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#anyway this is my first ever marvel fic
starlooove · 1 year
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Guys I understand the gatekeepers now like y’all didnt even know who spiderpunk was let alone his name till a few months ago STAY AWAY FROM HIM
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todayisafridaynight · 15 days
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omg the things i’d do to see a mine funeral scene ALSO SHARE THE FIC PLEASE🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
here's the fic centered around katase post mine's death, 'The Ladder and the Fall' by ponderousferret on Ao3
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housewifebuck · 4 months
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I kinda did want all that info but didn't know how to word it correctly. So thank you for sharing.
Ur SO welcome <3
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roipecheur · 2 years
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Someone remind me that I don’t have the time right now to rewrite the Star Wars prequels 💀💀💀
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BTS fic recs
I wanted to do this a while ago, but felt like I hadn't read enough, until I checked my likes and got a shock to the face lol. I wanted to give some recommendations of some fics (and a series) that I quite enjoyed reading, plus leave a small review because I feel like it's very underrated to comment on what you like something (people, comment more, I swear it makes a writer feel so much better than a like). There's the occasional spoiler in the reviews, so I recommend you read it carefully or just skip the comment ^^.
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Dawning by @wintaerbaer JJK
summary: He’s never invited into your world during these late night sessions. You always push him away or ignore him. This is new. warnings: heavy depictions of depression and panic attacks, a brief line where taehyung worries oc is s**cidal. I really loved this fic. For a moment I thought it was some kind of two shot or something, but it only has this one part. Still, I felt the author captured the emotions very well. It felt so realistic that even I was worried when Y/N disappeared lol.
Bottle up old love by @wintaerbaer KTH
summary: Jungkook may have broken up with you a year ago, but that's not going to stop him from coming to your rescue when he sees you being cornered by a creep. warnings: language, a short harassment scene at the beginning (nothing too intense), explicit content including: unprotected sex (DO NOT), fingering, praise kink, biting, marking, spanking, cum eating (sort of?), big cawk soft dom jk, cowgirl (yeehaw), creampie, cockwarming. This fic made me remember why I love the exes to lovers trope. I loved seeing Jungkook as a tattoo artist, it's like, I don't know, so him, anyway, I loved it. I just found this account yesterday in the wee hours of the morning and I'm already loving it <3.
Cat-astrophe & Cat-enaries by @dumpywrites MYG
Summary: Your pet cat keeps going to your neighbor’s apartment and it’s a problem.  I fell in love with this Yoongi like you have no idea. When I just read the first part I was so eager to keep reading, seriously, I loved it, it deserves so much love.
Two Days by @dumpywrites JJK
Summary: He just wants you to give him two days. He'll take you on a few dates and you'll decided if you actually like him? Or not? I live for Jungkook being simp of the reader, I feel it's so real lol. This fic made me feel so warm inside, it was too cute to read. It's kind of like my comfort fic.
S'more than friends by @borathae MYG
Warnings: subby!Yoongi, switchy!Reader, consumption of beer, so much awkward tension, jealousy, sex in a tent, mutual masturbation, handjob, fingering, making out aye, Yoongi loves her boobs and she loves his butt it’s a win-win, sex while other people are sleeping, public sex, she has a thing for his hands (but what’s new lmao), fluffy post-orgasm talks because I’m soft. I read it a while ago now, but I remember when I did I felt so soft. This Yoongi is just too cute.
Please don't go by @httpjungkookcom JJK
Summary | Jungkook’s never kept anything from you, ever. Not even the time where he tripped and accidentally kicked your dog, or when he fucked the most popular girl in high school and couldn’t make himself cum (poor guy was embarrassed for weeks), or when he accidentally rubbed all of his acceptance letters in your face without realizing. To put it short, Jungkook is an open book to you. So when he suddenly disappears, there’s a lot to question. Even more to question when he finally gets back and won’t tell you anything, going as far to avoid you. You’re on a mission to figure it out, even if it kills you. Index | Jungkook is so smart, but so stupid at the same time. Jungkook is not sly in the slightest. Kind of angst, fighting, arguing, bickering, etc. Criminal activity, it’s a Spider-Man fic. Injuries and mention of blood. College setting and age, reader and Kook share the same major. Some cute fluffy moments in between all of the action. Aunt Yoon is essentially Aunt May in the Marvel story line.  Spiderkook, is more needed to read this fic? It was the first one I read about this au and I was WONDERED. God, you can't imagine how much I loved it. I thought it was so cute the way Jk approached reader being in his suit….
Accidental roommates by @jjkeverlast JJK
summary: moving apartments is stressful and difficult enough as it is. all the planning and packing and multiple moments of rearranging furniture; all you crave is peace. yet it seemed like peace was far within reach as the owner of the apartment had left out one tiny crucial detail from the ad — a ripped tattooed adonis, coupled, with a tiny baby daughter will come as your roommate. warnings: second hand embarrassment | jungkook's abs | annoying antics | suppressed feelings | both of them are stubborn and petty (it's gets tiring lmfao) | mentions of past relationships | a lot of time stamps | sexual tension | ft. namjoon 👀 | !constant change of perspective between reader and jungkook. I have a tremendous weakness with dilf, no matter who it is, I just love them. I think this was the first one I read by Jungkook. It was so fun and easy to read that the 14.7k words flew by for me.
Silk & Stones by @taegularities KTH
Summary: “Taehyung was a writer… he was a writer indeed.” Kim Taehyung knows his way around words – they cast a spell on your heart and mind, leave you gasping dangerously fast. Until the mystery behind his persona unveils and his touch, along with his words, becomes a vivid memory. warnings: writer + violinist tae 🥺 who’s a gentleman in the 19th century, brief mention of injuries/a mental institution, misunderstandings, heartbreak, secrets, grief, much poetry (and my attempt at writing a poem, pls spot), much disgoosting fluff, flirting and lots of sexual tension; explicit sexual content: 2 sex(y) scenes, fingering on a boat, choking, teasing, begging, praising, soft dom!tae, big dick!tae, tiddie fondling/sucking, some manhandling, dirty talk, they’re just so cute :((, oral (f. and m. receiving), some masturbation, oc is into neck kisses, some biting, fingering, hair pulling, asking for permission :(, multiple orgasms, unprotected sex (it’s the 19th century...), aftercare; there’s quite some angst ok; lmk if i forgot smth !! This was a work of art for me. I felt so immersed in the story, so confused by the time changes and everything surrounding Taehyung, but I loved it, one of the best stories I've read of Taehyung since I joined tumblr.
17 going on 27 by @hansolmates JJK
summary; one second, you’re sobbing at prom because the most popular guy in school dumps you due to your relationship being a little prank to break your heart. the next? you’re a creative editor at Ego, the hottest young adult fashion magazine. as you try to figure out what’s the deal with this sudden time skip into adulthood, you come across relationships and friendships that are made to be cherished and made to be broken. genre/warnings; fluff, crack, future enemies to lovers, teenage and adulthood angst, time skips from high school!au to late twenties!au, 13 going on 30!au, all your romantic movie tropes come to life! a really big mess honestly, various movie and music references, mentions of sex, use of alcohol, everyone give jin and jimin a big ol hug, language, a surprise guest from the queen of england. I love adaptations, especially ones that add their own touch, and the writer did it so well. She made me hate Jungkook, and then love him, and then hate him again, in the end I ended up resenting him, I wanted reader to stay with Jin lol, but I still loved it. Definitely my favorite part was having Jimin as a best friend, I loved watching him take on Jungkook in the car. We all need a friend like him.
Hot Bot by @httpjeon JJK/PJM/KTH/JHS
JJK: You order a sex robot online after getting a coupon for half off. however, there’s something strange about yours. PJM: Fear is primal and causes one to make stupid decisions. KTH: Your parents have a gift for you, however, there’s been a mistake. JHS: As a product tester, you have one of the most sought after temporary positions in Hot Bot Inc. This is a series that has smut, I think the name gives it away. It's rather sad that the writer is on hiatus, but he left the gems of his works open to the public. The series is pretty good, I fell in love with Jungkook (and Yoongi kskjdsksjds). Highly recommended.
The proposal by @hansolmates JJK
summary; Jeon’s the editor-in-chief for Big Hit Publishings, a closet romantic with a penchant for antagonizing his assistant on the reg. When his work visa is in the process of being renewed and he takes a trip to Norway, his eligibility to stay in America is on the line. However Jeon Jungkook doesn’t go without a fight, and in order to save his job he offers you a proposal you can't refuse. genre/warnings; the proposal!au, fake marriage au, enemies to friends(!!!), friends to lovers, bouts of flangst, dry humping, slight blood but not too bad, lang, alcohol, poor jjk discovers he has the ability to feel emotion, poor y/n is in the middle as always. I was looking for an adaptation of this movie for so long that when I found this one I almost cried with emotion. I LOVED the movie and the concept it had, and I was so happy to read this fic that captures that very romcom essence that the movie has. I loved it.
Marshmallows and report cards by @untaemedqueen KTH
Warnings: Impreg Kink, Marking, Cunnilingus, Fingering, Birthday Sex, Spitting, Begging, Praise, Fellatio, Face Fucking, Big Dick!Tae, Multiple Orgasms, Unprotected Sex, Possessive!Tae, Cock Warming, Creampie. I already confessed, this kind of fics get to me. I remember reading it and melting with the ending. I read it a long time ago, so I can't give a longer opinion, but I do remember that I loved it and came out internally squealing after I finished it.
Orange tulips by @kainks JJK
Summary: You’d remember Jungkook with every life you lived. Only he’d never remember you, never recall how your fates were written in the stars since the beginning of time. Genre: Angst. Fluff. Light Smut. The anxiety and helplessness I felt reading this fic are on another level. This scarred me, I read it once and I was never the same person again. It was wonderful, I felt so many things and I was so nervous during the whole reading that I almost didn't even realize when it was over. It is a very enjoyable fic.
What if I love you too much? by @taleasnewastime
Summary: Jungkook. It’s only a name you learn after your son kicks his ball over the fence. Before that you only knew him as the hot new neighbour who mows his lawn topless. And though you have no intention of getting to know him anymore than that, inevitably you do. You don’t necessarily fall, it’s too slow for that, but you definitely develop feelings you don’t intend to feel. Because you know men like him, and you know that whatever you’re feeling, he’s probably not feeling the same. All the same, however hard you try, you can’t help yourself. Warnings: Single mum, small fights, explicit sexual content, oral (f receiving), safe penetrative sex, reader thinks Jungkook is cheating/playing the field, angst, but also fluff, child gets injured (though not seriously), talks of cuts and a small amount of blood. This fic left me feeling bad, it even made me question some future decisions regarding my relationship with my future partner and the necessary communication that must be had in a relationship from the beginning, especially if there is a child in the middle. It was something I really enjoyed reading, and even though I had my internal dilemmas with Jungkook, the drabbles in the story helped me a lot to let go of my grudge (I swear I have nothing personal with him sksjkajskajsj).
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winterarmyy · 9 months
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Promise Me | Part I
When he was sent out for war, Bucky made a promise to his lover that might just last through several lifetimes.
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Summary: Y/N kept being reincarnated into the world for seemingly endless of lifetimes with the lasting, vivid memories of her past lover during the 40's, Sargent James B. Barnes. While she thought this was a 'punishment' for her sins, she was also unknowingly oblivious to the fact that James was still alive somewhere, almost forever frozen in the time.
Navigation: Part I | Part II | Part III (end)
Words: 6.5k++ (hella long bc lots to cover in the story building part)
Pairing: 40s!bucky / eventually tfatws!bucky x female!reader
Warnings: just slow induced angst for your daily consumption (i guess?) It has a hopeful ending so don't let the first warning chase you away. reincarnation concept. an attempt to follow exact mcu timeline (forgive if i'm wrong at certain parts). slight religious contents. grief & loss. graphic violence. deaths. mention of suicide. a lot of reader's pov, story building > dialogs (sorry guys).
P/S: Another impulsive writing from me y'all. I hope you don't get bored of this tendency of mine lol. I just need to let the fantasies out before it consumes me. So... anyway, it's gonna be another 3 parts fic cause for the love of god, I cannot commit for more :') Also, my first attempt of writing 40's bucky!!! I'm honestly scared. I hope you like it!
Read my other works here: Masterlist
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Italy, 1943 – His return
If it was one thing that Bucky should expect when he decided to be in a relationship with Y/N was that he had to accept her for who she was; stubborn, clumsy, bold, clever, sweet and most certainly the prettiest dame he ever met.
He might have unknowingly signed up for it the moment he quite literally fell for her at one of those Stark's science expo. Bucky had been stealing glances at this one pretty lady in the crowd, adored in soft mint dress that falls right below her knees.
It wasn't even a scandalous dress to wear in public but somehow Bucky was more than ecstatic to marvel at her beauty. There was no such thing as a too long of a stare, especially when she laughed like that; throwing her head in amusement, the loose strands of her curls fall back across her shoulders as they slightly shook to the rhythm of her laughter.
A careless misstep, that Bucky could see from a mile away, had caused her to stagger backwards and twisted her ankle into an inevitable fall. Somehow, Bucky managed to slither his way through the crowd towards her, almost jumping forward to catch her before she landed on the ground.
Not only that he was the one who fell first, but he also fell hard.
So, it was expected that Bucky knew what he had got himself into. At least, that was what Y/N had been repeating in her head to convince herself for what she had done. Now that she was sitting at the back of the wobbly military truck, the fear had slowly started to seep into her, causing shivers to crawl all over her nerves.
Y/N just knew it in her guts that Bucky would be absolutely furious when he sees her but what does he expect her to do when she hadn't receive any letters from him for months now. So, when she heard that they needed more medical helpers at the Italy base, she signed up without thinking twice about it.
"There has been a recent attack on the 107th. Too many casualties and much more whose heavily injured. You might have your hands full the moment you arrive to the base. There are few rules..." The lieutenant's voice was rigid just as his demenour when he continued to inform the situation to the troops of medical staff.
No matter how much she wanted to pay attention to his words, Y/N couldn't help but to tune in only at his first few sentences. Casualties, heavily injured. Her hands moved to search for the cross pendent hanging from the necklace around her collarbone, gripping it tight as she prayed that her lover was not categorized under any of those dire circumstances.
What the lieutenant said in that truck could never be more true as the moment they stepped into the medic tent, Y/N and the others were quickly pulled to assist the fallen men. It was truly heartbreaking and horrid to witness the dreading truth behind what the public posed as the "heros of the country'.
Surely they were proud to fight for the nation but then again no human being should ever had to suffer the consequences of war; not the civilians and certainly not the soldiers.
After seemingly hours of continuous stitching, wrapping and patching up; surrounded sound of groaning pain and the endless cycle of inhaling the distinct scent of fresh blood, burned flesh and the bitter of anticeptic odor; the injured soldiers were finally taken care of and had been put to rest.
Y/N looked around the tent, noting the unorganized mess around the patients; the result of the panic and chaos of the whole situation. A thought came to her mind, she might need to do some cleaning up before writing down medical record for each one of the patients.
That was when the lieutenant entered into the tent, and his stern gaze swiftly analyzed the much calmer scene, "Thank you for your service, everybody. I assume the soldiers are stabilized?"
"Yes, sir." One of the battalion doctor replied as he approached, while the rest of the team watched from where they stood.
The lieutenant simply nodded, "Good." He paused for awhile and looked around,  "Now, have any of you met Captain America before?"
There were bunch of no's murmured around the medical staff, some of them just shook their head as an answer and the lieutenant nodded again as he informed, "Well, I guess you are all just darn lucky cause he's here to perform. You are invited to come and join the others to watch, if you want to."
"Steve's here?" She thought to herself.
As the lieutenant continued to explain some things about accommodation, food and medical supplies, Y/N's head were filled with thought that her dear friend, Steve was there too.
"I wonder if he gotten any words from James."
"Maybe he got letters from him?"
"Or could it be that he was here to find James too?
There were so many questions kept circulating in her head that by the time she snapped out of them, the lieutenant was already long gone and some of the medic staff went out to untangle themselves from the hours of stressful tension.
As a nurse herself, she felt the need to take care of her patients and finish her job before anything else. So, she started to clean up the shredded clothes, bloodied guazes and the other medical tools that needed to be sterilized and put away.
By the time she finished, it finally dawned to her that there was no trace of Bucky in the medic tent. Which means he didn't fall into the heavily injured category. So, there was two left; the one she prayed for and the other that dreaded her to even think about.
Y/N quickly made her way towards the tent where she can find the soldier in charge. However, if she was focused during one of the lieutenant's speech in the truck, she would've heard that she and the others were not authorized to enter certain parts of the base, which include the higher ups' tents.
When she was turned down by the soldiers, she sadly walked away towards the main area where Steve was supposed to perform. The drag of her feet across the dusty sand was heavy but no more heavier than the burden in her heart.
She watched as her black pump shoes gradually covered with light sand. Finding it odd that a few weeks ago she was standing on the shiny tile of a hospital in Brooklyn and now she was halfway across the world in the middle of the chaos of a war.
The things she'd do for love.
Soon enough, the dry ground was wet from the sudden down pour, turning it into a murky soggy path. Y/N quickly ran towards the main area where apparently the show was long over. "Did I missed Steve?" She thought as she stepped into the tent where the performers supposed to be.
The tent turned out to be empty and only the sound of drizzling raindrops above it was left behind. She looked around the area and saw the costumes for the performers were still there; the pleated white and red skirt hanging on the rack, white gloves clipped with them, the captain's shield with notes sticking at the back of it and the iconic blue helmet-mask thingy plastered with the obvious letter.
She peeked a little to the right only to see Steve hunched down on the floor, curling into himself just as he always did back when he was left beaten up in the alleyway somewhere in Brooklyn. She guessed that the upgrade of his size doesn't really change his habits.
Y/N walked closer to see him holding his sketchbook on one hand and another was a pencil pressing across the paper, lining the drawing of a monkey on a unicycle. "I guess the serum does not amplify your art skills huh Steve?" she teased as she approached the blonde man.
Steve lifted up his head as he turned towards the familiar voice, "y/n?" His face lit up as he recognized her face. He stood on his feet and pulled her into a tight hug, "It's so good to see you." He sighed, he haven't seen her since his departure when she insisted for him to stay.
But alas, Steve was also as stubborn as her.
It took awhile for him to process it but when it came to him, he gently pushed her away, "Wait.. what are you doing here?" His brows creased into a worried frown.
Y/N simply smiled as she responded, "They needed help, so I volueentered."
Steve shook his head in disbelief, "Bucky made me promise not to let you do stuff like this." In which Y/N countered, "And he also remind you not to do anything stupid until he get back so..." she purposely trailed her words for him to draw the conclusion on his own.
He let out a long sighed before concluding, "Bucky's gonna kill us."
Since, Bucky was in the topic, Y/N took the oppurtunity to asked Steve about him, "About that, have you heard--"
A woman's voice came from her back, cutting in between her words, "Steve?"
Steve nervously untangled himself from Y/N as he shyly greeted the woman, "Hi."
The woman continued to stare at Y/N trying to figure out her role and relationship with Steve but before she could get any strange idea, he quickly introduced her, "This is y/n. She's my good friend from home."
A spark of realization glint through her eyes "I see. I'm Peggy. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand towards Y/N, in which Y/N gladly shook it in hers as she reintroduced herself, "You too. I'm y/n."
After the brief exchange of smile between the two ladies, Steve continued to asked Peggy, "What are you doing here?"
Peggy sighed as she explained, "Officially, I'm not here at all." She paused as she picked her words, "I just came by to oversee the situation after the recent attack."
Although Y/N knew what Peggy meant, she was one of the medic staff that had been stitching up the aftermath of that attack after all. However, Steve on the other hand seemed to be lost.
Peggy further explained, "Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano, more than 200 men went up against him and less than 50 returned." She paused, "Your audience contained what's left of the 107th."
Steve's blues widen in realization that almost looked much like panic, "The 107th?"
"What?" Peggy prompt quickly.
Steve then turned his head to Y/N, "Bucky?" He questioned shortly.
But even she was hoping that he'll know something about Bucky, apparently she was wrong, "I tried to ask but I'm not authorized to enter the tent. I was hoping you heard from him."
Seeing the panic in Steve's eyes, she knew that her lover was no where near the safety that she prayed for. But before fear could set in, Steve sprinted out of the tent, "Come on!" he shouted as Y/N and Peggy ran closely behind him.
When they arrived to the tent, fortunately they had the permission to enter with the help of Peggy. "Well, if it isn't the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan. What is your plan today?" Colonel Philips greeted in a teasing manner.
Steve didn't even bother to greet the colonel as he demanded, "I need the casualty list from Azzano." In which the Philips responded, "You don't get to give me orders, son."
Knowing that arguments won't help the situation, he control his tone of voice and spoke, "I just need one name, Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th." He took a short breath and insisted, "Please tell me if he's alive, sir. B-A-R-"
Colonel Phillips stood on his feet as he walked towards a table behind him, "I can spell. I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count." He paused before turning around to eye on Steve and briefly on the very worried looking nurse next to him.
"But the name does sound familiar. I'm sorry." There was a flash of sincerity in his eyes when he looked towards Y/N.
The optimistic Steve continued to insist more about other possibilities than casualties, "What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?" They went back and forth about the what is the 'right' thing to do, "Yes, it's called 'winning the war'. "
And suddenly sound of the heavy rain fall was all Y/N could hear, then comes the booming of her heartbeat as the panic started to deprive her of any optimism, clouding her judgment to think of anything near to positive outcomes such as Steve.
It was getting harder to breath and the anxitey slowly choked her, forcing tears to pool in her eyes. Peggy swiftly took a hold on Y/N, before her knees managed to fall to the ground. The muffled sound of Peggy's voice managed to come through but not enough to wake her from the despair.
Before she knew it, Steve was already gone for an unauthorized rescue mission with the help from Peggy. And ever since, Y/N had spend every waking moment digging her knees into the uneven ground. Her elbows bruised from how hard she propped them on the steel edge of the army green cot. Her palms almost dented to shape of the silver cross as she desperately squeeze it between her hold.
She prayed and prayed for his return. For both of her dearest to be safe, to find their way home.
And for a moment Y/N thought her prayers were graciously granted by God, as the crowd was getter louder and the circle of soldiers were geting thicker when the survivors joined the rest of them. There were chantings of "Captain America" that echoed throughout the base and that gave her relief to know that Steve was safe.
But it was not enough to tame her anxiousness. Y/N's focus has never been sharper when her eyes scanned the crowd, she slithered her way between the jumping joy of the soldiers, grabbing onto some men who she mistook as Bucky until she saw him.
Her heartbeat ramped increasingly as she pushed through the soldiers, finding strength from the blood pumping excitement when she recognize those steel blues and that cheeky smile. Not long before she managed to grab onto his hand and pulled his attention to her.
It was brief but he knew that face anywhere; and suddenly his whole body was engulf into a familiar tight hug that he thought he could never be able to feel again. "James." her voice still stuttered even if it was just one word that came out of her lips.
"y/n?" Bucky called her name, almost in disbelief.
God, she never knew that she was able to miss his voice this much.
"Doll, what you doing here?" He gently lead her away, which she reluctantly followed, "I'm here for you." There was no need of lies now that Bucky was here in her arms.
His gaze soften with a mix of concern and joy, "What do you mean you're here for me?" Bucky couldn't help but to let out a short laugh, "Sweetheart, you do realized that you're in the middle of a war?" His brows quirked as he reminded.
Y/N rolled her eyes. Of course, she realized that. The moment she saw that form for enlistment, she knew. But, it didn't stop her to sign up, does it?
She laced her fingers into his, "I didn't come all the way here to fight with you, James." she whispered as she leaned closer, "So, please just shut up and kiss me."
Bucky might have just realized it now; what a stubborn, demanding, crazy little lover got himself. Though at the same time, she had never charmed him more.
Bucky sighed in defeat before running his tongue on his lower lip, "Well then, come here you little minx" he took her by the head and gave her the most desperate yet sweetest kiss she could never forget.
Brooklyn, 1944 – Promises, promises
It was the day that Steve, Bucky and the rest of the Howling Commandos were depolying to the Austrian Alps for one of the biggest mission since Captain's impulsive rescue mission in Italy last year.
Apparently, Zola was on the move and predicted to be passing though the location while travelling on a train.
This wasn't the first time she had sent Bucky away, but the fear of each always felt like it was her first; especially when she thought about the promise of death that's chained to a soldier's fate.
The closer the time of departure, the stronger her grip on Bucky's uniform becomes. And Bucky didn't need to say anything because he knows her too well; she won't take any of his sweet words as a cure for her distress.
Bucky slowly swayed her from side to side as their embrace tightens with need; her face hidden in the crook of his neck while his arms secured around her waist. He had to smile as it reminded him of their late night dance, barefoot on the kitchen floor of his apartment.
He could feel the teasing gaze coming from his back as well as the whistles of the Howling Commandos playfully making fun of him. Bucky was also well aware of the fact that everyone had made theirs bets on when will the Sargent James B. Barnes finally get down on his knees for his little nightingale of a nurse.
Unsurprisingly, Steve might just win the bet afterall. That punk just had know everything about him.
Y/N closer snuggled into him one last time, "Come home to me, James." She whispered against his skin before pulling away. Teary eyes threatened to spill its salty liquid as she looked up at him, "Promise me."
Bucky's charming smile lighten his features as he leaned to press a kiss in her forehead, "I promise."
Brooklyn, 1945 – Loved and lost
Months gone by, entered the new year, and it always felt like eternity for Y/N. She spent nights kneeling next to her bed and days on the church's floor; practically begging to God for the life of her lover, for keeping him away from death.
And the letters from Bucky also come and goes within those few months' time, with his promises of coming home that's laced in the words of his longing and love for her.
But, little did she knew, that promise met it's end of the bargain when the dreaded letter came to her hands. It came from the man she met back in Italy base, Colonel Phillips, sending the words of condolences for the death Sargent James B. Barnes during his honourable mission at the Austrian Alps.
But the first time she read to words, it didn't even register in her head. It was as if her brain failed to translate the message for her to understand. Y/N had been re-reading the same lines over and over and over until it finally clicked.
The usually bright eyes of hers were now slowly filled with tears, she was in the state of shock; that even if her brain knew exactly what had happened but her heart wasn't ready for it. 
The tears started to fall down onto the letter. Drip by drip. And all of the sudden she lost every word that she could ever think of. Her silent scream; suffocating her with each breath she took desperately gripping onto the fragile piece of paper, holding it to her chest hold as if that would help to ease the pain in her heart.
Y/N could feel it in her ripping guts. How all the threads of every joyful memories she could ever once recall; they  unraveled in a way that broke her to pieces until they were all but a rumpled of strings scattered about her feet.
A sharp fall had forced Y/N down to her knees, skin digging into the hard floor as her hands trembled silently, clutching onto the letter.
At first when she opened her mouth, there was not a single sound came out as her breath ripped from her lungs. Each left her with scars of loss and every waking minute in this reality was just pure pain.
Her body bend forward until her forehead meets the floor, that was when she wailed; an agonizing scream that left a haunting memory to the neighbours around her apartment.
She cried like there was too much raw pain inside that she could never contained. She cried like her soul needed to break loose from her skin, desperate to release a loathful rage on the world. 
But it was more than just crying, it was the sobbing of a woman that drained of all hope. She sank on floor, willing herself to be swallowed by the dread and loss. Just screaming out the agonies that been dancing across her vulnerable veins. 
Her chest violently quivered as she was desperately trying to catch the air. She collected every last energy that she had to call out the name of the lover she had loss, "James.." Her gasping breath whispered against the floor, "You promised." 
A month later the nation celebrate to the announcement to the end of a war, but to Y/N it was just another wave of mourning grief to a loss of another precious person in her life; Steve.
Amidst the loud sound of cheering and laughter, she rushed away from the crowd to the place that she had put all her faith into. Stumbling through the empty church and falling at the feet of Jesus' statue, Y/N looked up at the face if God with loath, rage, despair, and tears.
The night was brighten to the flashing light from the firework but all she could think of was how similar the sound of it to a firing canon in the war. And the thought of Bucky and Steve run through her mind.
She had been nothing but faithful to the lord, religiously prayed for no more than saving the life of people she held dear to her heart.
But, God thought it would be merciful to let them die.
Y/N harshly ripped the cross necklace from her neck, tearing her skin apart in the process. She gripped on the cross in her hands, much like she would few month back but for completely different reason.
The crimson of her blood tainted her white collar of her nurse uniform as she she cursed the all mighty God for what he had done. Ever since, she swore to herself to never be naive to the illusion of God's mercy ever again.
Washington D.C., 2014 – An old friend
Fate is full with irony and God has his way of twisting them for his own pleasure.
When Y/N died in the 60's, old and unmarried, even if she doesn't believe in God anymore, her dying wish was to be able to meet her lover and friend again.
At least one more time.
But lo and be hold, God had different plans for her. Y/N's body did die that night on the hospital bed but her soul never did. It was as if she was woken up from sleep in another body with the same face as her, that's when she realized she has been reincarnated.
Apparently, she was only born in the same family lineage as her original life; whether coming from her younger brother or cousin or anyone related back to her bloodline. And sharing even the tiniest amount of blood of her own, triggers every single memory from her previous life.
This wasn't what she wanted.
She didn't want to live knowing she cannot be with Bucky.
So on the 2nd life, she did the unthinkable. She took her own life, thinking that she would finally leave the world behind but she didn't.
It happened again.
And again.
And again.
So, when she reached her 6th life, she realized that she will never able to meet James and Steve ever again; that was when she went rogue.
Her 6th life was filled with rage and vengeance that she took the idea of life very lightly. So, instead of living until the old days, she searched for revenge and got herself tragically killed in the process.
Now, the 18 year old Y/N was in her 7th life, with a new name that was given by her 7th parents, "Evelyn" , and the spitting image of her 1st life. From her dark raven hair to the light brown of her eyes. This time, she decided to try to accept the cruel fate; the cursed that God had placed on her for the sin that she made decades ago.
Y/N walked around the Smithsomian Museum, specifically at the American history section where they put up Captain America's exhibit. It's been how many lifetimes since she surround herself with knowledge of a past that she once lived.
This was the first time, since her first life. And most probably the last time since she was going overseas in a week to continue her studies in Asia.
She walked along the line up display of the Howling Commandos suits, remembering the living flesh of them as she took steps forward to each, stopping in front of Bucky's.
Flashes of him appeared to where the figure stood; the memories was so vivid that she could still feel fabric of his suit against her, the electrifying feeling on his skin on her own.
She ripped her gaze away just to be greeted by the portrait of Bucky, plastered so hugely on the memorial of one of the Howling Commandos section. Despite the cracking of her heart, her body move on its own; as they knew that deep down, Y/N's heart will always be yearning for her lover.
Her gaze soften with longing and nostalgic as she slowly blink at his features. His considerably messy hair, that little frown that he does to act mysterious for the ladies, and the thin layer of beard that she loved to leave her lipstick marks on.
Y/N's daydream were cut short when someone pulled her by the arm, startling her into a defensive mode. Her 6th life's habit almost broke through when she nearly flipped the man on the floor but thankfully she stopped herself as she recognized those blue eyes.
The man's face looked pale like he had seen a ghost, as he uttered a name that she haven't heard for decades, "y/n?"
"Steve..." she called his name wordlessly.
She knew he was alive. Everybody does, when the news came out in 2011, she was merely a 15 year old kid back then. Apparently, the super soldier serum helped him to survive the ice.
She remembered how her parents rushed to her room when they heard the sudden cluttering sounds of panic upstairs, only to find their daughter on the floor looking pale while her cup of iced coffee spilling in all over her study desk as the viral youtube video of Captain America running through New York city barefoot.
She remembered the feeling of both disbelief and joy that rushed through body as her parents helped her to sit up on her bed. The moment that it sunk into her head, she began to cry. Streams of joyful tears broke from her shaky body, each drop washed the painful burden in her heart as her parents lulled her to sleep.
Y/N never made an effort to meet him after knowing truth because who would've believe her words?
She wasn't Steve. There wasn't any super soldier serum in her blood. There wasn't any tank of chemical that drown her with power.
She was cursed and now she had to live with it.
Meanwhile, Steve seemed to be trapped in a spiralling confusion of his own. He examined each of her features and he had not a single doubt that she has the same face to an old friend in the 40's.
The same friend that he knew died of old age in the 60's.
But, how come the person managed to have the exact same face to hers. Now that he looked closer, she was younger than the last time he saw Y/N. She looked like she was in her teens, "Are you really y/n?" His voice was soft as he muttered.
Y/N bit the insides of her cheeks, holding back the urge of telling him the truth, "Sorry, I think you got the wrong person." she tried to untangle his grasp around the thin of her arm.
Even her voice was similar to Y/N, and she was looking at Bucky's photo like she knew him.
How could she say that she's was not Y/N?
Steve reluctantly let go of her arms and took a step away after seeing the distress on her face, "I-I'm sorry. You remind me of someone I know." He couldn't take his eyes off her.
She was just too similar looking to someone precious that he left behind.
"It's okay, sir." She smiled gently, like the way she usually does when Steve apologizes for his impulsiveness of picking a fight in alleyways. She looked up to the taller man as she continued, "Thank you for being alive..." she hesitated to call him by his name so instead she called for his other name, "...Captain."
She thanked him sincerely before walking away, leaving Steve to reminisce the memories of his life with Y/N and Bucky as he stared at Bucky's memorial.
The next week, she left the United States for Asia where she planned to spend 4 years studying at the National University of Singapore, leaving her past behind in hopes of moving forward with her life, refusing to care about the avengers shenanigans anymore, including her dear friend, Steve.
New York, 2018 – New norms
When half of the population was wiped out from the earth, two of them was Y/N's parents. And like every other people who had lost their loved ones during the blip, her parents sudden absence truly take a toll on her, especially when she was planning to live a long life with them.
After graduating and getting a decent job in Singapore, she was forced to go back to New York when it happened. Y/N couldn't just let her childhood house left abandoned, she simply can't let that happen.
You would thought a person who had multiple lifetimes would be used to losing someone they love but no. It only gets worst as the years go by.
The more Y/N tried to fit into the new norms, the more that she could feel herself slipping into old habits of her 6th life.
Until that one drunken night when she visited the Smithsomian Museum again after years of forcing herself to forget about him; it took her one look at the potrait of Bucky, she knew what she had to do.
Germany, 2023 – An old nemesis
Nearly 5 years into the blip and Y/N was already becoming a legend in the underground scene. They called her the Deathstalker. She never really knew the origin of it but nevertheless she chooses to stick with the newly founded identity.
With the skills she picked up on her 6th life, she easily became the most deadly assassin in the business, seemingly in a constant competition of reputation with the highly popular, black widow assassins.
Though she couldn't care less about who was winning the battle, she only cares about tracking anything or anyone related to Hydra.
After that fateful night at the museum, she couldn't to think that this must be her calling.
If the curse made her technically immortal, then why not became the hunter destined to slay the monster. They said that Hydra will never die, but so was she. And if anything good came out from this curse, then she might as well use it to avenge Bucky.
And bring the old nemesis to the ground.
Her 6th life was similar to this but she wasn't going to make the same mistake. The flaming greed to have her revenge was too strong back then, it lead her to be hasty and clumsy, which then let her to an early death.
But, she's grown out of those immaturity.
Nowadays, she takes her time and still get the job done flawlessly. Just like she is now, when the soft but dark sound of her chuckle, interrupted the silence that had claimed the room.
The poor man was sitting limp on the chair with his body tied with it. He had been like this for seemingly hours with a knife in one of his thighs, which trembled with the vibrations of his body.
More so, when Y/N twisted them, causing a keen of pain to clawed up his throat and spilled out a hoarse groan.
"Where is it?" Her fingers wrapped around the handle, as she watched the man tossed his head, more with fear than trying to answer.
"I don't like to repeat myself." Y/N slid the blade free, causing a noise he would not forget. The man sagged against his bonds, panting as he watched the blood surged and dribbled out of the wound.
But then he felt the prick against his other leg, wide eyes turning to watch as the knife was held above his skin, Y/N's hand flat against the top, ready to push in. "Where the fuck is it?" her tone was eerie as the voice changer in her mask produced an emotionless robotic effect on it.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The thick german accent seethed through his voice as he grunted in pain.
There was only boredom in Y/N's eyes as she gazes straight into his. A stab of the knife went through his thigh without a warning, until the tip of it almost met the flat surface of the chair beneath it.
The whole room echoed with the sound of the whimpering and cries of his struggle, "Please, I swear to God I don't know what you're talking about." He pleaded as fast as he can, when he felt the shortage of breaths in his lungs due to dealing with the excruciating pain.
"Playing dumb isn't going to help you, mutt." She twisted the knife, pulled out and stabbed it again causing him to fall into an almost delirious state, "Please, please please, I swear I don't know anything about the serum." He blurted out of misery.
There it was.
The thing she wanted to hear.
Y/N's eyebrow quirked in interest, "I never mentioned the serum in our conversation, no?"
He fucked up.
He knew that he fucked up.
But, does it matter when his body was searing in pain?
By the end of the intense interrogation, Y/N finally got the intel she needed to find and destroy whatever was left behind by Wilfred Nagel, who was recruited by the CIA to recreate the super soldier serum.
Those greedy fuckers just cannot stay away from things that shouldn't be meddled with. Even Y/N could see the potential threats of a successful recreation the super soldier serum; they were practically asking for Hydra to revive to its glory days.
And she would not allow that to happen.
She needed to destroy it before its finished.
A loud wail left the man's lips, almost sounded a little strained as he had been screaming in pain for hours. Y/N mercilessly grabbed him by his sweaty chin as she pried his mouth open. Knowing exactly what was coming, the man begged, "Oh lord, please please help me please."
Leaning closer she coldly spoke, "The gods doesn't care about you. Trust me I've been there." With a swift strike, she forced her knife down his throat, and a splash of red tainted her mask, nearly got into her eyes but she managed to blink before it does.
She stood still as she watched him gurgle on his own blood as death collected his soul. Wiping the blood away from her eyelid, she walked out of the abandoned building with a mission to finish; all the while blissfully oblivious to the war that the avengers were fighting to their death on the other side of the world.
Madripoor, 2024 – The most prized asset
The returned of her parents were as sudden as the lost. Though she was glad that they were back, however she had to live a double life now that they kept asking about her job and personal life as they wanted to catch up for the lost of time in 5 years.
Y/N felt bad for lying to her parents but it was for their own good. Now, that she had sent them to a honeymoon to travel all over Europe, she felt better in pursuing her mission without concerns.
Besides the joyful return there was also the awful ones.
Now, that Wilfred Nagel was back from the blip. The serum was perfected to its finest version. And was stolen by bunch of kids protesting for equal rights.
What a fucking mess that was.
But, she would deal with that later. The main focus right now was to find the man itself. There would be no more serums if the source is eradicated.
That was her priority.
With her face hidden behind her signature mask, Y/N walked through the messy crowd as she searches for Shelby's men. This should be a short meeting, since Shelby and her had history together; or more to a favour that she owns to Y/N.
However, when she tried to tune in into the hushed conversations in the crowd, she noticed that the murmurs seemed to be divided into two hot topics; one about the sudden appreance of the Deathstalker, which was herself, and second was surprisingly about the return of another notorious assassin. 
Then when the conversations died down, a fight suddenly broke out. Y/N hold on the handle of her blades from the side of her thighs, as she stiffed into a defensive mode.
While on the other hand, the crowd seemed to be more interested in recording the fight, than avoiding it.
She seemlessly weaved her way through the people, only to see that the action ended with a man choked onto the table of bar. The attacker's face turned away from her where she could only see his figure from the back.
Then, a gleam of gold caught her attention, Y/N squinted her eyes as she analyzed the man's left arm.
It was not the pattern of the sleeve from his suit.
It was his arm.
A black bionic arm.
Which reminded of her of someone she came across in her 6th life; but his was a tin foil silver with a red star on his upper arm. At the time, he was Hydra's most prized asset, they called him the Winter Soldier.
Part II >>
Read my other works here: Masterlist
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A/N: yes, I am well aware that left y'all hanging but I still hope you enjoy this one. Tell me what you think so far, I'm curious if y'all cry at the part where she received the letter or maybe you can comment of something else, I'd still love to hear them ♡
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harrygoeswest · 1 year
Text
Infatuation On A Mutual Level
You and Harry are housemates and are both secretly quite fond of one another.
A/N: Woooo she’s here!!! I loved writing this one shot a lot and I really hope it shows. I haven’t had motivation to write for ages and this year I’ve really come back to it and I’m so happy. I hope you all love it as much as I do. She’s special to me. Special mention to the only person who ever wants to read for me @all-things-fic​ <3 Please come tell me what you think afterwards!! Katie x
Trigger Warnings: sexual content, brief mentions of loss, nightmares
Word Count: 18,777
~.~.~.~.~
Now
Every morning was the same.
The creak from the only bed on the first floor began the day. Then the gush of the tap in the shared bathroom. The kettle in the kitchen on the ground floor. The door closing when George left for the day. Then again 15 minutes later when Rhys did. Abbie starting the shower immediately afterwards now her boyfriend was gone. And then the only thing that ever made your skin prickle:
Harry’s door opening.
Every morning you would roll over at the sound, away from it. God forbid the man who defined ‘sex on legs’ ever pinned you with that warm, green-eyed stare first thing in the morning through the open gap of your own bedroom door. No, you might never be able to survive such a thing.
Living in a shared house was hard. Not least because you felt responsible for the place itself; owned by your single dad who would do anything to bring in what income he could, including taking more rent off his eldest child than he’d like. An argument arose regularly over your living situation but it was hard enough filling the fourth bedroom with a tenant. Living in the third was the least you felt you could do. The building was in dire need of some TLC but it wasn’t exactly an affordable fete. Sometimes the ceiling leaked on the second floor when it rained thanks to some shabby scaffolding work a few years back; the main reason why it was so hard to let the fourth bedroom. Part of you didn’t want to.
It was also hard in a house share because people were messy and you had a horrendous phobia of general mess. If you could quit your job and play full-time housekeeper you absolutely would. But your dad wouldn’t allow that. “Not in my lifetime,” He’d say with the gentlest scowl.
But the hardest part, by far, was being in such close proximity to the man who rented the bedroom across the hall. You weren’t sure why you were so terrified of him. Scarred by your original encounter with him, perhaps, but he wasn’t actually scary. He was, rather annoyingly, the nicest person in the house. Constantly aloof, yes, but still the poster boy for gentlemen everywhere.
Maybe if you spoke to him you’d learn he’s just a normal bloke, your inner voice trilled.
“Shut the fuck up.” You hissed into your pillow.
You waited for the inevitable sputter of the shower starting up again, and then rolled out of bed, threw on the clothes you’d hung up on the wardrobe door the night before - clean white shirt and grey trousers, ironed within an inch of their life - and scurried downstairs to arrange your usual to-go breakfast. Coffee in a reusable cup and a cereal bar. Hair and makeup could be fixed at work. You were always thirty minutes early anyway.
~
Harry wasn’t sure how you managed it. How every day you managed to evade him to avoid a puffy-eyed “good morning” or a potentially awkward conversation over breakfast.
As he stood in the hallway between your bedrooms towelling his hair dry in nothing but a pair of boxers and a damp t-shirt, he stared into your bedroom and marvelled yet again at how you seemed to have managed to keep it tidied to a borderline compulsive degree.
A large king bed sat against the left wall with ironed white linens and a plush sunflower yellow throw draped across the foot. One lone bedside table tucked against the right side with a tasselled muted green 60s velvet lamp and a book resting atop. A picture hung above the headboard - some vibrant canvas of abstract art. Every morning he wondered if you’d painted it yourself. Against the opposite wall stood a tall regal-looking cherrywood wardrobe next to a matching dresser with a sleek TV on top. It was the most modern thing about the room. In the window overlooking the garden a dream catcher hung in the dead centre. It was the only nicknack you seemed to have, and part of him hated that it seemed like something negative. Something to catch nightmares, to ward off evil.
Did you have bad dreams? And if so, why?
As always, the window had been opened two inches to let in fresh air. You never closed your door, not even at night. You never had clothes left out. Clutter didn’t exist in your vocabulary. Dust wasn’t permitted in your room. Or the bathroom, or kitchen, or living room, he’d deduced. You took Wednesdays off in the week and cleaned when no one else was home to bother you. He doubted the others had picked up on these things about you, but he’d noticed.
Harry had noticed a lot about you.
Especially that in the mornings, you waited until he took his bathroom time to get ready for work and leave without having to run into him. Some chaotic part of him wanted to change his routine so you’d have to. He wanted to know what you looked like straight out of bed with puffy eyes and linen marks on your cheeks and hair in disarray. The other part of him, the gentleman, told him not to. Who knew what might happen if he threw your routine off kilter.
Distress, probably?
No. He wouldn’t be having that.
Shaking his head, he wandered into his own room and shut the door behind him. One day the puzzle of you would finally form a complete picture. Today, he settled for the tethered, jumbled segments he’d managed to collect this far.
~
You stared at your phone, face a picture of bewilderment. Deciphering text messages from the housemates was starting to get increasingly difficult, no thanks to the fact that you were shit at it and everyone else seemed to excel.
Blackpool Tower
🌚 👰🏼❌🧽🍽️🔄
🌝 🙈🖕🏼
👰🏼 😕
Translation: Abbie George didn’t wash his dishes again.
Rhys Oh for fuck’s sake.
George Whoops.
You were on a roll with the emojis. It had started as a joke because George had said he hated people who only used emojis to text each other rather than actual words, so for a week the four of you had sent every text using only emojis. Then it had turned into a bet: how long could all of you go without using words, and who would be the first one to crack. You all knew that, without a doubt, Rhys would crack first, even though he was the one who’d proposed the bet in the first place. It had been two weeks and no one had cracked yet.
🍉 🤔👰🏼🥄🥄🍱🔄
👰🏼 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😠
🌝 😒🙄
🌚 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️
👑 ❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Translation:
Harry Maybe George should cook dinner again…
George HAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.
Rhys Yeah right.
Abbie No thank you.
You Absolutely fucking not.
Why did all of you have such ridiculous headers?
Abbie and Rhys were the twin moons because that was the look they always gave each other when they thought something was cute, funny, interesting, or otherwise. They’d moved into the house as a couple and had remained in said couple for 3 years. Sharing a room was their way of saving money to buy a house. It made sense.
George was a blonde bride because he was the most outwardly gay man any of you had ever known and often acted like an utter madam. Madam was actually George’s nickname to his friends now thanks to the house’s light ribbing. He had also chosen his own emoji.
Harry was the watermelon because we were never without it thanks to a frankly concerning obsession. If there wasn’t a watermelon in the fridge, or slices, or packaged chunks, something was very wrong.
And you were the crown because you’d refused to pick an emoji and the house had affectionately bestowed the title of Tower Queen to you. You’d pretended to hate it, but they all knew you viewed it as the highest compliment.
Oh, and the group chat was called Blackpool Tower because you lived together in a tall, two-rooms-to-a-floor townhouse at the top of town. The Eiffel Tower had been suggested but George immediately pointed out that we were not a classy enough bunch to live in such a fine establishment. I’d told him to speak for himself.
The talk of food made you hungry, and it hit you like a landslide that you hadn’t had any dinner. You rolled off your bed and sent a text to Blackpool Tower, then shoved your phone away.
~
Multiple things happened at once. The shower turned on in the bathroom; your bedroom door opened with a quiet creak (which would not happen again since you went through WD40 like a bee in pollen); Harry’s phone vibrated with another text.
Blackpool Tower
👑 👩‍🍳🍝 … 🌚🍝🌝🍝🍉🍝➡️🧊 … ❌🍝👰🏼
Harry snickered.
Translation: You Making dinner. Leftovers in the fridge. None for George.
It wasn’t unusual you’d make enough food for everyone. Harry had learned that you’d picked that trait up from your dad. Sometimes no one would stop you, especially since there was never anything wrong with a meal you’d cooked. In fact, if there were a restaurant with food cooked by you, Harry would dine there every night. But he also knew that letting you cook for all the other housemates all the time wasn’t fair.
🌚 🍉➡️🍉❌🍉➡️🍉❌👑
👰🏼 🚫🚫🚫🚫
“For fuck’s sake.” He muttered.
Rhys must have been in the shower. If George or Abbie were home they’d have rugby tackled you to the floor given the chance.
Harry abandoned his phone and lurched out of his room, down the stairs to the kitchen. He nearly stacked it twice but he made it, with panting breaths to accompany him.
You turned your gaze on him with a startled look, giving him a once over. “What are you doing…?”
“Don’t you dare cook for everyone else.”
You blinked twice and then rolled your eyes. “It’s fine - I’ve got plenty.”
“It’s not fair.”
“If I don’t cook it today it’ll go off. So might as well.”
Harry looked at the produce you’d piled on the counter and back at you, then back again. “Bullshit.”
“Excuse me?”
“You bought enough for everyone.” He straightened and folded his arms across his chest.
You spluttered and scoffed for far too long. “No.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t stop me.” You scowled at him.
It was the most emotions he’d ever seen on you. If he’d known all this time that all he needed to do to get a conversation out of you was wind you up a bit, he’d have done it much sooner.
“Yes I can.”
You put a hand on your hip. Christ. “How?”
He stared at you, statuesque and cursing himself for challenging a bet he couldn’t win. You were right. How would he stop you? He wasn’t going to drag you away from the kitchen and up the stairs without your permission. Hell, he didn’t want to do anything without your permission, threats begotten. He hadn’t thought this through.
You let out a breath, a mocking one, and turned away from him and picked up a knife to start chopping. “Didn’t think so.”
“You can’t do this forever.”
Chop.
“Do what?” You challenged, refusing to look at him again.
Chop chop.
“Look after every person that comes in here because you feel like you owe people something. The world will take advantage of you. Is that what you want?”
Your shoulders visibly tensed over the words that tumbled out of his mouth. They weren’t even spoken with malice. They were soft and cautious.
CHOP.
“This feels like a very deep conversation to be having on a Tuesday evening.”
He growled, frustrated. “Stop babying everyone.”
Chopchopchop.
“If they didn’t want me to baby them they simply wouldn’t let me. And maybe I like babying people. Sometimes it’s nice to have a responsibility.”
“That’s just it, though. They’re not your responsibility.”
You smacked the knife down on the chopping board and turned to face him, an unfamiliar anger in your eyes that muddled with something else murky and grey. Hurt. “Will you just let me cook my fucking dinner in peace?”
Harry stood, tense, staring at you with his fists clenching and unclenching. Finally, he said, “Fine. But you’ve got to let me help you.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ, Harry.” Your head lolled back.
“Two different people, but I appreciate why you might get confused.”
You stared at him for an indecipherable length of time. Or gawked might have been a better descriptor. And then you snatched the tea towel off the side and smacked it in a whip-like movement against his arm. “Git.”
~
Two weeks later and you and Harry had begun a sort of ritual; you would cook with each other every other night. The distinct difference was that when you bought food, you bought enough for everyone. When Harry did it he only bought enough for the two of you.
You hadn’t quite figured out yet if being in this new… friendship with Harry was better or worse. Cooking together four nights a week versus blissful ignorance towards him and his attractiveness? The now near-constant proximity to him was making your head spin for stupid reasons. Namely said attractiveness.
His biceps for one. No one should be allowed arms that had the ability to make one’s mouth water. Pair his strong muscles with the litter of tattoos that were drawn down his right arm and you’d found yourself sweating even on the coldest day. A man’s body should not have such a strong effect on a person, yet here you were - a swoon personified.
Then there was his face, which was worse. Eyes mouth jaw. Those three things individually on a man were the first thing that always drew you in, but Harry had a triple threat. Seaglass green, blush pink and the perfect 100 degree angle. Not too square. And to top it all off, a wispy mop of chestnut waves atop his big head.
The perfect man?
“Aye,” Harry took the knife off you before you started chopping an onion, “thought we established that needed sharpening. A blunt knife is more dangerous than a sharp one.”
A man who cared about your wellbeing?
His bedside manner could use some work.
“Fuck off.” You whispered to your inner voice.
“What?”
“Nothing.” You shook your head, cheeks burning. Great, he probably thought you were crazy.
You silently passed Harry the stone out of the drawer. He could sharpen it if he was going to make such a big deal out of it.
“Thank you.” He mumbled, and started swiping the edge of the knife along the full length of the stone.
Chalky noises. Sharp noises. Furrowed brow. Biceps flexing. Obscenely attractive. Abort abort abort.
You busied yourself by turning on the hob and drizzling oil into a pan. Basically looking anywhere but at Harry and his arms. Sexy arms.
Sex on legs.
Your legs were wobbling. A flame of burdened heat licked its way between your thighs and you had to lean against the counter to stop from buckling. It had been a long time since a man had touched you.
Yeah. This was worse. Definitely worse. Hyper-awareness of everything going on around you wasn’t unusual, but being hyper-aware of everything Harry did was like some unfound form of torture. There was being attracted to someone and then there was whatever this situation was.
Ridiculous?
It was ridiculous, but at least you could suffer knowing that your inner voice had been wrong. Harry was not a normal bloke. He was some kind of enigma.
~
For the past couple of nights Harry had kept his door open. He’d learned that you did indeed have nightmares regularly so the dreamcatcher you kept in your bedroom window was doing little for your unconscious mind. He’d debated buying a bigger one for you but wasn’t entirely sure how appropriate that would be.
You weren’t loud. In fact, if he hadn’t kept his door open he never would’ve known, because the ajar-ness of his door had come prompted for completely different reasons - that unusual urge to see you first thing in the morning. Now two nights in a row he had been woken up by your little yelp, followed with a hissed string of curses while shifting around your bedsheets to get comfortable again. As soon as he knew you were asleep, he wasn’t too far along after you.
He still hadn’t been able to decide if cooking with you nearly every night was a good thing or a bad thing. While he never failed to enjoy himself during your bi-nightly kitchen sessions, he hated separating from you afterwards. It wasn’t enough. The persistent nearness of you for an hour or so only to be followed by a later severance was almost painful. The bedroom door being left open was just another attempt at trying to get closer to you.
He knew it was you in the bathroom because you took longer than everyone else. Not because you were using up all the hot water but because you used it as an excuse to give it a thorough clean. Being able to hear everything going on in the house was both a gift and a curse, but Harry wasn’t attuned to all the tenants. Only you.
Five minutes later the bathroom door opened, and you plodded up the two flights of stairs. He knew the way all the stairs creaked, and you were going at nothing more than a leisurely pace. He caught a glimpse of you as you passed, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. The scent of strawberries and jasmine wafted through the gap in his door after you.
Harry’s phone vibrated.
Blackpool Tower
🌝 Friends coming over tomorrow night for drinks 🍻 we’ll behave
👰🏼 You idiot
🌚 RHYS
🌝 NOOOOOOOOOO
🍉 Pay up dipshit
🌝 😭😭😭
A few minutes later Harry got a notification to say he’d received a £10 payment into his bank account.
~
Then
The cold had crept in again. Not from the weather - it was warm at night. This was a different kind of cold. The sweaty kind that kept you up at night. Medication had kept the nightmares away for some time but now you were locked in the house for the foreseeable future you couldn’t bear the idea of being constantly dimmed down by it in front of your housemates.
Last night was the first time you’d had a nightmare in close to a year and it was just as terrifying as it used to be. Some traumas just wouldn’t leave you be. You’d taken a couple of painkillers to numb your headache and they’d graciously knocked you out for another few hours and brought you right on through to 8am. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d slept that late. With everyone at home all the time now, it seemed no one wanted to get out of bed.
You had a job to do today, anyway. The room next to yours had finally been rented, so you’d been tasked with giving it a proper clean before the new tenant arrived this evening.
You did need to eat, but before that you wanted to get the window open in there to coax some fresh air in.
Hauling yourself out of bed, you meticulously tidied your room the same you did with every morning, dressed in clothes appropriate for cleaning, and took the short step across the hall to the other room.
The door was closed which was unusual. You always left the doors to the empty rooms open with a wedge so they wouldn’t get stuffy from disuse. Maybe you’d opened the window yesterday and forgot? Had the wind closed it for you?
Shrugging to yourself, you opened it anyway.
“Oh,” your eyes widened, “fuck, shit, sorry.”
Inside, collapsed face down on the bed dressed with only a sheet was a man, near-naked in only a pair of boxers. You couldn’t see much of his features bar a mop of chocolate curls, a heavily tattooed arm, and a particularly nice arse beneath his pants.
He lifted his head, complete with a gorgeous profile, and peeled open an eye. A very green, beautiful eye. He made a confused, questioning noise.
The room was full of belongings, so this must be the new tenant and not some homeless person who’d managed to sneak in without anyone realising. At least you hoped.
“I’m sorry, I thought you were moving in later today. Sorry.”
“Friday.” He managed. A sleep-coated, groggy and somewhat delirious voice. It was delicious. You wanted to taste it.
“What?”
“Friday was moving day.”
“Yes. Today.”
“No. Yesterday.”
You looked at your phone. “Christ. I’m sorry. Isolation is getting to me. You don’t care. I’m sorry. I’m interrupting your sleep. I’ll go. Sorry.”
You pulled the door closed before you could embarrass yourself any further, and then hid yourself in the bathroom out of sheer embarrassment.
If you never saw that marvellous-looking man again it would be too soon.
~
Now
Harry often thought about that first day.
Morning. Just after dawn. Early summer sun casting you in gold. Tiny shorts. Faded creaseless t-shirt. Sleepy face messy hair.
He hadn’t seen you anything of the sort since and he craved it like an addict did cocaine.
A pandemic had ruined many things for many people, and the most recent ruin back then had been Harry’s longest relationship. That’s what had brought him to a double bedroom in a shared house rather than a flat and his own fucking space. He couldn’t afford the latter.
It had been hot that night, moving into a new home in the darkness. He’d picked up the key from the owner, your dad it had turned out, and transferred his possessions from one place to another in the late night simply to avoid having to discuss his situation with people he didn’t know.
But yes, the heat is what had caused him to strip down to his underwear before passing out. The startled look on your face at the sight of him had absolutely been worth it. The sight of you had been worth it. Such a strong attraction to someone fresh after a breakup should be wildly inappropriate, but there you suddenly were, bare-legged and dangling yourself in front of him like a piece of string to a kitten. Still, the fact remained that Harry liked to think himself a gentleman. He tried to be a gentleman, and after living so close to you for so long, it didn’t take long to learn that you liked to keep to yourself. So he had done the same.
Until now, apparently.
“That housemate of yours here?”
Harry’s ears pricked up at the question like a cat’s would if it heard something interesting. He recognised the voice and hated the speaker. He always had. Today was no exception.
“Which one? I’ve got three of ‘em if we don’t include Abbie.” Rhys’s oblivious laughter filtered up the stairs to the sanctuary of the top floor.
“Well I ain’t talkin’ about the lads, am I?”
Harry shivered. He imagined if you could hear them then you would too.
“She’s here”, “Don’t bother,” came simultaneously from Rhys and Abbie. Abbie sounded almost defensive, and that pleased Harry to no end.
“Why not?”
“Because she isn’t interested.”
“Maybe you should let her decide that for herself.”
Unconsciously, Harry rose from the desk in his room and made his way across the hall to yours. The door was open, obviously.
You were sitting up with a book but you had earplugs in. Whether it was playing music or just to block out the noise from downstairs he wasn’t sure. As soon as you spotted him a small smile curved on your lips, and you pulled an earplug out. It was playing music.
Harry had never met anyone who could listen to music and read at the same time. There were surely plenty, but this put you in the Elite Tier in his head.
“What’s up?”
Footsteps began on the stairs, and Harry threw a cautionary glance over his shoulder before he slipped inside and closed the door behind him, sliding the lock across.
You were leaning forward now, a crease in your brow. “What’s going on?”
“Rhys’s friends are here.”
You blinked. “I know.”
“Yes but his idiot friends are here.”
You tipped your head. “I’m not following.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know… Gaz? The one with the teeth.”
“Oh. Right. Why not? He’s harmless, no?”
“Is he? I’m not so sure.”
Your name suddenly trilled from the floor below. “You home?”
You looked at the door as Harry moved to the side, dumbfounded. Harry shook his head at you when you began to move.
Why not? You mouthed.
Harry pretended to drink from an invisible glass and grimaced.
The idiot called your name again and knocked on the door. “Come on, come say hi.”
Harry was really scowling now. You flashed glances between him and the door multiple times.
“She’s probably asleep, mate!” Rhys hissed from outside the door. “She works early some Saturdays.”
That was not true. You’d never worked weekends, not even as a teen. It was Rhys’s smart ruse to get him to back off.
The door handle jostled. Harry suddenly looked more threatening than a mafia boss, and your jaw fell slack from shock.
“Oi,” smack, “what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“What? Worth a shot.”
“No it fuckin’ weren’t, go downstairs.”
Some heated muttering commenced, but neither you nor Harry moved or spoke until you were satisfied they wouldn’t hear anything.
“Did he seriously just try and get in here?”
“While you were ‘sleeping’?” Harry air-quoted around the word. “Yes. He did. Hence the distrust.”
“What the fuck…”
He watched you for a moment and the look on your face said it all. You were upset, in a confused sort of way. Your mind was somewhere else, no longer in this room. Eyes glassy and breathing shallow.
Someone had tried to come into your personal space while they had the impression you were sleeping. If that had been the case there was no telling what would’ve happened. If Harry hadn’t come in you probably wouldn’t be any the wiser to Rhys’s friend’s real character, and that was what scared him. You had a tendency to put too much faith in people as just people. If someone was being nice to you that must mean that they are nice.
“What are you reading?” He asked into the silence, not only to break the quiet but to pull you out of the trance you’d been in.
“Oh, er,” you looked down at the book in your lap and turned it upwards, flashing the cover to him, “some daft romance.”
You put it aside after slotting the bookmark inside to keep your place. He smirked to himself. God forbid you dogear a page.
“Happy ending?”
You nodded, playing with your loose earbud. “Yeah. Has to be.”
“They’re my favourite.”
You gawked at him then. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Is that so shocking?”
You laughed musically. “I don’t know… I kind of assumed a guaranteed happy ending would irritate you or something.”
“Not at all. Sad endings are rubbish.”
“Aren’t they?” You patted the bed by your lap, suddenly animated. “I hate them.”
“Me too.”
“What are they for? No one wins, everyone is miserable, and someone has almost always died in the middle.”
He folded his arms, brows furrowed in a mock defence. “Now who hurt you? Tell me. Who do I need to beat up?”
“John Green.”
Harry scoffed. “He’s the worst.”
“Paper Towns? What the fuck was that all about?”
“Load of shit.”
“Exactly!”
He grinned, relaxing his posture. A commotion began downstairs, and he turned over his shoulder towards the door. Two phones dinged inside the room.
Blackpool Tower
🌝 🍻🍻➡️🌃➕👰🏼
You were being left alone. Thank God.
Harry met your gaze with a passive smile that didn’t touch his eyes. “I’ll let you get back to your reading.”
“Wait…”
He raised a single brow at you. “Yes?”
“Why don’t we watch a movie? If they’re pissing off out…”
He was both surprised and elated by your suggestion. All he’d be doing otherwise was looking for flats to move into alone and listening to some murder podcast before passing out. Friday nights were raucous in one’s late twenties.
“Two movies.” He bargained. “One we can bitch about first, and then one we like to make ourselves feel better.”
Your returning smile was prizewinning. Priceless. “And… takeaway? I really don’t want to cook.”
He clicked and pointed a finger at you. “You’ve got yourself a deal, madam.”
~
This was a new low for you. Or perhaps it was a high - you hadn’t decided yet. Using the newfound common ground over a love of happy endings off the back of the fear of a mad man trying to let himself into your room to coax Harry into a movie night with you. In your room, no less. The house was empty yet you chose to suffer the shitty WiFi signal in your tower room because your bed was more comfortable than the communal sofa in the living room on the ground floor. The cold ground floor.
Now, after a shared pizza that was delivered in record speed, you and Harry lay parallel to one another as you batted bitchy comments between one another about the infuriatingly devastating plot of Atonement.
“I wanna smash her face into a wall.”
You nearly choked on your wine, and wiped a pre-existing tear off your cheek. “Harry,”
“What?” He whined. “Every time I get to the end and she tells the real story I see red. Why get people’s hopes up like that?”
His eyes were red around the rims.
You sat forward as the credits began to roll and looked at him with a timid smile. “Opinionated, aren’t you?”
He was draped across the left side of your bed closest to the door, legs crossed at the ankle and hands tucked behind his head against the headboard. He was close to slouched, but he looked so impossibly at ease you wanted to just nestle right into him.
You could do it. Nothing is stopping you.
You repressed a growl.
“Coming from you?” He retorted, amused.
Childishly, you stuck your tongue out at him. “What’s next?”
He pursed his lips and gave a thoughtful look towards the ceiling. “Notting Hill?”
You gasped. “Fuck yes. Do you fancy dessert?”
“Always. What have you got?”
“I picked up a chocolate trifle on the way home from work.”
“That sounds dirty as fuck.”
“It is dirty as fuck.” You agreed and stood from your bed. “I picked it up on the way home with the intention of eating it all by myself, but… I’m willing to share.”
“How kind.” Harry chuckled. You felt his gaze on you leaving the room.
Two minutes later you returned with an unwrapped trifle and two spoons. Harry had already found Notting Hill on one of the many subscription sites you paid for and had it paused right at the start. He sat up straighter as you settled back down, pressed play, and then the two of you sunk into cake and gooey chocolate layered beneath sweet cream.
“Is Hugh Grant too posh?” Harry asked between mouthfuls.
“Yes, but it suits him?” Your question pondered. “Like, I couldn’t imagine him with a Scouse or Georgie accent.”
Harry’s returning laughter was delighted, magical. “This would be a very different film if he did.”
You gave a gutterall, mischievous laugh. “I would like to see it.”
Once you’d spoiled yourselves with trifle you settled back down, two parallel figures unmoving in the dim room, except to drink wine.
Harry was an ominous presence beside you. Warmth radiated off him in languid rolls, beckoning to you like an evil sea siren. Your hands fisted on your stomach, muscles tense. It really was taking everything in you not to lean into him and inhale his scent. Let it lull you to sleep like a safety blanket.
Occasionally you peeked glances at him. If he’d noticed you he never said anything, and it made you brave. After so long the film became background noise and Harry was the real star. A black t-shirt across a flat, muscular chest, steady breaths causing a rise and fall. Black jogging bottoms that rose higher up his legs with each slight movement, showing more scrumptious leg hair per inch. Big, boney, veiny feet with heinously long toes. Hair taken off his face with a tiny claw grip, a little greasy around the ears.
The overwhelming need to shove your face into his armpit finally gave motive to look away. Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts meant nothing anymore. There was a sexy man sprawled across your bed who ate your trifle and wanted to watch stupid rom-coms with you.
You fell asleep before the end.
~
Harry was sure he was dreaming. It wasn’t possible, the situation he found himself in. It was what he wanted, what he had really wanted for a while now, but the actual possibility of it coming to fruition had been next to none. Zero. Impossible.
He’d woken up in your room. That was the first tell that he was still dreaming. Then he found a warm body curled around him, and him around them in return. Your warm body. Leg draped over his thigh, arm slung across his torso, head tucked under his chin, his arms around your shoulders and inhaling your strawberry shampoo.
You were both still on top of the covers, neither able to finish the movie without passing out. He’d even noticed you had nodded off first but he didn’t want to leave you without making sure you’d lock the door behind you again in case Rhys and his idiot friends returned.
Huh. Maybe it wasn’t a dream. That was too accurate and not nearly lucid enough for an unconscious mind.
He didn’t want to move in case he stirred you, but he was desperate to see your face. Your beautiful, sleeping face. He refused to believe you’d cuddled up to him while conscious. Because it had been that way around - you were parked up on his side of the bed. His lips pricked upwards at the corners with that knowledge.
It was raining heavily outside. It fell against the window in loud smatters, the room cast in a dull grey tone. It made him want to squeeze you tighter, to keep you from any harm. He still refrained.
Eventually you woke. He could tell from the way your body tensed and your breath caught in your throat.
“Don’t freak out.” He mumbled, voice thick from lack of use.
You took in a deep, obvious breath. “No? Why not?”
“You don’t need to.”
“I think I do.”
“Explain, please.”
You hesitated, wetting your lips, and took in another deep breath. “I’ve embarrassed myself.”
“How?”
“I’ve put myself into your personal space without your permission.”
“You were unconscious.” He argued.
“Doesn’t make it any better. You should’ve run for the hills the second my foot touched your lovely hairy leg.”
Harry chuckled. He tightened his arm around you and brushed his nose through your messy hair. “Maybe I don’t mind you in my personal space. Maybe… I like it.”
“Do you?”
“Perhaps.”
“Perhaps?”
He laughed again. “You’ve nothing to worry about.”
You sat up and faced him.
Gah. There you were. Puffy eyes, cracked lips, scruffy hair. His stomach did a backflip at the sight of you - a dream he had nightly. In equal measure, he missed having the warmth and weight of your body against him.
“Don’t think about it too much.” He gave you a gentle smile. “Nothing needs to be complicated.”
You remained silent, either awestruck or dumbfounded. He wasn’t sure.
He stood, reluctantly, and pinched your cheek. “You’re cute when you’re in shock.”
That sorted you out. Your face rearranged itself into a scowl, gaze following him as he left the room. He hadn’t wanted to leave, but such a conversation felt too poignant for 8 o’clock in the morning. You needed space to let your thoughts take over.
~
Cooking dinner and movie nights. That had become yours and Harry’s thing. After he’d dropped what you considered a bombshell that he didn’t mind you in his personal space you’d had the longest shower of your life - accidentally using all the hot water - and then spent the morning face down on your bed trying not to scream into your pillow.
Since then you’d been obsessively cleaning, more so than usual by way of distraction from the man living across the hall. The house was spotless. You’d even cleaned the windows at one point, outside, with help from your dad and looked at a way to fix the leaking problem in the empty bedroom.
It still didn’t stop your mind from constantly drifting back to the other morning. Waking up curled around Harry like that had been both terrifying and utterly perfect. For a man with such a hard physique he’d been incredibly comfortable. Too comfortable. Then he’d said a number of things that threw your somewhat orderly brain into complete disarray and chaos.
“You’re cute when you’re in shock.”
Harry hadn’t seemed to take his own words lightly, either. He’d been more comfortable in closer proximity with you since that morning, in the little things like light touches to your arms and back while you cooked together, or a kiss on the top of your head before you disappeared into your room for the night. Some nights you would share a bed after a movie because it was just easier - you were already settled, and you always woke up cuddled against him like a fucking creep.
“This,” Harry said as he pulled the oven door open, a waft of heat filling the cold room, “is gonna be fuckin’ banging.”
“Mhm.” You quipped, shoving a tortilla chip into some salsa, and then into your gob.
It was a Saturday night. By a freak stroke of luck, all the other housemates had gone away for the weekend - George to his parents’ and Rhys and Abbie on a weekend break to Amsterdam. So, a dinner and movie night had been a given, but you’d stuck a portable heater in the communal living room downstairs, found as many blankets as you could and piled them onto the sofa, then queued up enough movies to last all night.
Harry’s carefully crafted pizza sat atop the stove, cooked to perfection with your favourite ingredients on one half and his on the other. Your mouth watered.
You carried everything into the lounge, set it all up on the coffee table, and pressed play on your first movie of the night.
It was civil while you ate, and you were admittedly starving. To Harry’s credit the pizza was delicious and you wished it was bigger because you could’ve eaten another. You filled the hole in your stomach with tortillas and salsa instead. He graciously took all the dirty plates back into the kitchen when you were done, and returned with two bowls of strawberries, raspberries, and of course, watermelon. It was a very healthy dessert but the watermelon looked seriously out of place.
“I can’t believe you’re letting me eat your watermelon.” You joked. “Feels like a sacred honour.”
He snorted but remained silent.
Eventually, after all the food and a couple of glasses of wine, you were horizontal, your feet in Harry’s lap. He had his hands locked around your ankle after you accidentally kicked him in the thigh.
“If you were in a rom-com, who would you want to play your love interest?”
Harry pursed his lips. “Hugh Grant.”
You giggled, turning your face into the sofa cushion. “90s or current Hugh Grant?”
“90s. Current Hugh Grant is into much more sophisticated roles that I don’t care for. Even if they are generally great films.”
“I see…” you mused.
He squeezed your ankle, a smile flirting on his lips. “No, I don’t know. Who’s queen of romantic comedies? Reese Witherspoon? J-Lo?”
“Oh my God, I love J-Lo.” Your voice was a dreamy, breathy sound.
“A fine woman indeed.”
“I love it when you talk like it’s the 1800s.”
He laughed so loudly it was almost a bark. “Noted. Who would you want to play opposite?”
“Sam Claflin.”
“The king of rom-coms.”
“Exactly. Very easy on the eye.”
Harry was smirking again. His hands were moving now, smoothing up and down your leg in easy strokes.
Thank fuck you shaved, you little scruffy bear.
You mentally flicked your inner tormentor behind her ear.
The film played on and held your attention for some time. You were possibly the most relaxed you’d been for a very long time. Not one muscle in your body felt tight.
Harry’s lackadaisical caressing continued, which you were still half-conscious of. It was nice to be touched that way - you don’t think you ever had been. You didn’t panic until you realised he’d been venturing just a touch further up your leg with every stroke; until his fingers tickled your thigh.
You gasped, grabbing his wrist, wrenched yourself upright.
Heat flooded your centre, slick and warm. It was so instantaneous it took you by surprise, and your cheeks burned, the tips of your ears warm.
His eyes were on you, wider than usual. “Sorry,” he tried to speak but it only came out in a whisper.
What is wrong with you, woman? You wanted this.
The inner tormentor was right. You had wanted it, and for quite some time. But the advance of it had taken you so completely off-guard that your body had reacted before your brain did.
“Shouldn’t have done that.” Harry muttered, a furrow between his brow. He was angry with himself.
Finally you managed to shake your head. You managed to manoeuvre yourself by taking one leg - the leg he still had his hand on because you were keeping it there - off his lap and tucked it under itself. You pressed his palm flat against your skin, smoothing over each of his long fingers in turn, and met his intense gaze.
You were much closer now, faces and bodies mere inches from each other. You could feel his breath against your face, and you knew he could feel yours too from the way his eyelids fluttered with each exhale. Shiny eyelids, you noted.
He slowly closed the space to brush his nose upwards against yours, and your next exhale was much shakier.
“What are we doing?” You asked.
“Whatever you want.”
You wanted many, many things. And 99% of them involved him.
You licked your lips, and his gaze dropped to them at the action. Your stomach squirmed and your inner voice squealed with nerves.
Harry placed his other hand firmly on your hip and tugged, and you spilled over his lap, straddling him with your hands using his shoulders for balance. Another gasp fell out of you at the feeling of a certain something between your legs. A certain hard something.
“Is this okay?” He asked, both hands tentative on your thighs.
“Mhm.” You managed.
His hands spread wider, and you grew wetter, breathing heavier
He swallowed thickly. “Can I kiss you?”
All you could do was nod.
You noticed the beginning of a smile before his mouth was on yours. That mouth you’d thought of many times, at all hours, on all days of the week. And it was finally on yours, and perfect too. Soft, big, spongy. It felt like heaven against your own.
He took his time, leisurely testing the waters with you. What you would allow and what you wouldn’t. What you liked and what you didn’t.
You liked all of it.
His tongue was reverent as it eased your lips open, but thorough once you’d granted him access to you. He tasted like strawberry and watermelon, a delicious combination. A lethal combination.
His hands still smoothed over your thighs, reaching for your arse but never quite making it there. He didn’t want a repeat of the previous reaction from you.
You held onto him tightly, hands squeezing over his shoulders in an accidental but welcomed massage. You wanted to touch him everywhere but weren’t sure if he was okay with it.
“I never thought I’d be able to do this with you.” Harry’s voice was gruff, strained. He spoke against your lips.
“Neither did I.” You said breathily.
“Thought about it a lot.”
“Me too.”
He groaned into your mouth, hands rising to your hips and waist, tugging on your loose t-shirt.
You continued kissing, mouths bruising with lust, skirting around the removal of clothes. His arousal only got harder between your legs and it made you wriggle. Your wriggling caused friction, and the friction caused whimpers.
“I won’t last if you make noises like that.”
This information gave you immense satisfaction. He practically ate the smile off your face, and you wriggled again over the top of him. More whimpers, more movement. Back and forth, back and forth until you were utterly soaked inside your pyjama shorts.
“Jesus Christ,” he hissed.
“Harry,” you moaned, fisting his t-shirt at the chest.
“Keep going.” He practically begged.
You gave a frustrated noise and did as he said, rolling your hips over the length of his clothed shaft. Over and over and over again. Tits began to bounce. Back began to sweat. Toes began to curl.
Harry stripped you of your top and buried his face in your chest. Kissing, licking, sucking, bruising. A canvas of vivid colour. He dragged his lips across any inch he could, leaning forward, arching you backwards, just to access more. More more more.
Rolling, dragging, rolling and dragging your dampness against his erection. It was your sole focus. You needed it - the release you hadn’t felt for some time. You were always too nervous to masturbate with only two walls and doors separating you and Harry. You needed this more than anything else.
He held onto your back with one strong arm, hand gripping your waist while his other cupped your breast, and he took your nipple into his mouth without any further hesitation. Lick, suck, lick.
You squealed at the sensation, grabbed his face and brought his mouth back to yours. Faster faster faster you moved your hips and devoured his mouth until-
“Harry!”
Heat burst through your body, crashing through every cell, corner and crevice. You were tense as you came, clinging to Harry as tightly as possible. Then, as breath left you, you fell limp against him.
Harry stroked your hair and kissed your temple. His nose drew circles on your cheek.
When you pulled back, thoughts catching up to you, you looked confused.
“What?” He asked, head tipped to one side.
“This doesn’t make sense to me.”
“What doesn’t?”
“This,” you pointed between him and you.
“Why doesn’t it?”
“Because,” you gestured at him and then dropped your hands to your lap, “have you seen you?”
“Many times.”
You gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m serious, Harry. People that look like you aren’t interested in people who look like me.”
“What a horrifically outdated cliche.” He said in a flinchingly bored tone. “For the record, I think you’re bloody gorgeous. Have done since the day I met you.”
“Why?”
“Because I do! Life is too fucking short to let society dictate who is attractive enough to date who.”
You made a face, one where your eyebrows and your mouth stretched. “Yes, but-,”
“-No buts. I fancy the pants off you and that’s all you need to know.”
“Are you sure?”
He laughed. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t have let you do what you just did if I wasn’t sure. Would I?”
“I don’t know… some men are pigs.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Look,” he took your face in his hands, “some men are indeed pigs. But I like you. A lot. And I’ve had fantasies a hell of a lot like what we just did together for a damn embarrassing amount of time. About you. That’s all you need to know. Ever since I met you, I’ve been all about you.”
You pulled your lips between your teeth and stared at his chest, unseeing. Giddiness filled your tummy and white noise flooded your ears.
Harry picked up your hand and pressed a kiss to the palm. He watched you closely as he peppered kisses to your skin. “You’re thinking too hard, but I get it.”
“I think too hard about everything.” You mumbled. “Especially when it comes to you.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“I don’t know but I’ve always thought about you more than I’d like to.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You’re very distracting.”
“Sounds like a compliment to me.” He said, and pecked your nose. “Shall we finish our movies and go to bed?”
Involuntarily, and as if prompted by the suggestion, you yawned. “Probably a good idea.”
Harry smiled, wrapped his arms around your middle and squeezed you tightly to his solid frame. “Let’s do it.”
~
Harry worked late a lot over the next week or so. He hated it mostly because it meant less time with you. Less conscious time, anyway. For the first few nights he’d come home to find you asleep and couldn’t bear the idea of accidentally waking you up, but after sharing a bed with you for so many nights now, it had been a hard drug to quit.
It was late now, well past midnight and you’d probably fallen asleep hours ago. But seeing you curled up and facing the window, sheets bunched up to your chin and face buried in your pillow, he couldn’t help himself.
He quietly stripped out of his clothes, save for his boxers, shut the door behind him and slid into bed beside you. He surrounded you with his warmth - arms around your middle and his face pressed between your shoulder blades. He tugged you backwards until your bodies were flush together, chest to back, and sponged a wet kiss into your shoulder.
You did rouse a little, giving out a soft, sleep-filled squeak. “Hi.”
He smiled, leaving another kiss closer to your neck. “Hi.”
“Wondered when you’d be back.” You said around a content sigh.
“And me.”
You giggled. You took a hand that clasped around your chest and brought it up to your lips. “Tried to stay awake for you but failed.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“But I want to.”
He littered more kisses against your skin, because he could just never get enough of you. “Thank you.”
“Pleasure.”
“Now go back to sleep.”
“Yes sir.”
~
“You look different.”
You frowned, meeting your sister’s scrutinous eyes between washing a saucepan clean. You were washing, she was drying, like you always did. You didn’t trust her enough to actually clean the dirty tableware. Sometimes she didn’t properly dry things either, but you’d make the most of what you could.
“What do you mean?”
“I dunno.” She shrugged. “You’ve got a kind of… air about you.”
“Right…”
“Hey,” your dad appeared, nudging your sister’s arm, “maybe she’s got a boyfriend.”
Embarrassed heat filled your body.
“No, that’s not it.” Your sister shook her head. “Anyway, whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”
“I don’t…” you didn’t know how to finish that.
Perhaps your many nights sharing a bed with Harry had been what she was talking about, but the label of boyfriend/girlfriend definitely hadn’t come up yet. You just liked each other. A lot. Add that to the fact that any night you shared a bed with him you didn’t wake up in cold sweats or choked screaming fits, it wasn’t exactly something you planned to stop doing any time soon.
“Oh my God, don’t overthink it like you do everything else. It’s a compliment. Take it.” She rolled her eyes.
“Aye, don’t be snotty.” Dad swatted your sister’s arm.
“I’m not!”
Your sister was younger than you, and for all eternity most definitely cooler. She was in school and that hadn’t changed into adulthood. It didn’t particularly bother you. Generally you got on very well, she just didn’t have a problem opening her mouth when she had an opinion.
“Anyway, don’t forget family dinner night. Next Friday?” Dad reminded you.
Ah yes. Family dinner night was not here at Dad’s house with just you and your sister. It was at the house with Dad, your sister, and all the housemates. George proclaimed it his favourite time of the month, because Dad, an ex-chef, always cooked. Harry, because of his often awkward shift work, was almost always absent.
“Okay.” You nodded.
After finishing your last dirty dish, you pulled your phone out.
Blackpool Tower
👑 ❌😃
Sometimes a text simply couldn’t be written exclusively in emojis, so you’d come up with a rule whereby if you needed to write one, you’d send a ❌😃 to alert them.
👑 Family dinner night next Friday. Be there or be square 💘
👰🏼 🤯🤩🤯🤩🤯
🌚 🎉🎉🎉
“You’re still doing the emoji thing?” Your sister asked with a narrowed gaze.
“We have another bet running to see who’ll crack first.”
“Right… will everyone come?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“That’s me asking if Harry will be there, by the way.” She said with a smirk, nudging your arm.
If you didn’t know any better you’d be hot under the collar thinking she was onto you. The mention of his name got you flustered anyway, but you did know better. As any sensible woman would, your sister had a little thing for Harry that she’d never shied away from.
“I don’t know.” You repeated, somewhat irritated.
“Well, find out! Do I need to make an effort or not, you know?”
“I mean… he doesn’t usually come. So probably not.”
“Double check. To be safe. Or give me his number.”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No.”
“Bore.” She scoffed, and swished away.
~
Sundays were laundry day. Harry knew this, which is why he’d never do his on the same day. Everyone in the house knew that first thing on a Sunday morning you would head down to the basement with a book and a basket full and sit there until everything had been through the tumble dryer (unless it was delicate in which case you’d air it in your window for the day).
Today, though, Harry travelled from the top of the house to the very bottom and slipped inside the utility room, closing the door behind him before any of the other housemates could hear him.
“What are you doing?” You asked, voice light with laughter.
Harry’s gaze rested on you, full of some kind of infatuation. You were sitting atop the industrial-size tumble dryer in the far corner of the room, back against the wall and knees up, book held against your thighs.
He shrugged. “Wanted to come irritate you a bit.”
“You never irritate me.”
He grinned and put himself in your personal space. He found your bookmark and placed it between the pages, and then took it away, abandoning it. “Are you sure?”
You let him manoeuvre you; pulled you forward a little and spread your knees apart. Your legs fell over the side, resting either side of his hips, and your breathing quickened. He placed one hand on your thigh and the other stroked over your cheek.
“Feel free to interrupt laundry day any time you want.”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
You laughed at his mock genuine tone and brushed your fingertips against his lips. “You know, my sister has a massive thing for you.”
He stood quietly for a fraction of time, gaze assessing. “I would tease you about it but I just can’t. I kind of already guessed.”
“Did you?”
“Mhm. She’s not exactly subtle.”
“No, she’s not. She asked me for your number.”
“Did you give it to her?”
“What do you think?” You rolled your eyes.
He smirked. “You getting possessive of me?”
“Maybe. But she’s too self-absorbed to realise. She thinks I’m doing it because giving out your number willy nilly is morally wrong. Which it is. But yeah, I also just don’t want her to have it.”
His lips tightened, nose flared, eyes light - batting away a smile. “I think I like this side of you.”
You gave an uncharacteristic grunt, but your eyes never left him. “You look like a frog when you make that face.”
His face neutralised and he sucked in a breath. “You’re not the first person to tell me that.”
This visibly delighted you. “Maybe I’ll start calling you Froggy.”
“Too far.” He pinched your waist
You giggled, hands pressed against his chest. Your palms felt warm over his t-shirt and he never wanted you to take them away.
“How long left on your cycle?”
“Er…” your gaze dipped downwards to the screen on the washing machine. “Like, 20 minutes probably.”
“And then it’s going in the tumble dryer?”
“Yes… why?”
“Because,” he pecked your lips once, “I think I know,” he kissed your left cheek, “something we can do,” then your right cheek, “while we wait.”
Your gaze was curious and intense as he started sponging his lips down your front, from neck to chest to stomach. You reclined some, breathing heavy, and he pulled your legs up by the ankle and planted your feet back on top of the dryer.
“Oh,” you spoke, voice caught.
“You okay with this?” He asked hesitantly.
Even though you’d been sleeping side by side something close to 5 nights a week, your little dry humping session last weekend was as far as you’d gone in the sexual intimacy department.
You made a strangled noise. “Christ, yes.”
Grin fully spread across his face, he smoothed his palms up your thighs to your hips and tucked his fingers into the silky waistband of your pyjama bottoms.
“Can we take these off?”
You hummed an affirmed noise, and lifted your arse off the surface. In one smooth pull he had the garment off your legs and over his shoulder, probably in the same vicinity of the book he’d taken off you.
He met your gaze with a lifted brow. “Not a fan of knickers?”
“Not in my jim-jams, no.”
His smile blossomed like daffodils in spring. “That’s either the cutest or sexiest thing you’ve ever said.”
“Can we go with sexy considering what I hope you’re about to do?”
“Sure thing, cutie.”
You squealed a little at the name, but he couldn’t tell if you loved it or hated it. Regardless, he kept a firm grip on your legs and lowered his lips to your knee. In a slow, measured movement, he kissed his way up the inside of your legs with his hot, wet mouth.
Your breath was laboured as you watched him, eyes wide when he met your gaze again but so incredibly keen. To prove it, you pushed a hand through his curls and massaged his scalp, coaxing him forward.
“I’ve wanted to taste you for so fucking long.” He admitted, mouth dragging over the softest part of your thigh.
His hot breath fanned against your waiting lips and you visibly clenched.
“I’ve wanted you to, believe me.” Your voice was but a rasp.
“Yeah?” He sighed happily, left hand moving closer to your centre. He extended his thumb out, “Are you wet for me?” He pulled your lips apart, and the noise he made at the sight of you was practically carnal.
“Harry,” you whimpered, tugging on his hair.
He hummed again, face inching closer to your dripping lips. He licked between you, wetness collecting on his tongue. The taste of you was something better than he could’ve ever imagined and he growled because of it. He gripped your legs tighter, hesitant no more, and buried his face right between your soft thighs.
“Oh, God,” you whined. Your head lolled backwards and both fists found purchase in his beautiful hair, twisting and tugging.
He grunted in response to you, spurred on. He collected as much of your juice as he could, firm stroke after firm stroke of his perfectly capable tongue.
He played with your clit in a way that made you squirm and squeal, eliciting the most delectable little noises out of your hoarse throat. Harry didn’t hold back - he never had in that department. He went for it completely and utterly.
The washing machine launched into rapid spinning, filling the room with wheezing, screaming noises.
“Harry, don’t stop.” You begged, body rigid with desperate tension.
He obeyed your every word. He spread your legs further and further with his digging grip. He burrowed his face into your cunt, tongue plunging inside of you and spading inside your heat like a desperate gardener.
“Yes, yes, yes,” you panted as you lifted your head again to watch him.
His eyes were already on you, dark and hooded and filled with keen lust. His head moved with an eager precision like his mouth did. He wanted you this way. He’d wanted it for so long he couldn’t quite believe he was getting it. You were a goddess, ethereal and perfect.
The washing machine’s cycle reached its peak, vibrating harshly beside the two of you. It was deafening yet the least bit distracting.
Harry pursued his advances on your cunt relentlessly and without breath until your body went rigid and then shuddered. You screamed his name, withholding nothing, any cries drowned out by the washing machine. Your body visibly vibrated like the machine beside you, and eventually your limbs weakened to jelly.
Harry stood straight and helped you sit up again, wrapping his arms around your middle. He tucked your head into his neck and twisted his face into your hair.
“You’re right, that was incredibly sexy.” He mumbled.
He revelled in your returning laughter, the sound light and airy. You showed no shame in clinging onto him, fingers raking through the curls at the back of his neck.
“Maybe you can do it again later.” You suggested, lips sponging against the skin on his neck.
“Any time you like.”
After another minute or so you pulled away, eyes scouring his face. “You’re a mess, sir.” You commented as you wiped your thumb around his shiny mouth.
He made a wordless noise, held your wrist, and took your thumb in his mouth. “I’ll be a mess for you.”
“Perhaps I’ll be a mess for you, too.”
His brows shot up and it made you laugh. “It’s cruel to joke about that.”
“I’m not joking.”
He gave you a challenging look.
“Want me to prove it?” You offered.
Was it even worth the question? “Always.”
You grinned. “Let me put my washing in the dryer and I will.”
He took a step back and bent at the waist, arms extending like he was bowing. “M’lady.”
You hopped down from where you’d been sitting and pulled him in for a kiss.
“Sir.”
~
The kitchen was a hive. And a mess. There was shit everywhere and your anxiety was through the roof just looking at it. It wasn’t an unfamiliar sight because any kitchen your dad found himself in nowadays ended up looking like a pig sty but it didn’t settle the tightness in your chest.
He moved around the room with chaotic precision while you trailed after him tidying up any unnecessary mess, and your sister sat at the dining table Rhys and George had brought up from the basement an hour ago, scrolling through her phone.
“What about him?” Your sister flashed her screen to the two of you, the next Tinder profile filling it.
Your dad leaned over and squinted. “His eyes are too far apart.”
“Ugh. Knew you were gonna say that.” She grumbled.
This was a game you played regularly. Your sister would showcase potential Tinder matches either for her or for you (which you always declined to comment on), and your dad would garner his unfiltered opinion. It was probably a big part of the reason you were both still (technically) single. No one was ever good enough. That, and you didn’t have a Tinder account. Or any dating app account, actually.
“Him?” She flashed the next profile to you both.
Cute. But…
Not Harry.
Your inner tormentor smirked.
“What’s his anthem?” Dad knew all the terminologies now for the dating app world. He liked to call Hinge ‘UnHinged’, because that’s what the suitors on there usually were.
“Um… Wonderwall.”
You gagged, and Dad scoffed. “Next.”
You carried on for a little while, joining in when you felt like it but mostly just trying to keep the kitchen at an acceptable level of clean.
Rhys, Abbie and George were upstairs getting themselves ready for dinner as if it was some kind of gala they were about to attend. They did it everytime; dinner with Dad felt like an occasion. Harry wasn’t home and you hadn’t worked up the nerve to ask if he was going to be. He left at such a weird time this morning you couldn’t figure out what shift he was on and how that would affect his ‘home time’.
“Lay the table please, poppet?” Your dad asked of your sister, because he knew it was the only task she’d willingly do.
She leapt to her feet in a dramatic flurry and made for the cutlery draw. “Have we got enough for matching sets?”
“Very unlikely.” You muttered. You hadn’t eaten dinner with matching cutlery since you moved in.
The front door opened, cold air blustering in and mixing with the heat of the kitchen. Harry stepped in, bundled up in a big coat and rucksack slung over one shoulder.
“Hope I’m not late.” He said in a gravelly voice, smile sheepish.
“Harry!” Dad greeted him with complete joy. “Wasn’t expecting you, what a nice surprise.”
Your sister looked flustered all of a sudden. She’d convinced herself he wasn’t coming. Part of you had, too.
“I’ll just change and be back down.”
“Sure, we’ve got a bit of time yet.” Dad waved him away.
You’d pretended to busy yourself, but you watched as he headed for the stairs and caught the subtle wink he gave you.
Ah shit.
“What am I going to do?” Your sister panicked. “I'm a disaster - I look hideous.”
“No you don’t.” You grumbled. She’d never looked hideous in her life.
“Can I borrow some makeup?”
It was easier to just give her what she wanted rather than fighting her on it. “Sure - what do you need?”
She listed off a bunch of makeup items, most of which sounded completely foreign so you were sure you didn’t have them. You’d just give her your entire makeup bag and let her do what she wanted.
You knocked on Harry’s door before you went back down, makeup bag in hand. He opened in just his jeans, a light straight-leg pair with gaping holes at the knees.
“Hey,” he smiled, and rested an arm against the doorframe.
“Hi… I thought you’d be working late?”
He shook his head. “I was supposed to be. Swapped my shift ‘cause I always miss family dinner.”
“I see… well, you’ve successfully panicked my sister.”
“That was my plan all along, actually.”
“Mhm, sure.” You bit away a smirk. You liked this playful side of him a lot. “If you need half an hour to mentally prepare… I’d take it.”
“Noted, thank you.”
You left him to change and made your way back downstairs. Your sister eagerly took your makeup from you and dashed to the bathroom on the first floor.
Neither she nor Harry, or anyone else for that matter, came down until it was time to sit down.
Your dad sat at the head of the table as he always did, spread laid out in front of you in the middle. You sat to your dad’s right on the corner, and your sister to the left. You knew she was going to try and save the seat on her other side for Harry, but George ended up taking it instead, which visibly irritated her. She did have a particular ‘gay man’s best friend’ vibe about her - they flocked to her like sheep. Abbie sat at the other head, Rhys on her left, and then Harry sandwiched between Rhys and you.
He squeezed your thigh under the table, and you tried to pretend like it didn’t have some obscene effect on your intimate places. You lightly kicked his shin and started piling food onto your plate.
Like some kind of mafia father, your dad went around the table and asked all of the housemates for an update on their lives. He liked to do this, and fortunately your housemates liked pleasing him. He was a good landlord, and that showed by the way they gravitated towards him. He probably wouldn’t do this sort of thing if you weren’t living there, but he had a responsibility to them as tenants as well as you, his eldest daughter.
When you were done eating you sat back in your chair and put your hands in your lap. Harry didn’t hesitate to take one in his own and link your fingers. You peeked up at him as subtly as possible, unable to fight the giddy warmth that spread through you. He didn’t meet your gaze for the sake of keeping everyone else out of your business, but he did squeeze your hand, which only made the airy, slightly delirious feeling inside of you that much stronger.
Your sister spent 20 minutes talking about herself without breath, and as self-absorbed as she was, she was harmless, really. Not to mention entertaining. You never laughed as much as you did when she had her mouth open.
“Harry, you should come to these more often.” She said to him, batting her eyelashes.
You were about to walk her and your dad to the car and send them on their way. Harry was trying his absolute hardest to escape.
He cleared his throat. “I probably should, yeah.”
“It was good having an extra nice body.”
You gave her a look, brow raised. She shrugged. “I think it’s home time, no?” You prompted, gripping her arms and nudging her away.
“Fine.” She huffed, and began walking towards the street. “Bye team!”
Most people had already disappeared to their rooms but you had to admire her spirit. Dad was already gone, eager to go to bed.
You were halfway to the car when your sister asked, “So are you gonna tell me or what?”
You met her gaze with another raised brow. “Tell you what, exactly?”
“Mate,” she swatted my arm, “I am not an idiot. I know when I’m not wanted, because it’s not often.” She could not get any more vain if she tried. “I always did wonder what I had to do to get Harry’s attention better, and today I finally figured it out. I need to be you.”
Ah. Not as ignorant as she appears, then.
You pressed your mouth closed, looking away. “Er,”
“Don’t ‘er’ me. I saw that wink he gave you when he got home, but I thought he was just trying to wind me up. And then he sat next to you, not by choice it seemed, but there was barely an inch of space between you and practically a metre between him and Rhys. Then he just didn’t stop looking at you, even though he pretended he wasn’t. Let me tell you, that boy has not learned the art of subtlety.”
She turned to you then, a searing gaze heavy. “Look, I don’t know if you’re aware of it, or if you’re already shaggin’ him and lying to me about it-,”
“-We’re not having sex.” Yet.
“Okay, fine. Whatever. Just do something about it, please. If I can’t have him you should. Don’t let a man that beautiful go to waste. You hear me?”
“Loud and clear.”
“Good.” She huffed, and then pulled you in for a tight hug. “Fed up of seeing you alone and underselling yourself. You’re hot shit! I know it, and Harry clearly knows it.” She suddenly takes your face in her grasp. “So do something about it.”
~
You appeared in the doorway of Harry’s room around 20 minutes later, fresh-faced and in your PJs. He was reading in bed, having stolen a book out of your cupboard.
“Is he secretly in love with her?” He asked without taking his eyes off the pages, his long finger brushing the spine.
You squinted at the title as you moved closer to him. “Yes. What made you pick that one?”
“Because it’s obviously your favourite.”
“How’d you work that one out?”
“The spine is cracked beyond belief. It’s nearly falling apart.”
“I might’ve bought it from a charity shop.”
He lifted a brow. “Did you?”
“No.”
He put the book aside, focussing all of his attention on you. You’d sat down cross-legged on top of the covers, and you wore a calm yet unreadable expression. There was a hint of something in your eyes. Infatuation, maybe?
“What’s going on?”
You shook your head, smiling. “Nothing. I’m just… happy.”
“Me too.”
You remained quiet for a moment, gazing at one another in a comfortable silence. Eventually, Harry opened his arms in request of your embrace, and you gave it to him without hesitation. You settled against him, head tucked under his chin.
“I like this, Harry. Us.”
“So do I.” He nodded, pressing his lips into your hair. “A lot.”
“You make it easier.”
“Make what easier?” He asked, and then held his breath.
A beat passed. “Life. Sleeping. Consciousness. Cooking. Just… being.”
“That’s a very big compliment.”
“I mean it.”
“I know you do.”
When you peered up at him, he lowered his mouth to yours for a slow and tender kiss. It wasn’t abrasive or demanding; it was perfect. Full of an understanding that neither of you expected to find in another person.
“Tell me about your nightmares.”
“I don’t have them when I’m with you.” You admitted, as if he hadn’t already worked it out. When he didn’t respond to you, you reluctantly continued. “They’re about my mum. She died in a car accident a few years ago and I dream about it sometimes.”
Harry’s heart found its way into his mouth. “You were there?”
“No. My sister was. I was with dad - it was a weekend. Me and dad at his work cooking, mum and my sister shopping in town. Were on their way back and someone just ploughed into the side of the car, driver’s side. She died on impact and my sister was in hospital for a week.”
Harry held onto you tighter, his lips against your temple. “I’m sorry.” He whispered.
“It’s okay…” you swallowed, body tensed in stillness. “I dream about that day a lot. Mostly the part where Dad broke the news to me. Seeing my sister in the hospital plugged in and drugged up. The funeral; the look on Dad’s face. I wake up crying more than screaming, usually.”
He took a deep breath, and he clung to you like you might disappear. “I’m really sorry. Sorry that happened to you and your family, and that you have to relive it most nights. That’s not fair.”
You met his gaze, cupping his cheek. “Ever since we started doing… this, I haven’t had a single one. Not even on the nights we don’t share a bed. I don’t know why, I guess my conscience has decided it’s safe with you. And I do feel safe with you.”
“Then I will stay with you every night to make sure you never have a bad dream again.” He vowed, turning his head enough to kiss your palm. “I like knowing that you feel safe with me. S’a pretty big compliment.”
“I’m full of those when it comes to you.”
His chest swelled, a helpless smile on his face. “Even when you tell me I look like a frog.”
You snorted and hid your face in his chest. “You do, though.”
“Okay, thank you.” He huffed, feigning offence, but he didn’t let you go; didn’t loosen his hold on you.
You talked late into the night until you fell asleep, wrapped around one another and bundled under his bedclothes. Having you so close and being so open gave Harry a sense of clarity. He’d had an attraction to you since the day he met you, but this was turning into something more. Feelings were now coming up to bat, and he had a pretty solid idea of where they were heading.
~
“You are filthy.”
You wiped your brow, meeting Abbie’s gaze with indifference. “I am not letting this garden turn into a jungle again like it did last year.”
“I know, but I’ve never seen you so dirty. You’re the cleanest person I know.”
“Believe me, I’ll be jumping straight in the shower once I’m done.”
It was the warmest day of spring so far, and for once it wasn’t raining, so you’d taken the opportunity the second you had it to get outside and sort the garden out. The winter had turned it into a tangled overgrown mass of green mess, and you’d been desperate to get it sorted.
Abbie had offered to help but had realised very quickly that she was out of her depth, and eventually offered moral support in lieu of the physical kind. You didn’t mind the company - it beat waiting inside for Harry to come home, alone all day.
You chopped away at the forest that had grown, turned the soil over when you found it, and potted some new plants to give it some life. By the time Harry came home your legs were covered in dirt, cuts and fresh bruises, nail beds black, hair full of dead foliage, and just downright sweaty.
Abbie had surrendered to the house to be entertained by Rhys, and George wasn’t home. He was never home much anymore, you were all under the impression he had a boyfriend.
Harry helped you to your feet where you were kneeling in the soil, eyes giving you a thorough once over. “You look…”
“Filthy. Yes, I know.”
He grinned. “Yeah, but I like it.”
“Really?”
He followed you as you collected your gardening tools and hid them in the shed tucked against the side of the house. “Absolutely. You’re so clean and put together all the time, it’s kinda nice seeing you a bit roughed up.”
You hummed out a laugh. “Interesting.”
Harry boxed you up against the wall, out of sight of any of your nosey housemates. His hips trapped yours, hands holding your sides at the ribs. Without a hint of hesitation, he pressed his mouth to yours, eagerness overpowering tenderness.
You simply let him, never one to deny the most handsome man you knew a hot and heavy kiss. You enjoyed being wanted by him. Who the fuck wouldn’t?
“I’ll let you go shower.”
“Okay.” You murmured, delirious.
He pulled away, giving your hip one last squeeze before he vanished into the house. You spent five more minutes in the garden making sure you’d tidied up after yourself, and took some pictures to send to your dad.
Your shower was longer than you’d have liked thanks to the state of you, and in turn it took you longer to clean the bathroom down than usual. You were starving by the time you got back to the top floor.
Harry was at his desk when you slipped inside his room, browsing something on his laptop.
His room and yours were polar opposites of one another. Where you hid all your belongings, made your bed and kept things as minimal as possible, Harry had more shit than necessary. A bulging wardrobe, unmade bed, things everywhere. He was a man with stuff, and lots of it. Sometimes it made you itch. But he wasn’t dirty in any capacity. It smelled of fresh linen and clean air all the time.
“Do you feel better?” He asked, closing the lid on his laptop again.
“Mm. Loads better.” You gave him a warm smile as you perched on the edge of his bed.
He rolled over to you but abandoned the chair halfway to stand up. Then he crawled over you, forcing you to lie backwards and caged you against the bed.
“You smell amazing.” He said with a voice like gravel.
You ran a hand down his front and slipped it under his t-shirt, trailing your fingertips over his chest. “Thank you,”
He lowered onto his forearm, face an inch from yours and groin against your pelvis. You inhaled sharply, noticing the very obvious stiffness coming from Harry’s midsection. His hand smoothed the length of your side, down your thigh to your knee and then back up again to your arse.
He met your mouth with a kiss, deep and hungry. Dizzying. He led and he was all over you, tongue devouring yours.
“It was a lot harder than it should’ve been to not follow you into the shower.” He admitted.
You let out a soft whine and fisted his t-shirt, pulling him flush against your chest. You wanted to feel the weight of him on you. “You should’ve.”
He returned that with a growl, and his hand on your arse gripped tighter. Your name tumbled off his lips in a husky plea, “I want you so fuckin’ bad.”
Hooking your legs around his hips and pushing his centre against yours, you gave him the silent go-ahead. You looped your arms around his shoulders, fingers tangling in his hair.
“I’m right here, and you can have me.”
Something inside Harry snapped. Any reservations about your desire for him vanished. His kisses became punishing and carnal. His hands on you a little rougher than before, than ever. Possessive.
You helped him out of his top and in turn he helped you out of yours. You scooched backwards up the bed as he drank you in. It wasn’t lost on you that this was the first time he’d seen your top half naked. Somehow, amongst all the nights of bed-sharing, you’d never been fully naked.
His eyes were dark, hooded. He looked at you like you were his last meal, and honestly you lived for it. You wanted to die under that gaze.
“You’re so sexy.”
You bit away a timid, flustered smile. Bashfulness wasn’t sexy.
He stalked you like a wild cat as you lay back. His mouth and hands descended on you again, searching and exploring every inch of you, searing hot and wet kisses into your skin.
His hands slipped into your pyjama bottoms, feeling around your arse again before he tugged them down your legs, leaving you completely stark under his burning gaze. A strangled moan fell out of him while he regarded your naked form, hands smoothing and squeezing your hips, your waist, your boobs.
“You’re so fucking soft.” He said the words like praise.
You laid your hands on his as they travelled over you, and he pushed his mouth back to yours in that same eager dance as before. He ground himself against you, hard as a rock underneath his joggers, and it was doing all sorts to your core. Your heartbeat fell down and down again to your middle, slick heat flourishing between your legs.
“Please, Harry,” you begged him, pushing his hand down.
“What do you need?” He asked, a little cruelly, as if he didn’t know exactly what you needed.
“Touch me.”
The man gargled at you. He was fucking strangled. He traced between your thighs delicately to the point it tickled, and swiped a finger easily in a stripe up your folds, wetness collecting.
“Like that?”
“Yes.” You wriggled under him, desperate for more. “More.”
He played with your clit teasingly, enjoying the way you squirmed. “More?” He asked as he slid a finger into your waiting heat.
A small cry left you. It wasn’t enough and he knew it. “More.”
“Bossy, aren’t you?”
You whined. Now you were the one being carnal. You gripped his head tightly and kept your mouth to his, tongue abrasive and lashing.
While he wound you up in the most irritating way, you found your own ways to move him on. Your feet dug into the backs of his thighs and pushed downwards at an attempt to budge his joggers off. You didn’t want to wait anymore. You wanted him in all his solid glory, right now.
“Are you trying to take my bottoms off with your feet?”
“Yes.” You grunted.
“Oh,” he gave you a dark laugh as his kisses trailed back down your front, “that’s gonna cost you.”
He licked around your belly button, the warmth of his hands vanishing from your body to push his joggers down. He gave your cunt the shortest, most mind-blowing piece of attention with his mouth, dragging noises out of you that you weren’t even aware you could make. Then he turned you over without warning, on your front, and tugged your arse up to rest against his crotch.
You gasped, excited by the somewhat aggressive nature he’d taken on. Your Harry - soft and gentle as they got - man-handling you. You peered at him over your shoulder as he produced a square foil wrapper from somewhere and ripped it open with his teeth. He watched you watching him as he rolled it down his shaft, drawing your attention to it - visually, anyway - for the first time. You had to swallow the lump in your throat.
“This what you wanted, darlin’?” He asked as he smoothed his hand over your arse, but his gaze never left you. “You want me to fill you up with my cock?”
“God yes.” You said without a hint of a waver.
“You want it like this?” He lined himself up, fisting himself at the base, and glided the head of him through your wet, parted, waiting folds.
“Yes.” You whimpered. “Please. Please please please.”
He made that noise again, his large fist grabbing your hip as he hovered at your entrance, and then he thrust himself inside you.
A ripping, searing pain had you wanting to scream so loudly you had to shove your face into the mattress to muffle it. An ache blossomed in place of the initial pain, one that was all too familiar and yet quite unfamiliar. It had been absent, like a friend who lived too far away. Now it homed itself inside of you like it belonged there. Perhaps it did, and the only way to quell it was to entertain it.
“Jesus fucking Christ, you feel good.” He hissed, his hands squeezing your hips and your bum in turn.
Harry pulled out, enough that only his head remained inside you, and then he gave another powerful thrust until he completely filled you. “So fucking good, my God.”
He started moving, in steady, sharp movements. He didn’t want slow. Hell, you didn’t want slow. You wanted fast and hot and sweaty, and that’s exactly what he gave you.
Harry started fucking into you so viciously you could feel it in every part of your body, from the jiggle of your tits to the shake of your arse to the rock of your hips. Oh, and the stretch of his cock as he buried deeper and deeper inside you. Every part of your body was aflame with need, a desire, a craving to be fucked into oblivion.
His hands were on your hips again, fingertips digging into your skin. He rocked you back and forth in time with his thrusts, not that you needed him to. You were doing that all on your own.
He grunted and hissed through every single powerful drive of his cock into your cunt, your name tumbling out of his mouth over and over again.
“Harry,” you whimpered, “harder.”
He growled and obeyed, pistoning inside of you.
“Yes, oh fuck yes.” You cried, head burrowing again.
You felt him on you, all over you then, his chest against your back, lips kissing your shoulders and his arms with a vice grip around your middle. His skin was tacky, as was yours. You were surrounded by a cloud of packed heat, like a humid summer day.
“You are…” Harry began to say, panting in your ear, and his head shook against you, “fuck, I can’t even think straight.”
You moaned, lifting up and twisting your head in search of him. He caught your chin and brought your lips to his in another deep, claiming kiss. You wanted every kiss to be like that from then on - owning, possessing, asserting. You were his and you wanted him to know it.
He gave another round of punishing thrusts before he made a winded noise, “Turn over,” he pleaded, “I want to see your face.”
A whimper fell out of your mouth when his thickness disappeared from inside you, and he helped you onto your back before he got straight back in there. He was low over you, chest on your chest, hand on the back of your thigh, and his eyes roamed your face while it contorted with pleasure.
He hooked your leg over his hip and went harder. Harder, faster, harder, faster. Your head lolled back and a string of curse words fell out of your mouth. His lips danced across your chest and you tangled your fingers in his hair to keep him there. There was nothing better than being worshipped by a mouth. Especially Harry’s mouth.
He licked and sucked over your skin until your boobs and sternum were littered with little purple spots of lust, and honestly you didn’t care. You wanted them all over you. You wanted yours all over him.
His hips never stopped moving - pushing, pushing, pushing you towards a beautiful, glorious high like a high-speed train ploughing towards a dangerous cliff edge. God, you wanted that edge and you wanted it now. You wanted to be flung off it whilst securely attached to the man currently pushing you there.
You pulled Harry’s mouth back to yours, holding your body to him as you clenched, milking him towards his end and yours. You needed it. Your head was about to explode with rampant thoughts and you needed to wash them away.
“Fuck, Harry,” you whispered, neck and shoulders spiked with heat. It radiated off you.
“I know.” He groused and bit your lower lip. “I’m fucking close. So fucking close, and I’m gonna blow if you keep doing that.”
“Please do it,” you begged, clenching again to feel his growl in your mouth, “come, Harry.”
And boy did he fucking come.
His body wracked with a shudder, movements ceasing as you wrapped yourself tightly around him. His muscles rippled beneath your fingertips while he came, oblivious to your own masterful undoing.
You calmed together, lips moving in tender kisses until your breath was caught again and your limbs were sore. You deflated when Harry abandoned you to clean himself up, and you dipped into your bedroom to do the same when you found the strength.
When he came back you snuggled up to him in his bed, between his legs with your head on his chest. His lips grazed through your hair, breathing light and content.
“I am… fucking obsessed with you.” He mumbled.
You traced your fingers over the hair and the swallows on his chest, a warmth filling you, like an acceptance. Being wanted hadn’t mattered to you until now. Until Harry.
“I… am also quite infatuated with you. And I have been for some time. Just… quietly.”
“You been sniffin’ my bed sheets while I’m at work?”
You giggled and nuzzled closer to him. “No. Not recently, anyway.”
“Not recently?”
“I’ve never sniffed your bed sheets, Harry.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you did.”
“I’m weird, but I’m not that weird.”
“But you’ve been infatuated with me for ages.”
“Not enough to go into your room and sniff your bed sheets.”
“Did you do anything a bit weird?”
“No.”
“Really? Not even… a little… you know?”
You gave him a bewildered look, and he waggled his eyebrows at you.
Haha. You totally did that, you creep.
“Maybe.” You murmured, hiding your face again.
He chuckled and held onto you tightly. “I did, too. Feeling’s always been mutual, darlin’.”
You heaved a content sigh. “I’m glad it was. I really do like this. Us.”
“Me too.”
~
Harry had been living life with a permanent spring in his step. He had you, living in the same house and sharing a bed, cooking at dinner time, shagging at night time, and just generally being wonderful, fantastic, gorgeous, brilliant you.
Tonight you were at your dad’s house with your sister so he was cooking alone, but George was in the living room watching one of those daft culinary competition programs on Channel 4, the commentary filtering out with an occasional expletive. Abbie and Rhys were out but would likely be home soon. You’d be back eventually, too, and he liked knowing that nowadays you came home to him.
Rhys and Abbie came back first. Harry had decided to join George in the living room, too intrigued by the shouty drama on Come Dine With Me to ignore it.
Abbie gasped at the TV. “This is the one!” She squealed.
“What one?” Rhys demanded. “Oh, yes!”
“What am I missing?” Harry asked, a little bewildered.
George shushed everyone with a finger to his lips. “I’ve been talking him through it but I want him to see.” He flailed a hand in the couple’s direction.
All four pairs of eyes glued to the TV, a vetted interest in the argument unfolding. The contestants from that week’s episodes were gathering in the final host's living room, bank notes spread in a circle atop a silver tray and holding up a scroll wrapped in red ribbon.
The front door of the house opened again, and in you waltzed, a baffled look on your face. Very rarely did you come home to find everyone in the living room.
Abbie squeaked your name, begging you to join before it kicked off on the telly. “Come on, quick.” She patted the space between her and Harry, conveniently.
His eyes were no longer interested in the TV drama, only in you.
“In fourth place is… me.”
“Ah,” you said in recognition of the scene on the telly as you sat down. Your arm brushed against Harry’s as you tucked your right foot under your left thigh, and caught yourself before you settled into his side like you normally would.
A chorus of patronising oohs filled the room from the contestants on the screen. The host was shaking his head.
“Wait, is this the-,”
“You won, Jane.”
Barking laughter filled the room from the housemates, including Harry, but the host didn’t stop there.
“Dear Lord, what a sad little life, Jane.”
“You’ve got that on a T-shirt!” Harry swatted George’s arm.
“Damn right I do.” He grinned. “Cultural icon.”
“You, or the bloke having an aneurysm?”
“Both.”
“... grace of a reversing dump truck.”
More squeals filled the room, as if the entire scene hadn’t been a meme for years now.
Abbie patted your shoulder. “Did you see the video of Penn Badgley doing this?”
“Obviously.”
“Wait, I wanna see.” Rhys frowned.
Episode forgotten, Abbie found the clip on her phone and showed it to everyone.
“Oh my God, I think I’m going to hear it in that voice forever now.” George muttered, a wistful look in his eyes.
“Shall we watch a movie or something?” Abbie suggested, a hopeful look in her eye. “We never do anything all together… it would be nice.”
“I’m up for that.” Rhys grinned, because why would he ever turn down one of his girlfriend’s ideas?
“Yeah, me too.” George nodded.
All eyes turned to you and Harry. You couldn’t very well say no now, it would look odd. Especially if you both did, which is what you both wanted to do. There were two perfectly good beds upstairs, one of which needed to be destroyed. That wasn’t very well going to happen if you both sat on the couch and watched a film with your housemates.
“Yeah, sure.” You finally said, because you hated the way everyone was looking at you.
“Go for it.” Harry managed, much worse at hiding his disapproval than you were.
“How are we going to decide, then? ‘Cause I don’t really watch the horror films you two are into,” George pointed between Abbie and Rhys, “and Harry probably only watches underground indie movies or something.”
Harry had no idea what gave him that impression, but the laugh that came out of your mouth - hearty, loud and delighted - was worth the assumption.
“Why don’t we all write a movie name down on a piece of paper that we’ll all like - a comedy or something - and do a raffle.”
“Okay, but who’s choosing?”
Harry rolled his eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen. George and Abbie fought for five minutes, both arguing that one of them should choose, and then the decision was given to you as the honorary house mediator. Everyone wrote their choices down on a scrap of paper and dropped them all into one of Rhys’s beanies. Then you closed your eyes, body screaming reluctance at having to be the decision-maker, and plucked a folded square out.
Your mouth lifted at the corners. “Shrek 2.”
Snacks were brought in, beers were shared out, and someone pressed play on the film where it had been queued up.
“Wait!” George screamed.
You all looked at him, bewildered by his dramatics. He’d even stood up.
“What?” Rhys gave him a baffled look.
“I wanna sit in the armchair.” George pointed to the very one Rhys sat in. “I don’t wanna sit in a couple sandwich. A third wheel is bad enough, but a fifth wheel is a disaster.”
“What are you talking about?” Harry asked, laughter nervous and the ultimate giveaway.
“Oh fuck off if you two think we don’t all know you’re a thing.”
Your body tensed. Harry could feel it, the way you went from soft to rigid in a split second. “What?”
“We’ve known for ages.” Abbie said with a sweet smile.
“Yeah, like, the second Harry moved in.” George rolled his eyes.
“But we haven’t been-,”
“-Maybe not the whole time, but definitely recently. I can hear the floorboards creak, you know.” George gave you an accusatory glance. Curse him living directly beneath you. “Amongst other things.”
Harry wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or whether he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. His cheeks and the tips of his ears had turned pink, and you looked like you were in shock. “Right…”
“I am slightly offended that you didn’t want us to know.” Rhys folded his arms. “What did you think was gonna happen?”
He had a point. What did you think was going to happen? Mild ribbing and inappropriate jokes? It wasn’t exactly any of their business what the two of you were doing on the top floor, but that didn’t mean you’d needed to hide everything from them. Why had you stopped yourselves from being affectionate when around them? They were your friends. You all had inside jokes and a group chat and emoji code names. They were like a second family in a way. Even though you all enjoyed your own company, you liked each other too.
“I think… for a while we didn’t really know what was happening.” Harry finally spoke, twisting in his place. “We just started hanging out and it kinda grew from there.”
“I called this on day one, by the way.” George said smugly.
“It’s true, he did.” Abbie nodded, still smiling. “Two good-looking people at the top of the house? Recipe for heaven.”
“We’re happy it finally happened. Just… don’t hide shit like that from us. We’re all friends.” George was back to scowling.
“Friends.” Rhys cooed, like Jay from The Inbetweeners.
“Anyway, now that’s all out there, can we start the film please? Or it’s gonna be my bedtime.” Abbie flailed her hand around.
The movie started, everyone settled into their places, and you managed to find a comfortable position against Harry’s side.
Even though you chatted along with conversations and laughed at the telly, Harry knew something was off. You were still tense, and you didn’t touch him like you normally would. He wanted you in his arms, not pushed awkwardly against his side. He wasn’t sure if it was because you were uncomfortable displaying affection in front of other people, but whatever it was he wanted to make it go away.
He shifted at one point in an attempt to wrap an arm around your middle, but instead you moved further away. That utterly terrified him.
As the movie credits rolled, everyone started to move, ready to get to bed for the night. Except you.
“Guys,” You said, quiet as a mouse, but everyone heard you. Because you never stopped anyone for anything, “can we all have a chat?”
Dread nestled itself into Harry’s stomach. A chat? About what? Everyone? Why did everyone have to be present? What was going on?
The housemates sat back down, if a little tentatively, gazes wary. You finally gave Harry your attention, if only fleetingly with a worried smile.
“Are you alright?” Abbie asked and pulled your hand into hers.
Harry leaned forwards.
“You’ll all be getting an email tomorrow, but I wanted to tell you in person.” You licked your lips, stare heavy on the stone floor of the living room. “Dad is selling the house.”
~
A little piece of your heart broke that evening when your dad told you his plans to sell. It was a place that you had such an odd relationship with, because while it cost a lot of money and caused a lot of financial problems, it also brought you a family you never asked for and a man you never dreamed of having.
You knew your dad would try and hold onto it as long as he possibly could because it had become your home, and he’d been in bits over dinner as he broke the news. He cried, so you cried, and then your sister cried, too. Everyone had been a mess.
“What?” George said, dumbfounded. Hell, everyone was dumbfounded.
“It’s the last thing he wanted to do, but it’s kind of burning a hole in his pocket and we can’t afford it anymore. Between the leaking second floor and dodgy plumbing there’s also woodworm and stone repairs and all sorts of other crap I don’t want to bore you with.”
“You found this out today?” Abbie asked, bottom lip trembling.
“Yeah, an hour or so ago. I’m really sorry, guys.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Rhys frowned.
Abbie crawled across the small gap between her and you and wrapped her arms around you. “We get it. It’s old, it’s a bit rickety and it needs a lot of TLC. We all know your dad gave it all the care he could afford and it’s okay that he can’t afford it anymore.”
“How long do we have to find new places?” George asked, biting his lip.
“As long as it takes to sell. Given the condition of the place it could be fuckin’ ages.” You managed a laugh.
“If your dad needs us to do anything, he just needs to let us know. And we’ll make sure it’s tidy as fuck for viewings and shit.”
“Thanks, Rhys.”
The housemates starting shifting again, collecting up their bits and leaving with softly spoken good nights. You still didn’t move, and neither did Harry. After a quiet minute or so, he slipped his hand into yours and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“What are you thinking?” He asked in a gravelly whisper.
You took a deep breath, nibbling away at your lower lip. “That I’m scared.”
“Scared?”
“Mhm.”
“Scared about what?”
You turned to face him, cataloguing every crease of worry on his handsome face. “Us. What this means for us.”
He gently cupped your cheek, his thumb stroking over your cheekbone. “What do you think it means for us?”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m scared it means the end, when I don’t want it to. I’m scared that what we’ve been doing is just… convenient? And now that we have to leave it won’t be so convenient anymore and it will be over.”
“You don’t want it to be over.” It wasn’t a question.
“No. Not even a little bit. I… I don’t want a night without you ever again. I can sleep with you around. I can breathe. I need to breathe, and I can’t do that without you. And part of me hates that I need you, but I do, and the rest of me that doesn’t hate it tells me to fuck everything to the wind. Because it’s not just need, it’s also a want. I just want you around, like you have been. Presence is such a funny thing when it comes from different people, but yours… I like yours. A lot.”
Harry spoke your name in a low voice, gaze on your mouth as he smoothed his thumb across your lower lip, “I don’t want it to be over, either.” He meets your gaze again, cool, calm and collected. “I really hoped it wouldn’t be at any stage ever, least not because we have to leave the house and find another one. I’ve been living with you for three fucking years and I also don’t want to have to spend a night where you don’t live with me. Hell, it’s not even a fucking option. I know you love this place because it’s your family’s, but I don’t care where we live as long as we do it together. I’ve been looking at other places since the day I moved in, and the only reason I haven’t bothered to leave is because you kept me here, whether you meant to or not. And now we have to leave, and I’m sure as shit gonna take you with me, because I can’t live without you.”
You stared at him for a moment, and then launched into his arms, tackling him into the sofa. You peppered his face with kisses until he caught your lips and held you there, happy in the knowledge that you needed each other and that was absolutely fucking okay.
“You’re special to a lot of people, but especially to me.” Harry mumbled into your lips. “I’m selfish enough to not let you go.”
“I don’t want you to.”
“Good.”
You remained in the lounge for a little while longer, wrapped up in one another, until movement began upstairs and you decided it was probably time to head upstairs to bed. Before you made it to the stairs, Rhys and George appeared in front of you. Rhys looked apprehensive and George looked irritated he’d been dragged out of his room again.
“What’s going on?” You asked, cocking your head.
“Abbie’s in the loo so I’m gonna make this real quick before she comes back.” Rhys threw a wary glance over his shoulder. “I need your help.”
~
Every morning was the same.
This week it had been, anyway. You woke up with the sunrise, wrapped in Harry’s arms, and you listened to his heartbeat and his unconscious breathing for a blissful twenty minutes before his alarm went off. Then he’d fall out of bed with a reluctant yawn, mooch his way around the room and disappear into the bathroom to get ready for work.
Upon reappearing he’d head to the kitchen to make a coffee and leave a cup of tea on your bedside table, then a kiss on your lips, and then you’d watch the man who defined ‘sex on legs’ leave your apartment from the comfiest spot in the bedroom.
Today was the same, but different. He wasn’t going to work today, and neither were you. It meant longer in bed, with enough time for sexy shenanigans, then he’d make for the bathroom, bring you tea afterwards and breakfast.
You spent the day in bed, right up until 5 o’clock when you had to get up and go out to give your keys back.
Yes, your dad had managed to sell the house. It had taken a while, but it got there. The new owners were moving in tomorrow, and you’d all arranged to meet your dad and your sister there to do a final ‘handover’.
George had moved into a studio flat in the centre of town but spent most of his nights at his boyfriend’s place. Rhys and Abbie had finally bought that house they always wanted, out of town but easy to travel into. And you and Harry also had your own place, still renting and in the city, but it was yours together, and that was all you wanted.
“Are you nervous?” Harry asked as you walked up to the front of old Blackpool Tower.
“I’m not the one that needs to be nervous.” You shrugged, even if you had been the one to help Rhys with most of the planning.
He’d been a lot of work over the past few weeks. After he initially asked for your help he spent so long searching for the damn jewellery he forgot about the rest of it. You had reminded him on many occasions that it didn’t need a big song and dance, but he insisted, because he wanted it in the house you’d all shared with her favourite people to witness it.
The garden was lit up in the early evening with fairy lights and candles. George, your sister and your dad were already at the far end waiting for Rhys and Abbie to arrive. You gave over your keys - dad had the house professionally cleaned even though you had offered, because it was too big a task for one person.
Blackpool Illuminations
Rhys We’re nearly there…
Yes, Rhys had really named the group chat for the planning committee ‘Blackpool Illuminations’.
You stood next to your sister who wrapped herself around your middle, and Harry kept hold of your free hand.
“I hope she says no.” Your sister said, and Harry snorted. “Just for a laugh.”
“I don’t think Abbie has it in her to say no to Rhys.” You mused.
Five minutes later the couple in question turned up. Abbie had no idea what was going on, obviously. She’d been told they were going for dinner and then for a walk. The walk was always supposed to end here, at the old house.
Abbie gasped at the sight before her, hands on her mouth as she moved through the garden. “What’s going on?”
Behind her, Rhys swiftly dropped to one knee and presented the ring he’d spent months agonising over. “Abbie,”
You all watched and listened as Rhys spent five minutes talking about how perfect his girl was for him. It was very typical Rhys - overboard and unnecessarily long. Most things maybe could’ve been kept for his wedding vows.
Just as your sister was about to explode from restlessness, Rhys finally asked, “Will you marry me?”
“I would’ve said yes five minutes ago.” Abbie giggled, nodding, and held her left hand out.
George and your sister started hollering, your dad was pretending not to cry, and you fell into Harry’s hold again, watching the happy couple with a warm smile.
“I hope to God they don’t ask me to help plan the actual wedding.”
Harry chuckled and pressed his lips into your temple. “I’ll make sure they don’t.”
Your sister presented herself in front of you with an assured look on her face. “When are you two getting engaged, then?”
Harry choked behind you, and you gave your sister a bewildered look. “Reel it in, please.”
“What?” She shrugged. “Being in love suits you. A wedding would really suit you.”
“A wedding isn’t something you arrange for an aesthetic, sis.” You reminded her.
“Speak for yourself, but I do recommend heavily considering it.”
After she turned away, Harry lowered his mouth to the shell of your ear. “I wouldn’t mind marrying you.”
You tightened his arms around you. “One day.” You said with a kiss to his palm.
His smile imprinted on your cheek. “One day.”
~.~.~.~.~
Thank you so v much for reading if you make it this far. It’s a long one, I know. The longest one shot I’ve actually ever done. Much love to you <3
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motherloads · 8 months
Text
Meet Me in the Pale Moonlight
Disclaimer: I absolutely love Jenny in the film! Too bad I like writing miscommunication. No bashing of Jenny!
The reader was supposed to be brooding and menacing? But she’s a wreck with a symbiote lol.
My spanish is also pretty meh in writing despite being Mexican myself. I speak better than I write! Pls keep that in mind ◡̈
Summary: The reader watches on the sidelines as Jenny and her longtime crush, Jaime Reyes become close to one another. Being Milagro's closest friend, she dreads when she has to come over and see the lovebirds.
But who says her little friend would allow this to happen? And who says what she sees is true?
->Pairings: Jaime Reyes x F!Reader
-> Use of (Name).
-> Marvel/DC crossover (mentioned Eddie Brock, Peter Parker, and relations to other fic)
->Warning: So much miscommunication, murder talk, and spinal cord removal :(
Once again, please ignore grammar mistakes.
⋆。°✩
I'm the sweetest girl in town so why are you so mean? When you gonna ditch that stupid, you got? It's me you should be seeing.
"Are you just going to continue to stare?" Milagro questions her close friend, who stares at her brother with a pair of love-sick eyes. "Dude, just go talk to him."
"Can't really do that," Her friend hums in response, "Look, Kord is walking over to him. Now he's going to have the brightest smile ever and then they'll hug Then she's going to pat him on the back and start helping him with your house remodel. Look! They're doing it!"
Exactly at that point, Jaime laughs as Jenny pushes him over, grabbing the paintbrush on her own and assisting him with the cream-colored outer walls. Jaime shakes his head in response, nudging her back.
"So what? I'm his sister, and what I can tell you is that they are NOT together. They're just really good friends!" Milagro explains, quieting down when Jaime looks over. "Come on, clear it up. I don't want to see my best friend so sad."
"I'm grieving," She pouts, lowering herself into the chair, "You don't see what I see. They are definitely together."
"Si no lo preguntas, nunca vas a saber," Another voice exclaims. Both girls turn their heads to her mother who shakes her head at them. "Don't be shy! I don't want my future daughter-in-law to lose her chance."
Feeling her face heat up, she looks away from the older woman's words. "I know he's your son, but I can't. I'm sorry."
Maybe if you weren't such a pussy, you would have gotten the guy. Does the K-dramas we watch together not mean anything?
The sudden voice caused her to jump straight into her seat. Narc had been quiet since she had arrive at the Reyes’ house hold. She hadn’t expected them to speak at all since he rarely did when she was at their residence. At first, it was off putting to never hear the familiar voice, but she slowly grew used to the silence.
Born out of wedlock from the original symbiote, Narc had been the symbiote who had begun their stay before she arrived in this Universe. They were the only connection she had to the life she once had. Or was it the other being stuck here as well? She wasn’t sure, she ignored all contact to the woman connected to her in more ways than one.
"K-Dramas are not real, idiot." She hissed under her breath.
"Did you say something, Mija?" Mrs. Reyes questions, resting her hand under the woman's chin. "You often talk to yourself, just like little Jaime."
"Mama!" Jaime calls out, "I'm not little anymore! Come on, don't tell her that!"
"You are little, cabrón. Don't you remember the incident? Naked con tus chiquito huevitos." His Uncle Rudy cackles, "Don't you remember that, ama?"
Their Nana shakes her head in response, smiling broadly at the memory. Milagro begins to laugh as well while Jenny sits beside the girls with a small nod in the direction of (Name). She returns the gesture, crossing her hands as she ignored how hard her heart hammered.
"I'm lost," (Name) murmurs, "So, so lost...But anyway, I have to head out. Thank you for having me!"
"Come by anytime, (Name)." Jaime grins, walking up to her and hugging the girl tightly, "Just remember to ignore anything they say about me, okay? Don't want them ruining anything."
"They're your family, I don't think they are capable of doing so," She pats his back, looking down at Milagro who fake kisses the air in front of her. Jenny seems to notice as she raises her eyebrows at the duo still hugging.
"You can let me go now, Jaime." (Name) murmurs into his ear, "Don't want her getting the wrong idea."
Jaime pulls away, smiling at the girl in front of him. His eyes flickered down for a second before he looked back at her, "Sorry?" She smiles sadly at him as she moves towards her vehicle. She refuses to look at the family behind her as she hears the conversation pick up again.
I think we should kill her.
"Absolutely not. There is a new hero here, Narc. We can't just murder a well-known figure and expect to get away with it." She groans, buckling her seat belt. She looks back at the family once more as she shifts her gear to drive.
We've done it once. And we can do it again.
"I don't think killing the Green Goblin counts for anything! He was already crazier than us, so the headlines were thanking us!" She exclaims.
His brain was nasty anyway.
⋆。°✩
"Do you think Blue Beetle is cool?" Milagro asks, absentmindedly moving her straw around in boredom. "Personally, I think he's a huge nerd. What do you think?"
"Who says you can bother me on my shift?" (Name) frowns, cleaning the bar top in front of her, "And how did they let you in?"
"I have my ways," Milagro grins, "Answer my question. I need to know."
"I think he's...unique? From the news I have seen of him, it's obvious he is of Hispanic Descent. His suit is otherworldly, so I'm assuming it's some kind of alien tech he is using. Definitely not Superman, though." (Name) shrugs, moving the alcoholic beverages aside as she begins assisting the bartenders alongside her.
"Do you think he's cute under his mask?" Milagro leans closer, "Would you date him?"
I would eat him.
"I wouldn't eat him," (Name) responds instead. She pauses as the conversation around her began to quiet down. Some stared at her while others whispered to their compadres nearby.
"I...didn't ask that? I asked if you think he's cute and if you would date him. Dude, where the hell is your mind thinking right now?" Milagro whispers, eyeing the men nearby, "God, I’ve always hated this bar. A bunch of chismosos who are almost always cheating on their wives here. They're always eyeing you too. How do you handle that?"
"First, I can't tell if Blue Beetle is cute based on his voice. Second, I wouldn't date him since I am sooo hung up on your brother." Milagro snorts. "Lastly, this is the only bar that offers the minimum wage. I can handle drunk men well, I've always had."
The conversation began to pick up again as most began focusing on the news displayed in front of them. Blue Beetle was shown on live television, fighting off rogue soldiers from Victoria Kord's force. Despite the woman being long gone, the impact she made had not quite disappeared.
"I knew you were still into him! I say you ask him out! You ain't a homewrecker if he isn't in a relationship!"
"Didn't you say Kord and Jaime kissed? That your whole family cheered for the couple?"
"A fluke! It's a fluke I swear, but it is complicated! Just ask Jaime, please? It would be so cool for us to be family."
"If our lives are ever in danger at this very bar, then I'll ask." (Name) turns away from Milagro's eyes, "That means it will never ha-"
Her voice gets cut off when bullets begin hitting the bar's windows, causing the occupants to duck down to safety. Many of the drunken men tried to escape but most were quickly shot down by the bullets.
Milagro screams, ducking down into a crouch as the bullets continue. (Name) ignores the danger as she maneuvers her way through the destruction. She grabs Milagro, forcing the girl to look her in the eyes. "I need you to hide behind the bar, okay? The bullets won't get you. We will protect you.”
"W-who's we?" Milagro cries as (Name) pushes her behind the bar. There was silence for a moment as screams echoed in the bar. "(Name)? Where are you going?" She pushed Milagro down, moving her way from the bar corner as she looked at the bodies around her. Many men stayed below tables, looking at her in fear as she counted the people alive.
"Nobody get up. It’s not ove-" Her words get cut off when bullets pierce through her whole body. She is flung against the countertop as a bullet pierces too close to her heart. She hears her name being called out as Milagro tries to find her way to the woman.
She smiles at the tear-stained face in her vision. The fear in the other girl's eyes was evident as she continued to scream her name. At that moment, smoke bombs are thrown through the window. The screams had begun to mesh together, the fog covering the vision of the little who were still alive.
She feels the blood oozing out of her mouth, the familiar metallic filling up her mouth. She sputters, not being able to breathe.
It's your turn.
My turn.
Shoes stepping on glass were all everyone heard as the perpetrators stepped through the mess they caused. They held their gun up in return, moving through the fog stealthily. As they communicated with one another, they grew unnoticed by the thing they had angered.
"Find the Reyes girl. She is to be left alive." One spoke up, "Kill every survivor." The main soldier calls out. They await the confirmation of the others but they hear nothing. "I need an affirmative."
The soldier gets smacked in response, feeling themselves recoil from the weight against their body. When they look down at the unfamiliar weight, they begin to scream.
The weight crushing them was there comrade. Left unrecognizable with no head in sight. The blood wafts through their mask. They begin to gag as they try to pull the body off of them. They freeze up when a bloodied helmet rolls closer. Empty and dented, the helmet hits their shoe with a loud clank.
The fog begins to clear up, displaying the mess left behind. The soldier tensed when they noticed the bodies presented around the room. Many hung from the lights, their necks cracking from the added weight of their helmet. Others were hazardously thrown against tables. One had a table leg pierced through their helmet.
"Why must humans be so selfish? Is this fun for you, you pathetic piece of shit?" The soldier whimpers in response, turning their eyes away from the figure crouching in front of their face.
The creature, despite crouching, was still overlooking the only soldier left alive. The disarray and multi-color of the night sky reflected back to the onlookers who began to murmur about the new being. They tilt their head and leaned closer to the soldier, their bright, soulless eyes stared into the helmet. They licked the sharp smile forming from the fear they felt radiating off the soldier.
"Unlike the Blue Beetle, we do not care about the lives of our victims. What do you think happens next?"
"W-What the hell are you?"
"If you must know, my host has named us Narc. Will you beg for your life now?"
The Soldier rips their helmet off, looking at Narc with a look of fear, "Please. Please. I'm sorry. I'll never do this again, please!"
"He had once told us the same. You are just like the others. Pathetic. Unworthy. A perfect meal."
A scream is ripped through his victim's vocal cords as Narc bites down. Blood seeped through their mouth as they ripped out the spinal cord in one sharp turn. Narc stands, spitting their leftovers to the side.
"Hey, ugly!" A voice called out, "What the hell are you doing, man?"
Narc cranes their neck towards the entrance of the bar, watching as Blue Beetle floated at his place. They both stared at each other, unmoving.
"Blue Beetle!" A voice calls out, Milagro moving from her hiding spot to the blue-and-black-clad hero. "My friend is gone! She was just--where is she?" She turns her head towards Narc, who stares down at the shaking girl.
"Get away from it!" Blue Beetle yells, flying through the bar as he centers himself between Milagro and Narc. "Take it up with me and not the civilians!"
"He just--he ate all the soldiers--" Milagro gasps, stepping behind Blue Beetle, "I saw what he did--"
"You--What the hell are you?" Blue Beetle points his palms toward Narc, who continues to stare in silence.
"Does my figure scare you? I can hear your heartbeat." Narc cranes their head towards Milagro. Blue Beetle blocks her from their eyesight. “Worry not, we do not hurt the innocent.”
With those words, Narc feels their familiar bulking figure die down to their less impending figure. The duo are lost for words at the new figure presented in front of them.
"I'm so sorry I think I misgendered you--" Milagro's eyes stayed pinned to the pair of boobs Narc had.
"Where's (Name)?" Blue Beetle turns his head around, "Khaji-Da says she is still here! She was working, right?" His questions are to Milagro.
None of the three seemed to notice the survivors running out of the bar.
"She is here. With me." Narc hums, moving closer to Blue Beetle, "Is Khaji-Da your symbiote?"
"Symb--what? What do you mean (Name) is with you?"
"Jaime Reyes. You are a host are you not?"
"Stop avoiding my questions! Where is she?! How do you know my name--That is not my name! I do not know Jaime Reyes. Do you?"
"I have known of the scarab on your back since the beginning. Do not worry, (Name) remains clueless, for now."
"Why are you saying her name as if you know her?" Milagro questions.
Narc purrs, tilting their head closer to Blue Beetle who stepped back hesitantly. "We have known each other for a long time. We are bonded together until she dies. She is my key to survival in your world. She is me. I am her. We are one. We are Narc."
“Like Narcotics? Did she get you from a drug? She doesn’t seem like the type to do drugs.” Milagro questions, stepping closer to the duo, “And why are you so close? I can smell you from here!”
“We are host and symbiote. We am not from here, you see. Your alien won’t know of us.”
Milagro and Blue Beetle share a look, communicating with silent words. Blue Beetle lowers his hand, allowing Narc to step closer. The symbiote smiles, their purrs growing louder.
“I see why she likes you.”
With those words, Narc sinks into (Name)'s skin, leaving the woman defenseless from the eyes of her long-time crush and friend. She drops to the floor, her wounds patching over themselves with a familiar goo.
Blue Beetle drops to the floor, bringing (Name) close to his body. He rocks her back and forth as Milagro stumbles beside him. Her eyes were bloodshot and the tears that disappeared has formed all over again.
"Why didn't she tell us? Why didn't she tell me?" Blue Beetle, now Jaime who removed his helmet. He leans his forehead on the woman and murmurs into her hair. He kisses her temple as Milagro continues to cry.
"Why didn't she tell us her hero name is literally short for Narcotics?!"
⋆。°✩
(Name) awakes to a horrible headache splintering her head. She groans as she shifts closer to the warmth of an unfamiliar body. She nuzzles in closer to the warmth, groaning at the light against her eyelids.
"Narc turn off the lights...I feel like I've just been shot." She moans, gripping her blanket tighter against her body, "I'm going out with Milagro later. I have to go buy cat food..."
"Milagro is taking care of Eddie, don't worry." A familiar voice whispers against her head, "Just go back to sleep. I'll block the sunlight."
"Thanks, Jaime..." Processing the name that came out, she jumps away from the warmth. She stares at Jaime, who stares back in equal shock and sleepiness. His hair was a mess, pointing in different directions. She presses her hand to her mouth, gasping behind it.
"Oh my god. We didn't have sex, did we? If so, that would be awkward because you are my best friend's brother and you literally have a girlfriend. I can't even get drunk so it's impossible for me to forget--oh my god am I in your house?"
"Hey, Hey," Jaime soothes her, smiling at the woman freaking out in his bed, "We didn't have sex and we were not drunk. You were...shot multiple times and some things came to light, but it's okay now, I promise."
"I'm still sleeping in your bed though! You could have left me, being shot doesn't stop me! We were holding each other?! What would Kord think if she saw this now?" She grips the unfamiliar sweater covering her body, feeling her legs shift through from under the sheets and hit against Jaime's.
"Jenny? What about Jenny? We aren't...We aren't dating if that's what you're worried about." Jaime grabbed her by the face, locking eyes with her who looked anywhere but him. "I can't just leave you when you were hurt."
"Milagro said you two kissed."
"We did once have feelings for each other. But it's long gone now, it was just a...heat of a moment kind of thing." Jaime brings her cheeks towards his chest, which she just noticed had nothing covering him from her eyes. Her hands stopped short on his stomach. She felt his stomach flutter in response.
"Besides, I like someone else. I like you."
She feels her heart stop at his confession.
Knew it.
"No shit." She exclaims, looking up at Jaime who smiles down at her doe-like look.
"I do." He whispers back. They both stared at one another until he leaned closer to her face. She felt his breath fan her face as she wrinkled her nose.
"You stink." She snorts, moving her hands to the back of his neck. He laughs at her words.
"Yours smells much worse. Now, come here--" She cuts him off, smashing her lips to his. He holds her waist, bringing her to sit on his lap. Her tongue finds his, leaning closer as her hand moves to stay on his chest. Biting his lip, she softly sucks it lightly. She opens her eyes to find his eyes half-lidded, enjoying the moment.
When she pulls away, her lips find his neck, kissing down to his collarbone. Pulling her hand back to his neck, she inhales his scent.
"Couldn't have waited until I was asleep. You are always like this. The same exact way with Peter Parker."
They both jump at the new voice, turning their heads towards Narc who floated their head around the room, reading the boxes that held different items. She turns her head to Jaime, eyes wide, waiting for him to begin screaming.
"Narc-uh. They explained more about your origins with each other. After finding them standing in a bloodbath, Milagro and I thought the worst had happened but someone--something told me to let Narc explain."
"They told you about our.... situationship?" She questions, gripping onto Jaime's bicep. "You're supposed to be running away--not making out with me!"
"And you! You aren't supposed to be out. You're grounded!" She growls, pulling Jaime's face into the crook of her neck, "You told him everything, huh? Why can't you ever keep secrets? She'll be angry our cover was blown!"
She ignored the look Narc gives, opting to continue her rant, “Asshole, is it because I’m not letting you meet Red Robin? You know it isn’t allowed!”
"The other youngling saw you get shot. Was I supposed to act as if I ate you instead?"
"Actually, yes! Nobody is supposed to know, you promised. We promised Eddie."
"You made a promise to your cat?" Jaime's muffled voice questions. Despite the situation, he bites her neck. "Who is Peter Parker?"
She glares at Narc, who innocently whistles. "No one Jaime, he is no one."
"Former boy toy." Narc responds instead, "Hell of an amateur kisser."
"You kissed him! Not me!" She turns to Jaime, pulling his head back to stare at him, "I'm so sorry, I don't know why they're acting this way. I'll go right now, seriously. I don't want you in our mess."
"Relax," Jaime comforts, grabbing her hand that stayed on his cheek. He smiles at her, "I can protect myself. Look--"
She felt him shift from under her, watching in shock as his body began to be covered by a familiar suit she had seen countlessly on television. Everything except his face was covered in armor. Whilst she analyzed the markings on his suit, Narc moved closer as well.
"Does your scarab only speak to you?" Narc asks, "It is unlike anything I have seen on my planet. Do you feed them as well?"
"They aren't really fed? They don't need sustenance. Khaji-Da only talks to me in my head so they're like a second voice...and planet?"
"This is going to be a long talk," She sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "At least you don't have to feed them human brains..."
"What?" Jaime recoils, looking at the two with wide eyes, "I'm sorry? Brains? Like Zombies? The Walking Dead? Like zombies from The Last of Us?!"
"I thought you told him everything!"
"I would never tell of my eating habits! Humans are judgemental!"
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novemberevenings · 3 months
Text
somewhere between the stars | chapter 1
Azriel is your best friend. The best, most brilliant, and dearest friend you have ever known. It gets harder and harder to separate your platonic and romantic feelings for him.
A/N: first chapter of this series!!! honestly wanted to write my own rendition of an angsty, mutual pining fic w my azzy <3 anyways this first part isn’t the longest but i’m posting it to motivate myself to write the next part!! (btw italics indicate a flash back!)
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The night sky seems peaceful tonight, almost as if it were at ease. A chill night breeze brushes past, swirling in the soft grass in greeting. The branches of a nearby tree sway, the only sound being the soft caress of leaves. Lying with your head laid back against the grass, eyes closed in a mix of exhaustion and ecstasy. 
At the feel of a soft, scarred hand brushing against your own, you open your eyes and tilt your head to the side. You’re greeted with a familiar and comforting sight. Your best friend's questioning gaze and furrowed brows make you quietly ask, “What's going on in that head of yours?” 
It’s a phrase that you both have claimed as yours. When either of you needs to be dragged out of your thoughts, the other won’t hesitate to ask to ground you back to the present. 
He’s quiet for a moment, trying to find the words that are jumbled up in his head. He turns to look at the sky once again before asking, “Do you think they’re watching us?” 
“Who?” His question puzzles you, not quite understanding where it's coming from. 
“The stars, the moon. I dunno, maybe the entire sky.” You’re used to his weird questions. It’s become a thing that you’ve got going on between the two of you. “If they are, I hope they don’t snitch on us.” 
This earns you a light chuckle, his head slightly shaking from laughter. Realistically, the sight of two younglings watching the stars at night shouldn’t be a problem. But for a boy who has to wake up for training early in the morning and a girl who has to continue with her apprenticeship, they could get punished for being out this late at night. 
“I like to think that they are. Watching over us, I mean.” 
“Az, that’s kinda really creepy.” 
He laughs indignantly, lightly shoving at your shoulder. It’s silent again, but you can tell he wants to say more, so you wait. “There’s just… so much out there, you know? It’s so big, and there’s so much we don’t know. I like thinking that, somewhere out there, someone’s looking out for us.” 
You take a second to just marvel at the way he thinks. A sudden feeling of gratitude and pride washes over you at being one of the few people who gets to see this side of him. The side of him that’s bright and curious, hopeful. 
You turn your head back towards the sky, looking at the stars and the empty spaces between them. Your best friend’s words are still in your head, trying to form an answer. 
When you look back at him, you find his gaze already on you. He looks at you just like how he looks at the night sky, with reverence and utter devotion. It compels you to reply, “Well, regardless of who’s out there, I’ll always look out for you.” 
He gives you a soft smile, the one that you’ve come to treasure and look forward to. “I’ll always look out for you, too.” 
✧・゚: *✧・゚:*
Tucked into a corner in the library at the House of Wind, your eyes roam over the page you’re reading. You were catching up on some old texts, brushing up on your knowledge of some spells. As the sorceress of the Inner Court, you always wanted to ensure you could protect your family. 
A clock nearby chimes, and you poke your head out to check the time. It was almost time for dinner, but you still wanted to finish the chapter you were reading. Going back to your book, it wasn’t long until the doors to the library slammed open, surprising a couple of priestesses nearby, an arrogant General waltzing in looking to find you. 
“You know, Cass, they expect silence in a library.” Closing the book with a resounding snap, you stand up from the cozy armchair you’d been sitting in, returning the book to its rightful place on a nearby shelf. “Lovely to see you too, my dearest Y/N.” 
You half-heartedly roll your eyes at him but take the arm he’s offering as he leads you out of the library. The two of you exchange stories of the day, Cassian recounting training with the Valkyries that morning. You listen to him intently, but you stop in your tracks when he says, “Az is coming home tonight.”  
“He is?” Your eyes widen as relief washes over you, not realizing how worried and tense you have been throughout the past week since Azriel was gone on a mission. 
“Yeah, sent Rhys a message ‘bout an hour ago.” 
At your look of shock and surprise, Cassian follows up with, “He didn’t tell you?” 
You softly shake your head, dismissing him. “I’m sure he was just really busy with work. It’s fine, Cass. Nothing to worry about.” 
Your soft, encouraging smile did nothing to ease Cassian’s worry, but he didn’t push on the subject. 
There had been this rift growing between you and Az. Both of you had been quite busy with your duties, Az especially. But you can’t help but feel there’s something else that’s causing this, and you hate it. Your friendship with him is one of the best things in your life, and the idea of losing him was… devastating. You don’t think you would be able to survive it. 
But you plan on fixing it as soon as he gets back. A simple conversation will fix this, you’re sure. 
“Alright, come on then.” 
✧・゚: *✧・゚:*
It was a calm night in the House of Wind. Everyone had gathered for weekly family dinner, and all was well. Everyone except for Azriel, that is. 
To say you were tense and anxious would be an understatement. Even a blind man could see just how worried you were. While everyone else was lounging in their seats and sipping their glasses of wine, you sat with your back straight, hands fiddling with each other nervously. 
“Loosen up a little, Y/N! Cauldron, you look like someone just killed your puppy.” You roll your eyes at Cassian’s teasing. Sometimes, you worry your eyes would be stuck at the back of your head whenever you’re with him. 
“Oh, give her a break, Cass. We all know why she’s acting this way.” Mor says, trying to lighten your mood. 
And it’s true. Everyone gathered around you knows exactly why you were so tense and worried. Despite Azriel sending you a message that he would be back tonight, your worry would not disappear until you saw him with your own two eyes, safe and unharmed. 
It was no secret to anyone how close the two of you were. Best friends ever since you met each other in Windhaven. Your friendship was one of the constants in your life, forever a source of comfort. He was your closest confidant, the shoulder you could always lean on, the first person you celebrate the good news with, and the first person to wipe your tears away when you cry. 
He wasn’t just your best friend. He was… your best everything. 
You tried your best to enjoy the night, joking with your family and catching up on each other’s day. Although your worry wasn’t completely gone, the presence of your family always put you at ease, love pouring through every interaction. 
“As I was saying, wing-warmers should totally be a thing. You don’t know just how much the cold affects our wings. I feel like an oversized icicle flying around the–”
Cassian stops mid-rant as a figure appears in the doorway. Everyone follows his line of sight at his silence, your head quickly snapping towards the doorway. 
And just like that, a week’s worth of worry and anxiety melts from your body. The sight of Azriel in his leathers, all seven siphons gleaming, is one you’ve longed for. 
“Az,” you sigh softly in relief. 
“Hi,” he replies. That soft smile you think is reserved just for you spreads across his face, eyes crinkling a little at the edges. 
That one word was all it took for you to fly out of your seat, running towards him at full speed. He catches you, bringing you into his warm embrace immediately. You tuck your face into the crook of his neck, wrapping your arms as tight as you can around his neck. In response, Azriel buries his nose into your hair, tightening his grip around your waist. 
You pull back slightly, your arms holding his shoulders so you can better scan his body for any injuries. 
At the worry in your face, Azriel asks, “What’s going on in that head of yours?” 
You notice his attempt to lighten your mood and snark right back at him. “Nothing, just thinking about how much you stink.”
He lets out a chuckle, and you can feel his chest vibrate from your proximity. “And here I thought you missed me.” 
You stay in his embrace for a little longer, feeling grateful that he’s returned unharmed, and take a moment to just look at him, reminding yourself that he’s back. A cough sounds from somewhere behind you. “Hello? Care to share him with the rest of us?” 
Rhys’ impatient yet teasing tone makes you and Azriel laugh, pulling apart to let the other members of your family greet him. 
You stand back, watching him embrace everyone else. Finally, you feel settled, like a part of you was missing, and now you’re whole again. You try your best not to think too much about what that might mean, wanting just to enjoy the fact that your best friend is back.
✧・゚: *✧・゚:*
162 notes · View notes
oreosmilkshakes · 1 year
Text
Forever Mine
Pairing: Namor/K’uk’ulkan x reader
Fandom: Marvel- Black Panther Wakanda Forever
Word Count: 2,764
Warning(s): Dark Namor, !!there may be spoilers!!, violence, stalking behaviour, assault, kidnapping, dark ending
A/N: I hope I got the language Namor spoke correctly. I would be so disappointed if I didn’t :((. I watched BPWF recently and guess who I fell for               ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)? Also, cringy title, I know. Anyway, here is my contribution to Namor. Not my best work but here is another dark (I hope) fic by me. Happy reading!
Taglist: NIL
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The first time she saw him… it was close to midnight.
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Her eyes had trouble seeing in the dark night, with the light emitting from her home giving no help. There was a dark silhouette standing under a tree, by the rocks where water would occasionally strike it. [Name]’s breath hitched, frozen on the spot. She really tried to make out the figure but he just stood there amongst the darkness.
“H-hello?” She called out to the figure, swallowing nervously. Her heart raced, feeling a drop of sweat trickling down her forehead. [Name] blinked, only to find the dark figure had seemingly disappeared into thin air. She felt goosebumps covering her skin, rubbing her arms quickly to try to calm herself.
[Name] tried looking out for the figure, even calling out. Perhaps the darkness had played tricks on her, shadows of the night that danced in the darkness. After all, the mind was a powerful tool. She ventured closer to where the figure was, noticing something glinting at her.
“Huh?” She tilted her head, kneeling down to dust the sand off the item. It winked at her. Under the pale moonlight, she could make out the item. It was a bracelet, made out of green jewels and a study fibre as its strings. Her fingers picked up the bracelet, dusting more sand off.
Did someone lose this? Perhaps it belonged to someone from the village. It certainly didn’t look like it had an owner. The jewel looked exotic and did not look like it belonged to this land.
Clutching the bracelet close, [Name] briskly made her way back home, making sure her windows and doors were locked. She couldn’t stop thinking of the haunting silhouette as she changed into her nightgown, the bracelet now left on the bedside table. A soft yawn escaped her lips, switching off the bedside lamp. She drifted off to sleep with nothing by the figure and the bracelet on her mind.
--------------------------------------------
The next time she saw him..it was close to noon, where the day was bright.
The sun was a comforting warmth as [Name] smoothed her sundress down. It had been a month since her unexpected encounter and she had forgotten about it with the brace around her wrist now. The very next day, she went to the village, asking around if the bracelet belonged to anyone but her actions were futile. The bracelet belonged to no one so she decided to wear it. It was a gorgeous piece of jewellery and it would be a shame to just leave it alone. [Name] hummed a soft tune to herself, broom in hand as she cleaned up her front porch of any dead leaves. She never regretted living alone, so far out in the country and so close to the water where it was always peaceful.
She stopped humming when she heard singing. The woman paused her chore, listening closely. Amidst the wind and the sound of the waves, someone was singing. She set the broom against the wall, leaving the comforts of her home to follow the source of the singing. It was like a trance, like magic. She couldn’t pull away from the trance even if she wanted to. She inched closer to the water, the soft, magical tune stopped and that’s when she saw him.
A man. A man with pointed ears, dressed in the most gorgeous pieces of jewellery she had ever seen and nothing but green shorts. He was tall, skin a beautiful tan, broad chest exposed for the world to see. Her jaw slacked as she studied the man from head to toe. He wore a calm expression but [Name] could see his eyes–oh, his eyes were dark and clouded. He took a step forward and she took a step back. “H-hello? Who are you?” Her voice trembled, betraying the brave look she tried to wear. The man’s expression changed, from calm to amused. He took another step forward again and she saw briefly..wings on his ankles as she took another step back.
“No. Stay away!” The woman yelped as he took another step and this time, he didn’t stop.
[Name] turned tail, running back to her home with her heart pounding against her chest. She slammed the door shut, looking through the blinds to see if the man had followed her. She waited and waited and waited.
Nothing.
He was definitely not human. She knew she lived in a world where aliens and gods existed but to have people dwelling in the water? That was something new altogether. [Name] didn’t hesitate, rushing to her laptop to research what she just saw. What a nightmare.
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The third time she met him..it was five to one at night.
Her research was fruitless. Nobody, seemingly no one, has ever seen a man with pointed ears or anyone dwelling in the waters. [Name] kept on thinking and thinking about him and it haunted her waking days.
Why did he show himself? Did he want something? Did he want to hurt her?
[Name] didn’t know. ‘If he wanted me dead, he could have done it several times over, now,’ She thought, sitting on the steps of her front porch. But, of course, that didn’t mean she could rule that thought out. A rustling sound pulled the woman out of her deep thoughts and a man stumbled towards the beach. He carried a bottle in his hand, his each step wobbled.
‘Oh good. A drunk near my home,’ She sighed and it caught the drunkard’s attention.
He grinned an ugly smile, raising the bottle at her. It looked empty.
“Hmm..what’s a pretty lady doing out here?” The man slurred, approaching the woman. She stood immediately, moving back as the man got closer and closer.
“Come on, little lady. Give me some entertainment?” He offered disgustingly and she almost gagged at that. He had a hand on her and the woman struggled. “No! Get off of me!” She shoved the man off, taking off towards the beach. The man struck his cheek against the pillar, groaning. “You little bitch! Get back here!” He growled, giving chase to the woman.
[Name] turned back as she ran, the drunk man was catching up to her. She screamed loudly when he tackled her, the bottle forgotten in the sand as his hands moved to her dress.
“A little fun won’t hurt,” The drunk cackled, gripping her dress tightly. Tears pricked her eyes as she struggled, fighting against the strength of the man but exhaustion was close to getting her. Both hands went to her face, protecting it from the man. He gave another ugly smile, the smell of alcohol was strong in her face. “That’s it. Just let it happen. It’ll be over soon eno-,” [Name] screamed, feeling something warm splattered all over her. Her body soon felt light, the weight of the man no longer on her as the man fell to the side with a soft ‘thud’. With shaking hands, she opened to look but her view was obscured as she was pulled into a warm, wet chest. A strong arm wrapped around her shoulder, keeping her very close.
“Don’t look,” The deep, accented voice instructed. [Name] wanted to fight, to push away but all she could do was cry in the man’s chest. She didn’t need to look to see who it was. The smell of salt was enough. She cried and sobbed, shaken by the incident. An arm moved under her knee and the other kept a firm, yet soft grip on her shoulder. The man picked her up, slowly walking back in the direction of his love’s seaside home. His ear twitched. His love was quiet as he got closer to her home and he could only conclude that she had fallen asleep in his arms.
Namor’s expression was dark, a calm anger behind his eyes. He set the woman down on her bed, tears covered her smooth cheek. He clenched his jaw, a boiling anger grew in his heart. He hated the surface dwellers and the drunk man was one example why.
How dare he hurt his love? The woman he had been watching ever since she moved into this seaside home.
Namor had grabbed a rag from the kitchen, cleaning the blood off [Name]’s skin. The pale orange dress she wore was ruined and the King made a mental note to replace it with something made by his people. His hands carefully peeled the dress, eyes darkening further at the bare sight before him.
His love was gorgeous.
His queen was worthy of his love.
Namor covered the woman with her blanket, a hand moving to her cheeks to wipe the tear stains away as he leaned down, warm lips brushing her ear.
“Mix máak teech yaan u mentik loob Ma'atech asab, in yaakunaj,” (No one will ever hurt you again, my love) Namor whispered, leaving the woman’s home. He discarded the dress, approaching the dead body. His grand spear stuck out of the human’s body, blood tainted the rich sand. He growled under his breath, gripping the spear. He ripped it out of the body, blood flowed down from the blade to the base of his weapon.
“Asqueroso,” The King spat, leaving the beach. He would have to request the aid of his soldiers to clean up the beach so as to not taint his love’s mind further.
[Name] woke with the bright sun shining on her eyelids. Her body felt heavy and tired, and the memory of last night was faint and a blur. She pushed her blanket off, noticing her bare form underneath it. The longer she stared at her bare skin, the more she began to remember. A loud gasp left her lips, scrambling out of her bed. She reached for her robe, slipping it on as she rushed out the front door.
What happened after the assault was a blur but she remembered the voice. The deep and comforting voice.
[Name] ran to the spot where the incident happened, expecting to find the police and locals surrounding the area but nothing. There was nothing. No people, no drunkard. Nothing. She swallowed, turning to return home. A part of her was afraid to even think about last night’s incident but another part of her sought comfort in the thought that the man had saved her.
The woman shut the door behind her, glancing to her sofa to find an orange piece of fabric. It was beautifully decorated and the material looked soft. She approached the fabric, holding it up. A dress, one to replace yesterday’s. A soft smile spread on her lips, holding the fabric close.
She would have to thank him the next time she saw the man.
--------------------------------------------
But the next time she met him, it was a whole month after that dreadful incident.
[Name] would wait for the man to appear, venturing towards the rocks where she first saw his silhouette or further into the beach with hopes of finding him. Everyday and everynight.
But nothing.
The man didn’t return.
[Name] thought the man had abandoned her, perhaps finding some other woman to be his muse.
Then one night, when the clock almost struck 12 once more, she saw him walking out of the water. The moon was bright that day, giving her a clear view of the man. Her lips parted, heart racing with anticipation as she slowly approached him. It was only then did she realise how much he towered over her. Saltwater coated his skin and she watched as he ran a hand through his wet hair.
“It’s you..,” [Name] began, swallowing as her eyes studied the man closely. His eyes wore the same darkness but it also carried some softness to it.
“Who are you? What are you? I-I cannot thank you enough for saving me. I-,” She stopped, forcing her tears back. Her head hung low, a hand moving to wipe her eyes quickly.
Namor moved a hand under her chin, lifting her head up slowly.
“My people call me K’uk’ulkan. Others who are not in favour, they call me Namor..,” He drifted off, thumb gently brushing her chin as he stared deep into the woman’s eyes.
“K’uk’ulkan,” She spoke, slowly and it sent tingles down the King’s spine. The way his name rolled off her tongue was like music to his ears. He brushed his thumb across her lower lip, humming lowly.
“I am the King of Talokan, my empire, my people. We reside beneath the Atlantic, away from the eyes of..surface dwellers,” She could hear the venom towards the end, flinching a little from the harshness. She brought a hand to his bicep, gently squeezing it in an attempt to comfort the King.
[Name] felt utmost grateful to the King and she inched closer to him.
“Thank you..for saving me. If it wasn’t for you, I..I refuse to think what would even happen if you hadn’t come,” She stopped, moving her head away to look at the distant sea. Namor moved his hands to her hips, gently gripping it. He leaned in, brushing his nose against her hair. “No one will ever hurt you again, mi amor. I will make sure of it,” He whispered lowly. [Name] rested her head against Namor’s chest momentarily, taking in his warmth in this cool night.
[Name] thought back on Namor’s words. It’s clear he didn’t exactly like humans. She knew how destructive they can be. But why her? Why did he not kill her? What makes her so special?
“Why me?” The woman pulled away, eyes meeting Namor’s.
“Hm?” He questioned.
“Why don’t you kill me? Why did you save me? It’s clear you don’t like humans but..but why me?” She asked, wetting her dry lips.
At this, Namor let out a low chuckle. His hand moved to the bracelet around her wrist, thumb brushing against the delicate skin.
“For so long, mi amor, I have watched you. I studied you and the very minute I saw you weren’t a threat, I knew I didn’t want to kill you. Yes, I have a certain hatred towards surface dwellers but it would be irrational of a King to not observe the good and bad aspects of the human race, wouldn’t it? My mother was once human and I accept that part of me,” Namor explained, his hand moving to brush a strand of hair behind the woman’s ear. Her cheeks flushed red and he could hear just how hard her heart was pounding in her chest.
“Do you know the reason why I saved you? Do you know the real reason why I watch you? Because I..,” Namor trailed off, both hands now gripping [Name]’s waist tightly. She winced, brows furrowed as she pushed slightly against the King.
“Because I want you for myself. To be mine and mine only. That filth touched you and I killed him for you. I killed him for you. I decorated my spear with his blood with one thing on my mind– that he hurt you and deserved to die,” [Name] saw his dark eyes, his tone was harsher and his grip was tight.
“L-Let go of me!” She pushed against the King but he refused to let her go.
“No. I will never let you go again. You are mine, [Name]. You are mine and mine only. I will make you my queen and you..you shall bear my child. I will make sure of that,” Namor growled, jaw clenched.
Behind, she could see blue-skinned creatures, dressed like warriors, walking out of the water. The larger male held in his hand a mask.
“No! No!” [Name] screamed, tears flowing down her cheeks as she fought against Namor’s hold. “Please, no! I don’t want this! I don’t want this!” She cried, her arms flailing about. Her fist collided with Namor’s jaw and the King’s head turnt to the side. Her teary eyes widened as Namor slowly turned back to her. Instead of anger, he smirked. Attuma handed his King the mask and he slowly brought it up to the woman’s mouth. [Name] struggled harder but whatever was emitting from the mask made her drowsy.
“No..please..Namor..,” The woman begged, eyes droopy. She slumped against Namor’s strong arm, the mask sitting snugly on her face.
“Sleep now, In yakunaj (my love),” Namor purred, picking the woman up in a bridal style. His lips brushed her forehead in a twisted, loving kiss as he walked towards the water with his soldiers.
“When you wake, everything will be so much better,”
“You are mine..forever,”
2K notes · View notes
voguescapes · 1 year
Text
h. styles | vanity fair
pairings. harry styles x famous!reader
about. harry and (y/n) are guest on 'vanity fair' to do a lie detector test together, revealing multiple secrets from the pair.
warnings. not edited so disregard any errors, jealous harry cause why not, not my gif, kind of bad writing, a little cursing here and there. lmk if i missed something!
note. hiii everyone! i don’t know if i’m beck yet but i’m just going be leaving a quick fic because it’s been a little over three months which is outrageous!
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She rolled her eyes and shook her head sarcastically. "You're supposed to save the best for last, you should go first." Harry placed his hand over her and kissed the side of her head. "My girlfriend, everyone."
"Are you ready? I came up with some pretty interesting questions these past few days that I've been dying to ask you." She grinned.
“I was born ready. Plus," The singer smirked, looking at his girlfriend with sparkling eyes, "I get to ask you some questions after, so be careful with what you ask, babe, because it might come back to bite your ass." He winked and her face flushed a bright red.
Harry turned back towards the camera and clapped, "Let's get started!" A crew member laughed and instructed (Y/N) to move to sit at the other side of the table so they could attach Harry to the machine.
"Arms up." The man demanded sternly. Harry observed her blank, emotionless face and then turned to his girlfriend with furrowed eyebrows. She shrugged and wiggled her eyebrows at him causing him to break the silence and lightly chuckle. The man silently sent them glares, which they both ignored and continued making silly faces and giggled as quietly as they could.
"We're ready." A crew member called out from behind the camera breaking (Y/N) out of her daze and she looked at the man controlling the polygraph machine to ask a few questions.
"Alright, I'm going to ask you a few short, straightforward questions to calibrate the machine." Harry exhaled loudly and wiggled his fingers before nodding, gesturing for the man to proceed.
"Is your name Harry Styles?"
Harry nodded making the woman command him to answer verbally. His girlfriend snorted and stifled a laugh while he mustered out apologies.
"Yes."
"Are you 28 years old?"
"Yes."
"Finally, are you nervous?" He looked up with squinted eyes, something he did frequently whenever he was thinking about something.
"Uh, knowing (Y/N/N), kind of." He chuckled breathily. The woman nodded and laughed along while the polygraph operator gave her a thumbs up to begin.
"Okay, Hazza, first question! Have you ever fallen in love?" The man visibly laughed at how simple her first question was. "Of course. With you." She smiled at his kind words, practically feeling her heart melting. She looked at the polygraph examiner, seeing him throw up a quick thumbs up.
"You're too cheesy sometimes. You guys,"
(Y/N) spoke towards the lens, "pray for me. I have to deal with him every. single. day."
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed, lifting his hands in the air with an offended expression etched on his face. She turned to the camera and rolled her eyes in a jokingly manner before moving on to the next question.
"We watch Marvel movies quite often together. I work for Marvel, am I your favourite marvel actor?"
"Bubs, you're an actress." Harry spoke. (Y/N) shook your head and he tilted his as he awaited her response. "Haz, knowing you, I’m surprised that you of all people would say that! Anyways, women should be considered as actors too and not just actresses. After all, male and female doctors are both called doctors, not doctors and doctresses." She stated in a practical manner.
His voice changed pitch as he tried to imitate her. "Fine." He replied dramatically, pretending to flip his hair back with his hand.
"So, out of all the Marvel actors, am I your favorite?" She smirked and fixed her gaze on his middle and index finger, already tapping nervously on the metal table.
"Yes."
She touched her heart dramatically.
"That's a lie." The man behind the machine called out. (Y/N) dropped her hand and her smile fell. "Harold!"
"Okay, it's RDJ. I'm sorry, love." Harry cringed, shocked that the machine picked up on his lie so quickly. She narrowed her eyes and looked back down at her phone. "That's fair. He's everyone's favourite." She mumbled grumpily.
"Does Gemma actually like me?" Harry confidently nodded his head. "Absolutely. She adores you." He responded sweetly. She turned her head to the operator. He nodded towards her, "That's true."
She swiped her hand across her forehead, wiping imaginary sweat. "Good to know."
"Would you consider yourself to be an overly affectionate boyfriend?" She questioned. It was a question she thought of frequently. Harry loved to cuddle, hug, kiss, hold hands, and essentially shower her with love whenever he had the chance, but she wanted to know if he knew of his actions or if he would just do it subconsciously.
"Um, no. I think I'm just about the right amount of affectionate." And it was true, he actually thought that he wasn’t overly affectionate. She choked back a laugh and covered her face with her hand, quickly looking back down to her phone in hopes of finding a different question to quickly move on to.
"Hey, hey, wait! I saw that! You think I'm overly affectionate?" He inquired, his voice going at least 3 octaves higher. "I'm the one asking questions here, Hazza." She winked and scrolled for a question in her notes app.
"Do you think our children would be cute?" She questioned as a sweet smile prominently appeared on her face. She decided against asking if he wanted kids because he had already confessed he did a few months back. It was the purest, most heartwarming conversation she had ever had.
Harry looked at her as if it were crazy of her to ask that. To him, the answer was obvious. "Absolutely. I mean," he pointed in between the two of them, "look at us." He replied cockily. She eyed him, but eventually shrugged, realising that even though he sounded like such a dickhead in the moment, he wasn't wrong.
"Next. Does size matter?" She giggled, watching her boyfriends face contort.
"You're asking me that? What I think? Or what I think you think?" He questioned, waggling his eyebrows.
"Answer however you'd like." The corners of her lips lifted and her face contorted into a mischievous grin. Harry pondered for a while, furrowing his eyebrows as he searched his brain for a good response. "No, I don't think it does." He answered. “That’s true.”
"Okay! Next, Do you think if we met on The Ellen Show, we would have never gotten together?" She inquired. This was a question that she would often ask herself, however, she never had the courage to actually ask him in fear of some form of rejection, so she’d only ponder it while Harry was sleeping soundly beside you.
"Yeah. I think I would've seen you on instagram and slid in your DM’s or something." He admitted. The examiner nodded.
"Moving on. Have you ever lied to me?" She inquired. Harry pursed his lips and sighed. "Yes." He answered honestly.
"Elaborate, please." (Y/N) said, looking at him expectantly. "I’ve know you for over three years now, I’ve lied to you thousands of time." She nodded and moved onto the next question.
"Would you consider yourself to be a heartthrob?" She asked. She was aware of the huge fanbase he had developed since One Direction, people adored and swooned over him and his lovable characters in some of the roles he played.
"Yes." She turned to the polygraph operator and she nodded, "he's telling the truth."
"Damn right, my boyfriend's a heartthrob and he knows it." She said proudly as she looked into the camera.
Harry chuckled and rubbed his eye as he anticipated her final question.
"Last question. Frankly, the most important question. Does pineapple belong on pizza? This could determine the future of our relationship, Haz. I want you to really think about your answer." She warned dramatically. Harry pursed his lips.
"Yes. I think. I like pineapple on pizza, actually." (Y/N) clapped happily and puffed out a small breath of relief. "That's my baby!"
"Alright, my turn, loser."
Harry scoffed loudly and switched his attention to all the cords wrapped around his body parts. He frantically begged the man to remove all the 'gizmos' and 'doo-dads' as quick as possible.
Once he set the singer free, he pranced around the tiny room and threw his arms around his girlfriends body, giving her an enormous hug. "Love you." He mumbled in her hair.
The man then instructed her the same way she had done to Harry. "I can do this." She repeated for the millionth time in the last 5 minutes while a member of the crew hooked her up to the machine. They attached a series of different wires and cords around her chest, fingers and arm.
"I'm scared." She laughed, placing her hand where her heart was. She could feel it pumping quickly.
"Just to let you know, your questions were shit. Mine are actually spicy." Harry teased, excitedly scrolling through the questions on a page in his notes.
He would finally be able to ask some questions that he'd been dying to know about her that he was just too embarrassed to ask on a normal occasion. He hoped some of his questions/some of her answers would reaffirm some things for him.
"Shut up, Styles. I can see you were sweating through your shirt. You're not slick." She smirked, making him lift his arms, where there was a tiny yet noticeable wet patch on the fabric of his expensive shirt.
"Okay, Harry, you can begin asking your questions." The man called as Harry embarrassingly lowered his arm. (Y/N) facepalmed and giggled quietly at his foolishness to herself.
"Okay. Is your name (Y/N) (Y/L/N)?"
"Yes."
"Are you 26 years old?"
"Yes."
"Am I your boyfriend?"
"No." She lied.
"It jumped." The man called, "We're all good."
"Okay," Harry sighed, "I don't know what I would've said if that came out as true." He laughed. "Imagine?" She giggled.
Harry shook his head and read his first real question. "Do you think I'm overly affectionate?" Harry raised his eyebrows while he stared his beautiful girlfriend down. She chuckled and shook her head at his expression, "You're seriously still hung up on that?"
"Just answer the question!" He demanded over-dramatically. "Yes." He gasped and the crew members behind him attempted to cover up their laughs with coughs and sneezes. "But I like that about you. I enjoy your cuddles. That should be considered a compliment." The man confirmed her statement and Harry grinned like a toddler who'd just been told he was going to Disneyland.
"Do you want to get married someday?" He inquired, hope laced in his tone. Although the both of them had spoken about this before, he wanted to make sure. She hesitated for a second, but eventually nodded.
"Yes. As long as it's you." The man blushed and they could hear members of the crew letting out small 'aw's' as they watched them both intently.
"Or Tom Holland, to be honest."
"You just had to ruin the moment." He said moving on while (Y/N) giggled quietly at his disappointment. He swore he heard the serious, monotoned man laugh too.
"The internet made several memes about me after I gushed about your tattoo you got with Emma during our autocomplete interview. Would you get a matching tattoo with me?"
"Of course." Harry’s mouth dropped and turned to the operator for confirmation. He looked up at Harry’s hopeful eyes and nodded. She was telling the truth.
"It's official, everyone, we're getting matching tattoos first thing tomorrow!" Harry deadpanned into the camera, making her publicists laugh in the background.
"You write poems, a lot. I can confirm that," She let out a giggle and nodded her head. "Would you ever write and a poem about me?"
"Um, here’s the thing. I already made a poem or two about hot." She pulled her hair behind her ear nervously. Harry shook his head, his earrings bouncing side to side.
"Which one?" Harry asked childishly, causing her to nervously smile. "Dandelions.” She smiled at the excited boy.
He looked at the camera and mouthed “I knew it”.
"Next… you're known for being a very private person. You've never been public with any of your relationships before me." She nodded. "Out of all these relationships, am I the best boyfriend you've had?" (Y/N) rolled her eyes, expecting to hear the question sooner or later. "Yes, you idiot."
"She's telling the truth." Harry pumped his fist in the air and internally congratulated himself. "I'm so proud of myself, sorry." His cheeks turned red as he noticed everyone waiting for him to get over himself and get on with the next question.
"Before we met, did you listen to any of my songs other than from One Direction?" He rested his head in his palm as he watched her quizzically.
"Um, Duh! I was literally obsessed with you!" She said confidently, thinking back to her fan girl era.
"I already knew the answer to that, I just like hearing her say that she was in love with me." His response made her giggle softly.
"Do you think about the future a lot?"
"All the time."
"Am I in it?" She blushed lightly, "Always."
Harry smirked, repeating one of her previous questions. "Does size matter?"
"You really just took a turn in the opposite direction." She laughed, sending a 'Jim face' towards the camera. "Answer the question! Or else I'm gonna..."
(Y/N) leaned back in her chair as she awaited his answer along with everyone else on set, who was very entertained with the sarcastic couple.
"I'll hit your funny bone. Three times."
"You're adorable." The woman cooed at him while he grumpily pursed his lips. If she were closer, she would've already pinched his cheeks and dramatically rambled on about how cute, soft and innocent he was in front of the camera purposely.
"No, I don't think it does." She repeated his answer from earlier. It was Harry’s turn to roll his eyes. She threw her head back in laughter at his expression and shook her head.
"She's telling the truth." The operator spoke, snapping Harry out of his thoughts. He sent her a skeptical look, while she continued to laugh heavily.
He looked back down at his phone and continued on. "Do you find this man attractive?" Harry had attached a picture to his notes and set his phone flat on the table so the cameras could catch a glimpse of the photo.
It was a photo of Tom Holland at the premiere for his Spider-Man sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home.
"Duh." She smiled cheekily, blood quickly rushing to her cheeks. Harry groaned as she grabbed his phone and zoomed in to get a better look at all his features. He could practically see her pupils dilate as she stared at the photo.
"Do you think he is more of a heartthrob than me?" She cringed, wondering how she should go about answering this question.
"Yes."
"That's true."
Harry’s jaw went slack. "What!" He shouted with wide eyes. She giggled and raised her hands innocently. "What? Tom Holland is one fine man. You can't get mad at me for that, I mean… look! at! him!" She handed him his phone, zoomed in on Tom's face.
Harry scoffed at her fangirl side coming out as he swallowed heavily.
"Would you leave me for Tom Holland?"
No. (Y/N) thought, holding back a laugh. She thought for a moment. "Yes. Absolutely. 100%. Definitely. No. Questions. Asked." She responded nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders and leaning back, still being mindful of all the equipment attached to her.
Harry looked down at the metal table and his jaw clenched. She could see his body physically tense as he waited for the polygraph operator to confirm or deny her answer.
"The machine jumped. She's lying."
Harry’s head shot up and he met his girlfriends gaze. She had a small smirk on her face and lifted her hands up to her face as she felt a blush creeping up to her cheeks.
Harry clenched his hands above his head and tilted his head back in his chair, letting out a small yell in triumph. He jumped our of his seat and sized up the camera, getting awfully close.
"You all heard that! I'm done! That's the last question, this couldn't have gone better." He dropped his phone and quickly made his way around the table, being careful not to trip on any wires or break the polygraph machine in any way.
He crouched down and wrapped his arms around her torso, burying his face into the crock of her neck because he couldn't stop his raging smile. "I knew it!"
She looked into the camera, still in her boyfriends embrace and gazed into the camera. She jokingly motioned a 'no' with her hands and mouthed 'Tom, call me', sending the camera a wink and bringing her right hand out with her pinky and thumb sticking out, making it look like a phone and bringing it up to her ear.
Harry felt her movement and looked up at her eyes. She quickly brought her hand to his shoulder and looked down at him as if nothing happened. He placed multiple tiny kisses all around her face, making her crinkle her nose and eyes.
He turned back to the camera for a spilt second. "You heard it here first, (Y/N) (Y/L/N) wouldn't leave me, Harry Styles for Tom Holland! Goodbye! Subscribe to Vanity Fair!" He saluted, still smiling uncontrollably as they both waved at the camera.
2K notes · View notes
hobie-enthusiast · 9 months
Text
FATES AND CANONS !
— hobie brown x gn!reader
— hobie brown and his six canon events
— angst, fluff, comfort, no happy ending (kinda?), petnames, major character death (twice, including reader), pretty long fic, might go against some comic canons, anarchist reader, cutesy kisses
— let’s play spot the tv girl reference 😜 anyway sorry for the delay ive been traveling, got sick, and now school starts next week, woohoo. so enjoy this for a little :)
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The first canon event Hobie Brown experienced was being bitten by a radioactive spider.
But of course, that much is known. It’s the origin of every Spider-person in every dimension. That story has been over-told.
The real stories come from the preceding canon events, one that though every Spider-person goes through, it’s story-worthy each time.
The second canon event Hobie Brown experienced was the death of his best friend.
This friend was someone so dear to him, one he met at his lowest times on the streets. They picked each other up, helped each other out, and always had each other's backs. His best friend had big dreams just like him; stop the corrupt system of the Prime Minister and uplift the voices of the minorities. And his way of doing that was joining the police force, working on the inside to break it down and show others that the government is corrupt. Hobie had a friend on the inside, and together, they were able to stage protests and riots that were completely unbothered by the troops, thanks to his friend’s rank as captain.
Until he got infected with Norman Osborn's toxicity.
Hobie didn't realize it was him. He was bringing down those pigs left and right with his soundwaves, fighting for his side. He thought that there was no way he was in this. He was stronger than that.
But then he finished them all, and when the black goo disintegrated from the bodies, he saw that all-too-familiar person.
Hobie Brown had killed his best friend.
He was quick to run to his side, hands trembling. "Shit mate.. 't wasn't supposed t' be you."
"Hobie..?" His friend questioned, only then laughing quietly. "Hmm.. shoulda known my best mate t'was the coolest super in the world."
Quickly, Hobie moves his friend to a secluded alleyway, where he can take his mask off. There, his friend can see the way tears prick the corners of Hobie’s eyes. No one ever really sees him cry. This was a sight, a sad one at that.
"'m so sorry.." Hobie whispers.
His friend shakes his head. “Don’t be. Ya did good.”
Despite those words, Hobie couldn’t help but feel deeply guilty. He was just trying to do good? Why did this happen?
He was Spider-punk. Wasn’t he supposed to be able to save everyone?
“Ya gotta keep doin’ this.”
Hobie’s thoughts were interrupted as his friend grabbed his arm, gaining his attention. He was way worse looking than a couple seconds ago. Blood pooled around his stomach. Hands stained red from coughing it up. He wasn’t going to make it. Hobie knew that.
“Not killin’ your best friend, obviously.” He laughs at his own joke weakly. “But fightin’ for the people. They need ya, Hobie.”
Hobie nods in understanding. He promised him he would. It was always easier to make a dying person such bold promises. But Hobie could never give up on helping the people.
Even as his best friend takes his final breath, Hobie swore to protect the innocent. Even if he can’t save everyone, he’ll try his hardest.
Because that’s what he promised his best friend.
The third canon event Hobie Brown experienced was meeting the love of his life.
It was post concert; spirits were high and everyone was dying to meet the lead guitarist. Hobie’s onstage presence was something to marvel at, one that everyone adored.
You were no exception. You noticed the way Hobie was seemingly getting lost in the music. He was so passionate about his music, about what he performed. You admired that, truly. Not many musicians nowadays care about having a good onstage presence. Even with a band.
Lucky for you, your good friend was the bassist for the band. He was the one who invited you tonight, who wanted you to meet the band. He came out from backstage after the show and lead you to the dressing room.
“Alright mates, this is [Name].” Your friend points out each band member, stating their names before realizing something. “Aye, where’s ‘obie?”
His band didn’t seem to know, but you just shrugged it off. Though, you couldn’t deny the small sliver of disappointment that came with not meeting him. Soon, you excused yourself to grab some water, exiting the room.
What you didn’t expect was to run into someone.
“Crap, my bad. Didn’t see you there!” You immediately apologize, glancing up at the stranger.
Except it wasn’t a stranger. It was Hobie Brown. “‘s alright, swee’heart. No hard feelin’s.”
Hobie, after the show, decided to grab something to drink. He played a good show at the pub, so he rightfully thought he deserved it. But people were getting irritating, being touchy and pushy. He didn’t really appreciate that, and soon went backstage to find his bandmates.
When walking down the way, he said hello to a couple of the crew members. They were always considerate, doing their job correctly. Surely they deserve at least a wave and a verbal confirmation Hobie saw them.
Then, his spider-sense started tingling. Glancing around, he was quick to realize there was no true threat. But then he ran into you, and time seemingly stopped.
At the time, Hobie couldn’t describe the feeling of seeing you for the first time. It was like a part of him connected for the first time. You were a missing piece that he never knew he was even missing. But why did his senses go off for you?
“Actually, you’re Hobie, right?” You question, pointing up at him. “I’m a friend of the bassist in ‘ur band. It’s nice to meet you.”
Hobie muses. “Pleasure’s all mine, darlin’. C’mon, ‘ll take ya back t’ ‘em.”
The guitarist would be lying if he said he didn’t take you in the wrong direction for a little while. He wanted to get to know you more. And you weren’t complaining. Hobie was an incredibly charming guy.
The rest of the night was spent chatting with him. You couldn’t seem to leave him alone, and Hobie couldn’t keep his eyes off of you either. The two of you worked well together, and everyone in the band seemed to notice.
So Hobie slipped his number into your pocket, giving a kiss on your cheek. Bold, sure, but he had to make his move. Nobody has ever made him feel this way.
He can’t let you slip from his fingers.
The fourth canon event Hobie Brown experienced was giving up his mask.
Being Spider-punk was not everything Hobie cracked it out to be. He was constantly putting himself in danger, and you in the process. Everything was just so tiring. He couldn’t take it anymore.
He finally caught his breath after a confrontation, sliding down against the wall. He panted heavily, clutching tightly on his guitar. He barely made it out.
“Fuckin’ ‘ell..” He muttered, coughing and hacking.
Hobie Brown was tired of this. He stood up, taking off the parts of his suit that came undone. Searching for a nearby garbage, he found one. Then, Hobie simply shoved his suit into it messily.
Staring down at the bin, he slung his guitar on his back. Then he just.. walked from the alleyway, never taking a second glance back.
The walk back home to you was long, considering he didn’t swing there. But when he made it, he let himself into the door, placing his guitar on the table. His eyes caught you in his peripheral vision.
You glance from the counter, giving a smile. “Hey, Hobes! How was-” Your words fall short at the solemn expression he wore. “What happened?”
Your boyfriend stayed silent as he came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. “Nothin’.. ‘s all done..”
“Done? What do you mean?”
He sighs, face in your shoulder. Should he even-?
Of course he should.
“I gave it up. ‘m done bein’ Spider-man. A symbol.. or whateve’.”
You turn your body to face him, taking his hands to analyze him. You frown, eyes narrowing as he just stares down. When was the last time you saw Hobie so.. defeated?
Then, a sigh. “Hobes.. listen..”
You move your hands to cup his face, lifting him to face you directly. His tired eyes meet yours, and you give a smile.
“You can’t give it up. This is your favourite thing to do for the people.. Being their voice. But it’s okay to take breaks.” You start, gently stroking his cheek. “‘s not selfish.. you’re trying to be the best for them. To fight for them. But you can’t do that if you’re so tired, my love..”
Hobie chuckles quietly, leaning his head on your shoulder. “Always the wise one..” Is all he mutters.
You muse, rubbing his back gently. “Let me take care of you tonight. Please.”
“…mmkay...”
And you surely took care of him. You cooked for him. You cleaned up his wounds. You cuddled with him in bed. Anything to help Hobie feel better from such a long day. Even then.. from such a long and tiring career.
Hobie is so incredibly thankful for everything you do. The way you’re so tender with him. The way you just seem to know what to do to help him. You’re so incredible to him.
So he whispers a simple ‘thank you, swee’heart’ to thank you, finally letting his body rest and recuperate to continue his work in the coming days.
The fifth canon event Hobie Brown experienced was kissing the love of his life upside down.
It was cheesy, as Hobie and you could describe it. But he had just taken down some more corrupt government, seeing victory shine in his eyes. On top of that, he previously asked you to marry him, and you saying yes only added to his wonderful day.
Of course, your shared idea of marriage was different. In short, he put one of his rings on yours to be the symbol. The two of you would spend a day together, forge a silly little paper to say your married, sneak it in the courts, and call it a day. The perfect wedding for the perfect anarchist couple.
After his successful take down, he swung to the neighborhood you two lived in. It was quaint, you both preferred it that way. Somewhat safer as well.
He heard you earlier say you had to head to the corner shoppe, so that’s where he went. He lied on the rooftop with a perfect view of the entrance. Then, all he had to do was sit, and wait to see your pretty face walk out.
When you did, he turned himself upside down to hang on the side of the building, calling out to you. “Back from a day’s work of corrup’ gover’ment take down.”
You glance down the alleyway the voice came from, an amused smile cornering your lips. You glance around before making your way towards Hobie. Gently placing down the groceries, you glance up at him.
“Hope all that blood and ego doesn’t rush to your head, hanging upside down like that.” You tease.
“Can’t help how cool I truly am.” He replies, lowering himself so that he’s now at your level, still upside down. “You seem t’ think so too. Wha’s that on ‘ur finger, hm?”
“Geez, this gonna be a regular thing?” You fake a groan, hands finding placement on Hobie’s cheeks.
“‘s like y’know me so well..”
You stare at your fiancé for a while, just admiring him. The way he seemingly gave no care to anyone who judged him. He lived so freely, teaching you how to follow after him. Hobie Brown was so magnificent.. and here he was, at your every whim.
Before you knew it, your fingers began taking off the lower bit of his mask. Rolling it up, to reveal his beautiful lips, lip piercing shining in contrast to his beautiful skin.
“Wha’s this for?” He questions, hands holding tightly onto your now dropped ones.
You smile. “Such a.. silly reason, I’m afraid.” You mutter, leaning into his body. “I just wanted to kiss you..”
Then you lean in, kissing Hobie gently. His lips immediately match yours, taking in the warmth you provide. The kiss is so loving.. so incredibly beautiful. It is your first engaged after all.
Even when you pull away, a smirk plays at his lips. He brings his hands up to cup your face, pulling you in for another long kiss. He just can’t ever get enough of you.
Hobie never did believe in canon events. Of course he’s experienced so many with you now. But he can’t help but still keep his belief away from the idea. Because that could lead to your demise.
And Hobie will be damned if you die on him.
The sixth canon event Hobie Brown experienced was losing the best thing to ever happen to him.
It was a protest gone wrong. You both agreed to march the front lines, to protest for a better living wage for the lower class. Something the two of you have been fighting for for months on end.
Government never liked protests.
Of course, they sent their force to shut it down. To “stop any future damage”. But that was only a front. The pigs sent down actually stormed the crowd of protesters, putting their hands on anyone they could find.
Hobie quickly took on his Spider-punk role, defeating anyone he can before it happened. He saved a ton of lives, swiping them away from the police before webbing the bad guys to buildings. Things were going good for him. Until the explosion.
He just landed on a building to try and observe who still needed help. His eyes caught you shoving down a cop onto the ground, and his smile under the mask grew. You glanced up at him, giving your own smile, and a wave.
Hobie was about to swoop down to come grab you, but the cop got up, through his explosive to the ground. It rolled right next to your feet.
“Shit! [Name], watch-!”
But his words were too late. The explosion sent you flying into the side of a building, back thrown against it harshly. Almost everyone began scrambling after that, running from the scene. But not Spider-punk. He immediately made it to you, picking up your weak body.
His breathing picked up. “No.. no, ‘s not like this. Jus’, hang on.” He whispered over and over, swinging to a nearby rooftop.
You groan, already feeling the crimson liquid leak from your head and stomach. Everything was blurry, like a daze. Yet Hobie’s face was clear and recognizable. Even under his mask, he showed such obvious signs of worries, even regret.
Eventually, he drops his own body to the ground, yanking his mask off. His hands immediately hold your again.
“Damn.. just like.. that, hm?” You managed, body already showing the signs of shutting down. “Hurts, y’know?”
“Don’’ you dare give up on me.” Hobie muttered, ripping off the sleeve to his suit. “‘s all gonna be fine.”
You laugh weakly, head thrown back. “Dunno if I’ve got a choice, Hobes..”
With careful fingers, Hobie ties his sleeve around the wound. He didn’t want to hurt you more, but the bleeding had to stop before getting any worse. A small part of him knew it was hopeless. Futile, even. He was almost back in the beginning. When he was barely starting out in his duties, and he failed to save his good friend. Now he failed to save you. Here you were, dying in his arms.
Hobie took a deep breath. “Ya can’t.. swee’heart, c’mon..”
“Don’t be sad, Hobes..” You whisper, hand finding his cheek. “I wanna see you smile..”
Of course you would request that, only you. He gives such a weak laugh, one that brings the best smile he can manage. But it quickly turns back to sadness.
Then, a smile graces your face. “God.. I love that smile..” You whisper, coughing weakly. Blood seeps through the cloth on your stomach. You were losing it.
“‘m gonna miss ya, swee’heart.. s’much..” Hobie says, tears falling from his eyes.
“I know, Hobes.”
Hobie doesn’t remember the last time he let himself cry like this. Maybe when he was a kid? When his best friend died? Who knows. But now, now his tears wouldn’t stop flowing, nose sniffing over and over again.
Why can’t you just stay?
“I have’ta go..” You say sadly, almost as if reading his thoughts. “Don’t you dare.. stop bein’ a hero, ya hear? I’ll rise just to smack you..” Were your next words, almost as if reprimanding him.
Once again, Hobie laughed his quiet laugh. “Well now I neve’ can.. Jus’ f’you..” He says in a whisper.
You feel your breathing start to fall short, coughing and hacking. Hobie holds you tighter, whispers of “I love you” and “I’ll miss you” exchanged over and over.
“I love you.. Hobie Brown..” Were your last words. “My Spider-punk..”
And then.. you were gone. Just like that.
“Hobie? Hobie!”
Gwen had to call out to him a mere three times before he came back to. His eyes shut and opened as he remembers where he was. Right, Spider-society. Gwen and him were walking and chatting.
“Righ’, sorry Gwendy.”
Gwen waves it off. “Don’t even worry. Anyways, I heard about a couple new recruits.”
Hobie listened to his younger friend talk and talk, but his mind was elsewhere. Today was a particularly.. memorable day. He just couldn’t seem to get you out of his head. Normally Hobie wouldn’t complain.. but he misses you.
His thoughts circle him too much, and next thing he knows, he bumped into another Spider-totem.
“Crap, my bad. Didn’t see you there!”
…what?
Hobie knows that voice. Of course he does. He glances down at the stranger, finally seeing the face he missed so much. The face his nights yearned to see again. The face he missed screaming and supporting him at his concerts. The face of you.
“…uhm, are you okay? Oh my god I didn’t hit you that hard, did I?”
Gwen glanced back from her spot, noticing the scene occurring. Her eyes widen. Oh no..
She immediately walks to the two of you, chuckling awkwardly. “Hey! So sorry, he’s in a little daze today! C’mon Hobie!”
You glance up at the guy again, finally getting a good look at him. But he’s just staring. His eyes are seemingly.. longing. They’re lonely, that much you can tell. He has a demeanor about him.. one that reminds you of someone. Even his face looks familiar.. wait!
“What a coincidence!” You suddenly say. “My boyfriend’s name is Hobie! From my dimension at least.”
Hobie finally snapped from his trance, your words reaching his ears. “How.. coinciden’al..” He whispers.
“Well.. it was nice to meet you, Hobie.” You smile, offering out a hand for him to shake. “Hope t’ see ya around!”
He shakes your hand and.. oh does the contact feel so good. But he doesn’t linger. Hobie simply watches you walk off, that same cheerful demeanor reflecting in your every step.
Of course it felt like you got away again. And he had almost no doubt that the Hobie you love so dear will meet a demise. But he’ll stick with you. Stick with being your friend and being there when you need him.
Because Hobie would walk through this pain a thousand times if it meant you were in his life again.
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hexhomos · 3 months
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Sorry, I'm asking here because asks aren't on your doomreed account, but do you have any fic recs for them ? You and vinnies art have intrigued me 😭 they both seem like such wet cats in different ways, and I love that
help i didnt know asks were off fixed that now thank you... I have two fics i keep in my back pocket as like, exemplary distillations of their whole thing (one in college vs one of their usual superhero stuff,) these are;
Supersymmetry and Night Blooms
Rly good examples of their usual shenanigans, the second one is directly based on a canon comic issue that *feels* like fanfic by a prolific yaoi author, the first is set in a modern-time re-imagining of the fantastic four where they meet in a supergenius internship thinktank for gifted youngsters. There's other fics that are good but i think they might be super confusing without canon context! which leads me to my second point. After you read these fics...
A lot, and i mean A LOT of official doomreed stuff feels straight up like fanfic. Either because its so beautifully woven or insane in concept (doctor doom points a gun at the real life Jack Kirby and Stan Lee to get himself written back into reed's life in his 3rd ever classic appearance, in the 60's, THAT'S the bodyswap issue)
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or because the literal authors themselves come out to say 'they're soulmates' or 'they're in love' and Im talking abt this:
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(^joseph culp, the first ever doom actor from 1994)
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(^fantastic four (2019))
I've got even more stuff under the cut!! AND recs!!! CLICK! v v v
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(^jonathan hickman, author of arguably the best FF saga & Secret Wars (2015)!!!)
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(^Cantwell, author of the Doctor Doom comic!!)
These are excerpts from the canon fantastic four book, DOOMGATE:
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There's even an RPG INSTRUCTION MODULE based on the idea of an earth where Reed & Victor partner up in college, Reed dies a tragic death (via their lab experiments) and Victor assumes such a traumatized widow role in his honor that he grows up to be a golden hero and protector of earth LOL (still a bit nuts):
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This is not even to touch on the breadth of all their comic issues and little moments together. Victor canonically delivers Reed's second child and he chooses her name! Shes treated like his child too and calls him uncle doom!!
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...Victor even asks Reed out on candlelit dinner dates for a yearly Latverian holiday!
In fact, that's the great starter doom/reed issue i keep recommending: read [ My Dinner With Doom right here. ]
If you enjoy that, check out my [ broader post guide for doomreed reading. ]
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Still on the fence? try out these single comic issues:
Doctor Doom:
*Fantastic Four (1961) annual 2 (Classic origin of Doom issue) *Some call it MAGIC (the introduction of Doom's struggle w/ the devil for his mother's soul)
Doomreed:
*Marvel Two-in-One (2017) annual 1 *Marvel Two-in-One (2017) #11 (2nd fic i linked is based on this!!!!!!!!!) *'Duel Intentions' short story *Doom 2099 (2019) *Fantastic Four #700 special *Shame Itself (noncanon satire mini)
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Anyway I've had a lot of fun reading these series generally and their big, year-spanning arcs are incredible. People hype up Secret Wars for a reason, Hickman's fantastic four builds up a really compelling doom/reed epic of cosmic divorce proportions. And its about love! And Forgiveness!
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Text
U Go Girl
Shin Yuna x Male Reader
Genre: Smut, Shorts, Vanilla
WC: 1460
A/N: Still not over this Yuna so wrote a quick fic while I had a small spare time. Well enjoy.
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Your thumb is busy scrolling through Instagram. You are at it again, it's a guilty pleasure. Going photo after photo, checking how hot and gorgeous the account owner is; lusting over her overflowing sex appeal. You're careful enough not to accidentally like anything, it will be so weird if that happens. For sure it's not new to her, receiving a notification of someone liking her not so recent posts. You're quite confident you are not the only one lurking on her account given her appearance and online presence so it should not matter that much. However, you are a special case.
Shin Yuna. Even her name sounds downright sinful, just like her face and that damn body. You reach out under your pants to adjust your stiffening member as it starts to become uncomfortable, you just can't help it. The act is kind of sick to be honest, getting turned on and imagining lewd things. Still it is the only thing to do to relieve yourself, it's not like you can bed here soon or ever. Fucking her brains out and be done with it, the sexual desire for her; it sounds like a really good idea but an impossible one. Yuna has enough dicks already to choose from when and where she wants it, and besides she's your step-sister.
"I see you're checking my Instagram again."
Fuck! You've been in too deep in your thoughts that you did not notice someone walking in. Not to mention it's your step-sister. She shouldn't be here though, she should be at the university both of you are attending.
"Again? What do you mean again?" You turn around to face her and your jaw drops. Your eye travels from her head to her feet, marveling the perfection. The wavy hair, the dreamy eyes, her tiny waist and broad hips shaped in a perfect hourglass, and her legs for days. She's built to be fucked.
"You're drooling, Oppa." She's a tease and you know it.
"I -ah, what are you wearing anyway? Go and change. And your photos in IG too, you're showing too much skin." You try your best to sound like a concerned big brother. You don't know how you fare though.
"Do you want to fuck me, Oppa?"
"What? Are- you crazy? I'm your step-brother."
"And? I don't see a problem. And besides I always want to have sex with you right from the moment we first met". Yuna starts to take off her checkered pink shirt, then it drops to the floor. Purposefully biting her lip and looking away.
She's done quick work with what she is wearing underneath the shirt to expose her perky tits. You swallow your saliva as it quickly pools in your mouth. She is right, you are drooling. You want more. You need more.
"Still not enough huh?" Shin Yuna reaches out to undo her belt. That's when you lost it and lunged at her before she could unclasp it herself. Pinning Yuna against the wall, you could not restrain yourself from being rough. The contact of both of your lips is sudden, but she returned it with such fervor that you know she's enjoying it too. So much for being a big brother, she's too hot for her own good.
You raise Yuna's hands above her head, fully exposing her godly upper body. The excitement is way out of control. You'll feast on every inch of her, you put a mental note. Then you start with her neck, kissing and biting and licking like a total maniac. Her skin is soft and creamy that you could almost taste it literally.
"Ahhhh- that's it, Oppa. I'm yours to use however you want."
That's the green light. Literally you didn't skip anything as you explored her, making a quick stop to suckle on her nipples sitting perfectly on top of her breasts. Each kiss, each lick, each nibble, you thought it would slowly satisfy your desires but it turns out you keep getting hungrier for more. 
Her pants soon follow her shirt, dropping on the floor after you hastily take it off. "Fuck Yuna, you're so sexy". The words just naturally spill from your mouth as you pin her again against the wall. "This is going to be our little secret. Our parents will kill us".
"Our dirty little secret". Yuna seductively smiles while stroking your hard dick and maintaining eye contact, getting even harder each time. She's again way too fast in taking off your clothes. "Your dick is so big, Oppa. I can't wait to have it inside me."
You turn her around to face the wall and take off her underwear. "You want my dick, you say?" You slap her ass cheek hard enough to mark her glossy skin red.
"Yes Oppa, I need your dick inside me."
Everything happens very fast, and you could not really control yourself. No more foreplay, straight down to business. You align your dick into Yuna's already dripping wet pussy, rubbing your tip to have a bit of lubrication and plunge without even thinking twice. You don't care that you'll hurt her, you just want to destroy and use her as you see fit.
"Ahhhhh f-fuck you're so big Oppa. I don't even know how it all went in." 
Of course she's feeling discomfort, you didn't give her time to adjust to your size after all. You could stop fucking her right from the bat. However she doesn't complain, her body tells you she likes it rough too. Evident in her satisfied moans.
"Hmmm you're so tight baby sister, ahhh- fuck I wish I did this sooner." The strides of your thrusts do not let up, continuing to fill her womanhood with the ever growing need to chase your orgasm.
"Me too- hmmmm, I wish I seduced you before. Ahhhh- please slap me again Oppa. I've been a bad sister, thinking about my fuck- thinking about you while other guys fuck me."
You oblige her request as another slapping sound is heard. Hands on her slender waist, you pull her as you pierce through her insides to reach new depths. Yuna moans even louder. "Good thing Mom and Dad are not here, or else they'll hear how loud you are, little sister." You kiss her lips to temporarily silence her noise. Yuna moaning in your mouth turns you on even more.
You pull Yuna and push her into the bed, you want her in front of you while you fuck her. You want to see her face twitch in pleasure, you want to see her body tremble in the extreme highs of sex. Taking your place as you spread her legs, placing a pillow underneath. Then you watch your dick disappear again inside her. Both of you exhale a satisfied sigh, sometimes good old vanilla is the best way to go.
Shifting the phase into a more rhythmic manner, Yuna's moans start to become more sensual. You stimulate her neck for added pleasure in which she squirms even further. Adding another layer to the stimulating things is hearing her short breath gasps close to your ear. 
"Damn Oppa, is this how you fuck your girlfriends? No wonder they- oh my God- why are you so fucking good at this?" Her hands travel down your butt, pulling you in deeper, shortly prolonging your thrusts.
"You're such a naughty little one, you want more little sister?" You now speed up your movement on the purpose of reaching the zenith of your lusts. Yuna's grunts and moans tell you she's close to her orgasm as well. She didn't have to answer your question.
"Oppa, I'm going to cum soon. Your dick feels so good, I can't, I can't. I-ahhhhhh." You feel her insides clamp and pulsate around you as each wave or her orgasm hits her. But you did not stop, you have your own orgasm that is on the brink of exploding as well.
From what feels like forever, doing your best to extend the session as long as possible, you pull out of her and cum in her mouth. Your world turns to white just like the ropes of semen in Yuna's mouth and face. It is the last scene you remember before you collapse and chase your breath.
"Please tell me we'll be doing this again, Oppa." The next thing you know she's licking your juices off her fingers as she cleans her face. Her smile is from ear to ear, you know she's more than satisfied.
"Not here in the house, we won't."
"We'll see about that. I could be really persuasive."
"God Yuna, you're a slut."
"God Oppa, you've fucked me so good. Of course, I want to do it again wherever I want it."
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anika-ann · 10 months
Text
Pomiluj me (Love Me Tender) - S.R.
Type: medieval/fantasy/fairy tale AU; standalone (NOT a part of this medieval AU)
Pairing: knight Steve Rogers x reader   Word Count: 10k 😁 best possible division if needed is at the first divider
Summary: Knight Steven Rogers and his brothers in arms are returning home after having tackled an unruly creature terrorizing the people of Starkerbürg. Upon encountering an injured woman, Steven offers to bring her – carry her, truly – back to her home. How could he deserve a knighthood if he left a woman in distress to her fate, after all? 
But not everything it as it seems. And love blooms in the most unlikely of places. 
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Warnings: 18+, nsfw, smut, unprotected sex (shocking in medieval times huh), bit of angst, tons of fluff, himbo knights in BBC Merlin style (long live the legends), knight Steve ‘cause he’s a warning, Slovak language ‘cause I can
A/N: Title from the song which inspired the story, Pomiluj mě (Love on Me/Love Me Tender)...tumblr cannot handle an “ě “in their title 🙃 Lyrics, translation and link here, you’ll find a few lines in the fic as well - truly recommend. DIVIDER by @firefly-graphics
A/N/2: AO3 says this is my 100th work (as posted here anyway) and I’m brushing 1,680k of words written according to the counter. Which… whoa. And it’s almost six years since I first posted a marvel fic 🥺 Enjoy!
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Alone, you only wander in the dark Chased by the cold I shall light up the torch you’re guarding
Should I be worried about you That all you do is take When are you coming back to me?
The cavalry moved rather slowly.
The noble men appeared a far cry from the polished image known from books, even as they had attempted to wash in a river. They reeked of battle, smoke and blood still; and the drying blood in their wounds was just as red as that of ordinary men, the scent of sweat and fear having seeped into their clothes and armour. And yet, their vests carried the sigil of Starkerbürg with pride, signaling the knights’ dedication to the protection of their kingdom.
With only horse left, they truly might make a pitiful sight, certain weariness to their step; but an air of victory and camaraderie made for a picture of life instead. Laughter sounded between the group, a joke thrown around here and there, a tease about a wound each of them suffered, particularly the youngest one. Despite those, true concern for their new friend, Sir Parker, could be read in their eyes. He was the youngest to ever been dubbed in the history of Starkerbürg; it was no wonder the good men assigned him the role he would have played had the bond they shared been one of a blood family. The youngest of brothers was as much made fun of as protected, since he was eager to prove he deserved the honour to ride with the knights of Starkerbürg just like any other. Now he sat on the horse in front of Sir Barton, the eldest, as they made their way back after successfully ridding the kingdom of a horrific creature: the chimera had been believed to only exist in old tales until it brought terrible and painfully real suffering to the people of the west of the kingdom and so the king’s loyal servants were tasked to ride at dawn five days ago.
“Alright, alright, let us leave the poor lad,” Sir Barton said, patting the young Sir Parker on his shoulder a little too hard. “He shall do better next time.”
Peter smiled over his shoulder gratefully, having started to feel not humbled, but humiliated.
“Yes, yes, we should let him be,” Sir Maximoff agreed, side-eyeing the two riders mischievously. “We should talk about how you moved like an old lady.”
The collective ooooooh and chuckles might have as well come from a group of children, rather than grown men, causing Sir Barton to glare at the cheeky lad he called a friend.
“Old ladies are wise and worth of respect, Maximoff. You could learn a thing or two from them, as you had learned from me,” he scoffed, feigning offence. “Do not forget who taught you how to swing a sword, kiddo.”
“There is a point in what Clint is saying,” Sir Wilson hummed good-naturedly, raising his eyebrow at Pietro in challenge.
“Maybe. Does not change the fact he’s grown seven years older since then, while I have grown seven years more mature.”
The explosion of laughter following his statement was louder this time.
“In your dreams, maybe,” Sir Barnes snorted, elbowing his best of friends, Sir Rogers. “About as mature as this one was when he used to pick his battles with guys twice his size, eh?”
Sir Rogers, Steven to most, only smirked, speaking up for the first time in a while, since his thoughts were far far away. “Should we get technical, we all took up on an enemy twice our size only yesterday morning.”
“Oh?” Sir Barton feigned surprise. “Listen to the guy. He might tell you what brought the monster to its knees next – an arrow straight to its eye. Remind me, Maximoff, whose crossbow it was that fired it?” he asked pointedly, grinning down at the man walking by their horse, earning an eyeroll.
“Did it even have knees?” Sir Lang questioned, “All I know is that it was a nasty, nasty thing.”
“Nastier than Hydra? Cut off one had, two shall takes its place? I truly believed that was only a legend…” Sir Wilson said, a visible shiver of disgust shaking him.
“Not sure we can compare the two… maybe Barnes or Rogers could, huh?” Sir Maximoff suggested.
Steven’s face darkened; he did indeed remember the hydra creature very well for it nearly cost his best friend his arm. The scars still littered Bucky’s skin, from the back of his hand all the way up to his shoulder; Gods had blessed him enough that his ability to use his arm remained intact, even as its appearance did not.
As for the strange chimera they had slayed yesterday… it was true that Steven had gotten more familiar with it then he would have liked. He could recall it with uncomfortable clarity: its foul breath smelling of death on his face, feeling as if it had seeped deep into his very bones when he had finally thrusted his sword through its heart. He could still hear the clang of teeth near his neck, a near death sentence.
No, he would rather not compare the two. He would rather not think of either of the creatures at all.
“Why us, Maximoff? Because I nearly lost my arm to the former and my best friend to latter? No thanks,” Sir Barnes hissed, face turning ashen as well.
Steven instinctively reached for his friend, squeezing his arm, casting a concerned glance as he was torn away from his own dark memories.
“Buck…”
“Are you jesting? Sir Rogers was incredible,” Sir Parker cried out excitedly, having four of the knights groan, for Steven’s bravery – or idiocy, should anyone ask Sir Barnes, truly – was all the youngest knight had been talking about for the majority of their journey, causing Steven’s cheeks redden under his beard, sense of pride and satisfaction battling the terror of the memory. As for the remaining knights, well; while they did not diminish Steven’s important contribution of delivering the fatal blow, they had grown annoyed at the constant babble.
“Sure he was, kiddo.”
“Oh yes. They should probably knight him. Oh wait-“ Sir Wilson said, causing the men to laugh.
“Yeah, a set of deadly teeth perhaps three inches from his throat? Let him have all the glory and Princess Morgana’s hand too,” Sir Barnes grumbled, sending his friend both a proud and irked glance.
A sudden rustle of leaves and a woman’s yelp followed by a thud caused them all fall silent and turnbattle-ready in a split second, snapping in the direction of noise.
However, there was little need for caution. Their intruder barely appeared dangerous: the peasant woman observed them with wide eyes and forehead scrunched in pain, blossoms of common elder, spilled all around her like precious silks of a gown instead of the worn fabric of the simple shirt, shawl and ankle-length skirt, speaking thousand words of what she had been doing until she had fallen. Her fingers were clutching at her left foot, a clear sign of her ungraceful landing. The tree was by no means tall, but that should not mean the fall was what they could call comfortable.
For a moment, the group of knights stood frozen, rendered speechless as much as the poor woman who found herself face to face with not one but seven of the crown’s most loyal servants.
Steven, perhaps the kindest of them all, was the first to snap from the shock of an unexpected disturbance of their journey, releasing the grip on his sword, never having drawn it from its sheath. He took several long strides to the young woman, instantly capturing her attention.
“My lady, are you quite alright?” Steven inquired, gently as he realized his large frame, accentuated by his armour, might intimidate the poor sweetling.
And yet. Just as the question left his lips and his gaze met hers, he was the one rendered mute all of sudden.
Steven had never seen anyone more clearly, he was certain; and just as sure he was of the fact that no woman could ever hope to encompass sincerity and beauty in her eyes only as the one he was facing at the moment.
Her smile was but a shy little thing, pain masked by gratitude for the knight’s care. He was a handsome one, of robust built but with delicate lines to his face, bright blue irises with a speckle of green, plush lips framed by a short beard; distantly, she imagined his wide shoulders would barely fit the doorframe of her cabin – of her hut, truly. She found the imagery enticing, almost as much as the gentle tone he had spoken with despite his giant frame.
“’Quite aright’ seems accurate, sir. I am not hurting much beyond my left ankle,” she admitted, even as her source of discomfort was evident from her hand still covering the affected area.
Steven’s brows furrowed slightly in worry, yet he made no move, spoke no words, even as his lips parted. Instead, his eyes roamed the woman’s face, searching and fascinated. It was the silence which prompted his comrades to enter the interaction.
“Do you think you can walk?” Sir Wilson asked as he stepped forward – a movement barely acknowledged as the woman did not shift her gaze from Steven still.
“Wobble, perhaps,” she said, the corners of her lips briefly turning downwards. “Could perhaps one of you assist me? I should be most grateful for your chivalry.”
Sir Barnes could scoff at the absurdity of her wording; even as she suggested she would welcome anyone’s aid, her fixation on Steven was ridiculously evident. It almost scared him, how steadily she watched him; even as ladies’ interest in his best friend’s company had increased significantly along with how Steven’s muscles had grown, the way this woman observed him… unsettling him for some reason.
“Oh! We should borrow you the horse for a while-“ Sir Parker – bless him, the youngest and the purest of heart of them all – cried out, soon silenced by a more sombre voice of reason of Sir Barnes.
“Kid, you lose your leg should you put your weight on it now. Believe me, I have almost lost my arm to the same foolishness.”
“…oh.”
“Well, I suppose one of us should support you and walk you to your home,” Sir Barton suggested nonchalantly, preparing to dismount the horse. “The most experienced one of us, perhaps?”
“Truly? Is that so, Clinton?” Sir Wilson questioned as he eyed him, his tone carrying wryness of a man who would not care for nonsense – unless it was one that could earn him a great deal of fun. “Why you?”
“I have a pair of very well-working eyes for one,” the older man uttered, causing sir Maximoff to snicker silently.
“So do I and yet I would never offer!” Sir Lang opposed as soon as he understood the meanings behind Sir Barton’s words. “Must we remind you how inappropriate that would be, since you have a lovely wife and three kids at home?”
“And a knee that knows a rain is coming at least two sunsets ahead?” Sir Barnes added for honestly, the foolishness of Sir Barton’s idea battled the one of the youngling’s.
“Ugh, alright then. Spoilsports.”
Sir Maximoff, unsurprisingly, grinned and shrugged as he stepped forward. “Ah, well, fellas, it seems-“
“I can do it. I can even carry her.”
Sir Barnes sighed, an involuntary reaction to best of comrades choosing this moment to snap from his reverie. Speaking of foolishness.
Not once had Steven’s gaze left the beautiful woman since the very moment he had laid his eyes on her, almost as if he was drawn by ancient power whose pull not even his virtuous heart could resist. The pull had been literal too; while the movements had been subtle, step by step Steven inched closer to the woman, now standing barely three feet from her, way too close even as he had been the first to spring forward.
Sir Barnes would be amazed and certainly more than amused at his friend’s antics, had it not been for the fact the scene was as fascinating as disconcerting. For a myriad of reasons. Beginning with-
“You are injured as well,” Sir Wilson noted pointedly.
Sir Wilson appeared to be the only of the men aside from Sir Barnes who had not lost all reason in the midst of all of them having acquired an expression of awe and smugness. In all fairness, the reaction of the knights was nothing short of understandable, for Steven, Sir Rogers, who had kept from many women who had been rather literally battling for his attention, seemed enamoured all of sudden. And of all creatures, enamoured by a beautiful, yet the most ordinary of women. He appeared if not utterly lost to the fabled love at first sight, then certainly lost enough to abandon all reason.
“Oh no, if you are severely injured, I could not possibly-“ the woman resisted, gathering her skirt in attempt to stand up as if to prove she was considerably less inconvenienced by absence of aid than it had originally appeared.
Naturally, her efforts were doomed to failure – and just as naturally, Steve had been there to catch her, promptly supporting her weight. She had barely caught herself, one palm flat against his chest, the other on his bicep, lips parted in silent surprise; and much to the amusement of all knights, in awe of his strength.
Sir Rogers was certainly not the only one of the pair who appeared smitten.
“Thank you, good Sir.”
“Sir Steven Rogers, my lady. I should be happy to aid you,” he pronounced, the words ‘with anything’ unsaid but clearly implied as he helped her straighten up as much as her own injury allowed. “I have not been injured severely. Worry not.”
Needless to say, Sir Barnes would argue; bruised ribs, several cuts, more so when one of them sat right above his brow, should be considered severe enough not to carry a woman in his arms… particularly when these injuries were coupled with a heavy blow to the head. Before, Sir Barnes had not been sure how strong of a hit Steven had taken, but now, seeing how absent of any common sense Steven was-
Ah. His best friend was being quite himself, now that Sir Barnes thought of it.  
“…so we are to ignore there are at least three better candidates whose ribs are not bruised or-“ Peter muttered in low voice to his companions, all but earning a warning slap to his healthy leg as Sir Lang gently shushed him, himself charmed by the romantic ballad-worthy scene in front of them.
“Seeing as she does, I suppose we do too,” Sir Maximoff scoffed lowly, tilting his head to side as he observed his comrade, suddenly frowning, his voice dropping to a whisper. “And so does he. Is he alright? He looks… strange. Has any of you put something in his water?”
“You are saying this as if you were not as miffed about him being chosen by her as I am,” Sir Barton huffed, sourness turning into humour at the other man’s misery.
Pietro’s gaze torn away from the pair, their downright love-sick gazes suddenly difficult to watch; it almost felt as if by looking at them, they were prying on an intimate moment. Pietro thought it curious, for he had never had any issues of laughing loud at the displays of affection his fellow knights had offered in the Tower tavern for everyone to see, but he did not want to examine it too hard. He could find joy elsewhere once they had made it to the city, with no shortage of ladies no doubt willing to offer comfort to the heroes of Starkerbürg.
“He is one lucky bastard,” he sighed, patting the horse’s neck, preparing to take off.
“And lucky he might get…” Sir Wilson sing-sang quietly, causing the group to laugh as their gazes once again appreciated the almost palpable spark between the unlikely couple, exchanging knowing glances as the woman gasped when Steven sneaked his arms under her knees and back, lifting her into his arms with ease despite his gear weighting him down.
“Alright, it is settled. We are certain you are safe with Sir Rogers…” Sir Barton called out, entirely ignored by the pair who instead kept observing one another without as much as a blink, as if they could not bear losing even a fraction of the precious time they were given. “For he is-- they are not even listening to me, are they? No one cares about me anymore, I truly must be getting old-”
Sir Barnes sighed again, realization dawning to him; one he should never share with his companions, but one he would for certain inquire about later when Steven returned to the castle.
“We shall move then,” he muttered, beckoning others towards the road, not before sparing the couple a last slightly disapproving glance.
He feared not for his most precious friend’s safety; he only feared for his heart, too big even for the impressive size his body had grown into since his early days as a weakling. At the moment, it was his mind Bucky feared for, since it almost seemed feeble under a spell of a beautiful woman. A spell no one dared to break.
As the group walked away, each of their steps was uncharacteristically silent; until they believed to reach enough of a distance to have a boisterous laugh about Sir Rogers no doubt to be rewarded for his chivalry. The sound bothered not the pair as they smiled at each other softly, the woman’s thumb brushing over Steven’s sternum, covered by worn chainmail.
The simple touch seemed to reach his soul; his breathing, having already eased since he had first caught her, cleared completely, the ache in his bones gone. The woman’s smile widened, silently prompting Steven to start walking. He was not one to hesitate, his feet moving almost of their own volition.
“You are not obliged to carry me,” she said, a teasing note lacing her gentle voice. “I slowed the landing enough. It is nothing but a bruise.”
Steven shook his head, appearing as if he was barely holding back a grin. “But I must, my lady. It is my duty as a knight of Starkerbürg.”
She pursed her lips, one corner lifting in a smirk.
“Oh? Is it so, my good sir? Hm... speaking of knights of Starkerbürg, Sir Rogers,” she emphasized, a playful spark appearing in her eye, “your friends act like children.”
Undignified for a knight for certain – yet who was he to diminish the already scraped reputation of men who truly unsubtly jested about him taking advantage of the very woman in distress he was to help – Steven snorted.
“Don’t I know it.”
“But Samuel might not be wrong…“ she said, voice equally full of amusement and promise. “Set me down, Steven. You must be tired.”
Tired he was not. Not ever since he had met the woman’s eyes moments ago and recognized their beauty and depth as familiar. But who was he to deny a lady?
And a lady she was, for all she was and was not. They might have jested about it together, but in Steven’s mind, she was precisely that and nothing less, no matter what any half-wit of this kingdom would think. Slowly, he lowered her back to her feet, his heart thundering in his ribcage in anticipation as he focused on the sounds surrounding them.
Content with only gentle whisper of the wind and songs of robins for a company, his worn hands cradled the woman’s cheeks, thumbs brushing over her cheekbones, heart trembling when she leaned into his touch, her lips brushing his palm.
In return, the tips of her fingers ghosted over his brow, the nasty cut closing at once, without a single sting of pain. She focused on that aspect often, even as she knew he would try and not as much as flinch for her benefit, much like he had not when she healed his ribs earlier.
“Thank you. They must be far enough now, I am sure,” he whispered, stepping closer so their bodies aligned and nearly merged in one. “Do not hide from me, bosorka moja. Let me see you, beautiful.”
Her smile turned a little coy, even as her soul sang at his sweet words. Steven was quite a master of compliments; but not a shameless flirt or a rake. What he said always came from heart; that beautiful, beautiful heart he had sworn belonged to her and never made her question it despite their situation.
“As you wish, good sir,” she whispered, fingertips sliding down his cheekbone, repairing the darkening bruising in their wake, before she turned focus on her own transformation. “Close your eyes, love, release me for just a moment.”
With a sigh of disappointment – but eager to oblige – Steven lifted his hands an inch, missing the lovely heat under his touch at once, and let his eyes slide close. Soft light caressed his skin, flickering behind his closed eyelids as her features shifted, her cloaking spell dispersing.
Steven did not fight the smile tugging at his lips as he allowed himself to open his eyes again just as the glow was dying out, welcomed by the sight of his beloved in her true face. The spell she had casted changed her features but a bit, only enough to protect her from those who would still hunt her upon mere suspicion of her being a magical creature. She appeared just as human as before; but should a half-wit still nursing grudges against magic even century and half since its dark side caused people to suffer ever recognize her as anything else… Steven did not wish to imagine what hell would have been raised; even as it would have been one he would fight to death against.
Indeed, she appeared human even in her true form to most, Steven assumed. Yet, to him, she appeared almost ethereal; she always had. From the very moment she had walked into his life and took his world by gentle storm, slowly nursing him back to health day by day from multiple wounds which would have been his doom. She had risked her own life in process, revealing her talents to anyone, let alone a knight of Starkerbürg, but for a good deed, she had barely even hesitated.
Beautiful, powerful, brave and endlessly kind; and now, by the blessing of gods, even as Steven failed to be a proper gentleman, his.
He let his fingers slide into her hair, tilting her face up to feast his eyes on her features, heart humming pleasantly as only a person who owned it could make it hum.
It was clearer than the skies that she felt just the same. Drawing him close, not waiting for his prompting, she rose to her tiptoes and brushed his lips with hers, sweet and healing. No cut was there for her to fix, but it appeared that whenever she kissed him, even with no magic involved as she had claimed, Steven’s often weary soul was lifted.
He followed her lips, earning a hearty chuckle but no protest, a hand on his nape as her fingers curled in his hair as well.
“Bosorka moja,” he said softly against her lips before tasting them again, greedy for every stolen moment, every stolen kiss she was willing to give him.
And she would give him a lifetime, much like he would give his own to her.
But there was not a single reason to do it right where they stood. One more peck to his lips and she escaped his arms sneakily, only to grab at his hand with both of hers, tugging him down the now familiar path.
“Come, rytier moj.”
And so he followed her, without a word of protest. He would follow his heart anywhere.
Their destination was by no means far, they were in no rush. Unbeknownst to Sir Barnes, his thoughts had been precisely on point – the pair of lovers cherished every moment spent together, may it be walking with purpose or wandering.
This day, they chose the former, the hut soon appearing in a barely-there clearing among the trees. Steve’s lips curled in a smile on instinct as despite the humble outside state of the tiny house, he knew what he would find upon entering with his love and lover by his side. A home. Not only hers; theirs. A safe space for their love.
As soon as they entered, the air smelling of herbs and dried meadow flowers, ones he had picked and gifted her the last time he had escaped his knight-bound duties, hit his nostrils and widened his smile. It was met with her own, soft and welcoming, heartbreakingly beautiful; ache echoed in his heart, its emptiness present for the past few days without her suddenly dissolving into nothing.
He brought her hand to his lips, a gentle kiss to her knuckles before releasing her, so they could begin their routine.
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From the mountains Wind, dust and defiance is rising I lay your armour to your feet Don’t let my skin get cold at night
Wind from the mountains
Wind, dust and defiance is rising I lay my armour to your feet Don’t let my skin get cold at night
You made your way to the pot, a simple curl of your wrist lighting up a fire to heat the water for tea. Steven’s gaze followed you as he stood by the door, blindly unclasping his belt, putting away his sword and chainmail. He had no need for weapons nor armour in his home; vulnerability in this house was no sign of weakness, but one of strength. It was a privilege he took upon proudly as you were blissfully aware.
Then, you ruminated through your dried herbs in search of chamomile and lavender, even as you knew the exact placement of every single item; once you heard Steven lose his armour and step forward, you looked over your shoulder, offering an unassuming smile – despite assuming quite a lot from the many encounters you had shared before.
“Tea, my love?”
Like clockwork, like the most beautiful habit, you barely got the chance to speak the question before he stood behind you, fingers cradling your chin, angling your head further to meet your lips again, an indulgent smile tasting indulgent smile as neither of you ever believed a tea was to be served. Not yet at least.
Where your first shared kiss after days of being apart tasted of longing, relief and soft smiles, this one tasted of feelings much more primal. Your breath hitched in the briefest surprise at the intensity, yet you responded in earnest, shifting to accommodate his large body, your hands finding purchase of his broad shoulders as soon as you spun around. He rewarded your cooperation with enthusiasm; you yielded to his force with a breathy laugh once he allowed you to retrieve the air he so lovingly stole from your lungs.
“No tea then?”
A hand previously grasping at your hips wrapped around your back to pull you to his chest, three steps leading you to walk backwards until your back brushed the makeshift table, Steven’s lips as urgent as sweet, his beard scratching at your sensitive skin, each breath tickling your lips.
“Would rather drink from your lips, love,” he whispered to your mouth, the only chance for both of you to breathe in before his lips returned. His hold tightened to ground you against his advances, trapping you in a cage of love you could have easily escaped should you wish; yet, you only withdrew for a moment, a cheeky retort on your tongue as your need for him grew with every touch.
“That could be arranged, I believe.”
Glancing up, you were met with his darkened eyes, his hand firm as he held onto your jaw; and yet, his thumb caressed your skin gently, the desire blending into softness and amusement at your bold demeanour. You lifted one corner of your lips in a smirk, gasping when his mouth possessed yours again, teeth tugging at your lower lip, his arm still holding onto your waist – the only thing keeping you from practically laying on the table, his hips pining yours against the hard surface, fingers squeezing your flesh.
Now there was a thought; Steve’s weight rendering you weightless as he’d coax peak after peak from your body laid on the dark wood as an offering to Gods at an altar…
The very thought, however, was fast to dissolve as Steven’s hips rocked into yours, allowing you to feel the outline of his burning need, having you clutch at his shirt as friction teased your throbbing core. He swallowed the needy noise he elicited from your lips, fingers slipping under your shirt, thumb pressing into your skin just above your hipbone as to guide your movements.
You shuddered upon his lips travelling down the column of your throat, teeth grazing skin alongside the hem of your shirt above your collarbone; your hands began their own quest over the hard planes of his body, appreciative of his truly impressive physique. Steven’s fingers roamed as well, caressing and squeezing, your given name but a breathy whisper when his fingertips stroked the underside of your breasts.
You nearly missed his words due to the blissful sensation, but you had heard the silent plea spoken so many times before there was no mistaking it.
“Dance for me, my love?”
Your swollen lips curled in a playful smile as his fingers carded through your hair, kiss brushing your cheek and jaw and finally your mouth again.
“Oh? Is that what you wish for, lover mine?”
His gaze followed the patterns his fingertips whispered over your face as if they were brushes painting the most precious canvas, a curious contradiction to his eager kisses and hardness.
“Would you hold it against me?” he inquired in a hushed voice, stealing yet another kiss from your waiting lips, his nose gently caressing yours before his gaze bore into yours with intensity again, “that I wish to see something so beautiful and so alive after a battle?”
The amusement slipped from your face, features softening as your heart sored at the subtle confession. The knights of Starkerbürg were full of jest and gestures so great they might border on insanity when situation allowed it. Their bravery was a thing of legends, as much of a legend as the thing you knew they had gone to fight days ago and were only now returning, having bested a mythical creature much more vicious and deadly than yourself, crushing life with not more than one bite to a man’s flesh.
Yet, for all their heroism, even knights, even the most precious of them all – even your Steven – felt the disarming fear of death itself, cruel and all too powerful. You would be always be more than willing to remind him of the power of life for a change, until you’d release yours with your last breath.
Ad so the answer was no – no, you would not hold it against him, whatever he would ask. Never him.
Standing on your tiptoes, framing his face with your hands, his whiskers and already messy hair ticking your palms, you told him as much, sealing your deal with a kiss.
Easing his grip, he allowed you to push against chest, easily giving in as you lead him to walk backwards until his calves hit the frame of your bed. He sat down obediently and you leaned into him, stealing another brief peck.
“Please, bosorka moja,” he pleaded once more as your forehead touched his, taking a moment to breathe him in, reminding yourself that both you indeed were still alive; and thus, such victory should be celebrated with joys life itself provided. “Dance for me, my love.”
Smiling, you placed a finger over his lips to shush him at last, gliding several steps back, mischief appearing in your eyes as his own followed your every movement hungrily, more so when you slipped out of your shawl, the shirt far from brushing the waist of the skirt suddenly hanging low on your hips, providing Steve with a silver of skin of your stomach.
There was no music but the howl of the wind carrying the occasional note by chaffinches and dunnocks and rustles of leaves. Yet, an old old melody echoed in your heart, guiding your movements and filling you with power and confidence of all witches that came before you and enchanted men into giving away their kingdom without as much as a fleeting thought, surrendering their strength and their hearts, all that only to be blessed with a single sinful glance, a single touch of magic as old as humanity itself. For a single drop of passion.
You could feel it fill the air, the longing and thirst for life and body, your lover’s eyes turning dark, hypnotized by the simple swirls of your wrists above your head, at your sides, following every slide of the back of your hands over your ribs, over your bare skin, his visceral need to replace your touch with his own. Drinking in but the smallest motions of your hips, breath hitching at the briefest tilt of your head back or to side, his lips tingling to attach themselves to the exposed skin of your throat, to taste, to suck a bruise. The force with which his fists curled into themselves seemed to ignite sparkles in the air, bringing a sensual smile to your lips as you let your eyes slip shut, feeling the energy hum louder when you moved closer; a sweet thunder within you, within Steve, all around you.
The thud of Steve’s knees on the floor came with his hands grasping your hips; needy but not firm, only to feel the slow movements of your hips and allow you to continue swinging freely. You released a breath, head tipping backwards as Steve’s hot lips found the now burning skin of your stomach, nosing his way up an inch at a time, beard tickling, an open-mouthed kiss following and causing you to shudder – with pleasure, with overwhelming power.
“Steven-“
“Keep dancing, bosorka moja,” he hummed into your skin with a pleased smile, teeth grazing over your belly button as if to distract you from his rough but deft fingers slipping under the waist on your skirt, inching it lower and lower until it hit the floor. Cold air brushed over your bare core, Steven’s lips trailing to the junction of your thigh, his smile growing wicked. “I shall help you dance.”
The very first flicker of his tongue over your pearl had you stutter in your movements, a whimper leaving your lips as Steven’s fingers dug deep into your flesh of your sides and thighs, a wordless warning not to cease the dance he had pleaded for. With a shudder of a breath, you willed yourself to continue, naturally rocking onto his hot tongue as it swept over your weeping core with indulgence, stars flashing behind your closed eyelids at the contrast of the slick muscle to the scrapes his beard left behind.
“Steven-“
“Shhh,” your lover whispered, the sound gentle and teasing at once, the pleasant vibration against your sensitive flesh causing your fingers to find way into his hair and grip, only earning another appreciative hum. “Keep dancing, love.”
And so you did. Leaning into the affection so willingly offered, you succumbed to a different kind of dance. Fingers flexing in Steven’s hair upon a particularly smart swirl of his tongue, breathless praise, calls to Gods and desperate pleas for more more more spilling from your lips. Meeting his ministrations without shame; guiding him, opening up for him as the liquid fire of pleasure spread through your veins, turning into an inferno when you found your thigh on his shoulder, completely out of your doing, an instinct to chase relief – but thoroughly appreciated as Steven’s arm circled your bottom, pulling you impossibly close and loving you deep enough to set you on fire entirely.
You let the primal hunger consume you as you climbed to your peak, crying out when you reached it, head spinning from the intensity; waves of bliss washed over you, body pliant and relaxed. You shrieked when you suddenly found yourself losing your footing, for a brief moment frustratingly empty and cold; and then you were spread on the table, your lover’s lips wrapped around your bundle of nerves, burning blue gaze swallowed by lust firmly set on your face as two thick fingers entered you, latching onto the last aftershocks of your peak. You reached a second high with dizzying speed, unable to tear your gaze away from your giving – and so, so wicked – lover. Gods could possess you at that moment and you would have not felt as if you ascended to such heights as you had while indulging on Earthly pleasures with him.
A soft trail of kisses and pets soothed you as you came down, a breathless chuckle bleeding into a sob when you noticed few of your possessions floating in the air, your magic quite literally having exploded outside of you.
Steven’s lips curled into a smile against your jaw and then you were tasting your essence – as well his much-satisfied grin – on your tongue, revelling in the warm weight of his body covering yours. It seemed your Steven had a few magic tricks up his sleeve too, mind-reading being one of them. You smiled into the kiss, using your grip on his hair to pull him even closer. He could never be close enough; and as he stood between your spread legs, his hard bulge brushing against your bare core, his lips and hands eager, you were certain he felt just the same.
“So beautiful for me,” he whispered to your mouth before retreating, darkened eyes sparkling with lust and pride as well as affection.
“And yours,” you hummed, fingers raking through his beard appreciatively, chuckling when fresh hunger flashed in his pupils. Oh how possessive your knight could be… how much joy it brought you to tease him. “Should I show you?”
A breathy yes was your only answer and so you gripped his shirt, using the fabric for leverage to you sit up. You kissed him again, hands sliding under his garments, gliding over his stomach, your magic flowing freely and healing whichever injuries you had missed earlier.
Easily ridding him of his shirt and pants in between sweet encounters of lips and shedding your clothes as well, you wrapped your legs around his waist, a faint whisper of ‘bed’ enough to have him pick you up without protest; on contrary, with quite the enthusiasm since his hardness throbbed when you led him to sit down with you in his lap.
“Missed you… love you… need you,” you confessed, his breathy voice echoing your sentiments as your lips brushed over every patch of his skin in reach, fingers wrapping around him and guiding him inside you, bliss surrounding you both when you finally sank yourself down his length in one fluid movement.
You rested your forehead against his and simply breathed, living in the moment of utter bliss; a different kind, not the almost primitive one, no, not the wild one. This moment belonged to serenity. Sharing air and warmth with your lover, tender hands appreciating the wide planes of his muscles, strength radiating from flesh and soul alike. And love. Always love.
As if he was able to read your mind once more, his lips sought out yours, a declaration of love indeed, simple, honest and unyielding. His thumb gently traced the pattern of your tattoo, its ink reaching from behind your ear over the side on your neck, a swirl over your left collarbone and spreading over your shoulder. I love you as you are, for all you are, his touch whispered even as no sound left his lips. And even if you felt no shame for your nature, your Steven’s acceptance caressed your soul as did his diligence; not once he had forgotten his ritual of reminding you that with him, your existence was not merely tolerated – but adored and celebrated. When you first understood the significance of this habit of his, tears had stung your eyes, kissed away before they could roll down your cheeks.
“Ľúbim ťa,” you had breathed out then, a love confession in the old language, and ever since, you had not failed to say it once in response to his gesture.
Then, rough fingertips carefully followed the line of a fine silver chain carrying a tear-shaped indigo sapphire, a token of affection usually hidden from plain sight, protected; a promise of faithfulness even as you remained unwed. You had no need for gemstones, but you understood its importance, the significance of the gesture; it made for your heart warm and safe upon its possession and for Steven’s heart lighter a pound of the burden of your circumstance.
Your circumstance was not one of the simple ones, a forbidden love one might say; in which you were the only forbidden thing. Forbidden to even live, let alone love or be loved; an abomination to some. A magic wielder, no doubt seducing the most honourable with her dark powers, for what other reason could be there for him to take liking in you? It mattered not that there was less than a little true to it, that your bond was of much purer nature, as common and as human as the blood you drew from your own veins to cast protection spells over your beloved. True did not matter. Should you reveal your relationship now, Steven would have been painted a victim; and you would have lived no more.
An easy circumstance yours was not at all; but your dedication to each other was to conquer all troubles. And in the meantime, you shall have moments of serenity and of passion, of you and him.
The smallest shift of Steven’s hand pulled from your thoughts, breath hitching when his fingers slid an inch lower, brushing over your nipple. Your hips buckled on instinct, drawing a groan from your lover’s lips, a grip on your bottom encouraging you to move.
Who were you to deny pleasure to you both?
Smiling, you withdrew, index finger covering Steve’s lips as he tried to follow, a discontent furrow to his brow. You tilted your head, thumb brushing over his swollen lips.
“Would you like me to dance still, lover mine?” you inquired teasingly, his disapproval at your actions wiped away in an instant, replaced by fire in his eyes.
Gentle flames of affection battled those of desire, his warm palm caressing over your lower cheeks, before he snapped you impossibly close, causing you to gasp – and to question who it was who had the upper hand here. Your hand fell to his chest, his heart beating wildly under your palm, an answer of its own.
Both then. It seemed you were both on top and simultaneously under the other’s thumb. Such a beautiful thing.  
“Would you, bosorka moja?”
Your smile grew, lips attaching to his once more and planning to remain for as long as possible, first careful rock of your hips the first step to reach for the stars – together this time.
“Oh Steven… for my honourable knight? For you, my love? With pleasure…”
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An absent smile played on Steve’s lips, his fingers running up and down your arm, appreciating the softness and warmth of your skin. An air of comfort and contentedness hovered around you as he held you close, fast asleep in his arms, cheek pressed to his chest as if the very sound of his heart against your ear lulled you to peaceful slumber.
Despite the sweetness of the idea, Steve felt his brows furrow in concern. While as he was perfectly happy to serve as a pillow for his beautiful lover, aware there was barely any greater expression of trust than a shared sleep, worry seized him for this occurrence was beyond rare. He once asked whether your incredible magic was an effortless as you made it seem, met with a weary chuckle and a kind, if a little condescending smile and a confession that if seen weak, your kind would have been an easy prey. Having understood he had taken your answer as a testimony to the lack of trust you had laid in him, you had also admitted that while the teachings of your ancestors had been deeply ingrained in your instincts, part of your reluctance to show your weakness to him was precisely what weighted his conscience just now. You simply could not be bothered to make him fret too much.
The fact you had let sleep take you alone was truly worrisome and Steve pondered just how exhausted you must have been. Even as the fresh memory of your breathless pleas for more and the cries of pleasure as you rode him till you both tasted heaven were nothing short of precious to him, he could not but wonder whether he was taking too much; your magic healing his wounds, your body a sanctuary to his love and fears.
Perhaps he had. But who could ever blame him?
Steven had never known a woman like this – unafraid to give, just as unshy to take; one or the other, but never like this. He had fallen for you and had fallen hard, body and soul. Yes, should anyone call him selfish, they would not be wrong, because Gods, did he take what he craved and lusted – and yet. Yet, every moment with you felt ethereally right as your still unconscious form drifted closer, almost as if you sensed his thoughts and wished for them to evaporate. And so far, they always had, dissolved in your easy smile when you refused his offer and plea to come with him; to bring you to the castle with him so he could give as well, give more, provide and protect and worship you in his home, your new home, true home where you would not have to hide in the middle of the woods like some sort of an abomination.
It is not the time yet, my love. It will come, you would always say, washing away his guilt with a sweet kiss and a promise. One day. One day I shall come with you and we should be unabashedly happy with no fear, free to be you and me.
He had let your words and touch sooth him, always; but not today. Your body having melted into his had his protective instinct flare up, determination set in his very heart. He should convince you today, to make you his and him yours as two people in love deserved. He shall make an honest woman of you in the eyes of the whole kingdom at last. It was what you were worthy of, for you were worthy of anything and everything. And with you… he believed he deserved the same. He could not stand it anymore. Parting ways with you, only to hope for your next stolen moment to come the very minute after he had left. He could no longer bear you existing so close and yet so far out of his reach.
No, he shall convince you today, insist more than ever. He wanted this, he wished for nothing more than to lay to sleep like this every night, with you. You deserved it. You deserved the world and he shall lay it to your feet, for his honour and his benefit at once.
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Any other day, you would have berated yourself for having fallen asleep; but knowing the changes your body was going through, weariness settling in sooner than it used to, it only brought a smile to your face when you found yourself waking to Steven’s tender fingers carding through your hair.
The night was slowly falling. Wandering the woods in darkness would have been an unnecessary risk for anyone, even for a skilled knight with your protective spell over him;  your lover was more than aware of it and still, you could tell it pained him to bring you out of your slumber nevertheless. It was no feat to kiss his guilt away, smiles adorning your faces, noses caressing, hands wandering, nearly leading you back into the clutches of lust.
He sat patiently on your bed now, half dressed as you took your blade, his eyes following your every move with more attention than ever as he absently sipped chamomile tea; he found himself deep in thought, such was obvious. It was not difficult to guess where his mind had trailed off to, for it had always been the same.
His voice was soft when he spoke the words, a soft wrinkle on his forehead as your cut your finger and stood between his spread legs.
“Come with me.”
A sad smile played in the corner of your lips as your heart fluttered at his plea, one he never failed to deliver, even as your sigh must have sounded weary every time.
“I cannot. Not yet.”
Steven was no half-wit, which was more than could said about many of the people of Starkerbürg. He knew precisely why you could not come; why you never could, at least not yet. Magic was still forbidden – as if it was a choice, as if one could choose to stop breathing and still live – hated for the pain and destruction the dark twisted witches and sorcerers had once left in their wake, misusing magic to spread fear and suffering. It was not just that all magic wielders were still paying the price for what their ancestors had done. It was even less just that you, not having done any harm unless you needed to escape imminent danger to your life, should live a hermit life, too far from your love and lover. Yet it was how times were, still.
But you were no fool either. You could feel Steven’s uneasiness growing heavier every time he left without you, for it went against his very nature, against the need to keep you close, to hold you, to love – to protect you from harm. You had no doubt he would lay his life for you. You could not allow him to do that, not when the time was finally growing near for your love to be cherished as any other, time for your kind to be free. You must not lose him to rushed foolishness. He was no longer only yours to lose.
“I would protect you,” he promised, steely conviction in his husky voice.
As sweet as the sentiment was, you could not but smirk, a knowing gaze reminding him that should the situation require it, you could very well protect yourself, even as your true gift – the one special talent every magic wielder had, naturally developed with barely any practice – was of the healing kind. Should you truly wished, you could burn villages with terrifying ease; gods knew sorcerers and sorceresses had done this and more with a single snap of their fingers.
Steve took no offence in your teasing gaze; but the determination in his own remained unshaken as you begun to draw the protective symbol over his sternum.
“The time is yet come for people to understand the blessings of magic again, for its light to outshine the darkness it had sowed,” you reasoned, as much as it pained you. “The time shall come soon, I promise. It is simply not today, my love.”
Long fingers circled your wrist, gentle but firm, having you cease your movement, your gaze meeting the brilliant blue roaming over your face.
“I miss you. All days, all nights. I-“ he paused, licking his lips, a shadow of hurt passing over his face. “Don’t you?”
Your heart soared, a sigh leaving your lips. Steven was not easy on you today; but your conviction and determination was just as strong as his. You had to be brave and so did he. A few days longer, that would be all you needed. The right time would come. You were certain of it, even as it was nothing but a whisper of intuition in the back of your mind. Wait, the voice said, the time grows near, but you must wait.
“Do not do this, rytier moj,” you scolded Steven, letting gentleness seep into your voice. “It does not suit you. You must know I love you. I miss you too. And I worry. All days. All nights. Therefore…”
You wiggled your fingers, Steven’s shoulders sagging as he released you, an exasperated pout to his lips – unjustly adorable – as you resumed your work. You smiled widely despite your unnerving circumstance; he would give you anything and everything. The knowledge of this, having been reminded by every little gesture, every word he spoke, made for the warmest feeling in your soul.
Content with your handiwork as you drew the last spiral, you had to swallow a chuckle when Steven’s brows furrowed in confusion, head bowing, eyes flickering over the unfamiliar pattern. A triskele instead of a simple two-headed spiral. A symbol speaking more words than your knight could ever imagine in his wildest dreams, you supposed.  
“It’s different.”
Shrugging, you withdrew your hand, calling to your magic to finish the ritual.
“You always draw two spirals connected…” Steve continued, eyes growing large and curious.
“I do”, you agreed softly.
He observed you, intrigued. He had once said he might not understand your power, but he swore he would always try. He would not dare to question your rituals, but you could almost feel how fast his thoughts whirled in a frantic search for an answer. The ritual had remained the same, always, countless times, over and over… why would you steer from it today of all days? What was its significance? What had changed?
Oh Steven. Your sweet, sweet Steven… if he only knew.
“You always say it is about love. The unity of us. You and me,” he said slowly and you nodded, unable to contain your joy any longer, eyes surely glimmering.
“Yes. Our love, you and me. Unity of two.”
His eyes, roaming your face in silent question still, suddenly widened, flickering down and snapping back up as the realization dawned on him, leaving his lips slightly parted.
You simply shrugged, a chuckle shaking your chest, while guilt already began to gnaw at your conscience. You should have not told him, not yet. But how could you have kept it for yourself? How could you have denied yourself a little indulgence, even when knowing nothing could change just yet? You simply wished to see him learn your sweet secret, yours and his, even if for a moment, see he was equally elated.
Your knight did not disappoint you, not that you believed he ever could. His face was a perfect blend of shock and delight, radiating joy and hope and shame and sadness in equal amount as he stammered, shaky hand reaching out to carefully brush his fingers over your belly showing no signs of the treasure growing inside yet.
“You- are you—are we? Oh gods-“ And then, as you predicted, his expression shifted in an instant, determination taking deep root. “Then you must come with me. Allow me to take care of you, to-“
Satisfied and aching at once, you promptly shushed him with your still bloody finger to his lips. A single tear rolled down your cheek; a testimony to happiness, reassured anew of your lover’s goodness and dedication to you. To your family. The wonder, the glimmer of hope and the conviction in Steven’s expression would stay with you till you could grant him his wish.
“The time has not yet come, my love. I share your joy. And your worry,” you whispered through the tightness of your throat, even as a smile adorned your lips. Your finger drew a small cross over his mouth despite the pain it caused you. You had had your moment – and that had to be enough for now. “I am sorry, rytier moj. But you shall not remember this, not yet.”  
Before he could as much as take a breath, you withdrew your hand, the symbols on his chest and lips disappearing with a soft glow. Disoriented, your knight blinked, steadying himself by the hand on your hip even as he remained seated.
With a shaky inhale you composed yourself before he could, leaning forward and planting a tender kiss on his lips, fingers raking through his hair. His hand cradled your jaw, adoring.
“Be careful,” you spoke against his lips, earning another small peck.
“Always.”
You retreated with a huff, shaking your head as you went to find an ointment you knew his friend would soon need.
“You speak as if I did not know you, Steven. A basilisk chimera’s teeth three inches from your throat, I heard? Careful indeed.”
His smile was sheepish as he rose to his full height, tying the top of his shirt before reaching for the garments you had so hastily rid him of earlier.
“I always try. The idea that should I fail, I shall never see you again… it can be quite a motivation,” he sweet-talked, succeeding just a bit in softening your exasperation.
Perhaps the vision of him dutifully putting on his armour, making his frame appear even larger – and protected – calmed you further.
“Well, Steven, try harder,” you snipped, pressing a tiny pot into his hand, earning a raised brow. “And take this to Peter, the wound on his leg was already turning foul. And this…”
You reached for a salve you had prepared for when a wave of nausea had taken you by surprise, dipped your finger in the dark substance and carefully patted it over Steven’s brow where his cut had been. You did not expect Steven to feel nauseous – after all he was not the one carrying a new life under his heart – but the colour was convenient. A cut healing so rapidly would have casted a dangerous suspicion on whoever he had interacted with – or worse, on Steven himself. You could not have that.
He observed you softly as you tended to him, adding a small tap where a bruise had begun to form earlier on his cheekbone. He did not utter a word until you were satisfied with your work. Once your hands fell to your sides, his own framed your face, pressing a kiss to your forehead, your nose and finally your mouth again, a bittersweet goodbye.
“Always so meticulous and careful… always so good. Taking care of me, of my friends…” he mused, breathing you in one last time, hovering, hesitating more than usual. Almost, almost as if your spell had not worked and he still knew. As if he still knew precisely what he was leaving behind this time. “Take care of the person most precious to me too? Until I come back again?”
There might be two of those for you now, you thought, the memory of his delight flashing in your mind, bringing a smile to your lips as you nuzzled into his touch and kissed his palm.
Looking up at his face, you echoed his own reassurance. “Always.”
With one last kiss and hearts as heavy as light, you declared your love to each other. You walked him out quietly, watching him disappear between the trees, his gaze turning to you several times, always finding you standing at the doorstep of his true home, a tender smile on your lips.
Once he was out of sight, you released a sigh, hand settling over your belly, a tear stinging in your eye despite the corners of your lips having been turn upwards.
Yes. The time was yet to come for the people to see again the blessings of magic. For now… the blessing of love already bloomed and it was enough.
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Očaruj mě (a fic with the same pairing in the same universe)
S.R. masterlist - contains other knight!Steve fics, independent of this one
Complete masterlist
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Yes, I’m mixing symbols, I know… do I care? Nope.
Terms of endearment/addressing used from Slovak language: bosorka moja = witch mine rytier môj = knight mine ľubim ťa = I love you
Thank you for reading!💕 I wrote it in between really difficult exams in the ocourse of two months and it needed a LOT of editing afterwards too, so... feedback is, as always, appreciated 🥰
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neverevan · 26 days
Text
Fuck It Friday 🧇
Aalrighty. First of all; BI BUCK IS CANON, WHAT A DAY TO BE ALIVE?! Second of all; check out my new header, isn't he ever so pretty?? 🥹
Anyway, I have been sitting on this for ages and I thought since 1) this is literally the beginning of the fic and 2) it is more than likely getting scrapped at this point (or just majorly reworked, we'll see what will the finale bring), why not share one of my favourite bits from it?
(And for the people keep asking me why I wanna scrap them just because they aren't canon compliant: because I don't care to write something that doesn't line up with canon unless it's an actual AU where I can tweak things, this is just my personal neurosis but I'd appreciate if everyone just left it at that, thank you. 💛)
Buck had always thought that the term ‘love of one’s life’ was too broad. For starters, how do you even go about defining it? How would you even know?
When he was with Abby, he thought that she was the love of his life — and probably that was the truth at the time — it was an affection that burned with the uncareful fire of first love, destroying much of everything in its wake when pushed off balance by the winds of eagerness and fear of loss.
With Ali, it was more casual and Buck liked her a lot, truly, but in the end, they barely had the time to settle into anything more serious, before a ladder truck crushed Buck’s leg and put an unexpected strain on their relationship.
How can you really tell when you love someone so much that it’s actually not possible to love anyone else more, ever again?
He learned the answer to his question just before he started dating Taylor.
Apparently, the love of your life doesn’t always come into your life with loud fanfares and bright neon lights reading “HERE I AM”. No.
Instead, you meet them, you learn to like them and somewhere down the line you fall; you fall so deep and so gradually that you don’t even realize that you stepped into a bottomless pit until you’re too far from the mouth of the tunnel to crawl back up.
It came in stages and yet the realization hit Buck like a punch to the gut, sucking all the air out of his lungs and leaving him numb in his fingers.
✨I've been tagged by and am totally no pressure tagging the marvelous @sunshinediaz @spagheddiediaz @goforkinard @exhuastedpigeon @nmcggg @bidisasterbuckdiaz @daffi-990 @diazsdimples @honestlydarkprincess @watchyourbuck @actualalligator mwuahhh 💛
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