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tickle-minion · 5 months

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Ticklish Farm hand

SFW, but some really evil tickling as the young farm hand learns what happens when he misses a day of work.

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Luke was attending community college in a small town and needed some easy to work to help pay for his bills. Being a small college town, there wasn’t actually much work to be had. After weeks of searching Luke found something that would pay the bills AND not interfere at all with his class schedule… but the downside was that it involved getting up at the crack of dawn and tending to and feeding cows on a farm just outside of town. Luke had a little 10 year old Volvo so getting out to the farm wasn’t bad, but it also meant that he had to call it a night pretty early most nights in order to be able to get up in the mornings. His boss, Richard, occasionally gave him days off so he could live the life of a college student.

One Friday night Luke was invited out to the bar by Nancy, a girl he’d been interested in since the start of the term. Luke had to feed the cows the next morning (as usual), but he didn’t think he could say no to Nancy. He told himself that he’d just go out early, limit himself to a few drinks, and make it home with plenty of time to sleep and wake up the next morning.

That didn’t happen.

Luke woke up the next morning with his phone chiming and a very large headache. He rolled over in bed, feeling the most hung over he’d felt in a very long time, and picked up his phone, squinting as he checked to see why it was making all this noise. At first he was confused, but confusion quickly gave way to panic when he realized he’d slept through his alarm. He wasn’t just late for work… he’d missed it all together. Checking his messages, he saw that he’d missed a few calls from Richard, his boss. Luckily, it was Saturday, so Luke would be able to drive down to the farm to apologize in person. Despite feeling like death, Luke got dressed as quickly as he could, put on his heavy work boots, and sprinted from his dorm room to his car.

When he arrived at the farm, Luke parked in his usual spot and beelined for the house. He knocked and waited. It wasn’t long before he heard the heavy footsteps of Richard coming to the door, and the very pissed off farmer answered.

“Luke, so nice of you to show up,” Richard said from the doorway. It was clear by the expression on his face that he was not impressed with the farm hand.

“Look, Richard, I’m sorry. Things got out of hand last night and I -”

“Save it. Cows were late getting fed this morning, which meant I had to go out and do it. It fucked up everything else I had to do today. When I hired you I said I was looking for someone dependable and reliable. I’m starting to wonder if you’re the right person for the job.”

Luke felt panic rise in his throat. He needed this job.

“Richard… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is a one time thing, it’s never going to happen again! Give me a second chance, I promise I’ll be here every single day.”

Richard gave the boy a good, hard stare while Luke was shaking in his boots. He wondered just what was going through the farmer’s mind. It was clear that Richard was pissed, but it was also the first and only time that Luke hadn’t shown up.

“Alright, listen. I’ll give you one more chance. But you gotta follow me and do exactly as I say. You got it? Step one toe out of line and you’re gone. There’s lots of kids at your school who’d jump at a chance to replace you. Got it?”

Luke nodded eagerly.

“Yes, yes, absolutely. I’ll do whatever you say. Thank you Richard, thank you so much.”

“Alright, quit yer jabbering and follow me.”

Richard stepped out of the house and started making his way to his old wooden barn. As far as Luke knew, there wasn’t much in there since Richard built the newer, larger barn.

Pushing open the door, Richard and Luke both stepped in. It was a large building that still smelled like animals even though there weren’t any. Sunlight came in through the gaps between the boards and motes of dust floated in the sunbeams.

“Take a seat on the bench and take off yer boots,” Richard said, grabbing a nearby wooden crate.

“Oh, um, alright,” Luke answered, taking a seat as he was directed and untying his heavy work boots.

Richard returned and put the crate down in front of Luke.

“Alright, now prop those feet of yers up on the box. I gotta grab somethin’.”

Luke did as he was told. He dropped both boots on the ground beside the bench and hoisted his legs up, resting the heels of his white Hanes-sock feet on the wooden crate. This was getting weird, but he was willing to put up with a little weird if it meant keeping his job.

Luke just sat there, mindlessly wiggling his toes, waiting for Richard to return. It didn’t take long for Richard to come back. He was holding a tube of something in his hands.

“Alright kid,” Richard said as he pulled up a stool to sit in front of Luke’s socked feet, “time to see how farm life has been treating these feet of yours.”

“You’re going to what?” Luke sputtered as Richard pulled off both of his socks, exposing his bare feet.

RIchard leaned forward a little bit, inspecting the soles of Luke’s feet.

“Hmm, looks like they’re a little rough. That happens when you’re working on a farm. I’m guessing your feet were much softer and tender before you came to work for me, huh?”

Suddenly very uncomfortable, Luke gave a nervous chuckle.

“Y-yeah, I guess.”

“Well good thing for you I got the cure for that.”

Richard popped open the tube he was carrying and squirted some white substance into his hand. Luke was finally able to see it was some sort of moisturizing lotion.

“I keep a few bottles of this around. You’d be surprised how dry yer hands and feet get working out here.”

Without a word, Richard rubbed his hands together, smearing the motion between them, and grabbed one of Luke’s feet. Surprised that someone was touching his foot, Luke jumped slightly on the stool and instinctively tried to pull his foot away. Try as he might, he couldn’t. Richard’s grip was too strong.

“Remember what I said, kid. You do whatever I say or else you’re out of a job. I’m telling you to keep yer feet on this box and don’t move them. Understand?”

Not fully understanding what was happening, Luke just managed a sheepish nod.

Satisfied with the response, Richard turned his attention back to Luke’s foot. Using his powerful, rough hands, Richard began to massage the lotion into Luke’s foot. His thumbs pressed into Luke’s instep, working in small circles. His palms were flat against Luke’s broad soles, rubbing the lotion in. Fingers flossed between each individual toe, getting everything smooth and slick,getting a small embarrassed giggle from the college student.

“A little ticklish, are we? That’s good to know.”

Luke just leaned back on the stool and found… that he actually kind of liked it. He liked the feeling of those big hands working and massaging his foot. It was true, since he’d started working he’d noticed his feet were getting rough (and often sore), so having someone pamper them a little bit felt kind of nice. Weird as hell, but nice.

Richard continued to work silently, massaging Luke’s foot until it was nice, relaxed, slick, and cool to the touch. Pulling away, the farmer squirted more lotion into his hands again, rubbed them together, and went to work on Luke’s other foot. His hands gave the same care. Luke could feel the obvious strength in those hands, but Richard’s touch was gentle. Almost caring. If this was punishment for being late for work, Luke didn’t understand it.

Finally, after 10 or so minutes of constant massage, with Richard switching back and forth between the pair of feet, the farmer sat up.

“Alright, I think we’re just about ready. Remember what I said, you keep your feet on that box. No moving them unless I give the say so. You understand the rules?”

Not understanding the rules at all, Luke just gave a single nod.

“Good. Here we go then.”

Suddenly, one of Richard’s hands took firm hold of Luke’s left ankle, and the index finger of his other hand scratched up and down Luke’s arch. A shock went through Luke’s body and purely by reflex he tried to jerk his foot away. Richard’s grip was strong, and the foot didn’t go anywhere.

“This is yer one and only warning, Luke. You keep yer feet on the box or you’re out of a job.”

“W-What are you doing to my foot?” Luke asked, eyes wide and confused.

“I’m a strong believer in corporal punishment. It’s the only way some people learn. Unfortunately I can’t beat the lesson into you, so I got to get a bit more creative.”

The finger was back again, moving up and down very slowly over Luke’s lotion slicked (and sensitive) sole. Luke gripped the edges of the bench with both hands and held on tight.

“You’re tickling me…”

“Yeah, that’s right. And it’s going to get a helluva lot worse.”

The finger was suddenly joined by another, stroking up and down Luke’s left foot. The farm hand hadn’t been tickled since he was a kid and he was quickly learning that he was more ticklish than he figured he’d be. He closed his eyes and giggled, keeping his foot as still as possible. The two fingers were joined by a third, then a fourth, and soon Richard’s five fingers were wiggling into Luke’s sole. What was once giggling had turned into soft laughter. This was bearable. It was really weird (and could possibly be considered sexual harassment… if Richard was getting off on this) but bearable.

“Alright, we got a ticklish one here. Good job keeping yer feet on the crate, boy. Just hold onto yer hat for this.”

“What do you me-E-E-E-A-ANNN!!”

Luke tried to talk, but his boss attacked both of his feet at once, one hand on each. Where before it had been light tickles, this was an onslaught. Both rough hands, once gentle, were sadistic. Those strong fingers were now digging into the flesh of his feet, nails scratching and pads kneading. Luke tried his hardest to keep his feet on the crate as he was ordered, but it was hard. He kicked his feet a little, being careful not to pull them away.

“I-I-I’M S-S-S-OOOOORRY!”

“Not as sorry as you’re going to be!”

Richard took hold of both of Luke’s big toes in one tight gripped hand and pulled them back, stretching the soles out. His other hand started tickling the two soles together, switching from one then the other, back and forth. He was scratching up and down quickly, taking the occasional moment to tickle both of his arches at the same time. Luke was in hysterics, head thrown back with laughter while his legs kicked and squirmed. He kept his heels on the crate as ordered. This was rough and intense, but being without a job was not an option.

“OKAY! HA HA HA! OOOOOKAY! I’VE… I’VE LEARNED MY L-L-LESSSSON!”

Richard didn’t answer, he just looked up from the pair of squirming feet he was tickling and laughed.

The sadistic farmer kept this up for several minutes, constantly moving his fingers around the stretched soles so Luke never had a chance to get used to the sensation. Mercifully though, he eventually stopped and let go of Luke’s toes.

“Oh fuck,” Luke panted, his face red and his forehead sweaty, “Holy fuck that was awful. I’ll never be late again, I swear, I’ve learned my lesson.”

It was Richard’s turn to laugh now.

“Ha! You think that’s it? Sorry kid, we still have one more thing. Here, let’s lotion those feet up again so they’re as slick and sensitive as possible, first.”

Squirting some into his hand, Richard started slathering a thick layer of lotion all over Luke’s soles. The farm hand giggled quietly, feet still quite sensitive from the previous tickling.

“Did you know we got barn owls around here? Sometimes I hear them at night, and sometimes I just find feathers the next morning. Want to see one?”

Luke watched as Richard pulled out a long brown striped feather.

“You’re going to tickle my feet with a feather? Doesn’t that only happen in cartoons?”

Richard grinned.

“If you think this only works in cartoons, you’re about to learn something new.”

Richard roughly grabbed both of Luke’s ankles and held them down. Luke’s eyes went wide as he watched the feather come closer and closer to his helpless soles while Richard dragged it out for dramatic effect. Finally the very tip of the feather touched Luke’s sole, and Richard swirled it. Nothing happened. Luke didn’t laugh… it didn’t tickle. Richard seemed somewhat disappointed.

“Aw shucks. Usually that works. Oh well, I know for a fact the other side will work.”

Flipping the feather around, Richard pressed the tip of the quill into Luke’s heel and dragged it up in one quick motion up to his toes.

Luke jumped in his seat, and almost pulled his feet right out of Richard’s grasp. Now that… that tickled! It was so much worse than the fingers. It was like a bolt of lightning shocked through his body, from his foot all the way up through to his head.

“FUCK!”

“Don’t worry, I got good penmanship”

Richard started at the top of Luke’s foot, and started writing on the sole using the tip of the quill. He read slowly as he went, not that Luke understood too much. He was making a sound somewhere between a scream, a squeal, and a laugh.

“I…. will… not… be… late… Maybe I need to write this a few times to get your attention?”

“NO! NOOOOO!”

“Yeah, I think we will. I’ll write it as many times as you have toes. Sounds fair, right?”

The feather moved from Luke’s sole up to his pinky toe.

“That’s one….”

He scribbled on the tad of the toe, trailing down the digit until he was in the gap under the toe. Once there, he scribbled again, digging the quill into the soft skin. Luke was rocking back and forth, eyes wide and bulging as he watched. He continued to laugh and scream, barely able to keep his breath.

“Okay, one down, 9 more times to go.”

Richard continued the following pattern just as promised. Pressing the point of the quill into the lotion slicked soles, sliding easily as he scrawled all over the soles. From left to right, he wrote ‘I Will Not Be Late”, from top of the foot all the way to the bottoms of Luke’s heels. He worked the tip into the flesh of each toe, working Luke somewhere between ticklishness and pain. Whatever it was, it was driving the boy absolutely insane. There were now tears freely flowing down his beat red face. The sides of Luke’s mouth were starting to ache from how large and wide his laughing smile had stretched.

But throughout it all, Luke managed to keep his feet in place. They kicked, they pulsed, they shook, and then buckled… but they never pulled back. It was single handedly the hardest thing Luke had ever been through in his life.

“PP-P-P-LEEE-ASSE. I-I-I CAN'T…” Luke sobbed.

“Don’t worry kid, I’m on the last one now…”

RIchard dragged out his final scrawl. He dug into the tender sole with each letter, really pressing into Luke’s foot. It felt as though Richard was taking minutes instead of seconds with each word and letter. Finally, having written his message into Luke’s feet, he brought the feather up to the one last assaulted toe: the big toe on Luke’s right foot.

“Just a little bit left, you can make it…” Richard teased.

The quill lightly touched the center of Luke’s toe. The farm hand’s over sensitive foot jerked and he sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes were wide with terror as he watched the final moments of his tickle torture.

Instead of pressing into the pad like he had with the other toes, Richard gave a shockingly light touch, doing small circles on Luke’s big toe.

Luke’s eyes stayed locked on the feather attacking his toe. His breath was jagged and sucked in through clenched teeth. His foot vibrated on the crate, threatening to pull back at any moment. He looked more like a frightened rabbit than a young man. Normally he wouldn’t be this ticklish to such a light touch, but the full experience of being tickled, and the lotion that was freely slathered over his feet, left him a wreck.

RIchard made the circles smaller and smaller, until finally he stopped. He leaned back on his bench and set the feather down on the table beside him.

“There you go kid, how do you feel?”

Under his sweater, Luke had sweat right through his thin white shirt. His hair was plastered to his head with sweat. He panted heavily, hands still tightly clenching the bench.

“So… so it’s… over?”

Richard nodded, getting up from the stool and walking towards the barn’s exit.

“Yeah, we’re done.”

Luke pulled his feet back instantly. His brain, being in survival mode, quickly tucked his feet under himself. Now they were protected against any more tickling.

“That was… what was fucked up, RIchard. Really fucked up. I thought I was going to die.”

This time it was RIchard who laughed.

“You did good though, you never pulled your feet away no matter how rough I was with you. You get to keep yer job. Just consider this yer one and only one warning. Don’t show up again and I’ll make what you just went through feel like child’s play. We understand each other?”

Luke said nothing, he just nodded his head furiously, still trying to catch his breath.

“Good. You can see yourself out. See you tomorrow morning.”

Luke didn’t leave right away. He needed time to settle himself back down. After a few minutes of heavy breathing, Luke slowly put his socks back on with shaky hands. He grit his teeth and gasped out a giggle a few times as the socks slid over his over sensitive feet. Once his socks were on he slipped his feet into his work boots, but didn’t bother tying them up.

He made a pledge right there and then to never be late again.

#malefeet #feet #gayfeet #male tickling #guy feet #tickling #gay tickling #male feet story #male tickling story #sfw tickling community #tickling content #tickling community #tickle content #gay foot play #male foot story

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lvrhughes · 1 year

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I’ve always loved you | T. Zegras

word count: 1.2k

pairing: Trevor Zegras x f!reader

summary: after a one night stand, and an embarrassing exit, you and Trevor finally work over all the hurdles to fall in love

warnings: none?

requested: no

not my gif!

Falling in love with a hot-shot hockey player was never the plan.

You were at the bar, he was at the bar, on a high from the win one thing lead to another and you woke up in his arms with a pounding headache.

“Fuck” mumbled out of your mouth, a pounding in you head was all that you could focus on, not the arms around your waist or the fact that this isn’t your bedroom. Trying to sit up is when you finally acknowledged the arms around you, keeping you in place.

“Don’t go” he whined, pulling you impossibly closer.

Who the fuck is that?

You just woken up in a bed that isn’t your, someone’s arms around you, and a killer headache. Sounds like a good way to start the week.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. It’s Monday.”

Panic rushed in you when you realized, you were late for work and hung over. You pushed yourself from his arms, despite his constant pleas not to, and tried to find all items belonging to you. Your shirt was thrown on a chair and your pants just left on the floor.

“Baby, what’s the rush for?”

His voice. The rasp from the early morning, the way it was the most perfect sound you had ever heard almost lured you back to the bed. You turned to look at him, finally. You were in, none other then, Trevor fucking Zegras’ bed.

“oh my fuck” was mumbled by you.

“I- it’s Monday, I have work. I’m sorry.” And with that you rushed out of his apartment. Needless to say he was left so very confused, he hadn’t seen anything wrong with last night, and it was Sunday.

You were sat in the backseat of the Uber, holding your clothes in your arms, only wearing your pants and whatever shirt you had slept in, checking all your notifications from last night. 10 messages from your roommate

‘Where are you?’

‘Are you coming home?’

‘If you don’t answer soon I’m locking the house and I know you don’t have your key’

God damn. Even a few messages from people you barely talk to, sending videos of the party, telling how fun you were last night. You sighed, turning off your phone but not before seeing the date. It was Sunday. Great so you had just ran out thinking it was Monday, you probably looked insane and he probably thought you were too.

Finally the Uber arrived at your house, you thanked the driver and walked slowly towards the doors.

“Where were you?” The door was opened right before you as Estelle questioned you. She was quick, clearly not hung over and clearly interested to where you were.

“I think I just hooked up with Trevor Zegras.”

“WHAT” he reaction was loud, and did nothing to help the pounding in your head.

“Ow, now let me in. I thought it was Monday and ran out, I need more sleep.”

Pushing her out of the doorway you finally padded into your own home and to your room. As soon as you got in, you fell to your bed, sleep overcoming you instantly.

When you woke up later, there was more messages unopened in your phone. An unknown number had messaged you about six times.

‘Hey why’d you run out? You know it’s Sunday?’

‘It’s Trevor btw’

‘This must seem so creepy sorry, I got your number from your friend’

‘Estelle’

‘Fuck sorry I don’t know what I’m doing’

‘I had a good time last night, I don’t know about you but I’d love to do it again’

Holy fuck. This had to be a dream. Trevor Zegras, Anaheim ducks player, a nhl player, had a good night with you and wants to do it again. Fuck.

“ESTELLE”

“Oh good your finally awake.” She said running into your room.

“You gave Trevor my number?”

“Oops” she giggled, of course she did.

That entire incident was now four months ago, and you and Trevor had been hooking up ever since. And currently you were sitting on your couch with Estelle, watching whatever was on tv.

“Estelle, I won’t do this anymore. I have to end it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Trevor. I can’t take it, I think I love him.”

“Oh, why not tell him?”

“Because there’s no way he feels the same. He is a famous hockey player who could do so much better then me. There are so many other girls who are prettier.”

“Why not just try? What’s the worst to happen? He says he doesn’t feel the same, so what. His loss.”

She was right, and you knew it but that doesn’t mean that’s what you would do.

So you ghosted him. When he messaged you for the night, you cleared the notification. When he called you sent it to voicemail. This continued on for three weeks. Finally Trevor broke, he got your address from Estelle. Showed up at 2 in the morning when he couldn’t sleep.

“Y/n” being mumbled in your ear constantly and the slight shaking is what woke you at 2 in the morning. Waking up to Trevor’s face in your was not expected.

“What the fuck?”

“I missed you. Why were you ignoring me?” His voice was soft, he had puppy dog eyes staring at you. Fuck it’s hard to ignore him in person.

“I wasn’t”

“Your lying”

“Mhm” and you rolled over. You needed to stop this.

Despite clearly knowing you didn’t want to see him, he still laid down. He pulled you into his chest, turning you to face him in the process. when you looked up he had a sappy smile on his face.

“What?”

“Your just pretty. And I missed you.”

blush covered your cheeks, burrowing yourself into his chest to hide. He laughed quietly.

“Why were you ignoring me?” He asked again after pressing a gentle kiss to your hair. You just shook your head.

“Come on baby, you got to talk to me.”

“No I don’t. I just don’t want to see you anymore.” You lied right through your teeth. And he could hear it.

“No you don’t, tell me the truth.”

fuck. He knows. He knows you always want to see him, that wouldn’t just change. Fuck it.

“I think I love you.”

he froze, and you knew you had messed up.

“No it’s fine, I know you don’t feel the same. It’s just people fall in love without reason, without wanting. You can’t predict love. And I get that, I get that you won’t love me. There’s better people out there. I understand I swear.” You were going to keep mumbling on to maybe bring yourself some comfort but he cut you off.

“Shut up”

“What”

“Please shut up”

He gave you no time to comprehend what he told you, he just kissed you. Passionately, he tried to put every emotion he was feeling into it. When you pushed him away he spoke fast.

“I love you”

“Trevor…”

“I mean it, I love you so much.”

“Don’t pity me. Don’t tell me something you don’t mean.”

“I mean it. I swear on my life. I love you.”

He gave no time for a response before pulling you back to him and putting his lips on yours.

“How long?” You mumble against his lips.

“Four months”

What. It’s only been four months. He’s only known you four months.

“What are you saying?”

“I’ve always loved you.”

#trevor zegras #trevor zegras imagine #trevor zegras x reader #nhl imagine #anahiem ducks #mads writings!

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justtwotired · 4 months

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Whispers of the night - Lloyd Garmadon x reader

Part 1 - previous - next

Your POV:

Finally I wasn’t grounded anymore, and then my friends just could not hang out, now if that isn’t unfair, I don’t know what is.

The only option I had, was a specific blondie in my contact.

You

Blondie

Can you hang out?

I’m bored

01.34 pm Seen

You

Blondie?

Hellooo

01.37 pm seen

You

Are you ignoring me :(

01.45 pm delivered

You

Lloyd?

01.55 pm delivered

I waited for ten more minutes, feeling rather upset that he was just ignoring me like that. When I looked back at me phone, he had read the messages and hadn’t replied, though he was still online.

You

Are you upset with me?

Did I do something wrong?

02.07 pm seen

You

Guess I’ll go to the library by myself:/

02.09 pm delivered

Half an hour later, I was sat at the table in the library, nose deep in a true crime book that had recently come out.

I think about an hour past when I heard a message come in on my phone. I picked it up and opened the message.

Blondie

Hey, sorry for not messaging back!

Send 03.27

I started typing on the keyboard before deleting my message and putting my phone back on the table, trying to focus on my book as my phone kept delivering messages.

After three minutes I couldn’t help but open them.

Blondie

You still wanna hang out?

N/n?

Sent 03.28 pm

Blondie

I saw you type?

Sent 03.29 pm

Blondie

Are you mad at me?):

Sent 03.30 pm

Blondie

I can see that you’re online

Hellooo

I’m sorryyy

just now

I put my phone back on the table with a small huff and was about to turn back to my book when my phone rang.

I rushed to grab it in the silent library and quickly looked at the screen.

Incoming call from Blondie…

I hung up and put it back down on the table, melting away because of the stares people gave me after that rude interruption of the silence.

My phone started to get messages again and I turned the sound off, not feeling like replying, still being mad.

Twenty minutes later, curiosity got the best of me and I took my phone in my hands.

Three missed calls from Blondie

8 unread messages

With a sigh I opened the messages and took a look.

Blondie

Y/n? I’m sorryy, can you pick up?

Sent 03.33 pm

Blondie

Are you mad at me?

I promise I will explain myself :(

N/nnn

Sent 03.35 pm

Blondie

Fuck that, I’m calling you again

Sent 03.37 pm

Blondie

For fucks sake.

Alright, library you said right?

I’m heading there right now.

Sent 03.41 pm

The last message was about ten minutes ago, he could be here any moment…

He wouldn’t really come right? No he wouldn’t, he didn’t even answer my messages and I dodn’t need to hear his stupid excused anyway.

I continued reading my book and about five minutes in, I completely forgot about the message he had sent me about stopping by.

Well, guess what? I was dead wrong. He was not bluffing when he said he’d show up.

Suddenly, someone sat down next to me and I looked up to be met with a pair of green eyes. I narrowed mine and turned back to my book.

“Awe, come on, N/n, I’m sorry,” he said lowering his head slightly to try and continue our eye contact.

I didn’t reply and turned a page, not looking at him as I started to read on.

“Hey, don’t be like this, just let me explain,” he pouted trying to take my hand in his but I recoiled, making me look him in the eyes.

He gave me a light hearted smile. And I scowled at him, making the smile disappear slightly. “Darling, please listen to me,” he said and I could feel my heart start to beat faster at the nickname, though I tried not to let him notice.

He did try to bite back a smirk, so I think he somehow saw trough my poker-face.

I sighed and gave him a look that said ‘explain’ and he quickly took the chance.

“So, I was at work, and my phone just laid on a table, and then you messaged me and I opened it, but then I had to do something else and my phone was marking your messages as seen’ until it fell out, and when I was about to reply something else happened so I had to walk away again and then I kind of forgot you messaged me,” he said and I was contemplating on answering.

“Where do you work?” I asked and he seemed surprised before quickly answering. “Oh uhh, there’s a Dojo not far away from here, I teach the kids sometimes.” He said and I bit my lip for a moment contemplating his answer.

He saw my hesitation and lit up for a moment. “I’ll buy you some chocolate,” he said and a smile creeped onto my face.

“Forgiven,” I said and he grinned triumphantly.

Lloyd POV

When I got home from my mission, I had casually tossed my phone on my bed and taken a shower.

Only when I laid on my bed to chill for a moment, was when I noticed the unread messages.

Shit, I had completely ignored Y/n while on my mission. I had meant to answer her messages, but Pixel, who was guiding me trough the building, was not amused.

“Lloyd, I would prefer it if you put your phone away, you can text your girlfriend after the mission.” She had said and I had heard Jay and Cole laughing in the background.

I quickly answered her texts, which she ignored, making me feel bad, she was definitely mad at me.

When she didn’t answer my calls either, I texted her one last time and headed towards the library.

When I arrived, I spotted her reading a book at a table. She didn’t notice me yet, so I sat next to her, making her look up at me.

When she saw me, her face hardened slightly and she looked back at her book, turning a page as her eyes scanned the page.

“Awe come on, N/n, I’m sorry,” I pouted slightly and lowered my head to meet her eyes, but she avoided me.

“Hey, don’t be like this, just let me explain,” I tried to take her hand but she pulled away from me, it did force her to look at me, even though it was with a scowl, making my smile falter slightly.

“Darling, please listen to me,” I said and I then heard her heart start to beat faster, making the ghost of a grin appear on my face.

Even though I loved calling her that, maybe I should leave the nicknames to the green ninja.

She proceeded to give me a look that told me to explain so I did- sort if, I lied, but not completely, because I didn’t leave her on read on purpose after all.

I had made up a fake excuse on my way here, so that was not a problem. She did catch me of guard when she asked me where I worked though, so I quickly made up a lie.

Dareth wouldn’t mind if I said I worked at his Mojo Dojo, I suppose.

She bit her lip, contemplating on forgiving me, but after promising her some chocolate, I was quickly forgiven, making relief float trough my body.

After she finally finished the chapter of her book, I took her to get some chocolate and then we headed to the park.

“The grass is wet,” I said as she sat down under the tree that was slowly loosing its leaves.

“Awe, is little Lloyd scared for some wet grass?” She pouted at me mockingly and I rolled my eyes. “Are you really going to act like that?” I asked as she took a bite of the chocolate bar she had chosen.

When she had chosen it, I couldn’t help finding her cute as she headed for the cash register like a giddy pinguïn who just caught a fish.

“Well, if you’re going to be scared about damp grassing then yes, I am.” She said and I chuckled and sat down.

She offered me some chocolate with a smile and declined. “It’s all yours,” I said, tempted to add a princess, but deciding that maybe, to not create suspicion, I should not call her the same things as the green ninja.

We leaned against the tree, and while she ate her chocolate, she pointed out people, she told me what she’d name them and why, she made up a life story about them and my smile grew as she rambled on.

“Hey! Lloyd!” We both looked up at someone shouting my name. I saw Nya approach us and I narrowed my eyes slightly as she gave me a innocent smile.

She had definitely used my tracker to find me and meet Y/n.

“Hey, Nya,” I said and she looked at the girl next to me, who looked at her with her lips slightly agape.

“Holy shit,” she said. “It’s you!” She stood up with a giddy smile, making Nya and me both look surprised.

“You went to Ninjago High like- two years ago right? Your Nya Smith?” She asked and Nya nodded with a small smile.

“Me and my friends love you so much!” Y/n jumped up and down in excitement. “Like, when we where in our first year, you flipped off Mr. Taylor and we became like- obsessed!” She said and Nya laughed.

“I remember that! I did get a weeks worth of detention though,” she shrugged and Y/n waved her hand slightly. “Well, it was worth it right?” She asked and Nya nodded with a grin.

“You where the one that fought that kid- Brown was it? Last week, right?” She asked making Y/n nod excitedly.

“Yes! He did deserve it though,” she quickly added and at that point, I was just completely ignored as the two girls got into an excited conversation with each other.

Suddenly Nya’s phone beeped and we exchanged looks as she looked at her screen. “Well, it looks like I have to get going, I’ll see you another time, right?” She asked making Y/n nod. “Definitely, Lloyd can text you my number,” she said.

“My friends will be so jealous when I say I met, and talked to you!” She added making Nya laugh. “I’ll have to meet them aswel sometime, then,” she said before waving and leaving the two of us be.

“I feel left out,” I said and she laughed at me before sitting back down and leaning her head on my shoulder, making my blush ever so slightly.

Your POV

Lloyd suggested we get some pizza and I excitedly agreed, sending a quick text in the family group chat that I was eating out and I’d be home late.

“Alright, so I’m going to ask you a very important question, alright?” Lloyd started and I looked up at him with a small hum. “Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?” He asked and I shrugged.

“Well I couldn’t give two flying fucks if someone would like pineapple on their pizza, everyone is always complaining and for what? I mean, if you like it, that’s fine, enjoy, you don’t like it? Then don’t eat it and be done with it.” I said and he grinned approvingly.

“Amazing,” he said making em chuckle. “Jay, Cole and Kai always get mad when I say I like pineapple on pizza.” He said and I rolled my eyes.

“Jay, Cole and Kai need to grow the fuck up.” I said and he laughed. “And you? Do you like pineapple on pizza?” He asked and I chuckled.

“No idea, I never tried it,” I said and he looked a bit offended. “Why not?” He asked. “I’m allergic to pineapple,” I said and his eyebrows rose.

“Are you sure? You think it’s because of the weird feeling it gives your tongue? Because that has e very logical explanation!” He said and I laughed.

“No, I know the pineapple also eats you as you eat it,” I said with a grin, “but I don’t think it’s supposed to cut off your airway,” I said and he let out an amused chuckle. “No I don’t thinks it’s supposed to do that.”

In the restaurant, we had our food and after a long discussion, we decided on splitting the bill.

As we where gathering our stuff two elderly woman walked past and smiled at us “you two are such a cute couple,” one of them said and we both blushed.

“O-oh, no, we are just friends,” I quickly said and the other frowned. “Are you sure?” She asked confused and Lloyd chuckled. “Pretty sure, yes,” he said and the two women exchanged look.

“Such a bummer, you would make an amazing couple.” The first one said before they made their leave.

Me and Lloyd exchanged an awkward glance before I quickly looked down and started rummage trough my bag as if looking for something, fishing my phone out as excuse and looking at imaginary messages.

“Shall we leave, then?” He asked and I smiled at him and gave a small nod. We left the restaurant and walked trough the cold night streets.

Lloyds phone buzzed and he looked at the screen, his face falling as he read a message. “Seems like I need to get going,” he said to me making me pout. “Are you leaving me behind?” I asked and he gave me a soft smile.

“Don’t you look at me like that, I’ll see you somewhere else this week,” he promised before waving his phone around. “Just text me!” He said before winking and leaving me in the street.

Seems like I’ll be heading to my favourite roof.

I walked the other way, slowly walking further into the city to find the shop that had closed about two years ago, no one ever opened something new after.

I climbed the wall and sat crossed legged on the flat roof, looking up at the sky. Sadly the stars weren’t visible because of the clouds, I hoped it wouldn’t rain again…

I took my headphones out of my bag and connected them to my phone, blasting my playlist on repeat.

After about an hour my phone buzzed and l looked at the screen to see a message from my dad, a new one following soon after.

I opened it and my stomach fell.

Father dears

Y/n, where are you?

We need you to come home now, something happened.

You

Dad? What’s going on, is everything alright?

Father dears

Where are you?

You

Maplestreet, why?

Father dears

I’m sending the driver now

Stay where you are

You

Dad what’s going on?

Father dears

I’ll explain when your home, keep your guard up and protect yourself whatever it takes.

You

Dad, you’re scaring me

Father dears

It’ll be fine sweetie, the driver should be there in ten.

I climbed of the roof of the building and soon enough our driver arrived. I entered the car and he looked around before speeding away.

“Henry, what’s going on?” I asked and he looked at me trough the rearvieuw mirror. “Your father has not enclosed much information, I only have orders to get you home as fast as possible madam.” He said.

When we were home I got out of the car and was lead to the door by both of our security guards.

At the door I was met with my parents who pulled me into their arms.

“What’s going on?” I demanded to know. “We got a letter today.” My father handed me a small piece of paper

Dear Mr and Miss L/n

Any idea where your eldest daughter is right at this moment? Probably not, we do, we have eyes everywhere at all times.

Consider this a threat, do anything out of line and she will pay the prize.

Kind regards, A

“What the hell? What do the mean ‘do anything out of line’? Why are they so vague?” I asked and my father shrugged while tears ran down my mother’s cheeks.

“We don’t know who this is or what they want, but we need you to stay here for the time being, Henry will drive you to school every day and Malcolm will be somewhere in the school building at all times, being your personal bodyguard for the time being” My dad said and I shook my head.

“Hey! That’s not fair, I don’t need security, I can protect myself!” I argued and my father just shook his head. “We can’t take any risks. I already contacted the police, they will stop by tomorrow and confiscate the letter.” He said and I sighed and put my hands on my head.

“This is insane,” I said in disbelief and my father laid his hands on my shoulders. “It’ll be fine, Sweetie, I’ll take bigger security measures somewhere this week.”

I was then send upstairs to head to bed, I could hear my parents talk downstairs, mum was still crying…

I laid awake for almost the whole night.

Who sent the letter? What did they want? What would they do to me? What did my father mean with bigger security measures?

How did my day went from having fun with my crush- I mean, friend, to being threatened and having a security guard outside of my bedroom door?

#ninjago x reader #ninjago city #ninjago lloyd x reader #lloyd garmadon x reader #ninjago lloyd #lloyd garmadon #kai smith #nya smith #zane julien #cole brookstone x reader #cole brookstone

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malk1ns · 6 months

Note

36. things you said but didn’t mean (sidgeno)

tell me you're not over contractgate without saying you're not over contractgate...

thanks anon! the prompt list is here :)

Zhenya’s phone has been going off since the news broke last night.

He turned it off after he signed his contract and got confirmation it was received; he wanted to go to bed without constant interruptions, actually get some sleep after an emotional and exhausting couple of days. He hadn’t been that successful, but he’d at least woken up and for a few minutes been able to pretend that it was just a regular day, that nothing dramatic had happened to him recently, and all he’d have on his phone were the usual drunk messages from Sasha begging him to come back to Moscow early and a few good-morning emojis from Sid.

After he finished his tea, though, he couldn’t avoid it any longer, and he reluctantly took his phone into the living room, hoping that maybe the background murmur of the TV would lessen the blow.

It did not.

The TV is on, sure, but Zhenya had to turn it to mute—the morning news clashing with the constant pinging and buzzing as his phone frantically tried to alert him to every missed call, text, email, telegram, WhatsApp, instagram DM, snapchat, and tweet was giving him a pounding headache. And two hours later, he’s just barely climbing out from under it, deleting the majority of the notifications unread and focusing his attention on responding to teammates and the guys who are still lingering around Miami for the summer. The rest of the Russians and his family can wait—his parents will understand, and he doesn’t care about pissing Sasha off.

There’s one conversation that’s been pushed all the way to the bottom of his iMessages, inactive since yesterday morning. Zhenya’s scrolled past it a few times, but can’t bring himself to click on it.

Finally, when he finds himself actually contemplating responding to fans’ DMs with apologies for making them worry, he forces himself to open the last things Sid texted him, right after their fight.

hanging up on me? seriously?

this isn’t my fucking fault

and now you’re ignoring me? fucking awesome

whatever man. i don’t have to deal with this shit from you. i’m sick of your bs whenever you’re not getting your way. do whatever the fuck you want, i’ll find out what sorry team signs you tomorrow afternoon

Zhenya feels a little sick, reading it back now. He’d been so angry when he’d hung up on Sid, screaming at him like he hated him. Some of the stuff he’d said…he can’t blame Sid for being upset.

There are Flyers fans from their early years in the league who’d love to take notes on what Zhenya said to Sid yesterday.

Sid’s weathered Zhenya’s temper before, though—let him rant and rave and calmed him down with just the right words, and eventually, just the right touch. He’s always known when to leave Zhenya alone and when to engage, just like Zhenya knows how to handle Sid’s bursts of anger and the rest of his quirks. It’s why they work, it’s why they’ve always worked.

Now, though, staring at a conversation that hasn’t been updated in over 24 hours, Zhenya wonders if he finally said something that Sid can’t forgive. What else would have kept him from sending a message when he got the news that Zhenya was staying after all?

Screwing up his courage, Zhenya presses ‘dial’ and waits, holding his breath.

When it goes straight to voicemail, he wonders for a second if he really will pass out.

call me pls he fires off, sinking into the couch and rubbing his hand over his face when the message stays green.

He fucked it up for real this time, then. And now he’s tied himself to Sid’s team for the rest of his career, when Sid’s never going to talk to him again—or worse, he will, but in that freezingly polite voice he uses with annoying reporters and former teammates who have fallen out of his favor.

Zhenya wonders if Hextall would be able to trade him, even with the dramatics of the last 36 hours. Surely someone would be able to accommodate his new, reduced cap hit.

He’s not sure how long he sits on his couch, the TV playing soundlessly and his phone slack in his hand, but when his lock starts to turn, it sounds like a gunshot.

“Fuck,” Zhenya hisses, scrambling to retrieve his phone where it had fallen when he jumped. Probably Seryozha; old man never knows when to mind his own business.

When the door is finally open, though, the voice that floats through from the foyer is distinctly Canadian. “G?”

“Sid??” Zhenya says incredulously, jumping to his feet and almost tripping over his couch on his way to the hall.

Against all odds, it is Sid in his hallway, raggedy in his sweats and with bruise-dark circles under his eyes. He has one of his plain black caps crammed over his head, and the curls escaping from the sides are greasy.

“You’re staying,” Sid says, dropping his duffle. He looks small, shoulders uncharacteristically hunched in, and Zhenya moves toward him before he remembers what happened.

“I’m not sure you see,” he says cautiously. Sid seems skittish, darting his eyes around Zhenya’s condo like he’s never been here before. “I try to call, it’s voicemail. Sid, you’re here?”

“Oh, I was on the plane…I think my phone died while I was in the air, I don’t have a charger, can I plug it in somewhere?” Sid’s fumbling in his pocket. He won’t meet Zhenya’s eyes.

“Sid,” Zhenya says, concerned now, moving closer just as Sid sways forward alarmingly. “Sid! Jesus, come sit down.”

“Sorry,” Sid says faintly, letting Zhenya manhandle him into the living room and down on the couch. Zhenya remembers when they went to pick it out, how Sid had spent hours thoughtfully trying every couch in the store until the salesman looked like he was about to scream, before finally convincing Zhenya that this boring beige monstrosity was the right choice. He’d been correct, of course; this one is big and deep, and even ten years later still the most comfortable piece of furniture Zhenya owns.

“You’re sick?” Zhenya asks, plucking Sid’s phone from his hands and plugging it in. “Need water, maybe, or like, soup?”

“No,” Sid says with a deep sigh, settling back into the cushions and cracking his neck. “I’m fine. I’ve been traveling since last night, I haven’t slept…I’m just tired.”

“Last—” Zhenya snaps his mouth shut when Sid looks at him steadily. Last night, when his contract extension was announced. “Sid, I…”

“No,” Sid says firmly. “Listen. I get you were mad. I…well, I don’t know what it felt like, but I understand. And we both said some things…” He heaves a sigh. “I didn’t mean what I texted you. I’m not sick of you. I want to deal with your shit.” He looks down at his hands, twisted up in his lap. “I…you promised me. Do you remember?”

Zhenya does. After their first Cup, when they’d been so sure that they’d be back the next year, and the year after that. He and Sid had been tucked away together in a corner of Mario’s backyard, passing a bottle of shitty flat champagne back and forth and watching the sun rise. They’d been talking, but after a while it had faded to nothing, just quiet company, shoulders pressed together as the next day arrived.

“You’ll stay, right?” Sid had said abruptly, and Zhenya had looked at him, bleary-eyed and confused. “Here, in Pittsburgh. With me. You’ll stay? Even after your next contract?”

It hadn’t been a question that needed answering, in Zhenya’s eyes, but he’d answered anyway, leaning over and tilting Sid’s chin up and kissing him before whispering, “I stay always. Promise.”

He’d meant it then. He meant it last night, when he put pen to paper and signed away the rest of his playing career. He’d meant it when he was spitting invective at Sid over the phone, too, swearing he’d leave and sign somewhere the front office actually gave a shit about him.

“I never forget,” he says now, sitting next to Sid on the couch. “I’m so sorry, Sid, I’m like, I don’t know what I say to you. It’s such horrible things…I’m not mean, I swear. What do I do for forgive?”

When he looks over, Sid’s eyes are squeezed shut, but there’s a tear trickling down one cheek anyway. “I know you didn’t,” he chokes out. “I know, but…I was scared, G. I never really thought you’d leave me, and then…”

He opens his eyes and glares fiercely at Zhenya. “Fuck you for saying all that shit,” he spits, and Zhenya bows his head, because he deserves it. “Fuck you for doing that to me.” He sticks his hands in his hoodie’s front pocket, pulling out a small velvet box. Zhenya goes very still.

“I had to stop in Pittsburgh, on my way here,” Sid says, turning the box over in his hands. “I’ve had this…well, I had ideas, but we haven’t exactly made the most of the last couple of playoffs, so.” He snorts humorlessly. “We might not ever again, so I’m not sure what the point of waiting is.”

Sid flicks the box open. Inside there’s a ring, nestled in satin, shining bright. It’s gold, with beveled edges cut through with black striations, and thick; something that won’t look out of place on Zhenya’s big hands. If he knows Sid, there will be something on the inside—a date, maybe, or even a time.

“You don’t deserve this right now,” Sid says quietly, lifting Zhenya’s right hand and sliding the ring on. “And I’m not sure I deserve to be asking, either. But maybe that’s the point, eh? We’re still here.”

“Yes,” Zhenya says, splaying his fingers out to admire the ring, then folding his hands around Sid’s.

“Yes to what?” Sid asks, a bit of amusement lacing into his voice.

“Yes to everything,” Zhenya replies. “Everything, with you.”

#this one's weird; sorry i had a weird day!#sidgeno #hockey rpf #my writing #my fic

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bartxnhood · 1 year

Text

need you now | c.h

calum hood x reader

summary: calum wonders if you think about him as much as he thinks about you.

part two to this. but can be read alone

warnings: angst, drinking, smoking, language, but happy ending !

a/n: everyone give my friends in slaysos gc a round of applause for helping create this masterpiece. hope you guys live this as much as i do. also i’m not a party person, literally never been and don’t plan so if i get some things wrong, oh well. this is pure fiction LMAO enjoy !

requests open

not proofread

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“hey, it’s y/n. sorry, i missed your call, leave a message after the beep. bye!”

“hey, uh, it’s me, just been thinking about everything tonight and i don’t know… i just miss you so much. call me when you can. bye.”

calum was a tragedy. every night he would be out partying or at a bar. since the breakup, his addiction to partying had only gotten worse. he couldn’t remember much in the past two months. he had been partying so much, it was killing him. he’d call you when he was blackout drunk some nights, confessing how badly he had messed up and how he regrets everything. other nights, when he isn’t so drunk, he’d still call, apologizing for the drunk calls.

he was spiraling down a deep dark alley, and if he didn’t fix himself now, he’d never see the light again.

he didn’t know he continued to party and drink so much. but, he continued without thinking about the consequences. even if he knew how bad he was under the influence.

some nights were worse than others.

one night it got very out of hand.

it had been hours since the party had started and calum had one too many like he usually does but tonight was different. he was angry. angry at himself for letting you slip from his hands, angry he treated you like gum on the bottom of his shoe when he should’ve treated you like the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

they were hearing the same sappy story about how he regrets everything. luckily, everyone had left before his breakdown happened.

luke sat with his head hung, rubbing his temples. “calum, you’ve had too much. cmon man. just go to bed and we will clean up. it’s almost five a.m”

“oh fuck off, luke. you try to act like this savior but in reality, you just ruin everyone’s lives.” he belted, throwing the infamous red solo cup at him, and letting the drink spill. “cal, someone is here for you” someone said, standing at the patio door.

his eyes shot up, “is it her? is it y/n?”

“i don’t think so”

his eyes fell, of course, it wasn’t you. you swore off parties and hadn’t attended one since halloween. but when he saw miya appear, rage encapsulated him. “now why in the hell are you here?!”

she looked the same as she did that night they met when miya tried to make a move on him that few parties you didn’t show up to. of course, it hit a nerve. and so, he was yelling at her for even thinking about showing up. “cal, you’re being a bit over dramatic, dont ya think?” he hand trailed over his shoulder blade but he pushed her off. “don’t you touch me. you know what you did.”

it was getting out of hand now, calum was screaming his lungs out at miya while she just stood there, finally luke called the one person he knew who would help. you.

“hey, y/n, i’m sorry it’s so late…well early but calum is drunk, very drunk. can you come to get him? he’s causing a scene.”

“what? oh, jesus christ. yeah, i’ll be there in ten” you shut off your phone, immediately hopping out of bed and finding the closest hoodie and sweatpants then running out of your apartment.

your heart was racing, the drive was a blur. trying to get there as fast as you could to prevent another fight. of course, you still loved him. you were still in love with him, currently. you listen to every message he ever left on your phone.

your inbox was full of them.

you heard every heartfelt confession, every drunk apology, each sober apology.

of course, you still loved him.

you never stopped.

“thank you for coming.” luke swung the door open letting you slip inside, then walked through the trashed house. “he’s back here.” you looked through the patio doors, seeing where he was pointing, and then you spotted him, with her. miya. everything froze in time, luke was no longer there, and everyone else disappeared.

you pushed the door to the side, stepping over crushed cans and cups to his side. “calum?” your voice was small, not sure how he was responding to your sudden appearance if he’d lash out at you or fall silent and walk away.

he picked his head up, eyes locking with yours. calum stops whatever nonsense he was doing, which by context clues, you could guess he was having another drunken tantrum. he stares at you in disbelief, was this happening? are you actually standing in front of him? was he dreaming?

“y/n?”

he says your name and you ask him "cal, what's going on?" and his eyes glaze over a little bit just from hearing the concern in your voice. it was genuine concern, any drunk person could see it. not just him.

he only blinks in response, trying to figure out the situation. he just can't believe you're there at his party after you have sworn them off and it's for HIM. not anywhere else, but his house. he repeats, “y/n” a few times before his arms are wrapped around you and holding you tightly. he couldn’t let you slip away again.

you just let it happen and hug him back saying, "hey i'm here it'll be okay" and trying to calm him down. despite your best efforts, he pulls away looking at you. taking everything in. but you saw everyone staring at the two of you. including miya, who looked like she had a lot to say in the moment. you saw the anger burning in her eyes and hid her chest turned red.

you saw luke who was about to say something, so you put your hand out to stop him shaking your head silently.

you knew calum was feeling bad, so you opted to take him upstairs. “hey why don't we get you upstairs and into bed?" you gently held his arm and that calms him down. he let you lead him inside, away from the party. you stop to talk to one of the boys on your way in explaining you're gonna take him to bed.

“thank you for calling me. i’ll get him situated and come back to help you clean up.”

so you take him upstairs, trying your best to hold him up. calum was mumbling incoherent words as you guided him to the bed. and after doing the usual drunken cleaning up and caring for him like you used to, you took a step back. anxiety consuming your body, and confusion. but, thankful his friends called you.

you’ve read stories in articles about his nonstop parties, and the drunk scenes he made. he was a wreck. but, that’s how he was coping. you, on the other hand, have been the opposite, staying in every night watching sappy movies, crying yourself to sleep most nights, losing an appetite, and making excuses not to see sierra or crystal. isolation was the only way you could cope.

standing at the side of the bed, looking down at calum who was in an out of consciousness you begin to rub the bridge of your nose out of anxiety. your heart was racing, at loss for what to do. calum opens his eyes and sees this and starts getting upset again. he feels guilty that you had to go to another party for him, he rubs his eyes before speaking, “you shouldn’t have come. y’hate parties”. you drop your hands, “i had to. i was worried.” he saw it in your eyes, you were being genuine. “you’re scaring me, cal” by now, tears began pooling in your eyes, you took a breather trying to calm yourself.

knowing he's extremely drunk and emotional, you try to get him to bed without admitting to anything or saying something you don't actually mean. “scaring you?” he breathed, watching as you tossed his shoes to the floor. “yes. you’re killing yourself. im not just gonna sit by a key you do that”. maybe you were being a bit too emotional now, so you looked away trying to get your thoughts in order and finish getting him ready for bed. if he decides to sleep.

once you get him situated you left the room for a bottle of water. he probably wouldn’t notice you were missing. no one was left except luke and ashton, picking up the litter from the party. they all looked up in your direction hoping for any news but you just shook your head and left it at that.

you returned, half opening the bottle and sitting it next to him. calum is kinda staring at you in awe. he says "you’re always the one taking care of me and i never deserved it. you deserved so much better than me." knowing he's extremely drunk and emotional you didn’t let it get to you.

you look down chewing on the inside of your cheek. don’t let him do this to you, y/n. you kept thinking, he was drunk he didn’t mean anything. you stand up to leave, wanting to go home and scream into your pillow because he misses you so much. he reached for your hand, holding it so carefully, and spoke "stay with me.” you freeze, turning your head and you look torn so he adds "please? just tonight." while looking into your eyes and looking desperate.

so, you stayed. laying on the opposite side of calum, you heard his breath steady assuming he was finally going to sleep. until you heard “i love you.” you had only hoped that if you were still he’d leave it alone and would just go to sleep. but he continued. “when i left that morning, i didn’t stop. i never did. you’re my whole world, and i hate the person i’ve become. i wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but i screwed it up.” your heart was racing, picking at your nails you felt him shuffle next to you. “you were the best thing i’ve ever had and i let you go. ‘m sorry. you can hate me. i understand.” you waited a bit, but that was the last thing he said for the night.

you end up leaving before he wakes up, it was breaking daylight by now and you didn’t want to be there when he woke up. before leaving, you stood above him he looks so peaceful. naturally, you bent down and pressed the softest kiss on his forehead then exited the room. so, by eight a.m you were gone. on the way home, you have a small breakdown realizing the love was still there, and seeing him so vulnerable made your heart ache. but, you kept reminding yourself he was drunk. he probably didn’t even mean half the words he said.

later in the day, you had just finished your meeting now standing in your kitchen fixing a cup of coffee, until you were interrupted by a rhythmic knock. you sat the cup on your counter and walked over. but when you opened the door, calum was the last person you were expecting. “hey.” he said, stuffing his hands into his jacket. you stepped back, then saying “why are you here?” calum looked around. you hadn’t changed anything since he left. he didn’t know why you would change anything, but he expected at least something out of place. he shrugged, “i just wanted to thank you for last night, and everything.” you sighed, “come in” you stepped to the side and let him enter, then closed the door behind him. “do you want some coffee?” he sat down on the sofa, where the last fight happened. ouch.

“sure.” he answered, looking around the room. you came back with a black mug and handed it to him, and took your seat across from him.

his comment was abrupt. “i meant what i said, you know.” you looked up from your coffee, to meet with his eyes already looking at you. “what?” you blinked, placing the mug on the table. “last night. everything, i meant it. from me still loving you, to wanting ti spend the rest of my life with you. i meant every word.” he was being sincere, he held eye contact as he spoke and didn’t break it once. truthfully, you didn’t know what to say. the situation wasn’t ideal, and to be honest with yourself you knew you still loved him. “calum..” you finally spoke, followed by a long sigh and dropping your head into your hands.

“then why do you continue to do this? you’re drinking yourself to death, cal. how can i trust that you won’t do it all over again, even if i want to work this out?” calum contemplates, he sits back on the sofa searching for the right words. "i get drunk to forget the color of your eyes and the way your hair falls and how soft your skin is and the way your smile makes me feel; but it seems like the alcohol can't change my memory of you." he sets his mug down before saying, “i do it because it’s the only way i know how to cope and i know it isn’t the best way, but it’s all i know.” you crossed your arms, chewing on your lip. “and if that isn’t enough just tell me, and i’ll leave for good and you can go back to hating me.”

“i don’t hate you, calum. i was hurt. i could never hate you. not after everything we’ve been through” you rebutted. his eyes lit up. “you don’t hate me?” “no, i don’t. i could never hate you, cal” you saw him carefully reach for you hand and you let him. “y/n, i promise i’ll never do that again. i love you more than you’ll know. so please, just one more try?”

four months, three days, one hour.

that’s approximately how long it’s been since the wedding. since the day you both said ‘i do’ .

one year, four weeks, two days.

since he was at your doorstep apologizing for everything he had ever done to you.

you give him another chance, and it was the best thing you’ve done. he promised to love and cherish you forever. and he did exactly that.

the patio was decorated with fairy lights, faint music coming from inside and the two of you dancing to the music. he was humming quietly to the song, which was your first dance at the reception. “you know what?” he said to you.

“what?”

his hand on your back held you tighter. “you’re my favorite person, y/n.” he felt you chuckled softly, pulling your head from his chest. “yeah?” he nodded, “yeah.” he kissed your forehead.

“i’ll love you forever, even when i can’t.”

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milawritesstuff · 1 year

Note

WE NEEED PART 4!!!! I NEED TO KNOW HOW THIS ENDS YOU CANT LEAVE ME HANGING THERE

A/N: Here it is!!!

Part 3 can be found here if you didn’t read it.

This is truly one of my favorite things I have ever written. I hope you like it. I want to hear your thoughts.

•••

Pedri’s hand rested on your neck as his lips moved over yours and his tongue went in forcing yours to caress his. You felt as he smiled into the kiss. Your hands slightly pulling on his hair. But before you could feel his lips on you again something pulled him away. You called his name out pleading for him to return but nothing. Tears came down your eyes.

It was then that your were woken up by the ringing of your phone. You opened your eyes to meet the light of the sun shining into the room only to realize the tears had been real.

It had been a week since you returned home to Madrid, and you had spent most of those days fighting off nightmares in your sleep. You had been feeling sick, throwing up even, since your arrival and nothing seemed to make you feel better.

You managed to clean off the tears from your eyes and finally picked up your phone.

-Hello?-

-Y/N. Are you feeling any better?-

-I would if people would let me sleep in.- you joked with Gavi who offered you a slight chuckle on the other end of the call.

Gavi began to nervously speak and explain why he was calling you.

-I’m sorry I woke you up, but it’s …it’s Pedri.-

You rolled your eyes at the phone despite knowing Gavi wouldn’t be able to see you and see your annoyance. Pedri had been sending you nonstop messages which you hadn’t answered and were sure now he had sent his friend to try and get you to answer.

-What about Pedri?- You asked Gavi annoyed.

-He’s missing tonight’s game again.-

-He’s injured what did you expect?-

-He’s not injured.- Gavi’s response caught you off guard.

You shook your head and explained that Pedri had told you about the injury when he had caught you at his house. Soon Gavi cut you off.

-He showed up to practice drunk. You could smell the alcohol. Xavi sent him home, suspended him, and fined him. The injury story was just for the media.-

You sat there in silence not knowing what to answer. The scene of Pedri arriving home and finding you in his hallway replayed in your head. Of course, the bag he had placed down when he got there had been bottles of alcohol. You were so caught up in the moment you hadn’t paid any mind to the hint of alcohol that had lingered on your lips as he kissed you.

-That’s not the worse part.- continued Gavi. -He was supposed to come back today. Xavi thought of letting him come off the bench but he showed up drunk again. Do you know what could happen if the fans see him driving drunk? If he gets into an accident?- Gavi was panicking.

-What did Xavi tell him today?- You finally asked.

-Sent him home again. Another fine. Y/N, I don’t know what to do. He’s throwing everything away for…- He stayed quiet as soon as he realized what he was about to say.

-For me.- you finished Gavi’s sentence as guilt filled you up.

You sat there in silence not knowing what Gavi wanted from you. You were concerned about him, after all erasing two years with someone wasn’t easy. But what were you supposed to do? Just forget everything so Barcelona could have their golden boy back?

-Can you at least just answer his messages?- pleaded Gavi. As he finished his sentence you felt your stomach turn and you quickly got up from the bed and ran to the restroom to throw up. You could hear Gavi on the line asking if you were throwing up again. You walked to the sink and washed your mouth and picked up the phone.

-I’ll think about it Pablo. But right now I need to rest.- The two of you said goodbye and you hung up. You walked back to your bed tossing the phone on the floor and wrapping the blankets around you.

You slept for what felt like another hour and were woken up by your mother knocking on your door. She walked in as you rubbed your eyes and smiled at her.

-Mi niña, how are you feeling?- She sat next to you on the bed and began to massage your head.

-I threw up again earlier. It must have been something I ate on the plane.-

-You’ll get over it in due time.- She said as she offered you a smile. -And about the other thing?-

-What other thing?- You asked knowing exactly what she meant.

She shook her head. -Don’t be so difficult. You know I’m referring to Pedrito.- You rolled your eyes at the endearing name she called him. He didn’t deserve that. Instead of scolding your mother you decided to tell her what Gavi had told you earlier today. As you imagined she became worried about him as well.

-Niña, I understand you’re mad at him. But if you care about him, even if you’re not going back to him, talk to him. Help him get over this. Help him understand.-

It annoyed you how everyone was worried about him. And what about you? Like he hadn’t brought all of this upon himself. Now you were to blame for his stupid decision. But despite what you were feeling, you still cared for him and always would.

You picked up your phone and scrolled through all of Pedri’s messages. Messages that had gone unanswered and continued to come in.

P: I know I messed up.

P: Te hecho de menos.

P: I don’t know who I am without you.

P: Te quiero.

P: Te amo.

P: Please forgive me.

P: I’ll do anything, please answer me.

You began to type.

Stop acting like this and get yourself together … You sat there looking at your phone. You couldn’t send him this. You deleted the message and decided to video call him.

-Y/N.- He slurred into the phone, bags under his eyes.

-Pedri, what are you doing? Why did you lie to me?

He looked into the phone confused.

-You’re not injured.- You continued. -What were you thinking not only drinking but showing up drunk to practice?- You scolded him halfway wishing you hadn’t started off like that.

-Did Gavi call you? I told him not to tell you anything.-

You rolled your eyes. -He’s worried about you Pedri. You’re throwing everything away for what?-

He looked at you intensely. You hated the way he made you feel when he looked into your eyes and even though you were miles apart and seeing each other over a phone screen you could feel him looking into your soul.

-What good is any of this without you by my side?- He began. You wanted to yell at him, why couldn’t he have seen this before? Why did it take you leaving for him to value you. But you ate your pride up.

-I know how hard you have worked for all of this Pedro. Please promise me you are going to stop drinking.- You pleaded to him.

-You still care about me?- He asked.

You sat on your bed with your sleeves over your hands. You felt your stomach turn and prayed you weren’t going to throw up again. You looked into the phone after moments of silence. -You’re always going to be important to me, Pedri. Maybe we weren’t forever but that is, you’re always going to be the one I truly did care for.-

You felt as your heart fell. And a knot formed in your throat. You wanted to cry, you wanted to scream but you didn’t. You sat there almost lifeless looking at him.

-I should have been more grateful for you.- he began as his eyes watered up.

-I took everything you did for granted, everything you made me feel. I love you and I should have shown it to you. I don’t know how many more times to tell you that I love you.-

You felt a tear fall from your eye and you quickly put your hand over your cheek to brush it off.

-It hurts Pedri. It hurts you even had to go out with someone to realize they couldn’t replace me. But I will always love you, even from a distance, even when you’ve found love somewhere else.-

-Please come home, we need to talk.- He pleaded.

-Listen to me. I need you to stop drinking. I promise I will see you once I’m back. But please don’t throw everything you have away.-

He looked into the phone in silence. -I promise I won’t drink anymore. When will you be back?-

You would be staying another week in Madrid and then returning to Barcelona. You had promised Pedri you would be there for the game against Atleti when you returned. Making him promise to stop drinking so Xavi would lift his suspension. Two days later as your father was watching his sports news you overheard as the announcer said Pedri would be back for the Atleti game. You smiled as you passed a plate to your mom. Your dad yelled from the living room, “Pedro has healed! Maybe now they’ll have a chance against us.” Your mom shot you over a smile, she hadn’t told him what was really happening.

-Did you talk to Pedrito?- you handed her another plate as she set the table.

-Yes, I promised I would go to his game if he stopped drinking.-

Your mom smiled. -Well if he’s back he kept his part of the promise right?- You nodded as you continued to help her.

A few days later you landed at the Barcelona airport. Once you stepped outside you saw Gavi waiting for you. He hugged you. -I missed you.- He said as he took your luggage and the two of you began to walk. -I missed you too, Pablito.-

He drove you to his house so you could shower and get ready for the game. He had left and you were going to head to Camp Nou later.

You took a seat in the bleachers just as the players were coming out. Your heartbeat accelerated as you saw Gavi step out knowing Pedri was to follow. He turned over to look for you and winked at you with a shy smile. You hadn’t told him you were coming and he hadn’t asked. He had just left your name with the ticket as he had for these past two years hoping it didn’t go unused.

Right as the second half had started Gavi kicked the ball over to Pedri who scored. You stood up and began to cheer almost as a reflex. You saw as Gavi went over to Pedri and hugged him, whispering something in his ear. Pedri did his usual celebration which was always followed by your initial. But this time after your initial he motioned as if he was throwing a kiss towards were you were standing and put his hands in a praying position.

You sat on the bleachers for a while longer after the game ended giving Pedri enough time to shower. Eventually you made your way down through the tunnel. He was waiting for your outside of the locker room. He smiled as soon as he saw you, the fact that you were wearing his jersey made him happy.

-You came.- he whispered as he approached you. You offered him a half smile. -And you’re wearing my jersey.- You laughed. -I couldn’t wear my Atleti jersey unless I wanted to get stuff thrown at me, right?- He chuckled as he managed to keep enough space in between both of you, not sure how close he could get. Not sure what you were feeling at the moment.

Minutes later you were sitting in the passenger seat of Pedri’s car. You had agreed to talk to him and he had asked you to go home to talk. You knew this was the best idea to avoid anyone seeing the two of you argue in public.

He opened the door to his house and you stepped in. You felt uneasy, somehow his car and now his house despite being so familiar to you weeks ago now seemed different and strange. Luckily you hadn’t felt sick in the past few days and you just had to calm down your nerves.

-Sit down.- He said as he placed his backpack down. He looked at you defeated knowing you no longer felt comfortable in what was once your home as well.

-I want to say I’m sorry.- he began. You bit your bottom lip trying not to cry. You had held it in all night, knowing well more than anything this was your official goodbye.

-Pedri, please.- You tried to stop him because you weren’t ready for what he was about to say.

-I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to think about where you are years from now. I am sorry I took you for granted. We can make it work.-

-I hate you.- you blurted out, your words catching you by surprise as much as him. You began to cry. -I hate how you made me feel for the past few months, like I was a burden, like I meant shit to you. Always second, never your priority. I hate how I felt the day I saw the pictures… the fact that you thought it would be easy to replace me. I hate you thought I would go and fuck Gavi. But most of all, I hate that I can’t hate you. That I love you so much it hurts. That I don’t know how I’m going to live without you, without your touch, your taste.-

Before you could go on his lips slammed into yours. His tongue entered you and slowly caressed yours. His taste was addictive. You knew better, you knew you shouldn’t be doing this but eventually your lips reciprocated his movement. You needed it one last time, so you could remember it for the rest of your life. So every time you were with anyone else you could chase this same feeling. And so that they never lived up to his memory.

Without thinking and any exchange of words you ended up in the bedroom you shared for the past two years. Pedri got rid of yours and his clothes and proceeded to kiss your bare neck as his hands explored your body. The satisfaction traveling through your body was making you close your eyes in pleasure but you fought it off, wanting to memorize everything about Pedri before he was gone.

Your hands around his neck as he went lower and slowly nibbled at your breasts. Eventually making his way to your core and leaving small kisses on your thighs. Before you knew it he lined himself up with your entrance and let out a moan as he went in. You couldn’t help but moan as well, in that moment realizing how much you had missed him, his tough, him giving all of himself to you.

Your lips entangled with one another. His hands grabbing onto your hips as he rolled himself into you over and over again. -Te amo.- he repeated into your kisses. -You can leave tomorrow but just for tonight.- He said. -Act like you love me, so I can go on.-

You threw your head back as he hit your spot and moaned while closing your eyes. He stared at you with a smile, hoping this wasn’t the last time he could make you feel like this. Pleading to the universe that these past few weeks had just been a setback and not a road to the end.

-Te amo, Pedri.- you whispered.

TAG LIST:

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#pedri gonzalez #pedri #pedri imagine #pedri x reader #pedro gonzalez #pedri is so damn hot #pedri requests #pedri blurb #pedri smut #pedri angst #pedri barça #pedri fluff #pedri fanfic #pedri x y/n #pedri x you #MWSxSadGoodbye

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book-place · 2 years

Text

Sandbox Fight

Warnings: slight cursing, mentions of small fights, arguments, let me know if I missed any :)

Pairings: Hargreeves siblings x niece reader, Diego Hargreeves x daughter reader

Request: Hello!! Could I please request a Diego Hargreeves x child!reader (around 10 maybe) where she gets into a fight at school but Diego isn't available so all his siblings take his place when they go to the school to talk about it, but eventually he comes and just walks in and sees all his siblings and is like: wtf.

Request by: @your-local-lover

*not my gif*

Summary: Your father was unavailable, but you needed someone. How about a lot of someone’s? Like all your favorite uncles and aunt?

A/N: This one was fun to write

Please don’t plagiarize my work, you may reblog if you like but I’m asking that you don’t steal my hard work

“She did not!” Klaus gasped dramatically, as if gossiping, into the old fashioned phone, putting a hand over his mouth for good measure.

“What’s going on?” Allison asked, walking into the kitchen and looking around in confusion.

Viktor was sitting at the table with his head in his hand, using his other one to drum his fingers across the wood of the tabletop and glancing up at Klaus every once in a while. And Luther sat across from him, eating a sandwich.

The blonde haired man shrugged, taking another bite of his food as Klaus shushed all three of them.

“Don’t you worry,” He continued to speak to the person on the other side of the call, “I will be there right away.”

With that he hung up.

Barely a second later he started giggling into the hand that he put over his mouth.

Five walked in and rolled his eyes slightly, “What’s got you grinning like an idiot, over there?”

“I-“ The man giggled again, “I just got a call from Y/n’s principal saying that her parent or guardian needs to go to the school right away because n/n got into a fight!”

Everybody’s jaws dropped, “N/n got into a fight?” Luther asked in shock, unable to picture you fighting anybody.

Only for the fact that your father threatened to ground you for life if you ever did again, not because he didn’t think you wouldn’t gladly get into a fight. You were your fathers daughter after all. Diego was always up for a fight, and you didn’t take his threats lightly, especially since you were only ten years old and in a phase where you took everything said to you very literally.

“But Diego’s out of town for the day.” Allison frowned.

“I know!” Klaus exclaimed happily, “That’s why I’m going in his place!”

“Are we sure that’s the best idea?” Viktor gave him a meaningful look.

He just moved his hand, as if waving off the idea, “Oh, yes, everything is going to be splendid.”

Allison’s hand shot in the air, “Am I the only one who feels like we need to stop that?”

“How about we all go?” Five suggested, rubbing his temples to ward off an oncoming headache.

Viktor shrugged in return and Allison nodded.

Klaus clapped his hands together, “Ooh, wonderful! Let’s go right away!”

“Wait guys!” Luther shouted, mouth full as he tried to stuff down the last of his sandwich while watching his siblings leave the room.

Right before exiting the house, Klaus made sure to leave a message- in very messy handwriting- on a paper near the door telling Diego to go to your school ASAP once he got back.

The ten minute car ride over was filled with screaming, fighting over control of the aux, Five almost getting pulled over for speeding, and Ben appearing and then wishing that he hadn’t.

After parking, everybody filed- more like stumbled- out of the car and in through the doors of the main office, their speaking volume nearly giving the elementary school receptionist a heart attack.

Five had been the one to calmly step forward and tell her that they were here for you- your aunt and uncles- and she had been too busy pointing a shaky finger at the waiting area to even question the clear differences between all of them.

After about five minutes of Ben and Klaus arguing over a seat, Luther falling asleep in his own, Five reading a discarded newspaper, and Allison and Viktor looking like they wanted to be with anyone but them, the principal's office door opened and they were all beckoned in.

They quickly piled in, quickly taking in the sight of you sitting in a chair facing the principals large desk, with a small girl and her parents a couple feet away.

As soon as your uncles and aunt filled the room, you looked up with a large grin, jumping into Viktors arms, “Vicky!” You cheered, hugging him tight.

Your principal was quick to clear his throat obnoxiously before your uncle could even hug back, “Ms. Hargreeves, that is no way to behave.” His scolding was very unnecessary in the eyes of your relatives.

He clearly hadn’t been expecting all these people, because there were only two chairs next to you, which Allison quickly sat down in, and Klaus pushed Luther out of the way to sit in the other.

“Which one of you are her parents?” He asked quite rudely with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, that would be none of us.” Five spoke up from the wall he was leaning against, eyes narrowing, “We are her uncles and aunt, her father couldn’t make it at the moment.”

The principal's eyes quickly cast down to his desk, uncomfortable, “I see.”

The other girl's mom, who’s whole family had been yet to say anything, finally spoke up, “I believe we should get started?” Her words were a question, but her tone was a demand.

“Yes, very well.” He said, sitting up straighter and adjusting his tie, “As you had been informed earlier, Y/n started a fight today at recess.”

“Wait,” Allison said, holding up a hand and raising an eyebrow, “She started the fight?” She found that hard to believe.

After Diego’s threat about being grounded for life, you had been so scared to never eat dessert again that you didn’t even play-fight with Uncle Luther anymore.

The mom was quick to nod, “Oh, yes. She obviously hit my daughter first, and then she only hit back out of self defense.” Her voice was matter-of-fact and snotty.

Five rolled his eyes, “Shocker, your daughter only hit back out of,” he held up air quotes, “‘Self defense’ when Y/n would never start a fight.”

The woman whipped around, nostrils flaring, “Is there something you would like to say to me, young man?” She challenged.

Just as he was about to push off the wall to accept the challenge, Viktor put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, “Why don’t you tell us what happened, Y/n.”

You finally looked up from your spot where you had been kicking the ground, and watched the reassuring faces of your family as you spoke, avoiding eye contact with the glaring mother and father on the other side of the room.

“Well,” You mumbled sheepishly, “I was just trying to play in the sandbox when she came up to me and told me that it was her sandbox and that if I didn’t get out she would hit me.” You took a deep breath before continuing, “I said no because it was still my turn, but she didn’t like that so she threw sand in my eyes and pushed me. And when I was falling my leg accidently hit her and she fell down too.”

When you finished you had tears in your eyes.

Once your family saw this, it made Allison sit up straighter, Klaus become more serious, Luther’s eyebrows to furrow, Ben to glare at the other girl slightly, Viktor to reach out and rub your back comfortingly, and for Five's fists to clench.

The principal studied you for a moment before slowly turning to look at the other little girl, “Is that what happened?”

At first she shook her head, but then you glared at her and snapped, “You get into more trouble if you lie about it then if you tell the truth.” Something your dad used to say to you when you would deny eating the last cookie after he told you not to.

Her eyes widened, and then the tears began flooding out of her eyes.

She let out a sob as they continued cascading down her cheeks like a waterfall and she hiccuped a couple times before saying, “It’s true! I did do that!”

Her parents' eyes widened as they looked down at her and their mouths opened and closed like fish.

From behind you, all your uncles and aunt adopted smug looks.

“W-well she should have just gotten out of the sandbox!” Her mom stuttered out, standing up and pointing at you accusingly.

Then all hell broke loose.

That was the last straw for your family.

Allison stood up immediately and started a yelling match with the other mom, each one of them getting louder every time sound came out of their mouth.

The dad started glaring at you and Luther immediately moved in front of you to block his view of you, Five following close behind.

Both of them began snapping at the man, telling him off and giving him a good scolding.

The little girl, who was still crying, had started to bawl even harder and Klaus came up next to her and started telling her about the time he lied and his nose grew.

He didn’t exactly tell her that it didn’t actually happen to him, he was just talking about the old movie, Pinocchio.

Even though nobody could see him, Ben was glaring at the principal, who looked around nervously, as if he could feel someone watching him.

Just then, the door opened, but nobody seemed to notice, even you were too busy watching everything else going on around you.

“What the-“ Diego asked, stopping short when all the chaos in the room immediately shut off as everyone noticed his presence.

“Oh!” Klaus looked delighted as he turned around, “Did you get my note?”

“Yeah, I got the note.” The man said, eyebrows furrowed in both confusion and concern.

“Daddy!” You cheered, hopping out of your chair and running into his arms.

This time, the principal was too afraid to scold you.

After that, Allison had flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically and taken you out of Diego’s arms, strutting out of the room, the rest of your family quickly following.

It was safe to say that the principal or that girl never seemed to have a problem with you again after that. Your family just seemed to scare them too much. You honestly had no idea why.

Even better though, you weren’t even grounded for getting into a fight, Uncle Klaus then used that as an excuse to take everybody out to ice cream. With Five buying, of course.

The Hargreeves 🦹- @lovanitu @your-local-questioning-agender @jvdethirlwall @ineedmorefanfics2 @sambucky8 @spidyyparker @mukbee

#platonic #platonic imagine #x reader #child reader #umbrella academy season three #umbrella academy x reader #the umbrella academy #allison hargreeves #Allison Hargreeves x reader platonic #diego hargreeves x reader platonic #Diego Hargreeves x daughter reader #Luther Hargreeves x reader platonic #klaus hargreeves x reader platonic #five hargreeves x platonic!reader #Ben Hargreeves x reader platonic #Viktor Hargreeves x reader platonic

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lfcslut · 1 year

Text

quarter-final surprise

hakim ziyech x reader

words: 2.1k

summary: you surprise hakim by traveling to doha for the world cup semi-finals. loosely based on this request!

warnings: cursing, established relationship, kissing. that's about it lol. wholesome fluff!

You and Hakim had been together for almost a year now. Very few people knew about your relationship - your family and close friends, as well as most of Hakim’s teammates, but that was about it. With the World Cup approaching, Hakim had been spending extra time in training. You had wanted so badly to be able to go with him to Doha - partially because you had never been before, but mostly because you wanted to cheer on your man in what was bound to be one of the most memorable moments of his career. But between school and work, it was nearly impossible for you to take enough time off to be able to make it. You kept telling yourself that you would go for at least one game, but the timing just wasn’t working out right. By now though, Morocco had made it much farther than you, or anyone else, had expected - they were in the quarter-finals, and you knew that this was a match that you could not miss. You had managed to get the time off from school and work, and you had booked your plane ticket, but Hakim had no idea. You had only told his sister, who you were close with and who was currently in Doha, but you were planning to surprise Hakim.

“So, I’m flying in tomorrow morning.” You were on the phone with Hakim’s sister while also running around your apartment, trying to pack at the last minute. Your flight was in less than four hours, and your suitcase was completely empty. You guessed that you weren’t going to get much sleep that night.

“I’m so excited to see you, Y/N. And I know Hakim is gonna be over the moon when you surprise him,” his sister responded. You and his sister had become close ever since the two of you started dating. Even though she lived in the Netherlands while you were in London, the two of you spoke several times a week. Hakim sometimes joked that you were only dating him to get to her.

“I really hope so,” you said. “I hope it’s not too much that I’m surprising him during the quarterfinals with the whole world watching.” You were nervous because the public did not know about your relationship with Hakim. You had managed to keep your personal lives private, but this was one of the largest stages in the world. You figured that someone would likely see you there and connect the dots.

“I know he’s going to love it. He’ll just be happy to see you.”

You smiled and hung up the phone with her, just as you saw that Hakim had sent you a text.

Going to bed now. Big day tomorrow. I love you xx

Good night, baby. I know you’re going to do great. I wish I could be there. I’m so proud of you <;3

Hakim heart reacted your message and you turned off your phone. It felt weird to lie to him like this, but you knew it would be worth it in the end. You turned to the clock, saw what time it was, and then hurriedly continued packing. You couldn’t forget the most important thing - your number 7 Morocco jersey that Hakim had bought you shortly after you had first started dating. Can’t forget this, you whispered to yourself.

—

You landed in Doha early the next day. As soon as you landed, you turned on your phone and messaged Hakim.

Good morning, my love. Good luck today. No matter what, you made history and I’m so proud of you.

Thank you, baby. I love and miss you so much xx

You got off the plane and headed to baggage claim. Hakim’s sister was going to pick you up and take you to the hotel. You were hoping that Hakim didn’t suspect anything - if he did, he hadn’t let it on. You admittedly weren’t the best at keeping secrets. As you waited for your luggage, you thought about that one time you had tried to throw Hakim a surprise party, but had inadvertently revealed your plans to him the day before. Hakim had still pretended to be surprised the next day.

“Y/N!” Hakim’s sister called out as you exited the airport and spotted each other.

“I missed you so much! How was your flight?” She asked, greeting you with a warm hug.

“It wasn’t too bad. I didn’t start packing until the last minute though, so I got absolutely no sleep last night,” you responded after kissing her on the cheek.

“Let’s get you to the hotel so you can get some rest before the match, then,” she responded and led you to her car.

“How’s Hakim doing?” you asked as the two of you were on your way to the hotel.

“Well, you know Hakim. He’ll never let on that he’s nervous,” she responded, and you nodded. Hakim would never admit that he was nervous before a match, and to be honest, he typically wasn’t one to get nervous. Football was second nature to him at this point. But this was the quarterfinals of the World Cup - a historic feat, one that the whole world would be watching. You knew that even your stoic boyfriend was likely on edge.

When you got to the hotel, you said goodbye to Hakim’s sister, quickly checked into your room, and didn’t even bother changing before collapsing on the bed. You were exhausted, and as much as you wanted to go out and explore Doha, you knew that getting rest before the match was more important.

Heading to the stadium soon. How are you, darling? How’s your day been?

You couldn’t help but smile at Hakim’s message. Even on one of the most important days of his life, he still made sure to ask about you.

I’m good! I can’t wait to see you on TV later tonight! You’re gonna do amazing <;3

Once again, you couldn’t help but feel bad about lying. You wanted more than anything to go to his hotel room before he left and surprise him. But you didn’t want to mess up his pre-game ritual, and you knew that surprising him after a win would be even more special. So instead, you set your alarm and lay down for a nap.

–

“Shit!” You exclaimed as you woke up and turned to look at the clock. You had slept through your alarm and the game was about to start in thirty minutes. You jumped out of bed and started running around your hotel room like a maniac. You opened up your suitcase, grabbed your toiletries bag, and ran to the bathroom. You had about five minutes to freshen up and do your makeup. “Fuck it,” you said to yourself as you decided to do a very simple, no makeup look. You quickly changed into your Morocco jersey and some jeans, slipped on your most comfortable flats, and ran out the door.

As you entered the stadium along with hundreds of thousands of other people, you couldn’t help but begin to feel nervous yourself. You had been to plenty of Hakim’s games before, but this was the World Cup. You thought about the millions of people around the world who were tuning in right now. You couldn’t imagine how Hakim must be feeling. Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of pride for your man washed over you. You knew how hard he had worked to get to this moment and the challenges he had faced along the way. You were the one whose shoulder he had cried on when he was struggling on the team, and you were the one he had first told when he decided to quit playing internationally. When he decided to go back, you had encouraged him to not think about what people might say and follow his heart. And so he had.

“I’m sorry I’m late! I overslept!” You exclaimed as you ran up to Hakim’s box where his family and best friends were. Most of them were surprised to see you and embraced you in hugs and kisses.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” asked one of Hakim’s brothers incredulously.

“I know, I know, I’m here as a surprise to Hakim!”

You finally reached his mom. She embraced you and whispered in your ear, “I’m so glad you’re here. I know Hakim will be so happy.” You beamed at her words and sat down in between her and Hakim’s sister.

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t suspect a thing,” said Hakim’s sister. “He came by earlier when we got here and told us how much he wishes you could have made it.”

You couldn’t help but blush thinking about Hakim openly telling his family about how he misses you. “I can’t wait to see his reaction.”

–

It was the last minute of extra time and your heart was pounding. The entire stadium erupted into absolute chaos as the whistle was blown. At that moment, it seemed like the entire crowd was Moroccan. Everyone around you was hugging, crying, and screaming. You could barely hear your own thoughts over the noise. All you could think about was how much you wanted to see Hakim. Your eyes scanned the crowded field, but you could barely see anything amidst all of the people. Finally, you saw a familiar face running up to the stands. Hakim had the Moroccan flag draped around his shoulders, and your heart soared when you saw the joy on his face as he spotted you. When he reached you, he didn’t say a word and simply wrapped his arms around you.

“I’m so proud of you, baby,” you said, as he buried his face into the nook of your shoulder.

“I can’t believe you’re here, Snoepje,” he said. He pulled away from you, and you took his face in your hands.

“You know I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Before you could say anything else, the two of you were surrounded by friends and family piling up around you both.

The rest of the night was a blur. You spent most of it celebrating with Hakim, his teammates, and their families. The night ended with just you and Hakim alone in your room together, cuddled up in bed. This was the first moment the two of you were alone since Hakim had left for the World Cup. Hakim was understandably exhausted from the day, and so you simply held him in your arms and stroked his head.

“I still can’t believe you managed to surprise me. You’re so bad at keeping secrets,” Hakim grinned up at you.

“I’ve learned from my past mistakes,” you responded. “So, how does it feel? To be a World Cup semi-finalist?”

Hakim paused for a moment and then answered. “Honestly? It doesn’t feel real,” he said. “To think that just a few months ago I didn’t even think I would be playing for the team.”

“I’m so glad you came back.”

Hakim looked up at you and smiled. “Me too.”

The two of you were about to turn the lights off and go to sleep when you decided to pick up your phone and check your notifications. To your surprise, your phone had blown up since you had last checked it. You opened up Instagram and saw that you had been tagged in hundreds of posts and stories, all of them with the same picture of Hakim embracing you after the World Cup.

Hakim Ziyech seen hugging mystery girl after World Cup quarter-final defeat

omg is ziyech married?

i didn’t know he had a girlfriend! who is she?

“Shit,” you whispered under your breath.

“What is it?” asked Hakim.

You handed him your phone, and he began scrolling. Your stomach dropped. The two of you hadn’t spoken yet about making your relationship public. You knew how private Hakim was, so you weren’t sure how he would respond to this. After a moment, Hakim gave your phone back to you and simply shrugged.

“It was bound to get out at some point. And I’m glad that it happened like this.”

You looked at him, somewhat surprised at his reaction. “Really? So you don’t mind that everyone knows?”

Hakim looked up at you, and it was now his turn to look surprised. “Snoepje, you’re going to be my wife one day. Why would I mind if people knew about us? I just wanted to protect you for as long as I could. But I’m happy that I can finally show you off to the world.”

You smiled at him and leaned in for a kiss. While the two of you had talked about marriage since the early stages of your relationship, when you heard it coming from him like this, it felt even more special. “I love you, future husband.”

He grinned. “I love you too, future wife.”

You reached over to turn off the bedside lamp and the two of you fell asleep in each other’s arms.

#it's a cheeeeeze fest up in here #hope you guys like this one :)#figured i'd do something a little different #hakim ziyech fic #hakim ziyech x reader #hakim ziyech imagine #hakim ziyech fluff #hakim ziyech fanfic #hakim ziyech one shot #football fic #football fluff #football fanfic #football imagine #hakim ziyech

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i-writes-things · 2 years

Note

Can you do something with mom!kara and adopted!Daughter younger r gets sick and Kara tries to deal with it but she doesn’t know how to that much since she doesn’t get sick and so maybe she calls Lena or someone for help and Kara is stressing out because she dosent know how to help you

I Could Kill Her!

This is part 1, this is part 2

mom!kara x adopted!daugther

Wanrings:

A/N: Y/n/n means "Your nickname". Reader is on the younger kid side!

Extra pairings:

Alex x niece & Eliza x granddaughter

“Mom, I threw up.” You stand in front of her, the bathroom, lighting up your silhouette. “Mom?” Nudging her a bit, she fluttered her eyes open and asked what happened. “I threw up.” Your voice was raspy, the both of you could hear the sickness in it. Moving out of your moms way, she got up and left into the light of the blaring bathroom. Taking the opportunity to get into her bed, she came back out with a wash cloth,

“Do you feel hot?” Kara asked, thinking back to all the nights her older sister was sick and Eliza would be there to comfort her, not just that but make her feel better. She was almost always awake when this would happen, as she wanted to make sure her sister wasn’t in need of her own help. Now that the superhero had her own daughter, this information came in handy, but the kid hadn’t been so seriously sick since the adoption and moving in. You nodded your head, mumbling in agreement.

“My tummy hurts, too.” Kara wasn’t sure how to respond with something would psyhically help, “I’m sorry, honey, I know sleep will help.” You groan at her and turn over in her mother’s covers.

“No,” You whined, “it really hurts, mom.” Kara’s heart skipped a beat, from worry but also from guilt. She was always worried for her daughter, but Kara had never been sick here on Earth, she didn’t know how to specifically comfort her daughter, or even make her feel better like Eliza always had.

“You stay right here,” Kara laid the wash cloth on her daughter's forehead and moved out to her dark kitchen, ringing her sister.

“Alex, Y/n isn’t feeling well at all. She threw up, and I just don’t know how to make the sickness stop. You know I’ve never been sick. I need some help. Call me back, thanks.” Stopping the voice message, she took a second thinking about who could help her at a time like this.

“Kara, what are you doing calling me at this time of night?”

“Y/n’s sick and I don’t know what else to do to help her. I don’t want to give her some medicine and it kill her, she’s so fragile.”

“Your not gonna kill her, Kara-” Kara cut her adoptive mom off.

“I might,” Eliza could tell she was stressed.

“You won’t. She’s human Kara, she’ll be alright for the night.”

“Are you sure? She said her stomach hurts? How do I help with that? She threw up too.”

“You can make sure she doesn’t need to throw-”

“Y/n?” Kara blurted out, watching you run back into the bathroom and let the rest of your stomach go.

“Pull her hair back,” Kara pulls back your hair, wincing at the smell and tucked her phone between her shoulder and ear. “Make sure she doesn’t drink anything for a little while after throwing up, she might throw it all up again.”

“She's not a little baby.” Kara began to stroke your hair gently.

“But she will need fluids, just not right after. Make a washcloth for her, oh, hun, don’t forget to check her temperature. You guys try to get some sleep for the night and I’ll be over in the morning. Goodnight, Kara.”

“Eliza, I don't-” She hung up. Kara slumped over, catching her phone, holding most of your hair with the other hand, whilst setting her phone aside. Turning her focus back to you, she saw you were just hovering over the toilet. “Feeling better?” Her only answer was more chunks of last night's dinner flying into the toilet. After finally getting you clean of sickness from changing your clothes, wiping your face and doing the same to the bathroom, you and Kara got cozy in her bed.

“Sleep, baby. Tomorrow we’ll go to Alex and make sure you get better.”

“Mommy?”

“Yes…?”

“I want you to make me better, I’m not a patient.”

“Go to sleep, we’ll talk in the morning.” She kissed your red cheek.

The next morning…

You fluttered your eyes open to the noise of a voice coming from the kitchen. Your head ached, throat was dry and you were cold, so cold, even in your mom's thick covers. Again hearing someone in the kitchen. Kara was either trying to learn how to cook again, Alex was here or you were being robbed which didn't have much of a chance of being true.

“Moooom…” You groaned, the other voice abruptly stopping and she came into view from around the corner, immediately smiling when she saw you.

“How's my girl? Feeling better?” Before you could respond she continued almost excitedly. “I have some medicine, you said your stomach hurt? Does anything else hurt? Your head, do you have a runny nose, what about your throat, honey?” She was leaning over you, in an overbearing type of way.

You groaned again, “Everything.”

“Everything…?” Kara was confused and didn't understand how everything could be wrong, but tried to process it. “Okay… I’ll be right back…” She ran back to her computer when there was a knock on the door, and you called out for her again.

“Just a minute, Y/n/n,” She opened the door, “Eliza…!” She wasn't sure if she should be happy or overwhelmed.

“Kara! How is she feeling?” Kara took a deep breath.

“She told me everything hurts,” Right on cue you groaned out for her again. She walked back in and sat on the bed next to you.

“What's up?” Tucking the hair behind your ear, you sniffled.

“Am I sick?” Kara rests her face.

“I’m afraid so. Let's take your temperature.” When she moved to get up you pulled on her arm as she tried to get away. “Y/n, I’ll be right back.” She walked back to Eliza, as you move around trying to find a comfy position on the bed. Back in the kitchen Eliza had set her things down and was looking at the pile on the island table.

“Do you see the thermometer in there?” Eliza shook her head,moving back to her purse. “Damn,” Kara whispered to herself and started to look around for her coat.

“I brought one, Kara.” Eliza handed a thermometer out to her.

“No, I can go buy one, really, I need one anyway.” She chuckles lightly, gesturing to you in her bed. She could hear you groaning quietly from pain.

“Take it, make sure she’s not too hot.”

“Mommy come back now!” You yelled for her.

“Coming, sweetheart,” She took the thermometer and nodded in agreement, “Thank you.” Eliza smiled and as Kara raced over to you, Eliza came into view and saw how her daughter took care of you. She had no knowledge of sickness. Turning back towards the kitchen, wanting to make you something to eat Eliza saw the computer. It was open to a tab about how to care for a sick kid. Under the website ‘Wiki How’

“104.2? Is that bad?”

“What! 104? I’m calling Alex.”

“What? Is 104 a high temp?” Kara questioned unsure. You, on the verge of going back to sleep, your mom came and woke you up.

“Stooop! I was almost asleep.” You harshly move away from her, annoyed people were waking you up.

“I’m sorry, we have to go. Y/n,” She tried to pick you up, but your squirming was not helping. “Y/n, this is not the time.” She warned and you whined. “What's wrong? What's wrong?” She asked, starting to sound exhausted.

“I don't want to go.”

“I wish I didn't have to take you there, baby, but it'll make you feel better.” She tried again and you accepted her, dangling your arms around her neck loosely.

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Kara leaped out the window, Eliza on the phone with Alex who was getting you a bed made in MedBay.

Taglist

@ravensinthedaylight @may-z3

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avatar-anna · 2 years

Text

Better Off

Part Four

Series Masterlist

A few weeks later

“Y/n, someone’s here to see you.”

I looked up from where I was helping someone read through a citizenship document when Gordy, our office’s secretary, interrupted us. I raised an eyebrow at him. “My next appointment isn’t until three, Gordy.”

“He…says it’s really important, and when I told him all of your meetings and clients are important, you know, like you’ve told me to say, he said that he didn’t have an appointment, which, I kind of assumed because he’s dressed like someone who could afford a really good lawyer at some big firm. Not that you’re not a good lawyer, but he just screams rich to me, which totally works for him in my opinion. And I think I saw some tattoos, which, can I just say? Totally hot—”

“Gordy?” I asked, cutting his rant short. Gordy was someone I found in a pinch after our last secretary quit. He was nice, did his job (most of the time), and had a penchant for monologues, gossiping, and using glitter stickers when he filed papers for me. However, his hyperverbal tendencies did me a service today. “Did this man have a British accent by chance?”

Gordy’s face lit up. “Yeah! You know him?”

“No, I don’t. Now can you please let me finish my session with my client?”

“Mm, I smell drama,” Gordy said, looking me up and down. “I’ll have to ask you about this later, boss. Your life has been so boring until now.”

Gordy left my tiny office with a flourish, leaving me to talk to my client for the remainder of our appointment. I apologized for the interruption and quickly got back to work.

Summers have always been busy for me. While Maddison was in dance camp, I was in back to back appointments and the occasional court appearance involving deportation issues, naturalization processes, and all sorts of stuff having to do with immigration. This summer was no different, and I didn’t have time for people who didn’t have an appointment with me, even if I technically was seeing that someone.

I didn’t hear from Gordy other than him telling me when my next client was here the rest of the day. At the end of my day, I locked up my office door and stepped into the main area. Our office was small and not well decorated, but we had a good group of lawyers that worked hard to help people in need, and that’s what mattered the most. Turning away from my office door, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Jesus, what the hell are you doing here?” I asked, putting a hand to my rapidly beating heart. Harry was sitting in one of the chairs we had in our small waiting area. He was hunched over, so I didn’t recognize him at first, but when he lifted his head up, my back hit the closed door of my office. Harry stood up from his chair, which looked tiny while he sat in it. His face was stony, not one emotion breaking past the wall he had up.

“I have been here all day, waiting for you to come out of that door or for you to call me in,” he said, stepping closer but still keeping a healthy distance between us. “Because for some reason you have ignored my calls, my texts, the emails I’ve sent you. I mean, Jesus, Y/n, you hung up weeks ago and haven’t spoken to me since.”

I nervously played with the straps of my leather work bag. He was right. After the phone call we had, I hadn’t talked to him, not once. It felt like a sign, a harsh dose of reality. We’re not really that serious. Those words pounded against my brain like a drum, keeping me from answering any of his calls or messages. There was a reason I hadn’t had a serious relationship since having Maddison, and I was an idiot to think that this thing with Harry could work because we’d gone on a few good dates. I might have taken the easy way out by ignoring Harry, but I hoped it would make the message clear.

“I’ve been busy,” I said simply, not looking him in the eye.

“I can see that,” Harry said back, and there was a hint of snark in his voice. “But now that you’re free, I’m hoping to steal a moment of your time. Only now I’m starting to think I have to make an appointment to get just a minute of it.”

My head shook immediately. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Maddison is waiting for me and quite frankly, I don’t want to—”

“What, talk to me? You’ve made that abundantly clear, but quite frankly I don’t give a shit.”

Excuse me? “Excuse me? You can’t—”

Harry shook his head in frustration. “Can’t what, Y/n? You haven’t spoken to me in weeks, and I have no idea why. Why, when everything has been so good, did you start ignoring me again?”

It had been easy to keep Harry at arm’s length when he was in England, and after he came back when he was busy with his life and I was busy with mine. But now that he was here, I felt like I was being sucked into him all over again. Looking into his eyes, they were still the same mesmerizing green framed by thick black lashes. His face was still annoyingly beautiful, and the way he was looking at me made me want to tell him everything. But I couldn’t, I wouldn’t.

“Look, this was never a good idea. I think it’s better if we just keep things amicable between us for the sake of Maddison and Devon, but apart from that…it’s probably best we don’t, like, see each other anymore.”

As I spoke, I watched as Harry rolled his eyes, growing more and more frustrated with me. It’s better this way, I told myself. If he was angry with me, he wouldn’t try as hard. I pushed past him, and he let me, but as I reached the door to the office, he spoke again. “That’s bullshit, and we both know it.”

Turning around, he looked as pissed off as ever, but he also looked hurt, and it pained me to see him that way. “Is it? You’re the one who said we weren’t serious.”

“That’s what you’re upset about? You’ve been avoiding me because I said I was going to tell my mum we weren’t serious? I thought that’s what you wanted!” Harry looked at me like I’d grown three heads, which only served to irritate me more than I already was.

“Why on earth would I want your mother to think we weren’t serious?” I said, trying to keep my voice down, even though there was no one here to hear us.

Harry threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. “You didn’t want anyone to know in the first place! I thought it would take the pressure off things if I said that.”

“I didn’t want anyone to know? I thought we agreed on keeping things to ourselves,” I said, my face flushing hot with steadily growing anger. I was nitpicking, but I couldn’t help it. I was a lawyer, and I nitpicked when I was angry.

“God, Y/n. Of course I agreed. I just meant I was respecting your—our decision. So what are you so bent out of shape for?”

I had the most ridiculous urge to stomp my foot on the office’s carpeted floor. Settling for a huff and a shake of my head, I turned around to leave. I could hear Harry’s footsteps follow me out the door, but I kept on moving like he wasn’t there. He placed a hand on my shoulder, but he immediately removed it when my head whipped around and he saw my glare. His expression softened, and I wished he stayed angry. It was easier to be angry with someone when they were angry with you too. “Y/n, I can’t fix something if I don’t know what the problem is.”

Crossing my arms, I let my gaze fall to the side. Harry was in a pair of light wash jeans and a plain white t-shirt. It was pretty tame for his usual collection of colorful cardigans, sweaters, and fancy suits with interesting patterns, but he still looked ridiculously attractive either way. And the way he was looking at me with eyes that cared so much to make things right made me realize all my thoughts about kicking him to the curb were completely bogus. Whether I liked it or not, I was wrapped around his finger.

Sighing, I rubbed my forehead, trying to ward off the oncoming headache I felt in the base of my skull. Mustering up all my professionalism, I tried to talk to Harry without lashing out. “When you said you were going to tell your mom that we weren’t serious…I don’t know, it just felt like it minimized everything we’d done leading up to that point. I mean, just because I don’t call you my boyfriend doesn’t mean I don’t take this seriously.”

Harry ran a tired hand over his face, which was clean shaven once again. “Y/n, I—I didn’t even think about that. I’m sorry.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “I know you didn’t think, that’s why I’m pissed.”

“Unbelievable,” Harry muttered. “You’re a piece of work, you know that? I’m trying to apologize. I’m—”

Harry stopped to laugh, but humorous wouldn’t be the right word to describe it. Curious, I looked up at him. “What?”

“I’m just thinking back to a different parking lot, a different apology,” Harry mused, taking a step forward. “I couldn’t stand you, you know.”

I’m sorry, what? “Um, I thought you were apologizing?”

“Yes, I’m getting to that.” He took another step forward, his hand coming up to cup the back of my neck while his thumb caressed my cheek. “You are…frustratingly stubborn and terrible at communicating your feelings.”

“I still don’t see how this is an apology—” I told him, trying my best to not be offended, but he put a finger to my lips to shut me up.

“And apparently bad at letting people talk without cutting them off,” he said, to which I rolled my eyes. “But,” he continued. “You are deliriously sexy, a great friend, and an even greater mum. I don’t know what I would’ve done these last few months if you hadn’t been there for me and Devon, another reason why I like you so much.

“I’m sorry for telling my mum that we weren’t serious. She’s just the kind of person who likes to nag and nag until she gets to the bottom of something, and I thought that by telling her that, she would get off my back a little bit.” Harry removed his finger off my lips and took my hand in his, kissing my knuckles and sending shivers down my spine. I was ready to forgive him when he said I was a great “mum,” but I let him get everything off his chest, not forgetting how he said I was terrible at letting people talk without interrupting. “She didn’t believe me, of course, knowing that if things weren’t serious, Devon wouldn’t even know your name, and she was right, obviously.

“But what matters to me is that you know that I am serious about us. So serious that I want to take you back to my place and show you just how much I mean it,” he said, a small glint in his eye that made my face flush. Still, I opened my mouth to protest, but he beat me to it. “But I won’t because I know you have to pick up Maddison, so Devon and I would like to formally invite you to have dinner at our house this weekend.”

“You and Devon?” I asked, an amused smile forming on my face.

“He insisted, and what my son wants, he shall have, especially if it’s something I want too.”

“Well, I’ll have to check Maddie’s schedule, but I think we should be free. We can’t have my favorite man in the whole world be disappointed,” I said, pulling Harry closer to me. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have ignored you. I should’ve told you what was bothering me.”

Now that he had explained, it all made sense. I felt bad for shutting Harry out over a misunderstanding, but I couldn’t help but be protective of my heart and the life I’d built for myself and for Maddie. But my heart was currently singing a different song, and it very much wanted to be with Harry and his son next weekend, and the next, and the next, and so on.

Harry took my words as a sign to kiss me, the minute his lips met mine making me feel light and airy. The kiss was short as Harry pulled away to grin at me. “You. Are. Forgiven,” he said, emphasizing each word with a kiss. “And thank you, I would’ve been very disappointed if you didn’t come.”

Raising an eyebrow, I kissed his cheek and leaned over so I could playfully whisper in his ear. “Who said I was talking about you?”

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

july

Maddie and I were at Harry and Devon’s house for dinner, and to put it plainly, it was not going well.

It started when I told Maddie to get dressed. She was watching a cartoon in the living room, and when I told her to get up…she didn't.

My daughter was a good kid, and I might be a little biased, but I would go as far as saying she was the best. So to see her blatantly not do something I asked her to do, something as simple as getting ready to go to her friend’s house, came as a bit of a surprise.

I had to ask her three times before she eventually got up, and then it took her nearly a year to change into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, then to get her shoes on. I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing. For weeks, Maddison had asked me when Devon and Harry were coming home so she could see them again, and now here we were, about to go to their house, and it was like I was taking her to the dentist.

“What is up with you?” I asked her when we finally got in the car to leave.

“Nothing,” she muttered, and even though she was full of shit, I decided to let it go, hoping that actually seeing Devon would change her attitude a little.

Well, it didn’t. Maddie smiled brightly at Devon, but completely ignored Harry as he held open the door for us. It dawned on me then what was going on. Maybe it was naive of me to think that tonight would go well, but when I talked to Maddison that afternoon after her dance class, she didn’t seem bothered by the fact that Harry might be my boyfriend.

When she gave him the cold shoulder, I stepped towards her to tell her exactly what she could do with that new attitude of hers, but Harry stopped me, saying it was fine as he gave me a kiss once Devon and my daughter disappeared into Devon’s room to play.

Then there was the dinner.

I sat on a barstool with a glass of water in my hands while Harry buzzed around the kitchen. I’d offered to help, but he shook his head and sat me down on the barstool, making it clear that everything was on him tonight. We talked and caught each other up on everything we’d missed while we were apart. It was mostly Harry talking about their trip to England, but I didn't mind; I liked seeing him so happy and enthusiastic as he talked about seeing his family again and taking Devon to London.

“He loved it, Y/n,” Harry gushed as he stirred something around in a pan. He was making some sort of chicken dish from what I could tell. I had craned my neck to take a closer look earlier, but Harry pushed my shoulders until I was back in my seat.

“That’s awesome, H,” I said, continuing to watch him through half-lidded eyes. He wasn’t facing me, which meant I was looking at his back as he worked on our dinner, but I didn't really mind. His shirt was thin and the muscles in his back and shoulders very visible as he moved around. Before I got caught drooling, though, I snapped out of my daze and sat a little straighter. “Do you have any pictures?”

Harry looked over his shoulder to give me a look. “Of course I have pictures. What do you take me for?”

He unlocked his phone and handed it over to me before going back over to whatever he was working on on the stove. I was a little surprised that he’d just handed his phone to me and walked away from it, but I was also endeared by his obvious trust.

Scrolling through his camera roll, I saw a number of different pictures from their trip—Devon in some house (presumably his grandmother’s), Devon walking around Harry’s hometown, and a bunch of pictures of Devon all over London. It wasn’t surprising to see that most of the pictures were just of Devon, my phone was more of the same, but I smiled faintly whenever a picture of Harry and Devon popped up. It made me happy to see Harry’s smile so bright; I don't think I’d ever seen him smile like that before.

“Looks like it was the vacation of the century,” I said, putting Harry’s phone face down on the counter.

“It really was,” he admitted as he took a loaf of bread out of the oven. “It was just so nice to just be with my son and not have to…worry about anything, you know?”

I hummed, understanding the feeling but not having quite experienced it myself. As much as I would love to take Maddison somewhere far away for a week or two, I just couldn’t afford it. The best I could do was a trip to Disneyland, and that was always stressful on a good day.

I wanted to ask Harry how the custody battle was coming along, but seeing how he was in such a good mood, I decided not to. While he didn’t talk about it much, there was always a tense set to his mouth whenever the topic of his wife, or lawyers, or custody came up. I was so happy that he was able to go to England with Devon when he did; it had come at the right time and it was what both boys needed. So I pocketed my questions for now, in the hopes that he could stay on his vacation just a little longer.

When I saw that he was just about done with dinner, I stood up and asked if I could help set the table. He tried to protest, but eventually conceded, pointing out where everything was so I could put it all out on the dining table. A few minutes later, the four of us were sitting down and eating together. Maddie seemed to be in a better mood now that she had been able to play with Devon for a little bit, but I didn’t miss the way she was slightly turned away from Harry in her seat.

Shifting my focus, I turned to Devon. “So, kiddo, your dad told me a little about your trip, but I wanna hear it from you. Tell me all about it.”

Devon’s blue eyes lit up and he immediately launched into all sorts of tales of his adventures in England. I listened intently as he talked over a bite of his dinner. It was the most I’d ever heard him speak at one time before, and I noticed a hint of an accent in some of his words the longer he spoke. It would most likely go away in a few days, but it was still cute to hear.

“Dad even took me to the Royal Ballet. It was kind of boring, but we still had fun,” Devon said. Then he turned to Maddie. “You would’ve liked it, though.”

“You forgot the best part,” Harry said before speaking to Maddison as well. “We brought something back for you from the theater.”

Maddie was quiet, almost like she hadn’t heard Harry. Nudging her side a bit, I prompted her. “What do you say, Maddie?”

“Thank you,” she mumbled, her eyes never leaving the plate of food she hardly even touched.

“Maddison—” I started, but Harry cut me off with a slight shake of his head.

“It’s fine, Y/n. Devon, why don’t you go get the gifts we brought back?”

Devon was looking at Maddie curiously, but nodded enthusiastically at his father's suggestion. He took off down the hallway and upstairs to where his and Harry’s rooms were, and then there were three of us.

“So, Maddie, your mum told me you have a recital coming up?” Harry asked, being perfectly patient with my daughter.

“I guess,” she said, her voice as monotone as before.

Harry didn't even bat an eye. “Well, Devon and I were thinking we could come see you perform. What do you think?”

Maddie merely shrugged, and this time I did see Harry deflate a bit. I was ready to take her into a different room and ask who she thought she was because clearly this was not the polite and respectful daughter that I raised, but she was saved by Devon running back into the dining room, his feet sliding a little across the hardwood floors as he reached his seat.

“Here,” he said, a little out of breath. He handed two small parcels to Maddison and then one to me. “We got something for you too, Y/n.”

After the pool party, I told him he didn’t have to say “Miss Y/l/n” anymore. “We’re friends, right? Friends call each other by their first names.” Devon smiled and nodded, happy to have a new friend, and I had been Y/n to him ever since.

Now, I looked over at Harry, but he put his hands up. “Don’t look at me, it was all him,” he said, pointing to his son.

I unwrapped the tissue paper to find a small snow globe with the London Eye inside. Shaking it a little, small pieces of fake snow and confetti swirled around the famous landmark. Looking up at Devon, I saw a nervous look on his face. I gave him a smile and pulled him in for a hug.

“Thank you, Devon. I love it.”

“Really?” he asked, almost in disbelief.

“Really. And I know just where to put it too. It’ll look perfect on the bookshelf in my office,” I told him. His answering grin was wide enough for me to see all his teeth, and I couldn't help but grin back.

Turning to Maddie, I motioned for her to open her gifts. “Go on, Maddie mine, let’s see what you got.”

She frowned a little at the use of my nickname for her, but she opened the gifts anyway. I was hurt by her reaction, because now not only was she acting terribly towards Harry, but she was doing it to me too. Still, not wanting to cause a scene, I stayed quiet and watched as she opened the first parcel.

It was a small tiara, round with little diamonds on it. Devon, who had climbed into my lap to get a better look as Maddie opened her gifts, smiled at her. “We thought you could wear it for your performance.”

I could see a small grin flickering on Maddison’s face, but it quickly winked out. Still, she mumbled a quiet thanks without my prompting, and I figured that was the best I was going to get for tonight. She moved onto the next gift, finding a soft cloth doll dressed as a ballerina. It was a gift from someone who didn't really know how to buy a gift for a seven year old girl, but it was still cute, and there was sentimentality behind it.

“She’s beautiful, Maddie. Don’t you think?” I asked her.

She shrugged, her curly hair hiding her face from me. “I’m not four.”

That's it. “Maddison Nevaeh, stand up right now,” I said, barely hiding my embarrassment and disappointment in her. For a moment, she didn't stand up, and then we were really going to get into it, but after one look from me, thankfully she did. I pointed her in the direction of the hallway, and we both walked to Devon’s playroom.

I shut the door behind me and took a deep breath, trying to reign in my frustration before whirling on my daughter. “What is going on with you tonight?”

“Nothing,” Maddie grumbled, but she wasn’t going anywhere until we figured this out.

“Uh uh, don’t give me that. My daughter doesn’t talk to people like that. Especially their friends.” Both of us stood there staring at each other with our arms crossed, and when she didn’t budge, I kept going.“Do you not like Harry? Is that what the problem is? Answer me, Maddison.”

She still kept quiet, looking everywhere except at me, and I could tell by the slight wobble in her lower lip that she was about to cry. Sighing, I sat down on the rug in Devon’s room, motioning for Maddie to sit with me.

“Siéntate conmigo, Maddison,” I said quietly, patting the spot just in front of me. She stayed where she was for a second but eventually sat down. Leaning forward, I wiped the tear that had fallen down her cheek and kissed her forehead. “Why are you crying, Maddie mine? Talk to me.”

I thought she would ignore me again, but she didn’t, spewing the words out almost like she couldn't contain them anymore. “Do you love him more than me?”

I felt my heart crack as she asked me that question. I knew of course that this conversation wasn’t going to be easy, that her feelings about Harry had changed since the last time she’d seen him, but hearing her say that almost brought tears to my own eyes.

“Of course not,” I told her. When she still didn’t meet my eyes, I took her chin in my hand and gently lifted her face so that we were eye to eye. “You and me? Para siempre. Nada va a cambiar, okay? And besides, I don’t even know if I love him yet.”

“But can’t it be just you and me forever? They wouldn’t even fit in our house.”

If she hadn’t been crying seconds ago, and if she hadn’t been acting out tonight, I would’ve thought Maddison was joking. I would’ve laughed and kissed her cheek and told her to not be so silly. But I knew she was being serious, and while her words alarmed me, my only thought at that moment was to make her feel better. Harry told me the other day that I feared change, and it seemed I had passed that on to my daughter.

“If that’s what you want, then sure,” I said. It hurt to say, but I meant it. I may have liked Harry a lot, but Maddison would always come first, even if it did leave me single forever, or at least until I was too old and it was too late. But I didn’t think she really meant it, her behavior tonight came from a place of fear, and I would do my best to ease her worries. Before I could say anything more, though, there was a knock on the door.

“Hey,” Harry said, poking his head through the small crack in the door. “Can I come in? I thought I could talk to Maddison for a moment.”

A small seed of worry bloomed in my head at the idea of the two of them alone in a room together, but Harry gave me a reassuring look, and I decided to trust him on this. Maddie and I stood up, and I whispered in her ear that she needed to apologize to Harry. I left the room warily, the comforting squeeze Harry gave my hand not enough to curb my nerves.

Walking back to the dining room, I found Devon playing with the snow globe he got me. I felt bad for him too, he was clearly more receptive to the idea of me and Harry dating than my daughter was. It made me wonder how Harry broke the news to him.

“Hey, kiddo,” I said as I sat down at my seat. Looking at Devon now, I saw just how much he looked like Harry, the only thing really setting them apart being their eye color. A light shade of green versus a deep, sapphire blue. “I’m sorry about Maddie. I know it didn’t look like it, but she really liked the gifts you brought back for her.”

“That’s okay,” he said, his eyes still trained on the snow globe. “Dad said she's afraid of change just as much as you are.”

To say that I was stunned was an understatement. Harry might have been right, but I didn't expect him to relay that information to his son. Electing to ignore the revelation for now, I leaned my elbow on the dining table and looked at Devon. “Really? What else does he say about me?”

Devon considered the question for a moment. “Mm, he told me I wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

“I promise he’ll never know. It’ll be our little secret.” I didn't really care if Devon did or didn't tell me, but I figured I could try and get it out of him and lord it over Harry later.

“I just told him that you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” Harry said as he entered the dining room with Maddison in tow. “Nice try, though.”

I shrugged and shot Devon a wink and he grinned. Seeing him smile like that made me happy, that despite everything going on in his life, Maddie and I could bring him a little joy. “Worth a shot. Okay, Maddison, you ready to go?”

I wasn’t sure what Harry and Madison talked about, but she was still awfully quiet, which I took as a bad sign. Either way, I thought it was best to leave now and talk about it later before things got worse, if that was even possible.

“Maddie has something to say first, don’t you, Maddie?” Harry asked, giving her a small smile.

Maddison looked down at her shoes for a moment, then turned to Devon. “I’m sorry for being mean. And thank you for the presents, they’re really nice.”

That definitely was not what I was expecting, and I looked at Harry almost in awe. It was his turn to wink, grinning at me as if to say, If you liked that, wait until you hear this.

Then Maddie turned to me. “And I’m sorry for misbehaving.”

I tried not to act too surprised by my daughter’s double apology as I pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. Looking over Maddie, I saw that Harry was standing next to Devon and still grinning, obviously quite pleased with himself. Now not only did I want to know what he said to Devon about me, but I desperately wanted to know what he said to Maddison.

“Thank you for apologizing,” I told Maddie, tapping the tip of her nose with my knuckle. “Now, shall we go?”

“Can we stay? Harry said I could pick a movie for us to watch,” Maddie asked, her eyes hopeful now that things seemed to be smoothed over.

“Um,” I said, checking my watch. It was getting late, but it was summer, and we didn’t really have anywhere to be the next morning. “I…guess we could stay a little longer, but are you sure that’s what you want?”

“I’m sure,” Maddison nodded, and Devon added his approval for this plan too, repeating the word please over and over again until I agreed.

“Okay, but you have to help us clean the kitchen first.”

Maddie didn’t even hesitate before she began to pick up cups and bring them over to the kitchen sink. Devon wasn’t so quick, giving her the same curious look he did when he watched her set the table at her birthday party. Harry watched a little wide-eyed too, but eventually nudged his son’s shoulder and told him to grab the forks off the plates.

“I should have you round for dinner more often,” Harry mumbled quietly to me as Maddison and Devon scampered off to pick a movie while we washed the dishes.

“You sure about that?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light, but even I could tell it was strained at the end.

Harry set down the towel he was using to dry dishes and brought his hands up to my face. Our kiss was brief, much too short for the kind of night we’d just had, but it was probably better that way seeing as our kids were in the next room.

“It’s okay,” he said gently, reading the apology that was written on my face.

“I don’t know why she was like that tonight,” I sighed. “I mean I do, but when we talked about it a little a few weeks ago, she was fine, and then all of a sudden she’s—”

“Hey, look at me.” Pulling a page from my daughter’s book, I avoided Harry’s eyes for a moment. When I eventually did meet them, I saw nothing but earnestness there. “This isn't your fault, and we handled it, so let's try and have a good night, alright?”

I nodded, my movements a little awkward because Harry still had both hands on either side of my face. “Can I have another kiss, please. I’d prefer a drink, but this is the next best thing.”

Harry laughed a little as he brought his lips to mine, and I found myself wrapping my hands around his neck and bringing him even closer. Before we got too carried away, though, I pulled back.

We went back to washing the dishes, and I tried to get Harry to tell me what he said to Maddison that made her change her mind about him. He wouldn’t say, just kept giving me a smug smirk and saying that it was their little secret.

When we eventually sat down with Maddie and Devon to watch a movie, Harry and I sat farther apart than we would’ve if we’d been alone. Our children sat in between us on the couch, but Harry stretched his arm around the back of the couch so his fingers were just grazing my shoulder and strands of my hair.

Halfway through the movie, Devon had somehow made himself comfortable on my lap. He rested his head, his cheek squishing against my leg as we continued to watch the cartoon he and Maddison picked out. My hand absentmindedly settled itself in his thick mop of hair and scratched his scalp slowly, my fingers gently working through the knots. At some point, Devon’s breaths felt heavier and I realized he’d fallen asleep. I looked over at Harry to let him know, only to find him slouched against the couch with his hand covering his face to hide the fact that he’d also fallen asleep. With one glance to my left, I saw that my own daughter was sleeping as well. I was left alone to watch a cartoon film about child spies.

Sighing, I reached for the remote and turned off the TV. I sat there for a couple of minutes, listening to the different ways Harry, Devon, and Maddison slept. One familiar, two foreign, all three of them special to me.

I realized that if everyone was asleep, it was probably best for Maddie and I to go home. I started with Devon, lifting him into my arms and getting him upstairs to put him in his bed. When I laid him down, tucking him in and nestling one of his stuffed animals into the crook of his arm, Devon’s eyes fluttered open for a moment. “Dad?”

“No, just me,” I said softly, my fingers brushing back his hair from his face. “He’s still downstairs. Do you want me to go get him?”

Devon shook his head. “He’s probably asleep. He likes to go to sleep early.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked him. “And what about you? Do you like to stay up all night or go to bed when your dad tells you to?” Devon’s responding grin was mischievous and told me everything I needed to know. I tickled his sides and his reaction was almost immediate. Devon’s giggles filled up his bedroom as he squirmed and wiggled around on his bed, the same dimples his father had indenting his reddened cheeks.

I let up after a minute, letting Devon settle down back onto his pillow. He took his stuffed animal, a plush purple dog, back into his hands and held it to his chest. “That’s a very cute dog,” I said, touching one of the soft violet ears idly between my fingers.

“Thank you. It was a gift from my Nana.”

I hummed, letting go of the dog. It filled my heart with warmth to hear Devon speak so fondly of his grandmother, and I hoped for his and Harry’s sake that they would get to see her more often. Devon’s eyes started to blink slower and slower, and I remembered it was way past his bedtime. And Harry’s apparently. I patted his arm affectionately. “Okay, kiddo, it’s way past your bedtime. You need to get some sleep if you want to have another great day.”

For the first time in a while, I saw a frown make its way onto Devon’s face. “Tomorrow won’t be great. My mom is picking me up and she doesn’t like me.”

I tried not to show my disappointment and anger at the situation he was in. There were times where I could empathize with Devon’s mother, having been in her shoes, but I would always take Devon’s side, no matter how much his mom was maybe pushed into something she wasn’t ready for. Her situation was unfortunate, but it wasn’t Devon’s fault, and the way his mother acted like it was would never be okay.

“That’s not true, Devon. She loves you,” I said.

He shrugged. “She doesn’t hang out with me like Dad does. Or you.” Devon nestled deeper into his bed and yawned. “I like hanging out with you, Y/n,” he said quietly, then fell asleep.

“Oh, my sweet, sweet boy,” I whispered, tracking my hand through his hair.

I stood up from Devon’s bed and left his room, turning the light off on my way out. When I got downstairs, Harry looked like he’d just woken up, blinking confusedly around the room. I paused at the foot of the stairs. Despite the fact that we had been spending more time together, I’d never been over this late, nor had I seen him like this since the morning following our night together on Halloween, and even then I had bolted before he’d even woken up.

Just the thought of that night still caused heat to rush to my cheeks. There were moments where we’d be in the pool with Maddie and Devon and the sun would hit Harry’s skin in just the right way, or I’d catch him staring as I ran around at the park by my house, or his fingers would trace patterns on my shoulder while we watched our kids play at the beach, and the need to feel him like I had that night was nearly unbearable. It hadn’t mattered to me much before I met Harry because I could see an attractive guy at a bar or on the street and not care one bit because I didn’t need them or anyone but the people that were already in my life. But then Harry kept popping up, and then Devon and Maddie became friends, and Harry suddenly wasn’t some guy I’d had a one night stand with anymore. And now that I knew him, that I’d gotten to know his quirks and what made him laugh and how much he loved his son…I found myself wanting to jump his bones…more than I cared to admit.

But that was neither here nor there, and I often pushed those thoughts away with a mental wave of the hand. We were taking things slow, and taking things slow meant we weren’t having sex yet. Not that there was much time for that, anyway. If Harry was free for a night, I wasn’t, and if I could get Javi to watch Maddison for a few hours, Harry had Devon or his ex had bailed on him that weekend.

“What are you staring at?”

I startled, lost in my own thoughts for a moment. I was tired, that’s why I was thinking like this. I wasn’t sex-crazed, I needed sleep. Shaking my head, I smiled. “Nothing. I, uh, I carried Devon to bed. Hope that’s okay.”

Harry met me at the base of the staircase, his hands resting at my hips. I gasped as Harry pulled me closer and kissed my neck. I wrapped my arms around him and threaded my fingers into the silky strands of hair. “You were admiring me,” he whispered, his lips moving to my collarbone.

“Shut up. No I wasn’t,” I lied, my voice faltering as he sucked on my skin. “We—We can’t do this right now. Harry, you—you have no idea how much I want to, but—”

“I know. I’ve just missed you. Let me—Let us just have a minute. Just one.”

It’s crazy how easily one can come undone when they’ve been alone for so long. Our one minute to ourselves felt like we were two teenagers making out in a school hallway, trying not to get caught by our teachers. Harry’s hands left me dizzy as they trailed up and down the lengths of my body—my waist, my arms, my back, even the tight little coils of my hair. I felt like I was on cloud nine, so when he abruptly detached his lips from where they’d been nipping and sucking on my chest and stepped away from me like he hadn’t just left me completely breathless, I had to lean against the wall for a moment.

“You look so beautiful, all flushed like that.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Admiring your work, Styles? I knew you were full of yourself, but I didn’t think you were that full of yourself.”

“That was not nice. I was being nice to you, and you were mean to me,” he pouted.

“Aww, poor baby,” I joked. I walked over to where Maddison was still asleep on the couch, kissing Harry on the cheek on the way.

Maddie was still sleeping soundly, her mouth slightly agape and eyelashes fanned out across the tops of her cheekbones. Moving her curls out of the way, I kissed Maddie’s temple. Her breaths were deep and slow as I picked her up and she rested her head on my shoulder. Even though Harry seemed to smooth things over with Maddison, I still worried about the future and where it might take the two of us, but when I held her in my arms like this, no problem felt like it couldn’t be solved.

I walked over to where our things were still on the dining table where we all had dinner tonight. Looking at the snow globe, the tiara, and the doll, I felt touched all of a sudden by Harry and Devon. Both of them had been a big part of our summer—hanging out at each other’s houses, going to the park and the beach together, we’d even made plans to go to Disneyland on the last weekend before Devon and Maddie had to go back to school. Those two boys had slowly but sneakily ingratiated themselves into my life, into Maddison’s life, and how the hell I'd thought I could push either of them away seemed ludicrous now.

Harry made me feel things that no one had ever made me feel before, and Devon was a sweetheart too. I meant it when I told Maddison earlier tonight that if she wanted it to just be the two of us, I would make it happen. She was my world, and her happiness always came first, even if it meant letting go of Harry romantically. I worried it would be harder than I originally imagined, but if I had to do it, I would. I could only hope now that things would only go up from here after tonight.

I heard Harry come into the dining room before I saw him, but I didn’t look up from where I was gazing at Maddie. “We share a bed, you know,” I said softly.

“Yeah?” Harry was closer now, just beside me.

“Mmhm. She even asked me where you and Devon would fit in our house earlier,” I said, smiling now because I could. Before, it was a serious moment, but now I could grin at how my daughter’s mind worked. “Sometimes I think I can’t wait for us to get our own place so we can sleep in different beds and not have to squeeze together onto such a small mattress, but…” I paused to move a stray curl from her face. “But it's all we've known for so long, and I don’t know if I would be able to sleep without her next to me.”

I finally looked over at Harry, but he was looking down at Maddison, like he was picturing her and me on our little bed at home together. I nudged him playfully with my elbow. “What? No jokes about volunteering to take her spot?”

“Extra mean tonight,” he mumbled against my temple as he kissed it, but I could feel the soft smile on his face. He shifted down to whisper in my ear. “But for your information, I did not think that, nor would I say it in front of your daughter.”

“A gentleman through and through.”

Harry walked me to the front door, his hand keeping steady on my lower back as I held Maddison. My arms were starting to burn a little after holding her for so long, but I stopped on his front steps anyway.

He was bathed in a soft glow from the lights inside his house. It was almost too on the nose for someone so wonderful. A small part of me couldn’t believe that I’d hated him at the beginning of Maddison’s school year, but I was stubborn and he’d been a bit of an ass. We were past all of that now, though, and I was thankful for that, no matter how we got to this point.

“You’re doing it again. Admiring me.”

“Maybe.” I shifted Maddison in my arms. “I think my brother might be free to watch Maddison tomorrow night. Do you want to maybe go out?”

I didn’t mention that I knew that Devon was supposed to be with his mom tomorrow on the off chance that Harry had already made plans. Maybe he just wanted a night to himself.

Harry grinned. “Do I maybe want to go out with the incredibly beautiful and funny and caring and beautiful woman I’ve been seeing for a month but have yet to take on a proper date? Yes, yes I think I would.”

“Oh stop,” I said. “But really don’t. I like it when you compliment me.”

He nodded. “Noted. I will think up a list until the next time we see each other. Which will be tomorrow at…”

“Seven thirty? Eight?”

“Nope. Not soon enough. It has to be sooner than that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Alright, um, how about seven?” Harry shook his head, and I sighed. Now my arms were really starting to get tired, and he was not being helpful. “Okay, when then? I’d like to figure this out before my arms fall asleep.”

“How about I pick you up from your office and we’ll go from there?”

I wanted to argue that since it was my idea it was technically my date and that I would’ve liked more time to change into something so I didn’t have to wear my work clothes, but I also desperately wanted to put Maddison in her carseat and I knew Harry wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Fine. That works. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

He nodded again, this time more enthusiastically. “Yes. Now, go. Enjoy a night in bed with your daughter because tomorrow night you’ll be in mine. At least for a couple of hours.”

My mouth opened and closed in shock. So much for keeping the lewd jokes away from my daughter’s ears, though I was pretty sure this declaration was more of a promise. Deciding to just go with it, I nodded, let him kiss my forehead, then got in the car to go home. As I pulled away from his house, Harry was still standing in the doorway, the same light I noticed before haloing the outline of his body.

I felt my heart squeeze. I don’t know how or when it happened. If it was at that pool party at the beginning of summer or before, if it was when he said he was going to tell his mother that we weren’t serious, or when I’d let him sit down and buy me a drink at the bar on Halloween, but I’d grown fond of Harry—his charm, his smile, how much he loved Devon. There was a part of me that screamed at me to run, to take Maddison and leave Harry and all his charming smiles behind to save myself from the potential of all of this falling apart when I was too invested.

But then I thought about Devon and how I wanted to be there for him and Harry as they went through all their issues with his mother and their family, I thought about the little boy in an Iron Man costume who had found a friend in my daughter, I thought about our trip to Disneyland in a couple weeks and how not just Devon and Maddie were excited. For so long I’d kept a thick wall up—me and Maddison on one side, and anyone else that could possibly ruin our small yet perfect world on the other. Now, though, I felt that perhaps Harry and Devon Styles were worth taking a step out from behind the wall I’d hidden Maddison and myself behind.

#harry styles #single dad!harry #single mom!reader #harry styles blurb #harry styles x reader #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfic #harry styles one shot #harry styles oneshot #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x you #harry styles fluff #harry styles writing

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bangchanshehe · 8 months

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The Trespasser pt. 26

You were on top of the world with the new title of leader of your family’s clan. You were the strongest clan in all of the orient and you were proud. But your family feels that there are threats still lurking around making you a target. When they introduce you to a potential man for a business and marriage merger will it help your clan or make matters worse?

Wonho x Reader, Shownu x Reader, Jooheon x Reader

The next morning you woke up feeling groggy and tired. The entire night you kept thinking about Hoseok wondering, did he get home okay? He’s not hurt right? Why was he so drunk? Why did he have to come here of all places? Did he really mean what he said last night? And although your mind kept telling you that it was just a drunken mishap, your heart wanted to fully believe that he had come for you. It made your mind wonder if he was doing as horribly as you had been. If he was feeling like an emotional zombie, focusing only on work, and just getting through the next day like you had been doing. But once again your brain had reared its ugly head and told you that he hadn’t, that it was just a mistake and that he only said those things because he was so drunk.

You let out a loud yawn and stretched in bed feeling your sheets glide across your skin before you reached over to find your phone on your nightstand. You clicked the lock button once to see what time it was only to find that you had close to a dozen notifications from your mother alone. You quickly unlocked your phone and rummaged through the messages and missed calls.

4 New Messages, 6 Missed calls…

Mom: You had better give me a damn good explanation as to why I heard that you and Hoseok decided to end things

Mom: Your father is beyond pissed!!!

Mom: If you want to ever come over here again you better pick up the phone!

Mom: Fine!

You let out a loud sigh and pinched the bridge of your nose. In the mix of everything that had been going on you had tried so hard to maintain appearances so that you could explain to your parents what had happened on your own terms, and not when wounds were still so fresh.

You got up and immediately went to the bathroom to freshen up before you subjected yourself to the emotional warfare that was your mother on the phone. and while you sat on the toilet you stared down at the pad that remained completely clean after your night’s rest. You gently ripped the pad away and wadded it up in toilet tissue before you threw it away.

“it’s finally done” you whispered softly to yourself as you stared at it in the trash can. There was a particularly enslaving feeling that overwhelmed you as you looked down into the bin. Many people may not know that you were once pregnant, but you would always know and every time that you had a period you would feel a small tinge of guilt.

You finished things in the bathroom and then took a seat on the side of your bed and stared at your phone for a moment, before picking it up and calling the last person who you wanted to discuss your marriage with.

“You have some nerve calling me this late in the day missy!” Your mom almost immediately answered.

“Hello to you to mom, oh I’m fine by the way, thanks for asking!” you said back.

“What the hell happened to you? Did someone piss in your cheerios today?” she asked back, “Why the hell am I hearing that you and Hoseok decided to end things?” she paused for half a second before she continued, not allowing you to answer the question. “Get your ass over here! You have some explaining to do!” she barked out before she hung up the phone.

You sat there in complete silence like a statue for a few seconds before you unfroze. You heard the chime of a new text message alert, and you looked down at your phone to see what it was.

Mom: Don’t you dare think about disappearing! If you don’t come today, then there will be some restructuring of this family!

Your eyes widened for a moment as you processed what your mother had sent to. You knew that she was going to be disappointed that you had ended the contract with Hoseok, but you didn’t think that it was going to become so serious! You got up from your bed and quickly put on some clothes before you headed off to your parents’ home.

As you parked your car you looked up to your family home and let out a quick deep breath. Today was going to fucking suck! As you got out of your car and started your walk to the front door you looked up to see your mother standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a look of disapproval on her face. As soon as she was sure that you had seen her, she walked away from the door into the house leaving you by yourself outside. You completed the few steps with a scoff and a final sigh before you shut and locked the door behind you.

When you entered the house, you followed the smell of cigars and coffee to the living room where your father was smoking and reading the news paper and your mother was sitting, sipping on her coffee like a prima donna. Sensing your presence, your father looked up from his paper and quickly took hold of his cigar.

“There’s my little puppy! What are you doing here darling!” he exclaimed, obviously unaware of what was going on.

You cut your glance over to your mother before you smiled softly at him and took a seat in a chair across from her. If things weren’t already terrible now you would have to cut the news to him too, which you’re assuming that your mother was going to allow you to do as a form of punishment. “Mom called me over!” you finally answered.

“Good! It’s been a while since I’d seen you last kiddo!” he said with a chuckle.

You stared at him for a moment, taking in his happy image. You knew that his mood was going to do a whole 180 after he was finally in the loop, and your ass was going to be on the line. You looked down at your feet for a second and took a deep breath before you aired it all out.

“Dad there’s something that i-“…. You started softly but before you had time to say anything else you were interrupted.

“Hey! I didn’t know you were here! Want any coffee?” Hoseok chimed out in a positive tone as he entered the room with a coffee pot to fill your father and mothers’ cups.

You looked up at him in complete confusion and immediately began to feel yourself tighten up and close off. You looked over to your mother who was looking over at him sweetly with her cup stretch outward for a refill, and you immediately were filled with a silent rage. You were already going through enough of a tough time as is and the last person who you expected to exploit your emotions right now was your mother. But if she was going to do this to you and play around with threats then you were going to go straight to the source and make sure that she couldn’t do it again.

“Dad, there’s something that I need to talk to you about and I would prefer it if we could do that in private.” You said to him with a serious tone hoping that he could feel your sense of urgency.

Your father pursed his eyebrows together but then as soon as he had, he released them and gave you a soft smile back in return with a slight nod. As soon as he began folding his paper you stood up from your chair, ready to follow him to his study. But just as quickly as you stood up your mother had already began making her move.

“Darling none of that right now, you just got here!” Your mother trying to complain.

“If she has something that she needs to discuss with me then let her do it. She’s a busy girl!” Your father chimed in, standing from his seat.

The two of you were about to turn to leave the room when you suddenly felt a hand grabbing your wrist, restricting any further movement forward. You looked down at the hand that held onto you and followed it back to Hoseok, who had a particular look of urgency in his eyes.

“Actually, if you don’t mind… can I have a word with you first?” he asked softly.

You gave him a blank stare for a moment before you nodded your head. You looked over to your father who had already sat back down in his chair and waved his hand at you to go on. You looked back at Hoseok and pulled your hand away from his grasp, and he let go reluctantly.

You guided Hoseok to your father’s office where you knew that your conversation would remain private from any lurking eyes and ears. You locked the door behind the two of you as he entered behind you, and you gestured to the chairs that your father had arranged for meetings. You took a seat and the two of you sat in silence for a while and stared at each other’s faces.

Hoseok looked as good as ever and possibly even better, which pissed you off. Some days you could just manage to get out of bed, and yet here he was looking handsome after a night binge drinking while you were sober and feeling like a freight train had hit you.

“Why didn’t you unblock me?” Hoseok asked first thing.

You looked up to him surprised that he had remembered that much of last night. “To be honest I didn’t think that you would even remember showing up last night.”

Hoseok gave you a soft smile, but you could tell that there was nothing but a slight sting of pain behind it. “That’s fair. But if you know me at all you know that I’m a man of my word.” He said with a cheesier grin, “And… I know that you’re a woman of your word, so unblock me” he challenged.

You gave him an emotionless stare for a second before you pulled out your phone and unblocked his contact in your settings. You locked your phone and sat it down in your lap and looked up at him with a look of tiredness. “Are we done now?” you asked.

“Well….” He started to say but before he could get anything else out, he cleared his throat and looked around the room for a moment. You watched him in anticipation, which only seemed to make him more nervous. “I wanted to tell you a few things. And I know that right here, right now, is probably not the place where you want to hear them, but it’s the only way that I could get to you.”

“Well now you’re unblocked, so can we please do this another time?!” you pleaded with him

“No!” he said quickly, causing you to look up at him in shock. “I need to get this off of my chest before you go out there and tell your father that we’re done!” he said without being able to look you in the eyes.

Hoseok stood up from his chair and walked over to your father’s desk, letting his back face you. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t trust you anymore.” He said just louder than a sigh, “and I don’t want you to think that I don’t like you because of the pregnancy.” Hoseok finally turned around to face you from the desk and you could see that there was a single tear ready to spill out of his eye. “And I understand why…” he said with a broken voice.

You clenched your teeth and your fist into a tight ball as you worried about spilling tears of your own. You could see how this had affected Hoseok and it hurt to know that what you had done had caused him pain, but there was also a sense of relief that he had felt that pain. That you weren’t alone in your own thoughts and feelings. You closed your eyes and a shudder racked through your chest as you tried your best to keep yourself together.

Hoseok quickly cleared the office with a few steps and sat down on his feet in front of you holding your fists to his face as he cried. Slowly, you relaxed your hands and held his face, wiping away his stray tears with your thumbs.

“what’s done is done” you said in a soft whisper.

Hoseok gathered his breath, and he looked up at you. “I know, and I’m sorry that I tried to make the decision about my own wants… I only though of my own happiness before I even considered that this was something that could hurt you.”

You ran a hand over his hair and placed it back to his cheek trying your best to comfort him. “I know, and I’m sorry that I hid it from you.” You admitted “I should have been honest with you, but I was scared and nervous.”

Hoseok tilted his head further into your palm and shut his eyes. “Please…. Please don’t let this ruin everything that we had.” He prayed silently in your hand as you looked down on him.

“Hoseok…” you started and let out a small sob of your own. “I don’t know that it can go back to how it was after this.” You admitted “what happened is still so raw for me.”

“I know, I know.” He repeated and nodded his head “I’m sorry!” he sat up on his knees and reached out for your face to place soft kisses on your cheeks, nose, chin, forehead and eventually your lips. “I just want to be there to help pick up the pieces.” He said looking into your eyes.

You considered it… all of it. The happy moments, the moments of concern, the nights spent together and apart. The tears and the anger. And how the two of you had left each other so easily.

“I want that too…” you admitted “but I’m scared that this will always be there to haunt us.”

Hoseok pulled you down from the chair into his lap and he held you close to his chest. “I will never ever use this to harm you, start arguments, or belittle your character.” He said strongly “y/n, what I want the most is to be able to call you a partner again. And I know that right now you just need some time and space to heal, but I want to continue the contract…with you.”

You pulled back from him after your breathing and tears had settled and you looked up at him, holding onto his broad shoulders. “Are you sure?” you asked him.

He scoffed and gently tucked loose strands of your hair away from your face. “I never wanted to end it in the first place.” He said with a sad chuckle, causing you to look at him confused. “You were the one who had said that we should end things.” He smiled.

You looked down at his chest while you recalled what you had said … “Since we have come to such an outstanding disagreement then I think it’s best that we end our contract here. There’s no point of continuing if we can’t agree on such important principles or trust each other from here on out.”

“You had immediately pulled out the contract and signed it as completed, so what could I do?!” he stated. “You had already made up your mind, before I could even try to work things out.”

You nodded your head, taking ownership of how rash you had come to the decision without letting him discuss his own feelings or pain and how the pregnancy would have altered the relationship between the two of you. You had been the sole provider of your pain instead of talking things out.

“I’m sorry.” you said clearing your throat and wiping away any tear stains on your face. “I don’t really want to end things either, and things have been though lately without you there.” You admitted to him. “But I think before we jump headfirst in again, we should maybe take things slow, while we get everything figured out.”

Hoseok smiled at you and pulled you in once again, embracing you in a full body hug. You were shocked for a single moment before you allowed yourself to find comfort in his embrace again. You smiled to yourself and let out a deep breath, letting the dust settle over the animosity between the two of you.

“I’m okay with slow” Hoseok whispered to you, as he held you close.

#kpop #kpop series #kpop smut #monsta x #kpop fanfiction #monsta x hoseok #shin hoseok #wonho series #wonho smut #wonho mafia #monsta x mafia #kpop mafia #monsta x smut #monsta x series #wonho

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ask-icancraft-it · 9 months

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Missing You

(( Hey, its another hurt/comfort fic! Learning that “Fix-It” Senior has passed away, best friend in the whole wide world Ralph drops everything to be there for a grieving Felix. Honestly, this has been chipped on for quite a while now, and has mostly been something that’s helped me with my own grief in a similar family situation. But I hope this can bring a little something to other’s as well. Enjoy. )) ---

Ralph’s brows furrowed slightly when he looked at the caller ID on his phone. He rarely, if ever, got calls from Felix’s secretary. Quickly finding a somewhat quiet place in the active construction site around him, he flipped open his phone and answered.

“Mary?”

“Hello Ralph, dear,” the woman replied as sweetly as ever, though he could tell that something was off. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. What’s up?”

“Has–has Felix called you at all this past week or so?”

“No…” Ralph’s mind started racing. “Why?”

The woman sighed on the other end of the line.

“Well, I am sorry that you’re finding out from me but…Felix Senior has passed away.”

“What?” Ralph’s heart skipped a beat.

“I know, it’s a terrible thing,” Mary lamented. “The doctors say it was a heart attack…It all happened so quickly.”

“Oh my God,” Ralph couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Felix hadn’t told him anything. “How–how is Felix taking all this?”

“Well that’s partly why I called you, dear,” Mary’s voice trembled. “He won’t leave the house… Folks have come by with food and sympathy cards and it’s all just piling up by the door…”

Ralph's heart sank as she went on. Felix was struggling, and he wasn’t there.

“Oh Ralph, I managed to get him to open the door for me briefly and he looked like he’d lost weight…I don’t think he’s eating.”

“Shit…” he knew Felix didn’t grieve well, but this was far worse than he’d ever imagined.

“You two have always been so close,” Mary said tearfully. “I thought maybe if you call him, he’ll answer. He just needs to talk to somebody– Oh, I don’t know what to do…”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Ralph reassured her. “Thank you for telling me, I’ll try and get in touch with him right now, okay?”

“Okay,” the woman sniffed. “Thank you.”

Mary hung up, and immediately Ralph dialed Felix’s cellphone, which went straight to voicemail.

“Come on…” Ralph bit his lower lip as he tried the house phone. It rang, and rang until the voicemail picked up. A lump caught in his throat as Felix Sr. prompted him to leave a message.

“Hey…” he said solemnly after the beep. “I–uh…I just got the news that your dad passed away. I’m so sorry, I wish I was there…”

Ralph gulped, finding the next words to stay. He held onto the hope that Felix was listening.

“Felix, please…Please call me back when you can. I’m worried about you. Love you, bud…”

Those last words hung heavy in his throat as he disconnected and closed his phone. Steadying himself, he took in a couple calming breaths. This was a problem, and the solution was clear. Strengthening his resolve, Ralph removed and tossed aside his hard hat as he turned to leave.

Vanellope jumped as she heard someone unlock and burst through the hotel room door. Craning her neck, she saw Ralph in the entryway, removing his reflector vest.

“Uhh, hi–” she said, turning off the gangster movie she’d been watching. “You’re back early.”

“Pack your things, we gotta go,” he replied, grabbing his duffel and shoving his clothes inside.

“Why?” the girl tilted her head. “Did you get fired again?”

“No, I–uh…I resigned. Sort of.”

“What’s going on?” Vanellope asked nervously, noticing her guardian’s flustered state.

Ralph paused what he was doing, and let out a sigh. Dropping his bag, he knelt in front of the girl as she sat on the edge of her mattress.

“Kid…” he placed his hand on her shoulder. “Senior passed away.”

Vanellope’s eyes went wide, and in a rare occurrence, she was at a loss for words. It didn’t make any sense; he seemed just fine when they’d left.

“Oh, kid,” Ralph hugged the girl as tears began to surface. “I know, it’s sad…” Getting misty-eyed himself, he let her cry things out.

“Wh–what about Felix?” she asked between hitched breaths. “Is he o-okay?”

“He’s taking it really hard…That’s why we’re leaving; so we can go be with him. I think that’d be good for all of us, yeah?”

“Yeah,” the girl nodded, wiping her tears with her sleeve.

“You good?”

“Mhm,” Vanellope hopped off the bed and packed her things between sniffles.

A long night-shift included, it took the pair roughly a day and a half to get back home to their small hometown of Niceland. Ralph had tried calling Felix periodically throughout the trip, without any luck.

The large man sighed, nervously gripping the steering wheel with both hands. He looked down at Vanellope sleeping soundly in the passenger’s seat as he turned to park in front of the tiny office building of ‘“Fix-It” Felix Handy Repairs.’ Leaving the girl briefly, Ralph tried the front door. A small bell jingled as he opened it.

“Ralph!” a short, middle-aged woman gasped as she peered over her desktop computer.

“Hey, Mary,” he gave her a tired smile. “Surprise!”

“Oh my word!” she couldn’t help but get emotional. Rounding the desk, Mary gave him a hug. “When I called you, I didn’t expect you to come back all this way…Oh I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”

“No, no, it’s all good,” Ralph wasn’t quite sure what to do with his hands, resigning to an awkward pat on the woman’s back. “I couldn’t get a hold of Felix either so I figured this would be best. Is…is it alright if you watch Vanellope while I go check on him? I just–I don’t know what I’m about to walk into.”

“Oh of course, of course!” Mary nodded emphatically. “Anything you need!”

Ralph gently brought the sleeping girl inside and placed her on the couch across from Mary’s desk, thanking her before leaving. --

Taking a deep breath, Ralph parked parallel to the curb of the Felix residence. Stepping up to the porch, he saw what Mary had been talking about. Dried up flowers and various bags and containers of food sat neglected on the handyman’s doorstep, along with a quilt of various sympathy cards laying across the welcome mat.

Pushing the items aside, Ralph pulled out his copy of the house key and cautiously opened the door.

“Felix?” he called out, stepping into a quiet living room. Peering into the kitchen, he spotted piles of old dishes sitting on the counter and overwhelming the sink.

Nervous, Ralph called out again. Stepping into the hallway, he took notice of the partially opened door to Senior’s room.

“Felix?” Ralph questioned as he entered. His eyes went straight to the bed, a lump lying underneath the blankets.

He walked over to the far side of the bed frame, and leaned over to find Felix nestled among the pillows and sheets, staring into space.

Gently, Ralph moved to sit on the edge of the mattress, extending a hand and placing it on the handyman’s side.

“Hey,” he said softly.

As if broken from a trance, Felix’s eyes met his.

“Ralph?” he rasped, sitting up. His eyes grew wide with realization. “W-what are you doing here?”

As the smaller man unfurled himself from the bed linens, Ralph’s eyes darted around his petite frame. He was pale, and his white undershirt hung more loosely on his torso than usual.

“I uh–” Ralph cleared his throat. “Mary told me what happened…”

The handyman flinched, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. But despite his efforts, Felix completely fell apart. Clinging to Ralph, he sobbed.

“I’m so sorry,” he croaked. “I should have told you what was going on…I just…I couldn’t—”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Ralph wrapped his arms around his friend, holding him tightly. “It’s okay…”

“It all happened so fast…”

“I know.”

Ralph had only been gone a month for the new construction job he got the next state over. It was humbling, being reminded how quickly things can change. Which was why he was so glad he’d dropped everything to be here, right now, holding his grieving friend tight.

When Felix calmed down, Ralph slowly pulled away, brushing his fingers along the handyman’s thin arms.

“Have you eaten lately?” he asked without judgment; nodding slowly when his friend didn’t answer.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty hungry,” Ralph encouraged Felix to stand up. “Let’s see what we can scrounge up.”

In truth, he wasn’t hungry at all, but he knew the handyman would respond better to fulfilling someone else's needs other than his own. With some gentle coaxing, they moved into the dining area attached to the kitchen.

“Here,” the larger man pulled a chair out and sat the small man down. He was too frail at the moment to stand for long periods of time. “Sit here, I’ll see what we’ve got to work with.”

As Felix sat with a glass of water, Ralph took a closer look at the state of things. The fridge had a scant few items inside, some of which were now expired. In the cupboards were some canned goods, and moldy bread. Ralph grabbed a fresh packet of pasta atop one of the pantry shelves and said a little prayer as he stepped into the adjacent room to look in the chest freezer, where batch meals and ice creams were generally stocked.

With a smile, he located and pulled out a container of the ‘Fix-It’ family’s homemade spaghetti sauce. Senior had always made sure to keep at least a batch of it frozen at any time, “just in case.”

Placing the tupperware in the microwave, Ralph set it to defrost before rolling up his sleeves to tackle the pile of dishes in the sink. Occasionally, he looked from the sudsy water in front of him to Felix, who simply sat, staring at the empty placemat in front of him.

When the microwave beeped, the large man dried his hands, grabbing a couple of clean pots and filling the larger one with water. Soon enough, he had the sauce simmering on one burner, and a handful of pasta boiling on the other.

Having finished with the dishes, Ralph kneeled beside Felix’s chair.

“It’ll be about 15 more minutes,” he said, not even sure the handyman was listening. “Do you want to try and take a shower before we eat?”

Felix nodded subtly.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, acknowledging everything that Ralph was doing for him.

“No problem, bud. Come on,” he helped the handyman to the bathroom, supplying him with fresh towels and clothes.

“Don’t lock the door. If I don’t hear from you by time dinner’s ready, I am coming in,” Ralph instructed, giving his friend fair warning.

“Okay,” Felix mumbled, closing the door, leaving it open just a smidge.

Ralph had just put Senior’s bed linens in the wash when Felix returned to the dining room, refreshed. He shuffled into the kitchen to grab some clean silverware, pausing in the middle of his task.

“Where’s Vanellope?” the handyman asked.

“Mary’s watching her,” Ralph said, relieved that the fog clouding his friend’s mind was beginning to clear. “We’ll save her some and pick her up later.”

Felix nodded, and a sudden bout of dizziness struck him. One of his hands reached out to the counter for support, and Ralph caught on quickly, wrapping an arm around the handyman’s waist as he stumbled.

“Hey, you need to sit down,” Ralph held the smaller man steady as he moved him back in his seat. “You can set our places from here.”

“S-sorry…” Felix said tearily, ashamed that he’d let his health slip this far.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Ralph reassured just before the kitchen timer buzzed. Within a few minutes, he was back at the table, steaming plates of spaghetti in hand.

“Dig in,” he said, sitting down and grabbing his fork. In the amount of time it took to make dinner, Ralph had worked up an appetite. He only hoped his friend would be just as receptive to the meal placed in front of him.

Felix took a few laborious bites, eyes brimming with tears as he chewed. Ralph looked on with sympathy, reaching a hand out when the handyman stopped completely.

“I know it’s hard,” He smoothed a thumb over his friend’s wrist. “Keep trying.”

With a bit more effort, Felix managed to eat at least half of his portion before stopping again, placing a hand over his mouth as he leaned on his elbow, looking away.

“Why don’t we save this and go pick up the kid,” Ralph suggested, taking the handyman’s bowl.

Vanellope must have seen or heard the truck pulling up to the office, as she had thrown open its front door by the time Ralph put it in park. And in seeing her, Felix had grown frantic, fumbling with his seat belt.

Ralph undid the buckle for him, and reached over to open the door. The handyman spilled out of the vehicle, kneeling on the curbside just in time to wrap the girl running to him in a tight embrace. “Felix!”

“Oh princess…” The handyman sobbed. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” Vanellope mirrored his emotions. “I’m—I’m sorry about your dad.”

Mary stood in the office doorway, quickly pulling out a handkerchief to dry her own face. Even Ralph’s eyes were wetted by the pair's tearful reunion.

The day had been long for the three of them, Felix and Vanellope succumbing to slumber early in the evening, however, the handyman awoke in the middle of the night with a start.

Sitting up in bed, he tried to get rid of the dryness in his mouth, grabbing for the glass of water on the nightstand. Downing the last couple of sips left, the handyman sighed, fighting against the fatigue to pull himself up to get some more.

Felix was halfway down the hall when a small whimper met his ear, followed by a sniffle. Peering into the living room, he spotted Ralph’s silhouette perched on the couch, bathed in moonlight. The large man’s slumped shoulders quivered as he held his face, more soft sobs piercing the otherwise quiet atmosphere.

The handyman slowly approached, startling his friend when he was spotted just beyond the coffee table. Ralph looked up at him, cheeks wet with tears he quickly began wiping away. Silently, Felix closed the distance, climbing onto the couch to lean on his friend and hold his large hand.

“I’m sorry,” the handyman whispered. “You were being strong for Vanellope and I today. That must have been hard… I know how much he meant to you.”

Try as he might, there was no stopping the gentle flow that poured from the corners of his eyes. Senior was the closest thing Ralph ever had to a father figure. In a town full of people who judged him for his upbringing, or for the way that he looked; when he became friends with Felix, Senior showered him with love and compassion from day one. In their home, Ralph always felt welcome; like he belonged.

“I wish I was here…” he sobbed. “I wish I never took that stupid construction job.Then maybe…Maybe—”

“Ralph, there’s nothing you could have done.”

“But at least I would have been here for you sooner. I hate thinking of you being alone in his house, for days, while I was off helping some rich assholes put up another shitty shopping mall.”

“Language, Ralphie,” Felix smiled, recounting those two words as something his father would have to say very often. Despite his emotions, Ralph couldn’t help but laugh.

“God,” the large man sniffled as another wave of sadness washed over him. “I’m going to miss that.”

“There’s a lot of things to miss about dad,” Felix nodded. “And I don’t know if this makes any sense, but now that you and Vanellope are here…he doesn’t feel so far away.

Ralph smiled, squeezing his friend's hand, understanding what he meant. He felt it too.

“I am sorry you quit your job though. You were being paid well.”

“I’ll find something else,” Ralph shrugged. “You know me, I always manage to get by. Right now, I just wanna be home…”

Felix leaned his head on the larger man’s shoulder, feeling blessed to have a friend like Ralph for times like this. Someone to lean on, to grieve with, to listen. There were many ways in which “Fix-It” Senior lived on in him; in all of them. Subtle, yet unmistakable ways that only they would know and perceive. His was a presence that would be missed, but never be truly gone; as long as they were together.

“Home…”

#character death #hurt/comfort #fix it felix #wreck it ralph #crafty writes #sorry like #this is a really personal fic #but I still really wanted to share it #cause there's a lot of people out there who have lost someone #you're not alone

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joe9cool · 1 year

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Collide-Justin Herbert- 27

A/N: The usual disclaimers. I do not know anyone or any drama. Its fanfiction purposes.

It was a few days since the loss and Sara hadn't heard anything. Well that wasn't entirely true, after a few hours he responded to her message.

Thanks

At least she got some response. She gave him leeway with this one. It stung, she was still not over the loss in some way, and she wasn't on the field.

She knew Justin like she knew the back of her hand, he was beating himself up over the passes and all the chances. Bosa was pissed about the call on him. Sara messaged him and got no response. However AnnSophie said he was talking to her so at least he had someone.

As far as the set went no one suspected that something was up with Sara, even Erika stayed out of her way, which was good. She was getting on her last nerve and her plane back to Los Angeles couldn't come soon enough.

She got through her scenes, the director and set crew blown away by her performance of an emotional character. This is what she loved about acting, if the scene called for anger or heartbreak she could do it. Sara could pour all of that into a character. She wasn't an Oscar nominated actress for nothing. They finished their scenes and she was able to go back to the hotel. As she checked her phone she was still discouraged that there was nothing from Justin. Her mom called to tell her all about her girls cruise and Sara was able to fake enough excitement for her. Cathy asked her all about AbuDhabi and brought up setting her up again with one of her girlfriends sons. "Mom please stop, I'm fine."

Once she hung up she didn't realize Erika was in the room. "Jeez you scared me!" Erika laughed as she was packing for her flight. "You know you could just get your mom off your back if you told her you were seeing someone." Sara rolled her eyes. "Yeah and then have it been told to the entire Pittsburgh stock district?"

"True, but you always complain about not being invited to these couples' things and being left out. How long do you expect to date him and not tell anyone?"

"We are going to discuss more details about that side once I'm back home and I don't have work commitments. Right now he's getting over the playoffs and I'm here." She sighed. "I can't wait til the 27th. I can at least comfort him and just be there."

Erika nodded. "Yeah, there's an Athletic article talking about how upset he is."

"I'm avoiding social media. My poor baby. I made the mistake of going on twitter yesterday and it was everywhere. Emmanuel Acho was going off and I couldn't." Sara shook her head. "I just want to kiss and cuddle him, and make him dinner." And Sara smiled and Erika knew she was going to say something out of pocket. "And suck him off," her friend laughed and threw her head back. "EWW SARA CHRISTINE!" The girls began laughing. "I don't doubt you take care of him. You forget I heard you guys before we left." Sara went red. "Oh god" Erika laughed. "So how does this work? He's so tall!" Sara swatted at her friend. "I'm not telling you that!"

"Oh come on you probably told Bella!" It was true, Sara had no issue spilling to Bella the dirty details about their sex life. Maybe in some way Sara and Erika were drifting apart. They were now more colleagues than best friends. Sara needed to work on that once they came back. "I've made some comments, but I haven't said anything too crazy." Sara lied. Before Erika could say anything, there was a knock at the door. Timothee poked his head in. "Hey we are going to dinner Austin and I, Zendaya as well. She just got in yesterday."

Sara's jaw dropped. "Z is here? How did I miss that?" He laughed "She surprised us, but you were in your trailer watching your man's game"

"Well we will be there." Sara jumped up and got ready while Erika said she just wanted to pack since her flight was tomorrow. Sara decided on makeup and a nice presentable outfit within the ten minutes she had to get ready. Her hair was destroyed from all the products and she didn't have time to wash it so it was a slick back ponytail. Once she was satisfied with her look she took a mirror selfie and joined the group in the car, she said goodbye to Erika and they departed. Zendaya was already there and she hugged her, missing one of her good friends.

They headed out to Nusr-Et Steakhouse which was famous and with good reviews. The group was in a private room, but not before cameras from the other diners began to come out to record them walking. Their security guards made sure no one approached them before standing by the door of the private room they reserved.

Sara had to admit she did miss getting together with her famous friends. Many people assumed that people she associated with was snobby and uppity, but it was quite the opposite, they were all just kids in their twenties trying to navigate this crazy life. Z updated them about living with Tom and renovating the house they bought. Timothee updated them on an audition, and Sara said she had someone knew in her life and told them all about her family drama. She also spilled about Erika,

"Can I be honest?" Z took a bite on the appetizer. "I don't trust Erika." Sara frowned after taking a sip of her drink. "Why?"

Her friend continued. "Well look, Erika has been your close friend, and your employee for a while, she shouldn't be making these confidentially mistakes. Maybe you should look into her signing an NDA. I mean, I know she's your friend, but she's not new to this. She understands that you value your privacy." Sara nodded. "I just hate asking her to do that. I mean we've been friends since we were kids."

Timothee shrugged. "Things changed, there's nothing wrong with that. She should understand your business and privacy."

"True." She looked around. "Where's Austin?" Timothee laughed. "Kaia called him, so he's been on the phone since the car." As on cue, Austin came in, and the group teased him about his relationship. Sara couldn't help but check her phone to see if there was anything from Justin. Then again, it was early morning so he was probably still sleeping.

—---------------------------------------------------------- Justin couldn't sleep.

It was awful, he kept replaying the mistakes in his head over and over. How could they have just given up like this? How did it go from being comfortable to just falling apart? He always prided himself on not listening to the noise outside, but he was sure there was alot a noise. There was no way there wasn't. He also knew Joey was getting a lot of shit. His breakdown on the sidelines and locker room was going to be news for a few days.

He hadn't responded to anyone and if he did it was one word. As much as he wanted to respond to Sara he just couldn't. He wanted to wallow in self pity for a few days.

Nova sensed that her owner was in a bad mood, so she stayed close and allowed him to cuddle her. And well in the past it would be enough, he missed a warm body to hold close and to take out his frustrations with. He wanted Sara. He got up and went to call her but then he got a notification that she posted on Instagram. He looked and saw it was a photo collage of her with Timothee Chalamet, Austin Butler, and Zendaya. He decided not to bother her. Let her have fun, and not bother her with his burden right now.

Eventually he fell asleep holding Nova close.

He found himself waking up early in the morning. As his usual routine he got up and got ready to go to the facilities. They were still going to the practice for meetings and lifting before they cleaned out lookers and were excused for the summer. Many guys would go home right away. Some would stick around with their families. Justin didn't know what to do, he honestly thought they'd be preparing for next week. As he drove to the facility he saw some fans hanging out. He waved to them.

He heard the chants to Fire Staley, Lombardi, have the Spanos sell the team. All of that. Justin's head was swimming with all of these thoughts. As he walked towards his locker he saw a couple of guys, including Bosa hanging around. "You wanna workout?" Joey's voice was defeated and Justin nodded. They both needed to workout the stress. Though it would need more than just a one hour workout.

They did their usual routines, acting like it was a normal lifting day. They didn't say a word, the understanding with all the guys it would be the usual no talking.

It did feel good, to let out all of that anger and frustration of the game out into the weights. Joey remarked that a punching bag needed to be installed. Justin agreed.

Staley and Lombardi were in meetings. None of them dared to show their faces, until it was time for the meetings. It was the usual crap, and Justin found himself tuning out. Joey was expecting to get a league fine as well as one from TIAA, apparently he destroyed a piece of the locker while he was in his rage after the game.

They didn't stay as late as they usually would. Justin went back to his locker to see a bunch of roses. Confused, he went over and saw the card.

If you need to talk I'm here. I'm still a friend no matter what - TB

He shook his head. It was a nice gesture, and he didn't want to be rude. He typed out the message.

Thanks for the roses.

It's np! I still consider you a good friend and I apologize for how I acted.

I'll see you next season Taylor.

He left it at that. He didn't want to get into all of that. Taylor was in the past.

He saw nothing from Sara, he knew that she wanted him to contact him on his terms. He looked at the time, it would be early in the morning and maybe she was up.

He dialed her number. She picked up on the first ring. "Hello?" It was comfortable to hear her beautiful voice. "Hey baby," He sighed "I'm sorry I haven't contacted you. I know you said you didn't like that."

"I can make an exception for this one." She laughed. "How are you?"

"As good as I can be, it still stings though." "I know honey, I know."

Justin rested his head against his locker. "I miss you so much." He breathed.

"Ten more days baby, ten more days. I'm coming straight to you. I'm going to give you the best head. You won't be able to walk once I'm done with you."

He smiled and lowered his voice so no one else heard. "Dirty girl" He laughed. "I'm going to do so much to you. You're not leaving my bed." She giggled. "Well, once I do the fashion show I'm gonna bring home all of the lingerie I can keep."

He smiled. "Can you make your turtle cookies?" She laughed. "Yes! And I'll make your favorite dinner, and we'll fuck each other brains out in the hot tub." He smiled. "I want to go to the fashion show. I think I can make it"

Sara's breath was held. "Oh Justin, I would love it if you came! Don't worry, I'll make sure no one suspects anything!" He smiled. "Thanks baby." They spoke for about a few more minutes and Justin kept asking about the set. He wanted to make sure she felt her career was as important as his. He felt like he wasn't being the best partner with supporting her career. Their conversation was about returning to Oregon again before she was interrupted by being called to set. They said their 'I Love yous' before they promised to speak again later.

He felt better after speaking to her. It was just what he needed, and her voice was so comforting to him. He looked at the calendar on his phone and smiled, counting down the days. Justin began to plan for her arrival, he wanted to do something special for her.

—-----------------------------------------------------------

Saturday January 21st

6 days left.

Jack's phone rang, he picked up, irritated that someone would be calling so late

"Hello?"

"Look, you want details? Fine you got them. Sara and Justin had been seeing each other since Joe Grant's wedding in July. That's where they met, they had a secret get togethers at a pub where Sara frequents. He was at Bella's birthday party. He hates the spotlight, so they haven't revealed anything. However, they have been to Justin's hometown in Oregon meeting his family."

Jack was just giving up hope on his source but the Lord decided to bless him. He was taking notes while giggling with glee. "I knew you would come through, you always do. Any other details?"

"Oh baby I have plenty. You think you can have this article out as soon as possible?" Jack smiled. It will be the first thing people wake up to on Monday morning. —---------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday January 22nd

EXCLUSIVE: SARA WOZNIAK IS IN SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH QUARTERBACK JUSTIN HERBERT.

Sara has a new love on the horizon. In the form of a bolt. Sources tell OK magazine exclusively that [television show] actress Sara Wozniak, 26 is in a serious relationship with Los Angeles Chargers Quarterback Justin Herbert,24 since the end of July. The couple who met at Joe Grant's wedding, have been Bouncing between Herbert's humble abode in Irvine and Sara’s multi million dollar Hollywood Hills mansion. "It's very serious," the source tells OK. "Sara has met his brothers and parents and everyone gets along." Fans have been speculating Sara had someone in her life since she has been appearing much happier since her split with Pop Star Harry Styles in 2021. Their reps have not responded to our calls.

Jack ran it by his boss, along with the pictures the source provided. It couldn't be denied, the two young lovers were caught in a passionate embrace. The other photos showed them mid lip lock and at an event.

His boss was thrilled. "Jack, you've done many amazing things in your career, but this tops it! No one has discovered this! Who is the source to provide these photos?"

Jack smiled. "Sorry, but I promised full anonymity. They have been helpful in the past." His boss shook his head. "Do you know how hard it is to get an exclusive on Sara? She may be a sex pot but she isn't a dummy. Too bad there is no nudes leak, many people would kill for that!" Jack cringed. His boss was a pig, but he needed that pig. "I was thinking we should publish this on a Monday." His boss nodded. "Good idea. Did you actually go to the reps though?" He shook his head. "No I didn't, I figured let the other sources do it. If this Herbert guy is as private as they make it seem we won't get shit from them anyway."

"Okay first thing Monday morning people will be waking up to this news." —------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday night January 22nd.

Justin had just got off the phone with Sara, she was exhausted from a long day, apparently a night scene needed to be filmed and it required a fourteen hour work day. So she hadn't had any sleep. "What time is it out there?" Justin asked. Sara yawned before answering. "8 am Monday morning." Justin hummed. "I think the first thing you need to do when you get back is sleep. Nothing like adjusting to a big timezone difference." She nodded. "I need your bed, and Nova to cuddle up with." He snorted. "Gee thanks. I knew you were using me for my cat."

"I can't help it. She's too cute!" He laughed. "Can we get her a cat?" He laughed even louder. "You mean get my cat a cat?" It sounded ridiculous. But Sara laughed and persisted. "Come on! Like a playmate or a sibling!"

"I don't even know if she would be good with cats." "Well I mean she's good with dogs. She was good with Dylan." He laughed "Dylan isn't a cat though, and he is a gentle giant, he knows she runs the house. "She's a Queen." Sara smiled.

Speaking of, Nova came and jumped up next to him and he smiled and scratched her backside which made her purr. The two spoke for a while before Justin made her hang up to get some sleep. "Babe you're exhausted."

"I wanna keep talking to you." He laughed. "We can talk when you get up." I mean it wasn't like he wasn't doing anything nowadays.

After some more back and forth they hung up. As much as Sara was exhausted she couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong……

Really wrong

—-----------------------------------------------------------------

Justin woke up to the sound of ringing and the notifications going crazy. He looked over to see it was 8am. He had to be at the facilities at ten to go over some stuff with the coaches. He jumped up and checked his phone.

INSTAGRAM: JUSTIN YOU GAINED OVER A 500 THOUSANDS FOLLOWERS IN TWO HOURS

YOU HAVE 2,000 MESSAGES.

10 MISSED CALLS FROM ASHLEY

'JUSTIN CALL ME!' 'JUSTIN THIS IS IMPORTANT!'

FROM MOM:

JUSTIN THERE'S PEOPLE OUTSIDE OUR HOUSE ASKING ABOUT SARA.

FROM MIKE

BRO THERES PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE FACILITIES ASKING FOR YOU AND THEY GOT CAMERAS.

Justin felt like he was in a bad movie. "What the fuck?"

He got up and quickly got in the shower. He went as fast as possible, the sound of his phone going off.

He sent a text to Ashley. 'I'll call you in the car'

As he got everything together and opened the garage door nothing could prepare him for this.

There were three camera guys outside his house who were shouting at him on the sidewalk and videoing him. Quickly, he put his workout bag in front of his face.

"Justin! Is Sara with you?"

"Justin congratulations on dating Sara Wozniak"

"Are you planning to propose soon?"

He got in his car and drove off. The camera guys jumping in a van behind him to follow him. He looked in his rearview mirror "what the fuck" he whispered to himself. Then he thought about what the camera guy said.

Quickly, he dialed Ashley's number in which she picked up on the first ring. "Justin, we have a problem."

"No Shit! Camera guys are outside my house and are now following. Mike's texting me that people are outside the place! My mom said there's people outside her house." He was exasperated and in a panic."

"There's an article in OK! Magazine about you in a relationship with Sara Wozniak? It goes into detail about how you took her to Oregon! You guys are the front cover of This week's US Magazine!"

Justin was shaking. This couldn't be happening. They weren't supposed to say anything! His voice cracked as he gripped onto the steering wheel. "What else does it say?"

Ashley paused. "It says her rep confirmed the relationship."

He saw red. He was so pissed. "Justin I'm guessing it's true." Justin shook his head. "Yeah. Everything is true."

"You're trending on twitter, and now you have two million followers on instagram." She paused again. "Emmaunel Acho is going off about his social media quarterback and other things. It's very foul, he is tweeting at her as well."

He was at a red light, and hit his head against the steering wheel. "Ashley I feel like there's something else."

"I think you shouldn't be operating a vehicle when I tell you this one. Right now the Chargers security is telling the paps to back off and they are not allowed. They are fighting back though. Saying it's public property."

He shook his head. "Listen, I'll call you back when I get there." Ending the call he switched over to his mom. "Justin, there's strangers outside our house asking where's Sara? And Patrick is being followed on campus when he went to work out."

Fuck. Fuck. They were going after his family. Damn it Sara. "Listen, I'm going to have Ashley and the others take care of this. But don't go out and don't say anything." He hung up as he pulled into the parking lot, on the other side of the fence he saw the guys and the other van pull up. There was a total of twenty people videoing him, waiting for him to jump out of his car. Taking a deep breath, he put on his baseball cap and hopped out.

He tuned out the yelling, but he could make out his name, and Sara’s. He could have sworn he heard Taylor as well. He ran into the facility and straight to the locker room where everyone, including coaches and gm where. "Justin, we need to talk."

He already knew what they were going to say. "I know, my manager filled me in." The media director spoke. "Justin, we support you and your relationship. I already told reporters no questions about personal relationships. We tried to get the cameraman to back off but they can be there legally. After speaking a little bit more Justin turned towards the guys. "I'm sorry you have to be involved with this." The team informed that obsessed fans were messaging players and their wives which wasn't okay.

Austin shook his head. "Don't worry about us. Your privacy has been violated with the photos." Justin's face paled. "Photos?"

The guys all looked at each other. "Have you seen the actual article?" Joey asked. It was a stupid question, since they knew their quarterback didn't read anything about himself. "There's photos of you and Sara with her friends, one at a friend's house, and new years at my house. You guys were kissing. It was a selfie she took."

Justin was mad. Seething mad. "Fucking Sara." He reached for his phone. Austin stopped him. "Now Herb, don't do anything stupid. Let Sara explain herself. I don't think she's the type putting all of her personal business out there.

But Justin was pissed and determined. And there was no stopping him when he was fired up.

To Sara

We need to fucking talk.

—----------------------‐—----------------------------------

As soon as Sara woke up she realized she was late as Alex rushed in and told her to be on set in ten. She jumped up and barely ate before she was in the car on the way. Sara wished she had Erika to keep her up to speed. She realized her phone was on its charger in the hotel room. Well fuck it would be at least a few hours before she got it.

When she was in hair and makeup her manager took a call that seemed urgent from the hushed whispers. Austin came over while they were finishing up. "Well I don't know a lot about football,but I'm sorry to hear about your boyfriend's team. Is that why you were so upset last week?"

Sara was confused. How the fuck did he know? She was going to kill Timothee. "Timothee told you? I told him not to tell anyone!" Her voice got angry, and Austin held his hands up. "Woah! I found out through the news today. It's everywhere girl. I can't even go on social media without it trending! You guys look really cute together."

Her heart stopped, it was like time slowed down. "What?" She croaked after a few minutes. As on cue, Alex came rushing over. "Sara, we have a problem."

She jumped out of the chair, the makeup artist giving a huff that her job was being interrupted. "You're damn right we do!"

"Heidi said the article was just sent to her 5 minutes after it was released, including the pictures. She said that it claimed she confirmed the relationship. Even though she had no idea it was a thing." Alex lowered her voice. "Is it true? About you guys visiting Oregon and meeting his parents? And you guys are practically living together at his Irvine home?"

She was going to be sick. This article was so revealing and she hadn't even seen it. Then she thought about something else. "Wait photos?"

Alex nodded. "Heidi said they are too incriminating. You can't deny it." She ran her hands through her freshly styled hair and the hairdresser ran over to fix it.

"Alright guys, five minutes til scene!" "Shit. Shit. Shit." She was panicking. She needed to call Justin. "Alex, please get my phone."

"You won't be able to look at it for a few ho-" "Alex get me my fucking phone now!" Her manager saw it was a dire situation and ran back to the hotel. It would be a minute since they were in the middle of nowhere.

"Alright we need Sara on the set right now." The producer called.

Sara took a deep breath. Everything is going to be alright. It has to be

Right?

A/N: Don’t hate me, but we all know Justin doesn’t like fame or attention.....

#Justin Herbert #Alexa writes collide #nfl imagine #Los Angeles Chargers

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my-head-is-an-animal · 10 months

Text

The Sitter

Mycroft Holmes x Bethany Wheeler (OFC)

Story Masterlist

Chapter 8 - Surprised To Hear From You

Mycroft was being shaken awake, it was the ginger scent that found him first. Wait, when had he fallen asleep?

‘Mycroft?’ Bethany. ‘Mycroft, you need to wake up. It’s Sherlock. Mycroft, come on, wake up.’

He started to feel his eyes opening and his body slowly coming back to him, but he felt odd, like he’d been drugged.

‘Bethany?’ He said, looking around, trying to find the scent of ginger.

‘Mycroft,’ it was his mother he saw first. ‘Dear God, Sherlock has gone.’

‘Mary’s fine.’ Bethany came rushing back into the kitchen. ‘Wiggins said the baby’s fine as well.’

Mycroft got up, feeling a sudden and immediate need to make sure that Bethany was okay. ‘Are you hurt?’ He asked, checking for any obvious signs that she was hurt in any way, still not sure of what was going on.

‘I’m fine.’ She brushed his concern to one side. ‘Look, Sherlock and John have gone, Wiggins said something about making a deal with Magnusson. He’s taken your laptop.’

Mycroft looked back to the table where his laptop should have been sitting, it was gone.

‘Christ Sherlock!’ He yelled, not quite of his own accord and made his way towards his coat, pulling his phone out.

‘Mycroft, what are we going to do?’ Bethany asked. He saw his father looking after Mary.

‘There is no “we”,’ he growled. ‘My brother is my responsibility and he has just made a fatal error in judgement.’ He pressed his phone to his ear. ‘I need armed back up to Appledore immediately. Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are there. Send a chopper to pick me up. At my parents.’ He hung up the phone and started putting his coat on.

‘What do you need me to do?’ Bethany asked, her face was the picture of bravery, scared but willing to do what was needed.

‘Stay here and look after my parents,’ he said. ‘I don’t trust Wiggins and I need someone to stop him acting like a lunatic on Sherlock’s behalf.’

Mycroft made his way out of the house, taking his phone out again to send various messages and make calls.

‘What are you going to do when you get there?’ Bethany followed him out, she hadn’t even put her shoes on and was possibly still suffering the effects of being drugged.

‘Whatever I have to.’ He said.

‘Be careful, won’t you?’ It was the first time he heard real concern in her voice, suddenly the pocket watch in his coat pocket felt heavier and it grounded him, cooled his temper somewhat.

‘Bethany.’ He said, sending off another text. He could just about hear the chopper making it’s way to the field in front of his parents house. Mycroft approached Bethany, he brought his hand to move some stray hair away from her face, revealing the youthful features that made her as beautiful as he knew her to be. ‘You were right, if I have to choose between you or Sherlock…’ he didn’t need to finish the sentence, she knew and he could see she didn’t blame him for it. He placed a soft kiss to her forehead, before bolting towards the helicopter that had just landed. Mycroft was glad he’d kept up with his work out regime, his fitness had improved significantly.

The chopper rose up and he took one last look down at the ground to see Bethany still standing outside his parents house, he wished she’d go inside and get warm, she must have been freezing.

It took a little longer than he would have liked, but they finally made it to Appledore, Magnusson, John and Sherlock were all outside and Mycroft was worried about itchy trigger fingers.

‘Sherlock Holmes and John Watson,’ he said through the speaker. ‘Step away from that man!’ They were having some kind of conversation, Magnusson had won, he could see it from where he was sitting and Mycroft quickly figured out how he could protect Bethany from whatever move Magnusson would make next. He was about to lose everything because Sherlock decided he hated a man who was barely hurting anyone important. ‘Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Step away from that man. Do it now!’ He repeated.

Mycroft was unsure of what he was seeing, but suddenly and without warning. Sherlock stepped out, with a gun he’d pulled from somewhere unknown and fired upon Magnusson.

‘Do not fire!’ Mycroft yelled as the armed back began moving in. ‘Do not fire on Sherlock Holmes.’ He repeated, before taking his headset off and looking down at his little brother, being reminded of the child he once was. There as no way he was getting him out of this one, not this time. ‘Oh Sherlock, what have you done?’

Mycroft went into autopilot. Never in his life did he think Sherlock would be capable of such things, but there he was, unable to save his brother after he’d promised to always look out for him for all these years. He allowed the armed back up to take him into custody and John was taken as well.

The clean up began.

Mycroft didn’t make contact with Bethany, but he did phone his parents to let them know what happened. Thankfully, Bethany had the sense not to text him and as Christmas turned into New Year, he found himself missing her.

He entered into a meeting to discuss what Sherlock’s punishment would be, he needed to be ruthless, not able to show his hand to anyone significant in case it weakened his position in anyway.

‘As my colleague is fond of remarking,’ he said, staring out of the window of the tall office building. ‘Sometimes this country needs a blunt instrument. Equally, it sometimes needs a dagger, a scalpel wielded with precision and without remorse. There will always come a time when we need Sherlock Holmes.’

Sir Edwin stood next to him and almost scoffed. ‘If this is some expression of Familial sentiment-‘

‘Don’t be absurd,’ Mycroft cut him off. ‘I am not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one.’ He reminded him. ‘In any event, there is no prison with which we could incarcerate Sherlock without causing a riot on a daily basis. The alternative however, would require your approval.’ He turned to Lady Smallwood who had recently come back to work after mourning the death of her husband.

‘Hardly merciful, Mr Holmes.’ She made a minor attempt to get him to consider what he was asking.

‘Regrettably Lady Smallwood, my brother is a murderer.’ He made his position clear and Lady Smallwood nodded, making sure he was absolutely sure of what he was asking of her.

The meeting concluded and it was agreed that Sherlock would take the job Mycroft had initially wanted him to decline. Six months and his brother would probably be killed in Eastern Europe. He had a vague hope that Sherlock would somehow find a way out, but the likelihood was slim at best.

He still hadn’t heard anything from Bethany since leaving her at his parent’s house on Christmas Day. The only comfort he found during the evenings was the moments he brought up the pictures he had of her from John and Mary’s wedding. He would look down at them and wish that he had a different life, that his priorities were different and he could be with her. But that was not the choice he’d made.

Mycroft tried to convince himself, and sometimes successfully, that he had her best interests at heart, that he was protecting her from people like Magnusson who could have put pressure on her to get to him. He wasn’t the worth the trouble she would suffer if ever that happened.

He’d spent one evening watching a film in his projector room and thought on the last time he’d actually enjoyed sitting in there. The Lady From Shanghai. He never asked what she actually thought of the film, he’d been so distracted with sitting beside her and trying not to seem like he was behaving inappropriately, that they never actually talked about it.

Mycroft pulled out his phone and looked down at the picture of her holding the champagne glass and looking off into the distance. She was beautiful and he figured it had been long enough since they last spoke that it was safe enough to send a text.

I never asked, what did you think of The Lady From Shanghai? – MH

It was barely a minute before three dots appeared, indicating she was typing out a reply. Mycroft felt his heart in his mouth, she could have said anything, but he reminded himself that it wasn’t in her nature to be cruel.

I loved it. I can see why you like those types of films, there’s something romantic about the style, like they’re from a different world entirely. Thank you for introducing me to it. – BW

Mycroft let out a sigh of relief. He then decided to do something that would mean he would either have his heart entirely shattered, or his hope renewed.

You’re very welcome. Perhaps I could introduce you to another at some point? – MH

I’d love that. My schedule is pretty packed at the moment with school, work and all this stuff with Sherlock, but maybe once it’s all settled down? – BW

Of course. If I can help in any way, do let me know. – MH

Mycroft let another breath go, sitting back against his two-seater, laying his arm over the back and wishing she was next to him.

I have to say, I’m surprised to hear from you. I’ve avoided texting or anything because I thought you’d be busy and trying to figure out what to do about Sherlock. – BW

Work has taken up most of my time, but it was probably wise to avoid contact for a while. Magnusson was after leverage on me and if there are others out there then they could conceivably find other means by which to manipulate me. Including using you. – MH

I thought we agreed that if the choice came down to me or anything else, then it was clear what you should do? – BW

Indeed. – MH

Mycroft didn’t get a reply. He wasn’t sure he wanted one. She was incredibly self-sacrificing, willing to set her desires aside to serve the bigger picture, the greater good, but that quality on its own only made him fall harder for her. Mycroft finished his film and went to bed, feeling lonelier than he’d ever felt before.

If you liked this, please consider supporting me ☕ thanks for reading!

#Mycroft Holmes #mycroft holmes x reader #mycroft holmes x ofc #mycroft holmes fanfiction #bbc sherlock

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