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#and i’m leaving on saturday and then going BACK UP on monday to go to the airport
francisforever2014 · 4 months
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one thing about me is that i will be on the i5 north to seattle
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charliemwrites · 3 months
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…. So Mister(s) steal your girl, huh?
Content: Unhappy Relationship, (Brief) Gaslighting, Sad Reader
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Bombshells, you always thought, were supposed to making a whistling sound before landing. A high pitched warning of impending doom. Too late to escape the incoming devastation, but at least it wouldn’t come out of nowhere. There’d be some time to brace, for all the good it would do.
Maybe you watched too many movies.
Three months. That’s how long you got to enjoy the bliss of engagement before the world began to fall around you.
Your fiance came home and sat you down, his hand around yours. You thought he was breaking it off for some reason. What he did instead was worse.
In the aftermath you can only remember snippets of the one-sided conversation. Like tinnitus, an awful running in your ears left over from a dropped bomb.
Things like,
Still young, I want to explore…
How will I know you’re my forever unless I know what’s out there?
Last bit of freedom before being tied down…
If you love me and our relationship…
You love your fiance and your relationship. You don’t want to lose it just because you’re selfish. He’s still coming home to you, after all. You’re the one with the ring and all the plans for the future. So what if he wants to… explore? He’s even offering the same to you.
An open relationship, he calls it, like it’s some innovative idea.
You’ve heard of them before, never had much interest. Still don’t, honestly, but it was that or the desolution of 4 years.
You insisted on a long engagement. Your fiance promises that you two can revisit the open relationship when you’re married.
Within a week of agreeing, he’s leaves for the weekend. He doesn’t tell you where he’s going, who he’s meeting. He comes back Sunday evening smelling like someone else’s perfume with a hickey on his collarbone. When you refuse any advances, he sighs and says he “understands that this is a transition” and goes to shower.
It’s like that for six months. Weekends without him. Sometimes sending him off Friday morning and not seeing him until Monday evening. Lipstick on his collars, strange perfume invading the laundry. You start doing his clothes separately.
Six months. You spend months suffering in silence, sniffling through Saturdays and drifting through Sundays. Adjusting meal plans to cook for one.
The last straw is when you try to make plans on a holiday. You and your fiance haven’t done on a proper date in months. You want to go out, have all his attention on you, not shared with his phone.
“Ooh, sorry dear, I’ve already got plans with Malorie. Rain check, yeah? We’ll do something next week.”
You decide to go out anyway, sick of feeling sorry for yourself. Nothing fancy, just a bit of self care. You buy yourself a cute new outfit, put on a bit more makeup than usual, do your hair. Find an interesting little late night book shop. They serve wine and food and have comfy booths for people to read or talk or play board games.
The perfect place to be out but alone.
You’re debating the merits of a romance novel when a voice comes from your left.
“Love that one.”
You blink, glance up. Find a handsome man with eyes simultaneously so dark and so warm. Coals, you think. There’s a cheeky little quirk to his mouth as he nods at the novel.
“It’s good if you like will-they, won’t-they.”
You hum. “I’m more in the market for something… easier? If that makes sense.”
He hums, gives you a solemn look. “It does. Here, you might like this then.”
He plucks a book off the shelf and offers it for inspection. You feel awkward reading it the summary thoroughly, especially when you can feel his eyes on you. But you skim it, it looks promising, and a hot guy just suggested it, so…
“Read a lot of romance?” you ask curiously.
He ducks his head a bit, endearingly shy. “A bit, yeah. Call me hopeless.”
You bite the inside of your cheek, but can’t help saying. “I think it’s just romantic.”
His eyes light up. “Yeah? And what kind of books d’you usually like?”
Before you know it, you’re talking thrillers and horror novels with him. Recommending your favorite spooky novel and then following up that you always read a comedy afterwards as a palette cleanser.
You end up touring each other around the shop, talking books and authors and genres. Yet you’re somehow surprised when he asks if you’d like to sit with him. But you agree, a little thrill in your stomach that you haven’t felt since… a while.
You each buy a stack of books, then claim a booth and proceed to read none of them. He tells you his name is Kyle, that he’s in the military but on leave right now, stocking up on entertainment for flights or long spans of hurrying up and waiting.
You’ve never met a military guy before, and you trip over your curiosity. Trying not to pry but interested in what he does. He’s polite and patient, admitting there are a lot of things he can’t tell you but he’ll answer. You don’t stay on the subject long, figuring the last thing he wants to talk about it work.
He gets you back in the department of uncomfortable topics when he notices the ring on your finger. You’re quick to explain the situation, hot with shame all over again, eyes stinging despite yourself.
Instead of mocking you or just getting up and walking away, Kyle sits back looking flabbergasted.
“That’s fucking mental,” he says, “excuse me for saying.”
You burst into laughter. Haven’t told anyone any of this out of embarrassment, but hearing someone on your side is… good.
“I thought so too, but… he’s happy,” you admit.
Kyle frowns. “What about you?”
You blink, can’t look him in the eye. You know the answer but make a show of thinking about it.
“I’d… like to be again. This — the open relationship thing — seems to be working for him. So… maybe it’ll work for me too?” You shrug. “Worth a try.”
Kyle reaches across the table, a big warm hand enveloping yours. There are callouses you’re not expecting. Tantalizingly different.
“Would you like to try it with me?” he asks. “Don’t have to put a label on it or anything. But my schedule is a bit… it’s hard to keep up a traditional relationship, you know? But I like you, and I think your fiance is a knob.”
You snort, but flip your hand around, thumb brushing over his.
“Yeah…” you muse, and after saying it, a surge of confidence infuses you. “Yeah, I’d like to try this with you.”
His smile is absolutely brilliant. You won’t admit — not even to yourself for a long time — but you fall in love a little right then and there.
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norrizzandpia · 8 months
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I have one need and it is smut with Oscar so I was thinking something with Reader being lando's little sister and she's staying in Monaco with him but he has to go back to London for like 2 days which means she has the house all to herself and she invites Oscar over (who is her secret boyfriend) and they spend the night together (full of love and cuteness) but Lando comes home early and when he goes to her room to wake her up he finds her all cuddle up and cute with Oscar and he pretends he hasn't see anything because he just can't get over the fact that his little sister and teammate are together in that way
I LOVE THIS 👹👹👹👹👹👹
The Quiet Night and the Loud Morning (OP81)
Summary: It was bound to happen at some point.
Warnings: smut 🤭 CUTENESS OVERLOAD WITH BABY OSCAR 🤧🤧
Note: I JUST LOVE THIS IDEA
“Y/n?” Lando chirped from the other room.
“Yeah?” She answered, putting down the book she was reading to stare at the wall in concentration for his next words.
His footsteps filled the boring silence before he came into the living room, plopping down on the couch beside her, “I have to go to London for work for the weekend. I imagine you don’t want to come with because you just unpacked all of your stuff here, but, if you do, you can.”
She pondered the idea for a minute before Oscar’s smiling face was popping into her head and visions of an intimate weekend alone together flashed in her mind. At that, she looked up at her brother, feigning distaste, “No, I’m good. Thank you though.”
He nodded curtly as he got up from the couch, “Alrighty, no problem. I leave tonight, so I can be there tomorrow morning for the Saturday meeting. You’ll be okay alone here until Monday morning?”
Alone, her mind laughed, but her face told a different story, “Yeah. I’ll just watch a bunch of movies and live out my lazy life.”
Laughing, Lando retreated back to his room to pack, “No surprise there.”
“Osc!” Y/n yelped into her phone a few minutes after Lando’s car had left.
“Yes, baby?” He responded in his usual soft tone.
Her smile, though he couldn’t see it, made him smile as she said, “Lando had to go away for the weekend, so the house is completely empty. COME OVER!” She exclaimed, squealing loudly as she walked in circles around the kitchen island.
His laugh and rummaging of, what she could infer, was his bag and keys was what she was met with on the other side of the phone, “Okay, okay! I’m leaving as we speak. Should I bring a change of clothes?”
Her eyebrows furrowed, “Mmm, yeah, I would. I don’t plan on having you leave until the very last moment.”
Wishing he was already there to kiss her, Oscar threw a pair of pajamas and a random outfit into a duffel, “Sounds like a great plan, my love.”
Opening the door, Y/n flung her arms around her boyfriend. He stumbled back, laughing and kissing her forehead lightly with his arm around her waist as he took in his favorite scent.
“I missed you,” She whispered into his neck whilst he dropped his bag down so he could fully envelope her in his warm embrace.
“I missed you too, Y/n,” He whispered back before walking them into the house, leaving her for only a moment to grab his bag and throw it through the threshold.
Once the door was closed and they were truly alone, the couple went back to their previous position. It had been weeks since they were able to see each other, that is alone. They had seen each other a few days before, but with engineers and Lando around, stolen glances and lingering stares were all they could take.
“What do you want to do first?” He asked her, pulling back to take in the beautiful face which he had only been able to visit in his dreams for the past time.
His adoring smile made her blush and the way his hands pushed back her hair made her fall in love with him even more, “Movie? Did you have dinner?”
He nodded slowly, “I did, yeah. Did you?”
She shrugged, “Yeah, sort of. Lando leaving meant that we didn’t end up getting dinner and it threw me off, so I just had a granola bar.”
His eyebrows shot up, “Alright, so first thing’s first. We get you some dinner.”
“Oscar,” She whined, “You don’t even know how to cook.”
He shot her a look over his shoulder as he traveled toward the kitchen, “I can make you boxed pasta, Y/n.”
“Are you sure?”
Forty minutes later and Oscar was pushing a bowl of buttered noodles with cut up tomatoes and sausage toward Y/n who was sat sluggishly at the counter.
“You’re positive this is edible?” She asked hesitantly, eyeing the bowl as if it had just threatened her life.
His nodding head came into view as he sat beside her, one hand on her back and the other laying on the island, “Yes, baby. I’ve made it so many times before. Just eat please.”
One last glance toward him and she was nodding, allowing the hunger she felt to motivate her actions. Her big smile at the first taste told Oscar he hadn’t actually fucked up the recipe he had tried to execute without a sheet of paper telling him what to do.
Their conversation flowed as it always did, with loving comments and suggestive jokes. Y/n fell all over again for Oscar’s smile and Oscar fell all over again for Y/n’s character.
After she ate the last noodle, she smiled at him as he picked up her dish whilst laying a kiss on her forehead. He washed the bowl and put it in the dishwasher without evening flinching, as if it was his own home. Y/n couldn’t help, but dream of a time when it was really his home. His and hers.
Nevertheless, her wishing halted when he turned around and leaned against the sink, “Now, movie?”
His question was answered with Y/n whirling around in her chair to hop off and run toward the living room. He chuckled before following her, finding his girlfriend already curled up in all the blankets on the couch and sifting through all the streaming platforms to find something for them to watch.
“How about Minions?” She laughed, clearly amused with the movie choice.
However, what she thought would be a disgusted veto from Oscar was a warm smile and nod.
She stared at him, “You actually want to watch Minions?”
He shrugged, “I’ll watch whatever you want to watch.”
An hour later and the two had around thirty minutes left of Minions. Their bodies connected, legs tangled with his hands firmly placed around her torso as he pulled her flesh against him. She wasn’t even watching the movie, too comfortable on Oscar’s chest to move her head. He seemed to notice, laying his head on top of hers as he murmured, “We can go to bed?”
She shook her head as she lifted it from her comfortable place on him, “No, it’s okay.”
He smiled at her, a lazy smile that she knew was only meant for her, “Okay, love.”
His hands guided her back down, however, this time, he laid fully on the couch, so she could lay her entire body on his. With his hands in her hair then trailing up and down her back, Y/n whispered, “Ever think about a time when we could just do this without having to hide?”
He glanced down at her, “Yeah, sometimes, but we decided keeping it a secret was the best thing.” After seeing her hesitation, he added, “Right?”
Her hands pushed against his chest as she sat up, her thighs on each side of him as her hair fell down toward him, “Yeah, but…” When she bit her lip in nerves, he started rubbing her thighs, “I love you, Osc. I want to be with you outside of a room.”
He tilted his head on the pillow he laid against, a small smile evident on his features, “I love you too. Of course, I want to be with you in public too, but I always thought you were uncomfortable with it because of Lando.”
She nodded, “At first, yeah, but that was before I fell in love with you and realized I really saw you as the rest of my life. Honestly, I’m more uncomfortable being a secret with you than telling Lando.”
Oscar nodded eagerly, “Well, if that’s your perspective. I’m all in. I’ve always been all in with you. If you’re okay with telling everyone then let’s do it.”
Her face broke out into a grin, “Really?”
His nodding continued as he tucked her hair behind her ears and cupped her face, “Of course, baby.”
Whether it was Oscar who pulled her down first or Y/n leaning in on her own, the two never knew. All they knew was that their lips met and the realization that they were putting their entire beings into the hands of the other was evident. The thought made every touch and graze of hands gentler, softer. His hands lightly explored her hips before resting on her waist, pulling her closer to him as he slipped his tongue passed her lips.
Y/n moaned, a sound he had already committed to memory, and lightly rolled her hips against his.
He pulled back, “You sure? In your brother’s house?”
She giggled, the blush a deep red on her cheeks and nose, “I have a room we could go to.”
He nodded, lifting her up so swiftly off the couch and maneuvering through the directions she gave him to get where they needed to be. Through giggles and miscommunicated instructions, the two were lovesick by the time they reached her room and closed the door.
Usually, Oscar would stalk toward her, take what he wanted and be as rough as he knew they both wanted. Although, as he stood in front of her door, he gazed upon her as if she was the most beautiful sunset he had ever laid his eyes on.
A gorgeous view that he realized was the most perfect part of Earth.
He wasn’t quick to get her on the mattress, in fact, he took his time getting there. Through kisses and slow removals of clothes, he walked them back to her white duvet, laying her down and being so struck by her beauty even Y/n couldn’t deny it herself.
She watched as his eyes trailed from her shoulders, down to her boobs, then to her stomach, back up to go over her arms, then slowly down again to take in her thighs and the clothed space between them, her shins, and then back up to meet her eyes.
With a light smile, he whispered into the quietness of the moment, “You’re so incredibly beautiful, my love.”
She was halfway to tears when he leaned forward and kissed her so intensely, she felt it in her toes. With Oscar, it never felt casual and she never felt as if she was some random person he was bedding to fulfill fleeting urges.
It was always about the love he had for her.
Oscar’s hand grazed the length of her body as it traveled down and disappeared below her panties, his lips never stopping on hers. With precision and thought, he began to gently circle her clit, easing her into the pleasure as he always did. His other hand held himself up above her as she moaned into his mouth, a sign that he could speed up.
Her hand on his bicep and the other around his waist, Oscar replaced the finger on her clit with his thumb and slid his digit into her.
She had tried to keep kissing him, but he could tell she needed to have the space and air to be vocal. So, he pulled away slightly, a small gap between them large enough that he could admire her blissed out face while also being impossibly close to her.
Her eyes closed and her moans continued as Oscar added another finger and sped up. Quiet whimpers made Oscar whisper, “I love how you sound, baby. Always do.”
At that, she moaned louder, chanting his name as he continued to increase his rhythm before the coil in her stomach was snapping and she was coming around all over his hand. His toothy, lopsided grin was the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes again, an innocent, adoring smile on his face as if he hadn’t just made her cum.
“I’ve never seen someone so beautiful.” He whispered into her mouth before kissing her, trying to allow her a breath before they went to the next level.
Her nervous smile told him he needed to continue, “I’m serious, Y/n. You are the most gorgeous woman I have ever laid my eyes on. I’m not just being this way because I feel romantic. No, I’m doing this because, while sometimes I can contain myself, right now I can’t. You’re so pretty to me. Every time I look at you, I notice a new thing to fall in love with. Whether that’s the faint freckles on your nose or the mole right at the top of your leg, I’ve never loved every inch of someone the way I do with you. I’m so hellbent on kissing every part of you, physically loving you as a whole. I love how I can remember the way you smell and whenever I come across it I think of you and how much I love you. I love how soft and warm your hugs are after a hard day or a bad race. I never want to let you go because I know I’ll never find anything, anyone, as beautiful as you.”
Her teary eyes were remedied with a long kiss at the end of his speech as he slowly took off her panties and slipped off his after. His eyes boring into hers and whispering how much she meant to him, Oscar pushed into her.
His building pace made her eyes roll back into her head and his groaning into her neck.
A chant of “You’re the only one I want to ever do this with” leaving his lips as his hips rocked against hers.
“Oscar,” She moaned, nails digging into his back as he continued to go faster.
“Y/n, so good. So so perfect for me.” He moaned, pulling back to look her in the eyes and throughly communicate how much she meant to him.
Her hands tangled in his hair and he moaned loudly, “Fuck, Y/n, just like that.”
Her moaning continued, body going limp at the consistent pleasure surging through her body. When Oscar’s hand came to cup her cheek and pull her to his lips, kissing her with all his might and letting her know she wasn’t the only one so obsessively consumed by the connection they shared, she lost it.
Her moans turned into screams as he snapped his hips faster, chasing his high, but, most importantly, hers.
Looking her in the eyes, Oscar’s soft ones encouraged her, “My love, let go. I’m right here with you. Always.”
With that, she came hard around him, yelling out his name as he came right after her.
When, during times with other boyfriends, she would feel used and filthy, with Oscar, as he laid slightly on top of her, she felt special. She felt like she was the only person to have ever understood him for who he truly was.
She felt cherished.
She felt protected.
She felt wanted.
And, yes, she felt loved.
Turning over, her eyes met his and she smiled.
“Thank you,” She murmured as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Y/n, you don’t need to thank me for an orga-” He began.
“No,” She interrupted, looking into his eyes and making him understand, “Thank you for showing my what love is.”
His eyes softened, his hands immediately pulling her into him again and drawing the blankets over their naked bodies, “Baby, you mean everything to me.”
She nodded, smiling back at him, “I think I’m starting to see that.”
Lando’s confused face appeared again when his sister didn’t answer her phone. Irritatingly, he had only needed to go into one meeting, so he was off the hook by the morning. He didn’t want to stay in London, choosing the option of hanging out with his sister as the more important one, so he had caught the next flight out of Heathrow.
Private jet be damned.
Although, when he pulled up to his house and she still hadn’t answered, he thought it was bit strange. It was eleven am and she was usually up at this time, tired, but up.
Nevertheless, he figured she had stayed up late last night and slept in way late. That inference was confirmed when he walked through the door and it was dead silent.
However.
What he didn’t expect to see was an all too familiar duffel bag sitting on the floor of his foyer. The orange letters that spelled out ‘Oscar Piastri’ accompanied with the McLaren logo gave him whiplash.
There had to be some reasonable explanation, he thought, there was absolutely no way his teammate was here. Alone. With his sister.
Being the nosy person he is, Lando opened the bag and peered in to see the belongings, wanting to confirm it held Y/n’s things. Maybe he leant it to her, he tried, but when he saw men’s underwear and a box of condoms, his jaw fell agape.
Standing up abruptly, Lando made his way to his sister’s room. When his hand met the coolness of the door handle, he said a silent prayer to any supernatural being out there that could stop the inevitable from meeting his eyes. Per usual, that plead went unheard when he pushed the door open quietly and saw Y/n, his sister, asleep in bed with Oscar’s, his teammate, arms holding her strongly to his chest. His little sister’s face was toward him as it laid on the bare chest of Oscar, giving him the ability to see how peaceful she looked, more peaceful than she usually looked when unconscious.
Suddenly feeling like he was intruding on an intimate moment, Lando shut the door.
His brain reeling, he sat himself on the living room couch, no clue what had taken place on that very sitting area not even twenty four hours before. He sat with his thoughts for an hour or two before he heard the door to his sister’s room jostle and, finally, open. Out stepped a giggling Oscar and a smiling Y/n, a sight to see in Lando’s mind, as they failed to see the other person in the room.
“I think that might’ve been the best sex we’ve ever ha-” Oscar’s face went pale when he turned to walk toward the kitchen only to meet the face of Lando, the last person he wanted to hear that sentence come out of his mouth.
At his abrupt stop, Y/n turned around as well, jaw agape as she screeched, “LANDO?!”
His hands rested on his knees as he looked at the two of them. What a good couple they would make, he thought, seeing how Y/n was more comfortable in herself around him.
“I got let off early so, I came home. Didn’t expect this though.” His eyebrows wiggled as Y/n approached him, a paralyzed in fear Oscar behind her, “Lan, I am so so sorry you found out this way. We wanted to tell you on our own-”
The brother shook his head, “No, I get it. I’m not mad. Shocked, yes, but, not mad at all. I’m just happy you found someone as good as him.”
Her entire demeanor softened as she glanced back to Oscar, his mind slowly coming back to him, before turning back around and smiling, “Me too.”
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wroteclassicaly · 1 month
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18+
A/N: Small piece of filth, hope you enjoy ❤️
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“Driving me crazy. Don’t know why you do that.” Another bit of babbling you-speak, poured out in waves, interwoven through your whines and moans, Steve notes. Or rather, tries to, given the predicament of being on his back as you use him to your satisfaction.
You’d stared him down like he was prey for the last several months, always shaking your head, clicking your pen until it broke. Then there were the signs that made Steve realize, with a lopsided smirk (that only made it worse), that you weren’t in fact mad at him, not in a serious way anyways. Your hitch in breath every inch closer that he came to you, the way you melted into him if he just brushed by you, or how your legs would tighten, feet would bounce, to the way that you’d chew on your fingertip when he was bent over putting stock out and he knew exactly what you were looking at. When he talked about dates or flirted with girls that came in, you’d roll your eyes and be obnoxious in the background to sabotage unknowingly, but he found it endearing. And when he bought himself his new diamond chain to go with his mustard colored shirt for the fancy dinner in Indianapolis the older kids had all gone to, your public exasperation is partially what led to the moment.
It wasn’t until the following Monday that it exploded in full. Steve was at work on your shift, you were dealing with a sore wrist after his ensemble at Saturday’s excursion. And the stupid bastard had the nerve to wear that blinged out piece of jewelry beneath his button up, all black polo. You slammed a stack of video tapes down and had blew out a rough breath, working your way around the counter to ask Steve ‘what the fuck his problem was?’ And in truth, he’d worn the chain again just to gauge your reaction, before making his move. Sure, you’d been close friends all up in emotional arms for years, but the sexual tension was more alive than ever and could no longer be ignored.
With one hand on his waist, the other propped on the counter, he grinned lazily at you, fresh highlights looking perfect with his grown out tresses under the cheap lighting, jeans tight on his toned legs and perfect ass.
“Oh my god, Steve! You’re just… You’re —“
“I’m what?” He’d said, folding his arms to accentuate his biceps.
Your jaw had dropped rather comically and Steve is pretty sure you whimpered in defeat. You were caught.
“You know what you are, shithead. And I can’t take this shit anymore, it’s too much!” You’d gotten closer, talking with your hands. How Steve loves your hands. And you gave pause, brows pinched. “Wait, is that new cologne?”
Steve had pulled his shirt out to bare thicker chest hair, shrugging. “No, same ol’ stuff.”
“Can you stop, please?” You had sounded completely out of it, your pupils blown, leaving your beautiful eye color a thin ring, nearly transparent to the aroused abyss he’d created.
“Tell me what I’m doing, honey. Can’t stop if I don’t know…” Steve reached out with a finger, his confidence having greatly improved the last year within your friendship, and he traced down your cheek.
“Oh, shit.” Was all you could come up with.
With his thumb pressing at the corner of your mouth, massive hand cradling your jaw, he’d unraveled the knot with, “It’s okay if you say you want me, baby. Because I want you, too.”
~*~
Your hand looks small in comparison to his large girth, shining with what you’d slicked him up in, your babbling from before, slowly fading. His mossy orbs have shattered, their shards prickling you in an electrical stimulation, on you everywhere. His massive hands pinch your plush waist, every tendon visible on his jugular, his throat contracting around a harsh swallow as your fist around his base meets your body - seating him fully inside you. It hurts so bad that you welcome him to see the tears, see the glistening mess of your cunt spread open around his cock, cream bubbling in his base and smeared across his happy trail. You’ve never felt this before, this power, this safety, this want, this love.
Steve tosses his head back as your hips give an experimental rise and fall, sweat soaked backs of your knees feeling the pressure. He’s inside of you so deeply that you can barely move, his length dragging, pushing against every inch of your walls. You’re overcome in the moment and grab his big paws, curling his thick digits around your breasts and holding them together as you begin to roll your hips, never taking your eyes off him. He let out a moan that vibrates through you, his bed beginning to squeak beneath your rocking. His neck is visible again at this, scars beneath the chain, sweat glittering around and beneath the links, every freckle, every mole there, making him Steve.
Your movements have briefly slowed and he realizes, eyes open as you’re staring with this smirk. He gives your nipples a flick and releases, linking hands, to bring yours to his and kiss each knuckle he can get his mouth on. That’s when he’s flipping you with ease, knees sliding underneath your thighs, hands pinning yours to the bed as his nose finds your lashes, mouth planting his words across your lips; cinnamon breath spray, coffee, and cigarettes ghosting with each hot breath, “Don’t get too cocky, honey.”
On the break away, his chain sways forward, links getting caught on your lips. You take the jewelry into your mouth, sucking on the taste of the material, Steve’s chest tufts drag along your breasts as he fucks you on him with an ease so slow, that you can’t find cohesive speech for the rest of the night.
// Eat me paragraph //
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hillbillyoracle · 10 months
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I’m working on some beginner materials to put out...eventually. But I think my advice is pretty much summed up with: 
give thanks/offerings to your ancestors - even if you didn’t like the ones you knew, I promise you’d like someone back there; doesn’t have to be daily but regularly and water counts
give thanks/offerings to the land - I don’t care where you are or if you like where you are, you’re only there because the land allows it; doesn’t have to be daily but regularly and water counts
pick a divination tool and use it - ideally pick 2; it’s very fashionable to study things in witchblr but expertise rests on a solid foundation of use; tarot, geomancy, dice, bibliomancy, and scrying are all great
pick a guiding philosophy/source of wisdom - a lot of paganism consists of practices which do not in of themselves guide how you should move through the world or make decisions; can be a philosophy, motto, or other religion
these are to me is what I’d consider the bare minimum but here’s the bonus round:
on each planet’s day, give thanks/offer to that planet - moon on monday, mars on tuesday, mercury on wednesday, jupiter on thursday, venus on friday, saturn on saturday, sun on sunday - water counts but they do love frankincense
track the moon - a lot of people are big into phases, I prefer tracking what sign she’s in; each month she will conjunct with every planet in the sky so tracking her a good way to stay aware of those influences
learn a method of cleansing self + space - fav instructions here; physical cleansing should always be a part of it if at all possible; smoke (incense, bound herbs), sound (clapping, snapping, singing, ringing), and energetic scraping are all good options
learn a method of warding self + space - go beyond visualization; witches bottle, salting, symbols of protection above a door, creating or appeasing a guarding spirit are all good options
learn a basic method of petition or spellcasting - a simple way to start is asking the spirits you’ve already been working with like your ancestors and the land and giving them a little extra back
decide on a small tradition for holidays - as you add in holidays, pick one small tradition to try to replicate next year; eating apples at Mabon, leaving an extra plate out at Samhain, lighting a candle on the stove for Imbolc, etc
doing these sorts of things for a year will honestly get you a lot further than most in my experience. these are a solid foundation from which to build in basically whatever direction you want. earnest practice beats passive theorizing and consumption any day. 
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strawberrysainz · 11 months
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romanticism. charles leclerc
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“ being charles leclerc’s assistant was a piece of work. you loved him though. ”
charles leclerc x reader
a warning — crude language, mentions of food, alcohol consumption, semi-mature scenes.
word count: 2.8k
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“Do you want a biscuit?” He pointed to the box of red, racing-themed biscuits, mouth already full with one. “Please don’t tell anyone.” He added as an afterthought, and you snorted to yourself, setting down a notebook to take a gingerbread man decorated as him.
The instagram handle for the baker was loud and proud on the box, and you took a photo of the little Charles, making a note to post it later.
Qualifying hadn’t gone very well for Charles, hence the angry biscuit-eating. He’d ended up third, but an incident in the famous tunnel of the Principality had cost him three more places. His white suit was blinding in the tiny room, and his frustrated little huffs as he flung things this way and that made you slightly on edge.
You had been scrambling to catch up with him this season; you had been dealing with a family crisis until Miami, leaving Charles with some guy as his assistant for the past races. You had thought he was decent at first, but Charles was a precise guy; if he was relying on you to keep it together at work for him, then you’d better fucking do it the way he wanted. Even you didn’t mess with Charles on a race weekend. He was so nervous or upset or he was the happiest guy in the world - it didn’t matter, you just had to be consistent, comforting and take things as they went.
You swore he could’ve kissed you when you arrived on Monday.
But here you were on Saturday, still uneasy; Monaco had always freaked you out - you didn’t believe in the curse because Charles scorned it, but a part of you had anticipated that a stroke of bad luck would always have its way here. It was nine in the evening, and the crowds were still insane. You were prepared to walk back to your apartment at this point, even if it would take you about an hour with the blocked off roads. You handed Charles his clean clothes to change into after his shower, and you were about to go home for the night -
“Do you want to have dinner with me?”
You tilted your head. You knew Charles’ new girlfriend had arrived this morning, surely he’d do something with her?
He must’ve seen the look on your face, and his unsureness- the way he couldn’t believe what he were saying- made you embarrassed.
“No, it’s alright. Get a good night’s sleep. I’ll struggle to get back to mine anyway.” You said abruptly. “Must I make you an Instagram post while you’re in the shower?”
He nodded, unlocking his phone. You immediately went into Google Drive to get some pictures as he left, when a message from Alexandra came in.
You blanched; usually, bar your forgetfulness, you put the phone on the do not disturb function so that you didn’t see what he was getting sent- but the full stops and seriousness made you guiltily keep a finger on the notification.
You’re being ridiculous. I can’t give up my job to come cheer you on. I know it’s Monaco but I thought I made it clear. I can’t make it after all, C. My job is equally as important as yours. You’ll be fine.
You inhaled sharply; she was pissed. You thought she was reasonable, but you knew how much it meant to him to have people here; he struggled in Monaco, and even if he didn’t admit it he was so anxious to please.
I’m sure she’ll have a little fuckin hug and a kiss for you. I’m not a cheerleader, that’s her job, Charles. Watch her under the podium instead. Or maybe not after all- I saw you got P6
Talk tomorrow
Your eyes widened. Was she talking about you?
You were being too nosy. You selected the pictures and put them together, locking his phone on the caption section so he’d write what he’d like. As you opened the door to leave, he was there, his eyes meeting yours; and he must’ve known that you knew something because he lowered his gaze.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” You said quietly, patting his arm. “Sleep well.”
There was a desperation in his tone when he asked you again to supper.
Well, how the fuck could you say no? He was clearly desperate.
“I’ll invite Joris and Lorenzo, and Arthur.” He said quickly, and you sighed; “The usual?” It was a little tapas restaurant 15 minutes away.
You closed the door then, confused, and walked away, opening your phone to call Joris for a lift.
❤️‍🔥💿💌🍓
You were in the front seat surrounded by the familiar smell of Joris’ car; you two had become good friends- always together, waiting, working because of Charles.
You were busy typing about the gingerbread man when Joris asked you about the lack of Alex (Charles had probably been talking about her first Grand Prix together with him).
You paused. “They seem to be having some sort of rift. Not sure. Ask him.” You said shortly; you tried to stay out of his love life as much as you could. You’d liked his previous girlfriend to an extent, but the final events leading up to their breakup made it awkward for you to say goodbye. You tried desperately to be professional but at that point you were a really close friend of Charles’.
Joris nodded. You two did enjoy a paddock gossip now and again, but when it involved Charles alone you really weren’t into it.
You ended up taking longer to get to the restaurant because you made him stop at your house - you weren’t going to turn up in Ferrari gear - and showered, put new clothes on and sprinted back to his car in the drizzle.
Walking through the restaurant to your table in the corner, Joris was busy chattering on about the home GP content he was busy with; you were fiddling with your hair, your bracelets, your clothes, irritated to be there. Trying to be normal around Charles in non-work situations like he didn’t fucking employ you always stressed you out.
Not to mention he was being so awkward as of late.
You slid into the bench next to Lorenzo, giving him a warm pat on the arm as Joris sat on your other side. Charles was smiling at the sight of you - you greeted Arthur, and then him, and you were presented with some iced tea (no one drank next to Charles on a Saturday before the race).
You were lost in the conversation between Arthur and Charles (Arthur hadn’t done so well in F2 today either) when Lorenzo caught your attention.
“How are you?” You adored the way he spoke French; it was low and comfortable, in the kind of way that reminded you of a warm hug.
“Alright.” You said, giggling, and he nodded seriously. He knew about your stress - he’d never raced as intensely as his two brothers - and you’d always found him a comfort.
He was busy telling you about something - a trip with his girlfriend - when you heard the distress in Charles’ tone and turned to him. He was staring at the paella in front of him.
Joris was silent; Arthur just looked lost.
“What’s wrong?” You said quietly, and you noticed a few stubborn tears in his eyes that he was dying not to let fall.
“I’m just not feeling good about the race.” His tone was terribly melancholic, and you felt a bit frozen. “I- Cha-“
Lorenzo was stiff; you blinked.
Charles sat up straight. “It’s okay. Sorry.” His tone indicated no more talking about it, and Joris launched into a conversation about something, Arthur hurriedly joining in. You made eye contact with him sternly; we were talking about this later.
❤️‍🔥💿💌🍓
Supper had come and gone, the bill had been paid, and you found yourself alone in Charles’ car at 10:53 pm on the way back to your apartment.
“Please come in.” You had said to him, after he refused to go home immediately to sleep; promising a cup of tea before he got home.
You had dropped your keys by the front door and entered, your cat greeting the two of you. “What’s wrong?” You said, starting the kettle with a tenderness in your tone you could never replicate with anyone else.
Charles was just sighing, complaining, choking with emotion as he spoke of his fears - dear God, he was struggling - you poured milk and sugar, biting a lip, and eventually it became too much that you brought him in for a tight hug in the light of your kitchen, a song playing in the corner.
You pulled away, and to your surprise he was looking into your eyes softly, a gentleness in his expression that freaked you out. You felt your body soften as his hand met your hip, and you knew, despite yourself, you could never refuse him.
“Cha…” you murmured, gaze on his lips. Holy shit, this was so wrong.
He let out a little sigh that had you going insane, and you turned around to fetch the tea, overwhelmed; this was the only way you could prevent whatever what was happening, not happen.
He murmured your name again, and you turned around slowly, guiltily watching his beautiful face, certain feelings you’d suffocated return just like that.
His hand met your arm, gentle pressure prompting you to put the tea down. You gasped quietly as his hand on your hip brought you together, eyes wide and wanting.
He met your lips with his, and it was like a wildfire that burned, bright and haunting, kissing you everywhere, his touch burning, thigh in between your legs, arms and hands touching you everywhere, you were gasping and he was moaning, the desire in the air thick, scary, and his facial hair tickled you in a delicious way that made you shiver, eyes lidded, dark, and suddenly he was moving to take his shirt off and you stepped back, terrified, lonely.
“Charles, you have a girlfriend.” You said lowly, hair messy. You noticed your lipstick all over his lips and face.
He looked scared of himself. “Fuck. I have to go. I need to sleep.”
“And talk to Alex.” You said, scaring yourself with the heaviness of your tone, and he was gathering his things, tea forgotten.
When he left, you waved him out, mouth wobbling, and you burst into tears after closing the door, clutching your mouth, your sobs shaking you, sinking down to the floor.
❤️‍🔥💿💌🍓
You’d agreed to lift Joris the previous night, so you were glad to ditch seeing Charles until you really had to - an hour later, you walked into his driver’s room; he was doing some exercises with Andrea while the social media intern videoed him. You stayed out of sight of the camera, leaning against the wall, trying to distract yourself from the previous night’s events.
You were wearing more makeup than usual to hide your puffy eyes from the tears last night, determined to act as if nothing had happened. You really hated that Charles had cheated on his girlfriend with you; you could put it down to him being vulnerable, but you were at fault as much as he was.
When everyone had left, Charles was left on the couch staring sheepishly at you. You crossed your arms, an invisible ocean separating you two, you two continents.
“I told Alex.” He said calmly.
“And?”
“She said she can’t be with me if I’m not being faithful and she’s not there all the time. We’ve only been together three months. She’s not into it.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It was my fault. I made a move when I wasn’t meant to. I’m sorry for putting you in that position.”
From the way he was moaning yesterday, you weren’t sure if that was true.
“Okay.” You snort, moving to open the door. “Driver’s parade in 20 minutes. I’ll see you later?”
He nodded, waving a goodbye as you left.
❤️‍🔥💿💌🍓
P6, like he started.
It was consistent, Joris had joked in your ear as you shook your head, trying not to laugh. He’d had a pretty good race, the team hadn’t fucked up, it was just the way it went.
He had been busy with press and much more before he ended up back with Andrea where you and Joris had been waiting for about three hours (you were also a bit drunk; you’d had too many glasses of champagne from Paddock Club).
“Hi!” You giggled, high-fiving him. “Good job.” Joris also cackled, and Charles shot you a glare. “Are you drunk?”
“No.” You said firmly, shaking your head. “I am very sober.” You said, and Joris nodded seriously. “We had a little bit of champagne.”
Andrea gestures to the bottle that was on the table beside you. “What’s that?”
“For Cha! A well done.” You beamed, and presented it to him. Charles couldn’t help but laugh. “I am going to have to drive you two back in her car, no? Put my bicycle in the back.”
You and Joris were squealing with laughter at the idea, and the two standing before you were laughing at you.
“Come, you fucking idiots.”
“No! You can’t insult me, you kiiiiissssed me,” you giggled, and Joris didn’t catch it, but Andrea did, shooting Charles a glare, who if looks could kill, would’ve shot you dead. He looked so pissed.
“Come,” he snapped, and Andrea said that he’d take Joris.
❤️‍🔥💿💌🍓
He pulled up to your apartment. “Come in.” You said, and Charles scoffed. “Not for a long time now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
You looked so vulnerable, rain falling on your head as you peered down at him. “Are you taking my car? I’ll come fetch it tomorrow.” You said softly. “Thanks for taking me. I’m sorry, I was stupid. I needed to relax for one fucking minute this week.”
Charles’ eyes softened, and he opened his mouth to say something before he closed it, nodding curtly, and drove away.
You couldn’t differentiate the raindrops from your tears, forcefully wiping them away.
❤️‍🔥💿💌🍓
You knocked on his door at midday the next afternoon, wanting to thank him before flying to Spain. You hated the energy he’d given you since you’d kissed; it was wildly different and you loathed it.
He answered a minute or so later, glasses on and a scruffy jumper, eyes tired. “Hi,” you were out of breath all of a sudden; he was so terribly attractive.
He looked surprised to see you. “I came to say thank you. And get my keys.”
“Come in. Do you want coffee?” He said instead, and you felt a bit of déjà vu from two nights before, hauntingly familiar.
You loved his apartment. The red and white was a colour scheme you adored, and you sat on the sofa while he made you a coffee, one spoon of sugar and a splash of milk just how you liked.
“I want to say sorry for how weird I was this week. I just hate the Grand Prix in Monaco, you know?” You said hurriedly, and he set down the coffee, sitting down next to you. He laughed. “I know. I know.” It had been this way since 2021- when you had started working for him- and he kept having shit races here.
He held out his hand. You squeezed it. “Let’s move on from it.”
He smirked. “Am I such a bad kisser?”
Your jaw dropped, throwing your head back laughing. “Cha!”
He was dead serious. “Why do you want to move on?”
“I work for you?” You said, disbelievingly, and his mouth twitched. “Charles, come on.”
He picked up the mug and took a sip.
You quite literally wanted to die.
He set it down again, looking seriously at you. “I don’t regret the kiss, if you want to know.”
You stare at him. “It literally broke you and your girlfriend up.”
“I like you.” He shrugged. “More than her. More than I thought.”
You laugh, bringing the coffee to your lips. “And when I saw your lipstick on my face…” he trailed off, blushing, “Fuck.”
You swear you were as red as a mother fucking tomato at this point.
“Slow down.” You retorted, trying not to spit the coffee out.
“Kiss me.”
You stare at him again. Was he fucking delusional?
“What?” You hiss.
He rolls his eyes and kisses you.
You’re pulled onto his lap, breath gone, kissing him as hard as you can. Your head is thrown back as he goes for your neck, and the sounds he’s making make you moan.
“You’re really hot with glasses on,” you tell him, and he falters, giggling, before carrying on.
This time you let him take his shirt off, matching him.
You fall back onto the couch. Those eyes on yours, the eyes of your beautiful boy.
❤️‍🔥💿💌🍓
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liked by charles_leclerc, isahernaez and 9,876 others
thank you, monaco 💋💋
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lorenzotl Padel boyssss
user i wish I had your job girl
carlossainz55 Please give me a shirt @charles_leclerc
maisonde.monaco ❤️‍🔥💋
user So glad to see you back in the paddock again!!
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thanks for reading bestie ❤️‍🔥
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2K notes · View notes
leclsrc · 1 year
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see it through ✴︎ cl16
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genre: friends to lovers, fake dating au, fluff!, humor, slight angst, slow burn-ish, yearning
word count: 9k
“It’s a proposition for the fans.” She smiles. “It’s a fake relationship.” Or: you go from social media manager to girlfriend in under a day. Keeping up appearances for Charles’ family isn’t easy, until it is – and until they’re not really appearances anymore.
notes... internet translated italian ahaha
auds here... this fic is quite long! i hope you all like it. title from this bee gees song which reappears in the fic later. few music references here so if you like to listen to music, just look for the titles, they’re famous!
You’d gotten the phone call on a Saturday morning.
Barely morning, you realized when you were digging for your phone in the sheets, half-asleep—it’d been five minutes past noon. You’d swiped, pressed the phone to your ear, and waited for the other end to speak, eyes shut.
“Good morning,” a vague voice had said on the other said, distinctly American. “This is Jenna Griffin, newly appointed PR specialist for Ferrari. Your boss told me you were free for lunch on Monday, so can I pencil you in for a one-thirty meeting?”
You click your tongue. “Um, yeah.”
“Wonderful. Monday, one-thirty. Apologies for the weekend call, it’s for Mr. Leclerc.” The line buzzes dead after, and you flop backwards onto your bed, confused out of your mind.
Your job for Ferrari was simple—create social media content, do the occasional damage control, have a pre-interview discussion with journalists, and generally stay out of everyone’s hair. It’s not a high-maintenance job, but it pays well, and you get to travel; plus, you’re young, and you figure this is just a stepping stone for a more legitimate post. Your point is, you’ve never gotten into trouble before, and are only at meetings to take minutes or get assignments.
Which is why a Monday lunch meeting—on your vacation, nonetheless—seems so out of the ordinary. And arranged by a PR agent from Ferrari? Last you’d heard, cars were objects and didn’t need publicity. The whole affair gives off a vibe of semi-mystery, almost, like you’re in the MI6 and taking lucrative calls in alleyways. 
You feel through your bag for your hotel key card, wallet, and phone, and finding them all there, you leave and make your way to the restaurant. You’re not too nervous; you’ve had to have your own sit-down talks with higher-ups and even Charles or Carlos before, but none of the “you’re fired” variety. 
The restaurant isn’t far from where you’re staying, so you shove sunnies on and trek there, managing to make it inside unscathed.
Table 17, the text reads, and you’re quickly ushered into a private section of the place. It’s empty, save for a couple and a far-off table seating one guy, whose back is to you. You realize it’s Charles when you squint your eyes harder. The waitress doesn’t give you much of a choice and seats you across him, promising to return with noontime champagne.
You slide your sunglasses onto your hair and look up. “Hi,” you say politely.
“Hey,” Charles says back casually. He wears a Richard Mille and a few other bracelets, a linen blue polo, and jeans.
“New PR thing?”
Charles smiles, shrugging. “Man, I’ve no idea. Wake up on Saturday and I’m due for a meeting. Is this for social media?”
Huh, so he doesn’t know either. “I don’t know. It was a super random call for me, too.”
He shrugs. “Both clueless.”
“Right. So, to be clear, we’re waiting for—”
“I am so sorry I’m late,” a woman says sheepishly, her heels clicking along the tiled floor. She definitely looks the part for a PR officer: pantsuit, heels, a blond bob, ridiculously expensive handbag, eccentric sunglasses. “Scusami, really.” Her Italian apology has an American twang.
“All okay,” says Charles with a small smile. “We were barely waiting, no?”
You nod, offering a tight-lipped smile of your own. “Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
She slides into the seat beside him and waves a waiter over, ordering in quickfire English; clearly, she’s been here before. Absently, you wonder if her previous affairs in this restaurant were also to have clandestine meetings. Your reverie doesn’t last long, though, because immediately Jenna’s starting her agenda. “So, are introductions in order?”
“I, um,” you say, “I’d say so, yes.”
“Alright, spectacular. I’m Jenna Griffin, just moved to Monte Carlo after living and working in SoCal. I’ve been appointed as a PR manager for Charles here, but don’t worry. You’re in good hands. I’ve handled three Kardashians, two NBA players, two One Direction members, and a lot of nepo babies.” 
“Wow,” you say, nodding.
“Cool.” Charles says, clearly impressed.
Jenna’s gaze flits between the two of you, both smiling at each other. “Right,” she says. “Let’s get down to business.” She clears her throat and pulls out her phone from her handbag, scrolling for a few moments. While the silence settles, you steal another glance at Charles, and hide a chuckle when you find his eyes already glancing back at you.
“Aren’t we waiting for Carlos?” He asks, taking a sip of water. 
His PR agent looks up briefly, then answers. “Actually, it’s just you two today.”
You nod slowly, burrowing even further into the confusion you’d been feeling since Saturday. It wasn’t like you were expecting Carlos, per se, but a meeting with just you and him—now, that’s a bit strange.
“So, I know this is all very confusing. But it’s happening for a reason,” says Jenna. “Charles—and I really only feel qualified to say this because I’ve done my research—has been on a streak of…erm, well, lady-related scandals lately.”
“Oh, God,” Charles groans across you, and you chew your lip. You’ve seen the headlines, but you’re still clueless as to how this concerns you. 
“As a PR agent, I think it won’t do good for his public image to be seen as somebody who sleeps around.”
“It was two headlines,” Charles cuts in with a laugh. “And they were both fake. Please don’t misunderstand.”
Jenna clicks her tongue. “Yeah, the public definitely has some thoughts.” She turns to her phone and reads off of it. “‘Charles is a playboy and not a driver’, ‘Leclerc is too busy pulling girls’… times ten thousand. So, yeah, it’s a bit of a smear.”
“Right, okay. Listen, I’m not sure I understand,” you say with a stuffy laugh. “What has all this got to do with me?”
“Everything,” she answers with a smile. You raise a brow. “Well, you see, we PR managers always have a network. We keep tabs on who’s who, and who needs what. As a new manager, I need to implement some of my strategies around here. Go digging, you know? Find something good. And when I found your pretty little face in the background of many of Charles’ paddock photos, I realized you could help create something newsworthy.”
“Are you talking about a PR stunt?” You ask, your frown deepening. 
“Well—virtually, essentially, yes.” She opens her mouth to explain but is interrupted by the serving of champagne and appetizers. “Okay. Don’t think this is a haphazard decision. Naturally, we had to find out if this would even be a good idea…”
“Which it’s not,” you say, taking a swig of champagne.
She nods. “The thing is, your bosses and I really did go over several scenarios, and this one seems the most likely to keep your fans engaged. This way, the appearances won’t look so staged.”
“—Jenna,” Charles says, clearly having detected your hesitance, “I don’t think she’s interested.” 
“It’s fine,” you say, but you still sound off-put. It’s not fine, not really. “I don’t see how this is going to help Charles, though. I’d think the idea of him being committed to somebody would just further alienate his fangirls.”
Jenna chuckles. “While that is, to some extent, true, the number of fans who would go gaga over the two of you far, far outweighs the opposing population. This is a special case. A girl next door social media manager with a social media presence—and a wildly popular, totally charming Formula One driver? I mean, talk about Harry and Meghan! Everybody loves love. And, might I add, Charles’ male fans might actually like seeing you two together.”
You sigh, a quick huff of frustrated air. “So, what is this then?”
“It’s a proposition for the fans.” She smiles. “It’s a fake relationship.”
You reach for champagne, but find you’ve totally drained your glass. The room falls into muted silence, and you can’t bring yourself to look at Charles. You didn’t expect this on a Monday afternoon. You thought maybe it was a job termination. Or a leaked text message. Somehow, this is the strangest of all possibilities.
“So, good?” She chirps. “I’ll send you the primer.”
You both stare at each other. “We’re not actually going to. Right?”
“Right. We are not dating.”
“We’re dating!” You chirp, practicing your appearances in front of Carlos and Lando, who had visited the former.
“You two look like two people dating pretending to be friends,” Lando observes.
You grumble. Many of your shots had been staged pap photos outside his apartment, or fans happening to catch you two together; no official statement had been released, according to Jenna’s “masterplan.” For the most part, it was a good dynamic of putting up a façade for the public and settling back into a platonic relationship within minutes.
Nothing really goes wrong at first—and then Charles ruins it.
It happens after a Ferrari event in spring. You’re in Monza again, weather humid when you re-shoot the fifth TikTok for the day with Carlos. There are celebrities to and fro, even more journalists and a shitload of fans crowding the perimeter of the area. You’ve successfully pulled off the fake dating stunt, keeping a lowkey profile and doing your job.
There’s a green room for the drivers and close managers to wait and rest, where you stow yourself away to avoid the crowds. You review the reels and stories for the day, and cap it off with a “goodbye, Tifosi!” post with Carlos that’s enough to quell the many notifications.
Granted, many of the said notifications are of the speculative nature. Some are wondering if it’s you posting or if a new hire was underway to make room for the new couple. You ignore them anyway and take a seat on the couch across Carlos, sighing with exhaustion.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” He teases.
“Ha-ha,” you say, unimpressed. You gesture to the TV behind him, showing a live feed of Charles’ last interview of the day with Natalie Pinkham. Once this is over, you’re free for the week: free of social media manager and fake girlfriend responsibilities. The thought alone makes you well up with relief.
You and Carlos both watch intently as Charles answers several event-related questions that, to your horror, simmer into personal ones. Natalie sounds excited when she goes, “Any plans for the week with a special someone?”
Charles has no thought behind his eyes, a muted wave of panic coming over him as he fumbles for a response. “My family’s staying up in Tuscany, in a farmhouse we own, stay in for spring and summer. We are actually visiting them for the week.”
We are actually visiting them for the week. Your look of pure, unadulterated shock doesn’t go unnoticed by Carlos, who’s quick to snap pictures of you on his phone. What the hell is Charles talking about? Tuscany? No, family? 
“I take it you didn’t know about this,” Carlos says with a laugh. 
“You think?!” You holler, still appalled. Charles has a lot of gall to spin this without your permission, or Jenna’s for that matter. You know she’ll love it, though; it’s really, mainly, you who has a problem with it. Anxious, you get up and watch the broadcast end; not a minute later, Charles enters and offers a can of sparkling water to you.
“Thirsty?” He asks casually.
“Very,” you pipe, taking a gulp.
“You’re welcome,” he says teasingly.
“Oh, thanks! I think I’ve been busy thinking about the fact that I’m meeting your family!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He yells, trying to match your agitated volume. “I didn’t know you were watchi—I was nervous! I didn’t know what to say anymore! And—you kno—well—and Natalie kept asking a ton of questions!”
Your face of disbelief matches his of sheepish apology, facing each other frozen. Across you, Carlos lets out an incredulous laugh, mumbles something about wanting popcorn. You honestly can’t blame him. Had you been an outsider, you would’ve relished in Charles’ slip-up, too. Instead, you’re the one who’s apparently going to Tuscany on Friday to meet the extended Leclerc clan.
“It’s fine. It’s gonna be”—you attempt to find an appropriate adjective—“bearable. At least we don’t need to keep up appearances there.”
You’re met with disagreeable silence. When Charles doesn’t chime in with an agreement, you turn slowly back to him. “No.”
“It’s only for a week—”
“No!”
“A week!” 
You’re both standing up, pacing around the other frantically. Pretending to suddenly be bumped up from social media manager to Charles’ girlfriend was a daunting enough proposition. Getting hate mail and death threats was enough incentive to let you want to leave. Timing exits and entrances was difficult. And now, pretending to be together in front of his family? His family. 
“Why can’t you just tell them we’re not actually dating?!”
“It’s just—it’s complicated having to explain why.” You remember his assortment of man-whore scandals and realization sinks into you. You sit on the arm of the couch, deflated and contemplative. Despite your own knowledge of the scandals being totally baseless and false, you understand it’s difficult to explain the lengths of tabloids and online rumors to older family members.
You might have to grin and bear it.
“Fine.” You digress. He cheers silently. “One week. Once our quickie breakup is finalized, you’re telling them it ended well. I don’t want to be in anybody’s bad graces.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.”
Tuscany won’t be so bad, you think. What’s the worst that could happen?
Charles’ extended family greets you at their farmhouse when you arrive heaving two pieces of luggage. It’s populated by two aunts, three uncles, and two younger cousins, and their hospitality is contagious. They all somehow remind you of Charles, their faces, their laughs, their easy attitudes.
His aunts, Mia and Giulia, are the first to pull you in for a hug and inspect your face. Good eyebrows! Good lips! Healthy attractive child for you both!
You have to pry yourself off of them with giggles and smiles and pretend the kid comment was never uttered for your own sake. They’re kind, ushering you inside and serving dinner immediately, inquiring about the drive and if it was bad, if Charles had spotted any dead sheep or cattle on the way (none.)
His cousins are both little boys, eleven and six, shy and with thick accents. Charles’ smile is huge when he speaks to them in Italian, eyes comical and animated. His three uncles all eat fairly quietly, talking about politics, or racing, only when they feel like it. 
They ask many questions, and tell so many stories, over limoncello and rigatoni that leave you stuffed after two platefuls. You didn’t think you’d be satisfied so soon after the drive, but you’re grateful for it. His uncle Giorgio leads the tour of the house, his voice slow and constantly sliding into Italian, but Charles is quick to supply a translation into your ear. Lit by terrace lights, you get a night view of the house, surrounded by the hills, the lemon trees, and a swimming pool in the back. Further back, there are two horses for riding, and bicycles for easier transportation.
A vineyard borders the other side of the hill, owned by a different family. You can’t digest the beauty of this place, even without the sun to provide a better view. You’re back inside, being shown the rest of the wide dining room and kitchen that lead out onto a balcony-terrace area, and then clambering the stairs to be shown your room—a beautiful one on the second floor that overlooks the hills. 
“This is so beautiful,” you say honestly. “Thank you so much. And Charles will be staying…?”
“In my childhood bedroom!” He quips excitedly, already halfway out the door to review his living situation.
Giulia and Mia share a look and then the former goes, “Wait, Charles!”
He slows to a halt and turns, awaiting their words. “Ay. Bambino, because you have been in Monaco so long these days, and we have gotten a lot of stuff, your childhood bedroom is now more of a… storage room.”
“A storage room?!” He sounds scandalized.
“Bambino, mi dispiace,” she continues. “But—let’s not be conservative! You two have been dating now for a year, correct? Surely, you’ve slept in one bed.”
Your face grows warm. “Um, actu—”
“Shh,” Mia says kindly. “No need to make excuses. Charles, stay with your girlfriend. And we will wake you both for breakfast. Ciao!”
You barely voice your assent, managing to wedge in a thank you! before the door closes and leaves you and Charles alone. 
In a room without a single couch. The only non-bed “resting” space is a single chair, and as much as you want to, you don’t want Charles to break his spine trying to sleep on it. The situation is clear. You need to configure the bed.
“We cannot sleep on the same bed.”
“I’ll take the floor.”
“No! I mean—ugh. I don’t want to risk you pulling a muscle. Also, more importantly, if any of your family walks in and sees you sleeping on the floor, they’re going to think we’re freaks.”
“The bed is big enough for us both,” he says, gesticulating. You narrow your eyes. If you’re going to be avoiding physical contact, it definitely isn’t. It’s like the gods had decided to bless the room with a bed perfect for two people snuggling.
You place your hands on your hips, analyzing the best way to tackle the situation. You won’t lie, you’d thought about the possibility of sharing a room—but a bed was completely different. You’d expected a couch, a loveseat of some kind, both of which are woefully missing. Thinking fast, you take the three decorative, cylindrical pillows and place them vertically on the centre of the bed.
You step back. “Okay. That’s our boundary.”
Each side is a bit small, but it’s the price to pay, you think, taking a long look at your handiwork. Beside you, Charles snorts. “That is not going to work.”
“I’ll bet you it will,” you say matter-of-factly, retreating to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When you emerge, Charles is fast asleep, half his body on your side of the boundary. You have to pour water on his face to shoo him away, and that’s when you’re positive your creation will work.
You place yourself gingerly on your side of the border, remaining perfectly still as you drift off to sleep. You wake up the next day on Charles’ chest, pushing him away before admitting you’d been in that position in the first place. 
You slide him five euros over breakfast. 
Charles is a good driver, skier, and biker—you can attest to this from being by his side, reviewing pictures and videos of him for a living.
But there’s one thing he absolutely sucks at, and it’s teaching. You thought you’d never have to attest to this, but here you are, with scraped knees and a smudge of soil on the hem of your shorts, on your sixth attempt to learn how to ride a bike.
It’d been his idea, like many of the odd things you’d gotten yourself into. “Let me make up for dragging you along,” he’d said, and then proceeded to commit attempted murder every time he sent you away on the bicycle. Five tries did you no good; Charles’ directions contradicted each other and came much too fast, causing you to crash into the grass or skid yourself to a halt, your sneakers coated in a light layer of dust.
“Why are we still trying?” You ask woefully, examining the scratches on your calf. And to think you would’ve gotten to go truffle hunting with his uncle had Charles not swept you away to bike.
“It is an important life skill. Just—don’t look at the ground. Okay. Andiamo!” He sends you off again, watches as you twist and careen into a bush. Again. Your groan of pain matches the ooof he lets out, jogging to help you up. You turn away from the ground and toward his face. His laughing face.
“Ow. What?” You ask, raising a brow. You flex your fingers, waiting for him to pull you upwards. 
“You smashed into a bush and a berry’s all over your cheek.” He says, still laughing when he helps you up. You hold the tip of your pinky to your face, press down, and sure enough, when you inspect it again, it’s stained a dark berry color.
“Is this toxic?!” You ask, agitated.
“Che? Toxic? No, no. It’s a juniper berry.” He reaches over and swipes his thumb across your face, sending you into a frozen state. Your hands remain at your sides while he focuses on wiping the rest of the fruit off of your cheek, showing you his stained finger afterwards with a proud smile. “All gone.”
You turn and pick up the bicycle. “One more for good luck,” you say, shaking off the nerves and gut churning feeling deep in your stomach. You situate yourself atop the bike, trying to remember and re-remember all the tips Charles had given you. 
“Don’t look down, just breathe, keep your eyes trained straight. If you crash, on the grass always. Better than this path.”
“Got it,” you say breathlessly, determined. You take off, eyes trained on the landscape in front of you, leaving the house behind and gliding quickly downhill. It takes you a beat to realize, however, that you’re not falling. You’re doing it—properly. You turn to voice your pride, but that’s what gets you caught in your thoughts.
Charles is cheering behind you, but once he detects you’re stumbling, he runs the few metres over. Still, he can’t catch you fast enough; you do manage to turn right and land on the grass. In his own rush, Charles trips on the horizontal bike, and lands right beside you, atop your arm.
Eventually you’re both doubled over laughing, your fingers finding purchase on the blunt grass. You both only quiet down when you hear his aunt’s car, old and rickety, grow louder. You look up to find Giulia peeking out of the driver’s window, her face as amused as it is confused.
Beside her, Mia yells. “Buon lavoro, Charles!”
“What’d she say?” You ask, still half-laughing.
“Good job,” he replies, entertained. “She said good job.”
Charles takes Giorgio’s Vespa and rides you both to town two days later, even with the offer of a car. He claims the motor ride is the best way to experience Tuscany at its finest. Nothing about the two-seater bike on the pebbly road feels fine, though, and you’re seriously contemplating broken ribs when he makes a sharp turn. It’s only a ten, fifteen-minute ride, but the downhill slope makes it seem faster—and more dangerous.
Your grip on his waist had gone from loose and hesitant to tight and anxious, your voice a mantra of possible death in his ear. He can’t help but laugh, revving harder and chiming in with a biting remark of his own.
“You know who this is named after?” He shouts over the wind whipping both of you.
“Mmm?” You ask.
“Apollonia, from the Godfather.”
“Oh, Christ. The girl who died?”
“Hey, she was beautiful! My uncle loved the movies so much, his Vespa had to be named after her.” You lean onto his back for purchase, still unused to the speed at which he zips through the countryside. Eventually, after a few turns, the terrain turns from rough to smoother, and he parks at the busy-looking town square, populated by locals and tourists alike, but not with the traffic of more popular cities. Alleyways lead to smaller corner stores and cafés; a chapel overlooks the area, and a market populates the centre.
“What would you name your bike, if you had to?” You ask as a follow-up, removing your helmet and shaking your hair out. You pull at your dress to straighten it out.
“Well…” He takes both your helmets and stores them in the bike, leading the way toward the bustle. “My uncles, and my father—they always say we name our most precious things after beautiful women. Apollonia. My other uncle, Leo, he named his sailboat after his mother, Bianca. Even my dad would name few objects after my mother. It’s a way of honoring them, you know?”
You nod, stopping at a produce stall and examining a bunch of tomatoes. “I think that’s sweet.”
“Yes, so I guess… well, I don’t know, really. My mother’s name, maybe?”
“She’s got a beautiful one,” you comment offhandedly.
“Yeah. Or, if we go by appearances, I suppose your name.”
You ignore the flush of nerves that well up in you and turn back to face him, confused and amused. “My name? Why’s that?”
“I mean,” he coughs, crossing his arms and smiling, “people think we are together, so if I get a bike, and they ask for her name, I must say yours, no?”
“Only if you want to,” you chirp back, amused. What had possessed him to suddenly bring you into the discussion? Neither of you are pretending for all these strangers. Here in town, you’re friends again, browsing the market, walking around stalls, eating free samples of pesto and cheese.
“I do want to,” he says. It’s a joke, you’re sure. Half-sure. It’s a joke.
The town square’s noise begins to die when the sun sets. City-dwellers leave to take trips back to main hubs of Italy, and with no nightlife in the area, many in the square are families or couples sitting down for dinner. The ride back, while short, might be dangerous in the dark; you tug on Charles’ sleeve to relay your thoughts.
“Don’t worry,” he says dismissively. “I’ve biked here past midnight.”
“What were you even doing in town at midnight, hmm?” You tease lightly, following him around. There’s not much to do except eat at this point, judging by the way you’d both exhausted the stalls in the afternoon. He rolls his eyes, mumbling excuses. 
“You womanizer,” you whisper in an exaggerated scandalous tone. You poke his bicep. “Bedding the locals.”
“I was not, ay!” He defends. You’ve noticed his accent is so much thicker here, where he has to speak Italian all the time, except with you. It sounds nice. “I would come to smoke weed.”
That’s even funnier, you think, throwing your head back to laugh. Thoughts of teenaged Charles, tinged pink and tan from summer, on a momentary break from a junior racing career, biking fast back and forth—for a joint no less—are both funny and endearing. “That is so cute, Charles. Drug virgin.”
“Don’t speak of those when we’re in front of the house of the Lord,” he says sarcastically, gesturing to where your cyclical walking had landed you: back in front of the town’s chapel. There’s a pot of holy water by the front doors and a rack of candles for lighting and offering. Besides that, there’s a coin drop box being manned by a priest.
In silent agreement, you walk in sync to the candles, lighting one each and whispering brief intentions. You’re not religious, you’ve never been; a church seemed foreign to you, always. But you figure there’s no harm in a candle and an offer to the big guy, if he’s there.
There’s a mural painted by the doors, which you observe silently while Charles goes to drop donations into the box. You catch bits of their conversation. Good evening. Are you a tourist. No, we live up the hill, visiting for spring, yes. 
The rest you don’t catch, turning to Charles and watching him talk, animated as he is solemn. The priest smiles at you politely, turns to Charles, goes, “Siete qui insieme?” You rack your brain for the Italian you’d picked up recently but can’t match it to anything.
Charles nods. “Qui per cenare, ed esplorare.” Esplorare, explore? You fail again, but continue listening anyway, occupying your eyes with the mural.
“È la tua ragazza?” The priest asks with a soft chuckle.
“Oh, sì, sì.” Charles looks very sure of himself when he says so.
The priest nods once. “Se ti sposi, allora dovrebbe essere qui, no?”
Charles turns slowly, looks at you, then smiles. “Okay,” he says, still looking at you. “Farò in modo che accada.” Then they’re exchanging quick Italian goodbyes and he’s walking back to you, guiding you to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
“What was that about?” You ask, the curiosity getting the best of you. You don’t remember what they said, so you can’t plug it into Google Translate; your last hope is getting Charles to translate it for you. You figure it’s no problem. He’s always translated for you during your stay here so far, word-for-word recounts that have you feeling fluent in the language after decoding them. Whether it be a family anecdote or a market transaction, the language has never become an issue for you.
You walk beside him, awaiting the translation that never comes. Instead, he smiles, shakes his head, and says, “That was nothing.”
Your first, last, and only close call happens during a wine and poker night with Charles’ uncles and aunts. You’d spent the morning semi-cuddling (to beat the early a.m. cold, you both insisted), and then a majority of the afternoon in the nearby vineyard volunteering to help pick grapes, and they’d offered to let you wind down for the night inside.
It starts off well enough—you and Giorgio best the first two rounds, much to everyone else’s chagrin, and you rest on the sofa, reading Giulia’s cookbook with a glass of wine. At quarter to midnight, Charles’ six-year-old cousin, Marco, comes inside and slots himself beside Charles, eyes sleepy.
“Cugino,” he says. Cousin. His voice is squeaky and childish.
“Yes, Marco?” Charles asks, preoccupied with his cards.
“Put me to sleep,” he says in accented English.
“Later. You should wait.”
“Can she do it?” A chubby hand rises and points toward you. You offer a small wink, sipping wine.
“Only if she wants to,” Charles says, turning to face you. You chuckle.
“I’d be happy to, Marco.” You smile.
“Cugino.” Marco tugs on Charles’ sleeve to regain his attention. “What’s her favorite color?”
Oh, shit. Neither of you had really thought this would come up, so you hope Charles can fake it well. While you know everything about him, he knows not much about you, especially little niche facts like this one. Charles clears his throat and goes, “Blue.”
“Favorite song?”
“Uh. Marco, aspettare. OK?”
“Why should he wait?” Giorgio asks, gruff. “Your aunts and I are curious, too.”
Charles meets your eyes, and you try to signal for him to lie, which he ends up doing. “It’s Take a Chance on Me. ABBA, zio.”
You do know that song, but it’s definitely not your favorite. You close the cookbook and get up, pacing onto the seat beside Marco and leaning against it, smiling and nodding. Beside Giorgio, Mia asks sweetly, “Do you have any tattoos, dear?”
Just you, or are Italian aunts ridiculously straightforward? You open your mouth at the same time Charles does, and that’s what leads to your downfall. Yes, one, you say. No, none, Charles says at the same time. You both look at each other, eyes wide.
His uncle grunts. “Bambino, do you know nothing of this lovely girl?”
“You misunderstand,” Charles says. “I thought she wouldn’t want to share that yet, zio. I tried to cover for her, but, er—she seems okay with sharing it.”
It’s a flimsy excuse but it seems to work, and the poker game resumes without any more questions about you.
Still, you grow nervous, frustrated a bit, and, once you spot Marco asleep, you take him into your arms and mumble a polite goodnight, carrying him upstairs. The call was just too close. Why did Charles feel the need to interject like that? Had you been caught in such a lie, you’d need to reveal everything.
Something else tugs at your chest, but you refuse to admit it incites an unhappy feeling out of you. Charles’ lack of knowledge about you did nothing but remind you that in the end, he did know nothing about you, and this was just contractual and obligatory and for the press-turned-for the family. You pat Marco’s forehead, sighing. You shouldn’t be so upset, but you are.
You know a lot about Charles, but it’s a cold fact that he can’t say the same about you; at least, not to the extent that you know him. The doors and staircase creak, signifying the game’s end and everyone’s retreat to bed; you await Charles’ entrance, which comes after you hear him opening your room, finding it empty, and then—
“Sorry. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” you say, hushed. You get up and walk past him, crossing the corridor and opening the door halfway into your room. 
He says, then: “You really never tell me anything about yourself.” 
You freeze, turn, suddenly frustrated all over again. Suddenly sad. “Yeah. You really know nothing about me.” It’s exaggerated, so it cuts deeper.
He’s upset, you realize. “Do I have to beg for these sorts of basic facts? I wa—I…” He pauses. “I want to know you more. I’ve always wanted to.”
“You didn’t even think to—to ask me the most basic questions before we got here.” You’re aware he didn’t owe you this, but your irritance doesn’t quell. “My favorite song, my favorite movie, color, anything. I could name all that on your behalf.”
“Every time I ask, you deflect. You never told me, either,” he says defiantly.
You scoff and ponder for a minute before shaking your head and clambering down the steps. You need some fresh air, having gotten mad so quickly. You know it makes no sense—he never needed to ask about you. Prior to last week, you worked with him. Still, everything’s changed now, and it feels hurtful knowing he can’t name these things about you.
You take a seat on the terrace chair, pretend not to notice when he sits beside you, separated by a table.
You hug your arms closer to yourself, sigh. “It’s, a koi fish on my hipbone. Hurt like a bitch.”
He looks at you, curious. You continue.
“My high school superlative was ‘most likely to be elected president’—embarrassing, I know. I won the local spelling bee. Thrice in a row. I love the color green, and the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
You pretend you’re not feeling anxious from the sudden sharing, clearing your throat and keeping your gaze trained on the landscape of houses and hills around you.
“I love crosswords to a worrying degree, I’m a dog person but have never owned one, and my favorite song is Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. I kill it on karaoke.” Finally, your eyes slide slowly over to look at Charles. He’s already looking at you, smile soft on his flushed, pink face.
“I didn’t think of you as much of a singer,” he says, eyes crinkling from the size of his smile.
Huffing and stifling a laugh, you cross your arms defiantly over your torso. Your lips melt into a pout, and you flip him off in an attempt to stave him off. He just laughs harder, gulping the rest of his wine with ease.
“To be fair, I think I dance better,” you respond proudly. “It’s still bad, but it’s better. Better than you, anyway.”
“Is that a challenge?” He asks, mouth half-open, still caught in a laugh. “Wow. Okay, d’accord. It’s on.”
“It is most certainly not a challenge, Charles!” You object frustratedly.
“Challenge accepted!”
Against your vocal protests, he gets up from his chair and reenters the house, exiting with his phone in one hand and the rest of the wine in the other. He browses his selection of songs, humming until he seems satisfied with one of them. He pours you both a glass of preparatory red, a grin lighting up his face. 
You burrow into the chair, unrelenting when he stretches out a hand to invite you to dance. You only end up giving in when you’ve successfully finished your wine, getting up and straightening out the wrinkles in your dress.
Your hand is still loosely clutched around his when he plays the Bee Gees song he’d queued up, and then both of you start dancing.
It’s a bit fast-paced, but you catch up well, letting yourself move fluidly to the song. All the while, your hand remains looped around his, like an anchor, a saving point. You shut your eyes to immerse yourself in the song, a smile on your face. When you crack them open, you watch Charles dance goofily, with moves you’d be totally embarrassed by otherwise. This time, you’re strangely endeared.
Where you expected yourself—the both of you, really—to be stiff and awkward, you’re both loose and easygoing, chuckling and laughing as the song progresses. Your dress swishes by your knees softly when you move, letting go of his hand momentarily. It flexes with the feeling of his absence. Charles dances like he has no care in the world, with movements that would rival a fifty-year-old’s. You find that you don’t have a care in the world either, watching him with a stupid grin on your features.
Your heart swells and seizes, and you swallow, not wanting to realize why yet. He reaches for your hand again, seeks it in the evening light. You give it to him easily, cut his search short. You’re what he looks for.
He lifts your linked hands right as the song starts its ending, and you realize you’re supposed to twirl around them. With a laugh, you follow, letting your arms stretch out when you’re done. He pulls you back, with strength that sends you barreling into his chest. “Dude,” you mumble, giggling. “Charles, you ruined my flow.”
You both part, but barely; your hands are still clasped, your distance barely increased. You stare up at him when the next song clicks on.
It’s slower this time, a song you recognize from films and novels. You remember this specific rendition from two years ago in Silverstone, when Charles had shared over a meeting that he’d been busy teaching himself the piano—specifically, The Way You Look Tonight.
The song continues, your hands still together, your eyes boring into his. The moon makes his light eyes a different shade, all green and soft edges rivaling the intensity of his stare. “Come on,” he says. “Why stop, no?”
He raises your hands, guides his vacant one to wrap around your waist. It’s warm there, secure, belonging. With all the hesitance in the world, you wrap a hand around his upper arm. Your gaze is unbreaking.
“Thank you,” he says, steering you both into a slow, easy rhythm. The nerves melt away slowly when you continue to sway. You cock a head to the side in a silent request for elaboration.
“For sharing.”
“Oh. It was only right,” you reply. “Considering you know nothing niche about me.”
“Tell me…” He starts, but the words tangle in his throat, lodge themselves there in a fit of nerves. He breathes, breaks the gaze. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind… if you told me more.”
A brief shine of surprise passes through your eyes, and you nod. “Alright.”
“Alright.” He smiles. 
“Do you think, ” you say, swallowing the sorrow, “we’ll need to keep doing this when the week is ov—?”
“Let’s not dwell on that,” he says quickly. He sounds—sad, almost, at the thought of this being fake. In the days spent here, picking grapes, drinking wine, going on bike rides and practicing Italian, it was easy to let the lines blur. Perhaps he’d forgotten.
You realize, when he leans forward and slots his chin atop your head: you’d forgotten, too.
Despite the tension, the next day goes fairly normal, and Charles takes you to town on Apollonia late at night. The Tuscan air is crisp and clean when he parks by a pub, loud not with techno music or hip-hop, but Italians singing. Inside, it’s not so crowded, populated by regulars, few tourists, and several older people.
Charles orders himself a beer, and a cocktail for you after you request something sweet. The bartender gives you an extra one on the house, and you and Charles seat yourself in front, watching people sing on the stage.
“Vi piace cantare?” Someone asks, and Charles quickly supplies: he’s asking if we like to sing.
You wave your palm back and forth. So-so, you signal. Charles, of course, ever the social butterfly, slides into a natural conversation with him, about Italy, pubs, beer, and singing. The guy introduces himself as Antonio, owner of said pub and a man who is apparently more than happy to clear the queue of singers for you two.
“Wait, seriously?” You ask. Antonio nods, clapping Charles on the back. You’d have thought they’d been friends for years or something.
You immediately turn down the request, but Charles scrambles onstage, having downed two bottles of beer. You’re overcome with horror as you watch him walk across the small stage to the side of it to request a song, encouraging whoops from the crowd.
“Ohhhhh. Oh, no. This is not a good idea,” you say, gulping. “Plus, I’ve had a lot to drink. Your aperol spritzes have so much alcohol in them.”
Beside you, Antonio laughs. “Non si preoccupi—do not worry. He seems to be a confident guy. You’re in good hands.”
“Am I? He didn’t even ask if I wanted to sing. I don’t even know what to sing.” You watch him whisper a song to the guy in charge of the pub’s ancient karaoke system, half-sure that the song archive stops after 1990. The stage creaks when Charles reaches for another mic and then stretches his arm out to offer it to you.
You muster your best angry face, but he just laughs. “Come on. You will like it.”
Gulping the rest of your cocktail, you accept the mic, and then his hand, strong in yours as he helps you climb onstage. The crowd of locals and few tourists cheer for the both of you, and you don’t do much to hide your stage fright; even the buzz of alcohol can’t help you. You hope (and know, deep down) that Charles will.
“Buona sera a tutti,” Charles says, met with more raucous cheering. “Io e il mio amico cateremo per te stasera.” He bows, and you follow a bit stiffly, not knowing what he’s saying.
“Amico?” Someone jeers from the audience. “O fidanzata?!”
Charles laughs, and you know he’s truly entertained because his eyes crinkle the way they do. You fiddle with your dress, your hair, anything to channel the nerves. He waves the crowd off with a shush motion and then turns, gestures for the song to start. He catches your eye, anxious, quells your nerves by taking your hand and squeezing it. Don’t worry, he mouths. I’m here.
You identify the song before two seconds of it even play, and the realization is breathtaking: your favorite. You shut your eyes and let a huge smile come onto your face, laughing. You almost can’t believe him for this.
He starts off the song, taking your hand and leading you into a dance. Don’t go breaking my heart.
You twirl around him, exaggerating your movements and smiling. I couldn’t if I tried.
Somehow, you find dexterity, flow in the movements, the words. Maybe because you love the song so much. Charles matches your enthusiasm, singing loudly and exaggerating his accent to incite laughs from the onlookers. When he speeds up, so do you, allowing both of you to join in an upbeat rhythm that leaves you panting.
Ooh-hoo, nobody knows it, you both sing, laughing and shimmying toward each other. You both point and laugh, joining hands again when the chorus ends to sing your lines all over again. Charles always leads you well, alert as he is excited, letting you melt into him, adapt to the dance. You feel like you’re floating. 
Don’t go breaking my heart, he sings. 
I won’t go breaking your heart, you sing back, ducking underneath your hands, laughing.
The tension, warmth, spark between you grow as the song begins to close, your words breathless, faces flushed with alcohol and semi-exhaustion. Even if your face seems to show it, though, you find you’re not tired at all, smiling as your heart beats faster. You pull away, dancing to the last bits of the song, having let go of all your worries, nerves. Why were you ever nervous? You always trusted him.
The song fades to an end when you pull together, faces as close as they’d ever been. You’re both breathing heavy with the intensity of your dance, smiling. You shut your eyes, laugh, with the ecstasy of this moment. From the crowd, the bartender yells: “Ora bacia! Kiss!”
Both you and Charles turn to the crowd, who quickly cheer him on, and laugh. But they’re not kidding, you realize—they’re all yelling kiss in unison, intermittent whoops and cheers joining the chant. It’s like a rural Italian version of an MLB kiss cam.
You turn back to Charles, who’s looking at you already. His eyes dart to your lips. You’d never done it before—appearances never went that far—but the crowd is unrelenting, and you nod back when he cocks his head to the side in silent question. Like always, you’re nervous. And again, like always, he helps you through it.
Warmth blossoms through your chest when he leans in and presses your lips together.
That would’ve been enough to satisfy the crowd, you think, but neither of you pull away. Sparks ignite your stomach, your hands looping around his neck, his around your waist. You kiss him back effortlessly, like you’d done this a million times before. You feel him smile against your own smile, laugh when you laugh. 
The kiss is nothing if not dizzying, the perfect kind, the kind of the fairytale variety. His lips are soft, a bit chapped, against yours; when your tongues meet, they taste like aperol spritz and beer. Your hands tighten around his neck, like you need him still against you, when you both pull away for air. The crowd cheers.
You barely even hear them, staring into his eyes. 
The night becomes cloudy, raining softly over the hills when everybody’s done singing; Charles boards Apollonia and like always, you wrap your hands around him, leaning against his back. You’re a bit tipsy, but above all, you’re utterly conflicted with how everything’s seemed to turn in on itself within the last few days.
The rain only grows as Charles revs harder, and the Vespa skids to a screeching, horrible stop. Thankfully, you’re not far from the farmhouse, so you don’t walk much; still, both of you are drenched, Charles’ arms stained with motor oil that drips off with the force of the rain. He stows away the bike, turns back to you. You’re looking at him expectantly.
“What is this?” You demand, raising your voice.
“Rain,” he replies blankly.
“This.” You wag a finger in between you both. “We kissed in Antonio’s pub, Charles. And we might—we might tell ourselves it was because of the crowd’s pressure, but we know. We both know that kiss was for nobody but us.”
He wipes a hand over his face. “What do you want it to be?”
“I don’t know,” you say honestly, sighing. Your hair is dripping with rain. “I really don’t.”
“I’ll tell you what I want,” he says. And he pauses, like he always does when he’s unsure, nervous, bumbling, and then blurts it out. “You—I want you. I was a fool to realize it late. But years of being with you, around you… I should’ve known earlier, I—”
“Charles,” you cut in, not expecting the sudden rawness. “No, no.”
“You’ve got to realize,” he says desperately. “I do. I constantly think of you, feel for you, look for you, look at you. I’ve known you for so long, I always end up liking you all over again. Everything comes back to you. Seeing you here, a place I love—seeing you love it here—listening to you sing, dancing with you—don’t you—haven’t you gotten it yet—?”
You stare at him. 
You’re faraway, on the clouds, dry from the rain, when he says it. I love you.
The morning after is quiet, muted. You drown in your own overbearing thoughts.
“Got a lot on your mind?” You emerge from them quick, eyes darting over to Charles’ two aunts leaning by the doorframe of the dining room. You offer a polite smile, hoping it hides the conflict in the recesses of your mind.
“A bit,” you reply. 
“Come join us,” Mia offers. “We will pick lemons outside. For lunch.”
You take a basket from the entryway and follow them through the front door and onto the yard, matching their slow pace, relishing in the morning sun that hasn’t yet grown too hot.
Tuscany is beautiful. Despite your best efforts, you’d grown to love it here over the course of the week. The hilly terrain, the fruit, the constant goat sightings, the bike rides to town where you clutch Charles’ shirt out of fear you might fall off. 
They seem to spot good lemons within milliseconds, balding the branches in minutes. Perhaps because of your own cloudy thoughts, or maybe their breakneck speed, you fail to catch up, and they notice.
Mia again brings you out of your thoughts, guiding you three to the next tree. “Are you upset, bambina? Is Charles being a pest?”
“Oh, God, no,” you say with a laugh. “We—he’s a great tour guide. I never explored Italy before, and it’s beautiful here. He bikes me to town, because I can’t, uh, ride, unfortunately. He transacts for me, because my Italian is hopeless. He buys wine and cheese and lets me pet sheep when we bike past them on the hills.”
“Bambini innamorati.” Mia sighs fondly. “What is it you like about Charles?”
You hum, thinking. There are lots of things you like about Charles, but surely his family share the same sentiments. What’s unique? What about him is just yours? “His humor, I suppose,” you say. “He finds the fun in everything, even in competition, in boredom. Everywhere else, his good traits—everyone knows them. A stellar driver, charming, kind. Good-looking. But his humor, I think… I think he reserves his weirdest jokes, his best laughs, for the best people in his life. I’m just glad I’m there.”
Giulia is the next to speak, slow and encouraging, prompting you with a question you’d once dreaded but now feel excitement to hear: “Tell me again, how you and Charles met?”
It’s a rehearsed story, with bits of lies that you and Charles had to insert to make it appear more romantic and less coworker-esque. But you’d only told the short version before. To some journalists, to his cousin. You figure you’ll lie less and tell a more unabridged version. “Oh, okay,” you say, nervous and collecting your thoughts. 
“I work with Charles. I was spending time with him a lot, so naturally, we became somewhat friends. Not very close, but comfortable enough. I had to take pictures and videos for him and his teammate, so we really were together a lot. I suppose that’s how we met. How we became… something more, is a totally different story. I think the best thing about it was that neither of us were looking for it.”
You breathe, pausing. “It simply happened—despite both of us not expecting, not needing a relationship, it happened anyway. Almost funny, how young people like myself look for the moment of love at first sight. The staggering moment of eye contact and realizing you’ve met your soulmate. But—it wasn’t like that for me. It happened slowly, like I had to dissect what I felt. Like my heart had always known, so I had to catch up with myself and realize I…”
You pause. You really aren’t lying. “…I’m in love with him.”
Giulia and Mia exchange a knowing look over the branches.
“So, are you dating?” Natalie asks. It’s the first race of the season, and everyone’s excited—but this interview moves slowly, Charles dictating the flow of it himself. He smiles.
“Yes, we are.”
“Well, there’d been rumors a few months ago that this was a PR stunt, calculated by your new officer, Jenna Griffin. So, tell me again, are you dating? For real?”
Charles seeks you in the crowd of the meet-and-greet fans, finds you in the front row. You roll your eyes when he smiles fondly at you. A Tuscany trip and several months later, he thinks, has changed everything.
For the better. “For real.”
3K notes · View notes
writerpetals · 7 months
Text
uninterrupted | 🔞
; optional male lead smut |  ☁️
w; oral sex while on the phone.
Saturday mornings waking up to him is the most perfect thing. With the sun shining through the blinds to light the room, the birds chirping outside to fill the silence, and him nuzzled in your neck, arm around your stomach while you lay warm in bed it can’t get much better. It’s so cozy, making you relaxed and completely comfortable as long as he is next to you.
That is, until your boss starts ringing your phone to interrupt the perfect moment, the both of you knowing he is calling you to come in and work overtime. He shakes his head against you, not wanting you to leave the bed for at least another few hours.
“I’m sorry,” you whisper, reaching for the phone. You always were a bit of a pushover and he hates how you run anytime your boss needs you for even the smallest thing. “Hello?” You answer, trying not to sound disappointed while not looking at him to make it easier to ignore his pouting.
“Don’t do it,” he says, but you quickly hush him by holding up your hand.
“Um, hi,” your boss starts, but you know where this is going, “is it possible for you to come in today? We ran into some problems last night and we need all the help we can get.”
He can hear the man talking, already getting aggravated and wanting to take the phone himself to say no. He knows that will piss you off, though, so instead he thinks of a way to make you change your mind about letting your boss ruin your day off.
As your boss rambles on and on, giving excuse after excuse to guilt you into coming in, he sneaks beneath the covers, letting his hands guide the way over your hips and to your thighs to part them. Your eyes widen, catching on quickly to what he is doing and screaming at him in your head not to go there while you are on the phone. A simple ‘no’ would have made him stop his devious convincing, but maybe in the back of your mind you wanted the distraction. He instantly makes it easier to tell your boss to find someone else when you know your work is taking advantage of your generosity. 
“Um, well, is there any way that it could wait until Monday?” You try to dodge the request, now feeling him brush a finger over your slit through your panties, up and down until finally resting on your clit to rub in a gentle motion. You bite down hard on your bottom lip to keep from making noise, not wanting your boss to think something is wrong. Jerking the covers up, you glare at him, but he is quick to pull the sheet out of your hand and back down to hide himself. You stifle a giggle behind a bitten bottom lip. 
“Well, see…” Your boss begins again on a long rant about how no one else does as good of a job as you just when he decides to push your panties to the side before flicking his tongue over your clit. The moan you want to release becomes difficult to hold back, hearing your boss in your ear and feeling him between your legs. He begins tending to the increasingly swollen bud, drawing circles and making your thighs tremble around him.
“I’m, um, a little busy this morning though, sir.” Your mind can’t even come up with an excuse, too focused on how good his tongue feels at the moment and knowing you never want to leave the bed for him to stop.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, he slides two fingers inside your center that begins to drip from his tongue’s endless motions. A whimper escapes your body, causing you to shut your eyes tight and pray your boss didn’t hear.
Oh, but he did. “Are you okay?” His question makes your skin flush with embarrassment, or maybe it’s from the way he pumps his fingers in and out while continuing to lick, and now suck lightly on your clit. You can hear him groan down below from the satisfaction of teasing you, knowing any moment you are going to cave. The two of you already know it’s in your best interest to fully enjoy your day off.
“Yes.” Your voice squeaks a reply, now gaping and rolling your hips against his face before pulling the covers back to see him lock eyes with you, mouth buried deep between your legs and tongue diligently pleasuring your pussy. The sight before you is so hot and such a turn on, there is no way you are leaving him today. “I’m sorry. I really can’t come today.”
With that, you press the big red button on your phone to end the call, tossing the device to the side. He finally pulls away and you can’t help but whine now that you are off the phone and he has your undivided attention.
“Don’t worry,” he says, crawling up your body with a smirk on his glistening lips to whisper in your ear, “you’re definitely coming today.”
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mikeysw1fey · 10 months
Text
i trust you
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pairing: jenna ortega x female reader
warnings: bitch jenna for a min there, sad reader, happy ending (yay)
Humming along to the music in the kitchen whilst Jenna’s being Jenna and re reading her scripts on the couch is perfection.
I cook dinner, her favourite of course and she works, a perfect combo. We’re at peace, both existing in one another’s space whilst doing our own things.
But the peace didn’t last.
“Baby, do you wanna eat dinner at the table?” I ask finally plating the food and grabbing the cutlery as Jenna doesn’t reply.
“Jen?” I frown looking over my shoulder at the woman who sighs and glances up from her paper. “Look I’m busy ok? Can you please just eat and I don’t know go be loud in the other room?”
She doesn’t mean to be rude I don’t think. I mean she’s not a rude person. But that comment hurt.
“Oh uh, yeah. Sorry.” I reply, taken aback by her harsh sentence. Jenna doesn’t even reply, her eyes trained on the sheets of paper scattered before her.
Biting my lip, I debate my next move. Hesitantly I grab her dinner, walking over and placing it down in front of her, just beside the paper pile. “Here’s your dinner.” I try to smile, maybe lighten the mood.
“Are you kidding me.” She groans and throws the script in her hand on the table, the script edge managing to fall against the gravy that had dropped down the side of the plate.
“Fuck, do you see what you’ve done?” She snaps, her eyes raging as she stands up and glares at me. I don’t reply, backing away slightly. “Jenna I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.” My voice seems to go in one ear and out the other as she breathes heavily as if trying not to yell.
“I have to have this done by monday. It’s fucking saturday and I have like two out of three hundred lines memorised. Can you go sit your annoying ass down somewhere else and stop fucking with my work.” She rages, hands clenched at her sides as she stalks up to me, finger poking me hard in the chest.
My eyes tear up while the rest of my body shuts down, the situation becoming much like ones I had purposely blocked from my memories.
Jenna’s exasperated groan snaps me back to reality as I rush out the living room heading straight towards the bathroom and locking the door with a snap before dropping to the floor.
Stifled sobs fall from my mouth as I shake my head, embarrassed at the stupidity of my breakdown. With shaking hands I paw at my eyes trying to stop the tears from flowing.
“Baby? Are you in there?” Jenna’s voice is soft, a contrast to her voice merely minutes ago as she calls through the bathroom door.
“Yeah, I’m just gonna have a shower.” I choke on my words slightly, failing my attempt to sound as if her actions hadn’t bothered me. “Baby, please, I know your not having a shower. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. Can you open the door?” Jenna’s voice is strained and I can almost hear the tears forming in her own eyes.
My fingers ghost over the lock of the door debating whether to open it or not as Jenna’s voice continues to beg. Using my hands to wipe the rest of my tears I switch the lock, the door swinging open almost instantly.
Jenna’s face looks exhausted, dark bags hang under her eyes, even more visible as a few tears stream down her cheeks. “Please forgive me, I didn’t mean to yell or hurt you, I’m so overworked and I know that’s not an excuse but it just killed me today.” She steps forwards causing me to step back, her face falling as she notices my movements.
I shrug not looking her in the eye, my hands beginning to shake once again. Jenna stammers slightly, unsure of what to say before inhaling deeply. “Can I touch you?” She whispers, her hands outstretched towards me.
I glance up at her, eyes watering slightly. “Jenna…” I trail off not moving forward to take her hand and not stepping away from her either. Her brown eyes widen as her head shakes vigorously. “Are you going to leave? Please don’t leave. Baby, I swear to you I’ll never lay my hands on you again, I swear on my life. I- I can sleep on the couch if you want or I’ll go to my parents or something-“ She gestures incoherently, tears falling down her face as she begs.
Silence fills the bathroom for a minute, my heart shattering at the sight of her pleading figure. “I’m not going anywhere but you hurt me Jenna.” I sigh staring at the tiled floor. Her black socks fall into my view as she gently reaches for my hands, a slight glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes as I don’t attempt to pull away. “I know I did baby. And I’ll always hold that guilt but I can promise you that it won’t happen again no matter how overworked I am.” She whispers whilst rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand.
“I trust you.” I reply after a moment of silence finally looking into her eyes.
Her smile widens as her hands move to my cheeks, gently wiping away the tears that settle there. “I love you so much, I’m so sorry baby.” Her whispers are soft as she apologises once again.
I nod, my own hands falling on her face as mirror her actions. “Stop crying.” I chuckle as her tears continue to flow. Jenna laughs with me. “I’m sorry.” She half sobs half chuckles causing my eyes to roll playfully. “If you say that again I swear.” I lean forward to kiss her lips, her eyes fluttering closed at the contact.
“Come on bedroom time.” Jenna nods as I pull away and direct her to our room.
“You need to sleep, actually, we both need to sleep.” I order firmly, gently pushing her off me and onto the bed.
Pulling back the sheets, I lay down, Jenna moving on top of me as she begins to kiss my chest. “I poked you. I’ll never do that again. I swear on my life baby.” She whispers gazing up at me as my hand finds comfort in her dark brown locks. “I trust you.” I whisper in reply which causes her to smile slightly before moving her head back to rest just under my chin.
“I love you.” She sighs tightening the grip on my waist. I nod, grazing her back with my nails. “I know you do baby, and I love you too.”
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Text
Life in the City 3
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Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as bad friends, creep behaviour, abuse of power dynamics, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.
This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.
Summary: You move to the big city and find yourself swallowed up by its chaos.
Characters: Clark Kent, Thor Odinson, short!reader
Note: A brief reprieve from the snakish prince.
As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.
Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you. No tag list, do not ask for updates.
I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖
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You sleep lightly, A restless night that leaves your skull fragile. You give up your attempts as the sun rises through the windows. You sit up and stretch, looking around the soft hues limning the walls of Melanie’s apartment.
You stand and move cautiously through the space. You change in the bathroom, doing your best not to make too much noise as you go out to grab your bag. You brush your teeth and tidy up. You’ll have a shower when you get home.
You emerge and look around, making sure you haven’t left anything out. You take the time to clean up the snacks from the night before and place everything away in the cupboard. You know Melanie’s on a diet but it feels wrong to take it all back with you.
As you zip up your bag, a shadow darkness the hallway and you look up as Clark tussles his dark hair and stretches. You glimpse at him briefly, mortified to find him shirtless, his hard torso exposed above the low elastic of his sweatpants.
“Morning,” his voice is silty with sleep, “what… are you leaving already?”
“Well, I… I should head off. Get out of your way,” you shrug as you speak quietly, “plus, I got chores…”
“Oh, do you need a ride,” he lets his hand drag down his chest as you shift awkwardly, clinging to your knapsack.
“Um, that’s nice, but I’ll just catch the bus–”
“The bus?” He echoes, “let me throw on a shirt and get myself together. I can’t let you just sneak off.”
“Erm, I guess… I could wait and say goodbye to Melanie, I just thought–”
“Yeah, she won’t be up for a while,” he drops his arms, his chest puffed proudly, “you know, she drank a lot. She wasn’t feeling too well. You didn’t hear her?”
“What? I…” you blink and avoid his gaze, “I was asleep, I didn’t hear anything.”
“Oh, yeah, she was sick in the middle of the night. Pretty bad. I tell her not to drink on an empty stomach.”
“Ah, uh, yeah, that’s awful,” you sputter, “I… I’m sorry to rush out, it’s just I got a lot to catch up.”
“No problem. I’ll save you waiting for the bus,” he says, “won’t be long at all.”
“Oh, okay, but–”
“Really, it’s no trouble. If I don’t wake her up with a real latte, she’ll bite my head off,” he chuckles, “hungover Melanie is not nice Melanie.”
“Right,” you try to laugh but it’s more a croak, “I’ll just be… here then.”
🏙️
You sit in the car silently. The tension is roiling. You don’t know why you agreed. You could have insisted; the bus won’t be long…
Too late for that. You’re stuck now. At least there’s not much traffic. You hug your bag in your lap, anxious to just get home. He drives patiently despite the empty streets, taking his time as he turns onto the next street.
“So, chores, sounds exciting,” he teases.
“Mm, yeah, I guess,” you agree squeakily.
“What else are Saturday’s for? Guess you’re headed back to work on Monday?”
You nod, “mhmm.”
“How is it? Work? You making lots of friends?”
You almost feel like a kid. It reminds you of when your dad would pick you up from school and ask what trouble you go into. You twiddle your fingers against your bag.
“Um, well, everyone sort’ve keeps to themselves,” you eke out, “there’s a lot of work so…”
“You’ll settle in. I’m sure you’ll find lots of friends,” he slows and flips on his blinker, “I mean, you already have.” You tilt your head and glance at him in confusion, “me.”
“Oh, uh, sure, yeah, sorry, I’m tired,” you laugh nervously.
“So,” he rolls into the lot of the Coffee Bean, “want something?”
“You don’t have to–”
“I’m stopping by anyway, no biggie,” he insists, “coffee, tea?”
You pick at the zipper of your bag. He’s so nice. Too nice. But that’s not a real problem, you’re just making it into one. Last night… what did he do so wrong? Pull a blanket over you? It was cold.
“Sure, could I just get an iced green tea, please and thank you?” You unzip your bag and fish around.
He steers into the drive through and puts in his order at the speaker, listing off Melanie’s complicated lite syrup, half-foam, coconut milk monstrosity at the end. You pull out your wallet as he’s directed to the window.
“My treat,” he insists.
“Really, it’s just three bucks.”
“Exactly,” he insists, “you brought all those treats last night, the least I can do is buy you an iced tea.”
“Thanks,” you sniff and look out the window.
“I’ll make sure Mel gives you a call. You two can hash this out,” he stops and waits at the window, “she needs a friend like you. All the others are so… well, they’re not as nice as you.”
“Maybe, I… if she wants to call. I don’t want to bug her.”
“Bug her? Oh, sweetie, she doesn’t deserve a friend like you,” he says, “but I’m being selfish and I think you’d be a good influence.”
You nod again, put off by his tone. It’s like he’s a parent the way he talks about Melanie. Almost like he’s trying to mould her into something. Someone like him, with his name and his looks, you’re sure he could find someone who already fits right in.
The window opens and he takes the tray of drinks. He hands you yours before sliding the other two into the cup holders. He flings the cardboard tray onto the backseat and continues through the exit. He idles at the signs.
“I forgot, which way am I going?” 
You point him in the right direction, nearly sighing in relief. You’re almost home. You just want to hide away in your shame and never be perceived again.
🏙️
You’re not very surprised when Melanie doesn’t call. Not on Saturday or Sunday. You’re grateful that she doesn’t. You’re trying to forget about the movie night gone wrong. It’s probably better off. You’ve both changed a lot since high school, or maybe you haven’t changed enough.
You go through your usual. You’re not a liar, you do have chores. Dishes, laundry, floors, dusting… You keep yourself busy in an effort to block out the memory of the night. You won’t be watching Never Been Kissed ever again, that’s for sure.
Monday morning greets you with a new start but it all feels so stale. The routine is the same as the weeks before. Wake up, green tea in a thermos, pack your lunch, make yourself presentable, and out the door to catch the bus.
You enjoy the route, letting it lull your pre-work jitters. You’ve been there going on a month and somehow you still feel out-of-place. It’s not like before, where you knew all the people at your work study, or in high school where the associates in the department store joked around more than they ever did the price changes.
You stroll up to the building, slowing behind a pair of men in tailored suits. You feel like a minnow in a sea of sharks. You follow them inside as they drop the door on you. They’re important. They’re chatting about an important meeting and business trip next week. You’ll be dutifully perched at your desk, roving through spreadsheets.
The salesmen are higher up the chain than you in the ecosystem of the company. You’re somewhere along the lower-middle ground, below the lions and the hyenas. You’re off with Timon and Pumbaa, trying not to get eaten.
You step onto the elevator with them, shrinking down. You’re invisible to them. You’re not Stella in her red-soled stilettos and tight pencil skirts, or Ginnifer in her high-buns and sleek pantsuits. You feel like a little girl playing dress up even in your simple powder blue cardigan and flowered skirt.
The elevator bings and the men nearly bowl you over as they brush past you on each side. You get off after them and scurry away to your desk. You see Stella now, sipping a tall latte as she purrs at Tony. She struts down the hall ahead of him as she calls back about some expense report.
You tuck your bag under your desk and get yourself situated. You plunk down your thermos beside your mouse and boot up. You roll your ankles under the desk, your Keds soft-soled but comfortable. You can’t run for the bus in heels.
You steel yourself for another day buried in Excel columns. You sign in and push back the cap on the lid of your cup. Steam escapes and you let the heat escape before you dare taste it. You pull up your inbox and scroll through your emails. Your task list is ever longer by the day.
Your work isn’t unimportant. You give the analytics to the salesman and the big suits. You provide the numbers for their strategy but for them, all that is menial. That’s not the real meat of the company. You and all the other ants in the hill are dispensable.
You push your chair back as you reach into your bag for your notebook. As you do, the back collides with something. You quickly roll back in, knocking your head on the edge of the desk as you do. You rub your brow as you spin to face the obstruction.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” you babble up at the tall man. 
He’s big, blond, and burly, and wears a suit that demarcates him as one of them. You don’t need an introduction, everyone knows who he is. The COO is memorable for more than his title. His booming voice and towering size set him apart from all the other men in their leather shoes and skinny ties.
“I’m sorry, sir,” you stand but still have to crane your neck to look at him, “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“That’s quite alright,” he smiles broadly, “are you alright? You took quite a bump.”
“Oh,” you drop your hand from your head, “yeah, I’m fine, sir. Thank you. I was just… looking for something.”
“So long as you’re alright. However, I am the safety officer, I could have a look,” he offers.
“Really, I’m fine,” you insist, “I didn’t mean to do that–”
“I didn’t mind so much,” he assures you, “I don’t know you. You’re new. Leah’s replacement?”
“Um, I think,” you look at your desk, “I wouldn’t know.”
“Of course not,” he accepts, “Thor Odinson.”
He holds out his large hand. You consider it and give him your own. Your hand is tiny in comparison as he easily wraps his fingers around it. You supply your name with a squeak.
“Ah, I like that,” he praises, “well, you have a wonderful day. And welcome to the company.”
“Yes, sir,” you rescind your hand as he releases it. His cologne wafts towards you, vanilla underscored by something woodsy.
“Thor,” he affirms.
You repeat his name and clutch your hands together. He lingers, looking you up and down, then turns on his heel. You watch him go before you sit.
You want to hold your head and hide. What did he think of you? This girl in her thin wool cardigan and lace-up sneakers. You don’t know why you care so much. He’s your boss but not directly. He’s probably already forgotten about you.
You cringe and swirl your mouse around. Focus. You’re at work. This isn’t high school or college. This isn’t about making friends and all that. It doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, your work matters.
You lean into the screen and squint at the tight boxes, increasing their size as you open a new report. For all your studying, you never saw yourself sitting there fighting with numbers all day. Percentages, rates, medians, mean… how boring.
You jolt as you feel your bag buzz against your leg. You look behind you before you push your chair out this time and bring your bag into your lap. You retrieve your notebook as you remember the cause of your first folly then fish out your phone. 
You bring down the menu and set it to silent. Before you hit lock, you see the message beaming back at you. It’s from Melanie.
‘Hey girl. Let’s talk.’
You frown. You’d already accepted that Mel was done with you. She was always good at holding a grudge, even for the slightest offence. You wonder if Clark really had talked to her. You leave it unread and tuck your phone away, dropping your bag back to the floor and shoving it away with your toes.
As you return your attention to your monitor, you sense something behind it. There, across the room, you meet Thor’s eyes as he stares at you. He has a red mug of coffee in his hand as he sips. He pulls the brim away from his lips and grins, sending a wink in your direction.
You blink and look over your shoulder. Who is he looking at? You turn back to face him again. He’s gone. Ah, whoever it was, must’ve caught up to him.
You shake off the collision and the text message. Work!
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xxnghtclls · 2 months
Text
Flickering Lights
Chapter 2: A Tall, Pink Haired Man
Chapter (1/3)
True Form Sukuna x Reader
For tags and synopsis, please see Chapter 1!
Bam!
You slam the door shut behind you. Finally you’re home in your small apartment, still thinking about what happened in your office. Sitting down on one of your two chairs, you absentmindedly tap with your key into the surface of your kitchen table.
Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap.
“Who was that?” you mumble to yourself, while your leg is wiggling nervously. “Where and… why? Four eyes and four arms, too?”
A pause.
Tap. Tap.
“HOW?” you blurt out loudly and distort your face in confusion. Your brain is so tired.
Shaking your head, you decide to get up and get a hot shower.
-Monday me- is going to have a huge problem, leaving the office like this.
“This” meaning a broken window, a crack in the floor and the wall. Your computer is for the trashcan, too. A fucking mess.
Motherfucker. 
You kind of hope it was a dream, a hallucination or a lightning. Monday you will get back to your same old habit, going to work and writing emails, lists and calculations. And then Tuesday. And then Wednesday. Thursday. Friday.
Sigh.
Rashhhhh
You close the shower curtain in front of your face and turn on the water. Warm steamy drops are tickling your face and calming your nerves. Sleepiness washes over you with the steamy warmth and you’re quick to finish soaping you up. You let out a big yawn, as you turn off the water and step out. 
“Time for bed.” you sigh, before you brush your teeth and dry yourself. Taking your phone with you, you carry yourself up the ladder to your elevated sleeping space. The perks of living in tokyo.
Mini studio apartments.
Crawling onto the futon, you pull the blanket up to your nose. A last time you peek onto your phone, before your eyes shut themselves.
- 01:38 a.m. -
“Goodnight...” you mumble, before you fall asleep. “Stranger.”
♫ Up with the sun, gone with the wind, she always said I was lazy-
“The fuck?” you breathe into the darkness, still half asleep, as you peek onto your phone, trying not to get blind from your display brightness.
- 6:00 a.m. - 
“Ughhh shut up, Bob.” you groan, as you shut your alarm off. You must have forgotten to adjust the settings in your alarm to workweek only, after you had to get up for an out of schedule meeting last saturday. 
But, today is free.
You close your eyes and think about what you want to do today.
Get new earphones perhaps. Get groceries. Find out who…who…  
Zzzzz…
After a moment, you send another peek to your phone.
- 10:12 a.m. -
“Good morning sunshine.” you grumble to your sleepy self, before you yawn and stretch. “Sorry Bob, now you can sing.” you mumble and put on Bob Seger’s song that ripped you out of sleep earlier. 
-play-
“Travelin maan, love when I caan. Turn loose my hand ‘cause I’m goiingg.” you sing, as you’re making yourself some eggs for breakfast, checking your social media inbetween. You roll your eyes, as you read that there’s some unnecessary discourse over something unimportant AGAIN and you swear to yourself, that you’re going to delete that app sooner or later. It just makes you angry. 
Fucking idiots.
Your eggs are ready and you sit down, take a bite and text your bestie Mio. 
Oy. Akiba in 45 mins?
👍
Good. Need new headphones. Mine broke last night.
No wonder. Get some real ones.
You huff at her text.
“No way.” you smile, as you’re putting your phone away and shove the last bite of eggs into your mouth. You need to get dressed quickly, in order to catch the next train to Akihabara. 
On your trainride, you stare out of the window across from you. Listen to the railway and see the houses passing by, the sun shining onto the roofs, before the train goes underground again. Silhouettes and moving lights run along the window.
Moving lights. Flickering lights.
And suddenly you remember last night. 
What happened?
That creature, that… man. 
How unusual he looked and how his eyes pierced through your soul. 
Uncanny. 
You wonder if you should tell Mio about it. 
Maybe not…
Maybe it was a dream or a hallucination or a lightning after all.
…That rip in space definitely.
But what if he was not?
“Excuse me, is everything alright?” an elderly woman that’s sitting right next to you asks you. 
You must’ve zoned out, looking so concentrated… maybe even, as if you’re constipated or something. 
“No, I’m fine. Sorry- I mean, thank you.” you force a smile at her, before you pull out your phone to look busy at least.
And you start to scroll on your socials. 
And scroll.
And scroll. 
And scroll.
Not thinking anything, just remembering that man’s face. Those tattoos. The nose.
Kinda pretty nose, you think as your lips turn into a pout.
Two slits in his eyebrows.
That mask.
So interesti-
Wait what?
Interesting…?
Sigh.
…He is.
You get out at Suehirocho Station and walk to the next 7-eleven, the point where you’re going to meet with Mio. She’s not there yet, so you decide to walk in and buy an Onigiri. 
Only one? 
No, two. 
For later. 
Of course you open the first one immediately and bite into it. The first bite is always the best.
Goddamn.
You love it. Closing your eyes, to savour the taste, you stand in front of the store, enjoying the bliss.
“Oy, peanut!” Mio’s voice comes up behind you. You turn around and nudge your head to her, shooting her a look. 
“What’s up?” you say with your mouth full.
“Got one for me, too?” she eyes your Onigiri.
“No.” you bite into it another time.  
She cocks her eyebrows at you, probably already knowing that you bought two and that you don’t want to share, before a little pout cracks upon her lips.
“Get your own!” you complain, before she pokes her finger into your arm. 
“I’ll get you some snacks later!” she coos.
“Fine!” complain and offer her a bite of your last piece. 
“Mwuah hah hah!” she laughs deeply in excitement, before she gulps down the whole remaining Onigiri. “I know you love me.”
“Ehhh.” you sigh, letting your shoulders sink, disappointed that she ate it all.
“Sorry.” she brushes off her hands on her jacket. “Anyway, let’s go, my greedy little peanut.” she says, before she hooks her arm into yours. “Did you cut your hair?” 
You laugh her question off, as you both start to walk into the city.
While on the search for new 5000 yen headphones, you both keep bullying each other lovingly, laugh and talk about the week. No matter how exhausting your workweek is, she always manages to distract your mind, makes you feel not as lonely. She really is the light of your week. 
You don’t really know how it came to this. To feel like this in this city of millions. You used to go out, to dance and fuck a guy every now and then. But maybe it was just the start of how you feel now. The nights of clubbing grew rare, the nights at the computer and phone listening to music grew more frequent. Because nothing could really satisfy it. This hole in your heart. Listening to music helps. Spending time with Mio helps, but only to a degree. Because you wish for a change in your life. More than work and eat and shower and sleep. More than everyday life.
However, you decide not to tell her about what happened last night. Maybe you’ve gone crazy after all. Even if you’re not, you still feel odd about it. Feel, like it might be the change you yearned for, an adventure. 
Feel like it only belongs to you.
Quickly you find some new headphones and earn a mocking joke from the side, while Mio continues to buy herself a new phone case. Huge, pink and with little glittery stones and charms.
So ugly.
“Don’t look at me like that, when you’re the one who walked around with a Hello Kitty phone for the longest time!” she complains.
“At least I wasn’t mistaken for a disco ball.” you sneer at her.
You walk to another store to get your promised snacks and after a while, when the hottest gossip is done being discussed, you catch yourself getting silent inbetween.
Because your mind wanders off.
Because you remember.
Those eyes.
Dangerous.
Sometimes she notices and throws you a glance, but you just wave it off, excuse it with sleepless nights because of work. 
And she buys it.
At least you hope she does.
“I need to get home.“ you sigh, as you arrive at the next train-station. “I still need to get some groceries. I’m gonna gonna see you next week?”
She sighs too and stops in her tracks. You turn and look to her, seeing her face turning serious. Suddenly the energy shifts. You halt and frown at her in confusion.
Something’s wrong.
“What?” you ask. 
“I need to tell you something.” she looks to the ground and it makes you worried.
“What is it?” you poke her shoulder. 
She hesitates.
“You’re gonna hate it…” she mumbles and your heart starts pounding. You hate situations like this. Last time she acted like this, she told you she lost the one pair of very expensive headphones you bought in your life. You hated her for it, but you learned your lesson. 
Crossing your arms, you keep staring at her, almost holding your breath, trying to remember what kind of item you possibly could’ve lent her recently.
A pause.
“I’ll be on a work trip.-”
“Jesus.” you complain, as you exhale loudly in relief, rolling your eyes.
“For the next week.” she continues, a smug smirk on her face. So proud, knowing to have you fooled so good. “Coming back on Sunday night.”
You sigh.
“I’ll manage!” you exclaim snobbish into her face, but deep down, you know it’s gonna be hard. You’re not gonna see her for two weeks and you’re gonna miss her. A lot. Next to the fact that you can’t meet up with her next weekend, she’ll be busy too and not be able to text you much during the week either.
She punches your shoulder, before you grab her sleeve.
“Come.” you tug on it. “We gotta wish you a safe travel and return.” you mumble, as you drag her with you.
“Huh?” she exclaims, but gives up and willingly walks down to the underground with you. 
“I didn’t go to the Meiji shrine in a while. Let’s hang up an Ema there.” you fiddle with her sleeve, as you’re both sitting next to each other in the train towards Yoyogi Station.
“Is everything alright?” she asks and you notice real concern in her voice. 
She knows something’s up.
“I think I need to go out more, Mio.” you mumble. “If you’re not here to cheer me up, I need to see someone else then.”
“Sounds as if you’re already have someone in mind.” she jokes and you feel the heat rising in your ears, feel caught.
“Yeah.” you fake-laugh, before you try to change the topic. “Where are you going next week?”
“We’re going to have some meetings in Gifu. But also team-building events, this sort of stuff.” she says, while fiddling with her new phone case and you nod.
“Never went there.” you respond. “Tell me if it’s nice, yes?” 
“Sure, little peanut.” she smiles, before she looks back at you. You smile back before, looking around in the wagon.
“Maybe you should go out while I’m gone.” she says, making you look back at her. “Try to focus less on work and have some fun. Treat yourself.” she punches you in your arm again. 
Hard.
“Ow!”
“It’s just work after all.”
“I shall.” you hiss, while you rub your hand over the soon-to-be bruise, as the train stops at Harajuku-Station.
After a short walk, Mio and you arrive at the entrance of the shrine. It’s busy, just like the last time you visited, but as soon as you walk through the Torii, it grows calmer with each second. You might not believe, that in you’re a city of millions, when you walk through the beautiful area around the shrine. Trees and plants seal yourself off the loud noises of the streets. 
Quiet.
Maybe I need a vacation.
“I’m thirsty.” Mio longingly says, as you walk past the huge Sake barrels. 
You snort at her comment.
“Mio Mio Mioooo.” you squeak like a bird. “You called me greedy.”
“That’s what you are.” she chimes. “I know you still have that second Onigiri in your jacket.”
“Shut your mouth.” you smile, while you look up to see the sunlight shine through the branches of the trees, as a gentle breeze flows against your faces. It’s beautiful at this place, but somehow, a weird feeling grows in your gut. 
After a ten minute walk along the shrines nature, you arrive at the camphor trees where the Emas are hanged upon. Mio steps forward, reading some of the wishes that are already hung up. After purchasing a little wooden plate yourself, you tipple to the desks and start writing. 
For my lovely Mio. 
Please let her have the safest travel, a lot of fun and a more safer return to her little peanut.
You draw a little raccoon in the corner, since that’s her favourite animal and turn around, ready to hang it up, only to notice, that Mio holds a little wooden plate in her own hand as well.
“No! I already got one!” you wiggle it into her direction, before you hang it up. 
She steps into the corner of your eyes, hanging her own plate right next to yours. You’re about to complain that she bought an unnecessary one, as your eyes catch what she wrote.
For my lovely y/n.
Please let her have the most fun, good food and a little adventure, until her Mio returns.
“Is this for me?” you ask with wide eyes.
“Bro, it’s your name right there!” she sneers as if you’re stupid, tapping her knuckle loudly against the plate.
Your heart warms up, before you continue in a serious voice.
“You forgot to draw a cat.” 
“I cannot draw a cat.”
“Bullshit. Everyone can draw a cat.” you wave her off and turn around, only to see-
Oh shit.
You freeze in your spot, as you see that tall man from last night standing in front of the holy praying area of the shrine. His back is turned to you, but his height, his black cloak and the pink spiky hair is proof enough.
A sinister energy reaches your feet and crawls up your legs.
“What’s up?” Mio asks, as she notices how you froze in your spot, tugging at your sleeve.
Your heart starts pounding. 
Badum. Badum. Badum.
In the corner of your eyes, you see Mio catching focus on that man herself.
“I’ve never seen a guy that tall-“
“Me neither.” you mumble, while you keep staring. In the corners of your eye, you see many people walking around the mean, peeking and staring and mumbling about his unusual appearance.
He walks up the stairs, shoving a middle aged woman out of his way. She tipples, looses balance and-
Bam!
falls down the stairs, while he’s stepping closer to the doors that lead to the praying area. The huge doors, that now don’t seem to tall in comparison anymore.
“Disrespectful asshole!” Mio exclaims in disgust, as an appalled gasp is heard from the by-standing people and the feeling in your gut grows into a huge lump. Others rush to the woman to help her back up, and Mio wants to go forward too, but you grab her sleeve, holding her back. You stay silent, as you keep watching the man intensely, seeing him lay his right hand on the wooden surface of the saisen-bako that’s placed inbetween the doors. People start to talk to him, try to get his attention, but he is ignoring them, concentrated on doing what he came to do. 
Your eyes are fixated on his hand, a tattooed black ring decorating his wrist. The people around him grow louder and louder, but the sound grows mute in your ears. Almost as if you’re hypnotised, you watch how the wooden surface starts to vibrate, the lines between his hand and the wood start to blur. A deep humming starts to vibrate in your ear, just like last night.
Mio notices your trance and calls you, but you hear without hearing. 
Whatever he’s doing, it has you in his grip.
Mio calls you again, louder and snips her fingers in front of your face to wake you from your trance but you keep being fixated on his hand until-
“Hey!” another man loudly exclaims and tugs on his cloak to get his attention. Without even looking, the pink haired man flicks his left hand and suddenly the throat of the other man bursts with blood and his head falls from his shoulders.
Fwip! 
Pap.. Pap… pap.
Down the stairs it falls and rolls. Your heart drops and everyone starts to scream, as your eyes widen in horror. Blood splatters everywhere, as the head rolls and comes to a halt next to the woman, coating the holy grounds with red essence.
“Y/N!!” Mio calls your name again, now very loud and clear, making your body finally start moving.
You meet Mio’s eyes and grab her wrist, before you run towards the entrance, already seeing security guards run into the opposite direction. Other people run in panic as well, shoving you out of their way, almost make you stumble. For some reason, shortly before you can run through the huge gate, you need to turn around.
Turn around.
The time slows down.
Exhale.
You look.
Focus.
And he turns around, too. Making your eyes meet his for the split of a second, before you turn back forward again, running through the gate.
Inhale.
Sirens are already howling in the distance, as Mio and you and many other people run through the shrine grounds in order to get back to the entrance you came from. Your heart is pounding in your throat and your throat is as dry as sand, as you finally reach the streets. A glance to Mio and a nod from her confirm that you will not separate your ways right now. She’ll come with you.
Bam!
Zschk Zing!
You lock your front door behind you, as Mio sighs loudly, slumping down on one of your kitchen chairs.
“Jesus.” you sigh under your breath, your hands still lingering on the door-lock, your eyes staring into nothing. The image of that mans head rolling down those stairs keeps replaying in your head. 
“Gonna make tea.” Mio says, before she gets up and fills the cattle.
You blink and shake your head, before you turn around and sit down on the other chair on the adjacent corner of the table. 
You have seen some bad stuff on the internet before. Multiple times unfortunately. However it’s still different to see such things in real life.
“The police will get him right?” she asks. 
“Maybe they shot him on sight.” you mumble. “Most probably.” you try to assure her and yourself.
She hums and the kettle starts to whistle.
Louder and louder.
Louder and louder.
Until Mio takes it from the stove and fills your cups with water.
You take a sip and the warmth flows through your body, making you feel better in an instant. 
“I still got no groceries.” you mumble into your cup.
“Let’s just wait a bit. It’ll be safe in a few hours.” she mumbles into hers.
A pause.
And you ponder.
“He wouldn’t have slashed that man, if he let him do his thing in peace.” you sip absentmindedly. “Whatever he was doing.” you add and she glances over to you, cocking an eyebrow.
“If he didn’t shove that woman down the stairs, he wouldn’t have been bothered.” she responds annoyed. “Nothing he was doing can justify this.”
“Yeah.”
Another pause.
“Doesn’t matter now, they probably shot him.” she sighs. 
Your eyebrows twitch at the thought. Somehow, you don’t feel like it’s true.
A few silent hours go by, sipping tea, trying to calm down. Both of you avoid to read the news, try to distract you from what just happened, talk about anything, except about what happened at the shrine today.
And somehow, it works. They probably shot him after all.
The sun sets and it grows dark outside. Mio taps on her phone.
- 10:13 p.m. - 
“I think I should go now.” she sighs. “Gotta get up early tomorrow.” 
You inhale deeply, knowing it’s the last time you’re gonna see her for at least two weeks.
“Alright.” you exhale, as you stand up and walk her to your door. “Text me when you’re at the station, k?” 
“Sure, peanut. The police is probably still roaming around. And if not they got him.” she smiles at you and leans in for a tight hug. “Gonna miss you.” she whispers in your ear and it almost makes you tear up.
What today happened was a lot for you and now you have to deal with it alone, if the distraction looses its effect. For two whole weeks.
“Gonna miss you, too!” you sniff into her ear and press her against you, before you separate.
“Stop crying, bitch.” she jokes and boops your nose. 
You stick out your tongue and with wet eyes, you unlock your front door. 
“Here you go, your Majesty. Please return safely.” you bow, trying to overact your upcoming crying-session and it makes her giggle. 
“It’ll be fine.” she waves you off and walks down the hallway. “I’m a big girl.”
“Text me!” you yell after her, before you close and lock up the door.
Zschk Zing!
Silence.
Too silent.
You grab your back and pull out the new headphones you bought. In all the hectic you forgot to properly charge them, but luckily, they always are charged halfway up when you buy them. 
You sit down on your kitchen chair and go to your phone’s settings, to connect it via bluetooth with your headphones. 
It worked.
You put them on and scroll through your music library, not sure what will give you the right mood for now. If you want more distraction or if you want to cry. Already feeling an empty feeling spreading in your heart, you scroll and scroll and your eyes keep watering.
Maybe crying it is. 
Mio didn’t text yet and you hope she’s about to arrive safely at the station. It’s just a short walk anyway. You keep scrolling. Being a person who listens to almost everything, it’s difficult to choose sometimes. Closing your eyes, you tap on shuffle, letting fate decide what song to play.
But right in the moment, when the song is about to start, a loud knocking is heard on your door.
Knock. 
Knock. 
Knock.
You quickly look to the door.
Mio? 
Maybe she forgot something.
Without turning off the music, you put your headphones on the table and tipple to the front door.
“Mio, is that you?” you call.
No answer.
You frown in suspicion, before looking through the peephole. 
And your heart drops into your socks, as you see a deformed fish-eye version of a stranger.
A tall, pink haired man.
196 notes · View notes
nevvdrinksteaa · 1 month
Text
history // charlie walker
Tumblr media
~~
pairing: charlie walker x reader
original prompt: you’re paired with charlie walker for a school project, it gets dirty
warnings: 18+ nsfw smut, porn WITH plot, afab!reader, slight angst (charlie thinks you hate him for like 5 whole minutes) pet names, oral (male and female), dom!reader, sub!charlie, begging, making out, fingering, whatever the fuck it’s called when you grind against sheets to make yourself c*m, overuse of the nickname ‘char’, never written for dom!reader before (bare w me), no specific reference to body type !! please let me know if i forgot anything!
word count: 3.1k
this is NOT proof read so if there are any mistakes ignore them! i believe that anyone of any shape or size and anyone of color can enjoy this. i don’t believe there is any description of physical appearance (please please correct me if i’m wrong, i don’t want to make assumptions about anything!!)
please send in more stuff for me to write because i’m in the mood to zoom 🫡
~~~
1:40 PM
you sat in history, your last period class, shaking your pencil hearing it tap, tap, tap with every move. eyes trained on the clock wishing the last twenty minutes would fly by quicker, eager to get your weekend started.
“for this project, you are all going to be in partners”
everyone shot up from their bored positions at their desks, starting conversations with friends deciding who’s working with who. you look over at your best friend, grinning.
“settle down, your partners were pre-chosen. i think we need some variety in the groups we see”
the class started to groan as the teacher stated that the partner lists were posted on the board, stating specifics on the projects and that it will be due on monday. everyone started to get up from their seats to check the list on the corkboard at the front of the room. you started to write down ideas, assuming your partner would find you.
of course it’s due monday, there goes my weekend. what’s the point of your parents going out of town if-
“uhm hey, i think we’re partners”
you look up, noticing charlie walker standing at the front of your desk, looking at the floor in front of him.
“you think or you checked the list and know?” you smirk at him, giggling to yourself.
“you got me there, i saw it on the list” he states, settling in the chair beside you.
he started rambling, talking about ideas he has for the project.
“okay charlie, here's the deal” you state bluntly, “my parents aren’t home for the weekend and i really want to get this project finished as soon as possible so i can have friends over on saturday”
he was taken back at your tone, shocked at the rude nature. he figured you didn’t like him, and wanted to get it over as soon as possible so you didn’t have to be seen with him. why else were you so angry when you had always been so sweet to everyone? weren’t you two friends?
“well we can do it after school and work on it today, i’m good at history so we should finish it really soon” he says quietly, trailing off towards the end.
“perfect” you say, grabbing your phone and handing it to the boy. “give me your number and i can text you my address”
the final bell rings and the class starts to gather their things. you sit up from your spot at the desk, collecting your books to leave. “i’ll shower when i get home and you can come over after, does three work?”
“sounds good.” he doesn’t look up from the desk as he’s still writing down notes.
“see you later, char” you say, giving him a smile he doesn’t notice.
walking back to your locker, you catch yourself thinking about him and how awkward he is, finding it indearing. you were excited to work on your project with him, you had a crush on him for a while and you hadn’t had any courage to say anything to him.
you grab your things and start the trek to your car, stopping your friend to tell her about your plans for today on your way out.
“the universe is giving you signs partnering you up with charlie, maybe it’s time to tell him about your crush.” she says, shoving her shoulder into yours as she walks.
“yeah right, he’s so infatuated with kirby i would just embarrass myself if i told him i liked him.” you state rolling your eyes. “he’d laugh in my face probably”
“he’s too sweet to do all that” your friend says stopping once you reach her car, “charlie walker is probably not the type of person to be rude about letting someone down, he’d probably say thank you and talk about a movie that’s about to come out”
she unlocks her car as you laugh at her joke, trying to ease the nerves in your stomach. you wave goodbye and turn to leave, hearing your friend shout out her window “don’t do anything i wouldn’t do”
you laugh as you walk to your car, sitting in the drivers seat and starting it before heading home.
maybe she’s right, i should just say something.
~~~
you wipe the steam off of the bathroom mirror after stepping out of the shower, skin red from the burning shower you took. you start to pat your damp skin dry before you heard a knock on your door. checking the time to see it was 2:45. fuck, he’s early.
you wrap yourself with the towel tightly before you start down the steps to answer the front door.
“hey” charlie starts, face starting to get beat red after noticing you in a towel. you notice him start to fidget with his hands.
“you’re early char” you say opening the door wider and waving him in. “you can wait in my room while i get dressed, it’s upstairs next to the bathroom”
you both start to walk up the steps and you point to the right when you get to the top. “it’s on the door on the left, get comfortable and i’ll be right there”
you hear charlie hum and grip the strap on his bag before he turns to your room. you step into the bathroom and finish getting dressed, drying your skin and putting on comfortable shorts and a crop top. you head back to your room and stand in the doorway, noticing charlie with his back to the door, looking at the pictures and vinyls hung on your walls.
“you’re not going to steal anything, are you?” you tease, sitting on the middle of your bed with your bag, pulling out your history books.
“of course not” charlie says, “just looking at all your stuff”
he takes a seat across from you, where he had preset his books and notes from class. you grab your phone and turn on some music, asking if the choice was okay and a hum of approval in response.
“so, where should we start?” you ask.
~~~
you guys worked on your project for about an hour before you heard your stomach growl. you drop your pencil and look up at charlie who was scribbling away. “are you hungry, char?” you ask
he hummed no at your question and you started to get anxious at his lack of response, he normally would talk your ear off about anything and everything. “is everything okay?”
“yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”
“you’re just really quiet today, i wanted to make sure everything is alright with you.”
“i just want to finish this project so i’ll get out of your hair, i know that you don’t really want me around”
his response caught you very off guard. you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, shaking your head back and forth softly. “what are you talking about?”
he shrugged his shoulders, not looking up from his lap.
“char, look at me” he looked up at you, trying hard to keep eye contact. “why would you think that?”
“you said earlier you wanted to get the project over with so you could make other plans this weekend.”
you noticed him look back towards his lap and you were confused on what he was talking about
“i figured since you don’t like me, you wanted to get rid of me quicker”
your eyes softened, realizing you didn’t phrase your comment from earlier properly. you immediately felt bad, you never wanted him to think that you didn’t like him. you liked charlie, quite a bit actually. he was very smart, charismatic, and oh so sweet; you couldn’t believe he thought you hated him.
you scooted closer to him, setting his hand on his knee. he looked up towards you with a nervous expression.
“i don’t hate you, i’m so sorry that i made you think i did. i was just upset earlier that we were given a weekend project the same week my parents were out of town” you gave his leg a little squeeze
“oh” he replied, holding eye contact with you. “now i feel stupid”
“don’t feel stupid, it was all my fault. i’ll hang out with you all weekend just to prove to you i like you.” you paused, wanting to say something more. you took your hand off his knee and put it in your lap, looking at the ground, you took in a deep breath.
“actually char,” you start to trail off, feeling the nerves all the way down to your toes. “i really like you”
“what?” you felt the bed move, charlie shifting in his seat
“i don’t expect you to feel the same, i know you have a crush on kirby, robbie told me a while ago, i just felt like i needed to tell you before i lost the courage to”
charlie didn’t say anything, he felt so dumbfounded by your sudden release. he didn’t know what to say, he liked you to, he just never knew how to express it. he liked how kind you were to everyone and how you always loved to listen about everything he has to say.
you got up from your seat quick, anxiety crashing at his silence. “i’m so sorry, just forget i said anything. i’m going to grab a water” you state, heading towards the door
“wait” you heard him get up from the bed and head towards you, “do you mean it?”
you make eye contact, “of course i mean it, i wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true char”
he stood directly in front of you, “i like you too”
neither of you said anything after that, all that could be heard was both of your breaths and the quiet sound of radiohead coming from your phone. he looked between your eyes and your lips.
“do you want to kiss me charlie?”
“yes” he says softly
you felt his lips on yours, pecking slightly. he was so nervous, you knew you had to lead
“do you want to make out with me?”
“please” he nodded quick, looking back to your lips.
you lean forward to kiss him, hands moving up to the back of his neck. you could feel his hands on your hips, barely making contact. you slightly pull away, catching your breath.
“please touch me char”
you felt him grab your waist, pulling you back to his lips. you rake your fingers through his hair, pulling at the root slightly. he whimpered at the feeling, gripping your sides harder.
you started to walk the both of you slowly toward the bed, not breaking away from the kiss. you settled into his lap, feeling his hands glued in place.
“you can touch me anywhere” you say breathless, pulling away
“i’ve never done this before” he admits shamefully
“we can do whatever you feel comfortable with.” you reply, playing with his hair.
you felt one of charlie’s hands leave your hip, slowly heading towards your chest. he let out a breath when he felt you weren’t wearing a bra. he was gentle with his touch, as though he was scared to break you. your hand found his and pressed harder, encouraging his movements.
he started to kneed his hands, rubbing his thumb back and forth over your nipple. you let out a soft moan, pushing your lips back to his. you started to grind your hips back and forth, earning a breathy sound from his mouth. he opened his eyes to look up at you and you took the opportunity to bite the bottom of his lip, moving immediately to his neck, rubbing his cock with your hands.
“is this okay baby?”
“fuck- yes please”
you start biting and kissing the skin below his ear, moving your hands to start unbuttoning his shirt. he shrugs it off his shoulders and you start to make your way down to kneel on the floor, kissing and sucking his skin on your way. you look up at him as you fumble with his zipper, batting your eyelashes at him. he sits up slowly to help pull his pants down, taking his underwear with him. he sets his hands on either side of his legs, slightly gripping the sheets with nerves.
you take his dick in your hands, shocked at the size, before spitting on it. you rub your hands up and down earning a moan from charlie.
“fuck- please i-” he trailed off when you kissed the head, tasting salt on your lips.
“please what baby?” still stroking his cock
“i need more, i want more please”
you lick a long strip from his balls to the tip before putting him in your mouth. slowing going up and down using your hands to help with what you can’t fit. you grab charlie’s hand, moving it from his side to the top of your head. he laces his fingers in your hair, slightly pushing and pulling with your movements.
“i think i’m going to cum”
you pull off, stroking him quick with your hands, “are you going to cum in my mouth char? be a good boy and cum in my mouth for me”
he nodded, eyes shut tight as his head leaned back. “say it charlie, tell me”
he opened his eyes, locked with yours. wiping a tear from your face, so fucking pretty.
“i’m gonna cum for you like a good boy fuck-”
you went right back to work, taking him deeper and blinking the tears from your eyes. you wanted to see charlie cum so bad, you felt your hands move down inside your shorts. rubbing your clit over your panties.
“fuck, i’m cumming, please let me cum. wanna be good for you”
you moaned around his dick and felt charlie grip your hair harder. his dick started to twitch and you felt your mouth get hot, cum filling your throat and mouth. you pulled off slowly, swallowing as you went, keeping your mouth open to pump the rest of his cum on your tounge.
charlie was a rambling, moaning mess. whispering how good it felt and how good you were. he saw you give his dick one last kiss and come back up to meet him face to face.
“thank you”
you gave him a quick kiss, giggling. “you don’t have to say thank you”
he wanted to say it a hundred times over, he couldn’t believe that he just got head for the first time. “can i…” he trailed off
“can you do what char?” you sounded so innocent, like you didn’t just finish choking and gagging on his dick.
“can i do you now?”
you got close to him, kissing up his neck. “you want to eat me out baby?”
“yes, please. please let me make you feel good”
you nodded and stood up from your seat next to him, pushing your notes to the bottom half of the bed. you slipped your top off and pushed your pants down your legs, getting comfortable by your pillows. “come here char”
charlie was quick to move above you, taking your lips to his, touching anywhere his hands could move.
“i might need some help” he sighs sheepishly.
“start by moving all the way down” you say as you give him a quick kiss for encouragement. “do whatever you think is right, i’ll tell you if i don’t like it”
he nodded and moved to your neck, kissing and licking, keeping his hands roaming. you felt him reach your nipples, his hot breath close before sticking his touch out to lick one. he saw your lips open to let out a quiet gasp of air and started to suck, earning a moan in response. he moved his hand, pinching and pulling at the left while he kept his mouth at the right, then switching.
“just like that pretty boy” you said as you move your hand to play with his hair.
he was blushing at the pet name, feeling his cock getting hard against your hip. he started to move down, kissing anywhere and everywhere he could, scared you’ll change your mind. he makes it past your stomach and to your thighs, gently pulling them apart.
he lets out a subtle groan, “so pretty” he mumbles. “can i touch you?” he says rubbing his hands up and down your thighs.
“of course” you sigh, anxiously waiting for his touch
he slowly brings his hands to your pussy, collecting your wetness on his fingers and spreading it around. he finds your clit and starts to rub in small, slow circles, watching you raise your hips slightly.
“right there baby” you say closing your eyes.
he brings his mouth to your pussy, licking a long strip from your hole to your clit. “you taste so good” he says lowly, almost to himself. he continues to play with your clit and eat you out. trying different rhythms and motions based on your movements and sounds.
“char, please put a finger in. i’m so close”
charlie is quick to push in and up, finding that sweet spot. you grab his hair, pulling at the root.
“fuck yes, right there”
he can’t help it, all the mumbling and moaning makes him start to grind into the bed, intoxicated by you. he can feel his cock, hard and throbbing against your silk green sheats.
he slowly slides in a second finger, curling them upwards, taking your clit between his lips and sucking softly.
“i’m gonna cum” you felt your body start to feel fuzzy, stomach pulling at the feeling. “fuck charlie, i’m cumming”
you felt yourself tighten against his fingers, grinding down on his tongue, which was eager to lap up your release. you heard him whimper, seeing his hips stutter against the bed.
he pulls his head up from your pussy, making sure to not look at you in the face. “i’m so sorry”
you look at him confused, leaning forward to see the wet spot on your sheets. you smirk at him, grabbing his hand and licking your juices off his fingers.
“don’t be sorry, this was amazing,” you lean forward to kiss him “and knowing you came from eating me out is kinda hot”
you giggle as you lean back, still catching your breath. charlie moves beside you softly rubbing your hand. “so what do we do now?”
you look up at him, “well” you start lacing your fingers with his “for now, we lay here until we fall asleep. then tomorrow morning we’ll wake up and shower and maybe finish where we left off”
charlie grins from ear to ear, “oh yeah?”
“i mean, if that’s alright with you” you mumble
“being with you is alright for me” he says, kissing your forehead.
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bagopucks · 1 year
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Q. Hughes - Plus One
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✄————————————
Quinn Hughes x Reader
Word Count: 4.6k
Warning(s): Implied smut, little make-out, some seducing, other than that just general fluff
Proofread Once
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“They are just so in love, I remember when we looked at each other like that.”
I had asked Quinn to attend this wedding with me. I thought by the look on his face the day I did ask, that he would have immediately said no.
“It’s just a family wedding, please?”
“I don’t know…” he seemed to contemplate the idea for a while before agreeing. “As long as you don’t leave me alone anywhere.”
It was a promise I could make. We rented a house and flew out to the Florida Keys together on a Monday. After a bit of discussion, Quinn and I decided to turn the wedding weekend into a vacation week. He said he was excited for the time on the beach away from family or friends. Excluding myself of course. We spent the said week finding restaurants to eat at, mini golfing, swimming, watching endless movies, and learning how to mix drinks. By the time Saturday came, Quinn was sitting on the couch opposite of me, massaging my feet in his lap, and telling me how excited he was to meet my family. A contrast to the beginning of the week when he wanted nothing to do with anybody.
“Are you ready yet?” Quinn called from the bottom floor, his voice easily heard from the loft master bedroom we had agreed to share only because this had been the last house that wasn’t booked on the week we needed it. I looked myself over one last time, a short baby blue dress with Birkenstock sandals. I curled my hair and applied a small amount of makeup to avoid sweating it off on the beach during the ceremony. I adjusted the rings on my fingers and fixed my necklace before I heard Quinn making his way up the steps. A nervous smile painted my lips.
When he made it to the top, I turned to look at him. Quinn smiled at me, looked me over, then blushed. I was doing too much of my own looking to even notice the flush in his cheeks. I was far more focused on the curls in his long hair, and the flutter of his lashes.
“You look good.” It was sudden, the way I began to feel as though the room heated up. I clasped my hands together in front of myself and let out a low sigh. “Are you ready now?” He looked impressed with how long it had taken me to get ready.
“Yeah.. sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. But four hours or one wouldn’t have made much a difference.” He smirked at the confusion on my face. “You’d look beautiful all the same.” Quinn and I were used to complimenting each other, but it felt especially good when I got as dolled up as I had. He held his hand out for me, and I approached slowly to grab it.
“I’m surprised some guy didn’t beat me to this.”
“Correction, you should be surprised I asked you first.” I teased, smiling at the soft laugh that fell from his lips.
“Thought I would have been your first option.” Quinn spoke as he guided me down the steps.
“You technically were, but I know how busy your family is with playoffs going on, and I didn’t want to steal you from all that.”
Quinn glanced back at me. “I’m kinda glad you did.” I hadn’t been expecting his answer.
“Really?”
“My parents- all they ever do is talk about Jack and Luke right now. And I get it. It’s their moment- but it’s nice to have something of my own going on. Ya know?” I squeezed his hand and smiled softly.
“I get it. It sucks when you’re the oldest sibling and the younger ones are doing all the things people expected you to do first.” I liked to think I was a breath of fresh air for Quinn. That our mutual understanding of being oldest siblings was what drew him to me, and he had told me so on multiple occasions.
The drive to the parking lot closest to the beach was a short one. It was rented out and packed full of cars. People were standing around talking, smiling and laughing, jovial as ever. With Quinn’s own family, I knew he would have been just as excited. But I could tell the moment I peeked at him, he was tense.
“Quinny,” I chided.
“What if they don’t like me? Jack says I have an RBF. What if they think I’m judging them?”
“You haven’t met my younger sister yet.” I shook my head. “My family is accustomed to quiet grumpy types.”
“I’m not grumpy.” Quinn turned the car off and turned to me.
“Just a little, Quinner.”
He scoffed and rolled his eyes at me before climbing out of the car. I was swift to follow. We met each other around the trunk of the rental. I straightened Quinn’s tie before I heard the squeal of a child and the little girls arms wrap around my legs from behind.
“She’s here!”
Introducing Quinn to my family was as hot of a mess as it could get. I had to tell each individual person that we weren’t dating, only for them to nod their heads in mocking disbelief when Quinn would rest his hand on my lower back and follow me around like a lost puppy. He did me no favors in convincing anybody we were friends. He did some talking on his own, but introductions and excited conversations ceased when the large group of family and friends of the bride and groom, began down the boardwalk to the beach. Quinn and I remained near the back of the group, and we remained there even when we sat down in the pews. The few people around us turned to speak occasionally, but Quinn and I were in our own little world.
Until it was invaded by the great grandparents of the bride and groom.
“Well don’t you look hot.” I’d met Goldie a handful of times. She was always a bit.. lacking in filter. An old woman still able to walk, and hell I’d bet fifty bucks she could still run too. She was lively and sweet, but headstrong all the same.
“Thank you,” I laughed softly, dragging my hand down the front of my dress, adjusting the low neckline that dipped quite far.
“I remember when I was your age. I loved dressing like that. My husband loved it too.” That brought laughter from the two men seated beside us. I glanced back at Quinn with a knowing smile.
“I used to have one dress in particular, that got him all kinds of riled up. Always wore that one when I wanted something.” Sometimes one could only laugh at the woman’s lack of privacy. Which was what Quinn and I both did.
“Grandma!” The bride’s aunt immediately turned around from the seat in front of us. Goldie looked forward with an innocent expression. “They don’t want to hear that.”
“I was just giving some advice to this lovely girl. I don’t see anything wrong with that.” Goldie defended herself.
“Did she ask for it?” The woman in the row in front of us questioned.
“She didn’t have to. I could tell by the look on her face, she needed it. Her boyfriend could probably use a bit too.”
“Oh- we’re not.. together.” I quickly corrected, tensing at my own words. I always wished we were, but Quinn and I had been strictly friends since the dawn of time.
Goldie eyed us with a blank expression, then scoffed, rolled her eyes, and waved her hand in a dismissive motion. Her silver bracelets clinked.
“You will be.”
The music started, and all conversation quieted, then eventually ceased. I adjusted myself in my seat, my knees pressed into the side of Quinn’s thigh since he sat on the edge of the pew. I was turned toward the isle to see the bridesmaids come down with the groomsmen.
“Look how pretty she is,” I whispered excitedly as the first, mine and the bride’s mutual friend, came down.
“She’s okay.” Quinn mumbled in return. I gently swatted his thigh before my hand came to rest there.
“Don’t be rude.” I countered, though a piece of my confidence was boosted by his response. He told me I looked great today, but he wouldn’t compliment that girl. The one in an exquisite dress, walking down the aisle. Quinn couldn’t possibly have a thing for me…
“She’s beautiful too.” This time, it was spoken in more a coaxing way. My gaze flickered go Quinn while the next woman walked down the aisle. Watching the way his gaze lingered before he looked away. Uninterested, but trying to seem invested.
“She’s not really my type.” I hated how excited I got, and I hated even more so how hard I found it not to smile when his eyes met mine. I hadn’t known I was leaning into his personal space until we both realized how close our faces were. I slowly leaned back and laughed softly.
“Sorry.. I’m just excited.”
“It’s okay.” Quinn rested his hand atop my own and gave a reassuring squeeze. “Weddings are exciting.”
Once the pairs reached the end of the aisle, the new song started, and everybody rose. I gently removed my hand from Quinn’s to rest on his chest, pushing very slightly. He stepped back until his legs were pressed against the pew seat, trying to give me room to see. The moment she passed, I was beaming. One of my best friends, my closest family friend for the longest time. We used to daydream about getting married together. I was elated to see her dream coming true. Marriage was all she’d ever hoped for as a little girl. Her perfect wedding. Perfect husband. Perfect life.
“Wow,” I whispered as I felt Quinn’s arm wrap around my back.
“Why don’t you sit on the outside? So you can see better?” Such a subtle thing, but one I couldn’t help but appreciate immensely. Quinn and I shuffled around one another, and sat down once we were permitted to do so. Then the ceremony began. Quinn draped his arm over the back of the pew, and I found myself leaning into his side as time passed by. Occasionally he’d whisper something to me. Point something out or make a quiet joke that only the two of us understood. We’d giggle quietly and share eye contact, then giggle some more. At one point I started gently pulling sideways on his tie to make it crooked. He’d readjust it and roll his eyes. Then, eventually, he gave up with my antics and grabbed my other hand to keep it still. Quinn was never as grumpy as people made him out to be. It simply took the right type of person to make him happy and content.
When the ceremony ended, the chaos began once again. Quinn and I tried to avoid it for the most part, content to sit and watch everybody talk and laugh, and take their turns congratulating the bride and groom. I would do so at some point, but I was in no rush when there was one hell of a reception following.
We spoke with a few others, then Quinn and I slipped away to go back to our car. I was too excited to notice the way I grabbed Quinn’s hand and dragged him back to the boardwalk. He didn’t seem to mind anyhow.
“I loved that dress on her- god she was so beautiful, Quinn.” I babbled on, and he listened with a smile on his face.
“What kind of dress do you want?” His question caught me off guard, and my head swiftly snapped in his direction.
“What?”
“When you get married,” he explained. “What dress do you want to wear?”
“Oh god Quinn. I have so many things- something that flows- but preferably something I can pin up so I don’t step on the skirt at my reception. And I want a top with lace sleeves- or no sleeves at all.”
“Backless?” He cut in.
“Backless, for sure.” I agreed as we made it back to the car. Quinn opened my door for me, and I thanked him before slipping into the vehicle. We waited to leave until most others began to do so. We followed the bulk of the wedding traffic to the reception venue. A big shoreside building that had indoor and outdoor seating, a beautiful view of the ocean, and all the drinks one could want.
When we arrived, Quinn and I gave our names to the hostess and found our seats. The tables were round, decorated in white lace tablecloths. Each seat was accompanied by an empty plate and an upside down champagne glass, as well as a notecard with one’s name and a thank you note written on it. The lights were dim, the music turned on low.
“I’m starving.” Quinn muttered, and I could only laugh at how much he sounded like Jack. Even Luke. Those boys were always hungry.
“Patience.” I reminded. Thankfully, Quinn didn’t need too much of that. The bridal party came in, soon the bride and groom followed. A round of applause and cheering took place before everyone was seated and tables were called left and right to be served. Quinn and I found relief in knowing we were sat at a table with Goldie and her husband Frank. I was even more so relieved to know Quinn enjoyed their presences. That RBF he spoke of was nowhere in sight the moment Frank struck up a conversation with him.
The food was eaten, speeches spoken, cake cut. The main traditional festivities were long forgotten once the dance floor was opened up and people really began to party. Goldie dragged Frank off to the dance floor, and Quinn and I were left in a fit of laughter at the sight of his helpless expression.
Quinn wouldn’t say it, but there was a look of familiarity on his face. I was always dragging him around like that. And no matter how hard he tried to act like he hated it, he loved it.
“I’m gonna go get a refill on this champagne. Did you want anything from the bar?” I asked as I rested my hand on Quinn’s back. He shook his head and smiled at me.
“Just don’t leave me alone too long.”
“I’ll be back soon, I promise.” I reached out to ruffle his hair before reminding myself he spent far too long on it in the bathroom for me to put his hour of work to waste. So I withdrew my hand and laughed softly, taking my glass and waltzing off to the bar. The woman there was kind, striking up a conversation that lasted well after she finished pouring me a fresh glass of champagne. She asked of my relation to the bride, how I was enjoying the party, if the wedding went well.
By the time we finished speaking, I had to fight my way back through the standing crowd to find Quinn. He hadn’t moved an inch, but my brow furrowed the second I spotted the distress on his face.
“Quinn!” I called, catching his attention as I arrived at the table. He turned his phone off and set it face down on the surface. I didn’t know which question to ask first. Is he okay? Did something happen? Was his family alright? “You look tense.” I decided not to ask a question at all.
“I’m fine.” He dismissed my statement with one of his own. I shook my head.
“Open up, Quinn. What’s going on?” I set my glass down and turned my seat to face his own before I sat down. Quinn let out a quiet sigh and shrugged.
“My mom texted. Said the Devils lost tonight. It’s their third game in a row now. One more and they’re out.”
“I see.”
“Jack’s gonna be devastated.” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, rubbing his face as if it might erase the stress. Stress that wasn’t even his own.
“Quinn.” I caught his attention. “You don’t have to carry the weight on your brother’s shoulders all the time. I understand you want to be there, but- sometimes it’s okay to not worry about it.” I reached out to wrap my hand around his wrist. “How many times did you clean his boo-boos?”
“Too many.”
“And how many times did you sit with him until he fell asleep? Because there was a monster under his bed.”
“A lot.”
“You were there for him when USA didn’t win gold. You were there for him when his first girlfriend broke his heart. Hell, you were there for most of his rookie year. Quinn, you throw away all of your time for your brothers. I know you do it out of choice.. and you’re the most selfless person I know, but please.. just this once. Worry about it later.” I searched his eyes for any indication that he’d give in. Throw in the towel and have a good time. A piece of me expected him not to, especially when he sighed and picked up his phone. But then he turned it off. Then he set it back down, and reached for my hand.
“Come dance with me.” Then I realized, I finally convinced Quinn Hughes, to just forget about it. Jack probably wouldn’t even call for a while anyway. He’d have Luke. He’d have his team to lean on. Quinn’s number would hopefully be the last on his list of lifelines.
“You’re supposed to ask, not demand.” I slipped my hand into his own and we stood up.
“I’ll ask when we get outside.”
“Outside?”
“The sun is setting, there’s barely anyone out there, and enough space to dance without feeling squeezed in with everybody else.” Quinn explained as his gaze drifted toward the large windows of the venue. “Don’t make me stand around all those people.” He pleaded, and I giggled at the antisocial behavior I was used to seeing from him.
“Alright, weirdo.” I let him drag me off, swiping up my glass of champagne before I got too far from it. Quinn led me outside, past the propped open doors, and found a clear space for the two of us to dance. Only when he glanced back at me, did he wrinkle his nose at my occupied hand- holding my champagne.
“Dude,” there was a playful yet judgmental tone in his voice.
“You haven’t even tried it.” I held the glass out.
“Cuz I don’t wanna be drunk tonight.” He smiled, scoffing.
“How’s come?” I taunted.
“Because I wanna remember all of this. I wanna be completely sober, so I can remember the way you look. Right here… right in front of me, in that beautiful dress, and with the most beautiful smile, and those beautiful eyes.” I was speechless, my breath caught somewhere in my throat as a wide smile parted my lips. It almost hurt my cheeks.
“Okay well..” I paused. “Tipsy isn’t drunk.” Was I avoiding the compliments? The flirting? Possibly.
“Tipsy is still hazy.” Quinn argued as he rested his hands on my hips. “And I’d never want a single memory of you to be hazy.”
I placed my free hand on his shoulder, smiling uncontrollably at his words. The Hughes brothers may have sounded like men of few words when it came to the media, but Quinn certainly had a way with his.
“Quintin Hughes,” I turned my head to the side, resting my cheek against his chest. Quinn set the pace as he slowly began to sway, my body following suit within his hold. “Where’d this come from?”
“Years of loving you.” The words were spoken so softly that I had completely missed them. I squeezed his shoulder.
“Speak up, Q.”
“I love you.” The initial shock left me silent. His grip on my hips tightened. In anticipation, fear of rejection, hope and relief. I slowly lifted my head, looking up at him in wonder. My hand slid from his shoulder toward the back of his neck. A nervous smile formed on Quinn’s lips.
“Sorry,” he laughed out awkwardly. I shook my head in disapproval for his apology.
“No. No, Quinn please don’t take that back.” I set my glass of champagne aside on the nearest table. “I’ve waited forever to hear you say that, please don’t take it back now.” I wrapped my other arm around his shoulders. His smile eased into a genuine one. Our hearts beat quickly, our embrace tightened, bodies impossibly close, pressed to one another. As if the thought of parting would simply kill us.
“I won’t, then.” Quinn dipped his head toward my own. Our noses brushed, causing quiet bouts of laughter to erupt from lips that locked within seconds. Laughter silenced, though it was impossible to remain lip-locked for long when we could barely contain our smiles.
“You’re gonna make me look like a liar,” I whispered against his lips.
“Cause you kept telling everybody we weren’t dating?” Quinn pulled back only slightly, to look me in the eyes.
“Yeah.” I laughed softly.
“Technically we’re still not dating.” His smile was contagious, but not quite as enjoyable as kissing him. I moved my hands to hold his face, guiding his lips back to my own. I never would have guessed it would take a week alone with him to get him to open up, nor would I have guessed Quinn ever would have liked me. We took our time before pulling back, sighing before drawing in our own breaths of air. Quinn reached out to push a few locks of hair from my face, tucking it securely behind my ear.
“Two days.” He thought aloud.
“Two days?”
“Until I have to take you back.” He clarified. “Two days until we’re apart for two weeks.”
“It’s just two weeks, Quinner.” I assured.
“Then we have the lake house.” He reminded both himself and me.
“The lake house, and I’m coming back to Michigan with you. Don’t forget.”
“Do you have to go to Europe?”
“I already told my girlfriends I would.” I laughed, running my thumbs over his cheekbones. “You’ll be fine for two weeks.”
“Two weeks with Luke- maybe Jack.. and my parents. They’ll drive me insane.”
“You act like your family is unbearable.” I wrapped my arms around Quinn’s shoulders again.
“They’re okay,” he joked with a shrug. I laughed and leaned forward to kiss his jaw. “I’ll be counting the days too. But let’s focus on these two days, yeah?”
“Movie night tonight?” He asked, his hands drifting past my lips to wrap around my back.
“You just confessed your love to me, and you wanna watch movies?” I whispered with an amused smile.
“Did you have something else in mind?” I could tell by the look in his eyes, that he caught on. He was merely playing hard to get.
“Take me home and find out.” Quinn’s smile widened before he stepped away and held his hand out for my own.
“Now?” He asked.
“Now.” I clarified.
“Come on.” He urged, his excitement unmatched. I grabbed his hand, and we practically rushed through the building to get our personal belongings. Quinn draped his suit jacket over my shoulders, held my clutch for me, and out the doors we went.
We made occasional conversation on the drive back to our house, but we were far too focused on what was to come, to be truly invested in a discussion. When we got to the house, Quinn told me not to get out of the car. Confused by his words, but deciding to trust him, I sat patiently while he got out and ran around the hood of the car. If only I’d taken a video of how funny he looked.
My smile practically reached my ears when he opened my car door and held his arms out.
We weren’t the newlyweds, but I still let him carry me like a princess to the front door. I was on key duty, unlocking and opening the door so he could carry me inside. He kicked the door shut behind us, and I shuttered when I felt his lips on my neck.
“Quinn,” his name fell from my lips in surprise, want laced in my tone.
“I’m gonna set you down.” He whispered in warning before he gently placed my feet on the ground. He kicked his shoes off by the door, and knelt down to undo the buckles of my sandals. His hair was finally fair game, so I leaned forward and ran my hands through it while he slipped off my first shoe. Quinn pressed a kiss to the inside of my thigh, and my grip on his hair tightened momentarily, before he worked on the second shoe.
“Hurry up,” I urged just as he slipped my second shoe off. He trailed lazy kisses up my leg, stopping at the hem of my skirt before he stood up, quiet chuckles falling from both our lips when his nose got caught on the fabric of my skirt, pulling it up only slightly before I had fixed the fabric and leaned into his grip. His hands found my hips, and his lips- they certainly found mine as well. Quinn’s hands slipped down my back, nipping at my lip. When his hands found the bottom of his suit jacket, he tugged it off and let it hit the floor, one of the buttons clacking against the hard wood. I pulled away before his wandering hands could get anywhere else.
“Come on,” Quinn groaned out. I stood just out of reach, a challenging smirk on my lips. It took him a second to catch on, but when he did, he reached for me. I stepped out of his reach again, and soon it became a game of chase. An effective way to lead him up the steps toward the loft bedroom. Quinn’s hand grazed my ankle toward the last step, and a worried shout fell from my lips before I got up and out of his reach again. I heard him mumble a, ‘Damnit.’ But he hadn’t anticipated my immediate halt, and our bodies collided. He held onto me tightly, assuring myself and himself that I wouldn’t fall.
“Finally.” Quinn smirked, and I began to laugh when his lips found my neck. “Stop that,” he whispered against my skin.
“A little ticklish I guess.” I whispered, surprised by his actions once again when I heard the zipper of my dress being undone. He was good at this. I rested my hands against Quinn’s chest and slowly pushed him back. My dress looked much looser with the zipper undone, but it was the last thing I was worried about. I reached for the buttons on Quinn’s shirt, making quick work of them and pulling the white dress shirt out from his pants. I was too focused to notice the way he was staring at me until my gaze flickered up to meet his own. I had just begun to slip the shirt from his shoulders when I took note of the look in his eyes.
“What?” I paused my movements, my hands resting on the edges of his shoulders.
“Nothin’. You just look so beautiful.” I nodded and silently continued to push his shirt off.
“Take me to bed, Hughes.” I gave in, a gasp leaving my lips when he hoisted me up by my hips and walked me over to the bed. He was gentle when he set me down, and even gentler when he laid me out, leaning over me and kissing me once again.
“You got it, beautiful.”
✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾
887 notes · View notes
lo-vearchive · 11 months
Text
Forgive Me (Pt. 2)
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Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x female reader
Summary: After reconciling in your bedroom, Miguel disappears on you for a week. Giving up on any hopes of romance, your friends plan a night out for you to cheer up. Too bad your boss makes an appearance and catches you with an attractive stranger on a stormy night. Read Part One: here
Word Count: 4463 words
Content: Miguel being a rude bastard, Miguel asking for forgiveness (again), arguments, possessiveness, alcohol consumption, tobacco consumption, 18+ (minors DNI), no p in v but things get spicy at the end, female fingering, finger sucking, misogyny, insecurity, swearing, hurt and comfort, office sex (no p in v), questionable Spanish
Note: ANGST! Got carried away once again. Lowkey not proofread. I love angst and Miguel being vulnerable.  If you are into angst, you will enjoy this. Feel free to correct my Spanish and ask for any other cw to be added. Thank you for the 1K+ notes on Pt. 1. Have fun, horndogs ;)
It has been seven days since you last saw Miguel O’Hara.
After spending a full 48 hours by your side, he had gone back to work. You decided to join him at Alchemax the next day but found his office empty. At first, you thought he was occupied with Spider-Man business, so you kept yourself busy with answering his overflowing email box. Slowly the sun set behind the skyline of Nueva York and the messages ran out, leaving behind a feeling of uneasiness in your stomach.
 You [sent Friday, 6 pm]: Hey, are you coming to work today?
You [sent Friday, 10 pm]: I’m going home for the night. Call me when you are home. I miss you :)
You [sent Saturday, 5 am]: Are you okay?
You [sent Saturday, 1 pm]: I’m getting really worried. Where are you?
You [sent Saturday, 5 pm]: I emailed you in case you lost your phone. Call me asap.
You [sent Sunday, 7 pm]: I’ll see you at work tomorrow.
You [sent Monday, 9 am]: Lyla said you’re okay but won’t tell me what’s going on. Says I don’t have clearance. Please call me.
You [sent Monday 10 am]: Are you actually ignoring me?
You [sent Tuesday, 1 am]: My best friend you’re an asshole and I should never let you near my pussy ever again.
You [sent Tuesday 1:23 am] Are you ghosting me? You know we work together, right?
You [sent Tuesday, 3:30 am]: I hate you Miguel O’Hara.
 Friday rolled around and your best friend had enough of your drunk late-night facetime calls. She gathered a group of your high school girlfriends and decided a night out in the town would be the perfect remedy. “Fuck him, babe,” Katy states, sliding a shot glass across the table. “You should report him to HR for being an ass.”
You laughed and tipped the glass into your mouth. The tequila burnt its way down your throat. “I’m just going to find a new job. I can’t be dealing with this shit right now.”
Your friend Soo let out a burp. “Did you let him hit it?”
You shake your head. “No,” you cough. “We came close to it, like above the pants stuff— do you think that’s why he’s ignoring me? Because I didn’t put out right away?”
“Bitch,” Katy chides, slapping the tabletop, “be fucking for real. You look like a busty, hot secretary from some comic book. He should be lucky you let him touch your tits!”
Your friends nodded along in agreement. Katy grabs the sides of your chair and spins it around, facing you to the restaurant bar. “You see that guy there?” she points at a man with messy blond hair in an open-collar white shirt. “He’s been eyeing you all night. Go talk to him right now.”
The tequila must have heightened your bravery as you found yourself walking across the dimly lit restaurant and to the wall. Stealing a glance at him from the corner of your eye, you ask the bartender for, “a rum and coke please.”
“You can add her drink to my tab,” the man says just like you hoped he would. “I hope you don’t mind. I saw your friends fussing over you earlier and you looked like you needed a drink.”
“Is it that obvious?” You ask, letting out a laugh. “You’re right, I do need a little pick-me-upper tonight.”
“My name is John,” he says.
You introduced yourself and slide in the empty seat next to him. “So, what’s going on with you?” he questions, sipping his beer.
You carefully lift your drink from the bar top and circled the rim with your index finger. “I’m not sure if I wanna’ trauma dump on a stranger.”
“Sometimes talking to strangers helps.”
You contemplate his words and sigh. Your friends would kick you if you said the name Miguel O’Hara again in their general vicinity. You chose to divulge a little to the mystery man. “Things got a bit complicated with someone I really cared about. Everything was going well and then he disappeared suddenly, and I don’t know why.”
John listens to you carefully, nodding to himself. “You know what I do when I’m confused?”
“What?”
“I take a smoke break to chill out,” he answers, standing up. “Care to join me?”
You downed the contents of your glass and follow him out a door that open to a back alley behind the restaurant. Rain pours down heavily, and you both huddle under a dingy metal shed. The cold air bites your arms sharply as John lights the end of his cigarette and brings it to his mouth. “It can be frustrating when you’re left without answers but a girl like you has nothing to worry about.”
You smile at his words. You take the cigarette off his hand and take a drag. The smoke fills your lungs, making your head spin a little. The light-headedness reminds you of how you felt last time when Miguel was in your arms. Airy, free, and light. No matter what you do, all your thoughts lead back to him. You shake away the memories and pass the cigarette back to John.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” a stern voice asks.
A man melts out of the shadows in the alley and into the light shining from a streetlamp above. You recognize him. “Miguel?”
He doesn’t look at you and keeps his eyes focused on John. “Who is he?” he asks with a deep frown.
“Listen, I’m off work right now,” you clear your throat, sticking your nose up in the air. “I don’t have to explain—”
“Look, man,” John interrupts, “no need to get all worked about this. We are just talking.”
Miguel lets out a harsh laugh. “Yeah, right,” he spits and gets in his face. “You could have done that at the bar. Why the fuck are you out here alone with her? What were you planning on doing?”
“Mr. O’Hara!” you exclaim, stepping in between them. “You are out of line!”
He raises his eyebrows at your formality but keeps his attention on John over your shoulder.  “Buddy,” John says, wrapping an arm around your waist and moving you to the side. “She is allowed to talk to whoever she wants. I suggest you leave us alone now.”
The touch doesn’t go unnoticed by Miguel. His nostrils flare and his eyes turned red with anger. He steps closer to John until he is looming over the poor man. You often forget how big your boss is compared to everyone around him. The scene looks almost comical with how John tries to puff out his chest. “Te calmas o te calmo,” (Calm yourself, or I’ll calm you down) Miguel snarls.
Whatever John sees in his face is enough to make him reconsider. He holds his hands up in surrender and backs away slowly. Stopping in front of you he pushes the half-burnt cigarette into your hand and whispers, “If this is the guy you were talking about, then maybe it’s a good thing he disappears. I’ll be inside if you still want to talk.”
He walks away from the alley and into the restaurant, leaving you with Miguel alone in the alley. You watch in silence as his body trembles, and you can’t tell if it’s from anger or the rain hammering away at his back.
He breaks the silence. “So, you’re letting strangers into our private business?”
You snort loudly. “You don’t get to speak to me like that,” you tell him, taking another drag. “Especially after disappearing on me. You can’t just strut back into my life and tell me who I can confide in.”
“I was tending to some urgent matters,” he says, brushing his wet hair away from his forehead. “So I took the time to handle them. I can’t be around you every second of the day acting as your lap dog.”
The heat from the cigarette burns your skin. “What the hell is wrong with you?” you raise your voice, throwing your hands in the air. “You’re acting like I want you on a leash! I just wanted to know you were okay.”
“Clearly I’m okay,” he replies, rolling his eyes.
Your lips tug into a deep scowl at his tone. “Did you ever stop to consider how your actions affected me? How lost and confused I felt waiting by the phone every day?”
“It wasn’t intentional,” Miguel matches your tone. “You know I am a busy man, and that I have responsibilities. But you’d rather live in some fantasy land where I’m just some monster out to hurt you! You can’t begin to understand the weight I carry on my shoulders.”
Anger surges through your body. “How am I supposed to understand when you don’t tell me anything? Hell, your AI knows more about you than I do. It’s like you only care about missions or work and nothing else—”
“Sometimes in life, personal matters have to take a backseat,” he cuts you off, harshly. “Not everyone can put on a short skirt and high heels, waltz into work, type a few memos and then call it a night.”
“You misogynist fuck!” You scream back at him, resisting the urge to slap him silly. “I hate you!”
“I hate you too!” he yells back in your face with bloodshot eyes.
You spin on your heels and begin walking towards the main road. Rage begins to bubble inside you and reaches your throat. You turn around just as you reach the sidewalk and call out, “You know what? It doesn’t matter if you disappear again because I have hated you since the moment I met you. I hated you when everyone at work warned me about you. I hated you all those times you dismissed me like an afterthought. And I hated you when you came to my room that night begging for a second chance. So, I don’t care if you hate me, or think I’m useless or unimportant cause have hated you longer and harder and for better fucking reasons!”
You take another drag from the cigarette and then crush it underneath your pretty high heels. You make a right at the end of the alley and begin walking up the street. Warm tears spill down your face as you shiver in the rain. Katy was right, he was an asshole. An asshole that made you feel dumb for having a normal job or human emotions. But maybe you were just an idiot for falling in love with a man who didn’t respect you. Love wasn’t supposed to be this hard, but here you were feeling small and crying at the side of the road.
The sound of screeching tires brings you out of your self-pity. A sleek black car pulls up on the other side of the road and the passenger window rolls down. Miguel’s face emerges from behind the glass. “Ven aquí!” (come here) he calls out.
You ignore him and keep walking ahead. You have no idea where you are going, but you would rather eat rocks than speak to him.
From the corner of your eyes, you see Miguel make a sharp left, almost hitting oncoming traffic and pulling up beside you. “Get in the car!”
Your feet don’t stop moving so he slowly inches his car to match your speed. “Estoy harto. (I’m sick of this) Let’s talk!”
Honks and yells filled the night as people grew frustrated with his speed. “Stop,” you hiss, bending down to the window. “You are embarrassing me!”
“Get in the car then,” he says, with a clenched jaw. “You’re gonna’ catch a cold in the rain.”
“Stop pretending like you care,” you snarl, kicking the side of his car.
“A-YO LADY!” a man yells out of his yellow cab. “Get in the damn car! Your boyfriend is holding up traffic!”
A pleased smirk spread across Miguel’s face at the man’s remarks. You let out a frustrated grunt and yanked the door open, slipping into the passenger seat. “Put your seatbelt on,” he says, picking up speed.
You begrudgingly obey but wished that his car would get rear-ended so hard that his fat head would go through the windshield. “You look like you want me dead, babe,” he commented with a nervous laugh.
“Don’t call me that,” you snap, adjusting the belt over your soaking dress. “Where are we going?”
“Back to Alchemax,” he points at the GPS screen. “The freeway flooded, and it will be a while until it clears up. I have a spare set of clothes I keep in the office for overnighters. You can change while we wait for the storm to blow over.”
“I don’t want your charity,” you grumble, crossing my hand over my chest.
“I know,” he says. “I just want to take care of you.”
You disliked how your stomach felt at his words. “I left my bag behind at the restaurant.”
“I picked it up, it’s in the back seat.”
“I didn’t pay my tab.”
“It’s taken care of. Your friends know you’re fine, too. Just relax.”
Miguel leans over to turn your seat warmer on and warmth spreads across your chest and down your limbs. He drives in silence with only the soft white noise of radio static playing in the background. Occasionally you tear your gaze away from the furiously working windshield wipers and steal glances at his face. The headlights from other cars make the slopes of his cheek and the plumpness of his lips visible even on a stormy night. His warm complexion has turned pale, and you ponder if it was because of your interaction earlier.
You both pull up into the Alchemax parking lot and get out of the car. The security team must be watching through the cameras, wondering why one of their lead engineers was coming into work late at night with his drenched secretary. You quickly follow him into the elevator and up to the floor with his office. He opens the office door, and you slide inside into the dark space.
“Lyla,” he calls out and the room illuminates on command. “Lights.”
Miguel walks up to a storage cupboard and retrieves a towel in one hand and fresh clothes in the other. He passes them to you, and you quietly enter the adjacent washroom to change. You peel your damp dress off your skin and shiver as the chilly air hits you all over. Rubbing the towel quickly over your cold skin, you slip into an oversized t-shirt and shorts. It takes two knots of the drawstring, but you manage to keep the waistband tied around your naval.
You find Miguel waiting for you outside. He had changed into a shirt that hugged his slender waist and pants that hung dangerously low under his taut stomach. He pulls the towel out of your hand and drapes it over your head. His hands gently rub the threads against your wet hair in soft, circular motions. You lean into his touch involuntarily. “I can do it myself,” you complain but made no move to reach for the fabric.
“I know,” he replies. “I want to do it for you.”
“Please don’t.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re doing that thing again,” you said, “and it’s messing with my head.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where you start acting kind after being mean,” you explain in a small voice. “I don’t like it. It’s confusing”
He tugs the towel back so you can look into each other’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” he speaks, gently. “I just lost my shit when I saw you with him.”
“You cut off all contact when all I wanted was to know if you were okay,” your voice shakes as you stare at your feet. “You left me all alone, what was I supposed to do? Wait for you to change your mind?”
“I know I messed up, baby. I was wrong” he sighs, inching down his forehead to meet yours. “I should have communicated with you, but sometimes on missions, things get complicated. I don’t always like the things I have to do, and recently I’m having a difficult time making peace with it. It’s like the harder I try to do the right thing, the more damage I do. So sometimes, it’s just better to be alone rather than pretend I’m okay around other people.”
His words hurt your heart. You knew that his missions take a toll on him. In the past whenever you tried to inquire about its contents he wouldn’t answer. You wouldn’t push, afraid that he’d pull away, but it seems that he was pulling away regardless.
“When you’re gone,” you clear your throat, trying to speak through your narrowing trachea, “I worry that you might be laying dead in some universe, and I’d be none the wiser. I know that being Spider-Man is a sacrifice, but I don’t care about the world. I only care about you. So, when you treat me this way, it’s like I can’t breathe.”
He cups your face and places a soft kiss right on your cheekbone “Forgive me.”
“You say that a lot,” you remind him with a frown.
“I know,” he nods, “and I still mean it. I’m just an idiot who doesn’t know how to find the balance in life. I love that you care about me, and I want you to continue caring about me.”
“I don’t know, Mr. O’Hara,” you said. “I can’t ignore the way you speak to me at times. It feels as if you think we’re not equals. I am not some idiot. I am not beneath you just because I work under you.”
He groaned at the sound of his last name. Every time you called him that, it made the space between feel bigger. “I have seen a million universes, nena, (babe) and you are not beneath me in any of them,” he curls a damp strand behind your ear, “Unless we are in bed, then you’re definitely under me.”
“Miguel!” you chide, punching him in the stomach. “No es broma! (It’s not a joke) I’m being serious!”
He lets out an oof and backs away. His fangs poke out from underneath his curled lips and in that moment, he looks as carefree. He wraps his large hands around your arms and holds your attention. “I know broken trust isn’t easily mendable, but I’m going to try my hardest. I won’t leave you out in the dark or make you feel small. I’ll think twice before I open my stupid mouth. I’ll even ask Lyla to give you full access to my missions. Wh-when you see what I have to do- what I must do, please don’t hate me.”
“Miggy,” you pout, reaching for his face. “I was really, really angry when I said those things to you. I can never hate you. My heart won’t let me.”
His toothy grin appears again, and Miguel draws you into him. His smooth lips find yours and he cranes your head back to find the angle that leaves you breathless. You run the pads of your thumb gently across the slopes of his cheeks. It never ceased to surprise you that his skin was so soft under his stubble. Without breaking your kiss, your shuffle back and walk him to his desk chair. You smile into his lips as he shakes his head when you move him back and down to sit. His hands wrap around your wrists. “D-don’t leave,” he cries out.
You shake your head and take a seat on his lap with your legs dangling off the side. Miguel’s hands find your jaw and he turns your mouth to his. You wrap your fingers in his hair and tug him closer. You let out a content hum as his fangs softly dig into your lips, breaking the skin. The taste of metal fills your mouth, and you pull away to look at him. He sits in your embrace, with red-stained lips and is just as breathless. “Sorry,” he sheepishly says. “I usually have them under control. It’s just you’re in my office and in my clothes. It’s making my head spin a little.”
You laugh at his words and gently pull his hair back. Pressing a wet kiss to his exposed throat you ask, “Miggy, how come we haven’t had sex yet?”
“Honestly?” he lets out a choked moan.
“Honestly,” you hum, licking his jaw.
His hands suddenly grab you by the elbows and spin you around on his lap, so his chest is facing your back. His warm breath hits the nape of your neck. A shiver runs down your spine. “I haven’t fucked you yet because once I’m inside you,” he whispers into your ear, “I’ll never want to be anywhere else. I wouldn’t want to eat, sleep, work, or be Spider-Man. I think I’ll just want to stay buried in you all the time.”
“Miguel,” you moan, clutching your thighs together.
“Tsk-tsk,” he clicks his tongue. “Don’t hide from me.”
His large hand slips between your thighs and pushes your legs apart. He turns the chair around until you’re both facing his work desk. “Up,” he commands, slapping the side of your thighs.
You gingerly obey and place your bare feet on the edge of his desk. His hands slip under your shirt, and he fumbles with the knot. Impatient with the knots, he uses a sharp claw to cut through the drawstring. Your breath hitches as he pushes the loose shorts down your legs and off your feet. He wraps his fingers behind your knees and draws your legs apart. He puts his chin over your shoulder and bunches your shirt up to get a good look at your pink underwear. “Baby,” he coos. “You gotta’ let me have this once we are done. A little souvenir for when I’m away.”
Your stomach tightens at his suggestion. You glance at him and then the office door,. “Someone will see us,” you nervously gulp.
“You let me worry about that,” he says and presses a kiss to the side of your forehead, “and just relax. I’m not gonna’ let anyone else see my girl spread out like this.”
He runs his knuckles down your bare stomach and across the clothed cunt. Electricity shoots up your body and you almost curl up in his arms. Miguel’s fingertips find a quickly dampening spot on the fabric. “Huh,” he huffs. “Is this me or rainwater?”
You cry, arching into his touch.
“I guess it’s just me,” he grins against your shoulder.
He slides your underwear off your legs and tosses it on the table. It lands on a pile of paperwork you had put aside from him earlier in the week. Miguel stops breathing at the sight of your glistening, swollen pussy. A loud moan escapes your throat as his fingers part your folds and glide back and forth. You were sure that the security guards patrolling this floor would have heard you down the hallway. You almost miss his question over the sensations of pleasure spreading through your body.
“Do you want my finger inside you?”
You nod against his cheek and reach behind to clutch a fistful of his hair to brace for impact. He lowers his down until his thick, middle digit is nudging your opening. You must have been soaking his thighs with how easily his digit sinks inside. You bit your lip harshly to contain the sounds threatening to escape your mouth. It’s your turn to hold your breath when Miguel’s other hand begins to stroke your clit. Once, twice, thrice.
When he speaks, his voice is hoarse. “You clench around my finger every time I flick your clit.”
Not that you needed proof, but Miguel does it again and you shake with pleasure. “See?” he gasps, and captures your lips in a sloppy kiss.
He he pulls back to hold your eyes and you breathe his shaky breaths in. You close your eyes and imagine how it would look to hold his hard cock in your hands while he played with your pussy. He tears you away from your fantasy by hooking his fingers inside on an angle. You almost arch completely off his lap. He moves his free hand away from your clit and presses you back into him. His hard bulge pressed into your ass.
“Here?” Miguel moans and licks your lips. “Tell me where? Right here? Ah, here.”
His fingers find that spot again and he massages his fingers against it. You nod furiously and my hands move to claw forearms. He softly bites your shoulder in retaliation and his free hand resumes working against your clit, picking up rhythm. “Can I put another finger inside?” he asks, breathing hard. “I promise it will feel good.”
“Oh-kay,” you gasp, rocking your hips on his hand.
His index finger slithers into your pussy, and you forget how to speak. You begin to twist and turn in his lap. He pulls away from your clit to press down hard against your stomach so he can keep you in place. You slide your ass over his crotch with every movement of his fingers.
“Mig-Mig-Mig,” you pant, moving your hips to his set rhythm.
“Good? I bet that feels so good.”
“Gah—”
He presses soft kisses onto your cheek as you sink into his arms. You begin to tighten further around him. You realize that this is exactly how you always want to be—full of Miguel’s fingers, touch, and love. His tongue slips into your mouth as his fingers begin curling into you faster. Your moans and groans echo through the office. His left hand leaves your stomach and reaches for your clit again. It takes seven swipes, one for each day he left you alone, for you to seize around his finger. His mouth never leaves yours as he drinks all of your pleasurable cries.
Slowly, the current leaves your body and you’re able to take in your surround. Your cheeks burn with realization. Miguel had just fingered you open on his desk at your workplace. The very same desk you set up for him every morning. Your fingers slide up to his hair and you hide your face in the crook of his neck. “Don’t be shy now,” he chuckles, “One day I’ll fuck you all over this office, nena.”
You shriek and lightly slap his arm. Miguel gently slides his fingers out of your cunt, eliciting a soft groan, and brings his to his mouth.
He hums with eyes closed at the taste. “You taste so good,” he mumbles around his fingers.
“Ugh,” Lyla gags at a distance. “Be glad I activated noise cancellation.”
A/N: Thoughts?
782 notes · View notes
morgana-larkin · 3 days
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I love angst for some reason, but can you write a Melissa x reader breakup fic? Where reader is in their mid 20’s and Melissa is obviously wayyy older than her. Melissa realized that they’re both heading in different paths in life and tries to gently breakup with reader, but calls her all the pet names like “kid/kiddo, young one, little bunny, etc” (this is taken from Taylor Swift’s ‘Illicit Affairs’ where she’s going “don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby, look at this godforsaken mess that you’ve made me…”)
Maybe a part two if you’re feeling up to it, with gentle smut as reader and Melissa get back together and make love again? 👀
Oh I’m definitely making a part two to this, I mean I can’t leave things with Melissa on a sad note. So I went with the nicknames hon and kid. I did ended listening to the Taylor Swift song and based some of the things off of the song. And I just gotta say that I procrastinated on doing this for 4 days straight as it hit too close to home. I called off my engagement 3 months ago to someone 12 years older than me because we were heading down different paths in life. Anyway, not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!
On another note: still taking prompts peeps!
Don’t Call Me That
Warnings: Angst and no comfort, no happy ending, may break your heart like it did for me
Words: 2.25k
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You and Melissa are cuddling on the couch watching real housewives. Melissa found out you’ve never seen it so of course she had to show you. The two of you have been together for about 8 months now and never been happier.
Well, you have never been happier. Melissa was happy, but she still has so much doubt on whether or not she should have gotten with someone so much younger than her. Especially when you made comments on what you want to do with your life.
“I hope to get married someday.” You said once. “Maybe we can have kids together.” You said another time. “We should go out to a bar or a club together sometime.” You said one time. Melissa just looked at you and smiled each time but didn’t reply. Those thoughts swirl around in Melissa’s head until one day she couldn’t ignore them, you both wanted different things and she couldn’t let this relationship go on even more.
“Hey hon, can we talk?” She says to you when she visits you at your place on Saturday.
“Alright, sure.” You said, none the wiser. You and Melissa go on your couch and you face her with a smile. Melissa wishes you weren’t smiling as it makes it harder knowing that she’ll be that reason for that smile to drop.
“I don’t think this is working out anymore.” She starts and you look at her confused.
“What do you mean?” You ask and you frown.
“I mean this.” She says and gestures between you both. “Our relationship, I think we should end it.”
“Why?” You ask, concerned.
“Because we want different things in life hon. I don’t want to get married again, I wanted kids before but not anymore, and I don’t want to go to clubs if I don’t have too. But you’re young, you should have things you want and you should do it.” She tells you and you look down at your lap. She really wants to comfort you but knows she can’t.
“So that’s it? We’re over, just like that? I have no say in this?” You ask her and she looks guilty.
“I’m afraid so hon.” She says and you snap you head up at her.
“Don’t call me that if you’re gonna break up with me.” You snap and that catches her off guard. She knows you might be upset but didn’t think you’d snap at her, but she doesn’t blame you.
“I’m sorry y/n.” She tells you.
“Please leave.” You say and she nods defeatedly. She gets up and walks to the door and opens it. Before she leaves, she glances at you.
“I really am sorry.” She says and leaves. As soon as she closes the door, you get up and lock it, then you put your back on the door and slide down while crying.
On Monday you walked in the doors of Abbott and went to the break room as usual. Only this time instead of saying hi to Melissa when you pass her, you just walked right by her to the fridge.
“Hi hon.” Melissa says to you.
“Don’t call me that.” You say as you put your lunch in the fridge. Everyone turns their attention to you and Melissa as they knew you were dating. “My name is y/n.” You say to her and go to make a coffee.
“I know what your name is.” She tells you as you pour the coffee into your mug.
“Then I suggest you use it.” You tell her and walk out.
Melissa sighs and leans back into her seat.
“Trouble in paradise?” Barb asks Melissa.
“If trouble you mean broken up then yes.” Melissa says and everyone gasps.
“Omg what happened?” Janine asks.
“None of youse businesses.” She tells them and walks out. Everyone turns to Barb for answers.
“Don’t look at me, the only thing I know is Melissa broke up with y/n if their emotions are anything to go by.” Barb tells them.
Melissa tries to talk to you for the rest of the day when she gets an opportunity but you keep shutting her down.
She keeps trying every day for 2 weeks until she had enough. She got Mr Johnson to watch over her class while she goes to talk to you during your prep period.
She knocks on your door and walks in after you call out a ‘come in’ to whoever was there. When you look up you see the person you least expected, mostly because she has a class right now.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be teaching?” You tell her as she closes your door.
“Mr Johnson is watching them until I get back. I need to talk to you hon.”
“I keep telling you not to call me that! And the last time we talked, you broke up with me so I don’t really want to talk to you.” You told her and she sighs. You get up and go to bring a stack of papers to the back of the classroom.
“I know but I’ve been trying to at least be friends with you like we were before we started dating because I like our friendship.” She tells you as she follows you to the back and you whip around to face her.
“Friends? You think I would want to be friends with you? Melissa, do I need to remind you that you broke up with me and didn’t even bother talking about it with me? You just made the decision on your own.” You grit out.
“It was the best decision.”
“For who exactly? Cause it sure wasn’t the best for me.” You tell her and she looks at you.
“It was for you. I made it for you so you can have the life you want. I can’t give you everything! So I let you go so you could! Believe me when I tell you that I didn’t want to break up with you! You are the best damn thing to happen to me and it broke me to let you go!” She tells you and you gasp.
“That’s the reason?!? You. Are. An. Idiot Schemmenti! Just because I may have thought about certain things doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. I’m 25 and I’m not certain about what I want to do in life.”
“See that right there is what I’m talking about. You have no idea what you want cause your life has just begun, while mine, well I’m 55, I’m going to retire in 10 years hopefully. My life is almost over.” She tells you frantically and at that Barb comes in.
“Girls, can you quiet down. It’s hard enough to teach 5 year olds how to read the alphabet as it is. It’s even harder with your yelling.” She tells you both and you look at Melissa.
“What I knew I wanted in life was you. But I guess I was wrong. You should get back to your class.” You tell her and you leave to go print something. “Sorry Barb.” You tell her as you pass her by.
Barb looks at Melissa who has a couple tears rolling down her cheeks. “Sweetheart, what were you trying to accomplish here?” She asks her and Melissa lets a sob escape.
“I was trying to be friends with her again.” She tells her.
“Melissa, you just broke up with her out of the blue. At least for her it was out of the blue. You have to give it time before she might consider being your friend again.” Barb tells her and Melissa nods.
“I know, I just, I miss her.”
“Listen I have to go back to my classroom and you have to go back to yours but how about you come to my classroom at lunch and we can talk then.” Barb suggests and Melissa wipes her tears away.
“Ok.” She says with a nod and then leaves back to her classroom.
2 months go by and Melissa has stopped any interaction with you. You still know she looks and stares at you but never talks to you.
Melissa can’t help it whenever she sees you, she never talks to you even though she wants to, she just stares at you. Her heart breaks every time she sees you.
10 weeks after she breaks up with you, your both in the break room along with everyone else. You’re talking to the trio and they ask about your weekend plans and you mention you have a date. Melissa whips her head up from looking at her phone and her jaw drops and eyes got watery.
You may not be able to see her face but you saw her whip her head up. You also see Barb looking at her sympathetically which means she must look sad right now.
You tell them your contemplating on whether or not you should go, you think you shouldn’t but Janine and Gregory tell you to go and Jacob tells you no. You go over to Barb for the tie breaker and you show her a picture of the girl, Melissa also sees the picture of her and she realises that you’re going out with someone around her age.
Barb tells you it’s your choice and that’s when Melissa pipes up. “Isn’t she too old for you kid?” She asks you while taking a bite of her pasta.
You glare at her and scoff. “I think that’s for me to decide, cause I do have a say in some things.” You tell her and she looks down guiltily.
On Monday morning you walk in the break room and the trio asks you how your date went.
“It was alright. We’re going out again this Saturday.” You tell them and you hear Melissa scoff. “Something you want to say Melissa?” You ask her and she turns around in her chair.
“It doesn’t seem you’re interested in her since you said it was alright.” She tells you.
“Well it was my first date with her and I haven’t had a first date in a year.” You say and she stands up, grabs her things and walks out. You turn back to the trio and continue the conversation. Barb follows Melissa out to make sure she’s not destroying anything or about too.
The next Monday you’re talking to the trio about your second date and you tell them that you’re not going to see her again as you’re not interested in her. You don’t see it but Melissa smiles. You don’t but Barb sure does and rolls her eyes at her.
It’s been 3 months since the break up now and you stop by quickly at Melissa’s to get a few things she recently found that’s yours. In reality, Melissa found them 3 months ago and hid them when you came to get your things so she would have a few reminders of yours but now she wants an excuse to talk to you.
The box of your things is on the coffee table and Melissa is sitting on the arm of the couch when you walk in. Melissa told you that she’ll leave the door unlocked for you.
“Are those the things?” You tell her and nod your head to the box and she nods at you.
“Ya, it is.” She tells you and you don’t really move, she sees you looking around. You usually went to her place about 3 times a week to hang out with her after school and she would make dinner for you two.
“How are you kid?” She asks you and you look at her.
“I thought I’ve told you to stop with the nicknames and use my actual name.”
“You have, but I like using nicknames for you.” Is all she says.
“Why?”
“Because I always have, I’ve rarely called you by your actual name. It feels wrong to call you by your actual name.”
“Well you might want to work on how to make it sound right.” You tell her and walk over to grab the box and she grabs your wrist and you gasp.
“You never answered me when I asked how you were.” She tells you.
“You really want to know how I am?” You ask and she nods. “I’m broken.” You told her and her eyes look upset. “You broke up with me and now I’m broken and a mess. I chose not to go on a third date because all I thought about on the two dates was you.” You tell her and she lets go of you but you make no attempt to move. You want to challenge her to something to see what she really thinks and you grab the back of her head and you kiss her. She’s stunned for a second but then she automatically kisses you back but then you pull back 3 seconds later and she looks at you shocked. “You can’t tell me that that doesn’t feel right. I may not know much about what I want in life but I know I wanted to spend it with you. I’m aware of the age gap but it never made a difference to me because I love you. I thought you loved me.” You tell her then you grab the box and leave.
As soon as you close the door, Melissa falls down on the couch and starts crying. “I’m so sorry y/n.” She sobs out. “I do still love you.”
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moonstruckme · 4 months
Note
Hi darling I hope you’re well! I have this really noticeable scar on my forehead (much like Harry Potter’s) from me being clumsy as a kid and it’s really been bothering me lately and making me self conscious along with other things and I was wondering if you’d just do something where Sirius is being comforting after a rough week of insecurities. No worries if not😊 Thanks love!
Hi sweetheart, I'm good thanks! Thank you for requesting <3
modern au
Sirius Black x fem!reader ♡ 845 words
You’re washing your face, and every pass of your fingers over the divot in your forehead feels like a physical pain. Which is silly, because the scar hasn’t hurt for years. 
It’s been a part of your face for so long that usually you hardly remember it. You look past it, the same way your eyes don’t see your nose because it’s always there. Lately, though, you can’t stop yourself from perceiving it constantly. You find yourself trying to cover it with makeup, tilting your head in conversation in attempt to hide it with your hair, staring into the mirror with a freakish intensity. It’s inescapable. 
You force yourself to tear your gaze from the blemish now, turning from the mirror towards where Sirius is waiting for you in bed. 
He sets down his phone at your approach, spreading his arms extravagantly. “Come here, my darling.” 
You go to them with a sharp ache in your chest, curling up against his side. 
There’s a pause and then Sirius hums, confusion teetering on the edge of concern. “What, not even a little laugh?” 
“You’re not very funny,” you tease halfheartedly. 
“You’re not usually a very particular audience.” 
He slides his palm on top of yours where it rests on the mattress. You intertwine your fingers with his. “Sorry,” you sigh. “Long week. I’m glad tomorrow’s Saturday.” 
You want to languish in your pajamas for the entire weekend. Tune into some mindless show and leave this prickling discomfort behind until you have to go back to work on Monday. 
Sirius brings your joined hands to your stomach, sliding them under your top familiarly. You try not to shiver. Sirius’ hands are always cold. You’d asked once if he thought he might be anemic, but he’d only given you a dry look and a jab from one of his insanely sharp elbows. 
He kisses the soft skin below your ear. “You gonna tell me about it, or do you enjoy keeping me in suspense?” 
“I do,” you say, grinning when he nips at your earlobe admonishingly. You do want to tell him, you find. “No, it’s just my scar. It’s been bothering me lately.” 
Sirius' thumb strokes over your navel, already warmer from your skin. “Bothering you how?” 
“Just bothering me.” You’re glad you’re facing away from him. You’re not sure you could take the intensity of his stare as you divulge your insecurities. “I don’t know, for some reason I all of a sudden feel kind of self-conscious about it. It’s not like it’s tiny or inconspicuous or anything.” 
He hums in silent understanding. For few moments the only sound is his thumb sighing over your skin. “Whenever I notice your scar,” he says, “it makes me think of how you told me you got it.” 
You make a quiet scoffing sound. You’d fallen after climbing too high in an old tree by your house when you were little. The branch had broken right out from under you, and you’d fallen all the way into the road, tearing a big gash in your head on the way down. Luckily there’d been no cars coming towards you, but your mom had nearly had a heart attack and it had made for a late night in A&E. 
Sirius’ hand moves up to your shoulder, pushing down so that you’re lying on your back. You try not to squirm under his gaze, knowing your scar has to be stark and shining in the moonlight coming in from your window. He traces the line with a slender finger. 
“It’s a cute story,” he says, and you can find no teasing spark in his watercolor eyes. “It’s fun to imagine little you, trying to get as high up as you could.”
“Before I took a dive onto a roadway,” you add dryly. He mirrors your grin.
“Technicalities. The scar’s adorable, because you were being adorable while you got it.” 
You feel your smile fade. “I think you’re the only one who thinks that, babe,” you say, trying to maintain some lightness in your tone. You’re not sure if you quite manage it. “I’m pretty sure to everyone else it’s just ugly.” 
“Whoa, excuse me.” Sirius frowns, taking your face firmly in hand. “Nothing about you could ever be ugly. That’s scientifically impossible. It defies the laws of nature. What goes up must come down, beer is homophobic, and you,” he kisses you, warm and pillowy soft, “are a fucking stunner. Every bit of you.” 
You kiss him back, smiling. “You’re such a flirt.” 
“Do you want me to prove it?” He quirks a brow. “Give me a minute to look at you, sweet thing, and I’ll get hard right now.” 
You gag, to his delight, and Sirius rolls on top of you, pinning your hips with his. “Fucking,” he plants a kiss on your jaw, “talk about my girlfriend like that,” he lands one on your lips, “one more time.” 
He works his way up your face, smooching your flushed skin until you’re spit-slick and cackling. He does your scar last. 
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