#THE LAST THREE EPISODES WERE JUST GOLD TO ME they were like full on angst and then downright hilarious | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

canarygirl1017 · 2 years

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Pairing: Reader / Jungkook, Reader / Taehyung (past relationship, friends to lovers to friends)

Genre: College!au, fluff, angst, supernatural drama, smut, friends to lovers, emotional trauma, hurt/comfort

Length: 9, 203k words

Warnings: language, episodes of anxiety, panic attacks, sexual themes in later chapters.

Summary: Living in a world full of things only you have the ability to see, growing up with Jungkook has been your island amidst the chaos. But when your best friend makes an impossible request, your friendship is fractured, and your sudden decision to cut ties and move abroad changes everything. Three years later, Jungkook is thriving at university as he begins his junior year. He’s a star athlete, member of a popular fraternity, and every girl’s ideal boyfriend. He tells himself that he’s long forgotten you and the friendship he never had a chance to mend – that is, until you show up on campus as a transfer student with new friends in tow. It’s been three years, and everything has changed, but the biggest change is you. Your new found determination to use your abilities to help the ghosts you used to live in fear of, no matter how dangerous it might be, makes Jungkook fear he’ll lose you before he has a chance to fix what he broke. College AU.

Disclaimer: Just for funsies, I don’t believe in real-life shipping. But I like to write, and I like fandom, so here we are. Please do not duplicate this work or repost anywhere else without permission.

Tag List: @ggukkieland @jikooksgirl19 @waves-and-woods @kookiesbreaky @koochiekoo @monvieesdaebak @kb-bangtanenthusiast @mwitsmejk @justvibingsblog @gerigonzalezme

I hope I remembered all the people who asked to be tagged (and got the tags right.) If you’d like to be tagged for updates, let me know.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 3

“You ready to go?”

You turned to see Taehyung leaning in your doorway. He was wearing flared jeans and a green paisley silk button-down shirt. The open butterfly collar revealed a vintage Chanel gold medallion, and he’d added light green sunglasses to complete his retro look.

Taehyung had picked out your outfit – a short, cream-colored wrap dress with an abstract floral design and long flared sleeves. Knee high rust red boots and pin straight hair completed the look, and for once you felt like a match to his fashionable appearance.

You held up a finger as you opened your jewelry box, looking for the vintage garnet drop earrings you’d found to complement the outfit. You slid them in, moving your hair back to admire how they dangled and caught the light.

“Okay, I’m ready,” you said, turning to find him behind you.

“Almost,” he said, pulling a small box out of his pocket.

“Tae,” you said reprovingly as he opened the box and took out a ring. The antique gold setting was beautiful – an oval opal surrounded by a halo of garnets – and it looked perfect when he slid it onto your right ring finger.

“Now you’re ready,” he said, looking pleased as he stood back to check your appearance.

You raised a brow. “When did you even have time to shop for this?” Taehyung’s little surprise gifts were something to which you’d become accustomed over the last few years, and your attempts to discourage him were usually ignored.

He shrugged and as always, his sheepish grin disarmed you. You reached up and adjusted his collar.

“You look like you’re ready for a Vogue shoot,” you said, smiling back. “The poor girls at this party won’t know what hit them.”

“That’s why I have you to protect me,” he replied.

It was Friday, the final weekend before classes started, and the welcoming activities had ramped up in the last week. You and Taehyung had attended some of them and declined others, but you’d committed to the biggest events of the weekend – tonight’s Musical Eras mixer and tomorrow’s Movie Night on the Quad.

The mixer was being held at the Kappa fraternity house, something that had almost made you reconsider attending because you were certain to run into Jungkook again as you had for the last week. While your anger had cooled, you still felt that knot of anxiety in your stomach whenever you saw him, wondering if he’d still be angry or if he’d just pretend you didn’t exist.

So far, his attitude fell somewhere in the middle – when he saw you and Taehyung together at the supermarket, he tried to hide his reaction, but the little muscle ticking away in his jaw was a dead giveaway. A couple of days later, you saw him in the park while you were walking Yeontan and for once, he didn’t look big mad at the sight of you. You were alone and had considered trying to talk to him, but he was with friends. Not wanting to invite public rejection, you waved at the group and hurried away, noticing the little wrinkle between his brows as he watched you go.

Jin, Jimin and Jimin’s girlfriend, Ayeong, had all been by the house a couple of times. Sera had also visited with her mother, accepting Taehyung’s offer of a house tour since Sera’s mother was interested in how the historical home had been renovated. Jungkook was noticeably absent, though Jin seemed certain that he’d eventually come around.

You weren’t so certain of that. In all the years you’d been friends with Jungkook, you’d never seen him so deeply upset with another person. If someone upset him, he might avoid that person for a while, but he always got over it, and you’d never seen him blow up at anyone the way he had with you.

You always thought you knew him better than anyone, and he you, but now you had to acknowledge the reality of this situation – three years had passed, and the truth was, you didn’t know this Jungkook. Worse, he didn’t know you either and you had no one to blame for that but yourself.

________________

Stepping into the Kappa house was like stepping back in time. The large house had several rooms downstairs, each of which reflected a different decade of music, and everyone had taken their costumes just as seriously. You laughed when Jimin and Ayeong met you out front dressed as Sonny and Cher.

“Very nice,” you said, gesturing to Ayeong’s dress.

“Thanks, I love yours too.”

Thought it was still early, the party was already a crush of people circulating between the rooms. Younger guys, probably freshmen, circulated with drinks on trays which they offered to guests.

“Pledges?” Taehyung asked Jimin as he took a beer.

Jimin nodded. “They have to put in an hour according to a schedule and then they’re free to party. That’s as close to hazing as we get here.”

When Jimin offered you a glass of wine, you shook your head. “I don’t really drink much when I’m…” you paused, unsure how to finish the sentence without being weird. “When I’m out.”

You could see that Jimin understood what you meant. “Got it. We have a dry bar too if you want to call it that.”

Ayeong linked arms with you. “I’ll show her. I’m not really in the mood to drink either.”

The dry bar turned out to be pretty impressive, with lots of juice, sparkling water, club soda, and even different types of fruit. You settled for club soda with a splash of raspberry juice and slices of lemon while Ayeong created a tropical drink.

“I know Jungkook is being… well, difficult. But I just want you to know that Jimin is so happy you’re back,” Ayeong said. “He said you were all friends since kindergarten.”

“Jimin was always one of the sweetest people at our school,” you replied. “It was really easy to be his friend.”

“Not much has changed then,” Ayeong laughed. “What about Jungkook? Jimin says he wasn’t always such a fuckboy.”

You choked on a sip of your drink. “Jungkook is a fuckboy?”

“Well, a nice one? I think he only hooks up with girls who want the same kind of no-strings fun, so there’s never any drama related to it. He’s not the type to get serious though, which is why I’ve told Erin she needs to move on from her crush.”

Fuckboy Jungkook wasn’t something you could really imagine, nor did you want to. You chose not to think too closely about why it bothered you so much.

But once you spotted him across the room talking to a group of girls, you couldn’t shake that image from your mind. He looked good. Really, really good. He was dressed in tight red pants, a black silk button down, and he’d completed his Michael Jackson Thriller homage with a red leather jacket trimmed in black. When he laughed at something one of the girls said and then pressed his lips together, his dimples appeared.

“I’m surprised Jungkook is wearing a costume – he almost never does,” Ayeong commented.

“He kind of stopped wearing them by the time we were in high school,” you said. “But this kind of party, plus a Thriller homage, is pretty on brand for him.”

“Oh, that’s who he’s supposed to be! I’m really bad at guessing all of these costumes.”

You and Taehyung stuck with Jimin and Ayeong, who introduced you to people you hadn’t met yet. Everyone was welcoming, but two hours in you were starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the crowds and the noise. There was also the fact that ever since Jungkook became aware of your presence, you’d felt his eyes on you. You’d hoped his neutral response to you at the park was progress, but you could feel his judgmental stare like a brand.

Every time you glanced over at him, his impassive expression was contradicted by some blazing emotion in his eyes. You reminded yourself that you’d known this would probably be a struggle – that Jungkook would likely be angry with you for leaving. Emmie had even said that no one mentioned your name to him anymore.

You’d just underestimated how much it would hurt.

___________________

Jungkook almost skipped Movie Night on the Quad because he was in a foul mood after the Musical Eras mixer. Seeing you there with Taehyung in your matching costumes had made him inexplicably angry, something Jin called him out on.

“Shouldn’t we be glad that she has good people in her life?” Jin asked him when he stomped around the kitchen the next day, slamming cabinets as he fixed a late breakfast.

“He’s right,” Jimin said. “Plus you know that she and Taehyung aren’t together, right?”

That made him pause. “They look like they’re together.” Fucking matching costumes and all, he thought viciously.

“They dated, but Ayeong said y/n told her it’s been a while since they were together like that. At least six months or so.”

“Who the hell follows their ex-girlfriend to another country? And buys a house?”

“If you took the time to get to know Taehyung, you’d understand that he feels like y/n saved his life. He’s committed to helping her with the ghost hunting because of that, but he also genuinely cares about her. So do Namjoon and Chloe,” Jin said. “They’re all good people.”

“Whatever,” Jungkook muttered, shoving cereal into his mouth.

“Forget it, Jin. He won’t admit the real problem, and we all know his anger default setting when it comes to y/n is because of that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jungkook demanded.

“You’re jealous. You’ve always been jealous of anyone that got close to y/n,” Jimin replied calmly. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.

Jungkook grit his teeth. “I’m not jealous.”

“Really? So every time a guy expressed interest in dating her back in high school, and you very pointedly warned them all off, that was you just being what? A good friend?” Jimin rolled his eyes.

“Who? Like Lucas? You’re damn right I warned him off. He didn’t deserve her.”

“What about me?” Jimin asked, a challenge in his tone. “I told you that I liked her our sophomore year, and you shot down that idea so fast I was afraid if I pursued it, it would actually ruin our friendship.”

Jungkook stared at him, shifting uncomfortably. “Because you weren’t serious about it.”

“Says who? I was dead serious, Jungkook, and you know it. For that matter, I think even Lucas was serious about liking her. He never said a word about her that wasn’t totally respectful.”

“Yeah, because he knew I would beat his ass,” Jungkook replied irritably.

“You’re right – everybody knew that. Why do you think people steered clear of her? Why do you think Grace hated her so much? I told you that Grace wasn’t as nice as you thought she was, but you still held tight to y/n with one hand while you chased after her. And I figured it was just a matter of time until you realized how you really felt about y/n, so I let it go. But damn, Jungkook, you need to stop getting mad and let her explain why she left.”

No one spoke for a moment. Then Jungkook asked, “Has she told you why?”

“I asked her,” Jin said. “But I think she’s waiting to talk to you first.”

Jungkook tried not to think about what Jimin said, but now that he was here on the quad, and you were just a few feet away, it was all he could think about. Jealousy.

He couldn’t deny he hated seeing how close you were to Taehyung. The way the other man touched you, or kept a protective arm around you, pissed him off. The way you smiled at him made him even angrier. Still, beneath the anger was something else – a yearning for the way things had been. No one had ever understood him the way you did, and he missed that connection with you.

It was his fault you left. That little voice in the back of his head kept reminding him that you weren’t the only one to blame for this vast distance between you now. He kind of understood why you’d left, but he didn’t know why it had taken you so long to return.

He kept stealing glances at you rather than watching the movie playing on the large screen set up on the quad. You’d been to the concession stand, and he wasn’t surprised to see you eating gummy bears since that had always been your favorite movie snack.

You looked pretty. Your hair was a little longer now than it had been in high school and fell in gentle waves around your shoulders. You wore another floaty little summer dress, the kind you had always liked, small feet encased in comfortable flat sandals. You and Taehyung had joined Jimin, Ayeong, Erin and Jin on a large blanket towards the front of the crowd.

Stubbornly, Jungkook had opted to sit with some of his friends from the baseball team. He was still close enough to watch you – to hear your voice – to just observe you while his mind sorted through his confusing thoughts and emotions. You had glanced over at him a few times, as if feeling his eyes on you, a silent question in your own. And somehow, he knew that you understood that he needed some time.

At the intermission between films, you went with Ayeong and Erin to the bathroom. Jungkook got tacos from a nearby food truck and when he returned, he noticed that you were the only one missing from the group. A few minutes later, Taehyung was frowning at his phone after making a call that had gone unanswered.

“I’m going to go check on her,” he heard the other man say as he stood up.

Jungkook hesitated for a few seconds before following him. Taehyung had his phone to his ear again, though again there seemed to be no answer.

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook asked as he caught up to him.

Taehyung turned and scowled at him. Then he sighed. “Ayeong said she stayed back because she got a call from her mom that she needed to answer. Maybe it’s nothing, but she’s been gone for almost twenty minutes, so I just want to make sure nothing happened.”

Jungkook nodded and then they were silent as they walked around the buildings that were still open. The campus was well lit, so it was easy to see the faces of people walking to the dorms or back to the quad. When they didn’t see you anywhere, Taehyung made another call.

“Chloe, I need you to ping y/n’s location and send it to my phone.” He listened for a minute. “Maybe nothing but I can’t find her and I don’t know – I’m getting a weird feeling. Okay, thanks.”

Taehyung’s unease was contagious, and Jungkook shifted from one foot to the other as they waited. Then Taehyung’s phone vibrated, and he studied his screen for a moment before gesturing for Jungkook to follow him. After walking for a few minutes, Jungkook realized they were heading towards a park where students often had lunch or relaxed between classes.

And there you were, a ghostly figure swaying in the moonlight as you hummed a strange tune.

“Fuck.” Taehyung started running.

Jungkook was right behind him. When he reached you, he tried to take your arm to turn you towards them, but Taehyung stopped him.

“Don’t,” he said, a note of warning in his tone. “She’s in a sort of fugue state, and it’s safer if she comes out of it herself.”

Rather than argue, Jungkook walked around to face you, but froze when he saw that your eyes were unfocused, and almost… glowing? It was clear that you didn’t see him, though he was standing right in front of you.

Jungkook’s heart was pounding now. “How do we make her do that?”

“There’s something else here,” Taehyung explained. “It probably tried to communicate with her. Sometimes, if she lets her guard down, or if the spirit is especially powerful, she gets sort of… pulled to the other side. It’s usually because they’re trying to show her something.”

Swallowing hard, Jungkook nodded. “Okay. How do we make her come out of it?”

“We can’t make her, and if we try, it can cause severe shock. She’ll already be in a state of shock when she comes to on her own, so we have to be careful. I’m going to go get the car. You wait here with her and just keep talking to her, okay?”

“Can I touch her hands?”

“Carefully,” Taehyung said. “Don’t pull her or shake her, and don’t try to make her move.”

“Okay.” After Taehyung left, Jungkook pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Jin, I need you to come to the park right now. The one behind the science building.”

You were still humming and swaying when Jungkook reached out to touch your hand. There was no response, so he carefully took both your hands in his.

“Jesus, your hands are freezing,” he said quietly. “You never dress right for being out at night. You know that you get cold even when it’s not that cold, right?”

He squeezed your hands in an attempt to warm them up. There was no response from you, your eyes still fixed on something he couldn’t see.

“You need to come back now,” he finally said. “I know something else is here, telling you that you need to listen to them and their problems, but you don’t need to stay there, okay? I’m here now, and I know I’ve been mad at you, but I’m not mad anymore. I’m just worried. So, I need you to listen to me now and come back, y/n.”

You shifted slightly, and your eyelids drooped. He thought he felt the faintest twitch of your fingers.

“That’s good. Come back to me.”

“Jungkook?” Your voice was barely above a whisper.

“I’m here,” he answered. He squeezed your hands again, and a wave of relief swept through him when you suddenly stumbled against him.

“Cold,” you whispered against his shoulder.

Jungkook pulled you in tight against his body and wrapped his arms around you. “I know. You’re okay now.”

You leaned heavily against him, shivering violently now. He kept talking to you as he saw both Jin and Taehyung pulling up to the park.

Taehyung reached for one of your hands, which hung loosely at your sides. “She came out of it?”

Jungkook nodded. “I think she heard me talking to her.”

“What happened?” Jin asked, looking concerned. “Is she okay?”

“She will be,” Taehyung answered. “But she’ll need fluids, at the very least, and we’ll have to keep an eye on her tonight. Her blood pressure and blood sugar always drop after one of these incidents.”

Jungkook remembered how you’d been the night of the library fire. That had been the most terrifying night of his life - getting the call from Jimin and then watching over your unconscious form. You’d been so cold and still, and he’d felt guilty for not being there to protect you.

But he was here now. He helped Taehyung move you into the back of the SUV, sliding in after you. He heard Jin say he’d follow behind and then the door closed as he pulled you close again. You were still shivering, but the way you occasionally murmured his name reassured him that you were more aware of your surroundings than you seemed to be.

When they arrived at Taehyung’s house, Namjoon and Chloe met them outside. Ignoring them, Jungkook slid out of the car and carefully lifted you out. He carried you inside and followed the others up the stairs to your bedroom, where Namjoon had already set up an IV pole. He laid you carefully on the bed.

“Jungkook,” you murmured again, though your eyes remained closed.

“I’m here,” he reassured you.

“Jungkook,” you said again. “Cold.”

“She wants your hoodie,” Taehyung said as Namjoon got the IV bag ready. He moved to the dresser opposite the bed, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a black hoodie which Jungkook recognized as one he’d let you wear pretty often in high school.

Taehyung handed it to him wordlessly, and Jungkook helped you sit up so he could slide your arms into the hoodie. You relaxed almost immediately, breathing evening out, and Jungkook let you settle against him rather than back against the pillows.

You winced when Namjoon slid the needle into one of the veins in your left hand, and Jungkook tightened his arms around you. “It’s okay.” He swallowed hard, feeling unbalanced as he watched the other man secure the IV while Chloe checked your temperature and blood pressure. Then Namjoon pricked your finger to check your blood sugar.

“How is she?” Jungkook finally asked.

“Her blood sugar and blood pressure are both low, which is to be expected,” Namjoon answered. “But she’s a lot calmer than she usually is, probably because you’re here.”

Jungkook hesitated but then asked, “Does she always do this?” When Chloe raised a questioning brow, he added, “Say my name, or ask for me, I mean.”

“Always.” Taehyung leveled him with a look. “She never forgot you, if that’s what you’ve been thinking all this time. I knew your name before she ever even told me about you because when something like this happens? She wants you with her.”

Jin had been hovering near the doorway as they got you settled. Now he sat on the end of the bed and asked, “What the hell happened, exactly?”

Taehyung pulled one of the armchairs closer to the bed as he explained it to Jin. “She’s gotten so much better about blocking their energy that it doesn’t happen very often anymore – not like it did a couple of years ago.”

Jungkook dropped his chin to rest against the top of your head. He didn’t like to think about it – about you being cold and scared and traumatized, asking for him when he wasn’t there. What had he been doing when you were going through that? The guilt he felt was a hot, choking weight in his throat.

He didn’t let you go when Namjoon changed the IV bag and checked your vitals again.

“I don’t think she’ll need to go to the hospital,” Namjoon said. “Her blood sugar is up, and so is her blood pressure. I know she never wants to eat or drink when she wakes up, but we’ll have to push her…”

“I’ll do it,” Jungkook said. “She’ll do it for me.”

“Are you okay?” Jin asked him with a frown. “You’re really tense.”

Jungkook made a conscious effort to relax his shoulders and took a breath. “I’m fine.” He wasn’t fine – not even a little bit. But there would be time to think about that later.

Namjoon and Chloe left the room, and Jin followed after asking where the bathroom was, leaving Jungkook and Taehyung alone in the room.

“She and I aren’t together anymore.” Taehyung was the first to break the silence. “We had a really long talk about us – about everything, really. She said that she felt like we loved each other but weren’t in lovewith each other. And maybe she was right about that. I understand what she means, anyway. But the thing is…”

Jungkook waited for him to continue.

“I do love her,” Taehyung finally said. “She came back here to answer all of her what ifs, and you’re a big one. But if you don’t love her enough to take the bad with the good, I’m asking you to make that clear to her and let her move on.”

Jungkook didn’t say anything, and after a moment, Taehyung stood up and left the room. He tried not to feel resentful towards the other man, but it was hard. He resented the fact that he’d been the one you’d turned to for the past three years. He knew it was foolish, and petty, and he wasn’t exactly angry about it anymore. He wasn’t angry with you. He just hated that those three years away from each other existed at all.

He thought Jimin was right. He was jealous, and he needed to figure out what that meant.

You woke up about an hour later, and then Jungkook was busy coaxing you to sip juice and nibble the dry crackers Chloe brought. You wrinkled your nose at him, but you didn’t argue, and you didn’t question why he was there. Namjoon finally determined that you were stable, and he removed the IV. Jungkook stayed until you fell asleep again, still wearing his hoodie.

________________

The first week of classes passed quickly. You were settling into campus life more easily than expected, aided by Sera, who shared a literature class with you. Jungkook was also in the class as he’d put it off the previous year.

When study groups were formed after the second class, you ended up in the same group with Jungkook and Sera. You kept sneaking glances at Jungkook in the library that afternoon, wondering where you stood now. He didn’t seem angry anymore, but he was distant. He kept his baseball cap on, pulled low enough to hide his eyes and his expression. You resisted the urge to push him to talk to you, sensing that he was working through things in his own way. For now, it was enough to know that he wasn’t mad anymore.

You shifted in the library chair, eyes on your laptop, trying to ignore the menstrual cramps that had begun that morning. They sometimes made you feel sick, and you made a note on your calendar to call the women’s clinic that Sera used. You’d almost skipped today’s study group, but you were discussing ideas for the group project due mid-semester, and you hadn’t wanted to miss an opportunity to see Jungkook.

You shifted again and sighed, rubbing the line between your brows. You looked up when Jungkook left the table. He was gone for ten minutes and when he returned, he dropped a small pharmacy bag on your books and set a cup of hot tea in front of you.

A peek into the bag showed a hot pack and some painkillers, and something warm blossomed in your chest. This was the type of thing he’d done for you before, for years. It made you remember that first time. You were twelve and horribly embarrassed by your body’s changes. When you’d left school sick one afternoon and then refused to see Jungkook, he’d climbed up the tree outside your window and nearly fell trying to get into your room.

You’d confessed the problem, cheeks hot, and then he’d been a little embarrassed too. But after that, he went home and spent the evening reading about menstrual cycles and how to help with cramps, and he’d shared his research with you. You didn’t tell him that you already knew most of it because as embarrassing as it was, it was somehow easier to talk to him than your mom, and it was nice to know that he cared enough to do it.

He still cares, you thought. You glanced over at him, and your eyes met his dark ones for a brief moment before he focused on his tablet again.

Some of the weight you’d carried since your return lightened because for the first time, you were sure that you and he would get past this. It might take time, and you suspected there were some hard conversations in your future. But you were still in his heart as much as he was in yours.

When you left the library, Jungkook fell into step beside you. You were quiet as you walked to the car, waiting for him to speak first.

“Jin and Jimin are throwing a birthday party for me,” he finally said. “It’s tomorrow night – just some people at the house, nothing too big. I thought you might want to come.”

Tamping down the surge of elation that rushed through you, you took a breath and nodded. “Sure, it sounds fun.”

“Our moms are coming on Saturday,” he added. “I guess your mom called you about that.”

“Yes. She’s bringing the twins, and I think we’re all supposed to go to lunch.” You pressed your lips together and then said, “Taehyung’s mom will be here this weekend, too. She wanted to see how the house turned out, and she wants to meet my family, so they’ll both come to lunch.”

You relaxed when he just nodded at that without saying anything. He and Taehyung seemed to have reached an accord of sorts since the night you’d fallen prey to a stronger-than-usual spirit. They might never be besties, but they were civil and no longer glared at each other. You’d count that as a win.

________________

When you walked into Jungkook’s house the next day, you sensed the presence immediately – a dark, low-level spirit, but one that was weakened. You followed Jin inside and paused at a door to the left of the hallway off the living room.

“What room is this?” You gestured to the door, raising a curious brow.

“It goes down to the basement,” Jin replied. “We were thinking of putting another bedroom down there, or maybe a game room, but it needs some work first.”

“It does,” you agreed. “Starting with getting rid of the ghost inhabiting it.”

He looked startled. “There’s a ghost down there? How do you know?”

“I can feel it,” you said. You touched the door knob but then hesitated. “I can deal with it, but I should probably call Namjoon and Chloe, just to be safe.”

Jimin arrived home just after Namjoon and Chloe began setting up their equipment, and he watched, skeptical, as you got the things ready which you would take down to the basement.

“Uh, I don’t know, y/n. Maybe we should wait for Jungkook.”

You looked over at Jimin. “I don’t think he’d let me do this. He’s still stuck in the past, where I was scared of everything and he made it his job to get between me and… well, everything, really. I need to show him that our relationship doesn’t hinge on him protecting me anymore. The only way we can move forward is if he sees that our friendship can be healthy and balanced.”

“He’s going to be really pissed off when he gets here and sees this though.” Jimin grimaced and shook his head. “Fine, I get it, but you need to be ready to deal with him when he blows up.”

“I can handle Jungkook.” And you could now – you were sure of it.

When the equipment was set up, you put on the headset which also held a small camera and a microphone. Additionally, you wore two patches on your chest and the modified smartwatch which Chloe could use to monitor your vital signs. You made sure your two protective amulets were in your pocket and hefted a bag which contained small electrical discs and salt before making your way to the basement door.

You flipped on the lights at the top of the stairs but weren’t surprised when the lights flickered like a bad horror movie.

Getting ready for me, aren’t you? You walked down a few steps and then turned to pour some of the salt out in a thick, straight line along the steps. Just above that line, you set down one of the electrical discs, which would emit low-level pulses of energy.

“What’s that for?” Jin asked as he and Jimin watched you.

“The reason the ghost escaped down here is because of the talismans Jungkook hung upstairs. They were strong enough to make the ghost keep its distance, but not strong enough to banish the ghost altogether. Once the ghost realizes I’m a threat, it could escape upstairs, and this will prevent that.”

When you glanced up and saw the look on Jin’s face, you hurried to reassure him. “Look, I promise I actually know what I’m doing here. This ghost isn’t even particularly strong. I’ve banished more than a hundred ghosts like this one, at least, in the last couple of years.”

You gave them one more reassuring nod before you continued down the stairs. The space was open but since there were no windows, and the lights were still flickering due to the interference from the ghost’s own electrical energy, it was a dark space. You could see a small kitchenette on one side of the room, and an open door on the other side led to a bathroom. Boxes stacked against one wall were full of sports equipment, books, and miscellaneous things you assumed the three roommates hadn’t gotten around to unpacking yet.

You dropped a couple of electrical discs around the perimeters of the room as you waited for the ghost to show itself. You could feel its energy building, so it wouldn’t be long now. Gripping the bag of salt, you poured it out into a large half circle, leaving one part open to allow the ghost to come inside with you, at which point you’d be able to cut it off.

Then you waited. After several minutes of silence, you heard Jin call from the open door. “Is everything okay down there? Maybe I should come down too.”

You sighed. “Jin, you’re scaring it away. Close the door and go watch from the monitor with Joon and Chloe, okay?”

Jimin cleared his throat nervously. “But…”

“Go – both of you.”

There was a moment of silence before you heard the door close. As soon as it did, the lights flickered out completely, the room now lit only by the light on your headset.

“There you are,” you murmured as you saw the shadows shifting near the bathroom. “Come out and talk to me.”

The shadow shifted again and then suddenly, it was right outside the salt circle – a female spirit with eyes as dark as pitch and a pinched mouth, long hair hanging in inky ropes down her back. She wore an old-fashioned dress – you dated it to the late nineteenth century – but no shoes.

You kept your tone conversational as you spoke to her. “Did you live here?” You knew the house wasn’t old enough, but it was likely built in the same place where other homes had once been. Ghosts often stayed in the same area, even when old buildings were torn down and new ones built.

She opened her mouth and screamed at you, her cold breath carrying the stench of fish. You fought back your gag reflex. “Lovely. What’s your name?” You didn’t offer your own name – a rookie mistake you’d made before you realized that the more a spirit knew about you, the more they could latch onto you.

She screamed again and darted toward you, getting right in your face. You turned, edging around the circle so that you could use your foot to shift the salt and close it. Suddenly, she reached for you and you gasped as she gripped your throat and lifted you.

Don’t panic. You reached into your pocket and just as your fingers found the Taoist jade amulet, you heard a crashing sound from the door, followed by someone racing down the stairs.

You barely had time to brace yourself before Jungkook slammed into you and fell to the floor, turning his body so he took the brunt of the impact. Before you could catch your breath, he rolled on top of you. When he grunted, you looked over his shoulder to see that the ghost had thrown herself into him, and he’d actually felt it. When she raised one hand, long nails curled into claws, you pushed Jungkook off of you and sat up.

You held up the amulet and said the words Mr. Lu had taught you, feeling your power curl up and flow through the amulet, which helped you direct it towards the ghost. She screamed as the tendrils of light wrapped around her form, and she pulled away from you. You followed, still chanting, and when she changed direction to come for you again, you were ready. You kicked out, hitting her squarely in the middle, never stopping the chant or your concentration on holding her with your power.

The glittering bands of light drew tighter, and suddenly she blew apart, her energy scattering into nothingness. Your ears rang in the silence that followed, and you drew in several deep breaths as you braced your hands on your knees. Finally, you looked over your shoulder to see Jungkook standing behind you, staring.

“Are you okay?” You asked, reaching for his arm to turn him slightly. You ran a hand down his back. “She hit you pretty hard.”

“What the fuck,” he breathed out, staring at you. “What the fuck just happened?”

“I banished her,” you said simply.

“Where? To the other world?”

“No. She’s completely gone. She had descended into complete darkness. There was no communicating with her. If I had banished her to the other world, it’s likely she would have found her way back here at some point, and if she grew strong enough? She could hurt someone.”

“So you can kill ghosts? Or I don’t know – I know they’re already dead, but they just… cease to exist?”

You held up the amulet. “This amulet absorbs their dark energy, basically. It helps me direct my power, and then when they disintegrate, the amulet absorbs the darkness. After enough time passes, I perform a cleansing ritual to help rid the amulet of that darkness. It works better when I keep everything in balance.”

Jungkook stared at it and then back at you. Then he covered his face with his hands and took a deep breath, muttering something to himself that you couldn’t quite hear.

You bit your lip, wondering if he was about to blow, as Jimin had predicted. Instead, he walked past you and up the stairs. You followed, where you found Jin examining the door now hanging crookedly, two of its hinges broken.

Jin shook his head at Jungkook. “This door opens in, not out. You didn’t have to break it.”

“He broke the door?” You looked at Jungkook in surprise, who scowled back at you.

“It’s not the sturdiest door in the world, but I’m surprised he was able to break it like this.” Jin looked over at you. “Are you okay?”

You gave him a thumbs up. “No more ghostie either. I’ll help you set up new talismans to keep any new ones away. This town is lousy with them. They’re kind of everywhere.”

You went to check in with Namjoon and Chloe, who were reviewing the recording. “Pretty straightforward,” you told them. You heard Jungkook snort behind you.

“That was wild,” Jimin said, looking at you in amazement. “Like, I couldn’t see it, but I saw this light burst out of you, and I saw a shadow maybe? Crazy.”

“I told you – I’ve learned a lot over the last three years.” You looked at Jungkook again, trying to read his mood, but it was difficult. He was obviously listening as you talked about the ghost with Namjoon and Chloe, but he didn’t ask any questions. He did, however, lean forward to watch the video as you pointed out where the ghost was, what was happening, and your individual experience with what happened.

“Why did she have fish breath?” Jimin asked.

“Well, I say fish breath, but it was more of a rotten scent that was vaguely fishy? Dark entities often have a weird smell, at least to me. Sometimes Taehyung can smell it too. The darker they are, the more foul the odor they’re exuding.”

“Did you smell anything?” Jin asked Jungkook, who shook his head.

“I felt it though,” Jungkook said quietly. “When the ghost hit me, I felt it, and I felt the cold.”

“She was drawing on big energy reserves at that point,” you said, “so a lot of times, when ghosts do that, regular people will be able to see, hear or even feel them.”

Namjoon and Chloe accepted Jin’s invitation to stay for dinner and Jungkook went outside with Jimin to get the grill going. Soon, the smell of roasting meat drifted in from outside as you sat at the kitchen table with Chloe, who was helping you get the talismans ready.

You bit your lip as you concentrated on drawing the last one and then murmured the words that helped you seal the talisman with your power. Jungkook paused behind you at one point, watching you do it, before he took another plate of meat out of the fridge and headed outside with it.

“He was pretty upset when he came in and realized what was happening earlier,” Chloe said as she helped you hang the talismans at strategic locations around the house. You hid them as best you could but made a mental note to pick up some pictures they could hang to hide the most visible ones.

“I know,” you replied. “I figured he would be, but he needed to see it to believe it. If we’d waited for him, he would have been arguing with me or interfering with what I was doing downstairs.”

“I’ve never seen anyone move that fast,” Chloe said. “Dude vaulted the chair and broke the door down about 5 seconds after he figured out what he was looking at on the screen.”

“He’s… impulsive.” And protective, you thought.

Soon, the house was filled with people – some from the fraternity, others from Jungkook’s team, and a few Jin knew from the drama department.

“This is like, Jungkook’s first birthday party,” Sera said when she arrived. “He always said he wasn’t into birthday parties.”

You felt another little stab of guilt at her words; you hated to think you had ruined that for him. Of course, you hadn’t been one to celebrate birthdays in the past three years either, though Taehyung usually got you a gift and a cake despite your protests.

You walked Namjoon and Chloe outside after they ate, and when you returned, Jin was bringing out a cake. “Happy 21st,” he said as he set it down on the table.

Jungkook hesitated to blow out the candles and when he looked up at you, you knew it was because you had always done it together. You raised your brows, a silent question in your eyes. At his tentative nod, you joined him at the table.

“There we go,” Jin said approvingly as he put his arms around both of you. “Make your wishes and blow.”

You didn’t have to think about your wish because it was the same one you’d thought of for the past three years. When you met Jungkook’s eyes and he quirked his brow, you smiled and then you blew out the candles together.

Alcohol flowed freely after that, and though Jungkook still wasn’t exactly talking to you, you felt his eyes tracking you around the room, as if he always knew where you were and who you were talking to. You were nursing a mixed drink when Jimin suddenly announced it was truth or dare time. A collective groan was his response from half the crowd, though a lot of people were into the idea.

“Is this high school?” Sera complained as she took a seat in the circle.

You joined her, noting Jungkook’s position directly across from you. And when Jimin went first, making sure the spinning bottle pointed directly to you, you weren’t surprised by what he did next.

“I default to the birthday boy,” Jimin said, sitting back smugly.

You waited for Jungkook to speak and after a few moments, he asked, “Truth or dare?”

You let out the breath you didn’t realize you were holding and said, “Truth.”

He nodded. “Why did you really leave?”

Surprised that he had come right out with that question, here, in front of everyone, you hesitated. You’d known he would eventually ask – you just weren’t expecting it to be so public. The tension between you was noticeable, to everyone, and silence fell over the group as they realized something serious was happening.

Your heart was racing, and your palms felt damp. Still, you knew that you needed to be honest if you were going to close the distance between you. You met his eyes. “I left because I was angry.”

The hurt look flashed across his expression so quickly, you would have missed it if you didn’t know him so well. The tension broke when he stood up and walked out the front door to stand on the porch.

Jimin nodded towards the door. “Go talk to him. Work it out.”

You closed the door behind you as you stepped out onto the porch, not wanting an audience. Jungkook was sitting on the steps. You could hear the murmur of voices from people who were in the backyard. You waited to see if Jungkook would speak first, but he just sat quietly, looking at the sun setting over the horizon to the left. When a fine drizzle started falling, you leaned forward, hugging your knees.

“I was angry and jealous,” you finally said. “I’m not proud of it, and it’s not the only reason, but it is the reason I went to the lake that night. And it’s the reason I called my uncle and made plans to leave.”

“I knew I made you angry,” he finally said. “I’m sorry I yelled at you that day, and I hated myself for throwing Grace in your face like that. Like anything was your fault.”

“It wasn’t just that I was angry with you,” you explained. “I was angry with myself too, for being so weak. I didn’t like hearing what you had to say, or the way you said it, but some of it was the truth. I was holding you back.”

“You weren’t…”

“Yes, I was. We both know I was, Jungkook. You should have had the choice to pick this school without worrying about me.”

“And so you took the choice away from me,” he shot back, turning to look at you. “You said I should have had the choice, but you took that from me when you left.”

You stared at him. “I didn’t want you to have to worry about me.”

“Do you really think my senior year was carefree because you left? How could you think that, y/n? I worried about you every fucking day because I was scared for you. I worried about something happening to you, and I wouldn’t be there to help you.” He pushed his hands through his hair, a move that signaled his frustration. “Do you really think that I had no choice before you left? I was looking at other colleges – ones where I thought you’d be safer. This isn’t the only university where I could get a scholarship, or where I could study film and production.”

“But there was Grace, too. And even if it wasn’t her, I knew there would be other girlfriends, or whatever. You’d get married one day, and I needed to learn to be independent.”

He snorted, his tongue pushing against his cheek. “Oh, okay. So you blew up our lives to leave me open for my future wife? Bullshit, y/n.”

Now you were angry. “It’s not bullshit! I was… in the way. I felt like that at home, all the time, and I couldn’t bear to start feeling that way with you, too. So yes, I was jealous, I guess, and sad, and mad, and scared, and a whole lot of other things I didn’t even figure out until later. I was a mess, and I didn’t want to drag you down with me. So, I left.”

“Without giving me a choice,” he said. “Don’t you realize why I was factoring you into my choices? Because I never asked Grace what her college plans were. Not even once. But you? You were always in my plan. I never would have left without you, and if I could have stopped you from leaving, I would have. It wasn’t about pitying you, either, or whatever other bullshit you came up with. I was sad that day in your room. And yeah, maybe I was frustrated in some ways. I was mostly mad at Grace for arguing with me about you, and I never blamed you for her being jealous. That day, all those frustrations just spilled out, and then I was embarrassed about it. It wasn’t just you – I wanted to be alone for a while, before baseball camp. Then, when I was there, I regretted not talking to you before I left.”

“I’m sorry,” you said quietly. “I guess I didn’t look at it that way – like I was taking the choice from you. I thought, in the long run, it might be easier for you if I left, I guess.”

“Then why come back?”

“Because I missed you,” you admitted. You felt the burn of tears in your eyes and took a breath. “Every day.”

You scooted closer to him, half expecting him to move away from you. But he didn’t – he just looked at you, his brown eyes glossy with tears he was also holding back. When you put your arms around him and laid your head on his shoulder, he suddenly shifted and wrapped his arms around you.

You took a shuddering breath, and then another, fighting back the tears. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he finally whispered. He turned his head, pressing his face against your neck. “God, I missed you so much.”

You stayed like this for a while, until the rain began falling in earnest, carrying the scent of grass and flowers with it. It was comforting and reminded you of summer showers in Nana’s garden, when you and Jungkook had sat on the porch, or when you had taken your shoes off and jumped in the puddles.

“Good day for puddle jumping,” you both said, and then laughed.

Jungkook hugged you closer for a moment, sniffing your hair. “You still smell the same,” he said, sounding happy about that.

“I haven’t changed my shampoo or body wash,” you admitted, pulling back to smile at him. He’d been the one to pick out those scents for you in high school. Though you didn’t say it, you could see that he understood why you’d never changed them. Scent was important to him – it always had been – and he often associated memory with scents. You’d wanted him to remember you as he always had.

Jungkook stood up and then took your hand to pull you up as well. “Come on, I want to get drunk now. I’m officially 21, and it’s allowed.”

You laughed. “Like that ever stopped you before. I still remember hauling your drunk ass home from Jimin’s that night you had beer for the first time.”

Jungkook did get drunk, but he was a happy drunk. The others had abandoned truth or dare after you went outside, but Jungkook joined in playing video games, and he sang when someone put in a karaoke DVD. Jimin pulled him into a Little Mix dance with Ayeong at one point, and you fell over laughing at their sexy girl dance moves, which Jungkook imitated shamelessly.

By midnight, most people had left, though a few hung around as Jin put in a horror movie that you and Jungkook had chosen to watch. Jimin looked at you incredulously as you both laughed at the ghosts onscreen, but you shrugged at him as you said, “This kind of thing just isn’t that scary.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jungkook this happy,” Ayeong said quietly. She sat with Jimin, Sera, Erin and Jin on the large sofa, while you and Jungkook were on Jungkook’s leather beanbag.

Jimin noted how Jungkook was sprawled across your lap like a puppy as he laughed at something onscreen, and your fingers carded through his hair in a soothing gesture.

“The happiest I’ve ever seen Jungkook, or the saddest, or the angriest? It was always because of y/n,” Jimin told her. “He’s been different since she left, and now, he’s got a piece of his heart back. Trust me, you’ll see a totally different side to him now that she’s here.”

You were falling asleep by the time the move was over. You opened your eyes drowsily and checked the time. “I should go.”

“No,” Jungkook said. He also looked tired as he pulled you up. “You can sleep here. It’s late anyway.”

“I mean, I guess I could take the couch,” you said. Sera and Erin were gathering their things, though it looked like Ayeong was planning to stay with Jimin.

“No, in my room,” Jungkook said stubbornly.

Sera wiggled her brows at you, obviously fighting back a laugh, and you blushed. “Jungkook, we haven’t shared a bed since we were like, twelve. The couch is fine.”

But drunk Jungkook would not be swayed, and you found yourself pulled out of the room. When you passed Jin in the hallway, he closed his eyes and said, “I pretend I do not see it.”

“Oh my god,” you muttered, your face on fire now as Jungkook pulled you into his room. “Jungkook, they’re getting the wrong idea….”

“I don’t care,” he said. “I just got you back, and I don’t want you to leave yet.”

In the bathroom, he let you use his face wash, and he pulled an extra toothbrush out of a drawer. He picked up a brush and started brushing your hair as you brushed your teeth, and you made a concerted effort not to meet his eyes in the large mirror. You had some unscented face moisturizer in your bag, which you used now, and Jungkook sniffed it before using some as well.

He left the bathroom for a minute and returned with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “These are Ayeong’s – she leaves extra stuff in Jimin’s room and said you could borrow them.”

You changed quickly and when you exited the bathroom, he had changed as well. From a mini fridge in the corner, he pulled out two bottles of water and quickly downed one before passing you the other. Then he guided you to the bed and tucked you in before climbing in behind you.

When Jungkook wrapped one arm around you and buried his face in your hair, you jumped. Would you even be able to sleep like this? You weren’t sure.

“Shhh,” he murmured sleepily. “You think too much. Go to sleep.”

You shifted a bit, getting more comfortable. When you rested your hand on his at your stomach, he linked your fingers together. He was warm, and safe. He feels like home, you thought as you finally relaxed into sleep.

Hi guys! If you're still reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll post again next week since I made this update longer. I finished the whole story so I'll just kinda tweak it here and there, post 2 more parts and it'll be done. Thanks for reading :)

#jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #jungkook fanfic #jungkook smut #bts imagines #jungkook fluff #ghosted #jungkook angst

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theonewiththefanfics · 3 years

Text

Give You Hell (one-shot)

Synopsis: When you’re in a relationship with someone famous while being famous it can be difficult. But not for the Reader and Harry, yet when her past comes knocking, she’ll make sure to know where she stands.

Pairing: Harry Styles x fem!Reader

Genre: fluff, some minor angst, like microscopic

Warnings: swearing, reference to past abusive relationship, but nothing explicit.

Word count: 3428

100% inspired by ‘All American Rejects’’ ‘Gives You Hell’

Dating someone famous while being famous yourself had pros and cons, much like everything in life. The cons mostly came from the outside, not from the inside. It was the opinions of others, thinking what they said mattered, the scrutiny of the press, hoping one of them would mess up, and they could run some bullshit article just so their numbers could go up, without a second thought of how the people involved felt, and it was some jealous fans who didn’t seem to comprehend the people they admired were actual human beings with feelings and thoughts and emotions and autonomy. But other than that, Y/N’s and Harry’s relationship was just like any other. Save for when their emotions bubbled over, millions of people heard them in songs. They’d met at the iconic yellow-suit-Harry Brit awards. She’d been right next to Hugh Jackman opening the show, a red glittering bodysuit with a black and gold ring-master jacket, a top hat adorning her head as she dominated the stage. If Harry had been sloshed at that point (much like he was later on, but who was Y/N to say, given how most of the night was a blur for her), he would’ve absolutely started drooling at the sight of her, and he was one of the thousands who stood up, hollering and clapping as she and Hugh ended their performance.

Much to his dismay though, Y/N wasn’t one of the people assigned to sit by his table, instead, she was a couple of rows behind, whispering something into Billie Eilish’s ear, the two erupting into uncontrollable laughter. He felt like a creep as he tried to catch every possible glimpse of Y/N, her smile making his heart race. She’d been on his radar for a while, had even thought about asking her to collaborate on a song for ‘Fine Line’, but at the end of the day, it was an album of personal discovery (and when one of his producers told him Y/N was halfway across the world in the middle of Norwegian woods for the next half-year working on her own music, he didn’t want to be a bother). But seeing her then, Harry wondered why he hadn’t reached out on his own, especially after at the after-party Lizzo had dragged Y/N to him and introduced the two. The following day, pictures of them dancing together, drinks in hands and drunken grins on their faces would sweep the web, sparking millions of rumours, but, at that moment, they didn’t care, nor did they care about what was written because as Harry twirled Y/N under his arm, as much as the connection was there, that night they went their separate ways. Even when they were drunk, they understood that about the other person, and wouldn’t accept anything else, but a sober and coherent ‘yes’. Sometime midday the next day, Harry reached out to Y/N through a DM on Instagram checking in on how she was doing, which then turned into a six-hour FaceTime call. “What do you mean you’ve never had a hangover?!” Y/N laughed at Harry’s almost offended expression. “I mean I’ve never had a hangover. I’ve never thrown up while drunk or after being drunk, my head’s never hurt – nothing. I mean I’m tired, but that’s because I’m still on New York time and got to bed at like five AM.” “You… are something else.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Is that something else something good?” Y/N didn’t know, but when Harry saw her eyes sparkle, his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately knew – she was it. “The best.” “Well…” she bit her lip. “If I’m the best, would it be too forward of me to ask you out for a coffee?” What Harry didn’t know was that when she saw him smile as if those were the best news in the world, her heart skipped as well, and she knew he was the one. “Only if it’s my treat.” “But I was the one who asked you out.” “Yes, but you can pay for the second date.” Holding in her squeals of joy was tough, but she raised her eyebrow, giving Harry a sly smirk. “Already so confident there’ll be a second date?” Harry scoffed. “And a wedding!” Seeing Y/N throw back her head as she laughed, made all sorts of butterflies fly through his stomach. “Okay, Styles. I’ll take your word for it.” Three months into the relationship, the two were booked to appear on The Graham Norton show together, which was also the first time they’d appear officially as a couple at a work/outing kind of a setting since the rumours started floating, and a picture of Harry kissing Y/N outside of a hotel room had sort of confirmed that. “So, you two.” Graham pointed between Y/N and Harry with his cards. “Have started to date? Not to say anything Harry, but Y/N… I didn’t think boy-bands were your type.” That made her lean over in laughter as Harry gave everyone a shocked face, before slumping back and pouting, nudging Y/N with his knee. “That’s not funny.” “I mean it kind of is.” “She was twelve when she swore off boy-bands.” Graham nodded, taking a sip of his wine. “Isn’t that what you said last time you were here?” “Hey, it’s been ten years since I said that!” Y/N laughed. “Cut me some slack. All the people I was crushing on are married anyway… with kids… and could probably be my dads… I have issues, don’t I?” Everyone exploded into giggles while Harry shook his head, chuckling. “Love you with all of your issues.” He nudged her shoulder, and she nudged right back, taking a sip of her drink. “Yeah, give it a couple of months. You’ll regret your words.” The thing was Y/N was so wrong, and she’d never been happier to be so wrong. Each morning they were together, Harry woke up to her showering him with kisses or vice versa. As private as Harry was, his Instagram stories were now filled with pictures and small videos of them, of Y/N’s face half-covered by a blanket, glasses crooked as she smushed her cheek to his chest and watched a movie, or her eating breakfast while re-watching old Bones and Castle episodes with captions like ‘dunno how she keeps the food down’ and ‘she swears it’s just for research’, while her feed was full of candid Harry photos or her rummaging through his closet and showing everyone his immaculate style, and giving tips how others can recreate it (also she may or may not just use that as a reason to steal his clothes). Generally, people loved it, and their love for one another. It was refreshing to see them enjoy each other’s company, and not be afraid to do so, especially now, given how it was a couple of days before Y/N ended her tour in New York in Madison Square Garden, to which Harry had specifically flown out for despite being in the middle of filming for ‘The Little Mermaid’. Three AM blinked on the clock, as the two finally drifted off to sleep after five hours of a passionate reunion when her phone dinged, indicating a message had arrived. “Turn it off,” Harry grumbled into the skin of Y/N’s back. “’S too early.” She hummed in agreement, furrowing her brows as her palm blindly searched for the offending device, and she squinted her eyes as the light burned her retinas before widening in shock at the message. Harry felt her body go rigid, and he pressed a kiss to her neck. “Everythin’ alright, lovie?” “Uh – “ she stuttered, trying to process the words on the screen. “Uh, yeah. Yes, everything’s fine. Just… some last-minute changes for the show. They want something really big for the ending, and some of the propositions are just…” She could feel a smile stretch across Harry’s mouth. “Extravagant?” “You could say that, yeah.” “Sounds like it’s gonna be one hell of a show. Not that the others weren’t.” Y/N switched the phone off wiping away the message first and then turned to cuddle into Harry’s chest. “It most certainly will.” For the next two days, she was an anxious ball of mess, as her crew got everything ready, and her and her band rehearsed relentlessly before she asked all of them to gather at the studio to add a song to the setlist. “It’s gonna be a couple more hours, Hazza,” Y/N murmured into the phone as Harry had called in to check on her. “ ‘M sorry. You don’t have to wait up for me. I know you’re still adjusting to New York time.” “ ‘S alright,” he slurred, clearly already falling asleep but determined not to. “Can’t sleep without you anyway.” At those words, Y/N’s heart did that stupid flipping thing it’d been doing ever since Harry entered her life to stay, and a shy grin blossomed on her lips. “You’re exhausted, sweetheart. But I’ll tell you what - if you do go to bed, I’ll be sure to wake you up with a kiss when I get back.” “You promise?” She could hear the smile on his face. “Swear it.” “Alright, lovie. I’ll be waiting to cash in on that kiss.” “I’ll run to give it to you as soon as I can. G’night.” “See ya’ in a bit.” Y/N let out a shudder as she heard the call disconnect. She entered back inside the studio and clapped her hands, drawing the attention of her producers and band members. “Where were we?”

***

The hour before a show was always nerve-wracking for Y/N. It’s when the adrenaline truly started to rush, when her feet and palms got all tingly, and her ears and cheeks heated up. It was when their warm-up band exploded on stage, and the crowd got pumped up. But the best moment that night by far was right when she was about to run out, Harry had pulled her back by the wrist and kissed the living daylights out of her. “You’re gonna kill it tonight,” he muttered against her lips, words skimming her mouth and making her smile as bright as the sun. She seemed to do that a lot around him. It’s why he now dedicated Golden to her every time he sang it. “Thank you. For being here.” Harry flicked her nose. “Always. Now go. People are waiting.” When Y/N finally appeared on stage, pretty much glowing as brightly as the stage lights, her fans went wild, and even more so when she jumped, starting off the show. The whole time, her gaze flitted to backstage just to get a glimpse of Harry, and whenever she did, she saw him dancing, singing along, filming her having fun and some clips of himself as well, going absolutely ham to her songs. As the night was moving towards the end, usually, she’d feel euphoria from giving a great performance, after hearing thousands of people sing her songs in unison, now Y/N felt closer to throwing up and fainting. “So uh…” She pushed back strands of sweaty hair, hollers of people echoing in her head. “This is a very special show tonight. Umm… this is the first concert my boyfriend’s come t - .” She didn’t even get to finish the sentence before the cheers of the people interrupted her, deafening the girl even with the earplugs. “But umm… it’s also a special show because two days ago someone reached out to me, and uh… he… well, he was as important of a person once the same way Harry is right now, and he wrote this.” Y/N went over to where the piano chair was, lifted it and fished out her phone from it, revealing the message that’d been basically haunting her nights and days since receiving it. “Breaking up with you was the biggest mistake I ever made.” To her own surprise, her voice was steady and sure, unlike her hands which were trembling like leaves in a storm. “I know you look happy and in love, but I know it’s not true. I’ve known you for five years, I know how to see through the mask you put on every day just to make sure others are happy while you yourself suffer an inauthentic life. But you do deserve to be happy. And I’ll be waiting for you if you decide to give us a chance again. I’ll be at your concert in Madison Square.” She looked out into the crowd. “You wrote a song once for me. If you sing it, that’s how I’ll know you feel the same.” By the time she got to the end, there were no more shouts or screams, but confused murmurs. Y/N let out a shuddering breath, hoping that she could manage to do what she wanted, and everything didn’t fall apart. “The thing is, I’d like for Harry to come on stage, please.” She could see the fear in his eyes as he jogged to stand next to her, but he disguised it with an overenthusiastic smile as he waved over towards the raging sea of people. He’d seen the message, had seen her reread it more than fifty times by that point, and as sure as he was in their relationship, when someone who held such importance, no matter if good or not, in someone’s life came knocking again, you could never be too sure what would happen. Harry didn’t want to say anything, believing if it was important enough, she’d tell him. Guess that was it. “So, uh…” Y/N pulled Harry’s arms over her shoulders and grasped onto them, grounding them both. “This is for you.” Y/N looked over into the crowd before glancing over her shoulder, Y/E/C eyes meeting Harry’s wavering green ones. “And you,” she whispered so that only he could hear. “Hope you know I mean everything.” As the cords started playing, she felt Harry unwarp his arms from where she’d been holding them over her shoulders and a smile erupted on her face. “I wake up every evening,” Y/N sang, “with a big smile on my face, and it never feels out of place.” “And you’re still probably workin’,” Harry’s voice joined in, grin as wide as the Cheshire cat’s, as he now had a microphone in hand, the other placing earplugs in his own ears, “at a nine-to-five pace… I wonder how bad that tastes.” “When you see my face hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell,” the two harmonized, Y/N’s eyes locked onto the masses, imagining the face of her ex-boyfriend who had the audacity to send that message. “When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell.” Harry was looking at the crowd as well, now fully understanding the message and the person behind it, and although he lived by ‘treat people with kindness’, he couldn’t help but gloat at the fact he got to sing with the love of his life on stage, and basically serenade a break-up song to a person who didn’t know how to appreciate what he’d had. Y/N cocked her head to the side. “Now, where’s your picket fence, love, and where’s that shiny car? It didn’t ever get you far. You’ve never seemed so tense, love. I’ve never seen you fall so hard. Do you know where you are?” It was hard not to smile, knowing where she was and who she was with. Harry threw an arm over Y/N’s shoulders as she sang, giving a mock sad look, while Harry pouted. “And truth be told, I miss you… And truth be told, I’m lying!” “When you see my face hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you find a gal that’s worth a damn and treats you well.” Y/N pointed towards where she imagined her ex was standing. “Then she’s the fool, you’re just as well, hope it gives you hell! Hope it gives you hell!” For a split second, the music slowed down, guitar strumming in the air, as Harry pulled Y/N by the palm and towards his chest. When the next lyrics came out of his mouth, he knew them to be true as he sang them to the man, he’d heard Y/N talk about, to the man who thought everything he’d done to her, every horrible word and deed was justified, to the man who thought breaking someone else down was the only way to bring themselves up. “Now tomorrow you’ll be thinking to yourself, where did it all go wrong, but the list goes on and on.” “And truth be told, she misses you,” Harry hummed, Y/N letting out a large laugh, holding onto his bicep, as he slightly changed the lyrics. “And truth be told, she’s lying! When you see her face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you walk her way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you find a gal that’s worth a damn and treats you well.” Harry sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “Then she’s the fool you’re just as well hope it gives you hell.” “Now you’ll never see,” Y/N took over the song. “What you’ve done to me.” She placed a hand over her heart. “You can take back your memories, they’re no good to me. And here’s all your lies, you can look me in the eyes, with that sad, sad look that you wear so well.” She dragged her finger down her cheek, giving a pout while Harry mimicked her stance before turning the mic to the audience. “When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell,” the crowd sang back with such vigour, Y/N was sure the whole ground was shaking just from their voices, and the clapping and stomping to the drum rhythm would bring the whole world down. “When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell! When you find a gal that’s worth a damn and treats you well, then she’s the fool you’re just as well, hope it gives you hell!” The two were jumping around the stage like madmen, adrenaline filling their veins. “When you see my face hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell!” “Hope it gives you hell!” Everyone else repeated. “When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell!” “Hope it gives you hell!” “When you sing this song and sing along, well you’ll never tell. Then you’re the fool, I’m just as well, hope it gives you hell!” Y/N grinned once more, placing her hand over her heart, meaning every word – she was just as well. She had amazing friends, a career that’d flourished, and a person who loved her more than words could describe. “When you hear this song, I hope that it will give you hell!” Harry crooned down the mic, knowing their happiness would, Y/N’s happiness would give him hell. And he enjoyed it, knowing how good her life was. “You can sing along I hope that it puts you through hell!” Her voice became the only sound as the last word echoed around everyone, her chest heaving up and down from the exertion, from all of the emotions running through her body as well as the overwhelming feeling of not only having Harry watch her perform but to end up performing with him. When his hands wrapped around her body, it startled her out from the daze, and the popping confetti startled her even more, as the rest of her band joined the two to take their bows, grins on all of their faces while they did so. “Not the song you thought I’d sing, is it?” Y/N laughed into the mic, Harry’s arms tightening around her waist. “There’s a reason I blocked your number, let alone you from my life. Don’t think I won’t do it again.” “But I would like to say thank you, to the asshole in question,” Harry said, making Y/N’s forehead scrunched up. “You let go of the best person ever; you had the honour of calling yourself her boyfriend, but instead, you chose to walk away. So, thank you for that. Because now I’ll have that honour and pleasure for the rest of our lives.” Yeah. It was one hell of a show.

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take):

Everything tags: @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @magicwithaknife @ollyoxenfrees @bnhvrdy @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl @sj-thefan @teenwolflover28 @lestersglitterglue @im-squished

Harry Styles tags: @sarcasticallywitty15 @breezykpop @girlboss99 @harrystylesdoesntknowiexist @alliyjane @sirtommyholland

A/N: I love ‘All American Rejects’ and have been listening to ‘Gives You Hell’ non stop. It’s the best break-up song ever, and you won’t convince me otherwise.

P.S. my tags are always open :)

P.S.S. please don’t repost my work on other platforms without my explicit written permission. reblogs are fine :)

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lovesgonnabe · 3 years

Text

Love Is Worth It - Episode I

It Was Just A Normal Day

Characters: Chris Evans x Maya Alonso-Evans (Black OFC)

Warnings: Angst, Nothing extreme but could upset some, cursing, slight Implied smut

Word Count: 2k

Summary: What happens when those that don’t agree with you or your love are in positions of power?

Authors Note: This is out a lot earlier than expected so I hope you all enjoy. Also it has been a while since I’ve written so please bear with my rustiness, and there’s slight edits so there may be errors.

Disclaimer: There is slight police abuse of power that may be triggering to some.

Taglist: @thesecretlifeofdaydreamss if you would like to join the taglist message me.

Please leave a note and tell me what you think!

October 24th, 2019

The day started out just like any other...

Chris woke up at 5am to go on a run with Dodger.

I got up 30 minutes later headed to our home gym got on the Peloton for a workout then get started on breakfast.

Chris and Dodger get back around 6:30am

At 6:45am Chris carries me to the shower where we have “spontaneous” shower sex till Delilah knocks on our door.

7:30am I get Delilah ready for school then we eat breakfast as a family while Chris and I play footsie under the table and he quizzes her on current events. Did I mention she’s only 5 years old...

At 8:30am Chris and Delilah are out the door headed to school since it’s on the way to the set for Chris’s next project.

At this time I’m just sipping coffee reviewing my appointment schedule at the office and I head out the door at 9am.

It was just a normal day but something felt off.

When I pulled out of the gate of my driveway I see a Boston PD car just sitting on the corner next to our noisiest neighbor Mrs. Goldheim. She’s 70 and acts like she has no business to tend to but mine when what she really should be doing is getting some of her own dick, so she can hop off my dick and mind her damn business.

Anyway I’m getting off topic, as I drive down the road that same police cruiser begins to follow me lights off and at a safe distance for about a mile and then turns left down Sycamore, I was mad confused but I didn’t have time to think about the weird ass Boston cops right now.

I got to the office around 9:45am, had my first client at 10am and from that point It was nonstop between facials to acne treatments to talking women who don’t need plastic surgery off of that ledge I had my hands full for it only being the middle of October. But hey that’s the life I signed up for when becoming a dermatologist.

My last meeting about my new skincare venture ended at 5:30pm and I went to pick up Delilah from after school care. We stopped by the supermarket to get groceries so I could hopefully make my abuelas famous arroz con pollo for dinner tonight.

As a treat we stopped at Cold Stone got two pints of chocolate devotion for our after dinner mini celebration. Since not even a month ago Delilah was moved ahead to the first grade and got an A on her recent math test.

This is where the normal day began to take a nosedive.

Around 8pm we were headed to the house from Cold Stone, my little Dede and I were talking about her day, and Chris called to let us know that filming ended a tad early and he was already home.

We are just around the corner when I see another police cruiser this time they were following a lot closer but yet again they had on no lights.

My hands began to clam up as I kept looking in the mirrors at the two white men in the vehicle following me.

As I pulled into my gate they followed me in. Rushing I parked, grabbed my purse, and got out, unhooked Delilah from the seat and carried her to the door.

“Excuse me Miss” one of the officers spoke stopping me before I could enter my home. I felt like I was frozen In place with a hand on the doorknob.

“Mommy what’s wrong” Delilah asked looking at me with fright her big brown eyes. I turned around putting my shy ray of sunshine down, with a reassuring smile, I look at her and tell her that everything was alright as she hid behind my legs while the officers approached us.

It might be because I’m scared but it felt as if they both were towering over me, even though i was the one with the high ground standing on the steps.

One man looked like he was on a mission while the other looked like he was just there for observation.

The younger one looked at Delilah and said “there is no reason to be afraid sweetheart we are the good guys” the tension was thick as Delilah looked up at me and no one said a word.

The older man of the two cleared his throat and looked at me dead in the eyes as if he was trying to intimidate me.

“Good Evening Miss, are you the nanny? I’m looking for your boss.” I raised an eyebrow ignoring the question and asked “can I please get her in the house?” both officers looked at each other weird since I didn’t answer his original question but both nodded.

I looked at my watch showing it to be 8:40pm usually I would kissing my man trying to figure out the best way to get him out of his clothes. But at the moment I’m standing on my steps scared for our life.

I unlocked the door and told her to go and get her dad who at the time was in the living room playing the grand piano. The beautiful sounds of the piano could be heard when I opened the door and as I closed the door you can hear Dodger bark and scurry toward the door.

The officer began to speak once more “now I’m going to ask you again Miss is your boss home?”

Placing my hand on my hip, I let out an exasperated sighed and said “if I had a boss and they were here I would be very confused”.

The younger officer eyes grew out of surprise and the older officer did not look too happy by my snarky remark.

“Miss please cooperate we don’t want any trouble, but since you can’t answer my questions hand over your license” the older officer said with a smug look and his gloved hand outstretched.

My stomach grew with a bubble of nerves even though it can’t be seen on my face i was scared.

“If I may ask officers what is this about this is my home have I done something wrong?” I huffed retrieving my license and handing it to the older officer, “we will see about that” he says and walks to the cruiser leaving the other officer in silence.

“Look we are just doing the job we were called out to do” the younger officer said to me I looked at him like he had two heads but before I could say another word Chris walked out the door closing it behind him.

He look so damn fine in grey sweats with a matching crew neck sweater, his gold chain I bought him for Father’s Day laying on top and his Red Sox cap pointed to the back.

He came up next to me wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing the top of my head, mumbling. “Baby are you alright?” he asks looking at me rubbing my back as I look at him.

I nod as a sense of calm settles over my body as he familiar sent and touch centers me and makes me feel safe.

“Is there a problem officer? He asked now removing his arm from my body to cross his arms and stand in front of me as if he was my bodyguard.

“Wow you’re Captain America” the officer said in shock as Chris and I rolled our eyes.

“Yea I know but I asked you is there a problem officer” Chris asked slowly getting closer to the younger now shitting his pants scared officer.

I love that he is trying to defend me but we don’t want to make matters worse so I grab his arm to pull him back a bit. Which didn’t work because all he did was softly move my hand a say “let me handle it love”.

I rolled my eyes and watched the shit show unravel. The officer stuttered and Chris cut him off.

“Look I know you are here to do your job but you are on my property and harassing my wife so I would like to know what the problem is what has she done?”

He didn’t look upset and Chris said it respectfully but it was just a feeling that Chris did not want to be fucked with at this moment.

There was another beat of awkward silence the officer was too scared to speak. Chris rubbed his beard and chuckled “can anyone answer my goddamn question as to my wife is in front of our home being harassed” it was like his voice dropped an octave and my panties got wet.

I’m literally trying to tell my brain to stop thinking about using my husband as my personal jungle gym, that this wasn’t the time for that, but I digress so to distract myself for a second I looked at my watch again stating it was only 9:20pm.

Damn I’m not sure if time was moving too slow or too fast but by the time I focused back on Chris and the officers they were being cussed the fuck out.

“What the fuck do you mean you have to take her because she fits the profile of a suspect, do you have a warrant, what the fuck did she even do officer!”

“Mr. Evans we understand that you are upset but we need you to calm down” the younger officer said to a red faced Chris.

“Don’t you tell me to fucking calm down when you are also trying telling me, you want to arrest my wife for some crime she didn’t commit because she’s black” Chris was now fuming.

“Sir this isn’t about race, there has been a string of burglaries in the neighborhood and she fits the description of the suspect we are looking for, we just want to take her in and ask a few questions” the older officer answered.

From where I was standing I could see everything especially how the officer had one hand on his gun holster and the other with cuffs ready to be put around my wrist.

All three men proceed to argue, I had to step in this was getting out of hand and in a minute I would not be the only one in handcuffs.

Walking over to the group who were now in the middle of my driveway with my hands out then they all went quiet.

“Chris honey it’s okay, this is ridiculous I know but let me go with them, you call Austin, tell him what’s happening and then come to the station I will be fine” I said looking at his blue eyes with slight tears as his breathing quickened.

I was hoping to be okay at least for Chris’s sake so he won’t kill the two men in front of me. He read me my rights with Chris now desperately pleading with them to release me.

As the older guard roughly grabs me pulling me towards the cruiser Delilah runs out of the house with Dodger behind her with tears in her eyes.

“Dede get back inside” Chris says as he grabs a barking Dodger who was headed straight for me “daddy why are they taking mommy, what’s wrong she said everything was ok” then she wails out “please don’t take my mommy” over and over while she kicked and screamed when Chris picked her up and ushered the 3 of them back into the house.

A tear slips down my face as my head is lowered into the car and the door to our home closes. One officer looked remorseful and the other looked so satisfied as he looked back at me through the rear view.

He threw on his sirens like he caught some mass murder that he’d been hunting for years.

Then he laughed a menacing laugh taunting me.

“You thought just because you are fucking some white man with money you would get off? Well I’m sorry to break it to you sweetheart but that not how the world works for people like you.” He said to me as I cried harder.

“That’s enough Whitmer I think she get it” the younger officer said.

The rest of the ride the only sound was the radio. I was booked and brought into a cell by myself cold and alone but thanking god that at least I was alive and not hurt.

All I could think about was the smile on my little Delilah’s face and how today was just supposed to be just another Normal day.

I guess those are slim when you’re Black in White America.

#chris evans x black ofc #chris evans x black reader #chris evans x reader #chris evans x poc!reader #chris evans fanfiction #black reader #poc reader

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inked-out-trees · 3 years

Note

⭐ for The Keep Going Song? Thanks! :)

(anh i would die for you)

Thank you for asking! I am going to be talking about the whole thing because it's fun, and because there's not really many ~secrets~ within the text to ramble about, just little fun snippets!

I'll do it under a cut because I will definitely ramble. Woohoo!

I came across The Keep Going Song (the song) after my Lookout 3 Companion Playlist (& my spotify discovery) introduced me to the Bengsons. The effect was almost instantaneous - it's the kind of warmth I try to encompass in everything I do, and for the next few days I had it on repeat as I worked. This was around the time I was finishing my Lookout script, and I had been toying with the idea of writing a Cornleyverse fic after absolutely devouring all 10 fics in the tag. What I knew was that I wanted it to be sweet, I wanted it to pull them all together, and I wanted it to be a progression. Despite only having seen the Goes Wrong Show, jumping into the fandom made me want to dimensionalize these characters and give them a story beyond everything that had already occured.

I also watched Christmas Carol before / during the writing process, but to date I have not watched Peter Pan or the full-length TPTGW. My prior knowledge comes from Wikipedia, the delightul amateur TPTGW production on YouTube, a friend's excellent transcription of the Haversham Manor script, and tumblr meta analysis. I think I did a reasonable enough job pretending I knew what I was doing.

Let's get going!

I knew off the top that it was going to be vignettes - they would give me room to spread the story over the long period of time it takes for a group of people to grow into something resembling a family. Like I said in the original author's note, there was supposed to be more of the early, snippy days - but I got so focused on making them kinder that I found I couldn't properly write a fight. In hindsight, it probably would have been easier if I tried writing that first, but, well. Once I realized that it was too late. The alphabet idea came later, once I had them all finished: I wanted to organize them somehow, but numbers felt too open, too infinite - closing the story on an organizational endpoint was just really satisfying.

a - Every good story needs a good beginning.

c - Starting with the end of Peter Pan is my sneaky way of slipping past the fact that I haven't seen the earlier shows! The Max and Sandra storyline is just so sweet, and I wanted to let it exist a little bit in between our jump from Peter Pan to Christmas Carol. This vignette came so easily when I wrote it and I love love love the feelings and the tentativity about the whole thing.

f - This was actually the last vignette I wrote. I realized I needed some front-end padding because otherwise my angst plot came rather abruptly, and what better way? At this point, too, I was trying to bring in POVs from each one of our characters, and when deciding on Trevor's POV I thought the exasperation-excitement combination would be an excellent choice. It turns out Trevor is my favourite to write, mostly because I can find his voice a lot easier than some of the others - and probably also because I hold a lot of fondness and nostalgia for stage crew work. Also, I wrote most of this one on a long evening walk in the notes app on my phone. Fun fact.

h - I did my original idea slam in a draft tumblr post, and this one just says "birthday party but one without all the drama of christmas carol". And what do you know, that's exactly what it is! I definitely took the birthday party (in CCGW as well as in this fic) as a kind of proof that they really do like each other, if they're doing things like this and if they want to do things like this - and that theme of okay, they want to be here formed the basis for this part. I think it's exceptionally sweet that Dennis came looking for friends and ended up finding, well, something. And I popped in a little MMNI reference with "one of the Janines" - Backwards Janine? Frontwards Janine? Original Janine? Who knows! It's one of them!

l - The thing about this plot is that it's actually one of the first ideas I had when dreaming up this fic, and I couldn't quite let it go. The point was, what if I somehow split them up? How can they get on when half the society is out of commission? And the most reasonable way I could find to actually get half of them out of commission was the car accident. To be honest, this one is mostly filler - it's also the second vignette I wrote, and it found its birth in the email drafts of my work laptop.

m - Trying to map out this little plotline without overdoing it might have been the most difficult part of this fic, and I'm still not 100% sure I succeeded. This is our explanation for the unease from the vignette above, and it took me 3 rewrites before I finally found something that settled in my brain. "Dennis gets chased by a goose" might be one of my favourite lines in the fic though.

Also, putting these letters right next to each other made me feel really clever for no reason.

n - My Jonathan perspective also took a few stutter-steps in its beginning, but this one ultimately came from the promo video's reveal that Robert and Dennis live together, and me playing with the continual idea of the remaining cast members being rather unmoored in their injured castmates' absence. Robert in particular because I love his character and I love making him Feel Things(TM) (fun hint: this will also be a small theme in the new cpds fic I have in the works!) and I want to see so much from this odd relationship between him and Dennis. Obviously they have to tolerate each other if they are willingly roommates - how far can I go with that? I love how this one turned out.

o - All I have to say about this one is that I still really love the sweetness between these two, and they deserve the world. Also, at some point during writing this I was really caught up with how striking Dave's face silhouette is (don't ask) so that ended up making it in somehow.

q - Girls' Night is SO important to me. After all the work they've done to make these gals friends I needed to capture it, and a pleasant night in just made a lot of sense. This one is the home of a few of my headcanons - Annie has a chef roommate and Max does a lot of the cooking, thus the "neither of us are the usual household cooks" comments, and I also think they're at the point where they can joke about their previous failures (especially with these three together) so the nod to A Trial To Watch (my favourite gws episode) was so fun. Also, Waking Ned really is a silly pick-me-up of a movie - would recommend. Special thanks to CBC for giving us Canadians quality British TV alongside our occasionally questionable homegrown programming.

r - It wouldn't be a fic about progress and growth with this crew without a disheartening moment turned into gold. I wrote this one while barbecuing, another fun fact, and no joke the hardest part was figuring out what to name the play they were doing. I kept pace with the whole "Jonathan can't get onscreen" gag, which was personally hilarious and made me cackle as I wrote it, and the rest of it just felt good. I will always have a soft spot for comfort and reassurance in a story and getting to write it has just been an absolute delight.

t - This was one of my other unplanned vignettes. It was originally to fill out Robert's POV, but also to express a bit of how things have changed in Chris's attitude towards his cast - if there's one thing I would change from Mischief's characerisation thus far, it's this brand of almost-kindness that I consistently need to write him with. It takes the aftermath of the car accident and uses it to kind of make him understand - this is a valuable group of people and I don't want to lose it. But of course he's not the type of person to actually express that in any way, so I thought the frenetic hovering was a good way to get the point across. As well, the kind-of-bonding between Chris and Robert - the two of them are such powerhouses of insistent personality that conflict so easily but they've also got a more secret kind of friendship that deserves to be explored a little more. I really like this vignette and how it ended up portraying how they are around each other, how they really do know each other, especially when they're not fighting. Makes me soft.

w - This is the first vignette I wrote! I honestly didn't realize until writing this just how much I identify with Annie - best of both worlds re. crew and cast, a bit of tenacity regarding getting through things, overall personality - I just love her so so much. She also seems like the most sensible of the cast, so the collective "why are we really here?" moment with Trevor really spoke to me. I love their friendship, I love the kind of quiet vibe this vignette gives off - this is one of the ones I can feel most strongly, the one I can step into and exist inside. I also spent most of my old drama rehearsals and classes without shoes, so that had to make it in just by virtue of the sock brigade (me).

z - One thing I knew for sure since the inception of the fic was that it needed to end on a victory. I took the images I had of this victorious adrenaline, everyone together having a good time, kind of getting smashed, and karaoke (I really wanted the karaoke, for some reason) and went the obvious route: the wedding. Ending on Chris POV also felt so right - possibly because he's the one with the most growth in this fic - and getting to finally feel this triumph with him after all these other trials and tribulations was an absolute joy. The wedding hall, in my head, looks like the one my cousin used (it was at a zoo... my sister and I went on a night walk and heard a lot of screaming peacocks) and I definitely threw all my wistfulness, all my love for the characters I'd developed, and all my love for this fantastic fandom into this part. The incorrect lyrics that Annie sings are exactly what I think every time I hear that song, because I've never looked up the lyrics before and my brain likes to play Mad Libs with my super-questionable auditory processing. And the image of the ballroom staff getting really exasperated with them and shutting all the lights off came to me at night and is hastily scribbled on a sticky note (it's a wonder it's legible) but I still strongly believe that it's the perfect, perfect way to end. I still get the warm feelings when I reread this part, even now, after so many reads.

And, finally - our end quote is exactly what started this whole thing. What is this drama society if not a rough beginning? But the concept that we'll make it through, that we can just take a step and then another and it'll be okay because we're together... it's hard to describe just how much it means to me, to my place in the world, to the world itself. I think one of my rather consistent aims in writing, no matter what it is, is to be able to have this collective - characters that become family, people that are important to each other, this constellation to lean on - because it's all I can say for the human experience. It's probably quite a bit of wishful thinking (as I said to another friend, "I am apparently letting loose on all my repressed social feelings of the past year and shoving them into fics") and a sort of subconscious confirmation that if I write it, I can be it. So this force of understanding and kindness and ultimately good people helping each other through the world is something I can't help but include, something that means the absolute world to me.

I'm so glad to have been able to share this fic with everyone, and extra glad that it's been able to touch some people along the way. I've found such an incredible community in Mischief and coincidentally I think The Keep Going Song represents that warmth, too - the community I've been so lucky to exist inside, how we're helping each other along, step by step. What a beautiful thing to be a part of! Thank you for reading and allowing me to give you a bit of my heart. 💖💖

#director's cut #the keep going song

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lils-writes-stuff · 4 years

Text

Matthews

Spencer Reid x reader

summary: doesn’t ever drive you crazy, just how fast the night changes.

warning: normal criminal minds things, angst, sadness, gore, fun stuff

A/N: based on season 8 episode 12; uhhh here’s the storm

The sound of Y/N’s phone vibrating under her hand woke her up. She lifted her head off of Amelia’s bed, not bothering to look at the caller I.D. and answered.

“Hello?” Y/N’s voice croaked, still full of sleep.

“Ms. Matthews,” a distorted voice spoke through the phone.

Y/N sat up completely straight in her chair, now high alert.

“Or should I say SSA Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Who is this?” Y/N asked, standing up from the chair and moving outside of the room. She knew exactly who it was but she needed to be sure.

“You know exactly who this is,” the voice responded.

“Landry Stephenson,” Y/N said with a stern tone. “What do you want?”

“Midnight,” Landry replied.

“What about it?”

“That’s what you have till before this beautiful gold ring becomes mine, along with your boyfriend.”

The line went dead after that. A small tear of fear pricked in Y/N’s eyes, the phone not coming off her ear as she stood there in shock for a second. She pulled the phone off her ear after taking her second, calling the only person she could think of.

“I got here as quickly as I could,” Hotch said, rushing up the stairs to his office where Y/N stood.

She couldn’t trust Strauss anymore, she needed to go straight to the people she knew would help.

Her team.

“What’s wrong?” Hotch asked once he came face to face with Y/N.

“I need to tell you where I’ve been,” she said with a shaky voice.

It felt as though she was injured, running off of pure adrenaline. And now it was starting to wear off because her voice began to shake. Hotch closed the door to his office and gestured for her to sit down.

“Strauss sent me undercover at George Town because they’ve been receiving letters about someone in the BAU being stalked. There has also been a recent string of ‘suicides’ that we thought were connected to the case, now I can confirm it is because one of the girls I’ve become close to was a victim last night…”

“Y/N I’m so sorry,” Hotch said sympathetically.

“It’s alright, she’s recovering in the hospital, she made it to my office to get help somehow.”

She took in a shaky breath and looked at the watch on her wrist.

“Okay, I’m going to skip some parts because we need to get the team here as soon as possible. Basically, this girl named Landry Stephenson has been sending letters to us about Spencer and I found out it was her yesterday when I went to Amelia’s dorm to look around and I found hundreds of pictures of Spencer in a small chest. This morning I got a phone call from Landry saying we have until midnight tonight to save Spencer.”

“How do you know it was Landry for sure?”

“Because she addressed me as Ms. Matthews, that was my undercover name.”

Y/N took in a shaky breath and lifted her hand and watched it shake violently. She was starting to have an anxiety attack, she hadn’t had that since the day of the bomb.

“Y/N,” Hotch said, making her tearful eyes look at him. “I need you to breathe okay, breath.”

She took in some deep breaths and let a few tears fall down her face. Her eyes closed and she took a minute to compose herself, letting all her emotions flood out of her so she could focus on saving Spencer.

“Okay, let’s get the team here.”

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

“Y/N,” everyone said as they walked into the bullpen, seeing the woman they all missed.

JJ and Penelope ran up and wrapped their arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

“Hey, guys-” she pulled away from the hug and gave others to the rest of the team- “I wish we had time to catch up but we have a problem.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Rossi asked, his brows furrowing in concern.

“Wait, shouldn’t we wait for Reid?” Penelope asked, noticing the Boy Wonder’s absence.

“That’s why we’re here. This morning Y/N received a phone call from Landry Stephenson, the unsub Strauss sent her to find who had been killing students at George Town and stalking a member of the BAU, that member was Reid,” Hotch relayed the information Y/N had told him to the team.

The team had slack jaws at the news.

“So, is he okay? Is he in protective custody?” JJ asked, her words quick and strong.

“When I got the call, Landry told me we had until midnight to find him,” Y/N said, her voice shaking again.

“Oh god…” Penelope muttered, clutching her hand to her chest.

“What other information do you have?” Derek asked assertively.

“Not much,” Y/N let her head drop in shame.

The team stayed quiet for a second, watching as Y/N sniffled as a way to keep in her tears. “I have a wealth of knowledge to be applying to this case right now about behaviors of violent stalkers, tactical recovery strategies-” she choked on a sob at her next words- “victim survival odds, things I know about the unsub. But I can’t keep a straight thought for more than four seconds at a time, so I’m the dumbest person in the room.”

The team watched in sympathy as Y/N cried during her speech. They knew he was the love of her life and she was his. They were Spencer and Y/N. “The greatest love I’d ever seen,” as Rossi put it. So they knew, this was tearing her apart because she was putting all the blame on herself.

“Please-” her voice cracked- “we need to find him.”

“This technically isn’t our case, but Spencer is a part of this team,” Hotch said as everyone stayed quiet. “This is going rogue not only for Y/N but for all of us, we could lose our jobs. Does anybody want to leave?”

No one answered.

“Good, then let’s get started.”

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

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while deeply loving someone gives you courage,” Y/N mumbled under her breath as she paced back and forth in Penelope’s office. She kept repeating the phrase under her breath like a mantra. It’s a quote by Luo Tzu that she found during her time away. It’s what kept her going from being away from Spencer and only being able to talk to him every so often.

“Hey,” Derek whispered, walking into the office that was only occupied but Y/N.

Y/N ignored him and kept repeating the quote under her breath.

“Y/N.” Derek stepped in front of her and grabbed her shoulders. “We’re going to find him.”

“Yeah,” she nodded and wrangled her hands together. “It’s just this is all my fault. If I had pushed harder, maybe Strauss would have gotten him sooner or even put Landry in custody and then we wouldn’t be here right now and I could be back on the team and everything would be great and be normal. Spencer and I would be together and would be happy and hopefully engaged-”

Y/N’s blubber of ‘what if’s’ was cut off by Derek.

“Hey, hey.” He grabbed her shoulder and gave her a slight shake. “Wonder Woman we are going to find him and stop this.”

She nodded and fell into his chest, just needing a hug now. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and held her for about a minute.

“Let’s go to the round table room, we got all the letters that were sent from Strauss,” Derek said, beginning to lead her to the door.

“How did she take the fact I didn’t come to her first?” Y/N asked while wiping the last of her tears.

“Not well at first, but I think she understood eventually.”

When they reached the round table room, the team was sitting all around it, copies of the letters that were sent scattered between them.

“This is clearly a classically possessive stalker,” Derek said as he finished one of the letters he was reading.

“Yeah, one who craves validation and recognition,” Blake added.

“Yeah, she’s asking here ‘why won’t you see me?’, ‘do you think you’re better than me?’, within the five letters this comes up again and again,” JJ said as she flipped through her copies of the letters.

“Five?” Y/N asked from her seat across the table.

She had been silent for most of the time in the room. Her knees pulled up to her chest and her forehead resting on top of them.

“Yeah, there’s five,” JJ responded showing Y/N the letters.

“No, no, that can’t be right, when Strauss sent me out there was only four,” Y/N let her feet hit the ground as she reached for her copies of the letters.

Sure enough, another latter had been sent since she was undercover. It came in yesterday.

“This got here yesterday,” Y/N pointed out.

“How do you know?” Rossi asked, flipping to the same letter she had in her hand.

“Because this is talking about the attack on Amelia,” Y/N said as she kept reading the letter swiftly.

“Who’s Amelia?” Blake asked quietly, not wanting to make Y/N jump at anyone in her frantic state.

“She’s a girl I’ve been counseling undercover, we’ve gotten really close, yesterday she was attacked.” Y/N kept reading through the graphic description of the attack, trying to not let it get to her as she looked for ideas where Spencer could be.

“Here, here, she talks about how she did this for him,” Y/N blurted when she finished reading over a line in the letter, pointing to the spot. “She was killing these people so that the team would come and investigate.”

“Well, we have her motive for the killing, also probably for the suicide she’s also talking about,” Blake said as she pointed out another thing in the letter. “Here it says, ‘when I find you I’m going to kill you than myself’.”

“Murder suicides the ultimate ‘I love you’ to these guys,” Rossi remarked.

“Do you know when Landry started targeting Spencer?” Hotch asked, turning to look at Y/N.

“No, no, I just know she was in one of Blake’s linguistics classes, probably saw him guest speak, and…” she trailed off from there, not wanting to say the rest, knowing that the team knew it.

“Oh my god guys, I found Spencer,” Penelope blurted when a ping went off on her computer. “Well, not found, but I have video surveillance of him in Union Station last night, being drugged and carted away by the unsub.”

The team quickly crowded around Penelope’s laptop and watched the video. Y/N stayed rooted to the ground she stood on, not being able to watch the video.

“Alright, Morgan you and JJ go to the station where Reid was taken, see if anything was left as a clue, Blake and Dave, go to Spencer and Y/N’s apartment, see if there’s anything there,” Hotch ordered and the team began to stand up straight and grab their coats.

Hotch then turned to Y/N, still rooted in the ground and not moving. “How clear is your head?”

“Uh, I’m not sure, not really clear,” she stuttered, eyes staring at Spencer’s empty seat at the round table.

“I want to talk to Amelia about Landry but I need you there.”

Y/N nodded her head but didn’t move just yet.

“Y/N,” Penelope said, stopping her as she began to turn.

“He wears the ring you know, never takes it off.”

“I know.”

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

“Amelia?” Y/N asked softly as she entered the hospital room.

Amelia looked up from the book in her hand to see Y/N approach with Hotch behind her. “Hi, Y/N.”

“Amelia, this is Agent Hotchner, he works with me at the FBI, um he needs to ask you some questions.”

“Hi, Amelia,” Hotch said, walking closer to the side of the bed.

Y/N took a step back to watch.

“Hi,” Amelia responded.

“So Landry Stephenson is your roommate correct?” Hotch asked, starting off his questions.

“Yes.”

“Does she have any place she would go beside your dorm?”

“She talked about her boyfriend’s place a couple of times,” Amelia answered after a pause for her to think.

“What’s his name?”

“Uh, I think she said it was Edmond,” Amelia shrugged. “She rarely talked about him, when she did, it was almost like she was imagining it.”

Y/N then had a flashback to when she walked into her’s and Spencer’s apartment one time. She remembered looking over to see a boy walking into his apartment a little down the hall, Landry by his side.

“Hotch,” Y/N stepped up getting his attention.

He turned his head to look at her.

“I know where the boyfriend lives.”

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

“This bitch,” Y/N deadpanned as she walked up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment building where her and Spencer’s apartment lived. She walked swiftly up the stairs and down the hallway, bypassing her apartment that Rossi and Blake had just been in.

“Y/N, slow down,” Hotch said, catching up to her.

“She was right down the hallway from us, Hotch, how the hell do you expect me to slow down,” she seethed as they came to the apartment of Edmond Rayes.

“Let us handle it,” Hotch put his hand up, stopping her from knocking on the door.

She nodded, still furious that she was this close to them this whole time.

“Edmond Rayes,” Derek said, pounding on the door. “FBI.”

Rossi pulled his badge out of his pocket and held it to the peephole. A second later, the door opened and revealed Edmond Rayes, with a stitched up forehead.

“FBI?” Edmond asked the common thing most people say when the FBI knocks on their door.

“What happened to your head?” Rossi nodded to the large gash.

“My ex pushed me into a mirror,” he answered, moving his body open to let the four of them in.

“That ex wouldn’t happen to be Landry Stephenson would it?” Y/N asked, speaking up for the first time.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Edmond asked, clearly not recognizing Y/N’s voice from the few times she talked to him. He turned his head to look at her and then he recognized her, “Oh, hey Y/N.”

“Hi, Edmond.”

“Do you know where Landry Stephenson is?” Rossi asked, getting straight to the point.

“No, should I?”

“Well, that’s what we were hoping,” Rossi shrugged.

“When did you guys break up?” Derek asked the next question.

“Uh, about three weeks ago,” Edmond answered, pausing to think of the exact timeline.

“And when did you get that cut?” Hotch asked.

“Two nights ago, Landry came back ranting about something she left here.”

Y/N began to wander the apartment, looking all around at the different pictures and figurines adorning the shelves. She wasn’t listening to the interview going on anymore, it just became background noise as she looked at the walls.

But then her ears tuned back when she saw an orange envelope slipped between two books. To the untrained eye, no one would have caught it.

“Edmond,” Y/N said, bringing everyone’s attention to her. “What’s this?”

Edmond cocked his head to the side as he looked at the envelope with Y/N. “I’m not sure.”

He pulled the envelope out from between the books and opened it. He pulled out about twenty photos of Spencer and Y/N walking in and out of his apartment. “I think I found what Landry was looking for.”

Y/N took the photos from his hands, flipping through them to see them all. They went back a couple of months.

“Y/N,” Hotch said nodding to the door of the apartment. Rossi took the photos from her hands as she walked past and followed Hotch out of the apartment.

“This means you’re a part of her victimology now, you know,” Hotch said calmly to her.

“Are you pulling me off the case then?”

“No.”

“Then let me go back in there to work,” she said, trying to push past him into the apartment. Hotch stuck his arm out and held her back.

“We will but you need a second,” He told her.

“Hotch, I was practically stalked by Caroline for my whole college life, this isn’t new to me,” she reassured him and walked back into the apartment.

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

“Okay we know numbers on female stalkers are minimal, only ten percent are female,” JJ said as the team sat around the round table again to regroup. Y/N took a seat on the couch behind the table, feeling like she needed to step back to see everything.

“All right, what tops the list of motivators?” Hotch asked.

“Prior sexual intimacy,” Derek debated.

Y/N barked out a laugh accidentally at the thought. Everyone turned to her with confused glances. “Sorry.”

“Erotomania?” Rossi asked, moving past the moment.

“Maybe,” Derek said. “You slept with me, I’ve built a whole life with us-”

“No,” Y/N butted in.

“Y/N,” JJ whispered.

“JJ I know Spencer, we all do, he would not cheat on me, or-or do anything like that.” They all looked at Y/N sympathetically, knowing she was right but they were just saying all the facts. “What’s-what’s the next one?”

“Celebrity stalking,” JJ answered.

“That one makes more sense,” Y/N said nodding her head.

“How? Spencer’s not famous,” Blake said shaking her head.

“But she was in your class Blake, and when he came to lecture, she became a celebrity to him,” Y/N said.

“That’s a stretch,” Rossi argued. “Celebrity stalkers are usually nonviolent.”

“You want to tell that to John Lennon, Rossi?” Y/N said standing up from her sitting position as she got angrier. “What was it that Mark David Chapman said after he shot him? ‘It was like all of my nobody-ness and all of his somebody-ness collided.’ Well, Spencer is somebody and-and this bitch is a nobody!”

Her sudden outburst made the room get quiet as she paced back and forth. They waited for a second for her to cool down.

“I’m-I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” she apologized as she continued her pacing. “My head’s too clouded, I need to leave, I’m not much help.”

“Y/N, yes, you can be of help,” Derek said, trying to make her calm down. “You have the most communication with the unsub and Spencer.”

“She probably revealed details to you of where she would keep Spencer since she knew who you were,” JJ said in a calming voice.

“I don’t have a memory like Spencer! I can’t remember every damn word she said to me, how-”

“Then pick one of us and we’ll go through each moment with you to help you find out,” Hotch cut her off.

Y/N stopped pacing, looking at everyone around the table. Truly, she would pick Penelope but that wasn’t a part of her job so she settled on someone else.

“Hotch, please,” she said quietly.

“Okay, let’s go,” He said standing up and leading her out of the room.

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

“This is where you want to talk?” Hotch asked as the two reached the park that had many chess boards in it.

“It’s where Spencer and I went on our first date, he tried to teach me chess. I need a spot that reminds me of him,” Y/N said as she took a seat at a table. She really sucked at chess, but she knew how to play because of Spencer, but she never beat him.

“Okay.” Hotch took a seat across from her. He then moved a pawn to begin the game. “Try to focus on the board and not my questions, just say whatever comes to your mind.”

“Okay.” Y/N moved one of her pawns.

“When you first think of Spencer what’s the first thing you think of?”

“Home,” Y/N laughed as she moved her chess piece. “He-he makes me feel like home. Warm, cozy, and safe.”

Hotch stayed quiet as he smiled at Y/N. Of course, he knew about their relationship, the whale team did, but they were very private about it. They stayed professional most of the time and no one would assume they were dating if they saw them on the job. This was the first time he really heard about how she really felt about him.

“So if this is a case of celebrity stalking, why do you think she didn’t go after you to get to Spencer?” Hotch asked as he made his next move.

“I’m not sure, to be honest, I wish she did take me instead of him,” Y/N moved her rook. “Maybe she was devolving and her desire to get to him first was too strong so she just...went for him.”

“Maybe,” Hotch moved his knight. “But why would she choose Spencer, in her mind, they must connect somehow.”

“But how?”

“Maybe Spencer said something in a lecture that had her make a connection?” Hotch moved another pawn.

“Could be…” Y/N moved her other knight.

“When you spoke to Landry, did she mention any of her classes?”

“No, she didn’t really talk much, she would answer yes or no to my questions…”

“Landry, do you have anyone special going on in your life right now?”

“Well, I sent in an article to someone I admire again, and I’m hoping they get back to and like this one more than my last.”

“Oh my god,” Y/N muttered as she remembered the conversation.

“What?” Hotch asked.

“Months ago, Spencer was helping some students with thesis and articles they wanted to be published. He then asked for input on a ‘Journal of Behavioral Psych’ article. This one student sent in a theory that was completely improbable and stupid, but I couldn’t even tell you what it was. But that same student kept sending in more stuff like it, and Spencer kept politely rejecting it,” Y/N rambled.

“It was Landry that sent in those articles,” Hotch realized. “She wants to be accepted by him.”

“She told me once a couple of weeks ago that she sent in another and was hoping it would get accepted,” Y/N looked up at Hotch with teary eyes. “I didn’t make the connection until now.”

“It’s not your fault, Y/N, okay, come on let’s get back to the office.”

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

“Landry Stephenson, along with being a major in Linguistics at George Town, she was working on getting her psychology degree online,” Penelope said as she pulled up a photo of Landry on the screen.

“Do you have the articles she sent to Spencer?” JJ asked.

“Yeah, and like Y/N said, they’re waka-doodle,” Penelope answered.

“Looks like when Spencer rejected her last article, she dropped out of her online classes,” Rossi said as he looked at the papers Penelope handed them.

“Correct,” Penelope said, taking a seat at the table. “I also found an off campus apartment that looks like she stays at on the weekends.”

“Dave, you, Y/N, and JJ take the apartment. Blake and Morgan, take the campus dorm,” Hotch ordered.

“What was the last article about?” Y/N asked quickly before they could leave.

“It says here, ‘How the behaviors of cells change when suicide is inevitable’,” Derek read from the file.

“There’s her suicidal ideation again,” Blake remarked.

“Except that’s not true, why is she so obsessed with it?” Y/N asked. She now understood why Spencer was rejecting her articles, if they were all like this, they were related to her emotionally.

S.W.A.T. busted through the door of the apartment, breaking it off its hinges. They walked in quickly, making sure all the rooms were clear before they could relax and begin their search.

Y/N, JJ, and Rossi began to look around the apartment. Their eyes landed on a wall covered in family pictures and a newspaper clipping about a double suicide. Of her two parents.

“Is this a shrine to her dead parents?” JJ asked as she looked at the wall.

“Her parents committed suicide,” Y/N muttered and pointed to the clipping. “That wasn’t in her file.”

“Uh, guys,” Rossi called from a back room he wandered to. “You might want to come to look at this.”

JJ and Y/N walked to the room quickly. When they entered Rossi had pulled open a small closet door, revealing a bunch more pictures of Spencer.

“Oh dear god,” Y/N muttered as she looked at all the pictures. If Spencer wasn’t kidnapped by this girl right now, she would probably find this humorous.

“She’s watching us,” Rossi nodded to a camera in the corner of the room.

JJ and Y/N turned to the camera behind them to see a green blinking light flashing. JJ quickly pulled out her phone and called Penelope.

“Garcia,” JJ said when she heard her answer.

“What you got, Mama Grizzly?”

“There’s a webcam in here can you hack the feed?” JJ asked.

“Ohh,” Penelope groaned as she tried to hack the feed. “She’s spoofing the IP address and she’s encrypted the feed.”

Y/N searched around the room, finding a piece of paper and marker. She quickly wrote ‘me for him’ on the page and held it up to the camera.

“What are you doing?” Rossi asked as he watched Y/N write.

“Making a deal,” Y/N responded, finishing the message. The two agents watched as Y/N held the paper up to the camera.

Y/N prayed that this would get her in to find out where Spencer was because they were running out of time now.

After about thirty seconds of Y/N holding up the message, the apartment phone began to ring. Y/N set down the paper and rushed to the phone.

“Hello?”

“It’s me,” Spencer’s voice said back through the phone.

Y/N let out a breath of relief that he was still alive. “Spence, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I think so,” Spencer stuttered. “I’ve got a concussion and some bruising, but I’m okay.”

“Can I speak to Landry?”

She heard Spencer take in a sharp breath. “No, she’s listening.”

“Good, I need to meet her, I need to talk to her,” Y/N said, hoping she was playing her cards right now.

“She has a message she wants me to give to you,” Spencer spoke softly, clearly uneasy as his words were slightly slurred.

“What is it, bub,” she hoped using his nickname would give him some strength.

“The message is, she left you a present and if you want to find it, it’s easy as pie,” Spencer’s voice was slurred, almost like he was falling asleep.

“What does that mean? I don’t get that,” Y/N said, rubbing her forehead as she tried to think.

“Neither do I,” Spencer mumbled. “Y/N don’t come, it’s a trap! She’s gonna kill you-”

The line went dead.

Y/N thought for a moment, then she had a thought. “I need a map of D.C.”

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

When Y/N, Rossi, and JJ arrived back at the BAU, Y/N had plenty of time to think about the riddle and decipher most of it.

A map was set up on a board when they walked in. She quickly picked up a blue marker.

“We don’t have a lot of time so I’m going to make this as quick as possible.” Y/N took the cap off the marker then began marking things. “This is Landry’s off-campus apartment- this is the nearest tower her phone call to me pinged off of, which means this-” she used a compass to draw a circle around the spots- “is the circle that Spencer was telling me about.”

“What circle?” Hotch asked.

“It was a clue in Landry’s message, finding her would be as easy as pie, but she wasn’t talking about the food, she was talking about the number Pi.” Y/N wrote the first three digits on the board.

“Pi,” Penelope said and turned back to her laptop to start some calculations.

“Why would she give you a clue?” Hotch asked.

“Spencer has a doctorate in mathematics, so of course she would use math to lure us in because she wants Spencer to think she’s just as smart as me and him,” Y/N relayed the conclusion she had come up with on the car ride back.

“All right, assuming that Landry has a secondary location, wherein the circle would she hold Reid?” Hotch nodded to the circle she drew on the map.

“She’d need a building that would allow for privacy and control, a closed garage for prisoner transfer…”

“If she’s trying to insert herself into Spencer’s life, maybe she has it close your apartment,” Hotch suggested.

“There’s nothing in Landry’s name,” Penelope said after searching with the suggestion.

“Try Y/N’s or Spencer’s,” Hotch said, turning around to look at Penelope.

“Nope.”

“What about Landry’s parents?” Y/N squatted down next to Penelope as she typed.

“Yes, yes,” Penelope said excitedly as she got a hit. “Landry rented a loft across from your’s and Spencer’s apartment building in her parent’s name.”

“Y/N,” Hotch said, bringing her attention over to him. “I can’t let you be a part of this takedown.”

“We don’t have a choice if I don’t go in there. Spence's dead,” Y/N said, her hands moving aggressively as she spoke.

“And if you do you’re dead,” Hotch told her.

Y/N shook her head. “Hotch, we’ve known from the beginning she’s on a murder-suicide mission, but we didn’t stop to ask why she’s on that mission. We know now, it’s because she wants recognition, the type she believes Spencer can give her and if I go in there I can let her believe she is getting that.”

“How?”

“Because I’m going to break up with Spencer to do so.”

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

The team pulled up to the building with the sirens blaring. S.W.A.T. had already arrived at the scene, ready for instruction from the team.

The team each hopped out of there respected vehicles, guns drawn and ready to save Spencer.

“Hang on, I got a box on the steps,” Hotch stopped everyone, carefully approaching the box.

“That’s the gift,” Y/N said, holstering her gun and walking up to the box.

She picked it up, looking at Hotch to be sure it was alright who nodded. She pulled back the blue lid to reveal a small black velvet box. She pulled it out and opened it, seeing a beautiful ring inside of it.

“Is that a ring?” Derek asked as he inspected it from a distance.

“Take your gun and vest off,” Landry’s voice said through an intercom by the door.

Quickly, Y/N began to strip the vest off her torso and handed her gun and the ring to Hotch.

“Now come in Alone.”

“Y/N,” Hotch tested, but Y/N didn’t look back at him.

She opened the door carefully and slowly walked up the small set of stairs to a platform. When she reached the top, Landry rounded the corner and cocked her gun.

She walked over to Y/N slowly and grabbed her shoulder, placing the gun to her side. “Walk.”

Landry pushed her down into a chair roughly. Y/N shifted uncomfortably and took a breath, trying to keep a cool front.

When she looked in front of her, she saw Spencer strapped to a chair. “Hi, Spence.”

“Hi,” he whispered back.

“I was hoping you’d figure out my riddle,” Landry said as she moved behind Spencer, laying a hand on his shoulder. “I mean, I knew you would-” she snaked her hand under his shirt- “The fun was just how fast you did it.”

Y/N watched as Spencer stiffened uncomfortably under her touch.

“It took me a while, if I’m honest, I was kinda distracted by your article you sent in,” Y/N said, hoping she was right about her plan.

Landry pulled her hand off of Spencer and looked at Y/N. “You read my article?”

“I did, the one on the behavior of cells during suicide? I couldn’t agree more,” Y/N lied hoping Spencer, even in his out of mind state, would be able to play along.

“Flattery is not going to get you out of this, because I know what’s waiting for me outside,” Landry said, pointing to the window with her gun.

“I’ve arranged for your freedom,” Y/N bargained, again with a lie.

“The feds don’t make deals with people like me,” Landry stated matter-of-factly.

“Not true, if you have something to help them; Nazi scientists helped with the manhattan project, Mafia bosses are put in witsec, if what you have is valuable enough, they’ll take you,” Y/N corrected her. “That’s why Spencer didn’t want to accept your article because he knew you were right and he was upset he didn’t come up with it first.”

Spencer’s eyes lit in that realization moment that Y/N recognized. He was catching on to the game.

“It’s true after I read it, I was upset I couldn’t figure that out sooner, so I rejected it out of jealousy,” Spencer added, hoping that hearing him say it would allow her to believe it. “And what you have, is valuable.”

“And what do I have?” Landry asked, using her gun to make Spencer’s face look at her.

Please Spence, please say the right thing, Y/N plead internally.

“A brain that doesn’t work with normal societal rules.”

Right on the money, good doctor.

“I’m here because Spencer deserves someone like you, someone with a brain that’s as big and smart as his,” Y/N said, making her move to get Landry to hopefully let her guard down.

When Landry had no response, she spoke again. “Spencer, I’m sorry I don’t love you, I’m breaking up with you.”

Even though it was a lie, it hurt Y/N to say those words. It physically pained her.

“It’s okay, Y/N, I understand, because I chose Landry,” Spencer played into the lie.

Landry whipped her head around to Spencer. “You’re choosing me over her?”

“Yeah,” Spencer whispered.

“I don’t need her anymore,” Landry said, bringing her gun to Y/N’s head.

“Kill her and she won’t have to live with the fact that I chose you over her,” Spencer said, stopping Landry before she could shoot. “Let her live with her irrelevancy.”

“Fine,” Landry said, getting ready to push her out of the chair and out of the room. “But I just want her to see one more thing.”

Landry walked over, undid the zip ties, and connected her lips with Spencer’s. As best as he could he tried to play into it, but it felt too wrong and he barely even moved his lips.

Y/N just hoped Spencer could play it off long enough to where they could get her outside and arrest her.

“Liar,” Landry said, pulling herself away from Spencer. “Liar!” She pointed the gun at Spencer’s chest but quickly Y/N stood up and reached around her to pull the gun up as Landry fired a shot, missing Spencer completely. Y/N had got the gun out of her hand and it was thrown on the ground.

Landry quickly grabbed a knife off of a table next to her and held it to Y/N’s throat as the rest of the team entered when they heard the shot go off.

“Stay back! Stay back!” Spencer yelled as the team entered the room.

Y/N breathed in deeply as Landry held the knife to her throat. “Landry, Landry, remember what I said, I broke up with him, he’s choosing you, it’s going to take a second for him to be completely ready to kiss you or-or be with you.”

“Landry-” Spencer tried to plead.

“You didn’t want me!” Landry screeched, the knife coming off of Y/N’s neck slightly.

“I didn’t,” Spencer told her honestly. “But we can still arrange for your freedom.”

“No, you love her and I’ll never be her.”

Y/N quickly reached up and wrestled with Landry for the knife. Somewhere along the line, the knife ended up and Y/N’s abdomen.

Y/N sucked in a breath of pain as Landry pulled the knife out.

A shot sounded off from JJ’s gun and hit Landry in the chest as she turned around.

“Y/N!” Spencer’s voice echoed in the room as he ran up to her body falling on the ground.

“We need a medic!” Hotch’s voice boomed.

He caught her and helped bring her down to the ground, hand pressing on the wound on her stomach.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she whispered, reaching a hand up to caress his cheek.

A tear rolled out of his eye, and that was just the beginning of them.

“Hey, bub, I heard you wore my ring,” she said, trying to bring him away from the fact she was just stabbed.

“Yeah, yeah I do,” he choked. He grabbed the hand that was holding his cheek, kissing the back of it, and showing her the ring still on his finger.

“I-I think you got me a ring too,” she whispered as she remembered the ring Landry left for her at the front door that she gave to Hotch.

“I did,” he whispered back, holding her hand clasped against his face.

She smiled softly, beginning to feel her eyes get heavy.

“Hey, hey, sweets, keep those eyes open, the paramedics are almost here,” Spencer begged as he watched her eyes get heavy. “I love you.”

The paramedics pried Y/N out of Spencer’s arms and brought her onto a board, but Spencer kept trying to grab for her.

His sobs racked his body violently as JJ and Derek held him back from running to her unconscious body. JJ shushed his sobs and cries for Y/N as she was taken out of the room and into the hospital.

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

“Spencer,” JJ’s voice echoed in Spencer’s head. “Spence.” She shook his shoulder.

Spencer stayed still, not having moved from his position on the ER bed all night as he stared at the same linoleum tile. Y/N had been in surgery for hours and his physical exam to see his injuries had been long done. He came out with a minor concussion and a few bruises like he thought, but his heart was in need of fixing.

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe without knowing if Y/N was okay. If she was alive.

JJ kept saying his name but gave up after her fifth try and had no answer. She settled with placing the ring that Y/N gave to Hotch beside him on the bed.

He glanced down at the ring in its box, then back up at JJ. His eyes watered and then he let the tears fall as he picked up the box.

He needed someone right now to give him a sense of hope, to give him something to hold on to. Because if he didn’t have something, he might lose everything.

“I’m scared,” he admitted to JJ in a whisper.

“Oh, Spence,” she said sadly, wrapping her arms around his shoulder from her standing position. “She’s going to be okay, she’s too strong to die.”

Spencer let out a sob as he hugged JJ back.

In the waiting room, the rest of the team sat anxiously. Derek muttered some prayer to a God he struggled to believe in, in hopes that he might grant some mercy for Y/N.

Rossi prayed to a God he did believe in.

Blake closed her eyes and just hoped.

Penelope sat staring at a random tile on the floor, muttering “She’s gonna be okay” under her breath repeatedly.

Hotch paced back and forth in the room.

Spencer was told by a doctor he was allowed to go to the waiting room with the rest of the team. It wasn’t really a suggestion though, the ER nurse gave JJ a pleading look because they needed the bed for other patients.

“Spence, let’s go see the rest of the team,” JJ cooed, coaxing him up with one arm and leading him to the waiting room.

When they entered the room, each one of them looked up and gave Spencer a sad smile.

Penelope stood up from her chair though, walking over and standing in front of him. She was about to say something, her mouth opening, and closing while she struggled to get the voice out.

But Spencer knew what she meant and just nodded.

Penelope let out a sob and wrapped her arms around Spencer tightly. Her tears were full of fear for Y/N and sorrow for Spencer.

“Family of Y/N Y/L/N?”

Everyone faced the doctor that walked into the room.

“How is she?” Rossi asked, being the only one who could voice the question.

The doctor let out a breath that was anything but reassuring. “She coded, but we were able to bring her back. She’s out of surgery now but we don’t know when she’ll wake up.”

“But she’s okay?” Spencer asked, needing to hear those words so he could breathe again.

“She’s okay.”

Spencer took in a breath, finally feeling like he could breathe again.

“Can we see her?” Penelope asked.

“Yeah, follow me,” The doctor said and began leading the group to the room.

In the bed laid Y/N, connected to many I.V.’s and an oxygen tube up her nose. But she was there. Alive and breathing.

Spencer rushed to her side, grabbing her hand and lacing it with his. Tears of joy escaping his eyes.

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

Five days. That’s how long Y/N had been asleep for now. Hotch had given the team time off if needed, seeing as Y/N would need them as soon as she woke up.

Each day, a different member of the team would come in and hang out with Spencer. Who stayed there full time. He may have left once to take a shower and a couple of changes of clothes. Other than that, he hadn’t left Y/N’s side at all.

Penelope had brought many flowers, balloons, and baskets in for Y/N. She brought her favorite muffins for when she woke up, pink roses which were her favorite, and many balloons. So many balloons that when Penelope brought in more one day, he made her take some out so the new ones would have room.

Today was Rossi’s day in the rotation for visitation. He had been there a couple of times before, but only for an hour or two, today was his whole day he got to spend there.

“Hey, Kid,” Rossi greeted, handing him a coffee he brought.

“Hey, thanks,” Spencer said, taking the warm drink from his hand.

“No problem,” Rossi smiled, taking a seat in the chair on the other side of Y/N’s bed. “Has there been any changes?”

“No, doctors still don’t know why she hasn’t woken up,” Spencer sighed after taking a sip of the coffee. He looked up to her peaceful face. “I even called London, her best friend who’s a doctor and one of the best hospitals in the US, and she and her colleagues can’t figure out anything.” He took his hand out of her and brushed a piece of hair that had fallen in her face away.

Rossi smiled at Spencer’s gesture, hoping that she woke up soon so he didn’t have to watch Spencer torment himself anymore with staying there.

“How are you holding up?” Rossi asked, concern for the young man who he hadn’t seen outside this hospital in days.

“Alright, I guess,” Spencer answered truthfully.

When a comfortable silence fell between the two, the sounds of beeping coming from the heart monitor beating like a slow metronome in the back, Spencer began to laugh at a thought he had.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s not funny at all actually,” Spencer admitted and kept chuckling. “It’s just, um, on day three of her coma, I got mad.”

“At what?”

“At Y/N,” Spencer laughed, clearly needing sleep. “I was mad because when she left, she left me a letter and a ring, promising me she would come back safely, and now.”

Spencer's laugh soon faltered into a sob. “And now, she’s like this.”

Rossi looked at him with agony, he had never seen Spencer like this. So broken, so upset, so..unknowing.

“Spencer, I know it’s really hard to think of right now, but you have to push through,” Rossi told him, leaning forward in his seat. “You and I know she’s too competitive to die, she won’t let it beat her. Think of it as a time out in the game, she needs a second to figure out her game plan so she can come back and win.”

Spencer smiled at the analogy, reaching for Y/N’s hand again and squeezing it like he had done many times before. What surprised him this time about this time was, she squeezed back.

Spencer’s head jerked up to her eyes to see if hers were open. And low and behold, there they were, sparkling like they normally do and making his heart melt.

“Y/N…” Spencer whispered, standing up from his chair and sitting on the bed. His left hand reached up to caress her head. “You’re awake.”

“She is,” Rossi said with a bright smile, standing up from his seat. “I’m going to go get the doctor.” He reached his hand over the edge of the bed and squeezed her ankle before leaving.

“Thank you,” Spencer said and turned back to Y/N. He let out tears from his eyes as he looked down at the woman he loved with all his heart.

“Hey, don’t cry,” she soothed, wiping his tears away that fell down his face. “I’m okay, see.”

“I know, I know,” he laughed with tears.

He reached down and let their lips mold together. He poured all the emotion he could into the kiss, letting go of her hand so he could use both hands to hold her face. Her arms reached up to the short distance so her hands could cup his neck. His lips tasted like coffee, but they were a pain killer for anything Y/N was feeling right now.

“I love you,” Spencer whispered, his forehead resting on hers when they parted.

“I love you too,” she mumbled with a smile.

“Marry me,” Spencer blurted, pulling his forehead off of hers.

“What?”

“Marry me.” He dropped to one knee at her bedside, fumbling with the ring in its box as he pulled it out of his pocket. “I know that we have an inconvenient job, and terrible luck-”

“We have the shittiest luck,” Y/N agreed with a laugh.

“We do. But I believe...I believe that with you, I am the luckiest man alive. And there’s no way I could spend my life without you because you are the love of my life Y/N Y/L/N. Every moment I didn’t know you were okay, it felt like I couldn’t breathe. I-I just can’t imagine me without you.”

Y/N had tears pouring out of her eyes now, she loved this man with all her heart and soul.

“So, marry me,” Spencer finished, opening the box to reveal the ring Y/N had seen the other night.

“Yeah,” Y/N whispered, nodding her head furiously. “Yeah, I’ll marry you.”

Spencer’s mouth formed a wide smile as he pulled the ring out of the box and placing it on her finger. She reached up, grabbing her face and connected them in a loving kiss full of smiles and tears of joy.

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#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid smut #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #aaron hotchner #Aaron Hotch Hotchner #Criminal Minds #criminal minds meme #criminal minds imagine #criminal mids fic #best years series #derek morgan #derek morgan imagine #Penelope Garcia #emily prentiss

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thatesqcrush · 4 years

Text

Fall From Grace, Pt. 8

Bryan Kneef x Reader. Fandom: The Good Fight. Reference: S4, E.4, “The Gang is Satirized and Doesn’t Like It.” CW: Angst, language.

AN: Our lovely REE was on The Good Fight for all of 3 minutes so I am taking lots of liberties. I am obsessed with the anti-Barba. He was just delicious.

AN2: I may have been inspired slightly by that horrible Barba episode that I pretend doesn’t exist - you may recognize what Barba said to Liv. So credit to SVU, S.19, E. 13, The Undiscovered Country.

AN3: Bryan’s outfit was inspired by Chef Harry. So if you don’t know what that looks like, may I present you...

Reading your text caused Bryan’s heart to lurch.

He slammed his glass of whiskey back, swallowing it hole. He was tempted to respond but instead he did not. Not right away at least. He mulled over what Marissa had said: “All this fussing to say you care? Sounds like love to me.”

Love.

He wasn’t one for love. Life was like an old black and white movie; he was absolutely sure who were the good guys and the bad guys – nine times out of ten, he was the good guy in court, but the bad guy in relationships. And then you had weaseled your way into his world and black and white became different shades of gray. And then it became blues and greens.

He then recalled Marissa’s other advice: Be honest about what you want. All it takes is some communication.

But it seemed you didn’t want to have any opportunity to talk to him.

Never one to back down from a challenge, he decided he was going to make his own opportunity. Bryan knew he fucked up and he vowed to himself to make it up to you – if only you’d let him.

And he hoped you would.

You walked up the sidewalk to your apartment, hands full of empty boxes. You had made sure to get to the market early so you could get the good boxes – otherwise you were stuck with the boxes that smelled like melon.

You made your way back into your apartment. It wasn’t that hot yet, so you opened the window to let the morning breeze come in. You asked Alexa to play your favorite playlist and then tied your hair into a pony-tail.

Packing sucked. But you had movers coming in three days and you needed to get your affairs in order.

Hours later, you still had a ways to go but you had a good section done. You needed more boxes so you made plans to pick up some more, resigning that some of your stuff would smell like melon after all.

Exhausted, you collapsed on your couch with a cool compress on your forehead. “Mmmm, just need a nap.” You mumbled to yourself.

Your eyes felt heavy and you knew it wouldn’t be long until you were out. You sighed contentedly, ready for the sleep to settle in when the loud roar of a motorcycle startled you awake. Annoyed, you walked over to the window to close it when you noticed who was getting off the motorcycle.

It was Bryan.

He looked up towards the apartment windows and you immediately ducked your head, hitting it on the head of the window frame.

“Son of bitch!” You moaned, rubbing your head. You could hear your phone buzzing in the distance and you knew it was Bryan calling. You didn’t pick up, instead choosing to head downstairs to meet him outside.

With every step down, you felt the knots in your stomach grow. With a deep breath, you opened the main entrance door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Bryan looked up from his cellphone and gave you what you were certain was a genuine smile.

You didn’t let it sway you.

You looked both ways before crossing the street. You felt woefully under-dressed – more of a hot mess if you will. You were in grey sweat shorts and a dark blue fitted t-shirt. And you would be damned if you didn’t admit how good he looked. Especially in the leather jacket. He wore faded black jeans and a dark grey Henley. A gold chain glinted under the few buttons of the Henley that were undone.

“What are you doing here?” You hissed at Bryan.

“We need to talk.” Bryan replied, removing his helmet. “Can I come up and talk to you for a few minutes?”

“About what?” You asked, with a sneer. You crossed your arms under your chest. “I don't think that's a good idea.

“Because of what might happen?”

“Because it's not a good time.”

“You’re quitting. You’re leaving.” Bryan tossed his helmet from hand to hand. “You’re not leaving me with much of an option.”

“I told you – there is no reason for me to stay.”

Bryan sighed and placed his helmet on the seat of his bike. “That’s not entirely true. Can we please go upstairs and talk?”

Your eyes narrowed. “Fine, but don’t get any funny ideas. I hope you know that I hate you from the bottom of my vagina.”

Bryan cocked his head, covering his mouth that was threatening to twitch into a smile. “Y/N.”

You rolled your eyes and the two of you made way back into the apartment. Bryan felt his heart sink further as he took in the sight of your half-packed apartment. You really were leaving. And it was his fault.

You looked over your shoulder. “Do you want anything to drink? I have vodka in the freezer, soda and water.”

“Water is just fine.”

You stood behind your breakfast bar – the idea that somehow it served as a barrier between you and Bryan was almost laughable. There was a part of you that wanted to fling yourself over and kiss him. But you held your ground.

Bryan took the water and drank it before sitting on your couch. You eyed him warily; you could feel your heart thumping in your chest and your stomach was in knots. Bryan reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through to your text, and murmured the majority before speaking at full volume: I picked NYC because the man who doesn’t love me isn’t there.”

“I know what I said Bryan.”

“The implication is that I don’t love you. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

“Don’t you dare say it, Bryan!”

“I love you.”

You felt all the air get sucked out of your lungs.

“Goddammit Bryan! You broke my heart!” You turned your back to him and roughly opened the fridge to grab something for yourself to drink. You used the tip of your nail to open the can of soda. “You think you can waltz in here on your bike, looking good…because damn, you do look so good… say these things and have me pretend like what happened never happened? You were an asshole!” You shout as you pivoted back to face him. And instead you came face to face with him. Your mind flashed back to your initial run-in with him – the start of everything. Your eyes welled with tears.

“I was.”

A tear escaped your eye. Bryan used the pad of his thumb to wipe it away and you bowed your head slightly, in near defeat.

“I think you love me too.” Bryan replied softly, cupping your chin to face him. “I feel fairly certain that there is still something between us. I know that you're angry. You have every right to be. I fucked up.”

You didn’t respond.

“I miss you. I've missed you. You should know that. I lie in bed at night and I think about us, I think about all of our time together. I should have told you how I felt. How I feel.” Brian continued.

You jutted your chin out of his grasp. “Don’t. You don’t get to do this to me.” You scanned your apartment. “I have to finish packing.”

You turned to move past Bryan, but he grabbed your wrist and pulled you flush against him. You had a sense of déjà vu . The last time you were this physically close to Bryan, he kissed you hard and you smacked him in response. The kiss this time was deliberately soft. Bryan’s cologne overwhelmed your senses. You pressed yourself, leaning up to return the kiss. Bryan groaned as your tongue swirled around his and he wrapped his arms around your waist. It was so easy to get caught up into the kiss and to lose yourself in the passion.

You forced yourself to break the kiss. You looked up at Bryan, searching his green eyes. Tears streaked your cheeks. “I’m sorry Bryan. I can’t. I… just don’t know if I can trust you anymore. You treated me like shit for no reason.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Please.” Bryan near begged. “We can work this out. Please don’t leave. Give me a chance.” His voice cracked.

You shook your head. “No. I’ve got to move on. Please leave.”

Bryan’s face, once somber, turned stoic. He cleared his throat. “Fine. Good luck with the move.” His voice was clipped and inwardly you winced.

You walked Bryan out and shut the door behind him with a click. For good measure, you made sure to bolt the door. You watched him get on his motorcycle from your window and as he kicked it into gear, you burst into tears.

Because Bryan was right. You were in love with him.

Days later, the last of the movers had packed your boxes in their truck. You reached into your pocket and left your copy of the key on the breakfast bar. You checked your phone to make sure your boarding pass was loaded. It was and you used the opportunity to check into your flight.

There was a knock on the door. “Ms. Y/L/N?”

You jumped, startled. Turning around, you eyed the delivery man. “That is me. Can I help you?”

The delivery man smiled in relief. “Oh good. I managed to catch you before you left. I have a delivery from a Mr. Kneef.”

You frowned. “Okay. Let me get my wallet to tip you.”

“No need, already taken care of.” The delivery man replied. He set the bag on the breakfast bar, by your key. You wished him well and then turned to the small delivery bag.

In it, was a box of English toffee from Cora Lee. It was your favorite candy that only came around during firm victories. You wondered how he knew - but at the same time, it didn’t surprise you that he knew. In addition, there was a long red box from Cartier, which contained a delicate diamond tennis bracelet.

There was also a note.

NYC is so lucky to have you.

Yours – always.

Tags: @madpanda75 @tropes-and-tales @delia26 @mgarner1227 @beardedmccoy @youreverycolor @neely1177 @the-baby-bookworm @mrsrafaelbarba @skittle479 @ottosuricato @delia26 @sass-and-suspenders @mommakat32 @dreila03 @beccabarba @garturbo @lovebennycolon @imjustreallynosy @sweetsummertime99 @whyissvuruiningmylovelife @annabelleb49 @scarletsoldierrr @cesarofangirl78 @redlipstickandplaid @redlipstickandblacktea @zoeykaytesmom @differentshadesofgray @misssirenlove @esparza-army @bananas-pajamas @mishaissocoolike @thefanficfaerie @theenchantedgalleryofstories @catnip987 @choppedgalaxynerd @pieceofshittytitty @ktiz90 @evee87 @itsjustmyfantasyroom @blk0912 @detective-giggles @rampantmuses @jazzyjoi @caked-crusader- anyone else, just ask!

#bryan kneef x reader #bryan kneef and reader #bryan kneef fanfic #the good fight fanfic #brian kneef imagine

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makeupbychio · 4 years

Photo

to our baby // C.H

Pairing : Calum Hood x Female Reader.

Words : 7.9k

Summary : You’re a makeup artist from Brazil, and by accident you met Calum on Christmas Eve in a Uber. The question is whose Uber was it? Yours or his? but one thing is for sure, he believes in soulmates. A glimpse of your pregnancy in a video.

Warnings : Fluff, fluff and fluff. Angst, mentions of miscarriage and blood.

Inspired by : Kylie Jenner’s pregnancy video. I don’t know if you like Kylie but Stormi is the real goat. Classic rom com movies. Love for Brazil and the family that I have there. Blue music video by Beyoncé. Kehlani’s pregnancy. Baby fever.

a/n : hi babies, so I love dad!sos more than myself. I poured my heart on this one and hope you like it. Feedback is more than welcome and love y’all. Happy reading. Also this give me such rich vibes because, duh, successful parents. Also I did the moodboard and it’s the first time I did one.

2 months

Your best friend Natali decided to start recording this moment, and that’s how your video starts with a soft piano melody that Calum created for the entire video.

“Are you recording this?” you said looking at your bestie’s phone.

“Yeah, cause’ it is official” your bestie said pointing at the doctor’s monitor. A little peanut of 7 weeks growing inside you. Your doctor is rubbing that cold gel in your belly and your eyes are looking at the monitor with bright, shiny, sparkly eyes but inside you are afraid too. “Hi baby, this is your mommy”.

3 days ago…

You’re in a cafe with your best friend, it’s almost night time when you decided to go for a cup of hot chocolate and a good slice of cake that you’d been craving the whole week. Calum, your boyfriend is on press tour promoting the last two singles so you’d been hanging out with your best friend.

Once you’re walking back to your place, suddenly you started to feel like crap and disgusted by the smell of coffee that a stranger was drinking and passed by you. Your best friend noticed when you gagged and told you to hold on till the next shop.

“Hi Marcela!” your bestie said to the cashier of the shop. You should have say hi too but you ran to the bathroom. “Sorry, she ate something” she said waiting for you in the other side of the door. Once you were done you were still feeling like trash.

“Hi Marcela and don’t worry I didn’t spot anything” you said. Marcela’s your best friend’s cousin. They’re from Brazil, so do you. She works in a big pharmacy, that the owner’s her brother, Pablo. “How is that pretty boy who plays the guitar?” she asked you, and you laughed that she didn’t ask about how are you.

“You just saw him a couple of weeks ago” you said. “How are you tho?”.

“Ya’ know, excited for the surgery” she said referring to her breast surgery and you’re so happy to see her finally in the process of a trans woman. “Well, before you go you should go back to the bathroom with this, on the house” she said giving you a pregnancy test. Before you refused, Marcela interrupted you. “Your boyfriend’s birthday party was wild so I’m just sayin’” your best friend gave her a look to behave. “I mean I don’t judge you with that hottie and a wild night” she said pushing you back to the bathroom.

You didn’t give her an answer, because she was right of what happened that night after you and Calum were alone. Ugh, in that moment you wanted him in the other side of that door and not your friends that are just making you more nervous.

“I would like to have his babies too if I could” Marcela tried to break the ice of this moment with a joke and your best friend punched her to be quiet. “What?! I’m just trying to make her laugh”.

“Y/N? U okay? 10 minutes have passed” Natali said knocking the door.

“I’m too coward to look at the result” you said in a shy voice in the other side. Your friends looked at each other and encouraged you by telling you that whatever the result is they are going to be with you and support you.

You left the bathroom to show them the two lines in the test. It’s positive. You’re pregnant. It wasn’t the first time tho, but that story’s for later.

“This is how I found out about you” your best friend said to the camera. “Your mother and I were living our lives having fun and working hard when she met your father”.

“I think that the story of your parents is unique, your dad loves to tell how he met your mother” Mali said to the camera.

“Once I saw in a well known tv show that you met your soulmate three times before being together. I didn’t believe it cause’ I used to think that love is a scam but one day…” Calum said to the camera. He remembered when he listened that line while watching this tv show he said ‘fuck off’ but kept watching it. Two days after that he finally met you.

3 years ago…

It was Christmas Eve, and your biggest opportunity in your career as a makeup artist. You won this with a lot of effort. You had 5 clients that day, everyone wanted to get all glam for the day by you. You were late because there was no taxi or Uber available until one driver accepted your call. It was snowing and the Uber arrived outside one of your client’s house and you ran with your suitcases full of makeup.

Once you sat in the back of the car, a guy entered the car too, hurry like you.

“Excuse me?” you asked him. “This is my car, you must have another car plate”.

“Hell nah miss. I’ve been waiting for twelve minutes” he said showing you his phone he noticed your accent and your beauty.

“I have the same one!” you showed him your phone. “Please, I’m late for work” you begged him.

“I’m late too!” he resisted.

“Can you please tell this man that I called you first?” you asked the driver.

“Sorry, the app is crazy today so maybe the system gave to me your calls” the driver said through the rear-view mirror. “But I got her call first, sorry buddy”.

“Ugh thank you! Why you don’t go on your car? For sure you have a car if you live in this neighborhood” you said at the strange man of the leather jacket.

“My car is in the mechanic" he said. “Please please I will call your couple to explain why you are late if you let me take this Uber”.

“Excuse me?! I said I’m late for work!” you were tired and you have two clients left and one of them is a billionaire, so you started to get angry at him who didn’t understand that you’re in a hurry.

“Work? You must have a boring life” he said before leaving the car. You were not going to tell him your life and explain yourself. You thought to gave him the middle finger but it’s not the day for that, you just told the driver to go.

Two months after that episode you were doing a beautiful gold eye look on a tall and handsome guy. He’s so nice and you found cute when he asked you about makeup, skincare and your career.

“So if you want more intensity with the pigment you have to spray setting spray directly to the brush and then take a little of the shadow” you told Luke when you are done with his makeup.

It was the day when they were recording Valentine’s music video.

“Dude we are waiting for you, what the hell?” Calum asked Luke when he arrived the set.

“Sorry the makeup artist is so cool we were talking a little bit. She told me she’s from Brazil and her skin looks amazing. I’m going to say to call her again for the next videos” Luke said showing the guys how amazing he feels with his gold makeup.

Calum wanted a little bit of glitter on his cheeks, but when he went to the room where you did Luke’s makeup. He didn’t find you. Another makeup artist told him that you had to do Lady Gaga’s makeup for a magazine cover when he asked about you.

Calum was going to ask how she ended doing Luke’s makeup if she does biggest celebrities looks because he was surprised and realized that she (you) must be a talented MUA. But he forgot to ask.

Two months after again. 5sos were going to Coachella but not to perform. They were excited for the weekend to have fun and to see all their favorites musicians on stage.

This festival is all about outfits, makeup, accessories, influencers, etc. But also to get to know upcoming good artists from different countries and music genres.

“Ashley how we end up here? I don’t speak portuguese” The boys said to their friend who wanted to see a brazilian artist.

“Me neither! But I love Pabllo so much” Halsey said. “Please, come on! It will be fun I promise”.

Once in the VIP section, Luke hugged a girl that Calum didn’t recognize.

“Look Y/N” Luke said showing you to rate the glitter he applied.

“It looks amazing!” you said. And after that Luke introduced you to the rest of the boys telling them about the makeup you did on him for Valentine’s video, and Halsey recognized you since she’s a fan of makeup and to be honest you should be the one who is glad to meet her.

“Hey I think I know you from somewhere” Calum said trying to remember your face and before you said something and before the boys said a dirty joke, Calum remembered. “You stole my Uber! It was my Uber”. After a couple of jokes, and you clarifying that you didn’t stole anything, the show started.

Pabllo is the first brazilian drag queen to perform in this huge festival. You were Pabllo’s makeup artist, Calum didn’t need to ask you that. He saw you enjoying the show.

“This look is amazing” Calum said about the pink look you did on Pabllo. You thanked him for that compliment because it took you almost two hours.

“I also did chilean and argentinian artists makeup” you said proud of your work for this two weekends. After this song Pabllo is performing you have to go backstage to touch up the makeup. So after you said bye to everyone and before you went back to work Calum invited you to their place where they are staying for an after party when Beyoncé closes this festival’s day.

And after that, you two have been inseparable.

Today your career’s immensely different. Today you’re one of the most famous MUA in the industry. With a lot of famous clients, most of them billionaires including people from music, films, fashion industries, etc. You also opened a makeup studio in LA. This took you years, hard work, tears, sweat and blood to be who you’re today, always proud to be an immigrant. Nobody believes you when you told the story how you get into makeup. You come from a poor town in Brazil and every single night when you were in highschool you ran away from home to go to bars and do drag queens makeup, since then you’re friends with Pabllo and every brazilian drag queen.

“Like I was saying this is how she told your father about you” your best friend said while in the video that moment’s playing. You and Calum are in Arraial Do Cabo beach, your favorite since you have memory. It was sunset time, you were standing in the water holding hands when you told Calum the big new. The 35mm video shows how Calum lifts you up and kisses you so tenderly with the beautiful crystalline water as the background while he kneels to kiss your exposed belly in your bikini.

Of course you asked your doctor if you could travel to Brazil, your homeland. This was a trip that you planned with Calum for so long, you missed your family so much and also you didn’t want to cancel it since it was also Calum’s vacations. Once you arrived back your parents house you told them and your brothers (you’re the younger sibling) the big new. All of them cried and hugged you and for dinner your mom did all of your favorites brazilian dishes and desserts that you missed so much and you have to eat for you and the baby.

It was summer in Brazil and that night there was a storm but hot as fuck, as always. You were looking at the beauty of the city during night while you waited for Calum for bed time after an amazing day. He showed you the pictures he took during the day, he didn’t know if your glow was because you were at home, like when he visits Australia, or if it was the pregnancy.

The next day you decided to go for a picnic with your family, a tradition you have. You went to the same place that is close to your old house. The picnic area has multiples simple grass courts where kids play football. You filmed the moments when Calum and your brothers started playing with the kids of the neighborhood including your nephews, your heart melted to that view of the children laughing when Calum failed a goal and Calum’s heart melted at the view of you playing with your nephews in the grass and then dancing with them. They love to show you what they had learned about samba and capoeira. The only thing on Calum’s mind was that it feels just right with you and that he can not wait to live what he’s watching, with you. With each of them holding your hands you came back to picnic table.

“Baby you’re going to have amazing avós, tios and primos” you said while filming your family members that picnic day. Your parents kissing your forehead and your brothers filming you playing carefully with them the match.

“She still has it” your eldest brother said to the camera and then filming the picnic day. You can’t explain how much you love your family. You bought them a house in a good side of the city when you became rich. You were dreaming that your whole life because you came from a really poor part of Brazil but with the hard work of your mom, as a hairdresser, and your dad as a fisherman, you always had food and a house full of love. You consider your step dad like your real father, because he’s been there for you since day one and he taught you almost everything of life.

The first time Calum went to Brazil to meet your family, he already knew about your step dad. He and your brothers were harsh with Calum. The three of them have been always protecting you. When they realized how much Calum loves you, they treated him like family. Calum admires that coming from your step dad, and more than ever he has to show you that he would never do what your biological father did to you. He’s going to be the best dad in the world because he always wanted this with you.

Your last night in Brazil you found yourself looking at the balcony. You were sad for leaving again and for an specific memory. Calum noticed you were not sleeping and he knows you better than himself.

“Why you told me that you were scared to tell me the big new” he asked you. You told him that you didn’t know how he was going to react. And also because you didn’t know if he still wanted a family with you after your miscarriage you had last year.

1 year ago…

You never understand why the brain always remember the bad moments or the traumas. Sometimes you feel like this happened yesterday and some nights still haunts you. It was your mistake even when everyone told you that it wasn’t your fault. But it was.

You were back from Europe after all the fashion weeks in different countries. You travelled a lot, with no stop doing tons of makeup looks to tons of models to almost every designer that called you. Back in LA you continued with your clients and your studio.

You remembered that night, Calum was back too from the shows they did in Australia and New Zealand. Both of you were exhausted. In the middle of the night you started to feel feverish and thirsty so you went for water downstairs. Before you passed out you felt a strong ache in your back. The noise your body did against the floor got Duke in a second running where you were. He started barking when his help didn’t work which woke up Calum. He knew something was happening because you were not in bed and Duke was desperate. When he found you in the kitchen floor he called emergency when he saw blood in your shorts, he waited the ambulance next to you and holding you all scared because he had no idea what was happening.

In the hospital when the doctors did all the exams and gave you the medication you needed, your doctor went outside to talk to Calum explaining him what happened. You didn’t know you were pregnant until the moment you woke up and your doctor explained to you the same. Your doctor told you that the cause was the non-stop work you did, without eating well or drinking water, sleeping less than 4 hours, too much flights and the baby couldn’t make it. After a couple of days in the hospital to recover, your doctor told you to stay and rest at home all the time you needed. Calum was there for you all the time, taking care of you and letting you know he loves you, even when you felt guilty and barely could look at his eyes. You always thanked him for what he did because after that you thought he was going to break up with you. Your family, the guys and friends were there for you too and until today you go to a therapist.

Despite all the sadness that brought you the hardest time you had ever lived. It taught you to take care of yourself, to put your health first and to slow down with work even when it’s your passion. So now when your doctor said that you were pregnant, you decided to keep this a secret until your baby is born. You want to live to the fullest this pregnancy, taking care of you and your child, so that’s why you don’t want any paparazzis following you everywhere or things that damage your mental health because you don’t want the baby to feel your anxiety or panic over unnecessary scenarios.

You told your loved ones your plan, you told just the right amount of people that you were pregnant, people who you can trust. You told your clients the secret and that you were going to work and keep doing their makeup until you start to show.

“He just told us like ‘hey look at this’ and for our surprise it was the first ultrasound scan” Michael said to the camera while a video of that moment plays. Calum telling the boys that like if it was a simple meme on instagram, their faces, reactions by jumping and screaming were priceless. “And we were so confused and I remembered I said ‘wait this a baby’”.

“Come on guys!” Luke said when you and Calum were goofing around the arena during soundcheck playing like kids and hugging each other. Then in the dressing room waiting for the show cuddling in the sofa laying your bodies in the limited space, Calum’s kissing your nose and the rest of your face and you’re caressing his cheeks and stubble softly with your nails. You promised Calum that you’re going to be careful every single show you will come to see him.

“Every single picture or video you find about your parents, you can see the chemistry” Andy, who is the director of this video, said to the camera and then a video he did for Calum’s birthday party is playing. “Everybody say happy birthday to Cal… one, two, three!” Ashton said through the microphone when it was time to sing at Calum. Then you two kissing and partying, and then leaving the club with all the flashes directly to your faces and other cool little moments of you two playing in the video to show how could your baby’s parents are.

3 months

You were in your first trimester when Calum found himself stepping into the elevator for the ultrasound which is going to reveal your baby’s gender. Andy’s filming everything and zoomed to little details that showed that Calum was nervous and anxious to see and hear his baby for the first time. He’s waiting for you that you’re on your way after doing a client’s makeup.

Your style have always been so urban and grunge. You always wear baggy shirts with cool designs on it or bands/singers merch or vintage shirts. And now it’s even more comfortable to you wearing that.

Luke was waiting for you to drive you to the clinic. It wasn’t a surprise when you saw paparazzis pictures of you arriving with Luke and rumors were already on social media but till the end everyone denied your pregnancy. But it was funny but crazy some of the rumors.

Plastic surgery, that you were cheating Calum with Luke, that you were expecting a baby, etc.

“Please guys, leave her alone” Luke said to the paps when he got out the car. He had to lie but he wanted to scream at them to give you space because of the baby but he couldn’t. Everyone was so protective with you and you understood because none of you wanted you live another miscarriage.

If it depends on Calum, he prefers that you don’t lift heavy things or anything that requires too much effort. “How are you feeling today baby mama?” he asked knowing about your morning sickness. You told him that you were perfect that you just want to know the gender of your baby.

“You’re fifteen weeks now” your doctor said rubbing again the cold gel against your belly. Calum was in a chair next to you rubbing your leg focused watching the monitor just like you.

“Hey chief u are putting too much pressure on” Calum said on the defensive watching how hard the doctor was pressing the gel in your belly.

“Don’t worry, Calum. It’s just the skin. There she is” the doctor said once finally found the perfect take of the baby checking every detail and told you both that everything is okay.

“She? Can we hear the heartbeat?” Calum asked already covering his mouth and he can feel the chills going down his body tearing a little bit. Andy who was inside the room, zoomed to the monitor and also the only one who knew the gender before the reveal party.

4 months

Make it last forever

Come on, baby, won’t you hold on to me, hold on to me?

You and I together

Come on, baby, won’t you hold on to me, hold on to me?

Blue

Calum till the present day after your baby was born, he sings this song to her at nights. His voice activated your baby, she really loves her daddy’s voice and she showed her joy with shorts kicks in your belly. She demanded when she missed Calum’s voice or warm touch or when she was having a really good time after he sang or talked to her.

“Babe I think your daughter’s having a party in there” you said feeling her feet. You also had your mom and daughter quality time, you talked to her most of the times telling her typical brazilian stories your mom told you once, or giving her a couple of wise words or you also sing to her even when you can’t compare your voice with Calum’s with brazilian or typical lullabies.

“Hi baby, I know you love this private concerts at night but mommy has to sleep too” he said closer to your bump. Calum helped her to go to sleep by telling her stories or how he can’t wait to have her in his arms. “Well, as I can see you want to be awake I’m going to tell how I met your gorgeous mother” he started. He keeps telling that story too, you always tease that she’s going to get bored of the story but Calum tells the story every single time with more love.

5 months

Short videos of yourself in sweats and your bra showing your growing belly of five months in the backyard taking the sun of LA and the spring that is left. Then in the pool, next with Duke aka your partner of naps when Calum was in the studio, who at the first months he laid his head on top of your belly but now that is bigger he just lays next to it.

Since you got your doctor’s confirmation, you did mini videos in the mirror of your bathroom to see the progress. Filming from different angles with different clothes like underwear or bikini, short or long dresses, thigh or loose, etc. Calum loves to appear in the take behind you kissing your neck and landing his hands in your belly. Now talking about bathroom, he also loves to help you to get into and out the shower, wrapping you with towels, putting your socks or shoes if you can’t reach your feet, zipping up your dress and if you had a rough day he prepares you a bath with bubbles and candles and joins you. He loves doing all of the previous thing before you got pregnant. You do by yourself your makeup, of course, but he teases you about he’ll be an amazing makeup artist.

“Not after what you did to me that time” you said at him remembering that funny video when he did your makeup.

When Andy isn’t around you’re in charge of filming like early in the morning when you wake up before Calum. Every morning he woke up with his head near your belly and his warm touch around. He looks so at peace sleeping because you know that the previous night he fell asleep late talking with the baby, it’s been his routine lately so in the morning you take the camera and film your view, you take the opportunity to brush Cal’s messy morning curls with your fingers for a while.

6 months

Calum had a surprise for you since you couldn’t travel to Brazil or neither to Australia because it was too risky as your doctor said. He told you that today you two have Ashton’s birthday lunch. He wasn’t lying because it was Ashton’s birthday but also the surprise he had so he was filming since early in the morning.

“Babe can you help me, please?” you called him from your shared room. He went upstair with his camera.

“Damn look at you! Baby mama slaying!” he praised you looking at you with troubles with the unzipped dress. You blushed but gave him a pose with your belly at the camera.

“Please help me, next week I have to buy clothes and underwear that can fit me” you turned and he slowly helped you because he didn’t want to damage the dress that barely was fitting on you. “You can say it” you said with a pout since you noticed that any piece of your clothes were fitting you.

Calum knowing about your hormones and how you’re feeling with the shape of your body, which he thinks that you can’t look more precious but understand your struggle, he just wanted you to feel good. “You look amazing honey and you know how much I love this dress” he said with a smirk and hugging you to kiss your neck and grab your ass.

“Okay Hood, let’s go if you don’t want to have twins…daddy” you teased him before he got more horny. You winked at him and grabbed your bag to go downstairs but he stopped you.

“I think that with this you’re going to look even hotter” he gave to you a luxury package ready for your reaction. You opened it and found the shiniest gold heavy chain, you looked at him shocked. “I got a similar one too, it represents the name we choose for our baby” he said and you were already tearing up and told him that it’s beautiful and he told you not to worry knowing that the next thing you were going to say that it wasn’t necessary because of the price. Once outside you kissed him before he helped you to get into the car.

“Still don’t understand why Ash’s going to celebrate his birthday two days before” you asked Calum while he’s driving.

Calum’s a really bad liar but he did his best to keep his surprise. “I told you babe, he’s going to be in Australia for the next weeks”. Lie. And you remembered how mad you were at Ash when he told you because he was going to miss the baby shower.

But once you arrived Ash’s place and went to the living room and saw a bunch of people jumping and screaming ‘surprise’ at you, you got scared and hid your face on Calum’s neck and he can felt a few tears because your and Cal’s families are here. You hugged everyone and thanked Calum once again for this. “I love you so much”.

“Love ya’ more” he said smiling down at you and kissed your crown. And the next day both of you and your families, the guys, close friends like your MUA’s friends and from the music industry were at your place. You’re wearing a more comfortable outfit than the day before, it was a black fitted midi tank dress and a rainbow tie-dyed hoodies that you and Calum ordered for the baby shower theme because you don’t like that thing that pink is for girls and blue for boys so everyone’s wearing the colorful outfit.

You’re posing in your garden full of beautiful flowers of different colors as everyone’s taking you pictures.

“More to the side” Mali said to have the perfect picture of you and your baby. Andy was filming every moment and zoomed it when you waved at his camera and the other hand on your belly. Then pictures with Calum, then the families, the guys, and everyone who was invited. Every single person can noticed your happiness and pure joy, you were glowing and even more with your soft peachy glowy makeup you did.

In the video the zoom’s now on your and Calum’s matching chains that you were wearing minutes before the reveal.

“Goddammit just say it!” Michael screamed impatient.

“Yeah, I bet Michael that it’s a boy” Luke said. They actually did bet five hundred.

“Why would you do that?!” Ashton stole words that Calum was going to say.

“Cause’ Y/N has two brothers and two nephews, maths Ash!” Luke said confident about his prediction.

Duke was hiding inside a box with the truth. When you both opened the box, Duke came out with a mini billboard hanging on his collar that says ‘It’s a GIRL!”

“YES!” Everyone screamed but mostly Michael because now he won those five hundred dollars.

“Definitely I’m going to be her godfather” Michael said looking at the guys. Andy asked them to say something for the video, they were sitting in the couch.

“Hell nah Michael… Focus! We have to say something to our niece” Luke said at him. “Hi kiddo, unfortunately we’re also your uncles, I’m uncle Luke and just wanna to let you know that you have the coolest family ever and you can count on us for everything”.

“Yeah, I hope you guys have clear that we’re going to spoil this baby a lot” Michael said looking at you and Calum, you nodded at him and he with his partner made it clear by bringing tons of gifts for the baby shower. “Cool, I’m just going to say that never be ashamed of who you are or your dreams and I know I’m going to be your favorite uncle because your birthday’s going to be near mine”. Michael said to the camera while he did his thing with his hair of always adjusting it.

“Hi dear niece, uncle Ash here, you’re so lucky to have your parents and they’re lucky to have you. Hope you have your mother’s features cause’ she’s hot…” Calum slapped his head from behind due to the comment. “Okay! your dad isn’t that bad tho…being serious live to the fullest cause’ life’s beautiful, especially if you play drums” Ashton laughed and you rolled your eyes at how all of them including Calum had been discussing which instrument the baby’s going to love most.

7 months

“You have to exercise, you gained ten pounds that weren’t planned” your doctor said. “Something light of course, and Calum, by the way you’re looking at me all scared, don’t worry cause’ everything’s going to be okay”.

“I’ve been craving a lot lately, I’m going to start again” you said swinging your legs like a child sitting once your doctor finished cleaning the gel of your belly. So the next morning you started again with yoga, you stopped for a month and that happened. You did yoga every morning with your personal trainer, since you can’t go to her studio because the secret will be revealed. Calum was also there encouraging you and sometimes Ashton, who assured you that he wasn’t there because he finds your trainer attractive.

@enews: Is Y/N pregnant? She’d been seen attending at 5sos shows this week and fans took pictures of her enjoying the show in the middle of the arena with friends and family in the restricted space. In the pictures we can see that she gained weight by her cheeks. In the picture you can’t see if there is a baby or not due to her outfits. She, with her husband Calum also are the last ones to leave the arenas asking the bodyguards to make sure there is no paps. What do you think? It’s confusing because she and Calum have been posting a lot lately and you can’t be sure about a little 5sos member coming BUT fans are saying that maybe they’re posting old stuff to confuse us and also fans called to respect their decision after what happened to the couple last year. Link in our bio to see the pictures.

“Do you want to say something to your granddaughter?” your brother asked with the camera to your parents and you melted at how cute your family looked with the hoodies on.

“Ugh, I can’t wait to hold you, kiss you, hug you, teaching you things that maybe your mommy can’t teach you” your mom said all emotional.

Your dad said to the camera that they can’t wait to have your baby visiting Brazil and teach her all about your culture and country. And you couldn’t be more agree with them. You want to show your daughter her roots, teach her portuguese and bring her to the carnivals in Brazil, spend all day in the beach walking with her in the seashore holding your hand and a lot of things that you have in the list. The same that Calum has in my mind since he found out about his baby but visiting Australia.

“I know you’re going to be smartest and most beautiful baby in the world and as you can see you got us wrap around your finger and every single person that loves you” Calum’s mom said to the camera.

“I’m going to be the best auntie I promise” Mali said to the camera and her dad joked about she and your best friends are the only aunties, because your baby has more uncles that aunties and that’s going to be fun.

“A doble vegetarian cheeseburger with caramelized onion and fries, please” you said from the passenger seat ordering your food to the worker of your favorite place for your cravings. Not taking risks to leave the car. Since you stopped working when you were five months you’ve been wearing baggy clothes to go outside and your designer friends have been sending you all kind of clothes from baggy and comfy dresses but still elegant and chic to pants and underwear that are the pieces you needed since every day your belly grows. Your best friend was driving and Mali was filming from the back. “And two portions of fries and a strawberry vegan milkshake, please… thank you!” you said with a guilty look to the camera. Later you’re going to ask why your doctor told you to lose weight.

In another occasion that Michael invited all of you guys for dinner and you had in your plate a lot of things you took. “What do you have here?” Andy asked filming.

“Well we have mac n’ cheese, french fries and sweet potato fries, two cheeseburgers of course one for me and one for the baby and a lot of salad because why not?” you said raising your shoulders.

But it hasn’t always been this way with your cravings and just beautiful things during your pregnancy because isn’t the truth.

Your cravings were so crazy and even things you didn’t like before that suddenly you want to eat that Calum reminded you that you hate that but doesn’t argue with you because you were going to get mad. It started with a lot of sweet things like cake or pies, fruits or chocolate and a lot of ice cream. Then peanut butter with watermelon, yeah, gross. To food that you love but hated being pregnant. Also food that one day you loved and the next morning you were disgusted and the next one loved again. And it ended with a lot of salty food like cheeseburgers, pasta, nuggets, etc but your loyal friend during the 9 months was ice cream.

“Babe I want to eat feijoada!” you pouted at Calum with a huge crave of your favorite typical brazilian dish. Calum couldn’t believe what he was hearing, it was 2 am and you were hungry and not in the best mood. “And also passionfruit ice cream, please”.

Calum did everything but the brazilian restaurant you love was already closed and he didn’t have idea how to do it. “We have the ice cream tho” he suggested if you changed your mind but that didn’t happen. You were going to start crying, the hormones were doing their thing that day.

Calum really wanted to spoil you but he had no idea what to do. He tried to facetime your family but he would have understood if they hadn’t answered because it was 6 am in Brazil. Thank God, your middle brother already started his day and when Calum told him what he wanted to do, your brother really realized how much he loves you. So he told him the steps, the recipe and the special secret of your family tradition, Calum told himself for the next one to pay attention when you or another person cook this dish.

“K’ thank you man, say hello to the rest, bye!” Calum waved through the phone once the feijoada was done.

“You are going to be a good dad, Cal. Now go to spoil your girls!” your brother waved at him too. And Calum really appreciated that comment.

“Sorry babe for being a pain in the ass lately” you said to Calum while you eat the ice cream laying against the headboard of the bed. He didn’t let you apologize for that because you’re doing something majestic and it was more than normal the things you had been through.

Even when those moments aren’t going to appear in the video, Calum’s going to for sure telling your baby your crazy cravings. When you cried more than once watching puppy videos on Instagram and Calum asking you “babe what happened?” and you just told him “it’s just that the puppy’s so cute” and he comforting you every time you cried when the hormones were crazy.

When you struggled with clothes. “Baby I’m doing my best” you said almost holding your breath and Calum trying to zip up your blue dress but in the middle of the night still end up broke. That night was a mess, you were out with Calum celebrating Tyler’s birthday, a friend of yours and you were half undressed that Calum gave you his jacket to cover the mess and then you started to feel sick when you caught the smell of a strong cheese.

How to forget how you feel with your body. The pain in your back, your feet, your breasts or when you felt so tired sometimes. How some days you were feeling yourself and other days you felt the most horrendous person. Some days the sexiest woman in the world and others the most unwanted one when you found a new stretch mark or how big your breasts and butt are, the pounds you gained.

“I promised that I used to be sexy, look baby” you said at Calum showing him a picture of you when you were 18 years old, you were in Copacabana with your friends in a party. Calum every day letting know how much he loves you and told you that you’re always going to be the prettiest woman in the world even when you had chocolate all over your face. He helps you too with your body issues because for his eyes all of these new things are a reminder of your little peanut and he loves every single inch of your body.

8 months

“I’m thirty four weeks today, just a month left” you said to the camera showing your belly. “Look baby, your daddy’s painting your room” pointing at Calum applying the peachy paint in the walls and later you were going to add with black paint some trees and other things like clouds, sun, the moon, etc.

Calum was already a 24/7 daddy. He called the guys to help him with the crib and the rest of the furniture. He had ready the bags for the hospital and the plan for that day.

Since you decided to keep your pregnancy a secret and to stop working and stay at home and not be in the public eye, you still had fun doing puzzles, playing with makeup, inviting your friends when Calum had to go to work. And every day you worked from home too, you still had to manage your makeup studio and your clients glam.

Tonight you prepared dinner, a brazilian night. You invited everyone and after you were goofing around in the living room with music in the back. The guys made you laugh at their attempt to dance samba. You decided to join the baby mama dance flexing your pregnant dance moves so you started filming with the front camera of your phone and dancing with the rest to ‘All Me’ by Kehlani.

“What if she isn’t into makeup?” Andy asked you in the baby shower. This is the first time you speak for the video.

“It doesn’t matter. She can do and choose anything she likes, I just want to teach her that she as a girl that girls can. To empower her if she likes science, art or sports or whatever I’m going to be there for and with her. Baby just remember that I’m going to love you every single day of my life and I’m sure that you’re the coolest and prettiest Maori-Brazilian girl in the world and you should be proud of that. We with your dad are waiting for you, love ya’”. you said to the camera.

“Hi princess, well I’m going to try not to cry while I say this but I can’t explain how much we love you and can’t wait to finally have you in my arms and sing to you and have fun with you. You’re my sunshine and your mom’s my soulmate, that tv show I saw was right about soulmate but the truth is that Uber was mine” Calum said to the camera smiling so big that his eyes crinkled and you giving him a look because that question about if that Uber was yours or his is going to be forever a topic, but one thing for sure is that moment changed everything.

“Calum!” you screamed from the living room where you were resting after dinner with Duke in the couch. Calum arrived in a second running from the backyard. You were suddenly scared. “Don’t know if Duke peed in the couch or…” and the next thing you saw was Calum taking the bags and helping you to get up to lead you to the car. He was freaking out inside but he tried to keep calm and always reminding you to breath when a contraction hit you.

Andy filmed when he arrived the maternity floor in the hospital. Everyone was waiting outside the labor room. He gave your mom the camera as she was inside the room with Calum next to you.

“Five centimeters left” the nurse said. For the video you decided to cover the screen so everyone will see just a black screen.

“Everyone’s here” your mom said while you wait. “We, Cal’s family, the boys, Natali, Marcela and Andy with Sarah”. And all of them were nervous waiting with fingers crossed with shuddering legs and feet against the floor waiting for Calum to go outside to say that the baby’s here and that you are fine.

You didn’t put in the video the ugly side of contractions and the pain you were feeling. The word you heard a billion times was ‘breath’, ‘take a deep breathe’.

“You’re going to meet your little girl” your doctor said to you and Calum once you were ten centimeters ready. You wanted to scream at your doctor for everything that the nurses put on you. How painful the epidural shot was and the every 3 or 5 minutes the contractions were. Till today you’re more than grateful that you had Calum supporting and helping you and also that he didn’t pass out. He’s going to be forever amazed at how your body and mind really did that and carried your little princess.

“Okay, eight, nine and… ten. Go, push” you heard. “Good job Y/N, keep going please take a breath”. “One more and you’re done” your doctor said and in that moment you felt how Calum held your hand with all of his energy.

“You can do this baby” he said encouraging you. You were tired and all sweaty but your reminder was that one more to hold your baby.

Cries filled the room letting you know that she’s finally here. “Open your eyes mama” the nurse said to meet your baby before you fall asleep.

“You did it baby, congrats” Calum was crying while he kissed your forehead, so do you. “I love you mama” he said. He couldn’t believe that years ago he didn’t believe in love but getting into that Uber that Christmas Eve was, is and is going to be forever the best decision of his life.

To our baby

Ema Kara Hood

October 26

8 lbs, 9 oz

11:15 pm

143 notes · View notes

angelbain · 4 years

Text

The Picnic

(aka a little fluff / crack before I dodge on angst again)

The “extra episode of where are they now” as I picture it.

Oneshot. Small reference to my fic “O Brave New World” chapter 3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/24252301/chapters/58501732#workskin in which Catra and Adora visit Entrapta who feeds them experimental cookies.

A Picnic at the end of the universe

Perfuma’s kingdom, a clear patch in the forest. PERFUMA and a few Plumerians helps stretch a big table cloth over the grass. SCORPIA is standing by her, holding huge baskets full of fruits and vegetables.

PERFUMA: Look, Scorpia, some people are coming! Oooh, I am so happy we are all seeing each other today!

She jumps and bats hands with joy. Scorpia looks at her with a loving eye. SPINERELLA and NETOSSA arrive from the air thanks to the former being able to cast winds.

PERFUMA waves at them with a smile: Here! Here! Come around!

SPINERELLA: Hello!

NETOSSA: We brought some drinks! Is that okay?

PERFUMA: Great! Amazing! Put them here!

She shows a small table. The four of them chat joyfully until a sound of magic glitter interrupts them. Appears GLIMMER and BOW who carries a cake bigger than himself, covered with icing and decorations, multiple-stairs type.

GLIMMER (raising her arms in the sky) Ta-daaa! We’re here!

BOW moans, and almost let the cake fall. It is caught on time by all the characters present, and slowly put in the middle of the tablecloth.

PERFUMA (with an inquisitive tone): Glimmer, what’s this?

GLIMMER: It’s a cake! Bright Moon’s cooks spend the whole morning preparing it! The icing has three different flavours, and the decorative pearls are coated with real gold!

As she talks, the cake seems to shine behind her. PERFUMA gives a concerned look at SCORPIA, who answers with an awkward smile.

PERFUMA: Well, err, thank you Glimmer! I’m sure it will be perfect for a light pic-nic in the middle of nature… But where are Adora and Catra? Weren’t they supposed to come with you?

GLIMMER: Oh, they said they would come by their own means… They should be there soo…

She is interrupted by the loud noise of an engine roaring closer. To all the characters’ horrified sight, a huge motorbike comes at them at full speed. Both riders wear a helmet that makes them unrecognised. They brake at last minute in a loud hiss, and do a spin that throws earth at the face of the protagonists. The back rider get their helmet off: it is ADORA, with a brand-fresh undercut and the biggest beam.

ADORA: GUYS! You will never figure out what I gave Catra for her birthday!

GLIMMER: Let me guess, this motorbike?

ADORA;: Yeah! It is a-ma-zing, right?

There is no answer. CATRA appears by her side, looking embarrassed, with a box that looks like it has been stepped on multiple times.

CATRA: So err Adora… About the pizza…

ADORA: What’s with the pizza?

CATRA: It has… err… suffered a little in the journey… It should taste fine but…

She opens the box to the saddest pizza ever seen.

GLIMMER: Wait! You disappeared all this morning to do ONE PIZZA? Arrrr!(She holds her head in her hands)

CATRA: No! I made cookies as well! Look!

She opens a box, and get a cookie out that has very vaguely the shape of a cat, that she holds proudly in front of an unconvinced GLIMMER.

PERFUMA (trying to stay calm and speaking as if to a very small child): That’s cool! Put it next to Glimmer’s cake and join us!

CATRA (asides, with her hand at the side of her mouth, pointing at the cake): Wait, did Sparkles do that?

ADORA: Apparently.

CATRA (same attitude): And we’re standing here with our stupid pizza…

ADORA (dry voice): It’s a great pizza. Now stop being competitive and enjoy the party.

They are interrupted (again) by the rush of the river close by which becomes a sudden torrent, to let stage for a wonderful boat… on fire. MERMISTA jumps from it and waves her arms to throw water at the arson, and floods PERFUMA who came closer to say hello.

MERMISTA: Sea-Hawk? SEA-HAWK? Come out now, and don’t forget the food!

SEA-HAWK (from inside the ship): I’m co-o-o-oming darling!

MERMISTA (with a bored voice): Oh, hi guys. Sorry for the inconvenience. He insisted for the fire.

PERFUMA (drying herself with a towel handed by SCORPIA, fake-smiling): It’s no worries! What did you bring?

MERMISTA (proud): We got the best fish and sea-food you guys have ever tried! Bring it on, Sea-Hawk!

SEA-HAWK gets out with a pile of wooden boxes. He opens one to shiny lines of fish. In the background, we have a quick glimpse at CATRA’s face, licking her lips with eager eyes. PERFUMA winces.

PERFUMA: Well… err… that’s great?

SCORPIA: Wait, what do you mean that’s great? Didn’t you say you were vegetarian? Do vegetarians eat fi…

As she speaks, SEA-HAWK and MERMISTA’s faces drops. PERFUMA puts a hand on SCORPIA’s mouth.

PERFUMA: No, no, it’s great! Put these around… (she hesitates and points at a random direction) around here! Great! Now who’s missing?

ADORA: Well, Frosta, and Entrapta, and I think that’s all…

CATRA: About Entrapta, do you guys think she will bring Hord…

She is interrupted by FROSTA, who just jumps from nowhere in her ice armor and punches her. After the first surprise, CATRA gets up, smiles competitively, and punches her back. They start a playful fight that pauses quickly. FROSTA salutes the others.

FROSTA (with her warrior voice): Hello, guys! I hope you waited for me to begin the party! Yea-hay!

PERFUMA: Well, we were just greeting everyone and…

FROSTA: Amazing! I brought ice-cream! Yay!

She draws a whole bunch of ice-cream flavours. GLIMMER yaps in the background and Bow’s eyes are huge from excitement.

GLIMMER: Frosta, you’re just the best! Now everyone’s here we’ll be able to start…

She tends to the buffet but is quickly caught back by BOW. Vexed, she pouts and sulks when the calm hum of an engine disturbs them. A sort of spaceship arrives from the sky, and parks between the boat and the motorbike, dumping the later down to the horrified sight of ADORA and CATRA who puts their hands on their mouth. Without a clue, a giddy ENTRAPTA comes out of the ship, followed by candid WRONG HORDAK.

ENTRAPTA: (talking to her log) Social experiment number #132, I am about to share a pic-nic with my friends. (to everyone) Now hi, everyone! I am very happy to see you all!

PERFUMA: We are happy to see you too, Entrapta, and whoever, I really say whoever you brought with you will be as welcomed as…

CATRA (with a concerned voice): Did you bring Hordak?

At this very moment, HORDAK gets out of the vehicule. He looks around. There is a collective moment of awkwardness where everybody looks around to avoid anyone’s gaze, to the exception of CATRA who jumps on their feet and points angrily at him.

CATRA: WHAT? YOU BROUGHT THIS…

ADORA (hands on CATRA’s shoulders): Calm down please…

GLIMMER (pushing them aside): HEY! What is he doing here?

MERMISTA: Yeah, like didn’t he try to destroy the planet or something? Just sayin’…

FROSTA: YEAH! BAD HORDAK!

HORDAK: I can see that I am not welcome here. (He looks at ENTRAPTA who is puzzled). Let’s leave.

Before they do, PERFUMA steps out and catch them by the arm.

PERFUMA (pulling her best smile and stepping before the others who still look pissed): Please, don’t leave! You are most welcome here, and surely the other guests will be able to (she looks at the pissed group with a side angry eye and especially at CATRA for she holds them responsible for the start of the mess) put aside your differences. So, err, did you bring anything?

ENTRAPTA (joyful): Yes, as it is a custom to bring food to a party like this, I tried to find the perfect flavour! I experimented lots of them – Catra and Adora even tried one – but I need more subjects to try it so I brought you a sample! Here it is!

WRONGIE opens a metallic box. It is full of small grey cubes.

CATRA (aside): My, not again…

ENTRAPTA ignores the remark and piles up the box over all the stuff that is already there: the sea food, the fruit baskets, the cake, the pizza, the drinks, the cookies, the ice cream totter dangerously and start to fall down. Every member of the group jumps to retrieve something, but it is not enough, and eventually the cake ends up falling over PERFUMA who jumped to catch it.

There is a small instant of silence, followed by a cry of rage from PERFUMA, who drops her arms on the floor and yells.

PERFUMA: Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

SCORPIA puts down whatever she caught and approaches carefully.

SCORPIA: Hey… erm… are you all right?

PERFUMA: No! My party is ruined! People are fighting, and Glimmer’s cake is wrecked! I’m such a bad host!

PERFUMA begins to cry. SCORPIA holds PERFUMA in her arms and glance at the rest of the group, clueless, when ADORA steps forward.

ADORA: We are sorry, Perfuma. It took you time and energy to prepare this, and we are ruining it by being bitter.

NETOSSA: Yeah, and it’s not like it took us a long time to bring the drinks.

MERMISTA: Nor the sea-food. FROSTA: The ice-cream took me one minute…

CATRA: The pizza took us much longer but I’m sure it’s no great loss. And… I’m sorry I started this.

There is another silence. CATRA nudges HORDAK, who looks terribly ill-at-ease.

HORDAK (after a terrible effort): I’ll do my best to prove the princesses I’m an honourable guest.

CATRA: Hmm, good enough.

PERFUMA looks up, eyes still tearful.

PERFUMA: So you still enjoy the party?

ADORA: What? Of course we do! (looks at GLIMMER)

GLIMMER: And I’m just we can still save pieces of the cake!

SEA-HAWK: And the sea-food! (looks at MERMISTA)

SPINERELLA: And I love mashed fruit! (looks at NETOSSA)

FROSTA: We can mix it with the ice cream!

MERMISTA: Add the cake in it, it would be so cool!

ENTRAPTA: What if we make it in tiny scoops? (looks at HORDAK)

SCORPIA: And a little cookie at the top of it? (looks at CATRA)

BOW: Yay, cookies!

He jumps and high-fives SCORPIA. Perfuma cracks a smile, and they all laugh.

Ellipse to the end of lunch. GLIMMER is asleep on Bow’s knees, a small chunk of cake still at the corner of her lips. Meanwhile, BOW is showing WRONGIE how to use a bow. PERFUMA is chatting happily with NETOSSA and SPINERELLA.

PERFUMA: … So I sent an invite to this Double Trouble person, they seem to be so interesting, but sadly they declined. They said they got a key role in a play and don’t want to drop that out… I wonder what that is. Something about crime and investigation… I think Mermista would know more about this sort of thing…

Her words are lost in the general conversation. In another corner, CATRA is leaning on ADORA’s knees. The others are in the background. ADORA is handing one of ENTRAPTA’s cubes to CATRA.

ADORA: You should definitely try this.

CATRA: I’m not sure about it…

ADORA: Come on! It’s completely different than last time!

Switch for a second on Sea-Hawk, who tries to sing a shanty but is interrupted by a flow of water, a pile of flowers and some snow.

CATRA: All right, if it pleases our majesty…

CATRA eats the cube, chokes from it and reach for the closest drink.

CATRA (after drinking a whole bottle of fizz) You idiot! It’s even worse than last time!

ADORA laughs heartily when CATRA jumps on her. They fight like two kittens.

Zoom on the rest of the groom.

They are gathered at a board game that is probably of BOW’s design, because it featues small figurines. ENTRAPTA is examining them all at once, one in each lock of her hair. SCORPIA is trying to read the manual and scratches her head, but tries to explain the rules. FROSTA is sleeping on her shoulder. MERMISTA just looks bored. HORDAK looks miserable.

ENTRAPTA: Bow, did you made these? They’re amaziiiiinnng…

HORDAK: I must admit it is quite a good craft.

BOW blushes. An arrow brushes by his nose.

WRONGIE: Oops! BOW: Wow!

The arrow ends up in a tree very close to PERFUMA, who is pouring warm water in a tea-pot. She jumps, but the pot is caught by a net that allows it to land peacefully in her arms.

PERFUMA (smiles): thank you, Netossa. (turns to ADORA, who raises her head from the cuddle fight that led her and CATRA to be covered with grass). Adora, I wanted to ask, do you have any news from Swift Wind?

ADORA: Oh, haha, hem… He is on a quest to find other talking animals like him. He said he feels a little lonely in his… hem… condition.

CATRA: Yay, and so far he found a frog and they are the greatest complainer in history.

PERFUMA smiles. ADORA looks away, a little guilty. CATRA uses the moment to grasp a chunk of grass and punch it at her face. They resume the fighting. Zoom on BOW, who stands up, with at his feet a yawning GLIMMER.

BOW: Guys, please, can I have your attention for a minute!

MERMISTA: Eeeeerr, seriously, you’re going to make a speech? This is sooooo cheesy!

SCORPIA: Shhhh, he is going to make an announcement. We are all ears, Bow, go on…

FROSTA (who woke up): Are you and Glimmer getting married? (Glimmer blushes)

CATRA (with a smirk): You’ve got to get a proper shirt for that though.

BOW: Wait, we’re not…

SEA-HAWK: I could do the singing!

SCORPIA: Can I be your best man? Please! I’m never been anyone’s best man!

BOW: We’re not…

ADORA: Wait, who’s getting married?

ENTRAPTA: Bow and Glimmer, apparently. It will be a great social experiment, I’m waiting for it. By the way, aren’t you and Catra going to do it with them? (ADORA blushes violently.)

BOW: WE’RE NOT GETTING MARRIED!

A big silence follows. Everyone looks shocked, Scorpia is even almost tear-eyed.

SCORPIA: You’re breaking up? But you’re such a good couple! Please don’t break up! (She kneels down, grabs Bow’s trouser’s leg and begs) Please-please-please…

BOW (sighs): We’re not breaking up, we’re not getting married, and I just wanted to tell you guys that tea is ready and that I made each of you a personal cup to bring back home!

SCORPIA stops crying, and PERFUMA just laughs from the whole situation. SCORPIA looks at her and smiles from seeing her lover be happy. On the back, ENTRAPTA strokes HORDAK’s cheek with her hair, and he lifts his head to look at her. Behind them, WRONGIE looks at the scene with loving eyes.

BOW: So, here is yours, Adora – He gives her a cup full of tea. It is white, with a sword drawn on it.

ADORA: Nice!

BOW (continues the distribution of tea): Catra’s… - A red cup, with cat ears that poke at the edge, and a >.< cat face.

CATRA (doing exacly the same face): Why is mine making a face?

BOW: Glimmer’s… - A pink cup, with a complicated shape and small pearls that decorate it. She just smiles and grabs it – Perfuma’s… A round cup made of natural wood, with a small twig twisted around it.

PERFUMA: Thank you. (She closes her eyes and smells the tea with pleasure).

BOW: Scorpia’s…- It’s a deep red cup, huge, and with a special shape for her to hold: it is thinner in the middle and larger at the top and bottom, and without a handle.

SCORPIA (still tear-eyed): This is so nice from you Bow!

BOW: Frosta’s… - A light-blue cup, all transparent and with angular shape, like a diamond. It has a top cover to prevent spilling because she is impulsive.

FROSTA: Yay! (She jumps with the cup, but it just shakes the content and only spills a little bit out).

BOW: Mermista’s… - A blue-green cup with the handle in the shape of a fish, and a unicorn whale painted on it.

MERMISTA: Ok, it’s a little bit cool, I admit.

BOW: Sea-Hawk’s… - A dark-blue cup with a boat drawn on it – At least you won’t set this boat on fire!

SEA-HAWK: Oh, thank you!

BOW: Entrapta’s… - It’s a set of three black small cups. On each of them are stylised purple faces with hands: one with the hands on the ears, one on the eyes, and one on the mouth.

ENTRAPTA: Oh, it’s tiny! Amazing! (She gives mouth to WRONGIE, ears to HORDAK, and keep the eyes one. WRONGIE looks happy, but HORDAK looks puzzled). Thank you!

WRONGIE: Thank you! HORDAK: Yeah, hem… thank you. (He looks away)

BOW: and finally, Netossa’s and Spinerella! - He gives NETOSSA a cup all squared in black and white, and SPINERELLA a light purple cup with the handle in the shape of a wind spiral. They smile and cheer with the cups. - So, would you join me for a toast?

ADORA: Sure.

BOW (a little more solemn): So… To Etheria (he looks at ADORA and CATRA, who both blushes). To victory (he looks at SCORPIA, PERFUMA and FROSTA who all cheer). To love (he looks at NETOSSA and SPINERELLA who kisses, and then at GLIMMER who just smiles). To adventure (he looks at MERMISTA and SEA-HAWK who look fiercely ready for another). To forgiveness (he looks at ENTRAPTA, who smiles, WRONGIE, who blinks, and HORDAK, who simply nods.). But mostly to say: It’s the best thing so far to be friends with friends.

They all cheer and yay, and the last image is of a collection of cups all clasped together.

THE END.

#she ra #spop #she ra season 5 #she ra s5 #adora #catra #bow #glimmer #netossa #spinerella #frosta #scorpia #perfuma #entrapta #hordak #wrong hordak #swift wind #double trouble #fluff

62 notes · View notes

videogamelover99 · 4 years

Text

Reason

A/N: I physically cannot write something that’s not angst. Anyway, with Episode 15 of TAZ Graduation (by far the best episode, in my opinion), I couldn’t help but need to write this. Warnings for: sexual coercion, abuse of power, classism. AO3 link here.

Summary:

"When you transformed Silvia Nite, the fear in her eyes made you feel powerful. Don't you want that again?"

"...I kinda do."

Chaos takes their time to convince Fitzroy that their power is worth it.

When Fitzroy was eight, his father finally took him with his caravan. It was hired out to a Madam Adaman Fern, a human whose new estate was waiting to be moved into. Fitz had watched the items get loaded in by his father’s crew, one by one: solid red wood furniture, silverware of the purest metal, a grandfather clock, and pounds and pounds of jewelry, carried in malachite boxes, full of amber, jade, gold and precious stones that he’d never thought existed. He’d excitedly watched from his father’s place at the head of the wagon, his father smiling as he calmed the horses down, stroking their necks. It was a long trip, passing fields and rivers and mountains, each more beautiful and grander than the last. Fitzroy, in his short life, had seen nothing father than his nowhere town and the local farmer’s market his mother liked to go to. He tried to consume all of it, to not miss a glimpse of anything they passed on their way. That night, the crew had a hard time wrestling him to sleep.

When he woke up, earlier than he ever had out of his excitement, the first thing his eyes were drawn to was the large, three story mansion. It loomed above the horizon, its marble columns reflecting the light of the dawn in a way that made them shine with early morning luminescence. The caravan pulled up in front of the large iron gate, and the crew got out, ready to unload. Beyond the gate, he could see a cobble-stone driveway, circular and in the center of it – a marble fountain, shaped like many outstretched hands, holding up the sky. In front of the carriage stood a woman, helped down by a man in a black and white frock. They slowly approached the caravan, stopping a few paces away from Fitzroy’s father as he got down to greet them. They had not a speck of dirt or road dust on their silken garments. Jerry, when right in front of them, with his grass stains and horsehair covering his overalls, looked a bit like a homeless vagabond. He nodded politely at the two as they watched the luggage get unloaded.

“Careful with that,” the woman said softly, eyeing the people handling the grandfather clock, “it’s been in my family for generations.”

Then she spared a glance at Fitzroy, and the boy smiled wide, like he always did to grownups he didn’t quite know yet. His mother loved that smile, said none of their neighbors could ever resist it.

The woman did not smile back. Instead, she gave him a look, one that made him want to climb into one of the wagons and never crawl out again. A look of pure, unashamed resentment. They she turned away quickly, as if Fitzroy was not worth any more of her time, her jewelry clinking gently as she did so.

Fitzroy remembered that look well. He’d remembered it, because it was the same look that the students at Clyde Nite’s Night Knight School sent him as he passed down the hall, weighed down with expensive, barely affordable books, and ill-fitting clothing his dad had given him. It was a look he chose to remember, when his body was too tired to stand, when his mind was unfocused, when his muscles ached from the overexertion of his training, when his hands shook when holding the sword. He remembered it, and pushed on, past the pain, past the sickness, past the shaky adrenaline.

You could say that at some point, his tenacity had become singlehandedly fueled by spite.

At first, he thought Silvia Nite was better. She’d called out his potential early on, when he’d felled several on the training field, his shirt clinging to the sweat on his back, his face and hands covered in dirt. She’d smiled, and he smiled back, proud that finally, finally someone was noticing his potential.

He had run into her in the hall once, embarrassed and out of breath from being late to class. She’d offered him a helping hand as he tripped over his own feet, mumbling an apology. “Your class can wait,” she said, leading him by the arm, “walk with me.”

He nodded frantically, at loss for words. She led him through the hall of the castle, and into the courtyard. They walked side by side, and Fitzroy had to fight the impulse to lower his head. She breathed power the same way he breathed oxygen. He’d admired the way she held herself, above any trifles or misunderstandings.

“I hear you’re making quite the progress,” she said, stopping just under an old apple tree.

“Y-yeah…I-I mean-” he choked on his words, nervously wondering if he’d already fucked this up.

She smiled at him. “Breathe.”

And, on command, he did. “That’s me! Always, always punching the clock, working those books…” he wanted to jump off the nearest cliff.

“Good,” she turned away from him, plucking one of the flowers from the tree, watching as a few stray petals flew to the ground, “you know, a lot of the other staff members didn’t believe me.”

“Believe you…?”

“About your potential.” She stroked the petals with the tip of her finger. “You’re a talented young man, Fitzroy,” she turned to him, and grinned. “I’m glad you were able to prove them wrong.”

“Oh…I-uh…thanks, I guess? T-thank you.”

She shook her head. “Don’t thank me. You’ve got no one but yourself to praise.” He nodded dumbly. His chested swelled with pride. She’d noticed. Silvia Nite had noticed him. His hard work, his monkey, his time, his pain - everything was finally worth something. “It was very good talking to you, Fitzroy Maplecourt. It’s time for you to head back to class,” and she walked away, the flower still in her hands.

He might’ve felt a little giddy when, after one of her lectures, she’d approached him again. He’d noticed the looks of the other students, some sneers, some of unidentifiable pity. He shrugged them off, thinking them envy. It wasn’t hard, given how much better he was than everyone else at mostly everything. Magic excluded. A Knight didn’t need magic to be successful. A Knight did, however, sometimes needed a helping hand. Which was what Silvia offered to him, placing her long, perfectly trimmed fingernails on his shoulder. She was much taller than him, her elven features similar to his own, and yet so much more pronounced, regal. “I believe there are some people in the oversight guild I can introduce you to. You’d want to build up contacts once you graduate.”

He’d nodded, already having thought of that for months now. Because even though his kingdom, Goodcastle – was already lined up for his taking, something told him broadening his scope was a wise decision.

She let go, stepping back toward her desk. “Meet me at my office tomorrow afternoon. There, we can continue this discussion.”

He should have suspected something, then. But he was too much of a fucking idiot, wasn’t he? And the opportunity seemed so close. Silvia Nite had tossed in the bait, and he’d fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker.

But when the time came, and he poked his head into her office, even he could tell that something was wrong. The window blinds were down, and as Silvia walked up to greet him, shaking his hand, and reached over his shoulder to lock the door behind him. A part of him knew, when she told him to sit down, not letting go, smiling, her praise oozing out of her lips like molasses. Suddenly agitated, he shifted in his seat, all to aware of her gaze wandering all over him. They sat down, Silvia behind a redwood desk, him sitting across from her, hands writhing on his lap.

“I can help you, of course,” she’d said, her tone matter of fact, “graduate faster. Find important people to introduce you to. It would be an opportunity you wouldn’t want to miss.” Then she sat back in her leather chair, adorned with the carved faces of eternally hungry wooden lions, and said: “I am a busy woman, though. It would take quite a lot of my schedule to do that for you, do you understand?”

He’d nodded. And flinched, when her hand covered his, and the whole time, his mind was screaming that it was wrong, wrong, wrong. He felt trapped. Under her gaze, in the shadows of the closed blinds, by the lock in the door behind him.

Then her other hand moved to grasp the back of his neck. “So you’ll have to do something for me as well, Fitzroy.” Then she tugged on his collar, and he sprang back, his legs finally working correctly. He was breathing shallow, panicky, because he knew that look. For so long she’d masked it under the pretense of kindness, with nice words and smiles, but at its core, it was all the same. The look of someone who thought that Fitzroy was nothing more than the mud under their shoes. He’d been such an idiot not to see it sooner.

The older woman moved back in surprise, her hand still hovering in the air. Then her gaze narrowed.

“Y-you…” he tried to find his voice, but it was shaking to much for him to form any words. He suddenly wanted to laugh. “You think…you can just…I will never-” He’d never felt so angry in his life.

Her eyebrows rose up, perfect arches she’d no doubt spent hours of her precious time on. She eyed him up and down, standing from her chair, and he bristled, his hands turning to fists. No matter how skilled in combat he’d become, he would still be no match for her. She held his gaze.

Then she sat down, waving a hand. “Alright. You may go, then.”

He practically flung himself at the door, turning the lock with his shaking fingers. “And Fitzroy?” she called, just as he was about to leave, with a tone that sent a chill down his spine, “not everyone is as accommodating as I am.”

After that day, the calls of kissass and teacher’s pet turned to something much more vicious. He made himself suck it up and carried on. Only a few months before graduation. He could make it. After all, one thing was made clear to him. There would be no one who would ever respect him, not until he left this school behind.

The anger didn’t go away. It festered, with every jeer, every rude gesture, every pitying gaze the other teacher had sent his way, and had boiled over when he had to face her once again, in her magic class, trying to light this goddamn candle that would not light the piece of shit-

Her gaze dug into him, ignoring all the other students, the resentful look so clear, so unmistakably present, and if he could just light this goddamned candle so he could leave-

And then the whole room exploded. And moments later, when Silvia Nite was turned back to normal, her gaze wide-eyed and terrified, Fitzroy felt like he couldn’t get enough of the fear in her eyes.

Chaos paused the memory, turning it over in their hand. “You were angry. Good.” They smiled at him, hovering over his shoulder as he looked alongside them. Their shifting head of hair wrapped around his shoulders like a cloud, undulating and free. “You had every right to be.” Their voice was like a whisper of the wind. “She wanted to possess you, control you. Her position gave her the illusion that she could own you. And she was wrong.” They waved their hand, and the memory faded from view, melting around them like sugar. “This is why I chose you.”

They came to him every night, his nonsensical half-dreams replaced by their strange, every-shifting world. Sometimes it was a room in a castle. Sometimes they were out in the woods. And sometimes, the two of them would just sit there, on the foot of his bed, his own body sleeping fitfully behind them. Chaos looked delighted whenever they came. They were possessive, but not in the way people were. They lacked that look in their eyes. They knew they owned him, but not from any illusion of power, not because they thought they were better than him. They owned him, simply because they could.

They turned to him them, smiling, but not amused. Reveling in their truth. “With my power, there will never be such humiliation. Isn’t that reason enough?”

#taz graduation #taz g #sir fitzroy maplecourt #chaos #taz grad spoilers #fanfiction

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inkbun · 5 years

Note

If you arenct busy, could you maybe do a (romantic)Roadhog x Fem!Reader angst? Maybe Roadie finds poor reader in a severe depression/anxiety episode(you decide how far it goes, I don't want to make you uncomfortable), and he tries to calm her down? Hurt/Comfort, Romance

Back at it again @ Krispy Kreme. Took a career change and a major move, but I’m back babeyyy. Anyways, this was more serious than I intended, but I like how it turned out. Enjoy! 🐷

(FYI- I’m in a completely different timezone than before so uploads may be random for a while until I figure out what works.)

Words: 1886

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Your back slammed the rusted wall, pocked surface snagging your well-worn henley. Clawing your chest, you tried to regulate your breaths: In for seven, out for eight... only to hyperventilate on the second exhale. Though the panic was an old foe, its trigger this time was wholly unfamiliar.

Living in Junkertown brought its fair share of terrors: thieves and the cowards who stab them in the — two-faced swindlers, and the head of it all, the ruthless Junker Queen. You were by no means a native, having spent most of your adult life in cities like Brisbane. Which while wild in their own right, were far from the barren wasteland that daily threatened your mortality.

Even so, you’d rather a cage match in the Junkertown arena than deal with the situation at hand.

“It’ll be f-fine,” you stammered, pulling the flimsy stick from your pocket. It was decidedly unremarkable—tapered white plastic with a tiny LCD screen in the middle. Funny how something so simple could remain unchanged for over a century since its invention.

Wish it was as simple to get one. Depsite its proclivity for debauchery, Junkertown dealers didn’t often traffic in women’s wellness. Diesel, angel dust, mech parts? Name your price. But a pregnancy test? Everyone loses their minds.

“Rightly so,” you muttered, hands tremoring as you clutched the device.

Your own carelessness had landed you here. Junkertown had a finite supply of...protection dealers and you’d exhausted their existing supply—not that it stopped you.

To be fair, Mako had egged you on—dragging you to the edge of pleasure, dangling you over while his solid arms clutched you close. Granted, you tried to warn him of the line he was toeing, the very real danger the two of you were toying with. The words came in sputtery, pleasure-choked breaths: “Mako p-please, not inside...it can’t...you can’t—”

Mako answered, voice so deep it murmured in your chest. “Don’t care, you’re mine. I want them to know...” At the time the words thrilled you, a sharp departure from his usual level head.

Your tryst with the infamous Roadhog began rather simply. You were an apprentice for Bruce, Junkertown’s master engineer; Mako occasionally brought his motorcycle in after hours for hush-hush repairs. For months you’d tried to figure him out, drawn to the man who always kept his mask on and relegated all responses to appropriately-timed grunts.

Though frightening at first, you grew to enjoy—no, crave—his presence, especially delighted when he brought shop presents from his exploits. They usually consisted of food, like Bruce’s favorite cinnamon vines and your own, powdered sugar donuts. Occasionially he brought trinkets, though you didn’t dare ask where from. The most expensive of these, a solid gold set of brass knuckles, served as a welcome supplement to your growing treasure stash.

Bruce ribbed you about the blossoming...something between you two, smile poorly hidden in his scraggly white beard. “I haven’t seen ‘Hog get excited over anyone in a long while. Hardly looks my way if you’re in the room.”

You waved him off, calling him a silly old man caught up in daydreams. But he was right, even if you only admitted it in your quiet moments. So, when Mako came by late one evening for repairs on a blown gasket and Bruce wasn’t around, you stepped in to help.

Tension-laden, you worked on the bike, doing your best to keep your mind from straying to his large hands, or your eyes from the plethora of tattoos and scars across his skin. Somehow you could feel his gaze, even beneath the mask, felt the curious intensity even though he said little.

“Thanks,” he said, once you were done, drawing just close enough for you to examine him up close.

Strange, you thought, taking in the hulking man before you. Mako’s wiry demolitionist sidekick had tried flirting with you, but on nights when your hand snaked beneath the band of your cargos, you dreamt of thick arms and a shock of white hair accompanying deep, pleasured growls. And that’s when you knew you were in trouble.

You flashed a sultry smile, not bothering to adjust the fallen strap of your denim overalls. “No bother at all. I know I’m not Bruce, but my touch ain’t half bad.”

“That so?” he chuckled, timbre-rich sound warming your bones. You nodded vigorously, dislodging the other strap in the process. Reason told you to pull it back up, act like nothing happened — for god’s sakes don’t fuck the outlaw.

You promptly did the opposite, drawing nearer until you hit his stomach, fingers boldly exploring the skin there. Mako went very still, strangled groan escaping him as you kept on. At last he stopped you, taking your arm gently in his large hand.

“I’m a bad man, ____.”

You snorted, spirit too consumed to let a little self-deprecation stop you. Gently you reached up, bracing on his stomach for balance as you tugged the bottom of his mask up. Mako flinched, grip on your hand tightening before at last giving a single nod: a silent “Continue.”

With some difficulty you unfastened it, fascinated with every inch of the face it revealed. He was younger than the white ponytail suggested, honey brown eyes alight with quiet mischief; his snub nose was adorned by a septum ring, with sharp cheekbones punctuated by stubble and facial scars. He was oddly handsome, despite the apprehension and want warring on his face.

Breathless, you stilled your thundering heart and braced both palms against him, fingers spanning in search of more. “Show me.”

That was nearly a year ago, the months since filled with snuck rendezvous in Bruce’s shop, your apartment, and a host of “we’ll be killed if we’re caught” locations. Neither of you publicly claimed the other, both of you citing op sec as the reason. Mako was wanted in far too many towns, and you didn’t need any of Junkertown’s nastier characters—including the Queen herself—knocking on Bruce’s door with questions.

Still, the past few months had seen a palpable...something growing between you. Mako had started staying the night instead of returning to his hideout with Jamison, clutching you in slumber like one of his beloved pachimaris. You began keeping apricot jam, his favorite, in the fridge and doubled your grocery order just in case he stopped by.

You were serious. Maybe not in love—Was that even possible in the Wasteland?—but definitely serious.

“And I’m about to fuck it all up,” you whispered, tears welling your eyes as you pondered taking off the cap. It’d been at least an hour since it chirped, announcing the results were in. Three times you gathered up the courage to look—three times you failed, panic robbing you of breath and vision blurring whenever you even considered the possibility of a positive result.

Your brain whirred, spitting questions with no good answers: Would he still want me? Would he blame me? Would he leave?

Would he, would he...on and on it went until you were queasy.

The swirling dread robbed you of awareness, so much so that you failed to hear your the click of your a door as someone unlocked it, or the thumpy footsteps on the stairs accompanied by inquisitive “hmms” as Mako searched the workshop for you.

You’d gone totally numb, shivering against the wall; just then, a familiar hand tapped your shoulder.

“Roadie!” you jumped, test stick clattering to the floor. You tried to rein your voice in, aware it likely teetered on hysterics. “What are you doing here?”

He had forgone the mask as you liked, tattered t-shirt straining against his tummy and large arms. His was hair out of its usual ponytail, gathered around his neck in a shaggy white crop. Every bit of it screamed relaxed, as did the takeaway boxes tucked under his arm. Mako had come for a date, and you were about to ruin it all.

“I was around,” he offered, watching you for a moment. Then, nodding at the ground. “What’s that for?”

Realizing the test was out in the open, you scrambled to snatch it up. “N-nothing! Silly business really, don’t worry about it, I just—”

“Don’t lie to me, ____,” he said, snatching up the test with deceptive speed.

The words were gentle, softer than anything you’d ever heard from him. Of course I can’t hide from him. He might be an internationally-wanted criminal, but Mako was one of the most perceptive people you’d ever met. Not that it’d take a savant to derive the source of your current meltdown.

He held the damning evidence in front of you. “This yours?”

You nodded, biting your lip to quell your tears. Mako nodded, face drained of emotion. He watched you a moment, eyes resting on your middle.

“Would it be mine?”

You nodded again, momentary incredulity granting you courage to speak. “Whose else’s?”

That got a slight chuckle, quickly replaced by the first instance of worry you’d ever seen on his face.

“You look yet?”

You shook your head no.

“Scared?” he asked, face full of comprehension.

You nodded, trembling progressed to sobbing tremors. Without another word Mako pulled you toward him, willing you still with his solid warmth. By degrees you stopped, reduced to sniffles and quiet babbling.

“I’m so sorry, I ruined everything. You came to have a good time and you face so much out there and I-I—“

Mako kissed your head, lips lingering against your clammy skin. “Stop. We’ll look at it together.”

It wasn’t a question and you had no will left to fight. Still, the unspeakable question prowled your thoughts, compelling you to ask.

“And if it’s...” you said, trailing off as you stared at him with welling eyes.

“Then it is,” Mako said, training his quiet, determined gaze on your frightened one. “But I’m yours, ____. No matter what.”

You cried out in relief, so flooded with happiness you could only hug him tighter. Mako laughed, sound soothing like summer rain on desert sand. Standing on your tippy toes, you kissed him, leaching every ounce of gratitude and affection you could into your lips. He answered ferverently, flicking his tongue across yours before pulling away.

“Ready?” he asked, holding the test up. Taking a deep breath, you nodded. With him by your side, you could do anything. Using his thumb, Mako slid the shutter covering the screen, both of you holding your breath as you uncovered the result: Negative.

The sound you made barely qualified as human, but Mako just laughed, ruffling your hair with his free hand. Crisis averted, turned your attention to the fragrant takeaway boxes, sure you detected the tang of greasy noodles.

“Hungry?” Mako asked, scarred cheek quirking as he smiled.

You stood, temporarily stunned by the pure affection on his face. He wouldn’t say it yet, and neither would you until you got good and ready, but right then you knew that Mako Rutledge, criminal extraordinaire, loved you.

Stomach grumbling, you answered with a smile. “For you? Always.”

#roadhog x reader #mako rutledge x reader #mako x reader #junkers #ow imagines #overwatch imagines #ow imagine #ovw imagines #overwatch imagine #ovw fic #ovw #overwatch

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prettylittlebrownskingyal · 4 years

Note

Your commentary on titans 👌👌 give us the full review

My main problem with Titans is that there is (a.) no logical and solid justification for these characters and their actions and (b.) this may just be the film nerd in me— but there’s no emotional payoff.

What irks me more is that the cast is incredible. They’re likeable and capable of handling emotion and they can clearly deal with more than they’re given.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure from writers to showrunners to directors and crew— a lot of work and time and energy has been put into the production of this show. But these characters are so iconic and in my nitwit opinion, it’s almost painful to see their potential go to waste.

And I say potential because there are moments— mystical and magical, full of hope and wonder and rich comic goodness that make you want more. But they fall flat.

“Families can be fucked up.”

Titans is supposed to be about family. They literally end the last episode with the song “We are Family.” So why would these people— who supposedly view each other as found family— abandon each other at every given opportunity?

They gang up on Jason in the tower when only moments before they were all fired up about saving the kid from Dr. Light. Gar gets left behind by himself with an unconscious, cleary dangerous super clone. Donna and Dawn fully agree to let Dick rot in prison.

These actions do not reflect people who care for each other. Who want to protect and keep each other safe. Why would this be the core emotional catalyst for any development whatsoever when no actual families are portrayed?

Also, here are two established families featured this season and there were no attempts to have them act as foils for each other even though that would have made clear sense. The Wilsons and the Waynes. Two kids that share stoic father figures that are linked to their trauma. Rose and Jericho have no relationship. No communication. No reason to trust each other. Also, why does Rose immediately give up her life for her father?

Dick and Jason’s relationship had some moments that could have been great to both of their character developments. Dick is his best when he’s being a big brother to Gar and Rachel. Why not let him be the same for Jason?

Here are some things I’d do differently.

1.) No Conner storyline

Conner, Krypto and Eve’s episode (episode 6) was quite possibly the best of the season. It’s because a family dynamic is clearly established. (It’s a little weird, I’ll admit) But these characters rely on each other. They look out for each other. They care. (“You didn’t abandon me”// “Can I call you mom?”// “Hot dogs? Get it?”– i ate that shit up)

That being said, it also feels like Conner was just created so they’d have someone to save Jason from his fall.

The introduction of CADMUS as another antagonist when Slade is a major, overpowering one feels like too many things to juggle at once. If they’d held out, Conner and CADMUS would have been great as the main focal point for a whole season.

2.) More Jericho

Jericho was essentially the highlight of the season. I can’t tell if it was the way he was written or the way Chella portrayed him but that’s what Titans really needs.

humanity. kindness. friendship and family ties.

why couldn’t he have had more time with the Titans? why couldn’t he have a relationship with Rose?

I’d have let him explore his abilities more. His relationship with his mom, with Slade, with each of the Titans.

They needed to have actual bonding with him. Not just a shoddy backstory.

3.) Better treatment of Rose

Rose Wilson could have been so much more than just a plot point. More than an informant. All she did this season was eat cereal, say “i’m out” and then solve a major fight plot point in fifteen minutes. We needed more of her training, her relationships, her justifications to just pick and fall into a life of an assassin.

She and Jason had some decent moments of believable cheesy teen behaviour between them but not enough to cover the gaping hole in Jason’s storyline.

4.) Jason needs more emotional moments!!

Not going to lie, I wasn’t sure Curran Walters could do big emotional scenes or make me care as much as he did. But he did. He’s got the bratty, troubled Jason down but he needs to be more fleshed out.

Like Rose, he feels like a caricature of a troubled teen. Where’s his interaction with Bruce? His backstory? His impulsivity and need to prove himself to Dick should be established but it’s not.

That scene where he learns that Rose has been using them all along? That was better than most of what we’ve seen him do.

5.) Donna as a big sister// Donna’s relationship with loss

You’re telling me “older smarter prettier”// “you can crash at my place” Donna Troy who took care of Dick would not look at these kids and want to help? After all Diana’s taught her? WACK

Also Donna and Garth’s relationship? It felt forced. He literally said “I love you” and then died. C’mon man, really? At least give them a pre-established relationship.

6.) Kory?? what happened y’all?

She felt so underutilized this season. Anna Diop is a star. She delivers her performance so well. The moment she heals Conner, her rushing to save Rachel— she has this essence of kindness that fits so well with her strength and the potency of her powers.

She’s a gifted, royal powerhouse.

So why give her a runaround, stretched out storyline? Why make her kill someone she cared about?

7.) Hank and Jason?//Dawn, Donna and Kory?// Dick & Gar

The dynamic between these characters whether seen or hinted at could have literally carried full episodes. Why consistently break them apart? Or make them fight or ignore each other? Why not let them play into each other, learn from each other? INTERACT??

8.) Bruce// Dick’s version of Bruce

I like Iain Glen as an older version of Bruce Wayne. I like that he’s a bit quirky, snarky, an asshole and he says things like “no shit.” But he doesn’t serve much of a purpose and he feels like an instant solution in certain situations. Plus he has no interaction with Jason.

That being said, the use of him as Dick’s voice of reason/subconscious does hone in on the question that Dick keeps trying to run away from— “What would Batman do?” That works for his character. It works for his growth. Their dynamic is wonderful but ultimately, not necessary.

9.) Donna dying?

That WHOLE scene was so out of place. Why would that have happened after the climax of the story? As an extra source of angst?

Again, the Titans are separated by death. Again, a sense of a family is built up and torn down. No one should have to die for a real sense of familial bond to be established.

10.) Deathstroke’s character//takedown

He’s supposed to be the main antagonist and they all have beef with him. Rightfully, everyone should have gotten a chance in that battle. It happened way too quickly and was very anticlimactic for the old Titans.

Also, Slade killing one of their friends with one, single bullet to the chest literally does nothing for me. Especially since Aqualad is supposed to be a Titan. There’s no real conflict, no tangible establishment of hate. Where’s the torture? the real hurt?

11.) Gar, Dick and Hank and their repeated storylines

they all went through the same arcs again. Dick with his Batman struggle. Hank and his own darkness. Gar and his struggle with control and being controlled and experimented on.

This season should have been about Dick coming into his own as Nightwing. About Gar finally having some normalcy and a place that he feels safe in. He should have gotten some redemption as a hero. Hank (and i hate to say, i hope i don’t sound ridiculous but) should have gotten some resolution with Dawn. Either they’re in or out because the back and forth they do with each other is incredibly toxic and they’ve been established as smart enough to see that.

It wasn’t all bad though and I’ll probably end up doing a re-watch sometime. Since I’ve pretty much spouted asshole nonsense, here are some of the best moments:

The end of the first episode where they’re all standing around their cars and laughing? GOLD. More of that cheesy, established friendship.

Jericho hugging Dick, Dick being unsure how to deal with warmth and forgiveness. Everybody say thank you to Chella for improvising that.

Kory and Donna being detectives and arguing over jelly doughnuts? Yes, please! I love them together. How they clearly knew each other, how they worked well together to take out Shimmer.

Kory speaking Kryptonian. Anything that furthers her development brings me joy.

Conner saving Jason. That was pretty comic book like— I liked it.

All the scenes Krypto’s in.

Hank telling Dawn that he knows what Jason’s probably feeling. That was emotional and heartfelt. Also, Hank going “Atta boy” when they were on the phone with Slade. I’m really upset they couldn’t have a brotherly relationship because their characters are quite similar.

Gar, Jason and Rachel interacting like friends/teammates/siblings. Their dynamic works. I’d love to have seen the three of them take on a challenge together.

#ar.txt #asks #prettylilanons #ar watches Titans #i have more thoughts but i can't form them right now.#Anonymous #titans #dc’s titans

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canarygirl1017 · 3 years

Text

Ghosted - Chapter 3 (Teaser)

Pairing: Reader / Jungkook, Reader / Taehyung (past relationship, friends to lovers to friends)

Genre: College!au, fluff, angst, supernatural drama, smut, friends to lovers, emotional trauma, hurt/comfort

Length: 2, 933k words (partial chapter)

Warnings: language, episodes of anxiety, panic attacks, sexual themes in later chapters.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Ghosted Playlist

Chapter 3

“You ready to go?”

Taehyung had picked out your outfit – a short, cream colored wrap dress with an abstract floral design and long flared sleeves. Knee high rust red boots and pin straight hair completed the look, and for once you felt like a match to his fashionable appearance.

“Okay, I’m ready,” you said, turning to find him behind you.

“Almost,” he said, pulling a small box out of his pocket.

“Now you’re ready,” he said, looking pleased as he stood back to check your appearance.

He shrugged and as always, his sheepish grin disarmed you. You reached up and adjusted his collar.

“You look like you’re ready for a Vogue shoot,” you said, smiling back. “The poor girls at this party won’t know what hit them.”

“That’s why I have you to protect me,” he replied.

________________

“Very nice,” you said, gesturing to Ayeong’s dress.

“Thanks, I love yours too.”

Thought it was still early, the party was already a crush of people circulating between the rooms. Younger guys, probably freshmen, circulated with drinks on trays which they offered to guests.

“Pledges?” Taehyung asked Jimin as he took a beer.

Jimin nodded. “They have to put in an hour according to a schedule and then they’re free to party. That’s as close to hazing as we get here.”

When Jimin offered you a glass of wine, you shook your head. “I don’t really drink much when I’m…” you paused, unsure how to finish the sentence without being weird. “When I’m out.”

You could see that Jimin understood what you meant. “Got it. We have a dry bar too if you want to call it that.”

Ayeong linked arms with you. “I’ll show her. I’m not really in the mood to drink either.”

The dry bar turned out to be pretty impressive, with lots of juice, sparkling water, club soda, and even fruits you could add. You settled for club soda with a splash of raspberry juice and slices of lemon, while Ayeong created a tropical drink.

“I know Jungkook is being… well, difficult. But I just want you to know that Jimin is so happy you’re back,” Ayeong said. “He said you were all friends since kindergarten.”

“Jimin was always one of the sweetest people at our school,” you replied. “It was really easy to be his friend.”

“Not much has changed then,” Ayeong laughed. “What about Jungkook? Jimin says he wasn’t always such a fuckboy.”

You choked on a sip of your drink. “Jungkook is a fuckboy?”

Fuckboy Jungkook wasn’t something you could really imagine, nor did you want to. You chose not to think too closely about why it bothered you so much.

“I’m surprised Jungkook is wearing a costume – he almost never does,” Ayeong commented.

“He kind of stopped wearing them by the time we were in high school,” you said. “But this kind of party, plus a Thriller homage, is pretty on brand for him.”

“Oh, that’s who he’s supposed to be! I’m really bad at guessing all of these costumes.”

You’d just underestimated how much it would hurt.

___________________

“Shouldn’t we be glad that she has good people in her life?” Jin asked him when he stomped around the kitchen the next day, slamming cabinets as he fixed a late breakfast.

“He’s right,” Jimin said. “Plus you know that she and Taehyung aren’t together, right?”

That made him pause. “They look like they’re together.” Fucking matching costumes and all, he thought viciously.

“They dated, but Ayeong said y/n told her it’s been a while since they were together like that. At least six months or so.”

“Who the hell follows their ex-girlfriend to another country? And buys a house?”

“Whatever,” Jungkook muttered, shoving cereal into his mouth.

“Forget it, Jin. He won’t admit the real problem, and we all know his anger default setting when it comes to y/n is because of that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jungkook demanded.

“You’re jealous. You’ve always been jealous of anyone that got close to y/n,” Jimin replied calmly. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.

Jungkook grit his teeth. “I’m not jealous.”

“Really? So every time a guy expressed interest in dating her back in high school, and you very pointedly warned them all off, that was you just being what? A good friend?” Jimin rolled his eyes.

“Who? Like Lucas? You’re damn right I warned him off. He didn’t deserve her.”

Jungkook stared at him, shifting uncomfortably. “Because you weren’t serious about it.”

“Says who? I was dead serious, Jungkook, and you know it. For that matter, I think even Lucas was serious about liking her. He never said a word about her that wasn’t totally respectful.”

“Yeah, because he knew I would beat his ass,” Jungkook said.

“You’re right – everybody knew that. Why do you think people steered clear of her? Why do you think Grace hated her so much? I told you that Grace wasn’t as nice as you thought she was. Yet you still held tight to y/n with one hand while you chased after Grace. And I figured it was just a matter of time until you realized how you really felt about y/n, so I let it go. But damn, Jungkook, you need to stop taking out your anger on y/n. Let her explain why she left.”

No one spoke for a moment. Then Jungkook asked, “Has she told you why?”

“I asked her,” Jin said. “But I think she’s waiting to talk to you first.”

Jungkook tried not to think about what Jimin said, but now that he was here on the quad, and you were just a few feet away, it was all he could think about. Jealousy.

“I’m going to go check on her,” he heard the other man say as he stood up.

Jungkook hesitated for a few seconds before following him. Taehyung had his phone to his ear again, though again there seemed to be no answer.

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook asked as he caught up to him.

And there you were, a silent, ghostly figure swaying in the moonlight as you hummed a strange tune.

“Fuck.” Taehyung started running.

Jungkook was right behind him. When he reached you, he tried to take your arm to turn you towards them, but Taehyung stopped him.

“Don’t touch her,” he said, a note of warning in his tone. “She’s in a sort of fugue state, and it’s safer if she comes out of it herself.”

Jungkook’s heart was pounding now. “How do we make her do that?”

Swallowing hard, Jungkook nodded. “Okay. How do we make her come out of it?”

“Can I touch her hands?”

“Carefully,” Taehyung said. “Don’t pull her or shake her, and don’t try to make her move.”

“Okay.” Jungkook pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Jin, I need you to come to the park right now. The one behind the science building.”

You were still humming and swaying when Jungkook reached out to touch your hand. There was no response, so he carefully took both your hands in his.

“Jesus, your hands are freezing,” he said quietly. “You never dress right for being out at night. You know that you get cold even when it’s not that cold, right?”

He squeezed your hands carefully in an attempt to warm them up. There was no response from you, your eyes still fixed on something he couldn’t see.

A/N: I know it's been a long time since I posted, and I'm sorry about that. If you're still reading, I'll get the rest of the chapter up this week, and there is some fluff in the future as Jungkook and y/n start repairing their relationship. I hope I remembered all the people who asked to be tagged (and got the tags right.) If you’d like to be tagged for updates, let me know.

Tag list: @ggukkieland @jikooksgirl19 @waves-and-woods @kookiesbreaky @koochiekoo @monvieesdaebak

#college au #jungkook x reader #jungkook fanfic #Jungkook smut #bts imagines #jungkook x you #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #ghosted

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