#RIGHT IN TIME TOO CAUSE LOOK I HAVE WORK FOR THE NEXT MILLION YEARS NOW AND WON'T BE ONLINE FOR AWHILE

[mswritergirl02]

38 Missed calls and Tequila

In which Harry and y/n fight causing her to storm out

-> Reader advisory: mentions of alcohol and explicit language, proceed with caution.

A/N : Taking requests (:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N paced back and forth in the living room, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “I can’t believe you, Harry! You always do this, you never listen to me!”

Harry’s brows furrowed, his frustration bubbling to the surface. “And what about you, huh? Do you think you’re always right? You’re so damn stubborn!”

“Well, maybe if you cared about my opinion for once—”

“Care about your opinion? I bend over backwards for you, Y/N! But it’s never enough, is it? You always find something else to complain about!”

“Oh, so now this is all my fault, is it? Typical!”

Harry threw his hands up in exasperation. “For fucks sake I never said that!

Y/N’s voice trembled with anger and hurt as she launched her accusation.

“You know what, Harry? I bet you’re cheating on me, aren’t you? That’s why you’re always so secretive about your phone, always disappearing at odd hours!”

Harry’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you serious, Y/N? I’ve told you a million times, that I’m not cheating on you! You’re just making things up because you can’t stand losing a fucking argument!”

Y/N’s voice rose at his accusation. “Oh, please! Don’t act like you’re innocent in all of this! I see the way you look at other girls, Harry! You can’t fool me!”

Harry’s patience snapped, his frustration evident in his tone. “I can’t believe you’re bringing this up again! You’re always jumping to conclusions, always looking for a bloody reason to doubt me! Maybe it’s your own insecurities that are driving us apart!”

Y/N’s anger faltered, replaced by a pang of hurt. “I’m not insecure, Harry! I just want to know that I can trust you!”

“Well, maybe if you gave me a chance to prove it instead of constantly accusing me of things I didn’t do!”

“I’ve been nothing but loyal to your crazy ass for four fucking years,” Harry declared, his voice tinged with frustration and hurt.

The tension in the room was thick, each word a painful reminder of the growing rift between them. Y/N’s heart ached with the weight of their words, knowing deep down that her accusations were absurd, Harry loved her. Still she was unable to stop herself from lashing out in a desperate attempt to regain control of the argument.

Y/N's lips curled into a sneer as she spat out, "Go fuck yourself, Harry!"

With that, she snatched her keys off the coffee table and stormed out, the door slamming shut behind her.

Harry stared at the closed door, his chest tight with frustration. "You're fucking crazy," he yelled, knowing she couldn't hear him and was long gone. He cursed out loud and sank onto the couch, running his hand over his face.

“A bloody fucking carpet," he muttered to himself, the absurdity of their argument hitting him like a ton of bricks. They had been fighting over a bloody carpet, of all things. It was ridiculous, and yet somehow it had escalated to Y/N storming out in anger.

They hadn't been in the best place lately. Y/N was constantly stressed out at the office, working long hours, barely having time for herself, let alone for him. And Harry, always buried in his work, was rarely home to see her, too caught up in his next album to notice the distance growing between them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12am

38 outgoing calls

Harry’s nerves were on edge. He had called Y/N 38 times since she stormed out, each call going straight to voicemail. It wasn’t like her to stay out this late, and the thought of not knowing where she was made his stomach churn with anxiety.

Pacing back and forth in their empty apartment, Harry’s mind raced with worry. He had grown accustomed to Y/N’s silent treatments during their arguments, but this was different. This silence felt suffocating.

12:30 am

“Answer your phone, Y/N,” Harry muttered under his breath, frustration and fear mingling in his voice. He reached for his phone once again, fingers trembling as he clicked on her contact for the 39th time. But this time, instead of the familiar voicemail greeting, a stranger’s voice answered Y/N’s phone.

As Harry heard the unfamiliar male voice answer Y/N’s phone, his heart raced with a surge of protectiveness. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded, his tone sharp with urgency. “Why the hell do you have Y/N’s phone? Where is she?”

Before Harry could ask any more questions or receive a response, the phone call ended abruptly.

12:45am

It was around 12:45am when It clicked in Harry’s mind, Y/N had insisted they shared their locations when they first started dating. Harry quickly opened the app on his phone and zoomed in on her location.

Maggies Bar & Grill.

Confusion washed over him when he saw that Y/N was at a bar. Drinking was something she rarely did, especially alone at this hour. Harry’s heart raced with worry, imagining all sorts of worst-case scenarios.

Without hesitation, he grabbed his keys, and got behind the wheel. He knew he had to reach Y/N as fast as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Y/N found herself in fits of laughter, seated on a bar stool behind the counter of Maggies. With tears of joy rolling down her cheeks, she swiftly grabbed her phone back from the male bartender’s grasp. Giggling, she teasingly whispered, “Don’t tell Harry,” and playfully pressed a finger to her lips.

Earlier, Y/N had confided in the sympathetic bartender about her rocky relationship with Harry. Each heartfelt confession she made was chased down with another shot of tequila, the weight of the world was momentarily lifted by the warmth of the alcohol. What she didn't know was that the bartender discreetly slipped her keys into his pocket when her attention wandered, silently determined to prevent her from making any rash decisions in her inebriated state.

“Y/N, I’m cutting you off,” the bartender said for what felt like the tenth time that night, his tone gentle yet firm. “All you’re getting is water from now on.”

Y/N pouted, shoving the glass of water away. “But I’m having fun!” she protested, her words slightly slurred from the alcohol. “I can handle a few more drinks, I promise.”

The bartender shook his head, a hint of concern in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I can’t risk serving you any more alcohol. It’s for your own safety.” With that, he gently pushed the glass of water back towards her, silently urging her to hydrate and sober up.

“You’re such a buzzkill,” Y/N slurred, her tone growing more aggressive as she leaned in towards the bartender, her eyes narrowed.

The bartender stood his ground, not going back on his decision. “I’m not serving you any more drinks tonight,” he stated once again.

Y/N’s frustration bubbled over, and she clenched her fists slamming them on the counter. “You can’t cut me off!” she snapped.

Just as Y/N opened her mouth to make a scene once more , Harry entered the bar, his eyes immediately locking onto her. With purpose in his stride, he made his way over to where she sat, his gaze briefly flickering to the bartender.

Harry’s expression was a mix of relief and concern as he approached. “Is everything okay here?” he asked.

The bartender met Harry’s gaze, his expression serious. “Harry I'm assuming? Yeah, everything’s fine now,” he replied, gesturing towards Y/N. “I had to cut her off a while ago. She’s had enough for tonight.” Recognizing Harry by Y/n's lock screen on her phone and his contact name.

Harry’s brow furrowed in confusion. “But then who called me from her phone?” he questioned, his eyes narrowing slightly as he searched for answers.

The bartender hesitated for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out Y/N’s keys. “It was me,” he admitted, handing them over to Harry. “I knew she shouldn’t be driving in her condition.”

Relief flooded Harry’s features as he accepted the keys. “Thank you,” he said sincerely, grateful for the bartender’s quick thinking.

Y/N’s drunken aggression flared as Harry turned towards her. “What are you doing here?” she slurred, her tone sharp with irritation.

“I don’t need you babysitting me.”

Of course she's drinking tequila the one thing that brings out her temper even more

Harry cut her off with a stern glare, “Your breath reeks of fucking tequila and you’re in no condition to drive,”.

Y/N turned towards the bartender, “You're a fucking snitch” she accused him loudly causing heads to turn in their direction. Harry’s annoyance grew as he watched her escalate the situation.

“Y/N, you’re causing a fucking scene,” Harry muttered, frustrated to which she scoffed, pushing herself unsteadily to her feet.

She held out her hand. “Give them back. I’m driving myself home, I don’t want to look at you.”

Harry’s heart sank at her words, but he knew he couldn’t let her make such a reckless decision. “I can’t do that, Y/N,” he said gently, stepping closer to her. “You’re not thinking clearly right now. Let me take you home.”

Y/N shook her head stubbornly, her anger fueling her determination. “No!” she insisted, her voice rising.

“I’m not going anywhere with you. Just give me my keys!”

He was over her drunk antics.

Stepping uncomfortably close to her, he took the time to observe the way her hair fell over her ear. With a firm yet gentle touch, he reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, his fingertips lingering for a moment before trailing down her cheek.

Leaning in, Harry's voice dropped to a low and dangerous tone. “Y/N you better listen to me.”

“Drop the fucking attitude,” he snapped his breath sending a shiver down her spine as it brushed against her skin.

Now fully gaining her attention Harry continued speaking. “You're gonna lower your voice and follow me to the car like the good girl I know you are."

Y/n began to feel as if her legs were putty with each word she processed.

“Don't make me embarrass you here love,” he said while running his finger over her bottom lip.

“Because I can and I will.”

Harry's words hung in the air, commanding and unwavering leaving no room for argument.

Masterlist

Lights Out

#harry styles x reader #harry x you #harry styles fluff #harry styles blurb #harry styles one shot #harry styles imagine #harry styles fan fic #harry styles #dom harry styles #harry styles angst #harry x y/n

[kindestofkings]

what came first, the chicken or the dickhead? [3/3]

[smau]

f1driver!reader x lando norris

authors note: book a dentist app guys this shit is sweet !

yourusername 

liked by landonorris and others 

yourusername 😭 🥺 guys I, I, I just won at my home race with my best friend alongside me. those two kids dreamed of days like these. lan you next 💓

to the tifosi for your unyielding support, to scuderiaferrari for helping me achieve things like this, and to charlie the best teammate a girl could ask for <3

view all 890 comments

landonorris so proud of you luv but PLEASE let me win soon, we dont need another max situation

yourusername lando tries to be sentimental challenge: FAILED f1fan hahahaha mate please grow up and make a move !

danielricciardo incredible stuff mate! landonorris you were so cute, what happened?

landonorris ha ha ha 😑

​​taylorswift you are killing it girl !! I see you're stateside later this year maybe you could join us at the era's tour?

yourusername 😀😀😀 I need someone to confirm this is real, landooooooooo landonorris its real so please stop hyperventilating in you drivers room alex_albon do you forget you have millions of followers and a mega superstar yourself?? yourusername and what she's TAYLOR SWIFT. she writes works of art like folklore and i drive in circles. alex_albon AT A VERY INSANE SPEED learn your worth please ynfan1 you did so well with him lilymhe

maxfewtrell you know what they say couples who win together stay together !

[this comment has been deleted]

ynfan2 max you are not quick enough for me I saw that 👀👀

taylorswiftupdates

liked by ynlando4ever and others

taylorswiftupdates after a long time of online interactions the f1 ferrari driver yourusername was at tonights show!! it appears the driver was joined with fellow drivers lando norris,charles leclerc and daniel ricciardo.

view all 20 comments

ynfan1 can you imagine your favourite singer of all time making that face at you 🥺

ynfan2 and she got one of tonights secret song dedicated to her aswell!!

ynfan3 no way really!! what was it ynfan2 it was randomly Crazier, the song taylor sang in the hannah montana film 😂

landonorris

 liked by yourusername and others 

landonorris hope you enjoyed your birthday cause you're never receiving another birthday present again. why WHY is your favourite taylor swift song so obscure??

view all 300 comments

yourusername you are the best of the best of the best of the BEST

​​taylorswift you guys are the most adorable 🥺

charles_leclerc cause shes a country girl at heart come you know this 😂

yourusername ahem country girls shake it for me 🤠

ynlando4ever GUYS HE GOT TAYLOR TO SING HER FAVOURITE SONG THEY ARE IN LOVE!!!!

yourusername posted on their story:

eras tour READY

I lied nothing could've prepared me for this ....

replies

taylorswift so glad you could come and enjoy 💓💓 that boy of yours is such a cutie.. yourusername he's a keeper for sure! hate keeping it all so secretive but like someone amazing once sang romance is not dead if you keep it just yours 😂 ❤️

yourusername

 liked by landonorris and others

yourusername I dont do tiktok but I love the its all too much for little lando norris cause he falls asleep during my taylor swift rants 😤

view all 700 comments

landonorris EHHHHH DONT THINK YOU MEANT THAT LAST ONE RIGHT BABE?

ynfan1 BABE?? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THE HOUSE OF COMMENTS yourusername oh fuck lan landonorris HA and you said it be me who would out us ynfan2 US? theres an us??

yncharlesshipper what happened to charlie??

ynlando4ever VICTORY

danielricciardo hahahahahah wait why does norizz look kinda ??

landonorris you can say it 😏😏

yourusername OKAY Y'ALL CAUGHT ME WE'RE NOT JUST FRIENDS! SHOOT ME LOOK AT HIM!!!

landonorris LOOK AT YOUUUUU ynfan1 k im obsessed with them even more now

landonorris

liked by yourusername and others

landonorris since she messed up I can FINALLY show off how I got the girl 2 years ago 😎

happy to announce i'm accepting apologises for all those norizz comments cause LOOK at who's my girl

view all 500 comments

yourusername thats right baby your girl !!

maxfewtrell FINALLY

danielricciardo agreed, and you're never hearing anything from me norizz alex_albon still in shock carlossainz55 can relax now, yn is scary

charles_leclerc we got there eventually! looking forward to not being shipped with you now yourusername 😂😂

yourusername I don't know what you're talking about I'm a catch!

yourusername

 liked by mclaren and others

yourusername car failures are a teams worse nightmare and unfortunately my hard truth for today's race in Singapore 💔 being ruled out during the formation lap is something I hope to never experience again, so sorry for disappointing everyone and the team!

ON ANOTHER NOTE its time for a hardlaunch cause LOOK WHO JUST GOT HIS FIRST WIN! congrats bro 😎 👍❤️‍🔥 💖

view all 290 comments 

scuderiaferrari could never disappointment, we win as a team and lose as a team!

yourusername you guys xx ynfan1 the teams support never fails to make me emosh, all you that deserve!!

f1fan still a slay in my eyes!

landonorris the use of bro here is conflicting to all the pride driven kisses i've been getting 🤔🤔

f1fanupdates

liked by f1fan1 and others

f1fanupdates gasly is once again providing all the drama for the viewers! after another dnf the alphatauri driver made a jab at mclaren's first driver, lando norris...

view all 90 comments

f1fan1 why have one feud with a driver when you can have 2!! right pierre?

ynfan2 man is just realising he can't blame yn anymore so he's picking on lando

ynfan3 do you think its all related? like continuous beef that all links back to her?

landonorris

liked by yourusername and others

landonorris the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake

japan its been real!

view all 473 comments

pierregasly imagine being this cocky all while being overshadowed by your rookie teammate

landonorris imagine ruining your own career because a girl told you she didn't want to go out with you pierregasly if shes going out with the likes of you, think I dodged a bullet landonorris do you or do you not have a girlfriend rn? yourusername enough of this. pierre you are a broken record stfu and focus on your driving

ynfan1 OH MY GOD its all clicking, all this mess cause of a bruised ego...

ynfan2 men being men ugh

yourusername tay tay 🥺🥺 in your caption 🥺 love you

landonorris and the edit! i want all the brownie points baby 😏

danielricciardo MY EX-MAN BROUGHT HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND SHE'S LIKE

yourusername "OH MY GOD," BUT I'M JUST GONNA SHAKE IT charles_leclerc AND TO THE FELLA OVER THERE WITH THE HELLA GOOD HAIR maxverstappen1 WON'T YOU COME ON OVER, BABY? WE CAN SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE landonorris wow wdc winner with the taylor swift lyrics in my comments??

ynfan1 OH MY GOD its all clicking, all this mess cause of a bruised ego...

yourusername posted on their story:

my man my man my man 💓

landonorris where gasly wishes he could be 👀 landonorris love love love you

AHH I hope this was worth the wait guys!! the beef is so squashed in but I was consumed be the full by then lol

-finished-

[3/3]

taglist:

@vellicoranorca @toasttt11 @dzastinocha @dzastinocha @landosgirlxoxo @2bormaybenot @jpg3 @celestialams @dreamsarebig @dreamercrowd @dracosswhore @kissesandmartinis @inejismywife

weirdly couldnt tag everyone sorry !!

#lando norris #lando norris imagine #lando norris x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #lando norris fanfic #f1driver!reader #smau

[24kmar]

𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 (T. DUNCAN, A. DONALDSON, P. ZWEIG)

𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄

Apart of my fic "born stunna" and p2 to my fic "why you do the things you do"

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: Art Donaldson x fem! Reader, patrick zweig x fem! Reader, tashi duncan x fem! Reader

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: 18+ MDNI,smut (edging, choking, bondage, being called a brat), angst, language, age gap (early 30's tashi, pat, and art early 20's reader) manipulative reader (wolf in sheeps clothing), sugar! Baby reader!, cheating, comfort sex with patrick and reader.

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: y/n goes home after hanging out with patrick, to which tashi and art scold her. What happens when patrick decides he cant get enough and goes to her match the next day. Arising conflict. Enjoy!! 🎀🩷

THANK YOUU TO MY GIRL @doll-0f-flesh FOR HELPING ME OUT IMMENSELY

Y/n learned from a very young age that she could get whatever she wanted. Growing up the golden girl with daddies money. All she need to do was flash her million dollar smile and she was in. That didnt mean she didnt work hard. No, she worked harder. Why use a minimum of your abilites to get something when you can get anything.

She was smart, ambitious, power hungry, always wanting more. She was good at using things to her advantage. A rich scholar and outstanding tennis player. Tennis was almost everything. Playing since 13, getting a scholarship to stanford at 17, going pro by 19, getting signed to NIKE a year later, and being coached by one of the best tennis players by 21.

Tashi and art have been coaching her for 2 years. Her now being 23. The word failure wasnt in her dictionary. It wasnt win or lose, just win. And tashi loved that. Tashi also loved her. And so did art. They both found themselves falling in love with her 3 months into coaching. To which they decided to go on a limb and make her theirs.

"Where the fuck were you" tashi spits out, walking towards y/n as she puts her keys on the counter.

"Taking a drive, i told you this before i left." Y/n rolls her eyes. "Dont roll your fucking eyes at me." Tashi says putting her finger in y/n's face. "When you said 'drive'" tashi airquotes "i didnt think you meant come home two fucking hours later! You have a fucking match tomorrow y/n!" tashi yells

Turning her head, y/n see's art leaning against the doorway, arms crossed with a dissapointed look on his face.

"Were you with patrick?" Art speaks up, walking towards her. Now its tashi and art infront of her. By the she gives him, the answers clear. "You fuck him?" He asks, walking behind her. Moving her hair out of the way and placing slow kisses on her neck. He already knew she did. He just asked to mess with her. "Course you did" tashi scoffs, gripping y/n's jaw.

"You know whats gonna happen now right?" Tashi asks, recieving a nod from y/n.

"Tashi please" y/n pleads, arms tied above her head. Tashi's strap hitting all the right places.

"Why'd you fuck him huh?" Tashi ask gripping her neck, though not enough to restrict any airflow. To be met with incoherent mumbles. Squeezing harder she asks again "fucking answer me" she gritts out, using her other hand to slap y/n's cheek. Not hard, just a tap.

"Mmm, cus y'were being mean" y/n babbles "bein too hard on me with tennis." She moans, getting closer to her climax.

"so you're telling me you did this cause you were being a whiny brat?" Tashi scoffs, pulling out. Ruining her orgasm for the second time tonight.

Letting out a pitiful whine y/n begs "tashi please, i just wanna cum" tears starting to brim. Turning her head to try another tactic. Locking eyes with art as he sits in a chair in the corner of the room. "Art" she whines, hoping he'll help tashi go easy on her.

"Nuh uh brat, hes not gonna help you" tashi spits, lining up her fake cock with y/ns entrance, slaming into her. Standing up, art walks over to the bed. Sitting behind y/n, pulling her to rest her back against his chest. Trying to lessen the blow, kissing her neck, fingers groping her front softly. The softness of his touch contrasting with the roughness of tashis.

It was gonna be a long night.

𝑮𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑫𝑨𝒀

Stepping out of the car, y/ns nerves are all over the place. She knows she cant lose. If she did, they would blame it on patrick and what happend yesterday. She would never hear the end of it.

Now here she is, stepping out of the locker room. Stretching and getting ready for the match to start. She doesnt see art or tash. But she knows they see her. She feels a weird presence. Like someones watching her. Turning to look behind her she sees...oh shit. Patrick.

Locking eyes with her he send i small wave and smile. Why the fuck was he here? Did he want tashi and art to kill him?

She couldnt let him throw her off her game. Not win or lose, just win.

The match is almost over, y/n dominating the court. Walking her opponent like a dog.

"oh fuck no" tashi scoffs

"What? What happened?" Art asks, worried something happened with you.

"Patricks here" tashi shakes her head in disbelief "the fucking nerve on him".

Watching him get up to go to the bar, they stand up to follow. If he thought he was just gonna get away with this, he was sorely mistaken.

"Patrick" art calls out, him and tashi walking towards pat. "Why the fuck are you here" tashi narrows her eyes.

"Woah guys, dont get your panties in a twist" patrick chuckles "just here to support my girl" he smiles.

Oh no the fuck he didnt.

"you mean OUR girl" tashi spits "what on gods green fucking earth made you think you could go for her. None the less, come here."

"we already told you yesterday, dont ever try coming for her again. Are you trying to get us mad?" Art says

"Dont-" patrick begins, getting cut off by y/n

"Where the fuck have you guys been" y/n speaks, her words laced with venom "you missed my whole fucking game"

"We're handling something" tashi dismisses her

"Handling something, or being petty"

"Dont act like you didnt start this" tashi turns to y/n

"If i upset you then talk to me about it, dont scold me like a fucking child and pick a fight with patrick"

"Guys-" art tries to calm them down

"If you didnt act like one i wouldnt have to" tashi retorts

"you know what, fuck this." Y/n scoffs, reaching into her tennis bag "i hope you're happy to hear that i fucking won" she says, shoving her medal into tashis hands. "Dont even bother taking me home, im calling an uber" y/n turns around and walks away.

Tashi and art felt like shit. The whole car ride home being completely silent. Tashi staring at the medal and art driving, thoughts swarming his head. When they got home, y/n was no where to be found. Her keys and car gone , everything else still there.

They called out her name, looking everywhere. They didnt think the fight couldve had affected her to the point where she just went MIA. Calling and texting her countless times. Only to be met with the call going straight to voicemail. Meaning one of two things, they were blocked or her phone was on airplane mode. Both bad scenarios since it meant she didnt want anything to do with them.

The only one who knew where she was, was patrick. She didnt go far, just to some hotel. He was the only person she answered the phone to. She knew he wasnt the one who started it, since he explained what happend. Now here she was, crying into the bed as he rubbed her back soothingly.

He had never seen her cry, unless it was tears of pleasure or joy. Tears of pleasure when he made her feel good. And tears of joy when she won. It broke his heart.

Making her sit up, he cupped her face and spoke "what you thinking about pretty girl" he said softly, brushing her hair out of her face. "Dont wanna talk about it" she sighs "can you just...hold me?" Without skipping a beat he pulled her into a hug and sooths her. This had been the most intimate moment theyve had.

"Just wanna forget" she sniffled

Moving to kiss her neck, he whispers "can i help you forget?"

Sighing, she nodded. She needed this, and he needed her to know that he was always there. Whether art and tashi wanted him to be or not.

When tashi said patrick had no dreams she was wrong, soso wrong. Because he did have a dream. And it was y/n. She was all he wanted, all he needed.

She was arts star, tashis winner, and patricks dream.

His dream, his fantasy, his happily ever after.

#Spotify #patrick zweig x reader #patrick zweig #art donaldson x reader #art donaldson #art donaldson smut #tashi donaldson smut #tashi donaldson #tashi donaldson x reader #tashi duncan x reader #tashi duncan smut #tashi duncan #challengers x reader #challengers smut #challengers movie #🪞𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 🎀 #💭𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐜𝐬💭

[rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me]

hello, Dillo! Could I possibly get some headcannons or scenario (whatever you feel like writing) of a very bubbly, sweet, and awkward s/o that just- refuses to acknowledge they like Dally because they believe he'd never in a million years like them back? Like I'm imagining one day they're chilling with Pony and Johnny and they're not being as funny or playful like usual and the boys ask why and they just whisper "I wish I was Dally's type". So could I possibly just have something with Dally's reaction to it all?

if it's too specific or if you just don't feel like it, don't worry! <3

Not Into You

A/N: Hey, hey! This has been a long time coming, and I think it turned out sort of wonky and weird, but I'm kinda happy with it so I hope you are too! Please enjoy!

“They said what?”

Johnny just shrugs and looks over at Ponyboy, shoving a few more fries in his mouth. The plate in front of him is almost empty already, the small pile of ketchup he’d squirted out almost gone too. Ponyboy shrugs too and takes another sip of his coke. They’re both acting way too calm for what they’ve told Dallas.

“I’m serious,” Dally repeats. “They said that? You’re not kiddin’?”

“Why would we lie about that?” Pony runs his finger around the rim of his glass, pushing the straw around as he goes. “Y/N told us they thought you could never like ‘em back because the two of you are so different.”

Dally chews thoughtfully on his own straw and leans a little farther into the corner of the diner booth. Johnny and Ponyboy look unfazed on the other side of the table, the latter doing his best to steal fries off Johnny’s plate without being caught. It doesn’t work and Johnny sends him a small glare. Ponyboy backs off and takes another drink of his soda.

“You’re bein’ serious, right?” Dallas asks again. “Cause if you’re not, I swear, I’ll kill the both of yous.”

Ponyboy rolls his eyes and Dally has half a mind to reach across the table and smack him upside the head. “We told ya we weren’t, alright? They told us yesterday when we were hangin’ out.”

Sighing, Dally stays in his seat and thinks over what to do next. Stark blue eyes trace the lines of the table and the logo on the side of his drink as he weighs his options and works on making up his mind. When he finally does, he stands up with a smug smirk.

“Where are you headin’, Dal?” Johnny asks. He swats at Ponyboy’s hand without looking away from Dallas when Pony’s fingers stray too close to his fries.

“To find Y/N,” he says simply. “I gotta tell ‘em they were wrong.”

He finds them in the lot, kicking around a can that has definitely seen better days. They look smaller than usual. Shoulders drawn in, head down as they mutter softly to themselves. Dally starts to jog a little to cross the street and that’s when they look up. Their eyes find his and they seem to shrink a little more.

“H-hey, Dallas,” they stutter. One corner of their mouth quirks up in a smile that’s all too forced. “What have you been-,”

They’re cut off as the New Yorker reaches out for them, one hand landing on their hip, the other cupping the side of their face as he brings them close together, his lips landing on theirs. Y/N makes a surprised noise into the kiss but doesn’t pull away, so Dally counts that as a win and doesn’t let go. He’s pleasantly surprised himself when he feels their hands rise to the back of his neck, tangling in his hair and keeping him in place.

When they finally break up, they’re both smiling and breathing heavily.

Y/N looks a little lost, eyes wide and confused as they stare at Dallas, so he figures he ought to try and fix that. He leans in again and they meet him halfway and then they’re kissing again in the wide-open lot.

“You gonna explain somethin’ to me now?” Dally asks after pulling back. His thumb smooths over their cheek and Y/N leans into the touch faster than Dally thought they would. “Why in the world did you think I wasn’t gonna like you? And why did you tell Johnny and Ponyboy instead of talkin’ to me?”

Blushing, Y/N looks down at the ground but Dally gently nudges their face back up with a finger under their chin. He raises an eyebrow expectantly and the action gets a small laugh out of them.

“I just thought,” they started quietly, “that you wouldn't like me. We’re so different, y’know? I’m not really the kind of person you usually go out with. I figured you wouldn’t be into me.”

Dally rolls his eyes and pulls them into a hug, tucking their head into his shoulder. He rocks gently and squeezes them tight before dropping a kiss on their hair.

“You ever think about how none of the people I go out with ever stick around? You ever think that maybe since we’re so different we’d do well together?”

“I guess not.”

“We’ll maybe you should’ve, ya idiot,” Dallas chides without any anger or annoyance in his tone. “Maybe then I could’ve taken you out earlier.”

Y/N looks up at him, wide-eyed and shocked. “You wanna take me out? You’re serious?”

“You don’t wanna go out?”

“No! No, I do, it’s just that- you’re serious, you’re not jokin’?”

Rolling his eyes again, Dally leans in to kiss them again, pausing to talk before he connects his lips with theirs. “I’m gonna take you out. Promise. But right now, I’m just gonna kiss you.”

#the outsiders #the outsiders headcanons #the outsiders hcs #the outsiders x reader #dillo’s writing #dallas winston #dallas winston x reader

[actuallysaiyan]

I Think You're Holding The Heart Of Mine(Part 3)

warnings: smutty words, rumours, Gojo is a little shit, swear words

word count: 2k

pairings: Nanami Kento x Fem!Reader

summary: ever since the night you got drunk and almost kissed Kento, everyone is taking about you two. the first years are now convinced you and Kento are "fucking like bunnies", and the man who started it all? none other than Gojo Satoru, who is incidentally the man who needs you and Kento to go on a super secluded mission together...

taglist: @beneathstarryskies

Part one|Part two|Part four

The rumor going around for the past week has been that you and Nanami were intimate. Despite the fact that you and him didn’t even kiss, Once the food had arrived, you and him settled on the couch and ate. Kento, being the gentleman he is, never even mentioned the kiss. He kept the chatting light and then he helped you get settled in the guest room.

What caused everyone to think you two were finally having sex was Gojo seeing you two arrive to work together. Kento had driven you home that morning so you could get ready and changed, and he had brought you to work with him. When Gojo saw you coming out of the car, he knew something had to have happened between you and Nanami.

Yet, it proved to be boring as you and Nanami worked together and silently too. Gojo tried to push your buttons and ask a million questions, but neither of you budged. And this was mostly due to you and Nanami both not really knowing how to deal with the situation at hand. The kiss(and it wasn’t even really a true kiss as it never happened) was still in the back of your mind.

Kento kept his composure most of the day, and by the end of it, he had decided to leave you with Gojo. You had seen just how frustrated your work husband had become, so you took it in stride and didn’t think he was trying to make this about you.

Yet as the week went on, the less you saw of Kento. He was often busy with Itadori or on his own missions. To say you missed him would be an understatement. You were beginning to think you could have withdrawals from someone. 

This left you a little scatterbrained, but you were trying your best to focus on the task at hand. This was a simple mission and you had brought along Kugisaki-chan and Takuma-kun. Strangely enough, they had fully distracted you. Even though you were thinking of Kento and the next time you’d see him, your underlings were making this mission quite a bit fun.

“Hey Ino,” Nobara says, a smirk on her face.

Ino shoots her a look, “Yeah, what’s up?”

You try your best to not pay attention, though you’re so sure she’s going to try and get Ino involved in these silly rumors. Kugisaki had already roped Itadori and Fushiguro(much to his dismay) into the false stories drip-fed to her by Satoru, so considering that Ino was very close to Nanami-san himself, you knew this would end in him asking you about your relationship with his senpai.

“They WHAT?” Ino asks, his eyes bulging.

You look back at them, a look of rage in your eyes that’s locked onto Kugisaki, and they both shut up. Though you can see Nobara is dying to continue this conversation with Ino. She’s a little red in the cheeks, but there’s a challenging smirk on her face.

“Kugisaki-chan, that’s not very nice.” Ino finally says, crossing his arms over his chest. “Besides, if they did do that, he would have definitely told me about it.”

“What? No way! He wouldn’t talk about that kind of thing!”

You groan, “I am right here! What are you two gossipping about?”

Kugisaki smirks at you, and she knows she’s got you cornered. She approaches you, pressing her hammer against your chest playfully. 

“Come on, sensei…you and Nanami-sensei finally had sex!”

Your heart stops for a moment, and your face turns beet red. This isn't happening right now. No, no you cannot believe it. Ino looks at you sympathetically and apologetically, unsure if he should even step in to help with the situation at hand.

“That’s super inappropriate. Who told you that?” You ask, an authoritative tone to your voice now.

Kugisaki smirks, “Nuh-uh! Not telling you my sources!”

You roll your eyes and sigh. You need to clear the air, but how are you supposed to do that? The only person you can think of that could have started this rumor is Gojo Satoru. After that night, you were sure he was trying to get you and Nanami together.

“Listen to me, cause I’m not explaining it twice. Kento and I are just good friends. We have been for ages, and that won’t change. He’s such a good friend that he helped me get home safe after a night out of drinking.”

Ino and Kugisaki exchange glances, but you shoot them both a warning glare. They know better than to argue. Suddenly, Kugisaki smiles a little too sweetly.

“Oh, so you don’t find Nanami-sensei to be very handsome and sweet?”

You argue back, “W-what? Of course I think he’s…handsome and kind.”

Ino laughs softly, “He is a good sensei, always looking out for everyone.”

This makes you blush a bit, “Yeah, that’s true.”

You back away to give yourself some space, only to realize you’ve just hit into something…or someone.

You look back and you see that cream suit you’re so fond of familiar with. Then you look up to see Kento’s bespectacled eyes and he’s got a smirk on his face. You wonder how much of Kugisaki’s comments he’s heard.

“Oh! Nanami-san, how nice of you to join us!” Ino exclaims, approaching his senpai.

“I’m here for her. We’ve got something to discuss, if you’re all done with the mission.” Kento is speaking about you.

Kugisaki chimes in, “Don’t worry sensei, we’ll fill out the report! You can trust us!” And with that, she’s dragging Ino off towards the school.

You sigh as you watch them go. They are both amazing sorcerers, but the gossiping was starting to get on your nerves. You finally look at Kento, happy to see him. There’s a sweet smile playing on your lips.

“Kento-kun…it’s nice to see you.” You greet him, your eyes meeting his gaze.

“So, you think I’m handsome, yeah?”

Your heart skips a beat and a blush begins to creep up on your cheeks. You’re so flustered right now. Was this the only reason why he wanted to talk to you? You stumble on your words, unsure of what to say.

He moves in a little closer and looks around to make sure you’re both alone. Then he leans in to press a kiss to your forehead and soothes some hair out of your face.

“Hey, I missed you…”His voice is suddenly softer and sweeter, making your stomach do flips.

“Oh Kento, I missed you too.”

You both are looking into each other’s eyes and you feel him leaning in closer. You aren’t sure if he’ll kiss you this time, but you won’t fight it if that’s what happens.

“NANAMIN!” 

Both of you sigh in annoyance and turn to face the source of the sound. Gojo comes running towards you, a shit-eating grin on his face. He knows exactly what he’s doing right now, though he was surprised to see that you and Kento were already so close to one another.

Once Gojo gets close enough, he’s already talking a mile a minute. Neither of you can really make sense of what’s going on, but you know it’s got to be somewhat serious and important. 

“You two! On a mission! Starting today!”

You sigh as you realize you’ll be pulling double duty. Kento groans as well, noticing how close to quitting time it is. He looks at the expensive timepiece on his wrist, tapping on it softly to show Gojo what time it is.

“Come on! This is a good mission! It’s a business trip too, which appeals to your boring businessman nature, Nanamin!” Gojo is trying so hard to sell this idea to you.

“A business trip?” You ask, unsure of what to make of all this.

Gojo smirks, “Well, it’s not really that kind of business trip. But it requires you two to be out of town for a few days.”

Kento grunts, “All expenses paid, correct?”

“Of course! Nothing but the best for my favorite colleagues!”

Gojo wraps his arms around both of your shoulders, pulling you both a bit closer to him. He explains to you how in a small village a few hours away, there’s been reports of a curse terrorizing the inn. It’s a popular tourist spot for couples honeymooning. You begin to realize what this is all about and it makes you a little nervous.

“I need to stay here and take care of things with our little first years!” Gojo lies expertly, explaining to you and Nanami why he can’t go.

You nod, “Alright, we’ll do it.”

𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪

You and Kento settle in your seats on the train. This would probably be the best thing about this trip. A train ride out into the countryside was seemingly just what you and him needed. After Gojo had concluded his explanation to you and Kento, you both had decided to leave to go home and pack your bags.

It made you all so nervous. It’s not like it was the first time you and Kento had gone on a mission like this before, but with the lingering feelings, it was beginning to seem like your superior was playing matchmaker. You met Kento at the train station, waiting for him near the snack bar.

With your luggage safely on the train and your late dinners bought, you and Kento had felt good to enter the train and to begin this new adventure. 

You lay back in your seat, watching the world go by through the window. Kento is still eating, a soft smile on his face as he eats some of his favorite foods. He’s always been this way about food, and you find it oh so endearing. You look over at him and he gives you a boyish grin.

“Are you excited?” Kento asks you, taking a sip of his black coffee.

You nod your head, “Yeah despite the fact that this has been a stressful week, I am so excited to get away from all this.”

Kento hums softly, looking out the window now too. Both of you fall silent. There’s still the thought of that almost kiss(which has happened twice now), and of course the rumors that have been spreading like wildfire.

“Did you know that we’re fucking like bunnies?” 

You burst out laughing at Kento’s question, looking at him like he’s got five heads. He smirks at your reaction, knowing you’d be tickled pink by this. He loves seeing you like this; your cheeks all pink and your eyes crinkled as you laugh so loudly. He can see tears in the corners of your eyes.

“Who told you that?” You ask, biting your lip.

“Itadori-kun. He even said it like that.”

You roll your eyes, “He probably heard it from Kugisaki-chan who heard it from—”

“Gojo. Yeah, I’m well aware of the rumors. That’s why I’ve been away for the better part of the week. I figured I’d give us some distance so people don’t get the wrong idea.”

You smile softly, unsure of how to answer. Does this mean he’s not actually interested in being in a real relationship with you? You’ve got so many questions, but you really don’t know where to begin with them.

The scenery outside begins to change as the city begins rolling away past you even faster now. You watch as the buildings disappear in a blur and trees are all you can see for some time. Then you feel his warm hand on yours, squeezing softly.

“Listen, about what happened that night…”

You shake your head, “Don’t even worry about it. It was nothing. I’m just glad I have such a good friend to take care of me.”

His heart wrenches when you say it was nothing; It wasn’t nothing to him, but he didn’t know how to address it. So he hums in approval once more, and softly reminds you that you can always call on him for a favor. This soothes you, knowing you said the right thing. But in reality, you’ve only made him even more conflicted inside.

Neither of you continue the conversation, and feelings run wild and rampant inside your minds. The scenery outside is beautiful with the sun setting. Soon, you’d be in a new place with a whole new objective. You begin to wonder if maybe taking this mission was a mistake. You aren’t giving it much more thought before a yawn escapes you. Kento chuckles.

“Why don’t you take a nap? I’ll wake you up when we arrive.”

And that’s all you need to hear before you close your eyes. Maybe being alone with him for a few days will open some new doors for the both of you…or make things even more awkward.

#bacon.writes #nanami x reader #nanami x you #nanami x y/n #nanami imagines #nanami x fem!reader #kento x you #kento x reader #jjk nanami x you #jjk nanami x reader #jjk x you #jjk x reader #kento nanami x reader #Kento Nanami x y/n #Kento Nanami x you #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jjk #jjk imagines #kento nanami imagines #Nanami Kento imagines #kento fluff #nanami fluff

[notthefirstfallenangel]

Hello 👋 👋 do you take requests cause I had this idea in my mind but I suck in writing

how bout a ghost x reader where he had a bad day and takes it out on his beloved reader who he's been in a really long relationship with, by starting an argument and maybe saying some really mean and bad things that break the reader. Like the reader is only a shell of herself and completely ruined by ghosts words and just crying or sitting completely still staring off the wall or just staring at nothing just being numb.

What would be interesting is Simons reaction when he realizes the damage that he's done, maybe he would cry/break down idk when he sees the usually happy reader being so dull and almost lifeless yk

But Pleasee don't do this to our hearts and write some comfort and a happy ending please I couldn't handle too much angst😭❤️

I really enjoyed writing this! I hope you like it and that's close enough to what you had in mind.❤️

Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x gn reader

Warnings: established relationship, argument, swearing, fluff

Summary: Simon had a hard time today and lashed out, hurting the one he loves.

Words: 3.2k

Having known Simon for years, you knew him to be rather reserved in regard to expressing his emotions. This was not merely an observation but something you had come to grudgingly accept and respect over the years.

In nearly all things, he exuded an overpowering stoicism that was difficult to penetrate. However, there were moments when you saw flashes of his emotions that were connected to you; they came to you like brief glimpses of lightning through storm clouds. His eyes would burn with intensity, and his voice would simmer with passion. When the two of you fought, it was like watching a tempest arise from the depths of his soul. His body would tense up, and his fists would clench as he struggled to contain the turmoil within him. It was at those moments that you knew you had touched something deep, something primal within him.

His raging anger was so unusual to you; it was almost as if his love for you transcended to the heavens, making him incapable of showing anything but adoration.

But exceptions make rules, and this time, It all started with the lightest touch and an apparently simple question.

Simon was in one of his peculiar moods recently, completely detached and unable to have a simple conversation that didn’t imply a sarcastic tone, a short answer or an annoyed look. His mind was elsewhere, trapped in a bizarre maze with no exit and surrounded by millions of strange thoughts.

But that night was worse than any other; he was in an intense state of anger, tension and anxiety.

When he got home from work, the night was thick and black, and the lights of the city spilt into the sky in front of him. The streets were deserted, save for a few scant cars that cast dull reflections on the wet pavement.

He put his keys down on the kitchen counter and poured himself a strong shot of bourbon. Settling into his favourite chair in the living room, he flipped on the television and watched football.

The sound of the TV echoed down the hallway and caught your attention. You were lying in bed with the covers pulled up to your chin, drifting in that hazy place between awake and asleep as you tried to wait for him. You sat up and threw off the blankets. The sound grew louder as you stepped out of your room and walked toward its source.

The pale blue glow of the television cast a faint light into the living room. It bounced off the walls and covered Simon’s face in a pale blue hue, his stern features barely rendered in the dim light.

You watched him for a moment, noticing the way his chest rose and fell with each long breath. You knew him well enough to understand when he needed space and when he needed a comforting presence, and right now, it seemed that he needed both. You sat down next to him, close enough that your thighs brushed against each other but far enough that he didn’t feel suffocated by your presence.

“Dinner is in the oven,” you said.

He grunted in response, not taking his eyes off the screen. You knew that he was not in the mood for small talk, but you couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt by his dismissal.

“Is everything okay?” you asked, your voice soft and gentle. You placed your hand on his thigh, not expecting a response but just offering a touch of comfort. You watched his face, saw his jaw clenched tightly, and knew he was holding something back.

He met your gaze with an expression void of emotion. His stare was heavy and unfamiliar, and you felt as if he was looking right through you.

“I’m fine,” Simon muttered, his voice as flat as his expression.

He made no move to reciprocate the touch, not wanting to risk being drawn into any sort of conversation right now, especially not the dreaded ‘How are you, darling?’ talk that seemed to have become inevitable between you.

Your gaze travelled up his strong frame, and the broad shoulders now slumped with a heaviness you had never seen before. You had known him for years and, in that time, had become familiar with his habit of self-reliance; he rarely asked for help or confided in anyone. But the strain on his face was clear—you could only imagine how much he must be enduring.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” you ventured.

“I just need a bloody drink,” he said, his tone becoming more irritable.

You knew that he was hiding something, but you didn’t know what it was. You reached for his glass, taking it from him before he could react, and set it on the coffee table.

“It might be better if you didn’t drink right now,” you said gently.

“I don’t give a fuck,” he muttered, his voice raw and tired.

You understood his need to escape, to push all of his problems away and bury himself in something mindless. Still, you knew he needed to talk about what was bothering him.

“Simon, please talk to me,” you said softly, your voice a gentle caress. “You don’t have to tell me everything, but I want to know what’s going on with you.”

"There's bloody nothin' to talk about.”

The words tasted like poison on his tongue. He could feel the liquor burning down his throat, washing away all reason from his mind with its fiery embrace.

His response to any emotional vulnerability was immediate and instinctive, like a reflex of a broken heart. It seemed easier for him to face a wild animal than to show his vulnerable side to the person he treasured most in this world. He was determined to keep all thoughts and feelings under wraps- a habit of self-preservation, his biggest weakness. But you were different. You were the only one who had ever been able to breach that barrier, the only one who had ever been able to see past the tough façade that he had built to protect himself.

You moved closer, your hands gently cradling his face. His bristly beard tickled your palms as his warm skin heated up beneath your fingertips. The faint scars were like old stitches holding a piece of fabric together. You could feel the ridges and curves of those white lines.

“Simon,” you whispered, “Please let me in. I won’t let you go until you do.”

He moved his head away from your touch. His jaw tensed, and his brows furrowed as he looked to the ground. He crossed his arms tight over his body as if the tension of his arms was necessary to protect himself, to conceal his vulnerability.

He was so big, so intimidating. But you knew that beneath that tough exterior was a man who was hurting, a man who needed to let it out. You didn’t give up.

He looked away. He was always a man of few words, direct and to the point. His movements were controlled and precise.

"You fockin' know I hate it when you do this,” he muttered.

“Do what? I just want to help you.”

Your voice was gentle, but he could hear the determination in your words.

“I don’t need your help,” he said stubbornly.

“Simon, please don’t do this,” you said, “I love you, and I want to help you.”

“I don’t bloody need your help,” he growled angrily under his breath. “Can't ya just leave me alone when I come home for once, love?.”

His tone was venomous as he said the words, a coldness in his eyes that you had never seen before.

He gritted his teeth together to prevent an outburst of anger. The atmosphere was charged with tension, like a thundercloud about to break, and he exhaled deeply.

“You can’t keep pushing me away like this, Simon. We’re a couple, and we need to be able to talk about things and work through them together.”

“You’re the one not listening,” he hissed, his fists clenched tight in anger as he prepared to unleash the fury that had been boiling beneath the surface. “ All you do is talk, and I can't be bothered to deal with yer constant bullshit, 'specially when I come home from work and I get fockin' interrogated by you all the time. I'm sick of this nonsense. Can ya stop with your constant neediness!?”

“I’m just trying to help,” you protested. “I care about you!”

“You wanna know what's wrong with me? Fine, ” he snapped, his voice quivering with anger as he stood up and turned to face you.”You think you know what I want. You think 'yah know what's best for me. Well, you don't. You haven't a bloody clue. I'm just sick of all of this... sick of you!”

You watched as Simon’s chest heaved, his eyes wild with fury. You had never seen him like this before, and it scared you. It was as if he was a stranger, a man who had disappeared into himself and returned changed, unrecognisable. Your hand reached out to touch him, but he swatted it away with a ferocity that made you flinch.

Tears pricked at the edge of your eyes, and you refused to let them fall. You refused to give Simon the satisfaction of seeing you broken by his words. Instead, you stood up too and looked him straight in the eye.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” you said, your voice steady despite your heart racing.” But you don’t get to treat me like this. I won’t be spoken to like I’m an inconvenience. Especially since I’ve been there for you through everything, every high, every low. I’m always here for you-”

“You were there for me? Ha! Please,” he said, laughing harshly as he rolled his eyes. “It's 'cause you need someone to need, and that's the only bloody reason you're still 'ere with me! You thrive off all this fockin' attention! Ya keep bloody tryina fix someone else 'cause ya can't look at yourself!”

“That’s not true,” you argued.

“Oh, but it is,” Simon sneered. “You’re nothing but a manipulator who’s gotten too good at playin' the victim.”

He had finally crossed the line, his words hitting you like a truck. This was by far the worst argument you had ever had, his words cutting far more profound than he intended if he wasn’t so consumed by anger.

“I won’t stand for this,” you said, your voice trembling with anger. “You don’t get to talk to me that way. Not after everything we’ve been through. I’m the one who loves you, and I will always stand by you.”

“You don’t know anything about love,” he said stern;

His voice was so icy, devoid of any emotion or warmth. It carried no trace of familiarity-just an unfamiliar chill that made it sound like somebody else talking.

He grabbed his jacket and turned away from you, walking off into the night without another word.

Your heart feels like it’s been crushed as you watch him go. You knew he was angry, but this was far beyond anything he had ever said to you. His words felt like a physical punch to the gut, and you can’t believe how easily he managed to shatter your heart.

You lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling, trying your best to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from your eyes. Simon’s words repeated themselves over and over again in your mind, each one feeling like a stab to the heart. You couldn’t believe that he thought of you like that, and it hurt more than anything else ever had.

Time blurred together, yet you stayed planted on the couch. You were a mannequin of despair, too petrified to move or think. It was almost comical that someone so devoted could hurt you this badly.

You recalled the good times you had shared, from laughter to tender kisses. You felt your stomach churn as you remembered him claiming he loved you and that it would last forever. Now you questioned whether any of those feelings were real or if it had all just been an illusion.

You ran your fingers across your cheeks, wiping away the tears and salt water. As the truth sank in, you felt the goosebumps rising on your skin that the person you loved more than anything else was starting to despise you.

It felt like your body was burning from the inside out, like you were being eaten alive from the inside.

You felt your eyelids droop under the heavy burden as you lay on the couch, racked with an unbearable weight of sorrow and guilt. The room was still and oppressive. No other sound filled the air but a distant TV playing a commercial about an extravagantly priced product no one could possibly need, emphasising the complete silence around you. It felt like a thousand-pound weight on your chest as you sat alone in the emptiness.

-

The sun had barely crested the horizon when Simon opened the door, yet the living room was already aglow with a faint light that cast shadows over your figure. The light refracting off your bright blue sweater made it look almost electric in the low morning light. It felt like the air of an autumn morning when the wind carried a chill, and the sun was still rising.

He hesitated at the threshold, unsure whether to step inside or not. He knew he had deeply hurt you with his words, and the guilt weighed heavily on his conscience. Simon had never intended to lash out at you like that, but at that moment, his emotions had gotten the best of him, and he couldn’t control the venom that had spewed from his mouth.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward, making his way towards the couch where you lay. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he could feel his palms growing sweaty with nerves.

When he reached the couch, he stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say. You looked so small and vulnerable lying there, and it made him ache with regret for what he had done. It had been so long since he’d seen you cry he’d forgotten what it looked like. You were always the strong, optimistic one, but this . . . this sight was new to him.

He knelt before you, his hands shaking as he slowly reached out to brush the tips of his fingers through your hair. His eyes were full of emotion and desperation as he silently pleaded for forgiveness.

You jolted backwards as if an electrical current had just run through you. His heart sank, and he dropped his hand to his side; his vision blurred with tears, realising his attempt to push you away finally came back to haunt him.

His lips parted, but no words came out. His eyes were glassy, and his brow furrowed in anguish. He glanced down at the ground, searching for the right thing to say, trying to make sense of all the emotions bubbling within him. He knew it was his fault; he had been too stubborn and scared to let you in. Now, he was in a moment of despair, not knowing what to do or how to fix it.

You watched him in silence, feeling the weight of his guilt and regret like a heavy burden on your chest. He hurt you, but you still loved him, and the thought of losing him was unbearable. You sat up slowly, still unsure if you wanted to forgive him or not.

Simon looked up at you, his eyes locking onto yours, and he saw something he had never seen before. He saw the pain that he had caused you, the hurt and the heartache, and it was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Simon’s eyes were brimming with tears, and one teardrop crept its way down his cheek and onto his chin before falling onto his shirt. It lay there for a moment and then absorbed into the fabric of the cotton garment, leaving behind only a damp spot.

Those tears were nothing but a mirror of your own. You were both sharing the same feeling, both experiencing the same anguish.

You felt his strong, warm hands on your face. He used his thumbs to brush away the salty tears that trickled down from your eyes. He kissed each teardrop away with a soft press of his lips on your cheeks, chin and eyes.

You heard his voice crack ever so slightly as he whispered, “I’m so sorry, love.I'm so goddamn sorry.”

You closed your eyes, feeling his lips on your skin and the warmth of his breath on your face. His touch was gentle, and you could feel the sincerity in his apology as he continued to kiss away your tears. A part of you wanted to push him away, to make him suffer like you had, but another part yearned for his touch and love. You were torn between anger and forgiveness, between hurt and love.

Simon pulled back, his gaze still fixed on yours as he searched for any sign of forgiveness. You looked at him, and for the first time in a long while, you saw the vulnerability in his eyes. You saw the pain and regret that he was feeling, and it moved you. It made you realise that he wasn’t invincible, flawed, and needed you just as much as you needed him.

“Didn’t mean any of that shite I said… I was angry, ‘n took it out on you. The job I’m on right now… It’s… rough.,” He blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears from flowing down. “But you don’t deserve this.”

You felt your heart swell with emotion. You wanted to forgive him, and you knew that if you could do it, it would be a fresh start for both of you. You took a deep breath and nodded in agreement, finally finding the courage to tell him how much his words had hurt you.

You told him about all the sleepless nights spent worrying about what he was thinking and feeling, all the moments when loneliness had taken over your life, and how scared you had been of losing him forever.

But as you spoke, something inside of you changed. The pain slowly dissolved away as forgiveness crept into your body like the sun’s rays on a cold winter morning. Simon listened intently without interruption while tears streamed down his face; he held your hands tightly as he apologised again before pulling you closer to him in an embrace.

At that moment, everything seemed to fall into place.

He buried his face in your neck and whispered how much he loved you over and over again until all traces of sadness had dissipated from you.

You stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, wrapped in each other’s arms, and you knew right then and there that no matter what happened in the future, he would always be your home.

#cod mw2 #cod mwii #task force 141 #cod x reader #call of duty #ghost x reader #simon ghost riley #simon ghost x reader #simon ghost x you #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley x you #simon riley #simon riley x gender neutral reader #simon ghost riley x gender neutral reader #ghost x gender neutral reader #simon riley x reader #simon riley fluff

[letsgetrowdy43]

what about adam begging hughes!sister to come with him to wherever (hopefully anaheim) but she’s skeptical bc she doesn’t want to be a burden but he assures her that he wants nothing more than for her to be with him:)

You’re gonna go far—

Au Masterlist!!

Adam and Sunny had tearfully parted ways after the draft, she was heading back to Michigan to resume her summer vacation with her brothers and family friends while he and his father flew out to Columbus for their development camp.

"I'm gonna miss you" she mumbled into his chest, tears staining his cotton shirt as she hugged him tightly, for the last time in a while. He placed a kiss on the crown of her head, "it'll only be for a few weeks and then I’ll be there, with Luca, for the rest of the summer" She shook her head as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the lips, “still too long.”

A smile now worked its way onto her lips as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, “you and Gavo can’t have too much fun without me” “Won't be half the fun without you” he mumbled as he placed a kiss on the side of her head, his eyes looking up to see Ellen and Julia crying as they whispered to each other about the young couple.

Sunny pulled away first, "I'm gonna kiss you one more time then I'm gonna go and check-in, cause if I stay any longer Mom is gonna have to pry me off of you" She smiled, his thumb wiped the remainder of tears from her cheek as she cupped his face in her hands. His forehead bumped into hers, "love you" he whispered as he kissed her gently for the last time in a while. "I love you so much," she whispered as she pulled away from him.

ꕥꕥꕥ

Two days later Sunny was finally back in the warmth of her brother's summer house, feeling slightly down as she returned to her life without Adam. With her nose in a book to pass the time, Quinn walked into the room with a soft smile, sitting down next to her as she marked her page and cuddled into his side.

"I think it's over for us," she whispered as Quinn opened his mouth to ask her what was bothering her, "I think he's gonna do great things in Ohio and I'm gonna be a burden back in Michigan," Quinn closed his mouth and hugged her tightly. "I think that you mean a lot to him, and yeah you two are on different paths now, but I think that in the near future, you two will be exactly right where you were meant to be”

The girl smiled softly as her brother hugged her tightly, “when did you get so insightful?” “It comes with old age” he joked, placing a kiss on the top of her head before stealing the remote from beside her.

ꕥꕥꕥ

Her phone buzzed as a voicemail from Adam popped up on her screen, and her brows furrowed as she realized just how zoned out of reality she was.

“Hey sun, I just wanted to call and tell you that I’ve talked with everyone here and I think I’m gonna start my rookie year in September,” she can hear the excitement mixed with sadness in his voice as he lets out a deep breath, “I know it’s not what I planned, but they really want me here, and I think I’m ready” He paused for a second as he thought of his next words, “Call me back when you get this message, I love you”

Her heart dropped to her stomach as he ended the message, immediately dialling his number to call him. Her emotions were running high as the phone began to ring in her ears, “hello?” stopped her pacing around her room the moment he spoke.

“I'm so proud of you,” she spits out as soon as she hears his voice. “So it’s okay with you?” He asks genuinely as he stops pacing around his room and takes a seat on his hotel bed. “More than okay, you worked so hard for all of it”

A moment of silence hit them both.

“What does this mean for us?” She asked quietly, her eyes beginning to water as she heard nothing but silence on the other end. It was the million-dollar question, they both wanted to know where they now sat. She felt secure enough in her love for Adam that she would do long distance for the next three years, but was Adam on that level?

“I don’t want to hold you back, so if you want to call it quits now I understand, I just want what’s best for you” she whispered, begging for some sort of response. “I don’t want us to end sunny,” his brows furrowed as he laid back on his bed, hands massaging his temples as he fought off the stress headache that he’d been harbouring all day, “I want you, I want this.” Sunny nodded even though he couldn’t see her, “if you’d have me, I’d want you here for all of it.”

“In Columbus?” “In Columbus." he paused to let that sink in for a second, really contemplating if he wanted to add this new pressure onto her shoulders, "I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but maybe after UMich you’d consider moving here with me?” his voice laced with nerves, “you don’t have to say yes now, but just think about it for me.” “Wherever you want me, I’ll be there” she whispered as his face broke out into a grin.

He ran a hand through his hair, “So if I asked you to fly out here to be a witness while I sign my ELC you’ll be here?” Her face warmed as, “in a heartbeat” She bit her lip to hold back her smile as she opened her laptop to find flights for the morning

-

-

-

This took me literally three days to write cause I've been so busy, but here.

This is also slightly fueled by the song "You're Gonna Go Far" by Noah Kahan, cause a friend recently told me that this song reminds them of me and now it's the only song I can listen to :)

#tinydancerau!! #adam fantilli imagine #adam fantilli #adam fantilli x reader #luke hughes #quinn hughes #umich hockey #jack hughes #umich imagine

[angelicjungwon]

heeseung - enemies to lovers kinda thing

plot: you and heeseung are at the same uni, sharing the same classes and exchanging glances every chance you get.

you hated him, he hated you. it was a mutual feeling, at least that‘s what you thought.

but one party and a few drinks changed it all.

word count: 1089

tw: heeseung being mean, suggestive talk (tiniest bit), university & classes lmao, alcohol, idk if i forgot something

—

There he was again, sitting right where you were able to see him. He wasn’t listenting to the lecture, all he was doing was staring at you and pretending to take notes.

You knew he never studied or took notes, this man was not only gifted with his looks but also with a great memory. He didn‘t need notes or books, all he had to do was listening to watch the professor said once and it was embedded in his brain.

He was your ideal type to be exact. He was smart, handsome, tall, had a great fashion sense and he loved tea, coffee and books as much as you did.

You have met him way too many times at your favourite café but you avoided him.

You two rarely exchanged words, only if needed to.

The reason you disliked each other was easy - you two liked each other but your pride was too high to accept it.

He was known to be a player, at least rumors made him to be and you hated player with a passion but that was not the only reason.

He once made a remark to his friend group, stating that he‘d never in a million years go out with someone like you.

Usually it wouldn’t hurt you hear a man say that, of course it‘s a little off putting but you knew well enough that it usually comes from men who are insecure, however him saying that kinda hurt, considering that he never really talked to you before.

He was making you lose your mind and focus, every class you attended your focus was on him and him only.

"You‘re staring at Heeseung again." Your friend Jungwon said, shaking your shoulder a little. "But this time in disgust, stop it, it looks weird." He added, making you chuckle. "Why does he keep looking at me if he thinks I‘m so ugly."

You muttered under your breath, your eyes not leaving Heeseung.

"I don‘t know, go ask him yourself." Jungwon chuckled and pushed your head to face the tutor. "You look desperate…"

And with that, you only side eyed him for the rest of the lesson before heading out once it was over, deciding to get coffee at your favourite local café while reading over the notes you made during class.

"Stalking me, hm?" A familiar voice asked, you looked up and rolled your eyes. "You wish." You mumbled, facing your notes again. The person you least wanted to see right now, Heeseung himself.

"Jake is having a party at his parents place, they‘re out of town. You should come." He said, handing you a piece of paper with the address. "Why would I?" You asked, making him laugh. "Jungwon said he won’t come if we don‘t invite you. Be a good friend and just stay for at least an hour. I haven’t talked to him in ages, I wanna catch up a little." He said, causing you to roll your eyes at him.

"I‘ll think about it."

And with that you sat in your dorm room, staring at the blank wall of your non-existent roommate. You enjoyed that you were alone, you‘d dislike it more if you had someone in your room every single day and lets not forget, that if you ever felt lonely, Jungwon would spend the night over, telling you all about his dance practices.

You took out your phone to text him, letting him know you‘ll join him on his way to the party, making sure to mention that it was only for an hour and that you two will leave as fast as possible.

Well, let‘s say, the plan did not work out, as two hours later, you were on Jake‘s couch, a little too tipsy, talking to Sunghoon, a friend of Jake, about the most weirdest things possible. It began with eating habits and now turned into 'imagine you could drink soup with your butthole' kinda conversations.

"Are you and Jungwon a couple?" Heeseung said as he took a seat next to you, handing you a cup of whatever alcoholic drink it was.

"Nope, we‘re just friends, no worries, you have Jungwon all to yourself." You replied sarcastically, taking a sip from the cup in your hand as you turned your attention back to Sunghoon.

His eyes never left you, however whenever he did turn away, your eyes didn‘t leave him. Every once in a while you two caught each other staring, however once you two had enough alcohol in your blood, it almost turned into a staring contest. You were in one corner for the room, he was in another, eyes never leaving each other.

You both clearly had the same thought process in that moment, the tension was so intense, everyone else was able to feel it as well.

It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, his closest friends new he wanted you the day he met you. He couldn’t stop talking about you and once they asked why he didn’t just ask you out, he‘d find excuse like 'not my type' or 'not interested' but everyone knew that he was just too butthurt about the fact that you didn‘t swarm over him like everyone else did.

That was his way of coping, they supposed.

"Heeseung stop staring at (y/n), just go ask-" before Jake could finish his sentence, Heeseung was already on his way over to you.

"I know you want me." He said, leaning over to you, causing you to laugh. "More like, you want me. I see you eyeing me down from back there." He smirked at your response, he did want you.

"Fuck you‘re right." He mumbled, staring at your lips before licking his own. "You have no idea how much I want you, love." He added, eyes back on yours.

"But as much as I do, I would prefer to have this conversation again once we‘re both sober. As the gentleman I am, I‘d like my partners to not be intoxicated before I make any moves. Gotta make sure everything is consensual." He exhaled, unlocking his phone before handing it to you.

"How about you and I get coffee after class on Monday?" He suggested, making you smile.

"Mhm, sounds good to me." You replied, typing your number in his phone before handing it back.

"And bring a list of your favourite books and songs at the moment, I‘d love to get to know you." He winked before leaning back on the couch, getting involved in everyone‘s normal conversations again.

#enhypen oneshots #enhypen imagines #heeseung imagines #heeseung imagine #heeseung oneshots #heeseung headcanons

[ilguna]

☼ when the dead rise pt2 (Stephen Strange) ☼

summary; five years pass, and you come to terms with the fact that you may never see Stephen again. when Tony calls you, telling you that there may be a way to change everything, you decide to take one more chance.

warnings; swearing, willing starvation, needle mention, weapon usage, death, blood, ehh gore, suicide mention, weight gain/loss, kinda cringe if you think about it, happy ending!

wc; 18.7k

notes; the entirety of endgame, haha, i'm not kidding. with nonsensical talk of time traveling, more angst, some fluff, tony and y/n get along, and stephen is there at the end.

part one.

—

The galaxy that you’re floating in is beautiful. It’s perfect, and if you weren’t here right now, sitting in front of the window, you’d say that it’s not real. There’s a mix of the rainbow out there, the brightest hue being aquamarine. Which paints everything in the spaceship the same shade.

You’ve been sitting here for hours, just staring at the stars. They don’t change, captured at their best times. It’ll be millions of years before they burn out, by then they’ll have fulfilled their purpose. There will be no regrets.

You wish you could say the same.

“(Y/n), are you going to come over and eat?” Tony asks from behind you.

He’s sitting at the table with Nebula, they’ve been going back and forth playing their games, trying to keep entertained. You heard him talking about eating, but you never bothered to join the conversation. You don’t have the energy to get up and go over there.

“No, I’m fine.” You murmur, leaning into your knees, arms wrapped around the back of your thighs. “Go ahead and have the rest.”

It’s quiet for a moment, then you can hear him sigh. “You haven’t eaten anything today.”

“I know.” You tell him. “I’m not hungry.”

The sound of a chair scraping against the metal flooring fills the air. You close your eyes, taking in a deep breath. His footsteps echo through the ship, shuffling to a stop behind you.

“You haven’t been hungry for the past couple of days.” He says, voice surprisingly gentle. “You can’t do this to yourself. It won’t change things.”

With gritted teeth, you swallow thickly, and let out an uneven breath. “I know that too, Tony.” 

He moves to stand right next to you, letting out a grunt. When you open your eyes, looking over, you see that he’s sitting beside you, legs crossed. The shiny silver bag is in his hand, he shakes it, looking inside.

“It’s some sort of mix. It doesn’t taste good at first, but it’ll grow on you.” He says, holding it out for you.

You stare at him, pressure building behind your eyes again. Your lips begin to tremble first, face twisting as the tears take over. Tony frowns, setting the bag down, and reaches to pull you in a hug. As you begin to cry into his shoulder, he squeezes you tightly, causing the ache in your ribs to surface.

“I just want him back.” You sob, “Is that too much to ask for?”

DAY TWENTY-THREE

“It’s been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth.” Rhodes says, he’s standing at the wooden table where a holographic projection displays out of a cylindrical device in the middle.

In the air, you’re able to see the faces and names of those you lost that day. It’s constantly rotating, a few of them being Nick Fury, Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Peter, and Stephen. There’s more, of course, faces you don’t recognize because you cut ties with the Avengers a couple years ago.

“World governments are in pieces,” Natasha begins. “The parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like he did…” She trails off for a moment, Tony pushes up his glasses, hand covering his face when Peter appears in front of him. “He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out,” She sighs, “Fifty percent of all living creatures.” 

There’s a moment of silence across the table, you play with one of your rings, twisting it between your fingers. 

Tony moves his hand, lifting his head. “Where is he now? Where?” He’s currently in a wheelchair, hooked up to an IV. He’s looked better, but to be fair, so have you. You’re two peas in one miserable pod. 

While you came out with bruised ribs and a gnarly scar from where Thanos had ripped out a chunk of your skin—which Tony tried his best to repair while on the spaceship. He had to fight through an infection from being stabbed by his own nanotech, which Nebula had the pleasure of healing.

In the end, there was only so much food to pass around on the ship. Even though you’d gone days without eating, it didn’t help the supply any. However, your weightloss is nothing compared to Tony’s, because he’s sick at the moment.

“We don’t know.” Steve says, his arms are crossed over his chest. He’s leaning against a table nearby. “He just opened a portal and walked through.”

Tony wheels forward, sighing, looking off to the side. “What’s wrong with him?” He asks, motioning to Thor. He’s sitting in a separate room, leaned forward on his knees, a hard expression on his face, moving his thumbs.

“Oh, he’s pissed.” Rocket says. He’s a talking raccoon that was part of Quill’s group, you met him after you landed back on Earth. Which only happened because Tony and Nebula set off a distress signal, and a woman named Carol Danvers came to save you. “He thinks he failed.” Tony’s hand falls. “Which, of course, he did, but there’s a lot of that going around, ain’t there?” 

“Honestly, until this exact second I thought you were a Build-A-Bear.” Tony says.

“Maybe I am.”

“We’ve been hunting Thanos for three weeks now.” Steve says. “Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing.” He pauses, looking up at the table. “(Y/n), Tony, you fought him.”

“Who told you that?” Tony asks. “I didn’t fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street magician—” You turn your head to look at him, eyebrows drawing in. “Gave away the store. That’s what happened.”

“Don’t talk about him like that.” You snap, suddenly getting up from your chair. When it begins to fall back, you catch it with one hand, slamming it against the floorboards. “Prick.”

“There was no fight, ‘cause he’s not beatable.” Tony finishes, unbothered by you. 

“Okay,” Steve nods. “Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?”

Tony makes a noise, saluting Steve. “I saw this coming a few years back.” He sinks into the wheelchair. “I had a vision. I didn’t wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming.”

Steve stands. “Tony, I’m gonna need you to focus.”

“And I need you.” Tony says, it’s muffled because of the hand in front of his mouth. He drops it. “As in, past tense. That trumps what you need. It’s too late, buddy.” He shakes his head. “Sorry.”

You run a hand through your hair, and then settle into crossing your arms.

Tony sniffs. “You know what I need?” He slaps a bowl away from him, the spoon clattering against the table. He gets to his feet, one hand on it as he leans forward. “I need a shave. And I believe I remember telling all youse…” 

He begins to pull at the IV needle, Rhodes steps toward him. “Tony, Tony!”

“...alive and otherwise, that what we needed,” He does a circular motion. “Was a suit of armour around the world. Remember that?” His voice is raising. “Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not. That’s what we needed.”

“Well, that didn’t work out, did it?” Steve asks.

“I said we’d lose.” Tony points to himself. “You said, ‘We’ll do that together, too’. And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren’t there.” Steve sighs. “But that’s what we do, right? Our best work after the fact?” Rhodes grabs Tony by the arms to steady him. “We’re the ‘Avengers’. We’re the ‘Avengers’, not the ‘Pre-vengers’.”

He looks at Rhodes, who nods. “Okay.”

“Right?” Tony asks.

“You made your point. Just sit down, okay?” 

“Okay.” Tony says, looking away. “No, no, here’s my point. You know what?” He points at Carol. She’s unamused, “She’s great by the way.”

“Tony, you’re sick. Sit down.” Rhodes tries to push him down.

“We need you. You’re new blood.” He pushes off of Rhodes. “Bunch of tired old mules. I got nothing for you, Cap.” He walks to stand a foot away from Steve. “I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust, liar.” He whispers.

You watch as he reaches up to grab the arc reactor, ripping it from his chest. Tony’s breathing becomes uneven, as he grabs Steve’s hand, and slaps the reactor into it. “Here, take this. You find him, put that on, you hide.” He falls to his knees.

You, Steve and Rhodes move forward at the same moment.

“Tony!” Steve reaches for him.

“I’m fine.” He says. “Let me…”

His eyes roll back, collapsing.

—

Tony lays on a reclined bed, unconscious, with Pepper beside him, holding his hand. Rhodes drops off his glasses on the bedside table, and then leaves the room, coming to join you, Natasha, Steve and Carol.

“What about you, (Y/n)? You never said anything.” Steve says, several eyes land on you.

You twist the ring, looking at the engraving on the inside for the hundredth time today. Always with you, it says. You found it in Stephen’s room one afternoon, after he’d asked you to clean if you had time. You couldn’t say no, and though he liked to make sure he looked neat, his bedroom could be a mess at times.

When you asked about it, he smiled and told you to keep it. You tried to resist it, hiding it in places all throughout the Sanctum to ensure that it wouldn’t end up back in your possession. He always knew where to find it, and at the end of the day, he’d give it back to you. A gift.

You never really liked wearing jewelry on your hands and wrists. It interferes with the whole ‘raising-the-dead’ thing. You can’t remember the amount of times you broke a bracelet or scratched a ring at the beginning. But when you finally accepted the gift and stopped trying to give it back, you promised Stephen that you’d wear it everyday.

Now you can’t keep it on, as if the gold burns your skin each time it settles into place. Always with you. It feels like a taunt, a joke, something you can’t get away from. 

Where is he?

“No offense, Steve.” Your voice is colder than you mean it to be. “But if I knew anything, don’t you think I would’ve said something?”

Steve opens his mouth to speak, but Rhodes doesn’t give him a chance. “Bruce gave him a sedative. He’s gonna probably be out for the rest of the day.”

“That’s for the best.” You mutter, sliding the ring into your pocket.

“You guys take care of him, and I’ll bring him a Xorrian elixir when I come back.” Carol says, arms crossed over her chest as she begins to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Steve asks.

“To kill Thanos.” She says simply. 

The four of you follow after her quickly, because her pace isn’t slowing down. “Hey.” Natasha calls, Carol stops and turns around. “You know, we usually work as a team here and, uh, between you and I, morale’s a little fragile.”

Rhodes leans against the doorway.

“We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight, too.” Steve says.

“You even know where he is?” Rhodes asks, looking up from the tile.

“I know people who might.” She says.

“Don’t bother.” Nebula cuts in, standing across the room. “I can tell you where Thanos is.”

“Well, let’s hear it.” You say, going down the steps to join her in the sitting room. 

When you get inside, you see that Rocket is in here, too. Nebula moves to stand next to the window, waiting for the others to join you. You twist a chair around, sitting in it, and sinking into the navy blue cushions. Bruce and Thor roundup to join you.

“Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me.” She says, once everyone has come inside the room. “And when he worked, he talked about his Great Plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I’d ask…” She pauses. “Where would we go once his plan was complete?” She turns her head. “And his answer was always the same.” She joins them at the table. “‘To the Garden’.”

Rhodes makes a face, tilting his head. “That’s cute. Thanos has a retirement plan.”

“So, where is he?” Steve asks, moving around the table.

Rocket pulls up a projection of the Earth. “When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions.” The projection sends off a blast to emphasize this. “No one’s ever seen anything like it. Until two days ago…” 

He messes with the projection to show a different galaxy, zooming in until you’re met with a planet with rings around it. When you lean forward to see it, the name tag above reads, ‘PLANET 0259-S’. 

“On this planet.” Rocket finishes. 

“Thanos is there.” Nebula says. 

Natasha leans in close. “He used the stones again.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Bruce nervously chuckles, he’s standing at the doorway. “We’d be going in shorthanded, you know.”

“Look, he’s still got the stones, so—”

“So, let’s get ‘em.” Carol’s eyes are locked on the planet. “Use them to bring everyone back.”

“Just like that?” Bruce asks. 

“Yeah. Just like that.” Steve says.

You sit up on the chair at the sound of this.

“Even if there’s a small chance that we can undo this, I mean, we owe it to everyone who’s not in this room to try.” Natasha says, shaking her head.

“If we do this, how do we know it’s gonna end any differently than it did before?” Bruce asks. 

“Because before you didn’t have me.” Carol says, hands on her hips. 

“Hey, new girl?” Rhodes looks at her. “Everybody in this room is about that superhero life.” She tilts her head slightly. “And if you don’t mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?”

“There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately, they didn’t have you guys.”

Rhodes and Steve make the same face at each other—fair enough.

Thor pushes up from where he’s sitting at the dining room table, still chewing his food. He walks up behind Carol, and she faces him. He holds his hand out over her shoulder, Stormbreaker—the axe that was made on Nidavellir—goes to him, narrowly missing her head, blowing her hair into her face. She doesn’t flinch.

He sighs, squinting, and then nods. “I like this one.”

There’s a moment of silence, you get to your feet, wandering over to stand at the table. Steve looks at you, “Let’s go get this son of a bitch.”

��

The planet that Thanos has chosen to inhabit is, unfortunately, gorgeous. It’s a peaceful place, quiet, with thriving nature and wildlife. The group of you walk in silence, allowing you to enjoy the sounds of the animals chittering around you. 

It doesn’t take long before you come up to the wood shack that Carol had noticed when she came through the atmosphere about ten minutes ago. She went in first, while the rest of you waited in space, wanting to make sure that there wasn’t anything waiting for you on the planet. 

She’d come back, happy to report that there wasn’t a single living being beside Thanos. No satellites, ships, armies. There weren’t even ground defenses. Which would’ve had you excited, if it weren’t for what happened last time you fought him. You practically had the advantage then, too. There were so many people with different abilities.

Bruce positions himself underneath the shack, wearing his iron suit to supplement the fact that Hulk is still out of commission. You watch as Steve waves his arm in a circle, giving Carol the signal. A bright and fiery beam goes right through the shack, and seconds later, she follows.

There’s the sound of Carol fighting Thanos, getting him into position. Bruce breaks through the floor first, with Rhodes and Thor coming through the ceiling. It isn’t until you hear Thanos screaming, do you concur that the gauntlet must be off, done in the most aggressive way possible.

Steve goes up the stairs first, you and Natasha following close behind. Carol has Thanos in a headlock, Rhodes holding his right arm, Bruce holding the left. On the floor lies Thanos’s hand, the gauntlet still attached to it.

Thanos is groaning, face twisted. Rocket makes his way around to the handle, flipping over the gold gauntlet. “Oh, no.”

You look over, expecting to see that everything is fine, besides his mangled arm. You’re met with empty slots, not a single one of the stones is attached to the gauntlet. You sigh, pressing your lips together.

Natasha and Steve share a look before he speaks, “Where are they?”

Thanos groans, Carol pulls her arm tighter, “Answer the question.”

Half of his face is scarred, as if he’s recently been in a fire. Your eyes trail down to what’s left of his arm, finding it in the same condition. In this moment, you can feel the little hope you have leaving your body. 

“The universe required correction.” Thanos says. “After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation.”

“You murdered trillions!” Bruce shouts, shoving Thanos back.

“You should be grateful.”

Bruce punches him.

Natasha takes a breath. “Where are the stones?”

“Gone.” He tells her. “Reduced to atoms.”

“You used them two days ago!” Bruce exclaims.

“I used the stones to destroy the stones.” Thanos says. “It nearly killed me.”

You shake your head, corners of your lips turning down. “That’s not true.”

“It is.” His eyes land on you. “But the work is done. It always will be. I am inevitable.”

“We have to tear this place apart. He has to be lying!” Rhodes says. 

“My father is many things.” Nebula murmurs. “A liar is not one of them.”

“Ah.” Thanos breaths. “Thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly.”

Thor swings his axe up without notice, shouting as he cuts off Thanos’s head. It hits the ground with a thud, purple blood splattering against the wall, on Nebula's face. His body falls back.

“What?” Bruce breathes.

“What did you do?” Rocket asks.

“I went for the head.” Thor mumbles, turning to walk out of the hut.

The rest of you stand in silence, watching as Nebula walks over to his body, kneeling down to shut his eyes. You take in deep breaths through your nose to calm the rising anger. Various thoughts on how you could torture him, even though he’s dead, begin to come to you. You could drag his pathetic body back to Earth, conjure it everyday, make him work his fingers to the bone, never let him rest.

He took Stephen, you think. 

You grit your teeth. “All due respect, Nebula, but we better burn his body.” You tell her, Natasha and Carol glance at you. You squeeze your hands into fists. “Or else I’m going to make sure he never rests. I could find thousands of ways to make the afterlife miserable, trust me.”

She nods at you, and then turns back to him.

You move to follow after Thor, who’s already down the stairs, traveling toward the spaceship. “If you need me, I’ll be by the ship.”

The hero suit fades away, falling back to your regular clothes. Your fingers dip into your jean pocket, coming into contact with the ring you’d stored earlier. You pull it out, holding it in your palm for a long moment. Then, you sigh, sliding it back into its place on your thumb.

ONE YEAR LATER

The dark clouds swirl above the field, acting as a warning that you don’t have much time to practice today. It rains often in New York, so this wouldn’t be your first time having to experience it while testing your abilities. However, it’s happened enough for you to say that you hate the feeling of it.

Lately, you’ve been feeling heavier whenever you come out here, like the ground is one giant blackhole and you’re constantly fighting against flying inside of it. The rain will only make it worse, and you can’t stand it when your clothes are waterlogged. It makes the seats of your car soggy.

Despite this, you take your time walking to the middle, not that you’re able to go faster than this, anyway. You haven’t been yourself for quite a few days, you think a cold might be coming on. Wong has begun to notice too, it was a struggle to convince him to let you leave the Sanctum. Which was done on the promise that you wouldn’t come out here to do this today.

Well, unfortunately for him, you can’t afford to lose time. Every day you spend on your ass, you take a step back from what you’re working towards—a breakthrough. It’s got to be right around the corner, this whole week, you’ve repeatedly felt yourself come to the ledge, but you were too afraid to jump.

You know now that this is how you grow to be stronger, to have a better understanding of your abilities. You can’t become a better hero if you don’t know how to sacrifice yourself sometimes, too.

There’s something under there, beneath the grass. It’s more than just the dead that you’re used to bringing to life. You get a feel for it each time you try, but it’s like uprooting a tree that’s been standing for hundreds of years. It’s resistant. 

You haven’t told any of the Avengers yet, afraid to get their hopes up. You think that it’s those who were killed in the blip. The reason why it’s so hard to bring them back is because they don’t have physical bodies, so what happens if you try to put them back together?

It sounds ridiculous at first, but it’s not that heinous when you map it out. When you tried to explain it to Wong, he shut you down within the first thirty minutes, telling you that this isn’t how it works. You told him that it’s fine if he doesn’t want to have hope, you won’t let him drag you down. 

It goes like this—it’s very simple—their bodies are everywhere. Those who were killed outdoors have been spread through nature. They were in the air at one point, but now they’re in the grass, the dirt, the Earth. They’re here, half the job is already done for you. What you need to do is focus on one person to bring back in the area, and work from there.

And it’s not even that ridiculous of an idea! When you were on Titan last year, directly after you’d lost Stephen, you tried that exact method. It’s where your inspiration came from. The ground shook, trying to listen to your direction. The issue is that you weren’t strong enough, you didn’t have enough practice to be doing something like that.

Now, you do. It’s what you’ve been working toward for the past few months, day in and day out, no breaks, absolutely no days off.

You slowly lower yourself to the ground, joints aching. You breathe heavily, sitting sideways on your legs, because your knees hurt from sitting on them for hours at a time. You place your hands in front of you, palms flat in the grass.

When you close your eyes, the ticklish feeling in your stomach rises. You focus on that, what it means, how long it’ll take for it to build before it becomes the dark energy that is necromancy. It isn’t until you feel the pressure beginning in your palms, as if you’re being sucked downward, do you switch to that.

You don’t allow it to bring you down, in fact, you pull back with ten times as much force. You’re coming to me, you think, not the other way around. It doesn’t want to, though, so you sort through the mass. Eyes bouncing from side to side behind your lids, looking for the weakest link.

You find it, and yank. The first few times, it doesn’t budge, it’s coming from several directions, exactly what you’re looking for. With this excitement, you beckon it toward you. The body isn’t fighting anymore, it’s like reeling in a dead fish. Which wouldn’t be appetizing to others, but it’s what you’re looking for.

The worry sets in when you realize that it’s not slowing down. You’ve just lifted your right hand off of the ground, when the matter surges through your body—your head whipping back so fast that you’ll be feeling it for weeks. 

A scream tears through your vocal chords, fire eating you up inside. 

It explodes.

You’re thrown into the air, body twisting at an awkward angle as you come into contact with the ground. You land on your bad shoulder, sending a spike of electricity through your torso and down your legs. 

There’s an unbearable ringing in your ears when you roll onto your back, struggling to breathe through the cloud of black smoke that comes to choke you. Your head rolls off to your right side, fingers reaching to touch the scorched grass that you’ve landed on top of. 

The moment you come into contact, it crumbles, turning to dust.

And so do you.

—

The consistent beeping of the heart monitor next to you is what you hear first. A moment of relief floods you, because this means that your hearing isn’t permanently damaged, but it’s fleeting when you realize what that means. Your eyebrows draw in, squeezing your eyes before you try to open them.

The hospital room is dark, the entire afternoon has been wasted away. You look to the window a few feet away, and find a lovely shade of blue and grey, blurred because of the raindrops that cling to the other side. It’s raining, of course, which means that you won’t be able to go out and try again tonight.

You roll your eyes, letting out an annoyed sigh, which you instantly regret when the pain seizes your entire body. You let out a grunt, pressing the back of your head into the pillow, teeth grit while you wait for it to pass.

You remind yourself that this is only a temporary setback. As soon as it’s not muddy out there anymore, you’ll try again. So, maybe not tomorrow, but the following day. You’ll do it again, and you’ll do it right.

A knock on the hospital room door makes you look over. It swings open without you granting entrance, making it a courtesy knock, and when you see who it is, there’s no explanation needed.

Tony Stark strolls into your room as if he owns the entire hospital. His eyes are on you, jaw set. You know this look, it’s the same one he gives right before he lectures you. The look on his face is the least of your worries when you see that his lip is busted and swollen. There’s also a cut across his forehead, blood leaking from it.

“What happened?” It hurts you speak, you wince, scooting to sit up higher on the bed. “How do you know I’m here?”

He shuts the door behind him, there’s no vase of flowers, not even a get well soon card in his hand. This is not a visit he’s making to check on your wellbeing, he doesn’t want to comfort you.

“I’m your emergency contact.” He tells you, stopping at the end of your bed. He sticks his hands into his pockets, eyebrows raised. “I got a call from the nurse because she thought you needed some support.”

You press your lips together, eyes drifting away from his face and to the door he just came through. Stephen is supposed to be your emergency contact, you did it when you got extremely sick during your first year of dating. He was worried you wound up dead somewhere when you hadn’t seen or talked to him for three days straight. He called every hospital in New York to find you.

Tony’s your backup, actually. You know that if anything were to happen to you, and if there’s no one else to make the decisions, he’d do what’s right and in your best interest. The two of you are very close, but you know he’d never let emotion get in the way if he knew you were suffering.

“I’m fine.” You murmur. “Just had an accident, that's all.”

“An accident?” Tony repeats. “That’s what you call raising a monster from hell?”

You blink, face twisting. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I mean, I think something exploded but there was no monster.”

“You weren’t awake for that part.” He tells you. “I just spent the last hour fighting it and your wizard buddy had to contain it.”

You stare at him, unsure if he’s telling the truth or not. A part of the evidence is his face, you suppose. You didn’t see anything, though. Just the smoke… which very well could’ve hidden it.

“What were you doing out there, anyway?” He asks.

“I’m working on something.” You adjust in the bed, settling back. “I’ve almost got it. As soon as I get out here, I’ll try again.”

“Try what again?”

You smile, “To bring them back, of course.” Tony’s face falls, he closes his eyes, shaking his head at you. “You have to hear me out first—”

“See, when Wong told me what you were up to, I didn’t believe him.” Tony reaches up, rubbing his face. “I thought that you couldn’t possibly be naive enough to—”

“Oh,” You groan out, waving your hand dismissively, “Don’t listen to Wong, he says I can’t do it. I’m so close though, I can feel it. I almost had it this afternoon, I think I just… chose the wrong thing, you know?”

“(Y/n),” Tony warns.

“See, this is one of the reasons why I didn’t want to tell you so soon. Either it’d get your hopes up, or you’d fall with Wong. Ignore him, he doesn’t know anything.”

You look out the window again. You’re not sure why he’s shutting you down like this. Out of everyone, you thought that he’d be the one that’d jump on your side. It wouldn’t be the first time he bet on something so outlandish. With him on your side, you think you have a better chance at succeeding.

Besides, you can bring back the dead, anyway. How is this that big of a stretch? And if you did pull a monster out of the ground—it’s even more the reason to believe you.

“I can bring them back, Tony.” You say.

“(Y/n), you can’t.” He says, “You tried, remember? You couldn’t then, and you can’t now.”

“Yeah, because I haven’t had my breakthrough yet.” You laugh, which dissolves into you grimacing. “I’m not strong enough. Just a couple more times, and I’ll have it.”

“No.” Tony waves his hand, as if he’s cutting off your plan. “You do any more of this, and you’ll get yourself killed.”

“That’s not true.” You shake your head. “We both don’t know if I can even die.” 

“At the pace you’re going, it doesn’t even matter!” He holds his hand out. “In the end, if you die, all you would’ve been doing to yourself this entire time is torture.”

You tilt your head at him. “I know you’re worried about me, and I appreciate it. I’m fine, though, look at me.”

“I am, and I feel like I’m talking to a corpse. Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“I’m sick, Tony. It’s just the flu.” You say.

“No, (Y/n), your body is wasting away because this,” He motions aggressively to the window. “Is all you do. Wong has been contacting me for weeks, afraid that you’re going to drop dead any minute.”

“Fine,” You sigh. “If you two are so worried, I’ll take a break, but I’m not giving this up. It’s a hiccup, as soon as I get it down—”

He cuts you off, “What would Stephen think of this?” 

You stare, “Don’t.”

“No, you don’t.” He tells you. “I know we don’t have the best relationship at times, but I sure as hell won’t watch you kill yourself.”

“Then walk away.” You point to the door. “No one asked you to be here, to come in here talking about what Stephen would or wouldn’t want. You don’t know anything about him!”

“That doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t take a genius to know that he cared about you.”

“Get out.” You tell him. “Get the fuck away from me.”

He starts toward the door, not saying anything until he’s halfway out, turning to look at you. “If I catch wind that you’re doing this again, I’ll have you locked in a padded room for the rest of your life.”

Tony pulls the door shut tightly behind him.

THREE YEARS LATER

The clothes in the closet have lost their scent. After three years of picking them out to hold against your nose, there’s nothing left of him. Which means that your reasoning to stay in the Sanctum has finally expired. You have to move on.

This is by your own choice, not anyone else’s. Wong has made it explicitly clear that if you want to stay here, he will not say otherwise. He doesn’t mind it. In fact, you keep him company, even if your presence is mostly done in silence. What matters is that you’re in the room.

You took this offer, but told yourself that you couldn’t stay here forever. If you were going to be hung up on Stephen, you’d have to do it privately. So, you made a deal; the moment his room stopped feeling like it belonged to him, it was time to go. 

You noticed it a few weeks ago, when you came back from the Avengers Compound to collect the last of your belongings. The team was falling apart, again, and as much as you wish you could say that you were going to stay this time, you weren’t. You were already planning on leaving for good, this was just the perfect excuse to use.

The moment you stepped foot into the bedroom, you knew there was no coming back. It felt like you were walking into a foreign planet, a place you didn’t recognize, despite being there hours earlier. Six years of living in this room, gone.

Since, you’ve spent your time trying to find an apartment you like for a decent price, that’s also close to the Sanctum. You almost cried when you got offered a perfect one a few streets away, ready for you to move in. However, your initial excitement has worn off. You’ve been dragging your feet the entire week when it comes to packing, because they had to finalize the paperwork anyway.

Which left you to do it all today.

For the past two hours, you’ve packed everything you own back into boxes and bins, stacking them by the bedroom door. You decided early on that it would be easier if you worked in phases. The hardest part would be detaching yourself from this place, which proved itself to be true. 

You’ve cried a few times throughout the process, but it’s done now. The only thing left to do is bring the boxes down to your car, that’s waiting for you parked in front of the Sanctum.

You drag your feet, stopping in front of the first stack. A sigh leaves you when you reach to pull a box into your arms. When you realize it’s not heavy, you adjust to grab the one that was beneath it, too. You’re not entirely looking forward to going up and down the stairs a hundred times.

A sickness rises in your stomach when you leave the bedroom, beginning to go down the hallway. This feels wrong, like a one-sided breakup, leaving before the other person can get home. Your feet pause briefly, shoe squeaking against the freshly waxed floor.

That’s exactly what it is, isn’t it? 

No, you think harshly, this is different. Stephen is never coming home. He’s lost, just like the trillions of other lives that were taken when Thanos snapped his fingers. This isn’t a breakup.  A part of you wishes it were, because at least then, you’d still have a chance to see him around New York, even if it weren’t on good terms or romantically.

You suck in a deep breath, holding it as you begin your way down the stairs, the first trip of many. You drop these boxes next to the front door, wanting to pack your car all at once. That way, if there’s an issue, it’ll be easier to take it apart. You head back upstairs to repeat this process, it only takes a good fifteen minutes before you’re done. 

When you go back to Stephen’s room one last time to retrieve the engraved, golden ring, your heart skips a few beats in your chest. You shuffle toward the dresser, eyes searching the surface, thinking that it might be blending in. You run your fingers over it, and come back with nothing.

You turn around to look into the room, face twisting, eyebrows pushing in as you struggle to remember if you had moved it or not. You walk to his nightstand, opening the drawers, rummaging through them, even though you could’ve sworn you never put it in here.

It’s not there. So, you move to your nightstand, where you’ve kept your jewelry in the past, especially the ring. Except, when you open the first drawer, you’re met with emptiness. You’ve already taken everything out of it, because it’s packed into one of the boxes downstairs.

You sweep the floor with your eyes, but it’s too dark in here. You throw the curtains open, flooding the room with sunlight. When you go back to looking, hoping that the ring will reflect the light, you can’t find it.

You switch to the closet, opening the doors to reveal that it’s half empty now. The only clothes left hanging are the ones that Stephen thought were too important to fold, and to keep them from wrinkling. There’s nothing here, not even in the darkest corner.

Did it fall under the bed?

On your knees, you press the side of your face to the floor, but the only thing under here are the dust bunnies. You make sure of this, too, when you grab a broom to bring it all out.

The panic begins to settle in, spreading through your body. How did you manage to misplace the ring? It’s the most valuable thing to you. You’d think you’d be more careful with something as sentimental as that—a ring from your dead boyfriend.

“Maybe it’s in a box.” You murmur to yourself to calm down, reel in the insanity that’s beginning to rise. 

You head out of the bedroom, looking at the boxes over the railing. Once you’re down the stairs and in the foyer, you pull the first box off of the stack, opening the cardboard flaps, and pulling all of its contents out. There is no ring, so you push the objects away, off to the side, not bothering to repack it.

The further you get through the pile, the more hysterical you grow. The box that you’d packed with your jewelry doesn’t have it. The neatly folded clothes, now tossed on the floor, don’t have it caught in the cloth. It’s not stuck between the books, you didn’t accidentally throw it with the rest of your trinkets, it’s not with your electronics.

Everything you own is strewn across the foyer, as you continue to tear them apart.

It’s not here.

You get back to your feet, struggling to breathe, the tears starting.

The front door suddenly opens, you look over to see that it’s Wong. He gives you a wide smile at first, which slowly begins to fall when he sees the expression and the state the foyer is in.

“What’s the matter?” He asks.

“I lost the ring.” You whisper. “I don’t—I don’t know where it is. I’ve looked everywhere.” You turn around to motion to the mess you’ve made. “I don’t have it here, I even checked my car. I set it aside so I wouldn’t lose it and it’s not here. The one thing I carry with me and I’m stupid enough—”

“(Y/n),” Wong says, coming to grab your shoulders. You can feel his fingers pressing into the metal that makes up your left shoulder. A replacement that Tony made for you, covering the entire cost. “(Y/n), stop.”

You press your lips together, face contorting as you nod, trying to focus.

“I told you I was taking it to get cleaned, remember?” He asks, face twisted. He removes his hands, reaching into his coat pocket to pull out the small silk bag.

“Oh.” You breathe, feeling your body relax.

You cup your hands, watching as he carefully shakes the ring out of the bag. It’s polished, smooth. When you tilt it to see the inside, the engraving is there, untouched.

“Okay.” You say.

“You’re okay?” He confirms.

You nod, pushing it back to where it belongs on your thumb. “I’m sorry, Wong.”

“Don’t apologize.” He tells you, turning to face the foyer. “Do you need help repacking?”

“Will you?” You ask.

“Of course.”

FIVE YEARS LATER

The sound of a distantly familiar ringtone begins from the coffee table in your living room, again. 

Your eyebrows draw in, turning your head to the side to listen through the first few notes. As you reach for the towel on the counter to dry your hands, you try to remember who it could belong to. It’s garish, dramatic. Whoever the person is, they must resemble the noise.

The bell finally rings.

It’s Stark.

You toss the towel back on the counter when you leave the kitchen. There’s a faint sense of urgency in your steps, considering that you’ve let him call you twice already, figuring that whoever it was would leave you a voicemail. 

In fairness, it’s been a long time since you and Tony talked to each other, muchless on the phone. If you remember correctly, the last conversation you had with him happened right before you left the Avengers. Since then, there hasn’t really been a need to keep up-to-date with him.

All of his life updates are posted on social media, anyway. The only thing you’re obligated to do each year is send his daughter presents when the holidays come around. After all, it’s the least you can do after he saved your life and set you straight.

Sure enough, Tony’s face lights up your screen, a sigh escapes you. You pull the phone into your hand, swiping across the glass to accept the call. You press it to your ear, “Hello?”

“Do you ever answer your phone?” Tony’s voice comes through. “I mean, seriously, it took me three tries for you to pick up? What if I were dying?”

You roll your eyes, letting out a light laugh. “I would hope you’d call Pepper before me, considering we haven’t spoken to each other in almost three years.”

“Has it really been that long?”

“Yes, Tony. Is everything okay?” You ask, walking back to the kitchen.

“I’m fine, (Y/n). Listen, something’s happened.”

You put the call on speaker, setting your phone next to the sink so you can resume doing the dishes. “Good or bad?”

“Both.” He answers. You pull a plate out of the soapy water, scrubbing at it with a sponge. “You remember that fight between me and Cap, right? The one in Germany? There was the guy who could go from big to small?”

You hum, “Scott Lang?”

The sound of him snapping fills the air. “Yes, that guy. Well, he, Natasha and Cap showed up at my house the other day.”

He pauses, not going on any further. You wonder if there’s a point to this story, or if he’s just calling to tell you it’s weird that Scott flew from Los Angeles all the way to New York. Which you guess it is, considering…

Your hands freeze on the plate, eyebrows drawing in. “That’s not possible, Scott Lang was killed in the blip.”

“Yeah, I thought so too, but he’s here. They came over talking about quantum jumping, and how he got stuck in the middle of it when Thanos snapped his fingers. Five years felt like five hours to him.”

“And he’s alive?” You ask.

“Yes.” He sighs into the phone. “You know I wouldn’t be calling you if I thought I was just getting your hopes up.”

This is true. When you were parting ways with the Avengers, you and Tony had a long discussion about the future, and where both of you stood on the matter. You told him that you wanted to retire your suit for good. With there being so many heroes in New York again, there wasn’t a reason for all of you to be active anymore.

This set up the idea that this could be the last time you came face to face with them, because it was partially your plan. You can’t be sucked in if you refuse to be involved. He respected your wishes on this, and told you that if anything were to happen to you, he’d be there in a second if you needed him to be.

And before you left, you came to an agreement; if there was a way that either of you could turn back time and fix everything in a reasonable way, you’d be there, no questions asked.

“Okay…” You prompt him.

“(Y/n), I figured it out.” He tells you. “I figured out how to time travel. It’s taken me…” You can picture him shaking his head. “But I think we can go back and fix this. I think we can bring them back.”

You set the clean plate off to the side, placing the sponge back where it belongs in the ceramic dish. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

You lean over the sink, nodding slowly. “What did they say about it?”

“I haven’t told them yet. I thought you should be the first to know, that’s the deal we made, right?”

“Right.” You agree. “How soon are we doing this?”

“Today.” He says. “I’ll pick you up. We’ll sort it out with them when we get to the Avengers Facility.’

Your eyes land on the gold ring that’s currently sitting on the window sill. “I’ll be ready.” You murmur. “Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

—

“I remember why I stopped letting you drive me around.” You say, watching as the Facility grows closer. “Cause you’ve got a lead foot.”

“Shut up.” Tony tells you, taking a turn. “We’re almost there.”

“Try not to send us through the windshield before then.” You mutter, being thrown into the door, tires squealing against the asphalt.

As you near the front, you can see that Steve is standing outside of it, hands on his hips. Tony pulls up right before him, putting the car in park when it’s come to a complete stop. He rolls the window down, lazily moving his head to look at Steve.

“Why the long face?” He asks after a moment of silence. “Let me guess, he turned into a baby.”

Steve nods, looking away. “Among other things, yeah. What are you two doing here?”

You throw the car door open to get out before he can start driving again. 

“It’s the EPR Paradox.” Tony gets out, too. “Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might’ve wound up pushing time through Lang. It’s tricky, dangerous. Somebody could have cautioned you against it.”

You shut the door, walking around the car to join them. 

“You did.” Steve says.

“Oh, did I?” Tony mocks being shocked. “Well, thank god I’m here. Regardless, I fixed it.” He holds up his hand, which has the time traveling cuff—or whatever it is, you stopped trying to understand it after he explained it the second time. “A fully functioning time-space GPS.”

Steve smiles.

“I just want peace.” Tony holds up two fingers. “Turns out resentment is corrosive, and I hate it.”

“Me, too.” Steve says, looking at you. “What are you doing?”

“I’m here to help, obviously.” You give him a bright smile. “I can be useful, sometimes.”

“We got one shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities.” Tony says. “Bring back what we lost, I hope, yes. Keep what I found, I have to, at all costs. And maybe not die trying, would be nice.”

Steve nods again, holding out his hand. “Sounds like a deal.”

Tony takes it, they shake on it. You let out air through your nose, shaking your head as you wander away, staying close to watch Tony open the trunk of the car. He pulls out Steve’s shield, dumping the blanket and stuffed animal back into the car. 

“Tony, I don’t know.” Steve mutters.

“Why? He made it for you.” He flips it around. “Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding.”

Steve takes it, holding it across his arm. “Thank you, Tony.”

“Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn’t bring one for the whole team.” He pulls out a red case, reaching up with his other hand to press the button that closes the trunk for him. “We are getting the whole team, yeah?”

“We’re working on that right now.” Steve says. 

“Cool.” You turn around to walk to the doors. “Until we have everyone here, I will be sitting on my ass and doing exactly nothing.”

“Not very different from what you usually do, right?” Tony asks behind you.

You give him a sarcastic smile.

—

“Okay, so the how works.” Steve begins. “Now we gotta figure out the when and the where.”

There’s a set of three screens he’s standing by, each one showing two stones. It’s sorted into detail by what they look like, what they can be contained in, what building they were originally found in, and who might have them in their possession. 

Your eyes are set on the most obvious one, the Time Stone. You and the others already pretty much agreed that you’ll be going after it. You know the most about it, after spending years of being around Stephen.

“Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones.”

“Or substitute the word ‘encounter’ for ‘damn near been killed’ by one of the six Infinity Stones.” Tony says, standing on the other side. There’s a coffee cup in one of his hands. 

“Well, I haven’t, but I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.” Scott says.

“Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each.” Bruce tells you, walking around the back of Scott’s chair. “And these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.”

“Our history.” Tony emphasizes. “So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?”

“Which means we have to pick our targets.” Clint’s got his eyes on the ground. 

“Correct.”

“So, let’s start with the Aether.” Steve says, eyes set on a specific target. “Thor, what do you know?” 

Thor, who has since gained weight, forgotten how to shower, and grown a beard, sits in the corner of the room, slouched as deeply as possible in the chair. There’s a beer in one of his hands, the other rests on his stomach. The pair of sunglasses on his face prohibits you from seeing where his eyes are.

Everyone turns to look at him, waiting.

“Is he asleep?” Natasha asks.

“No, no. I”m pretty sure he’s dead.” Rhodes says.

Tony lets out a sigh, shaking his head. He slaps a hand on his shoulder, which jumpstarts Thor. “Rise and shine, buddy. What do you know about the Aether?”

Thor groans, “I was just about to get up.”

“Right.” 

He gets to his feet, wanting to the front. “Uh, where to start?” He pulls off the sunglasses, holding them in his hand. “Um… The Aether, firstly, is not a stone. Someone called it a stone before.” He points at Steve briefly. “Um, it’s more of an angry sludge sort of a thing… so someone’s gonna need to amend that and stop saying that.” He tilts his head back to squirt eye drops into his eyes.

Your mouth falls open slightly, watching him do this. Is this what you looked like to everyone else when you freaked out that first year? Of course, you were the opposite of whatever Thor is representing, but still. His coping mechanisms are a hell of a lot worse than yours were… you think.

Clint comes beside you, pulling a chair out to sit down.

“Here’s an interesting story, though, about the Aether. My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves.” He makes a ghostly sound, laughing in the middle. “Scary beings. So, Jane, actually—” The middle screen changes to show her face. “Oh, there she is. Yeah, so Jane was a—was an old flame of mine.”

You rub your face, letting out a sigh while you tilt your head back to look at the ceiling. These past few days already have been long, while you waited for them to design the time traveling suits, build the platform, and send Clint into the future as a test run. You can’t imagine what today and tomorrow are going to be like, if this is how it’s starting.

“You know, she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time and then the Aether stuck itself inside her and she became very, very sick. And so I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I’m from and we had to try and fix her.” Thor continues.

You swivel in your chair, facing Natasha. She raises her eyebrows, and you grab her notepad, dragging it in front of you. Clint offers up a pen on the other side, you take it, writing down that Jane Foster has the Aether in Asgard. 

“We were dating at the time, you see and I got to introduce her to my mother,” He’s waving around the sunglasses. “Who’s dead and, um… Oh, you know, Jane and I aren’t even dating anymore, so.” He sniffs. “Yes, these things happen, though. You know? Nothing lasts forever. The only thing that—”

Tony goes up to Thor, grabbing him. “Why don’t you come sit down?”

“I’m not done yet.” He pushes Tony away. “The only thing that is permanent in life is impermanence.”

Tony claps twice. “Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?”

“No. I’d like a Bloody Mary.” Thor smiles.

You take in a deep breath, “Can I get one, too, then?”

Tony looks at you, “Don’t encourage this.”

“Just something to get me through the rest of the day.” You reason, a teasing smile hinting at your lips.

He squints at you, directing Thor to sit back down in one of the chairs. “Let’s take a break, we’ll regroup at dinner.”

The group breaks apart, eager to get out of this room and away from Thor. You stay where you’re seated, and Tony doesn’t move, either. Thor seems disinterested, turning the can of beer on the table. Once the door has shut, you can’t contain your laughter.

They look at you, waiting for you to let them in on what you find so funny. You wave your hand, turning around in the chair to bury your face in your hands. You forget just how ridiculous this team can be at times. It’s more than just crime fighting, it’s camaraderie. 

“Okay,” You breathe, facing them again. “Thor, can you give me a year where Jane was in Asgard when she was infected with the Aether?”

“Oh, sure.” Thor says, he’s composed himself. “It was twenty-thirteen. It won’t mean anything unless it’s in the Stone form, though.”

You hum, flipping the page over, writing down everyone that is planning to help. Next to Thor’s name, you put ‘R’ for the Reality Stone, making him in charge of that. He’ll need someone to go with him, of course, because he’s in no state to have this big of a responsibility, but you’ll figure that out later on. The point is that Asgard was his home, he’ll know how to navigate it.

Beside your name, you write ‘T’ for the time stone. No matter what the others say, you won’t let them take this one from you. If they want to help you, you’ll drag someone along. As far as you’re concerned, this will be under control.

“What are you doing?” Tony asks, coming around the table.

“Sorting this out.” You murmur, flipping back to the original page. You begin to write what you know about the Time Stone, which is more than what Thor could give you about the Reality. “Those who know the most about the stones should be in charge of them, I figured you don’t really think otherwise.”

You look at him, he makes a face, nodding to agree with you. 

“What are you thinking about for dinner? Takeout will be on me.” Tony says, crossing his arms.

“Burgers.” Thor says, “A nice juicy burger.”

You make a face, “I’ve been craving Chinese lately.”

A few hours later, after everyone has finished what they were doing with the suits or the portal, you find yourself back in the room. Your suggestion on Chinese food was fairly popular with the others, so Tony took the order and had the food delivered to the Facility.

“All right, Ratchet, go for it.” Tony motions once everyone is settled in their seats.

“Rocket.” He corrects, giving him a look. “Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag.” The screen lights up purple, you set your fork down to write what he says into the notepad.

“Is that a person?” Bruce asks, smacking on his ice cream.

“No, Morag’s a planet.” Rocket says, standing on the table. “Quill was a person.”

“Like a planet? Like in outer space?” Scott asks from the other end of the table.

“Oh, look.” Rocket places his hand on Scott’s head, beginning to give him a head rub. “It’s like a little puppy, all happy and everything. Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy?” Scott pulls his head away, unamused. “I’ll take you to space.”

“Have you been to Morag?” You ask, looking up from the paper. “You or Nebula?”

“No.” Rocket says, turning around to face you.

“I haven’t, either.” She shakes her head. “I believe it’s kept in a temple.”

You blow a piece of hair out of your face. “Okay…”

You flip the page, finding her name on the list, writing ‘P’. You chew on the inside of your lip, thinking. When you look at Tony, you find his eyes on you. 

“What’s the problem?”

“We’re going to have to go in pairs, anyway, right?” You ask, “What if…”

You write ‘R’ next to Rocket, knowing that he and Thor have worked together in the past, during the first fight with Thanos. They went together to Nidavellir, where Thor got Stormbreaker. They clearly get along fine. As for Nebula, lately she’s been working with Rhodes. That’s why you decide to pair them together.

Tony tilts his head, “I don’t see why not.”

It’s the following day when you finally get time to talk about the Stones again, since the conversation on Morag was thrown out the window when technicalities came into play. The group of you called it a night when Thor started talking about Jane again.

“Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir.” Nebula murmurs from the front. 

“What is Vormir?” Natasha asks, holding the notepad. She’s been up all night writing notes, building off of what you’ve already got in there. When she offered to take it from you, you didn’t argue. 

“A dominion of death at the very center of celestial existence.” She says, voice lowering. “It’s where Thanos murdered my sister.”

There’s a moment of silence between the few of you. Not everyone could make it to this time around. Tony opted out because he decided off the bat that he didn’t want to be involved with anything other than the Space Stone—the tesseract—because he believes that’ll be an easy grab, too.

Steve sighs.

“Not it.” Scott mutters.

This causes several people to look at him.

The meeting room is trashed two days later, there’s papers scattered across the room, as well as folders. There’s books opened to certain pages, laying open on the floor to be easily picked up and resumed when needed. Tony and Natasha lay on the table, with Bruce being on the floor, considering he’s permanently part-Hulk now.

You sit in the recliner in the corner, reading through all the notes you’ve gathered thus far, trying to put together a fairly decent timeline. 

“That Time Stone guy.” Natasha finally breaks the silence.

“Doctor Strange.” Bruce says, you look up from your notes, clicking the pen.

“Stephen Strange.” You murmur.

“Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?” She asks.

“Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit-from-hat.” Tony says, he’s turned on his side, rubbing his face.

“He was a neurosurgeon, that’s why he likes being called Doctor.” You tell her. “He worked at the Metro-General hospital.”

“Nice place in the Village, though.” Bruce says.

“Yeah, on Sullivan Street?” Tony says back.

Bruce hums. “No…”

“Bleecker Street.” You correct.

“Wait, he lived in New York?” Natasha asks, no longer spinning the pen in her hand.

“Yeah—”

“No, he lived in Toronto.” Tony says.

“Uh, yeah, on Bleecker and Sullivan.” Bruce says.

“Have you been listening to anything?” Tony asks Natasha.

She holds her hand up. “Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York.”

Bruce sits up, “Shut the front door.”

You nod, forcing the recliner back to its original position. “Space, Mind and Time, huh?”

“Yeah.” She says. “All we need to do is figure out who’s getting which one.”

An emergency team meeting is called. The four of you move to a different room to be in, because the last one is trashed. The others begin to trickle in steadily, all asking questions on what happened.

It isn’t until the last person comes inside, do you begin. “Everyone, this has gotten a whole lot easier.”

Tony nods, walking up to the projection. At the top, it’s titled ‘Time Heist’, courtesy of Scott, who’s attached to the idea of it. The sections below are broken into three. The first one being New York, which has Time, Space and Mind. The second one is Asgard, which obviously holds the Reality Stone. The third one is Morag / Vormir, for the Power and Soul Stones.

“We have divided the teams.” Tony says. “For team Asgard, we have Thor and Rocket,  Morag will be Nebula and Rhodes, and Vormir is Natasha and Clint. As for New York, it will be the rest of us.” He turns around to face you. “(Y/n) has volunteered to grab the Time Stone, Bruce will go with her. Which leaves Scott, Steve and I to get the Space and Mind Stone, because it’ll be in the same buildings at the same time.”

“All right. We have a plan.” Steve says, crossing the room to stand in front of the projection. “Six stones, three teams, one shot.”

You stand up, walking to stand next to Steve. You grab his shoulder, making him turn to you. “Now we can get this son of a bitch.”

—

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us.” Steve begins. “We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Get the stones. Get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes, no do-overs. Most os uf are going somewhere we know. That doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. 

“Be careful.” He says. “Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we’re gonna win. Whatever it takes. Good luck.” He backs off.

“He’s pretty good at that.” Rocket says.

“Right?” Scott looks at him.

“All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, Jolly Green.” Tony tells Bruce. 

“Trackers engaged.”

Clint holds out his hand, looking at the Milano—Rocket’s spaceship—which has been shrunk to make for easier transportation.

“You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?” Rocket asks.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Clint dismisses him. “Okay, I’ll do my best.”

“As promises go, that was pretty lame.” Rocket crosses his arms.

“It’s Clint, everything about him is lame.” You say, and when Clint looks at you, you give him our sweetest smile. “Isn’t that right?”

“Be quiet.” He tells you.

Bruce comes up the stairs to the platform, stopping to stand right next to you. He slaps his wrist, causing the platform to begin beeping. You take in a deep breath, tilting your head from side to side.

“See ya in a minute.” Natasha smiles.

The helmet comes over your face, you look down, finding that the ground has opened up, sucking you inside. You travel through… you’re not entirely sure how to describe it. At first, it’s a bright tunnel of color that quickly submerges you in blue, traveling through a molecule and into a white light.

You land on your feet in an alleyway, the street in front of you is covered in debris and overturned cars. The time traveling suit disappears, leaving you in a pair of relatively normal clothes for this time. The sound of screaming, sirens and the alien beings moving around and shooting is slightly overwhelming for a couple seconds.

Steve marches forward. “All right, we all have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone down.” He must decide the coast is clear, turning around to come back your way. “Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock.”

Hulk roars, you look around Steve to watch as he lifts a car, smashing it into the alien, clearly killing him. Another one comes to save his comrade, but turns around and runs at the sight of past Hulk plucking a tire off the car and throwing it at a streetlight. Unsatisfied with his original smash, he jumps on the dismembered car a couple times, before stomping away.

Bruce covers his face, embarrassed.

“Maybe smash a few things along the way.” Steve suggests.

“I think it’s gratuitous, but whatever.” Bruce says, ripping off his tank top, walking to the street. 

You shake your head at him, rolling your eyes. You begin to walk away, backwards. “This shouldn’t take long. Are you sure you don’t want my help with the other two stones?”

“We’ve got it covered, (Y/n).” Steve gives you a hard nod. 

“If you say so.” You tilt your head, before following after Bruce, who’s lazily punching cars.

You walk behind him, amused at the way he tries to mimic how he was in the past. He was incredibly, unnecessarily destructive, wasn’t he? You can’t imagine the amount of things he tore apart or broke solely because he could.

“I think we’ll travel faster if we take the roofs.” He finally says, stopping.

“Why do you think that?” You ask, catching up with him. 

He opens his mouth, letting out a sigh. “I don’t want to do this the entire way.”

“Well, unfortunately, you don’t have a baby carrier on you, so you don’t really have an option.” You shrug, “Just enjoy the walk.”

“I can’t.”

“Then don’t break shit, I don’t care.” You laugh, “It’s only a few minutes from here.”

He looks disappointed at your indifference, but he admits that you’re right. Bleecker Street and Sullivan isn’t that far when he’s listening to your directions on the quickest shortcuts. However, you have a problem when the front door to the Sanctum doesn’t open.

Your mouth pops open, tongue clicking. You place your hands on your hips, tilting your head back to see the roof of the building. Your face smooths over when you see orange magic shoot at an alien, causing it to explode.

“Get us up there.” You tell Bruce, it’s a command.

“Sure.” He says.

You allow him to pick you up, setting you on his shoulder. You struggle to balance while he scales the building, but it’s worth it the second you reach the top. He starts for the door that’ll lead you inside of the Sanctum, you don’t move from where you stand, eyes on the lady standing feet away.

A sinking feeling of disappointment hits.

“I’d be careful going that way. We just had the floors waxed.” She tells Bruce before he can open the door.

She’s British, she has an accent, and she’s bald. The robes she’s wearing is a shade of mustard yellow. And she has the Eye of Agamotto around her neck, the same thing that Stephen had in his possession. The Time Stone is right here.

The longer you stare at her, the more you believe you’ve seen her before, or at least heard of her. You go down the three steps, going to join her. You refuse to take your eyes off of her.

“Yeah, I’m looking for Doctor Strange.” Bruce says.

The lady lifts her head slightly. “You’re about five years too early.” She steps away, toward the edge of the roof. “Stephen Strange is currently performing surgery—” she lifts her hand to motion, “about twenty blocks that way.” She stops walking. “What do you want from him?”

“The Time Stone.” You tell her. 

“Ah!” She looks down at the Eye. “I’m afraid not.”

“Sorry, but I wasn’t asking.” Bruce says, stepping over the metal bar to walk toward her.

“You don’t want to do this.” She warns him.

“Bruce, I think we should listen to her.” You tell him.

“Ah, you’re right, I don’t. But I need that stone and I don’t have time to debate it.” He says, hand reaching to grab it.

She slams the heel of her hand into his chest, Bruce falls to the ground, unconscious. You stare with an open mouth for a brief second, and then you snap it shut, looking at her.

Her eyes are already on you, head tilted. “Are you going to take it by force, too?”

“No.”

She smiles. “Let’s start over, shall we?”

It hits you after this, you squint at her. “You’re the one that Stephen and Wong talked about all the time. What is it—?” You wonder aloud, eyes drifting as you think. “Ancient One, isn’t that what they called you?” When you look at her again, she’s got her eyebrows raised. “You’re the Sorcerer Supreme.”

“You’re wise.” She says. “What’s your name?”

“(Y/n).” You tell her, she begins to think about it. “I’m not a student of yours, I’m just dating one. We need the Time Stone, it’s urgent.”

“For what, exactly?”

“We need it so we can bring back half of the population of every living being.” The words are grave, her facial expression changes. “We’re from eleven years in the future. And this is the only solution we have left. We have teams gathering the other five Infinity Stones, and when we bring them together in our time, we’ll be able to fix the damage that was done.”

“You want me to hand it over?” She asks you. “No.”

She begins to walk away, heading for the door. You follow after her. “Please, you don’t understand.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you, (Y/n).” Her pace doesn’t slow. “If I give up the Time Stone to help your reality, I’m dooming my own.”

“With all due respect, all right…” Bruce’s voice echoes, you turn to look behind you, finding him in his original body, not the half-Hulk, half-Bruce one. Except, he’s see-through, a phantom, a ghost. He joins you two up the stairs, jogging in front of her to make her stop. “I’m not sure the science really supports that.”

With him standing between her and the door, she humors you. She reaches forward, yanking out an orange line right in the middle of them. It stretches far between the blocks of New York on both sides. 

“The Infinity Stones create what you experience as the flow of time.” The stones create a ring around the orange. She reaches forward to flick the Time Stone. “Remove one of the stones and that flow splits.” You watch as a black line branches off from where the ring of stones is, creating its own path through the air. “Now, this may benefit your reality but my new one, not so much.

“In this new branch reality without our chief weapon against the forces of darkness our world would be overrun. Millions will suffer. So, tell me, Doctor. Can your science prevent all that?” 

Bruce is rubbing his hands together, “No, but we can erase it. Because once we’re done with the stones we can return each one to its own timeline at the moment it was taken. So, chronologically—” he pulls the Time Stone out of the air, placing it back in the ring, remedifying the split timeline. “In that reality, it never left.”

She turns around, walking away. “Yes, but you’re leaving out the most important part.” She stops at the end of the roof. “In order to return the stones, you have to survive.”

“We will.” You tell her. “I promise.”

“I can’t risk this reality on a promise. It’s the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme to protect the Time Stone.”

“I know.” You murmur. “But Stephen had no choice but to give it to Thanos.” 

She stares at you, “What did you say?”

“Stephen gave the stone to Thanos.”

“Willingly?” She asks.

“Yes.” Bruce says behind you.

“Why?” 

“We lost the battle so that we could win the war.” You tell her. “It’s what had to be done.”

“I see.” She murmurs after a long moment of silence. She reaches over Bruce’s shoulder, summoning his body. 

Bruce returns, back to being giant and green. You watch as she bends her fingers, moving her hands apart, unlocking the Eye. Inside sits the stone, she pulls it out, you cup your hand.

She doesn’t drop it quite yet. “Strange is meant to be the best of us.”

“He is.” You assure her. “He handed it over for a reason.”

“I fear you might be right.” She places the stone in your hand.

You’ve only held it one time before, when Stephen had to fix the Eye of Agamotto. It’s meant to be unbreakable with his spells, but there’s always an exception. He saw how much it bothered you, seeing the Time Stone out of place, and elected you to hold it while he repaired the Eye. 

When you told him you were afraid you’d break it, he said that provides more comfort to him, because it means that you’ll be careful with it.

“Thank you.” Bruce says.

She steps forward, hands over yours. “I’m counting on you, (Y/n). We all are.”

“I’ll bring it back.” You tell her. 

She lets you and Bruce go through the Sanctum to get to the street, not wanting you to crawl back down the building. As soon as you’ve stepped foot back on the sidewalk, you pass the Time Stone over to Bruce, “Here, you take it back.”

His face twists. “We’re going back together. Don’t you want to hold onto it?”

You shake your head. “No, there’s someone I have to see first.”

“You can’t, (Y/n), if you see Stephen, you’ll ruin the timeline.”

“That’s not who I’m going to.” You wave him off. “I won’t talk to her. It’ll be a few minutes.”

He nods, holding out his arm to type in the present day’s date. You watch as he warps into the air, disappearing. You begin to walk away, reaching up to touch your earpiece, “This is (Y/n) to Tony, Bruce has taken the stone back. How are we looking for the other two?”

Tony sighs in your ear. “There’s been an issue, Loki took the Tesseract and disappeared.”

Your feet pause, but quickly go back to walking, because you don’t have much time to be out here. “Okay, what’s the plan? You don’t have enough particles.”

“Cap and I are going back further in time, we’ll be able to get particles and the stone in the same place. We’re sending Scott back to the present. What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna visit someone. You two be careful.”

“We will.” Steve’s voice comes over. “Remember the plan, don’t interact with anyone.”

“I know.” You tell him.

It isn’t that hard for you to find young (Y/n), mostly because of the shredded asphalt and the decomposing bodies that lay on top of it. You follow this careless path, and divert from it to go through an alleyway, where it leads you right to where she is, standing a few feet away.

There’s a smile on her face, that dissolves into concentration, as she gets on the ground, hunching over to pull more of the dead out of the Earth. You remember this, it’s moments after Tony found you and told you to draw in as many of the Chitauri as you possibly could—as long as you could handle it.

You were so young back then, you had absolutely no idea what you were doing. Or that this would eventually lead you to becoming a hero, yourself. That day, you took a leap of faith, and it completely changed the trajectory of your life.

If you hadn’t done this, who knows where you’d be right now. If life would have treated you any differently. If you still would’ve joined the Avengers, just a few years later down the line. Or if you’d ever even get to meet Stephen.

It doesn’t matter, because you don’t think you’d ever tell your past self to change her mind. 

“You’ve got this.” You say to her, eyes flickering between the time system and her, where she’s fighting. “Just keep pushing, you’re on the right path.”

As you type the date in, you watch as she looks up from the ground, eyes landing on you. You submit the time, and just before you leave, you hold a hand up to wave at her. 

You’re sucked through the warp, as you travel backwards through the tunnel you took to get here. And despite leaving at different times, it joins you with the rest of your group. You arrive at the Avengers Facility at the same time.

The helmet falls back at the same time it does for everyone else, the suit following directly after.

“Did we get ‘em all?” Bruce asks.

Rhodes laughs. “Are you telling me this actually worked?”

Clint falls to his knees, staring off in front of him. You know this look, something’s happened. Your eyes try to switch to Natasha, hoping that she’ll offer an explanation, but she’s absent.

“Oh, Clint.” You murmur.

“Clint, where’s Nat?” Bruce asks.

Clint’s eyes are watery, his lips turning further down. There’s a long moment of silence between all of you, as the news settles in. You were warned by Nebula that the way Thanos got the stone was through losing his daughter. You were all hoping that she was being difficult and her actions got her killed, not… this.

Bruce falls to his knees, slamming his fist into the platform.

You sigh, shaking your head. “Shit.”

—

“All right, the glove’s ready.” Rocket says, adjusting the fingers. “Question is, who’s gonna snap their freakin’ fingers?”

“I’ll do it.” Thor says, coming over.

“Excuse me?” Tony asks, turning around.

“It’s okay.” He steps closer to the glove.

“Stop, stop.” Tony reaches to grab Thor at the same time Steve does. “Slow down.”

“Thor. Just wait.” Steve tells him. “We haven’t decided who’s gonna put that on yet.”

“I’m sorry. WHat, we’re all just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?”

“We should at least discuss it.” Scott says.

“Look, sitting here staring at the thing is not gonna bring everybody back.” He brings his fingers to his thumbs on both hands. “I’m the strongest Avenger, okay? So, this responsibility falls upon me. It’s my duty.”

“Normally, you’re right.” Tony steps in front of him. “It’s not about that.”

“It’s not that.” He shushes him. “Stop it! Just let me. Just let me do it.” He whispers. “JUst let me do something good. Something right.”

“Look, it’s not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent. I’m telling you. You’re in no condition.” Tony tells him.

“What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?” His hands are on Tony’s shoulders.

“Cheez Whiz?” Rhodes suggests, you snort.

Thor is unamused, holding out a finger to quiet him. “Lightning.”

“Yeah.”

“Lightning.” Thor repeats.

“LIghtning won’t help you, pal.” Bruce says, finally going forward. “It’s gotta be me.” Thor looks at the ground, Tony moves away. “You saw what those stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him. None of you could survive.” He stops in front of the glove.

“How do we know you will?” Steve asks.

“We don’t. But the radiation’s mostly gamma. It’s like… uh, I was made for this.”

“If this is what you want.” You say, backing away.

Bruce nods, reaching into the case to pull out the glove. 

“Good to go, yeah?” Tony asks.

“Let’s do it.”

“Okay, remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago, you’re just bringing them back to now, today. Don’t change anything from the last five years.” Tony says.

“Got it.”

Your suit comes to cover your body, preparing for the worst. You shuffle behind Tony and Clint, where Tony brings up a shield as another form of protection. 

“Friday, do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol, will ya?”

You watch as the skylight slowly covers with metal, as well as all exits, including doors and windows. That way, if anything goes wrong, the only people that’ll be affected are those who are standing in this room.

“Everybody comes home.” Bruce mutters, slowly pulling the glove on. The machinery adjusts to fit his hand, rather than Tony’s. When it secures, it sends a visible shock up his arm, all six Infinity Stones begin to glow.

Bruce drops to his knee, groaning, veins popping out of his forehead. He grabs the glove with his free hand, watching as it transforms. 

“Take it off. Take it off!” Thor shouts.

“No, wait.” Steve holds out his hand. “Bruce, are you okay?”

Bruce throws his head back, the fabric on his arm begins to burn up, the colors of the stones are beneath his skin, traveling up the underside of his jaw. He’s in pain.

“Talk to me, Banner.” Tony says.

“I’m okay.” He breathes, as the stones begin to settle. “I’m okay.” He pants heavily, slowly lifting his hand. His green skin is now charred, black, glowing red underneath. Like bubbling lava.

He screams, preparing his fingers, and then snaps.

The glove falls off in an instant, Bruce unconscious on the floor, arm is sizzling.

“Bruce!” Steve crouches down next to him.

Clint kicks the glove away, Tony joins Steve. “Don’t move him.” The healing solution comes from his fingers, coating Bruce’s arm in white. 

“Did it work?” Bruce asks, grabbing Steve’s arm.

“We’re not sure.” Thor says. “It—it’s okay.”

The metal sheets begin to lift, doors opening, allowing you to leave. Scott wanders away, and so does Clint a second later.

“Can you feel anything, (Y/n)?” Steve asks, looking at you.

You suck in a breath, closing your eyes, concentrating hard. You discovered a couple years ago that there wasn’t a need for the dramatics if you actually put some of your own energy in to pull some out. You sacrifice a little of yourself, digging deep, feeling around for the same heavy weight that there’s been for years.

“I don’t…” You murmur, head turning to the side, eyebrows drawing in. “I can’t say for sure.” You open your eyes. “It might be the building, it works better when I’m outside. I could go out—”

“Don’t bother.” Clint murmurs, picking up his vibrating phone, pressing it to his ear. “Honey.”

“Guys…” Scott breathes. “I think it worked.”

A smile breaks through when you make eye contact with Tony, finding your happiness mirrored onto him. 

You did it.

You touch the ring on your thumb.

A blast of hot air throws you across the room, slamming you into the cement wall, head cracking against it. An explosion shakes the ground. A wave of dizziness hits you as you reach to touch the spot on your forehead, fingers coated in blood.

One second, you’re staring at your friends, and the next, the building is collapsing. The ground gives way beneath you, a scream leaves your mouth as you begin to slide, knowing full well that the Facility goes hundreds of feet underground.

The suit comes to cover your body as your fingers slip from the cement. Your stomach flies to your throat, lodging itself there as you begin to fall with the chunks of rock and debris.

Another rocket hits nearby, as your body is engulfed in fire. 

When you wake, a sharp stabbing feeling flies through your abdomen. You reach to grab it, hands coming in contact with a steel rod. It’s wet, but not from your blood. The water from the plumbing system and the lake nearby rain down on you, causing sparks from severed electric wires to zap.

“(Y/n)?” You hear Bruce ask. “Are you with us?”

You struggle to breathe, hearing every breath enter and leave your mouth. You squeeze your eyes shut, head resting back. “I’m stuck.”

“I know, we’ll get Rhodey and Rocket over there to help you.” He says.

“No, Bruce.” You gasp, wincing. “I’ve been impaled.”

The sound of rushing water fills the air. You lift your head, eyes searching from the direction it’s coming from. It sweeps through the rubble, beginning to fill the hole you’re in.

“Guys!” The panic in your voice alerts Rhodes, “Help!”

Rocket gets to his feet, coming in your direction. “Oh, no.”

“Mayday, Mayday! Does anybody copy? We’re on the lower level. It’s flooding!” Rhodes says into the earpiece. “We are drowning! Does anybody copy? Mayday!”

“I don’t think we can get you out of this one.” Rocket says once he sees you. “Bruce, any chance you can come over here?”

“Not really.” He grunts.

You take careful breaths, trying to relax. “If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to drown.”

Rocket shakes his head, hands up. “I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“You don’t have any tools?” You ask, “To cut the bar in half?” He doesn’t respond, you close your eyes. “Fuck.”

“It’s filling up fast!” Rhodes shouts.

“Move back.” You tell him, he listens.

You grip onto the steel bar, “Come to me.” You murmur, the ground begins to shake under you, causing the pain to heighten. You grit your teeth, wanting to stop. “Come here.” You order.

The ground splits somewhere, the cement you’re laying on dips to the side, making you move. You resist the urge to throw your head back, trying to avoid a concussion.

“Oh, what the—” Rocket lets out, “What is that?”

Through half-open lids, you watch as a few of the dead come to crawl out of the rubble. They get to their feet, and without any other word, come to rescue you from where you are. The issue is that they aren’t so gentle, when they grab you by your shoulders and hips, pulling you free. 

The insides of your body burns, as you bite back a scream. They drop you on your feet, and with the weight all falling onto your wound, you stumble forward and onto your knees, hand wrapped around the area.

“If you could do that—have them take the rubble.” Rocket motions to Bruce. “So he can get us out of here.”

“They’ll crumble beneath the weight.” You tell him, the dead grab your elbows, forcing you to your feet. “They’re not good for much besides fighting.”

“You can’t tell them to find a way out and we follow them?” Rocket suggests.

“We can’t leave Bruce behind.” You shake your head. “And it’s not guaranteed that it’ll work. They can lead us to a dead-end. They aren’t all-knowing.”

The roof is beginning to fall, Bruce shuddering beneath it. The water is coming through faster, you shuffle to stand with Rhodes, Rocket climbs up as far as he can. You tilt your head back, water creeping up your chest. The dead that were with you are now floating on their backs, no longer alive.

“See you on the other side, man.” Rhodes says.

Rocket whimpers, not liking the idea of dying. You pant, tears in your eyes. You’re going to die before you’re able to see Stephen again. For the past five years, you’ve held onto the idea that it could be possible. And now he’s back, somewhere, but not here.

“(Y/n), stop.” Rhodes warns you.

You cry, the water reaching the back of your head. “Get me out of here!”

“You need to breathe, you can’t hyperventilate under the water.” He says, it’s flooding your ears.

“I know.” You gasp. “I know.”

You take a deep breath in right as the water covers your face. For the first few seconds, you think that it’s fine. And then you reach out, grabbing onto Rhodes’s arm, squeezing tightly. You feel his hand over yours, trying to provide comfort.

The burning in your lungs begins in the second minute, pressure tight in your skull, adding to the lightheadedness. You want to open your mouth and suck in, despite knowing that you’ll fill your lungs with water. It’ll be quicker than fighting this, right?

An object surrounds you, bumping you to the side. Your eyes open suddenly, struggling to see through the murky water on what’s moved you. For a second, you think that it’s Bruce, until you find him joining you. The water current from the other side brings the four of you closer together, as what you assume to be the roof closes in on you.

But then the ground comes up, uneven, and you’re lifted into the air, water running. You gasp, desperate for air, coughing out the water. You drop to your knees, pushing your hair out of your face.

“It’s Scott!” Rhodes shouts.

He must grow through the Facility, because all you can hear is the concrete breaking to pieces around you. He opens his hand when it’s safe, the others jumping off, while you carefully take your time, eyes adjusting to the situation in front of you.

Thanos is here. There’s a giant ship in the air off to the left, with the Chitauri and the Leviathan’s coming out of it. Just like they had eleven years ago when Loki came to New York. 

On the right side, is where you find several armies coming together to help. The army from Wakanda, led by T’Challa, the Asgardians, following Valkyrie and sorcerers, preparing behind Wong. And more, ones you don’t recognize, coming through the portals.

With one hand over your side, you hobble out to solid ground, eyes on Thanos. Your upper lip begins to twitch into a snarl, but it’s more for the laughter that catches in your throat.

When you come to a stop, you level your breathing as much as possible. You’ve brought back large armies in the past, but those will compare nothing to what you’re able to do.

The dark energy comes through your feet, snaking its way up your legs. You roll your shoulders back, feeling it wrap around your chest, alleviating the pain in your abdomen enough for you to remove your hand.

“Let’s play.” You smile, swirling your hand in the air. At first slowly, but growing faster, rock trembling, Earth reacting to what you’re demanding.

A hole appears, ground caving in on itself, creating a pit with no visible bottom. You shuffle to stand over it, peering inside. A cold gust of air blows your wet hair out of your face, goosebumps covering your arms.

“Come to me.” You demand, “All of you.”

There’s whispering, and sounds of hissing overlapping each other from deep below. They grow louder as they rise to the top. At the sight of the first undead climbing the walls, you back up to give them room. This is a trick you’ve been practicing for years, hoping you’d get the chance to use it here.

“Got anything for us, (Y/n)?” You hear in your earpiece, it’s Tony.

“They’re coming.” You tell him. “And mine will make the others seem like a joke.”

They crawl out, coming to their feet, walking forward. At first, a few at a time, not wanting to overwhelm the area, or anything. Then they begin to come in crowds, eager to get out of where they’ve been hiding this entire time. You walk away, watching as they come out of every direction they can.

As the numbers multiply and grow, Steve steps forward. “Avengers!” He holds out his hand, Mjolnir flying to it. “Assemble.”

Thor shouts first, the armies following as they rush forward. Yours, not quite yet, waiting for a command. The fun thing about the dead is that there’s so many of them, people will never stop dying. Which means that when you send the ones standing off, more will continue. A never-ending supply.

“Kill them!” You shout, pointing at Thanos’s army.

This is when they move at a steady pace, not feeling the need to run. You stay where you stand, supervising the hole to ensure that a great amount comes from it, before you point straight down the middle. 

“Come here, Arzorath.” The flow of dead stops to let this creature come out, five times the size of you, built like a monster. As soon as he’s out, the dead begin again. You grab his grey skin, looking up at him. “You stay here, and you make sure this doesn’t stop.”

He grunts, giving you a solid nod.

With that, you turn to walk into the fight, to the center, where Thanos is going to be. You should be afraid of walking through this crowd, but with the amount of undead that are spread throughout, they jump to protect you if any danger arises. 

There’s explosions, the sounds of weapons clashing against one another. You see several laser beams shoot through the air to hit their target. There’s billows of black smoke, indicating several fires.

“Cap!” You hear Clint’s voice in your ear. “What do you want me to do with this damn thing?”

Steve grunts. “Get those stones as far away as possible!”

“No!” Bruce shouts. “We need to get ‘em back where they came from.”

“I made a promise to the Sorcerer Supreme that I’d get it back. I intend on keeping it.” You tell them.

“No way to get ‘em back. Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel.” Tony says.

“Hold on!” You watch as Scott disappears, likely shrunken back to his regular size. “That wasn’t our only time machine.”

The sound of a horn playing Spanish music makes you turn your head. 

“Anyone see an ugly brown van out there?” Steve asks.

“Yes! But you’re not gonna like where it’s parked!” Valkyrie shouts, she’s in the air, riding on a pegasus. 

“Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?” Tony asks.

“Uh, maybe ten minutes.”

“Get it started. We’ll get the stones to you.” Steve says.

“We’re on it, Cap.” Hope says—Scott’s partner.

“Do you need me to clear a path for you?” You ask, “Because it won’t be that hard.”

“No, I can fly him there.” Hope tells you.

You continue through the battle, coming upon a patch where there is no one. You climb a pile of rocks, surveying the area to find Thanos, fighting Wanda. She’s got him stuck in the air, squeezing him with her magic.

That’s when the first blue light hits the ground, causing a blast, killing a dozen of your dead. It’s not only one, though, as more following, firing straight into the crowd without any prior aim. Thanos doesn’t care who he hits, as long as he doesn’t lose this fight.

You watch as the sorcerers cast shields, holding them above their heads, working together to cover a small part of the field. You don’t move for shelter, holding your stance. You glance over your shoulder to find Arzorath, still guarding the hole as you instructed him to.

“Help, somebody help!” Peter shouts.

“Hey, Queens, heads up!” Steve says back. 

Mjolnir flies through the air, you can see it from where you are. You reach up, pressing the ear piece. “Anyone have eyes on Thanos?”

“He’s by the van!” Scott shouts back, “I need backup!”

You sigh out your nose, jumping down from the rocks, heading straight into the fight once again. “Arzorath!” You shout, looking over your shoulder. He raises his head. “More!”

He raises his arms, throwing them down as he grabs a chunk from the ground, ripping it out and throwing it into the crowd of Thanos’s troops. By widening the hole, it creates a bigger flow. In seconds, you see the difference, as they rush to follow you, and then past you to create a path.

The blasts from the sky become more frequent, like hail. At least half of the dead come to jump at you to protect you, bringing you to the ground. They hold you there, refusing to let you move, until it suddenly stops. 

In the silence that comes after, you’re pulled to your feet. When you walk, they do too. The ship above suddenly changes its target, firing into the clouds in the distance. 

“What the hell is this?” Sam asks.

It doesn’t matter, you’re able to make it halfway to the van by the time the object from the atmosphere finally makes an appearance, slamming directly through the spaceship, and coming out on the other side. It must destroy the inside, setting off explosions, as the blasters power down, and the ship begins to fall, heading for the lake.

The object in question is Carol, as she does a loop, and flies up through the bottom, coming out of the top. She lands somewhere in the field, presumably where the gauntlet must be, not too far away.

Your concern switches when Thanos’s army begins to run at you. For a moment, you think that it was a stupid choice to run out here this far. Then the sound of bones rattling, and the groaning begins behind you. You turn halfway, finding that your people have followed you all the way out here.

“Destroy them.” You say. With a layer of an undead shield in front of you, you continue forward, watching as Wanda flies past you, followed by some of the other girls. You throw your hand out, pointing their way. “They don’t get hurt!”

Valkyrie and Wanda work together to take down the two leviathans above, while you use Carol’s path of destruction as a way to get to the van faster. When the fire rises, smoke hovering like fog, you cover your mouth, refusing to slow down. But when you come out on the other side, you watch as Carol makes a dive for the van, only for Thanos’s weapon to hit the portal at the same time. 

This causes a blast, throwing the weightless dead back. You fight to stay on your feet, leaning into the wind. The gauntlet glove goes flying, landing a few feet away. Thanos runs at it, causing you to jerk forward, too. Tony runs right into him, throwing him to the ground.

Thor lands, Stormbreaker glowing bright blue as he swings at Thanos. When he spins around, intending for a hard hit, Thanos grabs the handle, stopping him. He raises his free hand, and Mjolnir flies to it, acting as a block. Thor’s eyes are bright white, using the power of lightning. Steve runs up behind Thanos, jumping on his back.

Thanos headbutts Thor, reaching back to grab a hold of Steve, and somersaulting forward. When he lands on top, he punches Steve across the face, knocking him unconscious. He crawls the few feet to the glove, getting it in his hands, before Carol kicks the back of his knee, hitting his jaw,

When Thanos fights back, she dodges. She makes the mistake of trying to grab the glove, leaving an opening for Thanos to grab her. He twists, chucking her into the rock and rubble. Once again, reaching to put the gauntlet on his hand, this time succeeding.

Your stomach flies at the sight of the power coursing through his arm, as he raises his hand to snap his fingers. He almost does, until Carol gets her hand between, dragging him down to her height, trying to pull it off. He tries to punch her, but her power creates a shield that he can’t penetrate. When she flies above him, now pushing his hand toward his face, he reaches up, pulling the Power Stone free, and transferring it to his other hand.

She can’t catch herself in time, as he shouts, punching her away. She disappears, leaving a trail of kicked up dirt. 

You find Tony, laying on his stomach, dirt and blood smeared across his skin. He’s not looking at you, but to a different part of the field. When you follow his gaze, you’re met with the sight of him. 

It’s Stephen, in the same condition that all of you seem to be, too caught up in trying to hold the lake water at bay. Still, he manages to hold up his index finger, telling Tony one.

The confusion lasts less than a second, when you remember one of the last conversations you had together before Thanos showed up on Titan. Out of fourteen million timelines that he lived through, there was only one where you won. 

You don’t want to take your eyes off of him, lips parted. The urge to call his name is on the tip of your tongue. He’s right there. He’s so close.

You’re forced to when Thanos puts the Power Stone back on the gauntlet.

You stomp your foot, hard, the dirt around you shakes. “Arzorath, come!” Pain slices through your wound at the sudden movement. “The rest of you, get him!”

They’re faster than you thought they’d be, adjusted to their worn down bodies. They begin to throw themselves at Thanos. In the beginning, he’s able to swing them off, but as the dead come out of the shadows, far through the field, the number is overwhelming. He’s just about to use the gauntlet to swing them away, when a black mist surrounds him. The screams of pain begin, as the poisonous cloud corrodes his skin.

Arzorath appears beside you, materializing out of the air. You cup your hands, watching as he dumps the stones into yours carelessly, since they have no real value to him. 

The stones begin to slide over your palms without an order, adjusting to sit in their rightful places over your knuckles. You pull the Time Stone out, holding it in your free hand, not ready for the pain it’s about to inflict. You take a few deep breaths, releasing the power you hold over your army.

They fall into a useless heap of bones and rotten flesh. Thanos bursts out of it, raises his hand, still assuming the stones are on it. You look over, watching as Arzorath crumples to the ground, the life leaving him, too. You can’t afford to have any of them around. Not if you plan to do this.

“I am inevitable.” Thanos says, snapping his finger. 

It doesn’t react, there is no flash of white light, the people don’t begin to fall, he fails.

You turn your head, meeting Tony’s eyes, which begin to widen when he realizes why Thanos’s snap didn’t work. “(Y/n), don’t!” He shouts. “You have Stephen! He’s here!”

“You have Morgan!” You tell him. “And I have something a lot nastier than just myself.”

Thanos’s head whips in your direction. You get down to your knees, to the ground, the same way you had to in the past. With the hand that isn’t holding the Time Stone, you press it into the dirt, leaning forward, pulling. You reach through, searching for that miserable monster that had come out four years ago when you’d done this. 

This is your only chance—your only trick. It rests, slumbering, refusing to rise at your will. It isn’t until you give a little of yourself, what little dark energy you have left from conjuring so many of the dead, does it wake. And when you pull, it flies up at you, not slowing down.

You can hear Thanos running at you, shouting.

You open your eyes, slapping the Time Stone into its place on your knuckle. The energy that flows through you is different, brighter. This is not the same dark force that you’re used to. You’re able to feel the burning pain up your arm and stabbing into your neck, before it’s gone. 

The beast travels through your feet and up your body, heading straight for your mouth. It sets you on fire inside, and you’re barely able to lift your hand in time to snap your fingers, when he takes over, doing it for you. You’re weightless, flying through the air, wind caressing your skin, cradling you like a newborn. 

And then you hit the ground.

You roll several feet, arms blocking your face, until you stop on your back. You can see a leviathan coming right at you. And when you manage to finally get your eyes open after blinking, you find that it’s gone, nothing but dust in the wind. You let out a breath.

“(Y/n)!” Stephen’s voice is close, coming toward you.

The ground feels like it’s spinning under your body, creating a whirlpool, sucking you down with it. That would be nice, to join the ones that have kept you safe throughout this fight. Maybe you could give them a proper thank you.

There’s mechanical footsteps coming your way, when you look over, it’s Tony. His mouth is open, hands reaching for you. He’s cut off by someone else, dropping to their knees beside you.

It’s Stephen, your Stephen, as he pulls you into an upright position by your shoulders. You let out a cry, abdomen screaming in reaction. He’s got your face pulled against his chest, one arm across the back of your shoulders to keep you from moving.

“(Y/n), stay with me.” He tells you. “Stark—!”

You can’t see much through the haze, like a film over your eyes. But with Stephen’s face so close to yours, it doesn’t even matter. You throw your head back to get a proper look at him, something you’ve been waiting to do for five years. Of course, there’s a mess across his skin, a few strands of hair out of place.

You reach up with the hand that doesn’t have the stones, wiping a patch of blood away. “I’m fine.” You murmur, eyelids drooping. You begin to fall back, but Stephen catches you, pulling you back against his chest.

When you shakily breathe in, you’re hit with his cologne, a smell you’d thought you’d lost forever. You wrap your fingers around his blue robes, staring at the side of his face.

“What can we do?” He demands.

Stephen’s so beautiful, even in a state like this, especially when he’s angry. You remember that being the first thing you thought about him when he stepped out of his car, the second time he almost hit you. He’s handsome, and he’s yours, in front of you. He hasn’t aged a day. Still as perfect as he was the day he was taken from you.

“I’m okay.” You whisper, but your voice is drowned out by Friday, listing your vitals out loud. 

You’re so, so tired.

Stephen jerks you, your eyes fly open. “Don’t close your eyes, (Y/n). You have to stay with me.”

You hum, trying to listen. The worried look on his face has only deepened since learning about your heart rate and blood pressure. You think you can hear Tony making suggestions, all of which Stephen shuts down.

“I just…” You close your eyes, wanting to rest. As you settle, ignoring Stephen’s demands for you to stay awake, a voice from below calls.

Brace yourself.

All you can do is twitch your eyebrows, before a sharp gasp comes through your mouth, eyes opening. Your hand grips at his robes, knuckles turning pale to keep him from going anywhere. The energy resurfaces, bouncing to your temples, a headache slams in after.

You grit your teeth, toes curled as the needles press into every inch of your skin, reminding you that you’re alive. Telling you that you’re not allowed to die. Stephen’s hand is cupping your face, leaning over you.

“I told you;” You breathe carefully, feeling it begin to subside, “I’m fine.”

Stephen smashes his lips into yours, rough and demanding. He holds you there for a long minute, feeling you on him, until he decides when to pull away. You touch the side of his face, a light laugh escaping you.

“I missed you.” You tell him, tears in your eyes. “I can’t live without you.”

“So this is what you do?” He asks, bewildered. “You sacrifice yourself?”

“It’s been a rough five years.” You sniff, reaching over to pluck the stones from your suit. “But this is what had to be done, right?”

“Right.” He says, voice sad, getting to his feet. He helps you up, and catches you when you stumble a step. When you take one toward Tony, he shakes his head. “Are you sure…?”

“Yeah.” You mumble, pulling his hand up to give him the stones. “Here.”

Tony’s standing a foot or two away, staring at you. When you stop, slightly hunched over, he closes his eyes. “You’ve got to be the dumbest person on our team. I could’ve done that.”

“And survived?” You ask.

He doesn’t say anything at first, “Probably not, but it would’ve been more thought out than that.”

“You’re telling me that wasn’t thought out?” You ask, looking back at Stephen. A smile appears on your face first, and when you begin to laugh, you have to force yourself to stop. “I think that went pretty fuckin’ well, don’t you?”

“I would’ve changed a few things.” Stephen comes over to you, “But you’re right.”

“You shouldn’t have…” Tony’s shaking his head, eyes drifting away.

“You saved my life, remember?” You ask him, voice wavering, “That day I told you I was working on a different way to bring them back? I owe you for that.”

“You didn’t.”

“I never—not even in my nightmares—would have let you take the Infinity Stones. Even if it meant that it killed me.” You press your finger to his chest. “We’re even.”

“We always have been.” He tells you.

Stephen reaches to grab you when you sway, not being able to stabilize yourself. “Let’s sit down, (Y/n).”

“Sure.” You don’t resist, letting him lead you to a slab of concrete that’s flat enough to sit down. When you do, the aches in your body leave, you take in a deep breath. “Stephen?”

“Yes, my love?” His eyes are already on you.

You take his hand, lacing his fingers with yours. “I love you.”

He smiles, tilting his head slightly. “I love you too, (Y/n).”

#ilguna #stephen strange imagine #stephen strange oneshot #stephen strange x reader #stephen strange fanfic #stephen strange x you #strephen strange x yn #stephen strange x y/n #doctor strange imagine #doctor strange oneshot #doctor strange x reader #doctor strange fanfic #doctor strange x you #doctor strange x yn #doctor strange x y/n #marvel #angst #fluff

[b0r3dtod3ath]

hello! the usual necessity to request something for Andrey... anyway I was thinking about an fluff imagine about the reader being a tennis players and she takes her young sister to one of the tournaments, and the little girl is exploring the place and talking to other players and the reader gets kinda of scared because the little girl evaporated from her sight, and when she's searching for her she founds her with Rublev. Ps: this idea came from my little obsession with my favorites tennis players with children and I just saw some pictures of him with children and my heart melted. LOOK AT THIS MAN (love your work 🫶)

an: I have to be honest, Nini carries my Rublo writings : ) All hail the queen 🙏 Thank you!

You shifted your grip on the tennis racket, concentrating on the upcoming training session. Your little sister, Lily, was bouncing with excitement, her big eyes wide as she took in everything around her. At just seven years old, this was her first experience with tennis, and you felt a mix of nerves and excitement at the thought sharing this part of your life with her.

"Now, stick close to me, alright?" you said, playing with her hair. She nodded eagerly, but you could tell by her eyes that her mind was already a million miles away.

As practice neared, you crouched down to get Lily's full attention. "I'm going to warm up a bit. Just stay right here, okay? I'll be back soon". You hoped she could sit in audience for not too long and not cause any problems.

Lily nodded again, already entranced by the players on the nearby courts. You went to the court, glancing back occasionally to ensure she sat near the court.

When you returned from your warm-up, your heart skipped a beat—Lily was gone. Panic went through you. You searched, calling her name, and asked everyone nearby, "Have you seen a little girl with brown hair and a bright pink dress?".

Your mind raced with worry, imagining all kinds of scenarios. You looked through the courts, food stands, and souvenir shops, desperately looking for her.

Just as you were about to alert security, you spotted a familiar figure in the distance. Andrey, was leaning down beside a bench, gesticulating and talking with a little girl who looked just like Lily. Relief flooded through you as you sprinted over.

"Andrey!" you called, breathless. He and Lily turned to face you.

"Y/N!" Lily shouted, running over to hug you. "I made a new friend! Look!" She pointed at Andrey, who smiled warmly at you.

"I found her wandering around," Andrey explained as he stood up. "She was asking a lot of questions about tennis".

"Thank you," you took a big breath and smiled softly at your sister "I was so worried”. 

Andrey chuckled reassuringly. "No problem at all. She's quite the little tennis fan”.

Lily beamed. "He told me all about his training and even showed me some cool tricks with the racket. And he gave me a tennis ball!".

You exhaled, finally calming down. "I'm glad you had fun, but next time, stay closer to me, okay? I was really scared when I couldn't find you”.

"I'm sorry," she said, glancing at her shoes. "I just wanted to see everything”.

Andrey squatted down to her level. "You need to stay with your sister, but you can always find me if you have more questions about tennis or are feeling bored, alright?"

Lily nodded excitedly. "Deal!"

As you turned away, Andrey nudged you with a grin. "Up for a small match today? As a practice? I have some time to kill, and it might be fun with Lily watching. We can teach her something".

You hesitated for a moment, surprised by his offer. "Really? That would be fantastic. Thank you".

May 25, 2024

#andrey rublev imagine #andrey rublev x reader #writers on tumblr #fan fic writing #x reader #atp tennis x reader #tennis imagine #tennis x reader #atp x reader

[venusstorm]

More Than Friends

Part Four

Fear. It drove apart your friendship with Chris, it prevented him from telling you how he feels, and after a big argument, you’re left wondering if he had ever even cared.

Note: Italics indicate past events

Warnings: 18+, angst, fluff

<Series Masterlist> Masterlist

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Time stops when Chris sees you. It was something like a dream, all the noise on set comes to a halt, a deafening silence ringing in his ears as he watches you ramble on to the person in front of you. Not a word you said reaches his ears but it doesn't need to.

He smiles to himself as he envisions your fast-paced tone, probably getting carried away and skipping to a million different subjects in the span of a minute. Then you break out into a wide grin, the other person giggling loudly at whatever you had said.

His mouth hung a gap, blinking slowly to make sure you weren't just a figment of his imagination and indeed right there in front of him. Someone calls out his name but it vanishes into background noise.

You were here. That's all that matters in this very moment.

From the corner of your eyes, you see Chris watching you. If he hadn't known that you were working on the same film then he sure as hell knows now. You quickly turn back towards the person, ignoring his blatant stares as you burst into a fit of giggles.

He swore his heart stopped when your eyes lingered on him.

Chris couldn't remember the last time that he heard you laugh. The thought alone sent stakes into his heart because once upon a time, the two of you laid out on the floor in a fit of laughter, wheezing and trying your hardest to breathe just to start the cycle all over again after another joke was said.

The nagging voice returns. Louder this time. "Hey uh, Chris wardrobe needs you..."

He shakes his head, "Just give me a second."

"It's urgent, we can't continue filming unless they get you fitted for the next scene."

Mindlessly he nods, reluctantly allowing his feet to take him away in the opposite direction of you. But he can't help but take one last look, eyes softening after realizing you were staring at him too.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

"And cut!"

Chris inhales deeply. It had been hell trying to film while you sat watching. It took him several takes to finally push you from his mind, engulfing himself in his role and letting real life become a minuscule thought.

You rise from your chair next to the directors, hurriedly walking over to a table covered in desserts to stuff your mouth before break ends.

Chris was tugging with his subconscious, debating if sparking a conversation on the job was truly the best idea. But heart defeats his mind and he finds himself walking over to you without an ounce of confidence.

You don't notice him at first. After all, the powdered donuts are really good.

"Hi," he states breathlessly.

You stare up at him. His face beads with sweat causing a sheer glow across his skin. Black "dust" coats his cheeks to mimic the effects of a grenade and minutes’ worth of gruesome fighting. But still, he looks like the Chris you know...even if everything else has changed.

"Nice mustache," you snort.

He doesn't say anything at first. He's too caught up in taking in every aspect of your being. "It's kinda growing on me," he shrugs.

A painfully long silence sparks. Too much history and too many words waiting to be said on the edge of your tongues.

Chris clears his throat. "I uh— I didn't know you were working on this movie too. You never told me."

Your response comes out muffled as you bite into a brownie. "And when would I have had the chance to do that?"

"Right..." he trails off. "Well congrats, I know you've always wanted to work on a big project like this."

Another awkward silence blooms and Chris can't help but remember a time when nothing was ever tense. For years he had looked forward to the day when both of you were hired for the same film. He got so excited from thinking about seeing you every day, not having to suffice with FaceTime calls and texts until he could return home.

You'd be right there with him the entire time. Exploring whatever city you found yourselves in until it felt like a second home.

But instead, you're on the same set with nothing but animosity and regret.

Finally, you break your silence. "Look. We don't have to pretend to be on good terms. We're here for work and that's it. Whatever baggage we have should remain back home because honestly, I'm sick of carrying it around."

His hand clenches, he has so much to say to you and not enough time to do so. "I—"

A rush of people come crowding towards the table, extras and film-crew members pushing their way through to get in a quick snack before the cameras start rolling again.

His words become stuck. He can't say what he needs to with a slew of people in earshot. "Yea, of course," he sighs.

You grab a few more treats before turning to leave when he touches your arm softly, whispering your name to catch your attention.

His eyes are watery, emotions piling up after seeing your face again. He had envisioned the first time he saw you again and it went nothing like this.

He takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"I know Chris."

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

You weren't too sure how you ended up in this situation. The Russo Brothers had invited everyone out to eat and of course, you agreed. You thought it would just be the directors, producers, and a few other people on your team headed out for dinner but apparently, the universe had other plans.

"Uhm there's like a million seats at this table." You stare down, chuckling because there were more plates than ten times your group combined.

"Gotta have room for the cast," Anthony shrugs. 

Cast?

And that's how you found yourself anxiously waiting for Chris to show up. You took every second to eye the door, preparing yourself to be stuck at a dinner table with him all night.

Slowly time ticks by until nearly all the seats are filled. A sigh of relief escapes your lips but quickly you suck it back in when the sight of Chris in a fitted button-up shirt comes waltzing into the restaurant. Fuck.

He greets everyone, eyes landing on yours and then on the last empty seat beside you. No, no, no.

Hesitantly he walks over to the chair, sliding it out and sitting down before shooting you a remorseful look. "Just business right?"

"Right," you grit, teeth stuck together as you try to hide your conversation from any listening ears.

As the night goes on and the food finally comes to the table, you find yourself staring off into space. Every time Chris speaks you’re sent spiraling. When he laughs you can't help but think “how is he so okay right now?” And every glance he shoots your way has you caving into your seat.

Mistakingly, his leg brushes against yours. He mumbles out a quick apology but you're too stuck in your head to reply. His scent was devouring you. His presence was making your head spin and suddenly your stomach began to churn.

You need space. Now.

The place is far too loud and everyone is too distracted to notice the way you push out of your chair to leave. Not even your bosses spare you a glance as you attempt to tiptoe away from the scene.

Sensing your quick movements Chris turns towards you. "You okay?"

"Just a little warm in here...I'm gonna step out for a bit."

Warily he nods, watching you disappear within the crowded restaurant until his intuition kicks in. "I'll be back," he mutters to nobody in particular.

Dropping his fork he races out of the restaurant, searching for your figure on the crowded sidewalk. "Hey!" He shouts, jogging to the other side of the street to catch up to your fleeting form.

Pausing, you turn around. "Hey," you say sullenly.

He scratches the back of his neck, eyes looking everywhere but you. "I know we're not at our best right now but I was thinking we could go for a walk maybe?"

"Chris..."

"Please," he begs." Another day of acting like everything's fine when it's not is gonna make me go insane."

Hesitantly you accept. "Okay."

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

The cool night air was chilly as the two of you walked along the streets of Prague. After visiting one time you had already fallen in love. The nightlife was vibrant and everything made your eyes widen in awe.

Chris couldn't help but steal glances at your awe-stricken expression. Your eyes glazed with adoration as you scanned the architecture that surrounded the beautiful Vltava River, blissfully unaware of the way he's taking in every part of you.

"I always wanted to take you to Europe," Chris begins.

"Yea?"

"Every time I'm here I think about how much you'd love it. Every country I've been to has something beautiful to offer and it's hard to fully enjoy it when all I'm thinking about is being back in Boston."

"With you" he wanted to add.

You knew Chris missed you when he was away, it's why he sent a gazillion postcards of every place he went to. A little message was scribbled on the back of each one with a lopsided smiley face at the end.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," you shoo.

"Are you kidding me? Everywhere I go I'm trying to enjoy it the way you would."

You avoid his gaze, terrified that if you made eye contact your heart would beat out of your chest. "Really?"

"If I'm at an art museum I'm paying extra close attention to the descriptions because I know you'd read every last one. And I always make sure to stop by a bakery and get anything with chocolate since that's your favorite flavor. And let there be a pretty sunset, I pull out my phone and take a photo immediately for our collection.

You and Chris have a shared album filled with photos of skylines. The beach, mountains, even your backyard. Before everything, he planned to print the prettiest ones out and place them in a scrapbook just for you. To the person always willing to chase sunsets.

"I didn't know you did all that," you whisper.

"You make everything better," he beams. "Sure hanging out with my cast mates is always fun but they aren't you. Honestly, It gets lonely after a while."

The chilly night air blows past your body causing a shiver to run down your spine. "You never told me you felt that way."

He grabs your hand gently and leads you to a bench overlooking the river. The water was still, unlike your thoughts which were whirling a mile a minute.

"I haven't told you how I felt about a lot of things actually," he confesses.

Your eyes broaden with panic. "Let's not do this now, please. We still have months left of filming and I don't think I can handle reopening old wounds right now."

Chris watches how your face fills with anxiety. Eyebrows knitted together, lips in a tight frown, even your hands are fumbling together as you thought about the rollercoaster of emotions you've experienced this year alone.

Whatever he had to say now would have to wait. You don't think your heart can take any more breakage.

Your feet tap the ground repetitively, thoughts racing as you feel yourself treading back to old habits. One’s spent walking around your room in circles for hours wondering why the hell you had to ruin a perfectly good thing. 

And for the first time up close, he truly saw what he had done to you. You look fearful sitting next to him.

He goes to touch your hand but you quickly pull away.

"This was a mistake," you murmur.

Chris shakes his head vigorously as you stand up from the bench, hands wrapping around your body protectively against the wind. He watches helplessly as you begin to walk away and suddenly everything begins to feel far too final. This isn't how it's supposed to end.

"I was scared!" He shouts.

Your feet come to a halt. Back still faced towards him, he continues. "I was scared of losing you for good."

Slowly you turn around, tears fighting to come loose as you stare at your best friend. The one person who you truly had believed could never hurt you.

"When you told me how you felt every possible ending came tumbling into my head. Do you know how badly I'd been aching to hear those words come from your lips? Thought I was gonna pass out right then and there because finally, I had some confirmation that everything I've ever felt towards you wasn't one-sided."

A few onlookers walk by but you're too engulfed in your world with Chris to care. These raw emotions had been clawing their way out for years and it was finally time to let them loose.

"But every time I allow myself to tempt the idea of being with you an immense fear of losing you washes over me. I've seen so many relationships crumble...and the thought of you leaving my life because I can't fulfill your needs—" He chokes out a sob, eyes fluttering away from yours as he stares at the ground.

"Being your best friend and nothing more guaranteed that I'd never lose you...that I'd never disappoint you."

He takes a step closer until only a few feet distance you from each other.

"You don't think I was scared too? Telling my best friend that I love him was absolutely terrifying. I spent months thinking of how to tell you. It ate me alive but not telling you was killing me more. I'd try to talk myself out, convince myself that I'd just make it all worse but something deep inside of me told me to take a chance."

He searches for your gaze, a strong desire to hold you tight and utter apology after apology as if it'll make everything better.

"And you know what happened? You called us unrealistic," you shout. "You let me think you were in a full-on relationship while I sat at home wondering why the fuck I wasn't good enough to be something more to you."

His breathing halts. You? not being good enough for him? If only you knew how many days he spent telling himself you deserved better than anything he had to offer. But still, he was shameful.  You were right. Every last word was true and he couldn't express how much he thought about taking every last mistake back.

"It's not unrealistic," he states.

"What?" Your voice is exasperated.

"I shouldn't have said what I did that day. Rejecting you, leaving without a word, allowing myself to grow weak and fall into a PR stunt without consulting you...all of it combined make up the biggest regret of my life. And if I could go back—"

"No," you sob.

Shaking your head you turn away from him. He doesn't get to do this. Not now, not ever. You had spent months broken and defeated, thousands of tears shed because he had left you in the dust.

"You can't just confess after what you did," you spat.

"I know. Trust me I know. I was scared, you gotta know that. I didn't wanna lose you!" He couldn't tell if his eyes were watering from the wind or his turbulent emotions. But suddenly his cheeks grew wet and eyelashes heavy.

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. "And now I'm scared," you cry. "I can't just give my heart to you again Chris. Not fully."

Words were slipping from his lips without thought. He was grappling for you to stay, even if it meant arguing until the sun came up, he couldn't let you leave. Because the moment you stopped fighting he knew you were done.

"Is it Henry?"

Your eyebrows furrow with confusion. How the fuck is he still stuck on Henry, especially at this very moment. "Why would this be about Henry?"

He was cursing at himself to shut up but his mouth disregarded every warning.

"Because I saw him! He was sitting on your porch. If you're seeing him just tell me now and I'll back away. I shouldn't have reacted so harshly the first time I found out but—"

Your gaze hardens. "What do you mean you saw him on my porch?"

His mind continues to pump out two single words. Shut up, shut up, shut up!

"I came to say goodbye and that's when I saw him. I know I have no right to—"

"Damn straight!"

He wipes his cheeks, hand now wet from the action. "I just had to see you before I left. Being miles away overseas knowing how we ended would've killed me."

Scoffing, you flail your hands into the air. "But you didn't. You saw Henry and fucking ran because that’s all you ever do."

He had run away the moment you spoke the words "I love you." He ran away after the explosive argument in your living room. He ran away after seeing Henry knowing there was a possibility that he wouldn't see you again for months.

"I wanted to give you space. I didn't think you'd want me intruding into your life after what happened!"

"Space? Oh, C’mon Chris. We both know the real reason why you never made an effort to come and see me— even if we weren't on speaking terms. You said it yourself."

"You're scared," you speak slowly, pronouncing each word carefully.

"Henry being there gave you a way out and you took it and I'm going to assume that's exactly why you took up that PR relationship too. It's easier to run away than truly confront what you did.”

His head was spinning. The cold hard truth is being shouted in his face. He calls out your name desperately, unsure of what to say as he frantically watches you take steps backward.

"All of this talk of fear, regret, and still you can't bring yourself to tell me how you feel. I would've settled for being friends no matter the outcome. But you left me. When will you get it through your head that I just needed you, Chris."

“Always just needed you.”

It was pouring outside. Lightning and thunder continue to strike as you lay nuzzled in Chris's lap fast asleep. It was only a week before you had so mistakenly confessed your feelings. Before everything went to shit and wanting Chris to hold you would always come true.

You were dreaming about him. Mumbling incoherently about being at the beach with him, the waves crashing hard as the two of you ran into the sea.

Chris felt you stir in his lap. His fingers trailed down your back, stopping at your waist before making his way back up. You always claimed his touch "helped you sleep better."

He stares down at you, your lips parted, light snores coming from your body as your breathing labored. "Chris," you mumbled.

"M'right here," he stated.

But you don't respond. You're fast asleep and quickly he realizes that you're not speaking to him. You're speaking of him, dreaming about him.

"Don't swim too far," you mutter. "So many clouds."

He chuckles to himself as your words come to a halt and become replaced by a loud snore.

"Where are you going," you whimper. "It's starting to rain."

Your body shifts in his lap, tossing to the other side and placing your hands underneath your head. "Chris! Where'd you go!"

Panic strikes you. Your words are filled with distress as you dreamt of Chris's body disappearing beneath the waves. The sky was turning dark, more clouds appeared as the rain began to fall harder.

You lose yourself in the waves, your body being tossed around as you screamed for Chris.

"Where are you!" You sob aloud.

Chris's eyebrows furrow with worry. You're shaking. He nudges your body, whispering your name in a panicked tone until your eyes began to flutter open.

"Don't leave me," you murmured.

You woke up with a jolt, your eyes were wet with tears and Chris was staring down at you with a sorrowful look. "I'm never leaving you, sweetheart."

"Promise me?"

"I promise."

He's always loved you. No matter how hard he tried to bury his feelings they've always been there. Deep down he knew your friendship always crossed boundaries but he shoved those thoughts away. Taking risks terrifies him, let alone with the people he loves.

You were right. He does run away.

In every relationship he's ever been in his subconscious can only think about you. You're his priority, and it's why every last one ended in flames, and yet he never pushed himself to pursue you. He was more content with being romantically alone than risking you leaving forever.

But now as he stands before you every desire to worship you, make you his, finally comes floating above the water.

He had tried so hard to resist showing you every physical act of love in the book. After all, he had the emotional part nailed down.

In a sense, he was your protector. Your best friend.

There were moments where his front faltered and he found himself wondering about a life where he gave you all of him, where you were his entirely. As much as he tried to convince himself that friendship was long-term and relationships were guaranteed to cease, there was always a sliver of hope that the two of you could work out.

Now that hope is hanging by a thread and maybe it's time for Chris to finally latch onto it.

He had no control over life's plans and he shouldn't be fearful because of it. There was no amount of apologies he could give that would excuse his actions, yet still, he grew hopeful.

At last, he found it in himself to dig up his desires and lay them out on the table. He loves you. Not just as a best friend but also as a lover, a confidant, a person willing to do any and everything to make you happy.

His voice wavers, but for once he feels confident in his choice of words.

"I don’t want to run anymore.”

You release a shaky breath. “Then don’t.”

Without another thought, he walks forwards. You choke out a sob while he embraces you, tears flowing rapidly from his touch. His hand cradles your head as he rocks the both of you back and forth. Passively he presses soft kisses against your forehead. “I’m so sorry,” he weeps.

“You’re all I’ve ever wanted. Every fucking part of you is engraved into my soul. You’ve always been my life partner and nothing's gonna change that. Nothing you hear me?”

You choke out a small “yes.”

“You’re beautiful, smart, and the only damn person who willingly puts up with me. This entire time I was scared of losing you just to end up letting you slip from my grasp anyways. And I’m never gonna forgive myself for that sweetheart but there’s something I’ve been aching to say that I should’ve said a long time ago.”

Sniffling, you stare up at him. His eyes are bloodshot, months' worth of worry and stress showing itself clearly.

“I love you. And not just as my best friend, but as everything you are and ever will be to me. I love you so damn much that it hurts and I’ll spend every day on my knees begging for your forgiveness regardless of whether or not we end up together.”

You let out a disheartening laugh as he sinks to the ground without a care about who sees.

His hand slips into his shirt, pulling out a little silver chain necklace with a familiar ring in the center. He unclasps the jewelry, letting it pool into his palm to show you.

“I’ve made so many promises over the years and every single one I’ve intended on keeping. Regardless of what you say, I need you to keep this for me. I swore it to you.”

He places the ring into your hand, closing your fingers around the metal forcefully. “I love you.”

You stare down at the cheap arcade ring solemnly. Slowly you slip it onto your ring finger until it can’t go any further. “It’s a little tight.” Your light laughter turns into a sob and Chris can’t help but chuckle too.

The two of you must look idiotic right now.

Grabbing his arm for him to stand up, you hold his gaze before pressing your lips against his. His eyes widen in shock before allowing himself to drown in your affection. Wrapping his arms around you, he moans softly. Your touch has always been euphoric but now more than ever he craves it.

“Say it again,” you whisper.

He presses his forehead against yours. “I love you.”

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

About damn time Chris stopped playing. Anyways— one more chapter left!

Taglist:  @littlemarvelmenfan @amorisxx @kiki-bridges @aoifex @lizzzaaaaaaaaaaa @kissme-hs @pbeckn26 @fallinallinmendes @katiebby04 @smackmyassseb @youngblood199456 @ashpeace888 @ljej95 @rexit-mo @captainchrisstan @sarahdonald87 @bambamwolf87

#chris evans x black!reader #chris evans x woc!reader #chris evans angst #chris evans x you #chris evans x reader #best friends to lovers #chris evans fic #friends to lovers #more than friends

[gina103]

Haikyuu! oneshot (g/t)

Inspired by the amazing @obwjam! The Karasuno volleyball team meets a borrower. The borrower goes by she/her pronouns in this.

word count: 1172

Never in a million years did you ever think you’d be friends with a human. But somehow, it happened.

After being discovered by Hinata months prior, your life had changed in ways you never thought possible. For once, fear wasn’t the primary emotion you experienced on a daily basis, and it was strange to say the least. Nowadays, you felt excitement, you felt happy, and it was all thanks to Hinata.

His outgoing and friendly personality couldn’t help but bring you out of your shell, and you always enjoyed his presence even if he could be a little overwhelming at times, particularly when he got really fired up about volleyball. His heart was always in the right place.

So when Hinata insisted on you coming to practice with him one day to watch him practice his super cool, awesome, amazing jump serve that he’d been practicing, you couldn’t say no to him. He was really good at begging, plus, he did his best to reassure you that nobody would see you. Everything would be fine.

And before you knew it, you were nestled into the front pocket of Hinata’s bag, listening to all the noises, voices, and ambience that was a volleyball practice with all his teammates. It was quite boring at times. You couldn’t see what was going on outside the bag, so you spent most of the practice taking a relaxing nap. That is until you were rudely interrupted.

Something struck the front of the bag, rocking your environment and causing you to let out a frightened yelp.

You tried to take some deep breaths to calm your nerves, but nothing could have prepared you for what happened next.

All of a sudden, the rays of light from the gym lights beamed down at you, as the noise of a zipper being pulled filled the air. You looked up instinctively, immediately regretting doing so as the giant boy you saw above you, that eclipsed your view like the moon itself, was certainly not Hinata.

You froze in terror as the boy stared at you, he said nothing, just stared, frozen in shock and disbelief. It felt as though he could see straight through you. His presence was just so intense.

He had jet black hair that was almost the complete opposite of Hinata’s, in that it laid completely flat against his head. He was sweaty from practice too, holding what must’ve been the ball that hit the bag in one of his arms. You realized that this boy must be the Kageyama that was always brought up by Hinata as being grumpy and unpleasant.

You prayed to whatever god that was out there that nobody else had noticed his discovery of you, but your hopes were quickly dashed at the sound of hurried footsteps approaching.

“KAGEYAMA DON’T OPEN THAT!” Hinata yelled, trying to shove a frozen Kageyama out of the way. It didn’t work, in fact, it only got worse from there.

“Hinata’s hiding something? Oh, now I have to see what’s in there,” Another voice said. A new boy, towering over Hinata, made his way over. This one was blonde with glasses. This must be Tsukishima. He was even more intimidating than Kageyama, and when he shoved poor Hinata out of the way and laid eyes on your tiny trembling form, he also froze.

While Kageyama’s expression was almost unreadable, Tsukishima’s was easy to read, he looked positively revolted. This you saw, called the attention of even more boys, much to yours and Hinata’s despair. You didn’t blame him, he was looking at you from the floor with the most sincerely apologetic expression. Bless his heart, he just wanted to show you his jump serve.

“What’s going on over here?” a strong authoritative voice boomed. A brunette boy made his way across the room. This boy wasn’t as tall as the others but he had an air of leadership and confidence that the others she’d seen didn’t have yet. Another boy with silver hair and a seemingly gentle demeanor followed him.

They locked eyes with you, both of them, as all the other boys had done, froze in shock and disbelief.

“Woah, Daichi, I think practice might be over…” the silver-haired boy said, he had a soft voice.

“I think you’re right, Suga,” The brunette, Daichi replied. His eyes softened as he perceived your terrified expression.

You couldn’t even think really, there must have been about 9 boys at once, all staring at you like you were an alien creature from outer space.

“Guys stop crowding the space! You’re scaring her!” Suga called out to them. He shoved back a shorter boy with spiky hair that was staring particularly hard at you.

“Hinata, she came from your bag, you wanna explain?” Daichi asked crossing his arms.

Poor Hinata scrambled to his feet. “I didn’t mean for this to happen! I just wanted to show her my jump serve after practice! She wasn’t ready to meet you guys!”

“So, she’s your friend?”

“Yes!”

“Since when do you have friends?” Tsukishima remarked. He was whispering to another boy who was freckled and brunette, he seemed fascinated by you.

Slowly, you turned to look at Kageyama who was still standing stock still, his expression still unreadable. However, you noticed a tinge of pink in his cheeks. He started when he realized he’d been caught and began trying to look around the room instead. Weird.

“Are you going to introduce us then?” Suga asked.

Hinata looked at you for permission, his eyes seemed to scream I’m so sorry this happened.

You hesitated and then nodded your approval.

Hinata turned to the rest of the team, you couldn’t help but notice how much taller some of the other guys were compared to him and it made you nauseous to think about.

“Everyone, this is (y/n). She’s my friend. (y/n), this is my team.”

You bowed politely, trying not to let your legs give out.

The team all bowed back and Daichi began introducing the boys one by one. The only thing you noticed was the intense burn of Kageyama’s stare. It was almost annoying, you already felt like a zoo animal without his gaze.

After everyone was introduced, Daichi announced that practice would end early.

“We wouldn’t be able to focus if we tried to keep going,” he reasoned.

At last, the attention was taken off of you and you were free to go home with Hinata. As soon as you were alone with him, he began frantically apologizing to you over and over again. You forgave him of course.

“You know what was weird though?” he asked as he walked into his house, “Kageyama never said a word to me after practice.”

You remembered his frozen demeanor, pink cheeks, and piercing stare. It was almost cute, you thought.

The excitement of the day had throughly worn you out, you looked up at hinata from his front pocket tiredly.

Suddenly, he gasped in realization.

“I forgot to show you my jump serve!”

Oh boy.

#g/t #g/t writing #g/t community #sfw g/t #g/t fluff #giant/tiny #the borrowers #borrowers #haikyuu g/t

[everythingiaskfor]

do you think we'll be boring?

fluff fluff little angst

warnings: cursing, mention of marriage, mention of children.

words:1k

the first time he ever asked, you were still friends, sitting on the grass in a park watching your friends play volleyball as you rested.

“do you think we’ll be boring?” kuroo asked, still looking over at your friends.

“what do you mean?” you ask back, looking at him, trying to decipher his thoughts.

“you know, when we graduate college, we’ll probably get office jobs, walk around looking serious, dressed tiddly, and the only thing we’ll talk about is our jobs and how we hate them.” he answers, gazing your way, waiting for a reaction.

“i don’t think so. we’ll be lucky to get into jobs we actually like because we’re working our asses off right now for it, we might dress tidily but it’s a cool look, and i don’t think we could ever be serious. we’re talking about the group of people who took a toaster to class cause it was too early and we never had time to get breakfast before it started.” you said the last part with a slight chuckle remembering the story. he laughed a little, shaking his head.

“maybe there is hope for us…” he said looking back at the horizon. 

two of your friends come your way telling you it’s your turn to play again.

“do you think we’ll be boring?” kuroo asks, looking up to the ceiling of your bedroom as you lay, your head in his chest, his hands in your hair.

the second time he asks, you two have just started dating, merely a month after the long awaited confession that was dragged out for a couple years before one of you decided to make a move.

“hmm?” you mumble, with the deja vu sensation, hoping he would elaborate.

“i mean, do you think we’ll be one of those cheesy couples who are glued to each other, never hangs out with their friends, and do those annoying things everybody thinks is disgusting but in their heads is cute?” he explains.

“well, the fact that you think that’s annoying already makes it  10% less likely to happen, also, if we think of leaving our friends behind they would beat the shit out of us.” you say, now looking at him with a smile. he smiles back.

“that’s true. i like that.” he says. “should we watch something?” he changes the subject.

the next time it happens you have just graduated, he’s got his dream job at JVA, you got into the master’s scholarship you wanted. you were having a celebration dinner, just the two of you. in the middle of the conversation kuroo asks.

“do you think we’ll be boring?” this time you already know the drill, and just look back at him, waiting for the reason. “i’ll be working all the time, going out of town sometimes, you’ll be studying and working on your project. maybe i won’t be academic enough for you, and you’ll be bored of my stories, and the little time we’ll have will be filled with shallow conversations, and we might not really lik..” 

“no. i don’t think so.” you cut him off, seeing his thoughts spiral right in front of you. “firstly, you’ve always been smarter than me so i’ll never get bored of you. also, i’ll never get bored watching you talk about things you love, or explain something you’re working on. and we never talked only about school, we’ll have so much to talk about with different experiences. i love you, and i could never ever in a million years get bored of you.” you reach out for his hand.  he holds it and looks directly in your eyes.

“you’re right. i love you too.”  

two days before your marriage, tetsuro is lying on your shared bed, and you’re cleaning up in the bathroom before going to bed.

“do you think we’ll be boring?” he asks. you put your head out of the door to show him you’re listening. “sometimes people get married and just stop having fun, they don’t go out, don’t do anything spontaneous, just settle into a routine, until it gets boring. i’ve seen this happen. and it’s a bit scary thinking that could happen to us.” he stares into infinity saying this. you know this is a sensitive topic. you actually were surprised when he mentioned getting married for the first time, knowing he was scarred from his parents divorce.

you turn off the bathroom lights, and sit beside him, looking at the same place he was. you hold his hands.

“we’ve never been like most people, why would we now? i promise you i’ll never stop dragging you to bars with ours friends, or travels to cool places every once in a while, or doing stupid shit to keep us away from a boring routine. and most importantly, i promise we are not like your parents, or my parents, or any other couple out there. we’re us, we make our own way. and i love us. i love you. i’ll never let you get bored of me.” you say, not expecting an answer. he leans his head on your shoulder. leaving a deep breath out. he doesn’t say anything for a while, taking in all you said. 

“i love you.” he says and then kisses your forehead.

bonus:

some years later, you’re sitting on your living room floor, a bunch of toys around you, and tetsuro throws his body on the couch. 

“did they sleep?” you ask.

“yes, finally.” he answers. you can tell how tired both of you are from your voices.

“you know, it's been a while since you asked me the thing.” you say, after some minutes of silence. he takes a while to make a noise, you look at him to check if he has slept there.

“honestly, i don’t think we can be boring at this point, not with kids like ours.” he says, pointing with his eyes to all the things spread around. you let out a giggle. “and if it hasn't happened yet it’s because we’re too cool for it.” he smirks, tired eyes almost closing. 

“you’re right.” you answer.

#hope you like it!! #been trying to write him for ages #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu fluff #hq fluff #haikyuu kuroo #hq kuroo #kuroo x y/n #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo fluff #kuroo testuro #kuroo imagine #kuroo x reader #kuroo headcanons #kuroo hcs #kuroo haikyuu

[supernovafics]

𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐋𝐄

pairing: ari levinson x fem!reader

summary: in which it had been more than a year since you had last spoken to or seen ari, and with the painful way things ended between you both you were completely okay with never speaking to him again. however, it is a birthday party that finally places you both in the same vicinity and leads to one too many awkward and emotional encounters

word count: 3.9k words

warnings: angst, slight fluff, explicit language

author’s note: first time writing for ari and i’m surprised it has taken me this long lol (full folklore series masterlist here!)

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝i think i’ve seen this film before, and i didn't like the ending. you're not my homeland anymore, so what am i defending now? you were my town. now i’m in exile, seein' you out.❞

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“I’m surprised we haven’t talked yet today.”

You weren’t too shocked to hear Ari’s voice right then, mainly because you knew that having some sort of an actual conversation with him was inevitable. And, in fact, the only thing that truly surprised you about that moment was that it hadn’t happened sooner.

You turned your gaze toward him and lifted your shoulders in a simple shrug. “I don’t know. There really isn’t anything to talk about.”

There was definitely a lot that the two of you could talk about, but you wanted to pretend that everything was completely okay between you both. Because it had been a little over a year since you two had last spoken, and now everything actually was fine between you two, for the most part. Somewhat. Barely.

Ari gave you a look that called you on your bullshit, and you hated that somehow, after all that time apart, he could still read you so easily.

When you first saw him earlier that day, it startled you. Your mind immediately traveled back to the last time you saw him, which was a moment full of angry tears and yelling that you now looked back on as the best worst thing to ever happen to you.

Following the brief look at him that caused a million different emotions to wash over you in the span of a few seconds, you continued on with the conversation you were having and pretended as if you hadn’t been affected by his presence at all.

In hindsight, you really shouldn’t have been too surprised to see him; it was mainly his family at the party, after all. However, it was rare and almost a given at that point that he would not show up to family events because he was always so busy with work. This specific event was for his niece’s seventh birthday, which had the theme of both princesses and cowboys because Willow couldn’t choose just one. Although you and Ari were no longer together, you still remained great friends with his sister, Celia, which was the reason why you had been invited to her house for the birthday party.

You had looked away from Ari so quickly that you were unsure if he had noticed you in the expansive backyard, which was full of many people and a huge bouncy house that was probably the first thing he saw. However, you could practically feel his gaze on you, and when you finally met his eyes, even though the two of you were on opposite ends of the backyard, you could feel something silently being said between you both.

Absolutely nothing was verbally said, nor was any gesture made as the pair of you simply stared at one another for a few moments. When you finally pulled your eyes away from his, out of your peripheral vision, you noticed him look away as well and begin to greet some of his family members.

For some reason, you thought that would be the extent of interaction you would have with him at the birthday party. However, now there you both were, hours later, standing next to the bouncy house and watching the last few kids, including Willow, continue to bounce their little hearts out.

“What do you want me to say?” You asked him. Finally, breaking the minor silence that had been prevailing.

He shrugged halfheartedly. “The cynical part of me was expecting an immediate “fuck you” or “I hate you.””

You let out a soft sigh and met his gaze. “I don’t hate you, Ari.”

The statement actually had some truth to it. Yes, you had been angry at him for a long time, and there was even a period where you did find yourself hating him just a little bit. But that wasn’t how things were anymore. It was all different now. You were in a better place. Happier. Much happier than what you had been a year ago.

Ultimately, Ari pulled his eyes away from yours. You were unsure if he fully believed what you had said, and you were also unsure if you should allow yourself to care about what he thought anymore.

“How have you been?” He decided to ask instead of pushing further on the previous topic.

Typically, you hated small talk, but at that moment, you felt extremely grateful for the mundanity. Even if it was with someone that you couldn’t remember the last time you spoke simple small talk with because your relationship had once been so far past that.

“I’ve been good,” You told him, keeping your response short and simple. “Really good, actually.”

Once again, Ari was quiet, and you were unsure what that meant. You wanted the conversation to be over because the underlying awkwardness of it all was becoming unbearable. But, there was also a part of you that wanted to keep going because you had no idea when you would talk to Ari again.

You were about to speak, pose another mundane question just to say something, and fill the air of silence. However, before you could, Ari finally responded to your previous words.

“I don’t know,” He ultimately told you. “I don’t know if I can believe that. There’s something about you right now that’s telling me that’s not entirely true.”

You weren’t surprised by the bluntness of Ari’s words; his honesty was a quality that you had been pretty familiar with, but that didn’t mean that his words didn’t still sting. And his words didn’t only make you feel upset, but they made you angry too. You didn’t expect to feel so affected by anything Ari would say anymore, but him acting as if he knew shit about you and your life anymore made you actually want to say “fuck you” to him. He completely lost the privilege to make comments like that when he ended things a year ago.

“How could you possibly say that?” You said, keeping your voice level and trying hard not to let the all too familiar feelings of anger cause you to yell at the man standing next to you. “You don’t know me anymore, Ari. As hard as that may be for you to believe. Things are different, and they’re better than what they used to be. Than what we used to be.”

You didn’t allow Ari any chance to respond to anything you said before you walked away, sincerely hoping that he would not follow you. The minor conversation was over, and you couldn’t help but be mad at yourself that there was a moment where you had wanted it to continue.

You didn’t glance back at him at all as you walked over to where Celia was standing by the goodie bag table, which was unsurprisingly a huge mess due to how quickly the kids had ransacked it a little while earlier.

“Need any help cleaning up?” You asked her; however, you didn’t wait for a response before you began tossing half-empty and half-eaten items that were on the table into the garbage bag that was close by.  

“You’re amazing,” She said, smiling at you. Things were quiet for a few moments as you both threw stuff in the garbage. “Also, he’s an idiot.”

You looked up at her. “You heard the conversation?”

“No, but I saw the ending,” She told you, and a part of you honestly felt glad that she hadn’t heard. “And when you walked over here, I’ve never seen you look that pissed before. So, whatever he said, he’s an idiot for saying it.”

You couldn’t help but smile at Celia’s words and feel so grateful for the friendship you had with her. And you weren’t even surprised that she was immediately on your side, even though she wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened with you and Ari.

Celia knew the ins and outs of your and Ari’s relationship, especially the aftermath of it. You had initially felt hesitant about it, but she was the first person you called when things ended between you and him. From the moment Ari introduced you both, the two of you just clicked, bonding over the most random things. Therefore, it had felt almost second nature to call her, and of course, she was there for you and helped you through it all.

You finally glanced over at Ari and saw him giving a small wave to Willow, who was waving wildly at him from inside the bouncy house. “Did you know he was coming today?”

“Honestly, no,” Celia answered with a small shake of her head. “Of course, I sent him an invite because I can’t not send him one. But I didn’t even know he was back in the states until today.”

You simply nodded at her words before continuing to toss things into the trash. Stealing another glance at Ari, a small part of you couldn’t help but feel upset that the first conversation you had in over a year ended badly. However, you were quick to push that feeling away because you refused to allow yourself to care when it wasn’t your fault that it had taken that turn.

If you were being completely honest, you couldn’t wait to go home because then you knew that you wouldn’t have to see him again.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝ so step right out, there is no amount of crying i can do for you. all this time we always walked a very thin line. ❞

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

It wasn’t long before the final guests at the party left, and the only people remaining were you, Ari, Celia, her husband Theo, and Willow, who was currently fast asleep in Ari’s arms.

”Can you put her in bed?” Celia asked him as she took a sip from her wine glass. Since the party was over, she didn’t waste a second opening up a bottle because of how stressful the day had been. You didn’t blame her, and in fact, if you didn’t have to drive home yourself, you would’ve joined her and also had a glass.

“Yeah, no problem,” Ari answered and began heading to the back door. He walked slowly so that he wouldn’t wake Willow, but that didn’t seem to work because her head quickly popped up, and her eyes opened, almost as if she had never been fully asleep in the first place.

“I want Y/N to come too. She tells the best bedtime stories,” She said with a wide smile on her sleepy face.

You hesitated for a brief moment. The backyard was cleaned up, aside from the few tables and chairs that were still scattered about, and you were ready to say your own goodbyes to Celia and Theo and then head home. However, seeing that hopeful and happy glint in Willow’s eyes, you knew that you couldn’t say no to her, even if that meant being around Ari again.

“Yes, I’ll come too,” You responded and smiled at her.

Nothing was said between you and Ari as you walked inside the house. Instead, it was Willow doing most of the talking, successfully curbing all of the awkwardness as she rambled on about how awesome her party was and yawning between every few sentences.

You didn’t really want to speak to Ari again. You were completely willing and okay with leaving the previous conversation on that sour note, and you felt somewhat at peace with doing that.

So, you knew that once Willow was in her pajamas, tucked in bed, and you told her a story that would put her to sleep, you’d be able to leave without saying anything more to Ari.

“What story do you want to hear?” You asked as you knelt down next to Willow’s twin-sized bed; Ari was on the other side.

“Can it be something new?” The young girl responded. “Ooh, and it can be about cowboys and princesses?”

You laughed a bit because with what the theme of her birthday party had been, you should’ve easily seen that coming. “Okay… Oh, I have the perfect idea.”

You didn’t really have any concrete ideas for the story, but you began telling one anyway, pulling out whatever was coming to your mind, adding it in, and making sure that it all made sense.

Ari watched intently and had a small smile on his face as he listened to you tell the story to Willow. Your voice was both animated and soft, and he saw how intrigued, and happy Willow was as you spoke. That moment made him miss you more than he already did.

As you continued on with the story, you noticed how Willow’s eyes became heavier. You kept going but made your words softer and softer until you trailed off and stopped completely once she was sleeping.

“Good thing she fell asleep there because I had no idea how that story was going to end,” You said, realizing a little too late that your joking words had been directed at Ari.

“So, that means I’ll never get to know the ending?” Ari asked, and you couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his statement. However, you stopped yourself mid-laugh because it suddenly felt wrong to joke around with him, so it sounded more like you made a weird coughing sound.

Things became quiet as you both simply observed Willow’s even breaths and how peaceful she looked, and you were pondering exactly how you should finally make your exit and head home. But, before you could even get close to saying the word “goodbye,” Ari broke the silence.

“Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. It was a really shitty comment to make.”

“It’s fine,” You told him. It didn’t really feel fine, but it felt better to say that rather than how you were really feeling, which was a mix of emotions that you couldn’t fully decipher anymore.

“Do you hate me for everything?” He asked, and before you could even think about answering his question, you both noticed Willow slightly stir in her bed.

You were quick to turn off her lamp and flick on the small bunny night light she had on her nightstand, and Ari followed suit as you quietly walked out of the room. He fully expected you to say goodbye to him and leave, but you didn’t. Instead, you walked into the bathroom that was across the hall, gesturing for him to follow you inside, which he did, and you closed the door behind you both.

You didn’t realize how small the bathroom was until the door was closed, and there was barely any room for you to take a few steps back so that you weren’t insanely close to Ari. Although this closeness made you feel slightly uncomfortable, you couldn’t allow yourself to leave just yet.

Ultimately, you didn’t answer Ari’s previous question, and instead, you asked one of your own. “Why do you keep thinking that I hate you? Do you want me to?”

“I don’t know,” He told you with a slight shrug. “At least then I would know you feel something toward me.”

“I will always feel something for you,” You said softly, deliberately avoiding his gaze and instead focusing on the shower curtain behind him. “I kinda hate that, but it’s true. And it won’t always be something bad. Right now, it isn’t something bad.”

Your honest words fell from your lips before you could fully think about them, and for a brief moment, you felt as if you had said too much. However, Ari spoke before you could further grow to regret your words.

“I’ll always feel something for you too,” He responded, voice matching the same softness as yours.

Maybe this was the vulnerable and honest conversation that you both finally needed to have with one another after a year of not speaking and leaving things on an upsetting note. Of course, this felt weird and foreign, and a part of you wanted to flee the bathroom, but it also felt relieving to let out at least a small fraction of the things that you had been harboring for a while.

“I can’t believe it took us over a year to get some type of closure with one another.”

“It’s not that surprising; we’re both stubborn as hell. And I’m also an idiot for not trying to reach out sooner,” Ari responded, and you almost smiled until you heard his next words. “I’ve missed you.”

You were quick to shake your head at him. “You can’t say that.”

“But if it’s the truth?”

“Then you’re just making things so much harder than they should be.”

A part of you missed him too, but you couldn’t allow yourself to say that. Nothing was different than what it had been a year ago. You were still you, and he was still him. The two of you already knew that things couldn’t work, so there was no point in falling back into anything, even if it felt almost too comfortable and easy to do so.

“How?” He asked, and you almost found yourself laughing at the one-worded question because of how obvious the answer should have been to him.

“Because we can’t do this anymore. Absolutely nothing has changed. You still go to different countries for months on end, and I’m still right here. At first, it was okay waiting for you to come back, but eventually, it got lonely, and I wanted more,” Your eyes were on his as you spoke, and let your final words come out quietly. “And you couldn’t give me more.”

“I’m not going back.”

You didn’t expect to be so affected by anything Ari would say anymore, but those four words hit you hard. They had been exactly what you had wanted to hear for forever. And finally hearing them inadvertently made your heartbeat speed up while simultaneously dropping into your stomach.

“What? Why?” You finally managed to ask after a short stint of unbearable silence.

“It’s time,” He stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “I’ve been wanting to for a few months now, and after a long mission in Morocco, I decided that would be the last one. I just got back a week ago.”

Considering how big of a bombshell his initial words had been, the follow-up “explanation” wasn’t enough for you. And then there was the fact that he was doing this now. Now, instead of a year ago when you had practically begged him to.

It got quiet again because you couldn’t find any words to say. Right then, the urge to leave the bathroom was stronger than ever, but your feet felt completely glued to the white tiled floor.

“I’m sorry,” Ari said, filling the silence.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why are you sorry?”

“Because I know what you’re thinking.”

There were a million things circling your mind right then, so if he was able to sum all of it up in one succinct statement, you would’ve been very surprised.

“I know I should’ve done this a year ago, and I really wish I did. And I’m so, so fucking sorry that I didn’t.”

Maybe you still were an easy book to read because his words were an almost too perfect summation of what you had wanted to hear. It felt almost unfair to you that it took him over a year to finally say all of these things. They were the words that you had expected, hoped, he would say to you a day after ending things and breaking your heart, not a year after.

For some instances, the phrase “better late than never” worked perfectly, but not for this. It felt as if all of these confessions from Ari were coming way, way too late.

You had gotten to a place where you no longer felt sad or angry about how things ended between you and him. Instead, you were fully, or at least mostly, at peace with it all. And you really did not want to fall back into something that would only end with you once again hurting for months on end.

“Give me a reason, or just tell me why you’re finally doing this now, instead of then,” You said, and both you and Ari knew what the underlying question to your words were. “Why wasn’t I enough a year ago?”

“I was a selfish dumbass, and I didn’t realize how much I needed you until I didn’t have you anymore. But, I didn’t call you or say anything because I thought if I was stupid enough to let you go, then maybe I didn’t deserve to have you back,” Ari explained, and it was painful how truthful you could tell each and every one of those words were. “There wasn’t one moment that I didn’t think about you this entire year, though.”

It was a solid mix of sad and angry tears that hit you so abruptly and threatened to spill from your eyes. Sad because it hurt hearing Ari’s words, and angry because you wished you had heard them so much earlier.

“You should’ve called,” You muttered, hastily brushing away a stray tear that had rolled down your cheek. “All I wanted was for you to say something. Anything.”

“I’m sorry,” He whispered back, and you could hear his sincerity behind the simple two words.  

You felt his hand reach for yours, and when he intertwined your fingers with his, you simultaneously hated and loved how much comfort you felt from having your hand in his again. He gave your hand a small squeeze before closing the minor amount of space between you both and wrapping his arms around you. Instead of tensing at his touch, you leaned into it. Your body was a traitor to how fickle and confused your mind felt at that moment. However, you completely accepted the embrace and reciprocated, burying your face in his chest and taking in his all too familiar smell that you had missed so much.

For the first time that night, the silence felt comfortable, and there was nothing more that needed to be said at that moment because it was all being conveyed nonverbally through the tight hug you two had found yourselves in.

You were unsure how long the two of you stood like that, but when you pulled away after what felt like an hour and also only a minute, you looked up at Ari.

“I should head home,” You said, and he nodded understandingly. He almost reluctantly said his final goodbyes to you; however, you began speaking again. “Do you wanna come?”

Ari couldn’t hold back his smile, and it took a lot within him to not lean in and kiss you right then; which was something that you actually wouldn’t have been completely opposed to.

With how royally he fucked things up a year ago, he was willing to take whatever you would give him and follow your lead with however you wanted to move things. And to him, your words felt like a move in a good direction, which was all he could really ask for and it was all he wanted.

“I would love to.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝ second, third, and hundredth chances. balancin' on breaking branches. those eyes add insult to injury. ❞

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

let me know ur thoughts<333

#ari levinson x reader #ari levinson imagine #ari levinson x female reader #ari levinson x oc #ari levinson #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans imagine

[jowrites]

Accidents can Happen - 25. Some things should be left alone (written)

Main Masterlist Here.

Prev. Next.

Disclaimer: Jake and Sunghoon are aged up, both 25. Reader is 24. Heeseung is 26.

TW: Cursing, sexual themes, sex in general? more to be added...

Jake checked the time on his watch, nodding, quickly closing his laptop and sitting back at his desk. He folded his hands and waited patiently for the arrival of his invited guests. The rest of the guys already left for the day, leaving him alone with a couple overnight security. It was just 10 minutes after 6 PM when he heard the door open and shut. One of the security had 2 people following behind him, looking at Jake as he stood up with a stoic face as the two people entered his office. 

As he took in their features, he realized just how much YN resembled both of them. Her mother looked ageless, wearing red lipstick, hair up in a long ponytail, eyes dark and looking straight at him. Her father wasn’t too tall, but built and looked like he did enjoy working out. Both of them glaring at Jake like he committed the worst crime possible towards them. They have no idea.

“So this is the man who got my daughter pregnant,” The man said.

“I thought she wasn’t your daughter anymore?” Jake questioned. “Please, have a seat.”

The two looked at him with curious eyes as they took a seat across his desk and he sat down, his demeanor and face not falting once. 

“So, did you invite us here to brag in our faces how you got the suit dismissed and our money is gone?” Her mother spoke with venom. 

“Oh no, that’s not why I invited you,” Jake shook his head. “I’m going to explain your options to you, as a real professional lawyer who never loses.”

“Where is she anyways?” Her father spoke up, dismissing Jake’s comment.

“Who? YN?” Jake asked.

“Wouldn’t she want to be here to yell at us?” He said back.

“Oh, please,” Jake chuckled. “She doesn’t need to waste her energy on you two, she has a daughter he’s busy with right now. Actually, our baby should be getting her bath right now right before bed. It’s around that time. She’s on a decent schedule.”

Jake could see the blood in their faces drop at the mention of Delilah, the baby they will never be able to have a relationship with. 

“The baby? How is she?” Her mother suddenly questioned, leaning forward skimming for information.

“My daughter is thriving, you know, it’s very interesting how you claimed YN was an unfit mother when you yourself didn't even ask about your own child or even knew she had a daughter until recently, isn’t that funny?” Jake asked, tilting his head. “Why is that?”

“Are we here just so you can explain to us how we’re bad parents? If so, we don’t need to be here,” Her father said. “Constance, let’s go.”

“No,” Jake said. “As I said, you’re here so I can give you options.”

Jake gave them a fake smile as they stared at him, edging him to go on.

“Good, I’ll get straight to the point,” Jake said as he took out a document. “Here is a document that is a written suit against the parents of YN LN, Roberto LN and Constance LN, for the emotional damage and stress that you have caused to the recipient YN LN, and for the trauma that you have caused for 15 years. Now, this isn’t actually filed yet, but it can be and you will also be given a restraining order on YN and our baby, Delilah. You would expect to pay my legal fees along with yours, and pay YN out of $2.5 Million. And, I say my legal fee because I am representing YN and there’s no way you would win. We have witnesses who would testify against you. That’s option one.”

All the color on their faces drained immediately and they looked at each other, and Jake could sense the anxiety bleeding off of them. 

“Option two, which I recommend you take, as a professional lawyer, my advice would be to walk out of this office today, and never think about YN, never think about our child and any future children we have, and go on about your lives. You will not disrupt my family or YNs peace ever again. You will walk out of this building with whatever pride you have left, if you even had any to begin with, and never, ever think about doing something ill intended ever again. If she even says she sees you somewhere, you’re going to be hit with this. Do I make myself clear?”

The two of them sighed and nodded, Jake could see the tears start to build in her mothers eyes.

“It’s not like we don’t want to see YN again, w-we have tried reaching out to her too,” Her mother said. “But she just ignores us.”

“Yes, that day all those years ago, we regret everything,” Her father said. “We’re entirely sorry for everything that happened and how we treated her. She’s our little girl.”

“And I have a little girl too, this is what YN wants and I am going to support her in everything. Your tears do nothing to me,” Jake said. “YN has made her peace and she’s moved on. I suggest you do the same.”

“Please, can you give this to her?” Her mother took out a letter and Jake nodded for her to leave it on his desk and she did.

“This isn’t what we wanted, ever. We regret everything we did with Alexa and YN. So please, give us a chance to at least see the baby, just once,” Her mother begged. “Alexa and YN are the only ones we have.”

“No,” Jake said.

“No?” Her mother stood up. “Oh, this is ridiculous! You two are being too harsh and selfish. You’ll deprive your baby from seeing her own grandmother over something that happened years ago? We said sorry!”

“And YN has forgiven you, but she does not owe you anything and neither do I,” Jake said. “What the mother of my child says she gets, I will never betray because I love and respect her. Something you had a lifetime to do and you gave it up over your own bitterness. That’s on you. She is not obligated to do anything just because you’re blood. Get that through your head, or do I have to drain everything you own to teach you a lesson?”

“Constance,” Her father sighed. “He’s right. He’s right, Constance. This is our fault, this is the bed we made and we have to lay in it.”

“Roberto…the baby,” Constance cried. “We’ll never see our grandchildren.”

“And that’s the price we pay for being horrible to our children. Why would they want us to see their own children when they don’t even want to see us? We’re the problem,” He said, holding her arms. “It’s our sin and this is our lesson.”

YNs mother began to cry into her husband's arms as he comforted her. He turned to Jake and gave a genuine smile and held out his hand for Jake to shake. Jake stood up and shook it with a firm grip, understanding and silently thanking him for keeping this woman at bay.

“Thank you, for being there for my daughter and my granddaughter, and I’m sorry for trying to disrupt that,” He said. “We’ll be on our way and you will never see or hear from us again.”

“I would appreciate that, as will YN,” Jake said.

“I wish we could have met on different terms, we’ll go now and repent. This is all our fault,” He bowed slightly and took his wife’s hand and together they started leaving.

“Have a great rest of your night.”

#kpop multistan #kpop writers #kpop fanfic #enhypen scenarios #enhypen #kpop smau #enhypen social media au #sim jaeyun #jake sim #jake smau #bros kind of a badass tbh

[kayla-crazy-stuffs]

I finished writing the fic "A" :D Now I'll be able to work on the one that won the last poll, aka -> Water

Hope you enjoy :]

Word Count: 1,7K :]

TW: Safe/soft vore, injury, digestion mention (doesn't happen)

The sun was beginning to go down, letting people know that in a few hours night would fall. Normally the woods in that area were quiet, but that day they heard many shots. They were apparently directed towards a pair of blue jay hybrids that had a peculiar coloration, as neither were blue in color but one was fawn yellow and the other shamrock green.

A couple of hunters chased them trying to hurt them in order to catch them, while a third followed them with the van so they could later put the birds in the cages they had. The hybrids continued to flap their wings as fast as they could, not wanting to be caught. “Foolish… When are they going to stop chasing us? My wings hurt from flying so much... we've been like this all morning and noon..." complained the green one and apparently the younger of the two.

“I don't know Dream… Just hold on a little more… I'm sure they'll give up at night…” replied the other, dodging another shot. "We can't let them escape, if we catch them we can get a lot of money in exchange for them!!" yelled one of the hunters. Foolish looked to his side realizing that Dream was falling behind. He was too tired to continue.

His eyes widened as he watched a hand get too close to his younger brother. "DREAM!" “I managed to catch one of them without having to hurt him with the bullets! Only the other remains." says the hunter victorious, his hand closed around the hybrid, waiting for the van to stop next to him to lock up the green bird, while the other continued to chase the yellow one.

Foolish continued to fly as fast as he could, though he was so preoccupied with Dream that he didn't even get a chance to dodge the hunter's shot. The hybrid hit the ground hard, although he got up quickly, starting to run towards some bushes, trying to lose sight of the hunter. Although turning his gaze to the front, he found something that he did not like at all.

//

Dream twisted in the hunter's grasp, flapping his wings quickly. “Leave us alone!!” he snapped as he continued to try to escape. The hunter just laughed at the hybrid. “Not in a million years, as soon as we catch the other, you two will be traded for a lot of money.” he replied with a cruel smile. "No, you won’t be able to catch him, so forget about him!” he yelled back, which the hunter didn't like, clenching his fist even tighter, causing the hybrid to let out a pained cry.

Neither of them had noticed the naga that had appeared a few meters away, though the naga hadn't noticed them either as he was a bit drowsy. The hybrid writhed until he finally decided to bite down hard on the hunter's hand, causing the hunter to let him go. "Son of a b-!" Dream only taunted him, flitting forward, still looking at the hunter so he could see him swear as he stared at the hand where Dream had bitten.

However when he looked forward, his eyes widened in terror, trying to stop his flight suddenly. The cause of this was because he was rushing towards the yawning maw of a naga.

Unfortunately he couldn't stop in time and his legs hit the back of the naga's mouth, causing him to swallow. Dream was about to let out a small cry as he was pushed down into the tight throat.

//

Foolish Let out a small yelp of fear, falling back as he was met by a naga. "My, my... I was looking for something to eat but it seems it came right at me." Said the naga with heterochromatic eyes, his smile widening. Foolish started to crawl back when he heard another shot and snapped his head towards the sound, letting him know that the hunter was getting closer.

The naga glanced ahead before looking at the hybrid again, noting the injured wing, covered in blood. "So...you already have someone after you, huh?" he commented, bringing his hand closer to the hybrid, lifting him up off the floor. “W-Wait! Please!" The naga only pressed a finger gently on the small boy's lips as he rolled his eyes, shutting up the bird instantly.

“Okay, okay… I won't hurt you, but if you want to get away from the one who's chasing you, I'll have to hide you and you probably won't like it, but you'll have to put up with it anyway." Foolish was really confused when the naga said those words to him, until he was brought closer to his mouth, realizing what the naga was referring to. 

The hybrid tried to squirm to no avail as he was introduced into the reptile's jaws. Foolish was desperately trying to hold on to something when the naga finally swallowed him, sending him downward. The bird pushed against the soft walls, trying to coax the naga into letting it out. "Nonono... Please let me out!" The naga only huffed. “You'll be fine-..” ​​“They have my brother! I have to go get him!" he yelled, still pushing against the walls of the storage. 'Hmmm... So that was it, huh?'

“I'll take care of it, get some rest, I bet that you're really tired and the injury is making you even more tired. I promise I won't hurt either of you…” Foolish didn't know if he should really trust a naga who previously wanted to eat him, but his voice was honest, so he decided to do as he was told, closing his eyes, falling asleep in a few seconds.

George looked straight ahead once he felt the hybrid fall asleep. He was getting soft. It wasn't long before a hunter appeared with a gun, though it wasn't made for hunting naga’s. The hunter's eyes widened as they met the naga's heterochromatic ones. "Well, it seems that someone has decided to become my lunch." The hunter shakily pointed the gun at the naga and George just laughed at that.

"You know full well that those weapons are of no use against a naga, right?" he commented with a wide smile. The hunter dropped his gun and ran off, earning another laugh from the naga who began to chase him. “Hey, haven't you come to offer yourself? I will be really glad to accept you in my stomach.” He commented, giving the hunter some advantage so that he could lead him to his partners.

//

The naga was sleepy at the time, he had just woken up from a rather long nap so he didn't expect something to go into his mouth while he yawned. He choked for a moment before swallowing.

Sapnap let out a little belch, from the air he had swallowed along with something else that didn't know what it was, until he saw some green feathers coming out of his mouth. "Have I swallowed a bird...?" He asked himself before an angry voice was heard.

"Hey! That's my bird! Give it back to me!" The hunter froze for a moment as the naga licked his lips. "I don't think so, I must admit it was quite delicious…" "I don't care! I had a hard time catching it, so give it back to me!" Sapnap only rolled his eyes lightly pressing on his storage.

"Hmm... Should I move it to the stomach and digest it...?" He wondered in a low voice, though the bird inside the storage heard it too, beginning to squirm and push against the soft walls. "N-No! P-Please! D-Don't digest me! B-Brother! H-Help me p-please!" The bird inside cried.

Sapnap frowned. Birds don't talk, unless it was a hybrid. He looked at the hunter again. "You said it was a bird, not a hybrid." He said seriously. "That doesn't matter! It's still a fucking bird!" snapped the hunter angrily when he saw that the naga had no intention of returning the bird. At that, Sapnap's gaze darkened, he slid over to the hunter placing his hands on the man's shoulders. "Listen to me and do it right..." he commented in a threatening tone.

The hunter swallowed, clearly nervous at the naga's sudden change in attitude. “If you imply that a bird hybrid is the same as a simple bird, to me, you would be just another piece of meat on the menu. I could eat you whole right now and your life would end here, believe me, I would do it without hesitation, there is plenty of free space for you to fit inside." he finally grunted, removing his hands from the hunter's shoulders. "Now get out of here before I decide to turn you into naga food.” The hunter nodded quickly, his eyes wide with terror as he turned to run back to the van.

A few seconds later another hunter appeared running towards the van, a brown-haired naga following slowly behind. Sapnap smiled slightly. "Hey George... So you've met a hunter too?" The heterochromatic naga looked at him for a moment before nodding. “I had threatened to eat him and then he ran off. He was acting brave but he's actually a coward." He ended up laughing, Sapnap laughing at that too.

Sapnap thought for a while before asking. "What was he looking for though?" "Apparently he was looking for a bird hybrid, but I found him before he could." he commented to the black-haired man calmly. Sapnap watched him silently for a moment before speaking. "You haven't done anything to them, right?" he asked with a bit of concern in his voice. George sighed at this, rolling his eyes. “No, I haven't done anything to him, he's in my storage. Although being hungry, I don't like this at all."

Sapnap sighed in relief at that. "Then let's go find you something to eat while we let them rest for a while before letting them out." George nodded, both nagas began to slide back into the deep part of the forest. "We should also get some healing leaves, apparently the one that I've found was shot in one of his wings." Sapnap nodded, following his companion. They would keep the two hybrids safe from any danger around them.

#mcyt g/t #mcyt gt #mcyt vore #dsmp g/t #dsmp gt #dsmp vore #tw injury #tw digestion mention #safe vore #soft vore #soft? vore #giant!george #giant!sapnap #tiny!dream #tiny!foolish #naga!sapnap #naga!george #bird!dream #bird!foolish #kayla writes #:]