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apiratewhopines · 3 years

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I’m going to alternate artwork so we get leather-clad Killian and fancy dress up Killian.

Midnight

Chapter 3 — The Godfather

Summary: In which our heroine accepts the finer things in life

Chapter 3 of 7 on AO3

“He gave her things that she was needin’

He gave her a home built of gold and steel

A diamond car with platinum wheels”

-Minnie The Moocher, Cab Calloway

The creeping pace her warden set was nerve-racking. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or if every eye in the place was watching their slow procession through the ballroom. Finally exiting the room, they paused in the hallway and Emma said resignedly, “Let’s get this over with.”

“I’ve had my eye on you from the moment you walked in,” the other man commented, nodding to passersby with no hint of distress. “You should have known better than to think you could escape unnoticed.”

“Well, I thought if I left quietly, no one would be the wiser,” she replied, smiling at him with a hopeful kind of chagrin. “You can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“Don’t apologize, my dear. There are three of us in rebellion against this entertainment if you want to call it that. I think I may turn down all future invitations from Regina if this is the torture we will be subject to…” Grabbing her arm softly, he started steering them through the throng still attempting to find a place in the ballroom.

She was shocked they weren’t heading to the front entrance. The man, who had yet to introduce himself, was leading her down a back hallway. Moments later, he paused in front of a closed door. “You do play bridge, yes?”

Emma hadn’t played the game since she was a teenager staying with Granny, but as usual, the lessons the older woman taught her were going to save her from a terrible fate. “Yes, though I’m a bit rusty. But why me?”

“You’re charming, you’re bored, and you have the face of someone who wouldn’t trump your partner’s ace,” he explained with a breezy smile. Placing his finger to his lips to hush any further conversation, he pressed an ear to the door and then gave two quick raps against the frame. Taking one more second, he then opened it and ushered her in.

Upon entering, she saw two occupants huddled by the fireplace, which blazed happily with a roaring fire in opposition to the warm night. Immediately, his pause made sense as she noticed a faint smudge of lipstick on the smooth skin of the man’s face.

“Lancelot, Guinevere, allow me to introduce Madam—I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”

Scrambling, she said the first thing that popped into her mind. “Jones.”

“Ah, Madam Jones, I’m Sidney Glass, your knight in shining armor for the evening. This is Guinevere Soberano and Lancelot du Lac, your fellow insurrectionists.” Her knight joked before adding, “Lance is the most dangerous man in the room, so watch yourself.”

Seeing how the tall, handsome man took his time sizing her up, she had a feeling she knew what made him dangerous. The fashionable lines of his tuxedo did little to hide his muscular build, and while he wasn’t the sexiest man she’d met that evening, she knew if they had met on any other night of her life, he would have been. She could tell by how his eyes continued to seek her out that he wasn’t immune to her charms either. It should have made her feel better considering she’d been in the same outfit for nearly two days and her hair was still wet from her dash through the thunderstorm. Instead, it made her feel tired.

Taking a seat with trepidation, she tried to hide her feelings of discomfort. She was the one who ran when offered a cozy landing place, so now she needed to play the hand she was dealt. Literally. Watching as Sidney took over as dealer, she asked, “What are we playing for? Bragging rights?”

“How about our normal stakes? Five dollars a point?”

Eyes wide, she calculated if she remembered the game correctly, there would be thousands of dollars exchanging hands tonight. If only a fraction of that money came her way, she may be able to get out of this dress and fill up her tank so she could hit the road and resume her search. She refused to think about what she would do if she didn’t win. Granny had been a cutthroat player, so she had more than enough practice.

Lance settled in as her partner, his eyes never leaving her face as the group silently arranged their cards and planned their strategies. Her heart racing, Emma mumbled, “Two spades.”

And the game began.

Hours later, they were in the hole and she couldn’t help wishing Sidney or the other woman was her partner. Lance seemed much more interested in flirting with her than winning, and if she weren’t sure it would get her thrown out, she would have kicked him under the table for screwing up her chance to turn her luck around. Not to mention the fact that with every suggestive exchange, Guinevere’s eyes grew a little bit colder. She had a feeling the woman would make a formidable enemy.

The door to their hideaway opened to admit her former neighbor, his eyes as unnerving by firelight as they had been in the brighter gleam of the ballroom. The ever-present smirk was there in full force as he made his way to their table and planted himself between Lance and Guinevere. “Darling, why don’t you introduce me to your newest recruit?”

“Madam Jones, this is my husband Arthur Soberano, the only man on the planet who enjoys these little parties. Arthur, this is Madam Jones, a woman in need of a better bridge partner.”

“It’s so hard to concentrate on cards sometimes,” Lance murmured, his heated glance never leaving her face so no one had any doubts about what was distracting him.

Arthur observed the exchange, and the subsequent reactions, with the expression of a man who finally found his silver lining. She hoped it was catching. “Jones, eh? Would you be one of the Rhode Island Joneses?”

Pasting a bright smile on her face, she demurred. “No, but I’ve heard they’re lovely people.”

“You’re American, correct?”

“What gave it away? My abysmal accent?”

“Something like that,” Arthur responded with a smile. “So if not Rhode Island, what Jones clan do you hail from?”

“Oh, Jones is my married name. My husband is from Cambridge.”

“Of course! I should have known. I ran into Baron Jones a few years ago in Budapest, and he spoke of an American girl. How is he? Is he here tonight?”

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, because of course there would be a Baron Jones and of course this enigmatic man would know him, she stared at her cards and hoped she sounded more convincing than she felt when she said, “No, no. He’s still in Budapest. He wasn’t feeling well enough for transatlantic travel. You know, the old trouble flaring up.”

Tsking with a hint of amusement, Arthur narrowed his eyes. “That’s too bad. Guinevere, we really must make a trip there soon. Beautiful city. Tell me, Madam Jones, did they ever finish the metro Line 1?”

For the love of all that was holy, would the man never stop with the questions? “You know how construction is…the roads are still a mess here and there.”

She knew by the way his body shifted that she had misstepped. She wasn’t sure what trap he laid, but she walked right into it. To add insult to injury, the final hand of the night went into their loss column.

Lance shook his head in defeat and pulled out his wallet. “I really must apologize, Madam Jones. I’m usually a much better player. You’ll have to let me make amends to you. Perhaps lunch tomorrow? What’s your favorite place?”

“That depends, Lance. How much money am I out tonight? I will exact revenge in corresponding measure.”

Sidney piped in with a gleeful laugh. “Four thousand dollars from each of you. Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself. But bypassing the awful concert makes the win priceless.”

Her head swam with the figure, trying to ignore the way Arthur was circling the room like a caged lion and wondering how plausible it was for a baroness not to carry cash. Surely, the nobility class had people to handle this kind of thing for them. “I’m not sure I have that much on me. I hope you’ll accept my IOU. Has anyone seen my bag?”

She saw the look Guinevere and Sidney exchanged and her stomach dropped. They wouldn’t let it go. Perhaps looking for her non-existent purse would allow her to sneak out.

“Is this it, Madam Jones?”

“Yes, thank you.” Turning around, she saw a beaded clutch she’d never laid eyes on before in Arthur’s extended hand. She hadn’t stolen a single thing in her life, and she wasn’t thrilled to start now, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Opening it, she found a wad of cash that looked like it could bankroll a small country for a year. Shocked, her gaze flew to meet Arthur’s and he winked before departing the room.

—

No matter how hard she tried to shake him, Lance would not leave her alone. Subsequently, everyone in the entourage hung on like they had nothing better to do than tag along while she flitted around the club trying to lose them. Finally, the evening started breaking up. Large groups of people gave each other air kisses and made plans to meet at various houses for brunch the next day. Freedom was within reach if she could only make it out the front door.

They bid goodbye to their hostess, who was high on finding the supposed party crasher, an older woman they dragged from the downstairs powder room and tossed out into the night, still swearing she didn’t know anyone named Neal and claiming she was the Duchess of Longbourn.

Emma thought a silent apology to the woman and hoped karma graded on a curve.

“Allow me to wait with you until your car pulls around,” Lance said, offering his arm to help her down the steps.

“I’d hate to trouble you,” Emma ground out, her voice deepened with the effort of holding in a groan of frustration. “My chauffeur is habitually late.”

“Then I should give you a ride,” Lance countered. He had yet to let go of her arm, and she was afraid she would have to cut it off to make a clean break. “Where are you staying?”

Having no clue of the lodging situation in Misthaven, she worried about another trap under Arthur’s expectant stare. “I’ll give you three guesses.”

“The Ritz,” he immediately countered.

“Right in one! But really, I’d rather wait for my car.” When the words left her mouth, the familiar lines of a black BMW cruised down the street slowly like the driver was looking for something. Or someone. Panicked, she flashed her new admirer a dazzling smile. “On second thought, let’s get out of here.”

As Lance handed her into his sports car, she heard Guinevere’s voice muttering to Sidney, “We don’t know anything about her. She came here all alone.”

“I notice she’s not leaving alone,” Arthur replied, smile widening as he caught her eye through the window and gave her a jaunty wave.

By jumping into a car with a virtual stranger for the second time that evening, she avoided one issue but created another. Her time was running out because this charade was doomed to fail when they arrived at the hotel and there wasn’t a room for Baroness Jones. She’d have to get rid of him in the parking lot.

Unsurprisingly, considering how her night was going, it was easier said than done. Lance appeared to be a gentleman if you overlooked his tendency to have affairs with other men’s wives and wouldn’t hear of dropping her off at the entrance. Throwing his keys toward the valet stand, he made his way to the concierge desk over her protests that she had some things to handle in the lobby before heading to her room.

She closed her eyes as she heard him say, “Checking into Baroness Jones’s room.”

Here it came. The boom.

“Of course, sir. Will that be all?”

Opening one eye, she watched as the employee handed over the room card. This couldn’t be right. She must be trapped in some nightmare where her pain and humiliation hung like a knife above her head, and the anticipation of the stabbing turned out to be worse than the violent act itself.

Laughing with fake merriment, she snatched the card from Lance before he could pocket it and said forcefully, “Thank you for a lovely evening. Good night.”

“My mother always said to see a woman to her door, or my job wasn’t done.”

Unable to hide her exasperation one second longer, she asked, “Don’t you know when to go home?”

“No.” With a broad smile, he held the elevator door open while she entered and wished for death. In hindsight, her original plan of sleeping on a park bench seemed like a real winner compared to this slow torture. She wouldn’t allow herself to think about the warm bed and warmer smile she had also turned down.

Tired, annoyed, and pining for her original driver of the evening, she didn’t even try to maintain a conversation with the man beside her, her head filled with dread at the idea she was about to open the door to a hotel room occupied by the real Baroness Jones. With the resigned stride of a prisoner walking the green mile, she reached the room slower than the situation called for and leaned against the door facing Lance. With a stony expression, she said pointedly, “Look, right to the door. You did your mother proud and can go home and sleep peacefully.”

“What? No nightcap?”

“No, absolutely not. I don’t need a mother to tell me inviting a man into my hotel room in the middle of the night is a bad idea. Go home.”

Laughing, he reached out and pushed her hair away from her face. “You’re magnificent.”

“I’m also married,” she bit out, barely resisting the urge to slap his hand away. There was something riveting about a man with an overabundance of confidence, but she refused to be charmed. If she were going to give in to any urges, she would have done it with the person behind Door Number One.

“So I’ve heard. At least make sure the card works. Those things are notoriously fickle, like most wives I’ve met.”

Chuckling despite herself, she swiped the card against the reader, grateful to hear the lock disengage in the quiet hallway. “There. Good night.”

Before he could say or do anything else, she slipped into the room and clicked the door firmly back in place. She tiptoed through the suite, not daring to turn on the lights while she looked for any trace someone else was in the room. Her search coming up empty, she reached over and flooded the bedroom with light.

The king-size bed looked heavenly. Giggling, she decided to make the most of this temporary reprieve. She dropped her clothes in a pile and ran to the bathroom, happy to find it as luxurious as the rest of the rooms in the suite. Turning the water all the way to hot, she allowed the steamy spray to wash away the hurt, the hopelessness, and the hysteria.

She stepped out of the shower an hour later, eyes red-rimmed and body weak with fatigue. Not even bothering to dry off, she collapsed in the bed and fell into a sleep plagued with blue eyes and black cars.

—

The sound of the antique telephone ringing penetrated the fog in her brain as the last strands of sleep broke. Startled, Emma glanced down at her nude form and immediately looked beside her to see if she was alone. Her dreams of the previous night didn’t fade quickly, and the vivid image of the Captain and his wonderful stubble made her ache.

Groaning as memory replaced fantasy, she plopped back against the mattress and grabbed one of the nearly two dozen pillows haphazardly strewn across the bed to cover her head in an attempt to drown out the noise.

It wasn’t really her hotel room, so she probably shouldn’t answer it anyway.

Unfortunately, the caller didn’t know she was an imposter and seemed determined to reach the room’s occupant. She picked up the receiver and pulled it under the pillow to join her. In a groggy voice she asked, “What?”

The chirpy voice of a hotel employee responded, “Good morning, Baroness Jones. Your luggage has arrived.”

“From Boston?” That didn’t make any sense. She’d pawned her last remaining possessions less than forty-eight hours ago, but unless she packed a boomerang in the pocket of her favorite jeans, she wasn’t sure what they were doing in Misthaven.

“I’m not sure, madam. The delivery driver only mentioned it was for the baroness. It should be arriving at your room momentarily.”

As if summoned by magic, there was a knock and she hung up the phone while trying to wrap herself in the thick comforter. Dragging the ends of the blanket like a train behind her, she threw open the door and felt her eyes widen at the sight greeting her. Lining the hallway was a parade of hotel employees carrying a few pieces of luggage each.

In mute shock, she moved out of the way and the group started piling the bags in the living room of the suite. When the final trunk was laid in the corner by the wall of windows overlooking the town, she stood staring unblinkingly at the head bellhop.

“Will there be anything else, Baroness?”

“No, I think this is quite enough.”

“Very well.”

The group seemed hesitant to depart, and she did a quick check to make sure her makeshift toga hadn’t slipped. Finding everything was as it should be, reason soaked through her dazed brain and she said, “Oh, the tip!”

“No, madam. Your chauffeur took care of it already. He wanted to know if you’d be needing the car today. It’s beautiful weather out.”

“My chauffeur took care of the tip and wants to know if I need the car…” she echoed back, trying to see if the words made more sense if she was the one saying them. No. No such luck. She was going mad. That was the only explanation. Or maybe the Captain wasn’t all he seemed to be and he had drugged her and this was simply a hallucination. Noticing the flock of bellhops was waiting patiently for her response, she smiled benignly and said, “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

A voice called out from the doorway, “And what about breakfast, Baroness?”

The hotel employees filed out, leaving her and her unexpected visitor alone. Pulling the comforter more tightly around herself, she hissed, “Arthur. It was you.”

“What was me, my dear?”

“The money, the room, the clothes, the chauffeur. Does Baron Jones even exist, or did you make him up?”

“I like to think of him as more of a group effort. You provided the inspiration; I provided the title. Seeing you in all your lost girl glory last night gave me an idea.”

“From the moment you looked at me, I had an idea you had an idea. I’m not interested.”

Chuckling, he tossed his hat and jacket across a nearby chair and sank into the couch. “I’m sure there is a robe or something a little less linen closet in one of these suitcases. I’ll close my eyes while you look if you’d like.”

“I think I’ll stay over here.” Where it’s safe.

“You have nothing to fear from me, dear. I’m here to make a proposal. One that will be mutually beneficial, I hope,” he drawled, picking a piece of fluff off his pants. He continued to avert his eyes, which she found strange since he stopped by to proposition her over breakfast apparently. “This is only the tip of the iceberg. I can guarantee you’ll never have to worry about money again.”

“Still not interested. You know the way out.”

“Come on, Baroness. Why don’t you slip into something more comfortable and hear me out? I promise it’s nothing like what you think.”

“Arthur, when Little Red Riding Hood spots long, gray whiskers, it’s ridiculous to keep insisting you’re the grandmother,” she retorted, moving carefully toward the nearest bag so she didn’t accidentally flash him. Pulling out a shirt at random, she riffled through the case until she found a pair of shorts as well. Scrambling to the bathroom, she called out over her shoulder. “Go huff and puff somewhere else.”

“I guess that means I’m the big bad wolf,” he said with a smile as he moved to trail after her. When she slammed the door in his face, he raised his voice and added, “I’ve certainly been called worse. Tell me, what was your impression of Lance?”

“I think neither of you takes no for an answer very well,” she mumbled as she pulled on the shirt and stared at herself in the mirror. What bizarre alternate universe had she stumbled into, and how in the world was she going to return to reality. Talking to her reflection, she said, “You’re Emma Swan. You’re not a baroness. Killian Jones is not your husband. You are not going to shack up with Lance or Arthur.”

“Nice pep talk, but if I may be so bold as to suggest a different path,” her visitor interrupted from the other side of the door. “You see, my old friend Lancelot and my wife think they are in love.”

“That’s very cozy but not my problem.”

“I’d like to pay you to make it your problem, Emma Swan. Nice name, by the way. Last night was the first time since their affair started that I thought there might be a ray of hope. The whole time Lance was flirting with you, my wife was fighting tears.”

Rolling her eyes, she snapped open the door and was satisfied to see him lose his balance. “Who won?”

“I plan to, and I’d like you to be on my team. I just need you to keep his attention long enough for Guin to come to her senses.”

Moving past him, she picked up her discarded dress from the prior evening and grabbed the laundry bag out of the nearby closet. “Why don’t you punch him and be done with it?”

“He’s the top man at our boxing club. And besides, the last thing I need is to drive her further into his arms by making him a martyr.” He reached over and placed his hand on her arm, stilling her frantic movements. “Please. At least hear me out.”

Meeting his gaze for the first time since he entered the room, she observed, “You really love her, don’t you?”

“Yes. She’s not the only one who made mistakes. I need your help to make this right. And it might work out well for you too, you know. Lance’s family makes a superior income from a very inferior champagne. He’s no baron, but he does have the bank account of one.”

“I think you need a lawyer, not another homewrecker.”

“I’ll never get a divorce. Come on, Emma. We’re having a party at my estate in the Enchanted Forest. Come out this weekend and give it a go. I’ll pay you fifty thousand to show up and another fifty if this harebrained scheme works.”

“I… I’m not sure…”

“Am I upsetting some other plans? Do you have another offer?”

Thinking of black leather jackets and pie, she smiled wistfully. Shaking herself, she tried to focus on the fact that a hundred grand would pay back what Neal had stolen from Granny and leave enough for her to put a down payment on a place in the city. “Yes, I think I do. But fine, I’ll play along through the end of the weekend. Then I’m out regardless of what happens.”

“Fair enough. I’ll let Guin know I ran into you and invited you to join the party,” he said with a grin. If he had a mustache, she was sure he’d be twirling it.

Before they could discuss any other details, there was another knock at the door. With an exasperated expression, Emma asked her companion, “What now?”

Putting his hands up in a placating gesture, Arthur assured her, “Hey, this one isn’t me.”

Yanking open the door, she saw an enormous bouquet of red roses. She took the flowers with both hands as Arthur cocked his eyebrow in silent question and pulled out the card. “‘If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden. -Lance.’ Huh. I rather resent that. The note to Guin just said, ‘So glad we met.’”

Notes:

For those who were wondering about Arthur’s trap, the Budapest subway is one of the oldest in the world and the line he mentioned was completed in 1896.

The quote on Lancelot’s card is from Claudia Adrienne Grandi.

@teamhook @kmomof4 @jrob64 @stahlop @motherkatereloyshipper @xarandomdreamx @xsajx @klynn-stormz

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pl-panda · 4 years

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The vines that bind us - Chapter 7

Chapter 1 || Previous || Next

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After double-checking with security, it turned out that Tim Drake did not show to work. She sighed. Looks like more work for her… Just like Nathalie said.

She started by greeting the two plants in Mr. Drake’s office. Both were incredibly satisfied with themselves that they earned bigger pots. They were also even happier to see her. Next, she took care of her new plants. The two on her desk she quickly took a liking to. They were cute. Only the large plant that now stood in the corner next to the vent was snarky and dared to make an inappropriate comment about one of the office plants. The hole in that leaf was caused by a bullet thank you very much. Mari quickly and clearly explained where it made mistakes.

With that done, she got to the paperwork that was left on her desk. There were many things to be done before the lunch break.

----------

Chloe was giddy the whole day. She got a green light to deal with the Liar in any way she wished. So many plans. So many possible revenge options. So many lawsuits to be filled. But as she was walking to the cafeteria, a new, even more devious, plan formed in her head. She would need the help of a certain stuck-up brat, but if she got him to help, it would not only destroy Lila but utterly ruin her. She already had several ideas from her other schemes that could be adjusted. Oh, this would be glorious if only she found… there!

Damian Wayne was not having a good day. He was in fact having a really, really bad day. His father had forbidden him from bringing another sword to work until his previous one is returned. Given how efficient the GCPD is, he would be lucky to get it before thirty. He was the only one of his brothers to arrive at WE before lunch, which led to more irritation. He definitely hated the corporate gossip about one Marinette Dupain-Cheng. How she was awesome, how she was a 'bamf' (whatever that meant), or how much they adored her kind-but-still-no-nonsense attitude. She took his sword!

“Wayne.” An irritating voice came from behind. Damian was of course aware that someone was behind him but dismissed it as an employee doing something unrelated to him.

“Bourgeoise. What the heck do you want from me?” He spat

“To show you something.” She pulled her phone from the pocket of her jacket. He quietly admired how she found female clothing with pockets that deep. At the same time, he kept frowning at her.

“I swear, if it’s…” He didn’t finish, because she pressed ‘play’ and the video started. The whole thing laster about seven minutes. With each passing moment, his frown deepened and by the end, Chloe wondered how can he see anything when his eyes narrowed to two tiny slits.

“I. want. her. dead.” He seethed through the clenched teeth.

“Good. But we can’t kill her. Mari forbid it and I know your father isn’t exactly fond of killing.”

“Tt. What. do. you. want?” He pronounced each word clearly.

“Simple. Destroy her with her own words.” She pointed to the group where she was clutching to Adrien’s arm for her dear life. “Mari-bear is too moral to play with her lies like that. Us? We play to win.”

“Fine. But I want my sword back.”

“Clever boy. I knew you could break into an evidence room.” Chloe smiled. “They returned it cleaned of blood the same afternoon. Guess you were too late.”

“Tt.”

“Fine. I will get your precious sword. But if you try to mess with Mari…”

“I got enough of it from my father.” He scowled.

“Good. Now, onto the plan.”

---------

Mari didn’t come to eat lunch with Chloe. She was perfectly aware that the girl would start one of their plans and wanted to have an alibi. Instead, she dived into the paperwork that had to be done as soon as possible. It was going on good and if she dealt with it before the day’s ended, she would have time to try searching for her mother in the evening. She even inquired with the City Hall about the ownership of their old apartment and the answer should be coming any moment now.

She was broken out of her concentration by a scream of rage and frustration.

--------

A few moments earlier

Damian stalked toward the group of teens that were relaxing from their intern duties. He could clearly see the Liar clutching to Agreste boy like a leech. Perfect for their plan.

The boy had to agree that what Blonde concocted was both deviously brilliant and brilliantly devious. A perfect opening play. He made sure that he looked flawless before suddenly ‘appearing’ behind Lila and Adrien.

“How could you?” He asked in an emotionless voice. His face was showing only traces of sadness. Just like he would look if it was for real.

“Who are you?” She asked dismissively.

“Really Lila?” He asked, allowing a small amount of water to appear in his eyes. It was not like him to cry at all, but his mother taught him all useful ways of emotional manipulations and tears were all the way on top of that list. “After all these years, our relationship meant so little to you? I specifically got this trip so we could reunite and you are just… hanging off of some french model?”

“Listen here you…” She was interrupted when Chloe stormed, her heels clicking loudly around the cafeteria. Conveniently, everyone removed themselves when they saw Damian stalking toward intern-bitch. Speaking to police two days in a row is not a pleasant experience.

“Wayne. What’s the mess here.”

“Tt. You were right. She is a harlot.”

“Wayne?” Alya asked with wide eyes.

“Yes. You have the questionable experience of meeting a pissed Damian Wayne. My poor cake…” She moaned.

“Would you let that go, woman!?” He asked. This time he had no need to play his emotions. Bourgeoise never forgave him and Drake that Cake incident and it grated on his nerves. He paid her back.

“It was my birthday!” She raised her hands up. “And you are all idiots. Lila kept telling you how great her relationship with Damian was. And yet she is hanging off of Adrien, sinking her claws into his arm. I think the English expression was… I swear I read a book about it. Something with red A…” She pressed a finger to her lips, acting like she was trying to remember. “Ah! Scarlet Woman.” She grinned. “That’s what you are, Lie-la. A scarlet woman using men to get what you want.” That was vicious even for Chloe. Adrien took the opportunity to push the fuming girl away and get back. He could admire the chaos that was about to happen very soon.

To their surprise, Lila calmed herself and giggled.

“ah! Silly Dami-boo! I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I thought we were always just friends. It must’ve been one big misunderstanding”

The people around started to nod their heads, accepting what she said as plausible. Damian Wayne wouldn’t be the first to get the wrong idea. At least until their phones buzzed. Chloe was smirking.

“Misunderstanding? This declarations of love say something different though. I seem to remember there was even some talk about a ring.”

Lila checked her phone and her eyes went wide. There were messages that looked like from her. That witch even replicated her speech pattern. It was much better forgery than what she did with Maribrat.

“Lila?” Nino stared at her in disbelief.

“I’m disappointed. After all this time together.” Damian shook his head. He pulled a small bracelet off and tossed it at her. “Consider this a break-up.”

Chloe smiled. “So you are free now.” She asked him. Damian saw the predatory grin and felt a sudden need to run. But he knew that the witch was not yet destroyed.

“Yes…”

“What say I concede that the cake incident was entirely Drake’s fault. If you take me for a coffee after work?”

Damian gave a distraught Lila a look of hatred. Then, he turned back to Chloe.

“I would like that. Does 4:30 pm works for you?”

“I should be free by then.” She smiled. “It’s a date.”

With that, she left with Damian toward the elevator. Lila had enough of it and stormed to the bathroom. Soon after that, a shriek of frustration filled the building. Since it sounded like the bratty intern, nobody cared enough. The class was not allowed to leave their posts, not that too many of them wanted to be near Lila at the moment. They had many things to think about.

Damian and Chloe sat in the Law department, both having a satisfied grin. It was totally worth it.

“Just to be clear. I still hate you.” He said to her.

“Same here.”

“To the Liar’s fall.” They raised a cookie each and bit in. Most people that saw them had to check again because the Ice Prince was actually hanging around someone his age.

--------

Mari managed to record the shriek and now used it as Lila’s ringtone. It was a nice mid-day surprise that brightened her day. It lasted all beautiful hour until Marleen White, the head of PR, started knocking on the elevator, demanding to see her. Given her state and that she didn’t even call, it was something urgent. Mari quickly let her in.

“We have a huge problem.” She tossed a folder full of pictures on her desk. There were prints of chat screens with various dates. The content was most troubling.

“I assume someone leaked it to the press?” She shrugged.

“How can you be calm? It’s a disaster!”

“They are fake.” Mari shrugged again.

“Fake?”

“A. That’s not Lila’s number on any of her four mobile phones. B. I have no idea who made it, but they have no idea how Damian Wayne acts. It’s straight up the same bullshit she will be facing a lawsuit for once the Law Department gets through the tons of paperwork. And C. This is an American number. Lila had no way of getting it three years ago. Plus the timing is too perfect. She gets punishment from the company and then the scandal with her dating youngest Wayne gets out. Whoever made it settled on fast, not precise.” Mari circled things on the prints.

“So it’s all fake?”

“I suspect she wanted revenge on the company for the extra work I had her be assigned.” Mari grinned at the memory of the shriek. “Or, someone’s doing it in her name.” For a moment her thoughts wandered to Chloe. She would have to speak to her soon.

“We will deny it and post all of the details you highlighted. The tabloids might still latch on it.”

“To be honest, I think it will be better than being dragged through the mud for the deaths. Especially since there was no story attached. Personally, I can’t care less about celebrity romance.” She dismissed the concern. It pained her a bit to speak about the dead in such a dismissive manner, but through the day she slowly absorbed that it was not her fault. She couldn’t blame herself. That’s what Marinette would do. Marinette was left in Paris by the irritating classmates and had her luggage (full of Adrien’s cheese-stinking socks) sent to India or somewhere.

“That’s… quite a good idea. I assume you will want this forwarded to the Law department to add to the lawsuit.”

“No point. It’s fake and we have no proof who leaked it. I’m plenty certain we have nothing or that person would already be sitting in HR.”

“The IT is looking into it, but they have little hopes. It went through an external server that we can’t get access to legally. Whoever leaked it was smart enough to avoid easy detection.”

“Good. By the way, what about that statement?”

“I sent it to your email.”

“I see it. I will read it and send you eventual suggestions.”

“Sure. It’s nice to have someone competent in place.”

“I thought Mr. Drake was quite a good CEO. He got this company from the hole back to the top?” She tried to remember what she knew about Wayne Enterprises and Wayne Tech

“Yeah, but he is… eccentric. And can disappear at weird times for hours only to then work through three days without sleep”

“Oh. And Sarah was unhelpful?” Mari winced, remembering her own runs when the deadlines approached and she realized she spent the whole week constantly fighting Akumas.

“She was good with people, but…”

“I get it.” Mari smiled. “Luckily, I have experience with babysitting.”

Both women cackled at that.

------------

Once Marleen was gone, Mari quickly called Chloe’s phone. The girl picked up almost immediately. She was speaking to someone.

“I hope I’m not interrupting your work?”

“Don’t worry Mari-bear. I was just speaking with my newest side-kick.”

“Tt. I’m not a sidekick!” A voice came from next to her. Mari tried to resist the urge to facepalm. Chloe tilted the phone to show a pouting Damian Wayne.

“Shut up Sidekick. I’m the mastermind behind our plans.”

“And I pay for them with my image and sanity.” He replied.

“Hush you! I will let you know that some people would kill for the opportunity.”

“Tt. Right now I want to kill someone.”

“Har har. So funny, are you?”

“As much as I enjoy watching you two flirt… Get a room.” Marigold joked, watching both of them blush red. Before either had a chance to attack her for implying anything, she continued. “Chloe. Did you per any chance fabricated and published texts between Damian and the Liar?”

“Wait! That bitch actually published it?”

Mari facepalmed. She could feel the headache coming. In the hindsight, maybe it would’ve been better to just fire Lila’s sorry ass, together with the rest of the bunch. She could easily have Adrien and Chloe hired on some less permanent deal. They could both do without school for a while.

“Tt. Now I will really need my blade. Please tell me that nobody believed it?” Damian asked, frowning.

“You’re in luck. Madame White caught the wind of it quick enough. She will be making a swift statement that this is an attack on your person and the image of Waynes as a whole. Plus publishing a detailed analysis of why it couldn’t have been you.” Bluenette reassured him that his precious reputation would not take any great hits. Or not too great of a hit at least.

“Good. Jon wouldn’t let me live it down.” He sighed in relief.

“Now, Chlo. You know I love and support your deviousness, but please try and limit the civilian casualties of your future plans.”

“Fine. I can’t promise Lila’s retaliation to follow the same rules.” She huffed.

“Good. You’ve got any plans for the afternoon?”

“She is already otherwise occupied.” Damian quickly interceeded. He might not like the blonde much, but his honor demanded that if he actually invited her for a date, he did his best.

“I will leave you to your scheming then. Or whatever else you are doing” Mari quickly hanged up on the couple before they could scream at her. She saw a bit of blush enter both of their faces so she counted it as a win.

---------

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. Tim Drake did not show for work, so she had to handle the paperwork herself. She never imagined how much work went into organizing one press conference. Sarah did absolutely nothing about it before she quit. Her biggest problem was that she needed to have it happen outside of WE since several journalists expressed their concerns about security. Now she was being hard-pressed to find a separate convention center. Except that things were expensive and Finances were definitely not being helpful. She posted the task to one of their employees. He would send her the offers before the day was up, but there was a slight delay and she would have to wait until four. Mari decided that she can wait and have it done that day.

She informed Chloe and their teacher that she had to stay in the office after hours and get it done so they wouldn’t worry. Then, she dived into making what felt like dozens of phone calls. Out of four serious offers, three would actually pass the standards set by Mr. Drake in the email he oh so graciously sent her in response to a question about the situation. It was six when she actually got done with the negotiations, but the satisfaction was immense. The final price was ten percent lower than what she initially aimed for, so she had more funds for other things. The guest list was also reviewed in the meantime and already sent back, so that was one more thing crossed out of the list.

After being done, she bid farewell to the receptionist near the entrance and went to the Taxi she called before leaving. It was already waiting, which was a nice boon for the end of the day. Her next stop was not the hotel though. She gave the address in the seedier part of town. Her old address to be precise.

----------

“Are you sure Ma’am?” The taxi driver asked unconvinced. “I mean it’s not the safest part of town.”

“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself. Besides, my mother used to live here.” She gave him a bright smile.

“If you say so…” He shrugged and stopped before a rundown building. Moss and ivy had already overgrown this place a long time ago, but the plants seemed… unhealthy. Like they were left to fend on their own for too long. It was not a good sign.

Hesitating for a moment, Mari entered the building. She was hesitant, even though technically her mother was the owner. The ground floor was empty if one ignored several dozen wild plants in various states of growth. Some were dried and dead, while some others were lush and domineering. It used to be well-kept and ordered inside the garden that she and her mother tended to. She would fix that after she found her mother.

The second floor was not much better. The dust everywhere was indication enough that Pamela Isley moved out long ago. Probably even years. Mari walked around, reminiscing about her childhood. It was not what one would call ordinary, but she would never settle for it anyway. She loved learning about plants with her mother. The martial arts lessons with uncle Wilson when he had time. Science with uncle Victor or her mother. Even the math with uncle Floyd. And Allegra and Claude were there to keep her company.

Slowly, she trailed to her mother’s room. She hoped to find something useful there. She definitely did not expect to have to block a giant mallet with blue and red stripes. Ducking under it, she delivered a quick kick before running to the stairs. Mari dashed downstairs and burst onto the street. The Taxi driver actually waited for her. He was a godsend at this moment. She quickly jumped inside and ordered him to go.

“So? Unwelcome guests?” he asked a bit more cheeky than she would’ve liked.

“Yes. But apparently my mom didn’t live there is some time.” Mari answered in a bitter tone.

“Shame. Hope you have better luck, next time lass.” They rode in silence for a moment. “Name’s Chas by the way. Chas Chandler.”

“Marinette.” She smiled at the man. “Thank you for waiting. I would’ve probably been in a worse situation if not for you.” Mari did not add that the worse situation was ordering the wild plants to defend her. She worked with the wild plants maybe twice before and they didn’t listen that well to orders.

“Where to now?”

Mari gave him the name of the hotel. When they arrived, she paid him and gave him a rather generous tip for the work. It was already dark, but apparently Chloe was not yet here. The class was supposed to be visiting some local museum or whatever. It’s not like she cared.

When Marigold entered her room, there was a large book sitting on her bed. Tikki immediately zoomed out of her pocket and toward it. she hovered over for a moment before she huffed.

“Of course he would do that. He is an idiot though. I would be a much better teacher.”

“Who are you talking about?” Mari asked the small goddess.

“No one!” Kwami said quickly and in a bit higher tone. The bluenette could’ve sworn she saw Tikki get even redder than before.

“Okay… And what’s that? Nothing dangerous I hope?”

“It’s… it’s a spellbook.” Tikki said after hesitating a bit.

“Like magic?”

“Yeah.”

“Who would leave me a spellbook without as much as a note?” Mari asked. She could see Tikki was conflicted.

“I can’t say.” She finally let go of air. “I made a promise that I would keep the secret.”

“Fine. You’re sure it’s safe?”

“Yeah, but Magic is dangerous. You should only do it with some supervision.” Tikki warned her.

“Good thing I have you then.” Marigold grinned.

“Mari! You know I can’t exactly just…” Tikki paused. “You know what, it’s actually not a bad idea. I can teach you some simple stuff for the starters.”

“Huh? I actually expected you to be against it.”

“I trust you to act responsibly. And as a Guardian, you probably should start learning magic anyway.”

“Let’s get started then. Please tell me I can curse Lie-la!”

-------

#maribat au #maribat #marinette dupain cheng #Mother!Ivy #dc #MLB #mlb x dc #Batman #miraculous ladybug #miraculous lb #redeemed!chloe #Good!Adrien Agreste #bamf marinette

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thatringboy · 4 years

Text

Sea of Thieves - TWST AU

Based off of @ihavebecomeapenguin‘s Role Swap AU where the First year gang and their respective dorm heads all swap years! This is my second attempt at writing this fic, so I hope you enjoy!

Word count: 2,130 (another record???)

Warnings: Cursing, fight scenes, Azul Angst because this is chapter three

Getting the leader of Savanaclaw to agree with their plan was easy enough for Yuu Prefect. Jack seemed to have the idea in his head that he was obligated to help the Ramshackle student because of how the recent overblot incident went down. Yuu didn’t dislike the help they were receiving, but Jack’s insistence that they slept in his dorm while Yuu fought to get Ramshackle back from the Octavinelle leaders was a little much.

However, convincing their new friend Leona would be a much more difficult ordeal.

“That has got to be the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard.”

“Well I don’t see you coming up with any ideas! I’ve only got a few hours left!” Yuu leaned against the door as Leona flipped the page on his magazine.

“It’s not really my problem, Herbivore.” He sighed and adjusted how he laid on his bed. “What could I do?”

Yuu stood up straight. “What’s wrong with you? You were all up for raiding the vault before, what’s changed now?”

Leona shut the magazine and tossed it aside, crossing his arms and sitting deeper into his pillows. “I don’t know, maybe I’m just tired of getting my ass handed to me by walking sushi!”

Grim snorted on Yuu’s shoulder, but the Prefect was not amused. “It’s a shame, really,” they began, “Think about how people will react when they hear that the second prince of the Afterglow Savanna turned his back on his friend. What would your nephew think of that?”

Yuu knew they struck a chord deep within Leona. He was on his feet in an instant and if looks could kill, Yuu would be dead where they stood. The beastman scowled at the human before him. “Fine, but we do this my way. Your plans suck.”

Yuu’s face formed a mischievous smile. Azul Ashengrotto had crossed a line and by the Seven there would be hell to pay. Oh yes, everything was coming together nicely.

~~~

Riddle paced back and forth and twiddled his thumbs while Trey cleaned his glasses again.

“I have a bad feeling about this--”

“You always have a bad feeling.” Trey put his glasses back on.

“No, seriously! What if Trappola-Senpai finds out that we’re gone? What if we’re too late? What if Leona doesn’t agree to help the Prefect? What if we’re caught out of bed? What if--”

Trey held up a hand. “Riddle, please. Everything is gonna be ok. Just breathe and let the chips fall where they may. Speaking of which...”

The mirror to Savanaclaw lit up and four people stepped out. Leona and Yuu approached the Heartslabyul first years while Ruggie and Jack hung back, already filled in.

As Yuu explained the plan, Riddle’s nervousness slipped away. That is, until his part in the operation was explained.

“You want us to do what?” Riddle’s eyebrows shot up.

Leona smirked. “What, you scared or something?”

“N-No!” He turned bright red. “I just don’t know if I have the skills to pull this off.”

Trey put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll do fine.”

“Thank you, Trey.”

Grim gagged, the anemone on his head wobbling. “Ew! Get a room, you two!”

Leona reached over and flicked the blue appendage. “Shut up, be glad they’re here.”

Yuu rolled their eyes. “So, then everyone knows their parts? Good, then we can get going. The sooner we finish this, the better.”

The first years nodded and passed around the potion that would allow them to breathe underwater. Jack and Ruggie disappeared back into their dorm’s mirror while Yuu and company approached the dark mirror.

In a second, they found themselves in the Coral Sea near the Alantica Memorial Museum. As per usual, a merman guard was posted outside the door. The group looked around for the infamous Leech twins and swam towards the building when they saw that the coast was clear.

Yuu might have had their iconic resting bitch face plastered for their friends to see, but the fact that no one had tried to stop them yet worried the Prefect. Trey swam ahead of the group and approached the guard while the others took cover behind a rock. Yuu could hear Trey spit out a convincing lie about wanting to explore the Museum, only to be denied by the guard. Of course, this was expected and Trey struck up a conversation between the guard, giving a small signal that it was okay for his friends to make a break for the door.

They swam behind the guard while he was distracted and pulled at the entrance, only to discover that it was locked. Leona rolled his eyes and pushed up his sleeve, activating his Unique Magic.

“I am hunger, I am thirst, I am that which steals your tomorrow. Now kneel before me, Kings Roar.”

The door handle turned to sand and he pulled the door open, earning a glare from Riddle. They swam inside the door while Trey continued to keep the attention of the guard. Yuu had to admit Trey’s ability to lie on cue was unsettling, but not unwelcomed.

Finding the picture Yuu risked their dorm for wasn’t a hard task. However, they’d forgotten that the only other reasonable person was still outside sweet talking the guard, so you can imagine how Yuu felt when Riddle took his magic pen and smashed the glass casing around the photo without a second thought.

An alarm went off somewhere in the building and it occurred to Yuu that the last time they were here, there were two guards. A Merman in armor swam around the corner and almost called for backup, but Leona gave him a swift kick to the head and knocked him out.

Maybe hanging around with himbos isn’t such a bad thing. Yuu thought to themself. They almost laughed at the mental image of calling Leona a himbo, but remained focused on the situation at hand. The four swam back out of the Museum and signaled for Trey to wrap up the conversation that he was way too invested in.

They made their escape and began to swim back to the mirror spot, but two dark shadows in the water blocked their path. The Leech brothers eyed the photo in Riddle’s hand with amusement and smiled, calculated toothy grins. Floyd’s voice ripped through the cold water and sent chills down the spines of the first years.

“That doesn’t belong to you, Shrimpy-Chan~”

~~~

Azul watched the first years sneak through the mirror and instructed the twins to give them an hour to retrieve the photo. What he hadn’t seen was the Savanaclaw leadership watching him from their respective mirror.

The Octomer returned to the Mostro Lounge and felt that the establishment lack a certain atmosphere, but then remembered that the Leech twins were off preparing to collect on his most recent contract. He kept himself busy and waved the twins off when they departed, but found his tasks boring when they left.

The Lounge didn’t open for a few minutes, but Azul could see a line forming outside. He grabbed a first year from Scarabia that he had enslaved was helping out that day and positioned him to be the host. The doors opened and Azul noticed that a large amount of customers were from Savanaclaw, but thought nothing of it.

He returned to the VIP room and checked his phone for messages before sitting down behind his large desk. Azul looked over the papers on his desk and noticed that jade had dropped off collateral on a recent contract. Azul spun around in his chair like a supervillain - which he privately enjoyed doing - and stood to open his vault. He had barley cracked the door open when a first year from his own dorm stepped into the VIP room looking distressed.

“What could possibly be so important that you come in here unannounced?”

“It’s a mad house out there, Senpai!” The first year was out of breath,

“Excuse m--”

“There’s too many of them, we can’t keep serving them!”

“Show me.”

Azul followed the first year out to the Lounge’s restaurant area and stopped. Those students from Savanaclaw who were crowding the door? They had taken up every seat! They were yelling and cursing out his waiters and throwing glasses and sending back food they deemed inedible! And of course, the smug faces of Ruggie Bucchi and Jack Howl leaned against the door frame without a care in the world.

“Mister Howl, what is the meaning of this?” Azul tried his hardest not to scream in frustration.

“That’s Howl-Senpai to you, tentacles!” Ruggie snickered.

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean.” Jack had a smug expression.

Someone called Azul’s name from the kitchen and yelled that they needed assistance. Jack’s smile turned sinister. “That sounds urgent, you wouldn’t want to upset your customers, would you?”

Azul’s face burned red as he struggled not to explode on them. After all, he had a reputation; one bad day couldn’t ruin that. But he did find it suspicious that this happened as soon as the twins had left. Azul returned to the kitchen and kept his eye on the Savanaclaw leaders until he stepped behind the swinging door, narrowly running into a Heartslabyul student carrying a tray of tea.

Once he was gone, Jack nodded to Ruggie and the second year made a break for the VIP room. Phase one was complete.

~~~

If this was any other circumstance, Yuu would say that the eels swimming around them was majestic. However, in this moment, Yuu struggled not to show fear.

“What should we do with the little Shrimpy and Koebe-Chan and Lionfish and their little friends, Jade?” Floyd’s nicknames for them made Riddle flush.

“I don’t know, what if you gave them a squeeze?” Jade swam a little too close to Leona and almost got slashed across the face by long nails. Yuu looked to the Heartslabyul duo and nodded. The two had their pens out in a flash and went back to back. This part of the plan required concentration and almost perfect timing. If one of them messed up, they may just become fish food.

Floyd caught on to what they were doing. “Hah! What, is little Koebe-Chan going hit me with his little necklaces?”

Riddle turned even more red, but surprisingly didn’t lash out. Yuu looked over for a second and noticed that Trey was holding his hand to keep him calm. Yuu turned their attention back to Jade as Leona swiped at him again. Leona attempted to fire a bolt of magic at him, but Jade was too quick, easily avoiding and laughing at the attempt.

Yuu grabbed Leona’s sleeve. “Floyd’s magic! We can’t touch them!”

Leona swung his head around, smacking Grim in the face with his ponytail, and snarled at Trey and Riddle. “Hurry up, goddamnit!”

Riddle broke his concentration and glared at Leona. “I’m doing my best you useless pussy!”

Trey and Yuu made eye contact and knew that the plan was falling apart. Trey rolled his eyes and pointed his wand at Floyd. “Oh for the Seven!”

He activated his Unique Magic and suddenly Floyd’s smile fell. His multi colored eyes widened with rage and Trey gulped. “Riddle, now!”

Riddle spun around and pointed his pen at Floyd as well. “Don’t tell me what to do! Off with your head!”

The all too familiar clicking sound could be heard and Floyd grabbed at his neck. Riddle’s iconic neck lock was holding onto the merman and based on the violent thrashing from Floyd, it wasn’t budging. Floyd glared daggers into Riddle and lunged at him with a loud shriek, but Leona had crossed the distance between them and booted him in the side of the head.

“Floyd!” Jade rushed to his brother’s side and was relieved that Floyd was only knocked unconscious. He looked at the first years and down at the neck brace on his twin. “Just... go.”

They didn’t hesitate to swim back to the mirror spot and teleport back to Night Raven College. When they had finally caught their breath from swimming so fast, Riddle look down at his hands.

“I.... I just used my magic to harm an upperclassman. Leona, you kicked an upperclassman in the head!”

“Yeah and I’ll do it again.” Leona picked between his teeth with his pinky finger. Yuu looked at Trey. “So, how did you do that? The plan was for you two to cast that combo spell that Crowley showed you.”

Trey rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I panicked and realized that my Doodle Suite might have been able to make Floyd-Senpai’s shield just not work.”

“Genius, even for a human like you!” Grim jumped onto the green haired boy’s shoulder with a smile.

“Thank you?”

“Don’t take that as a compliment!” Riddle squinted his eyes at Grim. Leona pulled out his phone and was amazed that it wasn’t dead. “So, Jack and Ruggie-Senpai should be done by now, should we head over to the Lounge?”

Yuu sighed and realized how tired they were. “Let’s.”

~~~

When he managed to get the last beastman out of his restaurant, Azul almost collapsed against the door. He got to his feet and almost stumbled back to the VIP room, but stopped dead in his tracks. His blood turned to ice and his glasses fell off his face. Azul made an undignified sound and spun around, discarding his glasses in his haste. He tore down the hall back to the Lounge, leaving the VIP room and the open, empty vault within.

Azul threw open the doors to the Lounge and saw Ruggie leaning against a wall, cleaning out his teeth with a toothpick.

“What have you done?!” Azul’s voice was nothing more than a hushed whisper.

Ruggie ignored him. “You know, I tried takoyaki for the first time today, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

Azul turned a furious red. “You mangy beast! Where are they?!”

“Is that any way to talk to a classmate, Azul-kun?” Jack stepped out from behind a corner, a large stack of yellow papers in his hands. “I thought that you would have more tact.”

The Octavinelle student glared daggers into Jack’s soul. It was a little unsettling. The beastmen could just feel the anger seething out of him. Footsteps could be heard approaching the three.

“I can’t wait to see the look on that Octo-punk’s face when we give him the stupid photo!”

“I’ve never said anything bad against an upperclassman before, but I hope he looses it!”

“Like how you lost it with Floyd?”

“Shut up, or I’ll forcefully remove that anemone myself, you little beast!”

The first years turned the corner Jack was standing behind and stopped. Yuu held up a preemptive hand to stop any wise comments about Azul’s clearly enraged behaviour. With their other hand, they held out the photograph. “Here, so you can’t say we didn’t pull through our end of the deal.”

Azul just stared at the photo and began to laugh softly. “You... You think you’ve won? You steal my contracts, you destroy my Lounge and you bring me my photo to rub it in, huh? I see the twins have failed yet again.”

“Yet again?” Called a voice from down the hall. The students present turned their heads to see the human forms of the Leech brothers coming their way. Floyd still had Riddle’s neck lock on and held an ice pack to his temple.

Jade’s eyes looked Azul up and down. “It seems you’re the one who failed here.”

Azul scoffed. “Oh please, I gave you one task: keep them from returning the photo to me! You couldn’t even do that!”

Floyd stood up taller and took the ice pack away from his head. “You know, I don’t like that tone you’ve got. Makes me want to squeeze it out of you.”

Azul seemed to mentally backpedal. “Well, what I meant to say was--”

Jack waved the contracts in the air to get the mermen’s attention. “Do you want these or not?”

Azul’s anger turned to desperation. “Yes! Hand them over this instant!”

“No I don’t think I will.” Jack sneered. Yuu realized that he was just toying with Azul. They almost felt bad for the second year dorm head, but at the same time, he had enslaved over two hundred students simply because they wanted a cheat sheet for finals. Jack looked over the documents in his hand and passed them to Leona. “Do what you want, I just wanted to see him squirm.”

Leona gladly took the contracts and Yuu realized what he was about to do. They made no move to stop him, but Jade’s eyes opened uncharacteristically large.

“I am hunger, I am thirst, I am that which steals your tomorrow. Now kneel before me, Kings Roar!”

The golden contracts crumbled into sand between his fingers. Azul shrieked again and fell to his knees, watching as Leona kicked the pile of sand at his feet to solidify that the papers were gone. Yuu looked to Grim and saw that the anemone on his head was gone, however the next sound Azul made got them to return their focus on the situation.

“You... you monsters!” Azul slowly got to his feet.

“Yeah what?” Grim grinned. “You gotta be a bit more specific.”

Leona rolled his eyes and turned to go. “C’mon, I’ve got practice to get to. I don’t wanna throw a pity party for that mess.”

Riddle raised his pen and the neck brace around Floyd vanished. He rubbed his neck and smiled at Riddle. “Thank you, Koebe-chan! No hard feelings for trying to eat you?”

Riddle made a disgusted face that Trey snorted at. Azul watched them start to leave with horror in his eyes. “No, wait! Fix this mess! Grim, I helped you pass your exam!”

“You also used me as a sponge!”

Floyd pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “You’re acting pretty lame right now, you know that right?”

Jade nodded and shrugged his shoulders. “Desperation isn’t a good look for you.”

Azul looked around for something, anything to make the situation better. Yuu sighed. “Azul, you did this to yourself. Now, if you excuse us--”

Azul got to his feet with a strange expression on his face. “Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait! I can turn this around! Just watch, I’m not boring at all!”

The door to the Mostro Lounge creaked open and a timid looking Scarabia student stepped out, patting his head where Yuu assumed an anemone had been resting. Azul reached out his hand and a small ball of light flew out of the chest of the poor student and into Azul’s. He stood up with a crazed smile and looked around the group as the Scarabia boy collapsed.

“See?! I may not be what I once was, but I am still leagues above you all!”

Leona groaned and spun around on his heels. “Okay, now you’re taking this too far--”

He was interrupted by Azul’s laugh and a snap of the second year’s fingers. Ruggie pushed Leona down and the ball of light Yuu assumed was Ruggie’s magic flew to Azul. Jack pulled out his staff and growled as he watched Ruggie faint.

“You’ll pay for that, Ashengrotto.” He snarled.

Azul’s laugh grew dark and menacing. “Oh really, Jack-Senpai?” the title oozing off of his tongue like poison. “Why don’t you just lighten up and Dance with me!”

Jack dropped the staff and became rigid, but soon regained control of his body. Azul turned to Floyd, who’s eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. All of the commotion had drawn the attention of the other Octavinelle dorm residents, all of which fell prey to Azul’s greedy glare.

Yuu watched in horror as Azul absorbed the magic of every student who had unknowingly stepped into their worst nightmare, but it wasn’t over. Yuu looked Azul up and down and saw his purple gem becoming more clouded by the second.

Riddle noticed this too and raised his pen to stop the nonsense, but Trey tackled him out of Azul’s line of sight. It occurred to Yuu that if Azul got is hands on the magic of their friends, the fight would turn from bad to ugly.

Of course, as per usual, the coming tide was already among them. Jade dashed to put himself between the first years and the crazed Azul, but got smacked to the side by a large black tentacle that had formed from Azul’s cane.

The overblotting version of Azul stood over the first years, but while their friends saw the anger in those cold blue eyes, Yuu recognized loneliness and fear. This was by far the worst case of overblotting Yuu had seen when comparing the Heartslabyul and Savanaclaw incident together, and they had no idea what to do now.

#twst role swap au #TWST #twisted wonderland #TWST AU #twisted wonderland writing #my writing #ThatRingBoy Blue #Riddle Rosehearts #Trey Clover #Leona Kingscholar #Ruggie Bucchi #Jack Howl #Azul Ashengrotto #Jade Leech #Floyd Leech #Yuu Prefect #Grim #twisted wonderland Grim #twisted wonderland characters

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peachyteez · 4 years

Text

second chances ≫ DAY SIX, GIVING IN.

as a feral wolf hybrid that was violent with all of the employees assigned to him, seonghwa was subjected to be put down. however, jiyu being the softhearted feral hybrid nurse she was, she decided to save seonghwa no matter what.

PART OF THE HEAVEN SERIES

✧ taglist: @defsoul15, @choisaniskillingme, @t-tbinnie, @multi-bookmarkscripts, @hello-its-ya-boi, @sunsethw4, @chanyeolol

can’t be tagged: @sherzess

feel free to let me know if you would like to be added to the list! :)

✧ notes: welcoming hybrid caretaker!chanhee (from the boyz hehe)

back。| next。

“you look like you came from the walking dead,” was the first thing yeonjun said to jiyu when she walked in the office and honestly, he wasn’t wrong. anyone could notice the dark circles underneath her eyes and her dazed and sleepy expression. “did you even sleep last night?”

sighing, jiyu put on her white coat and crashed into her chair. she buried her head into her arms onto the table. “nope. was too busy thinking about some things,” she sleepily mumbled.

yeonjun had a gut feeling. “and did you decide?”

“...no.”

yeonjun deadpanned. “so you’re telling me you stayed up the entire night to think...and you didn’t even come to a decision?!”

“sounds about right,” jiyu said as she sat up and stretched her arms above her head. “i just don’t know what to do, jun.”

yeonjun softly smiled. “well, i can’t make the decision for you, ji. that’s something you need to figure out on your own.”

“look how that turned out,” she wryly mumbled. “you think they’ll let me nap in the infirmary?”

yeonjun started working on beomgyu’s report. “just don’t sleep the whole work shift.”

jiyu rolled her eyes and let out a playful scoff as she got up to go to the infirmary. “if i’m not back in an hour or two, then come wake up me.”

walking down the hall, jiyu tiredly rubbed her face before stuffing her hands into her white coat pocket. she felt a piece of paper slightly crumple and she sighed, knowing exactly what it was. the adoption form.

thinking back to the night before, she wanted to pull her hair in frustration. whenever she came to a decision, her brain would always think of an excuse to talk her out of going through with the adoption.

so absorb in her thoughts, she failed to notice someone else walking out of the infirmary. “good god, ji. you look like—”

“i came out of the walking dead?” she finished.

“well, that’s a nicer way of putting it—ow!” he yelped when jiyu punched his arm. “go sleep in the infirmary. you look like you need it,” he added, rubbing his arm where jiyu punched.

“thanks, chanhee,” she chuckled as she walked past him and into the infirmary.

falling into the bed, jiyu realized how exhausted she really was when her eyes closed and she immediately drifted off into dreamland. funny how easily she fell asleep here compared to her own bed at home. she was so deep asleep, she didn’t notice the two people that entered the room.

“there she is,” yeonjun gestured to the sleeping female on bed to the wolf hybrid.

seonghwa peeked in and his facials softened seeing that jiyu was okay. when yeonjun, his former caretaker, came in to check up on him instead of jiyu, he thought something was wrong—or she could’ve been avoiding him after what he said the previous day.

“c–can i stay here?” he tentatively asked yeonjun.

yeonjun chuckled at the wolf hybrid. “you’re really attached to her, aren’t you?” he asked.

it’d be a lie if seonghwa said yeonjun was wrong. he didn’t realize how attached he grew to her until today when he didn’t see her.

“i guess she didn’t tell you why she’s hesitant, right?” yeonjun humourlessly smiled. “let’s just say that she wasn’t supposed to be here,” he mumbled under his breath. patting seonghwa on the back, he gently nudged him into the room. “to answer your question, you can stay.”

and with that, yeonjun closed the door and left.

seonghwa furrowed his eyebrows. what did that even mean? sitting down next to the bed, he stared at jiyu, taking in how peaceful she looked. his ears twitched as he observed her.

jiyu readjusted her sleeping position, startling seonghwa since he thought she was waking up. but when she settled down again, he noticed a folded piece of paper that fell out of her coat pocket. carefully reaching over and grabbing it, he was shocked when he opened it and found it was a filled–out adoption form.

and it had his name and her signature at the bottom.

his tail started uncontrollably wagging, which made noises as it rubbed against the chair. jiyu furrowed her eyebrows and slowly opened her eyes at the noise.

what she wasn’t expecting to see was seonghwa sitting on the chair next to the bed with his eyes practically glowing as he stared at a piece of paper. “seonghwa, what are you looking at?” she sleepily asked as she leaned over to look.

her breath caught in her throat when she recognized the paper. quickly reaching a hand into her coat pocket, she realized it wasn’t a dream. “u–um...i can explain!” she frantically said as she sat up on the bed. “i know you’re iffy about adoption, so that’s why i never said anything about it. but yesterday, you and yeonjun talked some sense into me and—”

seonghwa blinked as he tried processing her words. she could be a rapper with how quick she’s talking...

“—so i put a lot of thought into it and—”

seonghwa reached over and put a hand on top of her head, a quiet signal telling her to calm down. “have you considered being a rapper?” he lightly joked. “and i’m not mad.”

jiyu stared up at him and blinked in confusion. “y–you’re not?” she meekly asked.

“if i were to be completely honest, no. actually, i really wouldn’t mind if it was you that adopted me,” he casually added, making jiyu’s eyes widen.

“but you seemed hesitant yesterday on the topic of adoption so i didn’t push it any further,” he said. “but this makes me confused, too,” he held up the adoption form.

jiyu sighed. she decided to ultimately come clean about everything, even if it made his views of her change. “and i’ll explain everything,” she softly smiled. “it’s a long story, though so get confortable,” she warned.

seonghwa got up and laid on the bed next to jiyu. her eyes widened. “um—”

“you said get comfortable and my butt’s going to hurt from sitting on that chair,” he explained as he crossed his arms underneath his head. “so, what’s your story?”

“do you know hwang corporations?” seeing seonghwa nod, she bitterly smiled. “that’s actually my family’s business.”

seonghwa, quite surprised at the revelation, cocked an eyebrow up at jiyu. “then what are you doing here?” he asked before realizing how rude he came off. “i mean—”

“it’s fine, i get what you mean,” jiyu chuckled. “but my life was planned out for me ever since i was born. i’m the only child, so naturally, i’d have to take over the company when i’m old enough.”

“but i don’t want to. i was tired of everything being planned out for me, i was tired of being a puppet rather than an actual daughter in my dad’s eyes.”

seonghwa intently listened. “what about your mother?” he carefully asked. seeing jiyu’s expression tense, he realized he must’ve overstepped.

“she died when i was fifteen,” jiyu sadly smiled. “she was actually a hybrid caretaker, too. i must’ve gotten the passion for hybrids from her.”

“but i managed to convince my dad to let me have five years to myself before i have to take over the company. and he agreed, with the condition that i’d have to take over the company with no arguments or fights. so with that, i packed up and moved out. no support from my dad, except the apartment i live in right now.”

“and now here i am four years—i finished university and became a hybrid caretaker. i have a year left before he takes me back, so i’m trying to live it out as best as i can.”

seonghwa went silent as she finished her story. “so to sum it up,” he started, “you don’t want to adopt me because you’re leaving in a year.”

jiyu nodded. “i’d feel bad for leaving you after only a year...so that’s why i have second thoughts.”

“have you considered my feelings?” seonghwa asked. seeing jiyu’s confusion, he sighed. “no one ever said you had to give me up after a year.”

jiyu looked down and fiddled with her fingers. “i’m scared of neglecting you since i’ll be busy with the company. it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

seonghwa sat up and stared down at the female in front of him. “whether it’s fair to me is my own decision, don’t you think?” he asked. “besides, even though i’ve only known you for only five days, you’re not the type to abandon a hybrid. you saved me from getting put down after all.”

jiyu’s eyes widened. “you knew?”

“the nurses here aren’t so quiet,” seonghwa wryly smiled.

jiyu didn’t know what is was about seonghwa, but his words were somewhat really convincing. he was right. she was only considering her own thoughts and reasons, that she disregarded seonghwa’s thoughts on the matter.

seonghwa peered down at jiyu’s face. “everything okay?”

jiyu snapped out of her thoughts and her expression morphed into smile as she took the paper from seonghwa’s hands. reaching up and rubbing at the base of his ears, he started chuffing and his tail started happily wagging.

she chuckled seeing his embarrassed expression after she stopped. “that was embarrassing, never do that again,” he pouted.

“well, get used to it because i’ll surprise you with them from now on.”

seonghwa’s eyes widened as his ears stood up in full alert. “from now on? does that mean—” his tail couldn’t keep still, making jiyu laugh.

“yes, hwa. i’m willing to take the risks,” she smiled.

seonghwa couldn’t control himself. he threw his arms around jiyu and nuzzled the top of her head. his tail started wagging even faster out of pure excitement. “i won’t make you regret your decision!”

jiyu reciprocated his hug with a chuckle. “i’d never regret it, seonghwa. i promise.”

a few minutes passed with seonghwa still embracing jiyu, his eyes closed with bliss. jiyu didn’t want to burst his happiness, but she really had to get up.

“hwa, i need to get up,” she meekly said with a pat to his arm. “we still need to get your thumbprint on the form and your official documents.”

seonghwa immediately retracted his arms with a sheepish look on his face. seeing new, various expressions on his face, jiyu couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. a few days ago, he was glaring and growling at everyone. now, although he’s still working on it, he can freely smile around others.

she reached up to rub his head again, softy smiling when seonghwa started nuzzling his head against her hand. “i may not be able to provide you with much, but i promise whatever happens in the future, i’ll keep you safe,” she quietly mumbled, only for him to hear.

“you’ve already given me heaven, jiyu. that’s all i could ask for.”

#9th member of ateez #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez fluff #ateez angst #park seonghwa #park seonghwa imagines #seonghwa imagines #seonghwa scenarios #hybrid au #kpop hybrid au #ateez hybrid #hybrid!ateez #ateez au

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oh-for-fic-sake · 4 years

Text

Two More Bedrooms

Masterlist

The baby is on his way and who better to help you through slow labor then nurse Paige!

Warnings: Swearing, Graphic birth sort of?, Terribly Written Birthing Scenes, Fluff! and humor

A/N: So this is the last one of these for a while guys got a few other things I want to concentrate on however I did enjoy writing this one had a right laugh! any way I hope you enjoy as always xx

Taglist: @two-unbeatable-beaters @thatgirly81 @angelofthorr @iloveyouyen @sofiebstar @thefangirlsblog

Henry opened the boot of the car with a groan. It was go time. Well not really he had finally got back from filming late. It was late October and he was running around doing his fatherly duty of putting together the furniture for his sons nursery. His son. Each time he said it he got a huge wave of fatherly pride. He was having a little boy, he would be here in a matter of days! Well he was due in just under ten days. Henry was ecstatic. And behind he had a lot of things to get done. Starting with the cot. You had been terrified that he wouldn't be home in time and it was to late in the pregnancy to fly out to him either and you'd already sorted out your birthing plan here! To say you'd got yourself in a state was an understatement especially with the drama at the nursery, but Henry was here now he had taken care of everything!. He heaved the first heavy box up the stairs you and Paige watching from the sidelines neither of you had let him see the nursery on the phone wanting to keep it a secret. As tempting as it was to do a dc theme you'd decided against it.

Paige wanted a 'zoo room' and well to be honest it was a better idea then your 'generic pale blue'. He walked into the large room smiling you'd both done a hell of a job...so some of the mural was tilted and out of line, he didn't care it was Paige's first time helping to hang wallpaper and he was damn proud of his little nugget!

It was incredible the largest back wall was a custom wallpaper mural it was a white background with strategically placed palm trees jungle vines an 'life sized' elephants, giraffes ,zebras you name it! In the trees there was monkeys and various brightly coloured parrots perched and in flight. The floor was sanded leaving it a lighter oak and the rest of the walls painted a very light sage colour. There was boxes and boxes of toys, soft furnishings and essentials packed n the far corner including a five foot tall giraffe teddy that Paige had wanted to buy the baby...That was just one of her many gifts to him.

Henry loved it and had praised the both of you for what you had achieved. Finally four trips later he had retrieved all of the furniture and it was now time to assemble. Moving he quickly unclipped his drill box flipping it open then turned when he heard the door open and saw Paige peeking in, she had a bowl of cut grapes and apples with her, he smiled you must have gave her snacks to come an watch.

"Hey Nugget..You want to help?" She nodded and walked over to him and sat down next to him still in her pajamas even though it was two in the afternoon. She had been relaxing with you on the sofa watching tv She watched carefully as he began to pull out the flat packed crib from the box.

"Hold the box for me okay..one..two..three....there we go!...see can you guess what this is?" She looked at it skeptically humming.

"Cot?" Henry chuckled nodding.

"That’s right this will be the cot and we have a changing table a wardrobe and chest of drawers to make....then We have to get the rocking chair from the snug in here....Do you know where everything is supposed to go in here?" She nodded popping another grape in her mouth then offered hi one. He smiled plucking a red grape from the top.

"Good because mummy isn't allowed in here until we are done!" She giggled at him and began the hard task of supervising him.

Remarkably everything was much easier to put together then last time ...though he didn't wing it this time and read the instructions which Henry has decided he will do in the future, everything ran smoothly. Paige was giddy as she got to help make the furniture. Henry had held the drill a few times letting her pull the trigger and she was over the moon. Henry had given her a little lesson on drill bits and proper safety showing the little girl how it worked and she had loved it, he thinks it was less about the lesson and more about having one on one time with her dad. It was nearly three hours later but finally the room was done he and Paige had even unpacked the baby clothes. You had broke down in tears seeing the finished room, it was beautiful and calming. The wood of the furniture was all a mix of white painted and oak that was only one shade darker then the floor.

It was now four days to go. The nursery had been moved about every single day. You were nesting, it frustrated you, you needed to clean but the 'cavillry' had been on your case not letting you do anything. You just couldn't explain it, you wanted to hoover,mop,dust, clean, wipe! You wanted to nitpick! You just... you was on edge you could feel it, he was close so close to being here but you couldn't settle. Thankfully though Henry being home meant you didn't have to worry about much you were all ready!

Henry gulped...well shit if you wasn't on edge before you would be now if you found out. 'She'd be raging' He had just realized he hadn't packed a bag. Fuck. He now had to covertly pack this thing without you finding out he had forgot...he needed a sneaker.

"Paige! Can you come here a moment poppet?!" The little girl came into your Shared bed room.

"Yes Daddy?"

"Right...Daddy messed up....and i need your help can you be sneaky for me today?"

"Sneaky daddy?" He nodded

"Yes we need to get mummy's hospital bag ready! And daddy forgot so i need you to help me get all the things we need for when your brother gets here....can you do that poppet?"

"Okay daddy whats first?” and so began a morning of creeping around the house trying to pack the bag he had said was packed three days ago. Paige he been caught stealing the baby wipes but finally everything was laid out on the bed.

"Right nugget it looks like we did it now the final check okay."

"Tag on the bag? Check, wet wipes nappies-"

"Wow daddy will he be this tiny?" Henry chuckled nodding as Paige placed the tiny nappy in the bag on top of the others

"Yes nugget so tiny and cute...I truly can’t wait for him to get here, your going to love him! And hold him and snuggle him"

"I-I get to cuddle?" He nodded sitting beside her on the bed

"Oh yes baby girl! You can have as many cuddles as you want! You are his big sister...When he grows up he is going to learn a lot for you, you get to play with him teach him your games and how to grow the fruit in the garden and teach him to walk and talk, your going to be so close baby girl...your- your baby brother wont be just a brother...But a best friend for life!" She grinned wide still smoothing her little fingers over the small pamper.

"Now what else-ah bottles, formula, cool scarves check check check....reusable sanitary pads witch hazel check double check...wheat cushion and sports bottle..where the - Paige is Mummy’s sports bottle in there?" She dug around to the bottom and nodded

"Uhuh its there daddy and juice!"

"Good right then its just the baby grow! And I know that's in the front pocket! Woohoo we are all done!" Paige shook her head frowning

"No-No daddy wheres the snuggy! He will need his snuggy I got him A snuggy daddy!" Henry smiled at her.

"I know baby girl but Mummy and I think its better if you gave it to him when you meet, then he knows its from you" at that Paige calmed down...

"Really Daddy? I can give it to him...will he like my snuggy?" Henry nodded to her zipping up the bag and picked her up placing her on his hip.

"Absolutly baby he will love it...Its the wolf one mummy showed me isn’t it?" She nodded as Henry moved out of the bed room and down the stairs.

"I thought so a very good choice nugget, so soft and small enough he will be able to hold it straight away, you keep it close to the door when me and mummy go and daddy will come and get you when he is here. You remeber what we said?"

"That-that you and mummy go to hospital and get him out then I can see him in the hospital after!" Henry placed the bag by the front door so he just had to grab it on the way out when the time came.

"Forgot the chargers" Henry jumped up

"What-hey sweety what are you doing up and about thought you were in the den reading?"

"You think I wont notice my own husband and daughter skulking about the house all day collecting things?..... Come on move knew you hadn't packed idiot..." you moved over to the bag placing two chargers in the side pocket then stood up right kissing him on the cheek as he blushed at being caught out.

"Daddy does Mummy know everything that happens...." he chuckled watching as you waddled back towards the kitchen muttering something about pickled eggs.

"Yes baby yes she does...we are...bad a sneaking I think"

"We need to get better at it daddy" he nodded to his eldest and followed you to the kitchen hoping you wasn't angry, but by the soft giggles he doubted it

"I can hear you two you know! There will be no more sneaking about now come have some lunch!"

Lunch was a bad idea! You groaned holding your stomach rubbing the taught muscles, sure you had twitches but fuck! You thought they were braxton hicks! You had them for three days none stop about a week before Paige was finally born. But no you were slowly realizing that this might be it!

You rolled onto your side holding your tummy as another slightly powerful contraction pulled Kal had just left the room barking and you could hear henry stampedeing throught the house to your side Paige running in a few moments behinde...Dressed as a nurse...Oh for fuck sake...Why the hell did he get her the nurse set!

"Babe! Oh god babe are you? is it time?!" You shook your head and held out your hands signaling him to help you sit up he did kneeling before you

"Is...Is it the baxtons again? Have they started?" You took a deep breath.

"I...I don't think so had them on and off for the past few days but they are getting worse...I think I'm in slow labor can't do anything yet, gotta wait it out!" Paige interrupted by putting her 'baby headphones' on which was her toy stethoscope on your tummy and nodding

"He wants to come out got to hospital" you and Henry laughed at her.

"Oh my god haha! Paige-y Poppet!"

"Nurse Paige Daddy...I'm a nurse today!" you calmed down

"Well your right nurse Paige he is on his way...But we have to wait until he is just about to come out until we go to the hospital...A few more hours at least..Not only that I'm not leaving this house till I’ve fucking pooped! And have a coffee Henry...don't need to falling asleep again!"

"Again...Mummy have you did this before?" You and Henry shared a look.

"Yes baby with you....You were in my tummy and we went to the hospital and got you out..daddy passed out cos he looked

"I did not look woman! It was stress! And low blood sugar!" Paige meanwhile was quiet trying to process the fact that she had come out of you....The little girl knew she was in your tummy at one point but never gave it much thought....

"You-you I'm not poop am I? You didn't poop me out did you mummy?....Rose still says you poop out babies I don't want to be a poo!" You smiled at her and chuckled.

"No poppet your not poop? You were a baby just like your brother will be...but mummy does need to try poop before she leaves"

"You want a coffee mummy? You can't poo until after coffee...Daddy make mummy a coffee so she can poo and go get my brother" Henry chuckled and saluted

"Yes nurse Paige...do we still have decaf love?." You nodded to him smiling

"Yes thank you love I'm gonna get changed then I will be down" he hummed

"Nurse stay with your mum...come get me if anything happens okay poppet?" She nodded and 'helped' you up towards the stairs.

The coffee did not work as time ticked on it became clear that you was definitely in labor, the pains were bad and contractions worse then you remembered. You sat there on the toilet determined that you would empty your bowels before leaving but you were cutting it close. Your waters were slowly trickling now, but your adamant you can last you are not shitting yourself during birth! You held the side of the tub cringing at the harsh tugs of your muscles as your body tried moving the baby lower. You squinted trying to forget the pain and focus on the task at hand it was hard to go with Paige standing at the door with Kal.

"Paige?...Can mummy poop in peace?"

"Yes" you gasped as another wave started and curled over on yourself.

"....Alone maybe?" Her face lit up and she smiled

"OOOH alone? no" your face dropped what?

"Paige please?" You begged really needing her to understand and leave you to it like Henry was, though you suspected he was at the top of the stairs listening out

"...No mummy you need a nurse here in case...Me and Kal are nurses" oh for fuck sake

"Incase of what baby?"

"..If you push to hard you might poop out the baby..." you sighed rolling your eyes trying to control your tone not wanting to scream at her but at the same time you wanted a fucking shit in peace!

"Paige I promise I wont poop out the baby"

"But daddy said he's coming" you growled fisting your hands having just about enough as another contraction began pulling at you, really you should be on your way to the hospital already.

"Paige honey...I promise you I will not poop out your brother...But mummy really really needs to go and your putting me off..."

"Okay mummy..." she turned around and patted Kal

"Come on Kal turn around mummy can't poop when your watching"

"Paige please go downstairs"

"No mummy...Just poop already! Its okay if its smelly...I've been to the toilet after you before...And we got this see?" She waved a small can of air freshener that you failed to notice until then okay right that's it!

"Oh for fuck sake-BABE! COME COLLECT YOUR OFSPRING!" Paige blinked confused as Henry came in and collected her, scooping her up sheepishly.

"Come on nugget! Lets got double check the bag...Micah and his mummy will be here soon..."

"But daddy mummy needs me! I'm a nurse!" He shushed her and turned to you.

"Their five minuets away babe might want to wrap this up-"

"GET THE FUCK OUT I NEED A SHIT!!!" You swear for a second you really was married to Clark kent at the speed he left the bathroom as you flung a bottle of bubble bath at the closed door.

What felt like a few moments later you were being ushered out of the door by Fran giving Paige and Kal kisses promising to see them soon. You and Henry pulled away from the house in silence tense and excited.

"You ready?" All he got was a loud groan in reply as you gripped the door and dashboard you had left it to late

"H-henry put your fucking foot down! He is comeing fast!" Started by the change in tone he did as asked flooring it, the hospital was only five minutes away thankfully livjng on the same side of town was ta god send.

"Fuck babe are you- why didn't you say anything inside!? It he that close?!"

"YES HERNY BUT I WAS NOT SHITTING ON MYSELF BIRTHING HIM NOW FUCKING SHUT UP AND FUCKING DRIVE THIS FUCKING MOTHER FUCKING CAR TO THE CUNTING HOSPITAL!!!" You ended with a low pained groan but henry in his panic just continued his blathering

"Do-did you go for the epidural? Can they?-"

"ITS TO LATE! JUST OHHHHH FUUUCKING HELL NO!" your groans got higher and louder as the pain and awful need to push became almost to much to bare.That did the trick. Henry soon realized that you were in the middle of active labor.

"What the fuck? babe why didn't you say something?! breath breath remeber-"

"I AM FUCKING BREATHING!!! IF NOT ID BE FUCKING DEAD....oh fuck me- sorry babe these things hit hard...I didn't ant to worry you or Paige be he wants out now- OOOHHH GOD NOO FUAUHGK JUST FUCKING TOOT THAT CUNT GO AROUND HIM HENRY?! GET OUT OF THE WAY ASSHOLE! PUSHING A BABY OUT HERE!!"

"Babe the windows open-"

"FUCK THE WINDOW MY FUCKING CERVIX IS OPEN!!oooh and done wow...You know I'm done after this one...Fucking done" You pressed back into the seat taking deep breaths laughing in delight as the hospital came into veiw patting your tummy

"okay...okay breath this is it baby boy~ fUUUCK ME! Auggghhh! no don't that's whats got us here", Henry tried not to laugh but he couldn't hold it he chuckled as he sped past the barriers and skidded to a stop by the maternity unit swearing

"Fuck fuck fuck HELP HE'S COMING FAST!!! okay bag bag and plan- we have the birthing plan- whats the birthing plan babe?!" he panicked as you both made it into reception you doubled over legs spread wide baring down as the contraction built in strength.

"TO GET HIM OUT- THAT’S THE FUCKING PLAN FUCK THIS WAS SO MUCH BETTER WITH A FUCKING EPIDURAL-!" suddenly seeing what was happening you were whisked into a room by midwives that already knew this baby was coming much faster then expected.

You were quickly placed on the bed legs spread and a midwife checking she swore and pressed a button above you on the bed raising an alarm. she turned to Henry asking him questions

"Dad? this your first baby?"

"No second, our second" he lifted your papers as you screamed out again he was panicked

"Okay right was it a natural birth last time?" Henry nodded to the woman then suddenly there was two younger women in the room

"Shes crowning fast, the baby will be here in a matter of minuets okay...I need a bassinet, blanket tools the lot, get those notes off dad and get a ecg in here I want baby's heart rate!...Right dad you with me? good up here hold her hands there's no time for pain meds this baby wants out now!" you groaned holding Henry's hands tight swearing panting

"Its-He's coming! he will be here soon" you had a holter monitor on your tummy and there was another alarm pinging you looked to one of the younger women who had brought in the .

"What-whats that? is everything okay? is he okay?"

"Yes ...Your baby is just a little stressed out okay? nothing to worry about love its just that your in the end of labor already " she quickly moved around

"Right Mrs Cavill take some deep breaths for me darling...Okay in...Out good and again....Good right your baby is right here...Can you feel my fingers? Yes? that’s their head right there sweetheart now I need you to push okay? on the next contraction as hard as you can its really important okay-" you pushed with all your might but noting he didnt move, the woman tensed.

"Okay...Right Mr Cavill she doesn't have any blood condition's does she? hiv? anemia?" Henry shook his head

"No-no she hasn't why?"

"Right okay get them over here...Right Mrs Cavill I’m going to have to cut you my love" you screeched shaking your head

"N-NOO PLEASE-please don't I can do it- please" henry tooka few secons to catch up...They were going to cut you? cut your-Oh god! he moved forward holding you tight trusing the midwives to do their job, they new more about this then the both of you.

"Shh shh I know its not nice but the baby is stuck honey their shoulder is trapped my love if you keep pushing you could hurt him so just one tiny little snip and he will be here okay?" you whined crying into Henry nodding who relayed the message as the woman was already poised with the...Terrifying scissors between your legs.

"Yo-you pro-mise?"

"I promise, you wont feel a thing it will be so quick, and after we will get you a nice morphine drip how does that sound? but right now the baby needs to be out asap, you left it to long to get here, if they wasn't stuck you'd have had them in the car on the way here in the car!"

"She wouldn't leave the house till she went a loo... Didn't want to poop giving birth" the midwife rolled her eyes.

"oh sweet pea we have seen it all before, okay now ready, as soon a this contraction it over you will have your little baby I promise you love" you nodded reaching for Henry who curled over you holding your hands kissing your face

"Henry I’m scared! don't pass out-don't fucking pass out Henry! I need you please please stay with me!"

"I'm here! I'm with you love...I'm not going anywhere just think our little boy!" you nodded and screamed loud as your final contraction came on building then- nothing the burning pain was all you felt then a loud sigh of relief as your son was born.

"There we go I told you! Well done! A little boy! congratulations!" you wept as the midwife held him higher for you to see and burst out crying. Henry couldn't believe it! his son his little boy was right there! he could see him hear him!

"Dad...ready here cut just there" Henry held the scissors cutting the tiny baby from his mother the room was full with the cries of the newborn.

"C-can I pass out now?" you slapped at him watching as the midwife called out time of birth.

"And that is Cavill, male, born at three minuets past seven pm October thirtieth..ooo nearly a halloween baby~"

"He was due November third...Four days early" Henry added wiping tears from his eyes watching as they washed him up and measured and weighed him.

"Well no wonder you had to be cut lovey! he is a big boy! 9lb 9 ounces! and 22 inches in length...definitely going to take after his daddy!...Okay okay here we go fussy little monkey~" Henry was handed your son first as you were being stitched up and a morphine drip being inserted, you didn't feel anything other then shock. he was here...your baby your little man! Henry froze looking at the bundle.

"He is so...Perfect! I-I can't-love he is" you nodded leaning over as Henry sat down shushing him rocking the boy gently. The nurse who had finished putting in the canular and started the drip came over.

"Would you like me to take some pictures? first cuddles?" you both nodded handing her Henry's phone and posed with your son...Son you had a son he was here...and a noisy little bugger if you did say so yourself. Henry handed him to you pressing kissed you your head

"Thank you so much my love! you've made me the happiest man on the planet!" the nurse took some more photos then you were left alone. You both sat in awe of the little boy as you held him steady feeding him quietly rocking.

"you want a coffee love? and I will call Fran get her to bring over Paige" you nodded then looked to the bag

"Did you bring?"

"Yes I did they are in there wrapped up and ready I will be back in when they get here...Want some snacks to?" you nodded

"A coconut late with extra syrup...Double shot oh and some milky bar! the big one and some monster munch!" he nodded already on the phone to Fran to deliver the good news.

Twenty minuets later there was a knock on the door and in came Henry Paige was uncharacteristically hiding behind him unsure of herself, he must have told her to keep quiet. she tiptoed in and stood at the bed on tip toes trying to peek."I-Is he here? where is he Mummy?" you moved the blanket letting her see the blue bundle.

"Henry lift her up-Oh hi Fran?" you nodded smiling noticing she was filming the siblings meeting. Henry hoisted Paige to sit next to you she was scared stiff just looking eyes fixed on her brother. she looked to you then the baby.

"He's mine? my baby brother...He is so small daddy look at his little fingers" Henry smiled to her nodding getting all choked up already.

"Y-yes baby girl he is very small...The nurses said he is going to be tall tho...Well aren't you going to give him the snuggy you got?" Paige bit her lip and tentatively crawled over you him crouching

"I-I can touch him...He wont cry" Henry chuckled at her worried expression.

"He shouldn't do baby and if he does its just because he is a tired little baby!" slowly she made her move, moving to give him the toy placing it near his tiny hand, once he felt the softness his hand clenched around it.

That was when Paige lost it, almost as if realizing that he was a real baby, not a toy the flood gates opened and she quickly moved in over her brother crying softly into his blanket trying to cuddle him softly you rubbed her back as she was overwhelmed sobbing quietly to herself rocking slightly.

"H-hi B-baby...I-I'm you b-big sister" you and Henry smiled to each other knowingly tears welling up fast any doubts you'd had vanished as Paige coddled the tiny boy. You moved nodding for her to come sit on your side.

"Come on poppet time for his big sister to get a cuddle!" she gasped looking up wiping her eyes.

"R-really I can ho-hold him? but I th-thought dad-dy just said that to-to make me fe-eel better" Henry shook his head moving to stand beside you both so Paige as in the middle

"No of course not sweet pea...now here this is for you little lady" she blinked looking from you to Henry

"Presents?"

"Yes love a present's from the baby to you see? here open it see what he got you". you watched as she opened the gifts, one was a small wolf teddy that looked a little like the snuggy Paige had just given her brother, the other was a worlds best big sister t-shirt. she looked around stunned

"Daddy- Mummy look- look he likes wolves...Just like my snuggy I got him- see its almost the same daddy look look!" Henry smiled at her chuckling

"I see that princess..not what about this one here~" she tore open the paper holding the t-shirt

"A-a T-shirt daddy whats it say?"

"It says worlds best big sister! see he already knows your going to be the best big sister! want to put it on?" she nodded already having he top half off before he even asked once dressed in her new top you decided it was time for cuddles and pictures you both moved her little arms so she could support him properly.

You all smiled as Fran stood by and took a few snaps with Henry's phone tears streaming. Paige looked down in awe as the child wriggled she looked up alarmed.

"No- Mummy I didn't-"

"shh shh its okay see he is just waking up...It must be your snuggy he wants to have a look~" Paige watched in fascination as her brother opened his eyes yawning at her.

"Soo? what the little ones name?" Fran finally asked buzzing with excitement

"Silas...Silas Cavill" Paige quirked a brow and shook her head.

"No-no Daddy I don't like it" you and Henry burst out laughing.

"Well I'm sorry nugget that's on his birth certificate nothing we can do now-" Henry tried to explain but was cut off

"Rub it out you did it in pencil didn't you?"

"I'm afraid not Paige, He is called Silas" Paige huffed looking down at Silas bouncing him a little.

"Oookaayy but the next one is a girl and I’m naming it" you and Henry blinked

"W-what Paige-y?"

"The next baby is a girl and I wanna call it Pearl...so its Paige and Pearl." Henry waved his hands in the air exhausted by his eldest.

"Unbelievable- Paige how about we see how you and Silas get on-"

"No daddy go have sex I want a sister- there are two more bedrooms at home!" you burst out laughing as Paige said this whilst rocking Silas slowly before kissing him on the cheek.

"My baby brother...I love you and cant wait for you to meet Kal...He is a bit like a wolf...And bear so your going to love him!...He is loud sometimes but he is a good boy" you tilted your head before going to take Silas back but Paige whined and twisted him away.

"N-no mine my brother! I want to hold him longer" you and Henry shared a look and sighed choosing to let her hold him until her arms were tired.

Fran walked over taking a quick peek at the baby before handing Henry his phone giving him a quick hug which he returned.

"Here I best be off congratulation the two of you, I'm so happy for you all"

"Thanks again for watching Paige...You sure you don't want a cuddle before you go?"

"No no let Paige have her snuggles I'm sure I will get a cuddle soon see you soon" Henry moved sitting at the bottom of the bed watching his family happily. Before flicking through the pictures readying one for twitter and family. He chose one that melted his heart Paige staring down at Silas with you and Henry staring at each other smiling, glowing with pride, Silas' face was partly hidden. he posted the photo announcing to the world he was the proud father of two healthy children, life couldn't get any better then this! Henry was on cloud nine...But Paige did have a point...There was two more spare rooms, Henry will give it a few months before bringing it up. But for everything he was worth he had a feeling you'd be pregnant by the end of next year. Paige was spoilt in a sense and he just can't refuse his little princes and Sister was now on the list he would try not to disappoint.

#henry cavill x reader #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill #henry cavill fic #henry cavill x y/n #henry cavill x daughter #henry cavill x you

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imissjoongsmullet · 4 years

Text

Something Better (1/2)

Pairing: Bang Chan x reader

Genre: fluff/angst (will lead to smut eventually because hi hello it’s me writing about Chan)

Summary: You and Chan have been best friends since before you can remember but now that you’re in college, things start to feel strange, especially with the way he acts when it comes to your boyfriend.

Read part 2

Warnings: part 1 of 2 (probably), cutesy friendship stuff, lots of stupid banter, bit of suggestive conversations, a good dash of angst, Changbin as your boyfriend (do you need a warning for that lol), oh and though this one is pretty clean, there will be smut in later chapters.

Word Count: 2k

Author’s Note: Ok so I’m going to try to keep this to 2 chapters but I can’t promise anything. Anyone who follows me knows I tend to get carried away it’s a thing... Also, yes, this is such a cliché trope but BOY DO I LOVE IT! Thanks again for the request. I had a great time writing this!

►

Five minutes to four. Almost there. The old man at the front of the auditorium had been droning on about the history of bleebidiblah wherever for the past two hours and you were very much ready for it all to end and for the weekend to begin. You heard a pencil drop beside you and turned to see your friend pick it back up and place it between his upper lip and nose.

“Looking great,” you whispered, fighting back a smile.

“I know,” he snickered, making the thing drop into his lap for the dozenth time that class.

Chan was kind of an idiot. But he was also kind of your best friend. You’d grown up in the same neighborhood and had been inseparable since kindergarten. He was the first person you’d went to when you’d found out Santa wasn’t real, the first person you’d ever sneaked out of the house to go to a party with and the first person you’d ever gotten blackout drunk with; not to mention he was the only one who knew about your irrational fear of oven toasters. He knew everything about you and you knew everything about him. You were a team, tied together so much so, that you’d even decided to follow each other to the same college.

“Hey,” he nudged your shoulder, “how about we go downtown tonight and celebrate the weekend? I heard it’s prolonged happy hour at GB’s.”

The twinkle in his eyes made you want to say yes; it was a very tempting offer. “Can’t,” you replied eventually, scrunching up your nose at him.

“Come on, why not?” said Chan, leaning in and shaking your thigh, “we can go to karaoke after and you can crash at my place. I bought so many Doritos and they’re not gonna eat themselves.”

You bit your lip. “I kind of promised Changbin I’d go over tonight.” You already knew what was coming.

“Again?” he exclaimed a bit too loudly, drawing the attention of some of the other students, “you stayed over like three times this week already.” He sagged in his chair, rolling his eyes at you.

“Don’t be a child,” you retorted shoving him lightly.

That put some of his smile back in place. “You know, I think this Changbin guy isn’t the one for you,” said Chan, pretending to look pensive, “he’s got shifty looking eyes… and his nose is too big.”

You couldn’t keep from chuckling. Dipping down in your chair out of sight of your teacher, you turned to your friend. “You’re so full of shit, what does that even mean?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “maybe he’s having evil, shifty, big-nosed plans and you don’t even know it.”

“Your nose is big too, you know?” you said, pinching his nose.

He slapped your hand away and pinched you back, which made you cry out so loud the teacher went silent, eyes in your direction. Your cheeks flushed hot but just as you were about to apologize to the entire auditorium, the bell rang, pushing everyone around you into motion.

“Oops,” said Chan, eyes full of mischief as he rose from his chair along with everyone else.

You packed your things and followed him, kicking at his heels pettily.

“Seriously though, all the staying over,” Chan went on once you were out in the packed hallway, “sure he isn’t tiring you out?” The wicked grin on his face told you exactly what he meant.

“Chan, I swear if you don’t shut up,” you started but he interrupted fast.

“I just mean, you’re a studious girl,” he explained, grabbing your shoulders and rubbing them, “you can’t have a shifty-eyed boy like him distract you from your super important studies with sexy times.”

“And you taking me out to GB’s is helping me with my studies how exactly?”

“At least I’m not trying to put my dick in you every single night.”

“Chan!” you yelled out, looking around frantically at all the other students within earshot of your conversation.

“Aww,” Chan chuckled, hugging you closer, putting his lips near your ear, “you’re so cute when you’re all flustered.”

You were extremely happy he was behind you and couldn’t see the look on your face because you were even redder than before, staring eyes-wide into space. For as close and you and Chan were, you couldn’t help but feel shy whenever he mentioned sexual stuff around you. Not that you weren’t a sexual person; you just didn’t really know how to act around him when it came to those things. It didn’t help that you felt him all over you now, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand right up.

“Listen,” you said, shrugging out of his grip and trying to compose yourself, “how about we hang out tomorrow night? I’m sure the drinks will be just as toxic and delicious then.”

He came up next to you. “Fine, but you’re buying,” he said, “you’ve been leaving me lonely far too much. I demand compensation.”

You smiled and shook your head. “Fine.”

[I’ll be there in 10]

You hurriedly typed as you left Changbin’s place. You were meeting Chan for coffee. You were supposed to work on an assignment together that afternoon but you felt more than a little distracted after the previous night hadn’t ended up as fun as you’d hoped. You didn’t even really remember how it had started but you and Changbin had gotten into an argument that had lasted for most of the night. It wasn’t anything heartbreaking; it was just frustrating that your relationship wasn’t going the way you’d imagined it. And now you’d have to face Chan and pretend everything was okay because you were far too prideful to give him the satisfaction of saying ‘I told you so’.

He was waiting at your typical spot in the back of the café, his notebook ready on the table. You were happily surprised to find him jotting things down as you walked up. When you sat down, however, you realized he’d just been doodling obscenities in the margins of his book.

“Good afternoon,” you said, closing his book and grabbing the coffee he’d ordered for you.

You felt his eyes on you as you sipped the burning hot drink. You were just waiting for it at this point.

“So,” he started, amusement dripping down his face, “how was last night?”

“Shut up,” you countered, opening up your own book and looking anywhere but at him.

You and Chan were used to working together. Chan always had problems focusing and you were always there to give him the kick in the ass he needed to get the work done. On the other hand, Chan was the one coming up with the most creative ideas for your projects so, despite your differences, you worked quite well off of each other.

For a while, things were fine: Chan was on his second coffee and the ideas flowed generously; you just had to write them down and turn them into usable content. Things were nice and light as they should be. You took a break and ordered waffles, enjoying them without any mention of Changbin; it was great. You talked about concerts you were excited to go to together in the coming months, showed each other movie trailers of stuff you really wanted to watch together and you laughed at the absolute dumbest things. You thought perhaps it was the caffeine that was making you both so silly.

Unfortunately, after that initial boost of energy, came the inevitable crash.

By the time Chan was picking at the ice at the bottom of his empty third coffee, things were started to shift. You were trying to finish up the assignment but it was clear Chan was starting to get burnt out. Gradually, conversation trickled away from the project at hand and into less productive territory.

“What is it you like about him?” he asked, staring zombie-like into his cup.

“Not now, Chan,” you sighed, eyes on your laptop screen. You felt his fingers at your side, poking lazily.

“No, come on,” he said, voice sleepy, “I wanna know.”

You stopped typing and took a deep breath.

“He’s—” you started, trying to think of something while your head replayed how you’d argued the night before.

Chan let out a chuckle. “Yeah, he sounds great.”

“Oh, fuck off,” you groaned, a little harsher than you’d meant it, “let’s just get this done.”

But Chan didn’t let up. Your inability to define your love for Changbin had apparently made him very eager to tease you and it was getting harder and harder to ignore him.

“I bet he sleeps with his socks on,” he said, sipping his empty drink loudly, “weirdo.”

“Chan please.”

“Tell me he doesn’t.”

“Chan.”

“He totally does, doesn’t he!”

“Chan I swear if you don’t shut up I’m gonna kick you where it really hurts!”

“Fine,” he said, still laughing, putting up his hands in defense, “jeez, I was just having fun.” Then he came closer and, entirely oblivious, wrapped his arms around you tight. “No more coffee for you, it makes you mean.” He gave your temple a quick kiss and, chuckling, got up from his seat.

“Gotta pee, this coffee is going right through me, be right back.”

It occurred to you, as you watched him walk off, how odd your relationship with Chan was. Or maybe Chan was just an odd person? Or maybe he was simply acting oddly recently? You tried to shrug off the confusing thoughts and instead opened up your phone. The last text from Changbin was right at the top. You clicked it and smiled, rereading the sweet message he’d sent you the day before. You should probably make up with him soon, you decided.

After another half hour of half-assed adjustments, you and Chan finally called it a day.

“If you could input your slides right after mine, I’ll do the touch ups and bring it all to class,” you said, staring at your laptop screen, “we should probably go over it together the day before though.”

Chan’s face was in his arms on the table, looking drowsy. “Yeah, sounds good,” he mumbled, “I’ll type them out by Monday, we’ve got most of the stuff down already, it shouldn’t be hard.”

“Good,” you nodded, finally letting yourself sit back and relax. You closed your eyes in a long yawn as you stretched out your arms. When you opened them again Chan was looking at you.

“Tired huh?” he said, his lips curling up into a knowing smirk.

You stared back at your friend blankly. “You know what? Yes, I am actually. I stayed up most of the night.”

His eyebrows rose up in surprise but he didn’t speak.

“And that’s all I’m gonna say on the matter so can we please wrap this up now?” you added, “I think I should go see Changbin later tonight cause— well, we just have some things to discuss.”

“Wait, hold up,” said Chan, straightening up beside you and, finally, all laughter was wiped from his face, “I thought we were going out tonight.”

The memory of your promise hit you, throwing a small dose of guilt over your head. “I’m sorry, Chan, really. I just got some things to do—”

“Some things to do?” he interrupted, now definitely irritated, “you’re gonna ditch your best friend for some mediocre sex?”

“Chan that’s not what this is,” you started but you knew you’d set him off and there was no going back.

“Whatever,” he snapped, “it’s fine I’ll call some people who actually wanna hang out—”

“Chan—” you tried, shocked at the rapidity with which his mood had switched.

“—instead of someone who’ll leave me for the first boy to give her the least bit of attention—”

“Hey!” you said, getting up from your seat, heating up from the sting of his words.

Chan got up as well, the look in his eyes pained. “I said it’s fine,” he repeated, placing some money on the table and walking out.

(part 2)

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scorsoneamelia · 3 years

Note

Can you write something like Amelia tells link about Ryan or something like that?

i watched private practice once and never even got to finish it because it was taken off of prime video literally in the middle of season 5 lmfaooo fml so i hope this doesnt seem forced!!!! tw: drugs/death ________

Ryan wasn’t someone Amelia talked about, her family didn’t know about it, most of her friends didn’t know about it. It wasn’t something she talked about. Her friends at Oceanside Wellness knew about it, mind you they were around during the time of it happening, the time when she started to spiral out of control.

It was heard about, exposed to the entire ER a few years back. When she had first got the job at Grey Sloan, a very distraught daughter of a patient that had come in from a trauma, demanding for another doctor.

“Wait..... You wanna do surgery on my mom?” Sarah asked.

“No, no, I’m sorry— but no.” The girl turned to the nurse’s desk, using both hands to lean on the countertop.

“Excuse me, I need a different doctor. She can not touch my mother.... I need a different doctor. Right now!” At this point, it drew some attention from a few other doctors in the emergency room, only a few glancing over while Amelia was trying not to break eye contact with the distraught girl, trying to calm her down— to do anything.

“Sarah,” Amelia tried. “Calm down.” Her voice was soft, mostly from embarrassment because she knew exactly why the girl didn’t trust her, and although it embarrassed Amelia, it also saddened her because she knew she was doing better and she was bothered that this girl was using her past as an advantage to get someone better, because let’s be honest, her brother was the better surgeon. Her palms were sweaty and her hands were starting to shake, anxiety pulsing through her veins and she could almost hear her heartbeat quicken, she could feel it vibrating in her chest.

“No! I want another doctor!” Her voice was louder this time and it was causing more people to turn away from their patients, all eyes drawn to the two of them. Amelia could feel everyone’s eyes on her, her brothers eyes filled with confusion, from a distance away, and she already knows the judgement everyone’s about to give her because she knew it was coming, the bomb was about to be dropped. So she prepared herself, taking a large breath in before Owen Hunt, chief of surgery (at the time) stepped in.

“What’s the problem here?” Amelia was speechless, wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do or even say. She couldn’t just walk away, could she? Can she defend herself? What is she even supposed to say?

“She cannot touch my mother, she is a drug addict,” Amelia’s blue eyes looked between Owen and Sarah, she was frustrated that this girl just stood there and exposed her secrets in front of new people, a new place, a place she came to start over; start fresh. She was also anxious because, what were these people going to think about her now? What is Derek going to think? “I can’t have her operate on my parents.”

“Dr Shepherd is a—“ Owen started, trying to defend Amelia but Sarah didn’t want to hear it, instead she interrupted him. “Is a junkie! I met her in Narcotics Anonymous, she’s hooked on oxy. She overdosed with her boyfriend and woke up with him dead in bed with her. I want... another doctor. Now!” The emergency room fell silent, everyone was staring now. Derek was looking at Amelia from a trauma room entrance, utter disbelief written all over his face. Owen’s eyebrows were pushed together and Amelia’s hands were shaking even more, there was nothing she could say, she couldn’t defend herself and she couldn’t lie.

“Please, come with me,” Owen walked up to her, trying to pull the girl to a different; more private area. “Please.”

“Keep her away from them!” She was yelling now and Owen had to pull the girl away, Amelia’s hands were shaking and her breaths were shallow and slow, she felt a lump sitting at the bottom of her throat, tears brimming the corners of her eyes. Her brother walked over, thank god, she thought, someone on her side. “Hunt, don’t worry I’ve got this.” She realized that she was awfully mistaken because Derek gave her a look, a wow, seriously? look, and instead of comforting her or saying literally anything to her, he shook his head and walked away, leaving her by herself in a room full of people who just stared at her, she couldn’t read their faces. She couldn’t tell what anyone was thinking and she felt so utterly embarrassed and shy and she just wanted to turn around and hide, hide in a corner and never come out. It wasn’t something she talked about, nothing she thought about. Well--- correction, she did think about it but she tried her best to push it to the back of her mind, burying it with the other dark memories and thoughts that often creep into her head, keeping her awake at night. Tonight was one of those nights. Link must’ve noticed her stirring in her sleep, for hours trying to make herself comfortable, tossing and turning and often letting out a huff in frustration. She couldn’t sleep, it was one of those restless nights where her mind was everywhere, thinking about everything she possibly could and she couldn’t turn it off. “Amelia,” Link mumbled, his voice raspy from being woken up, his blue eyes looking tired and heavy. “You’re still awake?” She was sitting up now, her back pressed against the baseboard of the bed and her hands were sat in her lap, they were clammy, shaking slightly and she was trying to calm down her breathing. In through her nose and out through her mouth. “Can’t sleep.” She was sniffling now, trying to hold back the tears that were trying to force their way out of her eyes. The sun was rising, lighting up the bedroom slightly, and she can see the outline of her boyfriends face. “What’s wrong?” His voice was concerned and he was fixing his posture now, leaning on his elbows to look up at her. “There was a man I loved,” she started, not even glancing at Link. “Ryan--- his name was Ryan. He died--- overdosed.” She corrected, she could feel Link’s body tense up beside her and that was a good enough reaction for her to keep talking. “When I lived in Seattle, I was in a dark place. I was doing pills, Oxy, and I met Ryan and we fell in love,” she glanced over at Link now, and he was staring at her, all of his attention on her. “We did drugs together, I told him stuff I’ve never told anybody, we planned a future together. We planned to get sober--- start a family.” Her hands were shaking and Link’s free hand reached over and placed it over hers, a way to try and calm her down. Four kids, two boys, two girls. You can’t die because we’re gonna get clean and we’re gonna have a family. “There was one night--- the night we planned to get sober together, I wanted to do the pills we had left,” she cried. “One last time. I talked him into it and when I woke up, he was dead-- overdosed and aspirated on his own vomit.” Link was sitting next to her now, trying to sit as close as he could be, pulling her into his side, kissing on the top of her head while she let out painful cries. “I don’t talk about it,” she was shaking, her whole body trembling. “I haven’t told anyone that.” Besides Owen, she never even talked to her own brother about it. Link was holding both of her hands in his, trying to make them stop shaking. “Amelia,” he tried. “That’s your past, and you don’t have to talk about it. You don’t have to explain anything.” Her eyes met his. “I love you, Amelia and I love Scout and I love what we have, and I will never judge you for your past.” A tear dripped off of her eyelashes and she rested her head on his shoulder, letting herself fall into his side. “I love you and it’s not your fault that he died, sometimes things happen that are out of our control.” She loved him. God, did she ever love Link. He was just holding her, and she knew he wasn’t lying when he said that he wasn’t ever going to judge him. He was genuine and that’s why she fell in love with him. He had a way of calming her down, and he was always there--- always knew what to do and what to say, even though sometimes he acted like he didn’t. She’s almost glad she told him, it was like the weight was lifted off of her shoulders and the reaction she got out of him wasn’t like everyone else’s, his was good. She felt safe, and calm and she felt like she could trust him with anything. He was the one for her, she was truly in love with him.

#ameliashepherd #amelia x link #amelink #greys anatomy #greysanatomyfics #ameliafics #amelia #link and amelia #amelia and link #private practice #stories

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redinkofshame · 3 years

Text

Exotic Vacation

I based #2 on the AU list on my own honeymoon. I’m sorry the prompt never gets to the actual vacation part of the vacation… But if I added all the semi-public beach smex and threesomes this prompt would have been WAY too long.

So have some committed-relationship spice, with mirror smex.

2214 words, explicit

for @augustwritingchallenge

Read on AO3

Black Bikini Bottoms

Des and Solas hadn’t taken a honeymoon as newlyweds, as they had been new parents as well. They tied the knot at City Hall and promised each other they would take a trip for their first anniversary instead. But, between financial strain and Des’ separation anxiety, they’d called it off.

Now it was nearly their second anniversary and their daughter, Isla, was two years old, and Des was ready for a break. Cruise tickets for five days and four nights through Rivaini islands had been booked, plane tickets for her mom to stay here with Isla had been booked, and an appointment with a waxing salon so Des could get bikini-ready had been booked.

To be honest it wasn’t about the new bikini she’d packed so much as Solas seeing her in — and out — of it. Between work, parenthood, medical scares, and life in general, her and Solas’ s.ex life was all but non-existent, and she was hoping to change that, if only for the week.

The morning before was hectic — saying hello to her mother, goodbye to her daughter, and loading on the plane. They arrived late in Rivain and headed straight to their moderately-priced hotel room, where they both crashed. They did not have sex. (Thank goodness; she was exhausted.)

They were up before dawn on the day of their anniversary to begin the on-boarding process. Tickets, passports, suitcases, and a mandatory cruise ship safety lecture from the crew. It was after noon before they were free.

They managed to find their tiny windowless room well enough; it was on the lowest level and practically at the rear of the ship. After they’d checked that none of their luggage had gone missing in transit and settled a bit she sat on the bed. As it was practically the only place to sit her husband did the same. They chatted a bit, appraising the experience so far, and she scooted close, suggestively running her hand up and down his thigh as he commented on the excellent service and cheap booze.

Then a loud rumble started up, and they had to raise their voices to be heard.

He grimaced. “That must be the engine. I had not realized it would be so loud…”

Neither had she. Unlike Solas, she was a light sleeper and she was already starting to stress about the noise keeping her awake the entire trip.

But she was determined to break their dry spell. “It’s for the best,” she purred, running her hand along his chest. “Now we don’t have to worry about being too noisy.”

She pulled him into a kiss, trying to put heat into it. She wasn’t actually in the mood, yet, but she was sure she’d get there.

They kissed for several moments, nibbling on lips and necks. Neither mad a move to further, though, so they slowed to caresses. The longer it went the more painfully obvious it was that this wasn’t working for either of them. She moved her hand down and cupped hi, just to be sure, but she didn’t find anything significant.

She pulled back with a sigh and leaned her forehead against his.

He sighed as well. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired, we can still—”

“No, no, it’s okay. It’s not just you,” she admitted. She forced a smile and they stayed there a moment, heads together, eyes closed. Their hands found each other. She was trying not to get worked up over it, to blame herself, her body, to spit out something like ‘I guess we just don’t have sex anymore!’.

It was a shame. They used to have great sex. Like, really fucking good. Shouldn’t she be craving that? Would he, if she still looked like she did back then?

She reminded herself there was no reason to force themselves into some mediocre orgasms just because society said that their ‘honeymoon’ should be some kind of uber-romantic fuck-a-thon.

When she was sure she could open her eyes without getting teary she did so — only to find that while she was trying not to lose it the asshole was nodding off right where he sat.

“There’s a couple hours until our assigned dinner time,” she said, and his eyes popped open with a start. “Do you want to take a nap until then?”

“Yes. Very much so. But I would not

want you to leave you all alone on our anniversary…”

She waved it off. “I’ll nap for a bit, too, then I’ll just read. I brought a book.”

He didn’t need any more convincing and climbed under the covers. She got up and turned off the light.

She blinked.

“Holy shit.”

“Yes,” he agreed, sounding just as surprised as she was. It was dark. Like, completely lightless, even with elven vision. The blackout curtains in their bedroom at home had nothing on a windowless room under the ocean, apparently. “There’s no light from the hall; I suspect the rooms are water-tight.”

She hummed her agreement as she felt her way back to the bed. She didn’t bother setting an alarm; she never napped for more than an hour or so. With as loud as the engine was, she would be lucky to nap at all.

~~~~~

So, apparently, a cruise ship engine made for a wonderful white noise machine, especially when combined with the comforting darkness of the room. Des knew she’d over slept immediately. She didn’t bother trying to find her phone to check the time; they were out of service range and cross time zones. Instead she found the remote for the ceiling-mounted TV, which has a “channel” just to tell you the time and introduce you to the captain, as well as a few others explaining the islands they’d make port at in the coming days.

So much for a sixty minute nap; it had been six hours.

She hadn’t muted the TV fast enough and Solas stirred. “What time is it?” he mumbled. “Did we miss dinner?”

His tone told her that he already knew the answer.

“You could say that.”

“There’s room service, right?”

“I think they’re closed…”

“Well let’s try, at least.”

They did. The kitchen was closed, but uncooked meals were still available. Solas ordered a sandwich and she got the salad, and instead of eating a romantic anniversary dinner by the sea they ate in relative silenced in a room the size of a closet. At least wine didn’t require cooking.

C’est la vie. They went over their schedule for the next day, and which activities (‘excursions’ as the ship called them) they planned to hit. Once their plan was in place and the drinks were finished they went right back to bed.

With their good mood, full bellies, wine, and rest, Des thought they would ‘celebrate’ some more… But instead they wished each other a happy anniversary and went right back to bed. They did not have sex.

This time Des’ disappointment was genuine, and she allowed herself her tears. She might as well mourn the apparent loss of this part of their lives as Solas snored away behind her. Maybe they really were one of those couples after all. They had love, and family, and a life together, and sex wasn’t much of a part of that. And that was okay. But it also kinda sucked.

~~~~~~

The alarm woke them in the morning. Unlike the dinners that were scheduled in the dining room at the same time every night, breakfast would be buffet style for two hours on the upper deck, so there was no hurry. In theory. Des hurried anyway, excited to finally enjoy the view of glittering ocean for as far as her eyes could see as she sipped mimosas.

She was pulling out her outfit for the day (bikini included) when Solas invited her to shower with him. It was something they did pretty much whenever schedules allowed, so she didn’t expect any hanky-panky (and tried to convince herself she wasn’t disappointed when she was proven right).

He scrubbed her back and she watched him shave his head, checking him for missed spots. They got out and toweled dry.

She reached for her bikini bottoms but his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, grip noticeably firm. “Who said you’re allowed to get dressed?” he asked.

His wicked little grin was enough to send a tingle through her. “I can’t wait to see the incredible view,” she answered coquettishly. He didn’t bother with a response, just pulled her in and kissed her hungrily, almost immediately finding her tongue with his. His hands moved from her wrist to waist to grab great handfuls of her ass.

She tried to give as good as she got but she still had to wrap her arms around his neck just to keep her balance with the way her pressed into her, forcing her to back up until her butt hit the tiny vanity. She puled back to catch her breath, scraping her nails along his freshly-shaved scalp. He used the opportunity to go for her neck, sucking and biting as he pleased. She knew he was leaving marks on her but happily let him.

Des gasped lightly as his fingers traced to the apex of her thighs, teasing her. Fuck, it had been way too long… She canted her hips against his hand to prove how ready she was already, just in case it wasn’t super obvious.

It must have been because he hooked his elbow under her knee and lifted, speaking her open. She giggled in surprise but was cut off by her own hitching breath as he used his other hand to finger her. She buried her nose in the crook of his neck, clean and warm, until he murmured appreciatively in her ear, “Now there’s an incredible view…”

She turned to look over her shoulder only to see her own bare ass reflected in three different angles by the vanity mirrors.

Des smirked. She propped up her leg higher and leaned forward into Solas, arched her back to give him a pornographic view of his fingers disappearing into her cunt. He groaned and grabbed her ass with his now-free hand, lifting her higher still.

He worked her with those long, familiar fingers until she couldn’t take it anymore. He ignored her increasingly insistent noises of frustration — she knew he knew what she wanted, but the asshole always wanted to hear her beg for it. Finally she dropped all pretense and just said, “Dick. Now.”

He ignored her still, so she sunk her teeth into his neck, biting hard.

His surprise yelp was followed by a chuckle just before he grabbed her by the hips and spun her around. She met his grin with a smile of her own and bent over to brace her hands on the vanity table. She watched in satisfaction as his gaze dropped to her tits. Then she wiggled her butt to get him back on task.

He rook the time to run his hands up along her curves, all the way up to her shoulders and back, giving her ass a loud smack before finally aligning his cock up and — Fuck. Creators, she’d forgotten just how damn good when her husband fucked her with that big cock of his. The toys in her drawer at home had nothing on the grip of his hands pulling her hips to him as he thrust steadily into her.

She looked up at him in the mirror but couldn’t make eye contact as he was intently watching their bodies moving together instead. She’d been stupid to think he was tired of her body… He’d never said or even done anything to make her think he was no longer attracted to her, and the way he looked at her now was anything but disinterested.

She reached up to squeeze her own breast — that caught his attention. His eyes snapped up to hers and she continued the treatment, tugging her nipple for her own satisfaction, watching him watching her. Then she watched nothing at all as her eyes screwed up and she came for him, though she felt his heavy gaze even then.

He rode her through her orgasm, steady, controlled as always. Always, that was, until it was his turn. Once she opened her eyes again he dug his fingers into her and took her hard. She moaned with each thrust and it was all she could do to brace herself against the table as he lost himself, pounding into her fast, hard, deep.

She watched his face as he came at last, smiled when his eyes opened to meet hers. He smiled back and gave her ass another slap before pulling out. “Worth it for that view alone.”

She rolled her eyes and went to grab a washcloth from the shower, giving him one as well. Then her the bikini bottoms she’d been reaching for before, like a proper gentleman.

“Why thank you.” She grumbled as she started pulling them on, “Gonna get cum stains on it before I even get in the water…”

Solas cupped her face and pulled her into a long, satisfied kiss. Then he said with a smirk, “It won’t be the last time. Black was a poor color choice for our honeymoon.”

#solavellan #AU_gust #AU_gust_2021 #Solas #Des Lavellan #reposting because tumblr doesn't like my lemons

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project-rosewood-476 · 3 years

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House of Gold

Okay, so this is strictly fluff. This is the fluffiest thing I have ever written for this AU and probably will be the most fluff you all will get for this.

This fic is based on the song House of Gold by Twentyone Pilots. I wanted to explore and explain the relationship between Tabby and her stepdad before everything went to shit. And I feel as though that song suits them.

"Kitty" is a nickname that she had for her stepdad when she was younger because her real dad and stepdad were both named Michael so to avoid confusion but she slowly dropped the nickname when she got older.

Summary: Tabby is six at the time and she is left home alone even though she's not supposed to be due to her mother's A+ parenting choices. When she's bored out of her mind she goes looking around for shit that she's not supposed to. But what happens when she takes a trip down memory lane and remembers all the good times she had before she was left all alone. Will it fill her with despair? or renew her sense of hope?

She asked me, Son when I grow old

Will you buy me a house of gold?

And when your father turns to stone

Will you take care of me?

She asked me, Son when I grow old

Will you buy me a house of gold?

And when your father turns to stone

Will you take care of me?

The lonely six-year-old paced around her small apartment relentlessly. Being left home alone yet again, she was pretty bored. She was looking for something to do. She was tired of TV, books, and she wasn’t hungry, so that she couldn’t eat her boredom away. Not that there was much to eat in the house anyways. She couldn’t go outside alone because she didn’t know where anything was, and the outside world scared her. Usually, the person she would consider her dad would be here by now. He would have taken her to the park, play pretend, play fight, or colored with her. It’s boring playing by yourself. But since he wasn’t here for reasons unbeknownst to her for a year now, she was left with her own devices.

What do you do as a child who’s left home alone and bored out of your mind? You snoop around. Tabby went through the drawers in the kitchen. Maybe she could concoct something to eat if she looked hard enough or find something new to play with. She found nothing interesting. Nothing but silverware, junk mail, and odds and ends of a miscellaneous drawer that didn’t hold her attention for very long.

She walked down the narrow hallway, altogether skipping over her room since she knew everything that she had in her room. She went straight into her mom’s room. She took in her surroundings. She saw a couple of unfinished jigsaw puzzles on the floor. Sometimes her mother and her would try to finish them when her mom had the time. She saw the miniature wolf sculptures and figurines that her mother adores on her dresser. She went through her drawers to see if she found anything interesting or to remind her mom to do laundry if she saw that she didn’t have clothes in there. The good news is that her mom didn’t need to do laundry. The bad news was that she found nothing to hold her interest. She took one of her mom’s green work shirts and just inhaled her scent. It calmed her down and took her mind off of her boredom. She missed her mom a lot. Tabby decided to stay buried in her mom’s scent for a few minutes later before moving on.

Tabby decided to raid her mom’s closet at least help her organize that godawful mess in there. Her mother’s closet was on the same length as most middle school and high school lockers. She began to separate the piles of clothes from clean to dirty based on smell until she came across an old blue folder. Finally, something to cure her boredom. Tabby opened it up to have a look and couldn’t believe what she saw.

“So this is where he’s been hiding the stuff that I make for him while he’s been here,” she realized in thought as a couple of pictures, a few short stories, and a couple of fathers days cards that were still all in pristine condition. Even a couple of years later.

That brought a smile to her face and brought back memories.

A little girl four years of age was sitting on the floor, focusing intently on a drawing that she was making on the coffee table. An older man in his late 20’s plopped down onto the couch lazily as he looked over to what the girl was drawing.

“Whatcha drawing?” he asked as he peered over.

“Remember the house by the candy shop that we always pass on our way to the park?” she asked, still not looking up from her drawing.

“The one that’s always on sale on hill street?”

“If that’s what it’s called, then yes.”

“Yeah, what about it?” he asked, still not getting the picture

“Well, someday when I’m all grown up, I’m going to buy that house, and I’m taking you with me. It will be our house!” she said proudly.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Really? What about your mother? Aren’t you going to bring her along too?” he asked, struggling to find the words to speak.

Tabby grew quiet and looked down.

“We all know with the lifestyle mommy is living, she won’t live very long. You’ll last longer,” she said quietly.

“Yeah…” he trailed off, a little disturbed at the child’s eeriness. But she wasn’t far off from the truth either. He was aware of the type of life and choices that her mother led and made. Some of them left him scratching his head, and a lot of the time, they made his blood boil. What kind of a mother would do that to her kid. Tabby was a lot more perceptive than what she’s given credit for. He knew that.

“Besides,” said Tabby bringing him out from his angry thoughts,” You’re my best friend. It would be weird to plan my future and not have you in it. It’s only natural that you would be a part of it.”

“You think that I’ll be around that long?” he asked, amused playing along with the girl’s plan.

“You’d said that you would be around forever, right?”

“Of course, kiddo I-I gave you my word,” he was taken aback by the fact that she took his promise so seriously.

“Okay then,” she went back to drawing.

“How do you think that you’ll pay for the house, huh?”

“I’ll get a job when I’m old enough to work, duh,” she said it like it was the most obvious thing ever.

“You’d have to be 15 to work legally.”

She stopped to look at him in horror.

“But that’s so old.”

He couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh at her concept of old age. It was so fascinating to listen to what the four-year-old thought of the world around her. Sometimes she had solid points and saw the world for what it is at its base. Simplistic and so full of good and hope. Other times her ideas were so bizarre that they showed just how innocent she was.

Tabby looked at him, confused. Had she said something funny?

“Oh, I’d hate to break it to ya, kid, but if you think 15 is old, then it would take even longer to save up money to buy the place.”

She looked at him even more confused.

“How hard can it be?”

He let out another hearty laugh.

“Oh, kiddo, you have no idea.”

I will make you

Queen of everything you see

I'll put you on the map

I'll cure you of disease

Tabby took out one of her short stories that she wrote starring him as the hero and god that she saw him as. She worshipped him. She was rereading her work, a masterpiece at the time; now, she cringed at how godawful it was. However, she remembered beaming with pride when she handed him her finished product that she worked on for a month. It was the first story she ever wrote.

“Kitty, look! Look at what I made for you!” Tabby ran to him as soon as he walked out the door.

“What is it?” he asked as he kneeled to be on her level.

“I made you a story,” she said shyly as she handed it to him.

He was a little shocked at the gift. This was the first thing she’s ever given him. It was one of the nicest things anyone has done for him in a long time.

“Will you read it?” she inquired excitedly.

“Sure, after I take my nap. Then I’m all yours, and we can talk about your story.”

“Awww,” she sounded dejected.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll put it right beside me so that way it will be the first thing I’ll do when I wake up. Fair enough?”

“Okay,” she sighed. She wasn’t happy with the compromise, but she took what she could get. She went back to play with her stuffed animals to keep herself occupied in the meantime.

However, he did not nap that day like he said he would. He spent his allotted two hours reading her story and just taking it in. She showed a lot of talent and promise with writing. Even with her limited vocabulary, she put so much passion and emotion behind what she was saying and trying to express that it was easy to get what she was saying. What moved him to the point of a few stray tears streaming down his face was how evident she thought so highly of him. She viewed him as a hero and thought he was a good person that he was better. It was so moving when he didn’t even think of himself like that. Knowing that someone out there in the living room loved him enough to see past that and had so much to give left him speechless.

Let's say we up and left this town

And turned our future upside-down.

We'll make pretend that you and me

Lived ever after, happily

Tabby was grinning from ear to ear, sitting on the floor, looking through her old drawings and stories she wrote for him that he still kept in pristine condition. She had a few stray tears from happiness leaking out, but she didn’t care. This was the closest she felt to him in a long while. She took out another picture. It was of her and her dad running through trees on some sort of adventure. There’s a story behind that one.

Tabby was drawing furiously at the kitchen table while her dad made her some spaghetti to eat for dinner. Her dad peered over her shoulder.

“I see that you’re overflowing with creative juices again. What are you drawing this time?”

“You and me we’re going on an adventure, but I can’t decide what the rest of the picture should be,” she said, frustrated.

“What about trees?” he suggested

“Like the woods?” she asked

“Yeah, like we’re going on a hike and camping. That’s an adventure, and we’ll come back when we’re done,” he said as he turned away to finish making dinner.

“Oh, I don’t want to come back,” said Tabby quickly as she went back to drawing.

He almost dropped the hot pot of boiling spaghetti at her statement.

“Why wouldn’t you want to come back?” he asked slowly.

Tabby stayed quiet for a few minutes before slowly turning to face him.

“Is it bad that I don’t want to stay with mommy?” she said in a voice that was barely a whisper.

“I- Uh- W-what makes you say that? Don’t you love mommy?” he didn’t know how to answer that.

She shook her head furiously, sending her long strands of black hair all over the place while moving her little hands in a ‘no’ motion “, No no, no, that’s not it at all! I do love mommy, I do! It’s just- she never listens to me. I tell her that I don’t like it when she brings home strangers, and she still does it anyway. I tell her that I don’t like it when she sleeps all day, but she does it anyway. If you love someone, then you would listen to them. It’s like I’m not here! I am unwanted and unloved, and I don’t belong!” she looked down as her bottom lip quivered like she was going to cry.

Oh boy, he didn’t know what to say or do. He bit off more than what he could chew. He was aware of her mother’s questionable life choices, but he never knew just how badly they affected Tabby. He gathered that they made her sad and lonely and neglected, but he never knew how deep her hurt ran. His burning hatred and anger at her mother quickly turned into heartbreak for the child in front of him.

He went back to plating her spaghetti and set it down in front of the sulking child. He petted her hair in an attempt to comfort her. He continued to do so until he noticed that she was feeling a little better to turn around and eat. Satisfied, he went back to plating his meal.

“You know for what it’s worth; I can promise you that the bad things are only temporary even if they don’t feel like it at times. If anyone can get out of this town when you’re old enough to, I have absolute faith that it would be you.”

“You think so?” she asked excitedly and hopefully.

He ruffled her hair.

“I know so.”

She asked me, Son when I grow old

Will you buy me a house of gold?

And when your father turns to stone

Will you take care of me?

Tabby grew bored and put the pictures and clothes neatly back as best as she could and got up to explore the other rooms in the apartment. She went to the bathroom and opened up the cabinets to see what was in there. Her mother often told her not to look through the bathroom cabinets, but she wasn’t here to say no. Tabby concluded that if it were that bad, she would be given a sign that would tell her no. She found nothing of interest. Just chemicals that she knew better to play with and in the upper cabinet various cold medicines, band-aids, anti-bacterial ointment, nail clippers, the thermometer, her mother’s happy pills as she called them, and bandages. Tabby felt a twang of nostalgia that hurt her stomach when she looked at the bandages, and she knew why.

Tabby was sitting on the couch waiting for her dad to come back and babysit her. Where was he? Her mom said that he would be here in two hours. It’s been more than that. She jumped when she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. Tabby turned around quickly only to be greeted with the horrific sight of her dad staggering in, out of breath, bruised and bloodied.

“Oh my god, what happened?” asked Tabby, horrified as she ran towards him, tripping over her own feet.

“It’s nothing, honey. I just got into a fight; that’s all” He made his way to the kitchen and sat down in the chair as he grimaced.

“Well, we have to get you cleaned up,” she fretted, struggling to figure out what to do.

“Good Idea. Do you know what to do?” he asked

Tabby slowly shook her head no.

He sighed “, That’s okay. I’ll walk you through it. First, get a cloth and wet it with warm soapy water. That will help clean off the blood and kill the bacteria.

“Got it,” she said as she ran into the bathroom to grab a dishcloth from the pile, put on some warm water and used hand soap, and rubbed it into the cloth to make it soapy. She came out waiting for further instructions.

“Good now, gently pat clean up all of the blood as best as you can, okay?” he sounded tired.

Tabby went slow and tried to be a gentle as she could with a few reminders. Laser focusing on the task at hand. His hands revealed minor cuts and shallow gashes.

“Is that good enough?”

“Yes, now go get the ointment. It should be in the upper cabinet in a blue and white packet in the bathroom.”

“On it,” she ran back to the back to the bathroom as fast as she could and grabbed her stepping stool that she uses to reach the sink to brush her teeth. She stood on her tiptoes on the chair to get the cabinet to open it. She looked for anything with blue and white packaging until she found the tiny ointment packets he was talking about. She grabbed a few and ran back out into the kitchen.

“Okay, now what?”

“Now open the packets and gently smear the ointment on just for extra precaution for infection.”

Tabby struggled to open it with her tiny hands, so she had help opening it. She spread the ointment all over his hands as gently as she could.

“Now what?”

“Now, I need you to go into the junk drawer and get two safety pins.”

“Okay,” she knew where the drawer was in the kitchen. She rummaged through to find what she thought were safety pins since she had no idea what they looked like. She pulled out a paper clip and showed it to him for confirmation.

“No, that’s a paper clip. Try again.”

She rummaged through the drawer again and pulled out a thumbtack.

“No, that’s a thumbtack try again,” he sounded exasperated.

Tabby whimpered and held her head down like a scolded puppy. She didn’t like how he sounded displeased with her. She rummaged deeper in the drawer and finally pulled out a safety pin,

“There we go!” he encouraged.

She pulled out another one and set them both on the table.

“Now go get those bandages in the upper cabinet. They are long and white.”

She nodded and went back into the bathroom once more to grab the bandages and ran back out.

“Good, now wrap them around my hands,” he walked her through the process of doing that, and he put on the safety pins to hold the bandages in place himself.

Tabby grabbed his hands and kissed both of them. He jerked back in surprise and was a little taken aback by her actions. She looked just as confused as he was.

“What are you doing?”

“I was just kissing your boo-boos to make them feel better. That’s what mommy does with me. I thought it would work for you.”

He hugged her tightly and tried to choke back his tears at how sincere and pure she was. It was only then, when she calmed down enough that she realized that he stunk. Specifically of cheap whiskey and liquor. Tabby tried to push away and scrunched up her nose.

“You stink,” she complained bluntly.

He burst out laughing. “I suppose I do. I’ll tell you what, let me take a shower, and we’ll have a movie night, and I’ll let you stay up an hour past your bedtime.”

“Okay!” Tabby said excitedly with a giggle.

“As long as you don’t tell your mom.”

“My lips are sealed” she made a zipper mouth motion.

I will make you

Queen of everything you see

I'll put you on the map

I'll cure you of disease (Ooh)

Tabby closed the bathroom cabinets and went back out to the living room. Right back to where she started. She stared out the window at the busy street down below. It became part of her daily routine to stare out the window and see if her dad was coming back. She didn’t know. It could be any day now. She hasn’t lost hope yet. She continued to stare, being lost in her thoughts.

“And the pirate kingdom of Aiwratha is saved from the mutant octopus by the rebel pirates!” she held her stick that she used as a sword up in the air in victory.

Tabby and her dad were currently at Maplehood park on the wooden play pirate ship in the middle of the playground section of the park. With Tabby as captain of the rebel pirate team and her dad as her first mate. Since no one else wanted to play with Tabby, they have played this multiple times with different storylines. Secretly they both never tired from it.

“We did it! We did it! We did it! We are the heroes!” he cheered as he picked her up and spun her around.

“Of course we are! Why wouldn’t we be? We are a team forever and always! Together nothing will get in our way! There’s nothing we can’t do!” she squirmed to be put down.

He took a minute to look at her eyes that were too big for her face. But they were so full of hope, adventure, optimism and had that bright lightning in her eyes. Ready to take on the world. He chuckled a little as he put her down and let her run free.

Maybe he didn’t do a bad job with her after all.

And since we know that dreams are dead

And life turns plans up on their head

I will plan to be a bum

So I just might become someone

Tabby sighed and rested her head on her thin arms on the window sill gloomily. She perked up when she saw somebody that looked like her dad. Only to sink back down when she realized that it was a false alarm. Here she was all alone. So much for his promise of sticking around forever. So much for a future with him in it. That dream is dead.

She slowly sat up with a confused realization.

What was she thinking?

Sure he wasn’t here now, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be here until later, right? She recently discovered that dreams do die, but maybe just maybe, dreams can come back to life. Perhaps he will come back, and those dreams can soar again. Yes, that’s right! This train of thought filled her with renewed hope, and she was bouncing in her seat in eagerness. Sure she and her mother aren’t in a good place right now, but that would be her responsibility to bring them both out of this dark place. She believed that she was strong enough to do so. All she knew was that she had to fight to survive for herself and her mother alive long enough so when he does come back, they will be a family again, and her dad would be proud to see just how far she’s come. She’ll be a hero once again.

She asked me, Son when I grow old

Will you buy me a house of gold?

And when your father turns to stone

Will you take care of me?

I will make you

Queen of everything you see

I'll put you on the map

I'll cure you of disease

She didn’t have an exact plan to go about this, but she decided it would be best to start small with stuff she could do. First, she could clean up the apartment as best as she could. After all, she can’t have him come back to a dirty apartment. She was leaving the heavy-duty cleaning to her mom, such as chemical cleaning, laundry, and dishes since she didn’t know how to do any of that. However, she could pick up a little and sweep. She knows how to pick up after herself and has seen her mom sweep multiple times, so she has an idea of what she’s doing. She was too small for the real broom, so she would just use her pink kid one. She got to work right away.

She will do everything in her power to help him come home to her.

All for him.

#every rose has its thorn #erhit au #fanfic #creepypasta fandom #creepypasta #tabbyanderson #tabby #house of gold #twenty øne piløts #send me requests #please flood my inbox #please and thank you

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sapphirestarxx · 4 years

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Customer Service

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SUMMARY: Customer service is a thankless job, a fact Kagome knows well. Customers can be downright nasty; that’s just to be expected. What she isn’t expecting is for one of those customers to get physical or for a handsome and gruff stranger to swoop in and save her. How can she thank him? ONESHOT.

NSFW. SMUT. Lots of smut at the end.

This is a birthday fic for @lavendertwilight89!! Her birthday isn’t for another couple days but I thought I would post this early after the terrible day she had yesterday. I hope you love it dear!~

Also, thanks go out to @neutronstarchild for helping me brainstorm some ideas out and to @fawn-eyed-girl and @hnn-wnchstr for being kind enough to beta it.

Tag Wall: @lavendertwilight89 @hnn-wnchstr @cstormsinukagblog @fawn-eyed-girl @ruddcatha @liz8080 @itzatakahashi @kagometaishostory @neutronstarchild @bluejay785 @ravisk @dangerouspompadour @omgitscharlie @arcprz

***********

Kagome was not having a good day. It had gotten off to a terrible start and showed no signs of improving with the day’s passing.

Her alarm hadn’t gone off, and when her eyes finally opened, she’d only had five minutes to throw on her things before racing out the door, skipping breakfast. She hadn’t gotten very far because her car hadn’t wanted to start and she had fought with it before finally resorting to shocking the engine with her reiki in a last ditch effort. It had appeared to work (much to her surprise) but she had no idea when the effects would wear off or if it would even work again. Not that she had had time to worry about that, because the whole ordeal had made her roughly forty minutes late to work, where she proceeded to receive a lecture on punctuality from her boss, even though she had never been late before. And then, to make matters worse, she had used her entire break trying to call auto places to get her car in. Turns out every nearby place was booked out for the next two weeks because of course they were. So not only had she been unable to schedule an appointment for her car, she hadn’t eaten all day either.

Her car was a mess, her mood was a mess, and her life was a mess. And her store was also a mess.

Stifling a sigh of frustration, Kagome tucked the wayward strand of black hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear and straightened the apron she was wearing. Just another year… she just had to deal with this job for another year until she finished her Masters in Reiki Manipulation. In the meantime this job was vital for her income. Customer service had never been her first choice but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

She had been working at Shikon Styles for roughly four years, give or take a few months. After the first couple years as an associate, she’d been able to work her way up to manager. With that title came the guaranteed hours, benefits, and most importantly-- better pay. Still not even remotely close to what she felt like she deserved considering everything she had to put up with, but wasn’t that always the case?

She finished cleaning up the mess someone had left behind (because no one seemed to know how to pick up after themselves ), and scanned the store to see if any shoppers appeared to need help. Turning her head towards the entrance of the store she saw another customer enter and her heart stuttered in her chest for a few beats. The person who had just walked in was quite possibly the most attractive man that she, Kagome Higurashi, had ever seen in the entire twenty-five years of her life.

He was tall with a lean but muscular build, the features of his tanned face chiseled and sharp. The effect was softened slightly by a mane of gleaming silver hair that hung all the way to his no doubt perfect ass, but more intriguing to her were the dog ears atop his head; white and fluffy, and her fingers twitched with the need to touch them. And his eyes . Even all the way across the store, the piercing gold of them was unmistakable. When those gold eyes turned her way, she felt the blood rush to her cheeks in equal parts awareness and embarrassment. She couldn’t have been more obvious about checking him out. She also couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from his, completely caught in his spell.

His face had been set in a scowl, but at the sight of her blatant staring, the edge of his mouth kicked up, hinting at a smirk. She felt lightheaded for a second, her heart beating faster while butterflies stirred in her stomach. She flushed further, but this time for... other reasons. It was like everything around her had just fallen away and there was only her and him. She wanted to get closer, feeling an almost magnetic pull towards him. It was ridiculous and crazy but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

Her feet started moving his way as she licked her suddenly dry lips in preparation to give some semblance of a greeting, but the sound of one of her employees asking for help over the headset quickly curtailed that plan.

“Can I have a manager up front please?”

Kagome frowned at the distress in the girl’s voice. Her momentary annoyance was replaced with concern. Normally a bright and cheerful girl, Rin sounded close to tears. The radio picked up the slight sounds of someone raising their voice and once it clicked off, Kagome could actually hear the irate customer from where she stood near the back of the store. Several of the nearby customers were turning their attention towards the source as well. This did not bode well.

“I’ll be right there,” she responded.

With quick steps Kagome made her way to the registers, mentally preparing herself. With that much yelling, she wasn’t expecting a smooth resolution. As she drew near, she saw that the customer in question had his hands on the counter and was leaning close in a move meant to be intimidating. It was a boar youkai, and she held back a wince; they were not known for their sweet temperament. Rin’s eyes were wide and she had her hands raised in a placating gesture. When she caught sight of Kagome the relief on her face was palpable. Kagome pasted on her customer service smile and came to stand beside the young girl.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“The problem is this bitch won’t give me what I’m asking for! I’m a paying customer, dammit!”

The use of the word bitch had Kagome’s mind screeching to a halt as she stared at him in stunned silence. She'd had lots of customers get nasty before, but few had resorted to actual profanity. Finding her composure again, she attempted a polite expression, even though inside she was seething. How dare this youkai use obscenities, especially at such a sweet girl like Rin! She was one of her best employees and Kagome didn’t care for the way he was trying to bully her.

“There’s no need for such language, sir. I’m the manager here and would like to assist you if possible. What exactly is the issue?”

He scoffed at her rebuke, rolling his eyes, and her blood boiled. Asshole.

“You said you’re the manager?”

“That’s right.”

“Good. Maybe I can actually get some real help from someone competent, who knows how to take care of the customer.”

It was a struggle to keep her fake smile from slipping but she somehow managed. Ugh, she hated this man already. Rin was doing nothing to hide her own expression of displeasure and Kagome couldn’t blame the girl.

“I’m listening,” she said.

“I’m spending 31,000 yen today but this dumb girl can’t give me any discount. I even have a coupon!! And she tells me you don’t have your gift-with-purchase available anymore and she can’t give me anything in place of it, either! My girlfriend was looking forward to it. You guys never have any left when I come in! This is BULLSHIT!!! I demand SOMETHING!!!”

Ah, profanity again. With more yelling.

“As far as the GWP goes, unfortunately they are only available while supplies last, and if you look closely on the back of the GWP coupon, it says it was only good until the 10th of last month. They tend to only be valid for a week before they end,” Kagome explained with a patience she did not feel.

A month. The man came in a month after it started and expected them to still have any left? She wanted to tell him maybe waiting too long was the reason he was always unable to receive one, but she held her tongue. Instead she reached her hand out for the other coupon he held, already sure of what it was going to say.

“May I see the other coupon, sir?”

He practically threw it at her and she blinked. Okaaaay…this man was seriously getting on her nerves. Feeling like her face was about to crack from the force of faking a pleasant expression, she picked it up and looked at it. Just like that, her customer service persona shattered. Her face went slack in disbelief. She looked up at him and met his angry red eyes.

“Sir...this coupon expired four years ago. On May 2016.”

“So? I’m here now!” He insisted belligerently, his lip curling as a nasty look overtook his face. The tusks on either side of his mouth stood out in sharp relief at his anger.

One thing working in customer service had taught Kagome was the sheer entitlement of some people. It truly baffled her, the things people thought she should do for them. They all thought that an exception should be made for them for whatever reason. You’re not special and the rules do apply to you, she wanted to say to them all.

And honestly, there was a similar public offer currently available on the website, and if he had been nicer maybe she would have mentioned it and taken care of him. But no. He was being a complete asshole so she wasn’t inclined in the slightest to help him in any way. She just wanted him out of her damn store.

“Yes, but the coupon you have is very expired. I’m very sorry but there is nothing I can do for you.”

“That shouldn’t fucking matter! You’re just as useless as that bitch, you damn cunt!!”

Alright, that was it. She was pissed.

“Sir, you need to leave.”

“Excuse me?!”

“I said you need to leave this store now. We do not tolerate abusive language towards anyone.” There was an edge to her voice now, but she didn’t care anymore. Let him know she was angry.

“Fine but I’m takin’ all this shit!!” The youkai snatched his haul off the counter after slamming down a few bills and started to stalk towards the doors. A quick glance revealed it wasn’t nearly enough to pay for the items he had grabbed and she rushed after him, cutting him off at the end of the registers. And then her bad day became worse.

“Sir, you still nee--”

That was as far as she got before he pushed her roughly. She hadn’t been expecting to be physically assaulted and the move caught her off guard. Stumbling backwards, she fell hard on her side. There were gasps from her employees and the other onlookers. What the hell?!

“Out of my way! You want me to pay for them then give me my discount, bitch!!” He spat over her form.

Kagome was so angry she was literally shaking. Her breath was coming in pants and her reiki was beginning to swirl around her in a cloud in response to her strong emotions. If she thought she’d been pissed before, it was nothing compared to the rage that now coursed through her veins.

“How dare you!!!” Rin was yelling at him while rushing over to her side.

Don’t zap him, don’t zap him, don’t zap him. Kagome chanted it like a mantra in her head, trying to tamp down the urge to fry the asshole with her power. You need the money, so far the only one here at fault is him. Don’t touch him

“You just gonna lay there like the pathetic bitch you are?”

Fuck it.

Pushing herself to her feet, Kagome was prepared to rain down fury on this customer, consequences be damned. Rin helped her up, then gasped, tightening her grip on Kagome’s arm. Kagome looked up to see what had elicited the sound of surprise from her employee. If this asshole had done anything else… Her eyes grew wide, the death glare slipping from her face as shock replaced it.

The hot guy from earlier was there and holding the nasty customer by the throat. It was a testament to his strength how he was able to lift the youkai off the floor with his grip alone.

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?” The boar youkai wheezed around the man’s grip on his neck. The merchandise he had been about to make off with lay at his feet in a pile.

"You need to leave. Now. She's been nothin’ but nice while you've been a total dick. Get the fuck out," he replied in a dangerously low voice.

“I barely touched her.”

“You shouldn’t have touched her at all. Period.”

“Let go of me!”

“Are ya gonna leave?”

“Yes!”

The sound was pitiful but Kagome couldn’t find it in her to feel sorry for him. She was still shaking slightly from the sheer force of the anger that had gripped her moments earlier. Her temper was now fading, the sight of this man serving justice in her stead somehow calming her down. Perhaps it was petty, but she took great satisfaction at his discomfort. It was what he deserved, in her opinion. Judging by how no one was protesting his treatment, everyone else in the store seemed to feel the same.

She took a closer look at her savior while his attention was fixed upon the boar youkai. His dog ears twitched in irritation, the scowl back on his handsome face. He was even more attractive up close, the muscles of his biceps and triceps standing out in the red t-shirt he wore as he flexed his grip once more before releasing the customer.

The boar youkai coughed a bit before glowering at her rescuer.

“You’re brave for a half-breed, putting your filthy hands on a full-blooded youkai.”

Half-breed? Kagome frowned at the slur, wondering if it was impossible for a kind word to pass the other man’s lips. That must mean this man was a hanyou, and probably an inu youkai if she had to guess, based on the fluffy ears that were still calling her name. She longed to touch them but that would be all kinds of inappropriate.

The inu youkai scoffed at his words, seemingly unbothered by them.

“Whatever. I could still kick your ass. Wanna find out?”

The boar youkai sputtered in indignation for a few moments before collecting himself, trying and failing to intimidate the hanyou as he puffed his chest out.

“That’s it! I’m going to leave a complaint!”

The hanyou rolled his eyes.

“I don’t give a shit. I don't work here so good fuckin’ luck with that. Now get the fuck outta here."

Walking back to the counter to grab the money he had left by the register, the man then beat a hasty retreat. He deliberately walked over the items he had left piled on the floor and Kagome rolled her eyes at the childish move, just grateful he was finally leaving. Never in all the days and years she worked there had she ever had someone lay hands on her. She would have to call her boss, who had already left for the day, and probably file an incident report about it later. What a pain in the ass.

“You okay?”

Kagome blinked, turning her eyes from the doors, where the man had just exited, back to the hanyou standing in front of her. His eyes were the most beautiful shade of molten amber and her heart rate kicked up again when she found herself swallowed up in his gaze. She cleared her throat in an attempt to find her voice.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Good.”

He turned and began to walk away and for some inexplicable reason Kagome felt her stomach drop at his absence. It was strange. As if fate had presented her with an opportunity that she was letting go to waste. She had no idea why she felt this incredible pull towards him, but the feeling didn’t appear to be mutual. And why would it be? She had literally just met this man. She didn’t even know his name. Why would he stay and chat?? You’re being ridiculous. The thought did nothing to dispel the notion that she had let this chance slip through her fingers.

“Get his number!” Rin whispered in her ear before returning to the registers to ring out the next customer. The show was over and people were ready to resume making their purchases. Rin was happy to gossip about it with all of them and Kagome didn’t have it in her to reprimand her about it. Instead, she chased the unknown man down.

“Wait!”

He stopped, turning to look at her. A dark brow was raised in curiosity. She faltered a bit, her sudden confidence from Rin’s encouragement fading a little. It was hard to read the look that passed over his face but what appeared to be his trademark scowl was taking hold again.

“What?”

His tone was laced with annoyance. Not exactly a promising response. Kagome tried to stay positive by reminding herself that the actual target of his ire had already left the store, so she didn't hold it against him. Much. He was just another customer, one who had stepped in to help her when he'd had no reason to. There had been nothing in it for him. She wasn’t sure why he had, but it didn’t really matter.

“Um, I wanted to thank you. You didn’t have to step in but you did.”

“Keh. It was nothin’.”

“It wasn’t nothing. You probably saved me in more ways than one.”

“Listen, a thank you is fine. Don’t get all mushy on me. It was no big deal.”

“I would have probably lost my job if you hadn’t intervened. I was about to fry him with my reiki, I was so angry. So thank you. Really,” Kagome insisted.

She wasn't sure why he seemed so determined to brush aside her thanks, but her confession of potential violence seemed to catch his attention. He looked at her with new interest, giving a short laugh and exposing the tip of a fang. Amusement sparked in his eyes.

“Now I’m sorry I did.”

“I’m not because I would have probably been fired.”

"Eh, don’t mention it.”

He looked a little embarrassed now. It was faint but there was definitely a light flush across his cheekbones. Kagome had to bite back a grin at the sight. Maybe he just wasn’t used to kind words from a stranger? She didn’t have a chance to ponder that too much, though. She wasn’t sure what possessed her, but she found herself speaking before her mind caught up with her mouth. It had to be Rin’s influence.

“I want to repay you somehow! Like...with more than words. What can I do?”

The scowl disappeared and in its place was that hint of a smirk she had glimpsed earlier at his entrance into the store. Her knees went a little weak while her breath caught in her throat. It wasn’t fair for someone to be so incredibly attractive.

“Do ya always ask out your customers?”

“I-I’m not asking you out! I’m just trying to thank you…” Kagome stammered, her cheeks flushing pink. Ugh, she was failing miserably at this. “Like maybe a drink?”

Something shifted in his eyes that she couldn’t quite put her finger on while she waited for his answer. This wasn’t like her at all. She didn’t chase after guys. But she really did want to thank him and if that meant she got to spend more time with him in the process and learn his name then so much the better. It wasn’t like this was going to be a date; it was just a show of appreciation for him saving her ass.

“Your boyfriend won’t mind?” he asked, his scowl deepening.

“I-I don’t have a boyfriend,” Kagome answered, blushing harder.

He considered her words, his expression lightening at that.

“Fine. You can buy me a drink if that means you’ll shut up about thanking me.”

Okay, not the most encouraging response but she would take it. At least he wasn’t scowling at her anymore.

“What’s your name? And your phone number?”

“Inuyasha Taisho. Gimme some paper…” He peered at her name tag and grinned. “Ka-go-me.”

She had no idea why he had said her name in such a drawn out way but she decided right then that she loved it, and she wanted to hear him say it again. And again. God, what was wrong with her? She had met plenty of attractive men before, and her exes had all been pretty good-looking. But none had ever affected her so strongly before.

Retrieving a sticky note from her apron along with a pen, she scrawled her name and number onto it, then held it out to him.

“Here.”

He took it from her, his fingers brushing over hers. A tingle of electricity ran through her at the contact and sent her heart racing. His golden eyes sharpened and it occurred to her then that with his inu youkai senses he could probably pick up on little things like that. She was so obvious.

“Um...I should probably get back to work. Unless you need help with something?”

“Nah, I’m good. I have everything I need.”

He held up the piece of paper with her name and number, the tilt of his lips turning into a devastating smirk, then walked away to continue shopping. She wondered for a minute if there was a double meaning behind his words or if she was reading too much into it. Shrugging it off, she resumed her managerial duties, continuing to make sure everyone on the sales floor was taken care of. After several minutes she realized she had forgotten to get his number, too, and glanced around. She caught sight of him just as he was leaving and sighed. Chasing him down once was enough; she wasn’t about to do it twice. Oh well. If she didn’t hear back from him then that was that.

A few minutes later as she was finishing up with another customer she heard her phone chime and glanced at it. It was a text from an unknown number.

[Hey it’s Inuyasha. Text me the days you’re free.]

He had texted her! A flood of giddy excitement rushed through her.

“So did you get his number?”

That was Rin’s coy voice over the headset. Kagome couldn't contain her smile, feeling a sense of triumph. At least something had gone right today.

“I did.”

She could hear Rin cheering loudly all the way from the front of the store.

*****

“It’s not a date.” Kagome told her roommate and best friend for the fifth time.

“It sounds like a date,” Sango insisted, sitting on the foot of her bed as Kagome finished up her makeup, sipping her soda. “Look at you. Putting on makeup, dressing up. Going for a drink. With a man you find attractive. We call that a date, Kagome.”

Finishing the swipe of cherry-red across her lips, Kagome capped the tube of lipstick and turned to face her friend. Ok, so maybe Sango had a point. She had definitely dressed a bit more flirty than casual attire called for, wearing a pleated knee-length skirt in green that flared at the hem and a white off-the-shoulder blouse to go with it. Her long hair was hanging free in natural waves, the silky black a stark contrast to her porcelain skin.

“It’s just a thank you. He basically saved my job,” Kagome mumbled, but even she wasn’t convinced anymore.

Sango rolled her eyes.

“Well have fun at your not-date. Maybe it will lead to an actual date.”

"Yeah, yeah. Alright, out of my room. I'm leaving."

Sango laughed and threw her a wink before rising to her feet.

“I want to hear all about it when you get back home.”

“Sure, sure.”

Kagome grabbed her purse and car keys, slipping out of their apartment. Sango managed to get in one last remark just before the door shut.

“Let me know if he has any cute friends!”

“Good bye! ”

It had been three days since her encounter with the hanyou at her store, and aside from the rather short texts asking about her availability and figuring out the where and when to meet, there had been no real conversation between them. She had been hesitant to come across as too eager and he hadn’t exactly been forthcoming either. It’s not like it’s an actual date, so it doesn’t matter.

Maybe if she told herself that enough times she would start to believe it.

She hoped that maybe texting just wasn’t his thing. A lot of guys were like that, after all. Also, he hadn’t exactly struck her as the talkative type, but more so a man of action and gruff words. It was also entirely possible he had just been busy. She had no idea what he did for a living, or anything else about his life, for that matter.

Whispering a quick prayer, Kagome turned the key in the ignition. When her car started, she released a relieved breath, beginning to drive to the bar they had agreed upon. Her car hadn’t given her any problems since that day, but Kagome knew it was only a matter of time. Most of the drive it behaved...until it didn’t. And then, as if her thoughts had summoned everything terrible in the universe, her car shuddered and started making a sound she was pretty sure cars weren’t supposed to make.

It sounded like a cat was dying beneath the hood.

“No, no, nooo! Come onnnnn.”

The car remained unmoved by her desperate pleading. A glance at the dash revealed every warning light lit up like a Christmas tree and flashing at her. The engine stalled and her car began to slow, despite her frantic pressing of the gas pedal. Admitting defeat, she turned on her blinker and managed to pull over onto the side of the street right before it idled then completely died.

She turned the key again and nothing happened.

Giving the steering wheel a smack of anger, Kagome then lowered her head to rest upon it for a moment, releasing a scream of all her pent up frustration. She banged on the dashboard some more. Her eyes grew wet with the promise of tears and her throat hurt from the effort of holding them back. Why did everything always seem to go wrong for her? This sucked. She had almost made it there. Well, halfway. Digging her phone out of her purse she typed out a text to Inuyasha.

[I’m so sorry but my car broke down. I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it.]

Wrapping her arms around the steering wheel, she lowered her head back down and just sat like that for a bit, sniffling. She was allowed to wallow in self pity for a few minutes. Surely she deserved that much. Her phone chimed in her lap and she groaned, unlocking it and looking down at the new message.

[Yeah I can see that. Look up.]

What?

Kagome raised her head and yelped in surprise. Standing in front of her car, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, was Inuyasha. His hands were in his pockets and he looked like he was fighting to keep his expression neutral. With a growing sense of horror she wondered if he had witnessed her mental breakdown. The answer was most likely yes. She groaned again. Way to make a favorable impression, Kagome. Meanwhile he was just as hot as she remembered. As she stared at him confusion mingled with surprise. How…?

He walked around to the driver’s side and rapped on her window with a knuckle. Sighing, Kagome undid her seatbelt and opened the car door. He moved back as she stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut harder than perhaps necessary. He raised an eyebrow at the excessive force and her bleak expression.

“Having another bad day?”

“It was going fine until my stupid car decided to break down!” Kagome answered darkly, giving one of the wheels a solid kick.

“Kickin’ it ain’t gonna help.”

“Well it’s helping me because it makes me feel better!”

“What’s wrong with it?” Inuyasha asked, grinning at her antics.

“I don’t know! Everything!” She wailed.

“I can take a look at it, if ya want.”

Kagome threw him a sidelong glance.

“How did you find me out here, anyways? Are you some kind of stalker?”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, to be honest. Inuyasha scoffed, looking offended at the idea.

“Please. I got better things to do than follow ya around.”

“So you’re telling me you just happened to be here?”

“Listen, I live nearby. I was walkin’ to the bar when I heard that god awful screechin’ your car was makin’. Looked over and saw it was you.”

Yeah, he had definitely seen her mental breakdown. Perfect.

“You want me to take a look at it? I’m a mechanic,” he offered.

“What?”

“I can probably fix it for ya.”

“No! Absolutely not. Then I’ll owe you even more.”

He paused a moment, seeming to hesitate before speaking again.

“Just call this a date and we’ll call it even, then.”

A date? All the blood rushed to Kagome’s face as her cheeks reddened. He had managed to make it sound so casual, despite his slight hesitation. Had he thought she would say no? The thought was oddly endearing but did nothing to dispel her nerves. She stammered a little bit before finally managing a response.

“O-okay,” she squeaked.

He graced her with one of his fanged smirks and her heart pounded wildly, trying to escape her ribcage. A thrill of excitement zipped through her and she silently conceded that Sango had been right. He’s actually interested in me, too!

Although she had hoped for it, she hadn’t really been expecting it. His demeanor around her had been less than enthused, after all. But then again, he had come to her rather valiant rescue days earlier. And he had seemed pleased when she had given him her phone number. Maybe the trick was learning to read between the lines with him.

Inuyasha pulled his phone out and made a quick call. Kagome tried not to be too obvious but it was impossible not to listen in.

“Hey. I need ya to come out here. Her car broke down.”

Inuyasha’s expression darkened before he rolled his eyes in response to whatever the person on the other end of the line said.

“Look, just get the fuck over here with the tow truck, would ya?...I don’t fuckin’ know, Miroku. Ask her yourself.” He made a disgusted sound. “Damn straight, you better.”

He rattled off the street they were at and then hung up the phone.

"It's a shame we won't actually make it to the bar because I could really use a drink right now," Kagome said morosely as they stood there.

Inuyasha barked out a laugh and Kagome found herself taken in at the sound.

"Yeah, it's too bad. Maybe another time."

"Mmm. So who was that on the phone? You sounded close."

"My friend. We work together," he said by way of explanation.

"Surprised you have friends with that surly expression you always wear," she teased.

"You tryin' to pick a fight?"

"No, just stating a fact. Your glare could make small children cry."

"Oh yeah? Well at least I didn’t stare at a mirror so hard that it broke, Miss Misfortune."

“Are you calling me UGLY?”

His ears twitched as he realized how it sounded and she did her best to keep a straight face.

“No, not at all. Just tryin’ to figure out how many black cats you pissed off.”

Kagome gave a mock gasp, feigning offense, and Inuyasha grinned.

“I hope you step on a Lego,” she said, unable to contain her own grin.

“Really? That’s all you got?” He chuckled. “I think your luck has been cursed enough for us both, girlie. Don’t tempt the Lego Gods.”

“Rude!”

They were still trading barbs when a tow truck pulled up to their side of the street in front of where they were standing. They were so engrossed in each other that it wasn't until the man in the truck rolled the window down and spoke that they realized he was there

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said cheerfully.

Kagome turned her gaze to the newcomer and took in his appearance. He was handsome, with dark brows, high cheekbones, and full lips. His most striking feature, however, were his indigo eyes, brimming with amusement at the display before him. A light breeze floated through his open window and teased the strands of his black hair, currently pulled into a short ponytail. His arm came up to rest on the window sill almost lazily.

"About fuckin' time," Inuyasha greeted him rudely. The other man, presumably the Miroku from his phone call, just shrugged.

"I got here as soon as I could," Miroku replied, unperturbed by Inuyasha’s attitude.

"Um, hi. Thank you for coming out here on such short notice," Kagome said politely.

At her words his attention turned to her. He blatantly looked her up and down before settling his indigo gaze back upon her face, smiling pleasantly.

“My pleasure; I’m Miroku. You’re the girl?”

“Um...yes...?” The girl? Had Inuyasha been talking about her?

“I can’t believe you agreed to go on a date with this brute here.”

“Hey!” Inuyasha protested. “I don’t want to hear that from a pervert like you.”

"He seems feral but I promise he's house-trained," Miroku went on.

"He doesn’t seem too bad to me, aside from his permanent scowl." Kagome felt compelled to defend him but she couldn't keep the smile off her face at their banter.

“You’re far too lovely for my friend. Are you sure you have the right guy?”

“At least I don’t flirt with anything female,” Inuyasha shot back.

“Please, I only do that to see their faces light up. Meanwhile, you make every woman run away crying. Except for this one, apparently.”

“At least I have standards.”

“Hey! I have standards, too,” Miroku insisted.

“Then you need to raise them.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Miroku agreed amiably. “I’m turning over a new leaf tonight.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Inuyasha scoffed.

“So you're clearly off-limits, but do you have any pretty friends?” Miroku pushed on unabashedly, turning his attention back to Kagome.

She giggled and Inuyasha glared.

“It’s funny because my roommate said the same thing."

"Same thing?"

"To let her know if Inuyasha had any cute friends,” she explained.

Miroku looked delighted.

“What is this roommate’s number?”

“Don’t you have a job to do?” Inuyasha cut in, rolling his eyes.

“Of course. Can’t keep a lady waiting.” He winked at Kagome and it was her turn to roll her eyes.

Together, Inuyasha and Miroku got her car loaded up. And by ‘together’ it was mostly Miroku doing the work while Inuyasha stood on the sidewalk making disparaging comments about Miroku’s skills. He took it in stride and made some cleverly sharp comments of his own right back.

“Sorry about the tight squeeze,” Miroku apologized as they all piled into the truck. “This isn’t exactly made for three people.”

“No, it’s totally fine. I appreciate this. Both of you,” Kagome replied.

She was squished against the door with Inuyasha sitting to her right. He had refused to let her sit in the middle lest she be pressed up against ‘that damn flirt.’ She didn’t particularly care, to be honest, but his slight possessiveness warmed her. Or maybe that just was his body heat seeping into her, making her skin tingle in awareness.

The drive passed surprisingly quickly and they arrived at the garage as the sun was starting to dip below the horizon. The place was quiet and Kagome realized it must be after hours for them now, which made sense. She suddenly felt kind of bad about Miroku coming out after what had likely been the end of his shift.

“Sorry, you were probably about to head home when you came to help me out,” she said, her voice contrite.

He waved her apology off. “It was no big deal.”

“Is that why you bitched to me about it over the phone?” Inuyasha snarked.

“Now now, let’s not split hairs. Dealing with you is different than dealing with a pretty lady.”

Inuyasha snorted.

The two of them got her car set up and then Miroku turned to Inuyasha. “You want me to stay and help?”

“Nah, I can handle it,” Inuyasha replied. “Get out of here.”

“Then on that note, I’ll take my leave. It was nice to meet you, Kagome.” Miroku said, giving her a nod.

“It was nice to meet you, too.”

“So about your roommate’s number...” He let the sentence trail off, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

“I’ll ask her about it. Goodbye!” Kagome said emphatically, but she was giggling.

After Miroku had taken off, her attention returned to the hanyou examining her dumpster fire of a car. He had removed his t-shirt, leaving him in a white wife-beater and a pair of jeans. His back was to her and he was putting his hair up in a bun to keep it out of the way. She watched his motions, observing the way the muscles of his back moved beneath the fabric, the corded strength in his arms as they bunched and flexed. A rush of warmth pulsed through her as he popped the hood of her car.

“Fuck, woman. When’s the last time you got an oil change?”

“Huh?” She looked up, snapped out of her reverie; she must have zoned out for a minute. “Um...I’m not sure, to be honest. Maybe a year or so ago?”

“You fuckin’ serious?”

“What?” She said defensively.

“You need to be gettin’ it changed every 5k miles. Everybody fuckin’ knows that. And that sticker on your windshield? It tells me ya should’ve gotten it done 3k miles ago.”

“I’ve been a little busy to think about things like that!”

He scoffed harshly but said nothing else as he...well she wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing, to be completely honest. She knew next to nothing about cars. The same was obviously not true for him, which was fortunate for her. He leaned over, getting a good look at her car’s inner workings and giving her a good look at his ass. It was perfect, just as she had suspected.

“You seem more relaxed around me than you were before. I thought you didn’t like me,” he commented as he continued his work.

Kagome’s eyes snapped from his ass to the back of his head, feeling almost guilty about the way she had been checking him out.

“I thought you didn’t like me ,” she admitted.

He turned around and gave her an incredulous expression.

“Why the fuck would you think that?”

She just looked at him and he sighed.

“Right. I s’pose that’s fair.”

“You seemed so...annoyed when we first met, and I didn’t know if that was because of the customer or me,” she explained.

“Definitely wasn’t ya. Sorry you got that impression.”

“It’s okay.”

“When you insisted you weren’t askin’ me out, I thought...well...”

“What??”

“Because I’m a hanyou.”

“But that doesn’t matter to me. It was because I just didn’t want to seem...forward, I guess. I don’t know, this kind of stuff doesn’t really come easily to me.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re fuckin’ beautiful.”

Kagome blushed furiously and he looked a little embarrassed at his honesty.

“Th-thank you,” she stammered, caught in the spell of his amber eyes. She resisted the urge to bite her lip out of nervousness. “I guess I just don’t tend to think of myself that way.” She gave a slight shrug.

“Well, ya should.”

With that pronouncement he turned back around and resumed his work on her car. His words had warmed her more than sunshine on a cold day. As she watched him work, something else began to warm her. She walked closer to get a better look at what he was doing and to keep her eyes from wandering to places they shouldn’t be.

“Why the fuck didn’t ya get this fixed sooner?” Inuyasha demanded suddenly, raising his eyes to meet hers. “This is a mess.”

She blinked.

“Well...I mean, it’s been giving me problems for a while, but every place is booked out for weeks now. I don’t have the time between work and school to drive far away to an auto place in a car on the verge of breaking down. With my luck it would die in the middle of the highway.”

“You have a point.” He laughed, and she suppressed a shiver at the sound. It washed over her in a wave, husky and rich.

"You know, your customer service is lacking," she teased. "Do you talk to all your customers like this?"

"Sometimes. Miroku usually has to smooth things over," he admitted.

"You could learn a few things from me."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Not cursing at your customer, for starters."

"But you're not really a customer, are ya?"

"I guess that's true." She smiled.

She didn’t know how much time passed as he worked. The conversation between them was light and fun and didn’t touch on anything too serious. He took parts out of her car, put parts in, occasionally asking her to hand him a specific tool then making fun of her when she didn’t know which one it was. At those moments she would jokingly threaten to zap him with her reiki if he wasn’t careful and he would just chuckle at her empty threats.

The longer he worked on her car the harder it was to keep her mind from straying to less-than-innocent places. There was a fine sheen of sweat coating his arms, making his muscles glisten faintly. Her eyes took in every dip, curve, and swell, her mouth going dry at the sight. The way he was handling himself with confidence and ease spoke of his skill and it was...attractive, to say the least.

“So. A miko?”

Kagome mentally shook herself, trying to fight her growing arousal.

“It seemed like the natural choice; it’s always come so easily to me. It’s like flexing a muscle, an extension of myself. It’s part of who I am. While I could have chosen something else...why would I?”

“Makes sense,” he grunted.

“Did you always want to be a mechanic?”

“Well, I’ve always been good with my hands,” he shrugged.

I’m sure you are, she thought, biting her lip, her eyes inevitably drawn to those hands now. They were large and covered in black grease, tipped in claws. She wondered idly what those claws would feel like tracing the lines of her body and felt heat curl low in her belly.

Inuyasha inhaled, his nose twitching, and jerked upright, nearly hitting his head on the hood of her car. She frowned for a moment, wondering what had caused him to jump. Then realization dawned and she turned tomato red. Oh God. Embarrassment filled her.

Inuyasha was an inu youkai hanyou. He could smell her. His gold eyes practically burned as they turned her way.

She swallowed, fidgeting with her hands, and her cinnamon eyes skittered away from his form, hoping that would help to quell the rising desire in her. A desire for him and his touch. The force of it surprised her; she barely knew him! Despite that, everything with him just came so...naturally. She felt like she had known him forever, and feelings that normally took days and weeks to form had taken mere hours. It was insane, but she couldn't deny it.

She liked him so much it was crazy.

Silence stretched between them as her mind cast about desperately for something to talk about. Something to divert attention away from the change in her scent and what exactly that meant.

"So, have you taken many dates to your garage?"

"Nah. You're the first lucky lady who's had the honor," Inuyasha replied with a fanged smirk, giving her a long look before turning his focus back to her car.

Kagome breathed a soft sigh of relief and let out a small laugh at his answer.

"They really missed out. This is so romantic," she joked, gesturing about with a hand for good measure.

"Yeah, sorry." He lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "This is probably a shitty date, but at least your car will work tomorrow."

"It's not, though," she told him sincerely. "I'm actually really enjoying myself. I have had way worse dates than this. This doesn't even rate on the scale."

And no date has ever had me so ready to be pressed up against the nearest surface with the need to have their hands all over me. Her mind was veering into dangerous territory again. She was completely ready to forget all propriety. Not good.

"You're kiddin'."

"Definitely not."

"Yeah? Then what's the worst date you ever been on?"

"Oh, let's see. There are a few contenders for that spot."

Kagome seized on the question. Talking made it easier to focus on something other than the way his lips would feel against hers. Or the way he might use his fangs to gently nip at the sensitive skin of her neck…

She needed to get a grip, and fast, or he was going to start smelling her again. She hastily tried to tamp down her libido with minimal success.

"There was the time I went on a date with a guy and he got so drunk he kept falling asleep at the bar,” she said, relieved when her voice came out steady and not breathless.

“Shitty, but not that bad.”

“Oh, it gets worse. So I paid for my tab while he was in the bathroom; I just wanted to get out of there. As I was getting in the cab, he came running out after me, trying to keep me from leaving.”

“Guy obviously couldn’t take a hint.”

Kagome gave a small laugh. “No. And well, just as I closed the door he projectile vomited all over the cab window.”

Inuyasha laughed so hard he had to stop what he was doing for a minute and Kagome grinned at his obvious amusement. It had been a gross and terrible experience at the time, but it definitely made for a hilarious story now.

“Ok, shit. That’s pretty fuckin’ bad.”

“It was horrifying. Then he texted me the next morning asking about a second date.”

Inuyasha laughed harder and Kagome began to laugh too.

“Needless to say, I said absolutely not.”

“Somethin’ tells me he didn’t take no for an answer,” Inuyasha grinned.

“I ended up blocking him,” Kagome confirmed. “So what about you? What’s your worst date story?”

Inuyasha straightened, surveying the innards of her car and seeming to come to some sort of conclusion. About what, she had no clue but he seemed satisfied, giving a short nod. Then he faced her, the corner of his mouth tilting up.

“I dunno about the worst, but probably the weirdest. I went out with this chick, and after we had dinner she said she just had to pick somethin’ up. We stopped at her twin brother’s place and there was the weirdest vibe goin’ on between them.”

“You don’t think…?” Kagome gasped.

“Fuck, I got no clue but they both basically ignored me and focused on each other ‘til I said I was leavin’.”

Kagome giggled. “Yeah, that’s pretty weird.”

Inuyasha lowered the hood of her car then grabbed a rag and wiped the grease off his hands before tossing it aside into a bin. When he looked her way again he stretched and his shirt rode up, exposing a tantalizing glimpse of his taut stomach. It whet her appetite for more and with a jolt she realized she was staring. She was also more than a little turned on. Even if she hid it well, there was no hiding her scent; Inuyasha would know exactly what kind of shameless thoughts were circling in her head. There would be no shrugging it off a second time.

She wasn’t that type of girl! But something about Inuyasha made her want to be.

“All done a-already?” She stuttered out, her eyes fixed firmly on the floor in front of her now. Her heart was beating faster, making it nearly impossible to keep her breathing even. She cleared her throat.

“Yup. All done. Was a fuckin’ mess but thankfully I know what I’m doin’,” Inuyasha answered.

His feet came into view as she continued to stare at the floor. They stopped right in front of her, but she didn’t need to see his feet to know that. Her awareness of his body so near to hers was a signal all on its own. His aura brushed up against hers and she swallowed nervously, her cheeks warming.

“Y-yeah, for once luck was on my side. Thank you so much,” she said, still looking at the floor.

“You thankin’ the floor?”

She hesitantly raised her eyes to his face and heat flooded through her at his expression. An answering heat burned in his golden orbs while a smirk teased at his lips. He knew. He knew and he was not going to let her off lightly. Not this time. That thought allowed some of her ardor to cool and she scowled. He was standing incredibly close so she pushed against him, her hands lingering on his stomach, noting the ridges of his abs beneath the thin fabric of the wife-beater he wore. He retreated a single step and no more.

“Thank you,” she said again, this time looking into his eyes as she spoke, and his smirk widened. She wanted to be annoyed but that look was giving her butterflies and making her knees weak. Or maybe it was the look in his eyes that made her feel almost hypnotized.

“You hungry?” he asked in a low voice.

“A little,” she replied, unable to look away. But I’m more hungry for you.

“There’s a takeout menu on the fridge in the living space through that door. Go ahead and order whatever ya want.”

Without breaking eye contact, he pulled his wallet out and removed a card, then reached down to grab one of her hands. Her breath caught as he placed it in her palm then curled her fingers over it, his claws lightly scraping over the skin of her wrist before pulling away. She couldn’t suppress the shiver it caused.

“O-order?”

“What? Ya need help orderin’ food?”

“No! Of course not.”

Kagome tried to muster up a glare but failed miserably. Inuyasha just looked terribly amused and smug. Ugh.

“While you order I’m gonna go take a shower.”

“You need help with that?”

Kagome tried to make it sound like a joke, to play off his previous words, but her voice came out breathless instead. The teasing smirk disappeared from his face and his eyes sharpened as he crowded her space, standing so close his body heat warmed her. Leaning down, he spoke, his breath brushing over her lips.

“If you’re offerin’.”

Kagome’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to reply but no sound came out. All the desire she had been trying to keep at bay rushed back, overwhelming her senses for a moment. Her brain short-circuited as lust flooded her, making it impossible to fight.

“I-I wasn’t being serious,” she finally managed. “Your customer service needs work.”

He leaned closer, and she became acutely aware of how little space there was between their lips.

“That’s not what your scent is tellin’ me.”

He definitely knows. Oh God. Mortification and arousal vied for dominance, arousal winning out. And Kagome suddenly found she didn’t care that he knew anymore. For once, she didn’t want to be a good girl; she just wanted to give in. But still, she couldn’t make the first move.

“What is it telling you?” she whispered, hoping he would.

And he did.

Instead of answering her, he closed the last bit of distance between them and pressed his lips against hers. It started out soft at first and she sighed in bliss, leaning into his kiss while her hands ran up his stomach to rest upon his broad shoulders. His credit card dropped between them onto the floor, forgotten as they kissed. The taste of his mouth sent her head spinning. His hands reached up to cradle her face as their lips moved against each other and she shivered at the delicious heat spreading through her body.

It quickly turned from sweet and hesitant to something more demanding and deliberate. Kagome offered no resistance, opening her lips to him almost reflexively. His tongue dipped into her mouth while she traced the length of his fangs with her own and he growled in approval. At the same time, her hands moved to his head, reaching back and undoing the bun holding his silver hair in place. The silky mass tumbled down his back and she ran her fingers through it as their kisses grew more insistent. Her blood was singing in her veins for his touch and, as if he could read her mind, his hands began to roam her body. They slid from her face to her shoulders, down her back, skimming her waist and coming to a stop on her ass.

His hands cupped her, pulling her flush against him and allowing her to feel the evidence of his own arousal. A soft whimper caught in her throat and she clung to him tighter. He dragged his mouth away from hers, his eyes almost wild, as if surprised at the force of the connection between them. They were both panting as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“It’s telling me you wanted that. And more. Fuck, I want more,” Inuyasha said, his voice husky.

“So do I,” Kagome told him hotly.

“If I kiss ya again, I dunno if I can stop.”

Kagome smiled at him shyly, her cheeks heated with a blush.

“What if I said I didn’t want you to stop?”

She wasn’t the type to have sex on the first date, but whatever was building between them was undeniable. For once, she wanted to throw caution to the wind and indulge herself, and if the bulge she felt in his pants was anything to go by, he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. And this thing between them was more than physical; at least it was for her. She only hoped it was the same for him, too.

“Then I ain’t gonna stop.”

“I-I don’t ever do this, especially not on the first date, but I just feel something so-- so--...”

“I feel it, too.”

That was the only reassurance she needed. Her hands moved across the expanse of his muscled back while his lips captured hers again. She felt like she could get lost in the feel of his mouth over hers, the taste of his breath, the way his fangs nipped at her bottom lip. The need to touch him was strong and she tugged at the wife-beater he wore in silent demand. Breaking the kiss, he smirked at her and removed it in one fluid motion. She stared, transfixed, her eyes charting every ridge and dip of his abs and pecs.

He was beautiful .

Before she could lose her courage, she leaned forward and ran her mouth over his skin, pressing kisses over his bare torso while her hands mapped his body. His breathing quickened and he growled, the verberation from the sound tickling her lips as her tongue darted out to lick the sweat from his skin.

While she explored him, his hands went to work, running down her back in a caress before gripping her ass possessively. He squeezed, relishing the feel, then surprised her by using his grip to effortlessly pick her up. She squealed, instinctively wrapping her legs around his waist and pressing her core right against the hardness of his cock. Gasping at the sensation, a rush of hot arousal raced through her system and left her lightheaded. She barely registered him carrying her until he set her down on the hood of her car as he kissed her. Then his lips trailed from her mouth to her ear, down to her neck, where his fangs played at the sensitive skin there.

“You smell so fuckin’ good,” he said, his breath hot. He inhaled deeply, breathing her in.

Moaning softly, she shifted her hips against him, hoping to ease the ache that was beginning to build at the apex of her thighs. Heat jolted through her core at the intimate contact as he groaned.

"Clothes...off…" Kagome managed, her mind in a haze.

Inuyasha complied, removing her shirt and tossing it aside. Without wasting any time, he reached behind her to unclasp her bra, his claws lightly brushing against her porcelain skin as he slid the straps from her shoulders. Nervousness gripped her again as her bra fell away and left her bare to his gaze, but excitement quickly replaced it at the hunger in his eyes.

“Fuck, you’re perfect.”

She held her breath in anticipation for his touch while he stared, drinking her in. The look in his eyes made her feel like a goddess. He didn’t keep her waiting long, his large hands reaching for her and lifting her breasts, savoring their weight as a calloused thumb brushed over each nipple. They pebbled beneath his touch and a soft sigh passed her lips as he repeated the motion before massaging the globes. Then his mouth took the place of his hands and Kagome cried out as he sucked at her nipples, his fangs gently scraping over the sensitive buds.

As he lavished his attentions on her breasts, her hands buried themselves in his hair, holding his head in place. Unable to help herself, one hand freed itself to stroke along his soft ears and his grip tightened on her in response. She grinned wickedly; they were clearly sensitive. Lightly running her tongue along the edge of one of his furred ears, she gave it a small nip. He growled, the sound rumbling through his chest and sending pleasurable vibrations through her body, making her moan. Liquid heat pooled between her legs.

Slowly, he kissed his way from her breasts all the way down her belly until he reached the waistband of her skirt. He gave it a playful bite while the longing in her grew stronger.

"Inuyasha…" she breathed, his name a plea.

Sliding his hands beneath the green satiny fabric, he ran his palms up her smooth thighs and took hold of her panties. She lifted her hips in consent and he removed them, his claws trailing along her pelvis and the inside of her thighs. A small whimper lodged in Kagome’s throat as the tension inside her built.

Rather than toss them aside like he had her shirt, Inuyasha held them up to his face. The crotch was soaked with her arousal and she watched as he slowly and deliberately dragged his tongue across the wetness, closing his eyes as if savoring the taste. Then he gave her a wicked smirk, locking eyes with her.

It was the hottest and most erotic thing she had ever seen. Lust gripped her, hot and immediate. The pressure was almost unbearable now, she was so fucking turned on. She throbbed with the need to feel that tongue licking and teasing her dripping pussy.

"You taste amazing. But it'll taste even better right here," Inuyasha said, dropping her panties to the floor in favor of spreading her thighs.

"Do it. Taste me," she panted, her fingers curling into fists at her side to keep herself from grabbing his head and pressing him into her.

Then his mouth was on her and oh. Fuck. Her skirt bunched around her waist as his tongue lapped at the juices pouring from her opening, darting in and out and making her breath catch. After teasing her entrance, he gave her pussy a long, slow lick, flicking the tip of his tongue over her clit. Kagome gasped, her thighs tensing, as he spread her folds and licked at her faster, mercilessly tonguing her bundle of nerves. She cried out, her back arching.

“Ah! Ahh! Yes, oh fuck!”

Tracing fast and hard circles around her clit with his tongue, he positioned one of his hands at her opening and slid a finger inside her, being careful of his claws. Her response was instant, her hips bucking up against him to take his finger all the way inside her as she moaned loudly. Yes. God yes.

Inuyasha gave a growl of approval at her reaction and the vibrations went straight to her clit, enhancing the pleasure. It was pure bliss. His tongue worked her nub furiously as he fingered her, adding a second digit to the first and causing a cry to escape her again. His fingers moved in and out in a quick rhythm, stretching her and making a slurping sound as wetness continued to spill from her. As he continued to devour her hungrily.

Her head fell back as she lost herself to the sensations, feeling the coil of her release wind tighter. The cool metal of the hood of her car against her skin was a stark contrast to the heat of her body as she burned from his touch. She couldn’t believe she was doing this , here, on her car, but she was too far gone to care anymore. Fuck, she was so close .

And then he began to suck on her clit while his tongue and fingers continued to stroke her and Kagome lost all control of herself. Moaning incoherently, uncaring of how loud she was being, she writhed under his mouth. When he gently scraped one of his fangs over her sensitive nub she came apart, her hands grasping for something to anchor her while the ecstasy took her sky high.

“Ah! Ahhh! Inuyashaaa!”

“Delicious,” she heard him say, and thought he might have been licking his fingers of her essence. She wasn’t sure.

The world spun for a minute while she panted, trying to catch her breath. When her eyes refocused she looked up and saw Inuyasha had divested himself of the rest of his clothing and stood in front of her, gloriously naked. He looked like one of those statues of a Greek god, his body chiseled and well-defined with muscle. There was one notable difference between them and him, however, and it was the rather large appendage jutting out from between his legs.

Kagome stared for a second. He was definitely bigger than average, and she wondered for a moment if he would even fit inside her. Her eyes must have given her away because Inuyasha chuckled, pulling her close and kissing her senseless, and any doubt regarding that faded away.

He was going to the best she ever had: she just knew it.

As he kissed her, her hands caressed his ears again, rubbing the edges between her fingertips. Inuyasha’s own hands traced patterns up and down her back, one of them breaking away to grab a fistful of her hair. Languid warmth bloomed inside Kagome from the way he was making her feel and she wanted to return the favor.

“Your turn,” Kagome whispered against his lips.

Holding onto his shoulder to steady herself, her other hand trailed south across his skin. The muscles of his abdomen clenched under her feather-light touch before she reached her target and gripped his cock firmly. Squeezing, she ran her hand along the length of him, the pad of her thumb pressing against his tip and spreading the precum around in soft circles. He hissed out a breath, snarling softly.

“Fuck, your hand feels so good,” he groaned, burying his face in her neck.

Dragging her fingernail gently up the side of his cock as she pumped him, her hand tightened its grip, moving faster. He grunted out his pleasure, thrusting in time with the rhythm of her hand while his tongue rasped over her neck. Her head lolled to the side, allowing him better access as she stroked up and down, her hand giving a twist with each upward motion. His breathing became harsh, coming in pants, and Kagome gave a moan herself at the way his fangs scraped against the column of her throat.

She was already wet for him again.

“Smell amazing...fuck, gotta stop or I’m gonna....”

His voice was thick with desire and the sound sent tingles down her spine. Giving her neck one last nip, he raised his head and, reaching down between them, grabbed her hand in his, stopping her. She looked at him in confusion, uncertainty quelling her own desire, but the look in his gold eyes put any insecurities to bed. They were molten embers that burned for her and made her ache for him. A slow smile spread across his face and her body flushed.

“Why...why did you stop me?”

“I’m not gonna cum in your hand on the first date.”

But I came on yours . The words never made it past her lips as he spread her legs wider and rubbed his cock over her soaked pussy, pressing the head against her clit. She whimpered, falling back against the hood of her car as he repeated the motion before lining himself up at her entrance. She held her breath, waiting, and looked into his eyes. It might have been her imagination, but she thought she saw a hint of red at the edges and it thrilled her.

Then a thought occurred to her.

“W-wait! What about-- about protection?”

“Not to be weird, but I can smell ya, and you ain’t fertile right now.”

She blinked, absorbing this information, and felt equally aroused and appalled that he could apparently smell every facet of her being.

“You still want this?” His voice was a deep rasp.

“I still want it. I want you,” she answered.

The blunt head of his cock pressed against her and, at her consent, he slowly worked his way inside her until every inch was sheathed within her hot, dripping core. She moaned as sparks of pleasure danced over her skin and he gave an answering groan of his own. He was stretching her to the limit and the feeling was incredible. It made a delicious ache begin to swirl within her, radiating out from where he was buried so deep inside. And he hadn’t even moved yet.

“Ah, God,” he breathed, holding still for a moment as her body adjusted to the size of him. His hands were on either side of her head as his body loomed over her. “Fuck, you’re so tight. You’re not--?”

“--no. But it’s been a while,” Kagome breathed back. “Please, keep going. Don’t stop.”

Inuyasha growled and withdrew before thrusting back into her and she gasped, her breath hitching on another moan. And he didn’t stop, pumping into her hard, while her wet pussy gripped his cock tightly. She shifted her hips up against him with each thrust, trying to take him even deeper. The demanding ache inside of her was building and it needed more. She needed more. The shaft of his cock rubbed against her walls with each urgent movement, pressing against places she hadn’t even known were sensitive until they began to send jolts of ecstasy through her body while he fucked her.

Some distant part of her mind registered that Inuyasha was fucking her on her car. And she didn’t care. She loved it, wanted more, all her inhibitions slipping away. Each fierce thrust was making her breasts bounce wildly, something that didn’t escape his notice. Her back arched into his touch as he brought a hand up to possessively grasp one of her breasts, claws playing with her nipple as he squeezed the flesh.

“Fuck, you feel so good,” he grunted as he pounded into her. “Uhn!! So fucking good!”

She didn’t even realize she was crying out at first, but she couldn’t seem to silence herself either, helpless against the way he was making her feel. Looking into Inuyasha’s face she decided she didn’t want to, anyways, because at each sound of pleasure that fell from her lips his eyes seemed to glow brighter, his breath catching, and his thrusts coming faster.

“Ahh! Ah! Inu-Inuyashaaa! I-- please-- Mmm! Yes!”

The coil of her release was wound so tight she was going to come apart any second. Inuyasha leaned down to scrape his fangs over her exposed neck, his tongue licking away the sting. When he moved his other hand from her thigh to her clit, rubbing in taut circles, the feeling sent her over the edge. She came hard, her legs trembling as she moaned loudly, her whole body shuddering.

“That’s it, Ka-go-me,” he panted at her, still thrusting into her wet, hot core and she whimpered.

Then he withdrew from her and she blinked, in a daze, wondering why he was stopping; he hadn’t reached his own release yet. She never got a chance to ask, his lips claiming hers in a kiss so tender that it belied the intensity of the way he had just been fucking her. Pulling away, his hungry eyes traced the length of her body before he gently picked her up, putting her feet on the ground, and flipped her over so her stomach was now against the hood of her car, her back to him.

Hands spread her thighs and in one swift motion he was buried inside her welcoming heat again. She whined as his cock stretched her, her fingers fisting. God, he made her feel so fucking good. Those strong hands of his held her in place as he began to thrust in and out, one splayed around her waist while the other slid around her front to play with her breasts.

“Ya didn’t think I was stoppin’, did ya?” His breath teased the shell of her ear.

A shudder of need ran through her at the feeling.

“Good...don’t stop!” She managed before the pleasure took her over again.

All she could do was moan his name as he fucked her harder, his cock hitting deep. Filling her up in the most delicious way possible. With each rapid thrust she was pushed up against her car, causing her clit to rub up against it and sending tiny shocks of euphoria through her body that left her gasping. The delicious friction of his cock pistoning inside her, coupled with that, had her crying out again, moving her hips back into him as she keened.

Inuyasha was groaning and grunting behind her and the sound turned her on even more. The noises he was making were almost animalistic and it excited her. Desire shot through her, the evidence of how good she was making him feel intensifying her own arousal, and the coil of her release tightened in response.

Raising her head, Kagome caught sight of her reflection in the windshield of her car and her eyes widened as she stared. Transfixed, she watched, her breath coming faster. Watched as she was fucked from behind, against her car, by the only man who had ever made her act in such a way. A man who should by all rights be a stranger, but who made her feel like no one ever had before. She had never witnessed anything like it, and a hot, sharp wave of lust pulsed along every nerve-ending before coiling low, right at her core.

The blissed out look on her face, the almost feral expression on Inuyasha’s... It was such an erotic vision, one she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from. More liquid heat pooled between her legs as her arousal and need heightened, the pressure building to unbearable levels.

His rhythm quickened, his breathing turning shallow, and Kagome could tell he was close to his climax. She was close, too. Her heart was a staccato beat in her chest, her breathing ragged, her skin slick with sweat. The slapping sound of skin and their moans, harsh pants, and gasps permeated the air. Reaching behind her, she grabbed onto his perfect ass, rolling her hips back into him, meeting his hard and deep thrusts.

“Inu-Inuyasha--ahh! Ah! Oh fuck, yes!” she cried out.

“Fuck...Kagome, I’m gonna--” Inuyasha grunted, leaning over her to wrap his arms around her as he thrust. Harder. Deeper. Faster. His mouth found her neck again and she threw her head back.

“--do it! I want it!” she said breathily.

His body went rigid behind her as he spilled himself inside her, breathing heavily and groaning from the force of his release. The warm sensation of his cum shooting up inside her combined with everything else sent her over the edge and she came right after, her orgasm almost blinding her in its ferocity. It spread through her like wildfire, strong and immediate, more intensely than she had ever felt before. For a moment, she saw stars and the world fell away. When she came back to herself Inuyasha was smoothing her hair to the side and pressing kisses to her shoulder.

“You good?” he rumbled into her ear.

Kagome smiled, almost laughing at the question. She was completely sated.

“More than good.”

“Good.”

He pulled out of her, turning her around so that she faced him. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tightly while she waited for her legs to support her again. As the languid heat of her satisfaction began to dissipate, other thoughts took hold again, making her heart beat faster for an entirely different reason.

“Oh, God,” she whispered, suddenly feeling almost horrified. It made no sense after everything they had just done, but her sense of shame was returning along with her good sense.

Inuyasha frowned, his ears flattening.

“What’s wrong?”

Kagome buried her face in his chest as she spoke.

“I--I can’t believe I just… I mean, I know I said I wanted to, and told you not to stop, but--”

“--you regretting it?” His voice was low.

Kagome didn’t miss the underlying emotion of hurt beneath it. She rushed to explain.

“No! No!! Not at all. I just… I never do this. And I did. On the first date. I just feel something so-- so strongly for you, and I wanted it so much, but-- God, I can’t imagine what you think of me...”

Inuyasha seemed to relax at her confession, and he had the audacity to laugh. She glared against his chest.

“You said somethin’ like that before everything got heated. Listen, I told ya already. I feel it, too. And besides, I think you’re the hottest, most interesting woman I ever met.”

She raised her head from his chest to cautiously peek at his face. He gave her a fanged smile and she relaxed against him, sighing softly.

“You mean that?”

“Absolutely. Though your luck is cursed and the way you take care of your car is a crime.”

“Such sweet words. Keep talking to me like that and I just may believe you,” she teased, smiling back at him now.

“So...would it be weird to ask ya for another, actual date, now?”

“Not at all.”

She leaned up to kiss him and he returned it with interest. His mouth on hers, his body pressed against her...it was intoxicating. It was perfect. When they broke apart they were both breathing heavily again.

“Now, what was that about my customer service lacking…?” Inuyasha said, his gold eyes burning for her.

“I changed my mind. Five stars. Glowing reviews,” Kagome replied, her smile turning seductive.

And he proceeded to earn every word of praise.

#Inuyasha fanfiction #Inuyasha fanfic #inukag fanfic #InuKag #Inuyasha x Kagome #Customer Service #SMUT #LOTS OF SMUT

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siren1song · 4 years

Text

Tell Myself to Breathe

Summary: Virgil is so, so proud of his son, but Patton can’t seem to see what there is to be proud of. So he gives some advice from his own experiences.

Warnings: anxiety attacks, academic pressure, referenced bad parenting (past and only a brief mention)

Pairings: Implied romantic Anxceit, Familial Moxiety

Taglist: @acanvasofabillionsuns, @emo-disaster, @greenninjagal-blog, @jungle321jungle, @sleepy-sides, @gattonero17, @izzynuggets, @another-sandersidesblog, @strawberryjellystuff, @remusownsmyuwus, @logic-with-a-pinch-of-deceit, @demidork84, @gr3ml1n-loser, @main-chive, @kiribakuandcats, @firey-alex

Commissions!! | Buy me a Kofi!! | Join Casper’s Crew!!

The day had been productive. Virgil had cleaned up the living room, gotten dinner prepped to be started when Dee got home, got the chore calendar set up for when the twins got home from elementary school, and he even managed to finish a commission.

Now he was just waiting for his kids to get home, and then later his husband. There was about an hour left before his oldest finished his after school things, and Virgil was fully intending to spend that time taking a nap.

The door opening and then slamming closed two minutes later was not something he was expecting.

Virgil sat up on the couch, frowning in concern when he saw Patton leaning against the door a painfully neutral expression.

“Hey Pat, don’t you have a club meeting today?” he asked, wanting to get up and go to him but deciding to give him space if he needed it.

Patton tensed a little, and the smile he gave Virgil was so fake his heart ached in his chest.

“Yeah, I did but I got a little drained. Hard to garden when you’re exhausted, ya know?” he said.

The cheer in his voice was even more fake than his smile.

“Yeah, I get being tired. Wanna take a nap with me? We can have a cuddle session and you can brag to Dad later,” he offered, giving Patton the most reassuring smile he could.

Virgil watched as Patton hesitated, and his concern skyrocketed when he shook his head.

“No thanks, Pa, I think I’m just gonna go to my room for now.”

Fuck, Patton was really upset if he was turning down cuddle time.

“Okay, kiddo. Let me know if you need anything okay?”

Patton nodded, and Virgil watched as he made his way up the stairs until he heard the door shut.

He was planning on just letting Patton decide how he needed to calm down, planning on leaving him alone for a while no matter how worried he was because Patton deserved to figure out what he needed on his own.

Virgil couldn’t help but regret that decision when he a series of thumps followed by a heavier thud and a sob coming from Patton’s room.

“Patton?” he called, scrambling off the couch and shooting up the stairs until he was opening the bedroom door in a panic.

His son was sitting on the bed, fingers buried in his hair and his textbooks and notebooks in a pile on the floor.

That explained the smaller thumps, but what about the thud?

Virgil glanced in Patton’s immediate area as he approached him, stopping at the edge of the mattress. He couldn’t find the source, but it wasn’t really something he was worried about right now.

“Hey Pattoff, you don’t look so hot there, wanna tell me what’s wrong?” Virgil asked softly, wanting to sit down but not wanting to invade his son’s space.

Patton jerked, pulling his head from his hands to look at Virgil and- oh.

He recognized that look. That was an anxiety attack reaching it’s peak.

“Oh, Patton,” he said softly, sitting on the very edge of the mattress and tentatively opening his arms.

Patton stared at him, hiccuping as a sob struggled to escape him, and Virgil just waited patiently.

It felt like eternity before Patton’s surprise crumpled and he sobbed again, pushing himself away from Virgil and wrapping his arms around himself.

Virgil pushed back the urge to pull Patton into a hug anyway. He deserved the right to choose what he wanted right now, he wasn’t gonna be like his parents and disregard his son’s boundaries.

“Okay, no hugs. But we gotta get you calmed down Pat,” he said, wincing when Patton sobbed again.

God, he always hated seeing when his kids were upset.

“Gonna need you to listen to me, Pat. Force all of the air out of your lungs,” he started, smiling softly when Patton didn’t hesitate to listen, “and then breathe in for one, two, three, four…”

He kept going, guiding Patton through the four, seven, eight breathing exercise until his breathing was shaky but even.

Patton wiped at his eyes, sniffling and staring at his lap. He didn’t say anything, but that’s okay, Virgil could talk first.

“That looked like a pretty bad anxiety attack, bud. Do you wanna tell me about it?”

Quiet, and then Patton shook his head.

Virgil nodded, shifting until he was sitting on his sons bed with his legs crossed in front of him.

“Okay, that’s fine. Wanna tell me what the really loud thud was earlier?”

Patton wiped at his eyes again, then pointed in Virgil’s direction, prompting him to turn around and see the school issued tablet on the ground, screen cracked and a dent in the wall it collided with.

Oof, that’s gonna be expensive to replace.

“Got frustrated with the anxiety huh? Did you get another book assignment with no audio reader?” he asked, turning back to his son.

Patton’s face scrunched up a little bit, and he shrugged.

Virgil sighed, leaning forward until Patton’s eyes were on his face, his glasses on the mattress next to him so he was squinting a bit.

“It’s okay. I can understand being frustrated with school, and you’ve got a whole slew of bullshit I didn’t have to deal with. Is that what happened just now? School shit?”

Patton’s lips twitched in a restrained laugh at Virgil’s swearing, but they quickly settled at his question.

“…Yeah,” he croaked, face twisting before he cleared his throat.

Virgil opened his arms again.

“How about a fuck school solidarity hug? And then later when your dad gets home, we’ll talk about a system to help you with that anxiety, yeah?”

He watched as Patton debated with himself, rubbing at his eyes one more time before putting his glasses back on.

There may or may not have been an internal sigh of relief when Patton eventually crawled into his lap, and Virgil squeezing his son until he squeaked was not something he could help.

At least this was something Virgil knew more or less how to help with. Anxiety sucked, and he had no idea of Patton had it as bad as he did, but he could help.

And that’s all Virgil really wanted, to help his son live his life and love it too.

#casper writes #ts virgil #ts patton #familial moxiety #background anxceit #the twins are mentioned super briefly #anxiety attack #past bad parenting #only briefly mentioned though #idk what patton has that needs audio to read along with but i do know his school sucks a little bit #(re: a lot)#VIRGIL IS A GOOD DAD CONFIRMED #ahhhh i love this okay im s 💜💜💜💜

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jalapeno-princess · 3 years

Text

Chapter 4: Rest Of My Life

Mark Tuan X Reader

Part 4 of the “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” series

Genre: THE SAPPIEST AND CUTEST OF FLUFF (tiniest hints of angst) (horny ass Mark)

Word Count: 14K (Honestly it felt so much longer)

Summary: In every relationship, there are ups and downs. However, after every rainstorm, there is a rainbow. (I fucking hated how cheesy that was I just don’t want to give anything away LOL)

A/N: Finally I am done with this chapter UGH this one took longer to write but yet I feel like it’s the most rushed and repetitive one yet I’m actually not at all happy with how this turned out and there was a lot of fillers in some parts and literally nothing in other parts I just wanted to finish it I’m sorry if it didn’t turn out the way you all would have hoped. By the way, all of your comments on chapter three about who is behind the door made me laugh your minds are so creative I hope you all are happy with who is actually behind the door. I’m both happy and sad that this story is coming to an end (happy because there are so many other stories I can’t wait to write but sad af because I genuinely love this story it’s my first series and I just love how I wrote about Mark in here and the relationship between him and the reader is all I could ever dream about having in a relationship UGH) I don’t know when I’ll get around to writing the fifth chapter but I’m sure it’ll be within the next couple of weeks. With that being said, happy reading!

“Jackson? What are you doing here?”

The last time you saw the older boy was the summer before both him and Mark went off to college. It felt like ages ago—but you were shocked after coming to the realization that it has only been a year. A lot has happened since their graduation; the last thing you heard from Mark was that Jackson was planning on studying abroad in China.

Out of Mark’s entire group of friends, you found yourself gravitating towards him the most. Although, he gave you no choice to do otherwise. Jackson Wang was a golden retriever in human form. Anyone and everyone who entered his path, whether it was accidentally or on purpose would become extremely close with him—and it was usually because of his persistence to make and maintain as many friendships as possible. You were shocked to say the least as your eyes landed on his broadened figure.

Puberty just so happened to favor Mark and his friends—they were all so good looking and very much in amazing shape. Jackson was currently shirtless and if it were anyone else in your shoes, their cheeks probably would’ve turned pink at the sight of his bare chest. You however, were pretty much used to being comfortable around him, Yugyeom, BamBam and Jinyoung.

When it came to their group of friends, you were pretty much desensitized with any of their antics; not wearing clothing was one of them. It came to the point where Mark never allowed you around them if there was a chance they would remove any item of their clothing—but it was not as much because of jealousy; it was more so because the guys would purposely try to get on Mark’s nerves as much as possible.

Most of your best times in high school were because of the wild and rowdy group of guys and you didn’t realize just how much you’ve missed all of them until they all went their separate ways. Honestly, it’s been a while since you’ve heard from any of the guys—but college took up more time than high school did and the four of them, along with your ex-boyfriend all decided to go to school out of state.

They were all so excited when it was time to start filling out applications to all the different universities around the world; Yugyeom and BamBam shocked you the most when you found out that they actually got accepted to what you considered were elite colleges. If those two could get in to college, anybody could. As much as you wanted to laugh at the many memories of how both boys would never fail to get in trouble for either being late to class, or for getting caught with stealing a bunch of condoms from behind your teacher’s desk, it only occurred to you that you just referred to Mark as your ex-boyfriend.

Not once was there ever a time in the duration of your relationship where you would have ever put Mark in the same sentence as the term “ex”. Even when the two of you had your disagreements or unnecessary arguments, there was nothing that would have caused you think like that. Was he really your ex-boyfriend? The two of you were on a break; or so you believed. You explained the difference between a break up and just taking a break.

You didn’t want to break up with Mark; he was your person—your soulmate, your best friend. He was in your life for more than half of it, you weren’t going to give up on him that easily. Both you and your relationship needed time to heal in order for you to be able to continue loving Mark in the ways that you used to. There was not a doubt in your mind that you still loved Mark.

No matter what were to happen down the road, your heart would always belong to him. He was still the only man you wanted to settle down, start a family and spend the rest of your life together with. But you couldn’t help to think negative thoughts like Mark finding solace in someone else. What if this break took a toll on his mental health and he felt the need to confide in another girl? What if he felt that the only way he could stop crying over you was for him to move on and start seeing someone else?

Deep down, you knew Mark would never do anything that would purposely make you sad or go against you in any way. He was the type to talk things out before making any rash decisions. However, it was only human of you to feel as if he was so frustrated with you to the point where he wanted to do something to hurt you just as much as he claimed you were doing to him. Did he consider you his ex-girlfriend?

Was there someone who caught his eye in the last month who made him realize there were many other girls out there? That, instead of moping around and waiting for you to be ready to come back to him, someone else could help fill the void? You didn’t know how to describe the pain you were now feeling at the thought of Mark no longer being in love with you; you’ve been worrying and overthinking about this weeks before initiating the break, and he was never around to make you feel or think otherwise.

Why did your relationship have to become so complicated? Why couldn’t things just have stayed the way they were before Mark left? Why did his efforts lessen knowing that it was going to take twice the amount of time and patience from both of you to continue and maintain a healthy relationship? When did he come to the realization that you were no longer a priority he considered all that important?

“I should be asking you the same thing—although, it’s nice seeing you again. You look seemingly beautiful as always. Albeit a bit messy with more dark circles than the last time we saw each other. It’s a given, but trust me—he looks even more terrible.”

You looked up at him in curiosity of his confession, but you were well aware that Mark probably told him everything. Mark and Jackson were practically brothers. The only person Mark would confide in and admit all his deepest, darkest secrets to other than you was the charming boy standing in front of you. He looked as though he wanted to pull you in for a hug, but he was also pretty hesitant not knowing what you were feeling or thinking. Jackson gave you a knowing look before letting a small smirk rise upon his face.

“Your lover boy is the definition of a lightweight. Mark can’t drink for shit. It only took two beers for him to spill everything to me after he came back from his trip—don’t look at me like that. Yes, we drink. It’s all apart of the college experience y/n. Anyways, I know it’s not my place to meddle in your relationship, but I have never seen Mark so depressed in my many years of knowing him for. It’s obvious this “break” you asked him for is slowly killing him. The love he has for you is something people can only dream about ever experiencing in their lifetime. I caught him going through a photo album that he made of pictures and videos of you and he wouldn’t stop crying until I forcefully took away his phone. Look, I’m not trying to guilt trip you or anything and I’m not making up any excuses for him. I’m sure being away from each other is already hard as it is—even worse since you barely get to hear from him but he does have his reasons for being so absent these days. He said he told you he got a job in order to surprise you that week but you didn’t allow him to finish explaining himself.”

Jackson allowed you inside of the dorm room and you were actually pretty surprised at how clean it was. Sure, Mark was always very tidy and liked to keep his space neat; but witnessing Jackson’s tendencies of picking food from up off the ground and eating it right after, you just assumed he wasn’t the type to care about cleanliness and hygiene.

“Wow—nice place. Mark showed me a couple of times over Skype but it’s different actually being here.” He gave you his signature cheeky smile before motioning for you to sit down on the couch.

“Thanks. It was actually his idea to be roommates. I guess he wasn’t all too fond of his previous one and when I decided to transfer over to New York, he offered to let me move in with him. Now, back to what I was saying. For months, Mark kept sulking over how much he missed you and how he was going to do whatever he could to see you again sooner rather than later; so he got a job at this coffee shop right across of campus. Everyone knows Mark hates coffee—but it was the only place that was 24 hours and would work alongside his schedule. Poor guy was barely getting any sleep for the few months leading up to his trip but it didn’t seem to bother him. He was just so stoked to reunite with his “favorite person in the entire world” that he didn’t care how exhausted he was from juggling school, work and his athletics. Our baseball coach even pulled him aside and told him that he needed to get better with managing his priorities or he would kick him off the team. I swear, the night he returned from California, my heart broke for him. He looked so wrecked y/n—but he didn’t say a word. We all know how much of a crybaby he can be, but it was a different kind of sadness. His eyes were so bloodshot and puffy yet they held no emotion in them. He also had no appetite at all and that’s obviously not like him. Boy can eat. I’m not saying you should completely forget how he’s been treating you, but please forgive him. I know he has your best interest at heart. He doesn’t need to say it out loud, anyone with eyes can see just how much you mean to him. Ah—I didn’t mean to make you cry; honestly you and Mark are perfect for each other. I’ll be right back.”

You didn’t even feel tears fall down your cheeks, but it was inevitable. Every single thing that he said tugged on your heartstrings.

Did you get lonely while I was away—working my fucking ass off at a job I hate in order to save enough money so I could come and see you?

For the entire month, Mark’s anger-filled speech from that night replayed over and over in your mind and you felt like such a terrible person now that you understood why he’s been so distant. He tried to tell you, but you just wouldn’t listen. You were so frustrated—so heartbroken in that moment and you wanted him to know the damage that was done to your relationship because he wasn’t as involved in your life as he used to.

Hearing that he was barely getting any sleep nor having any legitimate free time to himself just so that he could save up money to visit you made your stomach sink. You couldn’t even imagine how hard it must’ve been for him. He flew all the way to California to surprise you, only to be met with the idea of a break. It was probably very heartbreaking for him. He worked all those hours—probably put up with a lot of assholes and having to be on his feet for long periods of the day only to find out that his girlfriend needed time to heal from the pain he’s been causing her.

You never felt so angry with yourself—but at the same time, you wouldn’t have known. He never said anything. If things were going to end the way you were hoping they would today, then you would make sure the two of you worked on your communication. Jackson returned back with a box of tissues and a bottle of water to which you thanked him politely and wiped away a few stray tears. As much as you were enjoying his presence, you were there for a reason and Jackson could tell with the way you were looking around the room as if you were expecting someone—Mark—to come out from one of the rooms.

“He’s at work. Don’t worry, he cut back his hours so that he could put more effort in his studies, but he should be done here pretty soon. I better go—I’m going to need some time to find someone who will let me crash on their couch for tonight—or however long you plan on staying here.”

“Why would you need somewhere else to sleep—“ he gave you an incredulous look while playfully raising his brows.

“Oh trust me, we all know what is going to happen between you and Mark once you both kiss and make up. The next thing I need is not being able to get any sleep because of how loud I know it’s going to be—ow! What? Naughty, kinky make up sex is the best! I mean, I’ll stay if I get to join in on the night’s festivities; but we all know how extremely territorial and overprotective Mark is when it comes to you so I’ll let you both have your fun. But don’t have too much fun—we already got noise complaints two months ago when Yugyeom and BamBam came down for spring break and we all got drunk while playing Mario kart. I’ll take my leave, I actually have some assignments I need to work on. Feel free to make yourself at home—oh, and please—no sex on the couch. This is where I take most of my naps, so keep all the raunchiness in the bedroom. I’ll see you later y/n. There’s some pizza in the oven, my room is down the hall on the left, Mark’s is on the right and we actually both have our own bathrooms in our rooms. You’re better off using his, I wasn’t expecting any guests so—yeah. Good luck!”

He pulled you in to a quick hug before grabbing his keys and making his way out the door. Although you couldn’t wait to finally see Mark again, you would have rather Jackson had stayed with you until he did arrive home. You swore your heart was about ready to jump out of your chest while waiting for him. There were so many different scenarios—more negative ones than positive running through your mind about how things were going to play out. If what Jackson said about Mark was true, you were confident that he would take you back with open arms.

However, you were afraid that he was no longer as adamant on fixing things. You were afraid that with your situation with Mark—no matter how many memories the two of you had together, no matter how many years you’ve spent together, no matter how much history the two of you shared—if his heart was no longer in it, there was nothing you could do. Instead of mending your relationship, what if this break only made Mark realize that he didn’t want to put up with your brash and cold exterior?

People change; sometimes they grow apart—what if it was too late to come back together again? Although Jackson did tell you to relax and unwind, you didn’t feel like you had the right to. You’ve never been here before and you were never the type of person to just roam around someone else’s personal area, even if the person was someone you’ve spent over a decade of your life with. A part of you couldn’t help but grow curious as to what Mark’s bedroom looked like.

Did he style it the way he did at his last dorm? Did it look like his room back in California that you’d spent many hours playing video games and doing your homework in? It felt extremely awkward just sitting there waiting for him to walk through the door. You should’ve asked Jackson exactly what time Mark planned on arriving home so you could have better prepared yourself for when he were to finally walk through the doors. Instead of waiting on the couch in agony and doing nothing, you got up and began the search for Mark’s room. You intended on going in to his bathroom and making sure it wasn’t obvious that you had previously cried.

When you first walked in to his room, you immediately took in how clean it was. His walls were white, but you assumed they were already like that before he even moved in. His bed sheets were navy blue and so were his curtains. There was a tv hung up on the wall with a PlayStation and a couple of games set up right under. You decided to take a quick peek around before finally going in to his bathroom to freshen up. As you continued to browse throughout his room, you saw something in the corner of your eye.

Right above his bed frame was a picture board. You absentmindedly found yourself crawling on to his bed to get a better look at all the photos; there were a couple with his family, some with his teammates, a few with his friends back in high school—but most of the photos were with, or of you. There was even a photo of the two of you sitting on his nightstand. This photo however, had a note attached to it. It was always and will forever be you. This time, you allowed the tears to fall freely—you couldn’t give less of a shit about what you looked like anymore.

Always.

You were and would forever be his always. You didn’t care that you had to stay up late just to hear from him—you didn’t care that you only ever saw him physically during the summertime or during the holidays. You didn’t care that all the friends you had made in the last year would brag about the many dates their boyfriends have been taking them on. None of that mattered. Mark loved you—even after all the heartbreak he suffered in the last month because of you, it just proved that he was willing to do anything and everything for you.

“Can I help you find something?”

The sudden interruption caused you to let out a muffled scream. When you turned around to look at him, you had to force yourself not to practically jump at him now that you were fully aware of the many sacrifices he had made just to make you happy. However, you didn’t want to startle him if you were to throw your arms around him. For the first time—Jackson was right. Well, sort of. Mark looked devastatingly handsome; but it was something you were used to. God obviously had his favorites and Mark Tuan was one of them. He did however, look as though he’s been crying for days. He also looked tired beyond belief. You heart was begging for you to go up to him and pull him in to your embrace while leaving as many kisses all along his jaw and neck—but your affection and the need to touch him was just going to have to wait.

“Hey. Sorry, I—I came in here to use the bathroom and I—I didn’t mean to intrude or anything—I can go back outside—“

“No, no. You’re totally fine. I um—I’m sorry if I scared you. How—how have you been? You look great by the way. You haven’t been waiting long have you?”

The laugh of disbelief was at the back of your throat. Standing in front of you was the boy you’ve been in love with for more years than you could count on both of your hands yet—it felt as though you were talking to a stranger. You could tell by his body language and the way he was scratching the back of his neck that he was flustered.

Whenever Mark would get shy around you, it was always a sight to behold. His cheeks would turn the brightest of pinks, he would gnaw on his bottom lip and rock himself back and forth on the heels of his feet. Normally, he would act this way after a passionate night of love making or simply when you would introduce him as the love of your life to one of your family members. In other situations, you would have found his timid exterior to have been extremely adorable, but as of right now, it was suffocating you. You knew you were the reason why he was acting so nervous; so cautious because you were sure he was afraid of saying the wrong thing and scaring you away.

“Jackson let me in about half an hour ago, but it’s okay. He was quite the host until he left to go “study”. I’m surprised at how tidy you’ve been able to maintain this place; or should I say—I’m surprised Jackson has been doing his share and cleaning up. I really like it.”

He thanked you softly before bringing his attention to the floor. Mark was always very confident whenever he spoke; so seeing him uncertain and unsure about how to approach you wasn’t a sight you were quite used to. Nor was it one you ever wanted to get used to. The atmosphere was filled with uncomfortable tension that you wanted so badly to disappear. Whether it was because you missed him more than you wanted to admit out loud, or because it was evident that he wanted to make his way toward you but didn’t know if he was allowed to; you found yourself taking the initiative in getting up from his bed and wasted no time cupping both of his cheeks with your hands and kissing him as if your life depended on it.

You wanted him to know just how sorry you were for everything he had to go through in the last month because of how stubborn you’ve been. As soon as he felt your lips smash against his own, he wrapped his arms tightly around your waist and pulled you as close to his body that was physically possible. His kisses were rough as his hands roamed your body. God, how did you go so long without the beautiful boy in front of you? Everything in your life felt right again. Being in Mark’s arms while his tongue mapped his trace along your neck was an otherworldly sensation. You were thousands of miles away from California, but you’ve never felt more at home than you did right now. Mark was your home—your favorite place to escape; a breath of fresh air. You were right where you needed to be.

“Mmm—Mark—I’m so sorry baby. Jackson told me everything. I should have listened to you—I should’ve allowed you to explain yourself. If I knew the actual reason why you weren’t communicating with me as often, I wouldn’t have been so hard on you. I would’ve been more understanding—“

“Nope—I won’t be having any of that. No apologies baby. Yes, I was exhausted beyond belief, but I should have tried harder for us—for you. I was working hard in order to finally be with you again, but I completely pushed back the purpose of why I was doing all of this; why I was practically going days with only five hours of sleep in total. Why I was typing out essays while on my breaks at work. Why I was taking down espresso shots like they were vodka shots—both of which are completely nasty by the way. You are my purpose baby. Everything I do is with your happiness in mind. I know how much my absence has been affecting you because waking up every morning without you next to me was like a fucking chore. It was just as bad for me as it was for you. God, if there’s anything I hate more than college-level calculus, it’s having to live without you—the reason for my existence. Give me your hand.” You did as you were told; placing your hand in his all the while blushing when he brought it up to his chest.

“Feel that? It’s racing—I haven’t felt my heartbeat this fast since the night you told me you wanted to take a break. That had to be the worst night of my entire life baby. I couldn’t stop beating myself up about your disheartened facial expression when you told me I needed to get my act together. I just—I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I cried every single fucking day because I couldn’t stop thinking this was the end between us. I never ever want to go one day without you. I know—I’ve been a terrible boyfriend to you and I hope you know you didn’t deserve it at all y/n. There were days I wanted to quit my job because I hated it so much and because I’m so exhausted, but then I’d take a look at my phone screen with the picture I took of you that one morning when we had a food fight in the kitchen and you got peanut butter in your hair and all over your face and I just—it made me remember what I was doing it all for. It felt like forever that we got to do something fun like that—it’s been forever since I truly felt any ounce of happiness. I feel like I’m living, but not at all existing whenever I’m away from you. I know you told me not to regret my decision in choosing to go away for college, but I do. I regret choosing to ever be where you aren’t. Fuck, you don’t understand just how hard it was for me having to go back home that night thinking that you no longer wanted anything to do with me; and even if you said he was just a friend—that guy, whatever his stupid name is—“

“His name is Jaebeom—

“Yeah yeah—whatever. That obviously doesn’t matter. It’s my last name that you’re taking one day so I don’t care what his name or anybody else’s name is. I know you would never cheat on me or do anything to jeopardize our relationship, but seeing the two of you together really struck a nerve with me. I don’t know what he is to you, but I’m sure he must be someone meaningful to you for you to go to prom with him. I couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky he is to be around you all the time, how he gets to hear that vibrant and contagious laughter of yours, how he gets to see your radiant and breathtaking smile and how that should have been me being all cute and matching with you. How I should have been there, flaunting you off to everyone. God, you looked so beautiful that night y/n—but you looked so fucking sad when you looked at me. When I came back to New York, I didn’t want to do anything. At all. I called in sick from work, I took a break from baseball and I even missed a couple of classes but I couldn’t give less of a shit. I felt so empty—physically and mentally I felt numb. I wanted to call you; trust me when I say I found my fingers hovering over your contact many times. I continuously checked up on your social media to see how you were doing—if you were okay, if you were eating all your meals and getting some rest. If—if you were suffering without me the way I was with you. I’m nothing without you. Absolutely nothing.”

He brought his thumb up to your cheek and gently brushed away a tear you didn’t even notice fall from your eyelids. You were well aware that Mark loved you more than you could even accept that you deserved. There were a couple of times you question his love for you; not hearing from him made you feel as though you weren’t as important to him and just that thought alone made you feel as if his love for you faltered. Hearing him confess to you what this past month has been like for him just confirmed that you meant a lot more to him than you felt you did. This break only made you realize that you could no longer be without him—you no longer wanted to put him through any more stress or sadness.

“Damnit Mark—how do you—fuck—you have such a way with words. You’ve always have. I love you so, so much. More than I ever get around to telling you. I’m so sorry—don’t give me that look babe let me apologize. I should have tried harder to see how you were doing. I know being a student athlete is already so frustrating and I just felt like you didn’t need something else to worry about. I know you’re probably going to disagree and get mad at me for feeling this way, but I just felt like such a burden to you. You already have so many responsibilities, your relationship should be the least of your worries. As much as I love surprises, please Mark—I want you to be honest with me next time. We need to work on our communication. Don’t get me wrong, I am honestly so grateful that you got a job in order to make money to come and visit me and I apologize if you feel like it was a waste—if my reaction that night wasn’t the one you were expecting, but I just didn’t know how to react. I was genuinely happy to see you—or at least deep down I knew I was. My facial expression was the complete opposite—but it’s because I felt as though you were just so far away. You were right in front of me, yet I couldn’t recognize you. My mind couldn’t process that you were real—that you were actually there and not a figment of my silly imagination. Deciding to take a break took weeks to come to that decision. I couldn’t stop thinking that I was no longer a priority to you, so I just stopped trying entirely.”

You found yourself wrapping your arms around his waist and released a soft sigh before smashing your cheek up against his chest. This was the first time in a long time that you actually felt genuinely content. Mark’s arms always made you feel so safe; so secure and so at ease. He didn’t hesitate to place his chin on the top of your head while tightening his already unyielding hold around your hips.

“I missed you more than I can explain in words. I meant what I said Mark—I’ve loved you since I was eight years old. I’ve loved you before I even knew what love was and I’m going to love you, for as long as time permits me to. Forever, hopefully. You’re my best friend Mark. I don’t care what happens to me or where I end up in the future. As long as you’re right by my side, I’ll be living a life that I’ve always wanted—that people can only dream of experiencing. We’re going to be just fine my love.” He brought his hand down to your jaw and lifted up your chin so that you were making direct eye contact with him. “You got that right baby. How long do I have you for?”

“A little over a week.” He gave you a knowing look; his eyes were filled with mischief. You were well aware most of your time in New York was going to be spent showing him just how much you loved him and the idea sent warmth to both your chest and in between your thighs.

“Stay right here, I’m going to have to text Jackson about finding a place to stay—“

“He’s already on it. He wants to give us our time to enjoy one another, just the two of us. In his words, he doesn’t want to miss out on his sleep because apparently you and I are going to be “too loud”. I have no idea what he’s talking about though. I have no intention on being noisy while I’m here—“

Mark was quick to lift you up and hoisted you on top of his left thigh; his movements were quick. Soon you were being thrown on top of his bed as he began leaving sloppy and all but gentle kisses all around your bare skin. He lowered himself on top of you, pressing his pelvis right on top of yours in attempts to let you know what he had planned for the both of you in just a few moments.

“I went four months without making love to my beautiful baby. You know how many times I’ve found myself jacking off to photos of you? I miss when we used to have cyber sex—fuck why did we ever stop? I can still picturing you fingering yourself, pretending it was me. You looked so fucking sexy and although it wasn’t the same as when you suck me off or ride my cock like the professional cowgirl you are, I came in less than five minutes just hearing your breathless moans as you tried to get yourself off. Trust me when I say this, you won’t be getting any sightseeing completed at all while you’re here. I’m going to make sure your legs are practically jello once I show you just how much I’ve missed this perfect body of yours. I don’t know if Jackson told you, but we’re actually on probation for being loud because of BamBam and Yugyeom. I’m confident I’m going to get kicked out here with how loud I’m going to make you sing for me. I can’t wait to rail the shit out of you baby. This pussy is mine. You are mine. Now, sit back y/n and enjoy the ride.”

Mark wasn’t lying when he said he had every intention on making sure you were immobile. The two of you relished in your love for hours; once you both came down from your highs after one round, the hunger and desire for one another was too strong to quit. You don’t think you’d be able to look in his fridge without remembering how he had you pressed right up against the cool metal, ramming himself inside of you from behind. Four hours later, you both decided to take a break. You had almost two weeks together; you didn’t want to practically be bedridden before you actually got the chance to really spend time exploring New York City together.

“You never cease to amaze me you know that? Fuck, I could love on your body for the entire day if you’d let me. I guess not having me inside of you for so long made you even more tight. I think your boobies got bigger too—ow! Why do you always get so abusive every single time I appreciate these beautiful breasts of yours? If you’re going to be like this about your mounds, you should hear how obsessed I am with your vagina—“

“Say that word one more time and you won’t get anywhere near it for the rest of my stay.”

He gave you the most adorable pout before pulling you on top of him. Even if the two of you had just finished having passionate and steamy sex, you could feel your cheeks warm up being pressed up against his bare and sweaty body. He left a wet kiss on the juncture of your neck and looked at you with so much love and adoration in his eyes.

“I don’t know babe, i could’ve sworn you were begging me to bury my cock deeper inside of you and to eat you out like I mean it less than an hour ago. You’re just as much a nymphomaniac as I am. I honestly can just stay in bed with you for the rest of the evening and just do nothing if that’s alright with you. We could get cleaned up and order some take out. Or if you have even just a tiny bit of energy, we can go out for an hour or so and just enjoy each other’s company.”

As much as you wanted to go exploring, it was just going to have to wait till tomorrow. You hid your face in the crook of his neck; trying to absorb as much of his warmth as possible before humming softly against his jaw.

“Let’s stay in. I just want to enjoy this intimate moment with you as much as I can.” He smiled at you lovingly while he brought his fingers in to your hair.

“I was hoping you’d say that. I want to take advantage of every moment you are naked—as much as I missed you, I don’t miss the hitting. Did you get stronger since the last time I saw you? You’re like bionic now.”

You playfully rolled your eyes at his sarcasm and propped yourself on your elbows so that you could get a better look at him. Every time you would look at Mark, it amazed you just how much he changed physically since you first met him yet his childlike personality never faltered. If anything, he became more and more like a child as he got older.

“Mark.”

“Hm?”

“I’m going to marry you one day.”

Knowing that he was the type to joke around a lot, you were expecting a “matter of a fact” kind of response. However, you weren’t expecting for him to pull you down and reconnect your lips together. Right as you could feel the fire building up in your bones with his feather like yet protective touch, he leaned away and looked up with you with a glint in his eye.

“Hey—I’m the one supposed to be telling you that!”

You yelped when he all but gently squeezed your butt. The thought of marrying the beautiful boy underneath you has been on your mind since the day he told you he had his mom take out the raisins from her oatmeal cookies because you weren’t a fan of them. Sometimes, your relationship felt too good to be true. Even if you hit a bump in the road, it only made you realize that no matter what were to happen between the two of you, your love for Mark and his love for you would never falter. He was everything in a significant other most girls could only dream about having in theirs. Mark Tuan was an ethereal being; his name was forever engraved on to your heart.

“I don’t know when exactly—maybe when we’re just a little bit older, but I can’t wait to marry you y/n. You’ve had my heart for over a decade now—it’s yours for the next ten decades.”

“That’s a hundred years Mark. I don’t think either of us are going to live that long—“

“You always seem ruin such romantic moments. I’m telling you that I plan on loving you for the rest of my life. I said what I said my silly girl. You’re stuck with me forever.”

You beamed up at his words and the two of you continued to lie there in silence; just basking in each other’s presence. To your dismay, Mark flipped your bodies so now he was on top of you but before you could say anything about this new position, you quickly picked up on his now furrowed brows and the way he looked as if he was deep in thought.

“Hey, everything okay?”

He gave you a sad smile and nodded hesitantly but you could tell something was obviously bothering him. Just a few moments ago, he was nipping at your jaw while grazing all too close to your core—and now he looked as if he was on the verge of breaking down. What exactly just so happened to pop in to his mind that was causing him so much distress.

“Mark—we said we would work on our communication. I know something is bothering you. Talk to me baby.”

“It’s nothing really—well—God, I feel so stupid for having to ask you this. That Jaebeom kid, he uh—I wouldn’t be surprised if he did I mean look at you—but, he didn’t happen to have a crush on you did he?”

Talking about Jaebeom was bound to happen sooner or later. Images of his angry expression when he saw the younger boy walk outside in attempts to look for you came rushing back like the night of prom was just yesterday. There was no doubt your boyfriend was a jealous person. You never understood where his jealousy came from; you never gave him a reason to be jealous nor did you think that you attracted anyone other than him until Jaebeom confessed his feelings for you.

He would get extremely territorial whenever you would hang out with him and his friends. BamBam and Jackson were notorious for being a little too touchy for Mark’s liking when it came to you. Sometimes they would reach for your hand or interlock your arms together in order to get under his skin, but Mark never let them get away with it. You could still remember the way your heart soared when he told you that he was only jealous of other guys because he had a fear that one day, someone might walk in to your life and make you realize that there are more people in this world other than Mark that could get you feeling the way he thought only he was capable of. Your boyfriend was well aware that he was the one that you loved more than anyone else in your life—but it was only natural for his curiosity to get the best of him.

“He did—he confessed to me right after he asked me to prom. I was quick to tell him I was in a relationship and he was very understanding about it.”

Mark took in a deep breath and waited a couple of seconds before asking you the question that he’s been dying to know the answer to for the last month.

“You uh—did you ever have feelings for him at one point? I won’t be mad; I mean, I’ve been absent. I’m sure spending time with someone and getting their attention could cause some feelings to develop. This question has been on my mind since that night. It’s not that I’m questioning your feelings for me—I know in my heart that you love me but I couldn’t find it in myself to stop thinking negatively.”

A part of you wanted to lie in order to spare his feelings. He may have said he wouldn’t be mad if you were to tell him that yes—you had feelings for Jaebeom at one point or at least felt like you did; but this was Mark you were talking about. He would be devastated to hear that your heart wavered even just for a split second and you didn’t want to do that to him. The idea of hurting him sent a painful sensation to your chest. Mark was nothing less than perfect to you in all your years of knowing him for.

These last few months might not have been ideal and honestly you could do without them, but at the same time—the turmoil was a blessing in disguise. Maybe the two of you needed this distance; this break in order to come to the acceptance that neither of you were going anywhere. However, the realist in you was well aware that there was no point in lying.

For all you knew, Mark probably felt it in either his heart or his mind that you could have at least felt something towards Jaebeom. It wasn’t impossible; it was common for people in relationships to harbor feelings for someone else. Especially someone they’re close to and spend most of their time with. He hated the thought that you began liking Jaebeom more and more every day considering that your communication levels weren’t all that good. What person in their right mind would genuinely be okay with knowing that their significant other had someone else on their mind—someone that they saw almost every single day? Mark wasn’t too sure just how close the two of you were and he wasn’t too sure if he wanted to know.

“At one point, yes. I did. But let me start off by saying this; just because I felt like I had some kind of feelings for him at one point doesn’t mean I loved you any less. Like you said, it could have been because he was giving me the attention I wasn’t receiving from you. He was taking care of me; he held me on the days that I cried because of school and our failing relationship. He’d buy me pastries if he saw that I wasn’t eating and he’d buy me coffee now and then—but I don’t have any romantic feelings for him. I guess I just really missed you; I missed you like fucking crazy Mark and for the time being, Jaebeom was helping me take my mind off of your absence. I will admit, I felt terrible when I told him I didn’t reciprocate his feelings only because he’s such an amazing friend, but no matter how kind he is, how much he cares for me or how attractive he is—“

“He wasn’t all that good looking honestly he was a solid three on a scale from one to ten you’re just saying that to make me jealous—“ You brought your hand up to his mouth in order to silence him but he licked a stripe along your skin.

“Will you stop interrupting me? I’m trying to tell you that there’s nobody else for me but you asshole. I’m too blinded by the love I have for you to even look or think about anybody else. Jaebeom is an amazing friend, but that is all he’s ever going to be to me. You consumed every single part of me; like the ocean. I feel like I’m drowning in your love, but I never want to be saved. I just want to keep losing myself in you and the love you have for me. I’m honestly so glad Jackson is a very considerate friend—I got horny just thinking about how much I love you.”

His laughter immediately filled up the room; a sound you were going to take advantage of for the next week and a half. It wasn’t the same hearing it through a screen—it was much more vibrant and full of excitement and it made your tummy swarm with butterflies.

“You’re insatiable, what am I going to do with you?”

“Anything you want to.”

When the two of you were finally done making up for lost time up against almost every surface in his dorm, you finally gave in and tapped out. You could feel your eyes closing and sleep was right around the corner ready to take over you completely.

“Should I start ordering us some food?” You slowly shook your head and made yourself comfortable pressed up against his chest. He began leaving soft kisses in your hair while dragging his fingers along the expanse of your back.

“I’m so tired. I think the jet lag is catching up to me.”

“No, I think it’s the six hours of nonstop sex we just accomplished. But that’s fine—maybe I’ll wake up earlier and prepare you some breakfast in bed. Or, I can have you for breakfast in bed—almost ten years of this abuse you would think I would know when to prepare myself. Mmm—I love you y/n, I’m so fucking happy you’re here. Thank you for coming back to me.”

In the two weeks that you were in New York for, Mark took you to almost every single place you’ve been wanting to go to. You didn’t think you were capable of walking so many miles; especially since you were sore practically every single day. Mark wasn’t lying when he said he planned on having you each day you were there for. On the days he had work or practice, you’d stay back at his apartment and just watch a couple of movies or play some video games on his Xbox. Sometimes you would go around with Jackson; sightseeing and shopping for some gifts to bring back home.

When Mark finished his duties or on the days he was off, he would take you exploring throughout the city, showing you everything New York had to offer. He made sure to keep you energized by purchasing you coffee right before the two of you were to return back to his apartment. He didn’t know when the next time he was going to see you would be, so he wanted to make every moment with you count—even if that meant having to stay up till the wee hours of the morning to have him blow your back out.

Unfortunately, just like the last time you were in New York, your visit was quick to end just as immediate as it was to arrive. 24 hours seemed to fly by in a matter of minutes any time it was spent with Mark yet they seemed to drag on whenever the two of you were apart. The tears wouldn’t stop falling from your face when he brought you to the airport. He held you close to his body and placed his head against yours as he tried his best to keep your cries soft—not wanting to bother the cab driver.

He was also secretly tearing up himself; he had one of the best weeks of his life with you and now he had to let you go again. If he had the choice, he’d be heading back to California with you permanently. It was selfish of him, but he even contemplated on hiding your luggage or even stealing your plane ticket so that you’d have no choice but to stay with him. Once the driver pulled up to the airport, he helped you take your luggage from out of the trunk while you and Mark said your goodbyes to each other.

“Hey—baby, we’re going to be just fine. I mean it this time. I’m gonna do better for you. I don’t care how tired I am—hell, you’re probably going to get tired of my constant phone calls and text messages but I promise you that I’m going to do my best to make sure to put in just as much effort in to this relationship as you do. I know how it feels to lose you and fuck, I never want to feel something so painful like that ever again. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to go without having you with me—so expect me to come make a trip to visit you here soon. I love you y/n—God, I can’t even describe to you just how much I love you. Love isn’t even a good enough word to describe what I feel for you—what you mean to me. Fuck, I’m going to miss you so much. Let me know as soon you land and when you get home please? Take good care of yourself and I expect at least three nudes a day—fine two—y/n I’m trying to lighten the mood you know I hate seeing you so sad—I also hate not getting to show my love and appreciation for your perfect body—just wait till I get my hands on you next time I won’t go easy on you. I’ll see you soon baby. I love you.”

Leaving Mark was always the hardest thing you had to do other than getting used to looking through a computer and phone screen to see him when you just had him around physically to hold to and to kiss you. He kept his promise in working on and bettering his communication with you. Everything slowly started falling in place for you and you were more than happy with how your relationship was going. Mark made a few trips to California during his downtime.

Although most of his time was spent going on cute little dates with you and just spending quality time together, he did meet up with some of his friends from high school to catch up and made sure to visit his parents a couple of times. He even asked to meet Jaebeom properly; he wanted to apologize for being such an ass towards him on the night of your junior prom and he wanted to thank him for taking care of you while he was away. Mark still was trying to accept the idea of your friendship with Jaebeom, but he trusted you with every fiber of his being.

You were surprised that it didn’t take either of them too long to find some common ground; their main purpose both being your well-being and your happiness was something they had in common. Mark actually found it quite interesting that Jaebeom was a dancer and they went back and forth about their passion for crime investigation documentaries. It wasn’t something that happened overnight; Jaebeom was still upset with Mark for being the reason behind your tears, but he was well aware that it wasn’t his business to get involved in.

At the end of the day, you were just grateful that Mark accepted your friendship with Jaebeom for what it was because you knew you would of fell apart in these last few months if it weren’t for him. Everyone in your life—your boyfriend, your parents, your teachers and some of your friends who have graduated never failed to remind you that senior year would practically flash before your eyes. It had to be the best year of your educational career so far; there were so many different activities for seniors to participate in which Jaebeom coerced you in to doing a lot of things you would have never saw yourself signing up for. Flag football, tug-of-war, paintball, spirit week, homecoming; you were never one to find yourself in a situation where you’d get involved in school activities, but it was your last year in high school and you wanted to make the most of it.

At one point, you didn’t care about anything other than wanting to hurry up and graduate already. You didn’t want to be the kind of person to make a decision for your life based on your significant other, but you wanted to be with Mark. He was definitely speechless when you told him you applied to the university of New York—only because he didn’t want you to feel like you had to do that for him, even if deep down he was secretly hoping you would. The university was amazing nonetheless, but your boyfriend knew there were many other colleges that had better programs for the field you were interested in joining. However, he was extremely thrilled and very outspoken about how excited he was when you opened the letter of acceptance in to the university.

Right after you received the letter, you and Mark began planning on how he would let Jackson down gently about having to move out. As much as you couldn’t wait to finally get to have him around, you didn’t want to kick Jackson out of their dorm. It was just as much his place as it was Mark’s. That’s when you came up with the idea to move in to an apartment together. It was still a few months away, but Mark couldn’t keep in his excitement at the thought of waking up to your beautiful face every morning and getting to go to bed every night with you wrapped in his embrace.

He began the search of apartments in the area of the university so that it would be easier for the both of you to walk rather than to waste money on transportation. The months came and went; studying for tests on top of working almost every day in order to save up for after graduation took up most of your time. Mark was very good about calling you right before he’d head out for school or once he arrived back after work or practice. It was hard to believe that you ever questioned his love for you seeing as how he could not stop reminding you that he couldn’t wait to spend forever with you.

The last month of your senior year arrived before you could even comprehend that you were only a month away from becoming a high school graduate—and so did your boyfriend. Although you told him time and time again that you would prefer he didn’t surprise you, your soul practically left your body when you returned home from work one day to find him sitting on your bed like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Mark, babe what the fuck are you doing here?”

You wasted no time in throwing yourself at him and bringing your lips to his. Tonight in particular was one of the most stressful days at work you had so far and all you really wanted to do was change out of your clothes and go to sleep. Seeing Mark only broke you out of your exhaustion and the huge grin that rose on your face didn’t seem as if it was going to falter at all any time soon.

“Did you really think I would let you go to prom with someone else other than me again? Did I not tell you how badly I wanted to rip that dress off of you and how extremely lethal you looked in it? I want to be the one to experience your magical night with you—and trust me, it’ll be even more magical once we head back to the hotel room right after—it’s like you live to torture me and not in the ways I’d prefer you would.” He began rubbing the side of his shoulder where you gently shoved him before playfully pinching your cheek.

“Anyways, I already bought a tux, you just have to tell me what color tie to get. Oh—and I’m here till the end of summer baby, so I’ll be here to watch you graduate and I’ll be here to help you get all your things ready for New York. I still can’t completely process that I get to go back to school with you alongside of me. I’m so fucking happy, you don’t understand—and we get to live together. You know what that means.” He began to wiggle his brows and you couldn’t help but laugh at his nonchalant hint towards the activities he had in mind once you started living together.

“Hey, I’m coming to New York for college, not to focus specifically on our sex life—“

“I know that babe, but making love to you is my favorite past time and now we’re going to have more chances in doing so—“

“You know Mark, I think there’s still some time left for me to accept UCLA—“

“You wouldn’t dare. You miss me just as much as I miss you—I meant it more than sexually. I just really can’t wait to have you around more often. There are days that are so shitty for me sometimes and all I want to do is have you hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay. We’re going to get a sneak peak at what the rest of our lives together is going to be like and I can’t wait to share that experience together with you. Now, if you’d be ever so kind, I travelled all the way here to be with you. The least you can do is show me some hospitality and maybe suck me dry? Don’t look at me like that babe IT’S BEEN THREE MONTHS.”

You continued to keep the facade that you weren’t in the mood to do anything just to mess with him—although you were tired, Mark just had that effect on you. If you were ready for bed right as you were coming home, you were now ready to do whatever it was he asked of you. Since your parents were right downstairs, the both of you had to do your best to get reacquainted with one another as quietly as possible. For a little over two hours, you and your boyfriend experimented in different positions; his lips and tongue mapped its territory all along your breasts, neck, thighs, waist and right above your soaking entrance. It was honestly quite the task trying to keep your moans at bay; especially because your love making sessions only became more vocal the longer the two of you were away from each other.

“I’ve missed you.” He pulled you on top of him once you both came down from your highs and left a wet kiss right below your ear.

“I’ve missed you more. I still can’t believe you’re here and I get to have you for until I leave.”

The rest of your evening was spent updating each other on what’s been going on in both of your lives until he fell asleep. For the rest of that week, he followed you around like a lost puppy on the days that you weren’t at work or school. You were sure most people would get tired of the clinginess and the fact that he always wanted to be with you, but it was something you genuinely enjoyed. Not once did you ever not want Mark around you—in fact you were just as tenacious when it came to him.

Mark was more than happy to be home this time around; all his friends were also home for the summer and it felt like to good old times for him. Before you could even think about how many days you had left until graduation, senior prom came in the blink of an eye. Mark looked as handsome as ever; his hair was slicked back in a way you weren’t used to, but you knew you were going to nag him in to styling it like this all the time. He also looked very classy in his tux and you couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that his dad probably had to help him out with his tie. Your boyfriend was twenty-years-old yet he still had no clue how to fold a tie all that well.

“Baby, I can’t get over how fucking beautiful you are. God, I can’t stop staring at you. You’re giving all of your classmates here a run for their money.”

The night went by quicker than you would have liked; but that was because it was so much fun. Mark, like he always seemed to be was nothing short of a perfect gentleman. He made sure your night was going well by taking care of you like it was his life duty. Whenever you wanted to go talk with some of your friends at their tables, or if you had to use the bathroom, he held your things—when it got cold in the ballroom, he placed his suit jacket on your shoulders. He brought you out to the dance floor even against your many pleas because he wanted to make sure you had the time of your life. As he spun you around ever so lightly and placed his chin on your forehead, you knew that night was one of the best nights of your entire life.

“You know the next time I’ll get to have you like this—looking effortlessly stunning and dancing with you like we’re the only two people here, you’ll be Mrs.Mark Tuan.”

You couldn’t feel warmth fill up your entire body; his words sent fire to your bones and the thought of getting to marry him never failed to make you blush like a school girl who was approached by her crush. You looked up at him and stole a sweet kiss from the corner of his mouth before hiding your face in the crook of his neck.

“I’ll be waiting patiently for that day, but just know—I can’t wait.”

As soon as prom was finished, your boyfriend carried you bridal style up to the hotel room he rented for the both of you with the idea of showing you exactly what torture you caused him looking as “sexy” and “otherworldly” as you did that night.

Graduation came less than two weeks later and as much as you couldn’t wait to finally move on to the next chapter of your life, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t going to miss being in high school. Just like most boyfriends would in order to embarrass their girlfriends; Mark had an entire banner made for you and assigned all of his friends to hold it up for you during the ceremony and afterwards while waiting for you to walk out on the field.

You tried your best to stifle back a laugh at how crooked it was; Yugyeom practically towered over his older friends and it only made this event all the more memorable. Right as your principal called your name, gave you your honors chords and your certificate, you could hear your name being shouted from the back of the auditorium and you were sure you would melt on the spot seeing your boyfriend look at you as if you were the most ethereal goddess to exist. Unlike all of your other classmates who stayed a little while to talk to each other about their plans after high school, you made a beeline to where you knew your boyfriend, family and friends were waiting to congratulate you.

“There’s my beautiful college graduate. You’re glowing baby. I’m so happy for you.” He pulled you in to a tight hug but before he could even kiss you, you were being yanked in every other direction by your family.

“My youngest baby is a high school graduate and now she’s going off to college. You know y/n, there are many amazing colleges here in California. You can save your money and continue living with your father and I—“ You felt Mark wrap his hand around your waist as he took his place right next to you. He got along really well with your parents. Sometimes you felt as if they preferred him over you only because he knew the exact words to say to flatter your mom and to impress your dad. They were very good in treating him like family. However, you could tell by the tight grip that he wasn’t too fond of what your mom was trying to talk you in to doing.

“Don’t worry Mrs.y/l/n, your daughter is in good hands. She always has been and always will be. I’ll take good care of her, I promise.”

After saying your goodbyes to all of your relatives who flew down just to be there for your graduation, you made your way back towards Mark and his friends. BamBam and Yugyeom picked you up and spun you around while Jackson and Jinyoung pulled you against their chests and ruffled with your hair.

“Finally! You get to come up and experience what college is actually like—that’s if lover boy here ever let’s you come out with us.”

“In your dreams losers. You got me in trouble twice for shit I didn’t even do. I’m not letting you corrupt my sweet, innocent girlfriend—“

“Y/n? Innocent? Hahaha! Don’t make us laugh. Y/n is the furthest thing from innocent. My ears are still so sore from all her screams and moans that one night I came back to our dorm to pick up some clothes while she was there. By the way, as much as I like you y/n, I’m not all that happy you’re stealing my roommate. I hope Mark knows that I should get ultimate dibs on being his best man because of it. Speaking of which, did you finally get around to asking her—ah, asking her about the color to paint your room. I think we should get going now guys, let’s allow these two lovebirds to celebrate on their own. Congratulations again y/n!”

You’ve known Mark’s friends for quite some time now; Jackson knew something that he wasn’t supposed to tell you. The five of them were never good with keeping secrets nor were they ever good at telling lies. You didn’t have to look at Mark to know he wasn’t all too happy with Jackson; nor did you want to aggravate him even more by asking him the many questions that were on your mind. The main question being what exactly did he have yet to get around asking you?

You knew it wasn’t just a question about your soon to be apartment together and you now you were dying to know exactly what Jackson was referring to. Oh well, it was just going to have to wait till you could find a time that Mark wasn’t around for you to ask. Summer was always your favorite season; there was so much for you to do. You decided to take a break from work in order to spend as much time with your family before having to move to New York.

Most days, you and Mark would go around California; heading to all your favorite places together and even finding new places to make memories at. You also made sure to save some time to spend with Jaebeom seeing as how you were both going your separate ways. As much as he loved America, he missed his friends and family back in Korea. These last two years were meant specifically for him to learn English and to pick up on American culture. You knew you were going to do your best with keeping in touch with him.

Out of all your friends, Jaebeom was one you saw being in your life for a very long time. Your relationship with your parents also grew stronger; mainly because it was just the three of you now and soon it was just going to be the two of them. To your dismay, when you got to hang out with Mark’s friends again and even when you got Jackson alone, he pretended as if he had no clue what you were talking about when you asked him what he meant back at your graduation.

The truth was going to come out sooner or later, so you were just going to have to wait—no matter how much the curiosity was eating away at you. May, June and July never seemed to fly as quickly as they did but before you knew it, you were packing away everything you needed for college. Deep down, you were sad knowing that you were moving out of the house. You’ve been around your parents for your entire life, you weren’t sure if you were ready to live without them. Hell, your mom still made your appointments for you and even when you were to move thousands of miles away, you were sure she’d still be taking care of your responsibilities for you.

“Make sure to call me as soon as you land. And please, call me at least five times a day. Remember, you can can always come back home—“

“Mom—“

“If you ever need me I can fly up there and—“

“Mom—“

“Even if you need to take a break, I am totally fine with you taking a year off—“

“Mom, I’ll be fine. I’m in good hands, remember?”

You turned to look at your boyfriend putting your luggage in the back of his truck and returned his smile when he caught you looking at him. Tears started to build up at your eyelids as you looked at your mom trying her best to fight back her tears.

“I’ll always be your little girl, don’t ever forget that. College will go by faster than we think and Mark and I plan on returning back to California once I graduate. It’s not goodbye mom, it’s just a see you later. Please take care of yourself. I love you so much.”

Saying goodbye to your parents was harder than you thought it would be. In fact, your boyfriend had to pull to the side in order to console you and comfort you as you cried. He left gentle kisses on your forehead while he ran his hands through your hair. It didn’t take long for you to calm down, especially because Mark was really good in giving you time to let it all out before reminding you that everything was going to be okay. You were reminded of how hard it must have been for him having to leave two years ago, but now you were finally going to be together permanently.

Mark’s touch was so comforting; you could tell he wanted to be there for you yet he also wanted to give you some space. He did everything for the both of you; brought both his and your luggage’s to security and got them checked in, found your gate and had you sit down so he could go purchase some snacks for the ride. You didn’t realize just how tired you were until you knocked out only minutes after getting settled on the plane. This meant that you weren’t able to see the way Mark was looking at you so adoringly; but it’s not something you weren’t used to. He looked at you that way all the time. You felt a gentle push on your shoulder and a few wet kisses scatter along your face and you had a feeling Mark was trying to wake you up.

“Baby, time to get up. We’re here.”

A huge part of you was still pretty sad that you were no longer in California, but the hand that was tightly holding yours as you were being guided through the airport reminded you as to why you were doing this. Looking at Mark right now; you never felt more at home than you did at this moment. It didn’t matter where you were, your heart was always so full having him with you. The first couple of weeks were the hardest. Getting settled in to your new apartment was a foreign feeling. Mark actually had everything set up for the both of you before he even left for California.

You were very grateful that he was so patient and understanding with you; but it didn’t take long for you to get used to New York City and living with your boyfriend. It was actually everything you could ever hope it would be. He allowed you to make the decisions on how you wanted the place to look like.

The apartment was shockingly very spacious; and he actually had purchased quite a lot of furniture. You were shocked to see just how nice the place actually was—you didn’t think Mark was capable of being an interior designer, but you decided to keep the place looking the way it did. Your bedroom had to be your favorite place in the unit, he had a couple of photos of the two of you scattered throughout the room and separated both your sides of the closet and on the bathroom sink.

He put so much effort in to making sure you were content and it only made your feelings for the older boy grow stronger if it was even possible. College wasn’t at all what you were expecting it to be and you were silently cursing all of Mark’s friends for telling you that it was such a fun experience. Mark introduced you to a couple of his teammates and a few friends he’s made in the last two years while giving you a tour of the campus and showing you where your classes were. You ended up getting a job at your school’s library in order to help Mark pay for the rent and other necessities.

Even if it was just your first year in college, there were days you would find yourself crying because of how strenuous the work load was on top of having to work. There were also days where Mark was constantly at work, practice or school and you didn’t want to put even more stress on him knowing how exhausted he would be whenever he’d come home.

One night, he texted you saying he would be coming home late in order to pick up this week’a groceries. You didn’t think much of it; although, normally the two of you would go together so that you both could get the things you either needed or simply just wanted. Your boyfriend also had a bad habit of buying a bunch of unnecessary items he never needed, so you tried your best to make sure you’d be there with him. But this week, you’ve been picking up a lot of late night shifts and Mark could tell the last thing you wanted to do was go grocery shopping, no matter how much you enjoyed doing something so domestic with him.

When you reached your apartment, you saw his shoes in the cubby hole and his backpack by the counter—so you knew he was home. Everything seemed put away; you checked the fridge and all the shelves were filled with different kinds of food and drinks. He also got the essentials; dishwashing liquid, laundry soap, dryer sheets, shampoo and conditioner. Something didn’t feel right though; normally, he would be out in the living room playing video games or doing his work at the dining table.

Maybe he was tired; you still couldn’t understand how he could manage five classes a week, playing sports for hours on end and going straight to work right after only to come home like he had all the energy in the world. Right as you were about to look around for him, you saw a crumpled paper in the corner of your eye which you assumed to be the receipt.

Curiosity got the best of you—he always paid for the groceries no matter how many times you’d tell him to split the bill. In fact, he would pay for pretty much anything and told you to save your money to buy things you wanted to. It was hard accepting the fact that he did all of this for you—sacrificed so much for you because he loved you with his entire being only because you didn’t feel like you deserved any of it. If anything, he was the one who deserved so much more than what you could give him. When you scanned the receipt, everything seemed perfectly normal—he purchased every item the two of you would normally buy.

However, towards the bottom of the list you saw something that made you confused, yet you let out a little giggle.

“Mark!” You began walking towards your bedroom in the hopes of getting an explanation as to why he felt the need to buy his favorite cookies in bulk.

“Babe, I know you love nutter butter, but eight packages? Are you preparing for an apocalypse or something—oh my God.”

Your question was answered as soon as you opened the door. There, in all of his devastatingly handsome glory, your boyfriend of ten years, down on one knee with a red box in his hand and a tray of nutter butter on the bed spelling out the words “will you marry me?” There were roses scattered all over the ground and candles spread throughout the room. Your heart was racing faster that it ever has in your entire life.

“Mark—“

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

The smile on his face was barely reaching his eyes and you could tell it was because he was nervous. He was shaking and he looked like he was on the verge of throwing up; you couldn’t understand why though. Sure, marriage proposals were always so nerve wrecking, but he should already know the answer. You slowly walked toward him and gently kneeled to his level while cupping his cheeks in your hands.

“I know this isn’t as romantic as you probably would have wanted it to be. Trust me, I planned out many different scenarios about how this was going to pan out. The guys told me to take you to a beach, or a fancy restaurant but I thought this would be more meaningful. I mean, I realized you were someone special to me when I shared my nutter butter with you over thirteen years ago. You know you are the only person I would do such a thing for—you’re the only person I’d do anything for. I’d give you my kidney if you needed it. I know—we’re still so young to be getting married, but I just couldn’t wait anymore. I’ve been in love with you before I even knew what the word love meant. I’d tell my parents I loved them; I told each and every one of my siblings that I loved them—but with you, it was a different kind of love. It was the kind of love that—I don’t know, my heart always felt so happy and so full every minute I spent with you. You showed me what love is—you made me feel loved and cared for in ways that I don’t think I could ever be able to thank you for doing. You are the most beautiful, funny, charismatic, intelligent, wonderful and honestly perfect human being to walk this earth. God—I can’t even—I’m so fucking in love with you. We’ve had a few ups and downs, but it only made me realize that you are the only person I want to go through hell and back with. You and I are soulmates baby, there’s no doubt about it. I’ve been blessed to have you in my life for almost fifteen years now and I can’t wait to spend an eternity with you. Y/n, will you do the amazing honor and continue to make me the happiest man on earth by marrying me?”

#got7 imagines #got7 #mark tuan #mark tuan imagines #got7 mark

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shinobis-of-ninjago-au · 3 years

Text

Shinobis of Ninjago

Pilot 2: Ruler of Shadows

Prologue Pilot 1 (Pilot 2-Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), Episode 1

Later in the week, the ninja had neared the final weapon: the Sai of Absorption. The temple they were sealed in was carved out of a dormant volcano deep inside a forest. Mystake had decided to stop about half an hour or so from the temple, wanting her team to be at their best when they retrieved the weapon.

That night, when they made camp, they relaxed. Seliel had brought a set of travel drums and was singing. Nya, Pixal, and Skylor were dancing around the fire, occasionally singing if they knew the words. Mystake had tucked herself away in the corner against a tree and was meditating.

Skylor bent down next to Seliel and whispered something to her. Seliel smiled and nodded. She began to play a different beat, one that was bouncy and folk-like. Skylor began to dance, twisting and turning. She pulled in Nya and Pixal and spun them around a few times. When she finished, the others applauded and began asking her questions.

"That was an Ignacian dance." Skylor explained. "Kids are taught that dance and we perform it at parties and the Harvest Festival. But that was nothing, you should see Jay and I dance together."

Everyone grew quiet, looking to one another. "Umm, who's Jay?" Nya asked.

"Jay, mi hermano. Have I never said his name before?" Her teammates shook their heads and she looked down, ashamed for overlooking such a simple detail.

"It's fine." Seliel shrugged. "As soon as we get the sai, we're going to save your brother. Obećanje." ('Promise.')

Skylor smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

They continued to dance the night away. Sooner or later they fell asleep, letting the fire die out as it was a warm night. They had taken hour shifts and it was Skylor's turn, perhaps around three o'clock in the morning. She sat up against a tree with a little bit of rope, tying it into knots and untying it.

She thought about what she would do when they rescued Jay. She would hug him tightly and probably not let go for the longest time. Skylor sighed, undoing the figure-eight knot she had just done.

"Skylor."

At the sound of her name she looked up. Spotting a shadow in the bushes she stood up. "Who's there?"

"Relájate, soy solo yo." ('Relax, it's only me.')

The konran's face drained of colour as Jay stepped out of the bushes. His clothes were clean, as well as his face and hair. His skin was pale and his eyes were grey, devoid of any colour. Skylor blamed it on the moonlight and stepped forward, too shocked to say anything.

"Tengo que ir." ('I have to go.') Jay whispered. He turned around and disappeared into the bushes. Without thinking, Skylor scrambled after him.

They chased each other through the forest, Jay's giggles echoing through the trees, but they were dull, unlike his usual ones that were filled with life and could get anyone laughing.

Skylor stopped, looking around, for she had lost track of Jay. She groaned, turning around and punching a tree in frustration. How could she have lost him! He was right there.

"¿Jay? ¿Jay, dónde estás?" ('Where are you?') She called, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Hearing a twig snap behind her, she turned seeing Jay with one arm extended. His face was relaxed, no worry visible in colourless eyes. A loose smile formed hollow words, echoey almost.

"¿Vienes, Skylor?" ('Are you coming Skylor?')

Skylor smiled, taking his hand. He led her through the trees, both laughing as they danced under the stars. She wasn't sure how long they were gone from the camp, but at this point, Skylor didn't care. Jay was back.

They stopped dancing, giggles dying down. "Sígueme." ('Follow me.') Jay said before taking off again. She followed him until they reached the dormant volcano where the sai were supposedly located. Skylor stopped, letting Jay enter the volcano as she stared at the temple.

It had been carved into the rock, golden pillars framing the entrance made of red doors. As she walked across the stone bridge, she peered over the side into the water. It was dark, black in the nighttime light.

One of the doors had been cracked open, most likely Jay's doing. Pushing open the door further, Skylor gasped in amazement.

The walls were stone and carved with golden drawings, only reflecting the light from the golden pair of sai that lay on a miniature version of the temple located in the centre.

"Jay?" Skylor's voice echoed through the empty temple. Turning back towards the sai, she found Jay standing in front of them. "Ahí tienes. Vamos vamos a casa." ('There you are. Come on, let's go home.')

Jay tilted his head. "¿Por qué? Me gusta aquí. La maestra ha sido tan agradable". ('Why? I like it here. Master has been so nice.')

"Maestra?" ('Master?') Skylor murmured. "¿Qué estás diciendo? ¿Qué has hecho con mi hermano?" ('What are you saying? What have you done with my brother?')

"No sé de qué estás hablando, hermana, estoy aquí..." ('I don't know what you're talking about, sister, I'm right here.') His voice morphed from hollow to that of a woman's, cold and calm, sending a shiver down Skylor's spine. His body faded, a shadow taking his place on the wall, red eyes shining off the stone.

"Misako." Skylor growled. She reached for her sai, only to realize that her scabbards were empty.

"Forgot something?" Misako asked, a smirk audible in her voice.

"You can't hurt me, you're banished, trapped in the Underworld." Skylor said, trying to hide her shaking hands.

"That is why you are going to remove the Sai of Absorption for me." Misako's shadow shrunk and moved to the side, gesturing to the sai.

Skylor scoffed, placing a hand on her hip. "Yeah, I don't think so. There's no way you can make me do anything."

"Are you sure?"

At the sounds of chains rattling, Skylor looked to the back of the temple. A figure dropped from the ceiling, hanging limply. Skylor's eyes widened in realization and horror before narrowing in anger.

Jay hung there, clothes torn, skin caked in dirt and mud, and hair matted. Cuts were visible on his arms and legs, clothes brown with dried blood in places and a deep gash on his face, running through his right eyebrow and down his cheek. When Skylor called out his name and he didn't respond, she knew he was unconscious, or worse.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Skylor shrieked, turning on the shadow.

"If you don't remove the sai, how else shall you save your precious little brother?" Misako teased, ignoring the screaming girl in front of her.

They chains dropped, bringing Jay closer to the back of the temple, where it dropped off into the old dormant magma chamber.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock." Misako's voice echoed through the large room, only adding to Skylor's anxiety.

Skylor closed her eyes, forcing back tears. She wasn't going to lose Jay, not again. Taking a deep breath, she mentally went through her plans. She should've woken the others, not run into this without thinking.

Knowing she would regret it, Skylor took off running. Grabbing the sai, she ran up the wall, getting momentum and using it to push off. Grabbing the chain, she stuck one of the sai through a link and broke it. Using one hand to hold onto Jay and the other to the rest of the chain, she started swinging. She knew she probably shouldn't be moving her brother, but having no other option, she let go of him, watching as he landed safely on the other side of the temple.

She swung off after him. Picking him up and tossing him over her shoulder, Skylor started for the doors. Misako's shadow appeared in front of her and she got into a fighting stance.

"You can't hurt me, you're only a maldita shadow." Skylor proclaimed.

Misako hummed and clicked her tongue. "Little girl, you must learn that everything has its uses. Though I must thank you, your brother was very helpful."

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Him."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I would be more concerned for your own well-being."

Skylor's shadow began to peel off the wall, becoming three-dimensional. Laying Jay on the ground, Skylor pulled out the golden sai. Twirling them in her hands, she lunged forward, only to go right through the shadow. Turning around, she roundhouse kicked it, the move unsuccessful.

Her shadow reached out, grabbing her shoulder. Bringing Skylor close, the shadow brought up its knee into her chest repeatedly. The shadow dropped Skylor to the ground where she doubled over, coughing.

"Am I being too hard?" Misako questioned.

"Not at all." Skylor replied, getting to her feet. She swayed side to side, her vision being filled with spots, but she stayed standing.

Skylor continued to throw punches and kicks at the shadow, including swings with the sai. The shadow in return, threw its own, landing multiple hits. The shadow threw one final punch, sending Skylor spinning back to where Jay was laying.

A bright light appeared on the wall next to the shadow. The konran looked over, seeing a figure standing next to a flashlight. They moved their hands in front of the beam of light, fingers appearing on the wall.

Forming a finger person, the shadow puppet kicked the shadow, sending it skidding back a few feet. The shadow shook its head and ran forward, prepared to attack. The shadow puppet sent another kick, Skylor's shadow flying across the temple before shattering into dust against the wall.

The figure turned off the flashlight, shoving it into a satchel strung over her shoulder, and running over to where Skylor was. She helped the girl to her feet, making sure she could stand before picking up Jay over her shoulder.

"Mystake?" Skylor croaked.

"Yes." She answered. "Come, let's get you and your brother out of here."

"Sister." Misako greeted, voice as calm as ever. "I see you protect one, but what of the other three?"

"They are safe." Mystake replied. "Far from your grasp, Misako."

"I would not be so confident..."

Ignoring her older sister, Mystake turned to Skylor. "My sister must not unite the four weapons. We must keep them apart." She led them past the miniature temple and towards the doors.

"Awaken guardian of the deep!" Misako cried, putting on a facade. "They're stealing the sai! You must not let them escape!"

There was a low rumbling from the back of the temple, deep within the magma chamber. Skylor froze, looking over her shoulder. A dark figure shot out of the hole and soared over top of their heads, landing in front of them, shaking the ground.

Skylor reached over to Mystake, pulling the flashlight out of her satchel and turning it on. The beam fell upon a spiked tail, then a scaled body that moved with every breath of hot air. Wings were stretched out as Skylor moved the beam to the creature's face. Yellow eyes stared down at them, the flashlight reflecting off tips of fanged teeth.

The dragon let out a roar, so loud that Skylor surprised Jay didn't wake up.

"There's no way out. Misako's taken away all our options." Skylor said, voice shaking as the dragon's tail thumped against the ground, sending a shockwave through the temple.

"All but one."

Before Skylor could ask what Mystake meant, Jay was shoved into her arms and the sai in her hands were gone. Turning around, she spotted Mystake standing by the edge of the drop.

Skylor let out a nervous chuckle. "Mystake, what are you doing?"

"If Misako is to bring the weapons here, then I will take the Sai of Absorption to the Underworld. It is my sacrifice to make." Mystake said, pulling out a cloth from her bag and wrapping the sai.

"No, it's mine, I shouldn't have come on my own. There's got to be another way." Skylor pleaded.

Mystake replied by smiling and falling backwards, disappearing into the magma chamber.

"I will see you there, sister." Misako's shadow disappeared, glowing red eyes gone from the wall.

Skylor fell to her knees, flashlight dropping to the ground and turning off. She pulled Jay close, sobbing into his chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I messed up. I messed up bad. I shouldn't have come alone. You're hurt, Mystake's gone, I don't know where my team is. I failed." Skylor took a deep, shuddering breath, listening to Jay's faint heartbeat. "I'll be a better sister. Please, I just want you to be okay. I'm sorry."

She curled into a tighter ball, Jay still in her arms and the dragon's hot breath against her neck.

————————————————

Seliel rolled over, for something felt off, though she wasn't sure what. She opened her eyes, squinting in the light. Light? It couldn't have been dawn yet, Skylor should've woken her up a long time ago. Though Seliel knew that the redhead was eager to retrieve the sai and save her brother and would most likely have stayed awake the entire night, they all had enough honour to respect Mystake's orders. Sitting up, she realized her teammates were nowhere to be seen, as was her Sensei.

What she did see was skeletons. Maybe one and a half dozen surrounding their camp. Not taking her eyes off the one in front of her, Seliel reached for her staff, but only getting a fistful of dirt.

The one in front of her, one of the top generals if she remembered correctly, held up her staff, waving it teasingly. Seliel made a move to stand up, but before she could, two skeletons grabbed her arms and began dragging her backwards. Two more were waiting for her, Pixal and Nya in their arms.

A gag was shoved into Seliel's mouth and a cloth tied around her head, keeping it in place. The three ninja were thrown against a tree, rope being pulled tightly around their torsos, binding them to the trunk.

Her eyes drifted over to where Samukai was bent over the golden weapons, examining them. Seeing that they were the real things, she picked them up.

She turned towards the ninja, looking down at them. "I believe these belong to Lady Misako now." She turned back to her troops. "To the Amber Temple!" She ordered. The army cheered, beginning to climb aboard their vehicles. Samukai walked over to hers, but was stopped by a shadow appearing in the tire. Realizing the darker shade and red glowing eyes, Samukai bowed. "Mistress." She greeted.

"My sister has taken the sai to the Underworld. Return immediately and bring the weapons to my hand."

The shadow disappeared, leaving Samukai confused, but she followed her master's orders nonetheless. "To the Underworld!" Samukai shouted, changing plans. "The Dark Lady wants us to return home."

The army cheered once more, climbing into their vehicles: trucks and motorcycles alike. The party sped off, leaving the ninja sneezing in the dust.

Seliel exhaled, something resembling a sigh. Nya began to shift beside her and she peered around the trunk, seeing a glimpse of steel. Nya moved her leg to the side, revealing a sword hidden underneath. She used her leg to slide it up to her hand. Gripping the hilt, Nya used the sword to cut through the ropes. It was slow going, but eventually the ropes snapped.

The shinobis removed the gags from their mouths, breathing deeply.

Seliel ran over, squeezing Nya tightly. "Nya you lijepi genij! ('beautiful genius!')

Nya smiled and flipped her hair playfully. She knew that from Seliel's tone it was a compliment. "I try."

Pixal patted Nya on the back. "Well I must say that was an excellent performance, we might need to save the compliments for later. There are more pressing matters at hand."

Nya and Seliel nodded, following Pixal to where the skeletons had dumped their weapons and bags. Donning all the knives and shurikens they had taken off before going to sleep, they grabbed their main weapons from the pile. Taking to the trees, they set off after the skeletons.

"Hey," Nya said. "Did ya'll see Sensei or Skylor?" Her teammates shook their heads. "Should we go back an' look for them?"

"I think they'll be okay." Seliel assured. "The weapons are our main priority." They stayed quiet as they ran through the trees until Nya started chuckling. "What?"

"Nothing, just... they took the Golden Weapons but left our regular ones lying around. Sometimes I forget how stupid they can be."

Seliel joined in the giggling. "Well, they're skeletons. They don't really have brains."

After a few minutes they reached the main road that led through the forest. Hearing the revving of engines down the road, they followed the noise. Minutes later, the red glow of taillights filtered through the trees, and the three kunoichis picked up their pace.

When the vehicles came into full view, the ninja slowed to match the pace of the vehicles. They could hear Samukai shouting at the drivers to go faster. The motorbikes leading the party disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the bigger vehicles to race through the forest without an escort.

The kishu signaled her team to advance, and the three jumped down. They landed on the largest vehicle—something resembling a monster truck—the one that happened to be housing the Golden Weapons as well as Samukai.

Seliel and Pixal waved at Samukai teasingly, keeping the attention away from Nya. The scout scooted her way along the side of the monster truck, careful not to fall off. The Golden Weapons were stored in a locked cage at the back of the truck, two guards keeping watch.

Grabbing the sash of one of the guards, Nya threw them over the side. Side-kicking the other, she turned to the cage. Reeling her fist back, she punched the lock. "Okay, that's why they make keys." She hissed, waving her hand to ease the pain.

Knowing she would need a lock picking kit and that she left hers at camp, Nya crawled on top of the cage to get one of her teammates' attention. She was met with the end of a staff in the face.

At the sound of something hitting metal, Seliel turned around, taking note of her teammate lying on top of the cage. Taking down one more skeleton with her bo-staff, she knelt down, placing a hand on Nya's back. "Nya! Sorry I didn't see you." Nya sat up and removed the lower part of her mask, her cheek and angry red. Seliel winced. "We'll get that checked out soon."

The truck jolted forward, seemingly going at twice the speed it was before, impossible by human standards. Not used to the speed, the ninja soon lost their grip on the truck, tumbling onto the dirt road. The last of the army disappeared with a flash of light, leaving the three kunoichis coughing in the dust. Nya began to say something, but was hushed by Seliel.

"Save your breath, you don't need to say it. Znam. ('I know.') We've lost."

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