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lambourngb · 4 years

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This Hard Journey

Fic prompt: “There’s something you should know…” Michael Guerin Day 2. This picks up after yesterday’s “This Hard Life” - a part of interconnected ficlets of an AU after the shed, where Alex doesn’t join the Air Force. Mentions of Malex and an Alex/Other here. Finished on ao3 here.

***

He finally got a dog, was all that Michael could think as he sat outside of the house that matched the address Max pulled from the DMV. They had always wanted to get a dog together, but with pet deposits and the tight budget for rent and food, that had always been a non-starter for them. Not anymore.

The quiet shaded street just off of the Buchanan Arts District was lined with old-style Craftsman homes among the peppered in new, renovated sprawling McMansions born of the house flipping obsession during the real estate boom. New construction sprouting between old, mature trees, juxtaposing progress with tradition.

Alex had chosen one of the older homes, untouched by the remodeling fad with a large fenced in yard filling the property footprint, and a dog house that mimicked the main house in style. Two solid years of song-writing had rewarded Alex with financial security, and of course, after three years living in cramped efficiency apartments and noisy neighbors with Michael, the first thing Alex would want again was a house. The roots of his upper middle class childhood were never far away.

Pressing his forehead against the steering wheel, Michael worked to gather the courage that kept him propelled down the over 1,100 miles from Roswell to Nashville. He had made it here, the least he could do was knock on the door instead of freaking out over the fact that Alex had a house with a mortgage while all Michael could muster in the two years since was buying a bank-possessed Airstream.

At least it was better than sleeping rough in his truck again, something he had done when he fell behind on the rent after Alex had left.

Michael took a deep steadying breath and pushed himself out of his truck. The spans of sidewalk suddenly seemed longer than I-40 through Oklahoma. Another deep breath, the irony of borrowing Alex’s self-soothing habit not lost on Michael at all, he tucked his left hand into a pocket to hide the old damage and knocked firmly on the front door.

There was a long silence extended, shoving anticipation into chagrin as Michael turned his head to peek at the tiny side-carport, confirming there was a car there. A loud, chorus of deep barks picked up from within the house. The dog sounded big, but none of that registered as he picked up Alex’s voice, muffled and indistinct.

“-calm down, buddy. Stay- no, stay- It’s probably Daddy’s new speakers arriving-”

After two and half days of driving, Michael had perfected his speech to Alex. It hit every open wound between them, from the fact he was sorry he hadn’t gone with him, to the weak but true explanation that he wasn’t ready then, but he was now. Then finally the big dice throw, the gamble of everything, that every city needed a good mechanic, Nashville was no different, it was no pressure- but maybe? Maybe they could start over?

The door swung open, and like a bag of spilled marbles, all of Michael’s words scattered away from him.

“Michael?” Alex’s polite smile for an expected delivery dropped into disbelieving shock. He did a comical double take, looking back into the house, then to Michael, then over Michael’s shoulder. The classic Chevy truck parked on the street chased away the shock. “Jesus Christ, it really is you.”

“Alex.” Michael swallowed, his eloquence gone. “You look good.”

They had had three years together, and during that time Michael had seen so many different versions of Alex Manes. He had seen Alex tired, dark circles shading his eyes more consistently than eyeliner with an off-kilter alien antennae from the Crashdown. He had seen Alex resolute, using his shoulders to impart a warning in his black clad Wild Pony shirt to any drunk who dared to give him a hard time. He had seen Alex awkward, as he helped Michael with his chores at the Foster’s ranch when it came to cleaning out a cow pen or pulling the twine efficiently off baled hay. He had seen Alex ashamed, as Michael patiently explained during their first grocery store visit that the EBT card only covered certain items.

This Alex was new. Clean, well-rested, skin clear and not tight on his cheekbones from lean meals or bloated from cheap food. An earring shined from his ear, he was dressed in a soft v-neck shirt and artfully cut frayed jeans. Good was an understatement.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here- I’m here because Isobel got married, and um, she wanted to invite you, but I talked her out of it. I’m sorry. I mean for that, but also for like, everything. Not following you here was something I regretted every day since, but I thought- I thought I had to stay back then, but I don’t anymore- and there’s something you should know-”

“Babe? Is that our new speakers at the door?” A new voice called out, cutting off the word vomit that was spilling from Michael’s mouth beyond his control.

A male voice.

The wince and apology on Alex’s face told Michael everything he needed to know. Well. He probably should have seen that coming. Only Alex’s reaching out quickly to grab his hand as he turned away stopped him from bolting from the house.

“No, not our speakers, but an old friend from back home is here-” Alex called back, before turning back to make deliberate eye contact with Michael. “He wanted to stop by to say hello.”

A tall well-built black man came into view, holding a squirming pit bull in his arms, walked toward them both with a bright welcoming smile, “A friend from Roswell? An actual flesh and blood human who knows you? I was starting to think you were an alien, Alex.”

“Just because you’re related to half of Nashville and went to school with the other half, Dennis, doesn’t mean I sprouted from a pod-” Alex shot back playfully, clearly picking up a well-worn argument.

Like a couple. A real couple. With a house and a dog. Michael licked his dry lips, forcing his muscles upward, they probably had retirement accounts. In two years Alex had built something more secure than he had in the three years in Roswell.

“Well any friend of yours, Alex, is one of mine,” Dennis greeted, turning his head to avoid an excited dog kiss before transferring the bundle of fur into Alex’s arms in a fluid movement of trust. “I’m Dennis, welcome to Nashville, um-?” he prompted, extending his left hand to Michael.

“Michael Guerin,” he answered politely, before Michael lifted his left hand awkwardly from his pocket and offered his right in return. His name didn’t alter the warm smile on Dennis’s face. Ah. So he must be a nameless ex for Alex then. Swallowing hard, Michael continued, this time a little meanly, “this hand doesn’t shake so well after I got on the wrong side of a hammer, sorry. But good to meet you.”

The stutter of the clumsy interaction hid Alex’s wince and flash of pain of the reminder.

Feeling no joy from that, Michael picked up the conversation lightly, “I’m a friend from high school. Been doing some transport work, and a job sent me here to pick up a car to drive back to Roswell, so I thought I might stop in and see what the famous Alex Manes is up to…”

“I’m not famous, I just write the words,” Alex protested quietly, before backing away from the doorway. “We were just about to have lunch, if you want to stay-”

“He’s famous, don’t listen to him,” Dennis interjected proudly. “Did you hear that new song from Paramore? Alex wrote that.”

“Oh I know, I have all the singles Alex wrote,” Michael smiled, looking around the house and at the couple with another deep breath. “I’m his biggest fan, I think. But um, thank you, I can’t stay, I gotta hit the road back to-” he started to say home, but that hadn’t been true for a long time. “Back to Roswell.”

***

Hours later with his heart heavy, Michael checked into his room at the Super 8. Normally the expense would have bothered him, but after his day, he figured he was entitled to a little bit of spoiling. And if it was sad that plain wrapped soaps and tiny shampoo bottles constituted spoiling, well, he was content with that.

The clunky black case of his small portable DVD player was propped open on the hotel bed. It was a hand-me-down as technology and electronic gadgets moved into smoother, more versatile means. For him, it was perfect to watch a borrowed DVD in his Airstream since he lacked cable.

With the entire contents of a motel conditioner in his hair, Michael started the paused video file. The shaky dark footage started playing, the sound crackling with amateur hands, before the clear, strong voice of Alex Manes filled the air.

It was probably pathetic to watch this cribbed footage from YouTube, but the romanticism that fueled his journey down 1-40 was also the same sentiment that preserved this moment in amber for Michael. Pulling open his old notebook from high school, he let Alex’s voice singing about love and loss carry him through the calculations of point atmospheric entry and the parallax distance of habitable stars.

It would be a hard journey, but Michael didn’t know any other kind at this point. Roswell wasn’t his home. Nashville wasn’t going to be home either, but the universe was ever-expanding, surely there was a place for Michael?

#mgweek20 #guerinweek20 #malex fic #the lost decade #au after the shed #michael guerin #alex manes #roswell new mexico #Malex #angst here but eventual happy ending #will it show up in the tags?#no one knows certainly not me

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afni-fics · 3 years

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In Hindsight: Chapter 7: In the Present... Lie in Ruins

In Hindsight: Chapter 7: In the Present... Lie in Ruins by C_R_Scott Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tim Drake/Tam Fox, Jack Drake/Janet Drake, Janet Drake & Tim Drake, Jack Drake & Tim Drake, Lucius Fox/Tanya Fox, Tim Drake & Tam Fox Characters: Tim Drake, Tam Fox, Janet Drake, Jack Drake, Lucius Fox, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth Additional Tags: Tim Drake-centric, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Family Feels, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Childhood Memories, Childhood Sweethearts, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Good Parent Janet Drake, Bad Parent Jack Drake, no beta we die like robins, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent

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Story Summary: What if Tim Drake was originally raised by his maternal grandmother for the first eight years of his life due to "circumstances" involving his biological parents? What if Tim's grandmother was also the next door neighbor and occasional sitter for Lucius Fox's family?

Chapter Summary: Jack Drake had lied to Tim about his grandmother's death. However, Jack is also dead himself. Tim attempts to cope with the aftermath of learning the truth of what his father had done. Fortunately, he is not alone.

...

"Jack lied."

Lucius's words were stuck in Bruce's head as Alfred drove him into Gotham City from the Manor. They kept repeating themselves over and over and over again. After about ten minutes of focused brooding, Bruce finally voiced the question he knew he couldn't run away from.

"How did I miss this?"

From the driver's seat, Alfred glanced at Bruce via the rear-view mirror. "You had no way of knowing."

"I should have known."

"How?" Alfred's brow furrowed. "Tim didn't even know? His fa--" The old man choked on the word with a grimace, as if he'd bitten into a piece of bitter melon. He huffed irritably before continuing. "--Jack lied to him for years, and gave none of us any reason to suspect anything coming out of his mouth was false."

Bruce shook his head as he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts before selecting one. After three rings, the line finally connected.

"You do know it's not even noon, right?" Barbara Gordon grumbled. "What could you possibly want at this ungodly time of the morning?"

"It's about Tim."

There was moment of pause. When Barbara spoke, drowsiness had been replaced with concern in her tone. "What's wrong? Is he alright? Is he having a delayed reaction to the new Fear Toxin?"

Bruce hesitated before answering, making a quick mental note to double check Tim's bloodwork as soon as he could. If Tim was suffering a delayed Fear Toxin reaction on top of everything else, that could further complicate his son's compromised emotional state.

"It's not about the Fear Toxin, though that could be exacerbating the situation in the background," Bruce said finally. "I need you to do some digging into Tim's family history."

"You're asking me to investigate Tim? Why? What's going on?"

"Tim was never an orphan."

"WHAT?!"

"We just discovered today he has a living maternal grandmother," Bruce explained. "But for whatever reason Jack Drake lied to Tim and his mother eight years ago and told them both she was dead. From what I've been told, his grandmother was supposed to have had full custody of him back then. Then she got hospitalized. When she was finally well enough to be released, Jack had managed to sever all ties between her and Tim."

"Jesus Christ," Barbara breathed out softly. "Does Tim kno-- Never mind, of course he knows otherwise you wouldn't be asking me to do the investigating. Is he with you now?"

"I'm going to his place in the city with Alfred to check on him. Tracker says he's stationary at the Nest."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Do a deep dive into the history between Tim's parents and his grandmother. Her name is Susan Klein. We need to learn what exactly triggered the original custody arrangement, as well as how Jack managed to take custody away from Susan and hide the fact that she was alive from both Tim and his mother. I also want to know why the hell the courts and CPS didn't get involved back then to return Tim to his grandmother, especially after Jack died."

"You also want to find the rest of Jack's skeletons," Barbara inferred. "Because if Jack lied about something this big to his own son--"

"--What else did he lie about?--"

"--And how much damage could this do to Tim if it's brought to light?" Bruce could hear Barbara indulge in a weary sigh. "Holy shit... Ok... Ok... Ok... Give me an hour to get a shower, coffee, and food. Then I'll start digging. This is all cold case kinda stuff, so it's not going anywhere. Keep me posted if you pick up any new leads from Tim."

"Thanks Barbara."

"Oh, by the way... Who else knows about this?"

"Alfred, Lucius, and Tam."

"Alright. I'll keep this on the down low from the rest of the fam until you can check on Tim. Take care of him, Bruce."

"I will."

With the call ended, Bruce leaned back and closed his eyes. What was he going to find when they finally got the Nest? He didn't have to wait long. About ten minutes later, Bruce and Alfred found themselves being led through Tim's home by a deeply concerned Tamara Fox.

...

Three months and twenty-eight days.

That's how long it took for Tim to travel around the US and the world, investigate multiple archaeological sites, survive the Council of Spiders, cripple the League of Assassins, save the girl, and return home with proof of his adopted father being alive. So much mileage, blood, and lives lost had gone into the journey to recover Bruce Wayne from the time stream Darkseid had sent him into.

Nineteen minutes and thirty-nine seconds.

That's all the time it took for Tim to find evidence his grandmother was alive and well and still living in the same house she always had for the past fifty years. He didn't have to leave Gotham. He didn't even have to leave his workstation. All the information was at his fingertips online. All the evidence pointed at the conclusion that his grandmother (and the truth) had always been just a few keystrokes away.

But that couldn't be right. If that was right, that meant his father lied to him and his mother. Jack Drake wouldn't have done that. So it had to be wrong. Tim just couldn't figure out how the evidence was wrong.

"Recognized: Tamara Fox. Alpha-Zero-Two. Entrance: Garage."

"Recognized: Verified Guest. Alpha-Zero-Two-Dash-Zero-One. Entrance: Garage."

"Recognized: Verified Guest. Alpha-Zero-Two-Dash-Zero-Two. Entrance: Garage."

The voice of Tim's AI security matrix echoed through the cavernous space of Tim's brand new "Nest", the hidden vigilante base of operations tucked behind his renovated theater home. The young man barely acknowledged the announcements, though, as he sat motionless at his workstation with his elbows propped up on the desk and his face buried in his hands. Slowly, his hands shifted, sliding down his face over closed eyes to linger over his nose and mouth. Tim drew in a breath through his nose and tried to release it slowly through his mouth. Despite his attempt at control, his breath shuddered audibly as he exhaled. Desperately, he squeezed his eyes shut tighter and shifted his hands to press against them. The adjustment exposed his mouth pressed into a grim, trembling line as he struggled to keep any sound from escaping.

Despite his best efforts, a thin trickle of moisture escaped his hands and coursed down his cheek.

Tim heard the hidden door that connected the Nest to his living room slide open, and blindly identified the footsteps of three people walking into his inner sanctum. One of them he was certain was Tam, and he had his suspicions about the other two.

However, in order to confirm them, he would have had to remove his hands and open his eyes...

...and he was not ready to do that just yet.

...

The moment Bruce laid eyes on Tim, he felt his heart ache at the sight before him. There was his son, sitting alone at his workstation, and everything in his body language was silently crying out with shock and dismay.

For a brief few seconds, Bruce froze. His mind was a panicked jumble. What could he do?! What could he say?! How was he going to fix this?!

Then Tim slowly lifted his head from his hands, and he when he looked over at Bruce, the older man's breath got stuck in his throat. His normally confident and unwavering teenager looked so dazed and hurt and utterly lost.

"B?"

A single letter, barely whispered, partly a question, but mostly a plea, was all it took. Bruce's feet were no longer rooted to the floor, and he quickly closed the distance between himself and his son, because his boy had called out to him.

Tim rose to his feet as he saw Bruce approach, and he let himself be wrapped up in his adopted father's arms. Bruce could feel Tim lean into him, could feel the anxious tension in every muscle in his son's back as the boy buried his face into his chest.

"I'm here, Tim," Bruce murmured as soothingly as he could as he stroked Tim's hair. "It's going to be ok."

"I... I don't know what I'm doing wrong," Tim whispered mournfully.

"Wrong?"

"Dad said she died. He wouldn't have lied about that. He couldn't have." Unconsciously, Tim's hand fisted into Bruce's shirt, as if he were hanging on for dear life. "But Lucius says she's alive... Been alive this entire time. And the evidence..."

As more words spilled out from his boy's mouth, Bruce heart broke at the brittle desperation in Tim's voice.

"I have to be missing something. I'm doing something wrong. I'm making a mistake somewhere and I don't know what it is." Tim drew in a shuddering breath. "Or maybe it's the Fear Toxin. An after effect? Maybe it's making me hallucinate? Mis-hear... Misinterpret things?" He turned his head from Bruce's chest and gazed uneasily at the workstation monitors. "Maybe I'm just seeing things? Maybe I'm just losing my mind?"

The fact that Tim's voice took on a hopeful edge at the thought of going crazy sent a stab of deep concern through Bruce. A quick glance at the workstation monitors showed him all the evidence Tim had dug up on his own since leaving Wayne Tower. A lump rose to his throat. When he spoke, he could barely force his own voice above a hoarse whisper.

"You're not hallucinating, Tim. I... I can see the evidence myself."

Tim's eyes widened at the screens, then he shut them tightly before shaking his head. "No... No no no no no..."

"Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce glanced over to Tamara, who looked close to tears herself, but was managing to just barely hold herself together. She had one arm wrapped around herself and the other held her cell phone. He could see Lucius's name on the screen as the current active call.

"Yes?"

Tam swallowed hard before answering. "My dad's on the line. I told him we found Tim. He... He's with Nana... Tim's grandma... right now."

Bruce felt Tim freeze in his arms. He felt his own heart stutter as well.

"She... would like to speak with Tim, if he's able. She understands though if he's too overwhelmed right now."

Tim turned his gaze to Tam's phone, his red-rimmed blue eyes wide and warring between longing and dread.

Bruce stroked Tim's back. "You... don't have to if you don't want to," he murmured. "We can wait until you feel better... Until we figure things out on this side."

For several seconds, there was nothing but tense silence in the air. Bruce could practically see the gears turning and grinding in Tim's mind. He could see the war play out on his son's face as he struggled to make a decision. Then, finally, Tim uneasily reached out and offered an open hand to Tam.

Tam nodded and raised the phone to her own ear first. "I'm handing my phone to Tim now." Then, she carefully gave Tim the cell, watching as he wrapped his fingers about the edges of the device and raised it to his own ear.

"H-Hello?"

Though he was still holding Tim closely, Bruce wasn't close enough to hear much of other end of the call. He could tell it was a woman's voice, but couldn't make out most of the words. But he could see his son. He watched, helpless, as after a moment Tim's eyes filled immediately with tears and spilled over onto his cheeks. One short anguished sob escaped him before he used his other hand to clamp his mouth shut. Though it stifled the sounds, Bruce could still see and feel the sobs wracking his boy's entire frame.

As Bruce held him tighter, he could hear the tone of the woman's voice shift to something so soothing and maternal that his own heart ached along with his son's. It had the desired effect of calming Tim enough so that the could finally find his voice once more.

"I love you, too, Nana," he whimpered softly. Then, he stretched out his hand and gave the phone back to Tam, who was in tears herself as she took it back.

Once his hands were free and the phone was pressed again to Tam's ear as she spoke with her father, Tim crumpled to the floor as he burst into tears once more, this time without restraint. Bruce followed him down to control his fall and let his son cried brokenheartedly against him.

"He lied," Tim keened between sobs. "He lied... He lied... He lied..."

Tears coursed down Bruce's face as he watched his son come apart at the seams. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Alfred gazing at him with love, sorrow, and tear-filled eyes as well. Though long dead, Jack Drake had broken their beloved boy's heart, and they would be damned if they didn't do their best to put the pieces back together again and make things right for everyone involved.

...

Author's Notes:

Author's Note: This was a challenging chapter to write. I hope I did Tim's breakdown justice. Things will, hopefully, start looking up for him from this point onward for a bit.

As for the length of time I put down as Tim's search for Bruce during the origin Red Robin run, this was just a wild guess on my part. In the comics, there was a map on a page in the first issue showing a map with pins on where he had previously investigated. Based on that, I estimated he had been travelling nonstop for at least several months before being intercepted by Ra's and getting dragged into the League and Council drama along with Tam.

#tim drake#tam fox#tim/tam#red robin#fanfiction#wip#rr: in hindsight#batfam#batfamily#lucius fox#bruce wayne

#rr: in hindsight #tim drake #tam fox #tim/tam #red robin #fanfiction #wip #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #batfamily #batfam

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atlafan · 4 years

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Take it Slow - Part Forty

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: TW - Mentions of past abuse! Angst. Fluff. Smut.

Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)

“It’s good to see you, Y/N. How was your trip to England?”

“It was incredible! Would you like to see some pictures?” You say to Dr. Mara

“Sure.” You show her a few. “That is incredible.” She squints at you. “You look a little tired.”

“Long couple of days. Went out drinking a few times. Harry and I, uh, had sex when we were in London.”

“Wow, how do you feel?”

“Great! I’m really happy we waited as long as we did, but I’m also really happy to be so close with him now.”

“Any flashes?”

“Yeah, during the first time. But it didn’t happen until the end…it was scary in the moment, but I was fine after.”

“How often have you been active since then?”

“Just about every day, sometimes it’s multiple times a day. It’s been fun.” You smile. “We’re really exploring each other. I’ve been feeling like my old self lately.”

“So…what’s getting at you today? Is it him living with you?”

“No, I love that we’re living together. That transition has been relatively smooth.” You look away then back to her. “He keeps bringing up doing me from behind.”

“Oh.” Her face falls.

“Yeah.”

“He doesn’t know that’s how…”

“No. And I can’t bring myself to explain it. He just wanted to have a conversation yesterday and I blew up at him. The day just got worse and I had a panic attack.”

“I’m so sorry dear.”

“I felt better this morning, but I know I hurt him last night too. I didn’t let him hold me while we slept.”

“You two usually hold each other?”

“We usually fall asleep cuddling in some fashion, yeah. We usually wake up that way too. I just didn’t want to be touched last night though, everything was running through my head.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I just can’t bring myself to do that yet, it seems stupid because we’re having sex now.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid. That’s a very vulnerable position to be in, regardless of what happened to you.”

“I know he’d be careful with me.” You look down at your hands. “I can tell he tries his hardest to hold back. I can tell he just wants to pound into me…I feel like when we’re doing it we’re not fully able to let go and be ourselves because we’re both afraid of something bad happening.”

“Would you prefer to have aggressive sex?”

“It’s not that I want it to be aggressive, but I would like to get to a point where I can tell him to fuck me, and he just fucks me! It doesn’t always need to be sweet, does it? I just want to be a normal fucking person!” Tears start to well up. You grab a tissue not wanting to mess your makeup up. You still had to go back to work after this.

“Y/N, no need to get worked up, alright? There is nothing wrong with you.” She smiles warmly at you. You take a deep breath.

“I feel like every step forward I take, it’s two steps back.” You look at her. “I’m gonna have to tell him, aren’t I?”

“You should only do what feels comfortable, but good communication can go a long way. I hope you know you have made a tremendous amount of progress, and you should be proud of yourself.” She looks down then back at you. “I’m going to propose something, but it’s entirely up to you.

“Alright.”

“If you get to a point where you want to tell him, but you’d like some extra support, I want you to know you can bring him here with you. But only if you feel comfortable with that.”

“Okay, I’ll, um, think about it.”

You think over everything on your way back to work. You scarf down your lunch quick at your desk. You see a note, it was from Harry. Came to surprise you, but you were out. Hope you have a good day. I love you. You sigh and smile. You tuck the note inside your desk. You decide to print the photo of him kissing you on your cheek. You dig out another frame you had and put it in. You stick the photo next to the other one you had of him.

Niall knocks on your door. There was a project he needed to go over with you.

“Got it, I’ll get right on it.”

“Thanks.”

“Listen, I’m sorry I snapped earlier.”

“I shouldn’t have pried.”

“Harry stopped by.”

“Yeah, I saw him.” He makes a strange face. “I made him tell me what happened.”

“Niall! Jesus fucking Christ!”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.”

“And let me guess, you told him?” He blinks at you. “That wasn’t your information to give him!”

“I’m so sorry, I was upset with him for what he did, and-“

“You don’t need to be upset with him! You’re not the one fucking him, I am, okay? This doesn’t concern you!”

“Everything okay in here?” One of the older women pops her head in.

“Everything’s fine. Niall are we done here?”

“Yeah.” He gets ups and leaves. You wanted to slam your door shut, but you knew that would be unprofessional.

You didn’t say goodbye to him before you left for the day. You had never been so annoyed with Niall. He tried to catch you before you left, but he just missed you. You drove to the apartment fuming, but trying to calm yourself. Excited to see what the place actually looked like.

“M’girlfriend should be here any minute. She’s usually the early one.” Harry says to the realtor outside the apartment. “I know it’s cold, sorry.”

“Not a problem, sure there’s traffic.” Harry sees your car pull up, you find a parking spot, and get out.

“Hi, sorry.” You kiss Harry on the cheek. You look unpleasant. “I’m Y/N.” You shake the realtor’s hand.

“Shall we?”

You and Harry follow the man inside. It’s a really nice lobby. You can see all of the mailboxes on the wall.

“Wow, there’s a lobby attendant here?” You say.

“Yes. There are a lot of elderly folks here, it’s a peace of mind thing. There’s often a doorman as well. In fact there was an elderly couple in this place before, but they recently moved to Florida.”

You follow him into the elevator. The apartment is on the fifth floor. The realtor unlocks the door and guides you in. There’s a hallway, similar to the one you have now, only there was a beautiful hardwood floor, looked newly refinished. There was a coat closet. You both step further in and see a large living room.

“Harry look!” You point to a gas fireplace. “We could put the TV above the fireplace, and the sofa could go here.” You gesture. He smiles and nods.

“The kitchen is closed off, but over here would be a formal dining area.”

“Oh! I like the idea of that. Much easier for dinner parties.” You push through a door and go into the kitchen. Yours and Harry’s jaws drop.

There were granite countertops, new cabinets, and stainless steel appliances. There was a small island similar to yours.

“Plenty of room for both of us in here.” You look around a little. “Everything is so new.”

“Place was renovated after they moved out. They were here for over thirty years.”

“Wow!” You take Harry’s hand.

“Ready to see the rest?” You go back out to the living room. “Let’s start with the loft, just up the spiral staircase. This is where the bonus room is.”

The three of you carefully go up the staircase. You and Harry walk around the small area. It could easily fit both of your desks and all of his equipment.

“Harry you could almost make this your studio if you wanted.”

“You’d be okay with having clients come here?”

“Sure, why not?” You shrug.

The three of you go back down the stairs, and go down a hallway.

“So here’s the hall bath, it’s a full bath that has jack and jill doors for the guest room.”

“It’s a great size, glad it’s a tub shower.” You both check out the guest room. It could easily fit Harry’s bed and other bedroom furniture.

“And here’s the master.” The realtor opens the door for you.

“Holy shit!” You exclaim. “Pardon me.” You giggle. Your eyes grow wider with every step you take.

The room was absolutely huge. There were two closets so you and Harry wouldn’t have to share anymore. You could easily fit a king sized bed down the road if you both wanted. The ensuite bathroom had a beautiful tile on the floor.

“Harry look, two sinks!” You say excitedly. Your jaw drops again when you see the shower. “It’s just like the one in London!”

“Yeah, no kidding. And there’s still a tub in here too, that’s good.”

“Oh I love it.”

“Why don’t you take a few minutes to chat in here, I’ll be in the kitchen.” The realtor leaves.

“What do you think? You’ve been quiet.”

“Just takin’ it all in. It’s a great place.”

“It’s incredible! I could really see us living here babe.” You smile at him.

“Me too. Seems like a great fit for us. That loft alone would be a big help.”

“What do you think, should we put an application in?”

“I think we should.” You hug him excitedly.

You meet the realtor in the kitchen, and tell him you’d like to apply. He gives you a form and a pen.

“Has anyone else inquired?” Harry asks as you fill out your portion.

“Not yet. You two found this place at a good time, not many people willing to move in the middle of the winter.”

“Here Harry.” You hand him the paper and pen. “So how long will it be until we know?”

“Well, the landlord will want to do a credit check and all that. In the meantime, make sure you have first, last, and the security deposit ready to go.” You nod along. “Should be able to tell you in a couple of weeks most likely.”

“Here you are.” Harry hands him the finished paperwork.

“Wonderful, thank you both so much.”

“Thank you!” You say.

“I’ll walk you both out.”

The three of reach the street. You both shake his hand again, and go to your separate cars. You can’t wait to get out of your work clothes when you get home.

“Want some of the leftover curry f’dinner? I can heat it up.”

“Sure.” You say walking into the bedroom. You come back out wearing pajama pants and a sweatshirt. Harry hands you a bowl, and you sit down at the island. “Thanks babe.”

He sits down next to you. You both exchange small talk while you eat.

“Did you see I stopped by today?”

“Yeah.” You smile. “That was nice of you.”

“How was Dr. Mara?”

“Good, it was a good session. I really shouldn’t go during my lunch, I was sort of worked up today, but she helped me.” Your phone starts to buzz. It’s Niall calling. You roll your eyes.

“You’re not going to answer?”

“No, I’m mad at him.”

“Why?” You drop your fork and look at him.

“You know why.” Harry bites his bottom lip. “I know he told you, because he told me he told you. It wasn’t his information to give out.” Harry goes to open his mouth. “And I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I know we need to, but I just can’t right now.” There’s a knock at your door. “That son of a bitch. I don’t want to see him right now.”

Harry gets up and opens the door, it was Niall. He blocks him from going further into the front hall.

“Would ya let me in?”

“She said she didn’t want to see you. Surprisingly enough, she doesn’t seem mad at me anymore, so I’d like to not rock the boat.”

“You’re wrong, I am still mad at you, but I’m choosing to let it go because you didn’t understand fully what was happening.” You say with arms crossed leaning against the wall. “Why are you here?” You squint at Niall.

“I tried to talk to you before you left, but I missed you.”

“Had an apartment to look at.”

“How was it?” You scoff. “Y/N, I’m really sorry okay?”

“You do this all the time! You tell other people things about me because you’re trying to protect me or some shit. It’s enough! I get it you two are best friends, but he’s my boyfriend, and I get to choose what information about my life he gets to know.”

“I’m your best friend too.” His eyes start to tear up. So do yours. “I love you Y/N, I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“I love you too Niall, but you two can’t run to each other every time one of us is upset about something. You need to let him and I work through whatever it is. Or if we want to talk to you about it, let us come to you, don’t pry for the gossip.” Harry’s a little taken back at how loosely the two of you just threw around I love yous. He wonders when you two first said that to each other.

“I’m sorry, I just got upset when he told me what he said, and I thought back to that day I came to your place and you…” He was full on crying and so were you. You walk over to him and you throw your arms around each other. Harry stands there awkwardly. “I can’t bare the thought of you bein’ mad at me.” He whispers.

“When it comes to what happened to me, can you just…not?” You look at him and he nods. “Okay, thank you.” You let go of him.

“Are we okay?”

“Yeah.” You smile and wipe your face.

“Don’t be too hard on the lad, he means well.” You look over at Harry and roll your eyes. You decide you’re going to start doing it even more because you know it annoys him.

“Mhm.”

“Well…I’ll get goin’. I just came by to make things better. I’ll see ya tomorrow.” You hug again. “See ya mate.”

“Bye.” Harry waves him off. You look at your boyfriend and roll your eyes again. He follows you back to the kitchen. You both sit back down to finish eating. “You’ve certainly gotten into a habit of doin’ that.”

“Doing what?”

“Rollin’ your bloody eyes at me.”

“My bloody eyes.” You mimic his accent and laugh. “I really don’t notice when I’m doing it.”

“Highly doubt that, love.” He sighs. “Are ya still mad at me, really? I feel terrible about everything. I really am sorry for upsetting you.”

“I just want you to listen to me when I say I don’t want to talk about something, okay?”

“I will.”

“I don’t want you to be afraid to talk to me about things, but I thought after the first two times I said no you would’ve gotten the hint.”

“I’m sorry, I’m an idiot.”

“You’re not.” You put a hand over his. “I know it’s, um, a really nice way to have sex, I just am not in a place where I feel safe doing it that way. And it’s not that I don’t feel safe with you…I just need to be able to look at you while we’re doing it. I don’t know where my mind will wander if I can’t see you.”

“Alright, makes sense.” He rubs his thumb over the top of your hand.

“What do you say we crack open that oat milk ice cream we got?”

“I hope it tastes good.” He chuckles.

“It’s cookies and cream flavor, bet it’ll be great.” You grab the carton out of the freezer and grab two spoons while Harry cleans up the bowls from dinner. You gesture to have him follow you to the couch.

You grab the remote and turn Chopped on. You loved Tuesdays on the Food Network. You both dig in to the ice cream.

“Mm, this is good.”

“Yeah! I’m surprised, honestly.” Harry says. “You know what’s crazy, we just put an application in for our very own place.”

“I’m so excited, I loved that place so much. There was so much space.”

“Yeah, I like that there’s some room to grow if need be.” He says looking at the TV. You choke on your ice cream. “Jesus, you alright?” He rubs your back as you swallow.

“What do you mean room to grow?” He blinks at you. He realizes he said an inside thought out loud.

“Um…just like if we got a dog down the line.” You squint at him, you knew he wasn’t being entirely truthful. “Plenty of room for a small dog to scamp around.”

It wasn’t like you hadn’t thought about having kids some day, but you were only twenty-four. You were in no rush to care for a baby when you could barely take care of yourself. You knew Harry loved babies, but it was way too soon to start talking about any of that. Was it something he was already thinking about?

“Right, that’s what I thought you meant.” You turn your attention back to the TV.

“I love you.” He says.

“I love you too.” You nudge him. He puts an arm around you.

“Fuckin’ Ted.” He points his spoon at the TV. “He’s always gettin’ in the way! They only have twenty minutes mate!” You laugh hysterically. “It’s true!”

“I know! That’s why it’s so funny.” You take another bite of ice cream. “And that idiot over there doesn’t know how to properly grill pork, it’s gonna be dry.”

“Should’ve ground it up and fried it into fritters or something.”

“I agree.” You snuggle into him.

“M’gonna put this away, alright?” You nod. He puts the carton back in the freezer and gets back on the couch. “Would you lay on me?”

“Mhm.” You smile.

He lays on his back, head resting against the arm rest, you lay your head on his stomach, and lay your body between his legs. One hand laces in your hair, and rubs your scalp gently, the other hand rests on your back. He felt so happy to have your weight on him. He missed you so much last night.

“I missed you last night.” He says quietly. You look up at him. “Never gonna make ya that mad at me again, I swear.” You prop yourself up and kiss him.

“Wanna go make up?” You give him your bedroom eyes, and he picks you up immediately.

He turns the TV off, and carries you into the bedroom. You giggle when you sets you down and yanks your sweatshirt up of your head. His head goes right between your breasts, planting kisses where he sees fit. His mouth wraps around one of your nipples and your head rolls back. He twists your piercing with his teeth and you groan. He lifts you slightly and puts you on the bed. He leans up and takes his shirt off. Your hands trace over the butterfly. His skin was hypnotic. He pulls your pants down, and parts your legs. He kisses you, sucking your bottom lip into his mouth, then lets it go as he kisses down your neck, chest, and stomach. He sinks his teeth into your lower stomach and leaves a pretty decent bruise behind.

His mouth finds your clit next. Your hips buck up at the contact. His tongue flicks it a few times before he nibbles on you. Your hands go for his hair as you get lost in the feeling. His thumb replaces his mouth, and his tongue licks a stripe up your center. He hear him moan while he licks all around you. His tongue goes up inside you and you let out a moan of his name. You tasted amazing. Harry felt like he had been neglecting this side of things since you had started actually having sex. He could kick himself, why on earth would he deprive either of you of this?

“Harry.” You grind against his tongue. “Please fuck me.”

“Not yet.” He says bringing his mouth back to your clit, and inserting his middle finger in you. You pull hard on his hair. You want to clamp your legs together, but he uses his other hand to keep you spread apart.

His fingers curl up, and makes that come here motion deep inside you. Your head falls back into the pillow. You loved the way his tongue worked over your clit as his fingers hit that special spot inside.

“Shit, Harry.” Your back starts arching. “Harry.” You mean. “Harry!” You come all over his fingers, and your back arches completely off the bed. He slowly pumps in and out of you as you grind against him, riding out your high. “Fuck.” You say breathlessly.

He sits up and takes his own pants and boxers off. Dick throbbing and leaking for you. You grab at him, and rub your thumb over his leaking tip. You move him to lay down, and shuffle between his legs. You wrap your lips around his tip. You wanted to return the favor. His hips push up, and you take more of him into your warm mouth. You let go of him with a popping noise.

“Love the way you taste babe.” You say.

He grabs you and puts you back on your back. He grabs your legs and wraps them around his waist. He kisses you, sticking his tongue in your mouth as he pushes into you. He swallows your gasp.

“So fuckin tight, angel. Feels amazing.” He says into your neck before sucking the skin into his mouth.

“Love the way you fill me up, Harry.” He wasn’t going to last long with the way you were talking. “Don’t you think I should be on top?” You say into his ear. He leans up to look at you. “I mean, I think you should be teased a little for being so bad.”

“That so?” He smirks.

“Mhm.”

He rolls you both over so you’re on top of him.

“Don’t move until I say.” You grip the headboard, and slowly grind up and down on him. His hands slide up and down your thighs as he watches you ride him. His fingers dig into your hips, trying his best not to just thrust up into you. “Feels so good.” You say throwing your head back. You dip your hand down and rub your clit as you continue to grind against him slowly.

“Fuck, Y/N, please let me move.”

“Not yet.” You two had a habit of using your previous words against each other. Your breathing got faster as you could feel yourself getting close. You bite your bottom lip and close your eyes. “Shit.” You moan. You keep grinding against him, and look down with a smirk. “Alright, go ahead.”

Harry grips your ass and thrusts up into you causing you to gasp. You lean down on him and clutch at his shoulders as he fucks you. All of a sudden you’re on your back again, and the sound of skin slapping skin fills the air. He lifts one of your legs over his shoulder. He grinds into you and you moan loudly.

“You like that?” He smirks.

“Mhm.”

He fucks you like this for a few minutes, then drops your leg and comes down closer to you, crashing his lips to yours. You rake your nails down his stomach. His hands knead your breasts, one sliding up to your throat. Only lightly adding pressure like the other night.

“Just wanna remind ya of somethin’.” He says into your ear, nipping at your lobe. “You can take control whenever ya want.” His other hand reaches down for your clit and pinches it. Your back arches up in response. “But I’m the one in charge.”

He rubs on you quickly as he thrusts so deep tears come to your eyes. Between that and his words in your ear, you knew you’d be close again soon. He feels you tighten around him and your legs shake. You were sensitive now, but he didn’t let up.

“Fuck, Harry!”

“That’s it baby girl, come for me.” Your toes curl and your nails dig into his back, sure to leave marks. He groans into your neck.

“Fuck.” You say as your body goes limp around him.

He keeps going in and out of you, and you fully wrap your legs around him. He’s propped up with one arm, and his other reaches for your hand, you intertwine you’re your fingers. He brings it to the side your head. It was such a small act, but it turned you on so much.

“Fuck, I love you so much.” He says into your ear.

“I love you too. I love the way you make me feel, inside and out.” He nips at your jaw.

His thrusts start to get sloppier and quicker. He’s coming to his own release. You hear him moan your name a few times as he shoots up inside you. He collapses on top of you. You plant kisses to his forehead and run your hands through his sweaty hair.

He pulls out of you slowly and you wince from your sensitivity. You get up slowly and use the bathroom.

“Oh wow.” You say to yourself.

You didn’t realize how hard he had fucked you. You brush your teeth and wash your face. You smile at him as you open the door. He goes in to do his thing. You put on the t-shirt he had been wearing earlier, wanting to be fully encompassed with his scent. You crawl into bed, and scroll on your phone. He comes out a few minutes later.

“Shit, it’s late.” He says looking at the clock.

“S’only 10:30.”

“We’re usually in bed by now.” He chuckles. “When did we get so old?”

“Nothing about what we just did makes me feel old, speak for yourself grandpa.” He pretends to be offended.

“If I’m grandpa what do you think that makes you?”

“The young girlfriend that your kids tell you to dump because I’m only after your money.”

“I knew it!” You both giggle. “C’mere, love.” He opens his arms for you, and you lay on his chest. He sighs happily, playing with your hair.

“Mm, I love when you do that, feels so nice.” You close your eyes and listen to his gentle heartbeat.

You absolutely do not want to get up when you hear your alarm go off. Nor could you because Harry somehow had rolled on top of your body. You were starting to think you needed to set up a camera in the room just to see what he does in his sleep. You were a sweaty mess and you needed to shower. You turn your alarm off, and rub your eyes. You try to move, careful not wake him, but Harry’s hands grip at your sides.

“Five more minutes.” He says into your chest. You giggle.

“I have to shower.”

“But you’re soooo cozy.” He whines. You run your hands through his hair.

“Babe, please let me get up.” You coo.

“Can I shower with you?”

“Yes, but I can’t be in there long.”

He lets you up, and you throw your hair up into a bun on the top of your head. You didn’t have the energy to wash it. It was still pretty fresh from the salon. Harry was a sleepy boy this morning. He mostly just kept his arms around you while you washed yourself. You washed his back and chest for him. He woke up a little while you scrubbed his head for him. He kisses you before you both get out.

You throw a simple dress and boots on. You decide to keep your hair up in a bun, but you adjust it so it looks a little nicer, pulling some pieces out to frame your face. You put on some makeup, and grab a scarf to cover your neck with. You pack your gym bag as well before going out to see Harry in the kitchen making smoothies.

“Thank you sweetie.”

“Sure thing.”

“M’going to the gym after work. I’ll probably be home around six.”

“Okay, I might be home later than that. Gotta lot to do today.”

“Alright, I can make something for dinner then.” You smile and kiss him on the cheek. He grabs your wrist as you turn around. “What?”

“S’all I get for a goodbye kiss?” You giggle and press yourself against him. You give him a good kiss. “Mm, thank you.” He hums. “Can I come see ya at lunch today?”

“Sure! I’d love that.”

“Have a good day, love.”

“You too.” You grab your lunch out of the fridge, throw your coat on, and head out the door.

A coffee is waiting for you on your desk when you get there. You grab it and go down the hall to thank Niall.

“Good morning.” You say to him.

“Hey there.” He smiles at you. “You’ve been wearin’ a lot scarves lately.” He smirks.

“Yeah…it’s the only thing that covers these up.” You move it to the side to show him.

“Jesus. Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Sometimes.” You shrug. “But, not in a bad way.” You blush slightly.

“You two work everythin’ out?”

“Mhm…I still haven’t explained everything, but I told him when I felt ready I’d tell him.”

“Good. Sorry again.”

“Don’t mention it. Let’s move on.” You smile.

“Tell me about the apartment.”

“It’s beautiful! Gigantic too. We put an application in.”

“That’s great!”

“Yup, you know you and I need to plan a night for the two of us to get together. I haven’t even been able to tell you everything about England yet.” He frowns.

“I…don’t know if I can do that.”

“Why not?” You sit down. He sighs and looks at you.

“Well, on top of everything else last night, Sarah got mad at me.”

“About what?”

“I was like thirty minutes late to our plans…which were at my place.”

“Why were you late?”

“Because I wanted to make things right with you. She was pissed because she sat out waiting in her car because I haven’t given her a key or anythin’. She wasn’t thrilled when I told her I was at your place.” You roll your eyes. You knew Sarah had a tendency to get jealous, and make mountains out of mole hills. “She doesn’t really want me hanging out alone anymore. Says we have plenty of alone time at work.”

“What?! That’s ridiculous Niall. This.” You gesture between the two of you. “Is completely different than getting to hang outside of work.” You take a sip of your coffee. “So she’s basically telling you that you can’t be friends with me anymore?”

“I don’t know…but I don’t wanna rock the boat. I really like her, it’s been a while since I felt this way about someone.”

“Do you two love each other?”

“I’ve fallen for her yeah.”

“Do you think she’s the one?”

“Why are you askin’ me somethin’ like that?”

“Because it seems pretty fucking stupid to stop being friends with someone for a person you’re not even in love with.”

“Not everyone moves as fast as you and Harry you know? She could be the one. And I’m not stoppin’ bein’ friends with ya, we just need to lay low for a bit, til she cools off.”

“Fuck that.”

“You can’t say anythin’ t’her or she’ll get mad at me.”

“Niall, I fucking introduced the two of you, she’s not going to get away with this.” You groan. “Why does this always happen to me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Anytime I have a guy friend their girlfriends always end up telling them to stop talking to me. It happened to me all the time in high school.”

“She didn’t tell me I couldn’t talk to you, she just doesn’t want me hanging out with you one on one for a while. And I wasn’t really in a position to justify anythin’. I wanna keep seein’ where this goes with her.”

You roll your eyes and sigh.

“I’m going to start the day, thanks for the coffee.”

Harry showed up for lunch just like he said he would. You hear a knock on the outside of your door.

“Hey you!” You say excitedly. “C’mon in, close the door.” You get up and greet him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Need t’heat this up love.”

“Oh! You’re right. I’ll go bring these to the break room for us, hang tight.”

You leave to go to the break room. You see Niall sitting, waiting for you.

“Sorry, I forgot to mention Harry came for lunch. Probably shouldn’t eat together anyways.” You say putting your food in the microwave.

“Jesus, is this how it’s gonna be?”

“Not until you set her straight. If you don’t I will.”

“But what if she-“

“Niall, if this is something you two break up over, then it wasn’t meant to be. Harry doesn’t have a problem with us being friends, why should she?” He sighs. “You know I’m right.”

“Yeah, I know.” You put your hand on his shoulder, then leave with the food.

You go back into your office, and close the door behind you. You sit next to Harry and hand him his food.

“How’s your day so far baby?” You ask him.

“Good, busy already. Happy I could break away to see ya.”

“Me too.”

“This is such a good lunch, thanks again for makin’ it f’me.”

“You’re welcome my love.” His heart flutters.

“Come sit with me.” You giggle and sit on his lap.

“This is all the affection I can show you in here.” You coo.

“I know, just wanna feel ya on me.” He nuzzles into your chest. You stroke your hands through his hair.

You loved when he was like this. Just your cuddly boy.

#harry styles #take it slow #harry styles x reader #harry styles y/n #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff fic #harry styles smut fic #harry styles angst fic #harry styles y/n fic #fluff #smut #how do we feel about the conflict with niall?#harry styles imagine

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livesincerely · 4 years

Text

it’s so easy (too easy) to love you, ch. 2 (END)

Also on Ao3. Chapter 1 here.

00000

“Jack is such a dumbass.”

Davey blinks his way out of his stupor. Tony is staring towards where Jack disappeared out the front door, his expression a mix of exasperation, annoyance, and sheer bafflement.

“Like, I forget sometimes, but he’s actually just a complete fucking moron, isn’t he?” Tony says. “I can’t believe he’s what counts as responsible adult supervision.”

Charlie heaves a massive sigh, shoving his math textbook to the side. “Yeah, that wasn’t his best moment.”

“Not his best moment?” Tony asks, incredulous. “How many years has it been at this point? Seven? Eight?”

“Eight,” Charlie gloomily confirms, shaking his head.

“Eight years we’ve been tryin’ to convince him to pull his head outta his ass and make a move and this is the shit he pulls? Really? He’s lucky that Davey’s basically a sure thing because Jesus Christ—“

Davey’s never been so confused in his entire life. Tony gears up into a full-on rant, splotches of red creeping further and further across his face with each word; Charlie clearly commiserates, chiming in with his own grievances every now and then.

And Davey’s listening, he’s doing his best to follow along, but he must not be understanding correctly. He can’t be. Because it sounds like Tony is implying that Jack…

“—I mean, he’s been in love with him for ages, so he musta had a plan, right? Some sorta idea, even if he’s too chicken shit to do anything with it? Well, I guess somethin’s better than nothin,’ but come on, you’d think he could do better than plantin’ one on Davey by accident—“

Davey’s heart does a series of pirouettes around his chest. He croaks out, “Wait, what?”

“I said, Jack shoulda done better than kissing you, then takin’ off—“

“No, I mean—“ Davey pauses, swallowing around a sudden dryness in his throat. “Go back to the part where you said Jack’s in love with me.”

“Uh, okay, what about it?” Tony says, brow furrowed—like he doesn’t understand what Davey’s getting at.

Davey stares at him. “Jack isn’t in love with me.”

Tony and Charlie exchange a loaded glance.

“Yes, he is, Davey,” Charlie says cautiously. Davey thinks he’d be more irritated with the gentle handling if it weren’t for the fact that his world is tilting off its axis.

“Jack isn’t in love with me,” Davey repeats. The words feel numb as they leave his lips, but he says them anyway. To think otherwise seems unfathomable. “Jack isn’t— Jack can’t be in love with me. I’d know if he was.”

“Yeah, you’d think so, wouldn’t ya?” Tony mutters.

“No, he is,” Charlie insists. “He’s, like, ridiculously in love with you.”

Davey doesn’t know where to even begin processing that statement. He leans back heavily in his chair and a small, distant part of his brain is grateful that he’s already sitting down, as this revelation would have sent him to the floor. The larger part of his brain is screaming.

“What makes you so sure?” he eventually asks, once he finds the words.

Tony throws him a look. “I have functional fucking eyes.”

“We’re sure, Davey,” Charlie cuts in patiently. “We are absolutely, definitely sure.”

The possibility rattles around Davey’s mind, then starts to take a more solid form. Jack’s in love with me, Jack’s in love with me, Jack’s in love with me.

“He never said anything,” Davey says.

“Yeah, no shit. If it was up to him he woulda taken that one to his grave,” Tony says, rolling his eyes. “But you don’t really need him to say anything—you can just tell.”

“I can’t tell!” Davey disagrees, the tone of his voice edging towards shrill.

“But that’s just you,” Charlie says, like that explanation makes any kind of sense. “Trust us, it’s really obvious to everyone else. Like, painfully obvious.”

“You do realize that the two of you have basically been married for years, right?” Tony asks, raising his eyebrows. “You’re, like, disgustingly domestic and you flirt with each other all the time. Like, all the time.”

Jack’s in love with me, Jack’s in love with me, Jack’s in love with me.

“Please get together already,” Charlie pleads. “I can’t take it anymore, and obviously Jack can’t be trusted to make good decisions—” Here he and Tony exchange a commiserating look; Davey can only imagine what they’ve been privy to when he isn't around. “—so it’s gonna hafta be you.”

“What do I do?” Davey asks, completely overwhelmed. “I mean, he ran away! Should I go after him?”

“What, are you gonna chase him down in the rain?” Tony says with a snort. “Just talk to him when he gets back.”

“Give him a chance to calm down,” Charlie advises. “And, uh, maybe you should calm down a bit too—you kinda look like you’re gonna pass out.”

“Well, that was kind of a lot,” Davey retorts, but the words have no heat behind them.

“Besides, it’s not like Jack can hide from you forever,” Tony adds with a shrug. “You know where he sleeps.”

Davey can’t decided if he loves or hates how reassuring that is.

00000

The streams of sunlight that cut through the blinds wake Davey up the next morning. A glance at the clock tells him that it’s nearly nine; he’s surprised he slept through Charlie and Tony leaving for school, but after the emotional upheaval of last night, they must have made a point not to wake him.

He lays there for a long time, blinking up at the ceiling and watching the overhead fan spin in lazy circles. Jack had sent him a single text last night, warning him that his phone was about to die and he had to stay late at work; Davey had tried to wait up for him, but finally fell asleep a little after three am. There’s a flicker of worry at the thought of Jack—wondering if he was making up excuses to avoid him, wondering what to say when he sees him next—but the anxiety of last night has transformed into something hazy and distant.

Davey’s been in love with Jack for years; he’d long since resigned himself to living with that love quietly. The only thing that’s changed is there’s a possibility that Jack loves him back, so really, what’s there to worry about?

Eventually, he throws back the covers and hauls himself upright. He pulls a sweatshirt on over his pajamas, disregarding the way it makes his already tousled hair even more of a disaster, and shuffles slowly down the hall.

The growl of his stomach reminds him that it’s well past his usual breakfast time. Davey wanders into the kitchen and begins pulling supplies out of the cabinets by route, and before he knows it, he’s got the beginnings of a breakfast going.

Everything takes on a different aspect in the light of this new day—details that Davey’s always known, but has never been fully conscious of. The skillet he grabs is a hefty cast iron monstrosity that belonged to his Bubbie—it lives at Jack’s place because Davey’s dorm’s kitchen is the size of a shoebox and hasn’t been renovated in decades, and also because Davey’s never been in the habit of cooking for one.

The coffee maker is new: he and Jack had to get a new one last month after their old one finally crapped out. They’d spent the better part of an hour at the local Bed, Bath & Beyond, bickering back and forth about which one to get until a salesperson finally took pity on them and pointed them towards a sturdy model solidly in the middle of their price range. Davey grabs his favorite mug—a pale blue one with a chip on the handle from where Tony dropped it one time—and fills it with the first pour of a fresh brew. The coffee, of course, is from his favorite place around the corner, a blend that Jack always claims is too expensive, but keeps on buying for him.

It’s scattered all around him, the countless ways that his and Jack’s lives are intertwined. Davey almost can’t believe that it’s taken him this long to notice, but maybe that’s just it: this has been his normal for ages, so why would he notice it?

Davey hums softly to himself as he works, the quiet punctuated only by the buzz of the refrigerator and the hiss of the coffee maker, which is why it’s so surprising to glance up and notice Jack standing in the doorway, his expression a little pinched around the edges and still dressed in his clothes from yesterday, though noticeably rumpled.

“Jack!” Davey says, startled. “I didn’t hear you come in. When did you get— wait, did you spend the night at the office?”

Jack looks at him funny, like he was expecting Davey to say something else. “I missed the last subway and I didn't have money for a cab.”

“Maybe you should start keeping some things at work,” Davey says, frowning slightly. “Like, a pillow and a toothbrush and stuff like that. You’ve been having a lot of night shifts recently and that couch in your break room looks like it’s older than I am, so I know it can’t be comfortable to sleep on—“

“Are you making breakfast?” Jack interrupts, one hand braced against the doorframe. There’s something pointed about the question: accusing and disbelieving and conflicted all at the same time.

Davey looks at the assortment of ingredients gathered around him—milk, flour, butter, eggs, blueberries—then down at the bowl of pancake batter he’s in the middle of whisking. “Uh… yes?”

Jack barks out a laugh, but it’s tinged with a hint of hysteria. “I thought you’d be— But instead you’re— Why?”

“I always make breakfast on Fridays,” Davey says, because it’s true. He beckons Jack forward with a nod of his head. “Here, come help me with this, you’re better at flipping the pancakes than I am.”

Jack scrubs a hand over his mouth, then seems to rally himself.

“Okay,” he mutters, clearly not intending for Davey to hear him. “Okay… so it’s like that. Okay.” Then louder he says—with an incredibly lackluster attempt at his usual grin that wouldn’t fool anyone, let alone Davey—“Yeah, sure Dave, I gotcha.”

Davey lifts himself up to sit on the counter next to the stove while Jack steps up to the cooktop. He watches silently as Jack pours the batter into the skillet, nudging at the edges with his spatula until they start to firm up. It should be an easy, simple moment together—something they’ve done countless times before. Instead, the space between them is thick with unspoken tension.

Davey considers his options. He takes in the stiff line of Jack’s shoulders and remembers the look on Jack’s face yesterday—soft affection burnt away by panic. He waits for just the right moment, then says, “So, Tony and Charlie seem to think that you’re in love with me.”

The reaction is immediate. Jack jerks in surprise—a full-body flinch—and the pan slips out of his hands. It hits the burner with a clattering bang and the half-cooked batter goes flying halfway across the kitchen, then hits the floor with a splat.

“Yeah,” Davey comments mildly, taking in the mess with no small measure of satisfaction. “That’s about how I felt too.”

Jack makes a strangled noise: like he’s going to deny it, like he thinks he has to deny it, like it’s never occurred to him to do otherwise. And sure, Davey had never considered broaching the topic either, but Davey’s not the one that kissed and ran.

“No, don’t even start with that,” Davey begins before Jack can say anything. “You’re in love with me, I know you’re in love with me. The boys finally told me last night—apparently it’s obvious, but I never would’ve guessed if they hadn’t said something. And if you hadn’t kissed me.”

He gestures at the remnants of breakfast. “That’s for leaving me to freak out last night, by the way. Also, Tony told me to tell you that you’re the World’s Biggest Dumbass, and I can’t say I disagree with him.”

Jack’s eyes have gone very wide. An assortment of emotions flit across his face, but none remain long enough for Davey to identify them.

“Sorry about that,” Jack eventually says. The words come out slow and a little jagged, like he’s having trouble keeping his voice steady. “I shouldn’t have done that—I didn’t mean to kiss ya, it just kinda happened—but I understand if you’re mad at me or if ya need me to—“

“Oh my god,” Davey says, shaking his head even as a surge of affection rushes through him, “you really are a dumbass.” He jumps down off the counter and holds out a hand. “Jackie, come here.”

Jack stumbles forward, visibly unsure. Davey can’t imagine what he’s thinking is about to happen, can’t imagine how Jack can stand here with him in their kitchen in their home and not know that they’re in this together, just like they always are.

Davey threads their fingers together, tugging Jack those last few steps so that they’re standing chest to chest. He brings his other hand up to Jack’s face, dragging his fingers over his forehead until the furrow in Jack’s brow relaxes, until his expression begins to brighten with tentative hope, then down around the curve of his jaw to tilt Jack’s head that much closer to his own.

Jack moves easily, immediately, when Davey touches him—only the slight hitch in his breath indicates that this is unexplored territory—and it’s so simple for Davey to just lean up and kiss him.

Soft. Sweet. It feels brand new. It feels like they’ve done this hundreds of times.

“Just in case that wasn’t clear enough,” Davey murmurs as they part, impossibly happy and feeling like his heart might burst with it. “I want you to know that I’m in love with you.”

Jack’s answering smile seems to light him up from the inside out. “Oh yeah? Well, word on the street is, I’m in love with you too.”

#newsies #javid #Jack Kelly #davey jacobs #*final cut #*the writing desk #the one where it's domestic #wow more self-indulgent romance #*editor's note

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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02/19/2021 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 7:28-9:6, Mark 3:31-4:25, Psalms 37:12-29, Proverbs 10:5

Today is the 19th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we round the corner here. We’re at the end of another week just about and we’ve transitioned into two new books this week and we’re getting’ moved into those and enjoying that. So, let’s…let's continue…let's continue with the journey. We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week. Leviticus chapter 7 verse 28 through 9 verse 6.

Commentary:

Okay. Let's…well…let's talk about harvest today. Jesus talked about it. And, you know, harvest…harvest is definitely a scriptural…a scriptural term that Jesus talks about, being the Lord of the harvest or sending workers, the laborers are few to go into the harvest. So, this is definitely a scriptural term but it’s…it's an agricultural term as well. We understand that seedtime and harvest that's…that's how we get our food. And, so, if you are a farmer you want to seed to go into the soil, you want it to…to yield fully to its full potential, and we understand these things. So, Jesus is talking about different kinds of soil that the seed gets planted into and depending on the kind of soil really dictates the kind of harvest. So, the seed can be awesome seed but planted in not so awesome soil it's not gonna be an awesome harvest, but good seed planted in good soil does produce a great harvest. Jesus was teaching this in a story, in story form, in parable form, as He often did. And it's easy enough, and this is a popular…popular enough parable that we sort of understand the lay of the land. And Jesus was pretty explicit in giving an interpretation of the parable that He had given. We all want that 100-fold harvest, right? We all want a bountiful harvest in our lives. Maybe we need to start thinking about gardening. Maybe this is the point in our journey through the year and our journey in life that we need to turn inward and see our heart, see our hearts as a field of soil. What kind of soil is there? Because whatever kind of soil is there is going to dictate the harvest, no matter how good the seed is. So, God is nourishing us through His word every day here as we take this journey through the Bible. This is good seed we could say, but are we, are our hearts good soil for this good seed. So, if the seed falls and cannot take roots then it’s just gonna lay there on the surface and it's gonna get snatched away. If…if our hearts are hard and stony and difficult, then there's nowhere for the seed to take root. And if we’re just distracted and anxious and full of worry or we’re just distracted and chasing other things, other desires…well…then the soil of our heart is thorny and it's gonna choke the seed out. We can understand this. We can even…we should be able to visualize this. We’ve seen rocky ground we’ve seen thorny ground. Like, we should understand this and we can even visualize how difficult it would be for a bountiful harvest to grow under those conditions. If our hearts are in that condition than they are not going to yield the bountiful harvest, we are hoping for. In other words, God’s gonna do His part here, but we have some gardening to do. We have our part. Our role to play in. And maybe it's time to dig up the stony ground and do away with the thorn bushes and make ourselves fertile and ready for anything that God wants to bring in this adventure that we call life, this dance that we are in together with Him.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank You. Thank You for this wisdom. It's very clear. It's abundantly clear. We know the hard places in our lives. We know the thorny places in our lives. We know the shallow places in our lives. And we just need help. We need You to guide us and show us how to become good soil. So, come Holy Spirit as we contemplate this, as we consider, as we meditate upon this, show us the areas in our heart that need some gardening. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, and that is indeed a website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here in a virtual community like ours. That's where the Global Campfire burns day and night. No matter where we are in the world we can reach out. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app all of this is available as well. So, be familiar. If you don't have the app yet a make sure you go to your app store, get the Daily Audio Bible app and download that. And it is…it is the most comprehensive way of entering into community and moving through the Scriptures that we have. It kinda keeps track of where we are on our journey. And as we move through the different sections of the Bible we get to see that we have accomplished that section of the Bible. So, just be familiar and check that out.

Check out the community section. Of course, this can be done at the Daily Audio Bible website or in the app. Check out the Community section. That’s where the Prayer Wall is and it’s such a centerpiece, such a foundational part of who we are as a community, that we accept each other, we understand that we are all in process, that we…we…we are all under renovation, that this is a process and that we have to have an incredible amount of grace for each other. Can you imagine how much grace our Father has on any given one day for His children. So, the least we can do is offer grace to each other. And we do that so well by accepting each other where we are and being willing to just walk a stretch of road together, pray for one another, shoulder each other's burdens. And one of the places to do that is at the Prayer Wall in the Community section. So, be familiar with that.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to have a Global Campfire, that we can step out of the chaos and have at least one place in life that's an oasis that we can count on every day than we can step into that place and just get our head screwed on straight, right? Just get our heart reoriented to God through the Scriptures. If that is life-giving than thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage, at dailyaudiobible.com, If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or you can just hit the Hotline button, the little red button up at the top in the Daily Audio Bible app and share from there no matter where you are in the world.

And that is it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

H family it's Mica I haven't called for over a year. So much as has happened I could never catch you up in about a minute and 30 seconds; however, I…I did really need you guys help. You’re the closest thing I have to a family for a long long time. And I’ve spent a year homeless and been in a domestic violence shelter and lost all my stuff add my car and I was put in jail and you name it. Right now I'm out because of an injury from work and because there's some hold up and misunderstanding about the last time I was on unemployment. I am waiting for the determination so that I can get my workman's comp and things like that because I was injured back on January 7th. I haven't been working since. I've been borrowing money from people and leaning on people and I am just tired of it. I need I…need things to go right and I need __ things to stay away from me. Most of all I…I need to be right with God again and I need a family too. Please family help me __.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Natalie. I'm calling because I just wanted to leave a quick prayer for… I've been listening to a lot of the prayers of the people and I just wanted to just do a little prayer for each and every person. I may not know the name or the…where you're from but I know we are all connected in God’s family and the spirit of God is with us and…and He can intercede on our behalf. So, heavenly Father I thank You Lord this day for each and every person who's called in who had a prayer or who had a concern Father. You tell us Lord Jesus that Lord we are connected as a family and we can come boldly before Your throne to ask for mercy in our times of need oh God. Father I pray for those that are sick Lord. There was one gentleman who said he had a heart attack, and he was struggling…they diagnosed him with bipolar Father and we…we…we come against that Father because we know Lord God that You are the author and finisher of our faith and we know that by Your stripes we are healed Father and I pray for healing on those people Father God. What man says is one thing but what God says the final authority. Father I pray for those people that are struggling with their jobs, with their families, those that are not saved Lord. I ask Lord God that You Father God Lord You said that we just need to plant the seed and You would do the growing Father. Father I pray over those people Lord Jesus that have…have…have been one Young lady said that her…her Father committed suicide in December of 2020. Father I pray for peace in that family Lord Jesus. Father You said that You would work all things together for the good of those that love You and are called according to Your purpose. And, so, I pray Father God that everything that we go through in our lives, everything that she is going through and her families going through that Lord You would…You would receive the glory from at all. You said what the enemy meant for evil You will turn it around...

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Ethan of Ashburnham MA in the USA. I have a prayer request that I've been meaning to ask for…for a long time. I have a friend his name is Chris he's going through some sort of crisis that I won't go into detail here. He…he's walked away from Christ and truth be told I am really scared for his future. I know I shouldn't be. I'm not responsible for his future but I am. I just…without Christ there's this void in him that he's trying to fill with everything money can buy, physical items, but as we all know those don't fill us up. And also, I'm starting to become concerned that this is becoming an unhealthy relationship for me. I feel like I have to be in his life to just try and bring him back to Christ but that's not my responsibility. I shouldn't be doing that and subjecting myself. Please pray for my friend Chris. God knows who I'm talking about. He's been my dear friend for over 15 years, and he was one of the few people I thought with absolute certainty would never abandon me during a time in middle school when I thought nobody liked me. He's been one of my closest friends for over 15 years and I'm heartbroken of the way that he's becoming but I choose to trust in Christ and His strength.

Hi guys this is Margaret from Southern California. I'm calling in for Tiffany and Tony of Cleveland. Tiffany had called again asking prayer for joy after the loss of her daughter Gianna. And I remember your original first call and my heart sank because I can relate to this loss of your precious daughter. I lost my baby girl 11 years ago. She was a full-term stillborn baby girl, 9-pound beautiful baby and I delivered her still. And I know she went to heaven when she was in my tummy but at the time, I couldn't see straight for anything and I absolutely lost all joy. And I just want to encourage you guys that God has brought me alone and my husband so far these past 11 years and we truly have joy. We feel that God has done everything for us and as far as healing and mending our hearts and giving us more children after that and…but mostly I think that He's giving us a perspective of knowing that she's in heaven and we're going to be with her again. And I want to encourage you guys. Gianna, you're going to be with her again. And one day down on earth is one day closer to heaven for eternity and perfection with Jesus and I just can't wait for that day. And I just want you guys so badly to be able to experience that. And you know what, it may not be tomorrow but just keep…keep on keeping on and have that faith that the Lord will deliver you from this despair. I love you friends.

Good morning DAB family today is the 16th day of February and I'm just sitting in my car. I just finished listening to Daily Audio Bible for the 15th. Again, Brian it's just amazing listening to you. So, this is Janet from…from the UK and I'm just calling to ask for prayer for my mom. It's been 2 weeks. She's been diagnosed with breast cancer. And even though she lives in America I live in the UK I do have a sister and brother that's in the US also but they're not really active in her life and she's literally at the house by herself, but thanks be to God we do have friends that are taking care, helping to take care of her. But I’m going to try to go over to the UK. So, I'm asking for prayers, journey mercies as I leave from the UK to go to America to help take care of my mom. And I also pray for my mom because she has like diabetes and all these other stuff that…other combabilities as they call it. But I'm asking for prayer because I know I have the best…I have the best family, the most prayerful family powerful in prayer. So, I'm asking family that you help me pray that God will see us through, that He would just give us one day at a time as He normally does and that we’ll appreciate it and that my mom would be OK. Thanks family. Thank you so much for your prayers. God bless.

Hi family this is Melissa from Albertville Alabama. Brian, Jill, and Ezekiel bless you for all that you do for the body of Christ. I have a…a…a couple of prayer requests. And my sisters pastor his name is Darrell Davis his son was shot and he's not doing well, and he's developed Covid. Please pray for that family. And my nephew Elijah, I've called in several times. He has alopecia and he’s suffering from mental illness. He has left home and said he didn't want to anything to do with our family or God. He’s somewhere in California. We have no idea where he is. Please pray for him. Kingdom Seeker Daniel, Lord your call. I'm praying for you brother. I'm praying. God is so able. My sister who has metastatic breast cancer I didn't catch your name. God knows who you are. You said you had a compression fracture, I think. I'm praying for you. Jeremy Neph, please call if you can let us know how you're doing. So many calls have been so heavy on my heart. Just y'all just keep praying. Don't stop praying. God has us. I'm going through some health issues right now. I can't even go to church. But God is good. I love you family. You all keep us prayed up. Bye-bye.

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artificialqueens · 4 years

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You Know You Love Me, Chapter 1 (Branjie) - Kiki

A/N: Hey guys! This is my first time writing for this fandom so very sincere apologies if it sucks lol. I had the idea of doing a Branjie Gossip Girl AU a while back and just couldn’t seem to get it out of my head so I had to write it! Hope you enjoy!

Hey Upper East Siders, Gossip Girl here. And I have the biggest news ever. Spotted at Grand Central, bags in hand: Brooke Lynn Hytes. Was it only a year ago our It Girl mysteriously disappeared for “boarding school”? And just as suddenly, she’s back. Don’t believe me? See for yourselves. XOXO, Gossip Girl.

The bright yellow cab pulled into the valet parking area quite quickly after leaving Grand Central Station. As Brooke Lynn Hytes went to reach for the door, she found that it was already opened for her, the concierge staff of the luxurious Palace Hotel never letting their guests lift a finger. To her left, she saw that her suitcases had been removed from the car and after she paid the driver, the doorman was already holding the door open for her, ready for her arrival.

“Welcome Back, Miss Brooke”, said Vanya, one of the hotels employees who had been taking care of Brooke’s family for years.

“Thanks, Vanya”, Brooke replied as she quickly walked to the elevator and immediately pressed the button for the Penthouse Suite. It had been a year since she had left for boarding school and although her mother had come to visit her once or twice throughout the school year, she had missed her a lot. She missed the fast-paced life that living in New York City had to offer compared to the boring life she had led in her boarding school in Connecticut. She missed her apartment, her bed, her friends and surprisingly, her school. But right now, all she wanted was to spend some time with her mom and catch up on everything she had missed.

The elevator doors opened and Brooke was greeted with a completely different apartment to the one she had left behind. The bright red couch, the colourful art pieces on the wall and the bright painted walls were all gone. Found in their place were boring and bland grey furniture that made Brooke feel like she was back at boarding school.

“Brooke Lynn, honey, you’re home!” Mrs Hytes announced as she immediately embraced her daughter in a tight hug. Brooke Lynn responded by hugging her mom back even tighter, inhaling the scent of her Chanel No. 5 perfume as if it were the oxygen she needed in her lungs to stay alive. As they pulled away, Brooke could feel her mother eyeing her up and down, clearly judging the casual outfit of jeans and converse that she had thrown on when packing up this morning.

“I…like what you’ve done with the place, Mom, it’s very…different”, Brooke lied as she looked at one of the newer pieces of art on the wall, a picture of the Manhattan skyline, trying to distract her mom from nagging her about her outfit choice. Not everyone had the energy to wear a blazer, skirt and heels at 11am on a Sunday morning, especially not after an almost four-hour train journey.

“Well, I decided the place needed more of an adult feel to it considering it was just me living here for the past year. Although, I do think that this outfit of yours could do with a bit of an improvement, my new partner will be here soon and I wanted you to make a good first impression on him, not make him think you work at Forever 21 during your free time.” Mrs Hytes said with yet another disapproving look at Brooke’s outfit, specifically her shoes. But that wasn’t what Brooke chose to focus on.

Her mother had a habit of dating her way through all of the most powerful men in the world of New York real estate and she really shouldn’t be surprised that there was yet another boyfriend she had to be introduced to, but she was shocked that her mother didn’t want to even spend time with her after being separated from each other for so long.

“Really, mom? I was thinking we could go out, get brunch in the restaurant downstairs and then maybe go shopping or catch a movie.”

“Come on, Brooke, this is important to me. We can do that stuff anytime we want to, but Brian is a very busy man and we’ve been together for six months now, it’s about time you two met, so please do us all a favour and go get dressed!” Mrs Hytes sighed as she smoothed the non-existent wrinkles from her skirt out, sounding as uninterested as she possibly could in the conversation they were having.

“Actually, mom, I’m not feeling too well so I’m just going to go and rest. But I’m sure I can meet husband number 5 another time.” Brooke said quietly as she ran up the long stairs to her bedroom, which she prayed had not been touched in her mother’s awful home renovation.

—

1 year ago

Brooke Lynn walked out of the elevator and took her heels off immediately, sighing in relief as her bare feet touched the cool tiles of the floor beneath her. She slowly walked up the stairs to her bedroom, trying not to stumble or wake her mother up with her loud noise.

She had just been at a club opening with all of her class from school – a big final night out before school started up again for the fall semester. The night ended up with all of them having way too many cocktails and dancing on the dancefloor until 3am, when her curfew was supposed to be at midnight. As she tiptoed down the long hallway to her bedroom, she regretted not taking up Vanessa’s offer of sleeping over at her house but she had a feeling that her mom would be super pissed if she didn’t come home that night – her grades from last year had been really bad and she had missed curfew multiple times over summer vacation.

As she tried to open the door to her room slowly and quietly, she found her mom sitting on her bedroom floor with a bottle of tequila in her hand.

“Mom, what are you—”

“Jesus Christ, Brooke, where have you been? You were supposed to be home four hours ago,” her mom screamed as she got up onto her feet, still clutching the bottle of tequila. “And what the hell is this? Are you an alcoholic now too? As well as almost getting expelled for your awful grades and coming home whenever you feel like it, you’ve decided that drinking all of your problems away will help you? Come on, Brooke, seriously.”

“Well, I learnt from the best.” Brooke replied as she shoved past her mom and went to her closet to find some pyjamas. Her head was spinning and she was exhausted, all she wanted to do was go to bed and sleep it off.

“You’re not getting away with this, Brooke. You have to learn that there are consequences to your actions.” Mrs Hytes announced as she stormed out of the room, her heels still clacking against the wooden floors even though it was the middle of the night. Brooke rolled her eyes as she changed into pyjama shorts and a hoodie and climbed into her soft bed. Yeah, she really regretted not going to stay with Vanessa.

She woke up the next morning to the sound of her mother’s voice ordering people around – quite a regular sound to wake up to in the Hytes household. Except this time, it sounded like the noise was coming from right inside her room. She slowly opened her eyes as she realised how hungover she must be. When her eyes fluttered open, she saw that her closet was empty and that there were five large suitcases standing at her bedroom door. There were also two housekeepers packing the contents of her vanity and her nightstand into a sixth suitcase.

“Mom, what are they doing? Why are you taking all my stuff?” Brooke asked. Suddenly, the memories of the previous night came flooding back to her: her mom finding her hidden alcohol and not reacting well to it.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, Brooke Lynn, and you’ve left me with no choice. Manhattan isn’t a good place for you to be in right now.” Her mother replied without even looking at her, instead she handed over a hanger with a black pencil skirt, white blouse and a blazer that had “Knightley Boarding School” written in a small font across the front. Her eyes widened in horror as she immediately jumped out of bed to try and plead with her mom.

“Please mom, no, you can’t send me to boarding school. I love my life here, you can’t make me leave my friends, please mom, I’m begging you!” she yelled as she felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. She couldn’t imagine her life without Vanessa by her side, they’ve been best friends for what feels like their entire lives and the thought of having to go to school without her made Brooke’s heart feel like it was being snapped into two pieces.

She started to panic and began looking around the room for her phone, checking her nightstand and the clutch bag she had been using the previous night, but couldn’t find it anywhere.

“Are you looking for this?” Mrs Hytes questioned as she held up Brooke’s silver flip phone in the air. “I’ll have it sent to Connecticut when I can see that your grades are going up and your behaviour is improving.” Brooke couldn’t hold her tears in anymore and while she would normally feel embarrassed about crying in front of the people who work for her family, this time she couldn’t care less.

“Please mom, I need to call Vanessa, I need to tell her where I’m going to be, she’ll be so worried if I just disappear!” Brooke tried to coke out in between her sobbing as she felt large tears rolling down her face.

“I’ll tell Vanessa where you are and she can write to you until you get your phone back. Stop being so dramatic, Brooke Lynn, I’m sure there will be a phone there that you can use to call her if it’s as important as you’re making it out to be. Now get dressed, please. The car will be here at nine.” Her mother exited the room with the housekeepers following closely behind her.

Brooke sat down on her bed again and tried to calm herself down. She managed to get her breathing back to normal but couldn’t stop the tears from slowly rolling down her face. She grabbed a framed picture from her vanity – it was a picture of her and Vanessa that was taken while they were visiting one of the Mateo’s vacation homes in Italy. That was one of the happiest days of Brooke’s life. She had gotten to spend the entire day with just Vanessa. They spent the day by the pool, swimming and sun bathing until Vanessa’s parents returned home that evening. She always felt her happiest when she was with Vanessa and that was evident from how big her smile was in that photo. She quickly unzipped one of the suitcases and slid the photo inside, returning back to her vanity to get herself ready for what she was sure was going to be one of the most upsetting days of her life.

—

Now

The white walls, high ceilings and expensive furniture of the Mateo family’s Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment usually made Vanessa feel completely relaxed and at ease. But not today. Today, it seemed like everyone in that apartment was doing their absolute best to piss her off.

Planning and organising had always been a skill of Vanessa’s. Give her the task of planning any kind of event and she would rise to the occasion flawlessly every single time, provided the people around her cooperated with her every wish. If they didn’t, they would have to deal with the wrath of Vanessa Mateo raining down upon them. She was trying her very best to plan the Kiss On The Lips party, a party that was held at the beginning of each school year to welcome all of the students back and was always guaranteed to be a glamorous night, which is why Vanessa was going through every single detail to make sure that they are all up to her standards.

With her pink clipboard in hand, she stomped around the apartment making sure that each planning station she had set up was running smoothly. She had a decorations table where the decorators were preparing samples of the table pieces, she had the caterers serving samples of the food they were planning to cook on the night and, her favourite station, the design station. She had her dress custom made months ago, approved by her fashion designer mother, of course. Her two closest friends, Akeria and Silky, were trying on their dresses.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Vanessa screamed in horror as she looked at the decorating teams attempt at incorporating roses into the table pieces. “It’s peonies or nothing on those tables, I thought I made that very clear in the brief I emailed you WEEKS AGO!” Akeria rolled her eyes as she heard the shrill of Vanessa’s uptight voice, wishing for the moment the party was over so she could go back to having fun with Vanessa instead of having to deal with her stressful outbursts.

“What do you think of my dress, V?” Silky asked, twirling in front of the mirror with a massive smile on her face. “It’s hot, right?” Vanessa’s eyes shot up from her clipboard. She took a large deep breath in and out to try and calm herself down as soon as she laid her eyes upon Silky’s dress.

“I thought I made it very clear that I was wearing a strapless dress, Silky.”

“So what? They’re both completely different!” Silky argued back.

“Does anyone listen to me around here? I swear to God, I told all of you people exactly what I wanted from you weeks ago and here we are, just a few days away from the hottest party of the year and everything is awful! Dorota!” Vanessa yelled at her number one trusted housekeeper who immediately was at her side, as usual, ready to try her best to solve all of Vanessa’s problems.

“Dorota, did you or did you not send everybody in this room my list of demands for this stupid party?”

“Of course I did, Miss Vanessa, I sent to each and every person as soon as you were done typing on your phone.” Dorota said proudly, her thick Polish accent coming through as she spoke.

Suddenly, a beeping noise rang out of all three of the teenage girls’ phones, which can mean only one thing: the latest Gossip Girl blast of the day had just been posted. Vanessa immediately rolled her eyes and shoved her phone away from Dorota’s outstretched hand, wanting to focus on the party planning and not whatever gossip was being shared at that moment. She would save the gossip for later, when she was having her nightly bubble bath.

“Oh my God!” Silky said in shock as she held her phone out to Akeria so she could see what was on her screen.

“Why didn’t V tell us that Brooke was coming back?” Akeria whispered as quietly as she possibly could, not wanting to aggravate her friend even more. Silky shrugged and shook her head.

“V, when were you gonna tell us Brooke Lynn was back? This is huge news!” Akeria said excitedly, happy that the fourth and final member of their tightknit group was finally back in New York.

“What? Show me that!” Vanessa grabbed her phone from Dorota and opened the website as quickly as she possibly could and sure enough, there it was: a picture of her former best friend Brooke Lynn Hytes standing in Grand Central Station, her perfect blonde hair blowing in the wind as she made her way through the train station.

Akeria eyed her friend up and down sceptically.

“You didn’t know she was coming back?”

“Of course I did, I just…forgot.” Vanessa’s hands were slightly trembling and she could feel her hands starting to beat faster. She hadn’t seen Brooke in a whole year and she wasn’t sure she wanted to see her again so soon considering Brooke hadn’t even bothered to let Vanessa know that she was moving away, let alone say goodbye.

She stood in the middle of the hallway with her phone clutched tightly in her hand as she glared down at the picture of the girl she loved, completely in her own world and unaware of the things going on around her.

—

2 years ago

Brooke and Vanessa sat on Brooke’s four poster canopy bed, the latest issues of Vogue littering the mattress as well as the chocolate covered strawberries and glasses of champagne that the two girls were slowly making their way through. They were both wearing pyjamas with black silk robes over them as they tried to enjoy their last moments of freedom that summer break had to offer before they had to start their sophomore year of high school.

Vanessa watched Brooke as she animatedly described all of the things they were going to do that year. All the parties they’d host, the new restaurants they’d try out, the places they’d travel to during their winter and spring break. Vanessa, usually being the louder one in their friendship, was happy to sit back and listen to her best friend when she was this excited about something, especially if she was involved in the plans that Brooke was making.

“This year is gonna be different, Ness. This is gonna be our year. We’re gonna rule that school together.” Brooke said while she grabbed a strawberry from the box and slowly started to bite the chocolate off of it.

“Don’t we always?” replied Vanessa, a single eyebrow raised as if to challenge Brooke’s statement.

“Come on, V, you know what I mean. We’re closer than we’ve ever been…this year is all about you and me. Nobody else.” Brooke said, getting quieter towards the end of her sentence.

“Nobody else?”

“Just you and me, Nessa.”

—

Now

“Hey, earth to Vanessa!” Silky shouted, her hand waving in front of Vanessa’s face. Vanessa’s eyes were still glued to her phone, to the picture of Brooke Lynn that she quickly removed from her screen and snapped her head up guiltily.

“You have to get that little freshman girl Plastique to make an invitation for Brooke! She’s gonna love this party now that she’s back, especially because she didn’t have to help plan any of it.” Akeria said with a laugh.

“She’s not invited.” Vanessa said simply.

“What do you mean she’s not invited? Why not?” Akeria asked, her perfectly arched brow raised as high as it could possibly go.

“The party’s planned and adding another person to the guestlist would throw everything off. You’ve seen how incompetent everybody here is today…I’m not risking the success of the entire party just for Brooke Lynn.” Vanessa looked up to find Silky, Akeria and also Dorota were staring at her, clearly extremely confused, but at that point in time she just simply didn’t have the energy to care.

“What are you guys doing? Get back to work! You need to find a new dress that isn’t copying my entire style, Silky, remember? Maybe focus your energy into that instead.” With that, Vanessa stormed up the stairs into her bedroom, slamming the door on her way in. she was not in the mood to be messed with right now.

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #branjie #lesbian au #high school au #gossip girl au #rich girl au #you know you love me #kiki #submission

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taegis-gf · 4 years

Text

A little help from my friend - Part 2

Hiiiii! Part 2, I know this is months apart but I only write when I can!

Part 1 Here!

Word Count - Around 3K

Rated M - warnings: thigh riding, sex lol

It had only been a day after you and Taehyung had done what you did before he texted you.

It was like he wasn’t even bothered about what you had done and you hadn’t stopped thinking about it, it had consumed your every moment for the past 24 hours, you sighed loudly as you glanced at the text.

Movie night at Namjoons!!! hope ur coming!!

How was he back to being his same old self with you so fast?

After about 5 minutes of staring blankly at your wall, your phone buzzed again. As you looked down it was a text, from Jungkook this time.

hey, hope ur coming to namjoon’s, i want to see u :)

You let out a long groan of frustration, you were going to go to this stupid movie night.

As you arrived at Namjoon’s doorstep you took a deep breath, this didn’t have to be weird if you didn’t make it, right? Nothing had changed between you and Taehyung, at least that’s what you tried to convince yourself as you knocked on Namjoon’s door.

“Y/N!” Namjoon greets you warmly, pulling you in for a hug.

“Hey Namjoon, did I miss the start of the movie?” You asked, knowing your internal debate had caused you to be late.

“No no of course not, you know how we are, we haven’t even picked the damn movie yet.” He laughed as you followed him down to his basement which had been renovated into a small but decent living space where you all liked to hang out from time to time.

As you followed him down the stairs and into the space you quickly glanced around to see the two small couches already being taken up by 5 boys, Namjoon had his own chair that he didn’t let anyone sit on, so there you were standing like an idiot with nowhere to sit. You played it off, going to sit on the ground.

“Woah!” Jimin – you knew him but definitely not as well as Namjoon and Taehyung – started, “I saved you a seat right here Y/N.” he said tapping his lap. You scoffed and rolled your eyes “In your dreams Park.”

“Oh, you are.” He said, smirking at you. Why are men disgusting?

“Hey if there’s anyone’s lap you should be sitting on, it’s Jungkook’s, am I right?” Namjoon chimed in and you could have slapped him then and there.

You glanced at Jungkook who gave you a small smile and you couldn’t help as your eyes glanced to Taehyung for a small second who had his face buried in his phone, typical.

“You mind?” you said looking at Jungkook.

“You want to sit on m-my lap?” He asked stuttering a little, his eyes widening.

“No you idiot,” You scoffed. “I just meant can I sit on the floor where your sitting and lean my back against the couch.”

“So you want to get in between his legs?” Jimin asked, still smirking.

As you sat on the floor you just rolled your eyes, boys were tiring.

Taehyung, however, who was usually the nosiest in any room at any given time, was being eerily quiet, acting like his phone screen was the most interesting thing in the world. You let out a small sigh, you really hoped it wasn’t because of what you had asked of him.

As the boys finally agreed on a movie and turned off the lights you asked Namjoon if he had any snacks.

“There might be some in the kitchen, go up and check.” He said casually.

Namjoon had said a long time ago that he wasn’t treating anyone that came to his house like guests otherwise he wouldn’t get a moments peace, so if you wanted something you were getting it yourself.

You got up and started walking up the stairs, making your way to the kitchen you didn’t even realise Taehyung had been behind you until you turned only to be a few centimetres away from his face.

“Jesus Taehyung you scared me half to death.” You said after nearly jumping out of your skin.

“Sorry,” he said giving you a small smile, “just decided I wanted something sweet to eat.” And you could have sworn he said it in such a way, you were the something sweet he was referring to.

“Oh.” Was all you said, before turning your back to him, opening a cupboard. You spotted some cookies on the top shelf and decided to reach for them, as suspected you were too short and after a small struggle, you felt Taehyung press behind you, his crotch pushing into your ass for a short second before he grabbed the cookies and moved away from you again.

“Can you stop that.” You said, your cheeks heating.

“Stop what?” Taehyung asked, feigning innocence.

“You know exactly what you’re doing Taehyung!” You said, feeling frustrated.

Taehyung walked forward, pinning you against the counter.

“This is so stupid, but… I cannot stop thinking about you. What have you done to me? Do you have a magic pussy?” He asked, breathing heavy.

You could’ve laughed if he hadn’t been standing so close to you, moving in slowly, putting his lips to your neck in short sweet kisses.

“Taehyung, give it a rest…we can’t do this…Jungkook…”

“I don’t mind sharing,” Taehyung said, still working on your neck.

“I know your freaky ass doesn’t, but I doubt Jungkook would be happy about this.”

You could barely concentrate on what you were saying as Taehyung kissed and licked at your neck, pressing his clothed crotch against yours.

“Hmm you are so pure, I can’t stop thinking about how I wrecked you, are you sore?” He asked.

You were a little, Taehyung had made you sure you felt what had happened.

You gave him a small nod.

“That pretty pussy of yours took me so well, you did amazing for your first time.”

You couldn’t believe how bold Taehyung was being with his words but truth be told, you loved it.

You wanted so bad to egg him on, to have him take you out to his car and fuck you until you couldn’t remember your own name.

Like he was reading your mind, he spoke, “How do you feel about car sex?”

You let out a small moan as he looked at you his pupils blown out.

“Such a pretty sound.” He said.

“Fuck…Tae…I can’t. It was a one-time thing. I did this so I could finally get the courage to fuck Jungkook, remember?”

Taehyung frowned a little.

“I know.” He said sighing a little. “But it was so fucking hot. I didn’t know it was going to be like that.”

You groaned a little.

“Taehyung…we have to go back downstairs people will begin to wonder where we are.”

“Okay okay,” He said, finally moving away from you, but you couldn’t lie, you already missed the feeling of him against you.

You took a deep breath, trying to compose yourself.

As you both walked downstairs you tried to act casual, even pretending to look at your phone as you walked towards where you were sitting.

“What’d you get?” Namjoon asked and you waved the cookies in the air before throwing them to him, you didn’t feel hungry for food anymore.

“Sweet!” He said ripping open the packet like some primal animal.

“Y/N!” You heard Taehyung say. “Come sit on my lap, at least it’s not weird that way.”

You were going to kill him. If you protested too hard people would wonder why - you and Taehyung had always been comfortable with each other.

You looked behind at Jungkook and he simply shrugged, not seeming too bothered.

You let out a heavy sigh as Namjoon switched the lights off again, trying to find your way over to Taehyung in the darkness, you reached out your hands. Taehyung responded by grabbing them and pulling you down to him. You fell into him awkwardly, grunting in annoyance.

“I don’t know what you’re hoping to gain from this.” You hissed at him, keeping your voice low. Luckily it was dark, and the movie was loud.

Taehyung let you adjust yourself and once you had perched yourself at the edge of his knee, you sighed heavily, this was exhausting.

Before you could even realise what was happening Taehyung began shaking his knee causing you to spread your legs to plant your feet on the floor so you wouldn’t fall. Your core landed directly onto Taehyung’s meaty thigh and you nearly groaned out loud, this boy was smart.

Taehyung leaned forward, “I’m so glad you wore that little skirt, do me a favour and move your panties to the side.”

You took a shallow breath, surely he can’t be serious?

“Do it for me, baby, just shift them over a little.”

You nervously looked around, no one was looking at you.

As if a woman possessed you quickly lifted a little and did what Taehyung had asked, moving the lace to the side so that your core laid bare on Taehyung’s jeans. You quickly retrieved your hand from such an inappropriate place, what the fuck was wrong with you?

Taehyung just watched you, feeling so turned on he nearly came in his boxers.

“Good girl, now use me.” Was all he said.

You hesitated, far too nervous to even do anything let alone grind yourself on his thigh.

Taehyung shifted his thigh and little and felt the full sensation of his thigh against your bare core.

And fuck did it feel good, you moved your hips a little, keeping a slow and steady pace, you could not risk getting caught.

Just a few days before you had never done anything sexual in your life, how did you end up here?

“Come on babe, ride me properly.”

Jesus Christ, it took everything in your being not to moan.

You picked up the pace a little, you were practically dripping onto Tae’s thigh.

You needed more, you needed him inside you, this wasn’t enough.

“What’s wrong? Why are you slowing down?” He whispered in your ear.

You were so turned on you didn’t even care how crude you were being when you whispered back.

“I want you- your ya know…” You practically whined.

Taehyung couldn’t get both of you up fast enough and then all eyes were on you both.

You tried your hardest to look normal, but you weren’t sure if it worked.

“Guy’s I’m just going to drive Y/N home then come back, she said she thinks she’s getting a migraine.”

A valid excuse, considering you did get them frequently. Taehyung was a good liar.

“I can drive you home Y/N.” Jungkook piped up and you immediately felt guilt. What the fuck had you been thinking sneaking away with Taehyung? You felt so stupid being blinded by lust, you were better than that.

“Yeah, that would be great Jungkook. Thanks.” You said.

“But-” Taehyung began to protest and you shoved an elbow into his ribs.

Jungkook smiled at your agreement, standing up and leading you upstairs.

Your phone began to ding and you already knew who it was.

You quickly glanced at your phone, scanning just a few messages.

U know our fuck was gonna be sooooo good!!!

Cnt believe u left w him THAT horny

Wait…ur not gonna fuck him… r u?????

You nearly laughed out loud, turning your attention away from your phone and focusing on the back of Jungkook’s head. As you followed him out to his car you grew a little frustrated you had basically blue-balled yourself, you had been so close to coming just a few mere minutes ago.

“You okay?” Jungkook asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You quipped.

Horny was an understatement.

As you got into Jungkook’s car you found yourself unable to keep your eyes off him, watching the veins in his arms as he changed gears, watching the concentration on his face as he kept his eyes forward. He was stunning and you no longer had the fear that was holding you back the last time.

As he pulled up at your apartment you felt insatiable.

“Do you wanna come in?” You asked him casually.

“I thought you had a headache?” He said, his eyebrows furrowing, you noted how cute he looked doing that.

“Yeah, I kind of do, but I still wouldn’t mind some company.” You pouted. “We could watch a movie or something, maybe finish the one that was on in Namjoon’s.”

Jungkook nodded slowly unsure what you were really getting at.

“Yeah sounds good.” He said.

As you led him into your apartment you shut the door and watched him as he settled himself on the couch. He had on jeans this time around, tight around his thighs you noticed how much they accentuated the shape. Fuck was the only thought you could muster. You could still feel the wetness that had gathered at your entrance and you wanted nothing more than to finish what you started, even though it had been Taehyung who had started it.

“So what do you wanna watch?” He asked, he was shifting about a little, he looked almost uncomfortable and you wondered why.

“I don’t know, were you enjoying the movie at Namjoon’s? I’m sorry I dragged you away.” You said as you sat next to him, not too close but close enough so you were nearly touching his side.

You were being tactile, but you couldn’t help yourself.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t paying any attention to it, for the most part, I was thinking about how jealous I was of Taehyung the whole time.” He said, still looking forward.

Your eyes widened in surprise, you knew he hadn’t seen what you had been doing, but if the mere thought of you with Taehyung had made him jealous…

God you were so turned on it was bordering sinful.

“You know…” You began. “If you wanted me to sit on your lap all you had to do was ask Jungkook.” You said, smiling-what you hoped looked-seductively at him.

It was Jungkook’s turn to look surprised.

You took your chance to straddle him again. You were ready this time and the excitement boiled in your stomach making your core throb.

Jungkook kept his hands at his side for a moment, a little bit stunned at your actions.

But when you bent your head to kiss him he slowly raised them to your hips once again putting you in the same position you had been in a few nights ago.

“I’m sorry about the other night.” You said breathily between kisses.

“I didn’t mean to leave things like that, truth be told I just got scared.” You admitted, breaking away a little to see his reaction.

Jungkook just smiled at you sweetly.

“I’m relieved to hear that, if I’m being honest I thought you’d lost interest after kissing me, I thought you didn’t find me attractive or something…” He trailed off.

God was he serious? You had made someone as beautiful as him feel inferior?

“No god no, are you kidding me? Have you seen you?” You rambled

But Jungkook merely chuckled, more than eager to kiss you again, he closed the space between you once more.

Jungkook kissed you so intensely it made your damn head spin.

You didn’t know what was turning you on more, the feeling of his tongue in your mouth or the fact that his hands how now made their way down to your ass.

As you both found a comfortable rhythm you found yourself getting so worked up you started to grind down on Jungkook’s noticeably hardening cock.

A small moan left your lips as you finally got some relief and Jungkook copied your sound clearly loving the sensation as well.

“God you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?” Jungkook moaned in between kissed.

“Definitely not as long as I have.” You replied, struggling to get your breath back.

You mewled a little, grinding down onto him more, you could not get enough of him.

You slowly pulled away, to pull off your shirt and leave you in your bra, it wasn’t anything fancy but the look on Jungkook’s face could tell you it was more than enough.

“Do you know how sexy you are?” He asked his breathing was heavier now, he looked flushed and a light sheen of sweat was beginning to appear above his brows.

“Hmmmmmmm, I could say the same about you.” You said as you removed yourself from his lap, standing up you began shedding more clothes and started moving towards your bedroom, Jungkook couldn’t get up fast enough, following you whilst shedding his clothes, when you opened your bedroom door you felt him grab at your waist walking with you over to the bed you both lay down Jungkook on top, only in his underwear now and you boldly decided to reach down and palm at his length.

Jungkook let out a moan of relief finally getting some real friction.

You rolled him over and took your place straddling his hips, looking at him you reached down and pulled down his boxers finally freeing him.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” He asked, his chest was heaving as he stared at the image of your hand holding his hard dick.

“Hmmm.” Was all you said as you glided your hand slowly back and forth over him.

You slid your flimsy underwear to the side and began to slowly lower yourself onto him, gasping at the sensation as you began to have sex for the second time in your life.

Jungkook let out a low groan as you finally took in his full length.

“Please,” Jungkook whined as he opened his mouth in pleasure.

You slowly began to move, not entirely sure what to do in this new position, rotating your hips for a few seconds to adjust to the pressure, it wasn’t long before Jungkook grabbed your hips and thrust into you.

“Fuck, keep doing that.” You said as he began to piston his hips.

You both got lost in each other as your pleasure began to build, it wasn’t long before Jungkook flipped you over and began fucking you into the bed. You bit down on your lip to keep yourself from being as loud as you wanted to be.

“I wanna hear you, babe, don’t hold out on me.” He said, panting and smiling.

“Please fuck me harder…feel’s so fucking good.”

Jungkook let out a groan at the sound of your words happily obliging to your request.

He thrusted harder and faster and you could feel your orgasm approaching.

Jungkook reached his hand down and began rubbing at your clit sloppily but it was enough for you to let out a small yelp, your pleasure intensifying.

“Want you to come for me, please, I’m so close,” Jungkook said.

“Me too, ah fuck- I’m so close too.” You replied through moans.

Jungkook was slowing down but the pressure on your clit grew rougher and you bucked your hips up chasing your orgasm that was about to crash down on you at any moment.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” You half yelled as you orgasm washed over you.

You were so lost in the immense pleasure you felt you couldn’t even focus on the feeling of Jungkook pulling out of you only to come all over your stomach you only smiled at the feeling.

As you slowly came back to reality Jungkook spoke first.

“I made such a mess baby I’m sorry.”

“Mmmm, don’t worry, it felt good.” You replied. You slowly reached a finger down and rubbed into on your stomach picking up a little bit before popping your finger into your mouth relishing in the taste.

“Oh fuck.” Was all Jungkook could manage, his breathing still heavy.

You laughed a little, mind fleeting back to Taehyung for a minute you silently thanked him before following Jungkook into the shower.

#bts fanfic #bts smut #taehyung x reader #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #this fic really isnt the best but idk i may as well keep it up lmao #mine

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captainillogical · 5 years

Text

Devil’s Ballroom ch.1

A year after the events from the earth’s final attack, Little Homeworld is finally complete, and there’s a new jazz bar where gems and humans mingle and drink. - As you’re typing back a reply, someone pulls the stool out next to you and takes a seat. You see a sliver of pink out of the corner of your eye as you try not to actually Look. Oh god. It’s her. God can’t help us now.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

Beach City was a small, lovely town, where pretty much everyone knew each other from the inner city to the boardwalk. You've lived your whole life there, and you loved it. It was home. It was also a really strange town, and you're pretty sure the world almost ended like six times in the last 4 years. Although honestly, you never had to worry about that much, since Beach City was also home to the Crystal Gems, and that Steven Universe who just always managed to save the day. So you’re told. Steven was a fun kid, and grew to be one of your good friends (he’s so insistent on being everyone’s friend. It’s very charming and you love him for it), but you’ve mostly spent your time at work this summer.

One of the easiest jobs to get is Funland, since that always tired Mr. Smiley is chewing through people constantly as the pay is shit, the hours are long, and it’s so hot. Like Mr. Smiley says, "Funland is funderstaffed". You feel like he says that to mock you a bit, since there’s just the two of you here. You really only cared to work there on your off season to help dad out with bills, and to see your best friends. Except THIS summer you guess, since all (2) of your best friends had to go out of town for summer either because of family get togethers or romantic getaways. Those bitches. And you were finally of drinking age this summer. You weren't about to let that get you down, or ruin any plans you’ve made yourself in the next upcoming weeks though.

You’re on the last forty minutes of your shift doing the work of four people. Emptying tills around the food court, cleaning tables, emptying trash cans, and jesus christ this task list seems longer today. It feels ever so fucking slow. And warm. You’re melting, you feel disgusting, and you just want a shower. Thank god it’s payday and you have the next two days off, because you seriously wanted to go out and unwind. See, there’s this newly renovated piano bar you’ve wanted to go to for weeks here locally in town, and you had planned on going with your friends.. but. You know what? Screw waiting on them. You’re going tonight. And besides, who knows! Maybe you’ll meet some new people and make a friend, or show your best friends that you can finally get a girlfriend!! Haha.. or at least get drunk enough to ignore the growing loneliness you’ve been feeling as of late, and desperately trying to ignore.

Funland never truly got busy, so you quickly closed the food court that had been dead for hours down. The last 15 or so minutes you spent sitting at the ring toss booth, and very thankful for the protection from the beating sun on your face.

"YOOOOO (Y/N)!!!" You hear a familiar voice shout from your left. You put down your phone (obviously looking at memes) and lean over the counter just in time to see Amethyst, accompanied by Steven, jogging over to your booth.

"Oh, thank god. Finally some human interaction." You responded to the purple gem as they reached your booth. Steven smacked down some tickets for the game and grinned.

"Just spending some time away from the temple". He says, and you nodded as you handed him two stacks of rings. He joyfully pulled them towards himself as Amethyst snickered.

"He means to say his A/C broke, and Pearl got tired of hearing him groan about it so she kicked us out." The short gem elbowed Steven playfully.

“Us? Why’d she kick you out too?” You say, giving Amethyst a pointed look. “That’s because Amethyst brought up like 7 of the junk fridges from her room to try to create some sort of.. open fridge cold air whirlwind right in the middle of the living room. It didn’t work as intended at all, though. I’m pretty sure those fridges were really old, or something, because 3 of them caught on fire and now we have scorch marks all over the floor. Anyway, Pearl was pretty mad about it. Sooooo, now we’re here!” Steven says while laughing, and attempting to toss the rings onto the obviously not rigged bottles.

"So anyway," Amethyst turns to you and leans her elbow on the counter. "Any big plans for tonight?" She steals half the stack of rings from Steven and starts chucking them in the most violent way possible without actually breaking anything. She somehow gets 3 perfect.

“Ughhh, yeah actually. I sort of convinced myself I’d go out and drink tonight.” You say with a tired grin. “I’ve been kinda daydreaming about not being here all day, and I’ve been wanting to try that one place.. the uh.. piano bar. That new one.”

“Isn’t that the place Bismuth helped fix up, and now bartends at?” Steven says to Amethyst. “She said this place was 1930’s themed with a stage, a spotlight, a piano and everything! It sounds like fun and I want to go.. a lot of the gems from Little Homeworld hang out there. Bis says I’m too young.” “Yeah,” You say, “You’re what, 17? You’re still just a baby, dude. If you want, I can try convincing Bismuth to let you in sometime just to sing.” You say to him and wink. Amethyst bursts out laughing. “You can try!! Bis won’t even let Peridot in!” She laughs. “She says her maturity ain’t the right fit. Whatever that means. She lets Lapis work there sometimes though when she wants, and Peri is still mad about it.” You watch Steven miss every single shot. How can this kid be the person who saved the planet? His aim is terrible. Amethyst also misses the rest of her shots.

“Have you guys actually ever won anything here?” You say out loud. “Only when Amethyst cheats.” Steven says. “And anyway, I really want some food. Amethyst. Pizza?”

“Duuuuuuuude. I could eat at least 10 pizzas right now. PLEASE.” She slaps her hand down on your booth. “Y/N. Go out tonight. Have some fun for the both of us, because it’s my turn to clean the kitchen, and if I skip out again Pearl WILL make me do my own laundry.”

“Wooooow, jeez, it must be so terrible to be self-sustaining and clean your own shit,” You’re smiling while chiding her, “and yeah, I will. Maybe next time come with me?” “And leave me all alone!?” Steven whines while starting to walking away. “Go hang out with Connie, you turd. At least you HAVE a girlfriend!” You reply. “You’ll find one eventually Y/N!! Maybe tonight!!” He yells back while waving before they both disappear from your field of vision.

“I really fucking doubt that.” You say to yourself, alone.

You busy yourself cleaning up, and walk over to the main building to clock out. You check your phone, and it looks like the group chat pinged. It’s Harper. FINALLY. Harper has been MIA for the last week. Well, not missing, per se, but she’s been on a roadtrip with her girlfriend of 6 months and didn’t invite you..or your other best friend, Alex. And yeah, you would’ve had to decline because your dad needs you to pick up some slack while he’s out on business, but.. STILL. Shit kinda hurts. But it seems like she finally got service and remembered you guys exist. It’s actually just a selfie with her and her girlfriend with a mountain in the background. She captioned it “I wanted to dive right into mt st helens but she wouldn’t let me get close enough.” You grin and decide to reply with, “Maybe next time Leah won’t let you pussy out”. Honestly, you really didn't mind being the 'single' friend most of the time, but sometimes you wished you could finally meet someone. Then you could also be sending cute couple pictures to your idiot friends, and finally feel like maybe you’re worth someone’s time.

Alex just responds to the chat with 14 flame emojis in succession. Before you can send any knife emojis back, your phone lights up with a call from your father. You answer on the second ring.

“Hey dad. What’s up?” “HEY KIDDO!!” Jesus. Your dad is enthusiastic and as loud as ever. “HOW ARE YOU TODAY, my sweet, dear offspring?”

“I’m chill. Getting off work. You?” You smile to yourself while grabbing the rest of your things to leave for home.

“Just got out of like, my fifth meeting today. It’s awful. I think they’re trying to kill me over here? I’m pretty sure they only paid for the plane ticket because they’re going to reap my organs after they LITERALLY bore me to death. I’m 100% sure my presence isn’t even needed for any of this.” He rants into the phone.

“Dad. You’re the lead project planner. You have to be there. It’s like.. your entire job.” You laugh into the phone. “I thought my entire job was so sit there and look pretty?” “Really? You think they’d choose you for that when they have Brian? Dad, come on. You know how beautiful he is.” You hear your dad sigh wistfully. “Yeah, that gorgeous bastard. Anyway. I’m real sorry in advance, but they’re extending my stay for another couple of days, and instead of being back tomorrow, I’ll be back next thursday.” He says, sounding apologetic.

“Oh, okay. That sucks.” You try not to sound disappointed. “Kiddo I’m sorry! If I could come home tonight I would get on that plane in a heartbeat. I hate this as much as you do.”

“I know. And it’s alright. I’m going out tonight anyway, and I’ll hold down the fort until next week yeah?” “You know you’re my favorite kid, right?” He says. “Dad, I’m your only kid.” You scoff into the phone. “That YOU know of! Love you!” and he hangs up. You roll your eyes, stuff your phone into your pocket, and head out.

Your house wasn't very far from Funland, meaning you could walk home alone safely even at night. Not that Beach City was ever an unsafe town.. if you conveniently happen to forget the aliens trying to destroy the town several times.

Within minutes you were unlocking your front door, toeing off your work shoes, and heading up into your room. You drop all your shit onto the floor, and flop on your bed. You wonder to yourself, should you be putting more effort into your appearance tonight? Steven did say it was 1930’s themed.. you don’t have very many dressy clothes. You feel like the only color you look good in is black, so you get up and open up your closet. Flowery dress.. God no. Overalls? Noooooo. You swipe through too many sweaters, honestly. There’s a couple decent things in here to put an okay outfit together, or.. wait. Ha! There. That cute black dress you wore 2 years ago for your aunt’s funeral. It’s the best you’ve got, you admit to yourself. And you even still have those black flats! Look, like basically zero effort involved.

You head to the bathroom with your things for tonight and take a shower. It feels nice to scrub off the layer of sweat and grime that come specifically from working at Funland. Oh and, not having to smell like carpet deodorizer and stale caramel popcorn is always a plus. Once out of the shower, you dry off and get into your clothes. You style your hair in your favorite way, and just put on a small bit of makeup. You know, small efforts help to feel less like a paper bag. You look nice for once, you admit to yourself.

You head downstairs, stuffing your phone and wallet into a small shoulder purse. Grabbing your keys, you put your shoes on, say goodbye to your cat, and walk out the door, making sure to lock it behind you. With your keys safely stored in your bag, you headed into town. The bar was roughly ten to fifteen minutes away, so you decided to hoof it. No need to waste money on a taxi when you had two perfectly toned legs, ya’ll.

#Spinel #spinel x reader #Spinel SU #Steven Universe #spinel self insert #su fic #fic #my fic #devils ballroom

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ivegotmytowel · 5 years

Text

In Medias Res

Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak, 1.5k

Eddie, still the scrappy little shit he’s always been, crosses his arms and cocks his chin up in playful defiance. “Just because you’re the love of my life doesn’t mean you’re not the bane of my existence.”

Read on AO3

“God, I hate you,” is the first thing Eddie says to him when he finally arrives backstage alongside Richie’s harried manager.

“You know, that would be a lot more convincing if you hadn’t shot out of your seat with two fingers in your mouth and started whistling like a goddamn cartoon wolf as soon I finished my set,” Richie points out, throwing a grateful smile at his manager who gives him a weak salute before making a beeline for the table laden with champagne bottles, a big bouquet of flowers Ben and Bev had sent displayed proudly among them.

It’d been easy to pick Eddie out of the audience when he was onstage, his eyes naturally gravitating towards him to see if he was laughing, if he looked proud. For years Richie wondered why doing stand-up felt more like a chore than a childhood dream come true, why he slowly stopped writing his own material and started to need a drink or four to get through a routine. It was only after remembering the Losers, remembering Eddie, he realised his goal had always been to make just one specific person laugh and if he could do that, making the rest of the world follow suit would be a piece of piss.

It’s still jarring to not have the daily anxiety of I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do, so why aren’t I happy? after living with it for so long, but with every morning he wakes up pressed against Eddie’s back the future becomes a little clearer, no longer blurred at the edges and filled with shadowed figures.

Richie takes a stumbled step backwards as if he’s been pushed and clutches dramatically at his chest. “He shoots, he scores,” he gasps.

Eddie rolls his eyes, already rising up onto his tiptoes to meet Richie halfway in a soft, familiar kiss. “You killed it,” he mumbles against a Richie’s lips. “Just like I said you would.”

“Getting mixed signals here, Eds,” he says, chasing Eddie’s mouth until he’s settled back down onto his feet.

“Why change the habit of a lifetime, right?” he says before scrunching up his nose and retrieving a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his blazer. “You’re so sweaty. How is it you sweat so much onstage? All you do is stand there.”

Richie laughs and patiently holds still as Eddie proceeds to dab along his hairline. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

Eddie scoffs, squirreling away the soiled fabric with a grimace. “A thanks is the least I deserve considering I’ve provided at least half an hour of new material for this tour,” he says with a petulant pout that will probably always make Richie’s face prickle with heat, the sight of it forever entwined with memories of summer evenings spent grappling in a swinging hammock.

Richie snags the bottom of Eddie’s tie, suddenly desperate to keep him close. He wraps it around his fist once, twice, drawing Eddie back towards him. “Hey, come on now, you can’t bust my balls about shit you already knew would be in there.”

“There’s a slight difference between sitting in your underwear in the middle of our living room, laughing through mouthfuls of cold pizza as you write a bit about the time you let me get so high that I genuinely thought I was dying and performing it for a Netflix special,” Eddie points out.

“You made me help you update your will, Eddie. You left me your freakin’ comics and not the dog, man. The world needs to know,” Richie adds, punctuating each word with a tug and grinning widely when Eddie finally bats his hands away.

“What I’m saying, you big fucking idiot,” he says, poking Richie square in the chest, “is that I think I deserve something in return…” He lets himself trail off, the implication clear.

Richie’s mouth fall open in surprised delight. “Ah, quid pro quo, gotcha,” he says, nodding eagerly before clearing his throat. “And what exactly do you want, Mr. Kaspbrak?” He asks, lowering his voice.

“Well Mr. Tozier,” Eddie replies, matching Richie’s tone in a way that makes his stomach swoop. He takes a few seconds to unnecessarily fix Richie’s collar, then smooths his hands down the front of his shirt until they come to rest gently on his belt. “I say that as soon as we do the necessary schmoozing, you take me to that Chinese place two blocks over from the apartment. I know how much you love their chicken dumplings and I could honestly kill for a chow mein right about now. Then we’ll go home, turn off our alarms for the morning, and fall asleep in front of reruns of Forensic Files.”

Chest tight with affection, Richie slides his fingers across Eddie’s cheek until his palm covers the fine silvery scar that mars his skin. “Sounds perfect.”

Eddie hums, leaning into Richie’s touch. “And if you’re lucky, maybe I’ll blow you in the car,” he adds with a shrug, the corners of his lips quirking upwards.

Richie stares at him, only snapping out of it when Eddie pushes his glasses back up his nose from where they had slowly begun to slide down. “Grab your coat; we’re leaving right this second. Actually, screw your coat we’ve already wasted too much time.” He spins around and crouches down in front of Eddie, gesturing wildly at his back. “Here, get on, it’ll be quicker this way, you’ll only slow us down with those little legs of yours.”

“Beep beep, Richie,” Eddie laughs as he pulls them over to a group of important looking people in suits that Richie should probably recognise.

They meet with the network executives, his agent, some of Richie’s comedian buddies that have come along for moral support, and a few other people before circling back around to Richie’s manager who is already nursing his third glass of champagne and visibly looser now that the night is blessedly over.

“There’s a handful of people still waiting outside but I’m pretty sure I saw a fire exit on the other side of the venue you could probably slip out of unseen,” he offers helpfully.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Eddie says before Richie can agree. “Meet your fans, man. Sign some autographs and take a few awful selfies. I mean, we can’t have them finding out how much of an asshole you are just yet. We’ve still got the kitchen renovation to pay for.”

Richie can’t contain a sharp bark of laughter that has a few people look over at them in interest. “Christ, and I’m the asshole?”

Eddie holds up his hands. “You said it, dude, not me.”

It’s only when they’re saying their final goodbyes and already halfway out the door that Eddie curses. “Oh, shit, the flowers,” he says, pointing towards the table. Richie doubles back and scoops them up into his arms, their sweet scent immediately hitting him full force in the face. “Wait a sec,” Eddie orders, slipping out his iPhone from his back pocket. “Hold still. And Jesus, Rich, smile.”

Richie plasters on a wide, obnoxious grin that has Eddie sighing in annoyance. “We’re taking them home, why do we need photos?” He asks, periodically switching between various awkward poses and unflattering expressions, each one more ridiculous than the last.

“To let Ben and Bev know they arrived safely and so we can share this special moment with our best friends,” he says, the silent duh left hanging in the air. He holds out the phone to the person closest to him with a polite do you mind? and goes to Richie’s side.

“It’s never been more obvious that you’ve been married before,” Richie points out, slinging his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and pulling him in closer.

“Fuck off.”

Richie presses his lips against Eddie’s temple. “Love you, too.”

With the weight of the no doubt stupidly expensive flowers from his friends in one arm, and the solid feel of Eddie under the other, he’s struck with the feeling that he was always meant to end up here one way or another. Happy. Proud. It’s not a particularly new revelation, not anymore, but it still manages to catch him off guard sometimes. He feels his grin transform into something a little more genuine.

Sensing the change, Eddie looks up at him, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What’s that face all about?”

“I was just wondering if you were expecting me to lean over the gearshift or if you’re more of a fumbling around in the backseat kinda guy. We’re forty, Eds, these things need to be planned down to the most minute detail otherwise we’ll throw our backs out.”

Eddie elbows him in the ribs, the scandalised hiss of Richie barely past his lips before he starts cackling instead.

He doesn’t know how he survived so long without this. Without Eddie and his laughter.

#eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #reddie #it chapter 2 #my fic

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mymelodyheart · 3 years

Text

Forget Me Not Chapter 27 ~Obsessions~

"Claire! There ye are!"

She spun around in her chair to face Geillis. "Hey! Right on time. Just finishing."

Geillis crossed her arms, took a step back and studied her face. "Mmm ...ye look great. Nae dark circles under yer eyes, ye gained a bit of weight, and ye're no' cranky. Sleeping better?"

She grinned. The last few weeks had been perfect. She was finally sleeping without the nightmares and eating properly. Her work schedule had finally loosened up after the arrival of her new assistant, Mary McNab, a widower in need of a part-time job. And to her relief, her nauseousness and fainting spells seemed to have ebbed.

Then there was Jamie.

The thought of him made her smile. Since that night in the stable, they had been together almost every day and most nights. And when he wasn't with her, he was either busy rehabilitating Donas or overseeing and working on the renovation of the house he bought a while back. Although she had offered money from her inheritance to finance their eventual home's restoration, he was too stubborn and proud to accept. He was persistent and adamant that it was a man's job to provide for his family with his own sweat and hard work. Slightly annoyed but not wanting to disturb the peace, she conceded, thinking her money could be put to use for other things in the future. She really couldn't complain much about his stubbornness. After all, it was this particular trait that got him through his ordeal.

Although aware of the changes in her body, her pregnancy was still not visible, which was a great thing, since her rushed wedding was only a couple of weeks away, a few months before Jenny's. And for the first time in a very long time, she felt relaxed, and her spirit was light, and she wasn't about to stress over their upcoming nuptials. After what happened in the last few months, she realised life was too precious to be worrying. Whatever worries and expectations she had for the future, she had shoved them away and focused on the present. She did precisely what Ellen had advised her.

Take it one moment at a time. One day at a time.

Let your sense of control go and give it up to the higher power.

Believe you will be guided to the right path and have faith.

As for Jamie, pending fatherhood had changed him a lot. He had been slightly going overboard with baby proofing the house and buying heaps of reading materials on first-time parenthood. And slowly, despite protests from the family, he had also eased his way back to work in the hotel, doing only half-days so as not to compromise his recovery.

She refocused on Geillis. "Thank you. I'm finally sleeping through the night, so I'm more energetic."

"That's great, chick. It's about time. We don't want ye looking all gaunt and stressed out on yer big day."

"After what happened with Annalise, I think I have my priorities straightened out by now. Call it an awakening or whatever. I'm determined not to be one of those bridezillas. I'll just go with the flow. I'm just happy Jamie is on his feet and thriving even if he's back to being his stubborn self. But I must say, he's obsessing way too much about the baby to a point he was wondering if there was some sort of daddy boot camp around this area."

Geillis laughed. "Aye, weel, that's quite normal. He's definitely looking better too. He looks like a man truly well-loved. If ye ken what I mean." She winked to make a point.

"Ha, ha! Anyway, enough of me. How're things with Willie?"

Geillis rolled her eyes, feigning exasperation over the topic. But Claire knew her friend's feelings ran way deeper. "Weel, ye ken it took a while before he convinced me to go out to dinner with him ..." She paused to check her cuticles. "I tried to be all cool about it by telling him that I'm a big girl, and I could handle one night stands and that he didn't need to take me out to dinner as a thank ye. I was convinced I was some sort of transitional. Weel, he was appalled with my assumptions. But whatever ...I'm done fighting my feelings. Like ye, I'm just going with the flow. I like the lad, Claire but sometimes, I cannae forget that time when he called out yer name on our first night together. It keeps coming back."

"Oh, Geillis." Claire stood up and hugged her friend. When she finally pulled away, she looked at her friend in the eyes. "Listen. He announced to the family that you're his girlfriend, and he hasn't done that for years. Besides, how many times did he ask ye out before ye relented? That accounts for something. He must like you a lot to pursue you; otherwise, he wouldn't have been persistent. Stop worrying. He cares for you, and you know fine, Willie is not that sort of bloke, ok?"

"Aye," Geillis shrugged. "It's just that the Fraser lads are known for their gallantry, so ye never know if Willie was just trying to do right by me."

Claire shook her head. "Now, don't be daft. Willie hardly goes home to Lallybroch now. He's always in our house, and that's because he wants to spend more time with you. And that reminds me, I think he better start coughing up some cash for the rent. That man can eat!"

"Weel so does yer, Jamie. What's with men and midnight snacks?"

They looked at each other and giggled.

"Come on, lass, let's get ye out of here before more work is piled on yer desk." Geillis started to pull her hand as she grabbed her satchel. "I don't want to be late for our appointment."

Claire almost forgot about their appointment at a beauty salon. They were planning to have their nails done, including facial and Brazilian wax treatments. It was Geillis' advance bridal gift to her. "Erm Geillis, don't ye think I can skip the Brazilian wax part? It sounds like it's going to hurt. And aren't we supposed to do this before the wedding? You know all this pampering and stuff."

"Ach, shush. This one's on me. Jenny arranged the pamper session before the wedding already. And as for the Brazilian wax, Jamie will be please, and ye can consider it an early wedding present for him. And besides, I've wanted to do this for a long time, just ye and me. Even though we live in the same house, we hardly spend time together anymore," Geillis chattered as she continued to pull Claire along. "Ye ken what they say, no pain, no gain. Trust me ...men love it. It will be worth it."

"Well, Jamie has never complained before..."

"Of course, he hasn't complained. He doesn't know any better. Wait till ye see the look on his face when he sees yer fanny."

Self-consciousness crashed over her, and she yanked her friend by the arm. "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ! Pipe down will you! Don't want the staff knowing what we're about to do."

"Don't want the staff to know what?" a deep voice came from behind them. The girls jumped as Willie approached them. After a quick kiss to Geillis, he eyed them both suspiciously.

"Aaah, a wee bit of a trim and some pampering. Girls' afternoon out, ye ken. Will be home before dinner," Geillis explained hurriedly. She stood on tiptoes to give Willie a quick peck before pulling Claire roughly.

"Wait ..." Willie called after them.

"We're late, sorry," Claire looked at him apologetically. "See you at home."

Damn Geillis! He will find out soon enough what they have been up to. Claire cringed at the thought as she allowed her friend to pull her away from the baffled looking Willie.

..........

It was early evening when Claire finally made it through her door. She had dropped off Geillis at the hotel for her impromptu dinner date with Willie before heading home. Other than the funny feeling between her legs after the Brazilian wax treatment, Claire felt shiny and brand new from her pampering session. Sneaky as her friend was, she appreciated their time together since it was long overdue and she very much needed some girl-talk.

"In here, Sassenach," Jamie's voice called out as she heard utensils and pans clacking. She inhaled deeply, and she smelled food.

Dropping her satchel and laptop on the coffee table, she made her way to the kitchen. "Oh, hi ...Whatever you're making, I hope you didn't make loads. Geillis and I were served snacks at the beauty salon."

She was just about to go over to Jamie when he stopped her on her tracks. "Stay where ye are, Sassenach. I need to blindfold ye."

"W-what?"

Jamie waved a hand in the air. "A wee degustation. It's straightforward - I blindfold ye, and ye let me know how each of the things I made taste. It's sort of a trial for a full course menu I'd like to make and suggest to Murtagh."

"Huh? Taste-testing? I don't know if I could go through a whole set of menu, Jamie. I might have loads of appetite these days but don't you think it's a bit late for that?" She eyed the paper bags on the countertop with suspicion. "And why do I have to be blindfolded?"

Jamie smiled. "They're just wee bite portions, Sassenach. I just want to know how the components go together, and ye have a great taste palate. As for the blindfold, I think one has a more open mind when ye can't visually peg the ingredients. Allows yer taste buds to take over as the primary sensory perception."

"Aaah, is that so, Chef Fraser?" she teased, grinning.

"Aye, it is so. Weel, are ye helping me out here or not?"

Her skin tingled with anticipation. "Fine, let's do this."

He lit up, pushing up the sleeves on his casual shirt as if prepping for something big. He put on Claire's girly pink apron hanging from the hook, which only made him look more masculine than ever, and dragged a chair for her to sit on.

"I can sit on the stool," she pointed out.

"No. A chair is sturdier, trust me."

Sturdier for what? She shrugged. "Alright, so what do I do?"

He pulled out a scarf from the back pocket of his jeans, grinning, a wicked gleam lighting his eyes. "First this."

"Oooh, kinky."

"Aye, I can do kinky," he whispered as he gently placed the scarf over her eyes and tied a loose knot, before planting a kiss on her cheek. "So, can ye see anything?"

"Nope."

"Right, sit tight and give me a few secs."

She heard cupboard doors open and close, and the rustle of bags. She smelled the scent of freshness and a variety of herbs, all mixed up. The refrigerator door squeaked, and then it went silent. Jamie's shuffling around the kitchen slowly relaxed her, and she allowed her mind to drift while she waited for the first taste.

Moments passed before she sensed him kneeling in front of her as a rush of his warm breath hit her lips. "Are ye ready for yer first taste, Sassenach?"

She twitched her nose and smiled. "Yes."

"Open up ...aaahhh."

Her lips parted. She expected the cool, smooth touch of the spoon, but Jamie used his fingers instead. He placed something small and soft on her tongue. The flavour of earth tickled her taste buds, and the firm bite against her teeth exploded juice in her mouth.

"Dumpling? With truffles and wild mushroom." A smile touched her lips as she caught the last bite of mirin. "Ooooh, the balance is incredible."

He wiped a trickle of moisture from her bottom lip. "Good lass. It was dumpling filled with porcini, chanterelles and truffle oil. Did you like it?"

She grinned, licking her lips. "Uh-huh. It was yum."

"Alright, next one." She waited, her senses going on high alert. "Open for me."

Her body relaxed as if trying to respond to the command. Before she could take a whiff of what's coming next, Jamie pushed the morsel into her mouth. She tasted something creamy, thick cheese combined with a hint of garlic, olive oil, sweet basil and crisp tomato.

"Mmmm," she moaned. "Mozzarella cheese, my favourite. And tomato ...so fresh and so good, like it was recently plucked from the vine. And basil ...this is so heaven!"

He chuckled, and his hand began stroking her cheek, soothing her into a more relaxed trance. The simplicity of the flavours flowed through her, and she allowed herself to lean back. "Ye're very good at this, Sassenach and the faces ye're making, is making it hard for me to concentrate," he said in a low voice, his finger trailing down her throat. "Do ye want more?"

She nodded eagerly this time. "Uh-huh."

"I want to take off yer top."

She was caught off-guard by his request. His outrageous demand was over the top, aware that there's a possibility Willie and Geillis could walk in on them anytime even though she knew they went out for dinner. But still, the whole scenario was turning her on and she felt brazen. "Do it for me, then."

Not saying another word, he unbuttoned her blouse with deft fingers, and the cool air rushed at once over her exposed skin. For her, it felt so outrageously decadent to be sitting in the kitchen, blindfolded and having Jamie feed her. As her mind began to wander and ponder what was going to come next, he took her by surprise when his mouth suddenly clamped on her nipple and started sucking through the lace fabric of her bra, flicking his tongue back and forth. She gasped and automatically arched toward him. Before her hands could grip his shoulders, he was gone, and she was grasping air. Next, she heard a clatter of utensil hitting the countertop, the rustle of paper and Jamie whistling. Each second twisted the tension in her stomach to another knot.

She tried to even out her breaths as she felt him come closer, but he spoke quite calmly. "Ready for yer next bite, Sassenach?"

She nodded.

"Open."

She did and bit down. It was flaky and smelled of the river. There was a hint of teriyaki sauce and spring onion, but it didn't overwhelm the natural flavour of the fish.

"Salmon! Oh ...and it's beautifully cooked."

"Mmm, very good." As she chewed and swallowed, he unhooked her bra, and her breasts spilt free into his waiting hands. The combination of his touch and the lingering flavour of food in her mouth made her shiver. Coasting his finger over her stomach, he traced the waistband of her skirt. "Lift yer hips, Sassenach, this is coming off."

Her inner rational voice wanted to tell him absolutely not, but her body had a mind of its own as her hips lifted to their own accord.

She heard his sharp intake of breath. "Beautiful ...so beautiful. It never stops, does it? The wanting ye?" he whispered as he stroked and caressed her calves and upward, gently parting her legs. She hissed, unable to get a word to pass her mouth. "We have two tastes left. Let's get ye something to wash it down with."

She could only whimper at the loss of his touch as he stood up and made his way back again in the kitchen. A cupboard door slammed, and the sound of liquid being poured into a glass echoed in her ears. "Just a wee sip because it's alcohol. Let me know what ye think."

He cupped her chin and tipped the glass to her lips. The wine trickled down her throat, the scent of blackberries drifting to her nostrils and soaking her mouth. She relished the intense tannins and boldness of flavour. "Red wine. I can taste berries. Cabernet Sauvignon?"

"Aye, it's Cabernet Sauvignon. Pregnancy has definitely heightened yer senses. Have a little more and then that's enough. It's not good for the baby."

As she took another sip, his palm cupped her between her thighs, taking her by surprise.

Her hips shot up, and the wine slid down her throat. "Stunning," Jamie murmured as if she was one of his scientific experiments.

A choked laugh escaped her throat. She thought they had both gone bonkers acting out a foodie sex scene, yet she didn't want him to stop and needed him to finish where he'd taken her. "Stop teasing me, Jamie," she said hoarsely. "I need ..."

"Hush, I ken what ye need, Sassenach. Lift up."

And she did, and he carefully slid down her panties.

She waited for his hands or his mouth, but there was only cold air. "Jamie?"

"Oh, holy Christ!"

Oh, holy Christ, what? She was confused for a moment and then she remembered the Brazilian wax treatment she had from earlier. All of a sudden, her face heated up and she tried to squeeze her legs together in embarrassment. "I guess I've gone over the top. Y-you don't like it?" she asked stammering.

He didn't answer her question. "Legs apart, Sassenach, I want to see," he demanded in a low voice.

She obeyed, completely helpless, wishing she could see his reaction. There was a long moment of silence. Jesus, why isn't he saying anything?

He didn't utter a word, as she felt him move away from her. Every muscle in her body was locked with tension as she waited for him to say something. Anything. Instead, when he came back, his fingers pushed past her lips and laid a sample on her tongue.

Chocolate truffle! Bittersweet, rich and creamy. The chocolate coated her tongue and melted in her mouth, making her smile. "Oh God! That's lush," she said huskily.

Without warning, the blindfold was suddenly ripped off, his mouth taking hers in an urgent kiss. Then his tongue slid in to taste the residual flavours in Claire's mouth while his fingers slid between her legs.

It didn't take long, and she came hard, bucking against the chair, a dozen sensations pulling her in different directions. Jamie muttered something incoherently, hiked her up against him and stumbled into her bedroom. In a few seconds, he dropped her on the bed and shed his clothes.

She was still shaking from the after-effects of her orgasm when he pushed her knees back and took her in one full, deep thrust. Sweat dripped from his brow as he locked gaze with her. At that moment, her heart burst open, filling her with light and immense love flowing out of her and surrounding them.

"You've always been mine," he whispered.

Her body welcomed him as her inner walls clamped hard around his cock. He took her wildly, and she gave it back to him, with the sting of her nails, with the ragged cries of his name and the thrust of her hips. And when they both exploded together, he wrapped his arms tight around her body, keeping her safe within the circle.

Racked with pleasure, he collapsed on top of her, muttering her name like a litany of prayer and worship.

It took a while before they got their heartbeats and breathing back to normal and reality broke through. Then Claire started to laugh against his chest, and he smiled down at her. "Wow, Jamie, what just happened there?"

"I dinna ken. I did plan on a slow seduction, but after I saw ye bare down there, I just lost it. I kinda feel like a dirty old man liking it, but I must admit, it looks verra pretty. Was I too rough?" he asked, pressing a kiss on her forehead.

She found it endearing how his accent became more pronounced when he was sex-drunk. Smiling, she propped herself on her elbow, her finger tracing the whorl of hair on his chest. "No ...it was everything, Jamie."

"Good. Now that mama is well-fed and satisfied, it's the baby's turn," he laughed, pulling her out of bed.

He was full of surprises of late, and she was only too happy for him to lead. "What did you have in mind?"

Scooping her up in his arms, he bit her earlobe gently. "First shower. Then I'll make us hot cocoa. And how about a film afterwards?"

"Sounds grand to me," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, as he walked them to the bathroom.

An hour later, they were settled with their mugs of steaming hot cocoa in front of the television. Dressed in his t-shirt, she cuddled next to him under the blanket.

They were just getting to the exciting part of the film when there was a loud knock on the door, making Claire jump.

She was about to get up when Jamie pulled her back. "I'll get it."

"It could be Geillis and Willie. She sent me a message earlier that she left her keys in her office."

He nodded and made his way to the door. The next consecutive knocks were louder and more urgent. "Coming ..." Jamie's loud voice called out as he hurried, the limp still slightly evident in his stride.

Claire put down the mug on the coffee table and got up from the sofa. She had an unerring instinct it wasn't Geillis knocking on the door.

"Isobel! What are ye doing here?"

It was Geneva's sister looking stressed and worried. "Is Claire here?"

Claire walked up to them, a niggling sensation starting to stir in her belly. She knew the girl, but they had hardly exchanged a full sentence since coming back to Lallybroch. Confused, she wondered why the girl was asking after her. "Isobel, what's the matter?"

Jamie waved Isobel in and closed the door behind her, worry etching his brows. "Is it Donas?"

Isobel shook her head, her eyes filled with panic and dread. "No, no, Donas is fine. I-i-i-it's my sister. She plans to do something terrible. I-i found her diary and a lot of awful things are written about y-you and the things she wants to do. It's so horrible, I c-c-can't even say it, " she stammered, glancing at Claire. "A-and yesterday I found a bottle of sulfuric acid under her bed. At first, I didn't think much about it because my father uses it to clean metals on the farm. B-but earlier I looked it up and found articles about it being used in acid attacks. A-a-and I started to wonder why she had it under her bed."

Jamie ran a hand through his hair, ragged breath whooshing out of him.

Claire suppressed her panic, not wanting to jump to false conclusions. "Isobel, maybe she's just ranting in her diary. There has to be an explanation for the acid under her bed ..." She knew instantly her rationalisation sounded lame the moment it came out of her mouth.

"N-no, she's been obsessing about you ever since her job application at the hotel was turned down by Brian. I c-can't stand back and do nothing ...and ..."

Their conversation was interrupted by another knock on the door, making them all jump.

"It must be Geillis," Claire sighed as she looked at Jamie.

Before Jamie could respond, Isobel turned around and opened the door. Then everything happened in a blur. One minute they were all standing there, expecting Geillis to come in and in the next, Isobel was on the floor howling in pain as she clutched her upper body.

Standing in the doorway was Geneva holding an empty bottle, and her eyes widened in horror as she watched her sister collapsed. "No, no, Isobel ...no, no ...I'm so sorry. Oh my God, what have I done," she cried as she fell to her knees beside her sister.

It must have been adrenaline, fear or her heightened instinct but Claire didn't take any chances as she grabbed a decorative vase on the console table and smashed it on Geneva's head. Numbly, Claire watched her crumple beside her sister as she slowly backed away.

#melodyheart #forgetmenot #Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser #outlanderfanfic

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adonis-koo · 5 years

Text

Chasing Ghosts (and my boyfriends)

Note: I’ve been binging on Buzzfeed Unsolved waaaay to much but like, Shane and Ryan remind me so much of Yoongi and Hoseok I’m just doing god’s work yall. Might turn this into a drabble series, might not?? Lemme know what y’all think.

Plot: Nobody ever told you joining the Unsolved department would result in you being together with a sarcastic dumbass and the biggest coward on the planet. You wouldn’t change it for the world

Pairing: Yoongi/Reader/Hoseok

Word count: 2.6K

Genre: Fluff, drabble, attempted humor, poly relationship, buzzfeed!au

----

“Alright it’s rolling.”

“Sh! He’s already paranoid as fuck. Over here.”

You let out a giddy snicker as you gripped the camera tightly, filming your boyfriend Yoongi who was currently mirroring your crouched position. Waddling his way with the utmost determination you had to applaud, your thighs however, were already burning in the uncomfortable position and you were well aware this couldn’t have been good footage for the show.

But it was such a funny idea you couldn’t resist it when Yoongi had kept poking your sides with that dumb gummy smile that made you melt.

The topic matter at hand though was not so melt worthy, to Hoseok at least, who suddenly gasped out. Rightfully so due to Yoongi being an asshole, knocking his hand against the wall three times, “G-guys?” Hoseok whimpered out, you could already imagine his lips quivering while parted and his eyes blew out wide, “Y/n? Yoongi?”

You had to resist the urge to laugh due to partially feeling bad, your other boyfriend was the biggest coward you knew, but that was what had made him so endearing. Hoseok was already making his way over to the sound of the knocking, his flashlight in hand as Yoongi jumped out, screaming. His voice matched Hoseok who had jolted so hard he fell backwards onto his ass, “Holy fuck nuts! What the fuck! That wasn’t funny!”

Hoseok had immediate objections to your prank as the camera fumbled in your grip, you kept laughing despite his gaze shooting to you with puppy like betrayal. You couldn’t help it though, he was just so darn cute when he got scared, “You guys are such assholes! You know I don’t like this place.”

Yoongi had already pulled him up off the ground, howling out with laughing as he wrapped an arm around him, “C’mon on that was funny, you have to admit it. What did you think I was? A haunted door? Ah yes there’s nothing more painful than being shut in half”

“In half?” You wheezed out, “I don’t think that’s a thing.”

Hoseok was giving his signature nervous laugh as he relaxed into Yoongi’s grip, “Y-yeah I did actually,” he sputtered indignantly, “I can only hope with your insufferable ass here, maybe he’d be doing me a favor.”

After finishing your rounds of laughing you had all began making your way further into the house until you found the parlor on the second floor- See somewhere along the lines in your life you thought it would be hilarious to apply as a buzzfeed worker, well technically it was for journalism, who wouldn’t wanna write about 12 GIF’s that describe your existential crisis while in the shower, or what scented candle matched your personality the best? You didn’t think you’d actually land the job.

How you ended up in the Unsolved, department was beyond you. But what were you supposed to say when your boss asked if you wanted to be apart of a show where you got to go to haunted places all around the world, for free.

Well it wasn’t free obviously, but the expenses were paid for and that was the best part about it, okay so it wasn’t the best part. The best part about your show was how it had introduced you to both your wonderful dumbass boyfriends that shared one whole braincell with you, and you wouldn’t have had it any other way.

You had dusted off your chair as you placed it between them, Yoongi on your right and Hoseok on your left as the cameraman gave the thumbs up clearing you for recording, “Brrr, a little chilly in here already.” Yoongi commented, sarcasm invading his voice at Hoseok teetering around, his eyes flickering around as paranoia set in.

The room, was like any other room at a haunted area, musty and dust coating everything, some of the wallpaper had been stained and peeling and their was plenty of debris on the floor. You weren’t a nonbeliever in the supernatural, but you also weren’t a non believer. You had considered yourself a skeptic, leaned towards believing.

Except you radiated absolute chaotic energy with your over optimism in trying to find ghosts, you wouldn’t consider yourself taunting them, it was more like a...open minded approach in how you got them to communicate, where as Hoseok was always treading lightly. Yoongi on the other hand, was more likely to get levitated and yeeted against the wall with all of his smart ass comments and snide remarks to try and provoke the ghosts.

“It is man, do you not feel that?” Hoseok instantly replied, wrapping his arms around himself as he shifted in his seat, his eyes those cute dilated pupils, “Feels off here guys.” Hoseok looked towards the camera, laughing again with that nervousness on his face.

You laughed as you sunk into your seat, making yourself at home as you smiled at his endearing nervousness, “The only Off in here is from Yoongi since he couldn’t stand the mosquitoes outside.”

You all began laughing again as Yoongi chimed in, “It’s a valid fucking concern mosquitoes are real, they drink your blood! You don’t see Ghosts running around trying to snack on my ass.”

The wheezing got louder from both you and Hoseok as you slapped your thigh.

“Jot that down for our new bumper sticker,” you laughed towards the camera, excitement running through your veins at the realization kicking in that you were officially at the haunted attraction and not just for an investigation, no you’d be spending the night, “Alright, why don’t you tell us the rundown? Who are we hunting for today?”

Hoseok had began to tell his tale of the haunting of the house, apparently this had been a psychiatric ward back in the 17th century when the medical field had still been developing. Various of the doctors had used the patients on rather, well unfortunately painful and useless operations and experiments. The body count of the tortured souls was over seventy five in counting and that was only the ones confirmed, some of the doctors and nurses both had also commited suicide throughout the years, legend had it you could still hearing them walking down the halls.

The large estate was eventually bought and renovated after it was closed for inhumane treatment and intentional homicide, ever since the house had been passed around like a hot potato from renters due to paranormal activity, ominous and foreboding feeling they had gotten while living here.

Naturally after your banter had finished clowning the previous owners you had all gotten up too explore, stopping by one of the more spooky rooms where apparently one of the patients had died in an electroshock therapy that was a little too high in voltage.

“If brain exploding guy is present in this room, make yourself known to us,” Yoongi clacked his tongue, pushing his hands in his pockets as Hoseok began objecting, “You can pop a light bulb, make a sound or noise, preferably throw him out the window but- y’know I’m good with whatever.”

You had already began snorting a laugh as Hoseok flailed his arms about while muttering a ‘jesus christ’, the poor boy was gonna have a heart attack one of these days because of you both.

It was silent for a moment as you all waited before you sighed, “I don’t think he wants to talk about the brain thing, it’s a bit grueling y’know?” You waved your hands against your head as you gave a grimace, “I’d like to think it’s like having a migraine- but like…on steroids.”

“Steroids that make your fucking head explode?” Hoseok curved a brow, but you began wheezing a laugh as he waved his hands about, “One of these days you’re both gonna get throat punched and I’m just gonna stand there and laugh.”

You and Yoongi were already laughing though as you began to make your way out of the room, you had all began shuffling room to room, occasionally getting some responses though most were so distorted it was difficult to make out what they were saying.

Finally you had sat down in the most active room, setting up your flashlight as you opened the conversation, “If there is a ghost here present with us, we’re going to ask you some questions now. There are some rumors surrounding your death, if you were murdered, could you turn on the flashlight for us?”

Hoseok was practically pale in the face from holding his breath as you all watched the flashlight do nothing, after a few more seconds he exhaled in relief, “If you commited suicide, can you turn on the flashlight?”

It was another ten seconds before Yoongi scoffed, crossing his arms as he waltzed over to the flashlight that laid against the old stacked cardboard boxes, “What a fucking wimp. If you were at least a decent ghost you’d be able to flick the light on.”

“Dude shut the fuck up!” Hoseok almost squealed out, bouncing on his feet as his eyes darted across the room, you had began howling out laugh as he nervously teetered closer to you, jumping at a thump in one of the other rooms as he grabbed your hand, “Do you want us to die?”

You had kept laughing as you coo’d at Hoseok who kept looking at both of you like you were insane, wrapping both your arms around his as you gave his bicep a pat, “Okay, okay fine. Jokes aside, ghost, if you want to throw me and Yoongi out the window just flick that shit right on.”

“Y/n! No sto-” Hoseok suddenly screamed, jumping in your grip as the flashlight instantly flicked on. Yoongi took a step back as he kept laughing, not looking the least threatened as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

Tongue pressed into his cheek with that gummy smile as he continued your statement, “If you want to hurt me and Y/n, turn the flashlight off.” Hoseok was practically whimpering as he ran a hand through his hair, his shrieking heightened at the flashlight flicking off.

“Alright stop! Let’s just set up our shit and get to bed.” Hoseok whined, already grabbing the flashlight as he hauled ass out of the room leaving you and Yoongi laughing like no tomorrow.

You both followed behind before going into one of the doctor’s bedrooms, setting up camp for the night.

After mounting the camera to the wall you gave it a flick as you laughed out, “What if some paranormal activity shit happens? Like what if Hoseok just got his ass dragged right out of bed?”

“Hey! Why me?” Hoseok called out, slumping down on the bed as he hugged his pillow closer, complaining about you using him in your weird ideas.

Yoongi snorted a laugh as he dove onto the bed, sprawling out as he yawned, giving the camera a thumbs up as he ignored your distressed partner, “They’d be doing us a service.”

“Rude!” Hoseok howled out, tossing himself towards the side of the bed, his voice whiny as you laughed. Hopping down from the chair as you gave the camera a thumbs up before crawling onto the bed in between them both.

Most nights spent at haunts were long, mainly because Hoseok was awake the entire night, freaked out by every little sound he heard.

Tonight, wasn’t any different. Yoongi had been spooning you from behind, his nose nuzzled into the crook of your neck dead asleep. You however? You were on night shift, watching Hoseok stiffen, and if the room wasn’t so dark you were sure you would’ve seen the dilation in his eyes, “Did you hear that?”

You yawned, stretching your arms towards him, trying to pull him back against you but he wasn’t having it, “No…?”

He shushed you, popping up from his spot as you whined, your front body now cold without your other boyfriend to keep you warm, “Shh! There’s footsteps.”

You both quieted down for a moment, and that’s when you heard it. Large thuds above you on the second floor, it was like heavy boots trudging up and down the hallway. You weren’t gonna lie and say it didn’t creep you out, because it definitely did. But you were also a pragmatic person at heart, it could’ve been a lot of things. Albeit not a lot of things were very loud like that but...

“Oh my god we’re gonna die.” Hoseok’s breath hitched, his body shuddered as he flopped back down, looking like he was ready to stroke out. Why your boss thought someone with so much anxiety would make a good addition to Unsolved was beyond you. But your heart washed with remorse for him as you felt his hands shake against you.

The footsteps didn’t cease, constantly trudging across the ceiling, it was unnerving. Really unnerving, but your love for your boyfriend was stronger as you sighed, sitting up as you felt Yoongi shift, eyes cracking open sleepily at his personal pillow breaking away.

“Come on, let’s switch spots.” You coaxed, feeling too bad for nervous boyfriend. As much as you wanted to sleep between them, like you always did. You also didn’t want to see Hoseok have a nervous breakdown at the new constant sound. The great thing about having two boyfriends was double the cuddles. You felt invincible between both of their bodies at night. That being said it was usually easy to fall asleep during haunts, that was if Hoseok wasn’t such a scaredy cat.

“N-no I’m fine.” Hoseok tried to insist but you were already crawling on top of him, trying to shove him towards the middle. He was fumbling again, trying to say he would survive, obviously not wanting you on the edge of the bed.

Yoongi let out a loud exasperated sigh at the noise you both kept making, “Shut the fuck up and come here you baby.” grabbing his wrist he dragged him towards the middle of the bed, Hoseok had let out an indignant sound but didn’t protest as Yoongi pulled the new body pillow into a spoon, resuming his usual position like he had before with you.

Smiling victoriously you crawled closer, wrapping your arms around him as you nuzzled your way into his chest with a content sigh, “See? No ghost is gonna drag you off the bed…” You pressed your lips together before snickering, “Granted if I go, you’re coming with me.”

“Well then Yoongi’s gonna tag along too because I don’t think he’s gonna let go.” Hoseok had relaxed into your grip, digging his nose into your hair as he smiled. Even with the footsteps stomping around, and he was distinctly sure he heard something down the hall, it was hard not to relax into the arms of the loves of his life, “Maybe spending the night wasn’t so bad after all.” he hummed out, arms tightening around you as you yawned.

“It’s all fun and games until the flashlight over there turns on, on its own.” You teased, your eyes beginning to droop as you felt him tense again slightly.

“We are not staying the night if that happens.” Hoseok huffed indignantly, shuffling in your grip before relaxing again.

The night was long. It always was with Hoseok, but it wasn’t unpleasant by any means, not when you were with both of them. Life had definitely become a much bigger adventure when you met them both, and you had a feeling that wasn’t gonna change anytime soon.

In the end, when dawn broke Hoseok was practically pushing you both out of the house, finally breathing in relief at being outside as he insisted to Yoongi about what you and him had heard throughout the night, whether it was a ghost or not though, would remain unsolved.

Given how easily scared Hoseok was though, that would probably be for the best.

#bts #bangtan #bangtan boys #yoongi #min yoongi #suga #jhope #jung hoseok #hoseok #suga x reader #yoongi x reader #jhope x reader #hoseok x reader #yoongi x you x hoseok #polyamory #buzzfeed!au #buzzfeed unsolved #bts scenarios

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gillianfoster · 5 years

Text

@basinhounds

He doesn’t remember much. For a long time, he didn’t have to. And talking, for some reason, is one of the hardest things. Wherever he was before this, and that’s starting to fade too, talking didn’t take as much effort, and wasn’t often expected of him. Now it seems like it’s all anyone wants him to do, is to answer with words, and he isn’t good at it anymore. Was he ever? Can’t be determined. Everything feels like he’s thinking and moving through something thick - something he can’t remember the word for. Sap? Syrup? Tar? Honey? Could be any of those, or none of them. He doesn’t remember exactly what any of them look like, feel like, they just seem appropriate, they’re the things that pop into his head. There’s a lot of choices and he isn’t sure which one is right, and his words can’t keep up with his thoughts, so that’s mostly the trouble when people start looking at him expectantly.

The only thing he really knows anymore is that there’s a key in his pocket for The Great Northern Hotel. It rings a bell, makes sense somewhere in some deep, deep part of him. That’s where he should be. Where he should go. So the woman who keeps calling him Dougie drops him off at some place loud and fast, and a woman is shoving coins at him, and then there are coins everywhere. And then he’s taken to an office, and someone asks him where home is. So he just holds up the key.

“The Great Northern? What the fuck is that? Can someone google it?”

It’s one of a few times someone has said something to him that sounds like a completely different language. He’s stopped trying to keep up anyways. There’s a man behind him that pulls out a strange rectangle and then tells the man behind the desk that The Great Northern is a hotel in Twin Peaks, Washington. That seems to make sense again. It’s not triggering anything specific, except that it sounds right. Then again, it does say that on the key. The Great Northern, Twin Peaks, Washington. Room 315.

“Washington? How the hell did he get here, then?”

“Here then,” he mutters quietly, because it’s all he can manage to get out, and he agrees. He doesn’t know how he’s gotten anywhere. He doesn’t even know where here is. He can’t remember where there is, either.

“Jesus,” the man behind the desk mutters. “Fine, if that’s where he wants to go, take him. Get him as far away from here as fucking possible, put him on a plane, drive him, I don’t care. But get him to Twin Peaks.”

The bag is thrust into his hands and what follows is simply more chaos and confusion. Not that he minds anymore. There’s something oddly soothing about letting it all wash over him, about just letting go and watching it happen. Seeing where it leads him.

He gets in something, it goes for a while, and he gets out again, and it looks different. Feels different. This happens a few times, and ultimately he gets shoved out in front of a hotel that he certainly has seen before. He only knows because some part of him knows it looks the same, even though he can’t remember when he saw it or why he was there - or even being there.

Once inside, he wanders. He stands and looks at the things that interest him, merely glances at the things that don’t. There’s an incredible smell coming from somewhere, and he’s tempted to follow it, but first a woman comes over to him.

“Excuse me, sir, can I help you?”

He takes the key out of his pocket and offers it to her. She blinks in surprise.

“Sir, I don’t know where you got this, but we don’t use physical keys anymore. We haven’t in years. I’ll... Just hang on a minute.”

She’s gone, and she’s taken the key. Since it’s the only thing he has, he follows her behind at a shuffling pace and finally finds her having a conversation with a man, who looks different. Again, that thought makes him realize he’s seen him before.

“Jesus christ, Dale Cooper.”

He blinks a few times, and repeats, “Cooper,” because that seems right, unlike what everyone else kept calling him.

“Yes, I know who you are that’s the - Cooper where the hell have you been? Do you realize the whole police department considered you missing? And you never even checked out of the hotel, do you have any idea how much money you owe me?”

“Money,” he says. Something urges him to hold out the bag at that, and so he does.

The other man looks inside of it and raises his eyebrows. “Well I don’t know it was that much. Look, you... Let’s get you sitting down somewhere, how about that? And Beverly, call Harry Truman, would you? Yes, I know he’s been sick but I have a feeling he should be the one they send down here.”

They lead him to a chair and he sits down, content to look around the new room for a while. Nothing is telling him here if anything has changed or not. Maybe he’s been here before and maybe he hasn’t. He isn’t sure. There’s not enough evidence for a solid answer on anything anymore.

There’s no telling how much time has passed when there’s another voice outside the door to the room - and somehow this one feels different. Mostly because he feels it.

“How does he look? Is he hurt?”

“Harry for god’s sake, I’m hardly the person to ask. He practically looks exactly the same, right down to the haircut and suit. He’s barely spoken a word, and I wasn’t going to try and get anything out of him. Why don’t you just go in there and see for yourself?”

A new man comes in the door. He assumes this is Harry Truman, because that’s who they said they would call. He looks different - not too different. Thinner. His hair has gray in it now. These things register clearly. Things are so clear for a moment that he stands up on his own. Then, for some reason, he falls down, and things go black.

---

Seeing Coop after all these years, seeing him 25 years older and yet somehow just the same, sitting in that chair, it made Harry’s chest ache. He started to say something when Coop stood up and passed out, almost immediately.

“Jesus Ben, what the hell did you do to him?”

“Me? I haven’t done anything except kindly provide him a seat - he came wandering in, he still has the same key and a bag full of cash, God knows where he’s been. In fact all I’ve done is call you, which I would think you’d consider to be the right thing.”

“Compared to just not telling anyone, yeah I guess so.” Harry went over and lifted Cooper back into his seat, propping him up as much as possible. “What did he say?”

Ben walked over and stood next to Harry and the chair. “Before you got here? Hardly anything. Mostly just repeated bits of what we said.” Ben’s hand landed on Harry’s shoulder, and he shrugged it off. “Look. I may not be a detective, but he doesn’t seem well.”

“There may be something really wrong with him, but we can hardly figure it out when he’s unconscious. What are you - you said God knows where he’s been. You think he’s been. Somewhere? For 25 years?”

Ben threw up his hands, a keyring around one of his fingers. “Like I said, I’m not a detective. But he had his damn key, still, Harry.” He twirled it around a finger and held it out to Harry. “It was in his pocket, he offered it to Beverly. And then all he had otherwise is a bag of cash. He didn’t drive here. And if I’m being perfectly honest, that looks like the same suit he wore when he first rolled into town. Something’s certainly fishy.”

“Right. Thank you, Ben.” There’s no logical explanation that Harry could even imagine for how Coop could have disappeared liked that for 25 years and still look clean and put together and relatively uninjured - then again, there’s no logical explanation for a lot of the things that happened in the Palmer case. Most of the things Coop ever said or did were hardly logical the way Harry would have thought of it before.

He sat down in the chair opposite Coop’s while he waited for him to wake up, and watched his face. The features were all the same. The suit was similar at the very least, Ben wasn’t wrong. There was gray in his hair now, though, and wrinkles on his face. Something about his face also didn’t look like he’d been smiling very often, and Harry suddenly desperately wanted to see him smile, but he still wasn’t even awake.

There was a tickle in the back of Harry’s throat, and he burst into a coughing fit. He’d come down with a bad case of pneumonia that had put him out of commission for a bit, and Frank had come in to take over - but nothing was going to stop him from this. Besides, he’d been feeling better. Mostly.

Cooper stirred finally, and Harry leaned forward.

“Harry?”

Just hearing Coop say his name nearly stopped his heart. Harry reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “Yeah, Coop, it’s me. Where have you been?”

Coop blinked a few times, and then turned to look at the wall. “You been...” He seemed distracted. Confused. There was something wrong, that was obvious - but it was a different wrong from the last time Harry had seen him, blood running down his face, his smile suddenly turned ghoulish. This Cooper seemed better - still curious, and good at his very core. Just lost, somehow.

“Can you tell me where you’ve been?” Harry heard Ben Horne groan behind him and he resisted the urge to turn and glare.

“Been....”

Speaking seemed to be the most obvious problem, even though somehow he’d gotten Harry’s name. “Well do you know where you are?”

Cooper looked at Harry, making eye contact finally. “Home now.” It was in the same cheery tone as his earlier repetition, but they weren’t Harry’s exact words. Words from someone else maybe? Still, the implications nearly bowled Harry over, as much as he was trying to stay professional for now.

Still when he spoke, his voice was rough. “Right, of course. You’re home now.” Harry looked over his shoulder at Ben. “Is there a chance we can get him his old room? 315? Maybe.... maybe getting him back in there could help.”

“We have renovated in the last 25 years, you know.”

“Yes, Ben, I know. I’ve lived here the whole time. Can you get him the room or not?”

“I’ll look into it.”

With Ben out of the room, Harry crouched down next to Coop’s chair to be closer, and rubbed gently at his shoulder. “Look. I’m gonna stop asking you questions for now, because I have a feeling you’re having some trouble getting your answers out. And that’s alright. I’d like to know where you’d been, because I want to make sure you’re alright, but for now we’re gonna get you set up in your old room and I’m gonna do what I can to help you and then when you’re ready you can tell me what’s happened. Sound good?”

“Sound good.”

Harry had no way of knowing for certain if Coop meant the words and knew what the meant, or if he was just parroting them. Still, something in his expression seemed grateful, so Harry squeezed his shoulder and stood up.

After a moment, Ben came back in with a keycard in hand. “Here you go. I’m not leaving the key with him in that state. And the room does have two beds now, Sheriff.” Ben winked, and Harry felt the tips of his ears grow warm - something he was far too old for.

He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Ben. I’ll let you know if he needs anything.” Harry had only very nearly stopped himself from saying ‘If we need anything.’ Maybe he needed the rest as badly as Coop did.

When he turned to look at Coop, Harry found that he wasn’t making any kind of motion to get up, so he went over and helped him out of the chair. Once standing he also didn’t make any moves to get going anywhere, so Harry gently took his arm and steered him out of the room and towards the elevators. They made their way together to room 315.

The room was different, Ben hadn’t lied. Maybe that was best for Harry not feeling like he was back in one of his own nightmares about the day Cooper had woken up and broken the mirror and then disappeared soon after. It also meant, though, that Harry couldn’t find a shred of recognition on Coop’s face. So much for that idea.

“Coop, hey.” They made eye contact again. Harry was glad he at least seemed to recognize his own name. “This is your old room, even though it looks different. You’re probably gonna need some food and a rest, so I’m gonna order you room service and you can get ready - well. You might need a shower. Do you think you can... manage?” Harry had nearly trailed off at the end of his own sentence, realizing that Cooper probably couldn’t.

“Different,” was all Coop said in response.

---

“Hello, Gordon Cole’s office, who may I say is calling?”

“Ah. Hello. My name is Sheriff Harry Truman - Gordon might remember me from the Laura Palmer case? I have something I’d rather say directly to him, if you don’t mind.”

“Let me see if I can put you through.”

Soon enough, Gordon’s voice was in his ear, as loud as ever. “Sheriff Truman! What a coincidence that you’re calling!”

“I - Well why do you say that?”

“Oh, never mind that. Jordan said you had something important to say. What is it?”

“Well, just. It may be sort of difficult to believe, and you may want to be sitting down.”

“That’s no problem, Sheriff. Albert and I are both seated comfortably.”

“Albert?” Harry asked.

“Howdy there, Sheriff Truman.” That sarcastic tone was the same as ever. Harry smiled.

“Well, hi, Albert. It’s probably good you’re there, too. I’ve ah. Well. You’ll never guess who walked into the Great Northern a couple of days ago.”

There was a pause. Gordon sounded more tense than Harry would have expected. “Who would that be?”

“Dale Cooper, actually. He’s... in a bit of a state. He’s getting better, I’m helping him along, but I thought it had gotten to the point where I should maybe call you, Gordon, and see if you knew anything I could do, or. See if you wanted to come and see him.”

“Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” That was Albert.

“No, Albert, I’m absolutely not.”

“Another Cooper? Gordon, really?”

“Wait, what do you mean another Cooper?”

There was another pause, longer this time, and then a sigh. Gordon spoke. “Right. Well, Harry. Can I call you Harry?”

“Go ahead.”

“Harry. We’ve found a man... claiming to be Cooper. But he’s a little. Funny. What evidence do you have that your man is Coop?”

Harry’s first instinct was just to say his gut feeling, but he knew that would have gone over best with Coop himself, and less so with his boss. “Well. He showed up in a suit, similar to what he used to wear when he was here the first time. He still had his key to The Great Northern in his pocket - the physical key to his room, from when he was here. The Great Northern hasn’t had physical keys in years, mind you. And he. Well. He’s a little out of it, he has some trouble talking, and some memory loss. It seems plausible that something happened and he went missing. I’m still trying to put together exactly where he’s been, but there’s nothing so far that doesn’t check out. And like I said, you can come and see him if you like. He recognizes familiar faces, he even knew me by name, even in the worst of it. I’m sure he’d know the two of you.”

“So you’re saying this Coop isn’t a fashion disaster complete with hair down to his shoulders that he pulls back with a barette?”

“Uh. No, Albert.”

“Sounds promising to me, then. What do you say, Gordon?”

---

“Well I’d love to stay and chat, boys, but I’ve got an important dinner tonight. I trust that you can get this all wrapped up even without my help.” Denise stood and wrapped a scarf around her neck. Harry stood and Coop followed, while Albert remained seated and nodded, and Denise smiled at him.

“Agency business, Denise?” Gordon asked.

She smiled. “No, actually, far from it. I’ve got a date.”

“Back on the dating scene, then, sowing your wild oats?”

She shook her head, and her smile softened. “Closer to settling down, actually. Tonight’s so important because I’m planning on asking her to marry me.”

Harry raised his eyebrows, and missed everyone else’s reactions.

“Well who’s the lucky girl?” Gordon again. When Harry did look over, Albert seemed to be smiling like he already knew the answer.

“Her name’s Miranda. She’s a professor. Not involved in the bureau, but very sympathetic to my hours and generally lovely. I’ve gotten lucky, so I’m going to hold onto her while I’ve got the chance.”

“Oh she’d say the same thing about you, you’re both insufferable,” Albert said, and Harry smiled at the fact that he managed to make even a compliment sound like an insult.

“You’re very kind, Albert. But on that note, I had better not be late. Nice to see you looking better, Coop.” She leaned down and kissed Coop on the cheek. “Nice to see you again, Sheriff.” She offered him her hand, and he shook it gladly. “Gordon, Albert. See you around the office once all this gets cleared up.”

With that, she was gone again, only the scent of her perfume left behind. “That girlfriend of hers really is lucky, huh?” Harry found himself saying aloud.

Gordon slapped him on the shoulder. “Many a man has said so, Sheriff. Now let’s get back to work.”

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drivingsideways · 5 years

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Episode 69

Me: I’m not ready for this, I’m not ready for this

This is a direct call back to what his mother said to him in the end, the talisman she left for him, to tell him to find his “mission” ...although in her vision/hope for him, his “mission” did not involve sacrificing himself to the throne...

me: *whimpering * let me live

In (the redecorated) Fengyun Palace, Ning Yi rewards Gu Yan and Ning Cheng by giving them high positions in his administration and orders them to investigate the Huofeng Gang who has been “causing trouble in the capital”. We’re never told what this trouble is i.e. has something gone down AFTER the Emperor’s death/ attempted coup or is this Ning Yi acting on the information he had before about their collusion with Ning Qi? How long after the attempted coup did the coronation take place anyway? Anyways, he orders them to capture the gang members and bring Ning Qi to the palace for trial.

A note on the redecoration: the beautiful, large tapestry is gone, and replaced by a simpler one (can’t quite make out whether it’s fabric or not). The carpet has more muted colours. While Fengyun under Ning Shizheng was incredibly beautiful but also a little stifling in its grandeur, Ning Yi’s room is simpler, though still elegant and beautiful: I think it goes with what we are used to seeing him surrounded by in his older residence. Also, the Emperor continues to dress in muted brown/ blue/green hues; unlike Ning Shizheng who often wore yellow (apparently a favoured Imperial colour during the Tang dynasty? unless I’m mis- remembering that)

Headmaster Xin has been summoned to the Palace (evidently).

I can’t even begin to capture Ning Yi’s emotions here- again, absolutely fantastic job by Chen Kun- anticipation, nervousness, but also determined to “play it cool” as befits The Emperor- GOD I DIED A THOUSAND DEATHS IN TWO SECONDS- THESE TWO FUCKING FOOLS-

because, honestly, ZIYAN IS STILL THE FUCKING WORST, AS WE IMMEDIATELY SEE

HE SPENDS LIKE AN ENTIRE MINUTE INSPECTING THE RENOVATIONS IN THE ROOM INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT THE GODDAMN FUCKING EMPEROR IN HIS FACE POWER MOVE BUT ALSO YOU’RE A FUCKING DICK ZIYAN AND YOU DON’T DESERVE HIM YOU REALLY DON’T

Like, I can’t get over NY’s expression here, annoyance, amusement and the underlying fondness, and just..like of course Ziyan would do this

And I can’t capture that expression on Ziyan’s face as they finally make eye contact.

BUT ZIYAN IS DETERMINED TO BE A FUCKING ASSHOLE, HE’S STILL SO ANGRY

And that tips Ning Yi over from a fond exasperation to real anger

SO OF COURSE ZIYAN IS IMMEDIATELY FAKE RESPECTFUL

and Ning Yi seems to accept that he will have to be the one that gives in- he takes a few steps toward Ziyan

aksdjhakdhaskehakhd

JESUS ZIYAN WHAT WILL IT TAKE

Of course, that really annoys Ning Yi (who strides back to the throne and puts distance between them) Why, he asks?

Because there’s chaos in the Capital since you took over, replies Xin Ziyan, and

me: JESUS H. CHRIST ZIYAN TWIST THAT KNIFE SOME MORE WHY DON’T YOU

SO OF COURSE HE ORDERS HIM-

AND ZIYAN...

God,I hate to admit it, Ziyan is right...as Feng Zhiwei will soon find out...

ARE WE STILL ON THAT? WE’RE STILL ON THAT.

In response Ning Yi says FINE, IF YOU WANT IT THAT WAY. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but in this conversation he now switches the pronouns he’s been using for himself, I think- previously he refers to himself as Ning Yi, or in the manner he would when addressing a friend? but now he seems to switch to the “I, The Emperor” mode, and also he calls him by his full name “Xin Ziyan” instead of Ziyan xiōng )

i love how the tone and words is utterly contradicted by his outstretched hand

ZIYAN YOU FUCKING DICK YOU ARE THE BLOODY WORST DON’T HURT MY BAE LIKE THIS both of you have made mistakes, and he deserves an apology from you as well.

HAVE YOU GOT YOUR POUND OF FLESH YET YOU FUCKING DRAMA QUEEN

AND HE STRIDES OFF DRAMATICALLY, LEAVING NING YI ISOLATED

JESUS THIS SHOW DOES NOT FUCK AROUND.

Ning Yi has learnt the pain of isolation when stripped of all power, and now that he has it all, he’s learning it all over again.

AND THAT IS HOW YOU WRITE A TRAGEDY FOLKS

Meanwhile, on hearing that Ning Cheng and the Royal Guards are on their way to arrest him, Zhangsun Hong tells his lieutenant that Feng Zhiwei must be here to witness the cruelty of the Tiansheng Empire- must be there to witness his death. Zhangsun Hong basically wants to ensure that Zhiwei will never forgive Ning Yi, and thus complete his revenge on the Ning family.

WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION: WHAT IS GOING ON WITH FENG ZHIWEI SINCE THE EMPEROR’S DEATH AND NING YI’S ASCENSION TO THE THRONE.

WHO KNOWS?

BECAUSE THE SHOW REFUSES TO TELL US. ARRRRGHHH.

Anyways, very Dramatically, Feng Zhiwei and Gu Nanyi reach in time to see Zhangsun Hong be killed by Ning Cheng- although Ning Cheng had only wanted to arrest them, but y’know, FATE.

ER WHAT?

LIKE THIS MAKES NO SENSE. FENG ZHIWEI IS LITERALLY ONE OF THE CLEVEREST PEOPLE IN THE EMPIRE, YOU’RE TELLING ME SHE COULDN’T PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER AND MAKE FOUR? IN ALL THIS TIME????? SHE ALREADY KNEW THAT NING QI AND HE WERE HAND IN GLOVE. AND THAT’S PUTTING ASIDE THE FACT THAT ZHANGSUN HONG LITERALLY TOLD HER ALREADY THAT SHE NEEDN’T KILL NING SHIZHENG BECAUSE HE WOULD INSTEAD. AND THE NEXT THING HE TELLS HER BEFORE HE DIES IS THAT SHE SHOULD TRUST YUELING (WHICH IS THE ONLY REMAINING PART OF THE PUZZLE SHE DIDN’T KNOW.)

LIKE COMPLETELY APPALLING WRITING. I CAN’T EVEN.

There’s a tense moment where Feng Zhiwei almost kills Ning Cheng- but Gu Nanyi stops her.

Feng Zhiwei is grief stricken, but again repeats “What were you hiding from me?”

THE WOMAN WHO COULD SOLVE THE RIDDLES IN QINGMING ACADEMY CAN’T DO SIMPLE MATH.

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK.

Anyways: Ning Qi is hiding out in the House of Lanxiang, which Yueling has bought out; alone, drunk, slightly insane, clutching the Emperor’s edict. Yueling encourages him to continue opposing Ning Yi, and not even Yijun can bring him back to his senses.

AGAIN: HE’S LITERALLY A STONE’S THROW AWAY, AND NING CHENG AND THE ROYAL GUARDS CAN’T FIND HIM???? DID THEY NOT INVESTIGATE WHERE YUELING DISAPPEARED TO?

Feng Zhiwei requests Helian Zheng to provide protection to her people, and he agrees. She plans to return with him and the remnant of Dacheng to Jinshi.

When Helian Zheng informs Ning Yi that he’s leaving, Ning Yi warns him “not to be blinded by love” ie don’t let your wife, the Princess of Dacheng, con you into launching an attack on Tiansheng. Helian Zheng’s answer reveals he has no qualms about NOT listening to the Emperor, and also pretty much warns Ning Yi to stay away from Zhiwei. Ning Yi is furious, of course, and though he does nothing at that moment, you get the sense that Jinshi is not going to be safe in the near future.

Yueling sends an anonymous message to Ning Cheng that Helian Zheng is concealing members of the Huofeng Gang in his entourage.

Our two babes meet on their bridge for the last time and have a brittle, poignant conversation where both are in so much pain, but cannot find a way back to each other.

ding ding WRONG ANSWER DUDE

But Ning Yi presses his case, that before they didn’t have the power to stop themselves being separated, but now that he’s Emperor,

(again, correct me if I’m wrong, but he refers to himself as The Emperor here)

He makes a desperate confession, to stop her from leaving- about how he had gone to Jinshi to see her, but then, when he saw her happy and laughing with Helian Zheng, he lacked the courage to approach her.

UGHHHHHHHHHH

“What do you want?” he asks, once, twice, thrice but the regret soon turns to anger, in the face of her silence...and she walks away.

but all his power can’t bring her back to him, and he’s left, again, alone.

“Fate” takes a hand again, as Ning Cheng runs off to apprehend the Huofeng gang that Helian Zheng is escorting to Jinshi. It’s kind of odd that Ning Cheng does this without informing the Emperor- like diplomatic disaster, excuse me- but I suppose if I squint really hard, I can put it down to Ning Cheng’s deep sense of failure and regret that he couldn’t protect or save Ya Le, the person most important to Ning Yi.

But of course, disaster strikes.

Helian Zheng’s death leaves a furious Feng Zhiwei

who breaks the token of their connection to each other

back in the control of The Emperor....who’s equally furious...

and so alone, he’s playing Go with himself (THIS SHOW DOES NOT FUCK AROUND, SERIOUSLY)

Me: this show is only pain, pain and more pain. WHY.

#the phoenix pit #phoenix drama #THE END IS NIGH

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dfroza · 3 years

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people constantly judge others based on their words and what they do

which is a natural response. and judgment can be good or bad in nature. how can we even learn to trust someone unless we use good judgment from the heart?

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the closing chapter of the Letter of Romans where Paul writes of this, of being able to trust some people and to avoid others who cause division:

Now, let me introduce to you our dear and beloved sister in the faith, Phoebe, a shining minister of the church in Cenchrea. I am sending her with this letter and ask that you shower her with your hospitality when she arrives. Embrace her with honor, as is fitting for one who belongs to the Lord and is set apart for him. So provide her whatever she may need, for she’s been a great leader and champion for many—I know, for she’s been that for even me!

Give my love to Prisca and Aquila, my partners in ministry serving the Anointed One, Jesus, for they’ve risked their own lives to save mine. I’m so thankful for them, and not just I, but all the congregations among the non-Jewish people respect them for their ministry. Also give my loving greetings to all the believers in their house church.

And greet Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the Roman province of Asia, for I love him dearly.

And give my greetings to Miriam, who has toiled and labored extremely hard to benefit you.

Make sure that my relatives Andronicus and Junia are honored, for they’re my fellow captives who bear the distinctive mark of being outstanding and well-known apostles, and who were joined into the Anointed One before me.

Give my regards to Ampliatus, whom I love, for he is joined into the Lord.

And give my loving greetings to Urbanus, our partner in ministry serving the Anointed One, and also to Stachus, whom I love.

Don’t forget to greet Apelles for me, for he’s been tested and found to be approved by the Anointed One.

And extend warm greetings to all those of Aristobolos’s house church.

Give my love to my relative Herodion, and also to all those of the house church of Narcissus, for they too are joined into the Lord.

Please greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, for they are women who have diligently served the Lord.

To Persis, who is much loved and faithful in her ministry for the Lord, I send my greetings.

And Rufus, for he is especially chosen by the Lord. And I greet his mother, who was like a mother to me.

I cannot forget to mention my esteemed friends Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the brothers and sisters who meet with them.

Give my regards to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and also Olympas and all the holy believers who meet with them.

Greet each other with a holy kiss of God’s love. All the believers in all the congregations of the Messiah send their greetings to all of you.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, I’d like to give one final word of caution: Watch out for those who cause divisions and offenses among you. When they antagonize you by speaking of things that are contrary to the teachings that you’ve received, don’t be caught in their snare! For people like this are not truly serving the Lord, our Messiah, but are being driven by their own desires for a following. Utilizing their smooth words and well-rehearsed blessings, they seek to deceive the hearts of innocent ones.

I’m so happy when I think of you, because everyone knows the testimony of your deep commitment of faith. So I want you to become scholars of all that is good and beautiful, and stay pure and innocent when it comes to evil. And the God of peace will swiftly pound Satan to a pulp under your feet! And the wonderful favor of our Lord Jesus will surround you.

My ministry partner, Timothy, sends his loving greetings, along with Luke, Jason, and Sosipater, my Jewish kinsmen.

(I, Tertius, am the one transcribing this letter for Paul, and I too send my greetings to all of you, as a follower of the Lord.)

My kind host here in Corinth, Gaius, likewise greets you, along with the entire congregation of his house church. Also, the city administrator Erastus and our brother Quartus send their warm greetings.

May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, continually rest upon you all.

I give all my praises and glory to the one who has more than enough power to make you strong and keep you steadfast through the promises found in my gospel; that is, the proclamation of Jesus, the Anointed One. This wonderful news includes the unveiling of the mystery kept secret from the dawn of creation until now. This mystery is understood through the prophecies of the Scripture and by the decree of the eternal God. And it is now heard openly by all the nations, igniting within them a deep commitment of faith.

Now to God, the only source of wisdom, be glorious praises for endless ages through Jesus, the Anointed One! Amen!

(Paul’s letter was transcribed by Tertius in Corinth and sent from Corinth and carried to Rome by Phoebe.)

The Letter of Romans, Chapter 16 (The Passion Translation)

with a mirroring of part of the same chapter in The Message that contains a string of “hellos”:

Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked hand in hand with me in serving Jesus. They once put their lives on the line for me. And I’m not the only one grateful to them. All the non-Jewish gatherings of believers also owe them plenty, to say nothing of the church that meets in their house.

Hello to my dear friend Epenetus. He was the very first follower of Jesus in the province of Asia.

Hello to Mary. What a worker she has turned out to be!

Hello to my cousins Andronicus and Junias. We once shared a jail cell. They were believers in Christ before I was. Both of them are outstanding leaders.

Hello to Ampliatus, my good friend in the family of God.

Hello to Urbanus, our companion in Christ’s work, and my good friend Stachys.

Hello to Apelles, a tried-and-true veteran in following Christ.

Hello to the family of Aristobulus.

Hello to my cousin Herodion.

Hello to those who belong to the Lord from the family of Narcissus.

Hello to Tryphena and Tryphosa—such diligent women in serving the Master.

Hello to Persis, a dear friend and hard worker in Christ.

Hello to Rufus—a good choice by the Master!—and his mother. She has also been a dear mother to me.

Hello to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and also to all of their families.

Hello to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas—and all the followers of Jesus who live with them.

Holy hugs all around! All the churches of Christ send their warmest greetings!

The Letter of Romans, Chapter 16:3-16 (The Message)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 35th chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah that points to a promised restoration of health and peace:

Imagine the wilderness whooping for joy,

the desert’s unbridled happiness with its spring flowers.

It will happen! The deserts will come alive with new growth budding and blooming,

singing and celebrating with sheer delight.

The glory of Lebanon’s cedars and the majesty of Carmel and Sharon

will spill over to the deserts.

The glory of the Eternal One will be on full display there,

and they will revel in the majestic splendor of our God.

So, with confidence and hope in this message,

strengthen those with feeble hands, shore up the weak-kneed and weary.

Tell those who worry, the anxious and fearful,

“Take strength; have courage! There’s nothing to fear.

Look, here—your God! Right here is your God!

The balance is shifting; God will right all wrongs.

None other than God will give you success.

He is coming to make you safe.”

Then, such healing, such repair: the eyes of the blind will be opened;

the ears of the deaf will be clear.

The lame will leap like deer excited;

they will run and jump tirelessly and gracefully.

The stutterer, the stammerer, and the tongue of the mute

will sing out loud and clear in joyful song.

Waters will pour through the deserts;

streams will flow in godforsaken lands.

Burning sands and hardened wastelands will become pools, shimmering with life;

the thirsty ground will drink deep from refreshing springs.

Abandoned villages where predators once lurked will become grassy playgrounds.

Dry, arid land will turn lush and green.

And the road to this happy renovation will be clearly signed.

People will declare the way itself to be holy—the route, “sacred.”

Only those who are right with God

will be able to walk its pleasant path,

And nobody—no visitor, no dimwit—will get lost along it.

There’ll be no lions lying in wait, no predators or dangers in sight.

Only those made right with God will journey there.

Those whom the Eternal One has recalled from a punishing exile,

they will go along so easily. They will walk this path,

Come waltzing to Zion, singing their way

to that place of right relation to God.

An aura of joy never-ending will attend them;

they will clasp gladness and joy to their hearts,

While sadness and despair evaporate into thin air.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 35 (The Voice)

and a mirroring of these lines from The Passion Translation:

Strengthen those who are discouraged.

Energize those who feel defeated.

Say to the anxious and fearful,

“Be strong and never afraid.

Look, here comes your God!

He is breaking through to give you victory!

He comes to avenge your enemies.

With divine retribution he comes to save you!”

Then blind eyes will open and deaf ears will hear.

Then the lame will leap like playful deer

and the tongue-tied will sing songs of triumph.

Gushing water will spring up in the wilderness

and streams will flow through the desert.

The burning sand will become a refreshing oasis,

the parched ground bubbling springs,

and the dragon’s lair a meadow

with grass, reeds, and papyrus.

There will be a highway of holiness called the Sacred Way.

The impure will not be permitted on this road,

but it will be accessible to God’s people.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 35:3-8 (The Passion Translation)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Tuesday, july 13 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that looks at the heart of our words:

According to Jewish tradition, it was on Tishah B’Av (the ninth of Av) when the people wept over the report of the spies, a lapse of faith so serious that it provoked God to decree that the very generation He redeemed from Egypt would die in the exile of the desert (see Num. 13-14). As Moses later recounted this tragic event, he said something peculiar: “The LORD heard the ‘voice of your words’ (קוֹל דְבַרִים) and was angry...” (Deut. 1:35). The grammar here is unusual, for the text could have simply said, “the LORD heard your words,” but the Torah adds something else, the idea of “emotional tone,” or the manner, the words were spoken... Sometimes it is not so much what you say that matters, but how you say it. Words of the heart are expressed more by tone, the “voice of the words,” than by the words themselves...

When we recite Shema, we do so bekhol levavkha (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ) - with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might (Deut. 6:5). This is a cry from the heart that affirms God's truth. Our feelings are important and are given their voice, whether they are feelings of joy, gratitude, and so on, or feelings of doubt, despair, or fear. As Yeshua Himself said: "Would that you were either cold or hot, but because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I will spit you out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:15-16).

It's been said that if you don't know how to say something, say it loudly... The heart has its own voice regardless of the words we are able to articulate. For instance, if you love someone, then really love them and abhor being halfhearted. Being hot or being cold is better then being tepid, because then you are being honest, and honesty will always evoke a genuine response from heaven... [Hebrew for Christians]

7.13.21 • Facebook

from an email by Glenn Jackson:

July 13th

* THE BIBLE stands alone among the books of the world.

Its outstanding characteristic, which differentiates it from every other book, is that it is a Revelation from God to man.

It demands man's obedience; claims man as its subject.

It does not profess to be a scientific treatise, but it is the mother of all sciences.

It has given birth to our Educational Systems, to our Philanthropic enterprises, our Mechanical, Chemical, and Biological discoveries.

No nation ever needed a patent or a copyright law until this Revelation Book had been given to it.

Germany never awakened in Chemistry or Mechanics until the Bible had been put into her mother tongue.

The same thing was true in England.

This Revelation has come to us on the level of Sense Knowledge, in language we can understand.

It is a Revelation of the Reason for Creation.

It is a Revelation of the Way of Creation, how it actually came into being by faith, and that the Creator is a Faith God.

This is perfectly in harmony with all the facts that Sense Knowledge has gathered.

It is the man of faith who creates things in the Mechanical, Architectural, and Industrial world.

Faith is the creative force in man.

Faith is the creative force in the Creator.

God simply said, "Let there be."

The Bible is a Revelation of the Reason for man, the nature of man, and the destiny of man.

It is a Revelation of the source of Life.

It is a Revelation of sin and its origin and of man's Redemption from its dominion and authority.

It is a Revelation of the why of the Jewish nation.

It is a Revelation of the most outstanding character of human history, the Man of Galilee, proved to be the Son of God by His Resurrection from the dead.

It is a Revelation of a perfect Redemption on legal grounds.

It is a Revelation of a New Creation created in Christ Jesus.

It is a Revelation of the family of God, of man's place in the heart dream of the Creator.

It is a Revelation of the cause of sin, suffering, and death, and of their final destruction.

It is a Revelation of a New Heaven and a New Earth and man's eternity with God in perfect bliss.

This Revelation is necessary to Sense Knowledge.

It crowns Sense Knowledge.

It shows how the human intellect, that has been debauched by sin and generations of wrong thinking, can come into perfect fellowship with the Creator God.

It is a Revelation of God as a Father, and of this Father God as a God of Love.

The denial and repudiation of Revelation Knowledge has been the darkest blot upon the modern scholastic mind which owes its very growth and development to this Revelation.

...."The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever".... Isaiah 40:8 NASB

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

July 13, 2021

His Doom Is Sure

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

The third verse of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” focuses on Satan’s end. God has willed triumph through His truth.

And though this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear; for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us:

The Prince of Darkness grim—We tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure, For lo, his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

When Satan was cast from heaven, fully a third of the angels fell with him (Revelation 12:4), such that a “legion” of them could inhabit one individual (Mark 5:9). But God has other plans for His children. He desires “to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18). He desires us to “resist the devil” (James 4:7) and not “give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27).

He also has plans for Satan, including “everlasting chains under darkness” (Jude 1:6), and “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Just one word and Satan will be “cast into the lake of fire and...tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). Jesus, anticipating His execution, spoke of it triumphantly. This had been His Father’s will all along. “Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:31-32), and now the battle is His. JDM

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12/31/2019 DAB Transcript

Malachi 3:1-4:6, Revelation 22:1-21, Psalms 150:1-6, Proverbs 31:25-31

Today is the 31st day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you today on this last day of the year, New Year's Eve. Tomorrow we will be stepping into a new decade. So, we are enjoying the final hours of a decade and it's just…ahh…these…these last days of the year they get me, they just bring me into this melancholy place where it’s like, wow! I know tomorrow is like…you know…like tomorrow we’ll begin the journey again, but we’re…we’re at the end of the journey and I just think back over just this year alone, over all that we have been through together and all that we’ve been through individually and God's faithfulness in it all and I think, wow, this is the last day of the decade, and every single day of that decade we were here reading the Bible. We didn't miss a day, and yeah, that just…I hadn't thought of it until today. And it’s just, wow, this is where we are, the last day of this journey. And we can talk some more about that in a little bit, but it is our custom, it is the tradition, it is what we do is to get into God's word and that is the reason for all of what we do as a community. And, so, let's join hearts and let’s conclude the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, we will read Malachi chapters 3 and 4 today and we’ll conclude by reading from the Christian Standard Bible.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for bringing us to this place. It was one year ago that we began another journey to sail the high seas of the Scriptures and allow them to guide our paths each and every day. It's in some ways hard to believe that the year has passed, but that's how it is. And father, I just have this…this overwhelming sense of humility that today concludes 14 years every single day offering…offering this the Scriptures spoken, read fresh, and thank you. Thank you for all that you have done through that effort and it's changed…changed…changed me completely. And I am grateful. And I am thankful for my brothers and sisters all over the world who have shared this journey that we walk through and in and with each other every single day. And, so, we come to conclusions like this and it gives us a moment to just pause and reflect on the meaningfulness of it all and all you’ve done as we look back at this year, all that you have done. Some of it's just been wonderful and some of it's been really, really hard, and some of it's been really, really deep and it’s really, really easy to get distracted in the difficult times, but when we have the presence of perspective, when we get down the road and we look back, we realize that these challenges that we face, they teach us to endure and they teach us to be strong. And, so, yeah, there's been some hard patches for sure but we are stronger for it and we know, we know that you will continue to lead us forward. And, so, come Holy Spirit we pray. Seal this reading of your word this year in our hearts, in our minds, in our lives we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

Well…well…that’s it. 14 times I've come to the end of the year and thought, “what do you say? What do you say at the end of the year? What do you say to sum up the adventure of a lifetime, going through the Bible in community among friends all over the world? How do wrap up all the stories that we've followed in each other's lives? How do you wrap up all the tears that we've shed for one another? How do we wrap up all of the moments that we laughed out loud and rejoiced? How many times has God's word been there right when we needed it most, telling us just what we needed to hear? How many days has God's word spoken deep truths into our lives that have been accumulating, right? They've been accumulating over this year and so now we have new spiritual muscles that we never even knew about. Now, we actually can do what I said we should do at the end of this year on this day. Look in the mirror. We looked in the mirror at the beginning of the year and we should be able to look in the mirror now and yeah, see a person who’s a year older, but also see a person who's a year wiser, but also see a person who is being renovated utterly from within by the most-high God. So, yeah, I…there’s just no way…I just sent a bunch of words and that's just scratching the surface of all that could be said. But we have reached the end of another year and…and this is the conclusion of the 14th year. So, tomorrow as we enter a new year and a new decade, we’ll also be entering year number 15 and that…that is something that I can't even…like it just doesn't seem that long ago. It’s such a strange thing, you know, I can't believe…I can't believe that I stuck to this much less that anyone else stuck to it with me. I can't believe that we get to do what we’re doing in bringing God's word to anyone who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night and build a rhythm of community around it so that we’re not alone on the journey and that makes all the difference in the world. So, I think I'm just kinda…I think I’m just talking because I don't want to say goodbye. I hate having to do that. And I mean I know that tomorrow's another day, even though we’re stepping into a new year and a new decade, it's just another day and we begin the journey again, but this journey, this one is coming to a close. And I know that many, many, many, many of you will be boarding for the voyage of the new year tomorrow and we will set sail and we will be setting sail with thousands of new brothers and sisters whose stories and lives we don't know yet but we will and they will know us and we will become one community and we will become the community that…that sales the high seas of the Bible next year, but I know…I know that I'm saying goodbye to some of you and you will move on into other things and I pray, I pray, I pray with all earnestness that that the Bible will remain a part of the rhythm of your life in some fashion. And, so, I know I’m saying goodbye but I’ve said goodbye to lots people and in lots of cities and lots of towns and lots of countries and I’ve stopped saying goodbye to the Daily Audio Bible community. I hate it. And, so, I just say what I believe is true - until we meet again. So, for those of you who are moving forward into and two new chapters of your life, until we meet again. It will be my goal is as long, as long as there is breath in me to be here waiting for you tomorrow. And for…for all of us who will disembark this year and re-embark on the voyage of the new year together tomorrow then I will be waiting for you here tomorrow and I guess that just leaves me with…with a prayer of benediction over this entire community.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he lift his countenance upon you and give you peace. May the strength of God to go with you. May the wisdom of God instruct you. May the hand of God protect you. May the word of God direct you. May you be sealed in Christ this day and forevermore. Amen.

Song:

Hold Your Head Up High – Darlingside

How it rambles 'round the moon A let-go-of balloon Nothing is forever, everything is soon

And my father as he stands A perfect cartoon man Heavy-sighed and open-eyed, I heard him speak

Hold your head up high Hold your head up high

Rise it up, it's fine terrain The time will come again And misery's no rest for weary gentlemen

See that humankind is you Like all the rest, down to The scratches on the album that you're singing to

Hold your head up high Hold your head up high

Through the light and through the shadow I won't wait it out, wait it out

Hold your head up high Hold your head up high Hold your head up high

Biting clovers in the lawn A solitary fawn Underground, the new life thunders up and on

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