#private car chicago

[blackcarnearme]

Family-Friendly Black Car Service Near Chicago

Family-Friendly Black Car Service Near Chicago - Legendary Private Car

When you depend just on rideshares or taxis in the busy metropolis of Chicago, where traffic is often congested and busy streets may be difficult to navigate, being on time becomes a problem. Taking care of a family while navigating this energetic metropolis might seem like an overwhelming task. But in the middle of this complicated metropolitan landscape, Legendary Private Car shines as a dependable and family-friendly mode of transportation, providing a smooth way to take in everything that the Windy City has to offer.

Why Choose Legendary Private Car’s Chauffeur Service?

Among the nearest chauffeur services to O'Hare and Midway, Legendary Private Car is set apart by its constant dedication to putting safety first, serving families in particular, and providing incomparable comfort and convenience. The fleet of late-model automobiles reflects Legendary’s strict attention to safety, which guarantees a safe ride for families with young kids. Furthermore, customized services for families include everything from kid seats to roomy cars and considerate drivers who understand the particular requirements of households with little children.

1. Safety First

Legendary Private Car is aware of how crucial safety is, particularly when it comes to driving families and young passengers. They provide parents peace of mind with their late-model cars and dedication to following safety protocols.

2. Dedicated Service for Families

The best black car in Chicagoland provides a range of facilities, including kid seats, roomy cars, and kind drivers who are aware of the demands of families with little children.

3. Comfort and Convenience 

Picture reaching your location without having to deal with finding parking or finding your way around on public transit. Unmatched convenience is provided by Legendary Private Car, delivering a stress-free and seamless travel experience for your family.

Personalized Services for Family Outings

1. Car Seats for All Ages

Legendary Private Car guarantees safety at all times. They provide car seats that are appropriate for various age ranges, guaranteeing your kids ride safely and pleasantly.

2. Spacious Cars

Say goodbye to hassle and stress. Roomy cars in Legendary Private Car's fleet provide enough space for children to relax and for families to transport strollers, luggage, and other essentials.

3. Expert Drivers

Count on professional chauffeurs with a mission to fulfill all your requirements and let your family enjoy every moment of the trip. Choose your entertainment, refreshments, pickup point, exact pickup time, and type of vehicle. 

With Legendary Private Car's specialized family-focused airport limo services, going on family vacations in Chicago is simple and satisfying. The selection of car seats, which are appropriate for different group sizes, puts protection first and guarantees your kids a safe and comfortable trip. 

How to Make Your Chicago Trip Perfect

Organizing carefully and giving it time to plan is essential for a wonderful vacation to Chicago, particularly if you plan to travel with family. Careful planning is essential to provide a faultless and delightful experience. Starting with making your transportation reservations far in advance, it's important to let your private driver know about any special requirements your family may have. Legendary Private Car is prepared to meet all of your needs, putting your comfort and convenience first the whole way.

Here’s how to make your journey pleasurable:

Plan Ahead - Reserve your transportation in advance, making sure to include any specific needs your family may have. Legendary Private Car aims to satisfy every need.

Look into Family-Friendly Destinations - There are many family-friendly attractions in Chicago. Experience stress-free trips with Legendary Private Car to locations like Navy Pier, Millennium Park, and the Shedd Aquarium.

Pack Wisely - Don't forget the necessities, such as your children’s favorite toys, food, and any required prescriptions. There is plenty of room for your family's things in Legendary Private Car’s SUVs and sedans.

Book a Black Car Close to You

Are you prepared to boost the safety, comfort, and efficiency of your family's trip to Chicago? For a smooth travel experience tailored to your family's requirements, choose the best black car service close to ORD - Legendary Private Car. Make sure your family's vacations are stress-free, pleasurable, and unforgettable by giving us a call at 1-847-875-9797 or by booking a ride online using a simple reservation widget.

With Legendary Private Car's family-friendly chauffeur services, traveling across Chicago with children is a joyful experience!

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[allamericanlimochicago]

Advantages of Private Car Service Chicago

If you are scheduled to arrive in Chicago for your business engagements, you need to hire a high-end private car in advance to serve your purpose. Since Chicago receives thousands of passengers from different parts of the world, it is crucial to ensure a reliable ground transportation service that can meet the needs of the passenger.

If you are traveling to a new city like Chicago and need a relaxing ride home or have family coming in to visit hiring a private car service is an excellent choice. Further, if you're on vacation or traveling for business, a private car service Chicago has many benefits especially if you are traveling for the first time.

Each the travelers try to get the best experience out of their trip and that is only possible when there are high-end vehicles that are driven by professional drivers. It is only possible when you hire well-reputed car service providers who have a taint-free service record. 

Here are the reasons for why you should opt these private car services rather than regular taxis. 

High-end luxury cars 

No one wants to compromise on luxury and comfort during the trip to Chicago. Private car services use only the most comfortable and high-end luxury cars such as black Lincoln Town cars and Cadillac Escalades. You have peace of mind knowing that someone will be there waiting for you when you arrive at the airport. You don't have to worry about flagging down a taxi or waiting for family or friends to pick you up. In many cases, the drivers will track your flight information to time their pick-up, this is super convenient especially if your flight is delayed or changed. In this way, there will be no question to think twice regarding the transportation to or from your destination in this city. 

Time-saving 

If you have landed in Chicago for a business trip, every minute counts and this is why no one wants to waste a single minute on additional issues during their trip to this city. Additionally, productivity is a gain. Especially if you are traveling for work, using a vehicle service will provide you with more time to handle the matters that are most important to you. Making crucial phone calls or responding to emails can be done during the time that would otherwise be spent driving. The driver will safely transport you to your destination; all you need to do is sit back and unwind.

Added security 

Security is the biggest concern now these days and private car service providers in Chicago ensure security during travel. Since the vehicles are well-maintained and driven by professional and experienced drivers, there is no chance of collision while making your way through the heavy traffic and squares. Apart from that, the vehicles are properly ensured so that, the passengers remain free from any security concerns. 

Meets your needs 

Private car service Chicago has been providing the service for decades meeting the needs of the passengers. Not all the passengers have the same concern regarding their requirements and therefore, these companies arrange dissimilar services that can serve the requirements without any additional hassle. Using a private car service is much more cost-effective overall than using a local taxi service over and over again which is super time-consuming and often with hidden fees or other associated pitfalls. 

Conclusion 

Opting for the private car service in Chicago comes with plenty of benefits that can't be grabbed from the ordinary taxis. Plus, booking transportation through a private car service takes the stress out of getting around. It also relieves the daily hassle of dealing with traffic and other factors. This allows for more time to focus on the things that are important to you, whether that be business related or personal.

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[deanstead]

Home

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Requested: no

Summary: Jay notices something is wrong with Y/N's mood over the phone

Word Count: 1.5K+

Tags/Warnings: mentions of (workplace) harassment

A/N: I know I haven't written in months so starting off slow/small to see if maybe I haven't lost my touch... also @halsteadlover may have threatened me to post this.

JAY HALSTEAD MASTERLIST

You glanced at the last message Jay had sent you a few hours earlier and smiled.

You got this.

Three simple words that somehow warmed your heart even though you were miles away in another city.

You rarely had to travel for work even though you’d worked as a translator at this company for some time. You mostly dealt with inbound foreign clients who came to Chicago but this time, they’d needed a translator for a conference outside Chicago and you were the only available one. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far so you didn’t even have to take a flight and the company had arranged for a car for you to get there.

Which was all too well, since Jay had also had his hands full and had to go undercover for a few days.

So it was even more heartwarming to see the message from Jay when you hadn’t really been expecting a reply.

Even though you had only seen the message after the conference, it still felt comforting to feel the last dredges of work nerves and anxiety leave your system.

“Y/N, come on.” One of your colleagues from another team called out to you and you stuffed your phone back into your pocket, before following her toward the private room of the restaurant where you were all supposed to be having dinner with a huge client.

You didn’t even like having social dinners with people you weren’t close with, not to mention dinners like this.

Dinner had barely started when you were proven right.

“Thanks to your team, the conference went very well.” The client smiled, looking around. “Of course, we have to thank Y/N for ensuring all communication went smoothly.”

You’d just smiled when you felt his hand slide onto yours from under the table and the smile froze on your face.

Instinctively, you pulled your hand away, bringing your hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and grabbing your jacket from behind you and draping it around you, smiling.

“Just doing my job, Mr. Saunders.”

You saw the look on his face and knew he’d taken offense, ridiculous as it was.

You chose to ignore it, pretending like nothing had happened. After all, he’d probably have gotten the hint.

He hadn’t.

The client made a few more passes at you - a hand on your knee, trying to take your hand again, and the most outrageous one was holding up food to feed you in front of everyone.

The action wasn’t lost on everyone who was there but no one spoke up.

You swallowed. “I’ll help myself.”

It was like something snapped in him and he glanced at you coldly and said, “Guess if you’re not hungry, you should go out and wait for everyone to finish.”

You glanced helplessly at your team manager who gave you a look to ask you not to make things worse than they already were.

You gritted your teeth but bit back any sort of response, getting up and leaving the room, a mix of anxiety, humiliation, self-doubt, and every other negative emotion swirling in the pit of your stomach.

Jay sighed, stretching as he sat up from the couch.

The apartment was uncharacteristically quiet since you were away for work.

Jay looked up at the clock. It was slightly past 10 which was weird because he hadn’t heard back from you.

Getting up to get himself a glass of water, Jay glanced at his messages before he decided he’d try and call. Even if you were still with your colleagues, you could probably still answer the phone since the conference was over.

There were two rings before you answered.

“Hey, still having fun with your colleagues?”

There was a slight pause before you answered.

“Jay.”

Jay frowned, immediately picking up on the fact that something was wrong.

“Y/N? What’s going on? You okay?”

Jay’s voice was gentle and so comforting, you felt the prick of tears again.

You cleared your throat. Honestly, crying on the street in the middle of the night was the last thing you wanted to do. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Have you eaten?” Jay’s worried voice sounded through the phone.

You smiled to yourself even as a tear escaped and slid down your cheek.

“Yeah, told you there was good food waiting for me after the conference.”

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” Jay pressed.

You shook your head even though he couldn’t see you. “I’m fine. I just… miss you.” You managed to keep your voice steady.

“I’ll come and get you,” Jay answered.

“Jay, it’s late and you probably haven’t had enough sleep for the past few days. I’ll take the earliest bus out to Chicago tomorrow.”

You heard the reluctance in his voice even though he agreed and after reassuring him not to worry, you hung up.

The wind felt even colder now as you sat by the side of the road, your carrier bag sitting next to you.

Technically you had another night at the hotel but you hadn’t felt like staying there for even a second longer. Other than the fact that the client knew exactly which room you were in, your team manager had left a message for you berating you for how you’d handled the situation which made you even more disgusted than you already were.

You didn’t know how long you sat there but as you felt it turn colder you thought you should get up and maybe find somewhere else to sit for the night. You didn’t care if you had to sit up all night at a 24-hour cafe but you weren’t going back to the hotel.

You’d barely gotten to your feet, reaching for your carrier when a familiar truck pulled up right before you.

You froze, as Jay appeared right before you like magic.

“Jay… you…”

Jay’s green eyes appeared even brighter than usual as he looked at you with a mix of exasperation and worry. “I came to take you home.”

You’d clearly been sitting out here for longer than you thought, but it didn't matter because when Jay finished speaking you felt the tears well up in your eyes as the security that Jay always made you feel flooded through your entire body and finally gave you enough courage to cry.

Jay stepped forward, wordlessly enveloping you into his arms.

You dissolved into sobs as you felt his arms around you and he pressed you gently into his embrace, his hand over the back of your head protectively. Jay didn’t say anything, just standing there quietly with you in his arms until your sobs gently died down.

"I…”

Jay pressed his lips against your temple and whispered, “Let’s go home.”

Jay didn’t ask you anything on the way home, and you must have fallen asleep because the next thing you knew Jay was pulling into the parking lot in front of your building and your stomach gave a tiny rumble as Jay killed the engine.

You glanced at him and Jay just let out a chuckle.

“Come on, I’ll order us a pizza and you can get comfortable.”

By the time you got out of the shower, the pizza was here and you got comfortable on the sofa as Jay handed you a slice and curled in next to you.

You didn’t say anything and Jay didn’t push you as you finished your first slice before you glanced up at him.

“I’m sorry.” You said in a low voice.

Jay raised an eyebrow.

“You must be exhausted.” You added.

There was a silence which made you look up and you felt the rare surge of insecurity from not being able to read the look on Jay’s face.

“Did you think I’d be able to go to sleep when I could hear how upset you were?” Jay said quietly. “Y/N, listen. You don’t have to worry about asking me to go out of my way for you. In fact, if it was possible, I hope you’d always do it. I’d go to the moon and back for you if you needed me to.”

You felt the tears well up in your eyes again, this time from an overwhelming feeling of being loved by someone.

Jay just quietly pressed his lips against your temple.

You leaned into him, the rest of the pizza slices forgotten on the table.

“Will you tell me what happened?”

You bit your lip, sitting up a little before you recounted what had happened that night as vaguely as possible, with bare details.

Even so, you could literally hear Jay grinding his teeth beside you.

You glanced at him. “Jay.”

“I’ll kill him. I will literally break his hands.”

You snuggled back into his side. “No, you won’t.” You mumbled. “But I needed to hear that.”

Jay sighed and pulled you tighter against him. “You did the right thing, you know that right? No matter what anyone says.”

You nodded without looking up and Jay patted the back of your head gently, ruffling your hair gently in the process.

You leaned deeper into Jay’s embrace before turning your head up gently to glance at him.

Jay smiled and leaned down to press his lips gently against yours. The negative feelings of the entire night were long gone because you were right where you belonged - home with Jay.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

If you want to support me, buy me a coffee!

#resa.fics #jay halstead x reader #jay halstead #jay halstead fanfic #jay halstead oneshot #jay halstead imagine #chicago pd #chicago pd x reader #jay halstead x you #jay halstead x y/n

[pascallftv]

Girl Next Door

Next Part Series Masterlist

Dbf!Joel x F!Reader AU

Word count: 5.6k

Summary: You move back into your dad’s farmhouse in the serene countryside after you graduate college. Your dad hires Joel Miller, his best friend and neighbor, to remodel your private bathroom. Your dad is a truck driver and leaves for a work trip for several weeks, leaving Joel in your company to do his renovations and watch over you. Unbeknownst to you, Joel is just as much infatuated with you as you are with him.

Content: This fic will last multiple parts along with plot. It will be slow burn but I promise it’ll be worth it.

Warning: This first part contains mature content but is mostly plot based. (Mentions of masturbation (m and f), dirty thoughts)

This fic will contain a relationship with a 22/48 age gap. Some parts will contain mature content. There is a plot but chapters may be read separately if desired.

“Hi, babygirl.” Your dad said, pulling you in for a tight hug, swinging back and forth in your driveway.

You had just gotten back from your six hour drive home from your university in Chicago. The past four years of your life were stowed away in your little white compact SUV. Your college career had flown by in a blur; it felt like just yesterday you were a mere freshman on campus without a clue in the world as to what you were doing with the rest of your life. Fast forward and you were moving back home to stay with your father as you began your new fully remote digital marketing job. You were lucky enough to land a full-time position with a digital marketing company after completing an internship with them the summer before your senior year of college. Eventually you saw yourself living in a big city like LA, but for the time being, you decided to move back home to your dad’s house to save up some money.

Besides, you hadn’t seen your father in months. He was a full time truck driver, so your schedules clashed terribly. Over your breaks at school, your dad was conveniently scheduled to do month long drives. You missed him terribly, so you moving back home was going to allow you to rebuild your relationship with your father.

“I’m so happy to see you. I’ve got your bedroom all clean and ready to go.” Your father said as you pulled away from your hug. His eyes were beaming with excitement. Growing up, you had always been extremely close. When your mother left him when you were just three years old, he took on the job of raising you as a single father. Eventually when you were old enough to be left home alone, he landed a job with a trucking company to deliver supplies across the country. The decision was tough because the last thing your dad wanted was to leave you for weeks at a time, but the salary was too good to pass up with you eventually wanting to attend a four year university. Your college education was extremely important to your father, so seeing his baby girl all grown up with a degree and a full-time job made him so proud.

“Great!” You said, looking back at your car. “I have so much shit to carry in. Mind giving me a hand?”

“I guess.” Your dad said, his tone laced with mock dread.

You and your dad spent the next hour and a half carrying all of your belongings to your bedroom. You hadn’t realized how much shit you had collected over the past few years. By the time you were finished, you were both exhausted. You both sat in the living room sofa, biting into delivery pizza and sipping on soda. You sat with your legs perched up on the sofa cushion, and you felt so homey and accomplished. You started your first day of work at the start of next week. You were incredibly nervous for your first day, but you decided to shift your focus on spending time with your dad.

“So,” he began, “you remember Joel, right?”

Of course you remembered Joel. Joel Miller moved into the house next door the summer you graduated high school. You’d see him occasionally that summer, typically when you’d go outside to sunbathe and he was working on various chores in his yard. You both lived in farmhouses on expansive land in the middle of the country. He spent his time doing yard work and various home renovations when he wasn’t doing contractor work for his clients. You’d spoken to him on various occasions when your dad would invite him over for cookouts or to watch football games. He was a rather reserved man, something in his past making him an abrasive person. Joel had never been rude to you, but he hadn’t been overly kind either. However, that was his normal to you.

“Of course.” You said, taking another bite of pizza. Your dad sat his plate down on the coffee table, then settled back down into his couch cushion.

“I decided since you’re going to be living here full time again that I’d hire Joel to renovate your bathroom. It’s so outdated and I’d rather you have a space that’s fully functioning for when I’m gone. Besides, I want your space to be the best it can be.” Your dad explained. You smiled at him setting your pizza crust back onto your plate.

“Aw, well thank you, Dad.” You beamed up at him, setting your plate next to his on the table. “So what will the renovations consist of? Will it be functional or is he ripping it out completely?”

“If he’s going to do it, I’d rather him start from scratch and build you the bathroom to your liking. I’ll have you two sit down and discuss what you want done so he can go shop from supplies and get an idea of what you want. He’s going to get started at the beginning of next week.” He explained further. “But— I leave for a work trip on Monday and I won’t be back for at least five weeks. I figured you two can handle it and Joel is my buddy, so I trust him.”

Your dad went on about how if you needed anything while he was gone with work, that Joel had offered to help you out. Whether that was if you had any issues with repairs in the house, errands, or simply just someone to confide in. It was summer, and the weather typically got bad in your area. Tornadoes and severe weather weren’t strangers in your region, and it made you and your dad feel safer that someone like Joel was on standby.

“Already, honey. I’m beat. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” Your dad said, standing up from the couch. You stood up next to him and reached out for another hug.

“Goodnight, Dad. Thank you for helping me today. I’ll see you tomorrow.” You said, your dad squeezing you tight.

Your dad normally wasn’t an affectionate guy, so you knew he was ecstatic for you to be home. This warmed your heart.

The next day, you spent most of the day unpacking most of your belongings. You started with your clothing, and ended with your toiletries and other essentials. When you were finished, you decided to throw on your bikini to go sunbathe in the backyard. It was a beautiful summer day, and you wanted nothing more than to relax and catch a tan before you spent most of your days inside on your computer. You slipped on your black bikini. It was simple, but it was flattering on your curves and showed off your patchwork tattoos. You threw on your black sunglasses, making sure to grab your headphones, then grabbed a towel from your bathroom. Your dad was right— it was very outdated and your shower and sink were showing signs of age. You were surprised both of them still functioned properly.

When you walked outside, you caught eye of your dad sitting across from someone on the patio. The figure sitting in the chair across from your father’s had ashy brown hair with streaks of gray running through it. He was wearing a washed out denim button up and a pair of dark washed jeans, acccompanied with a worn out pair of work boots. You quickly realized it was Joel.

Your dad’s head turned at the sound of you opening and closing the patio door. He immediately cracked and smile and waved at you.

“Hi sweetie.” He squinted at you, the midday sun bright against his bare eyes. Joel turned his head to to the side, locking eyes on you. He observed you with his dark brown eyes and a knit brow. He ran his calloused fingers over his salt and pepper beard as he took in the sight of you in just your skimpy bikini. Your dad introduced you as you walked towards them, you suddenly feeling insecure under his friend’s gaze. You hadn’t realized Joel was over, otherwise you wouldn’t have stepped out in minimal clothing.

“I’m sure you remember each other.” You dad continued, gesturing between the both if you. Joel nodded, his eyes baring into the dim lenses of your sunglasses.

“I do, you’re much more grown now than the last time I’d seen ya.” Joel said, his voice deep and gruff. Your stomach did a flip at his words. Why were you feeling this way?

Get a grip. You told yourself.

“Yeah.” You breathed out. “18 to 22 is a lifetime within itself.”

Joel nodded then looked back towards your father.

“I told her that you’ll be working on her bathroom for the next several weeks while I’m gone. She might run into a hiccup here and there where she might need to call you over for some help. Shouldn’t give ya too much trouble.” Your dad teased, his eyes dancing between the two of you. Joel nodded and took a sip out of the beer bottle in his hand then dropped it to rest on the arm of his chair.

“I won’t have any other gigs lined up while I’m working here. I should be around if you need me.” Joel spoke, his gaze finding yours once again. You sent him a gracious smile.

“Wonderful, thank you.” You replied. After a moment, you glanced down at your attire and cleared your throat. “I won’t keep you. I came out to get some sun before I’m stuck inside working next week.”

Joel’s eyes were still locked on you, his gaze flickering down your body and back up to eye level. Your skin felt on fire under his stare. There was something about how stern and rigorous his aura was that held your attention captive. The newfound attraction you were suddenly feeling for Joel had you puzzled and almost appalled at yourself. He was definitely a handsome man, but he was over twice you age and he was your father’s best friend. You internally scolded yourself. You weren’t sure why you were suddenly feeling this way towards Joel, but you knew you’d have to shun those thoughts away. It was preposterous.

“There’s a chance for storms next week, get that sun while you can.” Your dad said, your eyes moving from Joel to him. You frowned and adjusted the towel in your arms.

“Great.” You said sarcastically. “I’ll leave you guys to it.”

You sent them both a smile and your father waved you off. You ventured off the patio and onto the trimmed green grass of the backyard. You father and Joel’s properties were gorgeous. The expansive land overlooked a spacious field with a forest in the distance. Just before the unruly tall grass of the field was a large manmade pond with a dock that Joel had built the summer he moved in. The country was serene and beautiful. The only sounds were those of the wind whistling and the occasional airplane flying overhead.

You laid your large beach towel down on the grass. You put on your headphones and carefully laid down on your back. The sun already felt amazing on your skin. During the school year, you hadn’t had much free time to do little self care things like this. You knew the sun wasn’t great for your skin in the long run, but it wasn’t often you got to bask in the sunshine.

As you sunbathed, your dad and Joel engaged in random conversations. They discussed the weather, recent football news, the bathroom remodel, and various other things. Your dad did most of the talking while Joel tried his best to interpret what he was saying. Joel’s gaze was fixated on how perfect your breasts looked as you laid on your back taking in the sunshine. Your nipples were peeking through the thin fabric of your bikini top, not leaving much to his imagination. He adjusted in his chair. He felt his cock hardening inside of his jeans, and mentally he was punching himself. You were way too young for him. Not only was the age gap an issue, but you were his best friend’s daughter. Despite how morally distraught these feelings were making him, Joel couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes off of you. He’d avert his gaze to the pasture every so often so your father wouldn’t catch on, but every time he felt his attention reverting right back to your body.

“I hate that I won’t be here when you’re remodeling.” Your father said, rubbing the bottom of his beer bottle in circle on the wooden arm rest of his chair, observing the stains the condensation from the chilled glass left. “But I trust your judgment. And I trust her taste.”

“You know me. I’m a perfectionist.” Joel’s lips twisted into a half smile, lifting his beer to take another sip. Your father smiled back at him, chuckling and shaking his head.

“You’ll probably drive her crazy with how particular you are.” Your dad joked. It went quiet for a second, the both of them sitting in the peaceful quiet in thought.

“You know, I really thought she’d be engaged and off in some big city somewhere by now.” Your dad spoke, his head leaning back and him closing his eyes to feel the sun beating down on his skin. Joel swallowed hard, looking back towards you. You’d flipped on your stomach, your ass on perfect display for him. His cock twitched in his pants, and he quickly adjusted himself before your father reopened his eyes.

“Why’s that?” Joel responded.

“She’s always been such a romantic. Dunno where she got it from, sure as hell wasn’t me. After her mom left, I didn’t even try to date.” He began. “When she was teenager she was obsessed with romance films and novels. She was always crushing on someone.”

Your dad ran a hand through his graying hair and sighed.

“She got her heart broken pretty bad her senior year of high school. She was dating this asshole for two years and then he cheated on her. Since then, I don’t think she’s even tried to date. Makes me sad for her, but then again I guess it let her focus on her school work.” He explained. Joel felt a tightness in his chest at his words. He was almost jealous.

You were one of the most beautiful women Joel had ever laid eyes on. Not only were you pretty, but you were a kind, wise soul. In the times he’d been around you before you left for college, you acted beyond your years. You were intelligent and engaging to speak to. His infatuation with you had started when you were eighteen, but he had always shunned away his attraction for everyone’s sake.

Joel did know one thing for sure. He didn’t know how in the hell he was going to hide his feelings for you for the next several weeks.

Monday came sooner than you had anticipated. You had said goodbye to your father the night before because you knew Monday was going to be chaotic with him loading up his luggage for his trip while you were making sure your setup was flawless for your first day of remote work. You’d spent the rest of the weekend rearranging you bedroom and workspace while also prioritizing spending time with your father. You were used to rarely seeing him while you were away at college, but it still pained you to see him leave for the next several weeks.

You began work at nine in the morning. You were a digital marketing assistant for a company within the entertainment industry, so your daily tasks consisted of editing social media content. As long as you got your tasks done for the day, you could take breaks and technically end your day whenever you wanted. By two in the afternoon you had already finished your first day of work, and you immediately felt a weight lifted off your shoulders. You were worried for no reason. You were more than qualified and you enjoyed your work.

You and Joel planned to sit down and discuss the plans for your bathroom remodel that evening, so you spent a majority of the rest of the afternoon researching renovation inspiration. You saved several pictures of showers, sinks, and layouts that you liked to show Joel. You were nervous to see Joel. You were normally very good with hiding your attraction for people, but something about Joel made you extra nervous. You were terrified you were going to act weird and make it painfully obvious. You sighed and stood up from your desk, deciding to take one last shower in your bathroom before it was out of service for the next couple months.

You grabbed your waterproof speaker and connected your phone to play some music as you showered. You decided to shuffle your classic rock playlist and turned the water as hot as it could go. One of your flaws was needing scorchingly hot shower water. You hummed along to “Beast of Burden” as you brushed through the tangles in your hair. Your thoughts began to run crazy as you disassociated while prepping for your shower. Your mind drifted off to Joel. You couldn’t help but wonder about his personal life. Was he seeing anyone? Has he ever been married? If so, what happened? Your thoughts were running wild as you stepped into the shower, the water almost being too hot to withstand, but it felt perfect on your skin.

The water ran off your skin, your hair soaking as you emulsified shampoo between your palms. A scenario began to play in your head. You imagined it were Joel’s large, coarse hands scrubbing the shampoo into your scalp. You closed your eyes and parted you lips as you imagined him towering over you from behind, his front touching your backside as he massaged the shampoo into your locks. The shea butter scent filled the steamy shower stall, the suds falling down the soft skin of your body. You felt a rush of arousal send a tingle down your abdomen into your core. You felt naughty having such disgusting thoughts about your dad’s best friend, but you hadn’t felt this aroused in months. You hadn’t had sex since your last high school relationship. You’d gone on a few dates in college, but none of them ever led to anything. The furthest you’d gone with anyone was a few steamy make outs at the club on the weekends when you got a little too drunk, but you never ended up taking anyone home.

You nipples began to harden under the flow of water from your shower head. Your eyes flickered up to inspect the shower head. It wasn’t detachable. You groaned in disappointment. You needed friction immediately. Your hand reached up to your breasts, softly toying with the supple flesh of your nipple. You ran gentle circles around the raised skin, pinching the mound between your fingertips. You exhaled deeply, your folds slowly begging to become coated in arousal. You squeezed your thighs together to try and relieve the discomfort. Your clit was throbbing at the crest of your folds. You slowly lowered your hand down your torso to your clitoral hood, lifting it up ever so softly to graze your sensitive bud. Your legs jolted at the sudden wash of pleasure in your lower abdomen. You carefully danced circles around the bundle of nerves. After teasing your clit for a moment, you lowered your fingers to swipe up your vulva, then teasing the soft skin around the opening of your vagina.

You inserted your index finger into your opening, curling it upwards to run over the rough skin of your g spot. You moaned softly as you began to pump your finger in and out of yourself. You added a second finger as your canal adjusted to the girth of your first finger. You couldn’t remember the last time you masturbated, so the intense pleasure was overcoming your senses exceptionally fast. You free hand moved downwards to press against the flesh of your pelvic bone, pushing your g spot further against your fingertips. You gasped as you felt the estranged feeling of your orgasm creeping up on you. The white heat of you climax was in the distance, and you moved your outer hand to run circles around your clit. The added pleasure of the clitoral stimulation sent you into pure euphoria. Your orgasm hit you suddenly, your pussy clenching around your fingers. Your eyes rolled back in your head as your climax hit you like a train, your legs losing their strength beneath you. You moaned audibly, your hand jutting out to stabilize yourself against the wall of your shower.

What you didn’t realize as you were pleasuring yourself in the shower was Joel had entered your house to meet with you about your bathroom. He’d figured you were finishing up your work day, so he took a seat on the sofa downstairs. He had texted you several minutes ago and you weren’t responding. He tapped his finger against his thigh, soon realizing he could hear the shower running upstairs. His mind drifted off to imagine how your naked body would look covered in suds and glistening from the water in the shower. He felt like a horny teenage boy. You had been infiltrating his thoughts like crazy since the day you sunbathed. Embarrassingly enough, Joel had jacked off two nights in a row over the sight of your tits and ass in that tiny bikini. He wanted nothing more than to explore your body without the obstruction of clothing. He felt vile and disgusting thinking so animalistically about you, but the infatuation was overcoming him.

Joel’s ears perked up when he heard your muffled moans coming from upstairs. His brows knitted together as he tried to decipher what he had just heard. You couldn’t be, could you? His suspicions were confirmed when he heard you moan again. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and his mind began racing again. You were masturbating not even twenty feet away from him. He felt his pants begin to tighten, and he let out a breathy moan as he palmed himself over his jeans. He felt so dirty and desperate. He longed to bound up the stairs and join you, fucking you against the wall of your shower, your soapy breasts shoved up against the glass door. He tipped his head back and he squeezed his penis through his jeans, the tent struggling against the tight material. He could feel himself leaking into his boxers. In a quick decision, Joel pushed himself off the couch and made his way to the downstairs bathroom. He wasn’t sure how long you would take to finish your shower, but he knew he’d have to relieve himself to be able to have a normal conversation with you about this remodel.

Joel closed the bathroom door, locking it behind him. He wasted no time unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans, letting them fall to his ankles. He gripped the sink with his free hand, reaching into his boxers to pull out his throbbing cock. Just as he thought, his tip was leaky and sensitive. He ran his middle finger and thumb in a tight ring around the ridge between his mushroom tip and shaft, stroking it firmly. He breathily whimpered as he gripped the counter harder, his knuckles turning white. He began to pump himself up and down, picturing your breathtaking body in that god for saken bikini again. He imagined pushing you back onto your bed in that skimpy little suit, the ties around your hips loosened. He visualized untying the strings, slipping the material off to expose your perfect pussy to him. God, and your perky tits were enough to make his length twitch in his hand. He stroked himself faster, feeling himself getting closer to release. He replayed the sweet sound of your moan in his head, the small detail being enough for his release to jump in hot spurts against his hand. He moaned as he came hard, his abdominal muscles clenching as his climax overcame his senses.

Joel took a moment to catch his breath and come down from his high before grabbing a tissue to clean up his hand and tip. He exhaled deeply as he tucked his softened length back into his boxers. He wondered if you had finished as he washed his hands with citrus scented hand soap.

You had come downstairs nearly an hour after Joel had finished. That orgasm was exactly what you needed to relax before facing Joel. Sure, you were consciously fighting the remorse after cumming on your fingers to the thought of your neighbor, but you weren’t nearly as nervous as you had been previously.

You’d gotten Joel’s text, and you internally cringed knowing that he was in the house while you were masturbating to the thought of him. You hurried down to greet him, finding him sitting on the sofa. You noticed his cheeks were more flushed than usual, but you assumed he had just been outside doing chores that day and had gotten a little too much sun.

“Hi, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. I was in the shower and got carried away.” You apologized, sitting down adjacent to Joel. He glanced up at you with his big brown eyes, an emotion running through them that you couldn’t put a finger on.

“No worries.” Joel responded with his gruff voice. He cleared his throat. He seemed stiff, as though something was bothering him. You kept your suspicions to yourself and opened your laptop to show Joel the inspiration pictures you had saved.

“I have a few inspiration pictures for the bathroom.” You said softly, your finger dragging gently across the touchpad of your laptop to navigate to the file where you compiled several pictures of bathrooms you found online. You wouldn’t be very helpful with the actual construction of the bathroom, let alone the shopping for parts, but you had an aesthetic in mind. You turned your laptop so it would be easier for Joel to see, and scooted closer to him. Your thighs were inches apart, and Joel swallowed when he noticed he could feel the heat radiating off your bare thighs. You smelled lovely, like warm vanilla and cashmere. The smell was intoxicating and Joel longed to reach out and touch the soft skin of your leg, but he knew he couldn’t.

The first picture you showed Joel was of a bathroom with white and black checkered floors with forest green tile walls. Your favorite color had always been green, and you loved the retro feel of the checkered flooring. Joel was a very simple man when it came to designs, but he found himself loving the pictures you’d chosen. They were very much you. You swiped through the pictures, briefly explaining what you loved about each one. Joel observed each photo carefully, taking into account what stood out most to you.

“I love the gold and black accents.” Joel said at one of the pictures you showed him. You glanced up at him with a toothy grin.

“I was worried you’d hate it. But I’m so glad you agree.” You beamed, looking back towards your laptop. Seeing your smile made Joel feel warm inside. Something as simple as seeing you smile really made Joel realize the effect you had on him. His attraction was undeniable, but the realization of the situation sent a pang of disappointment through him. You were so young with so much life ahead of you. You’d never settle down for someone at his age. He couldn’t give you the typical life you deserved; he couldn’t bring you kids, and you were just starting your career. He was nearing the end of his. It would be selfish of him to ever try and hold you back from experiencing life. Joel tried his best to push away those dreadful thoughts for the time being and focus on the present. He enjoyed being around you, and he was going to make the most of it without letting his newfound feelings interfere.

“I’ll have to go to the store and scope out some materials. There’s a chance they won’t have everything we need in store and I might have to order online. If I end up ordering online, it won’t be a big deal considering I’ll have to tear out most of your bathroom first.” Joel explained. You listened attentively as he spoke, you gaze focusing on the way the lines in his face moved as he spoke. You could sit and listen to him speak for hours and not get bored.

“Do you mind if I go take a look at your bathroom and take some pictures?” He asked, leaning back to take his phone out of his front pocket. You swallowed hard as your eyes drifted to the crotch of his jeans, observing the protruding outline. You quickly looked back towards his face, but he had noticed. He decided to not address it, but he couldn’t help but feel the electricity strike through him. Maybe he was overthinking it; you were probably looking innocently to see what he was reaching for.

“Oh, yes of course. Help yourself.” You responded, closing your laptop and placing it on the coffee table in front of you. As you leaned forward, Joel’s gaze fell to watch the way your ass peeked out of the bottom of your shorts. He couldn’t help himself. He averted his eyes as you sat back up. He cursed at himself mentally when he felt his dick begin to harden in his boxers.

“Lead the way.” He said, pushing himself off the couch.

He followed you upstairs, his hand immediately falling to his crotch to adjust himself. The friction only made things worse. It didn’t help that he had a perfect view of your ass as you climbed the stairs. He could only hope you wouldn’t notice the tent in his pants once you got to the bathroom.

You lead him through your bedroom, apologizing quietly at the mess since you were still in the process of unpacking all of your belongings. Your room smelled heavenly. It smelled exactly like you and your delicious vanilla perfume. The smell itself made Joel feel weak. When you made it to the bathroom, you stepped aside to give him room to take pictures and observe what needed to be done. You took a moment to really take in his appearance. His shoulders were wide and his muscles were practically protruding through the short sleeves of his button up shirt. His jeans were tight against his muscular thighs, and even tighter against his crotch. You could’ve sworn the bulge in his pants was even larger than you’d observed downstairs, but you looked away quickly. You felt it deep in your core as you thought about the possibility of him being hard around you. You convinced yourself it was impossible.

Joel began snapping pictures of your bathroom, taking close ups of any details he found important. He opened the stall door to your shower, investigating the impurities in its design. It was definitely aged and needed repairs. It was a good thing he would need to rip out the shower entirely to remodel it to your desired design. This remodel would probably take him a couple months. He knew it would challenge his abilities, but it wasn’t anything impossible for him. He knew it was going to take extra time considering he wanted nothing but perfection for you.

“I’ll probably start tearing out the shower and sink tomorrow. I’ll need to go ahead and replace the toilet too. It’ll take me a few days to tear everything out.” Joel exhaled, taking a step back from the bathroom and peering down at you. “I’ll need to go to the store today and order some materials to make sure they’re here by next week. Would you like to come with me to pick out what you want?”

Your belly fluttered at the idea of running to the store with him. It would feel very domestic spending time with him outside of with your father and this remodel. Although it was still for the remodel, you would be able to spend time with him in public and get to know him better.

“Sure, I would love to.” You said, grinning up at him with your doe eyes.

You were close in proximity, and his musky aftershave was intoxicating. If the circumstances were different, you’d waste no time in pulling him into you and kissing him, but you couldn’t do that. You looked away to locate your purse.

“Do you want to go now? Maybe we can get something to eat on the way back?” You said, wandering over to your desk to grab your purse.

“That works.” Joel said, his voice deep and rich. He ran hand through his hair and put his phone in his pocket, replacing it with his keys in his hand.

Joel was nervous. Nervous to spend time with you outside of this project. You were wonderful and he wanted nothing more than to spend time with you, but he knew how dangerous that was for him. He feared the more time spent with you, the more he was going to become infatuated with you. But nonetheless, he led the way to his truck.

#joel x reader #joel miller #pedro pascal #din djarin #pedro pascal smut #pedro x reader #tlou fanfiction #joel tlou #the mandalorian #joel miller smut #dbf!joel #tlou

[amtrak-official]

Let's say you live in Chicago and ride the L twice daily to and from work, how much would that cost annually? Well there are on average 260 working days according to USAToday and the L has a $2.50 fare. So how much is that? Roughly $1300 annually, in comparison the cost of having and maintaining a car annually is on average $12,000 according to the NYT. So yeah public transit of much cheaper to live off of than a private car

[watchmegetobsessed]

PARENT TRAP

A/N: single dad harry is finally here! it took me sooo long to finish this, but its finally done! so i hope you'll like it!

WORD COUNT: 16k

WARNING: sexual content, divorce

SUMMARY: Harry has been crushing on the mother of her daughter's classmate and now that she has divorced, a bake sale finally brings them together.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

Harlow is excitedly humming along to the music that’s flowing from the radio, her legs dangling from the seat, her curly ponytail bouncing with every move of her head as she follows the beat perfectly. Her daddy keeps glancing back at her through the mirror, his smile stretching wider and wider every time she gets more into the song, turning the ride to school into her own private concert. 

The little girl’s love for music is no surprise, seeing that her dad is a musician. Harry introduced her to the magical world of music way before she was even born. When she was a baby, there were only two things that could calm her down and end any tantrum she threw: her daddy’s singing and Stevie Nicks’ singing. All tears dried up in an instant as soon as she heard her favorite songs. 

It's the first day of school, Harlow is starting second grade and Harry is letting her out of his hold with a heavy heart, though it’s definitely easier than last year. Summer was filled with adventures, giggles and endless hot days spent together. Thanks to Harry’s flexible work schedule he could prioritize his most precious treasure while school was out, his daughter. Harlow spent two weeks with her mother in Chicago, Harry used that time to work like a maniac and make time for all the summer fun for him and his little princess. 

Now everything is back to its usual way, Harlow will spend her weekdays in school and Harry will return to the studio like it’s a nine to five job. 

He rolls into the school’s parking lot that’s filled with cars, parents dropping off the kids before heading into the office, so most of them are dressed nicely, while Harry is more on the comfortable side in his light-washed jeans, simple t-shirt and knitted cardigan. He has no reason to show up in a suit to record all day in the studio, staring at the panels, directing whatever singer he is working with for the day. 

“Alright, end of show,” he chuckles, turning the radio off and getting out he rounds the car to help Harlow out of her seat.

She is wearing her favorite pink dress with her new sneakers and backpack and Harry’s chest swells with pride as he watches her jump out of the car and twirl around in excitement. They walk to the entrance hand in hand, Harlow asks Harry about what’s gonna be for dinner and he promises her to make her favorite if she’ll be a good girl in school.

Students from first to fourth grade usually gather in front of the building, the teachers wait for them in the morning and they go inside together. Harry spots Harlow’s teacher, circled by a few students already, so he knows it’s time to say goodbye.

Squatting down in front of her he fixes her ponytail and then he gathers her small hands in his big ones.

“I’ll see you in the afternoon, okay?”

“Can we get ice-cream on the way home?” she suggests with a cheeky smile, that never fails to warm Harry’s heart.

“Only if you–”

“If I’m a good girl today, I know!” she sighs dramatically. “I will be good, don’t worry.”

“Okay,” he smiles. “Come here, give me a hug.”

Harlow happily throws her arms around her daddy’s neck as he embraces her in a tight hug, breathing in her sweet scent, he presses a few kisses on top of her head before finally letting her go.

“Have a great day, I love you!” he calls out as Harlow is already walking over to her classmates.

“Love you too!” she sings back with a wave and then she is busy greeting her friends she didn’t see all summer. 

Harry stands there for a bit longer, watching his daughter in complete awe. He can’t believe the tiny baby he held in his arms on the day she was born is not such an independent, smart little girl. She’s only seven, but she’s taught him so many things, he’ll be forever grateful for her. 

“Dylan, wait!” a familiar, stressed voice hits his ears and looking to his right he is witnessing another morning scene, but it’s definitely different from the one he just got to experience with Harlow.

A boy, who is around twelve years old, dressed in all black with his hoodie covering his head is marching away, but he is stopped by the request from his mother behind him, who is busy with a smaller girl.

Harry knows the woman and the little girl too, because it’s Robin, Harlow’s classmate and her mother, Y/N. He remembers, because she caught his eyes straight away at the first parents’ meeting last year. Y/N is the kind of woman who is always so put together, looks stunning, like the CEO of a very important business, but there’s also an exceptional warmth that lingers around her, that makes Harry think that she is an excellent and loving mother to her kids. 

Harry could feel himself crush on her the moment she walked into Harlow’s classroom in her pants suit and took a seat near his. He kept looking her way and felt like a school boy all over again.

This morning however, Y/N looks different. She is still gorgeous, don’t get Harry wrong, but something is off about her. She’s in a simple black dress, her attire is spotless as always, but it appears like she’s lost some weight, there are circles under her eyes and he can tell she’s been going through a stressful period probably.

Dylan, the boy, stops with an eye-roll, but doesn’t face his mother who is currently struggling to get Robin to put on her backpack properly. 

“Honey, please! I can’t carry it up to the classroom for you!” Y/N begs and the girl whines before eventually taking the straps over her shoulders. Y/N lets out a relieved sigh, fixing her shirt before pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Have a good day, I’ll pick you up after school, okay?”

“Okay,” she nods before running off to join her friends. Y/N then steps over to Dylan. They are standing just a few feet away from Harry, so he can hear their conversation, and though he knows he shouldn’t be listening in on them, he just can’t help it. 

“How long are you gonna be grumpy?” she asks, walking around the boy to look at him. She reaches out to fix the zipper on his hoodie, but he yanks away from her touch. Harry sees the hurt on her face, but she is great at masking it.

“Can I go?” Dylan asks, not even looking at his mom.

“Can I get a hug?”

“Mom, no!” he whines. “My friends are over there!”

“And you think they don’t hug their mom?”

“Not in public!” he retorts. Y/N clenches her jaw and decides to just let it go.

“Alright. I’ll pick you and Robin up after school, okay? Have a good day.”

“Bye,” he mumbles and walks over to his group of friends without even looking at his mother.

Y/N stands there and Harry could feel her disappointment and sadness, even as an outsider. It seems like Dylan has just reached the gates of puberty, which came with an immense amount of hate towards his parents, or at least his mother. His heart breaks for her, because something is telling him she did nothing to deserve to be treated like this, but pre-teens are just impossible sometimes. 

For a moment he thinks about walking up to her and asking if she’s okay, but right when the thought is about to turn into action, she looks down at her watch and realizes how late it is.

“Oh shit,” she mumbles and turning around she runs back to her car, jumps in and drives away in a hurry. 

Harry glances at the kids one last time, they are heading inside and he spots Harlow with Robin. He smiles and then slowly walks back to his car.

Of course, Harlow gets ice-cream when Harry picks her up after school. They stop by the park too and then head home to make dinner. She tells him all about her day and while Harry cooks she is on FaceTime with Frankie, her mom. 

Co-parenting is now as easy as breathing air, they’ve been doing it for almost five years now. People tend to find it odd that Harlow lives with her dad and visits Frankie three times a year for longer periods, once in the summer, once in winter break and once in the spring usually. Between these occasions Frankie tends to visit too on weekends whenever she has the time. 

She is a doctor, her working hours are crazy and she knew it well when she and Harry decided to part ways. Harry has always been the flexible one and they both knew he would be more stable when it comes to raising Harlow. 

They might not be married anymore, but they still have love for each other and want to focus on what matters: Harlow.

“Daddy, here,” she runs into the kitchen with Harry’s phone in hand.

“Thank you, Love. Put it on the table, please. Food is almost ready.”

“Dad, did you and mom get a divorce?” she asks, taking her usual seat at the dining table, waiting for her dinner patiently. Harry stops for a moment, afraid where this might go, but he promised himself to always be honest with her.

“Yes. Years ago. Why?”

“Robin said her parents got a divorce too.”

His ears perk up, remembering the scene he witnessed this morning. He grabs two plates and pills them with pasta.

“Really? Is she sad about it?”

“Kind of. She’s just sad her dad moved out. She said her brother wanted to live with him, but their mom didn’t let him.”

“Hmm, I’m sure she has her reasons,” he says, placing the food on the table as he joins her. “So they are living with their mom now?”

“Yeah. Their dad visits every second weekend.”

“That sounds great.”

A divorce would very well explain the change he noticed about Y/N. The weightloss, the stress on her face, the circles under her eyes, it must have been challenging, managing a divorce and adjusting to becoming a single parent. Harry can’t help, but wonder what resulted in the end of her marriage. 

“Be nice to Robin, okay? She is going through a tough time,” he softly says.

“We’re friends,” Harlow smiles proudly.

“You are? That’s great,” he smiles back and leaning over he presses a kiss to the crown of her head. 

That night, when Harlow is sleeping Harry can’t help but let his curiosity take over. Sitting by his desk he pulls up the list of Harlow’s classmate’s names the teacher sent out last year and he looks up Robin’s name, her mom’s name and phone number next to it. Every parent got this list for emergencies, but Harry now uses it for something entirely different. 

He types Y/N’s name into the search bar and scrolls through the results. Not everything is relevant, but a few links down he finds an article from last year that mentions her name and when he opens it he is met with a photo of her, so he knows he is at the right place. Harry finds out that she is an architect and she worked on some quite prestigious projects in the past, she is obviously good at what she is doing. 

He falls down the rabbithole and looks up anything he can find about her. She has an introduction page on her company’s website, then he finds himself hopping over to social media and though it takes some time, he manages to find an Instagram page that, for his luck, is public. There are just a handful of photos from the past six years, but Harry thoroughly examines them all.

Y/N with a group of her friends, old pictures of Robin from when she was a toddler, but her face is never revealed, Dylan is seen in some too, there are some pictures of a lake and the same two dogs a few times and Harry wonders if they are hers or maybe a relative’s. A couple of selfies where she looks just as gorgeous as now and then there are the pictures with her husband.

Or ex husband, to be exact. 

There are only three pictures, one at what appeared to be a wedding, one at some kind of dinner and one with the kids. It’s the last one where he is pictured and it’s from over a year ago. No trace of the man since then, and she doesn’t have a lot of other photos either, she hasn’t updated her profile in what appears to be months. 

Harry is not quite the nosy type, but this time, he is dying to know more about Y/N and the lack of information is eating him away. He goes back and forth between the pictures where she can be seen and the longer he is staring at them the more he wants to know. 

He is not an expert in social media, so as he is stalking her profile he accidentally taps on the follow button and when he realizes, his stomach drops. 

“Fuck,” he breathes out and his first instinct is to unfollow her, but he knows that she probbaly has the notification sitting on her lockscreen, so there’s no use. At last, he just curses himself out and accepts it. 

To stop himself from making it worse, he goes offline and gets ready to go to bed so he doesn’t feel like absolute shit in the morning. His phone lies discarded on his nightstand in the meantime and he doesn’t notice the new notification until he is in bed and wants to set an alarm for the morning. He’s surprised to see a notification from Instagram about a new follower.

Y/N has followed him back.

Reuniting with Harlow in the afternoon is Harry’s favorite part of the day. Seeing his little girl running towards him and jumping into his arms is something he wishes to experience every day for the rest of his life, though he knows these occasions are numbered so he is drinking up every moment of it. 

Today is no different, Harlow starts sprinting towards Harry the moment she spots him, a toothy grin stretched across her rosy cheeks as she practically smashes against her daddy.

“Hi dad!” she giggles as he lifts her up from the ground easily, holding her in one arm, his free hand taking her backpack off her shoulders. He doesn’t notice, but some moms around them yearningly watch as he holds his daughter with ease, some are having gentle thoughts about their father-daughter bond, but some are definitely hiding dirty fantasies about the single dad who is a well-liked figure among the mothers. Most of the time Harry doesn’t even process the stares he gets, and when he does, he chooses to ignore them.

“Hey Princess, how was your day?” he asks, carrying her towards the car. 

“Good. How was your day?” she asks back.

“I missed you,” he sighs dramatically, earning a kiss on the cheek from the girl in his arm.

“Do you just sit around all day and miss me?” she sassily asks and Harry barks out a laugh as he puts her down so she can climb into the car.

“That’s exactly what I do while you’re at school,” he grins, strapping her in before taking his seat behind the wheel.

“Oh, I have news for you, dad,” Harlow announces, as they are slowly inching their way out of the full parking lot.

“Yeah? Tell me!”

“We’re having a bake sale soon and I signed you up!”

“Oh, wow!” he smiles. He doesn’t mind helping out and baking is actually a hobby of his.

“And this year parents are pairing up for it so I signed you up with Robin’s mom!” she adds and Harry almost steps on the break hearing this little detail. 

“Robin’s mom? Really?” he asks with wide eyes.

“Yeah,” she nods, oblivious to why her dad is so shocked about it. 

Harry thinks about how he followed her on Instagram the other day, the panic he felt and then seeing her follow him back even though they haven’t really talked, he faintly remembers them exchanging a few words at a parents’ meeting, but nothing more. Now they will have to bake together. 

It will either go painfully awkwardly, or something good might come out of it. He’ll have to wait and see.

He is in the studio when he gets a text from a number he doesn’t recognize. He sees the screen lighting up, but he is in the middle of a session so he discards it until they go on a short break. When he finally has the time to have a look at it, excitement rushes through his veins.

UNKNOWN: Hey! It’s Y/N, Robin’s mom from Harlow’s class. Apparently we were signed up together to bake for the bake sale. Maybe we could meet up for a coffee sometime to plan out what we’re gonna do!

Harry is quick to type a response back.

HARRY: Sure! I’m flexible, whenever it’s good for you, I’ll make it work!

He doesn’t expect a fast reply since he didn’t answer straight away and he imagines she’s busy at work, but his phone lights up just seconds later.

Y/N: Great! :) Tomorrow at one?

HARRY: Perfect. :)

They exchange a few more texts about the place and then the conversation ends, they both go back to their day. And Harry is looking forward to meeting her as if it was Christmas coming up.

It’s not a date.

He keeps reminding himself, but it feels like he is getting ready for a date. The first one in what feels like a century. It’s also his first crush, dating and pursuing women in general hasn’t been on his agenda since before he started dating Frankie, which was over a decade ago. Even after his marriage ended, he was so focused on Harlow and his work that he simply didn’t have time to meet women and go out on dates. 

But this is not a date.

He is just meeting a woman for coffee to talk about baking. 

He leaves the studio a little earlier than needed so he is not late. The café they chose is near Y/N’s workplace, since she only has an hour to spare before she needs to be in a meeting. Walking in he scans over the menu and orders a simple black coffee along with two muffins before taking a seat at a table.

Y/N arrives not even five minutes later. She strolls in wearing a blue pants suit, her purse in one hand, phone in the other as she looks around and eventually spots Harry.

“Hi! Have you been here for long?” she asks, checking the time, but she arrived perfectly on time.

“No, just a few minutes,” Harry smiles at her standing up from the table to greet her, though there’s a pause as neither of them knows how to. Handshake? Kiss on the cheek? Hug? 

At last they meet for a short, kind of half hug before she sets her purse down on the other chair.

“I’ll get a coffee and then we can talk.”

Harry watches her walk up to the counter, she asks for a latte and then types away on her phone while waiting. She looks a tiny bit more collected than the last time he saw her, but he can tell she’s had less stressful days before. When she returns to the table she places her phone facing down and turns all of her attention to Harry.

“Harry, I’ll be honest with you, I’m terrible at baking,” she admits first thing with a chuckle. 

“Well, then we might be a great duo, because I’m actually pretty good at it.”

“Oh, then you’re my hero,” she chuckles. “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t the happiest when Robin said she signed me up, life has been… a bit hectic lately, baking stands after the last thing on my list,” she huffs. “But I’m glad I don’t have to do it alone,” she adds with a small smile. 

“It’ll be fun! The girls can have a playdate in the meantime.”

“Ah, that would be amazing,” she sighs in relief. “When is the bake sale?” 

“Um, on the tenth, in two weeks, I think.”

“Alright, I guess we should make everything fresh, right?”

“That would be ideal,” he nods.

“Great. Would you mind it if we did it at my place? I don’t have anywhere to put my son and I really don’t want to leave him home alone,” she sighs.

“Sure, no problem.”

“I promise I have everything we need despite my poor baking skills,” she jokes. “But Dylan is…”

“Y/N, no need to explain. I’m happy to go over so you don’t have to worry about him.”

“Thank you.”

They discuss what they plan to bake and what ingredients they’ll need and how they will split the shopping part. Harry finds it that Y/N is easy to talk to and she tries her best to be flexible and work together with him the best way possible.

“Okay, so muffins, chocolate chip cookies and brownies it is. We’re playing it safe,” she chuckles, summarizing their plan. “Gosh, muffins used to be Dylan’s favorite, but I feel like he would scream at me if I gave them any,” she huffs and Harry notices the sadness that flashes through her face.

“Um, I’m not trying to be nosy and we practically just met, but Harlow mentioned that Robin told her you just got divorced? I’m sure it’s been a tough time and I’m sorry too, going through a divorce is challenging even if you part ways in peace.”

The smile fades from her lips as she looks down at her drink with a tiny nod.

“You’re divorced too?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

She stays silent and stares into her drink that’s half empty by now. Folding her arms over her chest she lets out a shaky breath.

“Does it get better?” she asks and there’s so much behind those simple words and Harry can feel the weight of them. Harry reaches over and places a warm hand on her arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“It does. I know it seems like you’re stuck now, or even going backwards, but you’ll get through it.”

Their eyes meet and hold each other’s gaze for a few heartbeats and in that moment they both leave that café and enter somewhere safe and hopeful. Then the barista calls out someone’s name for their order and the moment is gone. Harry clears his throat and busies himself with his empty cup before they venture to another, lighter topic. 

They sit around for a little longer, just like two friends talking over a nice coffee, but then it’s time for Y/N to go back to the office.

“Harry, it’s been so nice! I’m not really friends with any of the moms from Robin’s class, but I feel like we’ll be a good team,” she smirks as Harry opens the door for her and they step out of the café.

“I’m not really friends with anyone either,” he smiles softly.

“What? I thought moms are fighting for your attention,” she barks out a laugh, but Harry just furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head as he looks back at her. “Come on, you’re known as the hot dad around school grounds.”

His eyebrows raise at her blunt comment and she realizes he’s been truly oblivious to the stares and whispers behind his back from mothers that don’t get what they want from their husband. 

“Oh wow, sorry, this is awkward now,” she chuckles nervously, realizing it might have been weird to hear it.

“No worries, I was just… not aware that I’m even known,” he chuckles. 

“You haven’t noticed the stares? Mothers ogle you like crazy whenever you pick Harlow up.”

“I’m usually more focused on her,” he admits bashfully. “So I’m the hot dad. Good to know.”

It’s obvious that Y/N feels awkward that she was the one who delivered the news to him, but Harry finds it cute, the way she bites into her bottom lip.

“I really need to get back now. I’ll see you soon, I guess,” she switches quickly, checking the time. 

“Sure, have a great day, Y/N,” he smiles and he pulls her into a short hug before they part ways. 

Harry thinks about how it felt like when she was pressed up against his chest, even if it was just for one second.

“Okay, I might have gone a little overboard with the decoration,” Harry admits, as Y/N is inspecting the millions of sprinkles, candies and chocolate chips on the counter, laughing happily like a little kid.

“No, this is amazing!” she chuckles. “They will turn out amazing!”

Harry blushes and he’s glad she doesn’t find it weird how overboard he went with the shopping. He’s been looking forward to their work together, mostly because he couldn’t wait to see Y/N again, but he was also excited about the baking part. 

Harlow and Robin are in the living room, watching The Little Mermaid and playing, Dylan is hiding somewhere in his bedroom and the adults are taking over the kitchen. Y/N is in a more casual outfit, but she still took his breath away when she opened the door and welcomed them. In a pair of loose jeans and a simple, gray sweater, she still looks incredibly stylish and put-together. 

“Alright, you’re the boss today, I’m just assisting,” she smiles, one hand on her hip, the other one on the counter. Harry thinks about how badly he wants to grab her by her waist and pull her in for a kiss, so he gulps hard, forcing himself to focus on the baking. 

“Okay. Then let’s start with the cookies.”

They find their rhythm easily, Harry is moving around in her kitchen as if it’s not his first time here and Y/N does everything he asks her perfectly. They are, indeed, an amazing team. While they work they talk and laugh and have a blast, as if they’ve been good friends since forever.

When it’s time to decorate they ask the girls to help them and they happily cover everything in sprinkles, going all out with the supplies Harry bought. 

Once everything is done, they box them up so they can easily take them to the school tomorrow. It’s still not too late and the girls are having so much fun that the parents decide to let the playdate last a little longer, so they share some iced tea and have a chat sitting by the kitchen island. It’s all fun and joy until Dylan comes down to drink something. He marches into the kitchen, ees glued to the ground, ignoring everyone else as he walks over to the fridge.

“Dylan, say hi to Harry. You didn’t even come down to greet our guests,” Y/N tells him, earning the most annoyed groan Harry has ever heard. 

The boy stops and turns around standing like a stone, clearly irritated that someone even said a word to him. 

“Hi,” he grumbles before turning back to the fridge right away to grab himself a can of coke.

“Dylan, no coke after six, you know the rule,” Y/N warns him, to which he just tosses the can back and slams the fridge shut. 

Harry can feel the tension spiking and he’s quietly observing the scene in front of him.

“Drink some water, or there’s some tea left in the–”

“I don’t want tea or water, I want coke!” he whines. “Dad lets me drink coke whenever I want!”

“Well, then I’ll need to have a chat with your father,” Y/N comments under her breath. “Water, Dylan. Drink water,” she repeats, the boy rolls his eyes and grabs a bottle of water before storming out of the kitchen. “God, this is a disaster, I’m sorry,” she groans, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“No need to apologize. You both are going through a tough time.”

“But it feels way worse than what I was expecting. I knew it would be hard, but… And Will is absolutely no partner in the process, he is trying to play the victim, like I’m the monster for destroying our family when he is the one who fuck three women in the past two years.”

Harry’s eyes widen at the blunt information about her marriage and though he never met this Will guy, he knows he is a total idiot. He has to be if he cheated on a woman like Y/N with three different women.

“Wow, that sounds… awful,” Harry admits truthfully. “How did you… May I ask how you found out?”

“He accidentally paid for a romantic getaway with the wrong card and I saw everything he paid for, the hotel, the food and drinks and of course, the couple's massage. He was supposed to be at a conference that weekend. I did some digging after that and then confronted him. He tried to deny it, but it’s hard to play innocent when I have proof. He moved out the next day and I filed for a divorce a week later. This was in January, but it got official in the summer.”

“What took so long?”

“He’s been a real bitch about it,” she rolls her eyes. “He really tried to make it look like I threw him out heartlessly and he was convinced he deserves a second chance. Maybe I would have considered it if it was just a one time thing. But it was several women on several occasions. This was not just a slip up, he came home these past two years knowing damn well that he chose to do this. Of course I don’t want anything to do with him after that.”

“Understandable,” Harry nods in agreement.

“Well, he thinks otherwise and it’s been his hobby to make me miserable. We agreed not to tell the kids what he did, I don’t want them to turn against him, he’s still their father, but apparently, Will is not mature enough to do the same. He’s been trying to lure the kids closer to him and away from me, so he is the ultimate good cop. He lets them do anything and everything, pizza for breakfast, candies all the time, he takes them to every damn movie they wanna see, and then I’m the bad one who tries to regulate their fun.”

“I assume Dylan prefers to be with his dad.”

“Of course,” she rolls her eyes again, clearly frustrated over the situation, but there’s not much she can do about it. “I’m suddenly the enemy. Dylan only knows that we decided to get a divorce, but he doesn’t know why. All he experiences is his dad being the coolest guy ever and his mom being a bitter bitch,” she groans and looking down at her drink she obviously wishes it had alcohol in it. “Sometimes I just wanna tell him how big of an asshole his dad is, but I’m really trying to be the bigger person here,” she sighs.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” is all Harry could say. 

“It’s not your fault,” she shrugs with a soft, but tired smile. “How about you?”

“Me?”

“You’re divorced as well, right? How did that go?”

“Oh, it was surprisingly peaceful. It was a mutual decision, we fell out of love. If I’m being honest, we rushed into that marriage way too fast.”

“So you’re on good terms?”

“Yeah. We try to make it work, focus on Harlow and what’s best for her.”

“That must be amazing, being partners even when you’re not married anymore,” she sighs dreamily. “I never thought I would say something like this, but I’m jealous of your divorce!” she chuckles, trying to lighten the mood.

“It’ll get easier. He can’t be an asshole forever, it’s too tiring,” he jokes.

“Oh, you don’t know Will. Being an asshole is in his genes,” she snorts with a laugh.

The bake sale is always a big success and this is Harry’s first time as a seller. Now that Y/N has pointed it out for him that other moms usually ogle him, he can actively feel the stares on him, so it could easily be an awkward event for him, but he is focusing on Y/N next to him behind their little stand. Their baked goods are selling great, especially the brownies, so they clear their stand in no time, just lingering around, socializing with the other parents though when no one is listening they agree that it’s not really their crowd. 

“Maybe we should open a bakery,” Harry jokes as they are packing up their stand at the end of the bake sale. 

“You should, but I’m not sure I should leave my career for baking,” she chuckles.

“What are you talking about? You were great at measuring the ingredients,” he smirks, bumping his hip against his. 

“Alright, okay, I’ll join you,” she smiles bashfully. 

Harry helps with the now empty boxes, loading them into Y/N’s car and they call out for the girls who are running around in front of the building, letting them know it’s time to leave. All he can think about is how this could be the last time he is seeing Y/N for a long time and that he wants to spend more time with her. If he had the guts he would ask her out, but he’s not even sure if she’s ready to date or even wants to date at this point.

“Um, maybe we could have playdates more often. The girls seem to be good friends,” Harry suggests, glancing over at Robin and Harlow, who are making their way towards the cars, still playing around happily.

“Sure! That sounds great, I’m sure they’ll be happy to spend more time together,” she nods smiling. 

“And you know, if you need help with anything, you can call me. I know how hard it is to do it all alone, I’m happy to help, even if it’s just maybe picking Robin up. I’m always the one getting Harlow, it’s no big deal if I take them both.”

“Really?” she asks and he can see the gratitude in her eyes.

“Of course.”

“That would be… amazing, thank you!” 

She surprises him with a warm, friendly hug and he can feel that they’ve just gotten closer to each other in every kind of way. It’s a tiny, fleeting moment, but it burns into Harry’s memories probably forever.

They don’t talk for a couple of days, carrying on with their separate lives. It’s about a week later when Y/N calls Harry in the middle of the day, luckily, he can pick it up right away.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asks, leaning against the wall in the studio’s hallway. 

“Hey, um…Can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure, of course!”

“Can you pick Robin up today? I have a little situation with Dylan and I’m not sure I’ll make it in time to pick her up.”

“No worries, but is everything alright?”

“Not really,” she sighs. “He got into a fight today and Will picked him up, because I couldn’t answer the phone when the school called me, so I need to get him now from his father.”

“Oh, I see. Don’t worry about Robin, the girls will be just fine while you focus on Dylan. Do you want me to drop her off at yours when you’re home?”

“No, I’ll just pick her up, don’t want you to drive her around, you’re already doing me a huge favor.”

“You sure? It’s no problem.”

“Positive,” she chuckles softly. “Thank you Harry.”

Harry wishes it wasn’t an emergency that connected them again, but he’s glad Y/N felt safe enough to reach out to him when she needed help. When he’s done with work he heads to the school as usual, but this time, two little chatty girls end up on the backseat of the car.

“Is Robin sleeping over tonight?” Harlow asks in excitement.

“No, Honey. Her mom will pick her up later.”

“Why couldn’t she pick me up?” Robin asks, but she doesn’t seem disappointed that her mother was absent.

“Something came up, but everything is alright, don’t worry. You guys can work on your homework together.”

The girls are being angels, Harry cuts some apples for them while they work on their homework by the kitchen island while he starts preparing for dinner. He has just set the table when he sees a car pulling up on their driveway and Harry watches Y/N walk up to their front door.

“Hi,” he greets her, opening the door for her before she could even ring the doorbell. 

“Hi, I hope it’s not too late,” she breathes out, stepping inside.

“No, don’t worry about it. The girls finished their homework, we were just about to have dinner, want to stay?”

“Would love to, but Dylan is in the car and I’m not sure I can get him out of there,” she sighs, shaking her head. “But thank you so much for everything, Harry. You saved me.”

“No problem, I told you, I’m happy to help.”

Robin says goodbye to Harlow and Y/N grabs her backpack as they head out to the car. She runs ahead while Y/N turns back to Harry one last time.

“Dylan is spending the weekend with Will. Maybe we could meet up with the girls? We like to go to the park on Saturday.”

“That sounds amazing,” Harry nods, excited to have the opportunity to see her again soon.

“Okay, then I’ll text you later. And again, thank you,” she repeats herself before pulling him into a quick hug. He doesn’t even have the time to put his arms around her before she’s already jogging towards the car.

He leans against the doorframe and Harlow runs up next to him, waving at them as the car backs out of the driveway, Dylan sitting in the back with the most hurt look Harry has ever seen while Robin is happily waving back at her friend. Y/N smiles at Harry through the window one last time before they roll down the street and disappear.

“Here,” Harry softly hands Y/N her coffee as he returns to the park from the café across the road. 

“Thank you, how much–”

“Don’t even try to pay me back,” he chuckles as he sits on the bench beside her, taking a sip from his simple, black coffee. The girls are taking over the playground, it’s a beautiful day and Harry is glad Harlow can spend so much time outside. 

“So, do you want to talk about what happened this week?” Harry carefully asks. He doesn’t want to be nosy, just trying to be the support Y/N might need, though he is also dying to know more about her, regarding anything in her life.

Y/N exhales slowly, her eyes following the girls around as she fidgets with the lid of her coffee cup.

“Dylan apparently got into a fight at school. No one really saw what happened, the teacher just caught him punching another boy. He was sent to the principal and then they tried to call me to pick him up, because they decided to send him home for the rest of the day. But I was in a meeting and couldn’t answer, so they called Will. He then went in, the principal told him what happened and that Dylan might have to see the school’s advisor a few times after the incident. Will then took him home and when I called him on my way from work he basically said that I’m a terrible mother, because I wasn’t available when my son needed me.”

Harry can feel his anger rising, but he bites his tongue and lets Y/N finish before he puts in his two cents. 

“It was just thirty minutes. Thirty minutes later I was already sprinting out of work, I don’t think that’s too late, of course I can’t drop everything instantly, I have a job and a boss, I can’t just come and go whenever I want to!”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Y/N.”

“Right?” She sighs. “Anyway, I went to Will’s, fully prepared to have a talk with Dylan about his actions, I had a little speech ready and all that. Then I arrived and I ended up being lectured! This… fucker… had the nerve to lash out on me for not answering the phone when the school called me, he was praising himself for dropping everything instantly and picking Dylan up right away. It’s easy to do that when you’re your own boss in a business that barely makes any profit,” she scoffs. “We got into a fight, Dylan heard most of it and all he understood was that I apparently made a mistake so now he wants to spend every weekend with Will.”

“Can he do that? I mean, don’t you have an agreement?”

“I was stupid enough not to limit how much Will can see them, I thought I was doing the right thing, but it’s biting me in the ass.”

“So what are you gonna do now?”

“I have no idea,” she chuckles bitterly. “If I keep Dylan away from his dad he’ll just hate me more. But if I let him spend more time with him, the same thing will happen, because Will is working harder than the devil to turn him against me. It’s an impossible situation.”

“Has he always been this close with his dad or is it just the divorce that brought them together?”

“I always had a feeling Will prefered Dylan over Robin. Which is just fucked up, you don’t choose between your kids. But he never really knew how to deal with a girl, so he spent more time with Dylan. They both like playing video games, so they’ve been bonding over that lately. I guess Dylan feels closer to him because they have more in common and he always looked up to Will. I never thought this would turn out as a disadvantage.”

She looks down at her coffee, deep in her thoughts before taking a sip and finally turning to face Harry. 

“It’s such a mess, right? I’m a mess.”

“You’re not a mess, Y/N. You’re doing everything you can to get through it, so don’t blame yourself. Will should grow up and be your partner for the sake of the kids.”

“We haven’t been separated for a whole year, but I can’t even believe we were once married,” she groans, her head falling back for a moment. Then, as if she realized something, she looks at Harry. “I’m sorry for always dumping my drama on you, this must be annoying.”

“Y/N, I asked you,” he chuckles. “I’m happy to listen, to help, anything you need.”

“You’re such a nice man, Harry,” she sighs. “I’m sure you haven’t been having any problem with dating since your divorce.”

“There’s no problem, because I don’t really date,” he admits with an awkward chuckle.

“What?” her eyes widen. “You’re just joking, right?”

“No,” he shakes his head with a shrug. “It’s not really my priority. I spend most of my free time with Harlow, I just… never got around to get myself out there, I guess.”

“But do you want to?”

“Ideally, I don’t want to be alone forever. I’m not against dating, I’m just not looking actively.”

“Hmm… I get it. It’s just shocking that women are not throwing themselves at you everywhere you go,” she snorts out a laugh before taking another sip from her coffee. 

“Because I’m the hot dad?” he jokes.

“Well, duh!” she laughs. 

“You keep calling me hot, I might think that you’re into me, Y/N.”

She almost chokes at his comment, which just entertains him even more, he likes how nervous she got over his comment.

“I-I’m not trying to– I mean you’re… Oh God.”

“Relax,” he laughs, placing a hand on hers for a moment. “I was just messing with you.”

“God, I hate you,” she chuckles, bumping her shoulder against his.

“I hope you don’t, because I actually like you.”

There’s a switch in the conversation thanks to Harry’s little confession, but he just couldn’t keep it in any longer. She seems surprised, but pleasantly at his words, staring back at him with wide eyes.

“It’s hard not to like you,” he adds with a shy smile. “And if you think I’m the hot dad then I can admit that you’re a hot mom.”

“Oh my God, you’re gonna make me giggle like a little girl,” she laughs, covering her mouth. 

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t bite my tongue any longer,” he chuckles, looking down at his hands in his lap. “Just thought I would share. I’m not expecting anything to change, I know you have enough on your plate now.”

“I like you too, Harry,” she admits and his heart is soaring. “I’m just not sure I’m ready to take this step with anyone at the moment.”

“I completely understand. I’m happy to be just friends,” he reassures her kindly. She smiles at him with gratitude in her eyes, this moment means a lot to both of them in many different ways.

They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, watching the girls play around the swings and then she’s the first one to speak up. 

“Did we just admit that we’re crushing on each other?” she asks with a grin.

“I guess so, yeah,” he nods, mirroring her expression. 

“This felt like middle school all over again.”

“You want me to pull your hair?” he teases her, making her laugh out loud.

“Ah, I’m okay without that, thank you. But it was… refreshing. I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”

“Glad I could be the one who brought the feeling back to you,” Harry smiles at her sweetly, bumping his shoulder against hers.

They fall into a rhythm. Constantly texting throughout the day, sharing pictures randomly, helping each other out whenever it’s needed, their bond strengthening along the way. It’s not just Y/N’s messy situation they talk about, but anything and everything. 

And Harry can feel himself falling.

He’s patient, though. He knows he needs to wait and let Y/N heal and figure things out before she could get back to dating and when that moment finally comes, Harry will be there waiting for her. 

She truly surprises him when she takes the first step out of the friend zone.

“So, what are you doing this weekend?” she asks when they are randomly talking on the phone one evening. Originally, Y/N called to ask for some help with homework, because Robin didn’t remember what exactly needed to be done, but it soon turned into some private chit-chatting.

“Not much, Harlow is having a sleepover at my mum’s, so I’ll be alone for most of the weekend.”

“That’s great, because my kids are gonna be away too, so I thought we could do something that doesn’t include a playground, homework or kids meal,” she chuckles and just the sound of it brings a smile to Harry’s face. Harry is about to answer when she adds at last: “It could be a date.”

“A date?” he breathes out.

“Yeah. If you want it to be. It’s fine if we just hang out as friends, I don’t–”

“It’s a date,” he reassures her and he can almost feel her relief over the phone. 

“Great.” Harry knows she’s smiling on the other end of the call, he can tell. 

“Alright, then I’ll plan everything out. Saturday?”

“Saturday sounds amazing.”

Harry wants this date to be as perfect as possible. It’s not just his first date with Y/N, but also her first date since her divorce. He wants her to feel secure, comfortable and cared for, so she doesn’t feel like she made a mistake.

Therefore, he pays extra attention to tailor this date to her liking. 

It’s nothing out of the ordinary, they go to a gallery, then grab dinner and take a walk, but his attention to the details is what makes it outstanding. He remembered Y/N saying how much she loves contemporary art, but she hasn’t had the time to go to any galleries these past years, so Harry takes her to a promising young artist’s exhibition which she absolutely adores, so the evening starts out perfectly. 

Then they have dinner at an Indian place Y/N once mentioned. She used to go there often with her parents so it’s a piece of nostalgia for her that brings back some precious memories. The food is amazing, they talk like old friends and the conversation flows naturally, there’s no awkwardness, no weird silences. It’s simply perfect. 

As the last stop of the date he takes her to a hidden little park and of course, he’s got reasons for that as well.

“How come I never knew there’s a park around here? We live so close!” she chuckles.

“Because it’s kind of… private,” he smiles as he stops at a massive gate that appears to be just a simple driveway, so Y/N is looking at him confused. 

“We’re not gonna get in trouble for this, right? I don’t want to run from the cops,” she chuckles as Harry opens up the gate just enough so they can go inside.

“Don’t worry, I got permission to go inside, I know the owner,” he grins, holding out a hand for her that she gladly takes and they walk in, the gate sliding closed behind them.

“What is this place?”

“I worked with a guy about a year ago, he is an amazing musician and producer. His wife is French and comes from the countryside where her family had this massive mansion with the most beautiful garden.”

As they walk further Y/N finally gets a glimpse of the breathtaking yard that’s hidden from the outside, flowers and greenery everywhere she looks, a dreamy fountain in the middle with a naked female figure serving as the most beautiful gem of the garden. 

“She would talk about how much she misses the garden when they moved here, so he surprised her with this. Her own little piece of her home. And see the fountain?” he asks, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. 

“Yeah, it’s beautiful.”

“It’s a replica of the one they had in France.”

“Oh my, this is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard!” she gasps as they slowly walk around the garden. 

They wander around, feeling like they have entered a whole new world, the stars shining bright above them and the millions of flowers surrounding them, the gentle splashing of the water coming from the fountain that Y/N keeps staring at, because it’s simply the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen. 

Harry is proud of himself, Y/N hasn’t stopped smiling all evening, so he knows tonight turned out just as he planned. He felt rusty at the beginning, he can’t even remember the last time he was on a proper date, but this was a good start for the both of them.

It’s quite late by the time Harry takes her home, but neither of them truly wants the evening to end. 

“I had an amazing time, Harry. Thank you,” she smiles up at him as they reach her home.

“Does this mean we can do it again sometime?”

“Definitely,” she chuckles. 

Then comes the first awkward moment of the night. It’s not even that awful, it’s just that Harry’s not sure how far he can go. He’s been thinking about kissing her all evening, but he doesn’t want to cross any lines and push her too much. 

“Harry?” she breathes out as they stand just a foot apart.

“Yeah?”

“You can kiss me. I-I mean if you want, I don’t–”

He doesn’t need more, crossing the distance left between them he presses his lips against his, circling his arms around her waist as he pulls her into his embrace. It’s the perfect ending for a perfect date and Harry knows he’ll have a hard time from now on to behave around Y/N, knowing how she tastes, what her lips feel like against his and how her tiny moans sound. They devour each other, it feels like years worth of drought is washed away and they experience a kind of passion neither of them thought they would feel again. 

It’s hard to hold back and not take it as far as possible. Harry is aching to get, feel and taste more of her, but he knows he needs to slow down. Every fiber in his body is screaming not to stop, but his consciousness is awake enough to draw the line. He pulls back, though he goes in for a few more kisses before forcing himself to stop before he can’t control himself. 

Y/N buries her face into the crook of his neck as they stay like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, bathing in the comfort and warmth of this significant moment. Harry can’t stop himself from pressing a few soft kisses to her forehead, wishing he could do this every day, whenever he wants to. 

The moments stretch long, but eventually they let go of each other, not too willingly thought.

“I hope you don’t regret going on a date with the hot dad,” Harry cheekily smirks.

“Not at all,” she chuckles. “It was easily the best date I’ve ever been on.”

“Damn, it’ll be hard to outdo it next time,” he sighs, making her laugh.

“Sorry,” she grins, but there’s no remorse in her reaction.

“Alright, enjoy the rest of your kids-free weekend,” Harry smiles as he starts backing away, but then steps back to her once more, stealing one last kiss. “Okay, bye!” he sighs, forcing himself to walk away.

“Bye Harry!” she chuckles.

The upcoming week turns out quite hectic for the both of them. Y/N got a new project at work and as always, she has her hands full of her kids. Harry’s pretty busy too, he promised to help her mum paint her kitchen, so whenever he’s not at work or spending time with Harlow, he’s over at his mum’s home with a roll attached to his hands. 

They don’t get to see each other in person and though talking on the phone and constantly texting is great too, neither of them can stop thinking about how good their date was, spending time alone, in person. 

It’s a total coincidence they arrive at the school at the same time on Friday.

Harry spots Y/N first as she is walking towards the building from the parking lot, typing away on her phone in her usual work attire. As sappy as it sounds, his heart skips a beat at the sight of her, he’s been thinking about her a lot all week and now she is right there in front of her. 

Leaning against a pillar he watches her with a cheeky smile, waiting for her to notice him. She looks up from her phone and at first, her gaze rushes over him, but then her eyes bounce back on him and a wide smile stretches across her face.

“Lovely to see you here, Miss Y/L/N,” Harry smirks and pushing himself away from the pillar he steps closer to her and dares to press a tiny kiss to her cheek. She doesn’t seem to mind the affection at all.

“Mr. Styles,” she smiles bashfully. “How are you?”

“I’m good. A little tired. How about you?”

“Same,” she sighs, folding her arms over her chest.

“How is the situation with Dylan and Will?”

“Eh, it’s fine. Though it feels like the calm before the storm, I’m afraid.”

Harry nods with a hum just when the doors open and kids start to flow out of the building. 

“When will you be kids-free next?” Harry asks in a hurry, his eyes snapping to her just for a moment before searching for Harlow in the sea of students. 

“Um, maybe next weekend. But maybe we could have lunch sometime next week?” she suggests and he nods eagerly.

“Would love that.”

“Daddy!” He hears the most beautiful voice and moments later Harlow jumps into his arms.

“Hey princess, how was your day?” he chuckles, adjusting her in his hold.

“Great!”

“That’s good,” he hums, smiling. Glancing to the side Harry sees as Robin hugs Y/N and a few moments later Dylan marches out of the building, joining them. Y/N looks at him for one last moment, they exchange a quick smile and then part ways. 

Lunch together doesn’t happen. Days go by and they can’t get the schedule to match, there’s always something happening, life gets in the way, but it doesn’t change the way Harry feels about Y/N. And because of that, he would wait forever to spend even just another minute with her.

They manage to have two more dates in the next month and they are both just as amazing as the first one was, because they got to spend more time together.

They have slowly become inseparable.

Their fourth date is set to happen on a Friday when they are kids-free again. Or so they thought. 

They planned to watch a movie and then have a late dinner somewhere, so Harry arrived at her house a few minutes before six so they could catch the movie that starts at 6:45. He’s been looking forward to this evening all week, his heart jumping every time Y/N messaged him. He’s been like a lovesick puppy for a while now, even at work, he found himself taking songs into a more romantic direction than he usually does. 

Walking up to the door he rings the bell and waits, trying his best to keep himself from smiling like crazy. But when the door opens and he sees the stressed out look on Y/N’s face, his expression drops right away. 

“Oh shit, I totally forgot!” she breaks down seeing Harry, but her reaction is a little too extreme, he knows something happened that made her forget about their date. “Harry, I’m sorry, I don’t think tonight is gonna–”

“Hey, it’s alright, no need to apologize. Just tell me what happened, you seem so shaken up.”

Y/N holds the door for him as he walks in while she tries to collect her thoughts to tell him what happened.

“I uhh–I had the worst fucking day ever,” she breathes out shakily as they move to the living room to sit on the couch. “I have no idea how we ended up fighting with Dylan right before Will was about to arrive, but it was possibly our worst fight so far. Then Will joined in and of course, he completely ignored the fact that he is supposed to be a parent and not just a friend to Dylan.”

As she talks, Harry can’t stop thinking about how broken she seems and it’s killing him to see her like this. He needs everything in him not to just pull her into his arms and tell her he’ll solve everything for her.

“I swear I could see that vile smile hiding in his expression, like he was enjoying how Dylan was turning against me!” She growls in annoyance, sinking into the cushion. 

“So then what happened? Did you guys come to an agreement of some sort?”

Y/N scoffs, her head falling back.

“The agreement that we came to is that He took the kids and Dylan will stay with him for a while. I had to pack my son’s stuff knowing that Will won’t take good care of him. I know him, he can’t be on parent mode all the time, he’ll want to have his alone time and go out with his friends, but now he’ll have Dylan with him all the time!”

“Why did you let him take Dylan?” Harry asks with furrowed eyebrows, trying to understand the reasons behind her actions.

“Because I’m fucking tired of being the bad guy and… I figured that Dylan is smart enough to realize that living with his dad is not fun!” she laughs, but there’s no happiness behind it at all. “Will never did the everyday things. He doesn’t like to cook, he definitely won’t wake up earlier to pack Dylan lunch, I’m pretty sure he’ll probably forget to pick him up at least once, if not more times a week. It’s not gonna work and I’m hoping that Dylan will find it out himself. He’s a smart boy, if he wants to take this ride, I’m all in,” she sighs, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment before she looks at Harry. “I’m so sorry I forgot about our date. I promise I’ve been waiting for it, but today was just–”

“Y/N, I already told you there’s no need to apologize,” he cuts in, not even wanting to have her think about it. 

“I feel like I’m just dumping all my mess on you all the time.”

“I love that you feel comfortable enough around me to share this stuff,” Harry smiles softly. 

“I feel more than just comfortable,” she admits, looking at him with calmness in the middle of the madness. 

“Yeah?” he grins. “Why don’t we order some food, watch a movie here and call it a night? You must be exhausted.”

“That sounds… amazing,” she breathes out with a tired smile.

And that’s exactly what they do. They order pizza and cuddle on the couch while watching some Netflix movie. Every time they’re together they talk constantly, but this time, they just enjoy each other’s presence in silence and it’s exactly what they need. Halfway through the movie Harry notices that she’s fallen asleep, her head on his chest, snoozing away her stress. 

Harry takes just a few minutes to himself, enjoying her closeness and being able to hold her in his arms like never before and he thinks about how he wants to experience this every day. He wants Y/N to get some well-deserved rest, so he carefully carries her to her bedroom and puts her to bed, planning to let himself out and probably call her in the morning, but right before he is about to walk out of her bedroom, her voice pulls him back.

“Stay with me? Please?”

Her voice is barely more than just a whisper and as he looks back at her, she’s blinking at him lazily, already scooting over in bed to make space for him.

“You sure?” Harry asks, though every bit of him just wants to stay close to her. She nods into the pillow and smiles softly as Harry steps back to the bed, hesitantly looking down at his clothes.

“You can take off your jeans if you want,” she cheekily smirks, making Harry laugh as he unbuttons his pants.

“You just wanted to get me out of my pants, didn’t you?” he teases her, kicking the jeans off and then making himself comfortable in bed next to Y/N, who instantly moves closer, cuddling to his side.

“Since the moment I saw you,” she retorts, making him laugh again.

“Should have just asked me right away.”

He presses a kiss on top of her head, wrapping his arms around her tight as they fall asleep together for the first time. 

She sleeps better than she had in a long time. Usually she’s awake early in the morning no matter whether she has plans or not. But this time when she blinks her eyes open and checks the time on the alarmclock on her nightstand and it reads seven minutes past nine. She can’t even tell when the last time she slept after eight was. 

Sitting up in bed she’s disappointed to realize that the bed next to her is empty, but then she hears pans and pots clinking somewhere downstairs and she can’t help but smile at the thought of Harry in her kitchen. 

When she walks down she spots the man by the stove, he is making what seems like scrambled eggs, two mugs already sitting on the countertop with steaming, fresh coffee in them. Harry has put his jeans back on, though she wishes she could have seen him cook only in his underwear, but this is a nice view as well. 

“Good morning,” she smiles and walking closer she checks in on the breakfast he’s making. 

“Hi there, I hope I didn’t wake you up,” he chuckles and moving close she presses a sweet kiss to his lips to his surprise.

“No. I slept amazing, thank you for staying. I hope I didn’t make it feel weird.”

“Oh please. I was worried I might have crossed a line,” he chuckles softly as he moves the pan off the stove, turning to face Y/N fully, his hands finding her waist instantly.

“I’m afraid there are no lines when it comes to you, Harry.”

She says it with a cheeky smile, but they both can feel the seriousness behind her words and Harry is a tad bit surprised. He thought he would have to wait much longer for her to heal and move forward, but it seems like she’s ready to start this new chapter with Harry. 

“Yeah?” he hums, inching closer with his face until he can brush his nose against hers. 

“Mhm… I hope I won’t regret this,” she adds, a pang of fear flashing through her eyes. 

“You won’t. I promise.”

He holds her gaze for a few more heartbeats before pressing his lips to hers, devouring her as if he is trying to prove that his promise will be a lasting one. 

The eggs and coffee get forgotten quite fast as they get lost in each other. He presses her against the counter, his hands sneaking under her shirt, seeking direct contact with her skin. He can never get enough of her taste, the way her lips move with his and those pleased moans that slip out whenever he touches a soft spot. He’s completely obsessed with her and can’t even remember a time when he wasn’t thinking about her every waking moment. 

“You’re not hungry?” he asks against her lips.

“Only for you,” she chuckles as she pulls him back towards the stairs to return to the bedroom. 

They’ve been both craving intimacy for a while, but after their dates they just didn’t have the chance to take it past making out on the front porch. Now they have the house all to themselves and they are definitely using the precious time. 

Between hungry kisses thes peel each other out of their clothes as they navigate back into the bedroom. She falls onto the mattress in only her underwear and Harry takes a moment to admire the view while ridding himself of his pants. Her nerves take over as he studies her almost fully naked form, she reaches for the covers, but he’s quick to stop her.

“Sorry, i-it’s just been a long time since…” she stutters as Harry climbs over her, holding himself up on his arms.

“How long?” he simply asks.

“Um… At least over a year… maybe two…,” she admits shamefully while his expression remains blank and she fears he finds it ridiculous that she hasn’t been with a man in so long.

“Your ex is the biggest idiot in the world,” he replies before his lips devour hers, his body pressing down on her, skin against skin, they are closer than ever, but they are just about to get even closer.

They roll around on the mattress, giggles turning into moans as the last remaining pieces of clothing disappear. They can’t get enough of each other, Harry’s practically trying to map out her whole body, kissing and touching every inch he can reach, worshiping her like no one before did.

When he kisses his way down on her chest and stomach, she realizes where he’s taking it, her breathing picks up at the thought of feeling his lips between her legs, especially because she can’t even remember the last time she was on the receiving end of oral sex.

“Relax,” he softly says before peppering the inside of her thigh, one hand sliding up her torso to her sternum. He can feel under his touch how wildly her heart is beating against her ribcage. “I’ll just have a quick taste, is that okay?” he asks, his eyes snapping up to meet hers.

“Yes,” she answers breathlessly. 

“Good,” he smirks before moving closer to her cunt. 

He truly only wants a taste, he doesn’t want to overwhelm her, knowing it’s her first time in a long time, but he just can’t help himself. The way her back arches and lips part when his mouth meets her clit, it gets him addicted fast and he knows he’ll spend long hours between her thighs once she gets more comfortable. But for now, he’s just trying to control his hunger.

Licking, kissing and sucking, he makes sure to show her he has endless ways of pleasuring her with his mouth, leaving her wanting more when he moves back up.

“Next time I’m not stopping until you come on my tongue at least twice,” he warns with a pleased grin, to which she can only nod as she gasps for air. 

To his surprise, when his lips return to hers, she reaches down and wraps her hands around his cock he’s been ignoring all along just to focus on her pleasure. He can’t help but moan against her mouth when she starts gently pumping his length.

“And next time,” she speaks up, “I will suck your dick for as long as you want me to, but now… I really need you to fuck me.”

“Gladly,” he chuckles, but it quickly turns into a growl when she angles her hips so his head brushes against her soaked cunt. “Condom?”

“In the drawer,” she nods towards the nightstand and he reaches to the side, his movements slightly disoriented since she’s still playing with his cock with her hands. 

She only stops when he rolls the condom on, her hands then moving to his mare ass, squeezing it shamelessly as he positions himself between her legs.

“Just tell me how you like it, slow, fast, hard, soft, I can do anything for you, Y/N,” he says, pressing kisses to the corner of her mouth. 

“Start slow, then we can go faster.”

He nods and with a slow, careful motion he pushes into her, both of them moaning at the sensation. Harry almost loses his mind, feeling her warm, wet walls around him even through the condom. For a moment he fears he is about to come just by being inside her. Y/N is not the only one who hasn’t been sexually active lately, Harry’s needs mostly get satisfied by his hand under the shower on lonely nights, so this is a gamechanger for him as well.

“You’re good?” he asks out of breath.

“Never been better,” she smiles shortly, taking his face in her hands to pull him in for a kiss before Harry finally starts moving.

Just as she asked, he starts slow, gliding in and out of her until she gets familiar with the feeling and his size that’s quite bigger than what she’s been used to. Pulling her left leg up she hooks it around him, allowing him to go deeper with each thrust.

“Fuck, Y/N, you feel so good,” he growls against her neck before biting on her soft skin gently. She wraps her arms around his torso, clawing at his back to pull him as close as possible, she wants to feel his weight on her, his skin melting against hers as they become one. 

“Faster, please!” she breathes out and that’s all Harry needs to pick his pace up, pleasing her every wish. 

“Would love to fuck you from behind, but I need to see your pretty face when you come,” he breathes out a chuckle, pressing his lips on hers.

“Next time,” she grins back.

“We're saying that a lot.”

“Because we’ll have a lot of it,” she simply says before a moan slips through her lips. 

His heart skips a beat, thinking of a future where he can spend his time with Y/N more than just a couple of times a week. He’s known it for a while, but now, as he’s closer to her than ever, he knows she is it for him. 

Gradually fastening his movements he brings them both to the edge, she keeps calling out his name while he mumbles praises against her lips until she finally comes and he follows her moments later. His last few thrusts are rough and hard, but it tops it all perfectly. Harry rolls off of her, trying to catch his breath as she cuddles to his side, happily listening to the beating of his heart that’s slowing down after the excitement.

Legs tangled, she lifts her head, her fingers gently dancing over his tattooed chest, a lovesick smile stretching across her face.

“You’re alright?” he asks, squeezing her playfully.

“I haven’t felt this good in a long time,” she admits chuckling.

“Good,” he smiles. “Though I think breakfast is cold now.”

“We had way more important things to do,” she grins before placing a kiss to his chest.

A lot changes following that Friday. Some changes are hard, like accepting that Y/N can only see Dylan a handful of times and that he’s living with his father now. It’s hard on Y/N and Robin as well, not having him around like always, but there’s nothing to do.

Some changes, however, are very much amazing. Like the blossoming relationship between Y/N and Harry. Following their passionate morning things have taken a pleasant turn.

They are officially an item.

There are rules, of course, that help their journey, navigating life with a new partner with kids. It’s challenging, but they both know it will benefit everyone. Playdates have been regular and Harlow has been spending more time with her granny and Robin has been visiting Will and Dylan quite often as well. It’s also useful in the case of showing Will just how much work it is to take care of the kids almost full time, Y/N is convinced there will be a breaking point. In the meantime, she’s making the best out of her free time, spending it with her new lover.

The girls don’t know officially that their parents are dating. However, they are smart enough to notice that there’s something definitely going on. Harry always brings flowers to Y/N when they come over for a playdate, they’ve had dinner together a few times, Harry often picks them both up from school and then they meet at home and have dinner before Y/N and Robin head home. 

They’ve found a rhythm that seems to be working for both of them.

“...Happy birthday dear Harlow! Happy birthday to you!” all the guests sing as the girl sits by her flower themed cake, candles lit on top.

Harry is recording with his phone with the proudest smile on his face, Frankie standing right next to him. Harlow’s birthday is the occasion where they celebrate together, no matter what. She might be switching between them all year, but they both agreed that her day shouldn’t be split into two. So usually Frankie joins them for this one time every year so they can celebrate as a family. 

Today is not only special because of Harlow’s birthday, but also because Y/N and Frankie will meet for the first time. She dropped Robin off earlier, but she’ll return soon to have their official introduction, she just had to drop by her office to hand in some documents before joining the party. 

She’s been anxious about the meeting all week, even though Harry told her there’s nothing to worry about. Meeting an ex could easily be a terrible experience and Y/N wants Frankie to like her and justify the time she spends with Harlow as Harry’s partner. 

Harlow blows the candles out and smiles wide at everyone clapping for her. She’s invited her friends from school and from around the neighborhood and of course, there are a few parents attending as well.

After cake the kids get a headstart in all the activities Harry has planned for them, starting off with playing tag in the bouncy castle he has rented for the afternoon. Yeah, he might have gone a little overboard, but he just wanted the best for his little princess. 

“So, when is she arriving?” Frankie asks Harry while she helps him clean up the dining table. 

“Um, any minute.”

“I hope you’re not nervous about us meeting,” she chuckles. 

“No,” he smiles. “But she is.”

“I can understand that.”

They work in silence for a bit before Frankie stops and looks at Harry.

“Are you happy?” she asks. Harry puts the plates down from his hands and looks at the woman he once thought he would spend the rest of his life with.

“I am. Yeah.”

“And you think it’s a lasting happiness?”

“I do,” he nods. “There’s… There’s something I feel in my chest that I can’t really explain, but I just know I found my person.”

Frankie smiles, genuinely, because this is all she ever wished for Harry. 

“It’s good to hear that.”

Just as they are about to finish in the kitchen, the doorbell rings and Harry knows it’s Y/N. 

“Please be nice to her,” he exhales before jogging over to the door. Opening he sees Y/N standing there, a nervous, but bright expression on her face.

“Hey,” he smiles and leaning in, he steals a kiss before she steps inside.

“I’m sorry it took me so long. I was trying to be fast. How is the party? Is Frankie here?” she asks as Harry closes the door behind her.

“Yeah, come on, let’s meet her.” Harry takes her hand, but she pulls back.

“Wait, is it… How should I act? What do I tell her?” she asks in a frenzy. 

“Calm down, it’s going to be fine. Just be yourself, okay?”

“I’m about to meet your ex wife, don’t tell me–”

“Hello!” Frankie walks out with a warm smile and Y/N’s eyes go wide at first, but then she regains control over her face. “You must be Y/N, I’m Francesca, but call me Frankie.” She extends her hand towards Y/N which she takes.

“So nice to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you!”

“So have I,” Frankie chuckles. 

“I hope only the good things,” she chuckles awkwardly, throwing a look at Harry, who is just watching the scene unfolding with an amused smirk on his face.

“Why don’t we have a drink and I’ll tell you everything he told me about you,” Frankie smirks.

“Yeah, sure!” 

Harry lets them get to know each other, though he keeps an eye on them while tending to the birthday party as well. Just as he thought, Y/N had no reason to worry about meeting Frankie, five minutes into their chit-chat and they are already laughing like old friends. 

The party is a huge success, the kids have fun and Harlow will surely remember her eighth birthday. When all the guests have left and Harlow said goodbye to her mom who headed out to the airport, it’s just Harry, Y/N and the two girls. Harlow and Robin are watching a movie in the living room while Y/N helps Harry to clean up most of the mess.

“So, meeting Frankie wasn’t that bad after all, huh?” Harry teases her while they’re loading the dishwasher. 

“I never thought it would be bad, I was just nervous. She is obviously an important person in your and Harlow’s life, I wanted her to like me,” she clarifies.

“It’s impossible not to like you,” Harry smirks cheekily, making her laugh. 

“Maybe. For you,” she adds sheepishly. “Anyway, she was nice and welcoming, it wasn’t awkward at all.”

“Why would it have been awkward?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “That’s what it’s like in the movies.”

“But it’s real life,” he chuckles. putting the last plate onto the rack and closing the washer. “I told you, we are on great terms. She has a partner too, actually, I think they will get engaged soon.”

“Oh, that’s great. Do you like the guy?”

“Yeah,” he nods, starting the washer and then he leans against the counter, folding his arms over his chest. “Mateo is a nice guy, he’s a doctor too. Neurosurgeon. So I guess they are perfect for each other. He’s great with Harlow too and that’s what matters to me. I’m sure Frankie thinks the same about you.”

“I hope so.”

“I know it, Y/N. So don’t worry,” he smiles and peeking over her shoulder he checks if the girls can see them. When he’s sure they’re not in sight, he leans down and steals a short, but meaningful kiss. “Can I ask you something? And please tell me if it’s too fast, I want to do this right.”

“Okay,” she nods.

“When do you think we should tell the kids about us?”

“Well,” she exhales with a tiny smile. “I think they are already suspecting something.”

“How do you know?”

“Robin asked the other day if you and Harlow will spend Christmas with us since, and I quote, we already spend as much time together as a couple.”

“Oh wow, they really are smarter than we think,” Harry chuckles. “I guess we could come clean soon, what do you think?”

“Definitely. I want to be honest with Robin. We can sit down with them sometime. But I want Dylan to be there too. I don’t want him to find out about it from Robin.”

“Of course, sure.”

Before he turns to finish up in the kitchen she grabs his hand and pulls back for another, tad bit longer kiss that he accepts gladly, even with the risk of getting caught.

“Thank you,” she whispers when they pull apart.

“For what?”

“For… being so amazing. And giving me faith that I can still find happiness.”

Next weekend the girls are invited for their first ever sleepover to a classmate’s home, so Harry and Y/N can have a night to themselves finally. It’s been a hectic week, so they agreed to just stay in, watch a movie and relax together. This time it’s Y/N’s turn to host their romantic evening, so they are spending Saturday evening cuddled up on her couch, ready to rewind.

They are halfway into their choice of movie when Y/N’s phone starts ringing. Normally, she would ignore it, but when she sees that Dylan is calling her, she snatches the phone from the table and answers the call.

“Hey hun, everything alright?” she asks, knowing well Dylan only has a phone for emergencies and he wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important. 

Harry can’t hear the boy on the other end, but he can tell whatever Dylan is saying it’s putting Y/N on alerted mom mode instantly.

“I’ll pick you up right now, don’t worry,” she says, already jumping up from the couch. “Just stay right there, I’m on my way, honey.”

“What happened?” Harry asks, rushing after Y/N as she hurriedly starts putting on shoes and a jumper, still staying in line with Dylan. She covers the mic of her phone as she answers quickly. 

“Will left him home alone, he went to the store to get himself food, but he locked himself out and Will is not answering his phone.”

She’s mad. Big time. It’s the type of anger that turns any mother into mama bear mode.

“I’m going with you, you can’t drive like this,” he says, not asks.

“Thank you,” she breathes out before turning her attention back to the phone. “I’ll be right there, Dylan, okay? Stay on the phone with me.”

She talks to him on the phone while Harry is driving according to her instructions and he’s trying his best to keep his cool and stay in his line. He knows this is a family matter, but he’s fighting the urge to punch Will if he ever sees him. 

“There, pull over,” Y/N points at a house and Harry spots Dylan sitting on the stairs at the front door, obviously shaken up.

Y/N practically jumps out of the car before it even stops, running towards the boy who does the same and lets his mom wrap him in her arms tight and safely, it’s exactly where he belongs. Harry gets out as well, approaching carefully, making sure he keeps distance and gives them space.

“Come on, I got the spare keys, let’s pack your stuff. You’re coming home.”

For probably the first time in a long time, he doesn’t argue, just nods and follows his mom to the door that she locks with her set of keys Will gave him for emergencies. This surely qualifies as one. Glancing back she nods at Harry to follow and he oblies, staying in the foyer as the two of them disappear further in the house. 

The place looks like a typical bachelor home, not too much furniture, no home décor, but a giant TV in the living room with several game consoles. It’s obviously not a place where kids should be around, there’s nothing homey, warm and cozy and Harry can only guess, but something is telling him Dylan’s room looks similar to the rest of the house. 

He can faintly hear them talking, maybe even Dylan crying as Y/N softly soothes him while they’re probably packing his things. Harry stays by the door, but when he sees a pair of headlights pulling up on the driveway, he stiffens.

“Y/N? I think someone’s home!” he calls out, watching a guy get out of the car. From what Harry can see through the window, he looks confused at first and then pissed when he reaches the front door and walks in, facing Harry in his house.

“Who the fuck are you?” he spits, his hands curling into fists. Before he could answer, Y/N rushes out of Dylan’s room.

“Are you out of your fucking mind? Where the hell were you?” she raises her voice in an instant, holding Will accountable for his actions.

“What are you doing here and who the hell is this clown?” Will ignores her questions, gesturing towards Harry.

“You left your son home alone for almost a whole day with no food!” 

“I left a few dollars on the dining table,” he shrugs, like it’s truly no big deal.

“Yeah! And he went to the store to get something when you’ve been away for fucking hours and locked himself out! You didn’t answer his calls! He called me crying, because he couldn’t reach you, do you think that’s how a father should act? Huh?”

“I had shit to do! I couldn’t bring him with me, what’s the big deal about it? He’s fine!” Will retorts pointing at a frightened looking Dylan down the hallway. 

“No, he is not fine! And don’t fucking believe I’m leaving him here with you. He told me all about the shit you’ve been doing. I’m gonna make legal actions to limit your time with him and Robin as well. You screwed it up, Will. Big time.”

The switch in him can be seen, where he turns into full defensive mode, ready to tear anything and anyone down to have his ways, no matter the consequences. 

“Oh yeah? You think you can just do whatever you want, Y/N?”

“No, it’s you who thinks that’s how it works!”

“You will not keep my kids away from me!” he starts shouting. “Do you hear me? You can’t do that!”

“Actually, I can and I will! I’m done with your shit and so are the kids, believe me.”

Despite the weight of the situation, Harry feels his chest swell with pride seeing Y/N stand her ground, not letting Will throw everything on her.

“Come on, Dylan, we’re leaving, bring your bag,” she calls out to the boy who runs into his room to grab his stuff, appearing a moment later.

“No, you are not walking out of here with him!” Will snaps, grabbing Y/N’s arm and that’s when Harry steps in.

Taking Will by the shoulder, Harry pulls him back, the action takes him by surprise and makes him let go of her, but it just pumps up his anger.

“Get your hands off me!” Will spits, puffing his chest to try to intimidate Harry, but there’s no use. 

“Right after you get your hands off of her,” he retorts, calm and collected, but his eyes are throwing flames.

“You have the nerve to come to my house and tell me what to do with my wife?!”

“I’m not your wife anymore, and this madness is ending here,” Y/N tells him harshly. She holds out a hand and Dylan runs up to her, taking her hand, clinging onto it desperately as he tries to avoid looking at his father. 

“Dylan, you really want to go with your mother? Think of all the fun we’ve had!” Now Will sounds more desperate as he follows Y/N and Dylan towards the door, but Harry gets between him and them before Will could get physical again.

He tries to stop them on their way out, following them to the car too, his emotions switching by the minute: anger, despair, sadness, disgust, he goes through everything, but nothing can stop Y/N now.

“You really think you can just take my kids away from me like that? Huh?” Will starts shouting when Dylan is in the car and they are just about to leave. Y/N turns back to end the discussion in a calm manner. 

“I know that the court will love to hear about all the shit you’ve done. Try fighting me and I will make sure you’ll never see your kids again.”

Will is stunned from the strength and power oozing from Y/N and it leaves him frozen in his spot as she gets in the car and drives away with Dylan and Harry.

Arriving back home Harry stays back and lets Y/N focus on Dylan. They have a talk in his room while Harry cleans up the mess they left before rushing out of the house. When an hour later Y/N comes down he can tell she’s tired and drained.

“Thank you for cleaning up,” she smiles as she walks over and he pulls her into his embrace right away. She melts into his arms gladly, dropping the tough act and letting him be her safe haven after everything that happened.

“How’s Dylan?”

“Confused and disappointed. I wish he never had to see Will like that. He used to be his hero, this was a turning point.”

“He’s a great kid, he’ll get over it and he has you.” He kisses the crown of her head before pulling back so give her an encouraging smile that she returns. “I’m gonna head out, let you get some rest.”

“Okay,” she nods and leaning closer, she kisses his lips gently. “Thank you for… everything.”

“I’m happy to be here for you. Anytime.”

“I know,” she smiles softly. “That’s why… that’s why I love you.”

Her words take him by surprise, but then his heart starts hammering in his chest as he stares back at her.

“I love you too,” he breathes out before their lips meet again.

It's a staring match and Harry and Y/N are definitely losing.

Sitting next to each other, the couple is now facing the three most important people in their life. Harlow, Robin and Dylan are sitting in silence, waiting for the announcement that brought them together this Saturday afternoon. 

Y/N bumps her elbow against Harry’s side, urging him to break the silence. He clears his throat and finally starts talking.

“So, we wanted to tell you guys something. We believe all three of you are mature enough to take the news and we hope you’ll be happy about it.”

Harlow and Robin exchange a knowing look, but they let him carry on. 

“You might have noticed that we’ve been spending a lot of time together. It’s because we’ve become great friends and… and slowly we became… You know, when adults get closer they can easily fall… Um…”

He is not doing good, rambling, all over the place, feeling more nervous than ever as the three kids stare back at him expectantly. At last, Y/N takes the lead.

“We’re together. As a couple,” she says, ending Harry’s misery to find the right words. 

They remain silent for a few moments that feel excruciating to Harry and then the girls start giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Harry questions them.

“We were just wondering how long it would take for you to admit it,” Harlow sassily replies.

“We’ve known it for a while,” Robin chimes in.

“You might have suspected it, but I don’t think you’ve known,” Y/N narrows her eyes at them.

“We saw you kissing the other week,” Dylan speaks up, surprising Y/N and Harry. They’ve been trying to be very careful, but it seems like they did not succeed.

“Um, well… So then now you know for sure,” Harry chuckles. “How do you feel about it?”

“Does this mean we’re sisters now?” Harlow asks, her face lighting up.

“Not really. Not yet, at least,” Y/N chuckles. 

“Oh, okay.”

“Are we gonna move in together?” Dylan asks and Y/N can tell he is not ready for that.

“No. We’re not planning to do that anytime soon, don’t worry. But we want to spend more time together, with you guys as well. So Harry might spend the night at ours sometimes or when you two are with dad, I might be sleeping over at his place,” she explains.

“Okay,” Dylan nods in relief.

The kids have a few more questions that they gladly answer and it seems like they are taking it well. When the talk is over, the kids take over the trampoline in the backyard, giving Harry and Y/N a moment of privacy.

“That went well,” he smirks proudly.

“Oh, you mean you did so great rambling in the beginning?” she teases him. “I agree.”

“Haha, very funny,” he rolls his eyes, but can’t hold his smirk back. 

“It went well, you’re right,” she says. “But I’m not surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everything about you is perfect,” she smiles up at him, knowing well how much he loves getting praised. 

“Mm, guess we can thank the girls. That bake sale truly brought us together,” he chuckles.

“That was the ultimate parent trap and they didn’t even know it,” she laughs, wrapping her arms around his waist before kissing him. 

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

#harry #styles #harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles oneshot #harry styles one shot #harry styles fluff #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry styles blurb #harry styles smut

[scintillyyy]

a view at perceptions of dick's economic situation at the circus through the years

alright, we start at detective comics #38, the OG introduction. and, nothing is really said either way about what dick's economic station would have been, because really, the only thing it's there to tell us is that dick is an acrobat--which gives him the skills needed to fight crime by batman's side.

of absolute note to me, though, is the fact that his family was famous for their triple spin & what that potentially means for his upbringing. because, if you've been following this journey with me, means a lot. because we have a real life example of that to compare to get an idea of what may have been his childhood. i am of course, talking about the flying concellos && i did find another one and that would be the flying codonas (alfredo codona being the first man to land a triple somersault).

now, let's be clear--dick being the son of famed circus trapeze artists, especially ones who could land a triple, in 1940, means that he grew up the son of stars. they would have been center ring performers, and likely had amenities and pay that reflected that. now i won't deny that as circus performers they were likely 'othered'--there was likely a prejudice against what they perceived circus folk to be, but that does not likely completely reflect the actuality of what they may have had access to as a result of being entertainment stars. because they were othered--but at the same time, if they were famous enough for their skills, they were definitely adjacent to the rich and famous, not just poor, exploited workers. there was a lot of overlap between famous acts, longstanding families, and ownership. after doing...a lot...of reading on the most famous circus stars of the era of the 1920s & 1930s (especially alfredo cordona + his eventual wife lillian leitzel and the flying concellos), i think i've determined a couple of things:

one, these circus stars feel very akin to movie stars wrt their fame. and they were messy as hell. lillian leitzel in particular was a prima donna--she was the first circus star who was able to catapult her worth into luxuries. she was the first star to ever get her own private train car and personal dressing tent and was known to be the prima donna of the circus. she was also known for her temper--her personal maid would sometimes get fired and rehired several times a day. when she married alfredo cordona between acts in chicago, it was considered the royal wedding of the circus world. may wirth, a trick rider, was frequently in the gossip column of newspapers & had many, many admirers. lillian leitzel was voted the most beautiful woman in the world by american soldiers in wwi. like, these people were stars in every sense of the word.

two, these performers were not just meek, exploited poor people. with the right skills, they had power, they had ambition & they had money. they were center stage performers. arthur concello was huge in investing in and modernizing the circus--likely because of the money he made through the years of performing his act.

so frankly detective comics #28, and later batman #32, doesn't really delve into what dick's life experiences may have been on the circus--because that's not the point. the only thing those are their to do is establish dick as an orphan & and acrobat, and thereby skilled and motivated enough to work at batman's side.

but based on the era in which he was created and in comparison to similar acts of the time, it's easy to take a gander. because john & mary being able to perform a triple would have been huge. they'd be center stage acts, high in hierarchy. with mary being a young, attractive woman who could perform a triple, she may have had plenty of admirers & been in the gossip columns of the newspaper. her wedding to john may have been a whole thing to circus fans. i read a lot about those types of acts being invited to perform and star in european shows over the winters at old, respected circuses && they had enough international star power that they drew crowds there based on name alone. i know the impulse is to think that dick would have had no experience with the wealth of bruce's world, but conversely in that day and age and his parent's skillset it's highly likely he would have been exposed to the glitz & glamour of the famous high life. they may have been invited to do private performances for other rich & famous people & rubbed shoulders with them. alfredo cordona was in a few hollywood movies for his skills & arthur concello had connections to hollywood due to brokering the movie 'the greatest show'--is it out of the realm of possibility to believe that john would have had the same opportunities?

anyways, moving on. i find myself extremely intrigued by detective comics #484, which brings dick back to haly's circus. now there's some hilarity here in that dick has no clue if it's possibly the same haly's circus he and his parents worked for, and he meets linda--of the flying graysons! (get her ass for copyright infringement, dick). jk. linda is a very nice girl & it's just a stage name. dick confirms they were circle ring stars & says that haly's was the greatest show on earth (the ringling bros & barnum and bailey about to come for haly...)

now this issue is interesting because while it doesn't necessarily give us an idea of what dick's economic status would have been, it does establish that the flying graysons were famous enough that the evil stepfather conviced haly that by yoinking the name for his family they'd be able to draw in more customers based on name recognition alone & that the name would put him in the headlines/give him headliner credibility for his act and the circus to get sold to a bigger show & that he would be able to "ride the crest of the wave" and become very successful (and presumably rich). which definitely implies that the grayson name is worth something. now haly's circus is shown to be getting by with generous checks from bruce wayne, and i feel like here we start to get what i feel is a fairly consistent incongruency where haly's circus is often shown to be barely getting by (despite their full audiences), yet the flying graysons were famous.

so then on to secret origins #13, which has dick tell joey about his journey to robin, and...briefly goes into his childhood (he started performing with his family at 5), but again the focus is, as always on the acrobatic portion. there's an interesting opaqueness there about what his childhood was like. just acrobatics and loving parents. nothing is ever really suggested with regards to their fame, they're just vaguely famous & circus stars. nobody seems interested in interrogating that.

and then we get to year three & batman #436 and this is the first time we get any sort of nugget as to dick's potential economic status, and it's not bad? his dad references getting world series tickets and dick wants to go to a movie with harry so he can skip out on homework. the average price of movie tickets in the 70s (when this is implied to take place) adjusted for inflation would be equal to about ~11 dollars today and dick clearly doesn't seem to think this is a huge expenditure. i mean, i wouldn't say that they're rich here by any means (unlike the potential implications of his 1940 introduction), but they're clearly comfortable enough to afford small luxuries without worry. which, again, as a named, headlining act doesn't seem too out of the ordinary. as the headliners, they're probably making the most of all the acts, as they're the ones bringing in the crowd. mary is said to be a third generation circus performer, which. to me. implies some success, that the circus family continued on. a lot of the people i mentioned before were ostensibly part of circus families that continued the tradition as that's what they were raised in. alfredo was first brought on stage at 7 months. & i think the fact that dick was a part of a longstanding circus family that would have had deep ties not just to the community but also would have likely been very entwined and friendly with management due to the nature of a long work relationship together. there is a stability there that wouldn't necessarily be seen with. someone new, i guess?

anyways, honestly i feel like year three & later a lonely place of dying are really the stories that try not to stereotype circus life the most. there's no "wow circus people are so othered & weird", they're just normal people who work at a circus & are treated as such. even jack and janet stopping for a photo is treated like "let's show our son that these performers are just people like us under their costumes". which, honestly reads more like that time i was brought to a local haunted walk when i was like 7 and i was in tears because i was so scared and one of the performers took off their mask to show me he was just a normal guy underneath the costume.

devin grayson, of course, retcons this long-standing family history of his mother being part of a circus family in nightwing annual #1 and changes it to his father instead & is very, hm, married to the idea that circus workers are poor in her conceptualization of how she writes dick as evidenced by her interview in "dick grayson, boy wonder" where she says the following:

god. the racism. it's something. and now. i'll say i have no issue with the idea of clarifying dick as not necessarily white. i do have slight issue with the idea that because he was a circus performer, he was poor. because this is the first time someone i think has actually tried to take into account the childhood dick may have experienced, and she definitely inserted her own stereotypical biases into it. and is a bit at odds with how skilled, famous american circus workers who have his parents' skillset were treated back in the time of dick's conception. they traveled in the winter because they were stars and were invited to perform in prestigious european circuses due to their fame. i just. and i will point out that a lot of these famous circus performers were hot blooded and it had nothing to do with race and everything to do with the fact that they were stage divas. idk. obviously, conceptions of circus workers were likely not the greatest in the 90s. they were nowhere near what their fame was in their heyday. clowns were definitely starting to be seen as more creepy and by this point, circuses were far more criticized for their treatment of animals. but i feel like there's a bit of a leap here wrt devin grayson's assumptions of circus life because of the fact that they travel & doesn't do near enough justice to the worth of the skill of dick & dick's parents. because being able to perform a triple & a quadruple would have still been extremely rare and highly valued. so rare it wasn't performed until 1982 & can still hardly be achieved.

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/13/arts/a-quadruple-for-the-flying-miguel-vazquez.html

this article is a fascinating review of exactly how rare and dangerous it is. & hey, alfredo mention.

batman legends of the dark knight #100 seems to go along with this idea that a circus is a dirty and poor place.

and, like. okay so the graysons are still shown as an act important enough to have their own dressing/prep room, per usual, as expected for their skillset. haly's circus in modern day is usually shown in more modern comics to be a small traveling circus that's not doing...super well--at least in comparison to previously established show selling out lore, but the only thing i really take umbrage with here is that alfred describes it as decrepit. which. i feel like even if haly's is small and maybe not super profitable it should at least be shown as a well kept, nice place & the only reason for that is because if it was practically falling apart, there's no fucking way jack would have won the battle of 'let's bring our son tim to the circus' if it was falling apart. janet would have been out here on beyondthebump all 'help my DH wants to take our son to a circus and it's falling apart, located in a terrible part of town, and looks like it employs murderers, how do i tell him no?' and she would have been met with a chorus of 'stand ur ground girl, do NOT let him endager your baby like that!!'.

anyways, the new 52 also gives us almost nothing to go on either. dick's parents' trailer looks nice enough, indicating they do make enough money with their act to afford a semi nice trailer. john is an asshole, dick is out of character. lovely, thanks new 52. the secret origin is as least much better but does go into how the circus has no money--which, hm. doesn't really tell us anything re: the grayson's economic situation. the circus might be struggling and have to close down soon, but it doesn't mean a lot for what contracted rates they pay their acts. in fact, paying for an act as skilled as the graysons and not getting enough profit in return could be part of their money troubles.

and then finally we end with nightwing 82-83 by tom taylor, with the meili lin thing (and, while meili is nice enough, i must say i still don't like this whole thing because the point of zucco should not have been he had a longstanding grudge against the graysons, gdi-). which, again, all it confirms is that the grayson's were the star attractions and does nothing to interrogate what that might've been. it does focus a lot on the idea of they were free and happy, which. um. sometimes the focus on how happy people are is usually "despite the fact that they don't have x". then again i do feel like i will give tom taylor the fact that he also seemed to have just written the graysons as normal people, but he also doesn't seem interested in interrogating what dick being the son of the star act might have actually meant for him.

honestly, a lot of what i'm finding is that much like tim, dick's childhood is left frustatingly opaque--there's a lot of room for interpretation, honestly. it's not ever really said on paper if they struggled with money growing up. you have writers who have all but confirmed they wrote dick with the understanding that he grew up poor because he worked in a circus, but at the same time does ignore the fact that the grayson's had such a unique and special skillset that it's hard to say that makes sense. & is rooted in stereotypical biases. the only aspect of it that's ever considered is "dick's the son of the skilled, star performers and also has those skills ergo he has the skills to be a vigilante". they're cast in this light of famous & skilled!! but the circus they work for is poor and barely getting by, and you can only assume that because they worked for a poor circus dick was probably also living on the poverty line, wholly dependent on the success of the place they worked for because at times their wages were struggled to be paid (despite the fact that as a contract act, to underpay them would absolutely be a breach of contract). there's no confirmation or in-depth look at his childhood, only vague implications, throwaway lines & stereotypes. they want the grayson's to be probably the most skilled circus act in the world. they don't want to look at what that would realistically mean. because only the acrobatics is the important.

#anyways my deep dive into reading various versions of dick's origin really does show that dc doesn't really care #what his childhood experiences may have been #because they don't matter. only the acrobatics ever have #anyways i do think there's a lot of potential for dick to feel othered in his stories #his family would have been at the top of the hierarchy #he was used to fame but still was unable to fit in to bruce's world

[queen-of-the-avengers]

His Healer

Pairing: Mob!Loki Laufeyson x Nurse!Reader

Word Count: ~1.7k

Warnings: fixing an injured loki, mentions of al capone, fluff mostly

Summary: Your paying job is working as a nurse in a local hospital. Your side hustle is being a doctor for the mob boss, Loki.

Squares Filled: 1920s au (2021) for @lokibingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

“Alright, Mr. Sanchez. How do you feel this morning?” you ask as you pull back the hospital curtain.

“Better now that I get to see you.”

“Keep talking like this and your wife is gonna think you have a girlfriend,” you say.

“We wouldn’t want that, would we?” he chuckles.

You grab your stethoscope and place it over his heart to listen to it. Next, you check his pulse and blood pressure. His pulse is a bit high but with the medication he’s taking, it’s not surprising. His vitals are looking strong for someone who had hip surgery, and you write them on the paper chart you have hanging off the end of his bed.

“Keep this up, Mr. Sanchez. You’ll be running marathons in no time.”

“I hope so, dear,” he smiles.

“Okay, time to get those muscles moving. I’d like to see you make it to the couch this time.”

“I’ll try.”

You help the older man sit up in his bed when your coworker comes into the room.

“Y/N? There’s a call for you. I can take over.”

“Okay, Mr. Sanchez. Elizabeth is the best besides me, of course,” you wink playfully. “You’re in good hands.” You leave Elizabeth and Mr. Sanchez alone while you head to the phone that’s on the wall. There is a receiver and a transmitter connected to the base of the phone. Both ends are on tubes that you can move around so you’re not stuck to the wall. You place the receiver to your mouth and the transmitter to your ear. “This is Y/N.”

“899 E Logan Boulevard. The boss needs you.”

“I’m at work. You can’t just--”

“The boss needs you.”

“Repeat the address, please,” you sigh. You set the receiver down and keep the transmitter to your ear while you write down the address. You pick up the receiver when you want to talk to him. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

You hang up both ends of the phone and find your boss who is filling out paperwork at the desk.

“Mary, I have a private client who news me right now. Elizabeth is covering for my patients. May I leave? I’ll come back once I’m done.”

“Yes. Make sure you follow up with Elizabeth about your patients.”

“Of course.”

You leave the hospital and to the car that the boss gifted you. He’s always giving you presents for your services on top of the money he pays you. You’re not sure where he’s staying, so you grab your navigation watch to put in the address you were given. This watch has saved you in more ways than one when you’ve gotten lost in the bustling city of Chicago.

The map is where the face of the watch would normally be found. The direction of the maps is wound around small wooden pegs like scrolls that could be switched out of the wristband depending on the route needed to go. You take out the map you were using before and put in the new one. Once you’re ready to go, you head toward the house.

Well, mansion is a more accurate description. Take away the hedges and big trees, this place looks like half the size of the hospital you work at. There is a steel gate at the front of the property with two armed guards standing outside of it. They’re immediately put on alert as soon as you pull up but you’re not afraid of their big guns.

“State your business,” one of the guards says in a deep voice.

“I’m the doctor for the boss.”

He nods to the other guard who opens the gate for you. You drive down the long driveway to the front of the house where half a dozen guards with guns are posted outside of it. Even if you’ve never been here before, you’ve always had to have a guard lead you through whatever place the boss is staying in. You get out and grab your medical bag from the back.

“Right this way, ma’am,” one of the guards says.

If you thought the outside was heavily guarded, then the inside is just ridiculous. More than two dozen guards are keeping watch or just wandering around protecting the place. You should get used to this because you get dozens of calls a week from the boss. This place is just beautiful and you’d love to live here if it were crawling with guards.

The floor is marble, the walls are dark grey, there are lights on the black walls that give them some kind of light, the archways are high with chandeliers coming down from the high ceiling, and the windows stretch higher than you can reach. It makes sense why the boss would live in a mansion like this. The guard takes you to a room with two guards posted outside of it, and one of them opens the door for you.

There on the bed lies the boss, Loki Laufeyson. The blankets have been stripped from the bed so he’s only lying on the black sheets that are stained with his blood for sure. He has an enormous gash starting from the top of his chest down to his hip. There is a towel covering the area that is dark red, and you don’t think it was that color when he placed it there.

Loki is well known across all of Chicago as one do the deadliest mafia bosses. He works very closely with Al Capone which is why he gets injured all the damn time. Loki found you in a bar one time with a deep cut on his cheek. You told him how to best take care of it without scarring since he has such a pretty face.

If you knew who he was before you talked to him, you wouldn’t have done it.

He took a liking to you and always came to you whenever he had even the smallest of injuries. You’re the only one who caught his attention so he wanted you around him as much as possible no matter the reason. The more you took care of him, the more your feelings for him grew. You’re not going to tell him that, of course. It would only go to his head.

Seeing him in so much pain breaks your heart.

“What did I tell you about getting into fights?” you ask and approach the side of the bed.

“I need to take care of business, love,” he laughs but groans in pain.

The bed is low enough to the ground so that when you pull up a chair next to it and sit down, you’re at the perfect height to fix his wound. You peel back the towel to see what you’re working with and more blood comes rushing out.

“It would be better if you were in a hospital with equipment and blood.”

“You know why I can’t go there.”

“You’re bleeding all over your bed.”

“I’ll get a new one,” he shrugs.

This isn’t going to be pleasant but the wound needs to be cleaned. You have a water bottle that will be used to flush out the wound while gauze will be used to clean the edges. You gently pat the area around the wound to clean the blood up and Loki closes his eyes in pain. Once you’re satisfied, you take the water bottle and begin flushing the wound.

“Fuck!” Loki shouts.

“If you can handle getting a wound like this, you can handle a bit of water. Stay still.”

When you’re done with that, you grab new gauze and pack it inside the wound so blood doesn’t spill over. There is a numbing cream that you use to spread on the outside of the wound because you need to stitch the wound so it can have a chance to heal.

“This is gonna hurt,” you state. “Even with the cream.”

“As you said, I can handle it,” he chuckles.

You take the needle and stick it through one side of the wound and thread it to the other side of the wound. You pull it close and tie it multiple times before cutting it. One down, many more to go.

“You know, this is gonna scar.”

“Good. It’ll give me some character when I’m handling business.”

As you’re stitching the wound closed, you notice his bare skin on display for you to see. It’s so pale. It’s like he hates going outside and getting some sun.

“You’re so pale. Getting some sun every once in a while isn’t gonna kill you.”

“Yes ma’am,” he drawls. A blush makes it way up your neck and to your cheeks at his accent. “I’ll go outside if you come with me.”

“I’ve already told you why I can’t,” you whisper.

Loki turns his head away from you and coughs causing more blood to rush out of his wound. When he turns his head back, his hair has fallen over his eyes. You reach up and move his hair away without touching his skin.

“I’ll change for you.”

“Al Capone will let no one go. You know this.”

It doesn’t take long for you to stitch the whole wound shut, and you use your water bottle to clean the site from his blood. You grab some more gauze and lay it over the entire wound and a big bandage that you lay over it to give it another layer of protection.

“I hate seeing you like this, Loki,” you sigh.

“I’ll try better next time,” he promises. “Thank you for being such a great doctor.”

A smile breaks through which makes him smile.

“I took time out of my very busy day to be here. How will you ever compensate me?”

Loki reaches up and grabs your neck gently and pulls you down to him. He slants his lips against yours and gives you a kiss that takes your breath away. This isn’t the first kiss you’ve shared with him and it certainly won’t be the last.

“I’ll have one of my men pay you most graciously, love,” Loki whispers against your lips.

You have to get back to the hospital so you pull away from him and gather your medical supplies. You put your hand on the doorknob but don’t turn it yet.

“Don’t get into any more fights, Loki.”

“How will I ever see you if I’m not injured?”

“You know where I live,” you smile. “All you need to do is knock.”

x

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#loki laufeyson #loki #loki x reader #loki fic #loki fiction #loki fanfiction #loki fan fiction #loki fanfic #loki fan fic #loki fluff #marvel #marvel fanfiction #marvel fic #marvel fan fiction #marvel fanfic #marvel fan fic #mcu #marvel fluff #mcu fanfiction #marvel fiction

[florallylly]

something along the lines of princess protection program of 2010s dcom fame. steve harrington prince of a small italian-adjacent principality forced to flee the country when a military coup takes place.

blah blah he's placed with the buckley family in hawkins, indiana. what i Think would be funny is if all of this is going on and the upside down is still happening.

like steve is obviously not disclosing his identity to anyone except for robin and the buckleys. and like this would cause a lot of shifts in the canon timeline but in my Head . just off the cuff no draft no braincell just gut instinct.

thinking of a steve harrington who relies on tropey examples of what he thinks american "commoner" school is like. he comes off kind of ditzy and a bit out of touch, but he's also hot and charming so he's pretty much a hit.

maybe steve and robin having a really bad first meeting and in retaliation robin comes up with some convoluted story about steve being her out of control drug addicted cousin who got kicked out of private school and sent to hawkins as punishment. or like some type of story along those lines but unfortunately it just makes steve more compelling.

eventually eventually they become the platonic soulmates that they were always destined to be and robin moves to the little italian principality and is finally able to regularly flex her italian skills

ALSO buckley family characterization something found family and the buckley adoption of steve harrington like... well yes....

BUT back to the upside down happening.

like i kind of want steve to arrive earlier, but i think narratively it would make most sense for steve to be the new kid in 1983. he lives with robin, but they're not really on the best terms because steve just so naturally fit in with the jocks and popular kids from the get go. and like. he's a spoiled kid who honestly robin is projecting onto because her dad is away fixing STEVE'S country like... it's a little his fault.

the timeline goes on as usual except like? idk how the barb and nancy party would work out while living with the buckleys, but perhaps it would have been held at tommy or carol's in this world.

i think it would be Hilarious if robin didn't find out about the upside down until season 3 like she did canonically, but in my heart i know that if steve came home all fucked up like he was after literally Any of the Seasons (???), she would not have been able to sit still. like regardless of the level of dislike that's someone she's been living with and Kind of Enjoys being around (reluctantly). so robin would be in the know sooner or perpetually pissed bc steve is remarkably persistent in keeping his mouth shut

maybe could cause more conflict in s3 with the russians and possibly knowing his identity but ALSO possibility for some type of robin buckley slayage a la her father like.... if that sentence made sense to anyone then it made sense to someone

but i think i think the funny thing is nobody else knowing steve's backstory or situation, just kind of assuming that robin's initial bitter story about steve being a reformed drug addict was the truth. Lol and weird dynamics with eddie munson bc uh oh... is this gonna affect sobriety or like his comfort or smth .... moment...

but mr buckley coming home and finding steve and being like :P hey you can go home now :P and steve breaking down crying like he never thought he'd be able to see the halls he grew up running down again. or see the ocean from his childhood bedroom again. or talk to the same neighbors he's talked to since he was five years old.

and everyone sans robin being like wow didn't know like. fuckin chicago was that meaningful to u ... damn... were u a fugitive or smth bc u had a car and a license.

the prince reveal would have me clawing at the walls gnawing my leg off i think ... eyes rolling to the back of my head i have no way to truly verbalize this

#steve harrington #robin buckley #DOES THIS MAKE SENSE.... #like my brain is literally rotting rn #i apologize that this makes no sense actually #but yeah prince steve harrington #MODERN PRINCE STEVE HARRINGTON.... like yeah.....

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[seat-safety-switch]

Everyone knows me at the dump. I don’t mean this in a bragging sort of way. In fact, I hate this fact. The reason why everyone knows me at the dump is that Mr. Jones, the dump operator, has posted the CCTV footage and blurry cell-phone camera pictures of my face on the break room wall. Even the youngest probie at the dump will look at me, every morning, while they wait for the coffee machine to dispense their mandatory cup of black joy.

You can probably guess why this has happened to me. I love junk, and the dump has a lot of that junk. To me, it is offensive that the dump hoards that junk. They keep it from me, using excuses like “sanitation” and “safety,” but safety is my middle name. If they would just give me a chance, then I would be the best they’ve ever seen. I’d even remove and sort the little lithium-ion vape batteries that haven’t exploded yet, out of gratitude.

Of course, we both know why I’m digging through trash at the dump. I don’t want old Betamax VCRs, or mouldy cardboard boxes heralding products from a bygone era. Well, I do, but I don’t want them more than I want a two-stroke dirt bike, and I’ve seen tons of those over the years get callously tossed into the debris pile by the great unwashed. They’re always getting thrown out for little reasons, like “carb jet plugged,” or “caught on fire,” or “couldn’t get anyone to buy it on Craigslist for septuple the market value so I threw it away out of spite.” I could save these bikes, and to be not allowed to save them is literal torture.

Just like anyone else would in my shoes, I started wearing elaborate disguises to the dump. Sometimes I could loot one, and throw it into the back of my car, and be gone before the dump operators (there weren’t even security guards yet, back then) could catch up to me. I had enough disguises – and enough cars – that I could pull this off for a little while. Then, used cars got really expensive, and the folks in my neighbourhood started using security fasteners to hold on their license plates. I started to escape by tighter and tighter scrapes, until one fateful day.

That bastard Jones figured me out. He came from Chicago, of all places, a city which I’m pretty sure doesn’t even have a dump. And he knew my kind. He set a trap: an agonizingly pristine, 1989 Yamaha XT225. Sure, it was a four-stroke, but it was still love at first sight. It was planted right on top of one of the big piles of disposable diapers, visible even from the highway. Even knowing it was a trap, I made plans for months to grab it.

The joke’s on him, though. I’ve started my own private dump, and I’ve paid the government to start outsourcing dump operations to me. We’re an extremely efficient operation, much more affordable for the taxpayer than the wasteful public dump. How so, you ask? Well, we are much more selective with what waste we accept, and we wrote one helluva contract, which had a bunch of big words that confused the gin-addled politicos that signed it out of desperation to meet their “lower taxes” pledge.

Here’s how it works. We charge the city hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, and we get first pick of any internal combustion engines that are in the back of the garbage trucks. Everything else goes down the road to the regular dump. We’re making a fortune. If we keep putting out numbers like this, I’m sure there will soon be layoffs over at Jones’ shithole. Hell, maybe I’ll even hire him to manage security around these parts. Can’t have anyone walking off with my good trash.

[ytsunodabrainrotbaybee]

Hey. Could I request Zhou dating a paramedic student. Anything you can come up at for that please. Only when you get some free time though 😊🫶🏻

Thank you thank you, first request! Anon you hold a special place in my heart. 💕

I went ahead with a paramedic candidate, I have a second idea for this as well, so it may end up being a two for the price of one type thing, stand by.

I apologize for the hold Chicago Fire has on me.

Fc: Hanako Greensmith, who plays Violet in Chicago Fire, please watch it. 😐

Also, Chicago gp early in the season instead of the Vegas gp later, using the Chicago street track.

ynbaybee • Private account

Liked by lilymhe, zhouguanyu24 and others

Ynbaybee Shout out to the man’s for the shots 🫡🫡

Tagged: zhouguanyu24

yourbestieee I tried for three years. A man did it in a week.

zhouguanyu24 I work fast

yourbestieee not fast enough mr. barely p10

ynbaybee That’s too far yourbestieee

lilymhe So been looking forward to catching up 😭😭

ynbaybee Me too bb. You still in town?

zhouguanyu24 🤌🤌

ynbaybee You have such a way with words

Tuesday Morning rolled around. A hectic shift change later and you were on the road back to your apartment. Your PIC’s voice steady through your speakers, detailing every high and low in your performance throughout the past 24 hours.

“Really, you did great,” she said, her soft voice full of the kind of confidence you could draw from.

“Thanks Burkhart,” You said, focused a little more on pulling in to your parking spot, right next to a dark green Aston Martin.

A sore thumb next to your cute little baby blue Hyundai.

The two of you said your goodbyes before hanging up and leaving you to hurry on into your apartment.

“Zhou”

“L/N”

Guanyu had made himself at home, a still warm breakfast on the stove and coffee brewing. It filled your home with a kind of sweet and comfy scent that you would miss once Guanyu hit the road again.

“I have a flight at four tomorrow morning,” he organized two plates as he spoke. Low, but energized. “I wanted to spend some more time with you before I left.”

The two of you settled in to your couch, tucked off into a corner adjacent to your TV, ready with Netflix pulled up.

zhouguanyu24

Liked by pierregasly, ynbaybee and others

zhouguanyu24 points in Chicago, off to Barcelona 🙏🙏

ynbaybee gg brah

zhouguanyu24 you got to watch??

ynbaybee life it uhhh finds a way

f1fannn Zhou soft launch???

Liked by ynbaybee

formulawhat Ayo????

valtteribotas When are you bringing her to a race?

ynbaybee Once I’m not a probie anymore I’m making time 🫡🫡

You woke up with Guanyu, 2:30 in the morning. Too early for breakfast, plenty early for a Redbull.

“I love you, but next time maybe don’t.”

Guanyu rolled his eyes, ever the morning person to your slow moving night owl.

His hand found your waist as the two of you left the apartment, checking pockets for his belongings. You ran through his checklist again before waving your hand for him to get moving again.

The drive to the airport was quiet. While you could never fall asleep too easy in a car, it was still too early to be too talkative. You shifted your attention from the road ahead, to Guanyu. One hand in yours, the other steering.

He stayed just as quiet, not taking his eyes off of the road. Even after full minutes passed I’d you staring as him.

You held his hand in both of yours, running your thumb along his wrist.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked, shooting you a glance.

“Next shift we’re having a meeting to determine wether or not I’m staying at the firehouse,” you said, “I’m pretty confident, but still nervous.”

Guanyu had pulled into a parking spot, next to where his team had just arrived moments earlier. He pulled your hands into his.

“They love you,” he squeezed your hands, “Chief Gonzales wouldn’t let you go if he wanted to.”

“Sometimes I think they like you more.”

“They like anyone who will feed them”

The two of you had drifted closer together, everything outside of the car drifted further away. Your hand found itself rested on his cheek, his on your arm.

“I love you,” his voice barely hit a whisper before his lips were on yours. The kind of soft, tame kiss that would never hold you over until his next visit, but it would have to do.

The next kiss just a quick peck, followed by an exchange of “good luck” and Guanyu jumping out of the car and running to catch up with his team. Leaving you alone to make your way back to your apartment. Hopefully to recover some sleep.

zhouguanyu24

Liked by ynbaybee, chicagofirehouse83 and others

zhouguanyu24 my love made it out of her probationary period, definitely Chicago’s finest. 😌😌

formulawhat A Y O??

f1fann Zhou can you fight?

ynbaybee I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am.

fyrefyghter Always knew you were what’s missing zhouguanyu24

zhouguanyu24 what do you want me to bring next time?

fyrefyghter Just your handsome self 🫡

ynbaybee Cruz. Don’t make me get the hose

logansargeant We love our first responders

ynbaybee of course we do. Yee yee lookin

logansargeant cmon I’m being nice

lilymhe For once.

valtteribotas Time for you to start on making that race

ynbaybee Yessir 🫡

#zhou guanyu #f1 x reader #f1blr #zg24 #zhou guanyu x reader #paramedic reader #Zhou x paramedic! reader #Chicago Fire has me in a chokehold

[domiforpresident]

Model girlfriend Riri hc's

Paring: model!RiriWilliams x fem!blackPhotographer

This is just something i put together while working on the Riri fic I'm currently writing

Color coding: interviewers/press, Riri, you, Riris mom

A/N: Riri is extremely fine so why wouldn't she be a model......exactly! 👩🏽‍💻

The start of her career:

Riri was walking the streets of Chicago. Some woman came up to her with their business car. The lady told her to come by for a photo shoot if she's up for it. Riri had her doubts but still went because why not?

When her pictures hit the internet she gained alot of popularity overnight. Even though she could model as a full time career if she wanted to, She doesn't plan on doing so.

She still goes to college at M.I.T when she isn't modeling because she wants to get an education. (Not that she would need it much) She has hopes of pursuing stem when she's finished with college.

Alot of people on her management team call her beauty and brains. She thinks it's silly but doesn't mind the ego bost.

Riri plays around with her masculine and feminine side when it come to clothing. It started to get a few blogs talking. Soon everyone was dieing to know her sexuality.

"So Riri I'm guessing you've seen the blogs and everyone is dieing to know, what kind of people are you Interested in?

"The kind of people that love me back"

She hates when people pry at her personal life. So she never really gives clear cut answers to these type of questions. Everyone in her circle knew she was a ragging lesbian and that's all that mattered to her.

You and Riri’s relationship:

You and Riri met at one of her photo shoots around the time she started to gain alot of popularity. You were her photographer. When she saw you she couldn't help but to do a double take. You were breath taking and She wouldn't stop flirting with you. The more you called her unprofessional the harder she flirted. Eventually you gave in and agreed to go out on a date with Riri.

After a while of dating you and Riri Made it official. You two decide as a couple to keep the relationship private. Regardless people still talked because you were seen with Riri practically all the time.

One night you and Riri were out on a date at a restaurant. As it came to an end you walked out and cameras flashed in your face. You knew what the press was like. You had yet to experience it first hand though. Riri being a good girlfriend put her jacket over your face and held you close. The men holding the camera's then began to question her.

"Riri is this the lucky woman you're dating?"

"How does it feel being a black queer model In an industry domina-"

"All I know is y'all better get these cameras out of my girls face." Riri said bluntly, quickly becoming irritated by the questions.

It was hard for you to adjust to the press at first. After a while it became second nature. You knew how to duck and dodge them. If you couldn't do that you would never give them direct answers to the questions they asked.

You go the run way shows and photo shoots of Riris that you can make it to. You Always blow her a kiss when she comes out on stage.

Sometimes you aren't able to make it when she does runway shows. She'll still call you right before she walks on stage. She says you're her good luck charm.

"Baby I'm a little neverous you sure you're not gona be able to make it?"

"If I could I would my love, and you're literally a pro at this Riri. You're definitely gonna kill it like you always do so just take a deep breath and count down from 10 in your head."

"Thank you baby, and remember the live stream of the show starts in 3 minutes"

"I'll be watching my love I promise"

She loves taking you on vacations whenever she can. You're not used to getting spoiled but Riri constantly let's you know that you deserve it and so much more.

Upon meeting her family they all loved you immediately especially her mom.

"You're so beautiful Y/n, Riri better be telling you that everyday"

"i promise you She does" you said while softly smiling at both Riri and her mom.

"Oh and here come look at these" Riris mom went to go grab Riris baby pictures. "I've been waiting for her to bring someone home so I could wip these out"

"Ma is that really necessary?" Riri said to her mom. "I don't even think y/n wants to see these"

"Don’t speak for me girl, and move over you're blocking my view." You switched places with Riri on her mothers couch. "aww look at baby Ri."

You and Riri take long and relaxing baths together after you'd both had a stressful day at work. Sometimes Riri says she's too tired and just wants to shower and go to bed. You always manage to convince her into it though.

You can't stand it when women or men flirt with Riri while she's doing interviews. She always makes it very clear she has a lovely wife at home. Sometimes the flirting still gets to you. But Riri quickly reminds you that you're the only person she wants in one way or another 🤭.

Even though you're the photographer Riri takes more pictures of you than she's does of herself.

*Riri taking a picture of you for the 2000th time that day*

"Ri are you taking another picture of me?"

"Yes. Your face is too beautiful to always be behind the camera" Riri said while snapping another picture of you.

She takes pictures of you while doing the simplest things like eating.

At events and red carpets she always has you on her arm. People constantly scream that the two of you would be a model power couple if you ever decided to get into the industry. You're more low key though and photography is your passion.

#riri x black!reader #riri williams #riri x y/n #riri is my wife #lesbian #mcu riri williams #ironheart #lgbtq #black sapphic #riri williams x reader #mcu fanfiction #iron heart x reader #riri black panther

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 43 - Even Though I Knew The End by C. L. Polk

Oh this was fun. Never would have heard of it if it hadn’t been nominated for a Hugo, and devoured it in the course of a computer-less Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t exactly reaching for the stars, but it knew what it was about and it executed it well; there’s a real virtue to that. Also I adore slightly cheesy but self-serious noir and the early 20th century really is the ideal setting for classical urban fantasy.

The story follows Helen, a private investigator and warlock in 1930s Chicago. Ten years prior to the story, she sold her soul to a demon to resurrect her younger brother from a car crash that would have otherwise killed her entire family – for her trouble, she was cast out from the magical brotherhood training her as a mystic and forced to make a living as a cut-rate diviner and gumshoe in Chicago. The plot kicks off three days before the deal comes due and her soul’s forfeit, and she takes one last consulting job to add a bit more to the nest egg she’ll be leaving for her girlfriend Edith when she’s torn from the mortal coil. And then, of course, she finds out that a) her employer is a demon, b) the case she’s consulting on is someone ritually murdering other poor souls who’ve made deals, days before they come due, and c) if she solves it she’ll get her soul back, along with enough money to make to San Francisco with Edith and start a new life free and clear.

So this is not a book that sets out to surprise the reader. The storytelling is efficient and the foreshadowing is reasonably honest – you can guess just about every twist well ahead of time with even the slightest bit of effort. I’d say the book isn’t trying to break any new ground, but actually it’s the only example I can think off hand of this sort of genre emulation period piece that both has a queer protagonist and doesn’t either elide or edit out the homophobia of the their environment, so there is that. Anyway, ‘genre emulation’ is the right term I think – snappy, tightly written noir plot that doesn’t outlast its welcome (this was absolutely a novella-sized story).

I really don’t know the author or their work well enough to know how intentional it is, but the ending very much felt like a comment on the whole Bury Your Gays/Tragic Lesbian trope. Essentially, Edith gets herself heroically sacrificed saving Helen’s life in the climactic showdown. Then, once the dust has settled and Marlow (her demonic client) has given Helen her soul back she…immediately sells it again to bring her back. Better ten years of Californian bliss with her true love then an eternity in heaven (and besides, that brother she’d saved the first time had just killed an angel, so someone’s going to need to keep him company in hell). The book’s title is in no way subtle or metaphorical, it is a line of the protagonist’s internal monologue.

The story’s universe is a folk-Christian one, and it is absolutely imperative that when reading it you don’t poke at the underlying metaphysics at all. Angels and demons are real and magicians are the distant descendants of Nephilim and some of the Grigori still haunt the earth, and we have it on good authority that God doesn’t actually care about being gay and everyone seems very frightened of the idea of summoning the Archangel Michael to earth, but start asking any followup questions about angels and world events during the Roosevelt Administration and you’re ruin the story for yourself. Just don’t worry about it.

As a final note, I really did love Marlowe – or properly, she’s one of my favorite types of demons in these sorts of stories. Epitome of high class beauty, lives in a palatial penthouse waited upon handed and foot by layers of servants, eats the best food and wears the best clothes and has the best lovers, even a generous employer and creditor as long as you do what she wants and give her what she’s owed. The sort of demon who seems like falling out of heaven was worth it, and one you can imagine actually convincing someone to sell their soul. She’s fun!

#book review #hugo nom #sff #urban fantasy #even though i knew the end #c. l. polk

[igaveupyesterday]

When Wilbur met Y/n

summary: can men and women really be just friends? Wilbur's and Y/n's relationship started off on the wrong foot. But when they meet, years after their first encounter a new friendship blossoms. Will their friendship last or turn into something more? (AU)

author's note: hey folk, this is completely inspired by one of the greatest romcoms "When Harry Met Sally". It's my first time writing a fanfic, but I'll try my best:) I'm writing this keeping the movie and movie characters in mind, so it's not the most accurate to real-life Wilbur.

tw: more than one part, mentions of suggestive content, swearing, Wilbur is sort of an ass and edgy lol

1619 words

1977, Chicago (the first meeting)

I had an eighteen-hour road trip to New York ahead of me, I won't be going alone since I agreed to give a ride to my friend's boyfriend, whom I don't know yet. It was a beautiful day and I was anticipating finally starting my adult life.

It seems I arrived at the worst possible time. Standing just beside my car I see my dear friend and my road trip companion locking lips like it's the end of the world. I cough to get their attention and they immediately jump off of one another, flustered.

"Oh! Hi Y/n" my friend, Amanda, says after letting out an awkward laugh. Her hair was messy and her clothes were disheveled, they had been going at it for a while judging by her appearance.

"Wilbur, this is Y/n Y/l/n" Amanda introduces me.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm William Soot, You can call me Wilbur" The man I'll be spending eighteen hours with greets me. He was tall and lanky, had a good style, and wore round glasses on his face, that were ever so slightly sliding off his nose.

"Wanna drive the first shift?" I ask while smiling.

"No, no you're there already aren't ya" He responds, walking to the trunk to put his bags in. He throws them in with ease and turns to Amanda to say his goodbyes.

"I'll call you as soon as I get to New York," Wilbur says caressing her cheek. I sensed a dramatic dialogue between two love birds incoming.

"Oh, you better!!! No, scratch that, call me on the road, I just miss you so much already sweetie!!" Amanda squeals while jumping into her boyfriend's arms. By the way, they were acting, you could assume he was off to war.

"And I miss you too!!" He says after kissing her one last time, he makes his way to the passenger seat. As soon as he sits down, I don't waste a second and start driving.

Wilbur starts looking for something in the back.

"Well, Wilbur, it's an eighteen-hour ride to New York, so I was thinking the most efficient way to get there is if we switch who's driving every three hours, that way we'll be driving 6 shifts each, but we can also switch out by mileage-"

"Want a grape?" He cuts me off, popping one in his mouth.

"No, no thank you"

Turns out the thing he was looking for in the back was a bag of bright purple grapes.

He chews on the grape as I process the fact he completely ignored what I said. There's a short silence.

"So, tell me the story of your life, we've got eighteen hours to kill before New York," He says looking over at me.

"The story of my life? Well... It wouldn't be a very long story, not much has happened to me, anything extremely remarkable at least. That's why I'm moving to New York" I state, looking over at him, he looks bored and unamused.

"So you're going to New York, so something happens to you?" He asks for clarification.

"Yes"

"Well, what's in New York for you?"

"I like to keep my dreams and aspirations private" I answered after hesitating.

"Mm, so you're one of those people" There's a noticeable groan in his voice. Wilbur turns his gaze away from me.

"Okay, well what if you go to New York, nothing happens, you live a boring and plain life, and then die having accomplished nothing," He says nonchalantly. He put his grapes down and was now checking himself out in the rear-view mirror.

I pause for a minute, processing Will's bizarre comment. I didn't expect Wilbur to be this.. unique? but I guess I did get a warning.

"Amanda did mention you had a dark side," I say after a while.

"I do. Why don't you? You know, I bet you're one of those people that draws hearts instead of a dots on the letter i" There's a tone of mocking in his voice.

"Excuse you, I have a dark side just as much as any other person" I defend myself.

"When I start reading a book, I always read the last page, so if I die I know how the book will end, that, my friend, is a dark side." He tells me, noticeably proud.

"Oh please, that doesn't make you deep" I roll my eyes. I wasn't a fan of pessimistic people or just people who thought that being edgy was cool, so this conversation wasn't amusing me.

"Do you think about death?" He asks. He clasped his hands together and was now looking at me.

"Yes, I do" I sigh.

"Yeah, sure you do, for you, it's just a fleeting thought, I think about death constantly-" He spoke faster and raised his hands, clearly irritated.

"And you think that makes you a better person? I cut him off, annoyed.

"Look, all I'm saying is, when the day comes I'm gonna be prepared and you won't" He shrugs.

"Or you just might ruin your life waiting for it" I argue.

And with that, the car fell silent.

six hours later

"So you're telling me that you'd rather marry a rich guy and be stuck in a loveless marriage rather than date a guy who you've had the best sex with," Wilbur asks pulling into a diner.

Will and I had spent at least an hour talking about a movie we've both seen, where the main character goes after a plain rich guy instead of the bad boy. I agreed with the main character's choices, but Wilbur, of course, shared the opposing opinion.

"Yes!! And any reasonable woman would say the same, we need stability not some one-time fling" I answer getting out of the car and entering the diner.

"Mm yeah, I get it," My friends' boyfriend says in a sinister way.

"What?"

"...."

"What!"

'...."

"What do you get?' I shouted. The way he suddenly "got something" after arguing for a few hours made me suspicious.

"Well you've clearly never had great sex," He says smirking.

"I have had plenty of good sex!" I deny a bit too loud, gathering the attention of people eating their dinner.

"With whom?" He asks sitting down.

"I'm not telling you that" I say firmly.

"Yeah, sure whatever"

As we sit Wilbur asks me about my previous partners and I answer some of his questions reluctantly. Soon enough the waiter came to take our orders, our food didn't take long to reach us and we had dinner.

"3.45$ is 50% of my share so together... it's 6.90$" I mumble counting how much I have to pay. I make sure to add extra to tip the waitress.

I look up and my eyes meet with Wilbur, who's staring at me.

"What?" I ask

"...." He doesn't answer, instead, his eyes move around me like he's analyzing me.

"What is it?"

"Do I have something on my face?" I ask while wiping my face with my palms.

"You're a very attractive person" He says after an unusualy long pause.

"Thank you" I answered, caught off guard.

"Amanda never mentioned how attractive you were" He leaned in. He placed his hands underneath his chin and was carefully observing me.

"Maybe she doesn't think I'm attractive" I simply shrug. I don't see why my friend would ever need to mention my attractiveness to her boyfriend.

"I don't think it's a matter of opinion, undeniably, you are attractive" His eyes were locked with mine, he hadn't looked away in what felt like forever. I started feeling uneasy about this situation, I felt something deeper than just innocent admiration in his gaze.

"Amanda is my friend," I say while getting up to leave. The thought that my friend's boyfriend might have been flirting with me made me tense. I wanted to get to our destination as soon as possible to avoid the awkwardness.

"So what?" the pitch in his voice sounded genuine.

"What do you mean so what? You're hitting on me"

"No, I wasn't" He denies. I don't know if he was trying to fool me or himself.

"You totally were!"

"Okay, let's say for the sake of the argument I was hitting on you, what do you want me to do about it? I can't just take it back"

"Just pretend it didn't happen and don't do that again" I ordered him, sitting in the driver's seat, ignoring the fact that he just affirmed my suspicion.

"Okay, Okay yeah never do it again" He repeated

There was a short silence.

"Wanna spend the night in my motel? See what I did there, I did it again-"

"William!"

"What?"

"William, We're just going to be friends okay?"

"Yeah, friends totally! that's the best" He says sarcastically, shoving a toothpick in his mouth and crossing his arms.

We both stay silent.

"You know, you and I could never be friends," He says shattering the silence. His arms were still crossed, only now, he seemed more relaxed.

"And why is that?"

"Because men and women can't be friends, feelings or sex always ruin the friendship" He states, looking over at me with his brown eyes. He was completely confident in his statement.

"That's not true, I have plenty of male friends who I am not interested in"

"Well, do you know if they're not interested in you?"

"Yes," I can't lie, I wasn't confident in my answer.

"Wrong, You never know what's going on in a guy's head, They always have ulterior motives"

"Well then, Will, I guess we won't be friends"

"I guess we won't"

"It's a shame, you were the only person I knew in New York"

end of part 1

author's note: spent a long time writing this I would appreciate any feedback on this and if anyone wants the other parts:) Please share what you think!

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