat up and stifled a laugh. The idiot sat before her holding the largest sprig of mistletoe she’d ever seen. She leaned forward and kissed him playfully. “You’re insatiable.”

“Aye,” he said, returning the kiss with exuberance, “but you wouldn’t have me any other way.”

Without warning, it all crashed over her once again. She’d nearly lost him. His heart had nearly been crushed in front of her, and she’d been powerless to stop it. The memory made her start to shake, and Emma clung to Killian so tightly he’d end up with bruises in the morning. She buried her face in his neck and breathed him in, her hand slipping beneath his shirt to rest over his heart. She needed this; she needed the confirmation that he was still there, that his heart was still where it belonged.

“Emma, love,” he said, rubbing her back, “is something the matter?”

Emma forced herself to sit up and look him in the eye. If nearly losing him had taught her anything, it was that every day with this man was a gift—a gift that could be snatched from her at any moment. The fact that he might have died not knowing, not truly knowing how she felt about him was like a slap to the face. She needed to remedy that. Immediately. Emma was terrified to say the words, but it was time; it was far past time.

“Killian, I…I just need you to know something.”

“Very well, Swan,” he said hesitantly, “you do know there is nothing you cannot tell me, do you not?”

“Yeah,” She took a deep breath and then plunged in. “It’s just that…well, I don’t know how to do this but just come out and say it: I love you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. It scares the hell out of me, but, well, I just needed you to know. Whatever happens, no matter how many evil villains try to tear us apart, I needed you to know. I need you to…”

He leaned forward and captured her lips, effectively cutting off what was threatening to turn into babbling. This kiss was different, soft, gentle, unhurried. Emma reached up between them and caressed his face with gentle strokes. This was right. This man was it for her. If he’d died up there in the clock tower she didn’t know how she’d ever have survived it.”

“I love you too,” he whispered as he finally pulled away. “Until the end of time, I’ll love you. With every breath I take, every beat of my heart, I love you. There’ll never be another for me but you.”

She grinned against his chest. “Better not be.”

“No other lass stands the ghost of a chance against you. I swear to be unfailingly true to you until I take my last breath and long, long after.”

“I know,” she said tremulously. “And you can expect the same from me.”

He gathered her back into her arms and they sat in silence for some time. When he spoke again, the teasing note was back in his voice. “So, Swan, how do you propose we while away the rest of this Christmas Eve?”

She sat back and gave him a grin. “Well, I was thinking we could resume that make out session we had going on outside…and then we could, kind of, see where that takes us.”

“That, Swan, is the best idea you’ve had all year.”

NEXT CHAPTER-->

#christmas reruns 2023 #cs fanfiction #captain swan christmas ff #my fanfiction #have yourself a merry little christmas

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ficthots · 1 year

Text

Statute of Limitations

A/N: Cute lil turkey day fic. As always let me know what you guys think and enjoy!

Warnings: SMUT. DNI if you are under 18. 18+ only.

Word Count: 7.4k+

The holidays can evoke many emotions that someone would not expect nor want. Thanksgiving was notorious for being the holiday where family members got in vicious spats over rivaling political ideologies. Christmas brought on dreaded yearning for loved ones who have since departed your life in one way or another. New Years held bouts of loneliness over your shoulders as you watched on as couples and strangers alike connected in a kiss to ring in the new year.

Many feelings that were not always welcome guests during this time of year. However, it was always easier to manage when you were surrounded by people who were in the same place you were in life. In fact, when it was your best friend, you wouldn’t even notice these waves of varying mental states because they were entertaining you and keeping you afloat.

More than afloat. Joyous. Elated. Hopeful. Content.

But that is to be discussed at a later time.

You were frantically running around the house, trying to make sure that everything was where it should be. That everything was going according to schedule. That everything was perfect. Because it was supposed to be. Had to be.

“Turkey will be done at five forty-five. Candles will be lit at five-forty. Bar area is stocked and ready. Name cards. Where are the name cards?” Your eyes darted up from your crumpled list that sat in your hands, pen marking off items as you mumbled out loud to yourself, beginning the search for the name cards.

His curly head bopped down the stairs, seeing you hunting around the house for what he already knew was in hands. He held up the brown paper, smile growing as he did. “Name cards? Got ‘em right here, hammy.” A breath of relief tumbled from your lips as you watched him go around the large dining table and place the cards where they were supposed to be.

You trailed behind him, slightly moving and adjusting them to be where they actually should have been. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed what you were doing, turning and facing you with his hands on his hips. “They looked just fine where they were.”

Wiping your hands on your pants after taking some lint off of a napkin, you weren’t looking at him as your eyes scanned the table for any other imperfections that you could immediately see. As you went to slightly move a pillar candle two inches to the left, his hand darted out and captured yours in his, drawing your attention to him.

He offered you a large smile, hands moving to cup your cheeks as he did. “Everyone’s going to be here within an hour, hammy. Why don’t you head upstairs and start getting ready, yeah? Your clothes are laid out on my bed, your bathroom stuff is on the counter, I can handle what’s left down here.” Reluctantly agreeing with him, his hands turning you around and in the direction of the stairs, you kept turning, not really ready to hand over the full responsibility of him taking over for the last forty-five minutes.

“Go!” He shouted, hands shooing you away, laughter following his words as you pouted your way up the stairs. Just like he said, your outfit was laid out across the bedding, your personal care items atop the counter in the bathroom, a fluffy towel hanging on the rack to greet you.

He knew you would be flustered with planning out every miniscule detail you could for this dinner so he took it upon himself to make sure the other aspects did not fall through the cracks, simply making sure you were taken care of.

Josh always made sure you were taken care of. That’s why he’s your best friend and whom you love the absolute most in the world. Truly, you could not imagine a life without the ball of sunshine that was Joshua by your side.

He had been in your life for years, originally meeting him through Danny, but there was something about him. You two meshed so well, becoming close in high school and hardly being separated from them on out.

As you all grew older, new traditions popped up and stuck with your small group. One of those traditions was the annual Thanksgiving supper. Each year was a rotation between the couples of the group. Each pairing hosted at their own home with an immaculate table scape and menu to accompany along with a new tradition that would happen at their home.

It was fun, lighthearted, and a reason for everyone to see one another during the holidays. Given you are one of the two singles in the group, the other being your best friend, the burden fell on your shoulders this year. A group text message revealed that everyone else had decided to partner you up and to be ready to host the soiree of the year at one of your houses.

Planning began immediately, beyond infuriated that everyone took pity on the two lonesome creatures of the posse and you decided that you were going to put them all to shame, hosting the best bash they had seen yet.

Josh was just along for the ride, happy to be included in whatever you needed from him. You had been staying at his house for the last two days as you prepped for the upcoming party, doing as much ahead of time as possible. He was there, right behind you, reminding you to take a breath, sit down, and eat some actual food every once in a while.

He knew how type a you could be, incredibly anal about the details of it all, because once you set your mind to it, he knew it was going to be done, sparing no expense of yourself. He had seen in the past how you could and would schedule your life down to the last second, wanting any and all control over any situations you found yourself in. Josh would watch as you would forget the littlest things to survive, like sleep, and would gently guide you into the direction he knew you needed to go. He would ensure that you were being taken care of. That’s who he is.

This wasn’t the first time he had seen you like this and he knew it would not be the last either. As long as he was there besides you, he would be happy as a clam to aid you in whatever way he knew how to. To make sure that you would slow down and enjoy what life was offering, tonight was going to be no different.

Josh wanted you to see what you had spent weeks obsessing over and notice how beautiful it had all turned out. Your goal had succeeded, this was going to the best gathering that had happened yet. All he wanted was for you to see that. To see how magnificent it was. How magnificent you were.

As he finished moving the chairs to where they needed to be, basting the turkey once more, playing the music you had meticulously picked out for the evening, he heard you come bounding down the stairs. He couldn’t help but beam at you, seeing how radiant you looked in only the dim lighting and candlelight from the room that set the table aglow.

Attempting to swallow his heart back down from his throat, a blush crept onto the apples of his cheeks as you smiled at him. He couldn’t hold your gaze any longer, eyes darting down to the record he held in his hand, hearing your gasp as you took in the space.

“It’s unbelievable, Josh. Look at this! Oh, it’s perfect,” you squealed out as you moved around the space, double checking whatever you could. As you checked the watch on your wrist for the time, your eyes went wide, shooting up in a panic at him.

“I basted the turkey four and a half minutes ago. It looks devine, hammy,” he could see the relief actually roll off your shoulders at that. A small grin took over your lips, a silent thank you being shared between the two of you.

When the first knock of the night came in, he watched you shoot up straight, hands clasping together in front of your chest, excitement tangible from you as you rushed around the table to link your arm through with his.

“Ready handsome?” You leaned into his side as you spoke out, head lightly resting against his own. He couldn’t respond to your words, only offering a quick nod as he moved you both to the door.

As he opened the door as dramatically as he could on the left, you still holding onto his arm, blocking the entryway so they couldn’t entirely see what was behind you both, he gave a large grin.

“Welcome one and all! We are so pleased you could join us at the twenty twenty two Thanksgiving celebration. Now, I hope you all came prepared to witness the best of the best because that is what we have offered you. Please, help yourself to the bar and chat amongst yourselves,” as Josh finished his small speech, everyone giggling at his words, the laughter stopped as soon as you both stepped out of the way.

Greenery was hung and wrapped around the wooden beams, candlelight danced on the walls, and no one could seem to figure out where to look first. You were beaming with pride as Josh shot you a quick wink, knowing all of your meticulous planning had turned out as immaculately as you had hoped it would.

Drinks were flowing right after and given that everyone hadn't really eaten anything but the hors d'oeuvres you had set out as everyone started mingling, your guests were growing tipsier by the minute. Just as you had planned.

As the dinner bell rang, signaling it was time for everyone to find their seats, a chorus of oo’s and ah’s flew around the room as Josh brought the turkey and ham to the table. Applause rang out into the room as you and your party partner thanked everyone, Josh pointing to you and speaking out that this was all your doing.

“Before we eat, we are ready to share our tradition that will happen at every Thanksgiving we are set to host.” You sipped your drink as you finished speaking, pointing to Josh across the table as he sat at the other head spot and urged him to start. Heads bounced back and forth between you both as you giggled out to him.

“This was Josh’s idea so I think it’s only fair he shares what it is and he has to start!” He rolled his eyes at your words, smirking into his glass as he did. “Fine, fine. Our tradition is that instead of everyone saying what they are thankful for this year you must divulge one secret! Statute of limitations applies to whatever is shared so there is immunity!” Eyes around the table went wide, some excitedly shouting out that they loved the idea, others collectively groaning with one another.

His smile grew, eyes going wide as he peered at you, clearing his throat as he finished his drink, standing from the table and over animatedly began telling his secret. “Once upon a time,” his brother groaned as he started, trying and failing to trip his sibling as he made his way around the table. “Come on, just tell your secret!”

Josh shushed him, flicking his ear as he did. “Shut up. It’s my turn to speak.” Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, letting him continue his tale. Josh cleared his throat as loudly as he could, continuing on where he had started. “In a time far from the one we are in now,” he moved to stand directly behind his twin, hands landing on his shoulders as he did.

“I pretended to be this devilishly handsome fellow here,” he bent over, cheek smashed against cheek before standing back upright as quickly as he had knelt over, “To take out Jessica Park on a date where the entire time she thought I was my twin. I did however get lucky that night! It was quite weird hearing her moan out my brother's name whilst I was in bed with her, but I digress.” He plopped back in his seat, everyone laughing and howling at his confession, clapping and cheering for him.

Jake eyed his brother, set on murdering him in that moment from the sheer look he sent his way before he spoke up. “You knew I had a massive thing for her, you jackass.” Josh shrugged with a laugh as he poured himself a glass of wine. “Oh I am fully aware of that. She had a thing for you, not me, which is why I was you for the evening.” His lazy smile graced his face as you snickered behind your glass.

Josh clapped his hands together, eyeing the dining room table and its occupants before selecting the next person who needed to confess their secret.

Tears streamed down everyone's faces at the stories being shared. When Danny finished, he sipped his drink contents, a shrug accompanying his final words. “I swear it’s true.” He set his glass down on the table, surveying who was left and needed to share. His gaze fell to you, a smile taking over his face as he looked at you.

“Last, but certainly not least, my dearest friend. What is your secret?” You sighed, seeing the giddy look of Josh to see if he was going to discover some new information about you or if it was information he had already filed away in the folder about you in his head.

Looking out over your friends from behind your glass, you took one last swig for confidence, eyes setting on Jake as you set the glass down. You leaned forward on the table, seeing the unremarkable similarities between him and his twin, but noticing how insanely different they were. As the candlelight held their features, your heart swelled at the sight of Josh and the adoring look that graced his face as he waited with baited breath to hear what you were going to reveal.

Eyes falling back to his counterpart, you spoke out with a laugh. “Jakey, I am the one who hit your car, not Josh.” His eyes narrowed at you before turning his attention to his brother, Josh’s jaw hanging open at your words. Everyone sat in utter silence, waiting to hear what his reaction was going to be.

“No, Josh did. I saw him in the driver's seat.” You couldn’t contain your giggles, liquid courage assisting in your tale. “He switched seats with me. It was me,” Jake shook his head, cradling his face in his own hands as he roughly rubbed, a long groan following it. Everyone’s laughter picked up right after as his shoulders started to shake from his own laughing.

Josh stood, grabbing the carving knife as he did. “Alright, I think that is enough secrets for the next decade. Who wants turkey?” Plates were shoved in his face after his question, earning an exasperated sigh from the boy. “Wait your turn! Hammy, you first.”

When the last of the guests filed out of the house for the night, you collapsed into a heap on the couch, a yawn escaping your lips as you did. Josh couldn��t fight the smile that was taking over his face at the sight of you.

He lifted your legs, placing them tentatively in his lap as he did. He poked your cheek, leaning back on the couch, a sleepy smile taking over his face. “I would say that was a success. I don’t think I will be able to eat again for the rest of the week. Which is probably for the best since there aren’t any leftovers.” His hand rubbed along his slightly pooched stomach, rolling your eyes at his flair for the over dramatic.

“Thank you for the help, Joshy. It was a great night,” he shrugged, hand rubbing along the bare expanse of your calf, eyes slipping shut as he breathed out. “It was all you, ham. You did amazing. Seriously, the best one we’ve had yet. I heard Jita saying she wasn’t sure how she was going to top you next year,” you giggled at his words, happy that it had been such a hit.

“Can I ask you a question?” You hummed at him, letting him know he could continue on. “What other secrets do you have? I feel like I got cheated out of one because I already knew about the one you shared.” You peeked an eye open at him, seeing his excited gaze staring down at you.

You thought about it for a second, turning onto your back and staring at him. “Fine. But I get another secret from you. Deal?” He thought about it for a second before agreeing with you. You sighed in thought, trying to figure out what you could share with him.

A sheepish smile took over your face as you thought about what to say. “I have this coworker. I hate him. Ever since I met him he was super misogynistic towards me. Called me sweetheart, sugar, the whole nine yards at work. I decided that I had had enough of it and took it upon myself to secretly do things to annoy him every single day.” Laughter wracked your body at Josh’s shocked expression.

His own chuckles seeped into his words, hands still firmly planted on your legs. “What do you do to him?” You shrugged, thinking back to what you had done to him as of late. “I move his food and drinks in the fridge. Like I’ll hide them. I wear my badge as a lanyard because the rattling of it drives him insane. If he walks by me I’ll whisper his name out with some occasional name calling just loud enough for him to hear, but I act dumb when he asks me if I heard that. I also move his coffee cup throughout the office so he can never find it. Oh, one time I took all of the trash wrappers I could and placed them on his desk. Everyone else hates him too.”

Josh was hunched over in tears, snorts falling from his lips at your admission. Your snickers matched his as he calmed back down, wiping at his eyes. “Wow. That’s amazing. What are you going to do when he finds out?” You reached your hand out, pushing fallen curls from his forehead back up.

“I have you to beat him up for me,” his face went serious as your words settled over him. “Baby, you see me right? I mean I’d give it a shot, but I can make no promises here.” Your laughter roared over his voice, his own nervous giggles mixing. “I’m serious! How big is this guy?” You were trying to catch your breath at his words, hearing his worried tone seep out more than he would’ve liked to admit.

You poked him with your bare foot as you relaxed back into a calmer state. “Your turn. Another secret and make it a good one!” He drummed along your leg, searching his mind for a secret he had yet to share with you. It was difficult seeing as he shared every detail of his life with you that he possibly could, but as he settled on one, you watched guilt take him over.

“Alright, but I’m not very proud of this one, okay? When I was little I would steal money from my grandma,” your jaw fell slack at his words, eyes as big as saucers at his words. “No, no, it’s not as bad as that! She had this jug that she would put loose change in and I would take the change, bring it to her, and she would be so proud of me for saving change that she would exchange it for paper money, and I would get ice cream.” He scratched the back of his neck as he finished, clearly guilt ridden with what he would do as a child.

Being his best friend meant making it worse. “Wow, Josh, that’s horrible. I can’t believe you stole from your grandma. You’re going to hell for that, you know that right?” You could see how sad he was getting from sharing that secret, knowing that it was most likely one of his deepest and darkest secrets he ever had. It was adorable.

You sat up, moving to almost sit in his lap, cupping his face in your hands, forcing him to look at you. “Joshy, I’m messing with you. You were a kid. It’s okay, I promise.” You were stifling laughter, his cheeks and the tips of his ears burned bright red as you leaned forward placing a quick peck to the tip of his nose.

Seeing that he was still feeling bad, you fought within yourself about telling him this next secret. “Okay. I’ll tell you one of my deepest secrets if you promise to keep it a secret, okay?” His eyes fell to you, nodding slowly as you removed your legs from his lap, sitting directly next to him as you got the courage to tell this. “You have to tell me another one first though.” He groaned, head hitting the back of the couch at your words.

His tongue darted out and wet his lips, deciding that in order to hear this juicy secret of yours he was going to have to share another one with you. He cleared his throat, trying to determine which direction this could go in. “When I was like fifteen I was watching dirty stuff on the computer,” you chuckled at his words, cutting him off as he spoke, “As one does.”

He nudged you with a laugh of his own. “Let me finish! Anyways, Sam came into the room and saw what I was watching, ran and told mom, mom came storming into the room pissed. I’m in a panic, knowing I need to come up with something quick and I do. I told her it was a popup on the computer and I couldn’t get it down.” You were gasping for air at his story, heads almost pushed together as his brilliant smile shown at you, happy to see you were enjoying his utter embarrassment from his teen years.

Playing with his fingers, he chuckled after seeing you weren't going to speak yet. “Your turn. Tell me a secret,” he was speaking softer, almost in a whisper as he came back to reality.

“No one knows this. Literally no one,” his brows furrowed, seeing how nervous you were getting, peeking his interest as you gnawed on your lip. “I almost didn’t graduate from college.” Josh’s eyes went wide, but as he went to speak you held your hand up to him. “That’s not even the worst of it.”

He settled back down, waiting for you to continue. “I was failing one of my classes. It was two weeks to graduation and the only way I was going to pass was if I got a two hundred percent on the final. So, I went to my professor's office hours to talk to him about what I could do to pass. This man was one of the most gorgeous men I have ever encountered before in my life. One thing led to another and I ended up sleeping with him.”

You had never seen such a shocked expression take over his face. You giggled at it, feeling a million pounds lighter after being able to share that with someone after all this time. “It wasn’t even for the grade, which is the crazy part. I did however end up graduating and walking two weeks later.” He started laughing with you, in awe of the confession you had just divulged.

Hearing that you had slept with one of your professors was a shock in itself, but he wasn’t sure why he felt a growing bulge in his pants. Imagining you with a professor, telling them you would do anything you could to pass the class and graduate. It was hot.

Adjusting himself as nonchalantly as he possibly could, you caught your breath, realizing how close to Josh you were in that second. His eyes darted down to your lips, smile still as prevalent as ever, dimples deep as happiness coursed through him at being able to share this space with you.

“It was bad. I shouldn’t have done it.” You whispered out, your breath fanning across his lips, seeing his pants grow tighter at your words. He shook his head, tongue moving across his bottom lip, “No you shouldn’t have.” His voice was huskier than before, going a touch deeper, lust fluttering with his words.

He was psyching himself out, almost unable to be sure if this was real, having wanted this for so long and you not feeling the same he wasn’t sure if this was real. If you were real at this moment.

Your smile was small, battling within yourself if you wanted to take this next step. Cross this threshold with him. For him. Josh had never shown true interest in you, you thought to yourself. Maybe it was the alcohol buzzing through you that gave you an extra boost of confidence because you threw caution to the wind, leaning forward, lightly letting your lips feel his.

Not hesitating, he deepend it, hand cupping the back of your neck, pulling you to him and tongue pushing into your mouth with haste.

Whimpering into his mouth, feeling the plushness of his lips push back against your own, clawing at him to get him as close as possible. Swallowing each other in any and every way you possibly could.

Years of tension, angst, yearning had built up to this moment. This singular moment that you could have bursted into tears for. That you spent countless nights dreaming about.

About him.

It took all the strength you had to pull away from him, both heaving and watching the rise and fall of each other's chests. You wanted to give him once more chance, one more opportunity to turn this down. To think twice.

While you knew that this is what you had been craving since you were young, you couldn’t make that assumption for him. Your eyes danced across his features, his kiss swollen lips bright red as he eyed you in utter confusion.

“I’m going to go upstairs and change into my pajamas.” Was all you said to him. Squeezing his hand briefly, a silent telling of what you were asking of him.

Josh didn’t have a second thought in his mind. He watched you ascend the stairs, right into his room, as the door clicked behind you, he bounded up them two at a time to reach you.

There wasn’t a single possibility in which he would let this go. Let you go. He opened the door and saw your dress pooled around your feet, a breath of relief expelled from your lungs seeing that he in fact wanted this just as much as you, if not more.

He crossed the room to you, attacking your skin with his searing kisses. You had just caught your breath and instantaneously it had been knocked out of you as you felt his hands paw at you.

Your head lolled to the side, greeting him with the entire expanse of your neck. He nipped, sucked, and licked the soothing marks he was leaving behind. Wanting to create a lasting memory of tonight on you.

Knees hitting the edge of the bed, you sat, eyes boring into his as he stared down at you. Your doe-like eyes screamed at him all you had been wanting to say for years. His heart was doing somersaults in his chest.

Peeling off layer after layer of his clothes, you watched. Of course you had seen his naked torso. Plenty of times. Countless times.

But this was different.

Vastly different.

Seeing the pink tint that sat on his skin, how his chest rose and fell with short breaths, his stomach caved in as you touched his hip bone. It was the most intimate you could be.

His bulge greeted your hand as you moved it further south. Eyes slipping shut, lips parted, unable to watch your movements, too entranced in what you were doing to him.

Moving his briefs down, his hardened cock greeted you. The swollen and leaking tip, a bright pink that perfectly accompanied his lips, the few veins that trailed along the shaft, the kept bush at the base. He was gorgeous.

Taking him in for a brief moment as your hand firmly held him, you felt like you could cry tears of joy. This man was beautiful. A complete wonder.

You lightly traced the slit of his tip with your tongue, watching as his eyes fluttered behind closed eyelids. Not wanting to waste anymore time, you accepted him in the warm embrace of your mouth.

Relaxing your jaw to take as much of him as you could, he whimpered out, a cry escaping his lips at the feeling of bliss you gave him. It was almost painful how good it felt.

You moved up and down his length, hand working the base of him when you moved back towards the tip, his hand tangled in your locks, cradling the back of your head and guiding your motions.

Normally, Josh was a much more vocal partner, but given how in shock he was with what was happening before him, he was silent. Worried that if he spoke anything, he would either finish too fast or scare you off.

He eventually had to pull you off, growing too close to his release. “Not yet, please.” You smiled up at him and he could’ve had a heart attack right then. Seeing his cock in your hand, right next to the breathtaking smile you gave him, it was a true sight to see.

Pushing you to lay down flat on his sheets, he savored your naked frame that waited with anticipation for him. He didn’t want to make you wait. He didn’t want to wait any longer.

The head of his cock moved through your folds, and if he hadn’t held back, he was sure he would’ve bursted on you right then. He was like a teenager again, worried that he would cum too fast and ruin it all for you both.

As he pushed into you, the moan that left your lips was simply pornographic. It sent a shiver down his spine, knowing he was the one bringing those noises from you. He was who was bringing you to the verge of tears because of how amazing this felt as he thrusted in and out of you with an earth shattering pace.

Your legs wrapped around his waist, bringing him closer to you, allowing him to sit even further in your tight heat. He stuttered, curls stuck to his damp forehead. “Cum in me, Joshy. I want you to cum in me pretty boy,” he finished immediately after, sending you into your own mind numbing orgasm.

Your body was in a constant tremor as you came back down, breath stuttering out of you, feeling your damp body sticking to his as he tried to gain the strength to open his eyes to see the beauty that was before him.

Neither of you said any words, his forehead nudged yours, pushing your head back to let him capture your lips with his. He hesitated getting up at all, but he knew you both needed to shower, exhaustion riddling both of your bodies after the events of the day and evening.

When you returned to bed together, without a second thought, you clung to him, head resting on his chest. His heart rate increased, unsure what entirely he needed or wanted to do in the moment. Something had shifted between you two, but he wasn’t sure what to do to maneuver through it just yet.

His eyes started to slip shut when he heard your sleep riddled voice speak out to him, pulling him back from the brink of unconsciousness. “Joshy?” His hand rubbed along the bare skin of your back, letting you know without words that he was listening.

“Why did you switch spots with me?”

Strike

Your irritated gaze fell on him as he turned around, a large goofy grin taking over his features at you. “Your turn, hammy.” You mumbled under your breath, knowing you were over sixty points behind him, just wanting the game to end.

You were a sore loser. You admitted that and took pride in it. Losing was not your thing. You had to be the best at everything and if you weren’t right away, you hated whatever activity it was that put you behind others.

This time? It was bowling with your best friend.

He was just so good. You had no idea how he had seemingly become a professional bowler, but it was irritating. If he wasn’t throwing a strike, he was getting spares left and right. He wasn’t even trying that hard either!

Throwing another gutter ball, Josh’s snicker came from behind you. You turned on your heel, shooting daggers at him, but he sighed, standing and coming towards you. “Let me show you how to do this.”

Trying to say no didn’t work because he stood right next to you, showing how your arm should’ve looked instead of it turning over like it was. As you did it again, he shook his head. “No, like this.” He showed you again, but your arm turned over on itself.

Josh moved behind you, pressing his body against yours, feeling the warmth emanate from him. His scent of patchouli and vanilla filled your senses, his hand coming up and covering yours, forcing your arm back and forth.

He was trying to focus on getting you to throw the ball how it was supposed to, but all he could think about was how close he was to you. Your hair brushing against his cheek, how cold your hand was as it cradled the ball, the cotton of your shirt rubbing against his bare arm, your smell of coffee and cinnamon. It was enthralling.

When you released the ball, watching it knock down all of the pins, his smile grew as he watched how excited you got at it. Turning around and wrapping your arms around his neck, squealing in pure joy, he was shocked, not even having seen you throw the strike, only able to focus on you.

Arms wrapping around your torso, squeezing ever so slightly, he was on cloud nine. You hugged him. Him. Josh. He had never thanked a god more than he did at that moment.

His eyes were darting around the backstage space, trying to find you. You had disappeared five minutes ago after telling him you would be right back and he was due on stage any second now. He wanted to see you just one more time.

As his brothers began making their way out, he assured them he would only be a few seconds behind. When you rounded the corner, a breath of relief flew from his lips. Your eyes lit up as you saw him decked out in his onstage garb. The screams of the crowd were deafening as you took him in.

Walking up to him, hands on your hips, a low whistle following. “Well I must say, you look dashing.” His cheeks burned at your scrutinizing gaze. Closing the gap between you two, your chest was pressed against his, a smile taking over your face as you held out a small piece of ribbon to him.

“This is what I went to grab. You gave me this during my first tennis match on the varsity team my junior year of high school. Told me that it would soothe my nerves and that you’d be with me, channeling your attention seeking ways, so I wouldn’t be nervous in front of anyone.” He could’ve collapsed right then, turning his wrist over and tying the velvet orange ribbon to his wrist with a small smile.

“Don’t remember the attention seeking ways portion,” he mumbled out, but you shrugged at that with a small giggle. “I might have added that in.” When he went to say something else, feeling like it was the perfect moment, the moment he had been waiting for all those years as you peered up at him, eyes dancing with an emotion he was sure was directed at him, his name was yelled from behind you both, causing you to jump back and away from him.

You gave a brighter smile that diminished as you took in his hair. “Go get ‘em. I’ll be watching, but hold on,” as you went to fix it, he was being grabbed and ran on stage so you caught his eye and told him where it needed to be smoothed and he did it. Shooting you a thankful wink as he did.

“If you could see that I’m the one who understands you, been here all along, so, why can’t you see, you belong with me?” You were belting the lyrics as you drove back towards the Kiszka family home, your best friend in the passenger seat next to you.

He rolled his eyes, not joining in with your singing of Taylor Swift as it blared through the speaker. You two had run to Walmart, grabbing snacks and drinks for a movie night together, and now as you pulled back into the driveway, you were giddy with excitement to watch The Purge.

You don’t know how it happened, but when you felt the car jolt after putting it in park and knock into the car sitting directly in front of you, your eyes went wide. Your head shot to the side, seeing the shocked expression of Josh in your passenger seat.

He erupted into a fit of laughter as you hopped out of the car, going to survey the damage. It wasn’t much really, hardly a scratch, but you knew Jake would see it. He was going to be livid. He was going to hate you.

That car was his baby. It was his everything. He was going to murder you and then hate you for all eternity after. Your chin wobbled, eyes filling with tears as you went around to Josh’s side of the car. “Josh, what do I do?”

He wiped the stray tears, trying to catch his breath. “Nothing, hammy. What’s done is done. God, Jake is gonna murder you.” He hadn’t taken in your expression yet, but a sense of happiness coursed through him.

Maybe if Jake did in fact yell at her and hate her, her little crush on his twin would diminish. I mean it was a slap in the face really. His twin? His spitting image? His opposite? Come on.

But when his head turned and saw the tracks your tears were leaving as you sniffled quietly, his heart actively broke. He didn’t realize how upset you truly were, but he fought within himself about what to do.

Pushing you to the side, he quickly made up his mind. “Get in the passenger seat,” your brows furrowed, fresh tears still falling as you wiped at your cheeks. “Wha-what?” You mumbled.

Josh grabbed you, pushing you into the seat. “Hurry, he’s going to be out any minute. Just sit there, stop crying, and let me do the talking.” As you went to tell him no and to let you take the blame, he hurried around to the drivers side and sat down.

His twin appeared in the front door, coming down the steps to where you two were. His eyes went wide as he took in the sight before him. Josh quickly whispered to you as he made his way to the door. “Keep quiet, okay?”

The door was pulled open, eyes wild with fury. “Are you fucking kidding me, Josh? Are you actually fucking kidding me? You hit my fucking car? Are you that much of an imbecile that you couldn’t see that there was another car in front of you?” Josh rolled his eyes at his brother's anger.

“Relax, dude. It’s not even that bad. I’ll pay for it.” Your eyes went wide, shaking your head at Josh, Jake’s back facing you in the car. He lightly held his hand up, silently telling you to stay where you were.

“Damn right you will. Fucking idiot,” his brother retreated from the driveway and back into the house with a slam of the door behind him. A shaky breath expelled from your lungs as you looked at Josh.

“I’m so sorry, Joshy. I will pay for it.” He gave you the most gentle smile you had ever seen in your life as he went to the backseat, grabbing the grocery bags and nodding towards the house. “Don’t worry about it, hammy. He’ll be fine in the morning. Come on, let’s go watch the movie.”

As Josh waited for you near the hood of the car, you had no idea what was going on in the turmoil of your brain, but as you took in the skinny boy, a warmth blossomed in your chest. Gratitude? Relief? Whatever it was, you shook it off, not wanting to pay much more in mind to what it was.

His light laugh echoed into the quiet room. “I knew you had a crush on Jake at the time. You were so petrified that he would hate you that I knew I needed to take the fall,” your sat upright in the bed, wrapping the blanket around yourself as you did, eyes looking down at him in pure shock.

“I mainly did it to get you to stop crying,” he hesitated as he tried to decide if now was the time to tell you this. Share his deepest secret he had. “But I was so in love with you that I didn’t want to see you so upset. So we switched.” He finished with a shrug, nerves rattling him.

He had said it. It was out in the open now. Up to you to decide how to play this out.

“You liked me?” It was a whisper shared out in disbelief at what he had just said to you. He laughed, pearly white teeth sitting on his lip as he nodded. “Still do, hammy.” His eyes moved up to meet yours, seeing them flutter as you let the words sink in.

Not knowing what else to say back to him, heart overwhelmed with the notion that even back when you two were teenagers he was so in love with you that he was willing to take the fall for a car accident that you caused, and now as you admired the gorgeous man below you, you could only jump him.

Landing on top of him, placing kisses anywhere you could land on his skin, his laugh bellowed out into the room, arms wrapping around you and holding you flush against him. His hand held your face still, letting your lips dance together.

His fingers tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear, a light smile coming out as he admired your beauty from this close. “You know they set this up right? Danny said it was their plan all along. They were tired of not seeing us together,” Josh spoke out, breaking the peaceful silence that had settled over you both.

Laughter shook both your bodies, your head falling forward, resting your forehead on his bare chest. “Of course. God, we were pretty oblivious, huh?” He nodded, but finished with a small shrug.

“Yeah, but now we get to make up for all that lost time.” A small squeal flew from you as he flipped you both, lips landing on your neck as he did.

Best friends were there to make things better during the rough times of the holiday season. However, you wouldn’t even notice these waves of varying mental states because they were entertaining you and keeping you afloat.

More than afloat. Joyous. Elated. Hopeful. Content.

Wrapping you in pure love that had been trailing behind you for years, just waiting for the right moment to appear after the statute of limitations granted immunity to those sheltered feelings.

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