#while also trying to assure her it's not her job to take care of them because it isn't!! she's their baby not their shrink!!

[r3starttt]

SHOW ME HOW

Read this or DNI

virgin!reader x ellie williams

summary: you thought the love you felt for ellie was in a platonic way, but maybe deep inside you the answer was already there, just waiting for it to be revealed, in a dream that Ellie is willing to help you with.

warnings: smut, virginity loss, pet names (pretty girl, babe, baby, good girl), first kiss, corruption, thigh riding.

It’s been aproximately ten years since you first met her, Ellie Williams, your best friend and the person your whole family adores probably as much as they adore you. The only one that knows everything about you, the one that brings your true self, the one that’s seen almost everything.

You’ve been friends since forever, best friends. The type to have sleepovers, to hug and hold hands, cuddle and be all the time together, do everything together. And of course people said things and thought things about it, about how close you were and how best friends don’t to that, but the answer you two gave was always “we’re like family” and it was credible, enough.

It wasn’t a lie though, or so you thought since it was her idea to give the answer. She’d come up with most of the plans, most responses, most of everything. Not because you never suggested anything but because she’s way more stubborn than you are and there’s no way she let you take the big decisions, there’s also no way at all that she takes no as a response and you’re the biggest people pleaser she’s ever known.

And again, it’s been years of friendship, years of seeing each other in all type of ways for many different reasons. Years of what seemed like endless nights of talking nonstop, or days even. Months when there was no school or job or anything to do but be with each other all the time unless Ellie had plans with other girls “friends” that she’ll end up bragging about later. So you knew everything about each other, you’d tell everything detailed, you trusted each other.

And she’d always assure you that everything she did with or for you was for the better, same applied for her, in different ways of course. She’s never been problematic or mean or anything like that, but she was the one to make you smoke and drink for the first time in your life. And you, you only made her listen to your boring music for hours or have the cute and boring plans as she calls them. But at the end of the day, is all fair, you both do what’s best for each other based on your different needs.

That’s why you love her so much, and until this week you’ve thought it was pure platonic love, the one that you feel for your family, and she’s family. But she changed everything, everyone said it’ll eventually happen, and you always, always prayed to god that It didn’t, you failed.

Ellie spoke for hours about this new girl she’d just met, something casual as usual, but apparently it stocked to you because later that day you had a dream about it. And it doesn’t really bother you to have a dream like that, not even because she’s in it, because it doesn’t mean anything right? But it felt too good and too real to forget or ignore or let go. And the more you think about it, the more you keep feeling like it might actually mean something.

Because she was in fact hot, attractive in all possible ways, and she’s not just hot but also pretty, delicate in her way. She’s smart and sweet and knows you incredibly good, and she’s always supportive. And she shows she cares about you, even when she’s all awkward and shy about it she’d do anything to let you know she cares about you as much as you care about her.

And there’s nothing else that you love more than that, and now probably nobody else that can make you feel it, you won’t let anyone else try to fill that space. It’s just not the same even if you tried. It’s not Ellie.

So now that you’re currently at her house in her bed, cuddling, you’ve been thinking about this while situation, how to address it without being awkward for you and without being too explicit as well.

She doesn’t mind it, she knows you’ve had thoughts like this about girls before, but you’ve never done anything romantic with anyone before. Not even kissed anyone or hold hands, nothing. Not because you’re innocent or afraid but because you haven’t found someone worth your first experiences.

“What’re you thinking ‘bout?” you can feel her hands rubbing circles on your back as she speaks, suddenly stopping and letting go of her phone, making you groan. You’ve been watching random shit in her phone for hours, trying to keep her busy from reading you. “Nothing” your hands move unconsciously tighter around her, pressing the side of her stomach and making you feel the small laugh that your very fake ‘nothing’ had elicited in her.

“You’ve been zoning out, I thought you wanted to sleep but you’re clearly not tired, so” she let go of you, slowly readjusting herself on the bed so that she could properly rest her back on the headboard “what is it? Mhm?”

“It’s something sex related, you know it’s all awkward f’ me el” you shifted your eyes towards her half leaded ones, furrowing at her corky smile “see? you’re already laughing at me and I-“ your voices overlapped, making you stop talking first “You gotta find yourself a boy or girl or whatever. If you keep hoping for the one worth your body then you’re gonna fucking lose your mind” little does she know, you thought, laughing at her comment and motioning your hand as in a silent ‘forget it’

“I mean it” Ellie spoke again, clearly determined to make you speak “It’s your fault, maybe if you stopped telling me every detail of all the girls you ‘relieve stress’ with then I would keep being an innocent girl” you positioned your hands together, as if you were praying. Now sitting in front of her.

You stopped the moment she hit your arm, rolling your eyes “You have no innocence in your body, you’ve always been a fucking mess, specially with people” before you could say anything about it she spoke again “Tell me, you know I don’t care” she shrugged her shoulders, making a small pout. She looked particularly pretty today.

“Did you do something today? y’ look different” Ellie rolled her eyes, letting out a exaggerated groan “eyeliner maybe, now stop avoiding and tell me about whatever wet dream you had now” yup, there she was, best friend that knows everything. And the stupid friend that besides being people pleaser knows shit about lying.

“I fucking hate you” a pillow thrown by you made her open her eyes again, chuckling at how obvious you were. “remember what you told me the weekend? I dreamt about it… but you were there and it felt wrong” you mumbled the last words, audible enough for Ellie to understand. She didn’t care, neither did you, well, you tried not to care much. But your body reacted before your mind would let you do anything so you felt already sweating and practically burning. And again, she knew and she noticed, but didn’t care.

“Why? didn’t I fuck you good enough? I’m not worth your body either?” Ellie’s characteristic sheepish smile formed on her face as she got closer to you, leaning on her elbows and tilting her head, mocking you. “I’m not gonna give you details, I’m just saying I feel wrong… it doesn’t mean anything but-“ “it means something, don’t be a pussy and accept you might feel like fucking your best friend”

Hearing the words out loud was less frightening than you would expect, maybe it was Ellie’s voice but the idea wasn’t as disgusting as you felt it was. Not wrong either.

“Stop it, alright? you know I would never” her eyes felt like they were piercing your body, like they could read your mind, like she could eat you alive any moment. And the closer she moved to you the more stupid you felt “Ellie, please” you tried pushing her away once she was practically on top of you, she was playing of course, and she would stop. “You seem to like it, tell me what you dreamt of, Mhm?” Or maybe she meant it this time.

You weren’t sure what to do or say, she’s never played like this with you, and you’ve never even kissed anyone. Yet before you could try anything she laughed. Her hands were pressed on top of yours, sinking in the mattress along your bodies. And her face was so close to yours her mocking laugh brushed your cheeks. You were craving her now.

She let go of you, resting her body against the headboard again and shifting her eyes towards the sides of the bed, looking for an empty space on the wooden tables to place her phone. “Come here” her hands patted her lap, spreading her legs to make some space for you.

And so you did, crawling to her lap and sitting comfortably on it, positioning your legs in between hers. Ellie’s hands slowly cupped your face “I’m doing my job as a friend, this doesn’t count if you don’t want it too, yeah?” a small laugh brushed her lips, mocking your noticeable lost eyes that were wandering all over her face, from her eyes to her lips as she spoke.

She’d made a mess out of you already, without even touching you. But her tenderness, her voice, her body, the way she felt snd smell, everything had a specific effect on you that had been hiding for a long while. It was like drinking for the first time.

Her lips pressed on yours, it was a tender kiss, sweet and gentle. It didn’t last long “it’s okay, it’s only natural baby” her hands moved from your face to your thighs, caressing every inch of them in the most delicate way ever. Nothing you could ever imagine on your own.

So you kissed her again, now with an idea of what to do but letting her guide your every moves. Her tongue eventually got involved as well, dancing with yours and filling your mouth with the most delicious motions ever. Again, nothing you could ever imagine in your own.

You could feel the heat and wetness increase in between your legs, ashamed for getting like this so fast but too focused on Ellie’s body to actually care. She purposely lifted the leg you were sitting on, shaking it the moment she felt her knee against your cunt. “You can move… it’s alright” she mumbled in between kisses, leading your waist with her hands so you could grind on her.

You knew what she liked, based on everything she’d told you before, so you did what you could, moaning on her mouth as she liked it, and letting her guide you as well. You added pressure on your own, riding her leg practically, gently jumping on it whenever you felt like you needed more.

“Yeah, just like that baby. You’re doing so good” her hands tucked your dress on your panties, right above your waist so you could move freely. Then she pushed you closer, making you rest your head on her neck. And you took the chance to do something you’ve dreamt of, tasting it and leaving marks on it along wet kisses that kept making her as wet as you.

You could hear her small whines in your ear every time your kisses an grinding combined, she could cum just by your touch, and so could you. But what was the fun in that?

“What did you dream?” her hands moved back to your ass, guiding it over her thigh, slowly. “Uhm…f-fuck” you couldn’t speak properly, too focused on the sensation “your fingers” you managed to say. It was pathetic for both, to be enjoying this so much. It didn’t feel right, but it didn’t count right?

“That all?” you shocked your head, feeling a knot of pleasure forming on your stomach and your legs getting weaker at every movement Ellie guide your body to do. “I was…on my knees” too shy to say the words out loud you gulped, hoping she’d understand “yeah? what happened first?” The grip on you tightened the moment she noticed you getting closer to your climax, making every move painfully slower “Y-Your fingers… please”

“What a good girl, already begging” her hands grabbed your waist, tight enough to make you stop “take it off, I need to see you whole or I won’t do anything” she gripped your dress as she spoke, pulling the hem of it. You hesitated before doing it, this was new for you, and for the first time ever you felt genuinely innocent with her, so dumb and ashamed of yourself.

Her lips took you out of trance, pressing them on your temple and murmuring something in between “it’s okay” kiss “you can” kiss “trust me” kiss “please baby, just let me see you” and now her eyes were in front of yours, she knew how to use the puppy eyes. You nodded, feeling Ellie’s hands slowly move to the back of your dress, unsipping it.

You stood on your knees, in between Ellie’s legs. You could feel your dress loosening as you heard the zip lowering down your body until it stopped at your lower back. You helped Ellie remove it, raising your arms so she could finally take it off, revealing your bare chest immediately, accompanied by your panties, that were removed as well.

Being completely naked in front of Ellie felt right, it didn’t count, this whole experience. But how you wish it did. The way her excitement is revealed by her eyes, wandering all over you and taking note of every mole, mark, anything that’s in your body and it’s usually unnoticed. Her eyes, her freckles, her hair, her touch and voice, all so gentle yet so hungry. She’s starving already, and you adore that.

Her breathing became erratic as how inviting you looked, she needed to touch you, to hear you and savour you whole.

Ellie tapped the sides of your waist, pushing you carefully and somehow not breaking eye contact. She need you but couldn’t get you as she wanted in her current position, so once she got you sitting in front of her, patiently waiting, she started to take her clothes off.

Being at her house, with you, she wasn’t wearing more than a hoodie she’s probably been wearing for days already. and her usual pair of boxers, already drenched under some black shorts. Ellie was quickly, motioning her hand once she finished so you could sit on her lap again.

You obeyed, sitting on her and waiting for her to instruct your movements again. Both her index and middle finger brushed your lips. You looked at her, furrowing your brows a little “open” Ellie murmured, opening her own mouth as well.

She slowly introduced them inside your mouth, unconsciously smiling at the pretty image in front of her. You took them in, brushing them with your tongue and covering them with your saliva. They moved in and out of your mouth, slowly. “good girl”

Her free hand was resting on your thigh, making small circles near your hip bone with her thumb. You wanted to move, you needed it, but the fear of making a mistake was bigger, it wouldn’t count though, but something inside you felt like it might.

Her fingers came out of your mouth, you noticed the string of saliva connecting them with your lips, letting out your tongue one las time to cut it. “You’re being so good f’ me baby” her voice came out slightly husky, breathing brushing your lips as she spoke.

Her hand trailed down your body until it came to your clit, massaging it painfully slowly and making you sigh in pleasure. She started slow, making small circles on it as her mouth kept occupied by your hardened nipples, her eyes kept fixated on you as she did her every move.

You tried pressing yourself on her, delicately coordinating your body to her motions and rubbing yourself against her fingers.

Her fingers stopped moving on your clit suddenly, moving now up and down your folds until she decided to finally let you have what you wanted, teasing your arousal by pressing the tip of her fingers right above it.

“Ellie…” you whimpered, desperately pressing yourself again her fingers. A ‘pop’ made you look down, realizing how badly she’d been covering both of your breasts with saliva “what baby?” her chin pressed in between them, looking straight into your eyes “I need you, I want you to fuck me” you begged, tightening your fists besides each side of your body, fully desperate “please”

“So pretty…asking for me” Ellie nodded, bringing your face closer to her as her fingers made their way inside you, motioning in and out of your aching cunt. She started slow and gentle, caressing your back until she heard those pretty moans you let out, and her name in small whimpers.

So she did it faster. And you did your job too, riding her fingers at some point eventually, the way they curved inside you, her knuckles hitting the outside of your cunt whenever she did it too hard and how deliciously she kept on rubbing your clit with her thumb. It was impossible for you to keep immobile.

“El, fuck…gonna cum” her smile widened, moving her face to your neck and leaving a tail of wet kisses on it, she murmured a ‘yeah?’ to which you nodded desperately, both increasing its movements until the pleasure became overwhelming, making you press you whole weight on Ellie as you got to your climax. Covering her whole hand in your juices.

“You made a mess pretty girl, mind me helping?” her fingers kept on moving some seconds after you came, abruptly removing them, eliciting a small whimper out of your lips.

You could feel your inner thighs covered in wet, she tried cleaning some of it with the rest of your thighs before moving her hand up your face again. You already knew what to do, licking them and flavoring your own taste.

She moved her face closer to yours as well, removing her fingers out of your mouth once you licked your juices off and pressing her lips on yours one last time “gotta clean you, yeah? you did good, just rest babe”

-

reblogs are very much welcomed <3

Check this !!! FREE PALESTINE

#ellie williams #ellie williams smut #ellie smut #ellie fanfic #ellie williams fanfic #ellie the last of us #ellie tlou #ellie tlou2 #ellie williams tlou2 #ellie williams tlou #ellie williams x fem!reader #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams x female reader #ellie williams x you #ellie x you #ellie x y/n #ellie x fem reader #ellie x reader #ren masterlist ᵎᵎ ִ ۫ ּ ⊹

[starkwlkr]

begging on my knees for dilf jenson pls 😭 maybe his kids sneaking up on him when he’s on media duty and them trying to take his job lmaooo love your writings so much!

i didn’t do it | jenson button

dilf jenson dilf jenson dilf jenson also thanks for the request!!! yes ik jenson wasn’t in bahrain let’s ignore that 😍

The 2024 season had started and Jenson already had his hands full with two kids that had a little too much sugar. You had fallen sick so you couldn’t join your family to the season opener. Jenson thought it would be best to take both kids with him to let you rest and get better. Of course you trusted your husband to be alone with the kids, but he had a job to do and you didn’t want the kids to be alone while Jenson was working. Jenson assured you he would keep them close by and he meant it.

When you turned on the television to watch your husband, you didn’t think that your kids would also be making their television debut. You smiled as you saw your twin kids sneakily walking towards their dad, who was listening to Will Buxton talk.

Your son, Jack, gently placed a sticker on Jenson’s back. After placing more, Jack gave the sticker sheet to his sister, Ophelia, so she could do the same. It quickly turned into a ‘how many stickers can you stick on your dad’s jacket without him noticing?’ game and so far it was twenty.

“I think we have some guests here.” Will laughed as Jack and Ophelia placed the last sticker on Jenson’s back.

Jenson turned around and saw his kids laughing at him. “What are my babies doing?”

“Nothing!” Jack innocently said while laughing. He then whispered to his sister. “Don’t tell dad.”

But Jenson heard and got curious. “Tell dad what?”

“I didn’t do it! Ophelia did!”

“Jack!” Ophelia giggled and couldn’t resist spoiling their plan. “Look at your back! You have Olaf and Elsa and puppies!”

Jenson turned to his colleagues and saw them laughing. “Do I have something on my back?” He acted clueless.

“A few things, yeah.”

Jenson could care less. It was his kids’ artwork and he was going to wear it proudly even if it was a bunch of stickers on his jacket. So for the rest of the interviews, he kept the stickers.

Eventually, Mark Webber joined the crew and talked about their race predictions for the season. Jack grabbed his dad’s microphone and held it up to Mark even though he had his microphone.

“Oh thank you, Jack, you’re very kind.” Mark lowered his microphone so he could speak into Jack’s. “I actually have a question for the Button twins. Who do you think is going to win todays race?”

Jack lowered the microphone so he could speak in it. “I think Max is going to win because he goes very fast.”

Then Ophelia grabbed the microphone from Jack. “No, it’s Lewis.”

“Looks like we created another rivalry.” Mark joked.

“Dad? What about you?” Ophelia raised the microphone to her dad.

“I think it’s important that everyone has fun and no matter what, I hope everyone has a safe race.” Jenson explained to his kids.

“So Red Bull?” The kids wondered.

#formula 1 #f1 x reader #formula 1 imagine #f1 imagine #f1 x you #jenson button x reader #jenson button imagine #jenson button #jenson button fic

[bangtanflirt]

(Un)natural Instincts (Part 2)

angst, fluff, smut

Pairings: OT7 x Fem Reader, Human CEO Reader, Human Assistant Yoongi, Wolf Hybrids Joon, Jin, Hobi, Jimin, Tae, and Kook.

Basic premise: You and your assistant end up rescuing six wolf hybrids. No part of the process is easy.

Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3

General Warnings: Hybrid abuse and lab experimentation, hybrids as second-class citizens/owned property, future smut (Minors DNI, 18+ content)

Specific Warnings: torture collars, needles, mention of past dubcon (hybrids under influence of the synthetic hormones cannot properly consent), more inaccurate business talk,

____

It’s 7am the next day when your actual assistant shows up at your door, with your precious Americano in hand.

“I heard about the coffee mishap yesterday, so I thought I’d bring you this a little earlier than usual.”

“You are my savior.”

Yoongi laughs as you invite him in. Your assistant is one of the few people you found you could let your guard down around. He’s probably the closest thing you have to a friend.

“Is everything alright with you? You never call off work, and you didn’t reply to the message I sent.”

“Sorry, there was a lot going on. Everything’s fine now, just had a little scare with my mom’s blood pressure. She’s good though!”

“Oh thank god. Are you sure you don’t need more days off to take care of her?”

“My brother is keeping an eye on her, but I very much appreciate the sentiment.”

“Of course. Don’t hesitate to step out when you need. Or if you need help with her medical bills, I’m always here.”

“Woah woah, calm down there before I start spreading a rumor that you’re actually a nice person Y/N.”

You roll your eyes and laugh, “Don’t you dare.”

But the joking atmosphere only lasts for two seconds before your mood turns solemn.

“I’m actually so far from a nice person you wouldn’t believe it.”

And so it goes, you explaining the entire fiasco of last night. You know you deserve the judgy look he tries to hide when you get to how easily you caved in. But there’s also sympathy in his eyes, because he’s one of the few people in the world who would even try to understand where you’re coming from.

“That’s not all…they also…um…gave me one.”

He looks puzzled.

“They gave you a collar? But you don’t even have a hybrid.”

You take a deep breath before uttering the next sentence.

“They gave me a hybrid.”

“WHAT?!”

“Shhh! Keep your voice low, he’s sleeping in one of the guest rooms right now!”

He switches to a whisper yell instantaneously.

“You took a hybrid home with you? Are you insane?!”

“Maybe I am. I don’t know, I wasn’t exactly acting with a plan. I just couldn’t send him back to get tortured. You should see him Yoongi, he looks like he’s been through hell and back.”

The man’s eyes softened.

“I don’t know how you’re going to get yourself out of this mess, but I guess I’m getting dragged into it with you, aren’t I?”

“You can always quit, you know. I’d give you a cushy desk job somewhere in the company.”

“Eh I’ll wait. I’m still not fed up with you yet, even if I think you’re actually insane for this. So is the hybrid going to just lounge around here while you’re at work? Shouldn’t there be some supervision?”

You nod.

“Yeah, I notified the housekeepers already, told them I’d pay extra if they take care of him for me. His name’s Jungkook by the way. 60% human and 40% gray wolf.”

“40% is a lot.”

He’s right. The very few pet wolf hybrids in the market right now are 25% wolf, as that’s the max percentage before they get too dangerous to handle.

“Yeah, but I’m more of a threat to him than he is to me at this point.”

___

The workday is long, and you’re mentally not even there. Every five minutes, you’re thinking about Jungkook and how he’s doing. Thankfully, the housekeepers keep sending you updates to assure you he’s doing fine.

You scroll through with relief, reading what he’s up to throughout the day. Apparently, he was terrified of the shower, but had no problem drawing himself a bath. Another text let you know he loves the omelet the chef prepared for lunch. And the rest of the texts are just notifying you that he’s resting in his room at various points in the day. So far so good, thankfully.

With your mind at some ease, you can actually focus on work.

You get your hands on everything Pet Paradise can give on the Obedience Collar before officially signing a contract. There’s information that’s classified, mainly the patent for the synthetic hormones, but the books and research procedures are documented in the files in front of you. And unfortunately, they look spotless. The money is all there in a clear trail, no gaps or unusual patterns, and the research procedure follows all protocol needed. You want to just hide under your desk and avoid this entire situation.

You’re scheduled to tour the research facility tomorrow, and the last thing you want to do is see five more hybrids as scared as Jungkook—especially knowing you can’t scoop these ones up and take them home. But you’re holding out hope. There’s still a chance that something’s wrong at the facilities, something not shown on paper. At this point you’d settle for the smallest thing and find a way to blow it up so the whole operation has to be shut down. You’ve got some of the best lawyers in the country, so you might as well use them. You just need something to be wrong.

It's around 6:45pm when you arrive home, and one of the housekeepers greets you with a warm smile, immediately jumping into how well-behaved Jungkook is. It makes you wince to hear him described like that, especially knowing the amount of needles piercing his skin just to achieve the “well-behaved” status.

The staff all leave as you arrive, knowing you like them to be done by the time you're back. The chef has already left hours earlier, as he usually prepares dinner in advance and keeps it in the fridge.

Jungkook’s door is slightly ajar, and you peek in to see the boy melted into the bed. It’s weird; he looks a lot more tired than yesterday, eyes barely keeping themselves open. It’s probably the hormones, you conclude somberly.

“Jungkook, it’s time for dinner. Come on out.”

The boy takes the last bit of energy he has to trudge to the dinner table, and you put a heated up bowl of kimchi-jjigae down. You sit across and join, noticing that the stew is extra flavorful today.

“Mhmm, Chef Gyu really outdid himself with this one. And I bet the omelet was just as delicious. I was told you loved it, is that true?”

You look over expecting an answer, but what you see instead is Jungkook almost falling asleep right into the bowl before catching himself at the last minute.

Maybe the side effect of the hormones make him too sleepy to do anything?

Your thoughts are interrupted by your ringtone. It’s Chef Gyu.

“Hello Chef, I was just singing your praises for this food.”

There’s a nervous chuckle at the other end of the line.

“Thank you Y/N, glad you and your new friend liked it.”

“Is something wrong? You usually don't call this late.”

“Um, yes, actually. The reason I called is because of your hybrid.”

“What do you mean? I was told he stayed in his room for most of the day. Did he cause you any trouble?”

You look over, but Jungkook is too exhausted to register that you’re talking about him.

“No, none at all. He was extremely polite. The problem was the housekeeping staff…they didn’t do any of the work today.”

You feel a pit in your stomach, putting the pieces together.

“Did they…did they make Jungkook clean the house?”

“Yes Miss. They were watching TV for practically the whole time. I should’ve told you earlier, but I told myself it wasn’t my place. I’m deeply sorry.”

“Thank you for telling me now. I appreciate it a lot. I have to go.”

You hang up abruptly, seething the minute the phone is cut.

There’s a million different ways your mind is conjuring up of how to ruin the housekeeping agency, make them cry bankruptcy as you blacklist them from working anywhere ever again. The rage inside you is glowing red, and the only thing getting you to calm down at all is your objective of getting Jungkook back into bed before he actually does fall asleep into his dinner. You support his weight gently, grateful that he’s awake enough to zombie-walk wherever you lead him. It’s only when he’s tucked under the blankets do you let the anger stir up again.

They made him clean the entire house by himself. A house that usually takes eight people to clean, they made him do all alone so they could kick back and relax with your flatscreen TV. It astonishes you how cruel people can be, how they can look into his scared doe eyes and take advantage of him.

The world is not on Jungkook’s side right now, it seems.

___

Yesterday’s incident is fresh in your mind the next morning. Thankfully, Yoongi found a new housekeeping service at the last minute. You’re still worried that the same thing might happen again, but you can’t afford to miss work today; so, you do the best that you can and ask Chef Gyu to keep an eye on the situation while he’s cooking.

Today’s the day you need to tour the lab facilities for the Obedience Collar—a task you’d trade in to do quite literally anything else. Yoongi looks at you with concern, seeing the strain this visit is putting on you.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. Isn’t the plan to go in and find something to shut the whole thing down?”

“But if I can’t shut it down? What if there’s nothing wrong there either, and I have to look into the faces of five other abused hybrids and know I’m ruining their lives? What if I just call the whole thing off? Yes Mr.Kang is going to be insufferable and yes it’s going to cause a blow to my reputation, but it can’t be worth it to go through with this. It’s just not right.”

The room is silent for a second before Yoongi speaks up.

“It’s a little more complicated than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was trying to find a good time to tell you since yesterday, but you’ve been so stressed that I didn’t know how…”

“Spit it out Yoongi.”

“Kang got on the board of directors at Jewel Accounting.”

Your blood runs cold. Jewel Accounting is one of your key partners.

“W-what do you mean? Isn’t that a conflict of interest? How can he be on the board that has to audit his own company?”

“He’s overseeing consulting, not audits. Pet Paradise wouldn’t be his client, but I’m afraid pulling out of this deal on a whim is going to make business a lot harder for us. The only way out is finding a good legal argument against investing.”

You want to shove your head into a bucket of cement.

___

The lab is cold and sterile, with glaring fluorescent lights, medical lab equipment spread everywhere, and white-tiles lining floor to ceiling. The researchers guiding you, however, seem to be in a chipper mood, smiling as if they don’t torture hybrids on a daily basis here. First, your team is taken around to look at the facility in general. Jungkook’s adverse reaction to showers makes sense when you see the one tiny sad looking shower stall they use—a lab assistant boasts about the stall being “efficient” by fitting at least three of them in at once.

Yoongi lightly touches your shoulder at different points throughout the tour, as if to ground you. There’s no beds, just a chamber with cots on the floor, and the food packets of sludgy brown gruel are easily the least appetizing thing you’ve ever seen.

“And now we have the part you are all, no doubt, most excited for: the research subjects!”

You hold your breath, dreading what comes next.

One by one, each wolf hybrid is brought out and lined up in front of you, all with the same fear engraved in them as Jungkook. They might be the hybrids, but you’re the one with urge to claw someone’s eyes out at the moment.

“We’ve trained different ones for different purposes, just to test how well the collar can make them behave in different situations. Jungkook was given away before any specific training, but the rest are skilled in different domains. First up we have Jin, Jimin, and Taehyung.”

Three of the hybrids step forward. One is a broad-shouldered blonde, with two smaller-framed brunettes next to him.

“These three have been trained for housework and taking care of children. Now, we know the image of a wolf-hybrid putting a baby to sleep sounds ridiculous, but this technology really is that advanced.”

Someone in the back makes some joke about a wolf singing rock-a-bye baby and everyone laughs. You and Yoongi fake a laugh to keep up appearances.

“The next one is Hoseok”

He’s lean with slicked-back black hair, and you notice he’s the only one dressed up, with a low v-neck shirt that leaves plenty of his chest exposed. More than he’s comfortable with, it seems, because you notice his hands itching to cover himself up. He doesn’t though, just fidgets with the sides of the shirt instead.

“He’s a romantic companion. Trained to give pleasure to any gender and for any intimate situation. He can fulfill every fantasy your minds can conjure up!”

There’s some snickers erupting again, but neither you or your assistant can attempt to fake laugh this time. Especially not when he makes eye contact, giving you a trained flirty smile that doesn’t reach his eyes one bit.

“And the last one is Namjoon, the pack alpha.”

Namjoon steps up, the tallest of them all. He stands the straightest as well. His hair is black and his eyes are more dragon-like than wolf, looking straight ahead with a stoic expression. The only indication of his scared nature is his trembling fingers and pleading eyes, but that aside, he looks as still as a statue.

“He’s a guard hybrid, perfect to keep intruders away. He’s been trained in a mix of defensive martial arts. Plus, he’s an alpha so you’d have to be insane to try to fight him off. Fun fact, hormone packs for alphas are different—they have a higher dosage. It took some experimentation, but we finally got the levels right.

And with that, you’ve seen the whole pack! Normally, training a wolf hybrid to do any of these would take at least two years, and that’s only for the ones 25% max wolf DNA. God knows training a 40% wolf would be nearly impossible. But with the help of the Obedience Collar, not only can we train higher percentages of wolves, but we can train them in as little as three months! As Mr.Kang probably told you a thousand times already, this will really revolutionize the hybrid market!”

___

You toss your laptop bag onto the sofa right as you come in through the door, kicking your heels off and slouching into your favorite recliner. You can’t be bothered to put things up in a tidy manner at the moment, especially with how shitty you feel.

There wasn’t a single flaw you could find at the lab today. All the equipment had passed inspection checks and were state-of-the art, the researchers had proper credentials and specialized licenses in hybrid research, and every procedure conducted was documented thoroughly—you made it a point to skip over the entire section for Hoseok, wanting to stay far away from the details of what he was made to do.

You let out a frustrated groan. Forgetting you’re no longer alone in your house, hearing footsteps shuffle spooks you for a second, before you see the wolf hybrid timidly come into the living room. Thankfully, he looks well-rested today. Chef Gyu did text you a while back that the new cleaners were doing well, and Jungkook was actually resting in his room for real this time. He does a quick bow before walking over and propping your heels up correctly. His next mission seems to be to put your carelessly tossed laptop bag in its proper place.

“You don’t need to do that for me Jungkook. I can do it myself.”

“Sorry Miss.”

You hate how meek he sounds, and that he’s the one apologizing in this situation. You should be getting on your knees spilling apologies right now, for going to that lab to see his pack be flaunted off like toys. But instead, he’s looking at you as if he’s the guilty one.

“You didn’t do anything to apologize for. Thank you for tidying up, I appreciate it.” You give me a reassuring smile, but he seems more confused than anything else. He doesn’t know if that means to do it more in the future or not do it all…he wishes you could just give simple commands instead of these tests.

You sit down for dinner, but don’t know how much of an appetite you have after today.

“Do you like the fried rice?”

“Yes Miss” he says between big spoonful, and the way he talks with his cheeks full makes you melt a little.

“Call me Y/N, please.”

“Yes Miss Y/N.”

“Just Y/N is fine”

He raises a brow,

“Pets should address their owners politely, Miss Y/N.”

That sentence makes your skin crawl. The way he so casually refers to himself as a pet, and to you as an owner.

“It’s okay Jungkook, I like being called Y/N.”

“…if you say so, Y/N.”

The name alone feels so wrong on his tongue, making him worry that someone in a lab coat is about to come drag him away for extra obedience training.

“Thank you. So, what have you been doing all day?”

“I tried to help out with the housework, but the people today told me that wasn’t my job…which was really confusing because the people yesterday told me that it was my job.”

“It’s not your job.”

“What is my job Mis—I mean, Y/N? I know I don't have specialized training, but I'm a quick learner! If you could give me a list on how to be good here, I’ll do my best and follow it.”

You want to tell him he doesn’t have to worry about things like that anymore, but you’re concerned that a conversation like that will malfunction his brain. How could it not, when the hormones flowing through his body plus the brainwashing tell him that’s all he should be thinking about.

“There is one thing you could do for me”

His wolf ears perk up, eager for a command.

“It’s really hard to keep up with the latest shows with my job, but I feel left out when everyone in the office has seen something I haven’t. If I give you a list, you think you could watch them for me and give me the summaries?”

“Yes absolutely! I’ll take detailed notes and tell you everything!”

There’s genuine excitement in his eyes. Jungkook’s never had the opportunity to watch TV before, and he can’t believe his luck. He doesn’t show his joy too much though, fearing that you’ll think he’s using the assignment as an excuse to slack off. He wants to be good, wants to show you he’s well-trained.

“Perfect. You’ll be helping me out a lot.”

You have to bite your lip to keep a straight face, endeared by how hard he’s trying to hide his excitement. But the moment is short-lived, as Jungkook’s face turns sour in an instant.

“What are you thinking about?”

“My pack. They’d probably love watching TV too.”

You don’t say anything to that.

Dinner ends with an uncomfortable silence looming in the air, that is until Jungkook spills juice on himself.

“I’m so sorry!”

“It’s not a big deal, don’t worry about it.”

“B-but you just got me these clothes. I was being careless. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s really fine, it’s not hard to get it dry-cleaned. I’ll put the dishes up, so go in and change into something else.”

He gives you one last string of “I’m so sorry”s before heading off to his room.

Once you’ve loaded the dishwasher, you make your way upstairs to the boy’s room, seeing if he needs anything before bed. His bedroom door is open, as is the bathroom door. You follow the sounds of scrubbing before being met with his back to you, hunched over the sink, trying to get the stain out of the white t-shirt. He’s topless and you know it’s wrong to ogle at his incredibly fit physique right now, but something catches your attention right before you’re about to avert your eyes.

Blue splotches pepper his waist, almost bruise-like but not quite.

“Um, Jungkook”

The boy turns,

“What are those blue marks?”

He twists his body in front of the mirror, looking at the marks with the same amount of confusion as you.

“I have no clue.”

Was it an allergic reaction? Have your “eat up” commands been making him eat food he’s allergic to?

“Do you have any allergies?”

“I’m not sure…no one’s ever told me…but I feel fine.”

“Nothing hurts? No nausea, hives, itchy nose?”

He shakes his head.

“I’ll come home early tomorrow and schedule a visit with a hybrid doctor in the evening.”

The color in his face visibly drains.

“I’m a-alright. Really.”

No doctor please. Last thing I need is another person in a white coat messing with my body again.

Your tone softens, “Relax, the most it’ll be is an allergy test. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Jungkook’s back to shaking as much as he did on his first day.

____

A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know if you're liking it so far!

Taglist: @welcometomyworld13 @kalala22

*If Tumblr doesn't let me tag you for some reason, I'll send you a DM instead!

#bts hybrid au #bts hybrid x reader #poly ot7 #ot7 x reader #hurt/comfort #bts smut #bts angst #bts fluff #unnatural instincts

[shortstrawberry]

A RL AU where Donna is Dr. Donna Beneviento, your Professor of Botany and Toxicology. Because we deserve it.

You met Dr Beneviento in a totally cliche way. By bumping into her while you're running late for your first day at college. At that time you didn't even realise she is a professor at the college. Dr. Donna has this young baby face that would make anyone think she's a senior at college, and not a woman well into her thirties.

So it's no wonder that you made a complete fool of yourself in the first meeting. You apologise 10 times for knocking her books all over the place. You also noticed her trying to hide her scarred side of face while gathering the very same books with you. Like a over enthusiastic idiot, you went ahead and tried to make your future professor feel comfortable about it with you.

"Scars are beautiful in my opinion. They show you survived so much. You don't need to hide them, at least from me."

Thankfully, Dr Beneviento didn't take any offence to your eager compliments, and instead just blushed and smile at you. That was enough for you to get your first crush at college. But like the gay panicky idiot you are, you didn't take her name or number. Still, you figured your roommates would know about her. How hard can it be to find a beautiful pale faced senior in college?

Not so hard, you figured out as the very same beautiful woman showed up in your Botany lecture. That's right, the woman you had tried to shamelessly flirt with was your Professor.

Understandably, you were mortified. You approached her after class, fully intending to kowtow before the professor in apology. Dr Beneviento though shyly waved your apologies away, instead asking you to assist her in her botanical garden.

A first year being asked to be a professor's assistant is no doubt strange. But Dr Beneviento was so insistent you take the job. She even went ahead and assured you a good pay and two days holiday in a week. Something she honestly didn't even need to do. You were already such a simp for her and would have done it for free.

And so starts you getting to know your Botany professor up close. The woman was almost always squeaky shy, the tempo of her voice barely reaching above her whisper. But when she stands on her podium, teaching a batch of 100+ students, you swear a spilt personality takes over the normally shy professor. It shows that Donna knows the shit she is teaching, and she demands respect over it from her students.

However, it soon became obvious that Dr Beneviento harbours a sweet spot for you. You'll always remember that one moment where she had caught you sleeping in one of her classes. You had stayed up all late tending to the new batch of soil you're preparing for the garden. The usually impartial professor came up to your seat, took off her trenchcoat and draped it over your sleeping form. She even went ahead patting your head before continuing with her class. She also did this in front of 100+ students.

After this, you can't help but get your hopes up high. Still, she's your professor and there's nothing you can do on your end. What if you have it all wrong and Dr Beneviento cares for you because you're her niece Angie's friend? And so you keep quiet.

Little do you know, Professor Donna Beneviento fell for you at first sight. Inviting you to be her botanical garden assistant was a ploy to get close to you. Inviting you and Angie to her cottage for dinner was a ploy to get to know you outside of classes and work. But just like you, Donna is also afraid of making the first move. Especially when you're still her student and she is so much older then you in age. For now, she is content to admire you from as close as she can get to you.

Wanna see a jealous and possessive Professor Donna in action? Let me know!

#resident lover #donna beneviento #donna mammina #professor donna #botany can be hot #bela dimitrescu #wlw #requests open #resident lover headcannons #ao3 writer #resident evil village #re8 village #donna beneviento x reader

[1d1195]

Dolcezza VIII

Read Dolcezza here.

Here's the last part. (I actually have more but not sure if it's enough for a full part.) Maybe I'll save it for an extra, please send feedback if you think it needs more. I hope you've enjoyed 💕

Warnings: angst. more stalking. more crying. some fluff. If it helps at all, I wanted THIS part to be a cliffhanger as well (you can make your own guesses where I would have ended it, mwahahaha), and I imagine if that were the case I would have received a lot of hate messages. Hence why the last three parts were so terrifying hehehe

~8.7k words

Harry thought about the first time he met her, when he physically bumped into her. The first expression he ever saw on her face was one of pain from how she fell so hard to the ground. Then there was the night she was sick, and she looked so physically broken, Harry wanted nothing more than to take that away from her with nothing more than minestrone soup. Their argument from a few days ago also induced a sad and broken expression on her pretty face.

On Friday she worked a half-day at home, which allowed her to get her car fixed—they gave her a rental to assure her the problem wouldn’t continue since it seemed that would be the case after the last bout of car trouble. Her apartment was clean, thanks to Harry. So, all while working quietly at her desk, she had to sit with the fact that even though they were in an argument, he still took care of her. She had to find a way to apologize to him. But unfortunately, Eleanor was right: she was extremely stubborn and hurt that he went through her stuff. It was obvious that going through her stuff wasn’t the problem. She was certain Harry could move in after a month and it wouldn’t feel weird. It was very much that Harry was worried that bothered her. She wished she had hidden the picture better.

After a lot of arguing with Eleanor, they finally came to an agreement. There were a lot of tears from both parties, but Eleanor made her promise that she was the line. She apologized for not telling her and Eleanor apologized for shouting the stuff about her inability to accept help in front of Harry. The irrational part of her brain could only handle one person worrying about her. Eleanor had known her longer and understood her craziness. Harry was wonderful. He probably understood it just as well and yet she couldn’t bring herself to let him in as fully as Eleanor.

On Friday night, she laid on her sofa and watched a lineup of movies that never failed to evoke rivers of tears from her to get them out of her system. All of Saturday was spent agonizing over her frustration with not speaking to Harry, trying, and failing to read her book and mindlessly helping James and Emma with their various requests. She read Emma’s beautiful essays making her feel more overwhelmed with how much her baby sister had grown. Around noon she met James halfway to get him groceries and told him repeatedly that she was fine, just tired each time he asked her what was wrong. Returning to her apartment made her feel exhausted as if it was already midnight. But her mind wouldn’t let her sleep, which would have been preferable.

That antsy feeling she had brought her to the gym. Using the stair climber felt like hell. It was supposed to help but it made her feel worse. Sweaty and more exhausted than ever, she returned to her apartment hoping she would just fall asleep after a while. Instead of helping in the kitchen on a busy Saturday night as she often did, she stayed in, staring at the ceiling above where she was lying on the sofa.

Fortunately, Eleanor FaceTimed her. She explained all her frustration with her family. How she felt so busy and overwhelmed. Her voice cracked and her eyes welled with tears. “I’m really worried about you, babe,” Eleanor frowned. “It’s like senior year all over again,” she reminded her. She knew what she meant—an overwhelming amount of anxiety plagued her as she applied for jobs and completed her final capstone project. All while managing to help James and Ethan with their own applications for college and scholarships. She nodded unable to deny how she felt any longer.

“I know,” she whispered sadly.

“If your car is still broken, why don’t you have Harry pick me up from the airport next week? I’m sure he won’t mind,” she said it so casually and easily.

It seemed they didn’t get to that part of the conversation the other day as Harry probably intended. Sighing heavily, she put her arm across her eyes. “You can’t get mad,” she mumbled.

“Babe,” she whined with a frown and looked at her, already hurt it seemed. “Are you serious?!”

She explained everything. A month ago, about the picture and note—Eleanor was very unhappy to say the least. How she didn’t tell anyone. Then she told her how Harry cleaned her apartment for her even though they were arguing about him telling on her to Eleanor. Then he found the picture. Her ridiculous reaction and why she felt so uncomfortable with people worrying about her.

“I think I’m in love with him.” She whispered, teary and sad with her own actions.

“Obviously,” Eleanor rolled her eyes.

“Maybe...I need to go down to the kitchen,” she sounded like she was suggesting a plan as she spoke to Eleanor. “I have to apologize,” she nodded decidedly. “I have to let him in and let him worry, don’t I?”

“Yes, you idiot,” her voice was devoid of emotion. “I know, really know how hard this is for you, but it’s Harry. He adores you. You can see it on his utterly expressive face. Someone like Harry can’t pretend what he’s feeling—and he wouldn’t either.”

“What if I’m bad at it? What if he doesn’t want to be with someone that’s crazy like me?”

“I’ve never seen you be bad at anything you set your mind too. Harry will forgive you. He’ll help you get better. Knowing him he’ll probably come up with a reward system of garlic bread for you if you want or kisses, if that’s your new thing with him.” She felt woozy listening to her best friend but couldn’t help but smile at the garlic bread idea. “As for not wanting you? You are crazy. Someone who isn’t in love wouldn’t worry about you the way Harry is.”

She listened as her best friend continued speaking but she couldn’t really focus on it suddenly because there was a distinct thud through the wall. A thud that she thought it had to be an actual elephant in the office because she was so sure that Antonio had the apartment sound proofed so thoroughly, that an earthquake could happen in the room next to her and she wouldn’t hear it. She tiptoed to her door, peering sideways through the peephole catching the door to the office was just barely opened.

Antonio was sick. She only knew that because she saw a picture of his sick little family on her Instagram feed earlier in the day. It was why she felt even guiltier about not going down to help in the restaurant because she knew that they would be short-staffed on a busy night without Antonio there.

So why was the door open?

She was trying to process why the door was open. She quietly stepped back from her own door, but she wasn’t in control of her own body. Her heart was beating a little faster than normal. Her brain tried to reason with her muscles that there had to be a reasonable explanation. Instead, her muscles continued moving; she pressed the volume button on her phone to turn Eleanor’s voice down even though she continued rambling about how Harry adored her and she was pretty sure he was in love with her too.

Not even the idea of Harry loving her could shake the nerves away.

“El... Eleanor,” she whispered listening intently to Antonio’s office door distinctly closing and three foreboding footsteps reaching her door. The clinking metallic sound of someone fiddling with the lock on her door came next. She had the phone pressed to her lips trying to soundlessly alert Eleanor as best she could as she scurried backwards as if the door was on fire. “El! STOP!” She hissed listening for more sound.

“What?” She could hear the eye roll in her friend’s voice. “You have to confront these emotions Harry is—” There was a low voice cursing outside her door as the lock was fiddled with more. She hurried to her bedroom with light footsteps praying it looked like she wasn’t home, closing the door as quietly as possible and then doing the same as she hid in her closet. Her heart hammered as Eleanor continued to give her all the reasons why she should just let herself love Harry. Just because she had dealt with people who didn’t appreciate her didn’t mean that Harry would be that way. In fact—

“Eleanor,” she whispered once more. But she heard the deadbolt creak open. Eleanor wasn’t listening to her. She had no choice but to end the call. Ignoring her immediate call back, she furiously texted Eleanor the scariest thing she had ever texted. She heard him creep across her living room floor. Her heart was in her throat, and she was lucky she peed right before Eleanor called when she got home from the gym, or she would have had a serious problem right then.

ANSWER THE PHONE Eleanor texted back.

She silently gulped and pressed the phone to her ear. She listened to Eleanor’s soothing voice. Her calmness despite the fact this was everything she knew Eleanor feared the first time she realized her best friend was being followed. The sound of him going through her stuff made her skin crawl. She should have listened to them; to El, to Louis, to Harry. Oh, she wished she called Harry.

Her body felt frozen with the phone against her ear. She couldn’t move. For everything she did for everyone else, she had never felt like this before. Not once had she ever been frozen in place. She never froze when she was scared—not when ten-year-old Emma broke her arm while she was bike riding and her eighteen-year-old babysitting self needed to hold it in place while James drove them to the hospital. When Ethan called saying James got in a car accident his freshmen year of college and he wrecked his car. When Dad told her that grandma wasn’t going to make it to her twenty-fifth birthday, and she should say goodbye. When Mom was worried about a strange lump she felt on her body, and she imagined life caring for her family without her mom anymore. When she promised to be the designated driver for Ethan and James and ended up standing between Ethan and another guy who had too much to drink arguing over something so ridiculous, she didn’t even remember it now.

Not once had she frozen in place like the way she was then. It was mortifying, all the fight and help she gave to everyone...it wasn’t there for herself.

“I know you can’t talk,” Eleanor whispered. She couldn’t do anything. She was frozen. If he made it to her bedroom, she wasn’t sure she would even be able to fight. That was the scariest realization of all. “I’m going to put you on hold and call Harry. I will be right back. If you don’t hear from me in five minutes, hang up and dial 911.” She hoped to GOD she could manage that if came to it. Hope the frozenness would dissipate long enough to dial 911.

*

It was one of those nights where everything was going wrong, and everything was too busy. Antonio was caring for Leo, the baby, and the missus—all sick with something Leo brought home from preschool, so Harry and Niall were left in charge. Normally, the sweet girl found her way down and situate herself at a station doing the takeout orders but given the little... spat (what else could he call it?) she seemed to be avoiding him.

His phone began vibrating in his pocket without pause for three full minutes, but he literally hadn’t a second to look at it. All he wanted was for the pretty girl to appear. He wanted to apologize profusely for overstepping. He just cared for her so much. Even if she wasn’t comfortable with how he handled things, he wanted to make it better. He cared so deeply for her it hurt to be apart from her without so much as a text message between them over the last two days. He managed to see her exit a car that wasn’t hers parked in her spot. At least her car was getting fixed. But he imagined she had another busy Friday and Saturday. He wished he could have helped more. Wished he didn’t mess up and revealed that he messed it up in a way he couldn’t fix it.

The moment the orders slowed, Harry was planning to race up her steps and beg for forgiveness.

“Dolcezza Ristorante. How can—whoa. Okay, okay!" Niall pulled the restaurant phone from his ear and shoved it at Harry. He could hear the shouting before he even brought the phone near his ear.

“Hel—”

“Harry! For the love of GOD! Do you never look at your phone!?”

“I’ve been—” He barely got a syllable out before Eleanor was spewing a stream of words that were somehow one sentence. Or maybe it was five sentences. Harry lost track of nearly everything, only understanding the gravity that came from the sound of her shrieking. She only made out a scattering of the important words. His eyes widened as he processed her speech.

Harry dropped the empty dishes of finished food he was holding creating a massive mess. Everyone stopped and looked at him. “Harry?” Niall asked.

There was a breath of silence and frozenness. It was like the sizzle of the food in frying pans, the simmering of sauces in pots had all stopped making noise as well. Then he moved, running the few short steps to the kitchen door to the alleyway. “Call the police!” he shouted over his shoulder. He dropped the phone in the debris as well leaving Niall to fish it away from the broken glass and listen to Eleanor repeat the words she just said to Harry.

*

Harry was outside the back door and taking the steps upstairs two and three at a time. The door to her apartment was already open which made his stomach churn. Quickly and quietly, Harry hurried inside. The place was a mess. It was not her. If Harry hadn’t a more pressing purpose, he would have considered cleaning it up for her again, just to make her happy. All the pretty decorations and all her belongings that made it feel so homey, were overturned, or tipped over. Papers and pictures were across the floor. Like a student on their last day of school, throwing out all the papers from the year in the air like confetti. Harry felt his stomach twist again.

“Who are you?” A voice asked.

Harry turned slowly to the sound of the stranger. The one that had quietly wreaked havoc on her life for so long. Harry’s eyes dropped to the long strap of fabric in his hands. It almost looked like a tie, but it was thicker. Something that was intended to go over her eyes or wrap around her hands, he was sure. His eyes traveled back to the stranger’s face. There was something off about him. His eyes felt hollow. Like there was a misconnection between his brain and the rest of his body.

Harry hadn’t a clue what to do. But this had to be better than her trapped in the apartment with a lunatic.

“I work downstairs. We heard a commotion,” he lied, knowing Antonio added extra insulation and sound proofing to keep the sound of the restaurant out of the apartment. “Where is she?” He asked.

His answering smile was creepy—like he only learned how to smile recently. It was so discomforting Harry felt his stomach flip again with worry. His creepy smile paired with the emptiness of his eyes filling with a look of sick sense of delight made Harry’s skin crawl. It took everything in him to not have a physical reaction to his words. “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Don’t know how someone can hide in a small place like this.”

“You need t’leave,” Harry ignoring the words he said. If he didn’t process them, they wouldn’t mean anything. “Now.”

“I thought I lost her,” he ignored Harry. “Then Eleanor... she came to visit and posted that picture of her. You could see the takeout bag in the background. It was a matter of time. I don’t want to lose her again.”

The man was delusional. Harry could see that. But his heart quietly broke for Eleanor, knowing she would lose her mind if she found out she was the reason her best friend was found by this guy. He silently vowed he would keep that to himself for as long as humanly possible.

“Listen. If y’don’t leave. Y’lose her. For good. If y’leave,” he swallowed. It felt like a gulp of vinegar. “Y’might get t’see her again.”

“She likes games,” he remarked rewrapping the strip of fabric around his hand. “It was like a scavenger hunt trying to find her,” he explained. “This is just another game.”

Harry tried to discreetly look for her around the open space. There was no way she was in this open room. There was nowhere to hide. Not unless she was somehow inside her sofa or under the kitchen sink. But... she had to be somewhere. There was only one real way out of the apartment and there was no way she would get through the door and down the creaky steps without him knowing after he saw her exit the rental car.

The wrought iron fire escape wouldn’t fare her much better. He would be down in the alleyway before she reached the bottom. Escaping wasn’t an option. Harry cleared his throat trying to feign innocence and help. “Can I help y’look?”

He nodded easily. Having no clue that Harry wasn’t there for anything other than making sure there wasn’t a commotion because he worked downstairs. It was very clear that he was ill. It made him sick to think she had brushed him off for so long. Played that it wasn’t a big deal. It felt horrible. All of it. Harry’s bones felt like mush.

“I need to check the bedroom and the bathroom.” That much was obvious. He had ransacked her entire apartment.

A fifty percent chance of rain was strong enough for Harry to walk around with an umbrella. When he took tests in his algebra class almost fifteen years ago, narrowing his multiple-choice questions to two choices was the best thing he could manage when he struggled with a question. The coin-flip wins he had with Niall each time they had to vacuum the main room at Dolcezza had left him with an impressive 38-102 record that he was certain the coin was always favored on his behalf.

Right now, a fifty-fifty chance may as well have been the chance of getting struck by lightning or winning the lottery.

Harry had to pick correctly.

He did a quick mental inventory of the bathroom and bedroom. Hiding in the bathroom almost made more sense. The door could lock. But if it was locked, it might make him angry—it seemed almost too obvious of a choice. He would break the door down knowing she was in there. It would be bad. The small linen closet maybe could hide her, but he wasn’t certain. His mind sprinted through the furniture in the bedroom.

“I’ll check the bedroom,” he tried not to run in there suspiciously. He checked under the bed, relieved she wasn’t in there. The tall wardrobe he had helped anchor to the wall after she decided the bookshelf was firmly in place and she had visions of the wardrobe falling on her was also empty. The only real place left that could hide a person was the closet. If she wasn’t in there, Harry would cry.

There was nothing else he could do but open it and see if he was right. It was like he was ripping a band-aid off. He yanked the door out of the way.

Harry thought about the first time he met her, when he physically bumped into her. The first expression he ever saw on her face was one of pain from how she had fallen so hard on the ground. Then there was the night she was sick, and she looked physically broken, Harry wanted nothing more than to take that away from her with nothing more than minestrone soup. Their argument from a few days ago also induced a sad and broken expression on the beautiful face he was so in love with.

Nothing compared to the look of anguish in her eyes and her shaky lower lip right at that moment he found her frozen still in her closet. Her phone was clutched to her ear in both shaky hands. Eleanor undoubtedly at the other end whispering to her to keep calm. Harry had never felt anything like the warmth spreading through his whole body seeing her pretty being there, perfectly whole, and beautiful. Whether she was terrified or not.

The relief Harry felt seeing her before him almost knocked him to his knees before her. There was nothing he wanted more than to hold her, whisk her down the steps, bring her to the kitchen, and feed her as much garlic bread, eggplant parmigiana, and minestrone soup as her heart desired.

He had to get him out of here. He gazed at her for a moment longer, his mouth pursing into a frown and he closed his eyes. “She’s not here,” he said evenly and closed the closet just as quickly as he opened it. He headed back to the main room where he noted that he had in fact, torn apart her bathroom as well. He frowned dejectedly.

“She has to be here. It’s seven-thirty. She’s always home at seven-thirty. That’s when she watches Jeopardy.”

Harry thought he was going to throw up. Knowing her schedule wasn’t something he had fully processed. “Maybe she’s not here,” he suggested.

“No, her car is in her spot. She had to get a rental while her car is in the shop.”

Harry was certain he was going to throw up.

“Maybe she hit traffic,” he tried instead.

“She always leaves time for traffic.” Harry strongly considered just slamming his head into the wall. “You’re lying,” his voice wasn’t accusatory. It was factual. Somehow that was worse. His hands tightened on the length of fabric once more.

“What?” Harry shook his head trying to feign calmness. But his heart started to speed. His fingers started to feel numb.

“She’s in there,” he sounded... excited. Harry’s heart was hammering in his chest. “Honey,” he called almost gleefully and started for the bedroom.

*

She pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. Or vomiting. If she made a sound she was done for. Harry knew she was here. She knew Harry was there to protect her. Even after she pushed him away because he was the first person to show her what it was like to be cared for by someone else. Someone who didn’t take advantage of her kindness. Someone who wanted nothing more than to make her feel better when she was down.

She thought she was going to collapse on the floor of her closet when Harry yanked the door out of the way. She didn’t know if it was her stalker at the time. The weight that lifted seeing someone she knew... and someone she knew would help her, crushed her. Harry looked about as pained as she felt, and she didn’t know what to do or say so she simply stood there in shock and let Harry take care of her.

She’s not here. He said closing her back in the closet.

“Oh, thank God,” Eleanor whispered to her ear.

Eleanor had called Harry who knew how many times before she called the restaurant. Within seconds of switching back to her while she hid in the closet, listening to him ransack her living room. “He’s coming,” she promised. “Niall called the police,” her voice was so quiet. “I wanted to get back to you,” she explained. “I... I don’t want him to get away,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, babe,” she could hear Eleanor’s tears and she wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but she was still frozen like a block of ice.

Hearing Harry’s warm voice feign calmness made her melt. Watching the shadowy figure in her room made her want to scream but she was still stuck in place. Eleanor was whispering comforting things. Quietly begging to no one that Harry get to her first.

Her heart was beating so fast and there was sweat on her hairline. Her phone slid in her grip with the anxiety she felt causing her hands to sweat as well. She clutched the phone to her face even harder. Listening to his exchange with Harry and Eleanor’s quiet reassurances did nothing. She was so scared. She closed her eyes as if not seeing the inside of her dark closet would make it go away. Her body was thrumming with a heartbeat that seemed to appear in every inch of muscle. It made everything ache.

“She’s in there,” his voice was excited, and the tears found their way around her hand cupped over her mouth. With her eyes still closed, she could hear Eleanor whispering something, but she was too scared to process the meaning. “Honey!” He called. Like he was home from work, and this was normal. She heard him twist the doorknob to her bedroom.

She was going to be sick.

She inhaled to scream but instead, there was a commotion then. She imagined the soundproofing failed. It surely sounded like two adult men landed hard on the floor, the thud had to have transferred through and down to the restaurant. She was shaking. Every inch of her body. She could hear more of her belongings breaking and toppling hard on the ground. It felt like her lungs were shaking inside her ribcage with each quiet breath she had to take silently. She listened to the grunting and sound of punches landing.

It couldn’t have been more than a couple minutes, but it felt like hours.

The swears and grunting stopped. There wasn’t a sound. Then a door slammed shut. It sounded like the door to the little laundry room. “El,” she whispered soundlessly, her voice hardly loud enough to get the syllable out.

“I’m calling the police again,” she switched the line leaving her in silence. She knew it was the right thing to do, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be left alone with someone entering the room.

“Principessa?” Harry’s voice was in the room.

She was frozen, terrified. What if it was a trap? He had gotten hold of Harry, had a knife to his throat or something equally disastrous. Her hand shook against her ear wishing Eleanor was back already. She couldn’t make sense of it.

“Kitten?” He tried again, his voice was gentle.

Her knees buckled.

“M’gonna open the door, my love,” he whispered softly.

The doorknob turned.

Finally, she had strength again. Her fight, flight, and frozen abilities finally shifted from frozen to fighting. She threw herself at him hoping to knock him off his feet and out of balance. She was so worried that it was still a trick. She was going to run downstairs and into the kitchen ruining the dinner rush, but it would well be worth it.  She was too scared to process anything that was happening and she threw her bodyweight at him and threw her fists at him as best she could.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Harry gently cooed, grabbing her wrists as she tried to wrangle herself away from him now that she had thrown him off balance. “Hey, hey, Principessa,” she continued squirming and throwing weak punches at him while still terrified. She was grateful she wasn’t so scared that she couldn’t fight back after all.

Despite everything, he was so proud of her for not giving up. Even if the danger was completely gone just yet. “Hey, s’okay, now, Principessa, m’here,” he promised and gave her wrists a soft squeeze. She finally stopped, going limp in his arms as she realized she was attacking Harry and not her stalker. Harry gave her a forced smile. Mixed with a grimace. “You’re okay, kitten. M’here,” he repeated cupping the side of her face so he could lock his gaze with hers. See that it was alright, that she was safe now.

She broke.

It was a miracle she could still stand but she probably had Harry to thank for that. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered her eyes flooding with tears. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen,” she sniveled covering her face now that Harry had released her. “I thought I could... I thought I could handle it. Handle it all...” she hiccupped. “But I can’t. I can’t do it anymore. I was so scared, Harry,” she whimpered. Harry knew his face wasn’t holding neutral or positive. He felt as broken as she sounded. “I’ve been tired and scared for so long and there’s been no one—” her sob choked her words.

Harry thought his heart was going to split right in the middle. If it did, he wanted to give her half of it just to make her whole again. Just to make the pain stop. He tucked her head beneath his chin and wrapped his arms around her tightly. “Oh, Principessa,” he cooed. “M’here,” he promised kissing the top of her head and soothingly rubbing his hand up and down her spine. “M’here.”

“I—” She tried to speak but the tears and emotions coursing through her stopped her vocal cords again.

“Shh, my love, shh,” he cupped the side of her face against her chest. His thumb stroked her damp cheek, and he kissed her hairline again. “M’here,” he repeated the promise. She was overwhelmed by how warm Harry was. His arm wrapped around her waist holding her tight against him. It was the first time she felt safe in hours... weeks if she was honest with herself. Harry held her silently, letting the tears and shaky sobs subside as her body shook against him. It made his chest tight with anxiety. To think she had been holding in all those emotions for so long just so others wouldn’t worry about her. “M’always going t’worry ‘bout you, kitten. Danger or no danger,” he promised.

She sniffled and pulled away from his embrace so she could wipe her hand on her cheek and Harry smudged his thumb across her other cheek brushing the tears away. Harry was scanning her face making sure he got each salty drop and every tear track off her face. As he did, she couldn’t stop staring at his concentrated expression. “I think I love you,” she whispered.

It was as if someone had put a defibrillator on his chest and shocked him. It felt like his heart was beating twice as much and he could hardly breathe as she whispered those perfect, beautiful, sweet words. His thumb stopped smoothing over her skin. His gaze dropped to her eyes again, as she looked at him, her breath shaky and she sniffled again shaking her whole body again. He started to laugh. Despite the situation, despite the worry, despite everything that was going to happen as the impending sirens got closer and closer to them. “I know I love you, Principessa,” he tilted her head up beneath her chin.

He did know. He loved her so much. It was overwhelming. The moment he laid eyes on her. The moment he touched her arms and helped her to her feet. When he had carried her things to her apartment. When she played with Leo. When she was sick. Each time she helped in the kitchen. Or when she bought him the book that he looked at for thirty seconds longer than all the rest. Every single second of knowing her, he fell more and more in love with her.

“Even though—”

He shook his head, rubbed his thumb on her lip to silence her. “I love you,” he said simply. The red and blue lights illuminated her apartment, and she heard more scary thuds ascending the staircase. “Nothing else.” She sank into his embrace and allowed herself to let go. Let someone else take care of things for a few moments.

*

The police were thorough. They stationed someone outside the building. Harry didn’t let go of her hand and wouldn’t let her leave his side. He was insistent she stay in the bedroom as they entered. They took pictures of everything in her place and Harry stood conveniently in front of the bedroom entryway while they brought her stalker outside. Harry assured Eleanor that she was okay while she cried against him. She would call back in a bit, but they had stuff to deal with.

“Thank you,” he croaked gratefully. The thankfulness he felt for Eleanor was so immense.

“Yeah, same to you,” she sniffled. “Don’t forget to call me,” she said seriously despite the sadness in her voice.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he promised. The police asked about a thousand questions which was exhausting in its own right. Niall finally rushed up, seeing the police bringing the guy down and he nearly got himself arrested for being so swift.

“He’s okay,” she promised with a shaky voice. They let Niall enter, who immediately gave her a huge, awkward hug because Harry wouldn’t let go of one of her hands.

“The whole restaurant is in limbo worried about you. All the regulars are worried about you,” he sighed. “I had to come up,” he explained sheepishly.

“I’m sorry—”

“Oh my God,” Harry shook his head and Niall kissed the side of her head.

“Tesorino,” he chuckled. “It’s so okay.”

“But Harry’s not—”

“Harry needs to be up here with you,” he promised. “The restaurant is very understanding,” he explained. “This isn’t something to worry about, Tesorino,” his tone was so reassuring. “M’gonna go back down and spread the good news,” he smiled. “In the morning, we’ll have breakfast, yeah?” He asked glancing at Harry briefly. He nodded quickly. She wasn’t leaving his side and she certainly wasn’t spending the night without him

She nodded with another smile. “Please.”

“I’ll cook this time,” he winked and squeezed her one more time before heading back down.

With the open door to her place, she couldn’t mistake the thundering applause the erupted from the restaurant below her. It made her tears begin to flow again. After several more questions, an EMT scanning her for any sort of damage and repeating her statement at least two more times with the help of Harry, she thought they were finally done.

“Hey!” One of the officers shouted. Harry looked the most alarmed and shoved her protectively behind him as the sound of thundering footsteps echoing up the stairs once more.

“Where is she?!” He sounded like he was going to cry.

“James?” She whispered, pushing herself from behind Harry.

“Oh, thank God,” he strode across the room, stepping on overturned debris and even though she was older than him, he lifted her off the ground. But that’s when the tears started. “Jesus Christ, Sis, why didn’t you tell me?!” He croaked. She blinked in surprise holding onto him as he crushed her to his body. Her lips parted in shock. She glanced at Harry who smirked at her with a touch of sadness in his eyes.

However, there was more commotion downstairs. “I’m her mother!” She could hear the anguish and felt it in every inch of her body.

“Oh my God,” she whispered beside James’ ear and looked up at Harry once more.

“I got it,” Harry pressed his hand on her back. Her feet were back on the floor, but James still didn’t let go. Harry quickly looked down the steps to assess the new guests. “Y’can let them up. S’her family.”

Emma looked practically animalistic, flying up the stairs, almost on all fours with the speed she took the steps.  She made it to the doorway—nearly shoving Harry out of the way and all but crawling across the floor with the momentum she had built up making her way up the steps. She flung herself at her siblings wiggling herself between James who still had not let go of his older sister for a moment. “How could you?!” Emma sobbed, muffled, and squished between her brother and sister.

“Oh, my,” she whispered. “Em, I’m—”

“Don’t you dare say you’re okay,” she hissed but remained clinging to her.

Her parents soon joined their hug asking a thousand questions that she was simply too exhausted to answer. “You don’t want to get in on this?” She asked with a watery voice. Her words floated over Emma and James who refused to let go of each side of her after a kiss on the top of her head from both her parents. Ethan was last in the room, he stood idly near them. He smirked at her question.

“Want my own hug, beautiful,” he winked. Harry snorted, ignoring the jealousy running through him because he believed Ethan was probably way more worked up than he was letting on for the sake of looking like a normal person. She felt her face warm and glanced at Harry who was smirking. “You gave us all the scare of a lifetime.”

Harry was asked to relay the story to her parents, which he did so gratefully. The shock and hurt they had on their faces realizing this was the first they knew of someone stalking their baby.

“Ethan had to drive,” Emma sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve as she finally pulled away from the embrace. James didn’t want to let go, it seemed. He stood so close to her, his arm touching her. Like he was pressing into her side.

“Sounds like you all had scarier things to deal with,” she looked at Ethan who scooped her up again lifting her off the ground the same way James had. He kissed the side of her head, and she squeezed him back. Ethan wrapped her in his embrace when he whispered something in her ear with a smile. Almost immediately, she pulled from him and punched his arm. “You always ruin something nice.”

“Sweetie, that is not funny,” her mom said tearfully turning her attention to Harry. “Thank you,” she said seriously.

She giggled, making Harry’s heart sing now that he wasn’t as worried. “It’s kind of funny.”

James hadn’t moved from her side, looking at her in awe. His oldest sister was his hero. This hurt him so much. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked.

“James,” she sighed.

“No! Why didn’t you tell me? I would have—”

“There was nothing you could do, James,” she whispered. His lower lip wobbled, and his eyes filled with tears. He looked at the floor. She knew he was upset, obviously.

“One of the people at my internship, said your name out loud. I read the transcript it was Eleanor... I... I didn’t know this address. I had to look up the restaurant. I...”

“Jamie,” she hadn’t used that name since they were young. James had been James since he started kindergarten. She reached out for him again, tugged him toward her. “I’m okay,” she promised. “It’s okay,” she said soothingly, rubbing her hand up and down his back and tucked him into her embrace, holding the back of his neck as he shook with sobs.

It broke Harry’s heart knowing she was comforting her family over something that happened to her. But maybe it helped. Distracted her for the moment until she was able to deal with this. Harry wasn’t letting her go the second they left. He would comfort her the way she deserved as soon as they were gone.

Harry’s phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Eleanor. He said hello, flipped the camera around, and showed off the room. “Jeez, you let Ethan and James throw a party?” Her voice cut through all the comfort and tears.

“I resent that, Eleanor,” Ethan rolled his eyes.

“How are you doing, babe?” She asked with a smirk, seeing her holding James like he was her little brother again and not a foot and some taller than her.

She was still holding James who refused to remove his face from her neck. “I’m good,” she promised. “Thank you.”

“It was a team effort,” Eleanor smiled. “Think Harry deserves the biggest of thanks,” she said knowingly.

She nodded against James’ hold and looked over to Harry. “Mmm,” she hummed. “I think so too.”

*

Her family stayed in her apartment. They were insistent. Now that the pictures were taken, they were going to clean it up. All five of them. “Dibs on the underwear drawer!” Ethan said excitedly.

“You’re disgusting,” her dad grumbled.

“Can you arrest him too?” She turned to the police officer with an eye roll.

He pouted and the officer chuckled. “A guy can hope,” he shrugged helping James with the kitchen. Her mom helped her pack a bag for Harry’s, telling her how nice her place was. Even ransacked. It smelled delicious. Her dad was impressed with how the furniture was anchored to the wall and when told it was Harry’s doing, he thanked him once more for caring about his eldest.

Niall made a second trip up with a box of food for everyone to eat. Everyone sat and ate, moaning about how good everything tasted amidst the messy overturned furniture, broken glass from picture frames, and other decorative things. No one minded. Emma sat next to her as well as James who refused to let his gaze move from her.

“I’m okay,” she murmured to both. She kissed the top of Emma’s head and patted James’ knee. He shook his head holding his phone up to show him all the texts from his girlfriend.

I know you’re busy, but please keep me updated. I’ve never met her but I’m also super worried.

She frowned look at James with watery eyes. “I love her already,” she promised.

There was a lot of logistics to figure out. Her mom said they planned on leaving early in the morning to get belongings back home before returning to a hotel nearby so they could help with whatever she needed for the next couple days. “You’ll stay at Harry’s for a few days?” She asked, glancing at Harry.

“Yes,” he said before she could brush it off. “M’not...” he smirked and looked at his lap. “Don’t want her out of m’sight,” he admitted.

“Good,” everyone nodded in agreement.

“You don’t need to stay,” she assured them. “It’s really okay now.”

“Forgive me, but I have a hard time believing you now,” her mom made the same angry face that she always made. A crease between her eyebrows, a frown on the corners of her mouth.

“I know that you just went through something scary,” Emma began. “But do you think—”

“Jesus Christ, Emma!” James nearly shouted.

“Let me finish!”

“You’re such a selfish brat! You’re probably the reason she didn’t tell us with all your essays and—”

“Children—” her mother started.

“ME? You’re the one she’s been buying groceries for because you spend your money before it reaches your bank account—"

“You two knock it off!” Her dad shouted. Ethan snickered and shook his head chomping on the garlic bread that Harry honestly wanted to yank out of his hand so there was more for her to eat. She smirked and turned to Emma, her back to James, which Harry was sure felt like a slap in the face to him.

“What do you need, Em?” Harry kind of wanted to yell at Emma too for asking for something. But he waited because obviously the sweet girl knew her sister better and clearly sensed something kind at the end of her request.

“Could we make cookies together, tomorrow?” She asked, looking like the little girl that broke her arm and she had to comfort for a whole car ride.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “I’d like that,” she promised. “You two will have to help too,” she said looking at James and Ethan. James was scowling at Emma’s satisfied smile of being right.

Ethan smirked. “Would love to see you in an apron, beautiful.”

*

Harry drove her back to his place before the restaurant closed. Niall said he would hang back for longer to give them time to get settled peacefully. Harry refused to let go of her hand. It was almost eleven thirty when they parked in his driveway. The exhaustion was so heavy it was a miracle she could stand. But Harry was probably to thank for that.

There wasn’t much talking in the car, but she was glad to hold his hand. She knew they had lots to discuss but she was tired. Harry was surely tired too. He grabbed her bag. “Do you think Ethan and James should sleep in the living room?” She asked suddenly as Harry unlocked the front door. Harry could see her mind spinning rapidly. It was like she was awake again, caught a second wind from the spiral in her own mind. “Just in case? I don’t want something to happen to Emma or my mom. Oh, I’ll have to fix Antonio’s office tomorrow. Oh... oh we didn’t tell Antonio—”

“Principessa,” Harry ushered her inside and dropped her bag on the living room floor. In the same movement, he cupped her face, and looked her squarely in the eyes. He pressed his thumb on her lips, silencing her. At once, her eyes softened. The forehead crease disappeared. Harry thought this was better than winning an award just to see her relief coat her face thanks to his gentle encouragment. “S’okay,” he promised and kissed the tip of her nose. “We’re not worrying about anything else for tonight.”

“But... I feel really bad!” she pouted below his thumb making a rush of electricity throw through him where his thumb touched her lips. “I know I hurt your feelings and I wanted to talk—”

“Kitten,” he shook his head. “Not tonight,” he promised. “Y’went through something really scary—”

“So did you!”

“—and s’far as m’concerned, you are a hundred percent forgiven. M’glad you’re alright. We can discuss anything y’want in the morning,” he promised. “But we’re not worrying ‘bout anything but kissing and sleeping tonight,” his voice was so serious, and it made her flush that pink color Harry worried she wouldn’t show him after their argument. It felt like ages since he had seen it when realistically it hadn’t been more than two days.

“Well, can we worry about the shower or something? I feel like I smell terrible, and I need to get this night off me,” she wrinkled her nose cutely.

“I think y’smell good,” he chuckled tucking his face into her neck and pecking at her skin. “Can y’even stand long enough for a shower?”

“I’m not getting in your bed all sweaty and gross,” she yawned. “I’ll sleep in the shower if that’s the case.”

He smiled. “Whatever y’say, my love.”

Harry gave her a head start on the shower and texted Antonio a brief update just in case he felt better tomorrow and made it in. After a few questions and a couple more reassurances that everything was okay, Harry finally told him about the most annoying part. I’ll clean up the office... he sent a row of eye-rolling emojis as well. Followed by the vexing part. She’s worried that it’s her fault and wants to assure you it will be clean.

Harry was surprised he was awake, but maybe the kids were keeping him up with whatever illness they were feeling. Tell her to shut up and she better not or I’ll never let her have garlic bread from the kitchen ever again.

Harry smiled, stripped his clothes off, and stepped into the warm steam along with her to get the grime from the day off. “I love you,” he reminded her.

She smiled. “I love you too,” she said sweetly. He cupped her damp face, brushing the suds from her shampoo away from her eyes and he kissed her so deeply and warmly, it felt like he was putting her back together with just a kiss.

*

Harry slipped on a pair of boxers and grabbed her bag to put in his room. She sat in just a large T-shirt she had left behind and a pair of his boxers as well on the edge of his bed. Harry brushed her hair for her and put lotion all over her body massaging the back of her legs and kissing her softly once he finished. As soon as her hair was brushed and toweled dried enough that she felt comfortable laying on his bed with damp hair, she slunk into his mattress and pillows with a long, heavy sigh. Harry immediately followed suit and wrapped his body around her. He kissed the back of her head and sighed in complete happiness.

His phone pinged with a text from Niall, stretching away from her long enough to find out he was pulling down the road. He knew that Niall did so that Harry wasn’t alarmed when the light from his headlights slid over the room and made him worried when someone entered the home. He still clutched her closer as he heard Niall shuffle right by his door, still nervous. But, somehow, she was nearly snoring already.

“Principessa,” he hummed.

“Hmm?” He wasn’t sure she was even a quarter awake. Maybe it was reflex to answer.

“I love you,” he kissed the back of her head. “So much,” he murmured.

She twisted awkwardly, exhaustedly, to face him. Harry draped his arm around the front of her pulling her closer to him despite the fact she could kiss the space between his collarbone if she wanted to. Beneath the covers she curled the arm closest to the mattress against his chest and the other held onto his hard hip. Harry pressed his lips to her forehead. Holding her in place and enjoying the feel of her soft skin below his lips. “I love you too,” she answered.

“Principessa,” he whispered. “I know y’need t’sleep. M’sorry. I really need t’say this,” he brought his hand back to her face and stroked his thumb against her cheek. She almost perked up completely, like she was fully awake. Harry felt a pang of worry course through him. She was so ready to give anything and everything of herself just for him. Probably for anyone. He imagined if James or Emma called right then asking for her to come back, she would. “You don’t bother me,” his voice was quiet, but deep. It made her whole body ache to hear him say it. “Ever. I was going to come up and apologize during dinner,” he admitted.

“Oh,” she giggled every so lightly. “I was going to go down and do the same,” she responded.

He chuckled and felt relief flow through him. “Really?” She nodded against his body.

“I won’t push you away... or I won’t like that. It’s going to take some time but... I really want to be better about accepting you being there for me. I really want that. I promise. I’m so sorry, I yelled at you,” she whispered.

“S’okay, kitten. I know... I know s’not easy,” he kissed between her eyebrows and rid herself of the pinch. “You’re forgiven. M’gonna help y’no matter what. No matter how much y’might not want me to,” he chuckled softly again.

“That’s...the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said or done for me,” she nosed at his chest sighing contentedly getting ready to fall asleep wrapped in Harry’s warm embrace.

It was perfect. She was so grateful for that little apartment. That perfect restaurant. Everything. “Sweetest, Principessa?” he repeated tiredness coating his voice, but he could talk to her for hours and hours tomorrow. But for now, he wanted her to know before she fell asleep. “For you, la mia dolcezza, y’deserve all the sweetness and more.”

--

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[blooming-dahlia]

Hello Livi <33 May I request reader being housewife for Riddle? I would love to hear your thoughts about that. Thanks in advance!!

Sweet Marriage [Riddle Rosehearts]

╰ Every time you see someone from your high school on the street and talk to them, they can't believe who you ended up tying the knot with. In fact, even Ace and Deuce were shocked when they received an invitation to your wedding, even though they knew you two had been dating for so long.

╰ Ace was absolutely convinced that one day you would eventually break up with Riddle due to his specific nature, but being one of the best men at your wedding was definitely not something he could have expected.

╰ As for you, well, you still can't believe you're finally married to the man you love. One of your favorite things to do when Riddle is at work is looking at the photos from your wedding. The professional ones you keep in a photo album, while the others are in the gallery on your phone, most of them being the ones Cater took and sent to you later.

╰ No matter what other people say, you couldn't ask for a better husband than Riddle. During your NRC days, he was often insecure and worried that he might do something wrong and, worse, hurt you unintentionally. He had never been in a relationship before, so this was all new to him. But over time, with a little bit of your help, he was able to gain some confidence.

╰ After your wedding, Riddle became even more affectionate towards you. Even when he's at work, he can't help but call you whenever he has the chance, just to ask how you're doing and tell you how much he loves you. The best moment of the day is when Riddle comes home and you can finally throw yourself into his arms.

╰ Sometimes you get the feeling that Riddle is overworking himself a bit, but every time you try to look for a job, he assures you that everything is fine and that you don't need to do that, because the last thing he wants is for you to overwork yourself as well.

╰ Of course you do things like cooking and cleaning every day. At first you thought that Riddle might be angry with you if he found out that you missed a few spots while cleaning or didn't do anything at all on a particular day, but it quickly turned out that he could be more understanding than you would ever imagine. That's mostly because you're his wife, whom he loves dearly, and not some random troublemaker like Ace and Deuce.

╰ The house you live in once belonged to one of Riddle's relatives, but since they moved out a long time ago, they gladly decided to sell it to you. It's not a super exclusive and luxurious mansion or anything like that, it's rather a small and cozy house, just perfect for you two. You also have a garden that you always take care of.

╰ On weekends, you two always go shopping. You can't even count how many times you've asked Riddle not to spoil you with gifts he buys for you behind your back while you're shopping, but you can see he doesn't care. He strictly follows the belief that a wife must be spoiled a lot by her husband.

╰ There are moments when the two of you argue. It is not often, but your fights can be really intense sometimes. However, Riddle can quickly turn from angry to concerned and ashamed the second he sees you crying, no matter who started the fight. He just hates to see tears streaming down your face.

╰ The thing you definitely avoid the most are family meetings. While those with your parents are somewhat tolerable and quite enjoyable, those with your husband's are the exact opposite. You're thankful they don't happen often, since you are probably at the top of your mother-in-law's list of people she hates the most. Every meeting with Riddle's family so far has just been you trying to hold back your tears until you finally get home.

╰ When there is nothing to do while Riddle is at work, you often hang out with your friends. Most of the time, they like to tease you about being a married woman so soon. To be honest, you are surprised about it yourself. Who would have thought that Riddle Rosehearts would propose to his girlfriend right after she graduated from NRC?

╰ Riddle himself also keeps in touch with some people from your high school, the main ones of course being Ace, Deuce, Trey and Cater. Obviously you knew it would be the last two, but the troublemakers came as a complete surprise. Riddle somehow learned to tolerate them instead of yelling at them every second, especially since they are not in Heartslabyul anymore. Once, however, he loosened up to the point where the Adeuce duo got him drunk as a silly prank. Poor Riddle has never experienced anything like this before and became extremely clingy to you when he, thanks to Trey, returned home. Eventually he ended up crying, so you had to comfort and cuddle him until he fell asleep, but you didn't mind it at all.

╰ It is obvious to Riddle that you would never cheat on him. But there are still times when he can't help but get a little jealous. He spends most of the day at work, so he doesn't really know what you're currently doing unless he calls you. Also because of this, the two of you don't spend as much time together as you'd like. He understands that you might feel lonely, so as long as you don't cheat on him, you can hang out with whoever you want.

╰ When it's your birthday, Riddle always has something special planned for you. He even leaves work early to surprise you with a fresh bouquet of your favorite flowers and then takes you on a date to places such as a restaurant and theme park. When it's Riddle's birthday, you always try to bake his favorite strawberry tart, but you fail anyway, so you call Trey to come over to help you. For some reason, Trey always comes with Adeuce duo and Cater, which results in a huge party for your husband.

╰ Eventually, one day you apply for a job of your choice. You know that Riddle wouldn't have to work so hard if you could also earn some money. It was not easy to break this news to him, but in the end he said that it was your own decision and that he would support you no matter what.

╰ Sometimes your friends ask when you and Riddle will have children of your own. You're both still very young, so he isn't going to force you to have them now, but if you decide one day that you're ready, he would love to have two or maybe even three. Riddle doesn't feel confident enough to tell you this yet, because he's afraid that you might think it's too much for you, or perhaps you don't want to have children at all. Still, he finds you to be a very gentle and caring woman, and he's sure you'll make a perfect mother in the future.

Thank you for requesting!

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland hcs #twisted wonderland one-shots #twisted wonderland x reader #twst #twst hcs #twst one-shots #twst x reader #riddle rosehearts #riddle rosehearts x reader #twisted wonderland riddle x reader #twst riddle x reader

[sturniolo-rat]

Chapter 1: Cherry Contact

A/N: If this flops, I’m going to cry😢 In loving memory of @newsourceofnonsense, she's not dead; I just like the memory of her.

Contains: smut, oral, fingering , exhibitionism, plot

TW: tell me if you find any

Chris and Y/N are two walking commitment issues that enter into a mutually assured attachment.

Everyone thinks Y/N is a book hoarder, but she considers herself more of a book collector. She has over 700 books that take up damn near her whole apartment. The collection consists primarily of special and first-edition books. It’s probably worth around $50,000, but she doesn’t care because she plans on keeping them forever. To fund her obsession, she works as a waitress at a restaurant that just opened up called “The Copper Kitchen.” her best friend, Dorset, is a freckle-faced white girl with short brown hair, green eyes, and circle glasses. She also happens to be a bartender at “The Copper Kitchen.” Currently, Y/N is outside of her apartment waiting for Dorset so they can carpool to work. When Dorset pulls up in her shitty car, Y/N is ecstatic because she has big news to share. 

“Dot, I’ve done it!” she says as she hops into the passenger seat. 

“Wh- what have you done?” She’s very concerned that Y/N has done something crazy. It wouldn’t be the first time. The last time something like this happened, she told Dorset that she got her ex’s name tattooed on her left ass cheek.

“I’ve decided to have sex with men again!”

Dorset is relieved. “OMG! Yes! We can finally fight over men again!” They laugh as she merges back onto the road to begin the short trip to work.

“Yep, I’m meeting a guy at the restaurant after my shift,” Y/N says proudly. She's been off men since her break up three years ago, and this new guy is the first not to give her the ick within the first week of talking. She knows meeting up doesn’t automatically mean sex, but she hasn’t had dick in 3 years and feels that she owes it to herself to fuck this man. It’s not like she’s interested in anything else from him. Romance is strictly off the table for her. She prefers to stick to smutty romance books and shitty Tumblr fanfics of perfectly romanticized versions of men. 

“Oh, I can’t wait to hear all about your little hookup.” They part as they head to their respective jobs at the restaurant—time to deal with shitty customers who tip like assholes. 

Twenty minutes before the end of her shift, the most obnoxious kids walk in. They’re not actually kids; they're about 20, but Y/N considers anyone under 22 a kid, and these guys seem incredibly immature.

“Hey guys!” Says Nick, holding up the camera. “Welcome to today’s Friday vlog where we will be…”

Matt takes the camera, “trying the food at…” 

Chris gets into the shot and yells, “The Copper Kitchen!”

Nick hits Chris in the head “Don’t yell in my fucking ear!” 

“Don’t hit me, Dickface!” Chris hits him back while Matt holds the camera and laughs to the side.

The Y/N comes up and loudly asks, “Is this your whole party?” She gives them a disapproving look. 

Matt is the first to speak, “Yes, ma’am, it’s just the three of us today.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” said Nick and Chris in unison. Chris is noticeably more embarrassed than Nick is. He’s absolutely mortified to be seen acting like a child in front of such a beautiful woman.

“Thank you. Let me show you to your table.” She picks up three menus before walking them to their seats. Only when they’re all sitting and looking up at her does she realize that the three boys are triplets. “Can I start you off with something to drink?” 

She points to Matt. “Root beer, thanks.”

She points to Nick. “Water, if you don’t mind.”

She points to Chris. “What’s the best virgin mixed drink you guys have?”

“I’m not sure, but you can never go wrong with a Shirley Temple. Do you want me to go ask the bartender?” She would love to tell Dorset about the sexy triplets that just stumbled in.

“Nope, we’re all good. I’ll take a Shirley Temple and a Pepsi.”

“Great. I’ll be back in a few with your drinks.” 

Y/N practically runs to Dorset. Chris can’t help but watch her ass as she walks to the bar to order his drink. When she returns a few minutes later, she hands Chris his drinks last.

“Thank you for the Pepsi, but this…” he lifts the mixed drink and hands it to her. “is for you, miss…” he pauses to look at her name tag. “Y/N. It’s an apology for making a scene in your restaurant.”  Nick and Matt are in shock over how forward he’s being. Chris has never really flirted in front of them before. It’s kind of weird, but they can see why he has so many girls in and out of his room. 

“Well, thank you…”

“Chris.” he interrupts. “Please, call me Chris.” he gives Y/N a charming smile.

“Thank you very much, Chris. However, my shift is over, and Michelle will serve you for the rest of the night.” 

“I’m sorry to see you go, miss Y/N, but I hope you have a good day.”

“Will do, Chris,” says Y/N before she walks away to sit across the room at the bar. She talks to Dorset about her date tonight while she waits for him. His name is Theo. He’s blonde with deep brown eyes, and from what Y/N can tell from sexting, he’s so fucking good at dirty talk. Unfortunately, he is 30 minutes late to meet her. 

Chris has been relatively quiet for today’s video. He’s been distracted watching Y/N enjoy his drink and seeing her smile and laugh with her friend. She looks somewhat distressed now, and Chris can't help but think he’s found his opening. He makes the boys wrap up the video and leaves to get Y/N’s number. 

He turns on his charm and sits on the stool next to her. “What’s got you so worried, miss Y/N.”

“Pretty sure I’m being stood up. I’m also pretty sure people under 21 can’t sit at the bar.”

“Who says I’m not 21? Maybe I’m here to buy you another drink.” 

Y/N cocks her eyebrow as she calls her friend over. “Order me something then.”

Chris tries to think his way out of this. “Listen, you guys are friends, right? She’s just been stood up, and a handsome young man would like to buy your friend a drink. I’m sure if you just forget to card me this one time and let me buy her a Shirley Temple with vodka and extra cherries, it would make her night ten times better.”

“My hands are tied, Y/N. You’re my weakness.” she looks to Chris. “Dirty Shirley coming right up.”

“You’re fuckin’ smooth, aren’t you?” asks Y/N. 

Much more confident than he was moments before Chris responds, “Yes, ma’am, I am. Now tell me all about the bad man who hurt you.”

“I’m not really hurt,” she replies, but Chris can tell she’s hiding something. 

“No?” he questions.

Dorset comes with her drink, and Y/N takes a nervous sip. “Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course you can, Miss Y/N.”

“I’m not hurt. I was just really horny, and I got my nails done for this date, and not I can’t even touch myself at home because my nails are so sharp,” she says, completely embarrassed. She doesn’t make eye contact with him and focuses intensely on eating her maraschino cherries. 

“I don’t mean to be too forward, but…” he leans in, whispering in Y/N’s ear, “ I think I can help you with that.” She doesn’t miss a beat. She takes his hand and drags him to the large family bathroom. Dorset claps and cheers them on openly as they make their way. Y/N makes a mental note to get her back somehow later. 

She palms him through his pants, and Chris grabs her face, pulling her into a rough, hurried kiss. “Oh, fuck. You taste like cherries.” he hikes up her uniform skirt and rubs her over her panties. 

“You have yourself to thank for that.” 

He spins her around so he can watch her face in the mirror as he touches her. “You’re also soaked. Do I have myself to thank for that, too?” before she can say anything, Chris’s finger is spreading her lips apart and playing at her entrance. 

She closes her legs in response. “Nope, not so fast. You gotta eat it first.”

Chris sinks to his knees. “Yes, ma’am.” he wastes no time. He spreads her thighs apart, slides her panties to her knees, and starts lapping at her clit from behind. He’s got to be quick because his brothers are waiting for him. 

She bends over the sink, propping herself up on her forearms. “Oh, fuck!” she groans. 

“Hush, Cherry. Don’t want to get fired for fucking on the job, do we?.” The vibrations from his laugh makes Y/N’s pussy shiver causing her to wiggle a little. Chris loves watching her ass jiggle. “Has anyone ever eaten your ass?” he parts her cheeks and gives her a playful spank. “You have such a cute little asshole. Do you mind if I try?” 

“Yeah, you can try,” she says sheepishly, hiding her face from the mirror. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t forget to give your clit some attention.” 

“Oh, yes! Just like that!” Y/N cries out louder than she means to as his tongue explores her ass. He rubs her clit with the pad of his finger, and she lets out a breathy moan. Chris is hard as a fucking rock, and she’s making such pretty sounds. It’s torture not to touch himself, but he came here to help her out and needs to focus on making her cum. 

“Yeah. Tell me how you like it.” 

“Fingers, please,” she begs. 

“Tell me how many you need, Cherry?”

“Two. Just two, please.” Y/N takes his fingers inside of her with ease. He searches for a moment to find that special spot of hers. “Right there!” 

Chris is so happy with how open she’s been to him. The girls he’s been with recently have been so meek. She’s such a good girl telling him just where she needs him. He works his fingers into her faster, making sure to hit her G spot every time. Y/N starts pushing herself back on his fingers. Chris feels her pussy begin to tighten like a vice around him. “You’re such a good fucking girl. Cum for me, Cherry. Cum on my fingers.” her legs giveaway as her climax burns through her, and Chris has to hold her up as he tries to work her through it. 

When her orgasm subsides and her vision comes back, Chris is on the floor holding her. She rests her head on his chest and says, “Thank you. That was fucking amazing.”

“Anytime, Cherry. I don’t expect any reciprocation today, but I feel I am owed your phone number.” He hands her his phone, and the new contact is already open. 

“Of course, here’s my number, Chris.” she hands the phone back to him, gets back onto her feet, and pulls her panties up. She leaves without saying goodbye. Chris looks down at his phone and smiles at her contact name. “Y/N🍒 (Sexy Waitress)”

Masterlist

Taglist

@rafecameronsbitch @daddyslilchickenfingers2 @mrsmiagreer @lovergirl4387 @gdsvhtwa @ashley9282828 @j-worlds-blog @stephanieienwf @achrisgirly @draculaura123 @abbypost @Cind2224 @crazychrisl0v3r @ryli3sworld @bkwrld @pinkishpearls @pepsienthusiasts @stunza @chrattstromboli @sturnssmuts @angelic-sturniolos111 @69isabella69 @maryx2xx @sturniolo04 @bigbeefybitch @klaus223492 @r93339 @sturnzsblog @spotconlon55 @robins-scoop @junovrsmp4 @sturnlover4eva @blahbel668 @lilahnowheretobefound @luxy-nyx @tuffsturns @m0r94n @sturnstvs

#matt sturniolo #sturniolo smut #sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo imagine #chris sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo x reader #sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nick sturniolo #chris sturniolo fanfic #chris sturniolo imagine #christopher sturniolo x reader #chris sturniolo fluff #matt sturniolo fluff #matthew bernard sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #matt sturniolo smut #matt sturniolo x you #matt sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo ask game #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo edit #nick sturniolo x reader #sturniolo triplets smut #sturniolo triplets x reader #sturniolo x reader #sturniolo introduction #the sturniolo triplets #sturniolos

[marvelfanfics1]

Mob!daddy!Thor with a shy!little one, just holding onto any part of him in public and getting whiny when you can’t hold onto him, just wanting your dada. Just being a shy needy baby 💌

Your fanfics abt him have made me a Thor fan 🫢

Always Touching

Pairing: mob!daddy!Thor x shy!little!reader

Warnings: Age Regression, fluff, soft!Thor, clingy!reader?

A/n: it's my duty to make more people love Thor the way I do 😌 mob!daddy!Thor is literally the best thing I've ever started writing 🥴

                                   ⭒𖥸⭒

"And who's that sweetheart behind you?" asked Wanda, trying to peek behind Thor to see you.

"That's my little one. Can you say hi princess?" Thor tried to make you stand before him but you instead hid more behind him, feeling intimidated by the mobster Witch, knowing what she's capable of.

You were glad you had your daddy to protect you, he is so strong! And he promised you he would never let something happen to you and will always be there when you need him.

"Hi..." you said in a meek voice.

Wanda coos at your cuteness, now missing being with her boys right now, she can't wait to go back home again.

"Your little is adorable, Odinson," she said and both went on with business, you decided to play with Thor's hand in the meantime.

°

You were shy since you were a child and that never changed, you can't help it, and Thor always assured you that it's okay.

You are really depending on your daddy and couldn't stay away from him for too long or you would start to get moody and cry out for him.

Thor doesn't mind how clingy you are and how you always wanted to be in his presence. He would often carry you around and let you sit on his lap while he has a meeting.

The some-more scary things will be taken care of while you were asleep, he doesn't want his little one to be afraid of him, he couldn't bear the thought.

When you were outside shopping you are always holding one of his hands or onto his arm, scared you will get lost.

"You want to look around? You can pick whatever you want, love" he said when you entered a clothing store.

"Come with me, please?" you asked with the good old puppy eyes Thor isn't able to say no to, he would do anything for you.

°

But sometimes he has to leave you alone for a few minutes if it's really necessary, and that makes you cranky instantly. He can't even try and sneak out because you would ask him where he is going.

"No! Daddy no go. Want cuddles!" you whined from your spot on the fluffy carpet, arms high up for him.

He sighed and went to pick you up, twirling you around to hear you giggle and distract you from what he was about to do.

"It's really important, princess. You know I wouldn't leave if there was a other way."

You pout but nodded your head, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. Thor put you back down on the ground and at that moment walked Valkyrie inside, your babysitter and bodyguard.

"I won't be gone long. Please make sure she eats something before I come back and don't leave her side" Thor tells her while grabbing his phone and keys.

"I know how this works. Go and do your job, she's safe with me." Valkyrie waved him off and ruffled a hand through your hair.

°

Half an hour later Thor arrived back home and could hear your cute giggles through the mansion and followed them to the bathroom where Valkyrie was brushing your hair while you were brushing your teeth. You were also in your jammies and ready to go to bed.

"Dada! You back!" you mumbled with your mouth full of toothpaste.

He walked over to you and took Valkyrie's place behind you, taking the brush from her.

"I'll take over now. Thank you, Val. You can take the evening off." Thor told her and she nod, giving you a little wave before leaving.

You finished your routine with your daddy and let him carry you around, not wanting to let him go again.

"Daddy, can we cuddle now?" you asked rubbing your tired eyes, your head already resting on his shoulder.

"Of course, little one. We're gonna snuggle the whole night, promise" he whispered and laid you down on your shared bed before joining in next to you.

He handed you your favorite stuffie and popped in your pacifier as well. Next, he pulled you closer to his side and draped a blanket mostly only over you.

                                   ⭒𖥸⭒

Taglist

@my-river-lilly @pauntedblacknails @fanfictioniseverything @devilslilbabysblog @buckymydarlingangel @hallecarey1 @daybreakwinter @loveshineslikethesky @wandaslittlewhore @vase-of-lilies @white-wolf1940 @simpingbutch @mischiefsemimanaged @alina02 @teddybearsgrr @doozywoozy @angelbabydoll28 @glxwingrxse @lilymurphy03 @veryvaughnny @lokigirlszendaya @youngstarfishdinosaur @little--baby--bear @minideathgoddess @rach2602 @aagn360 @gh0stgurl @flourishandblotts-inc

#little!reader #little reader #daddy!thor odinson x little!reader #daddy!thor odinson #daddy!thor x little!reader #daddy!thor #daddy thor odinson #daddy thor odinson x little reader #daddy thor x little reader #mob!thor x little!reader #mob!daddy!thor x little!reader #mob daddy thor x little reader

[thek1ngtalks]

Meeting...

Percy Jackson

Youre a bit of an oddball in camp. You were 15 when you were found, completely by accident. A saytr protecting another kid ran into you and that's the only reason he noticed you were a demigod.

You're,,, painfully normal, actually. Which, in a world of demigods and monsters, is in itself weird.

Being normal isn't a bad thing though. It's kept you and your parent safe, which is why they didn't put you on an immediate evac out to camp.

Sadly, your no monster streak was ruined as a frizzy red headed girl and a boy who looked like he tried to skate as a job while graffiting walls on the weekend broke into the band room you were trying to practice in

Great way to start off your highschool years, I assure you.

The redhead gives you a once over but deems you unimportant and starts trying to wedge herself between the wall and a bass drum.

The skater glanced between you and the red head before reluctantly joining her, hiding behind a bunch of bongos. They start whispering to each other, though it fails since you're pretty sure the red head's never whispered before

Your face pinches as you listen to them talk and like any normal person, you assume they're both crazy. Greek myths, what a joke.

Then, as the skater boy is about to reveal whatever big secret he's keeping, two cheerleaders step into the room. You vaguely remember them welcoming you in, although they called you a fish and stared at you funny.

Blah blah, they attack you, the skater boy– who the evil vampire ladies conveniently tell you the name of, Percy saves you both and then the school is on fire. Whoops?

Anyways, Percy brings you with him to camp, very shortly shows you around before things start getting crazy. Some centaur dude is on trial, Percy leaves for a quest and is dead for a little before he crashes his own funeral, overall a weird couple weeks.

After hiding in the Apollo cabin during the fight, handing things to the healers as they work, things seem to settle for a little.

He does come to see you to apologize for not being a very good guide and offers to show you a more detailed, and far more fun, intro to camp

That's when you start getting to know Percy more. His quirks, his skills, even his odd love of blue food.

He seems to seek you out often, answering only once that it's because you make everything so average.

You realize that with Percy's luck, everything is in extremes. When you're around though, he gets a break. If you can give him even a few minutes of peace, you don't really mind him calling you average (okay you still kinda do)

When you both inevitably start dating, no one's surprised. A few seemed disappointed they lost the apparent bet on Percy's love life, but no one was shocked considering how much Percy doted on you when you were around.

He also called you his good luck charm more than a few times, especially when you weren't around

Nico Di Angelo

You were a young mortal, emphasis on were. You had been a follower of the Chthonic Gods and with a life devoted to them, you got a bit of a cushy death.

You became a servant to Persephone, who had only needed a few extra hands temporarily and didn't care to dismiss you when things calmed down again. Obviously you don't remember much of your life but you were living a good death, so you weren't upset.

You had become an almost right-hand to her majesty, still a strong devote to her husband gave you a bit of a leg up in that regard.

And as her right-hand, she often gave you tasks she knew you could handle, you just weren't expecting to have to take care of a dandelion.

It definitely isn't one of the harder tasks she's had you do but it is more confusing. She had expressed that if one petal were to fall from it, Hades himself would send you to Tartarus, which is definitely NOT on your To Do List, so you've wisely took them to heart

You made sure to take it with you everywhere, taking care to keep the soil moist and talking to it often. You're not sure if it's helping but not a single petal has fallen yet, so you're positive that you're doing something right.

It's only after two weeks of this schedule that Persephone calls you to her room and tells you to bring the plant. Of course you listen

You're more than a little embarrassed when she turned the dandelion back into a broody teen, one who refuses to look back at you as he begins arguing with Persephone

Persephone dismisses you and the brooding boy takes that as his cue to leave with you, still avoiding your face

He thanks you for taking such good care of him and offers his name —Nico— but nothing else before he shadowtravels away

Over the next few weeks you find small trinkets from the overworld left in your room, in the spot you had left Nico's dandelion form.

After a month of this, you are walking with Persephone as she heads to her garden and are faced with 3 demigods

Your eyes meet Nico's and he seems embarrassed again before he begins arguing with Persephone again

You are ordered to help them navigate the underworld in search for Hades's newest symbol of power and Nico actually starts looking at you, talking to you, and being normal

He's quite nice and he doesn't seem to hold anything against you, which is nice. You get along a lot better when he can actually respond and after retrieving the sword, you ask Nico to drop his gifts off in person so that you can actually see him more.

It's barely a few years later when Nico leads you out of the Underworld in the midst of Thanatos being missing, apparently having already gotten Persephone's permission but oddly tight-lipped about how (he coughs up petals for a week)

As a human you begin aging again with small parts of your past coming back. Nico is delighted when you remember your name and makes sure to say it to you at least once a day in case you ever forget it again.

You follow him wherever he goes, even to Tartarus, and all of his friends are surprised when you announce your dating, only because they thought you already were

Nico has apparently been horribly obvious in his adoration of you and you're much the same

{《☆》}

[I was supposed to write a platonic soulmate shortfic with like 10 characters and accidentally wrote this instead. Congrats, I guess. (I'm still gonna write the other one, you can't stop me)]

[L0v3, k1ng]

#k1ng writes #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson x male reader #percy jackson x gn reader #percy x reader #nico di angelo x reader #nico di angelo x male reader #nico di angelo x gn reader #nico x reader #nico di angelo

[odditycircus-2002]

Medusa!Reader and Shang Tsung MK 1 (Part 2)

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SPOILER ALERT FOR MK 1 STORY MODE

Shang Tsung and Syzoth rushed to rinse the elixirs and glass off your body. This was made difficult by how you continued to writhe around, blinded and sensitive to the point that running water felt like glass being rubbed against you. Eventually, your voice would become hoarse and bloody from your screaming, then finally and mercifully, exhaustion would take over. You were unaware of the claw marks you left on Shang and Syzoth in your blind panic.

You slept for the entire night and most of the next day. When you woke again, you were met with darkness and the feeling of something covering your body. You figured Shang must've bandaged you.

The Sorcerer confirms this and informs you that he's putting you on bed rest for the next few days, given the extensive damage that accident caused your body's nerves and muscles. While you may lose sight, he assured you it shouldn't be likely that it's permanent, much to your relief.

Shang was the one to mostly care for your health. This included tending and disinfecting your wounds, changing your bandages, gently bathing you, having you drink a strong-smelling elixir to supposedly speed up the healing process daily, and even helping you relearn to use your muscles.

You were visited by Syzoth, Mileena, and even Kitana. You weren't surprised to hear from the sisters that Sindel couldn't come in person but sent condolences and flowers from the Hanging Gardens. This made you feel a little better, at least. It was better than the constant smell of disinfecting elixirs. However, your little ember of morale was smothered out when Shang took the bandages off you.

You were blinded by the light after days of nothing but darkness. When your eyes adjusted, you immediately gasped at the figure before you. Her skin was reddened and marred with rough patches that were a completely different color from the rest of her. She had no hair but a head full of hissing and writhing snakes with long fangs jutting from her mouth. Her eyes were snake-like with slit pupils that blinked with a second eyelid. As you touched yourself simultaneously as the stranger before you, you realized that the creature before you was… you!

"By the Elder Gods! What's happened to me?!"

You screamed before hiding your face in your hands with long claws at the ends before starting to weep. Shang Tsung attempted to comfort you as he held you close and petted your head, assuring you he didn't care what your form looked like. He knows it's still you. You both remained like that until you fell asleep from exhaustion.

For the next few days, you remained held up in your room to obsessively look in your mirror to try and imagine what you used to look like. You took up wearing a mask you purchased from the last festival you went to to retain some sense of your old beauty. You didn't allow Shang Tsung or anyone to look at your face, refusing to look any of them in the eye. Yet, during those days, you had time to think without Shang whispering in your ear.

It's unbelievable to think that while you confronted Shang about the floor beneath, you'd happen to have your "accident" right in the middle of it. And how chivalrous the man you've been suspicious of would also nurse you back to health. You concluded that it couldn't be a coincidence; Shang Tsung purposefully caused your accident. Yet, seeing how your last confrontation with him alone went, you weren't going to approach him with your accusations immediately. For all you knew, you were infected with a new form of Tarkat.

It wouldn't stop you from doing your damn job, though. So you gathered the essentials, your belongings, and as many medical supplies as you could carry before slipping from the laboratory in the dead of night to head toward the nearby Tarkatan colony. Syzoth saw you leave but said nothing to Shang Tsung, silently wishing you well.

When you arrived, The colony appeared to be in better condition the last you looked at it, not much, but it wasn't exactly the chaotic cesspool you last remember. As you were "escorted" by other Tarkatans, you soon learned that the credit goes to former tribune and merchant Baraka. Who now led the Tarkat Colony.

At first, the Tarkatan was wary when you claimed to have come out here on order from the Royal family, even when you presented the scroll stamped with the Royal House's seal that proves this claim true. At least, until you showed an ungloved arm with spikes forming where they shouldn't. You understood his paranoia and explained that you and your research partner, Shang Tsung, had a laboratory nearby to study Tarkat; however, you left to continue your research here because of your current affliction and possible infection. As a show of good faith, you present the supplies you took from the lab and offer to share them with the rest of the colony.

Baraka allowed you to stay within the camp and continue your work for a cure as long as you did your part within the colony. You accepted and soon set up shop within one makeshift adobe house. Keeping up your end of the arrangement you made with Baraka, you'd treat the Tarkatans to the best of your abilities with what little you had. Often, you have to patch some of them up when the bloodlust overtakes their mind, and others have to hold them down. You even went as far as to set up regimens to help soothe the Tarkatans and keep morale up.

For months, you worked with Baraka to improve the colony's life to the best of your abilities. Eventually, because of this and your role as an Imperial Healer, you unofficially began to become a second figure of authority among the Tarkatans. It helped that you didn't take bullshit from any of your patients, no matter how difficult they can be( i.e how strong and bloodthirsty they can be). Thanks to your mutations, you can match the strength of most of your patients. You're not above wrestling them into submission to take their medicine, including Baraka.

In fact, you and Baraka would come to appreciate each other for how you can rely on the other for support. Especially since neither of you has anyone else to do so for the positions you found yourselves in. In fact, other colony residents couldn't help but notice the fondness and affection you both began to show one another as moons passed by.

You often could be seen conversing with Baraka, whether or not you are busy with your healing duties. Baraka often would choose to share meals with you. You constantly check on each other's well-being. Once, Baraka gifted you a piece of jewelry from his merchant days that you now constantly wear. Anyone with eyes could see the herculean task for you to not instantly tackle hug Baraka.

Yet, an unspoken agreement between the two of you prevented either of you from furthering your relationship. Baraka knew deep within his soul that he was fated to die from his illness one day long before you or anyone else could find a cure. He only wished to spare you the heartache of loving a dead man walking. You, on the other hand, were reluctant to love again.

You had seen each other at your lowest points. You when Baraka has a rare bout of feral bloodthirst that led you to have to sedate him with a crap ton of tranquilizers with a few minor wounds gained. He was there to just sit by you when you had to euthanize a Tarkatan that eventually lost its mind and asked before being put down when that happened. No one saw you leaving your adobe the next day except for Baraka.

That day, Baraka learned the true nature of your affliction as he caught you looking at your mirror without your mask. You were observing how your mutation was advancing when Baraka caught you, and you spun around in surprise before making direct eye contact with him. Baraka's face became frozen in surprise as he instantly turned into stone on the spot.

It took you hours before you could make a powder to reverse the petrification. You didn't know whether or not Baraka heard you, but that didn't stop you from fervently apologizing to him as you swiftly worked.

When Baraka was unstoned, he immediately asked about the exact nature of your condition. Which is when you gave the full story about how this happened to you and how you confronted Shang Tsung before your accident occurred. You went as far as to show him your body without as much covering to demonstrate the full extent of your condition, including your newly grown wings.

"I never asked to become this! An- and- and yet, he took my body away from me."

That's when you collapsed to your knees and started to weep. The Tarkatan leader could only sit close to you as he spoke calming words. To your surprise, Baraka didn't kick you out of the colony after turning him to stone. In fact, he vowed to keep your true form a secret even from the colony. You were left speechless by his proclamation. This incident didn't cause him to treat you any differently than before.

However, given what you told him, Baraka was immediately on the defense when Shang Tsung came to the colony with an escort of armed Imperial soldiers more than he usually would be. Baraka already doesn't trust Shang Tsung because his presence is similar to a bad omen. A few Tarkatans seemed to "disappear" whenever he came by to gather genetic samples from his colony. However, Shang wasn't just here for blood or skin samples this time. No, this time, he was here for bone marrow, and it seemed he had his eye on Baraka in particular.

You were attending to some children and, unfortunately, struck with Tarkat when you were aroused from your workshop from Baraka's howling in pain. You immediately spot him forced to kneel in front of the man you've been hiding from for months, Shang Tsung. He also brought imperial soldiers, including some that held back the crowds of enraged Tarkatans. Despite the brief fear that gripped you, you were spurned into action when turning your attention to Baraka. You went down to confront the Sorcerer, demanding he release Baraka.

A/N: Sorry again folks that I have to cut it short, but I went over the word limit again. But I do hope you enjoyed this latest installment. Let me know about what y'all think about it and any ideas you have. Stay Weird, my fellow humans.

Taglist: @alastorhazbin, @slowlyfriedkingdom, @blackbunnymayw, @waryvoid, @redviper321, @lesbian-bambi, @evelud, @solareclipse166, @otako5811, @painimpact, @small-tophat-man, @holylonelyponyeatingmacaroni, @the-strange-unknown, @gname4, @aliceangel200981, @yaboicayde, @dumbhxeredrose, @tmoney-gay, @snowwhiteabyss, @geeky-trash01, @0000-lover-girl, @helixatomiclaws1799, @livia25leelover, @sarapaprikas-blog, @he-burnt-my-shake, @possibly-gleeful, @pikachupepito2, @miasubzero14, @keenduckzombie, @blackrose-2019, @nobod987, @antichristsbaby, @ariel2897, @iivenussleeping, @bloody546, @amara555555, @ya-sillydilly, @calviyv, @momoko-world, @ihatebitterthings, @sillypissyfroggy, @kpopobsessedellie-blog, @wickedspeak, @helloweebsofgenshin, @technonecromancerderaxus, @undertale-anomaly20, @khaotic-kris, @lonelycupcakelol, @duchessdaisybat, @generousrunawaystranger, @hufflepuff-ef, @ciphershadow, @night-stitch, @eclipsybunnyblogs, @ashleyinky, @corpse-nymph, @a-tiny-frog-with-a-hat, @porfiriea, @greciacat, @bobawitch13, @0000-lover-girl,@undertale-anomaly20, @illyannaaaa, @tired-ninfa, @rayneofthedead96, @queergeologist, @laxbloodstone

#mortal kombat #mk x reader #mortal kombat x reader #shang tsung #shang tsung x reader #mk11 #Mk 1 #reptile mk #mk baraka #baraka x reader #mk syzoth #mk reptile #mk1 2023 #tarkatan #mk1 #mk mileena #mk kitana #mk sindel #Oddball writes

[tswaney17]

I Do Bad Things with You - Part 45

Back again, with a doozy of an update. I recommend grabbing a snack for this one. You'll be here for a while. 😅 This update does feature a torture session, so mind the trigger warnings. Only four parts and an epilogue left! Hope you like it! 💜💙💚

My fanfic account: @tswaney17fics​​​

My ao3 account: tswaney17

Please let me know what you think about this update. I love getting your feedback. Constructive criticism is always welcome. 💕

Catch up here.

Credit to @featherymalignancy for Cassian’s nickname, Cash. 😘

Trigger warnings: violence, sexual assault , language, NSFW

Word Count: 11,274

Three days later, Emerie had the adoption process in full swing. Elain wouldn’t lie, having a multi-millionaire husband made people work fast. What should’ve taken weeks (or months to be honest) to get through, only took two days. They would be taking Kaden home that night for the first time so he could get settled, and would remain with them throughout the adoption process.

The hospital approved him to stay in the ICU in the meantime to avoid having to place him in a temporary foster home, a perk of her job, and having the chief of surgery vouch for her. Elain had been worried that with an unfamiliar place, his now-healing arm in a cast, and his fear of people, would negatively impact him. The hospital board agreed—though Elain assuring them that she and Azriel would pay for the board in full probably did something to help sway their decision. She understood why hospitals had boards for making decisions, but sometimes she thought they cared more about the money than their patients.

Azriel had taken the last two days off of work to prepare the spare bedroom for their newest addition—Elain helping to the best of her ability when she got off. Due to Kaden’s small size, he also needed a booster seat that was meant for somebody younger than him. She hoped that it wouldn’t be long before they got him to a healthier weight and could put him in something more appropriate for his age.

They still hadn’t told their family, wanting to wait till after they got the approval from social services when they completed their adoption interviews the following month, but they did let the Moonbeam twins know, seeing as they would be carting him and her to work most days. Kaden was going to temporarily join the daycare group at the hospital until they got him into school. Unfortunately, the year had already started, and they were elbow-deep in research for the best ones in the area to enroll him in as soon as possible.

With the twins expected in four months, and now Kaden, it also meant they had to move—the penthouse no longer serving them and their growing family. Azriel had been in touch with his realtor to get the process started, and she hoped they had a new place and time to settle before the twins were born.

Her husband had some very specific requests for their new home security-wise, and she couldn’t disagree with any of his suggestions. They were going to lose the safety the penthouse provided with combo locks and front lobby staff twenty-four-seven. The first thing Az had requested was something gated, preferably away from others, and large enough to host their entire family in spare bedrooms. He would be able to add in the additional security, but this was the foundation of what they were searching for.

To put it lightly, they were running around like crazy trying to get things in order.

Elain was eternally grateful for her husband who could drop everything to take care of things. Perks of being the CEO, she chuckled to herself. He was going to meet her here later on that evening to pick her and Kaden up, wanting to be the one to bring him to the penthouse for the first time.

Finding that Kaden loved being read to, they had already put together a full bookshelf in his bedroom filled with books of various sizes and reading levels, along with too many stuffed animals, a boatload of other toys, and, of course, clothing. They had stocked up on items for him to last through the next year, even with the possibility of him growing.

Elain was sitting next to his hospital bed, reading him a story about giving a mouse a cookie. She was nowhere near the level of enthusiasm that Azriel had provided when he read “The Three Little Pigs” the other day, but Kaden was enamored by her nonetheless.

A commotion at the children’s ICU front desk caught her attention and she glanced up to find a man in a suit shouting at the nurses, looking agitated, furious, and threatening.

She knew who it was immediately, snatching her phone from the front pocket of her scrubs and shooting a text to the Moonbeam twins.

SOS. Children’s ICU level 3. Now.

Her fingers stroked Kaden’s plump cheek. “I’ll be right back,” she whispered, setting the book down on her chair and striding from the room. Elain closed the curtains, shielding Kaden from view before sliding the glass door shut.

But it was too late. He had seen her and the boy and was stalking his way over to them.

Elain’s back straightened as she lifted her chin, meeting him head-on just outside the room.

“Give me my son,” he snarled.

“You mean the boy that has been here for three days and you’re just now coming to claim?”

He flicked his hand, far too close to her face for comfort but she refused to flinch. “I’m here to collect him.”

Elain’s anger flared, but she reined it in, not wanting to give him more of a reason to react violently. “If you want him, you will have to go through child protective services. Because I am not releasing him to you.”

His tanned skin flushed at her comment, his rage rising to meet her challenge. “He is my son—”

“Blood doesn’t make you a father,” she snapped.

Those green eyes took her in, narrowing to slits. “You’re the bitch trying to steal him from me.”

The breath rushed from her lungs. How did he know they were trying to adopt him?

Lorenzo’s mouth curled up in the corner with a cruel smile. “Move, the fuck, out of my way.”

He shifted to his left and she countered, stepping to her right. “No.”

His gaze snatched down her body, taking in her swollen stomach before returning to her face. “If you don’t move, I’ll make you regret it.”

Elain’s heart pounded in her chest, but like hell was she letting him anywhere near her son. Kaden was hers and Azriel’s and this pathetic excuse of a man wasn’t ever getting near him again. “Touch me and I can guarantee you’ll be in a body bag by the end of the week,” she breathed. In her peripheral, she saw Fenrys and Connall jog from the elevator, spotting her across the room. Elain swung her eyes back on Lorenzo’s face. “You’re nothing but an abusive monster and if you want to try and take him, you’ll have to go through me.”

The man swung, palm open to crack across her face.

But a golden-tanned hand snatched it around his wrist, halting him just inches from her cheek, the breeze fluttering the loose hairs over her ear.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Fenrys deep voice purred. “Her husband wouldn’t like it.” Though he sounded amused and wore a slight smirk on his face, Elain saw the darkening of his eyes. A cold look of a predator waiting to pounce.

Connall wore a similar mask, standing so close to Lorenzo’s other side that any large breath would have his chest brushing against his shoulder.

Both males had become not just good friends of hers, but rather protective too. Even more so since they found out she was pregnant. She knew that with them there, Kaden’s father couldn’t touch her.

Lorenzo glanced down at her name badge, pinned to the front pocket of her scrub top at her waist. His eyes widened in surprise as he took in that hyphenated last name.

Archeron-Knight.

Only a fool wouldn’t recognize that name, and if she was correct in her assumptions about who this man was or whom he worked for, then she knew he’d know immediately who her husband was.

She saw the recognition flash across his face; the hint of fear too before he quickly tried to cover it up with a sneer.

Elain wanted to slap the scorn off his face, but she settled on using her words instead. “Unless you get clearance from social services, you are hereby banned from entering this hospital and trying to reach Kaden. If you step foot in that lobby, I’ll be sure to have you thrown out.”

His nostrils flared furiously, but before he could respond, she looked at Fenrys and nodded toward the exit behind them. “Get him out of here.”

Connall gripped his other arm as they lugged him away, curse words falling from his lips faster than she could hear them.

Her heart raced beneath her ribcage at how close it came. He would’ve hit her to get to her boy had the twins not interfered. But Elain would’ve taken it if it meant protecting the little one behind her. Taking a few steadying breaths to slow her heart rate, she turned and slipped back into Kaden’s hospital room.

He was still awake, green and hazel eyes wide with fear. It was obvious that despite the closed door, he had heard his father’s voice.

“He’s gone,” she murmured, slowly approaching his side. “You’re safe with me.”

As soon as she sat on the edge of the bed, he curled into her side, little hands gripping her scrubs. “You stay wiff me?” he asked her in such a soft voice, she almost missed it.

Elain’s chest tightened at him finally speaking. At being comfortable enough to open up to her. She carded her fingers through his soft, inky hair. “Yes, sweetheart. I’ll stay with you.”

And she did, notifying Thesan to remove her from the rotation for the rest of the day while they waited for her husband to arrive that evening.

~~~~~

Blood sprayed, showering his torso in tiny, red droplets. He felt his knuckles split at last as he threw another punch into Elias’s jaw, tooth cracking.

Azriel withdrew into the darkest corner of his mind, the place he firmly kept buried deep and only brought to the surface when his fury needed a bloody and brutal outlet. It was the tainted part of his soul that was bred and honed into him as a child. Brought upon by fists and fire.

His father made sure of it.

So did his brothers.

When he delved into the monster, he felt nothing. Became nothing. He had to in order to inflict the pain, the torture, on those who crossed him. Az didn’t let himself think about her, about their growing family. He couldn’t taint their image with the cruel, twisted version of himself that he turned into.

No matter that the man deserved every single ounce of brutalized agony he delivered. Azriel had always used violence as a method for managing his anger. Some may have called it an “unhealthy coping mechanism,” but was truly the only outlet for his fury. It was the reason why he and Cassian would spar as teens, his elder brother the only one of the two who could really throw down with him when he needed to release his pent-up rage.

As an adult, he didn’t let himself cross that bridge too often—at least not anymore—but it was even less so since she had reentered his life. For her, he tried to be a better man, wanted to be, and typically let Ruhn handle the dirty side of things.

But not for this. Not after what he did to his wife. Tried to do to his unborn children. Those acts were unforgivable and Elias would pay for it with his life.

Eventually.

The man spat it on the floor, grinning savagely up at him, despite the fact that he was tied to a chair in an abandoned warehouse and hours from death. “Is this how we end things, Azriel? You kill me to satisfy some sick fantasy?”

It had taken Ruhn a while to finally track down Elias’s hiding spot. Some secluded cabin way out of the city. But once he finally caught the trail, he tailed him like a rabid dog until he captured him for good.

He readjusted the sleeve of his right arm, pushing it back up to his elbow. His scarred fingers stained red. “Oh, Elias, how blindly imprudent you are,” he taunted, throwing another punch and nailing him square in the nose.

To Elias’s credit, he didn’t yell or shout, simply hissed, spitting more blood onto the tarped ground.

“This isn’t some fantasy. This is revenge for what you did to my wife. You signed up for this the first time you put your filthy hands on her.” Az grabbed a knife off a nearby crate, flipping it once between his thick fingers. “You will beg for death before I grant it to you,” he snarled, embedding the blade into the top of his thigh.

This time, Elias did scream, fight it as he might, the pain, the surge of blood were too much for him to hold back. His head tilted back in agony as Azriel yanked the dagger out and plunged it into his other leg.

Elias’s body tensed, fighting the restraints that would never give, as he sucked in heavy, rasping breaths. “We were supposed to have been partners,” he wheezed between clenched teeth.

“No. I was forced into a partnership with your uncle. Not you. I gave you a way out and you chose to throw my generosity in my face.” His lips curled up slightly at the corner in a sinful smirk. “Your downfall is on you, Elias. You have nobody to blame but yourself.”

The dimmed fire reignited in those dark eyes at his words. “Your slut is to blame,” he spat with a renewed vengeance.

Quick as a flash, Azriel had his large hand wrapped around the man’s throat, squeezing until Elias’s face turned an ungodly shade of red. His body twitched under the force, but Az didn’t give in an inch as he struggled and fought to breathe. Leaning forward until his lips were nearly touching his ear, he whispered, “If I were you, I would choose your words very carefully. Nobody refers to my wife in such a manner without consequence.” The smirk turned sinister as he watched Elias turn from red to purple. “It’s not so fun being on the other side of this, is it?” he mocked, knowing how Elias put his soiled hands on his wife’s neck, bruising her pale flesh for almost two weeks.

He tightened his hold, squeezing the thrashing man with a sick vengeance. He could’ve easily snapped his hyoid. Literally choke him to death. But that wouldn’t have been satisfying enough and only released his throat when he was on the verge of passing out.

Elias choked on his air, coughing with the might of his lungs. “Your fucking bitch,” he wheezed with as much venom as he could muster.

Ripping the dagger still protruding from his thigh, Azriel gripped his hand and twisted the index sideways until a distinctive snapping sound echoed in the warehouse. Pressing the blade into the joint, he began to cut, severing skin, tendon, and bone.

Hands flexing beneath his grip, screams tore from Elias’s mouth, loud enough that Az was surprised his voice hadn’t given out. Maybe he should’ve shattered that when he crushed his windpipe; at least then he could’ve had some peace and quiet. But he didn’t stop until he dropped the amputated digit onto the floor in the pooling blood that stained the bottom of his dress shoes red.

He moved to Elias’s other side, intending to even out his hands when the ringing of a phone cut through the air. His eyes flashed to Ruhn, leaning on the wall while letting him exact his revenge.

Ruhn pulled Az’s phone that he’d been holding onto out of his pocket. “It’s Connall.”

He stuffed a gag into Elias’s mouth, effectively silencing him before wiping his hands on a rag and taking the phone from Ruhn’s outstretched hand. “Connall,” he said in lieu of a greeting.

“Azriel,” he started. “I’m glad I caught you. There’s been a situation.”

His heart plummeted into his stomach. “Is Elain okay? Is she hurt? What about Kaden?”

“Everyone is fine and safe. We had an unexpected visitor today.”

His eyes flashed to Ruhn, though he knew the other man couldn’t hear the conversation. “Who?” he gritted out.

“Kaden’s biological father, Lorenzo, showed up and caused a scene. We’ve removed him from the premises, but I thought you ought to know.”

Another name to add to his list. Azriel swore if one more person went after his wife or family, he was going to lose his shit and rain hellfire on this fucking world. “Did he lay a hand on either of them?”

The very distinct pause had another blood-thirsty sense of fury washing over him. “No,” Connall finally admitted. “He attempted to strike her, but Fenrys caught his arm before it connected. They are both physically unharmed, though by the way she’s comforting Kaden, it appears he may not be emotionally or mentally.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll be in this afternoon to pick them up—Kaden is coming home with us today. Until I get there, I want at least one of you stationed outside of his room and the other monitoring Elain.”

“Already done. Elain informed us that she has requested the rest of the day off and is sticking by his side. We’re posted on either side of his door. Nobody in or out that’s not approved by her.”

The twins deserved a raise, he realized, noting that detail for later. “Thank you, Connall. For the update and keeping them safe. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Always, Azriel.”

The line went dead and he had to take a breath to settle himself. Too many emotions had risen to the surface and he needed to separate himself again to finish what he started. But as he turned to face Elias once more, his overwhelming need to make him suffer hours—if not days—of torture vanished.

He didn’t need to torture the man. Az just needed him dead. “It’s your lucky day, Elias,” he said, striding over to rip the gag from his mouth. “My desire to torture just took on a new face.”

Some sick satisfaction swept over him at the hope that lit Elias’s dark eyes. Because he knew the man thought Azriel was going to let him go, and he was about to rip that dream of freedom right out from underneath him. “Which means, your life has served its purpose.”

True terror blanketed Elias’s face and before he could even voice a shout, Azriel snatched the dagger from the crate where he left it and slashed it across his throat.

Elias choked on his blood, drowning in it as it poured from his lips.

Dropping the knife on the ground, he turned his back on the dying man and told Ruhn, “Bury him on top of his uncle. So, the beginning and the end of their regime can meet in death.”

He left the warehouse without another word, letting Ruhn handle the cleanup and dealing with the body.

As the sunlight warmed his skin on his walk to his car, Azriel released the mask of his inner demon and summoned his true self back into its place. The man who loved his wife and their growing family. He let out a heavy breath, breathing out all of the darkness from his soul. Climbing into the car, he drove away from the warehouse and did not look back. 

~~~

Azriel had done his research in the short time since deciding to proceed with the adoption, needing to know what they would face by taking in Kaden. Lorenzo was, in fact, a part of the Illyrian Mob, though he wasn’t ranked high. He had about three superiors before he reached Nick, let alone Frankie. His death wouldn’t even cause a stir in their pyramid of power.

A kernel of knowledge he kept in the back of his mind because that’s what he signed up for when he went after Elain and Kaden. His death by Az’s hands. Another stain on his blackened soul, but he would taint it for her. For them. He’d carry the weight of the world if it kept his wife and family safe.

But that would come at another time. Right now, he had to focus on the boy they would be bringing home that night. He pulled into a parking spot outside the hospital and climbed out of the car. He and Elain spent the morning installing the booster seat in the back for Kaden before she left for work, and he did a last-minute glance over to make sure everything was ready. Snatching the small backpack filled with proper clothing inside, Azriel strolled into the front lobby of the hospital.

He took the elevator up to the third floor, nodding at the Moonbeam brothers who stood guard outside of Kaden’s room and knocked on the door.

Elain waved him in with a smile on her face as she got up off the stool to greet him. “Hello, Az.” She swooped in for a sweet kiss, his hand automatically settling onto her rounded stomach.

“Hello, my love,” he grinned, leaning forward for another small peck of her lips.

Her eyes glanced down at the hand cradling her belly. Her fingers grazed the fresh wounds that littered across his knuckles. “What happened?”

Azriel twisted his wrist to grip her palm, bringing it up to plant a soft kiss there. “Just work stuff.”

She frowned but didn’t ask him to elaborate. Elain was intelligent and could easily guess how he split his knuckles. But she knew better than to bring it up in front of their little boy, who was watching them closely.

Knowing that he came from a rough home, they made sure to show their affection to each other in his presence, wanting him to know that he was joining a loving home.

Azriel looked around her shoulder, smiling at Kaden sitting on the bed. “Hello, Kaden. I brought you something to wear.” He stepped forward, unzipping the backpack and pulling out a pair of pants, a long-sleeve shirt, socks, and sneakers, that he hoped fit him.

Elain moved to shut the curtain, offering them some privacy as they helped change him from his hospital gown to street clothes. “I’m going to put your bear in your backpack to take him home, okay?” she said, showing him the stuffed toy being placed in the dinosaur backpack.

Kaden’s dark hair rumpled when he tugged the shirt over his head and Az couldn’t help but chuckle as it fell into his eyes. He’d need a haircut soon.

His little hand rose to push it back, but a shy smile tugged on his lips.

Azriel felt his heart soar from that smile. He hadn’t been offered one yet, but spending the last few days here with him had helped tremendously. Kneeling, he helped put his shoes on, tying the laces, and then carefully lifted him off the bed and onto his feet. “Shall we go home now?” he asked.

Kaden immediately took Elain’s offered hand, but he was surprised when he felt small fingers wrap around his pinky. Azriel looked down to find the boy staring up at him.

Every single worry he had about this kid not accepting him as his father vanished from that moment on. He was his, no matter his blood, and Az would do anything to keep it that way. Nobody was ever going to take his son away from him and Elain.

He pushed the curtain aside and opened the sliding glass door, tugging his little family into motion. The Moonbeam brothers fell into step behind them, always guarding their backs but now with even more reason and focus. Azriel had seen the way they stepped up in their protection detail since Elain had gotten pregnant, and he knew that their dedication would extend to Kaden tenfold.

They rode down the elevator in comfortable silence, a pleasant hum running through his body. Viviane looked up at them when they made it to the nurses’ station, a smile pulling on her lips and she clapped Elain on the shoulder as they passed.

At the car, he kissed his wife’s cheek, murmuring for her to get in as he lifted Kaden and strapped him into the booster seat. He ruffled his hair with a large, scarred palm, catching that green-flecked gaze.

Closing the door, Az dismissed Fenrys and Connall for the weekend before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“What’s for dinner tonight?” Elain asked, turning to look at the boy in the back.

Azriel glanced in the rearview mirror, watching as he took in the sights around him. “Steak with mac and cheese,” he said out loud, pulling out of his parking spot.

She rubbed a hand over the swell of her stomach. “One baby agrees with that decision very much.” Her light laughs echoed in the car, and he reached over to feel the hard kick from one of the twins.

A little fighter, that one was.

Elain’s cravings had varied throughout the pregnancy. In the beginning, she wanted nothing but carbs. Then she was into Mexican, and Az spent a lot of time making bean and cheese burritos at two in the morning when she woke up hungry. But right now it was barbeque. Steak was his go-to, but last week, she was dipping chicken breast into frosting because, apparently, it was sweet and savory. He had to hide his disgust over the last one, but the image of her utter happiness while eating it brought a smile to his lips.

When they made it to the penthouse, Azriel immediately went to light the barbeque and put the mac and cheese in the oven while Elain gave Kaden a tour of the downstairs living area. Once finished, they walked him up the stairs to her old bedroom where he would temporarily be staying until they bought a new place. “This is your room, Kaden,” he said, opening the door and allowing him to slowly shuffle his way in.

Green and gold eyes went wide at the outrageous display. To be fair, he and Elain might have gone a bit overboard on things to buy, but they wanted to make sure Kaden felt at home and well-loved.

Az had put together two bookshelves against the far wall that were nearly overflowing. A rocking chair sat with them so that they could read together in the evenings before bed. A basket full of stuffed toys sat in the corner, and a large shelving unit was placed next to the dresser and contained everything from a dinosaur set to blocks to racecars.

They had decided to keep the queen-sized bed in there for now, not having had the time to replace it, nor wanting to. So, they purchased kid sheets instead, with a cartoon character on them that he couldn’t remember at the moment.

Truthfully, the bedroom looked like it belonged on the cover of a home décor magazine, but their only concern was comfort.

Kaden glanced up at them, waiting for permission.

“Go on,” Az encouraged him with a gentle nudge on his back.

The little boy ran for the boxes on the shelves, opening the tubs they had organized before sliding them back. He then took off for the plush toys, digging around until he found a stuffed dog.

The squeal he let out had warmth flooding his body and Az turned to share a look with his wife, whom he could tell was experiencing the same kind of utter joy.

Kaden stopped at the bookshelves, roaming the selection before he carefully placed his dog on the rocker and then ran back to them. He threw his arms first around Elain’s legs, making her choke out a sob, and then carefully around his, almost as if nervous to show affection towards him.

Az’s throat grew thick with unshed tears and he crouched to put himself at eye level, holding out his arms to see if he would embrace him.

The little one hesitated for a second before he slowly stepped into his chest and wrapped his arms around his neck. Azriel held him tightly to his body. Felt the heaviness of his worries that this boy wouldn’t accept him disappeared within that embrace.

“We’re happy to have you home with us, buddy,” Azriel whispered, pressing his lips to the side of his son’s head.

His son.

The words hadn’t hit him until that very moment. But as he clutched that little body to his torso, he realized how right it felt to think it. To say it.

Elain sniffed, carding her fingers through Kaden’s soft hair. “Go play, sweetheart. We’ll come to get you when dinner is ready.”

Azriel released him, letting him toddle off back for the assorted containers. He stood back up and wrapped an arm around her waist as they watched him a moment longer explore his new bedroom. “Come on, let’s get you changed.”

Though it was obvious that both of them wanted to stay, they also agreed to give Kaden some space to settle in, so it didn’t feel like they were hovering over him.

Elain padded to their bedroom to swap into some comfier clothes while he went back downstairs to throw the steaks onto the barbeque. They busied themselves in the kitchen, listening to Kaden’s imagination run wild up the stairs. Though not loud, it was something they both kept sharing shy smiles over.

“He seems to love it,” she breathed.

He looked over at her. “You did well in picking out stuff for him. I don’t think I would’ve had any of the right toys.”

Elain laughed softly, brushing a soft kiss to his cheek. “You’ll get better at it as you grow into your role as a father.”

They harmoniously worked together to finish prepping dinner, basking in their contented silence—it wouldn’t be long until the silence became a rarity for them—and it wasn’t until a distinct crashing sound had him racing up the stairs, two at a time.

Az threw open the bedroom door.

Kaden whipped around, looking guilty and nervous at the blocks knocked onto the floor. It was clear he had accidentally dropped the container as he pulled it off the shelf.

His son slowly took a step back, like he thought he was in trouble. The evident fear made his stomach clench, sorrow and range dancing through him at the mere thought of somebody harming this child for making any sort of sound.

Elain gripped his shoulder and he glanced at her, seeing that same worry on her face.

He turned back toward the little boy, hoping to calm him. “Are you all right?” Az asked carefully.

A minute passed, then another until finally, they received a silent nod in confirmation.

“We thought maybe you got hurt,” he tried explaining. “You’re not in trouble.”

Those shoulders relaxed slightly.

How often did he get hit or shoved or yelled at, simply for being a kid? It made his heart ache and his blood boil for vengeance on Kaden’s biological father. That man had a limited number of days before Az sought him out.

“Dinner will be ready soon, sweetheart,” Elain cooed, offering him a sweet smile that seemed to provide him some semblance of ease. She gently closed the door and they both paused, holding their breath to see if he would continue playing. After a moment’s hesitation, they heard a car being rolled across the hardwood floor.

She gripped his hand, tugging him down the stairs. “It’ll take some time to adjust to his every sound, but I think we can hold off on running up the stairs whenever he makes a peep,” she teased, shooting him a grin over her shoulder that didn’t touch her eyes. Because she knew as well as him the horrors their little boy faced in his short lifetime already.

Az sighed more to himself than anyone else. “After everything he’s been through, I can’t help but want to make sure he’s okay, one hundred percent of the time.”

“That’s fatherhood calling you, Azriel. Our kids are going to get scrapes and bumps and bruises. That’s just a part of childhood. The best we can do is just make sure we’re there to bandage them up and kiss away the hurt.”

He stopped her, turning her around to kiss her softly. She melted into it. “You are my rock, El.”

Her breath teased his lips as she looped her arms around his neck, securing him to her. “And you’re mine.”

Azriel felt those words settle into his heart and spread all over his body. Warmth and love and the undying faith that he knew to be true. Together, they could take on the world.

~~~~~

The next few weeks had been a blur. Kaden blossomed under their care, speaking to them in a quiet voice, though they could tell he was a bit behind in his speech. They hired a speech therapist who worked with him three days a week after school. Kaden loved school, even if he was shy with the other kids, and they did find out he’d never attended one before, which also explained his developmental delays. He mostly kept close to his teacher, who had been informed of his past and fears, but a few of the kids in his class kept trying to engage with him and only the day before were they informed that he accepted an invite to play with one of the other children.

After dinner, they’d each take turns reading to him and with him, hoping to help catch him up to his classmates. Both Kaden’s teacher and speech therapist had recommended it, and she and Azriel would do everything in their power to help their boy succeed. And though he was calling them by their given names now, they were working toward momma and daddy.

It was progress, Elain had said one night. “Every day, I see a little bit more of the boy he’s supposed to be.”

There were a few rough challenges they had to handle. About a week and a half into living with them, Kaden woke up late evening with a nightmare. Elain didn’t think she would ever forget it…

Azriel was on his side, head propped on his fist as he spoke to her belly. It was something he did every night, wanting the babies to hear his voice as much as possible. Sometimes he read them stories, sometimes he sang, and other times he just told them about his day and how much he couldn’t wait to meet them. Whatever it was, Elain always had to choke back tears at the love and joy that shone on his face when he talked with their children.

It was nearing eleven o’clock when they heard Kaden’s desperate scream.

Her husband launched out of bed, tearing down the hallway to reach their son’s bedroom. Elain hurried behind him, though her waddling—yes, she was fucking waddling now—slowed her down a bit. When she reached his room, Az already had Kaden’s crying form tucked into his chest.

“You’re okay, Kaden. You’re safe. Nobody will ever hurt you again,” he murmured, pressing kisses to the top of his head. His golden eyes met hers, blazing with a fury she only saw when his family was threatened. “Love, can you get some clean sheets out?”

Her brows raised in surprise, but with the hallway light on, she could see the dark stain on the bed where their son had wet himself from fear. Elain’s heart ached, but she nodded, slipping to the cupboard just outside the door and pulling out new linens.

She set the bedding on the dresser and then headed into the bathroom to start the water in the tub. “I’ll trade you,” Elain said, indicating for the child.

With one last kiss on his head, Azriel placed Kaden into her arms and began stripping the bed of its soiled sheets.

“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you cleaned up.” She rubbed his back in comfort, hoping it would slow the tears still rolling down his red cheeks. Once he calmed down enough, Elain helped him out of his pajamas and got him into the bathtub.

As she was gathering his clothes from the floor, he asked her, “Is Azweel going to punish me?”

Her head snapped up, catching Azriel in the mirror whirling around in shock at the question. She could read the devastation on his face. The hurt of being associated with that monster. Knowing she had to carefully address this, Elain knelt by Kaden at the edge of the tub. “No, sweetie,” she murmured, running a hand through his soft hair. “Azriel isn’t going to punish you, sweetheart. It was an accident.”

It became clear that this wasn’t the first time Kaden had an accident and received corporal punishment for it. A level of anger she’d never felt before kindled in her gut as Kaden’s bottom lip quivered.

Gathering his clothes, she stepped out of the bathroom, finding the bed already remade, and Azriel standing there looking as if he’d been slapped.

“He thinks I’m going to punish him?” he asked in disbelief.

But that wasn’t quite right. “No, he believes that he will be punished for an accident because he likely has been before. You are stepping into the role of his father, Az. It’s going to take some time for him to see the difference in how you respond to things versus the man who sired him. He will see it, though. I promise you that he will.”

Az chewed on his bottom lip, a habit he did when he was anxious about something. “Should I go in there?” he worried.

“I think it’s important that you do.”

He nodded, picking up the clean sleepwear for his son, and stepped into the bathroom.

Elain tossed the soiled pajamas into the hamper before leaning against the wall, just outside the bathroom to listen to her husband.

“Hey, buddy. You ready to get out now?” Azriel kept his voice whisper-soft, not wanting to give Kaden anything to worry about.

Water sloshed and she heard the distinct sound of the drain popping.

“I heard you ask momma if I was going to punish you…” there was a pregnant pause and she held her breath for the rest of that sentence. “No matter what, Kaden, I will never punish you like that. Whatever happens, I promise you that you won’t ever have to fear me, okay? I love you so much, Kaden. And I will always, always protect you.”

A wave of tears washed over her, rolling down her cheeks. Damn hormones. She glanced into the bathroom, catching Kaden as he slipped his arms around Az’s neck, hugging him tightly.

Her husband rose to his feet, still clutching their son in his arms. He turned, catching her watching them, and shot her a pleading look.

Elain knew what he was asking her for. Could read his desire to continue holding his son. So, she reached out a hand for him. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

They walked back down to their bedroom, Az lying down on his back so Kaden could sleep on his chest. Elain snuggled in next to him, her hand rubbing up and down their son’s spine until he drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep.

“You’re good with him,” she whispered.

“We’re good with him,” he amended. “I don’t think I could let him go, now.” He left the rest unspoken. How, if social services didn’t approve of the adoption, they would fight until their dying breath to change their minds. Because like hell were they letting anyone take their boy away.

But she didn’t doubt that they would be seen as the best thing for Kaden. And she would use that confidence to power through their interview which could change their lives forever.

Much like the little boy sleeping on her husband already had.

Elain blinked, drawing herself from her memory. They were on their way to the adoption interview, and though she had confidence that this would go their way, it didn’t stop the butterflies from erupting in her stomach from her nerves.

Almost as if he could sense it, a large, scarred hand reached across the console to squeeze her knee. Az glanced at her once before returning his eyes to the road. His touch instantly soothed the anxiety running through her.

“Ewain,” Kaden called from the backseat.

She twisted her head to look at him over her shoulder. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“Can we get ice cweam?”

Azriel let out a chuckle as she smiled at the little boy. “I think we can do that after the interview.”

“Yay!” he cheered, throwing his arms into the air and kicking his feet wildly in his booster seat. Despite fall having rolled in a few weeks earlier, summer had yet to lessen it’s hold on the city and a cold bowl of ice cream did sound appetizing.

At that, her husband laughed, deeply and so full of love as they pulled into the parking lot of the social services office. Azriel collected Kaden from the back who grabbed both of their hands, nearly swinging between them as they walked into the building.

“Mr. and Mrs. Archeron-Knight. Welcome,” a woman said from behind the front desk. “Please follow me.” She escorted them to the back into a private room. Half of it was set up with a couch, desk, and two chairs, while the other half was clearly designed for children, including a small table with coloring utensils and a cubby holding various toys. “The interviewer will be in shortly. Please make yourself comfortable.”

They moved to sit on the couch together, Az gripping her elbow to ease her down. The joys of being pregnant with twins.

“Can I go pway?” Kaden asked, shooting them those puppy-dog eyes that neither could resist. They were definitely in for trouble with that face.

“Of course,” she told him, brushing a curl behind his ear.

He went straight to the table, grabbing a coloring book and some crayons to occupy himself, humming lowly while his feet swung beneath his chair. Kaden had a love of art; something his Aunt Feyre would go nuts for.

“We’ll have to get him more coloring supplies,” Azriel murmured, pressing his lips to the side of her head.

A knock sounded from the door before it was opened, revealing a young woman with dark hair braided back, and a beautifully tanned complexion that could only be from her heritage.

She smiled brightly at them. “Hello Azriel and Elain. My name is Nesryn. It’s lovely to meet you both.”

At the sound of a new voice, Kaden’s head whipped up and he quickly made his way back over to them, wiggling to place himself between their bodies.

Her brows raised in response to his shyness.

“Kaden is still a bit uncomfortable with strangers,” Elain said, running her hand along his back as he buried his face into her torso. “We’re taking it slow in introducing him to people so he doesn’t feel overwhelmed.”

Nesryn’s lips turned up at the corner. “I can’t say that’s entirely a bad thing, or surprising for that matter given his history.” She took a seat opposite of them, using the table as a buffer between her and their son. “I took a look through his file and, frankly, the number of past injuries is highly concerning. I know that Emerie was originally on his case, and she will be conducting his interview because I believe she may have a better chance at working with him but given her close relationship with you, Elain, she’s asked me to conduct your interviews to prevent any biases.”

She nodded. “I think that’s fair.”

Flipping open the file in front of her, Nesryn leaned back in her seat and asked, “So, why do you want to adopt Kaden?”

They shared a look before Azriel responded. “To put it point blank, he’s our son, without a doubt.”

“When Kaden was first brought into the hospital, I connected with him instantly,” Elain added. “He seemed timid with the nurses and other doctors, but with me, he relaxed. I knew from that initial meeting that he was brought into our lives for a reason. Even with his nervousness around men, he opened up to Azriel fairly quickly too. Almost as if he knew he could trust us to love him.”

Nesryn nodded, noting something down in her file. “And how has he progressed with you since he’s been living with you?”

“He’s communicating with us, will tell us what he wants to eat, and asks if he can do something. His food intake is good and I can see he’s beginning to put on some healthy weight,” Az explained. “He’ll sit with us as we read bedtime stories and let us kiss him goodnight.”

She smiled. “It sounds like you have a solid routine for him, would you agree?”

Elain tucked her foot behind her ankle. “Yes. We try to keep a set schedule with him as much as possible. Dinner time, bedtime, when we wake him up to get ready for the day.”

“How’s he sleeping?”

Azriel glanced at her, a question in his eyes and she nodded. “There was an incident the first week. He woke up one evening with a nightmare so terrifying for him that he wet the bed.” Nesryn’s brow cocked, but she didn’t interrupt. “We comforted him, cleaned him up, and put new sheets on his bed, but it was a question he asked that concerned us…”

“What was the question?”

He sighed, lips parting. He hated having to admit this, but it was important to be honest with the social worker. They had discussed whether or not to talk about that night earlier and decided if it was brought up, then they would. “He asked Elain if I was going to punish him.”

Nesryn noted that down and he fought the hackles that rose as a result. “Did you punish him?”

The question caught him off guard. “No! Of course not. He didn’t do anything wrong and I would never punish him in the way he was asking.”

“What way is that?”

“We believe corporal punishment was used on him in instances like this,” Elain spoke up, seeing how the question twisted at Az’s insides. “After he asked me that, Azriel went to speak with him and reassured him that he would never punish him like that. That he would always protect him.”

The woman smiled. “That was probably the best thing you could’ve offered him at that moment.” She turned her dark eyes onto her husband. “I don’t ask these questions to pry or to insinuate anything, Azriel, but just to get a feeling of how well you two respond to it. I could see that you were upset by that question and I wanted to make myself clear. You both have shown me that you would make excellent guardians for Kaden already.”

She flipped through her file, checking off a few boxes. “Now, I do need to address the obvious.” Her eyes flashed to Elain’s rounded stomach before returning to meet their gaze. “You’re expecting in a few months. That’s a hefty change for you both. How do plan to balance having newborns with a newly adopted child at the same time, along with the additional financial obligations that come with it?”

“You don’t need to worry about the financial aspect. We are more than capable of handling whatever expenses come our way,” Az told her.

Nesryn huffed a knowing laugh. “True, but I’m still required to ask it.” It was no secret to her how wealthy they were.

“As for balance, I think it’s important to note that even though Kaden will not be our biological son, at no point will he ever feel like there’s a difference in the love we show him in comparison to the twins. He will always be our son, no matter what. And we will do everything we can to ensure that he’s settled, included, and as much a part of our family as anyone else. There is no limit to the love we can give him.” Elain said each and every word with her whole heart, feeling Azriel take her hand as they huddled closer to the little boy still sitting between them.

“While Elain will be taking a generous maternity leave, I will also be taking two months off from work to be at home after the twins are born. And then will work from home for a good portion of the few months after while we establish a rhythm, to settle with our three children, and to make sure that Kaden is as comfortable as possible.”

Her whole face lit up with a smile. “I’m happy to hear that. Many fathers aren’t able to take time off like that and adjust their schedule to help out, so knowing you plan to, I believe will make all the difference in adjusting to your new life.” She skimmed through her notes and then closed the file. “Well, I must admit that you two would make wonderful parents to Kaden. I don’t have any concerns with approving your adoption of him.”

The air whooshed from Elain’s lungs in one giant breath. Relief and happiness and so many other emotions rushed through her until her eyes grew misty. “Thank you, Nesryn. That means a lot to us. Truly.”

“Always a pleasure.” She stood from her seat. “I’ll send Emerie in for Kaden’s interview now. You two will need to step out of the room for it, so we can try and get unbiased answers from him.” She indicated to the mirror on the side of the room. “You’ll be able to watch through there. His interview won’t be as extensive as yours was.”

“And if he doesn’t answer her questions?” Az asked, nervous for the same reason she was. Would that affect their ability to adopt him if he refused to speak?

“His questioning is just to get an idea of how he’s feeling. If he doesn’t respond, then we will notate that and go with just your interview.”

She breathed out a sigh of relief.

A moment after she bid them farewell, the door opened and Emerie walked in. “Good morning,” she beamed, stepping up to the coffee table. “I was hoping that perhaps Kaden and I could chat over there,” she pointed towards the area where he’d been coloring earlier.

Elain glanced at the boy, still tucked against her side. “Do you want to go color again?” she asked him softly, brushing his hair back.

Kaden peeked up at her, his green-speckled eyes wide. He dipped his chin in confirmation.

They got him set up at the table to continue his drawing from earlier when Az knelt next to him. “All right, buddy. Emerie here wants to talk with you for a minute by yourself. Momma and I will be right outside the door if you need us. Okay?”

Elain kissed the top of his head on her way out the door. They made their way to the side room where the one-way glass was, watching as Emerie made attempts to communicate with their son.

“Do you like living with Elain and Azriel?” she asked him as she worked on her own drawing. Nesryn explained that it helped reduce the anxiety of feeling interrogated.

Kaden nodded, not looking up from his drawing.

Silent communication was better than no communication, she thought, relieved to see that he did like being with them.

Azriel gripped her hand in his large, warm one.

“What do you like about living with them?” she encouraged, picking up a new color.

He was quiet for a moment, then told her, “They’re nice.”

“He’s talking to her,” she breathed, throat constricting with emotion. They had done that. They had broken through his barriers to help him speak.

“Nice, huh? Was your dad not nice?”

Az shot a look at her, puzzled by the question.

Kaden shook his head, grabbing a yellow crayon, but didn’t elaborate. Not that she expected him to. Elain realized early on that Kaden didn’t like to talk about his biological father, even with them. She hoped that in time, he would open up about it, but they weren’t going to push the subject with him.

“Did he hit you?” Emerie asked quietly.

His coloring slowed, eyes never straying from the paper in front of him.

She reached out to touch his hand, but he snatched it away from her. “You can tell me, sweetie. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“I don’t fucking like this,” Az growled, tensing as she pushed their son into speaking.

“Did he hit you, Kaden?”

His head snapped up, crocodile tears rolling down his cheeks. “Where’s Azweel? I want Azweel!” he shouted, voice cracking in desperation.

Elain felt that pain in the pit of her stomach; her husband already moving.

“Fuck this shit,” he snarled, throwing open the door to the interview room and hurrying to collect his son.

“Azriel!” Emerie started.

“This interview is over,” he snapped, cradling Kaden’s crying form to his chest.

Elain reached his side, her palm running along Kaden’s arm in comfort as he clung to his father’s neck

Emerie rose from her chair, arms crossing. “I know that it’s hard to watch, but if we can get a verbal statement from him, admitting to his father’s abuse, we have a stronger case against him!”

“Do not raise your voice in his presence,” he said forcefully. “What you’re doing isn’t helping him. He’s not ready to talk about what he went through and I will not stand by and watch him have to relive his abuse when he is not ready for it.” Azriel was a force to be reckoned with when it came to his family. “I don’t think you understand the trauma a child goes through after living in an abusive household. We have worked so hard to get him to open up to us, to progress forward, and if you push him, we’re going to lose all the growth we’ve made.”

“If and when he’s ready to talk, we will be there for him, but we’re not going to continue like this,” Elain added, standing with her husband on this.

Footsteps sounded behind them and Nesryn walked in, skin turned a ghastly pale color. She held her phone in her hand as she looked at them all. “We don’t need to worry about building a case against him…”

Emerie frowned. “Why?”

“Because they just found Lorenzo’s body.”

~~~

They were silent in the car, the last hour replaying over and over in her mind. After hearing the news about Kaden’s biological father, chaos broke out. Phones were ringing and both Emerie and Nesryn were arguing with their superiors about how nothing changed their minds.

Elain, for a brief second, thought she was going to lose her son in the madness. Only Azriel’s strong presence at her side kept her from breaking down completely. But when the dust settled, they received the stamp of approval for Kaden’s adoption.

She had wept with joy, kissing her husband, still holding their son to his chest, before she descended upon Kaden’s head until he giggled at her.

But now, as they were headed home, having stopped to grab an ice cream to go, she couldn’t stop the question from passing her lips. “Did you do it?” Elain asked, glancing at Azriel behind the wheel.

His eyes shot to hers for a brief second before returning to the road. “No,” he told her honestly. “No matter that he deserved it and I should’ve.” Azriel’s words held a dark and dangerous tone and she knew that he would’ve ended that man if the opportunity had presented itself to him. Not just for their son, but for the time Lorenzo nearly attacked her too.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. Elain couldn’t exactly blame him for wanting Lorenzo dead. The man had tortured the sweet boy in the back seat for years. Left hurt, scared, and to fend for himself. She saw a lot of her husband in him and she knew Az saw himself too—saw the trauma of his childhood in those green and golden eyes.

“Should we be worried?” If he didn’t end Lorenzo’s life, somebody else did. And the timing was just too coincidental for her not to have concerns.

Azriel let out a heavy breath. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

Elain looked over her shoulder at the boy humming while he ate his ice cream, most of it smeared on his lips. His feet kicked happily over the edge of his booster seat.

“No matter who did it, nothing will ever happen to him, El. I promise you that.”

She looked back at her husband. “I never doubted that. I’m just worried at why it was done.”

He grabbed her hand, kissing her knuckles. “Let’s not think about it right now and focus on our growing family.” Az ran his thumb over the back of her palm. “We need to let our siblings know.”

Elain pulled her phone from her purse. “I know. I was thinking of dinner. What about tomorrow night? You could barbeque again—ooh, barbeque…” Her mind wandered to Az’s grilled specialties, which he made for her three times a week to curb her cravings.

His chuckle pulled her mind back from thoughts of food and the growl in her stomach. “I can barbeque, my sweet.”

“You spoil me.”

Az’s head tipped back in a laugh. “You’re the one growing two babies inside of you. I think making your food is the least I could do.”

Her grin split her face as she typed out a message to her sisters. HerH

“Momma, I’m all done!” Kaden shouted from the backseat.

Elain whipped her head around at the name, sucking in a sharp breath. For a moment, she just stared at the little boy, replaying the sound of him calling her momma. Tears welled in her eyes and it took her a minute to realize he was holding out his empty paper bowl and spoon for her to take. With a shaking hand, she reached out and collected the carton, heart hammering in her chest.

“Tank you!” 

“You’re very welcome, sweetie,” she managed to spit out, still in shock.

Azriel pulled into their parking spot in the penthouse garage, turning off the ignition to smile broadly at her.

He called me momma, she mouthed at him.

Leaning across the console, he kissed her, cupping her jaw and letting his thumb swoop over her cheek. “You’re his momma,” he whispered only to her.

Her phone dinged twice and she lifted it to read the text from her sisters. “Dinner for tomorrow is a go,” she told him.

They glanced back at their son, oblivious to the shared moment. Tomorrow, their siblings would find out they had a new nephew. And she couldn’t wait to share the news with them.

~~~~~

Azriel was on the balcony, checking on the two chickens he had on the grill. His wife’s obsession with anything barbeque still made him smile. He did his best to mix up the way he prepped it so he and Kaden didn’t grow tired of it, but Az didn’t dare to tell his wife no when it came to whatever she was craving.

It was a quarter till six when he heard the elevator ping and made his way back inside to greet his siblings. “How do you all manage to show up at the exact same time?” he asked, sliding the glass door closed behind him.

“Impeccable timing?” Cassian supplied with his signature shit-eating grin.

Az simply rolled his eyes, calling for his wife. “Elain! Everyone is here!”

“Be right down!” she hollered back.

They had decided to have Elain bring Kaden down to meet everyone at once, hoping it would be less intimidating for him. He wasn’t sure how their family would react to the adoption, but he didn’t believe they had anything to worry about.

“We brought wine,” Feyre announced, heading towards the kitchen in search of glasses.

There was nothing he could do but let her further into the dining area, watching as she paused at the table, brow furrowing. “Az, do we have somebody else joining us? The table is set for seven.”

Before he could answer, absolute silence descended upon the room as Elain appeared at the top of the stairs, carrying what looked like a sleeping Kaden in her arms. She managed to take only three steps down before Az reached her, taking the little boy from her arms. “Come here, bud. Momma shouldn’t be carrying you right now.”

Even in his sleepy state, Kaden willingly went into Azriel’s embrace, arms sliding around his neck.

“He was asleep on the floor when I went into his room,” Elain told him, taking his elbow as they made their way down the stairs to where their gaping family awaited.

“Question,” Cassian started, looking utterly bewildered. “Did you two have a previous child that we don’t know about?”

Elain laughed softly, running her fingers through their son’s dark locks. “Everyone, we’d like for you to meet our newly adopted son, Kaden.”

Azriel turned so he could see his aunts and uncles. “Kaden,” he murmured quietly, running a hand down his back. “Kaden, this is your Uncle Rhys and Aunt Feyre,” he said, then turned towards their other siblings. “And your Aunt Nesta and Uncle Cassian.”

Those green eyes peeked out from his chest, glancing at the four new adults before he turned his face and buried it into his neck.

He chuckled, hoisting him up higher in his arms. “He’s a little shy.”

Their siblings remained frozen like statues. Much to his surprise, it was Nesta who managed to snap out of her reverie first, stepping forward and presenting her daughter propped on her hip. “Hello, Kaden. It’s nice to meet you. This is Sutton,” she told him, angling the almost one-year-old so he could see her better. “She’s your cousin.”

That had him turning to look at the little girl in his aunt’s arms. “Baby,” he whispered, fingers grappling with the collar of Az’s shirt.

He kissed the top of Kaden’s hair. “That’s right, buddy. She’s a baby, like what your brother and sister will be.”

“Does anybody want to explain what is going on?” Rhys demanded, startling the boy in his arms.

“Lower your voice,” Az said fiercely, taking a step back from the group to murmur words of comfort into his ear. “Would you like to go color before dinner?” he asked, already moving towards the coffee table where Kaden had left out coloring books from earlier.

He gently set his son on the floor, kneeling to kiss the side of his head before rising and ushering the adults further into the dining area to give Kaden some space.

“Kaden was brought into the hospital a while ago with a fracture to his arm that required surgery,” Elain explained. The cast had come off the previous week and his surgical site was healing well. “X-rays showed that it wasn’t his first fracture.”

“Or his second, or his third,” Az practically growled, still furious at how much the boy had suffered at the hands of his biological father.

“Four fractures?” Cassian breathed in horror.

Elain touched the back of her head. “He had one on his skull, here. Likely the result of being pushed into the corner of a low-lying table.”

“Oh, my god.”

“Because of the obvious abuse he suffered, he’s very timid around adults, particularly males. Despite that, he connected with me in the hospital. Clung to me,” his wife told them, looking at their son with such love that he had to wrap his arm around her waist and tug her close to him, wanting to bask in the warmth she radiated.

“We were approved for the adoption yesterday, and go to court in a few weeks,” Azriel announced.

Silence descended one more before Cassian cleared his throat in obvious discomfort over what he was about to say. “Not that we aren’t truly happy for you both, you do remember you’re having twins in just a short while, right?”

Elain’s eyes snapped to her brother-in-law, going impossibly dark. “Well, fuck me, Cash. I’m pregnant? Who would’ve thought?”

Azriel snorted in amusement at the hostility.

Cassian’s tanned face went pale. “I didn’t mean it like that, Elain—”

“Then how did you mean?” she snapped, not even letting him finish his sentence.

It surprised him that Cash, of all the siblings, made a comment. He had always been the more accepting of the group to changes and surprises.

His brother scratched the back of his head, knowing he’d dug himself into a hole. “I just meant that newborns are a lot and you have two on the way. Taking on another child could be more than you anticipate.”

Jesus Christ his brother was burying himself in a grave.

Elain stepped out of his grasp, shooting daggers at Cassian. “Azriel and I are well aware of the responsibilities that will come with adopting a child and having newborns. We’ve discussed things endlessly to ensure that Kaden feels welcomed and loved even with the twins’ birth.” She crossed her arms as she stared him down. “But I’m curious, would we not see the level of support that we have shown you since Sutton’s birth?”

At that, Cash blanched. “Of course you would.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Forgive me, Elain. It was not my intention to question your ability to parent and raise three children. I know you’re more than capable of it.”

She turned her attention on the rest of the group. “Does anybody else have any opinions they’d like to address?”

A chorus of declines sounded from the rest, making him chuckle.

“Good.” Elain turned to face him. “How are we doing on the chickens?”

Azriel glanced down at his watch. “They should be done. We can start bringing stuff to the table and I’ll carve.”

His family went to scatter, Nesta slowly approaching Kaden with Sutton in her arms and asking to join him on the floor. Nesta laid her daughter on her stomach, sitting back against the couch with some toys. He watched as his son cautiously stepped toward his niece. A smile touched his lips, already seeing a life-long bond between the two children.

Feyre and Rhys followed Elain to the kitchen, helping her pull dishes from the fridge and finish setting the table.

Cash took a half-step toward his wife when Azriel reached out and snagged him by the crook of his elbow, forcing him to look back at him. He lowered his voice to ensure the others couldn’t overhear him. “Don’t you ever speak to my wife like that again,” he warned.

Regret flashed in those hazel eyes so much like his own. “It won’t happen again.”

He nodded, releasing Cash’s arm. “Good. Now help me with the chicken.”

Gathered around the table, the family welcomed their newest addition, growing more and more excited for all the new changes coming their way.

~~~~~

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[adaptacy]

Hear me out-

Johnny with a very stoic, silent reader who is actually really really deadly if that makes sense?? Maybe they met while she was sitting at a bar and ended up getting into a fight with some guy who was bothering Sissy or something, OOH maybe she’s a bouncer, love me a woman who can fight ngl 💕💕 (and very psychotic men but that’s not important-

OOO okay!! honestly i was expecting johnny to be the strong silent stoic type i was so surprised when i played the game and he was a chatterbox douchebag who cant stop talking shit

so i think a stoic type partner could be fun >:)

He and sissy didn't go out very often-- Well, at least not together. Once sissy moved back into the Sawyer house, she remained there most of the time while Johnny was the one to go out and have all the fun.

But, whenever he was absolutely exhausted of her constant nagging him to take her out, he'd let her ride along to a bar while he scouted. He'd immediately regret it as she loudly sang along to the radio, off-tune without a care in the world.

She'd had a lot more experience in the outside world than him, so while she remained at home a lot, she didn't lack social skills. Sissy loved chatting up guys at the bars, and sometimes, once in a blue moon, they'd each bring back someone to the house.

This day was no different. Johnny wasn't having any luck finding girls he deemed interesting, so he excused himself to go to the bathroom as Sissy drank his wallet empty and chatted a couple of guys ears off.

While he was in the bathroom, washing his hands, he heard some kind of commotion outside, and he frowned, assuming that sissy had made some awful mistake that would get them banned from yet another bar. there was a reason why he hated letting her come along.

Yet, when he returned to the bar, sissy being problematic was not what he saw. Instead, it was a woman he'd seen before, but wasn't familiar with. He'd seen her around this very bar a few times, but hadn't ever paid much attention to her. she always had an expression that made her seem busy.

Sissy was sitting in a different bar stool than when he'd left, and she seemed almost startled, but an eerie grin spread over her face as she watched this woman beat the absolute shit out of a guy that Johnny remembered had been talking to her before he'd gone off to the bathroom.

The guy was draped over the bar, and the mystery woman slammed her fist into his face one more time, earning a groggy, blood-strained gurgle from the man before she grabbed him by his collar and dragged him out of the bar.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, johnny was still a little concerned for Sissy, seeing as how it seemed something had gone terribly awry.

"What the hell happened?" he'd ask, visually checking over the brunette for scratches or bruises or anything, and she'd drunkenly explained that he'd tried to slip something in her drink, even a little too loudly joking about how he was using their own tricks against them.

"Did you drink it?" no, of course she didn't. she didn't have the option to. the woman, who Sissy identified as a bouncer, had stepped in almost immediately and taught the guy a lesson.

Well, Johnny couldn't let that go unseen. So, he left Sissy again, this time to go outside and try his shot at getting to know more about this bouncer. He thanked you, and all you gave him back was a nod. it was your job, after all. why the hell else would you be here?

he'd try to ask more questions, like how you'd noticed, or how long you'd worked here, and you gave him short, one or two word answers, which he found both frustrating and intriguing.

rest assured, he made sure to regular that bar frequently, and would consistently try to get to know you.

Also, he would not try and pull girls from that bar again. not after he saw what you did to that one guy. Johnny wasn't necessarily intimidated, but...

well, if he got kicked out of the bar, he wouldn't get a chance to see you again, and that didn't sound like much fun.

#johnny slaughter #johnny tcm #tcm #tcm game #johnny slaughter x reader #johnny slaughter headcanons #johnny slaughter tcm #johnny slaughter fluff #not me simping for reader #strong silent sexy stoic ladies AWOOGA #adapting to johnny slaughter

[makeitmingi]

Cause Baby You're My Muse [Chapter 21]

Genre: Romance, Idol!AU, Music, Slight angst

Pairing: Mingi x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Producer!Reader, IdolLyricist!Mingi, IdolProducer!Hongjoong, Idol!Seonghwa, Idol!Yunho, Idol!Wooyoung, Idol!San, Idol!Yeosang, Idol!Jongho, cameo(s) by other celebrities

Summary: You always preferred producing underground, having an unknown face and governed by your own rules. But when you start freelancing for idol groups, you say goodbye to your lone wolf lifestyle as you learn to work with idol producers and lyricists.

Word count: 3.2K

Although you were so swarmed with work and haven't got time to sit down and speak with Mingi, you were still glad when he would show up to spend the night with you. You appreciated having him around you to comfort you.

He also assured you that with the both of you busy working on music production, you didn't need to pressure yourself to talk. Like you, he just wanted your comfort.

"Thanks for getting take out." You smiled tiredly, fresh from the shower. Mingi saw you and waddled over to you.

"It's the least I can do, seeing you work so much." He said as he engulfed you into a hug.

"You're working hard too..." You yawned, voluntarily leaning into him.

"I'm glad to be back at the studio though. At least you can come over without me worrying about Hongjoong showing up at my door to work." You smiled softly.

"Mhmm." Mingi stroked your cheek, bending down to give you a sweet kiss. You sat on your bed, fiddling with your phone while Mingi placed his head in your lap comfortably. There was a slightly frown on your face as you focused on what you were reading or watching on the screen.

"You're frowning too much." Mingi lifted his hand to poke the space between your eyebrows, making you relax instantly.

"Sorry." You sighed.

"Mm-mm, don't apologise." Mingi shook his head with a kind smile. You felt your cheeks heat up at the way Mingi was smiling at you, making you look away.

"Are you worried?" You asked, putting your phone aside to look at him, opting to play with his fingers than the device.

"Worried about Hongjoong hyung? No. Worried about KQ? No. Worried about the fans... A little. I'm more worried for your safety than anything else." Mingi kissed the palm on your hand.

"I'll just disappear underground if I have to. I've done a good job of hiding despite my line of work." You shrugged, trying to lighten the conversation.

"But I don't want you to disappear." Mingi stated with a small frown. You couldn't help but laugh, now it was your turn to poke his frown. He relaxed into a smile at your playfulness. You fell backward to lie down, letting out a groan.

"Are you worried?" Mingi asked back.

"About myself? No. About you and possibly, Haneul? Yes." You cast your eyes over him.

"I'll never let anything happen to Haneul. And you." Mingi assured. He knew that Haneul meant the world to you but it was just thinking ahead now.

"Can I ask, why did you decide to take care of Haneul? You know, despite your young age and everything." Mingi asked. You froze at his question. Were you really ready to be so vulnerable around him?

"Y-You don't have to if you don't want to!" Mingi quickly added after he noticed your defensive posture.

"It's okay... Well, my aunt and uncle weren't exactly the best parents too, like mine. They didn't plan to have a child actually so Haneul wasn't wanted from the start." You explained.

"They wanted to terminate the pregnancy but my grandmother convinced them not to. You know, just on the off chance that they might grow fond of the baby. But when she was born, they wanted to give her up for adoption. I guess the love or fondness never festered." You shrugged.

"But I thought Haneul was beautiful. She didn't deserve knowing that she wasn't wanted from the start. I just bonded with her ever since."

"Your parents were okay with you having a baby around?" Mingi tilted his head.

"They never knew. Or maybe they never bothered to know. I found the orphanage Haneul was given to and had the arrangement with the ahjumma there. As long as I paid, Haneul was safe." You replied.

"It must not have been easy doing it all on your own. Especially since you were just starting out." Mingi held your hand.

"It wasn't a walk in the park. I moved out when I could, got a small apartment. Every other cent I made went to Haneul, to feed and clothe her."

"But every time I see Haneul, I don't regret it. She's an amazing child, she's my world." You smiled softly.

"I'm selfish, aren't I?" You looked up at Mingi with tears brimming in your eyes. Mingi's eyes widened at your sudden statement. He had so many thoughts about your story but you being selfish didn't even cross his mind.

"Why would you say that?" He asked, reaching up to wipe your fallen tears.

"Haneul could be living lavishly now. With two parents and maybe even siblings. Yet, I'm the reason that isn't happening." You smiled bitterly through your tears.

"I know that having her here with me means that she would have to grow up alone most of the time. And I can't do that to her, having her grow up like me, coming home to an empty house."

"But for some reason, I can't let her go. I'd rather live with the guilt than to let her go." You cried.

"Indigo..." Mingi pulled you to him, letting you sob into his chest.

"You're not selfish. Far from. You've sacrificed so much to give Haneul the best. And Haneul is such a great kid thanks to you." He hushed you, stroking his head to comfort you.

"Having Haneul around taught me to care for others. How to live for someone." You whispered. Mingi's heart broke as you continued talking and crying. Outside, you were cool and collected but it was just a facade, it was the way you protected your vulnerable self. And now, you were slowly letting your guard down around him.

"Shh..." Mingi could only hold you and listen. He never once made a remark or reaction that made you feel embarrassed.

"I started underground because I wasn't old enough to work, no one would want to work with a 14 year old girl that had no experience. But producing became the push I needed." You said.

"With my music, I wanted to be something. Then I met Hyuk and he helped me grow. He taught me what I know and refined my skills." You continued.

"You were so young..." Mingi stroked your head.

"So I've been plagiarised, taken advantage of, everything. The music industry is cruel, especially if you're a nobody." You sighed.

"But through it all, you've made it. And it's all thanks to your own effort and hardwork. You've come so far, I'm proud of you." Mingi kissed your forehead. Your heart grew warm and fuzzy at Mingi's words, your inner child felt healed.

"Thank you. No one has ever told me that before." You confessed. Mingi stroked your cheek with a soft smile.

Now he understood why you hid your name and your face. It was another way you protected yourself after you've been hurt. And now that you were a known name, you wanted to protect that even more.

"Wow. I need to stop crying or I'm going to be puffed tomorrow." You went to the bathroom to wash your face.

"Will you be at the studio tomorrow?" You asked from the bathroom.

"I have a dance class at 1 but that's at an external studio. I have PT at 5." Mingi read out.

"We can sleep in then. I told Eden I'm taking the first half of the day off. Last night's all nighter gave me a splitting headache the entire day today, I barely got anything done." You sighed.

"While I'm glad you're taking a small break tomorrow, you shouldn't be pulling all nighters anymore. It's not good for you." Mingi sat up, being the one to hover over you now. He had a worried look on his face which you thought was cute. Luckily he was at a height where you could wrap your arms around his neck.

"You okay?" Mingi asked, his hands coming to rest on your hips as he gladly let you hug him, his head resting on your chest. Of course, he was careful not to rest his entire weight on you.

"I don't know... I just know I want to hug you." You confessed. Luckily he couldn't see your embarrassed and flustered expression now.

"Hug me all you want." Mingi chuckled.

That's how you and Mingi fell asleep and stay asleep until morning. With Mingi around, you didn't feel the need to always be working, to just take the time to relax.

"Would you prefer to eat out sometimes?" Mingi asked as he sat opposite you for breakfast.

"Actually, it doesn't bother me. I'm always an indoor person anyway. Why? Do you want to go out for a meal?" You tilted your head.

"I'm a slow eater so eating at home is less stressful. I just thought it would be nice to take you out on a date..." Mingi confessed. You choked, realising how you didn't even realise his intention.

"Sure, Mings. But I don't need to go out to fancy dinners to have a nice time." You smiled.

After breakfast, you went to your studio to quickly reply to some emails while Mingi did the dishes. You and him had that plan, one person cooks while the other person will do the dishes after. When Mingi was done, he crept into your studio.

"You're supposed to be resting." Mingi covered your eyes with his hands. He looked over the top of your head to see that you were looking over some documents

"What's all these?" He let go of you to take a closer look.

"I've been so busy I forgot to sign the contracts and working agreements for some other collaborations I'm doing." You informed.

"Wow, these are some big name companies and artists." Mingi said in awe, eyes briefly glancing through. You hummed, not really feeling the weight of the fame and reputation for these people.

"So what's this stack?" Mingi pointed.

"That's the people I rejected working with or decided not to work with because of different reasons." You explained.

"May I?" He asked. You nodded, too focused on reading the conditions of the contract right in front of you. Mingi's eyes widened at some of the things that he read but he did hide the rest of his shock well, clearing his throat and just putting the papers back into a neat stack.

"Can we not work for a while? I have to leave in an hour." Mingi requested, putting his hand over yours to stop you from writing. You snorted in laughter.

"Have any of the members asked where you disappear off to for the whole night?" You raised an eyebrow.

"I have my own room so they never really know when I'm in or not. Plus, I stay at the studio overnight most of the time." Mingi said.

"Oh, that's true." You nodded. You did put your papers away to spend time with Mingi before he had to leave and you needed to be at the studio. You sat on the couch, tucked under his arm.

"You should watch the Wanteez episodes. They're hilarious." You slapped his thigh.

"They're embarrassing." Mingi mumbled.

Soon, Mingi had to leave. You walked him to the door and he wore his shoes. He leaned against the door frame, looking down at you with an endearing smile on his face. You blinked as you stared back up at him. He leaned down to give you a kiss.

"Have a nice day." He stroked your head. You nodded, wrapped your arms around his waist, pressing your ear to his chest. You felt him press his cheek to the top of your head.

"I'll see you later?" You mumbled. He hummed in reply as he pulled away to leave your place.

After that, you got ready to leave the house. You wore your mask before getting onto the bus to go to KQ.

"Hi, Joong. Did you wait long?" You asked as you stepped out of the lift. Hongjoong looked up from his phone and shook his head with a small smile.

"Let's go." You took the lead in walking to your studio. You and Hongjoong have been working together almost every day.

"I worked on the beats I was showing you yesterday if don't mind helping me review it?" He asked as he walked into the studio behind you. You nodded your head and proceeded to turn on your system, plugging your laptop in. Hongjoong now even had a more comfortable chair in your studio.

"Thanks again for helping me with producing." Hongjoong rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why are you suddenly acting like that/ You're already a great producer, Joong. There's nothing to help you with honestly." You laughed, slapping his shoulder.

"Yah, you can't hit your elders." Hongjoong feigned anger.

"Have you decided what songs to propose to the company yet?" He asked when he saw all your folders.

"Kind of? I still have changes and edits to be made before I decide for sure." You scratched your head. You have been deciding what songs would fit the concept the best.

"Mingi said he might submit some tracks too since he has been writing more lyrics and going to the studio. Has he told you?" Hongjoong asked. He missed the way you stiffened slightly at the mention of Mingi.

"I've not worked with him as much on producing but I'm glad he was able to start writing his lyrics again." You kept you eyes on the screen.

"Maybe you can help him? Mingi isn't very confident in his producing skills." Hongjoong suggested. You shrugged, if Mingi needed help or advice, he would have asked you.

"Anyway, which track did you want me to review again?" You changed the subject.

"This one." Hongjoong scrolled to the folder on his laptop. You didn't know why you felt slightly awkward talking about Mingi to Hongjoong.

"I mixed the raw piano." He explained as you listened.

"Mmm... Sounds good..." You nodded, bobbing your head and tapping your fingers against the desk.

After going through some tracks and working on them, you and Hongjoong decided to order in some food for a mid day snack. According to Hongjoong, you 'made the mistake' of telling the boys and inviting them if they were around. Because that meant that you invited chaos.

"Why did you invite them...?" Hongjoong groaned, shaking you with his hands on your shoulders. Just as he said that, there were knocks on your door.

"Don't let them in. They'll go away if you ignore them." Hongjoong said. You laughed and removed his hands from you.

"We know you're in there!" Wooyoung yelled. Then there was the spamming of the door bell.

"You..." Hongjoong gave you the stink eye while you shrugged and went to get the door. Just like a bunch of excited puppies, you were tackled the moment you opened the door.

"Oof!" You fell back from the sheer force.

"BOYS!" Hongjoong yelled in shock, immediately rushing you and bending down to help you.

"You okay?" He asked. You nodded as he helped you stand back up, shooting the boys a disapproving glare. Luckily your floor was carpeted to kind of cushion your fall. Seonghwa shook his head, sparing the blame since he didn't rush in.

"Sorry, Indigo. Are you okay?" Wooyoung held your hands, turning you around to check for some sort of physical damage on you. San did the same.

"I'm fine. It's okay." You assured.

"Boys, I told you to be careful. Not everyone can take your strength, especially multiple of you." Hongjoong lectured.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Seonghwa asked softly with a tilt of his head.

"I'm really okay, omma. The carpet cushioned my fall." You giggled as Seonghwa wrapped his arm around you. It was apparent that you had become of the favourite child of the parent duo.

"You're like that friend that comes in and acts like an angel to be the parents' favourite." Jongho said with amusement.

"They've practically adopted me because I'm such a perfect child, you know?" You scoffed with a hair flip. Seonghwa and Hongjoong rolled their eyes.

"Perfect child? You're a child that we constantly have to worry about. Worry if you're eating, sleeping and not working all the time. I already have to worry about someone being sleep deprived and that's Hongjoong." Seonghwa clicked his tongue, making you pout. But the others found joy in this, sticking their tongues out at you.

"Then in my defense, I would like to say that I take after my father in that workaholic behaviour." You pointed at Hongjoong.

"Don't drag me into this." He glared.

"Everyone grab a seat. Help yourself to any drinks in the fridge." You instructed while you all were waiting for the food to arrive. You finished up whatever you were doing with Hongjoong previously.

"I'll save our progress." You looked up at him. Hongjoong looked at what you were referring to and nodded.

"You two. Stop working already." Yeosang shouted from his spot. Mingi and Yunho were the only ones not around, still at their external dance class.

"The delivery guy is downstairs." Hongjoong said, checking his phone. Jongho went with him downstairs to pick up the food.

"Come here. I haven't seen you in so long since you've been cooped up here." Wooyoung pulled you onto his lap, squishing you and burying his face into your back. You squealed in laughter from how ticklish you were.

"Food's here!" Hongjoong and Jongho came in with the food. You stood up to help take the boxes out of the plastic bags and give out the cutlery.

"Thank you for the food, Joong/ captain/ appa!" Everyone chimed before digging in.

"Sit here." Seonghwa pointed to the space beside him. You pulled your work chair to sit between him and Hongjoong.

"This was the afternoon snack we needed." San laughed.

"You guys weren't even supposed to be invited." Hongjoong huffed in a disgruntled away. You laughed, taking a bite of your chicken. Seonghwa took a napkin to wipe the edge of your mouth.

"Is Mingi hyung at his studio?" Jongho asked.

"Nope. He's at an external dance class with Yunho." You replied instinctively. That was when you felt eyes on you.

"How do you know?" Wooyoung tilted his head. You remained cool on the outside but on the inside, you were cursing yourself for replying too quickly.

"He told me when we were talking about the progress on his lyric writing. Besides, I always know all your schedules." You played it off cool with a scoff. The boys shrugged before nodding in agreement. Thank goodness they bought it. Honestly, it was normal for you to know their schedules, especially Mingi and Hongjoong.

"Indigo! Will you work on me for my next cover?" San suddenly asked with a big excited smile.

"Sure." You nodded, making him fist pump. Even if your schedule was undetermined and just filled with projects, you would gladly make time to work with San or any of them.

"How's Haneul?" Jongho asked. It warmed your heart knowing that he was thinking about her.

"She's doing well. She's been asking me when she can see you all again. I think she's more excited to see you guys than me." You chuckled.

"Let's go to the aquarium next time!" Wooyoung suggested and everyone cheered.

"Somehow, I feel like the hyungs are more excited than Haneul will be..." Jongho shook his head as he facepalmed.

~

Series Masterlist

#kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop series #ateez #ateez scenarios #ateez series #ateez x reader #idol!ateez #ateez mingi #mingi ateez #mingi scenarios #mingi series #mingi x y/n #mingi x you #mingi x reader #song mingi #song mingi series #song mingi scenarios #song mingi x reader #ateez imagines

[laureliciousdefinition]

I’m back b words. Deal wit it

Past sillies: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Yall know the drillll modern au headcanons with no rhyme or reason yadda yadda yadda see you under the cut *dab*

-ppl always assume Arthur is a beer guy. But tell me he wouldn’t love something more silly like a high noon or a white claw

Charles is a wine lover!!!!!!!! He bonded with Hosea over it :)

Tell me Dutch and Hosea wouldn’t have a fancy little wine cupboard in their house.

-Charles and Arthur are BOTH hardheaded about pain

Both refuse to take an ibuprofen for a headache despite the other telling them to multiple times

When Charles had appendicitis he insisted Arthur didn’t need to leave work for it (he did, of course)

John, on the other hand, thinks that every little ache is the end for him. Which does not bode well in a marriage to Abigail who has a frighteningly high pain tolerance

-Charles and Arthur are both acts of service lovers so they’re just constantly uno reversing each other with caring acts

-John is lactose intolerant. Y’all know I’m right

-John and Abigail absolutely “checked” their kids’ candy after trick or treating

Mysteriously all of the peanut m&ms were bad and had to be….. thrown out………

-speaking of Halloween, Charles’ mom sent Arthur a picture of baby Charles dressed up as a little dinosaur in 1992 and he hasn’t stoped giggling about it bc it’s JUST SO CUTE :’)

Arthur quietly wishes Charles could’ve been around when Isaac was little enough to go trick or treating. Charles came into the picture right around the time when it became uncool for him :(

-Isaac, Jack, and Marston Daughter all went to see the fnaf movie together

Arthur and John were so grateful that Isaac is old enough to drive now because they’ve had to sit through so much fnaf lore over the last 9 years and just. Do not get it

“So the bunny….. ate someone????” “Ugh dad were you even listening!!! Let’s start from the beginning.”

-one time when he was like 5 John was digging under the seat in the family car and got stuck

15 min had passed before Hosea was like …..where is he

Arthur, all of 8 years old, ran out and couldn’t stop giggling at little Johnny kicking his legs and crying

Dutch pulled him out, assured him he was fine, held back his laughter….. mostly

-When they were kids, John and Arthur had a trampoline

Arthur and the other kids in the neighborhood (namely Sean, the weirdo kid next door who was in John’s grade) would always popcorn John and he would cry

Sometimes Dutch would bounce on it and play with them but he hurt himself trying to prove he could do a backflip (he could not)

-Hosea has seen every single episode of law and order: SVU

I imagine he also made Arthur/John watch old man shows with him growing up like the Andy Griffith show

When Isaac was a baby and Grandpa Hosea would watch him, they’d cuddle up in his grandpa recliner and watch those sorts of shows :’)

-Abigail went through a weird pottery phase a few years ago so there’s a variety of oddly heavy mugs and plates in their kitchen

John is VERY proud of her though do not get it twisted. He drinks his coffee out of that heavy ass mug every morning

-This is the correct johnigail dynamic. I’m right

Thanks as always for supporting my sillies. Apologies for taking so long with this one, school was kicking my ASS for a moment there but teehee I’m almost done with college, just one month left😵 and I’m sure while I painfully hunt for a job I’ll have much more free time to dick around and spew my silliness everywhere

#as always please ignore my tags it’s humiliating #rdr2 modern au #charthur #arthur morgan #john marston #charles smith #jack marston #abigail marston #abigail roberts #charthur headcanon #arthur morgan headcanons #john marston headcanons #vandermatthews #if you’re reading this heyyyyy #has anyone thought of a name for this modern universe yet!!!! bc I have not #also just curious what do u guys think I’m getting a degree in?? im vain and need to know

[loidbriarforger]

Twiyor // College/Lifeguard AU 🛟

During the summer, Loid takes up a job as a lifeguard at Berlint beach. Like with school life, he’s attentive and friendly with beach goers, who often visit to gawk at the handsome lifeguard who will save them if need be.

One of these beach goers, who Loid now knows by name as Fiona, will go out of her way to fake that she’s drowning. Loid sighs as he hears her call out for help for the fourteenth time, but still acts diligently and swims out to her and drags her to safety.

“Fiona, you can’t keep calling out for help every time you go in the water.” Loid scolds, “Someone else may actually need my help!”

Fiona tries playing coy.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Loid. I just got so lightheaded swimming against those rough waves.”

“…The water is calm.” He says.

Fiona hugs herself as she squeezes her breasts together, trying to emphasize how cute they look in the new bikini top she bought just for him.

Loid stares at her nonplussed.

“Just be more careful, alright?”

“I certainly will, Loid! I’ll be so careful!” Fiona assures.

Just as Loid is about to walk to the lifeguard tower, he hears someone shouting from further out in the water.

“HELP! HELP ME!!” The voice cries out.

Loid looks out and sees what appears to be a little boy, flailing around in the water.

Without hesitation, he rushes into the water and swims out to where the boy is.

“HELP! SIS, HELP!!” The little dark-haired boy yells out, dunking his head under the water.

Loid reaches him, dives under the water, and pulls the boy to the surface.

“Don’t worry, little buddy, I got you.” Loid says in hopes to calm him.

He begins swimming them to the shore.

“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU JERK! LET ME GO! MY SISTER IS SUPPOSED TO SAVE ME!” The boy shouts.

The boy wriggles around in hopes to escape Loid’s rescue.

“Hey, stop moving around, kid!”Loid says, trying to keep them both above water.

After a few minutes of the boy struggling to get free, they finally reach the shore. Loid pulls the boy out of the water.

“You alright, kid?” Loid asks.

The boy stares angrily back at him.

“WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA, YOU DUMB HUNK?! I DIDN’T NEED YOU TO SAVE ME! I WAS WAITING ON MY SISTER!” The little boy shouts.

Loid stares at him with confusion.

“YURI?? YURI!!” A woman calls out as she runs directly towards them.

The boy turns around.

“SIS? SIIIISSSS!!!!!” He shouts as runs towards her.

The woman kneels down and hugs the boy tight.

“Oh, Yuri, I was so worried about you! I walk away for a minute to get some drinks for, and then you run off!” The woman scolds.

“Even still, I’m happy you’re safe.” She says, relieved.

“It was so awful, Sis!” The boy starts crying , “I-I wanted to show you I was a strong swimmer. A-and I went out too far in the water, a-a-and I almost drowned, and then this jerky lifeguard pulled me to shore.” He cries.

Loid walks over to them.

“Ma’am, is this your son?”

The boy turns around and aggressively points at Loid.

“THAT’S HIM, SIS!! THAT’S THE STUPID JERK WHO PULLED ME OUT OF THE WATER!”

“Loid?” The woman asks, “Loid Forger??”

Upon hearing his name, Loid realizes that the woman before him is Yor Briar.

“Yor?”

The two sat next to each other in history and English lit. They had also met through their friends Dominic and Camilla at a party, where Loid noticed how pretty Yor was upon first glance.

Loid was too proud to admit it, but he’d grown to have a crush on Yor. He’d grown fond of the way she always said “good morning” to him everyday, and how her bright smile and kindness always lit up his world, even on the rainiest of days.

“What are you doing here?!” Yor asks, giving him that bright smile.

“I’m a lifeguard! At least for the summer to make a some money.” He chuckles, “What brings you here?”

“My brother wanted us to come the beach while he’s on summer break from Eden College. So, here we are!”

“Well, welcome! I hope you two have today!”

“Thank you, Loid! And thank you again for saving my brother.”

“You’re welcome!”

The two just smile at one another in silence for a few moments. He’s completely lost in the sight of Yor in her cute black bikini. Her skin still so fair, even in the harsh summer sun. It makes his heart skip, and his trunks a little tighter.

“AHEM.” The boy clears his throat, “QUIT OGLING MY SISTER, YOU PERV!”

“Yuri! That’s no way to speak someone!” Yor scolds. “He helped save you!”

“It’s okay, Yor. As long as Yuri’s safe, that’s all that matters!” Loid kneels down to Yuri, “Just be careful next time, little buddy.”

Loid pats his head.

Yuri slaps Loid’s hand, “LIKE I NEEDED HELP FROM A DUMB HUNK LIKE YOU!”

“Yuri…” Yor says in an ominous tone. Staring daggers at him.

Yuri quivers at her tone. He bolts away, running down the beach.

“I’M SORRY, SIS!!! I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY, I’M SORRYYYYYY!!!” Yuri cries.

Yor sighs, “Oh, Yuri…”

She turns to Loid, “I’m sorry about my brother. I know he’s grateful for you helping him.”

“It’s quite alright, Yor. I’m just happy I could help.”

“Hey, Loid… Camilla’s throwing a party tomorrow. Will I see you there?”

Loid hadn’t planned on going, but if Yor will be there, so will he.

“Yes, I’ll be there!”

Yor lights up at his answer, “Yay! I can’t wait!” she says, overly excited. She catches herself and reels it in, “That’s great! I can’t wait!”

Loid chuckles, “Me too!”

Yor smiles at him again, “Well, I should go get my brother before he runs up the entire coast. Thank you again for saving Yuri, Loid~”

The way she says his name tugs at Loid’s heart.

“You’re welcome, Yor~”

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” She waves at him.

“I’ll see you then!” He waves back.

END.

#spy x family #spy x family anime #spy x family manga #sxf #yor forger #loid forger #thorn princess #agent twilight #loidyor #loid x yor #twiyor #twiyor au #yuri briar

[harlowcomehome]

Studio 8H:

Series link

At the beginning of the week, Jack had to fly to New York to get ready for SNL and as much as you wanted to be there with him you couldn’t because of your job.

You had got the time off to fly out on Friday and meet him there so you were grateful for that. Your boss didn’t ask you any questions about needing so much time off lately, which you were relieved. You and Jack had been keeping your relationship incredibly low-key, and you didn’t expect that to change any time soon.

Jack had called you earlier in the week and let you know he could only get a few visitor passes for SNL, meaning Layla wouldn’t be able to come.

You hated how shy you were but Jack assured you Urban and his parents would be there to sit with you.

“I wish you could come” you sighed as you packed your suitcase for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Me too, but you’ll have so much fun and you’ll have to tell me all about it” Layla replied as she sat on your bed and watched you struggle to fit everything in your suitcase beside her.

Your eyes started to water and Layla noticed immediately.

“Hey, none of that” She stood up and held you while you started to cry.

“I’m just nervous to go without you” Your voice shook, and you couldn’t help but sniffle.

“Jack is a good guy and his team will take care of you, I promise that. Don’t worry about it okay?” She pulled back to make eye contact with you, she was always good about calming you down and you nodded, wiping your tears.

“Why don’t you take my suitcase? It’s bigger and you’ll have a part of me with you” she joked before she went into the hall closet for her luggage.

“You’re the best” You smiled as you placed her suitcase down so you could put all of your things inside it.

“I know” she laughed. “How’s Jack doing? Is he nervous?”

“You know how he is, he pretends he isn’t but I can tell he’s losing his mind. He’s already asked me four times today when my plane lands tomorrow” you giggled.

“He probably misses you. It’s been like a whole week and a half” She playfully rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Also, Lay I wanted to tell you that if I meet Pete, I’ll tell him all about you” You smirked and Layla burst into a fit of laughter. When she finally composed herself all she could say was “You better!”

The next day you were at the airport waiting for your flight and Jack was consistently texting you. He let you know Neelam and Urban would meet you at the airport because he couldn’t get out of rehearsals. You could tell he was disappointed but you tried not to let your anxiety add to his frustrations.

Your flight was quick, and you met Neelam and Urban almost immediately. Neelam explained that she had a hotel room set up for you and that Jack would be done with rehearsals soon and then you two would be able to meet for dinner.

Urban could sense your nerves and talked to you the entire way to the hotel, he asked you about your week and made small talk. You finally asked what songs Jack would be performing and he couldn’t help but laugh, “You know damn well if he hasn’t told you, I can’t tell you either.”

You smacked your lips at that, “it was worth a try.”

After Neelam got you checked into the hotel room both Neelam and Urban went back to Studio 8H, where SNL is filmed. You took a shower and got dressed having zero ideas what the plans were for dinner.

Jack: You stayed at the hotel? ☹️

Y/N: I wasn’t sure if I could go with them or not and I didn’t wanna push. 😅

Jack: I’m almost done here anyway. 😌

It was another hour before Jack showed up at the hotel, you were starving but you were mostly just excited to see him. Neelam had given him the other key to your suite and he text you when he was headed to you.

When he walked into the room he made sure the door closed behind him before he ran over to you and immediately wrapped his arms around you. You could feel his body relax against you.

“I missed you so much” you confessed before wrapping your arms around his shoulders and kissing him. Jack deepened the kiss and your hands got lost in his curls, eventually, the two of you were making out in bed.

“I missed you too, in case you couldn’t tell” He laughed and you did too. Just then you heard a knock on the door, Jack got up quickly and you stayed in bed.

You listened as Jack thanked the guy at the door and then wheeled in a cart of food.

“Dinner is served” he joked as he showed you the options and you just smiled at him with all the adoration in the world.

“You’re a dork, you know that?” You laughed.

The two of you ate and talked about your week, Jack always wanted to hear about yours which you found to be funny considering you did “normal things” and he well, he didn’t.

He apologized profusely about Layla not being able to come and you could tell he meant it, you felt like he understood your sadness because of how close he and Urban are.

“It’s fine! Next time you host or something she’ll come” You smiled and Jack seemed taken aback by that.

“Host? You have a lot of faith in me” he laughed nervously.

“I do! You’re going to do great” You comforted him and he responded with wide eyes.

“I don’t need to watch you rehearse to know that” you chimed in before he mentioned it.

“I’m just glad you’re here” He smiled, and you knew he meant it.

“When do your parents get here?” You asked innocently.

“Ummm, this morning” He blushed knowing you were going to tell him he should be spending time with them.

“Jack!” You gasped and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Baby, I’ll see them tomorrow!” He said defensively and you shook your head.

“You’re going to make them hate me!”

“They would never hate you and I saw them for a little while today!” He responded. You just pouted and he laughed as he began to tickle you.

“Jack!! Stop!” You giggled and he did for a moment to let you breathe before starting again.

When he finally stopped you straddled him, poking at his sides as he pretended not to be ticklish himself. You looked down and tickled his thighs making him jump. “Okay, okay truce! Shit!” He was out of breath and you leaned against him.

Jack stayed in your hotel room that night, he talked until he startled to mumble which you found adorable. He was always more vulnerable when he was tired and you found the lisp his retainer gave him adorable.

The next morning you were both woken up by his phone going off like crazy. Neelam was trying to make sure he was awake considering it was almost noon.

“I’m awake” he whispered and you reached out to touch his back as he sat on the edge of the bed. He turned to look at you and smiled, mouthing “I’m sorry.”

You shrugged, you never slept this late anyway. You just watched him as he listened to Neelam give him the rundown of today.

“Well can’t I- well- Neelam- listen” He hung up and groaned, immediately crawling back into bed with you.

“By the sound of that call we should probably get ready” you teased and he agreed. The two of you showered and got ready before you waited for his team to show up. Jack wanted you to come along with him for the entire experience so you knew today would be a very long day.

“Are you sure I won’t be in the way?” The two of you waited in the hotel lobby for the car.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine. I want you there, my parents are coming too. I made sure to get everyone a guest pass” He smiled, trying his best to hide his nerves.

You and Jack went inside a limo, which you assumed SNL had provided. You tried not to be obviously “wowed” by it. When you got into the limo you greeted everyone, sitting beside his mom immediately.

Maggie was warm and inviting, the kind of person who made you feel like you’d known her for years. Jack was the same way, so you knew where he got it from.

When the limo was parked, Jack gave you a few pecks before helping you out. You knew even without a real discussion that you couldn’t publicly be all over him.

When you got inside the studio, you spotted Maya Rudolph right away. You wanted to fangirl but you kept your composure. Urban walked with you as Jack led the way. You didn’t mind it because Urban also had a way of making himself feel familiar, which you needed especially without Layla.

You expected the day to drag considering the show wasn’t until later in the night but everything was so quick.

Before you knew it Jack was performing his first song. You could feel the energy shift in the row you were sitting in, his entire team and you were nervous. It wasn’t because you didn’t think he could do it but because you all shared the same idea. Each one of you knew he could do it, and that this moment would be another big career shift.

Jack's first performance was a medley of both Tyler Herro and Whats poppin, but you expected that. You were more curious about his second performance because you had zero ideas what that could be.

When he was done with his first performance you turned to his mom and smiled, she squeezed your hand for reassurance and you looked over at Urban who had been filming and taking photos.

You were mesmerized by the entire show. You grew up watching SNL so just being there was a dream come true. When Jack took the stage for his second (and last) song, you noticed Urban looking at you and smiling. “What?” You turned your head to the side, utterly confused by his grin.

“You’re going to love this” he whispered before he directed his attention back to the stage. Jack was standing next to someone, and once you realized who it was you turned to Urban with a big grin.

Jack had discussed his album with you on one of your very first dates, he was the one to bring it up of course. You confessed to him that his song with Adam Levine didn’t get as much love as you felt it deserved. Jack seemed surprised by your take, even calling it a “flaming hot” take but since the two of you never discussed it again you didn’t think much of it.

You sang along to the song, and your heart swelled at the thought of your comments influencing his decision to pick this song in particular. When he was done, you and everyone else met him backstage and his parents were both in tears. He hugged them for a long time before coming over to both you and Urban.

“I’m so proud of you” you whispered as he hugged you. To keep himself from tearing up, he asked you and Urban about the afterparty. His parents and Neelam were ready to call it a night but he was still wired from performing. He said his goodbyes and Neelam warned both you and Urban to keep an eye on him, half joking and half serious.

You agreed to go to the afterparty, both of you had talked about it last night and Jack brought a change of clothes for the three of you, storing it in his dressing room.

The three of you were fashionably late to the afterparty but both you and Urban grabbed drinks while Jack worked the room. He eventually showed back up to your table with Pete Davidson and you tried your best not to be obviously starstruck.

“Thought you’d wanna call Layla” Jack teased and you nodded, FaceTiming her so she could have a cringe conversation with her celebrity crush. Jack shouted over the music that he owed her since she couldn’t come and Layla could hardly form words, it was funny and awkward but memorable.

The four of you talked for a while before a few other cast members joined in.

Eventually, Jack excused himself again to network but you expected that. You and Urban got to know each other fairly well considering the circumstance, which was nice.

“So Laylas a Pete girl huh?” Urban smirked and you couldn’t help but laugh out loud at his tone.

“You jealous?” You teased and he shrugged, not giving you a yes or no answer. The look on his face said it all though.

“She’s going to hate me for saying this and I’ll deny it if you tell her but I think she was more upset about not being able to see you than not being able to come this weekend” you hummed.

“Oh, really?” He attempted and failed at trying not to sound too excited about it.

Your eyes scanned the room for Jack, losing eyes on him for the first time tonight. You assumed he’d show back up soon so you took it upon yourself to mingle, following Urban's lead.

You checked the time on your phone realizing just how long all of you had been at this afterparty. You had an early flight and you didn’t want to ruin Jack's night but you were exhausted. You called him twice and he didn’t answer, Urban noticed you were growing anxious about it.

“Let me go look for him real quick, okay?” He motioned for you to stay where you were standing while he went to find Jack.

Less than three minutes later both Jack and Urban showed back up, Jack apologized profusely but you weren’t upset, just tired. The three of you got an Uber back to the hotel and you fell asleep leaning on Jack's shoulder.

Jack gently woke you when you got to the hotel, and before you parted ways you thanked Urban for keeping you company all night.

Jack was silent as you two walked to your room, which wasn’t like him at all.

“Are you okay?” You yawned as you rummaged through your purse for the hotel room key.

He didn’t answer you until you got inside the room, “I’m sorry if you felt like I disappeared tonight. I just had to show some face and Chris and Neelam said I should spend my night talking to people and I never want you to think those people are more important because they aren’t. You know that right?” You noticed he was nervously rambling, as he sat on the bed and looked up at you.

“Jack? I’m okay baby. We are fine” You smiled as you took a step toward him, placing your hand on his shoulder.

“Promise?” He smiled, the corners of his eyes were wrinkled and you could tell he was also exhausted.

“I promise” You bent down to kiss him. “I get it, I do.” You reassured him and he felt a wave of relief come over him.

“I wish you didn’t have to go home so early” he mumbled as the two of you changed into pajamas.

“I know me too. I’m proud of you for tonight though, and I’m glad you wanted me there” You smiled before going into the bathroom to brush your teeth.

The two of you eventually fell asleep and cuddled up against one another.

The next morning was hectic, you had overslept and almost missed your flight meaning you and Jack only had a quick moment to say goodbye, leaving your stomach in knots.

You were sure to see him soon but with his hectic schedule anything could change at any moment and you felt uneasy about it.

You were waiting for your plane to depart, looking at reviews online about Jack's performances, and scrolling through pictures of the after-party. You hadn’t noticed someone was taking photos, you assumed they would just be of Maya Rudolph and Jack since they were the host and musical guest along with other cast members.

There was a photo of Jack, Pete and someone you couldn’t exactly place, you knew she was famous obviously and no doubt it was either for modeling or acting but you didn’t know who she was right away or who she was even there with since you hadn’t noticed her all night.

You saved the photo and immediately sent it to Layla before takeoff, she usually recognized everyone.

You knew she was asleep so you shrugged it off and sent another message letting her know you’d be home soon.

You quickly sent a text to Jack letting him know you’d tell him when you landed back home.

You hated to admit just how much you already missed him. There was no denying that you both were already growing attached in such a short time.

#Jack Harlow #Jack Harlow x reader #jack harlow imagines #jack harlow concepts #Jack harlow blurbs #Jack harlow fluff