#I told her she had to slap a watermark on it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

onlymingyus · 2 years

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Seeing Red 2

header edited by me (@chogiwapadada) do not remove the watermark and do not repost

pairing; lee jihoon (woozi) x f reader

genre; smut (minors dni), honestly it's filth

warnings; cam boy!woozi, sex on camera, impact play (with hands and a crop), dom & sub dynamics, use of the color system, sugar baby!woozi, sugar mama!reader, woozi called daddy, oral (m recieving), degradation, unprotected sex, hoshi is a little shit, i think that is all

word count; 3.2k and some change

svthub masterlist

a/n; part one -- since there was so much interest in a second part to camboy!woozi i wrote this little part. this will be also be linked to the seventeen peachybun-bun master list. continue supporting the svthub collab by checking out the other camboy!svt fics. this is the writers account for @chogiwapadada

[sugarwoo$i online]

Woozi grins at you as he adjusts the red lace over your eyes as he holds his bottom lip between his teeth. Grunting out a sound of approval, he runs his fingers along your cheek before grabbing your chin pulling your face towards his letting his lips ghost over yours only to hear you let out a soft whine when he doesn’t kiss you. Leaning back he looks at your face as you glance up at him making him smirk into a smug quiet laugh.

“Such a needy little slut for me. You want me all the time don’t you?” Nodding you whisper out a yes before you watch Woozi raise a brow before he leans over to bring his hand down over your ass with a sharp slap making you gasp and arch your back. “Yes, I want you all the time.” Woozi grins at your confession as he runs his hand over his handprint. You had been naked since the show had started but he was still in his dress pants and briefs. The bulge of his cock pressing against the tan pants making your mouth water every time you dared to glance down.

Sitting back on the bed Woozi glanced at his computer smirking at the comments as he absentmindedly ran his thumb along your lips before pressing it into your mouth giving you something to suck on which you do so willingly. Groaning softly, his brows furrowing as your tongue laps around his thumb Woozi grins and nods. “Our baby is pretty in red. No, I won’t take off her blindfold. She doesn’t want her face fully on the camera. Respect that.”

You smile around his thumb as he tells the viewers no which only causes more tips to flood in as they whine but agree to his terms. You found it endearing when he specifically told them no when it came to your privacy. You enjoyed this little game, your identity right there in front of them but yet they had no idea. Though you had begun to worry that some of the more observant viewers might notice that every time Woozi had you in his show domino$ugar was always absent.

Woozi moves his thumb from your mouth running it over your lips and down your chin as he smirks at you when the low light bounces off the trail of saliva making him scrunch up his brows and purse his lips in approval at the sight. “So fucking pretty.” He laughs when you suck on your bottom lip and he can barely see your eyes glance up to meet his. “Is your mouth too empty princess?” You nod and smile, “Yes.”

Woozi raises a brow and moves to one knee reaching to adjust the new camera you had gotten for him making sure everything was still in view before looking back at you. “Come here” Moving to your knees you crawl towards Woozi making him suck in a breath as he pulls his belt open and lets it hang freely. His hands moving to undo his pants slowly knowing you are watching his every move along with the viewers. “Read the comments to me.”

You bite your lip and nod, this was something he had started having you do recently. The viewers had commented on enjoying your voice and hearing you say their dirty thoughts out loud to Woozi. Sliding your hand out to the laptop you pull it closer before glancing between it and Woozi’s hands as he palms his cock through his open pants over his tight briefs. “Read them. Don’t get distracted.”

Clearing your throat you nod again and lick your lips before scanning the comments seeing the tips finding them less than adequate but you knew not everyone could spoil Woozi the way he deserved. At least there were viewers who were incredibly loyal to him and you had to respect them for always coming back and always tipping even in small amounts. “cutie4woo says that they wish they could run their tongue along your stomach down to your cock.”

Woozi chuckles and raises a brow, nodding once before sliding his hand into his briefs moving them below his cock so you and the camera could now see him. “I bet they do. Would you join them, baby girl?” You nod and rub your thighs together as you shift glancing up at Woozi as he speaks to you. “Yes I would.” Woozi glances back at the laptop signaling for you to keep reading.

“Um, kissme$lowy tipped you $100 and said that they would let you use them however you want, they want to be your personal toy.” The sound of a large tip hits drawing Woozi’s attention, raising his brows he turns the laptop slightly so he can see it along with you scoffing when he sees domino$ugar has donated $1500. “Thank you Domino. Always so…generous.” Woozi’s eyes fall on you skeptically as you hold back a small smirk before he pushes the laptop away before reaching for you.

“Let’s not disappoint Domino. She wants a good show.” Woozi’s hand in your hair he tugs you forward gently guiding you towards his cock as he holds himself with his free hand. “Tongue out.” You do as you are asked, your tongue rolling from your mouth as you look up at Woozi making him groan before he taps his head on your tongue and slides into your waiting mouth.

Closing your eyes you let him control your head and how far he slides his cock into your mouth only hollowing your cheeks when you feel that you can’t take anymore just yet. “Fuck…just like that.” Woozi fights his urge to move your hair from your eyes and his urge to pull it into a ponytail so he can hold your hair tightly. He wanted to fuck you like no one was watching but he kept himself in check as he felt your hand wrap around the base of his cock. “You wanna have some control?”

You moan around his shaft making Woozi grunt as he lets you start to control the pace and do what you want to him for the time being. You had proven to him more than once that you knew exactly what you were doing when it came to giving him head so he was not going to complain if you wanted to take the reins even if it meant giving up control in front of his viewers.

Glancing at the screen Woozi can’t help but laugh into an aroused groan at the sight he knows everyone is seeing. Your naked form in front of him, a peek of red lace on your face, his cock buried in your mouth, him still half dressed. It was enough to make him feel like he was going to lose it right there but he kept himself calm running a hand over his mouth as he glanced at the comments as your free hand moved to hold his thigh.

“She’s so fucking good at this. I could cum down her throat right now if I didn’t have more control over myself.” You moan around Woozi at his words making him buck into your mouth causing you to gag slightly which only causes a chain reaction of him throwing his head back. “You all have no idea how hard this is. Oh trust me, if I could let you all suck my dick I would. I think she would share. She’s not a jealous woman.”

Another large tip hits and Woozi scoffs leaning to run his hand over your back before gripping your ass hard. You close your eyes tightly pausing to only hold his cock in your mouth knowing what is coming when you feel his hand come down hard on your skin. A lewd moan falls from your lips muffled by his length making Woozi grin as he speaks through his teeth with a hiss. “Thank you again Domino. Always spoiling me.

You pull back to run your tongue around Woozi’s head, your hand moving along his wet shaft as he looks down at you with that same skeptical look. You can’t help but smile, making him curse under his lips before he pulls back from you. Sucking on your lips you moan to the pre-cum still lingering there as Woozi pushes his pants and briefs down stepping out of them before moving to the nightstand to take out a dark red crop whip.

“Remember this?” You nod and mutter out a yes, causing Woozi to tilt his head before he smacks his hand with it lightly. “Lay on your stomach. Ass to the camera. Hands together at your head and from now on when you answer me do it properly.” You move into the position he wants you in, your hands laced together at your head as you rest your cheek on the bed. You feel his fingers run over your calf down to your ankle as he pulls one over the other.

“That’s better. What color are you right now?” You glance over your shoulder and lick your lips before nodding and speaking up, “Green.” Woozi nods and as you lay your head back down you can feel him run the crop between your thighs before he taps it against your leg right under your ass. “Good, so if I ask you again if you remember this? What do you say?” You hear tips flood in as you let out a small gasp.

“Yes I remember it.” Woozi smacks your leg again making you moan. “I said, to answer me properly. Try again.” You rock your hips lightly as Woozi runs the crop between your legs against your slit as he watches you closely. “I remember it, Daddy.” Hearing the name he had told you that you could call him, Woozi chuckles and bites at his bottom lip as he presses the crop between your folds teasing you.

“There we go. That’s my good girl, remembering who she is talking to. How many do you think Domino would like to see you get?” You sigh softly moving to bite at your arm lightly knowing this was going to be an interesting conversation after the show. “You know what, never mind, let me just ask her. Domino, how many does our baby deserve? Don’t you go easy on her.”

You wait in silence until you hear Woozi laugh before he sighs softly. The crop moves over your inner thighs before running over your ass in small circles. “She says 5. I still think that’s too few for the amount of money she’s donated but...I also can’t wait to fuck you so…” You let out a small yelp not expecting the first time the crop hits your ass. Woozi pauses and leans to press a kiss to your shoulder before leaning to speak into your ear. “Color?” You take a breath and moan out green making him smile before he kisses your ear.

“4 more, princess.” You are ready for the next one which causes you to arch your back slightly. You can feel your arousal running from between your folds with how overwhelmed Woozi has you. The next smack of the crop causes you to moan on to your arm as you struggle to keep your legs crossed. “Does it feel good? Your ass is so pretty and red. Do you want me to take a picture for you when I’m done?”

You nod and whine out, “yes please, Daddy.” Woozi bites at his cheek to suppress a groan as he smacks the crop down two more times before laying it to the side. He fights the urge to lean in and kiss over the red marks immediately instead moving to pick up this phone to take a picture of your ass so you can see his work. He smirks and opts to take another pushing your thighs slightly apart to show you just how wet you are before he tosses his phone on to the bed and then leans down to press a kiss to each of your cheeks. “So fucking pretty. Color baby girl?”

“Green, please daddy.” He nods on your skin as he kisses your hip and then up your back as he leans over you moving his hand between the two of you to pull your hips up slightly before lining himself up and slowly pushing into you. “Keep your legs crossed.” You moan out a yes not even feeling him reach for a pillow before he is putting it under your stomach to keep your hips up as he begins to thrust into you hard and fast from behind.

One of Woozi’s hands holds your hip tightly as he groans trying to hold back wanting to get you to your orgasm first though he was already so close. His other hand moves to slide towards your shoulder tapping your arm signaling for your hand. Unlacing your hand you put your hand behind your back letting him hold it over your lower back. “Shit…” You whine hearing him curse knowing he was close but he could feel you clenching even harder around him especially in his position. Every thrust sent you into the mattress and made it hard to think as you felt the pressure building.

“I– Woozi, daddy…” He nods not worrying about you messing up as he knows what you want thrusting hard making you cry out when he shifts just slightly somehow hitting your g-spot almost perfectly with a few quick thrusts sending you over the edge. His eyes closed tightly Woozi groans as he bites into his lips almost so hard he tastes copper when he cums into you feeling your walls quivering around him milking him for every last drop. He only stops snapping his hips towards yours when he hears you let out a small whine as you come down from your high.

“I know…I know.” You feel his hand slide from yours letting you drop it to the mattress as his other hand moves to the mattress next to your hip as he stays inside you for a moment before thrusting once more before slowly sliding out with a grunt. You feel him carefully move your legs apart before hearing him let out a groan as you know cum is seeping from your pussy for the camera to see.

Woozi smirks glancing at the comments and nods before moving his fingers between your folds over your clit making you jump with a moan before he pushes some of his cum back into you fucking you with his fingers slowly. “She did well. She likes to make me happy.” You hear him laugh before his fingers curl up into you before pulling back as he moves around to sit on the bed offering his cum covered fingers to you.

“They want to see you lick them clean.” You laugh and take his hand into yours before leaning to suck his fingers clean before licking around his fingers only to suck them into your mouth once more before letting go with a loud pop. Woozi grins and shakes his head before groaning. “Perfect…” You watch as he moves from the bed picking up his briefs to pull them on as he sits in front of the camera to close the show telling the viewers to be good for him before turning it off and closing his laptop.

“Y/N…” You make a tired sound of acknowledgement before turning over on your back pushing the blindfold off your eyes with a soft groan not wanting to move. “Who the fuck has your account and is tipping?” You smile as Jihoon looks at you with a raised brow as he moves to stand and starts to clean up letting you rest. “I have a friend doing it…they aren’t watching, just listening and tipping. I thought people would get suspicious and start putting two and two together if I was never there when I was here.”

Jihoon purses his lips in thought and then nods before moving into his bathroom. You hear the sound of the shower turning on before he comes back reaching out a hand for you. “Time for a shower.” Whining you pout at him and he raises a brow before leaning to pat your cheek playfully as his phone goes off letting him know he has a text. “Don’t complain. We are sweaty and covered in cum. These are new sheets and I already have to change them”

You watch him pick up his phone groaning as he sees the text only for the phone to start ringing.Jihoon sighs annoyed before answering the phone as he looks at you, the voice on the other side not quiet loud enough for you to make out as the bed dips when Jihoon sits next to you. .

“What do you want Soonyong? I’m busy.” The man on the other end laughs and you watch Jihoon grimace before he takes the phone from his ear and puts it on speakerphone. “Don’t make me regret this. Y/N…this is Soonyoung or Hoshi the one I told you about. The one I said you’d never meet.” You laugh softly and hear the man on the other end groan slightly into a laugh when he hears your voice.

“God you even sound hot. I caught like half the show. I never watch Jihoon’s shows. I don’t want to see his dick but holy fuck I might have to watch if you are going to be with him. You are like a goddess. Seriously, did he tell you that I will also be your sugar baby? I told him to tell you that.” You laugh again and Jihoon starts panicking at Soonyoung’s words trying to cut him off as he turns off speakerphone and moves from the bed pacing.

“What the fuck is your problem? That is why you wanted to talk to her? You are not fucking her. No…not even no!” Jihoon looks at you and groans, shaking his head. “No, not even for a show! I don’t do threesomes, Soonyoung. I’m the only one with a dick on the screen. No, good bye. No fuck you, good bye.”

Laughing still you watch Jihoon throw his phone back on the bed with a loud groan before he runs his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know what he wanted and I should have expected something stupid.” You smile and reach out a hand for him as he moves closer. Jihoon sighs again and bites his lip as he looks down at you, the room becoming slightly steamed up from the steam rolling in from the bathroom as he pulls you to your feet.

“It’s okay. I’m sure he’s harmless.” You move with Jihoon towards the bathroom as he mutters to himself before you speak again, “But I’m not against threesomes. Is he hot?” You yelp as Jihoon’s hand smacks against your ass and he growls playfully pushing you against the wall next to the shower before his lips are on yours. “Such a needy little slut. Do you need to be fuck again that badly?”

You laugh against his lips as his hand grips at your side as his lips work over your jaw to your neck sucking what you know will be dark marks before he moves you into the shower. “If I say yes, will you?” Jihoon laughs against your shoulder as he turns to close the shower door shaking his head muttering that you are insatiable.

[sugarwoo$i offline]

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#woozi smut #seventeen smut #thesvttown #ficscafe #caratwritersclub #svthub.collab #svthub #lee jihoon smut #svt smut #woozi #lee jihoon #seventeen #svt #seventeen scenarios #seventeen fanfic #woozi x reader #seventeen x reader

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sweetjekyll · 4 years

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Under The Same Roof, part 1 — BBH

pairing: Byun Baekhyun x Reader

genre: Roommate / Flatmate AU, one-shot, friends to lovers rating: teen and up warnings: none! tiny bit of fluff if you squint your eyes really hard word count: 1.2k

summary: Baekhyun and Y/N have been flatmates for a while and romance is in the air.

Requested by anonymous: keyword “roof” + sentence “Oh my God. You’re in love with her.” from this writing game post.

Masterlist — PART 2

A/N: this was supposed to be a drabble, but I told you I couldn’t contain myself once I reached the 600 words I went over lol. this may as well have a part 2 if many people request it, but for now I left it as it is cause I like the suspense. I edited the pic for this but I didn’t add a watermark, it took me a while to find something that sparked my imagination.

⟶ To my dear readers: feedback is highly encouraged and important! as it gives me motivation to write with more passion, knowing that you like what you are reading. Please LIKE and REBLOG so more people can find this and read it. ❤ My askbox is always open for questions or to chat ❤

Enjoy! ❤

You and Baekhyun have been flatmates for about a year now, he needed someone to help him pay rent after his previous flatmate moved in with his girlfriend last minute and you needed a roof over your head since you didn’t want to live in the dorms at your university… Too expensive. The apartment on the other hand wasn’t anything luxurious either, just a two bedroom, one bathroom and a combined kitchen and living space area, enough to house 2 people, even if it wasn’t exactly that cheap yet quite affordable.

Baekhyun was trying to save money from his full-time job as a barista and bartender in the local university cafe, serving coffee by day and alcohol bar by night, meanwhile you were a majoring student who was mostly focusing on her studies but worked part-time at the same cafe Baekhyun did. It had its perks choosing you as flatmate, Baekhyun already knew you were a good person and that you were in need of a place to stay, plus you got along well on the job too. It’s not like you could exactly sleep over at one of your friend’s places forever so when he offered to take you in you accepted without second thought.

But boy, oh boy, was Baekhyun ever the loud type; some days you thought you were going to march out of your room and smack him on the head cause you could not concentrate on your textbooks while he was playing games with his friends, others you actually joined him when you two were alone. As loud as he was, he was also a sweet introverted guy with a tendency to be a social butterfly despite his reserved nature, in fact, you were surprised to meet so many of his friends you could barely remember all of their names. Two hands weren’t enough to count them all.

You considered him a close friend, after all, you were living together under the same roof, Baekhyun was there for you when you needed a friend and you were there when he wasn’t feeling like going outside to meet with anyone else. He wasn’t sure when or how it happened, but at some point he started liking you more than just a friend. He liked everything about you, from the way you bickered about the smallest of things in the apartment such as not leaving dirty mugs in the sink after breakfast, the way your voice was barely above a whisper in the mornings with pouting lips and sleepy eyes, the way you smiled at him after a long tiring day of classes and work, the way you sometimes managed to keep up with his high energy, your friendly and caring personality… Only a few times has he truly seen you mad like a beast, but thankfully it was never directed at him.

Baekhyun was sitting crosslegged on the brown two-seater in the living room, playing some shooter multiplayer game on the PlayStation with some friends of his you’ve met before plenty of times, Chanyeol and Sehun. You let out a quick sigh as you hurried across the living area from your bedroom to the front door, dressed in your work attire, you scurried to put on your shoes. “Okay, I’ll be at the bar the whole night,” you said as you grabbed your coat, ready to walk out before you were late. “Have fun, don’t wait up for me.”

Baekhyun’s eyes quickly moved from the television screen as he paused the game, earning groans and scowls from his friends sitting on the rug with each their back pressed to the sofa. “I’ll come pick you up, just call me when you close down.”

You smiled at Baekhyun’s offer and pointed a finger at him playfully. “I swear if you fall asleep, Byun Baekhyun—“

“Promise I won’t.” He held out his right pinky finger for you and you moved closer to close your pinky around his, a small gesture of friendship you came up with when you once came home a bit tipsy from a night out with all your friends.

“Alright, good night. Bye Sehun, bye Chanyeol!” And just like that you closed the front door after yourself as you went to work.

Chanyeol exchanged a silent yet teasing look with Sehun but it didn’t last long as Baekhyun unpaused the game to resume from where they left. “Dude,” Chanyeol begun after a few minute of resuming the game, he wanted to make sure that you weren’t going to come back for something you forgot, “are you two like… Together?”

“What!?” Baekhyun exclaimed, but he got distracted from the question and barely safe one of his opponent taking down his character. “Me and Y/N? No, we’re just friends.”

Sehun put down his controller and turned his torse to look up at his older friend. “But you like her, right?”

Baekhyun had to pause the game again quite annoyed and this time looked at the two guys sitting on the floor. “We’re just friends.” He stressed on the last two words. He couldn’t really hide it, they could hear the disappointment in his tone even if he was trying to not give it away. “Nothing more.”

“Oh my god.” Chanyeol’s eyes widened, he too discarded the controller on the coffee table and turned his whole body to face Baekhyun from his spot. “You’re in love with her.”

“I’m not!” Baekhyun scoffed as he tried to resume the game but Sehun snatched the controller from his hands, holding it away while his friend protested with a whine. “Okay! Fine! I am head over heels for her.” He confessed as his body slumped against the backrest. “I just don’t want to ruin the friendship we have if I ask her out on a date.”

“You’ve been grocery shopping together, buying clothes and furniture, all of our friends think you’re together.” Sehun pointed out as he got up from the floor and sat on the two-seater next to Baekhyun. “You act like a couple any time you’re in the same room.”

“So why didn’t you guys say anything?” He asked seriously confused. Yes, you and him got along very well, but he didn’t think you were getting along too well in the eyes of your group of friends.

Chanyeol shrugged. “Cause we thought you wanted to keep it private until you felt like telling us.”

Sehun laughed softly, earning a glare from Baekhyun since he didn’t know what was going on in the head of the younger guy. “So that’s why you haven’t shown any PDA! I was almost beginning to admire your self restraint from kissing her or holding her hand when you’re in public.”

“Hey!” Baekhyun slapped him on his chest, earning a pained chuckled from Sehun. “Look, it’s just that I don’t know how to tell her…”

“Just ask her on a date,” Chanyeol said while giving one of Baekhyun’s knees a soft slap. “If you don’t I’ll ask her for you. Who knows, maybe she reciprocates your feelings?”

“That’s a strong maybe.” Baekhyun shook his head as he reached forward to grab his controller from the coffee table.

“I’m pretty sure she reciprocates.” Sehun added as he too turned his attention back on the game, meanwhile Chanyeol just smirked as his brain devised a plan. It would work out, Baekhyun and you just needed a little help from Cupid.

#exosnet #exonet #exo #exo x reader #exo x you #baekhyun #byun baekhyun #bbh #baekhyun x reader #baekhyun scenario #exo imagines #exo fanfic #baekhyun x you #chanyeol #sehun #roommate au #friends to lovers #under the same roof

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mediocre--writing · 4 years

Text

Love Is A Slap In The Face

Ashton Irwin X fem!Reader

Summary: Through the ups, downs, and all inbetween, those you love will be there to keep you on your feet and make sure you smile through the tears.

Word Count: 2175

Warnings: Mentions of PTSD, death, and panic attacks

Inspired by this fic (which is absolutely amazing): Walking After You by my-wldflwr

Love isn’t intimate moments.

Love is when you smile at someone you love across a crowded room and they smile back.

Love is when you do the most mundane tasks, like dishes or dusting, and have fun doing them because you’re doing them with someone you love.

Love is how you look at the person you love when they’re completely in their element, doing what they’ve always wanted.

Love is the way someone takes care of you in your lowest moments.

For Y/n, love is Ashton Irwin.

The way his face scrunches up when he gets really into playing the drums and the way he doesn’t have confidence in his voice yet it sounds like angels singing.

They way he always finds a way to touch her, whether it be his hand on her hand or waist, the way he throws an arm around Y/n’s shoulders or picks her up and throws her over his shoulder.

The way he works out with her and pretends he can keep up but secretly stops doing push-ups when they're not looking, but he still just stares and admires their strength.

The way he jokingly yells at her for forgetting to wash your fruits and vegetables before eating them, even though she knows he really is annoyed about it.

The way she dances around the kitchen to his own songs and plays the air drums with insane aggression.

It’s the moments that they think about right before they fall asleep in that person’s arms at the end of the night.

After their dinner where Ashton made a salad and some delicious potato side dish that Y/n ate most of and Y/n made a roast chicken, they watched a movie or two, but they were both dozing off during the second one so they decided to just go to bed.

They had a fast love. They met one another almost a year ago and started dating only two or three months after, but were attached at the hip almost instantly, though they were both working frequently, so they didn’t get many sleepovers together, and most of the time they were at Y/n’s house, just because she was usually the one who had to be up early for work.

As they got situated in the bed, Y/n had burrowed herself in the light sheets and comforter, only her head poking out as she smiled brightly at Ashton, who was staring at her as he took his shirt off and crawled into bed with the beautiful woman in his bed.

Y/n nestled closely, putting her head on his chest and fell asleep quickly to the beating of his heart.

Ashton didn’t fall asleep as quick, but he just admired the way her chest rose and fell peacefully and her nose would twitch every once and a while.

He put his hand underneath her (his) shirt and rubbed her back, just memorizing the feel of it. The way her spine poked out in a few places, the little indents around her shoulders that held the defined muscle she had built up over the years of being in the military and years after.

He felt the little nicks and creases that were healed scars that she’d accumulated through the years. He felt the little hairs that were everywhere and he felt the goosebumps that poked up as she shuttered.

He moved his hand away and situated himself better for sleep and Y/n rolled away from him to her other side, only taking the sheet with her as she moved.

Ashton chuckled and pulled the comforter over her again and fell asleep to the dark room, cicadas chirping, and her light breathing.

The night was unusually restless for Y/n, she didn’t feel comfortable despite the room being just cold enough that you could cuddle with the blankets and the night felt more quiet than it should have been.

It wasn’t until about half past three that Ashton woke up to the bed jostling around randomly, the sheets and comforter pulled off of him, exposing him to the cool night air.

Slowly, he woke up, rubbing his eyes and turning to look at Y/n, who was rolling back and forth sporadically, her left arm pulling at the thin sheets around her.

The closer that Ashton looked, the more concerned he became, her forehead was sweaty and her cheeks had small, reflective watermarks that were the result of tears rolling down her cheeks.

He put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed back and forth as he whispered her name over and over, trying to pry her out of her dreaming, but it just riled her up more, her left shoulder harshly nudging him off, but with some restraint.

It was then he realized that her arm was wrapped up in the sheet and she couldn’t get it out, so he sat up more and pulled the blankets from around her arm, which was increasingly hard due to her moving violently.

He eventually got most of the sheet away and she could get out, but he didn’t know that and was still trying to move the sheet off her, but her violent arm jerk wasn’t restrained by the blanket anymore, which meant that her arm launched her hand right into Ashton’s face.

He let out a loud yelp and grabbed the side of his face as he sat up.

Y/n, however, stopped moving as much as she woke up due to the loud yelp and a slight stinging in her hand and shoulder.

When she finally opened her eyes and adjusted to the lack of light in the room, along with the blurriness that came with tears in her eyes, she was confused by the view of Ashton clutching one side of his face and staring at her with pity in his eyes.

She was still breathing heavily and Ashton moved his hand from his face, opening his arms for her to fall into, which she did, willingly.

As she crashed into his chest and arms, she let out a pitiful sob and Ashton began rubbing his hand up and down her back while making a soothing shushing sound while letting her cry it out.

Their relationship with one another was very much open, but they still had their own little things that the other hadn’t dealt with yet.

For Ashton, he hadn’t told her about his family or childhood much, but for Y/n she had outright refused to talk about her time in the military and absolutely would not let him see her cry like this.

Though it wasn’t an ideal situation, he almost felt privileged to see her in such a vulnerable state such as this, the side of her that she liked to hide from anyone and everyone, no matter how close they were.

As her sobs quieted down and her breathing became more even, Ashton pulled her away from the safety of his chest and put a hand under her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes, asking a question with his eyes.

“It’s ok,” she mumbled as she moved her eyes away from his.

He gave her a look that said she was absolutely insane, “No,”

“My arm got caught in the sheet and I couldn’t get it out,” She shook her head as if trying to erase whatever thought her head had come up with, “That’s all, it’s ok.”

“There’s more,” Ashton told her sternly, “And I know that you don’t like talking about your unpleasant feelings but I want you to actually open up to me and know that nothing is going to change if you tell me anything about yourself, of anything, I’ll just love you more, you know that,”

“I do, I know that,” Y/n swallowed and blinked a few times before looking into Ash’s eyes, her own widening, “Did I hit you?”

Ashton’s face screwed up in confusion before registering the light pain he felt around his eye and cheek, bringing up a finger to trace along where it hurt.

Y/n’s eyes were locked on the pinkish-purple bruise forming on his face as tears welled up more and more as she stared.

“Honey, please don’t worry about it, ok?” Ashton reassured but it did nothing to ease the tension lines on her face, “You were asleep and you didn’t mean to, it really wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know I put my face close to you.”

“But I still did it, Ash! I hit you! And apparently I hit you pretty damn hard!” Y/n was yelling, and Ash felt scared, not for himself but how awful she must feel, because this was Y/n, his little baby who could bench press an almost obscene weight but also pouts when he doesn’t cuddle her at any given moment.

“Honey, can you calm down for a moment, it doesn’t really hurt and I can live with a little bruise, but I’m worried about you right now.”

She still looked guilty but she nodded in agreement, “I was having a nightmare, but like-- not a nightmare? Like it was almost real and kinda reminded me of a moment but was still exaggerated and fake? I can’t explain how it felt, but I was scared.

“So, uh, a while ago, you know, I was in the military,” Ashton nodded, “We were walking through these mountains, and were told that we had to watch our steps because there were landmines we had to be really cautious of, and we were almost out of the landmine zone when the guy at the front of the group tripped backwards and triggered one of them.

“Two guys died and a few people lost a limb or two, but I was at the back of the group, and we didn’t get too much other than being thrown back and concussions here and there, but it was terrifying because the sound came before impact.”

Y/n took a deep breath and rubbed at her face, “I wasn’t really hurt bad or anything, but a huge chunk of rock fell on my arm and it took three guys to get it off and, to be completely honest with you, I don’t really remember most of what happened to me, because I passed out and people told me what happened afterwards. They said they got my arm free and it was somehow temporarily paralyzed but I went through physical therapy to get it mostly functional again.

“I got a lot of scars from that and it was really annoying for a while but I like them now, mostly because I know had the rock shifted over any more it could have been my head, or I could have lost my arm, and I was really lucky, in complete honesty.”

Ashton was watching and listening with tears in his eyes as he gently grabbed onto her hands with his own.

“I was really stupid after that, I was released from service because I was injured and whatnot, and I was sent home and did physical therapy, but I refused to talk to my family or friends, then I moved out here because I was sick of everyone. I made new friends but it took me way too long to realize that I needed to go see someone and talk to someone to finally feel okay about what happened. I used the excuse of training my arm’s dexterity by working out but I was just hurting myself by pushing my body and not sleeping or eating and stuff, but it all got better over time.”

She looked deep into Ashton’s eyes, “I met you about a month after starting therapy and my therapist loved hearing me talk about you, she’s the person who pushed me to ask you out for the first time, actually.”

Even in the dim light from the window, Ashton’s sweet smile brightened the room as he leaned in and gave her a delicate kiss on her forehead, then her nose, then her lips, making her smile as well.

“What about your face?” Y/n giggled, “You can’t tell people I hit you, I feel like that would get out really quick.”

Ashton chuckled as he pulled her closer to his chest, them both sighing in content at their comfortable position, “I’ll tell people that I fought someone for you, how’s that?”

“Did you lose the fight?” Y/n teased.

“That’s fuckin’ rude,” Ashton sassed as they cuddled closer.

And there, in the 4am moonlight, their relationship changed forever.

They found more reasons to love one another, they found a new safety in one another, and they found the one person who could never disappoint them no matter what.

They found the person who had comfort embedded into their very being and had a home that neither could find anywhere else.

For them, love is special.

Love is when you can slap your boyfriend in the face and he’ll still love you.

#ashton irwin #ashton irwin x reader #x reader #5sos x reader #5sos #5 seconds of summer #ashton x reader

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ill-skillsgard · 4 years

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The Gloaming Hour - Alex Hogh Andersen

Title: The Gloaming Hour

Characters: Alex Hogh Andersen x ambiguous fem

Warning: No real warnings. Just angst and feelings!

Note: In honour of @flowers-in-your-hayr birthday, I wrote a little imagine inspired by one of her wonderful moodboards! Thank you @maggiescarborough for organizing this fun event and asking me to take part <3

The concept of this piece isn’t based on the moodboard directly, rather an idea that popped into my head from the collection of images. Hope you like it! Kisses!

Excitement drained from Alex's face ounce by ounce, leaving his jovial smile deflated, his bright eyes a lifeless blue. As the curator flipped through his collection of portraits, scrutiny notched a wrinkle between his eyebrows that deepened with each turn of the page. Though a facetious mustache hid the curator's top lip, Alex recognized a grimace and the discontent infiltrating the air between them.

The older man closed the portfolio and sighed. He took off his glasses, polished the lenses on the lapel of his jacket and replaced them on his nose to better assess Alex's mood.

"Alexander..."

"Please, just Alex," the photographer insisted.

"Alex. It... It just—it breaks my heart to see your passion shrivelling."

Struck as though the curator had set his work on fire before him on the desk, Alex took a half-step back to prepare for harsher evaluations. "Shrivelling? I'd have to disagree."

"This isn't up to par with what you've brought to me in recent times. There's no trace of emotion. At least, nothing genuine. They're good photos, Alex, but they're stock photos at best. Destined for a watermark."

Alex gestured at the portfolio. "They're not the worst. I made do with what I had. There's only so many angles of Copenhagen I can give you before it looks postcard-ish. I took these at the height of the panic, while the entire world held its breath waiting for answers. I feel I reflect this in my work. Did you see the one of the little girl on the swing?"

The curator pushed the folder across the desk, a final swing of the axe. "I can't put these in the show, Alex. It's not my reputation I'm worried about, it's yours. I don't want to be the rope that ties your young career to the stake. My patrons wouldn't piss on these if they were on fire. Now, your winter series... If you brought me something like that, then I'd sing a different tune. Those were raw. Unfettered by trivial surface emotions. These are rather college-level, just-got-my-hands-on-my-first-DSLR quality. We've seen much better from you."

"What about the photo of the old woman?" Alex gave one last push.

"I'm looking for a coherent series. Something that tells an ongoing story. One diamond in a bed of zirconias just won't cut it, Alex," said the curator. "But we like you here. I want you to be part of the show."

Alex nodded in agreement. "So do I."

"You have five days to put together something that will wow me. I need to be awe-struck. Do you think inspiration will strike in that amount of time?"

"If I knew when inspiration planned a visit, I'd do nothing but schedule my time around it, trust me," Alex said.

"Five days, Alex, you have less than a week to put something stirring on my desk. I believe in you. Now, I must ask that we get a move on. I have another appointment."

Alex took his portfolio, tucked it under his arm, nodded at the curator and left the gallery. It wasn't until he stepped onto the street the numbness in his face gave way to the severe weight of rejection. He remembered walking into the studio but fifteen minutes prior, brimming with confidence, but that zeal had melted, leaving Alex dispirited and ready to give up his dreams. How could he capture a full series in a few short days? No great work of art had ever been executed in such a minimal amount of time. Alex sighed, lit a cigarette, and walked in no particular direction.

His camera hung around his neck as it nearly always did, but it only served to remind him of his shortcomings. When he passed over a canal of rushing water, Alex thought of ridding himself of the padded noose and chucking the device into the river below. Yet he clutched the camera's zoom lens, running his fingertips over the rubber grip for comfort.

Sequestered in grey daydreams, Alex's feet took him to the walking trails before his head caught up. He left the din of the city behind, and when he snapped from his ruminations, budding birch trees and new foliage surrounded him. Alex had walked the trails many times before, but that day a golden hue drenched the atmosphere and had him appreciating the landscape with eyes afresh. He wandered this way and that, losing himself in the thicket on purpose as he watched for rare birds above.

He came to the river's bend where an arcing walking bridge connected one side to the other. A woman was standing on the apex, looking out over the water with her back turned to Alex. She paid no attention to anything but the rapids below as the gentle wind carried pieces of her hair, abandoning the strands to float about her pate like a strange halo. From afar, Alex studied the slopes of her profile, but without his glasses, he couldn't make out the subtleties that made her eye-catching. The woman didn't notice him step onto the walking bridge.

The closer Alex came to the woman, the stronger his urge to photograph her became. He uncapped the camera lens, turned on the device and adjusted the settings to compliment the evening glow. From a distance, Alex relied on the power of the lens to bring her closer. He snapped some photos, then approached another four steps, fixed his frame, and captured a few more.

Alex cycled through the newest photos and noticed something about the woman's face he hadn't before: she was crying. Below her left cheek, a small stream glimmered, the setting sun illuminating a teardrop hanging off her jaw. This discovery made Alex's heart sink. He went a little closer, snapped another picture with his proximity taken into consideration, then studied the image. Her sadness tainted the entire frame, a beacon of black and grey on a gilded backdrop.

The woman turned just as Alex clicked the shutter again, and her melancholy transformed into indignation. She swiped at her incriminating tears in hopes the stranger wouldn't see them, but it was far too late. Alex already had evidence of her mournful spell.

"Excuse me! Just what do you think you're doing taking photos of me?" The woman yelled, approaching swiftly. "Did I give you permission to take my picture?"

The photographer took a step back, abandoning his camera near his chest to display open palms. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bother. You just looked so... I'm sorry. I'll delete them, I promise."

Redness swallowed the whites of her eyes. Now that she was within slapping distance of Alex's face, it was clear the woman had been suffering there on the bridge for a long while. Though all traces of her dreary expression fled, he got the sense something terrible had happened to her, and he had taken advantage of her private moment for his benefit.

"Why would you do that? Take pictures of people without them knowing?" She demanded to know.

"I'm a photographer. I swear, I'm not some creepy guy that goes around taking photos of women."

"Pfft," she hissed. "I bet you have loads of disgusting pictures on that thing because you're a man, and all men are absolutely disgusting!"

Taken aback by her accosting, Alex realized her hurt ran deep and fresh. Her tears dried up, leaving behind nothing but scorn and red, puffy cheeks. Whatever internal wound she bore still bled, and he apologized again in hopes the woman might forgive him.

"Honestly, I'm just a photographer. Not a weirdo. Here, I'll even show you what I have on my camera roll. It's nothing but portraits and pictures of trees, I swear on my life. I was just walking and saw you on the bridge, and you looked... Um."

Her anger lessened, curiosity taking its place at least in her eyes. "I looked what? What did I look like?"

Alex chewed his bottom lip and toed a plank of the walking bridge. She met his silence with another step forward.

"You looked so sad... And beautiful," whispered Alex.

She clicked her tongue, shaking her head as a sarcastic laugh punched the air. "You're so full of shit."

"I'm not lying!" Alex defended himself. "Look for yourself."

The photographer turned his camera around, but the woman stepped back. Alex sighed, waited for her to build up enough trust to approach him, and let her come to his side when she was sure he wouldn't lunge. She looked at the display and the photo he'd captured of her hanging her head, one lone teardrop on her face alight with the diminishing aura of day.

"Well... It's not terrible, I guess," she said.

"I'll still delete them," assured Alex

The woman shook her head. "You're a real photographer? Like a real, professional one?"

Alex fetched a business card from his pocket and passed it to her. She scanned the piece of cardstock and then his face.

"I've had my work displayed in art galleries if that helps."

"I guess it does."

A silence leavened the tension between them. The warbling water below clashed with bird calls above, and the sun slipped away, leaving them in deepening twilight. After five long minutes of quietude, the woman finally sighed.

"You don't have to delete them. They're good. You're obviously talented, and who am I to stifle your art?"

Surprised by her revelation, Alex chuckled nervously. "You sure? I don't have a problem getting rid of them."

"No," she shook her head. "You somehow made the shittiest day of my life look... Beautiful."

There was something about the woman's change of mind that told of understanding and kindness. Alex suddenly wanted to comfort her further. He slipped his camera behind him and spread his arms open. She flinched at this but realized what he meant to do.

"Would you like a hug? You look like you could use a good hug," offered Alex.

She bit the inside of her cheek as a bubble of a sob fought to escape her throat. Nodding while her eyes brimmed with another crop of tears, she stepped into his embrace and crushed her face into the collar of his denim coat. Surprised by the strength in which she clung to his torso, Alex matched it and held the girl tight until her tears dried up once more.

#alex hogh andersen imagine #alex hogh andersen fanfiction

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peachywise · 5 years

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nullify part 4

an umbrella academy fanfiction // klaus hargreeves x reader

- part iv: the revealing file || part i ⋆ part ii ⋆ part iii ⋆ part v ⋆ part vi ⋆ more parts to be released

- synopsis: You had wanted to forget about the fire. Forget all of it. But then you were presented with a file on your life, given to you by a kid who knows all too well its contents. Looks like you were intertwined in something much bigger than you had ever expected all along, and you're only going to get intertwined even more.

- notes: so sorry this update took a while! i'm in my last few weeks of my university semester, and i'm busy with final essays. i'll try and get the next update out sometime next week but it could take a bit longer. however, I'll be back to a better and faster posting schedule in april. anyways this chapter is pretty five interaction heavy instead of Klaus, but i had to cut this one in half as it was getting too long, so they'll be more in the next part!! heavy trigger warning for mentions of abuse and fire.

link on a03

___________________________

“That was a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”

Letting out a loud scream at Five’s sudden appearance in front of you, surrounded in that ethereal blue haze, you decided he was the one being a dramatic little shit head. Even more so when he quickly went up on his toes and slapped his hand over your mouth to smother your voice before you could keep screaming and swear at him. You quickly jerked away, still reeling from the comment about the fire he had made only seconds before inside the apartment.

“Back the hell off or I’ll punt you down the hallway,” you threatened, flattening yourself against the wall beside the door, heart erratically pounding as you tried to calm your anxiety and the aggression fighting its way up.

“Calm down and just hear what I have to say.”

Calm down? Oh, he did not just fucking tell you to calm down.

“Hey hey hey, where are you going?” Klaus suddenly burst out from the now open apartment door, eyes flashing one side to the next until they landed on you. His taller figure stepped in front of you and he reached a hand out, placing it in a soothing gesture on your arm. His face was downturned in what looked like genuine concern. It was actually kind of nice of him, up until he said soothingly, “take a breather and calm down for a sec, yeah?”

You had to resist the unbelievable urge to stomp on his foot and then kick him in the nuts.

Closing your eyes and inhaling a deep breath through your nose, you whispered in reply so quietly through gritted teeth, “back away before I rip Five’s hand off and shove it up your—”

“Everything okay out here?”

Turning your attention to the large, blonde man taking up the entire frame of the doorway, you let out your held breath and opened your eyes. Five did as well, just as Klaus dropped his hand to his side, his eyes still never leaving you.

Your heart rate and initial anger had started to simmer down a bit at the continual tug and pull of the situations you kept finding yourself in, enough so that your curiosity of everything was starting to take hold once more. But you were still reluctant to step back into that apartment. Your trust was wary, at least in the case of some of them. Right now, you only trusted Klaus. He had been a loud and obnoxious pain in the ass, but hell, he hadn’t tried to hide anything from you and had basically answered most of what you assumed he could. If anything, he had overshared. You wished you could forget the story he had told you on your walk over here. He had way too vividly description how once on impulse he had bitten into a live koi fish he saw in a pond in order to ward off a loan shark across the way coming to collect money. What was worse, it actually worked. At least until they sent another guy a half an hour later.

“Go back inside, Luther. You to Klaus,” Five directed.

Turning your attention back to the toddler in command as he spoke, you quickly shifted your gaze back towards Klaus as he inevitably went to argue, stepping towards his brother with an exasperated look on his face. You reached out to gently grab his shirt. “Just go inside.” You needed to figure out how exactly Five knew about the fire, and just how extensively the details he knew went. It wasn’t exactly information you wanted out in the open, and though you trusted the curly haired brother the most in the family to an extent, it still wasn’t enough. No matter who you had trusted in your life, it had never been enough to openly discuss what had happened.

Klaus snapped his mouth closed in an uncertain grimace, his unnaturally comforting green eyes flickering as he tried to read your suddenly emotionless expression. You released some of the tension in your shoulders and heaved a breath. “Seriously, It’s fine. But if you hear glass shattering just know I’ve thrown him out the window.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Bending to the side to look at Five who stood directly behind Klaus, you raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Come here then, preppy.”

Five crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, glancing down the hall at nowhere in particular. Clearly, his patience was running thin. Good.

Luther didn’t even bother to stick around and watch the show, unlike the unmistakably entertained Klaus. He just wordlessly turned back around into the apartment, leaving the door wide open for Klaus to follow.

“Okay, fine. Just don’t tell them all the fun bits without us, brother dear. It’ll be too priceless to miss.” Klaus settled on saying, departing back into the apartment, flashing his cheeky grin as he did.

You turned towards Five once you heard the familiar click of the closed door, grabbing his arm as you tugged him further away from the door in case there were any eavesdroppers. “You shouldn’t know about the fire. The entire story didn’t even hit the news.”

He shrugged your grip away easily. “And who do you think covered it up?” He bit back, a pressing look in his eyes.

What exactly was he implying? The little dude was kind of freaky—less of a kid than what he looked like— but he would have been the exact same age as you when it happened. Ten. As capable as he seemed now, you highly doubted he could have been able to suppress what had happened in the media. Allison possibly could have with her powers, but even then, there were so many people coming and going throughout that morning that you would have caught sight of her. The Umbrella Academy wasn’t even in the same city as you, for Christ's sake.

“Are you implying that it was covered up, or that somehow you had something to do with it?”

You could have been wrong, but a sort of half satisfied tick tugged his lips up the tiniest bit. But instead of a reply, he vanished again in a blink of an eye. You were really starting to hate his power. Letting out an aggravated huff, you twisted around slightly as if somehow you would find him dramatically down the hall, but he was back in a literal flash in under ten seconds, except this time he had a file in hand. He handed it to you, stating, “I found this in Hargreeve’s office. Read for yourself.”

And with that little cryptic introduction, you gave a speculative glance before gently taking it into your own hands, slight hesitance overtaking you as you flipped it open.

You didn’t know what you were expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this.

The first thing that caught your attention was a picture of you at twelve years old, miserable in an oversized black hoodie, paperclipped to a copy of one of the social service identification documents used by your old foster caseworker. Once you flipped that over, you found and skimmed through written reports, Reginald’s familiar insignia watermarked at the top. In them detailed everything; everything you knew, everything you had assumed, every plot hole in your entire story.

Reginald had known where you were this whole time. He’d kept a watchful eye on you, and you had no doubt he had similar files on all the other babies he had never been able to get his hand on. One of the reports detailed the first time your force field had popped up. You were in kindergarten and some kid had been chasing you with those barely sharp baby scissor that couldn't even cut through shitty quality construction paper. In your instinctual fear, the blue bubble surrounded you and five-year-old Jimmy bounced right off of it, tumbling two feet away, landing on his wrist and snapping the bone.

No one had seen, other than the teacher who had immediately looked terrified and sent you to the office, rushing you there herself. When she dropped you off, the counselor intervened and talked to you, and by the next day, your teacher had basically all but ignored the fact it had ever happened. The kid’s broken wrist was simply explained away as him tripping on the floor. No one would believe a five-year old’s account of what had actually happened anyway.

The councilor, as detailed by Hargreeves, was an onlooker hired by him to keep tabs on you if anything like this had ever happened and to make it go away. It seemed there had always been someone hired in your school to do just that. To watch. To report. Intervene when necessary.

Then there was the report on the fire. It described how your mom had gotten up in the middle of the night to go to your room, leaving your dad asleep in his own bed. It continued to detail how she poured gasoline from your doorway to your bed, striking a match and dropping it so the flame would trail up towards you. Police documented pictures were attached of your black and charred bedroom, all your childhood objects nothing more than undistinguishable ash. They never did find your dads body in there, but from how everything had been destroyed, you had no doubt he was simply mixed into all the rubble and debris that had once made up their entire family home which crumbled in a single, terrible night.

The police report detailed all of this as well, in addition to your mother’s capture and arrest, which he somehow managed to get a copy of for his invasive file. But it lacked the details Hargreeves inevitably figured out. How could a child survive such a destructive event? You had walked out with nothing more than a severe burn mark on your leg, while your father who tried to rescue you instead of getting out had literally been caught in the crossfire. They had interviewed you, but you kept quiet. But Reginald knew it was your force field. He wrote about how he paid off multiple people to cover this up and make it seem as if it had never happened. Not for your sake, however. It was just so you would never come across someone who wanted to use your powers against his children. Like Five, he speculated that the force field could extend far past what you had always thought. It could render all his ‘projects’ useless. And he couldn't have that.

You closed the file without looking at the other pictures and papers littered within it. You couldn’t stand to look at it anymore. It would have just detailed every other moment in your life like a statistical, emotionless biography.

“I’m sorry about your father,” Five spoke, breaking through your reeling thoughts. You tried to stop the bile rising to the back of your throat.

“Who else has seen this?” You whispered, clutching it tightly to your chest as you met his eyes.

“Just me, as far as I know.”

You nodded your head, taking a second the inhale and exhale and suppress it all as you had most of your life. You slipped the file into your bag, stating without room for argument, “I’m keeping this.”

He tilted his head in affirmation, replying, “I expected as much.” Quiet again, you took just a bit longer to try and collect your emotions, turning your face away to look anywhere except the kid who knew more about you than anyone else. It was unnerving. Even more so as he actually seemed at least a bit sincere when he continued with, “I am sorry. But what we need you for, it’s more than this. More than all of us. I had to look at every single option wherever I could, and right now, you’re that option.”

You could take some solace in that. Five, you had come to figure out, was all business. He had a scientific mind, looking at everything as steps to get to a singular goal. He wouldn’t do anything malicious or invasive for fun. Well, at least he wouldn’t unless it got him to whatever goal he had in mind.

“You keep this to yourself, and I’ll listen to whatever plan you have in mind.”

Maybe you would regret it, maybe you wouldn’t. But the Hargreeve’s were clearly desperate for something—for help. You could respect that.

“I also won’t toss you out the window no matter what it is.”

That got a smile out of the little bugger, and an affirmative agreement of, “deal.”

Pushing yourself slightly from where you had withdrawn against the wall, you started to make your way back to the apartment, Five keeping stride beside you. Just as you were about to open the door, he asked, “so, are you going to tell me why you brought a clock with you as a weapon?”

“Nope.”

Five laughed. The bastard actually laughed at something you said. A small, breathy one that really was only a quiet huff presented with a smile, but it was a laugh nonetheless. “Alright then.”

Well, maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

Then you walked into the living area and immediately realized that it was actually going to be far worse than just ‘bad’.

“Are you wearing a G-string?”

Holding his pants in his hand, with what looked like coffee or tea dripping from them and on to the plush white carpet, Klaus turned towards you from where he had previously been glaring at an equally as annoyed looking Luther, a sly smile morphing his face instead. Slightly popping his hip coquettishly, he replied in a faux sultry tone, “why yes, I am. You like?

You shrugged, dropping your bag into the couch, already becoming desensitized to his odd and unexplainable behaviors. “Honestly, I’m just happy to know you wear anything under those pants at all.”

#the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy fanfiction #umbrella academy #the umbrella academy fanfic #the umbrella academy imagine #klaus hargreeves #klaus hargreeves fanfiction #klaus hargreeves fanfic #klaus hargreeves imagine #klaus hargreeves x reader #five #five hargreeves #luther hargreeves #allison hargreeves #tua

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gaycrouton · 6 years

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The Spy Who Loves Her Boss

Hey! I absolutely loved “The Spy Who Dumped Me”, and being it was my two favorite actresses I HAD to write something. I think we all related to Morgan hardcore, and I just wanted to explore how she might feel coming in that Monday. Obviously it must’ve gone well since her an Audrey were shown working for them a year later, lol. Hope you enjoy!

Morgan wasn’t shy. Since she was a little girl, running around and entertaining people was the one thing that made her truly, unquestionably happy. She loved seeing smiles on people’s faces and she loved hearing an audience’s appreciation. It made her feel fulfilled. Sometimes her outgoing nature helped her land acting gigs, sometimes it embarrassed Audrey, and sometimes it made her hit on powerful women that intimidated the living shit out of her.

God, that woman.

Sure, she was a stereotypical young, gay woman who idolized attractive, older women. It was a stereotype for a reason after all, and that MI6 just proves it. She’s a living breathing renaissance painting. She carries herself with absolute power and femininity, as strong as she is beautiful. She’s what every woman dreams of being. Though, she didn’t know if she wanted to be her or be in her. Morgan couldn’t get her out of her mind, yet she didn’t even know her name.

So far, she’d only had two interactions with her and she’d call them both moderately successful. She wasn’t necessarily dismissed, so she’d call that a plus. Okay, she may have laid it on a teeny bit thick when they first met at the Intelligence Headquarters, but, again, who doesn’t love compliments? And there were just so many things to compliment, it took awhile for her to cover them all. Morgan was a trained actor, so she was pretty astute at picking up facial subtleties; Government Bey couldn’t keep that ghost of a smile hidden well enough when she was getting complimented.

Also, as she had reminded Audrey plenty of times since, a stone cold fox like that would not have willingly touched a person unless she wanted to. If she wasn’t at least amused at the bare minimum, there would have been no reason for MI6 to fully wrap her arm around her. Audrey insisted she had just been teasing her, but that didn’t dissuade Morgan.

She also trusted her enough to give her the honor of telling Sebastian he could come back to work. Of course, he still called her immediately after anyay, but still, the sentiment still stays.

She knew it was bold, going through with her insistence to show up on Monday. This was the British Military Intelligence after all, not a resistant acting gig, but god she wanted this. Not just working alongside a woman like her, but to live this type of high-pace life of excitement. Doing something for the greater good that made her feel alive. She was hung up on after asking what she liked in her coffee, but she’d gotten worse rejections in her life.

She spent the entire weekend nervously thinking about what would happen on Monday, and now the day was here. Sebastian, probably with the encouragement of Audrey, had agreed to let her accompany him to the office. She ran to the local Starbucks before he picked her up, spending ten minutes analyzing the menu, hypothesizing what the enchanting MI6 lady might possibly want. After agonizing deliberation, she settled on the safest option and got a plain iced coffee, which was now leaving little watermarks on her jeans from the condensation on the plastic.

“Do you think she’ll kick me out?” Morgan asked, breaking the silence. She honestly knew she would be, but she wanted to know what to expect. She was trying to formulate different possible responses to the situation, so she could hide her nervousness behind a mask of jovial understanding.

“I’m positive she’ll kick you out,” he laughed gently, not making fun of her but enjoying her insistence.

Morgan nodded in understanding before remembering something important, “Hey, what’s her name?”

Sebastian was silent for a disconcerting amount of time and she figured he wasn’t allowed to tell her, but his actual reasoning was even more ridiculous. “Umm, I’m not actually sure.”

Morgan’s jaw dropped open and she slapped the side of his arm, ignoring the way he winced and grabbed the still-recovering appendage. “Shut up! Is she like one of those bad ass boss characters in the movies? She just hides namelessly in the shadows until she needs to deal out orders and assign high-intensity missions?” This woman could not get any more badass.

“Ahh, no. I just-” he drew out his words in slight embarrassment, “-uh, can’t remember.”

Morgan turned fully in her seat to glare at him, “That woman granted you full access to know her name and you forgot!” she exclaimed, her voice raising with each word.

He let out a little chagrined laugh and tried to cover up his foolishness, “Well, we just call her ‘boss’.”

Sebastian was cool in her books, don’t get her wrong, but right now he was being such a stupid man. He clearly could recognize beauty, he fell for Audrey after all, but to ignore the enigma he worked so closely to was a brainless misstep for someone who worked in the Intelligence Department. “Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian. My handsome, but yet oh so misguided friend, I am disappointed in you.”

“Don’t forget I’m the only one getting you access to her,” he warned jokingly.

“Disappointment absolved,” she beamed immediately.

They spent the rest of the drive chit chatting and arguing about music trivia before arriving to the secret headquarters. She’d been so focused on what she’d say to her government crush that she hadn’t considered there might be an issue getting in. Apparently Sebastian had, and for that she was forever grateful. Through each security check point, he explained she was one of the American Girls that helped solve the issue with Duffer. Apparently, everyone there hated ‘Harvard Boy’ and not only let her in, but thanked her, much to her delight.

As they were walking down the hall to what she presumed was the boss lady’s office, Sebastian leaned down to her and whispered while walking, “Just so we’re on the same page. I don’t want to be put back on forced leave, so as far as I’m aware, she told you during your phone call that you needed to show up with me and I’m simply trusting you.”

“She did tell me to show up with you today,” she admonished, already acting the part.

“No she didn-oh, I see. You’re good at that,” he grinned.

“They didn’t hire me in that Blockbuster ad for nothing.”

“It’s too bad Progresso won’t be graced with your talent,” a husky feminine voice quipped from right behind them.

Both she and Sebastian stopped in their tracks and turned around simultaneously, seeing the statuesque blonde standing just a foot behind them. She even had heels on and they hadn’t heard her. It was equal parts terrifying and arousing. It took Morgan a second to register, but a smile broke out on her face when she realized the G-woman remembered her prior engagement. “I’m touched you remembered!” she exclaimed in excitement.

“Yes. I spent all weekend thinking about it,” she deadpanned.

“Really?”

“No.” She sighed as Morgan’s enthusiasm wasn’t dampened and turned to Sebastian. “So I take it you’re responsible for her being here?”

“She told me-” Sebastian started, but was cut off by Morgan. If this was going to be the last opportunity she had to have a conversation with this woman, she was going to monopolize on it.

“Yes, I convinced him you told me to bring me during our phone call. Are you impressed I was able to pull the wool over one of your own?” she boasted proudly, ignoring the slight nudge Sebastian gave her.

The woman regarded her for a moment before teasing, “Yes, blown away.” Morgan smiled as Sebastian watched in nervous anticipation of reprimandation. “My office, both of you.” Words that inspired optimism in Morgan brought dread in Sebastian as they walked through the door at the end of the hall.

Her office was exactly as she would have expected. It was sleek, classy, and elegant. It looked pristine and stylish and she was still staring in awe as the other two took a seat. “Morgan,” the sultry voice called out. Her heart fluttered in her chest at the sound of her name coming from the woman in that beautiful british accent that haunted her daydreams.

“Hmm?” she hummed while examining a potted plant to see if it was real or not.

“Sit down.” Morgan did as told and sat in the seat directly across from her.

Before she had a chance to start reprimanding them, Morgan perked up in her seat. “Hi, sorry. I just wanted a chance to have formal introductions. I haven’t gotten a chance to meet you. I’m-”

“Morgan Freeman. Thirty four years old, born January of 1984. You went to University for Theatre and you’ve gotten sporadic acting jobs ever since. You recently took it upon yourself to transport a piece of highly confidential government property with your long term friend Audrey Stockton. Now you’ve shown up hoping for a job.” MI6 finished.

Morgan sat there, jaw agape in pure shock. She knew so much about her. Off the top of her head nonetheless. It was like she could hear her thoughts because she added, “I’m the head of the Intelligence Bureau. I have access to everything you’ve ever done.”

“You missed two important facts though,” Morgan lilted, receiving a cocked eyebrow. “I also brought you this today,” passing the iced coffee to her over the desk, pleased when she took it from her with a millimeter smile. “And I am beyond flattered by your impeccable memory.”

She was met with a slightly amused stare as the woman took a sip of her coffee. She set the cup on her desk and reached over, extending her hand out for Morgan who accepted it hasilty. “Wendy Davis, head of the Security Intelligence Service. Appreciative of your coffee.”

“Shut up! Wendy Davis-”

“Not that Wendy Davis,” Wendy sighed, still indulging Morgan in the world’s longest handshake.

“I know, but Morgan Freeman, Wendy Davis, what a match in incidental-celebrity-names heaven our we, Wendy!” she exclaimed. Wendy let out a breath of amusement as she disentangled herself from Morgan’s hand.

“Hi, Sebastian Henshaw, an actual employee here, awaiting acknowledgement of his existence,” Sebastian declared, interrupting the serenity of the moment Morgan was creating.

“I apologize, Henshaw,” she sighed, taking another drink of her coffee before spinning around and grabbing a file out of her desk.

“No problem, Wendy,” he beamed.

“Nope, you call me Boss and Boss only,” she reprimanded without looking up from the file.

“Yes, Boss,” he apologized, ignoring the taunting smile Morgan was sending his way.

“So. As long as you’re feeling healed enough, I have an assignment in China that needs to be dealt with. Apparently there’s been a breach in security systems and information is being mishandled by the Chinese mafia. It most likely will be a longer assignment, possibly taking even a year,” she explained.

“Excuse me,” Morgan spoke up, a bit thrown she wasn’t walking home right now. Wendy’s piercing blue eyes shot up over the file as she looked expectantly at Morgan. “May I lend my services on this mission?” she asked.

“You’re sitting in the briefing, are you not?” Wendy said as if it was obvious.

Sebastian and Morgan looked at each other before looking back at her and exclaiming, “Wait, what?”in perfect unison.

“Well, you seemed to display at least a moderate amount of competency and skill during this recent escapade. I chose a mission of a similar calibre and I figured if you come back alive, we can see about keeping you on for good. Perhaps you find it’s not as much fun as you believe it to be, or maybe your living on this last mission was a fluke or luck. We’ll see,” she explained.

Morgan felt like she was floating. This morning she woke up thinking the highlight of her day would be seeing this beautiful woman, now it was seeing this beautiful woman and getting to continue her dream job. “Oh my gosh. Thank you so much,” she exclaimed standing up. She pressed her index and middle finger to her forehead in a salute and continued her gratitudes, “I promise I will do my best work and I will absolutely do everything in my power to make you proud.” She let her fingers fly away from her in a full salute as Wendy clenched her jaw to avoid smiling.

“Are you sure about this?” Sebastian asked while sitting down.

“I see potential,” she said politely, giving Morgan an appreciative glance before putting on the mask of strict professionalism. “However, we will need to do some official paperwork and procedures before you can go out into the field as an official, interim, agent.”

“Of course,” Morgan replied, trying to mimic the severity and conviction of the woman across from her.

“Oh, and I would like you to ask Audrey if she would also join. I have a feeling that she equals out your eccentricities. You seem to be a good team.”

“Oh, you’re the best. Your wish is my command,” Morgan gushed, poorly concealing her excitement.

Officially one of the best days of her life.

Hope you enjoyed! It was a fun challenge writing this! -Nicole (Twitter/Tumblr: gaycrouton)

#the spy who dumped me #tswdm #the spy who dumped me fanfiction #gillian anderson #kate mckinnon #kate mckinnon and gillian anderson #fanfic #the x files #snl #Im trash #gay fanfif #yearning #gay pining

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writingsfromthecactus · 2 years

Text

Mars the Bringer of War: Act 3 Scene 9

Content Warnings: Manipulation, blood, death, guns, alcohol use

Saturn looked Mars up and down with a raised eyebrow. “You certainly came here in a hurry. No shoes?”

“I know you know something about how I made it here.”

She nodded. She stood up from her desk. “The empress told me you might come asking. Come with me.” She left the room without another word, leaving Mars to scramble after her.

“Venus told you that I’d be here?”

“It was pretty obvious that whoever kidnapped you would try and turn you. Someone as powerful and influential as you would be the perfect ally.” She cast a sideways look back at Mars. “Did it work? Planning to stab me in the back?”

“No. I just.” Mars shook her head. “I just want to be sure of something.”

“Then you’re in luck.” She brushed her way into the elevator and selected one of the floors. Mars knew it to be the security center. “You could have gone to Pluto if you wanted hard facts. You want to be convinced. Thankfully, I’ve heard I’m very persuasive.”

The elevator stopped at the security center and she wove her way through the hallways until she found the room she was looking for and used her voice code to enter. Inside was a single desk, one chair, with a projector on the ceiling.

Venus tapped the side of the projector and it hummed to life, showing footage from one of the holding cells. Inside the cell was Neptune, holding his knees to his chest. Venus stood just inside, staring down at him. The video had the timestamp of the day that Neptune had died, and Mars even used her implant to view it in ultraviolet light, so that she could check the invisible watermark proving it wasn’t doctored. It wasn’t. She swapped her sight back to normal and watched, knowing this was the real deal.

“Mars can never know,” she said. “You understood that when you pulled her here, what’s changed?”

“You’re insane!” he shouted from the ground. “I thought you just wanted her as Mars, but you’re turning her into… into your pet! Your sex to—”

She slapped him. “Don’t you say those things to me. I’m your empress.”

“She’s going to find out. I mean, the fact that you won’t tell her who really made the call to bring her here is enough proof that you’re manipulating her.”

She slapped him again. “Shut. Up. Your job was to keep you mouth shut and you can’t even do that.”

He held his stinging cheek in one hand. “You hate hearing the truth about your actions. You have ever since your mother ingrained her twisted worldview into your head. You just want everyone to say ‘yes, empress, whatever you say, empress,’ and that’s why you think you can do whatever you want to whoever you want. You had me break the laws of time itself just because the one person you want is two hundred years away from you.”

Venus grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him to his feet. Their faces were centimeters apart. “You have some nerve talking back to me like that.”

“Did that poor girl ever talk back to you? Of course she didn’t. She’s got Stockholm Syndrome. Who knows, maybe she even thinks she loves you.”

“You don’t know anything about her!” Venus threw him against the wall. “And I’m not going to let you ruin our relationship.” She stepped out of the room for just a moment, then returned with a pistol. She fired once into Neptune’s leg and he screamed in pain. He clutched at his wound. She fired again into his left arm, then his right arm. A fourth, fifth, sixth shot went into his chest. Two more went into his gut. By that point, he was already dead.

The video stopped there. Mars’ jaw was tight, her teeth grinding together. Her fists hung at her sides, and on her left hand, her fingernails dug into her skin and drops of blood hit the ground.

“Why did you show me this,” Mars said. Her voice was flat, turning the question into a statement. It was the deepest that Saturn had ever heard Mars’ voice go.

Saturn danced closer to her. “Because Venus has flown too close to the sun. Take her down. I’ll take care of the repercussions. You do what you do best. Take her out with everything she’s taught you.”

Mars was trembling with fury. She turned on her heel and slammed the door open, smashing it into the wall with enough force to jam it open, the mechanisms inside helping it open and close on its own now broken.

Memories flashed through her mind. She thought of the way Venus consoled her about Neptune being the one to pull her through. She thought of what Venus had told her that minutes after what had happened in that video. She thought of what Venus had said just earlier when she’d woken up.

It meant that Ex-Act hadn’t been lying to her. The video with Fontain was true. The security footage was also true. Everything they’d said about the empress was real.

Another voice joined her head. It was Elise’s.

“Fuck your empress! Don’t you understand? She ripped you from your home because she’s delusional! Forced you to become her killing machine for her own damn pleasure.”

She stopped by the elevator, trying to think straight. She looked through the prisoner registry in the holding cells, looking for Elise. She found her name, registered to holding cell 13.

The elevator arrived. She selected the floor, and stormed off towards the thirteenth holding cell once she arrived. She waved the guards off and opened the door.

Elise was asleep on the small cot in the corner, but she turned over, her eyes bleary with sleep.

“Empress? Have you come to tell me I was right?” she asked, rubbing at her eyes.

“You were right,” Mars said.

She sat up straight. “Mars. You’re back. How’d you escape?”

“When you told me that Venus ripped me from my home. You were telling the truth.” Mars’ jaw trembled. “And then she killed Neptune because he wanted to tell me the truth too. Your life is in danger.”

She stared up at Mars as if she’d sprouted a second head. “You’re fucking with me. The empress sent you to lie to me so I can suffer one last time before she executes me.”

“Saturn told me everything. So did Ex-Act. And you were the first to bring it up, and I didn’t listen to you. I’m so sorry.”

Her eyes grew wider. “Are you alright? This isn’t like you.”

“All these years, she lied to me, told me that it was all Neptune’s idea, his and Fontain’s. I lost my entire life. For what? Because she saw me in a dream? I trained myself nearly to death, I risked my life for her time and time and time again, I…” Her throat closed up. “I loved her. I thought she was some kind of savior, this woman who took me in and helped me fit into this new world. But that wasn’t what she did. She ripped me open and replaced everything that I was with what she wanted me to be.”

Elise stood up. “Mars, I…” She sighed. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you, but you saw what happened to the last person who tried to tell you. And I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. Anything I can do to help, and I’ll do it.”

A message popped up from Ex-Act. I heard the news. Glad you came around to see my point of view. Here’s what I need you to do. I’ve attached a file to your implant, I need you to go to wherever the physical palace servers are located and transfer this file into the servers. I’ll take care of the rest. I’m going to get you home.

Sera stumbled into Sophie’s arms. “Oh. God. I don’t think I can stand, actually.”

“Yeah, maybe you should sit down,” she replied, helping Sera onto the couch. “You’re lucky we’re at your house. You don’t have to drive home.”

“Eh, I think even if we weren’t at my house,” she gestured down to the sleeping forms of Cameron and Andy on the ground, “I wouldn’t be going anywhere.”

Sophie chuckled. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. They had a lot of shots.”

“I’m pretty nervous,” she said. “I don’t know anyone there. At… at Westford, I mean. Especially not like I know all of you.”

“Hey, we’ll still be here,” Sophie replied. “Through phones and computers, maybe, but we’ll be there. And I’m sure there will be other people there that you can make friends with.”

Sera looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t want to forget you guys. Or replace you. Or slowly drift away and never end up talking again.”

“That’s not gonna happen.” Sophie watched her. “We’ll still have our weekly hangouts and our meme chats.”

“I don’t want to leave. I mean, I do want to leave but I also don’t want to leave, you know? If Westford were here or if our school was some kinda really cool law school, then obviously I’d stay here one hundred percent, but…”

“I get it, I do. And it’s not for forever, right? I know how much you care about them, about m…” Sophie gulped. “About us. You’ll find a way to visit, I know you will.”

“You all are, like, my family. And I know I’m the mom friend, or whatever, and I have to take care of the group. Sometimes I worry I’m not doing enough. And I’m worried about what will happen when I’m not here to help.” She looked over at Sophie’s eyes. “I feel like I can be myself when I’m here. Who will I be when I’m not here anymore?”

Sophie’s heart pounded in her ears as she realized how close she was to Sera. She forced a wobbly hand around Sera’s shoulders. “You’re Sera. That’s all you need to be.” She hesitated, her eyes dropping to Sera’s lips.

She’s drunk, she thought to herself. You’re drunk, too. She shook her head. “You should get some rest before your flight tomorrow night.”

“Oh, yeah. Good night, Sophie. Thank you for your reassuring words, though I think I’m drunk enough that I won’t remember much. Anyway. G’night!” She gave a warm, beaming smile to Sophie, then closed her eyes and curled up on the couch.

“Good night,” Sophie whispered. She watched as Sera fell asleep, then got up and grabbed a blanket from Sera’s bed, draping it over her. “I’ll miss you.”

#writer #writing #creative writing #writeblr #cactus writes #mtbow #tw manipulation #tw blood #tw alcohol use #tw death #tw guns #Mars finds out the truth...

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rpausandwhatifs · 4 years

Text

TF Do I Look Like To You?!|| Persephone and Isla

@wishes-in-the--markmark @ledabunnie-rp @nerdynumme-rp

Persi had to beg Reiner to come with her, but once she explained herself, he thought it would be a fun trip. He had honestly never seen Persi drive or her license, and was most sure she didn't have it yet, but they were around the same age, it's high time she stopped acting like a heathen. Reiner really wasn’t trying to judge her, but as someone who cares about her (still was never sure if it was deep enough or not)

"Thanks for coming," Persi said watching road.

"Yeah. I needed to get outta the house. I had time to kill since school's remote," Reiner explained.

"Baby sister getting on your nerves? Miss your girl?" She as she propped her legs up on the dashboard.

"Uhh no..my parents were actually..and..I-I don't have a girlfriend," Reiner quadruple taking at Persi because her seat belt wasn't on but the car was quiet. He pulled the car over and stopped looking at her.

"What's up? Why'd you stop? You wanna switch?" She asked, turning her head.

"Put your seat belt on, please," he says leaning back and turning his head to her.

“That’s what you pulled over for?” she asked with annoyance.

“A ticket for not wearing your seat belt in California is like $250-”

“I don’t care. My parents have the money!” she snapped.

“It’s not about the money! Your parents don’t wanna have to pay for your casket because you got thrown through a windshield,” Reiner reasoned with her, and he breathed, “Just..put it on, Persi..”

“I’ll wear one if I drive,” she said back.

“Okay..I gotta see your license,” he said, a little more excited.

Persi pulled out her wallet and took out the card, passing it over to him, “I just got it after having my permit since my birthday...AND I have a clean driving record.”

Reiner knew that she was smart enough to have a fake license and he looked at her then tilted it in the light, and saw the shimmering watermarks. He was impressed, “Alright, can you at least do the speed limit?” he asked as he unbuckled his seat belt getting out to switch with her.

~~~

“So..is she..your girlfriend?” Reiner asked as they parked outside of the loft building, she pulled out her phone to text the girl.

“No..she..well..Yeah she is. She and I kinda don’t like thinking of ourselves as girlfriends but we’re tight you know? It was my turn to come and get her so we can hang out,” Persi was trying to explain and saw the message from her saying that she was coming down. Reiner nodded, “Can you get her bags?”

“Yea sure,” he said, getting out of the car with her.

Isla was so excited to leave out and get some air with Persi and maybe she can get more personal with Persephone. She was confused she opened her door and seen the big boy standing at the back of the rental with the hatchback open. She stopped and looked at Persi with furrowed eyebrows. “Who the fuck is he?” she called out as the ginger approached her.

“My cousin. He needed a break from his perfect family and we’re working on our friendship,” Persi said, snaking her hands around the girl’s waist, knowing that touch calms her down in most situations. The girl fidgeted and picked up her bags, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just us...It’s always been just us..you’re not lying to me, are you? That’s not your boyfriend, right?” Isla asked, walking her bags over to the car, tolerating Persi’s hand on her waist. “What’s your name, man?” she asked, dropping her bags in front of her.

“Reiner...it’s nice to meet you, Isl-” he started before she cuts him off.

“Shut up! I don’t want you here,” Isla bites at him, “Persi is the lump driving?”

“Yes. He’s driving,” he said as he closed the hatch and walked to the driver’s seat, closing the door.

Isla stood back from the car and pouted. Persi realizes she's not in the car. "Is she okay?" Reiner asks, causing Persi's attention to shift. Persephone gets out of the car and pulls her off behind the car.

"What's your deal, Buttercup?" she asks, pushing her hair over and fixing the girl's flyaway, which was met with a swift slap from Isla and she was about to push her until Persephone grabs her arms and pulls her wrists together and then pulls it behind her back, "Stop! Talk to me...Isla! What's wrong?"

Isla panics for a little bit as she realized she's in the girl's "calm down" hold. Then tries to remember what's happening since there doesn't seem to be her parents as the cause and her bags are in the car. Then she trails her eyes to the hatch window and the boy in the front seat, looking down at her hoodie. "This is his..You lied to me! You told me you were single.." she whined, twisting in her hold, purposefully not locking eyes with Persephone.

"I told you he's just along for the ride..It's about time we got some muscle and a guy to pass in the hick-towns, you know?" she tried to convince the girl, trying to follow where her head is going.

"Then why do you have his hoodie?! You had this when we met! I'm not getting into any fucking poly!" Isla pushed her arms and pushed Perspephone back, which caused her to snap and grab the now-blonde brunette and slam her against the car, both of them shouting and fighting until Persephone grabs her wrists again and pins them to the car.

"Fucking chill!" she barks at her, even while she struggled.

"Let me go!~"

"You gonna stop?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Promise me you're gonna stop."

"Pers~"

"Pers nothing, stop freaking out."

"Pers!"

"Shhh! Listen to me..chill out. Alright. Promise you'll stop screaming and being a bitch. When I tell you that Reiner is basically my cousin. He's been cousin-zoned. He's off limits for me. I have his hoodie because he said he didn't want it anymore!"

"Seriously?" she asked, softening up.

"Seriously," Persephone sighed, locking eyes with the girl and loosening her grip, her touch softening.

"The hell is going on back here?!" Reiner asked as he had exited the car and bustled to the hatch.

“Nothing I haven’t already solved. Get in the car..And don’t start your shit about seat belts,” Persephone said walking to the backseat with Isla and opened the door while she went in before her.

Once they drove out of LA, Isla and Persephone were comfortable watching the open road while Reiner quietly drove against the bright streets. “Hey, Reindeer..can you make a left off this next exit? There’s this place I wanted to show Persi.”

“It’s Reiner..And how far off? We’re supposed to be at the suite in like a few hours...” he said with a little concern.

“Come on, dude! A few days won’t hurt!” Persephone said, “You told her you’re not in any rush to get back to your parents being all lovey dovey..So let’s enjoy our trip!”

“His too?” Isla asked leaning into Persephone’s touch.

“Oh yeahh. His parents were like the perfect good girl and jock-like meathead couple back at school,” Persephone said, leaning her head on the other girl, giggling.

“Who are his parents?” Isla asked.

“Rosanna and Mark,” Reiner finally said, slightly indignant.

“Oh yeah...My dad used to fuck her back in the day-” Isla said.

“How was that?” Reiner asked, trying his hardest to hold back stopping the conversation.

“From what he told me they were just young and stuck inside a lot so he’d just go and get her rocks off even if it wasn’t the real thing..Then they hung out before your brother’s baby shower? I dunno he said they were separated and she and him hung out for a while,” Isla said while she fought Persephone lightly since she was covering her in kisses.

Reiner was surprised at how tame their relationship was and wondered why his mother never brought it up. It really put into perspective for him that his parents felt safer leaving their past in the past, definitely something that wasn’t necessary to tell their kids. Growing up, it made sense, but now he couldn’t stand them. They were too perfect and a little too selfish. It was interesting to think that while he was sleeping, waiting for the day his father came back, his mom was staying out and having fun. This imperfection made him think of what exactly his father did while he wasn’t with his mother.

He just kept thinking back to the baby shower and how he heard noises and an ambulance came for whatever was going on inside the house. It was a really fun magic show on the yard but he could see his mother being walked out to the ambulance by the EMTs. His father following right behind her in handcuffs. They never talked about it, and he’d never brought it up again. His father gave him a weird story about how they were talking and she felt labor pains, but someone had fell down some steps and because they live in California, they put him in handcuffs to make sure it wasn’t a domestic situation.

Isla mentions that her mom had came there but just for the party and that she didn’t expect for her old flame to be there. Not long after that she explained to her daughter that she was pregnant with her. Persephone was in the middle of a custody battle with her birth parents so all of this went over her head. Isla chimes in to tell Reiner to turn off the road, but begins to see how much Reiner could use a break like this. She begins to see his and Persi’s dynamic unfold before her, even as she got lost in arms of the girl she missed.

They all talked about school and what it’s been like for them to just be stuck at home, to which they all agreed would be better if their parents didn’t work from home already. The upside, that Persephone and Reiner pointed out, was that their parents were there to watch their younger siblings, who appreciated the extra attention they were getting from what the older kids could see. They just wanted space. Isla would love to get to those other layers in Reiner, and this trip was proving to be her only opportunity.

They drive up to this abandoned overnight campground, long forgotten from the 70s and 80s. Reiner was nervous about the fact that they were trespassing, asking the girl how she found out about this to no answers. Let loose upon this entire campground they found the office, still full of files and documents, laughing at some of the pictures. Isla stumbles upon the proceedure to turn on the water for the cabins and mess hall.

After some very spirited games of darts, foosball and , Persephone and Isla stumble across a loose floorboard with a cookie tin under one of the broken down cabins, they sat and read the notes these two kids left for each other, finding out that they had the girls’ camp one week and the boys’ the following week. They had been planning to meet for years, but obviously since the camp shut down the spring before they could see it through.

Reiner took a lot of pictures of the flowers and a few wildlife, making a note that he was going to get up and go on the morning hikes with his parents instead of pulling all-nighters for homework and extra credit. He didn’t feel himself again today and was starting to really hope that this small thought was the beginning of sunny days in his chest and in his head. He walked over to the giggling girls in the dilapidated cabin, “You girls having fun in here?” he asked, pushing his hand through his hair and drenching it with sweat.

The girls exit and they figure out what they want to eat for dinner for the night, stopping for some In-N-Out not too far from their site. They sit up and tell stories while they pass around a bottle of brandy, Reiner apprehensive to taking sips. He tries a really small shot and doesn’t really like the taste, quickly trying the cola with another shot and not hating it as much. He decided to drink water for the rest of the night to flush out his system since they were driving the rest of the way to the suite in the late morning tomorrow. He was surprised nothing happened, despite being scared about drinking underage but he couldn’t lie about the fact that he sleep so much better even though what he drank merely coated his tongue.

They afixed a tent to the roof of the car and put an air mattress inside for Reiner to sleep there and also be on guard. Isla and Persi slept inside on a bed of duvets and mattress pads Persephone brought from home. The girls obviously stayed up later and fooled around with their drunken antics before Persephone decided to roll up and smoke the ancient weed so that she could sleep and they didn’t dip into their stash, Isla passing on it as sleep finally came down on her.

Being as Isla usually had trouble sleeping all of the way through, so woke up early, snaking out of Persi’s arms with an excuse to go to the bathroom. The girl noticed that Reiner had been missing from the roof rack fortress, so after completing her sunrise ritual and thinking about making sun tea to better motivate her until her next nap in the car, she searched for the creek and saw Reiner with a bright mat, stretching his body up against the babbling waterway. He looked pretty amazing if she could say so herself. She walked upstream to talk, almost startling the other. “Huh?!” he asked, looking down and pulling his headphones out of his ears, “Isla...I didn’t expect to see you this early given how late you were up...”

“OH...uhh sorry if we kept you up..” she apologized shyly.

“Eh,” Reiner shrugged, going into his next pose, “I hadn’t slept in 3 or 4 days at this point, not your fault. Also you two weren’t the loudest things out here, I found out,” he said, straining a little as Isla gave him worried eyes.

“I don’t sleep for long periods of time,” she said, sliding off her shoes, feeling the sand on the bank in her toes and liked the mixture of dirt in it. She tried to mime and mirror Reiner, trying to figure out which routine he was doing and joined along, “I hope you don’t mind me joining.”

“Nah...I’m surprised you caught on actually...”

“I do it myself to balance chakras and a bunch of other witchy things..I’m trying to calm Persi’s energy by getting her into witchcraft..but it’s hard because Persephone is just..It’s hard when you’re two people in one body,” she shrugged.

“Yeah...I guess..My parents always do it, so it makes me feel good after because it’s like stretching. Then I usually go workout with my dad a little so that I’m warmed up for practice after school because I recovered all day eating and going to class..”

“Wow...You’re so organized and your parents are so..involved. I kinda wish I had that, or siblings to make the times when mine aren’t involved...less empty.”

“Yeah, but since I’m older they give more attention to the little ones, and I’m not jealous or anything, but now..it just seems like they have time for each other, and the babies..I dunno what to do now that my -like- next 6-9 months can’t happen. It was like, the only thing keeping me going.”

“Football and going to college for football?”

“Uhhh not really. I guess the fact that I was working towards something? That...it was certain. I guess you could say....Aaaannnd finish strong..!”

“Uh huh...is that the reason why you’re not sleeping..you feel like you’ve lost purpose?~”

Reiner and Isla stop and he shakes out his tension, looking at the girl and playing back what she said in his head, “Purpose? Like the reason to live purpose?”

Isla huffed and scoffed, “No~ more like..it’s what made your life feel whole and gave you peace of mind. And without it...You’re questioning yourself and your angry at something that makes you feel like you failed at something even though you didn’t but essentially it was out of your control?”

“Yeah...wow..it..uhh makes my chest stuffy and tense like..I’m nervous and scared...”

“Does your dad die from smoking?” she asked after he rolls up his mat and walks over to the huge rock and log that hangs over the widening of the creek.

“Nobody in my house smokes,” he said affirmatively.

“Your mom sneaked cigs with my dad, remember? So, how about you figure it out now?” she asked, sitting on top of the rock, throwing her legs over and wets her feet. She enjoyed the cool stream on her feet and the little bubbles rushing up her skin tickling her, and Reiner followed her as he took his shoes off and dips his feet in, shivering a little. The girl reached in her pocket and pulled out the unfinished blunt they had rolled and lit it. She was expecting the boy to freak out and ask politely to put it out, but instead he sat back and breathed her secondhand smoke with such calm and without hesitation. She pulls back and gives him a look.

Reiner understood why she pulled back, since he remembered the little bit of smoking culture of waiting his “turn”. Also, she was still protecting him, but his chest was pained, even after the yoga. He couldn’t take a naproxen or acetometaphin. Hell, he remembers his mother handing him a vallium by accident and nothing happened. Now he couldn’t focus, but he can’t always go on a walk. He felt so weird being the odd one out now when he’s been through many a family gathering and abstained even though Persi and a few of the others didn’t, but Harlan was always there to give him the reassurance he needed. Harlan was home from college, but he had his own things going on. His mother nor Harlan could be there forever to ease his chest or give him the reasons or tell him he’s comfortable where he was. Nobody was going to protect him anymore. He was too scared to move, he wasn’t thinking. He waited until she was done with her turn, sliding it off of her fingers and looked at her, “So..what do I do?”

“I’ll give you brownie points for remembering the golden rule...But inhale slow cus the air carrying the smoke is hot. Puff out your cheeks then swallow the air slow and hold it for a little then let it go,” Isla explained quickly.

“Am I supposed to cough or something?” he asked looking at it strangely.

“Yes, but you’ll just get higher faster, you’re only getting the one hit. I don’t have my license and I wanna get to the diner without dealing with Persi’s roadrage,” she said, taking it back in her fingers.

“Are..you gonna finish it?” he asked.

“No. I’m not. I don’t remember a lot of last night either because of what Persephone and I did or because I did too much or bc this ancient ass grass snuck up on me.”

“What? How does..marijuana sneak up on you?”

“Oh my god you sound like such a square~! It’s one of those things where if you’re trying a new strain it’ll get you higher than expected in an unexpected timeframe...” she says, pushing her hair back and leaning back on the rock, Reiner follows.

“Oh..” Reiner said taking some deep breaths as he felt this calming forcing its way into his chest, “Woah...”

“Woah what?...You alright?” Isla asked, turning her head.

“My chest stopped hurting..like it doesn’t feel tight anymore. I feel..like..wow..I need to do yoga. I need to do my routine again now that I feel like this..” he says, dropping his hand into the water while he took very steady and even breaths, listening more intently to the babbling of the creek. He brought it back up and pushed it through his hair and loved the fact that he was calm.

“See? And how about we try some other types of yoga..Like where we take our clothes off and really embrace the energy?” Isla suggested, putting it out and stuffing it into her shorts.

“I’ve heard of naked yoga, but..do you think that’s..safe? Out here?” he asked hesitantly.

“We started out here as children of the earth, I’m sure she won’t mind..Also we’re going to the suite like right after breakfast so you’ll be able to properly wash off soon,” she was sure to be vague about the goddess of nature and the sun goddess, since they were about to do a ritual.

Reiner was still unsure and thought about what she was saying and honestly, she wasn’t wrong and this girl doesn’t copy Persephone, but is her foil. It just made her better to sit down and talk to, and waste time with her. When she spoke to him, he felt like he could believe what she was saying because she’s lived it, it just comes through. He’d have to ask Persi if she could bring her along all the time. The boy looked over and saw the girl standing stark naked a few feet away, a little shocked. He wondered if he zoned out because he was thinking so hard or if he was stuck because he was buzzed and his thoughts slowing down made him forget the time passing. He sat up and pulled off his shirt.

Back at their little base, Persi had woken up and wondered where those two had gone, hearing their laughter in the distance, she followed their sounds. She found the creek and could barely see them upstream looking like they were doing yoga, so she took off her shoes and started walking on the sand of the beach.

Reiner and Isla were laughing through most of the poses but they both did feel so much better and limber from sitting and driving for so many hours as well as the activities they’ve gotten up to yesterday. Isla looked at Reiner and was so confused because she’s never felt more comfortable naked in front of a man than she did right now. It could be the weed, but also, she just loved his energy he brought. She knew Persi and Persephone didn’t mean to be angsty and chaotic, but being around Reiner was a nice change of pace. She didn’t feel any sexual tension or pressure, so she thought she’d ask him a very fitting question. “Hey can you like..massage my back and help me crack my spine? Yoga for some off reason doesn’t do anything for my back but my extremities feel so good,” she said once she was finished brushing the sand off her knees.

“I gave you the more comfortable sleeping spot, and you definitely need to work on your form..Why don’t you ask Persi to do it?” he said, not able to believe her at first.

“Persi is too rough, and she’s impatient she goes too fast. Also, she usually wants to have sex with me, and I just need someone strong to break my back for me,” Isla bit back.

“Alright, well can you give me a rub down when we get to our suite?” he asks, watching her lay on the rock.

“Why don’t you ask Persi to do it?” she asked him mockingly.

“Her and I don’t have the established boundaries for her just to be rubbing my back. Just because you and I click and we can have that energy like you said, doesn’t mean I get that from her...Also, you just said that she’s heavy-handed and impatient.”

Isla loved how Reiner’s hands felt on her body when he held her up while they did the yoga poses, she didn’t expect for his hands to be better at massages and knowing how to crack her back. She was making so many noises while trying to tell him exactly where to go and communicating what was working that when he stopped and looked up to see Persi, she immediately shoved Reiner into the creek.

“What the fuck?!” Persi asked furrowing her brows, “What the fuck were you two doing? Why’d you just push him into the creek?”

“‘Cus..uhh he tried to kiss me-”

“Where are your clothes?” Persi asked.

“O-over there...”

“And...what were you doing again? Cus I don’t think you lied to me right the first time,” she said, getting more frustrated.

“We were hanging out...And uhhh..phew! That water was cold!” Reiner said, finally climbing out of the creek and throwing his clothes on, walking toward Persi, and handing Isla her clothes. “Persi...believe me..we were doing yoga and she asked me a favor. It doesn’t sound as bad as it looks..”

Persi scoffed and turned around and walked away, tears streaming down her face. She felt so betrayed, unsure of how she could be so stupid, but also that what she saw surprised her and made her jealous. They were stuck on this trip and Persephone just couldn’t calm down now. She really thought Isla didn’t like him that much. She was wondering what changed in the matter of 2 days. From her being completely content with Reiner and her being happily at arm’s length, to him trying to lie about having sex with Isla. Maybe he was right: she was too possessive. The girl was taking all of this out on a dilapidated cabin- breaking all of the windows and using one of the loose pipes to break more things and the petrified wood. It was becoming more clear that yes she was jealous of Isla possibly and allegedly having sex with Reiner, and just a little hurt by Reiner seemingly lying to her about building some sort of a connection. She realized how bad it was that she had gotten angry that they had gone off together.

Isla had spent about an hour listening to Persephone freaking out and reeking havoc on the poor cabin while she made sure that Reiner wasn’t as influenced anymore. Reiner reassures her that he’s fine since she shoved him into the cold creek. She pleads to fix things with her because she was too afraid of her response. They were techincally in the middle of nowhere and she could drive off and abandon them at any time.

Reiner went finally went in and knocked to get Persephone’s attention, “What the fuck do you want?!” she girl growled as she turned around.

“You done yet?” he asked, leaning against the doorjamb, looking around at the broken room, “We’re ready to talk so that we can go.”

“I don’t trust you two...I’m telling you right now...You, I know what you could be capable of, but her...even I’m not sure what she would say or do to protect herself,” Persephone said, tearing up some more curtains.

“So, you’re not even gonna give it a chance?”

“You get one, she’s gonna have to show me I can trust her,” she said, throwing her foot into the walls and busting holes in it.

“And that means you gotta blow up like this? That girl is sitting there half to death out there. If something did happen and it was an accident, you’re not even giving her the benefit of the doubt,” he pointed out, grimacing at the girl’s actions then tries to approach the red head.

“I’m not taking it out on her, so what does it matter?! I can act however I wanna act if I feel so inclined, asshole!” she barked, out of breath.

“Alright, but when it’s appropriate. Didn’t you hear me? Isla has been having a full panic attack because you’re in here and she thinks you’re gonna abandon her or hit her. Either way she doesn’t feel safe,” he explained, reaching for her wrists, the girl fighting a little more before she had to stop and catch her breath since she was hyperventilating so hard until Reiner notices the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks as she collapsed into sobs in her friend’s chest, quickly picking her up. He reassures her and rubs her back while her chest heaved.

“Did you do it? Did you...did you actually kiss her?” she asks.

“Nah. Well I was kinda excited over doing couples yoga and the conversation we were having that I wasn’t even looking her in the face,” he said with a shrug.

“Then what was the noises I heard? And why were you doing something that if someone just so happened to catch you, the dots they connect would be ridiculous...?” she asked, trying to catch her breath.

“I-I I-I I dunno..okay?! I figured that it wouldn’t take that long and she wasn’t giving me that vibe...It was a blurry moment for me!” he admited, “I was trying new things, okay? I was trying sky clad yoga with Isal and I tried some the weed she had and my chest stopped hurting and I could think so much better and I didn’t even try a lot. I really felt better than I have this whole trip, and that’s including the walk and the yoga I’ve been doing for the past 3 months!”

“WH...wait!...You tried weed back there?” she asked, hushing her tone quickly, “We can worry about my jealousy and betrayal later...Did..how come you didn’t tell me?”

“About what?”

“About your..’your chest problem,’ I thought you were just babysitting me to make sure I came back and I didn’t get into any trouble..I-I didn’t kn-know you needed a distraction...” Persi shrinking as she realized how clouded her head had been about Isla, “I’m sorry.”

“That’s the thing, you throw things at me and move independently of others. You never would have known if this didn’t happen,” Reiner explains putting his hands in his pocket, “Can we go now? We can talk about this when we get to the suite.”

“You think I’m gonna let you live in the same space as Isla you have another thing fucking coming...but we should go. So maybe we’ll just get you a hotel room nearby,” Persi bites, walking out of the cabin, seeing Isla waiting by the car looking a little scared.

~~~

They are on a stretch of road in the desert, Persi driving as Isla sat in passenger and Reiner in the back. She thinks of anything to try and keep her calm, take her mind off of the impending fear she has in her head. “What’s for dinner when we get to the suite?” Isla asks, leaning her head against the window.

“I was gonna make my mom’s chicken parm, but I gotta check-in so I might not do it tonight,” Reiner says.

“What do you mean? We’re all checking into the same suite...” Isla says.

“No we’re not. He’s going to stay in a hotel room and visit our suite-”

“Why?”

“Isla, it’s fine don’t-” Reiner said before she cut him off.

“No, it’s not! We didn’t fuck. We were hanging out. You’re not dangerous. Pers, he’s staying with us,” Isla said.

“No. He’s not. I can’t trust him.”

“Why because he trusted me and not you? Does it upset you if we get close?” Isla argued.

“I’m just protecting you,” Persi said.

“No you’re not! You’re hoarding me like my mother did-”

“But you want to get away from her-”

“BeECAUSE she keeps me from interacting with other people like you’re doing right now! You don’t own me. I’m not your fucking property. Your little travel stuffie! I have feelings and my own thoughts and ways of doing shit, and I wanna be able to be comfortable with another guy that isn’t my dad!” she said, making Persi pull over.

“What? Persi, no! Come on we gotta get to the suite...Can’t we...Ugh...This is so dumb!” Reiner complains, getting out of the car once she gets out.

“Where are you going, Reiner?!” Isla asks.

“I’m gonna walk! You two just pick me up down the road when yall done fighting...” Reiner said grabbing his backpack with a few water bottles and a snack, taking quick strides from the vehicle and leaving the hatch open.

“WAi...Urgh! Persephone you selfish bitch!” Isla growls and snaps, shoving Persephone against the car. It sets her off as they fight and fall into the dirt, tussling and wrestling.

“What’s wrong? Your boyfriend leaving make you sad?~” the red-head taunted, causing push her and punch her in the face.

“He’s not my boyfriend! You think everything is about you! You think everything belongs to you and ONLY you! You’re so fucking wrapped up in being 2 people and forgotten about because you were a mistake...I wasn’t supposed to fucking EXIST. Someone wanted you, nobody wanted me. Reiner is tired of being ‘that kid’ where everything is PERFECT! You’re not the only one who needs to...deal or cope with something!” Isla fought as she yelled at her, getting her down and pinning her. She hadn’t realized how strong she would be if she actually had to fight Persephone. “Now stop! You’re losing the fight and we’re losing Reiner!” she threw her wrists above her head.

“NO~...” Persephone screamed, her voice breaking as tears rolled down her face as her head rocked back and forth, erupting into a very juvenile cry. Isla let her up to wipe her tears, giving her a very heartfelt embrace with the girl, “I feel..so alone..and I didn’t even realize...I’m sorry.”

“You’re not alone, babe...”

“I’m like...not allowed to have someone love me...No matter how hard I try..My people, they never really worked it out, it shouldn’t feel like it’s my fault~” she tried to gather herself, trying to wipe her eyes and catch her breath through sobs, “They cursed me to be alone..”

“Hey, hey!..You know I love you. Reiner loves you. That’s all we do is love you. We feel the same way sometimes..And you know where I come from..Open those big beautiful green eyes of yours, the desert needed your tears-”

“Isla, don’t start with all that woo-woo about the universe-”

“The same woo-woo about the universe is the same way people believe in a God, it’s just I believe in multiple gods and goddesses...And you- just like Reiner- have lost your purpose..or just haven’t found it yet. You’re looking for complete and unrequited love like a family and-”

“So I have to believe in a higher power..and it’ll just stop?”

“Of course not! I’m trying to..get you to understand you have to stop thinking it’s gonna be some storm of overwhelming calm or an abundance of good luck or compliments. It’s the little things too, baby. It’s the chance to see the sun rise and set; the wind blowing and your medical health; hey, you got to meet me, and love me, and touch me and my body, you get to hear my voice. You make me happy. Are you always the source of my happiness? No, but are you in a backpack full of things that make me happy? Absolutely!”

Persi was so happy to have Isla and her loving embrace along with her intuitive ways of comfort. Isla was grateful for Persi finally being able to receive some necessary healing. The girl couldn’t be sure if Persephone was along for the ride, but at least they were fighting together. Storms not too far off began to rumble against the mountains and the cloud cover was rolling in. They retreated back to the car and started down the road to pick up Reiner.

~~~

Once at the hotel they decide on a double room just so everyone has room and a bed to decompress from being on the road for about a week. Persephone said that the both of them were going to have to work things out for a couple of days, so she told Isla and Reiner that they can hang out without her. The pair simply slept the first day, sharing fun movies and eating various foods. They both checked in with their parents, where Ro was ecstatic to hear that her boy was okay, and also that he might like a girl. They had already discussed before the call that they didn’t care for their parent’s previous relationship, but it would have some influence and called that the end of the discussion between them. Leda and Mark were laughing uncontrollably at how their children came together and vibed, taking up the rest of the conversation away from their children and back to being a virtual reunion for them.

Isla got up and started to play fight with Reiner on his bed as their parents yammered on, eventually escalading into a pillow fight. They both hadn’t realized their parents had hung up long ago until their room service interrupted them.

“I’ve never had a prom-” Isla slurped up as she ate her food, chewing more gracefully, “If your school has a prom, are you going?”

“No...I didn’t..I missed it. We had it early in the year. Sadie Hawkin’s kinda thing...” Reiner admitted, “And with all of...you know..They’ve just kinda closed for the year. And this trip..I was saving it for that night cus I really enjoy hanging out with Persephone. The grass, everything, meeting you, the yoga...I just, I thought if I wasn’t enjoying it I wasn’t ready, but...it’s the only thing I had left to look forward to that I planned solely on my own and..this has been a lot, man.”

“That’s okay. And that’s very concerning so maybe we should have our own prom and dress up tonight? Like dude we’re doing this,” Isla jumped up excitedly, running to the bathroom. Reiner raised slowly and followed behind lazily to have a better position while she did her makeup. “No~ go get changed...Like dressed up or something! I have hair gel and dry shampoo in my suitcase!”

“I have my own products thank you though and also I can’t watch you put makeup on?” Reiner replied.

“Ugh!” Isla turned around, “I want it to be a surprise! You’re supposed to first see me when you pick me up from my house!”

“I know the routine, but eating in the hotel room is pretty far along if we’re going by that logic,” Reiner showed her his palms in his defense, “Plus, I like watching girls put on makeup...it’s so weird..” he snorts quietly as he puts down the toilet seat cover.

“Well I eat while I put on my makeup, so now you’re in charge of feeding me,” Isla said back with a little giggle.

~~~

Isla had now understood why she saw the dress in Persephone’s luggage, and why she told her that she brought her one that would probably fit her. She wore some cute fishnets she bought at store when they stopped for gas with sleek gown with a slit up to the top of the hip, complete with gloves and a cascading shimmer. Reiner slid on a suit his mother had bought an event his father was going to- some award show or something.

Isla took a long look at herself in the mirror as she put on her pretty dangling moonstone and rainbow quartz chandeliers, it made her think of her mother. What this night is/was for her. If she even remembers that night. She was flashing back to the time the girls in the school she was going to at the time were talking about their dates to a dance, and how their moms did their makeup. Given that Leda was a sort of makeup artist, Isla still would have loved for her to think of a look with her and fight with her about it because she’ll probably hate it. She at least wanted the right to do it. She still might. She sat back and pushed the tears back so that her makeup wouldn’t run. She really didn’t have much since Persi didn’t like it like that. “Hey, uh, I finished the- oh.” Reiner said as she took her last deep breath. Just like he said, there’s nothing exciting after this- they’re already in the hotel room. Persi wasn’t here.

The two spent the night taking prom pictures with bed sheets and table pictures with the service cart that held their room service with one of Isla’s candles. Reiner had some lasting energy from the one glass of champagne and two hits he had. He liked the floaty and lightheaded feeling because he made him feel young. However, Isla was finishing everything because of wanting to enjoy the “party.”

They had gotten to the last songs in their playlist and just decided to be prom king and queen. They laughed and fumbled as they tried to align their arms and bodies for dancing together. “You’ve never danced ballroom?” Isla asked, relaxing into his hand on her back again, her eyes darting to their raised locked hands as they almost robotically box-trotted through the song off-beat.

“I have..You ever let the man lead?” Reiner laughed.

“I’ve never danced like that for real...I’ve only seen it in cartoons and movies. My mom made me miss every opportunity I had to dance with a boy,” Isla explained, rubbing her sweaty hands on the dress, “So, you had packed a suit but not a corsage?”

“I would have bought one if the flower shop was open. We weren’t supposed to get here so late because you two had to have a crying moment in the desert...” Reiner said, wiping his own hands on the handkerchief that was in his chest pocket, then tossing it on the bed, adjusting his cufflinks.

“We were fighting over you, you know?” Isla said, looking down as they lined up again.

“That’s hilarious,” he said as his hand slipped across the middle of her back, pulling her closer and resting her head in his chest as they simply rocked, “I want to sway, but I didn’t want you to be nervous about stepping.”

Isla gasped, melting into his touch briefly before snapping back,“Uhh, no! We actually were! She was jealous-”

“I know she likes me, that’s why this whole prom thing worked out for us,” he scoffed.

“What?” Isla asked, anxious and confused.

“I was gonna ask her to give me my first kiss...cus I know that’s all she wanted. We’re...interesting friends. My mother doesn’t really like her or her situation but...she cares about her dad..the dramatic one-”

“Are you talking about Dan~” Isla asked cracking up, sinking her head into his chest, “But that’s so sweet...The-the kiss thing.”

“Oh yeah~..” Reiner chuckled lightly, rubbing Isla’s back, “It was either that or I found a girl on one of these road trips..do it the old-fashioned way..”

Isla really like him rubbing her back as it went with the music they chose, while they both just stood in between the balcony and the room, swaying lightly to the soft guitar music. She thought about how she wanted to find more wholesome boys than the ones in LA and when her mother was on the road. Through their conversations, she found out about the boring life Persi had and was so glad to have met her so she can talk about her days playing on the cul-de-sac with Reiner. All of the events they went to every year. The occasional fights. It’s interesting to her because all of them aren’t necessarily related by blood, so her suspicions weren’t wrong about them, but it was only opening to her now that she might have changed something that might have been set in place. “Have you ever...you know, liked Pers like that?” she asked hesitantly.

“She’s been growing on me, but she sees things that aren’t me but it means she’s opened up. So I like some of the things about her and what we have as our bond stands but could I see myself in the romantic way she does?..I dunno,” Reiner admitted, “And I don’t mind her having you.”

“Do you think she would mind if I had you?” Isla asked with a small smile.

“I dunno, I think she just likes me, you know? You can..you know..have her. I don’t wanna share her,” Reiner admitted.

“It doesn’t sound as well as you mean it,” she laughed, “You don’t want two girlfriends?”

“What?” Reiner asked, “That... sounds greedy.”

“It’s not ~... especially if you want the both of us,” Isla said, hoping to get through to him.

“I don’t know you and I never admit to really knowing Persephone but I care about her a lot..” he mused, “Also guys on the football team act like having more than one girl is some achievement... everyone does. So far I can accept it as a blessing, but people aren’t prizes. I can argue what you get out of them is.”

Isla was frustrated outwardly and knew it was from being intoxicated. The boy was being so noble and sweet and shameless about his opinions. It was different, he was assertive but not forward. His hair falling just the right way as his hair dressing and gel pulled the rest back. “Fuck, Reiny~ why are you taking your time to kiss me?” She asked.

“Certain song. And you could do it at any time,” he admits, “Why aren’t making an attempt?”

Isla scoffed, slightly offended, “I don’t know what to do with guys my age. My mom always ruined it for me by making us move or giving me terrible experiences about men... Basically she was gatekeeping my heterosexuality.”

“She didn’t mind you being a lesbian?” He asked.

Isla sighed, “I was her little baby until I snapped at 16... she flipped her shit when she saw me sucking dick at a beach rave I found her at. Then that time I was being forced fingered by these chicks and she completely zoned out in the room because she was just... not well and couldn’t do anything. She would force me to do little girl things and my lack of a growth spurt really let her travel a lot with me trying not to get groomed or she used me as a happy place because she forced me to keep my innocence but also destroyed it. Either way she was running from a guy that wasn’t chasing her anymore.”

“Was she on the run from parole or the police?” He asked, “I’m so sorry that happened to you.. really I am. You shouldn’t be punished for your mother’s problems or condition...”

Isla felt his words and sighed deeply as she squeezed him, “Worse. A jilted and psycho ex. She told me that if he found her she’d kill her for escaping.”

“So... how did the horror story end?” He rubbed her back to relax her.

“Some other dude she was fucking killed him for trespassing on school grounds and his family buried him. That or my dad, because he took me to his grave to see him,” she explained, shifting a little.

Reiner looked down at her with a puzzled expression, “Why would he do that?”

“Because my mother made it my life purpose to help protect her from him and that he’s going to get her and kill anyone around and torture my mother to death. My mother miscarried a lot before she had me, like purposefully abort and miscarry babies, I was the one my dad forced her to stop running to have, so my dad loves me but she gets jealous and angry and paranoid... that’s why she sabotages me growing up,” she explained, “My dad was giving me permission and the wherewithal to live my own life while he dealt with my mom's trauma.”

“Persi told me she met you at a beach party when she walked out on her people,” he mentioned, “So my verdict of this is that you’ve not really had a kiss from a guy you genuinely liked and dated because your mom kept you from having and enjoying those experiences..so your dad has been helping you snap out of it.”

“Sounds legit,” Isla smirked, scoffing at herself since hearing it from him.

“Do you genuinely like me?..We haven’t really been dating and I know that this whole trip is a date, but what do you think of me so far?” Reiner asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Isla asked, throwing her hands up out of the hold, then drops her exasperation into confusion, “Wait...well, I mean I like the general vibe of you and the idea of you I’ve built up in the past maybe from what Persi had told me about you. You’re really..really cute! And I-”

“Are pretty high and a little drunk,” Reiner said, chuckling and shaking his head, trying to take her hands again, “Calm down, Isla.”

“I know~ but why would you ask me that?” Isla laughed going back to intertwinning with the boy.

“Because Persi told me she’s coming back for Prom tonight,” Reiner admitted, “And...I’m gonna kiss her tonight...And I dunno what’s gonna happen after that but I know that I’m still gonna really like her..And I’m really only starting to get to know you and I love it so far and-” he sighed deeply, “I didn’t want to take her away from you or anything..A-and I don’t even want...sex..with her..I just want to have her in my life..And just like- watch her be happy and make her happy every way I can.”

“Wait...Reiner are you asexual?” Isla asked pulling herself away from him, “It’s clear you’re romantically attracted to her, but...you don’t want to have sex with her...”

“I don’t want to have sex with anybody, get it right,” he interrupted her, “That’s the whole ‘a-’ part in ‘asexual;’ I want her but I hadn’t been able to tell her, but I was gonna give it a go when we...you know..had our moment...”

“Yeah, I’m getting that but you’re..like..an adonis. You’re not attracted to anyone sexually?” Isla asked with slurs, leaning back into him, “Have you even tried?”

“I know sexuality is fluid and I have felt, you know..fluid - oh god what am I saying?” he said as he broke into laughter and let the girl go before catching her again, realizing she’s more intoxicated than he expected- but mostly because he feels loose enough, he didn’t know this is what happens when someone tries to keep up with him, “Woah, hang on, sit down...You okay?”

Isla plops onto the bed, “You’ve been demi-sexual before?” she asked, leaning back.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Reiner said as he heard the door to the other room open and close before looking at Isla, who began wildly snickering, “Compose yourself..”

~~~

Reiner rushes to the connecting door to their rooms and not the actual door, hearing the knocks again. Persephone had gone out and bought a new dress and actually did her makeup and hair. She went with a more bright and light colour palatte and chose a very pretty cream hokey dress with flower and some frills to make it seem either homemade or expensive. She wore her mother’s earrings and Dan’s engagement ring on her hand as well; she had picked out a beautiful clear crystal adornment. All of this still complimented the other couple’s color scheme and styles.

“That’s...wow..” Reiner said as he opened the door slowly and then Isla jumping up to yank the door all the way open and gaped at the girl,

“Holy shit, Persi.”

“Persephone..I look most like it tonight..” she chuckled calmly, then looked down at her garter stockings that have white skulls in the delicate lace, then takes the flower off the dresser and hands it to him. “You said Babies’ Breath for accent, yes?”

It was making Reiner’s head spin. Her entire composure was different, and the inflections of her tones and her rough Northern English accent had even softened and became more clear. He nodded slowly and breathed out, scoffing awkwardly, making her awkwardly laugh under her breath- his eyes watching her glossed blushed lips turn and relax. “You look...absolutely angelic, Persephone,” he finally said after a dry swallow.

“And you’re very stunning-”

“And I’m FUCKED up!” Isla yelled, pushing the boy into the other room with Persephone and closing the partition door.

“...She alright?” the girl asked, giggling.

“Do you not understand how different you look right now?” he asked.

“I had to put it all together, I know what I look like, love..And how long are we gonna wear this whole..thing, because it is awfully uncomfortable seeing as I usually don’t wear this..That’s what Isla’s for,” she mentioned, trying to hide her willies.

“Well I did a 20 song playlist turning up with Isla, and I’m..not gonna lie I’m tired and sobering up, so how about 5 songs and we call it a night?” Reiner asked sweetly.

“Great because I could only think of 5 songs when you asked me,” she sighed in relief, relaxing her body.

“That was...well before this trip, Persephone,” he said slowly, then holding out his hand gently, and lowering himself slightly, “May I have the pleasure of the dancing with you?”

“Yes, and may I?” she said, covering her giggle before getting met with a nod as she returned to a secret place: Reiner’s chest. It’s something she thought she was going to have to miss if he had gone to college and only see and experience when he came home. They rocked gently back and forth, Reiner changing the patterns in slight ellipses. His hand on her back reminded her of when her Otosan would soothe her back to sleep when she used to have nightmares even though she hated his guts. She felt like Reiner made things make sense by being the simplest answer. It just always seemed like she didn’t belong in their world and he said that it was okay. He let her know that he cared no matter how many strange looks his mother gave them or any of the other families in the cul-de-sac. The fact that their parents were friends and lived near one another in a community she didn’t fit in always upset her. She wanted normal and boring. Or at least not to live with her Dads’ best friends and their kids. The girl looked up at Reiner and then looked down as she sighed heavily, “Reiner...”

“Yeah, Persephone?” he asked quiet and sweet.

“Why..why’d you really ask me to do all of this?..I mean, I’m helping you break out, but...here we are..secretly trying to fit in,” Persephone said, chuckling lightly and shaking her head.

“Because you can always have the same as someone else and it just...be different for you..I dunno how to explain it, but...I wanted...to have control. Something- well- someone who would help me do it,” he said, pulling her out of his chest and looked down at her. She was so vulnerable in his arms and he knew if he did this right and everything was planned, then he’d have this moment forever.

“What-what’s that supposed to mean?” she asked innocently, scoffing and looking away.

“It means that everything in my life was sure until all of this quarantine..stuff..-fuck it..This shit took everything away from me. My plans were ruined, and getting my first kiss at my prom was the only thing I knew if I planned it then I’d...I wouldn’t feel so lost and hopeless,” he admitted, finally feeling himself try to stray away from his vanilla upbringing.

Persephone was shocked and her heart sank to hear him curse, but there was part of her who smiled. She knew he was trying to break out but she didn’t know it was because of her. It was making her head spin on top of the fact she instantly as nervous because the boy she thought never wanted her chose her for his first kiss. “R-Reiner...oh my god!” she tried to say in disbelief as her face remained distant. They had both since let go, but she wished she couldn’t and that she never did. It all made much more sense than it should have. It was the only other thing she never understood about him, it wasn’t brotherly, or familial, hell- it’s not even friendly. He loved her. She rushed back to his chest, embracing him tightly, “I didn’t know you hadn’t even had your first kiss...”

“I’m asexual. And I’m married to my goals, so I’d rather make..being loving a goal so that I’m not a robot...I wasn’t sure when I was gonna be ready, but...part of me always wanted to know, you know,” he took her in just how he expected and like nothing earth-shattering wasn’t just revealed.

His words made the both of them laugh, and pull apart slightly again, Persephone finally raising his hand, “How uhh..how far did you wanna take it?”

“The rest of my life,” he answered quickly and breathed in hard, looking away. Startling her for a moment, but she figured it’s a hard night for him to form thoughts. “Oh the kiss-uhh..there..there’s depth to this?”

“Yeah, there’s a regular kiss on the lips,” Persephone explained, finally pulling him in and giving him a slow peck, unable to hide her smirk at the little butterflies and his grip tightening, “Okay~ and there’s the teaser,” she moved in again, letting him lift her slightly as she teased the kiss and little further.

“I feel like my heart’s about to explode out of my chest~” Reiner piped up and loosened his grip as he panted after the teasing kiss, “Wow...I-I think that’s enough for now...uhh”

“You really like me~” she realized as she was lowered, holding him again, “And what do you mean for now? I’m kinda...in the middle of something with Isla-”

“I’d..fuck..I’d already spoke with her while I was waiting for you,” he explained, still catchin his breath, returning his embrace instead of the hold, “She was fine now that we’ve had a conversation and I was able to ask her how she felt about me and all of that.”

“Well, what’d she say?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“How about, Miss Envy...we talk about it over breakfast tomorrow morning?..Pretty sure she’s passed out...” he said, quickly kissing the top of her head andleaving his mouth there briefly.

“And uhh...I’ll upgrade us back to the suite tomorrow too..” she admitted meekly, blushing hard as she buried her face in her chest.

#persephone grace #isla artemis #reiner pansino-fishbach #prom

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