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thevillainswhore · 1 month

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The Ties That Bind Us

Pairing: Ex-Husband!Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

Word Count: 5.7k

Summary: Even though Bucky is your ex-husband, you still have to see him often because of your shared son. But the heated tension, the spark that is still very much alive after your divorce, finally reaches its peak when you come home from your date.

Warnings: Mentions of divorce, small amount of angst, mutual pining, jealousy, kissing, smut, oral (fem receiving), daddy kink, p in v sex, derogatory names, spitting, happy ending.

Author’s Note: Unbeta’d, warning graphics and dividers by @rookthorne

“You look so pretty, Mama!” You caught your son’s reflection in the mirror, his bright blue eyes wide and in awe as you finished the final touches up of your makeup.

You were about to respond, but the words died on your tongue at the sight of Bucky’s large form rounding the corner into the bathroom. He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over one another. “She absolutely does, cupcake.”

The intensity of his stare made you gulp silently, and you diverted your eyes back to your son.

Bucky had been doing that a lot recently —looking at you differently, more longing in his eyes than usual.

“Thank you, baby,” you said, ignoring Bucky in favour of showing your appreciation to your son. The knot in your stomach was wound too tight to try and unravel the conflict that ravaged in your mind. “You’re going to be good for your Dad tonight, aren’t you?”

Your son did his best to try and hide the cheeky smirk on his lips — one that resembled his father a little too much. “Of course Mama, I be a good boy.”

Unable to help the smile growing on your face, you brought him into your embrace, snuggling him tightly until he let out a loud squeal when you tickled his stomach. “I mean it, trouble. No staying up late and no ice cream before bed.”

Instantly, his puppy eyes fell to his father, an innocent pout on his lips. “But Dadda—“

“Sorry kid,” Bucky held strong. Glancing to you before looking back to his son, “Mama’s rules.”

“Oh, shucks,” your son sighed as you laughed.

From the outside looking in, the three of you seemed like a perfect family. Picturesque and ideal — white picket fences enclosing a home that was full of love and laughter, wholesome family dinners and celebrations for each loved one.

But things were never as simple as you wished.

The sobering thought made your laughter die in your throat, and you checked the time on your lit up phone screen. It was almost time for your date and you were wary of being late. “Okay, cupcake. I’ve gotta get moving so I can make it on time.”

“Aw,” your son whined, and you ruffled his hair as you made your way out of the bathroom. The air was knocked out of your lungs as you squeezed by Bucky, the scent of his aftershave he had worn since you first met him filled your nose and overtook your senses.

You barely suppressed a moan, a sinful combination that your mind begged you to inhale one more time, while another internal voice scolded you. The lingering touch of his fingers ghosting over your waist made it even harder to listen to sense.

Once you reached the hallway, you shook yourself and grabbed your bag from its hook by the door. The coat over your arm was warm and comfortable as you slipped it over your shoulders.

The telltale patter of feet over the hardwood floor bounced towards you, along with another set of heavier ones not too far behind. “Where you going this time, mama?” cupcake asked.

Smiling, you leaned down and tucked a stray lock of deep brown hair behind his ear. “Just for dinner, baby. I won’t be out long and I promise I’ll be back to make you pancakes in the morning, okay, sweetie?”

He nodded before stepping closer and tiptoeing up to whisper in your ear. “Make sure he treat you good because you deserve whole world.”

Tears sprung to your eyes, clinging on to your waterline. You blinked them away quickly before your son could notice.

Though, Bucky did.

You kissed his forehead, and leaned back to look into his eyes. “You got it, cupcake.”

Stepping forward, Bucky spoke up. “Why don’t you say goodbye to Mama and go get a movie set up, huh pal? I’ll be with you soon.”

Before your son left, he hugged you. “Bye Mama, I loves you.”

You smiled as he ran off. “I love you too, baby — and remember to be good!”

Only Bucky and you were left by the door, your blanket of comfortability was gone and you felt his eyes that held too many memories burning through you.

“You really do look beautiful,” he vowed.

Fuck, you internally cursed.

You tried not to look into his eyes while you fumbled with your dress. “Thank you, Bucky.” You quickly shifted the conversation. “If he doesn’t settle then text me, okay? My phone will be on loud and I’ll answer straight away—“

“As much as I— We would like you home, I’m sure we’ll survive without you for a couple of hours,” Bucky said, recovering from his hiccup smoothly.

Your gazes met — you had always gotten lost in his eyes and even all these years later nothing had changed.

Snapping out of your reverie, you shook your head and unlocked the door. “I’ll um— I’ll be back later.”

Before you could leave, Bucky caught your hand. “Have fun, Doll.”

And with all the strength you had, you delicately took your hand out of his, taking note of the tan line of where his wedding ring used to sit. “Bye, James.”

The date went as expected.

Your company for the night wasn’t a problem at all. In fact, this was the third date you had both been on together. However, the spark you had so badly tried to ignite through bland conversations and one already ringed out similar interest fell short.

Every date you had been on since your divorce with Bucky seemed to lack a certain something for you. Although in recent light, you had come to terms with the fact you that no one’s eyes had the same shade of blue you were familiar with. Or made your heart jump in your chest from excited nerves years after your first meeting.

Simply, you hated the fact you compared every single man to Bucky.

With a sigh, you unlocked your door, careful to make as little noise as possible as you walked into your home. It was quiet, almost silent, apart from those damned footsteps that eased the weight off your chest and yet caused goosebumps to cascade down the bare skin of your arms.

Bucky rounded the corner from your kitchen to the open plan living room, a glass of whiskey in his hand in the orange hue of the darkness, provided by a single lit lamp.

“Hey,” he greeted you, the expression on his face imperceptible. “How was your date?”

You cleared your throat, struggling to keep your composure from the sight of his tight black T-shirt and denim jeans that deliciously hugged his thighs. “Um yeah— it was— it was okay.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow in skepticism. “Just okay?” He laughed. “Come on, give me more than that.”

You sighed in defeat. “I told him it was best if we didn’t see each other anymore.”

Unfortunately, there was only so much of a facade you could fake until it became noticeable to your date. It was an amicable decision with no hard feelings. But, it didn’t help to settle the confusing thoughts in your head.

Bucky took a swig of his drink, placing it on the hallway side table before he began slowly pacing towards you.

You couldn’t discern the look in his eyes, the way they feasted on your thighs or your waist. Backing up against the door until you physically couldn’t break free from the heat of his gaze, you could only watch as Bucky drew closer, right until you were a breath apart.

He brought an arm up, over the top of your head to lean against the door. “Any reason why?” he asked, a husk to his tone that granted you no favours.

A sudden pulse shot through your nerves, the ache between your thighs intense. It took everything in you to not rub them together. He would notice that you were sure of.

Desperate to escape what was sure to be a dangerous situation, you quickly slid out of his invisible hold and hastily made your way to the kitchen to pour your own drink. Bucky joined you only seconds later.

“How was cupcake?” you asked instead, attempting to switch the conversation to a safe topic. “I hope he didn’t cause you too much trouble.”

“He was good as gold,” he instantly replied, staring you down. A beat later, “He whined about the ice cream situation, but I promised I’d take him out for it tomorrow and he was out like a light — we had fun.”

You slightly faltered as you poured the whiskey into a second glass. You didn’t miss his small innuendo of spending more time together.

“Thanks for looking after him tonight. I know it was pretty useless anyway, but—“

Bucky trapped you against the counter as he placed his hand over yours, his deep baritone rumbling in your ears. “Don’t thank me for looking after my own son, you know I’d do it all the time if I could.” He took a deep breath. “If you would let me.”

No. You couldn’t do this.

You immediately dropped the bottle of whiskey onto the kitchen countertop, ripping yourself away from his touch to walk away.

Bucky reached out as he followed you. “Babydoll—“

“Don’t fucking call me that,” you scolded, fury in your voice.

Bucky however, wasn’t deterred. “Doll.”

“No—“

“Will you just—“ he caught you with a firm grip and spun you around to face him. “Will you stop running away from me.”

The two of you were out of breath from sudden adrenaline, harshly breathing into each other's mouths. The look in Bucky’s eyes was wild, untamed — tortured.

“Tell me you’ve never thought about it — us getting back together.” He gripped onto your arms, his eyes flicking between yours. “Tell me I’m delusional and I’ll walk out that door right now and we’ll never speak of this again.”

The ache in his voice broke your heart as much as the day you signed the divorce papers.

“Bucky—“

“Please.” He cupped your face with his hands, glancing between your eyes and your lips while his thumb slowly rubbed over them. “I’m a desperate man, baby. I’m desperate for you.”

You gulped, emotion bubbling over into your voice. “We broke up, Bucky. We’re divorced.”

He laughed wetly, but there was no humour in his tone. “And that means we can’t try again?”

The reasons for your separation seemed to blur under his stare. All the ways you weren’t good for each other leaving your mind and only making room for the good.

“Where the hell is this coming from, Bucky?” You deflected once again.

Your hands shook as he leaned his forehead against yours. “I can’t stand the thought of seeing you go out with another man again,” he whispered, painfully. “It’s killing me, Babydoll. It should be me.”

Tears rushed over your cheeks, you were too overwhelmed to hold them back any longer. You sniffled as you glanced down the hall where you son currently lied fast asleep and obvlious. “I can’t hurt our son, Bucky — I can’t.”

He smiled sadly at you, the crinkle in his eyes ever present but they only made you swoon for him even more. “There’s a reason all those dates don’t ever work out.”

You couldn’t hear it, couldn’t take what he was trying to say. “Stop it.”

“I know you’ve been holding back as much as I have.”

He was pushing you, like he always did and as much as you wanted to curse him, it was working. “Please don’t make me—“

The point of no return came in the form of your most hidden secret spilling from Bucky’s lips. “You still love me, Babydoll.”

Ice ran through your veins, hearing those words out loud that you hadn’t dared let yourself believe. Your mouth gaped open, unable to find the words to deny his accusations until your tether broke.

“Fine! I’m ruined for anyone else!” you shouted, frustrated and scared — a wild animal trapped in a corner. “You’ve ruined me — is that what you want to hear?”

His plump lips, soft and pink curled up. “It’s exactly what I want to hear.”

Leaping forward, Bucky crashed his lips against yours.

He was feverish as you both collided into each other. His hands, unrelenting yet gentle mapped out each and every slope of your body as you stood in the living room, feeling each other for the first time in years.

“Fuck,” he groaned between kisses. “Fuck, I’ve missed you, baby.”

Your head spun, dizzy with want. You hadn’t been touched in so long by anyone, never mind your ex-husband and your heart pounded erratically with nerves, excitement and longing.

Slipping his tongue into your mouth, Bucky kissed you like he was starved, as though you were his only salvation. He ran his fingers through your hair, tugging it harshly to pull you closer to him even though there was no longer any distance between the two of you.

“You’ve got no idea how bad I need you,” he whined into your mouth. “Need to fuckin’— I just need you.”

Without you realising, Bucky had pushed you up against the nearest wall and even through denim jeans you could feel the hard shape of his cock while he unabashedly grinded against you.

You broke for air, gasping as oxygen rushed to your lungs. “You have me, Bucky.” He trailed sloppy kisses down your neck as you panted, desperate to stain your skin with any trace of him. “You can have anything you want.”

He growled, a sound that caused a gush of wetness to soak your panties. “That’s a dangerous thing to say to me, sweetheart.”

Ripping away from you, he grabbed your hand and dragged you towards the laundry room on the other side of your house. You struggled to keep up with his fast strides in your heels, but you just about managed as he shoved you through the door and locked it behind him.

His back was turned to you for a while and you stood nervously fidgeting, waiting for him to face you. His back rose and fell with breathless heaves, as though he was holding back — a feral beast ready to pounce.

“Babydoll,” he said suddenly, rough and graveled. “I need to know you want this before I fuck the shit out of you.”

Holy fuck, the mouth on this man. Your mouth grew dry while you struggled to think clearly in his aura. “I— I do—“ you stuttered, lamely.

He slowly turned around, a wolfish gleam in his eyes with adrenaline surging through his veins. He was tense as he took a deep breath. “Say it like you mean it.”

When you stayed quiet, too hazy to speak, Bucky stalked towards you, lifting your chin up to look him directly in his eyes. “Say. It.”

Closing your eyes, you cleared your mind and swallowed before whispering, “I want you to fuck me until I can’t remember my name, Bucky.”

He smirked, the kind you knew all too well — deadly. “Atta’ girl.”

You sqeauled as he suddenly hiked you up into his arms, hands under your thighs so he could place you on top of the washing machine. Laundry detergents and other products you didn’t care to take note of fell from the shelves around you as he pounced on you once again, devouring you whole with his sinful lips.

“Do you know how much I’ve had to restrain myself, Doll — Mm?” he pressed, covering every inch of bare skin you had to offer with his kisses. “How fuckin’ hard it’s been to not drag you back in the house and take you right then while you get dressed up for someone else?”

You did. Because you understood more than anyone the pain of having to force yourself away from Bucky when all you had ever wanted was him.

He unbuckled his belt, the telltale sound of the leather snapping against his hands and the jingle of metal sent bolts of electricity straight to your cunt.

Your mind couldn’t keep up, your vision blurry with the sudden turn of events. All you knew was that you needed Bucky.

“Hurry, baby. Please,” you whined.

Bucky groaned with delight, his eyes rolling to the back of his head while he bit his swollen bottom lip. “Oh, how I’ve missed you begging for me, pretty mama.”

Rushing to take off his belt, he slid the material through the loops of his jeans and threw it on the floor, not long after hurrying to unzip his fly and shuffle his pants down along with his underwear.

The tip of his cock peaked out of his black briefs and instantly you let out a high pitched moan, even shocking Bucky enough to look back up at you drooling over him.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he cooed, slightly condescending. “Don’t you worry, Daddy’s gonna take care of you.”

Bucky revealed the entirety of his cock, the length just as long as you remembered and the girth as thick as you had imagined in your nights alone with your toys that couldn’t compare.

The slight curve that you could feel the ghost of pleasure from to this day caused you to bite your lip and squirm in your place.

Without waiting for Bucky, you began shifting the bottom of your dress up your thighs, too impatient to wait for him to undress you. It gave you immense satisfaction when he followed the material, slowly revealing more of your skin. His mouth gaped open while he fell to his knees, the thud that sounded surely must have hurt, but there was no other expression on his face than greed.

You stopped your dress just before Bucky could peak at your red panties and you almost laughed when his head shot up, aghast that you had interrupted the show.

The power you held, you smirked. “You want more, Daddy?”

Bucky dropped his head onto your thighs, his breath travelling up to your covered mound — your eyes fluttered, though you kept your breathing steady to not seem so desperate.

Stroking your fingers through his fluffy hair, you murmured low, “Does it hurt to know my pussy is right here and you can’t have it?”

You felt his muscles quickly lock up, his head snapping up to you with a speed that was frightening and exhilarating all at once. The blue of his irises darkened, dilating as he chuckled, “You’re very much mistaken, sweetheart. Because this pussy right here,” he shoved your dress up, spread your legs and breathed into you. “She’s mine, baby girl. And you’ve kept her from me long enough.”

A chilled blast of air hit you as Bucky tore your panties from your waist and held them up. “You wore these slutty panties for that fucker, huh?”

You gasped in shock when he brought them to his nose and inhaled the gusset deeply. He grunted as he closed his eyes in bliss. “Cos’ I’m pretty sure I’m the one who’s got you this soaked.”

Your keens amused him greatly. “Bucky—“

“That’s right, mama,” he laughed with pride. “My name sounds so damn heavenly coming from your lips.”

Bucky pocketed your underwear, not caring to be discreet and his thumbs came up to your cunt to spread you open to his eager eyes. “My god, baby,” he gasped in awe. Your hole clenched at the vulgar display. “You’re just as tight as the last time I had you.”

He tested a finger over your folds, running it through the embarrassing amount of slick that coated you.

“No one,” you breathed, shaking your head while willing your scrambled thoughts to formulate into words. “There’s been— there hasn’t—“

Bucky looked up at you from his knelt position, a small slither of vulnerability shining through his lust-hooded eyes. “Just me?”

You gulped and nodded, staring into his wide blues with honesty. “Just you.”

A moment passed between you. The charged air filtered down to that spark that had always been buried through the heartbreak you both endured in your divorce.

Bucky swallowed before placing a single kiss to the inside of your knee. “Then let me make up for that.”

You leaned your head back against the shelf behind you as his lips traveled up the meat of your thighs, yelping each time he gently bit you.

He murmured obscenities you could barely respond to as he edged closer to your pussy. You offered yourself freely, on a platter, as your legs opened even wider for him — the only man who ever truly owned you.

His lips whispered over your mound, a hint for what was about to come. “I’ve been waiting to taste you again for years.”

You moaned aloud, unhinged and unapologetic while Bucky licked a fat stripe up your cunt. Your nerves were alight with pure fire and you instantly grabbed onto the back of his head to push him further into you.

You didn’t care if the action was needy — one single touch of him and you were a goner once again.

He feasted on you, not coming up for air as he switched between sucking your clit and slurping your juices. “Oh my god— Bucky, baby you gotta— holy fuck.” Your eyes rolled to the back of your head.

Bucky wrapped his thick arms around your thighs and dragged you closer to him — all too happy to suffocate between your legs. “Sweet as a fuckin’ apple pie,” he murmured into you, the vibrations only deepening your pleasure.

Looking down at him, his eyes were homed in on you, watching your every expression. They were blown out, wild while strands of his hair stuck out in every direction.

Pulling away slightly, his heavy pants blew over your throbbing clit. “Daddy makin’ you feel good, Babydoll?”

You hardly had time to reply as he immediately shoved his tongue into your clenching hole and fucked you with it.

“Bucky!” you screamed to the ceiling. However, a harsh slap delivered to your thigh snapped you back to sense.

“You know that’s not what you call me,” he barked.

Whining, you corrected yourself. “Daddy, please!”

You felt his smirk plastered over your pussy as he hummed into you, “There’s my good girl.”

Your legs began to shake as you felt your climax creep to the surface and Bucky only doubled down with his sinful tongue that you somehow had forgotten he was way too talented with.

“I’m close,” you whispered as your vision began to blur. “So close — please, please don’t stop.”

Bucky continued his ministrations while your pussy fluttered around his tongue. Your release was within reaching distance and you gripped the washing machine, ready to let go until suddenly his presence was gone.

You almost fell forward before you caught yourself with your remaining strength. The pent up tension that was wound in your stomach hadn’t loosened and it took you a second to realise you hadn’t cum.

“W—what?” you mumbled shakily as you blinked your eyes open. Bucky stood there, his cock pulsing and viciously purple, with a smirk on his face, wiping his slick covered mouth with his arm. It disorientated you.

“I haven’t—“ you swallowed the dryness of your mouth. “You didn’t make me—“

Bucky’s cock bobbed as he closed the distance between you, dizzying you even further with a passionate kiss. “No I didn’t, baby.”

You whimpered in despair, the ache worsening. “But Daddy—“

“Nu-uh,” he breathed while lining his cock against your hole. “You’re only gonna fuckin’ cum when I say you can.”

Recklessly, Bucky pushed his full length into your pussy. You clung to his shoulders, your nails digging into him as the sheer size of his thick cock winded you enough to wail out.

“Shit,” he cursed, a strain in his voice as he firmly gripped your hips. “Fuckin’ hell— Babydoll, how the fuck are you still so tight.”

Impatiently, you fidgeted. Whether it was to escape how full he made you or try and force him deeper into your cunt you weren’t sure. All of it was too overwhelming to process.

“I can’t,” you shook your head, tears building over your glassy eyes. “You’re too big— Bucky, I can’t—“

“Yes you can,” he declared with conviction while he lifted your gaze to him. “You can take it, sweetheart.”

Slowly, Bucky began to ease out of your cunt. His cock was coated with your wetness and he moaned deeply at the sight. He grinded back into you, his curved tip hitting every sensitive spot.

“There we go,” he brushed your hair back and kissed your forehead, praising you. “Taking my cock so good, Babydoll. Just like always.”

His touch was familiar, yet new — all consuming and claiming — and you melted into him, smothering his neck with a litany of kisses as he continued to gently thrust his cock into you.

“M—Missed you,” you confessed, drunk from lust and emotion. “Missed you so much, Bucky.”

The motion of his hips sped up as he began pounding into you with more force. “Yeah? You missed being a sweet little wife for me?” He taunted with an evil grin. “You loved being Daddy’s little slut, didn’t you?”

“Mhm— Always your slut, Daddy!” You sobbed into his skin.

His pace turned unrelenting, fierce after too much lost time. He fucked you as though he would be left out to dry after he was done.

Grabbing your cheeks, he leaned his forehead against yours. “You’re mine, Babydoll,” he grunted. “Don’t care who’s fuckin’ taking you on dates. You belong to me.”

Nodding your head, you fell mute, mouth gaped wide as you felt the knot begin to build up in your stomach once more.

Bucky looked down to watch his dick glisten with your slick. The obscene sounds created from the amount of your juices leaking out only caused his cock to throb. Your cunt squelched with each thrust he made. But it wasn’t enough for him.

Gathering saliva in his mouth, Bucky spat to where the two of you connected, groaning as it clung to your pussy and stringed out with his motions.

Your squeals of pleasure began to get louder as the coil tightened, “I’m gonna—“

Before you could rush the words out, Bucky pleaded, “Tell me you love me.”

Your eyes snapped up to his, more alert now. He didn’t falter, only fucked you with more abandon.

“Tell me you love me,” he repeated once more, a demand this time.

“Bucky, I—“

“I know you do, Doll.” His hips started to twitch, his telltale sign that he was also close to cumming. However, you had an inclination that he wouldn’t let himself go until you gave him what you wanted. “I know you remember how good it used to be. Let me come home and I’ll fuck you this good whenever you want.”

You gurgled around his fingers as he suddenly shoved them into your mouth, collecting the drool gathered on your tongue to bring them down to your clit. He didn’t ease them against you, instead rubbing tight circles rapidly, bringing you closer to the edge faster.

It was impossible to escape his dark eyes or the fierce hold of his hand at the back of your neck. “Feels so fucking good, Daddy!” you blurted.

“I know, mama,” he assured as he drove his cock into you even harder. “Your cunt feels like heaven.”

“I wanna cum,” you cried. “I need to cum.”

“You know what you’ve gotta do then, don’t you, Babydoll?”

You squeezed your eyes closed. The pleasure started to blend into a mix of pain and you were only slightly ashamed that it only turned you on more. “I—“

“Come on, baby. Give me what I want.” A few more punishing thrusts and you were treading the line of your impending orgasm. Your thighs shook violently and beads of sweat dripped down your chest. But when Bucky grounded out his next words, you fell apart. “Be a good wife for Daddy and tell me the truth.”

You couldn’t hold back any longer, the balance of your orgasm tipping over along with the truth you tried to withhold. “I love you, Bucky!”

Instantly, you felt the pulse of Bucky’s cock, a warm shoot of his load filling your cunt while you silently screamed and shook with the intensity of your climax.

Everything fell deaf to your ears as you fought to catch your breath, slumping against Bucky. His heavy breaths blew your stray hairs sticking out from the sweat gathered on your head while his hips continued to slowly pump into you from the aftershocks of his own orgasm.

You were brought back to the present with the gentle touch of his lips pressing against your cheeks, kissing your skin delicately. “Hey there, Babydoll.”

While you would have normally been nervous, the energy that he had drained you of allowed your inhibitions and walls to crumble, leaving you to smile drunkenly at him. “Hi,” you whispered.

Bucky checked you over, darting his eyes over your face. “You feeling okay?”

“Mhm,” you mumbled, bringing your thumb up to swipe over his stubble you had always been fond of. “Freshly fucked and never better.”

The corner of his lips curved up, a small mirth of laughter escaping him. He licked his lips and you detected a hint of nerves that crossed over his features. “I um— I’m sorry if I—“

You placed your pointer finger over his lips, shushing him. “You didn’t go too rough.” Slowly, you brought your finger down, hooking it into the collar of his shirt. “I enjoyed myself.”

“Good.” He brought one of your hands up to his mouth to kiss the palm of your hand. “Good.”

The two of you barely noticed his length still deep in you. All that you cared for was the weight suddenly released from your chest.

“Did you mean it?” Bucky asked, cutting through the peaceful silence. He was defenseless, all guards down with a shimmer of hope twinkling in his ocean eyes.

You knew exactly what he was referring to and you inhaled deeply before you replied, “I did.”

He swallowed thickly, his emotion clear though his bright eyes. “I love you too — so fuckin’ much.” He nuzzled into your neck as your hand held him close to you. “I’ve missed you.”

A lump gathered in your throat once more. Breathing in Bucky’s scent freely, without guilt this time, you sunk into his embrace even further.

“Can I come home?” he whispered into your skin, a desperate plea. “I’ll do whatever you want — I’ll go to counseling with you, we can take things slow. I just need you back, Babydoll.”

The answer was simple. You knew in your heart there was no one else for you, no one better. No matter your differences, everything would always lead back to Bucky and you were willing to give the two of you a second chance.

“Okay,” you answered softly.

His head shot up, eyes wide and red from the tears you felt gathering on your neck. “Okay?” he repeated hopefully.

You smiled, kissing him gently on the lips before you muttered, “Come back home, baby.”

The pan sizzled on the stove as you cooked the last pancake, a stack already piled high on the counter next to you for breakfast.

Music played softly on the radio and you swayed your hips side to side, covered by a long T-shirt, while you hummed to yourself.

You were interrupted from your task when a pair of thick arms wrapped around your middle, hugging you from behind tightly. “Yknow, I could have had my breakfast in bed,” Bucky grumbled into your ear, his deep morning voice causing your eyes to slightly flutter.

You huffed a laugh before you mumbled, “I bet you could, greedy.”

The bristles of his trimmed beard tickled your skin as he playfully nibbled your neck. “Can’t exactly blame a man when his woman tastes so sweet, Babydoll.”

Your head started to feel heavy as you gave into his kisses, leaning back into his hold and opening yourself up for him.

“There’s a good girl,” Bucky praised you. “You just let Daddy—“

Peaking an eye open, you watched as his hand crept forward, about to pinch a pancake from the pile. He yelped as you swatted his hand away, a pout on his lips while you grinned.

“Nice try, Daddy,” you teased, smugly.

Before Bucky could retort back, a sluggish set of small footsteps sounded over the floorboards and you whipped around to find your son, still sleepy, making his way to the dining table.

“Morning, cupcake!” you greeted him cheerfully.

With difficulty, he climbed his way onto one of the chairs, huffing with the effort and sinking down once comfortable. He looked towards you, blinking the sleep from his eyes. “Mornin’, mama—“

Frowning, your son looked towards Bucky, finally noticing him too. “Dadda?” he asked, confused.

“Hey, pal.” Bucky treaded, carefully.

Your son’s gaze fell to the lack of distance between you and Bucky, his hand still lingering on your waist. Keeping your composure, you waited nervously for his reaction.

“He treat you good, mama?” he asked all so innocently with a hint of fierceness in his bright blue eyes.

You watched with bated breath as Bucky stepped towards him, leaning over the table with his palm up to your son. “I’m gonna take good care of mama, “ he promised with sincerity.

Your son deliberated for a moment before nodding his head and reached out to hold his Dad’s hand. “Okay, can I have pancakes now?”

You sighed a breath of relief. “Of course, baby.”

It was silent for a moment, in your small kitchen while you plated up breakfast for your family. Bucky and you shared an intimate smile until your son spoke up once again. “Just don’t forget about the ice cream you promised me.”

Laughter filled the entirety of the kitchen, a home once again bathed in love — your perfect little family.

#Bucky Barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes x f!reader #Bucky Barnes x female reader #Bucky Barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader smut #bucky barnes x reader fluff #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes oneshot #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes drabble #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes fanfiction

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moonteases · 2 years

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i...may have miscalculated when i decided to not have lunch and only drink a big cup of coffee today...my stomach is crying out for help but there's no food in the house (yet)

#i mean i Had pancakes in the morning but in the grand scheme it's nothing #and my stomach is basically eating itself as i'm typing #stupid stupid girl! (very derogatory)#about me

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dc-eased · 2 months

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you get used to it

cass: *emerging out of the shadows* what's for breakfast duke, new to the house: AAH- WHAT THE FUCK- alfred, not missing a beat: Good morning, Ms Cassandra. I am making blueberry pancakes, as requested by Master Richard, though he does not seem to have woken up yet. jason, peeking his head out of the kitchen, somehow fully dressed in Red Hood gear, except sans helmet and plus frilly pink apron: lazy ass probably won't crawl out of whatever hole he's died in till two, he went to sleep at four this morning. cass: *nods sagely* duke: *still frozen in shock and horror, internally screaming and gaping* damian, stepping out from behind alfred: Good morning, morons. I'm surprised to see you're all alive, though Drake appears to be nearing death's door. everyone: *glances over at the corner of a random hallway, where a drooping, haggard time lurks* tim, eyes manic and smudged with the darkest eyebags known to man: WHAT DAY IS IT? bruce, hair unkempt and sleepy looking: *yawn* thursday. alfred: It is Saturday, Master Tim. Master Bruce, you could do with a pick-me-up. (derogatory) duke: WHAT. THE. FUCK. alfred: Language, Master Duke. dick and steph: *still blissfully asleep in their rooms, dick is passed tf out on his stomach, steph is sprawled on her back in a stunning imitation of a starfish*

#steph is def doing cartwheels in her dream #jason todd is always in his redhood apparel #this is my design #such sillies #poor duke #dc #duke thomas #cassandra cain #dick grayson #jason todd #alfred pennyworth #bruce wayne #stephanie brown #tim drake #damian wayne

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teambyler · 1 month

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Will said he's "not gonna fall in love" EXACTLY when he does something referring to Mike:

I'm late to Byler (just watched s4 a month ago and found y'all after), and I'm guessing some caught that Will opened a bottle of syrup in front of his plate which has eggs, and Mike definitely liked syrup on his eggs in s1.

But has anyone pointed out the IRONY of Will saying "I'm not gonna fall in love" EXACTLY when he gets the syrup? The creators must have known eagle-eyed viewers would remember s1 Mike grossing out his sister with this.

So Will said "I'm not gonna fall in love," while we're all reminded of someone he's already in love with. But not only that: syrup on eggs is an unusual preference he seems to share with the boy he loves. Which symbolically suggests they're meant for each other.

(Yes, I know Will has pancakes there, but we all know you put ketchup on eggs lol. And he starts eating with just the syrup!)

The creators SO wanted him to say this line while unscrewing the cap that they made a continuity error. In the IMMEDIATE previous shot, Will had already unscrewed the cap:

So the timing was deliberate.

And we all remember the very gay-coded Mike Tries Fruit on Pizza Incident. To which I'll point out:

Syrup on eggs = Fruit on pizza

Syrup and fruit both add sweetness to an otherwise starchy food. Just like being queer, some people instantly find the IDEA of it repulsive (Mike's sister called the syrup "disgusting"). But others find it delicious!

And it's canon that Mike has always liked sugar on his starch ;)

Mike didn't want to try fruit on pizza. "Fruit" is historically a derogatory word for gay men. He called fruit on pizza "blasphemous." His friends had to coax him to try sugar on his starch, which he always liked.

Afterward, Mike says off-camera that he liked his fruity pizza (screencap with subtitle):

Oh, Mike, you just had to try it! And what's the harm in telling Will you like him? He just might like sugar on his starch as well!

"Try before you deny" indeed!

P.S. Follow me and read my blog! I have so much to say!

#byler #pizza #fruit on pizza #try before you deny #syrup #not gonna fall in love #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #byler theory #pizzagate #syrupgate

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absurdthirst · 5 months

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Cellblock Tango {Marcus Pike x F!Reader}

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 20.6k

Warnings: Mentions of drinking, hangovers, drunk tank, flirting, mismatched power dynamics, jail cell sex, rough sex, fingering, hand cuffs, derogatory language, role play, unprotected sex, miscommunication, Dad Marcus deserves his own warning, father/son bonding, there was only one hotel room, break ups, angst, confessions, oral sex (female receiving), love making, mentions of future children.

Comments: One little interlude leads to a surprising discovery eleven years later, Marcus Pike has a son. You are the woman he fucked in a jail cell when he was a cop and now, you're the mother of his child.

Co-written with @storiesofthefandomlovers

**Follow @absurdthirst-writes and turn on notifications to stay up to date on all new fics.

|| MasterList || Marcus Pike MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

“Pike.” Marcus answers his phone as he tries to finish this report and he half listens until he hears the words “art stolen” and then he’s listening to the call and he nods, stopping typing. “I’ll be right there.” He promises and hangs up, grabbing his jacket.

He is quick to drive over to the gallery and he flashes his badge when the police ask who he is. He ducks under the tape and makes his way into the gallery where glass is shattered on the floor and several employees are clearly shaken. “Hi, I’m Marcus Pike, FBI.” He introduces himself, “who’s the curator?” He asks and you step forward.

“It’s nice to see you again, Agent Pike.” You smile and Marcus frowns, trying to place your face until it hits him.

**Eleven Years Ago**

“Let me outtt.” You whine, slapping the bars of the cell you’re in, your head aching and you look at the officer on duty sitting at his desk.

“You can’t come out until you sober up.” He says and you squint as you look at his badge.

“I’m sober…ish.” You bite your lip and he shakes his head, “drunk and disorderly behavior…not great for your record.” He says and you scoff, “I’m a senior in college. Art history. I am graduating this weekend. I- I just wanted to celebrate.” You whine, resting your head on the cool bars and you aren’t sure how long you’ve been in this cell.

Marcus shakes his head and has to admit that you look cute for a criminal. You won’t be charged, you aren’t even booked in right now, taking mercy on you, although he hopes that you understand that you need to curb bad habits before it does get you into trouble. “You’ll be there until you can tell me your telephone number backwards.” He tells you with a grin, looking up from his paperwork. Marcus is known as a by-the-book cop and even though he’s still green, he’s going places. His application to the FBI should be accepted any day and he wants to make an impact on the world and community.

You whine, slumping down on the bench in the cell and soon enough, you’re falling asleep. You wake up a couple of hours later with a headache and Marcus hands you a cup of water and some aspirin. “Here.” He says and you open the bottle, taking a couple and downing the water. He refills it for you and you sigh, feeling sober and worse for wear.

“Got any good hangover tips?” You ask the cop who chuckles and you finally notice how handsome he is. His brown eyes are tired looking as he nears the end of his shift and you tilt your head against the wall.

“Nothing that would be appropriate for a jail cell.” He jokes, happy that you seem to be sober now. You had been a little rough there for awhile and it seems like though you have a hangover, you’ve learned your lesson.

“I guess pancakes and bacon is a no go in a cell.” You chuckle and look over as Marcus stands up. “You got any mints?” You ask and Marcus nods, reaching into his desk drawer and he hands you the box of altoids. You chew a few and sigh, “thanks.” Handing him back the tin, your fingers brush and you notice again how handsome he is. “I bet you’re ready to head home to your partner after dealing with drunk me tonight?” You ask with a smirk, knowing you were a handful.

Marcus snorts and shakes his head. “No partner.” He admits, shrugging sadly. “Ex-wife didn’t want to be a LEO wife.” It had stung but he understood it. He would rather end it amicably than turn nasty after kids. “And you were pretty cute drunk.” He admits with a grin.

You giggle, loving how kind he’s been despite being locked up. “At least I have that going for me.” You wink at him and he leans against the bars. “Your ex wife is an idiot to have let you go. You’re handsome and funny and you have a good job.” You flirt, leaning towards the bars. “I’d wait for you allll night baby.”

“Yeah?” Marcus smirks, enjoying the banter even though you’re probably just trying to get out of being charged. He had no intention of charging you, but it’s a harmless little indulgence. “I think you’re just hoping I’d use my handcuffs on you.”

“Ooo don’t tempt me with a good time, officer.” You wink, “I like a man who knows how to take control.” You reveal with a smirk and you playfully hold your hands up. “Arrest me again, officer.”

He chuckles and your stomach twists, “for what crimes?” He teases and you grin, “for lusting after a man in uniform.”

There is nothing that Marcus finds sexier than a confident woman and you are not simply flirting with him because you are behind bars. Or if you are, it’s because you find it sexy. The spark of desire in your eyes makes him bolder, pushing off the edge of his desk to come and prop against the bars with a smirk on his face. “Yeah?” He asks, lifting a brow. “What would you do then? Fight me?” He asks. “Or what would you let me do? Right there in the cell?” He’s dangerously close to inappropriate behavior but he doesn’t think that you mind it.

You look up at him from under your lashes, wrists still outstretched when you say “anything you want.” You promise and he inhales sharply, “I wouldn’t fight you. I’d fuck you. I’ve been a bad girl, officer, and I need some punishment.” You pout playfully and lower your hands, lifting your dress a little higher to expose your panties.

“Jesus Christ.” Marcus’ eyes widen in surprise. “Are you serious?” He asks, looking around and then back at you. “You really want that?”

You nod, feeling bold at the look in his eyes and you reach through the bars to play with his badge. “Officer Pike. Do you want to fuck me?” You ask, licking your lips.

“Yes, I do.” His cock twitches and starts to harden in his uniform and he reaches for the cell keys. “Are you sure?” He asks. “You can say no at any time.” He reassures you. “I- don’t want you to feel like this is to get out of being charged. You’re being released no matter what.”

You nod in understanding, watching him open the door, and you watch him stride in. “I know. I - I don’t usually do this but you’re - you’re so sexy. I want you.” You confess. You’ve been sensible your entire life. Focusing on getting your degree, you didn’t even go out for drinks most weekends and tonight, you want to celebrate. The officer steps closer to you and you reach out to take his hands, bringing them to your waist.

“Shit. I don’t either.” Marcus confesses, squeezing your waist and then he is whipping one hand behind his back as he twists you around. “Hands behind your back.” He growls, a thread of authority in his voice. “I’m going to cuff you.”

You gasp when you feel the cold metal encircle your wrists and your cunt clenches at the way he manhandles you. “I’m sorry, officer. I didn’t mean to be bad.” You play along, arching your back so you can grind against him and you’re pleased to feel how hard he is.

“Should have thought about that before you broke the law.” He grunts, twitching against your ass. “Gonna have to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.” He never thought he would be a man who enjoyed roleplay, but he is very eager to see how you react.

He bends you over the bench in the cell and tugs your dress up over your hips, making you whimper and your nails dig into your palms. “I’m sorry, officer.” You gasp when his hand comes down on your ass after he sits down beside you, one hand gripping your cuffed wrists, the other slapping your ass hard enough to make you cry out in both pleasure and pain.

It’s a good damn thing that there’s no one else in the entire building at this hour. You are loud and he loves it. “Fuck. You like this, don’t you? You little slut.” He stops and strokes your ass gently. “Was that okay?” He asks, realizing you could take offense and wanting to check in.

You love that he’s asking you if it’s okay, breaking the roleplay, and you know he’s so sweet but also so dirty to be doing this. “It’s perfect. I’ll tell you if I don’t like something.” You promise and he nods, rubbing your ass before he brings his hand down again. “I love it.” You moan, “I love it, officer.”

Marcus groans and he slaps your ass again before he slides his hand down your hip and drags your panties down. “Let’s see how much you love it.” He growls, his fingers seeking your cunt and loving how wet he finds you.

You moan loud when he finds your cunt, sliding his fingers through your folds until he is rubbing your clit. “Oh shit.” You pant, arms starting to ache but you don’t care. You want this, you want him. It’s cleared your head and you know you are no longer drunk on booze but rather drunk on his touch. “Yes. Yes. Fuck, that’s - I need more.” You beg greedily.

Marcus pulls his fingers away and he lets go of your arms so you collapse onto the bunk. Unzipping his uniform pants and pulling his cock out, he spits in his hand and pumps himself. “I’m clean.” He promises you. “Are you…on birth control?”

You nod, “I’m clean and on the pill.” You promise and he shifts to kneel on the bunk, straddling your thighs as he pumps his cock a couple of times. “Jesus.” He hisses as he lines up and starts to push inside of you. You whine and clench your fists, enjoying the stretch of him.

You’re so fucking tight he feels like he’s going to bust. Granted, it’s been awhile for him, but he’s clenching his jaw and enjoying the way you squeeze him. “Goddamn.” He grunts when his hips are flush against your ass.

You can’t open your eyes, mouth open in a silent cry as he stretches you and you are certain you are dreaming, this has to be a wet dream. When he starts to move, you moan out and try to spread your legs a little wider but he keeps you pinned down. “Fuck baby. Yes!” You finally cry out when his hips press against your ass with each thrust.

It’s probably the roughest, kinkiest sex Marcus has had in forever and he’s into it. Holding onto your cuffed wrists, he covers you, driving into you with increasingly rougher thrusts. “Think you can spread your legs and get out of trouble?” He growls in your ear. “Your tight little cunt your get out of jail free card?” He demands. “Whoring yourself out? I should book you, keep you here to fuck.”

Your eyes roll into the back of your head, his words making you gush around him and he sets a harsh pace, “do it. Keep me - I - fuck. If you fuck me like this every day, I’m yours.” You moan, enjoying the way he pushes deep and his deep voice. It makes you shiver under him.

Marcus hisses when you clench around him and the keys on his belt around his hips jangle as he fucks into you. It’s a damn good thing he’s going home after this because you are soaking the front of his uniform. “You are mine.” He huffs, biting his lip and watching as his cock plows into your cunt. “Fuck, this is so hot.”

You moan your agreement, your voice echoing in the empty cell and his keys jangle a little faster as your nails dig into your palms. “Fuckkk. I’m gonna - you’re gonna make me cum.” You whimper at the way he angles your hips and you cry out as you cum, clamping down on his cock.

Marcus moans, fucking you harder as you soak him with your cum. Desperate and unmeasured thrusts as he starts to feel his own orgasm building. “Shit- shit,” he whines. “So tight, you’re so fucking tight, baby.” He let’s go of your wrists to hold onto your hips and changes the angle to fuck down into you for the last half dozen thrusts before he’s grinding deep and painting your walls with his seed.

You pant, loving how he feels when he cums inside of you, and you close your eyes, savoring the feel of him inside of you. “Fuck that’s good, officer. Oh God.” You wish you could reach back and touch him. “That was so good.” You sigh and he hums in agreement as his forehead rests on your back. “Are you going to - are you going to let me go?” You ask playfully, eyes still closed as you smile.

"I shouldn't." Marcus plays along, his hand running soothingly up your spine as he catches his breath. He kisses your back and then sits up. "But I think I have to, with something this good." He chuckles, pulling out of you gently and admiring the way your cunt spasms and starts to push his cum out. He tucks himself away and pulls your panties up respectfully before he reaches for his keys. "No regrets?" He asks softly as he uncuffs you.

You let him uncuff you and you sit up, looking at him. “Baby, I couldn’t regret it.” You tell him with a wink, and you cup his cheek. “Thank you. Am I - on a serious note…am I being charged?” You ask timidly and lower your hand from his cheek.

“No.” He smiles, even though he is serious. “I had told you last night you were just being held until you could tell me your phone number backwards.” He chuckles. “You whined it out right before you fell asleep.” He hums. “So I can throw it away, or maybe… I can call you after my work week and maybe take you out on a date? Unless you want to get picked up again for drunken disorderly?” He teases.

You fluster, nodding at him, “I, uh, I would like to see you again…showered and completely sober. Not that I’m not sober but you know what I mean…not - not recently arrested.” You chuckle and he smiles softly, his brown eyes sweet and soft, albeit tired. “I’d love to go on a date with you.” You promise and he blushes a little, making you grin.

“Well then, I’ll call you.” He promises, reaching up and stroking your cheek gently. “Tonight was fun, but I know you want to get home and shower and I’m about to get off to go home and crash.” He admits. “Make sure to hydrate today, okay?”

You nod, squeezing his hand when he lowers it from your cheek. “I’ll see you soon, officer.” You wink playfully and he nods at you. You are soon reunited with your things and call a taxi to take you home. You collapse on the bed as soon as you get home and fall asleep, the exhaustion getting to you. You’ll wait for the officer to call and you dream of brown eyes and handcuffs.

**Present Day**

Marcus squeezes your hand and his face flushes hotly, remembering every moment of his time with you. Your name comes off his lips quietly and he wishes that you were meeting under less public circumstances. “It’s good to see you again. It’s been a long time.” He segways lamely. “I tried to call you.” He blurts out. “The number you gave me was wrong. And I finally figured out what the real number was about a year later. By then I figured you had forgotten about Officer Pike.”

You stare at him in shock, unable to believe that you are seeing him right now. You clear your throat, glancing around to his colleagues and yours and you offer him a soft smile, “don’t - it’s okay. I understand. I just figured you changed your mind.” You shrug like it’s no big deal and he frowns but you stop him before he can respond, “do you want me to show you where the piece was that got stolen?”

Marcus snaps back into a more professional mode and nods seriously, reaching into his suit jacket pocket to retrieve a notebook and a pen. He likes to jot down his first impression of the scene while he’s there. “When did you notice the piece was missing?” He’s aware that you gave your statement to the local police but he wants to hear it straight from you. Unable to believe that the drunk tank encounter eleven years ago had turned into his victim on his latest case.

“This morning. I came into work as I always do at 8:40. I walked around to check everything was clean and in place and then of course I saw this piece was missing. I checked the security cameras but it’s been interfered with as it’s all fuzzy. I called the police right away, didn’t touch anything else, and they sent you over.” You tell him as you walk towards the area of the missing artwork, trying to conceal the way your hands shake from seeing him again after all these years.

Marcus nods, jotting down notes and he looks over the scene carefully. “When did the museum close last night? Are there any night shift personnel that clean or maybe a guard?” He wants to make sure that he does everything right and he can’t help but be a little flustered by you. He looks over at you and sees you shaking. “It’s okay.” He shoves the pen and the notebook into one hand and pats your shoulder soothingly. “I know that being robbed is a terrible violation but we are going to do our best to recover your painting.”

“There’s a night guard but he was sick and - he admitted to me he fell asleep for a couple of hours during his shift.” He mistakes your shaking for fear and you play into it, nodding and smiling in appreciation of him helping you with this situation. He’s the last person you ever imagined would be helping you find the art, especially after he never called and you had no way of getting hold of him. “Thank you.” You smile and he continues to assess the crime scene. Forensics comes in and you spend your work day with Marcus and his team working on finding the missing painting.

Marcus is delighted to find that the younger woman he had a brief liaison with has become a smart and capable woman. You are thoroughly knowledgeable about the museum you run and the staff. Even the maintenance schedules are quickly located and accounted for. You seemingly run a tight ship. “Okay. Have there been any visitors who have been unusually interested in the security? Asking questions pointed around the room that the painting was in?” He asks, wondering if there’s another possible angle to this.

You bite your lip, pondering the question before you turn towards Jenny, the new receptionist. “Didn’t you say we had a man come in and he was asking several questions about different pieces and you thought it was weird because he kept looking at the cameras?” You ask and Jenny nods. Marcus asks her to describe him and Jenny tries her best. While Marcus is writing down her description, you admire his profile, the way he’s matured into a handsome man and you remember the way he fucked you.

“If possible, can we see if the camera footage is still available from the days he visited?” A photo of the suspect is worth more than a description, but he hopes that the entire hard drive hasn’t been compromised. He looks up at you. “Do you know how far back the data has been corrupted?”

You nod, “about seven days. It’s spotty in the past 36 hours but it’s solid up until then. I’m not sure if they used some kind of tech to fuzz the cameras but it’s spotty at best.” You explain and look over at Jenny, “can you show office- Agent Pike to the security room?”

Marcus catches the slip up and his cock twitches, but he ignores it. He can’t go there with you. He’s in a relationship. Instead, he smiles and nods, thanking you quietly and following Jenny to the office so he can watch the videos with her to the approximate time the suspect was there.

You watch Marcus leave with Jenny and you check your watch, biting your lip. It’s getting close to four and you glance at your phone, wondering if you should call. No…Marcus will be gone by then. You keep glancing at your watch and finally Marcus appears, notebook in hand just as the door to the gallery opens. “Mom! Mom! Guess what happened? I made the team!” Theo announces as he runs into the gallery and over to you, your mom behind him carrying his backpack.

Halfway between the door to the security office and you, Marcus freezes. His eyes widen and he feels like he’s been kicked in the chest and he swears his heart stops. The boy, he’s guessing around ten years old, looks like he could be a copy of Marcus when he was a boy. Skin tone is different and there are small features that are a unique blend of your features, but he looks like him. There is absolutely no way that this child, this boy, isn’t his. His mouth drops open and he nearly chokes on his own breath.

You ignore Marcus, avoiding his eyes as you look down at your son. “Really? That’s amazing, baby.” You hug him, kissing his hair. He’d been so excited to try out for the baseball team and now he’s on it. You know it’s gonna be a lot of work to take him to practices and games but you don’t care, you want him to be happy. Your mom looks over at Marcus and back at you, her eyes wide. She sees the resemblance immediately and you told her about Marcus when you found out you were pregnant.

He can’t move, trying to process what the hell possibly happened and he’s immediately flooded with intense guilt. He had gotten you pregnant. He had gotten you pregnant and he didn’t call you. You didn’t have any way to get into contact with him and you had been a single mother for ten years. He knew you weren’t married, or at least he thought you weren’t. There’s not a ring on your finger, but you might have a boyfriend. He watches the boy, his son, closely. Absorbing every detail of his mannerisms and excitement as he talks about his obvious passion - baseball. The same sport Marcus had played in school.

You glance at Marcus finally, seeing his eyes, and you know he has figured it out. You swallow harshly and look at your mom who has questioning eyes. “Can you take Theo for a snack, mama?” You ask your mom who nods.

“You wanna go to the place on the corner for a snack, honey?” She asks Theo who nods, “can we, mom?” He asks and you smile, ruffling his hair, “of course.” Your mom takes him outside and you inhale deeply, turning to face Marcus. “We need to talk.” You tell him, “you wanna come sit in my office?”

He nods, not even able to put anything into words and follows you to the back. Your office is across from the security office and is neat. It’s obviously filled with personal touches. There’s a picture that is obviously from last Christmas of the two of you. Theo beaming as he holds a new baseball glove and bat. “I- does he- what’s his name?” He asks, once the door is closed. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

You can see he’s struggling but you’re hurt too. He didn’t call and when you found out you were pregnant, you were newly graduated and alone. Your mom helped, letting you move in with her and it’s been hard to get your career where you dreamed it would be all those years ago. “His name is Theo Lucas. He has my last name…obviously. It’s - you didn’t call and I thought that you - that you just asked me out to save face for a quickie in a jail cell.” You cross your arms and turn towards the closed door, “he’s - he’s the best thing that ever happened to me so I guess I should thank you for that night.”

“I want to meet him. Officially.” Marcus clarifies. “I didn’t know that he was - that you were pregnant. If I had I would have helped you, supported you, been there for both of you. “Please?”

You bite your lip, watching him with hesitation. What’s to say he won’t just take off again after Theo has gotten attached. You’re not sure if it’s sensible or really the actual reason why but the words “of course” escape your mouth before you can think about his. His answering soft smile makes your heart ache a little and you clear your throat. “I’ll give you my cell phone, proper numbers this time as we can talk.”

Marcus chuckles and reaches into his jacket pocket to pull out his badge folder. Pulling a card with his information on it and handing it to you. “This way the ball is in your court.” He offers. “Theo likes baseball?” He asks. “I used to play in high school and college when I wasn’t playing with my band.” He tells you. “Maybe I can practice with him or take him to a game? I planned on seeing the Rangers play this weekend.”

You bite your lip, looking down at his card. “I bet he’d love that.” You smile at Marcus and are terrified but excited for your son to meet his father finally. You’ve imagined it so many times and he has asked about his dad. You tried to explain it as simply as you can to a young child and you told him you and his dad had a brief relationship. It sounded better than what the reality is. “It’s good to see you again, Marcus.” You say just as his phone rings.

“Shit.” He jolts and reaches for his phone, glancing down at it and then giving you an apologetic look. “Hey.” He answers, a smile on his face when he speaks. “Are you finishing up for the day?” He asks, “I’m still working on a case.” Listening for a few moments he hums. “I’ll meet you there, okay. Sounds good. Bye.”

You see the look on his face and you know it’s his romantic partner. The look in his eyes is soft and sweet and it makes your heart twist even though he’s not yours, he never was. You just had one night. You wait for him to finish and he smiles at you after he shoves his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry about that.” He says and you shake your head, “it’s fine.” He clears his throat, “so I’ll see you soon. For the case and for Theo. I will wait for your call.” He promises and you nod, twisting the card in your hand.

“I’ll see you soon, Marcus.” You promise and he gathers his things, bidding you goodbye and you sit down at your desk and close your eyes, hating how your heart twists at seeing him again.

Marcus makes his way out of the museum and when he gets into the car, he just sits for a moment. Absorbing the life changing information that he is a father. He wants to jump in and help and support you in any and every way he can. Feeling guilty for not knowing about Theo sooner. He knows he has to tell Teresa as soon as possible. Tonight at dinner. She will understand.

****

“You met my dad?” Theo asks when you discuss it at dinner.

“Yes baby. He’s - he - we lost touch and now he’s back. I got his number. He wants to meet you. He loves baseball too and said about taking you to a game. I- I know it’s a lot to take in but he wants to get to know you.” You tell Theo who frowns, looking down at his plate.

“Why now?” Theo asks and you clear your throat, “I told you…we lost touch.” You explain and Theo shakes his head, “he didn’t want me?” He asks and you reach for his hand.

“No. No. Not that. It’s complicated. Adult stuff you won’t understand.” You try again but Theo is pushing his chair back and rushing to his room, “you didn’t want me to know him!” He yells and slams the door, making you close your eyes and rub your head.

****

“I have something I need to tell you.” Marcus gazes at Teresa nervously over the votive in the middle of the romantic table at their favorite restaurant. He’s already had two glasses of wine because he’s excited and nervous. Reaching out, he takes her hand. “Eleven years ago, I had a….fling.” He isn’t going to give all the specifics, but Teresa deserves to know. “It was right before the FBI academy and somehow, the phone number I was given was bad, so it didn’t go beyond the one encounter.”

Teresa tilts her head and laughs. “Marcus, I don’t need to know about every person you slept with. We both have a history.” She assures him.

Marcus shakes his head. “No, I ran into her today. And….” He takes a deep breath. “I have a son. He’s just like me. I saw him and I-“ he shrugs. “I’m going to get to know him, become a part of his life.”

Teresa stares at Marcus in shock, looking down at their hands, and she swallows harshly. “How - you - um, that’s - wow.” She finishes lamely, still in shock. “That’s great, Marcus. Truly. That’s - I can’t wait to meet him.” She says, a little through her teeth but Marcus doesn’t notice as he beams, squeezing her hand.

****

You call Marcus the next day due to Theo constantly asking you when he’s going to meet his dad. “Are you free this evening?” You ask and Marcus holds the phone in his hand, “of course. I’m free.”

You smile, “great. You want to come over for dinner? Theo is excited to meet you. I told him we had a fling and tried to explain it as much as I could without getting into details.”

Marcus hums in agreement, “he doesn’t need to know the details, I don’t think a child would understand that yet.” He will follow your lead on Theo since you have been the one raising him. “Does he have a particular favorite baseball team?” Marcus asks. “I don’t want to come empty handed the first time I meet my son.”

You smile against the phone at how sweet he is. You remember that from that night, how funny and sweet he was even when he was wrecking you with his cock. “He loves the Nationals. My dad…he lives in D.C and has gotten Theo into his team, so yeah, Nationals.” You answer and Marcus hums, “Nationals, got it.”

You nod even though he can’t see it, “so I’ll see you at 6?” You ask and he confirms. “Great. I’ll text you my address.” You say and bid him goodbye, hanging up the phone to quickly shoot him a text. You’re nervous and you know Theo is nervous, unsure of going to school today but you took him and he was fine once he settled in. You’ve got the day at work to figure out what to cook for the first time your one night stand meets his son.

During lunch, Marcus runs out to a sporting goods store to pick up Nationals gear for a ten year old. Then back to his apartment to pick up his own glove and some balls. If you’ve got a yard, he wants to get out there and throw the ball with Theo if he’s up for it. Your text comes through with the address and by 5, he’s leaving the office and plugging in the GPS to go to your house.

You smile as Theo rushes up to the front door when Marcus rings the doorbell. “I’ll get the door, sweetie.” You say, rubbing his shoulder and he’s practically buzzing as he watches you open the door. You send a silent prayer that this is gonna go well and you come face to face with Marcus, standing there holding a big duffel bag. “Come in.” You gesture and he steps in, clearly nervous, and his dark eyes find Theo. “Sweetheart, this is - this is Marcus. He’s your dad.” You introduce him officially and Theo looks at Marcus with wide eyes.

Marcus sets the bag down and kneels down so he can look his son in the eyes. The same shade of brown as his own. “Hello, Theo.” He offers quietly, beaming and trying not to cry. “It is so good to meet you. I brought my glove. If it's okay with your mom, after dinner we can throw the ball around?” He asks, glancing up at you for permission before looking back at him to see if that’s something he wants to do.

Theo beams, staring at his father, and he nods enthusiastically. “Yes! Mom - can we - can we go outside?” He asks you and you nod, “of course you can.” Theo surges forward to wrap his arms around his father, “hi dad.” He says into his father’s neck as he grips him tight, excited to have him there.

His eyes close and his arms wrap around Theo tight, holding his son against him. “Hey, buddy.” He chokes out, opening his eyes and looking up at you. He’s overwhelmed and emotional and it’s almost a relief that you are silently crying. He’s not being too much with his reaction to meeting the son he didn’t know about.

You wipe your eyes, seeing the unshed tears shining in Marcus’s eyes and you know in that moment that you haven’t made a mistake. You know Theo is going to have his father in his life finally. “Come on you two. Dinner will be ready soon. Marcus, what do you want to drink?” You ask after clearing your throat.

“Anything would be great, thanks.” He squeezes Theo once more before he pulls away to grin at him. “I brought you some presents. Although I know I have a lot of missed birthdays and Christmas’ to make up for.”

Theo grins, “lots. Ten years worth.” He says and you chuckle, “dad is here now and he brought you some presents. You wanna open them while I finish up dinner?” You ask Theo who nods and grabs Marcus’s hand to practically drag him into the kitchen.

“Come on dad, I wanna open my presents.”

It’s surreal to hear someone calling him dad and it makes him break out into a wide grin. He had managed to grab the duffel bag and he sets it on the table to open up and start pulling out gifts. He had thought he had gone overboard, but he doesn’t believe that now, the way Theo’s eyes are widening and he’s practically bouncing with excitement.

You get Marcus a beer and a glass of wine for yourself then set them down after getting a glass of milk for Theo. “Wow! I always wanted one of these!” Theo gasps when he sees the Nationals jersey and you feel a little guilty that you didn’t get the right one that he wanted. You got the Rangers and he was happy, but it’s not his favorite team.

“I’m glad. Your mom told me that you’re a big Nationals fan.” Marcus chatters nervously. “Now I have tickets to the Ranger’s game this weekend, would you want to go? Even if it’s not the Nationals? Since we are here in Texas?” It’s a commute to Ranger stadium and he would buy you a ticket if you preferred to come too, but he wants to give Theo that experience together.

You watch Theo bounce, nodding his head, “yes yes yes. Oh can I go mom? Can I?” He asks you and you nod, “of course baby. You can go.” You won’t deny him this time with his father and you know Marcus is a good man. He works for the FBI for goodness sake. “I’ll go get dinner. Sit down, both of you.” You order playfully.

“We better listen to your mom.” Marcus grins, happy that his son wants to go to a game with him. He reaches up and ruffles the boy's hair. “Let’s go wash our hands, gotta be clean to eat.”

You watch Marcus take Theo to wash his hands and you smile to yourself as you plate up the spaghetti and meatballs. The boys sit down at the table and you set the plates down in front of them. “I hope you like it. I didn’t ask if you were vegetarian. Oh shit. Are you? If not, I can make something else.” You start to panic a little, realizing how little you know about Marcus.

“No.” He smiles up at your reassuringly. “I love spaghetti and meatballs.” He looks over at Theo. “And I’m sure your mom��s is great, isn’t it, Buddy?” He asks.

“Oh yeah! Mom’s spaghetti is the best!” Theo cries out with a grin. “She puts extra cheese on top for me.”

You smile, loving that your son loves your cooking. You look at Marcus, “I put extra cheese on yours too.” You wink at him and watch Theo as he starts to dig into his food, hungry as always, “why don’t you tell your dad about school today?” You ask Theo, wanting Marcus to be involved in the small things like hearing Theo talk about his day.

Marcus listens intently, nodding while Theo tells him every little thing about his day. Grinning to himself when the boy would go off on a little tangent like he used to as he shovels in his food with the enthusiasm of a growing boy.

You finish eating while Theo talks about his school and his friends. You watch Marcus hang onto every word, nodding and responding like it’s the best thing he’s ever heard and that makes your heart thump. “Everyone done?” You ask and Theo nods, “thank you, mom.” He stands up to collect the dishes but you stop him. “Not tonight, honey. Sit with your dad. I’ll clean up.” You tell him as you gather the plates, “I have dessert too. You want ice cream?” You ask and Theo nods, eyes lighting up.

“Must be a special night.” Marcus muses. “Dessert too?” He grins when Theo bobbles his head so hard he might rattle some teeth around. “After we eat dessert, you wanna throw the ball?”

Theo thinks that Christmas has come as he nods and Marcus chuckles, “sure thing, bud.” You smile as you load up the dishwasher and listen to Marcus and Theo talk. “So why did you not stay with my mom?” Theo asks, always inquisitive and you wince slightly but leave it to Marcus to provide his own explanation.

Glancing up at you for permission, he knows he needs to tell his son why the two of you aren’t together. Why he’s never met him before. “I- it’s complicated.” Marcus winces, knowing that isn’t the best answer. “Your mom was wonderful. And I had plans to take her on a date, to spend more time with her, but I messed up.” Marcus stresses. He will take the blame, of course he will. “I wrote her number down wrong, and couldn’t call her. And I didn’t know where she lived.”

Theo stares at Marcus for a moment, absorbing his answer until eventually he nods and looks over at you. “Well, you’re dumb because my mom is amazing.” Your heart clenches and tears sting in your eyes at the compliment from your son and you look at Marcus with an apologetic smile.

“I know I am.” Marcus accepts that rebuke and nods in agreement. “Your mom is amazing and I have to thank her because she gave me a son.” He reaches over and pats your hand. “Thank you. For taking care of him while I wasn’t around and being amazing enough for him to defend you.”

You smile at Marcus and lean in to kiss Theo on the head as you slide the bowl of ice cream towards him. “Okay. Let’s eat some ice cream.” You declare, trying to lighten the mood and give yourself a moment as you hand Marcus his own bowl. “Toppings are yours to pick. We have chocolate sauce, whipped cream, nuts, and strawberries.” You say and Theo begins to put a river of chocolate sauce in his sundae. “Maybe we have enough sauce to go with the ice cream, huh baby?” You tease and he chuckles, setting the sauce bottle down.

“He’s a man with taste.” Marcus chuckles, amazed that he is sitting down and eating dessert with his son. “I love chocolate syrup too.” He admits, taking the bottle and turning it up over his ice cream. The little boy beams happily, loving that his dad likes the same things he does. It’s almost a family moment and he feels guilty that Teresa isn’t here to see it. “What else do you like? Whipped cream and a cherry? Or strawberries?” He asks, wanting to know everything about Theo.

“Whipped cream, for sure. And nuts.” Theo answers and reaches for a spoonful of nuts. You watch him and Marcus chuckles, “same. I do like strawberries but not on ice cream.” He says and Theo nods. You reach for the strawberries, “those are for me. I love strawberries.” Marcus nods and you watch him as he takes the spoon from Theo to cover his sundae with nuts. The ice cream goes down well and you’re soon putting the dishwasher on while Marcus and Theo go outside to play catch.

Outside, Marcus feels like he is living every ‘dad dream’ he’s ever had. It started with small tosses of the ball to warm up and he started asking questions. Theo’s likes, dislikes. His dreams. Favorite movies. Learning about the boy and hopefully bonding with him. They play until you come back outside as the sun starts to go down.

Marcus sits in the living room while Theo showers and gets ready for bed. He’s already done his homework and you get him in bed. “You want your dad to come and say goodnight?” You ask Theo after you kiss his forehead.

“Yes, please mama.” He murmurs and you nod, standing up and walking into the living room where Marcus is sitting. “He wants you to say goodnight.” You tell him and he stands up, rubbing his hands on his pants.

Marcus goes down the hall and hovers in the doorway for a moment, taking in the bedroom and smiling when he sees baseball posters on the wall. It could be a bedroom from his own childhood. “You all ready for bed, buddy?” He asks, coming and sitting on the edge and nervously rubbing the covers on the edge. .

“No.” Theo says and you smile as you lean against the wall in the hallway.

“I know, I’m never tired after a big day.” Marcus smiles and pats the bed sheets.

Theo nods, settling down against his pillow, “after you fight the bad guys?” He asks his father with a sleepy smile.

Marcus reaches up and brushes Theo’s hair gently. “After I fight the bad guys.” Marcus nods and smiles down at his son. “Goodnight Theo.” He murmurs softly, amused that despite being so adamant about not being tired, he’s already starting to fall asleep. Marcus sits with him until he’s completely gone and then watches him, amazed that he is here with a child who is his.

You push off of the wall as Marcus walks into the hallway and you smile at him, at seeing the way his eyes are soft and glassy. You reach out to pat his arm, “you want another beer? Or coffee before you go? We need to talk about how we move forward.”

“Sure.” Marcus nods and follows you back out to the living room and into the kitchen. “He’s a great kid.” He gushes after a moment. Standing around, he wonders where to go from here. “I owe you a lot of child support.” He blurts out, reaching into his pocket for a check he had written. “Obviously it’s not ten years worth, but I want to start making up for not being here.”

Your eyes widen at the amount of the check. “Marcus. No- it wasn’t - you didn’t know. I can’t accept this. You didn’t know about him. You didn’t dodge it and I’ve done well. My parents helped. Please…this is way too much.” You shake your head, knowing you could never accept his money when you had ten years with your son and he’s missed out on so much.

“Put it in a college fund for him.” Marcus shakes his head when you hold the check back out to him. “Please. I might not have known about him, but I know now. If I had known then, he would have had a college fund started from the day you told me.”

You can’t deny him that, knowing that your funds for his college are a little low after you have been working hard but it’s not enough, never enough. “Marcus. It’s - I’ll put it in the bank account I have ready for his college fund.” You surge forward to wrap your arms around his neck, “thank you.”

Marcus hugs you back, there’s nothing wrong with hugging the mother of his child. This is the woman who gave him the little boy in that bedroom. He tries not to remember how good touching you had felt all those years ago. That was past, and he is involved with Teresa now. “You’re welcome.” He murmurs sincerely. “I’ll give you more. I promise.”

You step back, patting his chest, “you’re just - I’m glad you’re in Theo’s life.” You step away and you make your way to the kitchen followed by Marcus. “Take a seat and I’ll get you a beer then we can talk details.” You watch him head into the living room and you grab two beers, making your way into the living room and you sit down on the sofa beside him. “So, uh, we didn’t exactly discuss our - our situations in life. I don’t have a husband or even a boyfriend. It’s been tough dating with a young son and I’ve been focused on work and Theo. I just wanted you to know that.”

“I’m sorry.” Marcus winces and shakes his head. “You didn’t deserve to be left with the responsibility by yourself.” He won’t let go of the guilt easily. “Maybe with some help, you can have some time for yourself.” He won’t say ‘date’, but that’s your decision. “I- I am in a relationship. Another agent.” He confesses, feeling guilty again.

You hate how your heart clenches at the news but you know he was never yours. “That’s great. I- I can’t wait to meet them one day. Did you tell them about Theo?” You ask, and Marcus nods, “she knows. Her name is Teresa.” He says with a smile that makes you want to cry a little. He’s such a lovely guy and he belongs to Teresa.

You know you can’t be an idiot, you have a child together that he’s just met. You need to be sensible. “So I want you to see him. We can work out a custody schedule in a few months I’d say once Theo is comfortable and I am. I don’t want you to feel like I’m keeping him from you but I need him to be safe and secure and happy.”

Marcus holds up a hand and shakes his head. “Absolutely.” He agrees. “Theo has been your priority for ten years, eleven really.” He reasons. “You are his mother and I would never try to come in and immediately change everything. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to the game too?” He asks. “Since it’s a few hours away? He can say that he wants to go and then get nervous because I am essentially a stranger to him. Plus, I can see how you parent, because I want to work with you on raising him.”

You appreciate how accommodating he’s being, not demanding more when he hasn’t been here at all even though it’s technically not his fault. He’s missed out on so much but he’s still wanting to include you. That makes you warm to him even more and you nod, “I think that’s a great idea. Let's all get to know each other more. We didn’t exactly have an in-depth conversation before we had sex.” You fluster and reach for your beer to take a sip, “do you want to ask Teresa if she wants to come too?” You add, hoping he says no but she’s going to be part of Theo’s life and you need to assess her.

“She has a case that she’s working on.” Marcus frowns slightly and shrugs. “She’s going to have to be on a stakeout or something.” He had originally been going to go with her, and then he had considered selling the tickets when her plans had fallen through, but this is perfect. “What do you want to know about me?” He asks.

You are relieved that Teresa isn’t coming on this first adventure and you lean back against the sofa, tucking your leg up beneath you. “First of all…I didn’t - Theo is fine but do you have any medical family history? I know mine of course but I want to know in case there’s something I need to look out for.”

“Nothing really.” Marcus shakes his head and takes a sip of his own beer. “Grandfather died of a heart attack, but he was 87.” He shrugs slightly. “I can’t say that’s a short life. Parents are pretty healthy. I haven’t told them yet, but I know they will want to meet Theo, get to know him. When you’re comfortable.”

“I’d like that. Theo would love that. I have always felt so guilty that he hasn’t had a lot of family.” You confess, taking another sip of your beer, tears stinging in your eyes as you think about all the things Theo has missed out on with his father.

“You okay?” Marcus asks and you shake your head, a few tears escaping.

“I just wish - I wish I had given you the right number.”

“It’s my fault.” Marcus will readily admit that. “I should have double checked with you before you left. I had been trying not to seem too desperate, or creepy.” He shoots you a sardonic grin. “Since we had just had sex in a jail cell after you were picked up.”

You chuckle, wiping away your tears, “that was sexy as hell though. I still think about that night sometimes.” You admit until you realize what you said, “I’m sorry. I- you have Teresa and I’m not asking you to - shit. Have I made it weird?”

“Don’t worry about that.” He shakes his head and hums with a small smile. “It’s okay. I promise. I’ve thought about it before.” He admits. “It was sexy.” He doesn’t really think about it now that he’s with Teresa, but when he was single, it was one of his go-to memories when he wasn’t in the mood to look at porn.

You chuckle, “it was.” You nudge him and move to set your beer down. “I guess we go from here. I’ll see you Saturday for the game. Are you gonna come back to the gallery or is your team working on tracking down that guy first?” You ask, curious as to what’s going to happen with the stolen painting.

“They are working on tracking down the suspect, but I normally come check in every day, every other day.” He admits, shrugging slightly. “The worst thing for the victim is to feel like they are just bogged down in the system. Especially when dealing with art. It’s normally personal or professional so everyone is eager to know that it’s being taken seriously.”

You nod, “then I’ll see you in the gallery.” You shift to stand up, “I’m sure Teresa is expecting you to be home soon. Theo will be out like a light. Do you want some water for the ride home?” You ask, looking down at him.

“Oh, Teresa and I don’t live together.” It wasn’t for lack of planning but it hadn’t happened yet. Just wasn’t quite to that place in the relationship yet even though a lot of nights were spent together. “But I will take a water.” He agrees.

You walk over to the fridge to get him a bottle of water, admiring his profile as he gathers his things. “Here you go.” You hand him the bottle and your fingers brush his. “I’ll see you soon. Maybe…if you don’t see Theo, we can do daily calls? You can talk to him.”

“I’d really like that.” Marcus quickly agrees, happy that you are so willing to let him spend time with Theo and get to know him. “Thank you.” He murmurs as you walk with him to the door. “He’s a great kid and that is all because of you. I hate that you had to do it alone but you’ve done a fantastic job.” Mother’s Day will have to come early for you and he will have to make sure that it’s amazing to make up for the ones that he missed.

You fluster at his kind words, excited to see how this goes, and you are happy for Theo to have his father in his life. You know it’s been a missing piece. No matter how hard you try to cover both positions, you know he’s been jealous of the other boys going to baseball games with their fathers or going out with the father-son groups. It’s been hard and you try to compensate but it’s impossible.

Marcus pauses at the door, turning around and smiling at you. You had been gorgeous eleven years ago, hungover and obviously partying, but now you are even more beautiful. Maybe it’s because he had a child with you, but there’s a softness that he admires for a moment. He murmurs your name, “have a good night. Call me if you need anything, okay? I want to help anyway I can.”

You nod, crossing your arms as you lean against the doorway, watching him as he makes his way to his car. You bite your lip, admiring his broad shoulders, and you know you have to stop. You will not ruin your son’s relationship with his father because you haven’t had sex in a while. You watch Marcus, waving as he pulls away, and you shut the door, closing your eyes. “It’s gonna be fine.” You murmur to yourself, deciding to get ready for bed and watch your show to distract yourself.

On the way home, Marcus contemplates calling Teresa, but he doesn’t. Instead he thinks about the situation, knowing that he will have to tell his parents soon, and they will want to meet him. He knows they will have questions so he wants to talk to you about what to tell them.

****

“You having a good time?” You ask Theo as he takes a big bite of the hot dog Marcus got him. The game is in full swing and you love how Marcus and Theo are bonding over their mutual love of baseball. You take a few photos, certain that Marcus will want them, and you think about the past few days. You and Marcus established when Theo will meet his parents and the story you’ll tell them is the truth. Although it’s awkward, keeping secrets never helps anyone. You watch the father and son and feel emotional, wishing once again that Marcus had called you after that fateful night.

“Oh man!” Theo cheers when the home run cracks off the bat and he leaps out of his seat to watch it go flying over the left field fence. Marcus grins and looks over at you, emotional at how much he is enjoying this. Almost upset that there isn’t a team in Austin so this could become a weekly thing. He’d say that season tickets could be done.

“Looks like extra innings.” He teases, playing with Theo’s cap. “You aren’t gonna wanna miss that, are you?”

Theo shakes his head so hard his neck nearly breaks, “no, dad! Of course not!” He scoffs and you hide your grin behind your hand. You watch Marcus point out various players to Theo and they discuss the stats, both clearly knowledgeable and passionate about the sport and it’s making your heart nearly burst with joy.

Marcus grins as he leans back, looking at you behind Theo’s head. “If it goes too late, do you want to spend the night?” He asks, thinking about getting a hotel depending on how many hours it goes over a normal game. “I’ll cover the cost. Two rooms.” He offers, knowing it’s not right to stay in one room.

“Please mom! Please!” Theo begs, looking up at you with wide eyes and you nod, “okay baby. Okay. We can do that if it runs too late. I, uh, I don’t really have anything. We can stop at CVS to get a tooth brush and toiletries.” You say, unable to take away from this experience for Theo. “Are you sure Teresa won’t mind?”

“She’ll be alright.” He’s already texted her and let her know that it might be a possibility. She had said ‘okay’, so he knew she was alright with it. Teresa tends to speak her mind so he trusts her. “We can stop by a store and get some things.”

Finally the game ends and it’s late, way past Theo’s bed time and you can see he’s tired from the constant yawns but he’s fighting it. “Are you ready for bed, sweetheart?” You ask, hugging Theo as you approach Marcus’s car. “Maybe a hotel is the best idea.” You tell Marcus, running your hands through Theo’s hair.

“Yeah.” Marcus frowns slightly as he has spent the last twenty minutes of the game trying to book rooms. “There’s a hotel up the road I have a room booked for you guys.” He promises, turning towards his son and smiling at how sleepy Theo looks. “We’ll find a Wal-Mart and grab toothbrushes and PJs.”

“What about you?” You ask as you buckle Theo in and get in the front seat. Marcus bites his lip, not answering. “Marcus…” You raise your eyebrows, wanting him to answer you before you start to get frustrated. You’ve learned he’s a people pleaser and it’s to his own detriment sometimes.

“There’s….” He sighs and hangs his head. “There’s some kind of big conference this weekend.” He admits quietly. “Everywhere is sold out. I could only get the one room. It’s okay, though.” He assures you. “It’s a nice place and I can catch a few hours in the car. Not like I haven’t done that before.” He chuckles, making a joke about stakeouts.

"No. No. You - you are going to get some sleep. You've been driving and you are driving tomorrow. I- Theo will sleep between us. We can share the bed. We are parents sharing a bed with our son. You can't sleep in the car." You shake your head, whispering harshly as Theo is asleep.

Marcus frowns and shakes his head. “No, the room has two beds.” He reveals. “I just don’t think that you would want…you know that Theo might get the wrong impression.” He murmurs quietly, looking in the back seat and then towards you. He’s trying to be a gentleman and give you privacy. The only intimacy you’ve shared was the night you created Theo and he’s not going to assume you would be okay with sharing a room.

You bite your lip, "two beds is perfect. I can share with Theo and you get to spread out in your own bed. He won't - we can explain that there was only one room left. He knows you are with Teresa...he wants to meet her."

“Are you sure?” He asks seriously, turning expressive eyes on you. He’s thrilled to learn that Theo wants to meet Teresa, because he wants her to get to know him, but he is talking about the hotel sleeping arrangement. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

You nod, chuckling softly. "I don't think you can make anyone uncomfortable, Marcus. You are the most caring man I can think of. We will be fine." You promise. You give Marcus a list of what you need and he goes into Walmart to get your list. You watch Theo sleep in the mirror and about ten minutes later, Marcus is pulling up at the hotel. You grab the bags after Marcus checks in and comes back out. "Can you carry Theo?"

“Of course I can.” Marcus beams as he opens the back door and starts to gently unbuckle the sleeping child and pull him out of the car. “He’s solid.” He grunts, grinning at you as Theo snuggles against his dads shoulder and grunts at being disturbed before settling back down into a limp mass of limbs.

You smile, watching Theo wrap his arms around his dad who carries him to the room. “Notice I didn’t offer.” You tease softly and pat Marcus on the shoulder as you take over finding the room. Once you’re inside, Marcus lays Theo down and you work on removing his clothes to dress him in the pajamas his dad had just bought for him. “Night, my love.” You murmur, kissing Theo’s head after you cover him up with the covers, the. you look over at Marcus who has removed his shoes and is watching you with apprehension. “I’m gonna get ready for bed. Thanks for buying these.” You hold up the shorts and tank top, feeling a little awkward but it’s necessary for Theo to get some good sleep.

“It course.” He nods, feeling bad that he always carries an overnight bag in the car. “I’ll change quickly while you’re in there and then we’ll get some sleep.” He offers, trying not to think about the mechanics of all of this. This is just two parents sharing a room with their son.

You brush your teeth and wash your face, coming out of the bathroom in the tank top and shorts and you had told yourself in the mirror that this isn't a big deal. It's Marcus and Theo. You get under the covers on the side closest to the nightstand since Theo shifted in his sleep and you look over at Marcus. "Goodnight." You murmur, your eyes finding his in the lamplight.

“Goodnight sweetheart.” Marcus whispers softly, smiling at you as he reaches over to switch off the light. “Thank you for today. Letting Theo come to the game.” He shuffles and settles in the dark. “Might be the best day I’ve ever had.”

“Me too.” You answer honestly and you smile when you hear him snore. You listen to him and Theo breathe for a while until you finally close your eyes, wishing this was real, that you were a real family.

****

The next morning is fun, if not a little hectic. Getting up and getting ready without crowding each other in the bathroom proves interesting and the two of you decide to take Theo out to breakfast before getting back on the road to Austin. Taking your time and enjoying the Sunday brunch, Marcus can’t help but laugh at your jokes and enjoy that you have such a warm and delightful personality. Making him wonder what would have happened if he had gotten your number right. Would you two be married right now? Would there be another child besides Theo? He hates thinking that way, since he’s involved with Teresa, but it’s there in the back of his mind.

You hate how natural this feels with Marcus. It should be awkward. After all, he fucked you while on duty in a jail cell, yet it feels like you’ve known him forever. You smile as Theo tells his dad about his favorite show and you realize it’s gonna be hard to meet Teresa, to meet the woman that has Marcus. “Shall we get on the road?” Marcus asks, pulling you out of your thoughts, and you nod, gathering your things. The drive home is filled with music and Theo chattering away and you can feel Marcus look at you every now and then, his hand on the gearshift and it makes you want to reach out and place your hand on top. “Dad, can you come to my game on Friday?” Theo asks, “with Teresa?”

“I’ll have to check with Teresa, but as long as nothing comes up with your mom’s case, I’ll be there.” He promises, looking in the rear view mirror at his son’s hopeful eyes. “Sometimes the bad guys don’t stop being bad to do fun things, but I will never stop trying to make sure that I am there.” It’s important to him that Theo knows that. “Even if I’m coming in at the end or having to duck out early, I will be there as much as I can.”

He knows it’s a hollow promise to a ten year old, but he also wants to make sure that he knows that sometimes dad’s job has to come before other things. It’s one of the downsides as far as Marcus is concerned.

Theo nods, “okay, dad.”

You look behind you to wink at Theo, “if not this game, the next one.” You compromise with your son, not wanting him to put all his hopes on this one game when Marcus could be working. You turn back to the front and Marcus nods, sending you a silent thanks.

****

“Come on Theo!” You cheer, watching your son run to third base and then “home run!” You shout and clap your hands. Marcus hasn’t arrived yet, he texted to say he’d be late and he has a lead on the mysterious man who was in the video.

Marcus pulls into the parking lot, rushing out of the car and takes a moment so he can lock his gun in the glove compartment and take off his jacket. Rushing over to the ball field that you had told him. He managed to catch Theo sliding into home and cheering. “Yeah! Theo! Way to go buddy!” He stands at the fence and beams at the boy as he stands up and brushes himself off.

Theo sees his dad and his face lights up. He’s covered in dirt but he looks on top of the world. You clap and cheer your son and suddenly Marcus appears beside you. “Hey!” You greet him and glance around, your brow furrowed as you look past him. “Teresa couldn’t make it?” You ask him.

“She had to work.” Marcus frowns slightly but he shrugs. “She said that she would like to go out to dinner with you and Theo.” He offers, although he had been the one to suggest it. She had been a little distracted when she agreed, but she had been rushing to get off the phone to talk to Jane.

You nod, “that would be nice. I want to meet her.” You say even though you’re not entirely convinced. Teresa doesn’t seem to want to meet. She’s avoided every opportunity to meet Theo and you are worried she won’t accept your son.

“I think you’ll get along well.” Marcus hums, even though he’s starting to get antsy about the two of you meeting. He’s spent a lot of time with you lately and while she understands, it seems as if there’s not been a lot of time for them. He doesn’t want her getting worried about things.

After the game is over, you take Theo for ice cream to celebrate and Marcus is a little distracted, looking at his phone. “Everything okay?” You ask and he nods, “yeah. I’m fine.” He says and you don’t push, knowing he has a lot on his plate.

Marcus gets the alert that there is a name on the suspect, as well as a current address. He hums and looks up, smiling at Theo and you. “Tomorrow, I might be a little out of pocket.” He announces to you. “We are going to question the man from the security surveillance.” He tells you quietly while Theo is distracted with his ice cream.

Your eyes widen slightly, “wow. I hope - hopefully something comes from it. The artist is freaking out and I’m struggling to keep him calm enough to keep his other pieces in the gallery. We had to reassure him that our security has been reinforced.” You confess and Marcus nods, “we will get him.”

Marcus hates that he had been late, finding it to be too little time with Theo. “Sorry I was late, but I’m glad to see that home run. Those batting drills are paying off.”

“Yes they are.” You smile, happy that Marcus and Theo have already bonded. You are a little sad that your son has missed out on so much with his dad but you are happy he’s here now.

****

“You got him?” You gasp when Marcus comes into your office before telling you he has found the perp who stole the piece.

“We got him. And the art. He had it in some storage unit out west, waiting until the dust settled so he could sell it.” Marcus tells you and grins.

“Oh my God. Thank you!” You surge forward to hug him, relieved and happy that the piece has been found.

Marcus grins and hugs you back. Rubbing your back gently and nodding when he pulls back. “Obviously the piece will be photographed and logged into evidence for authentication, but once that is done, we will return it to you. The pictures from recovery will be enough for the DA.”

You kiss his cheek as you pull back, “thank you. Thank you.” You squeal, not even thinking about kissing his cheek until you hear a throat clear behind you. You turn to see a woman, her eyes flicking between you and Marcus whose eyes widen as he looks at the woman.

“Teresa. Come here.” He gestures her over and introduces you. You aren’t sure if she is upset or doesn’t like you being near Marcus but she’s polite yet aloof when you get to finally meet Teresa.

Teresa slides up beside Marcus and looks up at him in amusement. “Good news?” She asks and Marcus nods.

“We recovered the painting today.” He tells her and her slightly bland smile turns genuine.

“That’s great.” She murmurs, knowing how good a closed case is for an FBI agent. She wraps her arm around his waist and hugs him tightly before she looks towards Theo. “So, this must be Theo.” She grins, bending down slightly. “Your daddy talks about you….a lot.”

“My dad doesn’t talk that much about you.” Theo answers honestly and you clear your throat, offering Teresa an awkward smile, ruffling Theo’s hair.

“It’s great to meet you.” You tell her and she nods, “you too.” Theo steps closer to you and you nudge his back, silently telling him to be polite and he looks at you with those same brown eyes as Marcus.

Marcus chuckles quietly, admitting that is true but Teresa just smiles. “I’m sure he has more to talk about with you than me.” She tells him before looking back up at Marcus. “Are we ready to go eat?” She asks. “I’m starved. Jane had us mucking through a field rather than having lunch today.”

You notice the frown on Marcus’s face as he hears the name Jane and he’s told you about Patrick Jane a few times, about how he feels like the man is trying to get involved in his relationship with Teresa.

“Let’s go to dinner.” You declare after you grab your purse and Theo starts to chatter to his dad about the upcoming game.

****

“So, uh, yeah. I haven’t given them my final decision since I wanted to talk to you first.” You tell Marcus as you sit on your sofa. Theo just went to bed and you asked Marcus to stay a little longer so you can talk.

“The Smithsonian. Wow.” Marcus says softly, looking across the room.

“Yeah. It’s - it’s huge. Modern art and I- it’s in D.C and I want Theo to have his father in his life but this job - it’s double my salary now and it’s the freakin’ Smithsonian. If you don’t want me to take the job, I understand, but Marcus…I want this. Not to guilt trip you but I’ve lived my life for Theo since I found out I was pregnant and this - this is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for.”

Immediately shaking his head, he hums in disapproval. “No, no, you should absolutely take it.” He insists. “There’s airplanes, we can visit.” He cocks his head and thinks about it for a moment. “There’s rumors of a position opening up in DC, that I’m also rumored to be in the running for now that my latest case has been solved so quickly.” He admits. “Maybe I can push for that position. You wouldn’t find it creepy if I moved to DC too? Follow you and Theo?”

You shake your head so fast it almost makes you dizzy. “You move to D.C? Marcus - that would be - I would love that. I don’t want Theo to lose his dad just when he’s got him. I want you to come to D.C with us…you and Teresa.”

“I’ll talk to Teresa.” Marcus nods. “If I get that position, it’s a director's job, I can pull some strings and get her a job at headquarters.”

You shake your head, a smile on your face, “you are amazing.” You lean in to kiss his cheek. “I’ll tell them I’m taking the job. We can figure everything out.” You promise and his phone starts to ring. “I’ll let you go home.” You say, standing up and he follows suit, deciding to silence the phone call so he can say goodbye.

“We will work it all out.” He promises as he walks with you to the door. He’s eager to get home and see about putting in for the position. He has a few friends in DC that he can call and have a conversation with.

****

Teresa is shocked when Marcus asks her to move to D.C with him, even more shocked when he proposes. She isn’t sure about the move to D.C but she can’t let him go. He’s a good man and although you and Theo aren’t her ideal, she’s reluctant to let Marcus go.

When you hear about Marcus getting the job in D.C, you are ecstatic. When you hear about Marcus and Teresa being engaged, you try to be happy for him, but it’s hard. Teresa doesn’t seem to be on board about being a stepmom to Theo, nor does she seem able to tear herself away from Patrick Jane. You’re worried about Marcus getting hurt but you don’t want to say something in case Marcus turns against you. You can’t get involved for Theo’s sake. You often imagine being a family with Marcus and Theo but you’re not an idiot. Marcus loved Teresa otherwise he wouldn’t have asked her to marry him. You sigh and continue to pack. Theo has finished the school year and you threw a goodbye party for him, you leave tomorrow and it’s bittersweet but you’re excited for the future.

“So I’m going to go ahead and find us a place.” Marcus chatters with Teresa. “I’ve already got listings booked and I’m thinking of a house, at least three bedrooms.” He tells her. “I want a room for Theo, let him come over and spend the night, give his mom a break and let us bond together.” His apartment is packed and organized, ready for the movers to pick up. “What do you think?”

Teresa bites her lip as she holds her cell phone, Jane gesturing for her to hurry up as she shuffles her feet in the airport in Miami. “Yeah. I, uh, that sounds good. Marcus…I gotta go. This case…I’ll see you in D.C, yeah?” She says and Marcus frowns but doesn’t voice his annoyance, “sure. Speak later, honey. Love you.” He says and she hums before she hangs up the phone, following her partner out to their hired car.

****

“Oh my God, he did.” You nod, laughing alongside Theo and Marcus as Theo talks about his friend shoved a marble up his nose and you had to call his mom while taking the boy to the ER after you couldn’t remove it. Marcus shakes his head, laughing at Theo’s face.

“I told him not to do it.” Theo mumbles and you chuckle, stopping when Marcus’s phone rings.

“It’s Teresa.” He says and stands up, making his way into your new living room to take the call. “Hey.” Marcus smiles as he answers the phone, happy to see Teresa’s name pop up. She should be about to take off to come to D.C. He doesn’t quite understand why she called him a few hours earlier talking about coming sooner, but he’s happy. “You about to take off? I can’t wait to see you. You should see the new place.”

Teresa looks up as Jane runs onto the plane and she can hear Marcus talking to her but she doesn’t respond. Marcus frowns when he hears Jane say “I love you” to Teresa and that’s the moment he knows it’s over. He won’t be seeing Teresa in D.C. He guesses he should’ve seen this coming but a small part of him wanted him to be the one who comes out on top, who gets the girl for once. “Marcus, you okay?” You ask, “your ice cream is melting.”

“What?” He’s staring down at his phone, frowning at it and then looks back up at you. “Oh, oh yeah.” He shakes his head, plastering a fake smile on his face. “Everything’s good.” He motions back towards the kitchen. “Let’s go eat before it’s ice cream soup.”

You don’t believe that everything is fine but you don’t press as you walk back into the kitchen and Theo has already eaten half of his ice cream. “Where’s my cherry?” Marcus asks and Theo bites his lip.

“Theo!” You reprimand the ten year old and Marcus shakes his head, snorting, “it’s fine. I’ll just have to have yours.” Marcus plucks the cherry from Theo’s sundae and the boy cries out in protest.

“It’s not nice to take without asking, is it?” Marcus asks and Theo shakes his head, “no. I’m sorry, dad. You can have the cherry.” Theo shakes his head and Marcus places the cherry back in his son’s bowl.

“You can have it but don’t take.” He teaches him and you nod, amazed at how far Marcus has come in being a father. It makes your heart thump and your stomach twist but you shove that aside.

He manages to eat his ice cream without causing his son to worry but he can feel your eyes on him. Wondering what is wrong since he’s not acting like himself.

After ice cream, Marcus and Theo clean up the kitchen together. Marcus knows it’s important to have his son help you out and it’s good for him to see that a man should help with household upkeep. “Go tell your momma goodnight and get ready for bed, buddy.” He ruffles Theo’s hair after he dries his hands. “Thank you for helping.”

Theo comes rushing over and wraps his arms around you. “Goodnight mom.” He says and you bend over to kiss his hair, “go brush your teeth and get ready for bed. I’ll bring you some water and Dad will tuck you in.” You promise and Theo rushes off to the bathroom. You glance over at Marcus who is still in the kitchen, shoulders hunched. After Theo is in bed, you and Marcus bid him goodnight, shutting the door, and you walk into the living room and spin to face Marcus.

“What’s happened?” You ask, knowing there’s something wrong.

His eyes slip closed and the tight rein on his control slips. He sighs and seems to just wilt under your gentle probing. “Teresa-“ he chokes out. “She’s- she’s not coming to D.C.” He turns and stumbles a few short steps to the couch and sags down into it, hunching forward and plopping his head into his hands, elbows on his knees.

You frown, sitting down beside him and you place your hand on his back. “What do you mean she's not coming? Is her flight delayed?” You ask, confused and wanting to comfort Marcus. He seems distraught and you feel helpless.

“She-“ he shakes his head and looks up, his eyes slightly watery. “Apparently Jane is in love with her and….” He shrugs. “She’s going to stay in Texas, with him.”

Your heart breaks for him, “oh Marcus. I- I’m so sorry.” You surge forward to wrap your arms around him, wanting to comfort him. He doesn’t need your opinion of Teresa or the situation, you know he needs you to just be there for him. “She’s a fucking idiot to pick Jane over you.”

“I should have known it wouldn’t be …” he shakes his head again. Not willing to burden you with the second thoughts that had plagued him and the terse unspoken things between him and Teresa. “It’s who she wants. I don’t want to be second place.”

You caress his back, resting your head on top of his shoulder. “You’re not second place. She didn’t know what she had. Jane is gonna break her heart. You were too good for her. Anyone could see it. Marcus…you deserve better.” You voice some of your opinion of Teresa, not wanting to say you think she’s a heartless bitch.

“It’s my fault.” Marcus groans, embarrassed that you are seeing this. Seeing him wallow like this. He should have just gone home. Now you are going to think that he is some kind of sap. Or worse, a horrible example for Theo. “I should have seen the signs. They were there.”

“She should’ve told you. She shouldn’t have dragged you along. She shouldn’t have accepted your proposal or agreed to move to D.C with you. I don’t see how this is your fault when you gave her every chance to say no. She should’ve backed out long ago if she was in love with Patrick Jane. She led you on and you should never blame yourself for that.”

“I should have ended things when I found out about Theo.” Marcus rambles on, appreciating your comfort but he always blames himself. “Concentrated on that. Instead of thinking about having it all.”

You huff, “finding out about Theo doesn’t change anything. She - Teresa didn’t exactly seem enthusiastic to get to know him and - and as his mother, I could sense that. You can have it all, sweetheart. You will. She just wasn’t the right one. I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve this.”

“I don’t want to be bringing women in and out of his life.” Marcus reaches out and he takes your hand, turning it over and kissing the back of it. “Thank you for trying to make me feel better, but I should go home.”

You nod, knowing he probably needs to go home and have a drink. “You’ll find the right one, Marcus. You deserve your happy ending.” You tell him, leaning in to kiss his cheek as he stands at your front door. “Go have a whiskey and pass out and tomorrow, wallow. Don’t force yourself to be happy, go lucky. You can be mad and upset.” You remind him, knowing he will try to push it aside.

“Thank you.” Again, the thought of where he would be if he had called you floats through his head but he doesn’t say anything. He’s not in the right headspace to say anything and you’ve never even hinted that you wanted anything to do with him. Besides, he doesn’t want a rebound. “I’ll see you later.” He pulls away and stands, grabbing his jacket and shuffling towards the door.

You watch him go and close the door, your heart breaking for him, and you want to fly to Miami and strangle Teresa for hurting him. He deserves more. You often wonder what life would've been like if he had called. Would you be married? Or would you be divorced? It’s hard to imagine you’d divorce Marcus. You know he’s gonna wallow and you make your way to bed, knowing you’ll be there for him no matter what.

****

“Hey.” Marcus has been wallowing for two weeks and he’s tired of feeling down and letting his personal life affect his relationship with you and his son. “What are you doing this weekend?” He tucks his phone against his shoulder and waits for you to answer. He’s gotten tickets to a Nationals game and wanted to take both of you.

You glance around your office, watching your staff walk down the hall through the window. “Nothing. I was gonna take Theo to the park, maybe get some brunch. What are you up to?” You ask him and he tells you about the baseball game. “Well you know Theo will love that.” You smile, “we haven’t been to a game here yet.”

“I’ve got three tickets.” He doesn’t say that it was for Teresa, because he had just bought them. “So I was hoping that you would come with us? Make it a group outing? Unless you want to take the time and have some alone, non-parental adult time for yourself?”

You bite your lip and know you’d love to spend some time to yourself but you also don’t want to miss out on spending time with Theo, and with Marcus. You want to discuss doing the DNA test to get shared custody of Theo so Marcus can spend more time with his son. “I’d like to go. I know Theo will love it and I think we could all use some time to enjoy ourselves.”

“Great!” He knows you are probably still worried about him, you’ve been texting him everyday. Checking on him and he appreciates it. He could have never imagined a better mother for his child or a friend. It makes him kick himself in the ass sometimes for not finding you after that night.

****

“You’re going undercover for a month?” You ask Marcus, arms crossed. It’s been three months since Teresa broke his heart and you’re worried he’s doing this because he wants to distract himself. You’ve been trying to keep him occupied, going on picnics, going to museums and the movies. All with Theo. It’s been hard to not want more from him but he’s emotionally drained and you have to put Theo first. “

“Yeah.” Marcus hates that he has to do this, but it’s also a good thing. He’s started imagining you as a complete family and he doesn’t want you to feel like he’s using you to get over Teresa. “Apparently there’s something that I can be good for.” He jokes quietly and flashes you a grin. “I’ve been sitting behind a desk too much lately.”

You don’t want him to go, you know undercover missions are dangerous and he won’t be able to communicate with you or Theo for the time that he’s gone. “You- you really want to go? I- Theo is going to miss you. So am I.” You admit, biting your lip as you stare at him.

“I’ll miss you both too.” That is easy to confess. “I will be safe, but honestly?” He sighs. “I’m the only one that can go in. My team isn’t exactly unknown in the art world.”

You nod, knowing you can’t stop him, this is his job. “You wanna stay for dinner and you can say goodbye to Theo?” You ask, a little annoyed that he waited until the day of to tell you but you can see he’s been nervous.

“Sure.” You step forward to touch his upper arm, “you’d better not be killed, Pike…otherwise I’ll murder you.” You threaten playfully as you make your way to the kitchen to begin dinner while Theo sits at the table finishing his homework. Marcus chuckles like he was supposed to as you both walk into the kitchen.

“Hey buddy.” Marcus’ smile immediately brightens when he sees his son sitting at the table.

“Hey dad.” He glances up and grins before he’s looking back down at his work sheets.

“I wanted to talk to you before dinner.” Marcus sits down and waits until Theo puts his pencil down. “Buddy, I’ve got to go out of town for work. A big case and I’ve got to be out of touch. It’ll be for a month, and then I promise I’ll be back and you and I are going to spend a ton of time together.”

Theo frowns, “a whole month?” He asks and Marcus nods. “Why?” Theo whines and you turn to look at him in warning for his tone.

“I gotta go fight bad guys. I can’t - I promise you I’ll spend as much time as possible with you when I get back.” Marcus promises and Theo pouts, “I don’t want you to go! You’re gonna disappear and I’ll never see you again.”

“That won’t happen.” Marcus promises, shaking his head. “If there’s an emergency, I’m going to give your mom a number so my work can get me a message.” He explains

You walk over to rub Theo’s back, “it’s okay, sweetheart. Your dad will be back�� before you know it. He’s gotta go fight bad guys and he’s gonna come back and spend so much time with you. Maybe you can stay with your dads for a change.” You give Theo something to look forward to.

“We could do that?” Theo asks hopefully and Marcus nods.

“Of course. I want you to stay. I want you to have your room set up just the way you want it.”

You nod, “your dad and I will talk when he’s back about spending some nights together. Boy time without mama.” You wink, and Marcus smiles at you before you finish cooking dinner. After you eat, it’s time for Marcus to go and you watch him say goodbye to Theo for the month.

There are extra long hugs and Theo tears up, but Marcus is right there with him. “I love you, buddy.” Marcus promises. “I’m going to be back as quickly as I can. And I’m going to be thinking about you all the time.”

You watch them say goodbye with tears in your eyes and you know it will be hard for Marcus and Theo to be away from each other. They are so close now and you wonder how they were ever apart. Marcus kisses his forehead and you watch Marcus as steps towards you. You wrap your arms around him and you breathe him in, holding him close before he leaves for at least four weeks.

“I’ll be back. I promise.” He doesn’t hesitate to kiss the top of your head. “Take care of our boy, okay?” He asks softly, wishing that he didn’t have to go.

You step back and you pull Theo into your side as Marcus grabs his jacket. “I’ll see you soon.” He promises both of you and Theo’s lower lip trembles as he watches his dad leave.

“It’s okay baby.” You promise, pulling him into your arms to comfort him. You know he loves his father and if you’re being honest with yourself, so do you.

****

The month seems to drag by and you decide to put up a calendar so Theo can cross off the days until his father is supposed to be home and finally, it’s that day. You are anxious, waiting for Marcus to call to say he’s coming home and finally, when the phone rings, you grab it so fast it nearly drops out of your hand. “Marcus.” You sigh, relieved when he says hello. “Are you okay? Are you safe?” You ask, desperate to hear that he’s fine.

“Hey.” Marcus grins, even though he’s exhausted. He just got out of a long debriefing and still has to fly home, but he wanted to hear your voice and Theo’s. “I’ve got a flight in about ten minutes. I should be back in D.C. late, but I was wondering if I could come over and see Theo? And you?”

You glance over at your computer, a little lost in the fact that he’s okay. Your pounding heart calms a little and you exhale softly. “Of course. Theo will be mad if I don’t let him see you as soon as you are back in D.C. Come over when you’re back. Theo can take the day off of school tomorrow and we can do something together to celebrate you being back. How long is the flight?” You ask and Marcus pauses, “I, uh, actually I’m flying from Austin. Had to go do a deposition. Figured I’d head straight there after the op ended to get it out of the way.” He confesses and you bite your lip, a little mad that he didn’t call first thing.

“Oh, okay. Well, uh, I’ll see you soon.” You say and he clears his throat, “yeah. There’s something I wanna talk to you about. See you later.” He says vaguely and your stomach twists. What could he possibly want to talk about?

You mull it over for a couple of hours until it hits you. “Teresa.” You choke, he’s getting back together with her. Something in your gut just tells you that’s what he wants to discuss.

On the flight, Marcus mulls over what he wants to say. He’s missed you. A lot. Not just Theo, but you as well. You’ve been on his mind constantly, wondering if you’re cooking dinner or curling up with your phone to giggle at videos that you’ll share with him. He realized over the last month that he’s been gone, he’s in love with you. It’s been hard to not call you and tell you, but he decided it was better to do it in person. If you don’t feel the same way, he won’t try to convince you. He’ll concentrate on helping you raise Theo. But he’s come to view the three of you as a family. The family that he’s been supposed to have all along.

The doorbell rings and you smile when Theo rushes to the door. “Hold on, sweetheart, let me check who it is.” You look through the peephole and your heart thumps as you see Marcus, looking different with a beard. You open the door and Theo rushes out, “dad!” He shouts and wraps his arms around Marcus.

“Hey buddy!” Marcus rushes towards his son and scoops him up into a crushing hug. Feeling instantly better now that his little boy is in his arms. “God, I missed you. I thought about you every day. Talked to you at night before I went to bed.” He pulls back and grins at the boy. “Have you been good for your momma?”

Theo surges forward to hug his dad again, reluctant to let go so you answer, “he’s been good. Been making a list of things he’s wanted to talk to you about so be prepared.” You joke and Marcus chuckles, “I got all the time for you, bud. I have the next week off so I’m all yours.”

You are relieved to see Marcus and he steps forward to kiss your cheek while holding Theo close to his side. “Hey sweetheart.” He murmurs and you smile at him, letting him step into your apartment.

“Come in, I’m just making dinner.” You tell him and shut the door behind him when Theo takes his hand to practically drag him inside.

Marcus chuckles and shakes his head. “You missed me?” He teases playfully but Theo just scoffs.

“Of course I missed you dad. I didn’t have anyone to play catch with.” He sends you an apologetic look. “Mom tries but she’s not as good as you are.”

He ruffles Theo’s hair. “That’s okay. Mom’s great at a lot of other things.”

You nod, “exactly. Who else is gonna make your lunch just how you like it? Daddy doesn’t know how to cut off the crusts.” You tease and Theo shakes his head, “I don’t want that anymore.” He lies, “I’m a big boy.”

You snort, “sure thing baby.” You wink at Marcus as the boys sit at the kitchen table and you grab a beer for Marcus and a juice for Theo.

“What did you do, dad? Did you fight the bad guys?”

“I did.” Marcus smiles a thank you towards you as he takes the beer. “But first I had to convince them that I was a bad guy too.” He admits and Theo’s eyes widen.

“But you are the best!” He cries, making Marcus feel so very honored that his son thinks so highly of him.

“I was just trying to get them to tell me all the bad stuff they were doing. And I did it. So I got to arrest them.”

“That’s awesome!” Theo cheers, a wide grin on his face and you are glad that Marcus is back with his son…for now at least. You work on dinner, listening to them catch up and when you sit down, Marcus asks how you’ve been. “Same old. Work has kept me busy. Trying and failing to play catch with this one keeps me occupied.” You tease Theo who looks down at his plate with a little remorse at his comment. You wink at him when he looks up to show you are teasing and he starts to dig into his dinner. “I, uh, had my mom come stay for a weekend. She looked after Theo while I went out with some work friends.”

“That’s great.” Marcus’ smile tightens slightly, wondering if it was a date. He doesn’t have any reason to be jealous, but he would love to take you out. To give you a kid free night and explore what could be between the two of you. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah it was good.” You nod, “Theo had a good time with his grandma, right?” You ask the little boy who nods, “she gave me soooo much chocolate.” He says and you chuckle, “and she was told it was too much.” You remind him and ruffle his hair.

You finish eating and Theo is reluctant to go to bed but you soon convince him to shower and get ready for bed so Marcus can go lay in the bed with him until he falls asleep. “Night, my love.” You kiss Theo on the forehead and pat Marcus’s side as he lays down and pulls Theo close to continue talking.

“Dad?” Theo asks softly.

“Yeah?” Marcus murmurs back.

“Mommy missed you.” He reveals without you knowing.

“She did?” Marcus’ heart leaps in his chest but he focuses on his son, brushing his hair back. “Why do you say that?” He asks quietly. He wonders if you just agreed that you missed him when Theo said something or if you had been upset that he wasn’t around to help.

“She would stare at that photo of the three of us, that’s in the hall. She’d cry and think I couldn’t see it, hear her.” He whispers, innocent eyes wide as he looks at his father.

“Oh.” He closes his eyes and nods. “I understand.” He whispers, leaning in and pressing his forehead against Theo’s. “I’ll make sure I make it up to her too.” He promises. He knows how much Theo loves his mom. You’re easy to love.

Theo snuggles into his chest, closing his eyes. “I love you, dad.” He murmurs, falling asleep moments later. When Marcus comes out of Theo’s room, softly shutting the door behind him, you look up from your phone. “He asleep?” You ask and Marcus nods, “out like a light.”

You smile softly, setting your phone down, “he’s missed you so much.” You tell Marcus who comes to sit down beside you.

“I missed him.” He says and you notice him hesitating.

“Marcus…do you have something you need to tell me? Because I’d rather you just rip the bandaid off if you’re gonna be moving back to Austin, back to Teresa.” You spit out your worries, unable to stop it.

“What?” Marcus’ eyes widen and he’s bewildered until he remembers that he had told you that he was flying back from Austin. “No, no, I’m not getting back together with Teresa.” He promises. “I’m not going back to Texas. I want to stay here with Theo. And you.” He takes a step closer to you. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking while I’ve been gone.”

You look up at him, your brow furrowed and you wonder what he’s talking about. “Me too. I want - I want us to have shared custody of Theo. Officially. I want you to be listed as his father and I want you to be able to have all the rights a father has.”

“Is that all you want?” He asks softly, knowing that he’s putting his heart on the line. “I want- I needed that time apart.” He admits. “I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t just feeling grateful for you after Teresa, but I know that I - I’m in love with you.”

You stare at him, in shock and your jaw drops slightly. “You- wait - you - Marcus?” You ask breathlessly. He fidgets, looking like he’s regretting telling you but you shake your head and surge forward to cup his cheeks, bringing his eyes back to you. “I love you for the brilliant agent you are. I love you for how kind you are. I love you for what an incredible father you are. I am so in love with you, Marcus Anthony Pike. You are the one that got away but you’re back now and I’m yours if you want me.” You promise him, voice steady as you give air to the emotions that have been plaguing you since long before Marcus left to go undercover.

His brow furrows and he pulls you closer, feeling both incredibly frustrated for all the time you’ve lost together and relieved that you feel the same way. He whispers your name. “I love you.” He promises before he ducks his head and presses his lips to yours.

The kiss is sweet and full of yearning. You and Marcus may have started off as a purely physical encounter but these feelings are the culmination of months and months of friendship and respect. You sigh into the kiss, your hands sliding down to rest on his chest and you can feel how fast his heart is thumping.

“Baby.” He pulls away and kisses down your jaw. “I love you. I just- I wanted to make sure -“ he groans again and his hands slide down to the very cusp of your ass. “I’ve felt so guilty. Because I wanted our little family to be real.”

You whimper when his lips kiss down your neck. “Marcus. Whatever happens- we - we agree that Theo comes first but - I really want to take you to my bed right now.” You admit, “and do naughty things to you.”

He groans against your pulse, unable to deny the fact that his cock is twitching. He’s had sex with you once and it is one of the highlights of his sexual experiences. So he might be a little nervous that he doesn’t live up to your expectations. “Let me make love to you.” He begs, scraping his teeth over your sensitive skin and grinning when you shudder. “I promise it won’t be the last time we are in bed together.”

You should be worried that this will change everything and if anything happens between you and Marcus, you put Theo in the middle. However, you don’t feel scared, you feel like this is meant to be. You feel like you belong with Marcus, in his arms. The love you feel isn’t fleeting or a honeymoon phase, it’s deep and real. “Take me to bed.” You request softly and Marcus takes your hand, guiding you to your bedroom. He’s been in here before but mainly to help with DIY stuff and when you’ve been putting laundry away. He shuts the door behind him while you shift towards the bed and when he walks over to cup your cheeks, you suddenly go a little shy.

“Hi.” You murmur when his nose nudges yours. Marcus chuckles softly, “hi.” His response is soft and sweet, making you lean forward to press your lips together while your fingers work on the buttons of his shirt.

It’s slow. An opposite response to the first time that you were together. He wants you completely bare, he wants to be bare. He wants this to be what it should have been that first time. Sighing when your fingers brush his bare skin, he reaches for your hands and brings them up to kiss your fingers. “I’ve dreamed of touching you again so many times.” He confesses. “I want to make this good.”

“It’s you. It will be good because it’s you.” You promise him, your fingers caressing his jaw while his hands let go of yours to find the hem of your shirt. You let him pull it over your head and his hands caress your spine while they slide up to the clasp of your bra. “God, I love you.” You sigh after he removes your bra and he’s dragging you against him, your chests pressed together and your confession comes seconds before his lips find yours again.

Your taste is intoxicating, his tongue slides into your mouth and tangles with yours. Keeping it lighter, but the hunger is there, just simmering beneath the softness. His hands roam over your back before he slides them down to unhook your pants. “I want to taste you.” He groans against your lips. “Thought about it that night. Just spreading you apart wearing my cuffs and tonguing fucking your cunt on that jail cell bed.”

You moan softly at the memory of that night. How feral and rough it was. “Fuck, I- I think about that night all the time. When I- when I use my vibrator. Remember how you felt, the way you touched me. How you sounded.” You confess while he pushes your pants down and you step out of them to leave you in your underwear.

“I want to touch all of you.” He groans. “I wish I had just stripped you down. Fuck getting caught. You are gorgeous.” His hands caress your stomach, in awe that this body gave him Theo so long ago. “I can’t tell you how many times I jerked off thinking about that night. What I would have done if I had you again.”

“Shit, Marcus.” You pant, loving the dirty talk that’s spilling from his mouth and you reach down to squeeze his hard cock through his pants. “Always imagined sucking your cock. Wanting you to cum down my throat. So much I want you to do to me and me to you. Fuck.” You gasp when he bends over to take your nipple into his mouth. You tangle your fingers in his hair and push him further into your chest, your body almost shaking from the sensation after so long without physical touch.

He can’t help but groan when you tangle your fingers and tug. You hadn’t touched him that night and all of your previous touch had been innocent and friendly. Suckling hungrily, he bites down on your nipple gently and then soothing it with a loving lick. Imagining them filled with milk for his son. Imagining seeing you pregnant.

“Marcus. I want - I want to see all of you.” You plead when he lathes your other breast with attention until you’re pushing him back. You reach for his belt, unbuckling it and working fast to unbutton his pants. Reaching in to wrap your fingers around his cock that you never got to touch the first time.

“Fuck.” Marcus hisses, his hips rocking up. “Jesus, baby.” He lets you take control, knowing that you had been at his mercy the first time. He owes you this. “Sit on my face.” He begs, willing to do whatever you want but he wants his tongue into you.

You won’t argue with him, letting go of his cock to push your underwear down and he works on pushing his pants and boxers down, struggling to kick off his shoes until he’s left in just his socks and he’s in too much of a hurry to remove those. You watch him lay down and you kneel on the bed. “Fuck, I want to suck your cock too. Didn’t get a chance to.” You say, bending over to run your tongue along the underside of his cock as it rests heavy on his lower stomach.

“Fuck.” Marcus moans, nodding almost dumbly as your tongue presses against the head. “Whatever you want. I just want to make you feel good, baby”

You nod, shifting to straddle Marcus’s chest. You want to suck him off but you remind yourself that you don’t just have one night, you have as many as he will give you. You slow down a little as you sit on his chest and his hands grab your thighs, shifting you until you are hovering over his face.

“Jesus Christ, you have such a pretty cunt.” Marcus groans before he lunges up and dives into your folds. Sliding his tongue through the wetness and moaning at your taste.

Your hands find your headboard, a moan escaping your lips as his tongue dives deep. “Fuck! Marcus!” You cry, throwing your head back and you realize you were too loud for sleeping Theo. You bite your lip, trying to remain quiet and rocking your hips down to meet his eager tongue.

Marcus groans, his hands coaxing you to ride his face. He doesn’t want you to suppress your noises, he wants to hear all of them. Cock throbbing as he probes deeper into your cunt, his chin grinding against your clit.

You let go of your lip as you can’t help the moan that escapes you as you grind down onto his face, his hands squeezing your hips with encouragement and you whimper when he nudges your clit just right.

Chuckling, Marcus makes sure that you are still getting that pressure that makes you whimper. Watching your ass move as you rock on his tongue, lost in pleasure. He wonders when the last time you had someone do this for you. He knows it will be something regular now, as long as you want it.

His chuckle vibrates through you and you reach up to squeeze your own tits after letting go of the headboard, your head thrown back as you grind onto his face. “Fuck. Fuck. I’m gonna - Marc - oh shit.” You squeal and clamp down on his tongue, soaking his face as you cum with a low moan.

He swears he could cum from just that alone. Groaning and continuing to make sure that you have the best orgasm you can possibly experience. Slowing his tongue and just keeping you shaking as you ride it out.

You take a moment to savor the feel of him before you bend over, taking his hard cock into your mouth with renewed vigor after he made you cum so hard. His answering groan makes you work harder, shifting off of his face to take him deeper.

“Baby.” He gasps, reaching down and cupping your jaw. “Holy shit.” His eyes roll back in pleasure when you flick your tongue over his frenulum and suck on the tip. “Not- not gonna last if you do that.” He pants, wanting to be inside you when he cums.

You reluctantly pull off of him, shifting to straddle his thighs, his cock pressed against your stomach as you lean down to kiss him. Again, there’s no rush as you languidly caress his tongue with yours. “Fuck, I love you.” You murmur against his chin. “I have an IUD. I know we never discuss anything sexual but it’s been a while for me and I’m clean.” You haven’t been a nun since Theo was born, managing a few nights out with coworkers or friends while your mom babysat back in Austin and you ended up having sex before rushing home to relieve your mom, never taking it beyond that for Theo’s sake.

“I love you too.” Marcus promises. “I- I got tested after ending things with Teresa.” It was a part of the work up for his undercover mission, but he had been planning on scheduling it anyway. “I’m clean and I trust you completely. You know that. Or you should.”

You caress his chest after you sit up, “I trust you with everything I am.” You promise him and his answering grin makes your heart thump. You shift up onto your knees, reaching between you to grip his cock and you position him at your entrance, sinking down onto him with a moan as he slowly stretches you out.

Marcus watches in rapture as your face twists up in pleasure at the fill of him. “I love you.” He groans, caressing your side and smiling up at you as you adjust to him. He wants you to take your time, whatever time you need. He wants you to have the exact pleasure you want tonight.

You take a moment to adjust to him, he’s long and you feel like he’s already in your guts. You caress his chest and close your eyes for a moment, just feeling him. Finally, your thighs touch his and you open your eyes to look at him. “Fuck, you feel so good.” You admit after you lift up, slowly, and you feel him dragging against your walls as you sink back down onto him.

“You feel good.” He groans. “You felt so good that night, but now.” He shakes his head and squeezes your hips. “I love you. Fuck baby, you look so good. You belong right there.”

Your heart pounds as you look down at him, your hand sliding over his chest to feel how his heart beats and you love the way he’s looking at you like you’re the most precious thing in the world. “It was meant to be. That night. Us having sex. Having Theo. It took a while but this is where we belong.” You murmur, grinding down onto him.

“Yes it is, baby.” That he’s now completely certain of. “I want to make a real family with you.” He knows that serious conversations need to happen, Theo’s best interests need to come first, but he wants you to know how serious he is. “Us baby. The three of us.”

His words make tears spring in your eyes and you bend over, cupping his cheeks so you can kiss him. “The three of us. A family, oh God. You have no idea how many times I’ve imagined it. Maybe…maybe one day…another baby. If it works out.” You suggest, “want you to be there for it all.” You murmur, kissing his jaw as you rock back onto him.

“Fuck.” Marcus groans and his cock twitches inside you. “I hate that I missed it. I would have waited on you, hand and foot.” There’s nothing he wants more than to see you growing his child, but maybe there can be another one sometime soon. If you want. He would love it. “Want to marry you, baby.” He coos.

His words make you shiver at the idea of being Mrs. Pike, but in the best way possible. It’s something you’ve definitely thought about, you’d guiltily admit that you thought about it when he was with Teresa. You rock back onto him, your chest still pressed against his. “I want to be yours, Marcus. In every way. You are - fuck - you are everything I want.” You promise, leaning closer to kiss along his neck.

The moment lingers and it’s everything that he’s wanted. The sensation more than he had with Teresa. He knows that now. His hands slide up your back, tongue pressing against the dip in your shoulder.

You are breathless as you rock on top of him, “Marc.” You moan as your body shakes above him, getting closer and closer as the angle hits just right and his pelvis is rubbing against your clit. You bury your face in his neck when you cum. It’s slow and intense, making your entire body vibrate as you feel it from your toes all the way to your head. It’s dizzying and you shudder as you try to work yourself through it.

“Good girl.” Marcus moans, closing his eyes and feeling your body shake and shudder as you softly come down from your high until you are limp on top of him. “God, you are so perfect.”

You tilt your head to kiss him, enjoying the feel of him inside of you and the lingering haze of your orgasm. His tongue slides against yours and you’re in no rush. You have all night and hopefully every night from now on. His hands caress your back until he pulls back from your mouth and rolls you over, his body hovering over yours. “You gonna make love to me?” You ask softly, fingers caressing his lips.

“I am.” Marcus leans in and nudges his nose against yours. Pressing his lips to yours in a petal soft kiss before sliding his hand down to lift your thigh onto his hip. “Want to make sure you know exactly how I feel about you.”

You caress his shoulders, “show me.” You order, wanting to experience Marcus like this. After so many months of pining for him, watching him with Teresa. You finally have him and he’s taking his time to make sure you know how he feels. When he starts to move inside of you, it’s slow and you feel every ridge and vein of him. “Shit.” You pant, tilting your head back.

He keeps his lips on your skin. Trailing kisses up and down your throat as he slowly rocks into you. Just slow enough that you feel him move but he’s not even built up anything that could be considered a pace. Feeling like he’s home and relishing it.

You keep your head tilted back so he can kiss along it, making you sigh and your hands caress his shoulders before sliding up to his cheeks, bringing his face to yours so you can kiss him. You wrap both your legs around him, wanting him to be even closer and he barely moves as your tongues slide against each other.

It’s like time doesn’t matter right here, and it doesn’t. The fatigue, the sorrow, the loneliness all evaporate as the two of you slowly move towards that pinnacle together. Almost more emotional than physical as he wants to stay buried inside you.

You shift your hips and Marcus moves a little faster, sensing what you need without you saying it, and you whimper when he shifts deeper inside of you. The pace is still leisurely and your lips hover against his, eyes closed as you breathe him in.

“Fuck, I love you.” Marcus promises, rocking slowly and tightening his hold on you. Feeling like he’s in Heaven. “This is- everything to me.”

“Me too.” You promise in return, caressing his shoulders and back as he rocks into you and he’s still in no rush. “You’re everything to me. You and Theo. My - my fucking world. Would do anything for either of you.” You vow, clenching around his cock.

He hums, knowing you mean every word you say. You have been nothing but truthful with him. Good to him when he didn’t deserve it and he’s honored that you fell in love with him.

When Marcus picks up the pace a little, you tighten your grip on him and can’t stop the little moans that escape your lips. “Oh God. Yes, right there.” You murmur, lost in the pleasure and the emotion as he pushes deep inside of you.

“There?” He grunts, biting his lip and concentrating to make sure that he makes you cum again. His arms brace his body up above you, still close as he works his cock in and out of your tight cunt. “Fuck, one more baby.” He begs. “Give me one more.”

You can’t speak as he hits the right spot over and over. Your stomach twists and your thighs tighten around him as he pushes deep until you are clamping down on his cock. Your head thrown back as you cum, gushing around him as a silent cry of his name graces your lips.

“Oh god, baby.” He groans, and presses his lips to yours as he starts to feel his own orgasm start to take over. “I love you, I love you so much.”

You watch him as he cums, his eyes squeezing shut as his jaw drops after he pulls back from you and you squeeze him within your walls, wanting to milk him for everything he has. Your hands caress his shoulders, sliding down his back. “I love you too. More than you’ll ever know.” You promise against his chin .

Panting, Marcus smiles and kisses your lips again. “I can’t believe that we are here like this.” He admits with a small chuckle. “I think that the best thing I did was watch the drunk tank that night.”

You cup his cheek, “I think the best thing I did was go out to celebrate my graduation. It’s been - it’s been a wild journey but I wouldn’t change anything. I love you and Theo so much. My world. I want to be your wife, I want to have more of your babies. I want you. Forever. Marcus, I fucking love you.” You declare breathlessly and he grins, pecking your lips.

“You’ll get everything you want because that’s what I want. You’re what I want. You and my Theo. You’re everything.” He promises and you pull him close, his cock still inside of you and you know that you were always meant to belong to Marcus and him to you. It took eleven years but you and Marcus are finally where you belong: together.

#pedro pascal #marcus pike #marcus pike x reader #marcus pike x you #marcus pike x f!reader #marcus pike the mentalist #marcus pike smut #marcus pike fanfiction #marcus pike imagine

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likelytowritesomestuff · 1 month

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Hazbin Hotel Headcanons pt 2

(With a sprinkle of 'Helluva Boss')

the Vices and the Goetias are some sort of uncles and aunts for Charlie, so this means...

... Stolas used to babysit Charlie when she was little and from that experience, he realized he could be a better father than his own...

... Bee totally organized the best birthday parties for Charlie (especially after Lilith left)

... Charlie was one of the first person Asmodeus told her about his relationship with Fizzarolli and she was really happy when they came out as a couple

Charlie managed to convince the elevator guys to let Vaggie visit the rest of Hell in occasion for her first birthday as her girlfriend: in that occasion, they had dinner at Ozzie's, Charlie improvised a duet with Fizz that made Vaggie laugh out loud and then they moved to the party Bee organized for her (Vaggie wasn't immune to Bee's charm and when she realized Charlie had noticed it, she felt ashamed by that, but her girlfriend shrugged because 'Aunt Bee always does this effect to introvert people' and everything turned out okay)

Vaggie had a crush on Lute when she first joined the Exorcist Army, but it didn't last for long... that being sad, it hurt knowing Lute was the responsible for her fall

after it was revealed the Extermination would have been in six months, Vaggie got drunk and started commiserating herself for not being a good girlfriend for Charlie. Husk tried to comfort her, saying that she was the princess's anchor because he heard Charlie saying that (and he has a pair eyes) when Vaggie dropped his secret... the morning after she talked with Husk (in spanish to not be understood by others) and he assured her he would have not revealed the secret because he was none of his business...

... unfortunately spanish is similar to italian and Val occasionally speaks spanish, so Angel asked him what was this big secret Vaggie was trying to hide and Husk told him it was something stupid, nothing important... of course he revealed the truth after the couple came back from Heaven

Lucifer actually cooked pancakes for everyone after the hotel was rebuilt and then spent the next days making personalized ducks for everyone...

... yeah, he even did one for Alastor and agreed to co-parent Charlie in absence of Lilith (Alastor took the duck because 'why not? It's not bad', but then he didn't know how to feel about the other thing because he didn't like to get attached to all the Hotel gang and this was going against his plan)

living in the 40s and 50s means that sometime Vox says some mysoginistic, racist or homophobic stuff, but Valentino and Velvette are always ready to point that out... luckily, Vox is willing to learn and has a long list of the things he can say and he can't say

when they first met, Val started flirting with Vox but Vox was walking eteronormativity due to his upbringing and dismissed his avances...

... but Val had the feeling Vox wasn't straight and after seeing his reaction to the news that Judy Garland had died after he arrived in Hell, he was happy to be right

Then Vox told him that he suppressed his feelings for men all his life and Val offered him to make up for the lost time... and that's how their on and off relationship began

after episode 4, Angel always received flowers and sweets at the studio from the Hotel gang in order to show him support (Val doesn't know that, he thinks those are just presents from Angel's fans)

Lucifer didn't immediately understand Angel's gender, so he tried with female pronouns and when Angel replied, he believed he was a girl until Charlie told him he was male. Actually Angel wasn't really bothered because Lucifer was the only one to use female prounons for him and not in a derogatory way, so sometimes Lucifer still uses them for him

The movie Angel showed to the Hotel gang was the last movie he did before his relationship with Val started to crack... that's why he got so mad when Husk critized it...

... after episode 4, Angel realized Husk did indeed watched some of his movies and Husk admitted he watched a few of his first movies and those are better than the new ones (the new ones as the ones he did with Val) and Angel was happy that someone still remembered those, where plot and quality still mattered

Alastor actually ships Huskerdust! He was the first to notice Husk's attraction to Angel and told the bartender they would have been such a cute couple despite their differences... Husk didn't know how to feel, but at least he was happy Alastor didn't meddle when he and Angel started to get closer

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin lucifer #hazbin angel dust #charlie morningstar #vaggie hazbin hotel #chaggie #huskerdust #hazbin hotel husk #hazbin hotel valentino #hazbin hotel velvette #hazbin hotel vox #valvox #stolas goetia #helluva boss asmodeus #fizzmodeus #helluva boss beelzebub #my headcanons

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horseshoegirl · 11 months

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Damn Those Dog Tags: Part 13 - Sons & Daughters

📜This one is going to hurt... 😬 Depending on how you think... I challenged myself with this one as it's almost all from Sadie's POV.

Also, do you guys listen to the songs at all? Just curious 😂

❗+18, strong language, godmother reader/original female character, original child, name-calling and implying some derogatory things, mentions of concussions, Angst, Protective Dagger Squad, mostly from Sadie's POV.

#6.5k words

Part 12 | Masterlist | Part 14

The first thing Sadie thought when she woke up in the morning was that she had never had a headache like this one.

She had nothing to compare it to. This wasn't a soccer ball to the face or a cold with a bad stuffed-up nose. This type was the one that made your eyes water in pain, the kind where your headband was just too tight, but there was no headband for her to remove. The type to create intrusive thoughts about hitting your head off a wall to see if that would fix it.

On top of that, she was exhausted from her Uncle Jake waking her up throughout the night, ensuring she could still wake up. And each time he did, she had trouble falling back asleep.

When you came to wake her up in the morning, a smile on your face, she couldn't stop her tears from escaping due to the pain. She could handle a lot, but headaches were her weakness. And your reaction only made it worse, Sadie not wanting to add more to your plate, as a frown graced your face.

Whether the question of if she was feeling okay, physically or emotionally, was going to cross your lips, Sadie didn't want to know.

She groggily sat up, trying to bury her face into your neck, clinging to you tightly and whimpering, "It's my head."

Something about just holding on to you soothed the pain. Sadie could remember the doctor telling her before leaving the hospital that she would feel worse on the second day. She thought he had been stupid to say that; nothing could have been worse than what her entire family just went through.

Then she understood what he meant. However, he should have paid better attention to his choice of words.

Sadie tried to hide her whines as you stood, carrying her out of her bed and into the bathroom, where you single handily searched for the bottle of pain meds as she clung to you.

Uncle Jake was working a wooden spoon through a bowl of batter in the kitchen when he saw Sadie in your arms. He frowned and immediately dropped the spoon, walking over to the pair of you and placing a hand resting on Sadie's back.

"It's her head," you spoke quietly, kissing her forehead. Jake took the bottle of meds from your hand without saying anything else, pressing a kiss to the side of your head, saying quietly, "Go sit. I'll get everything ready."

Sadie didn't pay any attention to what was happening after you sat down with her in your lap. Uncle Jake brought over two pills and a glass of orange juice at some point, and you coaxed her into the chair next to you to take them.

But she was impatient, waiting for those nasty things to work, pressing her head into her arms as if the small amount of darkness would help. Then Uncle Jake placed a packet of ice on her neck, and she wanted to cry from the relief.

The awful bandage came off after she started to feel slightly better, you sitting behind her at the kitchen table as you worked the thing loose. Uncle Jake was at the stove, flipping pancakes, laughing at the faces Sadie was making as you tugged one way or pulled the other.

After living off hospital food almost all day yesterday, the pancakes did wonders for her stomach. But she was more pleased to see Uncle Jake smiling and laughing with you at the kitchen table as everyone ate. How he made her laugh and feel happy, despite everything that happened.

Uncle Jake just fit in.

And that was the thing with you and Uncle Jake. Neither of you babied her. Sadie knew she could always come to you with anything; she just had to say the word. And it only took shared looks with Uncle Jake to know he was an option as well, constantly checking in with a knowing smile and Sadie nodding to let him know she was doing okay.

But she didn't want to think about everything just yet.

After breakfast, however, was a constant cycle of boredom. Sadie didn't know how to cope. You told her she couldn't look at a screen, and while she understood, she was bored. This was different from when it was the flu or a cold, and she got to stay home from school. She could huddle on the couch, play her Switch, or watch a movie during those times. Despite loving to read, she could only stare at the pages for so long before the words ran into each other.

Or her head started to pound again.

Uncle Jake tried to help, sitting with her outside while you curled up in one of the chairs, reading a book in between answering phone calls. Sadie hadn't seen you with a book in a long time, that book in particular, and she wondered what convinced you to pick it back up again. But she liked the fact you did, watching you turn every page with eager intent, lost in the world described in the pages.

Until she fell asleep against her Uncle Jake, who was content to let her be until two hours had passed and she needed to be woken up again.

She honestly just wanted him to let her sleep.

Then the Daggers had called, more Auntie Nat than any of them, to ask if they could bring dinner over. When they arrived, she hugged everyone slightly longer than usual, not that they seemed to mind. Even if she had to put up with the same questions from all of them, Sadie honestly just wanted her family close by.

But there was something off about her Uncle Roo.

He barely said a word to her when he walked through the front door. And his hug wasn't as warm or nearly as tight. And after dinner, with everyone in the backyard, she was beginning to worry. She could tell he was mad as she feigned sleep, lying up against Uncle Jake on the bench to avoid answering another, "Are you doing okay?"

He hadn't stopped staring at her once. Or at you, for that matter. His eyes tracked every movement you made in the backyard, from refilling a water jug to nibbling on a piece of food. Or every conversation.

Every time you to came over and spoke with Uncle Jake.

It was weird, she thought.

And she wanted to find out why.

Despite her headache going away, being around everyone made her exhausted. And she suddenly felt the urge to be alone. She excused herself from the backyard, asking if she could lie in her room for a minute, everyone frowning. But you had let her go without complaint.

You always knew what she needed, and you never forced her to do something that made her uncomfortable.

Rooster had been there for her when she was struggling with the fact she wouldn't see her mom anymore. Maybe she was trying to let him approach her by going inside. She half expected him to follow her inside, or there might have been a moment when she would have pulled him aside and asked if she could talk to him about what had happened. This shouldn't be any different than those times.

But he didn't follow her inside, and he really hadn't said a word to her all evening, unlike Auntie Nat or Uncle Bob, who had asked if she needed to vent.

She couldn't figure out what she did wrong.

It was making her upset.

Sadie lifted her from her pillow head to a knock at her bedroom door.

"Come in," she called out softly. Her door opened, revealing you on the other side, a sad smile on your face.

"Hey," your voice was soft. "I just came to check on you. Everyone was worried."

Sadie put her head back on her pillow, glancing out her window. "I'm okay. Just tired. It's just a lot."

"Should we have not had everyone over? You're allowed to say no. No one would blame you."

She closed her eyes, moving her head back and forth against her pillow. "No, I wanted everyone here. It was just more than I thought it would be."

You stepped forward to sit beside her on the bed, hand reaching out to stroke at her leg top her covers. "You've been through more than anyone your age, Bug."

Sadie turned to look at you, instantly drawn to your eye. Your bruise had gotten darker and lighter, yellow patches adding themselves to the stains of the blue since she came home. Its presence on your face still haunted her, making her return to her belief that you or Uncle Jake wouldn't have gotten hurt if she had stayed in the bathroom. But then she'd remember what Uncle Jake had said, and she'd stop herself.

She knew even her mom would have come up with the right thing to say, which sounded exactly the same as everyone else had been telling her.

People were just sometimes bad.

"Am I supposed to buy the "It will make me stronger" speech people give me?" she wondered aloud. You squeezed her leg through her puffy green comforter, saying, "Not if you don't want it to."

Adjusting herself on her bed, she replied, "So if I wanted to be upset about it?"

You slid closer to her, and Sadie reached for your hand, threading her fingers through yours. You touched her cheek and answered, "It's okay to cry about what happened Bug. To be upset. Why do you think you can't be upset?"

"Because you and Uncle Jake got hurt. Because I don't want anyone else to worry about me. Because it will cause more problems, and I don't want you to be sad."

You gasped, crying, "Sadie, you're never a problem! Please don't ever think that! I'm only sad because I can't fix everything for you. I would do anything to make sure you're happy."

Sadie cried the second you said those words, releasing the pent-up emotions weighing her down since she woke up in that hospital bed.

Maybe she didn't need to talk to her Uncle Roo about these things.

You had been right here all along.

"Thank you for understanding, Aunt Liz," she sniffed, wiping her eyes. "And being there for me. For taking me in."

Laying beside her on her bed, you wrapped your arm around her side. "As if you were going to end up anywhere else than with me. That's nothing you have to thank me for, Bug."

She played to the edges of her comforter, the question burning on her lips. "Is he my birth-farther? The bad man."

Her mom had always said she had a father out there. One that left before she was born. She hadn't started putting everything together, the photos her mom had shown her, the warnings to stay away from that man, until after everything had happened and she had time to think about it when she was stuck in that hospital bed.

Sadie knew you would tell her the truth. You always did, even when she didn't want to hear it. You swallowed hard before nodding sadly. "Yeah, he is."

Sadie let go of the comforter, pushing it off her. "What does that mean for me? For us? I just... don't want anything to do with him."

"Well, hopefully, when the police catch him, he will go to jail. So we will never see him again. Your mom ensured that would never happen. He's not going anywhere near you."

"Really?"

You nodded. "Everyone outside would buzz the CPS building if that was even the slightest possibility too."

She giggled at that.

"So whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me. And those idiots outside."

Sadie huffed a small laugh, remarking, "Till I run off with a boy, right?"

You gasped, sitting up and remarking, "Sadie Beck, don't tell me you have a crush!"

Well, shoot, she really shouldn't have gone with that reply. You could always tell when she was hiding something.

Well, almost always.

"I'm almost eleven, Aunt Liz. Do I really need to be thinking about a boy right now?" she attempted to throw you off her trail, rolling her eyes. But you didn't relent, a knowing grin on your face.

"Not if it's Will your thinking about," you teased. Sadie squealed, rolling herself into her pillow.

Will had called her today asking if she was okay. She liked him more than she cared to admit. She was still too young even to consider having a boyfriend. But she liked the way he cared about her. It reminded her of how Uncle Jake cared about you. Then she realized, turning her head with a shout, "You and Uncle Jake's date got ruined!"

You chuckled softly. "It's nothing that can't be replanned. Besides, I think he likes spending time with the both of us anyway."

Sadie giggled, thinking back to this morning. "Don't let him flip the pancake pan again. And he needs to stop singing in the shower. I think it's making my head worse."

Something warm sparked in Sadie's chest at watching you finally laugh wholeheartedly after what seemed like the longest 24 hours of her life.

She liked seeing you laugh. You only ever did once Uncle Jake came around since her mom had left the two of you.

"Is it okay that Uncle Jake is staying here?" you asked her after a minute.

Sadie sat up in her bed, looking at you questionably. Uncle Jake had left just after lunch for a half hour, returning with a bag in hand. She hadn't questioned it. It made sense that he would stay with you two while the bad man was still out there.

She also didn't trust the police officer outside across the street in his car either. She had often peered out the front window to see him asleep in his front seat.

She nodded. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know, with everything that has happened? The fact he and I.."

She didn't have to think twice about her answer. "I feel safe with him in the house."

You smiled. "So do I, Bug."

You were about to say something else when a loud shout echoed down the hallway, an f-bomb, as you had labelled on the swear jar in the kitchen. Sadie's eyes shot to her open door, and she quickly remarked, "Somebody needs to put money in the swear jar."

But this wasn't a slip of the tongue. More shouts and angry words were coming from different people. Sadie looked at you, wondering what to do. But you had gone stiff, your face emotionless as the both of you took in the fight.

You seemed to snap out of it when you heard Auntie Nat's voice shout Uncle Roo's name, and you finally looked back at her with worrisome eyes.

Sadie watched as you grabbed her oversized black headphones with puffy sides from her bedside table and quickly turned them on. You were biting your bottom lip as you placed them on her head, looking down at your phone and hitting play on a playlist. You squeezed her shoulder, mouthing 'stay' to her before you quickly exited her room, shutting the door behind you.

Sadie couldn't hear anything beyond the music playing in her ears. She could tell without looking at your phone screen that it was the playlist you had made for Saturday Nights.

She caught snippets of shouts and yells for a couple of songs when the music shuffled. She could hear you, Uncle Jake, Uncle Nat, and Uncle Roo, who was the loudest. At one point, she thought she even heard Uncle Bob raise his voice. That one shocked her the most - she had never heard him speak that loudly.

But after a while, she couldn't hear your voice in the mix while another song changed. Sadie reached up and pulled the headphones from her head, leaving them on her bed as she climbed off and to her door.

She didn't know why everyone was fighting but needed to know. If her suspicions had been right about Uncle Roo being mad about something, she needed to know why and if she could fix it.

She opened it carefully, not that anyone would have heard her with how loud it was and shut it closed behind her. The hallway was dark, save for a light coming from your bedroom. Tip-toeing across the hall, she pressed herself to the wall as she peered over the corner, spying on everyone standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

You weren't in the room with them anymore. And Sadie confirmed she had indeed been right about Roo being mad. Her first thought was that her comparison of how red as a Rooster he could get wasn't accurate. She needed something redder, maybe a lump of coal from the fire pit or the stuff inside the glass thermometer you kept in the backyard.

But then she started to question why he was mad and yelling. And, most importantly, why was everyone standing behind Uncle Jake and not Uncle Roo when she knew they didn't like him?

---

You didn't want to admit it as you left Sadie's room. But nothing would have gotten Rooster to react that badly had he not found out about you and Jake.

Rounding the corner of the hall, Nat stood between Rooster and Jake, her hand on Bradley's chest. She was pushing him away from Jake, who had his arms crossed and jaw clenched, staring him down.

The rest of the Daggers were spread out amongst your kitchen, caught between trying to figure out what the hell happened and wondering what side they would go to bat for.

"Bradley, what the hell was that?! Sadie is in her room!"

You shouldn't have said anything. Bradley's red-hot temper, face contorted in outrage, suddenly pinned you down. Pointing his finger at you, he stepped forward in your direction. Nat countering his movement, making sure to stand between you and him at all times.

"You liar!" he seethed.

You took a step back, slightly frightened.

"How long have you been sleeping with him? Since before we were deployed or after?!"

"I'm not sleeping with him!" you replied, your voice slightly brittle. Bradley scoffed, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, something is a little fucking fishy considering his bag is next to your bed in your room!"

You narrowed your eyes at him, your fist clenched. "You went into my room?!"

"Didn't need to when the door was wide open."

Some part of you wished you could have sat Bradley down and told him without fear of a reaction like this. But Bradley was unpredictable at best. And from what you knew of his relationship with Mav, he could hold a nasty grudge.

It wasn't as if you didn't feel bad about it. You didn't lie to him, but you didn't tell him the truth when you should have.

"You gave into him!" He shouted at you, looking at Jake and then back to you. "We told you! We warned you, Elizabeth! And you didn't listen to us."

Nat was the one to respond for you, recalling, "She made no such promise, Bradshaw. She told you to lay off and let her handle it."

But he didn't listen to her, too caught up with watching how you reacted to his words to even entertain any idea that didn't fit into what he believed to be fact.

"How quickly did he get between your legs?" he remarked heatedly.

"Rooster!"

Out of all the people you expected to shout, Bob certainly wasn't one of them. His southern drawl, normally soothing to the ear, was harsher than normal. He moved from his perch up against the wall next to your back door, coming to stand in line with Nat and Jake, "That was outta line!"

A part of you acknowledged he probably found out about your relationship with Jake from Nat. But he had been silent this whole time. He had never said a word about what he knew or thought.

"The number of times she's taken care of your ass, and this is how you treat her? You've got no business telling her what she can do."

"It's fucking Hangman, Bob! Are you all even thinking about what this will do to Sadie? When he leaves her out high and dry?" Bradley exclaimed. "She's going to wake up one day, and he's not going to be there, and she's going to be devastated. And for what?!"

Jake narrowed his eyes at him, "Not that it's any of your goddamn business, but she made me swear to put Sadie first."

Suddenly, everything clicked for Bradley, the pieces fitting together neatly.

"Jake wasn't randomly at the Hard Deck on Friday," he said. "He was seeing you."

You refused to look him in the eye, and Bradley's face twisted in hurt.

"So, this is it, huh? You've been seeing each other behind our backs this whole time? And decided to keep it from us."

You gripped your forearm tightly. Should you own up and let him know almost everyone knew but him? Could you explain or even convince him that everyone found out by themselves?

But the choice had been made for you when Rooster saw something in Nat's eyes that indicated not only had she known about it, she was and had been okay with it.

"You knew?!" Rooster yelled at her. Nat stood her ground, fierceness in her eyes as she remarked, "It wasn't my story to tell."

"Oh, this is just fucking rich. How many of you knew?"

Bob and Coyote turned away from Bradley, refusing to say anything that might give away what they knew. And while Fanboy and Payback might have only found out now, even knowing something had been going on between the two of you or assuming something would, given that Jake followed you into the kitchen that first Saturday night, they still hung their heads low like everyone else.

"How could you all?!" Bradley cried out, eyes tracking around the room. "You traitors!"

"Okay, you know what? I'm done!" you seethed, stepping around Nat and copying Bradley's stance. Jake reached for you, but you dodged his hand. Poking Bradley in the chest with your finger, you shouted, "What the fuck is your problem, Bradley?"

"He's my problem!"

"Jake is not the goddamn issue, and you fucking know it!" You yelled back at him. It was like a light switch had been flipped somewhere inside you, and all this anger suddenly rushed to the surface.

"Time and time again, you claim it's Sadie you are concerned about. But you change the conversation every time I press just a little bit further. Or you blame Jake, but something tells me that's your scapegoat for everything!"

You pushed at his chest, making him take two steps back. "And for what? Because he said something about your dad?"

Bradley's jaw twitched, and you knew you had struck a nerve.

"Oh, so it is that."

"Stay out of it, Liz," he murmured. But you didn't listen. You had enough, and you would find out the real reason here and now.

"You dragged Sadie and me right into it," you shot back. "So I'm going to drag it out for you. What is it?!"

Stalking forward, you glared Bradley down, continuing to step backwards as you dealt each verbal blow.

"Is it some longstanding grudge because Jake hurt your feelings?" you challenged. "Or Is it Jake replacing you in Sadie's life? Do you think that lowly of her to think she plays favourites? She's adored you since she met you!"

And then suddenly, you remembered what Sadie had said to Bradley the second she saw him on your sister's front porch. "Or does it have something to do with your mom?"

Bradley's temper broke loose.

"I watched her mourn my father every day, picking her off the floor because he wasn't there! I watched her cry out for him daily, barely functioning beyond her routine. Get up, make breakfast and shuffle me into the bus and off to school. She couldn't cope with his loss and his absence in her life. She loved him so much, and it wasn't enough to keep him here with her! No matter what I did, it was never enough! And when Jake does the same to you, I won't have Sadie live her childhood doing the same for you!

With everything Bradley admitted, you should have come up with a more compassionate response. But you were too hurt by the comparison to manage anything other than, "Grow the fuck up."

You had said it so scathingly and firmly that everyone pivoted and faced you. No one had ever heard you be that ruthless.

"I'm not your mom. And Sadie isn't your child where you can make choices for her. I've long wrestled with the idea that I'll never be able to protect her from everything in life but Jake?! He's not one of those things."

Tears welled in your eyes as you continued. "As for my grief, I have never placed anything on her. I've hidden that part of myself away day in and day out because who would I be if I wasn't strong around her? I've sacrificed my mental sanity day in and day out so she can have some semblance of peace. To know that there are people who care about her."

But rather than continuing to be angry at Bradley for his reaction, you felt pity for what he went through.

"I'm so sorry if you had the entire weight of the entire world on your shoulders growing up, Bradley, but Sadie isn't going to crumble because I can't be strong around her."

Bradley opened his mouth as if to respond, but no words came out. It was clear to you he was grappling with his own emotions, whether something had caused him to be this way or you had brought everything rushing to the surface.

You held his gaze, unwavering in your conviction. "I'm not asking you to agree with my choices," you finally said, your voice softening. "But I am asking you to respect them."

But you knew he wouldn't. In defending Jake, and by poking and prodding at him, you had backed Bradley into a corner.

And like a wounded animal, he went for the insult.

"I didn't know you wanted to add your name to the tally in Hangman's whorehouse."

You felt cold, ice shooting up your veins and freezing over your skin.

Your hand was ready, fingers steadying and stretching out as you prepared to whip it forward. But rather than a slap, Nat beat you to it, fist flying out of nowhere and landing hard into Rooster's solar plexus. He lurched over in a groan, and she stepped back, nostrils flaring.

"You say that again about them, I dare you. You've done enough damage."

"I'm not the one who ruined the team," he said hoarsely, looking at you pointedly.

You were done.

You turned on your heel, making a run for it back down your hall, a slam of a door letting everyone know you had no plans to return any time soon.

___

Jake watched you leave, head down and hands coming up to wipe at your face as you ran down your dark hallway. Everyone stared a Bradley in a mix of shock and anger. Maybe even in disbelief. For Bradley to say such a thing, to you of all people, was inexcusable.

"That was your last straw, Bradshaw. I couldn't care less what you say about me, but her? You need to leave," Jake said, getting up in his face.

Coyote stepped up from behind Bradley, knocking his shoulder hard as he passed him. Bradley stumbled forward, eyes watching as Javy nodded once to Jake before following you down the hall.

"You have no idea the double standard you place on, Liz," Jake laughed to himself. "Taking about grief and telling her she needs to grieve when shaming her for wanting to do that. Sadie can grieve, but Liz can't? "

"I'm not the asshole who's going to fuck it up for them," Bradley remarked. "Liz wouldn't have to if you just chose to stay away from them like you should have."

But Jake smirked at him. "At least I have the decency to own up to when I've been one."

"You know," Bradley started. "I'm just waiting for the day when you mess up so badly, and she looks for someone to support her. Cause I know her better than you could ever think. The second you do, you'll never get her back. Or Sadie."

Bob spun away from the group at Bradley's words, becoming slightly more worried Sadie would wake up and venture into this mess. He had half a mind to leave and sit with her, until out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blonde hair peaking out from the end of the hall.

Sadie peered at her Uncle Bob from her hiding spot, concerned. Bob shot her a worried look, motioning with his eyes for her to go back to her room. But Sadie shook her head.

She had every right to be here if her name was being thrown around.

"Nothing about what you just said or did had anything to do with Sadie," Jake challenged Bradley, who assertively replied, "She's part of it."

"And at any point during your little outburst, did you even once think about her, currently hiding out in her bedroom, hearing every shout or word you've said?"

Sadie knew the answer to this one. Even if she wasn't in the hallway, and you didn't put her headphones on, Uncle Roo clearly didn't think about what he was saying before he said it.

Having already been standing with Jake, Nat crossed her arms and glared pointedly at Bradley. "You've hurt Liz. The one person who would have taken a bat for you. She didn't deserve everything you just threw at her."

Sadie's eyes shot to Bradley, horrified and disappointed at her Aunt Nat's words. He had hurt you.

That was unforgivable.

Sadie finally decided to pull herself away from the wall, step forward and reach for her Uncle Bob, who was at the back of the pack. She gripped the fabric of his plant leg, half hiding from everyone's view.

Bob looked down, shocked, as she pressed her forehead into the back of his knee. He tried to slowly step backwards, hoping to lead Sadie back to her room. But she wasn't having it, wrapping her arm tightly around his leg, preventing him from moving any further.

She was staying.

"You have a right to your opinion, but if you cannot accept that I'm with her for the right reasons, that Sadie isn't on our minds every damn second, then I will kindly ask you to leave."

Bradley scoffed at Jake, laughing, "Don't think it's up to you to uninvite me."

"But I can."

Everyone turned, shocked to hear, and finally discover Sadie hiding behind Bob's leg. Bradley seemed to sober at her words, eyes relaxing, then widening as he saw her cowering from him.

"Bug..." he said lowly, his hand stretching out. She took a step back, eyeing his hand cautiously.

"You hurt my Aunt," she said firmly, her disappointment in him evident. "You're not welcome here anymore."

Sadie could see the sudden guilt on his face, but she didn't care. Right now, she didn't like him. And he wasn't going to get away with what he just did.

"You heard her," Jake stated, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest.

But Bradley paid him no mind and tried to reason with Sadie as he said, "Bug, it's not what you think."

"I have eyes," she snarked, then decided to add for good measure, "And ears."

Bradley's eyes travelled from Sadie's to Nat's, who now stood behind her. Then Fanboy and Payback stepped forward, crossing their arms over their chest as they glared at Bradley, the man looking more confused with each passing second.

Sadie was mad. Despite not knowing what was exactly said, the fact he would even do something that would purposely hurt you cut her deep. And she was inconsolable, her protectiveness for you coming through fiercely.

Bradley shook his head, his voice slightly bitter. "You're just a kid, Sadie. You don't know how relationships work. It's complicated."

Her eyes blazed with determination. While she might be the youngest, never once had anyone treated her as if she was stupid or deserving of the truth.

"Just because I'm young doesn't mean my feelings don't matter!" She was becoming frustrated now, tears starting to leak from her eyes. And her head was beginning to hurt again. Yet, she persisted.

"Everyone but my Aunt reminds me I'm a kid! That I don't know enough! But I know when someone is being a bully! And you are one!"

She cast her eyes down to the floor, slowly side-stepping until she was behind her Uncle Jake. He immediately cradled the back of her head.

"My aunt has never been happier than she is with Uncle Jake!" She tried to say through the pain. "I will not let you hurt them."

Who was this person, she thought, glaring up at him with utter disappointment, that had taken the place of her Uncle Roo? The one that promised to look out for her, for you, when her mom had died. Who held her hand and told her it was going to be okay? Who went with her after school and soccer practice for ice cream and let her talk about her feelings?

This wasn't the Uncle Roo she loved.

So for the first time in her life, Sadie knew what it was like to see someone she loved so dearly fall from the pedestal she had put him on. And in trying to understand what it meant, she didn't know whether to be upset at him or upset with herself.

"Leave!" She cried out, turning her face into Jake's leg, trying to soothe the pounding in her head. "Just leave! I don't want you here anymore!"

Nat frowned at Sadie before stepping in front of her, blocking Rooster's view of her. She crossed her arms and glared at him heatedly. Then Bob joined Nat, copying her stance and echoing, "Do you need help seeing yourself out?"

Then Fanboy stood beside Nat, Payback to Bob, all four standing as a barrier between Sadie, Jake, and Bradley. He couldn't believe what was happening in front of him. His team had yet to take his side but remained on Hangman's.

And if that wasn't the final nail in the coffin, Sadie pointed towards the front door, without ever lifting her face from Jake's leg, and said through tears, "Bye, Bradley."

Bradley turned on his heel and stormed out of the room without another word, his heavy footsteps echoing in the tense silence that followed. The rest of the squad watched in silence, their expressions a mix of concern as the front door slammed.

Despite the tension in the room, everyone sighed, turning around to check on Sadie. But before anyone could comment on what happened, Coyote shot around the corner of the hall, eyes wide as he exclaimed panickily, "I can't find Liz."

There were mixed replies, Nat asking if he checked the backyard while Bob asked about your bedroom. Fanboy and Payback decided to look out in the yard while Jake stared after the front door, his hand still resting gently on the back of Sadie's head.

But she sighed, wiping her eyes, knowing exactly where you were. "It's okay. I know."

Stepping sideways, Sadie reached up to grasp Jake's hand. Everyone watched the pair disappear while Bob walked to the front door, ensuring Bradley had heeded Sadie's request and had left.

Leading him down the hall to the bathroom next to your room, Sadie reached the door apprehensively, slowly reaching up to twist the knob and carefully pushing forward.

It wasn't the first time she had found you like this. That was before her mom passed away, and you still lived with them. Her mom had explained at the time something had 'triggered' you. She hadn't understood what it meant, but she knew something had happened that caused you to be sad. She remembered how her mom had climbed into the tub with you, pulled your head into the crook of her neck and cooed as you sobbed.

Letting go of her Uncle's hand, she left him standing in the doorway as she walked over to the tub, peering over the edge. You had curled yourself up into a ball, arms covering your face as your fingers had threaded themselves into the hair at the back of your skull.

From what Sadie could remember, you looked exactly as you did then. Trying to look small under the white light, encased by tile and silver.

Without hesitation, Sadie climbed over the ledge, her small hands peeling your arm away from your face as she curled herself next to you, hugging you tight.

"I'm sorry, Sadie," you gasped, arms wrapping around her.

"What for?"

"I shouldn't be crying like this around you. I need to be strong, the adult..."

Sadie pulled back, her small hands grabbing your cheeks, first wiping at your tears before trailing her thumbs down to your dimples, hooking them in the corners and stretching your mouth outwards.

"I'm allowed to cry, but you're not? That's not fair, Aunt Liz."

She watched as your face registered her words, grateful for the little crook of a smile at the corner of your lips.

She wouldn't even try fixing what Bradley had done to you. There were no magical fairy godmothers or instant health potions for this, no star she could wish on with enough power that would solve everything. Sadie only knew you were hurt.

So, as you did for her when you found her in the guest bedroom of her friend's house when her mom died, she let you cry.

And what could she say or do after that but tell you what she did to Rooster?

"I kicked him out."

"What?"

"He hurt you," she shrugged, totally not owning up to the fact she had challenged an authority figure and had him thrown out of the house. You looked at her, panicked, the question half spilling from your lips, "Did you.."

"Relax," she said in typical Sadie fashion. "I didn't hear what he said. But it was enough."

"Sadie..."

"Sometimes people do bad things. And you didn't make him say those things to you."

You sniffed, rubbing at your nose. "I kind of did. I may have told him something he didn't want to hear."

Sadie bit her lip before asking, "Did he need to hear it?"

Her mom would always ask that when things went wrong. If someone did need to hear it, you shouldn't spare anyone's feelings. It was better, to be honest, than not.

Her eyes quickly flashed over your shoulder, Uncle Jake having moved at some point from leaning against the door frame to sitting on the floor, just on the other side of the tub. He had been so quiet she hadn't even heard him sit down.

"Probably. But not in the way I did it." You closed your eyes, lightly knocking the side of your head on the bottom of the tub.

Sadie looked back at you. "Then do what Mum always did. Don't regret it."

"But.."

She reached up and pressed her tiny finger to your lips, instantly quieting you, before remarking, "This is a 'No questions asked,' Aunt Liz."

Sadie didn't let you say another word, pulling herself into you so she could hug you, resting her cheek atop yours, closing her eyes and sighing when she realized you had stopped crying.

When Sadie eventually opened her eyes, looking up over the rim of the tub, her Uncle Jake was still there, his presence unknown to you. He wasn't looking at her; he was looking down at you with a tender look and a sad smile. It was like he wanted to reach out and comfort you. But he also didn't want to disturb the two of you.

At that moment, everything her mom had ever wanted for you made sense.

Yes, Sadie thought. He was the one her mom always talked about.

The one she had hoped you would find after those phone conversations at the kitchen table. The one that took care of you. That looked out and stood up for you. That made you laugh. Made you happy.

It may be time for you to open the shoebox on the top shelf of your closet, she thought.

Those letters were undoubtedly meant for him.

We have fluff next chapter! I promise!

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Part 14: Sex on Fire coming soon

^ and yes, there is some smut coming up ^

Wickett ;)

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your-phantomfield · 13 days

Text

KOKONOE

i .. ii .. iii circa 2198 for @nkn0va, anonymous

Dating Kokonoe isn’t going to be the most traditional relationship. Her work will always be her first priority and she definitely isn’t looking to make friends. Whether you meet her outside the lab on one of her rare outings or through some dealings with Sector Seven, you’ll have to come to her to be a part of her life. That doesn’t necessitate working for Sector Seven, but if you want to see your girlfriend in the flesh on a remotely regular basis, it helps.

For her part, Kokonoe doesn’t care who you work for and she doesn’t care how much she sees you- at least, she’s damn good at pretending she doesn’t care about it.

She’d be fine with a long distance relationship carried out through calls and video chats. Hell, maybe you could start taking care of a few little ‘errands’ for her. Make yourself useful!

But honestly, Kokonoe is just… awful at intimacy. She’s not good at letting people in or sustaining her relationships. She can say it doesn’t matter as much as she likes, but the truth is, it’s much easier to hold onto your relationship if you stick close to her. A relationship that starts long distance likely won’t last, as she’s just too good at letting people slip away.

II.

To build the foundation of your relationship, you have to be near enough to her that you can worm your way past her defenses. The initiative will be on you. If she’s particularly attracted to you, she may engage in some flirting- lots of bullying, some filthy smug comments- but she’s not looking to have that go anywhere. She’s lived a lonely life, and has gotten to the point where the idea of any long-term relationships seem to go entirely over her head. She sees herself as someone who exists alone. She can’t conceptualize anyone sticking by her, let alone a lover.

Once you’re deep enough under her skin, she’s lifelong loyal and no number of months away can change that- but in the early stages, absence or hesitation risk losing her.

III.

Definitely not a mushy-gushy, sappy, cute little petnames or heart-shaped pancakes kind of lover. This is the kind of girlfriend who loves to give you shit. She does have petnames for you- a lot of them, actually- but they're all... well... let's call them 'lovingly derogatory.'

Kokonoe lacks social maturity. Her style of flirting looks a lot like that of a late-elementary or early-middleschooler's. A classic case of pigtail-pulling. The more she likes you, the more she wants to play with you, and she plays by bullying.

The second you enter the room, she gets much more talkative, and zeros in on you as her victim. Her assistants love you for taking the heat off of them the moment you appear.

She'll have some snappy remark to counter everything you say, standing up from her desk and grinning the whole time she's 'complaining' about how needy you are, coming down here all the time JUST to 'bother' her. She'll be heckling other staff members, telling them to pay attention, because you serve as proof that romance isn't worth the trouble.

"Don't let that cute face fool you! Let me tell you guys, managing my own personal idiot isn't as easy as it looks!"

IV.

You may need to take a quick course in speaking 'tsundere' to understand her banter, but it's evident by the look on her face how happy she is any time you visit her. It's not unusual for others close to her, such as Tager, to call you up and request that you stop by to force her to take a break. If you haven't visited in a little while, your presence can prevent her from even looking at her monitors until you leave. Eventually she'll start catching on that you're conspiring to slow her down, but she has to admit- a little fifteen minute break for some eye candy is probably good for her health.

Your playful banter is good stress relief for her. She's much calmer with you around, too- though those who can't read her may not realize that, given the way she goes at you like a cat that's just spotted a mouse. Your relationship keeps her grounded. It's a tether to what's left of her humanity.

You’re not gonna be going on a lot of dates. She doesn’t see the point, when she has work to do and you could just hang out with her in the lab. If you wanna go see a movie that damn bad, go on your own, she won’t stop you! It’s hard for her to understand that your motivation isn’t the activity itself, but the time spent with her.

In that case…. Fine, sit your ass down and give her five minutes to finish reviewing these numbers… no, actually, go get some snacks! Two extra large buckets of popcorn because she won’t be sharing, and as many boxes of candy as you can carry!! You can put the stupid movie up on one of the projectors and she’ll work on drafting some schematics while you watch.

(PS- She will be sharing, if sharing means stealing your popcorn more than eating her own. She thinks stealing food is cute as long as she's the one doing it.)

VI.

It’s common knowledge that she likes video games, and she’s intensely competitive. If you play any, she’ll be interested in trying them out. She likes arcade shooters a lot, and anything that’ll keep track of her scores. Her goal is always to find a way to break the game by maxing out the score counter. Little miss “dating is for idiots” is constantly sending you screenshots of her latest score- or calling you over just to make you look at it with that big smug look on her face. It’s adorable, she can be just like a bratty kid despite how above-everything she likes to act.

She’ll try any genre of game you play, whether or not you invite her too. And somehow, someway, she’ll turn it into a competition. Doesn’t matter if all you play is Animal Crossing. She’ll pick on you for playing a “mindless baby game,” then get herself a copy and start racing to find all the collectables and fill up your museum before you can. Your girlfriend is a brat.

VII.

Kokonoe is much stronger than she looks. Her insane genetics save her from the severe neglect she's constantly subjecting her body to. She’s weak for a beastkin, especially of her lineage, but still much stronger than a normal human. Regardless of your size, she could probably lift you off your feet in a tight hug. Which looks hilarious, the bigger you are- she’s such a not bigger than 5 feet and rarely takes care of herself enough to break 100lbs.

That said, she absolutely hates any kind of physical exertion. She doesn’t want you thinking she’s frail- don’t you baby her- but she will overplay the idea that she’s a shut-in so asking her to go anywhere without a chair waiting for her is a form of abuse. Asking her to get up and walk across the room to pick something up herself? Neglect! And if you’re working for Sector Seven, insubordination! Hell, treason, even! You want her to write up a report for the Committee?!

No? Didn't think so. Now go fetch, her chips are on that counter over there.

VIII.

She wouldn’t want to make it too obvious, but she absolutely loves it if you’re strong enough to lift her. She likes being carried around piggyback-style. She just might be a little touch starved, and there are a surprising amount of ‘cutesy couple things’ she does kind of want to try… she just can’t do it in any honest fashion.

Trying to force you to carry her around is her solution. She gets to ask you for physical affection and play, all behind a mask of evil bullying. She’ll make her little jokes about you being her pack mule or noble steed, claiming this is a much more efficient way for her to get around- it conserves energy for her very important genius scientist brain and it’s just flat out funnier than her using her scooter. She seems to have even more fun with it if carrying her is difficult for you. She’s a bit of a sadist, what else is there to say?

If you think you can readily lift her usual 90-some pounds (or if you put in the work to get to that point) you can turn this around on her. She loves her piggyback rides, but carrying her bridal-style kills her. She’ll pitch a whole fit, screaming and making threats and blushing so bad she might overheat that very important genius brain of hers.

Just learn to keep an eye on her mood and her limits for when it's time to put her down… She’ll give you plenty of (loud) warnings, but if push comes to shove, she's more than willing to scratch you.

#x reader #kokonoe mercury #nkn0va #anonymous #romantic

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yourdeepestfathoms · 2 years

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so, in my junior year of high school, one of my theater assignments was to make an original product and then record and present an advertisement for it. i now gift two specific choir kids with this product to make in their own presentation.

in (insert class here…idk what class would do something like this), Ocean and Noel are paired up for an assignment. Noel bitches a little bit about it because “ugh, not the ginger (derogatory),” but he eventually sucks it up, and they get to brainstorming. after a bit of nagging and arguing over what they should do, they somehow settle on the most outrageously chaotic idea known to mankind.

the very next day, they get to filming at Noel’s house.

when presentation day arrives, other groups are showing ads for stuff like a pet rock, People Repellent, a baby holder, etc. all very good products, but they’re nothing compared to the wicked brain child of Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg and Noel Gruber.

finally, it’s their turn. they sit back in their chairs, wide smirks on their faces, as the teacher begins to play the video Ocean emailed to her, and lets the eyes of the entire class behold their masterpiece.

The Croc Pot.

the five minute long ad consists of Ocean eating various food items out of her Crocs (which she deep cleaned for this video), while a voice over by Noel himself tries to seller the viewer on why bowls are overrated and they should try the convenience of a container you can take on the go!

Ocean makes cereal in her Croc! (the milk goes everywhere)

Ocean mixes pancake batter in her Croc and then pours it out into a pan to make a pancake! (the batter is bleeding through the Croc)

Ocean drinks juice out of her Croc! (the juice starts to spill out, and she puts the Croc underneath her mouth to try and catch it all and almost chokes)

Ocean eats soup out of her Croc! (the Croc is leaking soup all over the place)

they had this gag where they put a lizard they found in the Croc, put the Croc in the oven, and then when the “food” was done “cooking,” Ocean took the Croc out and the lizard had turned into a dino nugget (the lizard me and my partner used for this was the bearded dragon i owned at the time)

they had the best project out of the whole class and got a 105 on the assignment, if not because of the hilarity and creativity of it, then because of the fact that Ocean had to eat MULTIPLE food items out of a fucking SHOE

(unfortunately, only one video of the Croc Pot survives to this day, and it’s this. this is the cereal and milk attempt)

#sorry for the lack of posts today! i hope this will suffice for me slacking all day 😅#ride the cyclone headcanons #rtc headcanons #rtc #ride the cyclone #noel gruber #ocean o’connell rosenberg

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hellcatinnc · 10 months

Text

Diabolik Lovers Anime Review

So these are only in order based on the ones I like first on down to my least favorite this is between the 1st and 2nd anime.

Ruki Mukami

Something about this man the moment he walked on to my tv screen. First of he is sexy as hell but I also love how it almost feels like he is in control of himself for the most part is dignified and at the end of the day he believes he can be adam to yui's eve by not forcing her but by letting her make her choices and him supporting her. The way he looks at her and the way he touches her I just can't this man is so full of passion and pent up sexual aggression I am pretty sure of as well. Anyways I also think him and Yui look the cutest together no doubt about it.

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Kou Mukami

This guy honestly I didn't think I would like him but he can be cute with Yui I mean yes he has some anger issues still and expects stuff for giving stuff but thats thanks to his upbringing. Anyways the sweetest moment was when he gave her flowers or when he had her sleep with him in the bed so he wouldn't be alone. There is a place in my heart for him and I would love to see more of him.

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Yuma Mukami

I love that even through it all he goes out of his way to grow plants and bring things to life in his own way. I don't feel like he is as rough with Yui and deep down has a very sentimental side to things. I feel like he would protect "Eve" more than hurt her and I even love he has a bit of fire about him as well. He isn't afraid to make it known how he is feeling even if you don't like it.

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Ayato Sakamaki

This is another hot and cold for me like when I really love him I love him and when I hate him I hate him. Like the sweet moments he makes it known that she is his and that with him he will protect her and even the sweet kiss to give her the antidote was sensual. Even when he thought he was going crazy to bring her back from custody of Ruki and is brothers he seemed heroic for a moment. I worry sometimes though and the hate part of him is the fact if he is in love with her or just protecting his property only in his eyes. The fan he calls her pancake is cute even though you know it has to do as more of a derogatory instead.

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Subaru Sakamaki

This is one of them that I am hot and cold with. When I think he is there for Yui and could be a romantic connection her turns around and goes back to bein a unsociable asshole again. He has alot of ups and downs yet at the same time there is alot of moments that he really shows how he feels about her without saying it. I think he is in love with her but because of his childhood I don't think he knows how to express affection even if he wanted to.

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Laito Sakamaki

So this man is drawn more naughty than my mind can wrap around at times. Something about him makes me swoon and my knees week. I'm sure his voiced has alot to do with it because the sound of Saint Germain flows through my head every time Laito talks since its the same VA. I don't much care for his terms little bitch yet at the same time his sassiness and flirtiness are a real turn on in a twisted kind of way. Honestly I swear I feel like he is my guilty pleasure not just the show but him in general. The way he blushes as he gets turn on talking about what he is going to do *fans self* I like that he can be dangerous when you least expect it and the way he handles his mother out the window completely priceless.

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Azusa Mukami

He became a badass the moment he through "Teddy" in the fire. I love the way he is drawn such a cool character. He is definitely very melancholy and can't be bothered with things that are too trivial. I did love how he took a liking to Yui and in the end didn't want to hurt her like he did in the beginning. His little knife set shows too much time on his hands he must use cutting himself. I feel like he is one I would want to see more of and see how his character can unfold. I hope in the games I really get to know more about him.

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Reiji Sakamaki

I love the prim and proper feel of him almost like a well educated butler. I also think its funny how he hates Shuu. Even when he loses his shit and bites Yui he does it in a very well mannered more educated way than the others do. I mean don't get me wrong he is still forceful but its how he does it hard to explain. He is very knowledgeable which comes in handy for the rest of the family. Sometimes he plain annoys me though just opening his mouth he comes off like he is better than everyone else at times and its annoying.

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Kanato Sakamaki

He got stunted in his growth badly thats for sure that or he has lost his shit one. I can't imagine the show without him yet at the same time he really gives me the creeps. The teddy bear fetish bullshit he had really creeped me out. Like no matter what he did he talked to it or had it watch him do things. I will say his role of burning his mom after how much of a piece of shit she was this scene was priceless and well deserved.

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Shuu Sakamaki

I really thought he was going to be a decent vampire edition until I realized 99% of the time he is asleep somewhere and when he isn't he is being a ass to Yui. I have no love for him really he is too forgettable.

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rockyroad2rome · 1 year

Text

Tom and Greg decide to join tumblr.

Day 1

Greg creates an account.

Tom creates an account and follows Greg.

Greg does not follow him back.

Day 2

Greg gives Tom crabs.

Tom tips Greg in gratitude.

(Tom can’t stop thinking about crabs and takes Greg out for seafood. Greg orders the most expensive lobster. Tom pays).

Day 3

Greg creates a quote post that says “Just putting it out there” - (Greg Hirsch).

Tom likes the post.

A sugar-daddy-bot writes a comment under the post and Tom doesn't appreciate the competition. He argues with it until Greg turns comments off.

Day 4

Tom gets logged out and can't remember his password.

Greg’s quote post goes viral and he gains 50 followers.

Day 5

Tom resets his password and logs back in.

Greg receives 35 notifications that Tom has liked all his public likes

Day 6

Greg is offline. He is driving to Canada.

Tom changes his icon to C-3PO and tries to join the Star Wars fandom. He makes a couple of hilarious (he thinks) posts pretending to be C-3PO and gains a few followers.

Day 7

Greg is still offline.

Tom gets into an argument about the original cinematic release of Return of the Jedi and accidently reveals his true age when he tells people he watched the film in it’s opening week. His new followers disappear and he is suddenly unable to reblog any of their posts - it's probably just a glitch.

Day 8

Greg posts several photos of Canadian landscapes.

Tom reblogs them all with derogatory comments about Canada in the tags.

Day 9

Greg is offline.

Tom deletes his tags about Canada and replaces them with ♥.

Day 10

Greg writes a drunken rant complaining about his grandad.

A concerned follower tells Greg that she is there if he wants to talk.

Tom writes “Fuck your grandpa” 67 times in the comments.

The concerned follower tells Tom that she is there for him if he wants to talk.

Day 11

Greg makes yesterday's post private

Tom starts following a health food blog and shares his opinions about spinach.

Day 12

Greg is back from Canada and posts his road trip playlist.

Tom doesn't recognise any of the bands but likes it anyway.

Day 13

Tom wakes up early and reblogs several pics of eggs, omelettes and pancakes from a breakfast food blog.

Greg likes them all.

They go for breakfast irl.

Day 14

Tom reblogs more egg dishes.

Greg does not like any of the posts.

Greg reblogs 20 posts about the musical Hamilton.

Day 15

Greg reblogs more posts about Hamilton (most of which were created by 'concerned follower').

Tom ignores these posts.

Day 16

Greg makes a cryptic post that says “Had a pretty great night last night ;)”.

Tom likes the post and writes ‘???’ in the comments.

Day 17

Greg likes a post by ‘concerned follower’ that says, “Thanks Greg, seeing Hamilton at the theatre last night was a dream come true... can’t wait for our next trip!”.

Tom unfollows Greg.

Day 18

Tom is offline

Greg only makes one Hamilton post.

Day 19

Tom has taken a spontaneous holiday to the Mediterranean with Shiv. He posts glamorous photos of seaports, yachts and beaches. #second-honeymoon, #Billionaire-aesthetic

Greg posts a photo of his in-tray and the trashcan in his office. #intern-life, #actually-working, #grey-aesthetic.

Day 20

Tom is offline. His romantic getaway has been gate-crashed by Logan and the rest of the main Waystar team - a business opportunity has arisen and the company needs to use the Mega-Yacht as their HQ.

Greg has been left behind. His trashcan is now filled to the brim with paper balls. #bored #new-high-score #holding-down-the-fort.

Day 21

Tom reblogs thirty motivational posts about success, initiative and loyalty. It’s a big day for Waystar and he plans to be part of the action.

Greg reblogs the least annoying post and leaves it untagged. He is distracted - he has been sucked in by the ‘conspiracy theory side’ of tumblr and is engrossed by the number of theories surrounding Waystar-Royco.

Day 22

Tom is offline. The Waystar deal fell through and Logan blames him. Shiv declares their getaway a disaster and heads to Milan with Roman to try and salvage the deal.

Greg has run out of real work and is now scrolling tumblr 9-5 at his desk courtesy of the company wi-fi. He messages the main conspiracy blogs on anon to confirm their suspicions - they have no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Day 23

Tom has a bad day. Roman sent him a dozen photos of the family celebrating with champagne after Shiv saved the deal... well, they both did, Shiv helped, it was basically all Roman... ‘wish you were here Wambsgans’.

Greg is offline. His work Wi-Fi privileges have been revoked and he has had to spend the afternoon explaining himself to HR and the IT department. He is offered a week off until work picks up/Logan returns to deal with him.

Day 24

Tom writes a gloomy emotional post about his first date with Shiv and how nothing lasts forever.

Greg is at home. He still checks Tom's blog and is growing increasingly concerned. He accidently likes then unlikes the post. Hopefully Tom didn't notice.

Day 25

Tom is offline. He is travelling back to the USA alone.

Greg is feeling nostalgic and reblogs posts about his favourite childhood films. #Saw-this-film-with-my-dad #skipped-school-for-this-one, #mom-put-this-on-to-keep-me-quiet, #childhood-classic, #sad-ending-dog-dies, #still-love-musicals.

Day 26

Tom has gone to visit his parents. He fills his blogs with snowy landscapes, Midwest comfort food and articles about growing up in Minnesota in the 80s.

Greg divides his time between streaming films and rebloging his favourite teenage movies. #best-film-ever? #soundtrack-rocks #so-dumb #twist-ruins-it, #over-rated, #watched-it-high, #stole-it-from-blockbuster #kinda-gay-but-I-liked-it.

Day 27

Greg is summoned to the office to explain himself. He would certainly never tell Logan how to run the company, but perhaps it is time that Waystar recognises how valuable corporate image management is at a microblogging level. Now, if someone were to keep an eye on negative rumours and extinguish spurious stories before they develop into lawsuits, would there be an angle there perhaps? Just a little guy with a new job title and salary increase, using tumblr as a work tool to protect Waystar’s corporate interests. Logan agrees to mull it over.

Tom has been dragged to visit all his closest relations and is offline for most of the day. He does, however, start checking Greg’s blog a little more frequently.

Day 28

After persuading Logan that purchasing tumblr.com would be a catastrophic move because, ‘that website is already unprofitable and pretty much dead - you can quote me on that,’ Greg is back at work with a new job title and an increased salary. He creates a second tumblr account for the office and gets to ‘work’.

Tom spends most of the day helping his Father set up a tumblr account to promote their family wine business. By this time tomorrow 50,000 tumblr users will be seeing blaze ads for Spätburgunder wine whether they want to or not and if that doesn’t increase sales of their earthy, agricultural tasting wine nothing will.

Day 29

Greg is having a quiet evening in and reblogs a list of the top 100 classic films, horror films and action films. #63-not-bad, #81-college-horror-movie-nights, #35-need-to-catch up. He sends the lists to Tom

Tom caves and reblogs the posts #100-hasn’t-everyone-seen-these films?, #15-would-rather-be watching-classics, #49-watched-these-with-the-fly-guys.

Greg reblogs a list of the top 100 gay films. #50-down-50-to-go

Tom starts following Greg and Greg follows him back.

Day 30

Tom flies back to New York overnight

Greg wakes up to discover that Tom has given him crabs – he returns the favour. They meet at lunchtime and go for seafood irl. Logan pays (he gave Greg a restaurant voucher to reward him for his ‘initiative’).

Day 31

Greg is offline.

Tom is offline.

Several weeks later 'concerned follower' posts a photo of herself outside a theatre. Tom and Greg are standing behind her, hand in hand. They are smiling. The post is simply tagged #they-were-mutuals

#tomgreg #tom wambsgans #greg hirsch #tom x greg #succession hbo #succession #cousin greg

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madaboutmunson · 1 year

Text

Again - Part 10

Part 1 | Part 9 | Part 11 | Full list of Again series links

Steddie fic where Steve and Eddie are in their mid 30's and everyone has sort of drifted apart

Taglist: @adaed5 @grtwdsmwhr @swimmingbirdrunningrock @mightbeasleep, @jewellthebooknerd

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Steve returns to his food and tries to shake off whatever that just was.

"So, what exactly were you both up to on the court before I got out there?" Steve directs his question at Corey and Morgan. They look wide-eyed at their plates, then exchange a glance biting their lips back, and then turn to Steve. Bravely Morgan speaks first.

"Well, I was just trying to show him that he doesn't need to be the tallest guy out there if he's got a good team around him."

"You know what, Morgan, you’re absolutely right. Thank you. Though I'm sure it won't be an issue for long, Cor, you're only eight. You've got loads of time" Steve smiles hugely at the boys and looks pleased. Even though their generation seems to be in the throws of glamorising violence, extreme sports and derogatory behaviour, it was great to see two kids being kind to one another.

Mouth half full of food, Eddie speaks, "And how exactly did you do that, hmmm?" The boy's beaming faces turn to alarm, and Eddie turns calmly to Steve, "Vague answer. They're hiding something" Eddie pokes at his food again and takes another bite. Then, turning back, he looks between them, putting down his fork and steepling his fingers to his mouth, "Let's break this down, shall we? Something around height and other people…sooooo, ah, you threw him up in the air at the basket" Morgan looks very nervous again and is flanked by Beans.

"Flipped", Corey adds with a smirk, and Eddie returns an impressed eyebrow raise.

Steve puts his knife and fork down and says slowly, almost like he's trying to comprehend it simultaneously, "You were flipped through the air at the hoop?!" His hand rubs at his chest.

"Told you it would give you a heart attack" Corey laughs and shakes his head.

Steve feels awkward. Yes, the thought of his boy getting flipped through the air like a pancake at a metal hoop was terrifying, but he didn't want to seem like a complete spoilsport. Neither of them was harmed, and he guessed Morgan was probably only doing it to win over Corey, at which he had succeeded where many had failed. Steve feels Zee staring at him and turns to see a slight pleading look in her eyes. Steve swallows, "Well, you know, neither of you is hurt, so I'm not gonna make it a big thing. Just um, maybe something less risky next time, right guys?"

"Right," the boys say in unison, but one with defeat and the other with relief.

Steve turns to Eddie and mouths silently, "Was that ok?" He could feel the worry creasing on his brow. He knows how to speak to his kids but doesn't want to overstep with Morgan. Eddie looks at Steve with a sweet smile, and under the table, his knee nudges Steve's leg.

"Perfect", he mouths back, and Steve grins back like he won the jackpot or something.

The meal goes by with them generally chatting about school, D&D and music, mainly letting the kids take the lead on conversation until it's time for dessert. Eddie dabs his mouth with a napkin and asks, "Kids, think you can clear the table for dessert if we go get it? I mean, Steve did kinda do all of this."

"It's fine, really. It won't take me five minutes," Steve says, quickly reaching for some of the dishes. Corey slaps his hand away.

"He did a lot today, didn't he?" Zee agrees with a beaming smile, but not without a small amount of teasing, "Sure, why not, right?" She looks over at Morgan, who agrees immediately, which prompts a shrug from Corey, who starts piling up some plates.

"Onward! To the castle! To retrieve the dessert in distress!" Eddie booms, leaping out of his seat and tugging at Steve's arm. With a jolt, Steve follows him out to the motorhome.

Eddie pulls out the steps and opens the door waving Steve inside first. Ascending the stairs, Steve is quite unprepared for the beautiful aroma that hits him from a space occupied by one grown man and a teenage boy. Was that peaches? Once inside, Steve takes the place in, and guiltily he thinks this place is a lot tidier than he was expecting. Eddie wasn't gross or disgusting, but he was, as it said on the outside of his home, a hurricane. Steve remembers piles of utter chaos around his room in the trailer, and sure sometimes he might forget where something was and get wound up about it, but eight times out of ten, he could walk straight up to one of the said piles or boxes and reach in and find exactly what he was looking for. This place looked terrific, sure the teal furnishings were a bit much, but Steve could see that Eddie mostly tried to cover those with throws or cushions made out of band flags or crocheted material. Above all else, he's surprised about how roomy it was besides the narrow mini hallway towards the back.

"Wow, Eddie, this is amazing!" Steve says, and it's genuine, he always dreamt of owning something like this, but his life had been a little different in that dream. Six little nuggets instead of two and Nancy instead of no one. Eddie's comment from earlier repeats in his head. I'm really happy that all the choices I've made led me right here. Steve couldn't have agreed more. Eddie steps inside, too and shuts the door behind him.

"Sorry, old habit." He says awkwardly, turning and opening it again.

"If I got yelled at as many times as you did for leaving it open, I would always close it behind me too," Steve laughs, remembering, "How is he?"

"He's old and crabby, you know, like always", Eddie jokes, as he points to a photo hanging up, "That was his sixtieth birthday. I wanted to take him to see the Chippendales but his old man, Jack, got all uptight about it. So we had a meal out…and then I took him to see the Chippendales… in Vegas… the very next weekend" Eddie smiles fondly at the picture, "He's doing good for his age. It's why I don't like to stray too far from the remains of Hell-kins for too long these days. I know he stays there because Jack freaks out every time he goes somewhere new, you know. Sometimes he forgets who we are or when he is, and Wayne, gods love him, does everything he can to help him." Eddie folds his arms around himself and looks at the picture of him and Wayne, "It's diabolical, isn't it?"

"What is? Steve asks, looking at the picture. Wayne still had that sparkle in his eyes and that huge smile that was solely reserved for Eddie as far as Steve had seen. He hadn't known him long, but Wayne's impact on him had been tremendous. He made Steve think that along with the criminal track record, the other thing the Munson name should be known for is melting the iciest of exteriors and making people feel at ease. Well, on the right side of them, cross them, and they'd give you hell. Wayne was one of the few positive parenting role models that Steve thought about when dealing with his own kids. How he managed Eddie daily was nothing short of a miracle, but Eddie gave back that love and care in his own unique ways in droves.

"That destiny made him wait for his person for so long and then took him away in less than half the time he waited" Eddie shakes his head, "Always gotta be looking after something or someone, huh, Uncle Wayne?" he says planting a kiss on his fingers and gently places them on the picture. Eddie turns back to Steve and kicks at the floor a little, glancing down as he does, "He says hello, by the way." He says, looking up with a shy smile, and it's like something in Steve shifts again.

"He remembers me?" Steve says softly like he can't believe it.

Eddie snorts out a laugh like Steve's question is ridiculous, "Of course he does! His little Sunshine Steve? Christ, he wouldn't shut up when I told him I saw you at the library. Steve this, and Steve that. Practically swallowed the phone with the gasp he took when I said you had kids." Eddie pretends to be annoyed, but a laugh makes a smile break out across his face, creasing up his scars. Steve half smiles at Eddie and then at the picture. He always used to call him that, Little Sunshine. Even though when they met, he was almost a full-grown adult. Ah, here's the lil' Sunshine we've been waiting on he can hear Wayne gruffly say with a smile from the seat on the front porch of their replacement trailer. Even just recalling his voice saying it warms Steve's heart, someone older than him treating him with fondness, with a nickname he didn't even have to earn. Fond memories like that make him sure that Wayne is the most incredible grandfather to Morgan too. It's weird how you can know someone your whole life, and they just don't have the same impact as someone you knew for a blip of that. The time between Wayne getting a new place and Eddie leaving Hawkins was short a few months. Steve halts his brain from travelling down this painful road. They'd had a great day, and he didn't want to ruin it now.

"Would you say hello back for me next time you speak to him?" Steve asks tentatively.

"Of course, even though I'll have to sit through him going on and on about you" Eddie flails his hand in the air and then pushes his hands into his lower back as he tucks in his bottom lip, "But you'll totally owe me a huuuuge favour then, Steve" he sways from side to side a little looking directly at Steve now, "but I digress. The tour"

Eddie shows him around the Four Winds Hurricane. He's only had it a few years and got it at a steal because although it was only a few years old, some damage slashed the price. Luckily Eddie was able to fix it easily by himself. The kitchen has a full oven and gas stovetop, above it a microwave, to the left of that two small sinks behind them a refrigerator littered with notes, postcards, pictures and novelty magnets, and a small table with two chairs tucked underneath it. The snug hallway has a vanity area, wardrobe, and bathroom. There is a bedroom which is currently closed off because it's summer, so it's Morgan's space. He reassures Steve that he always gets Morgan a new mattress for the summer and laughs heartily. Then they move towards the front of the vehicle, where a sofa pulls out into a bed on one side, in front of that the driver and passenger seats, a TV in the centre console between them. Eddie sits side-on in the passenger seat and pats the driver's one, "Wanna try it out?" He beams up at Steve, who excitedly gets in the seat, "You wanna take her for a spin?" Eddie tempts him, and boy does he, but Steve doesn't really want to stray too far from the kids.

"Maybe next week?" Steve asks with a regretful smile.

"Sure thing", Eddie agrees as Steve reaches out to get a feel for the steering wheel. As his hands grip around it, his mind does that channel flip again, except this time he knows exactly what it was. He can still hear the yelling and screaming, remembering when they stole the RV with Eddie's help from the trailer park. He remembers talking to Nancy. Brain static. He looks down. He's in a jacket with patches and a protective vest and driving, but there is silence, which is worse than the yelling and screaming. His stomach sinks, crushed under the waves of dread. He looks over his shoulder and can see Eddie in the backseat. His scarless pale face emphasises his dark eyes looking out the window in trepidation. He won't look back at him, and Steve knows why.

Steve's driving him to his doom.

"STEVE!!" he hears suddenly and is jolted out of his memories. Eddie's hands are clamped on his shoulders so tightly it hurts, his eyes wide with fear. Steve blinks, and Eddie inhales sharply, releases him and flops back in his seat with relief, "Jesus Christ, Steve. What the fuck?!"

"Eddie, I'm so sorry. I just- When I- You know what, it doesn't matter, are you ok?" Steve thinks about explaining, but it will just make him sound insane.

"Oh, it matters! The last person that froze on me fucking levitated and snapped into a million pieces. Did you see anything? It can't be him, right? He's gone, isn't he?" Steve can feel the panic start to work Eddie up again.

"Listen to me", Steve speaks calmly, reaches out and puts his hand on Eddie's shoulder, rubbing it soothingly. "He's long gone. This is gonna sound crazy, ok, but when I touched the wheel, my brain just took me back to driving that stolen RV. Some kind of memory trigger. I didn't mean to scare you."

Eddie's face relaxes again a little, but his brow is still pinched in concern. He's not looking at Steve. Instead, his eyes search some imaginary far-off point beyond the floor. "You called for me. I answered you, but you just sat there. Like, frozen." his voice trembles when he replies.

"Hey, we're ok. You're safe. Nothing bad is gonna happen, ok? I'm here. The kids are inside. It's all gonna be ok, Eddie. I promise," he says reassuringly as Eddie hides his face in his hands.

"Sorry, Steve. I just panicked, you know. I should have thought about it before asking you to sit in that seat." Eddie closes his eyes and sighs before sitting in his seat towards Steve, "Does that happen often? I know you get lost in your thoughts sometimes, but that wasn't the same as earlier. I was calling you for a while there," Eddie asks with concern.

"The dog normally helps. She can tell, barks, and it pulls me out before it gets too much. Before I got her, someone was usually around, you know. Jenny or the kids. In answer to your question, it doesn't happen that much, mainly because of Beans. It used to happen more years ago, and it's happened twice today. Earlier wasn't so bad because it was something I didn't know about, so I didn't think it was the same thing, but this was something I've recalled a thousand times. The detail is so strong, and it just sort of pulls me right back into it," Steve sighs in frustration. "I'm not making much sense, am I? God, I must sound insane to you" Steve rubs his eyes with his fingertips in frustration. He feels Eddie's hand on his upper back.

"Nothing you could say to me would ever make me genuinely think that Steve. Not a thing in this world or any other." Eddie says gently, and when Steve finally looks up to check in his eyes if he's telling the truth, he adds, "I promise," offers him a small smile and points at the window, "Do me a favour, pull those curtains shut. I wanna show you something." Steve eyes him curiously. "Don't worry, it's nothing lewd, Steve. I use it when I can't sleep cus of the nightmares" Steve pulls the curtains across, and Eddie gets the others and shuts the door, and the motorhome descends into darkness, where Steve can just about make things out. Eddie guides him to the little sofa by the forearm, "Sit down here and look up".

Steve sits on the sofa next to Eddie. The seat is large enough to have space between them, not that Steve would mind greatly if there wasn't. He looks up at the ceiling and can just make out the ripples of the dark fabric that he's now only noticed attached to this part of the ceiling. There is a click to his right, and tiny dots of light appear across the dark space. Then he starts to make out some patterns and lets out a happy exhale of realisation. It's part of the night sky, in miniature. They sit silently for a little while, and Steve feels his heart rate slow down and a fuzzy peaceful feeling swim over him. He remembers this, only this time, neither of them is drunk, high or both. It almost overwhelms him to know that Eddie uses something from their shared past to comfort him, just like Steve does.

"I'll say this for it, it's much comfier than a car bonnet or trailer roof," Steve says quietly as if to not disturb the fake stars in their pretend sky.

"Yeah, and I don't have to wait for a clear sky either. It's always here," Eddie says, and Steve can hear the smile in his voice. A few more moments pass in the dark and quiet.

"It was just cheap bourbon," Steve says, eyes still trailing over the lights.

"Huh?" Eddie almost laughs.

"In the decanter upstairs, it's not the expensive stuff. I tried that, and it tasted much better, but it didn't help", Steve adds, "So I went to find the cheapest bourbon I could, and honestly, it's disgusting, but it works" Steve feels Eddie's hand find his on the seat between them.

"Like we used to drink,'' Eddie softly confirms he understands, and Steve hums in agreement, pushing his hand further into Eddie's. There is another quiet patch before a solemn "I'm sorry I left, Steve" breaks the silence.

"No, please. I don't wanna hear that, Eddie. Don't be sorry for leaving, it really doesn't matter. Thank you for coming back," Steve says with a smile illuminated by the dim, warm white lights. He feels a squeeze on his hand and returns it. Then two squeezes which he returns again. Then an exchange of three, Eddie laughs gently in the subtle light. "Thank you for this. For everything, really. No pressure, but I'm really happy you're back, no matter how long." Steve manages to say the words but doesn't dare to deliver them directly to Eddie, so he sends them into the air above them, "We should probably go back to mine, though. We've left three kids in a kitchen by themselves," Steve says, making Eddie chuckle. He pats Steve's hand as he lets it go, clicks the lights off and gets up to open the curtains.

Eddie picks up a dish towel and opens the oven retrieving a very ornately decorated pie. The pastry lattice work on top is a beautiful golden brown adorned with other pastry embellishments made to look like leaves and berries. "Eddie, don't you have any oven mitts?"

"Yes, they're in the drawer!" Eddie says, shutting the oven, waving his hand a little as he places the pie on the stovetop.

"Then why aren't you using them? You'll burn your hands!" Steve says like he's telling off one of the kids.

"I'm a grown man Steve. I can stand a little heat from a pie, from an oven that wasn't even switched on," Eddie says with a bit of sass.

"Oh, is that so?" Steve says, putting his hands on his hips and leaning into his space a little, making Eddie grin. "Well, it will be pretty painful to hold my hand again with burnt fingers, won't it?" Eddie blinks and hurriedly retrieves the oven gloves from the drawer and puts them on. Steve smiles satisfactorily, and Eddie pretends to be really put out by the request, but the corners of his mouth curl up occasionally.

"We'll get the door for me then, Mr Health and Safety, or have I gotta do everything around here?!" Eddie says in a false annoyed voice, picking up the pie in his oven-mitted hands. Steve opens the door for him and lets him out first as they return to the house.

As they open the door, Steve can hear the kids deep in debate about something,

"Seriously, you can't truly believe that?" He hears Corey scoff, "Like, he's great and everything, but cool is not a word I'd associate with him. You haven't seen his dancing."

"I hate to do it, but I agree with my brother. He's the best but cool, no," Mackenzie giggles, "Is this something Eddie told you? Because I can tell you this for sure, he is definitely biased regarding Dad. Like, majorly!" Steve turns and looks at Eddie, who shakes his head and shrugs.

"No. He has never said anything like that. Well, not directly. I've got this book. I've had it since I was a kid. Eddie made it for me." Morgan starts, and Steve looks at Eddie again, who is picking up his pace towards the kitchen. Steve catches up to him, silently stops him, points at the telephone table, and Eddie reluctantly puts the pie down. "I was sick a lot when I was little, always in and out of the hospital, and he told me these stories a bunch of times. The main character in them was my favourite, and I asked him if he'd write them down so that other people could read them to me when he wasn't around. Well, Eddie, being the way he is, didn't just write it down. He made me a whole damn book. It's a story about a Prince. In the beginning, he's mean because that's how all the people in his kingdom are. Then one day, he meets a princess, and he falls in love, but she's not all she seems. Secretly she's a badass monster hunter, and unfortunately for the Prince, she is so deep in the grief for her friend that she can't love him back. So the Prince is horrible to her and banishes her from the kingdom. He asks his advisors for help when he realises his mistake, but they only know meanness and cruelty, and the Prince can see what a terrible place his kingdom is for the first time. The Prince knows that deep down, he isn't mean and cruel, but it's all he's known his whole life. He goes to find the princess to apologise, but when he gets there, he doesn't find the Princess. He finds her as a monster hunter trying to save a young boy with his brother. The Prince, seeing her with another man, is heartbroken and nearly goes back home to his kingdom, but he hears her scream and charges into battle. He finds a magic mace, and together they defeat the evil monster and save the boy. But that's just the first story. The Prince becomes a monster hunter too. He battles monsters and bad guys and, through the Princess, makes a whole new group of friends that they protect fiercely and save the world." Steve looks over at Eddie, who is busy looking around the hallway, avoiding his eyes, foot tapping.

"Ok, great story and everything, but what does that have to do with Dad? He's not an author," Corey laughs.

"Wait a minute," Zee says thoughtfully, "Did one of these stories have a super brave bard in it who looks after people in the village? Like the pied Piper, but he saves a whole town instead of leading all the kids away? I can't remember it all now" Eddie's eyes shoot to him, and suddenly the ceiling fascinates Steve.

"No...oh hang on, actually…there was a bard, but he wasn't brave, he was a coward, he disobeyed the Prince's orders, but the Prince saved him and carried him all the way home." Morgan says curiously before continuing, "But my point is the Prince in my stories is your Dad. Obviously, the monsters are a metaphor for something, maybe like bullies? I don't know. Your dad is a hero."

"It could be anyone, though, right? So how do you know it's our Dad?" Zee asks.

Morgan clears his throat and, in a theatrical voice, says, "For the Prince, despite the cold-heartedness that surrounded him, had glorious hair and handsome eyes of warmest brown. The gods themselves spilt their honey to give him golden sparkles in his eyes, so he would never know true darkness, and upon his golden skin, they mapped the stars, so he would never lose his way" Steve notices Eddie is blushing a little and decides to cut him some slack. He nudges him and points at the pie and then at the kitchen. Eddie gives him an apologetic smile, picks up the pie and walks into the kitchen.

"I don't get it," Corey says, and there is a slight clattering of plates.

"I do," Zee says softly.

"Get what?" Says Eddie, and Morgan gulps nervously at his sudden presence as he places the pie on the table.

"Oh, all the hype around Britney Spears", Zee replies quickly.

"That's not-" Corey starts before yelping as Zee rushes towards him, and he runs around the table back to his seat.

"Wow, this looks great, guys!" Steve says as he grabs a knife and a pie server from the drawer.

"It's a peach Melba pie," Morgan says excitedly, "it's got peaches and raspberries in it. I hope you don't mind Mr Harrington. I made a little batch of creme anglaise, or it's nice with ice cream too, or just on its own, well, if you like those flavours. Do you like peaches and raspberries?" Morgan rambles, and Eddie pushes his hands out before him, encouraging him to relax. Steve turns to Morgan with raised eyebrows and a smile.

"You just whipped up a creme anglaise?" Steve asks in surprise.

"Yes, sir. Only learned to make it this summer, and it goes really nicely with so many desserts. You can make it thicker, and then it's more of a custard like British people have, like the consistency of a vanilla pudding almost" Steve can see the enthusiasm on his face, all wide eyes, solid eye contact and animated hands, just like when Zee would tell him of her D&D escapades. Steve hands the utensils to Morgan.

"I'm impressed by our manners Morgan, but Steve is fine. Why don't you serve the dessert how it's supposed to be? I'm happy to try your recommendations," Steve says kindly.

Morgan straightens up and positively beams at Steve, "Ok, yeah, I can do that. Um, ok, so" he excitedly gets up and starts serving a pie slice for everyone. Zee seems to get the biggest and most decorative portion, "So, um yeah, you can try a bit of it on its own, and then I'll pour you a spot of the creme anglaise, and you can try that, and if you like it, you can have as much as you like." Morgan sits in his chair but doesn't touch his pie. His fingers tap together nervously as he watches everyone else. Steve tastes a small piece of the pie. Initially, he tastes the flavours he expects of the peach, raspberry and pastry, but then the layers start to come through the crisp, sweet butteriness of the pastry, the slight detection of spices mixed in with the fruit, and his taste buds are in heaven. Steve emits a noise of bliss that potentially should not be heard at the dinner table, making Eddie nearly choke on his food.

"Wow. That is really something else. Where did you get this?" Steve asks about to take another bite before a very pleased Morgan gets out of his seat, stops his hand before he takes another forkful, pours a little of the accompaniment onto the pie and stands back to watch him. Steve would have gladly finished the pie as is, he's still determining how this sauce will improve on the most delicious pie he's ever eaten in his life, but he tries it anyway.

Of course, he's wrong. The addition was perfect. The tartness of the fruit and spices burst through the creamy soft vanilla on his tongue, and it is incredible. He shuts his eyes a moment to savour it, and when he opens his eyes, he looks happily at Morgan, "It's good. Really good, Morgan." He moves around the table, doing the same for everyone else except for Eddie, whose slice Morgan covers entirely, and circles back to Steve.

"Do you want any more si-Steve? Morgan asks

"Sure do!" Steve enthuses, and Morgan pours a zig-zag over the rest of Steve's pie.

"That should be a good balance," he says, sitting back down to eat his own serving and putting the pouring jug between them all, which Eddie immediately reaches for, receiving a cautioning look from Morgan. Eddie huffs and goes back to his pie.

"I, um, I made the pie," Morgan says nervously, not taking his eyes off his plate.

"You did not!" Corey blurts out, traces of raspberry around his mouth, reaching for the jug. "You must have got this from one of those fancy bakery places. Like the one Val used to work at," he says, pouring the addition onto his pie. Steve instinctively goes to tell Corey off, but Eddie nudges his leg and shakes his head with a little frown.

"I'm totally serious, dude! I made it in the RV!" Morgan says back quickly.

"Did not!" Corey says, taking another mouthful.

"Did too!" Morgan rapidly fires back to a grinning Corey.

"You did not! I didn't see you make it, so I don't believe you!" Corey says and exchanges a glance with Zee.

"Yeah, for the second time today, I have to begrudgingly agree with my brother. We didn't see you make it. This could be from anywhere," Zee says with a disappointed tone.

Morgan points at Eddie, "He saw me make it."

Eddie looks at the pouring jug and then at Morgan, "Technically, all I saw was it come out of the oven. But, unfortunately, I was busy working."

"Noodling on your guitar, you mean?" Morgan says in frustration before looking at Steve with hopeful eyes, then just out of the corner of his eye, Steve catches Corey sending a wink to Eddie, and Zee giggles

"If it's worth anything, Morgan. I believe you, but to prove these naysayers wrong, maybe you'll just have to come back and make another?" Steve suggests.

"I could do that? I mean, yeah. I could do that! Then you'd have to believe me," Morgan says, questioning at first and then slipping into confidence.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to come back then," Eddie says, sighing, trying his best not to smile. Steve hooks his ankle around Eddie's under the table, and after taking in the initial cute jump of surprise he does, Steve goes back to finishing his pie.

One communal table clean up and two very heated games of go fish later, it's time for Eddie and Morgan to head home. Steve really should be used to card games getting out of control between his kids, but add Eddie to the mix, and it was chaos. At least Morgan was a small oasis of calm for Steve to smile over at whilst the arguments ensued. Steve wasn't sure how the goodbyes would go, but unfortunately, it was just a wave exchange this time.

As the kids are getting ready for bed, Steve hovers in the door frame of his bathroom. He isn't entirely sure why, but they always brushed their teeth together in his bathroom every night they were here. Though he could guess it probably had something to do with the amount of toothpaste, they'd get all over his mirror.

"So, er, did you enjoy today?" Steve asks. He gets enthusiastic nodding in response over the sound of vigorous brushing, "Happy for them to visit again?" Immediate nodding from Zee, a thoughtful pause and then a nod for Corey. "Cor?" Steve inquires, and Corey swills out his mouth to speak.

"I liked them well enough, it was fun, and the pie was great, but um…Ken can handle herself, I think. I'm just a bit worried about you, Dad," Corey says with genuine concern, and Steve tries his best not to laugh, "This Eddie guy, he's funny and cool, I guess, but he's not like you. He's kinda crazy, and I don't want him to make you big sad, is all. You know, like some of the other dates." Steve's heart sinks. He thought he'd hidden his disappointments well enough over the last few years, but clearly not as well as he thought. From the use of big sad, this is something Corey had asked Jenny and Val about. "But I know those kinds of things can't be predicted. Otherwise, people wouldn't try, would they? Everything would just work out forever," Corey adds thoughtfully, looking in the mirror, and that guilt creeps over Steve again about his failed marriage.

"Hey, you've got nothing to worry about, especially no need to worry about me. I can look after myself. It's only because you've only ever seen the Dad side of me you think that. I used to be quite the force to be reckoned with in my youth," Steve says with a smile at them both in the mirror, and Zee and Corey share a wide-eyed glance between one another.

"How mean are we talking exactly?" Zee asks cautiously.

Steve hides his smile, not wanting to let them know he heard them talking, "Oh, absolutely devastating", he says seriously, folding his arms, "Positively medieval", he adds as they exchange a gasp.

#steddie #steddie fan fiction #eddie munson x steve harrington #steddie fan fic #steddiefanfiction #steddiefanfic #madaboutmunson #madaboutmunsonagain #eddie munson #steve harrington

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