#the mistakes made in past but some of you guys did not understand the whole point. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kivino · 8 months

Text

Platonic!Task Force 141 x Eastern European!Reader

Word Counter – ~1.9k

Summary – a compilation of headcanons about how reader’s Eastern European background would affect interactions with Task Force 141 during an undercover mission together.

Tags/Warnings – Gn!reader, Eastern European!reader (obviously), Platonic!TF141, fluff, mostly.

A/n – RUSSIANS DNI (this is a personal boundary, so I ask you to respect it, if you don’t like it just scroll past this post). Very self-indulgent. Just showing more love to my fellow Eastern European readers. Since it is mostly based on my own experience growing up as a Ukrainian, I’m sorry if certain things don’t resonate with you! This whole thing was made for fun and fun only.

So, let’s assume our beloved Task Force needs to go undercover to get some information on Makarov and his merry band of goons. Obviously, they can’t do it without at least one team member, who is familiar with the way of living in Eastern Europe. So, naturally, Laswell introduces you to them – born and raised there, ready to help them and stop your sworn enemy from escalating an already pretty shitty situation.

“So, allow me to introduce your new team member for the duration of this mission” Laswell nods to the door when you walk in, saying your name and callsign, already catching some looks full of curiosity from Task Force 141.

First thing they noticed about you? Resting bitch face for days. Who needs a mask when you have a death stare that will give the heebie-jeebies to most if not all of your teammates? However, they feel even more taken aback when you suddenly greet them with a warm, welcoming smile and a firm handshake, not a trace of that sour expression on your face.

One would think that you’d spend hours preparing four of them for the mission by teaching them language, helping to memorize names and faces of contacts, Makarov’s trusted allies, and potential targets. Naturally, you did your job, but those precious hours were also spent with you standing next to a whiteboard, ranting about the politics and societal issues of your country, explaining certain national jokes, and teaching them swear words or poetry you studied at school. But hey, they’re not complaining (maybe a little).

They were skeptical about this whole deal at first. However, there was a shared understanding between the four of them that they needed to do whatever it took to stop the spreading of Makarov’s influence and diminish his resources in other countries. With time, however, they’ve found things that made their life in a completely new environment a bit more enjoyable and interesting.

Soap would pick up on your native language the fastest out of the Task Force. Under all these jokes and goofiness Johnny’s a smart guy, inquisitive as hell too, which makes a pretty good mix. He’d try to write down how you pronounce things in his sketchbook, dedicating pages upon pages to making a small vocabulary of what you say, searching up the translations of words any chance he gets. Convinces himself that it just helps him to get more into his new way of life, and not at all because he likes seeing you all excited when he slips a word in your language somewhere in the conversation.

“So how do you say it?” he points to the sentence, messily scribbled on the page with the ballpoint pen he slipped from Gaz. There is a slight frown between your brows – the word looks unfamiliar, more like gibberish than something in your language. You can practically feel the gears in your head screech and come to a halt as you drill Soap’s handwriting with your eyes.

“Oh, wait. You made a mistake here. No wonder I have no idea what this is.” You quickly take the pen and scratch the right version of the word on the paper, while Johnny chuckles at your brutal honesty. He doesn’t say anything though. Some time passes and you’re already correcting other words he wrote down, explaining the right way to say them. And you can feel a pleasant warmth spread in your chest when you can see Soap’s utmost attention directed at you.

Johnny can’t help but feel that moments like these were somewhat of a way to bond for you two. He’d jokingly offer to give you some Scottish classes each time you playfully flick him on the forehead for a word he pronounced wrong. He never expected you to take him up on the offer until the five of you got stuck in a countryside safehouse and essentially had nothing to do while waiting.

On the topic of Eastern European countryside, Price is not an old man by any measure, man’s not even forty yet, but it would grow so massively on him that it’s concerning. When you finally got a good, reliable contact that gave you some useful information you had to lay low for some time in a safe house not far from one of many Makarov’s places where the next weapon deal would be held. And while you waited several days for his people to show up there, obviously almost all of you were bored out of your minds. Not Price though. The man went exploring. Of course, taking you with him (he only wanted company on his small journey through the cozy countryside, don’t blame him).

Soon enough, during your walk you two come across the abundance of berry bushes and fruit trees everywhere, and while you pick something to munch on from them constantly, Price only scolds you. You smirk in response, giving him a handful of ripe mulberries, your lips and fingers now a dark red color from the juice.

“It’s going to rot if nobody eats it. People who plant these trees would rather someone enjoy them instead of fruits just falling on the ground, getting squished, and going to waste.” And Price takes note of that with a small smile. Soon enough the two of you find a spring the whole village uses, a willow standing tall beside it, providing shade for you two to rest, chat a bit, and cool yourself off with fresh water. The fact that there are not many people around also doesn’t miss him. It’s quiet and peaceful, Price finally feels like he has room to breathe with his whole chest.

“You know, I could get used to a life like this.” Price finally mutters, enjoying your simple, comforting presence, walking along the river shore, and hearing the distant sounds of a train passing through the village. You look at him with understanding in your eyes, as you see the tension in his shoulders finally slipping away. Your captain relaxes, which is a pleasant change of pace from the frown on his face that you got used to.

All five of you had to live in the same apartment in an old panel building closer to the edge of town. Not the best place to live, but a good opportunity to blend in with the locals and find leads on Makarov’s criminal “friends”. More than once you’ve found yourself sitting together with Ghost on the balcony that creaked with each blow of the wind, in complete silence while he was smoking some cheap cigarettes that smelled more like burnt paper instead of tobacco.

“Can I join you?” Your voice is a quiet rasp, as you lean against the doorway, pushing the mosquito netting to the side. You couldn’t sleep. Not when the whole world will go down the drain if you fail your mission. Not when it’s been a month already and it felt like you were still right where you started.

“Knock yourself out” the man shrugs, patting the stool near him. You shuffle your bare feet on the newspapers that were laid out on the balcony floor, plopping down on the seat, your eyes immediately getting glued to the view, enjoying the breeze that seeped through the open window. You two sit in silence for so long, but it doesn’t feel awkward, quite on the contrary – weirdly calming and serene.

After that night these nightly smoke breaks became a sort of tradition for you two, a way to wind down after a long day. Ghost would nod towards the balcony, a silent invitation reserved only for you. Regardless of whether you’re a smoker or not, occasionally he would offer you a cigarette from his pack or a hit from the lit one. A gesture of camaraderie.

“Thought you’d be more talkative.” Ghost’s voice sounds gruff after the whole day working your asses off just to discover the lead that you had was absolute bullshit.

“And I thought you weren’t a type for small talk.” You grumble in return, just as annoyed about coming back to this dingy apartment with nothing.

“That I am” He lets out a low chuckle, flicking his cigarette into an ashtray in his hand, avoiding eye contact with you.

Kyle found himself liking your cooking above everything else. The way he would eat anything thrown together in a hurry by you was quite flattering. So soon enough you offered to teach him how to make some of your favorite national dishes, and he couldn’t say no to your offer. So, you decided to start easy – picking out the fresh ingredients. And where do you go to do that? Not a grocery store, no way in hell. The market filled with tons of people is the place you need. A lot cheaper than your usual supermarket too.

The number of times you got discounts for fruits and vegetables on the market from older women just for Gaz’s pretty eyes was insane. He would just blink at you with confusion written all over his face anytime you glanced at him with that smile and refused to explain why you spent a lot less money than expected on the fresh vegetables. At some point, Gaz even questioned his ability to count before you told him just not to worry about it since you got a “very special bargain”. And, obviously, Kyle was the one carrying the plastic bags filled to the brim with fresh produce.

“You know, your version of the dish is not half-bad,” You say, licking the spoon and giving Gaz a wide smile, which he immediately returns to you tenfold. Spending time like this with him was a pleasure. Each minute spent together made you loathe even thinking about the time when you’d have to part ways and you won’t be able to teach him your cultural cuisine like this anymore.

“Well, I have a great teacher to thank for that.” Gaz gives you a charming smile, so glad to finally have a distraction from the constant looming presence of Makarov in his thoughts. Right this moment he caught himself thinking that he was happy they had you here with them. It would be a lot harder if not for you supporting and guiding them through everything. He felt…thankful.

You’d bring the whole Task Force to different cafes that serve your country's most famous dishes, but Kyle would be the one to enjoy these outings the most, barely raising his eyes from the plate to participate in the conversation.

“Wow, are you in a hurry or something? The food won’t run away from you.” You chuckle, while Kyle ignores the odd saying coming from you and continues to eat with the huge appetite he had ever since this undercover mission started.

However, nothing lasts forever, so after finishing their business with you, getting all the information they needed, and “cleaning up the mess” Task Force 141 bids you farewell, returning to their usual duties. Saying goodbye is never easy, even if you knew each other just for several months you still got attached to them, just like they grew very fond of you (as much as some of them hated to admit that). But hey, they promised to visit you after they finish up with Makarov. They promised. And the four of them keep the promises they make.

taglist - @mockerycrow @stridersdiner

check out my masterlist for more fics or send me a request!

#cod mw2 #cod mwii #tf 141 #tf 141 x reader #ghost mw2 #ghost x reader #ghost cod #simon ghost riley #mw2 x reader #call of duty x reader #kyle gaz garrick #kyle gaz garrick x reader #gaz x reader #john price #john price x reader #john soap mactavish #soap x reader

619 notes · View notes

maxphilippa · 4 months

Text

A lot of the neg claims about II are really just making a problem really big/treating it as , or taking things out of context, so let's talk about some of them, ESPECIALLY because of a certain someone(s) lately. Let me clarify that I know that II's writing ISN'T perfect, but nothing is perfect really, and most of these issues are misinterpretation, the choices of the fandom and/or even AE TRYING to fix the writing of a character because a certain SOMEONE was fired on early stages of the writing of said character.

So.

Let's talk about Inanimate Insanity Invitational, and the usual claims that come with it.

1. Cabby's Writing, Interpretations of Her Relationships, and ableism.

Cabby is one of the most... "controversial" characters when it comes to talk about III's writing, which it really shouldn't be like that at all, although I get where people are coming from expressing their concerns when it comes to the writing of her. Let me clarify something. Yes, I am aware that Cabby's writing changes A LOT and that it isn't perfect by any means, but I think that what people fail to understand most of the time is that Taylor was the one that started the Cabby-Test Tube storyline as a whole, and at some point as early s3 was being made, Taylor was fired from the team due to. Well, you guys know it. Pretty bad stuff. So of course, they had to figure out what direction they could go with Cabby as a whole, and to giving her character more depth than her just using her files for the game.

Now, it is obvious that they didn't plan from the start to have Cabby as a disabled character, but again, writing isn't always perfect. They had to somehow make things work. And even IF it wasn't planned, you guys have to remember the other factors that came with the writing on general. So of course her writing isn't as consistent as the writing of the other character on s3, but on later episodes it does get more better. I can see why people don't really like her arc, but those factors really matter when criticizing a form of media.

Cabby's writting and her disability isn't bad. Yes, it could've had better ways of execution, but it's not bad.

When it comes to relationships, I have seen someone seeing Cabby's relationship with Test Tube as a canonically sapphic thing because apparently Cabby's VA had that sort of intent, and therefore even claiming that Cabby suffers from lesbophobia(via claiming that she had a crush on Test Tube) and misogyny.

And that's not true. First of all, Cabby's and Test Tube's relationship is pretty much an example of friendships that don't work, and Test Tube pretty much exposed Cabby to the world and made her feel bad about herself for the rest of the episodes. A headcanon doesn't mean that the whole thing changes on canon, it's just that, a headcanon/interpretation, and claiming that what they did to her was lesbophobic is. Pretty weird. Since it is shown that Test Tube hurted Cabby a lot. As well, just because the Voice Actor had an intention, IT DOESN'T mean that the writers had said intention.

When it comes to the claims of misogyny, I still don't quite get why people try to see what isn't there.

The thing is that there isn't a lot of femenine characters on II and such, but Cabby isn't treated like that because "she doesn't do anything for men", she helps everyone on general, she cares about people. But she isn't put as a bad woman because of this. What you guys tend to forget is that. Cabby WAS kind of a prick on early s3. She DID commit mistakes and wasn't a great person, but that doesn't mean that misogyny is there just because for that. Just because people treat a fem character badly/not great BECAUSE OF HER PAST ACTIONS, doesn't mean that there's misogyny. The cast on general didn't like Cabby at all until she "redeemed" herself/changed/was true to herself. So that claim is. Pretty out of nowhere.

Now... with the ableism. I do get where you guys are coming from, but if you look into it deeply, they genuinely did have other intentions. The thing that people usually tend to forget is that the II characters aren't all white and black, they're gray. They do messed up stuff when they don't understand things. What the characters do to Cabby before she becomes more open about her disability is NEVER glorified and they always end up learning about it one way or another. Is it reasonable? Yes, was it ever justified on canon terms? Nope! People can be assholes without knowing that they're assholes and THEN learn! Things like that happen all of the time. Writers don't condone the actions of the characters.

Let's take an example at the scene with Bot and Cabby on episode 14. The main problem here was Bot giving fake information to Cabby, which yes, I agree that was a very bad move to do and you should NEVER do that to a disabled person (especially taking in count that Cabby suffers from a sort of memory disorder), but they didn't have an malicious intent whole doing so at all. Bot was still figuring out themselves and didn't want to be written down by somebody (because. THAT'S WHAT TEST TUBE AND FAN DID.), and Cabby doing the file thing was also easy to take on a bad light, but after Justin's explanation, it makes sense.

Could've it been treated on a better way? Yes. And YET, Bot apologizes for what they did to Cabby and DOES the disability aid themselves for her, and apologizes on EPISODE 15, just a few hours later probably or some days later. And on the same episode, Lifering tells Cabby that she shouldn't be ashamed of using her aids and that she shouldn't feel bad about those. Test Tube RESPECTS Cabby's space once she gets that she was wrong about her too. She knows she messed up too badly.

Later on, on episodes 16 and 17, everyone finally gets Cabby's files and respects them, because they finally saw that she actually needs those and that hey, she changed a lot. They treated her good. Characters can be human and can make mistakes, but they can also get better and learn. Although Cabby's arc is not flawless, it is still good. And all of the issues are easily explained just like that.

2. Bot's creation, and how it's never justified by them.

One of the main points that some people tend to bring on "III's poor writing" is the fact that Bot was pretty much built based on a parasocial relationship of sorts. However said people dare to say that AE portrays it as something good/thought that it was okay, and never did anything else to show Bot being uncomfortable by it, but this is NOT TRUE.

Ever since Bot found out that they were a replica of someone, they knew it was pretty fucked up coming from Test Tube and Fan. Meanwhile it is not explained the loss these two went through (The Shimmer egg probably does not count, since traces of "Bowbot" have been seen on early-mid s2), we know for a fact that what happened was pretty bad for the two of them. But, Bot never really forgave Test Tube. "What about the chat they have where Test Tube apologizes to them?", Bot is willing to give her another chance for the fact that Test Tube offered to help them to be themselves.

Even then Bot explains on their interview that the main reason they acted poorly towards Cabby, was because they got attached to Test Tube, the "only" person that could've helped them to change at the moment. However, again, III doesn't justify what Test Tube and Fan did. Sure, Bot considers them their parents, but they just created them and even when Bot was discovering themselves, Test Tube was. Still pushing the fem terms on them.

So, Bot is fully aware about their existence being fucked up, but they're just trying to live their life as well. These claims do not make any sense despite it being the easiest part to look into.

3. Invitational's writing. (And how The Bright Lights not being themselves is part of the fandoms fault, but also what happens when you try to expand an character who's arc is over).

Ah... one of the most... complicated points here. People tend to absolutely want to kill AE over the writing feeling weird or unprofessional on S3, but I think that all of you just kind of forget many factors at hand that came with it.

The reason as to why the most of the main Bright Lights were there IS because of viewer voting. The Bright Lights had their arcs finished on s2, and trying to have an story where something is going on with characters that are pretty much done in their stories is VERY difficult, and should not even happen at all. The only characters that did have something going on were Nickel, Balloon and Yinyang on s2 terms. Even OJ was just not having it.

So of course the viewer voting getting those 3 Bright Lights there kind of made things so much more mid on a building up relationships term. Other characters had a lot going on that needed to be solved, not them. I do think that AE should NEVER let the viewers do anything anymore because that's one of the weakest points of s3: most of the s2 characters. When you try to develop characters who's arc is closed, you kinda pretty much go nowhere with it. But you can't just have them sitting doing nothing till their elimination.

However... it's not bad when you forget those 3 characters (Fan, Paintbrush and Test Tube) and have the remaining s2 guys and the new characters. It isn't bad at all. In fact, their arcs are pretty consistent for the most part (except for Cabby's if we count the start of it), and the arcs of Nickel & Balloon AND Yinyang show some real growth and ARE proof that AE does know how to write characters. As long as they ACTUALLY HAVE something going on for them.

As well, something that people forget a lot when it comes to III's writing, is that it is more lighthearted on comparison to S2. Which I can get to an extent, but then, let's remember this: AE made S3 because they were burnt out from S2's writing.

They wanted to make something more fun, something that was more S1 like, and meanwhile I do get people not liking S3 at all because of this, please do remember that S3 is meant to be more silly. More funny. Less serious stuff. Until the last episodes dropped that is, but it is still it's main intention.

4. ...Transphobic? Allegations/accusations.

This point makes me feel so SO tired at this point and it's how people say "AE gets the trans characters out just when they came out" and get so SO tired of people missing the point with Bot's design, but also missing the whole Paintbrush thing.

The reason as to why they get eliminated is because they get closure to their arc, and they have to get growth off-screen. On both of Paintbrush's eliminations, they were gone as a way to have closure, because the competition wasn't a healthy place for them, and Paintbrush's growth off screen is subtle, but it is still there. Back on s2 they were scared of saying their identity, but after they got eliminated, they got comfortable enough to the point of having the non binary flag on their shared room with Fan, and are pretty respected by the whole cast afterwards.

On s3, their elimination is pretty much the same, but it's them knowing that they don't have it on themselves to keep competing in the show. They get closure with Mephone4 instead.

When it comes to Bot, I have genuinely seen people complain about AE getting rid of the "fem traits" because Bot is... nonbinary. But. That's. That's fucking dumb at this point. The pink and the EYELASHES are FROM BOW. Bot's whole arc is about finding themselves and showing their true self to the world, and Justin has confirmed that Bot still DOES like those things, but that they're trying to find themselves! Trying to be their own person! And them getting out was also them getting closure because they finally know who they are, and they know that no matter what, no one can change that for them.

And for the last part of this... it is pretty obvious that s1 and early-mid s2 had quite some poor humor regarding Painty's gender, but this can be explained by two things: 1- They were still quite young when these seasons were made, 2- Taylor was still on the team (and he was the main reason as to why there were slurs on II, please do correct me if I'm wrong), but they ended up getting treated with respect and decency despite all things. Again. It wasn't perfect. But they managed to fix it and make it work.

Now, are those factors worth pointing out? Yes, they are, but are they arguments to try and say that AE is transphobic on actual times? No. They showed growth and tried to fix their mistakes. And meanwhile it isn't flawless, it's still pretty good.

5. Nickel's Writing Is Actually Good, You Guys Are Just Too Convinced In Your Own Headcanons

Oh boy, now, if you are quite familiar with the plots I usually analyze here, you must know already how strongly I feel about Nickel as a character and his arc with Balloon as a whole. Because everyone gets them so so wrong and misses the whole point of it. You may know this but people complain a lot about Nickel's arc taking "too long" or "being way too rushed", and both of those takes are pretty much wrong. Some also say that Nickel was worthy of a big villain just because, oh, what was his crime? Sucking at communication and trying to protect his alliance from someone he saw as dangerous at the time? That's called being a complicated character. That's literally it. Some even complain about him "not getting what he deserves" but he pretty much does get called out on the series, but also yelling at him and telling him to die won't help.

That's now how it works. Nickel's arc makes sense and it was long because he had to solve a lot about himself and about learning how to be a good, genuine friend. He became soft because he ended up having people (ex: Box) that told him to get his shit together and to stop putting his petty feelings first to focus on the team. Nickel's whole arc is about knowing what you did was wrong, and wanting to become a better person despite all odds. Even if those who you care about might never forgive you. It was necessary for The Grand Slams arc to make sense and to keep on growing.

You guys want a character to get better, but then complain when one character does become a better person, a more genuine version of themselves. And no, Nickel's actions were never justified by the show or by himself, although he did excuse his actions with fear at some point, but even then, he fully recognizes that his actions were terrible and understands if Balloon won't forgive him.

Just because you hate a character it doesn't mean you can just mischaracterize them and or forget the whole point of their arc. Nickel's arc alongside Balloon's MAKES sense and it's pretty much the best arc on s3 all factors considered.

6. Is Invitational a bad season overall?

It isn't a bad season. Yes, I keep repeating myself, it is not perfect, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad season. It doesn't stand up to the point where s2 is, but that's the goal, it's meant to be a season made for fun and to chill, and meanwhile I can agree that there are things that can be better or could've been executed on different ways, and it got way better on later episodes due to better structure.

I can get people not liking s3 because of it's flaws but it's not the WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED AND A MOCKERY, it's genuinely just something made for fun. And people tend to forget that.

There is not a media that is perfect. Inanimate Insanity isn't by any means.

But man. Isn't it a good show anyway? Isn't it a show that made you feel for the stories and it's characters? Isn't it imperfectly perfect on it's own way? Isn't it made with care and love? Isn't the fact that it has flaws makes it feel more genuine?

I personally think it is. But that's just me.

Thank you for reading.

234 notes · View notes

websterss · 3 months

Text

𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐔𝐓 — 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐃

𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓: Hello!! I simply adore your fics with my whole heart I was wondering if I could request a Lockwood and co fic with Lockwood? Where maybe reader, him, and, Lucy are all at the auction and once they make their escape to the roof reader fights golden blade with her rapier and just before they jump maybe she gets stabbed or something? And lockwoods just freaking tf out? And he’s just pleading for her to stay with him and just angst to fluff if possible? I love your fics and your writings so much!

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆(𝐒): angst, some fluff, mentions of stab wound

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 1,746

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Anthony Lockwood x fem!Reader

𝐀/𝐍: Hope you enjoy it! let me know what you guys think!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

Anthony had tugged on your and Lucy's hands back the way you came. Peering over the edge of the building had resulted in a dead end leaving you with the option of jumping into the freezing water or facing Golden Blade.

You all stopped dead when he blocked the way with the tip of his blade. Anthony had attempted to shield you behind his frame, but you weren't having any of it tonight. You were exhausted from running all day long, and you really wanted some tea and buiscuts. You were teetering on your last braincell.

“That was mine!” He growled. The Bone Glass long gone in the hands of DEPRAC by now. Flo and George ensuring of its safety.

“Oh geezus, give up!” Anthony began backing the three you of towards the edge. “Bone glass is with DEPRAC, now it’s over.”

“You don’t understand the game at all do you?” Golden Blade scoffed.

It didn’t take long for you to unsheath your rapier, drawing it and directing it towards the man before you. His eyes met yours across the length of your weapon. There was a moment of tension and a flicker of surprise in his eye but he merely smirked.

"Oh my, looks like we have a fighter here. I always like a girl with spirit. Shall we dance? I wouldn't mind taking a spin." He spun his blade around, showing off and taunting you to attack.

“Do not engage, Y/n!” Anthony frowned.

"I do like a good tango!" You ran forward taking the first strike, ignoring Anthony’s pleas to stand down.

He sidestepped and your blade swished past his shoulder, missing him by an inch. His blade slashed up, trying to cut into your cheek but you'd already moved out of the distance of the blow. You took another step and jabbed at his side, only for him to dodge again.

“Y/n come on!” Anthony begged once more.

Lucy turned in time to catch him get up on the ledge, peering down into the water. “No, no, no, no.” She shook her head immediately, not wanting to take his extended hand. “No Lockwood.”

“Lucy he’ll kill us all-Y/N leave him!” He called after you, watching you swing and dart with precision, but it was the precision that made him fear for you to make a mistake and get hurt.

"I always did prefer a woman with some backbone," Golden Blade grinned, his blade dancing above his head as he parried your next blow which was aimed straight at his face. You were good with the rapier, he'd give you that much. The two of you circled one another for some moments until you attempted to stab his midriff and he responded by launching forward, the tip of his blade piercing skin, your skin. You gasp as your weapon clattered to the ground, the silence growing eery and still as you looked down at where he got you.

“No!” You could hear Lucy and Anthony exclaim.

You slowly look up at his eyes filled with amusement. He now faced a child simply scared for her life. “But even those with the confidence, are sure to have a weakness. You’re impulsive child.” He pulled the blade out of your abdomen. Your hands trying to clutch at the bleeding wound with shaky hands. You spared him one last glance before you turned and ran. Anthony had reached for your hand mid jump, but he had missed you by an inch. Your gasp filled his ears as you lept off towards the water. You fall into the icy waters of London, the air leaving your lungs as you plunge past the murky surface.

He watched you disappear with a splash. His heart thumping loudly in his ears. He gripped Lucy’s hand and lept off the edge.

The icy water bit into your skin as you submerged completely. The water's embrace was chilling and bitter and you could feel the wound ache more when you plunged into the water. You kicked your legs and arms using what strength you had left to help you break the surface. You weren’t the strongest swimmer. Anthony knew it too, but you guessed when you feared drowning that your flight or fight response could possibly save you. You gasp as your head comes up, inhaling a chunk of air before you fell back down under the surface. You tried to kick upwards, feeling around in the water for something solid to grab on to but the water pushed against you with relentless force. You were drowning. Your head surface once more before you were met with a solid form. Your arms immediately clinging to it as you coughed up water. It wasn’t until a brush of fingertips pushed back your wet hair, that you realized it wasn’t a something, but a someone.

"I've got you, I've got you!" Anthony held you close as your head fell forward onto his shoulder. "I've got you love." He swallowed the thick lump in his throat. His eyes closing shut as he fought to keep you both above water.

You clung to him for dear life. You were shaking and trembling with the cold, as well as the terror that you almost died. You were sobbing into his shirt, and even with the pain in your torso, you tried to hug him tightly, so that he wouldn't let go and you would never let go. He was the only lifeline you had right now. “He stabbed me...” Your lips trembled with the admition.

This had Anthony recoiling back in your arms. His eyes wide with concern and fear. He immediately checked you over. Lucy treading closer to the two of you. "What?" She exclaimed. "Where?" Anthony had lowered his hands down your sides and when his thumb brushed against the top of your jeans lyour whimper was enough to let him know where it was you were injured.

“Can you float?” His tone soft, but concern ridden. You barely missed the rasp in his throat as he blinked back tears.

You nodded. Unwrapping your hands from his neck, allowing him to guide you on your back. One hand kept underneath you at all times. His hands had slowly reached forward to lift the hem of your shirt. Lucy's heart froze as she came closer to the two of you, her gaze fixated on the wound as well as you shaking from the cold. You had stopped crying, having focused your energy on maintaining yourself afloat. You kept your eyes closed as you tried to breathe. You’ll stay afloat as long as there’s air in your lungs, Anthony’s voice rang through your head, but no matter how hard you focused, the panic made only made it worse for you. Your eyes fluttered open in a flash, and you reached out for him again. Anthony caught you before you slipped under the surface, bringing you closer once more, letting you wrap your arms around him.

Anthony couldn’t stop the wave of emotions that crashed up against him. He didn’t want to be crying in front of anyone, but he felt completely overwhelmed, tears filled his eyes as he held you, wrapping his arms tightly around you. He had been afraid. Very afraid that he was going to lose you, right out here in the middle of the freezing river in London.

“We’re gonna get you help soon okay. I just need you to hold out for me a little longer. Can you do that for me?” He lifted your chin with his hand gently. You mustered a small nod but he needed more than that from you. “I need to hear you love. Just a little longer.”

“Just a little longer.” You echoed back to him. “I’m not a good swimmer Anthony...”

“And yet you jumped into the river.” His laugh breaks the tension.

“You were gonna do it first-had to beat you to it.” You breathe out a laugh.

“I would not have jumped in.” You both turn to Lucy, watching her tread water shivering.

“Ready?” He dipped his chin to you both.

“No.” You shook your head, you could feel the exhaustion getting to you but you knew you couldn’t let sleep win over your body.

“Whatever.” Lucy began swimming forward, the shore was the goal.

“We can stop if you need to take breaks.”

“No, no stopping, the sooner we get to shore the faster we can take me to the hospital.” You breathed out again.

“I’ll get you there safe and sound. I refuse to let the river claim you. I promise you.” He leaned forward and kissed your temple. You sighed against his touch.

“Don’t let me go.”

“I’d be stupid to.” There it was again, his charming smirk you adored.

As you lay your head on his shoulder you felt his arms become tighter around you as a shiver ran down your spine. Your body shook uncontrollably against the cold of both the river and the weather. He could feel your teeth chattering and wanted to wrap you in his coat, give it to you, but you'd probably punch in the face if he tried. So he opted to just keep holding you close. His promise to never let you go would remain sound and safe in his heart. He'd swim across the ocean just to ensure your life, even if he was on his last remaining strength, he'd hold out to get you to safety. He was exhausted, knowing that the swim would take twice as long for you both but he'd get you there. He'd make certain of it.

He swam for what felt like hours but you could finally make out the shore. Lucy beat you both there, but she waited for you both to get there. She laid on top of the rocks, catching her breath. However, the look of relief that washed over her face made you want to sob from exhaustion. If not for the sting of your wound and numbness in your body, you would've flung yourself in her arms and just burst out crying right here and now. Yet still, you were so very grateful to see her wait on you. Anthony walked you both over to where she was and flopped the both of you beside her. Your chests rose and fell from the swim and the cold, but you were alive. That’s what mattered the most. You’d be alright.

#anthony lockwood #anthony lockwood x fem #anthony lockwood x reader #anthony lockwood imagine #anthony lockwood imagines #anthony lockwood oneshot #writings by juls #my gif

154 notes · View notes

thefirstlioveyou · 2 months

Text

What will Mike and Will's S5 Fight Be About?

Shawn Levy basically confirme/implied another angsty Byler fight for S5.

But, what will it be about? Some think it'll be about the painting, but personally, I don't think so at all. I believe the fight will be about Mike's internalized homophobia; Mike will be afraid to romantically be with Will and it hurts Will.

First off, I don't think Mike would be mad for him hiding his feelings or lying about the painting. The sole purpose of the painting lie is to open a gate way to Mike knowing how Will feels about him. It's a set up. Why would he be mad that it was Will who thought those amazing things about him? He's in love with Will.

Now, let's see the common traits that all Byler fights have:

miscommunication, but they both want the same thing

is about their relationship

mike projecting

happens pretty early on, episodes 3-4

triggered by a shift in their relationship/mike doing something

they are alone

It's pretty predictable that S5 will focus on Mike's feelings for Will and be in Will's position this time. He's gonna be a yearning, gay mess! However, it doesn't make sense to copy every little thing as that wouldn't bring anything new to the table. It would quite frankly feel lazy and boring.

I actually believe they will be honest about how they feel episodes 3-4 (after Mike discovers the truth about the painting, what would be the shift in their relationship), and it will be a very angsty scene rather than a happily-ever-after moment (for now). Here's how I picture it: Will wants a relationship with Mike, Mike wants one too, but he's reluctant to because of the shame and bit of denial still lingering.

As understanding as one can be in this situation, it's also hurtful to hear on the receiving end. I can imagine it makes Will very upset. After so long of waiting for Mike, waiting to see if his feelings could be reciprocated, he finally gets it but doesn't get to keep it because of the shame Mike feels. Will does indeed feel like a mistake for his sexuality but, as he also states, Mike makes him feel otherwise. So, if he heard the same person that makes him feel better for who he is, say he's wrong for being the same thing he is.... that would HURT Will terribly. In Will's eyes, he will truthfully believe Mike doesn't want him, even if in Mike's POV, he wants nothing more than Will. This is where the miscommunication comes in play.

This is a real thing that happens in many Queer relationships even to today, when one is ready and the other is not yet. There is no bad guy (unless cheating, abuse, etc is involved of course) in these type of situations. You can sympathize with both sides... Which makes this a perfect fight to watch as the audience; it wouldn't make you hate either of the characters.

Some people say Mike’s accepted his sexuality by the end of S4, but I feel like if he did, it wouldn’t really be a good set up for him to be Vecna’d in S5. His struggle with who he is and his relationship with El is crucial to S5. If we keep Mike struggling with his sexuality and his trauma regarding El, this gives a purpose for him to be Vecna'd, which is the perfect way to explain a lot of his character the past seasons. Similar to how Max escaped Vecna the first time, Mike would do something similar (with the help of others, of course). He will have to accept the mistakes he's made, accept past events that were out of his control and accept who he is, or let himself die. Rather than focus so much on saving others or being needed to others, he must save himself now, for himself. He has to finally believe he is the heart. Finally confronting and accepting what he can't change will bring his character and his relationships to a full circle. It would explain his dynamic with El and Will the whole series. He will finally have the self-confidence he lost.

As much as people want Byler to have an established relationship in S5, I don't think that's likely. With a fight already implied to happen again (most likely early on), it wouldn't make much sense? They're a slow burn on top of that... The season is building up to them being together, it's not them already together (at least I don't think so).

The writers can obviously find a different route, but I feel like this would work and fit well. It would save Mike's character perfectly and it connects with the Mike being vecna'd, or at least in danger, theories; It gives it more purpose.

I just can't really imagine what else the fight would be about. It has to be about their relationship and it has to be about it changing in some way. Mike's weird behavior still needs to be explained... so I would think the fight has to be connected to the reason for that behavior. The fight would then be about his internalized homophobia. And if it is, it has to be explicitly about it, not just subtext like S3 fight.

Rather than “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” and insulting Will, Mike straight up will have to be like, “I’m scared, what if this is wrong? I don’t know how to do this.” “This isn’t right.” This time Mike will be direct how he feels about HIMSELF, but Will would still be hurt because this is the same guy that made him feel better for being Gay…

If this is how the fight plays out, lord hold me because I won’t survive it😭😭😭

#writing this in one go with no revision #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things

143 notes · View notes

neverlookatthisblog · 4 months

Text

One of the girls

A/N: this is my first story since I’ve written smut so if it’s a little ehh just bare with me it’s been a long time🫣😭😭😭 (not proof read so there might be some mistakes)

Inspo for this story: One of the girls by The Weeknd and backstage passes by est gee and Jack Harlow

Smut

Jack had a rough past with women at the time him and his girlfriend broke up he felt Lonely most nights

During the come home the kids miss you tour he met you

You met him when he called you up on stage to shoot the basket into the hoop making it in of course you and Jack shared a cute moment

Fast forward to now you where on the side cheering him on you and Jack weren’t really dating just having fun

From the beginning Jack made it clear that it was no strings attached

“I understand I’m here for the same reasons”you said making eye contact with him

And from there you guys stood on what you both agreed on

You were known on TikTok for going to concerts and meeting different celebrities getting vip tickets,vip sections,etc

It was the day of tour and you were all backstage celebrating

“Thank you all for being here and sharing this experience with me” he said

You all cheered listening to music eventually you took the party to the tour bus and at this point everyone was doing there own thing In there own words

“We going out and celebrating or what” urban asked

In all honestly Jack didn’t really wanna go out he looked at you

“Nah me and y/n are gonna stay in the bus tonight”he said

“Alright well the whole gang is going out if you change your mind just let us know”

Everyone was gone it was just you and Jack

You and Jack both knew what it would lead too

With you laying on the couch while Jack was holding your hands above your head as he kissed you soft

You pulled apart

“You know there was always something different about you” Jack grabbed your hand

“What do you mean” you said

“You know what I mean Can you feel how much I want you” Jack placed your hand against his bulge you feeling how hard he got just from that little kiss

“I can” you say rubbing your hand against him softly through his jeans

Without saying anything Jack pushed you down pulling you closer by your thighs

He slowly removed your sweats kissing your thigh until he got up to your underwear

“Are you sure you wanna do this or do you wanna just chill tonight?” Jack never has asked you this which caught you by surprised

“What of course ” you said Jack gave you a nod before pulling them off

Jack pulled you closer Jack slips it In

Holding your legs while he drove into you

“Is this okay?” He asked

“Yeah it’s good” you smiled giving him the okay to continue

He waisted no time slipping into you

"Fuck jack" you moaned jack put your legs around his waist

"Oh my god" you moaned while jack continued messing you up

"Shit" jack gasped while thrusting faster the movement made your heart beat every second

"I'm gonna cum" he smiled at you grabbing your waist leaning down bodies closer than ever

You closed your eyes when jack started staring at you but Jack wasn’t having it “keep them open and keep them eyes on me”

You did exactly that opening your eyes and looking at Jack

Jack was satisfied with the way he was moving his hips he made you moan every second every chance he got it was hard for you to make eye contact with him because it was intense. You couldn’t take it closing your eyes again but Jack tapped your face “open them back up or I will stop” you grown but obeyed

“ oh, my God, Jack” you scratch his back as he goes deeper, hitting that spot that gets your body burning

you are always very vocal when it came to sex with Jack and he would always listen when it came to your needs

“I’m gonna cum” you and Jack both knew you had to be quick because the gang was going to come back eventually

“Cum for me y/n” and you did just that but Jack didn’t stop this time he went overboard, overstimulating you

“That’s right ride that shit out” he said as he watching your body shake and quiver from your orgasm

After you both came, you both just sat there in silence for a moment

you realized you were actually in love with him, but you knew you couldn’t process the hurt it would give you if you told him because you both agreed no strings attached but you ended up liking him every moment you two spent together you knew you would just get hurt in the end

#jack harlow #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow smut #jack harlow concepts #jackharlow #jack harlow x reader

106 notes · View notes

sxffrxn · 7 months

Text

When love strikes OP81

An Oscar Piastri x reader, enemies to lovers story

Part One Part Two

Summary: Oscar Piastri and Y/N L/N have a long-lasting feud, nobody knows why. Do they themselves know why?

Warnings: swearing, Oscar and Y/N literally act like children, grammar mistakes, messy

Word Count: 1.4k

Arriving back at home was like a blessing from the Gods. As soon as Y/N stepped foot in her apartment, her coat was thrown off as she leaped onto her bed, luggage forgotten. That night, she had the best sleep she had in a very long time, despite still being in her travelling clothes.

When she woke up and checked her phone she found her instagram was blowing up. Panic coursed itself through her body. Was she cancelled online? Has someone made up some bullshit to spread about her?

But, alas, it was her interview. It had gone viral. Some people were speculating about Oscar and Y/N’s relationship, and some had compiled an entire 30 minute video of the pair being downright unpleasant to each other. Although Y/N did in fact watch the whole video - in 3x speed, she wasn’t watching a 30 minute long video - she has to admit some of these were a stretch, I mean there was one scene where they simply walked past each other, opposite sides of the walkway may I add.

Both Lamborghini and Mclaren’s PR teams were going to have a field day with this one.

About an hour later, Y/N got a call from her assistant, Gemma,

“What have you done Y/N, the internet is in shambles!” she started.

“No, Hi how are you? Are you well rested? Why yes I am thank you for asking.” Y/N replied.

“Y/N I don’t think you understand the severity of this. We have had Mclaren on the phone all morning trying to sort this mess out.”

“Gem, I replied the way I was supposed to, I can’t think of another way I could have handled that without it turning into a brawl!” Y/N answered in a less polite tone than she should have used.

“Y/N” she started, “I know you handled it the best way you could. I’m sorry this is just so stressful. I don't know how to say this..”

“Say what? Surely it's not that bad. I mean they’re not kicking me off the team are they? I’ve only done one race an-“ she was cut off by Gemma again.

“They want you to act as though you are civil. Friends even. And I’m not talking, not sending glares at the other. I mean they want you to do all sorts of things with him.” Y/N’s heart dropped, she could not do this. Did this tiny altercation have to resort to this? No. But was Y/N a petty bitch? Abso-fucking-lutely.

“Gem, I’m not pretending to date him or anything like that, I’ve read a lot of books with that in and I hate it.”

“No, Y/N, you do not have to pretend to date Oscar Piastri,” she let out a sigh of relief, “You will, however, have to go to many events with him to show you guys are really just friends off track and rivals on.”

“Ughhhhh. Do I have to? Like what’s the significance of this?” Y/N tried to bargain.

“The significance is,” Gemma started, “not fucking up the internet more than you have - and yes, again, I know it’s not your fault for the interviewer’s question but we need to uphold the reputation of this team. Unfortunately women are always the problem in the media’s eyes.”

Y/N sighed rolling around on her bed and taking a big sip of water,

“Fine, but don’t expect me to apologise to anyone for anything. I hardly did anything wrong!” Maybe the last part was a little fib but Y/N stood her ground.

—

It was media day for the Saudi Arabian grand prix. Y/N sat in her hotel room completing a round of sudoku on her phone - her newest favourite past-time. She was waiting for a knock at her door from Gemma to explain the plan of action for today. Today commenced the ‘sort shit out with Oscar bloody Piastri’ plan, she was given minute details about how they would be miraculously saving each of their reputations. I mean, Y/N could hardly see the problem with rivalry on track, I mean look at Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, they had some issues - Y/N thinks so anyway - and nobody batted an eye, well I guess they weren’t as hostile with each other as Piastri and Y/N are.

A knock resounded through Y/N hotel room.

“Coming!” she went to the door and was met with the smiley face of Gemma,

“Gem you’re,” she checked her watch, “20 minutes early!”

“Yet you are all ready, what happened to ‘Little Miss constantly 10 minutes late’?” Gemma responded.

“Shitting bricks Gem.” Y/N patted Gemma on the back as she stepped out of her room and locked the door, “Let’s get this over and done with, yeah?”

Gemma filled Y/N in on the plan for the start of the day, Y/N would meet Oscar in the foyer of the hotel, have a few laughs and then head to the paddock, they would re-evaluate from there.

Y/N could feel herself gagging as she stepped into the main entrance, yes she was being very dramatic, but this was more stressful than telling her mum she had forgotten to take the chicken out of the freezer to defrost when specifically asked to. Oscar turned and scowled as Y/N walked up to him, this was going to be way harder than he thought. Gemma gave Y/N a firm pat on the back to usher her towards the aussie. They had fake paparazzi stationed just outside the hotel to get the best angles of their positive encounter. When Y/N felt a hand on her back, it was like a switch had been flicked and she grinned at Oscar as though they were best friends, she really channelled the 9 in her drama GCSE for this one moment.

She waved at Oscar as she got closer and he got the memo to sort himself out and act. They began walking out the door and to the shared car they would be taking (Y/N screamed into her hands and nearly punched a hole in the lift door when she found out they'd be car sharing), Oscar opened the door for Y/N to climb into the back seat before he got in. Both Oscar and Y/N had practically begged Gemma to be the peacekeeper and sit between them, but she claimed that she ‘needed to sit in the front because she gets motion sickness’ Y/N called out her shit and said that they had spent millions of car rides together in the back.

It was hard to not grab Oscar by the throat and throttle him into next week but Y/N kept her composure - and kept her hands to herself. It was almost peaceful at first, if you ignore the massive amounts of tension between the two, but that all soon changed as soon as Oscar opened his mouth,

“Do you know how long the car ride is?” he asked, directed to literally anyone in the car who could give him an answer.

“Longer than your F1 debut race” Y/N muttered under her breath, she did mean for him to hear it as she thought it was a pretty good joke. Turns out, it's probably not best to joke about race finishes - in this case, race not finishes - with someone who despises you.

“What the fuck, that’s not funny” he said turning to her.

Y/N stayed staring at her phone but let out a little giggle at his response. Oscar huffed and practically threw himself back into his seat.

“It’s about a 45 minute drive, Oscar” The driver, Kim (also Oscar’s performance coach) answered for him.

‘45 minutes with this bellend’ Y/N said in her mind before rolling her eyes and rotating her phone to watch a show on Netflix.

Oscar was in the same boat ‘No fucking way am I spending 45 minutes with her’ he thought to himself.

A loud ding sound echoed through the back of the car,

“Are you playing sudoku? What are you a fucking child?” Oscar commented. Y/N just scowled at him and stuck her tongue out. Oscar gave her a pointed look, then she realised, huffed, and pushed herself further into her seat.

This was going to be one hell of a car ride.

A/N: Hey guys sorry for the late update, I didn’t drop off the face of the earth. I’ve been so stressed out with schoolwork recently so updates will be scarce 😬 Thank you guys for all the support on the first part I literally love you all!!! Still working out the ropes to tumblr but i promise I will get there in the end.

Taglist: @chiliwhore (comment or lmk to be added i guess!!)

#f1 fanfic #f1 x reader #fanfic #formula one x reader #formula one #oscar piastri #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri x self insert #oscar piastri x y/n #oscarpiastri81 #reader x oscar piastri #oscar piastri x you #sxffrxn

232 notes · View notes

galene-gothic · 8 months

Text

𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖨 𝗆𝖺𝖽𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 ?

୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅* ‧₊ I hope this reading found you in good health, every reblog is appreciated and thank you for everything :) ˖♡ ˎˊ˗ ꒰ 🐇 ꒱

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗ PAID SERVICES

Today we'll take a look at:

- how has the patriarchy affected you?

- what makes you such a worthy and respectable person?

- what were you made for?

⸼ ۫ ︎︎⊹ ! 🪡︎ Pile 1 ꒱

꒰ How has the patriarchy affected you ? ꒱

I think we're all aware of this but women and men function differently due to their hormonal cycles that are different. Yes, women are really capable of being hard workers and go getters, however, women burn out much easier at some point in the month. The patriarchal system has completely ignored that fact and even if women are dying from period pain, we're still supposed to work because otherwise we're deemed as 'weak' or 'lazy'. However, this has caused many women, including you to become very restless. You're constantly on the go and tend to burn yourself out. The patriarchy controls your mind a bit more than that of an average person's. You find yourself changing your mind and words regarding things very often, when engaging in conversations with men because you really value their validation (whether you're aware of it or not). Some of you have only guy friends because 'girls are too much drama'. While, it's not possible to be a 100% self aware.

You lack self awareness in general. You haven't improved yourself enough in terms of morals and character. Spiritually and emotionally, you're lacking. Due to how hard you seem to work, you might have accomplished a lot or have a lot of money but you're still very poor in terms of personal character. You've also become quite a thrill chaser, some of you do not understand how hook-up culture, friends with benefits, uncommitted relationships, situationships, etc. only benefit men. You also have a sense of hyper independence. You might end up providing for or spoiling men who you are not in committed relationship with you just because they make you feel excited but do not take any money from them because of that sense of hyper independence, just for them to disappoint you later and you feeling completely drained out. Some of you have fallen victim to trying to be a certain way (wife material) just to attract men, just to lose yourself in the end. Could be a temporary energy but is definitely driven by patriarchy.

꒰ What makes you a worthy and respectable person ? ꒱

You're at the end of a cycle. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't have any friends because you seem to have gone through major and multiple disappointments, betrayals, heartbreaks and endings in the past one and a half year. Even though, you've lost your dignity and reputation, people tried to throw dirt on your name (probably because you made a few mistakes), you're building yourself back up. One thing about you is that even though you tend to completely burn yourself out, you know how to give yourself time to heal and recover. It's your time to start again, a fresh slate, a whole different book but you're making the most out of it. You know that you've hit the absolute low and now the only way is up. You have had really traumatising experiences at school, college or university. I'm getting that you have a lot of potential to grow. This reading is supposed to remind you that the end was not just the end, it was also a new beginning. Some of you might've considered throwing everything away, if you know what I'm suggesting but you chose to continue living, I'm really proud of you.

You're able to keep going even though there are times when you feel really alone, probably because you actually are. You lack the presence of supportive people in your life or did at some point of time and have gone through really hard times. Even though, you have the tendency to drown in your sadness, one thing you do know how to do is to look within yourself for answers, you tend to have epiphanies, you look into the past in order to move forward with a proper slate, you try to make sure you have learnt all the lessons in order to move forward. You've had a lot of selfish people around you who you gave a lot to. Those people seem to have pushed you under busses and trains though (metaphorically). However, you're able to take good care of yourself and know how to do well by yourself. You're learning how to put yourself first. You cannot be put into a box, you have different aspects of yourself that you tap into when necessary. You're also able to accept people for who they truly are, literally all aspects and sides of them. You have a thirst for knowledge but because of how you're constantly on the go, you might not have time to educate yourself which is causing you to feel untrue to yourself.

꒰ What were you made for ? ꒱

You were made for being original. One of the reasons why you are not in the best place is because of how you try to deny your true spirit and fit in instead or atleast tried. No one has ever understood you and you might have been considered to be an outcast for being different, so, it might be difficult but that's where you'll find true happiness. You're meant to change your views to be a bit taboo but still human and preach it to others, not through words but through actions. You're here to be understanding towards those who are similar to you. You're different from the majority and that's who you're supposed to be. The energy that I'm getting is that you have people around you who are misogynistic, racist, religious to the point of hatred towards others, etc. so unintentionally, you end up denying your own morals in order to fit in with them.

You were meant to be open minded and listen to different opinions. You were meant to be rebellious, and break the toxic cycle of oppression masked as 'traditions'. You were made to question things and try to cause necessary changes instead of being like "it is what it is" or "atleast, women don't have it as bad as in the '80s." There's a chance that you're an activist, freedom fighter or have a similar energy. You're supposed to challenge power and authority in order to help the weaker ones. You were here to create a better earth. If you're one of the people who forces your religious beliefs onto others and hates on people with a different religion, this pile is not for you or atleast you're supposed to outgrow that energy. I'd be surprised if you guys even had a religion, to be honest. You were here to fight for freedom and break past restrictions, it likely started with your childhood home or family, maybe you had to fight in order to be a person of your own.

⸼ ۫ ︎︎⊹ ! 🪡︎ Pile 2 ꒱

꒰ How has the patriarchy affected you ? ꒱

You tend to have ingenuine platonic relationships with girls. It's like, both of you dislike each other and you both know you dislike each other but act like you do not dislike each other to each other's faces, even though you both know that the other knows that you kind of dislike them. People who hate you tend to comment "so gorgeous" to your posts and you've been guilty of doing the same thing in the past too. If you still do it, please grow out of it. You have a hard time trusting girls, tend to keep secrets and are really private which causes girls to be cautious of you. You take responsibility for men's shit and believe you need to earn worthiness in other people's lives. You might have a belief that you'll only be worthy if you earn a certain amount of money or look a certain way. You care about other people's emotions, including the men surrounding you but even when they do not give a shit about your feelings, you still feel guilty.

I'm getting you being like "but I don't want to hurt him" even though he made you sleep on the couch in your own house, you paid for every date, he did/said things to break you down and continued entertaining other people. You tend to neglect one aspect of your life for another and even though I'm not being able to pinpoint how, it is a product of patriarchy. Either, you already have or need to decenter men because it seems to be ruining your life. You've learnt how to stay quiet and hold back especially when it comes to men because they could do potentially dangerous things to you or because you center them and are too scared to speak out. You might come from an area where the difference in treatment between men and women is really evident, due to which you might've not gotten the same opportunities as men or have seen older women not getting the same opportunities as men. You tend to question yourself a lot, hesitate, doubt your skills and worthiness, etc. My advice is to decenter men and build yourself instead.

꒰ What makes you a worthy and respectable person ? ꒱

You're going through an internal transformation and are kind of having an existential crisis. You question your beliefs and values. You might have a tendency to cling onto the past though. However, you're releasing and starting fresh. I think you're starting to understand the importance of a stable foundation at this point of time. Mentally, you tend to be scared of changes but are starting to learn how to let go. You're also able to put your ego aside in order to be true with and to yourself. You might've recently gotten out of a toxic and abusive relationship or friendship, it doesn't have to be physically abusive but they did use you for their own personal reasons while neglecting you as a person. You're finally able to realise what doesn't serve you and release those things and people. You are also learning how to accept yourself and not believe that you're a bad person just because of a few mistakes that you made. You're learning how to be independent and gain control over your life.

You have a really selfless side that was misused, however, you're learning how to not shame yourself over it. You're also able to avoid distractions, differentiate between what's good and what's not, and move forward with your life. You're self controlled and in touch with the darker aspects of yourself, so many of you are doing shadow work or should start doing it, very beneficial for you. You respect other people's differences. You're realising that love is supposed to be mutual and you deserve to receive the love that you give out to others. You're also very loyal once you trust or love people enough. You value deep connections and understand that being deeply loved is always better than being widely liked. You don't treat uglier or foreign people in a bad way, you respect everyone as long as they respect you and you're able to show respect. You're good at bonding with people and expressing love to others, this might've caused you to be victimised and used in the past but you're learning how to turn it into a strength.

꒰ What were you made for ? ꒱

You likely need a lot of alone time. You were made for a peaceful life and also to provide that space for others. You were made to teach others that they are allowed to take care of themself in order to heal. Some of you could like or study psychology. You were made to contemplate life and grow as a person. Meditating could make you feel closer to yourself. You'll likely have periods in your life where you'll be popular and well liked until you fall and are looked down on, you're supposed to make the most out of those moments. You might be power and fame hungry actually, your true sense of happiness will come only when you understand that developing your character is better than chasing fame. You'll have to learn how to feel successful on the inside.

You might achieve success later in life or atleast when you've learnt how to not function on ego, when you let go of arrogance. You're supposed to build confidence, character and self esteem first, otherwise, no matter how successful you'll get, it'll fall apart. You'll have a lot of realisations and private victories. Also, you'll have to learn how to not go broke while trying to look rich. You'll have a lot of unrequited love experiences, I wouldn't be shocked if you've already undergone a few of them. You're supposed to learn how to not pass blame and be a little less reasonable with toxic people. You'll learn so much through love, heartbreaks and experiences. Most of your heartbreaks will be through situationships. You'll have to go through extremes of personality and situations in order to learn and help people younger than you.

⸼ ۫ ︎︎⊹ ! 🪡︎ Pile 3 ꒱

꒰ How has the patriarchy affected you ? ꒱

This pile at some point has been guilty of being proud about dating someone popular or something along those lines, if not, you pretend to be happy and content in order to make other women jealous, you might not be aware of it but if you deeply reflect, you'll find this to be true. You understand how being in touch with the correct or well reputed men will increase your value in other women's eyes. If not, other women try to do that to you. Regardless of whether you know it or not, you tend to see other women as competition and vice versa. You know how to make the most out of patriarchy. You're a hardworker and run after success. I feel like patriarchy has caused you to hate men because you have learnt a lot and understood how it works and how most men are incapable of empathising with stuff.

You might show an attitude to men or not give them the time of the day, atleast most men. The way you seem to be living life is with a "when men do it, it's alright but when I do it, it's not? fuck it!" mindset. You love seeing women putting men to their place, it gives you an odd satisfaction. There have been times when misogyny and men have made you feel really powerless and incapable. You were also mentally and emotionally all over the place. You might come from a place where men are babied but really young girl children are expected to be all responsible. I feel like men around you act like they know more, they're smarter when in reality, you've always had to dumb yourself in order to make them feel better about themself. I'm sorry but that's all that I'm getting here. I hope this energy is temporary because while patriarchy sucks, there are good men around !!

꒰ What makes you a worthy and respectable person ? ꒱

You're able to accept that people have different beliefs (as long as they have good morals) and will have different life journeys. You naturally seem to attract a lot of envy if I'm honest. You know how to work in a team despite fights and arguments. At this point, you also tend to avoid unnecessary fights and competitions. You don't enjoy conflict. You're able to make decisions for yourself and know how to come to a middle ground with people. You tend to go through an internal conflict whenever you do something wrong. You're sensitive to small details but that's because of your detail oriented eyes. You try your best to organise your thoughts, and know how and when to use intellect against people. You're quite demanding. You should be careful with words and more expressive, there are people who tend to be worried about you because they care about you. You guys have pretty straight forward yet refined speech.

You could be seen as someone unkind but that doesn't stop you from trying to make wise decisions. You've gotten rid of a victim mindset and have developed a winner mindset instead. You have realisations and breakthroughs that you use in order to become a better person. You're really resilient and try to develop yourself as a person. You're honest and very clear when communicating. You should learn how to plan things and write them down though. You're very intelligent and witty. You have a vision for the future and have great imagination. Emotionally, you try to express your positive feelings truthfully. Success finds you everywhere because of your mindset, you know how to take lessons and move forward. I think you have the tendency to come off cold though, almost as if you're speaking without emotions but only because you're really honest instead of feeding into delusions. You're able to overcome any obstacle thrown your way, especially if it affects you emotionally. Truly, proud of you guys, continue going !!

꒰ What were you made for ? ꒱

You were made for happiness. You are supposed to learn how to build things for yourself and appreciate what you have. You're supposed to be wise and self disciplined, and teach the same things to younger girls. You're supposed to help others navigate life through your actions and also your words when they come to you asking for advice. You were born to live a comfortable life so naturally I don't think you tolerate bullshit as much as the last two piles. You are meant to have more than enough of everything and help others with it. You're supposed to be successful while doing exactly what it is that you wish to do. At some point, you're supposed to lack confidence and build it gradually. You were too naive in the past which caused you a lot of trouble. You're supposed to build a comfort zone for yourself after stepping out of your previous one.

You're supposed to learn how to not be reckless but also how to not lose opportunities while playing safe. You're supposed to teach how to have fun to young girls who had to grow up too fast. You're supposed to learn how to not cry over spilt milk. One emotion that you seem to have felt throughout your life is guilt, you are here to learn how to help people through tough experiences. You're supposed to experience negative feelings and learn how to deal with them and find happiness. You're also supposed to give hope to others is what I'm getting. You're supposed to teach others how to think about the worst in order to stay realistic while still not expect it or let it worry you too much. You'll see a lot of betrayals in this lifetime, even if it's not you experiencing them first hand. You're supposed to learn how to trust in love again.

#pac #pac reading #intuitive readings #pick a deck #pick a card #pick a picture #astro observations #pick a gif #pick a photo #astrovations #astro notes #pick a pile reading

359 notes · View notes

clean-bands-dirty-stories · 8 months

Text

Babbling ~ P.P.

A/n: Sorry for missing Monday, but here’s this <3 Another request done :)

Request: “Tasm!Peter x male reader where reader gets invited to a party and brings Peter as his plus one or whatever and Peter getting drunk and touchy and confesses and saying how he wants to be with him and spend the rest of his life with him...” by anon

Word count: 2700+

MASTERLIST

Peter Parker and Y/n had always been a story for the ages.

It hadn't been life long friends, and their meeting hadn't been all that important. They'd had a class together and as both of them engaged with the content and asked questions and did reports and read out loud, their faces became familiar with each other. Then Spider-Man had gotten caught up in a fight and his mask had come off. Y/n had been stunned to see the big brown doe eyes of the cute guy in his AP bio class.

It had been the most anti-climactic thing, truly. Y/n had discovered a sight dedicated to "fangirling over Spider-Man" except that they didn't do much discussion or giving of content. However, when Y/n went through the internet looking for pictures with Spider-Man's face, there was a startling very few available. For how many hungry reporters and shocked civilian or eager tourist was here and with how often Spider-Man lost or destroyed or just straight up took off his mask, there should be more.

When he found that there were images, they were just unavailable, he deep dove it and used his skill witch coding to figure out what happened. And what he uncovered was stunning - the website "dedicated to fangirling over Spiderman" was either a cover, or they believed that the best fans were dedicated to keeping Spider-Man's secret identity a secret. Peter Parker was New York's little secret.

It made Y/n so curious to meet the man. So of course they had to.

Asking for notes or a pencil or complimenting a sweater or giggling at his jokes that he said under his breath turned into lunches together for convenience and then studying together and then suddenly they were friends. Exchanging phone numbers and inside jokes and nicknames.

It was obvious that he was Spider-Man if you knew what you were looking for. His poor excuses and his sudden exists and late entries. Cancelled plans right when Spider-Man was needed, and all for a job that didn't even pay that well.

Peter was fairly good at hiding it. He was a disaster - a mistake waiting to happen - but he had a whole city behind him so it was okay.

It made Y/n fall in love with Spider-Man even more.

And maybe Peter Parker too.

There was something about the boy though. Something darker that he shook off when he had the mask. Something heavy that was easy to miss when you couldn't see his facial expressions. There was a distance when Y/n would jokingly flirt or be physically affectionate. He offered to take Peter to meet his folks once and Peter had seemed... to not like that. He had squirmed and wriggled, desperate to get away. When he came up with an "emergency" and Spider-Man stopped a mugger and got a kite out of tree Y/n knew that he shouldn't bring it up again.

It was obvious that Peter had lost someone, so Y/n tucked away any realizations or feelings and let them stay casual friends. Not best friends, not truly close - always at an arm's length. But friends.

Until, of course, Peter got drunk.

Peter never wanted to go anywhere or do anything. Y/n was pretty sure he was depressed. Which had driven him to try and get Peter out more, to find him hobbies and past times. Peter had come to the parties and gatherings and slam poetries and walks and clubs Y/n had dragged him to, just like tonight, with the understanding that if he needed to leave he could at any moment.

It didn't seem that moment would come tonight.

At some point Peter had put down his phone and walked away after having a few drinks, getting looser and more relaxed. He never went far from Y/n but seemed to have a hard time sitting still or staying in the same place. They paced or walked in circles and that seemed to do the trick. Y/n had noticed the other man put down his phone after checking the time and walked away again, so Y/n had snagged it for safe keeping. He would give it back tomorrow morning.

It took a lot or drinks for Peter to get proper wasted, but it happened. It seemed to be absent minded and on accident. He kept talking and walking, keeping his voice above the music in the room, and Y/n found himself trailing after in a love sick haze. Peter was gorgeous on his own, but the way his face light up and his hair got messier and messier... he was breathtaking when he went on rants, and Y/n was more than pleased to listen.

So he didn't stop Peter from drinking. And to be fair, neither did Peter.

Y/n knew they'd both made a mistake when Peter stopped walking, leaning against a table behind him and sighing. Y/n came closer to check on him and Peter reached out, fingers wrapping around Y/n's waist and face pressing into his shoulder. Y/n's body blossomed with heat and something akin to a buzzing, making him tense but giddy.

He tried to ignore that.

Peter sighed, leaning against Y/n, and the more sober of them gave a little chuckle. "You okay, Pete?"

"You're so comfy," was all Peter had to say. His voice was soft and airy, almost sleepy. But he had no problem mostly keeping himself up, nor did he seem to sway or buckle. He was just... drawn to Y/n. Like a magnet.

Y/n blushed. "Thank you."

Peter stared, for a long time, not saying anything. Y/n got nervous, shifting. The look was full of adoration and warmth. Admiration simmered at the edges, a sappy smile smearing across his face. "Did I ever mention that you look really attractive when you get all..." he tilted his head, searching for a word. "Blushy." He giggled. "Shy? No. Not just shy, but reserved too. Nervous." His face flitted briefly into a scowl, but when he went from trying yo grasp the word in his mind to admiring Y/n again, the smile came back. "I'm glad we met."

Y/n couldn't get the courage to look at him. "So am I." He cleared his throat, melting under that gaze. Under those words. "Perhaps we should get home."

Peter nodded. "I don't want to be here anymore. Let's go somewhere - just us." He took Y/n's hands, taking longer to do so as he traced Y/n's fingers and sighed blissfully at the contact. Like he was relieved after so long wanting it. Like how Y/n did when he felt the touch.

"Yeah. If that's what you really want." Y/n closed his eyes, chastising himself and forcing himself to stay focused. "Tomorrow. Tonight you need sleep." He began walking, keeping an eye on if Peter needed help walking, but he didn't. Not surprising for the same Spider-Man that could balance on a string that seemed thin as hair, or cling to any surface.

Peter whined and Y/n had to hide a smile with his free hand. "Not tomorrow," he begged, tugging on Y/n's hand. It was almost like a child begging for candy in the store, but less dramatic and much mote desperate. The thought of leaving Y/n seemed to genuinely upset him... Y/n didn't know how to feel about that. "I'll go to bed if you spend the night."

Now that was dangerous.

Y/n only hummed in thought, actually considered it. Drunk people were hard to handle and even if he didn't, he would need to lie to Peter to get him home. If the superhero genuinely didn't want to go or decided that messing around with Y/n to prolong their time together it would he near impossible to get ahold of him again...

They got all the way to Peter's door before he spoke again. "Are you staying?"

Y/n gave him a sideways look as he pushed the door open, having snagged Peter's keys from his pocket. He'd thought he's gotten away with it after such a long silence, but it seemed Peter was eternally patient even drunk. He sighed as they moved into the apartment, Peter always snatching Y/n's hand the second they were free. "Why does it matter so much to you that I stay, hm?" He pulled himself away from the drunk man again, closing the door and putting the keys away. Pulling Peter's jacket off and removing his shoes and grabbing a glass of water and Ibuprofen for tomorrow morning, setting it on the table at Peter's bed. It was only when he seemed finished, about to head out again, that Peter caught him.

Holding one of Y/n's hands in each of his, looking deep into his eyes, Peter didn't just seem genuine, he seemed raw. Exposed. "Y/n. I've been punishing myself for so long... always alone. For so long." He closed his eyes, pressing their foreheads together. "It's suffocating me, the loneliness. And you make it easier to breathe. So... stay. If you want." He swallowed before adding a breathless, "Please."

Y/n's heart was ramming in his chest. "If you need a friend tonight, I can of course stay." He added friend on purpose this time - to remind himself.

That seemed to upset Peter though. "Don't call yourself that. Please, please don't-" he closed his eyes tightly. "I know we're friends. And I'm goad we're friends. But don't remind me we're friends when I want to kiss you so badly. Please."

Y/n's breath caught. "Pete-" He stopped himself. "You're drunk. You don't know what you're saying."

Peter chuckled, shaking his head. "Drunk words are sober thoughts. That's a popular saying for a reason."

Oh god.

"You- I-" Y/n's face was burning and he was running out of reasons to go. Ways to deny it. Peter was Spider-Man. There's so much Y/n still wasn't supposed to know. They'd been friends for a while now, and they were just getting close. There was still that gap though. That space that Peter kept.

Now he was throwing all of it away.

Peter didn't wait for Y/n to form thoughts. He let go of Y/n's hands, reaching up for his face instead. Peter's face trailed Y/n's jaw. "Can I kiss you? I... I've wanted to kiss you for so long. If you felt the same way. The way your heart is racing, I thought you might."

Y/n's eyes widen. Of course he can hear heartbeats. The world wouldn't be as unfair as it was if he couldn't.

But also, how could be lie now? When Peter knew he was? And maybe it was selfish, and he'd get his heart broken in the morning, but Peter was begging and god if Y/n wasn't just as eager.

"Okay."

There was no hesitation after that. Y/n had expected raging fire, or fireworks, but there was none of that. It was relief, cool to the touch like a breeze on a sweltering day, or a breath after drowning. It was laying in bed after a long, exhausting day or drinking something warm and sitting by the fire after a day of ice and snow.

Y/n did more than just stay over. It happened so fast, each kiss getting more and more desperate until their hands were wandering and they were falling back onto the bed and Peter didn't stutter a single second. He didn't stumble or hesitate. He had seemed to drink so much but all his words came easily, any slur he'd had before completely gone. He seemed sober.

Y/n was an idiot.

He tried to leave, but Peter had gripped onto his arm and begged him to stay. So Y/n woke up next to him in the morning, slipping out of bed and wandering into the living room.

Okay so that had just happened.

He felt like a villain. He felt like a moron. Peter had been drunk. FUCK he was a horrible person.

Out of part guilt and part anxiety, Y/n tidied the living room and kitchen before beginning to make breakfast. He couldn't in good will just leave Peter alone that morning, but he also couldn't stay in that bed. See Peter panic when he woke up and realized what had happened.

Would he panic? Would he be angry?

He would be justified to feel angry.

Y/n jumped when a set of arms wrapped around his waist from behind, a face burying into his shoulder. "Smells good," came Peter's muffled voice.

Y/n wordlessly finished the food, plating it and turning off the stove before turning to Peter. The brunette seemed weirdly unphased, taking each thing and making two plates, then wandering into the living room to set them down on the clean table, plopping onto the couch. He smiled. "And you clean? I'm spoiled."

Y/n crossed his arms over his chest, a little confused and a little annoyed. "Peter. We need to talk about last night."

The smile faded off of his face and it happened so easily that Y/n was stunned to realize it had been more fake than he'd realized. "I'm sorry."

That came as a shock too. "You're sorry? You? Peter, I'm sorry."

Peter looked up at that, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "I'm the one who was pushing you into-" He looked away. "You obviously regret it, and it was stupid, and I'm sorry I just-"

Y/n scoffed. "Peter, you were drunk. You were more honest than you usually are. That isn't a bad thing. But you were drunk, and I wasn't, and I completely took advantage of you and-"

Peter tilted his head. "I wasn't drunk."

Y/n froze. "What?"

Peter blushed. "Well- I was drunk at first." He looked away, fiddling with a couch pillow. "But by the time we got here I was pretty much sober. I have some what of a healing factor, so-"

Y/n's eyes widened. "You have a what?"

Peter looked back, his expression dripping with amusement. "Y/n, I'm not good at keeping secrets, and you're not good at it either. My mask is hanging up on the hook by the door and you hung up my keys next to it and didn't even blink."

Y/n's head whipped around and - sure enough - there was the mask.

Damnit.

He looked back sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I... just..."

Peter laughed, standing from the couch. "It's okay. I... appreciate it, honestly. Most people demand explanations or details or ask an overwhelming questions. When I realize you knew?" He shook his head. "How long have you known?"

Y/n pursed his lip, shrugging. A... while."

Peter snorted. "Since the beginning then."

Y/n winced. "Not the very beginning."

Peter laughed again, this time closing the distance between them. "I don't know what you were beating yourself up for but I hope you realize that you don't have to. I was drunk, and that made me much more affectionate than I usually am... but, it was the affection itself that drove me insane. It was likeI'd been starving." He shrugged. "I probably was. But kissing you..." He smiled sweetly.

Y/n blushed. It was quiet for a moment before he asked, “So you’re glad last night happened?”

Peter grinned. “Yes. I am.” He shuffled, as if he wanted to ask something but felt too silly to do so.

“I’m glad it happened too,” Y/n eased. Peter melted in relief, his expression blooming with adoration - so close to the way he had looked at Y/n last night. Y/n took his hand, tracing the bones and veins. “Do you… want to be my boyfriend?” He cringed - it felt so silly to ask. Like he was in middle school all over again.

A chuckle came from Peter, but his answer didn’t follow in the form of words. Instead he reached over, catching Y/n’s chin and leaning into a kiss. They sighed blissfully at the same time, and Y/n divided that was answer enough.

Male Readers: @ravenpuff-oli @sortzz @fadedver

#Peter Parker #peter 3 x reader #peter parker x male reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker x reader #the amazing spiderman x male reader #the amazing Spider-Man #the amazing Spider-Man imagine #the amazing Spider-Man x reader #Spiderman x reader #Spiderman x male reader #Spiderman imagine #male reader #marvel

225 notes · View notes

angstysebfan · 9 months

Text

Was It A Mistake - Part 6

Pairing: Bucky x Fem Reader, Bucky x Natasha Chapter Summary: Time to plan and confront Natasha!!! Warnings: Last of the Angst, cursing A/N: I hope I did this part well enough for you guys. It's hard to come up with what they should do and what the outcome should be. P.S. This is a long one.

Series Masterlist

After coming up with an initial plan with Steve and Bucky at the apartment, you all went back to the compound. You made sure to stay hidden to make Nat suspect you were still in hiding. Steve and Bucky went to Tony to ask him to help with part of the plan. You were both nervous for the outcome, excited to finally be done with it, and honestly just mentally exhausted from this whole thing. The only part of the plan that hasn't been decided yet, was when the plan was going to get executed. Getting Tony on board was no problem. He was pissed as hell at Nat too for hurting you so bad. He also was concerned by her actions, as she didn't seem at all empathetic, which is worrisome. The other Avengers were also upset about what Nat did. Some offered to help, but others didn't want to get in the middle, which you understood.

The hardest person to get onboard with the whole plan was Bucky. Why? Because he had to pretend he was completely over you and still had feelings for Nat for a few more days. He had a BIG problem with that.

"Doll, I can't even be in the same room as her without wanting to kill her," he said.

You nod in understanding and grab his metal hand, "Buck, this is the most important mission of your life. Redemption of the highest order. She manipulated us, and while I understand you not wanting to do this, you just have to. You're going undercover. Please do this for me? For us?" you beg.

Bucky stared at you for a moment as he took in your words. You were right, this was just like a mission and if he pretended this was undercover, then he should be able to get through it. He sighed and kissed your forehead, since you told him you would not kiss him again until you were ready.

"You're right. I'll treat this like an undercover mission. I'll do it," he said.

You hugged him tightly, "We'll get through this, and then we can get on with our lives, together," you said. He pulled away and looked at you with a wide smile, happy to know that you were still willing to give him another chance.

The rest of the planning happened without Bucky, over the next few days, since he had to get back to hanging out with Nat. Every chance he got he would text you telling you how much he hated this. You felt bad that he had to play this role, but it was important that Nat didn't suspect a thing. You informed him when everything was in place and when he got a moment alone to come and meet you, Steve, and Tony in the lab that night. It was around midnight when he walked in. He made a B-Line straight for you, wrapped his arms around your waist and dug his face into the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent. You wrapped your arms around him rubbing your hand up and down his back, allowing him to calm down.

"It's almost over, Buck. We're finally ready to do this," you said.

He pulled back and looked at you, "I honestly can't wait. I need this done," he said.

You, Steve and Tony go over the plan with Bucky. He voiced his opinion on things and by 2 am you were all satisfied and ready. You decided to go back to the apartment because the plan was to have Nat think you were coming back today. She has no idea that you had actually been in the tower for the past 2 days.

"Ok boys, tomorrow is go time. Get some sleep. Steve you'll tell Sam what he has to do?" you ask.

"Yeah, no problem. Get some sleep, Y/N. After tomorrow it will be all over," Steve says as he walks out of the lab. Tony gave you a kiss on the cheek and also left, leaving you and Bucky.

"So, it'll be all over tomorrow," you say to Bucky, suddenly feeling tired.

Bucky nods, "Then you and I can move on with our lives, together," he says cupping your cheek.

You feel him pull you in closer and push away, "Buck, I just want to take things slow. I know we had that moment in the apartment, but I still have a lot of things I need to get over before we can do any more kissing and stuff."

Bucky sighs and puts his forehead against yours, "I know, baby," he says. "I just miss you. You haven't had second thoughts about me, right?"

You look up at him and see the anxiety in his eyes. You miss him too. All you want is to kiss him, but you know you had to take it slow. You give him a smile, "No second thoughts, I promise," you say.

He kisses your forehead, "Goodnight, Y/N."

You thought what the hell. As he pulls away you grab his hands, pull him to you and smash your lips against his. It takes no time for you both to wrap your arms around each other.

You eventually pull away, leaving him wanting more, "That was for good luck," you say panting.

He laughs, "I'll see you tomorrow, my love."

The next morning you wake up and pack the rest of your belongings to head back to the tower. You await the signal from Steve for you to head back home. You look around the small apartment and realize you really enjoyed being here. You get why Steve got it. Maybe someday you and Bucky could get a place like this.

Steve and Sam are in the kitchen when Natasha walks in.

"Morning boys," she says.

They both look and give her a small smile, "Morning Nat, how'd you sleep?" Sam asked.

Nat grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the counter, "I slept pretty well. What are you two gossiping about?" she asks raising her eyebrows.

Steve looks at her, "Y/N's coming back today. We were thinking of doing a movie night tonight in celebration," he said.

Nat is surprised to hear you're coming back, but doesn't let it show. Like the expert spy she is, she is able to hide any and all emotions if need be.

"Sounds like fun. Though it might be awkward with me and Bucky there, do you think we should bail?" she asks.

Steve shakes his head, "Nah, she said she has had some time to make peace with you both being together. She just wants to move on, so it should be fine."

Nat raises her eyebrows in surprise, "Really? Huh, interesting. Well, I'll check with Bucky. I don't want to make him uncomfortable. Have you seen him?" she asks.

Sam replied he was in the gym and she went skipping off to talk to him. Sam and Steve both look at each other, "You think this will work?" Sam asked.

Steve shrugged, "I hope so," he said as he takes his phone to text you the all clear.

Nat heads down to the gym where Bucky is bench pressing. She walks in and admires the way his bicep tenses as he pushes the bar up and down. She walks over and stands in front, "Need a spotter, babe?" she asks in a sultry voice.

Bucky looks at her, but keeps going. "Nah, I'm good. You working out now?" he asks.

Nat shakes her head no and continues to watch. After a few more minutes Bucky puts the bar back on the rack and sits up.

"What's up?" he asks.

She gives him a flirtatious smile, "Well first, good morning handsome," she says before leaning over and giving Bucky a kiss on the lips.

Bucky broke the kiss, wanting nothing more than the throw up. But he had to stay strong. After today it was all over. He looked at Nat giving him a curious look.

"Sorry, I'm just out of breath," he said pretending to pant.

She thought it over and just nodded in agreement. "So listen," she said grabbing his hand and lacing her fingers through his. "Steve told me Y/N is coming back today. I know you said you wanted to move past this with me, but he wants to have a movie night to celebrate. Apparently she's come to terms with you and me and wants to move on. Did you want to go? Or do you want to stay upstairs in my room. I know we haven't taken that step yet, but I bought some lingerie for when you're ready," she said seductively.

Bucky stood up and started wrapping his hands, needing to get away from Nat. "I'm ok with the movie night. I mean better now than never right?" he asks not looking at Nat.

Nat again stared at him, "Are you alright?" she asked.

Bucky stopped and looked at her, "I'm fine, why?" he asked.

She sighed, "Are you sure you're over her? You've been acting really weird these past few days," she said.

Bucky knew he had to do something to get her off that mindset. He cupped her chin and kissed her, "I'm fine. Just nervous for her reaction," he said.

Nat lit up from the kiss, "Ok then. You know I'm not pressuring you into sex, right?" she asked.

Bucky couldn't help but blush, "Yea, I know. I'm not ready yet, but I will soon. I promise, babe," he said.

Nat kissed his cheek and left the gym. Bucky then got a text from you and Steve and left the gym to go shower.

When you walked into the tower you were greeted by the team in the common room. You gave a hug to everyone except Nat and Bucky, you just gave them a nod hello. Bucky swallowed his nervousness down, wanting nothing more than to end it right now, but he knew he had to wait.

"So I heard a movie night is happening?" you asked.

Tony wrapped his arm around you, "Oh yes. I think you'll like the movie picked out. I had FRIDAY draw it up randomly," he said.

You nodded in approval, "Can't wait. Well, I should put my stuff back in my room and I'll meet everyone down in the theater room," you said.

Nat followed you to your room, "Y/N, can we talk for a moment?" she asked.

You were surprised but nodded in agreement. She sat on the edge of your bed while you unpacked all your clothes, not looking in the red heads direction.

She sighed, "I'm glad you decided to let go of Bucky. I know it wasn't easy, but I appreciate it. It's just Bucky and I are meant to be, ya know? I've been in love with him since the Red Room. And I just felt that this was our second chance. I know I didn't go about it the right way, but all I cared about was him," she said.

You were surprised at what you were hearing, "So you admit that you lied to Bucky to trick him into dating you?" you asked, getting annoyed.

You tried talking yourself down to not blow this, but she was making it difficult. "I didn't trick him into dating me. He came to that on his own. I might have fibbed to get you guys to break up, but I mean come on, you know you wouldn't have lasted forever. I wanted him, so I made it easier to get him. He came to me on his own admission, Y/N. I didn't trick him," she said matter of factly.

You can't help but roll your eyes, "I can't believe that you hurt us both so you could be happy. Well I only hope you get some the happiness that I had with him. You deserve everything you get and more," you said with a fake smile.

Nat is shocked by your words, but nods and leaves the room. It takes all you can to not follow her and punch her in the face. You look at the clock and figure it's time for this to end. You change into comfy clothes and head out.

When you get down to the theater room, Steve, Sam, Tony, Nat, and Bucky are all there. Everyone else making themselves scarce. You all grab plates of pizza and snacks and find your seats. You sit on the opposite side of the room from Nat and Bucky. The butterflies are going crazy in your stomach from anticipation.

Tony is the last to sit and calls out to the AI, "FRIDAY, play home movies please!"

The lights in the theater room automatically dim as the screen comes to life. At first it's innocent videos of the team at parties, team building sessions, hangouts in the common room. Everyone laughs at the shenanigans on screen. Then there is a series of shots of you and Bucky cuddling on the couch, dancing at a party, laying together on the roof talking while looking at the stars. Your heart starts to hurt, but you get distracted when you hear Nat shout.

"What the fuck, Stark?"

Then the films change again to the video of Bucky pacing in his room. Nat suddenly stands up.

"Stark turn this off, now!" she yells.

No one moves or says anything as they listen to Bucky announcing he planned on proposing. You turn your head and look at Bucky, who is already looking at you. You turn your attention to Nat, getting herself into a full blown panic.

"FRIDAY, turn this off, now!" she yells, but nothing happens.

When the part that Nat tells Bucky you were planning on breaking up with him happens, the whole room gasps. You stand and look at Nat. Nat quickly jumps up to leave the room but the door is locked.

"Let me out!," she yells.

The film then goes to the conversation between you and Nat, when Nat tells you to break up with Bucky. Nat is in complete hysterics, pulling her hair, trying to break the door, begging to be let out, as she listens to herself tell you to end it.

Bucky now stands and looks at Nat who faces him with wild wide eyes, "Bucky, please. This is all lies," she says.

You shake your head in disappointment. How can she still lie to him when the evidence is right in her face. The video turns off and the lights come back on.

Nat is in the middle of a complete emotion breakdown to the point you all fear she will hurt herself. Finally Steve walks over, "Stop, Nat. It's over," he whispers as he grabs her around the waist.

You walk over to Bucky and grab his hand, as Steve talks to Nat.

“You are going to tell me the truth Nat. Everything! You will admit what I already know. You will apologize to Y/N and Bucky, and you will leave them alone so they can be happy… together.”

Nat sobers up and is completely shocked at this turn of events. She scoffs, pulling out of Steve's embrace, “What makes you think I would tell you anything?! And why would I let Y/N and Bucky be together when he's my boyfriend?!”

Nat is slowly starting to loose control again. She hasn’t lost it in so long, and she is trying to rein in her emotions, but being locked in here is causing her to completely melt down.

"FRIDAY, play the conversation between Nat and I from this afternoon," you call out to the AI.

The screen comes alive again and shows Nat sitting on your bed admitting to lying to you and Bucky to break you up. Nat screams to turn it off and covers her face with her hands, collapsing onto the floor. Steve still stays calm watching the melt down before him. He sees Nat go through 3-4 emotions at once. He has never seen her like this. He's worried for her. When he sees her starting to hyperventilate, he walks over.

“Nat, you need to breath. Take a deep breath in and then slowly let it out.” Steve says in a calm soothing voice.

Nat shakes her head as she tries to calm down. She looks over at you and Bucky and hyperventilates again. Steve turns her head back to him and keeps her eyes on his.

“Breath Nat, it’s okay. You have to breath.”

Nat starts to take deep breaths, keeping eye contact with Steve. As she does this, tears come back to her eyes, and before she knows it, she is completely sobbing in defeat. Steve is slightly taken aback, but doesn’t let it show. He grabs Nat and holds her to his chest as she continues to sob.

“I…. I’m so sorry,” Nat says in between sobs. “I…. I…. I don’t know why I did it. I’ve just loved him for so long, and it's not fair!”

Steve raised his eyebrows in shock, “When he came here…. I… I thought that we could start over.”

She sobs again. “B-but he saw her first. He fell for her, and she fell for him. I was so angry because I loved him! Why didn’t he love me?! Why didn't he choose me?! What does she have that I don’t!”

Nat takes a deep breath and pulls back from Steve. “I wanted to hate her so badly. I hoped they would break up eventually but they didn't. I thought of this plan, and wanted to hurt her for stealing him away. When he told me he wanted to propose I put the plan in motion, and saw how hurt they both were…. I-I almost stopped it. But all I kept thinking about is how he and I deserved each other. How I should be the one he's with! How he should love me! Like in the Red Room!!”

She shakes her head trying to calm down. It takes her a few more moment before she speaks again.

“I was so caught up in it, I didn’t want to let him go. Even though I knew that no matter what he always loved her. I couldn’t give up because I love him! I love him!” She starts sobbing again, and Steve again pulls her into an embrace.

At this point you and Bucky stand there in shock. You heard her confession, and while you hated her, a part of you felt slightly bad. This fierce independent woman was still trapped by her demons that she hyper focused on Bucky. Someone she knew from the past.

Bucky's completely shocked by her confession. Yes, they had a past, when he was the Soldier. But he didn’t know that she still harbored feelings since then. He didn’t even remember it happened until she brought it up to him after he was in the compound for awhile, and by then he was already smitten with you.

Even though he could understand why she would try to hold on the good in what was a bad situation, it didn't excuse her for ruining his chance of happiness now. And especially since she hurt you and did the worst thing by manipulating him, his biggest fear.

Nat finally calmed down and looked up at Steve and saw him looking at her with sympathy. She then looked at Tony, who had a mix of fear and sadness in his eyes. She turned and saw both you and Bucky, and walked over, slowly, afraid of the glare coming from Bucky.

“I… I know no matter what I say, you'll both hate me. I broke you up, when you were so happy. I… I can’t begin to express how sorry I am. I saw what I wanted and I went for it, with no care of the consequences.”

Neither of you said anything, as Nat went to walk back toward Steve. Bucky grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, holding her arm tight enough that there would eventually be bruises. You run over, putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him, but he ignores you.

“I’m only going to say this once, Natalia. You mess with Y/N or me again, and you will regret it for the rest of you life.” Bucky said low, but with anger evident in his voice. “You manipulated me. The one thing I can’t handle is someone manipulating me, and you did it without care. You hurt the woman I love for some fantasy. You are the real monster Natalia.”

He pushed her away from him toward the door. Nat looked over at you, but you just looked between her and Bucky, not knowing what to say. Nat walked to the doors of the room, holding the arm Bucky grabbed. She turned back and looked at Steve and Tony.

“If it’s okay, I would like to go to a safe house for awhile. Get some separation, clear my head.”

"Honey, I will set it up, if you promise to talk to someone also," Tony said.

Nat looked back to you and Bucky, nodded and left the room, with Tony following behind her. When she disappeared Bucky’s stiff demeanor lessened. He looked down at you, who was still looking toward the door. You were in complete shock at how easy it was and how you actually had some pity for her.

Bucky kept looking at you, nervous of your reaction to everything. Especially the way he spoke to Nat.

“Doll?” he whispered to you.

You finally look up at him with a relaxed expression and gave him a small smile. “You okay?” He asked as he turned and wrapped his arms around your waist.

You nodded wrapping your arms around him as he kissed your forehead, and looked at Steve. “Thank you Steve. I know she is your friend, and how hard this was for you, but I really appreciate it.”

Tears were starting to slowly run down your face from relief. It was over, Nat was gone. You and Bucky could live happily ever after if you wanted. Steve nodded and went out the door to follow Tony and Nat.

You look back up at the man you love. “I’m ok Buck. I think I just need some time alone to decompress.”

You went up on your tippy toes and kissed his cheek. You pulled away from him and left the room. You decided to head back to your room and think. On the way you heard the sobs coming from Nat’s room. You couldn’t help yourself, you knocked.

When Nat opened the door, she expected Steve or Tony to be there. You were the last person she expected to be on the other side of her door. She said nothing, but turned around, leaving the door ajar. You walked in to find her packing some clothes.

“I’ll be out of here within the hour, so you don’t have to worry. I won’t pull anything else,” she said, her voice shaking from crying.

You don’t say anything, just watch her. She looks up at you and waits for you to say something. You both end up just staring at each other for who knows how long.

“Well? Aren’t you going to tell me what a monster you think I am? Your boyfriend seemed to have no problem telling me,” She chokes on a sob.

You can’t help the look of pity on your face, which annoyed Nat.

“I would rather the comments than you pitying at me. If that is all you’re going to do, then please leave!” Nat snaps.

You walk slowly over to her. “I want to hate you so bad,” you say quietly. “You almost ruined my life, then lied to make him hate me. I can’t pretend to forgive you for what you did, but I shockingly don't hate you.”

Nat looks at you, stunned. “I agree with Tony, you need to talk to someone while you are away. Because what you felt for Bucky... that wasn’t love. You had found a good thing during trauma and latched on. When he came back into your life, you couldn’t help but latch on again. It’s not healthy. I think it will help if you talk to someone.”

Nat looks down and nods. “I really am sorry Y/N. I know those are empty words to you now, but I really am,” she said looking at you sadly.

You give her a reassuring smile. “I know, and right now, it’s not okay. But if you get some help, and you come back stronger, maybe it will eventually, but I can't promise anything.”

With that you leave Nat’s room, feeling nothing else was needed to be said. You decide you no longer needed to decompress and went toward Bucky’s room, and notice the door is ajar. You peek your head in and see he is sitting on his bed, with his head in his hands.

“Hey.” you say quietly, as you walk into his room and close the door. He looks up at you with a cautious look. He is still unsure how you are feeling after everything.

“Hi”

“I talked with Nat.” You say as you sit down next to him. He looks at you wanting to know more, but you say nothing.

“You okay?” He asks concerned.

You smile and bring your hand up to palm his cheek, lightly rubbing your thumb on his cheekbone. Bucky sighs and closes his eyes, reveling in the closeness.

“I think it will eventually be okay. For now I'm just glad she's leaving the tower.”

Bucky chuckles and wraps his arm around your shoulder, kissing your forehead. “What do we do now?

Bucky looks down at his metal hand on his lap. You take your hand from his cheek and grab his metal hand intertwining your fingers.

“Now…. we start our happy ever after.”

Part 5 / Fin

What did you think? I know some of you chose violence, but I decided on this different route. Sorry if it wasn't as good as you expected. Epilogue coming soon! Feedback is appreciated!

Permanent Taglist: @rebekahdawkins @marajade1974 @missvelvetsstuff @phillygirl77 @pattiemac1 @winterslove1917 @vampire7595 @unkasworld @midnightramyeoncravings

Series Taglist: @cjand10 @learisa @aboobie @raajali3 @themotherof10 @alana4610 @kentokaze @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @lovernatashaa @buckystevelove @myareadsbooks @mayemperess @scifinerd1818 @fairytalegirlofurdreams @almosttoopizza @paarthurnax59 @imyourbratzdoll @trixiekaulitz @jamesbuckybarnes1917 @iilsenewman n @stinkerbelle007 @milanaasblog @amysworldofchaos @pancakefan7529 @casa-boiardi @deadxrx @blackhawkfanatic

#bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky angst #bucky barnes x reader #james buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #bucky x y/n #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes angst #bucky x you #bucky x natasha #natasha romanoff #angst #miscommunication #misunderstanding #manipulation

182 notes · View notes

yuikomorii · 2 months

Note

i think i can forgive yui for anything even toxic simply because she suffered the most because of those guys and deserves to get her lick back. they put her through so much in earlier games, it's insane

// PARDON?? 😀😀

I understand that the Diaboys were bitchy at first and they all treated others as less (which is bad), but other than Laito, Kanato and Carla, nobody made Yui suffer that bad to the point of breaking her. Kou was pretty nasty too at first, but the rest weren’t that horrible route based for characters supposed to be monsters. At the very least, I can name some human LIs who were way worse than most Diaboys, yet nobody seems to hate on them for that. I understand that it must be tiring being pushed around and being treated as “prey”, yet we’re talking about vampires here. They are predators and don’t have the same set of morals as humans do, for this reason humans are a mere food source for them. They can’t live without blood, even if this means having to sacrifice humans to satisfy their hunger. We love cats despite the fact that they like torturing mice before killing them, and that’s because we understand that it’s just how the predator instinct works. The Diaboys might look humanized, but they are a whole difference existence and you shouldn’t hold them at human standards. It’s good that DL showed how vampires were truly supposed to act, instead of making them romantic and flirty from the start.

Even the whole Adam’s apple plan focuses on Eve, a human, making Adam, a vampire, learn about human feelings. One thing about the Diaboys is that they all had growth. If someone is shown regretting their behavior and is genuinely changing into a better person just for you, it’s very insensitive to remind them about what they did a long time ago. They are aware of their actions and they are aware they were in the wrong, therefore bringing up their past mistakes won’t make you a better person than them. A Diaboy could sacrifice everything for Yui and put his life on the verge each and every time she’s in danger, but some of you guys would still only see him as “bad”, which would be a huge insult to his character, given that it would erase all the development he went through.

I’m not going to count the bad endings here, but saying that you forgive all of Yui’s toxic actions is very toxic itself. She is an abuse apologist herself, who tried to convince Ayato that his mother secretly cared for him (despite knowing the full story), Subaru that Karlheinz loved him and the Mukamis that Karlheinz, after he committed a whole genocide, saved them to redeem himself. These are all very wrong. Karlheinz always used everyone for his plans, just like Cordelia used her children for her selfish desires. Neither of them were ever shown regretting their actions. This is just one example of Yui’s toxic actions and I’m not saying that she did them with ill will, but stupidity can make one problematic too. It gives off the same vibes as “but they’re your parents”, after hearing someone talk about how much their parents hurt them.

It’s not that hard to admit that all DL characters have red flags. Nobody in this franchise is meant to be a role model and it’s okay if you don’t like certain actions. I’m a Yui stan, but I get why several people from the otoge community don’t really like her. However, I’m surprised that they see her as really that bad. I mean, she still is mostly kind and sweet, therefore I don’t think her bitchy moments are more significant. Yet, I suppose this has more to do with how they perceive things.

#admin

63 notes · View notes

celestialspecial · 1 year

Text

I Still Do

Thank you for 700 followers!!!! You guys rock- thank you for making me realize how much I love writing and being so loving and supportive of my work.

*places a kiss on each of your foreheads*

18+/Sexy timesss

The book lay heavily in your hands. Thick cardstock and glossy full color pages bursting to life with each page turned.

You’d sprung for the fancy package, because why not? A matte black hard cover with gold embossing delicately scribbled across the front in some fancy schmancy font that one would usually associate with wedding invitations.

Those days had passed and they’d been fun enough. The planning, the excitement but while your friends had ooed and awwed over floral arrangements and cake choices you instead looked forward to other things.

A future with the man of your dreams. While you did find yourself giggling and joking with them about the trials and tribulations of marriage, it felt different. It felt right.

A lightness and a rightness in saying ‘yes’ to him.

That had been years ago and while, yes, there were some rough days. Some highs and lows. It still felt easy. Even those winding roads and unexpected things felt easy to navigate by his side.

Lately work had been consuming Billy’s every waking moment. Days chock full of meeting after meeting. Paperwork, spreadsheets, traveling, the whole gamut.

Even now as you peered around the corner into your bedroom he sat on the edge of the bed, laptop opened and furious typing filled the room.

His eyes roamed over the screen and a small wrinkle formed between his brows as he scowled at what was before him. You stood there peeking in on him, the book now behind your back, as you watched him.

His eyes never left the screen as he continued typing but his voice rang out, startling you a bit.

“Are you gonna stand there and hide or are you gonna come and save me from writing out another god forsaken email?”

You couldn’t help the chuckle that rushed past your lips.

“I’m out of view! How the heck did you see me?” His eyes still remained on the laptop but you noticed the way the corner of his mouth quirked up.

“I can hear you.”

“I was being quiet.”

“Quiet as a bulldozer.” You made a huff in faux anger as you walked over to the edge where he sat.

“That’s what I get for marrying a marine I guess.”

At that Billy’s eyes did leave the email he was angrily pounding out to look up at you. Hand reaching out and softly running the back along your jaw.

The sensation tickled and sparked something in the pit of your stomach. His dark eyes darted to the side then back to you.

“What’s behind your back.”

“Put away the laptop and I might show you.”

You’d never seen a work device shut and tossed aside so quickly. He grinned up at you, patting the bed next to him, smoothing a few wrinkles out of the duvet cover.

Coaxing yourself onto the mattress and pulling one leg to cross the other you quickly pulled the book around, holding it tight to your chest. Only the blank back cover showing.

He raised a brow, curiously inspecting the mysterious item. Waiting for you to proceed.

“I hate to the be the person on the receiving end of what sounded like a scathing email you were typing out.”

“Some people don’t understand gentle nudges.”

“You’ve been working really hard recently.” At that his interest in the book cooled as he looked briefly away, running his fingers through the dark locks on his head.

His hair had grown out longer, and his usual scruff was slowly morphing into a full beard. He’d barely had any time to eat let alone go to the barber.

It was unlike him. You joked that he was vain, but was there really anything wrong with wanting to keep up one’s appearance? Especially when one was the CEO of a booming corporation.

“I have, but I promise I’m going to start delegating more. It’s just these new recruits are all green and I can’t afford to have any mistakes. And I-“ he paused taking in your sympathetic face.

“And I don’t want to talk about. I’m here with you right now.” The grin returned to his face as a finger reached out and he tapped against the back of the book. “And I want to know what this is.”

Your grin turned feline, allowing the top of the book to drop down so he could grasp one end.

Billy’s eyes ran over the front cover, zipping back and forth before darting up to yours. His lips had parted ever so slightly and you could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

“Is this…what I think it is?”

“Well if you already know I guess you don’t have to look at it then.” You moved to take the book back but his grip held firm, tightening against the spine.

He pulled it another inch closer to him.

“You’re gonna be in big trouble if you don’t let me look.”

“Why do I feel like I’m already in big trouble?”

His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and you could see his resolve starting to melt away. A hungry look began to grow in his eyes, fixated on the cover.

It was too good and part of you wanted to drag it out longer but your poor husband. He was practically aching to look, so you let your hand drop and he immediately pulled the book into his lap and flipped open to the first page.

Then the second. The third. The fourth. With each page turning you could watch the lust seem to grow brighter and brighter in his eyes.

His breathing turned shallow and the tips of his ears had begun to turn the slightest shade of pink. After a long drawn out moment he spoke,

“When did you have this done?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” His hand shot out and grabbed ahold of your wrist. Tight and unyielding, until his thumb began to brush over your own heated skin.

“I think…you’d better tell me.”

He flipped to another page, then another.

“This one….this…God-“ he cut off, fingers drifting over the paper before him, twitching as they held the page between his thumb and forefinger.

Of course he’d focused in on that one. Not that you weren’t watching him now slowly losing it as he took in photo after photo of you.

A girlfriend had mentioned getting boudoir photos done before her wedding and there sparked an idea in your head.

Sure you two weren’t newly married, the honeymoon phase gone years ago. And yet the flame burned just as bright between the two of you.

There wasn’t a freckle, divet, or curve on you he hadn’t seen. Not a crease or mole he couldn’t place and yet as he devoured the photos from your own boudoir shoot it was as if it was all brand new.

The traditional lingerie shots had been fun, Lacey numbers that had way too many straps but looked gorgeous on camera.

A few of you surrounded by books, a white button up haphazardly falling off your shoulder as you held a book in your hands, a steamy romance novel. Eyeglasses dangling from your mouth.

The one he stopped on had been you, on your bed, Billy’s suit jacket draped over your shoulders. Covering enough, a satin thong sat on your thighs and you had one of his work ties pulled between your legs.

Your face, one of ecstasy, and you remember taking the shot and half telling the photographer not to leave it in. It had felt so raw and your cheeks turned pink when you’d seen it on their camera.

You remembered the thoughts you’d had to conjure up to make that face. Billy’s face pressed between your thighs, his moans drowning out your cries.

Billy beside you now, seemed to be humming with energy. He wasn’t physically shaking but you could see him nearly hanging on as his eyes scanned over each and every page.

After he’d consumed the entire book, and gone back about three times, he landed again on the tie picture.

Before you could ask if he liked it, a thought that felt silly and yet you’d never given a gift like this before. He was up and at the dresser, rifling through one of the drawers until he came away with a dark navy tie in hand.

“Was this it?” He asked, holding the swath of fabric. How he’d examined the image with the accuracy and precision only a marine could, of course he knew exactly which tie you’d used.

Your mouth barely open as you nodded. Not a split second and he was before you, knees bumping against yours as he held the item of clothing out, draping it around your neck and leaning in.

Fingers grasped your chin holding it in place as he lowered his eyes to meet yours.

“Recreate it.”

“W-what?” You couldn’t help the stammer that had escaped you.

“This picture. I want to see what it looked like, in real life.” You laughed at that.

“Billy-“ but you could tell from the way he was looking at you, a hunger so divine and untainted that you felt a shiver slither its way up your back. Heat pooling between your legs as his grip tightened ever so slightly on your chin.

Realizing you were the instigator of this situation your hands pulled the loose t shirt you were wearing off, tossing it to the side. Followed by your pajama shorts and socks.

You turned away from him to unclasp your bralette, “I’m gonna need your suit-“ but as you looked back around he was standing there holding one of his dark suit jackets out to you.

One hand over your chest and sticking your tongue out at him before pulling it over your shoulders. Glancing at the lining you realized this was the very same jacket from the photo.

“How did you..”

“It’s one of my custom tailored pieces.” You were still facing away from him but you felt his hot breath by your ear as his hand slid down the back of the fine material, giving your rear a squeeze in the process.

You squeaked at that before realizing. The underwear. You didn’t have them anymore. The dryer decided to eat them, tearing the satin fabric and creating quiet a mess to clean from the filter for you.

“I don’t have the thong anymore.”

His hands roamed over your back and along your waist, kneading at your sides as he let his head rest in the crook of your shoulder.

“That’s ok, do it without them.” You felt the heat bristling under your skin. Pinpricks of pleasure running just under the surface. You wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.

Instead you pushed away from him, letting his jacket cover your butt as you squatted down enough to get your much less sexy underwear off.

In your last attempt at a playful jest you tossed them over your shoulder at Billy who caught them effortlessly. A shit eating grin plastered across his face.

Letting one of the leg holes swing around his index finger playfully.

“Encore!” You shook your head at that before resuming your place on the bed as you had been on the photo shoot.

You could feel his gaze resting heavily on you. Every part of you.

Removing the tie from around your neck, wrapping slightly around your knuckles once then on the other hand letting the silky fabric come to rest between your legs.

The cool touch of the fabric grazing against the sensitive spot between your legs made you shudder softly.

“How’s this?” You asked, begging for the silence to be broken as you watched Billy, his whole attention focused on you.

“And make the face.” He said. A little to casually for your liking. Because of course, he wanted to see the whole scene played out.

You tried imagining the scenario again but being out on the spot, it felt so inorganic, so forced. He could tell.

“What if I helped you out?” The saliva in your mouth had fully dried up at this point. Help? “Close your eyes.”

You couldn’t stifle the halfhearted giggle you made as you said his name.

“Close.”

You did as he said. Eyelids drifting shut, licking your lips in anticipation. Not quite sure what his intention was.

You felt the warmth of his hand closing over your ankle, rubbing soft circles on your skin.

“Do you remember when we went to the beach up in Michigan?”

You nodded, licking your lips nervously.

“The way the breeze was..warm and inviting. And we had a cabin with our own private beach?” His hand moved up your leg to rest on the inside of your knee that was planted on the mattress.

“And when we got tired there was a patio with a hot tub overlooking the water as the sun set.” You could feel where this was going.

“And I seem to recall a few days where we didn’t even leave the bed.” He ran a finger up and down your thigh, depthless eyes looking up at you. Oh he was wicked.

“The way the sheets would get all tangled up and I could smell the fresh air in your hair. Feel the heat on your skin where the sun kissed you a little too much. How your lips tasted-“

The need swirling around in your stomach and that desperate desire to feel him inside you started to fire within every nerve.

“How did my lips taste, Billy?”

“Which ones?” His hand didn’t rise higher to where you needed him, but you were dying for contact, friction, anything.

Two could play at this game. Pulling the tie up tighter between your legs, not even feeling guilty for the gasp that left your lips at the soft drag of it against your body.

Billy’s eyes watched with rapt attention. You could feel the tell tale signs of pleasure building with each glide of his tie, certain you’d need to toss the thing aside before you soaked through it.

“And when we did finally leave the bed it was only so I could bury myself so deep into you on the beach that not even the waves and wind could drown out your screams.”

Your mouth opened in a silent moan, begging for release.

“That’s it, that’s my girl.” You didn’t need him to say it outright to know your face matched the picture. The same feelings coursing through you now were the ones you’d envisioned when taking the shot.

“Why don’t you make a mess on my tie, sweetheart?” The words had you grinding onto the fabric, but that wasn’t what you wanted.

It took more willpower than you’d care to admit to toss the tie aside, grabbing Billy by the shoulders and pulling him onto you as you both dropped onto the duvet and pillows.

Your mouths collide in a kiss only described as feral. Desperate to touch and taste each and every part of each others mouth. His tongue sliding against your own and you hear him groan loudly.

His hands brushing your hair away from your face, pieces caught up in the crossfire of your kiss. His palms coaxing the jacket open and running along your breasts.

Chest heaving you arch up into him to show your displeasure at his continued teasing. You can feel the hardness pressing into your thigh and you line up to grind against him fully.

The hiss he makes thrills you and is only amplified when you feel him grab a fistful of your hair, tugging your head back to expose your neck to him.

He licks a line up the column of your neck before pressing a scalding kiss to your jaw before working his way back down.

“Torturing me with those photos.” He murmured as his lips continued to lavish along your collar bones then along the swell of your breasts.

His body settling into the cradle of your thighs and you pushed up again dying to feel his cock, hot and pulsing against you.

“Someone is eager.” He huffed out, a smile playing across his face as his mouth continued its devilish work sucking on one of your nipples. The other under the palm of his hand.

“Billy, I swear to god…please.” A weak plea answered with a roll of his hips against you and you felt dizzy with desire.

Your mind felt fuzzy and in that haziness you managed to free one of your arms, letting it drift between your bodies. Pressing firmly to where his pants had become unbearably tight.

The sound he made as you stroked the front of his pants sent electricity shooting up your spine. All these clothes needed off. Now.

Any other day Billy would be even more tortuous, drawing out your pleasure but tonight after viewing that picture book he seemed in just as much a rush as you.

Fumbling over remaining clothing, ripping open buttons, unzipping and sliding out of his suit jacket eventually he was just as bare as you.

Capturing your lips in another toe curling kiss. His scent filling your nostrils and your own hands tangled up in his hair and the sheets.

“Please please-“ you could feel him pressed against your thigh, the silky hardness so close to where you needed him.

You feel his hand caress the side of your face once more, turning your face so your eyes meet his fully. His expression is enough to undo you. Passion mixed with awe, tenderness and thrill.

And people say married life is boring.

No words need exchanged as you feel him slide home, stretching you slowly. You swear you can feel each ridge and vein on him. Forcing air into your lungs as you feel him fill you up completely.

“How’s my girl?” He asked placing a gently kiss on your temple. His body hovering just above yours.

“Good.” You say rather breathless. Mind unable to focus on anything beyond him within you. How his body seemed to melt into yours perfectly.

His hips slotted against yours and then a gentle rocking. Your eyes squeezed shut, relishing the push and pull, hips rising up to meet each arc and rock.

It’s delicious, but not enough. Faster, deeper. Your ankles cross behind his lower back, pulling him even closer to you as he grinds into you.

Billy grunts as he begins to pick up the pace. Your body feels heated, his hot breath next to your ear, then a few open mouthed kisses to your pulse point on your neck.

Filling you up deeper and deeper. Your moans match alongside the noises he’s making. You can tell he’s close the louder he gets.

Your mouths move against one another, desperate longing. He rocks faster and faster. Claiming your mouth and body all at once.

Your orgasm snuck up on you, slowly swirling through your entire essence then you lost it all at once.

Sweating, breathless, holding onto Billy for dear life as you said his name over and over. His hips continued their relentless sway carrying you through your bliss.

Then it was his turn to join you. Pushing off from the bed, holding you tight against his chest as he emptied himself into you. A loud groan followed by expletives and final few thrusts.

Both of you toppling off to the side, panting heavily. You moved to wipe a few pieces of sweat soaked hair from his forehead, then placing a kiss to the now clear spot.

You found yourself mesmerized by his dark lashes, watching them flutter as he took in a full breath. Cheeks no longer ruddy and red but fading to a softer pink.

The two of you laid there in silence, coming down from the post climax high. Basking in the afterglow, the only sound your breathing coming back to center.

After a moment Billy turned to you, his fingers brushing up the length of your arm.

“Thank you.”

“I’d say I got a little something out of it too.” You chuckled, running the back of your buckles over his cheek. He laughed in response.

“I meant for the book, but yes also this.” You snuggled closer to him, just enjoying being in his arms. Yes, married life was bliss.

The next morning you rolled over still groggy from sleep, a satisfied ache between your legs. Billy’s side of the bed was empty but you could hear him moving about getting ready for work.

Sounds of the coffee pot being turned on and that delicious aroma wafted in from the kitchen. A moment later you saw him standing in the doorway, anvil mug in hand as he took a sip of the fresh brew.

“I’m heading out. Coffees on. I promise not to be too late tonight” he grinned as you sleepily nodded, bed head and all. He lowered the mug and with a wave turned on his heel, the front door closing behind him.

#billy russo #ben barnes #billy russo edit #the punisher #billy russo x reader #billy russo fanfic #billy russo x female reader #the punisher fanfiction #the punisher au

322 notes · View notes

softshiin · 2 years

Text

thunderstruck

ଘ summary. some of the tr boys experiencing love at first sight

๑ includes! shinichiro sano, hanma shuji, wakasa imaushi (teen!waka)

ଘ cw. mentions of people getting beaten up, slight mention of blood, mention of cigarettes in shuji’s, fem!reader

notes. helloo i figured that i’d love to write for tokyo revengers as well, so here i am <3

remember that there could be some grammatical mistakes!

shinichiro

; okay so we all know that shin is most likely to fall for every pretty woman he sees

; but hey, this time he felt that it would go well?

; he was in the middle of a fight, obviously getting beaten up, when you suddenly showed up

; managed somehow to get out of that situation, and went straight to you

; yes. with all the blood on his face, but his sweet smile was also there

“hey, um, excuse me!” he tried to catch your attention, after he made sure that the guys who were with him were gone

as soon as you saw him, you almost got an heart attack. god his face was all red.

shin was expecting you to ignore him, and walk away like all the previous girls did. i mean, how could he blame them? they were probably scared.

then you suddenly stopped, starting to search for a tissue and some water in your bag. “oh my what to do, your face is a mess. let me help you”

; a spark lighted shinichiro’s eyes. maybe you were the one.

shuji

; as always, he was randomly beating up guys that pissed him off

; the haitani brothers were watching him from the sidelines, kind of bored from the usual situation

“come onnn, this is so boring” he said after taking the last one down, lighting up his cigarette

; then something unusual got his attention

; a girl, walking with a fast pace, went straight for the alley he was in

; he thought that was really strange, since people normally avoid that street

; and he soon discovered the cause: some random creep was following her

“now, this is fun” he smirked, tossing his cigarette on one of the dudes hands.

; after you walked past him, he suddenly grabbed, gently, your wrist

“it’s alright now” , he said, as he kinda tossed you towards the haitani brothers, who looked at you with understanding eyes and little smiles

; then shuji rapidly took the old man by the collar and threw him on the ground

“let’s have some fun, shall we?”

; and that’s how you met hanma shuji

wakasa

; alr so we all know that he was the prettiest boy around, but surprisingly he didn’t have any girls around him??

; and this kinda bothered him, not that he wanted a whole fan club or anything

; but… c’mon he knew he wasn’t ugly, and he expected at least a few chicks?

; this lil “problem” was always brought up whenever he was with the boys

; and he ended up being made fun of just like shinichiro was

“at least i talk to girls” he always said, with his dumb grin on his face

; waka didn’t even bother to answer him at this point

; the tables turned when he was walking around with the gang, taking a stroll in a new neighborhood

“here kitty~ come here~” they heard a soft voice, seeing then a cat running away after hearing them arriving

“… why?” you sighed, standing up without noticing them

“sorry, we scared him away” the blonde apologized.

; you then flinched and turned around, to be faced by four tall and kinda intimidating boys

; this is where wakasa fell in love with you.

; you were literally the cutest person he’d ever seen

; on your face and clothes there were still some fur, and your hair was a mess because the kitten probably played with it

“so cute..” he mumbled

#tokyo revengers headcanons #tokyo revengers #shinichiro sano #shinichiro x you #shinichiro hcs #shinichiro headcanons #wakasa #wakasa imaushi #wakasa x you #wakasa headcanons #tokyo revengers wakasa #hanma #hanma shuji #hanma fluff #hanma x y/n #hanma headcanons #hanma x reader #tokyo revengers x y/n #tokyo revengers x reader

3K notes · View notes

levenlike11 · 10 months

Text

your lovely usual at the cafe, akaashi keiji came inside as the bell above the door announced his arrival. he kindly smiled at you and took his place in his favorite spot. he always chose that corner away from the windows and the loud chatter in the cafe, where the 3 month old little ginger kitten liked to sleep in his tiny basket. he pet the cat and took out his laptop, putting it on his legs as he was sitting on a soft cushion on the floor next to the cat, making it purr sweetly at the affection.

taking the order list with you, you made your way to him. despite the sound of your footsteps in the silent corner, he didn't hear you until you softly called out his name.

"mr. akaashi?" he turned his back and smiled.

"please, just keiji."

"alright, keiji, welcome back! it's always great to see you here, that little baby misses you." you grinned and he turned back to the cat, picking it up and touching his tiny nose.

"he's growing so fast, he won't be able to fit in my palm in a few weeks." he pouted at the small creature in his hand. he was too cute.

"do you want to order now or should i leave you guys alone?" you gestured to the cat.

"oh yeah, sorry. can i just get the usual americano? hot, please." he uttered looking up at you with a smile as bright as the sun.

"want a dessert with that? i just tried a new cheesecake recipe today!"

"if you did it, then of course i want it. i love trying your stuff." he put the sleepy cat back in his basket which caused it to meow sadly but he had to finish editing this new episode by tonight for the manga magazine.

"thank you! i'll be right back with those!" you went and brought him his coffee and cheesecake, along with an iced drink for yourself.

"i don't understand how you can drink hot coffee in the middle of july." you chuckled as you sat down near him on a different cushion, although they are pretty huge for one person. he is just a regular at the shop after all, you should probably keep your distance in case it disturbs him.

"if you really want me to, remind me to try an iced one next time." he said without turning his head, too concentrated on his work. you sipped some of your own drink as you watched him fix spelling mistakes and add little doodles or words on the pages. he looked too good to be true. how could someone appear so angelic while simply pushing buttons on their keyboard?

you first met akaashi while he was working on the new episode of your new favorite manga that started coming out recently and you couldn't help but ask if he was the writer himself. he told you he was just the editor in the magazine and let you look through the new episode a day early from everyone else, which would probably cost him his job if his boss found out. but he thought of himself as a people reader, and he just felt like he could trust you.

this became a routine for you two for the past 2 months. he would purposely wait to come until your break was nearing so that you could both prepare his drink and sit down with him afterwards. your little secret, the advantage of seeing the episodes early, wasn't one sided. you would make him try new recipes you found or came up with in exchange. it was a win-win situation so he accepted. it meant he could eat delicious treats made by the barista he started to feel flustered around, and you could get honest feedback about your cooking. him being an editor made the honest feedback part much better.

you were deep in thought, the ice in your drink long melted as you stared at him. it probably took a few calls of your name for you to snap out of it, as he seemed both worried and intrigued by your look.

"sorry, i zoned out." he smiled, "it's okay, i was just wondering if there was something on my face i couldn't see. you seemed like you were staring at me." he bit back a grin.

"i was not. your face is completely fine. very fine." you punched yourself mentally after that, but at least you managed to make the man laugh.

oh, his laugh, it made your whole day better. it was a blessing to hear. you knew it was stupid to fall for a customer at your shop who could stop coming anytime and you'd possibly never see him again if he did, but the heart wants what it wants.

"i really like it."

"the coffee or the cheesecake?" you asked, by the looks of it, he seemed to have liked both, as he finished both of them completely.

"both. the cheesecake's really nice. you should try another flavor as well. this'll become a best seller in no time." you smiled in victory, despite trying so many times and even ruining an attempt, you finally made it perfectly.

"thank you, want another slice?" he shook his head.

"need to control the sugar i eat, sorry. or else i get too greedy and empty my candy storage at home." now it was his turn to make you laugh.

"i would love to see you munching on sweets." you giggled, "are you still planning to adopt him next month?" you pointed at the cat.

"yeah, i even bought a bed already. it's too big for him now, but he'll grow into it." he petted the yawning kitten's head.

"i'll miss him after he's gone. he's my favorite too." you smiled sadly, rubbing his stomach and tickling him, which made him shake his butt funnily.

"you could always come visit him at my apartment?" akaashi suggested. seeing the surprised look on your face, he added, "if you want, of course. i could also get a carrier and bring him here with me."

"i wouldn't want you to go through the trouble. i'd like to come visit him, as long as you're comfortable." he smiled, letting go of the breath he was unintentionally holding.

"of course, you can come anytime you want."

he finally pressed send on the email to his boss with the finished manga episode and closed his laptop. "so, it's a date?" he had a little smirk he was trying to hide.

"yeah, it's a date. come back sooner, he'll miss you again." you smiled and he reached out for your hand next to him.

"i will, i'll miss you too." he squeezed your hand a bit and left after turning back to beam at you one last time, leaving you all nervous by yourself with the kitten now up and begging you for food.

236 notes · View notes

burstanddecay · 1 year

Text

Green Green Dress

Pairing: Will "Ironhead" Miller x named F!Reader (Sunny) Summary: Will thought his night was unfortunate: single during the holidays, left alone at a bar by his brother and facing the prospect of walking home for an hour in the biting cold. However, the first date taking place right behind his seat reaches a level of shitty he never considered to be achievable. Wordcount: 6.7K Contains/Warning: a shitty date, mentions of a life changing accident (to an outside character), general assholery from a man, attempted sexual coercion, a whole lotta fluff. In addition, the perspective shifts between 2nd and 3rd person. This fic mentions characters from Cold Is The Night: you don't have to read that fic to understand this, but this is an accompaniment to that, as Will and Benny are brothers.

He’s not listening in on purpose.

Really.

It’s just that the conversation happening right behind his back is like a car accident that caught on fire after the initial crash.

And then exploded.

All without the guy noticing.

So far, Will has deduced that it’s a blind date (mistake one), the guy thinks very highly of himself (mistake two), and barely lets his date get a word in edgewise (mistake three).

He catches the eye of the bartender, lifting his nearly empty scotch glass to indicate the request for a second, even though he told himself that he was only finishing the one drink before heading home. The plan had been a night of drinks, but Benny left him alone merely a few minutes after Peach arrived.

Those two have been circling around each other, possibly since day one of meeting. Where Ben went, Peach went. The affection between them was palpable, and even though he never told anyone, Will knew Benny carried a folded up letter she wrote close to his heart whenever they were in the field, back when they were still active duty.

He just really hopes they finally figure out the feeling was mutual one of these days.

“Your friend leave you alone?” the bartender asks, appearing in front of him as she places a new glass on a coaster in front of him.

“Brother,” he politely corrects her. “He did.”

A joking tsk slides past her lips as she smiles at him. “And that on Christmas eve.”

Will shrugs in reply. “No harm, no foul. Friend needed him more than I did.”

“The girl that came in? She looked it.”

The remark bristles against him, setting him on edge as he silently eyes the woman in front of him. He feels defensive of Peach: she’s like a sister to him. An extension of Benny, a part of him in a soft sense: tethering his soul to the empirical earth.

He understands the danger of tying your being to another person, but those two were connected in a way that extended past his comprehension. Connected in a way he never was to Stephanie: probably one of the reasons the marriage crashed and burned when it did.

“Oh! I just meant that she looked like she needed a friend. I’ve seen that face before, is all,” the woman in front of him continues, smiling carefully. “Didn’t mean anything by it.”

Then why remark on it, a voice in the back of his head provides. He doesn’t voice the thought, instead pressing his lips together in a half-smile before finishing off his first glass.

He can see the hesitation in her frame, wanting to dig herself out of the awkward moment, but instead she pours him a new scotch, reaches for his old glass and wordlessly moves down the bar, dunking the glass in the sink before moving onto the next customer, ending the conversation between them.

The bar is a cacophony of many things happening all at once: a game of darts on the other end of the bar, some sort of bet on the line as made clear by the loud cheering. There is a group of guy guys—soldiers, their ramrod straight posture tells him, trying to hit on a several women around the bar, couples and small groups chatting as they occupy the tables scattered around. Suddenly, out of nowhere the music is turned down. Loud, unintelligible protests pipe up around him, until the other bartender turns the stereo back up and the chorus of the song burst through the speakers, immediately prompting the other patrons join in, singing the lyrics at the top of their lungs. He chuckles, taking a sip of his new scotch, vouching to himself that he would leave—

He groans at the realisation that hits him.

Benny picked him up earlier. He doesn’t have a car here. He’ll have to walk home. Doable, but not desirable. He lowers the glass, placing it back on the soaked cardboard coaster, rubbing slightly at his jaw as he shifts on the unsteady barstool, trying to figure out the best course of action.

He debates sending Benny a text, but he knows he won’t read it: his body had been taut as he watched Peach rush out of the bar, jaw clenched so tightly that Will almost joked about it, if it hadn’t been for the pained expression in his eyes.

Still, despite the unfortunate situation, not all was lost. He had definitely been in worse situations. He’ll finish his drink, walk home, put on a movie he won’t really watch and head over to Benny’s in the morning for a day of watching Lord of the Rings and eating take out, letting Christmas pass without giving it much attention.

The song ends with a loud cheer and the volume of the stereo system gets turned back down, the bar reverting back to conversations. He catches different topics around him: what gifts people had gotten their kids, what the plans were for tomorrow. The standard things you’d expect around the holidays. Yet there was one conversation is his direct vicinity that stood out to him: the first date happening behind him, that somehow seemed to be hurdling down a cliff even more that it already was.

“Wait, where do you work?” you ask with a frown, trying to figure out if you heard him correctly. You’re pretty sure you are. It’s just fact checking at this point, if he ever let you get a word in.

“Oh, down at Clark and Bennett. Product development. As I was saying though, in college—”

“No, I’m sorry,” you say, frowning heavily as you eye the man sat opposite you. From the moment you walked into the bar, you knew showing up was a mistake: he had seemed perfectly nice on text but gave off nice guy energy that was palpable from the other side of the room, sloppily pressing a kiss to your cheek before you sat down.

That, of course, was to blame on the semester he spent abroad when he was in college, something he managed to tell you before you even sat down. It’s how they do it in France. Rude people though, y’know? Barely speak any English.

You’d almost think it’s because they speak French as their mother tongue instead. You weren’t planning on being the one to tell him that, though.

The complete horror of your current situation didn’t settle in until he named his employer, puzzle pieces clicking into places you really did not want them to.

Clark and Bennett. The same company your oldest brother worked for, before the accident.

You repeat the name, leaning back in your seat. “My brother used to work there.”

“Oh shit, really?” he asks, suddenly eyeing you with renewed interest. His eyes had been raking over your body the entire time, eyeing you like a piece of meat he couldn’t wait to devour. Not that you were going to let him: you have been carefully planning an exit strategy since about two minutes into the one sided conversation. But this, the reveal of a connection between the two of you, seemed to spur him on. “Who’s your brother? Maybe we worked together.”

“Daniel Jones,” you tell him.

“Wait, does he call you Sunny? You’re Sunny?”

Sunny. Not the name on your passport, but the one people close to you used.

We called you sunshine as a baby because you looked perpetually angry. It was endearing, such a little thing that looked at the world with that much despise.

Sunshine then morphed into Sunny, the name used far more often than your actual name. You knew you were in trouble when it got hurdled down the yard or up the stairs with volume that would put a drill sergeant to shame (a fact you only know thanks to your youngest brother, who came home from basic training, dropping his bags on the floor and promptly proclaiming I swear to God, my drill sergeant was like a kitten compared to mom when she’s angry).

As you grew older, you introduced yourself as Sunny in most casual settings, but at school (and later work) you went by your legal name. A blind date suggested by your co-worker turned friend seemed like a fun idea, something to talk about at the new years eve party this year, but the reality was turning out a little different.

As soon as you were able to leave, you were calling Tiffany to ask her what had possessed her when she thought this would be a good match.

Still, you were at least thankful she had apparently used that name when setting this up, as you bristle at the nickname past the lips of a man who doesn’t deserve to use it.

“My friends and family call me Sunny, yes,” you stiffly reply as the guy—Kyle, you remind yourself, grins lazily, slumping in his chair with one arm propped on the backrest.

“Man, Daniel. Dan the Man. The accident was a real shock, let me tell you that.”

Let me tell you that, as if you weren’t the one biting your fingernails down to stubs as you sat waiting for the results of the CT scan, holding your brother’s hand as you repeatedly called his wife, all while trying to stay calm for his sake even though he definitely could not move his legs.

You open your mouth to reply, but he cuts you off, continuing his pattern of not letting you speak.

“How is he doing? I think he came to the office once after, but that was it.”

You know he doesn’t mean harm, that no one does when they ask that: the questions usually come from a good place, one of genuine interest. Maybe sometimes from a place that’s looking for sensation, something to relay to friends. You should hear what happened to-

Still, the question is one that gets asked almost weekly, and it was a little tiring to continuously answer, especially when they could call or text Daniel to ask him themselves.

“He’s okay,” you reply, reaching for your drink. “Still in therapy, but he’s looking at getting back into work.”

Kyle nods solemnly. “Word.”

A short silence washes over you as you sip from your drink, the ice cubes hitting your nose. You resist the urge to wipe your nose as you lower the glass, placing it back on its coaster.

“Y’know,” Kyle immediately starts back up, shifting positions and resting his elbows on the table, leaning into your space. You have to stop yourself from scrunching your nose as an overwhelming waft of cheap cologne hits you in the face like brick, leaning as far back as the unyielding backrest of your seat allows. “That accident was like, a real fucking shock to everyone at the office.”

“Right,” you reply slowly.

“No because it’s like… that’s my co-worker, right? Like he was fine one day, and then he suddenly he’s like, paralysed from the hips down. It was really shocking to us. It like, really shook me to the core if I’m being honest. It took a while before we all were like… Chill with it.”

You can’t help the laugh that bubbles up in your chest, slipping past your lips at the absurdity of his statement.

You get it: of course it’s shocking when something like that happens in your direct vicinity, to someone you know.

But you also know that Daniel rarely interacted with the product development team, the times he did talk about them usually overflowing with frustration at the employees running that particular depart.

The accident had been devastating, a blow to your family—your sister in law especially, leaving you to feel helpless as there wasn’t anything you could do but support them, take Dan to his appointments when his wife wasn’t able to take more time off work, help them adapt their house to make it wheelchair friendly.

It was funny, sitting across someone that was so far removed from your family and having him claim something that changed dynamics, even if just for a while as things adjusted over time, for himself.

You’re not even angry about.

It’s so absurd that you can’t help but laugh.

Kyle frowns, tapping the stack of cardboard coaster on the table. “I don’t think it’s that funny.”

You stifle the chuckle lodged somewhere in the back of your throat. “No, you’re right. It isn’t.”

“It was pretty traumatising.”

“You’re telling me.”

He leans back in his seat, lips pressed together tightly as he continues to tap the coasters on the table. “I mean that could’ve been me, y’know? It was some heavy shit.”

This has to be a dream. There is no possible way that, even on this hell hole of a planet, this is actually happening. It can’t be. A person surely can’t be this thick in the head.

Yet there is Kyle, who is looking at you with an expression that rests somewhere between despise and the same hungry look he had earlier, practically tearing your dress away from your body with his eyes.

Subconsciously, you pull at the skirt of said dress, shifting in your seat and supressing the urge to look at your phone in search of an out.

“Anyway, I’m gonna smoke and take a leak,” Kyle says, his chair screeching in protest as he abruptly stands up. “Order me another beer, will ya? I’ll back in a few.” He doesn’t wait for a reply, instead leaving the table and immediately knocking into the shoulder of a man sitting on a bar seat just to the right of you, spilling his drink everywhere.

He doesn’t stop, doesn’t apologise, but just continues knocking into people as he works his way to the exit, leaving you to turn in your seat as you watch in mild horror as he finally pushes past a door, disappearing out of sight.

It takes a moment for the realisation to hit you, but when it does, you scramble off your chair, almost toppling over as you do. The plan is easy: pay for the drinks, rush out and fake a frantic phone call as you rush past Kyle, get in the car and head home. Once home, you’ll put a cosy sweater on and sit down to start your annual reread of The Hobbit, hiding away from the world until the following morning to drag your ass to your youngest brother’s house for a full day of activities. His fiancée had insisted on being the ones to host Christmas this year, and you were more than happy to let her: you just moved into a new place about a month ago and though almost everything was finished, it wasn’t quite there yet. The fuss that comes along with hosting wasn’t something you wanted on top of that, so you are more than happy to stick with the one tradition you uphold for yourself: baking enough cookies to feed a small village. A tradition that garnered family wide attention over the years, requests for specific recipes now pouring in as early as Halloween. The excitement you’re met with as soon as you pass the threshold of whoever’s hosting that year is well worth all the time and effort you have to put into it.

You pause for a brief second: the man Kyle bumped into is sat with his back towards you, his blond head bent down. Even though it’s not your fault, mild guilt builds in your chest as you slide past him, onto the empty seat to his left.

Even seated, you noticed he is built, muscular in a way that is noticeable even through his faded flannel. If it wasn’t for the mild expression on his face as he dabs at his pantleg with an already soaked napkin, you figure he could been seen as intimidating.

“I’m so sorry for my… friend,” you say, turning towards him, the last word accompanied by a pained smile. “Can I replace your drink?”

The guy pauses and looks up, his stark blue eyes locking you into place. “You’re saying sorry for him?” he asks, his voice pleasantly rough.

You helplessly shrug. “Someone has to. It’s a waste of a perfectly good…” you squint, trying to figure out what the remaining liquid in his tumbler is. “Bourbon?”

“Scotch,” he corrects with a smile. “No worries, I should be heading out anyway.”

“Oh. Okay. You sure? It was really rude of him, I’d be more than happy to pay for it regardless.”

You can tell there’s something he wants to say but keeps to himself, hesitantly shifting in his seat.

“Last chance,” you smile, leaning forward in your seat to see if you can spot one of the bartenders. “To get that drink paid for or say whatever it is you wanna say.”

He laughs, the sound sudden and warm. “Nah, it’d be rude,” he says, smile still on his face. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Well, now I’m curious.”

You can’t help but notice that he’s handsome as you shift in your seat, facing him as you do. He exudes a calm and controlled energy that, much like his stature, could be seen as intimidating in different circumstances. The way he’s holding himself does a lot: something tells you that everything about him could scream danger if he needs it to, but the relaxed shoulders and open expression on his face tell you that there’s nothing to worry about. His eyes quickly shoot across your body, the way he does a world of difference compared to how Kyle has been looking at you: this guy looks back up at your face rather than halting at chest height and keeping his gaze there.

“Your friend,” he starts, catching you a little off guard. You didn’t expect him to actually voice his thoughts, but there he went. “It’s a date, right?”

“Blind date,” you correct him. “My friend set us up.”

“I think you need to rethink that friendship.”

There is a short moment when someone fires a gun in the field, where time both seems to speed up and slow down all at once, creating a horrific vacuum where the outcome is uncertain.

Will is the calm, collected one: the voice of reason in a lot of situations, acting when others freeze. In this moment, he’s none of those things. The sentence itself is many things: a blunt, careless remark, a poor shot taken without any thought, ricocheting away from him with zero control as a result.

His breath halts and he freezes in place, eyes on the woman sat in front of him as soon as he realises he actually told her what he thought. It feels like hours, but then she suddenly barks out a laugh, the sound clear and carefree. Her eyes crinkle at the corners as she covers her mouth with one hand, the other on her lap, bunching the green satin fabric of her dress.

“You’re not wrong,” she replies between giggles. “How much of it did you hear?”

“Enough,” he merely replies, unable to help the smile that seems to be stuck on his face. He can’t recall the last time he actually said his thoughts out loud to anyone, but he seems unable to stop as words tumble out of his mouth before he even realises it’s happening. “He really likes to hear himself talk, doesn’t he?”

“Oh my god, you have no idea,” she sighs. “It’s been…” she turns towards the clock on the wall. “Forty-five minutes, and I think he only paused to ask me something once, and then also made that about him.”

He overheard the conversation but missed chunks. Despite that, he can’t even begin to wrap his head around even half the stuff her conversation partner had said. Maybe it was his years of working with the VA but claiming someone’s reality and making it about yourself when they’re the ones dealing with it, seems like an obvious no-go. He tells her as much, and she softly smiles in reply, the expression almost bashful.

“I’m used to it. I don’t know how much of you caught it, but my sister in law has it so much worse. People look straight past her, usually, even though they mean well when they ask about Dan—my brother,” she clarifies the name. He still doesn’t know hers: a piece of information he missed, either not mentioned or drowned out by the impromptu karaoke moment from earlier.

One the bartenders, the same woman from before, walks straight past them, a frustrated noise audible as the woman next to him sags back in her seat at the failed attempt to catch her attention.

“Just because you’re used to it, doesn’t mean it’s okay,” he tells her, finishing the remaining sip of scotch. He looks at her, taking note of the knotted eyebrows, her glittery eyeshadow that sparkles in the shoddy bar lighting as she blinks, processing the words. She looks lovely, but the expression on her face somewhat tugs at his heart. He’s unsure what to say, not wanting to linger on the subject, but dismissing it completely also doesn’t seem right.

“Thank you,” she smiles. “I’m Sunny, by the way.”

She extends her hand towards him, her palm completely disappearing in his hand as he shakes it.

“Will.”

“You’ve been a better conversational partner in the three minutes that I’ve been talking to you than the guy I’m with has been the entire time,” she jokes, turning away from him and leaning forward in her seat, still attempting to catch the attention of a bartender. “But I really wish I could just pay and run, because I cannot deal with this for another hour or so. This being my date,” she clarifies, looking downright horrified as she catches his eye. “Not you. You’re being lovely.”

The compliment burrows in his chest, warm and welcoming. He doesn’t read into it: this isn’t that kind of situation, but it’s welcome nonetheless.

“Sup,” a voice pipes up beside him, a hand sliding onto Sunny’s back. She almost recoils at the touch, cringing as her hands form fists on her lap. Cheap cologne hits Will before he even sees the guy, who then presses himself between the two seats with his back turned towards him. “No luck with the beer? You gotta be direct with these people, sweetheart.”

He snaps his fingers, whistling to get their attention.

In his 40 years on this planet, people still manage to surprise Will, just solely with their disregard for anything that isn’t in their own interest. This is one of those things: if his mom taught him and Benny anything, it was to put out the same amount of respect you wanted in return, be polite to service workers and perhaps most of all, be mindful of what others are telling you, whether it’s verbal or not.

This guy managed to somehow not do any of those things. Even with his back turned, Will can tell that he carries himself with an ego that stretches a mile wide, putting himself above others no matter the circumstances, the kind of person that would turn his back on you in the field for the right price.

Over the man’s shoulder, he catches Sunny’s eyes, a cocktail of panic and helplessness apparent in them as the guy in front him whistles again, snapping his fingers in annoyance.

Kyle’s hand feels like it’s burning straight through your dress, and not in a good way. Though it’s been a while since you last slept anyone, you can clearly recall what is feels like when it’s right: electric, comforting, grounding you to the here and now.

This touch, however, feels like it could instantly decay anything it comes in contact with. You’re somewhat surprised your flesh is still attached to your bones.

His fingers dig tightly into your side as he whistles again, the sound sharp and shrill alongside the snapping, catching the attention of other patrons that look at him with disgusted expressions on their face. You flush in embarrassment, unable to stop yourself. “Please stop that. You’re being rude.”

He pauses, lowering his free hand and frowning at you. “I’m being rude? That bartender is ignoring you. You’re a paying costumer, they should be serving you without it taking hours,” he shouts the last word, leaning onto the bar. You cringe, praying for the ground to swallow you whole, or to come to the sudden discovery that this is, in fact, just a nightmare.

“I think we should just pay,” Kyle continues, his hand sliding down, dangerously close to your butt. “And get out of here. My apartment is close, I could show you what a good time looks like.”

“Oh,” you laugh nervous in reply, leaning away from his touch and scooting as far back as the wobbly barstool allows you to. “Uh, I…”

“C’mon,” he urges. “It’s like, a fifteen minute drive— “

“Actually, I’m just gonna go home if we’re leaving,” you tell him bluntly. If there wasn’t an option for a smoother out, kicking down the door works just as well.

“Really?” he asks incredulously, dropping his hand off your waist. “You’re just gonna bail? God, you prude bitches are all the fucking same these days.”

You let out a surprised laugh, looking at him in disbelief as you struggle to believe this is a reality you’re living.

“It’s not funny,” he snaps. “Literally no one puts out on the first date anymore. It’s not even like you’re that hot. You should be lucky I didn’t leave as soon as soon as you came in.”

“Okay,” you merely reply, watching in amusement as his face turns red and he steps aside.

“If you’d been reasonable, I would’ve paid, but you’re not even gonna blow me?”

“Is… is that a question?” you frown, biting on the inside of your cheek to stop from laughing.

“So that’s a no. Well, I guess that means you’re the one paying today. I hope you have a shitty Christmas.” With those words, he storms away, pushing past others as he makes his way out, leaving you to stare in disbelief until he makes it out the door. Unable to hold it in any longer, you burst into hysterical laughter, clutching your sides as you try to stop the inevitable snort that ends up making it’s way out. You were the one paying anyway: it was your card on the tab.

“Honey, would you like to order an angel shot?” Finally, standing in front of you is one of the bartenders: a young woman, barely 21 by the looks of it, looking at you with a concerned frown, wiping her hands on a towel.

“I’m good,” you tell her sourly. “Little late for that. He left. I just wanna close out my tab.”

“Actually, add hers to mine,” Will says, shifting to grab his wallet out of his back pocket. “I wanna close out, too.”

“You can’t do that,” you sputter in protest, looking between him and the bartender. You didn’t even realise he was still sat there. “Right? Tell him he can’t do that.”

She shrugs. “I don’t care who does, just that it happens.”

“Put it on mine,” he tells her. “Honestly, I overheard most of what went down and it’s the least I can do,” he says as he pulls a few singles out of his wallet and folds them, placing them under his empty glass. “Especially after that display.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to,” he shrugs, sliding off his barstool. “Really. See it as an early Christmas present. Pay it forward, if that makes you feel better about taking it.”

You eye the blond as he stands behind his seat, towering over you with none of the possessiveness your sorry excuse of a date seemed to have earlier. He smiles and opens his mouth to say something when he gets interrupted.

“Here you are!” a cheery voice pipes up, holding out two cards and a receipt. “Your cards, and a receipt. I hope y’all have a happy Christmas and see you soon. Have a lovely night.”

You don’t reply, instead sliding off your seat without a word, tucking your credit card back in the cardholder that had fallen to the bottom of your clutch, pulling out your car keys as you do. You look up at Will, who stuffs his hands in his pockets.

“Walk you to your car?”

You nod and he lets you take the lead, his hand lightly coming up to touch between your shoulder blades as you make your way out, eventually pushing past the door into the wintery cold. You shiver, the satin dress your wearing being one of your favourites but absolutely not cold friendly. Your coat is in your car: the hassle to bring it in and keep track of it not being worth the minute of cold as you make your way in or out. You notice Will is also not wearing a coat, something he also seems to realise as you see him supress a rolling shiver at the initial cold.

“Where’d you park?” you ask, an amused smile ghosting on your lips.

“No clue.”

“You don’t know where you parked?”

“Ah, it’s not that,” he sighs. “My brother drove us here, but something came up and he had to leave. He took the car with him.”

“Oh,” you frown. “Nothing serious, I hope?”

“No,” Will breathes. “No, just a friend that needed him there. I told him to go, not thinking it through.” He smiles at you, his mouth ticked up at one corner. “Gonna walk home.”

The sentence that rolls out of your mouth makes you feel like your mother, scolding your brothers and yourself as you raced out into the yard in the dead of winter when you were small.

“Without a coat?”

He laughs, the sound warm and sincere. “Yes, without a coat. Left it in the car. It’s not too bad, though. Definitely went through worse weather without one.”

“Oh, fuck that. It’s like, maybe 40 out. And that’s taken liberally.”

“It’s just 8 miles away from here, I’ll be fine.” The smile is still present on his face, his eyes soft as he looks at you. In the dim light of the parking lot, you see a chain peek from underneath his collar. A familiar sight: you recognise the chain to be the kind that’s attached to dog tags.

You pause for a second as you look at him, really look at him at that discovery. Your gut feeling was something you learned to listen to over the years, whatever it was said usually scarily accurate. It weeded out the creeps in bar in your college days, bad friends, but also brought a sense of comfort when it recognised safe people. As if a big blanket was draped over your shoulders and the universe was telling you it was okay to let those people in.

“Pay it forward,” you eventually say, nodding towards the silver Prius, the keys jingling in your hand as you gesture. “Get in the car, I’m dropping you off.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to,” you parrot with a smile. “C’mon. It’ll take me what, maybe 20 minutes to drop you off? It’s nothing.”

“You sure?”

“Just get in, Will.”

Cars always smell like their owners, or their owners habits: Benny’s smells like the spearmint gum he carries everywhere, alongside the sweet vanilla coffee he drinks with zero shame. Stephanie’s used to smell like her sugary sweet perfume, the one that always made his nose itch, until the scent disappeared entirely from her car, replaced by a strong car freshener. It should’ve told him right then and there that the relationship was over, but that was something he denied to himself for a long time.

Sunny’s car smells like the leather jacket she just put on, alongside perfume he caught a whiff of earlier: a green scent, one that reminds him of hiking in the woods after a rainstorm. It’s comforting and seems to suit her: Will prides himself on being able to read people around him, something that was learned out of necessity, but a welcome skill despite that. Short conversations usually tell him more than enough about a person to make an accurate assessment. If it wasn’t their words, their body language would tell on them.

Everything about her told him she was a grounded person: someone that was comfortable in their own skin, that could stand their ground and understands their worth. She wouldn’t take shit from anyone, and he’s well aware that she’s calling the shots right now.

In result, he’s aware of every single goddamn breath he’s taking, the sensation of it being weirdly calming, rather than overwhelming.

He reaches for his seatbelt as she slides into the driver’s seat, now wearing a leather jacket, the engine eerily silent as she starts the car.

Will doesn’t consider himself a country boy in anyway, but electric cars never fail to throw him off. He test drove one a while ago, but missed the steady sound a gasoline engine provides, eventually choosing a truck similar to his old one, just a newer model.

“So,” Sunny starts, turning her head towards him. “Where to?”

“Turn right when you get out of the parking lot,” he instructs. “’s just a straight road from there most of the way.”

“Really?”

He pauses for a second, caught off guard. “I… Yes?”

“No,” she laughs. “No, sorry, I don’t doubt it, it’s just that I live that way, too, and it’s not a very populated area. For me, it’s straight drive for about 15 minutes—”

“Then a left onto Millwood Drive.”

She pauses, the turn indication clicking on and off as she’s stalled in the exit of the parking lot, turning to him as much as she could. “Get the fuck out. Millwood Drive?”

“Yeah.”

“You got new neighbours about a month ago. The place where the fence used to baby blue.”

Not a question. A statement.

He frowns, thinking it over. He’s never been the type of person to keep tabs on his neighbours, picking a place that wasn’t faced towards other houses, but instead looks out onto the woods they were surrounded by, the small neighbourhood so quiet you can hear the water flowing in the creek 100 feet away.

“That’s me. I moved in there.”

“No shit,” he laughs in disbelief at the coincidence. “That’s next door to me. You’re the one that finally replaced that god awful fence?”

“No shit. And yes, I did. Can’t believe someone would live on the edge of a forest and paint the fence baby blue.” The words come out with disdain, her nose crinkled. “Out of all the colours you can pick.”

“You replace the whole fence, or paint it over?” It’s something he probably should’ve noticed, but the weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas were exceptionally busy at work. It’s wasn’t until earlier in the week that he even noticed the blue fence was gone. He somehow completely missed her moving in, or the old neighbours moving out in the chaos that those weeks brought along with them.

“Well, the plan was painting over, but the posts were rotting near the soil, so I ended up having to replace it. Can’t complain though, the house was pretty well maintained. Was shocked to find genuine hardwood floors under the carpet, which was a nice surprise, so it was just painting everything, or replacing the wallpaper,” she smiles. “I want to redo the kitchen and bathroom at some point, but it’s no hurry.”

“I didn’t even know someone new moved in,” he says, feeling a little shameful at the confession. “I’m sorry for not saying hi.”

She shushes him, waving her hand. “Doesn’t matter, you’re all good. It takes me a while to get settled in new places, so you probably would’ve met a version of me that’s like, less than ideal. Wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.”

“The move far from where you were before?”

“No, actually,” she laughs. “It was just across town this time. I’m not actually from here, we moved down when I was like… 16? But we moved a lot when I was a kid.”

He shifts in his seat, looking at her with interest. There’s several reason why people move a lot, but there is one reason that would bring them to this area specifically.

“Army brat?” he tries.

“You know it.” The wink she gives him makes his heart uncharacteristically skip a beat. “I saw your chain in the parking lot, though.”

His hand comes up to the ball chain hanging around his neck, the tags shifting under his shirt as he adjusts it. “Force of habit. I got out a few years ago. Did some private work after that, they asked us to wear them as well. I just never stopped wearing them after, for whatever reason.”

She shrugs. “No harm in it, right?”

The drive is filled with easy chitchat, going back and forth between what they do for work, talk about the neighbourhood. He feels a pang of excitement when she offhandedly mentions her dog when asking about the best places to go for a hike.

“What kind of dog?” he asks.

“Aussie shepherd. Got him from the shelter, the poor thing was put up for adoption because he was too high energy,” she finger quotes the last few words. “I’ll show you a picture when we get home.”

The conversation flows easily, as if they’ve known each other for years rather than barely an hour. It’s not long before she pulls into their street, onto her short drive way. As soon as she’s parked, she reaches for her phone, turning it towards him to show him a short video of an Australian shepherd zooming back and forth in a fenced in backyard.

“His name is Pippin,” she tells him with a soft smile. “If you want, we should go on a hike sometime soon. Take him with us, on a trail where he’s allowed.”

“I’d love that.” He does: it’s not an exaggeration. He loves hiking, but usually ends up going alone because none of the guys really enjoy it as much as he does. Benny makes the rare exception, but usually only when he’s dealing with a lot and seeks out nature to ground when the gym fails him. He’s been longing for someone to go with, and the universe presented him with an answer, wrapped in a pretty satin green package that smiles at him with excitement sparkling in her eyes.

She nods, as if confirming it, before getting out of the car, leaving him to follow suit.

Somehow, the air is a little less cold here than it was at the bar, the breeze not as sharp as it had been there.

“Well,” she says, smoothing the bottom of her dress. “Thank you for turning my night around. Have a good night, Will.”

“Good night, Sunny.” He waits for a moment, until she’s inside, before heading towards his own front door.

He kicks off his shoes next to the door, turning on the light as he makes his way to the kitchen for a glass of water, leaving his flannel across the back of one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

The doorbell catches him off guard, cursing softly to himself as he spills some water down the front of his shirt. He calls out as he makes his way to the door. “You’ve got a key, Benny, use it—”

He’s not met by the face of his brother: instead, it’s Sunny, holding a tin in her outstretched hands. “I made them this afternoon, and I wanted to say a proper thank you.”

“You didn’t have to,” he says, taking the tin from her.

“I know. Merry Christmas, Will.”

She walks off before he can reply, and he’s left to stare at the tin that has a sticky note attached to the top.

Text me about that hike?

Love, Sunny.

Her phone number is listed underneath her name, and he smiles to himself as he closes the door, cracking open the tin and finding at least a dozen cookies, biting into a random one he pulls out as he puts her phone number in his contact list.

Maybe his night wasn’t too bad, in the end.

#will miller x reader #will ironhead miller x reader #will ironhead miller x female reader #will ironhead miller x f!reader #will miller x you #triple frontier fanfiction #will miller

406 notes · View notes

letsgetrowdy43 · 4 months

Text

my house is warm (Rowan’s Version)—

I listened to the song "my house is warm" by Sombr and immediately was like "ADAM AND SUNNY BREAK CORE!" so please enjoy, and maybe give the song a listen cause it's really good!

Warnings: a little angsty, nothing too bad, just a hallowing in self pity Adam and a heartbroken sunny, some drinking/partying, lmk if there is anything I missed!

Au Masterlist!!

"I wanna call your phone with nothing in mind, just to hear you breathe on the other line. I try to reach for you but your skin's full of thorns. Oh, this town is cold but my house is warm"

The second Sunny left Adam's apartment that day, he knew it had all been a mistake.

He couldn't decipher if this break was something he needed or if it was a way to run away from the build-up of issues that were growing in his life. Afraid of burdening the ones around him, especially her, he just made it a clean break with a slight promise of a future.

He stared at his phone screen tapping through Instagram stories before landing on hers, a bright smile on her face as she celebrated the Umich football team winning the Natty. She was smiling, she looked so genuine, so perfect, so real, and to him she looked so happy, without him. Her nose scrunched with excitement as she hugged closely to her roommate, the two of them standing just before the TV in their living room, dressed in Michigan colours as they posed in front of the scene of the quarterback holding up the trophy.

He hesitantly hit the like button at the bottom corner of the screen before tapping off of her story to look at her account, eyes landing on the lack of their highlight. The compilation of photos that once was labelled with a little "A" followed by a heart emoji was gone, none of their memories over the past year visible on the account.

It kinda felt like a slap right in the face, but this is what he deserved, this was his punishment for ruining something so good.

He missed it, missed her, she was easily the person in the world he loved the most, and somehow he had managed to fuck up a relationship he cherished so deeply. Missing the ability to just call, to talk to her 'just because'. But remembering that towards the end, he wasn't ever calling her just because he could, he was becoming a chore to her.

He needed to free her.

Kent tapped Adam's shoulder as he caught him stalking the girl's profile, "we should get dinner soon," he said nodding towards the door as Adam just cleared his throat and turned his phone off. "Sounds good!"

★★★

"How did it end like this? I wanna talk to you, talk to you again. How did we get here so quick? I watch you walk right pass me like we never did what we did"

Luca handed the girl a drink as she sat on the sophomore's couch, her eyes wandering the room with a pout on her lips as she looked at the boy whose face dropped at the sight of her sadness. The whole team and a few alpha phi girls were pregaming before they headed out to the bar.

Her eyes had been glued to her phone screen most of the night, staring at a single notification saying that Adam had liked her story. It was moments like this, with all the fun surrounding her, where she hated him for making her fall in love with him. Something about having fun now felt foreign to her, it felt so distant, because she'd been on a constant loop of self-pity and emotions.

Her lips formed a straight line as she looked up at the guy who had become her best friend, "are you okay Sun?" he mumbled as he sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. She flashed him her phone and shrugged, "just miss him," she whispered, trying to keep her voice down around her friends, the topic of Adam and the breakup seemed to be the only thing they wanted to talk about, but she wasn't willing to talk about him in the light of the asshole ex-boyfriend, Adam was her everything.

"I understand," he mumbled, his hand rubbing up and down her arm reassuringly as she leaned against him, "but let's not focus on the sad tonight, let's get drunk and pretend like everything is okay, just for a few hours," he clinked his beer can with her cooler and took a swig. Sunny smiled as she mimicked his actions, "That sounds like a really fucking good idea," she smiled slightly as she looked around the room at her friends, Nick catching her glimpse and motioning for her to come join their game of beer pong, which she happily obliged.

'Just for tonight' she thought as she smiled and made her way across the room to the group surrounding the kitchen table.

★★★

"I can't right my wrongs but I can write another song, I can't take you out but we can get along. If I went away, would you chase the train? Oh, this town is dark but my house is warm"

Allstar week was meant to be a whole week of just relaxing and getting his mind off of hockey and stress, but as soon as Luca, Gavin, and Rutger convinced him to come back to Ann Arbour for the oof week he knew it would be nothing of the sorts.

The first sign of trouble was that the second he arrived at the sophomore house and was met face to face with Charlotte, Sunny's roommate, leaving Gavin's room, he knew that this week was going to be less tranquil then planned.

He smiled awkwardly as her face grew red and murmured a short bye to the boys before taking off.

Their lives were so intertwined at this point that there was no ignoring each other, they were doomed to run into each other at one point, and it was just a matter of time before they were face to face. Faces flustered and chests heaving with the raw emotion of this realization that they were no longer together.

That was sign number one, the second came only a few short hours later when he was sitting in the student section of Yost alongside Rutgers girlfriend. He was a little on edge, he loved this place, loved the atmosphere of the building and the crowd, but he had learned to love within the walls of this building, fought battles in the building, and even made a name for himself, and now he was back and there was this feeling of melancholy looming over this head. Adam had this gut-wrenching feeling that something was going to go wrong.

Then it happened, he saw her, for only a short few seconds. Her gentle eyes meeting his, Sunny was clad in his old Blue Michigan jersey, something he'd given to her for home games and never asked for back after the season ended, and she looked perfect. She looked almost glowing, cheeks nipped pink from the chilly air, her hair cut noticeably shorter with bangs, smile so wide as her roommate handed her the sheet of paper that listed out tonight's line up.

He was almost gutted that she looked so beautiful, and he looked like a shell of himself.

She was stuck in place for a second, her stomach dropped as they just stared at one another. But she was abruptly brought back to reality by her friend who tugged on her sleeve to keep walking.

Her cheeks grew increasingly pink as she sent him a slight wave, but someone got in the way of her little action and it went missed before she was dragged down the stairs to her seat by the glass.

Adam felt nauseous, his eyes meeting Kayleigh's as she watched him turn pale, "you okay?" she asked as her eyes went back to the game. "Yeah yeah, I just need some water," he said unconvincingly before taking off in the direction of the concession stands, his eyes searching the crowds for the blue jersey, but he couldn't pick her out of the sea of maize and blue.

He couldn't find her in the crowd, and that was enough for him to leave the arena and text the boys that he got sick.

★★★

"How did it end like this? I wanna talk to you, talk to you again, how did we get here so quick? I watch you walk right pass, like we never did what we did."

Three months is how long it took for Adam to reach out, and it all happened because of a short message Luca sent him.

"You need to get your shit together Adam," frustration filling his tone as he sighed, "Someone kissed Sunny, and I'm not calling to rat her out or to tell you that she is talking to other people, I'm calling to tell you that she is being tortured cause she can't move on from you cause she won't allow herself to, and you're not doing anything to relieve her from that pain," he paused for a second, "I love you man, but get your shit together, figure it out cause she's not going to wait forever, and you too have something too good to let go of," the line went silent as Adam stared at his desk in shock.

His brows furrowed for a second before letting his emotions get the best of him and dialling her number.

It rang once before she picked it up, confusion filling her senses as she put the phone up to her ear, "Adam? Is everything okay?" "No" "What's wrong?" her voice more alert as she tensed at what seemed to be anger in his tone. "You kissed someone, and didn't tell me!"

She blinked slowly, trying to gather all of the anger coursing through her veins at such an inconsiderate thing but was to worry her like that and then use that vulnerability to get upset with her over something so stupid.

"I'm sorry, you called, after ignoring me for months to get mad at me because someone kissed me, and I didn't tell you?" "I-" "No you dont get to do that Adam, you cut me out of your life, and I get it and I understand why, but you can't be mad at me for something that I for one didn't want and two had no way to tell you cause you iced me out."

She paused waiting for a response but was met with silence, "if you want to talk about it do it like an adult, tell me why you are upset and we can get through it," she sighed as he searched for the words. "I don't have anything to say, that was irrational and immature of me, sorry." She laughed at his formal tone which made him let out a chuckle, "good," is all she said as she stared at the promise ring on her finger that she never took off.

Words danced on the tip of his tongue as both ends went awkwardly silent, he considered the weight of them, how badly he needed to get them off his chest before he just spat them out, "I missed you," he said firmly causing her to smile. "I miss you too Adam," she whispered, as he settled into his bed.

"I've been meaning to call you," he sighed, "I just didn't know how to reach out, I've complicated everything Sunny, and I'm sorry that I was inconsiderate of how this all would affect you." Sunny sniffled on the other end, her hands wiping away the tears as she leaned against the headboard of the bed, "Thank you, but please don't apologize for putting yourself first, I just want you to be okay."

"Are you okay? are you doing better?" she asked, immediately hearing a soft huff on the other end. "I'm doing better, just trying to make it through the season," he shrugged as she hummed in agreement, "are you okay." "Not really, it's been hard," she answered truthfully, her voice cracked causing him to tense, "but I'm happy you called, I've missed hearing your voice." "I've missed yours too."

Adam and she stayed up talking for a few more hours, mumbling and spilling about all the life events they'd missed over the course of the three months they were no-contact.

As she went to hang up Adam stopped her by saying her name one last time, "I just want to say that if I'm holding you back Sun please don't feel like you need to hold onto me because you think that you have to," Luca's words replayed in his head, ones about him torturing her, like physiological warfare, "what I'm trying to say is that if this isn't working for you anymore, I'm okay with that, I just want you to be happy."

Sunny sat silently on the other end for a second, "That's not what I want Adam," she let out a little breathless cry "I love you so fucking much, I would never throw that away unless you want me to, if this is you trying to tell me to move on then I will do that for you," she said, the tears coming back as she squeezed her eyes shut to stop the stinging. "That's not what I want, I want you." "Good, cause I want you too" "Good," he said, a grin growing on his face as she hummed at their shared realization.

★★★

"I still see your face in every single crowd. Oh, I just wanted to make your mama proud"

The rest of the year became a blur for Adam, the only thing he found himself looking forward to was playing the Redwings in Detroit one last time for the 23-24 season, knowing that his brother and best friends would be in attendance.

His eyes searched the crowd for Luca and Rutger, the two boys grinning and waving at Adam on the ice as he flashed them each a smile, his heart stopping momentarily as he looked next to them to see a girl with short brown hair sporting a Fantilli jersey, his heartstrings pulled as Cole bumped into him making him loose sight of her. By the time his eyes find his brother and friends once again, she's no longer there.

The game goes on, it's long and his plays aren't working as in favour as he'd hoped. The bluejackets were down by one and the tensions were high as the time counted down. Second by second, he felt the time slowing down as he got puck possession right in front of the Redwings net and took a slap shot right through the open area, the goal horn going off as his arms raised in the air out of excitement.

His eyes found the crowd again, searching for her, looking to Luca who was on his feet cheering, and then he saw her familiar face in the sea of people, but the second he blinked she was gone again.

his brows furrowed as his mind switched back into game mode as he went down the line of the bench to fist bump everyone loudly cheering now that the score was tied. he sat down, eyes looking back at the crowd, darting from section to section, seeing if he could catch a glimpse of her comforting face once again.

But he couldn't find her.

After the game, which went into overtime, and ended with a Kent game-winning goal assisted by Adam, he met Luca and the boys down in the visitor's tunnel.

A smile on his face as his brother pulled him into his chest, "nicely done Mo," Rut said from behind Luca, their grins contagious as Adam pulled the other boy in for a hug.

"Missed you guys," he said as Rutger ruffled his hair. "You're such a softy," he laughed causing Adam to shrug. "We missed you too," Luca elbowed Rut as he pushed him to the side.

Adam fixed the collar of his dress shirt as he looked at the CBJ merch his brother was sporting, remembering back to the game.

"Was sunny here?" Rutger stopped his loud rambling, his grin replaced with an awkward smile as Luca stared at his brother with confusion. "um no? I don't think so," he said watching as Adam's lips formed a straight line and he nodded curtly. "Oh, I thought I saw her in the crowd," he said trying to play it cool, but instead coming across as extremely unconvincing.

The guys stared at him with wide eyes, trying to decipher if they should ask before Adam shook his head and just smiled, “It's whatever, do you think guys wanna do dinner before I have to get on my flight?”

★★★

"Baby in another life I can, call your phone just to hear you breathe again"

He put the phone up to his ear, his hand rubbing his temples as he fought off the fatigued state he found himself in.

"Adam?" she said groggily, a sleepy haze in her voice and her heart beating at a fast pace from the startling ringing sound of her phone. "Sorry, I don't know why I called, just felt like I needed too," he whispered as she hummed in agreeance. "It's okay, just surprised me for a second," she mumbled, the heels of her hands rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she rolled over and propped herself up on her elbow.

It remained silent for a second before she spoke up, "Are you okay?" "I think I'm going insane" "Well I could've told you that," she joked, her lips pulling into a smile as he let out a huff. "I'm serious, I keep seeing you everywhere I go, like tonight at the game, I saw you with Luca, but it wasn't you," he confessed as she bit back a smile at the sound of desperation and confusion that laced his voice.

"Did you want me there?" He let out a groan at the question, she was playing mind games with him, "that's a dumb question, you know the answer" "I want to hear you say it," she persisted, the grin on her face grew as she listened to his deep breaths. "I want you with me at all times Sunny," he said in a 'duh' tone as she let out a noise of contentment.

It fell silent again, the confession taking up the space between them as they sat with the weight of his words for a second.

“I watched from home, so I was there in spirit,” she confessed, Adams grin growing “You still watch my games?” “Of course, I didn't stop caring about you the second I left that apartment Adam,” he nodded along with her words as he laid back down on his hotel bed.

he was struck by the comment, his heart beating harshly in his chest as it dawned on hims just how this all could've been avoided if he had just been a little less in his head, “I really fucked us up.” “You were just doing what you thought right” “Well I was very wrong, and I hate that I can't just call when I feel like it, or that my friends look at me like a kicked puppy when they talk about you, I was so wrong about everything” “Yeah?”

A comfortable realization sat in each of their chests, as Sunny stared at the promise ring that still sat on her bedside table, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she searched for the right words.

“Off-season is in a few weeks, and so is my summer vacation, we can talk about all of this then, okay?” “Okay,” he said, she could hear the smile on his face through the phone.

She stared at the clock on her bedside table looking at how late it was, eyes heavy as she ran her fingers through her bed head, “I have an early class so I have to let you go,” she mumbled. Adam nodded and let out a little hum, “okay, sorry for calling again,” “No I'm really happy you did, this was good.” “Okay,” he waited for a second before whispering a quick “love you.” “I love you too Adam,” she mumbled before hanging up to leave him with his thoughts.

#tinydancerau!!#adam fantilli blurb #adam fantilli x reader #adam fantilli imagine #adam fantilli #luca fantilli #rutger mcgroarty

122 notes · View notes