#it’s noon and Saturday and why would I even get up from bed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

samaraannhan20 · 2 months

Text

Austin Butler Imagine: College AU! Yes to the Dress

Warnings: College! reader, Agegap! (About 10 years)

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“What time are your friends arriving tomorrow?” Austin asks me as we lay down in bed for the night. I curl myself up into his side before I respond.

“Well Kyra is driving in and will get here around 6 pm. I have a girls day with the whole group on Saturday. Tara and Alice are flying in and we need to go pick them up at noon. Oh and my mom and sister will be here by 6 as well.”

“What are you doing for your girls day on Saturday?” he asks as he reaches over and turns off our lamp which in turns places us in the dark, with only the glow of the background movie still giving us light.

“We’re going to brunch, and then going dress shopping. I’m going to ask everyone to be my bridesmaid after they all get here tomorrow night, so we’ll also look for bridesmaid dresses while we’re dress shopping probably,” I say as I turn the tv off.

“Are you excited?” he asks me as we turn and face each other in the bed.

“I am. I am so excited to have a wedding and end the day married to you. Although, as much as I love weddings I could probably just go to the courthouse and marry you right now.”

“I would do the same. But there is no reason to rush it. It won’t be a huge wedding anyway. Family and friends,” he says with a small smile.

“Yes. Family and friends. I hope Baz and Catherine can come. I miss getting to see them,” I say as I close my eyes. “And Miss Priscilla. I’m already trying to figure out a way to wear the bracelet she gave me at the premiere on our wedding day.”

“No one will even notice if it doesn’t match. If you want to wear it and it's important to you, wear it,” he says, placing a kiss on my forehead. “Now turn around so we can cuddle and go to sleep. We can keep wedding planning tomorrow,” he says, and moves away so I have room to turn over.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“Hey Aus?”

“Yeah darlin?” he asks as he rounds the corner to the living room where I am seated.

“Mom said she should be here in like an hour and a half. Is that guest room ready?”

“You mean the one on the exact opposite side of the house than our room? Also known as the room we only use when your family is in town?” he says with a small laugh, pressing a kiss to my forehead as he comes up behind me. “Yeah, it’s ready.”

“And what about Ella’s room? Right next to it?”

“Yep. Both rooms that are the farthest away from us are ready, in order to stop family members from being scarred by the fact that we have sex,” he says with a laugh and then starts massaging my shoulders. “Baby you need to loosen up. It’s not the wedding weekend yet. We’re ten months away from that.”

“Yeah I know, but I’m asking the girls to be my bridesmaids this weekend, and asking Kyra to be my maid of honor, and not all of the parts of the gifts are here yet and I need them to be here before Kyra, Tara, and Alice get here because I don’t want them to see it before I give it to them later tonight.”

“You could always give it to them tomorrow night,” he says as he continues massaging my shoulders.

“No, because I want to look at a few bridesmaid dresses while we’re dress shopping tomorrow,” I tell him, bending my head back to look at him.

“Oh right,” he says, and lets go of my shoulders, choosing instead to walk around the couch and sit down, grabbing my arm and pulling me into him. “Speaking of dress shopping, there’s a credit card on the counter for you.”

“What? Why?” I ask him, pulling a little away so I can look into his eyes.

“Because you’re still paying student loans, you shouldn’t be worrying about how you’re going to pay for a wedding dress. It's as much for me as it is for you, so I want to pay for it. And for the bridesmaid dresses so that no one has to worry about how they’re going to pay for it.”

“Austin, no. If the tabloids learn about that they’ll call me a gold digger. Again,” I say, enunciating the ‘again’ because I have been accused of that at least three times in the past.

“So what if they do? You and I both know that is not why you’re with me. Along with our entire group of family and friends. I want to take care of it, please let me,” he says, whispering on the last part. I launch myself into his lap, and pepper kisses all over his face and neck.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“Hey everyone! Dinner is ready!” I holler from the kitchen where I stand with Austin. He drops a kiss on my forehead as he walks out of the room, heading to the living room to avoid the chaos that is about to ensue. I wait silently as my closest friends and mom and sister walk into the kitchen. They all start to reach for plates, but I stop them.

“Actually, there is one thing I would like to do before eating. If you would follow me,” I say with a smirk and then walk into the dining room. I walk to stand next to Austin as they all walk in the room, and notice the different boxes with each of their names on it. “Please find your name and then sit down at that spot. Do not open your box until I say to open it,” I tell them, and they all follow and sit down in their seats. When they are all sitting and settled down I speak up again.

“You all already know what this is,” I start with a small laugh, and they all laugh and cheer in agreement. “However, there is an order I would like to do this in. Starting with Kyra, you can go ahead and open yours,” I say, and she immediately opens her box. She tears up when she realizes what it is.

“You want me to be your maid of honor?” she says with tears in her eyes, looking at me. I nod, also tearing up. She stands up and walks over to me, giving me a hug. When she pulls away she looks from me to Ella and then back again. “What about Ella? She’s your sister,” she says, concern washing over her face.

“We talked. We both agreed it was more of a job for someone who was old enough to drink legally when I turn into bridezilla,” I say with a laugh, wiping my eyes. Everyone in the room laughs, and I give Kyra one last hug before shooing her back to her seat. “Okay, everyone else you can open your boxes now,” I say to them, and they all rip open their boxes. “Mom there is also one for you, but just a gift. Not asking you to be a bridesmaid,” I say with a laugh, and watch as she rips into her box as well.

As they get into their boxes they jump up and down and start crying, before swarming me into a group hug. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Austin standing in the corner taking a picture of us, and I start to cry even more.

“Okay wait though, do you guys wanna see what I got Ashley’s daughter to ask her to be my flower girl?” I say after a few minutes when we all pull away and are wiping our eyes. They all cheer yes, so I go over to the hall closet and pull out the box that I got her. I bring it over to the table and open the box, causing a loud chorus of ‘aww’.

“That is the cutest thing I have ever seen,” Tara says, and we all just laugh. As I close the box up and go put it back in the closet I shout over my shoulder “there’s pizza in the kitchen!” I laugh as I hear everyone stampede into the kitchen. While they’re all distracted I walk to Austin and wrap my arms around him.

“I love you,” he says as I lay my head on his chest.

“I love you. And I can’t wait to be Mrs. Austin Butler,” I say, pulling my head back to look up at him. He leans down and kisses me, and as he does we hear another chorus of awws and pull away with a laugh, turning to look at the doorway to the kitchen where all of the bridesmaids stand. I feel him press a kiss to the top of my head as he pulls out of my arms, and takes my hand to lead me into the kitchen for food.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“You know, you never told me how you and Austin met,” Alice says in the middle of brunch on Saturday.

“Really?” I say around the mouthful of food I just shoved in my mouth. Kyra laughs with my little sister as little bits of food fly out of my mouth.

“Graceful,” my mother mutters with a small smile coming across her face.

“Yes, really. You just called one day and told me that I would never believe who you were dating before blurting out that you were dating Austin. And then you said you had to go call some other important family members because an article would probably drop before you had the chance to tell them if you didn’t tell them right then. And we never discussed it again,” Alice says, looking at me expectantly.

“I know the story,” Kyra and Tara say at the same time, before looking at each other and laughing.

“So do we,” my sister says, pointing at herself and my mother.

“Oh. Well I guess you only got to know the full story if I lived with you,” I say, looking at Tara with a laugh. “Well mom, Ella, and Kira also knew because they have known everything since the start. Kira knows more than anyone else, because I had many anxious discussions with her leading up to us officially getting together three years ago,” I say, taking one last bite of food and then pushing my plate away, before diving into the story.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

Flashback to May 2021

“Okay. You guys have two hours of studio time to get this take today,” the executive says to the choir as we all stand in the recording studio. Our director nods and then gets our attention to start the singing.

It takes probably an hour and a half before we have a couple of solid takes, and then the executive walks back in.

“I think we got it guys! Now, can the soloist stick around? Everyone else can head home, and I’ll let you know if we need to find another day to try again, but I’m pretty sure we got a good take today” he says, and my choir director looks at me, before turning to everyone else and telling them it was time to go home. I shuffle forward as everyone else leaves the room, and then shoot a shy smile towards the executive. “If you will follow me I have a couple of people who want to meet you,” the executive says, and I nod with a smile, and clasp my hands together to hide the shaking. I follow him down a different hallway where no one is around, and then enter a room. I look up from my feet when I hear people stand up and see people who I never expected standing in front of me.

“Hi, Y/N?” Baz says as he steps up to me and holds out his hand to shake. I reach out and shake his hand, hoping that my shaking isn’t too obvious, and mutter a small hello. “I’m Baz,” he says, and I shoot him a small smile. “Of course, you probably already knew that,” he says with a laugh, and I laugh along with him. “And this is Austin,” he says, motioning towards the person standing next to him. I mutter hello to him, blushing as he takes my hands in his and clasps them together.

“You sounded amazing,” he tells me, and I blush even more.

“Oh I’m not even the best singer in the choir. This just happened to be the solo I was assigned for the semester. I don’t even think I should have been the one it was given to,” I say, looking away.

“Oh nonsense,” Priscilla Presley says as she steps forward, immediately pulling me into a hug. “You were amazing. I am so glad that you were chosen for it,” she says, and then presses a kiss on my cheek.

“I had a question I wanted to ask you,” Baz says, and then motions towards a chair and asks me to take a seat. I sit down and Priscilla sits next to me, with Austin and Baz sitting across from me. “There is one song that we were wanting to put on the soundtrack that we hadn’t quite found the right voice for,” Baz starts, and I get a questioning look across my face. “After listening to you sing the solo with your choir we wanted to ask you if you could do it,” he says with a small smile. “Of course, you can say no. I know that not everyone would be comfortable with something like that, especially if they didn’t want to be thrust into the fame spotlight,” he says, and I shrink down in my chair.

“I’m really sorry,” I start. “I am so thankful for the opportunity, but I have to say no. I really didn’t even want the small solo on the song we just recorded, but since I’m a music major my director told me I couldn’t say no. I don’t want to be famous, I just want to teach music to little kids,” I say, and everyone around smiles.

“That is completely okay,” Priscilla says, and takes my hands in hers. “I think you should do what you want to do, and if this isn't it that is okay. The world needs good teachers. And I can tell that you are going to be one,” she says, and I flush. Austin mutters something in agreement, and I flush even more.

“I do know someone that could do it,” I say, and when Baz asks me who it is, I give them the name of someone else in my choir whose voice is like mine. They tell me thank you, and that they will get in contact with her. We all talk for a little bit longer and then Baz stands up as his phone rings.

“I need to get this, but it was so nice to meet you, Y/N,” he says and holds out his hand for me to take. I take it, thinking that this would just be a hand shake, but he pulls me up from my seat and into a hug. I hear small chuckles come from the others in the room and laugh myself as I hug Baz. “You will make an amazing teacher,” he says as he pulls back, and then answers the phone waving goodbye as he steps out of the room. The executive that had been sitting in the room with us the entire time stands up saying he will lead me out, and I nod, and turn to Priscilla and Austin.

“Thank you for asking me. It means a lot,” I say, and Priscilla stands up and pulls me into a hug.

“While I wish you had said yes, I fully understand why you did not. I hope you succeed in everything that you want to. And I hope we see you at the premiere,” she says, and I nod.

“If I get an invite I will be there,” I say as I pull away, and then turn and hold out my hand for Austin. “It was nice to meet you,” I say quietly, and he takes my hand in his.

“It was nice to meet you. I can walk you out,” he says, turning to the executive looking for a nod of approval, and then dropping my hand and walking towards the door. I follow behind him, not sure what to say or what exactly is happening. We walk down the hallway making a bit of small talk as we walk down the hall. When we get to the door that leads out to the parking lot.

“Well this is my stop,” I say with a small laugh, and he laughs as well.

“I guess it is. Can I get your number?” he asks, and I freeze. “I mean, just to make sure you do get an invite to the premiere,” he says quickly, trying to calm me down in some way.

“Oh yeah, that makes sense,” I say as he pulls out his phone and hands it to me after opening the contact app and starting a new number. I place my number in his phone and then hand it back.

“It was nice to meet you,” I say and then wave goodbye before pushing the door open. I walk out into the parking lot to my car, and get in and start it. I pull my phone out to start music and notice I have a text from an unknown number.

Unknown number

I hope you gave me your real number because I would love to get to know you more.

Austin

I drop my phone in the seat next to me, and then quickly grab it, shooting a text back.

I never give out fake numbers, there’s no telling who’s phone number they are. I would also love to get to know you more.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“And the rest is history,” I say as I finish my story, smiling absently as I reminisce on how Austin and I met.

“I totally forgot that your choir sang for the Elvis movie,” Alice says.

“Yeah. I think if I wasn’t with Austin because of it I probably would have forgotten too. Other than meeting him and Miss Pricilla it was almost just a normal recording experience, and we do that every year,” I say with a shrug.

“You guys literally had a real-life meet-cute,” Ella says, and we all laugh.

“You’re not wrong. Some days I wake up having a hard time believing that this is my real life,” I quietly say. “I mean, I love Austin with everything that I am, sometimes it’s hard with his fame though.”

“Yeah I don’t think I could ever get used to that,” Alice says, Tara and Ella nod in agreement.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world though. This is how it was meant to be. And I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with him,” I tell them, a blush coming across my face.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“Going to the chapel and I’m gonna get married,” the three of us sing off key as we walk to the bridal shop, my arms interlinked with Kyra and Tara’s arms. We all laugh as we hear the laughs of the rest of our group behind us.

I remove my arms from Kyra and Tara and open the door of the shop, holding it open for everyone. My mom is the last person to walk in, and she holds her hand out for me to take as we enter the shop.

“Hello, welcome!” the owner exclaims as she walks up to our group. “Do you guys have an appointment?”

“Yes,” I say. “It’s under Y/N,” I tell her, and she unlocks the ipad she had been holding and looks at her calendar.

“Oh, yes! It’s so good to see you! I’m Sarah and I’ll be helping you today! Do you know what you were wanting to start with today?” she asks, and I look at the girls. They all shrug in response, so I turn back to Sarah.

“The main goal for today is to hopefully find my wedding dress, but I was also wanting to look at a few bridesmaid dresses, just to get an idea,” I say to her, and she nods in understanding.

“Okay! Do you want to start with the bridesmaid dresses?”

“Yes please!” I say, and she guides us over to a section of the store that has bridesmaid dresses.

“Do you know what your colors for the wedding are?” she asks as the girls split up to thumb through dresses.

“Darker pastel colors, kind of dusty colors. Leaning towards dusty purple and colors like that. The wedding is October 28th, and I thought that dusty colors went best with that.”

“Is the wedding indoors or outdoors?” she asks. “So I know if we should be looking for things with sleeves or the option to add sleeves.”

“Indoors. I didn’t want to have to worry about weather conditions or the paparazzi’s ability to hide in a bush and take pictures.”

“Paparazzi?” she questions, and I can see in her eyes that she is trying to figure out if she knows who I am, or if she has seen me somewhere before.

“Um, yeah. My fiance is Austin Butler,” I say quietly, and I see the recognition in her eyes the moment she connects the dots.

“Oh! Well we run a shop that focuses on the privacy of our customers, so you won’t have to worry about anyone finding out. We were actually the shop that Ashley Tisdale found her wedding dress in,” she tells me and I quietly laugh.

“Yeah, she recommended it to me. She would have been here today, but she had some meetings happening,” I tell her. She nods and then turns to a section of the shop.

“Okay, well, we are so glad that you chose our shop. These dresses over here come in whatever color you want, and you should be able to get sleeves added onto most of them if you want. Were you wanting your bridesmaids to all wear one color?”

“No. They can all wear whatever color they want as long as they all look good together. I think I just want them to try on one each while we’re here, just to start getting some ideas,” I explain and she nods.

“While they look at these, why don’t you and your mother go and start choosing some dresses you might want to try on today,” she says, and motions to where the wedding gowns are. I nod and take my mom’s hand and walk over to that side of the store. My mom and I shop side by side, pulling things that I would like to try on for about twenty minutes.

After that time, Sarah comes over to us.

“Your bridesmaids are ready to show you what they found, and then we can start trying on the dresses you chose. I also pulled some that I thought you might like based on what you had told me when you scheduled your appointment and what you had been pulling today,” she tells us, as she points us in the direction of where the girls are trying on dresses.

“We all originally had different ones,” Kyra calls out from the dressing room.

“But then we saw this one and thought it looked better than all the others,” Alice shouts from her dressing room. “Let's go girls!” she continues, and they all three step out of their dressing rooms in the same dress. My eyes well up as I take them in.

“Guys. This is perfect. How did you find it?” I ask them as I wipe tears off my face.

“Kyra found it,” Tara says, and I turn to Kyra.

“Yeah. We’ve been discussing your wedding for years, and when I saw this I knew it was what you would want. And it looks good on all of us,” she says, and I run to her and pull her into a hug.

“Already going above and beyond in your maid of honor duties,” I whisper, and she laughs.

“What can I say? I’m good at my job,” she says, and I laugh before pulling away.

“Well,” I start, turning to Sarah. “We found our bridesmaid dresses.”

“Amazing. I will get Rosie,” she says, and then motions to another worker standing a few feet away. “To write down the style and everyone’s sizes while you and I head into that dressing room and get into your first gown,” she says, and then turns towards everyone else. “I will make sure you are all back out here and comfortable before I bring her out in her first dress.” They all smile and nod, before the four girls head back into their own dressing rooms. My mom sits down on the big couch as I head into my huge dressing room with Sarah.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“How do you feel?” she asks as we slip the eighth dress onto my body.

“Honestly, starting to feel a little discouraged. I really wanted to find my dress today and be able to go home and tell Austin that I found it,” I tell her as she clamps the back up.

“Well, don’t get too discouraged because this one looks amazing,” she says, and then taps my shoulder, which I have discovered throughout the last hour means to turn around and look in the mirror that is taking up the entirety of the wall behind me.

“Oh…” I gasp as I turn around. Tears well up in my eyes as I look at myself in the mirror. “Sarah, did I grab this?” I ask her as I stare at myself in the gown that was meant to be mine.

“No, I think your mother did, or maybe one of your bridesmaids,” she tells me, resting a hand on my shoulder and handing me a tissue with the other one.

“I think… I think this might be the one,” I tell her as I continue to stare at myself, taking the tissue from her hand in order to wipe the tears off my face and running my other hand across the fabric.

“Hurry up!” we hear come from the waiting area, and I chuckle, wiping a spare tear that is falling down my face.

“Are you ready to go show them?” Sarah asks me, and I nod, allowing her to walk out of the room before me. “Ladies, I think this might be the one,” she says as she walks out before me, and I hear them all gasp as I turn the corner and walk into the room, looking at my feet as I walk.

“Oh, Y/N,” I hear my mother mutter as I stop in front of the mirror that surrounds almost the entire area. I look up from my feet and out at my family and friends, and tear up when I see tears in their eyes as well.

“Y/N, please tell me that’s the one,” Kyra says, and I smile. “Please say that’s the one, because you look amazing in it. And you look so so happy.”

“It’s the one,” I say, with another tear falling down my face. “This is the one. Mom,” I say, looking at her, “did you pull this one from the rack?”

“I did. You brushed past it, but I saw it and knew you should at least try it on. It looks so much better than I could have ever imagined. You look radiant in it,” she says, trying to hold her sobs in as she takes me in.

“Thank you Mama,” I respond, tears streaming down my face, as well as all my friends' faces and my sister's face. Everyone jumps up and gives me a hug, resulting in a huge group hug. “I love all of you. I can’t wait to be able to celebrate this big day with you,” I say and then squeeze my arms a little tighter around everyone. “Okay, you’re all suffocating me now. And we’re going to mess up the dress,” I say after another minute or two, with a slight laugh. They all laugh and pull away and I turn and look at myself again.

“Were you wanting to try a veil on with it?” Sarah asks as I stare at myself in the mirror.

“Oh! I hadn’t even thought about that. Yes I would love to,” I respond, and everyone chuckles as she heads off to grab one that will look good with it. She comes back with a few, and I try a few on before deciding on one. I stare at myself in the mirror a little longer, and notice my friends taking pictures of me in the background.

“Okay. I think it’s time to get out of this dress until the next time,” I say, turning to Sarah. She nods and we go back into the dressing room.

“Okay, before we get you out of this dress I need to take some measurements so we can make sure to get it altered correctly,” she says, and I nod in understanding. For the next fifteen minutes she takes some measurements and then pulls back after the last one. “Okay, now we can get you out of it,” she says, and I laugh. She helps me out by unclamping the dress and helping slip it down over my hips. I step out of it and over to my clothes, slipping the dress I had worn back on quickly.

“Is there a certain place for me to pay for everything?” I ask, and she laughs.

“Actually, your fiance called about an hour ago and gave us his information to have us charge your dress, anything else you may want, and the bridesmaid dresses to his credit card. He asked me to tell you he found the conveniently forgotten credit card you had left behind.”

“Dang it. I was hoping he wouldn’t find that until after I got back,” I say with a small laugh. She also laughs in response, and then we are back in front of my friends and family.

“Do you want to take an ‘I said Yes to the Dress’ picture?” Sarah asks as we all gather our things. Everyone cheers yes, and she ushers us together before grabbing the sign from somewhere nearby. I hand her my phone, and she takes multiple pictures of us before handing it back. “Okay, Y/N, I will see you back here in about a month to try on the dress after alterations.”

“Awesome! Thank you so much for all of your help Sarah,” I tell her, and then pull her in for a hug.

“You’re welcome! I’m so glad you were able to find your dress today,” she says as I pull away from the hug. We all say our goodbyes and head out the door. We laugh and talk as we make our way down the sidewalk to my car.

“I’m so excited!” Alice says, and I laugh.

“Believe me, no one is more excited than I am.”

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“Honey I’m home,” I call out as I walk in the door. Everyone had taken my car and gone out to see a movie in order to give me some time alone with Austin after finding the dress.

“I’m in here,” he calls from the office, and I toe my shoes off by the door before walking over to it.

“Hey sweet boy,” I say as I walk in the door and see him looking over a script at his desk.

“Hi darlin’,” he says, pushing back from the desk and opening up his arms for me to walk into. I sit down on his lap and wrap my arms around his neck, giving him a small kiss. “Where is everyone?”

“They wanted to give us some time alone so they went out to see a movie. They’ll be back for dinner later. I think their movie started like five minutes ago,” I tell him, laying my head on his chest. “You’re sneaky, you know that?”

“Hey you’re sneaky too, trying to hide that credit card so I wouldn’t find it,” he responds, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

“Yeah I guess so. And I mean, how would anyone even know that you paid for it, not me?” I say, and he smiles.

“Exactly my point. Now, how was dress shopping?” he asks. A huge smile breaks out on my face and I lift up and kiss him again. “That good huh?” he says as I pull away again, and I laugh.

“Not only did we find bridesmaid dresses, but I also found my wedding dress!” I exclaim, and he squeezes my sides where his arms are wrapped around me.

“That’s amazing darlin’,” he says, and then pulls me in for a kiss. When he pulls away he asks, “I know I don’t get to see the winning wedding dress, but can I see some of the other ones you tried on and the bridesmaid dresses?” I laugh and nod, pulling out my phone and plugging it into his computer so he can see the pictures I had been sent. No one had sent me pictures of the winning dress, because they knew Austin could get onto my phone at any minute and they didn’t want him to find the picture.

“Okay, so these are the bridesmaid dresses,” I say as I pull up a picture of all of them in their dresses.

“Those look great!”

“That’s what I said! And they perfectly fit the theme I was going for,” I tell him, placing a kiss on his cheek before turning back to the computer. “Okay, so this is the first dress I tried on. Everyone cried simply because it was my first time in a wedding dress, but we all agreed it wasn’t the one,” I tell him, and he laughs. “This one we thought looked good, but there wasn’t an immediate connection. If I hadn’t found another one I would have tried that one on again, but probably would have left empty handed. This next one I hated but I tried it on to appease my mother,” I tell him, and he laughs. We sit like that going through all the dresses until I get to the last one. “This is the one where I was starting to lose hope, because I felt like I wasn’t going to find one today. If you look at my eyes you can see how tired I am and how much I was hoping we could just call it quits soon. But then, they convinced me to try on one more dress, and sure enough the next dress was the one that was it.”

“Do you have any pictures anywhere of that one?” he asks with a sly smile on his face.

“They do. I don’t. They wouldn’t send me any because they knew you would know the password to my phone and would try to find it. I think I’ll have someone post it early on the wedding day as a throwback of sorts, to show when I got the dress,” I tell him, and he nods.

“And that will work because neither of us will be on our phones that day. We'll be so busy,” he says, and I laugh.

“Yep. With a 2 o’clock wedding we’ll be busy all morning. And then all evening. Honestly I probably won’t be on my phone or checking social media until we’re on the plane on Sunday morning. And even then I might not. I will have to be texting my parents though when we leave here and arrive in Paris.”

“Speaking of, I finalized those flights earlier. And booked the hotel rooms.”

“Yay! I go back in a month for a fitting to make sure the dress fits correctly, and if it does I can bring it home that day. Except I might take it over to Ashley’s because I love you, but you are a snoop. And I don’t want you to see it before the day of,” I say with a small smile, and he laughs.

“You know me too well. Oh! Ashley called earlier and asked what night you were wanting to have dinner this week?”

“Oh right! Gotta ask Jupiter to be my flower girl,” I say, laying my head on his shoulder. “Whatever day works best for you honey. I’m taking Mom and Ella to the airport really early in the morning, and when I leave to take them Kyra, Tara, and Alice are going home. So even tomorrow night would work, but only if I get a nap. If I don’t get a nap I will be going to bed at like eight.”

“I know. I know how you function sweets,” he says.

“Speaking of, can we go lay on the couch for a bit? I want to change first, but then I want to cuddle with you before my family comes back. I’m exhausted,” I say, sitting up and looking at him.

“Of course,” he says, and then pats my leg to get me to stand up, before heading to the couch as I head to our room to change.

“One last thing,” I say when I get into the living room after changing. “Was that script you were reading any good?”

“Maybe. I need to finish it in the morning while you nap, but it seemed promising.”

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

“Jupiter,” I call out as I sit down in the living room at Ashley’s house. I laugh as I hear her little feet come running from the room she was in.

“Aunty Y/N!” she exclaims as she jumps into my lap.

“I have a present for you Jup,” I say as I give her a hug, smiling over her head at Ashley, Christopher, and then next to me at Austin. She wiggles out of my arms and slides down to the floor to stand in front of me.

“Give it,” she states in her little toddler voice, and I laugh.

“Jupiter! Ask nicely!” Ashley exclaims with a small laugh. I wave her off and grab the box from the table behind where Jupiter is standing.

“Jupiter Iris, will you be my flower girl in Uncle Austin and I’s wedding?” I ask her as I open the box for her. She immediately takes the sunglasses out of the box and puts them on her face.

“Can I wear these sunglasses?” she asks and I laugh.

“Yes Jupes, you can. But you have to take a picture with me tonight before you run off again.”

“Yes Aunty Y/N,” she says with a small nod. I laugh and gather her into my arms holding the box as best I can as Ashley grabs her phone and takes a picture of the two of us. I place a big wet kiss on her cheek as everyone laughs, including her. “Gross Auntie,” she says as she giggles and tries to wiggle out of my arms. I loosen and let her go, and she bolts out of the room.

“Well,” I say as I slide over on the couch into Austin’s arms. “I guess we have a flower girl.”

#austin butler x fem!reader #austin butler fluff #austin butler x reader #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler imagine #austin butler

96 notes · View notes

officialaemondtargaryen · 9 months

Text

A Fine Line [part 3]

Summary: You've been with Aegon for a little over four years and the relationship just isn't the same. His brother isn't helping the situation, either. This is a Modern Day AU!

Pairing: Aegon x Reader / Aemond x Reader

Word Count: 4.0k

Author’s Note: Sorry it was late! I don't know if my M,W,F schedule is going to work. I just want to say thank you all! I really hope you like this one and please, I would love to hear your thoughts & predictions! I basically screech like a pterodactyl whenever you guys leave comments! Tag list is open!

Warnings for the entire series: severe angst, cheating, unprotected sex, jealousy, lying, possessiveness, stalking, manipulation, and language, alcohol use, recreational drug use.

Read Part Two | Read Part Four

Playlist here

The light from the early, Saturday morning sun filtered into your bedroom through half-opened blinds, illuminating tiny specks of dust in the air. It was warm with Aegon pressed against your back; his soft breaths fanning over your shoulder. You stirred softly, turning so that you were facing him, doing your absolute best to not disturb him so that he could continue to sleep in.

It broke your heart to look at him now, knowing that your relationship was hanging by a thread. Wondering how you got here, how you arrived at the platform of whatever these feelings were that you felt for him. Caught between the memories of what you had once before, and feeling as if you were in this bed alone, despite the fact that he was laying right next to you.

You moved, swinging your feet over the side of the bed as you stood up with a sigh. Aegon groaned, his arms reaching for you before turning back over on his stomach and going right back to sleep. His wavy, golden hair splayed out on the pillows as he shifted deeper into them. The duvet pulled down, exposing his freckled shoulders. It took everything in you not to reach out and touch him.

Even your fingers balled into a fist, nails digging into your palm to keep yourself from it. Why? You'd wind up disappointed, feeling unwanted, and he'd be annoyed that you woke him.

The thought made you want to cry.

It was around noon when he finally emerged from the bedroom. You had lost track of how long you'd been sitting at the kitchen table; a bagel untouched on the plate in front of you. You jumped slightly at the feeling of his hand on the back of your neck, just briefly touching you as he made his way to the coffee maker. It was a fleeting moment, his fingertips leaving you just as quickly as they came.

He was in a white t-shirt and a pair of boxers. Despite his disheveled appearance, he looked close to angelic- even with the dark circles under his clouded, blue eyes. You could hear him inhale and exhale heavily with his first sip of coffee; shoulders rising and falling with his breath.

When did it become this way? This silence?

You used to look forward to Saturday mornings; knowing that you had two full days with him to yourself. You'd spend every weekend tangled on the couch or in the bed, not getting up unless you absolutely needed to. Weekends in the summer were always fun, too. He'd always find something for the two of you to do; getting high at the beach, spending your days at Coney eating corndogs and funnel cake until you wanted to throw up or throw yourselves right off the end of the pier. You missed his ice cream cone kisses and the way he would lay his head in your lap as you would read whatever novel you had brought with you that day.

"Colleen Hoover," you whispered to yourself as you absentmindedly stirred your lukewarm coffee; the last book you remember reading on a beach towel under the hot, July sun.

"What was that?" Aegon asked, turning to face you.

You were broken out of your trance and looked up at him. "What?"

"I think you went somewhere," a goofy smile replaced his signature pout. When you didn't say anything, his smile faltered. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Mm," you hummed and took a sip of your coffee before making a face. It was definitely lukewarm- cold, even. "So, awards ceremony tonight, huh?"

Aegon rolled his eyes, "If I could just not, I would not."

You stood up and dumped your cold coffee down the drain and sat your cup in the sink. "But babe," you sighed softly and reached for him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. "Look at everything you've accomplished, what you've become! You've worked so hard!"

His eyes were glued to the floor. "You're right," his lips turned up into a smile as he looked up at you through fair lashes. His hands caressed the skin on the back of your arms. "I've worked really hard, and soon it will all pay off and we'll buy a house and get a dog." His forehead pressed against yours as he sighed. His eyes fluttered shut. "A golden retriever, we'll name him Sunny."

"Sunny sounds like he's a really good boy," you whispered and moved to place a kiss on his lips.

"The best," his body became less tense.

You smiled as you stood like that for a moment, just swaying back and forth as he held you so close that you could feel his heartbeat. He was so warm in your arms that you felt like you were holding onto a piece of the sun. You turned your head to place a kiss on the side of his neck, lips brushing the soft skin under his ear, wanting nothing but to tell him that you loved him, that you missed him, that you wanted things to go back to the way they were. But your eyes fluttered open as you heard his phone vibrate on the counter, the moment instantly shattering to bring you back to the reality of your mediocre life. Aegon tensed, his head falling to your shoulder as he groaned in annoyance.

"And so it begins," he mumbled. He let the phone ring, knowing that Otto would call back immediately after it went to voicemail.

Before he could leave the kitchen, you stopped him.

"Hey, would you mind if I invited Aemond to go bowling with us tonight?" You asked, gnawing on the inside of your cheek.

"Not at all," he shrugged. "It'd probably be good for him to get out. Let me see what this fucker wants and then I'll text you his number."

Aegon left shortly after, having been summoned to some "pre-ceremony conference" just to finalize the details of the evening. He had sent over Aemond's contact information before he left, promising that he would see you later tonight. Suddenly you found yourself alone, the silence sitting with you like a friend that you'd run out of things to talk about with.

You stared at your phone for what felt like hours, thumbs hovering over the keyboard; not sure why 'hey, did you really want to go bowling' was such a hard thing to say, but you typed it and deleted it about one hundred times. The final time you typed the words, you quickly pressed the tiny, blue arrow, sending the message into the void before setting your phone face down on the table and standing up.

Before you had even turned to walk out of the kitchen and towards your bedroom, you heard a ding! The butterflies in your stomach, which shouldn't have been there, fluttered mercilessly almost making you nauseous. You inhaled at the sight of the words on the screen, your eyes scanning them over and over again: "Of course, I'll see you there." What was most likely an unambiguous winking emoji at the end of that sentence- because in your experience, men didn't know what emojis even were- was staring back at you with a strange tension that caused a knot to form in your throat.

It was wrong.

It was all so, so wrong.

You placed your phone back down on the kitchen table and shook your head; fighting an internal battle with the guilt and the excitement that you felt. Neither one was winning, but both were slowly tearing you in half.

The thought of cancelling crossed your mind as you showered, but only because you found yourself fantasizing about every possible scenario that would lead to this night ending with you on your back in Aemond's bed. You pictured a navy blue duvet and cold, cotton sheets; a wooden headboard tapping against dark colored walls. Your legs clenched together at the thought of his weight pressing down on you.

As you continued to get ready, the images were becoming ingrained on the back of your eyelids. Every time you closed your eyes small details would change; positions, locations, where his mouth was on your body, the lighting of the room, the scent of his cologne, if his hair was up or down. You had tried to reason with yourself, that this was a completely normal feeling, that you just hadn't been laid in a while.

It didn't make a difference.

You half-hoped that he wouldn't follow through with his plans to meet you at the bowling alley. However, when you turned the corner on to 9th Avenue, you noticed his lithe figure leaning against the outside of the building. You stopped for a few seconds, watching him as he stood there; his warm breath swirling in the frigid, January air as he checked his phone.

Seconds later you felt a vibration in your pocket: "I'm here."

"I have to ask, what is your haircare routine because I've yet to see you have a bad hair day." You texted back.

He looked up and around until his gaze caught you, a small smile tugged at his lips as he pushed himself off of the side of the building. You joined him at his side, your neck craned to see his face.

"It is surprisingly simple, but if I told you then I'd have to kill you," he said so smoothly he could have rehearsed it. "And I like you," he added as he opened the door into the bowling alley and gestured for you to go inside. "So, I'd rather not say."

You smirked at his words, eyes rolling slightly. "If you ever change your mind, here's my business card-" of course you had one with you. "My readers would love to know."

He chuckled at that, "I absolutely will," and tucked the card in his coat pocket. "So who's birthday is it?"

"My coworker, Jace," you replied as you scoured the lanes for Baela and Jace. "He's probably a few years younger than you, writes really thoughtful obituaries." You spotted Baela and waved. "Baela is here, too. You met her last night."

You weren't sure why you felt nervous. Aemond certainly didn't seem to be. He was so calm and collected, and cool, as if it was effortless to him; as if he didn't command every eye to look at him the moment he entered a room. The look on Baela's face couldn't have been further from calm, collected, and cool. Her white curls fell over furrowed brows and her lips were pushed to the side.

Jace just looked happy to be there.

"Hey guys," you greeted as you stepped down to the table they were sitting at. "Happy birthday, Jace!" You moved to give him a quick hug. "Jace this is Aegon's brother, Aemond. Aemond, this is Jace. Aegon couldn't make it, some work thing."

"Lucky me," Aemond smirked as he shook Jace's hand. "It's nice to meet you." He then turned his attention to Baela. "Lovely to see you again, Baela."

Despite her rigid expression earlier, you did see her cheeks turn just a shade darker as he kissed her knuckles. You smiled to yourself.

"You guys should go get shoes," Jace mentioned. "Unless you're afraid to lose."

Aemond's eye squinted as he looked at Jace and laughed, "In a hurry to get shown up on your birthday?"

"Go get the shoes!" You groaned at him, pushing him towards the rental counter. "I'm a size __." Your eyes followed Aemond as he disappeared through the crowd before you turned your attention back to Baela. "What?"

Her arms were crossed over her chest. "I'm just concerned," she says softly. "You've been here all of five minutes and I haven't seen you this happy in two years? I just don't want you to do something that you'll regret."

Your shoulders slump and you rolled your eyes dramatically. "Baela, I'm just-" you stopped when you saw Aemond making his way back over to the table. "Being nice! Two people can be just friends."

She gave you a look but dropped the subject as Aemond dropped your bowling shoes in front of your feet. Someone ordered a round of shots, and then a second round, and a third. It was starting to get warm, the music was loud, and you felt good. Aemond was surprisingly extroverted, despite the enigmatic aura he typically projected. He seemed so nonchalant, like he belonged there, like he was good at it.

The game was obviously competitive, with Jace and Aemond doing their best to one-up each other with every strike. They carried most of the score, while you and Baela joked around, not really caring. You stepped up to the line, getting ready to throw the swirly purple and teal ball down the lane.

"Wait, wait, wait!" You heard behind you. A flurry of pale blonde hair bounced towards your side. "I've watched you throw three straight gutter balls, please, allow me?"

"What?" You gasped. "I know we're behind, but I'm not going to cheat and let you take my shot for me!"

Aemond held a hand to his chest, "The fact that you would even insinuate that I'd allow you to cheat!" He scoffed. "Please, just-"

He turned you back to face the pins, the contact of his hands on your shoulders made you disoriented. You tried to breathe, but it was so warm in there. There was a slight rosy hue to his otherwise pale cheeks as he towered over you. His hands lingered still on your shoulders. You tried not to pay attention to the way his fingers pressed into your skin as your blouse shifted beneath his grip.

"Put your feet here," he instructed and pointed to where you should stand with his toe. One hand dropped to the small of your back, you swallowed thick. "Now," his lips were dangerously close to your ear. "Line your ball up with that pin and when you step up to throw, bring this leg back."

You felt the inside of your body clenching as his hands dropped to your waist. Your cheeks flushed as the hair on the back of your neck stood straight.

Following his instruction, you took a few steps up to the pine and released your ball. Within seconds it curved to the left, falling straight into the gutter once more. You turned to look at him with a disappointed frown. His lips couldn't help but begin to turn upwards at your failure.

“I thought you said you were good at this?” You say to Aemond, giving him a playful shove. "We're going to lose!"

"And you'd blame me?" He asked with a smile.

"You instructed me right into a gutter ball!" You threw your hands up.

"My instruction was flawless, as always," you could hear the double entendre in his voice. "Not my fault you couldn't focus."

"I beg to differ," you quipped under your breath, knowing that he was close enough to hear you.

On his next turn, Jace bowled a strike to win the game. The scores weren't even close, but it didn't matter. You'd had more fun tonight than you'd had in- well, since you could remember. For a moment, you'd wished Aegon had been here, but you shut the door on that thought as you checked your phone to see that he hadn't texted you- not even to check in- since he left the apartment earlier.

Your eyes connected with Aemond as you slipped your phone back into your pocket and you smiled softly. You hardly knew him, but you could tell he knew; Aegon was his brother, after all.

"Another game?" Jace asked.

"I don't think I have another game in me," you chuckled. "My shoulder is killing me after the three games we just played."

"The three games you lost, you mean?" Jace countered.

"Hey, I know it's your birthday, but I will still kick your ass!" You laughed as you slipped out of your bowling shoes.

"We'll have a rematch, soon." Aemond interjected, holding his hand out to Jace. "Good match."

"Girls versus guys next time, maybe?" Jace laughed and shook Aemond's hand.

"That wouldn't be fair," Aemond mentioned with a cocky smirk.

"I wouldn't underestimate us," Baela added as she slung her arm over your shoulder and began walking with you towards the counter to drop off your shoes.

The midnight air was numbing as you stepped out of the comforting warmth of the bowling alley. You were almost instantly sobered, feeling tiny flecks of snow fall to your face. The sidewalks were still buzzing and the traffic on 9th Avenue was still busy as car horns sounded in the distance; a reminder that you lived in a 24 hour city.

"Anyone want to go grab a slice of pizza?" You asked. One, because you needed something to soak up the alcohol in your stomach. And two, because you knew that once Jace and Baela left, you'd be alone with Aemond.

Baela hugged you tightly before holding you at arms length, she mentioned something about going to church with her parents tomorrow morning and promised to see you bright-and-early Monday morning. Jace was already flushed from having a few, too many drinks, and Baela urged that he needed to get home.

You weren't necessarily disappointed, just anxious.

"Thanks for coming," Jace smiled warmly as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder in a side hug. He extended his fist out to Aemond, "it was good to meet you, man."

"Likewise, have a good night." His voice was soft through a tight-lipped smile.

You watched as Baela and Jace turned the corner, before turning your attention to Aemond. The headlights of passing by taxi cars shined in his crystalline eye, making him look as if he were unreal; a marble statue dressed in all back with his hands shoved into his pockets. You weren't sure what to say to him, if you should stay or go.

"Can I walk you to the train?" He asked and you exhaled with a smile.

"I'd like that," you replied.

The closest subway platform was two blocks down on 42nd. You did your best to keep up with his long strides, but it proved to be difficult. He had to stop a few times, turning to you with a smile while he waited for you to catch up. You mostly talked about work to keep the conversation going. The one thing you had noticed about Aemond was that he was a good listener, whether he actually cared about anything you were saying or not, he at least seemed to be interested.

He talked about himself, too, which you enjoyed. He talked about all of the places he had travelled to last year and how happy he was to be back home. He gushed about being able to see his family again, specifically his mother and his sister.

You'd never once heard Aegon speak about his family in such a way.

"Can I ask you something?" You said after the conversation had faded out. Your train was running late, but Aemond had been willing to wait with you so that you weren't alone.

"I can't guarantee I'll have an answer, but go for it."

"Why didn't you tell Aegon that we had met in the grocery store?"

He looked at you, his eye narrowed. "Honestly, it's just easier not to say anything sometimes." He spoke, a pensive expression across his pointed features. "Why didn't you?"

You dropped you gaze to the concrete floor. "Because it's just easier not to say anything, sometimes." You repeated his own words, knowing exactly what he meant.

"Hm," he hummed as he leaned up against a brick column. "You know," he said after a few moments of silence. You looked back up at him. "This can't happen." He motioned to the space between the two of you.

"What? Never!" You replied quickly. "I'm appalled that you're even assuming."

"I'm just making sure we're on the same page," he held his hands up defensively.

"We are," you agreed.

"We are?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes, we're friends," you replied sternly. "That's all it can be."

"Good," he stuck his hand out for you to shake on it.

You shook his hand with a firm grip, but he turned your hand over in his, placing a gentle kiss to your knuckles. It made your heart flutter every time. The announcement that your train was arriving played on the overhead speakers.

"Thank you, Y/N. For tonight." His blue eye was piercing through you. "That was the most fun I've had in a while."

They way he said your name and the feeling of your hand in his made you wish he'd just take you home with him; to that navy blue duvet you were picturing earlier. But that was just a fantasy that lived in your mind only, and would never- could never come to fruition. He was right, Baela was right, this couldn't happen.

"You're welcome, I'm glad that you had a good time." You said softly, doing your best to hide your disappointment that the night was ending. "Thank you for coming with me."

As the train pulled up to the platform, you wished that he would pull you into him. The crisp air was thick with tension, and even though you had just agreed to the terms of this- you weren't even sure if you could call it a relationship- friendship, a look lingered in Aemond's eye that told you he didn't mean any of it.

"Friends," you repeated, reminding yourself and him of the deal that you had just made.

He nodded, "Friends."

"I hope you have a good night, Aemond." You pulled your hand from his slowly until it dropped to your side. The doors to the train opened and you found yourself a spot next to the window, forcing yourself not to look back.

Aegon isn't home when you step into your apartment. It's almost too dark and cold, and quiet, and you feel like you shouldn't even be there. You don't even care to hang up your bag and coat, you simply toss them over the arm of the couch. You've got a slight headache and you're starving, and all that you can think about is something you shouldn't be thinking about.

Your phone vibrated as you headed into the kitchen.

Aemond.

"Thanks again, I hope you made it home safe."

You found your thumbs typing a reply before you could even think if it was a good idea or not, "Anytime! I just walked through the door. We should have definitely gotten pizza, but I guess leftover lasagna will work."

Not even bothering to heat up your leftovers, you make your way back into the living room with a Tupperware of lasagna from last night and a fork. You click on the television, catching up on the news before flipping it over to one of your favorite shows.

"You've beaten me, I've got cereal."

You laughed and typed, "That kind of suits you."

Over the next two hours you had squeezed in three new episodes of your show and discussed everything from food, to movies, to philosophy with Aemond. He'd leave you the occasional voice note when he didn't feel like typing a reply, and you'd try not to think about how good his voice sounded at this ungodly hour. You'd try not to think of him sitting back, half-lidded on the couch, in a very comfortable sweater and a pair of joggers with a smile on his face because he was texting you.

It was almost 3:00 AM when you finally got a text from Aegon.

"Don't feel like you need to wait up for me. I love you."

Tagged: @tssf-imagines @gothicwidowsworld @itsabby15 @possiblyafangirl @namelesslosers@toodlesxcuddles @hiraethrhapsody @heavenly1927 @chainsawsangel @hanula18

221 notes · View notes

somanyratsinthewalls · 2 months

Text

Burning Hearts Chapter 11

Pairing: Law x Straw Hat Zoan Type (named) OC

Summary: You were teleported across the globe in an instant, away from your crew. Your body was badly broken and beaten, thrust into the harsh landscape of a Northern island. You are discovered by the Heart Pirates and brought back to health. Startled upon waking up in a foreign place with an unfamiliar crew, you are shocked with the news that you’ll be spending two years there. Trafalgar Law, the captain of the Heart Pirates has made a promise to train you, but will it become something more than a mentor relationship?

WC: 3000

Taglist: @cottoncandyloverrrr @zoros-fourth-sword @nothing-but-brass

Burning Hearts Chapter 11: Coffee Break

— —

Law was a creature of habit. Your training begun every morning, Monday through Saturday, at 8 AM sharp in the clearing in the forest. It would end promptly at noon and the two of you would return to the base together for lunch. Law didn’t wear a watch, he was so meticulous that he could run his daily routine in his sleep.

The opposite of how you were. Your body was finally used to having a strict wake up time, but even then Ikkaku would often have to bust through your door and hoist you out of bed when you were feeling extra lazy. You missed your life on the Sunny with your friends, there was organized chaos every day. You could roll out of bed at 6 AM or noon, Sanji would make your favorite breakfast anyway. You could spend your days sparring with Zoro, doing makeup with Robin, or playing Go-Fish with Chopper… no one breathing down your neck about what to do and when…

“Why can Bepo talk?” You ask, trailing behind Law on your way back from training. It was a few days after your confrontation with him on the submarine and you had continued your training without addressing it again.

“What?” Law replies.

“He’s a bear… but he’s also like… a person? I’ve seen him swim so obviously it’s not a devil fruit situation…”

“You’ve never seen a mink?”

“A who now?”

“A mink? The people from Zou?”

“Nope.”

Law sighs.

“They’re a race of bipedal animal beings. History says humans evolved from them, we just became less hairy.”

“So everyone there is a polar bear?” You cock your head.

Law sighs again, frustrated.

“No. They’re all different mammals. How have you not heard of this? I thought you said your doctor was deer?”

“A reindeer. And no, Chopper’s a real reindeer, he just ate the Human-Human fruit.” You respond.

“Hmm… Interesting.”

Several more minutes pass with no sounds except the squelching of your boots in the mud underneath you as you made you way back to compound. Law glances back at you.

“So… ah..” Law begins, uncomfortably. “Do you like to have coffee?”

You furrow your brow.

“Like… in general? Do I enjoy coffee?” You respond, confused.

“No, shit, I mean like…” Law stumbles over his words. This was very much not like the composed, mysterious pirate captain you trained with. “What I mean is, do you want to have a coffee later? In my office.”

Those last words almost looked like they pained him to get out.

You raised your eyebrows in surprise.

“Oh! Well I…” You begin.

“I got some books when we went to town the other day, I want to show you a few things from them. It might help with developing your devil fruit ability.” Law quickly interrupts.

“Right, well… it’s tomato season so I’ve got a bunch of work to do in the garden, then I’ve got kitchen duty for dinner… but if you can put one of the guys on dishes I think I can stop by afterwards.”

“I can do that.”

— —

“Daisyyyy! Shachi is hogging the sandwiches!”

You spin around with a grilled cheese in your mouth.

“Shachi if you don’t let that plate go I’m going to set you on fire!”

“Jeez, okay mom.” Shachi rolls his eyes and passes the plate of sandwiches to Penguin.

You wolf down the rest of your dinner and pour a hefty bowl of soup to set on a little tray. You place a spoon and a napkin on the tray. You ball up the dishtowel on your shoulder in your hands and throw it at Shachi’s head.

“Your greedy ass is on dish duty tonight, I have a meeting.”

“Oh a meeting?” Ikkaku raises an eyebrow over her bowl of soup.

“Yes a meeting to make sure your captain doesn’t die of scurvy and malnutrition. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” You push out of the galley with the tray of soup and head to Law’s office.

Upon reaching his door, you knock with your heel due to your hands being full. The door cracks open with some unseen force… oh yeah.. the room thing…

“Supper’s on!” You smile while pushing the door open with your shoulder. You see Law at his desk with stacks of old, coverless tomes surrounding him. The books had notes crudely shoved into certain pages. He looks up from the text briefly to beckon you into his office further. You set the bowl of soup and a spoon in front of Law on his desk after folding up the book he was actively reading.

“Eat. You’re borderline skeletal.” You meet his eyes then nod towards the food.

Law hums and picks up the bowl.

“Its tomato and egg soup, I grew the tomatoes myself and I added some white pepper and ginger. Tell me if you think it’s-“

Law gulped down the entire bowl in a few seconds and wiped his mouth with his hand. He placed the empty bowl back down on his desk. You raised your brow in surprise.

“Gods when was the last time you ate?”

“Hmm… yesterday?” Law grabs one of the books from his many stacks and opens to a marked page.

“These are texts on medieval creatures. It’s not devil fruits, but it might help us figure out what you’re capable of. If you look here- wait. I promised you coffee, didn’t I?”

You smile a little.

“That you did.”

“Well, excuse me then.” Law stands, shut the book and moves towards his coffee maker in the corner of his office.

As Law fiddles with his espresso machine, you take the time to get a good look around the room. You had barely spent any time in here so you wanted to see what Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death keeps in his safe space. It was bookshelves, mostly. The antique wood of the bookcases and the worn leather and suede of the furniture was sure a stark contrast to the cold steel flooring and walls. Everything was meticulously clean and organized, except there were tiny little human touches that didn’t go unnoticed by your. His wastebasket was full of empty shrimp-chip bags, crushed energy drink cans, and salt water taffy wrappers. This must be what he lives on when you don’t force him to eat.

“For a doctor, your diet sucks.” You chuckle as Law returns to the desk with two cups of coffee in hand. He hands you one and sits back down in his desk chair. He smirks.

“I forget about food.”

“That’s insane.”

“Is it?”

“Food is… so important! It fuels your body! Your brain! You can’t live off caffeine and carbs… but I think you know that, doc.”

Law rolls his eyes. “Thank you for the soup.” He opens a drawer in his desk and roots around before pulling out a small bottle of whiskey. He pours a shot or two into his coffee before handing you the bottle.

“Is this a good idea, after what happened the last time we drank together, Mr Trafalgar?” You smile cheekily at him before grabbing the bottle and pouring some into your cup of coffee.

Law blushes. Oh gods you had never seen him blush before. He was quite adorable when he was flustered…

Law makes a hand gesture as if it say “shut up” and cracks his book open again.

“A wyvern is much like a traditional dragon… scales, breathing fire, long tail, but the difference, as you know would be the wings. It’s clear you’ve harnessed quite a few of these attributes, but you’ve failed to unlock your full Zoan form. I think if you look at these pictures and notes, you might find some information that might help you.”

You look down at the dusty page. It was filled with vicious, fire breathing dragons ripping the heads off unsuspecting villagers.

“I…. I don’t know if I was to be just like… that…” You point down at the page.

“Of course not. That’s why you need to learn to control yourself and your abilities before you assume your final form and-“

“So I have to stop accidentally burning your eyebrows off?” You interject.

“That would be appreciated, yes.” Law responds, playfully annoyed. “Once you can burn my eyebrows off on purpose, we can move forward.”

You snort-laugh into your spiked coffee. Was he funny? Or was it the whiskey talking? First you think he’s cute, now you think he’s funny? Was it a full moon? Were you finally losing it?

“What’s with all those newspapers?” You take another sip of your drink and stand up. You walk towards the stack of old newspapers at the bottom of one of Law’s bookcases.

“It’s not for the newspapers. It’s for the comics.”

You nod your head down and give him a look.

“The comics?”

“Sora, Warrior of the Sea. It’s the greatest comic ever made. I have ever single issue ever made.”

“hmm… never heard of it.” You say as you flip through the stack.

“What? You’ve never heard of Sora? Stealth Black? It’s been running in the WENP for years.” Law asks.

“Nope, nothing rings a bell.”

“Grab the bottom one. Bring it here.”

You oblige and carefully pull Issue 1 from the bottom of the stack of papers. You bring it over to Law’s desk and he flips open immediately to the beginning of the comic strip. “See look, this is Sora. He’s a marine hero, and he fights against Germa 66. He’s got this robot here, see?”

Law points at the comic on the page and you listen intently. As he explains the years long lore of this fictional hero, you notice a certain sparkle in the pirate captain’s eye. He wasn’t looking at you, he was looking at the figures on the crusty old newspaper page with awe and splendor. You listened for what felt like ages about this nerdy comic strip, but you were mesmerized at the sight of Law finally showing interest in something.

“So who is this guy?” You point at a character on the page.

“Good question, this is a new character in this chapter so… wait you’re actually listening?” Law turns to finally meet your gaze.

“… yes? Why would I not be?” You cock your head.

“I-I just thought you’d be.. bored… or something..” Law still looks at the page.

“I’m not bored. I’ve never read this before. It’s interesting. Can we read one more? Tomorrow’s Sunday… no bed time, am I right?” You ask.

“O-Of course! If you want to!” Law quickly moves from his desk and grabs Issue 2 from the stack. He hurries back to his desk and opens up to the first comic panel.

“I-If you really want to see the art, you can move your chair over here…” Law scoots his desk chair over to make space for you on his side of the desk.

You oblige and move your chair to the other side of the desk so that you and Law were sitting shoulder to shoulder. He points to a character in the comic. “So if you see here…”

Law rambles through the entirety of the comic book with great interest. You alternate looking from the page to his shining face as he smiles, explaining the deep lore behind the story. You had never seen Law so impassioned about anything, let alone a nerdy piece of print media. The hour was drawing late and you yawn involuntarily.

“Hey, you should get to bed. You worked hard today.” Law closes the old newspaper.

“Hm. Thanks. You know I really want to hear more about Sora. Maybe we can read more another time?” You ask.

“R-really? I mean.. Yes. We can do that. Enjoy your day off.” Law replies with wide eyes.

“Goodnight, Law.” You smile as you head towards the door of Law’s office.

“Goodnight.”

You shut the cold steel door behind you and return to your room. Halfway through trudging through the base you realize you had a stupid grin plastered across your face. It was so fascinating to see such an uptight and cold man let loose and info dump about his special interests. He liked superhero comics. How were you supposed to ignore how cute that was?

You sigh and push open the metal door to your room.

“Well, well, well.”

“Ah!” You jolt in surprise.

“It’s 12:30 AM. Where were you, miss girl?” Ikkaku cocks her head as she closes the gossip magazine she was reading while lounging on top of your bed.

“I-I told you I had a meeting!” You respond defensively.

“Alone? With the captain? Until the wee hours of the morning? Hmm?”

“OK don’t ‘miss girl’ me! He had some books he needed to show me!” You unzip your jumpsuit and start to brush your hair out for bed.

“That man doesn’t let anyone in his office for more than 10 minutes, let alone several hours! What the hell were you talking about!” Ikkaku asks you in an accusatory fashion.

“Oh my GODS, nothing! He wanted me to learn about my devil fruit powers and we got side tracked talking about that weird comic he likes!”

“Sora?”

“Yes, Sora. The Sea Warrior guy.”

“Damn.” Ikkaku opens up the magazine again and looks down.

“What?”

“He didn’t tell us about his boy-crush on Sora for YEARS! And you’re already reading it with him after a few months? You think I’m stupid?”

“What do you mean? Of course I don’t think that!”

“He likes you. Clearly. Do you like him?” Ikkaku cuts straight to the point.

“I… I don’t know yet.” You sit down on the bed next to her as you stripped yourself of your clothes. Ikkaku wraps an arm around you.

“And that’s okay. Just… be careful. You’ve been through enough, I’d hate to see you get your heart broken too.”

You sigh, relaxing into your pillows.

“I know… Hey… please don’t tell anyone about this, okay?” You look at her.

“of course.” Ikkaku holds out her pinky to you and you smile and hook it with your own. You press your foreheads together and laugh.

“Shit, if he starts getting laid it might be a lot more chill around here.”

You smack Ikkaku on the shoulder and the both of you fall into a fit of laughter.

— —

The next morning you wake up at your own pace, thrilled to not have to train. You throw on some sweatpants and decide it’s time to get some breakfast. As you swing open the door to your stateroom you notice an ugly, dirty glass vase filled with marigolds and coneflowers at your doorstep.

You lean down and pick up the bouquet. It was put together haphazardly, but you recognized the blooms. These were from your garden. You pick up the arrangement and bring it to your nose, inhaling its fresh airy scent. You turn back and place the flowers on your vanity before heading to the kitchen for breakfast.

Ikkaku was at the stove making rice and eggs. You come up behind her and pinch her hip.

“Good morning.”

“Morning, sunshine!” Ikkaku turns her head and smiles at you. “I made a plate for you and one for the captain. Can you drop it by his room?” She smirks.

You roll your eyes.

“Yes ma’am.” You grab both plates and head to Law’s office.

Once reaching his door you shout instead of knocking.

“Chow time, Cap!”

The door opens and you push yourself in.

Law raises his head from his desk and clears it from the medical journals he was reading.

“Good morning.” You smile.

“Good morning, back.” Law looks at the plate you placed in front of him. “Guessing you weren’t on kitchen duty this morning?”

You laugh.

“Ikkaku makes a fine breakfast, you’re just getting spoiled.”

The two of you eat breakfast in silence for awhile.

“Y-You saw the flowers?” Law stutters out in between mouthfuls of rice.

“I did. They’re lovely.” You smirk. “So you snuck out into my garden and picked my flowers to give them to me?” You ask with a playful smile.

“T-that’s… the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.. when you say it like that…” Law puts his fork down and rubs his eyes. Your heart pangs with sympathy. The man had tried.

“Hey, it’s the thought that counts. I loved them.” You finish your plate of food.

Law still doesn’t meet your gaze.

“Thank you for breakfast.” He says while finishing his plate.

“Thank you for the flowers, Law.” You picked up his plate and stacked it with yours. Before grabbing the tableware you make your way around Law’s desk.

You grab Law’s cheek in one hand and lean forward to kiss his other cheek. You let your lips linger on his skin before pulling back. Law freezes.

You take the dishes out of his office and back to the kitchen to clean. As you wash the dishes, you can’t help but worry… were you really going to get involved with this man? This relationship would have an expiration date… would that be fair to either of you? Did you care? He made butterflies erupt in your chest simply by being vulnerable… there was no denying that you felt something from that kiss, too. The noise in your head was too loud. It was time to take your red satchel and head out to the garden shed…

Authors Note:

chapter 11! it's here! If you guys have suggestions on where you want this to go from here, I'd love to hear them! I have a few thoughts floating around but I'm open to suggestion! Law is just such an awkward loser nerd in my head that's why I simply have to write him as one. (He might close the deal soon thought hehehehe)

#one piece #one piece anime #one piece fanfiction #one piece fanart #one piece live action #one piece netflix #one piece fandom #law x reader #trafalgar d law #trafalgar op #trafalgar law #trafalgardwaterlaw #trafalgar one piece #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar d law x reader #law one piece

59 notes · View notes

messedupfan · 10 months

Text

Chapter 3

Summary: Wanda gets help watching the boys from her mom. Y/n walks into a surprise when helping your friend.

A/N: Hello! Hope all is well and as always, enjoy! ALSO SPEAK NOW TV IS OUT!!! jhgefhjeghjgfe

Masterlist | All Chapters | All Stories Taglist

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

Summers made working from home the most difficult. Wanda could hardly concentrate on her work before one of her boys started complaining about being hungry or getting bored or asking to go to a friend's house, etc. She sometimes wishes that she could have sent them to a camp but Vision was against it because he wanted them at his house during his weeks since he had the time off as well. She knows that she would have missed them terribly as well which is why she was okay with dropping the subject then. But now that she was dangerously close to her deadline without even being close to a finished product, she thought she might go insane on her boys.

That's when she calls her mom in for back up. Then instantly regrets it as soon as she sees the hole in the house. “Honey! What happened here?”

“My marriage fell apart,” Wanda says simply as she rushes to her office. “Pietro is going to fix it, don't worry!” She shouts from the stairs so she can get to work before her mom can catch her in a lecture. The woman shakes her head and makes her way to the kitchen to start lunch for the boys and her daughter. She comes over consistently for the rest of the week to help with house chores, breakfast and lunch, and entertain her grandsons.

Wanda is grateful for her mother's assistance and is able to get a decent design for pitch at the end of the month and start a few backup ideas. She likes to over prepare. She was even able to complete a budget report and the booklets for the investors by the start of the weekend. Wanda feels bad that she had to prioritize work over her kids but her mother reminds her that she was doing this work for them. That she needs to provide for them. Besides, Wanda was still cooking dinners with Tommy and Billy as well as watching movies every night before bed. Though, it was getting a little tense between the two boys with different interests.

On Saturday morning, Pietro arrives with his sleepy daughter and Wanda tries to hold in her laughter as she helps the little girl to her bedroom so she can rest. “You’re here early,” Wanda says as she returns downstairs.

“Mom called me last night. Told me that I should have started the minute I found out. Thank you for that by the way,” Pietro says as he drops some material on the ground. He had pushed some furniture around while she was helping his daughter. “Unfortunately for Luna, she still wanted to come with me. I told her last night we’d be here at six am sharp. She said she was fine with it until I actually had to wake her up. But,” he shakes his head in amusement, “she still wanted to come here.”

Wanda crosses her arms and leans against the wall. “She loves her cousins,” she yawns.

“That she does,” Pietro stares at his tools. “Can I tell you something that you can't tell anyone?” Wanda confirms that her brother can confide in her. “Crystalia and I are considering trying for another. She could use a sibling, you know?”

“Oh, Pietro, that's wonderful news!” Wanda congratulates her brother.

“Thank you, but please, don't tell mom. She'll call about positions and give other advice that I do not need to hear again,” he says recalling the conversation he overheard his mom and sister having a few years ago. Wanda cringes at the memory herself.

“I’ll spare you, don't worry,” she says. “I’m going to start some coffee, do you want any?”

“Yes please,” he rolls out the plans Wanda had sent to him.

You are knocking on Jean's door as you check the time again to make sure that you aren't running late. Your friend asked you to be at the location by noon and he sent you the address this morning. From what you saw from the images online, the place looked nice enough. You wondered why it needed altering at all but remember that he said there was an accident that led to this alteration.

The door opens and it's Anna, Jean's wife. “She’s almost ready, you're welcome to wait in the living room,” she says kindly.

“Thank you,” you step inside. It never gets easier walking into this house even though it's been years since you've lived here. It was a gift from both your family and Jean's when the two of you got married. Because the two of you were so young, neither of you cared about a wedding. In fact, the two of you were engaged for less than a week when you drove off to a cheap chapel and eloped. Both of your families were upset because they wanted to be part of the wedding process but were still happy the two of you decided to tie the knot. And since there was some money being saved for future weddings and college funds, that at the time weren't going to be used, they pooled together that money and surprised you and Jean with this house.

It was a fixer upper for sure and you worked on it every weekend until you were twenty-two. When you and Jean got divorced. You paid for every repair and upgrade with the tips you got bartending and any extra scraps from the job sites that your foreman approved for you to take. You still did repairs for the house here and there whenever they needed it and couldn't afford to hire someone. But, it was no longer your house and with how much time and money you put into the place, it was the hardest part of the marriage to let go of.

You bounce your leg anxiously as you wait for your daughter to come out of her room. “Can I get you anything?” Anna asks before she enters the kitchen. “You seem a little anxious.”

“No, thank you,” you politely decline. “I’m doing a favor for my boss and I just want to do a good job and make a good impression,” you admit. “Plus, his sister is apparently some great architect and she could be a great connection but you know how I get around new people.”

Anna nods, ignoring your words and listening to your body instead. “I’m making you some tea. It can help soothe your nerves so that you're not this loud jumbled energy. Your whole aura is a mess and it won't help you make a good impression.” She disappears in the kitchen before you can decline the beverage again.

“Hey, babe! Who was at the- oh! It was you,” Jean says as she enters the living room space. “She’s almost ready,” she remarks about your daughter. “She’s a little nervous about all of the new friends she's going to make. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it but these kids are going to be nice to her right?”

“Yeah, yeah, well,” you pause. “I hope so. But they're not all new to her. She's met Luna a few times and they get along great. He said her cousins are sweet boys, closer to Rachel’s age. Besides, they'll have parental supervision and I'll be nearby the whole time.” You assure the mother of your child.

“Okay,” she takes a relaxing breath as she joins you on the sofa. “That makes me feel better. Where's Anna?”

“Making me a tea,” you say and lean in close. “Apparently my aura is a mess,” you say in a manner that lets Jean know that you find her wife's assessment of you ridiculous. Jean laughs at your silliness.

“You’re a jerk, she's only trying to help,” Jean defends.

You lean back with your hands up in surrender, “I never said I wasn't grateful. I am going to chug that tea, I promise. Scouts honor.”

Jean rolls her eyes, “You were never a scout.”

“That’s because I was corrupted by your bad influence,” you retort playfully.

“Oh whatever, if I remember correctly, you were the one pulling all of the crazy stunts. I never did anything. I was an innocent bystander,” Jean points out.

You laugh at the flood of childhood memories that you and Jean share. She wasn't wrong, you were constantly getting into trouble as kids. Only because you were trying to impress her and maintain her attention. No matter what the cost was. It was amazing that the two of you were still alive today. “Okay, that's fair,” you say as Anna returns with a thermos for you. “Oh cool, thank you. I'll bring this back to y'all next weekend.”

“No problem,” she sits next to Jean and throws her arm around the woman. Jean falls comfortably against her wife and the two share a sweet smile with each other. You look away from them as you feel longing for a relationship again. Not with Jean, of course. The two of you didn't have what she had found with Anna. But you want that with someone. To have the close connection these two have. It was difficult dating as a single parent at twenty-seven. Not everyone was understanding that Jean and you are better off friends and maintain a healthy relationship. Many situationships fail because your best stories involve your best friend, who happens to be your ex-wife. Another relationship killer is surprisingly that your daughter is always going to be your number one priority. Always.

Luckily, your daughter comes into the room and hops on your lap as she happily greets you. Clearing your mind of any thought of loneliness. “Hey, pumpkin! Are you ready to go?”

“Hmm,” she looks at you nervously and then to her mom's. They are worried about her as much as you are. She doesn’t have many friends due to her social awkwardness. You jokingly claim she inherited it from her mother but you both know it was from you. “Is Luna really there?” she asks. You shift around to grab your phone and pull up your conversation with Pietro and find the picture he sent of Luna with her cousins and show it to her. “Oh! I know those boys! They go to my school,” she says excitedly which lets you know that is a good thing. “They were in my class last year!” She hops off of you and straightens her outfit out,“Okay, I'm ready.” Jean, Anna, and you laugh as her tone has changed so fast.

“Alright, I’ll see the two of you next Saturday,” you say as you get up and follow your daughter. The two of you jam out to whatever pop artist that has her interest at the moment. You couldn’t keep up with her and the stuff she likes. Songs were simple enough to catch on with the lyrics and it amuses her when you get them very very wrong.

When you arrive at the house, you see that Pietro has made a lot of progress on his own and torn up most of the wall from the outside. As you park, you receive a text from Wanda asking if the two of you were still on to buy her a drink later on. Another one saying that she is looking forward to it. You regretfully message that a work thing came up and that you will have to let her know. Then, you knock on the door and are surprised to see Wanda is the one answering.

She looks at you as confused as you are. Her expression quickly drops to one that she hopes is threatening. “What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?” Wanda starts out defensively. Whispering in a sharp tone so she doesn't alarm her kids or her brother. You gulp as you try to find the right words to explain that you're not some crazy stalker.

But Rachel speaks before you can get a word out. “Can I go play with Luna?” She asks Wanda sweetly.

This throws the woman off as she looks down and notices your daughter. She freezes as she connects the dots. “Um, of course, sweetheart. Go on in, she's upstairs with her cousins.” The little girl runs inside and disappears up the stairs. “You’re the person my brother asked to help with the hole?” Wanda asks, still not letting you inside.

“I really had no idea the two of you were related.” You say as you hold up your tool box. “But, uh, yeah. You're the work thing that might prevent me from buying you a drink later,” you try to lighten the mood.

Wanda isn't sure if she wanted you in her house. You know nothing about her and she liked it that way. She knew that eventually she would have to open up to you if the two of you kept up with the meetings. But not like this. Not with you repairing the damage she did to her home. But when Pietro comes to the door she has no choice but to let you in. “Hey, Y/n, I'm glad you could make it. This is my little sister, Wanda,” he introduces. You stand there watching Wanda. Waiting to see if she wanted the two of you to be strangers. Or if you were allowed to reveal your acquaintance. But she remains quiet. Taking her cue, you offer your hand in greeting. “Wands, this is the person I told you about. They do fantastic work. If dad were still alive, he'd have us competing to take over the company,” he boasts.

You laugh, “You speak too highly of me, P. It's great to meet you, Wanda.”

“Thank you for coming to help my incompetent twin brother,” she emphasizes to let you know that she isn't younger than her brother as he claimed. “I truly appreciate it.”

“Ouch,” Pietro holds his chest, “I’m doing a nice thing for you and this is how you treat me?” He shakes his head. “Come on in,” he waves you into the house. You follow him in and Wanda walks away, announcing that she's starting lunch. You keep your eyes in her direction a little longer than you should have and Pietro notices. He snaps his fingers in your face and you look at him. “Don’t think about it,” he says sternly.

You hold a hand up in surrender, “I wasn't. She just,” you can’t continue because he doesn’t believe you. “Nevermind, are you ready to get to work?” You ask as you set your toolbox down and remove your jacket.

Wanda checks on you and her brother every few minutes. Seeing the two of you sharing a laugh while you work. The ease at which you remove pieces of the house. She didn’t like that she couldn’t keep her eyes off of you, but deduced it to her not trusting the stranger in her house. An hour later, she’s offering everyone lunch. The kids come running down and Pietro tries to get you to take a break. But you aren’t certain you’re allowed to.

“Are you hungry?” She asks as she steps over the line of tape Pietro made for the kids.

“I’ll be fine,” you assure as you pull off another piece of the wall from the inside. “Hey,” you stop her from walking away. “Are you going to block my number?” you set the piece on the pile.

“Why would I do that?” She asks with her arms crossing over her chest.

“I’m not sure if accidentally finding out,” you make a noise as you pull another piece out, “where you live is considered a creepy offense.” You grin at her as you look at her over your shoulder.

Wanda smiles a little, “No, I'm not going to block you. Only as a thank you though,” she steps around and looks back when she hears the kids laughing to see Pietro being silly. She turns back to you, “For the free labor, of course.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” you grab the water bottle you had nearby. “Maybe you're the one who tracked me down,” you jokingly accuse. “Heard your brother rave about my work so you found me at a liquor store and charmed me so that I wouldn't charge you.”

Wanda rolls her eyes, “Don’t flatter yourself.” Then she scoffs as she remembers the two of you meeting. She certainly wasn't dressed to charm anyone.

The two of you stand there for a moment, neither certain if that's the end of the conversation. She wants to walk away to go eat but she wants to be certain that you're fine with going on without a meal. You are trying to decide whether or not it's too late to accept her offer and aren't sure if she's going to ask again or leave you to continue working. When she doesn't move you pull your gloves off as you step closer. “What’s for lunch?”

“Food that I made,” she says vaguely but still playful.

“Am I still allowed to find out?” You shove the gloves in your back pocket.

“I suppose I can't let you starve,” she replies. “But you didn't seem like you wanted any before.”

You shrug, “I didn't want to appear rude.”

Wanda nods once and drops her arms, “Some people might say it’s rude to decline a meal.”

“I wasn’t raised that way,” you say, “But I do know people that have, so that’s a fair point.”

She smiles at the floor as you stand a few inches from her now. “You are welcome to take a break and eat. Consider it another part of my payment.” She looks back up at you then quickly turns away. You follow her to the table where everyone else is eating. You pass them to wash your hands in the kitchen sink. There is more laughter and you turn to see your daughter, who you think is hilarious but is normally very shy around people she isn’t comfortable with, causing the laughter. Wanda notices a bit of food on Rachel’s chin and she instinctively wipes it with a napkin. You dry your hands and join the table.

You sit in the empty seat next to your daughter and serve yourself a plate. You get to know Tommy and Billy as the group of you enjoy the lunch together and you feel better about letting Rachel hang out with them. Pietro was being truthful when he said that they are sweet boys. Once the kids finish up, they are racing up the stairs to resume their activities, leaving the adults to the table. “Thank you guys for helping me out. I truly appreciate it,” Wanda says as she sips her drink from her cup.

“Thank us when the work is done, alright?” Pietro says as finishes his plate. You agree as you finish your food as well.

“We should get back to it. Thank you, the meal was delicious,” excuse yourself from the table, grabbing as many plates as you can carry to the sink. Wanda tries to intercept but ultimately grabs what you can’t carry and follows you to the sink.

“You really didn’t have to, I could’ve taken care of it,” she says as she moves the plates. “But thank you, again.”

You smile at her, “It’s really no big deal, Wanda.” You walk away to continue to work with her brother.

As it gets close to dinner time, Pietro receives a call from his wife and he has to call it a day. He quickly packs his things, pulls Luna away from a serious Mario Kart competition, and bids everyone a goodnight. “I’ll see you guys in the morning before you’re off to your dad’s,” he says as he hugs his nephews goodbye. “Thank you for helping me with this,” he says to you. The two of you slap your hands together and pull into a short hug.

“No problem, man. You know I’m always willing to help,” you reply. “Besides, I owe you.”

Pietro nods once in acknowledgement and then moves on to his sister. “Do I need to rent a wood chipper? For tomorrow? Send the bastard a good message.”

Wanda laughs, “No, he’ll just sue you for property damages. You don’t need to be dealing with that on top of everything else. He’s not worth it.”

“But you are,” he says and hugs her. “Give your aunt and cousins hugs,” he tells his daughter. She does as he says sadly because she doesn’t want to go yet. Pietro promises the crying girl that they’ll be back the next morning but she is still reluctant to go. Unfortunately, he has to carry the girl crying all the way to his truck. The boys run off with Rachel to try and finish the match before it’s time for her to go too.

You laugh as you watch them disappear. “I guess that’s my cue as well,” you say as you start to pack up your things. There’s an awkwardness to your movements as you aren’t sure if the previous plans for the two of you were still on or not. But you aren’t sure how to ask. “I’ll uh, see you tomorrow?”

Wanda nods slowly as she watches you. “I wanted to keep our plans but, I’m sure you’re exhausted and well, keeping those kids entertained was pretty draining.”

“Oh, yeah, no,” you wave your hands around as you play off the disappointment. “I get it. Another time then?” You toss your jacket over your shoulder.

“Yeah,” Wanda nods, “I don’t have Tommy and Billy this week. Maybe we can figure out a time to meet up. And it doesn't have to be at the store.”

“Um,” you look to the floor then look back up, “Rach and I have a camping trip planned this week. We're leaving Monday morning. We'll be back on Friday, though. So maybe Friday night?” Wanda begins to worry about what the meet up might be interpreted as. She isn't sure why now she was having this anxiety. She said that she was looking forward to the store. She suggested that they meet somewhere else. Almost as if you can read her mind, you include. “It’d be nice to have a friend that isn't my ex-wife or my boss.”

“Aren’t I technically your boss until this is done?” Wanda asks with a playful tone.

“You’re not paying me,” you retort.

“I am, in food,” she reminds you.

You click your teeth, “You’ve got me there.” You walk to the bottom of the stairs and call out for your daughter to let her know it's time to go. “So, Friday?”

“Will you be offended if I bring someone?” Wanda asks as she thinks about how she can solidify that it's just friends hanging out. Nothing more.

You laugh, “No, I won't be offended. The more, the merrier.” Rachel comes running down the stairs. “Ready, pumpkin?” You ask as she stops beside you.

“Yeah, I almost beat Tommy, but he got me,” she frowns. “I will get him tomorrow though. I'm going to kick his butt!” she says with determination. Then she looks at Wanda and freezes, not noticing her there before.

Wanda smiles at the young girl and leans forward, “Can you keep a secret?” Rachel nods, her eyes still wide. “I hope you win,” she straightens up and follows you and Rachel to the front door. “I'll see you tomorrow,” she says to you as she leans against the front door.

“I will see you tomorrow, Wanda,” you bid her a goodnight and climb into your car.

“I think Tommy and Billy will be great brothers,” Rachel says as she gets her playlist ready.

“What are you going on about over there?” You say with a laugh.

Rachel shrugs as she finds a love song, “It's okay, you’ll catch up eventually.” You laugh at her randomness.

Wanda calls the boys down so they can start dinner and she smiles every time she thinks of your name.

Chapter 4

Taglist: @princessprudy @sayah13 @agaymilflover @awkwardmandalorian @bentleywolf29 @evenbeingcrazy1998 @olsensnpm @artisannat @thisischaismagic @wqndanat @madamevirgo @likefirenrain @tearsofglitter @feltlikethat @the-writer-arcane @natashasilverfox @karsonromanoff @aloneodi @lovelyy-moonlight @red1culous @jovialsublimecomputer @natasha-maximoff @iliketozoneout @doudouneverte @druggedduck @notbornbutforged @when-wolves-howl @lifespectator @justyourwritter69 @wandaromamoff69 @awesomelygayasf @nekoannie-chan @diaryoflife @wuwu96 @wandanats-goodgirl @sincerely-indi @blueredg52 @sisiwritesfanfics @lizziesplant @fuzzyuniversityeclipsefriend @arcturusseer @scarlettwidow34 @chasethemoon

#wanda maximoff #wonderstruck #messedupfan #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda x you #wanda marvel #wanda x y/n #wanda maximoff au #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x gender neutral reader

174 notes · View notes

filthyjoetini · 1 year

Text

Love is in the Air(BnB)

a/n: This one was a bitch to write. It took me a while. Sooooorry! The usual thanks goes to my lovely beta-reader as well as my kick ass editor (hehe) @barfightzanddiscolightz ! Also, Wes is back in action!

warnings: none

wordcount: 5.5k

part 1 - Friday night - part 2 - Saturday - part 3 - Sunday - part 5 - Tuesday - part 6 - Wednesday - part 7 - Thursday - Epilogue

Monday

“Hello there, love.”

You let your shades-covered eyes move up and saw Wesley standing in the doorway between the living room and balcony, looking like he had just gotten out of bed. You were sitting on a lawn chair, feet tucked under your bum, sipping your tea while you enjoyed the warm sun. The weather really meant well for you the past couple of days and today should also be warm enough to finally wear proper summer clothes. You were used to London’s sky being covered in clouds, foggy alleyways, and rain-soaked pavement. But not this time; this time you were graced with sunny skies and warm air. You pushed your sunglasses up to your hair and greeted Wesley.

“Good morning…. Or rather noon, Wes.”, you corrected yourself after glancing at your wristwatch, which showed you that the time was 12:18pm., “Did you sleep well?”

He nodded and sat down in the chair next to you, rubbing his eyes.

“Yup.”, he yawned. “Like a log…Do say, what’s on your itinerary for today? Planned anything exciting?” He turned to you with a small smirk on his lips.

You didn’t really have an itinerary for this trip. The only thing you really had planned was the play you wanted to see, which you did last night. Other than that, you would just do things spontaneously.

“Not really.”, you replied honestly, “I thought I’d hit the city to do some light shopping, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. Except you won’t.”

Wesley’s statement made you look at him in confusion. He wasn’t even looking at you, he just picked at his nailbeds and stared across the rooftop of the house next door.

“I won’t?”, you questioned him with one eyebrow raised, “And why is that?”

“Because!”, he turned to you, a big grin on his face, “It’s my day off and you’re coming to the lake with me. Joe will be joining us later in the afternoon and the guys and Becky will also be coming after they’re done with work for the day.”, he explained as he suddenly got up to lean against the balcony’s railing. “I usually go alone and just wait until everyone arrives but you’re here now so you can keep me company. I really hope you packed a swimsuit.”

For some reason, unbeknownst to you, you did in fact pack a bikini. You remembered holding it in your hand whilst packing and almost putting it back. Something within you told you to pack it so you threw it in your suitcase.

“I packed one, yes. I don’t have a towel though.”, you remarked.

“No worries, you can borrow one of my beach towels.”, Wesley replied as he let go of the railing and walked over to you. Stopping next to you, he motioned for you to get up. You slowly untucked your feet, letting them down onto the ground. You placed your hands on the chair’s armrests and pushed yourself up. Your movement made a small clang sound which made both Wesley and you look down to where it came from. It was the wooden beaded bracelet you had put on while exploring the flat yesterday.

Wesley narrowed his eyes at it and then moved his glance to your face.

“Hey…where did you get that?”

“Uhm”, you started, suddenly worried you had done something terribly bad by putting on the bracelet. You swore to yourself you would put it back again, but it had slipped your mind that you were wearing it. “I…I found it on the commode in the hallway. I swear it was never my intention to keep it. I just…forgot about it. Sorry.”, you clarified, a small frown grazing your lips as you slid it off your wrist, holding it out for him to take.

Instead of grabbing it, Wesley suddenly burst out laughing which irritated you to no end. He was such an unpredictable man. One day you’d get sweet and caring Wesley; you experienced that Wesley on the evening you arrived as well as the day you had to move to the living room. The other, you get the jokester who was just waiting to catch you off guard like on Saturday. Today must be yet another jokester day. You really hoped Joe wouldn’t catch Wesley’s mood and team up with him, as he was a bloody menace on his own and you had already blushed enough for a lifetime.

“I’m just taking the piss, love!”

Oh, I figured, you thought while he was still howling with laughter. He finally took the bracelet from you but instead of keeping it, he put it back on your wrist. “Christ, you should’ve seen your face. All worried.”, he giggled and took his hand in yours. “I’m sorry, but I had to…also, keep it. Consider it a token of our friendship.”, he winked and let go of your hand to walk inside the flat again. You were just standing there, looking at the bracelet with a soft smile on your face. Friendship… Wesley considered you a friend.

“ARE YOU COMING?!”

You heard him yell from inside the flat which startled you a bit.

“COMING!”, you shouted back and stepped inside the living room, closing the French doors behind you.

---

Huge beach bag slung over your shoulder and the opposite hand holding onto a cool box, Wesley and you exited the supermarket next to the train station. He was carrying two shopping bags filled to the brim with drinks, snacks, and foods to put on the grill in the evening. The group had decided to throw their first barbie of the year at the lake and had appointed Wesley as the designated food-and-drinks-provider. He had a list of everyone’s favourites on his phone and even asked you what you wanted. When you had said you’d eat anything, he got offended and forced you to tell him your preferences. At first your stubborn arse didn’t want to be a burden, but he just kept on bugging you until you caved in.

The beach bag, whose weight was currently pulling you down, was almost bursting from the number of things you had packed. You usually packed lightly, but Wesley insisted on taking basically half of the swimming inventory they owned. Apart from the towels and sunscreen, he demanded you also put in a deck of UNO-cards, a half-tent, snorkelling equipment, flippers, and even sand toys. It was beyond you as to why they even owned sand toys, but all he had said was that you would see, while grinning like a maniac. You assumed there must be a patch of sand at the lake.

Wesley led you into the station’s building where you got your tickets. He had explained that the lake was a little outside of London and taking the train would be the fastest way.

Once you got off the train it was only a five-minute walk until you were able to spot the lake. It was surrounded by a park-like setting with a playground, a children’s pool, barbeques, picnic tables, and changing facilities.

Wesley led you away from the facilities to an area almost at the end of the lake underneath a huge tree. It was the perfect size and even lent some shade so you wouldn’t be completely exposed to the sun. You put down the cool box close to where Wesley had placed the shopping bags. He immediately started to fill it with the ice he had bought and placed everything that needed to be kept cold inside.

You busied yourself with unpacking the beach bag. Once everything was placed around you, you called Wesley over.

“Where do you want all this to go?”

“Uh…. the half-tent can go by the shore, it doesn’t need to be under the tree.”, he explained whilst grabbing the sand toys and bringing them to the cool box, where he crouched down and placed them neatly next to the paper plates, plastic cups, and disposable wooden cutlery. What the hell is he doing with those?, you asked yourself and eyed him suspiciously. “Everything else, we don’t need yet. You can put those back in the bag.”, he instructed and got up again, hands now on his hips while grinning at you.

You took your eyes off him and shook your head, starting to put the snorkelling equipment and UNO-cards back into the bag. Suddenly, a hand shot out next to you and grabbed one of the beach towels that were lying on the grass next to the beach bag. You knew it was Wesley because no one else had been there with you, but he still made you jump a little.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”, he apologised, balancing the folded-up beach towel in one hand. The towel was a well-used The Lion King one from the 90s with thousands of loose threads, seams that were coming apart, and frayed corners. Back in the flat, whilst packing, you had asked him why he still had it and didn’t just throw it out. He explained that it was the first thing he had ever bought with his pocket money and that’s why he kept it. Then he wanted to impose an ancient Princess Belle beach towel on you which he explained belonged to his older sister. You had declined his offer politely with your nose scrunched up while he was laughing his arse off. You ended up opting for a simple one with a pretty shell pattern.

Grinning you accepted his apology. He then smiled at you softly, turned around, and placed his towel on the ground a little further away from you, making himself comfortable.

You decided to place yours next to the beach bag and took off your shirt and shorts and stowed them away in it, leaving you dressed in only your bikini and the sunglasses on your nose. Just as you wanted to lie down on your towel, a shirt was thrown at you followed by the word catch!

“Christ, Wesley!”, you exclaimed in feigning frustration. Picking up the shirt and scrunching it up in your hands, you got into position to throw it back at him when he held his hands up in surrender. Instead of going through with it, you let it drop into the bag and stuck out your tongue at him. He mirrored your childish gesture while laughing wildly before he planted his bum back on his towel. Laughing almost maniacally yourself, you finally lay down on your back to soak up some rays of your own.

---

Joe joined Wesley and you shortly before 3:00 pm. You saw him slowly approaching. He was dressed to the nines in slacks and a dress shirt. He had ditched his suit jacket, which now hung limply from his arm. In his other arm he held his own towel, swimming trunks, and a bottle of sunscreen. As he was passing by you, he looked you up and down over the rim of his sunglasses, clearly checking you out. You acted like you didn’t notice but your squirming body betrayed you. Yesterday’s bathrobe incident and his very obvious arousal because of it was still fresh on your mind, so you tried to cover yourself up a little. Joe though, picked up on your movements and grinned to himself as he made his way over to Wesley, who had his ear-buds in. He bent down to his knees and flicked his best mate’s nose with his fingers and pat him on his shoulder. Wesley, acting like the nose flick had hurt him immensely, flipped him off before he pushed away a giggling Joe who stood up again and made his way back to you.

“Hi.”, he greeted you as he placed his towel right next to you.

“Hi.”, you replied, smiling., “You look like you just came from a photoshoot...”, you continued, sitting up a little whilst pointing at his attire.

“Well.”, he said, “I actually just came from one...and an interview also. May I put my things in here as well?” He held up the beach bag in his hands.

“Ohhh...right. I keep forgetting what your actual job is… sorry. And yes, you may. It’s Wesley’s bag after all.”

He thanked you, stuffed his jacked inside, and placed it back on the ground.

“I’m going to get changed real quick.”, he stated and pointed towards the facilities, “I’ll be back in a second.”

Before you could answer him, he took off and disappeared into the changing room. You lay back down again and studied the tree’s foliage above you for a little bit before you turned your head towards Wesley. Eyes closed, he seemed like he was totally engrossed in his music or whatever media he was consuming. Since you didn’t want to bother him, you turned your head in the other direction and kept your eyes on the door, which Joe had just gone through.

After about three minutes, not that you had counted, he stepped out into the sunlight again. Bare-chested, swimming trunks on, and sunglasses covering his eyes, he strolled over to you.

As you were gawking at him, your almost-collision in front of his bathroom on Saturday morning crept back into your mind, making your face heat up again. As he got closer you couldn’t help but stare at his groin. Luckily, he had a towel around his waist that day, otherwise you would have probably fainted on the spot because he was packing. As much as you wanted to, you couldn’t tear your gaze from him. You fortunately were wearing sunglasses, so your ogling wasn’t that obvious…at least you hoped it wasn’t.

As Joe approached you, he threw his clothes haphazardly on the bag and his bottle of sunscreen on his towel. Then he sat down on it and turned to you.

“My eyes are up here.”, he declared, grinning at you. You slowly peeled your eyes from the lower part of his body and lifted your head up to his face. Motherfucker, how did he even notice?, you thought almost panicky, while the heat that threatened to creep up your neck to your face now did exactly that.

“I could see your eyes from the side of your shades.”, he commented, as if he had been able to read your mind, which made you cover your face with your hands in shame.

He let out a chuckle and you suddenly felt a hand on both of yours as they were peeled away from your face with a soft tug. You looked over and saw Joe’s face dangerously close to yours.

“Don’t be ashamed…we all constantly stare at other people. It’s just what people do.”, he whispered. “And…some stares bother me, and some don’t. Yours sure as hell don’t. So, keep on staring, darling.”

All you could do was nod and let out a choked-up chuckle. Joe let go of your hands and you pushed yourself up once again, almost headbutting Joe in the process. Joe leaned back a little to avoid getting hurt and you gasped out an apology, which made him giggle softly.

“Uhm…you have some sunscreen on your cheek…here, let me.”, you breathed, bringing one of your hands to his face, gently rubbing your thumb over his left cheek. Your tender touch made him close his eyes and lean into it. You both stayed like this for a while, not daring to move.

“Speaking of sunscreen,” Joe suddenly spoke up whilst you still had your hand on his cheek. “Would you mind helping me with my back? I couldn’t reach all parts of it.”

“Sure.”, you replied, slowly taking your hand from his face and sitting up straight. Joe turned around so his back was toward you and handed you the bottle. You squeezed a good amount of it onto your hands and then slathered it across his back. As you were thoroughly spreading the sun protection on his back, you noticed that he had freckles on his shoulders and neck. A little further down were a couple of birthmarks and moles. Mesmerized by his back, you started to massage the white liquid into his skin which elicited a mixture of a groan and a moan from his throat. The sound made you stop your motions momentarily and you felt a small flicker of lust forming in your lower abdomen. Pressing your thighs together you quickly finished your task.

“All done.”, you announced taking your hands off his back and rubbing the leftover cream onto your arms. He thanked you with a grin, turned towards you, and held the sunscreen bottle to you questioningly. You shook your head.

“I’m not due for another round yet. Wesley just helped me a couple of minutes before you joined us.”, you explained.

“Alright.”, he replied, dropping the bottle onto the pile of clothes which sat on top of the bag. Then he lay down onto his towel and slightly turned his body towards your still sitting one. “If you need another round, let me know. I’ll gladly help you.”

---

Breaking through the water’s surface you threw your head back and with it your hair. The water was still very cold, and you kicked your legs to keep warm and afloat. Swimming closer to the shore you heard someone yell at you.

“WHOOO! YES ARIEL!”

It was Wesley, who was still sitting on his towel, clapping enthusiastically at your show. He then said something to Joe you couldn’t hear, got up, and walked down the narrow dirt path where the playground and other amenities were located. You chuckled and shook your head as your feet found the lake’s sandy ground and waded out of the water. Joe who had moved his towel around to always get the most amount of sun, ended up next to Wesley when you had decided to take a quick dip in the lake. Now he was just putting it back down next to yours and made his way towards you.

“It’s freaking cold.”, you warned him when he came to a halt in front of you.

“Is that so?”

“Yes! Look!”, you retorted, teeth clattering. You quickly grabbed his forearms with your cold and wet hands, and he let out a small yelp.

“Fuck, darling. A warning would have been much appreciated.”, he chided faintly with a frown on his face, and you let go of his arms. Then suddenly, his expression changed into a mischievous one and you started to panic.

“What are you doing?”

“Me? Nothing. Why do you ask?”

“Joe…please…what ar ̶ AHHHH”, you screeched as he picked you up by your waist and slung your body over his shoulder with an oof. You slid down his back, head almost hitting the ground below you. Fortunately, he noticed and pulled you up a little before he started running towards the water.

“JOE!”, you shrieked, as his body slowly submerged into the water. “LET GO OF ME! I SWEAR TO GOOOO ̶ “

Before you were able to finish your sentence, he pulled you off his shoulder, wrapped his arms tightly around your waist and took a dive.

When you both re-emerged you were coughing and spluttering, and your hair was covering half of your face. Joe was cackling like a mad man, breathing hard. You had your body wrapped tightly around his with your thighs around his waist and your arms around his shoulders. To keep you up, Joe had placed his arms under your bum, holding onto you.

When your coughing didn’t subside, his laughter stopped, and his face turned serious.

“Are you alright, darling? You’re holding onto me like a spider monkey.”

Still coughing, you shook your head. One of his hands came up to your face to wipe your hair from it. Your eyes were closed when he gingerly rubbed his thumb across your cheeks.

“I’m sorry.”, he apologised cautiously, moving his hand to your neck and shoulders to continue rubbing there.

The pressure on your neck felt nice and you let out a small whimper as you took deep breaths. When your breathing returned to normal, you opened your eyes and saw Joe’s worried chocolate ones.

“It’s OK.”, you whispered, fearing your voice would crack. Then you suddenly grinned at him, pushed yourself off him, and dunked him under water by his shoulders.

Cackling like a maniac you swam away from him to the shore. Joe quickly came up again and shouted, “You cheeky minx!”, and came after you. To your misfortune he was a better and faster swimmer, so he caught up to you rather quickly. Just as you wanted to run through the soggy ground out of the lake, he grabbed you around your waist and swung you back. You shrieked with laughter, begging him to put you down.

Wesley came back just as Joe lifted you up, followed by Rebecca, Dan, Felix, Oliver, and Jack.

“Have they kissed yet?”, Jack asked Wesley to which he shook his head.

“Ugh, I wish they’d had. It’s annoying how they tiptoe around each other.”, Wesley replied, rolling his eyes. Cupping his hands over his mouth he took a deep breath and shouted:

“Hey! Lovebirds! The party’s full! Time for supper!”

Joe and you promptly halted your movements and let go of each other, protesting Wesley’s collective nickname for you.

With Joe hot on your heels, you stomped out of the lake towards your towel to dry yourself off. When you picked up the bag with your belongings, Joe’s clothes fell to the ground.

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”, Joe said and picked them up, putting on his dress shirt without drying off first. You slung the bag over your shoulder and picked up your towel. Then you turned to the others.

“Hey guys! Becky! Nice to see you.”

They greeted you back in unison, each of them had a huge, suspicious smile on their face. You scrunched up your face in confusion and then turned to Joe again.

“Uhm, I’m gonna go get changed. I’ll be back in a few.”

Smiling, he nodded at you, and you walked off.

---

You returned to the group about 15 minutes later, freshly showered, dressed in your shorts and a t-shirt, your hair hung loosely and almost fully dry off your shoulders.

When you placed the bag back down on the ground, you saw that everyone was sitting in a circle, the sand toys and the UNO-cards laying in the centre of it. Confused, you joined them and sat down next to Joe. You looked up at him with questioning eyes.

“It’s a drinking game.”, he explained as he picked up his hand of cards, “You basically play UNO and when someone wins, the others have to drink. The person with the most cards in their hands has to drink out of the bucket, the person with the second most out of the castle mould, and so on…Do you also wanna play?”

“Oh, yes, that sounds fun.”, you answered as Oliver handed you your cards.

After a couple of rounds everyone had a good buzz in. Some more, some less. You were on the ‘some less’ side of the group and giggled at the ones who tottered around after what Wesley had decided was the last round. Joe, who was equally as tipsy as you, grabbed you by your arms to pull you up, when Wesley walked over to the both of you.

“Hey, Wi-Fi. Can you come help me with the food, please?”

“Wi-Fi?”, you asked, giggling, turning to Wesley.

“Yeah. Look at his fucking forehead, man. A bloody Wi-Fi signal… it’s not that strong, but it’s there.”, Wesley explained as Joe slapped the back of his head.

“Shut the fuck up, mate.”

“WI-FI!”, you yelled as you burst out laughing, holding onto Joe’s arm with both of your hands, swinging it back and forth.

Following Wesley, Joe pulled you with him since you hadn’t let go of his arm. You insisted you also wanted to help with the food. Eventually you let go of him so he and Wesley could handle the barbie while you, with Becky’s help, were setting the picnic table which was located a bit further away.

“Soooo, tell me. What is going on with you and Joe?”

Becky’s question made you stop in your tracks, pulling the stack of paper plates to your chest.

“Uh, nothing.”

“Ah, stop lying to me. I can sense that there’s something between you two from a mile away.”, she replied smirking, not buying your answer. You blushed lightly at her statement, and she walked over to you and rubbed your shoulder gently.

“Go for it.”, she encouraged you.

“I can’t. I’m going home soon…how are we supposed to make it work?”, you asked, frowning deeply.

“You’ll make it work.”, she explained, rubbing your shoulder once more. “If you don’t make a move, I will force him to.” Her voice changed from encouraging to threatening in an instant and you chuckled and nodded nervously.

“Good.”, she said as she finished placing the last of the wooden cutlery on the table. Without further ado, she walked off to join Dan, Felix, Jack, and Oliver, who were all trying to pile themselves into the half-tent. She yanked them out of it one by one and scolded them, demanding they all go sit at the table. You quickly finished setting the table before any of them could sit down and walked over to Joe and Wesley who were just finishing up at the grill.

“Hey there, love.”, Wesley greeted you as he placed sausages and burger patties on the platter Joe held out to him. “What were you and Becky talking about?”

“Nothing.”, you replied nonchalantly.

“Hmmm…”, he hummed. “Alright…didn’t seem like nothing.”

“It really was nothing. Just girl talk.”, you firmly answered, ending the conversation. Wesley placed down the tongs and held up his hands in defeat, lips in a thin line.

“Alright. Sorry.”, he apologised and walked off towards the table sitting down between Oliver and Jack with Felix on the far end of the bench.

Joe, meat platter still in his hands, still stood next to you, a concerned look on his face.

“You alright, darling?”

You gave him a quick nod and made your way to the table as well. The only two spaces left were next to Dan and Becky, so you sat down next to Becky. Joe followed you quickly and placed the platter in the middle of the table. Before his behind had the chance to touch the bench, the guys were already grabbing various meats off the platter and Becky chided them loudly, even slapping their fingers away. You came to the conclusion that Becky was most certainly the mum of the group and without her, nothing would get done.

Joe’s thigh brushed yours as he finally sat down, and it made you jump a little. Automatically, he placed a hand on your thigh to keep it from bouncing up and down and you instantly stiffened. Becky, who was sitting right next to you noticed the change in your body language and smirked to herself, looking down at your thigh where Joe’s hand was still positioned. You looked at her and she had the audacity to wink at you. Swallowing thickly, you tried to relax, which you eventually did. Joe rubbing his hand slowly up and down your thigh also helped, and you felt yourself zone out a little.

“…Sausage, burger, or chicken skewer?”

“Huh?”, you asked looking to the person who asked you the question. It was Joe who pointed to the platter with one hand, while the other one still unconsciously rubbed your thigh.

“Oh, uh…I’ll take a burger, please.”, you answered softly. He took his hand off your thigh to shovel a burger patty onto your plate and then helped himself to two of them. You pushed up a little and helped yourself to the various sauces and salads that were scattered around the table.

Dinner went by smoothly with lots of laughter, jokes, and more alcoholic beverages. By the time everyone had finished eating, it got quiet around the table and the temperature had dropped significantly. Joe had even put on his suit jacket again. When he noticed you shivering next to him, he took it off and placed it around your shoulders. Perplexed at first, you eventually wrapped it around yourself, soaking up his body warmth and smell.

To set the after-dinner mood, Wesley had put on some low music to be played in the background. Becky put Felix and Jack in charge of cleaning up and throwing away the disposable dishes and cutlery. After much resistance, moaning, and threatened punches, they eventually started cleaning up under Becky’s constant observation.

Joe, lit cigarette dangling from his lips, was immersed in a conversation with Wesley, Dan, and Oliver. You didn’t really understand what they were talking about, so you just sat there, watching everyone silently.

As you sat there, lost in thought, your earlier conversation with Becky came to your mind again. Joe and you had gotten really close over the past couple of days. The touches, the hugs, the soft kiss to your hair, the teasing, the way he held onto you in the lake this afternoon, hell you even kissed him on the cheek last night, that must mean something, right? Well, to you it did. You weren’t sure if he felt the same though. Maybe it was just playful banter for him. But if it was, he wouldn’t act this way, right? As if he were in love.

Frustrated with your thoughts you let out a deep sigh.

Excusing yourself, you got up which made Dan, Oliver, Wesley, and Joe stop their conversation. Wesley noticed the pout on your face and frowned.

You walked towards the lake’s shore where you sat down on the small patch of sand between the grass and the water. Digging your fingers deep into it, you let out a defeated groan as your eyes welled up with tears.

At the table, Wesley stared at Joe and nodded in your direction.

“Mate, go after her!”, he hissed, Dan and Oliver mouthing go, go, go as Joe put out his cigarette and got up, almost jogging after you.

You heard footstep behind you and looked up to see who had followed you. It was Joe. When he saw that you had tears in your eyes, he frowned deeply and sat down next to you.

“Hey. Are you alright?”, he asked, pulling your fingers from the sand, and taking your hands in his. You shook your head slowly, tears now flowing freely down your cheeks and dripping off your chin.

“Whoa, hey. Darling, what’s wrong?”

He tried to pull you into his lap, but you resisted and pushed him back a little, so he let go of your hands.

“I don’t know what to make of you.”, you replied honestly, and confusion set on his face.

“What? What do you mean?”

“I…”, you started, letting out a shuddering breath. “I’m not sure what you want from me, and it’s driving me insane.”, you continued, wiping the tears off your face. “The way you tease me, the touches, the embraces…your eyes. Oh my God. Your eyes. Joe, they hold so many emotions and I just can’t pinpoint them exactly. I’m scared…”, you rambled on, voice barely a whisper.

Joe stared at you, mouth hanging open, unable to answer you.

“I’m scared, because I’m leaving in a couple of days, and I don’t want this to just be a fling. And I’m scared that if we give this a go, distance will tear us apart. I’m scared Joe, so fucking scared, because I’m slowly but surely falling for you.”, you kept explaining in a whisper, still wiping your face. “Hell, I don’t even know if you feel the same. I am really putting my heart on the line here…”

Joe, totally stunned by your confession, scooted closer to you. Then, all of a sudden, he grabbed your tear-stained face in his hands and leaned in close.

“Babe, if I didn’t feel the same, would I do this?”, he asked, pressing his lips to yours. You immediately kissed him back and slung your arms around his shoulders and he finally pulled you into his lap. As your kiss grew more passionate, he let his tongue swipe across your bottom lip, and you slowly opened your mouth to let him deepen it. You kept on kissing until you ran out of breath and both your lips were bruised and swollen.

He reluctantly pulled back and grinned against your lips, wiping away the last of your tears with his thumbs.

“You’re such an idiot for ever thinking I wouldn’t feel the same.”, he whispered against your lips, pecking them softly. “A total and utter idiot.”, peck. “The biggest idiot of all idiots.”, peck.

“I got it, I’m an idiot.”, you giggled against his lips between pecks.

“FUCKING FINALLY!”

Wesley was shouting, pumping his fist into the air whilst the others where whooping and hollering behind him.

Joe lifted his hand and flipped them the bird before he leaned in to capture your lips with his once more.

---

Taglist:

@ohmeg @daleyeahson @lma1986 @palomahasenteredthechat @mandyjo8719 @aysheashea @eddiebaemunson @xlilithb @freakymunson @sidthedollface2 @i-wont-run-this-time @plk-18 @avatarghost666 @kylakins88 @deadspellz @thehillzhaveeyez @kayleeelena97 @foreverjosephquinn @punctualhowell @icallhimjoey @ghostinthebackofyourhead @siriuslysmoking @hollster88 @cancankiki @definitionwanderlust @eriancrow

the ones who are crossed out are the ones I can’t tag, soz

#joseph quinn #Joe Quinn #joseph quinn fanfic #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn fanfiction #joseph quinn x y/n #Joe Quinn x reader #joe quinn fanfic #joe quinn x y/n #joe quinn fanfiction #rpf #love is in the air(bnb)

224 notes · View notes

jrob64 · 1 month

Text

Pet for Rent , Chapter 4/4 (The Happy Ending) A CS Modern AU Story

And so we've reached the end of this little journey. Thank you for reading this story that was one way for me to move through my grief of losing Zeke. Some of you have mentioned that you've lost a pet and reading this has helped you, and that makes me very happy

This chapter earns the story its M rating, but the smut is bracketed by double rows of asterisks and can be easily skipped.

Thanks one more time to @hookedmom, who helped me work out the ending until it was satisfactory to both of us.

Chapter Summary: Henry, Emma, Killian and Winston get their happy ending.

Chapters on Tumblr: Ch. 1 (The Meet Cute) Ch. 2 (The Idea) Ch. 3 (The Adoption)

Rating: M (See note above)

Words: 9319

Also posted to Ao3 and ffn

Story begins under the cut

Winston’s routine between the two households was firmly established during the next month. He spent weekdays with Killian at his apartment, and evenings at Emma and Henry’s house. On the weekends, all four of them spent as much time together as possible.

Emma and Killian were both happy to see that the dog was housebroken and didn’t require a lot of extra work. He did crave attention at times and demonstrated some behaviors that made them think he still had some puppy in him, but the three humans were consistent in their training to stop him from jumping up and barking excessively.

From the very first night he spent with them, he didn’t need to be put outside until morning, and slept soundly on Henry’s bed. The boy and dog formed a fast friendship and once again, Emma had her happy-go-lucky son back. He kept a picture of Ernie on his dresser and mentioned how much he still missed him from time to time, but the joy of having a new dog was healing his heart.

On Fridays and Saturdays, Killian would stay for a few hours after Emma got Henry into bed. They watched television, had lengthy conversations and kissed…a lot. Once they were sure Winston was acclimated to his new environment, they were able to plan another date to eat out and see a movie.

Their relationship was deepening, but they had yet to declare their love for one another. Killian was sure of his feelings for Emma, but didn’t want to spook her by saying anything. Emma wanted to make sure what she felt wasn’t just an infatuation. She had only fallen in love with one other man and had her heart shattered into a million pieces. She couldn’t afford to be wrong about her feelings again, especially since she now had Henry to take into consideration.

The bond between Henry and Killian was getting stronger as well. The two of them watched sporting events on TV, played video games, worked on training Winston and built Lego sets together. Emma was happy her son had a male figure in his life now, but worried about what would happen if Killian decided to move away from Storybrooke.

The first substantial snowfall of the season happened on a Friday in early December. School was letting out at noon due to the storm, which put Emma in a bind. Ashley couldn’t watch him because she was away for the weekend. Emma had already arranged to take off work at three o’clock instead of five, but she wasn’t able to leave another three hours early.

When she considered who else would be willing to help, the next person who came to mind was Killian. As she quickly placed the call, she tapped her fingernails nervously on the desk.

He answered before she even heard it connect. “Swan! This is a nice surprise.”

“You might not think so when I tell you why I’m calling.”

She could hear the instant concern in his voice when he asked, “Is something wrong?”

“They’re letting school out in half an hour because of the weather and Ashley is out of town. I can’t get off work until three o’clock and I need somebody to pick Henry up and watch him until…”

“Calm down, Love,” he interrupted. “Winston and I will pick him up and take him home.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind? I don’t want to take you away from your work…”

“No worries. I’m finished for the day because I already put in extra hours this week.”

“Oh, good,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’ll call the school and tell them you’ll be picking him up. Since you’re not an authorized pick-up person, you’ll have to go inside to fill out a form when you get there. I’ll also text Mary Margaret and let her know. I really, really appreciate this, Killian.”

“It’s truly no problem, Love. I’ll get Winston ready to go right now. We should be there in about twenty minutes. Will that work?”

“That’s perfect. I need to warn you that it’s probably going to be a bit chaotic in the school office because of the early release.”

“Duly noted. I’ll send you a text when I’ve collected Henry and we’re in the car ready to go home.”

“Thanks, again. You’re a lifesaver.”

Ending the call, she sent up a prayer of thanks and went back to work.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma was right about the chaos in the office. Killian had to wait several minutes before they could verify who he was and hand him a form to complete. Just as he was signing his name at the bottom, Mary Margaret ushered Henry in the door, along with two of her other students, whose parents were also waiting.

“Killian!” Henry cried, spotting him immediately.

“Hello, lad. Your mom asked me to pick you up.”

“Yeah, Mrs. Nolan told me. Thanks!”

“You’ll have to sign him out,” Mary Margaret explained, gesturing to the line of parents who were waiting to do that very thing. “Be careful driving home.”

“Thank you. You do the same,” Killian responded, stepping behind the last person in line.

Once Henry was properly signed out, they slipped and slid through the accumulating snow to where Killian had parked the car. Winston started barking from inside as soon as he caught sight of his boy.

While Henry greeted the dog and got himself buckled in, Killian texted Emma, then started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. So far, the snow was just making the roads slushy, but with such precious cargo in the back seat, he drove with extra caution.

By the time Emma arrived home three hours later, the snow was making travel hazardous. Killian heard her come in the door and paused the video game he and Henry were playing.

She was stomping off her boots and shaking the snow out of her hair when he greeted her. “Did you have any trouble, Love?”

“The roads are terrible and the snow is picking up, which means they’re only going to get worse.”

He helped her out of her coat and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall. As she sat on a bench to pull off her boots, he scratched behind his ear and said wistfully, “Perhaps I should just go home now, if they’re getting that bad.”

She glanced up at him, then back down as she finished her task. Once both of her boots were sitting on the rug, she stood and looked toward the living room. “What’s Henry doing?”

“We were playing a video game. He’s probably waiting for me to rejoin him.”

“Let me go say hi to him, then I have something to ask you.”

“Okay, but first…” he said, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a tender kiss. “Welcome home, Love. I’m very glad you made it safely.”

“Mmm, me too, especially when I get a greeting like that.” After giving him one more kiss, she linked their hands and led the way to the living room. Henry was sitting on the couch petting Winston, who was laying beside him. Both of them perked up when the adults entered the room, a wide grin splitting Henry’s face, while Winston thumped his tail on the cushions.

“Hey, kid. How was school today?”

“Great! I wish we could get out early every day!”

Emma laughed. “I wouldn’t count on it. Were you able to go to art class? I know how you look forward to it.”

“We still got to go and I finished my Rainbow Fish project. It turned out really good!”

“Oh, yeah? Did you bring it home?”

“No, it had to finish drying. Mrs. Fisher said she wants to hang it up in the hallway.”

“Maybe I’ll schedule a day to come in and have lunch with you, and you can show it to me then. How does that sound?”

“Cool! I love it when you have lunch with me!”

“I know. I love it, too. Let me know when it’s hung up, okay?” She watched him nod his agreement, then asked, “What have you three boys been up to this afternoon?”

“We went out and played in the snow for a little while, but it got too windy and cold. Killian made hot chocolate when we came inside. Winston loved the snow, didn’t you, boy?”

“He was trying to catch all of the snowflakes,” Killian laughed. “Then he started eating the snow on the ground. He’s such a funny pooch.”

“Show her the picture you took, Killian,” Henry urged.

Killian pulled his phone out of his front pocket and opened his photo gallery. Holding it so Emma could see, he said, “I took several pictures and a couple of videos.”

As he started scrolling through them, he didn’t see the doey-eyed look she gave him before directing her attention to what he was showing her. When he came to the last picture, she burst out laughing. In it, Henry was kneeling on the ground beside Winston, who had snow all over his muzzle.

“He looks like he has a white beard,” she giggled.

“Aye, Whitebeard the Weird, distant relative of Blackbeard the Pirate,” Killian chuckled.

Emma laughed again, then asked her son, “Where did you put your wet clothes?”

“Killian put them in the dryer.”

“Henry showed me where it was located.”

“Thank you. He usually lets them lay in a heap inside the door.” Turning back to Henry, she said, “What else did you do?”

He picked up the Nintendo Switch controller, gesturing to the TV with it. “We played video games until you got home.”

“Sounds like you guys had a good time.”

“We did,” Henry assured her. “And don’t worry, Mom. I thanked Killian for everything.”

“Aye, he did. Henry has very good manners, don’t you, lad?” Killian said, ruffling the boy’s hair.

“Yeah. Are you ready to finish our game?”

“Your mother wanted to talk to me about something first, then I should probably head home. She said the roads are getting bad.”

Henry’s shoulders drooped. “But I thought you would stay like you always do on Fridays.”

Emma said, “Henry, why don’t you play a game by yourself for a while, so I can talk to Killian?”

“Can I play Mario Kart?”

“You know the rules - only if you turned in all of your homework and didn’t get your card pulled for bad behavior this week.”

He jumped off the couch and grabbed his book bag from the recliner where he had tossed it when he got home. Unzipping it, he pulled out a folder and handed it to his mom.

She took it and pulled out the papers from the ‘keep at home’ side, placing them on the end table to look at later. Then she took a sheet from the ‘return to school’ pocket. After looking it over, she gave Henry a smile and kissed him on the forehead. “Good job, kid. I’m proud of you.”

While he was putting the folder back in his bag, she went to the closet and got the treasured game off the shelf above the coat rack. As soon as he got the game set up and was fully engaged in choosing his racer, Emma motioned for Killian to follow her into the kitchen.

She leaned against the front of the sink out of Henry’s line of sight, and Killian stood in front of her, his hands on her hips. “What did you want to talk to me about, Swan?” he asked, a concerned crease across his forehead.

Her eyes remained focused on the floor for several moments. When she finally looked up, there were tears in them.

He stepped closer, dipping his head to scan her face. “Emma, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she answered quickly. “I just…I…I think I love you.”

Killian’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Wh-what?”

“I love you. I’ve fallen in love with you, Killian Jones.”

He surged forward, claiming the lips that just uttered the words which were music to his ears. He could have kissed her for hours, but he needed to ask her a question. “When?”

“When did I fall in love with you?” she asked, seeking to clarify.

“Aye. When did you know?”

She licked her lips. “I think I’ve been falling for you since the first day we met, but I wanted to make sure it’s really love that I feel. I’ve been burned before, and with Henry to consider, I didn’t want to jump right into a serious relationship. Then today, I just…I realized…I mean, you’re there for me, for us. You’re wonderful with Henry and it…it’s not because you’re trying to impress me or win my affections through my son. You honestly seem to like spending time with him. You dropped everything to pick him up today and then, those videos and pictures…you took videos and pictures of my kid because you were having fun with him.”

She paused for a second and he waited, understanding she needed to gather her thoughts. “But it’s not just because of Henry. That’s important, but it…it’s the way you make me feel. I love every minute we spend together. I can never get enough of being with you. As soon as you leave, I immediately look forward to the next time we’ll see each other. I…I…oh hell, I’m rambling and not making any sense.”

“You’re making perfect sense. I completely understand what you’re trying to say.”

“You do?”

He framed her face with his hands, brushing the apples of her cheeks with his thumbs. “Aye, because I feel the same way. You’re the best part of my day, whether we’re texting, talking, or actually together. I truly do love spending time with Henry because he’s such a great kid and I would never use him to try to impress you, Emma.” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “I’ve known for a while, too. That I love you. I’m in love with you, Emma Swan.”

The brightness of her smile was nearly blinding and it was her turn to initiate the fiery kiss. Afterwards, they stood with their foreheads pressed together, while her fingers played with the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck. “Can I ask you something?” she whispered.

“Of course, Love. Anything.”

She looked into his eyes. “Are you still thinking about moving away from Storybrooke?”

“No,” he answered without hesitation. “I’ve got every reason in the world to stay right here.”

“Good.”

He kissed her sweetly, then sighed. “I hate to ruin this moment, but I really should get started for home. The road conditions are probably worsening by the minute.”

“Actually, that was the original reason I wanted to talk to you. I was thinking that maybe…you could…stay here tonight.”

“Why, Swan,” he teased, “are you inviting me to a sleepover?”

“Well, it would be a very adult sleepover,” she said, watching him closely to gauge his reaction.

He tilted his head and studied her for a moment or two. “Are you saying…you want me to actually sleep with you?”

“I guess we would sleep eventually…”

“Emma, are you sure you’re ready to take that next step?”

“You’re not?”

“I’m not saying that at all,” he said quickly. “I just…would you be comfortable having me stay with you when Henry is right down the hall? We could…we could wait until we’re at my place, if you’d rather.”

“This isn’t spur of the moment, Killian. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. I think Henry is too young to understand what it means for you to spend the night and still be here in the morning. He just loves having you here and is always sad to see you leave. I’m not saying it’s going to be something that happens every night…”

“I wouldn’t expect that, especially during the week, but perhaps on the weekends?”

“That’s what I was thinking. Of course, we might be jumping the gun to consider more than tonight. You might be appalled by my snoring, drooling, or what I look like first thing in the morning. Or maybe we won’t be…compatible…in bed.”

He grinned. “I highly doubt that will be the case, Emma. Ever since the day we met, I’ve felt like we have a connection to each other that goes beyond friendship. I can’t imagine that not transferring to the bedroom. As far as your snoring and drooling, I’m sure I’ll find it to be absolutely adorable.”

“Whatever you say,” she scoffed. “But when you wake up with my morning breath in your face, you might change your mind.”

“I’m willing to risk it,” he smirked.

She began playing with the buttons on his shirt. “There’s, um…there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

“What’s that, Love?”

After stepping away from him to check on Henry in the other room, she returned to face him again. “I haven’t been…intimate with anyone since Henry’s father. Henry is my world and everything else has taken a back seat.”

“Which is quite understandable,” Killian said. “It’s been a while for me, too. After getting hurt like I did, I was in no hurry to be with another woman. You have changed so many things in my life, Emma, and I’m anxious to begin this next chapter with you and Henry.”

“Don’t forget Winston,” she quipped.

“How could I forget Winston?” he laughed.

“Okay, so how about we get some supper and watch a movie like we usually do on Friday nights? My guess is that after the excitement of the day, Henry will be asleep before it’s over.”

“That sounds wonderful, Love. What were you planning to eat?”

“I was planning to order pizza, but with the roads the way they are, I think we better go with plan B.”

“Which is…?”

“I have no idea.”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Do you mind if I search your cupboards a bit?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and crooned, “You can search anything you want.”

“Swan, are you flirting with me to get me riled up?”

“Maybe. Is it working?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he teased.

“Perhaps I would,” she answered, before scattering kisses along his throat.

“Bad form, Love,” he groaned.

“You don’t like it?” she asked innocently, looking up at him through her lashes.

“I like it too much, that’s the problem,” he said, pressing his hips against hers so she could feel the effect she was having on him.

“Okay, I’ll stop…for now,” she said. She started to move away and he reluctantly released her. “Dig around to your heart’s content and I’ll go see what movie Henry wants to watch.”

Killian ended up making spaghetti with garlic toast for supper. Afterwards, they watched “Luck” on AppleTV, while munching on chocolate chip cookies Emma whipped up. She and Killian managed to make the food while sharing lots of kisses in the kitchen.

Henry didn’t question Killian staying instead of going home; he was simply happy to carry on with their usual Friday evening routine. He made it through the movie without falling asleep, but was reluctant to move when it ended. Emma realized that he wanted Killian to carry him to his room, which he did, making her heart melt as she watched.

While Emma took Henry through his bedtime routine, Killian put Winston outside to do his business. Although he had cleared the patio of snow earlier in the evening, it was covered again.

When he took Winston into Henry’s room after toweling him off, he reported, “I’d say there’s at least six inches of snow and it’s still coming down.”

“Oh, boy!” Henry exclaimed, perking up. “Can you come over tomorrow to play in it with us again?”

Killian scratched behind his ear, looking to Emma for help.

“Actually kid, Killian is going to stay here overnight,” she said.

“He is?”

“Yeah. The roads are pretty bad and I didn’t want him to risk driving home. Is that okay with you?”

Henry gave her a puzzled look. “Sure. Why wouldn’t it be okay?”

Emma shrugged. “He’s never spent the night here before.”

“Well, he should, because we’re usually together all day on Saturdays, too. It doesn’t make sense for him to go home.”

Killian and Emma exchanged a look, then he bid the boy goodnight, patted Winston and left the room so she could read to her son.

After kissing Henry and closing the door to his room, she found Killian sitting on the couch. “Well, I guess that answers the question of whether it’s going to bother Henry,” she said, plopping down beside him.

“Aye,” he chuckled, but she noticed he didn’t look at her.

“Hey,” she said, reaching to take his hand. “Is something wrong?”

“I, uh, I…if we’re going to take that next step in our relationship, I’m concerned about what to do because I don’t have any kind of protection.”

“Well, I obviously don’t have any STDs and I assume you don’t, either.”

“I don’t, but what about preventing you from getting pregnant?”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. I have an IUD. My doctor suggested it because I had such heavy periods after Henry was born.”

“Well, that is a relief,” he said, finally looking at her. “Did Henry fall asleep while you were reading to him?”

“He was out before I read half a page. He actually held out longer than I thought.”

“Tomorrow will be another fun day in the snow for him.”

She turned on the sofa to face him, draping her legs over his. “I was meaning to ask you - did you bring along clothes to wear out in the snow?”

“Aye. Liam advised that I keep extra clothes in the car during the winter months, so I changed into them once we came inside.”

“Did you dry them with Henry’s clothes?”

“I did. I hope that was alright.”

“Of course. I want you to make yourself at home here. I was thinking it might be nice to put up the Christmas tree tomorrow.”

“That’s a wonderful idea. I’m sure Henry loves doing that.”

“Oh yes, he really gets into it,” she laughed. “Although I’m sure you can’t imagine him getting excited about anything!”

Her sarcasm made him chuckle. “That’s one reason why I enjoy being with him so much. He’s enthusiastic about everything.”

“You clearly haven’t seen him do his chores.”

“Well, that’s true,” he agreed with a grin. “I suppose that’s typical for a kid.”

“Not just a kid. I hate doing chores, too.”

“You know,” he said, wrapping his arms around her to pull her into his lap, “I could think of much better things to talk about than chores.”

She adjusted herself so her knees were on either side of his hips, her hands on his shoulders and her forehead resting against his. “Like the fact that I love you?”

“Aye, that’s a much better subject,” he said, nuzzling her nose. They indulged in a long, slow kiss, while their hands roamed each other’s body. “I love you, too,” Killian murmured against her lips. In response, she deepened the kiss and adjusted her position, putting more pressure on his groin. “Swan…” he rasped.

“Maybe we should move to the bedroom,” she whispered in his ear.

The tickling sensation and implication of her words served to increase his arousal. “I like that idea, Love.”

She kissed him one more time, then pushed herself off of him. Threading her fingers through his, she tugged him to his feet. As they quietly moved down the hall, Emma stopped outside Henry’s door, listening intently. Giving a nod, they continued into her bedroom and she closed the door behind them.

“He’s out for the night,” she commented.

“You can tell that just by listening for a few seconds?”

“He’s a mouth breather, a loud one. He probably needs to have his tonsils and adenoids removed, but up until now, I haven’t had a job with good insurance. I just haven’t taken him to the doctor yet.”

“What about Winston?”

“If he needs his tonsils and adenoids out, I’ll let you pay for it,” she teased.

“You’re hilarious, Swan,” he remarked, trying to look stern, but failing to keep the smile from taking over his face.

“Yeah, I know,” she smirked. “Winston has slept through the night since the first night we brought him home.”

“In that case,” Killian said, sauntering into her personal space, “I guess the night is ours.”

“I guess so,” she said, then nervously pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

Tilting his head, he looked into her eyes for several seconds, then brushed some locks of blonde hair over her shoulder. “Emma, please don’t feel like we have to go ahead with this if you’re…”

“No, Killian,” she interrupted firmly. “I really want this, I’m just…out of practice, I guess.”

He put his hands on her waist and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Relax, Love. Just let things happen naturally, and if they don’t, then we sleep instead. No pressure, okay?”

“You know, the first time I saw you, I had to convince myself you were real. I was sure no one as handsome as you could actually exist. And now, you say something like that and I have to convince myself that you’re real all over again. I mean, when a guy’s girlfriend is offering them sex, how many would say it’s okay if it doesn’t happen?”

“Probably more than you think. I would hope there are more gentlemen than rogues out there.”

Emma thought about that for a few moments, before saying, “I should wash my face and brush my teeth. Why don’t you, um, get comfortable in here and I’ll go take care of that.”

He watched her leave the room, then ran his hands through his hair. He longed to show Emma how much he loved her, but the last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable or pressured in any way. After stripping down to his navy blue boxers and white T-shirt, he sat on the bed to wait for her to return.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, she was quietly berating herself in the mirror. “You have this sweet, sexy, perfect boyfriend in your bedroom and you come running in here like a scared rabbit. What is wrong with you?” she asked her reflection. When she didn’t receive an answer, she sighed, tossed a washcloth into the sink and turned on the hot water.

After she finished in the bathroom and padded back to her room, she tapped lightly on the door before entering. Killian looked up at her from his seat on the bed, concern etched on his face. “Alright there, Swan?”

She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. I, um, I laid an extra toothbrush out for you if you wanted to, um, brush your teeth,” she stammered.

“Thank you, Love.” He stood up and slipped out the door.

Emma used the time to change out of her clothes and into a turquoise nightshirt that barely covered her underwear. She was standing in front of her dresser brushing her hair when she heard a soft knock on the door. “Come in,” she said, when it didn’t open right away.

As Killian entered, she saw his reflection in the mirror. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him before he left the room; but now, she saw that he was utterly tantalizing in very little clothing. It made her mouth go dry, but at the same time, made all of her nervousness vanish.

Turning toward him, she saw the anticipation on his face and quickly crossed the space between them. Standing in front of him, she reached up and cupped his face, then pulled him down to connect their lips, trying to pour every ounce of her love into the kiss.

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her snugly against himself. She’d been in his arms many times, but there were always more layers of clothing between them. Feeling his well-defined chest pressed against hers and his strong back under her roaming hands, she could feel her own body reacting.

Finally breaking the kiss, she said breathlessly, “I’m sorry for being so hesitant. I asked you to stay and then I let my nerves and insecurities get to me. It’s just that, in the past, people were always letting me down…”

“Let me assure you, Love,” he said, softly stroking the tips of his fingers over her cheek, “I don’t intend to let you down or hurt you in any way. You mean far too much to me to ever let that happen, trust me.”

Her eyes searched his, knowing she would see nothing but sincerity and love in them. “I do trust you,” she whispered. Taking his hands, she backed up until the backs of her knees hit the bed, then sat down and pulled him down beside her.

*********

“I’m yours,” she said. “Make love to me, Killian.”

Twisting his body, he embraced her, then rolled them until he was on top of her in the middle of the mattress. “As you wish,” he grinned.

They took their time undressing each other between impassioned kisses, their lips finding the skin that was revealed with every discarded article of clothing. Killian paid special attention to Emma’s bare breasts when he removed her shirt, his mouth and calloused fingers on the sensitive flesh making her body sizzle with desire.

When she pushed his boxers down his legs, her eyes widened as she took in the size of his manhood. Her hand wrapped around it, the smooth skin feeling like satin on her palm.

As she slowly stroked him, his fingers moved between her thighs, feeling the damp heat. She widened her legs as one finger made its way inside her. “Killiannn,” she whined.

“Does that feel good?” he murmured into her ear.

“Yesss…so good.”

“What you’re doing feels good to me, too,” he assured her. He pushed himself up to lean on one elbow, sweeping his eyes up and down her form. “Gods, Emma. You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen,” he praised. “You’re absolutely perfect.”

Her hands moved to his chest, fingers swirling through the generous dusting of hair. “So are you.” The fingers of one hand followed the dark trail of hair down his belly and between his legs to fondle his testicles, satisfied when she heard his sharp intake of breath.

They continued to explore, working one another up until both were panting and pleading. Killian took his time ensuring that Emma was prepared, using his fingers around and inside her opening to make her slick with arousal. At the same time, her attention to his cock and the way she scratched her fingernails over the skin of his chest and back made him the hardest he’d ever been.

As he sucked love marks into the soft skin of her breast and rubbed his thumb over her clit, she gasped, “Killian, I…I’m ready.”

He looked up at her through his long, dark lashes. Her skin was flushed, her tongue licking at her kiss-swollen lips. As his eyes connected with her lust-filled green ones, a rush of love and longing crashed over him. “I love you, Emma,” he said, moving up to seal the declaration with another kiss.

“I love you, too. So much,” she replied, running her fingers through his damp strands of hair. Then she shifted on the bed so he could settle between her thighs.

Holding himself above her on one elbow, he reached down to grasp his cock, rubbing it through her slick, wet folds, then slowly began pushing forward. His eyes scanned up her body to study her face, hoping to catch any sign of discomfort in her features. He halted his progress when he detected a slight grimace. “Does that hurt?” he asked.

“No, no,” she assured him. “It burns a little, but mostly it feels…amazing. Please don’t stop.”

He was happy to hear those words, because being only partially inside her felt incredible, and he yearned to keep going. Dropping his elbow down to the other side of her body, he pulled back a little, then pressed forward again, going deeper inch by inch, until he was fully engulfed in her warm, tight sheath.

Resting his head on her chest, he ground out, “Bloody hell, Emma. You feel fucking fantastic.”

She skimmed her hands through his hair. “It feels like you were made for me,” she whispered. Bending her knees, she pulled her feet up beside his hips and gave a slight thrust of her pelvis.

He got the hint and began rocking slowly, savoring every moan and gasp from her. Sensing that she had adjusted to his size, he pulled out until only his tip was still inside, then slid all the way back in with one stroke, gradually picking up the pace.

“Faster…deeper,” she begged.

He obliged, thrusting into her several times in quick succession. Her hips raised off the bed to meet him every time, while her fingers gripped his hair almost painfully.

“Killian, I can’t…I’m going to…”

“Let go, Love,” he encouraged, knowing she was right on the edge.

Throbbing heat and a sudden flood of wetness around his cock told him that she followed his command. She crossed her ankles behind his back, trying to pull him closer, while her head thrashed back and forth on the pillow.

He stilled within her, trying to delay his own climax. As good as it felt to have her pulsing around him, he didn’t want it to end so soon.

“T-top,” she mumbled.

“You want to be on top?”

“Mmhmm.”

After wrapping his arms around her, he carefully rolled them over. Emma planted her hands on his chest and pushed herself up, her knees tight against his hips. His hands gripped her forearms as she began lifting and lowering her pelvis, his cock sliding in, then almost out of her over and over again.

Killian was muttering a steady string of praises, telling her how perfect she was and how good she felt. Raising his head, his mouth found one of her nipples, alternately rolling his tongue over it and sucking hard. The effect caused her rhythm to stutter and she threw her head back, letting out a long, guttural moan of his name.

Feeling his release growing imminently closer, he started thrusting up into her. His hand moved down to find her clit, rubbing it roughly as he groaned, “Come again, Emma. Please come, Love. I…I can’t…”

With one final slide down on him, she did, shuddering and shaking as she cried out, “Yes! Yes, Killian!”

Watching her ecstasy, hearing her shouts and feeling her pulse around him brought him to his peak, too. He jerked and spasmed, spurting hot streams of cum inside her.

When she collapsed on top of him several moments later, he held her close, murmuring words of adoration into her hair. Gradually, their breathing and heart rates returned to normal, and Killian groped around the bed, finding the blanket and pulling it over the top of them.

*********

Emma sighed happily, pressing kisses to his throat and collarbone. “That was amazing! I know it’s been a while, but I don’t remember sex ever being that good.”

“Well, that’s because you’ve never done it with me before,” he chuckled. Hearing her hum of agreement, he added, “It’s never been like that for me, either. Then again, I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. I think that’s what made it so much more intense and meaningful.”

She lifted her head and rested her chin on his sternum, looking into his face. “I’m sure you’re right about that. I’m very glad we decided to take this next step. I feel like we’re more closely connected now.” She wiggled her hips, causing his softening length to shift inside her. “In more ways than one.”

He grinned and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears. “Meeting you and Henry is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Leaning forward, she kissed him; a slow, tender kiss that communicated her feelings more than words ever could. They cuddled a while longer before Emma slipped her shirt back on and went to the bathroom to clean up, bringing a warm washcloth back so Killian could do the same. After he put his boxers on and visited the bathroom himself, they burrowed under the covers, intertwining themselves and sharing more kisses until they finally drifted off to sleep - content, sated and thoroughly in love.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma awoke slowly the next morning, the smell of coffee tickling her nose. When her foggy brain remembered what happened the night before, she reached over to find the other side of the bed empty. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and stretched.

She felt pleasantly sore in all the right places and smiled when she remembered how she had awakened in the middle of the night to find Killian watching her sleep. The sliver of moonlight seeping in through the slight opening between the curtains illuminated his mischievous blue eyes. It was then she realized he had worked her shirt up above her breasts and was gently massaging them. Soon they were engaged in round two, finding more ways to bring pleasure to one another.

Flinging back the blanket, she grabbed a robe out of her closet and put it on as she walked down the hall. She could hear Henry chattering before she reached the kitchen.

“...and after we play in the snow, we can play more games and watch movies and…”

“Slow down, lad,” she heard Killian say, his gruff morning voice sending shivers down her spine. “I think your mother has some plans for us today.”

“That’s right,” she said, joining them. “I think you’ll like what I have planned.” Peeking over Henry’s shoulder, she asked, “What are you eating, kid?”

“Killian made egg in a basket!” he said excitedly. “It’s really good and he told me he would teach you how to make it too, if you want.”

“Is that so?” she asked, passing behind the ‘chef’ and discreetly pinching his side.

“Bad form, Swan,” he chided playfully. “And to think I made coffee and breakfast for you.”

“Sorry,” she said, stretching to her tiptoes to kiss the underside of his scruffy jaw. He turned so her next kiss was to his lips.

“You guys are being gross,” Henry complained, making the couple laugh. “So what are we doing today, Mom?”

She poured herself a mug of coffee, splashed some creamer into it, then leaned against the counter to take a sip before answering, “I thought we would put up the Christmas tree and decorate it. How does that sound?”

“YAY!” Henry shouted. Winston started barking from where he lay under the table.

“Winston, enough!” Killian commanded and the dog quieted immediately.

“Good morning, sweet boy,” Emma said, bending down to ruffle his ears. “I didn’t see you under there.” Straightening up, she asked her son, “Did you already feed him?”

Henry’s ears reddened. “Uh, no. I forgot.”

Emma gave him a stern look. “You know you’re supposed to feed your dog before you sit down to eat, young man.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” he said, hopping out of his seat and going to the pantry where the dog’s food was stored.

“Apologize to Winston, not me.”

Henry scooped out the food and dumped it into Winston’s bowl. “I’m sorry, boy,” he said, as he set it down beside the refrigerator where the dog sat waiting.

Killian laughed as he watched Winston inhaling his food like he was afraid it was going to disappear. “I think he forgives you, lad.” Looking at Emma, he added, “I already put him outside to do his business. The snow is up to his belly, but he found a spot by the side of the house that wasn’t quite as deep.”

“How long have you been up?” she questioned.

Killian glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Almost an hour.”

“Wow, you’re a morning person. It usually takes me half-an-hour just to pry my eyes open and get out of bed, especially on a Saturday.”

“Well, you know what they say - opposites attract,” he said, setting a plate of food in front of her and sitting down beside her with his own.

As they began to eat, Henry returned to the table and asked, “When are we gonna put up the tree, Mom?”

“You can help decide. Do you want to do it before or after we play in the snow?”

He thought for a second. “Let’s go outside first. Can we bake gingerbread cookies like we did last year, when we decorated the tree?”

“I’m afraid not. We don’t have the necessary ingredients for that kind of cookie.”

Seeing Henry’s disappointed look, Killian said, “I know a good recipe for sugar cookies. Do you like that kind? I know your mother has all the ingredients for them.”

Henry perked up again. “Yeah! Can we decorate them? We have sprinkles left from when you tried to make cupcakes for Avery’s birthday, remember?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me of that fiasco,” Emma groaned, making Henry giggle.

Killian looked between the two of them. “Why was it a fiasco?”

She covered her face with her hands as she answered, “I forgot the baking powder.”

“Do you mean to say,” he began, trying to contain his laughter, “that you baked cupcakes and didn’t put any baking powder in them?”

Dropping her hands, she replied indignantly, “Hey, it happens to the best of us. I’ve seen episodes of the Great British Baking Show where the bakers forget to put in key ingredients.”

“Point taken. Did you take the cupcakes to the party?”

“Are you kidding? They looked like hockey pucks! Of course I didn’t take them to the party.”

Killian laughed heartily, while Emma tried and failed to give him a reproving look. Instead, she dissolved into laughter, too.

“Mom picked up cupcakes at the grocery on the way to the party,” Henry said, then shoved another bite of food into his mouth.

“Well, I promised to bring them, so I had to do something.”

“Very resourceful, Swan.”

By the end of breakfast, they had the day’s schedule worked out. They played in the snow as soon as they were all dressed, then drank hot chocolate and baked cookies. While waiting for the cookies to be cool enough to ice and decorate, Henry and Killian brought the small artificial tree in from the garage.

As they were setting it up, Emma explained, “Henry wants to have a live tree, but I told him he needs to be a little older, because I don’t think I could get one unloaded and set up by myself.”

“Ah, well, if it weren’t for the fact we’re snowed in today, I could have helped you with that,” Killian said. “Perhaps next year.”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “I hope we’ll still be together by then.”

He pulled her against him, wrapping her in his warm embrace. “I have every confidence we will, Love.”

The day was the most fun any of them could remember. They decorated cookies and the tree while listening to Christmas music, played some board games, then watched two Christmas movies with only the lights from the tree and television illuminating the living room. Killian sat on the couch between Emma and Henry, both of whom were snuggled close to his side.

Emma and Killian shared many affectionate caresses and kisses throughout the day, unable to keep from touching each other. That evening, after Henry and Winston were in bed, they spooned on the sofa, quietly discussing plans for the next day, Christmas and New Years Eve.

Both of them were hopeful and excited about their future together.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Eight Months Later

“Great pass, Nicholas!” Killian shouted, running along the sidelines to coach his players. “Keep it under control, Grace! Get open, Henry! There he is! Pass it, Grace!”

As Henry’s kick sent the soccer ball flying into the goal, Emma leaped from her seat with a cheer, causing Winston to jump up and start barking. Everyone around them laughed, used to the excitable black dog who was always at the games to watch his young master.

When the game ended, Killian’s team was victorious for the third week in a row. Henry shook hands with the other team, then sprinted over to his mom and Winston.

“Good game, kid!” Emma exclaimed, returning his hug. “Your team is doing great this year.”

“That’s because we have the best coach in the whole world!” he beamed, taking Winston’s leash from her as the dog jumped around him enthusiastically.

Emma watched Killian gather his clipboard and Henry’s water bottle. Several parents approached him to offer their words of appreciation, and she smiled as he humbly accepted them.

He really was too good to be true, except that he absolutely was…and he was hers.

She turned to fold up her lawn chair and collect Winston’s favorite ducky toy, and soon felt two strong arms wrap around her from behind.

“Congratulations, coach,” she said, twisting in his arms to kiss him.

“Thank you, Love. The team is really starting to gel, don’t you think?”

“That’s because, as Henry just said, they have the best coach in the world.”

“He said that?” Killian asked, rubbing self-consciously behind his ear.

“Yeah, and I agree. They love playing for you, Babe.”

“Well, they’re fun to coach. I’m glad you talked me into it.”

“Pfft,” Emma scoffed. “I’m not the one who did it. It was that nine-year-old con artist who lives with us.”

“He can be quite persuasive,” he conceded. “Takes after his mother.”

“Hey!” she said, lightly slapping his chest. “I never talk you into doing things you don’t want to do.”

“That’s very true,” he murmured into her ear. “I’m always up for what you want me to do.”

She giggled and engaged him in another kiss, only to be interrupted by a loud, exasperated, “Mom! Killian! You guys are embarrassing!”

They broke apart with a laugh. “Sorry, kid,” Emma said, not sounding one bit apologetic. “Ready to go home?”

“Actually, Henry and I thought it might be fun to go to the nature preserve this morning,” Killian said. “Is that alright with you, Swan?”

“Sounds good to me. I’m glad I wore sneakers instead of sandals.”

They headed to the car and were soon on their way to the preserve. Emma noticed Killian shifting in his seat and nervously tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Oh, um, aye. Just working out some energy left over from the game.”

She studied him for several more moments, then shrugged slightly and turned to ask Henry what he wanted for lunch when they got home, later.

There were several cars in the main parking lot at the preserve, so Killian kept driving until they reached a more remote section. Winston always got distracted if there were too many people around, so they tried to stick to the paths that weren’t likely to be as busy.

Once they found a place to park and were out of the car, Henry and Winston started along the path that led into the woods. Emma and Killian trailed behind, falling into easy conversation, as always. Their current topic was Belle and Liam, who were due to return from their honeymoon the following day. Despite being wed at the beginning of June, the couple waited to go on their trip until August, because Liam could get airline tickets for a much better price late in the summer.

“Bloody wanker, always after a discount,” Killian grumbled, not for the first time. “Even for his honeymoon!”

“Belle didn’t seem to mind,” Emma pointed out. “She was excited because the best time to see Beluga Whales in Alaska is during the month of August. I hope they were able to see some.”

“Aye, me too. That’s probably the reason Liam booked it for this month, anyway. He just wants to make everyone think he’s a miser.”

Emma wrapped her arm around his more tightly and leaned into him. “I definitely got the better brother,” she stated playfully.

“That you did, Love,” he grinned, pressing a kiss to her temple.

After hiking for twenty minutes, they came to their favorite spot on the path - a small fishing pond surrounded by tall, reedy grass and cattails. Henry and Winston started exploring the perimeter of the water, in search of frogs. Ever since finding one at this pond earlier in the summer, they were determined to find another.

“Care to sit down for a bit, Love?” Killian asked, indicating a wooden bench.

“Yeah. I’m sure the two of them will want to stay here a while.”

They sat together in comfortable silence, listening to the chirping of birds and buzz of insects. Finally, Killian turned to her and said, “We’ve known each other for almost a year now, haven’t we?”

“We met in September, so it’ll be a year next month.”

“It’s been the best year of my life.”

“Mmhmm. Mine, too. Especially these last three months when you officially moved in with us.”

“Well, I did have to live somewhere, since the lease on my apartment was up,” he teased.

“Oh, so now the truth comes out,” she shot back with a giggle.

“Aye,” he sighed dramatically. “I only love you for your house.”

“You’re so full of it, Jones,” she said, elbowing him in the side.

He leaned back and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side, both of them watching Henry and Winston chasing what looked like a dragonfly.

“Those two are something else,” she remarked.

“They’re both good boys. I’m very lucky to be part of their lives.”

Emma hummed. “We’re all very lucky to have you in our lives.”

After another lengthy pause, he murmured, “I love you, Emma.”

“I love you, too.”

He slipped from his seat and knelt in front of her. “Enough to marry me?” he asked, looking up into her eyes, widened in surprise.

“Killian…wh-what are you doing?” she stammered.

“Isn’t it obvious, Love? I’m proposing. But I guess I’ve forgotten something, haven’t I?” Unbuttoning the pocket on the side of his cargo shorts, he reached in and withdrew a diamond solitaire ring, holding it up between them. “Emma, we may have met because of a mistake, but I don’t think of it that way. I’m convinced it was God’s plan for us to meet in just the right place at exactly the right time. You, Henry and Winston are the center of my world and that’s where I want you to be for the rest of my life. So, Emma Swan, will you marry me?”

She brushed at the tears trickling down her cheeks as a huge smile crossed her face. “Yes, Killian! Of course I’ll marry you!”

He took her trembling hand in his and slid the ring into place. Then he wrapped her in his arms, kissing her hair, eyes, cheeks, and finally, her lips, salty with her tears.

Their celebration was cut short when Henry asked, “Did she say yes?”

Both of them dissolved into laughter. He was notorious for interrupting them when they were kissing, whether out of disgust or because he was simply oblivious.

“Aye, lad. She did,” Killian answered.

“Wait, you were in on this?” Emma asked her son.

“Yeah. Last night, Killian asked me if it was okay for him to marry you. I said it was, so that’s why we decided to come here after the game today - so he could oppose.”

“Propose,” Killian corrected, as Emma laughed.

Henry shrugged. “Whatever. So you’re getting married? We’re gonna be a real family?” His excitement grew as he realized what it all meant.

“Yeah, kid. We’ll officially become a family. What do you think about that?”

It wasn’t a surprise to either of them that his answer was a loud, “YAY!” while Winston barked his approval, too.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma and Killian were married sixteen months later, the day before the second anniversary of when they first declared their love for each other. Fortunately, there was no snowstorm on their wedding day.

Henry proudly walked his mother down the aisle to meet Killian at the altar. The boy shook his soon-to-be stepfather’s hand, then nearly tackled him in a hug, before taking his place beside Liam.

The ceremony was beautiful and perfect, which in Killian’s mind, matched his bride. Everyone had a wonderful time at the reception afterwards, celebrating the couple with food and dancing. Liam’s best man speech caused Killian’s face to turn red with embarrassment, as everyone else’s turned red with laughter.

The traditional father/daughter dance was replaced with a mother/son dance instead. As the two most important people in his life moved in small circles in the middle of the floor to the song “How Long Will I Love You?”, Killian repeatedly swallowed past the lump in his throat and wiped away a stray tear or two.

While the newlyweds enjoyed a honeymoon in a tropical climate, Henry and Winston stayed with Belle and Liam. The boy and his dog slept in the spare bedroom that was in the process of being turned into a nursery for Henry’s future cousin, due to arrive in two months.

Emma and Killian purchased a larger house, two blocks from the Storybrooke harbor, six months after their wedding. While they were signing the final legal papers for the sale, they were beginning another legal process.

One morning in October, Henry came into the kitchen and gave Winston an extra helping of food in celebration of their pet’s ‘gotcha day’. Sitting down at the table, he was excited to find his favorite breakfast of French toast with bacon on his plate, and folded pieces of paper beside it.

After drowning his food in maple syrup and taking a huge bite, he picked up the papers and asked, “What are these?”

“Open them and see,” Emma said, her face glowing with excitement as she met Killian’s eyes across the table.

Henry did as he was told, scanning the page until he realized that the first one was a certificate of adoption. His eyes shot up to land on Killian. “Does this mean you’re officially my dad?”

“Aye, lad, I’m legally your father. I signed the final papers a couple of weeks ago. We’ve just been waiting for that other paper to arrive before we told you.”

Henry slid the second paper out from underneath the first, his eyes widening even more. “It says Henry Andrew Jones. Is that really my name now?”

“Yeah, kid,” Emma answered. “That’s your new birth certificate and it names Killian as your father. What do you think?”

In answer, he jumped out of his chair and ran around the table to fly into Killian’s waiting arms. “I think it’s the best day of my life!” he exclaimed. “I love you, Dad!”

“I love you, too, my boy,” Killian replied, a slight catch in his voice at hearing Henry call him that title for the very first time.

Henry turned to give Emma a hug, also. “It’s pretty cool that Winston and I both have the same ‘gotcha day’,” he said.

His parents laughed. “I didn’t think about that,” Emma admitted.

That Christmas, their friends and family received a card which included a picture of Henry, Emma, Killian and Winston in front of their decorated, live Christmas tree. It was signed:

Happy Holidays! With love from the Jones family.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Thank you so very much for reading!

TAG LIST:

@qualitycoffeethings @grimmswan @cs-rylie @wyntereyez @kmomof4 @hookedmom @ultraluckycatnd @paradiselady19 @xarandomdreamx @motherkatereloyshipper @lfh1226-linda @pawshapedheart @vampcoffeegyrl23 @tiganasummertree @bluewildcatfanatic @eleveneitherway @elfiola @kday426 @julieenchanted-swans @gingerchangeling @andiirivera @djlbg @jonesfandomfanatic @snowbellewells @anmylica @booksteaandtoomuchtv @cocohook38 @ilovemesomekillianjones @zaharadessert @lyssapup27 @undercaffinatednightmare @winterbaby89 @jennjenn615 @xsajx @jackieorioncat @teamhook @soniccat @jarienn972 @softkilly @kymbersmith-90 @apiratewhopines

#pet for rent #chapter update #chapter 4 #complete story #jrob64 #art by jrob64 #csff #cs fluff #cs smut #CS modern AU #Captain Cobra #ouat Captain Swan fanfic

33 notes · View notes

dexysmr · 8 months

Text

dissonance [bakugou katsuki x reader]

ch. 1: intro

summary: When Jirou asks you to be her band’s lead guitarist, you have no reason to refuse. That is, until you meet the hot-tempered, foul-mouthed blond on drums.

tags: enemies to lovers, college band au, drummer! bakugou, afab reader, no fem pronouns

notes: more parts to come! i have a soft spot for my hc of bakugou as a grumpy asshole drummer

ch. 1 | ch. 2 | more to come!

In the end you have no one to blame but yourself for this mess.

Forehead pressed to the cold laminate bathroom stall door, you twist the situation this way and that in your head, but no matter how you looked at it it all came back to you saying yes. In your defense, you hadn’t known a few weeks ago that agreeing to be lead guitarist in Jirou’s band would lead to spending an unprecedented amount of time every week hiding in the bathroom.

No, not hiding. You refused to admit that you were avoiding him because of some personal weakness. It was more like taking a smoke break, except that your particular vice was muttering profanities under your breath, imagining directing them at a certain prickly blond dickhead.

“Fuck!” You thunk your head against the door for good measure, and the flimsy stall frame rattles. Shitty bathroom infrastructure was one constant you could always count on, from your dime-a-dozen high school to even as prestigious an institution as UA.

Deep breaths, in and out. You stand up straight and study the familiar graffiti etched in front of you (a rather diverse selection of genitalia), already feeling much better. You’re strong, and more importantly, you’re a better person than Bakugou Katsuki. You have to be.

Or else he wins.

-Three weeks earlier-

“Why me?”

Jirou taps a finger along the rim of her mug, watching the steam rising from her coffee with the disinterested languor of a cat. When you ask the question, though, her eyes focus on you with a startling sharpness, something like surprise in the upwards flick of her eyebrows.

“Because you can play guitar,” she intones like it’s the most obvious conclusion in the world, “and because, I dunno, you’ve been dying to start a band since we were kids?”

“I know that,” you sigh, exasperated. “I just meant, why me on lead? Kaminari’s just as good—probably better, now, ‘cause I haven’t played since we started college.”

People are only just starting to trickle into the dining hall, a sight which you’ve almost never seen since you are decidedly not a morning person. All your classes are scheduled for around noon or later, and not even Professor Aizawa’s infamous death glare could rouse you from morning brain fog. Today, Jirou had to physically drag you from bed to get you up this early. You curse her well-adjusted sleep schedule and take a gulp of your coffee as Jirou scoffs.

“Kaminari’s got worse stage fright than a kindergartener. Besides, he’s more than happy to be on rhythm guitar.”

At this, you have to agree. Last semester’s uneventful Victorian Lit seminar had culminated with final presentations. When it came to Kaminari’s turn, he had stood mutely at the front of the class and stared at his notecards with a dumbfounded expression for six whole minutes before the professor awkwardly let him sit back down. Jirou never let him live it down, and you’re not even sure how he ended up passing the class.

“I’ll only be free on weekends,” you start, and watch as Jirou’s indifferent expression shifts minutely. You can read her like a book after nearly a decade of friendship, and you know she always plays up the nonchalance the most when there’s something she really cares about.

“We were gonna do Saturday nights, anyway.”

You sigh with exaggerated reluctance, but Jirou’s already broken into a wide grin. After all, she knows you just as well as you do her. The begrudging front you put up always has a weak spot for Jirou. And that dream of starting a band really did still spark something warm and exciting in you.

“Just don’t blame me if it takes a while for me to remember all the chords,” you warn, but it’s a half-hearted jab. Your fingers are already itching to start practicing again. “And, I want a say in our band name.”

Jirou clasps your hands in hers and leans across the table, knocking her mug precariously close to the table ledge. Her eyes are wide with faux solemnity, and you’re reminded an awful lot of Midoriya. “I would never dream otherwise,” she says, and then cracks another smile. “We’re totally gonna win the school festival this year!”

It’s not until you’re getting ready to part ways—her to morning lecture, you back to bed—that you remember to ask.

“Wait, who’s on drums?”

Another thing growing up together has taught you: Jirou’s a bad fucking liar. She avoids your gaze and fumbles with her tangled earbuds, and you can’t tell if it’s anticipation or dread that settles into your stomach. “Uh, we haven’t found someone yet,” she says, ignoring your disbelieving look. “Oh, huh- class is starting soon, see ya!”

She skedaddles down the hallway and out of sight. You stare after her with half a mind to chase her down, but your lethargy wins over any curiosity and you turn back towards the dorms, intent to steal another hour or two before your first class.

You go through the rest of the week with a bad feeling about why Jirou wouldn’t tell you who the fourth member of the band was going to be. Could it be Minoru? Jirou knows you despised him—well, who doesn’t—but surely he was too short to even reach the pedals.

Come Saturday night, you are still no closer to solving the mystery. You can’t think of anyone who could both (1) be a good enough drummer and (2) have a character flaw disagreeable enough that Jirou would be reluctant to reveal their name. Maybe she had been telling the truth, and they would have to hold auditions this week. Either way, you would find out soon.

The second floor of the music department is almost empty, save for whichever diligent souls want to practice this late on the weekend. You switch your guitar to your left hand, double-checking the room number Jirou had texted you yesterday. Walking down the hall, you can already start to hear the sound of Jirou warming up on bass, along with someone practicing a rather fantastic drum solo. Your trepidation is quickly suppressed with excitement, and you push the door open, ready to meet your very own Ringo Starr…

Only to stumble back, shoulder clipping the door frame in shock. Suddenly, her reticence that morning clicks into place. There’s only one person she knows you can’t stand, although you never knew he could play drums.

Bakugou Katsuki’s gaze immediately latches onto you with a glare you can almost feel the heat of across the room. For the first time in your life, you find yourself sharing the same thought as Bakugou, although he beats you to verbalizing it.

“It’s fucking you!?”

masterlist

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katuski x reader #my hero academia #mha fanfiction #bnha #bnha fanfiction

81 notes · View notes

wedreamedlove · 9 months

Text

[FIC] I Love You 115 (14/115)

Rating: M Characters: Osborn/Reader Word Count: 1587

Summary: Saturday mornings are for sleeping in and deepening the bond between a couple.

A/N: Inspired by the clip below, コネクト by あすとら on Twitter, and the factoid from the official Light and Night artbook that Osborn will involuntarily sleep face down in environments where he feels safe and relaxed.

Sunlight shines through the window walls, gilding everything in a gentle gold and providing just the perfect amount of light and warmth for you to read comfortably on the couch in the air-conditioned house.

Or rather, it would have been perfect if you haven't been staring at the same sentence for five minutes now because the emptiness in your stomach is too distracting. It doesn't help that, in the background, you can hear the family pets push their bowls around as they chase after the last crumbs of their lunch, making you hungrier.

Why haven't you eaten yet? Because you're waiting for Osborn to wake up.

For the past month, he had been overseas preparing for and participating in a cluster of races set on the same continent; meanwhile, you had an important project deadline to meet and this prevented you from taking time off to fly over and see your boyfriend. Naturally, both of you messaged and video called whenever possible with the time difference, but this physical separation only made the longing deepen. On the last day, after seizing the highest amount of points without much suspense, Osborn skipped out on all the celebrations and flew back to you on the earliest flight possible.

However, despite all this effort, he still returned home in the middle of the night and you only remember him giving you a kiss on the forehead before he collapsed in bed next to you and fell asleep within seconds.

And he's still sleeping even now.

Of course you want to let him rest as much as possible but, as your stomach rebels against you with another hunger pang, you finally give up on reading to distract yourself and check the clock for the fifth time. It's almost noon and you decide it should be fine to wake Osborn now.

You get off the couch, sliding into your slippers, and then make your way to the bedroom.

Quietly pushing the door open, the bedroom looks just like how you left it this morning. The curtains block out most of the light, causing the whole room to appear dim and cozy, and nothing can be heard except for Osborn's even and peaceful breaths.

The only difference in the bedroom seems to be that, after you got out of bed, Osborn had abandoned his pillow to grab yours and rolled onto his stomach to bury his face in it. The blanket had slipped down to pool around his waist and his entire back was exposed. You reflexively swallow at how, even in such a relaxed state, the definition of his muscles can easily be seen as well as how all the lines of his body are compact and lithe, from his slender waist to his broad shoulders. Like a predator, even when at rest it isn't difficult to imagine the explosive force lurking in that body.

You walk up to the side of the bed and you aren't able to stop yourself from reaching out to place your hand on his shoulder blade. His skin is extremely warm to touch and feels nice against your cool hand. The muscles are pliable in his relaxed state but still resist against you when you press down slightly and trace the line of his shoulder to his bicep and then down to his elbow.

As your palm slides across his forearm, you hear Osborn inhale deeply from the pillow, his body stirring, and by the time you get to his wrist, he twists his hand to catch you and intertwines his fingers with yours.

You laugh at the awkward position this puts his arm in and lean down to nuzzle his shoulder.

"Mm?" The questioning note comes out mostly from his nose, but it still manages to carry the husky rumble of having just woken up.

"Hungry." You explain in a hushed voice and gently bite his shoulder.

You know you didn't put any force in the action, but Osborn still hisses through his teeth and turns his head to reveal an eye that looks at you with affectionate amusement. "So, you're going to eat me instead?"

"Not yet, but I'll give it serious consideration if you don't get up right now. I've been waiting for you to have lunch together."

Osborn releases your hand so that he can turn himself onto his side and now you can see the smile on his lips that reaches his eyes even as he fakes a yawn and says languidly, "I don't know... the bed is really comfy, I might need something to motivate me to move."

After being together for so long, how can you not know what your boyfriend is aiming for? As you move closer to his face, you see his eyes fall shut naturally, which suits you perfectly, because just as your breaths land on his lips you turn your head to the side and peck the corner of his mouth. Giggling with pride, you attempt to escape out of the room.

The keyword being "attempt".

Sure enough, your professional racer-cum-bounty hunter boyfriend's reaction speed cannot be underestimated because his hand grabs your wrist just as you turn away and, with a force that can't be refused, he pulls you onto him and catches your lower lip in his mouth with a low growl. "That's not even remotely close enough."

Osborn surges up to slant his mouth over the rest of yours and devours you.

His tongue sweeps into your mouth that was already parted in surprise and wraps around your tongue to pull into his mouth, where he sucks on it. The tip of his nose nudges against your cheek as he presses into you, like there's still too much distance between you two despite how your lips rub together, and the breath from his nose scorches as it splays over your skin. It's only when you start to feel your tongue go numb in his mouth that he releases it to slip his tongue back into your mouth to taste your every crevice, making you tremble whenever he strokes over a sensitive spot.

You don't remember when your positions switch but you suddenly feel the contrast of your back sinking into the soft bed and something hot and hard nudging against your inner thigh when Osborn's pelvis settles into the cradle of your hips.

He releases your mouth to hear your quivering gasp when he rocks against you before he kisses you again. The pleasure that races through your whole body makes you boneless and you can feel the saliva in your mouth creeping out of the cracks of your joined mouths, except Osborn swallows this liquid greedily like he really is trying to eat you.

"Os..." You whimper breathlessly.

Osborn pulls back just enough to suck on your slick and swollen lips again and again, and the wet pops as he releases your lips sound abnormally loud in the quiet room as he asks between pants, "Can I?"

The flush on your face deepens when you feel him thrust his hips lightly and the cloth of his briefs, which have already turned moist at the front, slides against your thigh. Just as you open your mouth though, your stomach beats you into answering and growls angrily.

Both of you freeze at this inopportune noise and you can practically see the desire to consume you struggle against the desire to take care of you in his eyes, which have already darkened into a deep ocean-green, until finally helplessness overtakes both emotions and he drops his head into the crook of your neck, exhaling hard.

You reiterate matter-of-factly, "I'm hungry."

Osborn must feel you shaking with silent laughter because he pinches the skin of your neck in his mouth and grinds his teeth on it, making you reflexively pull up your shoulders and yelp as you try to escape the tingling pressure.

Eventually, he releases you after leaving several more marks like this on your neck and shoulder. "Looks like I have to fatten up my meal first before I can actually eat."

"Are you calling me fat?" You try to twist the flesh of his shoulder in objection but grow even more upset when you can barely get any skin between your fingers from the tight spread of muscles that shift and contract underneath your hand as he wraps an arm below your bottom and lifts you up one-handedly into his chest and gets up out of bed.

"Where did I say that? I'm saying you're way too light and need to eat more. I'm about to suspect that a certain someone lied to me when they said they were eating all their meals on time while I was away."

You cough loudly and turn your head to give a sonorous kiss on Osborn's cheek. "Boss Osborn is the best! I can't wait to see what you make for lunch!"

"Tsk, that was the clumsiest change in subject I've ever heard, but who made it so that I always fall for this move every time?" He turns his head to present his other cheek to you. "One more and I can consider forgetting what I just said."

You smack another resounding kiss on his other cheek as he requests and swing your foot as he does drop the subject and carries you into the kitchen. A day only officially begins after the two of you share a meal together and, from the looks of it, today is going to be a wonderful day.

#光与夜之恋 #light and night #LN Osborn #LN Xiao Yi #series: i love you 115

70 notes · View notes

lilacwineandthesinkingsun · 2 years

Text

Sweeter than honey.. Part 3

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

Summary: You're a close friend to the modern!Ragnarssons, and when you find yourself in a bad place they help. Even if it's finding a new room to rent, or your sex-life.

Masterlist

The next few days you were working or confined to your room. Saturday was the first night they had found you out on the couch, whatching Shameless with your usual vodka - apple juice drink. You didn't want to go out, the last week was still fresh on your mind. Ivar sat down next to you, putting an arm around you, as you snuggled close to him.

-What's up princess? Don't wanna go out? - he asked as he kissed your temple.

-Nuh-uh.

-He's been dealth with you know that right? - he asked, holding you tighter.

-I know. I just don't want to go out. Cause of him and cause of other things.

-What other things? Anything i can help with?

You snuggled closer and draped a hand around his middle.

-Nothing i guess. I just feel bad. Noone wants me except for one night... even if we were friends before. I guess i'm someone they could all easily forget.

-Bullshit sweetheart. If i'd find someone like you, i'd never let them go.

Before you could react Hvitserk got home. Popping down next to you, but you gave him no mind. Normally at least your legs would be up in his lap, but not this time. He doesn't even know what did he do, but he lets you ignore him. You'll tell him when you're ready.

The next few days you paid no mind to him, and by the next friday night he was fuming, and he missed you. Ivar and you were watching a movie in the livingroom when he got home drunk. You did not look away from the screen when he stood before you and Ivar, Ivar already scoffing.

-I will not go away until you tell me why are you ignoring me (Y/n). - Hvitserk said, Ivar looked at you questioningly and you just rolled your eyes.

-Nothing. - you said.

-Sure, that's why you don't touch me, don't even go near me for the past week.. What tf did i do? - he slurred, nearly yelling the lats part.

You stood up, tears threatening to escape your eyes.

-Well you sure as hell didn't give a shit when Harik nearly raped me, while you were busy trying to get into Ubbe's bitch's pants, all high not even 24 hours after coming inside me. Not as you'd truly care.. huh?!- you said, as the tears finally escaped, as you ran to your room and shut the door with a loud thud.

You started packing your duffel bag while sniffling.

-(Y/n), please, can we talk? - you heard Hvitserk from the other side of the door, while Ivar questioned him.

You didn't answer, just packed mindlessly. When you've finished you opened the door, not even looking at him or Ivar as you walked out the door, not caring for their pleading.

They called their brothers to ask them to look out for you, basically anywhere in the city. It's okay if you didn't go back to theirs, just be with someone who they can trust. They didn't tell them why did you leave, just that they need you to be safe.

Hours later you were sitting at the lake at the park. Bjorn found you.

-Want to talk? - he asked, and you just shook your head as you cried into his chest.

-Want to crash at mine untol you're ready to go back? - he asked again, and this time you jumped into his neck, nodding.

He interlaced your fingers, and threw your duffelbag on his back. His apartment was high up above the city, it was relatively big, but it had only one room. You knew him most of your life, you even gave yourself to him, so you were okay with sleeping in the same bed, and he was too. He wanted to fall asleep, and wake up next to you ever since that faithful night. You ordered pizza and watched some secret agent movie. You noticed he was constantly on his phone.

-If you have something to do, you can go, i don't need a babysitter. If it's a date or something i can even go to a hotel. I don't want to bother you. - you said as you made yourself as small as possible at the other end of the couch. Everyone throws you away, you might as well get on with it.

-Nothing of the sort doll. Hvitserk trying to get me to let him in. But that's not gonna happen.

-Ivar told you, didn't he? - you said looking at your feet.

-Yes.

-And you don't hate me?

-Why would i? It's no secret we all wanted you at some point of our lives, and if he's willing to throw this all away for that psycho and some drugs, then who am i do stop him. I'm just glad you didn't shut us all out. And if i get to spend a few nights with you in my arms without any of my brothers breathing down my neck, then i might as well thank him. - he said smirking as he put you in his lap, you were now giggling like a shy schoolgirl.

-Wait... you.. you all wanted me at some point? - you looked at him confused.

-Well i mean.. look at you. You have been our friend since forever, but we are not blind. Your personality is all we could ask for, and damn your body... You're the whole package. Anyone who wouldn't want you is either blind or stupid. - he said pecking your neck playfully.

The next day Ivar called him, asking if you'd be willing to see him at least. That's how you found yourself on Bjorn's lap, talking to Ivar. Bjorn gently drawing circles on your lower back.

-Getting cozy i see? - Ivar smirked which Bjorn reciprocated.

-What could i say brother, finally got her in my arms, not gonna waste the time. Don't know how you could live without jumping on her for months.. - he said as his other hand traced the hem of your shorts.

-Oh it was hard.. it still is. - he said looking into your eyes. Bjorn chuckled under you, leaning close to whisper into your ear, before kissig under it.

-What do you say princess, will you show Ivar the pretty sounds you make? I'll glady share with my brothers if thats something you'd want. Not with anyone else though.. - he whispered between kisses. He then lightly tapped your buttcheek, making you crawl over to Ivar, butt full on display for Bjorn, while he caressed your thighs. You got close to Ivar, gently kissing him. He first caressed your face, then down your neck, your chest, your breasts making you whimper into the kiss. Bjorn moved behind you fully, slowly peeling off your shorts and panties before he started to eat you out. You were palming Ivar, slowly reaching for his zipper to free him. When you did, he looked at you with lustblown eyes. With him in your hand and Bjorn eating you out at the same time, you found yourself wanting more. You slowly lowered yourself until he was in your mouth, muttering a small fuck before his hand took a hold of your hair, helping you blow him. Bjorn lapped your arousal, nursing a painful erection himself. He moved to finger you with two fingers, using his other hand to free himself.

He ran his member teasingly through your folds, before slamming inside you, making you moan around Ivar's cock.

-Can't believe i missed out for so many years on the best blowjob of my life. Her mouth is heaven... - Ivar grunted, making Bjorn chuckle and spank your butt.

-Wait till you get to taste her, she makes even prettier sounds then. - You heard this conversation, and it made you flutter around him in anticipation, making him grip your hips tighter. - Ohhooo... she likes the sound of that.. perhaps you should stay the night little brother.

Your moans around him made Ivar cum. You swallowed all of it, showing him with a smirk, as he caressed your chin with a loving smile. Bjorn wasn't finished yet, so he lifted you up, setting you in his lap, opening your legs for Ivar to see. Your thighs were glistening from your slick and he found himself fascinated, wanting to taste. He leaned in, and started to circle your clit with his tongue, making you practically scream his name, while Bjorn fucked into you relentless.

You came around his cock, goshing over him and Ivar as well, your walls fluttering around him, making him cum inside you as you limped on top of him. He gently held your throat as he kissed you, gently caressing your body.

-Tell me again brother, why did we live without this for so long? - asked Ivar with a cheeky smile, making you suddenly shy, and hide your face in the crook of Bjorn's neck, making both of them chuckle.

You rested a bit, snuggled to them, before they jumped on you again. The rest of the night was a blur. After the 4th orgasm you could only remember their names. You were positively fucked out.

Next morning you woke up between them. Bjorn's arm possessively around you and under your neck, as Ivar was watching you enchanted. When you opened your eyes, he gently swipe some hair out of your face and behind your ear.

-How are you feeling princess? - he asked lovingly.

-Mkay, just a bit sore. - you said smiling.

-I'll draw you a bath. - said Bjorn from behind you, planting a kiss to your shoulder before waking up. Ivar got a call and had to leave, but not before giving you a kiss. Bjorn carried you to the bathroom, and climbed in behind you as you both relaxed in the hot water.

-I wish everyday would be like this. - he said caressing your skin gently. You just hummed, nearly asleep as you laid on his chest.

The truth is you could get used to this too.

263 notes · View notes

vulpes-fennec · 1 year

Text

Fanservice for Your Fanfiction (pt. 2)

Summary: Gwyneth Berdara is a full-time student, part-time fanfiction writer. When her best friend (who she may or may not have a crush on), Azriel Shadowsinger, finds out that she writes smutty fanfiction, Gwyn cannot imagine showing her face ever again. (Gwynriel Modern AU one (two?) shot)

ATTENTION: MILD CRESCENT CITY HOSAB SPOILERS! A CC SHIP HAS BEEN REFERENCED IN THIS WORK!

For @gwynrielweeksofficial NSFW day

Read: Part 1 | AO3

In the last 96 hours, whenever Gwyn replayed the way Azriel tenderly cupped her face or how he smiled against her lips, she was sent into a blushing, heart-fluttering mess. Friday night had passed with plenty of cuddling and heavy make-out sessions between attempts to study organic chemistry. Despite how well-acquainted they’d become with each others’ mouths, Azriel kept a disappointingly respectable distance from Gwyn as he walked her home.

The Ruhnlidia elevator makeout session that Gwyn hammered out in the wee hours of the morning was a subsequent hit. Waking up past noon on Saturday, Gwyn found an interesting comment on the chapter she’d just published.

AzPizzaz: Great chapter! I enjoyed it a lot, can’t wait for more ;)

Thanks to a packed start of the week, she hadn’t spoken to Azriel since Friday night. Save for the comment he’d left, it had also been radio silence from him. That made Gwyn anxious. Especially when they hadn’t discussed what their “relationship” was now.

Ugh, maybe he is waiting for me to make the next move? Az told me he liked me…you’d think that would be clear enough! Why are boys so confusing?

Gwyn was tempted to seek advice from Nesta and Emerie. But part of her wanted to keep things under wraps, until she and Azriel had a proper “define-the-relationship” talk. Resolving to take action, Gwyn bought four cupcakes from the gardening club’s bake sale, donned a cute shirt and short skirt, and made her way to the boys’ apartment. Cassian answered the door after the second knock. “Cupcakes?!? For me?” he asked eagerly.

“No, they’re obviously for Azriel.” Nesta appeared behind her boyfriend, rolling her eyes. “Come on in, Gwyn.”

Gwyn blushed at Nesta’s comment. “I actually bought enough for all of us to have one.” She set the box down on the haphazard kitchen counter and looked around the room. Is Azriel even home?

Cassian smirked. “Azriel’s in the shower right now. Just got out of practice.”

“Oh…” Gwyn trailed off. Just a few yards away from her, Azriel was probably lathering his hair with soapy suds, the water running down his body in thin rivulets. Would he be stepping into the hallway with a towel around his waist, steam swirling around him? Cauldron, Gwyn, get a hold of yourself! Don’t think about this stuff in public! Gwyn blinked rapidly. This is becoming a problem.

Cassian strode over to the bathroom door and knocked loudly. “Az! Can Gwyn chill in your room? Nesta and I are leaving.” he called out.

“What?” Gwyn’s heart inevitably picked up at the sound of Azriel’s muffled reply over the gushing water. Cassian repeated himself. After a longer pause, Azriel responded with a “yeah, go for it.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Gwyn asked, bewildered. “I thought we were planning our spring break trip tonight?”

“Sorry, Cassian and I have a dinner reservation,” Nesta said, not sounding very apologetic at all. “But I’ll still plan with you when we get back. You’ll be okay chilling here, right?”

“Of course I’ll be okay,” Gwyn replied smoothly, trying to hide the fact that she was internally panicking. Because being alone with Az is anything BUT chill. What if he doesn’t want to talk about us? What if he just wants to be friends with benefits? I don’t think I can handle it if he did…

“Have a nice dinner!” she called out weakly as Nesta and Cassian hustled out.

Settling back on Azriel’s bed brought a fresh wave of cheek-reddening memories. Azriel had lavished little kisses on her freckles here just a few days ago. He had snuggled her tight against his muscled body, hands lazily threading themselves through her hair as they lay in comfortable silence.

Yep, that’s the pillow I was laying on. Oh, and the corner of the bed frame he pushed me up against. Oh gods….Gwyn squared away those thoughts by opening up her laptop and flicking through the open tabs. Anything to get her mind off Azriel. Flights to the tropical beaches of Adriata. Hotels. Rainforest tours. Bikini shopping. And her Ruhnlidia work-in-progress draft.

I guess I should work on that, since Nesta isn’t even here to plan and I don’t want to do homework. Her fingers tapped out a few sentences:

Ruhn’s brains were disorientingly thick, as if he’d woken up with a hangover. He must’ve been knocked unconscious. How long had he been out for? When Ruhn’s vision swam back into view, he realized he was tied to a large chair in the middle of a storage room, unable to budge an inch…

“Hey.” Gwyn’s eyes snapped up at the sound of Azriel’s amused voice. Her greeting died in her throat when she saw him casually leaning against the doorframe, wearing only a pair of thick black sweatpants. Not quite a towel, but…oh, fuck. Az is shirtless.

Gwyn had never seen Azriel shirtless, and—sweet Mother help her—he was beautiful. His muscled arms were crossed over sculpted, warm brown pectorals. Which were followed by a toned abdomen that eventually led down, down, down to the low-slung waistline of his sweatpants. Gwyn was vaguely aware of licking her lips, just a little bit. A movement that Azriel had undoubtedly noticed when a reciprocating fire flared in his eyes.

Gwyn created a little rectangle with her thumbs and index fingers, leaning back so that Azriel fit right in the picture frame. “Actually, take a little step to your left. And put your right arm up against the doorframe.”

Azriel complied with a grin, his extended arm stretching his toned physique. “For research purposes, I need you to give me a smolder, too.” Gwyn blushed when his boyish smile morphed into a smirk, his hazel eyes blinking slowly with a sultry intensity. “Well, well, well. AzPizzaz, you’re a natural at fanservice.”

“Fanservice?” Azriel’s chuckle burst the bubble of anxiety around Gwyn. It was hard to feel awkward around him for long, especially when he made her feel safe and fuzzy inside.

“Yeah, like doing hot poses or flirty actions that make viewers scream with delight.”

Azriel blinked, as if not quite comprehending what Gwyn meant. “Well, happy to be of service anytime. Mind if I join you on the bed?”

“Of-of course not, it’s your bed after all.” Gwyn tried to keep her voice light and casual as he clambered onto the bed, his still-damp hair hanging in front of his eyes. Stop thinking about it—nope, I failed already. Gwyn had pictured Azriel crawling to her across the bed on all fours in another context.

To Gwyn’s immense surprise, Azriel situated himself behind her, nestling her between his legs. Strong hands gently massaged her shoulders, relieving some of the very tension she felt leading up to his entrance. He carefully scooped her long coppery hair to one side, and pressed his soft mouth against her neck. Right where her jaw cut just below the ear. Gwyn gasped softly, tipping her head slightly.

“You okay?” Azriel stiffened, pulling away.

“Yeah. It feels nice,” Gwyn replied. “I like it.” She leaned back against Azriel’s warm body for emphasis, to reassure him that it was alright. Azriel relaxed, resuming his gentle kisses along her neck. She tried to return to her working document:

…unable to budge an inch. A flash of upswept blonde hair in the shadows, and then Agent Cervos emerged, stalking towards him like a lioness playing with her food…

Maybe she could arch her neck a little, just to give him more access? Azriel’s hands wrapped almost possessively around her waist. He hugged her close, gently caging her between his muscled arms.

Concentrate, concentrate. But it was impossible to do so, when Azriel’s callused hands dipped below the hem of her shirt, skating her bare waist in little circles. She shivered. This boy is dangerously good at multitasking.

…like a lioness playing with her food…

Gwyn lost her train of thought again when Azriel’s warm lips lingered a bit longer than usual. Gwyn tried to keep her breathing casual and steady; surely the thrumming pulse under Azriel’s lips was already a dead giveaway for how her heart raced.

“I missed you,” Azriel confessed quietly, his breath hot along her collarbone.

“Me too,” Gwyn practically squeaked as he sucked on her the nape of her neck lightly. Cauldron, did he learn this from reading my fanfiction? Or is this a technique he picked up all on his own?

“What are you up to?” Azriel finally looked up from her shoulder.

“I’m trying…I’m trying to write a s-scenario.” Gwyn could not speak coherently. The fact that he was reading her writing in real time also made her self-conscious.

“Trying,” Azriel teased, his hands traveling a bit higher and causing her mind to short circuit.

“And you’re not helping,” Gwyn replied hotly. “I want Ruhn straddled while tied up in a chair. But I don’t know what to do next.”

“How about I pretend to be Ruhn, to speed up the creative process?” Azriel suggested. “If you’re okay with it, obviously. I have a pair of handcuffs.”

Gwyn turned around to stare at Azriel incredulously. “Is this what Cassian meant when he brought up your kinks?” she gasped.

“Maybe.” Azriel sheepishly shook his head.

“AzPizzaz, what other kinks do you have?”

“Let’s save them for another day,” he said quickly. “Today is all about your vision. Also, are you going to call me AzPizzaz from now on?”

“What’s wrong with AzPizzaz? You’re the one who came up with it yourself.”

“Nothing. Just making sure you won’t call me that when I’m…helping you out. It might kill the vibe.”

“I have a feeling your ‘help’ is more for your benefit than mine.” Gwyn swatted his arm playfully. “Would you prefer I call you other names, then? Let’s see…babe? Daddy? Az? Sir?” Azriel’s poker face shifted slightly at the last word. Jackpot. Oh, I’m definitely going to use that to my advantage one day, Gwyn vowed.

Azriel rolled his eyes. “If you’re trying to figure out my kinks, you’re not going to have much luck.” Gwyn folded her arms across her chest and pouted slightly.

“Fine. But your days of keeping your questionable search history private are numbered, Az. Now are you going to get those handcuffs out, or not?”

Azriel disentangled himself from her and obediently opened the bottom drawer of his dresser. Gwyn craned her neck, trying to see if he had any other interesting things in there. Chains? Whips? Vibrators? Cock rings? Butt plugs?

“Snoop.” Azriel shut the drawer before she could see anything, and grinned as he held up a pair of silver cuffs.

Gwyn’s jaw dropped open and she laughed. “Gods, you were serious about having handcuffs.”

Azriel dragged a wooden, straight-backed chair in from the dining table. His ankles were secured to their respective chairlegs with ties, and he allowed Gwyn to loop a longer rope around his torso and the chair’s backing. Azriel’s wrists were cuffed neatly in his lap, the key set down far away on his desk.

“Okay, ready?” Gwyn asked, feeling all at once excited and nervous. She perched on the far end of the bed, watching Azriel test the security of the ties. It was surreal, seeing her friend—her crush—in a position like this.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Azriel answered gamely. Gwyn took a deep breath, and when she opened her eyes, she was ready. Azriel met her gaze with a steady stare of his own, and jerked his hands and shoulders for dramatic flair.

“I suggest you stop struggling before you tip over the chair. I doubt you can do much with your hands tied,” Gwyn observed lightly, though she eyed Azriel’s hands with interest.

“Come a little closer, agent, and I’ll show you just what I’m capable of,” he retorted. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere, Gwyn smirked. Here we go. Azriel’s eyes trailed up her long legs as she approached. “And take off your underwear while you’re at it,” he added, something lean and ravenous awakening in his eyes.

“I-I didn’t—” Gwyn broke character, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Az literally offered to “help” out with the smut scenes, Gwyn told herself, so he definitely wants this just as me. He won’t judge me, right? Azriel currently appeared cool and collected, whereas Gwyn felt like a fumbling adolescent. “I didn’t shave.”

“I don’t think Ruhn cares very much about that.” Azriel raised an eyebrow, then lowered his voice. “I know I sure as hell don’t.”

Gwyn nodded mutely and slipped her underwear down her legs, careful to keep Azriel from seeing anything under her skirt. She grimaced slightly at the plain white granny briefs on the ground, but quickly realized they didn’t matter. Azriel’s eyes had zeroed in on her panties as if they were a delectable piece of lingerie.

“Gods, what a treat,” Azriel groaned. “Today must be my lucky day.”

Gwyn took a slow turn around the chair Azriel was bound to, making sure she swayed her hips a little. She was tantalizingly close, so close that if Azriel’s hands were not cuffed in his lap, he probably could have run his hands up her inner thigh or squeezed her ass. He certainly looked tortured, as his chest rose and fell more sharply and as he tracked her stride with the expression of a hungry man.

“Ready for a confession, are we?” she crooned.

“Just come here already,” Azriel growled.

“I suppose I can indulge you a little before you start begging for mercy.” Gwyn gave him a smug smile as she straddled the chair, spreading her legs across Azriel’s stretched thighs. There was a slight strain in her thighs as she hovered over his black sweatpants. He jerked his cuffed hands forward, as if trying to lift her skirt hem, but Gwyn grabbed his wrist before he could.

“Oh no,” she said. “Only good boys get to touch.” Gwyn pushed his hands up so that they were positioned flat against his abs. The position was slightly awkward, so Gwyn made a silent note of that. “I have a few questions for you, agent.”

“Give me all you’ve got, then,” Azriel smirked. “Why don’t you have a seat on my lap first? You seem a little tired, pretty dove.”

Gwyn complied, feeling the cool air tingle her bare skin as she settled on Azriel’s spread thighs. She could have stayed in character and asked Azriel questions pertaining to her story, see how he would improvise. But instead, she asked, “How long have you liked me?”

Pleasant surprise flared in Azriel’s eyes. “Since the last week of school our freshman year,” he responded. “How long have you—”

“Ah, ah, ah,” Gwyn placed a finger on his lips. “I’m the one who gets to ask questions around here.” She winked when Azriel rolled his eyes. “Now. What do you like about me?”

“Everything.”

Now it was Gwyn’s turn to roll her eyes. “I’m going to need a better answer than that.”

“Fine. You always try to see the brighter side, even in your lowest moments. You are generous, you are hard-working…you make me laugh and you make me feel complete.”

“How sentimental of you,” Gwyn said coolly, trying to keep herself from smiling like a lovesick fool. “Anything else you’d like to add?”

Azriel’s hazel eyes flicked up and down her seated position. “I like that you’re sitting on my lap, wearing nothing under that little skirt. And I’m sure I’ll like the noises you make by the time this…interrogation is over.”

“What an indecent thing to say,” Gwyn scoffed, though her blood heated at his words. “I should gag your vulgar mouth until you decide to stop misbehaving.”

“I think not. Otherwise, how else would you be able to properly kiss me?”

“Who says I want to kiss you?” Gwyn demanded hotly.

“I think the fact that you blush whenever I look at you is a dead giveaway. And the way you’ve been clenching your thighs around me…who’s really in control of this cross-examination, hmm?” Azriel’s voice was laced with arrogance, though his eyes were fixed on her lips. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I could make you come from my words alone—”

“Shut up,” Gwyn snapped, knowing he was spot on with those observations. “I’m in control, Shadowsinger.” With that, she kissed him hungrily before he could say anything else.

While one hand kept his handcuffed wrists in place, the other was behind his neck, greedily preventing him from pulling away. Gwyn sighed softly with content as his tongue delved into her mouth. Azriel was right about one thing: kissing him through a gag would not have been as nice. His teeth lightly bit down on her bottom lip between labored breaths.

“Look at me,” Gwyn ordered, her voice sounding foreign to her ears as she threaded her hands through Azriel’s damp locks and tugged them backwards. His swollen lips, red-tinged cheeks, and slightly glazed over eyes had Gwyn’s stomach fluttering. “Good boy.”

Gwyn released his wrists so that she could tug his head back and trace the strong column of his throat. She shifted slightly in his lap, rubbing her pussy against his hardened erection. And it was Azriel who had to stifle his gasp this time. He tried to thrust his hips upwards, but the limited freedom of movement had him groaning in frustration as Gwyn canted her hips again.

“Love, you’re making a mess on me,” Azriel murmured, sounding dazed after several moments of deep kisses.

“Sorry.” Gwyn blushed, breaking character and standing up. A damp patch pooled where their bodies had met. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d been grinding against his cock, which was now visibly straining underneath the black sweats. Cauldron boil and fry me, she marveled, oh his dick is big.

“No, please…keep doing it.” He gave her a knowing look, and then adjusted his wrists so that they were positioned between his legs. “But on my hands instead.”

When Gwyn shyly sat down again, Azriel wasted no time flicking his middle and index fingers through her slick folds. He whistled quietly at how wet he found her, making her squirm in his lap. Gwyn inhaled a shaky breath as his fingers stroked her slowly and luxuriously, dipping deeper and deeper with each pass.

Azriel kept his eyes trained on her face, carefully watching her for any signs of discomfort as he slowly inserted both fingers into her pussy. “How are you doing?” he asked quietly.

“Perfect,” Gwyn gasped out as he pulled his fingers out and dipped them in again. There had been some tightness at first, mostly due to nervousness, but the soft attentiveness in Azriel’s eyes made her feel safe. “You can go faster, if you want, Az.”

The multitude of sensations that followed made Gwyn’s head spin. The cold metal of the handcuffs was a delightful sensation against her skin, and they jangled slightly whenever she bucked her hips forward to meet Azriel’s thrusts. The scars on his fingers were even noticeable along her walls, something she had never considered, and Gwyn bit back a wail when he tapped a sensitive spot deep within her.

“I want to taste you so bad,” Azriel groaned. Soft sweatpants chafed the skin of her inner thighs, sending shivers racing up her legs.

“Well I’m not letting you out of those handcuffs, agent,” Gwyn panted out, still bouncing on his fingers. “Not until I finish with you.”

“Please,” Azriel whimpered. “At least take your shirt off for me.” Gwyn shook her head vigorously. “Please, Gwyn.”

His whine was enough to convince Gwyn. She swept her soft tee off, and even took off her bra, for added measure. She should have gone slowly, could have done a little strip tease in front of Azriel to cause more anguish. But his expression, one of a man who had practically died and gone to heaven, was priceless.

“So beautiful, Gwyn,” he groaned. “You’re prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.” Gwyn blushed. Azriel’s bound hands boosted her higher, eliciting a startled sound from Gwyn when his face was promptly buried in her chest.

“Oh gods,” she cried out when his mouth closed over her breast, tongue swirling over her nipple, she cried out. Plenty of one-night stands had executed the same moves before, but it was different with Azriel. Despite her straddling him, he was definitely in control now.

Gwyn had to place her hands on Azriel’s shoulders to steady herself as Azriel continued to finger her deftly. Azriel’s thumb was in the perfect position to rub her clit while she trembled on his hand. Multitasking…yep, this boy is a menace with his multitasking.

“Do you like that, pretty girl?” he rasped, voice muffled between her breasts. Azriel’s strong nose tickled her sternum, his breath hot and his tongue wet. The slick sounds grew louder and louder.

“Yes!” Gwyn panted as he sucked on the underside of her breast in between thrusts. She ground herself against his hand and shoved up against his face, not caring if she was suffocating Azriel.

All lines of thought had been chased away by the growing pressure in her abdomen. Gwyn threw her head back in pleasure, chasing the high that was somewhere between the attention Azriel’s mouth provided and the rhythm of his fingers going in and out, in and out of her pussy.

“Does my pretty captor want my mission intel? Or does she want to come?” The deep rumble of Azriel’s voice vibrated down her body. In her head, Gwyn knew that Lidia would choose the intel. Lidia would get the intel, hop off Ruhn, and then play with herself while making him watch. But Gwyn knew sure as hell what her answer would be.

“I want to come, sir. Please, Azriel. I’ll let you out of those handcuffs, if you make me come. Please, sir,” Gwyn found herself saying.

“Fuck,” Azriel choked out as his hips involuntarily thrust upward. The abrupt motion, coupled with his teeth scraping the sensitive side of her breast, resulted in Gwyn clenching down on his fingers. She sagged bonelessly down Azriel’s lap, moaning softly into his neck as his thumb rubbed her clit to prolong her release.

“Cauldron.” Gwyn found her voice again after several moments. She glanced at the floor length mirror on the wall: her short skirt hitched up and showing off the curve of her ass, her breasts littered with small love bites. Azriel’s muscled chest, his freshly tousled hair, his expression of smug satisfaction. “We look kind of hot.”

Azriel tipped his head back and laughed. “You always look hot, Gwyn.” Realizing his hand must be sore, Gwyn reluctantly extracted herself from them, to find the keys. But before she could unlock the cuffs, Azriel brought both hands to his face and tasted the two fingers that were previously inside her. He released his fingers with a pop, swiping his tongue along his bottom lip. “You taste great, too.” Gwyn blushed, her fingers fumbling with the locks.

“By the way, how the hell did you know I liked to be called ‘sir’?” Azriel asked indignantly once Gwyn released him. He reached over and gave her ass an affectionate squeeze before she could dart away.

Gwyn laughed. “I can read you like a book, you know.” Azriel made a disgruntled noise when she slipped her bra, underwear, and shirt back on. “It’s cold, Az!”

Azriel scowled adorably. “You know I could keep you warm if we just cuddled for a bit longer.”

“You know I’m not one to turn down cuddles.” Gwyn walked over to where Azriel now stood, and rubbed his wrists gently to soothe any abrasions from the cuffs. A quiet intimacy befell them.

Azriel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and affectionately kissed her forehead. “I actually…I actually wanted to ask you something,” he started hesitantly. “Would you like to go on a date? With me? I know we are moving pretty fast. And you don’t have to give me your answer now, but—”

“Yes, Az.” Gwyn smiled at his runaway blabbering. “I’d love to go on a date with you.” Visible relief stretched across his face. “On one condition,” Gwyn added. “What we just did was super hot. I loved it. And I’m down to experiment with new stuff for my smutty writing. But unless I say otherwise, I want you to be yourself. Just you.”

“Really? Because I’ve got a lot of different ways to provide fanservice for your fanfiction—”

“I’m serious, Az! No fictional man could ever compare to you, okay? You don’t need to change who you are for me.”

“Alright, alright. I promise to be myself.” Azriel hugged Gwyn close.

“Does that include your kinks?” Gwyn turned her teal eyes up at him hopefully.

“Gwyneth!”

Tags (those who have asked/requested pt. 2 on my original post): @octobers-veryown, @damedechance, @shadowriel, @almosttenaciousmoon, @nymphhazel5

#gwynriel #gwynriel smut #gwyn x azriel #azriel shadowsinger #gwyneth berdara #gwynrielweeks2023

55 notes · View notes

hebuiltfive · 8 months

Note

Another ask as I enjoyed the last one so much!

oh no: [character] gets sick at the worst possible moment. With Alan

This is so much fun! Thank you for this ask too @janetm74!

Oh No (feat. Alan Tracy)

He had been training for this. In between college work and lending an occasional hand to his brothers with iR, Alan had been spending all his time training. Every waking hour was spent thinking of the best way to enhance his chances of winning the tournament, of how it would feel to stand on the top of that podium in first place, of how the cold metal of the golden trophy would feel being held in his hands because of course he’d win. He was Alan fricken’ Tracy, as Brandon had lovingly and constantly reminded him throughout these last few months.

Alan Tracy was going to win his very first motor-race, and possibly break some records, because that’s what Tracys did.

There had been no pressure in those months leading up to the event, or at least, Alan hadn’t felt any. He enjoyed pushing himself to his limits in his little red motor-car, loved testing and seeing how far and how fast he could go.

Brandon had been a blessing in disguise. Alan wasn’t sure he’d have been ready for his first race so soon had The Bear not been around to help motivate and encourage him. Scott hadn’t been keen on Brandon being Alan’s unofficial coach. He had wanted to employ someone with more… suitable credentials, but work had been heavy since their father had returned from the depth of space and Scott hadn’t found the time to sort something out. Brandon was over the moon, naturally, and had got to work almost immediately on a strict schedule that they had stuck to religiously for months.

Now, it was the moment of truth.

Alan had awoken early that morning, though not by choice. He was restless, no doubt due to his nerves, and had rolled out of his bed, leaving his dorm before most of his fellow roommates had stirred from their party-induced sleeps. The race being on a Saturday had meant Alan didn’t need to worry about skipping any of his classes. It did mean he had to miss out on some parties but, given that Alan wasn’t very keen on attending them anyway, he figured he wasn’t missing much in that regard.

He met Brandon at the gates of the racecourse at their agreed upon time. Compared to his friend’s overly-excitable bounciness, Alan felt a pit in his stomach — or rather his chest — that made even simple breathing seem difficult. The morning seemed to drag on and on, and by the time noon hit, and the crowds had begun to gather in the stands, Alan was certain something wasn’t right.

“You alright, man?” Brandon asked, handing him his modified crash helmet.

Alan nodded. If he spoke, it would have interrupted his very important breathing rituals that usually helped him during moments of panic but were seemingly not helping him very much at this moment in time…

“This is going be totally awesome!” His friend seemed unconcerned by Alan’s feeble nod, and turned back to his monitor.

Messages were rolling past the screen so fast it made Alan feel dizzy. He steadied himself with a hand on the workshop table behind him, closed his eyes and counted to ten. He was sure his breathing was becoming more strained and… was it getting hot in here? He was sure the temperature for today was a steady 68°… Why was he sweating? The idea of perhaps fetching a cup of water crossed his mind, followed by the slightly more terrifying realisation that Alan couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually drunk anything.

“Everyone is tuning in for this, dude. This is going to be legendary! Have you decided on the pose you’re going to do when you’re standing on the— Woah! Alan? Dude, you’re looking… Are you sure you’re alright?”

Even if Alan wanted to answer Brandon, he found his voice lacking any words. God, he felt stifled in here. Maybe he just needed some air. Air was good. Air would sort him out…

His vision blurred and Alan swayed unsteadily. Okay, so his feet didn’t seem to want to move. That was a problem.

He blinked only once and then was greeted by two fuzzy looking Brandon’s standing in front of him.

Advancing towards him.

His friend yelled something over his shoulder, calling for something or someone maybe, but it was nothing more than a muffled sound to Alan’s ringing ears.

Alan tried to tell him that he’d be fine in a moment, that he had to be because he had a race to win goddamnit, but words still seemed to evade him.

His legs gave out from under him.

He felt like he was burning up.

This wasn’t just a panic attack.

The last thing Alan remembered was Brandon catching him clumsily and then…

#hope i managed to capture what i wanted to capture in this #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction #ask game #sickness prompts #five answers #alan tracy #brandon berrenger #five fics

31 notes · View notes

sirensleepingsoundly · 1 year

Text

Hellfire and Spitfire (pt.2)

CW: spoilers(duh), regular fluff, story addition, sexual content, angst, unrequited, enemies to lovers, only one bed (sort of), angry kissing, aggressive seggs, slapping, choking, hair pulling, blood, filth, hand/ring fetish, size kink.

Word Count: 1.9k

The next morning was absolutely hectic.

The news of what happened hit fast. Mom told you at breakfast that someone was found supposedly murdered at the trailer park in Forest Hills. Nancy somehow already knew. Of course, you realized, she’d be investigating for the paper. Murder makes for good headlines. Mike had already left for California early this morning. You racked your brain for who it might’ve been before making the decision to just go check on your friends in person.

Steve and Robin would be an easy stop since they both had work. You felt like your body was lined with lead the whole walk to Family Video. Part of you felt sick at the idea that Steve might be hurt. In an attempt to get rid of the thought, you twisted and fidgeted with your hands on the way there, chewing at the skin around your nails.

The door jingled when you walked in and you sighed in relief at the sight of your friends sitting bored at the counter. Despite it being almost noon on a Saturday, the store was relatively empty, with a few patrons scattered amongst the aisles.

“Hey Y/N. Come to rent one of our many new and amazing tapes?” Robin smiled without her eyes as she pitched to you. As much as she loved being able to watch movies for free, Robin was not amazing with people. It shocked you when she told you she had gotten a job as a video store clerk, as much of the job is giving personal recommendations and reviews to curious customers.

“Oh yes absolutely. Anything with full frontal nudity? I’m not picky on chicks or dicks.” You said, just loud enough to make another customer look at you funnily. An older gentleman glared at you over his glasses.

Steve seemed to finally notice your presence and waved with his fingers, his chin resting on his palm. The simple action made you smile softly, and you tried to quell the butterflies in your stomach before you threw up.

“What’s going on? Last time I had to drag you here just to keep me company while I did inventory. You almost killed me with your little death stare.” Steve seemed genuinely perturbed at the memory of you pretending to “force choke” him.

“You guys haven’t seen the news? You work in a video store for Christ’s sake, there’s t.v.s everywhere.” You snatched the remote from off the counter, ignoring a disgruntled “Hey!” from Robin as you switched the channel to a local news station.

“We're in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don't have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the name...”

“Holy shit. Any ideas on who it is?” Steve looked at you for an response, and your heart fluttered as you looked back at him. He was wearing one of his signature polo shirts, but with a signature Family Video vest on top of it. While Robin’s vest had pins and buttons all over, Steve’s was empty. You wondered why that was.

“I didn’t even know it was a student until now. I only came in because I knew you guys worked today and I wanted to make sure the both of you were still alive. I mean who else is gonna drive me to school?” You added that last part with a laugh, a poor attempt to ease tension.

“You could always catch a ride with Eddie. Doesn’t he drive your brother to school sometimes too?” Steve joked. Of course, you didn’t find him very funny.

“Munson The Freak? I would really rather walk every morning. Why on earth would I want to risk being caught getting out of the druggie van?” You crossed your arms and leant your elbows onto the countertop. Robin smiled a little and continued stacking her tapes. The only reason you didn’t drive Mike was because of your lack of a car. And drivers license. You hated that he ever rode in that van. Who knows what Eddie did in there? Or who? You ignored the way you felt at the thought of Eddie Munson with some girl in the back of his van.

Just as you opened your mouth to talk someone burst through the front door, the bell jingling frantically as it basically smacked into the wall. Dustin and Max come barreling toward you until they hit the desk.

“Hey Steve. How many phones do you have?” Dustin skipped pleasantries to ask.

“Two. Why?” Steve answered, but Robin chimed in correcting that it’s actually three counting their boss’ phone.

Dustin threw his bag and himself over the counter, knocking over the stack of tapes Robin had been working on. The kids filled all of you in on what they knew, including their plans for the phones. They had it in their heads that not only was Chrissy Cunningham the victim, but that Eddie Munson, whose trailer she apparently died in, was not her killer.

“Hold on, what? Chrissy Cunningham went to Eddie Munson’s trailer after the game to buy drugs?” You asked incredulously.

“Yes, and we need-“

“Bullshit.”

“Y/N this is serious, Eddie’s not guilty.” Dustin said, clearly frustrated.

“How do you know that? She died in his trailer. His uncle works nights. They would’ve been alone.” You prodded slightly, knowing that even Steve, who usually trusted Dustin with his life, was also skeptical.

“Look, guys, I know Eddie. He may seem like a weirdo to you but he wouldn’t do this. He couldn’t have.” Dustin’s eyes held a certain look you only remember seeing when it came to Dart, his pet demodog a few years ago.

You decided against admitting that you actually knew Eddie pretty well too. At least you knew Eds, from middle school. He had always been a metal head, constantly bugging you to listen to new songs by his favorite bands. You’d shared popsicles together and skinned your knees on the same dirt roads. But after what happened with your mom, and then being adopted by the Wheelers, you and Eddie slowly drifted apart. He started dealing around freshman year, and you started focusing on your grades. He became Eddie “The Freak” Munson, and you became Y/N Wheeler. You had always figured the two of you just grew separately as people. And despite everything you kind of missed him.

You conceded, rolling your eyes and skimming the list of names and numbers he handed you. You recognized a few from Hellfire but you knew this was going to take a little while.

For the next hour, Robin, Max, and Dustin used the phones to call each of Eddie’s friends and possible contacts to see if they knew where he is. By the end of the list, your leads had dwindled down to a single name, Reefer Rick, who Eddie supposedly bought his drugs from. The moniker made you want to laugh before you were reminded that this was a manhunt for a non-murderer. When nobody could think of his actual name, Robin had the idea to check rentals and returns for any Ricks. Finally you found Rick Lipton, who had rented Fast Times and three separate Cheech and Chong movies, and his address.

“2121 Holland Road.”

“That’s out by Lovers Lake.”

The five of you piled into Steve’s car and the music he’d had on was blasting through the stereo as he peeled out of the parking lot and onto the street.

You pulled up to Rick’s house, the two kids and you packed into the backseat. You start by knocking on the front door, Dustin opting to yell Eddie’s name to the open area around the house. Steve reminded him Eddie is in hiding, to which he responded by banging on the door yelling “Reefer Rick!” instead. You felt the urge to roll your eyes again, but refrained when you noticed the panicked look on Max’s face. She hadn’t been the same after Billy died at Starcourt last year. And you worried about her often, but anytime you asked she shrugged you off and told you she’s fine.

When nobody answered, the group migrated to a boathouse behind the original building. The gang continued calling out for Eddie, while Steve grabbed an oar off the wall and used it to poke the inside of the small boat hanging in the center of the room.

“What are you doing?” Dustin looked at Steve, confused.

“He might be in there.” Steve answered, still jabbing at the contents of the boat, which were covered in a blue tarp.

“So take the tarp off.”

“If you’re so brave, you take the tarp off.” The squabbling made you shake your head. Steve could be childish when it came to these kids. He was devoted to their protection, so much so it made him sound like a mom sometimes. You liked him more for it.

Steve turned around to argue with Dustin about their previous excursions and lack of caution In dangerous situations when Eddie jumped out of the boat and pinned Steve against the wall, holding him there with a busted bottle to his throat.

“Eddie! Eddie! It’s me! It’s Dustin! This is Steve.” Dustin inched closer to the two of them, but Eddie only dug the bottle further into Steve’s neck. Your heart dropped into your ass at the thought that Eddie might actually be a murderer, and he currently had a weapon to your best friend and childhood crush’s throat.

“Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin from band. This is my friend Max. You know, the one who never wants to play D&D? And that’s Y/N, you’ve got classes with her. Eddie, we're on your side. I swear on my mother.”

The others and yourself agreed and swore on Dustin’s mother. He faltered for a moment, but finally dropped the bottle and sat down with his head between his knees. He looked like he might be crying, but he was just hyperventilating, pulling his hands through his hair.

“We want to know what happened.”

“You won’t believe me.” Eddie sniffled a little. And you felt a little guilty for it but you almost enjoyed seeing him this way, crying and afraid.

Max spoke up, “Try us.”

Eddie spent the better half of an hour giving all of you a detailed play by play of everything that happened the night prior. Chrissy Cunningham had in fact gone to him to buy drugs, only to wind up some kind of possessed and killed.

“I didn’t know what to do, so I… I ran away. I left her there.” After a long pause Eddie scoffed. “You all think I’m crazy, right?”

“No. We don’t think you’re crazy.”

“Don’t bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds!” Eddie punched the side of the boat with a fist full of ring clad fingers.

It was only during his outburst you finally realized how much jewelry Eddie wore. A necklace with a guitar pick, a belt chain, at least five rings, and like you had guessed yesterday, a tongue piercing. Probably the wrong time to notice this stuff, you know, but… something about the way he twists his rings on his fingers when he’s nervous and plays with his top lip with his tongue is almost… attractive? You literally shake the thought out of your head and turn your attention to Dustin, who’s explaining the town “curse.”

“I tried to wake her man it was like she was in a trance or something.”

“Or a spell?”

“Or a curse.”

“Vecna’s curse.”

You and Steve ask at the same time,“Who’s Vecna?” Both boys answer you.

“An undead creature of great power.”

“A spell caster.”

“A dark wizard.”

| Pt.1 | Pt.2 | Pt.3 | Pt.4 | Pt.5 | Pt.6 | Pt.7 |

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie stranger things #ao3 writer #ao3fic #fanfic #slow burn #steve harrington #eddie munson smut #edward munson #spoilers #fluff #angst #friends to strangers #enemies to lovers #friends to enemies to lovers #hellfire club #hellfire and spitfire

66 notes · View notes