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#about how the five ones we have were. Just made up entirely. Love doesn't have to be demonstrated in any one quantifiable way
tracle0 · 1 year
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New love language, signs of trust
#I watched a video about love languages recently which was very good and insightful#about how the five ones we have were. Just made up entirely. Love doesn't have to be demonstrated in any one quantifiable way#just saw two butterflies chasing each other outside hang on#anyway yeah so this psychologist (?) just. Made up five ways of expressing love and tried to fit everyone into this system#and then it got capitalised on to be board games or books or whatever#but like#it's not like that!!!!!!!!#I had a friend for a while who asked me to do a quiz to find out your love language. mine came through as quality time#so they tried to spend a lot of time with me to prove they loved me. But got upset because I didn't give words of affirmation#and they felt unloved#but like. Mm. how do I phrase this#if you spend more quality time with someone you're more likely to hear words of affirmation BECAUSE you're around them more yknow!#they're not meant to be separate from each other!!!#Every single one of us probably lies somewhere in each of the definitions#and then also outside them as well! How do you best like to be loved can depend entirely on the day!#I know that being trusted by someone feels good for me. Or. To violate that and not trust me to express myself or whatever#just turns me off a relationship so quickly#hence the friend I mentioned previously and I. Moving past each other. Because for a long time it felt like they didn't trust me#when I told them I do like spending time with you. And because they didn't trust me I stopped enjoying spending time with them#love has a lot of thoughts rattling in my head today I think. It's just a thought. Please enjoy
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aeliuss · 24 days
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Featuring: pussydrunk!chan x afab reader
Genre: smut with the tinniest of plots lol
Warnings: chris is reader's fiance, cunnilingus, semi-public sex (bathroom stall) and over all smut smutty smut.....yeah. minors do NOT interact
Notes: what i do for you guys (and myself). feedback is always appreciated! or you can hit me up and we can squeal together lol
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chan is horny. like, unbelievably so.
which, in itself is incredibly inappropriate since he's currently at the work function you invited him to, in trousers that he cannot afford to have a hard-on in, but it's not his fault. how could he not be, when you're walking around the ballroom in your pretty little slip dress, hair brushed to the side, as you interacted with your coworkers. you're so graceful, so professional, so put together, so--
delectable.
he clears his throat, adjusting his pants and sitting up, forcing himself to tear his eyes away from you and back on one of your coworkers, who has been speaking to him for the past five minutes about the company's goals. he could not give less of a shit to be honest, but he's here for you, so he makes the effort, smiling and nodding when appropriate, the picture of a loving, supportive fiance.
that is, until he has your dress bunched up to your hips as gets to his knees in front of you.
he doesn't know how you two got here, just that he met your eyes over the shoulder of you blabbering coworker and suddenly, he was excusing himself, and through a flurry of movement, and mumbled apologies, you two were suddenly in the only place you could get a sliver of privacy--a bathroom stall.
"chris, my dress--" you whine when he shoves it upwards unceremoniously, forcing you to curl your fingers around the hem. "it's gonna get wrinkled and I have to give a speech later."
his deft fingers curl around the waistband of your panties and he looks up at you. "sweetheart....you know I love you, but I don't give a shit about your dress."
"we can't do this here," you protest, trying to regain some sense of composure, but your words come out in breathy whispers as his fingers trail teasingly along the edge of your panties. you can feel the heat pooling between your thighs, your body betraying your protests.
he chuckles, keeping his eyes on yours as he litters kisses on your inner thighs. "can't we?"
your scent enveloped him, intoxicating and sweet, as his fingers deftly peeled away your panties, his gaze never leaving yours. your already wet, and normally, any other time, chan would comment on how needy you were for him, how you were already sopping and he hasn't even touched you--but today? today he was the needy one, practically drooling at the sight of you.
"so pretty, baby," it comes out in a desperate sigh. "so so pretty."
before you can respond, he is flattening his tongue across your entire vulva, dragging it up slowly. his fingers tighten around your thighs when you jump, steadying you, but also keeping you in place for him.
he can't help the groan he makes at the taste of you as he sucks on your labia, lapping up at the juices you're already releasing. "fucking made for me," his words send vibrations into your pussy in a way that makes your knees weak.
your breath hitches, a soft moan escaping your lips as you bite down on your bottom lip, trying to stifle the sounds. the last thing you need is for someone to hear you, but the way chan is devouring you makes it nearly impossible. his tongue works with an expertise that drives you wild, alternating between broad, slow strokes and quick flicks that have you teetering on the edge.
"chris," you whisper, your voice trembling. "we really... we shouldn't—"
in answer, he maneuvers one of your legs so that it's resting on his shoulder so that he can press his face further against your pussy, inhaling deeply. the world outside the stall fades away, the murmur of conversations and clinking glasses becoming a distant hum as his tongue delves deeper. his fervor is almost worshipful, the way he licks and sucks at your clit with a fervent devotion, the tip of his nose brushing teasingly against your clit with every movement.
"please," you moan, your voice breaking. it's not clear what you're pleading for—more, less, for him to stop before someone finds you, or for him to never stop.
he responds with a growl, the sound vibrating through you as he doubles his efforts, alternating between gentle licks and intense suction, pushing you higher and higher until you're trembling. he knows exactly what you need, exactly how to push you to the brink and hold you there, teetering on the edge of release.
he's there when the coil in your lower belly finally snaps, tongue eagerly waiting to lap up everything you give him--and lap up he does. he is so lost in your taste, that you have to physically push him away, thighs already shaking because of the way he is overstimulating you.
he lets you push his head back by his hair, leaning his neck back to give you a perfect view of the glistening of your juices on his lips and the tip of his nose.
you can't help but let out a shaky laugh, a mix of nerves and disbelief at the situation you've found yourselves in. " we really need to get back to the party," you whisper, trying to regain some sense of rationality, even as your body still hums with the aftermath of his expert ministrations.
"right." he stands, helping you smooth down your dress and you up at him nervously.
"does it look okay?"
he gives you a once over, lips trembling in his effort to stop them from curling. your cheeks are flushed, dress wrinkled and he could see the fabric quiver slightly.
you groan.
"it looks awful doesn't it?"
"nah," he plants a soft, lingering kiss against your lips. "looks amazing. now how 'bout that speech, yeah?"
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utterlyazriel · 2 months
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whom the shadows sing for — (and the thief's echoing hymn)
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a/n: WE MADE IT TO CHAPTER FIVE!! EVERYBODY CLAP!! labour of love fr <3 but we're almost to the scene that sparked the whole freakin series and i. oh man im just yearning for that hurt/comfort
word count: 4.4k
synopsis: You test out if your efforts with the tonics are worth anything and Azriel bestows you with a gift. He asks about the Blood Rite and you ponder the strange, golden thread you've been feeling in your chest. Disaster strikes when night falls.
CHAPTER FIVE :: CONFIDANTS
You look younger in your sleep, Azriel thinks.
He doesn't think he's ever seen you like this before. The hard lines of your face are all smoothed out as you rest, so unlike your usual expression. There's something softer about you.
The constant furrow between your brows is whisked away for once. He can still see the familiar line between your brows though, if he looks close enough.
If he can look past the bruises that mottle your face, that is.
The damage you've sustained from training within the camp is severe enough to curdle something sour in his stomach.
Azriel had held his reservations about his trip back to Velaris— a suspicion that proved to be well founded. His own memories of training at Windhaven provide plentiful ways for you to have ended up in this state.
You’re curled up instinctively in your sleep, wings tucked around yourself. It sews of thread of worry through Azriel's chest, a slight concern at the state of your wounds and how the position will agitate them. While you don't move much in your sleep, he knows from experience that it'll be hell when you finally do stretch back out.
But... he can’t bring himself to wake you. You need the sleep desperately.
Azriel is fairly certain that the huddled form you take is some subconscious way to protect yourself, even in your sleep. Your wings drape across yourself, keeping yourself covered, hidden.
And while that makes some part of Azriel's heart ache, he can't deny that you—it looks… sort of cute.
Azriel forces himself to avert his eyes, ducking his chin for extra measure. Those pesky thoughts were becoming more and more frequent — something that he's pointedly ignoring at this point.
Protect, his shadows whirl around his ears like tiny gusts of wind, whispering their suggestions. Protect, they whisper.
Protect. Both a thought and a feeling. A guiding intuition that seems to reverberate from his very bones.
The suggestion from his shadows isn't entirely left field either, as they always take inspiration from what he can see. From his wandering thoughts, from his prolonged gentle gaze that lays upon you whenever he can.
Azriel scowls lightly at himself. He had no claim to protect you and further more, most Illyrian males like yourself would take great amounts of offence to the mere insinuation. He knows that you are more than capable.
He steals another glance at your peaceful, sleeping figure and his shadows seem to quieten in response— at least about you. The whispers don't ever truly quieten.
Azriel's fairy certain where they're getting their ideas. It's what he wonders too as he takes in your battered face once more—whether it’s the truth or just his familiar brand of desperate hope.
Something that would explain the urge to protect beyond reason.
Something like... a bond forged in starlight.
The Mother's Kiss whistles quietly outside and Azriel shifts his gaze again and this time, it lays upon the Heartstriker.
Sitting atop the one table-top in your shelter, the blade stays sheathed away in the very same bejeweled case that Azriel had found it in. Same as on that very first day he laid his hands on it.
It had been a wretched mission. One of his very first. It was not performed with the eloquence he would come to learn in future years.
Heartstriker had not been the objective of the mission. Far from it, in truth. The objective was a simple stealth reconnaissance into the Court of Nightmares.
He was to delve beneath the rock of the mountain in a mission very similar to his current. Swirlings of rumours and whispers of rebellion, against the new Highlord. Azriel was there to learn who had the guts to pick up the knife and try.
Heartstriker was a ploy. A shiny trick that Azriel had not yet learned how to evade.
He was still a novice by his own standards, only a few hundred years old. Spying in this sense was still fresh, still new. The work he had done under Rhysand's father during the war had been far more reliant on his brute strength. He had strict instructions not to hesitate to draw his blade.
It had taken time to relearn the importance in a message sent with words.
To remember the power of mercy.
This mission had been the first and only time Azriel had underestimated the measures in place in the Court of Nightmares, meant to keep out the likes of him.
His hesitance to kill had given another Fae time to trip an alarm, to flood the room with warriors. So when he had been backed into a corner by the snarling miscreants that lived in the belly of the mountain, taken by surprise, he hadn't hesitated to snatch up any weapon he could reach.
And it had branded him, singeing him right to his core.
But when he tried to force his fingers apart, they wouldn't obey, even as they screamed with the pain of the invisible flames. It was as though his hand had become fused with the blade, each atom of his being completely joined with the bronze of the sword through a terrible, unstoppable and invisible force.
Every part of him shrieked in agony. An age-old fear reared up within him, his hands burning like they were set alight and he could feel the flames licking at his skin, at his hands, could smell the scent of burning flesh—
He had fought on and won, all the same, taking on two battles at once. Fighting foes by real and faux, all whilst burning up from within all the while. The sword was immeasurably heavy and yet too light, all at once.
And only once almost all his enemies were slain, their blood staining the marble floors, did the burning cease. The blade seem to hum in response to the battle— drawn to the final foe who was clawing for his breath through his blood-soaked throat.
The tip of the sword had urged Azriel forward, like pulled by an invisible string, and he let it lead him, plunging the blade through the chest and into the heart of the last enemy left.
Only after, had the humming stopped. The sword finally clattered from Azriel's strong grip, the fusion broken.
His hands were same as ever, mottled with their scars, but with no indication of the burning he knew he had felt.
On his return, Rhys had told him the history of the sword and it's duly fitting name: Heartstriker.
It hadn't been claimed in centuries and as such, naturally it had come to live amongst other cursed objects within the Court of Nightmares. Unable to be used, unless someone bested the pain it took to raise it.
But Azriel had, entirely by accident.
It is said that once mastered, it will always strike true. Rhys had said, violet eyes gleaming as he looked over the bronze sword with piqued interest. That it's more than a regular sword but a living thing you must work in tandem with.
If anyone tries to take it from you, they must suffer the same fate. It can be gifted freely but, He had paused, that smirk that held no warmth in it pulling at his lips. I'm sure you can guess how often that happens down there.
It hadn't been used within the Night Court either, condemned to another hundred years or so without sight of battle. Azriel had more than enough blades of his own. The Illyrian broadsword that he had earned all that time ago in the Blood Rite for a proper battle and his Truth-Teller for the finer details.
Heartstriker wasn't right for his stature. Too short, strange weighted.
He'd kept it all the same. Perhaps, he told himself, to keep some other Fae from suffering the same fate if they laid hands on it.
His hazel eyes drift back across to you, bundled within yourself. You make a noise in your sleep, a gentle snuffle, and Azriel finds himself smiling.
Or perhaps, he thinks, he knew to keep it for entirely other reasons.
The quick healing of Illyrian's is more often a blessing than it is a curse.
On today's quiet winter morning, it is somehow both.
When you wake, dragged from your slumber in the early hours, it's before the sun has begun to make an appearance on the horizon. The shelter is coated in a soft darkness of dawn. The trees sway outside, a thousand creatures still roaming amongst their branches, reliant on the dark before daylight breaks.
It's the pain that wakes you, ebbing in through your sleep til it shakes off your sleep. You wake with your teeth already gritted.
The only pleasant surprise is that fact you're not shuddering yourself awake out of a nightmare, especially considering yesterday's training session.
You have a feeling that it has something to do with the sleeping Illyrian, propped up beside the fireplace, keeping watch.
His shadows still move about, even in his sleep. His neck is tucked down, his forehead pressed against his knee. It hides away part his face but as your eyes adjust to the shadowy light, you can make out his closed eyes. His hair looks messier than you've ever seen it.
It can't be comfortable, sleeping the way he is— but you have a feeling that Azriel has slept in places far worse before.
Shifting about in the darkness, your hand comes down to press tenderly at your sides, assessing as quietly as you can. There's no immediate sting of sliced skin as your fingers tips poke and prod at the skin, which makes you sigh in relief. You press down again, at bit harder this time, and it forces a wince out your gritted teeth.
Extremely bruised. But at the very least, the skin has knitted itself together in the nighttime.
Your face still aches, too. It's not quite the same ringing that made both eyes throb painfully yesterday and with a slow wrinkle of your nose, you can assess that the worst of your broken nose has healed up too.
Your ears, however, poses a different problem. One of them, the right side, still rings lightly. It would be more concerning, you think, if the left one itself wasn't so muffled altogether.
Huffing out a breath, you drag yourself up to a sitting position, moving at a tentative pace. Pain ricochets around your body. You're doing the best you can to be quiet but it's futile it seems — there's one creak of the bed as your weight shifts and Azriel's wings twitch, giving him away. He’s awake.
He lifts his head slowly, letting it roll from one side to the next, stretching out his neck. It's the only indication he gives you of feeling sore from his cramped sleep all night, his attentive eyes already watching you closely. His shadows, you notice, seem to gain speed at his rousing— circling his shoulders and neck closely.
You clear your throat and focus your gaze forward, resuming the task at hand. Raising one hand, you snap your fingers beside your left ear, then your right.
Frustration bubbles up inside you as you repeat the motion, as if it’ll change the outcome.
It doesn’t.
At least beyond the ringing, your right ear can hear the snap clearly— a keen Fae sense that like any warrior, you rely heavily on. The left one…
All you can think is that they must have hit you pretty damn hard to leave it as dulled as it feels. It can still hear, thankfully, but the noise that filters through is muffled around the edges. Buzzy. It makes you feel off kilter and unbalanced.
You let your hand drop and try to remain stoic, so used to hiding your emotions away from your face. You don't realise your drooping, limp wings give you away anyways.
Azriel gets to his feet swiftly, the movement so smooth you would have never guessed he spent the night tucked up uncomfortably against the bricks of your fireplace. He regards you with those burning amber eyes and your heart seems to lurch forward in response. You avert your gaze.
"It would seem we have an opportunity to test out our efforts." He says. His voice is still coated in sleep, low and rumbley, and it sends a bright zing down your spine. You lift your gaze from your lap and raise your brows in question.
He waves a hand to the table, in gesture.
Your various ingredients for brewing the tonics stay tucked in one corner, some wrapped up and set beneath the table. There are several different bottles too, stoppered with corks and containing yours and Azriel's attempts at the healing tonics.
It takes another moment to understand what he means.
"No," You say sharply, climbing to your feet. A thousand parts of your ache and groan in protest and you channel your focus into not letting a single ounce of it show.
Rolling your tense shoulders back, you wander towards your armor in slow steady steps. "Those aren't for me. I've healed enough in the night."
"I see." Azriel replies. "Is that why your left ear isn't working right?"
Gaze snapping back to him, you curse his ever-so observant nature. Maybe that's on you for trying to keep a secret from a Shadowsinger.
You are keeping a secret from a shadowsinger, something whispers in you.
A cold flush fills your body, numbing out every nerve for a single moment. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Your wings hike up, tuck in. It feels wrong.
For the first time in your life, it feels so so utterly wrong to be keeping this secret from someone. To be hiding who you truly are.
But Azriel... he was a stranger not too long ago, wasn't he? You're not sure if you can even call each other friends, even if you had begun to in your mind, without even realising.
You think back to last night, to when he could have easily lifted your shirt a few inches higher when trying to save your life and known.
Then you wonder if he did — and he hasn't said anything.
If he's waiting for you to trip up, to fess up, to explain to him why you've been lying to him from the moment you first met him.
Azriel seems to sense your internal battle, the same way he seems senses a thousand things from you as though he's known you his whole life. He clears his throat to get your attention. When you focus your vision back on him, you notice one of the bottles is in his scarred fingers.
"I will train you today," He says. "On the condition that you take it."
Your nose twitches. It's an ultimatum. He knows you want to train, to brush off yesterday and let the pain in your body fuel the determination of today but he won't let you do it so carelessly. Bastard.
Before you can blink, he tosses the bottle across to you. You react instinctively, cradling your hands to catch it quickly before you realise what you're doing. Your nose twitches again, a tiny flare of annoyance at his smugness.
No, not smugness. Surety. His expression, bordering on bored, tells you that he knows you don't have any other options— unless you want to climb back into bed and rot for the day.
You yank the cork off the bottle harshly. Then, just to show him how unpleased you are with this, you lob the cork at him with all your might. Your bruised side screams in response. Azriel snatches from the air easily, without so much as a blink.
He looks like he wants to smile but thinks the better of it, placing the cork gently onto the table. "I'll meet you outside." He eyes the uncorked bottle in your hand then back at you. "Drink it. Please."
The tonic, as you find out, is only mildly effective.
It's a gutting discovery. The mixture is nowhere near potent enough to fix the level of nerve damage that gets inflicted during clippings if it barely lightens the bruises on your side.
The mottled blue painted on your skin gives way to a light purple, the edges of them retracting to a tinged yellow. The skin glows hot as the tonic works as best as it can.
The taste of it is nearly as rancid as the failure feels.
You deal with it the only way you know how; chewing it up and spitting it back out as determination to do better. The drive to push yourself harder in training rears up, fiery and stubborn— harder than you logically know is any help to yourself.
What was already tedious and heinous training is made that much worse by your injuries.
You're moving sloppily today, offbeat. The dullness in your left ear helps to keep you off balance. Still, you manage to keep up with Azriel— not quite the one step ahead you're usually aiming for but, at the very least, you're still holding your own.
Your ribs ache and your heads throbs. The ringing in your right ear has disappeared with the help of the tonic, only to have started up in the left. A relief in one sense— it's good to be hearing more of anything. A fucking pain in another.
The only major upside, really, is the sword.
The Heartstriker, Azriel had called it
You had been half convinced it was a hallucination, the gift. Sure that it some desperate illusion born out of the delirium of the blood loss because, really, when was the last time you had ever gotten a gift?
When you'd limped your way out into the snow and saw it in his hands, you had blinked in disbelief.
But it's almost like Azriel had expected it, his scarred hands reaching out to gently curl around your wrist, murmuring its name as he had pressed it into your hand. It's yours, he had said.
He had let go of your wrist go immediately, stepping back but not far, still hovering close by. He let you have a moment to marvel at it before he urged you to follow to the usual neck of the woods you trained in. The sound of clashing steel had soon followed.
It's a perfect addition, you find.
The blade is like a mere extension of your own arm. It's light enough to carve through the air with ease but when you strike, it's buries deep. Compared the Illyrian broadsword used in training at camp, it suits your stature far better. You move more agilely, hit more frequently and harder when you do.
It's probably the best thing you've ever owned— ever held.
You're gazing at it where it rests on your lap, glinting in the light of the day, as you try to catch your breath. Azriel had given you a moment to recover, far earlier than normal, due to your injuries, no doubt. Normally, you'd grumble and snarl and push him to continue but today, you're quite happy to have another moment to stare at the first gift you've gotten.
Azriel breaks the silence with a question.
"Why haven't you competed in the Blood Rite?"
Something icy spikes in your blood and your back straightens instinctively, the hair on the nape of your neck standing on end. Whether he knows it or not, he is treading close to dangerous territory.
"Why do you ask?" You answer his question with another question.
Azriel regards you with a certain look, his dark eyes dragging down your body intensely and back up to your face. It's enough to make you fluster momentarily, to feel a faint stirring in your heart that doesn't entirely feel like your own. No one has ever looked at you like that before.
"You're strong. You hold your own. You're of age." He states carefully. "You remain attached to this camp with no rank until you pass it. Why not?"
You scowl at his frame of thinking, as if you haven't passed over those reasons a thousand times. Beyond the fact you can't ever ensure you wouldn't be burdened with your cycle during the Blood Rite, there's more than enough reason for you to remain a nobody.
You feel oddly disappointed that he would think only in that manner; glory and rank.
"What makes you think I want any rank in my camp?" You spit bitingly, watching as his wings sink down an inch at your tone. His misunderstanding of why you've chosen this way of life bothers you more than you expect.
"Because you did?" You ask. "Because three bastards fought their way through it and won and left their shitty pasts behind? I am not you, Azriel."
Azriel doesn't react, not even the raising of his brows. Only his shadows give himself away, whirling around slower than usual. He speaks in that same careful tone as before.
"I know you are not."
He makes you feel foolish for giving in to any lick of your anger, for so quickly snapping at your only friend. You turn your head away and stare down into the snow, taking a breath. Cauldron, you're tired. Lifting you arm, you wipe your forehead with the back of your hand, clearing the sweat that beads there.
"I could leave but for what reason? Ever since I—" You suck a sharp inhale, swallowing back words that dance too close to giving you away. You pray he doesn't notice your hesitation. "Ever since I was young, this has been my goal. This change must come from within, you know that."
You inhale again, feeling the breath rattle past every ache and pain in your chest.
"I can only do the things I do... the things I must achieve, by being unnoticeable."
You cast a glance up to him. "To them, I am some bastard who won't give up and die. I am not a proper threat. You, of all people, should understand that it's easiest to work when people are not paying proper attention."
And that's all you have known — how to become unnoticeable when needed and how to be noticed when wanted. Attention, you've learned, only means a target on your back.
Beyond that... you can't imagine someone who would want to notice you for anything more. You've had many, many years to make peace with that bitter fact.
I am.
Without warning, there's a sudden thrum from deep within you, like a echo of a drum, of a call. It's golden and threaded with softness. I am paying attention.
It startles you, one hand flying to your armored chest in surprise. As quick as it had appeared, the hum flees and leaves your bound chest twingeing only in its usual discomfort. One moment of brief serenity. You long for it, despite the unfamiliar nature.
You realise abruptly that you've trailed off and force yourself to move, body aching in the process. Heartstriker sinks into the snow and you use it to clamber to your feet, not nearly as graceful as you would like. Azriel doesn't say anything.
In fact, when you lift your gaze to meet his, he's staring at you more intensely than usual. His shadows seem more agitated. They flit about, circling his hands more than his shoulders, and you can barely see the scarred skin through their inky darkness.
There's a long moment. Around you both, the trees creek as they bend in the wind, a thousand leaves rustling around you in a chorus.
Azriel breaks the silence, casting his eyes to the ground and lifting his blade. "No more questions."
He says it like a promise, his lips pulling at the edges like he might be offering a smile.
"Just fighting."
By the time the moon rises, the ache in your body has dimmed to a more bearable pain.
While you'd be miffed at the idea of Azriel pulling his punches, you can't deny the sliver of gratitude you have for it now. As you reach over the cauldron of simmering stew, only a few of your ribs twinge enough to make your motions falter momentarily. The stew bubbles and brews, filling your shelter with a hearty smell.
It's been too long since you last cooked something to share.
You try to shelve the guilt away—you and Azriel have been running a very tight schedule, switching between training, tonics and rest. Taking time to cook, for yourself or others, hasn't even had time to cross your mind.
Your brief brush back with the reality during yesterday's training, however, had provided you with ample reminders. Your home camp and all its violent glory.
So, you cook. The logs crackle on the fire and above them, the stew simmers gently as you stir absentmindedly at it. Giving yourself this quiet moment, you let your thoughts drift as the tiredness of the day trickles into your body. Your thoughts turn to the quiet Shadowsinger.
He had taken his leave as soon as he had declared the end of your days training, needing another trip to Velaris.
I'll be back by morning, he had said, each of his seven cerulean siphons flaring brightly before he stepped between the fabric of the world and disappeared. Another hidden trick up his sleeve.
You'd allowed yourself only one moment of surprise before you closed your mouth— you really needed to stop underestimating him. As the stew before you begins to hiss and spit, you pull yourself from your thoughts and prepare yourself for the discomfort of meal times.
They never are as friendly as you might hope.
Despite your generosity, the different outcasts of Exordor remain cagey. Regard you with pensive and guarded looks, hands hovering on the butts of their swords. You can't blame them in the slightest.
But those that can brave the walk to your cabin, risking both themselves and your own safety against the other Illyrian brutes in the camp, are rewarded with a hot meal. Tonight, you feed 12 hungry mouths before your doorstep grows quiet.
You pack it all away in silence, with a quite yearning for company you've only just become used to having.
It's only as you're tucking in for the night, your wings wrapped around yourself tightly, does the first pain strike. Right to your core, the very insides of your gut feels as though it's being shredded. You gasp, your entire body curling up tighter to fight against the pain.
For only a moment, confusion clouds your mind at the attack that seems to come from nowhere, from an invisible enemy. Only one answer comes forward—the only thing that can threaten to reveal your secret without your permission, through mere scent alone.
A certain agony that only tortures you twice a year.
[NEXT PART: BETRAYERS]
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secretagentsociety · 1 year
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loves makes people crazy
yandere dragon X madly in love reader
Here's another idea,a yandere dragon like all powerful and scary the villager is scared of him,the king is scared of him,the Wizards and pretty much everyone and their grandmother is scared of him but then there's you,you different breed of a human decides to see him for the first time and say "yes that's my hubby" and the rest is history
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• people often called you crazy, dilusional and others not so nice insults for being still not being married despite hitting the big 2 0 that and also rejecting the local lords and basically anyone who tries to court you
• now just because people say it doesn't mean you HAVE to follow it yk?oh but you did you played their little fantasy of you being crazy so perfectly people were honestly scared for your mental well being,why?you may ask
• well it's because when khum first arrived at the village (I say first but it's really his 100th time terrorising the village) you decide to whisper something that some people might have heard "he's perfect" you said eyes filled with hearts watching him scaring the sht out of the locals
• honestly you're staring so much he could feel you boring holes into his head,curious he looked around for whoever it is that dared to stare at him for so long and BAM! He saw you,at first he thought you're staring at him in contempt or anger maybe both but then you sigh lovingly and waved at him a fools smile placed upon your face
• he had to look around and points at himself just to made sure he even mouthed "m-me? you're talking to me?!" But you blowing him a kiss and winking made it pretty clear it was him,well let's say after that he couldn't help but think about you "what an odd human" he thought
• "oh my god haven't you heard?! The dragons visit has been so frequent lately our village can't keep affording the rebuilding cost!" One of the villagers said,you aren't paying attention but just hearing him coming back more and more made your heart flutter "I know it's a blessing" you sighed melting into the seat as you remembered the first time he talks to you
•well it happened,khum stood Infront of you folding his hand,what is his plans anyway?kidnapping a human all of a sudden,a weird one at that,"human,do you have a name?" He said
• "you can call me yours,and I'll call you mine" you said "how about the name....treasure?no too basic maybe clove?nah um.....oh darling?" he said tilting his head,khum never thought one day he'd witness a human visibly explode and faint but here we was
• it was a rocky start to the relationship,well...rocky as in everything was so perfect it's scary, here's the recap,on day five of your kidnappings you've opened up to how the villagers had been treating you(not that it's hard to make you open up,all he had to do was give you food and call you pet names while stroking your head and bam! you're dumping your entire trauma onto him) and oh boy was he not happy
• now despite everything he's still a classy dragon,he ofcourse had hoarse of treasure but he also had a pretty nice castle he may or may not seize from a royal you don't have to know that tho so moving on,and with a huge castle come servants and with those come soldiers who needs to maintain security,not that he needs any but you know he likes to have thing's completed and that including the castles needs
• now when his subordinates first saw you absolutely gushing on how cute he was they were absolutely shocked,because one he literally look like a demon ripping out people's heart and two this isn't some flower field it's a grusome battle scene yet you couldn't help but blush when his shirt got torn off,you even closed your eyes to savor the moment after a while
• khum really can't understand your fixation on him,is it like his love for you?but even then he acknowledges your weird behaviour but you literally looked at him as if he was a god,not that he minds,he gotta admit that day he kinda wore a shirt that's a couple of size down so when he does some movements that needs intents flexibility his shirt would rip off in some cool cinematic style,it worked,it worked too well
• so apparently his stamina had their limits he'd come to know it last Night after the battle,oh but the details won't be necessary,oh but don't be fooled if he were to actually try you'd be the one to pass out
• now is he dilusional?nope he knows full well that it's not healthy but does he care?nope he's a powerful dragon,are you dilusional?maybe?...idk...probably....yes?.... Well he is cute so I'll give you that
• he is possesive, but it's really hard to show possesive when the person he loved won't look at other people,you will talk to people normally but once he entered your line of sight the other people can forget ever having a conversation with you
• now for the big question does this technically make you a yandere? maybe..yes.
•i feel the need to say he is 100% taller than you, I'm sorry but it's just the rules 乁⁠(⁠ ⁠•⁠_⁠•⁠ ⁠)⁠ㄏ
• yes he has two pp lets move on now
• he had a way of marking you so other beasts knows to back the fuck off it's called biting,the first night you ever discover the chamber of secrets together(wink wink nudge nudge)he bit down on your neck,it leaves a pretty little flower mark that's imbued with his power it's very very very tiny teeny I cannot stress enough how tiny it is so it's safe
• now if you EVER even say someone else is cute then oh boi oh my,now I have established that he is jealous have I?,no?well too bad because he is,and his jealousy doesn't play nice,he will rip out the heart and torture the person over and over and over each time reviving them again and again and put a curse of Resurrection on them only to leave them in a forest of ravaging beasts that has lost their minds to be feasted upon and tortured until he sees them having suffered enough. ಠ⁠︵⁠ಠ Moral of the story? don't just don't say anyone is cute (yes not even babies) (he won't like k.o them but he will like curse them or sum sht )
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on that note good night people
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auteurdelabre · 2 months
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A LITTLE SUN PART 7 (part II) Dieter Bravo x f!Reader
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rating: 18+
tags: SMUT. Penetration, Oral (m and f receiving), use of 'daddy' (but you ain't into it), use of 'baby', Dieter being Dieter, fluff, like such tooth-rotting sweetness its almost gross, idiots in love, pregnancy, talk of pregnancy body changes/self esteem, love love love, family issues, mentions of parental death.
a/n: Tumblr is dumb and won't let me post the entire chapter in one post. ARGH. So below is part two.
HERE IS PART ONE OF THIS CHAPTER.
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Your mother is pacing around the kitchen when the doorbell rings. With a muttered grumble she strides to the front door, tugging it open with a flourish. She expects to see her pregnant daughter there, what she doesn’t expect is a six foot movie star she hates to be flinching at her.
He’s wearing a short sleeved linen shirt, freshly pressed slacks and his usually unruly hair has been combed neatly.  He even got Magda to trim his beard for him. He wants to make a good impression.
"Hi," Dieter says, his stomach churning anxiously as your mother stares him down. "I'm Dieter-"
"I know exactly who you are," the woman snaps, arms crossing over her front. "What do you want? I’m afraid I don't have any more daughters for you to buy babies from."
She tries to look around his broad shoulders. "Where is my daughter by the way?"
Dieter shuffles back and forth, his expensive dress shoes scraping the ground. Suddenly all his bravado has left him and he feels much like a chastised child. 
"I wanted to talk to you," Dieter explains. "Just you and me if that’s okay?"
Your mother's brows knit angrily. "So she couldn't even be bothered-"
"She doesn't know I'm here," Dieter interjects.
He goes to say something more when he thinks he notices a car slowing down up the block. Paparazzi. Your mother notices as well because she ushers Dieter into the house, closing the door behind him sharply. 
"You have five minutes." 
Dieter slips off his shoes and follows her to the couch, about to launch into his speech when he sniffs the air.
"Are you baking?"
"Cinnamon bread. My daughters favorite," your mother says, eyes misting. She regards Dieter a moment, softening. "Would you like a piece?" 
"I'd love one." 
He takes a seat on the couch as ordered, watching as your mother brings out a tray holding several slices of cinnamon bread, a tea pot and two mugs.
“This is so fuc- darn delicious,” Dieter corrects himself, wiping the crumbs from his fingers on his pants, much to your mother’s dismay. “I love it.”
Your mother offers a small grunt by way of reply, watching him eat and taking small sips of her tea. Dieter notices you both hold your cups the same way, forefinger and pinky slightly out. It makes him long for you, wishing you were here with him as he attempts this conversation.
But you can’t be, he knows you’re too stubborn for it. Judging by how your mother is looking at him now, it’s a familial trait.
“I wanted to come over and try to explain things.”
“There’s nothing to explain,” your mother snaps, her teacup placed on the coffee table. “You and my daughter made a baby, she’s selling it to you and she never told me.”
"I'm sorry it was a secret for so long,” Dieter says. “It's just because of my notoriety that we had to keep it under wraps.”
“From the world, I understand, but from her own mother?” She shakes her head. “Do you know how hurtful that is? To find out your only child is pregnant because of the tabloids? To think you’re going to be a grandmother and then find out she’s selling the baby off?”
“She signed an NDA," Dieter explains with a wince, knowing how awful it sounds. "I'm so sorry. She hated to do it. It was my fault."
"And your mother?" Your mom huffs. "I bet she knew she was going to be a grandma before the tabloids di-"
She breaks off, irritated when she sees the hollow look in Dieters eyes.
"My uh, my mom isn't alive," Dieter says, fingers tapping anxiously at his side. "She died when I was in my twenties."
"Your father?"
Dieter shakes his head, wincing. Your fierce mother immediately softens her tone, her shoulders lowering.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You shouldn’t be sorry to me about anything,” Dieter says in a soft rasp. “I’m the one who you should be mad at. Not your daughter.”
Your mother wraps her arms around herself. "How is she?"
"Hurt. She misses you."
"Must not miss me much. She's made no attempt to call."
"She's worried about what you'll say. Your opinion matters so much to her, you know that. Especially with her dad gone."
Your mother swallows. "They were so similar. So stubborn and..."
Suddenly the dam behind the woman's eyes breaks and Dieter watches her face crumple. 
"I just wish he was here," she says, shoulders shaking. Dieter feels his own eyes filling with tears, his heart aching in tandem. He can't help but reach out and cover her hand with his. 
"I’m so sorry."
"If he was here he would know exactly what to say," your mother continues, allowing his hand to remain over hers. "Michael could always get through to her when I couldn't."
“My mom knew me in a way my dad never did,” Dieter offers after a moment. “Knew exactly the right thing to say at the right time. It’s hard not having that. But you still have time with your daughter. Time that’s wasting with you two being mad at each other.”
Your mother blinks up at Dieter, a slow understanding reflected in her swimming eyes. As if she’s seeing him properly for the first time. He continues on, encouraged that it’s been over five minutes and she hasn’t kicked him out yet.
“And I know you think this whole thing with the baby is a spontaneous decision and that I’m massively immature and yeah, I can be. But you need to know that when your daughter told me she was pregnant it was the best day of my life," Dieter says, his voice thick with emotion.
He takes a moment, swallowing and blinking furiously. His hand tightens around your mothers’.  
“But I’m not that guy anymore. I’ve changed. She’s changed me, my son has changed me. I’m not perfect, but I also don’t think there’s anyone in the world that will love your da—grandson more than me.”
Your mother blinks rapidly, her weathered face softening further. “My grandson?”
“If you want him to be,” Dieter explains, suddenly unsure. “If your daughter is okay with it. I don’t have any parents in my life. It would be nice for him to have a grandmother.”
Any lingering distaste your mother may have held for Dieter is wiped away in that moment. The sincerity in his wide dark eyes and the nervous way he twists the rings on his fingers endears her further.
“And I know you’re upset with her about all of this but I promise I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life,” Dieter finishes, his eyes glassy. “Even if she’s in Sacramento doing school. Even if she never wants to see me or our son. I want to make her happy and that means taking care of you too. The house is paid for; your daughter will be taken care of.”
Your mother’s hands move from under Dieter’s to over, clasping his wide hands tightly. She has a gentle smile on her face now, the anger gone from her voice.
“I thank you Dieter. That is a kindness that touches my heart. Knowing I can remain in the same house I raised my family in means more to me than you realize. But it wasn’t your place to do it.”
“I know.”
“I can’t accept it.”
“Please,” Dieter begs with his big brown eyes so round and sorrowful your mother has to blink back a new onslaught of tears. “She’s giving me the world. The rest of your mortgage is nothing in comparison to that.”
Your mother can’t help but laugh out loud at the earnestness in his expression. He grins crookedly as she laughs, wiping tears from her lash line. He waits until she sobers, shaking her head with a small smile on her face.
“Alright, I accept it. But only if you’ll let me cook you dinner every once in a while.”
“And cinnamon bread?”
“And cinnamon bread,” your mother says laughing again.  “As for taking care of my daughter? That is something you’ll have to take up with her. But be warned she’s even more stubborn than me.”
“Don’t I know it,” Dieter grins shyly, causing the two of them to chuckle between themselves softly.
“I’ll call her,” your mother says resolutely. “I need to apologize and tell her she can move back home if she wants.”
Dieter immediately stiffens. He hadn’t thought about this part.
"Actually if its okay I want her to stay with me until the baby is born," Dieter explains, curls falling into his eyes, his mannerisms anxious. "I like having my son nearby."
"And perhaps having my daughter nearby too?" Your mother peers into his face with a small curl of her lips.  “You care for her. More than a boss for an employee. Or a father for a surrogate.”
Dieter looks overcome for the moment, his dark eyes on the floor. He doesn’t know how to respond.
“That’s between you two,” your mother acknowledges. “It’s not my place to say anything.”
Before Dieter can say anything in reply he hears the sound of a frantic key turning in the lock and the front door is thrust open. 
The two of them whip their heads in the direction of the front door to see you stumbling into the house, slamming the door behind you. Your hair is wild, your face flushed and you look extremely pissed off. You look at the two of them on the couch and your brows knit.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
"How did-"
"Magda," you answer before Dieter can finish the question. "Why the fuck are you here at my house with my mom?"
You watch as your mom rises from the couch next to Dieter. Her eyes are wet and when she gazes at your very full stomach she gives a soft little gasp. 
"Honey-"
"Don't honey me," you snap, feeling angry tears welling in your eyes as you glare over at Dieter. "Let's go, Dieter."
"Baby, wait-" Dieter starts, pausing only when you whip back around to fix him with a leveling glare.
He looks so sorrowful standing there between you and your equally broken-looking mother that you find yourself relenting. You have an idea on why he’s here and even if it wasn’t his place you can’t deny that it was kind of him to try.
"Go wait in the kitchen, please."
Dieter opens his mouth to suggest something else but the glint to your eyes has him slamming it shut and nodding. You wait until he's shuffled into the next room before looking back at your mother. 
"Baby?" Your mom ventures gently. 
"He calls everyone that," you lie. 
She nods slowly but you know she doesn't believe you. Your mother also knows you well enough that she doesn’t attempt to sway you.
"Here, come take a seat," she offers motioning to the couch. "Your ankles must be swollen."
You lift a surprised brow but you waddle over to her, settling into the seat with an exhale. You look at Dieter’s leftover cinnamon bread crumbs and frown. How long was he here for? You look back to your mother, shocked at her gentle countenance. You’d expected anger or frustration, instead you see only regret.
"How did you know about the ankles?"
"I was the same when I was pregnant with you," she says coming to sit on the other end of the couch. "I carried high like you as well."
"Really?" You absently drape your fingers over the curve of your stomach.
"Oh yes," your mother smiles, eyeing your bump.
As you sit there discussing this with shy smiles you wish that this pregnancy was normal. That you had a husband and excited family that threw you a baby shower for a child you'd be able to bring home and care for at the end of it all. 
You wish your mom felt comfortable to place her hands on your stomach and to care for this little boy you carry. But she’s holding back her emotions, not wanting to get attached.
After several moments your mom shuffles closer to you on the couch, her hand coming to cup not your stomach, but your cheek.
“I’m sorry,” your mom says, and you’re shocked at the tears pooling in her eyes. “I never wanted… I just… I acted shamefully.”
“I don’t understand why,” you explain, chin wobbling. “We’ve always had a great relationship. Or I thought we did.”
“I thought we did too,” your Mom acknowledges. “But considering you kept this a secret I think I might have done something wrong along the way. You never should have been afraid to come to me with this.”
You don’t know how to answer that.
“You won’t understand until you’re a -” you mom catches herself. “A parent provides for their children, not the other way around. I felt ashamed that you felt you needed to take care of me.”
For a moment you look at her not as your mother, but as a woman. A tired woman who sacrificed so much to see you taken care of and your heart cracks. 
“I like taking care of you Mom,” you explain, swallowing the tears there. “I love you. You’re all I have left. Fighting with you these past few weeks has been awful.”
“I know honey,” your mom says and now she pulls you into her arms, rocking you as if you were still that child who ran to her with a scraped knee or boy troubles. “I’m so sorry, please forgive me.”
“Of course I do,” you say, burying your face in her shoulder as you let the tears flow. For the first time since your father died the two of you cry together, arms wrapped around one another, your son nestled between the two of you. Finally sniffling you pull back, wiping at your eyes.
“Were you mean to Dieter?”
“Tried to be,” your mother replies with a grin. “Impossible to be though. He’s very sweet.”
“He’s been amazing through this whole thing,” you answer honestly, feeling the need to sing his praises to the woman who usually derides him. “He’s been the most supportive, caring version of himself I’ve ever seen. Sober, sweet and I love being around him.”
Your mother’s eyes search yours intensely, so much that you blink wondering what she’s looking for.  Her gaze breaks when a shy Dieter knocks on the wall separating the two rooms.
“Uh, is it okay if I come in?”
Your mother laughs. “We’ll come to you. My daughter needs some cinnamon bread.”
The two of you stand, your mom helping you before letting her hand fall briefly to your swollen belly. You watch her face beaming as she does before her eyes go to yours.
“My baby having a baby,” she murmurs.
The two of you enter into the kitchen hand in hand. Dieter is standing by the sink, his hair even more wild than usual. He was obviously running his hands through it anxiously.
Dieter approaches you both slowly, as if he’s concerned one of you will be furious. When he sees the easy smile in both of your faces and your clasped hands he feels the tightness in his chest release.
“Thank you, Dieter,” you tell him gently as he approaches. He doesn’t push it, doesn’t ask you to elaborate. He just nods his head, smiling and coming to stand next to you. Your mother releases your hand, coming to stand in front of you both.
“Now you can retire,” Dieter offers with a hopeful look in your mother’s direction.
“No,” your mom says shortly, drawing both sets of eyes her way. You feel yourself deflate, closing your eyes for a steadying moment. You can’t stand the cruelty she’s still holding in her heart for Dieter after everything.
“Mom-“
“No, I like my job,” your mother tells Dieter, ignoring you. She comes to stand in front of him, having to look up due to her short stature. “I enjoy it. So I won’t retire. But I will work less and try to enjoy more of my life.”
You both break into easy grins.
“Yes ma’am.”
Your mother’s smile dims a fraction as she gazes between the two of you.
“Dieter has offered me a chance to be the baby’s grandmother,” your mother says quietly. “But that will be your decision my love. I won’t do anything that you’re uncomfortable with.”
You swallow. “Do you want to be his grandmother? Even if I’m not in the picture? Even if we have no legal right?”
“I would,” your mother replies without hesitation. You turn your head to face the taller man to your left.
“And you’re really okay with it, Dieter?”
“More than okay.”
Dieter’s eyes are on the ground, suddenly overwhelmed with emotions. He wishes his own mother was here, wishes she could have met you. He knows that she would have loved you.
“Then I’m okay with it,” you murmur.
He’s so grateful that his baby will have a grandmother. Even if you want nothing to do with him he’ll forever have this tie to you.
Your mother glances over at Dieter before stepping towards him. 
"Let me see your face," your mother demands cupping Dieter's stubbled cheeks in her hands and forcing his eyes to hers. A few quiet minutes pass, their eyes in silent communion before you see both sets watering.
You watch in shock as your mother leans forward and in an act so naturally maternal kisses Dieter's forehead gently.
"You're a good man," she tells him gently. "A good man who acts silly sometimes."
When tears slip down Dieter’s cheeks you feel your jaw drop.  Your mother pulls him into a tight hug, rocking him as they stand, murmuring something into his wild hair. You breathe unsteadily when his own arms go to wrap around her waist, clinging to her. He looks like a lost boy finding harbor in the embrace of his mother, his shoulders shaking gently as she soothes him in her arms.
She looks over at you, smiling gently. She tugs you over into her arms as well and before long the three of you are embracing standing in the middle of your mom's messy kitchen.
"Will you two stay for dinner?" Your mother asks eyes hopeful when the three of you break apart, all sets of eyes glassy.  
"That would be so great," Dieter says excitedly before you can answer, rubbing at his wet eyes. He wants to take advantage of being in your home. He wants to see where you grew up, where you exist when you're not with him. 
"You're Chilean right?"
"Part, yeah."
"Right, I'm going to pop out to the market," your mom says with a wide grin as she picks up her car keys. "I'll be back in a flash."
Your mother is gone excitedly out the door before you can even process what’s happening. That you’re having dinner with your boss and your mom and your unborn child. It’s all a bit much. And yet the thought warms you.
“So do I get a tour?”
“Sure,” you say grinning. Without thought you take his hand, guiding him through the hall pointing out the rooms, giving small synopsis like “this is where I was standing when my first boyfriend called and broke up with me” and “this is where I fell in the tub and cracked my tooth”
“And you know my bedroom,” you tell him with a smirk. “Very acquainted with the closet, I believe.”
He grins before taking his time looking around your room. Last time he’d been in a rush, but today he looks at everything. He sees the framed photo of you on horseback, the science ribbons for first and second place. He notices a trophy for high school tennis. He grins at the poster of Cillian Murphy behind your door. He sees the Polaroid’s of you and your friends stuck to your mirror.
“You never mention your friends,” Dieter observes pointing at the photo. “How come?”
“I never see them,” you shrug coming over to peer at them. “They all got married, had kids. I was in school and then I was working and we kind of just lost touch.”
“Do you miss them?”
“Honestly? Sometimes. But school and my career just always seemed more important.”
“You don’t think you could have both? A career and a family?”
“Not really,” you shake your head. “Can’t have it all.”
“Why not?”
“I dunno,” you shrug again. “Something has to give.”
“Only if you have a shit partner,” Dieter offers.
Before you can say anything more he’s gone to your bookshelf, looking at the tomes that reside there and muttering their titles under his breath. You watch him just existing in this room, before your reason for rushing over here affronts you.
“Did you pay off my Mom’s mortgage?”
“Yeah,” Dieter replies after a beat, twisting to face you. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
You stare at Dieter as he says this, the passion in his voice overwhelming you. Since when was this his plan? You’re supposed to take the three hundred grand and go.
“Why do that? You knew I was going to do it.”
“I wanted that money to be for you,” Dieter explains. “Not taking care of the mortgage and everything else. I’d pay for your school too but something tells me you’d refuse that.”
“Correct.”
“Your mother was right, you are stubborn.”
This gets a shocked laugh out of you. “What else did you two talk about?”
“That’s between her and me,” he says with a supercilious look on his face. “I think she might like me better than you at this point.”
Affection swims through your limbs and it carries you to him. Without warning your hands go to his shoulders, mouth pressing gently to his. He accepts this eagerly, his wet tongue dabbing against yours gently.
"Thank you," you whisper against his full mouth. "But you don't have to take care of me."
"I like taking care of you," Dieter murmurs, his nose tracing yours. "You spent so long taking care of me and everyone else; let me take care of you now."
You nod; kissing him again and feeling him slowly back you towards your bed.
“Mia,” you remind him.
“Its fine,” he assures you, hands tugging at the hem of your shirt.
“I’m not going to sleep with you when you’re in a relationship, Dieter.”
“I’m not,” he promises you, “I swear.”
You want to press him for more information. But more than that, you just want Dieter. You need to be as close to him as possible. You need to feel his bare skin on yours, inhale the crook of his neck, taste his lips.
And when he gently urges you onto your back in your childhood bed you don't fight him. You allow him to bring down your shorts and panties and even though you can't see anything other than his hair over your belly you can't stop the gasp that escapes you when his mouth begins to work over your core.  
Moments later after you've come spectacularly for him, groaning out his name with your thighs quivering against his ears and your hands fisting through his hair, he crawls up next to you on the bed. 
He traces over your abdomen, his dark eyes ever widened in wonder as he feels his son underneath his palm. Sunlight filters in through your bedroom window, giving him a haloed effect as he gazes down at you, his mouth swollen and damp.
"I don't know how I'm going to go back to normal life," you smile sleepily as you run a finger along his lower lip. "After being spoiled by Dieter Bravo school is sure going to pale in comparison." 
Dieter keeps the smile frozen on his face but inside his stomach drops.  Your schooling is going to start soon. He’s going to be separated from you. He feels his sons foot kick him and you both giggle. At least he’ll have this part of you.
He helps you into your panties and shorts before your mother returns shortly after. If she notices your flushed cheeks and Dieters extra mussed hair she doesn't comment on it. 
"I cheated," your mom says with a mischievous little smile that Dieter thinks looks identical to yours as she hands you both your plates when you come to sit at the dining table. "There's a wonderful Latin restaurant in town. They make the best palta." 
The food is just as good as she made it seem. Between the palta and the Estofado and variety of empanadas you’re quickly overwhelmed with taste. You take your time savoring it though, making a note to try more Chilean food in the future.
“So I guess I’ll move back tomorrow,” you say after a hot bite of your stew. “I only have the two suitcases.”
Nothing about moving back appeals to you, aside from seeing your mother on a regular basis. You know for a fact that being away from Dieter will hurt, but perhaps that’s for the best. You need to separate yourself from this silly fantasy.
"You can move back here at any time my love," your mom enthuses before casting a quick look at Dieter's downturned face. "But I think it would be best if you stayed at Dieter's. He has all that space and a pool and that chef-"
"But I don't like to think of you here all by yourself," you insist.
"Honey, don't worry about me. I lived with your father and then you for over thirty five years. I need a break."
You sputter a surprised laugh at this. This whole time you had been painting your mother as this sad tragic figure, when really she's a woman coming into her own just as much as you are. You swallow your mouthful, eyes darting to the man at your left.
"Is it okay if I stay at your place a little longer, Dieter?"
"Of course," Dieter enthuses through a mouthful of avocado. "I told you, stay as long as you like. And now your Mom can come visit whenever she likes."
You smile at this, holding in the urge to kiss him.
When Dieter rests his arm on the back of your chair during the rest of dinner you don't even register it happening. When his fingertips absently trace your upper arm as he listens to your mom talking about her job you don't notice. 
But your mom notices. She notices it all.
On the drive back home your mind is a muddle of things. But mostly your heart swells with the knowledge that Dieter, a man you always thought was chronically selfish did this for you at no gain for himself.
"You didn't have to do that for me," you tell him as you walk back into Dieter’s home a short while later. He’s quiet with a faraway look in his eyes.  
"I know. I just wanted to help."
The two of you are heading to the kitchen, about to put away the leftovers your mother insisted on sending home with you. Dieter takes them from your hands with a soft “I got it” before popping them in the fridge.
Dieter had always struck you as self-centered, the entire time you worked for him. From the flippant way he spoke to people in the industry he disliked, to the cavalier attitude towards other PA’s.
But right now all you can think of is the way he's continually showed up for you. The way he supports you in not only this pregnancy but your schooling, your family, your goals. You see a change in him, one that takes your breath away.
“Dieter?”
“Yeah?”
He sees your eyes and the way they go dark the longer you stare at him. The desire is so clear in your expression.  
He crosses the room and his mouth comes to yours, petal soft. He sighs, hands coming to either side of your neck, thumbs propped against your jaw. You lean into the kiss, your belly sandwiched between the two of you.
"Take me to bed, Dieter."
Dieter doesn't hesitate, his arm bands around your waist guiding you to the bedroom. 
He takes his time undressing you, kissing every part of your flesh he uncovers. He kisses the stretch marks on your belly, and he caresses the extra flesh that pads your body with a reverence that makes you teary.
Your stomach is getting too large for missionary so he sweetly urges you to roll onto your side, not doing anything until you’re comfortable. Only then does he makes sweet and gentle love to you, your head on his arm as he fills you slowly, watching the way your body responds to him.
He holds you delicately at first, not wanting to be too rough. But you’re eager, so fucking eager, and your hand goes to his hip, urging him to go harder, to go faster.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers, your thigh over his, your body slowly being pumped into by him. You’re arching, whimpering his name as he holds you against him. Every stroke feels like adoration, every graze of his fingers against your clit feels like more than just desire.
“I need to hear you come, baby,” he murmurs, his nose running along your temple. You turn your face to him, kissing him gently as his thrusts deepen, his lips hot and needy.
“Wanna come for you,” you gasp, your body starting to clench around him tighter and tighter before your head is tilted back against his throat as you cry his name. Your body spasms as arousal coats his cock still buried within you.
“So good for me, so fucking good,” Dieter groans, his thrusts becoming erratic. Before long his eyes roll back and he’s emptying himself into you, hands gripping your chest and cunt, needing you as close as possible.
Slowly your breathing slows and you both grow drowsy. But before you fall asleep you roll until you’re facing him. He looks so beautiful staring back at you with sleepy eyes and his curls spread out on his pillow.
You kiss him gently, hand at his collar before pulling back.
"Dieter, I think you're gonna make an amazing father."
Something about the sincerity in your voice moves him to tears that he has to blink back. He draws you closer to him under the duvet, needing the warmth of your skin, the closeness of your body.
"Do you really mean that?"
"Every word."
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Dieter is on a unicorn floaty, half dozing in the late morning sunshine when you ask him.
"Dieter, will you tell me about your mom?"
It comes out of nowhere one day in the pool. You're half stretched out on a purple pool noodle, your lower half submerged in the clear water as you kick lazily. Dieter turns his head when you ask him. 
"What about her?"
You shift on your pool noodle, getting comfortable. "What was she like?"
Dieter takes a moment to compose his thoughts. His lower lip tends to stick out when he does it. 
"Funny. Smart. Dramatic like me." Dieter grins. "She died when I was in my early twenties and sometimes I wanna be furious about all the time I didn't get to spend with her. But then I count myself lucky I had two decades." 
You don't say much to that. You don't know why but you crave more knowledge about Dieter that isn't surface level. You crave more from him, almost like you need to know him better than anyone. 
"She's the one who encouraged me to go into acting," Dieter continues. "She worked two jobs so she could pay for my acting classes."
"Really?" 
"Yeah. She was so excited when I got the scholarship to RADA," Dieter says dragging his hand through the water. 
"She sounds amazing."
"She would have loved you," Dieter says before he can stop himself. For some reason this comment causes your heart to flip. 
He looks momentarily lost in thought before turning his gaze to you. His eyes scan the freckles starting on your shoulders, the light that shines in your hair. He's dazzled for a moment before he remembers that he wanted to ask you something. 
 "What about you? What was your dad like?" 
A little smile breaks out over your features. You rarely talk about your father but right now all that comes to you are good memories. 
"Smart. Scary smart actually. Like, every time we played wheel of Fortune he'd guess it within like the first two letters," you laugh gently. "He was the first person I told about my Masters program. The first person I told about a lot of stuff. He was always my cheerleader." 
"Sounds like a great dad."
"He loved your movies," you say, kicking your feet in the water gently. "He made me sit through a Cliff Beasts marathon one year for his birthday."
Dieter almost falls off his floaty in shock. 
"No shit. Really?"
"Yeah," you give a giggle before turning a bit reserved. "He and your mom would have gotten along, I think.”
"Bet they would have been the most amazing grandparents," Dieter says in a faraway voice.
"Definitely."
Dieter shifts in the unicorn, causing it to squeak. His sunglasses are slid back up his nose and he grows somber. 
"You must be excited about starting school again," Dieter says tightly hoping the disapproval in his voice isn't obvious.
He looks over at you when you don't reply right away. You look conflicted, almost guilty as you glide a hand through the water in front of you. 
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm continuing on with school and everything because that's what I was doing when my dad died," you offer solemnly. 
"Are you?"
"Not sure. When he died I thought it was such a natural next step to use my biology background and go into research." A niggle of doubt is there at the back of your head. "But I'm not sure that's what I want anymore."
"So you might not go back?"
Dieter hopes the eagerness in his voice isn't too obvious. 
"I don't know," you answer honestly before sliding off the pool noodle and paddling in place. "I'm tired. I think I'm gonna have a nap."
Dieter watches you walk up the steps of the pool, ass twitching as you grab a towel and head into the main house. But that's not what causes the grin to start on his face.  
You're not sure about going back to school. 
There's hope. 
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"Just this once," Dieter murmurs, his teeth skating along your pulse point. "C'mon baby." 
You’re on all fours, your stomach supported by a variety of pillows. Dieter is behind you, hands on your hips, his body tilting over yours. It’s a Saturday night and he’s just got back from a particularly boring table read.
His hands found yours without question when he got home not long ago, pulling you along with him to bed and whispering into your ear the one thing he’s wanted to hear since he got you pregnant.
You sigh heavily, eyes closed as he sinks into you.
"Please make me come… Daddy.” 
Dieter groans lowly in his throat, his cock driving into you deeply. You're too overwhelmed by the sensation to be turned off by the honorific. And if he’d just left it at that, you could have continued without further distraction.
But Dieter is completely turned on by the expression, his hands coming to hold yours to the mattress as he tilts his mouth to your temple.
"Yeah, you made me a Daddy," Dieter breathes against your ear as he thrusts. "You like that? Huh? Daddy fucking you?" 
“Not at all,” you cringe, unable to help yourself from laughing. The entire ‘Daddy’/‘Mommy’ thing has never turned you on.  “I hate it worse than baby mama.”
Dieter sighs, his motions slowing. "C'mon."
"It's creepy," you tell him. "I don't like the Daddy thing."
"Fine," Dieter grumbles as his motions slow further. "Just wanted a little dirty talk is all."
Dieter’s thrusting has gone from staccato-ed to completely still. You glance over your shoulder at him with your brows raised. His cheeks are red, he’s embarrassed. Dieter rarely gets embarrassed like this and you find it completely endearing.
 “I was just trying to have a little fun,” Dieter pouts, about to pull out of you.
“Hey hey, I like fun,” you tell him, wrapping your hand around the back of his neck so he can’t leave in a huff. You start to push back against his length, gratified when you hear him give a muffled whimper into your shoulder.
“Like maybe you tie me up sometime?”
“You’d let me do that?” Dieter asks in awe, his cock slipping further into you. You groan at the sensation, arm dropping as you gain purchase on the mattress once more. His thrusting is increasing in tempo again, stoking that pleasured spot within you.
“Yeah,” you breathe softly. “Yeah, I would.”
And you mean it. You’ve never done it with anyone else, but you would with Dieter. He doesn’t do things harsh and cruel. He touches you reverently. You trust him. “I’d let you tie my wrists and ankles,” you tell him, body arching as he continues to thrust. “Let you have your way with me.”
Dieter gives a guttural choke at the very thought of it. You tied up, spread eagle on his bed so he could go down on you for hours. Pulling delicious fucking noises from you as you writhe for him.
“Would you want that?” you tease, knowing very well he would.  “Having me at your mercy, Dieter?  Fucking me exactly how you want?”
“Yes,” Dieter almost shouts, “fuck yes I would. Please…. Fuck I…”
His forehead dips to your shoulder blade as he pulls you back and forth against his length, jutting his hips forward. You feel so good, so silken and tight and perfect and he can’t believe this is happening. That you’ve fallen into this comfortably rhythm of give and take. That you can be vulnerable with him like this.
“How would you fuck me?” you ask, feeling your climax approaching. “Tell me, Dieter, I’m so close.”
“Would eat you out for hours. Wouldn’t…. wouldn’t be able to help myself,” Dieter grunts, his cock quickly pressing into you over and over. “Then I’d turn you over...a-and I’d tie your wrists together, mmmph…. And I’d…I’d-“
Dieter doesn’t get to finish that thought because he feels you hit your peak, whining out his name as you climax. Dieter feels your cunt milking his cock and his voice croaks out some garbled gibberish as he empties himself into you.
You fall asleep not long after that, your naked body glowing in the moonlight like some goddess of myth. He realizes he would do anything to keep you like this. Happy and sated and with him.
But mostly, he wants you to want him. 
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"You said you got into RADA right?"
"Yeah, but I didn't go," Dieter says as he goes over his latest script suggestion from his agent. "Got a reoccurring part in a soap opera a few weeks before I was starting and then the first Cliff Beasts and then, well, you know the rest."
"Do you still have your audition tape?" 
"It's on YouTube. Some asshole uploaded it when I got nominated for my Oscar."
"Really? Can we watch it?"
"Knock yourself out."
Dieter watches you waddle to the tv room, excitedly bringing YouTube up on the television and typing Dieter Bravo RADA audition. 
You sit on the couch, looking eagerly up at the screen. A very fresh-faced Dieter pops up. 
"Oh my gosh you're so young!" You say with a girlish giggle. "So weird to see you without a beard."
Dieter can't help but casually make his way over to the couch, plopping down next to you and watching his younger self. 
"Hi my name is Dieter Bravo and I would like to submit myself for acceptance into your program," the young Dieter says, eyes bright and smile big. "Today I'll be performing Gloumov’s monologue from The Diary of a Scoundrel” by Alexander Ostrovsky."
"Your voice is so different."
The young Dieter positions himself slightly to the left of the screen. 
"Barely out of puberty." Dieter casts a critical eye over his formerly svelte frame. "And about fifty pounds lighter."
"I like how you look now," you answer honestly. "More manly."
Before Dieter can accept that compliment his younger self is starting the scene. 
"Look into my eyes. Can’t you see there that I’d rather die than cause you a moment’s pain?"
Young Dieter takes a moment, his dark eyes beguiling as he stares into the camera, overcome, before continuing. And there on the screen You see the same transformation that you saw back on set in Ireland. Where Dieter becomes the character. 
"Oh, if you only knew how many times your sweet, gentle smile has stopped me on the very brink of impropriety," the young Dieter pauses, his eyes shiny. 
"But even that day when I forgot myself, you didn’t turn me from the house! Oh, my God, what happiness you’ve given me. What happiness, what happiness!"
A tear is shining on young Dieter's cheek as he gives a soft smile into the camera, a look of relief on his face. 
"Holy shit," you breathe, eyes wide. "Dieter that was ... Really good."
"You sound surprised."
"Well I guess ... I've only really seen you in the Cliff Beasts movies. I didn't know you could, you know, act-act."
"You thought I won an Oscar for having a great personality?"
You give him a playful shove as Dieter's younger self comes back to the screen. 
"Thank you for your time. Hope I see you in the fall."
Dieter plucks the remote from the coffee table about to change it to something less him. He tires of seeing his face on televisions and phones and sides of buses. 
Something captures his attention though, one of the suggested videos on the right. 
"Hmmm, there's a video on home births," Dieter says as he navigates the screen. "Wanna watch? Might prep us."
"Sure."
Thirty minutes later Dieter pauses the television, both of you sitting shell-shocked next to one another. 
"That was a terrible idea."
"I agree."
The camera had captured everything. In HD detail. Up close. Including a very vivid image of a baby crowning.
"That's what's gonna happen to me?" You say in a high pitched voice, struggling to your feet. "I can't do that!"
You've been reading books ever since the strip turned pink, but actually seeing it is totally different.
"A little late for that," Dieter says from the couch watching you begin to pace back and forth in front of the television. 
"That was disgusting," you say with a particularly aggressive jab of your finger towards the television. "Did you know about the placenta? It's like I have to give birth twice!"
"At least it's not twins," Dieter offers weakly. He doesn't miss the irritation that flashes in your eyes. 
"Should we watch the rest?"
"Your call," Dieter shrugs. You take a moment, looking at the television paused on a serious looking doctor. 
You take your seat next to Dieter once more. "Okay. I'm ready."
Twelve minutes later the movie is shut off indefinitely.
"An episiotomy?" You practically shriek before leaving the room. "If that happens I'm charging you extra, Bravo!"
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Your mother starts to come over weekly for coffee. The first time she does you show her the nursery. She's all smiles and wet eyes as she walks around the space. You know she's marveling at the high-end designer items, the impossibly soft sheets and ornately carved crib. You never grew up with expensive things like that. 
When the two of you make your way into the kitchen and you make her a coffee she smiles up at you. 
"Dieter told me about the charity he's thinking of creating."
You almost drop the espresso cup that you're holding. "You talk with Dieter?"
"Of course," she nods. "He calls me to update me on the baby and texts the odd photo every now and again."
"What?!"
You're struck dumb by this. Your mother barely texts you, and now she's best friends with your boss? She smiles at your discomfiture.  But you’re blown away, and a little irritated since you also send your mom updates via email almost daily when she’s not here for her weekly (decaf) coffee checkups and snuggles.
"You fit right in here."
"I'm just part of the scenery until the baby gets here" you smile pouring her the coffee and sliding the mug towards her across the counter. "Then it's back to school and on my way to a PhD for research."
You slice up the carrot cake that Petra made for your visit (along with your help), sliding a plate to your mother and taking one for yourself.
"I wanted to talk to you about that," your mom says, gaze curious. "Why are you doing the PhD thing?"
You sit across from her, brows raised. "You know why, Mom."
"It’s just you never wanted one before your father passed," she says lightly. "You said your Masters was enough."
You don't know why but you feel defensive. 
"Well when he died I wanted to do something to honor him I guess. What better way to do that than by helping with the research?"
"Your father was a smart man, he was amazing at his job and so proud of you, you know that," your mother tells you before placing a dry hand over yours. "But his biggest joy in life was being a father."
"What are you getting at?"
"I'm saying I don't want you to dedicate your life to something because you feel like you should. This is your life, my love. You only get one."
"I know."
"There are plenty of ways to give back, to honor your father and still be around to watch your son grow up."
Your hackles immediately rise and she can tell the second they do. 
"I'm sorry," she says quickly when she sees the expression on your face. "Never mind. Let's talk about something else."
The rest of the visit flows smoothly, but you can’t ignore the way your mother looks at you whenever you mention Dieter.
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"Taco Bell."
Dieter is woken out of a deep sleep by your lips at his ear. You're curled up together in his bed, your belly prodding his lower back. 
"A Burrito supreme and a large Baja blast… And Cinnamon Twists…And four fire sauce packets."
You're warm against his spine, voice a soft whisper huffed along his earlobe. He’s dazed, his eyes blurry as he attempts to understand what’s happening.
"Huh?"
"I need Taco Bell," you urge. "Please?"
A quick glance at his phone tells him that it's nearing 2:00 a.m.
"S'too late for the delivery apps, baby," he murmurs, patting your thigh companionably as if the conversation is now over. 
For the most part, Dieter can anticipate and appease your cravings. Usually through Petra or food delivery apps. But at almost two in the morning he has access to neither. 
You don't care. 
You've been tossing and turning for hours because all you can think about is the beans and tomato and beef... You're practically drooling already. You pat his bottom politely, trying to signal he needs to get out of bed.  
"The drive thru is open."
"It's late."
"But I need it," you whine. 
You have no interest in attempting to drive one of Dieter's fancy foreign cars he keeps in the large garage. And it's too late to call a town car so you're stuck. 
"No one ever needs Taco Bell. Bringing that shit in here is offensive," he mutters into his pillow. "S'full of filler and chemicals."
You give a soft exhale through your nose, about to flop onto your back in defeat when something occurs to you. Something else that you're craving as well.  
Dieter is drifting back to sleep when he feels the light graze of your hand sliding over his hip. He thinks he's imagining it, but as the sensation continues his cock begins to stir. He goes rigid as your hand slides under his boxers, fingertips teasing his warm length as he groans. 
"You do this for me and I'll do something for you when you get back," you purr, tongue coming to trace his lobe. "Daddy." 
Dieter jumps out of the bed and nearly trips in his pursuit to grab his car keys as he simultaneously tugs on his sweatpants. 
"You want cheesy potatoes too?"
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When you wake up at seven months pregnant and see your reflection one morning you almost burst into tears.
You’re standing in front of the dresser mirror in your bikini, the only one left that fits. Your tits are practically bursting out of the cups, the bottoms tie at your hips dig into your flesh. You feel huge, you feel ugly and you feel not yourself.
There’s a knock at the bedroom door. Dieter peeks around, already dressed for the pool, a pink towel slung over his freckled shoulder.
“Swim time?”
Usually you swim by yourself, but Dieter has a rare free morning this week and he wants to take advantage. It had seemed like such a nice suggestion at breakfast, but now you balk, wishing you had anything else to wear but your fucking bikini.
Before it hadn’t mattered, but today you feel gross. You want to cover up as much as possible and you reach for your towel. But Dieter’s eyes are already drifting over your body, his cock stirring.
Dieter takes in the way your stomach protrudes out in the bikini, a beacon of fertility; his son nestled there safe within your body. He moves into the room, the towel dropping without thought onto the floor behind him.
"You're exquisite," Dieter breathes, his hand coming to rest on your belly. You feel his thumb gently rub, his eyes sparkling as he continues to stare at you.
"I look disgusting," you say cringing away from him. Dieter won't let go of your wrist as you try to flee. 
"Are you fucking insane?" 
“Dieter stop,” you say, wincing away from him and trying to pull your wrist out of his warm grip.
"You don't believe me," Dieter states flatly. 
"No I don't," you reply sharply. "It's what everyone tells pregnant women so they don't feel shitty about looking like a house."
Dieter blinks at you as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing before he’s shaking his head. His hands slide to your plush hips, turning you back to face the dresser. His eyes have blown pitch black, and his hands can’t stop from running along your body. 
"Look at her," Dieter groans into your ear. "Look at that sexy thing in the mirror."
"Dieter-"
"Keep looking," he urges you, hand gently forcing your face in the direction of the mirror before his hands slide up your bikini top over your breasts, pebbling the nipples. You swallow at the sensation, not even protesting when he unties it at the back, letting the colorful fabric drop to the ground.
You stand there in nothing but your bikini bottoms, cheeks flushed as Dieter groans deliciously behind you.  His hands come to cup your tits, thumbs grazing the protruding nipples.
“See her gorgeous fucking tits?”
You cringe away from the mirror, hating how you look. But if Dieter is lying about how turned on he is, he’s a better actor than you ever gave him credit for because his cock is swelling against your lower back, stiff and pulsing.
You let him untie your bikini bottoms, finding yourself already slick between your legs when they drop to the ground along with everything else. You watch in the mirror as Dieter sheds his swim shorts before gently urging you to place your forearms on the dresser.
You can only watch his face as he notches his cock at the entrance to your pussy, rubbing the head there and gathering the copious amounts of slick. His eyes flick from your face to your cunt as if he can’t decide which he needs to see more.
“Keep watching yourself, beautiful,” He rasps as he sinks into you, cock thick and full as you gasp. You’ll never tire of that sensation, the first thrust of his cock inside you. Your head falls forward but Dieter’s hand is there, gently making a fist in your hair and urging your face to the mirror.
"See how beautiful she looks when she's taking my cock?"
You can't see shit. Your belly is ballooned so far out you can barely handle it. But you look at your face and you see the heavy eyes and parted lips. You see the way you arch into Dieter’s body and how he towers over you and yeah... It's hot. 
"Cock drunk," Dieter tells you with a swell of pride. "All sexy and sleepy looking." 
His hands come to brace yours on the dresser, his dark eyes fixed on yours in the mirror.
"You see her?" Dieter pants, teeth gritting. "You see her tits bouncing? Feel her sweet pussy taking my cock? She's fucking magnificent. How can you say she’s not the sexiest thing alive?"
The way he talks about your reflection makes you almost jealous until you remember that it's you he's talking about. 
"You're so fucking gorgeous," Dieter babbles as he nears his orgasm. “Never been more turned on in my fucking life.”
And he means it. He means every fucking word. He can’t stop touching you, kissing your shoulder, your cheek, your mouth when you tilt back to face him. You whimper his name when he starts to fuck into you harder and harder.
“Come deep, Dieter,” you grunt. “Fuck me full.”
He does with one final thrust, painting your insides as he cries out your name.  
Despite this interlude you still suffer with crisis of confidence at times in the coming weeks. Your back is in constant pain. You waddle when you walk. You've never felt less attractive. 
Dieter is obsessed. He can't stop finding reasons to touch you, brushing your lower back when he passes you in the hall.
All pretenses of employer and employee are gone. You’re basically in his bed every night, fucking him whenever you get the chance. Neither of you observe it outright, but it’s there lingering under the surface every time he asks if you’re ready to go to bed. It’s there when you shower together, washing each other’s hair. It’s there when you both murmur good morning and let him kiss you languidly over coffee.
When he catches you napping in the sunshine on his couch he's so taken with you that you wake up to find his curly head between your legs and his mouth bringing you to a gentle orgasm. You keen against his lips, hands going to card through his hair as you come. 
You know why he's like this. It's because things are coming rapidly to an end. Once the baby is here this all ends. This ready access to sex, you lounging around his house. He'll have a newborn and you'll have a new life. You won't see him. You'll have your money, you'll be going back to school, and your mom's mortgage is paid off. 
Dieter knows how you feel about snuggling and he goes to pull away. 
"Don't," you say, arms outstretched, mouth twisted into a pout. Dieter stares at you in surprise, big puppy dog eyes wide. It makes you melt. He wraps himself around you, face nuzzling into your neck. The two of you snuggle there as you flick on the television to a Christmas special.
Just when you think Dieter is becoming a mature and sensible adult you feel him sigh heavily behind you.
“I'm not watching that depressing Christmas movie!" Dieter insists when It’s a Wonderful Life starts up. "I wanna watch the Muppet Christmas Carol!"
He can’t understand why you can’t stop laughing.
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One quiet morning with Dieter filming audio reshoots for the Rogue Duchess you sit at the kitchen table, pensive. You stare at the pro and con list you've made sitting in front of you. 
Ever since the conversation with your mother you've been second guessing your next steps post birth. Are you just doing it because you think you should be? Are you doing it because that's what you were doing when your dad died? Are you doing it because of misplaced guilt?
Your dad had been so proud of you, telling everyone about your Masters problem and how you were well on your way to a PhD like him.  
He talked fondly about having two doctors and a nurse in the house, joking that your home would become like Grey's Anatomy. 
Even then you'd felt a bit of the pressure to perform. To pursue a PhD to make him proud. In all your focus and pursuit you'd never really stopped to ask yourself... Is this what you want? 
Pros - honor dad - get to be called doctor at the end Cons  - no social life - have to move to Sacramento for several years - not guaranteed a job I like when I graduate - away from mom  - STRESS - possible burnout - job market is competitive - won't necessarily make me happy
You need to add something else. Something that's been in the back of your head screaming for your attention. You raise your pen to the paper, adding your final item to the con list. 
- Too far away from Dieter and Bubble. 
And then a sentence you write and then immediately erase before crumpling the entire paper up in a ball.
- I'm in love with Dieter. 
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[8:43am] D: It hasn't even started and I'm bored out of my fucking mind
[8:44am]: Dieter it'll be fun.
[8:44am] D: no it won't. I HATE these fucking marathon interview days 
Hours and hours of sitting with Mia and the rest of the crew talking about the upcoming film being released in a few months. He's covered in concealer and powder, his stylist has him in some absurdly patterned shirt that itches and he desperately needs a cigarette. 
[8:45am] D: I wanna be at home with you---
He hesitates before deleting that last message. He can't send you messages like that. You're not dating, no matter how much it feels like you are. He feels twitchy now, all out of sorts as he thinks about you home and waiting for him.
He sneaks off to the corner of the hotel, hoping he can get off a few puffs before Diane wrangles him back inside. 
He lights his cigarette, puffing away. He scans the space to make sure it's just hotel employees before he brings out his phone, going through his photos. He lands on the one from the other night, you mid laugh as the Jenga tower falls. You look so happy, so at ease. 
He’s so ridiculously in love with you.
How can he let you go? How can he go from seeing you every day to you becoming a stranger? You've got one foot out the door at all times and he doesn’t want to hold you back from your dreams. 
It was so easy to play house these past few months. To pretend like you were his. He was such a fool.
"Spare one?"
Dieter fumbles the phone, shoving it a hastily back into his jacket pocket. Its Mia dressed in a sleek black number, her makeup and hair perfect. She motions to the cigarette between his long fingers. 
"My last one," he says ruefully. 
Mia holds out her manicured fingers in his direction. "A quick puff then."
Dieter relents, handing it off to her. She takes a long drag, enjoying the curl of the smoke as the two of them stand shoulder to shoulder in silence. It feels awkward being together alone, the two of them haven't spoken since Prague. Dieter feels the need to fill the silence. 
"How's Sam?"
"He's good," Mia nods. "He's not secretly in love with his assistant so it's already much better than my last relationship."
Dieter can't help but let out a small chuckle at that.  Mia has been seen all over the tabloids in recent weeks with her hunky new Scottish co-star. Mia looks at Dieter with a small tilt of her head, squinting up at him.
"You tell her yet?"
"Tell who what?"
Mia takes another drag off the cigarette, giving him a leveling look.  "You know who and you know what."
Dieter says nothing, watching as Mia holds the cigarette aloft. She gives a dramatic sign when she sees. He's going to make her have to say it.
"Have you told your PA that you're fucking crazy about her," Mia says flatly. "That you want to marry her and have tons of little Bravo's running around."
"I do not."
"Maybe just the one little Bravo then," Mia smiles, handing him his cigarette. He feels her heavy gaze on him and he knows that she deserves answers. He put her through a lot and she has been gracious as hell about it.
He sighs heavily before twisting to face her head-on. "No, I haven't."
"Why not?"
"It’s…complicated." 
"What's complicated about love?"
"She told me she doesn't want to be a part of the baby's life."
"Back when she thought you only wanted to be together because you got her pregnant."
"She doesn't want me."
"Dieter I see how she looks at you. The girl is utterly besotted." 
"Might want to tell her that," Dieter huffs in forced amusement. 
Despite all the time you’ve spent together, you’ve really never made it clear how you feel about Dieter. Yes, you like the sex and you laugh with him. But you’ve never actually made overtures, talked about the future. You think of a future that doesn’t include him or your son.
Mia pauses for a moment, thinking about something. Her eyes scan the vicinity and before Dieter can do anything Mia grips him by the collar and plants a chaste kiss to his lips. Dieter pulls back immediately, his face cloudy.
"What the fuck-"
"You'll thank me," Mia promises.
He goes to say something to her about how uncool that was but a text from you sails in, almost as if fate is giving him the prompt he needs.
[8:58am]: If I wanted to postpone school for a little bit, do you think I could still stay with you? I could pay rent and everything. I think I just want to reconsider some things. Dunno if school is where I want to be right now.
“Fuck yes,” Dieter breathes, re-reading the message several times to make sure he’s not reading it wrong. You want to stay. You want to stay longer with him. He's still staring at your text with a goofy smile on his face when Mia’s voice sounds out beside him. 
“Dieter, c'mon! Interviews are starting.”
He shoves his phone into his pocket, his grin bright as he follows Mia back inside the hotel for the marathon of interviews.
You want to stay.
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The alert comes through on your phone, the setting still stuck on sending you Dieter Bravo related news items. 
You're relaxing on one of the chairs in the backyard, one hand gently rubbing your belly, the other holding your latest crime thriller novel. 
When the alert goes off its instinct to shut the book and retrieve the phone from the table beside you. Normal to scan the links that show up. 
BRAV-ROWE ROMANCE BACK ON? 
You sit up slowly, holding your expansive belly and grunting angrily. You continue reading as you walk inside, pacing around the kitchen. 
Bravo, 40, and Rowe, 25, were spotted earlier today stealing kisses between interviews for their upcoming release The Rogue Heiress. What’s setting tongues wagging is that Rowe has also been recently seen getting cozy with Sam Heughen, 43, back in her native England only last week. Was Sam just a distraction from her real feelings for Bravo? Or is this just a cleverly executed publicity stunt for their upcoming film? 
You slam your phone down onto the counter, irritation flooding you all over. 
What the fuck?
Here you are pining over this guy and he's off kissing his ex? 
Even their couple name is adorable. It fits. Your cheeks are flaming red at the realization that you fell for it. You fell for his lines, for his sweet eyes and sweeter mouth. You let yourself get swept up in a romance that isn't even real.
Dieter is an actor. He knows how to fake anything.
"I'm so fucking stupid," you say shaking your head. Bubble gives a gentle kick, drawing your attention back to the present.
 “Sorry honey. Mom’s not stupid. Just fucking naive.”
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It's dark when Dieter finally makes it home, shrugging of his jacket and toeing off his shoes. He wants to go to bed, to hold you after this long and boring day. 
But you're not in bed. You're seated on the couch with the TV off. Your crossword book is beside you but you don't look like you've been working on it. Dieter feels a smile break out over his features at the sight of you in his home. 
"Hi baby," he murmurs as he approaches, confused when you slowly turn to face him with a furious look on your face. "What’s wrong?"
“Have anything to tell me?”
“Uh…no?”
He watches you throw your head back and give an obviously false laugh. “No?”
“No.”
“Kiss any old girlfriends lately, Dieter?”
Dieter is stunned. How the hell did you find out about that? "How-"
"It's all over TMZ and now all the other news outlets," you say, teeth clenching. Dieter thinks about the way Mia checked around them before kissing him. You take a seat on the couch, arms crossed over your chest.
"I didn't just go kiss her," Dieter defends, coming to sit next to you. "She kissed me."
"Didn't really seem like you were fighting her on it."
You hold up your phone where the picture of Mia kissing Dieter is blown up. It's clear you've been studying the picture. Mia’s hand is on his collar, Dieter’s hand is on hers, but only so that he could pull it off. But to the outside viewer this looks very intimate.
“It’s not what it looks like.”
“No? Because what it looks like is you kissing your ex girlfriend.”
Dieter takes in the red of your cheeks and the way you’re clenching your jaw and despite everything a little thrill goes through him. 
"Why are you so upset?" Dieter purrs.
"I'm not," you insist.
You feel furious and out of sorts and you can't tell him why because you'll sound like a jealous girlfriend which you absolutely aren't. 
"You sound upset."
"Well I'm not." You chew at your bottom lip angrily. "It's just rude you know? Sleeping with me and seeing Mia. Does she-"
"I'm not seeing Mia," Dieter interjects. 
"I have eyes Dieter," you scoff. 
"She gave me a quick peck after we talked about Sam Heughan, her boyfriend, who she is in a committed relationship with."
"Yeah right."
Dieter stops a moment to take in your flushed cheeks, bright eyes and the arms that cross in front of you. You don’t want him to be seeing Mia and that can only mean one thing and that makes Dieter feel warm all over. His arm is on the back of the couch, almost behind your shoulders.
"You're jealous."
"I'm not," you insist, face heating. 
"Then why are you acting like this?" He probes, shifting closer to you on the couch. "Tell me the truth."
He’s so close and he smells so good and you just fucking… you just…
"Because you're mine."
It comes spilling out of you like a dam, a rush, a torrent of words that once said cannot be taken back. But for once you don’t want them taken back. You want him to know exactly what you mean, especially as you launch yourself towards him, your arms going around his neck, your stomach plump between the two of you. Dieter is grinning so widely his face might crack as he gazes at you on his lap. 
"I'm yours?"
"Yes," you all but growl, pushing him backwards until his broad shoulders hit the seat cushions of the couch and you begin straddling his prone body. His cock is rock hard through his pants, pressing into your core through your panties. 
You tug them to the side, not even bothering to take them off. Dieter is already sliding off his pants and boxers, smiling up at you eagerly. He's pulsing between your thighs, hissing with pleasure as you notch him at your soaked entrance. 
"Not hers," you grunt, sliding down his length with an aching groan escaping both of you. "No one else's. Just mine. You understand me, Bravo?"
You're staking your claim and Dieter is turned on out of his mind. You've never been possessive over him before, never been so commanding. Never been so clear in your desire for him. 
"Yes!"
He wishes he could hold you in his arms, but being laid out flat on his couch while you ride him isn't exactly torture. Your pussy milks his cock, a vice -like grip around his thick length. 
"I'm yours," Dieter repeats, thrusting up into your wet heat. "Just yours, baby."
"You only fuck me," you command, starting to bounce up and down in his lap the best you can with your swollen belly. His expression is pure delight, his wide palm on your hips. 
"Yes."
"Only I make you c-come," you try to sound authoritative but your hips are rolling over his and he feels so good. You're barrelling towards an orgasm with every husky assurance from him. 
"Only you," Dieter assures you, hands tightening around your gyrating hips. "And I only wanna make you come, baby. Only want you in my bed. Only you."
He's rambling and your eyes are cheating to the back of your head. You crest so fast, hands flying to the back of the couch so you can steady yourself. His hands slide up under your shirt and go to your breasts, pinching your pebbled nipples as you keen. 
"C'mon baby," Dieter encourages as he watches your head tilt back. "Take what's yours."
"Mine," you pant as you start to come, head lolling forward. Your body starts to give small little twitches as you groan. "Mine, mine, mine."
"Yours," Dieter breathes, gazing up at you. "Only yours."
He feels you come, soaking his cock with your release. He groans at the sight of your fucked out expression, your hips still undulating. 
"Now you," you command in a soft mewl. "Come for me, Dieter. Give my what's mine."
Your hands go to brace yourself on his chest, your hips lifting only to slide harshly back down, taking him as deep as possible. He feels a pleasurable stripe go up his spine.  
"It's all yours," he offers before his own pleasure overtakes him at the sight of your heavy-lidded expression. He comes deep, deeper than he ever has and he does so whimpering your name. 
You're both panting and you groan slightly as you pull yourself off of him, sitting back against the couch. Dieter rests there a few moments, his softened cock resting against his belly. He's smiling up at the ceiling like a madman. 
Then he's stripping off all his clothes and standing before urging you to do the same. 
"I'm fucking you in the shower," Dieter tells you as he pulls your t-shirt up over your head. "I want you to give me another one."
But you don't just give just him another one because it doesn't end in the shower. Or on the kitchen counter after a midnight snack. But in his bed where he urges you to the end of the bed and fucks you slowly standing next to the mattress, your thighs spread beautifully for him as his cock lazily saws in and out of you.
His hands grip your thighs tightly, urging you to bounce against his hips. Your bodies move together, the pleasure increasing.
“So good,” you croon, your forehead dotted with sweat. “You feel so perfect, Dieter.”
You’re babbling, high on the pleasure of his cock and his nearness. Dieter revels in it, the way you’re unabashedly giving him praise, the way you don’t stop him or shy away from him whispering sweet nothings into your neck.
“And I’m all yours,” he promises. You almost think you can read love in his eyes as they gaze down at you.
 “I’m all yours,” you tell him back without thought.
His thrusts increase, his hands holding you tightly, fingers splayed over your clit. He teases and rubs until you’re on the brink of another orgasm and you finally come in tandem, both of you trembling.
“That’s my girl,” he groans, kissing behind your ear as you shiver.
You don’t tell him you’re not his girl because right now you feel like you could be.
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You wake up the next morning in Dieter’s bed with one of his legs wedged in between yours, his arm draped over your middle and his forehead against your neck. It feels right and it feels perfect and as your sleep clears…A mixture of shame and disbelief overtakes your body.
What the fuck was that last night? 
You'd been almost mad with rage at the sight of that TMZ pic. And when he'd come onto the couch you'd just felt this strange possessiveness overtake you. 
Just want you in my bed. Only you. 
Those words were so nice to hear. So gratifying. And you believed him about Mia and the photo. It had been all too easy to move past it, to allow him to lick into your mouth as he fucked you. You glance over your shoulder to see him sleeping, his hair falling into his closed eyes. 
Mine. 
No. Not mine. 
He's not yours. He can't be.
He's Dieter Bravo and you're you. Thinking that somehow you could be together is a delusion.  Dieter just hates being alone. And he knows that being a father is a huge deal. He knows that it's all going to rest on his shoulders and he's looking for a lifeline as your due date grows rapidly closer.  
He doesn't actually have feelings for you.
It's just that Mia might be out of the picture and he's clinging to whatever is in the vicinity - today it happens to be you. Tomorrow it'll be whatever model he's paired with at the next photo shoot. 
You've known him long enough to know his moods and his ever changing interests. In a couple of months when the baby is here and you're in Sacramento he'll probably have forgotten your name. 
The thought hurts if you linger on it. He's just clinging to a lifeline and you can't be around when he does inevitably move onto the next woman because it'll break your heart. 
You need to get the apartment now. You need to find out where you're going to be staying next semester. You need to be planning your life post birth. 
He didn’t even write back to your text yesterday even though it said he’d read it. The one asking if you could stay longer, that you were considering postponing school. And you know why – because this wasn’t the plan. Because Dieter’s interest is waning and you know it.
You pull yourself from the bed, out of Dieter’s warm arms and you try your best not to look back at his still sleeping form as you tiptoe out of the room.  
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You return sometime in the afternoon to Dieter storming around the kitchen, looking frantic. He barrels towards you, tugging your hands that you quickly slide out of his grip.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?"
“I had it on silent.”
"Where were you?"
"I was at the library," you say as if it were the most obvious answer. Dieter looks like he’s been fisting his hands through his hair all day.
"You're not supposed-"
"I know I’m not supposed to leave, but I wore sunglasses and no one recognized me." You put your purse down on the ground. "I just needed somewhere quiet to organize my thoughts. I needed to research apartments without distractions."
"Apartments," Dieter repeats slowly. 
"Yeah, for next semester," You say breezily as you push past him and make your way into the kitchen. He follows hot on your heels like a desperate puppy all big eyes and furrowed brows.
"Next semester? I thought you were thinking of postponing?"
He watches you glance around in the fridge before pulling out a bowl of blueberries that Petra has left for you. 
"No point," you say, popping one in your mouth. "I decided I need to get focused and start as soon as possible. That reminds me though; I don't think I can really stay long after the baby is born. I'll want to get to Sacramento as soon as possible."
Dieter looks as if you've punched him. He's gone pale, his large eyes luminous. He's sagging against the counter as if his own body can't support him anymore. 
"What? Why?"
"I told you, I need to focus," you tell him, popping the blueberries back into the fridge. "And I know that I don't get paid until the Bubble is born but I'm wondering if I can get half now? I need to put a down payment on an apartment out there."
"You're buying an apartment in Sacramento?"
"Of course," you say, taking a deep breath. "I'll be in school for a few years; the rest of my Masters then the PhD, then my residency out there. Makes sense." 
"But ... You weren’t even sure about it," Dieter says weakly. 
"That was before I really thought about it," You say, shrugging. "I can't sit around my boss's house all day organizing his next manicure and making sure his latest fuck buddies sign NDA's."
Dieter straightens immediately, his jaw clenching.
Too far.
As soon as you say it you wish you could take it back. It's an ugly, unfair thing to say and you both know it.  But you feel exposed, like a raw nerve.
Dieter feels everything inside him twisting hideously. He was so fucking deluded to think you'd stay, to think you'd fallen for him the same way he has for you. He wants to scream at his idiocy. 
How are you just so okay with this? How can you walk away like the last several months have meant nothing?
Dieter can only stare at you, his eyes going from wide to narrowed. His hand curls into a loose fist at his side, the other still braced on the counter. 
“There's a contract," Dieter all but growls. "You get your money once the baby is born."
"I know,” you say quickly. “It's just that the tuition is due this month to hold my spot for next semester."
"That's not my problem."
You take a step back, brows knitted. You weren’t expecting that. 
“But-“
"You signed a contract stipulating that you wouldn't get the money until the baby is born," Dieter croaks. "So there's your answer."
He turns from you, heading down the hallway to his art studio. You follow close behind, waddling quickly to keep up. 
"Dieter I can't afford the place without that money."
"Read the contract," he snaps. "You signed it."
He quickly moves into the studio, slamming the door behind him.
He hears you on the other side of the door, breathing heavily. He’s worried you’re crying.
Finally he hears you shuffle away and he moves to the window, sitting in the chair he reserved for you when you return home with your son. He imagined painting both of you, the light bathing you both in a dreamy glow.
Dieter is devastated, his head resting heavily in his hands as he fights back the urge to sob.  
What the fuck happened? One minute you were insisting he was yours, your bodies working together beautifully. The next second you're telling him you're halfway out the door. 
You don’t want to be a mother. You never did. You always made that perfectly clear. He was just too besotted to understand.  He looks around his art room, feeling a fury building within him. What the fuck has this all been for? Why the fuck is he so fucking stupid? Why did he have to go and fall in love with you? 
He needs drugs. He needs alcohol. He needs something to take this stabbing pain away. And just as his trembling hand goes to his phone to call up Corey Brigham he glances up at the painting he's been currently working on. 
It's an oil painting image from a dream he had recently. One where he stands in the ocean up to his knees, the wind gentle and the day mild. Dieter is holding you back against him, his head over your shoulder, both of you gazing down at the tiny infant in your arms. 
And there's his son, eyes closed, a soft smile on his face. The image of what Dieter things he’ll look like.
My son. 
The cell phone is pushed back into his pocket. He's not living just for himself anymore. He's got a son he will put before himself in all ways. His son will not grow up with an absent father like Dieter did. 
All of a sudden his studio door bursts open. You look harried as you stride in, fixing him with a glare. He knows you want to tell him off and he wishes you didn't look so beautiful when you’re angry. 
"You're not supposed to be in here," Dieter insists, feeling a stab of anxiety go through him as you walk towards him. He leaps up from the chair, almost tripping over himself in his desire to usher you out of the room.
“We were in the middle of a conversation,” you snap. “You can’t just-“
Your cutting remarks die before they can be completely formed because as you glance around the room your eyes widen in shock. 
Dieter’s art room has always been a mix of canvas, paint spills, old coffee cups and grotesque sculptures. But right now all of the painted canvases are positioned around the room, sketches lining the drafting table under the window.
And they are all of you.
Ones of you with your belly swollen, sleeping on the couch. Others of you cross legged at the table hunched over your laptop. There's one of you with your face serene as you lay the bathtub, that night Dieter and you talked for hours. Snapshots of time, your belly at different stages. 
"Are these..." You go over to a stack of sketches. “Are these all me?”
Dieter is silent, his eyes drifting to your face when you take in the portrait he did of the three of you. Your hand goes to your belly instinctively as you take in the image.
“I always imagined he’d look like that,” you say with a soft little huff.
Your eyes go to the drafting table, sketches in charcoal sticking out to you. Some are dated as far back as Ireland, some even before that. Your fingers linger on one in particular of you chewing your bottom lip in thought, a pencil raised between your fingers. You glance at the date. 
“This was before I was pregnant.” You trail off, gaze moving back to his face. "How long have you been sketching me?"
Dieter shrugs and for the first time since you've known him he looks truly embarrassed. 
"A while." 
You move slowly towards him. "Why?"
He sighs, only steps away from you now.
"Isn't it obvious?" 
You swallow, feeling your heart pound a devastating rhythm. No, this can’t be real. He can’t be suggesting what you think he is.  And yet as he stands there, dark eyes wet you can’t help but wish for it to be real.
“I'm crazy about you,” Dieter confesses.
No, not confesses. That would suggest he wanted to keep it hidden, when it’s anything but.
“I just want to be with you all the time. I want to share everything with you. My life, my home, my everything. I want you here in this house with our son. I want to support you going back to school. I want to make you happy in any way I can but I want you to do it as mine.”
You want to say something, to say anything to this grand romantic speech, but your throat has tightened and your mouth gone dry. All you can do is stand there, staring at him like a pregnant idiot.
“And I know that’s selfish to say and I know it’s useless because you don’t love me back but I-I just needed you to know before you left,” Dieter continues, tears wetting the side of his cheek.
“You don’t need to love me back. Our son is a piece of you and if that’s all I can have of your love, that’s enough for me. He’s more than enough. I just. . . I needed you to know the truth, all of it. I fell for you way before you got pregnant, but after this time together I just, I’m...I love you.”
And now his tears are brushed away by the back of his hand and he looks as if he’s going to turn away from you, overcome with everything that he’s just admitted.
You can barely see through the tears in your eyes. All the feelings that have been swirling within you compel you to pitch forward, your hands outstretched, his name on your lips.
You’re about to cross the room, desperate for his touch when a stab of pain goes through you sharply, causing you to almost come to your knees.  You begin doubling over with a cry as Dieter runs to close the distance between you, his hand immediately on your back.
“What is it, baby?”
Dieter is confused when he sees an overwhelming amount of clear liquid running down your legs. Your eyes are round, wide and terrified when you look up to him.
"Dieter, I think I'm going into labor." 
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lushlovers · 1 year
Text
The P-word, J Burrow
summary; he doesn't know what to say or how to react to things like this.
warnings; fluff fr, mentions of pregnancy and pregnancy tests, pet names (baby, honey, ) joe actually kinda sucks with words but same lmaoooo, swearing, kissing
word count; 903
note; yes angst but also fluff. i'm working on more frat!lsu!joey, but this was something random I wanted to post since it's been a little while. i hate the ending no one talk about it. winter writer's block ain't no joke fr.
this is kind of my thank you for two hundred followers even though we are just on the cusp of three, but thank you so much, I appreciate the support of my works more than you will ever know. i love every one of my followers so so sooo much yall are the best:)
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Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant. Maybe the more you think of those eight letters will fade away and completely off the little plastic at-home test you decided to finally take. God the word just keeps ringing in your head like the most annoying of alarms. How the hell are you supposed to tell him? His career's just started he'll never be along for the roller coaster ride, especially not when it consists of a baby running around as well.
However, luck chooses to be your opponent this evening since Joe's already home and sitting on the couch in the living room, completely oblivious to the fact that your world has just turned completely upside down. It took a while for you to work up the nerve to call him up, but when you did everything suddenly felt so heavy.
The weight refused to leave your shoulders as he sat on the truck at the foot of your bed. Rehearing in the mirror, preparing for every scenario, but especially for the one that you hope and pray will never occur. Everything that you've been through together, nothing will go wrong, he's too good of a person.
After several minutes, worry becomes evident in your voice as he asks you through the door if everything's alright, "'M fine, just nervous, I guess." That seemed to do the opposite of what you intended, that is, maybe your lying and saying you're fine would shut him up for a bit, but your being nervous led to many other questions from the other side of the door.
Adding on to that p-word, every what if clouds your mind as well. What if telling him this is your biggest regret? What if he just packs his shit and leaves? What if-, "Baby, are you sure?" Fucks sake he's still going with his questions, in any less stressful situation this would've been appreciated, but not when you can barely seem to focus on the most topic at hand.
Now or never, seemed to be the only thing that got you to push open the door and finally face the man you love so dearly. He almost instantly jumps up, concern written all over his face even more so when he glances in the direction of your hands. "Do you wanna tell me what's going on?" No, not entirely, you think but you won't let that escape your mouth, matter of fact, nothing leaves your mouth for many seconds. Maybe never was a good idea.
It took a bit for you to unscramble your words and finally speak up, "I'm gonna tell you something, but you have to try not to freak out." Your mouth felt dry the way your anxiety made your throat close up made it feel like your lungs had shrunk five times the size they were before, "Okay, care to share? I'm like shitting my pants right now," Joe spoke, chuckling but not because it was funny, he laughs because he's terrified of what words may escape your lips.
You do everything you can to avoid his eyes because the all too familiar feeling of tears surfaces on your waterline and his brows furrow at that. "Honey, you know you can tell me anything, yeah?" His question is lost to you as he cups your face thumbing away the tears before they got a chance to slip down your cheeks. The feeling of his eyes searching yours for any answer to all the questions that he's thinking about is a scary feeling.
"I'm pregnant," it comes out as a whisper, but the way the color completely drains from his face, you know he understood every syllable of those two words. For a split second, he stares at you with a look you don't think you've ever received from him before, "That's... wow." A strangled breath of half relief and half worry escapes you at his response.
Your soul leaves your body as he racks his brain for something to say to express just how he's feeling, but he's almost certain there is no possible way to verbally explain it. Now tears are welling up in his pretty blue eyes, "That's insane, I dunno what to say, are you sure?" His voice is trembling just as much as his hands as you place the test into his palm, he gets choked up as he reads over the same word that had your stomach in knots before with nothing but admiration and surprise.
"Holy fucking shit," he gapes, pulling you into him so tight it nearly knocks the wind right out of you. You laugh now as it settles into your mind that Joe would never do anything to hurt you or your baby in any way possible and to think he would ever leave in a situation like this one was silly, but thinking irrationally tends to happen quite a lot.
"I'm gonna be a dad, I need to call-" you cut him off before he's able to go on his rant, "How about we pause, and we can tell whoever we want in the most extravagant, Joseph Burrow way possible?" He snorts at that, pulling his face away from his place against your shoulder, muffling some form of agreement against your lips, then your jaw, neck, and clavicle, and lowering himself to his knees.
For a moment he looks up at you, "Sorry if I scared you with my response, I don't usually know what to say in times like this and my brain went into shock mode."
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eqt-95 · 6 days
Note
💙 for supercorp , pretty please!
oh brilliant! yes of course!! i was hoping for this one so i'd finally be motivated to write the scene that was inspired by this post. i have literally had it saved in my tumblr drafts since february. and yes i just scrolled through half of my 784 drafts to find it.
- - - - - -
“Actually no, we're not ‘dating’. We're bound together for infinity. Like the stars. So, fuck you, actually-”
Alex clicked the remote, freezing the screen to perfectly capture a very outspoken, very drunk Lena Luthor doing an uncanny impression of Taylor Armstrong in front of a throng of paparazzi.
“Can we watch it again?”
“No,” Alex answered tersely, setting the remote next to three overflowing folders, a coffee mug that needed to be filled with something a little stronger, and a cellphone she had to silence after the hundredth social media notification sent it rattling off the table.
Nia slouched in her chair with a ‘hmph’ and muttered something that sounded like garbled nothing to normal ears but very much like ‘never any fun,’ to Kryptonian ears.
“Right,” Alex continued, her attention directed across the table. She’d spent the majority of the recording with her face downturn and fingers pinching the bridge of her nose in what could only be described as ‘resignation’ mixed with the ‘I’m not mad, just disappointed’ strategy she had been trying with Esme.. “Care to explain what compelled you to proclaim you... infinite, cosmic link with Supergirl?”
“Not really, no,” a much more subdued, much less drunk Lena answered.
“Seems pretty self-explanatory,” Nia chimed in, spinning in the chair next to Alex. “Luthor can’t hold her liquor.” She bounced a clicky pen on the table-surface to accentuate the point. Alex gritted her teeth.
“I most certainly can-”
“Channel 7 says otherwise,” Nia grinned. The clicky pen was pointed accusingly.
“That,” J’onn began, and then pen clicked in offense, “is the least of our concerns-”
“Exactly,” Alex interrupted while blindly swiping the pen from Nia's hand and slamming it onto the table. “Do you have any idea how many conspiracy theories have started because of this? This has gone national-”
“International, actually,” Brainy added. “Canada and Australia have both picked it up.”
“Which means it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world is needling around about- about…” Alex’s face plunged closer to a shade of raspberry.
“About what, Alex?” Lena asked. She leaned forward, arms crossed with her super sexy calm, cool, and ceo-collected face. It was almost working too, except for the mischievous glint and flicker of her eyebrow that revealed she was not taking this remotely serious enough for the eldest Danvers sister. “About my throuple with Kara Danvers and Supergirl?”
Alex’s face found her hands. Nia sputtered laughter from behind her own. J’onn stared longingly toward the closed door. Brainy scowled in confusion.
“It cannot be a throuple if two members are the same person,” Brainy said, glancing quickly toward Nia who nodded in confirmation.
“CNN doesn't know that. But fine, call it infidelity, stepping out on-” Lena offered lazily.
“Still not the point. You’ve jeopardized Kara’s secret identity,” Alex interrupted crossly. “And now you've put her in danger of-”
“I thought it was sort of sweet.”
Five pairs of eyes turned toward Kara who, until now, had remained silently observed. She sat at the head of the table wearing her suit and a recent bout of puppy love. Two pairs of eyes were gobsmacked, the third was failing to hide the glee over the entire exchange, and the fourth included a quick wink that made Kara’s cheeks flush even redder and bat her figurative tail even harder.
“Sweet. Right, well,” Alex began again, “‘Sweet’ doesn’t exactly handle the problem, does it?”
“It’ll blow over; these things always do,” Lena added. “We can have Andrea run a boring fluff piece about my night on the town being a slew of misguided comments. Say I said the earth was flat and that I challenged the Second Law of Motion or something. Make it dry. Everyone will chalk it up to part of that.”
“Fine.”
“And we can put this whole thing to-”
“Don't you dare-” Alex warned.
“-bed.”
Alex sighed, J’onn climbed to his feet like a tired high school teacher, Nia bounced giddily in her chair, and Lena was already glancing over at Kara and giving her a look that suggested they were not going to make it through the day without a trip to the broom closet. 
Kara's cheeks flushed even redder if that were remotely possible.
•••••••
And so a fluff piece was written, the tabloids took a few lazy swipes at another Luthor edging toward instability, and then the story deflated entirely into obsolescence. The news cycle moved on, Alex's blood pressure returned to normal, and Kara was permanently living on cloud nine.
Everything was fine.
Everything was great.
Everything was going swimmingly.
Until the second video was discovered.
From the same night.
Nia brought popcorn. J’onn brought a heavy sigh. Alex brought a decade of instantaneous aging. 
“Care to explain?” Nia asked with her best angry-Alex impression. 
Meanwhile Alex was struggling to unclench her jaw.
“Deep fake?” Lena offered lamely.
“Deep fake,” Alex parroted. “You think someone somewhere invested the time to deep fake Lena Luthor and Supergirl making out? For what? Fun? Kicks? Laughs?”
“They already spend hours writing steamy fanfiction,” Lena shrugged. 
“They what-?” Alex choked.
“Hot, steamy, inspired sex, really-”
“No-”
“Kara, darling, do you remember the one with my desk and the full-length windows?”
Kara flushed but nodded. Nia squealed with delight. Alex had had it.
“Enough-”
“Or the one where we lived in an alternate universe and you were a cowboy and was your-”
“Stop. Stop it.” 
Lena leaned back into her chair, a smile of victory spreading across her face.
“I’m just saying, stands to reason someone might show us in the throws of deep, passionate-”
“I don't want to know. I don't. Want. To know,” Alex interrupted, hands cupped around her ears.
“Cosplay?”
Again five pairs of eyes turned to Kara. 
“Could've been cosplay.”
“I can't believe… J’onn can you… handle… this,” Alex waved between the two.
“Should we watch it again?” Nia suggested. “Just to check Kara's theory.”
And without preamble, she clicked play again. It was far fuzzier, far more amateur, and far less deniable than the first.
“Charlie, Charlie, baby look here,” the phone holder shouted over a group of laughing, tipsy NCU students. “Do the impression again, please? I want it for-”
“Yo, yo, check it out.” 
“Is that-?”
The camera pivoted from the ginger-haired Charlie to a dark alley between 
“Oh damn, is that Supergirl?”
“And… Lena Luthor?”
“I knew it. I told you!”
The stage whispers were doing far more for Alex’s discomfort than the shaky camera zooming 2x onto what was very clearly Supergirl pressing Lena Luthor into a wall and doing a very good job of ripping Lena’s $1,200 blouse open. 
“Ooph, Mrs. Fischer is not going to be happy about that,” Nia commented.
A glitter of buttons bounced off the sidewalk, and Supergirl’s mouth was moving hungrily and decidedly across the exposed skin.
“We’ve seen enough,” Alex chimed in and reached, some might say ‘desperately’, for the remote in Nia’s hands. “Once already scarred me for life-”
“But we won’t know until we see drunk, cosplay-Lena’s face. It’s for science, Alex,” Nia answered, clutching the remote like the lifeline to a sinking ship and climbing onto and over the conference table just as ‘cosplay’-Lena pulled ‘cosplay’-Supergirl’s mouth back to her.
“Bullshit,” Alex hissed, making quick work of scattering across the same table. 
Meanwhile ‘cosplay’-Supergirl’s hands were no longer visible and the gang of NCU students were actively chanting them on. “Nia Nal, if you do not turn that off right now-”
The chase continued under the table, over three chairs, and around a trash bin Nia knocked over in a valiant attempt to slow her assailant. And while Nia and Alex made a mess of the conference room, ‘cosplay’-Supergirl was making an absolute mess of ‘cosplay’-Lena’s bun-
“Never!” Nia huffed and side-spun before making a poor calculation and tripping over an empty chair. Alex saw her window and lunged, tackling Nia, gripping the remote free and slamming pause just as ‘cosplay’-Lena found the zipper to ‘cosplay’-Supergirl’s suit.
“Do you have any idea the-” Alex’s vitriol stopped in its tracks. Why? Because they were totally and completely alone. No Brainy or J’onn and worse, no Lena or Kara. “What… where’d they go?”
“Probably the broom closet,” Nia mused.
- - - -
ask game
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pablitogavii · 9 months
Note
Hey! Can i request one with Pablo’s reaction to the reader having a makeover (hairstyle) and he is just amazed and loves it
Thanks
Surprise Call
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Pablo was spending all morning at training preparing for the next few matches while you spent that entire time at the hair salon getting your hair done as a surprise for your boy.
"Are you sure he will like it??" you were unsure weather to do it or not but your friends and hairdresser reassured you that highlights would make you look so good so you agreed.
"He's calling you again! Dios mio! You two are like obsessed with each other!" your friend was holding your phone while the hairdresser washed your hair and you giggled telling her to text that you're studying with friends.
nena💗: I'm studying amorcito. can we talk later??
pablitoo: ofc my smart girl ❤️
"You guys are so cute it's sickening!" your friends joked and everyone laughed around you while you blushed taking the phone and smiling at Pablo's text.
When you were finally done (after five hours sitting in the chair), you looked at the mirror with big eyes loving the way bright highlights made your face pop out and added texture to your hair.
"Do you like it chica??" hairdresser asked and you gave him a tight hug nodding your head in excitement.
"It's so pretty!" you said and he smiled nodding his head glad you were liking what he had done.
"Your boy is going to love it too" he added while you paid and you thanked him going to get some food with your friends.
"You ready to call him??" one of your friends asked when you ordered and you were kinda nervous looking at Pablo's phone number.
"I'm waiting for Rora" you say and his sister soon joined you as well being in shock when she saw your hair.
"Dios mio! Que bonita eres! I understand mi hermano completely!" he said touching your hair and you blush at her comment nodding your head and telling her that he still doesn't know about it.
"Call him right now! I wanna see his face when he sees you!!" she said excitedly and you giggle dialing your boyfriend's phone number.
"Hola mi nena preciosa..dios amor!" he said when he turned to look at the screen his eyes going wild when he saw your face with a big bright smile and your soft hair moving with the wind.
"Do you like it Pablito?" you ask shyly blushing red since all your friends were aweing at the two of you.
"You looks so good amor..I don't know what else to say..I'm speechless..When are you coming home so I can see it in person??" he asked
"We all know why he wants to see it in person.." girls joked and you blushed even more telling him you will head home after lunch.
"We're stealing her from you for at least couple more hours!" Aurora came closer to you winking at her brother who rolled his eyes telling you to enjoy your day with friends.
"Vamos tío!" Pedri called him and Pablo showed him and the rest of the boys to come closer as he turned his phone where you were on face time.
"Look at how beautiful my girl looks!" he said proudly and you hid your face when all the boys were saying your hair is very pretty.
"Gracias guys!" you said telling Pablo to go have fun with his friends too and that you will see him later at home. You sent each other kisses before hanging up and both your friends teased you about it.
y/n.bebe
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hair 😍💗
comentarios:
pablogavi: que guapaaa mi nenaaa😍😍😍
gaviraafanssclub:
aurorapaezg: obsessed!!
y.n.fans: she's so gorgeous!! aaahhh!!
brunabiancardi: preciosa🥺
mikkykiemeney: omg! so beautiful!!
After a whole day of being with your friends while texting each other on the side, you were on your way home. Both were very excited to finally be together missing each other very much.
"Amor?? You home??" Pablo opened the door tossing his bag to the side and rushing to the kitchen where you called his name just as excited that he was finally home.
He ran towards you grabbing your thighs and raising you up in his arms while your went around his neck as you giggled.
"I missed you so much!!" he said kissing all over you neck to your face and finally your lips.
"Me too! We really are obsessed with each other cariño" you smiled and he nodded his head sitting you on the kitchen counter and kissing your lips lovingly while standing between your legs.
"You're so pretty..and incredibly smart..every guy would be obsessed if he had a girl like you princesa" he spoke touching your face and then finally your hair careful not to mess it up.
"You too sweet to me Pablito.." you blush playing with his hair while he played with yours until your eyes met and you kissed once more.
"It's so soft..I'm in love with it" he said raising you up once more and carrying you to bed where you both laid down cuddling and playing with each others hair.
"I was worried at first if you would like it.." you say feeling him kiss the top of your head and hold you tight against himself.
"I would like anythings that's on you amorcito..everything looks pretty on my pretty girl" he praised and you blushed moving to kiss his lips one more time before cuddling up closer ready to get some well deserved rest.
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addthespaghetti · 7 months
Text
She’s Mine
i’m not even going to lie, i listened to so much pierce the veil while writing this. so the ending is based of off a match into water because i can.
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warnings: drinking, sexual reference, angst, fluff, and violence
1800+ words
You love your job. You do. Saving people, working together closely with people you consider family, and most of all, it led you to meet the love of your life, Emily Prentiss.
When you met Emily, it was like your life finally made sense. You worked hard to get into the BAU, ignoring your social life and, most importantly, your love life. You felt like you had no other purpose than getting into the BAU.
You thought you would feel fulfilled, finally getting the job of your dreams. Once you got that call that you got the job, you had the feeling of etterath. You got the job you gave up your entire life for, but now you have no one, no friends, no family, and no one to celebrate your accomplishment with.
The day you started at the BAU, you were excited for the first time in years, but you still couldn't shake the feeling of emptiness.
You felt it the entire time it took you to get ready, aware of it as you drove to the FBI building in Quantico and on the elevator ride up to the BAU.
While opening the big glass doors to enter the bullpen, you heard a woman laugh, a laugh you were immediately captivated by. You looked to find a source of that laughter, and that's when you saw her sitting at her desk, laughing at something someone said. Usually, you would be interested in what she was laughing about, but you couldn't focus on anything but her beautiful smile and gorgeous dark brown hair.
After that day, your crush on Emily grew, but you could never figure out if she had feelings for you back.
Until one girls' night, Penelope wanted to go to a bar that had just opened because she had heard they have good drinks. So you and the girls stayed out late, drinking away the stress from the last case.
You woke up the next morning naked in a strange bed, confused by what you did. You weren't the type of person to have random hookups. When you finally decided to look at the woman's bed you were in, you were shocked to see your coworker, Emily Prentiss. You weren't surprised that you hooked up with Emily. You would have done that if she asked. You were more shocked that she hooked up with you.
Fast forward six months later, and you and Emily have been dating for five months. You could not be happier, and neither could Emily.
Just because you love your job doesn't mean you don't have moments where you hate it. Like right now, you are in Emily's lap, making out with her when your phone rang.
"Fuck!" you groan as you get out of her lap to grab your phone.
Emily, stretching out her arms, trying to pull you back onto her lap, she states in an irritated tone, "Just let it ring. If it is so important, they will call back."
You look at Emily, debating your options. You really wanted to continue to make out with Emily, but you know that is probably Penelope calling about a case.
"Emily, we can't. You and I both know that call is Penelope with a case." You look at Emily with an apologetic look as you pick up the phone.
Emily sighs, "I know, but you look so good right now."
You duck your head, trying to hide your blushing face from Emily as you answer the call from Penelope.
"Yes, Penny?" You speak in a calm tone.
In a very energetic and fast tone, Penelope tells you, "Case we have a very yucky awful case."
"I figured, oh, and Penelope?" You ask.
"Yes, my favorite fruity friend?" She asks in the same energetic tone.
You sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose, "Garcia, how much coffee have you had today?"
"Technically, I only had one," Penelope said while shaking from the caffeine.
You look at Emily with an exasperated look on your face. You weren't trying to get annoyed at Penelope, but her fake math concerned you with how unhealthy it is most of the time.
Emily stood up and grabbed the phone from your hand, "Garcia, we are on our way, and when we get to Quantico, I am taking away your caffeine and switching you to decaf."
"WAIT WHAT, ARE YOU DOING WI-" Garcia yells into the phone before Emily hangs up.
You stand there surprised at what Emily did before she looks at you, "What? You better start getting ready. We don't want to be late." She tells you with a smirk on her face.
"That was hot," you fake cough, "We might be sick and need to stay home from this case." You try to grab your girlfriend, but she walks away to get ready.
You groan and decide to get ready. Grabbing your phone, you connect it to your speaker and start to play music.
You and Emily get ready quickly with only minimal distractions. You couldn't stop teasing each other, but luckily, you learned to get dressed fast during high school.
The car ride to the BAU was filled with lengthy touches and quick kisses. Emily wouldn't let go of your thigh while she was driving. She almost caused an accident because of it.
After getting to the FBI building, you and Emily walked in together, talking about random stuff while riding to the sixth floor.
As soon as you both walk into the round table room, you and your girlfriend are immediately questioned by Hotch, "You late. Where were you?"
You look over at Emily, having no idea what to say. You and Emily decided not to tell the team you were dating yet, but that can cause issues like now.
"We went out last night, and she stayed at my apartment. When we got the call from Penelope, I had to drive her to her apartment so she could grab her go bag and get ready." Emily quickly responded to Hotch.
"That is fine. Just don't let that happen again." Hotch said in his usual serious tone.
You do not know where your girlfriend got her lying skills, but you were lucky she had them because Hotch believed her. You and Emily quickly sat down in a seat to not get reprimanded by Hotch.
After Penelope explained the case, everyone went to the bullpen to grab their things, striking up a casual conversation here and there.
Thirty minutes later, the whole team, minus Penelope, was on their way to the sunny state of Florida.
This case was crazy and took many unexpected turns, but you shouldn't have expected any less from a Florida case. Still, you were surprised when what was supposed to be a routine talk with a witness ended with you getting stabbed. You were also left with a sizable scar on your chest as a result of that.
On the way back to Quantico, the jet was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
You sat in the back of the plane alone, with your headphones in, listening to your favorite songs, trying to stay awake. You haven't been able to sleep without having a nightmare since your attack, and you are worried you will have one on the jet if you fall asleep.
What you don't notice is your girlfriend staring at you from across the jet, worried about how you are coping with your attack.
Rossi moves across from Emily, "You know, just staring at her is not going to magically make her better, kid."
"I know, I just don't know what to do. I wish I could take all of the pain away she is feeling," Emily says, looking at the older man.
"You love her," Rossi says more as a statement than a question.
Before Emily could squeak out a defense, Rossi quickly spoke, "Emily, I'm not going to judge you, but you know she has been through a lot now and in her past. You need to be there for her, be the shoulder for her to cry on. Make sure you remind her how much you love her. You cannot take away her pain, but you can help her cope and learn to grow."
Emily looked over at you before she spoke again, "I will. Thank you, Dave."
"It's no problem, kid. You learn a thing or two after three marriages," He jokes.
Emily grins at his joke while turning to look at you again. This time, you notice her and give her a weak smile. She smiles back at you. She looks at your tired features that highlight your lack of sleep and feels a sense of worry wash over her.
After the jet lands, Hotch lets everyone go home early. Before you could leave, Derek invited everyone out to grab some drinks. You didn't want to say no because everyone said they were coming, and you felt bad being the only one not going.
So now you sit at the bar alone. Drinking when you definitely shouldn't because of the medication you are on. All because Hotch and JJ left early for their kids, Rossi and Spencer left because it was past their bedtime, and everyone else is dancing.
When Emily finally comes to the table and sees you not having a good time, she decides to call a cab and take you home.
It took her a while to get you to her apartment because of how drunk you were, but as soon as she opened the door, you immediately walked to the couch to sleep. Since Emily is an incredible girlfriend, she got you up and dragged you to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
After she washed your face and brushed your teeth because you could barely walk, she went to unbutton your shirt to change your bandages, but you immediately stopped her.
"Baby, what's wrong?" Emily asks, concern in her voice.
The alcohol in your system was making you honest, "I'm ugly. The scar ruined my body," you said with tears rolling down your cheek.
"You are not ugly. You are as gorgeous as ever," Emily reassures you.
"But-" before you can finish your sentence, Emily kisses you to stop your self-deprecating.
Emily breaks apart your kiss and speaks against your lips, "You are the most beautiful person I have ever met, and no scar will ever make me feel different."
"Change my bandages, Emily," you look at Emily with tears and love in your eyes.
Emily unbuttons your shirt slowly and takes it off your shoulders. She slowly peels off your bandages and grabs the supplies to clean the wounded area. After she disinfects the scar, she leans down and kisses the mark.
Emily looks up at you, "Your so beautiful, and I never want to lose you. You are my best friend."
"I love you too," you say with tears rolling down your cheek again.
That night, you fall asleep in Emily's arms without one nightmare in sight.
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hussyknee · 1 year
Text
Red, White & Royal Blue: Collector's Edition Henry PoV bonus chapter by Casey Mcquiston.
(transcribed from the page pictures posted)
This is the coda to the end of the book, so don't read it if you haven't read the book first. Sadly, the Collector's Edition doesn't seem to be available on Kindle so. Arrrr matey.
Download link for file at the end.
....
HENRY
“I am not asking you to believe in it, or even to like it,” Henry says stonily. It’s been a long morning already. He is beginning to perspire. “I am simply asking you to show a modicum of respect.”
“To–to your quiche?”
“Yes. To my quiche.”
Bea puts down her tape gun and wipes her eyes. “Pez!”
“Yes?”
“Henry says he’s going to make us a quiche!”
Pez’s squawk of a laugh bounces down the stairs. “Pull the other one!”
“I make them all the time for Alex,” Henry insists. “They are perfectly edible.”
“So, when you promised us breakfast if we got up early to help you.” Bea says, “you meant that you were going to make us breakfast?”
“Yes!” Henry says hotly. “Stop laughing!”
“I’m sorry!” Bea says. “It’s only that...well, Henry, the last time you cooked breakfast for me, you were twelve and you put a sausage in the microwave until it exploded.”
“That was your idea! And it’s been ages since then! I’ve studied, all right? I’m quite good now. Those pictures I send the group chat aren’t just for show.”
“Oh, aren’t they?” Bea says rudely, as if his incredibly generous offer to cook her a shallot-and-thyme quiche with mushrooms from the farmer’s market means nothing at all. As if he’s lived in this house for five entire years without learning to use its kitchen.
Perhaps if their lives weren’t so chaotic, if Henry weren’t flying out of New York every time Bea had a spare moment to fly in, he could have proven this to her earlier. But Pez, who lives mostly in the city now and visits so frequently he’s earned his own Secret Service code name (Cardinal, since Henry is Bishop), should know better.
“Percy Okonjo,” Henry says as Pez joins them, “you were here last weekend when I made mince pie. You loved it.”
“Did I?” Pez wonders aloud, with an annoyingly Bea-like lilt.
“Look at this apron!” Henry gestures to himself and the navy blue apron he’s wearing. Alex gave it to him for his birthday last year. “Would a man who can’t make a quiche have an apron like this? It’s monogrammed.”
“You’re royalty, babes,” Pez points out. “Everything you own is monogrammed.”
From the pocket of his serious-home-cook apron, his phone buzzes. Reinforcements. The FaceTime connects, and Alex says, “Good morning, love of my li–”
“Alex,” Henry interrupts, “tell them about my quiches.”
Alex pushes up his sunglasses and frowns into the camera. He looks so lovely with his faded T-shirt and jean jacket and shaggy hair. Pure American heartthrob, might as well have a cowboy hat on. Henry never does tire of it.
“Sorry?”
“Bea and Pez don’t believe I can make a quiche.”
“What? Have they seen your apron?”
“That’s what I said!”
“Henry’s quiches are great!” Alex says loudly, to the kitchen at large. “I almost never find shells in them!”
That sets Bea and Pez off again. On the screen, Alex’s face crinkles into laughter.
“Thank you very much, Alex, you’ve been a tremendous help,” Henry groans. “How are things? Florist this morning, wasn’t it?”
“Just finishing up.” Alex says with a grin. “Final approvals done. Everything looks great.”
With only one week until moving day and two until the wedding, it made sense to divide and conquer. Henry agreed to stay in New York and finish packing up the brownstone with help from Bea and Pez, while Alex, June, and Nora are ticking off the last of their checklists in Texas.
“Of all the surprises that wedding planning has brought us,” Henry says, “your ability to micromanage floral arrangements has certainly been...one of them.”
“You know I love to curate a vibe,” Alex says.
“That you do,” Henry agrees. “Where are the girls?”
“Getting donuts,” Pez answers before Alex can. He holds up his phone, open to a photo of June blowing a kiss while Nora fellates an éclair.
“Donuts!” Bea says. “Now there’s an idea!”
They spend the rest of the day drowning in cardboard boxes and bin liners, packing everything but the furniture and the downstairs television. Pez reminds him once an hour that they could pay someone to do this, but Bea is stubborn, and Henry is reluctant to let anyone else wade into all the intimate trappings of his and Alex’s life. It was bad enough explaining the contents of the trick drawer in their dresser to Pez, much less some mover he’s never met.
When it’s done, Bea puts A Knight’s Tale on in the living room and promptly falls asleep on Pez’s lap. Pez passes out too, but Henry stays awake, because Heath Ledger deserves an audience. And because he knows if he doesn't wake Bea and move her to the guest bedroom, he'll have to hear about her back spasms in the morning.
David hops up beside him on the loveseat, and Henry strokes the top of his snout until his little body relaxes into Henry's side.
"Nervous old boy," Henry hums. It still does seem like the ultimate irony that the dog he adopted for emotional support has anxiety. David has grown more and more worried all week, as more and more of his home disappeared into boxes. "We won't leave you, I promise."
The brownstone has been a good house for them. Sturdy brick walls, neighbors that actually let them be. Henry has loved it more than he ever loved Kensington, or at least as much as he loved Kensington when his parents both lived there too. Some mornings, when he comes downstairs to find Alex with the coffeepot and the kettle already on, he feels the way he did when his family all slept under one roof. This roof is quite a bit smaller than that one, but the feeling isn't.
So, perhaps David hasn't got entirely the wrong idea. It is hard to let the place go. For the past month, Alex has kept asking Henry why he's staring, and the truth is that he's been committing to memory exactly how Alex looks in every room. How the bannister fits in his hand, the place on the foyer wall where he always braces himself to pull on his shoes.
Everything that's happened in the past five years has happened, at least in part, inside this house.
It's seven months after Alex's mother's second inauguration, and Henry is wishing he had never even heard the word "credenza." Then he wouldn't have to decide where to put one. Alex is arriving in half an hour to help him move it, but Henry still doesn't know where. Across from the fireplace, perhaps? But what if he wants to put a sofa there? Does he want a regular sofa, or a sectional? Should it go upstairs, in his study? Or should he leave room for bookcases?
He longs to be back on a beach, sipping something from a pineapple.
It’s been a long, glorious summer since Alex packed up his White House bedroom, called Henry, and asked, "Do you want to get the fuck off the continent?" They did Dubai first, then Lagos. Rio, for old time's sake. Buenos Aires, paper lanterns in moonlight and Alex flirting with the bartender for free drinks. June through August became a lovely blur: Alex asleep against his shoulder on the plane, Alex throwing his Portuguese phrase book out the window of a speeding car, sand in unmentionable places, Alex Alex Alex. Endless runways and half-arsed disguises, swimsuits that got smaller and smaller until they simply didn't wear them anymore. Falling in love, the sequel, with fresh suntans and all the time in the world.
And now here they are in Park Slope, where Alex is renting the second floor of a brownstone two blocks from Henry's.
It's practical, they agreed, to live in the same neighborhood before they live at the same address. They've scarcely gotten a chance to date the normal way yet– if it can be called "normal" when their combined security teams are headquartered in an empty apartment down the street. Still, Henry wants this to last.
They've sprinted headlong into everything so far, but now he wants move slowly, in delicious increments. He wants to savor nights, minutes, firsts, to covet them and then let them dissolve on his tongue, like the sugar cubes he snuck off his gran's filigreed tea trays when he was small. He wants a life.
He wants someone to tell him where to put this damned credenza.
It's a vintage Broyhill Brasilia piece, walnut with clever brass drawer pulls. June helped him pick it out when she was in town with meeting her editor, but she never gave him any advice on where it should go. He hasn't ever been allowed to decide where furniture should go before.
So, it’s...there, in the center of the empty living room, the first piece in the entire house.
“Maybe you could start with a rug or two,” says Alex from the foyer.
Henry turns to find him with his keys in one hand and a paper bag in the other, smiling in a beam of mid-morning light, and, ah. Yes. There it is. That sweet, sharp gasp of nerves. The half second when he forgets how to use his mouth. If he knows nothing else, at least one certainty remains, which is that seeing Alex Claremont-Diaz in the flesh will always do this to him.
Alex in a photo is handsome, but Alex in life is a symphony. He’s refracted light with a cherry cola chaser. He’s got a Fibonacci jawline and a troublemaker smile and thick forearms built for posing in doorways with his sleeves rolled and thumbing corks out of champagne bottles. The first time Henry ever told Pez about him, he said, “God, but he’s lethal.” It’s only worse once you get to know him.
“Weird place for a credenza,” Alex comments. He kisses Henry’s cheek, then passes him a warm bundle wrapped in parchment paper. “Hope you like sausage-egg-and-cheese.”
“I don’t know where to put it.”
“Sandwich goes in your mouth, typically.”
“The credenza.”
“Ohhh, right,” Alex says, pretending to have just caught on. He winks. Henry sighs theatrically but accepts a second kiss, on the lips this time. “Why don’t you just put it right here?”
He points to his left, where a blank wall stretches from the front door to the foot of the stairs. It does, upon closer inspection, appear to be the exact right size.
“Oh,” Henry says.
This is where they overlap. Where he ends and Alex begins. Great gooey puddle of feelings, meet course of action; endless burning energy, meet point of focus. Agonies, meet your most obvious, most natural, most inevitable conclusions. It’s frightening sometimes for a person like Henry, who has spent his entire life pedaling his agonies about like baguettes in a posh little bicycle basket. What is he to do with them now?
Yes," Henry concedes, "I suppose I could," and Alex laughs.
...
It's the summer of 2022. Henry has opened his third shelter, and Alex has just finished bulldozing his first year at NYU Law.
A few boxes of books still wait at Alex's place, but otherwise, he lives in Henry's brownstone now. Their brownstone. A UT pennant beside a Chelsea scarf on the living room wall. A fridge full of Topo Chico and Bulmers. Two pairs of shoes by the front door, brown Barker derbies and Reebok trainers. Nobody could mistake it for anyone else's.
It's their first Chore Sunday (Alex's idea), and Henry has put the last of the laundry in the dryer. He's in the kitchen doorway, watching Alex unload the dishwasher.
Alex once told Henry the type of man he's typically attracted to: tall, broad-shouldered, pretty eyes, a little haunted. Bit of attitude and a smile that makes you curious. For Henry, it's never been so simple. He liked boys in his classes because they bothered with the assigned readings and fancied one of Philip's awful Eton friends because he could sail and smelled of cinnamon. The only thing all his Oxford boys had in common was that they didn't know how to speak to him. He's never had a type, and he's always been sure Alex was singular, anyway. Alex is unlike anyone he's ever met before or since.
But here, now, watching Alex bend to remove a salad bowl from the bottom rack, he is confronted with the hard truth. All those boys did, actually, share one trait.
"Are you gonna help me with this," Alex says without even an investigatory glance over his shoulder, "or are you just gonna keep staring at my ass?"
...
It’s Christmas 2022, their first since Alex officially moved in, and Henry is going to make a yule log if it kills him.
Perhaps he’s been too ambitious. He’s rather new to all. Growing up, he was rarely permitted in the kitchens, and he concentrated his uni diet on fast food and takeaway. He can make toast and boil an egg, and he’s got a deft hand with the coffee percolator and a gin swizzle from time to time. He knows about food– the finest foods, actually, he’s yet to meet an Englishman who can select a better brie– but he never learned to cook, until recently.
Recently, as in when Alex became too fanatically involved in his second-year coursework to remember to feed himself.
It began with force-feeding Alex a bacon butty twice a week. Henry’s arms suffered little constellations of grease burns, but bacon was easy. And those faded, so they didn’t deter him for long. Curiosity piqued, he taught himself the basics of pasta, how one can simmer almost anything with garlic and onion and butter and it will taste good over noodles. It bolstered his confidence enough to truly commit, and now, between hours at the shelters and video calls with his mum, he watches tutorial after tutorial on how to brown butter and roast chicken. Only half of what he makes turns out the color it’s meant to, but he loves it.
He loves walking to the market on the corner and hunting down specific ingredients from the family recipes June sends him. In fact, it’s become such a regular pastime that the paparazzi have cottoned on, which is why his mother finally forced his security team to hire an actual body double. Now some bloke named Angus with his height and build and nearly the same face goes on diversionary strolls while Henry peruses jarred chilies.
With all his independent studying, he was certain he could manage a dessert. He wanted to do something impressive, since they’ve convinced their families to let them host Christmas dinner. Only, his sponge has gone all wrong, and if he’s learned anything from Bake Off, he knows it’s not meant to have cracked in five places when he tried to roll it up. Paul Hollywood would have him pilloried.
“Think you might’ve left it in too long?” Oscar asks from across the kitchen island. He’s wearing his white elephant prize, a sweatshirt airbrushed with the slogan YOU CAN’T SPELL CONSTITUTION WITHOUT TITS. Inexplicably, Henry’s own mother brought that one. “Lookin’ kinda dry there.”
“I appreciate that you are trying to be helpful,” Henry enunciates, “but if you say one more word I may start crying, and then we’ll both lose some respect for me.”
Later, when Pez has persuaded him to “call it, mate, put it out of its misery,” he carries his disgraced platter of ganache and cake and marzipan out into the living room and lets everyone go at it with spoons. The house feels full to bursting, and not just because of the Christmas crackers. There are all three of Alex’s parents, Henry’s mum, June and Nora, Bea and Pez, Shaan and Zahra on speakerphone, occasionally an awkward Philip and Martha via FaceTime, and, because he had nowhere else to go for the holiday, Angus.
(“I don’t like him,” Alex muttered when Henry suggested inviting his own body double to Christmas dinner.
“Why not?”
“Because he looks exactly like you, but I find him deeply unattractive, and that freaks me out.”)
Ellen tells everyone the story of the year Alex got his first real bike for Christmas and knocked out his two front teeth by Boxing Day, which prompts Catherine to recite eight-year-old Henry’s letter to Father Christmas, in which he requested a leather-bound journal and a holiday to East Wittering so he could gaze at the sea. Bea pushes Henry behind the upright piano, and he takes requests for an hour. It only ends when Pez rewrites half the lyrics to “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” to be about his own lactose intolerance. No one wants to follow “tidings of Lactaid and soy.”
After the third round of mulled wine, when Alex’s parents have called their drivers and his mum has retired to the guest room, June and Nora find themselves under the mistletoe. Everyone whoops and whistles until Nora finally pulls June in by her Christmas-light necklace and kisses her to a round of applause. June's cheeks turn red, but she looks pleased as anything.
"I can't believe it took this long for y'all to finally kiss." Alex says, to which Pez bursts into laughter. "What?"
"Alex," he says fondly. He drains his glass and pecks Alex on the forehead. "You gorgeous, stupid little turnip."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Pez just shakes his head and strolls off to the kitchen.
"Wait," Alex says.
He frowns, like he does when he's trying to recall something incredibly minute and specific from his torts textbook. Then, suddenly, a light goes on, and his own mug is clunking on the lamp table, and he's running off after Pez.
"Pez, what's that supposed to mean?"
...
It's late morning the summer before Alex's last year of law school, 2023, and Alex is the first word out of Henry's mouth.
Truthfully, that's how he begins most mornings. On a Monday morning five time zones away, "Alex" pitched low to the screen of his phone. On a Friday when Alex's early lecture is cancelled, "Alex" in F major, muffled in the pillow as his body moves and the day stretches out before them. Half three the night before an exam, a hoarse "Alex," followed by, "turn the bloody light off and come to bed."
This morning, it's because David is barking at the door. A rainstorm is brewing, and if jet lag didn't have Henry dead under the bedclothes, the gray gloom would. Alex was the one who surfaced from sleep half an hour ago and blearily ordered three entire pancake breakfasts from some 24-hour diner a few neighborhoods over. He should have to get up and answer the door.
“Alex.” Henry mumbles, turning over.
Alex has got the quilt tugged up so high he’s only a shock of wild curls on white linens.
“Nnnghh,” Alex groans from the depths.
“Breakfast is here,” Henry says. The doorbell helpfully rings again. David howls.
Alex’s face appears, pouting. There’s a crease from the pillow down one of his cheekbones, a comet’s tail in a constellation of freckles. “Can you get it?”
Henry rolls his eyes but smiles. Inevitable.
He drags himself out of bed and pulls on the joggers and hoodie from last night’s flight. It’s not until he feels the breeze on his ankles as he descends the stairs that he realizes they’re Alex’s, not his.
On their doorstep, a pink-haired delivery girl is looking bored under her bicycle helmet.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Henry says. He fishes a crumpled bill out of Alex’s pocket. “For your trouble.”
The girl pulls a face.
“Got any real money?” she asks. Her accent reminds him a bit of Alex’s mum.
He blinks down at her hand, which is holding a twenty-pound note. “Ah. Sorry again. Er.” He snatches his wallet out of the bowl on the credenza and gives her all the American dollars he has.
“She’s gone, Davey,” Henry says afterward to David, who’s now fretfully circling the living room. “You’ve protected us from another fearsome home invader. Well done.”
He lets David out into the back garden to do his business, then carries the food upstairs. Shockingly, Alex is awake and propped up against the headboard.
“I’m getting too old for red-eye flights,” Alex says, rubbing his eyes.
“Love, you’re twenty-five,” Henry reminds him. He deposits the bag on the nightstand, and Alex wastes no time tearing through the plastic and tucking in to his breakfast. “And I’m older than you.”
“Yes, you are. But like... I get why we have to go to Philip’s kids’ christenings. The cousins, though?” He sets to work smothering his pancakes in syrup. “I mean, at least my cousins would stack their baptisms. One and done, baby.”
Henry opens his mouth, prepared to answer with one of a thousand things. That the tabloids will have even more of a field day than usual if he stops doing his chores, that there will always be a church dedication or a swan upping or an appointment for a top hat fitting, that he’ll always be obligated to have one foot in London and one day they’ll have to choose where to settle down. It’s far from the first time they’ve had this conversation.
But then Alex shovels a massive bite of pancakes into his mouth and says, “Anyway, I love you. Do you wanna have June and Nora over tomorrow? We can play Mario Party again. I wanna see them get in a fistfight. Oh, and my dad’s in town next week, and he said to tell you he’s bringing that book you asked about–”
And that’s when Henry knows: He doesn’t ever want to go back.
...
It’s the end of spring 2024, and Henry is not eavesdropping, per se. He excused himself to answer a call from Shaan, which really could not be avoided. Shaan has taken to his new life as a househusband with predictable aplomb, and most of his calls these days involve Henry getting to talk to a baby who is clearly destined to become prime minister. He simply can’t send that to voicemail.
It’s the first time they’ve had room in the schedule for his mother to visit since Alex accepted his law job, which Henry understands very little about but has been assured is the most strategic next step for Alex’s career long game. When Henry left the room, Alex was still trying to explain it to Catherine. It all sounds terribly prestigious.
He is just returning to the sitting room with a fresh pot of tea when he hears his name from around the corner.
“–and the next morning Henry and Arthur vanished,” his mother is saying, “and when Uncle Algie called, I told him that Henry couldn’t go on the annual pheasant hunt because he was violently ill, but actually Arthur had taken him to Rome for two weeks on the set of that go on ridiculous car heist film he was working on, the one with, oh, what’s his name–“
“Jason Statham,” Alex says promptly, through wheezing laughter.
“That’s the one!”
“Loved that movie,” Alex says. “I can’t believe Henry got to be on set.”
“It was all Arthur’s idea, but he was right to do it. Uncle Algie is a dreadful bore, and Henry despises his son. Guilford. Did you meet Guilford at the wedding?”
“Henry made sure I avoided it.”
“Yes, that’s for the best,” Catherine says daintily. “He has matured into an absolute dickhead.”
Henry wishes he was in the room to see the way Alex sputters out, “Oh my God.” Alex always forgets that Catherine went to uni and married a commoner from Sheffield.
And then Alex sighs and says, “When Henry and I get married–”
Henry manages to recover the teapot before he drops it.
It’s not a surprise to hear Alex mention marriage. They’ve been sorting it out for years: political logistics and Alex’s child-of-divorce anxiety and a thousand questions about a royal wedding neither of them actually wants to have. He’s already bought an engagement ring, even, and judging by how tetchy Alex gets whenever Henry tries to put his underwear away for him, he’s not the only one.
But it is the first time he’s heard Alex mention it to his mother. He dropped it so casually, so matter-of-factly, as if he’s been talking to her about marrying Henry for years. Henry supposes it’s possible he has been. Is this why Alex had tea with her in London last month and told Henry he wasn’t invited? Have they been conspiring?
They’re discussing hypothetical guest lists now, which cousins secretly hate one another and who wore an inappropriately large fascinator to whose birthday tea, but Henry isn’t listening anymore. He’s thinking of a cafe table in Rome, his dad waving over a second round of gelato.
In his memory, he’s nine years old, and his father is saying, Whoever you marry, Henry, make sure they think your mum is a laugh, because she is. She really is.
He clears his throat and finally rounds the corner. “Tea, anyone?”
...
It’s 2024, and nobody knows they’re engaged.
Granted, they’ve only been engaged for about three hours, but Henry is curious to see how long they can go. It feels nice to keep a secret that doesn’t have to be a secret. It’s more that they’re keeping it like a pet, or something especially beautiful from the garden that they’ve coaxed into a jar.
A record is spinning on the turntable, one of Alex’s, maybe the Joni Mitchell he borrowed from Bea. They’ve shoved their phones under the couch cushions and ordered a pizza the size of the moon, and now they’re sitting in the center of the living room floor, demolishing it. They kiss, then eat more pizza, then get distracted kissing again. Henry licks a streak of pepperoni grease from Alex’s forearm, which is a fantasy he didn’t know he had until he’s living it. They tangle up on the rug, and Henry decides he’ll take Alex sailing next weekend, or even out to the edge of the river, just to see him against a horizon.
Four-nearly-five years in, the main thing he’s learned is that Alex is a world without end. All Henry wants is to go on with him forever. To keep finding new favorite parts, to keep turning things over and studying their soft bellies and finding the best bits.
So, he will.
...
It snows on New Year’s Eve 2024. Alex looks out the window and shrugs off his coat.
The Young America Gala may be no longer, but Nora, June, and Pez aren’t to be stopped from throwing a New Year’s party, especially now that Pez has gotten his own part-time flat in the city. They’re the three fates of New York City’s holiday social circuit: birth (June, managing invitations), life (Pez, topless), and death (Nora, also topless).
“What if,” Alex says, turning to Henry on the foot of the stairs, “we don’t go to the party?”
“Nora will murder me,” Henry says. “She told me she’s not afraid to do that now that I’ve given up my title.”
“Murder is still a crime even if you’re not officially a prince.”
“Yes, but she said, quote,” he puts on his best American accent, “They can’t put me in the Tower anymore. Who’s gonna arrest me now? Mr. Bean?”
“Why don’t we just send Angus? It’s dark. Maybe she won’t notice.”
“Where’s your double, then?”
“We live in New York, I’m sure I can find a male model somewhere.”
“As always, sounding the very bass string of humility.”
“Is that fucking Shakespeare?”
“Henry IV.”
“I’m gonna give you a wedgie, you fucking nerd.”
In the end, it doesn’t take much to convince Henry to stay in. Lately, it never does. Alex texts June a flimsy excuse, and they toe off their shoes and relax out of their button-downs.
Henry does have to admit he’s exhausted, in the way that one only can be on the last day of the year, when every other day of the year piles way up behind it. It’s been a big one: Alex’s first law job, the endless press about Henry’s decision to surrender his title, the engagement, Bea’s wedding, the incident with the croquet mallets and the Dutch ambassador at Bea's wedding.
Sometimes Alex jokes that they squeezed it all into one calendar year because no headline can stick if there's another next week, but it's only half a joke. They've been bone-tired for months.
"I'm surprised you're the one who wants to stay home," Henry says. "I remember a young lothario who lived to ruin people's lives on New Year's Eve."
"Ruin?" Alex says. "That's not how I remember it."
"It certainly felt that way at the time."
They drift to the kitchen, past all the traces of the year. The dried flowers, the new scuffs on the floorboards. The box of bound manuscripts of Henry's first finished poetry-ish short-fiction-ish essay-ish collection. The holiday cards from senators and diplomats and old Texas friends, topped off with Alex's favorite of Rafael Luna and his astonishingly fit partner in matching Christmas jumpers. Henry would think Raf had been forced into it if it hadn't come with a case of beer and a note of thanks for letting him stay over the last time he visited Alex and had one too many tequila shots at drag bingo.
Alex withdraws a bottle of Clicquot from the refrigerator and says, "We're not washed, are we?"
“We're aging," Henry points out.
"That's right," Alex says, eyes immediately sparking at the opportunity. Henry preemptively sighs. "You're almost thirty."
"Almost twenty-eight is not almost thirty."
"It basically is. You're old. You'll be thirty a whole year before me. You'll be popping antacids and I'll be in the club, popping my p-"
"You're not even in the club now."
"I could be, I'm just choosing not to, because I don't want to deal with the snow. That's not aging, it's growth."
He slides Henry a glass of champagne and adds, "It's probably time for us to start talking about what's on your Do Before Thirty list, huh?"
Henry takes the glass and chooses going with Alex's bit over pointing out that he's entering his late twenties, not dying.
“I’ve done quite well on that front so far, actually,” he says. “Wrote a book. Started a nonprofit. Engaged to the love of my life.”
“Involved in an international sex scandal.”
“Shook the hands of all five Spice Girls.”
“Best dressed at the Met Gala.”
“Cried in the Water Lilies room at the MOMA.”
“Grew your hair out, then cut it all off.“
“Taught myself to make beef Wellington.”
“That one’s, uh, still in progress,” Alex hedges. Henry gives him an affronted look. “But, yeah! Definitely. And you got really good at scones.”
“That I did.”
“Right,” Alex agrees. “So what’s left? Streaking? Dropping acid? Having sex on our kitchen island?”
Henry takes a moment with that one.
“Having sex on our kitchen island?”
When the clock strikes the new year, the house is quiet. The timer on the light over the front stoop clicks off. The champagne bottle rests between two glasses on the edge of the sink, spent and sticky around the rim, a single soggy strawberry at the bottom of each flute. Miles out from their apartment, fireworks fight the snow over the East River, but in their kitchen in Park Slope, the only sounds are the two of them.
Henry, almost twenty-eight, presses his warm body to the cool marble and gets his midnight kiss.
...
“Do you know what today is?” Alex asks on a lukewarm September.
It’s 2025. He’s in the doorway of Henry’s study, where Henry has been all evening, answering emails.
“Hm? No.”
When Alex doesn’t immediately fill the silence, Henry looks up from his laptop screen.
“What is it?”
“Five years since the story broke,” Alex says.
It takes a moment for him to realize what story Alex means; there have been so many of them. But of course, he means that gigantic, terrible one. The one that changed their lives forever.
“Oh,” Henry says. He closes his laptop, leaning back in his chair and away from it. “Well. Hated that.”
“Yeah,” Alex agrees. “Zero out of ten. Would not do again.”
His tone is light and casual, but when he folds his arms across his chest, Henry can see his glasses in the front pocket of his flannel. It’s been months and months since the last time Alex didn’t feel confident enough to wear them.
For his part, Henry can remember much of that day, but not all of it. He remembers stirring sugar into his morning tea when Shaan walked in wearing an expression Henry had never seen before. He remembers Pez arriving like the cavalry in Gucci slippers, hustling Henry away from his handlers with the same graceful disdain he used to direct at Eton classmates who stared at them too much. He remembers Bea finding them in the music parlor and refusing to hear Henry’s apology, and he remembers Alex’s call and Alex’s arrival.
The funny part, though, is he can’t remember anything between Bea and Alex. He knows that Philip was involved, and there were stories on every news channel, and he spoke to his mother at some point. But the space in his memory where those hours belong is simply blank. His psychiatrist says it’s post-traumatic stress disorder, and Henry is inclined to agree, considering the two of them spent the entire following year recalibrating Henry’s anxiety and depression medication around the event.
Those hours will always be gone. There are things he will never get back.
Most of the time, though, when he thinks of that day, the second worst thing that's ever happened to him, he thinks of Alex's hand in his under a Buckingham Palace table. He remembers, clear as a bell, Alex's voice telling him they would survive it together. It happened to Alex too. It wasn't what they would have chosen, but it was what they received, and they've done their absolute bloody best with it.
He rises from his desk, crosses to the doorway, and gathers Alex up against his chest. Their size difference isn't that pronounced—Henry is taller but lean, Alex shorter but sturdy—but in moments like this, he's thankful for the way Alex's cheek perfectly aligns with the crook of his neck. He's grateful for how effortless it is to slip a kiss to Alex's temple.
Neither of them says anything else. It's all been said a thousand times, in speeches and through official statements and in the dark when it's only the two of them. It's enough to stand here in the center of the house, in the quiet, and let it hold their weight.
...
At the end of 2025, Henry has a bad day.
There's nothing specific that causes it. The days just happen like this sometimes, even with all the therapy and medication and supportive partnership and fulfilling creative projects in the world. There are other people, he supposes, who don't spend their lives waiting for the next bad day. He's had every bloody luxury but that one.
Alex comes home from work to find him curled up on the armchair in the study, staring out the window at the light-polluted night sky over the row of brownstones across the street.
“What are you doing?" Alex asks him.
"Looking for Orion," Henry deadpans.
Alex kneels on the rug in his tailored suit pants and rolled-up sleeves and rests his cheek on Henry's knee, the way he often does when Henry's in a mood. Henry's fingers slide into his curls. They've grown a bit longer in the past few months. Lately. Alex looks quite like he did when they met, except for the glasses and the stubble dusting his jaw.
“I’m tired of big law, “ Alex confesses. It would appear he’s in a mood too. “I know it’s only been a year and a half, but...I kind of hate it.”
Henry contemplates that, along with the dark circles around Alex’s eyes.
“You don’t have to do it, you know.” Henry tells him.
Alex looks at him like he did in that hotel room in Paris the first time they woke up together, like the only thing he knows for sure about what he’s being offered is that he wants it completely. It’s an intimidating look to receive, but it’s only ever improved Henry’s life in the end.
He kisses Henry’s knuckle, just below his ring.
“I have some ideas.”
...
In February 2026, a flu sweeps through Park Slope. Neither Alex nor Henry can agree on who gave it to whom first– Henry knows it was Alex, since he’s been up late consulting with his mum about a voting rights bill in Texas, and his immune system always suffers when he gets upset about Texas—but regardless, they’re trapped in the brownstone together for a week. At least Alex doesn’t have to work through his illness the way he usually does, since he resigned from his job last month.
Somewhere around day five, Henry realizes it’s the longest consecutive amount of time they’ve both been home in years. They always seem to be leaving or returning: rushing off to appearances, climbing out of security caravans in half-undone suits, meeting Cash at the curb at three in the morning with bags over their shoulders. It’s nice, in a way, to get reacquainted with this home they’ve built together.
While Alex naps, Henry paces the entire floorplan.
The first floor, with its long living room and the original beams and mantelpiece, which Henry had restored before he moved in, because he always has been precious about the history of things. Then the kitchen and the deep blue cabinets and the wide back window over the knotty pine dining table handed down from Alex's dad. Upstairs, on the second floor, the guest bedroom with all of his mum's preferred hand creams in the attached washroom and the sitting room with the shelf of swan figurines Pez started collecting years ago in a dramatic fit of June-related yearning. One more flight up to the top floor, with his study and Alex's office and the hall with their photo from Shaan and Zahra's wedding and, at the far end, their bedroom.
The bedroom is his favorite part of the house, and not only for the obvious reasons, no matter how much Alex tries to imply otherwise with suggestive eyebrows. He loves the high ceiling and the chipped plaster medallion of roses at the center. They picked out the bed together, and every morning that he wakes up in it, he gets to turn over and see Alex's loose pens and glasses wipes scattered atop the dresser and know that this, his life, is still real. Perhaps he likes the room best because it feels separated from every other part of the house, lifted up and bundled in, which is the first time he's ever been safe in a tower.
Most importantly, of all three levels of bay windows jutting from the redbrick front of the brownstone, only the one in the bedroom has a seat. They've filled it with velvet pillows and mossy green cushions, and once or twice a year, on one of their vanishingly rare slow days, Alex will climb in and fall asleep.
That's where he finds Alex when he eases into the room with a mug of soup in each hand. He recognizes the quilt wrapped around him: they slept under it in Alex's childhood twin bed the night Ellen won her second term, and then Alex crammed it into his suitcase and brought it back to Washington.
He stirs as Henry sets the mugs down on the dresser.
“Thanks,” he says in a hoarse voice.
Henry nudges in beside him, gingerly removing Alex's glasses from beneath his elbow before they get crushed.
"You know," Henry says, "I chose this house for the bay windows."
Alex blinks at him, fully awake now. "Really?"
"I thought you might like them. You always talked about the one you grew up with. Hoped they might make the place feel like home."
Alex smiles. "They do."
Henry looks at him in his quilt, sleep-mussed and flushed from fever and overdue for a shave, and he remembers that night in the yellow house in Austin. Before Alex led them back to his old bedroom, he peeled up the cushion in the living room window seat and showed Henry pages of elementary school scribbles still hidden there. And he told Henry that he thought once of hiding a picture there too, if only he'd had the nerve to tear it out of his sister's magazine.
Love, Henry has found, has a way of growing backward. You fall in love with a person in the present, and then every person you've ever been gets to fall in love with every past version of them. A sleep-deprived Georgetown freshman falls in love with an Oxford sophomore who's testing out undoing the top button of his shirts sometimes. A ruddy-cheeked teenager with his nose in a book loves a backtalking lacrosse captain. A boy comes home from school with perfect marks and sees a picture in a magazine, and the boy from the picture pauses on a palace staircase.
The crux of it is, he loves every version of Alex to ever sleep under that quilt. Everything else is mostly set dressing
"I'm having a thought," Henry says.
"Congratulations," Alex deadpans automatically. Then, "Tell me."
"This life we have here," Henry says. "This house. It's good, yeah?"
"Yeah, of course it is."
"But we could have a good life somewhere else too."
Alex frowns. "Like where?"
"Somewhere... farther from everything, maybe? Somewhere we could slow down, and things could be quieter, and you could do the work you want to do. I think I could use some time away from it all, honestly. Maybe I wouldn't even have to have a body double anymore."
Alex considers that for a long moment. They both know where Henry means, even if he doesn't say it. Besides New York and DC, and London on its best days, there's really only one place Alex would seriously consider living. They've joked about it before, but Henry's always thought it might be nice to spend a few years somewhere completely different than he's used to. A place where he could see the stars.
At long last, Alex sniffs and says, "You're gonna fire Angus? He was just starting to grow on me.”
...
“If you don't wake Bea up, you're gonna have to hear about her back spasms in the morning,” says a voice that is most certainly not Heath Ledger's.
Henry startles awake to find Alex leaning over his shoulder from behind the loveseat, curls everywhere. The room is dark, and the end credits are rolling.
"You're not home until tomorrow," Henry mumbles.
"Moved up my flight," Alex says. He's so close to Henry's face, he's gone a bit cross-eyed. His lips bounce off the tip of Henry's nose. "I missed you."
It's only been a few days, but the truth is Henry missed him too. He supposes he should be used to empty beds and time differences by now, especially when they began that way, but he suspects he'll never stop waiting at the door. You know what will be the best part of getting married?" Henry asks Alex.
"The line dancing."
"The way I won't have to miss you nearly as often."
Alex softens, then maneuvers himself over the armrest until he's draped across Henry's lap. David climbs on top of him and curls up on Alex's left buttock.
Letting go of the house has been hard, but this particular decision was easy, once they finally said it out loud. A gradual, careful withdrawal from public life, at least for a few years. They’ve given so much of themselves to the world and had the privilege of feeling a legacy take shape beneath them, but they need rest too.
It was June who convinced them, actually. Even now, there are certain things only June can say to Alex. Early in the spring, when she was finally transitioning out of her speechwriting job for Raf, she called Alex from Colorado and told him she was moving to New York to be closer to Nora and Pez, and she wanted to sublet the brownstone. When Alex pointed out that he was still living in it, she said, "We both know you've been looking at farmhouses in Austin for six months, it's time to shit or get off the pot."
(Henry loves his particular collection of Americans. They truly do say what's on their minds.)
The new house is beautiful. Henry's only seen it in person once, but the previous owner was a reclusive tech executive with shockingly good taste, so Architectural Digest featured it last year. He's had the article open in a tab on his phone for two months, and he scrolls through all those perfectly lit photos twice a day, getting high on possibilities. Lazy mornings in the wide sunroom, midnight dives in the lake. It's easy to imagine Alex mellowing into a brisket-smoking, tamale-rolling Texas dad out there, and it's just as easy to imagine them basking under cedar trees until their mid-thirties and then deciding they're ready for another round. The wonderful thing is, they can take their time either way.
It isn't a full release from their obligations, but it is the next step after formally relinquishing his title. More boundaries, more of their own rules about what they will and won't do. No royal wedding, but a private ceremony at the lake house and a honeymoon unpacking boxes. A job for Alex at a smaller firm where he can finally get his hands in the earth. A quieter life.
"You're right," Alex says. "You know what else is gonna be awesome about married-people life? We can have actual, real-life date nights. Just imagine it: free refills and bottomless chips and salsa."
"Oh, I've got another one," Henry says. “You can finally show me how to navigate an H-E-B."
“Baby, don’t talk dirty to me in front of company.”
“Please,” says a groggy voice from the couch.
“Hi, Bea.”
“Time’s it?”
“One in the morning.”
“Ugh.”
Grumbling and tugging a blanket around herself, Bea wakes Pez and the two of them head off to wash up before bed. The odds of Pez returning to the couch for the night or availing himself of their bed so that Alex has to sleep on the couch are just about even, based on six years of Pez falling asleep at their house. It’s a comfort to know that when they leave the brownstone and June moves in, Pez will still be making himself at home in it.
Downstairs, surrounded by boxes, Alex crawls out of Henry’s lap and slides a large shopping bag out from behind the loveseat. “I brought you something.” Alex says.
Inside the bag is a box made of the sort of heavy cardboard that augurs something expensive. He imagines Alex hurling his patched-up rough-ridden leather duffle into the overhead compartment of the airplane and then sliding this bag under the seat so carefully that there’s not even a crease in the paper.
He takes the lid off the box and unwraps layers of tissue paper to reveal a hat. A cowboy hat. It’s made of gorgeous, thick felt, with a cattleman crown and a satin lining. A nearly identical one has hung in Alex’s office since he moved in, though Alex’s is midnight black and this one is a warm, pale sand. Where Alex’s hatband has a small gold buckle, this one has a silver pin in the shape of an English rose.
“It’s a Stetson,” Alex says. When Henry looks up at him, his cheeks have darkened faintly. “I know it’s not really your thing, but you ride horses, and it’s kind of a big deal where I’m from to get your first Stetson, so I wanted to be the one to give it to you since you’re about to be an honorary Texan. You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want–“
“I love it,” Henry interrupts.
Alex pauses, then breaks out in a grin. “You do? I was afraid you’d think it was a joke.”
“It’s the least ridiculous hat I’ve ever been given,” Henry tells him. “It didn’t even come with a matching tailcoat.”
“Nah, but maybe we can get you some Wranglers,” Alex says.
“Some chaps, perhaps.”
“I just told you not to talk dirty to me.”
Henry laughs and kisses him over the open box, thinking of the next year of their lives. Sunday morning fry-ups, swimming holes, a wedding cake that doesn’t wind up on the floor. Tomorrow he needs to ask if Alex checked on the bakery while he was in Austin, and if they have any more packing tape, and whether Amy’s daughter has gotten her flower girl dress yet.
Tonight, though, Alex is home a day early, and the house is making all its soft, familiar night-time sounds around them. No one sees in through the windows. No one comes in through the gate.
“Henry,” says Alex.
“Alex,” says Henry.
“You and me,” Alex says.
“You and me,” Henry agrees.
End.
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blouisparadise · 3 months
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Upon request, today we have a rec list of bottom Louis fics where either Louis or Harry has amnesia. If you enjoy our rec lists, please be sure to like and reblog this post to help spread the word. Happy reading!
1) Finding Thoughts | Teen & Up | 6,810 words
"Hi, my name is Louis Tomlinson and I suffer from short term memory loss."
2) Our Love Was Made For Movie Screens. | Not Rated | 8,106 words
Harry wakes up and doesn't know anything about anything and Louis is his omega.
3) Cause I’m Really Not Fine At All | Mature | 13,679 words
Louis Tomlinson, one of the famous members of One Direction, is involved in a car accident that caused him to have amnesia, wiping all the last five years of his life from the memory. The interesting part is he may not remember that he has a girlfriend now, yet his mind seems to think that he has been in a relationship with one of the members, Harry Styles. Harry is baffled and shocked at the situation that's thrown in his face. He finds himself learning how to be a good boyfriend for Louis. It has to be easy.. right?
4) Indestructible | Explicit | 24,243 words
“Hi,” Harry murmurs, and Louis hiccups out a sob. “Hi,” he manages, still clutching onto Harry’s shoulders. Harry’s fingers drift across Louis’ cheeks, and there’s something off about Harry’s expression, but Louis can’t figure out what it is. “I’m okay,” Harry says, and Louis is going to say something to that, even if he doesn’t know what, except Harry’s kissing him. Louis freezes.
5) The Way This River Runs | Explicit | 27,417 words
Louis is provided a chance to start over. He takes it.
6) Deleted Scenes | Explicit | 33,623 words
Agent Harry Styles was injured on the job a few months back, and gets roped in one last mission before he can retire prematurely: playing house with Louis, a widower who has amnesia. The assignment seems simple at the beginning, but soon enough Harry's twisted in a web of his own making, and can't get out anymore.
7) Just A Pretty Boy | Explicit | 35,614 words
The alpha in front of him wasn’t only tall, but used every inch of his body to look even more threatening. He looked as shocked as Joseph felt, in his eyes he could clearly see horror and anger mixed into an odd and painful mix. It was as if he just watched a ghost or a monster from a nightmare come to life.  “Louis…” he said with a low voice. It wasn’t a question, he was calling Joseph by that name.  The crease between Joseph’s brows deepened. “Who?” Louis and Harry were married until, one day, Louis passed away in a tragic accident. Years later, he is found alive and with a thousand questions plaguing his mind. The most important ones; was his husband involved in his disappearance? And, how long did it take Harry and his best friend to fall in love after his supposed dead?
8) The Things I’d Do To Wake Up Next To You | Mature | 36,109 words
AU. Harry wakes up to a pregnant Louis Tomlinson and a wedding band on his finger.
9) Strangers In Love | Explicit | 42,207 words
Louis wakes up to find himself in a marriage with the last man he thought he'd ever end up with.
10) Define Me Again | Mature | 54,385 words
He's never felt so frightened in his life before, so fucking terrified for himself. And Louis. He looked down at their hands, which seemed to have been connected throughout the incident. He looked at the ring on Louis' hand, for the nth time that day. His heart hurt so bad now, he was terrified. He wanted to do so many things, he wanted to check on louis, if he- if he- God he couldn't even think about it. "Louis," he tried to whisper, but nothing but air came out from his mouth. "I love you, Harry," whispered a voice. But it was nowhere near him. Visions attacked his mind, rapidly flickering through like one would do the pages of a book. He was terrified. His entire life literally flashed in his mind, vision growing more and more weak and he fought unconsciousness. Memories and the picture of Louis lying unconscious in front of him altered and flickered, so rapidly that he felt dizzy with how fast his mind was whirring. What happens when you die? God he was so, so, so, fucking terrified. All his senses gave out, last thing he felt was Louis' hand in his and then, everything went black.
11) Flash Back To Me | Explicit | 73,068 words | Prequel
Louis narrows his eyes, wanting more than anything to tell Liam to go fuck himself, but he can’t be sure, is the thing. As much as he knows for a fact that he would never date someone like Harry Styles, he has months missing from his memory. And it’s scary to think that, in that time, everything he’s come to know about himself could have changed so drastically.
12) Consequences | Explicit | 78,556 words
Two years ago Harry let his powerful family come between him and the love of his life, something he deeply regrets. Louis has tried to move on from their devastating break up. Sometimes, he even thinks he has. It only takes one moment to freeze them back in time.
13) Invisible String | Explicit | 84,726 words
Louis swears on his life that that man came out of literal nowhere and he thanks each lucky star for having good breaks in his car. This strange alpha also happens to be the most beautiful being Louis has laid his eyes on. For some unknown reason, the omega feels safe around the alpha. It might seem strange, but you can't always explain why or how things are the way they are. All you can really be sure of is that they happen for a reason. There's a higher power (call it what you want) that knows better and definitely knows more than you do.
14) The Dead Of July | Explicit | 117,446 words
Harry is Captain America, and Louis’ been dead for 70 years.
Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.
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jxckchxmpi0n · 5 months
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hi :) i love you and your writing sm
could you do one with ethan (gf) where him and female reader are in a relationship and when he unmasks himself she’s like heartbroken and stuff with the prompts “you hurt me and i still trusted you” and like in the end where she kills him instead of tara in his death scene with the prompt “i guess we weren’t meant to be”
i’m sorry that’s like so much😭😭
Dying Wish
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Ethan Landry GF x Reader |m.list
Summary : it's all in the request <3
Warnings: cursing, angst, character death, blood, gore,
word count: 1.7k
did not proofread
(also, omg! we reached 400 followers) Thank you so much! I literally love you all <3 I hope you enjoy this!
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Your feet were glued to the floor, as if you stepped into a mouse trap. The glue pulling you down to the ground weakened your knees as you watched your boyfriend stand before you. He was in all black, holding that stupid mask in one hand and a bloody knife in the other.
He looked at all of you, Tara, Sam, and you. the boy standing in front of you wasn't the boy you fell in love with. No. The boy standing in front of you was a killer, he killed your childhood best friend, he was the one you ran to when you saw Anika's body lying there lifeless. he was the one telling you he'd protect you from all the bad in the world.
And yet there he was, standing just five feet away from you with an evil smile, and eyes darker than the black he wore. You didn't know who he was, he was a stranger, and you trusted him with everything.
"-Really runs in the fucking family doesn't it" his voice was ringing through your ears. The ringing getting louder and louder, "awe y/n don't look too sad" he raised his hands to his face making a crying motion with them.
"Fuck you!" Your voice shattered as you spoke. Baily laughed a your words. you hated them all they ruined your life all because they thought Richie deserved the ending he wanted.
Ethan and Quinn started to circle around you three. Baily walked around talking about how passionate Richie was about these killings, Sam was talking back yelling at Bailey, saying he's the reason Richie is a killer.
Quinn wasn't a fan of how she spoke of her brother, so she jumped forward, slicing the side of Sam's arm. As she tried to move away, she tripped, which pushed you towards Ethan. Pulling his arm back, he followed his sister's actions and swiped at your arms.
The feeling of your skin being ripped ran through your entire body. "fuck" you grabbed your arm putting pressure on the wound, Ethan smiled waving his hand in a no motion.
"If that hurt just wait for what I'm going to do to you later" your eyes were flooding with tears. You wanted to scream and yell at him, you wanted to yell at yourself for even thinking about the future with him.
Things had started to pick up, Bailey was after Sam, while Quinn went to Tara, which left Ethan after you.
You ran behind one of the cases that held the past victim's belongings, "You have no idea how long I've dreamt of killing you, feeling the knife pierce your skin, if you think you have it easy, you're about to be proven wrong." Pushing one of the mannequins into him you made a run for it. "Bitch" he grabbed the mannequin throwing it to the side as he chased you.
You saw Sam running to the stairs, going after her you saw Tara right behind you. Quinn was lying on the floor holding her side, "she got what she deserved" Tara's voice was shallow and airy from all the running. You couldn't help but laugh just a little as he ran up the stairs.
Kirby had showed up once again, stopping in front of Ethan she was about to shoot, but Bailey's voice distracted her allowing Ethan to jump at her and stab her. "Do you remember this?" in one switch motion he pulled the knife out again and stabbed her.
"Ethan, enough get the others!" Bailey yelled at his son from the stage Ethan looked over and noticed everyone was on the second floor. A wicked grin showed on his face as he noticed Quinn cornering the three of you. "Give it up sweetheart" You looked down and saw Ethan standing below you, he was covered in blood your, Tara's, and Chad's.
The anger toward him kept building over time, and as you looked at him it made it worse. "Asshole!" you saw a tool that was abandoned on the top floor. Picking it up you threw it at him, "You hurt me, and yet I still fucking trusted you" he moved just in time before the tool could hit him.
"Boo get over it!" his voice was strained from him looking up at you. "it's time sweetheart" he then pointed to Quinn; she was slowly moving toward you. Tara tried to hold her back as much as she could, Sam had a gun from Kirby, but it was jammed. you tried to help Tara as much as you could. taking a piece of wood that was lying around you swung it. Hitting Quinn in the back she yelled out, "Fucking bitch" but right as you hit her your foot got caught on a broken chair.
As your foot got stuck, that allowed Quinn to stab you in the leg. The feeling of the knife digging into your leg caused you to scream. Quinn was satisfied at hearing you scream, so she pulled the knife down, creating a bigger wound. Your entire thigh had been ripped open. "Get the fuck off me!" You tried to push her off but with your foot stuck any movement would throw you over the edge.
Tara heard your scream and came running, another piece of wood slammed on the back of Quinn's head. She let go of the knife, the warmth of your blood running down your leg, your mind becoming foggy. You were losing too much blood.
Before you could even realize what happened, your body fell backward. You stumbled over the chairs and fell over the edge, your hands grabbing the frame before it was too late. Sam finally got the got the gun to work, just as Quinn got up. "Give it up," her forehead and mouth covered in blood, half of it probably being yours.
Just as Quinn started running to Sam, she pulled the trigger. Your ears echoed from the bang; a long thud followed after. "Holy shit," Tara stood there for a second, looking at Quinn's dead body.
"Oh baby, come on, let go! Let me have you, " your ears focused on Ethan's voice. He was right below you holding his knife up. "Come on.... I'll make it quick... Maybe, " he laughed as he saw you slowly losing your grip.
Sam and Tara ran to you to help, but right as they reached you, Bailey ran up the stairs. "You monsters!" He got down on his knees as he saw his daughter lying there dead. "You killed her!" His voice shook the room as he yelled. "You will pay for this!"
Tara told Sam to go and deal with Bailey as she tried to help you. "No, Tara, you have to help your sister. Let me go" her eyes watered as she looked at you.
"Yeah, come on, Tara, let her go! I dare you!" Ethans voice screamed at her.
"No y/n I can't do that!" Tara's hands were slipping as they held yours. The mixture of blood and sweat, making it hard.
"Tara, let me go!" Your voice was shaking, the fear now kicking in. But you were ready, Ethan was after you, and there was no way out of it. You had to face him. "I'll be fine, just please, you have to let me go." As you spoke, your eyes followed the knife in Tara belt loop. Her eyes following yours, finally understanding.
"Come on Tara don't be such a bitch let her go. Let me kill her!" Ethan, tired once again to jump up and get you, but you moved too fast for him.
"Okay," Tara agreed she reached down, grabbed the knife, and slipped it in your hand. "Good luck. I'm sorry. " A small tear slipped from her eyes as she realized you and Sam were all she had left.
She let go of your hands. Dropping down, you could hear Ethan laugh with excitement, the feeling of your body free falling, and Ethan right below scared you, but you were ready.
In one swift motion, you managed to turn your body, landing on Ethan. "Fuck" pain shot from your leg as you tried to get up.
"Mmm, I have you all to myself!" Ethan's voice haunted you as you closed your eyes from the pain. The knife Tara had given you was just a foot away from you. Crawling to it, you rushed before Ethan realized. Slowly standing up, your fingers grazed it as Ethan sliced the back of your thigh from lying on the ground.
Following you, he got up. "There's nowhere to run. You're mine. " As he reached for you, you turned with the knife in your hand. Catching him off guard, you stabbed the knife into his mouth. As he fell to his knees, he looked at you with stupid puppy brown eyes.
"You're a killer, and I loved you. What a piece of shit," you twisted the knife, which caused Ethan to whine and cry out. Tears streamed down his face. "I guess we weren't meant to be." Once more for luck, you twisted the knife again, pulling it out, and his blood splattered all over your face. Your hands dropped the knife, shaking, as you struggled to keep yourself up you stared at his lifeless body.
Your heart shattered as you looked at him. He was everything to you, and you killed him. Was your head spinning with the memories or was it because you were dizzy. You couldn't figure it out. As you tried to reach Tara and Sam, your vision went black.
Your body became too heavy to take another step, collapsing on the floor as everything slowly became numb.
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tulipsforvin · 1 month
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Hiii, how are you? I love your writing sm, especially your Mycroft fics. I didn’t even like his character that much until I read your fanfics about him ^^
So can I request a jealous Mycroft Holmes x trophy wife reader? Something similar to your last post or maybe a continuation?
Thanks sm <3
✦ YOU BELONG TO ME ‧₊˚✩彡
🌷: HII im good :) thnx sm for the kind words !! have a nice day/night
🌷: F!TROPHY WIFE READER x JEALOUS MYCROFT HOLMES
⚠️: such a cliché 🙏, somewhat suggestive at the end.
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surely this was to be expected; you were in no way lacking. the attention your beauty and elegance brought with you was only one of the many implications that came with marrying you. he could handle it, couldn't he? surely he could. you were his trophy wife, an accessory to be shown at the best.
but that position didn't quite please you. no no, you wanted more. you wanted all of him, him and his affections, every bit of his attention. you wanted to be more than just a mere prize to him. which is why..
“right! and then he said—” music & loud voices dipped in cheery laughter blur into the background.
watching yet another group of men group you crowd you for the umpteenth time this night—something began to rise within him. anger, frustration, disgust.. he wasn't sure what it exactly was. perhaps a mixture of them all. all he knew was that it made his stomach feel hollow, his chest burn with something foreign and bile crawl up to his throat.
you high five a nobleman. that noble looks too happy over mere skin contact. the muscle under his eye twitches slightly. ‘really?’ he wishes to say out loud. he's the one who brought you here. you're his wife.
“..mr. holmes.”
“mr. holmes.”
“mr. mycroft holmes.”
mycroft snaps out of his thoughts. “ah.” he blinks. his dark eyes smoothly shift back to the man infront of him. “apologies, secretary general. please continue.”
“...” the secretary general scans mycroft's face for any expression hinting to why he seems so out of it tonight. mycroft is too clever not to notice so he arches an eyebrow and the secretary general clears his throat. “ahem. as i was saying, if we are to implement better rules and regulations then..”
the secretary general's voice fades into the background for the second time this night. mere background noise to mycroft holmes—the man known to be devoted to his work. well.. not tonight though. there was something else bothering him.
“you're so beautiful, miss. (name)!” the man infront of you chirps, a patch of hair on his chin for a beard.
his beard doesn't even connect, mycroft scoffs under his breath, thinking to himself. if you can even call it a beard—it's just barely visible stubble. barely there.
“oh thank you!” your hand pats his forearm lightly.
what on earth are you doing? he wishes he could say.
he glances back at the babbling man infront of him; not a stop to his endless tirade of words. he sighs.
“mr. holmes, are you okay?” the secretary general says, tilting his head to the side by the slightest.
“i am.” mycroft replies curtly, not even looking at him. his attention is somewhere else entirely. on you, to be exact. and that rat looking bastard besides you.
“i should be the one thanking you for attending. otherwise i wouldn't have been able to meet you.” the nobleman's gaze falls to your neck where a beautiful pearl necklace rests. “such a gorgeous necklace, i must say.” he uses it as an excuse to caress your neck with the back of his fingers.
mycroft's face darkens visibly, a vein protruding on his jaw as he clenches it. his eyebrows furrow, forming a small line in the space between.
that's enough. he thinks. he doesn't like that. no, not at all. why aren't you saying anything to that bastard?
instead of pushing the nobleman away, it felt like you were encouraging his actions, letting him do as he pleases with you—and that really irritated mycroft.
a server carrying several glasses of sparkling wine walks to each group of people, asking them if they would like some. when the server comes to you, the nobleman alongside you picks up two glasses.
the man is cheerful as he speaks to you, obviously feeling quite joyous at the chance of being able to talk to someone as beautiful as you. “here, miss. a glass of champagne each for you and for me.”
“thank y—”
in mere seconds mycroft has excused himself and began striding to you, footsteps large and distanced.
“thank you.” a man's hands, large and veiny slithers into the space between you and the nobleman. and when they pull back, they retrieve the two glasses of sparkling wine from the nobleman.
your neck snaps around to the deep, familiar voice behind you. you look up to see a tall and looming mycroft, annoyance plastered across his face, hand you one glass and keep the other to himself.
“mycroft!” you smile up at him, eyes glittering. you take the glass of champagne from him and sip at it.
“o-oh,” the nobleman falters, stepping back instinctively. “good.. good evening, mr. holmes.”
“evening.” mycroft's voice is low and rumbly. an arm travels to your hips and he pulls you in close to him.
“fine banquet, isn't it? i quite like the atmosphe—”
“yes, yes.” mycroft hums dismissively. “pardon me, but me and my wife have somewhere to be.”
that's all he says before he's practically dragging you away, a firm hand still grasping onto your waist—not even letting either of you bid farewell to each other.
“we do?” you peek up at him as you're walking away.
“yes.” his voice is quiet. tight. firm. growly. everything sexy. “i feel as if a little disciplining might be in order.”
you gulp thickly at his words as he leads you to the bathroom. but this was what you wanted, after all.
you can't help the small and subtle smirk that appears on your painted lips. “ofcourse.. darling.”
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fastcardotmp3 · 1 year
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stranger things au where when it's all done, instead of the general fandom usual of NDA's and cover stories, those guys at the NINA Project figure out a way to use that same technology that brought El's memories back to instead wipe the memories of anyone involved in saving the world/ anyone who saw anything abnormal and replace them with the mundane.
It's the only foolproof way to make sure that none of That gets out, to make sure that no one decides to go poking around again 10 years down the line or write a book or a song or a movie that hits a little too closely to the truth, and the government loves themselves something that seems like a foolproof plan.
But what does this mean for our heroes? They don't remember the circumstances that brought them together, only the cover memories that were inserted in their place. They don't remember why they care so deeply for one another because a summer scooping ice cream or a walk through the woods or an-- impromptu game of baseball???-- doesn't quite line up with how it feels.
It feels bigger than that. It feels--
There are explanations for Steve's scars, he remembers a big dog and a trip to the ER, he remembers getting in a car accident and the seat belt coming loose enough to get stuck across his throat instead of his chest. He remembers-- blood on his hands, blood on his clothes, the outline of a man torn half to shreds--
He remembers a bad trip with Robin, but sometimes Robin will say something and it's-- when we got drugged- took those- when we uh, y'know tried LSD that time?-- fuzzy because of the bad trip of it all.
It's easy to accept the truth as the truth, because he remembers. It's easy, for years, to let the truth be the truth, to forget entirely that there are pieces that don't make sense, that there's no reason he should be as close with Dustin Henderson as he is because wait how did we meet? over a missing cat? It's easy, to just let it be true, because the love is there and that's what matters.
The love is there for a year and two and five and ten and Steve's life isn't always easy, in fact he's gone through his fair share of therapists for the insomnia none of them can explain, the confusion that both him and Robin talk about sometimes in the dead of night but can't remember talking about in the morning.
Eddie gets medicated for some sort of psychosis for a while because he had years of these intense night terrors that he could never explain to people, screaming at the top of his lungs, but the minute he would try to tell a shaking and terrified Steve or Robin or Nancy or whoever was present what it had been about he would just sob with frustration because he couldn't remember.
Max has a condition which made her lose her eyesight rapidly as a teenager, who has chronic pain that no doctors have ever found a real cause for despite Steve dragging her to appointment after appointment with fierce protectiveness in his eyes and voice, a desperation that there has to be a reason.
It's easy to accept it as the truth, that they all gravitated towards each other because they're all just a little fucked up in unrelated ways. That they connected to one another because oh you get scared sometimes too? scared like I do? scared like no one else understands?
Lucas starts spontaneously sobbing when some Kate Bush song plays on the radio in 1992. Can't explain it except that it hurts.
Nancy goes to a shooting range and feels her hands go steady for the first time in years in '93. She's never shot a gun before.
El Hopper had a traumatic enough childhood that doctors say she likely won't ever remember all of it, that her brain is protecting her, that-- that's probably true. They're doctors. They know better than Steve, they know about everything except why Max's legs hurt so bad she can't move sometimes.
They know everything except why Eddie can't feel pinned down without having a visceral belief he's dying.
They know everything except why Jonathan swears that their old house used to be painted a different color in the living room.
There are explanations for Steve's scars. He remembers a big dog.
Sharp teeth. Snarling.
He's in his thirties when he kisses Eddie Munson for the first time, because they're fucked in the head in the same ways, because no one else has ever gotten close enough to see the scars and hear the screaming and feel the desperation and not suggested maybe you need bigger help than I can give.
He's a grown man, and it's easy to believe the truth of his past, easy to think that growing older means it's supposed to be a little fuzzy around the edges, and that's okay because this feels bright and clear and technicolor, this thing with Eddie who has run away and come back half a dozen times but always does come back.
Whether he goes to Seattle or LA, New York or Boston; whether he and Steve are in the same place at the same time for more than a couple of weeks, he always comes back, they always find their way back to each other no matter where in the world, except--
Except there.
Everyone left that town with a haste-- or was it one at a time? No, it was the Byers first to California, except-- didn't Will graduate from that school? No. Because El went to school in Chicago at the same time that Robin started college there and she helped Will apply to the Arts Institute and--
And it was Max who went to California-- no, she was from there, but she also-- did she go back?
And why does Steve remember the house he grew up in but the minute he tries to step outside the back door onto the patio in his mind, out by the-- with the blue light and--
"Have you ever been back?" he asks Eddie one day, 32 years old and living in Chicago now full-time together. Robin's just down the road, Nancy's at the Tribune, Argyle has been franchising that coffee shop of his, is opening a spot here in town near his friends who he met when--
"Back where?" Eddie trails his hands through Steve's hair, laying half on top of each other on the couch and listening to some old tape of Jonathan's.
"Where we're from."
Eddie's fingers slow to an almost still and Steve props himself up to watch the way his brow furrows in concentration.
"Why would we go back?" he asks, and Steve has this flash-- like they've had this conversation before.
Like they've talked about where we're from before, although the name of the place never crosses their lips.
"I dunno," Steve slumps into Eddie's chest. They're getting older though so maybe just, "nostalgia?"
"Are you feeling nostalgic?" A rediscovered rhythm to gentle nails across his scalp. Soothing.
"It's where we met," Steve says. It feels true, although when he thinks about it-- "remember? How we met?"
"I..." Eddie's jaw clicks. It does that sometimes, on the same side with the scar.
There are explanations for Eddie's scars too-- a drug deal gone wrong, too many guys with too may knives-- or was it broken beer bottles? They used those as weapons, yeah. Tattered clothes and tattered skin and blood on Steve's hands--
No. He wasn't there. Blood on-- it was Dustin who found him? No. Wait, it was Wayne. Wayne found him, yeah, exactly--
"We met there," Eddie's gripping Steve's hair now, by the root. "We met back there. High school. Do you want to go back?
"Why would we go--"
Steve startles himself with the words, like they just-- like they weren't a choice to say, like they said themselves, like--
"Ed."
Breathing is tight. Steve sits up straight and looks at him. Scars on his face. Eyes so big and deep they hold endless histories--
"Eddie, do you want to go visit-- visit, uh, you know?"
"Why would we--" Eddie claps a hand over his mouth and hums out a sound of frightened discontent. "What. What the fuck."
"How did we meet, again?" Steve swallows. Eddie stands up, paces to the other side of the apartment.
"High school."
"How in high school?"
"Steve, I stopped taking those meds because they didn't help, but this isn't helping me not feel fucking certifiable either--"
"Eddie, I don't remember."
"Okay, so we're getting old!"
"We're not even middle aged!"
Eddie stops where he stands, shakes his head, and Steve watches him because it's easy to watch him, easy to look at the life they've lived and accept that they found each other, fell in love, because no one else gets what it's like to be fucked in the head. To know what's true and still feel wrong in that truth.
To believe it and still get lost in it.
Eddie clenches down on the tremble of his jaw and his eyes go big and imploring.
"What's happening, Stevie?"
There are explanations for all of it, but no one has ever been able to explain Max's pain or Nancy's sharp-shooting or Robin and Steve's inability to get drunk without losing it or the color of the paint in the Byers' old living room in that fucking town that Steve can't even think the name of--
"I'm calling Robin," he says, already striding across the floor. "I want to go back."
There are explanations.
Maybe that's not good enough anymore.
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adventuringblind · 10 months
Text
Drive With You Forever
Chapter 7.5: The one about Daniel
Max Verstappen x Charles Leclerc x Lando Norris x Reader
Chapter summary: Daniel is a pervert and the quartet wants to thank him
Warnings: Daniel is kinda gross in this (I'm sorry, I promise I love him), BDSM themes, dom/sub vibes, consent is given, then taken away, use of safe words, choking, PinV, blacking out and dissasociation, hate fuck, anal,
Notes: I've been on A03 far too much in the last three weeks for research purposes. Now we are here, and I have no idea what I'm doing. But! I give this stupid interlude while I try to figure out who on earth to write smut between three and four people. Don't judge me, okay? I'm trying T_T
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Originally, the entire group was dumbfounded, knowing the things Daniel openly talked about. Even though Max had been his teammate for years, Daniel said he couldn't get past seeing him as a seventeen year old kid. Then which talking about such things is just gross.
It was day five of Charles and Max staying with the Australian. The two having found that making sure the door is locked behind them is an important detail.
The text conversation that night made it seem as though they would never consider this an option.
Charles: Daniel is never allowed to go near the children
Lando: what children?
Chatles: you and y/n
Lando: just because we're the youngers dosen't mean we're kids -_-
Y/N: Wouldn't the things we do be very illegal if we were?
Lando: Exactly!
Maxy: I think the idea here is that Daniel doesn't deserve to be around you two. I don't trust him either.
Charles looks over to Max after the lack of respons from their younger counterparts.
Lando: *video message* pretty sure children don't do this.
Max: Ha! Charles just played the video so fast he forgot to check his volume and Daniel came running at an inhuman speed and fell into the door!
Charles: serves him right
Charles: also Lando how are you recording with your tongue down her throat?
Lando: skills ;)
Max: so we're all agreed that we're keeping Daniel at arms length right?
Y/N: without a doubt
Charles: further might be better
Lando: *video* nope he dosen't get to experience this
Things escalated when all four were there. Daniel seemed to love putting his ear to the door. Max had not hesitated to put a hand to his face for that one
Only for him to be more frustrated when Daniel started saying filthy things right after.
Daniel was utterly determined, and it was concerning.
The worst attempt was when Daniel said he was going to a party and wouldn't be back until the morning. Opting to stay with his friend instead of driving and wanting to respect that the four were trying to be out as little as possible.
Pent-up sexual tension came to a breaking point after Daniel had been gone for an hour.
Clothes were off far too quickly. Things had escalated way too far that any logical sense was lost to raging hormones.
They left the door unlocked.
Daniel thought he was so clever lying to them. And in his defense, he was. He waited outside the apartment door for an hour. The walls weren't thin, but with four of them, it was easy to tell what was going on.
He snuck back in quietly. And even managed to get the door open without them noticing.
It took Max three minutes to notice him. Five minutes to get his clothes on. Anither five to make sure his partners were okay. Then an hour of chewing out Daniel.
All four had a usual role that they slipped into. Max happened to be the most dominant of the four. His want for control is not just on the race track.
They'd managed to convince him to give up that control when they raced and someone finished higher, but it wasn't to often.
With this, Max was also dubbed the king of consent. He never did or tried anything without discussion. Always asked before continuing. Communication in the bedroom was easier for him than in everyday life.
So when Daniel decided to watch them without their knowledge, Max was all over him.
~
"I feel like we should get him something as a thank you." The girl brought up one afternoon.
The other three shoot her a look of shock.
"For what? Watching us be intimate?"
"No, but at least for letting us stay with him and for keeping us safe from everyone but him."
Lando couldn't help but agree. "No idea what to get him thought."
Charles rubs his face. More in exasperation than anything. Sometimes, he hates how giving the younger two can be.
"We could ask him? Maybe take him out to dinner or something?" Shrugs Max.
They asked that night while they were seated in the living room. Daniel had kept some space after Max had lectured him, so the thought of him asking for anything to do with sex was not what they thought would happen.
"Absolutely not."
"You said anything."
"I lied."
"You're speaking for all four of you, Max."
Max exchanges a look with Charles. The two are on the same page. The younger, however, are people pleasers.
"We need to talk about it first."
~
"I feel bad though."
"Y/N, it's your body. If you don't want to, then you say no. Simple as that."
"But I also want to thank him."
It's a difficult decision, to say the least, but Max eventually gives in to the idea of a discussion.
Max is cautious about his words and makes sure Daniel knows exactly what the rules are. Charles is still reminding the younger two that they can back out at any point. Lando is actually turned on by his partners protectivness over them and thinks but wants to show Daniel their appreciation. Then the female, who has managed to be the only one with three partners she trusts.
This is different.
She trusts Max isn't going to let anything bad happen. She trusts Charles to communicate if she's struggling; the Monegasque can read her body like a clock.
Thats what got them here. Specifically, he got Max in his least favorite place. Out of control.
It didn't help that him and Charles still had their clothes on. It didn't help that they were tied to dining room chairs and made to watch the scene unfold.
Everyone was shocked they gave in to it. But Daniel had agreed to every term and condition, so again, Max relented. Though a bit peeved at being called no fun.
Him and Charles keep exchanging glances. Charles didn't take kindly to being called an attention hog. Ultimately landing him next to Max.
The two watch on as Daniel put himself in charge. They had the luxury of not being tied down and the freedom of moving around.
They knew who was really in charge, though. Every time Daniel did something, they would look to Max and Charles for approval. Only continuing after having been given the nod to continue.
Daniel was the most excited. Finally, he had them where he wanted them. His teammate from years ago made to watch him take his lovers just ad Daniel was forced to watch him steal redbulls' priorities.
Charles who stole away his fans with his charming looks and contagious smile made to watch his lovers smile at him instead.
Lando. His current teammate. Now at his complete mercy after having outshown the entire season.
Then, lastly, the female currently underneath him. The one who he knew was a slut for different men. He finally was getting his chance with her.
It's was perfect. Until it wasn't.
Lando had started disassociating. He was exhausted, and Daniel was relentless. Lando had officially left when Daniel litterally slammed into him for the first time. It hurt way too much for how little they worked up to it. He couldn't communicate his needs, and the girl beside them couldn't either.
She was gone when Daniel started name calling. The filthy things that left his mouth similar to things her dad had said growing up. Similar to those of the toxic fans she worked so hard to combat.
Daniel basically threw Lando to the side and took her next. There was no foreplay for her. There was no build-up. Daniel kept hitting her for some reason she couldn't figure out.
Then, his hands were around her throat. She tried to turn away from him. Look at Max and Charles for help, but Daniel forced her gaze to him.
"Don't look at them. Look at me."
Lando was attempting to come back to himself. Daniel was still touching him roughly, and he wanted it to be over, but to get that, he needed to come back.
"God, I've been wanting to use you so bad for so long."
Black spots dance around her vision. It's funny because the things he's doing and saying sometimes we're nice when they came from her lovers. Why was this so different.
His hands were far too tight on her throat. She couldn't get air in. Her body was going limp on the bed as she tried to force oxygen into her system.
The word on the tip of her tongue. But she was gone before she could get it out.
Lando is the first to feel in happen given he's somewhat on top of her. Daniel doesn't stop, and he's now in panic mode.
He wills himself back. He lets out a shrill noise as he comes back to his senses. Though he curses himself for not just saying his word. But his panicked eyes are still able to meet those of Max and Charles who are looking around frantically.
It's Max who says it first. "Red!"
Bu Daniel either doesn't hear it or chooses to ignore it.
Lando is actively fighting the hold now. Daniel's hand on his face feels like it's burning him.
Then it's Max and Charles shouting the word.
The Australian finally halts in his tracks and removes his hands from the two youngers.
Lando is up in an instant, untying the two. Max first as he is going to drag Daniel off the female. The Charles who's soothing Lando. Helping him to cover up.
"What happened to respecting the safe word?" Max is furious. He can feel he anger boiling over as he shoves Daniel away.
The girl who wanted to please now lay unconscious and naked. Max can see her chest rising and falling it rapid breaths. The bruises and red patches had been blossoming across her skin.
Daniel looks ashamed of himself. He knew he shouldn't go into this with the mindset of taking back something. But he couldn't resist the temptation.
Charles tosses Max a blanket. He lays it down gently over the female to cover her body from Daniel's eyes.
Lando was hurting to the touch, and Charles could clearly see every unnecessary mark. Lando was practically passing out in his arms from the sheer mental and physical exhaustion.
Max shoved Daniel out of the room. He'd lecture him later about safe sex practices and how he needs to watch more carefully.
Something in Max told him he wasn't deliberately trying to hurt them. Daniel just wasn't right going in, and Max could see the regret on his face.
Lando was dripping with apologies. Something Max and Charles were quick to soothe. He wanted to please, and they knew that. It hurt then to see the Brit so distressed.
Max left the room to get supplies. Ice, water, food, and some rags to help the two get cleaned up. Daniel had his head in his hands when he came out.
"I'm truly sorry. I got caught up in my own emotions."
"Look, Daniel, I'm pissed at you for not being careful and disrespecting boundaries. However, at the end of the day, you are still my friend. But I swear to you, if you ever try anything like that again, I'll make sure you never drive another car for the rest of your life."
"Valid." Daniel looks around awkwardly. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you have them."
"Yeah, you're lucky you were on the receiving end of their giving. Neither of them finished because they were so focused on you."
"Yeah sexually they're great. But I mean in every way. I guess I'm jealous of what you four have."
"It is pretty amazing."
"I take it I'm in for another lecture?"
"No, and I think you'll like what ne and Charles are planning for you much better."
~
Everything hurt when she came back to the land of the living. Her throat and neck were stiff. Her lower half ached in a way she didn't know was possible. Then the memories came rushing back.
She's quick to sit up and look around for her partners. Panic settled in that she did something wrong and disappointed them.
Lando is next to her, still asleep. She vaugley remembers the pain on Landos face when Daniel first took him.
She figures they are going to hear about it later from Max and Charles. But to be fair, they had tried multiple times to get it to stop.
Lando is startled awake at the sounds of a shrill shriek from down the hall.
Both shoot out of bed, look at each other, and assess the damage.
The noise can wait. Hugs are neccecary first.
Lando runs his fingers over her throat, and she traces the outline of red hand prints along his waist.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asks her.
"Sore but okay. You?" Her voice is raspy due to the pressure from earlier.
"Same. I didn't think he would go that hard."
"He didn't listen to Max at all I don't think. And even though we all consented and agreed, I don't think he was fully there to do so."
"Do you think their mad at us?"
"No, we tried to stop it. We didn't do anything wrong."
"Charles wants us to talk about how we two need to put ourselves first."
She groans in exasperation. "Speaking if them, where are they?"
Soon, they find themselves sneaking off down the hall. Their lovers are nowhere insight. Anither shriek startles them.
"You don't think..?"
They come up to the door where the noises are coming from and peer inside.
It takes all their willpower not to laugh as Daniel is at the complete mercy of Charles and Max. His limbs tied tightly to the bed.
They're not even touching him, and he looks completely blissed out.
Max spots the two in the door and nods them inside with a smile. "We've agreed that Daniel needs to learn about respect during scenes. Care to join us?"
The two look at each other skeptically. Is this an order? Is Daniel okay with this?
Charles takes his fingers out of Daniel's mouth and comes to greet the two. "Same rules, different set-up. You two are taking not giving. You hear me?"
That one was definitely an order.
They stare at Daniel, whose muscles are twitching. "Does he... want this?"
"The better question is if you two want this? Otherwise me and Charles are going to make sure he knows what he did was wrong." Max winks.
They can't help but be a little excited at the prospect of watching Max and Charles make Daniel squirm.
~
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iam93percentstardust · 6 months
Text
On Plagiarism and Academia
Welp, I watched hbomberguy's new video (just like everyone else). And... I loved it! (Go figure) It's a great video, he's genuinely funny and presents the information in an engaging way (I barely even noticed it had been four hours), and we need the information he presented very badly to remind us to independently verify the things we're listening to. But something that he said really struck me because it's something that I'm dealing with in my offline life right now. Disclaimer: this is a hypothesis generated from my own personal observations and experiences and isn't meant to be a sweeping statement of every single academic institution across the entire world.
He seemed really surprised that no one (or very few people) noticed that the Youtubers he was calling out were plagiarizing other people. Like. Really surprised. And at one point, he made the argument that maybe that was because plagiarism was viewed only as a problem in academia, so people assumed it wasn't a problem online and weren't looking for it.
And that hit a chord because the thing is, at least in my small corner of the world, I don't think that plagiarism is a problem in academia. Or, rather, I don't think academia views plagiarism as a problem anymore.
So, if you've been following me for a while, you know I have a whole tag about my struggles in grad school. I've been a grad student for the last six years at [insert major university here], and because my lab doesn't have any funding to pay me, I've been employed as a TA all six years to pay my salary. At this school, in my department, TAs are expected to proctor exams--every single exam for the course and frequently one additional exam from another class.
If we see cheating, we're not supposed to call it out in the middle of the exam. Instead, at the end of the exam, we're supposed to take the student's scantron and hand it over to the professor and give them an estimate on how certain we are the student was cheating so they can pass it on to the university, which, in every syllabus of every class, states they take a hardline stance on cheating and plagiarism. (Yes, I know I'm talking about cheating on exams, which isn't the same thing as plagiarism, but I swear I'll loop back around to it in a minute.)
During the first exam I ever proctored during my first semester of my first year in 2018 (this was three weeks into the semester), I caught a student cheating. Like. Blatantly cheating. Cheating so badly that over a dozen separate people came up to me at the end of the exam to tell me that she was cheating, just in case I hadn't seen it myself. I did exactly what I was supposed to.
I took the student's scantron.
I turned it into the professor and told her that I was 100% certain and had witnesses to back me up.
She gave it to the university.
...And the university came back and said that they weren't going to do an investigation and were just going to let the student take the exam again, this time with a different proctor because they felt I was biased against this student because of the "very serious accusations [she] had leveled against [me] of singling her out for her race." (Newsflash: the student cheated again with that different proctor and got away with it again)
During that first year that I spent as a TA, I reported eight different instances of cheating across six separate exams. Every single one, I was 100% positive that the student had been cheating, and on five of the occasions, I had student witnesses to support my accusation. The university tossed every single accusation out without even a cursory investigation or even filing a report. Oh yeah, really hardline stance there, university.
For the most part (and partially because of distance learning), I stopped reporting cheating, but I tried one more time this past spring to report two cheaters and got back the same result that I did my first year: not even an investigation to see if there was any merit into my claim because they're "busy."
I don't report cheating to the university anymore. They've more than shown me that they don't actually take cheating seriously even when I have more than a dozen people supporting me. Even when I have students half out of their chairs to see what the person in front of them is writing. Even when I have students with their phones out on the desks, looking things up. The university doesn't care, so why should the students?
So how do I loop this back into the discussion on plagiarism? Well, yesterday, while grading my students' final papers, I ran one of them through a plagiarism checker, and it pinged the radar. Two sentences were a direct quote and hadn't been listed in quotations or been cited in the body of the text. If I scrolled through the (long) list of citations at the bottom of the paper, I could find the source, but if it hadn't pinged the checker, I would never have known that those two sentences weren't their own.
The lack of the quotations and the source after the quote is what kicks this over the line into plagiarism, regardless of the source in the later bibliography (the same thing that got Illuminaughtii in trouble on hbomberguy's video). But I was willing to assume it was an honest mistake, and so I emailed the student to ask them to please add the proper citation and resubmit the paper.
This should have taken the student maybe--at most--five minutes to fix. Literally, all it needed was a set of quotation marks and a parenthetical aside with the author's name and year.
Instead, I got a response from the student telling me that they were very busy, it was finals week, and they weren't sure when they could get to it. Oh, and by the way, what grade would they get on the assignment if they didn't fix the source?
It was a stunning lack of regard for the error they'd made on their original submission, and now, because I'd brought it to their attention, if it wasn't fixed, it was willful plagiarism--and we both knew that! They can't claim ignorance or an accidental mistake anymore. We both know that they're passing off someone else's words as their own!
I emailed them back and told them if it wasn't fixed, it would be a 0, and then I messaged the instructor and asked her what happens now? Her response was as disheartening as my previous experience with the university's response to cheating: they'll dismiss it, regardless of their supposed hardline stance, and nothing will happen. Don't even bother reporting it; the most we can do is give the student the 0 I'd already threatened.
So there you have it. This particular university doesn't care if you cheat or plagiarize. Academic dishonesty doesn't mean anything to them--and the students know it. Every year the topic of cheating comes up with my students during my office hours, and every time, the students complain about how their sorority sisters and football team members and fellow classmates get away with cheating over and over and over again because they know the university won't do anything about it, so why should they bother maintaining any kind of integrity? I even asked them if they reported it to their proctors and instructors, and while I got back a few yeses, I got even more why bothers. What's the point of reporting it if nothing is going to happen?
To loop this back into hbomberguy's video, I don't think as few people noticed the plagiarism as he thinks. I think quite a few people noticed (and looking through the comments on the various videos of the James Somerton scandal, not just hbomberguy's, I do see more than a couple comments along those lines). The thing is, I think they kept that to themselves. And though I do think that part of that has to do with the mob mentality of fandoms on the internet and the fear of getting attacked for pointing out something shitty that someone else is doing, I think a lot of it also comes down to this: plagiarism is thought to be an academia problem, therefore the way the academics respond to plagiarism should be what we look to to deal with the same problem elsewhere. But if the way the academics respond to plagiarism is to ignore it and sweep the reports under the rug, then why would we ever think that Youtube, of all places, would deal with it any better?
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