#quick scribbles while I wait for the shower water to warm up | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eternalsimp · 3 years

Text

Cursed Fears

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 3096

Warnings: aged up Megumi, use of female pronouns, swearing, mentions of violence, spoilers for episodes 5 and 6, mention of character death, slight sexual themes toward the end, angst, minors dni.

The sound of the rain steadily increasing was the only sound in your apartment as you waited patiently for your boyfriend. Your laptop displayed that it was midnight as you lazily scribbled statistics solutions onto the notes app of your tablet. Once you felt you reached a stopping point you got up to find a long sleeve to stave off the cold that seeped into the apartment from the storm. Striding over to your closet to pull out something to remind you of him. As you grabbed his signature grey shirt, you were immediately hit with the soft scent of cedar-wood. It was thin and soft from years of use. It hung loosely and brought you a sort of comfort as you counted down the minutes ‘til he got home. You weren’t a sorcerer, but you were well aware of the dangers that your friends went out and faced, and the panic in the back of your mind grew louder as the hours passed since Megumi had walked out of the door.

You stifled a yawn as you finally heard the lock to your front door click open and shut. You closed your eyes and stretched your back to loosen the knots that formed from doing your homework on the living room floor. As you made your way to the door to greet your boyfriend, he was frantically kicking his shoes off and stripping himself of his jacket.

“Hey love, how was it?” you said softly while reaching for his rain-soaked torso. He flinched away from your touch, eyes wide and afraid. His blue eyes scan your confused face before he blinks slowly and takes a shuddering breath.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect you to still be up.” He pressed a quick kiss to your forehead before retreating to the bathroom. The smell of blood, dirt, and god knows what else isn’t lost on you as he tries to pass you quickly. You bend to pick his jacket off of the floor where he had tossed it in his haste, and walk to your shared bedroom to put it in the laundry basket. You open the drawers to his side of the dresser to pull out his favorite sweats and a plain white tee-shirt, before gently placing them on the bathroom counter where he is aggressively scrubbing his face.

“You’re gonna get sick if you stay in those wet clothes much longer,” you say oh so matter of factly before pushing up on your toes to kiss the corner of his jaw. Your movements take him slightly off guard, which you use to your advantage to nudge him to a sitting position on the bench next to the shower. You run a washcloth under the warm water of the sink, move to stand between his legs, and gently brush the cloth against his temple. He closes his eyes and leans into your touch. You both sit in silence as you wipe the remnants of sweat and blood off of his face and neck. You notice the way he's holding your waist, hands so light his touch is barely there. Like he’s afraid you'll break if he makes a wrong move. After you finish wiping his face and neck, you tug at the hem of his soaked shirt and he complies with your wordless command to take it off. You step back out of the bathroom to toss it into the basket with his Jujustu Tech jacket.

When you walk back in, his head is leaning against the cool wall, letting you fully take stock of the bruises and cuts adorning the top half of his body. The worst of it looks like a slight split at the corner of his bottom lip and a shallow cut above one of his brows. You stride over to him and run your fingers through his black hair. “Baby,” you crooned softly. He gave a soft hum in acknowledgment as you nuzzled your nose into the top of his head. “I love you but you smell like a sewer, can you please shower before you fall asleep?” He sticks his tongue out playfully as you back away from him so he can stand up and move towards the shower.

Though his normal stoic behavior wouldn’t concern you, you still can’t shake the terrified look on his face when he first entered the apartment. How tense he’s holding himself and the way that he’s obviously trying not to worry you. His eyes linger on your face like he’s trying to memorize every aspect of it before he drops his gaze and shakes whatever thought he had out of his head.

You settle back on the living room floor between the coffee table and the couch and turn your attention back to your college notes. You only have time to pick your stylus back up before your phone starts vibrating in your pocket. You look down and see Itadori’s name scrawled across the screen along with a picture of him smiling next to your grouchy-looking boyfriend.

“Hey Yuuji, what’s up?”

“Hey y/n, I know it's late but I just wanted to make sure Fushiguro got back okay.”

“Yeah, he’s in the shower. Do you want me to have him call you when he’s out?”

“No… I just… did he seem okay when he got back?”

You chewed on the corner of your mouth for a second, “I mean, he seemed kinda unsettled but that’s not unusual for when he comes back from your guys' missions.”

“Yeah… yeah you’re right. I don’t know, he just seemed off after everything. Never mind.”

You hear the water shut off in the other room and quirk a brow. “Yuuji you better spit it out or else I’m gonna come over there and start cutting your fingers off! What are you not telling me?”

“On that note, I gotta go. Just talk to him, okay?”

“Wait Yuuji-” the line goes dead before you can press him with more questions. You stuff your phone back into your pocket and tap your stylus on your tablet for a couple of minutes. Just talk to him. Gore and violence are nothing new to Megumi, and he isn’t easily fazed, so what would shake him so bad that even Yuuji is worried?

You’re pulled from your thoughts both literally and figuratively when you feel a pair of muscular arms lift you onto the couch behind you. You are once again settled between your boyfriend's legs as you’re pressed against his strong chest. You yelp and try to wiggle out of his grasp but his years of training with the other Jujustu Sorcerers, even after graduating, leave him with an iron grip on your hips.

“Hang on let me grab my notes,” you protest. He presses his face into your neck and whines. After a few moments of struggling against him, you manage to snatch your tablet and pen off the ground and open it to your last question. You adjust yourself so your shoulder is against his chest and you can lazily drape your legs over his thigh. He rests his cheek against the crown of your head and readjusts his arms around you so he can still hold you tightly while not blocking your view of your classwork. You scribble notes for a few more minutes before deciding that him falling asleep in this position will mean him complaining of a sore neck in the morning, what with the awkward way it's twisted to lean against you. You could feel his body getting heavier against your own. You remembered what Yuuji had told you, and in an effort to keep him awake, you decided to ask what had been nagging you since he got back home.

“Are you okay?” All you get in response is another hum from your barely awake boyfriend. You shift again and reach up to run your fingers through his still-damp hair, “‘Gumi, baby, you shouldn't fall asleep here. Let’s go to bed.” He chuckles lightly at the nickname you gave him way back when you first started dating, and how you save it for private moments like this.

“I just wanna hold you for a bit longer, I promise we’ll get up soon.” Megumi finally murmurs. You don’t miss the way his jaw clenches as you try to fix your gaze upon him. You sigh and set your tablet down before turning to straddle Megumi’s lap and force him to look at you.

“What’s wrong, you’re more distant than usual?” You rest your hands on either side of his face and turn him to look at you. He avoids eye contact and suddenly you’re looking at the guarded 16-year-old boy who refused to open up to anyone when you first met. You lean to rest your forehead against his as he focuses his gaze somewhere between your jaw and the base of your throat. “Please talk to me? What happened out there?”

Megumi struggles internally on how much to tell you. You mindlessly stroke his cheeks with your thumbs and he finds himself settling his hands back on your waist again, with the same feather-light touch that you would use with glass. Finally, you get his answer in the form of a whisper.

“I’m scared I’m gonna lose you…”

You immediately pull your head back to look at him straight on only to be met with a faraway gaze. You furrow your brows together and squeeze his face just enough to get his attention. His eyes snap to yours and you can see the tears starting to prick at the corners. “I’m not going anywhere ‘Gumi.” You smile at him before pulling him closer to you and he buries his face into your neck.

“Fuck, that’s not what I meant. I’m scared I’m putting you in danger,” his voice is starting to waver, “You didn’t ask for this, any of this. I’m gone all the time, always on missions constantly putting both our lives in danger. I can’t even imagine what would happen if one of the special grades were to find out about you. It’s bad enough Sukuna knows you.” His voice cracked at the end of his sentence and you feel his chest shudder.

He wraps his arms around you and pulls you closer to him. You nudge his face away from your shoulder and see the tears he’s been holding back finally fall. The only other time you can remember him crying like this was when he thought Yuji died. You go back to stroking his face and shushing him but it's too late, the dam is broken and he can no longer hold back the sobs.

“What if I can’t protect you?” He continues to choke out his fears while you keep stroking his face lovingly and whispering soft reassurances to him that everything is going to be okay and you’re both safe. You let him cry into your chest until his strangled sobs slowly turn into soft sniffles.

“Feeling any better baby?” You gently push at his shoulders and lean him back again so you can look at him. He nods hesitantly and lets you wipe any remaining tears from under his now puffy eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I’m just tired and I guess everything kinda boiled over all at once,” he sighs. You lean down to press a soft kiss to his lips and he instantly melts into it.

“Don’t be sorry Megumi, you can talk to me about anything.” You press another kiss to his forehead and continue rubbing small circles into his jaw to loosen the tension there. After a few moments of holding each other silently, you pipe your voice up again. “Yuji called, he seemed worried. Did something happen tonight?”

You felt Megumi go stiff underneath you before quickly relaxing into your touch again. “Itadori started to lose control and Sukuna was just being a dick, per usual.” You inhale sharply and try to remove yourself from his grasp, you are gonna kill those two one of these days. As if he could read your mind Megumi quickly grabbed your wrists effectively pinning you against his chest once again. “Okay no, stop it. Nothing happened, he was just being mouthy and trying to wind me up. Obviously, it worked...”

“I don’t give a shit what Sukuna says and neither should you. If by some miracle he is able to get out of their pact, Gojo and Yuji would never let anything happen, and neither would you.” You press your forehead against his again since he still has a firm grip on your wrists to keep you from moving away from him. “I don’t care what you think, the safest place for me is right here with you. Sukuna is just bitter that he’s in a cage so he’s decided to make it everyone else's problem.” Megumi chuckles lightly again before releasing your hands and replacing his arms around your waist.

“We should go to bed, you have class in the morning.” He sighs. You crane your neck to see it’s well past 2 am, you stretch again to release the last couple of cracks in your spine and your boyfriend takes the opportunity to nip at your collarbones and make you squirm against him.

“If you stop doing that I’ll stay home with you instead, deal?” He jerks his face away from your chest and gives you the biggest puppy dog eyes you’ve ever seen.

“Are you sure? You have exams this week right?”

“There’s no point in going to a lecture if I’m just gonna fall asleep. I’ll study for my exams tomorrow after I wake up, but I’m planning on sleeping in tomorrow. Both of us need it.” He hums in agreement before trying to lift himself off the couch with you still in his arms. You gasp in surprise as you feel him wobble and stumble back into the couch cushions, tucking you into his neck with a hand to the back of your head to keep your faces from colliding.

You look at each other and let out a chorus of laughter. You shake your head before pinching his nose gently. “For someone so smart, you are so fucking dumb sometimes.” He scrunches up his face and swats your hand away as you peel yourself out of his arms and off his lap.

“You know, I’ve done it before and I was confident I could do it again. Also, I gotta keep my pretty girl on her toes.” This time it was your turn to swat his hand away as he grabbed at your thighs and rear. You rolled your eyes comically at him and moved towards the bedroom. He jumps up, throws you over his shoulder, before unceremoniously plopping you on the bed with a speed you’ve only ever seen him possess. He hovers over you as he presses his mouth against you in a rushed, teeth-clashing kiss. You push at his shoulder so he can dramatically flop on his back and open his arms expectantly.

“Give me a sec to change, I’ll be right back.” He whines like a child when you grab your pajama shorts and a tank top from the top of the dresser and stride into the bathroom. You’ve never known anyone to be as handsy as Megumi. He hates PDA and would never in a million years let strangers see through his cold, tough exterior. In the comfort of your home though, you quickly learned that he can never keep his hands to himself and they tend to wander on their own. He always wants to be touching you when you’re home together and he’ll whine and pout if he can’t. You can never find it in your heart to turn down his affection, especially on nights like this when he is feeling vulnerable and needs reassurance. Those nights are few and far between but you indulge your boyfriend in anything he needs whenever his facade starts to crack and you get glimpses of the version of him that he keeps carefully tucked away.

You pull your jeans and his sweater off and quickly throw your pajamas on. You toss your clothes into the basket from the door and find your boyfriend sprawled on your side of the bed scrolling through his phone. You poke the middle of his back and yank the blanket, covering him from the waist down, to what's supposed to be his side of the bed. His jaw drops in mock offense before he's pulling your front flush against his chest once again.

His lips latch onto yours again as he's tangling his legs with yours and threading his hands through your hair. You bring your hands under his shirt to stroke your fingertips lightly against his sides as his kisses grow needier and more urgent. One of his hands leaves your hair to grip your hips as he rolls his own into you desperately. You bring one hand to press against his chest lightly and move away from him for air.

“Baby please…” he looks like he's on the verge of begging. His heart pounds heavily under your fingers on his chest. You press a quick kiss to the tip of his nose.

“‘Gumi, you’re exhausted and very emotional right now, just go to sleep.” His bottom lip sticks out in a cute pout and you lift your hand to run your thumb over his protruding bottom lip. “I promise I will be here in the morning and we have all day tomorrow to hang out and do anything you want.”

His brows quirk up and his mouth pulls into a smirk. “Anything?” He drops his head to try and catch your lips again but you evade him.

“Anything, if you go to sleep right now and wait ‘til morning.” He scrunches his nose up and huffs pathetically before moving to tuck one arm under your head and wrap the other around your waist protectively. You nuzzle your face into his chest to breathe in the usual smell of cedar-wood and a lingering scent of rain. One of your hands is tucked under his jaw while the other slips back beneath his shirt to keep tracing patterns up and down his sides. He shivers at the featherlight touch of your fingertips but melts into the hand you have on his face.

You can feel his breath growing more rhythmic and you glance up to see his eyes fluttering shut. You press one last kiss to his jaw before murmuring a quiet “I love you” into his chest. He squeezes the arm that's around your waist to pull you impossibly closer to him before you drift to sleep.

“I love you too baby. I promise I’ll always protect you.”

#fushiguro megumi #jujutsu kaisen megumi #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #megumi fluff #anime #fanfic #megumi fic #megumi x reader

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laurensprentiss · 3 years

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Jouska [Hotch x Reader]

Chapter 8:

Warnings: None, really. Emily and Hotch get to know each other, Emily picks up vibes.

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“Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.” - David Richo

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You stare absently out of the window, clutching the lapels of Hotch’s blazer that he’d draped over you. Every so often, you feel the dread in your bones again, a brief moment when your stomach drops as you remember back to earlier. You inhale long and deep when you do, trying to ground yourself and the action doesn’t slip Hotch’s attention who sits next to you, gripping the steering wheel so hard, the leather might wear.

He glances at you. “It’s okay. Sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Your eyes feel heavy, drooping of their own accord. You try your best to fight your exhaustion, but the exertion only serves to heighten the throbbing in your temple. You glance over at Hotch as you set your head against the cool glass of the window, the buzz of the car engine and the heater lulling you to sleep.

The sun is almost set when you wake up, your eyes blinking rapidly as you try to adjust to the dark. You’re parked outside of your apartment building and Hotch scribbles something on a notepad next to you, using the streetlight to illuminate the page.

He clears his throat when he spots you stirring from the corner of his eye. He sits up straight. “Hey.” He whispers with a smile.

“Hey.” You inhale deeply and adjust in your seat to face him. “How long have I been out?” You ask.

He checks his watch and raises his eyebrows in surprise. “About an hour.”

He’d lost track of time himself and completely screwed protocol. He’ll pay for that later, he thinks.

“An hour?” You exclaim.

“Yeah.” He winces. “I’m sorry. You looked really peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you.”

Truth is, he had spent the better part of that hour watching you as you’d slept when he’d parked up, the setting sun casting a golden hue on your skin. He’d debated carrying you up to your apartment but didn’t want to chance waking you, even turned his phone off. Another thing he’ll pay for later, he thinks.

Headlights appear behind you, and a car pulls up to the sidewalk at your rear. Hotch peers at the rear view mirror and squints, the lights almost blinding in the dark. You turn around in your seat to get a better view.

“Emily.” You reassure him when you see the familiar figure in the driving seat. He shoots you a puzzled look, his eyebrows furrowed. “My friend. From the restaurant.” You remind him.

You start to undo your belt and Hotch climbs out of the car, making his way around the front of his car to open your door, offering you a hand as you step out.

Emily walks towards where you stand next to Hotch, the two of them offering each other polite smiles. Hotch extends his hand to take Emily’s bags from her, as she immediately gathers you into another hug. He holds the doors open for you and Emily, waits until you guys are inside to trail behind you, giving a quick nod to the two undercovers pulling up on either side of the street.

“Wait. Why were you guys still outside, you should’ve beat me here, right?” Emily asks.

———

You reach your hands for the main light switch when you step into your apartment, Hotch setting Emily’s bags down on your sofa, turning a table side lamp on and setting his keys down as he does. Emily tracks his movements carefully.

You catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror in the hallway, your makeup smudged, eyes still puffy from the tears and sleep.

You groan.“I need a shower.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Emily asks, concern etched in her face.

“Yeah, I think I can handle a shower.” You chuckle dryly.

You tell Emily and Hotch to make themselves at home while you freshen yourself up. You shrug off Hotch’s blazer, gathering the sleeves and the lapels and folding it in half, placing it back in Hotch’s arms. His face betrays his cool and collected demeanour, his eyebrows pinched and his eyes wide as he watches you move closer to him. He looks nervous, as though you’re about to break.

He wants to reach out and hold you close, brush the stray hairs off your face, wipe your eyes. He settles instead for a light brush of your fingers against his when you hand him his blazer - a ghost of a touch, really. That doesn’t stop you both from shivering a little at the contact.

Once you step into the shower, Hotch and Emily take the chance to get to know one another better. He extends his hand towards her, introducing himself.

“Agent Hotchner. Aaron.”

She takes his hand. “Emily. Prentiss.”

Hotch circles around your couch and to the kitchen, opens the fridge and helps himself to a bottle of water, Emily’s eyes stay trained on him as he does. He offers her a bottle, she declines with a quick shake of her head.

He goes on, “So, how do you guys know each other?”

“We’re friends through our parents.” She explains. “I’ve known her since she was a kid.” She stalks over the kitchen island, propping her elbows on the counter, her gaze pointedly falling to his water bottle. “I think the more important question, though, is how do you two know each other? You certainly seem comfortable.”

Hotch follows her gaze to the water bottle in his hand, stutters guiltily, but can’t really place why he feels that way.

It throws him off. “I was- I’m. The ambassador, he-” Emily raises her eyebrows challengingly. “I’m a part of the security detail assigned to her after the events of last year.”

“I thought that was the other guy.” She asks. “The older guy with the beard?”

He takes a sip of his water and nods. “That’s my partner. Agent McCall. Ben.” She nods approvingly and he relaxes a little.

“So, where are you with catching this guy?”

He updates Emily and provides her with the profile they’d worked on, a pinch of guilt when he remembers how he’d avoided you for those two weeks. He shakes it off and suggests Emily take a cognitive interview, ushering her to to take a seat, remembering that she would probably be the best witness of this afternoon.

“I’m going to need to ask you to close your eyes.” She shoots him a doubtful look. “Humour me.”

She clears her throat, closing her eyes.

He continues, “Okay. Think back to when you’re at the restaurant, what it smells like, what it sounds like, what the weather is like.”

She nods and inhales slightly, as if breathing in the smells back at the restaurant. She talks him through the warm weather, the sun shining. How she got there first and how she saw undercovers pull up before you and McCall arrived.

“How did you know they were UC’s?”

Her eyes blink open and she shrugs. “Occupational hazard, I guess.” Hotch frowns. “Well, my mother’s occupation - but, same difference.” She laughs.

“Okay, well, what about afterwards? When you guys sat down?”

“We were just talking, I don’t know?”

“Okay, focus. Go back to when you greeted her. You guys sat down? What did you guys talk about? What made her leave?”

She tells Hotch that you just caught each other up after everything you had missed since you briefly lost touch, that you'd told her about your stalker.

“Why did you guys lose touch?”

“My mother was in Rome for a year.” She shrugs. “We tried to keep up but she had school and personal stuff. We talked about her dad’s health scare, her ex-”

“-Her ex?”

Emily blinks at Hotch, gauging his expression carefully. He’s questioning her under the guise of work, but he’s not that good at concealing his microexpressions - yet. She doesn’t miss the way his face falls for a split-second, or the way he tried to nonchalantly question her about Jordan by cutting her off, the bob in his Adam’s apple as he’d swallowed.

“Yeah..” She trails off. She thinks carefully about how to proceed, still watching him carefully. “They broke up last year and I guess they reconnected recently.” She says the last part flatly, with little intonation, wants to see his real expression.

She has a sneaking suspicion that there’s something that extends further than just work for him - maybe even more than friendship, especially after she had seen the way he had held you earlier, the way he touches you like fragile glass, the way he swallows when you come too close. But she wants to be sure.

“What’s his name?” He asks, his left eyebrow arched.

His nostrils flare slightly and he sniffs nonchalantly as he pulls out a notepad and pen from his blazer pocket that’s thrown on the chair. He writes down Jordan’s name and tries his best to keep a hold on himself. He can finally put a name to the face he saw you with after you visited Quantico that day.

Reconnected?

What does that mean? Reconnected?

He takes his details from Emily and asks her some questions about him - he justifies it to himself as procedure. He’s going to have to question this person after all, why not learn a bit more about him to gain the upper hand? Emily just tells him you guys dated on and off until you broke it off for good.

“And why’s that?”

“Why’s what?” Emily asks.

“Why did she break it off?”

“I don’t know. She never really said. He’s just weird. Sleazy.”

All she really knows about him is that his father’s a congressman and works on the Hill - Ambassador Prentiss has far reaching arms, after all. She remembers seeing him at dinner parties and society balls growing up, but that’s around it.

“And what happened next?”

“After that, her mood changed? She was laughing one minute and quiet the next - I could tell something was bothering her.” She picks at her fingernails. “And then she left. After that, I don’t know what happened.” Her voice is almost a whisper, she thinks maybe if she had done something, if she had said something, reached out sooner - maybe none of this would have happened.

“I know what you’re thinking, alright. Don’t do that, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah.”

She hears the words, but it doesn’t alleviate the guilt she’s feeling right now. Her stomach drops suddenly as she thinks back to something she remembered feeling while at the restaurant, the hair on the back of her neck standing up.

Hotch sits up straight. “You just remembered something, what is it?”

Emily’s eyes widen. “I felt like someone was watching me.” She says, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I thought maybe I was being paranoid about the UC’s or your partner.” She trails off again. “But right before you got there, I was just browsing the menu. There was a guy. He bumped into my table but I couldn’t see his face, it was - it was sunny and he- he was wearing a hat.” She rushes out, gesticulating with her hands. “He squeezed my shoulder when he apologised as he walked past, I remember thinking it was gross, because he lingered.” She shudders.

“Okay. You’re doing really good. What else?”

“Well, when you guys left out the back, I walked back to the front to get my car. I had the feeling somebody was watching me again.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you feel somebody was watching you? Think.”

“I heard a voice. His voice.” She panicks. “Oh my God, he was talking to a cop. I remember hearing him telling the cop that the screaming was so loud. He said it sounded like someone was dying. But he wasn't looking at the cop, he was looking right at me.” She feels nauseous.

He nods. “Excuse me.” He ducks out of your apartment to make a ten minute phone call to Barnes, rattles off the information he got in his cognitive with Emily. “We need to question the staff and any cops that responded today. CCTV, too.”

He hangs up and sees three missed calls from Haley, groans when he realises the time. She’s probably asleep but he figures he can still call her, at least she’ll know he checked in. He paces the length of the hallway, the phone to his ear and he waits for the inevitable command to leave a message. He’s about to hang up when the receiver clicks, Haley’s voice coming from the other end.

“Hello?” She pants.

“Hey, it’s me.” He frowns. “Are you alright, why are you out of breath?”

“I had to run to grab the phone.” She chuckles. “What’s up?”

He’s surprised he isn’t getting the third degree, that she isn’t more mad. He figures they’re still good after their make-up high, both of them vowing to do better.

Still.

He clears his throat. “Nothing. I just wanted to check in.” He can hear rustling in the background, figures she’s probably cleaning or about to tuck in for the night. “I don’t think I��ll be home until around 1 or 2am, we had a situation.”

“Okay. That’s alright, honey. You take your time, I’ll see you when you get home, okay?” She sounds chipper.

“Yeah.” He’s caught a little off guard at how laid back she’s being but he figures he doesn’t want to jinx it and count his blessings too quickly, bids her a quick goodbye.

He’s about to make the walk back down the hallway into your apartment, when the elevator dings behind him, McCall stepping out.

“Hey, I wasn’t expecting you for another few hours.” Hotch says patting him on the shoulders.

“Barnes told me what happened, I figured I’d come and relieve you, it’s 11 o'clock man.”

Hotch runs a hand over his face and groans. Truth is, he’s shattered and wants nothing more than to just find the closest bed and sleep undisturbed for at least 12 hours.

Inside, you’re rattling around in the kitchen, pulling pots and pans from the cupboards, setting some pasta on the hob when Hotch and McCall walk in.

“Hey! You’re out of the shower.” Hotch scratches the back of his head sheepishly when he hears his tone, and realises everybody else just heard it too.

Emily watches him with a smile and McCall just ducks his head and clears his throat, reaches to shake Emily’s hand and introduce himself.

“Yeah. I- I feel a lot better. Thanks.” You smile. “I realised none of us ate all day though, and cooking soothes me, so pasta it is.”

Emily reaches up to your cupboards for some more glasses, two already in her hand. “You guys staying?”

Please stay.

“Ben will be, but I gotta get home, sorry. Maybe next time?” Hotch offers.

Oh.

You can’t ignore the disappointment in your chest when Hotch turns to walk out, but you swallow it down and say goodbye, anyway. You weren’t quite ready to let go of him today, he was a comforting presence and you’re not really on even footing yet - for some reason he helps to centre you. The disappointment you hold in your shoulders isn’t missed by Emily who offers you a knowing smile and motions over to the sofa where Hotch’s blazer lies.

Your eyes widen as you set down the knife and circle around the island to grab the item, shooting her an awkward smile as you do. You click the door shut behind you.

“Hold the elevator!”

Hotch’s hand comes up between the two doors as they’re about to close, his eyebrows furrowed when he sees you jogging towards him. He steps out as you close the distance between you.

“You forgot your blazer!” You sigh.

“Ah.” He apologises quickly and goes to take it from you, but you open up the lapels and sleeves motioning for him to put in on instead.

“It’s cold outside.” You whisper.

You hold it out to him and he tucks his arms into the sleeves, stepping into it as you help him put it on as he bends slightly so he can meet your height. You absentmindedly brush some dust off the shoulders as he turns back to you, a small smile on his face. You’re so close to him and he can’t find it in himself to look away, his gaze flitting to your lips. He can smell your soap, feel the heat radiating off your body.

You clear your throat and step back a little.

You share a look, a dangerous, vulnerable gaze that feels like it’s stripping you both bare. It’s there in front of you, something that hangs unspoken in the air, glaringly obvious, yet you both neglect to face it.

“Well. I should-” he points to the elevator behind him. You nod when he presses the button for the elevator to return, the floor numbers appearing above the doors.

You chew on your lip, frozen in place, unable to leave but unable to do what you actually want to do. It’s only when he steps on to the elevator and is staring at his shoes that you call out to him again.

“Aaron?”

“Yes?” He says almost immediately, head whipping up.

You try to formulate the words but your head still feels jumbled, too busy and you’re beginning to have an alarming realisation that you desperately want to push to the back of your mind. You don’t know how to say what you’re feeling, panic rising - you only know that your emotions are bubbling over and you want to say something, do something to show your gratitude.

“I just.” You take a step forward. “Thank you.” You shake your head, not knowing what else to say.

Almost on instinct, you wrap your arms around his shoulders, stepping on your toes to reach him, burying your face in his neck. The air leaves his chest as you embrace him, the unexpected, but long awaited contact taking him by surprise. His warm hard body is solid against you, as he ducks down, his arms wrapping around your waist, one hand coming around to your ribs.

He squeezes gently, inhaling the scent of your hair, the two of you just sharing a brief moment, quiet in the chaos. Your arms flex around his shoulders, holding him close - close enough to make him feel what you want to say. His own hands flex and tighten, warm over your sweater, almost radiating heat as he brings you closer to himself.

He swallows thickly, his heart pounding. Absurd thoughts penetrate his mind, a realisation dawning on him that he tries like hell to push deep back down into the abyss. It doesn’t help that you’re right in front of him, warm and comforting, intoxicating.

But he can’t.

It’ll pass he thinks.

You stay in the moment for what seems like a long while, a ding breaking you out of your moment. You sniff slightly and loosen your grip on him, his arms unwinding from around your waist, the both of you bereft at the loss of contact. Your cheeks brush as you let yourself down, his coarse beard hair scratching pleasantly against your face. Your hands trail down his chest slowly over his dress shirt, the tip of his nose against your forehead. Your eyes flutter from the gentle contact as you glance up at him, his eyes hooded, one hand still on your rib. His thumb rubs gently, back and forth over your sweater, his gentle eyes staring back at you, taking you in.

You swallow thickly and force yourself away from his magnetic pull, stepping back gently, before you do something you regret. Your arms cross over your chest in an automatic act of self-preservation and unconscious comfort. He steps back into the elevator, his cheeks a little flushed, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips - but there’s something in his eyes. Something intense, that pulls at you and you daren’t let yourself hope and be carried away by it again.

You feel it. But he couldn’t possibly, you think.

He feels it. But you couldn’t possibly, he thinks.

“Goodnight.” He whispers, his voice hoarse.

“Night, Aaron.”

———

The lights are off when he gets home around 25 minutes later, only their bedroom window illuminated. He thinks maybe Haley fell asleep waiting up for him, he wasn’t supposed to be home for another few hours yet anyway. He quietly closes the door when he gets in, toes his shoes off and tip toes across the floor to get himself a drink of water before he heads up. He takes special care to remain light on his feet as he walks, he knows the worn old floorboards in their cheap rental home creak horribly, even at the lightest pressure.

Almost on cue, the floorboards creak upstairs directly above him but travel towards the end of the upstairs hallway. His ears perk up as he follows the sound, travelling back from the end of the upstairs hallway after a few moments, and down the stairs as Hotch walks out of the kitchen curiously, glass still in hand. He walks out to Haley running down the stairs, her face flushed.

“Hi! Honey! You’re home.” She pants a little.

She throws herself into his arms and he finds himself a little rigid and unable to fully return her embrace. His face contorts and he finds his mind wandering to the way you’d slotted against his body perfectly, the smell of your hair, your cheek against his.

He feels a tug at his chest.

She releases him and plants a kiss on his lips, but his eyes stay open, eyebrow quirked slightly in confusion.

“I thought you’d be asleep. I didn’t hear anything when I got in.” He tells her.

She grabs his hand and pulls him upstairs. “Well I was getting ready for bed when I heard you pull up.” She chirps.

It’s odd, he thinks, her tone of voice. Especially at this time of night, and he can’t ever remember her being so happy to see him, especially after a full day of work. She’s usually the opposite, full of biting sarcasm and jabs. She seems on edge now, teetering on the edge of hyper. The bedding is rumpled and he frowns at that, has never known Haley to unmake their bed unless it was right before bed. He can’t find it in himself to think too deeply into it, though, the sight of a bed inviting nonetheless.

He loosens his tie a little more, and finally lets out a yawn, turning to go to the main bathroom to get ready for bed.

“Where are you going?” Haley asks, eyebrows raised, a tight smile on her face.

He points out to the hallway. “To the bathroom?”

She shoots up. “No, no! The faucet. It’s uh, well I don’t know what it is, but it’s not working. Gotta call the plumber, I guess.” She rattles off in a single breath.

He concedes. “Fine.” He’s exhausted and all he wants is to sleep.

He ducks into their small not-even-a-half-bath ‘ensuite’, that consists only of a toilet and a sink. He catches sight of himself in the mirror and realises he looks even worse than he feels, he didn’t realise that was possible. He neglects brushing his teeth tonight, settles for swilling some mouthwash and changing into his shorts and calls it.

Haley isn’t there when he emerges from the bathroom, a frown on his forehead soon appears at her almost skittish behaviour. He can’t summon the energy to care too deeply, though, slipping under the covers, sleep calling out to him. She reappears moments later, telling him that they had forgotten to turn the downstairs lights off before they came up.

“Hm.” He replies, already half asleep.

He only hums as she slips in next to him, their backs to one another. He dips into an almost instant deep sleep, rest coming easy to him once the thoughts of your warm embrace surrounds him, granting him solace.

Haley on the other hand, lies perfectly rigid, her hands under her head on the pillow, her mind swimming and heart pounding as she listens for the receding footsteps in their front yard.

———

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Tags: @oreogutz @andromedasstarship @galacticnerd-78 @izzyl13 @trashcan-possum @crying-river @purpledragonturtles @gabbysblogthingy @euphoricmidoriya @archiveofadragon @yoshigguk @acidicbloody @jeor @ivebeenthinkingboutu @bauslut @vashanatasha @averyhotchner

#aaron hotchner #hotch #hotch x reader #hotch fluff #hotch smut #aaron hotchner x reader #cm fanfic #cm fic rec #cm fic #criminal minds

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free-pancakes · 3 years

Text

Don’t Worry, I’m Here

So I ended up writing a part 2 to this

And crossposted both chapters to AO3

sorry for all the recent angst, i blame the recent chapter lol

Summary: Alternate epilogue-like ending if SNK chapter 138 didn’t occur

(italicized portions reference chapter 1!)

Chapter 2

“It’s your turn,” Erwin said with a warm smile. “I’m thinking they all need you right now.”

“Maaaaan, this is a lot of work isn’t it? Why did he ask me to watch over everyone! I thought I’d finally get to take a goddamn break when I got here…”

“Stop joking around, Hange, we all know you’re happy to do it,” Mike said. “And at least he can’t smell you when you cross over—can’t believe you alone could stink up the whole afterlife,” he teased.

Hange playfully shoved Mike into Erwin as they burst into laughter. She smiled big at the both of them. “See you morons later!” she yelled back.

“Hange-san, don’t forget to check on Connie and Niccolo for me! Let me know how good Connie’s pranks have gotten, and if Niccolo has gotten any better at tolerating him,” Sasha added.

“Of course, dear,” Hange said with a smile. She waved back at the three as she opened the door to go see everyone back home.

— She breathed in the cool, summer morning air and walked down a cobblestone path in town, smelling the decadent aroma of bread lingering over the bakery just ahead. She peered through the window, seeing Connie poking holes through bread dough, making something that looked like a little mask for himself, squishing it onto his face. Niccolo turned around the corner holding a box of pastries and threw them straight into the air, croissants showering down from the ceilings. “Connie, stop startling me like this!” he whined as he looked at all the pastries now all over the place, a massacre of flaky crumbs on the floor. The sound of Connie’s laugh was music to Hange’s ears. She took another whiff of the sweet smell and laughed as she watched Connie sadly pick up the croissants while Niccolo lectured him—“They’re doing well, Sasha,” she whispered to herself.

As she continued on her stroll, she saw Onyankopon walking alongisde Pieck. After hurrying over to walk alongside the two, she waved hello at both of them—sometimes she forgot they couldn’t see her whenever she came to visit.

“That’s so sweet, Onyankopon,” Pieck said as he flipped through a small book in his hand. “Oh, it wasn’t just me—without Armin I would have never gotten this all to work out.” Hange’s eyes glimmered with happy tears—she was so proud of her successor. She wanted to see him, but unfortunately it would probably have to wait for her next trip down here.

“I’m sure Hange-san would have loved it, no way we couldn’t publish all her hard work on titan research. Something that generations can learn about—real truth in books for them to read, to understand why they all dedicated their hearts,” he said, balling his other hand into a fist, gently tapping his chest with it, right over his own heart. Hange placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“And what do you have there?” he asked Pieck with a curious look in his eye. “Oh, just another record for Levi,” she said as she ran her hand over the smooth case. "I think he’d like this album.” Hange whispered a small thank you right by Pieck’s ear, happy that she continued to help Levi, and that their little record player was being put to good use.

Onyankopon patted Pieck on the back. “Well, please send the Captain my regards, and let him know that Hange’s texts should be published soon!” Pieck gave him a little smile and waved as she walked towards the forest path. Hange was about to follow her to see the little grump, but she stopped herself, sad to wait a little longer to see him. “Not yet, a few more I have to check on first,” she said to herself as she turned left, heading in the opposite direction from Pieck.

A familiar, warm voice echoed behind her, “Hi Pieck!”

Hange spun around to see Jean and Mikasa walking up from the forest path passing right by Pieck. "Just the people she was looking for!" Hange exclaimed, and smiled warmly watching her favorite little pair walk hand-in-hand.

“Date night I’m assuming?” Pieck asked. Jean blushed, scratched the back of his head, and responded with a nervous chuckle. Mikasa smiled back at him and left a little kiss on his cheek. “Yes we are, Pieck,” she said with a shy smile. “Are you visiting the Captain?”

“Yes, heading that way now. Are the kids with Levi?” Pieck asked excitedly.

“Absolutely, and Historia’s son as well!” Jean said.

Hange couldn’t help but feel overcome with emotion watching the scene. She was so happy to see them all happy, alive, and well. As the group parted ways, Hange followed Jean and Mikasa up a winding path, snaking up the green grassy hills just beyond the edge of the town.

“A graveyard?” Hange asked aloud, both hands instinctively gripping at both sides of her head. “That’s your date night?? Jean, what are you doing?? This is not what I taught you!” She tried grabbing at his shirt to turn them right around. “This isn’t even an Ackerman-related issue, this is just common sense, you idiot!” She ran around them in a frenzy, so distracted that she didn’t even realize who they were actually trying to visit.

“Thanks, Jean. Sorry to ask you for the detour. I know our reservations are—“

Jean quietly pushed a small bouquet of sunflowers into her hands, and stared into her eyes, his expression telling her that he wanted to be here too. Mikasa gave him a quick peck on the cheek and she placed the flowers down onto the grass as they sat down together, knees bent and elbows resting on them. He wrapped his arm around Mikasa as they stared at the headstone, Hange’s name etched neatly into the rock.

“These were her favorite, yknow?”

“I know.”

The wind whistled by their ears, leaving cool kisses on the tops of their heads, bringing them a moment of sweet relief from the heat as the sun began to rise higher into the sky.

“Sometimes, I feel like she never left,” Jean whispered.

Hange sat behind the two of them, arms encasing them in her embrace, and kissed the tops of their heads. She smiled at Jean’s words—“I never did,” she said softly into their ears. She tried to wipe the tears from Mikasa’s eyes with her sleeve. “So don’t be sad.”

Time was almost up, so Hange hurried her way down the path, and stole one last glance at the two. She smiled when she saw Jean lay his head on Mikasa’s shoulder. She couldn’t wait to do the same with the other Ackerman on her mind.

She stared at the little cabin, pangs of heartache clawing at her chest—her one and only regret. But the pain melted away as she heard the sound of children’s laughter escaping through the open window. She walked in to find a little boy and a little girl stumbling around, toddlers still getting used to their legs, their little minds still figuring out how fast they could go before falling over. Her heart melted as she watched the two.

She wondered where Levi was, but he didn’t keep her waiting—he never did. He walked through the doorway of the kitchen into the room where the two kids were running around, holding two mugs of tea. He then walked out onto the front porch and set one of the teas down next to him, steam rising from the cup, drawing Hange towards it with its familiar aroma. Just the way she liked it.

She turned to Levi, looking him up and down, drinking in every bit of his appearance, from every wrinkle in his white, button-up shirt to every strand of hair on his head. She laughed as she counted a few grey hairs peeking through the deep sea of black, and gently ran her hand through this hair. He looked rested, a rare sight for her to see, and nothing could make her happier. She left kisses on his cheek and wrapped her arms around him—she never wanted to let go.

Sunlight wrapped around Levi’s body like a hug, the cool breeze softly ruffled his hair and left cool kisses on his face—sweet relief in the summer heat. “Thanks, Hange,” he thought. He pressed his fingers up to his face, feeling the soft, smooth fabric of her eye patch covering his right eye and smiled.

“You’re welcome, shorty,” she whispered as she held onto him tightly.

As he went back inside, she followed him and sat down right next to him as he pulled out his little journal.

“My notes?”

She stared at Levi, his eyes filled with happiness as he read over every inside joke she scribbled into the margins—she was a little embarrassed about him reading all of that, but overall happy nonetheless.

The two toddlers suddenly jumped up onto his lap breaking him out of his trance. “Uncle Levi, can you please tell us a story??” they chimed together, staring at him with cute little puppy-dog eyes. He nodded.

“Yay!!!” They yelled in unison. They both sat on either side of him on the couch and stared up at him with eager eyes.

Hange sat right next to the three of them, ready to hear Levi’s story—she wondered what he’d come up with. She was ready to laugh at the inevitable constipated look on his face as he tried to conjure up a story for them.

“Once upon a time there were two best friends. They were the strongest heroes everyone knew. They climbed giant walls and looked at the vast lands in front of them from the top of it, knowing it’d all be theirs once they defeated the big, bad titans!”

Hange chuckled at the kids’ excitement.

“They jumped on their necks and cast a spell and they’d disappear!”

“Good call, Levi, I was scared you’d start saying we slashed them up or something,” she said with a small laugh.

They did this for many years until all of them were finally gone. The two best friends were happy and searched for more land to see and explore until they found the big blue ocean. Water that was salty and laid home to many creatures both friendly and dangerous. Now there were more bad guys on the other side of the ocean but they were a little different than titans, and they looked like you and me so it was much harder to defeat them. So the two best friends tried to find a way to win. They went on adventures together trying to figure out their secrets until they almost died trying to do that.”

Levi hesitated.

Hange’s eyes softened at seeing him like this, so she wrapped her arm around him, laying her head on his shoulder.

“And one day one of the best friends asked the other if they wanted to live in the forest together, and leave their younger, smart and powerful comrades to defeat the bad guys.”

He paused once more, and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay, Levi, keep going—the kids are waiting,” she whispered.

“And the other best friend said yes. Their comrades won the battle and the two best friends lived happily ever after in the forest. The end.”

He looked down at the two children, who nuzzled their heads into his lap and were now fast asleep. Jean’s kid snored loudly and drooled over his pants, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. “Oh Hange, I wish you could be here too...” Levi said aloud. He felt tears well up behind his eyes but he blinked them away.

“Don’t worry, Levi. I’m here.” Hange tried to wipe away his tears with her sleeve before she began to wipe her own.

His mind went to the last page of his book of Hange’s notes:

“I hope Levi could live a long life and be happy for the rest of his days. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing him experience happiness behind his dumb scowl. And Levi if you come across this someday, remember that I love you and goddammit try to smile or something in front of someone other than me!”

Levi of course memorized these words, and repeated them in his head as he ran his fingers softly through the children’s hair as they slept.

She drank in the bittersweet moment—watching him smile through his pain. He was trying so hard for her, and it made her heart ache. She hoped that he was genuinely trying to find happiness through all of this. But she knew it was nothing he couldn’t handle. She was always watching him, after all.

Hange felt a pull at her shoulders—time was just about up for today. She peppered his face with kisses, hoping that he might feel them.

A gentle breeze blew through the open window, leaving sweet, cool kisses on his face. He swore he could hear her voice, whispering “Love you, Shorty,” in his ear.

“Love you, Shorty,” Hange whispered as she stood up to leave. She visited him every week, but it was still difficult for her to leave each time.

“Stupid four-eyes,” he thought. He breathed in memories of her and promised he’d try to live the rest of his days happily and smiling just as she wished for him.

“Til next time, Levi,” she said softly, as she closed the window behind her.

#levihan #levi ackerman #hange zoe #hanji zoe #jean kirschstein #mikasa ackerman #jeankasa #levihan fanfiction #snk #aot #snk manga spoilers #snk chapter 138 #snk 138 #niccolo #onyankopon #pieck finger

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xmyshya · 3 years

Text

Shoved it: chapter III - Kickflip

summary: You don’t like skaters. They’re unruly, misbehaved and rude. But this one encounter just might change your view. genre: fluff warnings: tooth-rotting fluff (seriously, make a dentist appointment), slow burn, mutual pining betas: @vanille–kiss as always I’m eternally grateful to you, I love you lots a/n: Written for ANILYSIUM (former HQHQ) Server Collab with the prompt “Meet Ugly”. Check the event’s masterlist here! series navi: masterlist | previous | next wc: 1.7k

This is it, you think staring out the window. This is the last tutoring session. Something makes you sad about it, and as if the world tried to be sympathetic, it’d been raining since morning. Early afternoon brought thunders and a downpour so dense, it looked like a fog. You shift your gaze to refocus on the boy on the opposite side of the desk.

“So, ready for the big day?”

“I don’t think I’d be more ready, even if we sat for another week.” He shrugs.

“Time to go home, then.”

You lift from the chair and pack your things, and after a second he does the same. Even though it stopped raining some time ago, puddles are still lake sized and streets have yet to stop being rivers. You’re not really keen on leaving the school building, but it’s evening, your bus leaves soon, and you’re hungry.

“I’m gonna go on ahead.” You say before he can stop you.

This is it, he thinks after you disappear behind the door. He really wants it to last longer, to spend more time in a quiet empty classroom with you. A sigh leaves his lips as he runs a hand through his hair, looking around the dark room for the last time before locking it up.

There’s still at least an hour before his bus arrives, so Rin drags his feet to the lockers before switching to his street shoes and walking out of the building. Everything is flooded, and he sighs again, slumps his shoulders and shoves his hands into pockets. At least it’s not raining anymore.

Suna sees you still waiting at the stop and wonders if this is his chance. Maybe it’s a sign from heavens for him to speak to you, to be friends or maybe even ask you out. You’re focused on your phone, eyes not registering the approaching boy and the car, splashing fountains on its path.

Acting purely on instinct, he reaches you in a few long strides and pulls you away from the curb just in time. Luck isn’t on his side though, as the vehicle passes at the exact same moment, soaking him from head to toe.

“Well… fuck.”

Shocked; this is how you feel after realising what has just happened. The boy who has been pestering you for the past weeks, the one you did your utmost best to avoid, is standing right in front of you completely drenched. It would be you, if he didn’t react; it should have been you.

“Th-thank you.” You mutter while playing with the hem of your uniform. “Do you live far?”

“No, but I still have an hour before the bus arrives.”

Suna tries to wring the water from his uniform, but no matter how much he squeezes and twists, liquid still pours in thick streams. You try to suppress the urge to brush the wet hair stuck to his face and notice him shivering.

“Oh, uhh… My bus will be here in a moment, and” you feel the embarrassment heat up your cheeks, “I live 2 stops away, so you can come and dry yourself first. If you want, I mean.”

The weight of his stare is almost unbearable, but you miss the blush creeping up his neck and ears, not daring to look back. His voice is quiet and shaky, as he responds with

“Yeah, I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Rin still can’t believe he’s on the way to your house. Opting to stay by the door so as not to wet the whole floor he wishes the circumstances were different, and he wasn’t soaked to the bone, but he’s not picky. If this is what it takes to change your perspective, then so be it.

He sighs, as he runs his hand through sopping hair. Nervousness starts to get to him, words get lost in his head as his mind presses to say something, anything. Since when does he have trouble speaking to a girl?

For some reason his heart is pounding and palms are sweaty, though (he hopes) it might also be because of the incident. So for now, Suna opts to watch you stare at the passing landscapes, as if you were afraid to meet his eyes.

“This is our stop.” You finally say as the bus slows down.

***

Panic strikes when you enter home. Do you even have any clothes that would fit? There are some old sweats and t-shirts of your dad, but it’s difficult to say if the size is right. Not to mention that it’s the first time you invited a boy to your house, and your parents aren’t even here.

After leading him to a bathroom, you disappear in the storage room in search of something for Suna to change into. You grab some pants and t-shirt, and go back to him.

“You should take a hot shower, otherwise you might get a cold. I’ll put your uniform in the dryer afterwards.”

You hand him a wrapped bundle and pull a towel from a drawer. Just as you’re about to leave, Suna mutters a quiet “thank you”, and for the first time you genuinely smile at him.

When he walks out of the bathroom, you’re in the living room surrounded by piles of books and notes; your attention shifts to his presence only after he speaks.

“I hope you don’t mind, I already turned the dryer on. Didn’t want to trouble you.”

His hair is still damp from the shower, and the sweatpants are a little too short, but at least they’re dry. With each lift of his hand to rub the towel at his hair, the t-shirt slides up revealing his toned abdomen. It takes a lot of energy not to sneak a peek.

“Trouble?” You’re confused by his statement. “It’s my fault this even happened in the first place, I should have-”

“Listen, I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want to, okay?” He rubs his neck nervously and the shirt rides up again. “So don’t blame yourself.”

You only nod in response, too flustered to push words through your throat. All of a sudden you remember about the mess around, despite having a guest.

“Oh god, I’m sorry, I just have so much backlog to work on, I’ll clean this up!”

“No!” Rintarou notices your little shiver. “I mean, you don’t have to… I’ve been holding you back, so just… don’t mind me.” A moment of silence fills his mind with guilt. “Hey uhh, do you mind if I get us a snack?”

Now you’ve done it. There’s a visitor, his first time at your place, and a first boy at your place, and not only are you ignoring him for the sake of homeworks, you also failed at hospitality completely by not offering any food. It is late, and neither of you had dinner yet.

“Ah! I’ll get it! You’re a guest after all!” You almost jolt out from under the table, but a hand on your shoulder keeps you in place.

“No no, please, I don’t want to be any more of a bother. You’ve been helping me with school and now I’m just intruding, so let me do this for you.”

“Okay.”

***

When Suna comes back with two plates of omurice, you’re deeply immersed in your studies. He places the dishes carefully in vacant spots, the gentle knock against the table grabs your attention, and cotton-candy-like warmth spreads in your chest. You expected a snack, some yoghurts or a bowl of nuts, or whatever else, not a warm dinner with a “ganbare” written on it.

Papers are shoved to the far end of the top, making space for the hot food. It looks delicious and you can’t wait to taste it. You clear your throat and speak hoping it would distract you from that feeling spreading in your chest.

“Would you like to watch something while we eat?”

“Sure, do you mind if I…”

He gestures between his and your side of the table; you shake your head and shift to make room for him, which he fills right away.

Omurice is indeed mouth-watering, creamy and well seasoned, and in response to your surprised expression he simply says “I have a younger sister, I can make a thing or two”. The more you know about the boy, the more you like him. You try to dismiss it as just admiring him as a person, convince yourself that it’s nothing but a surprise.

It proves to be difficult, however, when you barely register what’s on the screen, because of his proximity; it’s hard, when every brush of your arms against each other sends sparks to your brain; it’s tough, when you can feel his warmth radiating from his body and you want to be engulfed by it.

It’s nearly impossible, when you lean back on your palms, but his hand is already there, and you cover it with yours. Both of you jolt with hearts thumping violently, praying that maybe, just maybe, the other one doesn’t hear it.

After that neither of you moves, eyes trained on the screen but somehow not registering the events at all. In an attempt to ground yourself, you support your chin with your hand, and that’s the last thing you remember.

Rin hears your soft snores and, seeing your peaceful and relaxed expression, smiles as he brushes some stray strands off your face. He’s already overstayed his welcome, uniform long forgotten in the dryer. It’s wrinkled and still smells like a puddle, guess he’ll just have to give you these clothes back on the next day.

Not wanting to trouble you any more than he already has, Suna brings the plates to the kitchen, arranges books and papers in neat piles, and covers you with a blanket lying nearby. He catches himself almost planting a kiss on your forehead.

Before scooping all his stuff and walking out, he scribbles a quick note:

“My clothes were dry and I didn’t want to wake you. Don’t work too hard. See you tomorrow :)”

Taglist: @kageyamas-love @mikasbloodbag

#haikyuu x reader #suna x reader #suna rintarou x reader #suna fluff #suna rintarou fluff #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x y/n #suna x y/n #suna rintarou x y/n #hq fluff #hq x reader #hq x y/n #anilysium server collab #shoved;it #mysh.whitedwarf.[hq]

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obsessive-ego · 4 years

Text

Bath time = nap time

Beetlejuice x fem reader

Beetlejuice saves reader from drowning

Then it gets soft

Slight nsft cuz nudity and mention of masturbation

"You seem to be in a mood"

He was right, you just got home from a long shit day at work, customers screamed at you, your boss left early and made you cover the full store alone, again, you were exhausted and more then a little annoyed, hell, you've been holding back tears the whole bus ride home, and sure as fuck you weren't gonna start balling you eyes out infront of beetlejuice, the man had no idea how to deal with emotions and you really didnt want to deal with all that awkwardness.

Walking in the door, Beetlejuice could feel the angry engery you were giving off, hell, he knew exactly how you were when you were angry, after pushing the envelope one too many times and really pissing you off.

When you two make eye contact with each other you sigh.

"Its just- work sucks" you sigh pinching the bridge of your nose, you flop down on the couch next to the ghoul, you felt like you were let the flood gates break and cry at this point.

"Bring me to work with ya sometime dollface, I'll sort 'em out nice and quick for ya" he cackles, you only give a small smile and a sniffle in return, he frowns, you were no fun when you were like this. Your boss and coworkers constantly took advantage of your kind nature and willing to please to the point that it fucked you up emotionally and physically, but more importantly ruining HIS alone time with you.

"I'm sorry, I just need to cool down" your voice cracks, trying really hard not to cry

"Alright sugar, I can see you need some alone time, I'll make myself scarce so you can do whatever you need to yeah?"

You give the demon a soft smile, it wasnt often Beetlejuice was considerate to your feelings, but was greatly appreciated when he was.

He tussles your hair "see ya in a few, and you better be better to ACTUALLY hang out" he laughs, and with that he was gone, no smoke, no fan fair, just simple pop, gone.

...

You start your quiet time with a bath, a nice hot bubble bath, it's been awhile since you did that, you were more of a shower person solely for how fast it was, as you waited for the tub to fill you begin to strip down. Unknown to you beetlejuice didnt exactly leave, he just vanished, invisible to your eyes, you stopped at you shirt, the demon groaned at this tease, yes he loved your ass and legs, but he wants the FULL picture.

The demon was banking on his sweet breather blowing off some steam the good old fashioned way, going to town on that cute pussy of yours, but jerking off in the bath? That was new, not that he was complaining, a change of scenery was always nice, keeping things nice and fresh for him? Such a considerate breather you were. hell the ghoul was already buzzing with excitement, electric pink tips already showing in his hair, it's been awhile since he had quite the show, yes he spied on your private times, can you blame him? Hes a demon straight from hell, that may or may not be head over heels for you, his sweet little breather, and watching you take care of business was an excellent way from him to see what you like for future reference~.

Beetlejuice's attention was brought back to reality when he herd the rushing water stop, his gaze leaves your legs and follows the hem of your shirt, drooling at the new exposed skin, when you dropped the bra the ghoul gave you a very lewd motion, an over exaggerated jerk off motion and a wolf whistle, not that you knew it.

Stepping into the tub you let out a soft whine, like always it was boiling hot, the noises you made as you sunk your tired body into the water were practically pornographic, well at least to the ghoul in the room who already had his cock out, just waiting on you to start, but you didnt.

You just layed there in the water, most of your goods covered by bubbles, it felt like an eternity before it clicked with Beej you weren't gonna start playing with yourself.

He huffs, pretty disappointed with the result, floating out of the bathroom and into you bedroom to deal with his sour mood the best way he knew how, digging through your underwear drawer, as occupied as the demon was in this activity, his ears did perk up at the sound of a knock at the front door, tending to his meat would be fun, BUT scaring the piss out of someone would be better.

The ghoul took no time disguising himself as you and quickly making his way to the door. Quickly swinging the door open to reveal the mailman.

"Package for l/n, sign here please"

Beetlejuice took the package eagerly, and scribbling down a mess on the clipboard handed to him, the ghoul responds with a cheerful "thanks" in your voice before grabbing the bottom of his jaw and pulling it down to his chest, as swarm of various bugs fly out, the delivery man screams and makes a quick escape from the premises. Beetlejuice cackles, and returns to his old self, placing the box down he heads to the bathroom where you were to gloat about his recent scare, he adored how your eyes lit up when he bragged about his work to you, a fun little retelling would get you out of your mood and back to being fun.

The ghoul knocks on the bathroom door

"Knock knock" he shouts matching the knock on the door

No response, he knocks again

"Sugar?"

...

"Babes?"

...

"Y/n?" Concerned in your silence, he takes a deep breath and hollers "y/n if you dont respond by the time I count to 3 I'm coming in"

"3!" He shouts phasing his head through the door, what he saw made his hair turn white, a colour that rarely graced him, your legs hung over the sides of the tub, while your head was completely submerged, how long where you like this?!

Beetlejuice quickly lunges into the tub without a second thought, as much as he hated water, it didn't matter now, it didn't matter that his suit was soaked, it didnt matter that you were going to be upset that he was straddling your naked body, what mattered was not letting you drown, the demon quickly pulled your head out of the water.

"Come on sweets, a dead guy cant give ya CPR" he utters trying to gently shake you awake

With a hard cough, spitting out a bit of water you were awake.

Moving the wet hair from your face you rub your eyes, before you could yell at beetlejuice for invading your privacy, you're pulled into a tight wet hug.

The first thing that came to mind was the smell, to the point where you felt dizzy, Your head was spinning on what was going on, you were completely naked and enjoying a nice bath, but here beetlejuice was, fully clothed, in the tub straddling you, and now hugging you, as embarrassment and anger fill your chest, but despite all the confusion was the biggest feeling you had now, but before you could say his name once the ghoul speaks.

"The fuck were you doing?" He utters into your ear

"I-"

"Trying to scare the fuck out of me?" He squeezes you tighter

It clicks

"I fell asleep in the bath again huh" you mumble

Beetlejuice pulls away and stares at you with a quizzical look,

"I used to doze off in the bathtub when I was younger, ya know, it's so warm and peaceful" you trail off while nervously laughing, refusing to meet his eyes

"What am I going to do with you?" Beetlejuice sighs

The two of you remain in the position, sitting in silence for what feels like an eternity.

Finally glancing back to the demon, you realize the position you're in. Naked with a born dead demon, you had more then a little crush on, leaning over you, you couldnt really scream at him after him saving your life huh, but this was a little much.

"Beej? Can you leave?" You stutter out finally crossing your arms over your exposed chest, not that it mattered, the demon probably got an eyeful already.

"Oh! Sure, but uh, you gonna be okay? Or do you need a lifegard babes?~" his voice drops to that seductive gravel that always made your knees weak, the ghoul leans in close, water sloshing over the side of the tub. "Cant have you stop breathing sugar, I've grown accustomed to that warm body of yours~" he whispers as a hand travels up your thigh.

Beetlejuice was always a handsy guy, you knew that, and didnt mind it, but now, being completely exposed like this? It was a little too much too soon.

"If you get out of the tub, clean up the water you splashed on the floor, and keep your hands to youself, you can stay" you mumble out.

"I'll take it" the ghoul jumps out of the tub, and with the snap of his fingers the bathroom was just as it was before he jumped in the tub with you, and with another snap beej was back to being as dry as his humor.

The ghoul hops up on the sink, his eyes glued to your naked form.

"Oh, almost forgot" the demon snaps his fingers again, the room fills with a harsh green smoke, and once it disperses, beetlejuice was no longer wearing his trademark suit, instead he sported a pair of swim trunks, black and white striped, a whistle around his neck, a pair of sunglasses, and a pair of white flip flops.

"Lifeguard is on duty sweet thing"

You couldnt help but laugh

"I'm CPR certified doll, but you dont gotta be drowning if all you wanted was a smooch~" he cackles you laugh along with him.

Yes it was a little embarrassing finishing you bath routine with an audience, but the unexpected happened, beetlejuice was polite, at least for his standards, no lewd jokes, no gross comments, nothing, and here you were completely naked and consenting to his presence and he was on his best behavior. The odd joke was given, but it was much more tame then what you've grown to know, while you washed your body the ghoul chattered on about scaring the mailman and how he really didnt get why breathers were so eager to stay clean.

With the bubbles finally gone that was a good indication to get out and dry off, your muscles now relaxed and you yourself were in a more better mood, albeit alittle drowsy.

Pulling the plug in the tub was a good signal to the demon to turn away from you, you raised an eyebrow at this

"What are you doing?"

"Babes I am a gentleman, I couldn't possibly gaze-"

"You literally just sat there for like a half an hour watching my naked ass like a hawk" you were quick to interrupt. The ghoul visibly flinches at your words still facing away from you

"Humor me babes" he says with a shrug

You sigh, finally standing up and wrapping a towel around your chest, and another towel around your hair. You continue your routine with the ghoul facing away from you. Reaching for a bottle of lotion, you squirt some out and begin rubbing it into your skin, throughout the process you could see the undead demon visibly shiver and wobble a tad, you try not to think about it.

With the thud of the bottle being put away you raise to your feet and leave the room with beetlejuice trailing behind.

You sit down of your bed removing the towel around your hair, the ghoul sits down next to you, once again dressed in his suit. The two of you make eye contact for a brief moment before you look away, remembering how the born dead demon, moments earlier, on top of your naked body, let alone watched you take a bath, the whole thing finally caught up to you and all you could hear was your heart hammering away, so you didnt hear Beetlejuice the first time he tried to get your attention.

You nearly jump out of your skin when his icy cold hand gripped your shoulder, you turn back to the ghoul, realizing he was a bizzar mix of purple and pink.

"Are you okay?" You mumble out

The ghoul snorts a small laugh "I was about to ask you the same thing doll, you almost died" his gaze was scary serious something you weren't really used to seeing from him.

"I'm fine, dont worry about it-"

You were cut off by beetlejuice pulling you into a tight embrace

"Dont worry about it? Are you stupid or something? Jesus y/n I cant have you dying on me, I need ya, your my-" he stops himself, you push away quirking a brow staring back at the ghoul

"I'm your what?"

"You're my... breather, ya know, cuz I'm haunting ya" he shrugs with a forced laugh

"Right, thanks again for your help" you trail off sounding a tad disappoint with the ghoul's response.

Beetlejuice picks up on your ton and quickly grabs your wrist

"Doll I, no y/n, this isnt easy for me to say okay, but fuck, ya mean alot to me, and I dont want ya to stop breathing before you live your little breather life, and yeah, you're my breather, youre mine, my-" the ghoul's grip looses up on you, you gently grab his hand and give him a soft smile

"Thank you" you whisper before pulling the demon into a hug

It's alright that you're both cowards with how you feel, but this was a nice start

Bonus

This was as close to heaven as beetlejuice was ever gonna get, here you were his favourite little breather, hugging him, out of your own free will wearing nothing but a towel, and right after he tried his damndest to confess to you, yeah it didnt come out clear, but you were happy, he'll try again another time and really spell it out that he loves you

#beetlejuice x reader #muscial beetlejuice x reader #rambling #nsft

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nataliedanovelist · 4 years

Text

GF - Amalia

For @artsymeeshee. Thank you for everything you do for us, for providing plenty of fluff, over-protective Ford content, and angst with a happy fluffy ending. Love you!

~~~~~~~~~~

The snow reflected the tiny amount of sunlight the capital of Iceland received. Spring was coming, though still a ways off, but the large island still welcomed the sun that was starting to rise earlier every day and stay longer as February was coming to a close.

She opened her eyes as the sunlight reflected on the Sea and sparkled like magical dust. She stood proudly on her beam, her favorite Nest, and stretched her back and paws, letting her claws escape her tiny little beans, and then hide again, a secret weapon for any enemies, though she had few. Really, apart from some rude Cubs shooting tiny metal balls at her, the world was fairly kind to her. Big Animals in thick coats gave her Pets and occasionally Food, coming in big Machines and soon left. Some of the Machines made dark clouds, some looked like they were controlled by fluffy white clouds. She liked them all, and was Happy to make sure no Bad Machines or Bad Animals in thick coats came on her Land.

Sometimes, when things were quiet by the sea, she would go Exploring. Cubs would play with her, maybe a Bad Animal or two would try to hit her with a collection of straw at the end of a stick, but she was fast and agile and was never hurt too much. Nothing she couldn’t handle. Today she thought she might go Explore her Land, but something caught her attention. An Animal was standing on a Machine.

The fur on the top of it’s head was fluffy. She wanted to play with it. It had glass in front of it’s eyes, for whatever reason, and had a coat like her’s: thick and blue, but a darker shade, not light like snow, like her’s. She blinked at the Animal and watched it. It took in a deep breath, smiling, and a Hole opened on the side of the Machine and a Path appeared, sliding down onto her Land. “Come on, Stanley, we have a lot to do today!”

“What’s your rush, Sixer?” Another voice could be heard as the Animal left it’s Machine and a second Animal appeared. This one had something red on it’s head, though it didn’t appear injured, and it also had glass in front of it’s eyes. She didn’t want to be seen right now, so she hopped down from her favorite sleeping spot and hid behind some boxes. “We’ve got all day, and if you really wanna sight-see we can stay here tomorrow, too.”

“Yes, I suppose so, but then we’ll have to wait another day for Mabel’s package for us in Ullapool, Scotland.”

“Good point. But we can always visit this place again on our way back to Oregon.”

“Fair enough. Well, how about a quick walk and then we’ll restock on supplies.”

“S’long as we can stop at that bar tonight.”

“Deal.”

The two Animals smelled similar, but not identical. They were a Pack. A Herd. A Family. She watched them venture further into her Land, but she let them. They were Good. She could tell. She emerged from her hiding spot a little after they passed her and watched them go. She wanted to go with them, but she didn’t want to be caught. She would have to be sneaky.

She carefully walked behind the Animals with glass in front of their eyes and watched them. The Animals were a wonderful Pack. They talked and laughed and played, pushing every so often, playing like she used to with her brothers and sisters, and she smiled at knowing they were having fun and learning how to be good fighters. When the Animals were joining other Animals on busy parts of her Land, she climbed up the stone Dens and walked on the tall place to watch them and be close to them. She was good at being sneaky; they did not know she was there.

Sometimes the Animals would go inside the Dens. When this happened she would sit and wait for them to come out. Sometimes they came out with nothing new, other times they would come out with Gain in their holds. When they walked, she walked with them, either behind them or above them. Too soon the Sun was setting again, and she found the Animals going back to their Machine. She was Sad, but walked behind them at a safe distance and watched them enter their Machine.

Behind the boxes, she laid on her belly, resting her face in her paws, Sad that the Animals were going away. She liked them. But then she heard something that made her lift her head and her ears stop being droopy. She looked up at the Machine and found the Animals coming back! They had no Gains with them; they must have left them in their Machine, and decided to go out Exploring again! She watched from behind the boxes as the Animals walked into a Den not too far from the Sea, and she made a Plan.

She had been Sad when she thought the Animals were going away forever, like all the other Animals did. Very Sad. She never wanted to be that Sad again. She carefully sniffed the Path and decided that it was Safe, so she trotted on it, through the Hole, and was on a Machine.

She was a little bit Scared. She had never been on a Machine before, but she could smell her favorite Animals everywhere and could feel the Sea beneath her. She loved the Animals and the Sea, and she knew she was Safe. She decided it was time to go Exploring! This Land was big, but not too big, so it wasn’t Scary. She walked around and could smell more of her favorite Animals’ scent from inside the Machine, inside the Den. There was a Hole with a small opening, leaking out the smell and light, so she pushed the Hole open a little more and entered the Den.

The den was Warm and Safe and smelled of her favorite Animals whom she loved. There were tiny Suns here and there inside the Den. There was something big and Cozy in the Den, away from the Hole. She hopped onto it and pawed at it and rolled around it. It smelled like the Animals the most and she almost fell asleep, but she wanted to Explore some more. And she was hungry. Maybe the animals had Food in this Den.

She stood and sniffed. Something smelled Good. Smelled of Food. She followed the smell to something tall that held weird rectangles with black scribbles on them. There was a small container Animals used to hold Food. This was wet and black, but she lapped at it anyhow, but it was not Good. Not Bad, but not Good. Oh, well. She would find Food later. She wanted to Explore some more.

She hopped down from the tall place and smelled as she Explored. The Land went down at the farthest part from the Hole. It looked a little Scary, but she could still smell her favorite Animals, so she hopped, hopped, hopped down carefully. She was surprised to find two fluffy Nests inside this deep part of the Den. This must be where the Animals slept. She could tell; it smelled the most like them. She smiled and hopped up onto one and rolled around and played with the fluffy stuff. It was Fun and Cozy and Warm and Safe and Good.

She stopped to stretch and yawn. She was Tired. She decided to sleep here, but where? She needed her own Nest. At the end of one Nest, there was a box. She loved boxes, and this one had a tee tiny Hole that could be made into a bigger Hole. She hopped down and stretched her front paws and head into the Hole, pushing through it. The whole box was filled with Warm fluff that smelled of her favorite Animals. She was excited. Her own Nest was Warm and smelled like her favorite Animals! She slipped in, circled, and tucked herself in to go to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

After some tasty food and warm beer, the brothers returned to their home on the water, tired and ready for bed. It was very cold and bitter out in the night hair, but that only made the warm boat more welcoming and more appreciated. However, Ford was a little annoyed at finding the door cracked open, letting in cold air. “Stanley, I thought I told you to close the door all the way.”

“Sorry, Ma, I was hungry.” Stan said sarcastically and shrugged as they went inside.

Ford sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed and locked the door tightly. “Good thing I’ve almost perfected our security system so we won’t have to worry about being robbed.”

Stan rolled his eyes and yawned into his hand. “Welp, I’m beat. You coming to bed or do I gotta drag you there myself?” He asked, shrugging his trenchcoat off and throwing it on the couch on his way to the stairs downward for the bedroom.

“No, no, I’m coming.” Ford said tiredly and followed his brother down into their bedroom. “I’ll be taking a shower so if you want one you’ll have to wait.”

“Nah, I’ll take one in the morning.” Stan answered, peeling off his beanie and yawing again, ready to collapse into his warm bed and not move again until sunrise.

Ford moved to the far end of the bedroom, where the bathroom was located, and turned on the shower so the water could warm up. Meanwhile Stan groaned, seeing how Ford had done laundry that morning and now his twin had to pull the warm extra blankets and quilts out from the chest at the foot of his bed.

Stan opened it groggily, not expecting to stare down at the context for a full minute until he was capable of speech, but here he was.

“Uh… Sixer?”

“Yes, Stanley.”

“We have an expected guest on board.”

Ford stopped unzipping his blue hoodie and joined his brother at the chest, who’s eyebrow was raised in unapproval. The aged scientist, however, was stuck with a blank facial expression while he tried to digest the fact that there was an animal curled up on top of the stack of blankets and quilts.

It looked like a cat, though it was unfair to call her a cat. Passersby may assume so without a second glance, but this creature appeared too abnormal to be a kitten. She had pointy ears coated in thick fur to keep out cold hair, light-blue fur that could blend into snow, a tiny button black nose between huge, round, baby-blue eyes, a small floof of fur on the top of her head, and a skinny tail with fluff for fur at the end. It appeared so small and helpless in the mess of blankets, looking up at the brothers with shiny eyes filled with wonder. After a moment of silence, Ford grinned and placed his hands on his knees to be closer to the anomaly without frightening it, and he spoke to her with a voice as quiet as a mouse and soft as silk.

“Hello. Where did you come from, my dear?”

“Dunno, don’t care.” Stan moved towards her and said, “I’ll put her back outside.”

Ford’s senses heightened and he gently grabbed his brother’s wrist to stop him. “Hold it, Stanley, there’s no reason to kick her out so quickly. She’s not doing any harm.” Ford returned his smile to the anomaly and cooed softly as he reached for her and let her sniff his six-fingered hand. “Come here, little one, it’s alright.”

The anomaly happily sniffed Ford’s hand and rubbed the side of her head onto his palm, begging for pets, which he happily gave. The eldest twin carefully scooped her up into his harms and scratched her, finding her favorite spot, until she was practically putty in his hold as he scratched her under her chin.

Stan stared in disbelief and snorted. “Are you kidding me? You spent most of your life around dangerous monsters and you’re gonna let one on our boat?”

“She’s not a monster.” He scolded lightly and smiled again as she purred against his chest. He held her out to him to see better and added cheerfully, “Look how cute she is, Stan!”

“Yeah, until it decides to eat our face!” Stan argued, a hand up in defense.

“She won’t hurt us.” Ford said firmly and held her close to his chest again, letting her lay on her back so her four little limbs were up and trying to catch his wiggling fingers. “I bet she was cold and hungry and was trying to find shelter. Isn’t that wight, wittle one?” He cooed in a low voice. “Who’s a hun-gy wittle anomaly? Are you, are you?”

“Don’t feed it!” Stan yelled after his brother as he went upstairs. “Then it’ll want to stay!”

“Great idea, we’ll feed her so she’ll want to stay!”

“That is NOT what I said!”

Ford rolled his eyes and laughed down at the anomaly when she caught his fingers and licked him with a rough tongue. She wasn’t even trying to hurt him. She was playing and happy to give his hand a little bath. “Don’t worry, my dear. Stanley is right about one thing: I’ve met many aliens and monsters and anomalies in my day, but I can tell when one has nefarious purposes and when one does not, and you don’t. You’re a good little girl; I can tell.”

One handed so he could still cradle her, Ford opened the freshly filled cabinets to hunt for something the strange animal would eat. “Hm, let’s take a look at your teeth.” He gently pulled down her mouth and as surprised how little she fidgeted and fought him. “Interesting. Only half of your teeth are carnivorous. You must be able to adapt to plants or berries if needed. Very well, let’s see… oh, here. You’re lucky Stan talked me into picking up tuna.”

At the time it seemed ridiculous to buy canned tuna when they could fish for dinner whenever they wanted, but Stan said they should still get it because canned goods never expired and fishing wasn’t always successful, so Ford opened the can and placed it on the table and sat the anomaly down while he tidied up a bit, stacking his notes and books and putting his cold coffee in the sink. From the sounds of it, Stan had hopped in the shower since Ford was apparently too busy playing host to bathe, which was fine by him. He sat in a chair, watching how the anomaly ate.

She was definitely not skin-and-bones, but she ate quickly, plunging her face into the can and eating happily. Ford chuckled and pet down her back. She was fairly clean, if not a little weather-beaten. Clearly she could take care of herself, but why should she when he could? Okay, sure, Stanley was a little apprehensive about taking in a strange anomaly as a pet, and perhaps Ford shouldn’t be so quick to take her in as a pet. She might not be happy cooped up in a boat with two old men. In fact, if she lived on this dock, she might do this often, visiting sailors for food and shelter and then leaving in the morning.

“Well, if you want to leave, I won’t stop you,” Ford said to her as he watched her eat. “But if you want to stay, you’re more than welcome to.”

The fluffy anomaly sat up and looked at him with kind eyes. Ford smiled at her, and could have sworn she returned with a tiny smile. He slowly reached for his journal, a green book with a golden six-fingered hand and a crescent on the cover, and opened it carefully so as to not scare her. The anomaly sat perfectly still, watching him, as he turned to a clean page and pulled out a pen to begin sketching her. He titled his head to the side to get a better angle of her, and he stared to find her doing the same, mirroring him.

Ford smiled and titled his head the other way, and sure enough the little one followed his lead. Chuckling, he decided to push his luck and he straightened his head and stuck his tongue out at her just a little bit. The anomaly stared at him, and sure enough, a tiny pink tongue poked out at him. Ford snorted, bit his lip, and continued sketching. He noticed her tail was wagging, like a dog’s might when happy, and he added that to his notes. He had no idea what to call this species, so he left the title blank for now, deciding he would come up with a species title once he had more information.

They must have been at that table for an hour or so, because soon Stan’s rough voice called from the bedroom sharply, “Sixer, if you’re not down here in two minutes…”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Ford called back and grinned as the little anomaly yawned, making the tiny tongue stretch out and curl inwards slightly. The old man carefully pick her up and carried her with him into his shared bedroom. Stan was in his undershirt and boxers, shaking his hair dry with a towel as he sat on his bed, and he growled when he saw the animal still in his twin’s arms.

“Please tell me you’re not taking it to bed.” He snarled.

“No, of course not.”

“Good.”

“She deserved her own space.” Ford said as he pulled a pink blanket out from the chest and placed it neatly, still folded, on the floor between the beds. “She can have her own bed.”

“What!?” Stan yelled as Ford got on his knees and let the anomaly climb down onto the blanket to give it a try. “I’m not letting that thing sleep in here! What if it turns into some blood-sucking monster in it’s sleep and kills us both?!”

“That won’t happen, don’t be so paranoid.”

“Oh ho! That’s a new one!” Stan laughed harshly, but quickly turned sour again. “Can’t believe you're not a bit more guarded with that thing? What makes you think you can trust it?!”

Ford shrugged. “A lot of people lately have proven to me that I can trust others. Besides, there’s good in her. I can tell.”

Stan blinked at his brother. It was like this was a completely different man than who had come out of the portal. Well, okay, Ford knew that before they had even started sailing that Ford wasn’t the same person he was when he punched Stan in the face, but still. Stanford Pines really had changed a lot.

“It’s just for one night, Stanley.” Ford eased as he took off his hoodie and slipped off his boots, preparing for bed. “She’ll leave in the morning and find some new friends to provide food and shelter from the next cold night, I’m sure of it.”

Stan rolled his eyes and laid down with his back to the fluffy pair. “Fine, whatever.”

Ford had to admit that he was a little chest-fallen that his brother was a little cold towards their temporary house-guest, but he can recall their niece telling Ford that Stanley appeared to have a burning hatred for a certain pig, but everyone knew he loved Waddles very much. Perhaps he was trying to prove he was still a tough guy, or perhaps Stanley didn’t want to get attached to the anomaly so he wouldn’t be disheartened when she was gone. Ford knew he could handle her leaving tomorrow if she wanted to, he would be happy to have met her and that she was happy, so with one final scratch between her ears, ruffling her little floof, Ford took off his glasses and turned off the lantern, letting darkness overtake the bedroom.

“Goodnight, Stanley.”

“G’night, Sixer.” The younger twin managed to grunt.

Ford smiled, relieved that at least his brother wasn’t angry at him, and he slept soundly as the warm boat kept the cold late-winter air away.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford was the first one to wake up. Or at least the first one to rise out of their bed. He slipped on his glasses and was happy to find the little anomaly where he had left her last night: curled up like a kitten on her folded blanket. He took the time to scratch her behind her ears before heading towards the shower.

The aged explorer could understand why Mabel was so attached to her pet pig, Waddles. There was immense satisfaction in caring for something or someone and having them care for you in return. While that is the fundamental basics of human relationships, homo sapiens tend to over complicate such relationships with intense emotions and lack of logic. Other species, like most animals on Earth, allowed this principle to be basic and easy, simple. Give love, get love.

Throughout the years, Ford had indeed come across hundreds of thousands of different creatures. True, a vast majority wanted to eat his face, but to be fair he had been in their climate and they were hungry. That was the beautiful circle of life. Some creatures were perfectly friendly and could even offer some companionship, but none of the creatures Ford had met would stay for long and he knew better than to get too attached; he was too busy trying to take care of himself to add a pet to his list of responsibilities. However, if an animal who enjoyed his company wanted to walk with him in the forest or up a mountain, he wouldn’t stop it or go out of his way to scare it off, knowing full well something else would capture it’s attention or Ford would have to hop through a hole in space-time and the animal would run off, less inclined to follow the kind stranger to an alien world.

Still, a small part of Ford had missed the idea of having a pet. He can remember enjoying Shanklin’s company as a child and being very sad when he had died, though not nearly as heartbroken as Stanley had been. When he had discovered the Shapeshifter as a hatchling, there was a reason he had quickly associated it as a pet, despite Fiddleford’s arguments against it. Perhaps if the encounter hadn’t ended so ugly or if he hadn't been so distracted with Bill and the portal, Ford might have taken in a pet to give him company when it was time for Fiddleford to return home. Maybe a low-maintenance cat or something unique and different. Maybe he would take in a plaidypus. He had enjoyed that anomaly’s company.

As the warm water made it easy for the old sailor to think, he seriously considered adopting the new anomaly as his pet. He knew that Stanley would warm up to her eventually, he just needed time to trust that she wouldn’t go savage on them. Really, there was no real issue or obstacle in his way. They were financially stable, so they could afford to take care of her, there were no other pets that might get jealous of her, they would always be around her so she would never be neglected or abandoned on the boat. Really, the only obstacle Ford could see was that the anomaly might not want to stay.

If Ford had learned anything about wildlife is that animals pick the humans just as much as humans pick the animals. There must be a mutual agreement to love and care for each other in their own unique way, but if one if not willing or incapable of returning the affection, then the arrangement wouldn’t work. There was a large possibility that the anomaly was perfectly happy being a peaceful stray and didn’t want to be tied down to one boat and one pair of sailors, which was perfectly fine. Like Ford had said last night, if she wanted to leave, that was okay. But if she wanted to stay Ford would be nothing short of delighted.

As Ford emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist and a towel in his hand, shaking his fluffy charcoal gray hair dry, he found the sweet anomaly on his bed, playing with his blankets, rolling around and pawing at the soft fabric. He smiled and hung up the towel in his hand as he approached the anomaly, who stopped playing to receive pets and lick his six fingers.

“Good morning, my dear. Sleep well?” He whispered, knowing full well she couldn’t respond, but she looked so happy and well rested, even her fur appeared to host some bed-head. Ford glanced over at his twin, who was still fast asleep, limbs sprawled everywhere and snoring peacefully with his mouth wide open. He grinned, having an idea, and he gently picked the anomaly up from his bed and placed her on Stan’s bed, just by his legs.

As Ford got dressed for the day, he watched as the anomaly pawed at the blankets and then walked up to Stan’s face, then sat and watched him for a moment. Ford had to bite his lip to keep from laughing when the anomaly lifted a soft beanie paw and gently smacked Stan’s nose, playing like she had found a ball. By the time Ford was fully dressed the anomaly had climbed up to Stan’s chest and sat close to his face, happy to only watch him sleep.

The sudden weight on his chest stirred him and Stan groggily opened his eyes and was shocked to find two large baby-blue eyes staring closely at him. “ARG!” He yelled and sat up quickly, making the anomaly jump down from the bed and hide under the bed.

Ford laughed good-naturedly while Stan growled in his throat and put on his glasses. “Ford!”

“Good morning, Stanley.”

“What is that thing still doing here, I thought she was only staying just for the night!”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll leave once we leave.” Ford reasoned as the anomaly slowly crept out from under the bed and rubbed herself against Ford’s legs.

Stan grunted, not sure if he should believe his wishy-washy brother, but it was too early to fight this battle, so he yawned and popped his back and made his way upstairs to make coffee.

The anomaly followed Ford everywhere he went. When he went upstairs, so did she. When Ford sat at the table, she hopped onto it. He smiled and got up for a second, seeing how she turned her nose at his coffee, and he poured her a small plate of milk. She happily lapped it up while the twins sipped their coffee and went over their plans for the day, one purposely ignoring her and the other occasionally petting her or scratching her behind the ear.

About an hour later Stan and Ford were ready to leave for some sightseeing while at Iceland’s capital. The anomaly followed them out of the cabin of the boat and hopped on the wall of the Stan O’ War II and watched them walk away. Ford even waved her goodbye, not sure if this would be the last time he would ever see her or not. Again, it was totally fine if she decided to leave. But the fact remained that Ford would be immensely grateful if he found her still on their boat when they returned.

Stan privately decided that it was best to get his brother’s mind off that little menace, so hopefully when they left the dock and set sail tomorrow morning they could leave this whole ordeal behind them. The two brothers had a good time cracking jokes and laughing as they visited historical sights, museums, and other amazing things the capital had to offer about their culture and history. For lunch they sat at the park with warm sandwiches and listened to a street performer sing and beat a drum about a mountain troll wanting to get married.

Having seen everything they had wanted to see, Ford and Stan decided to head to the Stan O’ War early and leave the docks before dinner. Ford was a little disheartened to find the anomaly no longer on the wall of the Stan O’ War, which again, was fine. She was a wild animal and could do whatever she wanted. And no, Ford was not upset over the fact that she wanted to move on.

So why on Earth was he so jubilant, could feel his heart do a cartwheel of joy in his chest, why he grinned so happily, at the sight of her on one of the lounge chairs, bathing in the sunshine and only awoke because she sensed someone’s presence and she smiled up at him and went to rub against his legs again.

Ford picked her up and held her close to his chest, alone with her since Stan had gone inside to start on dinner and probably didn’t even know she was here. The old scientist sat in the lounge chair and petted his new pet softly, making her purr against his hold.

“You’ll need a proper name, my dear.” Ford thought out-loud. To help decide which best suited her, he listed some names out to see if they sounded right for her. “Luna? Ivy? Amber? Periwinkle? Maybe something more sophisticated, like Alessandra? Stella?” Ford tilted his head to the side as they looked at each other. She coped him curiously.

He chuckled and rubbed her head. “You are a strange anomaly. Hm… while Anomaly isn’t a suitable name, maybe something along those lines. Maybe… Molly? No, close, but you don’t quite look like a Molly, my dear. How about…” And then suddenly, he had it. Ford knew what to call her. It was perfect. It was unique, just like her. Ford smiled peacefully at her and settled with, “Amalia. I’ll call you Amalia from now on.”

“Alright, Sixer, we ready to set… oh, great.” Stan stopped when he saw who Ford was with and he glared at the strange anomaly.

“Say hello to Amalia, Stanley.” Ford said happily and held her up to him to see. She poked her little tongue out at him.

Stan glared at his brother. “Amalia? You named it?!”

“Yes. So? Is there a problem?” Ford asked with a raised eyebrow, bringing Amalia back to his lap, a little tired of Stan’s cold attitude.

“Stanford, you’re not supposed to name it.” He growled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Once you name it, you start getting attached to it! Now get it off the boat, we’re leaving now.”

Ford looked down at Amalia, who was curled up in his arms, and then back up at his brother firmly. He hated to push him, but this was important to him and he genuinely felt like Stan was being unfair. “No.”

Stan blinked at his twin. “I’m sorry?”

“No,” Ford said calmly. “Stanley, please. I think she wants to stay, and I want her to stay. Yes, she is probably a wild animal and can take care of herself, but she shouldn’t have to. Why should she when she could have a loving family who takes care of her? I know you’re a little apprehensive that she’ll turn on us, but as my brother I’m asking that you trust me and let me keep her. Please.”

Stan stared, no longer visibly angry. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Ford. He did, more than anyone, and if someone who used to not trust anyone found this little ankle biter worthy of his hard-earned trust, then Stan had to give that little fur-ball some credit. Not to mention that Stan could remember a time when the tables were turned and someone had agreed to help keep a certain possum a secret. At the memory Stan couldn’t help but smile.

He sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, and admitted defeat. “Fine, she can stay. But she’s your pet, which means you feed her and clean up after her, you keep her out of my stuff, and if one day we wake up missing a finger or an eye, I’m blaming you.”

Ford grinned; he could see right through Stan’s tough-guy persona. “Thank you, Stanley. You won’t regret it.” He stood and hurried off the boat. “I’ll go buy some supplies for her before we leave! Thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Stan muttered, shaking his head. He couldn’t believe how happy his brother had looked when given permission to keep that little gremlin. Stan hadn’t seen Sixer that happy since they first began their adventure.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford couldn’t find a pet store within close range, but he did find a convenient store that might have the bare minimum he was looking for. Cans of meat, maybe a soft bed, toys, a brush, etc. Though there was no sign saying “No Pets Allowed,” Ford wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t allowed to bring Amalia inside with him, so he decided to play it safe and hide her in his hoodie.

At first she was tucked in by his chest, her tiny claws clinging to his sweater with no pain to his skin, but Amalia soon climbed up his neck and he had to put his hood up to hide her. She made her way up the right side of Ford’s neck, curling around the back of his head, and resting her front half by his left shoulder, giving Ford a small, furry scarf around the back of his neck, and curling up for another short nap.

And no, Ford was not crying next to the shelves of cat litter.

pt.2

#GF #gravity falls #fanfiction #gift #ford pines #stan pines #sea grunks #amalia #anomaly pet #CUTE!!!#fluff #mostly fluff #and a little fluff #more to come... probably #I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!!#Thanks for reading!

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formeandmyfics · 3 years

Text

JUGENEA FIC

IN LOVE AND WAR PART II.

Judy and Gene escape to their get-a-way, but they’ll still have to face the consequences of their relationship. Rated M

Continuation of Part I.

Judy watched as Gene's headlights pulled up on the opposite side of the street as she stood at Kay’s car. Liza was pretty much passed out as Kay fastened her seat belt. She then stood aside so Mama could say bye. After kissing her cheek, Judy just stared at her daughter.

"She'll be ok. It's only for a few days." Kay saw Judy's eyes start to water again, and she decided to remind her that it was her best friend waiting in the other car, "Honey, it's Gene."

"I know," Judy said looking over at his car. She could feel him staring, but could only see darkness past the bright headlights, "So, why does this feel so wrong?"

Gene felt a feeling of dread overtake him when he saw the way Judy looked over at him. He knew that look. She was hesitant. His fingers gripped the steering wheel turning white as he waited to see if she would turn and go back in her house. When the two ladies hugged goodbye, Gene let out a breath that he didn't even realize he had been holding in. He got out of the car to help her with her suitcase, but she waited and watched until Kay drove away safely before she walked over to the car.

The short car ride down the hill to Sunset, and over to his hotel, was quiet. She hadn't uttered a word, and he was nervous to speak, as it might make her change her mind in some way. When Gene walked out of the hotel with a packed duffel bag, part of him expected her to have fled. He knew how she could be when she had panic attacks, but fortunately, she was still in the car listening to the radio.

Before driving over to Pacific Coast Highway, Gene had asked her if she was hungry. Of course, her response was no. He wasn't hungry himself, so let it go. It would be a few hours up the coast, and because it was nighttime, the cars were getting sparser, so they'd probably get there quicker than usual. He let Judy have her silence as they listened to a marathon of Bing Crosby radio programs. After an hour and a half, his stomach was rumbling, so he pulled into the next restaurant he saw: a late-night burger joint.

Getting out of the car, he opened the door for her, but she just looked up at him, "I'm not hungry, honey, you go ahead."

"Judy, you should eat something."

"I'm fine. Just get me something to drink."

Gene knew it wasn't any good arguing. He went in and ordered a burger and fries to go, along with a large iced-tea to share. He ate in the car, offering for her to have a bite, but she just shook her head and read her magazine. He did get her to have one french fry, which she took irritated, to get him to stop.

The rest of the ride up, although tense, was very peaceful. By then, romantic jazz-tunes played over the speakers as they drove along the coast; the Pacific Ocean was lit up by moonlight on their left, to their right, houses were lit up like lanterns on hillside. With her head leaned back, and her eyes fixated on the ocean, he could tell she was at least enjoying the evening serenity and he offered his hand, turning his palm up so she could link her fingers with his. She accepted it.

It was a little challenging to find Kay's beach house once they reached Morro Bay. It was in a secluded area on the hillside and of course was vacant, so no lights were on. But, with the address scribbled in Kay's handwriting on a small piece of paper, Gene finally found it. He noticed Judy was sound asleep as his tires rolled up the rocky driveway. The white, wooden beach-house was smaller, but charming from what he could tell from the outside. The only lights visible were the in-ground lights along the sidewalk leading up to the front door. Gene let her sleep as he grabbed their bags and made his way inside. After turning on a few inside lights, he made his way back out to Judy.

"Baby," he said softly rubbing her shoulder.

"Mmm," she sleepily mumbled still more asleep than awake.

"We're here."

He rubbed her shoulder again and she rolled her head to look, squinting her eyes open, but she closed them again, "I'm so tired."

Gene smiled and helped her out but then picked her up, grabbing under her thighs, so they'd wrap around his waist. She held on, but remained half asleep, letting him carry her inside. The stress had overtaken her, he knew. She always got super tired when she was overwhelmed. His energy was just as drained and could not wait to crash.

"Do you want to go to bed or look around first?"

"Bed," she mumbled, her cheek resting on his shoulder.

Taking her straight into the guest bedroom, leaving the Master Bedroom vacant for Kay's privacy, he sat her on the bed. He opened her bag to find her some pajamas as she kicked off her flats and sleepily dropped her slacks. Suddenly her white blouse hit him over the shoulder prompting him to turn around. He chuckled when he saw her take her bra off and just carelessly fling it across the room, not even paying attention to him. Without a word, she plopped herself under the Egyptian cotton sheet and was almost instantly asleep. Gene untied the bandana ribbon that was holding up her hair, then covered her with the comforter before leaning over to kiss her on top the head.

"Goodnight," he whispered before turning the light off.

The clock on the nightstand read ten a.m. as the sun was shining bright into the furnished, white-washed guest room. Gene stirred out of sleep feeling absolutely heavenly. The patio doors were slightly ajar making the sound of the ocean waves crashing down below more prominent, along with the sea gulls flying overhead. He could also smell the sea-salt fresh air as he turned over on is back. The bed was so warm. Rolling over on the other side, and reaching his arm over to cuddle his girl, it landed on the flat pillow-top mattress.

Opening his eyes, he leaned up on his elbow. He was about to call out for her when he heard the faint sound of the shower running. Smiling, he got up, in his shorts, and head straight for the bathroom just outside the door. Like they had reminded each other days ago, it had been so long since they had a luxurious shower together. After a long night's rest, she must be feeling better by now.

The door completely shut made him furrow his eyebrows as he approached, but when it didn't open, that baffled him. Why would she lock it? He had a quick worrisome thought that maybe she was in trouble, but when he heard the shower turn off, and the curtain open, from the other side, he realized she hadn't wanted to be disturbed. It made him very uneasy. He didn't like it, not one bit.

While Gene took his own shower in the Master Bathroom, Judy got herself thrown together. She threw on a pair of short, shorts and a white blouse that tied at the waist. As she let her wavy curls air dry, she threw on some light makeup. Then Gene got dressed in a pair of slacks and a t-shirt. They passed each other like an old married couple, barely paying attention, though it was the most natural thing in the world. But for that entire time, they hadn't spoken a word.

Feeling peckish, he made his way to go into the kitchen to cook them a little something, when he heard Judy's voice in the open-living room, attached to the open-air kitchen, he stayed in the hallway and listened.

"I'm sorry we didn't call last night. I passed out and I'm sure Gene did, too. Yes, slept good. I love the house. Thank you again for letting us use it. How's my baby? Oh, she is? Ok. Hi, Liza, darling, it's Mama. How are you? Oh, you did? That's good. Are you behaving for Auntie Kay? Oh, well, you behave when you're at that studio. Are you going home with Daddy? Oh, you want to say with Kay? Hehe, well, it's ok by me but that's up to her and Daddy. Yes. Yes, I am. I love you so much. Ok. Bye-bye. Hi. Okay. Yes, I will. I'll call you if I need you. I'll try, but it's not as easy as it sounds with everything nonstop in my head. I know. Alright. Talk to you soon. Bye."

Gene walked out from the hallway into the open space when he watched Judy walk out onto the porch.

By the time she entered back from outside, he was done cooking. As she was going to walk right past him, he banged a plate of eggs, bacon and toast on the island nook counter in front of her and she looked up at him.

"Eat. Cigarettes, iced tea and a French fry are not a suitable diet."

"I did have some strawberries earlier," she said sitting on the stool.

"I promised Kay that I'd make sure you ate, and we are using her home, so better do as the lady says."

They were both silent as Gene made his plate. When he took a seat opposite her, he noticed she was glum and just pushing her food around which saddened him and escalated his impatience.

“I had hoped I could join you in the shower this morning.”

“You were sleeping. Didn’t want to wake you. I know how exhausted you were.”

“Why did you lock the door?”

Judy looked up at him as his eyes pierced at her as he took a sip of OJ, “I wanted to be alone, to relax, you know, after everything.”

“I didn’t agree to come up here for each of us to be alone, separately,” his tone was harsh and she didn’t appreciate it.

Judy dropped her fork hard on the plate, looking away as she shook her head and he went on, “You’ve barely said two words me for Christ’s sake.”

“Gene, please, I don’t want to fight.”

He ignored her request, his voice getting louder, “You’re shutting me out and I don’t fucking like it, Judy.”

“If you haven’t noticed, this isn’t easy for me!”

“If you haven’t noticed, this isn’t easy for me either! I’m going through the same god damn thing you are, so stop acting like a victim,” Gene looked down at her plate, “Will you eat some food before you get sick?”

Judy pushed the plate towards him, “Screw the food, and screw you.”

Her eyes were the ones biting into his now, she was provoking him he could tell.

“Why don’t you just face it, Judy,” he said in a lowered voice, but full of venom, “We’re the ones to blame. We did this to ourselves. So, stop acting like a little brat.”

For a split second, Gene felt a rush of nervous adrenaline hit his body as her expression became ice cold. She stood up and walked up next to him pointing her finger at him like the strictest of teachers.

“The next time you talk down to me like that, your wife won’t be the only one to back hand you. And I mean that.”

Gene sighed as she walked back to her seat, showing her his remorse, but his anger didn’t subside, “You have no idea how I feel. Do you understand what I went through last night? My wife kicked me out. I had to beg her not to talk down about me to our daughter. I don’t know what the future holds for me where my family is concerned. You,” he said tossing his hand out at her almost disgusted, “You still have everything. So, your husband walked out. He didn’t throw you out, did he? No. And he won’t. You still have your mansion.”

“Gene,” Judy said flabbergasted at the disdain in his voice it shocked her.

“You still have all the time you want with your kid, as you should. But I should, too. And I don’t know if I ever will again. Stop acting like ‘poor me’ because it won’t work here, baby. You know, I don’t put up with that shit,” he then pushed the plate back to her, “Eat your food!”

When she just stared at him with a loathing expression, and tears in her eyes, he lost it. Getting up, he took both their plates and threw them so hard into the sink, the plates broke. With that, Judy got up and walked out. He didn’t even know she had until he heard the patio door slam so shut, the pictures on the walls rattled.

Judy checked the time on her watch around her wrist. She had been gone from the house for over an hour. She was proud of herself, she hadn’t broken down and cried since she left. Lord knows, she usually would have. She actually found it amusing. She had walked the beach and then wandered around the small fishing town, nearly a mile from the house. No one payed her any attention as she walked the old-fashioned brick road, just like Kay had said. She found it refreshing. She noted the charming shops and ma-and-pop cafe’s, places she for sure would like to check out sometime before leaving Morro Bay. If only she had brought her purse.

Walking to the large dock she passed many fisherman’s boats, but she didn’t observe any of them, or their owners, as her intent was the benches at the end of the pier. She wanted a little rest.

Gene had busied himself as he cleaned up the mess from breakfast and then relieved the angry energy by doing some push ups and crunches. Every few minutes, he had looked out the window to see if he could see any signs of Judy, but nothing. He hated how he always worried about her, when he knew she was perfectly fine. His love for her just ate him up alive. It wasn’t fair that their love was the reason they were dealing with such turmoil. As the great poet wrote, all’s fair in love and war. Smiling from amusement in his own head, Gene checked his watch. If she didn’t return in an hour, he would drive around looking for her. Until then, he grabbed his carton of cigarettes and headed outside. He wasn’t going to let anything ruin his chance to relax.

As Judy sat along on the bench, staring at the sea, her thoughts became like poison. She realized as much, that whenever she was troubled, and she was still for too long, or didn’t have noise like a radio to distract her, she got too overwhelmed in fearful thoughts. It was an anxiety symptom she always had, and suddenly regretted taking a moment to sit.

“Dammit,” she whispered as she felt tears springing to her eyes. She didn’t want to cry. Everything was just so fucked up. Before she knew it, she gave up and let it go.

“I beg your pardon, Miss…”

Judy looked behind her, wiping her cheeks, and an older gentleman, in a hat and dirty overalls, was standing there fishing. She hadn’t even heard him walk up and became embarrassed wondering how long he had been there.

“But, may I be of any service?”

“Oh,” Judy giggled, “No, I’m alright. But thank you.”

“You look like you could use a friend,” he said over his shoulder as he reeled the line in.

Judy didn’t know what to say, but she didn’t disagree. His presence interrupted her negative thoughts for the time being, for that she was grateful. Standing up, Judy walked over to him.

“Did you catch something,” she asked curious as he twirled the line in.

“Maybe, I feel something’s caught,” he said as he kept reeling, “Do you fish?”

Judy almost laughed, “Do I look like I fish?”

He glanced at her and then smiled, realizing her question was a fact.

“I don’t even cook.”

“Oh, here we go,” he said and reeled the line up. But when he got the line out of the water, it was a shoe. Grabbing it off the hook, he made a face as he showed her. She couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Looks like someone’s lost a shoe,” she giggled.

“Maybe it’s Cinderella’s,” he said dropping the shoe on the dock. As he put another worm on the line he continued off from their interrupted conversation, “You don’t cook?”

“Well, I have, but I just don’t have time.”

“You must not be a stay-at-home, gal,” he said throwing the line back in the water.

“No, I’m not,” she said realizing he hadn’t recognized her.

“You own a business or somethin’?”

“I’m in the film industry. Are you a fisherman?”

“How could you tell,” he smiled.

“Wild guess.”

“My boat’s over there. The white and blue one. I sell my catch to local shops. So, film industry you say. You’re pretty. Are you an actress or something?”

“Or something,” she half-teased.

“I apologize if you are. I don’t see movies. I live on my boat alone, all I have is my radio.”

“Doesn’t that get lonely?”

“Not in the least. I have a dog, and friends in each port, and the sea. With all the creatures I’ve seen out there, like whales and dolphins, it’s hard to get lonely,” he looked over at her as his line settled, “I have to say, your voice sounds familiar.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard me on the radio,” she said amused and leaned in whispering to him, “Judy Garland.”

He did a surprised double take on her, “No kidding?” She nodded and he went on, “I’ve heard you hundreds of times Miss. Your voice is the loveliest I’ve ever heard.”

“Well, thank you kind sir.”

“I’d shake your hand but I don’t want to get you dirty. I’m Finn. It’s nice to put a face with a voice.”

For a moment they were silent, and Finn looked back at her as she stared out looking melancholy.

“I hope everything is ok. I couldn’t help but notice you crying back there.”

“I’m just a bit overwhelmed with life right now.”

“With your work?”

Judy shrugged, “That’s part of it. Something happened that changed my life all in one day, and now I’m feeling stuck on deciding which way to go. And if I do make a decision, will it be the right one?”

Finn wrinkled the skin between his eyes, “Why do you have to make a decision? Why don’t you just let God make that decision for you.”

“And how do I do that?”

“If you’re asked to make a decision, don’t do it. Let the good lord show you the way. You’ll feel it in your bones. It’s all about feeling and it won’t be based on fear or confusion. It will be an instinct and it will just feel right.”

“But either way, someone is going to get hurt.”

“This shouldn’t be about others. You look like you’re the one hurting, so let it be about you. The others can do the same and no decision is right or wrong. It’s what feels best for you.”

“When you say it, it seems so simple.”

“You know, my whole life changed in one phone call. Seven years ago I got a call that my wife died…”

Judy immediately put her hand on his arm, “Oh my, I am so sorry.”

“It put me into a depression, which is inevitable. I would sulk and put myself down and I refused any kind of help from anyone. I thought I had to fix my own problems and kept worrying about my future. Finally, I thought, this isn’t a way to live. I asked the good Lord to show me a purpose in life other than grieving my wife. Low and behold, not a month later, I found out my wife had a fishing boat that was inherited to her by an Uncle that passed away and was now mine and the rest is history.”

Judy realized seven years ago is when she and Gene became involved romantically and thought it all very uncanny.

“And you’re happy now?”

“Oh, yes. I love how I’m living my life. All you have to do, miss, is give your worries to God and see how fast he shows you the way. Are you here on vacation?”

“Of sorts.”

“Then why are you here alone? Worrying about the future is no way to live. Just live in the moment. Enjoy where you are right now and leave decisions for when that time happens.”

Judy smiled, “You’re very wise.”

“I don’t want to see ya crying no more, you hear?”

She giggled, “Yes, Sir. I, ah, I guess I better take your advice and get back to where I need to be. It was so nice meeting you. I really appreciate your kind words.”

“Anytime, Miss Garland. I sure hope to see you around again, sometime.”

“I’d love that. Good bye,” she started walking away but then turned around to call out, “Finn?” He looked over and she smiled, “When you hear me on the radio, pretend I’m with you.”

Wiggling her fingers she turned and kept walking.

When Judy walked back up to the house, she saw Gene on a lounge chair outside. His baseball hat was covering his face and his ankles were crossed. She knew his nap pose right away. Her shadow covered his body from the sun as she stood next to him.

“I’m sorry.”

Without a word, his below bent as his hand reached up and she put her hand in his. Leaning down, she lifted his hat just enough to give him a peck on the lips.

He took his hat off and looked at her seriously, “Please don’t put a wall up with me.”

“Wall is down,” she said wanting to skip over this part. She could tell he wanted to talk but she didn’t have the energy, “We both know each other well enough to just erase this morning.”

Gene sat up and was about to speak when she placed her hand over his mouth, “Look, we can either rehash our fight, or we can drive into town to eat. Your pick.”

With that, Gene couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re bonkers, you know that?”

“Yes. That’s why we get on so well,” she said giving him another kiss.

“Oh, that’s why, huh? I thought it was the sex, too.”

“Well, it sure is an important part.”

Gene smiled when Judy snuggled closer, bending her leg over his lap. The two sat on the couch in front of the fireplace as the patio doors on each side of the fireplace were open, letting the sea breeze blow through. The ocean waves crashing upon shore, mixed with the sounds of Billie Holiday playing from the record player, relaxed both of them. It was the most content they each had been since before the whole ordeal.

He leaned his head back, closing his eyes, reveling in her warmth as he assumed she was falling asleep. He wouldn’t have her asleep anywhere else. But when he felt her start to slightly tap to the beat of the music, something she always did, he lifted his head.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?”

“Feeling much better.”

“You should have eaten a long time ago, then,” he teased.

The two had gone to a seafood restaurant, choosing to sit outside for privacy. They ate a scrumptious meal of lobster and crab and told anecdotes and shared memories of the studio giggling over a few glasses of wine. It was like the light came back, for both of them.

“You know, when we were at the restaurant…”

“Mm hm,” he cut in kissing her temple.

“I felt like we were back at the studio during our first picture. Remember, we would eat lunch out on the picnic tables. It was just the two of us and we’d just laugh and tell silly stories. Do you remember?”

“Of course I do. That’s where our real friendship blossomed.”

“I’d look forward to our lunches every day.”

“So did I. But after we got together, I looked forward to when they yelled ‘That’s a wrap for today’ the most, because then we’d meet in my trailer.”

“And take out our frustrations with Uncle Buzz on one another,” she said provocatively with a raised eyebrow.

“It was more fun to relieve stress that way than hitting the gym.”

“A work out,” she giggled.

“Oh, it sure was,” he chuckled back thinking of their fun and playful encounters.

They fucked like rabbit back then. Now, it was more meaningful, and terribly erotic. They never got bored with each other. It was never dull or routine. He never tired of being with her. She fulfilled his every desire, physically and mentally. She was exasperating, but her Gemini ways were always intellectually stimulating, keeping him interested and on his toes. He knew how to handle her. There were only a few and far in between in Judy’s life that could: him, Dottie, Kay and Roger. They were the only ones he could think of on the top of his head that knew how to skillfully peel each layer of her personality, like an onion, and weave their way through that spider web of her insecurities.

Although Vincente loved her, and respected her God-given gifts, he treated her like a porcelain doll, keeping her safe and polished and beautiful, but when it came to her psyche, he handled her with kid gloves. Gene suspected that’s really why the marriage didn’t continue its connection. Someone like Judy needed tough people in her life. She needed someone whom she respected that would tell her no, because of her own well-being, someone who would say ‘yes’ not ‘yes, dear’. That’s what Gene did for her, and he knew it. They both did. But both were equally balancing on a thin wire right now. If one of them fell, the other would fall, too, and most likely in the opposite direction.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Us, and how happy I am to be here with you, just the two of us.”

She sighed smiling as she readjusted her head on his chest, loving the feel of his hand caressing her thigh.

“It’s all so romantic,” she contently mumbled.

The record stopped playing, silencing the room, as it automatically flipped to the other side. As Miss Holiday’s ‘I’m All For You’ started playing, Gene gently pushed Judy off of him as he sat up. She protested with a whine and watched as he went over to the mantle and lit a match.

“What are you doing?”

Gene lit the candle there, “Adding to the ambiance.” She followed him as he walked around the couch and turned off the lights. Suddenly, the room was filled with the orange and yellow hue of the candle and fireplace.

“Now,” he said walking in front of her and holding out his hand, “Romance.”

Judy smiled, looking down almost blushing, before taking his hand. Swiftly, he pulled her up and held her close. There, barefoot in the living room, they very slowly danced to the melodic voice. They stared in each others eyes balancing between his expression of unconditional love and her trying to read his thoughts. Judy placed her face against his neck and realized she didn’t need to. Thinking back on the advice she had been given earlier by the wise fisherman, she stayed in the present, sinking in the moment and melted into his arms.

They danced to all of the songs, in silence, until the record exhausted. When the only sound was the fireplace and the needle rotating on blank canvas, Gene noticed she utter putty as they just barely swayed by this point.

“The record stopped, baby.”

Judy lifted her head sleepily, but motioned for him to kiss her, which he did. As her fingers softly caressed the hair behind his ears, his lips stopped the gentle pecks to suck at her lower lip. She let him. But when it switched to her upper and his hand slid to the back of her neck, a tell-tale sign he was about to deepen their lip lock, Judy pulled back.

“Is it okay if we just go to bed?”

“Okay,” he said sweeping some hair away from her face.

“Are you tired,” she asked, though she could tell he wasn’t the least.

“No, but I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep. Then I’ll catch up on the paper. Is that alright?”

“Yes. I just want you to hold me for a little bit.”

“That’s what I came here for,” he said blowing out the candle as she turned off the record player.

“Are you terribly disappointed,” she asked with a puppy dog face as she held her hand out to him which he took as they started walking down the hall.

He knew what she was referring to and he stopped walking. He tugged at her hand, spinning her to him, where she landed up against his chest gleefully startled, “No. That’s not what I came here for. I came here to be with you, period.”

“I really love you, you know that,” she whispered her finger tip tracing the scar down his cheek.

“I know,” he took that hand and kissed her fist, “I can tell in every way possible. That’s why I’m not going anywhere and why we’ll get through whatever life throws our way.”

He saw fear start to creep up in her eyes again and her voice whimpered almost pleadingly, “Gene.”

He wasn’t having any of that, “Bed,” he said and bent down to pick her up over his shoulder. She screeched laughing and let him carry her down the hall to bed.

A seagull made a noise, landing next to Gene on the lounge chaise out in the backyard, and Gene woke up with a start. He squinted at the bright morning sun before sitting up, the newspaper still sprawled over him like a blanket. After rubbing his eyes, he checked his watch and bolted up.

“Fuck,” he said as he rushed to the patio door, but he stopped on his heel when he saw a note posted on the window of it. In Judy’s handwriting it said good morning, with a smiley face. He relaxed a little knowing she wasn’t upset.

Judy had just finished shaving, and was going to shampoo her hair, when she heard Gene walk into the bathroom. She couldn’t see him, but she knew he was embarrassed. Peeking out of the shower curtain, she looked at him with an amused smile.

“Yes, may I help you?”

Gene ignored her teasing and stepped into the shower with her, clearly not happy with himself, “Hope you have the water extra hot.”

“Why,” she asked, stepping away from the water as he took her spot.

“You try sleeping on a pool chaise all night long, and see how your back feels.”

Judy giggled, placing her hands on his chest as he leaned back and moaned as the hot water drenched his body.

“I think I’ll stick to a bed,” she said and he stretched, many bones cracking on his back making her wince, “Ew, Gene.”

“That’s what dancing your entire life does to you.”

“I’m surprised my voice doesn’t do that then,” she teased grabbing the shampoo bottle.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep out there. Here turn around,” he said taking over. She did as she was told and let him massage the shampoo in her hair, as he knew how much she loved it. It was always heaven when he did that, when anyone did it, but with him, it was special.

“I’m not mad. I know you didn’t mean to.”

“I wanted to sleep with you in my arms all night, fuck,” he said more to himself than her.

“Okay, well, don’t take our your anger on my scalp,” she laughed and he immediately loosened up, “You can do that tonight. When I fell asleep you were holding me, that’s all that I care about anyway.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because you used a newspaper as a blanket and looked so cute,” she said turning around.

Gene smiled and kissed her. He shampoo’d his own hair watching her as she let the water rinse out her hair. With her eyes closed, he took the opportunity to observe her body, the soapy water running sporadically down her alabaster skin. He watched the water travel down her breasts, dipping in and around her belly button and down the apex between her legs. He felt his cock twitch involuntarily but was happy when she moved out of the way to let him rinse his own hair. He respected her not wanting to make love last night, and was going to respect those wishes until she initiated. Though feeling better, she was still vulnerable and possibly a ticking time bomb. He didn’t dare do anything to set her off, emotionally or physically.

As he scrubbed his face with a soapy wash rag, Judy washed her body with her own personal loofa she brought from home. It had just the right amount of pressure for exfoliation.

“Darling, can you get my back?”

“Ya,” he said and took over. As he rubbed her back with it, she sighed and laid her head back on his chest.

He couldn’t help but laugh, “I can’t get your back when you do that.”

“It just feels so good,” she whined and let him continue. He did her back and then her tush. When he was done, he smacked it.

“Your turn.”

“Oh, good,” he said and handed her his wash rag but she swatted his hand away and grabbed the lavender body wash to put some on the loofa.

“No.”

“No, what?”

“What is this,” he said grabbing the bottle from her to look.

“It’s body wash.”

“It’s girl shit.”

“Gene,” she gigged, “it’s a scented soap.”

“Women’s body wash,” he read, “Lavender Aromatherapy to heighten the sensation of serenity with the scent of eucalyptus to calm the mind.”

The look he gave Judy of pure ridiculousness cracked her up. She pushed the loofa to his chest and he laughed taking a step back.

“No.”

“Gene.”

“No, Judy. I’m not going to be smelling like a god damn flower all day,” he cleared his throat very deeply in purpose and hit his chest with his fist like Tarzan, “I’m a man.”

“You’re also being a baby, and your back hurts, so turn around,” she said pushing him so he would. And he did.

As he let her loofa him, he relaxed and she smiled, “See, how does it feel?”

“It feels fine, but it smells like shit.”

“Then you’re saying I smell like shit, because this is what I use.”

“This isn’t Kay’s?”

“No. I brought it from home in my travel case. This is what I’ve been using since before I met you.”

“Well, then it must mix differently with your pheromones or something,” he said trying to get out of it.

“And it’ll mix with yours just fine. Here,” she said and put the loofa aside to massage his back.

“Ohh,” he groaned, “Now we’re talkin’, “As she massaged his sore back, he kept conversation, not getting enough, “What do you want to do today?”

“I was thinking of having a breakfast picnic on the beach. It’s so beautiful out.”

“That sounds good.”

“What do you want to do?”

“You know what I’d like to do, later on, maybe for a late lunch is grill some steaks. I saw a grill out there. What a woman like Kay Thompson has with a grill I’ll never know, but it’s a damn good one.”

“I can guarantee that’s not hers, it’s Bill’s. He probably just let her keep it, or forgot about it. What about after lunch?”

“See about renting a speed boat or something, go on the ocean.”

“That sounds great. How do you feel?”

Gene stretched and they didn’t hear one crack and she giggled, “Look’s like a job well done.”

After spending a few hours on the beach, Gene drove over to the local market to pick up some fresh food and a bag of charcoal for the grill. The two putzed around the house and played cards until Gene wanted to work on cleaning the grill, to get it ready for cooking.

After making a call to Kerry, he placed the steaks in the sink to thaw and went outside. Judy took that opportunity to call Liza as she cut up some fresh fruit, a marathon of 'My Favorite Husband' playing over the radio in the background. Liza was back at home, and was her usual happy self, and told her Mama everything she got to do with Auntie Kay. When Judy asked her how Papa was doing, she said he was good and playing with her. In that moment, Judy felt a bit more at ease, like everything would be ok.

When she was finished with her call, and the done preparing the mix of fruit, she went over to the sink to wash her hands. In doing so, she glanced up, to look out the window, and did a double take as he worked on the grill outside. Staring at him adoringly, she felt at home. They were alone, sharing a house; he was outside about to grill, she was in the kitchen, it all felt very homey, and very comfortable.

Judy's cozy thoughts soon turned attractive as she watched him bend and stand up again, paying attention to his muscles, as he didn't notice her through the window. He was shirtless, his skin sun-tanned, his baseball cap was on backwards, and he just looked so damn sexy. She had seen the man's body countless times, they even had showered together that very morning, but observing him right now did something to her. Her first thought was, 'he's mine', which caused butterflies to interrupt her tummy.

She was so grateful for his complete patience with her. It was his way of showing her his love, she knew that. Sharing their romantic moment last night felt like a real-life movie, and sharing a shower with nothing but contentment made her feel safe and secure. Though their relationship was very sexual, they didn't need to feed off of that energy. But right now, Judy was craving it, craving him.

Biting her lower lip, she wanted to do something to surprise him. A little afternoon delight would excite him, and her body would thank her as well.

Gene finished cleaning the grill spic and span, and was proud of his handiwork. After preparing the coal, he wanted to make sure the meat was thawed enough before lighting it.

"Hun, can you check the steaks? They thawed out enough yet," he called out behind him where the window was open.

When he didn't hear her, he called out again, "Judy?"

"They're getting there," he heard her say in a bit of a child-like tone.

Thinking she was being playful, he smiled and turned around, but stopped dead in his tracks. She was leaning against the door frame in a sheer, baby doll. Her hair was out of its tie and now tousled around. Oh, he knew when he was being seduced.

Gene let out an appreciative chuckle and tossed his baseball hat off behind him and started walking towards her, "Well then..."

Judy couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. For feeling sexy, she sure was more amused. She never tired of the way he responded to her, even when she felt silly at times.

Gene gently slipped his hands on her waist, feeling the material bunch up just a bit as he did so. His voice lowered and he spoke alluringly, "Hiii."

"Hiii," she responded just the same and let him kiss her.

"You are full of surprises," he breathed, breaking from her lips, and looked down at her lingerie-covered body in a very lewd way.

"I was watching you out there, and I was getting kinda lonely in here," she responded sweetly feeling another form of tingles between her legs just by his expression alone.

Gene bent down and with a slight grunt, he lifted her, with her legs around his waist and walked them more into the house, now in the kitchen, "You aren't gonna be lonely now."

He gently lifted her bottom until she was sitting on the island countertop. Running his hands up her bare thighs, he bent down and kissed the middle curves of her breasts pushed above the top.

"I want you so bad."

"Good, 'cause I thought you might like an appetizer."

Gene laughed against her skin before raising his head to meet her playful eyes. As much as she tried to be seductive, he knew she sometimes became shy in her initiation of sex, and it was that way right now. But, he was going to show her how much he appreciated this, no matter what she had planned.

Judy knew she didn't have to do this, and he knew it as well, but she wanted to and he was very much appreciating it. She never deterred her blush from him. He always quickly made that go away. And right now, he was looking at her like she was going to be his snack. Selfishly, she wanted to be.

Gene moved his hand up to the back of her head and cupped it to keep her steady as he pushed her head closer to his, but refrained from kissing her. She slightly gasped at his sudden in-control maneuver as his lips hovered over her right ear.

“Then I better get you ready,” he whispered before laying a wet kiss on her jaw line. He smiled to himself when her heard her surprised breathy sound to his comment.

His open-mouthed kisses traveled down her throat, stopping at the areas she knew made her shiver with ecstasy. She wasn’t shy, however, in letting him know audibly how he made her feel. Leaning her head back, she sighed, running her fingers through his hair urging him on. Gene kissed his way to the other side and gave equal treatment before leaving a trail down her chest. When he got to the fabric of the nightie, he licked a line parallel to the cup over her left breast. It was just above her nipple, and the long lick of his tongue made her nipples immediately erect, begging for the same treatment.

After doing the same to the other side, his fingers fiddled with the satin bow tight in between the cups.

“I love that you wore this for me. You’re so beautiful.”

“But you want to get rid of it,” she smiled, her breathing already getting unsteady.

“I wanna get rid of it,” he stated.

“What are you waiting for,” she teased, but also wanting to feel his mouth on her.

Keeping eye contact, he gave one hard yank to the tie, making her body jolt just a tad, before the garment fell apart. Gene wasted no time in darting his head straight for her breast. Judy tried to focus on wiggling her arms out of it as he sucked her. Gene realized her struggle, and without removing his mouth, he yanked the rest off her arms and she tossed it carelessly behind her. Immediately placing her hands back on his scalp, she arched back and whimpered, now being able to fully enjoy his treatment.

Holding one hand steady on her naked back, he moved his mouth to the other one but didn’t skip the teasing like the first. He kissed around her, fondling her with his free hand as he did so. He then licked around her nipple, hardening the tip even more. Judy felt another wave of pleasurable tingles spread between her legs and when he finally sucked on her like the first, she immediately felt herself get wet. She couldn’t even stop the moan that escaped her throat. Gene responded by grabbing her hips, pushing her more into him. She could already feel the bulge in his pants and wrapped her legs around him. He went back to her other breast and licked her nipple back and forth while sucking her in. The pleasure she felt from him made her feel so hot and bothered, she placed her palm behind her on the counter to keep her own body steady.

Feeling her over-stimulated, his finally stopped his amazing torture and lifted his head up to her. She waiting for his kiss, but he just stared at her lips while his hand undid the button on his pants. He felt overdressed. Unzipping, he dropped the slacks and kicked off his canvas slip ons. Judy didn’t need to take her eyes from him to know he was making a tent in his shorts. She used to her hand to feel it instead.

Gene immediately kissed her. He new one thing she couldn’t do when he was kissing her passionately was multi-task. Sucking on her lower lip and moving to her upper one, he then angled his head and laid an open-mouth kiss on her, his tongue sweeping over hers. Immediately he felt her let him go and her arms wrapped around his neck. He loved when she touched him, but he still wanted to pleasure her, and wanted to feel himself become as hard as possible without her advances. The feeling of pushing inside of her when he was to the point of pain always felt the fucking best to him.

Judy felt her head reeling from the sexually charged kisses and she met him half way, reciprocating her feelings. Her body was in overdrive. She had wanted the man just watching him minding his own business outside, but now she didn’t care which way he took her, she just wanted to be had. All that energy was building at her core, she for sure knew an orgasm wouldn’t take long no matter what he did.

Gene broke their kiss and she immediately wiped some remnants of light pink lipstick from under his mouth away with her thumb before he backed away. He always found it amusing that she did that, especially when they’d soon both have remnants of each other on them, but it was her way of taking care of him, an affection she did as a second nature.

As Gene’s kisses went down her tummy, Judy leaned back onto her elbows. Tracing his tongue along the line of her lace matching panties, it had the same effect as when it did it to the bra. Then he traced his tongue up along the center of her, heightening the sensation. Her head immediately went back, her loose curls dangling just above the counter top. Hooking his fingers into the sides, her bottom automatically lifted so he could slide them off. Dropping them at his feet, her back easily slid up as he pushed her forward so his torso could lay upon the top for a more comfortable position. He was not in any hurry, but he waived the teasing.

Judy enjoyed the sensations as he pleasured her with his mouth. She was so very aroused, but loved the intimacy when he did this, and he was skillful as well. He knew how to get her there fast, or how to refrain so she could just enjoy the feelings. Right now it was the latter. Her hand softly caressed his hair as he remained gentle. Though tender, it still felt amazing, and she felt another wave of pleasure slowly crawl inside of her.

She let out a mewling cry as sounds of an audience laughing from the radio program erupted into the kitchen. Her voice must have set him off because then he held her hips down and started a harder motion with his tongue, swirling and swirling around her pearl before sucking on it. The sound of his mouth on her made her feel so primal. He didn’t stop and her tummy started convulsing, matching her desperate cries. When Judy felt his finger enter her and start pushing upwards onto her spot as his mouth continued sucking her, a rush of pre-orgasm erupted. She moaned loudly, reaching up over her head with both hands. A ceramic bowl of grapes fell off the island and landed hard onto the floor cracking in two.

“Fuck.”

Gene didn’t know if she said that because of the bowl, or what he was doing to her, but either way, she sounded like she liked it.

When he felt her start to twitch around his finger, he knew she was close and removed it, followed by his mouth. He loved when he made her cum that way, but in this instance, he knew eventually she’d stop him, begging him to be inside of her instead. Saving her the breath, he willfully stopped.

With her legs bent, she placed her thighs together and had her arm over her forehead letting the almost orgasm subside as he dropped his shorts. Gene caressed his hard on, with just enough pressure to keep him as hard as he knew he’d get as he let her catch her breath. It was tough to keep control as he glanced at her center, waiting for him.

When she finally looked at him and smiled, biting her lower lip again, he playfully growled and grabbed under her knees, yanking her hips to him. He was about to enter her when Judy sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck laying one hell of a kiss on him. It was so passionate, is stilled his movement. Leaning her body back just a little, but keeping her lips skimming his, she reached down and guided his shaft towards her. Only after feeling his tip reaching the inside, did she release him to wrap her arms around his neck again letting him do the rest. Keeping eye contact, he pushed in with one swift movement knowing how wet she was. It was easy but just enough pressure to make both of them shiver.

They shared soft kisses as he moved his hips, finding the right feel and pace, but his strokes became quicker and harder fast, both already near the edge. As he did so, Judy leaned back again, her arm wrapped around his shoulder as his held her lower back. Her left palm rest on the counter to stabilize herself, as his opposite palm rested on the other side for balance and pressure. Judy didn’t know if she was making any sounds or not, over her skipped breaths, all she could hear was Gene’s loud grunts as she felt him hitting up on her spot, her orgasm building with each stroke.

Feeling himself close, Gene lowered her onto her back again, her bottom nearly off the edge as he pounded his entire shaft in and out of her, their skin meeting just as hard. His face hovered over hers as her fingers grasped his hair crying out each time, her face scrunching. He nearly held his breath, his veins popping out of his temples, as her body tightened around him.

“Ahhh, Gene, oh my God,” she breathed before she let out a loud anguished cry as it burst throughout her.

The pressure of her thighs squeezing his sides felt so fucking good and he stood up, grabbing her hips, pushing into her with a few more strokes until the pressure in his cock let go.

“Oh, baby,” he groaned with desperation as he felt all his love for her shoot out at least four or five times as her after shocks contracted around him. When they were both sated, he pulled out but let his body rest on top of hers, his face buried in her neck. She held him tightly, loving how he always made skin-to-skin contact after climax.

The next morning, Gene stood, bare ass, at the bedroom patio door smoking his morning cigarette as she stared at the ocean. He looked at the time before putting the rest of the cigarette out. Climbing back in bed, he snuggled Judy from behind and kissed her cheek. She stirred and let out a sleepy whimper.

"Wake up lazy bones."

"What time is it?"

"Almost ten," he snuggled his face in her neck and held her tighter, "I love waking up next to you."

"Me, too," she let out a giggle, "You smell good."

"Like what, our lovemaking from last night?"

"No, like Lavender."

"Ugh," he said pushing himself up off of her, "Why do you have to ruin the moment?"

She laughed, "That's not ruining the moment."

"I'm going to go for a run, then I'm going to shower and not use that girly soap."

"Alright, you do that," she said stretching.

"Wanna go with me," he asked sheepishly knowing she did not run.

"I refuse to answer on the grounds of me getting annoyed with you and really ruining the moment."

"Then I shall remove myself from the situation and go by myself," he said leaning over to kiss her.

A little later, Judy was drinking a cup of hot tea, sitting on the patio deck when she spotted Gene running past, minding his own business. She slightly smiled. He's such a doll, she thought.

Just then the phone started ringing startling Judy and she immediately bolted up and walked into the living room. Her first instinct was that it was Kay, it was the only person that knew they were there. Just before Judy picked up the receiver, she pulled her hand back slowly. Kay never called them though, they had called her, or called home to speak to the kids. She could only fathom Kay calling if there was an emergency of some kind.

Suddenly, she got a bad feeling, and timidly answered, "Hello?"

"Judy."

She felt her heart start racing when she heard Vincente's voice on the other end.

Gene let out a satisfied grunt as he fell back onto the bed, a towel around his waist. His run and shower afterwards felt so good. After he came back from his run, Judy was outside playing solitaire. It wasn't uncommon, but he knew she only did that when she needed to concentrate her mind on something else. He didn't think anything of it and let her have her solitude as he took his shower.

Gene laid there relaxing until he felt his body dry off. He was about to sit up when he felt the bed shift. He just barely had opened his eyes when Judy was there laying a kiss on him. He gladly welcomed it. Half laying on him, her kisses were soft but titillating. She increased the passion of them but remained unhurried. He enjoyed her attention and just let his hand slowly run up and down her back in an affectionate manner.

Her hand rest on his bare thigh and slid up to rest on the upper inside of it, her fingers softly tracing the skin there teasing the hell out of him. He wasn’t sure of her intent, as her kisses were gentle, but he was sure reacting to her caresses. It wasn’t even a minute before she unsecured his towel and her hand started caressing his growing arousal up and down in such a ravishing way. He knew of her intent then, and let her do as she pleased. As each second went by, he grew harder in her hand, and got even more turned on by her sudden approach out of nowhere there in that bed.

The harder he got, the more thorough her hand got, as their kisses remained unhurried but passionate as their tongues softly caressed in between tugs and sucks of their lips. He caressed her back, her arm, her neck, but when he started caressing her breast, she immediately took it and linked her fingers in his laying it back down.

When his breathing started to become unsteady, Judy’s mouth left his and without kisses or any form of teasing, her hand was replaced. Gene immediately leaned his head back on the pillow and groaned. She was very skillful at a great fucking blow job, but he was more aroused by the surprise of it. He was even more surprised went she went on, not stopping. Her mouth became more advanced, knowing exactly what he liked and how to tease the lip with her tongue then go back to sucking. He loved the feel of her head tilting side to side, then slightly bobbing up and down as she made him feel amazing.

As his climax grew, so did his groans, and so did her speed, also milking his lower half as she paid more attention to the top, knowing he was getting more sensitive and sensitive.

“Ahhh, god damn, hun,” he groaned, trying to keep his hips on the bed as the pressure got more and more, “Baby..”

When he realized she wasn’t stopping, his body tensed up, edging closer to release. He squeezed her hair in his hand, his stomach muscles clenching, and his initial instinct was to push her away, as he often done to give himself a break so he could fuck her, but this wasn’t what she had in mind.

Gene gave in and let his body do what it was intended. Groaning in desperation, he arched his head back, as he came, and she was still going at it. Aftershocks of his orgasm were sensitive yet felt so good as her mouth continued to take him until he nearly went limp.

Gabbing her shoulder, he pulled her up to him and laid one hell of a kiss on her. But, when he flipped her over onto her back, she placed a hand on his chest.

“I wanted to please you.”

“It was amazing, sweetheart. Now, your turn.”

“Not this time.”

He could see the seriousness in her eyes. Usually it was an equal thing with them, but he realized she was being honest. Instead he just nodded and kissed the tip of her nose.

“Okay.”

She smoothed some of his damp hair, fixing it, as she stared up at him. Gene remained hovering over her, and saw something in her eyes. He didn’t know what.

“You ok?”

“Mm hm. I know you just went for a run on the beach, but will you walk down there with me, darling?”

“Of course.”

The two walked silently hand-in-hand along the shoreline barefoot. Though Judy showed no sign of anxiety, Gene could feel the energy in her change. She was content, but it felt like she was holding back. That, and the fact she wanted to please him, but refused reciprocation, also puzzled him. He loved her attention, it hadn't been the first time, but the fact she stared into his eyes with a certain seriousness afterwards, then eagerly wanting him to go for a walk with her, had him curious.

They came up to the rocky part of the beach and Gene sat on a large rock. Judy leaned down and picked up a seashell. Brushing the sand off, she showed it to him. It was a perfect, pink, sea shell with no chips or damage to it.

"Now, that is the perfect little sea shell."

"It's so pretty. Liza loves collecting rock and shells. Will you put this in your pocket for me?"

"Sure can."

She hopped up on to the rock next to her and he placed his arm over her shoulder. She reached up to take that hand, dangling over her shoulder, and leaned her head against his neck. They just sat there a moment staring at nothing but the Pacific in front of them.

When Gene saw her foot start moving back and forth in an anxious way, he became even more curious. Before he could even ask her what was wrong, she spoke in a direct manner.

"We need to go back home."

"I know," he said agreeing, "At least we got our few days together."

"No, you don't understand. Gene, Vincente called me earlier. Here, at the house."

Gene's eyebrows kneaded confused, "How? Only Kay knows where we are. She wouldn't..." he paused a moment in shock at just the thought of Kay disclosing their location to him, "...do that. Not unless there was some kind of emergen...oh my gosh, Liza?"

"No. I thought that, too, but she's perfectly fine. I, um, I have to re-shoot my intro scene with Van, for my picture."

Gene looked at her dumbfounded as they sat up, creating a little distance between them, "That makes no sense."

"What do you mean?"

"Kay would not just tell Vince where we were because of a scene re-shoot. You wouldn't just leave because of that, either. I know you."

Judy looked away, a little daunted. He could tell she was keeping something from him and he took her hand. His voice was calm but a little impatient, "Judy...what is going on?"

"L.B. knows we left town together."

Gene immediately stood up enraged, "Of course he does! 'Cause he fucking knows everything."

It wasn't unheard of for studio heads to keep dibs on their talent, especially the women. They'd usually pay extra cash to assistants to keep an eye and ear out, then report back. Judy had been a victim of it particularly as a teenager when getting involved with Artie Shaw, but the thought of Gene being victim to it never once crossed his mind. Not until this whole fiasco started days ago.

"How did that even happen? We left at nighttime."

"I don't know all the details, and quite frankly, it doesn't matter now, does it?"

Gene looked at her, and held it hand out, "How are you not pissed off by this?"

"I don't particularly like it, but that's not the issue."

"Why do you say that," he asked sitting back down next to her and she immediately took his hand.

"Mayer told Vincente we went away together."

Gene let out a frustrated chuckle, "Of course he did. Like some god damn toddler."

"Darling, calm down. He said L.B. told him as if thinking Vincente already knew."

"But he didn't."

"No. And knowing him, I don't think he told L.B. that he didn't know. He didn't answer a lot of my questions, but he did say that L.B. told him not to worry about anything, that they would take care of it."

"Take care of it," Gene said disgusted, "They can go fuck themselves!"

"He stood up for you, Gene," Judy said raising her voice.

"Who, Vince?"

"Yes. When L.B. told Vince he was prepared to release you to another studio because of our 'indiscretions', Vince said he took your side."

"Why would he do that, after everything he just found out?"

"I don't know," she replied her voice cracking.

Gene sighed, bending forward, his elbows on his knees. Judy cuddled his back and rest her cheek on his shoulder blade, a tear escaping her eye, "That's why I need to go home."

Judy sat in the car, her head wrapped in a scarf, hiding behind sunglasses as Gene closed the trunk of the car. He got in the driver seat and was quiet a moment, staring at the seagulls flying above the tall wheat grass on the cliff.

When he looked over at Judy, he saw a tear slide past her sunglasses.

"Why you crying now, Springtime," She looked over at him. He couldn't see her expression under her glasses, but he knew, "I know."

"Let's just go."

When they got to the first stop sign, Judy saw the town to the west and asked him to turn that way. She wanted to stop into one of the shops. He complied. Anything to spend more time with her.

Gene followed her into one of the local shops with his baseball cap on to keep inconspicuous like she was with her scarf and glasses. The independent shop was little and cute, with lots of trinkets and tchotchke's, as well as a bakery in the back with decadent pastries and homemade fudge. Judy picked a beautiful, hand-beaded change purse for herself and some sprinkle-covered fudge for Liza. Gene did the same for Kerry, and choose a pastry for himself and Judy for their ride back to Beverly Hills.

When they got into the car, Judy spotted the docks ahead and asked Gene to drive her down there. He didn't ask why, but was, again, curious. Stopping in front of the pier, she asked him to stay there and started walking. His eyes kept a protective watch on her as she made her way down.

Finn was rummaging through his tool box at the bow of his boat when he heard a beautiful humming behind him. He didn't even think twice about it until he remembered he didn't have the radio on. Just then his Dalmatian started barking, something he only did when a stranger was near.

"Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you..."

Finn smiled.

"Embrace me, I want me arms around you..."

"I knew I didn't leave the radio on," he said standing up and turned around to see a giddy Judy.

"Hello," she bent down to embrace the dog that came at her legs, "Is this your roommate?"

"Sure is, and the best skipper around. What do I owe this pleasure, Miss Garland?"

"It's Judy, and I was passing by on my way out of town, and I wanted to stop and say goodbye."

"That's mighty kind of you."

Her smiled faded as she stood up and held her hands in front of her politely, "Iwant you to know how much your words meant to be. I did not take them lightly. And because of you, I was able to enjoy my time here."

"I'm awfully glad."

"Without meeting you, I probably would have had such a dull time here."

"Have you been living in the moment?"

"Very much."

"Good. I'm honored I was able to meet you, Judy."

"Me as well. I should get going. You take care, Finn."

"And you live a happy life, be true to yourself, you hear?"

She smiled and nodded before turning to talk. She stopped short, though and called out for him.

"Maybe one day you can see one of my movies, yes?"

"I plan on it."

Gene's eyes followed Judy as she got into the car.

"Who was that?"

"I wanted to say goodbye to this fisherman I met when I went for my walk after we were arguing. He was a very kind man and wise."

"Oh, well, that's swell."

"He's the reason I came back to you."

"Did you thank him for me," he teased.

She smiled and reached over to give him a kiss, "We can go now."

As they started out of town, Judy watched the town get further and further way through in the reflection of the mirror. She only looked away when Gene took her hand in his and kissed it.

Gene turned the ignition off and looked over at Judy would almost sorrowful eyes. She hadn’t spoken since they pulled up in front of her home, had barely even moved.

“If you’re not ready to go in there just yet, you can go to my hotel room.”

Judy slightly smiled looking over at him and he continued, “Just know, you always have a place to go.”

“I know,” she sighed, “But if I don’t go in there now, I might never go back.”

She had looked at him just then as if waiting for him to tell her not go back, but he couldn’t do that. He could see it in her eyes. She wanted to go, but was torn.

“Judy,” he said seriously, “I would never ask you to leave Vince if you weren’t ready, you know that don’t you?”

“And I would never ask you to stay with your wife just because I’m married myself,” she encouraged, as they both knew he had partly stayed in his unfulfilling marriage lately because of that reason.

Gene shifted in his seat, becoming uncomfortable, “Look, don’t make a decision based on me, toots,” he said, “Do what your heart wants. I’ll be here regardless.”

“Even though we’re in love?”

He sighed, “Judy, our love has nothing to do with it. If it did, we would have been together a long time ago.”

Judy could tell he was getting antsy with the situation and decided to end the conversation before they started bickering. As soon as she opened her door, Gene bolted out to grab her suitcase for her. Taking it from him, she gave him an understanding smile before turning to walk up to the gate.

“Hey,” he demanded a little stunned. When she turned around, he turned his palms up, “What, I don’t even get a goodbye?”

“No, because this isn’t goodbye, silly,” she playfully said to make the situation more relaxed, “I’ll see you later.”

Vince was still at work when Judy arrived. She was grateful to spend some one-on-one time with Liza, and called up Kay, before he returned home. She was curled up on the couch writing in her diary, glasses perched on her nose, when she heard his voice.

“Hi.”

Looking up, she took her glasses off and softly responded, “Hi.”

Gene sat on the edge of his bed with a freshly packed suitcase as Betsy sat in the chair by the window. They were both silent for a long moment.

“So, that’s all of it,” he said feeling, and looking, a little ashamed, “Now you know everything.”

“I think that’s the most honest you’ve ever been with me,” she said softly.

“Well, I can’t hide anymore, can I? This is hard for me.”

“I appreciate it, I do.”

“Yeah,” he replied refusing to look at her.

“Do you think she’s going to leave him?”

“No, at least not yet.” Gene didn’t have to look at his wife’s face to feel her reaction. He knew what she was thinking and baffled about so he spoke for her, “I’m not agreeing to this separation just so I can be with her. She has nothing to do with this decision. It’s us that failed, she isn’t stealing me away.” It was just then that reality sunk in for Betsy, that she couldn’t blame the other woman, at least not fully.

“No, it was Hollywood,” she said a bit bitterly.

Gene nudged his shoulders, “If that’s how you feel, that’s how you feel. But, I don’t regret coming here. I don’t regret it any of it.”

“No, you wouldn’t, would you?”

Her comment hung in the air, the energy overpowering him, foreshadowing Judy. It always came back to the subject of her, whether she was directly involved or not.

The MGM studio was bustling and busy, another beautiful day in sunny Los Angeles, as Gene drove a studio cart to the backlots. But he stopped quite abruptly when he recognized the woman a few feet getting her neck kissed by some extra dressed in a western outfit, giggling like a teenager.

The actor noticed him first, and quickly stepped away from her. Suzie looked at her companion confused before he motioned behind her. She turned around and slightly jumped when Gene was there right in front of her face.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he kindly said to the man and then turned his attention back on her. Leaning in to her ear, his voice was venomous, “Next time you do anything to hurt me, or Miss Garland, *I* will tell Mr. Mayer about *your* indiscretions.”

Without another word, Gene turned and got back into his cart driving away.

Van and Judy stood on the steps of a fake post-office set on the back lot of Metro. They were re-shooting their first scene together in ‘In the Good Ol’ Summertime’ and enjoying working together again, even just for this small scene.

“Hey, Bobby,” Van called out to the director before he called action, “If that pigeon shits on me again this time, you can use the original take. I’m telling you, buddy, I’m gone.”

Judy laughed gleefully as did some of the cast outside the scene.

“Just make sure you don’t pull her entire wig off this time, will ya,” Bob shouted back.

“You wearing long bloomers under there, this time,” Van asked Judy.

“Yeeeessss.”

“Too bad. I was planning on ripping more of that dress off if you weren’t.”

She giggled and rearranged her hat before continuing the scene after Andrew picks up Veronica from the steps, “Stop it.”

Gene tapped Dottie on the shoulder, who stood off set by Judy’s chair, and she immediately looked at him surprised before giving him a hug. They were quiet, and watched, Judy and Van film their scene. When Robert yelled ‘Cut and Print!’ Judy and Van hugged and chatted briefly, as this would be the final time they’d film together for the movie. As crew rummaged around, Judy immediately bee-lined for Gene and Dottie who were chatting away, all smiles.

“Look at this little reunion going on, and I’m not apart of it,” she giggled.

“Hi, honey,” he said with a smile and certain gleam in his eye.

“That a wrap,” Dottie asked about to pack up her makeup bag.

“That’s a wrap,” Judy concluded.

“What’s going on here,” Gene asked pushing some of her messy wig from her face.

“I know,” she giggled, “Fun scene, huh.”

“It’s cute. I can’t wait to see the film.”

“I’m flattered you came to watch again.”

“I had a meeting and Roger told me you were doing your re-shoot. I wanted to come and give you…” he reached into his pocket, “…this.”

Judy looked at the pink seashell in his hand and felt her heart flutter. In awe, she took it from him and held to her chest, almost as if she had forgotten about it.

They remained looking at each other, smiling. It was a simple gesture, but this was the first time they had seen one another since he dropped her off at her house. It was only three days, but what they had gone through hung thickly in the air between them.

“You want me to stick around to help you out of all this drag, or…” Dottie smiled at Gene mischievously, “Will Gene do it?”

“Uh, you know, what, judging by what you’re wearing, I don’t think I’d be any help at all,” he chuckled, “You better have the honors, Dots.”

“I’ll come meet you at your trailer,” Judy said persistently, her message loud and clear as of why, as she followed Dottie away.

A thousand thoughts rattled through Gene’s brain as he laid on his couch, a fan blowing at him, as it was pretty hot in there. He shut his eyes, but just as he did, he heard the door open.

“A lady getting undressed sure does take a long time now-a-days,” Gene said his eyes still closed.

“It does when you’re wearing everything that they did from 45 years ago,” she giggled.

“When I open my eyes, are you gonna be naked on top of me again,” he teased.

“Not yet,” she said sitting down on the coffee table across from him.

He opened his eyes and turned to look at her. They just shared a transparent expression as they held hands. Gene finally looked away, letting out a long breath, before sitting up.

“How are you,” she asked as he looked a little worse for wear, not have shaven since before they left Morro Bay.

“Good, tired, but good.”

“Good?”

He nodded, “Surprisingly, yes. It’s a lot to, uh, get used to, you know, but it was the right decision, for both of us.”

“And what decision was that?”

“Legal separation,” he said rubbing his hands on his pants before pushing himself off the couch. It was obviously a painful time for him, but if he said it was the right decision, then it was.

“I’m still at the hotel,” he said lighting a cigarette, “But going to look for apartments close by the house. There’s some on Wilshire I was looking into. It’s also by Kerry’s school.”

“Your daughter,” Judy quietly said. It wasn’t a question, but he knew her meaning behind it.

“Betsy’s all for 50/50 custody. When it comes to our daughter, she wants me very much there as much as possible. She, uh, she promised she would never speak an ill word to her about me. And I believe her.”

“That’s good, Gene, that’s the most important thing,” Judy said remaining perched on the coffee table, “What else did Betsy say?”

“She blames Hollywood for our failed marriage, which isn’t exactly untrue. It had a part in it. We were equal in New York, but here, it’s like we’re two different people. She changed and my career skyrocketed and I suppose I changed as well. She understands we tried at it, but it just doesn’t work anymore.”

He looked over at Judy and she looked down at her hands, fiddling with her wedding ring around her finger.

“Does she blame me?”

Gene sat back down on the couch, “I suppose a little, but only because I got involved with you after moving here. I told her that I wasn’t agreeing to leave the marriage to be with you. That was never the situation here.”

“No, it’s not,” she agreed, “But did she believe you?”

“Yes, I think so, especially since you’re not leaving your marriage.”

Judy looked up at him a little surprised and he continued, “I mean, we both know that was inevitable, didn’t we?”

“Gene,” she trailed off as if scared.

“Judy, I told you to go with your heart, and you did. How can I be angry with that?”

“I didn’t go with my heart. My heart has done nothing but get me into trouble. I went with my instinct.”

“Good. And how did that go?”

“I told him everything. He was hurt, but he was so understanding. It’s strange, you know, for my husband not to be there in the kind of way I need him to be in our marriage, but at the same time he understands why you’re there.”

“He’s a very level-headed man.”

“I told him that we never planned to be together, and every time we try to stop, we always find our way back. It’s like a spiritual connection. And I am not religious by any means, but there’s something we have that I have never felt with anyone. I’m not sure Vincente will ever understand that, but I told him I need you in my life.”

“What did he say,” he asked a little nervous himself.

“He agreed. He said without you, he would have lost me a long time ago.”

“Jesus,” Gene said getting emotional, “It’s a crazy mix between us, ain’t it?”’

“He was hurt, of course, but he never said anything bad about you.”

“I’d never say anything bad about him.”

“And he knows, that. He knows I’m not giving you up, but I told him I still care about him. I told him I wasn’t ready to walk away from my family. I’m not ready to leave, at least not yet.”

“So?”

“So, we came to an agreement.” He looked at her curious, “I’m going to stay in the house. We’ll keep up appearances as husband and wife and be co-parents, but if after one year nothing between us changes for the better then we’ll legally separate.”

Gene nodded, he didn’t know what to respond with, and quite frankly didn’t have the right to. So, he changed the direction a bit.

“My meeting today was with Mayer. I owe your husband a lot of thanks.”

“What did L.B. say?”

“Nothing much to be honest. I don’t think he likes me much anymore.”

“I think he respects you, he just won’t admit it,” she giggled.

“He said, ‘Judy said I’d lose her, if I got rid of you. And Minnelli wants you on, so I’ll keep ya.’”

“That’s it?”

“That was it.”

“I asked Vincente why he stood up for you after everything. He said the same thing Kay did. That it would be the stupidest thing the studio could do. He told L.B. that if they fired you, I’d probably leave and then he’d probably leave as well.”

“Why?”

“Because he said he only works with the best talent, and we’re the best the studio has,” she giggled, “I’m not sure I agree with that, but he thinks it’s true. And apparently, L.B. does, too.”

“Well, whattaya know,” Gene said wrapping his arm around her shoulder pulling her close.

They sat in comfortable silence, going over the fact in their heads that everything would be ok. Of course, the situation sill wasn’t perfect, but they both went with the best decision that their intuition pushed them to.

“You know what,” Gene said suddenly.

“Hm?”

“We’re gonna have to go back to Morro Bay.”

“Oh, is that right?”

“Well, yeah. We didn’t get the chance to golf or swim in the ocean.”

“When do we leave,” she teased smiling up at him.

He smiled back and cradled her jaw. Holding back a moment, he stared into those big brown eyes of hers before leaning in for a kiss.

July 1949

The movie theater was dark as previews played on the big screen and was a full house. Finn held a big tub of movie popcorn in his hands as he made his way down the center aisle. He finally found an empty seat and sat down in the red velvet chair. Just as he did, the title credits to ‘In The Good Ol’ Summertime’ flashed up on the screen.

His smile grew big and bright when he saw Judy Garland’s name appear.

#jugenea #judy garland #gene kelly #fan fiction-#fan fic #judygarland #genekelly

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natural-namjoon · 4 years

Text

𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧

Seonghwa fluff, very mild smut.

Very mild, just making out and heavy groping that's pretty much it.

“Blaze it up and we'll be cruisin'

With the top down

Rev up the engine we'll be cruisin'

Watch it go down

Get in my truck and I'll be ridin'

With my top down

My top down”

The sun shone brightly as you drove your old truck down the Hot Arizona highway, leaving Phoenix. Your new destination was Los Angeles. Having lived the nomad lifestyle ever since you got out of high school, you were always on the road jumping from city to city, working odd jobs to keep some money in your pocket and once you felt you spent enough time in one place you’d pack up your few belongings and head out to a new place. You had called phoenix your home for 6 months, staying longer than usual because the hotel job you had paid pretty well and you were able to save up a bit of money for yourself, but the dry heat finally got to you and you decided to leave, randomly picking LA for your next destination.

In 3 hours you found yourself crossing state lines, passing a sign welcoming you to the golden state. It only took another 3 hours to find your way in between the sprawling buildings of the city of angels. You had found a random gas station and decided to refill your tank and grab a snack for yourself. After getting gas and doing a little search on your phone you found a decently clean 3-star hotel to stay in, after booking and confirming your stay you decided to check-in and freshen up. The vibes of the big city were buzzing in your veins and you felt like going out and seeing the sights. After a quick shower, you threw on a cute black slip dress that flattered your curves along with some strappy sandals. Looking out your hotel window you could see the shoreline in the distance, the sun would be setting pretty soon and you’d never seen the west coast before so off you went.

It felt so freeing to you and it was one of the reasons for living the way you did. Going from place to place, the vibe of each place was different and unique and it energized your soul every time you were able to breathe in the air of a new place filled with new people and experiences. It took a bit of time to make your way to the beach because of the ungodly traffic but you made it just as the sun was setting. There were lots of people on the beach, children and families laughing and playing. Feeling self-conscious,you decided to wait and people-watch from one of the many restaurants that lined the beach and boardwalk. You ducked into this goofy themed crab restaurant and you found a seat at the window so you could watch the sunset over the water.

You sat and just got lost in your thoughts, thinking of home and how long it's been since you spent any quality time with your friends and family let alone someone of the opposite gender. Your lifestyle was lonely and you knew that before you even had left, spending 2- 4 months in each city didn’t really allow for serious relationships, and yeah, you had a couple of hook-ups but those were few and far in between. Overall you were about as unserviced as your truck which was bad in both aspects but you loved the adventure your lifestyle brought and it was easier that way.

During your inner monologue, you didn’t hear someone come up and start talking nor did you hear the second or third time he tried to get your attention so it was after the light touch to your shoulder that had you jumping out of your skin. That you realized a waiter had come to your lone table.

“Sorry didn’t mean to scare you, were you wanting to order something?” you looked up to the waiter. The first thing you noticed was the goofy looking bright red cartoon crab that was plastered on his snapback hat. Your eyes traveled down and then you really saw him,

‘Holy shit he’s hot.’ you thought to yourself, he had a jawline that could cut diamond and plump lips and gorgeous soft brown eyes, you could also see dark brown hair peeking out under his cap. To cover up your awkward silence and blatant staring you coughed and nodded like a dummy,

“I- um yeah i'll take water for now and-” you quickly glanced at the front of the menu and pointed at a picture of something that looked like fried chicken pieces with fries. “ and that…” you prayed he was just some random worker who didn’t care or notice your awkwardness.

The most gorgeous smile slowly formed on his face followed by a deep chuckle, you couldn’t help the deep embarrassment you felt as he laughed at you. He cleared his throat,

“Alright sounds good, so that will be one order of the fried shrimp and chips and water, got it.” He started to scribble in his little notepad and he reached down to grab your menu but you kept your hand on it

“No- um…..actually not that-” again your embarrassment had your face inflamed. “I’m allergic to seafood,” you said in a quiet voice, there was a moment of complete silence between the two of you until he busted out laughing, it was a hearty, real laugh, a part of your brain noticed how beautiful his laugh was but the bigger part of your brain was in error mode. All you could do was put your head down as he laughed at your obvious incompetence. Suddenly he reached down and gently touched your hand with his as his laughter died down. He shook his head,

“I’m sorry I’m not laughing AT you, it's just funny, you're allergic to seafood yet the first restaurant you picked has a giant crab on the front.” another round of giggles left him as he leaned on the table. You couldn’t help but laugh too at the stupid situation you put yourself in.

“ I know, I wasn’t really thinking, I just wanted to find a place to watch the sunset.” you gestured to the large window that framed your table, he looked from the shoreline to you, he felt something fluttering in his chest, he obviously noticed how pretty you were and the dress you had on hugged you in all the right places. He smirked then cleared his throat, getting your attention from the seaside view.

“I’m Seonghwa by the way.” he reached his hand out and you took it shyly, his hand was big but soft and his fingers were long and elegant looking adorned with silver rings.

“I’m (Y/N)” you said with a smile. He smiled back.

“Let me make you a deal, You hang here, and I'll go find you something you can actually eat without dying. Deal?” He winked and you could feel your arms losing circulation. All you could do was nod and he flashed a brilliant smile.

“Ok, hang tight (Y/N)” he turned and made his way to the back of the restaurant. You took a deep breath to steady your heart, you decided then and there that night you might act up and see where the night leads you and Seonghwa. Hopefully, it was your hotel room. After about 4 minutes an older waitress came over and put a fancy looking orange and pink cocktail in front of you,

“Oh, I’m sorry, I ordered water” in the same moment the sentence left your mouth she also put a crisp glass of water down in front of you, then she leaned down closer to you

“It’s from pretty boy back there” You both turned to the restaurant bar where Seonghwa stood behind it, waving in your direction. The waitress waggled her eyebrows at you then sauntered off with a cheeky grin.

You looked down to the bright drink and after a small sniff, you noticed it smelled really sweet and fruity, so it must not be that bad. You took a small sip and the tropical citrus flavor danced on your tongue, it didn’t even taste like alcohol. It was dangerous. Alone again you let your mind wander as you watched each family pack up and start leaving the beach, as it got darker the beach became more and more sparse. 30 minutes had passed and after people-watching you hadn’t realized you’d finished your cocktail and it was the smell of food that brought you out of your trance. You turned to find Seonghwa setting a large plate of Chicken strips and fries down in front of you. You were warm from the alcohol and starving.

“Whoa” was all you said as you looked up at him. You noticed he was dressed differently, his goofy hat and apron were gone and now covering his black work polo was a jean jacket and his hair had been slicked back. Hot damn he looked delicious. He smiled down at you then took a seat opposite of you.

“ Yeah ‘whoa’ is right, for a seafood restaurant their chicken strips are amazing, but I did have to fight the chef to make enough for two adults because these usually come in kids meals.” he rambled as he took a chicken strip off the plate and started eating. You just stared blankly at him, confused as to what was happening, He just looked back at you expecting an answer.

“Um… what’s happening here?” you asked and he chuckled again

“ My shift just ended and you told me you’d stay here while I find food for you, this was the deal” he explained taking another bite.

“But I only had to wait UNTIL you got me food, by law I can leave and take these to go” you pulled the plate closer to you, teasing him. He scoffed then quickly reached over and grabbed another tender before you could pull the plate farther away from him.

“Hey!” you laughed shielding your food. He laughed with you.

“ Actually I wanted you to stay so I could hear your story” he explained sincerely.

“What makes you think I have a story?” you asked, taking a bite of chicken, holy shit the chicken was heavenly. He shrugged,

“Tourists always come to the beach first and usually they wander in here cause we’re right by the entrance to the beach.”

“What makes you think that’s what I did?” he piqued your curiosity

“Because, that’s what I did when I first got here, and that’s how I got this job.” He grabbed a couple of fries, popping them in his mouth. “although I walked in here because I actually like seafood” he teased you laughing as he got another tender from your shared plate. You laughed with him shaking your head.

“Shut up, it was an honest mistake, what restaurant has ONLY seafood except for on the kid’s menu, I’m going to complain to the manager” You joked and he snorted.

“Wouldn't be the first time. Anyways so, where are you from and what brings you to this godforsaken city” he said the last part a little bitterly. You were taken aback by his words,

“What do you mean so far this city has been beautiful. Lots of people, but beautiful.” He chewed silently pondering your words. After he swallowed his bite he sighed

“I thought the same thing before I got jumped one night on my way home from work. Took my wallet and cell but not before I got a blade in my ribs.” He explained darkly, not meeting your eyes. You sat speechlessly, what do you say to that?

“No I-I get it...before I came here I was in Phoenix Arizona, some co-workers and I went out one night, I got separated from them and a man snuck up on me, held a gun to my head and made me hand over my bag. Thank god my car keys had been in my pocket, but I remember feeling so helpless and scared.” You told him, taking a sip of water, feeling the buzz of the alcohol leaving you. Both of you were silent, Seonghwa was mentally kicking himself for bringing the mood down, he hadn’t meant too but he had hoped his story could be one of caution to you but all he did was make you relive a bad memory. He sighed and signaled for one of the waitresses to come over. He ordered another cocktail and she was back with it in a couple minutes. He took the glass and slid it over to you,

“Sorry, I killed the mood I wasn’t trying to get you down.” you smiled at him, grateful for the offer but you had to decline, you still had to drive yourself back to your hotel room.

“I’ll drive you,” he offered immediately. You raised an eyebrow and he laughed

“I won’t try anything. I have to work an early shift anyways so I can’t have too much fun, I'll just catch a bus from your place once you're safe inside.”

You felt your heart warm, he was really sweet. You somehow had the luck to run into him on your first day there, you decided if he couldn’t have too much fun, then a little bit of fun would go a long way. You leaned down and took a big sip of the cocktail, but made a face as the burning taste of vodka overpowered the sugar and fruity taste,

“Oooh this one is strong” you voice came out hoarse as you choked and he laughed

“Yeah I’m the only one who can make this drink the right way, it’s kind of my specialty” he examined the glass absently

“What’s the drink called? I’ve never had it before,” you asked taking another small sip,

He looked up and met your eyes, there was something dark in his soft brown eyes, a kind of mischief that made your stomach flip

“Sex on the beach,” he said softly in his deep voice, keeping direct eye contact with you. You breathed out slowly and without breaking the eye contact you responded

“your specialty is sex on the beach?” you asked, your voice small. He smirked, finally breaking eye contact as he reached down his fingers tracing the lines on the top of your hands.

“Something like that.”

Suddenly you didn't care about seeing the beach, You took another big drink of your liquid courage, managing to not make a gross face this time and you looked at him,

“How about instead of escorting me home, maybe you can take me into the city? Cruise around, show me the city lights and nightlife, you don’t have to go home right this instant?” you asked leaning forward giving him puppy dog eyes hoping he’d accept.

He laughed at your eagerness, after a quick check of his phone he accepted and you smiled feeling victorious.

Quickly getting up and packaging your food to go you went to pay for the food but he just grabbed your arm and led you out the door.

“Wait, this is stealing,” you said bluntly feeling buzzed.

“I’m an assistant manager, it’s on me.” He responded cooly

“Oh excuse me I didn’t know I was hanging with a High Roller” you teased. He laughed as you guys came to the parking lot of the beach, there weren’t many cars and your old red Dodge Dakota truck stood out lonely in a far corner. You beckoned for him to follow as you stumbled over to your trusty vehicle. Once you got to the truck you tossed him the keys,

“This is not the car I expected you to have” he laughed unlocking the door.

“Yup i've had this old girl for years, i saw her in a used car lot and had to have her.” you climbed in the passenger seat and tossed the bag of food in the back seat.

One you both were in and buckled up he laughed

“So you're just a young pretty girl that drives an old beat up truck that's probably older than you?” he laughed again turning to you

“I know it's weird right…” you turned to him trying to look intimidating

“You know this could all be a ruse, I could be luring you to the back alleys of the city to kill you and keep your head in my fridge.

After a beat you realized how weird that really sounded and you silently cursed the alcohol for making you so loose lipped.

Luckily Seonghwa wasn't fazed as he burst out laughing then turned to you and cocked his eyebrow

“Is that a threat or a promise??” he giggled and started the truck, you thanked the heavens he was so easygoing.

“Wanna know the main reason I wanted this truck?” you asked him, reaching across him to a switch near the drivers door, noting how good he smelled while you did it, and flipped a small switch. There was a groaning and whining noise then the whole top of your truck moved and folded back on itself and after a moment you were both sitting with the salty sea air around you.

“ WHAT? This is so COOL!” he exclaimed looking like a kid with a new toy “I didn't know that convertible trucks existed!!” he was laughing in excitement and you laughed with him.

“Lets fuckin go then!” he yelled and revved the engine and soon you guys were on the road headed for downtown L.A.

In no time you both were cruising with the top down, enjoying the nightlife, the city was so big and there were so many people out shopping, and eating and there were a lot of people performing and busking on the sides of the roads. It was all so magical and you felt so exhilarated, In all honesty there wasn't anything about L.A that you had not seen in other big cities, but this city had one thing the others didn't, and that was Seonghwa. Having someone with you to experience things with, made a world of a difference. Every so often when you'd get excited and would point and laugh and sit with amazement he would always look at you with the softest eyes and he looked upon you with this kind of adoration that you had never seen someone look at you with. He would tell you stories of his first experiences with the various locations you guys passed by and he had you laughing and every so often he would rest his hand on your thigh absentmindedly, not in a creepy way, but in a way that felt familiar, like he'd done it a thousand times. His hand was a comfortable warmth on your cool skin and it felt right being there with him, everything about him was perfect.

After a bit of driving he started to head to where he lived, you had offered to drop him off as the night had grown long and he had gotten a few phone calls from his roommates asking when he'd be home so unfortunately he had to head home and you were sobered up enough to drive finally. He pulled into the driveway and parked, not before putting the top back up. There was a silence in the car, neither of you wanted to end the night, but Seonghwa had responsibilities and he had to sleep because he had to open up at work the next day.

After a bit of silence he reached over again and gently put his hand on your knee, you placed your smaller hand on his,

“Well, (Y/N) i'm glad you stumbled into my restaurant today, this is the most fun i've had with another person in a long time.” he smiled at you, eyes running over your body as his thumb drew circles on your knee. You had heard what he said, and you wanted to respond with something sweet and wholesome but all you could focus on was his lips and his hand on your skin. With the hand that was placed on his you grabbed his wrist and slowly pulled his hand up higher on your thigh pushing back the fabric of your dress until he was a inch away from your center. You felt him tense up and your breathing got heavy as you watched him and waited for him to do something,

“(Y/N)...” he breathed out, voice deep and filled with lust as he stared at the spot his hand was in and were it was going, he gave your thigh a test squeeze,

“Seonghwa..” you didn't mean for your voice to come out as a small moan but the anticipation and sexual tension was becoming too much for you. Suddenly Seonghwa leaned down and pressed his lips against yours, you immediately opened your mouth to deepen the kiss further, frantically unbuckling your seat belt so you could climb over onto his lap. Without breaking the kiss you settled onto his lap and his hands were all over you. Your brain was a deep fog, there was nothing you could think other than the feeling of his soft lips on yours and the feeling of his big hands as he squeezed your ass. You slipped your hands under his shirt wanting to feel more of him, he broke the kiss only to swiftly remove his jacket and polo shirt. You took a moment to marvel at his body, he was leaned and chiseled, not too much muscle but there were abs and broad shoulders, this man was like a drug, everything he did and everything about him was so intoxicating. You ran your hands up and down his chest and down his back as he pulled you closer, you noticed a hardnessed pressed against your lower parts and you smiled in the kiss, feeling how hard he got and all you guys were doing was kissing. Ever so slowly you pressed your hips down harder onto his crotch and started grinding, he broke the kiss as his head fell back and a groan escaped his lips,

“Oh my god (Y/N) fuck..” you took that as a sigh to grind your hips harder onto his erection, causing more intense friction on your clit, both of you held each other, a moaning and whining mess. You absently thought about how hot and bothered you were getting with your clothes on, you couldn't wait to get them off. You went to kiss him again, tongue exploring as he grasped your hips harshly, trying to slow your movements because your makeout session was getting really intense really fast.

You were about to pull back and ask if they should go back to your hotel room for more privacy when there was a loud rapping at the driver side window, you let out a surprised squeak as you moved to cover any exposed parts. Both you and Seonghwa turned and standing on the other side of the window was a tall man, he looked young like you guys and he had peach colored messy hair and various stains on his oversized sweater.

“Yuhno What the Fuck???” Seonghwa said incredulously, The man named Yuhno gestured for him to roll the window down, after the glass was no longer between them Seonghwa snapped at the taller man

“ Yuhno I said I'd be home soon, I was kind of in the middle of something.” he lectured, angrily pulling his shirt back on.

“Yeah I can see that, and as much as hate to cockblock you and this lovely lady-” he looked over at you and waved cutely, all you could do was laugh and wave back embarrassed. “But Wooyoung and Mingi duct taped Hongjoong to the wall and they won't let me get him down, San wont stop crying because he was trying to do a trick off the counter and dropped half our plates. I tried to get Jongho and Yeosang to help but they went into their rooms and refused to come out.” Yuhno explained in the most calm way possible. Seonghwa just silently sat for a moment and sighed,

“The one day you all have a day off while I have to work late and of course there is pure chaos, just- go get Hongjoong down and I'll be inside in a second.” Yuhno just nodded and after waving at you again he hurried back to the shared house. Seonghwa just sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly,

“ Are these your roommates or do you have kids I don't know about?” Seonghwa let out a genuine laugh then he looked tiredly at you,

“Im sorry, my roommates are a bit…. Eccentric.” he said the last word slowly. You giggled, then leaned over and gave him a small peck on his lips. He pressed his forehead to yours and sat for a moment, basking in your scent. Then with another defeated sigh he climbed out and you slid into the driver seat behind him. He closed your door and leaned in the open window pressing another quick kiss to your lips, the longing in his eyes almost made you want to cry as it mirrored your own longing. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to you and you realized it was your phone,

“Don't be mad but I put my number in your phone” he chuckled

“When did you get my phone?!” you asked genuinely surprised he just chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“I have my ways, I just want to make sure I’ll get to see you again.” he said the last part as a question

“Of course” you said softly cupping his cheek to emphasize your adoration. He didn't make any move to leave your side until there was a loud crashing and incoherent yelling from the inside of the house.

“I gotta go,” he shot you an apologetic smile and turned and jogged up to the front door. As he pulled open the door you could hear high pitched laughter and other sounds of ruckus happening in the house.

“Wooyoung!” he barked as he slammed the door behind him followed by a high pitched scream you could hear from inside your truck.

You looked down at the new contact in your phone under the name Seonghwa and smiled. The whole drive home you had butterflies as you thought about your day and the amazing man you spent part of it with. You'd never experienced anything like this before all the other times you were with a guy it was a hookup and you never really saw the men again, but you knew without a doubt you wanted to see Seonghwa over and over again.

“Coming to L.A. was a good choice after all” you said to yourself as you made your way back to your hotel “ I think that I might stay”

#ateez seonghwa #Seonghwa fluff #seonghwa smut #ateez smut #ateez fluff #natural-namjoon works #ateez fanfic #fanfic #top down #5hxAteez #mingi #hongjoong #yuhno #wooyoung #san #yeosang #jongho

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bumbershots · 3 years

Text

A CERTAIN ROMANCE

CHAPTER FIVE: A SPECIAL DAY

Author’s note: Hello! We have finally reached the awaited date between Harry and Alma. I was really excited for this chapter, hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did, forgive me in advance for any mistakes, my beta reader (my boyfriend) was unavailable, so this is a good time to say that if anyone out there has the time and willingness to beta read any future chapters send me an ask or message to let me know. Enjoy! (:

Story masterlist ** Word count: 2.6K **

Harry wakes up feeling excited, nervous and hungry. He takes care of the latter, decides to make some blueberry pancakes, turns out he can't eat more than two and a cup of coffee. Not that the pancakes weren't great, in fact they were fantastic, he even decides to brag about them on an Instagram story that is published for his close friends only. Nick quickly replies to it with a laughing emoji.

You should take a Tupperware full of them to your date ;)

The reason behind his excitement and nerves make his heart race, he decides to type in a polite 'fuck off' to his mate before heading to the shower. Under the warm spray of water he tries to sort out his thoughts. Harry doesn��t want to think about his upcoming trip to California.

It was necessary for the album or so he thought last week, after going through a box with the very few memories he kept from his ex. He wasn’t in a right state of mind then, he feels pathetic. The only reason why he wanted to spend time in Los Angeles was because everything there —from the pavement to the sky— was tainted by her.

Why would he want to go back to that place where the constant reminder of his pain was literally living in the same neighbourhood? Because it would provide him the cathartic release he was looking for. That’s the line he used after Sarah and Mitch tried to dissuade him from flying across the Atlantic and Harry was so proud of himself when it worked.

That very same day, he got the first text from Alma, it was the address like she promised. ‘In case one of your talents isn’t stumbling upon my work place ;)’ the second text read and Harry had to endure Sarah’s questionnaire about the girl that made him blush with a mere wink emoji. Not that he minded talking about her, he could go on all day.

He usually preferred a shower before breakfast, usually even work out before then but well, hunger clouded his judgement earlier today. Even with that taken care of that dread still niggled him away. Just slightly. So, he decided to pick up his guitar for a moment and strummed. There was no real intention to play seriously, or to write anything down on the journal by his desk. It was more of something he enjoys too much not to do it, a way to keep his hands and mind busy, faffing around with chords. With a bit of luck he might come up with a song, a tune which just worked, that just... clicked.

Contrary to what people might believe, genius didn't strike him here and then. Not like when he'd come up with Sign of the times or Two ghosts. But finding a neat little pattern of chords a good thirty minutes later makes him smile, it's something he can work with. It needs a little polishing from Mitch and company, sure, but it has a good rhythm. He scribbled down some notes on his journal and sent the audio to his fellow musician.

Maybe he will find the words in one of the old notebooks that are somewhere in the other room, perhaps on the ones that are still on his unpacked suitcase from Japan. Silently he also hoped to find the lyrics around London. He had lived in the capital for a few years now, but he had been different then. Now he likes to think that he's a man, no longer the teenager from the boy band or the shiny new solo artist. He has new perspectives, sights, smells in this new home of his. New ideas.

Harry gazes out his bedroom window; the view is not great –mostly of the other houses in the complex. His mind focused on the cloudy sky, confused because he swore it was sunny just a few minutes ago, can bet on his life that he woke up to dazzling sunshine rays of a warm yellow colour peeking through that same window. He puts his guitar away on the bed with care and makes a beeline to his wardrobe. He needs to figure out what to wear, pronto.

Skipping her afternoon kip was not something Alma did, it was a rare occurrence which meant one thing: something special was happening.

Walking down Oxford Street, trying to decide where to get some lunch without a care in the world, that was until the calmness faded, when her schedule for the day hit her.

She had a date with Harry. A date, with Harry Styles. It was weird to go by his full name in her head, she couldn't bring herself to call or think about him as The Harry Styles.

Maybe she'd settle to call him Harry the tube guy.

The clock on her phone showed that it was no longer single figure hours, she needed to get some food now or starve until her shift was over, and then he would have to watch her feast at whatever place he chose. Alma groaned, thought how ridiculous it was to worry about him watching her eat. Harry was a grown man; of course he knows that women eat too, right?

Walking into the nearest Sainsbury's she decided to take a deep breath. He's just some guy, she concluded after paying for her chicken baguette. Nothing to stress about.

Harry showered again, while belting out some classic pop tunes. Namely Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, something that in the past he'd swear blind you'd misheard and it was actually The Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd. But he'd come to terms that he liked what he liked.

Towel clad in the bedroom, trying to shirk off hypothermia, he was quick to put on some pants and jeans, before throwing on some simple white tee proclaiming some fading band name. He uses a dry clean towel from the closet and attempts to dry his hair, as he styles his flopped mop the thought of a haircut crosses his mind. It was getting a bit long.

One last look at the clock and he is ready to leave. "You'll be fine. Trust me." He quietly speaks to himself before closing the last few buttons of his green parka and fixing the newsboy cap on his head.

When he walks out of Colindale tube station, a little earlier than half past five, he sees the bakery from her instructions just below the large modern building Alma was kind enough to describe. She was right; the bakery is right across the street, he waits for the green man to light up to cross, shoving his hands in his pockets. The huge front windows of the establishment allow Harry to see her behind the till, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. She looks better than she did three weeks ago. He hesitates about going in for a few minutes, but feels it ought to be better than to lurk on the street.

Alma can feel his presence the moment he sets foot into the shop, her eyes are drawn to him and a content close lipped smile is the best greeting he could ask from her. The only customer in the place can feel the shift in the atmosphere when they lock eyes. So, picking up her bag full of baked goods, she steps out and leaves them alone.

"Sorry if I'm too early." He begins while she takes off her apron and hangs it in the back wall.

"You're right on time," Alma says after checking her watch, "I'm off Carlos, see you tomorrow!" She hollers to the employee that is taking a non-allowed nap in the back. Harry holds the door open for her and follows out of the warm store. "Shall we take the tube?" At his affirmative response, she then takes out her Oyster card and leads the way.

The café was not somewhere Alma expected Harry to go, the little shop with soothing music and simple stools full of the scent of organic coffee brewing is dazzling and unique. A bit like him, she thinks. She liked it. It reminded her of the places she used to frequent when she had recently moved into the city.

Harry orders a black coffee at the counter before asking Alma what she'd like.

"A cappuccino, and remember I'm paying for our food," she hands him a tenner that he reluctantly takes from her.

"Absolutely," he iterates the order to the woman behind the counter and adds two salted caramel cupcakes handing over the cash. "If you get a seat, I'll bring it over."

Alma thanks him before scampering across the room to sit at the back two seat table tucked in the corner. It was right beside the large back window, dimly lit. Before she sat, she removed her signature burgundy coat and Harry couldn't help his eyes being drawn to certain aspects of his companion. Nice arse, he remarked with a raise of his brows before the woman behind the counter tells him for the third time that his order is ready, a look of disdain as she probably caught his gaze. Giving her a sheepish smile to appease her, he manages to balance the two plates and mugs in his hands and walk over to the table.

"They asked if you wanted whipped cream or foam and I settled for foam, hope that's not a problem." He plonks himself on the seat across from her, removing his parka in a clumsy manner before hanging it in the back of the chair.

"No problem, I actually despise–

"Whipped cream, yeah, I kind of remembered what you told me about that birthday party of yours," the green eyed lad finishes for her and scratches the back of his neck. "You know with that dare..."

Her eyes flickered down to the cupcakes laid out before them and she started picking the caramel out of one, hoping to hide the nerves his words caused.

"Right enough, yeah... I can't believe you remembered that or that I told you about it." She chuckled nervously at the anecdote she chose to share with him, it was a bit inappropriate due to the amount of vomit around it, literally. But he shrugged with a charming smile. No big deal. "Nice place," she noted.

"I know it's a bit of a strange choice. It doesn't strike me as, you know, the kind of place you put so much effort into for a first date..." Harry stops talking and now his eyes meet the cupcake in front of him. "Bollocks I must have sounded so daft, I'm sorry." Lucky for him, she doesn't laugh, instead she reaches out to stroke his hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

"Nothing to be sorry about, I can be quite daft so..."

"I doubt that Miss suave." He gets a laugh out of her then, one that is almost a snort and earns a few glances from other customers.

"I’m far from it! Honestly, I once accidentally stepped on dog shit and didn't notice until my date couldn't bear the stink anymore and checked my shoe, in a very fancy restaurant. Terrible story. Trust me, I can be daft." Alma held up her hands and the musician giggled at her.

"Promise you won't laugh?" he raised an eyebrow at her, pleading. She promised. "Well, I kind of always wanted to have a first date here. It's always one of the first places I visit when I'm back in London, the food is amazing, and service is excellent. Came here completely hung-over after my twenty-first birthday party. I guess it has a lot of good memories." Pinked cheeks gave away Harry's embarrassment, he wanted to relax and for her to be more comfortable around him.

With a sincere smile Alma placed her hand over his resting on the table. "I think that is very sweet." This reply was not what he had expected; she leant in and beckoned him closer. "For your information Harry, this is exactly a great place for a first date." Up close he swore the darkness of her eyes were about to swallow him whole and spit him out to an alternate universe. He swallowed hard and took a sip of his coffee to distract himself a bit. Perhaps caffeine was not a good choice on a day where his heart was speeding so frequently.

"Did you have a good day today at work?" he asks with a familiarity that Alma can get used to.

"Yeah, had a bit of free time to plan my next video blog. It's been ages since I uploaded one." She bashfully admits. "This cupcake was delicious, a great flavour choice." And just like that they fall into easy conversation until their cups are drained. The place is almost empty around quarter to eight and they both know it's almost closing time –the death glances from the employees behind the counter gave it away. They put on their garments again before leaving.

Harry makes his way to the door expecting Alma to follow. Instead she first gathered up their mugs and plates, to place them neatly on the counter and thanked the three workers behind it with a genuine smile. Harry looked surprised; she didn't quite have to do that. She noticed.

"Just being polite," she stated the obvious, before walking under his arm that held open the door. He chose not to comment and fought back a smile.

They stood outside, not really sure of what to do next. Usually he would suggest going back to his place. It was near, but he watched her yawn discreetly and he suddenly remembered that she had a real job, well actually jobs in plural. He broke the silence.

"It was nice to see you again Alma." He meant it and she smiled as she toyed with the buttons of her coat. British summer weather was hardly cold, but today it seemed to be punishingly windy. Harry near gave a shiver, but instead took a deep breath before speaking again. It was now or never. "It'd be quite great, if I could... I'd like to see you again. Please." He shifted on one foot, nearly drowned in the silence that followed.

"I'd quite love to see you again," Harry gave a slight gulp, very slight and got out strength from the words she spoke to take a big risk, the first of today.

He stepped closer and cradled her face in his hands before leaning down and kissing her cheek. It wasn't the full on kiss he wanted to give her. But it is something he'd been dying to do since he first saw her today, something he hoped would make clear how attracted he was to her. Harry smelled like coffee and caramel. God this man's lips are prettier up close, she thought right before he straightened up.

She stayed close to him before speaking again. A low murmur so that the passing London traffic wouldn't steal her words from him.

"This was an amazing date."

Alma walked with him the long distance of one mile to the tube station, their hands brushing against each other. He was desperate to just hold hers, kiss her soft knuckles and ask about the lightning-shaped scar on her little finger. But decided against it, he knew that West Hampstead was not a common area for paparazzi, but he didn't want to risk her. Especially after the splendid afternoon they just shared.

They said their farewells.

"I'll call you," he said again. She warned that he better, before entering the station, he took great delight in watching her walk away from him, his gaze falling once more to her bum now covered by the coat. Harry spun on his heel and walked the short distance to his home.

Surely London could help him find the lyrics for that tune, this city definitely had something.

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#harry styles oc #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles series #harry styles imagine #harry styles #harry fluff #harry styles ou #a certain romance #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fandom #harry styles fan fic #harry styles golden

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thatesqcrush · 4 years

Text

The Games That Are Played

Warning: crack-fic coming your way. This is what happens when you get on a discord chat with some other Barba loving heathens (you know who you are) and get a little heavy handed with the wine. Fic also inspired by the gif below.

More warning: All the smut. Threesome fic with Amaro & Barba. Nothing up the booty, but some orgasm denial, humiliation, blow-jobs, etc. Who doesn’t want to be spit-roasted by those 2 delicious Cuban men?

Also: typos galore. I am sorry. I’ll fix when I am of sound mind.

You groaned as you peeled off your dress blues. Your body ached and your head pounded from the beat you had patrolled. It was extraordinarily hot out, despite it being late into the evening. Just a few days earlier, you had been charged on police misconduct as it related to deliberate indifference and as such, you were demoted.

ADA Rafael Barba and your partner Detective Nick Amaro were recused from the case. This was because you, Rafael and Nick were in a polyamorous relationship. Your Captain, Olivia Benson was doing all that she could to get the charges dropped and you reinstated. So in the meantime, you were reassigned as a patrol officer from detective.

The precinct was quiet when you had arrived. Your favorite faded jeans and zipped hoodie were laid out on the bench in front of the shower and you wrapped your hair in a high pony-tail before stepping into the shower. The hot water steamed up the shower stall and you felt you the tension start to melt from your aching muscles. After you had washed up and rinsed clean, you snaked a hand down to between your legs in order to just quickly rub one out. You thought of you two very handsome partners and all of the delicious things you do with them. You let out a soft moan and very quickly bit your lip in an attempt to keep quiet. You could feel your orgasm build and just as you were about to climax, you were interrupted by a burst of cool air as your curtain opened. A familiar voice cleared their throat.

Your eyes flew open and you were face to face with Nick.

“Can I help you?” You asked crossing your arms, as the water continued to run.

“You know you are breaking the rules. You aren’t supposed to touch yourself.” Nick replied with a smirk. His eyes twinkled as he rubbed his hand under his bearded chin. Nick had taken to growing a beard in the last few weeks and some grey/white patches had started to come in, making him all the more attractive.

You narrowed your eyes, before turning your back to him in order to turn off the shower. “What are you doing here? I thought your shift ended.”

“I had to come back and finish some paperwork for Liv. Downstairs told me you hadn’t left. And stop deflecting.” Nick replied, loosening his tie and rolling up his sleeves.

“Oh come on. I told you I wasn’t in that mood to play that stupid game. I have had enough shit going on.” You replied, annoyed, stepping out of the shower. Nick grabbed your wrist as you pushed past him. He pulled you tightly to him, not caring that he got wet in the process.

“You never used the word. You know it. If you didn’t really want to, you would have said it.” Nick growled quietly. “If you really don’t want to play, then say it.”

You looked to the ground. Nick cupped your chin and forced you to meet his eyes. His dark eyes were blown with lust and you could feel heat pool down at your core. “Come on, say it. Say the safe word.” He continued to goad you.

Your safe word was “frijoles.” You said that and everything stopped, no questions asked. In the times you had been with the two handsome Cuban men, you could count on one hand the amount of times you had to actually use it. You opened your mouth but found yourself at a loss for words.

Instead, you stood on the tips of your toes and wrapped your hand around Nick’s lips and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Your tongues dueled albeit briefly and Nick pulled away. He used his thumb to run it across your bottom lip.

“I knew it. Now, get dressed and lets go home.” Nick replied. You stood still and Nick cocked his head at you. He turned you around and cupped your buttocks and gave a playful pinch, causing you to squeak.

“Let’s go Y/N. Don’t keep me waiting.” Nick rumbled in your ear. You could feel his erection pressing along your back and you scurried to get dressed.

While Nick continued to have his own home, he also moved into the apartment that you shared with Rafael. You both stepped off the elevator and walked down the hallway that led to your apartment, hand in hand. Nick opened the door and held the door, letting you in first. Rafael was sitting in his office, glasses perched on his head. He was furiously scribbling away, muttering to himself.

The door shut with a click and he stepped out, smiling warmly at the sight of you two.

“Hey. Welcome home.”

“Still in a suit? It’s so late.” Nick replied, taking off his jacket and hanging it up.

Rafael shook his head. “Things got away from me – I sat down to write one thing and then ended up re-doing my entire closing. How was today?”

“Why don’t you tell him sweetheart?” Nick nodded at you. Rafael frowned and approached you.

“Everything okay?” Rafael asked, his voice full of concern. He knew you had taken the demotion hard.

“Yes. Just a long day and I am tired.” You replied with a sigh.

“And?” Nick continued, urging you. Rafael’s eyes flitted to Nick, curious as to what the other Cuban knew.

You didn’t reply, so Nick did for you. “I found our little slut touching herself in the shower.”

Rafael turned his gaze slowly to you and you felt your cheeks burn. “Is that so princesa?”

“Si. Lo siento… I just wanted to relax. I needed to just get it out.” You apologized. You started walking towards the bedroom, stripping your shoes, socks and hooded sweatshirt, leaving you in your tank top and jeans.

Rafael and Nick looked at each other and gave each other a very knowing look. Rafael followed you into the bedroom.

“What, getting fucked by two cocks isn’t enough? You still aren’t satisfied?” Rafael asked darkly.

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” You replied, arching your brow. “Like you or Nick don’t use your hands? Please.” You rolled your eyes defiantly, knowing it would most definitely spur both men and get you in [fun] trouble.

“You believe the mouth on this one?” Rafael asked Nick.

“I can think of better uses for her mouth.” Nick laughed.

“So can I.” Rafael replied, running his hand through his hair. “And because you can’t keep your hands to yourself… Nick, go get ‘em.”

“En serio?” Nick questioned. Rafael nodded and you looked at Nick.

“Get what?” You called out after Nick. You whipped your head back to Rafael. “Get what?” You repeated.

“These.” Nick returned with his pair of handcuffs, hanging off his index finger. He shook them gently, causing the metal to jingle. He tossed them onto the bed.

Rafael and Nick stalked you and you felt like you were trapped in a snare.

“Boys…” Your voice hitched a bit. Rafael pulled your hair from the bun, and pulled back your hair. His soft lips brushed against your ear before he nipped it.

“Princesa, you know we wouldn’t do anything to hurt you right?” Rafael questioned. You rested your head against Rafael’s shoulder.

You smiled, also enjoying the game. “I know. I remember the word.”

Nick cupped your face and you nodded again, before pressing a kiss into his palm. Nick began to lift your black tank-top while from behind, Rafael made quick work of your jeans and underwear, pulling the materials to the floor and helped you step out of them. The air felt thick with sexual tension and your heart began to beat more quickly. Nick cupped your breasts, twiddling a nipple with his index finger and thumb causing you to gasp. Rafael used his knee to spread your spread your legs. Rafael dropped to his knees to press kisses along the backs of your thighs while Nick kissed you. You shivered feeling Rafael’s hot breath on your skin as you anticipated his next move.

Rafael pressed his face directly into your ass, almost smothering himself. He placed large kisses along your soft flesh before delving into your folds. Rafael parted your lips and lapped at your flesh at the same time as Nick’s mouth latched onto your nipple, suckling hard.

You moaned loudly, causing Rafael and Nick to pause his actions. He looked up at Nick, his face glistened with your arousal. Nick swallowed hard at the sight. “She’s so loud.” Rafael replied. “I think it’s time.”

Nick nodded. “Your office?”

Rafael smiled wickedly. “Splendid.” He grabbed the handcuffs from the bed.

Nick lifted you over his shoulder and carried you into Rafael’s office. Rafael smacked your ass as he followed, causing you to squeal. Nick lowered you and you took a step to steady yourself. Nick took the handcuffs from Rafael and twisted your arms behind you and cuffed you.

You groaned and struggled against them. Your attempts were futile as the handcuffs were securely fastened.

Rafael threw himself back into this chair. He unzipped his pants and took out his cock, which was painfully hard and weeping. Rafael fisted his cock and stroked twice before letting his thumb glide across the head of his cock, smearing the pre-cum.

“Time to use that mouth for something else.” Nick teased shoving you down to your knees. “Go suck that beautiful cock.” Rafael’s eyes flitted to Nick’s eyes at the compliment and he was about to say something when you used your tongue to lick his thick shaft.

“Mierda…” Rafael grunted. You swirled your tongue once more over his length before taking him fully into your mouth. Your warm mouth on his cock caused Rafael to groan loudly. You start to lose your balance slightly and Rafael places a hand on your head to hold you in place. Rafael closed his eyes, his brows furrowed as you continue to suck and slobber all over his cock. The obscene sounds further drive him and he lifted his free arm over the back of his chair, gripping the leather with the tips of his fingernails.

“Oh fuck Y/N, you’re such a good little cocksucker.” Rafael grunts. “Do you love sucking that cock?”

A muffled ‘yes’ bled from your mouth. “Such a little slut and you are all ours.” Rafael grunted as his hips begin to lift from the chair he was seated on.

Nick pulled on your arms, lifting you off Rafael roughly. You gasped for air and Rafael swore loudly. “I was about to come.” Rafael growled.

Nick cocked his head. “Can’t have you have all the fun counselor.” Rafael clicked his tongue with his teeth and began to fist his cock some more.

“Nick, please.” You beg. “Take off the cuffs. Please. Fuck me.”

“What’s that?” Nick bent down to your ear.

“Fuck me. Take off these cuffs. I’ll be a good girl.” You beg. “It’ll be so much better with my hands free.”

“No. Next time we tell you to not touch yourself, maybe you will listen. If you did your job correctly, you wouldn’t be in this mess.” Nick replied softly. He made quick removal of his clothes, tossing them to the side by the door entrance. Rafael followed suit. You stayed on your knees, anticipating their next move.

“You’re going to go back to sucking his cock and I am going to fuck you into next week.” Nick growled. You nodded and bit your lip. Both men sink to their knees and take their places. Nick pulled on your arms and pulled you up, so Rafael can shove his cock into your mouth. Rafael’s hands grip your head tightly as he begins to fuck your mouth with gusto, causing you to sputter and slobber. Saliva ran out of your mouth as you continued to pleasure Rafael. Your muffled moan filled the room as Nick slipped his fingers inside you.

“So wet.” Nick keened. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re enjoying this little punishment.” You mumbled something and Rafael shoved your head down harder on his cock, the head hitting the back of your throat. Nick removed his fingers, sucking them clean before pressing his cock into you. He took his time, letting you adjust to his cock for the first few strokes before ramping the intensity of his pounding. The sounds of skin on skin filled the room. Nick was merciless as he fucked you. Every forward motion from behind propelled you on Rafael’s cock. Just as Nick felt your walls start to quiver around his cock, he would pull on your cuffs. The pain from the cuffs would jar you back. Nick ripped orgasm from orgasm from you. It was sensory overload as you were full in almost every orifice and desperate to come.

Nick could feel his balls swell, ready to explode. “Fuck Nick, I’m about to come.” Rafael grunted as he continued to fuck your mouth. Nick looked at Rafael and leaned over to grab Rafael’s hand. Their eyes met and Nick nodded. Both men groaned and grunted as their cocks kicked and they emptied their loads into you. Nick continued to pump through until he was spent. When he was done, he pulled out and murmured praises against your skin before retrieving the handcuff keys.

Rafael caught you as you collapsed, your mind fuzzy and exhausted. “Let’s take care of you.” Rafael murmured.

Rafael pulled you up and he sat back down on the chair. He pulled you up, so you were sitting on his lap, back to chest. Rafael sucked on the slope of your neck as Nick’s fingers ghosted over your swollen nub. You were already so close, and all it took was a few circles of your clit from Nick while Rafael pinched your nipples and you came hard, seeing stars as you wailed both men’s names.

Hands were over as you came down, caressing you. Continued appraisals flurried over you along with kisses.

“You were so good.” Rafael murmured. Nick hummed his agreement into your thighs as he continued to pepper your skin with kisses. Rafael stood up and carried you to the bedroom. Nick followed, joining you both. You curled into Rafael’s lap, laying your head against his chest as you listened to his heart beat normalize. Nick pressed a kiss to the top of your head before pulling the covers on.

“Y/N?” Rafael questioned. You lifted your head. “Yeah?” Your eyes were starting to flutter with sleepiness.

“I spoke with the other ADA. The charges are being dropped and you’re being reinstated per Liv starting Monday.”

You sat up. A smile crossed your face and you slapped a hand over your mouth. You were giddy with excitement and all feelings of sleep escaped.

You pulled the sheets off and climbed on top of Rafael. “I thought you were going to tell her in the morning. Now we’re never going to sleep.” Nick complained, looking at the clock. “I have an early shift.”

“I think this calls for a celebration.”

And you did. With both men. Over and over again. As the sun rose over the Manhattan skyline the next day, it flooded the bedroom. It barely disturbed your sleeping figures.

Nick ended up taking the day off.

FIN.

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