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1d1195 · 3 months

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My Friend's Toyota III

Read the rest here: My Friend's Toyota

~8.9k words

Warnings: Jealous Harry, a little pugnacious today. Nothing crazy, I hope. Mostly silly fluff

This is a bit all over the place. (A filler episode, if you will.) The next (and last part) will be more put together I promise.

She brought their hands to her cold lips and kissed the back of his hand. Harry was certain he was going to start sweating with how warm the gesture was and he couldn’t bring himself to care about how ridiculous it all was.

When the seasons change / Can I still hold your hand? / When we get rain / can I teach you how to dance? / It’s not even November, yet she’s worried ‘bout December / If I can have her in my arms / she won’t worry ‘bout the winter

“This feels ridiculous,” she said to Allie’s ear and tugged at the skirt of her dress, so it bunched in her hand, and she could press it to the outside of her thigh. She wanted the fabric to stretch lower. The chill in the air slid up her legs and under her skirt and it was almost icy. “It’s freezing out.”

“This is sweatshirt weather at best. Have another drink and we’ll stand by the fire,” she giggled. But without Harry to steal a drink from the fridge she didn’t have much choice of drinking.

“I know it’s lame, Al, but I want to study,” she practically groaned. “I haven’t a clue what’s going on in class. I was sick all week. I’m super behind.”

Allie snorted and shook her head. “So just take Harry’s notes and ask him.”

“I’m the one that helps him.”

“Sweetie. You’re twenty-one. It’s Halloweekend. We’re drinking and getting candy from cute college guys.”

The only cute college guy she wanted to see was Harry. But Harry was working and wouldn’t be out till much later. He was insistent that she stay out long enough so he could see her costume. “It’s not special...” she told him, her cheeks reddening at his request. “It... it won’t be like other people’s costumes on Halloween. Even Allie said it was cuter than it was sexy,” she admitted thinking of the Risky Business trio Allie was going to be part of for the evening. She scuffed her shoe on the tile floor outside her Sociology class when Harry inquired about the weekend. She had skipped last Thursday and Tuesday to recover from the cold she had. The sniffle punctuated how childish she felt. Harry was able to read between the lines; she wasn’t planning on wearing little to the imagination like many chose to do so. Allie assured her it was still sexy—in it’s own way—but not too sweet; she wouldn’t look out of place.

But she knew the truth. It would look cute and wholesome on her. That was how the guy described her last Halloween while she was working at a bar down south. Down there she could dress with little layering. She didn’t, but she specifically remembered serving a guy that was drunk and flirty. “I could take you home to Mom in that.”

It was her least favorite pickup line, but she knew it was true. It probably didn’t help that it was an angel costume. But it had always been that way. People like Allie dressed adorably and sexily. Allie, and others more confident than she was, were asked to go home for the night with someone they just met. She was asked to babysit or meet a parent. “I bet you’ll look...” he chuckled and pinched his lip between his thumb and finger as he scanned her up and down. He shook his head and smiled at her as her cheeks flamed at his scan. Despite the fact they had kissed and slept in the same bed (and nothing more) for several nights in the last couple weeks, Harry looking at her like she was... beautiful made her feel completely flushed and overwhelmed. It was insane that someone as popular, someone as handsome, someone so nice on top of everything else, liked her. “I can’t wait t’see it,” he promised. “Should I dress t’match you?”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Really?”

“Well, yeah,” he smiled. “Want everyone t’know you’re all mine.”

She had to bite the inside of her lip to keep herself from smiling large enough to break her cheeks wide open. “I’ll send you the link,” she offered.

Now she had to wait another two hours before Harry was off work and on his way. Allie was already on drink number three and there were still no s’mores supplies by the fire. Even on Halloweekend. It was a real shame. Next time she was going to bring her own.

“But it’s cold,” she whined to Allie.

“Sweetie, it’s not even November. You’re going to need so many layers by the time we get to December.”

No wonder she was sick all week. The chill in the air was killing her. Harry was so kind and while he wanted to dote on her way more than he got to, she was insistent. The kind of insistent he didn’t want to argue with just yet—maybe down the line when they had dated for longer than two weeks. He brought her soup from work and as much as Allie tried to convince her to let Harry stay and wait on her, she was sure she didn’t need Harry getting sick on her behalf. Allie gave Harry a sad smile and a look in her eye that said I tried. For which he was grateful to have her best friend on his side.

Allie was the kind of person to talk to anyone that approached her. Like long lost friends. With her long-tanned legs on display, that meant there were a lot more people to chat with her. The remaining two of her trio came and went to take pictures and make appearances. She was able to chat with most anyone as well, but her introverted self, preferred a one-on-one kind of chat. It also helped when she wasn’t so cold.

The only person she spoke to between those moments of chatting with Allie’s friends, was the freshman pledge standing by the fire, aptly dressed as a firefighter—no shirt of course.

“You come here with her frequently,” he noted when Allie scampered off to dance to the unofficial Risky Business theme song inside with her friends. She enjoyed the warmth because she swore her dress was getting shorter by the second for her southern blood.

“Yeah, she’s my best friend,” she cleared her throat. “Are you stuck on fire duty all year?”

He snorted through his sarcastic little laugh but held a kind smile. He looked so young. She thought being twenty-one was young and somehow this eighteen-year-old guy may as well have been thirteen. “No, just the semester,” he sighed. “Thankfully,” he shook his head. “When you’re not here, you should see some of the things I see.”

She laughed softly. “I can imagine.”

“Do you know anyone besides Allie?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Well, Niall... adjacently,” she amended and shrugged. “He’s friends with my...” she cleared her throat again awkwardly. Harry technically wasn’t her boyfriend. But she didn’t know what to say, suddenly. “With... my friend.”

The guy smiled to himself picking up some empty cups around the fire and tossed them into a nearby bin. She helped as well, bending gracefully so as not to show off her butt. Her knees were stiff with cold, and it felt like her skin was going to break open. “Oh, you mean Harry,” he chuckled. “I was wondering about that status. Everyone is really,” he smirked knowingly. “You’re different than his usual kind of friend,” he didn’t mean anything by it. Just making conversation. But his comment made her heart feel like it weighed about six hundred pounds and sank directly to her feet. She shouldn’t have given it a second thought. Obviously, he wasn’t around long enough to know Harry’s motives or type or anything. Anything he said was basically a rumor. Clearly, her silence was noteworthy. “Hey, I didn’t mean to offend you,” his voice was remorseful and sweet. Especially for an eighteen-year-old. “You just hear a lot by the fire,” he shrugged. “The guy is crazy about you,” he reminded her. “I know I’m just a freshman pledge, but I see a lot. I hear a lot.”

“What was your name again?” She asked. Simultaneously, she wanted the conversation to stop but also wanted to know who he was later on when she had time to ask Allie and her friends. Or even Niall.

He stuck his hand out. “Kyle,” he offered while she shook his hand firmly.

“Kyle,” she repeated. “Well, thank you for keeping me company. Next time, I think we should have s’mores.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “My pleasure. You’re fun to talk to,” he smiled. “If Harry didn’t look like he was ready to kill me I would continue the conversation, but,” he pointed behind her and he gave her a wave. “I’ll bring s’mores next time. See ya around,” he meandered back to his station but shifted to the other side of the fire, avoiding Harry’s vision.

She turned to see Harry, pants with the 1960’s themed flower-pants decorating his legs, a brown suede tasseled vest—no shirt, circle glasses with colored lenses, and a chunky peace necklace hung around his neck. The pendant touched just above his navel. How he wasn’t freezing was beyond her. Even in her own dress, long sleeves, with the matching pattern of Harry’s pants, she was nearly shivering because of her bare legs. All those years her mom forced her to wear a jacket while trick or treating—when it was downright warm—were wasted. She wished for a jacket now.

“Hey,” she smiled sweetly.

“Hey, kitten,” he cooed, the irritation in his eyes still just behind the surface. “Y’look beautiful. Y’should wear a flower crown all the time,” he put a hand on her side and kissed her forehead in greeting. Immediately the stares ensued.

“How was work?” She asked.

“Fine, long. Lots of tips tonight,” he grinned, a spark of excitement replacing the irritation immediately. “Can take y’to the fancy restaurant now.”

His hand didn’t move from her side. It warmed her freezing cold body more than the fire did. “We don’t have to do that, Harry. You can save your money. But it does sound nice,” she smiled sweetly.

Harry stepped closer to her. Somehow. She was a good half a foot shorter, even with the chunky heels on that came with the costume. But he still had to bend his neck forward a bit to reach her ear. His hands were on her waist, cupping her hips and she wanted nothing more than to leave this place and snuggle up to him in bed. “I think y’look so sexy,” he whispered.

She blushed, giggled, and shook her head. “I look like I’m about to take the kids I’m babysitting out trick or treating.”

His nose bumped her temple. “No way, kitten. Too sexy t’have a gaggle of kids t’watch on Halloween,” he kissed her head again.

She rested her hands on his bare chest. He was warm. Not cold at all. “Aren’t you cold?” She asked. He chuckled, pulling from her and then wrapping an arm snuggly around her waist. Honestly, pressed to his unclothed skin was the first time in hours she hadn’t felt so cold.

“No, love,” he shook his head. “Have you been freezing?”

“Yes, extremely,” she smiled knowingly. “It’s parka weather.”

He laughed heading toward the house. “It’s barely sweatshirt weather.”

“That’s what Allie said.”

“Where is Miss Allie?”

“Umm...dancing I think,” she sighed. “I envy her confidence.”

Harry pressed his lips to the top of her head, kissed her temple, and smiled against her hair. “Think you’re perfect,” he murmured. No “just as you are” or “like this” was uttered afterwards. It seemed he really meant it.

“Hey!” She naturally perked up. It was between classes—her class at noon was cancelled and she didn’t need to be across campus for another hour. Normally, she scarfed down a protein bar and swung into the coffee shop within one of the dining halls to get another caffeinated beverage to hold her over in the afternoon. It was nice to sit and work on her assignments for a bit. She was lucky to get notes from all her classes—one of her peers in each of them was willing to help her out. She emailed her professors as well explaining how she felt like lukewarm death, and she would stay on top of things and be back on track before they knew it. So really, it was nice to have an extra break between her classes to help her get caught up a little more.

But the voice cut through the din of the dining hall and she looked up to see Kyle.

“Oh, hey, Kyle,” she smiled. She cleared a space at the table and gestured for him to sit.

“I never see you at this time,” he noted. She nodded, explained how her class was cancelled and she was getting caught up since she was sick last week. “How was the rest of your Halloweekend?”

It was lovely. Harry bought her a boatload of candy—so many mini bags of Twix bars and they watched three scary movies that had her snuggled close to him for most of the weekend. Harry made special drinks that looked like green, orange, and purple potions. It was adorable, festive, and just really enjoyable. “It was good,” she grinned, thinking about it fondly. “How was yours? Stuck by the fire?”

He laughed dropping his bag beside the table. “Yeah, basically.”

“Do you want to go get food or something? I’ll be here for a while,” she offered.

“Yeah, thanks, that would be great actually. I’ll be right back.”

While he was gone, she checked her phone to see how Harry was doing in class. This class he usually had to pay the most focused attention to, or he would miss something. My class got out early. I’m in the dining hall if you want to swing by when you’re done. If you can’t it’s okay.

I’d leave right now if I could, kitten 😘

Pay attention 😘

Kyle reappeared with a burger and fries. He also had a bag of carrot sticks which she thought was pretty adorable. He pulled his water bottle from his bag and set it out as well. “Whoa, is that a real class?” He asked.

She laughed. “It’s for one of my math classes.”

“That’s hieroglyphics, actually.”

She shook her head, still smiling. “Not a math fan?”

“I’m in pre-calculus and only because I took the placement test online and had someone help me get to it. I didn’t want to take the lower-level class for no credit and still have to pay for it,” he explained. She nodded understandingly.

“Well, I kind of like math, so if you need help, we could find a time to meet.”

His jaw dropped. “Shut up,” he practically gasped. “You’re kidding.”

“Of course,” she was too sweet. Allie said it was going to kill her one day. But Kyle was nice. “The hard part will be making our schedules match up.”

He sighed with relief stuffing three French fries in his mouth. “Wow, thanks, that’s so nice of you,” he murmured around the bite of his burger next. “I’m glad I sat with you instead of my friends today.”

“Oh?” She smirked.

“Yeah,” he glanced across the room to a booth filled with four boys who were all ogling the pair of them. “They all think I’m crazy for talking to a pretty upperclassman,” he admitted. “I told them I knew you from fire duty, but they didn’t believe me.” Her cheeks definitely warmed at the compliment, and she felt herself under the scrutiny of the whole group. “M’sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

Kyle was unlike any eighteen-year-old guy she had ever met in her whole life. The guys in her high school wouldn’t have been able to compete. “Do you have a sister?” She asked.

He nodded. “She goes to a different school, but she’s a senior,” that seemed to explain it. His sister was a year older than her. “Why?”

“Your compliments are very kind, and I was just thinking that most guys your age—”

He smiled. “Oh... yeah. The guys all think I’m a huge ladies’ man or something,” he told her with an eye roll. He was brushing it off. But she could see it. In a lot of ways, he reminded her of Harry. “My sister just taught me really well how to talk and treat women.”

“That’s really nice,” she smiled. “Are you seeing someone?”

“No, my older brother is a legacy in this frat, so it’s taken up most of my semester—and before, honestly. I used to come to parties with him when I was still in high school because he wanted to show me the ropes. That’s how I know Harry... kind of, just from observing him and being around the frat life. Where is he, by the way?”

“Class, he should be getting out soon.”

He blanched almost immediately. “Oh, I better go then, I don’t want him—”

“What?” She interrupted with a scoff of laughter in her voice. “You don’t have to go. We’re friends,” she rolled her eyes.

“Um... I think Harry is a bit of the jealous type when it comes to you,” he explained. “I heard he punched someone at one of the parties you didn’t go to because they were talking about you. Plus, the guy in your sociology class wouldn’t keep his mouth shut and Niall had to tell him to shut it, or Harry would shut it for him.”

For a moment, she forgot how to breathe—or exist. She blinked; her eyes closed for a long moment before she looked at him curiously. “I’m sorry, what?” She tilted her head. She had heard rumors of course. The ones of inadequacy, difference of his previous relationships, just complete surprise in Harry being with her in general.

To hear that Harry was jealous—to the point of violence? How did she miss that? “He punched someone?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I wasn’t in the room. But I know he definitely yelled,” Kyle shrugged taking another bite of his burger. Her jaw dropped.

The rumors didn’t bother her—not for why they should have bothered her. The feeling of inadequacy definitely hurt, but that was something she kind of worked out with Harry on her own. Violent outbursts were too much for her. Hopefully that was nothing more than a rumor. “Hey kitten,” she was lost in thought, didn’t even notice Harry approached. Looking up, she saw him staring at Kyle, seated across from her.

She shook her head to get her brain functioning again. “Oh,” she smiled. “Hi, you’re out early,” she stood up and pecked his cheek. He seemed stiff. Kyle paled while Harry continued staring and she felt so uneasy about seeing jealous Harry firsthand. Poor Kyle began cleaning up his stuff as quickly as he could. She put a hand on his arm to still him and he nearly ripped his arm away from her. Poor thing. “Do you know Kyle?” She asked as if he hadn’t almost taken his whole arm off at her touch. But she noted the way Harry shifted. “He’s usually on fire duty,” she explained sitting back in her seat. “I chatted with him on Halloweekend.”

Harry’s gaze was stiff, cold, and nothing like how he looked at her at all. “Kyle,” he repeated.

“Kyle was telling me he’s struggling with math,” she looked at Harry curiously, almost suspiciously. “You can vouch for me, right? I’m a pretty good tutor,” she giggled, and Harry loosened ever so slightly.

“Yeah, she’s a genius, I think,” Harry slid into the booth seat beside her. He kissed her forehead. “M’jus’ gonna grab a quick snack,” he explained and left his bag beside her.

“What are you doing?” She asked as Kyle continued to clean up his stuff.

The color in Kyle’s face returned to normal and he sighed with relief when Harry left. “He’s gonna kill me.”

“Kyle,” she snorted. “We’re friends. He’ll get over it.”

“My friends are tweaking out over there.”

She glanced at them briefly to see them all snickering and smacking each other at their friend’s discomfort. “I see that,” she rolled her eyes. “He’s just a little protective,” she offered.

“I don’t blame him; you’re very pretty and nice,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve been at a lot of these parties and no one ever gives me the time of day," he murmured right before Harry reappeared.

“Kyle, y’brother was in Niall’s frat,” Harry said placing his food in front of him—a pre-made sandwich and a bottle of apple juice—which she thought was the cutest thing in the world to see a twenty-one-year-old guy who was hotter than the sun drinking a bottle of apple juice with his sandwich. “What was his name?”

Kyle gulped almost audibly; he was so uncomfortable it was palpable in the air. “Uh... Jesse,” he answered eventually. “He graduated last year. But I went to parties a lot. Showed the ropes kind of thing.”

“Ah,” Harry nodded. “Well, thanks for keeping m’girlfriend company. Don’t know if she told you, she’s from the south. So s’pretty cold without the fire,” he placed a hand beneath the table on her thigh. It made her swoon internally.

Girlfriend.

She could feel her whole face soften and the word. Her heart rate began to fly. She glanced at Harry from the corner of her eye to see if he was having a meltdown internally like she was. He wasn’t. It was as if this was just another ordinary moment of her life, and her heart wasn’t screaming.

Kyle must have heard the designation as well because his smile brightened, and she swore his eye twinkled in acknowledgment. “I didn’t know that. Makes a lot of sense,” he seemed a little more at ease now that Harry had turned off the protective tone. But worry was still just below the surface of his eyes. “Uh... would it be cool to get your number to help with the whole tutoring stuff?” He asked looking at his own phone. She wished she could look at Harry’s face when the poor thing asked. Kyle may as well have been asking Harry for it like some kind of dowry.

“Of course,” she said quickly and pulled her phone up to a new contact and handed it to him. She put her hand on Harry’s, still on her leg. She squeezed it while Kyle cleared his throat and passed it back to her.

“Thank you, my... my mom will appreciate the help,” he admitted, shyly.

“Happy to help,” she promised with a smile. “Thanks for keeping me company again.”

His face paled again, Harry’s grip on her thigh tightened at the same time. “I gotta go,” he gestured to his friends still staring at the three of them. “Thanks for the help, see you around.”

As soon as he was gone, she turned more directly to Harry, getting a good view of his profile. He sipped his apple juice. “Did you punch a guy?” She asked. He rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“Of course not.”

“Well, I thought that too, but you almost melted poor Kyle with your laser vision there,” she pressed a hand to the side of his face. Harry smirked under her touch. His cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink.

“M’jus...” he sighed. “Y’have t’understand, kitten. I’ve never felt this way ‘bout someone before. M’not usually the jealous type. Y’can ask Mitch and Sarah. M’not one t’play dick goalie; if someone wanted t’be in a relationship with someone else, m’not gonna make myself sick with worry,” he shrugged. “But you?” He shook his head. “S’like there’s this bug in m’head. The whole picnic was nice, but y’deserve more. M’ready t’do anything t’keep you to myself. T’give you all y’want and more.”

“And you think poor, baby freshman Kyle is going to give me more?” She asked sarcasm dripping in her voice. But it was still kind how she said it. She could hear the worry in Harry’s voice. It was unnecessary, but nonetheless sweet. She couldn’t believe he liked her so much.

“He already has a crush on you,” he grumbled and bit into his sandwich.

“He does not,” but the heat rising to her cheeks didn’t help her case.

“Of course, he does, love,” Harry rolled his eyes. “A hot, upperclassman talking t’a freshman? I’d’ve written our names in a notebook.”

“He’s harmless,” she promised.

“He is, but s’jus’ furthering m’point,” he smiled. “M’literally dating you and ‘ve got a huge crush on you. You’re nice, funny, and beautiful. S’like y’were made in a lab.”

“You forgot I’m good at math,” she teased.

“Don’t remind me. Don’t know why you’re slumming it with me.”

She smiled, shaking her head. “I didn’t know we were boyfriend and girlfriend,” it sounded so cheesy saying it out loud. She hoped he wouldn’t think she was ridiculous but it really ached in her chest.

“Kitten, we have been since y’agreed t’sit with me in class,” he smirked. “Y’should’ve asked,” he kissed the top of her head.

She laughed. “That long?”

“Mhmm...” he hummed and draped his arm around her and pulled her closer. “Did y’think this was just a little fling or something?”

“No,” she cleared her throat. “Or, I hoped not. But...” she shrugged. “I know I’m not like the other girls you’ve dated. And I know I’m kind of lame—”

“Please don’t talk about my lovely girlfriend like that,” he winked cutely. She rolled her eyes.

“I would be extremely jealous if I saw a girl flirting with you,” she told him.

His flirty smile disappeared, a frown replacing his entire face. “I would never make y’jealous intentionally. I haven’t noticed anyone since I met you, kitten,” he promised. “I really don’t want y’to worry ‘bout me. I know y’hear rumors and I can imagine they bug you, but s’all they are. If there’s ever something y’want t’know, y’can ask. I won’t... blame y’for asking.”

“I trust you,” her voice was so firm, she hoped he knew that. This conversation was almost too serious for a dining hall, but she was kind of glad to be talking about all of it. “Really, truly. Allie is gonna take a little longer to believe you, but even she said you act differently around me.”

“S’good to know,” he smirked. “I’ll work on it. M’glad y’trust me.”

She smiled. “You trust me, right?”

“I do, I really do, kitten. Believe me, s’all the guys that are right to flirt with you that make me crazy. They see someone so beautiful and kind,” he shook his head. “M’no better than them, honestly.”

For a moment, she just looked at him. It was hard to believe he was so crazy about her. After all he had told her, and all the issues she had within her mind, making her feel a little insane at times, Harry didn’t care. He assuaged every worry. Every minor little problem or fear she had, he plucked it right out and assured her that everything was lovely.

She leaned upward and pecked his cheek again. “No punching someone,” she said simply. “I have to get to class, are you going to stay here?” She asked.

“Leave you t’walk with the wolves?” He asked, packaging his sandwich up and putting his juice in his bag. “Absolutely, not,” he rolled his eyes. She giggled and she couldn’t help but notice how Harry’s smile brightened as she did.

Prior to university, Harry’s teachers told him and his classmates how they would have so much free time in college. Which was true in a way; Harry had a lot of time to join a club sport, hold down a job, go to the gym, enjoy himself as much as he wanted. However, all those extra curriculars and obligations he gave himself created a packed schedule. The fear of insurmountable debt made him pick up shifts even when he didn’t want to.

It was a miracle he found a girlfriend as busy as he was. If she had more free time, Harry worried she would find someone who had more time for him. But between working, classes, studying, and going for runs with Allie (although she assured Harry that it was mostly walking for the better part of ninety minutes and followed by a half hour of stretching), they mainly saw each other at bedtime.

“I think we’re an old married couple,” Harry murmured into her hair. He loved the feel of her body close to his. Having her in his arms was where he wanted her most.

“We haven’t fought about hair in the shower drain yet,” she reminded him.

“S’because all of it’s in m’mouth right now,” he spluttered, pretending to spit her hair out of his mouth. She twisted around, facing him, he smiled at her. “M’jus’ kidding. I would eat your hair,” he joked.

“You’re insane.”

“’Bout you.”

“Somewhere in the future is a true crime podcast about you murdering me,” she had this habit of placing her hand on his face and skimming her thumb across his cheek. It was soothing, if he wasn’t careful, he would fall asleep before finishing their chat. She threw her voice to do a monologued intro. “He was so handsome. No one suspected that he had a hair fetish that would devolve into full-blown cannibalism.”

He laughed and brought his mouth close to hers. “I wouldn’t eat you, kitten. M’not a psychopath,” he rolled his eyes. “I would probably just keep your body preserved and play house with it.”

She nodded. “Well, that’s a relief.”

He chuckled, rolled his eyes again. “Go to sleep.”

“M’worried you’ll kill me when I’ve let my guard down,” she yawned. “S’always the husband. After twenty-five years of marriage,” she reminded him.

“S’a risk we all take, I think.”

“Can you at least text Allie that she can have my clothes?”

“First on m’to do list after I clean up the blood.”

“I don’t think we should watch scary movies before bed anymore.”

“Yes, dear.”

She giggled. For a few moments they just gazed at one another. Her eyes got droopier, her breath slower. “Good night, Harry,” she whispered.

“Good night, kitten,” he answered just as softly. His tongue was twitching to say three more words. Words that, realistically, he wanted to say the moment he met her. His heart ached to say them as much as his tongue. Part of him wondered if she would say it back. Was it too early? She hadn’t been in love before. He needed it to be special when he said it. Was he prepared if she didn’t say it back?

Her face nuzzled into his collarbone; a sigh escaped her, completely content. He wondered if she was already asleep. Maybe he would just whisper it to her sleeping form for practice. Was he being ridiculous? Was it too soon? No, he never felt like this when he dated before her. “Thanks for being my boyfriend,” her voice was so gentle, so sweet. “I like it a lot.”

He kissed her forehead, his heart cracking under the pressure of how adorable she was. “Pleasure’s all mine, love,” despite how badly he wanted to say it, he wanted it to be more special for her. She deserved that.

Harry called his mum as often as he could to check in. It was usually twice a week and texts every day. He was sitting outside the restaurant in the cold, trying to ease his mind off the packed schedule he had for the next couple weeks. It was hard to believe it was mid-November. Finals and their holiday break would be right around the corner. “Hi honey-bunny,” his mum said into the phone. “You on break?” She asked.

“Yeah, hi Mum; how are you?”

“Missing my baby,” she cooed.

He chuckled. “M’jus’ calling ’cause I have a free minute.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully. “How’s our leading lady?” She asked.

Harry smiled to himself, despite being alone, his cheeks surely turned pink. Shortly after his breakfast with Mitch, he called his mum to tell her that he met her; the girl he was certain he was going to marry her. “She’s good,” he nearly sighed dreamily. “Do y’want to meet her?” He asked.

“Of course I do!” She nearly cheered. “M’sure she’s lovely.”

“Y’know, her family’s down south. M’not sure what her plans are for the holiday break,” he shrugged. “If she’s stuck here because of flights, could I invite her home?”

“Oh of course! I’ll have to get her a stocking.”

“Er...don’t scare her Mum,” he laughed lightly. “I don’t know if she can yet.”

“Well, you’re certain you’re going to marry her, I better get one anyway.”

His mum was all on board for having a daughter-in-law. One that was sweet and perfect for her little baby boy. Gemma was excited to have someone to poke fun with and truly, she’d always wanted a sister as well. Harry felt his stomach flip at the thought. While his mum was a strong supporter and kind about who Harry fell in love with, Gemma was the slightest bit more skeptical. When he called her earlier in the semester about the pretty girl, Gemma was happy for him. “Harry, you’re very young still. I’m young. Are you sure you want to settle for the first girl you think is the one?”

“S’not settling, Gem. You haven’t met her,” he assured her. “S’not even close to settling,” he promised. “I know m’young...but...’ve wanted t’meet her for a really long time,” he told her. Gemma knew that. Her younger brother, the sweet six-foot giant, had been graced with a heart bigger than anyone she knew. He was empathetic, adoring, and always kind. As much as he hated bugs and spiders, he always wanted them to be saved when they were younger and placed neatly outside so as not to upset their little insect families. Harry dreamed about getting married the first time he had a crush on a pretty girl in his grade school classes. His heart was broken on Valentine’s Day when she didn’t send him a Valentine, but he had pored over his glittery heart craft that he had slipped into her school mailbox. The heartache only lasted a little while—he was only seven at the time—but he wanted love. It was obvious. Gemma and her Mum had cultivated his love of Rom-Coms and they were his first line of advice when he needed help with gifts for the girl he was seeing.

Gemma knew that Harry dated a bit, desperately searching for the lady that he thought would appear long before he went to university. So as much as Gemma tried to quell his excitement over the object of all his affections and remind him how young he was to find the love of his life, Gemma knew that she was different. The way she had captured her brother’s heart so entirely was a beautiful sign.

“Gemma will want to meet her too,” Mum brought him back to the present. His break was waning, and he would need to get back inside momentarily. “I’m really happy you’re happy, Harry.”

His heart felt so whole, it nearly hurt. “Me too, Mum.”

“Have a good rest of your day, honey bunny. Love you.”

“Love you too, Mum, talk to you soon.”

When they walked to class, it was freezing. Even for Harry. Which meant it was probably insufferable for her. Her hands were stuffed in her coat pockets, Harry desperately wanted to hold her hand but couldn’t bring himself to steal it from the warmth inside her jacket. “Y’really wanted t’come up here away from the warmth?” he murmured his question.

The leaves were no longer the warm hues of a sunset colors. They wilted into chestnut, sepia colors and piled along fences outlining the campus. The ground was hard beneath her feet, and she wondered if her coat was going to be thick enough to make it through the winter. She smiled. Her cheeks were wind-blown pink, and her nose was a little runny, but Harry thought she had never looked more beautiful. “Yes, wouldn’t have met you otherwise,” she said immediately. He chuckled, his cheeks turning their own shade of pink.

“Wait till y’see the snow,” he reminded her.

“I’m so excited for snow,” she sounded excited. God, he wanted to hold her hand so badly. She pulled a gloved hand out of her pocket at the very moment and pulled a strand of hair away from her lips. “I need hot chocolate,” she grabbed Harry’s hand between them and squeezed it, making him ache with more adoration for her. “Do you work today?”

He did, but it was a short shift. “Jus’ till nine.”

“So hot chocolate at your place?”

He wondered if she could see the somersaults his heart was doing in his eyes. “Please,” he squeezed her hand back. “I’d love that, kitten.”

Fortunately, Saturday was much warmer than their hot chocolate date. It was still cool, but around the fire, it wasn’t nearly as frigid or achy. Harry once more showed up after his shift. Glancing through the gossip column that was his text messages.

Your girlfriend is awfully cozy with the Fire Marshall.

He knew that it was just to get a rise out of him. He didn’t even have the number saved. But it didn’t mean it didn’t work. After nearly sprinting most of the way from his parking spot to Niall’s house, he had to slow to a walk and take a few laps around the block to ease the anxiety in his mind. Kyle was just her friend. She was kind. She was lovely. Harry knew there was nothing he needed to worry about with her. It wasn’t her.

It was just that she was drop dead gorgeous and Kyle had a massive crush on her. His eye twitched and he rubbed at it as he meandered into the yard. The thought of them having a study session also didn’t help his anxious mind. This was a horrible feeling. He wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy.

Fortunately, he saw Allie chatting with a group of her friends in the front yard. Some drinking game was definitely happening—it involved cornhole, which he felt of all the games they could have played, it was probably the least dangerous. He gave her a wave. “Hi Harry! She’s out back by the fire!” She shouted. That seemed like Five-Drink-Allie if he had to bet. Poor thing was going to have a killer headache in the morning.

He chuckled, saluted her, and headed around the side of the house. He saw the bonfire and the pair standing by it. They were close together and his heart skipped a beat feeling anxious and hot as he watched while approaching. “S’mores?” He asked.

“Hi, Harry,” she cooed sweetly standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. Almost immediately, the fiery envy in his heart disappeared and was replaced with adoration once more.

“Hi, kitten,” he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Kyle provided s’mores,” she said knowingly. “Now it’s a real party,” she explained holding the s’mores stick out toward the flame. “Do you like good marshmallows or bad marshmallows?” She asked.

Harry chuckled. “Sounds a bit loaded...What’s a good marshmallow?”

“Not charred on the outside,” Kyle rolled his eyes. A pang of frustration went through Harry over the idea that they had an inside joke he was not privy to. “She’s very serious about this.”

“Golden brown is best,” she explained.

“Sorry kitten, m’a charred s’more kinda guy,” Harry smiled.

She scoffed. “Horrible. Both of you. Wasting marshmallows,” she grumbled.

“M’gonna grab a drink. You’ll be here?” He asked.

“Yeah of course, I think Niall was looking for you,” she added reaching for the chocolate and graham crackers they had placed on a jacket on the ground. It must have been Kyle’s because there was no way she would part with a jacket if she were wearing it, no matter how warm it was by the fire; he was sure her icicle self couldn’t do it. “I’ll make you a gross s’more for when you come back; take your time,” she smiled. Harry winked at her, nodded to Kyle, and headed inside.

He found Niall hovering near the makeshift bar. Grateful he could just ask his friend to sneak him a can directly from the fridge without having to distract the freshman bartender for the tenth time in the semester. “Harry!” He cheered. Niall wasn’t drunk; it took a lot for someone so Irish to get drunk at all. But he was friendly. Harry was certain he would greet him the same way, first thing in the morning. “Mitch and Sarah are here,” he pointed toward a group of people over by the pong table. It looked like a game of quarters this week, but he couldn’t be certain. Niall got closer to him and murmured in his ear while he asked the freshman bartender for something to drink as well. “Is Kyle bugging your lady?” He asked. Niall looked at him knowingly, reading between the lines, Harry knew it wasn’t about her, it was entirely about himself.

“No,” he shook his head. “They’re friends.”

“I can tell him to cool it,” he offered.

Harry nodded. “S’fine,” he promised coolly grateful it was dark, so Niall probably missed the way his eye twitched. Part of him wanted to go steal her away and just take her home. Niall nodded.

“Alright, just checking. He’s a good kid,” he promised.

“Seems it,” Harry agreed. “Game tomorrow?” He asked. Niall nodded, excitedly.

“Yessir,” he saluted and slugged back more of his drink. Harry chuckled circling over to Mitch and Sarah. Sarah was clinging to Mitch. A good sign that she had more than her standard two drinks and was getting a little tipsier than normal.

“I got a great grade on my exam,” she giggled.

Mitch smirked and rolled his eyes. “I see,” Harry laughed. “Celebrating, are we?”

She nodded and held her cup out for Harry to clink with his own plasticky sound. “Is my new best friend coming over tonight for a sleepover? I want those scones she made last week!” Sarah nearly had hearts in her eyes at the thought. Mitch chuckled, kissed the side of her head, while wrapping an arm around her tightly.

“M’sure she can,” Harry chuckled. Allie happened into the room at that point and Harry waved her over.

“Hi!” She chirped and gave Sarah a hug.

“Do you two have plans tomorrow?” Harry asked. “Sarah wants scones.”

“Oh, so do I,” Allie bounced on her toes excitedly.

“You should sleepover too!” Sarah cheered excitedly. “We can put the boys in one room,” she suggested. Mitch snorted and rolled his eyes. He sipped his drink and looked Harry knowingly.

It sounded adorable, honestly. Bringing two facets of his life so close together. But part of him dreaded not spending the night snuggled up to the pretty girl.

“But no, we don’t have plans—I’m not sure if she’s working though...where is—? Oh no,” Allie seemed to sober immediately dropping her cup, spilling it on Mitch and Sarah’s feet before she ran out the back door. Without looking, Harry dropped his cup and the seltzer he had for her and followed suit. He sensed Mitch and Sarah on his heels.

About a foot from the fire, she was standing between Kyle and another guy. Harry didn’t know his name. The s’mores were abandoned, and Kyle had a murderous look in his eye. “Kyle, it’s fine,” she promised as he approached.

“No, it’s not,” he snapped. “Get out of the way,” he ground out to her but she was pressed up against him, her entire back protectively pressed in front of him.

“What are you going to do Freshmeat? Big brother’s not here to get you out of this one,” the other guy taunted shoving Kyle despite the fact she was between them. She smacked his hand.

“Stop it,” she scowled at him. Honestly, Harry thought it would have been cute had he not been so furious.

“Hey!” Allie shouted at the same time Harry shoved the other guy away almost immediately.

“Harry!” She shouted pushing Kyle back another step.

“Back off,” Harry snarled.

“Oh, so you’re okay sharing her with a freshman, but not—”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence,” Sarah warned.

She was holding Kyle’s arm trying to keep him calm. “Harry, let’s just go,” she whispered nervously. “Please,” she added, her voice catching.

“What did you say to her?” Harry growled, eyeing him. It was obvious he had too much to drink.

“Harry,” Allie warned coming to her side. “It’s okay, let’s just go.”

“You better take care of your girl, Styles. Or someone will do it for you,” he warned. Harry felt so hot with rage it was hotter than the fire.

“Harry,” Mitch said lowly. “Let’s just go,” he repeated.

“I’m getting Niall,” Allie sped back for the house.

Harry set his jaw, glaring at him, and turned his attention briefly to her and Kyle. “Are you alright?” He asked, his voice tight.

She nodded. “Very okay. I just want to go,” she whispered.

Harry backed up toward Kyle and her. He grabbed her hand and tugged her with him as quickly as he could. “Teasing slut,” he muttered lowly.

But not low enough.

Harry smiled, shook his head, and reeled around. “Wanna repeat that?” He asked.

“Harry,” her voice was close to tears, begging. “Harry, please.”

“Hey!” Niall shouted hurrying out the house in front of Allie.

“I said, she’s a ‘teasing slut.’ You’re just lucky you got to her first—”

“HEY!” Niall repeated but Kyle was the one that lunged at the same time.

“Kyle!” She shouted.

Harry yanked the poor kid away and shoved him back toward Mitch and Sarah. “Harry!” She begged again, apparently unafraid to get close to the action. Niall yanked her back just as fast as Harry pulled Kyle away and Harry started to lunge. With Allie and Sarah holding Kyle back, Mitch grabbed Harry before he could throw a single punch. The drunk idiot cackled at the drama and shook his head.

“Let’s go,” Mitch ordered fiercely. She sighed with relief grabbing his arm and pulling him close to her. Niall shoved the other guy back toward the house.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He almost felt as angry as he was moments ago. “S’not your fault, love,” Niall assured her with a smile. “Harry, y’good?” He asked. Harry nodded stiffly looking at the ground. “Kyle,” Niall looked at the younger one trapped between Sarah and Allie. “You good?”

He nodded once. “M’fine,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Sorry. He was so pushy. I just thought he was trying to drug her or something,” he promised.

Harry tensed up so hard he thought he would tear a muscle just standing there. She shivered. “Thank you, Kyle. But you didn’t need to do all that,” her voice was soft but almost warning—like a mum to her child. “I wasn’t going to drink anything he offered me,” she promised. “You could have gotten really hurt,” she reminded him.

Harry envied her coolness right now. He was fuming and while she was speaking as gently as she could to Kyle, her hand was roaming his arm just as gently. “Worth it,” he promised. They needed to leave quickly, or Harry was going to let all his jealous emotions surge through him.

“I’m ordering an Uber back,” Sarah said. “S’too cold and you’re too hotheaded to walk—you’ll end up sprinting,” she said to Harry. “How many?” She asked. It was determined all five of them would be leaving.

“You’ll watch him?” She asked Niall quietly and gestured toward Kyle who was picking up the trash around the fire.

“Always,” he winked. “Sorry ‘bout the drama, love.”

“Comes with the territory, I think,” she squeezed Harry’s hand.

“You’ll watch him?” Niall asked.

She smiled. “Always.”

Allie did a really good job realizing she was going to throw up the moment she got into Casa Mitch and Harry. “Sarah, can you get some meds and a soda?” She asked.

“You’re the bestest friend there ever was,” Allie moaned laying on the floor beside the toilet. Sarah smirked and handed over the supplies and doubled back for a pillow and a blanket.

“Scones in the morning?” Sarah asked.

“Sounds great,” she smiled sweetly. It was obvious Harry was still on edge. He headed into his bedroom and paced while she finished up with Sarah and Allie.

“You good there, Al?” She asked.

She held up a thumb that sort of leaned a little more than halfway down than it did up. Smirking, she waved to Mitch and Sarah gave her arm a squeeze. “Good night, Harry,” Sarah called gently.

“Shout if you need something, Allie,” she pushed her friend’s hair back and left her to sleep on the cold tile. She quietly closed Harry’s bedroom door and waited while Harry continued pacing.

“What did he say?” He snapped.

“Harry, it’s not—”

“Kitten, m’begging,” he looked at her so hurt, so terribly sad, she nearly caved.

“It was nothing, Harry. It’ll do no good to talk it out. You’ll just get mad—”

“M’jus’ gonna ask Kyle,” Harry was still fuming as he paced.

“Harry,” she repeated. “Please. I’m telling you; it was nothing. Please believe me.”

Harry pressed his head against the window. The lights illuminating the paths to the different buildings were soft and the room was otherwise dark. “M’sorry, kitten,” he mumbled. “M’jus’ mad.”

“I know.”

Harry turned and looked at her. He hardly got a sedcond to look at how pretty she was. “You look beautiful, my love,” he murmured. “S’no wonder y’got him all flustered,” he smirked.

She sighed; the relief palpable in the air. “I’m so sorry.”

“Y’did nothing,” he shook his head. “M’jus...crazy ‘bout you, kitten. I’m sorry,” he grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips. Her fingers were still cold, and he frowned. “M’sorry,” he repeated and blew his breath across her hands to warm them.

She looked utterly distraught. “He’s going to lie,” she croaked suddenly. Her throat closing around the emotion. “He’s going to say I was making out with Kyle or something. It’s not true Harry, you have to know that. Any rumor you hear tomorrow, it’s unequivocally false,” she had tears in her eyes.

“Baby,” Harry whispered. “I would never believe someone over you.”

“No?” She hiccupped softly.

He cupped her face. “Course not, love,” he kissed her forehead, and it melted her icy body so immensely. The first time in an hour that she felt calm. “M’sorry he said something to you, or about you.”

“It’s...it’s okay,” she promised. “I know you’re probably still... jealous of him, or whatever, but I was really glad Kyle was there,” she told him. “I wished you were, but it was good.”

“Don’t ever stand between me and someone that wants t’hurt you,” he warned. The one thing he would probably blame Kyle for from then on.

“Kyle’s just a baby,” she reminded him.

“I don’t want t’talk ‘bout Kyle anymore.”

She giggled. “Okay.”

Harry pulled his shirt over his head. “Let’s go to bed. We have scones t’bake in the morning.”

Harry woke to about thirty messages from a variety of people all claiming to know bits and pieces of everything about last night. Other than Niall’s, he deleted every single message without so much as a glance at the details. Instead, he looked at the sleepy girl, tucked near his chest. He brushed her hair behind her ear.

There was a knock. “Are you naked?” Allie asked. He snorted.

“No,” he murmured quietly.

Despite the fact she had thrown up, she looked pretty good. “I used your toothbrush,” she said climbing into the bed beside her best friend. Harry shook his head.

“Hi Allie,” she murmured.

“Hi sweetie,” she yawned. “You going to make Sarah and I some scones?”

She nodded, tucking her face into Harry’s chest. “In a minute.”

The twin bed was not made for three people and Harry thought it was quite hilarious. “Should I get out t’let y’snuggle?”

“Please,” Allie yawned and threw an arm over her eyes. He chuckled and kissed the sweet girl’s forehead before climbing out of bed.

“Sorry,” she murmured.

“I’ll make sure we have everything,” he suggested. “Need a new toothbrush,” he rolled his eyes.

“I like Harry,” Allie whispered.

“I do too.”

While cleaning their little kitchen, Harry couldn’t stop himself from thinking about how much he loved her. It was becoming impossible to not say it every chance he got. But he wanted it to be special. More special than he could ever describe. He was sure she wouldn’t care, but it meant more to him that it be special. Especially after he flubbed their first real date.

“What?” She smiled as she looked up from the dishes in the sink.

“Do y’want t’go away next weekend?” He asked. “Before finals get too crazy?”

He was envisioning a romantic weekend away at Mitch’s family’s cabin up the mountain. Quiet, cold, for sure, but warm in the cabin. Just the two of them. He could tell her he loved her. No distractions. Shopping in the little town, cooking together in a full kitchen, sleeping by the fireplace, and just sweetness and a special weekend for the pair of them.

“Do I need to bring anything special?” She asked.

“Another coat, probably," he chuckled.

Her smiled was a mixture of relief and happiness. “I would love that.”

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shadowlali · 5 months

Note

Lali🖤

That fic you did for the anon with Ranch Owner Ale x Pastors Daughter needs a pt2 P L E A S E, it was so juicy!!

Consider giving them a Ale Vargas Jr in the oven and then the parents have to find out 👀 [can you tell i enjoy the drama??]

Honestly even if you don't make a Pt2, I just wanted to say that every fic you put out is so top tier. Your style and creativity is one of my favorites here. Despite your school schedule which I'm sure is harcore since Organic Chemistry is no joke, you're always posting banger - book quality fics for us for *𝐅 𝐑 𝐄 𝐄*.

Thank you for your existence and efforts 🖤 You are so appreciated.

pastor's daughter - part 2

COD AU - Rancher!Alejandro Vargas x pastor's daughter!reader

[18+] wc: ~4.1 k masterlist part 1

warnings: NSFW, some proofreading, no use of Y/N nor too many details on reader’s appearance, angry dad/somewhat difficult family dynamics, talks about raising a child, allusions to a HEA, pet names (mami, nena, traviesa), fingering, unprotected sex a/n: my amazing, lovely mutual 💖! you sent this request in so long ago and i have finally finished it. thank you for your patience and sweet words. i hope you enjoy 🖤 to the anon who sent in another ale x reader pregnancy request, don't worry i am working on it! 🤍

No matter how long you stare at the white stick, the two little lines stay the same. You flip it over in your hand, thinking that maybe it's a joke, maybe a little message will appear that says “just kidding!” But it doesn’t, and the little pink lines stay the same. You throw it on the counter, landing it right on top of the three other tests you took which have the same conclusion: you’re pregnant.

Your head spins from the idea, or more so the fact that you are indeed pregnant, carrying a child, and you’re possibly going to be a mother. Your hands grip the counter as the panic sets in, the room suddenly spinning. It’s not like you were careful, you just really didn’t think it would happen from just one time.

You think about telling your mom, but you’re terrified at her reaction. You sure as hell won’t tell your dad, the town’s pastor. You have absolutely no idea what he’ll do especially if he finds out who the father of your baby is. The pastor’s daughter knocked up by the wealthy ranch owner is sure to cause a scandal.

There is only one person who you have to tell, and it's Alejandro. Your phone burns a hole in your pocket. He set up his contact information weeks ago when you two… unexpectedly made a baby in his home? You haven’t seen him since, too busy with church events to find the time to escape your parents’ grasp.

“Honey?” your mom calls from outside the bathroom door, ”are you okay?”

“Ye–yeah, I’m almost out.”

You hear her footsteps continue to the living room and you decide to text Alejandro.

You: Hi, are you busy? Can I see you?

Sent at 9:28 A.M.

Alejandro Vargas: No, I’m not busy. Si hermosa, do you want me to pick you up? Where are you? [Yes, beautiful]

Sent at 9:29 A.M.

You: I’ll meet you at the café parking lot. In the back.

Sent at 9:30 A.M.

Alejandro: I’ll be there soon.

Sent at 9:30 A.M.

You quickly hide the pregnancy tests, placing one in your pocket before washing your hands. With your purse in hand, you quickly yell out I'm meeting a friend for bible study, to your mom before she asks anymore questions. The walk to the cafe only takes 10 minutes and by the time you get there, Alejandro’s truck is in the back lot.

As you approach, he gets out of the driver’s side and walks to the passenger’s, opening the door for you. Looking around, you find the coast clear and rush to hug him. His arms wrap around you, strong and warm, his fresh cologne filling your senses.

“¿Qué pasa, nena?” [What’s wrong, my girl?]

You sniffle, tears filling your waterline. “We need to talk, Ale. Somewhere private.”

He nods, helping you into his truck then getting in through the driver’s side. The ride to his ranch is quiet, his thumb caressing the back of your hand. Alejandro turns to look at you periodically, but your forehead is kept pressed on the cool glass of the passenger window.

“Are you alone?” you ask as his ranch comes into view.

“There’s no one else here, nena. Don’t worry.”

He helps you off the truck and leads the way into the house. You see the same couch where you were bent over a few weeks ago. It causes a flutter in your lower tummy, but you push it down, the topic of conversation is too important to be turned on right now. He sits on the opposite couch, patting the space next to him.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong? Your dad isn’t here with a rifle pointed at my head,” he laughs to lighten the mood, ”so I assume he hasn’t found out–”

“I’m pregnant. I took four home tests and they all came out positive,” you interrupt him in a jumble of words, giving him the test.

His eyes widen, glancing down at the pregnancy test before taking it in his hand. Alejandro focuses on the two little lines, taking a deep breath and placing it on the coffee table.

“Okay–that’s okay, what are we–,” he stutters, dragging a hand over his beard, ”what do you need me to do? What do you need, do you want to tell your parents together? Do you want me to take you to a gynecologist appointment in the next town? Are we–are you keeping the baby? Just tell me what and I’ll do whatever you need.”

Alejandro’s words come out fast, the expression on his face seemingly only a little scared. You shake your head, tears falling down your cheeks.

“I don’t know what I want yet,” you whisper, ”right now, just a hug. Please.”

“Of course, hermosa. Come here,” he says while pulling you in closer.

He strokes your back while your tears silently fall. While you sit there, wrapped in Alejandro’s arms, with his cologne in your nose, you wonder what it would be like to be a mom.

Of course you feel like you aren’t ready… but what if you are? Maybe it would be wonderful to have a tiny human that you can love and cherish. You’ve always thought that this would happen much later in life, but the opportunity is here now. And Alejandro seems ready to support whatever decision you make.

“What if–,” you start, ”what if we keep the baby?”

He cups your face, wiping away your tears with his thumb. “Then we’ll raise a baby, together.”

“Are you sure? You won’t leave me–”

“No,” he says firmly, ”it took two of us to make this baby. It’s going to take two of us to raise them.”

The look in his eyes is serious. Absolutely no doubt, resolute in his beliefs.

“Believe me, hermosa,” he whispers, ”you’re not alone in this. I’ll go right now and tell your parents that we’re expecting.”

You place a light kiss on his mouth, sinking your fingers in his thick hair. He returns it, cradling the back of your skull and running his thumb on your cheek.

“I think,” you say as you pull back, ”I should be the one to tell them. It’s going to be a shock to them and it’s best if I do it alone.”

It takes a lot of convincing for Alejandro to take you back home. He’s visibly nervous and does not like the idea of you giving them the news alone. This is my responsibility too, hermosa. A real man would show up.

But, you have no idea how they'll react with him there. So after much persuasion, Alejandro drops you off at home, reminding you to call him the moment the conversation finishes.

After a few more okay, one more kiss, you hop down his truck, noticing your father’s car in the driveway. He’s definitely here, you think. Never in your life has walking up to the front porch seemed so scary. Your legs feel like lead, only becoming heavier with each step towards the front porch. You let the door close behind you softly, sealing out the rest of the world.

His bible is placed on the entry table along with the notebook he uses to write the weekly sermons. With cold fingers, you drag them down the front covers of both, praying for a little strength. Adult actions, adult consequences, you remind yourself. Before the burst of confidence leaves, you walk into the living room.

“Hi,” you say in a tiny voice, making your presence known in what suddenly feels like a tiny room.

Your dad looks up from one of his theology books, a warm smile on his face. He takes one look at your anxious form and immediately goes into protective dad mode.

“What happened?” he demands.

“How was it with your friend?” your mother asks, flipping through a fashion magazine, still oblivious to the situation.

“I need to talk to the both of you.”

Your mother finally looks up, startled at your serious tone. The look in your father’s eyes doesn’t waiver, most likely already suspecting something is wrong with his normally bubbly daughter.

“I’m–I’m pregnant,” you stutter out.

Your mom drops her teacup onto the couch, dousing a pretty throw pillow and the seat cushion in liquid. They stay frozen for a few seconds until your dad snaps his book, dragging a hand down his face. Your mom reacts too, shakily grabbing her teacup and placing it on the coffee table.

“Who?” your father asks, his voice just above a growl.

“Who what–”

“Who is the father?” he demands more firmly.

“Oh,” you whisper, finally understanding his question. “It’s um… Alejandro.”

“When–” he starts.

“Does he know?” your mom speaks up, her voice just above a whisper.

You turn to look at her and nod, grateful that she’s interrupting what you assume to be an onslaught of intrusive questions from your dad. “He’s the first person I told.”

“You should’ve told us first–”

“And what did he say?” your mom once again interrupts your dad.

“He said he’ll support me no matter the decision I make–”

Your father makes a disgruntled sound, immediately standing up and walking towards the front door.

“Where are you going?”

He ignores your question but you manage to block his path, assuming he’s walking to pick up his car keys. “Dad, please,” you whisper, grabbing his hand.

“Where–where were your morals? Did my words mean nothing to you? Did the education we provided you at the church mean nothing to you?” he barks out, pushing your hand away.

“No, no, they–they did, dad! Of course they did–”

“I thought I could trust him, but look at what he did to our daughter!” he continues, turning to your mother.

“Mi amor,” she tries to reason, ”let’s calm down and talk about it. Alejandro is a good person, it sounds like he’s going to step up and take care of her. He should come here and talk to us–”

“He will not step foot in this house nor will she,” he points an accusatory finger at you, ”ever speak to him again.”

Tears blur your vision at his words. Not wanting to hear his voice anymore, you turn and walk quickly to your room, ignoring his calls to come back. Your hands shake while pressing on Alejandro’s name in your phone. It only rings once and he’s answering the call, his gruff voice immediately calming you.

“¿Qué pasó, hermosa?” he coos. [What happened, beautiful?]

“I told them and it didn’t–I mean it’s–I know they were going to be shocked but this is too much–” you hiccup between quiet sobs.

“Shhh, pack up your things. I’m down the road.”

“Wha–what?”

“I’m down the road,” he repeats, ”pack up your things and stay on the line until you walk out the door.”

It takes a moment for you to grasp what he’s saying. You’ve lived in this house your entire life, only leaving when going on vacation or visiting family, always wanting, but never actually moving out. A sudden pain strikes your chest because with this baby, if you pack up your stuff and leave, you’ll most likely never return.

You hear Alejandro through the phone, asking if you heard him and if everything is okay. Your parents voices outside the door only become louder, and in that moment you make the decision. The most important items, such as personal documents and a few changes of clothes, are dumped in a small suitcase.

I’m outside, nena, Alejandro says through the receiver. You take one last look at the books on the shelf, the desk your dad built cluttered with little trinkets, the mountain of pillows on the bed and turn, opening the door to walk to the entryway.

Your dad beats you to it, having already noticed Alejandro’s truck in the driveway. He opens the front door with enough force that it bounces against the wall, making a loud noise. Alejandro is already walking towards the front door, looking determined as he faces your father.

“I should kill you for what you did to her! She is not leaving this house.”

“We can go inside and talk about this,” Alejandro tries to reason,” I respect and care a lot for your daughter and I will do everything possible to make her happy–”

“She is not going anywhere.”

“You don’t get to make that decision for her,” Alejandro calmly states, stretching his hand out for you to walk to him.

“Go,” your mother whispers behind you, pushing you towards Alejandro.

You walk around them both, ignoring your father completely. He tries to grab your arm but Alejandro blocks his hand, waiting until you’re in the car to keep walking. Alejandro places the suitcase in the back seat as your mother holds onto your father’s arm, preventing him from moving off the front porch.

The drive to Alejandro’s ranch is silent, your body too exhausted to talk or even cry. Alejandro tries to ask how the conversation went down and what happened, but you shake your head, words unable to form in your mouth. Once at the ranch, he leads you inside and up to his room, grabbing a washcloth to wipe the mess of tears from earlier.

“Get in bed, yeah? I’ll bring your suitcase in.”

By the time you strip out of your clothes, Alejandro has brought in your things and has set out a pair of pajamas. In the back of your mind, you think about how efficiently Alejandro moves. He’s a man of action, doing things to make you the most comfortable after such a stressful situation. His hand rubs soothing circles on your back while you curl up next to him, eventually falling into a dreamless sleep.

- - -

“¿No tienes frío?” Alejandro asks, placing a blanket over you without waiting for a response. [You’re not cold?]

You lift the blanket to make room for him and scoot closer to his warm body. The sun is slowly setting, the sky a flurry of different purples. The two of you lay on his patio daybed, listening to the chirp of crickets and the light rustle of wind.

Alejandro kisses the side of your head, leaving his lips there as he breathes in. “He’ll come around, hermosa. He’s just surprised.”

You nod, heart heavy. “Yeah, I hope so.”

“Either way, I won’t let him come speak to you unless it’s for an apology.”

You snuggle deeper into Alejandro’s side, the seed of doubt planted by your father only further blooming. “Do you–do you think this is a good idea? Are we ready to be parents?”

He stays quiet, breathing in your skin. “I don’t think anyone is really prepared to be parents,” Alejandro responds, placing a hand on your tummy. “But, we’re both prepared to give this child all the love and support they need. And even more than that.”

You tilt your head back, locking eyes with Alejandro. He was so quick to offer everything to you: support, affection, a place to live, a place to raise your child. It’s in his nature, you very quickly realize, to give. He’s been single for so long, probably used to freedom and his own space. But there’s no annoyance in his gaze or actions, just a man ready to take responsibility and provide for the mother of his unborn child.

Alejandro’s eyes flit down to your lips and up, over the soft planes of your face. Your lips tingle from how he kissed you before, intense and heavy, the soft scratch of his beard forever imprinted in your skin’s memory. You slide a hand on his arm, bringing it up to his shoulder and down the hard expanse of his chest, pressing your lips lightly to his.

His hand cups your face before he moves his fingers to gently wrap around your neck. He licks at you, running the tip of his tongue over your bottom lip, teasing, before pushing it into the warmth of your mouth.

You circle his wrist with both hands, feeling him tighten his hold only slightly, keeping you still. He trails his lips over your cheeks and eyelids, giving you only a moment to catch your breath before he’s nipping the sensitive skin on your neck. A whimper claws its way out of your throat, cunt pulsing and feeling empty, empty, empty.

“Mi chula,” he murmurs on your skin, letting go of your neck to drag a hand over your achy breasts, “lay back.” [My beautiful]

He pushes off the blanket, maneuvering your body to lay sideways on the daybed while he climbs over you. Alejandro drags your shirt up, dragging his lips over your belly before placing a soft kiss. Goosebumps rise from the light wind, but Alejandro is there to warm you up, his teeth finding the tight peaks of your nipples.

“Ale,” you moan, threading your fingers through the mass of inky, black curls on his head.

He squeezes the tender swells of your breasts with calloused fingers, pulling more whimpers from you. Alejandro moves up, attacking your mouth again. His fingers trail down, rubbing your tummy before snaking through your bottoms and easily pushing aside your thin panties. His fingers lightly skim over your swollen clit and continue down to your entrance. You nip at his mouth the moment he sinks a finger inside of you.

“Traviesa,” he hums, dragging his now slick coated finger up to your sensitive button. [Naughty girl]

Your hands tremble as they travel over his broad back and up to his hair, gripping harder the moment he sinks two thick fingers inside of you. Your hips twist and grind on his hand, whimpering the moment your clit makes contact with his palm. The patio is soon filled with the sounds of your moans and the wet strokes of his fingers between your thighs.

“You missed this, didn’t you?” Alejandro groans against your jaw,” so fucking slick from just my fingers.”

Everything turns to mush in your brain, words becoming too difficult to say, your focus solely on Alejandro and the way he moves, the way he breathes, the way he manages to break you into tiny little pieces and put you back together.

The pressure in your core grows and grows and grows, your hips rolling from the pleasure. Alejandro grinds his bulge into the meat of your thigh, the warmth of his body burning you even through the layers of clothes.

“Come on my fingers mami,” he whispers,” let me feel you.”

His words send you over the edge, pussy tightening hard around his thick digits, covering his hand in your wetness while you come. He traps you in a kiss, fucking his tongue into your mouth with the same intensity of his fingers. You shake in his hold, clawing at his arms and neck, any piece of him that you can reach.

Alejandro moves down, giving small licks and soft kisses to your tits, removing his fingers to lightly rub through your folds, calming you through the aftershocks of your orgasm. With his hand free from your pajama bottoms, he brings his fingers up to you, smushing your cheeks to open your mouth.

You suck greedily, tasting yourself. He removes them from your mouth after a few moments, a string of salvia still connected. Alejandro licks it off, moaning at the taste of you. He yanks down your bottoms and panties, then has you sit up to remove your shirt. You’re left bare, the wind cooling your heated skin.

He brings down his pants just underneath his heavy balls, pumping his cock with one hand while he spreads your legs to make room for himself. You slide a hand over the swells of your breasts, and down your tummy, to the wet opening of your cunt.

Alejandro watches the movement of your hand, pumping his cock faster as he sees you slide a finger inside. You moan, feeling how swollen and hot you are.

“Ale,” you whimper,” I’m so empty.”

“You want my cock, traviesa?”

You hum a yes please, and trail a wet finger over his plush head, down the shaft, dragging a ragged moan from him. He moves your hand, placing it on your thigh to help him keep you spread open. He drags the head of his cock from your entrance, through your folds, and up to your bundle of nerves, rubbing until your back arches from the stimulation.

No teasing, you whine, too delirious to wait any longer. Alejandro listens, sinking inside of you, hissing through his teeth, not stopping until the tip reaches the very end of you. You whimper from the stretch, wanting to push him off while also wanting him to fuck you deep. He stays still, head thrown back and hands gripping your thigh, your pussy quivering around his length.

“If you weren’t already pregnant,” he murmurs,” I’d fuck a baby into you right now.”

“Oh my go–”

Alejandro doesn’t wait for you to finish, immediately sliding out to plunge back into you. You’re stuffed full, overwhelmed, wanting more Ale, more, please, more. He leans over you, linking your hand with his and placing it right above your head. You wrap your other hand around his neck, squeezing, begging for him to kiss you.

“Fuck, fuck–” he groans,” do that–do that again.”

You squeeze again, swallowing his moan once his lips find you in a wet kiss, teeth and tongues clashing from the force. He’s slow with each thrust, deliberate and careful in how he fucks you. Every inch, every vein, the entire shape of his cock feels like it's being branded onto the walls of your cunt.

“Ale, faster. Please–”

He tightens his grip on your hand, shaking his head while he trails his lips across your jaw. “No, you take what I give you, mami.”

Alejandro briefly lets go of your hand to tug off his shirt, throwing it to the side right on top of your clothes. His bare skin scorches yours, warms you to your very center. His cologne and the unique scent of him, masculine and fresh, invades your senses.

You pull him closer, craving the scratches from his beard. He groans and whimpers with every bite mark or fingernail indent you leave on his tan skin. Alejandro digs his fingers into your thigh, spreading you impossibly wider for his broad hips.

“Can’t wait until your belly grows with my child,” he moans, moving his hand to caress your tummy.

He leans back, watching where you take him so beautifully. You bring your hand down and link it with his, keeping it pressed to your stomach.

“I can’t wait to have your baby, Ale,” you whine, the need to become a mother only more intense with Alejandro’s words and his actions.

Alejandro speeds up, impaling you with each thrust. You feel it in your spine, another orgasm sneaking up on you. His movements don’t falter, fucking you through it as you throw your head back and grip his hand tight. It lasts forever, well it feels like it lasts forever. You pulse around him, crying from how far he reaches inside of you with his fat cock.

This is only the second time you two are intimate with each other, but as he finishes right after you, filling you with his seed and moaning your name in a broken cadence, you can’t help but think this was always meant to be. He falls on top of you, your sweaty bodies sticking together, his hips moving in short thrusts as he repeats your name in the soft juncture of your neck and shoulder.

Alejandro gives you another kiss that leaves you breathless and panting. He slowly slides out of you, leaning back slightly to watch his spend drip out of your little hole. With thick fingers he pushes it back and rubs the rest on your thighs.

You tangle your fingers in his hair, then caress the beard on his jaw. He leans into your hand and presses a kiss onto the palm, scooting down until he’s able to rest his cheek on your belly. The two of you lay in silence for a bit, regulating your breathing and cooling down.

“We’re going to make this work, yeah?” he asks, his voice breaking through your sleepy brain. "No matter what your dad thinks, or what the town thinks, we're going to be the best parents we can. Right, mami?"

“Right, Ale."

#alejandro vargas x female reader #alejandro vargas smut #cod mw2 x female reader #cod mw2 smut #shadowlali #alejandro vargas

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alicerosejensen · 10 months

Note

Hey you might have seen my comment idk and if you didn't that's ok but I would really like a part 2 of the Zombie Movie with dad leon.

Well, to be honest, I didn’t plan the second part, but people wanted to and I wrote.

No warning. No injuries, no blood. Just dad and daughter having a good time together. Oh yes, there is a mention of "The last of us".

Part 1

Zombie movie. Pt 2

While you were cleaning up Leon's mess in the kitchen, he stood at the nursery door with a sinking heart. He knocked several times, but there was no answer, however, the sounds of a working game console could be heard from the other side.

Pulling the door handle, D/N did not even pay any attention to the visitor because with a frowning expression on her face she was busy with some kind of game from which she was distracted from time to time by answering messages on her phone.

Leon sat down next to her on the bed, well aware that his presence had not gone unnoticed. He watched the game without much enthusiasm, biting his cheek from the inside, looking at how his daughter shoots virtual zombies with a good result. It would be possible to omit the joke that the paternal genes played here, but Leon held his tongue until the moment of the zombie attack on the main character for whom D/N played. She fired three shots, but all in the chest, so the damage inflicted was not enough to kill the enemy. One bite and a game over.

"Shoot to the head"

D/N gave him an offended look and just loaded the last save.

In general, these zombies were different from those that were in real life. Yes, they bit, but instead of a decomposed body from which pieces of flesh fall, they had some appendages on their heads that looked like a walnut or a mushroom?.. in addition, they made strange clicking sounds.

"Strange zombies," Leon finally said, continuing to watch the gameplay "Why are they chirping?"

"This is not a zombie," D/N muttered more under her breath, making Leon realize that the conversation would not be easy, but he nodded his head in agreement. "Just infected people."

Leon sighed and put his hand on his daughter's shoulder, thereby forcing attention to himself. D/N exhaled irritably and paused the game.

"What?!"

"Pumpkin, I was wrong when I yelled at you," Leon confessed, pulling his daughter to him, but she refused to hug him, although when she was younger, she could never tear herself away from him. "I'll take you to this movie with your friend tomorrow... If you want, I'll buy you something with her in a cafe"

"Don't already," she muttered viciously, grabbing the phone. "I'll watch it later by subscription"

There was another awkward silence. Leon knew he shouldn't have flared up over the movie. After all, as you said, zombies don't come off the cinema screen, so his outburst of rage was just a sharp jolt due to fucking work.

"I understand that it's easier for you with your mom... I'm often not there for you when you need me, and sometimes I can miss birthdays, but I try, honey. I try to be the kind of father you deserve, despite the fact that I don't always succeed. When you were little, it wasn't so difficult for me, because we could catch up with books, games, walks."

D/N was silent with her legs tucked up to her chest, tapping her nails on the phone case. She still looked offended even though she listened to everything her father said to her. D/N was no longer small and understood that her father had a difficult job that required his constant presence, which is why he was often not at home, but this did not mean she was not offended.

Leon moved closer, pulling his daughter to him, hugging her shoulder. D/N did not protest.

"I've already canceled everything anyway." She said while continuing to knock on the phone. Leon sighed, resting his head on the top of her head.

"You know, we could go to this movie together, what do you think about it?" Leon looked at his daughter with a smile, waiting for her answer, hoping that his baby would say yes "I was in the Tall Oaks once, so I can even remotely say how plausible the director shot his picture"

D/N's eyes lit up with genuine interest when she heard that her father was in this town. Of course Leon was going to skip the part with the outbreak of the C virus and the death of the president. But his brain still remembers those moments when it was an ordinary beautiful small town.

"Come on!" Leon hooked her, seeing that he was able to arouse her interest, "you like this. Especially since mom assured me that the movie is not scary. Let's spend time together"

A slight smile appeared on her lips as she picked up the joystick and handed it to Leon.

"Do you want to play with me like when I was a kid?" She suggested it, and although Leon did not like the idea that he would even have to fight zombies (even virtual ones) at home, he still took the joystick and made himself comfortable on the bed. D/N even put a pillow under their backs with the image of her favorite character because you always spoiled her and bought such things.

"Okey" Leon's voice sounded uncertain, but he didn't refuse "So we're just running around a post-apocalyptic city and shooting zombies?"

"No!" snapped D/N. Her tone was already calm and harmless. "There's actually a plot here. Because of the disputes of fungi, an epidemic of cordyceps occurred. When people get infected with it, a fungus starts growing out of their heads that makes them aggressive and vicious. But they are still people. The main character must bring the girl" D/N pointed to the character who was standing next to the main character " To an organization called "fireflies" to make a vaccine since her immunity was developed after the bite. That's all. Take a joystick and play for Joel. Save ammo and use all resources wisely, and try not to miss".

Leon grinned when he heard a brief introduction to the game, and immediately began to understand the controls in the game.

"Fantastic."

Leon had been gone for an hour when you seriously worried about his long absence. After removing the fragments of a broken glass and a bottle of whiskey, you listened to the voices, but nothing was heard except the sounds of shooting and malicious laughter. Having decided to go upstairs, the last thing you could expect was that Leon would sit on the bed and play with D/N a recently purchased game that your daughter has been talking about tirelessly lately.

When you carefully grabbed the door handle and lowered it a little to look through the gap, you immediately saw how D/N was eating Snickers and Leon...

"Looks like you're having a good time," you smiled as they turned their heads to your voice.

Leon was comfortably ensconced in a nest made of pillows and a plaid, while D/N put her head on top of his head watching him try to pass the location using stealth. Leon, in principle, rarely played on a computer or a console due to lack of free time, but he was ready to buy the whole world for his daughter (Although more often he only paid for it). However, now, having stepped over his personal rejection of such games, he himself lies and plays a zombie game with his daughter in order to get closer to her again. You didn't mind and were even glad that he quickly found an approach to D/N, even through the game. To consolidate this result, you brought them hot drinks into the room, in a strict joking voice, telling them not to get too carried away and not forget about the time. But in fact, your child went to bed quite late. You didn't protest because she had Dad's permission!

You felt the embrace of Leon's arms around your waist late at night when he went to bed, snuggling up to you as close as possible.

"If you only knew how much I love you both..."

Just a nice declaration of love, but in the morning you had to leave the house because of urgent work, hoping to listen in the evening to how they spent time together watching a movie, despite the fact that you were afraid of Leon's reaction to zombies. He's dealing with this shit too much.

As a matter of fact, the worm of uncertainty really devoured him from the inside when he looked at the giant poster on the stand. These zombies in the background and a couple in love consisting of the main characters. Leon bit his cheek from the inside, repeating to himself that it was just a movie. Zombies are not real in it, and if the age of D/ N allows to watch this, then nothing should be scary. There's not even a horror genre listed there! so everything should be fine.

They took good seats, but Leon's posture indicated that he was in constant tension, ready at any moment to protect his only child. It was stupid, of course, but after so many years of fighting biological weapons, he couldn't do anything more with himself. And yet, after half an hour of watching the movie, Leon realized that zombies are mostly just mentioned here. But yes, they flash from time to time, but they obviously spared money for extras, Leon even figured to himself that the film would most likely be a failure, but for teenagers it would be the very thing. He even got bored, which can not be said about D/N, she was clearly delighted.

Of course, there was a moment when the cameraman allegedly filmed a report from the scene of the event and a zombie popped up on the screen, forcing the young part of the audience to flinch from the abrupt moment, but Leon's reflexes immediately reacted to protect D/N, which is why she looked at him strangely but did not react in any way.

In general, for the most part, the film was full of shit with cheap special effects and disgusting acting. But Leon did not condemn, if his daughter liked it, then to hell with him. In the end, later they went to a cafe where she did nothing but chatter incessantly about what a handsome protagonist. He did not regret the time spent because his baby was happy and did not argue with him anymore. D/N didn't even pull out her phone once, but she hugged her father on the way home and everything melted inside Leon when he hugged her back.

"Dad?" she called softly, still hugging him, and Leon gently looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry for what I said last evening... I didn't really think so.

"It's okay, baby," Leon patted her on the back, making it clear that he wasn't angry, "I also got angry in vain, but everything is fine. I guess I forgot that you won't always be the little girl who sleeps with a teddy bear and watches cartoons"

D/N laughed at his words while walking with him back to the car.

"Aren't you mad at me?" She asked uncertainly, raising her head and looking at him, waiting for an answer. Leon just shook his head kissing the top of her head.

"I love you and mom too much, so I don't get angry for a long time" She calmed down by smiling at him with her innocent smile when Leon opened the car door for her. "Sometimes I forget that you're growing up"

Leon sighed when he realized his baby's interests were changing and it was completely normal. D/N will not always be a child and one day she may even bring her boyfriend to the house to introduce him to her family, but for now Leon will prefer to buy her and himself ice cream and not think about the rapid maturation of the only daughter.

Even if it's unavoidable.

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blushweddinggowns · 11 months

Text

"Hey there. I'm Eddie."

If Chrissy had known back then that those four words would change her life forever, she probably would have taken the coward’s route out like her friends did. She would have turned up her nose, ignored him, and would have stayed in the safe lane of her normal life. And that would have been the end of it.

But no, instead she had to smile at him, her eyes finally leaving the adorable girl screaming over her boyfriend losing at the claw game so she could introduce herself, "Chrissy."

It’s not like it was shocking to see him, not with Steve Harrington in the building. It was a little weirder to see him crashing a date with his obvious new girlfriend, but then again it was Eddie Munson. Weirdness kind of just came with the territory.

Eddie grinned back at her, firmly shaking her hand before jerking his head in the direction of the claw machine, "Let's walk and talk."

Chrissy could feel her friend's eyes boring into her back. This was the moment where she was supposed to politely rebuff, maybe make it clear that she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who was off at some summer basketball camp, but a boyfriend nonetheless. But for some reason, she didn't.

She didn’t even look back at them, she was just too damn curious to see what he wanted. Because people like Eddie Munson didn’t talk to people like Chrissy Cunningham. Even if she always wished they would. There was just something about the guy that she always liked, a thought that she never dared to say out loud. Not unless she wanted to piss Jason, her mom, and all of her friends off in one fell swoop.

But she couldn’t help but find him kind of charming, with his lunch table rants and no craps-given attitude. Not to mention how high school labels obviously meant nothing to him, not when he had Steve Harrington for a best friend. She admired it. Probably admired it too much. Maybe even a creepy amount, considering how often she would sneak glances at the two of them during shared classes and lunch. It was just… nice. To see two people having fun together without a care in the world.

So she followed him, heart beating a little faster when she realized they were walking towards the silly pretty girl.

"So, I couldn't help but notice you were looking at my friend over there," Eddie said as they went, jerking his head in their direction, “And I just figured I could help you out with that.”

"You mean Steve?" Chrissy asked, brow furrowed. It made sense that's who Eddie thought she was looking at. Everyone looked at Steve, despite the fact that he had already graduated, he was still pretty high on the list of cute guys that her friends never stopped talking about.

But Chrissy went with it anyway, happy to take the convenient route that had been set up for her, "Um yeah. He's pretty good at the game isn't he?"

She had absolutely no idea if he was good or not. She had been too busy watching his girlfriend being adorable to really notice.

But Eddie shook his head at her answer, frowning like she had said something disappointing, "I was actually talking about Robin."

Robin.

So that's what her name was. Chrissy couldn’t help but think it suited her, especially when she was happy. She had seen her around school before, but never like this. All loud and smiley. She was used to seeing her with her eyes down and lips pursed in the school hallways. Always looking like she’d rather be anywhere but here.

Chrissy had always wanted to introduce herself, maybe become the reason that she smiled for once. But she never had the courage to actually go through with it. Besides, it wasn’t… smart for her to get close to girls like that anyway.

Her thoughts must have shown on her face because the next thing she knew Eddie was softening. He was looking at her in a weird way, one that made her feel a little too exposed before kindly asking, "Want me to introduce you two?"

That was a bad idea. A very bad idea if the way her heart was racing was anything to go by.

Chrissy could tell just from looking at her that this was not the kind of girl she could be friends with. Not with the way her treacherous mind worked. She only hung around girls that she didn’t particularly like for a reason. It made things simpler and made the fantasies a lot easier to swallow without the emotional connection.

A polite No, thank you, was just on the edge of escaping when it happened. Steve had finally, actually managed to win something. And it had Robin cheering like a little kid, jumping up and down like getting a cheap stuffed elephant was the highlight of her year.

And she looked so freaking happy and pretty and Chrissy was betraying herself before she could think better of it, "Sure."

It had been a mistake on her part. A huge freaking mistake that she was partially blaming Eddie for, but a mistake nonetheless. Because meeting Robin Buckely became an immediate problem. A massive issue that took up most of her headspace in an embarrassing amount of time.

Chrissy had basically been obsessed with her since the first, shy little Hi, she let out when Eddie introduced the two of them. And it just kept getting worse.

Because Robin was… wonderful. Completely unlike anyone she’d ever met, girls and guys alike. She was smart, like spoke four freaking languages smart, but not intimidatingly so. No, she was too busy being sweet and funny to make Chrissy feel bad for her own lack of brains. And Robin was criminally funny. She was at her best when she was with Steve, the two of them bouncing hilarious jabs back and forth, almost always in complete sync.

It had been the shock of her life when Eddie told her they had only met that same summer. Which meant they had probably been dating for even less time. But the two of them clicked in a way that she couldn’t help but envy. And that envy was turning into some pretty venomous jealousy intensely fast. Because Steve was around all the time. It turned out that getting to know Robin didn't just mean getting to know Robin. It meant getting to know Steve. And by extension, Eddie. And oddly enough, Nancy Wheeler. Plus a strange array of nerdy soon-to-be freshmen.

And she liked that, how close they all were. She did, despite how sick seeing Robin and Steve together made her. Because all of her friends were just as equally amazing as she was. Especially Eddie, who was a close second in terms of her favorites from the insanely welcoming group.

Eddie, who for some crazy reason thought that Chrissy was good enough to be their friend. She wasn’t. She figured that out quick enough after realizing that she was suddenly surrounded by insanely talented people. Robin was basically perfection in a human being. Eddie had his music, Nancy had her insane brain, one that seemed to have been passed off to her brother and all of his little friends. Even Steve was unique enough in his own right, with his crazy charm and magnetic personality. But Chrissy was just… Chrissy. She was boring and she knew it. All she was good for were her looks, and even those were fading fast according to her mom.

But the thing was, they never made her feel like she was boring. No, Robin was always interested in hearing her talk about her lame interests. Like her gardening and flower-arranging hobbies were so interesting. And Eddie actually liked the annoying way she would talk over movies. Liked it enough for them to end up having full-blown conversations that would get popcorn thrown at them, but still.

They were all so… kind. Not nice, no. Steve was way too much of a bitch for that group to ever be considered nice, but… they were loving. And they cared about each other in a real way. A real way that Chrissy wasn’t used to, but she knew she didn’t belong in it. No matter how much she loved it.

This whole soiree of spending time with people she actually liked had a time limit. She would have to get back to her old life eventually, probably with some groveling added to make up for completely ignoring her friend group to hang around the resident freaks. Jason would be back for the first day of school soon enough, and she knew without a doubt that he would be pissed if he ever heard about what she had been up to during the month he was gone.

And she couldn’t even blame him. Who wouldn’t? No boy would like having some other dude all over their girlfriend, even if it wasn’t like that. And Eddie had undoubtedly been the sole reason she ever even had access to these people. Just because she had been blessed with catching his eye. She had thought that something would have happened with him by now, whether that be flirting or a failed kiss attempt. Because why else would Eddie hang around someone like her if not to try and get into her pants?

But it wasn’t like that. It just… wasn’t it? He never made a move on her. He never even did anything that was close to trying, and neither did the spoken for Steve. They just treated her like… her. Not something to be won, just their friend. If anything, Eddie was like a brother to her, in a startlingly small amount of time.

And she was really, really going to miss that. But she couldn’t keep this up forever. She was already struggling to keep her mom from knowing about them, with varying levels of success. The one time she had actually met Eddie was enough to make Chrissy want to die of mortification. She had treated him so… terribly. It made her feel ill remembering it. And that was with her mom being disinterested in her life. Summer had always been a welcome break from her mom’s iron thumb. She just had a harder time caring about Chrissy when there were no events for her to be at, no titles to be won, and no outside people to impress.

But now with school going back into session, she was going to be extra vigilant to be sure that her daughter was at her best and prettiest. And that included monitoring who she was friends with. Her mom was back on the ball, spending the last few days before the start of the school year constantly reminding Chrissy of the rules:

Never weigh more than 110 pounds. Weigh yourself daily to keep up with body changes.

Write down everything you eat. No expectations. Calories should stay within 1200, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Never leave the house without make-up, or better yet, never leave without your make-up being checked.

If you end up overeating, fix it quietly. No one wants to hear the head cheerleader making unseemingly noises.

Chrissy had spent the last two years following them to a T. She really didn’t need the reminders. But she got them nonetheless. And at least there was one positive of her new friendships effectively ending, she wouldn’t have to deal with the foodstuff anymore. Because as much as she loved Eddie she couldn’t get past the fact that he liked to cook. And then share what he made with all of his friends. All the time. And he was good at it, too good, and Chrissy didn’t need a scale to know she gained weight since the short time of meeting him.

And she couldn’t do what she needed to do with them all around. She didn’t want them to know. She couldn’t let them know. Especially not Robin. She didn’t… she didn’t want her to know how gross she really was. How she didn’t even have the self-control needed to keep her figure, she had to cheat instead. Especially since Robin was so stupidly attractive. All without even trying. She was… naturally beautiful. In some dumb fae-creature kind of way that Chrissy couldn’t stop thinking about.

Maybe that would be another benefit of not talking to them anymore. Maybe then Chrissy could go a night without thinking about her. Without thinking… bad things about her. Shameful things that she didn’t have the self-control to not think about it, or worse, actually act on. But there she was, being dirty and thinking of her new friend while she had a hand between her legs, thoughts full of Robin’s long fingers and the pretty shape of her lips.

Yeah. Some distance would probably be a good thing. But that didn’t stop Chrissy from wanting to cry when the first day of school came. An urge that just got worse and worse as the day went on.

But she held it together. She did everything she was supposed to. Her mom checked her face and outfit before she left, with a passing grade. Though not without comment that her foundation shade was the slightest bit off. Then Jason picked her up, they kissed, she acted excited that he was back, then felt immediately guilty that she wasn’t. But she didn’t let any of it show on her face, she was better at that by now.

And part of her did miss him. Jason was a sweet guy. The sweetest of the ones her mom approved of. And he was cute and respectful, never trying to push Chrissy past her limits. And making out with him wasn’t… terrible. It was better than her last boyfriend at least. She didn’t hate it, so that was a plus. And yeah, maybe he was a little bland but so was Chrissy.

She didn’t exactly have room to talk. Plus, he loved her, for some reason. And she really wanted to love him back. And if she just kept working on it, she knew that one day she would. Right?

She really hoped so.

from the newest chapter of this fic

#buckingham #steddie #stranger things #buckingham ficlet #steddie fic #robin buckley #its a steddie fic with side buckingham but this chapter is basically all about them #chrissy cunningham #steve harrington #eddie munson #platonic stobin #steddie childhood friends au #the universe trapped in your skin #secret relationship steddie

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someone-took-lost · 2 months

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you thought i forgot about the main six? ohohoho good friendo, no i did not! next on the listerino was pinkcheese, and here are my big guys. shabam! i present thee~

as per disclaimer, my only keepers of these guys are rosè and arcadian wild. and the other two will be up for adoption in the next day or two or sooner!

rosè gold [she/they|nonbinary bisexual|oldest]

a fashion icon from a young age, rosè is the entrepreneur within her own home. while she retained her mother’s spunk, and father’s ambition- she didn’t seem to have that overly signature overly-excitable trait that one would assume she’d have. instead, became this quiet, calm, cunning pony. with a pension for trouble wherever she went, though one can attribute that to her parents always being so indulgent in her sparkling ideas. she dreams of being a fashion icon one day, and works closely along side her best friend, millennium. and with some elbow grease , she’ll find herself right on that fashion stage one day!

arcadian wild [he/him|pansexual|youngest]

the mellow arcadian , despite the wild part, he is a very relaxed guy. he took up his mother’s laid back attitude and seemed to take it to eleven, as he can often be found playing his ukulele out by the shore or propped against a pine tree. he’s a bit of an airhead, but he’s got a heart of gold that shines brightest when he’s embracing what nature’s got to offer. oftentimes, ponies will find the stallion in one city after seeing him in another, due to his habit of wandering quite far afield during his walks. that quickly turn into hikes after some idle thinking.

“hammy” sandwich [he/him|gay|youngest]

wild and a little bit reckless, this little guy is the peppy, little brother, who just keeps managing to get himself into every kind of trouble. he’s a little short sighted, but means well as he doves headfirst into every sort of problem with a determination that just doesn’t quit! he loves everyone around him with a passion, and will prove it in any way he can! even if he’s not the brightest, he will always find a way to work things out. no matter if he’s a little confused, and not entirely sure what the issue is- hammy is here to help!

cherry marzipan [she/her|lesbian|youngest]

stressed? who’s stressed!? not cherry! cherry is completely fine. all of the time. always. she is always in control, and in perfect harmony with herself. she is fine. even though the sugarcube corner is starting to get overly stocked with orders, and the cupcake recipe she promised to have ready isn’t, in fact, ready at all! she is not stressed at all! cherry takes a lot on her plate, and especially the reputation of being her mother’s daughter. and that has a tendency to stress her out a bit, with wanting to do her best. and make sure her mom’s standing is still good,,, she will not ruin it, ever. because she is also going to be an element of laughter one day, and no way, no how, is she going to let any of that go to waste! even if she’s so busy. she is going to do well! after a nice long power nap-

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strangeswift · 1 year

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happy happy birthday @astrobei !! as my gift to you, please enjoy some modern au college jancy (ft. byler)

If you told fifteen-year-old Jonathan Byers that one day he’d be taking time off of his busy schedule as an NYU Student and part time photography intern to get on a plane to Boston to visit his girlfriend, Nancy Wheeler, he probably would have fainted on sight.

(Well, he probably wouldn’t have believed you, but if somehow he had, there would’ve been a high likelihood of him fainting on sight.)

The truth was, Jonathan’s life was kind of perfect now, as far as he was concerned. Most importantly, the world hadn’t ended, which was a pretty major concern a few years ago.

His mom and Hopper were married now, and Hop was ten times the father Lonnie had ever been. It’d been a little bit of an adjustment at first, accepting Hopper into the family, but easier than you’d expect. Hopper had already been there for them for years, so it didn’t feel all that different.

El was living at home in Hawkins, commuting to Community College, which would’ve been Jonathan’s worst nightmare, but El seemed to be more than happy with the arrangement. Jonathan thought she might’ve been making up for lost time a bit, living at home with mom and Hop. Having a mom and a dad, a stable home. She definitely deserved it.

Will was finally happy, which had been Jonathan’s main concern in life for pretty much as long as he could remember. He was going to school for art in California and sharing a dorm with Mike, which he’d been pretty stoked about. Jonathan wasn’t entirely sure about the nature of their relationship these days, though he had his suspicions, but he knew Will was happy, and that was what mattered. Not to say that he and Nancy hadn’t tried to do some investigation on the matter, because they absolutely had. Call it journalistic instinct.

He and Nancy were better than ever these days, despite the distance. The fantastic thing about government hush money is that it’s not only good for tuition to your dream school, it can also be used for frequent air travel. Boston was only about an hour from New York City by plane, so they took turns visiting. Jonathan liked visiting Nancy, if only for the fact that she lived in a one bedroom apartment with no roommates. Glorious privacy.

They’d just arrived back at said apartment after dinner with a few of Nancy’s friends from school, who Jonathan thought were nice, if a little high-strung. As soon as they entered the bubble of Nancy’s apartment, Jonathan gently grabbed her face and kissed her, slowly walking her back against the closed door.

She pulled back and laughed at him, her eyes filled with adoration. “What was that for?”

“I missed you,” he said sincerely.

She scoffed playfully. “We’ve been together for hours already.”

Jonathan pressed a kiss to her forehead, then to each of her cheeks, and finally connected their lips again. “Missed you,” he repeated.

She looked up at him through her eyelashes and her cheeks flushed bright pink. “I missed you too,” she murmured.

---

One bottle of red wine later, they ended up on the couch, Nancy wrapped up in Jonathan’s arms as he ran a hand through her hair.

He was-- Okay, he was a little buzzed. He’d always been a bit of a lightweight. (The alcoholic genes did absolutely nothing for him.) Nancy was even worse off.

So there they were, a little tipsy, tangled together and staring into each other's eyes, just because they could.

“Have you talked to Will lately?” Nancy asked suddenly.

Jonathan nodded. “He texted me earlier.”

“Have you collected any more intel?” Nancy asked curiously, leaning forward.

Jonathan could smell the wine on her breath. He took a moment to find it funny that she was referring to prying for information on their little brothers and their possible romantic relationship (probable romantic relationship) as collecting intel.

“No,” Jonathan said, “I haven’t asked him about it in a while, he got all touchy last time,” he frowned.

“Mike won’t tell me shit,” Nancy complained, “he won’t even pick up the damn phone.”

“I should call Will,” Jonathan announced, and Nancy nodded earnestly.

He shimmied a little so that he could retrieve his phone from his back pocket, then settled back into place. Nancy watched intently as Jonathan called Will and put it on speaker. They both listened to the phone ring, and Jonathan held a finger to his lips, gesturing for Nancy to stay quiet. She giggled and nodded.

“Jonathan? Is everything okay?” Will’s groggy voice came over the phone.

“Oh. Were you sleeping?” Jonathan asked.

Will huffed. “Yeah, Jonathan. It's midnight. Are you drunk? You sound drunk.”

The existence of time zones suddenly dawned on Jonathan and he felt like an idiot. “A little, yeah. I’m not used to you being on California time. Sorry,” he said.

“It’s fine,” Will said through a yawn.

Jonathan was about to apologize again and let Will go back to sleep, when he heard a voice in the background grumble, “Who is it?” and Will quietly answer, “Shh. Just Jonathan.”

Jonathan’s eyes widened and he looked excitedly at Nancy. She grinned back at him.

“You settling into the dorms okay?” Jonathan asked.

“Uh… Yeah?” Will responded, obviously wondering why the conversation was still happening.

“You and Mike got separate bedrooms, didn’t you?” Jonathan asked, biting back a smug grin.

After a pause, Will said, “Yeah,” his tone clipped, “We got lucky.”

Jonathan and Nancy exchanged another look.

“Cool,” Jonathan said, “And you’re in bed now?”

“Yeah, Jonathan, it’s midnight, I was sleeping,” Will said, “Listen, I can call you in the morning if that’s okay?”

“Sure, buddy,” Jonathan said.

“Okay, I’ll--”

“Just out of curiosity though, who’s in bed with you right now?” Jonathan asked abruptly.

Will coughed. “What?”

Jonathan heard a distant “What is it?”

“Nobody is. I’m alone,” Will insisted.

Nancy rolled her eyes and Jonathan held in a laugh. “You know, you can tell me if you met someone out there,” he said, “I’m happy for you. Seems a little fast though, you’ve been there… what? A week?”

“I haven’t met anyone! Jesus, Jonathan,” Will said.

With that, Jonathan noticed Nancy was also on her phone, and he furrowed his brow in confusion, until he saw Calling Mike on the screen. The next thing he heard was a ringtone coming through the other end of the phone, followed by a loud groan.

“Hey!” Nancy said, “He sent me to voicemail.”

“Is that Nancy?” Will asked, “What the hell Jonathan?”

“Maybe,” Jonathan answered sheepishly.

There was some shuffling on the line, then Mike’s very tired voice came through the phone loud and clear. “Hey, Jonathan and Nancy. Great job, you caught us, we’re going back to sleep now. Fuck you and goodnight.”

Before Jonathan could respond, the call ended. He locked eyes with Nancy who looked similarly bemused.

“Case closed,” she said with a shrug, erupting into giggles.

“Case closed,” Jonathan echoed. He couldn’t help but recall a few years back, watching the two of them through a rear-view mirror in the Nevada desert.

He was really, really happy. And a little wine drunk, but mostly happy.

#you see... i just needed it to be modern au so they had cell phones #en ee ways #HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUNI #this is actually gift 1 of 2 but the other one i realized is a little (or a lot) too angsty to be a good birthday gift #I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU #ficlet #abby writes #jancy #byler

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razorblade180 · 11 months

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Growing Up

Scroll rings

Yang:Thank you for calling Domino’s. Is this pickup or delivery?

Ruby:Wow, it’s a week since Kovu left for school and you’ve already gone crazy.

Yang:I miss my little man so much! Dad never told us how much it sucked when we left for Beacon!

Ruby:Bet he’s laughing now. Welcome to club sis. You could always make another one?

Yang:*shivers* I don’t know about all that. Honestly I don’t understand how- ummm

Ruby:How I kept going after one? Heh, well… it took awhile.

Yang:…Sorry. I didn’t mean-

Ruby:I know, and I’m flattered. Also thankful. Carmine may not have been here if I didn’t see you and Blake’s adorable little guy.

Yang:Thanks, but you would’ve found the resolve. Always do. Garnet is even more proof. How is the little hell raiser?

Ruby:At the park with papa. Has Kovu called you about Carmine yet?

Yang:Pfft, no. I’m positive he doesn’t know she’s there, and I’ve been told not to tell him.

Ruby:She called you!?

Yang:Yeah. She was practically begging. Not that she needed to.

Ruby:Hmm….

Yang:….Hasn’t called you in awhile?

Ruby:Not as often as I’d like…I don’t know. It’s complicated. We’re complicated.

Yang:If she’s anything like her mom, which she is, I’m certain Carmine just doesn’t know how to talk to you these days. Let her be for now.

Ruby:I think the one she got from me is using work to ignore figuring stuff out. Can’t think about family drama if you’re busy shooting a Nevermore, hehe sigh… You know what’s weird? I can’t imagine how mom would feel in these situations. She never got see us start living our lives.

Yang:I’m sure she would’ve been a little conflicted like anybody else.

Ruby:On one hand, I want my girl to comeback not just to spend time together, but because I know the world can be dangerous. There’s moments I want to guide her through personally; even if they aren’t the ones she wants to know. On the other hand…I’m highly aware the world is better because of what she’s doing.

Yang:Gee, kinda sounds like when you ran off ahead of everyone all those years ago.

Ruby:That was…kinda different.

Yang:…….

Ruby:Okay, maybe not so different.

Yang:Eventually Carmine is going to learn to either slow down for others to catch up, or go back for them. In this case, I’m leaning towards her coming to you.

Ruby:You sound so certain.

Yang:Of course! Despite the ups and downs, it’s so clear your daughter doesn’t just love you with every bone in her body. Ruby, she’s your biggest fan; the hero she adores shamelessly. That’s tough feelings for a kid, especially when it’s mixed with family. It’s not exactly the same but didn’t you have days you wished mom was around as you improved? Imagine all the things you wanted her to say or do with you as both a parent and a mentor.

Ruby:I could write a book about it. *slouches* Daughters are rough. Don’t know how dad and uncle Qrow managed with us.

Yang:We were awesome and incredibly well behaved!

Ruby:….

Yang:Yeah I didn’t believe it either. Anyways I gotta go. Don’t stress out Rubes. Our kids are growing up. We unfortunately have to trust the process. No matter how much it hurts.

Ruby:Imagine Kovu comes back home with a girlfriend?

Blake, in the distance: WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!?

Yang:Blake, you met everyone you love there. Including me!

Blake:Still against it.

Yang:What!?

Ruby:*hangs up*

Front Door opens

Ruby:How was the park you two? *turns around*

Carmine:…..

Ruby:…..

Carmine:*walks to stairs*

Ruby:Wait! Hold o- you’re here! In the house!

Carmine:Yes, those are all facts you just said.

Ruby:Did you…hear-

Carmine:Nope. Everything you said on the phone is a mystery. *walks up stairs* …..I’ll help make dinner tonight

Ruby:Heh, okay! Sounds like a plan!

…….

Carmine:*peeks from corner* It’s good to see you by the way. I…missed you. *leaves*

Ruby:(Yeah, definitely my kid.)

#rwby #carmine arc rose #ruby rose #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #rwbabies #rwby rosebud

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cleolinda · 1 year

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Story time: yard chaos

[I told this story on Twitter today, 11/29/22, because I like to be as dramatic and ominous as possible.]

Friends, you may be aware that I often tell Neighborhood Gothic tales about the happenings on my street. I have another one.

So yesterday I look out the kitchen window and see about 15-20 fluorescent-vested workers (who do they work for? We just don’t know) hanging out about 1-2 houses down. Just chilling on both sides of the street, sitting on the storm drain, in the yards, what have you.

And they are more than welcome to; I just don’t know why. Tons of trucks around. Including multiple USIC trucks: People What Identify Your Underground Utilities. You may remember that I ran into one while I was tripping on yard nightshade. Good people, necessary, ideal.

I go about my business (cleaning out my tea kettle). Sometime later, loud machine noises. Bear in mind that I live in an area where there is always someone working loudly on something. Cutting down dangerous trees (RIP🌲), building new houses, eternally landscaping. I shrug.

I look out the window again. The corner of my neighbor’s yard is thoroughly dug up. Now, this summer, I watched a man cut down a whole-ass tree and every single bush (including two beautiful gardenias) of hers branch by branch. There are naught but stubs now.

Am I now that old lady who peers out the window at the doings of the street? Yes. Do I know Debra’s life? No. Do I have any idea why twenty workers are needed to dig up one corner of her yard? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Some hours later, my mom comes home for lunch. She is INCANDESCENT with rage. I assume it’s because our street is clogged with trucks. Why u mad tho? “WHY AREN’T YOU MAD?” After some confusion, my mom gets it through my placid head that the workers

are digging up

OUR YARD

I hadn’t looked out the FRONT window; our dog had been asleep and hadn’t needed to go out. There are three GIANT HOLES, like 3x3 and half a grave deep, at the street end of our yard, like prairie dog holes from hell. Nobody said FUCK ALL to me about this.

My mom’s higher self is a capable, savvy woman who knows her worth. My mom’s shadow self is a Karen. She marches out there to ask what the FUCK is going on. A foreman steps forward. “Oh, they didn’t put a letter on your door?” NO!!!!

I can’t tell if this [a tweet that did not in fact go through] went through or not, because they keep cutting off the wifi. There is a crane over my street now

What is GOING ON, asks my mom. “Something about fiber optic cables,” the foreman says. SOMETHING?? “Something about phones.” IN 2022??? We Just Don’t Know.

Holes begin to spread up the street.

By sundown, every single yard upstreet of mine has a minimum of three deep pits exposing Unknown Cables. Turf has been skinned off and thrown aside. I’m just like, this might as well happen. My mom now has a contractor’s business card. Neighbors are mad. Nobody was warned.

I’m out with Cooper on the deck (where he likes to chase falling leaves) in the dimming sunlight, and I happen to look around at the street.

Water is cascading down the road.

I live on a hill. You know how it looks during a hard rain, just little wavelets washing down the road? That. Water pouring down the entire width of the street, gutter to gutter. The deluge has already reached the intersection and shows no sign of stopping.

My phone has no wifi.

The Workers from Somewhere have hit a water main up the street. In front of a lawyer’s house, I’m told, so have fun with that. What I learn later is, despite there being 3-4 USIC trucks on the street, no one ever marked any utilities. Somebody told the workers not to wait.

Birmingham Water Works trucks, flashing their lights in the darkness, show up at 9 pm to fix the busted water main. Neighbors are wandering around fretting that the Great Flood of ‘22 is going to show up on their utility bills. The lawyer is very popular.

I get up this morning. By 6 am, they are back out there, doubling down. This is not the workers’ fault, btw. Honest day’s work, dishonest employer.

Every single house on my side of the street has a minimum of four (4) fiber optic prairie dog pits now.

I don’t know WHAT and I don’t know WHY. And now, there is a crane over my street for something happening underground. Orange cones and a giant wheel of orange and blue cable have appeared. Someone is brandishing a rake. End transmission for now.

UPDATE: The crane is ripping out a small tree (RIP 🌳) near the top of the street. I do not know if this is related or not. Either shit just got real with the cable digging, or we have dueling contractors.

[Situation in progress, more later]

#story time with cleo #long post #text post #as told on twitter #wet chaos 2022

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bro-atz · 5 months

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1024UB CHAPTER TEN: I NEED TO CHANGE MY PASSWORD

word count: 1.6k

table of contents ♤ previous chapter ♤ next chapter

Sometimes, San wondered how it was humanly possible for Wooyoung to go to the same college as the group. Wooyoung had called him that morning asking San to swing by the lab with a pair of clothes because he had another lab accident.

“Why don’t you ask Yeosang to grab your clothes? You live with him, don’t you?” San complained.

“He’s in the middle of a midterm,” Wooyoung explained over the phone.

“Then wait until he’s done!”

“I don’t have the patience for that! Please just bring me some clothes, I’m tired of smelling like a burnt chicken nugget.”

Reluctantly, San grabbed (aesthetically pleasing) random clothes from Wooyoung’s apartment and got down to his lab. Thankfully, he was done experimenting for the day, so after Wooyoung got cleaned up, they both went to Ze Cafe despite the fact that it was Wooyoung’s day off from work. At least he didn’t hate his job and the group liked hanging out at the cafe, otherwise San was sure he would be absolutely miserable hanging out there.

“Oh, how did that exam end up going for you?” San asked as they sat with their drinks.

“The written portion went great! Really saved my overall grade from the exam.”

“The lab went that bad, huh?”

“Horrible. I almost burnt my eyebrows off.”

“I thought you were just measuring levels of whatever chemical it was. How did you manage to fuck that up, too?” Hongjoong leaned over the counter and put in his two cents, seeing as the two boys sat closer to the coffee bar.

“Things happen, okay?” Wooyoung sighed.

“You’re really special, you know that?” San told the boy.

“Shut up,” Wooyoung frowned and immediately tried to change the subject. “How did that second paper turn out?”

“I got a pretty good grade. Seonghwa didn’t though, so don’t bring it up to him. It’s a sore spot.”

“I don’t get how out of the three of you, someone always does a horrible job. Don’t you all study together like all the time?” Hongjoong interjected again.

“Things happen, okay?” San used Wooyoung’s excuse. “At least I did well this time, that’s all I really care about.”

“Damn, that’s ruthless,” Wooyoung laughed.

“There’s only so many ways we can help each other. At the end, it’s still a free for all,” San shrugged and took a knowing sip of his coffee before getting up. “Hey, I’ll be right back— gotta go to the bathroom.”

He left for the bathroom, did his business, followed hygienic practices by washing his hands with soap for more than twenty seconds, and returned. Wooyoung was staring intently at his phone— wait, that’s not his phone… Wooyoung was staring at San’s phone? As he got closer to the table, he saw Wooyoung scramble to put San’s back from where he found it. He tried to be subtle and quiet, only to nearly knock over their drinks, making way more noise.

“What are you doing?” San asked as he returned to the table.

“Your phone kept vibrating, and I thought it was a call from your mom, so I wanted to pick up and say hi, but then I saw that Gyu was actually texting you. She sent you like five messages, so I unlocked your phone to see what she sent,” Wooyoung rambled.

“Okay, so? Why did you read it?”

“She texted you so many times, but she hasn’t opened a single one of my messages,” Wooyoung pouted. “I swear I don’t know what she sent. I didn’t get that far.”

“Maybe she’s just waiting until she can respond to your messages properly, I don’t know,” San kept trying to offer excuses— he still hadn’t seen the texts from Gyuri, but he wanted to take preemptive measures in case it was something more than surface level.

“I guess…”

Now San needed to know what she sent him. He checked the messages from her as casually as he possibly could.

PRIVATE MESSAGE: gyuday

gyuday: hey gyuday: remember that one anime? gyuday: a new ep just dropped gyuday: let’s watch gyuday: right now.

“She just wants to watch anime, calm down,” San shook his head disapprovingly at Wooyoung.

“Why you? Why not Seonghwa? He’s her best friend,” Wooyoung pressed.

“Because we started the show together.”

“Why’d she watch it with you? Why not Hwa or Iseul?”

“We were talking about the new season the other day and randomly decided to watch it.”

“Jesus, Woo, why are you so goddamn curious?” Hongjoong, thankfully, interjected.

“Yeah, why do you have so many fucking questions? San added.

Wooyoung broke into raucous laughter, his hand slapping the table as he laughed harder. “Man, you should see the look on your face! I was just messing with you.”

Next thing he knew, San flicked Wooyoung’s forehead, causing the obnoxious boy to hold his forehead in pain, his laughter turning into cries; now Hongjoong was roaring laughing. San got up and left the shop, feeling as though he lost ten years of his life. He didn’t have time to ponder it, though, because he could feel the urgency in Gyuri’s texts and knew he had to go over immediately.

He got back to 1024UB and b-lined straight to Gyuri’s apartment, knowing that she’d be there. Before he could even enter the passcode, the door opened. Gyuri grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into the apartment, the door slamming shut as she aggressively made out with San. There were many questions in his mind at that moment, but there was only one he really needed the answer to: why was she crying?

“Hey, wait, what’s wrong?” he asked after managing to pull away from her gently.

She pursed her lips and looked down at the ground, more tears slipping out of her eyes. Now San really wanted to know what was going on. She usually only sent him one text— not five. Why did she desperately need to see him? Gyuri, still not uttering a word, led San to the couch. She offered him a bottle of soju, which he declined because he wanted to know what was going on first.

After eons of silence, Gyuri spoke, her voice extremely small, “Seonghwa is seeing someone.”

San’s jaw dropped— that was not what he was expecting to hear. He honestly thought that Gyuri was going to tell him she was pregnant or something, which definitely sounds much worse than the Seonghwa thing, but he was still shocked nonetheless. He only managed to get his jaw to close when he grabbed the soju bottle Gyuri previously offered and chugged however much he could in that moment.

“Okay, uh, what the fuck?!”

“Yeah.”

“Actually?!”

“Yeah.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah.”

San cleared his throat and tried searching for more words to convey the thoughts in his head. He took another swig from the soju bottle. “We literally see him all the time, and he’s always studying! How the fuck did meet someone?”

“That’s what I want to know, too.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“No.”

Gyuri dried her tears and picked up another soju bottle from the coffee table. “You know, he actually told me about her a couple nights ago.”

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner, then?”

“I… I don’t remember much of that night. After he told me about her, I came home and drank literally all the alcohol in the apartment. I really thought I imagined what he told me, but then this morning, he asked me to come to the library, and he introduced her to me…”

“Fuck…”

“Why the fuck did he tell me first? I didn’t want to know this shit!”

“You’re his best friend, so it makes sense,” San sighed.

“Some fucking best friend he is…” Gyuri muttered.

As Gyuri drank more alcohol, San looked at the coffee table— there were at least six empty bottles in the apartment at that moment, which was extremely alarming given that it was only two in the afternoon. He snatched the bottle from her, trying to get her to ease up on the alcohol. She glared at him and tried to reclaim the bottle, but San was far enough from her to not be able to reach from where she was; yet, she persisted, and she tried to pin San on the couch. He put the bottle down on the ground and ended up pinning her instead to try and deter her from drinking more.

“If you keep drinking like this, then the toilet will become your best friend.”

“I can hold my alcohol—”

“I know you can, but this isn’t the solution, Gyuri. At least, it’s not the right solution.”

Gyuri sighed and covered her face with her hands while deeply sighing. Her sigh turned into a groan of anger, and her hands moved from her face to her hair. San was still on top of her at that point, and as he watched the girl writhe in anger, he felt something sharp in his heart. Instinctually, he brought his lips to hers and kissed her softly. The kiss ended shortly after and they looked at each other. Gyuri looked shocked, but at least she wasn’t making the same painful face as before.

“San…”

“This might not be the best solution either… but—”

San’s words were cut off when Gyuri pulled him in by his collar and kissed him. It was like she was trying to lose herself in the kiss and not think about anything. San leaned further into her, their kisses getting a little deeper. He could still feel a couple tears slip out of her eyes. He pushed himself up again, interrupting their chain of kisses.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked while wiping some of the stray tears.

“Yes.”

He nodded and pulled off his shirt before pinning her down again. Her arms wrapped around his neck and brought him further into her, the two of them losing themselves in each other as they spent the restless afternoon together.

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angelasscribbles · 1 year

Text

A Fervid Fixation Chapter 7: Smolder

Series: A Fervid Fixation

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Drake

Rating: MA

Warnings for this chapter: Language

Word Count: 4,304

My other stuff: Master List.

“Fuck that was insane!” Riley laughed as she peered out the front window of the plane. She’d never sat in the cockpit before, but life with Drake was proving to be one adventure after the other.

“I’m just so fucking grateful you didn’t fall for his bullshit!” Drake let out a sigh of relief as Cordonia faded behind them.

Riley regarded him thoughtfully as she pondered rather or not to tell him that she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure about his innocence. She was fairly certain they had both been lying about parts of it.

She just preferred his lies to Liam’s.

She decided to change the subject instead, “Remember when you asked me if Liam had proposed on coronation night if I would have said yes?”

“I remember…”

“I would have said yes.”

His eyes slide sideways to take her in before returning to the instrument panel, “Why are you telling me this right now?”

“I would have said yes, and I would have married him. But only so I could have stayed in Cordonia, near you!”

He missed the switch he had been about to toggle as his eyes darted to her and had to make a second run at it, “What?”

“I didn’t understand why you were acting the way you were toward me, but I wasn’t giving up.”

“Not giving up? Riley, you acted like you hated me half of the time!”

“Look who’s talking,” she said wryly.

A short laugh broke out of him, “Okay, point taken!”

“But despite everything, here we are.” She reached across to rub his shoulder.

“Here we are,” he agreed.

“You’ve proven that you’ll never give up on me and I want you to know that I’ll never give up on you, either. We’re a team now!”

“Wait!” Drake’s head snapped toward her, “are we…are we talking about a relationship now? All I had to do was hijack an airplane and fight a battalion of King’s Guards to get you to discuss the future with me?”

“Hahaha,” she moved her hand back to her own lap, “But yes. I needed to know that you weren’t going to ice me out again before I let myself fully trust you. I think you’ve just proven your commitment to this relationship.”

Despite the fact that he had just committed felony theft of government property and possibly treason, Drake felt his heart soar and he convinced himself that everything was going to work out. “You just said we’re in a relationship.”

“Shut up and fly the plane, Walker.”

“Don’t change the subject! We’re a couple now! You have to start slipping love notes into my lunch bag or something.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Why not? Isn’t that a thing that couples do?”

“It’s not a thing that I do! Have you ever known anyone that actually did shit like that?”

“My mom used to do it.”

“Give you love notes in your lunch bag?”

“No, not me. But my dad worked late a lot, so we had dinner without him pretty regularly. My mom always saved him a plate and if we were going to bed before he was going to be home, she’d wrap the plate in saran wrap and leave a note under it for him.”

“Ah, that’s sweet.”

“Yeah, it was kind of a joke between them. She was really bad at other forms of communication. Never answered the phone, didn’t respond to letters-“

“Probably because she was busy with you and your sister. I bet you were a real hellion.”

“You make a solid point. My point is that even though she didn’t do any of that other stuff, she always left that note under his plate when he was late.”

“Sounds like she loved him very much.”

“She did,” he agreed, “You wouldn’t do that for me?”

“No.”

“No?” he cried in mock indignation.

“Okay,” she laughed, “I’ll make a deal with you. If I’m ever preparing a meal for you that we’re not going to eat together, which by the way, is never going to happen because I don’t like to cook. Why the hell would I cook if we’re not even going to eat it together? If you have to work late, take out is a thing that exists. But if I did….then okay, I’ll leave you a damn note. Happy?”

“You make me happy,” He told her, “Note or no note.”

“Good! Because if you want love notes in your lunch, you have to start changing my oil and shit, right? Isn’t that a thing that couples do?”

“Do you have a car?”

“No, but that’s not the point. I want to know that if I had a car, you would change the oil for me!”

“Tell you what. I’ll buy you a car and then I’ll change the oil in it. How’s that?”

They continued their discussion about what people in relationships were supposed to do until they were circling an abandoned airstrip in Auvernall a scant forty-five minutes later. “We’re going to land here, off everyone’s radar. I have a friend who left a jeep nearby that we’ll use for transportation. I’ll keep in touch with my contacts back in Cordonia and if the airport isn’t safe, we’ll cross the border into Greece by train or on foot.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought this all through.”

His jaw clenched, “Yes, but not because I was planning to have to get you out of the country all along as Liam implied. I’ve always had an escape plan just in case.”

“Have things with Liam been that bad?”

He shook his head, “Never. We’ve always been close. But as I said, I’ve seen what happens to others who cross him and it’s always wise to have an exit strategy, even if you never need it.”

“Okay then.”

He put the plane down on the runway and brought it to a stop just outside the empty terminal. He glanced at his watch, “It’s almost nine p.m. local time, late enough for the darkness to give us some cover, early enough that it’s not suspicious to be out on the roads.”

Riley gazed at the distance between the plane and the runway, “How are we getting out?”

“Gravity,” he smirked at her.

“What about our luggage?” she asked as he opened the door.

“We’ll toss it down,” he told her since there was no landing ramp, “Then I’ll jump down after it, then you’ll jump, and I’ll catch you!”

The suitcases went first, followed by Drake. He landed on his feet, made a visual sweep of the area then looked back up and held his arms out, “Okay, it’s your turn!”

She took a deep breath and then leapt out of the plane, completely trusting in his ability to catch her.

She thudded into his arms, knocking him back, but he kept his feet under him as he caught her then lowered her to the ground, “Told you I’d catch you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

He let himself get distracted by that kiss. He should have heard them sooner, but he was lost in the sweet ocean of bliss that was Riley Brooks.

The sound of boots on pavement penetrated his consciousness and he pulled his head away while tugging her body closer to him as he assessed the danger.

Auvernese soldiers melted out of the night and descended upon them, pulling them apart.

They reached for each other but to no avail.

Riley was pulled out of Drake’s grasp as she twisted her body around, trying to keep him in her sight.

“Riley! Riley!” He broke free and scrambled toward her, making it only a few feet before he was intercepted and wrestled to the ground. They zip-tied his hands behind his back as he struggled to get back up. A rifle butt struck him in the back of his head. Riley screaming his name was the last thing he heard before waking up in a jail cell.

“But….we don’t have an extradition treaty with Auvernall,” Drake sat in an eight by eight cell holding his aching head in his hands.

“We do now,” Liam said cooly as he adjusted his cufflinks without a care in the world. As if he hadn’t just imprisoned his lifelong best friend in a jail cell.

“How?” Auvernall and Cordonia had been trying unsuccessfully to come to terms for years.

“I signed a betrothal agreement with Auvernall. My firstborn child will marry one of the Achilles twins.”

“You don’t have a firstborn child!”

“Not yet,” Liam gave him a victorious grin, “But I’m confident Riley can help me with that.”

“No!” Drake yelled as Liam turned and exited the cellblock, “No!”

“Riley, come on love. Please. You have to eat something!” Liam pleaded. He was perplexed by her behavior. It had been two weeks and she was still being truculent and unreasonable.

“I don’t want anything to eat, Liam,” she glared at him from her seat by the window, her food untouched on the small table across the room, “and I want out of this fucking place!”

“The palace?” he asked in surprise, “is something not to your liking? I can have the kitchen make whatever you want. Or is it the room? Would you like a bigger one? Just tell me what you need!”

“It may be a palace, but it’s a fucking prison for me, isn’t it?”

“Of course not!”

“So, I can leave? Call a car around and go to the airport right now?”

“Riley, it’s not safe yet! I’m still investigating-“

“Right.” She turned away from him to stare out across the palace grounds.

Liam sat down behind her, his hand brushing the hair from her neck, “Please tell me what I can do to make you happy.”

“I want to see Drake.”

Liam sighed, “Why, Riley? What purpose would it serve?”

“I need to make sure he’s all right!”

“He’s fine,” Liam dropped his hands away from her body and stood up, “You still believe in his innocence?”

“Yes.”

“I have something to show you.”

Liam knocked softly on Riley’s door. It was late and he hoped he wasn’t waking her.

“Come in,” she called.

It had been a month since her little escapade with Drake and he was sure she was starting to come around. “Have you given any more thought to my proposal?”

“I have,” Riley sat at her dressing table, brushing her hair.

“And?”

He had broken his engagement with Madeleine. Tariq had publicly cleared her name. His father was dead, and all his objections to this union with him. All the obstacles between them had been removed.

All but one.

She laid the brush carefully on the table in front of her and turned to face him, “I want to say yes, Liam, but I have conditions.”

“Name them!” He bent down and grasped her hands in his, bringing them to his mouth to drop kisses along the backs of them.

“I want to see Drake-“

Liam dropped her hands and jolted back, “Why? I thought we had put this to rest! He-“

Riley stood up and placed her hands on his shoulders, “If you’ll listen!”

“Okay….”

“I want to tell him about the engagement personally.”

Liam watched her face, looking for traces of deception. He was hesitant to grant her request but eager to put a ring on her finger. “If you go, I’m coming with you!”

“That’s fine,” she replied serenely as she retook her seat and picked up the hairbrush, “Set it up. Once the visit is accomplished, we can make an official announcement to the world.”

“I’ll arrange a visit for tomorrow morning!” He promised.

“Thank you,” she resumed brushing her hair, “Please close the door on your way out.”

“Hey! Wake up!” The guard banged on the bars of his cell.

Drake lifted his head and looked around, “Riley!” He was on his feet in an instant.

She smiled at him, and he was sure he was dreaming. She was even more beautiful than he remembered and for a moment he forgot to breathe.

Then Liam stepped up next to her and his heart plummeted. But what had he expected? Liam was never going to let her wander down to the cells alone.

He was lucky he hadn’t been summarily convicted and executed and he knew it. Liam had probably been too busy working overtime to sway Riley back to his side to fast-track his murder trial.

“What do you want?” He stepped away from the bars, pretending that the sight of her didn’t set his heart on fire.

“We’re here to inform you of our engagement,” Liam wrapped an arm around Riley and pulled her closer to his body.

Drake’s eyes were guarded as they flicked from one to the other, “So?”

“So, I’ve shown her the security footage from the airport office. She knows what you did.”

“Videos can be faked,” Drake said with a shrug. His eyes locked on Riley’s, “and Liam has access to the best cyber experts. It’s called a deep fake, look it up.”

“She’s not buying your lies anymore. Right, love?”

Riley finally spoke, “Drake, do you remember in the plane I told you that if Liam had proposed to me at the coronation, I would have said yes?”

His eyes dropped to the floor in defeat, “I remember.”

“Do you remember everything I said after that?”

His head snapped up and his eyes locked on hers again, hope that he didn’t dare show surging through him, “Yes.”

She smiled at him again and his heart nearly exploded. Her voice betrayed no emotion as she said, “Then you understand.”

“Come on love, let’s go.” Liam guided her away from the cell.

She glanced back one last time, “And Drake?”

“Yes?”

“I’ll see about getting you some correspondence in here. I remember you saying how much you liked your mother’s notes.”

“Thank you, Your Grace. I’ll be looking for them.”

“Turn it off!” The prisoner yelled as he hurled the book he’d been reading across the room to smack into the TV screen.

The guard on duty glanced up at the screen where the king was announcing his engagement, “It’s just a press conference. What’s your problem?”

“His problem is he’s the psycho who kidnapped her and tried to smuggle her out of the country!” the second guard answered, “why do you think he’s in here?”

“I heard he murdered one of you!” one of the other prisoners in the dayroom interjected with a maniacal laugh.

“Shut your pie hole, Trotter!” The first guard admonished, “Or you’ll go back to your cell!”

“Okay, fine!” Trotter threw his hands up in the air, “I was just saying. He also beat the crap out of that duke over her!” He jabbed his finger in the air toward the flat screen hanging on the wall.

“I know that guy claimed he was totally at fault,” the second guard said, “Unwanted advance or whatever, but I heard he was coerced by the king to lie.”

“Why would the king do that?” the first guard asked.

“Have you seen her?” the second guard leered, “And I heard she’s a real wildcat in the sack!”

Drake launched himself at the guard, tackling him to the ground before he had a chance to react. All the rage he had been unable to unleash since finding himself locked up combined with the helplessness he’d felt watching her with Liam during their visit the day before boiled over as he attacked the guard with ruthless vigor.

“Shit!” the first guard yelled as he fumbled with his walkie-talkie to summon backup before attempting to pull the prisoner off his compatriot. Something he wasn’t able to accomplish until backup arrived.

“Goddamn it, Walker!” the first guard panted as he finally got the cuffs on him, “What the fuck was that?”

“Don’t fucking talk about her like that!”

“Okay, okay,” the guard chuckled as he pulled the prisoner to his feet, “you must have a burning desire to see the inside of solitary confinement. Let’s go!”

Drake smiled back at the guard that was being helped to his feet. He’d spend a day or two in solitary for the assault but he didn’t care. It had been worth it.

“What are you up to today, my love?” Liam greeted her with a kiss before sitting down to breakfast.

“Exploring the palace!” she replied enthusiastically.

“Really?” he was pleased with the turn her disposition had taken. She was happy again. The spring was back in her step and the sparkle was back in her eyes. She was once again the girl he had fallen in love with.

She was finally over Drake; he was sure of it.

“Are you sure? I could have the driver take you into town if you wanted.”

“No thank you,” she smiled at him, “I discovered a second library yesterday! It’s a little dusty, but there are hardcover first editions in there of some of my favorite authors!”

Liam smiled as she prattled on about books. Offering to let her go into town had been a test and she had passed. She no longer wished to leave the palace. Drake had failed to poison her against him.

After breakfast, Liam headed to his office while Riley spent a few hours in the small forgotten library in the east wing, pouring over old palace blueprints. There were so many secret passageways. She wondered if Liam was aware of them all.

Just before lunch, she wandered into the kitchen. Plucking a grape from a bowl of fruit on a marble countertop, she sauntered over to where an attractive younger woman was preparing food.

“Hey, Siobhan,” Riley greeted her.

“Hello, Your Grace,” Siobhan blushed at the attention.

“I told you, call me Riley!”

“Yes, Your-Riley.” Siobhan’s flush deepened from pink to crimson under the queen in waiting’s gaze.

“Working on lunch for the prisoners again?”

“Yes, but you don’t have to-“

“Nonsense! I have nothing better to do and I enjoy food preparation. It reminds me of summers with my grandmother,” Riley told her as she started measuring out the pasta into containers, checking the names on the trays against any food allergies as Siobhan had taught her on one of her previous visits.

“Okay, then, I do enjoy the company,” the younger woman gave Riley a shy smile as she turned to stir the sauce.

The two women chatted amicably as they worked. The rest of the kitchen staff had grown accustomed to the queen in waiting’s presence during the hour before lunch was served and they no longer paid any attention to it, focusing on their own work instead.

Siobhan sighed as she watched Riley slip discreetly out a side entrance. She quite enjoyed her company and was still a bit astounded that someone in her position would hang around to help with food preparation. Especially for prisoners.

Of course, she never stayed long. She was always gone before the guard came to collect the food trays.

“Hey, Bruno,” Riley looked up from the book she’d been reading when the older guard popped in to check on her.

The closer it crept to the wedding, the more cautious Liam became with her safety. That’s how it was worded to the guards anyway.

“Yes, Your Grace?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Do you know a Lt. Jason Toussaint?”

“The guy in cyber security? I don’t really know him. Why?”

“No reason,” she kept her voice neutral as she dropped her eyes back to the pages of her book.

Jason Toussaint was alone in his room when a sealed envelope slid under his door. He opened the door and looked up and down the hallway but whoever had left it was gone.

He closed the door and opened the envelope.

“Meet me in the hedge maze at midnight.”

“So, you do exist,” she greeted the blonde soldier that stood in front of her.

“I exist.” He eyed her suspiciously. She was the reason his friend was sitting in a jail cell.

“How far are you willing to go to help Drake? Because I have an idea…”

“I’m listening…”

A sealed envelope was slipped under her door at the prearranged time. Liam was tied up in meetings all day.

She was alone but she locked herself in her bathroom as a precaution as she rifled through the contents.

In her hands was proof that Constantine was in fact behind the setup and Liam knew. Emails, payoffs, and orders to redact statements and seal documents.

She couldn’t use any of it. She couldn’t expose Jason, who had only held onto his job after she had spoken his name to Liam because he had not done anything other than answer a superior officer’s questions about his employment status.

Not that any of it mattered. So, what if the previous king had set her up? He was dead and the scandal had been resolved in her favor. No one would care and Liam was above the law even if he had broken one, which he hadn’t.

She couldn’t get caught with it either. That would derail everything.

She had just wanted to be sure.

She peeked out to make sure no one was in her room before making her way to the fireplace and tossing the contents into the flames.

“Liam, are all these guards really necessary?”

“Yes, my love. They’re here to protect you.”

“From what?”

“Anything. Everything! I have enemies. Being a public figure puts you automatically at risk. There are crazy people in the world, Riley. You should know that. You’ve already been kidnapped once.”

“Indeed, I have…” she mused as she looked at him, “When you put it that way, I’m not sure I feel safe even in the palace!”

“That’s what the guards are for.”

“I’d feel better if I had something to protect myself with…just in case.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know…pepper spray, a stun gun, something!”

“All right,” he acquiesced, “if it will make you feel better, I’ll get you a stun gun and Mara can teach you some self-defense moves if you’d like.”

She rewarded him with a brilliant smile, “Yes, I’d like that very much. Thank you!”

“Hey, I haven’t seen you before. Where’s Fred?” the guard called to the unfamiliar janitor waiting to be buzzed in to clean the dayroom.

“He called in sick,” the man replied, “They sent me to fill in.”

The guard eyed him up and down. He had on the coveralls of the janitorial staff and the proper ID badge hanging from his pocket. His eyes took in the name and photo then went back to the man’s face. Everything checked out. “All right. Go on in. But be quick!”

“Yes, sir!” The janitor shook his head vigorously to indicate understanding.

“What the fuck is this?” the guard manning the security feed asked as he thumped the panel.

“What is what?”

“The feed just flickered off and back on.”

The guard that had buzzed the janitor in peered at the screen. The guy was mopping the floor. He decided to go check on him just in case.

He opened the door and scanned the room.

The janitor looked up, “Everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. Just hurry up! You’ve got ten minutes! You have to be out of here before we bring the prisoners in for their TV time.”

“Okay, boss!”

Ten minutes later he had completed his task and was standing next to the guard station as the prisoners were escorted, single file, into the day room.

The guards buzzed him through the door. He glanced back over his shoulder just before it closed behind him.

Drake looked up at the sound of the door buzzing just in time to see a man step through and glance back. His eyes locked on Jason Toussaint dressed as a janitor for a brief instant before the guard shoved him through the dayroom door.

The notes had started arriving taped to the bottom of his plate. They were small scraps of paper, with short messages. The first one had simply said, “Not safe to respond. Working on a plan.”

Subsequent notes ranged from “I love you” to “keep your head up” and then pieces of a plan began to arrive, one scrap of paper at a time. Until one day a keycard showed up with a note that simply read, “tonight.”

“Have you enjoyed your visit, Lady Hana?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I have! It’s been so good catching up with you and Riley both!” Hana threw her arms around Liam and hugged him.

He chuckled as he hugged her back, “Are you sure you can’t stay a little longer?”

“As much as I’d love that, my mother’s birthday is next week and I have to get home and oversee the party preparations. But I’ll be back for the wedding!”

“Very well. You know you’re welcome here anytime.” It wasn’t that he had an overriding fondness for his former suitor, it was more that she made his fiancée happy, and keeping Riley happy was crucial to getting her down the aisle.

Once the marriage was accomplished, he would be able to relax. She was going to love the private island he’d picked for their honeymoon and with any luck, she’d come back pregnant.

She had been keeping him at arm’s length citing traditional American wedding customs, apparently, abstinence in the weeks before the wedding made the wedding night itself more intense and promoted marital bonding or something.

He was getting impatient. If not for Cordonian customs and council requirements, he would have dispensed with all the pageantry and eloped with her.

The wedding was two weeks away.

Everything was going to be fine.

#fervid fixation #trr au #drake walker #riley brooks #drake x riley #drake x mc #trr drake #trr au fanfic #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week

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boldlyvoid · 2 years

Text

Breakable Heaven | Chapter Two: So It Goes...

18+

Summary: secret moments in a crowded room

Warnings: kissing, dirty talk, grinding, hand jobs, getting interrupted by his pager

Word count: 6.8k

Masterlist

Haley is a great step-mom, there’s no doubt about that… but after 2 days alone with her, Andy felt like if she spent another second with this very pregnant, very hormonal Haley, she was going to lose her mind.

You see, Haley was nesting— despite being on bedrest— cleaning and reorganizing everything only to forget where she put it all and start yelling when she needed something. It was starting to drive Andy insane.

“Where are you going?” Haley asks carefully, holding a dish towel with watermarks on her shirt as it stretched over her big belly.

“Dad said it’s a slow day so I thought I’d bring him some lunch, do you need me to bring home anything?” She asks, not wanting her to feel left out.

“That’s cute,” she smiles. “I’m good, but you have a good time and tell him I’m making meatloaf for dinner.”

“Sure,” she replies with a smile as her stomach turns. Her meatloaf was disgusting. “Be careful, call me if you need me?”

She laughs and pulls her in for a quick side hug, too big to do it any other way, “you’re going to be a great big sister.”

“He’s going to think I’m his aunt,” she laughs, grabbing her keys and putting her shoes on quickly.

“Blame Aaron for having you at 16,” she teases, “but I wouldn’t have it any other way, you were what I needed before we had our own.”

She smiles, she did have a great time growing up with her in her life. The marriage has always been rocky, there were parts of her life where she didn’t like Haley as much as her own mother but there was no one else she’d rather see with her dad. She was good to him, he loved her, and she loved him back even more.

“I’ll be back,” she moves towards the door. “Love you.”

“Love you!” Haley calls back as she slips out the door and towards her car.

She’s quick to get out of town and to her dad’s favourite restaurant, she orders his go-to meal and heads over to his office, hoping this wasn’t too much. She missed him while she was away at school… just to come home and still not see him on the weekends he was supposed to have off.

He was busy saving the world, but once upon a time his world was just her and it was hard sharing him now.

Rolling up to Quantico was always scary, the guards never remembered her because she wasn’t there often. They ask to see her ID and pull up Aaron's file to double-check that he did, in fact, have a daughter named Andrea with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes… It was fucking annoying, but at least she knew her father's safety was important to them.

Inside she’s presented with a visitors pass and a personal escort to floor 6 who asks her too many questions about what it’s like to be Aaron Hatchers, daughter. It was always the same questions, is he that mean at home, how do you deal with the scowl, I’m sure you can’t sneak anything past him, blah blah black.

She ditches them once she made it to the bullpen, she knew exactly where to find her dad, there was no need for an escort. And she definitely didn’t need directions, they had double glass doors, all the basic staff were on the floor and the higher-ups had offices, her dads being the first on the left.

She wanders in with a smile, double-checking the bullpen to make sure he wasn’t in the briefing room or walking around between desks. Then something caught her eye. Well, someone did, actually.

He’s so cute with his crooked tie and his shirt that’s like 3 sizes too big… he needs a whole new wardrobe, one that actually fits him and makes him look presentable for work, but that’s not important right now. His nose is buried in a book while he twiddles a pencil in his fingers effortlessly, around and ‘round his knuckles.

“Hey, Spencer!”

She makes him jump a bit, dropping the pencil, he immediately turns in his chair and jumps to his feet.

“Hey,” he smiles at her instantly, “what are you doing here?”

“I brought my dad some lunch,” she holds the bag up to show him, “do you know where he is?” It’s a simple lie, but it’s an excuse to talk to him.

“Yeah,” he’s still shocked she’s talking to him at all. “Up those stairs and in that office, he’s been a little miserable today so good luck.”

“When isn’t he?” she smirks, “thank you.”

“Um,” he stops her from leaving, “you wouldn’t happen to be interested in joining us tonight? The teams going out for drinks…”

She laughs, “I’m 19, remember, I can’t go even if I wanted to.”

“Oh,” he steps back, taking that as a no. “I don’t suppose an FBI agent's daughter would have a fake ID?”

“Did genius wiz-kid Spencer Reid have a fake ID?” She whispers, giving away just how much she knows about him through her dad's stories.

He nods, “but it wasn’t for what you think…”

“You wanted to check out erotica from the library, didn’t you?” She laughs at him, taking the blush that spreads across his face for a yes. “That’s cute. I hope you learned a thing or two?”

A sly smirk appears on his face, as well as the sweetest blush “I learned… I haven’t really had the chance to apply my findings yet, but, I know some things.”

“You’re a bad, bad boy, Dr. Reid,” she teases him with a newfound fire lit inside of her.

Doctor Reid, the nerdy dork her dad loved was actually hitting on her. She expected he’d be weird by how her dad explained him, he was too smart to also be this cute bordering on sexy… he had so much potential under that extra-large shirt he was drowning in.

“So what bar is it?” She asks, looking him up and down and making herself obvious.

She watches as his breathing changes, he licks his lips and stares for far too long, “uh, Joe’s Bar… down on 16th Avenue.”

“That’s my favourite bar,” she admits. “I’m normally there around 8 with my friends. If you want to stop and say hey, I’d love to see you.”

He nods, swallowing sharply, “sounds good.”

She hears whispers around the room as everyone watches them talk to each other, the other Agents wondering why she’s entertaining his request when she normally doesn’t date agents. So, just to cause some drama, she places her hand on his shoulder for balance and leans in, standing on her tippy toes, she presses a kiss to his cheek, “have a good day, Doctor Reid.”

“Y-you too,” he waves, watching her walk up the stairs and into her dad's office.

The whispers get louder as she walks away, it’s something to talk about for sure, she just hopes Spencer doesn’t mind.

She’s never actually gone out with anyone, let alone agents. She’s only been of age for a little over a year now, anyway, so it felt weird. Most of them were close to 30, unlike Spencer, who was just ahead of the curve like she was.

“Knock, knock,” she says as she opens his door, “I hope you’re still free for lunch?”

“Andy!” He stands and rushes to the door, wrapping her up in a hug, “thank you, that’s so sweet.”

“You’re welcome,” she holds him back. “But I have a bone to pick with you,” she closes the door quickly. “Why didn’t you say Doctor Reid was the most adorable man ever?”

He laughs, taking the bag of food from her and to his desk, he starts to slowly unpack it, “cause I personally don’t see it? I didn’t know I was supposed to tell you who’s cute and who’s not around here?”

“He most definitely is cute,” she walks towards the blinds, lifting one with her finger and peaking out to see him, “I wonder if I’ll actually see him at Joe’s later…”

“Why would you be there? Did he ask you?”

“It’s girl's night,” she looks at him like he’s missed every other Friday night that she’s gone out. “It's the last one before finals… And kinda, he said the team would be there, I see Derek and Penelope there all the time, anyway? It’s not a big deal.”

“Reid knows you’re a teenager, even if he is there he’s not someone you should be interested in. Men in my field, hell, my unit, they come with a price. They get hurt, they get PTSD, they’re hunted by killers and haunted by victims, you don’t want to date someone like that.”

He gets defensive. Just like she knew he would.

“A teenager…” she laughs at him quickly. “First of all, I’m currently closer to 20 than 19. Second of all, I graduated high school at the same age you were when you had me, I have a degree already and I’m 2 semesters away from my master's degree with zero children. You can’t tell me who I can and cannot date, associate with or anything. Your ownership over me ended almost 2 years ago. Deal with that.”

“I still think you’d make a good lawyer,” he tries to lighten the mood. “And it wasn’t ownership, but you’re right. You’re technically an adult… still doesn’t mean I have to trust the people around you.”

“But you can trust Reid on your team to save you and other people's lives?” It doesn’t make sense to her.

“No one is good enough for you, okay, it’s that simple. He could save the president from an alien invasion and I’d still think he’s not enough for you,” He breaks it down for her. “I love you too much.”

“I appreciate that,” she gives him a tiny smile, “but, and correct me if I’m wrong, grandpa doesn’t like you, and you’re still married to Haley.”

“That’s different, he doesn’t like me because I had a kid out of wedlock,” he does correct her. “He called me a whore when we first met.”

She laughs, “he did not?”

“Did so,” the mood had lightened back up. It was crazy how they were able to butt heads and then move on like it was nothing. They’ve done it her whole life.

“Spencer’s not a whore,” she finds the confidence. “I’m not asking permission, and I’m not saying anything’s going to happen between us, but he’s smart and nice… if anything, I could always use another friend.”

“I can live with that,” he gives in, “now what do we have on the menu today?” He starts opening each container with excitement when he realizes what she brought, “you’re seriously the best daughter in the world, I was just going to have Anderson make me a bagel… this is so much better.”

“Please tell me he doesn’t do everything for you?” She tilts her head, raising her brows as she stares at him. “He’s an agent, not an assistant.”

“I know, he just makes the best bagels,” Aaron smiles. “Now, tell me more about your crush on my agent?”

“It’s not a crush,” she fights off the embarrassment. “I think he’s cute… I can’t tell you anything more.”

“You want to take his virginity,” he gets it right away.

“Why are you so fucking good at your job? Who’d you sell your soul to? Can you read minds?” She rushes her questions out. “Seriously?”

He laughs, “it's not hard to profile you. I’ve known you for 19 years, I’ve known Spencer for 3.”

She shakes her head, “yeah. Okay, sue me? It’s a challenge, he’s dumbstruck around me, I like it… but I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize your team dynamic.”

It’s a lie, but from the look on his face, he believes her.

Her dad laughs, shaking his head, “regardless of the boy you pick this summer, just be careful. I can’t have my son be the same age as my grandchild.”

“Oh no, no,” she shakes her head fiercely. “No babies till I’m 30. At least.”

“Good plan,” he smiles.

—

When she gets home, she rushes up the stairs and right into her room.

“Andy” Haley repeated the words as she followed the sound of Andy coming home. “Is that you? Is everything okay?”

She’s in her closet already, looking through her limited dress options. “Yeah, I’m fine, I just have a date tonight… well, not a date, but someone I’m interested in will be at Joe’s tonight, and it’s girl's night so I’ll be there and I want to look nice.”

“Who?”

“Dad’s new genius, Spencer,” she explains with a smirk.

“Ooo,” she’s excited for her step-daughter, “he is sweet… Awe, that’ll be nice for him.”

“He’s the cutest,” she swoons, always able to talk to Haley in a much different way than she spoke to her father. “I’ve always dreamed about a summer romance… having a cute boy to do things with just for the few months between study periods, it’s such a dream.”

She smirks, “I had one with your dad when we were 19…”

“I remember, you took me to some of the picnics and beach trips,” she remembers those moments fondly, even if she was only 3 back then. They were too good to forget, and she had lots of photos to remind her.

“You were the perfect birth control,” she teases, rubbing her belly, “seriously, don’t do this until you’re my age.”

“Dad already gave me the talk,” she laughs. “Poor little dude doesn’t need a niece or nephew in the grade below him.”

“I didn’t even think about that,” Haley laughs uncomfortably, “oh god… that would be awkward for him.”

She grabs a dress from the closet and holds it up to herself, “do you think this dress is nice?”

“It’s very cute, I’m sure anything you wear will render Reid speechless.”

She can’t help but smile. “He is just as awkward as you said… but he’s also really funny? I like him more than I thought I would…”

“Your dad’s not going to like that,” Haley reminds her, “remember what happened with Peter?”

She rolls her eyes with a sigh, “I still can’t believe he did that. Why just why, did he feel the need to terrify the poor boy with my birth video…”

“Free contraceptive,” Haley teases.

“But nothing’s going to happen between me and Reid. I’m going there for girl's night, he just happens to also be going.”

“Okay, if you say so,” Haley pats her shoulder and starts to waddle her way out of her room, “come see me before you go? Once I sit down I’m not getting back up.”

“Sure,” Andrea laughs, “call for me if you need anything.”

—

It wasn’t a complete lie, she did end up seeing Jasmine and Alicia there, the both of them talked to her for maybe 10 minutes before finding their own FBI agents to flirt with. Luckily for Andy, her dad wasn’t there to be one of them.

Having a moderately handsome man as her father was both a blessing and a curse. Her female teachers did anything for the chance to talk to him and her friends all thought he was a dilf… she would never hear the end of it. No one cared he was married and having a second kid, or the fact he was her dad, they still openly talked about fucking agent Hotchner in front of her.

Spencer arrives promptly at 8 o’clock, wearing the same outfit he had on at work, which meant he didn’t get a chance to go home at all first.

She makes her way to his side and bumps his shoulder with her own, “hey…”

“Hi,” he smiles. “Fancy seeing you, here.”

“I know,” she smiles back, “anyone else on the team coming?”

“Later,” he doesn’t look so sure. “Derek wanted to change… I thought getting here before him would give us some time to talk.”

“You thought right,” she leads him over to a dark corner of the crowded room where they can be alone and they wouldn’t have to shout at each other.

“It’s nice to see you again.”

“You too,” she reaches for his tie and runs it through her fingers. “You did a good job tying this one,” she teases him.

“You know, there’s music here, we could finally have that dance?” He’s awfully confident.

“We could,” she smirks. “Or we could get a drink and talk to each other first?”

He nods, “do you want me to get you something?”

“Um, a margarita please?”

“You got it,” he makes a move to walk away and she realizes she has to let go of his tie for the time being.

She watches him walk away and over to the bar, it’s nice having a few minutes alone spent just staring at his cute butt as he leaned over the counter to give his order to the bartender, over the loud music.

But he’s gone for too long.

A stranger wanders over to her hiding spot with a disturbing smirk. “Hey, pretty lady.” He takes a chance, rolling the dice and moving his character to Embarrassment Island.

“Ew,” she feels physically ill, shaking her head with disgust. “No thanks, I’m here with someone already.”

“I know I saw you with bean sprout—

“So have some respect and get lost.”

“Wow,” he scoffs, “what’s your problem?”

She laughs then rolls her eyes, “my problem? Scum like you without boundaries or respect somehow becoming cops is my problem. Get lost.”

“Fine,” he huffs off just as Spencer returns with her drink.

“What was that all about?”

“He was trying to ask me out and wouldn’t take no for an answer,” she rolls her eyes.

“I’m sure you get that a lot,” he hands her the margarita with a frown. “I’m sorry, on his behalf. And all men, too.

She nods, taking a sip and then relaxing against the wall with a sigh, “he called you bean sprout… do they not know about tall skinny dorky— I’m sorry, you’re not dorky, I just mean–”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Spencer waves it off. “I'm characteristically a dork, I enjoy all the dorky things. I’m not ashamed of that.”

She smirks, obviously not knowing what she meant. “You know people think skinny dorky white guys all have like the biggest junk, right?”

He blushes the sweetest pink, “t-thats not… no? Where did you hear that?”

“My roommate, Jas, hooked up with a few different ‘dorks’ over the school year and said they were all well-endowed,” she doesn’t mind oversharing Jasmine's business. It was the best entertainment they had all year. She looks behind spencer and scans the room, finally pointing to her friend, “she’s over there with Henderson, he’s next on her hit list.”

“A-a-and you?” He stutters, taking a sip of his own drink and almost choking in anticipation.

“I’ve only had sex with one guy so far, and it wasn’t good,” she’s incredibly honest. “I mean, I enjoyed it because I was super into him at the time but he wasn’t good at it, like at all.”

“So you-you never, y-y’know?”

“You have 3 doctorates and you can’t ask me if I’ve had an orgasm?”

“Sorry, I just meant with him, not in general, which I’d never ask because that’s personal and I’d be surprised if you did answer anyway because it’s such a stigmatized topic and—“

“Yes, Spencer, I masturbate,” she lays it out flat for him, making him laugh with embarrassment. “It’s fine. No, I didn’t finish with him, not any of the times I had sex with him… it was very disappointing.”

“I’m sure,” he sympathizes with a frown.

“It was so nice at first feeling wanted and the buildup was lovely but I just ended up laying there while he fucked me for a whole 2 minutes then he got up and left the room to take off the condom… it was so procedural. Like he had a routine and getting me off wasn’t part of it.”

“That’s shameful.”

She nods in agreement, “yeah, tell me about it.”

“I’d like to think I could stimulate a woman until gratification,” he’s the tiniest bit confident but he says it into his drink.

“Is that how you flirt?” She steps in closer to him.

“No,” he’s still bright red, growing flustered with the teasing, but he steps closer to her, getting personal. “I just mean there’s more to it than penetration, that was his first mistake…”

She bites her lip, thinking about what he means while studying his beautiful brown eyes.

“I used to think that all couples actually used the bases system… You know, first base is kissing, second is hand stuff, 3rd is mouth stuff and so a home run would be sex… I always heard guys saying they went to 2nd base with a girl and in my mind, I understood that as slowly experiencing things together, which made me learn what each base consisted of, and… so truth be told, I really liked the idea of third base. I’m surprised more guys aren’t into it.”

“I’m sure your mouth can do wonders,” she basically moans, not surprised at all. “Although, I’ve been told by a friend that the alphabet tongue technique isn’t that good…” She drops a small hint that she’s never experienced it herself before, giving him a chance to be a first for her in some capacity.

He laughs, “oh no, I know all the pleasure points and how important it is to pay attention to more than one spot. It’s supposed to be slow and drawn out, pleasurable, not just a race to the end result.”

“You’re not making this easy for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wanted to come here and flirt with you and maybe even go home with you,” she admits, playing with his tie in her free hand again, she looks up into his eyes, “now I want to give you time to explore all your bases with me…”

His eyes flash down to her lips, “do you mind if I kiss you?”

She smirks, shaking her head before she leans forward and pressed her lips against his. One of his big hands rests on her cheek, he breathes her in deeply as his lips stay firmly pressed to hers.

She pulls back mere millimetres, just enough to take a breath before heading back in. She’s not sure if she initiates it, or if he does, but his tongue feels good against hers when they start making out. And they don’t stop.

It’s quite a scene, the two of them desperately can’t get enough of each other. He pulls away only long enough to put their drinks on a small table nearby, discarding them so he can come back in with both hands on her cheeks.

“My god, you’re stunning,” he compliments her.

She places her hands on his hips and pulls him closer, resting against the wall, the two of them are completely hidden in the dark as one.

“Kiss me again?”

At that moment she wished she was Alice, she wanted to tumble down him and get lost forever. Like a drug, she was addicted to kissing him, she didn’t want to stop. For a multitude of songs, the two of them kiss and grind, his knee rests between her legs, and she’s worried she’ll even leave a wet spot on his dress pants. It’s so gloriously heated, he’s so handsy, he’s confident and strong, so she’s putty in his hands.

But she wants more. So much more.

She pulls back eventually, his eyes are glossy and full, chocolatey brown and beautiful… “wanna get out of here?”

He nods, “my place, clearly?”

“Unless you want to sneak in through the garden gate and climb the trellis up to my window… I don’t think my Dad’s ready for me to have boys in my room.”

He looks a little worried, “it’s not going to affect my job, is it?”

“No,” she shakes her head with a sweet smile, “he knows I’m a big girl now, he’ll just be glad I picked you and not Derek.”

“Me too,” he smiles back at her. “Now, can I please take you home?”

“Lead the way?”

—

They moved from making out in a cramped dark corner in the back of a bar to his couch. It wasn’t very comfortable, but he had to furnish his apartment somehow when he moved to D.C all alone.

She was very comfortable, however.

Spencer would lay there with her on top of him for hours if he could. Playing with her long sandy blonde hair as it slipped down into his face, he ran his fingers through her hair over and over, trying to keep it from tickling his face, and then he got fed up. He holds her hair the way a ponytail would, only a little rougher by accidentally, but his other hand cups her face ever so gently.

The tiniest moan slips out from deep within her, making her hips jolt and grind against his.

They both stop, he drops her hair and she pulls back just enough to look at him. “Did you just—?”

She nods, embarrassed and flushing a sweet pink to her cheeks. “It’s the intimacy… I told you I get really in the moment. It’s almost better than actual sex.”

She sits up and pulls away fully, he does the same, sitting on opposite sides of the couch almost, the anxiety starts to set in.

She is his bosses 19 year old daughter. The beautiful, smart, kind, hilarious, wonderful daughter that Spencer’s heard so much about. He’s seen photos of her on the t-ball team and getting a silver medal at a cross-country meet. He’s heard stories of how she lost her first tooth, all the challenges of having a daughter, let alone while he was still in high school… Spencer could probably recount her life back to her if she asked, all because her father was so incredibly proud to have her.

He just stares into her sweet brown eyes as she worries, scared she’s said too much while he worries he hasn’t said enough.

“Do you want to go further with me?”

She nods again.

“And you also want to take it slow?”

“I want to have fun with you this summer,” she admits. “I know there’s things you obviously want to do, and there’s things I’ve always dreamed of happening… I think we could have a lot of fun together.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for starters, I can take your virginity,” she teases him, bouncing as she moves in closer again until she’s almost in his lap. “And I’ve always wanted to have a secret summer romance… I know my dad isn’t always the most understanding man and he wouldn’t be too opposed to this, but a part of me wishes we could keep this a secret just to keep seeing each other? I want the adrenaline and the electricity and the desperation… and I felt it all when I saw you in the bullpen this morning… I like that people will talk and you’re going to feel cool and you treat me like I’m brand new, I’m not just a dusty photo in my dad’s office to you… you don’t want to use me to get to him and that makes me like you even more.”

He nods along the whole times she’s speaking, watching her with care and content, he really did like her. “You’ve always been talked about, around the office. The Andrea your dad talks about; the strong and powerful woman that he’s so incredibly proud of… and then there’s the Andy Hotchner the guys talk about…”

“I’m a ballbuster, I know.” She’s clearly heard it all. “It’s not my fault, it’s my dads. If he didn’t give me everything then I’d have an easier time trusting other men.”

“But you trust me?”

“Enough to pretend I don’t know where his office is so that you can show me,” she smiles.

“Really?” He can’t believe it.

She nods again, smirking, “I know where my dads office is, Spence, I came to see him all the time before you joined the team.”

“Oh…” it hits him. She only came to talk to him cause she actually thought he was cute. Sometimes it took a while for words and actions of others to sink in and correlate in his brain, this was one of those times. “So, you really do like me?”

She places her hand on his cheek, “more than you know, lover boy.”

“Tell me?” He doesn’t want to seem desperate. But he looks at her with puppy dog eyes anyway, “I’ve never experienced someone having a crush on me.”

She straddles his hips and sits in his lap, holding his face in her hands she just smiles at him. Her head tilts to the side slightly as she sighs, “in a way I’m kinda glad I’m the first one to appreciate you like this. I just wish you grew up knowing how fuckin’ cute you are.”

“I’m glad too,” he admits. Scared of how much he should admit, but he’s felt things for her for a while. Even if it wasn’t right.

She catches it. “What?”

“What?” He repeats.

“You look ashamed? What haven’t you told me?”

“How do you Hotchner’s do that?” He whines, but she gives him a stare that tells him he needs to continue telling her what’s going on. He’s seen it on her dad's face too.

“Okay, okay, when I started working there I thought you were really cute… but I didn’t know you were his daughter. I thought you were a little sister, like Sean… I know it’s wrong of me.”

“You’ve been there 3 years, I was 16-ish and you were 20, it’s not that weird?”

“But I was an adult,” he’s still ashamed. “I’m no better than the guys we deal with at work.”

“You’re aware that you’re very over dramatic, right?” She teases him. “Seriously Spence, I’m here in your lap desperately trying not to deflower you right now, I’m more of a predator than you are.”

It does make him laugh, putting a hold on the stress building in his gut. “You’re serious about that?”

“As a house fire,” she exaggerates.

Or so he thinks.

He has no idea the effect he was having on her, she wanted nothing more than to follow the feelings and see where they took her.

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?”

He shakes his head, “no,” he whispers, leaning in and kissing her cheek, he places a hand on the side of her head, raking his fingers thought her hair and tilting her head to the side, he leaves kiss after kiss on her neck, making his way down to her cleavage.

“Ever seen boobs in person?” She teases him, reaching behind herself, she pulls down the zipper and slips the straps down her arms.

He shakes his head, watching carefully as her silky dress slips down and puddles around her hips. “Oh, wow,” he cups them in his hands, cautiously rubbing his thumb over her nipples, he’s shocked to feel something cold against his skin.

“Is that…”

“The left one is pierced, yes,” she smirks, “I did it with my roommate last October… she’s fully healed now if you want to play with it.”

He’s so hard under her, he’s twitching with excitement. She felt it too, he knows when she starts rocking her hips against his a bit.

“Missed your chance.” She reaches for the collar of his shirt next, unbuttoning each and every button, she spreads his shirt wide open. “It’s my turn now,” she whispers before pressing a kiss to his collarbone.

“Oh my god,” he closes his eyes and soaks it all in.

Her kisses become love bites, not long after that his chest is covered in her lipstick and baby bruises. He could already feel himself becoming infected by her touch, her pheromones like venom, he was intoxicated on her and her alone.

“Please, Andy,” he begs.

She pulls back with a smirk, “what d'you want?”

He can't help but stare at her perfect tits, palming over them as she pulls away, “I need a turn…”

“Go for it,” she runs her fingers through his hair and leads him to her chest.

He sticks his tongue out, cautiously, playing with the piercing and the tip of her nipple. She makes a wonderful gasp as he loops his tongue around the nub, then he sucks it right into his mouth. He grips her breast, sucking on her nipple, he moans against her skin, enjoying himself way too much.

It’s like all the pieces fall into place then, they’re so equally interested in each other that the friction catches– they burst into flames of lust. Caught up in the moment, she tosses her head back and gives him a real moan. Her hands slither behind his back and under his shirt, her nails drag across his skin, she wants even more from him.

“Spence…”

He pulls away with a pop, spit trailing from his bottom lip to her piercing, “yeah?”

“Did you still want to get to third base?”

He nods, “but, what about second?”

She reaches between them, unbuckling his jeans slowly, “can I?”

“Please…”

When she pulls him out of his boxers she gives him the most magnificent smile, “I knew it, holy fuck.” She starts stroking him, gliding the precum down his length for comfort, but she takes her time.

“Do you touch yourself often?” She coos, looking into his eyes so innocently while she jerked him off.

He nods.

“Use your words,” she orders. “I like listening to you talk.”

He moans, tossing his head back, “fuck… why?”

“Why what, baby?” Her grip tightens, she teases the head with her thumb on each upstroke.

He wants to last a while, he wants to live in the feelings but it’s so, so good. “Why do you— shit, why d’you like listening—“ he moans again, hips twitching with pleasure, “fuck.”

“You’re so smart… but you get dumb around me,” she whispers, making it simple for him. “I feel like the only woman in the world when you look at me like this.”

He can’t believe she’s real, that she’s saying these things, or the fact that she means it. “I— I can’t,” he wants to let go so bad, he feels like a limp noodle there under her, trying to keep his head up so he can look at her face.

“You’re so close, aren’t you?” She teases him, smirking to herself, looking down to see the precummy mess he had become. With her other hand, she teases the sensitive tip of his cock while she strokes him faster.

“Oh— oh fuck,” he tosses his head back, letting himself enjoy it, unable to watch her as she smiles proudly.

“Oh, you like that?” He can barely hum a yes, it gets stuck in his throat behind a moan, “you can cum for me anytime now, gorgeous.”

All the tension he's ever stored in his body releases as he does. His shoulders drop, his soul ascends, it’s the most glorious orgasm he’s ever experienced, and quite possibly the messiest too as rope after rope of his cum splashed against his stomach.

“Wow,” Andy’s voice brings him back. She reaches to his end table for a tissue, cleaning him up as best as she could. “As hot as that was, I don’t want it getting on my dress.”

“Yeah…” he’s still out of breath. “wow…”

“You’re up to bat, Doctor Reid,” she teases once he’s all clean. “If you still can, that is…”

With some strange new found strength, he places his hand on her back and picks her up, placing her back on the couch, he pushes her dress up so its all bunched around her waist.

“Oh, get ready for it.”

—

Oh, was she ever ready for it.

She’s thought about a moment like this for years since she discovered it was a thing… she’s dreamed of a man going down on her, and now her dream man was about to–

His pager goes off and he sighs, pressing his forehead against her thigh, he was finally just about to get to the good part when the BAU stepped in.

“Fuck,” she vocalizes their disappointment. Genuinely pissed that it wasn’t going to happen, after all that lead-up. Her fucking dad had to step in.

He sits up and waits there for a second, “if it goes off again then I have to—“ it buzzed again before he could even finish the sentence. “Okay, yeah, fuck.”

She laughs, reaching forward she attempts to fix his hair and notices her lipstick is all over his neck… and a few bruises are forming, “I can’t let you go back there looking like this.”

“Like what?” He has no idea, he gets up from the couch and wanders to the bathroom, she follows behind like a new puppy. “Oh…”

“I kinda marked my territory… before you marked yours…” referencing the cum on his shirt.

“Kinda?” He reaches for some toilet paper to rub the lipstick off, “it’s on the inside of my shirt too… can you go in my closet and get another one?”

She nods, making eye contact through the mirror and then she wanders off into his apartment again. In his room she takes a minute to look around, she’s amazed by how tidy his room is for a 23-year-old man.

On his night table, he has a stack of books, each with its own bookmark, she takes note of them all. Great Expectations, Catcher in the Rye, Matilda, it was a weird little stack of books. Behind it was a photo of him, a lot younger, with his mother beside him, he’s holding his high school diploma. Beaming with pride, his mother matched his energy perfectly. It was the sweetest thing.

She wastes too much time snooping, rushing to his closet she grabs a sweater, red with beige and black stripes, and she pairs it with a dress shirt similar to the beige stripe in the sweater, as well as some khaki pants, and returns to him in the bathroom. “The layers should keep the collar in place so then no one will see them… I did try to keep them out of view.”

“It’s okay, Andy,” he pulls her into a hug and kisses the side of her head, “I’m just nervous about the fact I have to go hang out with your dad now…”

“Yeah,” she shudders at the thought, “good luck, with the case and everything.” She pulls away with a smile, “I’m going to let you get ready, I’ll walk with you to the lobby?” She offers, wanting to stay with him until the last moment.

“Okay,” he agrees, letting her out of the room and then closing the door behind her.

She grabs all her things, washes her hands in the kitchen sink and uses some paper towel to take off what’s left of her lipstick in the reflection of his microwave. She was just going to go home anyway, but she still wanted to feel cute around him. She liked him too much right now.

“This is really nice,” Spencer comes out with a smile, tucking his sweater into his pants. He poses, “ta-da!”

She claps, “beautiful, 10’s across the board.”

“Thank you, grab your things, let’s go,” he pushes past the compliment as he stuffs his satchel and throws the strap over his shoulder.

“I’m ready,” she holds her purse, “can you just zip me the rest of the way up?”

“Yeah,” he stands behind her, he gathers her hair and moves it to the side, out of the way.

With shaking hands, he takes the zip in his fingers and pulls it up, ensuring the little clasp was done up too, he presses a kiss to her shoulder for good measure. “I owe you one, but I hope I get to give you more…”

Butterflies storm in her again, “what happens if you don’t go?”

“They come here to get me,” he whispers against her skin, pressing kisses to her shoulder blade and over towards her neck.

When he stops, she desperately wishes he wouldn’t.

He holds her hand on the walk from his apartment, down 2 flights of stairs, towards the street. He hails her a cab, he hands the driver a $50 and flashes his badge, “please ensure she gets home safely.”

“Yes, sir,” the man takes it with pride.

“Bye,” she waves from the window.

“See you soon…”

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#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid request #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine

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nottapossum · 5 months

Text

Chapter 9: Umbrella 🌂 ❤️

Summary:

TW: Needles/shots, lying, holding grudges, possessive behavior, trafficking.

Biting, yelling, locking someone in a room, scratching, forcing someone to regress, slapping, abuse, fear of dark, child abuse.

Lmk if I should add.

This one's kinda dark ngl.

Notes:

When the sun shines, we'll shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we'll still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella." -Umbrella, Rihanna

~~~Millie:~~~

“What has Moxxie already told you about her?” Trixx asks, voice sounding hesitant through the phone.

“He didn’t tell me anything…” Millie hated to admit. “I know she died, and that Crimson was responsible, but he never talked about it.”

“Oh wow…well. I don’t know everything, but I can tell you what I’ve heard…and what I’ve seen.” They say.

Millie waits patiently for Trixx to continue.

“My mother was the oldest of two daughters. Their father was a wealthy businessman who planted some type of illegal substances. He made a lot of money but quite a few bad deals, he fucked up big time when a certain someone threatened his life and business.” Trixx explains.

“He needed protection, and Crimson’s father needed money, so they made him an offer he couldn’t refuse…

If one of his daughters married Crimson, his business would be protected by the mafia, and they would have money.

Despite the fact she already had a fiancé, Moxxie’s mother sacrificed her happiness for her sister and volunteered to be the one to marry Crimson.

Our mother married her sister’s ex fiancé after Kay married Crimson only to get away from her father… I don’t think our father and mother even liked each other, they only settled because of what happened to Aunt Kay.

Kay needed to produce an heir for Crimson as per their agreement, a future underboss or somethin; so they had Moxxie. We were all born together on the same day. Kay actually left without crimson knowing so the two could be together to give birth at the same time. It was a weird relationship they had.” Trixx explains. “Almost…possessive. But, I suppose if it was Roxxy, I'd want to help her as much as possible.”

Millie starts to think of her own sister, she could take care of herself, but if she couldn't, would Millie be so protective?

Probably.

“Yeah, our father left when Roxxy and I turned five, then Mama married Kayla’s dad. But, anyway Aunt Kay visited us a lot, mostly to see her sister and reassure her that she was safe, our mom worried about her constantly. They called almost every day.”

“So…what happened to Kay?” Millie asks.

Trixx sighs. “Moxxie visited us one last time for the harvest moon festival... I overheard Mom and Kay talking in the kitchen after Kay had a harsh discussion with Moxxie.”

~~~Past:~~~

“Are you alright?” Their mother asked Kay downstairs.

Trixx was at the top of the staircase listening as carefully as possible so hopefully they won’t get caught.

Moxxie had just gotten in trouble for mouthing off to aunt Kay… he’s been in the spare bedroom for hours.

Whether Kay locked him in there or Moxxie just wanted to be alone, Trixx wasn’t sure. But, He was clearly upset over something Kay said…or something she didn’t say.

Kay nods. “Yeah, I’m alright…I hate to do it, I hate ignoring him, but that’s what works. I don’t know what else to do, I don’t want him to end up like Crimson.”

Their mother shakes her head. “The boy does need proper discipline. But, what he really needs is to get out of that house.” She says.

“Crimson will find us if I leave, Liz.” Kay says.

“You need to get out of there, Kay. Find a safe place, just go as far as you can.” Liz says. “We can make a plan together, I got a friend in gluttony, she can help you-”

“How can I go that far while carrying a nine year old? He can’t run fast enough! We’ll be caught then Crimson will kill me.” Kay says.

“You’ll have to leave him.” Their mother said.

“I could never leave Moxxie behind, he’s my son.” She says. “My world.”

“You may have to. You can come back with help, they’re not the most powerful people, Kay.” Liz says.

“They're more powerful than you think, Liz.” Kay picked up her dishes, put them in the sink, and then went to bed.

~~~Present:~~~

“We never saw her after that visit.” Trixx explains. “We called and called, but Crimson never answered us. We sent letters that never got a response, and we didn’t see Moxxie either except on social media many years later.”

Millie’s heart felt heavy, his poor mother. “I can’t believe he never told me any of this.” She says.

“Millie, can I ask…just how much did you know about this guy before marrying him?” Trixx asks.

Millie thought she knew a lot…

She thought she knew everything she needed to…

~~~Millie, past:~~~

Millie was dating a guy named Bradley before she met Moxxie…actually he was the reason she even met Moxxie again after so long.

Her and Bradly were never meant to be forever, they were just fooling around for a while.

None of Millie’s boyfriends ever lasted long. She was always told she was “too much” and she “drove them away.”

And who knows, maybe she did. Maybe she was too much for people and got “too carried away” like her parents have always told her.

She couldn't help being a little…much. It's just who she is.

She was prepared to never find someone who really wanted to stick around… that is until she met him.

Her and Bradly were taking a walk together after their date.

Bradly kept going on about sex and how good he is at it and new things they could try- not that he'd ever hear about that from her.

Because he's only average at best and he wouldn't even let her get a word in the conversation.

She almost completely lost it on him when suddenly she heard a gunshot-

“Get down.” She says, pushing Bradly to the ground. Looking up she sees a smaller imp like herself with a sniper rifle in one of the buildings. “I got this.” She says, releasing Bradly.

She ran up to the building, quickly climbing up to the window and jumped at the imp.

“What the!?”

She tackled the imp to the ground.

“Millie?” Moxxie asks once they met face to face.

Millie blinked. “Moxxie?” She asks back, climbing off him.

“What are you doing in pride?” Moxxie asks.

“That’s…none of your concern, what are you doing trying to kill my boyfriend?” Millie asks.

Moxxie’s eyes widened. “THAT'S your boyfriend?!” He asks. “Do you have any idea how many people want him dead?”

“I don't give a shit.” She says. . "I dont care if Satan himself wants him dead! I'm still not going to let you get away with it!"

Blitzø is currently struggling with Bradly and calls out for Moxxie. “Little help here?!” He asks.

“Uhm, I should go.” Moxxie says awkwardly. standing up so he can help his boss.

Millie grows angry. “Oh no you don't.” She growled. She pounced at Moxxie again, tackling him and pinning him to the ground again. “If anyone is goin’ to kill my boyfriend, it’ll be me.” She says.

Moxxie struggles against her, but he’s not strong enough to overpower her.

Then he looks up… “I’m sorry.” He says, kicking a table behind them, causing a vase to fall on Millie’s leg which catches her off guard, she moves off him and Moxxie shoots at the rope connecting the very old chandelier to the ceiling.

It falls on Millie’s head as she couldn’t dodge it fast enough.

Moxxie ran out quickly to kill Bradly, but she would not be so easily defeated.

Her head was bleeding and so was her leg, but she didn’t care; She pulled the heavy chandelier off her and jumped out the window of the building to stop Moxxie in his tracks.

Moxxie had just made it out of the building when she jumped on top of him again, she grabs his gun and points it at him- it’s quickly taken from her however by a taller Imp.

She was much stronger than these two assholes, they had no idea who they were dealing with! She quickly punched Blitzø to get the gun back to point at Moxxie.

Moxxie had another gun in his jacket, he quickly pointed it at her.

Millie sees that Bradly had run off without her…figures, that fucking coward.

Blitzø moved out of the way of the two’s stalemate. But decides to watch and see what will happen instead of chasing after Bradly.

“Sir, the target got away! What are you doing?” Moxxie says, lowering his gun.

“Yeah. It appears he did.” Blitzø says. “What a shame.”

Millie lowers her weapon too. “You two aren't very good at this, are you?” She asks.

“I mean, usually we're alright.” Moxxie says

“I’m Blitzø, the o is silent.” He says, shaking Millie's hand.

She turns to look at this ‘Blitzø’ person. “uh, hi.” She says in annoyance.

“What are you doing?” Moxxie asks him.

“You're not so bad in combat. What's your name?” Blitzø asks her.

“Millie.” She says.

“That was awfully impressive, Millie.” Blitzø says.

“Oh… thanks?” She says, trying not to take the compliment too seriously.

“Sir?” Moxxie tries to get Blitzø's attention.

“Ever think of becoming an assassin?” He asks.

“What?” Millie asks.

“What?! But, sir she just-“

“You have the skills for it and the resilience. We could really use someone like you on our team.” Blitzø says, ignoring Moxxie completely. He hands her a card with their number.

Millie found the offer oddly intriguing, but also, it was weird coming from someone who just tried to take out her boyfriend. Regardless, she takes the card. “I’ll have to think about it.”

“And what about the client?” Moxxie asks in annoyance.

“They’ll get over it.” Blitzø says before turning back to Millie, taking Moxxie's gun back. “I look forward to your call.” He smiled, then left with Moxxie.

~~~A couple weeks later~~~

Millie needed money, her and her roommate could barely make rent every month with the funds they've been getting. And assassins can get decent money if they can get enough kills.

And she’s really good at killing, so she decided and called Blitzø. “Blitzø, I’d like to discuss the job offer.”

~~~~~

Millie and Moxxie hardly talked at all when she started at I.M.P, they’d bump heads every now and then, but for the most part they’d just stay out of each other’s way.

Any time Moxxie attempted to say anything to her, she'd simply ignore him or respond in a way to make sure he knew they were not friends.

Until…

They had to sneak into a fancy gala with ballroom dancing, fancy people, and champagne; not a place Millie would typically find herself in.

Moxxie however was a pro, he got all the costumes, taught them how to properly drink from a wine glass, and even how to dance or decline a dance properly.

It was awkward having to work with someone she got so mad at, but she had to pay the bills somehow.

They entered the party in their disguises, and Millie was honestly shocked that she wasn't discovered as a fraud the second they walked in.

She could never fit in with people like this, she was messy and plain. She couldn't talk fancy or walk right! She thought for sure she'd get them caught.

Moxxie looked perfect, blended in with them so well. How did he manage that?

“Okay, you two dance. I’m going to mingle. Keep an eye out for him, and remember the signal.” Blitzø instructs them both.

Millie and Moxxie give each other a look. Millie with irritation, Moxxie with anxiety. “But, sir, we-“

“Don’t question me, Moxxie.” Blitzø says. “Just do it.”

Moxxie sighs. “Yes, sir.”

Moxxie turned to Millie, so she took his hand reluctantly; They got to the dance floor and started dancing as what was instructed of them.

Moxxie danced just as well as anyone else in the room, it was…annoying! But oddly attractive also.

“You’re not too bad at this.” Millie says to him.

Moxxie shrugs. “I grew up going to fancy places like this.”

“Where did you say you grew up again?” Millie asks.

“Greed; I was born in wrath, but most of my life was spent at home.” Moxxie explains.

“So, were you homeschooled?” She asks.

Moxxie thinks about it. “I guess, yeah.”

“Well, that explains it.” She laughs.

“Explains what?” Moxxie asks.

“I don’t know, you’re just so…” Millie hesitates.

“What?” Moxxie asks.

“Well, you’re weird.” She says.

“Oh.” Moxxie deflates.

“Not in a bad way!” Millie says. “It’s…charmin.”

Moxxie clears his throat. “Oh, thanks? I think.”

“I look ridiculous.” Millie chuckles. “I’m not cut out for fancy shit like this.” She says.

Moxxie raises an eyebrow as he looks her up and down. “What are you talking about? You look bea- uh, perfect.” He says.

“Oh.” Millie’s eyes widen as her face reddens further. “Thank you…”

The two of them went quiet for a few more minutes, things were so awkward between them.

“Look, Millie. I’m sorry I tried to kill your boyfriend, and hit you with a chandelier.” Moxxie says. “It wasn’t personal, I was just doing my job. Can we please work this out so we can start over?” He asks. “We’re going to be working together, we should be friends.”

Millie rolls her eyes. “You think I’m mad at you because of Bradly? I’m not. If I got mad at everyone who tried to kill my boyfriend, I’d always be angry. He gets himself in those situations all the time, I’m surprised he isn’t dead yet!”

“Oh…then. Why are you mad at me?” Moxxie asks.

“It’s stupid.” She says.

“Please tell me?” Moxxie asks. “If I don’t know what it is, how are we going to work it out?” He asks.

Millie shrugs, not wanting to admit the truth.

Moxxie leans closer to her. “I’m sure it’s not as stupid as you think. And if it is, I will take it seriously, I promise.”

“When we first met…you told me you’d visit me. I waited for you every year but…you never did. You just forgot about me.” Millie explains.

“Oh.”

“I was going to ask you for your address so I could send you letters, you were just so different from the other boys I knew.” She explains. “I know we were just kids and it’s stupid and irrelevant now, but-“

“I’m sorry, Millie.” Moxxie interrupts. “I would have visited you, I promise. I thought about you a lot, I just-“ He sighs, “my mom died a few months after I met you. My dad was very protective of me and he didn’t want me to go back to wrath after that. The last time I was there, I was sixteen, and I wasn’t sure you’d even remember me after so long.”

Millie’s eyes widened. “Oh shit. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.” Moxxie says.

They danced quietly for a moment.

“Do you remember when I broke my arm?” Moxxie asks.

“Well, yeah, the bone was sticking out of it! Kids were panicking and throwing up, but you didn’t even cry! I was mighty impressed.” She says.

“I kept the cast in my dresser drawer because I wanted something to remember you by…kinda sounds creepy when I say it out loud.” He realized.

“It's not creepy, that’s really sweet actually.” She says. “Didn’t realize I made such an impression.”

“Millie, how can you not see that you’re always the highlight in any room?” He asks. “With such a unique personality and that beautiful smile, your eyes…you're impossible to forget or ignore.”

Millie looks up at him, face redder than usual. She thought she should say something to him, but Blitzø waved at her. “Blitzø gave the signal, there he is.” She says.

They smiled at each other, and the plan was back in motion.

And their friendship was also restored and work became a lot more tolerable.

~~~~~~~

It took Moxxie months to admit his feelings to Millie, but she knew he liked her, everyone did!

Blitzø made subtle remarks about them constantly, calling them ridiculous nicknames and telling them to get a room.

Even Loona made comments about them, more cynical remarks towards Moxxie about how Millie would never go out with someone like him.

It’s true she’s never dated someone like Moxxie, but there was just something about him that made her feel so genuine, so seen.

But Millie was already with someone else, someone who proved not to be worth her time, and she knew if she wanted to ask Moxxie out, she had to make the first move, and she needed to break up with Bradly.

She walked to the bus stop to head to her own apartment after a long conversation with Bradly. It was pouring outside, and she was soaked without a hood on her jacket. She honestly wasn't expecting rain.

“Millie?” She heard suddenly behind her.

She looks behind her and sees Moxxie holding a black umbrella.

“Oh…hey, Mox.” She says, moving closer to get underneath said umbrella. “Thought you would have gone home with Blitzø and Loona.”

Moxxie shrugs. “I needed some time alone. It's been a long day.”

“Oh. Should I give you some space?” Millie asks.

Moxxie shakes his head. He moved the umbrella over to Millie to protect her from the rain. “No, you’re okay.”

“Thanks.” She says. “So, why was today such a bad day for you? You've been off your game all day.”

“It’s the anniversary of my mom dying.” He says.

“Oh.”

“Yeah…” he hands her the umbrella and sits down on the bench.

“Moxxie?” Millie asks, sitting next to him.

Moxxie sniffs pitifully. “She didn't send me any dimes.” He covers his eyes and drops his head in defeat.

“dimes?” She asks.

"You know how some people think the dead sends you messages?" Moxxie asks.

Millie nods. "Sure."

“Well, every year since her death, I've found as many dimes as my age every November 6th. But, this year, I couldn't find any.” He explains.

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.” Millie says.

Moxxie sighs. “She must be so disappointed in me!” He says. “She never wanted me to kill anyone…at least not for a living.”

“Sometimes you have to kill people.” She says.

“I guess…” Moxxie says, crossing his arms, obviously not feeling any better.

“If this is how you feel, why did you become an assassin?” She asks.

Moxxie shrugs. “I'm good at it, the same people would die anyway…and everyone has to find a way to survive, working is part of that.”

Millie nods. “Yeah, I get it. I moved here to make a life for myself, but this is the best job I've been able to get. My parents think I'm a complete failure.” She says.

“I know how you feel.” Moxxie says.

The bus arrived and the two of them got on.

“How does your pa feel about your work?” Millie asks once they sat down.

Moxxie shrugs. “I don't know, he wanted me to work with him, but he hasn't been the same since mom died.”

Millie nods. “Ah, I see.”

“What does Bradly think of your work?” Moxxie asks.

“Screw what he thinks, he's a jackass.” Millie says. “A good for nothin shithead.”

Moxxie licks his lips. “You said it, I didn't.”

A few minutes pass with smaller talks of life and the world around them

Millie learned about Moxxie's true passion for music and theater.

He was so interesting, she loved that about him.

She talked about home and even shared some of her most treasured memories she had with them.

He was a very good listener, and made her feel so special, so important.

Moxxie didn't talk about his childhood much, but instead kept asking about hers. She naturally assumed he didn't have a lot of stories and just found her family entertaining.

“This is my stop.” Moxxie suddenly says, getting up to leave the bus.

“Moxxie wait! Your umbrella.” She holds the umbrella towards him.

Moxxie stops, but he doesn’t take it. “Keep it, I’ll be like Gene Kelly.”

“Who’s that?” Millie asks.

“You don’t know who Gene Kelly is? Singing in the rain? An American in Paris? Summer stock?” He asks, shocked.

She shrugs.

“Oh, Millie. I’m sorry but that needs to change. You have to see at least one of his movies.” He says.

Millie smiles. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, he’s an icon!” He says.

“Okay, I’ll watch one with you. But you have to watch Zombone killer X with me.” She says.

Moxxie smiles. “Alright, deal-“

Millie kisses his cheek. “Bring the movie, we’ll watch both on Friday at my place. Then we can…hang out.”

Moxxie took a step back. “Oh- um, but what about your boyfriend?”

“I broke up with him.” She says.

“Oh…I’m sorry to hear that.” Moxxie says.

“I’m not, I wasn’t in love with him or some shit, plus I have standards.” She scoffs. “I’ll see you Friday, Moxxie.” She says.

Moxxie smiles. “See you Friday.”

He got off the bus, then Millie went home.

That was the start of their new relationship.

She felt she finally found her equal, someone she could truly love and trust…

But now… She wasn't so sure…

~~~Millie: present~~~

What is she missing? What is it that she can’t understand?

Why did he hide his past from her?

“I have to go.” She says to Trixx before hanging up the phone.

She closed her eyes, she wished it wasn't true, she wished Moxxie never lied and that she could trust him again without questioning it.

But she wishes more than anything that he could be here to explain himself…

Tears fell down her face.

She misses him so much. Where in hell is he?!

~~~Moxxie:~~~

Moxxie started working with the mafia again, doing simple jobs like paperwork, gun cleaning and prepping, and occasionally supervising.

He didn’t mind this type of work, he’s always been able to handle anything anyone threw at him, he’s honestly just thankful he wasn’t being forced to hurt anyone like he used to.

He used to be primarily in charge of inventory…but Crimson said he wasn’t ready for it yet.

It was oddly suspicious. What is it Moxxie couldn’t see? What was his father scared of him seeing?

It had to be something his father knew would upset him, something…

Or someone.

“Dad?” Moxxie approached his father after they had returned to the mansion.

“What do you want, Mox?” Crimson asks, making himself a drink and sitting down after a long day of work.

“Why won't you just tell me what they're hauling?” Moxxie asks. “It’s not like I’ll tell anyone.”

“This again?” Crimson asks. “The answer is simple. It's none of your business.” Crimson says.

“Nothing you’ve been doing has made any sense. What is it that you want with me? Is there a purpose? Or are you just looking for control?” Moxxie asks. “If I’m going to be forced to be here, you could at least give me some sort of idea as to why-“

“Do you need to be little, Moxxie?” Crim asks him.

“What?” Moxxie asks, taking a step back.

Crimson sets the drink down and stands up. “You’re getting all worked up, you seem stressed. Maybe you need to relax.” He says.

“I don’t- I- no. I’m fine.” Moxxie answers, rubbing his arm anxiously.

“You sure? You had a long day.” Crim says, gripping his son’s chin.

“I don’t want to regress! Ever!” Moxxie says louder, hoping he’ll get the message. He moves away from his father’s grasp, almost falling backwards from his shaking form.

Crimson grabs Moxxie’s horn, causing him to whimper. “What’s the matter, Mox? You used to beg me to let you regress. Remember?”

Moxxie remembers a few incidents where he begged his father to let him regress… When it had been a while, Moxxie was at the brink of an emotional breakdown due to the constant headaches, emotional stress, and anxiety he was feeling throughout the week.

After he regressed, he’d suddenly feel a lot better, more relaxed and energetic by the end-

This was not always the case however, sometimes it would lead to what people called: ‘impure regression’ which basically just means ‘baby isn’t happy.’

Of course Moxxie knows now that all regression is valid and pure, and having negative emotions or struggling with flashbacks or bad thoughts while in headspace, does not mean he’s wrong or ‘impure’. He just has emotions, and that was okay.

Usually, when emotions get out of control like this, people slip into their headspace involuntary; but, since Moxxie’s regression is always being controlled, he can’t just slip into headspace if he needs to- it just builds up over time.

Which causes him unbearable emotional pain.

~~~Past~~~

His father was hosting a party after one of their big heists. Moxxie had helped a lot with this one, killed so many people, got them so much money, he didn’t leave his father’s side… and at the moment, his mind just wouldn’t listen to reason. It wanted to regress and nothing else could help him.

He tried to keep calm during the drinking and the talking, interacting, introductions, smiling, exc- but, he couldn’t take it anymore! His head hurt far too much!

Moxxie hid behind the staircase to try and calm himself down, he had to stay strong for his own sake.

“He’s here, Crimson.” Alessio says, suddenly appearing in front of him.

Fucking snitch. Moxxie needed to be alone to calm down, why couldn't he see that?!

“What the fuck is going on with you?” Crimson asks his son once he got to him. “You’re supposed to be celebrating, kid.”

Moxxie took some deep breaths, tryingdesperatelynot to cry. “I’m sorry, Sir. I really am. I just- I can’t- I-“

“Spit it out, Mox.” His father spouts harshly. “You can’t what?”

“Please, sir. I can’t do this anymore, can I please just be little for just a little while, please?” Tears fall down Moxxie’s face, he couldn’t face his father as he asked, he just wanted to calm down, but he couldn’t! He panicked and he was stressed the hell out!

Crimson sighs. “For Satan's sake. That’s what you’re so upset about?” Crimson asks. “You want to regress?”

Moxxie nods. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to disappoint you. I just need a break. Please, Dad?”

“It’s that bad, huh?” Crimson asks softly, holding Moxxie’s shoulders.

Moxxie nods again. Tears continue to fall, Moxxie tries to dry them with his sleeve, but it won’t stop as his eyes are pleading with his father for a break.

Crimson’s voice remains calm and surprisingly comforting. He rubs his arms gently. “Alright, alright. Calm down, Moxxie.” Crimson takes Moxxie’s chin. “Go upstairs, I’ll be up there in a minute to take care of you.”

Moxxie nods. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” He obeyed his father and went upstairs. He just wanted to feel better again.

~~~

Moxxie waited in his room as Crimson told him to. He continued to try and stop himself from crying, afraid his father may see him as incapable or… ‘unruly’ as he has said in the past.

Crimson showed up and found Moxxie on the bed. .

Moxxie knew Crimson must have been disappointed, and Moxxie wouldn't blame him...he'd never hated himself more if he was honest.

“Mox?” Crimson asks.

“I’m sorry, Sir.” Moxxie says. “I didn’t want to disappoint you. I just-“

Crimson shakes his head. “It’s fine, Moxxie. You worked hard today. You did good, kid.”

“You’re not mad?” Moxxie asks.

“Why would I be mad? It’s not like you can control it, your little dumb brain just wants to be turned off, that’s all.” Crimson says. “If this is what it takes to get your best, it’s fuckin’ worth it.” Crimson says.

Moxxie nods, he’s at least glad his father isn’t upset with him.

But, he hated being little, it was scary and he liked being in control of his own mind; but he couldn’t stand the repression symptoms anymore. It was too much!

Crimson looked him over and kissed his cheek. “Quiet time.”

~~~Present:~~~

Moxxie didn’t want to live like that, where things got so bad he had to be a child again in order to feel better.

That's why he printed out all those breathing exercises, sung to himself so oftem, and tried therapy! He needed to get better in a way that didn't involve regression.

Crimson had too much control… he couldn’t keep letting him have it.

He and Alessio think they can control him, but they can’t!

“Sir.” Alessio walked in, making Crimson release Moxxoe's horn.

“What is it?” Crimson asks.

“He needs another shot before it completely wears off.” Alessio says, gesturing to Moxxie.

“What?” Moxxie asks. This would be the third time they gave him a shot…what was it for?

And why is he only now noticing the way Alessio and Crimson are looking at each other? It was the way Millie’s parents looked at each other...the same way Millie looked when she looked at him.

Moxxie's eyes widen. Were they…?

“The only question is, will Moxxie listen, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?” Crimson asks Moxxie condescendingly.

Moxxie looks at Alessio, then at Crimson. “What is going on between you two?” He asks, ignoring Crimson's comment.

“Excuse me?” his father asks.

“Are you two together? Is that why you took me? To make me part of this weird family you're building with him?!” Moxxie asks angerly.

Crimson slaps Moxxie across the face, causing him to hit his head on the floor. “You seriously need to start learning to mind your own fucking business!” Crimson says.

Alessio kneels on the floor next to him: “Quiet time, Moxxie.” he whispers.

~~~Little Moxxie, Alessio & Crimson: later~~~

No, no, pease!” Moxxie begs. “No shot!” Moxxie shouts at Alessio.

Alessio had taken Moxxie to their medical room to give him the shot, thinking it would be fairly simple, and he could give Crimson some time to calm down, but the little was fighting Al with everything he had, which was more than Alessio thought.

Moxxie hissed, scratched, and finally bit Alessio's hand.

“ow!" Alessio yelped. "Moxxie, you’ve been so good lately, why are you being such a brat?” Alessio asks, his voice was calm but his words were mean!

“I’ huwt! Don’ wan it!” Moxxie cries out. “Don’ nee’ it!” he panicked.

“Moxxie, I’m going to count to three, if you don’t comply and take your shot willingly, you will be in a time out. One…two…”

Moxxie backed up. “No!” He cries.

“Moxxie…” Alessio warns again.

With the little saying nothing and still trying to get away, Alessio sighs. “Okay, that’s three-“

“What the hell is going on in here?” Crimson asks, swinging the door open violently.

“Moxxie is refusing to take his shot.” Alessio explains to him. "He's scratching, hissing, and biting."

“Moxxie, are you asking for a punishment?” Crimson asks harshly, crossing his arms.

Moxxie shakes his head quickly. “No…”

“Then be good and take your shot, now!” Crimson shouted.

Moxxie cries more, but he does as he’s told, he shakily gives Alessio his arm.

He hates shots! They hurt so much! He hates needles!

Alessio takes Moxxie’s arm for a second before pulling him forwards and pricking him in the neck instead.

Moxxie cries out, it hurts worse than he thought it would!

“See, that wasn’t so bad.” Crimson says. “Now, is there anything you want to say to Alessio?” He asks.

Moxxie crosses his arms, he doesn’t want to talk to Alessio, he betrayed him! He stuck a needle in his neck and didn’t say please or sorry. It wasn’t very nice at all!

“Fine, maybe you need a good long time out to think this over.” Crimson says, grabbing Moxxie’s wrist.

“No! M’sowy!” Moxxie says, breathing heavily.

“No, you don’t get to act like this, you know the rules of this house!” Crimson says. "You do not fight me and Alessio."

Moxxie cries, but reluctantly follows Crimson to one of the guest rooms.

Moxxie is shoved in the dark room violently and the door is slammed shut and locked.

“You are not to move until I come back, do not cross me!” His father warns.

Moxxie cries and hugs himself tightly, he looks around the room and it’s nothing but pitch black darkness…

And he’s all alone.

He wanted his Daddy, or Alessio, or even Chaz to come get him and tell him everything was okay again…

But…

Something was wrong, and nothing would be okay again until he found out what was wrong.

What happened to him? Why was daddy and Al doing this to him?

The darker it got, the scareder Moxxie was... he felt like he couldn’t breathe! His head felt light and cold...

Like he was drowning!

He thought he heard something!

If he was in a better mindset, he may have thought it was the wind...

But, what if it wasn't? He didn't want to die!

He hated the dark!

He clawed at the door, screaming and begging for someone to let him out but to no avail.

He cried harder and harder untill he eventually passed out from it.

~~~That night, Quint and Moxxie:~~~

Quint knew he should probably stay out of this.

Crimson would kill him if he found out what he was about to tell Moxxie.

And maybe if stu was still there, he'd care but he's lost all meaning in his life.

Moxxie however has someone left to live for, still had a drive and purpose.

And he needed to be reminded of why he can't give up.

Quint overheard Alessio and Crimson talking about how they had locked Moxxie up in his ‘new room’ for the night, so he knew where to find him.

He climbed into the window, all the furniture had white sheets over it, to hide what the two had in mind for Moxxie.

He finds the little one fast asleep on the cold hard floor by the door.

Quint took a deep breath as quietly as possible, almost changing his mind… but, he grabbed Moxxie and covered his mouth tightly to be sure he wouldn't make any noise.

Little Moxxie screamed and cried, squirming as he tried to pry his boney hands off him.

Quint pulled out his phone and used type-to speech to say the phrase: “Wake up.” To make Moxxie snap out of it.

He drops Moxxie as he snaps out of it. “Wh- Quint? What’s wrong? What happened?” Moxxie asked. “Where am I?” He asks.

Quint gestures for Moxxie to be quiet, then he gestures for Moxxie to follow him.

Moxxie raises an eyebrow. “Okay…?”

He follows Quint, who climbed out the window.

He had no idea where he was, but he decided to follow Quint despite not being sure if he trusted the shark…what did he have left to lose?

~~~~~~~

Quint led Moxxie through the yard, near where all the trucks were, passing where target practice was held.

They walked into one of the sheds, Quint picked up a clipboard that held a list of people's names, handing it to Moxxie to look over.

“Who are they?” Moxxie asks him.

Quint signs: “Littles they sold.”

Moxxie’s mouth hung open. “He’s trafficking littles?” Moxxie asks.

Quint nods, and points to the large trucks. ‘We take them from anonymous sellers and sell them to those who can't pass the background checks to adopt their own littles.’

If Moxxie wasn’t so overwhelmed and shocked, he may have asked more questions. But, only one came to mind: “Why would you tell me this?” Moxxie asks.

Quint sighs, then answers: ‘You’re the one who cares about being good. I just thought you should know.’

Moxxie nods, feeling horrified that people could even do this. ‘Thank you.’ Moxxie signs.

Maybe Quint was a better person than he thought...maybe he did care.

He needs to stop this somehow, needs to help these littles find a way out! He can't let this continue to happen!

Quint nods. ‘Let’s get you back.’ He signs, looking around nervouly.

“We can't! I-“ Moxxie tried to argue.

‘Don’t make me regret telling you.’ Quint signs, face serious.

Moxxie nods, and follows Quint back to the room he was locked in.

They climbed back through the window and Quint got his phone out and moved it closer to Moxxie to record his voice.

“Wait- no.” Moxxie says, understanding what Quint was asking.

‘Can’t cause suspicion, you need to be little again.’ Quint signs.