#also I was in heels for ten hours so walking after without them was horrible

[beforeoursunsets]

Worth The Risk - d.m

summary: this trope is horribly cliche but it’s draco comforting* you after a major breakup with your long term boyfriend

word count: 1k

house: any

warnings: language

a/n: i was in the mood for something angsty lol,, lw tired of writing fluff bc it never comes out the way i want it to. also im not specifying your boyfriend’s name just to keep things vague--my specialty <3

-----

You made it to his bedroom, panting. It was bad enough you were held back after your charms lesson, but on the way to your boyfriend’s dorm you twisted your ankle running up a moving staircase. One trip to the hospital wing later, you found yourself over an hour late to your scheduled study date.

“Hey, sorry I’m late, things got crazy after cl--” Sucking in a breath, you nearly took a double take at the troubling sight.

Your boyfriend, appearing far more disheveled than you, had been caught in the moment as he quickly covered up the girl laying beside him. A bloody fifth year practically nude in his bed, wearing absolutely nothing but your jumper.

He stared into your eyes, clearly at a loss for words. You, too, stood there simply dumbfounded. The room fell silent, nothing audible but the rapid rise and fall of your chest. You didn’t know what to do, what to say, what to think. All you could see was the supposed love of your life blatantly destroying every ounce of faith you once had in him.

Your hands shook with immense rage and shock, flying up to cover your mouth as you gaped at the sight. “How long?” You grit.

The fifth year scrambled to her feet, dressing herself as quickly as possible before fleeing the scene. A great idea, honestly, because you were on the verge of wringing her hookup’s neck.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry…”

“I said how long,” You repeated, now gripping onto the leather strap of your bookbag for dear life.

Seconds went by without a response, then a full minute. He couldn’t even look you in the eye while you stood in his doorway, demanding a response.

You scoffed, the tears welling in your eyes starting to drip as you slammed the door shut behind you. Four years of your life wasted in less than ten minutes, but who’s to say it was a one time fling.

Leaving his common room you fought the urge to scream, opting for a solid punch to whatever you could find first. Immediate regret shot through your arm once your closed fist made full contact with the brick wall. A small scream fell past your lips, the pent up frustration and agony simultaneously escaping you.

“Bloody hell, Y/N, what did it do to you?” Someone chuckled from behind.

Whipping your head around you found Draco Malfoy smirking just a few feet away, his smug expression dropping after noticing your reddened, watery eyes. You felt immediate relief, glad no one other than your closest mate had seen you in such a dark moment.

The rage came crashing down, replacing itself with a choked sob. “Draco he cheated on me.” You hiccuped, pressing both hands over your face.

Frantically wiping tears off your cheeks, you did your best to calm down. But the mere memory of them together in your bed, the bed where you once spent hours with him, 0nly made them fall faster.

You felt Draco’s arms envelop you by the shoulders, pressing your head against his shoulder as you cried. “Fucking git,” He grumbled, “What an absolute bastard.”

“A fifth year--He was sleeping with a fifth year.” You responded, muffled by Draco’s robes. “Couldn’t find it in himself to even explain, Dray, I hate him.”

Pulling away from you, he smoothed your dampened hair away from your face. “You’re coming with me.”

Without any time to refuse, or even question his motives, Draco led you by the hand back into the common room and straight back to your ex-boyfriend’s dorm room.

“Wait--” You dragged your feet, “What are you doing?”

He didn’t reply, taking you along with him. You hadn’t even made it completely down the hallway before he came into sight, shutting the door to your previous destination.

Before you could stop the inevitable, Draco pulled his fist back and landed a bone crushing blow to his face. “Dray!” You screamed, trying to put distance between the boys.

Your ex stumbled backwards, clutching his nose. He didn’t bother to fight back, the evident guilt on his face explaining it all. Draco was mid attempt on his next attack until you grabbed him by the arm, “That’s enough, he’s already bleeding!”

“Piece of shit,” He spat before turning on his heel, guiding you away from the scene.

“I do not condone violence,” You said once out of earshot, “Do you know how much trouble you could be in right now?”

Walking alongside you down the empty corridor, Draco replied with, “Not as much trouble as he’d be in if you’d let me have another go. I’d say it was worth the risk.”

He took you back to your dorm now that your tears had subsided and his sudden outburst was over with. Not once did he let go of your hand, his way of assuring you that someone was there, his form of protection.

Stopping just outside your door, Draco turned back to face you, “You deserve so much better, Y/N. You deserve someone that wants you and only you, and don’t you ever forget it.”

“That means a lot, Draco,” You whispered, feeling an onset of fresh tears. “Thank you.”

“I mean it. Absolutely none of this was your fault, and he’s a true dunce for ruining things.” He said, hands reaching up to tuck the hair behind your ears, “Need me to go fetch Ginny?”

You declined his offer, smiling softly, “I’m okay--I think--really, you’ve done enough for me tonight.”

“You sure?”

“A hundred percent.” You replied, “Just promise me you won’t go throwing punches again.”

Draco chuckled, his mischievous glint ever so obvious, “Unless you ask?”

“Unless I ask.”

taglist: @eunoniaa @dracoswhore007 @desiredmalfoy @gwlvr @dracoscene @thatsassyhufflepuff @darlingmalfoy

#draco malfoy #draco x fem!reader #draco x reader #draco malfoy fanfic #draco imagines #draco x y/n #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy imagine #draco x slytherin!reader #draco x female reader #draco fanfiction #draco fic #draco malfoy fluff #draco x ravenclaw!reader #draco x hufflepuff!reader #draco lucius malfoy #draco imagine #draco angst #draco x reader angst #angsty #draco x you #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x reader

[my-emotional-self]

Toxic Love Chapter 9

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader, Bucky Barnes x Reader, Steve Rogers x Reader x Bucky Barnes

Summary: Finding out your soulmates were Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes was one thing.  But when someone from your past comes back to haunt you, you have to figure out if a relationship with two super soldiers is something you really want to pursue or if you’d rather go back to your comfortable single life.

Series Warnings:  18+, Swearing, Angst, Fluff, past mentions of rape, self-harm, attempted rape, domestic violence, stalking, death threats, possible Dark!Steve?, Steve will be an asshole a LOT in this series but I don’t know how dark it will get, explicit sexual content, mental health issues, kind of A/B/O dynamics but not really (no they are not actual wolves, more like the hierarchy), mentions of suicide, flashbacks of suicide, nightmares

A/N: There will be no taglist for this story!  I apologize in advance!

Three nights.  Three blissful sleep filled nights.  It had been awhile since you slept the whole night through.  Whether it be stress, nightmares, your other medication keep you up or having to work, there was always something that stopped you from getting a full nights rest. But this new one week trial of sleep medication that Dr. Wang put you on was a miracle worker.  The only downside was that you only had four tablets left. If you wanted more, you would have to make an appointment with her.  It was necessarily a bad thing, but how you would go about getting out of the tower without the buddy system was beyond you.  

The downside of the last three days?  The new dosage of your medication didn’t seem to be working.  And Dr. Wang had discussed that with you too.  If the dosing wasn’t working, you may have to switch medications all together and that too would require an in office visit.  

Your irritation had gotten downright horrible along with your intense bouts of anger.  Even if someone was chewing their food a certain way, it drove you crazy.  So, instead of trying to hang out with Darcy or Pepper or Clint, you found yourself stuck in your room for almost 72 hours straight.  

But then you started to have the ongoing feelings of emptiness.  Without Steve or Bucky and you being cooped up in your room because you just couldn’t handle the sound or annoyance of anyone at the moment, you were lonely.  So lonely. The last thing you wanted to do was let Steve or Bucky know while they were on a mission.  You didn’t want to distract them and get them hurt.  

At times you found your thoughts racing a mile a minute.  ‘What if they just decide one day they no longer like me and want nothing to do with me’ or ‘what if they find out about my mental health and leave me’. Yep.  A lot of thoughts of rejection and abandonment were also starting to creep into your mind.  

But at least you were getting good sleep.  And no more threats either.  You hadn’t worked in a few days and as much as you wanted to, it was hard to get out of bed.  

By day nine you were going absolute out of your mind.  Your medications clearly weren’t working anymore and now you had run out of the sleep medicine too.  You emailed Dr. Wang but with your stroke of luck, she was out of the office for the rest of the week and her scheduled was booked up for another two weeks after that. They marked you down for an appointment in exactly 19 days.  You weren’t sure how you were supposed to last that long, but you decided to dig deep and find as much willpower as possible.

On day ten, you were just about to head down to your game room and get to work.  You needed the distraction.  

Walking out of your room you were shocked to see Steve and Bucky coming off the elevator.  They were supposed to be gone for another two days you thought.  

“Hey!  Welcome back!” you cheered, happy to see them.  Bucky gave you a soft smile as Steve dropped his shield on the ground angrily; the sound echoing around the apartment.  Putting your foot in your mouth, words came tumbling from your lips.  “Great. Crabby Steve is back.”

His head snapped towards you, a menacing scowl on his face.  “Excuse me?” he growled angrily.

You rolled your eyes, not wanting to deal with sour mood.  

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?” he barked out, storming towards you.  He took in your appearance and you realized you didn’t have anything covering up the dark circles under your eyes.  “When’s the last time you got any sleep?”  Not even answering him, you shrugged your shoulders and walked right on passed him.  “You answer me when I speak to you!”

“I don’t know Steve!” you yelled back at him.  

If looks could kill, you would be six feet under.   “Don’t even think about going down to work right now.  You get back in your room and get some goddamn rest!”

“Steve, calm down,” Bucky urged, wanting to help dissolve the tension.

“I will not calm down Bucky,” he countered, his eyes never leaving yours.

You pressed the button on the elevator.  “I’m going to work Steve.  You can’t stop me.  I haven’t worked since the second night I moved in.”

Steve’s shoulders relaxed just an inch, but you could still tell he was pissed.  “I want you back up here at a descent hour and in bed.  Do you understand me?”

As the elevator doors closed, Steve could hear you say ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’.

Alone in the elevator, you gave into your anger and punched and kicked the steel door, screaming profanities.  You had to admit, it made you feel better.

Getting off on the communal floor, you saw Natasha in the kitchen.  

“From the way Steve is acting, I’m going to guess the mission didn’t go as planned?” you asked.

“That would be correct,” Natasha replied, never looking up at the stack of papers in front of her.  “We’ll get them next time.”

As the night went on, you realized this was the kind of distraction you needed.  Why you hadn’t done this the whole time Steve and Bucky were gone was beyond you.  You were having a blast, interacting with your followers, killing the villains and just having an all-around good time.   Your body was less tense and for the first time in days, you were smiling.

Time got the best of you and by the time you were logging off, you realized it was after six in the morning.  At this point, you didn't care.  You were on a high from kicking some major gaming ass.  And to top it all off, no threatening messages from JSmith20 tonight.  

The communal kitchen was void of anyone and you got out the bread and plugged in the toaster, feeling hungry for the first time in days.  It was only seconds later when the elevator doors opened and out walked Steve, Clint and Natasha.  They were all wearing their workout clothes.  

“Damn.  You’re up early,” Clint joked as he began making a pot of coffee.  You saw Steve come to stand next to you out of the corner of your eye.  Hopefully he was in a better mood this morning.  

You snorted at him, shaking your head.  “More like I’m up way too late.”  You didn’t even think about the words that came out of your mouth as you finished buttering your toast and placed it on a glass plate.  

Grabbing your plate of toast, you turned around and started walking towards the elevator.  The sound of a fist slamming on the granite table stopped you dead in y our tracks.  

“I specifically told you to get to bed early last night.  Did I not?”  Yep, he still wasn’t in a good mood and you probably just made it ten times worse.

“You did,” came your short reply as you turned around to face him.  

His jaw was clenched so hard you were surprised he didn’t break any teeth.  He pointed upstairs and began to yell louder.  “I want you to get your ass upstairs right now and get the fuck to bed!  I don’t want you coming out of your room until I tell you to!”

Embarrassment flooded your cheeks at being yelled at in front of people.  Who the hell does he think he is telling you to go to your room like a fucking child?  You had never felt such intense anger than you did in this moment.  Without a second thought, you chucked your glass plate at his head.  You would have hit him but he saw it coming and he ducked out of the way.  The glass shattering into pieces on the floor.  

“Fuck you Steve!” you screamed so loud you felt your vocal cords vibrate in your throat.  The room fell silent as you turned on your heels and slammed open the door to the stairs.  Fuck waiting for the elevator.  

You took the stairs two at a time; your hands balled into fists.  Blood was rushing to your ears and you didn’t hear your name being called angrily by Steve.

As you got to your floor, you kicked open the door and headed down the hallway to your room. All you wanted to do was scream. Scream and throw something and punch things.  You needed to get this pent up anger out of you somehow or you felt like you were going to explode.  

You extended your arm to reach the scanner on your door but you never made it.  Instead, Steve gripped onto your wrist, yanking you away.

“Let me go!” you screamed, trying to kick at him, but it was no use.  He had you pinned to the wall; his legs pushed against yours and his hands against your shoulders.  You were stuck.  Stupid super soldier strength.  

“What in the ever loving fuck is wrong with you?” Steve demanded, his face so close to yours that you could feel his warm breath.  

And you didn’t even know how to answer him.  Because in that moment, seeing such rage burning behind Steve’s eyes, you were turned on.  Oh fuck were you so turned on in that moment.  You wanted him to drag you into your room and have complete rough and carnal sex.  

Your shoulders were pinned to the wall by Steve’s firm grip, but your arms were still free to move around. As your eyes never left his, you picked up your right hand and grabbed Steve’s hand.  His body stiffened against you, but he didn’t move.  But once he noticed what you were doing, his eyes widened.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Bucky demanded as he saw Steve’s hand around your neck.  

#steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers smut #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #dark!steve rogers #dark! steve rogers

[lydias--stiles]

juke | human au | title: fearless // taylor swift

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

As they were walking up the front lawn of her childhood home, nerves wrecked her body. Even her hand, snug in Luke's, felt clammy and sweaty and suffocating. God, this was such a mistake — going home, not him. He didn't even realise what he had gotten himself into by falling for the youngest darling of the matriarch.

Or rather, she shouldn't have fallen head over heels for the swoon-worthy Luke Patterson, but she never really stood a chance.

But everything had happened so fast! One second banter easily flowed between them, warm and easy flirtatiousness without consequences, the next she was at IKEA helping him pick out a bookshelf while he somehow knew whenever she needed pizza and a good cuddle. They were very much in a committed relationship, something the Molina women very much frowned upon.

It wasn't as if they were all deeply scared of love and relationships, but the Molina family was a matriarchy. All women raised families on their own, no man to help. Divorced, cheated on, died, a donor, infertile and therefore adopting children — men were of zero priority.

So, coming home with her boyfriend whom she deeply loved? Definitely a risk. She was surprised he was still standing, that she hadn't scared him enough yet.

Spinning on her heels in front of the door, she shot him an anxious smile. "Are you... sure you wanna do this? We're, like, really intense."

Luke smiled, tender. "Do I wanna meet the family of my girlfriend? 'Course I do." When her expression didn't change, he added, "Jules, just 'cause they all did the 'no guy' thing, doesn't mean you have to follow that, right? And I'm not scared."

Oh, God. His courage was as admirable as it was stupid.

She chuckled, antsy. "You haven't met my mom though."

His smile widened as he dipped down to kiss her, gently, hands caressing her cheeks. For a moment, stress fled her system.

But then the door flew open.

"There you are!" Mom exclaimed, a glass of red wine in one hand and music booming over her shoulder. "And is this the boy toy?"

"Mom!" Julie grumbled, embarrassed to be caught kissing (God, she's twenty-three!) as well as putting Luke in a bad position.

First impression of him: seeing him kiss her beloved daughter on the doorstep. Great.

"Hi," Luke said, dazzling her with a smile while he stuck his hand out. "I'm Luke. And I'm, uh, older? So..."

"Meh," Rose trailed, lamely shaking his hand. "Still a boy toy. Anyway, come in! Food's warm!"

Following her mom inside, Luke shot her a strange look, like it was only registering now all her tall tales were, well, true. Shrugging with a sheepish grin, she placed their shoes and jackets in the wall closet and then made the agonising trek to the loud, jumbled chatter.

As expected, all the California-based Molina women were present. Which meant ten, including her, all staring at Luke like he was a weird specimen. Her hand squeezed his beneath the table in support, and he was finally squeezing back just as tightly.

Was it bad she felt some sick pleasure he understood how fucked he was? Probably. It seemed warranted.

When everyone had their plates filled, the interrogation began.

"So, Luke, how old are you?" Victoria asked.

"Twenty-five."

"Going around town with a twenty-three year old?" She sniffed. "Interesting..."

"Do you have any siblings?" Donna inquiried.

A wry grin ticked up his lips, sensing the irony of the situation. "I, uh, I'm an only child, actually. Mostly raised by my dad, 'cause my mom worked long hours."

Shoving a fork of meatloaf in her mouth, Julie withheld a guttural wince at his words. Luke Patterson was the poster child of everything the Molina's didn't like and she brought him in their cave.

"What do you do for a living?" Abuela croaked, peering intensely.

His smile didn't falter, but instead widened. "I'm in a band, but I also bartend a couple of nights a week."

"A band, huh?" Mom leaned forward, intrigued. "Has Julie told you I used to be in a band?"

"How can I not, mom?" Rolling her eyes, Julie added, "You'd tell him anyway..."

"I was in The Petal Pushers, the best protest punk-rock feminist group of the 90s." Her fist punched in the air as she spoke and Julie could imagine the fingerless leather gloves and purple streaks as she did. "What kinda... band do you have?"

Her endearing Luke didn't read the warning signs humble himself, so he enthusiastically perched himself at the end of his chair as he said, "Punk-rock too, actually! Yeah, we're really killing it right now at all the clubs."

She smirked. "I'm sure you do."

"What are your plans with Julie?" Elena asked, one of her cousins.

Both her and Luke froze at that. Shit. That... was not something they've discussed. A relationship of seven months was still pretty fresh, not ready for a confrontational talk about futures and plans.

He scraped his throat, briefly let his gaze flicker to her, and then uttered, "I'm, uh, a one day at a time kinda guy."

Julie cringed, not hiding it this time. To her, it was an alright, albeit lame answer. But to her family? Horrible. So, so horrible. Gah, she had to put an end to this!

Abuela scoffed, nearly choking on her hard seltzer. "One day? At a time? What is this, the 70s? My little girl deserves more than carpe diem!"

Mimi hissed. "Wrong, wrong answer, boy toy."

The questions kept shooting at lightning speed, each one more outrageous than the other, while Julie's grip on her fork tightened and tightened in anger.

"How many times a week do you shower?"

"What's your least favourite colour?"

"Do you pick up women? Is that how you make extra money?"

"What's your view on children?"

"Can you handle spice?"

"How did you even find our darling, huh? Did you lure her into that bar of yours?"

"Is Luke short for Lukas, or Lucrative?"

"Alright, enough!" Julie screamed, standing up with a stomp of the foot.

A hush crossed the table, aghast and surprised, her mother perpetually amused as always (too many in drugs in the 90s, she presumed) while Abuela feigned to be sleeping. 'Resting her eyes' would likely be the excuse.

"This is insane! Stop acting like this and start treating Luke with a little respect!"

From the corner of her eye, she vaguely noted he was staring at her, gobsmacked. He did well, given the circumstances, but she couldn't just idly sit there and let him take all this shit.

Mom puffed, leaning back in her chair. "We haven't been disrespectful, Julie."

"You have, mom! Can't I just have a boyfriend without—"

"We've invited him," she interrupted. "That's enough of a courtesy."

And before Julie could fire back, furious beyond belief, Rose added, "You know how the Molina cookie crumbles, honey. No men stay. Not for long, anyway."

That smug response made her explode. "Mom! Can you just for once—?!"

"I love her though," Luke quipped, shy.

The fight halted instantly, all ten women gawking at him like he just spoke a new language.

And he did, to Julie at least. Luke loved her? Even after all of this? She obviously knew he wasn't impartial to her, those seven months equalling tenderness and partnership like nothing she's ever experienced before, but... love? He was in love with her?

How could she abide by the 'Molina Women Rule!' rules when he confessed that, no hesitation or stutter heard?

And so, Julie's heart melted. "You love me?"

"Of course, I do," he whispered. "Why else would I be here?"

Elena nodded, sympathetic. "Good point."

Unable to stop her smile from becoming a dazzling, lovesick beam, she repeated his words with as much conviction as she could muster. "I love you too, Luke."

Abuela shot up from her sleep with a cough and a snicker. "Yeah, right."

Mom waved her glass around, congratulating them. For the first time tonight, her tone held kindness instead of poorly veiled contempt. "That's very sweet, Luke. Tell me in seven more months how you're feeling then."

Though Julie couldn't expect her to suddenly change her ways. Damn.

Mimi scowled. "We're letting 'I'm a one day at a time kinda guy' slide?"

Disgruntled chatter rose again, and that was her cue to go. Tapping Luke's shoulder, she mouthed home — something she hadn't done before and wasn't sure which apartment she meant either, but it left flutters in her chest regardless — and he nodded in understanding.

Oh, God. He loved her. That still hadn't set in.

"And if you'll excuse us, me and Luke are going," Julie continued. "Thanks for dinner, mom."

The woman laughed, baring all her teeth. She clearly had a fun time. "See you at Victoria's birthday, mi amor. And Luke? Who knows!"

He forced a chuckle at her remark. Awkwardly bouncing on his heels, he waved at all the ladies. "It was really cool to meet you all. Now– now I know why Julie's so incredible. So... thanks." A true smile appeared. "This was great."

No one said anything after that. Abuela gurgled her drink and her cousins prodded at their leftovers, mom peering at her like she was trying to find something. Sometimes, Julie and Rose were so alike, and other times, they were complete strangers. She liked that. It kept dinners like these exciting, she supposed. Mom seemed to think the same.

They bid goodbye one last time with a kiss on the cheek, and then they hurried out the door. A giggling breath left as the cool wind hit her skin. Luke was buzzing with adrenaline, unable to keep his limbs still.

Clambering in her car, the comforting quietude wrapped around them as the doors slammed shut. A beat passed. No one spoke.

"What the fuck," he whispered, horrified. "What the fuck. What the fuck did just happen? What the fuck—"

Julie squealed. "You love me!"

"That's what you got from that?!"

"Of course!" Her arms curled around him, teasing. "You love me!"

"That shouldn't be the most surprising thing tonight, Jules," he grumbled, though a playful shimmer sparked within his beautiful eyes. "I thought I was, y'know, obvious."

She shrugged, bashful. "It's always nice to hear, no?"

"Oh, man," he sighed, eyes flickering across her face as though he couldn't decide what to focus on, as though she was indescribably stunning. Her heart swelled tenfold at the thought. "I love you, Julie. So fucking much. Even with your crazy family."

Laughing, she reached forward and kissed his lips, fingers pressing in his neck and their silly grins preventing them from deepening the warm touch.

"Let's go," he mumbled, noses nudging, eyes hooded and pouring with the love she somehow hadn't noticed before. "Before they're ready for round two."

But before he could move away, she kissed him again, better this time, and cherished his sigh when they slowly seperated.

"I love you too," she whispered. "Like, a lot."

He grinned, breathless. "Good to know."

Victoria's birthday was four months later, and Luke attended as well. And also for Mimi and Elena and mom and Abuela and Donna and every other Molina member. And when Julie got surprised with a 24th birthday party, she figured out Luke and mom combined their powers to host it.

Molina women were independant and lived life by their own rules... which included Julie.

Loving Luke Patterson unconditionally probably made her the most unique Molina of all.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

@bluefirewrites @blush-and-books @ourstarscollided @thedeathdeelers @pink-flame @constantly-singing @willexx @unsaid-emily

#juke #jatp fanfiction #julie and the phantoms #otp: i think we make each other better #how niche can I go?? *spins the wheel*

[uncpanda]

Blood is Thicker than Water: Part 4

Summary: You’d grown up around the SVU squad room. The members of your sister’s squad had been your family and helped Liv raise you. You left them and your sister behind ten years ago for school and just never returned. When you get a call saying she’s been kidnapped by William Lewis, you rush back without a thought. What you find is a very different squad, a broken sister, and a snarky ADA. When you decide to stay things begin to change, and maybe, just maybe you and your sister each find your own happy endings.

( Just a warning that there is a rape warning, for the usual mentions of it in the storyline. There will be no graphic descriptions here.)

Also big shout out to those who helped with the Spanish in the chapter! It meant I didn’t have to use google translate. I’m very grateful for their help in the picking out phrases, terms of endearment, and their opinions. You guys rock! 

This is probably my favorite chapter so far. 

“Well don’t you look fancy.”

You look at Liv in your mirror. She’s lying on your bed, and smiling, “I’ve got a job interview for my company. Some law firm that wants me to design their new website. If I get it, it’ll be a hell of a job. Their old site is horrible and outdated, but it will bring in a nice chunk of change, and if I do a good enough job they might keep us on retainer.” You turn to face her, “Are these shoes too slutty.”

Liv laughs, and rolls her eyes, before she rolls off the bed. It’s barely seven in the morning, and you know she didn’t get in until at least three, “What are you doing up? I figured you’d be fast asleep.”

She shrugs, “We had a case with IAB and Cassidy. Had to take down a dirty precinct.”

“Annnnnddd?”

“What do you mean; and?”

“Your breakup with Cassidy was amicable. He wasn’t going to start shit, I might not like the guy, but he didn’t do wrong by you. Plus you cracked the case. So something is wrong.”

“Ed Tucker asked me out on a date.”

You blink a few times, “Am I supposed to know who that is?”

“IAB. He’s tried to take me down a few times.”

You raise an eyebrow at that, “You or Elliot?”

She thinks on it for a moment before shrugging. “Is he a good guy?”

“IAB. . .”

“Is taboo in the cop world. Yes, I know. There were many afternoons where I listened to you complain about it. However, and correct me if I’m wrong, they serve a purpose.” You take a step forward, “I know you don’t like to think about it, but not every cop is a good guy. Sounds to me like he’s doing his job.”

She shrugs again, and then falls back on your bed, “I’m just going to stay here. Your bed is more comfy.”

“Sleep away. I’ve got to get going.” You kiss your sister’s cheek and head out the door.

The ride to the law offices isn’t a long one. You take the metro, and review your ideas for the sight in your head. The building is a tall one with all glass windows. When you get to the lobby, where the interviews are being held, you’re not surprised to see that your competition is mainly male.

You have to wait for nearly half an hour, before a woman steps out and calls your name. You move to your feet and offer your hand. She shakes it as she walks and introduces herself as Rita Calhoun.

“I was wondering when I’d see a woman. I was starting to lose hope.”

You smile, “What can I say, I’ve always been a pleasant surprise.”

She actually laughs at that. The interview is more of a conversation. You share just enough personable information to build a bond and then you engage her in ideas for the website. She lights up when you build off of some of her comments and ideas.

You leave that afternoon with a good feeling in your gut.

Liv is still asleep in your bed when you get home, which means you’re stuck in the dress you wore for the interview. You take your heels off at the very least, send a follow up email to Ms. Calhoun, and an overview of the interview to your bosses.

The next day you find out you’ve gotten the job, right after Liv tells you that Munch is retiring. She gives you the date and the time, and the dress code. In your head, you know it’s time, Munch has wanted out for a while, but he’s been a staple at SVU for as long as you can remember. It’s just another reason to not go by the squadroom, and maybe an excuse for you to run by the DA’s office.

You liked Rafael Barba. He was smart, witty, and a lot of fun to look at. He treated you as an equal and he had no problem looking you in the eye when the two of you spoke. You like hanging out with him, and you’re willing to cling to any excuse in order to see him.

You go bearing coffee. Rafael Barba is a caffeine junkie if you’ve ever seen one. His assistant tells you that he’s in court, and you decide to wait. He blows in like a storm twenty minutes later with none other than Rita Calhoun behind him.

She smiles at you, “Ms. Benson. I didn’t think I’d find you here.”

Rafael turns to you, “Why does the she-devil know you?”

Rita scoffs, and you explain, “Ms. Calhoun’s company just hired me to design their website.”

Rafael scoffs and you both follow him into the office. You watch as he sheds his jacket and then his vest, “You know, if you need money I can loan you some. You don’t have to sell your soul.”

You roll your eyes, “Has anyone ever told you you’re dramatic?”

Rita laughs, “You keep getting better and better.”

“What are you doing here Corazón?”

Your brow furrows at the Spanish, and you offer him the coffee cup, “Black coffee, I figure it’s what feeds the void inside of you.”

“Oh, You’ve got jokes?”

“Plenty of them, but I’m going to let you speak with Ms. Calhoun first.”

Rafael can feel Rita’s eyes boring into him, and after a few minutes he gives in, “What?”

“I’ve never seen you flirt before. You’re actually decent. I didn’t expect that.”

He leans back in his chair, “Don’t start Rita.”

“Oh no. We’re having this conversation. I like her. She was the only designer who came in and didn’t have the same ideas or present them with a god complex.”

“Your client Rita?”

She waves him off, “You’re not offering a deal I’d accept we both know that. This is more interesting.”

“Rita. . .”

“I’ve known you for over fifteen years Rafael. We were friends once.”

“When we were on the same side!”

“And just because you don’t agree with my choice to go into the private sector, doesn’t mean I don’t still consider you a friend. So do me a favor, pull the stick out of your ass, and ask her out.”

“I’ve hung out with her like three times Rita.”

“More than enough to know you’re attracted to her. Go on a few dates, find out if she can keep up with you. Something tells me she can. Stop letting Yelina affect that part of your life.”

His head snaps up at that and Rita smiles, a rare, genuine one, “We were friends, remember?”

She heads to the door, and waits there for a minute before you enter. She tells you she’ll call you tomorrow to set up a meeting, and then says, “Ask him about the belt in court.” And leaves with a laugh.

Rafael wonders if a jury would really convict him for killing the witch. You raise an eyebrow at that, “Do I want to know?”

“It was a case.”

“Anndd.” The prompting is accompanied by a smile. And that smile melts him, he leads you to the couch and regretfully, he tells the whole story. By the end of it you’re quiet. He expected laughing or something else, that’s usually the case when that story is told. Instead you turn to him, and your fingers reach out and loosen his tie. He holds his breath as you pop the top button of his shirt and examine the skin, “At least the bastard didn’t leave a mark.”

He takes in a deep breath, as your fingers lightly trail across his neck, he breaths out, “"No sabes lo que me estás haciendo”

“Do me a favor.”

“Name it.”

“Don’t go getting yourself killed. You’re the only reasonable sounding board I have.”

He smiles, “What about Liv?”

“You’re a lawyer. You should know the definition of reasonable.”

Your fingers are still trailing lightly across his neck, when slowly they trail up and you cup his cheek. It’s an intimate moment, he can feel it. When your thumb starts rubbing back and forth, his eyes close, “No te detengas.”

“One of these days you’re going to have to do two things for me.”

His eyes open at that, “And what’s that?”

“You’re going to have to tell me what you’re saying.”

He smiles, “Not going to happen, What’s the other?”

“You’re going to have to ask me out.”

He grins at that, and covers your hand with his own, he doesn’t hesitate, “Tomorrow night, 8 o’clock. We can meet at an Italian place I know.”

“You have yourself a deal counselor.”

He slowly lets your hand go, and you boop his nose with your finger, and he rolls his eyes, “Really?”

You stand up, “Yep.” You make your way to his desk, and write your number down on a post-it. “Send me the details.”

As you walk out the door you make sure to add a little extra sway to your hips.

His voice follows you, “Te veré mañana preciosa.”

To be honest, you’d like to say that the next day drags on, that you’re eagerly awaiting the date. In reality the day flies by. You’re busy at the Lawfirm’s office interviewing the top brass on things they’d like included in the website, and building ideas. You’re late.

The moment the apartment door shuts behind you, you’re pulling off clothes. You take the fastest shower humanly possible and start in on your hair. You’re in the middle of blow drying, when Liv comes in, dressed in a very nice black dress, with her hair already done.

You shut the dryer off and you stare at each other. You break first, “Date?”

“Yep. You too?”

“Yep.”

There’s a moment of silence before she asks, “Can I borrow your black stilettos?”

“Bottom of my closet, to the right. Can I borrow your bracelet?”

“Which one?”

“The pink beaded one.”

“I’ll get it for you!”

Then she’s gone, and you’re doing your makeup. Once you’re satisfied with your appearance you dash to your room, and start going through your closet. Liv comes in a second later, and deposits the bracelet on your dresser, and starts fastening her earrings.

“Where are you going tonight?”

“A little Italian place, Stefan’s or something like that.”

“Who’s the guy?”

Your eyes flash to her, as you pull out a cute dress. It’s a midi dress, light sage, with a cute floral pattern. It’s perfect for the late summer/ early fall weather. It’s also enough to distract Liv,

“That’s cute. Can I borrow it?”

You roll your eyes, “You already have my shoes.”

“You still haven’t told me who the guy is.”

“And I’m not going to.”

She frowns at that, “Y/N . . .”

You start herding her out of your room so you can get dressed. She goes reluctantly. You shimmy into your dress and debate either a nude heel or some sandals. You go for the sandals. You’ve just slid your sister’s bracelet onto your wrist when the doorbell rings.

Liv’s voice rings out, “Y/N could you get that?”

You make a mad dash to the door and yank it open, on the other side is a man. He’s probably a little older than your sister, his hair has already gone gray and he looks stern. “You must be the sister.”

“You must be Ed.”

He smiles and you step to the side to let him in, “Liv should be out any second. Can I get you something while you wait.”

“I’m good. Thanks though.”

“Great choice, because I’m on my way out, and if I leave now I can go without an interrogation.”

It’s said as a joke, but his eyes narrow, “You have a date?”

“Yes.”

“You know this guy or meet him on an app?”

“I know him.”

He nods once, “You get in trouble or something happens to text your sister. We’ll be right over.” Dear Lord there were two of them now.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

You turn to face your sister. She looks stunning in her black dress and your stilettos. And from the way Ed smiles you can tell he thinks so too. That is a point in his favor. You interrupt their staring, “You two kids have fun.”

In unison they say, “Be safe.”

You don’t respond. You catch a cab to the restaurant, and clutch your phone in your hand the entire way there. You keep expecting a text from him canceling everything, or at least him sending an apology that he’s going to be late. Instead he’s there and waiting for you outside the restaurant.

He’s wearing slacks, a button down and blazer. His usual tie and waistcoat are gone, and the first two or three buttons of his shirt have been undone. He offers you his hand as you step out of the cab and you feel slightly like Cinderella, “Te ves hermosa. Perfecta."

“I’m going to assume that was a compliment.”

He smiles, you love when he smiles. All the seriousness seems to melt away, “I said you look gorgeous. Perfect.”

“It’s the shower. I should try that more often.”

He laughs, and offers you his arm. The maitre'd greets him by name and leads you to a table right by a big bay window. Your eyes immediately go to the people walking by outside. Rafael is quick to pull your chair out for you, before taking his own seat and you tell him, “There was this place in college that I would go to, a bakery, it was open all night because most of the time that’s when college students needed the sugar. I would go there and sit by the window, and I’d people watch instead of doing my homework.”

“And here I holed up in the library all through school.”

You lean forward, “No all night bakeries at Harvard?”

“Not when I was there.”

The two of you stare at each other for several minutes, smiling like goons the entire time, until the waiter comes by and asks about wine. You let Rafael order. You’ve never been a big fan of alcohol. A drink once in a blue moon is all you need.

When the waiter is gone he asks, “Do you like seafood?”

“Love it.”

“They have really good seafood alfredo here.”

“Do you come here a lot?”

He considers his answer, “I used to. When I first started out as a DA, I had next to no money. I was in this horrible little office, I shared a desk with two other ADA’s in Brooklyn. Sometimes I just needed to get away, and I found this place. I’d bring my work and sit here for hours. By the end of the year I knew everyone who worked here.

“It’s gotten more popular over the years, but they’re always nice enough to put this table on hold for me if I call ahead. I’m glad you like it.”

“If the food is as good as the company, it might just be my new favorite restaurant.”

The rest of the night flies by, as the two of you trade book recommendations back and forth. There’s a mix of titles. He tells you how he stayed up until two one morning, trying to get caught up on Sherlock. The two of you compare the small little details you noticed.

Then you share a plate of zeppole for dessert. By the end you are stuffed. You let out a groan, as you lean back in your chair and Rafael laughs, “That good?”

You nod vigorously, and he asks for the check. You offer to pay but he swats your hands away. And when the plates are cleared you stand to leave. There’s a line outside, and you’re not going to make other people wait. His hand settles on the small of your back as you leave. And when you start walking down the street you take his arm.

You make your way to Riverside Park where the two of you just stroll. “I’m really glad I didn’t go for the heels tonight.”

“Yeah?”

“You should be too, otherwise you’d probably be giving me a piggy back ride right now.”

He teases you, “You want to hop on?”

You swat lightly at his chest, and his arm moves to go around your waist, pulling you closer to him as the two of you walk. “I love the park during this time of year, the trees are green, there’s flowers everywhere.”

“We’ll have to come during the day sometime.”

“A second date already?”

He stops, “Absolutely.”

“Can I plan it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

He smiles, “Porque eres más traviesa de lo que pareces”

“Okay, the Spanish thing? Totally, sexy. But you have to start telling me what you’re saying.”

“Va a ser que no.”

You let out a groan of frustration, but Rafael just takes your hand and leads you on.

By the time you get home it’s one in the morning. Rafael splits the cab with you, and even walks you to the door. It’s there that he asks, “Does Liv know.”

You shake your head, “No. Liv means well, and she’s been doing a lot better with boundaries since we talked, but me dating has always been weird for her. It’s hard for her to turn off the job.”

He nods, and steps forward, his hands go to your waist, and you step into him, your arms wrapping around his neck, “Will it bother you if we keep it a secret for now?”

“No. I understand. Será nuestro secreto.”

You go up on your tiptoes, “I can guess what you said there.” Your voice is husky and inviting, and Rafel takes advantage of it. His lips are on yours and you honestly think he’s the best kisser ever. His arms tighten around you and when you pull back, you’re both a little out of breath.

He pecks your lips one more time before he steps back. This time he places the kiss on your forehead, “Buenas noches cariño. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

You watch him until he’s out of sight. It’s at that point you enter the apartment. The first thing you notice are the men’s shoes next to the door. The second thing you notice is Ed Tucker standing at your counter drinking a glass of water. He’s dressed in an undershirt and boxers. Looks like your sister got lucky.

“Hi.”

You smile at him, “Hi Ed.”

“I was just getting some water, I’m sorry.”

You wave off the excuses, “It’s not a big deal. At least you’re dressed. One time I came home to Cassidy drinking milk out of the carton . . . naked.”

“Oh god.” The look of disgust on his face makes you smile.

“Trust me, I know. I came very close to having to bleach my eyes or have a lobotomy.”

You sit down at one of the bar stools, “You like my sister, right Ed?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not going to hurt her, right?”

He shakes his head, “I have no plans to.”

You take a deep breath, “Look I never liked Cassidy. He and Liv, never wanted the same things. He never wanted to grow up, and my sister, she wants to make a life with someone. Now from the dopey grins you gave each other earlier tonight, you two like each other. So what are your intentions with my sister?”

Most men would have treated your question like a joke, Ed doesn’t. “I’m close to retirement. I’ve been married once, it didn’t last. She didn’t understand. The thing is, I don’t want to be alone. It’s been one date but Liv and I, we get on well. We think alike. For us the job has been number one for a long time and we’re ready to move it to a different position. So right now, we’re figuring it all out, but I have no intentions of breaking your sister’s heart.”

You smile, “Good answer. For that I’ll let you in on a secret.”

“Yeah?”

“Even Liv doesn’t know this. I keep the good cookies stashed at the back of the cabinet above the refrigerator. It’s difficult to get to so we don’t keep stuff there. Now, when you’re ready to break out the cookies, you can’t let her see, otherwise I will go broke buying them Ed.” He laughs, and you smile, “When you go back to bed, take her some of the cookies.”

With that you start heading to your room, but he stops you, “Wait. How’d your date go?”

You grin, “A woman doesn’t kiss and tell Ed.”

#ada rafael barba #rafael barba #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba x you #rafael barba/you #Olivia Benson #ed tucker #olivia benson x ed tucker #rita calhoun #law and order svu #Law and Order: Special Victims Unit #law and order svu fanfiction #law and order svu reader insert #law and order svu imagine #law and order svu fanfic #sisters #byyyyeee cassidy

[writesowhatnext]

how many branches does an olive tree have? // draco malfoy

Summary: Hufflepuff!reader might be the only person that’s shown Draco some actual human kindness… maybe that’s why he’s so fond. Or maybe it’s the desserts.

Request: do u mind writing a draco malfoy or one of the weasley twins hanging out with (and eventually dating) hufflepuff reader and they always return to their common rooms with baked goods/little notes?

A/N: I thought I’d have a bit of fun with this one bc I’ve never written Draco before and I thrive off of slytherinxhufflepuff so I really hope the draco isn’t too ooc and that this isn’t too long also I diverged a little but I hope you like still ++++ this is less proofread than I would’ve liked

Reader: unspecified Hufflepuff

Warnings: mean draco??

It didn’t surprise anyone, least of all you, how much Draco Malfoy disliked you at first. He had a bit of a reputation and whilst you didn’t wish to speak ill of anybody, everybody you knew considered Draco Malfoy to be spoilt, snot-nosed, selfish, haughty and spiteful. But what you noticed whenever he would provoke Harry Potter, or walk through the corridors alone, or sit studying in the library until the early hours, was how sad he looked sometimes. And so, despite the awful things you’d heard about him, you always felt rather soft when you thought of him. Even when he was being a raging arsehole.

“Hi,” you said, smiling from your seat. You were oddly optimisitc about your first lesson with the Slytherins. “I’m Y/N.”

Draco looked at you as if shocked you were even daring to speak to him, his icy blonde eyebrows drawn down and his eyes stormy. “And?”

You leant back when he turned away, clearing your throat and shuffling the parchment around on the table. You decided it wouldn’t be helpful to remind him he wasn’t your first choice of partner in Muggle Studies, either.

“So, your task is to research ten muggle inventions-“ Professor Burbage began, only to be interrupted by Draco.

“Can’t imagine why they want us to do that,” he snorted, his friends sitting behind you hanging off his every word. “Muggles have never invented anything worthwhile.”

His friends guffawed, shocking the professor. You just frowned, watching how Draco thrived off of the attention with a strange sadness.

You didn’t see him again until around a week later when you retreated to the library for a few hours before curfew. You weren’t looking for him, but it was hard not to spot his platinum hair at a table, alone in the back. Shifting your weight from one foot to the other, you debated just going to an empty table and leaving well enough alone, but then you remembered his sad eyes and your feet carried you over to him before you could stop them.

“Hey,” you said, biting your lip as you stood by one of the empty chairs, holding your books tightly. “Would it be alright if I sat here?”

He looked up at you sharply, the same half-confused, half-outraged expression in his eyes. His gaze was steady on your face for a moment before he huffed, returning to his work.

“If you must.”

You sat with him for hours in complete silence, both of you just doing your work. It wasn’t until the table began to shake with the movement of his elbow that you even looked at him. His face was scrunched up into a scowl as tried to scratch the rest of the ink from his empty pot. The sound of the quill hitting against the glass was loud and you knew Madam Pince would be over sometime soon to scold him. You figured that he’d never ask to use your inkpot, far too proud to ask for help, and so you just slid it over gently so it settled in the centre of the table, your intention obvious. His eyes on you were heavy, even as you tried to work out exactly why you would add Valerian Root to Draught of the Living Dead. The clinking of his quill stopped as he stared at you and despite yourself, you glanced up at him and offered a polite smile before turning back to your parchment.

Draco had no idea what to make of it. As he watched you scribbling on some parchment, confusion settled on his brow. Why, he thought, would a Hufflepuff he barely knew offer to help him? Part of him wanted to shove the inkpot back, too stubborn to accept help from someone like you, but the other part of himself, a part he didn’t get along with all too well, told him to shut up and take it.

And as you looked up, shooting him a brief smile that only served to deepen the crease on his forehead, he gave in and dipped his quill into the inkpot without another word. He tried not to look at you after that, sure you would enjoy seeing Draco Malfoy so weak. He could practically feel the ashamed flush on his cheeks and he hated it. But you could tell, despite his gruff façade, that he was grateful because when he stood up to leave, he stared at you for slightly too long as he placed the inkpot nearer to you and all but ran from the library without a single snarky comment or dirty glance.

Thanks only to your determination, that happened a few more times. Sure, Draco made absolutely certain to bring his own inkpot, but he looked less murderous each time you asked to sit down. One cold night with a bitter wind and a Transfiguration test you’d completely forgotten hounding at your heels, you rushed to the library. You were stopped only once on the way directly outside your common room by one of your favourite house-elves, who shoved a mini-basket of cookies into your hands, insisting that you stay warm in the cold temperatures. Whilst you were still panicking about the test, you couldn’t help but feel warm inside at the gift, a smile lifting your cheeks at how sweet it was. You rushed to your usual table, throwing the basket and your bag onto the desk and meandering through the shelves to find any books you could on the history of Transfiguration. Happy with the eight you’d found, and perhaps a little concerned you’d gone overboard, you retreated back to the table, pleasantly surprised to see a familiar mop of platinum blond.

“Hello, Draco,” you said, smiling as you set the books down. He didn’t look at you, only nodding, his focus on a textbook in front of him. You grinned anyway, enjoying the little routine you’d formed with him. It must’ve been only twenty minutes later when you crunched down on one of the biscuits you’d been given, surprised to meet a pair of grey eyes when you looked back up. He frowned at the cookie in your hand as you smiled bashfully, not intending to be caught.

“Oh,” you said, scolding yourself for being rude. “Would you like one?”

His head shot up at your question, that permanent frown still in place. He didn’t answer at first and you were afraid for a moment that you’d broken one of the unspoken rules of your acquaintanceship; the ones that only Draco seemed to know. To say you were shocked when he nodded very subtly was an understatement, but anyone with half a brain could tell how glad you were as you offered him the basket.

He looked down at the cookie in his long, pale hand as if it would bite him back. Before he ate it, though, he settled his wrists on the edge of the table and stared at you with a curiosity you’d never seen on him before.

“It’s Y/N, right?” he asked, wetting his lips.

“Yeah,” you nodded quickly, stunned that he’d remembered. You watched him think for a moment; you could almost see the cogs turning in his brain as he broke off a piece of the biscuit and brought it to his lips. It was obvious that he was deciding something but you didn’t understand what until he met your eyes again.

“Did you make these?”

His voice was stiff and unsure and you could tell how out of his depth he felt, whether it was saying more than two words to you or attempting small talk that was so unfamiliar you couldn’t say.

“No, one of the house-elves gave them to me.”

“House-elves?” he said, voice full of disgust. You frowned.

“The little creatures that work in the kitchens.”

“I know what they are,” he hissed, scowling. He swallowed harshly when he saw your face fall and for a second, he regretted his venom. “So, you’re- you’re what? Friends with them?”

As abhorrent as the idea clearly seemed to him, you appreciated how conflicted he looked, vindicated slightly at the sight of Draco Malfoy actually considering someone else’s feelings.

“Yep, they’re lovely,” you beamed, stirring something inside him. “And ever so kind.”

He just nodded, biting into the biscuit you’d given him and mulling over what you’d told him. Him saying nothing, you decided, was certainly leagues better than saying something horrible.

When he left that day, you made sure to force him to take a few more cookies, well aware that you couldn’t eat them all on your own and hoping more than anything that he’d accept it as an offering of friendship.

“Take more, please, go on.”

“I don’t…“ he trailed off, looking at you with a guarded expression.

“Please?” you begged, lifting the basket towards him. “For me?”

His eyes darted to yours as he inspected your pouting features and wide eyes, a strange fondness pulling at his chest. The way his mouth curled up ever so slightly before it was replaced with his signature grimace didn’t escape you and you grinned as he grabbed a few more, filling his pockets. He took a couple steps away before stopping short and spinning on his heel to face you.

“Thank you,” he nodded, looking very out of place, his words rushed and foreign. You didn’t mind, though, as he walked away. You just sat there, head in your books and a growing smile on your lips. You’d have to bring more desserts, you thought.

No one had confused Draco Malfoy quite like you. Not even Potter had the same irritating effect on him. And unfortunately, despite his efforts, people were starting to notice.

“Draco, what are you staring at?” Pansy asked him during breakfast, drawing his eyes away from your laughing face, your bright yellow tie.

“Nothing,” he huffed. “What are you looking at?”

Annoyance sparked in him as they laughed at his poor attempt to deflect the question.

“Is it that Hufflepuff you’re always eyeing?” Pansy pressed, an undercurrent of jealousy behind her wary curiosity.

“What?” his eyes flicked back to see you smile at him and once again, a strange feeling flooded his system.

“Don’t be stupid,” he said with much less bite than he usually would’ve. “What would I want with a Hufflepuff?”

As they laughed, moving on to another topic, he asked himself the same thing.

The next few times you saw Draco properly were in the library; he would only talk to you there, lest someone saw you and his precious reputation be ruined. You didn’t care about someone seeing you spending time together, but you let it be given how important it was to him. It was hard to say that it didn’t bother you at all, though, especially with how well you and he seemed to get along, particularly when you brought him treats. First, it was just whatever the house-elves would be kind enough to give you; biscuits here, a slice or two of cake there. When you noticed that Draco seemed to have a taste for chocolate, you started making specific requests, always making sure to give the elves clothes and some company in return. Seeing Draco walk out of the library with full pockets and a barely suppressed smile was the highlight of your day and it had, surprisingly, become an everyday occurrence. You would even go as far as to call you and Draco friends.

“Y/N,” Draco said, frowning as he wrote his Astronomy essay. You hummed, looking up to see his eyes on you. Your heart warmed at how comfortable and relaxed he looked, a far cry from how tense he’d been to start with.

“Do you know which constellation that old bat Sinistra told us to include?”

You rolled your eyes at his name-calling, shaking your head. “Nope, sorry, I’m absolutely hopeless at Astronomy. Haven’t even started the essay.”

He grimaced for a moment before pausing and brushing at the feathers of his quill nervously with his thumb.

“I could help you,” he said, gauging your reaction. “My Father says Astronomy is a subject so useless that even muggles can do it-“ he stopped himself then. He wasn’t quite sure why he cared what you thought of him, but he knew you well enough to know that you wouldn’t appreciate him talking badly about muggles and so, even though everything he’d ever said was just a regurgitation of his Father’s words, he clamped his mouth shut.

“I’m quite good at it,” he said, softer this time. “I’d be happy to teach you a thing or two.”

In all fairness to you, whilst you knew that Draco had the capacity for kindness, you didn’t quite expect him to extend it to you and certainly not enough to answer his offer with anything but a series of blinks. He was growing nervous at your lack of reply, already thinking about how foolish he’d been to even offer. Why was he even hanging around with a Hufflepuff anyways? If his father found out, he would be furious-

“I’d love that,” you said gently, interrupting his downward spiral. He visibly perked up at your response and even his face looked younger as you drew your first full smile from him. You couldn’t help but think that he looked rather more handsome when he smiled.  

“Alright,” he said, nodding. “Meet you at the Astronomy Tower tonight?”

He noticed your reluctance, frowning immediately.

“What if we get caught?”

You expected his cocky grin even less than you expected his offer in the first place.

“It’ll be fine.” he said, before his face softened. “Trust me.”

The rest of the day, you tried to convince yourself that you were nervous at breaking curfew and not at the prospect of seeing Draco outside your usual library hours. As you crept towards the Tower, flinching and ducking away from every sound that echoed through the castle corridors, you pulled at your jumper, stretching it over your hands with nervous fingers. You were barely halfway through the doorway when something behind you made a loud thudding noise and you turned, not paying enough attention as you slammed into someone. A squeak left your mouth at the impact but before you could make more of a racket, a hand covered your lips and you were left staring up at Draco Malfoy, shocked that you hadn’t noticed quite how tall he was before.

He looked at you with dark eyes and you realised that even without his hand covering your mouth, you wouldn’t have been able to breathe anyway, not with him looming over you like that. As if it didn’t faze him at all, he pulled his hand away from your mouth to his lips, shushing you gently. You nodded, not trusting your voice. Beckoning you to follow him up the stairs, you shadowed him quietly, distracting yourself with the view. When you reached the top, you lunged towards one of the windows, gasping as you looked at the whole of Hogwarts beneath you.

“It’s beautiful,” you whispered, leaning over the stone windowsill, your face against the wind. Draco didn’t say anything for a moment.

“You look different without your robes.”

You turned to him, surprised to see him watching you so intently. Not knowing what to say, you just smiled. He cleared his throat.

“Let’s get started.”

You started off well-intentioned, listening to him dutifully explain the difference between Ursa Major and Minor, the story of Andromeda and what not, but you couldn’t help but get distracted by the view, the stars spread out around you.

“Are you even listening?” he asked, eyebrows raised. You smiled bashfully at getting caught, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“Of course, I am,” you insisted, placing your palm on his bicep, a touch that didn’t go unnoticed. “Carry on.”

He stared at you for a moment, shaking his head. A fond smile pulled at his lips as he stood up, offering you his hand. You hesitated before taking it, letting him haul you to your feet. With your hands still intertwined, he dragged you over to the edge of the tower, pulling you so you leant on your elbows next to him, your arms touching. It seemed as if you were both avoiding ignoring the feeling fo your palms pressed together.

“That,” he said, pointing up to a series of stars with his free hand. “Is Draco.”

You looked at him as he stared up at his namesake, watching his expression flood with a pride.

“The dragon,” you whispered, eyes widening as his head swung around, leaving the both of you closer together than anticipated. He let himself examine your face, taking in every detail, from your brow to your cheeks to your lips; ever so slowly, memorising every curve.

“I’ve never met anyone like you,” he said, his eyes soft. You bit the inside of your cheek, smiling slightly.

“No one else brings you cakes? That’s a tragedy.”

He huffed a laugh, the corners of his lips curling up.

“I’m inclined to agree.”

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#Harry Potter imagine #harry potter #imagine #writing #Draco malfoy #draco malfoy imagine #draco malfoy x reader

[rowanwhitethornisbae]

Faking It Ch 2

A/N: Thanks for all the love on chapter one! I’m defiantly going to make this at least ten chapters so buckle up haha. TW: Language 

Aelin couldn't remember when she’d lost count of the number of shots she’d taken. All she knew was that the alcohol coursing through her veins offered temporary relief from the breathtaking pain. The pain that had her sobbing so hard that she vomited her guts up each and every night. These pointless high school parties were her only escape from reality. Her parents were dead. Who gave a fuck about anything. Stumbling a little, Aelin made her way over the kitchen sink, prepared to vomit if need be. 

“Are you okay?” A low voice asked from behind her. 

“Fine.” She muttered and leaned against the counter for some semblance of balance.

“You don't look it.” The stranger said kindly. 

“Well isn't there some saying; Don’t judge a cover by its book or whatever.”

The mystery man laughed and Aelin finally lifted her head to look at him. He was handsome. So much so that if she hadn't already been leaning on something she might have swooned. His eyes were green, the colour of a pine tree in the dead of winter. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled and a tattoo crawled down the length of his arm and decorated the edge of his collarbone. 

I like men with tattoos. She thought. 

“Thanks.” He said, laughing awkwardly under his breath. 

Oh shit. She avoided meeting his eye, instead landing her gaze upon his silver hair. 

“Do you dye your hair.” She asked casually. 

He seemed slightly taken aback, but smiled all the same. “No. Do you?” 

She gasped as if it was the most preposterous thing he could've said and ran a hand through her long blond hair. 

“I’d sooner eat snakes.” Aelin grinned.

“People all over the world do that voluntarily.” The green eyed man mused. 

An image of someone eating snake popped into her head and Aelin suddenly felt bile rise in her throat. Before she could vomit on the perfect stranger, she bolted from the kitchen and into a vacant bathroom. Gagging, she fell onto her knees and was violently ill. 

So gently that she barely even noticed, her hair was pulled back from her neck and shoulders as her stranger eased himself onto the cold tile beside her. When Aelin had finished vomiting, she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and slumped against the wall. 

“Thanks.” She said, tying her hair into a messy bun with shaking hands.

“I’m Rowan.” He answered, extending a hand. 

For the first time in weeks, she felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips. 

“Aelin.” 

“Miss Galathynius are you even listening.” Her math teacher’s voice snapped her out of that very unwelcome flashback. 

“Do you want me to lie to you?” She asked, earning a few laughs from her classmates and an elbow to the ribs from Aedion. 

“Take a walk.” He snarled, and Aelin breathed a sigh of relief. She needed fresh air anyway. 

The hallway was practically empty, save a few students on their way to the bathroom, and Aelin started towards the side doors to the parking lot. She passed a locker that had been decorated for someone’s birthday. Streamers flowed down from the top, framing the collage of photos perfectly. The girl in question looked to be a freshman, with a bright smile on her face and eyes that screamed innocence. The things Aelin would do to go back to freshman year. To live with that lack of knowledge and trauma that she so desired. But she couldn't. 

She was rounding the last corner when something made her stop dead on her feet. There, leaning against the wall in a way she’d seen so many times before, was Chaol Westfall. Still, it wasn't the sight of him that send her heart into a flurry. It was the girl fiddling with her hair opposite him. It took Aelin a minute to recognize her. Nesryn Faliq, they had advanced chemistry together. She laughed at something Chaol said and reached out a hand to brush his arm. Shivers ran down Aelin’s spine at that hint of a touch. Chaol smiled back at Nesryn and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. 

Unable to watch anymore, Aelin turned on her heels and bolted to the women's bathroom. She was breathing too hard, her heart racing much too fast to be healthy. God this was an awful time to have a panic attack. Slowly, she managed to calm her breathing enough to splash water on her face. 

This was bad. Really fucking bad. They’d broken up barely 24 hours ago and Chaol was already flirting with the entire female population of Terrasen High. Fine, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration.

Clearly Lysandra had been right. Aelin slumped down against the wall and curled her knees to her chest. She needed a rebound, and fast. Aelin pondered names as she ran her fingers through the grooves in the bathroom wall. Name after name came forward and she found herself subconsciously shooting them all down. 

Nox, Fenrys, Sam, Lorcan, Sartaq. None sounded right. 

In fact, the only one she could ever see herself with was Rowan Whitethorn. The silver haired senior who’s heart she’d held in her hands sophomore year. Held and crushed. She deserved every ounce of the hatred he had for her. 

Still, he wasn't a bad option. She knew he found her beautiful, he’d told her as much. The only problem was that he would never go for her again. People tended to put up a guard after having their heart shattered. 

Flirting with him would be futile and unfair. The only way she could ever get him to date her was if she gave him something in return. 

“Holy shit.” Aelin swore, jumping up so fast that she nearly hit her heat on the sink. 

If there was anything Aelin knew about Rowan, it was that he wanted to play on the football team. He’d gone on and on about it before. According to him, he had been deathly ill during tryouts and had ended up vomiting off the side after one hit. He’d begged and begged the coach to let him try out again but it was four years later and Rowan still wasn't on the team. Lorcan, Fenrys, Vaughn, and Gavriel all were and Rowan was half miserable because of it. 

There it was. A plan. She’d get him a tryout, somehow, and in exchange he would help her beat Chaol in whatever sick game they were playing. With a newfound purpose, Aelin washed her hands and walked back to math class.

Lunch. She’d make her move then. 

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

The cafeteria was mostly empty, a normal occurrence for Tuesday afternoons. The lunch provided was some weird crossover of meatloaf and mashed potatoes that had most students eating out. Unfortunately for Rowan, Fenrys had convinced them to eat in the cafeteria today in his attempts to stalk a blonde girl on spare in the lounge. 

Now, he was picking at his food as his friends discussed the football game tomorrow. Rowan was just beginning to think his day couldn't get any worse, when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. 

“Can I talk to you?” Someone asked from over his shoulder. He knew that voice. Had heard it in both his dreams and his nightmares. Rowan’s grip on his fork tightened and his knuckles went white. His foot began drumming against the floor as he braced himself for impact. Everyone else at the table was rapidly flicking their gaze between Aelin and Rowan. 

“No.” He said harshly, not daring to turn around. Rowan didn't think he’d have the will to deny her anything if he was forced to meet her eye. 

“Please.” Aelin pleaded. “I have something to say to you.” 

“Well that’s too fucking bad because I have nothing to say to you.” He responded, voice carefully exempt of any emotion. 

“Then just listen.” She begged. “If you don't like what I have to say than we can go back to ignoring each other like you wanted.” 

“I wasn't the one who wanted that.” He snapped before he could take it back. 

Rowan felt more than saw Aelin stiffen behind him. Lorcan was drumming his fingers on the table, as if prepared to hold Rowan back if called for. 

But it was Fenrys, the friend who was kind to everyone, who spoke. “I think you should go Aelin.” 

She swallowed audibly behind him. “Alright.” She relented. “I’ll be at the Starbucks during fourth for spare. Come find me if you want.”

Rowan didn't bother to nod. Instead, he gripped his fork harder, letting up only when the sound of retreating footsteps subsided. He looked up slowly to find all eyes on him.  

“So that just happened.” Lorcan mused. 

“Yes thank you so much for that observation.” Rowan sniped sarcastically. 

“Woah.” Lorcan replied, throwing up his arms in mock surrender. “You’re mad at Galathynius, not us remember.” 

“Whatever.” He mumbled and went back to picking at his food. After a few seconds he threw his fork on the table and let out a groan of frustration. 

“This food is the worst thing I have ever eaten in my entire life. It is terrible and horrible and fucked up and I have no idea what to do with it.” Rowan half-shouted. Heads swivelled in his direction and he ignored them. Judgement from people he didn't know was the least of his many concerns at the moment. 

“Is that supposed to be some sort of metaphor for your life?” Vaughn asked, dead serious. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Seriously Rowan. All I've heard for the last year and a half is Aelin Galathynius this and Aelin Galathynius that and now she’s finally speaking to you and you’re not going to do anything about it.” 

“I don't talk about her that much.” Rowan mumbled under his breath. Lorcan shot him a look as if to say “Yes. Yes you do.”

“I know I'm normally not one to get involved in deep shit, but Vaughn’s right. I’ve never seen you nearly as happy as you were for those few months in tenth. And honestly, what’s the worst that can happen. You hear what she has to say. You like it, great. You don't, fuck it and forget about her.” Rowan had never heard Fenrys speak for so long without sarcasm in his life. 

“To be fair,” Gavriel said, always the buffer. “We’ve also never seen Rowan as broken as he was after Aelin. Maybe the risk outweighs the reward on this one Fen.” 

Rowan didn't reply. He was too busy struggling to get the memory of those painful few weeks from his head. 

“Just talk to her man. Who gives two fucks it’s high school.” Despite being mainly in an attempt to end this conversation, Lorcan’s words made sense. It was just high school. In one more year he’d be out of this shit hole and hopefully across the world in Rithfold. Talking to Aelin was just one step along the way. 

“I’m going to.” He said, willing his tone to stay confident. 

“Great man.” Fen said, patting him on the back. He barely felt it though. Barely felt anything as the rest of the day passed by in a blur, his thoughts occupied by a beautiful blond haired girl. 

---------

It had been twenty minutes and Aelin was starting to think Rowan wasn't coming. In all honestly she should've expected that outcome from the beginning. Even though she understood, the way he had acted towards her at lunch had hurt more than she was willing to let on. 

Instead of wallowing in her own self pity, Aelin took a long sip from her coffee. It seared her tongue and burned her throat, the pain helping to ground her in a way nothing else ever could. She was picking at her fingernails, head down, when he arrived. 

A metal chair scraped against the cobblestone, a bird sung from a oak tree, a paper bag rustled in the wind, Aelin Galathynius blinked. That’s all she had time to do. One blink to compose herself before she was looking dead into the eyes of Rowan Whitethorn. 

She allowed herself a brief second to take him in up close. His high and defined cheekbones, perfectly crafted nose, striking green eyes, and silver hair had always made for a truly stunning combination. He looked the same as ever. Except he didn't. His eyes no longer possessed that unbridled joy and love that she’d seen whenever he looked at her. Instead he just looked done. Done with life and done with her. 

Aelin swallowed audibly and handed him a coffee. “Cream and sugar.” She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. 

Rowan’s hands tightened slightly. “You remembered.” It wasn't a question. After a brief moment of hesitation he accepted the coffee and went back to staring at the table. 

“What is this about Aelin?” He asked softly. Although his voice was gentle, his tone was hurt in a way anyone else would’ve missed. She hated that. Hated that now, even a year later she was still somehow hurting him. 

“So you know I broke up with Chaol. Or, he broke up with me.” She tried to keep the tremor out of her voice. Rowan nodded once, nearly imperceptibly, and she took that as a sign to continue. “Anyway, Lysandra says that I need a rebound and I need one first because Chaol is the one who broke up with me.”

Rowan’s eye flared with surprise and something else she couldn't place. “I won't be your rebound. Please don't disrespect me by asking.” 

Her heart nearly cracked open at the pain lingering in his words. “No no I would never.” Aelin paused for a brief moment to regain her bearings. “Here’s the thing. I don't want a rebound. I’ve been in a relationship for as long as I can remember and I'm in desperate need of a break. But, I’m also the most competitive person you'll ever meet. Like seriously it’s an issue, once -” 

“I know.” Rowan interrupted. “Once you sprained your ankle 8 km into a 10 k run and still finished first because you couldn't stand the thought of losing. You told me already.” 

Aelin just stared at him for a second, her chest unbearably tight. Rowan’s eyes looked her up and down and she could've sworn his eyes flashed in satisfaction at the pain written on her face. 

Not wanting to look at him anymore, she went on. “I figured maybe instead of me actually doing the whole dating thing, we could fake date.” 

She held out a hand as Rowan opened his mouth to protest. Begrudgingly, he restrained from commenting and gestured for her to go on. 

“That way I'd beat Chaol in whatever this is, I wouldn't have to answer everyone’s condolences on my being dumped, and I’d be saved from the whole post breakup dating fiasco.” 

Rowan’s voice was hoarser than before when he finally spoke. “What do I get out of this.” 

She took a deep breath in. “I’ll get you a football tryout.” 

His knee slammed into the table and Aelin couldn't help but flinch. His eyes were wide and lit up with hope. “Seriously? How the hell are you going to do that?” 

“I have a plan.” She tried to sound confident despite her growing doubt. 

Rowan let out a small laugh. “The last time you said that we ended up in the back of a police cruiser covered in raw eggs and paint.” 

Aelin’s face broke into smile and she began to laugh. For a moment she could almost pretend they were back in sophomore year, lying on Rowan’s lawn and watching the stars. Neither of them had known anything about constellations so they’d made things up based on what they looked like. By the end of the night, Aelin’s stomach hurt from laughing. She wondered when the last time she’d been that blissfuly happy was. 

Just as suddenly as they had arrived, their smiles and laughs died on their lips. An uncomfortable silence seized the air and Aelin began to play with the hair elastic on her wrist. 

After a few more seconds, Rowan cleared his throat. “I’ll do it.” He announced, although it sounded like he was still trying to convince himself.  

“Great.” Aelin smiled. “Why don't you come over tomorrow and we can work out logistics.” 

“Don’t you live with Aedion?” Rowan asked cautiously.

“Yeah but he’ll be at Ren’s place tomorrow for a project. I checked.” 

Rowan nodded slowly and rose from his chair. “Alright.” 

They stared at each other for a moment, Rowan standing and Aelin sitting. “I’m going to uh... go.” He said at last, severing the quickly brewing tension. 

Without waiting for answer, he turned and fled, leaving Aelin to do nothing but watch. So they were actually doing this now. What’s the worst that could go wrong? 

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[moldisgoodforyou]

the pregnancy scare

warning: cursing (always!), mentions of sex, mentions of period/pregnancy

wordcount: 2.5k

it was reckless, and stupid, but after a night out, jj and charlie were both drunk and forgot the condom until he was in her, close to reaching their high. then she paused, tugging his hair to get his attention. “j, baby, we forgot a step.”

“what step?” he asked, confused.

“um...I don’t remember. something’s missing.” charlie shook her head, too focused on her boyfriend and her slightly blurred vision to think. “dunno.” 

after a few more minutes of lazy thrusting and both of them reaching their peak, they realized at the same time. jj pulled out of her, and got up to amble to the restroom like usual. “the condom.” jj mumbled, eyes wide. 

“fuck.” charlie echoed, biting her lip. “no, I’m on the pill, it’ll be fine.”

“you’re sure? we can get you plan b in the morning.” he offered, pulling on his boxers and crawling back into bed with her.

she wrinkled her nose. “no, no, it’s fine. let’s just go to sleep.”

_

unfortunately, her track record with taking the pill on time was on par with jj’s track record of remembering anything after a drunken night out - basically nonexistent. they had completely forgotten about it the next day and woke up around 1pm, limbs tangled around each other. 

jj woke first, nudging her shoulder. “charlie. we gotta get up.” she groaned, burying her face into his chest. “don’t wanna. if I get up, I’ll be hungover.” he laughed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “and you’re not right now?” she lifted her head and caught his lips in a chaste kiss. “no, because I’m not up.” 

“well I have a half hour to get to my intramural game, and you’re supposed to coach us again. you drew that new route, remember?” he tried persuading her. she groaned and sat up finally, annoyed. “there are twenty guys on the whole team and you’re all useless on the field. it makes no sense.” 

he grinned. “so you won’t get up for me but you’ll get up for my football game?” she nodded, rubbing her eyes with a yawn. “like I said. I’m not dating a shitty athlete.” she squealed as he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her against his chest. “take that back, walker!” he exclaimed, nipping her neck. (they were ten minutes late to the game that day.)

_

the next couple weeks, charlie continued taking her pill in her usual manner - at 8pm one day, 3am the next, two in one day if she forgot the day before. then she passed the placebo week - and realized nothing came. 

her period had been late before, so she ignored it, chalking it up to weird hormones. but...two weeks later, she started to get worried. she confessed to her best friend, grace, what was going on, and grace immediately made her go and buy a pregnancy test. at first they joked about it in the CVS, then charlie’s anxiety set in on the car ride home. 

“grace, what if I’m...” 

grace shook her head, confident. “you’re not. there’s no way.” 

“I can’t handle a child right now. I can barely take care of myself.” charlie confessed. “grace, I had cheerios with grape juice for breakfast because we ran out of milk.” 

grace gave her a look. “look, charlie, first of all, you’re not pregnant. second of all, that’s disgusting. you couldn’t eat cheerios dry?” 

charlie shrugged. “I don’t know! see, I can’t be a parent!” 

grace pulled into their driveway and the two of them went upstairs, straight to their shared bathroom. grace ushered charlie inside, taking a seat outside the door. “let me know when you’re done.” 

a few minutes later, charlie opened the door, the pregnancy test sitting on a carefully folded square of toilet paper on the counter. “it’s gotta be a no, right? like, there’s no way. I’m just going crazy.” 

grace nodded, hopping up to sit on the counter. “you’re fine. you’re totally fine! how much longer?” 

charlie nodded to a timer set on her phone. “three minutes.” 

it was the longest three minutes of her life.

as the timer went off, charlie took a step back. “I can’t look. you do it.” grace paused, reaching for the stick. “you sure?” 

she nodded. “please. tell me the good news.” 

grace hopped off the counter, then hesitated. “um.” 

charlie’s eyes grew wide. “you’re kidding.” grace held it out toward her, shaking her head. “I don’t know. that’s faint, right? like hardly two lines?” charlie took the test, examining it, then felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest. “those are bold, grace. that’s positive.” 

grace winced. “those can be wrong all the time. and you have bad eyesight, I wouldn’t be so sure -” 

“no, that’s definitely fucking positive.” charlie interrupted, staring at the stick. “...what are you gonna do? tell jj?” grace asked, taking it from her to refocus her attention. charlie shook her head, right away. “hell no. I...I’m going to not think about it this week, because I have two tests and a big kinesiology lab and I can’t afford to fuck those up.” 

grace frowned. “okay, we’re scheduling a doctor’s appointment on friday then. after all that.” charlie shook her head. “jj will know something’s up, it’ll have to be saturday. I’ll say I have some kappa thing.” 

“are you sure you shouldn’t tell him? I mean...it’s his dick that got you into this mess.” grace reasoned. charlie rolled her eyes. “one week will be fine. I’m just going to ignore it! it’s fine. I’m fine!” she tried convincing herself, her voice getting higher pitched with stress. grace set her hands on charlie’s shoulders, trying to center her. “hey! it’s fine. secret’s safe with me.” 

_

charlie did exactly that, ignoring the situation all week. she also ignored jj, afraid she would spill at a moment’s notice. jj chalked it up to stress from school, knowing she had a lot to deal with that week. to make matters worse, he was the ideal boyfriend - dropping off food in the library for her, keeping her company as she stayed up to study, walking her home from a late night group project meeting. 

he could sense something was off, the way she didn’t lean into his touch like normal, or how she flinched away when he tried to press a kiss to her temple as she studied. he was a little annoyed, and wanted her attention, but stayed sweet anyway. 

friday night, he walked her home, hand in hand. when she gave him a goodnight kiss at the door, not inviting him in, he was a little hurt. “I thought you wanted to watch that new movie tonight, after all your work was done this week?” he questioned, catching her hand to try and pull her in again. charlie shook her head, pulling away and reaching for the door. “not tonight, I want to get ahead on a paper. night, jj.” he frowned. “love you. goodnight, walker.” she nodded, going inside without another word. 

he got about five minutes home on his walk before he realized she had his keys stuffed in her backpack from earlier, after he had complained about not having pockets. he turned on his heel and walked back, not realizing that charlie was having an existential crisis in the living room over a bowl of ice cream with grace. 

he punched in the code to the keypad, then walked in - at just the wrong moment. 

“and you’re 100% sure two lines is positive?” grace questioned, holding the stick in her hand. 

“what’s positive? do you have a fever or something?” jj asked as he strolled into the living room, mistaking the pregnancy test for a thermometer. 

the two girls froze, glancing at jj then sharing a glance of simultaneous panic. 

“uh...I’m gonna go.” grace quickly excused herself, wrapping the test back up then setting it on the coffee table. she practically ran upstairs, leaving jj utterly confused. 

he knelt down to press his hand to charlie’s forehead, concerned. “are you sick? is that why you’ve been weird all week?” he reached for the pregnancy test and charlie lunged for it, holding it out of his reach. “no! no, I’m not sick. just, uh, busy with studying.” she lied horribly, a telltale blush rising to her cheeks. 

jj frowned. “what is that?” 

charlie swallowed what felt like a lump in her throat. “um. well. you see, it’s a funny story.” 

jj furrowed his brow and took the test from her, charlie not resisting. he looked it over, confused. “this is a weird thermometer.” 

charlie bit her lip. “well, you see, it’s not a thermometer. um. it’s a pregnancy test. and it’s positive.” she rambled. “so. uh. surprise!” 

jj shook his head. “no, that’s not right.” 

charlie raised her eyebrows. “no, it’s right.” 

he shook his head again. “no, you’ve been acting strange, and kind of rude, frankly - no offense - but you’re always like this on your period. so you have it this week. right?” 

charlie frowned, yanking the test away from him. “my period is late, jj. I’m pregnant. two lines means I’m pregnant.” 

that was the first time she had said those words out loud, and they sunk in for both of them in silence for a few seconds. jj sputtered, tugging at his hair. “you’re pregnant? oh my god.” he started pacing around the living room, not looking at her. “oh my god. that’s fine, that’s totally fine. um. good job, char...great...uterus.” 

charlie reached out, smacking him upside the head. “I’m not having your baby, idiot, I’m 21! god damnit, focus!” 

jj yelped, rubbing his head. “careful with the name calling, jesus!” her words finally made it to his brain. “wait, you’re not having the baby?” 

she shook her head. “god, no, that’s not in my ten year plan. I’m going to the doctor tomorrow anyway, then I’ll get a blood test and see for real.” 

jj visibly relaxed, then frowned. “you were going to go without me? when were you going to tell me?” charlie faltered. “I...I don’t know. I was stressed out, and I didn’t want to think about it this week with all my tests and whatever.” she reached out, locking her fingers with his. “but I want you to come. tomorrow.” 

he nodded, pulling her into a tight hug. “okay. it’ll be okay. we got this.” 

_

the next morning, he drove her to the doctor’s office, squeezing the life out of her hand the entire time. they didn’t talk, charlie just stared out the window and jj kept his eyes on the road like his life depended on it. (she didn’t see that he took the less-trafficked route that was a little safer - just in case.) he was uber-protective as they went into the doctor’s office, foot tapping anxiously once they sat in the waiting room. 

her name was called and he stood, ready to follow her in, but she shook her head. “I think I have to go alone, j.” charlie told him apologetically, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be quick.” jj frowned but nodded, giving her a quick kiss back. “you got this. negative blood.” he joked. she offered a weak smile back, clearly nervous as she followed the nurse back into the offices. 

she came out a bit later, holding a couple pamphlets about pregnancy and looking a little pale. jj wasn’t much better, having thought about kids the entire time she was in with the doctor. “how’d it go?” he greeted, looping an arm around her shoulders as they walked out. she shrugged. “they’ll call me in two to three days. probably three, because the lab isn’t open on sunday.” 

“shit.” jj mumbled, gripping her shoulders tighter. she shook her head. “it’ll be fine! we’ll just...go about life like normal, without a baby, because I’m not pregnant. if I say it out loud enough times it’ll happen.” jj sighed. “I don’t think that manifesting shit actually works, charlie -” 

he was met with a glare. “do you want a baby, jj? at 21? while we’re still in college?” 

he shook his head quickly. “no!” 

she nodded, resolute. “right. say it with me. not pregnant.” she repeated herself a couple more times until he joined in. “not pregnant.” they said in tandem. 

that became their manifesto over the next few days, at every opportunity. when she poured herself a glass of wine the second they got home, then they both reconsidered (just in case). he took the glass from her, taking a long gulp. “not pregnant.” 

“not pregnant.” charlie echoed, pouring herself a glass of grape juice instead. 

_ 

charlie got the call three days later, in class. her hands were shaking as she declined the call, unable to do anything during the lecture. the doctor’s office left a voicemail and the second she got out of class, she sprinted the two miles to the beta house, backpack bouncing with every step. she was out of breath as she jogged up the stairs to jj’s room, pushing past a few pledges without as much as a hello. 

she practically kicked in jj’s door and he glanced up from the bed, confused. “what is wrong with you?” she opened her mouth to speak then shook her head, hands on her knees for a second as she caught her breath. “doctor. doctor called.” 

“not pregnant.” jj immediately responded. charlie dropped her backpack to the floor and fished out her phone, then tossed it to him. “you play it. I can’t.” he shook his head. “no, you do it. it’s your phone. it’s your uterus.” 

“jj, if you talk about my uterus one more time, I will rip your fucking head off.” 

“if this is you not pregnant, you’re going to be hell while you’re pregnant.” 

“jj!” 

he raised his hands in surrender. “okay, okay, fine!” he typed in her passcode and she sat on the bed next to him, then grabbed the phone away to turn on the volume. 

“hi charlotte, this is dr. brown from the clinic. I was just calling to tell you about your results from your blood test. we sent them through the lab on Monday -” 

“good god, woman, just tell us.” jj got out through gritted teeth, tense.

“and I wanted to let you know the results are negative. you’re not pregnant. call if you have -”

jj and charlie sat in complete silence for a moment as they processed, then yelled at the exact same time, not hearing the rest of the message. “not pregnant!” charlie exclaimed, grinning for what felt like the first time since the doctor’s. “not pregnant!” jj yelled back, picking her up by the waist and spinning her in a circle. 

charlie giggled as he set her down. she grabbed jj’s face with both her hands, pulling him in for a deep kiss. he grinned into the kiss, then pulled back to rest his forehead on hers. “I thought you didn’t want a baby, charlie.” she stepped back, glaring. “jj maybank, I will hurt you.” he laughed at the empty threat. 

“can we get margs?” she asked, grabbing his car keys. “it’s 1pm. on a tuesday.” jj countered, raising his eyebrows. charlie held up the keys, jingling them. “a celebration. not pregnant.” he laughed, wrapping his arm around her waist and ushering her out the door. “not pregnant.” 

#unedited but I wanted to write #jj maybank #jj maybank imagine #college jj #frat jj #jj maybank obx #jj maybank fanfic #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank x oc #jj x charlie #mine

[nightfallrevel]

Without You

A/N: HEY, OMG, I’M BACK!!

Okay, so, I may have plunged myself into the pit of KiriBaku/BakuKiri and now I’m stuck there. Literally, nearly every idea I have lately is for this ship. I love them. Might be a little obsessed, but hey, I’m happy here.

I fell into quite the writing rut and found it difficult for me to write literally anything. The focus wasn’t there, the inspiration was lacking, and so I wrote the first thing that came to mind and forced myself to follow it.

Thus, this fic was born. THE LONGEST THING I’VE EVER WRITTEN HERE. Except my old collab fic, Strawberry and Cream, but I don’t really count that one. I wrote this piece like an effing madman, tell you what. I think now I’ve kinda gotten through my block, writing will happen a bit easier going forward. I hope.

Anywho, without further ado, here’s the fic~

Summary: Bakugo goes on a mountain hike and realizes that something rather important is missing.

Warnings: it’s Bakugo, there’s swearing.

Bakugo x Kirishima

Words: 4,477

Something was wrong.

Bakugo zipped up his backpack angrily, the last of what he’d need all packed up. Tugging on his hiking boots, he threw the pack over his shoulders and headed out. It was the weekend, and pretty early in the morning, so the dorms were pretty quiet.

He paused in the hallway, but forced himself not to turn down the hall. His back practically burned with the thought of the neighboring rooms, but he gave an annoyed grunt before heading down the stairs. Luckily, no one was in the commons to bother him as he made his way out. He was already in a foul mood and didn’t need anyone to further aggravate him.

Something was wrong.

The walk to the bus stop was short and the wait was even shorter. Just before he could board, there was a shout from down the sidewalk to hold the bus. Bakugo glanced in the direction of the voice, saw a flash of red, and his heart picked up to race furiously within his chest. A second look, however, revealed a stranger wearing a red bandanna and he grunted to himself as he finished boarding the bus.

The ride to the base of the mountain was barely half an hour, then it was a ten minute walk to the start of the trail. Hitching his pack into place on his shoulders, Bakugo began the ascent. He’d been planning this hike for well over a month. It was overdue and the fresh air helped to clear his head. Already, he could feel his stress levels decline the higher he climbed.

He’d been hiking without pause for nearly two hours when he heard a grumbling complaint and dragging footsteps behind him. His ire raised, he turned around to tell the complainer off, but his voice caught in his throat. There was no one there.

Something was wrong.

By midday, the temperature had risen significantly, but the thinning mountain air helped to keep Bakugo from overheating. As he walked, tiny explosions crackled in his palms as he burnt off the excess sweat to prevent any accidents. He understood too well the dangers of his quirk and wasn’t interested in taking any unnecessary risks.

His stomach growled at some point, so he looked for a good spot to stop and sit down for his lunch. A fallen tree served as a place for him to sit as he took off his backpack and dug inside. Pulling out a sandwich, he held it out, but no one took it. He lifted his gaze to glare at his arm as though the muscle memory had offended him, which it most definitely had. He had become much too used to having company.

As he peered within his pack, Bakugo quickly realized that he had packed way too much food. Enough for two people, plus a bit extra. He heaved a sigh, resigning that he’d be taking some home and unwrapped the sandwich for himself. After finishing the sandwich, he gave himself some time to let his food settle before hitting the trail, again.

Something was wrong.

It wasn’t until Bakugo had nearly reached the peak when he thought he heard the sound of a joyous laugh and thought he felt the brush of a shoulder against his own, that he realized what it was. Growing up, he’d always considered himself as independent and introverted. He didn’t need anyone except himself. Over the past couple of years at U.A., however, something had changed. He was barely aware of it happening, but as he stood on top of the mountain all by himself, it was more than the view that was put into clear perspective.

Kirishima was supposed to be with him on this trip. They had planned it out together, albeit somewhat reluctantly on Bakugo’s part. He wasn’t reluctant because he didn’t want to go with his best friend. It was rather out of sheer stubbornness that he would rather go alone. Bakugo had pretended to cave even though he knew from the start that he would agree to the trip. He loved hiking and it wouldn’t be so bad to share that with his best friend.

Best friend; it was a term that had held an odd weight since the end of their first year. Bakugo felt as though it wasn’t an accurate description of what Kirishima was to him. He had never been able to work it out, though, a part of him a bit too nervous to look too closely at it. So, he ignored the part of his heart that flipped at Kirishima’s shark-toothed grin and the easy way in which they touched so casually.

A week ago, however, Bakugo had happened to walk in on Kirishima talking to Sero in the locker room after class. The redhead had said something about finally confessing his feelings at the top of the mountain they were hiking. Rage had filled him as he rounded the corner, seeing the color drain from Kirishima’s face as panic rose to the redhead’s features.

Bakugo had screamed a multitude of obscenities at him. He couldn’t remember all of them, but none of them had been nice. Most of them hadn’t even been true. He definitely remembered telling Kirishima that romance was for idiots with nothing better to do and that he couldn’t be the number one hero if he wasn’t giving it his all. He also remembered saying something along the lines of barely being able to tolerate the idiot’s presence.

A flash of hurt had crossed Kirishima’s face by that point, only to turn into anger as Bakugo kept going, yelling something about how he’d be better off without some fucking extra following at his heels all the time. Angry tears had sprung to Kirishima’s eyes as he’d shoved against Bakugo’s chest and pushed him away.

More angry words were exchanged between the two of them before Kirishima finally stormed out, red-faced and barely holding back tears. Sero said nothing before following the redhead out, leaving Bakugo to seethe in his own anger. He wasn’t even sure why he was really all that pissed off about it.

Breathing in the mountain air, Bakugo reflected on his anger and slowly came to an understanding. Hearing Kirishima’s accidental confession forced Bakugo to look closer at his own feelings. Feelings that he wasn’t ready to analyze that thoroughly, yet. His chest tightened as he looked up to the clear, afternoon sky. The answer was so glaringly obvious that he couldn’t ignore it or cover it with his anger, anymore.

Fuck. He really owed Kirishima an apology. Several apologies. That idiot. His idiot. A frustrated grin spread across his face as he realized he had no idea how to even go about it. He knew, though, that it couldn’t wait, not even another day for his trip to end.

After making sure his pack was secured tightly, sparks flew from his palms as he turned them downwards and propelled himself into the sky. He’d probably get his ass chewed out if his teachers got wind of him using his quirk like this, but fuck it. Bakugo blasted himself to the bottom of the mountain in a matter of minutes to catch the last bus back to U.A..

It was already dark by the time he burst into the commons, panting from running so hard. Everyone was gathered for a game night and several eyes turned to stare at him as he stomped forward. All of them except the only ones that matter. “Hey, Bakugo, weren’t you supposed to be camping this weekend?” He ignored the question as Kirishima finally, slowly, turned to face him.

There was no familiar smile to greet him, no emotion at all as Kirishima leveled Bakugo with a flat look. Bakugo grit his teeth, refusing to back down from the redhead’s expression. His brows drew low over his eyes as he bit out, “I need to talk to you. Now.” Kirishima’s mouth pressed into a hard line and he turned back around.

“No.”

Bakugo saw the telltale blur of rage around the edges of his sight, but he deflated almost immediately. What did he expect, honestly? He’d said horrible things and then ignored Kirishima for the past week. He wouldn’t want to talk to him, either.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he forced his gaze away from the back of Kirishima’s head and huffed with frustration. “Fine.” He shuffled from the commons and punched the button on the elevator, feeling the shocked expressions of their classmates on his back.

Unfamiliar emotions had welled within his chest at Kirishima’s rejection as he rode the elevator. He wondered if this was anything like what the redhead had felt when Bakugo had yelled at him. Fuck, he really was awful if this was even a fraction of what Kirishima had felt. The tightness in his chest was nearly unbearable.

Once in his room, he discarded his backpack and stripped down. He was sweaty and dirty from his hike and he needed a shower. Hopefully, while he got clean, he’d be able to think of some way to get Kirishima to talk to him. His shower was quick, though, and he hadn’t come up with a single idea. It was clear that he really wasn’t made for all this emotional shit, which only served to piss him off.

Wearing clean clothes, he scrubbed his hair dry with a towel as he made his way back to his room. Distracted as he was, Bakugo couldn’t react quickly enough as a pair of hands grabbed him suddenly and pushed him into his room, snapping the door shut behind them. His breath left him in a rush as he was shoved back against the door and angry red eyes met his own.

“Kirishima, what the fu-” Bakugo was cut off as Kirishima’s fist slammed against the door next to his head. Silence stretched between them for a moment as they both breathed heavily.

“You know, for someone who’s constantly calling me an idiot, you can be pretty stupid.” Kirishima finally spoke. Bakugo should have been pissed at that, but he couldn’t bring himself to get even a little mad. All he could do was give Kirishima a hard stare, no heat in his gaze.

“Yeah, I know. I said some pretty shitty things to you. I shouldn’t have. I… didn’t really mean what I said.” Kirishima’s eyes widened at the half apology, then a small smile turned up the corners of his mouth, much to Bakugo’s surprise.

“If I really thought you meant any of that, then I never knew you at all.” Bakugo felt like the air had been punched from his lungs as relief washed over him. Of course, Kirishima knew. Kirishima always knew him better than anyone else. With a shaky hand, Bakugo reached out to grab a fistful of Kirishima’s shirt and nodded, lowering his gaze as he suddenly felt weak in the knees. “That doesn’t mean you don’t have to apologize, though, you jerk.”

Bakugo’s head snapped up to face the redhead, again, his fist in the fabric tightening. “Kirishima-”

“Eijirou. Call me by my first name.”

Bakugo blinked, caught somewhat off guard, and he felt his heart speed up rapidly in his chest. A small frown etched onto his face, heat rising in his cheeks. “I- Eijiro, I’m sorry. For all the things I said and didn’t mean. I wasn’t angry at you, not really.” His other hand rose to join the one clutching Kirishima’s shirt, grabbing another fistful of fabric and tugging the redhead closer.

“I know. I forgive you.” Kirishima let himself be pulled closer, leaning into Bakugo until their mouths met in a hesitant kiss. It lasted barely a second before Kirishima was pulling back, looking unsure. “Does this mean… that you accept my feelings? I- I don’t want to burden you, Bakugo.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “Idiot. If I’m calling you by your first name, then you’re calling me by mine, too.” His features softened as he pulled Kirishima back to him. “Don’t make me fucking spell it out for you.” Bakugo tugged him back in the rest of the way, kissing him with more confidence. Kirishima let out a soft whimper as their tongues mingled together and Bakugo released his shirt in favor of wrapping his arms around his best friend.

Except Kirishima wasn’t his best friend, he was so much more than that. Bakugo felt as though an empty slot had suddenly filled within himself as Kirishima returned the embrace. The wrong had been righted and a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Finally, breathless from their kisses, they broke apart and grins spread across their faces. Kirishima looked a bit sheepish while Bakugo wore a shit-eating grin. They sat down together on the floor and decided to talk about how they’d handle their new relationship. Many of their friends were already aware of how Kirishima felt, but it was anyone’s guess whether Bakugo actually returned those feelings.

Bakugo didn’t care what anyone thought, but Kirishima was still somewhat hesitant to make their relationship known. After some discussion, they decided the dorms were safe enough to be open, but they wouldn’t engage in any affection at school. They mutually agreed that it was best to appear professional or they could risk expulsion. Their discussion turned to lighter topics after that, and more making out, as they talked late into the night until they both fell asleep on the floor.

Bakugo woke up first the next morning, grumbling over his sore back as he sat up. All complaints were forgotten, however, as his gaze fell on his best- no, his boyfriend’s sleeping face. A soft smile graced his features as he thought that the new term fit Kirishima better than ‘best friend’ ever had. Reaching out, he brushed a bit of flat red hair from his face before catching himself and blushing hard. Thank goodness Kirishima slept like a fucking rock.

Getting up, he grabbed his pillow and propped it under Kirishima’s head and threw a blanket over him before heading downstairs to the kitchen to cook breakfast. While he cooked, Kaminari and Sero walked into the kitchen stretching and yawning. At the sight of Bakugo, Kaminari got a devious grin on his face.

“Isn’t that so sweet, Sero? Bakugo is making breakfast for his new boyfriend. Damn, one night and Kirishima’s already got him domesticated.” Bakugo’s hand froze over the stove at Kaminari’s words before slowly turning to him with a hard glare.

“Hah? The fuck did you just say, dunce face? Pretty early to be wishing to get your ass blasted to smithereens.” Bakugo growled, his hand popping with sparks as he aimed it towards Kaminari. Sero stepped between them, hands raised as he tried to placate their explosive friend.

“C’mon, Bakugo, he’s just teasing. Like you said, it’s too early for this.” Kaminari didn’t back down, though.

“Yeah, Bakugo, come on. Just spill the deets! I know Kirishima didn’t go back to his room last night~” Kaminari barely had time to gloat before Bakugo was in his face with an explosion.

“You fucking pervert! I’ll kill you!” Bakugo knew he was red in the face, which didn’t help his case, but he didn’t have long to chase the idiot around the kitchen as Kirishima showed up. Yawning and scratching the back of his neck, Kirishima took in the scene before him with a frown.

“Seriously, you guys? Can you not rile him up this early in the morning? I’m not awake enough to keep him from actually hurting you.” Bakugo seethed, ready to bark back at the redhead for thinking he could stop him, anyway, but a heavy weight pressed against his back as Kirishima draped his arms over his shoulders from behind. Bakugo nearly staggered under the unexpected weight as Kirishima tiredly leaned onto him.

“Stand on your own, idiot! How am I supposed to cook with you hanging on me like this?!” Bakugo growled as Kirishima pouted. Even so, Kirishima’s weight lessened, but he kept his arms draped over Bakugo’s shoulders. Bakugo felt a slight shiver pass down his spine as Kirishima’s face pressed against the side of his neck to watch him cook. “Seriously? I’m not going to cook for you if you keep this up.”

“But I’m tired, Katsuki, and the food smells good.” The pout in Kirishima’s voice was heavy as more of his weight settled onto Bakugo’s back, again.

“Then lean on the fucking counter!” Bakugo growled, shrugging his shoulders lightly in a lame attempt to get Kirishima off of him. He felt a flush crawling up his neck to his face as he realized he could actually feel Kirishima’s pout against his skin. It also didn’t help that he knew that Kaminari and Sero were staring at them. He ducked his head and lowered his voice. “The eggs are gonna burn.”

With a heavy sigh, Kirishima straightened himself and practically rolled his body away from Bakugo to lean on the counter right next to the stove. Bakugo frowned as Kirishima folded his arms on top of the counter and rested his head on top of them to watch him cook with a wide yawn. His ungelled hair fell softly to frame his face and Bakugo couldn’t help but think that it was cute.

Reaching over, he gently pushed some of the red hair back from Kirishima’s face, stroking his cheek a little as he did. “You shouldn’t lean next to the hot stove like that, idiot.” Kirishima only grinned back at him, not budging an inch.

“That’s okay. I can handle the heat.” He snickered as Bakugo’s jaw dropped and his face nearly went atomic.

“You guys sure nothing happened last night? I mean, no one would blame you…” Kaminari’s voice came from behind them where he and Sero had taken a seat at the kitchen island. Kirishima lifted his head to shoot him a disapproving frown.

“Kaminari, that’s-”

Kirishima was quickly cut off as sparks flew from Bakugo’s palm in Kaminari’s direction. “None of your fucking business, dunce face! So shut the hell up about it!” Kaminari lifted his hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay! I’ll drop it, sheesh!” Kaminari rolled his eyes, slumping to rest his chin in his hand on the counter. “Damn, to think Bakugo would lose it, first. Didn’t see that one coming.” Sero glanced over at Bakugo nervously, who was now shaking with anger.

Kirishima placed a hand on Bakugo’s shoulder and squeezed gently before turning a deep frown on Kaminari. “Dude, not cool. Seriously, though, nothing happened. We just had a really long talk, okay?” Bakugo lightly shrugged off Kirishima’s hand so that he could plate their breakfast.

Kaminari huffed. “Okay. I’ll take your word for it, then.” His eyes immediately lit up, however, as Bakugo nearly slammed an omelette in front of him. “Oh, nice, a rice omelette! What’s the occasion?” Another one was set in front of Sero, who gave his thanks to the chef.

Kirishima was given two omelettes and Bakugo took one for himself before heading to the commons to eat, yelling something about how Kaminari didn’t even deserve one. Kirishima beamed as he began to follow Bakugo. “They’re my favorite breakfast,” he told Kaminari as he slipped from the kitchen.

As the two of them ate together, they found themselves falling back into their normal, easy companionship. Kirishima chatted between bites at times while Bakugo would answer occasionally in his short, gruff way. The only difference was their thighs pressed together and the soft smiles that passed between them in the silence while they chewed.

Just as they had finished eating, standing up to clean their dishes, Aizawa came into the dorms. “Bakugo. I need you to come with me to my office. I got a complaint about the misuse of quirks outside of the school.” Bakugo let out an annoyed ‘tsk’, but didn’t argue. Kirishima took his plate from him with a worried expression. Without a word of reassurance, Bakugo turned to follow their teacher, hands shoved into his pockets, and left the cleaning up to the redhead.

It was nearly lunch by the time Bakugo returned to the dorms and most of their class was gathered in the commons, including Kirishima. His entrance had gone unnoticed and Bakugo paused behind the couch, staring at the back of Kirishima’s head with a small frown. His gaze traced the soft strands of red hair and the way that it rested against the curve of Kirishima’s neck, admiring how it moved subtly with every movement of his head.

With sudden realization, Bakugo found that it was all familiar to him, but he’d never really taken the time to appreciate the view. His boyfriend was manly, sure, but he was also damn gorgeous. As though driven by some unknown force, Bakugo approached Kirishima from behind and wrapped his arms around him.

Kirishima went completely still, rigid with surprise as Bakugo pressed an open mouthed kiss against his jaw, just below the ear. “Go get dressed.” He whispered huskily into Kirishima’s ear. “I’m gonna shower and then we’re going on a date.” Bakugo grinned, ignoring the stares of their classmates as Kirishima’s skin darkened to match his hair color. Without waiting for an answer, Bakugo straightened and headed for the showers.

Twenty minutes later, they met in the foyer. When Bakugo came down in his jeans and a black button down with the top two buttons undone, he came up short as his breath left him at the sight of Kirishima. The redhead had finally spiked up his hair and was speaking casually with Pink Cheeks. With jeans that hugged him in all the right places and his favorite Crimson Riot t-shirt that stretched across his broad chest, Kirishima was drool-worthy in his leather jacket.

He didn’t have enough time to catch his breath as he approached Kirishima. A curt look was all it took to shut up Uraraka and send her on her way as she turned even pinker. Kirishima turned towards Bakugo and blushed brightly, reaching up to rub the back of his own neck nervously.

“You, um, you look nice, Katsuki.” Kirishima shot him a nervous smile that Bakugo returned in confidence.

“Of course, I do. You look fucking hot, though.” Bakugo snickered as Kirishima’s blush deepened while his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. The redhead immediately became too flustered at the unexpected compliment to do anything but stand there in a mild panic, so Bakugo shoved him out the door. “C’mon. I’m fucking starving. You can gay panic later, idiot.”

This seemed to snap Kirishima out of it as his steps turned from barely a shuffle to full strides. “I wasn’t- I- You never say stuff like that! How am I supposed to react?!” Bakugo barked out a laugh at that.

“You say ‘thank you’ and move the fuck on.” Kirishima pouted a little, but still muttered his thanks as the two of them left school grounds for the nearby shopping district. Bakugo led them to one of his favorite places to eat where Kirishima could get a meat dish and he could still get himself something that was plenty spicy to suit his own tastes.

While they waited for their food, Kirishima asked about what happened with Aizawa and Bakugo explained how he’d used his quirk to blast himself down the mountainside. Kirishima laughed, delighted that he was important enough to risk getting in trouble for. Bakugo shrugged it off, though. 

He’d barely gotten a slap on the wrist since there was minimal damage to the environment. Just some minor scorch marks on the ground where he’d launched himself and a few near where he landed. Bakugo explained the reason he’d taken so long was because, as punishment, Aizawa had made him run laps and do fifty push ups between each one. This made Kirishima cringe slightly as he expressed his sympathy, but Bakugo shrugged that off as well.

After they’d eaten, they decided to take a walk around the district and look at the different shops as they strolled by. Kirishima spoke excitedly about a few of the shops, Bakugo quietly giving special attention to the things the redhead expressed interest in. After a while, though, Kirishima fell silent.

A block and a half later, when Kirishima still hadn’t spoken, Bakugo glanced over to see him plucking nervously at his jacket. Letting out a huff, he bumped his shoulder against the redhead’s to get his attention. “Spit it out, Ei. What’s on your mind?” Kirishima spluttered a bit at the nickname, his steps slowing until he finally stopped. Bakugo stopped a couple steps ahead, turning around to wait patiently for Kirishima to say what was on his mind.

“Eijirou.” Kirishima’s gaze snapped up at Bakugo calling his name, his arms pressing against his sides as he stopped fidgeting with his jacket.

“Sorry, um, it’s just…,” Kirishima hesitated, “I know we’re on a date, right now. It’s just that… you haven’t actually said how you feel. We didn’t bring it up, really, when we talked about our relationship last night. I feel like I’ve just been assuming and that maybe you’re humoring me so that we can just be friends, again.” Bakugo blinked at him as a long silence stretched between them.

“Are you fucking stupid?” Kirishima flinched at Bakugo’s harsh words, then ducked his head as his face flushed. Bakugo crossed the distance between them and grabbed a fistful of Kirishima’s shirt, nearly snarling. “What did you say yesterday about knowing me? Tell me, would I go to the trouble if we were just going to be friends? What part of our friendship made you think that I was a liar?” Kirishima’s gaze snapped up to Bakugo’s in a panic.

Firm hands met the fist on Kirishima’s shirt. “No! No, that’s not what I meant! I’m sorry, I’m not always good with my words. I just… It’s just that you’re acting so differently than you usually do and, and I’m so surprised. I really thought you were going to turn me down.” Bakugo eased his hold on Kirishima’s shirt, finally letting go as he stepped back and glanced away.

“Oh. That.” Bakugo chewed his bottom lip between his teeth, trying to figure out what to say. “I’m not good at this whole… feeling thing, but…,” His gaze lifted to meet Kirishima’s, “Up on that mountain, I realized a lot of things. You were supposed to be there with me, and you weren’t. It felt wrong, and it just- it wasn’t the same without you.” He barely got the words out before strong arms were embracing him and Bakugo closed his eyes, finally feeling as though everything was right as he hugged Kirishima back.

#my work #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bakugo katsuki #kirishima ejirou #bakukiri #kiribaku #bakugo x kirishima #kirishima x bakugo

[whattodowithkpop]

Hidden Secrets (Seyoon)

Title: Hidden Secrets

Pairing: Seyoon (Ace) x Reader

Genre: Fluff, friends to lovers AU

Word count: 2485

Writer: Kpopmadness (Ju)

A/N: ⚠️Warning⚠️ Mentions of readers Ex-Boyfriend being mentally abusive and shaming her.

*****

“Seyoon!” A familiar voice calls from behind him, making him turn around in time to catch the said person. 

Seyoon let’s out an oof as the girl crashes into him, making him laugh. “I thought you weren’t walking to school with me today.” Seyoon comments as he sets her down on the ground. 

Her smiles fades from her face, the playfulness that was there moments ago blows away she looks down at the ground. She shrugs, “My boyfriend didn’t show up to pick me up for school like he promised last night.”

Seyoon sucked in a breath and bit his tongue. Hating her mention her boyfriend. Seyoon had no use for him. His personality and the way he treated her only made him more angry. But she was his friend, and there was nothing he could do about it. He felt his heart drop into his stomach. He was only a friend. 

She took a deep breath and smiled as she forced the same chipper tone in her voice again.

“Will you let me walk with you? We only have six more months of high school left after all. Then we won’t be able to walk to school together anymore.”

Seyoon forced a smile on his face as he took her backpack from her and slung it over his shoulder as he had done since they were in preschool. 

“You can always walk with me.” He said gently, giving her a sly wink, making her smile

She babbled about anything and everything to him as they walked. The fall air making leaves blow gently around them. Seyoon nodded and laughed on que, just enjoying her cheerfully company. 

As they neared the steps of the school Seyoon saw her boyfriend wave for her at the top of the steps, a snake like grin on his face. She smiled and waved back at him before taking her backpack from Seyoon’s shoulder.

“I’ll see you later, Seyoon!” She calls as she runs up the steps to talk into school hand in hand with her boyfriend. 

Seyoon grits his teeth and makes his way to his locker. Silently seething past the crowds of students. He had just entered the code to his locker when a familiar voice piped up, 

“You look especially annoyed today.” 

Seyoon turns his head to see a familiar pair of brown eyes meet his. Byeongkwan leans his shoulder against the locker beside Seyoon’s and gives him a raised eyebrow. Waiting for an answer. 

“Just the usual.” Seyoon replies curtly as he stuffs books into the locker. 

“She take her boyfriend back again?” Byeongkwan asks, making a spark of annoyance go through Seyoon.

“When does she not?” He answered as he closed the locker door with a slam. 

Byeongkwan chuckles and wraps his arm around Seyoon’s shoulders. “One day, you will have your shot and she will be madly in love with you.”

Seyoon let’s out a grunt and removes Byeongkwan’s arm from his shoulder just as the morning bell rings. 

“We only have six more months of school left, BK. Besides, we’re just friends.” He says wistfully as they walk to the first class of the day.

~~~~ 

Seyoon remembered being  five years old when her family moved in across the street. She had seen him playing in his yard and had waved cheerfully at him. He was a shy boy and rarely talked to anyone. But he found himself waving back to her when she waved. She would wave to him everyday from her bedroom window or her yard whenever she saw him, but they never talked. 

Then on their first day of preschool, while their moms walking them to school, they walked together. And all through that first day they stayed together. Her cheerfulness like a contagious bug that made him smile and laugh. 

After that, they walked to school everyday. Him giving her piggy back rides some days, but most days carrying her pack back of lunch box for her. Just because he wanted to. When they hit high school life got more complicated. 

Boys started to notice her more. Girls started to notice Seyoon more. But Seyoon never fully realized how uninterested he was in other girls unless it was her. Byeongkwan had been a transfer student and was Seyoon’s first guy friend since being in high school. The three of them got along well. Even having sleep overs once a week together. 

Then eight months ago she became interested in the high schools most popular boy. 

And he just happened to go through women more than socks. It was then that Seyoon realized how much he cared for her. He had tried to tell her he was bad news but she simply waved him off and told him he worried to much. All the while his heart screamed, “I’m not just worried about you, I love you.” 

That’s why when she called him screeching happily she got a date with the popular high schooler he had faked being happy for her. Then called In sick for school the next day because he couldn’t look at them.  Because his heart aches realizing he had discovered his feelings for her a bit too late, and now she was someone else’s who didn’t deserve her. 

~~~~~

“Stop staring.” Byeongkwan said through a mouth full of food at lunch break as he jabbed Seyoon with his fork.

Seyoon had to tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him. She was sitting with her boyfriend talking to him cheerfully, her arm wrapped around his shoulders. When he glared at her and threw her arm off him and clearly snarled at her. Humiliating her in front of his friends that only laughed and backed him up. Making her cower and look down at her plate with tears in her eyes. 

Seyoon ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “In about ten minutes he’s going to put his hand on her thigh and apologize and she’ll forgive him.”

Byeongkwan shrugged as he pushed his finished plate of food away. “Nothing you can do. She’s head over heels for him.” 

Seyoon clicked his tongue as he looked back at them to see him already trying to win her over again. “I wish she saw how bad for her he is. He’s so abusive.” 

Seyoon had seen as she had changed and bent in half for that man. She wore baggy clothes because he didn’t want her to show off her form, but at the same time criticized her for not trying to be more sexy. Her smile was forced around him and he hated it when she laughed too loud or smiled too much. She hadn’t cut or colored her hair in months like she used to. She said he wanted her hair long and yelled anytime she asked about trimming it.

Byeongkwan sighed heavily, “Maybe someday she will.”

“Or maybe she will just get her heart broken.” Seyoon said, giving Byeongkwan a sideways glance. 

Byeongkwan shrugged, “Live and learn.” He stated before taking his tray away before the afternoon bell rang. Leaving Seyoon with his head spinning and heart throbbing. 

~~~~~ 

That “live and learn” day, as Byeongkwan had put it, did come. One week later to be exact. She came banging on Seyoon’s door one Saturday afternoon and nearly knocked him over when she crashed into his chest, heavy sobs wracking her body.

Seyoon had sat her down and listened to her for over three hours as she ranted about how much she felt like an idiot. Seyoon’s heart was racing when she fell asleep on his chest as they snuggled on the couch watching a movie. The smell of her hair in his face and her body on top of his. He felt horrible for selfishly wanting it all to himself, especially now, when she was heartbroken. 

Months passed until there was only one more month before graduation day. Seyoon’s cap and gown hung in his closet awaiting its assigned day. Everyday he saw it only made Seyoon excited to be done with school. But also sad. Especially since that meant he would be leaving soon for a medical collage. Without her. 

In those months she had cried several times over her breakup. Called Seyoon in a panic from missing her prior boyfriend so bad. She sat with him and Byeongkwan at lunch and barely ate when she saw him walk into the cafeteria. But he never so much as gave her a second glance while his arm was draped around his new found girlfriend. 

Then she began to heal. She had cut her hair, making it come from her mid-waist up to her chin in a bob. She had ditched the baggy clothing and wore figure complimenting clothing. Her smile and laugh returned with their old cheerfulness and vigor, all of this made Seyoon fall for her more. Byeongkwan had kicked his shin several times over the course of those months, claiming he was drooling when Seyoon shot him a glare. But things were about to get harder.

~~~~~~

Seyoon laid on his bed resting, the afternoon sun shining through his window as he shut his eyes and breathed deeply. Two more weeks and they would graduate. And he was no closer to telling her how he really felt. 

Suddenly, a knock tapped on Seyoon’s door before a familiar head popped in. 

“Are you sleeping?” She asked, looking down at him. 

Seyoon opened one eye to look at her and grinned, “I was, until you came in.” He teased. 

She rolled her eyes at him as she flopped onto the bed with him, curling into his side. 

“What are you doing today?” He asked, hoping the shake didn’t show in his voice.

She must not have noticed it because she answered, “Nothing. I’m bored at home and thought I would come see what you were doing.”

Seyoon chuckled, “I’m afraid I’m poor company.” He said, “I don’t have anything fun for us to do.”

She hummed in acknowledgment as she curled more into him. “Then let’s just rest here.” She whispered.

Seyoon found himself playing with the ends of her hair as her breath got deeper and slowed. Her warmth making Seyoon’s own eyes droop as he slowly drifted off to sleep. 

~~~~~ 

Seyoon awoke slowly, stretching out his tired limbs as he took in his surroundings. His room only had fading sunlight in it now. Seyoon felt a shift beside him, making him look over to see her still sleeping. One hand rested on his shoulder as her other hand was under her cheek as a pillow. Her breath slow and deep as she slept heavily. 

Slowly, Seyoon propped himself up to one elbow as he stared down at her sleeping form. He gently ran a few fingers down her arm, electricity going up his fingertips. He watched her sleep for some time with a pain in his heart. Wishing he could see her with him like this all the time. 

Before he could stop himself Seyoon bent down and gently kissed her on the cheek. Her skin soft and warm against his lips, her sweet smell filling his nose and making his head feel dizzy. 

Seyoon opened his eyes as he pulled away, her state unchanged. He found himself looking down at her lips as he bit his own. Wondering if it was the best idea. He argued with himself for several minutes before leaning down again to place a soft kiss on her lips this time. The feeling making his body heat up and his heart race. His eyes came open quickly though when he felt her mouth press against his back. 

He jerked away to see her eyes meet his, a smirk on her face. “Is that our new way of waking each other up?” She asked, smiling. 

Seyoon felt his face heat up like a wildfire as he scooted away from her. “I’m sorry, I thought you were still asleep and i only meant it as a sweet gesture and I thought-“ 

Seyoon’s words were cut off from her wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him close to her. “And you have feelings for me and thought that was your only chance to kiss me.”

Seyoon stared at her, his heart feeling like it stopped for several beats. “You knew?” He croaks out, stunned. 

She rolls her eyes at him and chuckles, “Byeongkwan told me.”

Seyoon felt his face turn more red as he silently vowed to hurt his friend when he saw him next. 

“He figured you would never tell me so he told me you had feelings for me about a week ago.” She continues, her fingers tracing patterns on his back. 

“And you didn’t say anything?” He asked, still shocked. 

She shrugged as she curled up against him more, “I thought maybe you would say something. But when you didn’t I came here to confront you about it. But you looked tired so I kept quiet. It looks like all I needed to do was fall asleep for you to admit it though.” She giggled. 

Seyoon let himself chuckle with her, nervously letting a few fingers brush against her cheek. “You aren’t mad?”

She smiled up at him as she ran a hand through his hair, “No. I’m not mad.” She wrapped her arms tighter around his waist adding, “You can kiss me again anytime now.”

Seyoon felt his face flush but obeyed as he brought his lips down to meet hers, the action making his heart beat wildly. She took took his face in her hands to press his lips more firmly against hers, making the kiss deeper. It was slow and drawn out, their lips moving gently against each other for some time. 

Seyoon bit her lower lip gently, causing her to gasp against his mouth, making him feel braver as he pushed her onto her back to hover over her and wove one hand through her hair while the other hand wrapped around her waist. Their legs becoming tangled underneath the blanket Seyoon had wrapped around them earlier.

Seyoon’s lips moved from her lips to her neck, gently biting the skin under her jaw, making her breathe out shakily and tighten her grip on his shoulders. Seyoon let his lip drag against her skin, the act sending a chill down his spine. 

Seyoon lifted his head from her neck, his fingers going up her side to her arm as he took her hand in his and gently kissed it. “You don’t need to be anywhere tomorrow, do you?” He whispered.

She smiled up at him and shook her head, “No. Tomorrow is Sunday so we don’t have school either.”

Seyoon smiled and leaned down to attach his lips to hers again. Leading in many more kisses as they talked and explored their new feelings for each other the rest of the night. 

MASTERLIST

#a.c.e #ace #ace x reader #ace seyoon x reader #ace seyoon #a.c.e sehyoon #a.c.e seyoon #a.c.e wow #a.c.e imagine #ace imagines #kpop #x reader #kpop fanfiction #fanfiction #fluff #kpop x reader #kpop imagines #kpopmadness writings

[fallen-gravity]

Fightin’ Back Chapter 3

Chapter Notes:  Final stretch, boys! This is the last chapter that takes place in season one before we get into the heavier themes of season two. Boyz Crazy this time, and probably the only emotional hurt/comfort chapter of the entire fic.

So, uh, this has actually been up on AO3 for a few days already, but it completely slipped my mind to post the tumblr link until now. My bad 😂

AO3

The car is uncomfortably quiet as Stan pulls away from Lookout Point. Dipper’s leaning against the passenger side door, staring into the mirror like if he stares at Wendy long enough she’ll notice and chase after them to apologize to him for snapping at him. Stan taps at the steering wheel rhythmically, just to get some sort of noise to break the tension in the air, and Dipper sighs. 

It’s sad, really. The kid had been so excited to split Wendy and Robbie up before they left that he tried to insist on driving the golf cart up there himself. But he had no idea where Lookout Point even was, and Stan was sure someone was finally going to notice that the golf karts were stolen from the Northwest Golf Course, so he offered to drive him there in the car instead. And even then, the kid had been so excited he was bouncing in his seat the entire drive over. Stan’s sure he would’ve neglected the seatbelt altogether if he hadn’t reached over and clicked it into place for him. He was going on and on and on about code deceptions and the supernatural and how Robbie must’ve gotten the CD at some evil black market, or maybe he really did burn the CD himself and he’s secretly a vampire demon or something, and how that reminds him that he should “try mixing some salt into his spray bottle of holy water the next time he’s out demon hunting”, but now that everything’s over and done with and Wendy bitterly insisted she’d rather walk home than be with any of them right now, Dipper’s looking more like a sick puppy limping home with his tail tucked between his legs.

“Ah, don’t think too much into it, kid” Stan says, and Dipper finally breaks free from his mirror trance to spare him a defeated look in his eyes. “The breakup’s still fresh. I bet by this time tomorrow she’ll be all over you, swooning over how you saved her from that horrible monster”. 

Dipper doesn’t respond, just raises an eyebrow at him and goes right back into staring out the window. Least they’re too far away for him to still be staring at Wendy out the rear view mirror. 

“I mean it!” Stan barks a laugh. “Never got to finish that story I was telling you earlier. So after Carla ran off with that hippie, I stuck around to see how things were going with her. I was sure there was something about him that he wasn’t telling her.” He pounds at his chest with one of his fists. “And I was right! Turns out the dude’s guitar was, uh, cursed. So one day while he was sleeping I broke into his apartment and smashed the thing to pieces. After he had nothing left to show for himself, Carla came running back to me. Even drove the guy’s van into the ravine just so he couldn’t bother us again”

There’s a hint of a smile on Dipper’s face. “I don’t think I’d sink low enough to break the law, Grunkle Stan.”  He pulls himself away from the window. “Plus I thought you said she hated you for doing that"

Stan taps at his head. “You gotta work on your listening skills, Dips. I said he hated me for doing that” 

Dipper rolls his eyes at him, the most Dipper thing he’s done since getting back in the car to head home.

“Look, my point is, you gotta learn to look at things more positively. Maybe she wants nothing to do with you now, but tomorrow? You never know”.

Dipper flinches at the idea, but this time when he sighs it sounds more like he’s trying to calm his own nerves than like he’s trying not to cry. 

Stan pulls the car up to the back of the shack and unlocks the door. He steps out, and just as he’s about to head into the house he turns heel to talk to Dipper before the kid has time to run past him up to his bedroom to mope. “How’s about we sit in the living room with a couple a’ Pitt Colas and watch a movie to forget about the whole ordeal? Your choice”

Dipper mumbles something about movie night to himself, but only responds to Stan’s offer with a shrug. “I’m not in the mood. You can go in without me. I’ll come in when I’m ready”

Yeah, okay, Stan’s not buying that for a minute. He knows by now that when Dipper starts moping, the kid isn’t gonna move for hours. It’ll be two in the morning before he decides to come in, and even later if he accidentally falls asleep.

No mention that there’s child protection laws against leaving kids in locked cars.

…and that car-eating tree monster Stan’s sure he’s read about in that first Journal. 

Screw it. 

Stan gets back in the car, but Dipper doesn’t so much as blink when Stan closes the door behind him. Stan’s willing to believe that it’s because Dipper assumed he went inside, and whoa, okay, whoever put the idea in the kid’s head that he’s not worth the time of day is gonna need to start answering questions fast.

He turns the keys to start the ignition, and Dipper nearly jumps out of his skin when his door clicks locked on him. “Grunkle Stan?” he asks, once he realizes the car is pulling away again. “Where are you taking me?”

“Y’got cotton in your ears? I told you before, kid, I’m taking you bowling”

“Right now? I thought you were just saying that to make me feel better”.

“I was!” Stan flashes a grin. “But I never specified that you had a choice in the matter, now did I?”

Dipper opens his mouth to argue, but before he can get so much as a word out, Stan speeds out of the driveway so quickly that Dipper’s head whacks against the headrest of his seat.

~~~~~~~

Friday nights are usually the busiest day of the week for the bowling alley, but when you know exactly the right kind of people and have just the right amount of bribe money in your pocket, you can waltz in and get any lane you want as fast as you want.

Dipper, despite all of this, doesn’t seem as thrilled about the idea of bowling as Stan is. 

“Aw, c’mon, kid” Stan gently nudges him with his elbow. “I’m letting you go first! Everyone knows the person who gets to bowl first is the person you need to beat. It’s a privilege, if you ask me” 

“I dunno, Grunkle Stan” he fiddles with the laces of his sneakers. “I appreciate the gesture, and all, but...I’m just not feeling up for it tonight”

Stan raises an eyebrow. “Not up for beating me at something you know you can hold over me the rest of the summer?”  He scooches closer to Dipper on the bench. “Now I know something’s really wrong. This still about Wendy?”

He winces at the mention of her name like he’d just been slapped in the face, and Stan sighs.

“Look, Dips…” he pauses, trying to figure out to work around making this sound like the most awkward conversation he’s ever had with...anyone, let alone his own nephew. “Who needs women, am I right?”  He raises the can of soda he’d bought from the snack bar in a toast, but Dipper only rubs at his arm awkwardly. 

There’s gotta be something that’ll get Dipper to understand how many times Stan’s found himself in the exact same situation. 

Well, okay, Stan knows exactly what’ll get him to understand, but if he goes around telling so much as Mabel, the kid’s dead to him.

He sighs. “Kiddo, if you repeat what I’m about to tell you, you’re dead. Not just to me, I’m talkin’ dead dead. Got it?”

That seems to be enough to catch his attention. “O-of course” he repeats, like Stan’s about to tell him the secrets to unlocking the universe. It almost makes Stan wish that his story were more interesting. 

“Truth is, that story I told you about Carla ain’t exactly how it actually went”

Dipper blinks. “I…know. You told me that earlier” 

“No, I mean…” Stan pinches the bridge of his nose. “I mean, none of it was true. Obviously nobody rocketed off into the sky on a rainbow, or anything, but...Carla and I hadn’t even been dating anymore”

“What?” Dipper’s voice squeaks, and Stan chuckles.

“Well, we had been dating, y’see? But she’d just broken up with me a few days ago when I decided to stop over to the Juke Joint to see if she’d wanted to talk about changing her mind” he raises his hands in defense. “I only went in to talk. Scout’s honor, or...whatever it is your sister says.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, I get in there, and that hippy really is playing his transcendental music up on this tiny stage they had there”.

He takes a hard swig of his soda like it was a shot glass. “But Carla was up there with him, y’see? She was singing to some...weird folksy song that I’d never heard of before. Didn’t even sound like she was singing in English.” He leans back on the bench, resting his hands at the back of his head as he turns his gaze to Dipper. “That’s how I knew I lost her for good. So instead of causing a scene like some kinda....jerk”, he catches himself, “I ran out into the parking lot and hotwired her new boyfriend’s van and hightailed it outta there”.

The gaze that Dipper gives him is sympathetic, but he’s also covering his hand over his mouth like he’s trying not to giggle. 

“See? What’d I tell ya?” Stan flashes a grin. “You don’t need girls to show you a good time” he raises his drink towards the television screen above their bowling lane, still flashing with Dipper’s name. “You can always have a great time with your Grunkle Stan! No chance of eventual heartbreak with me”

“I know, I know…” Dipper stands to play his turn, and pretends the weight of the bowling ball doesn’t tip him over as he chucks it down the lane. The ball careens off to the side at the last second, barely even scraping the surface of the pins. “But I don’t think that’s entirely what’s bothering me” His second throw knocks down all but two pins, leaving him with a seven-ten split.  The screen switches to flashing Stan’s name, and Dipper turns to him as he returns to his seat.

Now we’re getting somewhere. Stan stands, pretending to appear dismissive in case it’s something Dipper doesn’t want to admit with all eyes on him. “You tellin’ me I just told you my biggest secret for nothing?”

Dipper blushes. “N-no! That’s not what I meant”. He sighs, looking down at his hands. “I mean, Wendy’s really one of the first people to really...accept me into her friend group.” This time he’s the one waving a defensive hand in the air. “Not that I’m saying I’ve never had friends before,” he squeaks, “...but they’ve felt…forced? Since Mabel and I were in a lot of the same friend circles, it just...always felt like they liked her better than me and only let me tag along because they knew I was related to her, or something”

Wow, okay, that hits way closer to home than Stan was expecting it to. He opens his mouth to comment, but it turns out that he’s not talking.

“But in comes Wendy, and y-yeah! Maybe some of it has to do with...other things” his face is turning pink, and he’s trying to hide in his vest. “But she’s so cool to me, and it doesn’t feel at all like she’s just using me to get to Mabel. Her friends like to make babysitting jokes whenever we tag along with them, but with Wendy  it feels like she really wants us to be there” He sighs, and slumps against his seat. “What if she hates me? Or never talks to me again? Or she quits working at the Mystery Shack because she doesn’t want to be around me, or-or she does keep hanging around, but it’s just like everyone at school, and she’s only there for Mabel, but she’s too cool to cause a scene and tell me to leave, and-”

“Breathe, kid” Stan’s at his side in an instant, gripping firmly onto Dipper’s arm to help him back onto his chair before he falls to the floor. “You’re gonna give yourself a panic attack.” He loosens his grip on Dipper’s arm once the color starts returning to his face. “Tell me, you really think Wendy’s the kinda person to kick you to the curb like that?”

Dipper doesn’t respond right away, but he’s taking deep breaths, which is a good sign. “No, I guess not…” he physically turns his body towards Stan to look at him, probably to prevent another dizzying spell. “But she looked so angry at me, and she grouped me together with Robbie, and she’s probably never talking to him again, I’m just….so worried I’m gonna lose the coolest friend I’ll probably ever have”.

Stan shrugs. “Trust me, bud, you do not have to worry about that. Teenagers are just like that. Y’get angry, you need to blow off steam for a few hours, but come tomorrow you’re over it like it never happened”. Stan finally goes to take his turn, lobbing the ball down the lane like it weighs little more than a penny. It slips into the gutter, but at the last second it careens back up and knocks all the pins over. He grins, pumping his arms in the air, and turns his gaze back towards Dipper. “You should’ve seen me when I was her age! I’d break a window, I’d punch a jerk in the face, and then I’d be over it”

“Grunkle Stan, you’re still like that”

“Exactly!” he boasts. “And you don’t see me holding grudges against people who don’t deserve it, do ya? You know you meant well, Dipper, and I’m sure it won’t take long for her to realize that too.”

Dipper’s playing with the edge of his vest. “I guess so”.

“There, see?” Stan gently nudges him as he sits down beside him again. “Problem solved”. He says, but backtracks a little when he remembers what Dipper had said about his anxieties around making friends. “And if you ever need any of my advice on how to talk to girls without using any creepy mind-altering CDs, I’m your guy” he flashes Dipper a thumbs up, and it makes him smile.

“Thanks, Grunkle Stan. I’ll keep that in mind”.

#gravity falls #my writing #team brawn #stan pines #dipper pines

[five-rivers]

Glass Beetle

Based on a prompt by 2fruity4u for the Phic Phight! Might be sort of... fragmentary, in parts.

.

Danny frowned at his hand as it flickered in the evening's fading sunlight. He'd been having trouble with his invisibility lately. Nothing so obvious, for the most part, but both Sam and Tucker had noticed him 'blurring' or 'fading' around the edges this past week. He'd been able to correct himself so far, pull himself back into focus, so to speak, but, if that flicker was any sign, this was getting worse, not better.

He wondered if a new power was coming in. Sometimes his other powers acted weird when that happened. He hadn't noticed anything like that, though.

Either way, there wasn't all that much he could do about this. It wasn't as if he could just ask anyone what was wrong with his ghost powers.

Actually, that wasn't quite true. He did have a few ghostly allies. Sadly, they all lived (resided?) in lairs that took hours and hours to get to from the Fenton Portal. Lairs that also moved. He didn't really have the time to go find them.

Honestly, with all the schoolwork that had been heaped on him and his friends, he didn't have time to go do anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. Including sleep. He would give a lot to just be able to go to bed now, rather than whenever he finished his math homework. His extra math homework, assigned in lieu of detention. But, no, Skulker had to show up again, this time with ghostly hunting dogs, and completely waste Danny's afternoon.

But maybe that was the real reason he was having trouble with his invisibility. Exhaustion. And embarrassment. The two seemed to go hand in hand.

Just that week... Ugh, he didn't want to think about it.

He perched in a tree in the park, resting, and, inevitably, thought about it.

He really hated the people at his school sometimes. Dash for dumping glitter all over him and calling him a fairy... as if that insult wasn't so old it was fossilized... all the other people in his class for staring at him... Mrs. Hall for calling him out for 'disturbing the class'... the inevitable interruption of said class by ghosts... the detention... and everyone staring at him and giggling behind their hands.

Not to mention the toilet paper and what Dash and his cronies had done to his locker. Carrying his waterlogged books around and trying to explain to the teachers had been... painful.

In other words, the A-list had been in a bullying mood this week. No wonder he wanted to be invisible.

He sighed and drifted out of the tree. He had his breath back, as much as he had it as a ghost, and it was time to go home and do math.

Of course, to put a cherry on top of this already horrible week, he was immediately shot. He tumbled head over heels, and instinct took over. He went invisible, hard, erasing his light even in the infrared and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum, the chill of the power washing over him. He didn't know what had hit him, after all. A lot of ghost hunters had special goggles for seeing ghosts only transparent in the visible spectrum. Ghosts could often see through invisibility.

He reoriented himself, scanning the area for his attacker, one hand on the thermos.

Valerie. Very confused Valerie, judging by how she was whipping her head back and forth, scanning the ground and the skies.

Danny didn't want to deal with her. He hid himself behind a tree and went human in order to confuse any ectosignature tracing equipment she might have. He never knew what she'd get from Vlad, the jerk, but he probably wouldn't have included anything capable of tracking a half-ghost in human form.

He let out a breath as Valerie flew away. Now it was really time to get home.

He let go of his invisibility.

The cool feeling on his skin didn't go away. He looked down. Still invisible.

He let go of his invisibility.

Still, he only saw a faint outline of his limbs, visible only to his eyes.

Oh, this was going to be bad.

.

Danny had snuck into his house while invisible before, but usually he had a choice about it. He couldn't just walk through the walls, because his parents had coated most of the ground floor with something that blocked phasing a couple months ago (and was also a truly hideous orange), and he couldn't climb through his bedroom window because they had rigged it with a special anti-ghost alarm after noticing an ectoplasm stain on his windowsill.

He decided to go around to the back door, so no one would notice the front door opening and closing on its own. From there, he'd go to the lab and use the portal. Hours of flying and missing his math homework were preferable to being stuck invisible indefinitely. If only his parents had invented something to counteract invisibility... But, no, they were too focused on making things that hurt.

Yeah, maybe he was a bit bitter about that.

Okay, the coast was clear. Good. He padded down the back hall, unwilling to go ghost to fly. The security system was set to ignore him in human form, but sometimes it still picked up his ghost.

He turned the corner into the kitchen and froze as he heard the hateful beep of the Fenton Finder. His father's head snapped up, away from his plate of (unsanctioned by his diet) fudge.

"There is a ghost ten feet in front of you."

Jack leaped from his seat, and slammed the button to activate the Fenton Anti-Creep System. Lights strobed, some of them green with ectoenergy. Danny yelped and dodged a laser, then a laser sword, then a metal-backed cutout of his dad's face.

He ran.

By the time he got out of Fentonworks (the deathtrap) he was out of breath, slightly singed, and definitely bruised. He also felt, weirdly, more invisible.

He frowned. Was he diving deeper into invisibility without realizing it? Why? Because he'd been startled?

He turned to Sam's house.

.

"Okay," said Jazz, over the speaker on Sam's phone, after he had explained his current predicament. "It sounds like a confidence problem. Just, tell yourself you want to be seen- No. You have to want to be seen."

"I do want to be seen," said Danny. "I've been over this with Sam and Tucker. I don't want to be invisible."

"You know that," said Jazz, "but do you feel it?"

"Trust me," said Danny. "I feel it. Can you not get them out of the house for a bit so I can sneak in?"

"Afraid not," said Jazz. "They've put us on lockdown until they find, well, you. Or tomorrow morning."

Danny groaned. He'd already called them to say he was staying over at Tucker's. He'd wondered at the time why they were so happy about that.

.

He hadn't managed even a flicker of visibility by midnight. Even his transformation rings, usually blindingly bright, went unseen. Stuff he picked up turned invisible, too. Anything he wore turned invisible.

Also, the constant invisibility was draining him. Ghost powers took energy, especially when he was in human form. He was exhausted.

Maybe he would spend all his energy and wake up visible. He could hope. In the meantime, he'd sleep in one of the Manson's guest rooms.

.

He did not wake up visible. He woke up just as exhausted and unable to so much as see his own outline anymore. That was new. Before, he'd always been able to see himself while invisible.

He had to ask Sam to call Jazz, because he couldn't hold and see the phone at the same time.

"It should be safe to come home, now," said Jazz. "I turned off the security system, and Mom and Dad are off chasing ectopuses near the mall."

"Oh, good," said Danny, sluggishly transforming. "I'll be there in a few."

He took the same route in as before, but, this time, only Jazz was waiting for him in the kitchen.

Since he was a younger brother, he snuck up on her and poked the back of her neck. She jumped about a foot, and glared at a bit of air several inches above his eyes.

"Danny," she said, "would it kill you to take things seriously for once?"

"It already did," said Danny. "And, honestly, you sort of walked into that one."

Jazz rolled her eyes, and pushed open the door to the lab. "Do you want me to come with you?" she asked. "We can take the Specter Speeder."

"Better not," said Danny. "I should be fine. None of my enemies are going to be able to see me, after all."

"Well," said Jazz, as they stopped in front of the portal. She looked over a foot to his left as she said, "Be safe, Danny."

"I will," he said, and launched himself into the Ghost Zone.

.

"Your sister thought you had a what?" asked Frostbite, amused. He, also, wasn't looking quite where Danny was. In fact, Danny kept having to dodge out of the larger ghost's way.

"A confidence problem," said Danny. His voice sounded weirdly quiet, even to himself, and he wondered if his voice would also be affect by whatever this was.

The large ghost suppressed a toothy smile. "While your current condition may respond to your emotional state, great one, and your powers are linked to your emotions, they are not the cause."

"Then what is?"

"You have a parasite," said Frostbite.

Danny didn't say anything for a moment, half-convinced Frostbite was joking.

"A what?" he squeaked.

"A parasite. Don't be concerned, it is relatively harmless." Frostbite paused. "For ghosts. I have never heard of a human or half-ghost getting one."

That was comforting. Not. "What kind of parasite?" asked Danny. "What does it do? I mean, other than force you to be invisible."

"Well," said Frostbite. He turned to face the dizzying array of screens and other technology embedded in the icy wall of the cave. He brought up a image that made Danny blanch.

"It's that big?" he asked, one hand kneading his stomach, as if he could thereby force the many-legged thing out.

"Yes. Actually, it's a rather small example of this species. This must be its first breeding cycle."

Danny's eye twitched. "Breeding cycle?" he asked, feeling even sicker.

"Yes," said Frostbite. "The malaperas eraro is very sensitive to light during its breeding cycle, but they are also very weak ghosts, unable to become invisible for long periods of time. So they find a host and use their host's abilities. Once the breeding cycle is complete, all of the parasites will leave the host, and symptoms will stop almost immediately."

"And how long does this take, exactly?" asked Danny, voice cracking.

"Ah, it varies, great one," said Frostbite. "From the point that the ghost is unable to become visible, no longer than a week, depending on the strength of the host ghost."

"I can't be invisible for a week!" said Danny, alarmed. "I have school! My parents will notice I'm gone! I'm already exhausted from being invisible for this long. I can't take a week of this!"

"Ah, yes. The fatigue," said Frostbite. His eyes flicked from side to side. "That is, actually, the reason for the variable time. The malaperas eraro cannot finish breeding while the host is awake. It waits for the forced invisibility to drain the host and drop them into a sort of hibernation. It takes longer for stronger ghosts to reach that point."

"Oh," said Danny. "Great."

"We will be more than happy to have you stay with us while you recover. We will provide everything you need, and keep close track of your condition. This is more of an inconvenience to most ghosts than anything else. Similar to, say, the common cold or chicken pox for humans. It is difficult to be reinfected."

That was something, at least. He didn't want to do this again. "You're sure it will be safe for me? I mean, I'm not normal. Maybe we should just... take it out?" He mimed pulling, even though Frostbite couldn't see him.

"That is a matter to consider," agreed Frostbite. "Due to your unique physiology there may be... unforeseen complications. That is another reason for you to stay here, where we can monitor you. If it becomes necessary, we can remove the parasite, but doing so is an invasive and rather dangerous procedure."

Danny briefly considered flying to Clockwork, who could probably do something about the time problem, but exhaustion weighed heavily on his shoulders. "Okay. Fine, I guess. Just- Could you- If it isn't too much- take a message to my sister for me?"

.

The room was cozier and warmer than the norm for the Far Frozen, in deference to Danny's smaller stature and warm-blooded human form. There were also a number of nice, safe nooks and crannies that were attractive from a ghostly perspective, and a large number of paper-wrapped items.

"What?" asked Danny, leaning back into Frosbite's fluffy fur. On the way over, they had come to a compromise regarding how not to run Danny over. It involved Danny holding onto Frostbite (teenage pride required that he refuse Frostbite's offer to carry him) and Danny had enjoyed the contact more than he wanted to admit.

"Ah, gifts from your admirers, great one. We all wish for you to recover swiftly."

"So I don't freeze everyone again and leave quickly?" joked Danny.

Frostbite chuckled. "Nothing like that. We enjoy having you here, great one. It is an honor."

Danny hummed and let Frostbite guide him to the nest-like bed.

.

Danny felt like he was sleepwalking the past couple of... whatevers. Honestly, he didn't know how long he'd been in the Far Frozen anymore. It was all sort of blurring together, and Danny found it difficult to focus on anything.

Frostbite was doing another body-scan on him today, to check where the parasite was and what it was doing. Danny wasn't enthusiastic. The table for the scanner had been built for someone much larger than him and was distinctly uncomfortable.

Right now, Danny was sitting in a chair across the room, a blanket wrapped around him, waiting for Frostbite to wave him over. It was useful, he had found, to announce where he was going to be and then stay there. People wouldn't trip over him as much, if he was where he was expected to be.

"Alright, great one," said Frostbite. "We are ready to take your scan."

"Okay," mumbled Danny. He stood up, walked halfway to the table, and then collapsed under a wave of dizziness and fatigue.

"Great one?"

Danny only managed to make a pathetic sort of mewling sound. His vision was all grey around the edges, but he could still watch Frostbite grope along the floor, searching for him, and hissed when Frostbite bumped into him a little too roughly for comfort.

After that, Frostbite picked him up, and Danny stopped forcing his eyes open.

.

He woke up cocooned in sadly invisible blankets. There were voices. Deep, rhythmic ones. He sighed and tucked his chin down against his chest. He was safe here.

.

He woke up again, hungry and grumbling. He complained until he got food and went back to sleep.

.

When was the last time he opened his eyes? It was dark.

.

"... have finished?" said the voices.

"... reconsider the surgery..."

"... preparations..."

.

Danny woke up.

He could see his nose. Huh. He'd never really noticed how visible his nose was before he'd been stuck invisible. Really. It was right there.

He went back to sleep.

#danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2020

[penny44224]

I'm home

(It’s been a while I hope you like it😫)

Drinking your freshly brewed coffee as you sat in your office while observing the outside scenery from the window. It’s been exactly five years since you have been married to Chris or formally known as Bang Chan from Stray Kids. What started as a random encounter turned into blissful romance.

You both fought hard to keep your relationship going from the company, parents, and of course the fans. But successfully, everyone saw how much your love for one other is and eventually let it be. This is what you wanted right, to finally be with Chan without second-guessing yourself. So why are you unhappy. The public thinks you guys are living the happy married life together, but in private, you guys were struggling. To start it off, Bang Chan still works for JYP. Meaning, he lives in Seoul while he also lives in Australia which is where you live. You’ve been pushing about wanting to start a family with him ever since you guys got married but the long-distance is becoming a real issue.

You knew how much he loved his career and you support him fully without a doubt. But you couldn’t take it. Because to be honest, you were just lonely. It’s been 8 months since the last time you guys saw each other, felt each other, and kiss each other. You longed for him physically but you knew it wasn’t you say so. You accepted the long distance while you guys were dating but now being married, it was a different story.

Last night, you decided to call him up but that was a horrible idea. You just wanted to check up on him, but it escalated to an intense argument. The last thing you remember is him saying to you, “why the fuck am I still with you!” You never felt so broken that you barely got sleep last night.

Now you're in your office, trying your best to get through the day. On cue, that’s when your coworkers, Lia, Beth, and Maxine came in.

“Y/N did you not see my text messages I sent you!” said Lia

“Oh I’m sorry I haven’t been on my phone” you replied quietly

The girls were always used to your uplifting spirit but notice a sad tone in your voice

“Hey honey you ok?” Beth asked walked closer to you

That’s when finally last night’s emotion hit you. You started brawling in front of your friends while they immediately comfort you. You began to tell them everything that has happened.

“Oh my goodness, I never knew you were dealing with this sweetie,” Maxine says as she hugs you

“I don’t know what to do anymore, does he even love me or are we just staying together because of how hard we fought to be together, “ you say as more tears begin to fall down your cheek

“Don’t say that girl, you know he loves you melanin and all! You guys fought because of how much you love each other. That’s what matters” Maxine states

“But I can’t believe he said that to you, he knows I will literally go to Seoul to beat his ass up!” Lia replied which made you guys giggle

“Exactly go book a flight now and a hotel too” Beth added

“Oh guys stop,” you say now laughing as the tears start to dry

”You know what we can do to cheer you up!” Lia gasped

The girls looked at each other unsure

”THE CLUB” Lia yelled excitedly

”oh my goodness yasss, we can go to the one that just opened!” Beth added

” Uhh guys I'm not sure going to the club will help my problem,” y/n said

”Trust us y/n, the more you stress, the more you will become depressed. So let just let go for one night. ” Maxine says sweetly

You did want to forget about what happened last night so you agreed

”yayyy we gonna party!” Lia jumped up and down

”umm guys, is it ok if I invite Susie, you know she's new to town and I want to show her around,” Beth asked

”of course, she can come” you answered unaware of the butterfly effect you just created

After two hours of getting ready, you examined your self in the mirror. Your hair was up in a high ponytail, smokey face look, a strapless burgundy dress that hugged your curves and lace heels.

”Your gonna have a fun night,” you tell yourself as you hear beeping outside

As you guys were at the club, the girls literally on cloud nine. But you were still in your mood because of what Chan said. That's when Susie, the coworker came over to you

”Hey I heard what happened to you,” Susie said

”of course you did, Beth has a big mouth,” you said rubbing your forehead

”Heyy you need a drink, I'll go get one for you ” She winked and left before you can decline her suggestion

As Susie received your drink, she turned around (with her back facing you ) and dropped a small pill inside of it. When the pill dissolved she walked right toward you

”Here this will help you to let loose” Susie says as she hands you your drink

Your mind was screaming at you don't do it. But you just want to let go of all this hurt you were feeling.As you finished the drink, a rush of adrenaline took over your body in an instant.

After at least ten minutes, you were dancing on top of the bar table while the crowd cheers you on too. Your friends taking videos of you while hyping you up. That when you saw a man from across the room looking at you. The way he stared at you made you dance sexier. He began to smirk and lick his lips at you. Enjoying the effect you had on him, you got off the bar table.

”Girl what was that, you were killin it,” Lia said chapping her hands

” You said get loose so I'm doing exactly that. ” you said flipping your ponytail as you walk toward the mysterious man

As you walked toward him, he stands up from his seat. You got a good look at him, muscles trying their best out hold inside his button-up shirt, hair perfectly styled, and a smile that can light up the room.

”What's your name, handsome?” you asked

”B/W (your bias wrecker) ” he said with a smile

” mmm, you wanna dance,” you said stretch your arm out to him

He took it as you brought him to the center of the dance floor. You two began dancing for quite a while until the DJ started to play slow R&B aka sexual music. (B/W) held your waist and brought you closer to him. You felt everything as his body and your body closed the gap between you too. The feeling was addicting as you feel his lips shadow your neck and bulge on your thigh. You look up at him slowly to meet his eyes. Once both of your eyes met, all you saw was darkness and lust

As you open your eyes, you began stretching. But that's when you felt immediately nauseous, jumped out of bed, and sprinted to the bathroom. After throwing up for the fourth time. You tried reaching for the toilet paper where you usually put it but all you felt was a wall. That when your senses hit you, this wasn't your house.

As you look around your surroundings., you realized. This was a hotel! Maybe the girls and I crashed her because we were so drunk. So you washed up and left the bathroom. As you were walking toward the bedroom, you halt your action immediately. You looked on the floor and saw clothes. But not only yours, male clothes too. So many thoughts filled your head as it pounds. You finally reached the bed and saw him, (B/W) sleeping peacefully yet naked. That when you started to remember everything last night. You felt can not be described. Guilt layer 1 You quickly put on your clothes, grabbed your phone and bolted out of the building.

As you reached home you hopped into the shower. You began to break down letting all last night's mistakes and your latest fight with Chan flood the shower. You cheated on your husband replied over and over in your brain. As guilt flood the atmosphere. You felt extremely horrible but you knew you had to tell him. Guilt layer 2

As you got changed and decided to empty the trash, as you were organizing from the recyclables to the trash, you found a pregnancy box. That’s when you felt a cold chill rise. You forgot to check if you wore a condom, but you rushed out of the hotel room without asking the man. What you were about to do felt sick but you wanted to make sure

After waiting the exact time, you finally saw your results...you never wanted to jump out of a window so badly but you couldn’t since there was not another human inside you. You called up Maxine, telling her everything while balling your eyes out. Guilt layer part 3

” I'm a horrible wife, Maxine. I got so sad that I drank my feelings out because my husband said he doesn't know why he's with me. A-and I made an m-mistake and slept with (B/W) and now I'm giving pregnant. Pregnant from someone who isn't my husband! ” you cried out in pain while lying down in the floor

” y/n how did you even get this drunk in the first place?” Maxine asked

”Well Susie gave a drink, it tasted very fizzy for a drink. ” you said as you sniffed

”Oh my fucking gosh that bitch drugged you. I knew there was something wrong with her I just couldn't put my finger in it. One of my coworkers says they were there last night as saw her in the act but was too drunk to remember until this morning. I'm so sorry I should if stood by you” Maxine explain sadly

”So I'm a cheating worthless wife, who got pregnant over a one night stand because j was drugged by my co worker..” you say blankly analyzing how broken you felt. Your emotions are now numb, realizing everything was your fault. If you would have just said no all of these events would not have taken place. But the only person you can blame is yourself. Guilt layer 4

”y/n don't do anything stupid, we're coming over there right now,” Maxine says but you hung up the phone without giving her an answer

You got up from the floor and loom in the mirror. Your hair was a mess, your face, and a bit swelled from all the crying. You took a deep breath and try telling your self you will be ok. You grabbed the pregnancy test and walked out of the bathroom. Once you enter the living room, you halt your movements as your eyes couldn't believe what you were seeing.

Your one-night stand (B/W) standing with your purse that you probably left at the hotel in his hands while displaying shook expression. But that's not what you shocked about. It was because your husband was also standing in your shared living room with your favorite flowers in his hands looking at you with an expression you can't identify.

Both men are looking at you, while you looking at them thinking this was a dream. But somehow you were still missing something. Your eyes turned traveled to the living table where all you guys family photos we're placed. But there was one photo that stood out the most. It was a photo of your husband and (B/w) in a picture together, a high school picture together. Now all the puzzles pieces are now connected. B/w was chan childhood friend he has mentions you about but you never really met him until now well last night. As the final cherry on top, the guilt cake was completed of worse wife ever. It like Chan knew your realization, he heard everything you said from the bathroom since you were practically yelling and especially (B/W) too.

That when Chan began to speak

”I'm home”

#kpop #bang chan #chan #skz #skz ambw #ambw skz #stray kids poc #poc stray kids #skz poc #skz minho #lee know #changbin #jisung #hyunjin #i.n. #seungmin #felix #stray kids angst #skz angst #skz imagines #stray kids reactions #stray kids imagine

[dyavania]

Hector x Reader — No Touching — Twelve: Dancing

One — Two — Three — Four — Five — Six — Seven — Eight — Nine — Ten — Eleven

The day had been long and tranquil. You had met with Hector after you’d been done with your chores, the two of you had chatted a little, and, as the light was declining outside, you were preparing yourself to go back, when you heard the music. It started out light, maybe a couple of cords played on a lute, which had you looking up already, though Hector didn’t notice. Then it was joined by drums, laughter, and finally, singing. You jumped up to your feet with a smile as Hector turned around, much wearier.

When you got to the door, you glanced up at the sky. Night seemed to have been closer than you had expected, and it didn’t take you long to figure out what the festivities were about.

“It’s the winter solstice,” you said out loud, bright smile forming on your face. “The longest night of the year.”

“And what are they doing?” Hector asked with a frown. He knew there were festivities for the solstices, but he had never taken part in them, or a long time ago perhaps, when he’d been but a child, and he didn’t have many memories.

“Keeping the darkness away, I suppose,” you replied. “Whether because they believe creatures might come for them tonight or because it’s a long night and it’s better to fill it with songs.”

Hector nodded stiffly, watching the forms moving with some curiosity.

“Care to join?” you offered, and he started.

“If they’re trying to keep the darkness away, as you said, I doubt they’ll want me around,” he answered bitterly. It certainly explained why his family always made excuses to keep him at home.

“They’ve hired forgemasters before,” you said, voice soft. “I doubt they would object to your presence. In fact, I doubt they give much credit to those stories. It’s mostly an excuse to relax and drink.”

“You want to join them,” he observed.

“I do,” you chuckled. “I think they’ll give me a break for tonight, and this could be… enjoyable.”

He should have told you to enjoy yourself, and walked back inside. But he liked the look on your face so much at this moment — your smile, the light in your eyes, your cheeks tainted pink by excitement — that he simply didn’t find it in himself. He couldn’t deny you, and he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to see you… just a little longer.

“Then should we— should we go?”

The ‘we’ only formed hesitantly on his lips, but he still managed it, and it was oh so worth it, just for the way you turned to look at him, and your smiled widened even more. For a second, he thought you were going to jump into his arms, but then you pulled back, still smiling so brightly it was almost blinding.

“Sure! Do you want to grab a jacket maybe?”

As soon as he was ready, he followed you across the courtyard. He didn’t miss the way the vampires were looking at the happy gathering, but they didn’t look like they were going to intervene. Even if they had, the mercenaries were probably more than able to defend themselves, he assumed.

When he arrived, he realized that there were more women than he’d expected. There were only to other women who looked like servants, and one men, but there had to be five or six women among the mercenaries. It wasn’t hard to tell the groups apart — servants were discreet and looked afraid, even if they were seemingly invited to the celebration as well, whereas mercenaries looked like there was nothing in the world that could scare them.

And then there was you. His eyes followed you around, and it struck him just then how you shined. You didn’t look scared, even if you clearly treaded carefully among people who were all extremely dangerous. The light of the fire caressed your skin, and, when reflected in your eyes, there was something absolutely mesmerizing about it, Hector discovered. The sight alone made his breathing heavier.

He could have watched you for hours. He had only seen you outside once, he realized, in broad daylight, and suddenly he was overwhelmed by the desire for more. He wanted to see you in all types of lightning, in the spring and in the summer, in all types of places, wanted to see you in Rhodes and in Alexandria. Wanted you to never leave his sight again.

He realized he’d been staring when you walked back to him with a cup of what he assumed to be wine. You handed it to him, careful not to let your fingertips touch.

“We’re going to dance,” you announced cheerfully. “Do you want to—”

“I can’t dance,” he mumbled. “But you should enjoy yourself.”

“Oh.” You frowned. You’d wanted to offer to teach him, if he didn’t know, but his quick response made you feel he’d decline. Not that it would be easy to teach him without touching him, anyway.

You contemplated staying on the side with him, but the dancers were already walking together, and the sight was just too tempting. You bit your lower lip, looking back between him and them, before finally giving in.

“I won’t leave you for too long,” you promised, putting down your own cup.

He smiled, and simply watched, as you found your place within the dancers. Watched, as your hips swayed, feet light on the ground, and you moved with the rhythm. Watched, as you brushed so easily against other men, taking the hand of your partner, all things he couldn’t do with you, and suddenly, it was excruciating.

He sat through it a while longer, until he simply couldn’t. Until the simple thought of how your skin would feel, taste, drove him insane. There was desire in his feelings, and he was aware of it, aware that he wanted you, but that wasn’t the worst part, not by far. He would have forgotten it all just to touch you. To nuzzle his face in your hair. To hold you. To touch your hand.

The man you were dancing with put his hands on your hips, and you laughed, and it was all too much. He turned away.

You only caught up with him when he was already inside the forge. He heard you calling out his name and, like he had no choice — he didn’t feel like he did — he turned around to face you. Your eyes were worried and thoughtful, and you were panting from the dance, lips parted, and absolutely everything about you just so, so tempting.

“Are you okay?” you asked. When he didn’t respond, you added, forcing a smile: “Leaving so soon?”

He didn’t know what to say, so he merely nodded, forcing himself to look away from you.

“I… need to rest,” he said, and even he wasn’t convinced by the poor excuse.

“You sure you don’t want to dance?” you offered. “We don’t have to touch or to do something complicated, we can just—”

You took a careful step towards him and wrapped your arms around his neck. You were extremely cautious not to touch him, but his eyes still widened, and you watched him swallow.

“You can put yours on my waist.”

You didn’t know why you had whispered it. Maybe because the moment felt so precious, so intimate, that you were afraid of breaking it. Regardless, Hector followed your advice, just as careful as you not to touch you. You started swaying from side to side, and he did the same thing. From the outside, it would probably look extremely strange, with how your hands hovered right above each other’s skin, but you were painfully aware that this was all you could get.

As you spun, you became awfully conscious of his warm breath on your cheek, of the heat he radiated, of how he smelled of hot iron and fir tree. When you dared to look up, you found him staring at you. His blue eyes were shining in the half-light, and your heart missed a beat when you found them. They mirrored your pain, your desire for more than this, but there was also something that almost looked like happiness in them.

Your eyes dropped to his lips, and you pushed yourself up, just a little. Your lips didn’t touch, but you came as close as you could, before dropping back on your heels, moving away from him. This was dangerous. You needed— you needed to put an end to this before you did something that would end poorly for the two of you.

“I should go,” you mumbled.

You didn’t wait for his answer before running out.

Because of that, you didn’t see the deep blush on his cheeks, visible even with his tan skin. You didn’t see him bringing a trembling hand to his lips. You didn’t see him closing his eyes tightly as he tried to burn the images and the feelings in his memory.

You didn’t see him smile, and even if you had, you wouldn’t have realized that it was because you’d wanted to kiss him. There were a lot of horrible things in Hector’s life. Not being able to touch you was definitely on the list, and was only becoming worse as time went on, but the fact that you wanted to touch him, to kiss him, just as much as he wanted to, and yet that you cared enough for him that you wouldn’t… That was more than he could say about most, if not all, people in his life.

It made things just a little more bearable and, even if he knew that soon the desire of actually kissing you would outweigh, for now, he wanted to let himself simply be happy about it, with no ifs, no buts.

You wanted to kiss him, and it made the stars shine brighter tonight.

#hector #hector x reader #hector castlevania #castlevania #castlevania netflix #no touching #my writing

[theydontknowaboutusimagines]

A Valentine’s Day to Forget - Harry Styles One Shot

Normally, you weren’t a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t because you had been single for most of your adult life, but because you thought if you truly loved someone you should want to show them/tell them/do something nice for them any day of the week, month, or year and not just a specific day that everyone was going to be doing the same. 

However, ever since you’ve been in a relationship with your current boyfriend for almost two years, you’ve enjoyed spending Valentine’s Day together. The past two Valentine’s Day dates had been simple ones. The first one you two had only been dating for a few weeks prior, so you two had done a nice dinner out before heading back to his place for ice cream and a movie. That was almost the night he officially asked you to be his girlfriend. 

The next year, you and Harry had decided on a night in, eating Chinese food and watching Rom Coms the entire night while you cuddled on the couch. For this year, you had suggested maybe doing something a little more formal. You had tried talking with Harry about ideas, but he said he would have everything taken care of. He wanted the night to be special and a surprise. 

Part of you wondered if he had something up his sleeve, perhaps a marriage proposal, but you shook that thought out of your mind. One neither of you had really brought up the topic of marriage and two, you really hoped he wouldn’t ask on a day like Valentine’s Day. But anyway, you were currently getting ready for your big date with Harry. 

You had purchased the most gorgeous blood red velvet floor lengthen dress that fit you perfectly. Again you weren’t sure about the color red because it was known for every one to wear a shade of red on Valentine’s Day, but you fell in love with it as soon as you put on it. You paired it with a simple diamond necklace Harry had bought you on your first anniversary and a pair of diamond stud earrings he had bought for your birthday. 

You found a thick sliver heels in your closet and slipped your feet into them. You  also picked out a black coat to wear and one of your small handbags to put your things in. You still had no idea what Harry had in store for your date night, but you do remember him saying he would be there to pick you by seven. 

While it was technically the night before Valentine’s Day, you both had agreed on going out before the actual day and then maybe doing something simple on the night of, so that way you weren’t stuck with the huge crowd of people. Once you were all ready to go, you did a double check in the mirror. You were a bundle of excitement and you weren’t sure why. It was amazing that you still felt like this whenever you were with him or going out with him. 

When you were satisfied with your look, you grabbed your coat and bag before heading down to the living room to wait for Harry. You weren’t sure if he would need to freshen up or change before leaving, so you poured yourself a glass of wine to sip on while you waited for him to arrive. Six forty-five rolled around and you still hadn’t heard from him. Now, that you thought about it, you hadn’t really heard from him all day. 

You knew he was going in for some meetings regarding the tour and rehearsing for his upcoming Brit’s performance, but surely he would have checked in at last once. When six forty-five turned into seven thirty, you probably should have been more worried than you were. You also probably should have sent him a text or phoned him to see if everything was okay. 

However, during your wait you had gotten infested in the Law and Order SVU marathon that was on and a few glasses of wine. It wasn’t until you started feeling a little tipsy that you realized just how late it had gotten. It was well after nine o’clock and you had yet to hear from Harry. You grabbed your phone, double checking for any missed calls or texts. 

Nothing. 

You were really starting to worry now wondering where he could be. It was never like him to be over two hours later without letting you know. You called him first, but it ended up going to voicemail. You sighed typing a quick little message and pressing send. 

Hey, Babe, Just checking in to see where you are. It’s a bit late and I’m worried.

Twenty minutes pass and there’s still no response, so you try again. 

Still no answer. Just a voicemail. 

So, you try your next option. You text Mitch and Adam, who you knew would have been at the rehearsals to see if they knew where Harry might be. It only took about ten minutes before Adam responded. 

Pretty sure Harry, Mitch, Sarah, and a few others went out to grab dinner and some drinks.

Your mouth opened in shock as you read the text from Adam. Not only were you shocked in knowing Harry’s whereabouts, but also that you didn’t drop or throw your phone after finding out. Going out for dinner and drinks with his band was something he did quite often when it came to being at the studio or rehearsals, especially when they ran late. But the fact that he went that night, when you two were supposed to have a special night out, that he was supposed to plan, really hurt you. 

It also pissed you the hell off. You weren’t sure when Harry would finally decide to make his presence home, so you went upstairs taking off the dress you had been so excited to wear, but would now only hold the memory of the night your boyfriend forgot about you. You put on sweats and a large t shirt before going into the bathroom and wiping off the makeup you had spent quite a bit of time to apply. 

And finally you pulled up the hair that you had perfectly curled up into a messy bun. You really wanted to climb into bed and forget about this whole thing, but you knew with the amount of wine you had that night, you needed to put something in your stomach. Of course, due to your annoyance level, you really weren’t that hungry, but your body would hate you in the morning if you for went eating dinner. 

By the time you went to the kitchen, grabbed things out to make a quick sandwich, you heard the front door unlock. 

Well. Well. Well, look finally decided to show the fuck up you thought. 

While you were spreading the hummus onto your slice of bread, Harry walked through the door. 

“Hey, baby, I’m home,” he said. “So sorry It’s late. The mates and I went out for drinks.”

No shit. You rolled your eyes. 

“Baby?” Harry said walking into the kitchen. “Oh, there you are. Hm. That looks delicious, can you make me one?” 

You really wanted to tell him off right then and there, but you bit your tongue and continued to ignore him. 

“Or not,” he said when you started putting everything up. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn't call or respond to your texts. My phone died and I didn’t realize you had called me until I plugged my phone into the car.” 

You poured yourself some water into a glass before picking up your plate and going into the living room. You sat yourself down on the couch and picked up where you left off on the marathon, turning up the volume. Harry sighed, it was obvious that you were upset with him, but he didn’t really understand why. 

Yes, he should have called you to let you know where he was, but he went out to dinner after rehearsals all the time, so he didn’t really see what the problem was. He decided to give you some space while you ate your sandwich and he went to the bedroom to change out of his t shirt and trousers and into something more comfortable. 

It wasn’t until he went into the bathroom when he saw all of the discarded makeup wipes in the trash bin that he realized something wasn’t quite right. He went back into bedroom and saw your coat and handbag laying on the chair. 

Did you go somewhere tonight? He thought to himself. 

He went back into the living room where you were still on the couch. You were curled up in a blanket and the empty plate was on the coffee table in front of you. 

“So, what did you do tonight?” He asked sitting next to you. 

You moved away from him to the other side of the couch and he sighed. 

“Y/N, please talk to me,” he pleaded. “If I fucked up, just tell me so I can make it right.” 

You glared at him, “The fact that you don’t even know that you did fuck up tonight is the real problem.” 

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t call. I didn’t think I’d be out that late,” he said. 

“I don’t give a shit about that Harry!” You snapped. “Okay, maybe I do a little bit, but the real issue is something else entirely.” 

“Like what?” He sighed. 

“Like I don’t know this super special date that you were supposed to be planning for us? You know the one that we had talked about a few weeks ago and you said that you had everything under control. But no, apparently you fucking forgot because you went out with your mates while I sat here all dressed up with nowhere to go,” you snapped. “I sat here drinking an entire bottle of wine because my own boyfriend stood me the fuck up on Valentine’s Day! So, yeah, you did fuck up and I don’t know which is worse the fact that you stood me up or the fact that you didn’t know that you stood me up!” 

Before Harry could answer you threw the blanket off of you and went into the bedroom, slamming the door behind you. 

The second Harry heard the door slam he knew there was no resolving this tonight. He couldn’t believe he forgot about the date, that he forgot about Valentine’s Day in general. His schedule was super busy at the moment, not that it was an excuse, but it was. He never even made plans for the date. He had written ideas down, but he never called to make them happen. 

Fuck, he really fucked up. Now, the makeup wipes in the trash bin made sense. You had gotten ready and then took everything off before he got home. God, he felt miserable. He felt horrible, knowing that he hurt you. He knew he needed to fix this, but he wasn’t sure how. He could stay up all night planning the perfect date for tomorrow, but he knew it wouldn’t make things right. 

He knew it was late, but there was only one person he could go to for advice, so he grabbed his phone and called his mother. 

**

When you woke up the next morning, you were alone in your bed. At first you were confused, but then the previous nights events flooded back into your memory. You got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Harry must have slept in the guest bedroom, which you were a little annoyed that he didn’t even try to make things right. But it was a new day and his ass better be groveling or else it would be another night spent in the guest room. 

You opened the door walking out to the smell of cinnamon and powdered sugar filling the air. You rolled your eyes at the thought he was trying to make this right by make you breakfast. Weak! Anyway, you made your way into the kitchen to see Harry making french toast with a cheesy little pink and red, heart apron. Three huge Bouquets of Roses of a red, pink, and white were sat on top of the bar. 

Now you were smelling the roses and the french toast. You weren’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. When Harry noticed you, he gave a small smile. 

“Morning,” he said. 

You nodded, “Morning.” 

“I uh. I made breakfast,” he said pointing to the spread in front of him. “I tried making them in heart shapes, but honestly they look a bit more like an ass.” 

Oh my god, someone never let this man cook again, you thought. 

“Um, thank you, I guess,” you said walking over to the cabinet to get two glasses to pour some drinks into. 

Harry carried two plates over to the kitchen where yet another huge ass bouquet of roses sat. 

“Did you buy out an entire flower shop?” You asked sitting down. 

“Uh, no,” he laughed awkwardly. 

“Hm,” you said sitting down and pouring syrup onto your toast and taking a bite. 

Neither of you had said anything until finally Harry couldn't’ take the silence anymore. 

“Y/N, baby,” he sighed. “I’m sorry about last night. I know that does change what happened or make things better, but I need you to know I am sorry. I did forget to make plans for us, and I can’t believe that I did that. It’s just with the tour coming up and this single getting ready to drop and filming and all this other shit, it just really fell through the cracks. I know it’s no excuse and I never should have let myself forget about a night about you.” 

Next thing you know it pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, “Now, I know this won’t change what happened, but I did have all this amazing ideas for our date night. I just... forgot to actually make them happen. I did put a lot of thought into this, I just didn’t execute it. I want to make this up to you, I really, really do, we don’t have to do it tonight, but I want to do all of these things with you if you’ll give me the chance.” 

You looked over at him before taking the piece of paper and looking over it. There were a lot of great ideas and things you two had talked about doing before. 

“All of these would have been great, had you remembered last night,” you mumbled. 

Harry sighed looking down at his plate. 

“And I understand that you’ve been under a lot of stress and work has been crazy, but you’re about to go on tour for basically the rest of the year. I’m only going to see you for a few weeks at a time throughout, so I thought maybe you’d want to spend as much time with me as you could before then,” you whispered. 

Harry took your hand, “And I do. Of course, I do. You’re my girlfriend and I love you. I want nothing more than to spend time with you.” 

“But not last night,” you said. “Harry it’s not just that you forgot to plan this special date, it’s the fact that you just plain forgot. Had you come home after rehearsal last night and didn’t even mention going out, I would have been a little disappointed, but at least we would have been together. It wasn’t just about going out for Valentine’s Day, it was about spending time with one another.” 

“I know, I know,” he whispered. “God, I want to make this right. I hate seeing you upset and I hate being the cause of it. Please, tell me how to make this right.” 

You sighed looking over at him, “Next time, choose me,” you whispered before getting up and taking your plate into the kitchen before going back into the bedroom, leaving Harry at the table with his thoughts. 

**

First Valentine’s Day One Shot! Thoughts??? 

#One Direction Imagines #Harry Styles Imagines #Harry Styles One Shots

[multifandomhaven]

Tip VII

Pairing: Nacho Varga x OC

A/N: Okay, the Spanish in this chapter has been translated by Google Translate, so it may not be 100% accurate, but it's the best I could do! Also, this one is nothing but fluff - something light in all this craziness going on in the world. I hope you and your loved ones are safe!

Enjoy!

Sarah woke to the feeling of a fingertip running lightly from the base of her neck, down to her lower back, and then back up again. She lay there for longer than she probably should have, and she knew Nacho knew that she was awake, but she couldn't bring herself to care. The gentleness of his finger on her bare skin caused her to go boneless, goosebumps erupting along it's trail.

"You going to fake sleep all day?" His voice, still groggy with sleep, came in almost a whisper.

Sarah hummed, the sound resonating deep in her chest, her eyes still closed. "Maybe, especially if you keep that up.

She opened her eyes, blinking the sleep away. She rubbed one of her eyes with the heel of her palm and then gave a tiny, sleepy grin to the man beside her. "Hi."

Nacho mirrored her expression, his eyes crinkling slightly. "Hi."

Sarah yawned again and looked over at the clock. Twelve o'clock - the latest she's slept in a while. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not long," Nacho shrugged, "ten, maybe fifteen minutes before you."

Sarah turned to face him, bringing the sheet up to her chest, shivering in the cool air of morning. "Do you have to go into work today?"

"Not today, but... there is something," he trailed off.

She waited for him to continue, watching as he rolled his words around his head before he brought his thumb up to scratch at his eyebrow. It was a habit she'd noticed a few weeks ago - whatever it was he wanted to speak with her about, it had him really thinking.

Sarah brought a hand up to grip at his wrist, pulling it away gently. She laced her fingers with his and brought their entwined hands to her chest. "As sexy as you are when you're brooding you're really starting to freak me out a little," she admitted lightly. "Is something wrong?"

Nacho shook his head lightly, his eyes soft. "No."

"Okay then, so what is it?" Sarah urged.

Nacho sighed. "You know how you're starting work on Monday, right?"

"Yeah," Sarah glanced over to the calendar on her wall, her starting date circled in red. "Is everything still okay? Did your dad change his mind?"

"No, nothing like that. He's already gotten everything prepared," he assured her. "It's just... he invited us over to dinner."

"That's nice of him," Sarah smiled slightly. "When are we going?"

"Today," Nacho told her, watching her face intently as he continued, "at two."

Sarah's eyes widened and she jumped out of the bed, taking the sheet with her as she did. She ran her hand through her mussed hair nervously. "Two as in two hours from now?!"

Nacho nodded. "Is that a problem?"

"No, no problem," Sarah mumbled. "I just, I just have to get ready. I have to get something to bring to dinner."

Nacho sat up, watching as she paced around the room, the excess of the sheet trailing behind her. "Sarah, it's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal, Nacho," Sarah stressed. "I'm meeting your father for the first time... in two hours... empty handed."

"Technically, it isn't the first time you've met him." Nacho furrowed his brows. "He came to the diner all the time."

"Dear God, Nacho, that doesn't count." Sarah blanched. "I'm meeting him as your..."

"My?" Nacho repeated when she grew quiet. He waited for her to continue, but when she didn't he supplied, "My girl?"

Sarah's cheeks reddened and her grip tightened on the sheet. "Yes. Exactly."

"He's a nice guy," Nacho told her gently. "He's not going to care if you don't show up with -"

Sarah shook her head wildly and grabbed a change of clothes from her dresser, rushing into the bathroom to take a shower without another word.

Once she was out, Nacho found himself pushed to do the same. They hurried into his van and drove to the closest supermarket, just a few minutes from the apartment. Inside, Sarah made a mad dash through the aisles, her eyes wide and searching. She scanned package after package, running over the pros and cons of each before she grabbed two and held them out to the amused man behind her.

"Okay, which do you think," she debated the options before she tuned them to face him, shaking them slightly, "chocolate chip or peanut butter?"

Nacho's eyes were raised high onto his forehead, but he chuckled all the same. "He'll be fine with either."

Sarah groaned, dropping her arms down by her sides dramatically. It was all she could do to keep from stamping her foot in frustration. "Nacho, c'mon, this is your dad we're talking about. I want to make a good impression."

"With cookies?" He smirked.

"Yes," she answered quickly. "With cookies. Now, please help me."

Nacho shook his head lightly, but answered anyway. "Chocolate chip."

Sarah brightened a bit, bringing the packages back up to eye them." Chocolate chip... you sure?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "They're classic."

Sarah nodded and smiled. "Right. Classic," she said, under her breath. "Why didn't I think of that?"

A little while later, with a tin full of fresh cookies, they pulled into the driveway of the small house. Sarah's fingers drummed on the container, the beat matching the one her heart played in her chest. She bounced her leg, the motion shaking the parked van slightly, and her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth.

"Hey," Nacho said, reaching out to cover one of her hands with his. "Relax, it's just dinner."

Sarah looked up, her eyes locking onto his, and nodded. "I know, I'm just - I'm really nervous."

"Don't be," he told her. "He's going to love you."

Looking down at his hand on hers, she mumbled out, "and what if he doesn't?"

"He will," Nacho affirmed. "Trust me."

Sarah shook her head. "How do you know?"

"How do I know he'll love you?" Sarah nodded, so he continued. "He'll love you because I do."

Sarah's jaw fell slack and her eyes watered a bit. "Nacho," she whispered, pulling her hand from under his and fanning away the tears that threatened to escape. "You're going to ruin my makeup."

"Sorry," he chuckled before getting out of the van. He walked around the front and to the passenger door to open it. He plucked the tin out of her lap quickly and helped her out onto the pavement. Her legs were a bit shaky as she tried to gain her bearings, and Nacho noticed right away. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I'm... more than okay, actually. You know I feel the same don't you?"

Nacho winked at her, his eyes bright. "I do now."

Sarah returned his smile and put her hand on his face, her thumb running along his cheekbone. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

"Come on," he urged, taking her hand.

Nacho knocked on the door and in just a few seconds the mustached man she'd seen in the diner so many times opened the door, grinning brightly at the two of them. He looked between them and the opened his arms wide, pulling Nacho to him and hugging him tightly.

"Mijo," he greeted happily. "Estoy tan contento de que hayas venido!"

Sarah stood behind him, watching their exchange with a silently. When his father released him, Nacho turned back toward her, motioning her forward. Sarah stepped up beside him, grateful for the warmth of his hand on her back.

"Papa, this is Sarah," he introduced. "Sarah, this is my father, Manuel."

Sarah smiled and extended her hand to him. He took it warmly, shaking it. "It's nice to properly meet you, Mr. Varga."

"Ignacio has told me a lot about you!" The older man smiled at her, his eyes shining. "Please, come in, come in!"

Manuel ushered them into the kitchen where he had a pot of chili already sitting in the middle of the table. Beside it on a plate was a heaping circle of cornbread. It was mouthwatering and Sarah couldn't help but feel a little more at home. Her eyes wandered around the walls, stopping on pictures of a younger Nacho, bright eyed and smiling.

"Sarah made some cookies for desert," Nacho's voice sounded, breaking Sarah from her trance. She glanced over to him and caught his grin before he added. "Chocolate chip."

Manuel gave her another big smile. "That was very kind, Sarah. Thank you."

"It was nothing," she said, fighting a smile at the eyebrow Nacho raised at her. "Everything smells amazing, Mr. Varga."

The older man tutted at her. "Please, call me Manuel."

Sarah nodded and Nacho came to pull her chair out for her. She sat down while Nacho got their drinks before he sank into the seat beside her. They ate between questions, Nacho interperting when the barrier between them became too great.

Sarah's nerves had settled and she found herself leaning slightly into Nacho's side as he spoke with his father.

Manuel's eyes flitted between them before a knowing smile came over his face. "Cuánto tiempo ha estado sucediendo esto?"

Sarah felt Nacho tense beneath her and she furrowed her brows. Nacho shook his head at her lightly and answered his father quietly. "Solo un ratito."

"Ella es muy agradable," Manuel said, "Ella me gusta."

Nacho nodded. "Sí, yo también."

At the end of the night, Manuel ushered them out, giving Nacho another hug and kiss to the side of the head, and shaking Sarah's hand again.

Nacho helped her back into the van, waved to his father, and then drove off.

"Your father's really sweet," Sarah said once they got onto the road. "You were right. I shouldn't have been so nervous."

Nacho glanced at her. "I told you he'd love you."

"And I told you cookies would impress him," Sarah teased, winking at him.

Again, I'm so sorry if the translations in this are butchered. I used Google translate and it's notorious for being horribly off, but I speak zero Spanish!

Mijo - son

Estoy tan contento de que hayas venido - I'm so glad that you came

Cuánto tiempo ha estado sucediendo esto - how long has this been going on

Solo un ratito - only a little while

Ella es muy agradable - she's very nice

Ella me gusta - I like her

Sí, yo también - yeah, me too

#nacho varga #nacho varga x oc #better call saul #better call saul fanfiction #bcs #nacho varga fafiction

[kd-holloman]

First Line Tag Game!

I was tagged by the wonderful @writingamongther0ses! Thank you so much! As much as I’d love to use my first lines from Oh, Hell, they aren’t that great. So, I’m going to give the first lines of The Traveler’s Gift!

Chapter One:

Jerry Reubinault knew he was going to die.

Chapter Two:

A dizzying array of colors flashed behind his eyes as his head hit the pavement. The sharp sting of asphalt cut through the muted sensation of his limbs as his elbow scraped across the ground.

Chapter Three:

Louis had been in the twenty-first century for six days and he liked Rodney. No matter how bad things got, he always looked at the bright side of things. If it was raining he’d look up at the sky and say, “We could be baking in the sun.” If they were hungry he’d say, “That hunger means we’re still alive.” If someone shouted obscene things at them through their car window he would say, “Sometimes people need to vent.”

Chapter Four:

The first thing Louis learned about the man running the O’Shea mafia was that his parents must have hated him. His honest-to-God name was Rick O’Shea. The second thing he discovered was that Rick had inherited his father’s reign at a fairly young age.

Chapter Five:

Louis tossed what little remained of his cigarette to the glass and pebble strewn pavement. It bounced, sparked, and rolled to a stop. He couldn’t sit beneath the overpass, breathing in the stink of exhaust fumes for another minute. “I’ll be back in the morning, Rodney.”

Chapter Six: 

Louis couldn’t tell if he was awake or dreaming. Everything felt far away, but simultaneously too close. If he held his hand up in front of his face he couldn’t tell how far away it was from his nose. His palm was blurry. The lines creasing his skin reminded him of smudged ink on a freshly written letter.

Chapter Seven:

Drip, 347. Drip 348. Drip 349.

Chapter Eight:

“What do you say?”

Chapter Nine:

Louis paced his cell. He had no way to entertain himself. So, he spent his time wandering around aimlessly from corner to corner. He was growing frustrated.

Chapter Ten:

Hours passed. At least, it felt like hours. It had to have been hours because Louis’s head no longer felt like it was full of wet cement and he could slog his way from one end of the room to the other without tripping over his damned feet.

Chapter Eleven:

For the first time since his arrival to the twenty-first century, Louis finally had the chance to experience it without being hurt, drugged, or homeless. It gave him the opportunity to explore the era the way he wanted. He got to try technology he’d never dreamed of. Things had changed dramatically in the past ninety-something years. The way people talked, listened to stories, and enjoyed music had all changed. He was just now becoming familiar with the technology and trying it out for himself.

Chapter Twelve:

“My, oh, my. Don’t you clean up nice.”

Chapter Thirteen:

Louis liked a lot of things. For instance, he liked strawberry jam on his toast, he liked to watch people, and he liked that he had hundreds of options for television at his disposal. He also hated a lot of things. He hated menthol cigarettes, raw onion, and listening to some palooka talk himself up when he was really full of shit.

Chapter Fourteen:

The blood on the plastic was so thick and dark it seemed black.

Chapter Fifteen:

Almost a week after [Redacted]’s death, Louis sat at the table and played solitaire. It was a game that required just enough thought that it kept him from hearing the horrible wet sound as [Redacted]’s heart had been ripped from his chest.

Chapter Sixteen:

The precinct smelled of old coffee and body odor.

Chapter Seventeen:

The benefit for the police department was a formal affair. It consisted of wrinkle-free navy tablecloths, white-linen napkins, crystal long-stemmed glasses, and some of the city’s wealthiest people pretending to get along for just a few hours as they shamelessly donated obscene amounts of money to the cause.

Chapter Eighteen:

By the time Louis had cleaned up Slater’s mess, both he and Ardford were long gone. He asked the bartender where he’d gone and he’d been pointed in the direction of a side door not too far from the bar.

Chapter Nineteen:

Slater stood in front of Louis. “If you didn’t have bad luck, you wouldn’t have any at all. What happened?”

Chapter Twenty

Louis went straight to his bedroom when he got home. He didn’t think he could stand the metallic stink on his clothes for another minute. He stripped out of his shirt. The blood splattered down its front had dried a burgundy-brown color.

Chapter Twenty-One

“You’re kind of a hypocrite, y’ know that?” Louis asked. He juggled bags of Thai takeout while Damien was slurping from a box of noodles as they walked. “You’re always talking about eating healthy and cooking at home, but you’re the first person to suggest eating pizza, tacos, or whatever this stuff is.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

The act of spying was to observe furtively.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The following afternoon Louis sat elbow-to-elbow with Slater and Damien at Rick’s dining room table.  The conversation was a murmur. There was too much underlying tension for it to grow and swell. It felt like the dry, burning, heat of summer being cut with the sharp chilling breeze of a cold front before a nasty storm. Nobody knew why they’d been called together, but Louis had a good feeling that it had to do with [Redacted]’s betrayal.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Louis had never been one for waiting. He had never wanted to wait for his punishments as a kid. He had always wanted them to be over as quickly as possible. He hadn’t wanted to wait for Christmas because excitement had him eager to tear into the brown wrapping on his gifts as soon as possible. He’d hated patrolling the trenches in France because he had known an attack was coming, but had hated holding his breath, waiting for it to come.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Have I ever told you that you’re annoying?” Slater asked. It was the night of the Quench delivery and he seemed unconcerned as he sat on a crate. He kicked the wood beneath him with the heels of his red and white Chucks.

Chapter Twenty-Six:

The dark silence of the night pressed heavily around him. The flickering of the votive and tea light candles were the only source of light in the church. It made the shadows seem darker, more ominous, alive. They made the watchful eye of Christ behind the pulpit seem even more damning.

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

[Redacted]’s parents held a quiet funeral for their son a few days after his death; at least, that was what Louis had been told. He hadn’t attended. None of them had.

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

“I’m out of coffee and this is stupid,” Slater complained. “This is bitch work. I don’t do bitch work.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

The next night, Louis found himself standing across the street from Tito’s Pizza.

Chapter Thirty:

  Louis’s head was throbbing to each knock on the door. He groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. Pain jolted him awake as his arm touched the bruised and tender flesh of his swollen eye. He swore and sat up.

Chapter Thirty-One:

Louis wasn’t a fan of spiders. They had too many legs, too many eyes, and moved too damned fast. He hated them when they touched him and hated it even more when he found them in the shower.

Chapter Thirty-Two:

“What did you mean when you said Rick had fooled you before?” Louis asked. He checked his gun to make sure it was full of rounds and made sure he had enough spare ammunition in his pocket. He knew Deuce wouldn’t be stupid enough to do a job empty-handed. Especially, knowing that Rick was looking for him.

Chapter Thirty-Three:

“Louis? Wake up.” Clammy fingers pressed against his cheek.

Chapter Thirty-Four:

Louis’s life was spinning out of control again. He was lost. Knowing that Slater was in the bowels of the hospital while he was confined to the waiting room felt wrong. And there was nothing he could do to change it.

Chapter Thirty-Five:

All it took was a jump a few blocks from the apartment building and a quick check of the junk mail in the mailboxes on the front of the duplex porch to figure out which one belonged to Wes the Weasel.

Chapter Thirty-Six:

Louis didn’t have anywhere else to go. So, after Slater was settled into his room at the hospital, he curled up in one of the chairs in the corner of the room and let himself fall asleep.

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

That night, when the nursing staff told Louis visiting hours were over, Slater insisted that he stay.

Sorry for the long read! I’d like to tag (with no pressure): @howdy-writes, @littlerothridinghood, @gloriafrimpong, @gwens-fiction, @goblingraveyard, @vivian-is-writing

#the traveler's gift #tag games