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#now she won't even go grocery shopping with me
norrisleclercf1 · 9 months
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Hi love ❤ could you maybe write something for the Mini lando Series,maybe where reader does Grocerie Shopping with Aiden and Lando stays at home with Caleb. And while they are shopping some man flirts with reader and Aiden is like THATS my mom and she only loves my daddy. And then he tells lando what happend when they are home. And lando is jelous but thinks its funny how People still trie to hit on reader even with Baby and ring on her finger.
A/N: pffffft love this, Aiden totally has his dads sass. Aiden is about 5 and Caleb is 2. This happens before you become pregnant with your 3rd child Daniel William Norris.
Warnings: Fluff and Angst, yep that's right it's not always going to be sunshine and roses, slight crude language and joke
Mini Lando Series Masterlist
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"Just, call if you need anything okay?" You ask Lando, about to run to the grocery store he waves you off. "What? Think I can't take care of my own son?" It's a teasing comment but with a tiny bite.
Taking a deep breath you have to remind your self to remain calm to his comment. "Lando, you're a capable father, I'm just saying-" You stop pursing your lips. "Whatever, forget it. Aiden! Baby, come on we're leaving!" Aiden runs down the hall smiling.
He loved going to the store with you, Caleb was about 2 and now able to talk and run around so Aiden didn't get much peace. And at 5, he was already an old man with Lando's mouth to boot.
"I'm ready! Bye daddy." Lando crouches, kissing Aiden on the cheek. "Be good for you Mom or I won't be taking you karting. Understand?" Aiden has gotten into karting, nothing serious yet. But he was a natural talent and it started to worry you.
That's why there was so much tension between you and Lando recently. "Yes, sir. I'll be good for Mom." Running to the garage, leaving you and Lando alone. "We'll talk later." Is all Lando says, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek and off to check on Caleb.
""Sure." You mumble, wanting to shake off the fog in your brain. You wanted a good day with your son and fighting with your husband wasn't going to damper that. "Mama! Come on!" Aiden yells, hurrying you to the car.
Opening the door, you help him in, strapping him into the booster seat. "Is Daddy mad?" Fingers fumble slightly with the last buckle at his question you look up. "No, baby. We're just having an adult conversation. He's not mad at you, I promise." Aiden nods, his question quickly forgotten by him but not by you.
The drive is relatively nice as you park, going over the rules again with Aiden who just nods saying "yes mom". Running into the store he grabs one of the mini buggies, making sure to copy you. The two of you giggle and talk about his karting.
Not even noticing as a man approaches you until he grabs something off the top shelf for you. "Here you go gorgeous." The guy smiles, you give a tight lip one taking the box of pasta from him. "Thanks." Aiden staring at the guy, wondering what he was doing.
"You're welcome. Can't turn down a stunning woman like you now can I? What kind of person would I be?" He chuckles moving closer, but not enough to make you uncomfortable. "One who isn't my daddy." Aiden's voice has the guy looking down, you hiding a smile as you turn.
"Excuse me little guy?" The man shocked at the little kids quip. "It's not little guy, my name is Aiden. You're not my daddy, and the only one to call Mommy pretty is Daddy." Aiden standing firm, staring the guy down. "Oh, well I don't see your daddy." Winking at you, now you're stepping in but Aiden doesn't stop.
"Daddy is busy at home with my little brother. He also drives super fast cars, the orange one. Unless you drive one like Daddy and Uncle Carlos or Uncle Pear you can't call Mommy pretty." The guy steps back, rolling his eyes. "Whatever." And walks off leaving you in shock.
"Aiden Carlos." Your voice calm, Aiden looks down. He knew he shouldn't have done that. His mommy could handle herself but...daddy always told him to protect mommy when he wasn't there. "Are you going to tell Daddy?" He knew he did wrong, talking back to a stranger unaware of what he could do.
"No, you will." Sighing you head to check out. "Mommy?" Aiden's voice soft as you two drive back. "Yes?" Aiden sniffles kicking his little feet. "I was just doing what Daddy does for you." He whispers, eyes looking in the rearview mirror you catch Aiden's head down.
"What do you mean baby?" Confused by that. "Daddy always protects Mommy, and Uncle Carlos said since I'm the oldest I have to protect you and Caleb when Daddy isn't here. I'm sorry." Sniffling again, reaching back you squeeze his little leg.
"My little boy. You don't need to do that. When you're bigger and older, sure. But you're still my little baby, it's my job to protect you." Aiden smiles, nodding as you pull into the garage.
The garage door opens, showing Caleb being held by Lando who laughs as Lando blows raspberries on his stomach. "Mama!" Caleb giggles, Aiden jumping out and running inside.
"Something happen?" Lando asks, you nod. Lando just nods sucking in his cheeks placing Caleb down. "I'll go talk to him." Caleb carrying light bags of groceries inside happy to help.
Lando walks to his eldest son's room, poking his head in not seeing Aiden he goes to second best spot. "Bubs?" Lando calls pushing open his office door, Aiden staring at all the trophies, helmets, and pictures.
"I thought I told you to be good?" Lando sighs, crouching to be eye level with the boy sitting in the desk chair. "I was, but a stranger was calling Mommy names and I protected her just like you and Uncle Carlos always say to do." Aiden whines, for such a little boy he sure did have mature emotions.
Anger fuels Lando hearing this, he has to take a couple deep breaths before asking his next question. "What kind of names, bubs? It's okay you can tell me." Lando comforts him, Aiden's curls bouncing back to place from Lando's fingers.
"They kept calling Mommy pretty, and doing what you do." Lando blinks, the anger shaping into jealousy. A guy was hitting on you? With his ring on your finger and in front of his child? Okay, this could be worse.
Lando having to talk himself down. "Aiden, you have to let Mommy handle that until your bigger, understand?" Aiden nods, staring at a picture of you, Aiden, and him holding a trophy. "Can we still kart?" Lando smirks, ruffling his hair. "Yeah, go get dressed." Aiden running off.
Lando stands, taking in the pictures. First date, Wedding, His first WDC, your entire life together was here. Yet he was still feeling jealous? He hated it. Walking back, he sees Caleb watching bluey holding his stuffed koala given to him by Oscar.
"Y/n?" You poke your head around the corner, Lando walks into the kitchen kicking the standout the door swinging closed. "A guy hit on you?" Voice calm, but even you could hear the lace of anger.
"Yes, but it was handled, by our 5-year-old. Apparently, you and Carlos have put in his head he's allowed to do that." You hiss, angry at the fact that your son could've been put in harm's way. "Y/n, that's not the point here, a guy hit on you." His temper fizzles out quickly as he laughs.
"What is so damn funny? This isn't funny!" You snap, pushing his shoulder as Lando just laughs. "This fucker hit on you, while you wear my ring. My child was next to you, and I'm here acting like a jealous teenager." He laughs harder shaking his head at his own actions.
"I felt threatened when I'm the one who married you, the one who is the father of two gorgeous boys. And," He steps closer, wrapping an arm around your waist pulling you into his chest. "The one who gets to fill you every night." You slap a hand over his mouth, feeling the smirk on your palm.
"Are you crazy! The kids could hear." Anger slipping too as you roll your eyes. "M swommy." Words muffled you drop your hand. "What?" "I'm sorry. About our fight recently and now, this. Just, ever since we had Aiden; I've been worried about your safety and the kids. Now I understand what Fernando and the others felt over their kids and partners." Lando wraps you in a hug.
"Lando, I love you. But, if you ever tell our child to do that again. I'm slicing your balls." Lando snorts shaking his head. "You love my balls to much." You shove him away as he laughs loudly.
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ceesimz · 7 days
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Our Sun Is Setting
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TW: mentions of homophobia and grief for a parent. It's quite a heavy fic.
I found this quite hard to write at first, but I had a conversation with someone I met recently and I won't go into depth about what she said because I don't wanna bore anyone, but she really changed my perspective about writing and now I just... yeah. Mind blown by her and her mind, and I value writing inexplicably more. So after talking to her, I couldn't get what she said out of my head, and I wrote the rest of this in record timing. It might not seem quite so ground-breaking nor will it exactly make sense to anyone else why our conversation was so special to me, but I'll remember it forever. Hope you enjoy.
P.S. - Listened to Daniel Caesar's 'Never Enough' album throughout the process of writing this and the song 'Let Me Go' inspired this whole thing - hence the title.
"I told my Mami about you today."
You didn't think it was possible for a relatively normal, short sentence over the phone to make you feel sick to the pit of your stomach, but it did.
"Oh." That was all you managed.
Your mind was in overdrive as you stood in the middle of the grocery store, buying ingredients for the dinner you were preparing for later that evening when Alexia was going to come over. Any other person would have reacted better, wouldn't have been frozen to the tiles of the shop in the middle of the breakfast aisle, wouldn't have been on the brink of a panic attack from a simple statement.
"She was very happy. And she would like to meet you soon, whenever you like."
Another punch to the gut.
"She also teased me for talking about you so much. I couldn't stop myself." Alexia paired her words with a shy laugh.
The sound of it grounded you slightly as you moved out of the way of an old couple walking in your direction, but your head was still being insistently ruthless as you wandered mindlessly through the rest of the shop. Alexia was still talking over the line, seemingly not noticing your silence, but you couldn't work out what she was saying due to the unbearable ringing in your ears.
You were in shock.
"Are you still there?"
"Y-yeah, sorry. I think the signal went a bit weird, I didn't catch much of what you said." You reply in a shaking voice.
On the other side of the phone, Alexia frowns ever so slightly - she can almost sense something is wrong, but she can't quite figure out what or why. She hopes that when she sees you later, you are perhaps feeling better or if not, at least she's there for you.
"Okay cariño, would it be better if I left you to your shop?" She suggests, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel of her car where she was parked outside of the training complex before an afternoon training session.
"Yeah, probably. Sorry, I'll see you later."
And with that, you hung up.
As you went to slide your phone into your pocket with your shaking hands, you missed, causing it to clatter heavily against the tiles. It earned a few stares from the people around you, only intensifying the jittery dread that surged through you. Pins and needles encapsulated your body as you crouched down to pick up your now-smashed phone, but currently that was the last thing on your mind.
Alexia's statements circled relentlessly around your head - to literally anybody else in the world, hearing those words from someone they had were seeing would be enamouring and seen as a key, heart-warming milestone. But to you, it opened up a dark spot in your mind that you had shunned to the side for some amount of time. It seemed now was the right moment for that unidentifiable problem to break free from its shackles and make itself known, and you were terrified of what those repercussions would be.
You carried out the rest of your shop on autopilot, shoving a handful of notes into the cashier's hand before rushing out without a clue of how much you just gave them. For all you know, you could have massively overpaid them or robbed them in broad daylight. You were so out of touch with the world right now.
So much so, that you were unlocking the door to your apartment before you realised. How long did it take you to get home? Did your phone still work? What time is it? Did you walk, get a taxi, catch the bus, how did you get here? What did you even buy at the shop? Why won't this fucking door open-
A neighbour walked past hastily as you barged a shoulder against the door and almost crashed through it as it finally opened. You sent them an apologetic smile, though there was no doubt in your mind it was more of a manic and unnerving look than anything else, before slamming it shut behind you. The icing on the cake to this whole thing was the fact that the bottom of your shopping bag split open, scattering your groceries across the floor of the entryway. At least now you could see what you had bought.
Whether your legs failed you and buckled or you put yourself on the ground, you kneeled on the floor and gathered everything into your arms to transport it to the kitchen. It was a struggle, your trembling arms barely having the strength to hold themselves up, but you managed to dump your belongings on the kitchen side. Once you'd done that, you rested heavily against the counter, desperately trying to replenish the oxygen that had been stolen from your lungs some point along the way to this moment here.
What the fuck do you do now?
You turned to lean back against the counter and slowly slid down to the ground until you were sat on the floor, head back against the cupboard. There were too many conflicting thoughts and emotions rushing through you that all you could do was sit and stare. Feeling nothing but everything at the same time, thinking nothing but everything all at once.
Seeing Alexia tonight might tip you over the edge. You hope it doesn't end that way. You hope that her presence eases you. You hope she saves you from falling, sinking, spiralling into an irrevocable state of mind, whether she recognises that she's doing it or not. You hope, hope, hope.
Time seems to be a temporary concept for today, because before you've even had the chance to start preparing dinner for tonight, Alexia is at your door. Her voice calls out from behind it, asking if you're in there and if you're okay, because you've zoned out again. You're on the sofa, your cross-body purse still hanging off your shoulder, your jacket still zipped up to your chin, your shoes still on. Your groceries are still strewn on the kitchen counter, and the torn bag is still in the entry way.
"Amor, are you in there? Let me in." Alexia calls out, her voice tainted with concern.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm coming!" You jump up, kick your shoes off, throw your bag onto the small dining table, and open the door. She visibly deflates at the sight of you, her tense shoulders dropping, but her face contorts at your attire.
"Why do you have your chaqueta on?" She asks, and you're beyond grateful to hear it's said in an amused tone.
"Bit cold s'all. Come in." You're not cold. You live in Barcelona, and it's the middle of the spring.
You step to the side and she walks in with a tiny smile on her face. She's glad to be here, you realise. She seems to be in a light and happy mood, carrying no extra stress or other burdens, and, rather selfishly, you're glad.
"How was training?"
You plaster a smile on your face as she takes her shoes off and drops her bag beside them, turning to you and opening her arms. You walk into them with no hesitation, but the feeling isn't as relieving as you desired it to be.
"It was good. I did a amazing free-kick, I will show you the video." Alexia beams, and that does warm your heart somewhat. Her passion for her work, her career, her life, was forever an invigorating thing to witness. It's a shame you weren't in the right mood to appreciate it.
"That's great, Ale." You smile genuinely up at her, more than happy to return the soft kiss she offers.
It momentarily calms and heals a small part of you you'd been hoping she would subconsciously fix, but it wasn't enough and you recognised that straight away. You'd get on your knees, beg, and pray to any higher power that would listen to you just so you'd feel okay for one more day. Except, who do you pray to when you don't believe in God?
"What's that?" She points to the white plastic bag from earlier.
"Oh, the bag for the groceries ripped as soon as I walked in. Must have forgotten to pick it up." You shrug it off, wishing for her attention to be elsewhere for the time being. "I haven't started dinner yet, sorry."
"That's okay." She smiles, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly and kissing your cheek. "How was your day?"
Tough question.
"It was alright, haven't done much." You brush it off, taking her hand and leading her to the kitchen... where the whole area was still a state.
"Oh, what happened here?" Alexia frowns.
If it was just a few items, she wouldn't be so puzzled, but when a good portion of the food left out was fridge and freezer food? Strange.
"I... I, when the bag ripped before, a jar smashed by the door and, uh... I took a while cleaning it and forgot to put the rest of the stuff away." You ramble unusually quickly. It was a blatant lie, but she didn't need to know that.
Except, Alexia was an incredibly attentive person, and she knew straight away that something was amiss. The first sign was that, in her intelligent mind, she knew that theoretically if a jar filled were to smash by the front door, the white bag from earlier would have been covered in its contents - but that wasn't the case. The second sign: whenever you cleaned your apartment, you used a very strong smelling citrus scented spray - she often complained about it and nagged you to get one that smelt nicer. Your apartment didn't smell uncomfortably citrusy right now. Funny observation, sure, but these two pieces of seemingly inconspicuous evidence gave away the fact you weren't right. Oh, and your strange behaviour showcased on the phone earlier and a few moments ago didn't help your case either.
But, she chose not to pressure you about it yet. She wanted to wait until you perhaps opened up to her some point this evening. However, that didn't entirely stop her from speaking up.
"Ven aquí, amor." Alexia demands calmly, reaching a hand out to you. Suppressing a sigh, you take it, and she looks down at you with a pressing stare. "Answer me honestly. Are you okay?"
No.
"Yes, I'm okay. I'm fine, Ale, I am." You try to reassure her, squeezing her hand and smiling up at her.
"You promise?" Alexia raises her eyebrows and offers her pinky for you to seal your, rather untruthful, truth. "It's okay if something isn't right."
Pinky promises, as childish as they may come across to some, were never to be broken. Since the start of your relationship, they had been a thing that had been utilised by the both of you to ensure you are telling the truth. Alexia had broken one of her promises she had made to you before in the past, so why couldn't you do one in return? It's only fair, right? Relationships were meant to be equal after all.
"Promise." You smile again and raise your other hand to lock fingers with her. She smiles, though you can see she's not convinced, but nevertheless she kisses your knuckle.
"Can I help you cook?"
"I'm meant to be cooking for you. And you are a bit of a control freak in the kitchen." You tease, desperately trying to steer the night away from the morose direction it could go down, and instead towards the light-hearted, content way you so needed.
"I think I am just a control freak in general." She smirks at you before turning to put away the disregarded shopping. You would also happily accept that direction too, you supposed. "Venga, I am so hungry, I skipped lunch at training for a meeting and now I regret it."
To your relief, you both make peaceful conversation once you've told her what you planned on cooking, and it's so peacefully domestic as you do your individual tasks beside each other. Every so often, Alexia will joke and bump her hip into yours as you giggle, and this version of your girlfriend is exactly what you needed. For a moment, you feel the cloud over your head slither away, until the topic you wanted to avoid came up.
"So, what do you think of me telling my Mami about us? You never gave me a response on call earlier."
You freeze momentarily, Alexia thankfully not noticing from the corner of her eye. With a subtle clearing of your throat, you continue cutting up the chilli peppers on the board in front of you, but your now shaking hands pose as a slight kitchen hazard considering the sharp knife you were wielding.
"I, yeah, it's nice. Nice that you, um... did that." You stutter out anxiously, nausea settling cruelly in the pit of your stomach. Alexia takes in your reaction and laughs under her breath, turning briefly to leave a kiss on your forehead.
"No need to be nervous, amor. We have been together for many months now, it was due to happen soon. And M-"
"Ow- fuck!" You gasp sharply, dropping the knife immediately and cradling your hand as blood began dripping from the middle joint of your index finger.
"Woah, amor, what happened?" Alexia winces at the sight, grabbing a few squares of kitchen paper and pressing it against your cut.
"I- my hand slipped and I obviously cut myself." You grimace, eyes tightly shut to rid yourself of the sight. "It burns too, fuck."
Alexia knew you didn't handle blood too well, so she turned you away from the scene and wrapped one arm around your back, rubbing up and down comfortingly whilst she still applied pressure to the cut.
"It's okay, it's okay, it hurts more because of the chilli. Take some breaths, vale?" You nod hastily, not really realising your cheeks had puffed out as you held your breath. Alexia watches your face closely, eyes still closed as you took deep breaths to calm yourself. "You're doing good, bebita. Keep doing that, so good. Let's relax a bit, hm? We should sit down in case you get lightheaded."
The last sentence is her thinking out loud as she started guiding you towards one of the chairs at the dining table. Resting one elbow on the table whilst Alexia continued to hold your wounded hand, you lay your forehead against your uninjured hand as Alexia crouched beside you. Your joined hands lay in your lap as you calmed down, or at least tried to.
To Alexia, it would appear that you were just mentally recovering from the shock of the incident. But actually, you were trying to dispel the unsuspected horror that filled you to the brim at Alexia's earlier reminder.
I told my Mami about you today. She wants to meet you.
That line inevitably meant you had to tell your family too. Except, you couldn't. There was no way you would, no way you could, not without facing realities you had pressed down far into unreachable and forgettable depths of your mind. It was all too much, it was simply not a possibility for you. You knew what it would lead to, and you weren't ready for that.
For the past months you'd been with Alexia and the time you spent getting to know her before that, you had mostly lived in a bubble that dissociated you from the broken, cracked, ruined, utterly destroyed parts of your brain. It had been perfect so far, and you'd be fucking damned to leave that bubble now. But perhaps it was too late and the damage had been done long before Alexia said what she said earlier, maybe that darkness just needed a catalyst before it submerged you in its wake.
"Amor? Hey, come back." One of Alexia's hands lightly patted your cheek to bring you back into the room. "You scared me there. Your breathing got really bad and you were in a... a weird daze. I was talking but you weren't reacting or anything. Are you back now?"
You nodded wordlessly at her, still not entirely taking in what she was saying.
"The blood... freaked me out." You rasp breathlessly, shaking your head a little to rid the glaze over your vision.
"That's okay. Do you feel a little dizzy? I can get you something to help that. Clear your head maybe." You nod again, and she gently lets go of your hand. Cold shivers immediately burst through at the lost contact, but you had to get over yourself and get used to it.
Cautiously, you take the tissue off of your hand and inspect the damage. It doesn't seem deep enough for stitches, which instantly fills you with relief. If you weren't already in a state of intense dismay already, a trip to the hospital would cause a hurricane of emotions that left a lasting imprint on everything and everyone around.
"Here, some apple juice. To get your blood sugar back." Alexia places a mug of apple juice in front of you and notices your now bare hand. "Oof, amor, that looks painful. I'm not sure if that may need a doct-"
"No! No doctors, no hospital. It doesn't need stitches, it's fine." You rush out, eyes wide in what Alexia guesses is fear as you look down at where she's crouched again. "Please, no hospital. It just needs to be cleaned and wrapped up."
"Okay, if you are sure." Alexia replies, nudging the cup closer to you. "Drink that and I will get the first aid kit."
You do as she says, drinking the half-empty cup of apple juice whilst she searches through the kitchen for the green box of medical supplies. Her eyes hardly leave your slumped form at the table, filled with worry for you. Things weren't adding up now, it was obvious, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could ignore it.
A part of her feels afraid to push you; emotionally she wants the best for you and if subtly, or not so subtly, urging you to do that works then she'll do it, but intellectually she senses a deep, internalised issue that could rip through you if handled incorrectly. It's not up to her to cause that. So she asks a question that's so layered it flattens all remaining atmosphere in the room.
"Cariño, how do you feel now?" She pretends to busy herself with organising the already packed box of medical necessities you kept.
"Better." Phyiscally true, but mentally wrong.
"Why don't we order something for dinner instead?"
As if you weren't filled with disconcertion already, that suggestion signs, seals, and stamps the envelope set to be sent to the fucking psyche ward for your admission. Were you so inadequate now that you couldn't even cook a simple meal? Apparently so.
"O-Okay."
Alexia frowns and comes back over with alcohol wipes, antiseptic cream, and a box of plasters, placing her items on the table and gently tapping your chin to get you to look up at her.
"I love you, you know that?"
The words fell from her lips before she could stop them. Alexia maybe wasn't the most emotionally helpful person ever but she sure did try. She thought her saying that would comfort at least a small part of you, but she couldn't be more wrong. It planted the seed of an unforgivable idea in your head.
The realisation of what you had to do poured over you like cold water, washing away every ounce of the little remaining hope and positivity you had. A feeling akin to mourning settled in your heart, accompanied by the debilitating weight of this twisted entity in your mind seeping into your bones. Your body strained under the heaviness of it all, unable to capacitate for the burden of living life like this, only confirming that the thing you must do was your only solution. Your lower lip quivered as the thought consumed you, the devil in your head chanting it over and over and over and o-
"I do know." Your lips tug into a smile but your throat bobs to conceal the sobs bubbling at the surface. "I know that. I love you too."
For the remaining time you had with her, you would make sure she knew that too.
"Let's get you cleaned up, hm?"
It's silent between you both as she delicately cleans the wound before applying cream and wrapping it up in bandages. It's silent as she leads you to the sofa, silent as she ordered your meal for you from one of the common takeaways you always got together. It's silent as you wait for it to come. It's less silent when Alexia turns on Netflix and opts for a new TV show for you both to watch together. It's still fairly silent even as you sit beside her, back stiff and straight beside the woman whose heart you were soon to break.
Alexia has never loathed quietness more than she does right now. It was an occurrence she valued at any other point in her life; watching football, reading, studying a game, relaxing in a post-match bath, going on a solitary walk to gain some peace of mind. But here, in this moment beside you, her skin crawls at the unbearable stillness of the room. Sure, she did enjoy silence with you too, but it felt like the unavoidable elephant in the room was stomping on her heart with every beat of her heart. There was a hidden agenda in the belly of the beast attacking her, and for some reason it felt like she was running out of time to put out the fire.
Her spiralling was interrupted when the buzzer of your apartment rang through the room, letting you know there was someone outside of the apartment complex without a fob to enter the building. Alexia reluctantly gets up from the sofa to let them in and hovers by the door to wait for the delivery driver to find your flat. She keeps her eyes on you, subtly watching you attentively, but even if she stood face-to-face with you, noses touching and breaths mingling, you wouldn't have a clue she was there. Your senses were incredibly warped and you were so far detached from reality, it felt like you and Alexia were two worlds apart.
What's at stake right now is something that's much bigger than the both of you. The dynamic around you may as well have a 'fragile: handle with care' sticker slapped on it, except, even that wouldn't have stopped the hands of the puppets controlling the world from acting so cruelly. You'd taken constant blows for quite some time now with no respite. Just as you started to recover from one punch, another would come to hit you square in the face.
"Hey." Alexia lightly knocks on your forehead with her knuckle. Every concerned glance from the woman in front of you felt like a jab at your body, slowly working you down until you gave in. "You are here, but you are not here."
You blink gormlessly up at her, your shoulders lifting in a careless shrug before you took back control of your mind.
"Food's here?" You force a smile, taking the paper bag from her hand and walking on shaking legs to the kitchen. You get plates and cutlery out, dishing up your meals before joining Alexia back on the couch, the taller woman now the one seemingly stuck in her head. "Ale, your meal."
"Ah, thank you." She leans in to quickly kiss your cheek when you sit beside her again.
The blonde woman has one more trick up her sleeve to try and bring you out of your shell, and it's one she hardly ever played.
Immediately, she begins to babble on about her day and her teammates and her family and whatever new antics Mapi and the youngsters had got up to, going abnormally overboard with the amount of anecdotes she was spewing out. Everybody knew Alexia was not a talkative person, and she only ever acted like this when she was in a rare giddy mood. And that really was rare.
The Alexia on display so far tonight was not in a giddy mood. She was happy, of course she was, but factor in the concern she'd shown for you tonight and the giddiness she had not portrayed at all even recently, something was off. It threw you completely off-kilter, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why she was doing this.
"I'll tell my Dad about us tomorrow." You blurted out, interrupting another of her rambles. It's kind of the truth, not all of it, and it's not the biggest decision you've made for yourself tonight, but you owed her something at least for putting up with you.
"Que?" She frowns. Out of all things she'd expected you to say tonight, that wasn't one of them.
"You're talking a lot because you want to know why I'm acting weird. It's because I'm thinking about telling my Dad about us, I'm scared to do it but you told Eli so I'll tell my Dad." You explained, pushing your food around your plate as Alexia processes your words for a moment.
"You don't have to do that if you don't want to. I don't mind, I know things haven't been... haven't been great between you both since your Mu-"
"Okay, but he's still my Dad." You cut her off again. You're not in the mood to discuss what she was about to bring up.
"You don't owe him anything, amor. Sure, he's your Dad, but you said it yourself only a few weeks ago; he's an idiot. No one should treat their child the way he's treated you after they've just lost their Mami."
There. She said it anyway.
"Alexia, I know you're just trying to stick up for me, but please don't go there. This has nothing to do with my Mum." Another partial lie.
The subconscious, realistic part of you knows every issue you've had in the last two years has everything to do with... her. But right now, the impulsive side that has been at the forefront of your mind ever since it happened wants to blame everything on the world around you and not your flaws that you've ignored all this time. Anyone could see that your refusal to sit with your grief and just feel was your Achilles' heel.
"Okay. I'm sorry for mentioning it. But I am absolutely on your side, amor, I'm always on your side. So if you want to tell your Dad, tell him. If you want me there next to you or if you want me out of the country whilst you do it, then I'll do it. I will do whatever you want me to." Alexia tells you, her voice pleading as earnest swirled around the eyes that bore down into you.
Well, you thought, that's good to know.
"Thank you." You smile ever so slightly, dropping your fork and placing a hand on her leg. You squeeze her knee three times, one more chance for her to understand the love you held for her.
"De nada, amor. Now eat up, please."
The pair of you spent the rest of the evening delicately dancing around the untamed elephant from earlier whose patience was wearing thin at the prospect of going entirely avoided for the night. Conversation topics were kept light, finally giving you a brief reprieve from the onslaught of your mind, and Alexia kept her arms tight as they wrapped around you. It was as if with each breath you let out or with each twitch of your body, she held on tighter and tighter, every hint of movement from you a reminder of your presence and how much she ineffably adored you.
Yet, the sun began to set, indicating that it was almost time for Alexia to leave for the night. She had to get up early tomorrow whilst you had the day off, and initially Alexia always agreed that when this was the case, you should sleep separately so that you could rest. However, as she collected her bag and slipped on her shoes, she kept her movements purposely slow to delay her departure. The last thing she wanted to do was leave you alone.
"Are you sure you will be okay tonight?" Alexia sighs, a reluctant hand on the door handle.
"I'll be okay." You answer simply, hesitating for a moment to decide on your goodbye gesture, before settling for a lone kiss on the cheek.
"Call me, immediately, if that changes. If you wake up in the night and need me, I will be straight here. If you call me in the middle of training, I will be straight here. Please. Don't suffer on your own."
Oh Alexia. If only you weren't so late.
"Everything will be okay, Ale." You tell her, desperately trying to disguise the emotion threatening to break through. "Te veo pronto, sí?"
"Sí. I love you." Alexia smiles, pressing a lingering kiss to your forehead, then opening the door.
"I know." Is all you can say now to that declaration. And fuck, if Alexia hadn't felt so uneasy in her life after that.
Somehow, you managed to sleep that night. Maybe it was your body allowing you to build up all the strength you need for the day ahead, because your life was about to be irreversibly changed. And the worst was yet to come.
"Hi Dad." You murmur quietly from your place in the corner of your sofa, legs tucked underneath you as you pitifully hold onto a cushion for comfort.
"Well, it's been a while since I've heard from you." The man on the other side of the phone chuckles spitefully. "Remembered who I was again?"
"Hm. How have you been?" The best way to deal with such a man was to ignore his behaviour, in the hopes he dropped the act when you didn't give a reaction. Perhaps you underestimated him.
"That's a loaded question, you know that. It's all everyone asks nowadays and I'm fucking sick of it." He grumbled, and for the first time in a while it sounded like his anger wasn't directed at you.
"I do know that." You stated.
"So why ask then? Still as dense as ever, I see."
Okay, well, clearly you judged him too soon.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing." You mumble insecurely, a frown settling on your face as you try to hold back the emotions you knew would spill out sooner rather than later.
"Don't lie to me." He snapped through gritted teeth. "You couldn't give a shit about me if your life depended on it. Be honest and tell me what you want, I have better things to do than talk to you."
"I... I have a girlfriend, Dad. Here in Barcelona, I've met someone." You reveal with a hint of a smile on your face.
All morning, you'd been in over your head on whether to tell him about Alexia. Part of you thought it was futile since you had already decided on your future with her, or rather, the lack thereof. But the naïve and childish part of you painfully thought he could be happy. That wasn't a concept this man had understood as of late, so it was a wonder why you'd thought he'd be happy for you. Especially given his latest behaviour, and his long-standing opinion on your sexuality. If only your Mother was here.
"Wow. Because I couldn't give you the life you want after your Mum left-" he could never say the true reason for her absence out loud, "-you look for it elsewhere? What did I tell you about doing that? A home can't be a person, kiddo, you need to stop looking for that. Your Mother wasn't home, I'm not home, this new 'girlfriend' isn't home, a person cannot be a fucking home! You're just desperate to fill in the love that's absent in the death of your Mother. Get a fucking grip of yourself and get over it, this 'girlfriend' business. You know your Mum would never have stood for this."
Silence.
Of all the words in the world, across all languages and cultures, over all periods of time, there was only one description to be used of how you felt right now. In your little flat in the heart of Barcelona, cowering in the corner of the couch, you felt suffocated. Any semblance of clarity, peace, hope, love - suffocated, by the words of your father, by the events that had changed you for the worse throughout your life, by the burden of simply just living.
Except, the words 'living' and 'simply' could never be used in the same sentence, because that wasn't a possibility. Every aspect of human nature wasn't simple, that's the beauty in it. The thousands of tiny mechanical functions in your body that allow you to breathe, the hundreds of muscles exerting themselves daily for one small step, the twitches and spasms of nerve endings to feel just a little alive. And despite it only requiring thirteen miniscule muscles to smile compared to forty-seven to frown, the latter felt so much easier. The weight of a smile had never seemed so damning, so suffocating.
The promise of life was a unique one, that's common knowledge and yes, life is beautiful, but any glorification of the struggle of living was inefficacious, nothing could extinguish the flame of the fire inside of your mind that was already uncontrollably burning through your self-preservation. No promise of light one day shining in your world again was worth it; you were merely a shadow of the people you loved.
"Okay Dad." You choke out. Even uttering one word was such a fucking exhausting challenge. "I... I planned on breaking up with her anyway. I think I want to come home."
You expected the feeling of verbalising your plans to be freeing, but the gravity of what you were going to do grounded you so humbly it almost almost stopped your heart entirely.
"Wow, I mean, if I had known that you would listen to my opinion and follow my advice so quick, I would have given it more often." He laughed maliciously, his way of celebrating your fall from grace.
"Can I come home?" You can't stop yourself in time from asking that question in such a begging tone. Another victory for him.
"I don't think that's a good idea, sweetheart. If you're that desperate, maybe stay with your grandparents. Perhaps they'll want you." He sighed as he said it as if he was in a rush, acting like speaking to his daughter was such a chore. "Listen kiddo, you done now? I've gotta go."
"Yep, I'm done. Can I see you if I come home?" The question was paired with a hasty swipe away of tears as if the man hundreds of miles away could see them.
"Oh honey. You fascinate me. You're at danger of almost being interesting now, you know that?" He laughed once more at his own words before hanging up.
Silence again. Such a plaguing thing.
The weight of the conversation you just had collapsed down on you, a whirlwind of emotions surging through you as a result of it. Each beat of your heart served as a reminder of every word spat at you from the man you once thought held all the love you had to give, the thump against your chest echoing his disappointment and distaste for you. A daughter's love for their father was undoubtedly one of the most dangerous things to themselves, proving that point yourself as you mentally scrambled to find a way to mend the fractured bond, yet each time coming up empty, feeling powerless and minute in the face of your father's disappointment. Every response from that man carved deep wounds of guilt and regret into every crevice of your mind.
Behind a facade of stoicism, a torrent of emotions fulminated throughout your body - a spiteful mix of every insecurity, every doubt, every shattered dream, it all coming together to form the final piece of the puzzle that was needed to make the decision to break out of your life. There was no other choice.
Outwardly, there wasn't a hint of such breakage shown anywhere on your body. And that's how it had to be, that's how you had to be. Completely numb to it all until you had escaped this turmoil.
By 2pm, everything was different.
Flight booked. Every suitcase you owned bursting at the seams, waiting by the door. Apartment tenancy ripped up. Your resignation handed in to your work. Every bit of furniture, every little trinket, all of it ready to be left behind. Despite it all, the most heartbreaking symbol of your new start, was the cardboard box of Alexia's belongings sat in the passenger seat of your car as you drove, waiting to be dropped off discreetly outside her door.
Your life was the perfect image to sum up how quick things can change. Twenty-four hours ago, you were walking to the local supermarket to pick up the stuff to make a perfect meal for you and your girlfriend to eat and have a quiet, relaxed evening together. Now? You were driving to said girlfriend's apartment, equipped with the words to tear your lives apart.
Oh, how things change.
In the blink of an eye, you were parked up outside her apartment building. You had the key to her apartment in your hand and the code to enter the complex memorised for one more use. You failed to notice her car parked in her usual space as you walked through the car park. The heaviness of the box was nothing compared to the heaviness in your chest of what you were about to do.
Ears ringing, eyes blurred with unshed tears, throat burning and constricted, your bones aching under the weight of purely just existing, all of it immensely overwhelming. But you were numb still. Numb and out of tune with your feelings, because you had to be. Otherwise, all of this couldn't happen. There was no way any of this would be possible if you just listened to what your heart wanted. No, that devil on your shoulder had gotten its way once again.
"Oh, what are you doing here?"
Fuck.
You had truly done it this time, because here Alexia was, standing in the doorway of her apartment as you froze at the sight of her.
"What are you doing here?" You ask frantically, desperately praying for her attention to be anywhere but the box of her stuff in your arms.
"Well, this is my apartment, amor. I just got back from training but I left my phone in my car." Alexia answers, an eyebrow raised down at you. Of course she'd catch on that something was wrong. She always did. It was one of the things you loved her for. "What's this? Are you a delivery driver now?"
She laughs to herself as she says it, taking the box from your arms and placing it on the floor. You're still stuck to the spot, eyes wide in fear at what she was about to find, and your heart thumps angrily against your chest in protest, trying to get you to react in some way. But it's too late. Alexia has already opened the box and began to read the letter in there before you could stop her.
The smile on her face immediately dissipates at the first line.
"To Ale, I'm sorry... what do you mean?" She asks, glancing up at you briefly before continuing to read it.
That's when your body finally decides to react. You slowly back away from the woman in front of you, but Alexia grabs your wrist tightly to stop you from running away.
"No, you will not leave my sight right now. Explain this fucking letter, what is going on?" Alexia attempts to sound commanding, but there's a certain glisten to her eyes and a lump in her throat. "What is going on? Tell me, now, please."
"I... I'm sorry, Alexia." You croak out, rushing to wipe the tears already falling with the sleeve of your sweater. "I am sorry, you have to know that."
"Sorry about what!?" Alexia shouts, then takes a deep breath to compose herself momentarily. "Come inside, sit down, and please can we talk?"
"Everything I have to say is in the letter, Alexia, I-"
"No, no it is not. This letter is hardly a whole page. You've come to my apartment with a box of my stuff and a letter that starts with the words 'I'm sorry', I'm not letting you leave." Alexia says, and you have no choice but to listen to her. However, she softens for a moment, and the lost look on her face tugs on every one of your heart strings. She takes one of your hands and squeezes it three times, resulting in another stream of tears from yourself. "Please. Whatever is going on, give us a chance to solve it. I need you to explain what's happened so I can help you, amor. Please."
You relent easily, forever at her mercy, and follow her into her apartment. She leaves the stacked box by the front door, completely unbothered by it - in fact, she doesn't ever want to look inside it if this conversation goes the way she thinks it'll go. She's kicking herself mentally, her mind already skimming over every interaction she's had with you recently, desperately trying to plot a point in time where your attitude had changed. It's easy for her to do so, the moment jumps out almost immediately. If only she hadn't been so scared, so cautious, maybe she could have solved this before it was too late.
"What do you want me to say, Ale?" You sigh exasperatedly as you sit on the edge of her sofa, eyes fixated on your fidgeting hands.
"What do I want you to say? Amor, I want you to be honest and explain why you're sorry, why you've come over with all my stuff, why you've written me this letter. It's all come out of nowhere, I have no idea what's going on and I just want you to clue me in. Yesterday we were laughing together and having a nice evening, and now you're... I don't even want to say it." Alexia laughs nervously as she speaks, her shoulder stuck up in a shrug as her hands gesture eratically.
"It's okay, I'll say it for you." Your false facade takes over, body armoured with a hard exterior. "I'm leaving, Ale. I'm leaving Barcelona, leaving Spain."
To hear you say those words were perhaps the greatest pain Alexia has ever felt in her life.
"Leaving... leaving me?" She whispers quietly, the question punctuated with a gulp as she swallows her emotions.
She sounds eerily similar to a young, innocent child who's just lost all they've ever known. It makes you wonder for a brief second if you're a sick individual for causing such pain, but you shun those thoughts away for a later date, because right now you need all the feigned courage you can muster up.
"Yes." The ease with which you say it sends shivers down her spine. It's the hardest sentence you've ever had to say, and it's just one word - once more an example of how life can never be conformed to simplicity.
"Why are you being so cold? This is not the woman I know." Alexia practically pleads, inching closer to you on the sofa. Her hands land on your knees, but you're too far in to back out now.
"I don't know who I am anymore, Alexia. I need time and space to figure my shit out, that's what is best for me right now and that's why I have to go." She scoffs in your face once you've finished, and that's the moment this conversation goes far more downhill you could have expected.
"What about me? What about what's best for me? You're leaving me behind!"
"Leaving you behind? You're acting like a sad dog that I've just abandoned in the middle of nowhere! You were perfectly fine in your life, your very successful and established life might I add, before I came along and you'll be better off without me!" You snap back. This is not the direction you thought this would go. "Why can't you accept the fact I need to leave?"
"Because I fucking love you! I love you and I don't want to live a life that doesn't have you in it! But maybe I should grow out of that opinion since it seems so easy for you to turn off your feelings for me, so easy for you to be so selfish at the flick of a switch."
"Selfish? I'm being selfish?" You repeat her words back to her with an outraged laughter that sounds all too familiar to you. Is this who you've turned into? "I'm being selfish for choosing what's best for me? I'm being selfish for wanting to take time on my own to figure my life out? I'm being selfish for wanting to take time to grieve my own, dead Mother?"
Alexia's face falls as soon as those words come out of your mouth. Never in her life had a sentence caused such a visceral reaction from her because it feels like someone's just plunged a dagger right into her heart. She'd been too panicked, too focused, on her own feelings to even wonder why you had made this decision. She had been the selfish one for jumping to conclusions and now her lethal arguments had completely tanked the conversation. The possibility that there was no coming back from her vicious assumptions instilled a deeper, darker fear in her than she had ever felt in her life.
"No, no, I didn't-" She begins to dig herself out of the hole she finds herself in, but you're in no mood to entertain her begging.
"Good one. Really funny, that." You stand up and go to walk away, but not without one last attempt from Alexia to stop you.
"I didn't mean that, I swear, I am just so confused and scared and-"
"Do you not think I'm scared too? This will be the second time I've uprooted my life and regretted everything I have ever done. I'm terrified to leave, terrified to find out what's waiting for me at home, terrified to figure maybe this is all I am and that there's no better side of myself to find." Your voice trembles with a mix of fear and fury. "I've realised that throughout our whole relationship, from the moment I stepped into this country, I've been someone that I'm not. Losing my Mum was losing the biggest part of myself, and everything I've done from then 'til now has just been a poor attempt at filling in the hole in my heart-"
"S-so, what, you're saying our relationship was fake?" Alexia splutters out. You pause at her words, completely caught off-guard by her utterly stupid and inept fight back.
"That's what you caught from all that?" You ask, dumbfounded. "Right. Because it's always about you, Alexia, isn't it? This whole conversation has just been you talking about yourself. Have you even properly heard what I've said? Have you read more than the first line of my letter?" The guilty look on her face says it all. "That's what I thought."
"But I... I know what it's like to lose a parent, amor, I can help you!"
"Wow. For the sake of us both, don't go there, Alexia. Don't." You fix her a warning glare, shaking your arm out of the grasp of her hand.
"You can't leave. You can't, I won't let you. It's not right." She speaks sternly again now, a final plea for your relationship.
"Oh, fuck off Alexia. You have the emotional maturity of a teenage boy. I'm done with this now. Good luck at the World Cup this summer."
You walk out and slam her door shut without looking back.
Alexia's life had just taken a nosedive, because a breakup was absolutely not on her agenda for the day. The hand that had grabbed your arm earlier tingled with the stain of your touch and certain areas of the room were tainted by the lingering scent of your perfume. One conversation and you had vanished from her life - an excruciating result caused by her own incompetency to act like a decent human being.
For some time after you had left, she had been stuck rooted to her sofa, her mental temporarily ruined by the events of the day. A traumatic event had occurred, this was a natural reaction, to go into shock. To be so damaged by something that all she could do was sit and be consciously unconscious to the world around her until her body and mind could recover.
There was one phrase that ran circles around her mind. It isn't fair. What that defiance was directed at, she wasn't so sure yet. At first it had been you, but as the clouds cleared a little, it was obvious that it wasn't. Despite her words earlier and how accusing they came out, she didn't blame you. Not one bit. No, her anger was aimed at the so called 'fate' bullshit that everyone championed so often. How can people praise such a phenomenon when it had brought so much evil into people's lives? It felt like everything came at the price of something, and that's not fair.
For Alexia? It felt like her career came with the price of her Father. Everything she had done was because of him, and he couldn't even be here to see it. No, because fate or destiny or whatever other nickname it had, had taken that opportunity away from her. It isn't fair. For you? If anyone asked you, in the future when you're in your rocking chair, a knitted blanket draped over you and the waves of the ocean lapping away in front of your eyes, you'd say that in this period of time you had gained the world for the price of your soul. This dichotomy of good and evil sometimes felt like it wasn't worth the fight because in cases like this, it just wasn't fair.
The realisation of it all left a sour taste in Alexia's mouth. But something seemed to snap in her, some higher power finally giving her a backbone, and she sprung into action. You didn't deserve any of the stuff that had happened to you, and she sure as hell wasn't going to be another name on that list. One of her worst fears, a view shared by all of humanity, was to remember someone she loved in such a gut-wrenchingly awful way that it tarnished her entire memory of them. That's something she couldn't do with you. If you were to end this, it had to be on good terms.
So, she grabbed her keys and headed down to her car, where her phone still was. Alexia was a determined woman; when she put her mind to something, she got it done. This would be no different.
Call after call, after call, after call, came through on your phone from the one woman you probably least expected. There was only so long you could hold her off because, after all, you were once in a relationship with the woman, meaning you got a front row seat to her persistance.
"Hi, uh, Alexia. What do you want?" You say when you answer, finally.
"We have to talk more." Alexia rushes out quickly, for lack of better words and composure.
"I don't know if I want that after what happened earlier." You state in a defensive tone. But secretly, you craved nothing more.
"I know, and I am so so sorry for all that. It was so selfish and awful of me, I regretted every word that came out of my mouth the second I said it. I just... can we talk again? Please?" She begs, her hand fidgeting against the steering wheel of her car as tears silently rolled down her cheeks. "I would hate myself if I didn't at least try for this, amor, let me try."
"The decision is final, Ale, you can't change it. I'm sorry. You said yesterday that you would do whatever I wanted you to do. Well, this is what I need you to do, Alexia. I need you to let me go."
"Okay." Alexia squeezes her eyes shut, tears spilling out the corners, and her clenched fist comes to rest against her forehead. "Can I see you one more time? So I can properly apologise? I have no other intentions than that, I promise. I just... I can't remember you that way. I can't remember us in the way we left it. It doesn't give us as people any respect and it does not do justice to the beauty of our relationship."
That was the tipping point for you. There's the woman you love.
"Okay." You smile and sit up in your bed where you previously lay in a cocoon of your own pity. "How about we meet on neutral grounds this time?"
"Let's do that." Alexia responds, and you can hear the smile in her voice.
Some time later, you found yourself walking along the promenade of the beach, looking for where Alexia said she was seated on one of the benches. It was a chilly evening with no help from the sea, so you had your hands tucked into your coat pockets and your chin hidden under the zip of your coat. Alexia had spotted you long ago, a content smile on her face at the all too familiar sight of you and your distaste for the cold. You recognise her soon after, taking a deep breath before approaching her.
"Hi." You mumble, muffled by your jacket and the wind whipping around you. Alexia hears it of course.
"Hi. Sit down, please?" Alexia taps her hand on the wooden slats of the bench beside her, and you quickly follow suit. "I, uh... got you this."
She hands over a takeaway cup of hot chocolate. Your favourite.
"Thank you. Something to keep my hands warm." You say, happy to see her laugh quietly and nod.
"Exactly why I got it."
The pair of you sit in silence for a while, encapsulated by the serenity of the sky and the elegance of the ocean. Strangely, you realise, the two things resemble you and Alexia. Two things of beauty that never quite meet, never quite mend, just a parallel that reflects each other. You can't tell if that's a horrifying allusion or a calming one.
"So, what's this then, a... a post-mortem of our relationship?" You joke, giggling when Alexia scrunches her nose at the suggestion.
"I mean... you could say that." She shudders as she says it, not quite at peace with the new revelation. She's not sure she ever will be.
"I have to go, Alexia. I... it's so hard leaving you behind. It's the hardest decision I've ever made, but it's one I have to make. I hope you know that."
"I do. I do know that. I want you to know I understand. I'll never be... content with it, but... it's a necessary evil." Alexia has her eyes cast down on her coffee cup, fiddling with the lid. You notice and take hold of one of her hands, intertwining your fingers perhaps for one final time.
"It is. I've got no energy to fight anymore. I need to sit with my emotions and all that shit," You pause as you sigh dramatically, making her laugh once more. "So that I can figure out who I am after all this. Doing that whilst in a relationship isn't fair on either of us. It'll only lead to something more soul destroying, no matter how hard this conversation is."
"I know." Alexia purses her lips and nods, finding the strength to look at you. A genuine smile breaks out onto her face. "I had a feeling something was wrong a little while ago. I guess I'm just... angry. That I can't solve it."
"I'm angry that I can't solve it." You repeat, a sad smile on your face. "There's just a lot wrong with me, I think. And I can't burden you with it all. I have a lot of baggage I drag along and there's an awful lot of cracks in my mind-"
"There's cracks in everything, amor, that's how the light shines in."
You had half a mind to berate her for interrupting you again, but you find yourself at a loss for words. Why were you leaving this woman again?
"I'll value you forever, Ale. Nothing could make me change that, even if we left things at what happened before. You're the most astounding person I've ever met, and even when I'm breaking your heart, you still treat me better than anyone else. If we forget what happened at your apartment." You tease, the both of you chuckling lightly.
"It's hard to hate you when you're breaking my heart so gently." Alexia states. "I'll always love you. It's probably not the right thing to say but it's the truth."
"No, I... I'll always love you too." You respond, absolutely certain. Despite the predicament you both find yourselves in, Alexia finds every bit of relief and closure she could ever need in that one simple sentence.
"When do you... when do you leave?" She asks with a sniffle.
"I fly out later tonight." You answer quietly.
"Will you come back one day?" It's the one thing she knows she probably shouldn't say, but she can't resist. She has to know.
"I don't know, to be honest." She turns away and nods slowly. You squeeze her hands three times.
"If you do, will you let me know?"
You can't promise her that, and she knows it.
"I will." You smile softly up at her.
You both fall into silence once more. This one feels a little less suffocating than those of the past. There's still so much more to say, but as your head falls to rest on Alexia's shoulder and you both look out at the view that had been the background of your relationship, neither of you can name a reason to interrupt the peace that's settled. It's perhaps more peace than either of you had felt in a long time.
The thing is, about the ocean and the sky, is that they do meet. They're one and the same in their own essence, and in the distance, they do eventually meet. And the sun will rise again. Two inevitable occurrences that form at the hands of a little thing called fate. Or destiny. Or whatever it is.
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roosterforme · 9 months
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The Younger Kind Part 24 | Rooster x Reader
Summary: When you and Bradley put some pieces of the puzzle together, you realize it was a blessing in disguise that you ran into Meredith. But in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Bradley is hanging on by a thread. How could anyone try to take Noah away from him?
Warnings: Angst, swearing, fluff, and age gap (18+)
Length: 4000 words
Pairing: Single dad!Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x babysitter!female reader
Check out my masterlist for more! The Younger Kind masterlist.
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Bradley strolled out of work with Nat hot on his heels. "She's picking you up?" she asked, clearly surprised by the turn of events over the past few days. When Bradley saw you leaning against the Bronco in the parking lot, Nat gasped. "You let her drive your Bronco?"
"Yeah, I trust her," he replied, taking off at a faster pace to get to you. The expression on your face had him a little worried, and you looked tired, but he was so happy to see you. Because he'd been anxious all day.
"Hi, Natasha," you called out, waving past Bradley as he scooped you up in a hug. "And hi, Daddy," you whispered, next to his ear as he held you.
"Hi, Baby," he sighed, kissing your glossy lips. "I missed you. Did you have a good day?"
You sucked in a deep breath, but then Nat was there, and the two of you were chatting. But your face was pinched and agitated instead of smooth and perfect, and you were playing with your hands nervously. Bradley let you talk to Nat for a few more minutes, and then he softly kissed the top of your head. 
"Don't want to be late to pick Noah up," he told you, and then he gave Nat a hug and took the keys when you held them up for him. "You gonna tell me what's wrong?" he asked as he put the Bronco in gear.
"Why do you think something's wrong?" you asked casually, reaching for his hand. 
"I can tell something's bothering you, Princess. But I'm assuming since you just grabbed my hand that you're not upset with me.
There was a brief pause before you said, "I saw Meredith when I went grocery shopping this morning."
Bradley nearly swerved off the road. "This morning? You saw her this morning, and you're just telling me about it now?" he glanced your way briefly. What happened? Did you get hurt?"
"I'm fine, Bradley." You squeezed his hand and pulled it to your lips, pressing a soft kiss to his thumb. "I'm perfectly fine."
"I swear, she's trying to ruin my life," he growled. "Won't leave me alone. Thinks it's okay to go after you. I'm afraid I'm going to fucking lose it in the courtroom when I see her tomorrow."
"Bradley, let's just go home and have a nice dinner, and then we can talk about it in a few hours after Noah is in bed, okay? You need to stay calm."
But that proved impossible. Bradley watched you with his son, just as patient as ever. You alternated between making dinner and coloring with him while Bradley silently panicked. He had no idea how he could give this up. Even looking at Noah right now was painful for him. And when Noah asked him to get all three of the paper crowns, Bradley actually started crying.
"Sure, bub. Come help me find yours." Noah took Bradley by the hand and led him down the hallway to his bedroom. 
"It's in here, Daddy," he said, reaching for the yellow crown on his dresser and putting it on his own head before giving the bigger green one to Bradley. "Let's get the purple one for Princess." 
Noah climbed up on Bradley's bed, but he still couldn't reach it. Bradley pulled it down and handed it to his son. "Why don't you give it to her, but only if she's not trying to cook dinner, okay?" It was hard to speak with the lump in his throat as Bradley carried his son back into the kitchen. He had his nose buried in Noah's soft hair, inhaling his scent and holding back tears. "I love you," he whispered as Noah handed you the purple crown.
"Oh, are we all matching tonight?" you asked with a soft laugh. But your smile didn't quite reach your eyes as you looked at Bradley. 
"Yep!" Noah said as you slipped your crown onto your head. 
And then dinner was mostly silent. And if you thought it was strange that Bradley held Noah on his lap the entire time, you didn't say anything. The night was going too quickly. Bradley had spent weeks trying not to think about this day, but now here it was, and it was worse than he could have ever imagined. He could barely stomach the food you made even though it was perfect. 
"It's going to be okay," you whispered across the table. 
"How do you know that?" he asked in response. "How do you know this isn't the last night I get to do this?" Bradley kissed Noah's cheek and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
You stayed silent after that, only whispering something sweet to Noah before you said goodnight to him. Then you let Bradley have some privacy to give Noah a bath and get him dressed for bed. He read seven books to Noah, and he was already asleep by the end of the last one. But he stayed on his knees next to the bed, brushing Noah's curls softly back from his forehead and kissing him a million times.
"I love you," he said, tears filling his eyes as he wandered back out into the hallway. You were cleaning up the kitchen, but when he found himself in the doorway, you gathered him into your arms.
"It's hitting you hard, I can tell," you told him, and Bradley didn't care if you saw him crying.
"I just feel like... all of this shit is beyond my control. I can only do my best. But that's still not good enough to ensure I get to raise my son, which is completely fucked up."
You guided him to one of the chairs and then climbed onto his lap. Your voice was so soft, Bradley could barely hear you. "I just don't see how anyone could take him away from you."
"Do you have any idea how often judges side with mothers over fathers? It's so unsettling, I don't even want to think about it right now."
You tightened your grip on him. "Then let's think about something else."
"I still can't believe Meredith was at the grocery store this morning," he groaned, rubbing his face.
You were quiet for a few minutes, and then you looked at him with your pretty face scrunched in frustration. "She said the strangest things to me."
Bradley was on high alert now. "What? What did she say?"
"Well, she made a comment about how your car is worth a lot of money."
"It's a Bronco, Princess. Not a car." He realized this was the first time he'd really smiled in hours, and it felt good. 
"Yes, I'm so sorry. She mentioned that your Bronco was worth a lot, and she said she was surprised you let me drive it."
He rolled his eyes. "Just because I never let her touch it doesn't mean you can't. She used to wreck up her little sports cars annually and then buy a new one. Doesn't appreciate the classics like you do." Bradley kissed your shoulder and listened to you sigh. "But I guess it's kind of odd that she said that to you. And honestly, I have no idea how much the Bronco is worth. Maybe like sixty thousand? I try to keep her running nice."
You scoffed at him, and then Bradley could practically see the wheels turning in your head. "I looked it up against your VIN number. In pristine condition, your Bronco is worth almost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
"It is?" he asked, completely shocked.
"It is," you confirmed. "You didn't know that?"
"No," he said, shaking his head.
"Meredith also mentioned some life insurance money?" you said a little reluctantly. "In an account for Noah?" He watched your eyes go wide as you quickly added, "I'm not trying to pry, and we don't need to talk about it-"
"From my mom," he replied, kissing you softly to let you know it was okay to talk about it. "I have my mom's huge life insurance payout. I never touched a cent, because it was too depressing. After Noah was born, I decided to save it for him. He can use it for college or for a house or.... I don't know, he can sail a fucking yacht around the world with it or something. But it's for him."
You gasped and said, "Bradley, I think Meredith just wants your money."
-------------------------
You watched him slowly shake his head as you scrambled off his lap and went to go get his computer from where you left it charging in the living room. When you brought it back to the kitchen, Bradley said, "Princess, she makes more money than I do. I just don't see how that could be the case. You should see where she lives in Oceanside. It looks like a mansion."
"No," she replied, opening up the tabs she had saved. "She doesn't live in Oceanside any longer."
"How do you know that?" he asked, wrapping his arms around you as you sat perched on his thigh.
You pulled up some property records you had found when you searched Meredith's name earlier. "She went into foreclosure last year and had to sell. She lives in an apartment in San Diego now."
You looked at Bradley over your shoulder, but he was completely silent now.
"What was the name of her company?" you asked, turning back to the computer.
"Coastal Business Development," he said quietly. And a shiver ran through your body. You had been correct in what you found. But now you kept opening tab after tab as he sat there with you. More new information was popping up left and right. She had tried to hide her name by using an LLC, but Bradley knew enough of the missing pieces to help you put it all together.
"She's bankrupt," you whispered, and he gently pushed your hand out of the way to open one last tab himself. You skimmed the court documents and said, "It sounds like she married her business partner, and he left her high and dry."
"Damn," Bradley gasped, going back through each tab about Meredith's real estate foreclosure, business bankruptcies, and personal interviews. You tried to push the computer away, but Bradley kept going back to the same tab, and now he wouldn't even let you minimize it.
"Don't read it," you whispered, pulling his hand away and turning to look at him.
His eyes were void of emotion now as he looked at you. "She was quoted saying she doesn't have any children."
"She doesn't," you insisted, taking his face in your hands. "Not really. But you do. Noah is your son, Bradley."
He let his forehead come to rest on your shoulder, but a minute later, his phone was ringing in his pocket.
"It's probably Nat," he said, shaking his head. "I can't talk to anyone else right now."
He handed you his phone, but you looked at the name and said, "I think you should answer. It's your lawyer."
"Tracy," he grunted, holding the phone up to his face and closing his eyes. You tried to slip off of his lap after a moment, but he held you in place. And then his tone sounded sharp and angry as he scrambled to put the call on speakerphone. "Can you please repeat that last part?"
You heard Tracy's voice clearly say, "You remember how I told you Meredith was in breach of contract with her lawyer? Well, she never paid the law firm. Not a cent. The firm dropped her at the last minute when her funds never materialized. I just found out today. Do you know if she has any sort of history of financial mishaps?"
"Yes!" you said before you could consider if Bradley wanted Tracy to know you were there with him.
Tracy was quiet for a beat. "Are you at home? I'll come to you."
--------------------------
When Tracy arrived after ten o'clock on Tuesday night, Bradley was practically having a nervous breakdown. The hearing was tomorrow. He and Noah were supposed to be at the courthouse in twelve hours. He felt like he was going to throw up.
But at least you were there, touching his hands and his shoulders and trying to make him feel better. You actually were helping him feel better. And then Tracy was in his kitchen with a huge bag, wearing gym clothes and eyeing you a little suspiciously.
Then she looked at Bradley and said, "Ignoring my legal advice, I see."
He sighed deeply. "Tracy, this is my babysitter turned girlfriend."
"Do not call her that tomorrow in the courtroom under any circumstances!" she said hastily. "Promise me, Bradley! I don't want us to end up looking like a pack of idiots when you point her out as your girlfriend."
"Wait..." you said, eyes wide. "You want me there tomorrow?"
"Yes," Tracy said, unloading folders onto the kitchen table along with her computer and a protein shake. "I already have a call in with the judge to have you added as a character witness. So be prepared to answer questions and give a statement if called upon."
"That's too much to ask," Bradley mumbled looking from Tracy to you. "I can't ask you to do that."
You looked at him like he was very slow and maybe a little naive. "You didn't ask me to. Tracy just told me I was. And I want to. If there's a chance I can do anything that might help, I'm doing it."
Bradley pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to panic too much as you and he showed Tracy what'd you had found online. "Fucking hell," Tracy muttered, scribbling down notes. "I didn't know this was going to turn into a criminal hearing, but here we are." She scrolled through the property records and matched up tax identification numbers, taking everything a step beyond what you and Bradley had been able to do.
"A criminal hearing?" Bradley asked cautiously, but Tracy seemed to be in her own world now.
"Oh... she's slick," Tracy murmured. "Or she believes she is. You would think she'd have known her lawyer wouldn't fall for this. I wonder if she'll even have a lawyer tomorrow..."
Bradley reached for your hand on the table. "Can we just backtrack a moment? What kind of statement will she need to make?" he asked Tracy as he nodded at you. "And what will Meredith's lawyer be allowed to ask her?"
Tracy looked at his fingers intertwined with yours. "You'll just have to answer my questions honestly, without using the word girlfriend! And then Meredith's legal team is going to think it's open season on you as soon as they see your name was added to the docket. If we can even manage to have you added. So if you can't manage to answer their questions calmly and without crying as they try to shred you to pieces, then I suggest you learn how to overnight."
Bradley wanted to put an end to this entire thing, but you cut him off before he could start talking. "Do you honestly think I'll be helpful?"
"Absolutely. Could be the nail in Meredith's coffin, given all this new information."
"Then I'm in. Seriously Bradley, do not argue with us again," you told him, kissing his cheek while Tracy typed away. 
"Okay, I need some coffee. And then let's go over everything from the top," Tracy said, clapping her hands.
----------------------------
It was well after midnight by the time you coaxed Bradley into bed. These last minute revelations were something Tracy insisted were good for Bradley's case, but he was looking extremely apprehensive now. He was raking his fingers through his hair nonstop and pacing around. 
"You need to try to sleep," you whispered, pulling him down the hallway. "Let Tracy do what she needs to do, okay? She's going to be in charge tomorrow. She's good at this."
But he stopped short in front of Noah's door and let go of your hand. "You go get ready for bed. I'll be there in a minute." His voice was flat and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed before ducking inside the dark bedroom. You were worried, mostly about him. And about how Noah would do when being questioned by the judge tomorrow. You didn't have time to worry about yourself, so that was at least one good thing you thought of while you brushed your teeth. 
You were dressed in one of Bradley's oversized shirts and waiting in bed for a while before he came in. You helped him change out of his clothes, and he climbed into bed next to you. He didn't say anything except, "I love you, Princess," after he pressed a soft kiss to your lips. But he let you pull him into your arms, and pretty soon you were dozing off to the feel of his soft breaths on your forehead and his heart beating beneath your palm. 
When you woke to a pitch black room, you could tell he was no longer in bed with you. You found him sitting on the floor in Noah's room, watching his son sleep, and when you walked in, your bare feet silent on the floor, he looked up at you. Even in the dim glow from the nightlight, you could tell he had been crying again. But he didn't ask you to leave. He reached for you. 
"You're a good dad," you told him with a soft sob as you climbed onto his lap and wrapped your arms around his neck. "Noah is lucky. And I don't believe they could take him away from you. Away from all this love."
He kissed your cheek, and then he smiled softly as you brushed Noah's curls from his forehead with one hand and Bradley's with the other. "I feel like I can't breathe right," he whispered, and you could feel his pulse racing as you pressed your lips to his neck. "I don't know what I'll do if they take him from me."
"Stop it. They won't."
He was silent again after that, and the two of you ended up sleeping right there on the floor. When you woke up as Noah climbed out of bed just after sunrise, your hip was a little sore, and Bradley was still sleeping. 
"Morning, Noah," you whispered, standing and scooping him into your arms. You took him to the kitchen, kissing his chubby cheeks on the way.
"Do you live here now?" he asked, yawning as you turned on the coffee maker. 
"No. I don't," you said, hoping he wouldn't say anything like that when he was questioned by the judge in a few hours. "I'm just your babysitter." He just blinked at you before asking for breakfast.
About twenty minutes later, when Bradley walked in rubbing his back, he made a beeline for Noah while you scrambled some eggs and made coffee. Even the mug that said My Other Car Is a Super Hornet didn't make you smile today. You burned your mouth on the coffee, and you nearly knocked the pan onto the floor. Because every time you looked at Bradley, you were on the verge of tears. Maybe you weren't capable of being as strong as you needed to be today. Now the idea of standing up in the courtroom was laughable. You were going to ruin everything.
Bradley was calling your name, and when you snapped out of your daze, he said, "You need to eat, too."
"I can't," you whispered, shaking your head. "I can't." You left them alone and went to take a quick shower, happy you'd packed a variety of clothing when you stopped home the other day. You were supposed to have a mock interview with one of your peers over a FaceTime call today, so you'd packed a blazer and some nice pants. You'd just have to skip the interview. Honestly, school and searching for a job had been the last things on your mind recently anyway.
You let Bradley get Noah ready to go, and when it was time to leave, you looked at him, so handsome in his navy blue suit. "Will you drive? Please?" he asked, holding out the Bronco key for you to take. You simply nodded, but a moment later, you felt tears in your eyes again. He was sitting in the backseat next to Noah. You backed carefully out of his driveway and headed to the center of the city and the courthouse and Meredith and everything else that you wished Bradley and Noah didn't have to see today. 
--------------------------
The fact that Tracy was chugging a Red Bull and looked like she hadn't slept at all was only making Bradley feel worse as he carried Noah up the stairs in front of the courthouse. 
She rushed toward them and pointed at you. "You're on the docket. Get ready. Meredith supposedly has a lawyer, and I'm sure they've seen the docket update by now."
"Okay," you replied. You were nodding, but you looked as nervous as Bradley felt.
Then Tracy was patting Noah on the head. "Remember me?  I'm Tracy. We're going to do something a little different today, okay Noah? It might seem a little silly at first, because you'll be the only kid here! But you'll be allowed to color when we get inside."
You gasped. "I didn't pack him any coloring books!"
"I have some," Tracy said, patting her briefcase. You immediately looked a little calmer, and Tracy added, "But that's the sign of a good babysitter if you usually pack them."
"She brings me coloring books when she babysits me," Noah told Tracy. 
Bradley held Noah a little tighter. "Made sure I got you the best babysitter around, bub."
Just as Tracy cracked open another can of Red Bull that she procured from somewhere, she said, "Time to go in." Bradley didn't stand too close to you, and he didn't touch you. He followed you inside the front doors at a respectable distance, and you seemed to understand what needed to be done today. 
When Bradley's eyes settled on Meredith, she was already looking at him. And she was standing next to a tall man in a suit. "Well, would you look at that? She does have a lawyer today," Tracy whispered, crushing the now empty can in her fist and throwing it away before walking over to introduce herself to him. 
Bradley had to turn his gaze away from his ex, and he walked a little further away from you. The desire to touch you was strong, but he instinctively wanted to get Noah as far away from Meredith as he possibly could. Bradley's heart was pounding, and a wave of nausea passed through him. 
"Daddy, can we go home?" Noah whispered, wrapping his arms around Bradley's neck. "I don't like it here."
Neither did Bradley. He held his son and thought about Carole, and how she never let anything scary happen to him when he was a kid. He thought about losing everything by the time he was a teenager and about the fact that Noah had given him a fresh start. A reason to be happy. And it was because of Noah that he met you. When he glanced over his shoulder, you were watching the two of them with a soft gaze. 
"Pretty soon, bub," he replied, squeezing his son and pressing his lips to his forehead. "I'll take you home soon. I hope."
--------------------------
Next up is the showdown! Get in my asks with questions and concerns, but we may be nearing the end. Hope you enjoy your fic, @beyondthesefourwalls And thank you @mak-32 !
PART 25
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yelenasdiary · 3 months
Note
Yelena taking care of her autistic gf who has gone into sensory overload because of Natasha yelling at her because she accidentally ate the last jar of peanut butter?
Tough Day
Pairing: Yelena Belova x Autistic! Reader 
Summary: Natasha takes her bad day out on you over something small, but Yelena is there to comfort and remind you things are okay.
Angst, Comfort, Fluff.
Warnings: None? If any, please let me know! | 0.8K
Translations: Detka (baby), dorogoy (sweetheart), 
AC: Please note that I am not autistic, nor do I get sensory overload. I write this based off research. If I have written anything that is wrong or offence, please let me know as I do not mean any harm. I also want to thank everybody who helped me with this! You know who you are xx
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The room was dark, curtains closed, lights off and you were sat on the floor in your most comfortable clothing trying your best to take deep breaths. You never knew Natasha would get so mad over something so small. After using the last bit of peanut butter for your sandwich, Natasha grunted and took her frustrations out on you. How were you supposed to know it was the last jar? How were you supposed to know that Natasha didn't have a backup jar? She always did.
"Seriously?! The one thing I wanted today, and you had to use the last of it?!" Her words replayed over and over in your head. The raise in her voice sent you into sensory overload, she didn't notice, she just kept dropping comments about her frustrations even stating how you rarely ever go grocery shopping and just expect everybody else to get the things you need. You apologized for your mistake and explained that you didn't realize that it was the last of the peanut butter to which she replied, "of course you didn't you just live in your own little world!" 
Yelena knocked on the bedroom room lightly, careful not to startle you. She'd been worried about you after Natasha stormed back into the gym mumbling something about peanut butter, her gut feeling told her to check on you. 
"Detka? It's me, can I come in?" she asked. You nodded; she could barely see your nod in the darkness, but it didn't take long for her to notice the state you were in. She closed the door as quietly as she could behind her and walked over to sit down beside you. She didn't touch you, she didn't speak in her normal 'inside' voice, instead she whispered. 
"Do you want some ice?" She asked in a whisper, knowing that sometimes in these moments you like to suck on some ice cubes to help remind you of the here and now. You nodded once again while continuing to keep your focus on your breathing. Yelena was gone for a few short minutes before she returned with a bottle of water and a small bowl of ice cubes. She placed them beside you and sat down on the armchair on the other side of the room and waited until you were able to talk to her.
The coldness of the ice on your tongue and the roof of your mouth helped bring some relief to the hotness you felt rushing through your body. You closed your eyes and counted to ten then back down over and over until you felt like you could get up from the floor. Yelena waited patiently, holding your favorite stuffie until she knew you would want it to cuddle with. 
"Sh-she yelled at me" you spoke ever so softly as you slowly got up from the floor and looked at your girlfriend. "Over peanut butter" you added. Yelena saw the confusing yet sadness in your eyes, you couldn't quite understand why Natasha snapped and took her bad day out on you over the empty jar. 
"I'm going to talk to her detka, she overstepped, and I won't let her do that again" Yelena replied as she stood from the armchair to hand you the stuffie. "What do you need right now? Forget about Natasha and the stupid peanut butter, I'll buy her a new jar, okay?" she added. 
"I just wanna get into bed and watch movies" you replied.
"Do you want your weight blanket?" Yelena asked, she always worried about you whenever you went into sensory overload, in fact she worried about you a lot more than she led on. Always made sure you had everything you needed before she would go off on missions, she had Kate keep an eye on you and if you needed anything Kate would be there for you. Yelena tried not to go on the super long missions, sometimes she couldn't avoid it but she always checked in with you when she could. 
"Yes please" you said as you got into the shared bed, grabbing the television remote from your bedside table. Yelena grabbed your weighted blanket from the wardrobe and placed it comfortably over you. "Thank you, Lena" you smiled softly at her, your tired eyes telling her just how exhausted you were. 
"Get some rest detka, I'll go cook your favourite for dinner and bring it up to you when it's dinner time" Yelena replied before placing a soft kiss on your forehead. "Wait" you gently grabbed her arm, "can you stay? Please" you asked, looking up at her. 
Yelena nodded, "of course dorogoy"
You snuggled up to Yelena the moment she got into bed beside you, her arm wrapped around you while you flicked through Netflix to find an easy and comforting movie to watch. Once you found one of your favorite comfort movies, you snuggled more into Yelena, whispering a soft 'thank you' for being there for you. She placed a gentle kiss on the top of your head and held you a little extra tight while you fell asleep in her arms.
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wriothesleybear · 4 months
Note
How do you think wriothesley would react if the reader has hidden his newborn from him after they broke up for a few months. Like hidden pregnancy trope
(BTW I LOVE UR FICS IT MAKES ME FEEL GIDDY AFTER A LONG DAY OF SCHOOLWORKS)
Even tho I'm not much for angst I really like this idea👀 this of course will have a happy ending because I don't need to be anymore depressed than I already am lmao. It makes me happy knowing that people enjoy my fics. It makes me giddy🥹❤️
~warnings: slight angst with somewhat happy ending.
Let's say you two had been together for a couple of years and it was good at the beginning but recently his job had been taking all of his attention. He barely came home, and when he did you two usually spent it arguing about his work and your relationship. One day you couldn't take it anymore and told him you thought it was best for both of you to go your separate ways. It was a mutual understanding and you both still cared for each other but you both agreed that you shouldn't be together anymore.
You found out you were pregnant a month after breaking up. It was a bit of a shock at first, worries that you wouldn't be able to take care of the child alone. You debated whether to tell Wriothesley and after a lot of thinking you decided that it was best to not tell him because he would be too caught up in his work to even be able to take care of the child. You felt a little bit of guilt but remembered you were doing what you thought was best for your child.
Skipping to 3 months after giving birth to your beautiful daughter. One day, you're out with your daughter, shopping for weekly groceries and that's when you run into Wriothesley in town. It's awkward. When he finds out, he is completely heartbroken and hurt. He always wanted a family with you and he told you before in the past so it really hurts him that you kept it hidden from him. When you tell him the reason why, he feels worse because of how you think about him. If you told him, he would have dropped everything and been there for you and your child. His child. He would be mature about it and ask you to let him be apart of you and your daughter's life. He promises that he will be there for you this time and it won't be like it was last time. You're hesitant at first but can tell he's sincere about it.
And he keeps his promise and is there for you and your child. Of course you have to teach him some things on how to take care of her but he's a quick learner and willing to learn. When either you or your child needs him, he does drop everything (assigns someone else to temporarily do his work) and he is right by your side, there to help you. Your thoughts on how he would be as a father have changed and you slightly regret not telling him sooner, but all that matters is that he's here now.
~a/n: Even tho I'm not one for angst, I have this idea for a short little fic where it's similar to this ask. Reader gets pregnant, they break up, and she never tells him, but in this one, the child is like 3-4 years old. One day, Wriothesley runs into reader and their child in town and he can tell it's his kid because they have some of his features. Reader confirms that he is the father of her child. Slowly reader allows him to be apart of their child's life and they begin to fall in love with each other again especially by seeing how great of a dad he is. Even tho I somewhat wrote about that here, I wouldn't mind writing headcanons or a small fic that goes more into detail about it. Hope this fulfills your request anon. Enjoy!❤️
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theta-walti · 15 days
Text
Graceful Mishaps
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Summary: R is a bit clumsy. Some small moments when the r is clumsy and Jessie taking care of her
Warnings: Fluff, fluff and more fluff!
A/N: Jessie is still in Chelsea for this fic! i had fun, thank you for the idea for my debut fic!
Word count: 1153
everyone on the team knows that your clumsy, you won't admit it but it's true, every little move can cause you to stumble. Just like this morning, when you were getting ready you tripped over the clothes that you had carelessly tossed aside moments before, or the coffee that you accidentally knocked over when your making breakfast yesterday, or the lastest accident in the changing rooms where you tied your shoelaces together and it lead to a comical trip when you attempt to run, that lead to the argument between you and jessie just moments later.
"l'm not that clumsy!" you said, trying to defend yourself
"Yes you are! you just triped because of your shoelaces!" Jessie aruged back as she crossed her arms
"That was an accident!"
"exactly!" Jessie yelled back
"tell me then! when am l that clumsy?"
Jessie thought for a while then she spoke with a little smirk on the edage of her lips
"do you remember grocery shopping last week?"
Hearing the question a memory flooded back into your mind
You and Jessie were at the shops, picking up things for the upcoming week. Jessie was holding your hand tightly, and you were trying your hardest not to wonder off, She had a firm grip, and you had a hard time keeping up with her, but you think that she was purposefully walking fast to keep you on your toes.
"Jessie, how much longer are we going to be here? I'm hungry and l want to go home." you said as we turned into the snack aisle.
"Don't be dramatic, you ate before we came here. We're almost done. I just need to get some chips and then we can go." She replied as her eyes scaned the crisps shelf debating on which one she should get.
"But I'm hungry now! And we have chips at home, can't we just go pay for everything and go?" you pouted.
She let go of your hand and walked a few feet in front of you. you saw her pick up a bag of tortilla chips and walk back, then she throw it in the the trolly, which is right in front of you. you went to take a step forward to take Jessie's hand again when you tripped over one of the wheels of the trolly. You fell to the ground, landing right on your face and Jessie bursted out laughing.
"I knew those shoes weren't a good idea, they make you too clumsy." She teased.
"Not my fault. The trolly was in my way." you retorted with a scowl, getting up off the ground and dusted the non-existent dust off.
"Maybe we should just get some bandages. We both know it's inevitable that you'll hurt yourself before the night is over." Jessie said with a smirk on her face.
You looked at her, trying to figure out if she was joking or not. When you decided that she was just being sarcastic, you shot her a playful glare.
"Just because you're right doesn't mean that you have to say it." you responded, crossing you arms.
She laughed, wrapping her arm around your waist and pulling you into her.
"I think we can find some band-aids at home." She teased again." Come on, let's go get the rest of the stuff and get out of here." She suggested, and you nodded.
"That's fine with me. The faster we leave, the faster I get food." You agreed and Jessie chuckled.
"Oh that was one time!" Your tried to argue back.
"One time? What about the kitchen plates?" The smirk on Jessie's face went wider as she spoke.
You blushed as another memory flooded into your mind
It was a nice evening, you and Jessie were preparing dinner together. Jessie had taken charge of chopping vegetables while you were in charge of setting the table, However, as you reached for the plates in the cabinet, your hand slipped, and you ended up dropping a stack of plates, causing them to crash onto the counter with a loud clatter.
"Oh shit, " you muttered, and your cheeks flushed with embarrassment as you immediately bent down to pick up the pieces.
Jessie rushed over immediately when she heard the loud crash, concern and worry filled on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling down beside you to help clean up the mess.
You nodded, feeling flustered by your clumsiness. "Yeah, just a little accident," you replied sheepishly.
As you continued to clean up, Jessie couldn't help but notice your hands. Your finger was cut by the glass. She immediately stood up and dragged you up with her
"You're bleeding, come on"
*she started to walk towards the bathroom, still holding your injured hand*
"Where-" you looked at your hand and noticed the cut. You must have cut it when you're picking up the plates, "but the plates-"
"You're more important, now sit down"
Jessie said as she walked over to the sink and bent sown to grab the first aid kit. When she returned, she just asked for your hand and started to take care of it. "You know, I think you're even more accident-prone in the kitchen than I am," she teased gently, giving your hand a reassuring squeeze.
You couldn't help but laugh at her comment, feeling a sense of relief wash over you. "I guess that's one way to put it," you replied, still feeling a bit embarrassed.
When Jessie finished, she put a kiss on the back of your hand and smiled. "Feeling better?"
"Yea, thank you, baby." You kissed Jessie's lips for a brief second and grinned, Jessie blushed and connected their lips again, and they stayed like that for a while before she pulled away, both of you a bit breathless "Come on, we still have dinner to finish and some plates to clean up"
You grinned and followed Jessie out of the bathroom and back into the kitchen.
"That's night ended very well thank you very much!" You tried to defend yourself again.
"That's not what l'm trying to say! You really should be more careful baby" Jessie said as she stepped forward, closer to you as she wrapped her arms around you
"I know, jess, l know." You leaned into the touch, and gradually, it turned into a hug as you wrapped your arms around her neck. sudden, the doors of the changing room opened, and Guro's head popped in.
"Come on love birds! Your late and Emma is asking why your taking so long to get changed!" Guro's Norwegian accent shown though as she spoke, you and Jessie both broke apart of the hug and chuckled.
"Race you to the field!" Jessie yelled as she got a head start, racing out of the changing rooms, you followed, and of cause, since you still haven't re-tied your laces, your face is on the ground once more.
A/N: l hope you like it! The end is a bit rush but l think it's good! I hope you enjoy it and feel free to send more requests!! This is theta, signing out, see you later!
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adventuringblind · 3 months
Text
Don't Leave Us
Lestappen x Reader
Genre: angst, hurt/comfort
Summary: With the mass amount of online hate and a relationship that's not public, it all gets too much.
Warnings: graphic depictions of self-harm, graphic depictions of suicide
Notes: I hope you're doing okay, Nonny! Maybe this will help you like it does me :)
side note: I am not above begging for interaction. Fill my inbox with feral driver thoughts! Interact with my posts! It feeds my praise kink and makes me giggle and kick my feet 🥰
Masterlist // Request Form // My Website // buy me a Ko-Fi
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It's not like the toxicity of social media is a new thing. She's always known that it could happen. She just wasn't expecting it to be so... much.
Her relationship with Max and Charles isn't out for the public. There are dangers that come with opening that up for everyone to get a glimpse of. Reporters waiting to make snide remarks. Fans that want to bash on the drivers they dislike.
Plus, she's not famous. People don't notice her. At least - they didn't until recently.
Some WAG account had managed to get photos of her with either Max or Charles. Not the three of them together. Speculative fans determined she must be playing both of them.
Not all of them, some people defend her. Those comments make her cry out of relief that at least someone isn't trying to tear her down.
She doesn't bring it up to either of the boys. They have enough on their plates as is. Stress and sickness become her new best excuses to not go out in public.
Sure, she's isolating herself and not talking to anyone. Carmen and Lily keep trying. She's just not ready to show her face.
Nothing is sacred anymore. The rumors are too much. Even avoiding all social media isn't enough. She can't even leave her house without someone trying to discreetly take her photo.
Her skin burns with attention every time she steps out the door. She can't eat knowing people are always looking at her. She can't even go to the shop to get groceries or to her mailbox.
It gets worse by the day. Soon enough, someone figures out where she lives. Knowing she has a stalker makes every ounce of security she once had vanish.
It's miserable seeing her information leaked out for everyone to see. Privacy is now a luxury of the past. It's enough to send her spiraling.
When her safety is called into question, Max and Charles bring her to Monaco. They are willing to risk it for her. Their attempt at giving her some piece of mind by staying in the same apartment only makes her thoughts darker.
She's the reason there is so much negative publicity. The sharks are circling them, just waiting for one wrong move. Is she ready to be the catalyst for her lovers' downfall?
The thought sends her stomach up her throat. The thoughts swirl around her head, paralyzing her body into a perpetual state of fear. Stuck in a luxurious Monaco penthouse. Because people being toxic and stalking her is such a horrible problem to have. She should just suck it up; pretend everything is fine.
So then, why is it so hard? Why can't she just be alright?
One week. A plan in her head and a smile plastered on her face. The boys haven't asked about it. Their concern shows in the facial expressions, but they don't push. Maybe it would be better if they did. Send her already crumbling walls to the ground.
She deep cleans on Monday. She does her best to make sure the apartment isn't in disarray, that her own things are packed away, so they won't have much to deal with. The contrasting red and blue of Max and Charles' clothes are the only things left in the closet when she's done.
Speculations start again on Tuesday. Max and Charles spend all day in some PR meeting about it. It gives her time to sort out her affairs without them hearing her. She cooks them dinner to help ease the frustrations. Their teams don't want them to come out, but they do.
Wednesday, they leave to their next destination. She doesn't leave the hotel room despite the concerns of others. Carmen and Lily come around at some point. They eat in with her and kick out the boys. It feels normal for the first time in months. She almost breaks and tells them.
Thursday is media day. She feels for both boys as they get asked invasive questions about their love life. They look stressed. She gets hugged a little tighter that night. It calms the thoughts, but it's not enough. They hurt more every day. She's just wants it to stop.
Practice on Friday goes well for both. Max and Charles are in better spirits. She drags herself out to eat with them. the boys don't care who sees. She does. The anxiety nearly suffocates her. eyes crawling over her skin. Please, make it stop.
Saturday is a wreck. The qualifying is difficult for both her partners. Their relationship status is once again coming under fire. The speculating is becoming extreme, enough for the whispering of the paddock to become deafening to her ears. She spends her time hiding away, writing her last thoughts in messy scrawl.
Sunday, they turn the weekend around. The podium has always suited them. Smiling for everyone to see and dousing each other in champagne. She smiles too, even though it hurts.
They fly back to Monaco that night. Conversation turns to going public despite team wishes. They are willing to risk it for her. She can't bring herself to say yes. They worked hard to live their dreams; she won't ruin it for them.
Monday comes around again. The notes are laying out on the table. The boys are with their friends, some kind of brunch get together.
She leaves the bathroom door unlocked.
The bath filled, her clothes still on. Her thoughts finally still. Tears streak down her face.
The water is cold.
Then it's red.
~~~~~
"I worry about leaving her alone." Charles pulls the car back into its spot.
"Well, if we brough her along it wouldn't be much of a surprise, yes?" Max checks his watch again. "Plus, what could she have done in the fifteen minutes we were gone?"
They haul the ridiculous number of snacks to the front door. They decided last week they would see if they could coax the female out of her depressive state, just for a little while. Maybe get her to confide in them. If not, then at the very least a therapist.
The distance is damn near suffocating. She's so close physically, yet so far away mentally. Always staring at the walls with a distant look in her eyes.
The apartment is eerily quiet when they step inside. The kind that Charles despises after living in a chaotic house with two brothers and three busy schedules his Maman had to keep track of.
He drops the bags and peers around the entry way. Then searches the corridors until he finds one of the bathroom doors closed.
Charles knocks on the door but receives no response. "Cheri? Are you not feeling well?"
Charles almost dives out of the way when Max comes barreling down the hallway. The Dutch tries the doorknob, heavy breathing filling the odd silence.
Charles pales at the sight revealed to him. Paralyzed that this horrific scene could even be a possibility. Is he dreaming? He has to be - there isn't any way for this to be real... right?
"Charles!-" the Monegasque is dragged from his thoughts. Real or not, Max needs his help. Scratch that - she needs his help. "- Get an ambulance!"
Charles fishes his phone out of his pocket and makes the call. Max is desperate trying to stop the bleeding from the vertical slit traveling her forearm. "Is she...?" He can't finish the thought. Heart being through his chest at the possible answer.
"Pules is there but faint." Max sounds like he's desperately trying to hold back his tears. His mind working desperately to keep her alive.
Charles must space out. He doesn't remember opening the door or watching her be carried out by the swift paramedics. The car ride doesn't register, not until they are already in the waiting room.
Max hands him her notes. The paragraphs she wrote to them. A final goodbye in messy scrawl, but the tails of her letters still curled.
"She did it for us, Charlie, because she thought she was hurting us."
They both break down in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. Charles violently sobbing. Neither of them respond to their messages. Phones buzzing with calls that go to voice-mail.
A doctor comes calling her name. Charles is only half listening. Specifically looking for either a confirmation of death or the relief of hearing that she's okay. Max seems to be paying attention. His shoulders sag, and there is a soft look on his face when they are left to their own devices.
"She's alive, Charlie."
He erupts until tears once more.
~~~~~
Everything hurts. Her thoughts are fuzzy. There is something soft beneath her.
The white ceiling is paired with the burning smell of alcohol. A sterile environment. Meaning-
Fuck. How did it go so wrong? How had they managed to keep her alive?
The beeping on the heart monitor picks up. A sign that she's definitely alive and in a hospital.
Her attempts at moving are futile. There is too much pain and exhaustion to do so. A pulsing behind her ears drowns out the thumping of her heart.
"Rest now, amour."
It takes a single stroke of Charles' fingers on her cheek to make her entire facade shatter into nothing.
She's mumbling incoherent words. It's a string of apologies, rants of anger and embarrassment, and confusion at why they are even here with her. They are continually reassuring her. They coo into her ear how they are so glad she's alive. That she doesn't have to fight whatever battle through hell this is alone.
Recovery is difficult. They have to put her on a suicide watch, but Max and Charles somehow manage to keep her out of the psychward. Mostly because they want to be with her at all hours of the day.
They miss a singular race for her. Then drag her to the next. Part of the deal they had made was that they won't sacrifice their careers for her.
They negotiated with the teams. Managed to wriggle around their soft spots and get them to approve going public. Max and Charles want to openly defend her. No more public executions. They'er pulling her out of the shark infested waters that is the media.
It's slow. People ask about it sometimes; why Charles and Max had missed that race. None of them give an answer. They aren't obligated to.
"Why fight for me?" She asks. a year after the events.
"Because chéri, we love you enough to help you carry the burden."
"Honestly liefste, we fight for what we believe in. We believe in you and the love you have for us."
"Maybe it's selfish, but we want to share that with you. Keep you here with us to go on adventures and explore the different paths life offers."
"So don't leave us yet. You are worth every sacrifice."
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janeyseymour · 13 days
Text
Won't You Be... My Neighbor? -pt 2
Part 1.
Summary: Throughout the preparation for Melissa's court hearing, you find yourself falling for her.
WC: ~2.35k
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“You’re a lawyer?” Melissa looks at you as if you just told her you were actually born on Mars.
You nod confidently. “A damn good one too.”
“Then what the hell are you doing here in West Philly?”
You chuckle. “I grew up around here. Liked the area, never really cared to leave.”
“Wow,” she whispers out in amazement. “Would you really be able to help me? I’ll pay you of course.”
You roll your eyes. “Of course I can help you. And don’t worry about a payment. I’d be happy to help you out.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she states.
You wave a lazy hand in dismissal as you sip your wine. “No it ain’t. Just… cook me a couple meals, and we’ll call it even.”
That gets the redhead to laugh a little. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Tell me a little about him,” you prompt.
So she does. The two of you chat long into the night, and it’s only when Melissa yawns for the fourth time that you smile at her, finish off what little remains in your glass, and stand. “I suppose I should let you get to bed. But let’s… reconvene soon?”
She nods sleepily. “I’ll see you soon, Y/N. And seriously, thank you.”
“Have a good night, Melissa.” You leave the apartment and head down the hall to your own.
As you crawl into bed that night, you think about everything that she had said to you. Genuinely, you feel terrible for the woman a few doors down. She seems to have put her heart and soul into that marriage, only for all of her hard work and care to go down the drain. And from what you can tell, she isn’t exactly swimming in money right now- especially taking on a new apartment and having a young child to care for on her own. But she’s doing everything she can right now to make it work, including working overtime at her school to tutor children who need extra help. Her ex-husband is making absolutely no contributions aside from the extra hell that he is giving her. You find yourself even more motivated to help your neighbor win her case against her husband and gain full custody of her son.
It’s a few days later when you run into Melissa again, and she seems just as frazzled as she was the first day you met her. JJ is on her hip crying again, pleading to not have to go to the grocery store.
You are just coming in from a rather long day at work, and while the last thing you want to do is look after a small child (one who will need lots of tender love and care to calm down), you make your way over to the pair.
“Hey,” you say softly as you adjust your briefcase slung around you.
Melissa runs a hand through her hair. “Hi.” She turns her attention back to her son. “Sweetheart, we have to get groceries for the week… but Momma promises she’ll be quick.”
“I don’t wanna!” the little boy screeches.
“Missed nap time at daycare,” the redhead whispers over his head. Then she presses her lips together in a fine line as she continues to bounce him on her hip. She tries to calm him with a few short hums, but JJ just continues to cry out.
You blow out a breath. “I can take him for a little while you go grocery shopping,” you offer softly.
Those green eyes meet yours immediately. “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind,” you say with a soft smile. “And it looks like you could use a break from kids for at least an hour.”
“Are you sure?” Melissa breathes out. “Because I can take him- he is my son.”
“I know he is,” you chuckle quietly. “But I also know that it’s okay to lean on someone to help you, and I told you I’m here for you.”
The teacher sighs softly. She looks down at her crying little boy. “Baby, Miss Y/N says you can stay with her while Momma goes grocery shopping, how does that sound?”
JJ whines out, but he looks to you with curious eyes and nods just once. His cries immediately start to soften as he realizes he doesn’t have to go to the dreaded grocery store and sit in that uncomfortable cart. He rubs at his eyes as he lets out a small yawn. “Momma?”
“Yeah, JJ?”
“I love you,” the little boy mumbles into Melissa’s shoulder.
“I love you too, honey,” the woman smiles softly as she presses a soft kiss to his head. “Can I put you down now so you can go with Miss Y/N?”
JJ nods, so Melissa sets him down on the ground. He immediately reaches for your free hand that isn’t holding your water bottle.
“Be a good little boy, okay?” the redhead instructs softly to her son. He nods, and you lead him down to your own apartment.
He’s as happy as a clam to sit with you while you go through a few more papers, and then you know it’s time that you should probably start making dinner. With a soft sigh, you lift him to your hip and start pulling out ingredients to make a meal.
“Dinner?” the little boy asks as he starts playing with the baby hairs that have fallen out of your ponytail.
“Yeah, hun,” you smile softly. “How does spaghetti sound?”
“I love pasetti,” your little neighbor mumbles.
You chuckle quietly as the way he says the word but nod. “Then that’s what we’ll have. Does your momma like spaghetti?”
He gives you a cheeky smile in response.
By the time that Melissa comes around to collect her son, you have him calmed down, fed, and giggling as you play Candy Land with him. However, she looks absolutely furious when you open the door.
“You okay?” you ask her quietly, although you very much know the answer already.
“Peachy,” is what she retorts. “C’mon, JJ. I have to get dinner started.”
“But Y/N already gived me dinner, and we saved some for you!” the little boy announces from his place on the floor, donned in one of your sweatshirts.
The redhead furrows her brows. “What?”
“I hope I’m not overstepping,” you say softly. “But he was hungry, I was making dinner, and I figured you might like to come home and not have to cook today.”
“That… wow,” Melissa sighs quietly. “Thank you.”
“It’s on the stove, and if it needs warmed, you’ve seen where my microwave is,” you smile at her as you return back to your game with her son. “Feel free to grab a glass of wine too if you want.”
As the redhead makes her way into the kitchen, she realizes that she can’t remember the last time someone made her a home cooked meal, even if it was something as simple as spaghetti. Joe had cooked for her maybe once as a way to get into her pants, and before then… it was her grandmother while her own parents were in the middle of their terrible divorce and custody battle.
The mother gets her dinner, and then she’s settling on the floor next to her son. She eats in silence, enjoying the fact that she does not have to entertain her son. She also watches as you handle him with such ease, making him smile and giggle the way that only she and Barb can get JJ to act. He’s such a sweet little boy, and the redhead would be lying to herself if she said that watching you with him didn’t make that small attraction to you just the slightest bit bigger.
You of course let the little boy win, and when he does, you tickle him relentlessly claiming that he was just too good and that he must’ve been cheating. His infectious laugh only makes you chuckle, and you know that you would do anything to keep this little boy happy- he already has a piece of your heart.
Then he tiredly crawls into his way into your lap and lays his head on your chest. “Sleepy,” is all he gets out as his eyes start to droop down.
The redhead stands, only half finished her meal. “I guess I should get him-”
You raise a hand as you stand and settle the two of you on the couch. “Don’t even worry about it. He can sleep on me while you finish your meal, and then you can tell me why you came in so pissed.”
Melissa chuckles, but she situates herself back on the floor. She watches the two of you for a bit as you lull her son to sleep with mindless humming and your fingers combing through his hair.
After a bit, you look down, and you know JJ is asleep. “So, you wanna tell me what had you so pissed?”
“Fucking Joe,” is all Melissa sighs out. “Told me that he’s looking for the best family lawyer in the city and that he’s gonna get custody of my son.”
“Well he’s screwed then, because that would be me,” you roll your eyes. “And I’m already taking your case on. Speaking of, there are a few papers I’ll need you to fill out in my briefcase, but I can get them to you tomorrow.”
“You’re the-” her eyes go comically wide.
“I am,” you say cooly. “85% success rate, and he doesn’t know that the odds are already stacked against him with most judges tending to rule with the mother having custody. And if he tries to pull any shit, I’ll make his life a living hell.”
And Joe does try to pull a bunch of shit- threatening Melissa, having his lawyers try to find loopholes around most things. And you just document it all. You and the redhead prepare for the case mostly after long days of work over a meal with that sweet little boy curled up in your lap and wearing one of your sweatshirts.
As the two of you prepare for the court case, you get to see more of the Schemmenti household. You get to see Melissa when she’s at her happiest, playing a simple round of Chutes and Ladders with JJ to take a break from all of the preparation. You also see her when she’s done up for school, and you swear she’s taken your breath away quite a few times. But you also see her at her lowest of lows, when she’s terrified that she’s going to lose JJ and that Joe’s threats are genuinely scaring her to the point of tears. You see her when she’s clad in her pajama bottoms and Eagles sweatshirt, ready to rip her hair out over the meltdown her son is having, and yet she’s still soft and warm with him. And it all… it makes you feel honored that you get to see her for everything that she is- apparently that isn’t a common thing for her to do, to let people in. And yet here you are, getting to know her and see every side of the redhead- even the parts that she doesn’t want you to see.
Her son is obsessed with you in the sweetest way, always coming and knocking on your door to ask if you can play a game with him or to simply give you a hug before he gallops his way back down to his own door with a proud look on his face. 
You would be lying to yourself if you said that you weren’t happy to find yourself a part of their little bubble and that you were falling more and more in love with your client each and every day that you get to see her (which is of course everyday, whether that be to chat over dinner, prepare for the hearing, or just a simple ‘hello’ as you pass each other in the hall). But she… she’s your client, and she’s going through a messy, messy divorce, and you don’t even know if she likes women. You have your own theory that she’s bisexual, but nothing has been confirmed. You can’t, in good conscience, make a move on her. So you don’t. You sit with your feelings and try to not let them consume you.
The day that you spent hours preparing for comes, and Melissa slides into her place very nervously with her son in her arms. She looks absolutely stunning in her dress pants and blazer, and JJ looks precious in his little outfit that you have no doubt is his Easter best.
“I thought we spoke about not bringing him here,” you say in a hushed tone.
The redhead runs a hand through her hair. “I know, I know. My sister was supposed to watch him, but she bailed last minute, Barb can’t watch him because she’s working at the school, and you’re my other babysitter.”
“He better stay quiet,” you warn. “It’s not uncommon for judges to put children in contempt if they’re noisy.”
“He won’t be,” Melissa promises you. “He’s got his little fidget toy, and we already talked about how to act because we don’t want to get taken from Momma.”
The hearing is long and arduous for all parties, but when that gavel comes down and the judge rules that Melissa has sole custody of her son with Joe only being allowed supervised visits due to his excessive drinking, the threats he had made, and his other habits you know it was all worth it.
The mother immediately bursts into happy tears while Joe starts to fume. He starts screaming and cursing, and the court officers begin to rush him out.
He’s not out of the room before he can get out, “You’ll pay for this, you bitch!”
Melissa, too caught up in smothering her little boy in love, doesn’t even pay attention to his words. And later on, she wishes she would have. 
TAGS: @schemmentis @thesapphictimelady @marvel210 @itisdoctortoyousir @morgana-larkin @thesamesweetie @doesthatsuggestanythingtoyou @marvels--slut @gwennybriggs @megamultifandomtrashposts @lemz378 @http-sam @melissaschemmentisbranzino @imaginesmultifandoms @sexysapphicshopowner @lilfartbox1 @maybe-a-humanbean @imlike-so-gaydude @sapphicxrat @a-queen-and-her-throne @sunsol-22 @notinmyvocab @melanielaufeyson
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tulipsforvin · 12 days
Note
Hi ! ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ I would like to react to the moriarty boys reacting to their s/o messing with them and doing the "you know other woman ?!"
I’m sure you’re gonna do great, I love your work !
✧ thank you for requesting and for your kind words !! also, really, really sorry for the incredibly late response 🥲
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✧ albert james moriarty
“honey?” he calls out to you. he's holding up a dark blue suit infront of him in his right hand and a black one in his other hand. “which one do you think would be appropriate for tonight?”
he'd told you yesterday that he'd been invited by the queen for some sort of function, which is why he had been asking for your advice on what to wear.
“hmm..” you ponder. “what kind of party is it and who is going to be there?”
“well, it's supposed to be a banquet held by the queen—so probably noblemen and noblewomen.”
“do you know them?”
“well, i'm acquainted with the men and i've held conversations with some of the women before.”
“hold on a second..” you pause. “so what you're staying is that.. you know other women than me?”
he freezes. “..honey?” he's practically sweatdropping in an instant. has he made you upset somehow?
why? he thinks to himself, staring at you in shunned silence. for being aware of the existence of other women on this planet? would blinding himself do the trick? perhaps he and you should move to a cave instead, perhaps—
you can practically see the coils turning in his head, the way his adam's apple bobs when he gulps, the sweat forming on his brow and you can't help but burst out laughing.
“a little overdramatic, aren't you?” you giggle and he looks at you like you've just told him the sky is below.
“what..?” he raises an eyebrow, confused. “i'm not sure i follow, however, if i've angered you then-”
“i was joking, al.” you grin and he exhales heavily in relief, hand on his chest. but he manages to calm down, even tease you back a little. “you've already taken my heart and now you want to take my life as well? quite selfish, don't you think, my dear?”
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✧ william james moriarty
“i still think you should rest..” you huff.
although he only just recently recovered from a fever, he'd resumed with his duties. “rest assured, darling, i'm sure grading a few test papers won't kill me.'” william tells you, a subtle smile on his lips.
the man lifts his head up from the desk ever so slightly, watching your lips form into the smallest of pouts. amused, and quite fond of how endearing you look—he leans back in his chair, chuckling softly.
“if you're that worried, i'll inform you that i already have someone from the university helping me.”
“really? then—” you exhale. “wait, she?”
“mm?” he tilts his head. “yes. she.”
“wait—” your eyebrows furrow and your eyes narrow into a glare. “you know other women?”
“pardon?” william blinks in surprise. the calmness that he always exerts seems to crackle the tiniest bit as confusion surges within him. “are you.. jealous?”
“hah?” hands crossed, a single eyebrow raised.
the blond's eyebrows shoot up momentarily before relaxing. he's far too intelligent to not catch up to the little prank you're playing on him, far too observant not to notice the little grin you're trying to hide.
he laughs, eyes creasing. “very funny, love.” he says sarcastically. “but you have absolutely nothing to worry about..”
william takes your hand in his, pressing soft lips atop your knuckles. “for my attention, affection and everything of me are reserved, solely for you.”
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✧ louis james moriarty
it is afternoon and the two of you are strolling in the streets of durham, grocery shopping. your fingertips brush as you both walk by side by side. louis suggests going to the bakery and buying some pastries since one of the missions that his elder brother planned had become a complete success.
as the two of you enter the bakery and look over the cake and pastry counter, deciding what to buy—
“louis!” a woman chirps, eyes glittering. she's hovering right behind louis, looking over his shoulder. “good to see you again. what are you buying?”
“oh.” louis turns, nods his head. “it's good to see you, too. we were just deciding on what pastries to buy.”
“really?” she asks. then, points to a few pastries. “you should buy these, they're really good.” and suddenly, they've engaged in deep conversation about dairy while you watch them interact in utter silence.
something about this irks you, even if it's by the slightest so you decide to mess around with him.
once she's gone, you begin quietly. “i didn't know you knew other women than me.” your lips look like they've inflated with how much you're sticking them out in feigned upsetness, and that startles louis.
“is that... an issue to you?” he questions, genuinely curious. he's careful with his words—amidst his surprise—because he notices your demeanor turning gloomy. “she is just someone i happen to coincidentally meet once in a while i do some shopping. nothing more, nothing else.”
he's sincere in his words, his eyebrows furrowed in genuine worry and you begin to feel a little guilty.
you shrug. “it's okay, you don't need to explain yourself to me.” you tell him. “because i'm not really upset or anything, i was just joking.”
and then you give him a grin and you watch his tense shoulders visibly relax. “i.. see. then—”
“but we're not going to get the pastries she suggested.” you tell him bluntly and he blinks in surprise.
“let's choose something else together, louis.” your words sound joyous and so does your voice but something about your smile makes him feel a little chill down his spine.
perhaps you were a little jealous, after all?
137 notes · View notes
izvmimi · 1 month
Text
cw: crack but also cute, i think. reader has a specified magic, and she and mash are friends (for now). reader's a bit preoccupied with his diet. a bit of medical talk.
Mash is three bites into a cream puff when you put away the last of your pantry essentials, and turn to look at him, a slight frown on your face.
He’s done the legwork of your grocery shopping run, bringing everything into your apartment in one trip, and now, baked good in hand, he’s looking idly in your direction. You can tell you’ve exhausted him all morning with your chatter, but he’d deny it if you asked him, claiming he’s content to hear whatever you have to say.
You are now tasked with the job of convincing yourself that that’s true, but Mash doesn’t lie, and it is particularly hard to lie to you anyway. You lean over your counter as you watch him sit atop your barstool, kicking his feet practically, and when he catches you watching him finally, his eyes soften as he inquires what you have to say. 
“Mm?”
You almost feel bad for spoiling his happiness when you say, “Mash, I think we should talk about your diet.”
He blinks, and takes four more bites, rapidly in succession. He knows exactly what you mean. 
“There’s nothing wrong with my diet.”
He’s eating faster now, and before you can open your mouth the cream puff is gone. There are at least three more stowed away from the supermarket bakery this morning, sitting in your fridge, that he absolutely plans to leave with. Not that you can stop him, or would.
But it’s your duty to say something. 
Moving in closer to talk to him, you pull up the other barstool and rest your elbow on the counter to prop up your chin. Now you’re eye to golden eye, and his expression is unchanged, neutral as always but he’s focused on you.
“I know you like them, but you can’t live off of flour and sugar, Mash.”
He blinks again. “Why not?”
You scrunch your nose. “Diabetes? Which leads to heart disease, stroke, poor arterial circulation, retinopathy, renal failure…” your fingers tap the desk with every disease, but your voice trails off as you can see his eyes glaze over and you let yourself sigh internally before stopping. “I’m wasting my time with this, aren’t I?” you say, not annoyed but somewhat defeated. You’ve looked away for a moment, but when you look back, you’re not sure when he moved, but there’s another cream puff in hand.
“Mash!”
“Mm?”
You grit your teeth. “At least consider what I have to say for a second.”
Through bites, he insists, “No, you totally have a point but my nutrition is fine.” He swallows, then pats his left chest. “Mike and Kevin have not brought anything to my attention.”
It’s your turn to give him a blank look, but Mash never ceases to surprise you, and if you don’t say something fast, he’ll tell you about the rest of his muscles’ thoughts and feelings. 
“Right but long term, Mash.”
“Mm.” He smiles, accepting your concern for him. “Show me where I’m unhealthy then.”
Mash stands and raises his arms in a T-pose, and unable to help it, you burst out laughing. Of course, you can’t find any flaw - every extent of his body remains as chiseled and developed as the day you first met him, and the fact that he even looks so seriously willing to participate is so laughable. 
“I-” you’ve run out of ways to defend your stance, but then you shake your head.
“You know that’s not what I mean-”
Somehow in the time that you closed your eyes and shook your head to recollect yourself, he’s started doing push-ups. You give him an appraising look, then go to the fridge and pull out a cabbage from the crisper.
Without bothering to ask, you settle down on his back once he’s slowed for a moment, and he continues, this time slow enough that you won't topple off of him. 
“Okay, how about if I turn this choux into choux cream?” 
He pauses in the up position, and cranes his neck up in your direction.
“I’m listening.”
“Good.” He descends again, and you make yourself more comfortable on his back, tucking your legs in. 
“I use my magic to make you feel like you’re eating a cream puff, but it’s actually a nutritious vegetable.”
“Mm.”
He stops, and you jump off of him, and then he takes the cabbage from you in his right hand as you stand before him. Looking from the cabbage to you, he asks:
“So you’ll replicate the entire experience of a cream puff in this cabbage?”
You nod. “Like this.”
You touch his hand gently, whisper your incantation, and in Mash’s eyes, the cabbage now has the appearance of a perfectly appetizing cream puff in his hand, far better appearing than the one he just had, and far too eager, he brings it to his mouth, spitting out immediately when it’s a raw cabbage and not his favorite food in his mouth. 
“Unpleasant.”
You grimace.
“Shit, I think I need stronger magic,” you murmur to yourself. Scratching your chin, you realize that taste might require a bit closer contact.
“Mash.”
Mash has set the half-bitten cabbage back down and is now in your fridge to cleanse his palate with another cream puff.
“Wait!”
He turns to the sound of your voice, mouth full, and you sigh. Walking towards him, you take the cream puff out of his mouth and set that on a plate too, right next to the cabbage. 
Moving to the sink to wash your hands, you ask, “Can you let me try again? I just need permission to touch your cheek or tongue in order to make sure your taste buds get involved in the illusion.”
You turn and look at him, once your hands are dry, and you shake them out, and he looks at you contemplatively. 
You raise an eyebrow.
“Can I or-”
Suddenly he steps forward, and gently takes your face in his hands, and before you know it, he’s kissed you. Tongue in your mouth, sweet and swirling quickly; it’s over almost as quickly as it began.
You hold your breath, but he’s reached for the cabbage now, and bites into it.
“It worked.”
The look on his face is pleasant and unfazed, unlike you. Your heart races for a moment, but soon you remember to breathe and air fills your lungs again.
All that’s left to say, your cheeks warmed, is, “I’m glad.”
157 notes · View notes
rxmqnova · 2 months
Note
Wanda / R daughter
R is a bit babyish for our age and Tommy and Billy makes fun of us for it. But when the twins take our blankie and we can't sleep Wanda puts her foot down.
Y/N's blankie
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Y/N: 6 years old Billy and Tommy: 9 years old ——————————————————
NO ONE'S POV "Alright, my little monkey. We're gonna buy some groceries and then we need to pick up the boys from school, yeah?" Wanda smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind her youngest child's ear while buckling her into the car seat.
It's one of those days Y/N hasn't been feeling the best, so Wanda let her stay home today to avoid a potentional meltdown.
"Will you buy me something in the store, mommy?" Y/N asks sweetly, holding her favorite pink bear blankie close and looking at her mommy, hoping for a yes.
The tiny girl won't make a single step without her blankie which is one of the reasons she's being picked on at school… and sometimes even at home. That's also a reason why Wanda sometimes lets her daughter stay home.
Wanda doesn't see Y/N's attachment to her blankie as a problem, though Tommy and Billy do. Of course Wanda has tried multiple times to explain it to her sons, but the twins just don't accept the fact that their sister is a little bit different in this than other children.
"If you'll be a good girl, I don't see why not" Wanda smiles, pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead before closing the door and walking to sit behind the wheel.
It takes about 20 minutes until the pair arrives to the store. Y/N's been blabbering around the entire way, playing with her blankie while Wanda's been happily listening to her little girl.
And after what feels like hours of walking around the store, they finally get to the little toy aisle which, of course, catches Y/N's attention.
"Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!" Y/N exclaims, tugging on Wanda's shirt while jumping up and down.
"What, honey?" Wanda chuckles, looking down at her daughter who gives her a grin.
"Can I go look there?!" Y/N points at the toys, hoping to get a toy for how nice she's been so far.
"Okay, you little monkey, let's look there" Wanda smiles, taking Y/N's hand in hers while pushing the shopping cart with her other hand, walking to where her daughter wants.
Of course Y/N starts walking around, deciding which toy should she ask for as there are so many of them, her blankie still in her arms.
"That one!" Y/N finally decides, taking the little stuffed monkey and walking back to her mother who's been watching her with a smile the entire time. "Mommy, can I please, please, please get this one?" She asks sweetly, pulling out her best puppy eyes on which Wanda can't say no. Plus Y/N's been really nice, so there's no reason to say no anyway.
"Of course, sweetheart. But now we really need to hurry up" Wanda smiles, lifting her daughter up and placing her inside the shopping cart to save some time as the tiny one really likes to stop and look around, asking about everything she sees.
———
It's been about two hours since Wanda, Y/N and the twins got home. The boys are now playing video games in the living room while Y/N's there too, playing with her toys.
"Where's my monkey?" Y/N furrows her brows in confusion, turning around and trying to find the toy Wanda bought her earlier today.
Tommy and Billy share a look, trying hard not to laugh as they were the ones who hid their sister's new toy.
"Billy? Tommy? Have you seen my monkey?" Y/N asks sweetly, looking at her brothers with hope in her eyes, but the twins only burst into laughter on which Y/N furrows her brows in confusion. "Why are you laughing? Do you know where my monkey is?" She asks once again, her eyes filling with tears and her bottom lip trembling.
"You're such a baby, don't even understand fun" Tommy rolls his eyes at the sight of his upset little sister, throwing the toy at her.
Though then another idea pops up in his head. If they take Y/N's blankie away, she won't be able to take it to school and 'embarrass' them, right?
Without thinking about the consequences, Tommy reaches for his sister's blankie that's been laying on the couch.
Y/N immediately tries to take it back, but Tommy holds it up, so even while jumping Y/N's not able to reach it.
"It's mine, give it back!" Y/N orders with a whine, but Tommy just throws the blankie to his brother, both laughing.
"Come for your blankie, Y/N" Billy teases, waiting for Y/N to run to him before throwing the blankie back to Tommy.
This repeats for a few minutes until Y/N has enough of it and runs to her bedroom with tears running down her cheeks.
———
Ever since that moment Y/N hasn't spoken a word. She's spent a while in her room by herself until Wanda got worried and came for her.
"There you are, bubs" A sigh of relief escapes Wanda's lips once she finally finds her daughter.
Y/N's now laying in her bed, just playing with the fabric of her bedsheets on which Wanda furrows her brows in confusion. Her daughter isn't the type to be just laying in bed.
"What's wrong, Y/N/N?" Wanda asks as soon as she sits down on Y/N's bed, running her fingers through her daughter's hair and not getting any response.
"You look tired, sweetheart. I think you're gonna go to bed early today" Y/N would normally complain about it, yet she doesn't say a single word again on which Wanda starts getting worried.
"What's gotten into you, baby? Y/N/N doesn't want to talk?" The desperate mother asks, finally getting a reaction from her daughter as she shakes her head. "Okay, Y/N/N doesn't have to talk if she doesn't want to" Wanda smiles a little bit, bending down to kiss her daughter's forehead.
Y/N haven't even said anything during dinner which is not common at all. The tiny one normally doesn't close her mouth for even a second and the fact she's been quiet all along is making Wanda really worried.
Now it's time for bed though, so while the boys are watching TV in the living room as they are allowed to stay up for a little more than Y/N, Wanda's tucking in her daughter.
But there's a big problem… Y/N just doesn't fall asleep without her blankie. No matter how tired she is, she won't close her eyes if her blankie isn't in her arms.
"What's wrong, baby? Can you tell mommy what got you so upset?" Wanda asks softly, noticing the tears in her daughter's eyes.
Though Y/N only burst into tears, making her poor mother panic. Wanda has no idea if her daughter is hurt, if she's just not having her day or if the boys told her some scary stories again.
Wanda scoops her daughter into her arms and starts looking for Y/N's blankie immediately, knowing it's the only thing that can comfort her daughter in any situation.
"Where's your blankie, baby?" Wanda asks, hoping to get an answer from her daughter, only to get more cries in response. "Oh, is this what made you so upset, sweetheart? That you don't have your blankie?" She asks softly after the realization, rubbing her daughter's back and pressing kisses to her head.
"Billy and Tommy don't want to give it back" Y/N hiccups before burying her head into Wanda's neck, crying loudly.
Wanda stands up immediately, heading into the living room with her crying daughter in her arms. She's talked to her sons about why's Y/N's blankie so important to her so many times, so the fact they took it makes her really angry.
"Boys, give me the blankie" Wanda orders sternly, watching as both of her sons look at her.
"W-what do you mean, mom?" Tommy asks, hoping he would get out of this conversation and wouldn't be in trouble.
"Give me Y/N's blankie" Wanda repeats, looking at her sons sternly. Both knowing they're in trouble, Billy takes out Y/N's blankie from under the pillow where they hid it, handing it to his mother.
Y/N's cries stop almost immediately once she has her blankie secured tightly in her arms which makes Wanda let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm going to put Y/N down now, but when I come back, you two and I will have a little chat" Wanda tells her sons sternly, anger still visible in her eyes.
She'll certainly make sure this time the twins will finally understand that making fun of their little sister and taking her things that bring her comfort is not okay.
----------------------
Wanda Maximoff masterlist
Masterlist
308 notes · View notes
goldengleams · 5 months
Text
just some things that i think make sense for quinn hughes as a boyfriend!!
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seeks you out for cuddles when you're at home
mans literally craves your hugs when he gets home after a long day
loves to surprise you with homecooked meals when he has the chance
is a little bit oblivious
like he won't notice that you're struggling while carrying the groceries in because he's scrolling on his phone
or he will get out of bed early to go to practice and leave half of your leg exposed to the freezing cold world without realizing
but the second you sigh and groan, "quinnnn" dragging his name out for dramatic effect
he immediately looks up or fixes his mistake and gives you a sheepish grin
oh and smothers you in kisses bc it's quinn duh
will fight to pay for you when you go shopping or get groceries
"quinn i don't need you to do that, i'm serious"
"babe i want to, i'm serious"
"you're spoiling me, q"
"that's the goal, pretty girl"
gets excited to watch your try-on hauls of everything you bought with his card
ok so we know quinn is a monotone king
you definitely make him laugh and bring out his silly side, which makes him feel really comfortable around you
but he also feels good just being with you in a comfortable silence when you're both just enjoying each other's presence
other people know you guys are a good match when they see his dopey smile and heart eyes when he's watching you
enjoys spa nights with you, especially enjoys watching reality tv with you as you wait for your facemasks to be done
is a house hunters fiend
"that house makes no sense, they have two dogs!"
"quinn, it's called tiny house hunters for a reason!"
you know he's busy with extra media and interviews since he's captain now, so you always send him a text wishing him well, not expecting a phone call or facetime
but quinn is quinn, and he will not let you go to bed without letting you hear his voice, even if it's just an audio message
is very good at responding to you, makes long distance pretty easy
even though he can be pretty quiet, you realize that he's talked to his brothers about you when you walk in one day and he's on the phone with jack
you tiptoe in just to hear him continue talking about your upcoming schedule and "no jack, she can't make it to the game, she has to get up early because she's like, really smart and important, and she's presenting in front of the boss, dude"
you've said hi to his brothers on the phone but you don't meet until summer rolls around and he brings you to his lake house for the week
so proud to introduce you to his family
his family meets you and they all have huge smiles on their faces because they already know how much quinn adores you
always bragging about you even though he's literally a professional athlete
gets sick twice a year like clockwork
and will make a big deal about it even though you know he's going to catch the flu once his teammates' kids infect half the team
will aimlessly follow you around the house while you make him soup (his mom's recipe of course)
let's be honest, quinn isn't a stranger to looking a little pathetic (meant lovingly) so this is like peak quinn hughes behavior
favorite season is spring so he loves to try to plant things with you and start a little garden
loves to surprise you with flowers, sometimes even sending them to your work
leaves lil love notes written on the top sheet of random notepads around his house
quinn hughes is a cutie !!!!!!
i was thinking about these so hope you enjoy!! send me more requests if you're cool or whatever 😝
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waltermis · 6 months
Text
Trick Or Treat🎃👻
MASTERLIST ↠ NATASHA ROMANOFF MASTERLIST
Summary: You spend a meaningful day with your amazing girlfriend.
Warnings: none
Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x reader (romantic), Avengers x reader (platonic)
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↠↠↠
“I’m back!” you sang out, walking into the Avengers Compound
“Hi detka…” Natasha said, as she greeted you with a kiss. “What’s all this? I thought you said you were going shopping for groceries.” Natasha said, as she inspected all of your ‘groceries’.
“Well, I was… until I saw the cutest Halloween decorations ever!!!” you exclaimed, as you placed your bags on the kitchen table. You dumped everything you bought out of the bags. Soon enough, the table was covered with carving tools, different candies, Halloween colored decorations, and so much more.
“So… you didn’t get the groceries?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow at you.
“What is wrong with you!? I tell you that I bought stuff for Halloween and you don’t even acknowledge it?!”
“I dunno, dorogoy. I’ve never really seen the appeal to Halloween.” Natasha’s statement caused you to gasp loudly.
“How are we even together?!”
“What do you mean?”
“I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!! It’s when we can dress up in random costumes, give out candy to adorable kids who are trick or treating! How can you not love Halloween?!” you exclaimed loudly.  Natasha shrugged, smiling at you. “You know what! We’re gonna spend the whole day showing you the best parts about the night of all Hallow’s Eve!” you quickly ran to your shared bedroom, almost bulldozing over Clint and Tony. 
“You still didn’t answer my question! Did you get the food or not?!” Natasha called out after you, but it was too late; you were already gone.
“What’s going on with Smarties?” Tony asked. Smarties became Tony’s nickname for you after the team caught you stuffing your face full of the candy in the middle of the night.
“She’s going on and on about how exciting Halloween is…”
“C’mon Nat. You can’t still be mad about that!” Clint cried out, exasperated. He knew instantly why his best friend was agitated.
“Wait… what’s going on?” Tony looked confused between the two best friends.
“The first Halloween Natasha spent at S.H.I.E.L.D. an agent decided it would be a good idea to place dozens of actual spiders in her room, along with snakes… long story short, they were left beaten to a pulp and are no longer an agent so….” Clint explained, snickering slightly.
“Damn…” Tony chuckled.
“It wasn’t funny then, and it isn’t funny now!!”
“Okay! I’m ready!!” you walked out, dressed in complete autumn colored clothes. You were dressed in a light brown tight-knit sweater with a trench coat and a pair of black high waisted jeans.
“Ready for where exactly?” Natasha questioned.
“We are going to go pick out pumpkins and then we’re gonna carve ‘em! Then all of us are gonna decorate some parts of the compound with the decorations I bought.”
“Moya lyubo–”
“Please Natty? For me?”
“...fine, but I won't guarantee that I’ll like it…”
“Yay! Let’s go!”
“Have fun, you two!!” Clint called out, as you pulled Natasha away.
↠↠↠
“Okay! We’re here!” you cheered.
“Detka… I thought you said that we were going to a pumpkin patch.”
“What no!! That’s what I wanted Tony and Clint to think. Why you may ask, well because my dear Natasha Alianovna Romanoff, we are going to be pulling pranks on them for the entire day!” This caused Natasha to grin widely. She quickly jumped out of the car, and dragged you into the store; nearly pulling your arm out of its socket, might I add.
The two of you spent over 3 hours in the store, but neither of you minded. The whole reason why you both worked so together was because of your love for scaring people. All people saw in your relationship was a pure princess and a dangerous beast but in reality, it was just 2 soft beasts who loved pranks…
The two of you finished your shopping and quickly ran back to the car. 
“Oh, I can't wait for this!!” you said, as you pulled out of the parking lot.
↠↠↠
You and Nat returned to the compound hours after you bought everything you needed without alerting anyone. Your first prank was set up in Tony’s lab, and it was quite simple. Tony had already decorated his lab in the spirit of Halloween, and you knew that had bought one of those witches that played a scary laugh every time you walked past it. So, when Tony was eating lunch, you and Natasha snuck into his lab and hacked into the witch’s voice box. Which meant that you could control when the witch would start laughing. The two of you were quick to leave before you got caught. When you did start the witch’s laugh, you could hear Tony’s girlish scream from across the compound.
The next person you hit was Steve, you painted his suit neon green and also spray painted his shield ‘Hello Kitty’ colors. To say he was frustrated would not bring his rollercoaster of emotions to justice.
After that, you and Natasha hit Clint, Bucky, Bruce, Wanda, and Peter at the same time. The original plan was supposed to be Clint walking into the kitchen where a tripwire was set and green slime would pour down on him before confetti cannons would go off causing the confetti to stick onto him. However, you didn’t expect all of them to enter at the same time, so when Peter set off the tripwire, they were all doomed.
Last but not least, Sam’s room. You knew that he was going to be returning from a mission later that night so you decided to cover his entire room in sticky notes. Everything was covered in bright sticky note papers and you even added the finishing touch of fake spiders in his underwear drawer.
By the end of the night, the two of you were exhausted. Your cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and your stomachs ached from the laughter you two held in.
“Ya tebya lyublyu’” Natasha said, looking at you.
“Did you just say you love me?” you asked, surprised. It was the first time Natasha’s ever said that to you. When you first said it, Natasha told you she wasn’t ready yet and you respected that. But now, hearing her say it for the first time, your heart feels full.
“I did,”
“I love you too.” you grinned before pulling her into a passionate kiss. The two of you drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms but before you could fully succumb to slumber, you heard Sam’s cry of surprise as he entered his room for the first time.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!!?!??!”
↠↠↠
1126 words
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brostateexam · 12 days
Text
Have not been saying much for a while because everything is hard.
I. My BiL has had c diff three times now and after the third time the oncologist decided to take a damn the torpedoes approach because they were wasting weeks that should have been devoted to chemo because he was too sick and too weak to withstand outpatient treatment. I haven't seen him irl since December but my mom says he looks rough and if his immune system is so messed up that he keeps getting c diff idk that I really want to visit him. What if I get him sick?
All of this is background to me, though, because mostly I'm invested in my sister. She wants to divorce him. He needs to be better enough that she won't face ostracization for doing so. I am invested in him getting better enough for that to proceed for her sake.
II. Something about my relationship with my mom has been bothering me and I finally figured out what it is: everything is equally important to her. She doesn't prioritize anything. If I am having a tough time and ask for help she'll say "well I'm busy every day this week but I can come over next week in Thursday for ninety minutes" and then when she comes over I ask her what she was up to, both to make conversation and because I'm nosy, and it's like... she volunteered for a clothing drive at the synagogue. She went grocery shopping. She went to a farmer's market. Thanks for fitting me into your schedule, I guess! Glad to know I am on the same level as farm fresh tomatoes.
III. I have been having a really tough time of it for the last few months. The vacation in Mexico was... Not restful. Shane had a seizure on the plane and I spent the first two days managing logistics related to that (and navigating the extra ~$2k I spent covering his medical costs while on the trip). His back is still fucked up almost two months later and so I get to do extra housework and chores because he can't lift or bend without being in pain.
IV. Resultant to III, I had a really awful period of about a month with an online friend who started being super short and terse with me because I've been around online less. It was really clear he felt like I was ditching him to go hang out with my cool friends or something, instead of the reality of the situation: I'm cleaning litter boxes and doing yard work and changing the sheets on the bed aka #livingthedream. I told him about all the stuff that was going on but it was clear he didn't believe me or resented my absence nevertheless. This came to a head with me basically texting him an essay about why he was being a bad friend. In a turn of good news, he listened, and apologized, and we mended fences. That was nice because I just don't know how much more bad news I can take right now.
V. I've been struggling with work but really it's just. My boss. My coworkers like me. My project sponsors like me. My skip level likes me. My exec likes me. It's just him. We don't have a good relationship and I don't know how to fix it. I don't know that it is fixable. This is a problem because this is the guy I need in my corner to advance my career and I don't know that he'll do that for me. The alternative is leaving my company, which sounds attractive on paper but in practice the job market is so so bad and it's just so discouraging. The idea of a new job sounds incredible. I wish I could do that. Maybe even a career change.
VI. Unfortunately, that's not gonna happen because of financial pressures. NGL, as much as I like my house (and I do -- I love its little windows, I love my pink dining nook and green bedroom, I love the mature fruit trees and pretty backyard full of wildflowers), I wish i had the cash in hand, instead. I feel trapped here, and like I'm making the most of it. That's a shit feeling to have.
VII. I've started regaining weight. Not a lot. Fifteen pounds since October. But it's scaring me. It's making me wonder if this whole surgery thing was pointless because I can't seem to stop myself from wanting to eat myself to death. So I'm trying to beat it back without resorting to "diet culture behaviors" (read: disordered eating) and that's tough.
There could be a separate post for things that are going well perhaps, but this is what's going not so well and it feels like a lot. Sometimes it feels like too much.
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znitsamluv · 2 years
Text
𝐓𝐡𝐞 '𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧'
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• Just Sanzu and Ran using the boogie man card on their kids
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° Sanzu
• Sanzu as a father is a chaotic ride but hey he is trying!
• Sanzu noticed lately that his 3 old son refuses to go to Sanzu's work place and he was worried that something might have scared him so he went to ask you about it .
• was surprised when you told him that your son is scared of Mikey because he looks like the boogie man he saw on the tv .
• Sanzu saw the opportunity and RAN with it like he would always use that card on your son when he is giving him a hard time when you are not around.
• " s/n eat your veggies"
" no "
• Sanzu didn't even eat his own veggies and he knew where his son was coming from but Sanzu doesn't have the energy to be scolded by you when you come pick s/n from sanzu's office.
• Sanzu was starting to lose hope when his eyes landed on the phone in front of him before smirking.
• " I'm calling the boogie man if you won't eat your yummy vegetables"
• Sanzu immediately smirked when s/n opened his mouth waiting for Sanzu to feed him , to say Sanzu was proud would be an understatement.
• finally after eating s/n was starting to doze off on Sanzu's lap while he was working when suddenly the office door opened and s/n started screaming and crying the moment his eyes fell on the new comer .
• " THE BOOGIE MANNNNNNN " Sanzu sweat dropped when s/n pointed at Mikey and started crying louder, he looked at his son then Mikey back and forth trying to think of a way to explain himself.
• " I- "
" I don't want to hear it just finish these papers"
• Surprisingly the next day s/n went to work again with snazu but this time he didn't cry because Mikey got him chocolate, Mikey didn't even glance at s/n he just gave him the chocolate and left . It was like a silent peace offering and your son accepted it .
• But s/n refuses to call Mikey anything except for " Boogie man " .
° Ran
• it was 11 in the morning and you left your husband with your daughter and went grocery shopping.
• it was going well at first until Ran couldn't take watching Dora the explorer anymore.
• " Where is the door ? "
" IT IS BEHIND YOU GOD DAMNIT"
• Ran was about to take the remote but your daughter snatched it first and they both held eye contact for a few seconds.
• " d/n honey give me the remote"
• Ran's orders was always obeyed growing up and he had no one that had the courage to tell him 'no' ...... Not until he gave birth to that mini Him .
• " No " . Ran was shocked thag he stared at his daughter for what felt like a minute before repeating the same thing and getting the same answer.
• Ran throught he was slick thinking that he could snatch the remote but D/n noticed and bit his hand before running to the other side of the room.
• " GET BACK HERE NOW "
" NOOOOOOO " .
• Ran went to the home phone and started calling someone.
• " Rin I need you to act like a boogie man and tell d/n to give back the remote"
" Ran this is the third time this week I am not doing that again"
" come on help your big bro , remember that time in 6th grade when- "
" Just put the phone on speaker so I can go back to work already"
• Ran did a small victory dance before calling d/n .
• " THE BOOGIE MAN IS ON THE PHONE AND HE WILL COME EAT YOUR TOES IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME THE REMOTE "
• Rindou sighed as it was his cue to talk as Ran put him on speaker, doing his best to change his voice he starts talking.
• D/n started tearing up and went slowly to Ran and gave him the remote and he gave a her a pat on the head with a cocky smirk .
• " Thank you boogie man d/n is now behaving"
" whatever don't call me again "
• Ran hang up and looked at his daughter expecting an apology but was met with a bite on his leg .
• Ran was about to shout at your daughter when you came home and she ran to you crying telling you how mean Ran was to her .
• Let's just say Ran sulked the rest of the day about how he spoiled d/n too much.
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goddessofmischief · 5 months
Text
      SAY DON'T GO (YOUNG BUGGY X READER)
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A/N: This is part of this series, which requests are open for! These fics are all one-shots, so they can be read separately. Also, I highly recommend listening to the song linked in the title while you read. (Especially with this one. It really, really fits it. Maybe even read the lyrics. It's really Buggy's POV in this fic.)
The first nights alone on the Oro Jackson were quiet.
You weren't alone, not really. You had Buggy and Shanks with you, after all, but it was strange hearing the place you grew up be silent for the very first time. The soft snores of your friends were nothing compared to the riotous laughter you had fallen asleep to every night for the past decade.
You were all orphans now.
"Shanks," you whispered, tapping him on the arm. You didn't dare wake up Buggy.
"Hm?" he hummed sleepily.
"Can't sleep."
"Me neither," he said, despite the fact that he was very obviously asleep mere moments ago.
Things felt different. Different than days before. You didn't feel like the woman who had been abandoned by - then reconciled with - Dracule Mihawk, or the woman who had stood and witnessed Roger's execution only one day earlier. You felt like a girl again, now that it was just you and Shanks and Buggy. Just the three of you, against the world, a world that did not seem quite so dim and empty as it had been these past few months.
And so you and Shanks (and Buggy, once he woke up to the commotion) "can't sleep"-ed together, laughing and talking and acting like everything would be fine, like you were a proper crew, like you were all you needed, like you and Shanks had never shared that poisoned kiss.
...
The mornings after that were not quite as bright.
It turned out that if you wanted to be a pirate crew, a real pirate crew, you needed some things. Other crew mates - those would come later, Shanks reasoned - and supplies, plenty of them. So you docked the ship at a nearby port, far from Marine influence, and began shopping.
"You know, I've been thinking," said Shanks, taking a bite out of an apple, "Maybe we should change our flag - our Jolly Roger?"
"Roger's flag? No way."
"C'mon, think about it. It's our ship now."
"Who would we even change it to? I mean, I wouldn't mind letting you be captain - in name only - but Buggy won't like it."
"Buggy will get used to it."
"What, and he'll be first mate? Who am I, then?"
"I don't know, I'm sure we'll come up with something-"
You smacked his arm.
"You're such a jerk."
"Such a jerk, 'Captain.'"
...
Buggy had dreamt of you last night.
How things were different now, maybe, for the first time. How maybe things could really change.
Mihawk had abandoned you (bummer) and you and Shanks seemed to have a strange distance between you since the wedding that Buggy couldn't understand. You would need someone, he was sure of it, and he would be there.
"Hey, guys," Buggy called out, carrying a bag of groceries in one hand and climbing aboard the Oro Jackson. A single daisy was concealed in his pocket. "Got everything?"
"Yeah, um," you said, and you couldn't look at Buggy.
"...What? What's going on?"
You looked up at Shanks, pleadingly.
"Don't make me say it."
"He'll take it better from you," said Shanks, and Buggy detected a hint of a smirk on his face. Weariness, too.
"Shanks wants to be captain," you mumbled, staring at the deck.
Buggy laughed.
"Kidding, right? You're... kidding." He saw the look on your face. "You're not kidding. Well, you told him, no, right? You told him no."
"She agreed to it," Shanks said. "She didn't mind. But she wasn't sure how you would take it."
"Why would you agree to that?" Buggy shouted, louder than he meant to, and you flinched. "Look at me. Why would you-"
"I'm sorry," you whispered, a tear rolling down your cheek. "I thought it was the right thing."
"Why isn't it me, huh? Why not me? What's the difference? There's nothing Shanks has done that I couldn't do."
"I trust him," you confessed. "I trust him to lead-"
"Yeah? Why not me?"
"Buggy-"
"Answer the question," Buggy snapped. "Why not me?"
"That's enough," said Shanks. "That's enough."
Shanks, he noticed, had put his arm around your shoulders protectively - as if you needed to be protected. As if you needed to be protected, from him.
"I'm leaving," Buggy said, and turned to grab his things.
He really meant it, too - he meant it, as he went downstairs and collected his clothes and weapons and souvenirs of the life he'd been living for the past twenty years. He almost grabbed a sweater of his you often liked to borrow, but left it.
He'd been so stupid to believe that anything could change. That he'd finally be like Shanks, an equal. He would never be as good as Shanks. He would always be second in your heart to him - third, depending on what your opinion of Mihawk was at the time.
Somehow, he'd always known.
It didn't matter if this crew, this boat, was the best chance he had at getting the One Piece. He would get it anyway, and when he did, he was going to have a good laugh at the look on you and Shanks' faces. But then again, you probably didn't care if you died peasants, as long as you had each other, and you'd probably be thrilled to be rid of him-
"...Buggy?"
He heard a creak and turned to see you holding the sweater.
"You forgot something," you said quietly, holding it out to him. Buggy shook his head.
"It's worn out. It's all... stretched, and you got stains on it, and there's too many holes. It's beyond repair."
All lies. You were particularly careful with this sweater, because it wasn't just your favorite - you knew it was Buggy's favorite, too.
You frowned, staring down at it and searching for a tear.
"You can throw it out, for all I care," and Buggy slammed the lid of his suitcase down.
"It's really warm," you said, "...And I don't want to."
You pulled it over your head, sleeves hanging far past where your arms could stretch. Buggy watched you, unable to look away.
He had forgotten how cute you could be when you weren't stabbing him in the back.
"Why'd you come down?" he asked, fixing a resentful expression on his face. "Figured you'd be celebrating with Shanks right now."
"I'm not gonna let you leave, Bug. You really are crazy if you thought I would."
"What's the point in me staying? You as good as said it back there, there's nothing I do that Shanks doesn't do better-"
"And how do you think I feel?" you snapped. "You think it felt good, watching him be stronger my whole life? Knowing that no matter what I did, Roger was never gonna respect me more than him? Did you even think about the fact that when I let Shanks be captain, I took it away from myself, too?"
Truthfully, Buggy had never thought to consider it.
"Do you know why I put up with it?"
"Tell me."
"Because he goddamn deserves it," you stated. "He deserves every bit of respect he gets. He's nearly the best swordsman because he trained to be, he's a fighter because he fought to be, and he's never once faltered when I needed him. He's a leader, and that's not who we are. So you can walk away from me and him and the One Piece, and be a big baby, but there's a reason why I chose him over myself. Do you not think I'm capable, Buggy? Do you not think I'm good enough?"
"You're good enough."
"I know I am. But you didn't see me throwing a fit on the deck. Making him captain doesn't mean that I think Shanks is better than you, because I don't think he's better than me, either. We all have jobs."
"Yeah? What's yours?"
"Doctor," you said. "And sniper, and cook, for now."
"And what about me?" Buggy asked, leaning against the wall and fixing his gaze on you. "If I stayed, what would you have me do?"
"I'd let you be first mate. And shipwright. And blacksmith. You're talented with making things."
"I didn't think you'd noticed."
"Of course I have," you said. "I'm wearing something you made right now."
It's true, you were. Buggy had gotten into knitting a long time ago, during lazy days on the Oro Jackson in his youth, and had decided to make a sweater for you after seeing how cold you got. He'd lost his nerve in the middle of the project and begun making it in his size instead of yours after fearing you wouldn't want it, but it ended up in your hands anyway.
You approached Buggy, tentatively, the long sleeves of the sweater draping off your wrists. He eyed you as you stared up at him, pleadingly, and then threw your arms around him as if you trap him, and could make him stay there forever.
"Please stay," you whispered, voice muffled by his shoulder.
Buggy smirked, holding you.
"I didn't think you would beg, doll."
"...Only for you."
Maybe he would stay a little longer.
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