#and then of course he said I seem straight and he still thinks I’m probably straight and like well he’s a guy and I just feel all uhg
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#you know what I hate#my now ex said to me recently that I don’t seem queer and like that’s rude as fuck#like what does that mean#I’m not gonna fit a specific stereotype just because that’s the person who’s idea of queer you’ve deemed acceptable#ew#and like it’s extra ew bc he’s trans and I just feel like he sound get why you can’t just make aspersions on peoples identity like that#he’s also like kinda biphobic and that sucks but whatever#uhhhhggg#men uhg people uhg humanity uhg#*should not sounds#and then of course he said I seem straight and he still thinks I’m probably straight and like well he’s a guy and I just feel all uhg#and so what if he’s a man. that doesn’t dictate my sexuality#but he’s got a weird conservative streak#and of course complaining about it makes me sound like a straight girl who wants to be special
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SECRET KINK
Chris Sturniolo x y/n (fem!)
(anyone else = green)
warnings: SMUT SMUT SMUT SMUT!!NSFW 18+
this is from a request for a breeding kink soooo!! hope u enjoyyyy🫶🫶
(breeding kink…obvi, no protection, pet names, praise, lang, and light mentions of drinking at beginning)
authors note: GUYS!!! sorry it’s been a fucking MINUTE!!! schools been whopping my ass but i’m back babyyyyyy!! and to the baddie that sent in a request lemme say girl don’t apologize for being into the breeding kink stuff cause i think it’s hot too🫶💋
word count: 3,112
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“here❤️” you texted chris,
pulling your car into the driveway.
“doors open❤️ the boys are still here, dw they’ll head out in a bit”
“nw! i wanna say hi” you checked your makeup in your mirror. you and chris had been dating for almost a year and you spent a chunk of the week sleeping at each others houses. chris had been having a “boys night” with his brothers and their friend, and you could hear their voices shouting over video games as you walked in the door.
“hi boys!” you said entering the living room. you were received with a serises of enthusiastic grins, but none of them seemed able to budge from their game. you walked up to chris and gave him a kiss on top of his head.
“hi beautiful” he grinned at you briefly
“hi hon—ooh! can i have one?” you asked, glancing at the table full of beer cans.
“yeah of course! help yourself” chris said, returning his focus back to the game.
“oh man fuck you” said nate, throwing down his controller in defeat. you chuckled and snagged yourself a can out of the fridge. nate fussed around the coffee table, already bored.
“what’s this” he said, holding up a card game box.
“some shit we got as PR, but it’s a drinking game i think? don’t know, we can’t exactly post about it” chris said, momentarily glancing up from his video game. nate unwrapped it and flipped through the deck.
“damn these are crazy” he said, his eyes going wide.
“really?” matt said, clearly uninterested.
“yeah like, just straight up asks your body count or take a shot”
“ooooo how improper” you mocked. nate gave you the finger, kiddingly.
“read me one. i’ll be the judge of how fun the game actually is” the video game was becoming increasingly boring to watch
“okay, tough guy” nate said, skimming for a better card. his eyebrows raised, apparently landing on one
“what’s the craziest kink you have? drink half your drink if you don’t answer” you sucked in your lips, and raised your can to your mouth.
“oooooo” nick chimed in
“bet chris already knows that one” nate said, slapping chris on the shoulder. chris laughed, his tongue folding over the front of his top teeth forming a cocky expression.
“nuh uh, you couldn’t waterboard that shit out of me” you snorted. chris shot you a curious look.
“weird game, probably meant for horny high schoolers” you quickly tried to end the conversation and settled down on the couch next to chris, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and your fingers into his hair. he smiled up at you and gave you a kiss on the cheek, which resulted in him getting killed off in the game.
“aw shit” he muttered
“sorry babe” you chuckled
“YES! FUCK YEAH! I WIN!” nick yelled moments later, while matt chucked his remote half across the room.
“who’s playing me again?” nick asked, eager for another victory.
“not me man, i gotta get home and get some sleep” nate stretched.
“i can give you a ride” matt said, reaching for his car keys
“sweet. alright, bye brotha” nate said, pulling chris in for a half hug
“bye, y/n” he continued, tussling the top of your hair in a familial way.
“night, nate!” you laughed out as he and matt headed for the door.
“wanna get to bed soon? i’m pretty wiped out” you said turning to chris
“yeah sure thing. i just need to shower” he smiled up at you.
“let’s head downstairs” he patted your leg, urging you to stand up and took your hand, leading you to his room in the basement.
“night nick!” you shouted out
“uh huh” he half answered, clearly engulfed in another game. you followed chris and padded down the steps to the lower level. chris had claimed this floor his and had done a nice job with it, particularly since you helped. it was cozy and felt secluded. plus, the privacy of being two floors from where his brothers slept was an added bonus. you flopped onto chris’s bed and reached for the tv remote.
“cool if i take a shower now?” he asked, you nodded
“okay…better not be asleep when i get out” while chris was in the shower you snagged one of his old t shirts and tossed it on as a nightshirt. your eyelids were just growing heavy, when you heard his bathroom door pop open. chris walked out in plaid pj pants, shirtless, rubbing a towel against his damp hair. he looked effortlessly hot—enough to wake you back up. he gave you a smile
“i love seeing you in my clothes” you continued to stare dumbly at his body, you’d never get over the sight of him.
“you fallin asleep?”
“well now i’m up” you said dramatically giving him a once over, eyes wide.
“little freak” he mumbled, bending over you to give you a kiss.
“dick” you teased, shoving him playfully. he crashed down on the bed next to you. you moved your head to his bare chest. he wrapped an arm around your shoulders pulling you close, before speaking against the top of your hair
“hey speaking of you being a freak”
“oh?” you laughed shooting him a look.
“was nate right that i’d know your answer in that game?”
“well…” you struggled for words a moment too long, chris caught on and pulled back to look you in the eyes. his mouth ajar in a shocked smile
“WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?! cmon y/n you have to tell me”
“what?? no way! nope!” you shook your head vigorously
“what? that’s so not fair. why not?”
“cause…i dunno it’s embarrassing. nuh uh” you felt your face begin to flush.
“we’ve had sex like a million times. and you’re telling me THIS is embarrassing?!”
“okay well that stuff is different”
“what stuff”
“like…fantasy…y’know?”
“oh so you’ve had FANTASIES you’re hiding from me” nothing you were saying was deteriorating chris’s curiosity.
“well no not fantasies but like stuff i’d never ACTUALLY do”
“you’re killing me here please TELL ME”
“NO!” you dragged the word out and rolled into a ball away from him, laughing. chris clamored on top of you and rolled you onto your back, pinning your arms down on either side of your head forcing you to look at him
“tell me right now i swear to god” he said smiling down at you, his still wet hair brushing against his eyes. you hated to admit the way he was holding you down was already turning you on.
“you’re gonna think i’m weirddd” you whined
“no i WONT! i promise” he let go of one wrist and offered you his pinky. you locked yours with him and widened your eyes
“you SWEAR you won’t judge me”
“cross my heart hope to die”
“you’re an idiot”
“just TELL ME”
“OKAY OKAY” you pushed him off you and sat up, facing him.
“but just to be clear, i’m not saying we’d ever like do it. i’m totally happy never doing this it’s just like a weird thing—“
“ehhhh whatever enough spit it out” chris said cutting you off. you rolled your eyes at his childish behavior and took a deep breath in.
“okay fine. i guess i’ve always kinda had a breeding kink?” you winced at your own confession. chris raised an eyebrow
“i mean i’ve never done anything to act on it, but like the idea of it is just hot to me…i know it’s weird”
“so is it just the idea of like not pulling out?” his tone was impossible to read and you felt your palms begin a nervous sweat, what if this freaked him out?
“no-well i mean— that’s a part of it yeah—but not just that, y’know?” chris nodded, taking in what you’re saying.
“but you’re on birth control right? like nothing would actually…?” he raised his hand, in gesture to what he meant.
“oh no, i guess it’s sorta more a role play thing? it’s not that i actually’d wanna get pregnant, just more the idea of pretending like that—i—it’s weird i know—sorry—“
“i don’t think so” he cut you off, shaking his head. you froze slightly
“you don’t?” he gave you a small smirk
“no, i get” you felt your heart beat heavily against your chest. he studied your face for a moment, the silence in the room drowned out by the obvious tension, before he suddenly broke out of it.
“so, what are we watching?” he asked lightly, lying back with his an arm behind his head and facing the tv. you felt a small wave of disappointment at the sudden shift, but went with it.
“oh i dunno, nothing looks great” you sighed, lying back down onto chris’s chest. he mumbled a response into the top of your head, his free hand softly brushing up and down your arm. you picked back up the remote and continued to flip through the screen. you landed on an old comfort show and before you knew it the conversation seemed like ancient history. chris eventually moved his arm from yours to around your waist. you raised a leg over his. your eyes flitted down to his fingertips where he was playing with the hem of his shirt you were wearing. he mustve noticed because he began to pull the fabric up higher, exposing even more of your barely covered lower half. you looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.
“what?” he chuckled
“whatcha doing there christopher”
“nothing” he mused, watching his own hands fumble with the shirt, the occasional bump of his cold fingertips against your skin sending little jolts through your body
“y’just look so sexy like this” he mumbled
“oh yeah?” his hands now lightly grazing your bare hip bone, the angle of your body being the only thing keeping you from behind entirely exposed.
“mhm. gets me all worked up”
“how worked up” you said in a innocent tone, looking up at him with doe eyes before sliding the hand your had from his stomach to his crotch. his eyes screwed shut and he let out a small hiss as your palm reached his already stiff clothed length. you scoffed lightly.
“hard for me already, huh?” you began to rub your hand against him, adding some pressure. chris squirmed under your touch, a faint groan escaping him. he nodded.
“aww poor thing. want me to help you out?” you said in a sweetly, palming his dick harder. he nodded his head, again, vigorously. you removed your hand to spit on it and he watched you wide eyed. you bit your lip in a smile, loving getting to see his face contort in desperation as you moved your hand down the waistband of his pjs. you wrapped your grip around his hard cock, it twitched against your touch and he let out an unsteady breath. you kept your eyes on him as you began to pump your hand up and down his length, watching him let out small moans and grasp at the sheets nearby.
“oh—fuck—“ chris sighed out. throwing his head back, his eyes rolling back into the sockets. his obvious enjoyment only made you want to hear more. you began to leave wet open mouthed kisses on his chest and moved down, slowly. his stomach flexed against each kiss and he whined against your teasing. you reached his waistband and looked up at him. he lifted his hips, allowing you to discard the pjs. his throbbing cock, still slick with your spit, slapped against his stomach. you returned your hand to wrap around the base of it and brought your lips to leave a sloppy kiss on its flushed tip. he shuddered before you began to lower down, sinking his dick into your mouth. you bobbed your head up and down, a trail of spit leaving your mouth. chris’s groans and curses filled the room in harmony with your occasional gags against his length. you felt one of his large hands reach for the back of your head. you tried to prepare yourself for him to push you further down, fucking your throat as he often liked to, but we’re surprised when he yanked your hair back, pulling you off of him. you looked up at him in confusion. he smirked and reached for your waist to bring you closer to him
“can’t cum yet baby” he lifted you onto his lap, his lips brushing yours
“don’t wanna waste any of it” he rasped against your mouth
“wha—“ you tried to question, as he wrapped an arm around your waist and tossed you onto your back. he pinned you, wrists by your head, and leaned down
“you heard me” he said cockily, before beginning to kiss you. you almost managed to fight for more answers, but chris began to grind his exposed rock hard dick up against your pussy and your mind went blank.
“oh—god—“ you moaned dumbly, raising your hips higher to meet his motion. his cock began to run up and down against your slick bare folds, brushing your clit repeatedly.
“such a good girl—so wet for me” he breathed out, the tip of his dick just barely adding pressure against your throbbing entrance. you heaved and thrashed underneath him. he kept your arms pinned and savored watching you become even more desperate.
“chris—please—“
he leaned down, his lips brushing against yours, and slide his hands to lock into yours.
“you ready baby?” he rasped out, letting go of your hands. you nodded and moaned against him.
“good” he said with a kiss before beginning to slide himself deep into your core. you let out a whimper as the tip of his dick pressed up against your most sensitive spot. a groan tumbled from chris’s lips and his eyes rolled back at the feeling of your walls fully tightening around him.
“god you feel so good, baby” he mumbled, before pulling back out of you almost fully
“please—fuck me, chris—“ you almost cried out, your pussy aching for more.
“—i need it so bad”
“yeah? you need my dick, honey?” he said sweetly, smirking down at you. you whined again and nodded as he thrusted deep into you again.
“oh god—yes—“ your fingernails reached to latch themselves deep into the flesh of his shoulders as he began to find a steady slow rhythm in and out and in and out of your squelching wet core. Chris’s eyes scanned your face and body lying beneath him as he fucked into you. they landed on your stomach and he licked his lips at the sight.
“fuck—look—can see me inside you—“
sure enough, his hard length created a bulge against your stomach with each thrust deep into you. Chris lowered a hand to press against it. you bit your lip and sighed out, too overwhelmed with pleasure to speak. He nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck, groaning against your skin and bit your earlobe lightly.
“can’t wait to fuck a baby into you” he hoarsely whispered
“what—“ you half moan out, still too consumed with pleasure to think straight
“you heard me, sweetheart—gonna fill you up and stuff your little pussy—you’ll look so pretty all full of my cum”
your stomach twisted and your heart raced. you couldn’t help but let out an almost pornographic moan at chris’s words.
“you want me to give you a baby? huh, princess?”
“fuck yes—-please—“ you said, desperately. chris continues to slam into you, perfectly hitting where you needed him most. he gave you a passionate kiss before saying against your lips
“you gonna take every drop of my load, right?“
“yes chris—i promise—“
“such a good girl”
“don’t fucking stop—fuck—“
“Don’t worry, I’m gonna give your pussy all the cum it deserves” he started to pick up the pace of his even plunges into you and the sound of your skin slapping against his began to echo in the room.
“gonna get you all big and fat and pregnant. well make the prettiest baby in the world”
“oh god—feels so fucking good—“ you whimper
“you ready, baby? want my cum in you now?” chris groaned, breathlessly. you felt your walls tighten around him as the familiar knot in your stomach started to form.
“yes—-please—fuck chris fill me with your cum—“ his dick twitched inside you at your words
“you’re gonna make such a perfect mommy—you’re doing so good for me gorgeous—just keep taking me just like that—”
the knot in your stomach begins to reach its last moments
“Chris—fuck—I’m gonna cum—“ you cry out
“good girl—cum all over my cock, sweetheart—“ Chris huffed out, coaxing you to release. your hearing begins to buzz as you feel yourself come undone. Chris continues to fuck you through your high as his motions begin to get more sloppy, the clenching of your walls bringing him closer to cumming.
“Ohhh—oh shit baby—“ he began to whine
“mmm that’s it—cum in me, chris—put your baby in me” you sigh out, wrapping your arms around his neck as you start to regain your senses
“ohh—nggh—i’m cumming—fuck, baby—-here it comes—“ chris pants as he roughly thrusts into you, his thighs and upper arms shaking slightly.
“OHHHH—“ his brow furrows as his release takes over. he lets out a loud moan as he haults, his cock buried all the way inside you. he shoots hot, thick, strands of his cum deep inside your walls, and then collapses against your body. the two of you try to regain your breath. chris lifts himself back up to look down at you and gives you a kiss, still buried inside you. you smile against his lips.
“how was that” he breathed out
“fucking perfect” you giggled
“yeah? i think so too” he chuckled, giving you a peck before lifting himself higher off you to pull out of you. he removed himself, gently trying to be aware of your sensitivity. you whined at the loss a little. he sits back and stares between your legs where your entrances still pulsates slightly, his cum leaking out. his jaw went slack
“what?” you giggled again, feeling a little embarrassed
“i could get used to seeing that” he said, not pulling his eyes away
“chrissss” you whine, attempting to shut your legs. he stops you with his arms
“nuh uh” he says before taking two of his fingers up to collect his cum and shoving them back inside you. you let out a sharp moan at the sudden feeling. he leans back over you with a smirk
“can’t waste any” he said, giving you yet another kiss
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HEHE
hope u guys like this one
ITS GOOD TO BE BACK!!!!
💋
#chris sturniolo#chris sturniolo smut#christopher sturniolo smut#christopher sturniolo#matt sturniolo#matt sturniolo smut#matthew sturniolo smut#matthew sturniolo#chris sturniolo fanfic#nick sturniolo#nicolas sturniolo#sturniolo triplets#chris sturniolo x reader#sturniolo#sturniolo smut#chris sturniolo pictures#chris sturniolo edit#chris sturniolo fluff#christopher sturniolo x reader#chris sturniolo x you#matt nick chris#matt sturniolo x yn#matt sturniolo edit#matthew sturniolo x reader#matt sturniolo x you#matt sturniolo fluff#matt sturniolo x reader#nick sturniolo smut#nick sturniolo edit#sturniolo fanfic
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“I’m sorry Steve, I thought we were just having fun! I enjoyed you taking me out and paying for everything that’s all…” Is what Shelley said to him when Steve walked into the bar and saw her flirting with another guy.
Obviously, he smiled and shook his head, said everything was okay, ‘Just a silly misunderstanding’ and left, ever so graceful. But the second he was outside he cursed, tried not to shed a tear, failed, and then started laughing.
He probably looks like a mad man, or a drunk. But no, don’t worry people, he’s not drunk or crazy, he’s just really, really stupid. He thought Shelley really liked him, he thought they were dating. And Shelley just assumed he was just another playboy so she played him back. He’s not even mad at her. She didn't mean to hurt him. It’s not her fault Steve is just so easy to hurt.
Sighing, he gets his phone out to get an uber and hugs himself even though it’s not really that cold outside, waiting for his car, already imagining the big, greasy burger he’s going to order when he gets home. He deserves it, okay?
The car that pulls out has definitely seen better days, but it’s clean and comfortable so Steve doesn’t think twice about getting in. He offers the driver a smile through the rearview mirror, sparing a moment to notice his eyes are big and dark, and they crinkle when he smiles back at him.
Steve sits stiff and straight for a moment before realizing no one is there to judge him right now and he deflates, sighing again and letting himself collapse against the seat. Still hugging himself to feel any sort of comfort, he bumps his head against the window softly a couple of times.
“Long night?” The driver asks him in a friendly manner.
Steve meets his eyes in the rearview again and shrugs, smiling back crookedly “Thought I should go home early since I already accomplished making an ass of myself for the night”
He checks the uber app for the driver’s name, doesn’t want to be rude by not remembering. ‘Eddie’ chuckles at Steve's statement.
“You did, huh? Well good job on getting it out of the way then,”
Steve chuckles back, “Yeah, I was actually thinking I deserve a treat”
He notices Eddie looking back at him a couple of times before breathing an interested, “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Steve says, “A huge cheesy burger or something” Wondering what Eddie was thinking he’d say.
Eddie laughs again, “Oh! Right of course” and just when he’s about to say something else his phone rings.
“Oh, sorry” Eddie murmurs, immediately hanging up on whoever is calling.
“No worries,” Steve mumbles back, sitting up a little straighter again.
“So, what’s your favorite dirty burger place?” Eddie asks him.
Steve can tell he’s trying to distract him from the mood he entered the car with and he really appreciates it.
He sits forward and leans his forearms against the headrest of the passenger seat, “Oh, there’s so many, but…” from this angle, he can see Eddie’s face better, and he can’t help but think he’s got a really nice looking profile, long lashes, full lips, and the cutest nose he’s ever seen, “I think Benny’s the best one” he finishes.
Eddie pulls at a stop light and turns to look at him with a smile and he’s so much prettier than Steve first thought he involuntarily gasps. But thankfully Eddie is talking excitedly and doesn’t seem to notice.
“No way you know Benny’s?! Benny is my uncle! Well, he’s married to my uncle actually- you know what I mean but yeah, Benny’s is great!”
It’s such a weird coincidence that it managed to take Steve out of his stupor and he’s suddenly just as excited as Eddie,
“Really? Oh my god, I’m so jealous right now, I wished I could live at Benny’s sometimes”
Eddie laughs, and just when he opens his mouth to reply his phone rings again. This time he doesn’t immediately hang up and Steve sees the screen light up with the name “you deserve better”
Ouch, he thinks, and his heartstrings tug for his cute, sweet, uber driver. Who offered him friendly conversation cause he noticed he was feeling down and has the most beautiful laugh. He doesn't really know why he feels so strongly about it, he doesn't even know Eddie… but he still feels the text is right. Whoever hurt him, Eddie deserved better.
“Hey,” He says softly when Eddie hangs up cursing.
Eddie sighs again, “I’m so sorry,”
“Hey, no. It’s fine,” Steve replies, resisting the urge to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He figures, after the way his night started, he’s got nothing to lose so he says, “So much talk about Benny’s I feel like I need to go there right now.”
Eddie let’s out a distracted “Huh?” and Steve soldiers on, “Wanna change the destination and join me? You can take me home after,”
He notices Eddie doing a double take and blushing, “Really? I- Am- I- okay” he stammers but Steve can’t really figure out why.
“Yeah, you know, that way you don’t lose time on the job and have another ride?” He finishes and Eddie laughs,
“Oh, right. Yeah That- makes sense”
They keep talking about their favorite things on the menu on the way there and soon they are sitting face to face in a booth at Benny’s.
What a pair they make, Steve in a three piece suit, jacket off, vest undone and shirt rolled up to his forearms. And Eddie with sweats and a hoodie.
Eddie is even better looking in the shitty dinner light and the blush that adorns his cheeks ever since they came in makes Steve wanna kiss them to feel their warmth.
Benny himself comes to take their order, and Eddie gets up to hug him and introduces him to Steve. They already know each other, because Steve does come to the dinner often and Benny lets Eddie know that.
Eddie thinks it's hilarious that they both have been here so much and never saw each other before, but Steve can’t help to think it’s a shame.
“I actually would’ve loved to have met you sooner,” he tells Eddie at one point and watches curiously as Eddie’s blush turns a few shades darker.
As they eat, Steve tells Eddie about Shelley, about his hopes, about misreading the situation, about his shame. How he doesn’t even think he liked Shelley that much, but he just wanted to have something real. Eddie gets mad at him for blaming himself, tells him it wasn’t his fault, that he’s being too hard on himself. And it’s not a bad thing to consider but all Steve can think about is how cute Eddie looks when he’s mad on his behalf.
Eventually, Eddie tells Steve about whoever was calling him.
“I met him at my last job. I thought he was so cool but turns out he was actually just cold,” Eddie shrugs, “We dated for like 6 months or something, not that long but, I was miserable the whole time and I didn’t even realize it was because of him.”
Eddie’s hand is tearing up a paper napkin between them and Steve tentatively settles his hand over Eddie’s, who stops destroying the napkin and smiles gratefully at Steve, holding his hand back.
“The worst part is I didn’t even break up with him, he broke up with me,” Eddie chuckles self-deprecatingly, “But he still wanted to keep me around I guess… And I… didn’t want to feel lonely”
They both stay quiet for a moment after that, and Steve stares at their hands joined over the greasy dinner table and thinks about loneliness, about how he doesn't feel it right now, with Eddie.
“So, what happened?” he asks after a bit.
“I did eventually realize he was the one making me feel like shit so I stopped seeing him but he didn’t appreciate my new sense of self-respect,” Eddie says lightly and Steve instinctively squeezes his hand protectively, which makes Eddie smile again, “I’m doing just fine now though, I told him to fuck off and got a new job. And it’s actually pretty good, ya know?”
Steve can’t help but smile back at Eddie’s cute expression, “Yeah?”
“Hell yeah, my own hours? Good money? Plus I’ve always liked driving around, it calms me. And I get to meet really interesting people…” he says, winking at Steve and making him chuckle.
“Well, I’m glad then. Proud of you for getting out of there,”
“Me too,” Eddie says and looks up as Benny walks over to them.
“Sorry to interrupt boys, but we are about to close for the night,” He says, stifling a yawn.
Steve looks surprised at his watch, it’s almost 2 A.M. He can’t believe he’s been sitting here with Eddie for hours when it only felt like a few minutes.
He offers to cover the bill but Benny fights him over it and says it’s his treat. And Eddie offers to take him home no charge. So they get in Eddie’s car again only this time Steve sits next to him instead of in the back and they talk about music on their way to his place while Steve changes the radio stations. Laughing, singing and joking around, it’s such a good time. It feels like they’ve been doing this forever, like they could do this…forever. But eventually they arrive at Steve’s building and suddenly Steve doesn’t want the night to end.
He’s about to tell Eddie as much, maybe invite him inside, when his phone rings again, the ‘you deserve better’ staring at them. But Eddie immediately grabs his phone and hangs up, blocking the number after.
“There, he can’t call me again,” he says with a sigh.
“Can I see your phone for a second?” Steve ventures, making a last second decision.
Eddie looks surprised but curious as he hands it over and Steve punches his phone in.
“If you ever feel like unblocking him, or calling him back… Why don’t you try calling me instead?” he says in a rush and then walks out of the car, not lingering to see Eddie’s reaction.
There’s always the positivity that he got things wrong again, got too invested too soon again and he doesn’t want to know tonight. He’ll deal with it later, if Eddie doesn't call.
🚗📱🍔💙
It takes only two days for Steve’s phone to ring, an unknown number flashing on his screen. He picks it up feeling a little out of breath for no reason at all.
“Hello?”
“Steve?”
“Eddie, I”
“Wait- before you say anything I just want you to know that I didn’t call because I wanted to call him, or I was thinking about him. I called because I can’t stop thinking about you, I wanted to talk to you. Okay?”
“Eddie- yes! It’s more than okay, I- I was hoping you’d call”
fin 💙
☕🥐💕 coffee? oovoo javer?
#steddie#stranger things#eddie munson#steve harrington#i wrote something#i wish i could come up with more innuendos for steve to drop and eddie to misunderstand cause it was tickling me#ya know i saw that post about the driver and i was inspired. if you are out there uber driver i hope you are okay <3
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Daily vlog
CW: mpreg, sort of magic pregnancy, birth denial, car birth
"So..." Adam smiled, holding the camera over his head, to get his best angle. "Are we filming Baby #3 birth?"
Adam asked, turning to look at his wife, and at the camera again with another smile without waiting for Alissa’s reply.
His hand traveled to spank Alisa's tight, bare belly, leaving the mark of his palm over the sensitive skin and making her groan slightly. Adam nodded enthusiastically before talking to the camera again. "Of course we are! What do you think, huh? It's a tradition at this point, right, honey?"
Alisa took a deep breath, putting herself together before looking at the camera and giving her best smile. She had been up since 5 am this morning, with a crying baby hanging from her hip and a sick toddler throwing up all day long, and honestly, the last thing she wanted to do right now was to expose herself to the camera.
But Adam insisted. How could they let their followers down without a daily vlog today?
He couldn't, and he was gonna post that vlog. Of course, who wouldn't have the energy to produce, film, edit, and post a vlog when you wake up at 10 am and do exclusively nothing all day?
Alisa knew that it was their job, that the moment they signed up for the influencer life, their whole purpose (and not like she was complaining, there were moms out there that had real jobs and still had to deal with way worse than her) but she did expect some empathy from her husband.
She was about to pop, literally, this baby out. Everything was crazy, from her hormones to the altered routine in the house, but as always, Adam was blissfully unaware of the chaos that surrounded their lives right now.
“So, there you go” Adam winked at the camera, “Actually, our next blog will probably be Baby’s #3 birth, right honey?”
Yes, it was gonna be another birth vlog. This morning when she looked at herself in the mirror, Alissa realized that her stomach had dropped, tight and bloated past her hips, the taut skin stretching to its limits today seemed like it was about to burst.
So, yes, the next video on their channel Alissa was almost 100% sure it was gonna be a birth vlog.
“...maybe.”
She really wished that this time they could’ve done something a bit more… conventional. Private, away from all the cameras and views. With their last baby, Adam had the fucking camera in her face the whole process. From the moment she woke up to contractions to the moment she popped out the kid in the birthing tub. This time, she wasn’t in the mood for all that, no matter how many views it would give them.
Adam went on, ranting about something and talking about their sponsor they got earlier in the month, a really bad marketing job for a really bad product, but Alisa didn’t hear him because Ryatt was getting something she shouldn’t have inside her mouth. The blonde groaned as she clumsily tried to kneel down, reaching over her huge stomach to take the toy out of the baby’s sticky hand.
“Adam, help me here” she breathed, pointing to the baby with her hand.
Adam gave her a look, and outside of the camera frame, signaled her to wait. He talked about another one of their sponsors, said goodbye to their subscribers and their classic outro line (family always first, and y’all are family) to their subscribers, and just then walked over to help her after he turned the camera off.
“God, fuck…!” she groaned, holding onto her stomach as she struggled to stand up straight.
“Language” Adam raised an eyebrow, pointing at Ryatt with his head.
“Bullspit, I’m so darn over with this”, pointing to herself, Alisa looked down at her gravid stomach. “I’m so fucking done. I can’t wait to get this baby out of me and… And I told you I would prefer to keep his birth private, Adam”
The tone wasn’t stern or accusative, just done— deep down, Alisa knew her husband was going to do whatever he wanted anyway. Little choice she had.
“I know, I know…” Adam shrugged, his eyebrows raising and his mouth scrunching up.
He knew, of course, he did, but to be honest, he didn’t care enough. His wife was being dramatic as if she hadn’t gone over with this two times already. But he knew that he had to add something to fill the silence that followed, he always did have something to say.
“If I could, babe, I would carry our baby for you” he sighed dramatically, turning around and away from his wife. “Actually, I wish I could be pregnant instead of you right now, honey…”
His words were left hanging in the air as Adam disappeared into the hallway to the kitchen, ready to grab a beer and sit down on the couch to relax for a while before getting to edit.
Actually, I wish I could be pregnant instead of you right now.
Alisa stared at his back as he disappeared into the kitchen. His nice legs and his toned arms, his perfect back and she couldn’t see the six-pack, but it was there. Because Adam didn’t have to carry two kids, to gain weight and to lose weight, to lose his six-pack or to see his whole body change in a matter of months.
It wasn't him who had to endure the contractions, the labor, or the long hospital nights while waiting to be able to spread his legs open and push.
He didn’t wish he could be pregnant. Oh, but Alisa did.
***
Alisa made breakfast, did laundry, got through the morning with two kids under 5 and all while dealing with those awful cramps that kept interrupting her. They weren't contractions, she knew those pretty well, but they were the foreword of a long story.
Adam? He edited their latest video and went to take a nap on the couch.
Without opening his eyes, Adam let out a small groan and tilted his head to hide his face against one of the cushions. Something had interrupted his sleep, but he didn’t hear Ryatt's cries or Bobby playing loudly somewhere in the house, nor his wife complaining about something.
So he did what everyone would do, he didn’t even bother fully opening his eyes and tried to go fall back into a deep slumber.
But something was off. His head was feeling dizzy and his whole body was… acting funny. An overall feeling of being sick, something he ate, probably.
He shifted, moving his hips to turn to his side, and he frowned when he felt something in his stomach move. With a groan, the hand that rested between his thighs slid off from there to move to his abs, rubbing the soft spot trying to ease whatever was grumbling inside his tummy.
Soft, a bit harder if he pressed down. But it didn’t have to be soft, he hit the gym 6 days a week and had washboard abs, he was the envy of all the suburban dads in their neighborhood. Suddenly, his stomach fussed again, and this time it came accompanied by a cold free of air brushing against his skin, making him shiver.
Half asleep, fighting to pull a strand of consciousness and get himself up fully, Adam’s features turned into a confused grimace as his mind finished coming back to this reality. When he finally opened his blue eyes, covering his face with his hands to dismiss the headache that the sunlight from the windows gave him, he immediately knew something wasn’t right.
His free hand was still rubbing over his stomach, and it was still… It was round. Round and firm, the protuberance that rested under the palm of his hand.
“What…?” Adam mumbled, confusion slowly taking over his sleepiness and pulling him back to reality.
He was wide awake now, his body and mind alert. When he looked down at himself, the scream of horror that left his lips almost deafened him, leaving his eardrums ringing loudly and his heart hammering against his chest.
It felt cold. The cold breeze brushing against his skin because his white shirt was now all lifted over to his chest, exposing his warm skin to the air. His shirt was lifted because where it was supposed to be a flat, toned stomach, now there was a fat, round belly, nothing like what he had ever seen before.
He must have eaten something bad, something that made him bloat and just feel weird overall, but bloat like this?
In front of him, his stomach wasn't just bloated, it felt tight and hot at the touch and the skin was itchy, stretched to the limit in what seemed to be the few hours he was asleep. His abs were gone, and now a gravid mount of flesh sat there, huge and tender.
From confusion, Adam's mind raced to fear, because there was no logical or reasonable explanation to any of this. If it was something he ate, then it was something that made him terribly wrong and he probably should head to the doctor ASAP.
But, deep down, Adam knew it wasn't something he ate. Under a thinning layer of denial, he knew.
His chest wrenched with his agitated breaths, and Adam tried to lift himself up from the couch. He failed, not used to the weight that he carried now on his middle (God, he was heavier now) and the only thing he could do was to lay there for a few seconds, staring down.
At his belly.
He felt like he needed to puke when unexpectedly something inside him squirmed.
He closed his eyes tightly to avoid nausea rising up in his throat, and the deprivation of one of his senses seemed to whip up the other ones. He could feel how hot the skin that covered his now rounded stomach was, how hot his body was, how heavy he felt and how something was squirming inside him.
His left hand moved over his stomach, right under his left rib, and he swallowed. As soon as his hand pressed down against the tense flesh, another tiny hand pressed back from the inside.
"Fuck, fuck fuck..." gripping at the couch's back, a loud moan escaped from his lips as he curled his fingers around the fabric above the couch, holding onto it desperately, lifting himself up.
It was, to say at least, weird to carry himself around now. The few seconds that he ran, well, more like waddled, towards the bathroom were something. So this was what it was like?
The image in the mirror proved what Adam already knew.
I wish I could be pregnant.
He stared at his reflection, turning to the side to let his eyes travel from the top of his head to his middle, then turned to his other side and to the front again. His hand moved to rest on top of his stomach as if he needed another confirmation that it was there and it was real.
He thought about it for a moment, before he pinched the tight skin of his belly. He hoped he would wake up, there was a small part of him that still hoped this was just a bad dream and his mind was doing some crazy tricks while his real body was still asleep on the couch. But he was awake.
The waistband of his sweatpants moved down a centimeter. He looked down, his eyes wide open as he witnessed right in front of him how his stomach swelled, the skin extended and shifting as his stomach grew in size.
***
The front door opened, and Bobby rushed in, throwing his frog backpack next to the door before Alisa followed him with Ryatt clinging to her hip. Adam made his way to her as quickly as he could.
“Oh! Mommy, look!” Bobby shouted as soon as he saw him, his little finger pointing to Adam’s gravid stomach. “Daddy has Little brother now! Look!”
But Adam couldn't even stop to look at him, because he could only focus on the fact that where Alisa was supposed to have a nine-month overdue belly, there was just a flat stomach. Fuck.
They stood in front of each other, Alisa looked at him, then down at his belly, and then up at him again.
“Well, I guess wishes do come true, honey!” The tone was so cheerful that it made Adam’s blood boil.
Probably…his hormones messing with him? As if that was the least of his problems. A cramp took over him, painful enough to bring a frown to his face and make him rub the side of his belly.
“We need to go to the hospital!”
“Why the rush?”
A dark spot started to spread all over Adam’s grey sweatpants as a gush of amniotic fluid came out of him.
“My…your…my water just broke!”
“You need to change, and we need to take the kids to my mom’s house…”
“Why are you so calm?”
“Relax, honey” she sighed “I have done this two times already! It’s gonna be just fine. You have to change, go get the hospital bag, oh, and of course get the camera!”
“We are not… fuck… filming this” he breathed, gripping the table next to him when another sharp pain took over him.
“What do you mean?” Alisa frowned as she picked up Bobby's backpack again “It's a tradition at this point. Of course, we're filming. It’s going to be a hit.”
Besides the fact that all of this escaped all logic and reason, there was a tangible reality. Something that was happening right here, right now, and it was the fact that Adam was in labor. Didn't matter how much he tried to deny what was going on, to say he was still dreaming, because the pains that were shooting through his middle, contracting the muscles and making him whine felt very real and were happening, quicker and faster every minute.
He took a deep breath, moving his hand under his belly to lift it slightly, hoping to ease the pain or the pressure that was starting to build up on his hips, but it didn’t work. He wasn't sure how much time he had before it got actually serious, but he did know that after his water broke, it was little.
**
“Turn that off…” Adam titled the camera that rested on the car seat cup holder away, his free hand flying to wipe sweat from his forehead. “Oh, fuck…”
Alisa tilted the camera back to its original position. Her husband shifted on the passenger's seats, his both hands now busy rubbing the contracting bump that rested between his open thighs.
Well, at least now he knew that contractions were more painful than a kick in the balls.
“Oh, oh, ah!” He cried out, his body tightening up, and a low groan leaving him as he leaned forward pressing his palms against the dashboard and panting heavily. “Fuck, I need you to… ugh… I need you to drive faster, honey.”
“Babe, I’m going as fast as I can,” Alisa replied, looking at him through the corner of her eye. “Just breathe, okay?”
Looking outside the window, Adam tried to find a distraction. Anything, really, that made him not think about the increasing pressure that was building between his legs and about how low the baby was.
He shifted in his seat, his hips swinging back and front trying to find a spot that didn't make him feel so miserable. Placing a hand on the side of the seat and another on the grab handle, Adam leaned forward and spread his legs as another loud grunt escaped his lips, his eyes closing tight and his breath picking up again when another tight contraction hit him.
He tried breathing, in and out just as he would tell Alisa to do, but it wasn’t doing shit.
The heavy weight on his hips and pelvis was getting closer and closer to coming out. Adam didn’t want it to come out. At least not here, in the fucking car in the middle of the road.
“We’re five minutes away from the hospital” Alisa reassured, her hand patting his tense thigh. “Just breathe”
“I don’t… ughn, fuck! I don’t know if I can… oh… hold it in that much longer” Adam panted, moving to unclasp the seatbelt that now pressed uncomfortably against his stomach. “Fuck, there’s pressure. It feels like… I have to push!”
“How do you even know that you have to push?” Stopping at a red light, Alissa raised both eyebrows before tilting to face him.
“Because it’s coming out!” Adam cried, moving back on his seat to prop up both feet against the dashboard, throwing his head back as he moaned.
“Just breathe. We’re almost there”
Just breathe. We’re almost there. The words were an echo, and Adam was sure that he said those exact phrases before, before the births of their two kids, in this exact same car. But he didn’t realize how useless, how annoying having someone repeating just calm down was.
God, fuck, he wondered how Alissa didn’t just slap him those times. If anyone was going to tell him to calm the fuck down again, he was going to kill someone.
His murder instincts were quickly dismissed when he closed his eyes, his hands moving to slide under his belly and lifting it slightly, as if it could help to ease the pressure on his pelvis. With a cry, he shifted forward, now moving his hands to slide under his thighs, lifting his hips from the car seat.
It was coming. Now. And out.
He could feel his own body pushing against his wishes, and the more he tried to avoid it, the worse it was, the baby helpless making its way down his pelvis and towards his hole. It felt as if at the first bump Alisa hit on the road the baby would just pop out of him.
He didn’t notice when he pushed back in the seat, breathing heavily through his nose as he pressed himself down against the seat, trying to prevent anything from coming out.
But it was useless because his commitment lasted little when his brain was overwhelmed by the urge to just allow his body to do what it had to do. To push.
The baby’s head was right there. Adam’s hand slid between his legs, the palm of his hand pressing against his bulging hole, the head sitting behind his entrance and almost ready to start crowning. Almost out of him.
“…fuck!” he writhed, gritting his teeth as he kicked against the car floor. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
The fingers of his free hand gripped at the grab handle, knuckles turning white, and his other hand was busy pressing against his hole, trying to keep the head from coming any further. It was useless because the head was still pushing its way down, out of him on its own.
He could feel the bulge against his palm, growing ever so slowly as Alissa pressed her foot on the pedals. Adam threw his head back, closing his eyes shut and trying to focus on his breath. The same advice he always gave: breathe.
His chest rose slowly as he inhaled, then shakily exhaled through his closed lips. It should be fine, he just had to breathe —in and out and counting to five— focus on remaining calm, and he could just make it to the hospital. They were just a few minutes away, all he had to do was… push.
“Oh, fuck, it’s coming!” he screamed, kicking his feet in the air, his hips shifting forwards and to the seat edge. “Honey, Alissa, it’s right there”
Alissa tilted her head, looking away from the road for a brief moment to face her husband. She found herself contemplating an image that, deep down in her stomach, in a very hidden spot and a very small dose, made her happy: she got exactly what she wanted. Her husband going through all of the wonderful miracles of birth.
Adam panted, the tense orb his stomach had become contracting and tensing in front of him, his hands gripping at the taunt red skin, furiously trying to relieve the pain or the pressure, his body almost shaking by the urge of pushing the baby that was starting to crown. His face was red and sweaty, hands and all of his body straining and tense.
Alissa, rightfully, stopped at a red light, a bunch of cars passing in front of them.
“Don’t stop, fuck, it’s…!” Adam shouted, but then his words became a muffled groan as he gritted his teeth, pushing his chin to his chest. “I can’t hold it in, I’m pushing!”
Even against his wishes, his body was pushing. Adam found himself trying to hold the baby in, to not give in to the urge, but his body was pushing. His stomach contracted and he found himself tensing, chin to chest, and gripping at the grab handle as he pushed. He counted to three and pushed again when another cramp took over him.
“Fuck!” he shouted, feeling the head stretching him open, making its way out. Adam reached with a free hand to press his hand over his wet, birth-fluid-stained shorts, only to feel the start of a bulge in his pants.
The pressure of the head right about to crown was hell. It only made him want to push to get over it, to push more to get the head to a full crown and get rid of the uncomfortable feeling, but god fuck he didn’t want to give birth to this baby in the car.
“It’s crowning, the head’s-... nhgn, what am I supposed to do!?” it was more a whimper than a question, and Adam found himself kicking in the air, biting his lower lips until he almost drew blood. “Shit, shit, shit…! Ughn!”
“I don’t know!” Alissa stepped on the gas and accelerated. “Don’t push! Just… wait! We’re almost there, just five minutes away from the hospital.”
Adam nodded, then shook his head, both hands moving to cup the underside of his belly, trying to relieve the pressure that was weighing him down. It didn’t work, and he found himself trying to contain a moan when another contraction rippled through his body, a gush of amniotic fluid rushing from between his legs and dripping to the car floor.
His hips jerked frantically as he rocked forth and back slightly, trying to find any angle that was comfortable for him to keep this baby in, but it was terribly useless because, with every movement of his body, the baby's head seemed to come closer and closer to a full crown.
“Ughn…!” he moaned, his fingers gracelessly trying to slide under the hem of his pants in order to pull them down. The baby was coming. “Fuck, it’s coming, I’m pushing….!”
His finger’s ministrations were interrupted when he interrupted when another contraction took over him, all of his focus on pushing. He gripped the sides of his belly, leaving white marks on the red skin, as he closed his eyes and whimpered.
“Oh, oh– it’s out, the head’s out!”
It wasn’t necessary for him to say it out loud because Alissa’s attention was dangerously divided between looking at the road and staring down between her husband's legs. His pants were dark and wet, stained by amniotic fluid, and the baby’s head bulged out of them almost obscenely -–god, it was huge—, only contained from coming further by the fabric of the pants.
“Fuck— I need to push, I need to push, I’m pushing!” he moaned, throwing his head back against the car seat and jerking his hips forward, his hands desperately trying to undo his shorts. “Ughn…the…mhgm…pants! Help me!”
“I can’t, hands at 9 and 3!”
With a loud whimper, Adam finally managed to pull his shorts down enough to allow the baby’s head to pop out of him free, a gush of fluid dampening his seat as the head dangled between his legs. His body shook at the feeling of the head stretching him open on its biggest point, and then the relief when it was finally out. Alissa stared in horror as her husband held the baby’s head in hand with one hand between his legs.
Alissa reached a hand to help Adam slide his pants down more, his body contorting as he pulled forward, pushing his hips towards the free space of whatever was left in the car. Now with his pants to his ankles, his body tensed once again, and he squirmed on his seat as he focused on the next contraction that rippled through his body.
“...fuck, nhgn!” his face became red as his feet kicked the car floor, kicking and screaming as he pushed. “Nhgn!”
With his next push, the baby’s body almost came shooting out of him. He screamed in pain as he felt the body coming out of him, the shoulders being even worse than the head. But before he could realize, it was over. A second later he heard a heavy cry, and the newborn resting against his chest.
His body slumped against the seat. He looked outside the windows, seeing the well known entrance of the hospital as Alissa parked the car, parking it at the nearest spot available. Before unclasping her seatbelt, Alissa reached to grab the videocamera. Adam stared at it before he spoke.
"You filmed it, right?”
#birth kink#pregnancy#labor#birth denial#pregnancy fantasy#mpreg#fpreg#clothing birth#car birth#birt in car#trying to hold it in#stories
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Could we have some hcs of reader referring to some of the older MHA men (coughAizawacough) as "beekeeping age" and then they make her explain it? LMAO.
For those who don’t spend all their time on TikTok like I do, ‘beekeeping age’ refers to an attractive older man, usually in 40s/50s. Some of these guys technically don’t apply but we’re putting them in anyway!
Characters: Aizawa Shouta/Eraserhead, Yagi Toshinori/All Might, Maijima Higari/Power Loader, Sasaki Mirai/Sir Nighteye
Contents: The existential struggle of trying to explain a meme to people who aren't chronically online.
Aizawa Shouta/Eraserhead
Age: 31
Yes, he’s only in his thirties, but Aizawa has the vibe of a retiree. He looks like someone who should be muttering “I’m too old for this shit” at any minor inconvenience. In fact, he often does. He’s said it several times today.
Most especially when you looked over at him and told him that he looks like he’s ‘beekeeping age’. Now, as a teacher, Aizawa isn’t as out of step with popular culture as he might like you to think he is. Even if he doesn’t really bother with social media himself, he has twenty students who are all hooked to their phones like it’s a dialysis machine. He picks stuff up just by proximity, and it’s not the first time he’s heard the phrase ‘beekeeping age’. And while he might have a vague idea of what it means, he’s not just going to let you get away with calling him that.
He looks straight at you, lifts an eyebrow and asks, “What does that mean?”
Which leaves you floundering a little, because you have to explain to Aizawa that it means you think of him as an attractive ‘older’ man.
While he’s the furthest thing from vain, he finds himself a little bit offended.
“What the hell do you mean ‘older’? I’m thirty-one.”
“You have to admit, Shouta, you do give off the vibe of a grizzled older man.”
“I’m too old for this shit.”
Yagi Toshinori/All Might
Age: 55+
Toshinori’s the only one who really qualifies for this trope, and naturally, he has absolutely no idea what you’re referring to when you tell him that he’s beekeeping age. He grins uncertainly at you.
“I’m…not sure if that’s a compliment or not, but I’ve always thought that beekeeping looks like a relaxing hobby! As long as you’re not allergic!”
Of course, you take a little pity on him and explain that it means he’s a hot older guy.
“Oh, are you referring to a DILF?”
Once you’re done spraying your coffee or whatever you were drinking everywhere, you demand to know where Toshinori heard that word and if he knows what it means. Let’s be real, Toshinori doesn’t run his own social media and doesn’t know squat about memes.
“Oh, a charming young lady walked up to me at a signing once and informed me I am what the young people call a DILF. Still can’t get anyone to tell me what it means! Slang these days! Ha!”
I dare you to try and get Toshinori to refer to himself as a DILF in front of Aizawa. Just for the hell of it.
Maijima Higari/Power Loader
Age: 41
Higari can’t catch a break. Not only is he very short and look a couple decades younger than he actually is, leading to a lot of unfortunate misunderstandings, now he has some whippersnapper calling telling him to go start a beehive.
He’s probably the only one on this list that actually knows what it means. I feel like because he’s so in line with cutting edge technology that he’s pretty on top of social media as well? He doesn’t seem like the type to lose step with the rest of the world when it comes to these things. So you don’t even have to explain what you mean when you tell him he’s beekeeping age.
“Buzz off.”
Sasaki Mirai/Sir Nighteye
Age: 38
At first Sir Nighteye thinks you’re making some kind of joke. He stares you down, looking rather menacing even while his mind is turning over the phrase ‘beekeeping age’, looking for the pun or the play on words. When he can’t find it, he finally has to admit defeat and ask you gravely:
“What does that mean?”
Sir Nighteye’s a little put out when you tell him it’s about good looking older men, because he doesn’t consider himself particularly old. Pacify him by telling him that he just gives off the dignified air of a mature man. He might scoff, but he’ll be somewhat more mollified.
“I suppose I can accept that as a compliment. Although I think you ought to come up with better jokes. That one didn’t even contain a pun.”
#delaware lemme smash#bnha#bnha headcanons#bnha imagines#Aizawa Shouta#Eraserhead#All Might#Yagi Toshinori#Maijima Higari#Power Loader#Sasaki Mirai#Sir Nighteye#bnha x reader#Aizawa x Reader#All Might x reader#Power Loader x reader#Sir Nighteye x reader#Mod Rig
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His Angel and His Brat
Part 3!! Final part!!!
Part 1! Part 2!
Hard!Dom!Geto x Brat!Gojo x Sub!Afab!Reader
(I write stuff to be racially ambiguous!)
Summary: Gojo is a mega-brat to y/n and Suguru and likes to push buttons cuz he can so Suguru decides to overstimulate Gojo until he thinks he’s broken. (Key word: thinks.) To add to Gojo’s humiliation, he ensures that the reader is getting princess treatment while watching Gojo suffer endlessly. But, of course, things don’t always go as planned with Satoru Gojo. Or for y/n. Geto and Gojo have… motives.
CW and whatnots: Overstimulation, cum-eating, vibrators, dildoes, handjobs, touch of dom satoru at the end, spit, touch of humiliation and degradation, condescending!geto, usage of the word “cock”, gojo’s boundless stamina and cocky attitude, praise, cocksucking, angel ass reader that ends up in trouble cuz gojo can’t shut his mouth, geto is actually so mean to gojo but so soft cuz he’s actually a teddy bear dw. Use of “brat, princess, angel, cockslut, and slut.” There is aftercare in this part cuz imagine leaving pathetic Satoru and reader a cum drenched mess. Poor baby. :((( Also it’s very fluffy at the end :)))
Suguru wiggled the wand around, making you instinctively twitch away. He snickered at your sensitivity, pondering how he could get the most out of you. It was impressive how long he’s gone without getting off and it’s evident by looking at his cock that it’s begging to feel something. It’s reddened now, his cock typically a lighter shade of pink blending into his own skin color. The balls are heavy and begging to be touched, he’s probably doing his best to ignore the throbbing of it to focus on his lovers. How selfless of him.
Satoru, on the other hand, is slobbering all over the big, fat cock in his mouth. He’s a messy one, spitting on it and doing all the things you both like to see. Sadly, only you have looked at him this whole time. He was determined to make Suguru look at him even if that meant he had to behave for him.
Him sucking on the plastic cock was a sight to see for you, Satoru’s deepthroating skills never seemed to disappoint you, he’s become so good at it over the years of Suguru fucking his face until cumming straight down his throat. He keeps looking at you as you thrust up into the air, your hole clenching and beckoning him over. Suguru would never allow him to give you what your needy pussy is begging for as much as Satoru wants to give it.
“Please.” You whine, your first orgasm of the night rearing its head. “Suguru, I’m gonna cum.” The words rushed out from your mouth in a hushed way, as if you didn’t want to admit it.
Suguru cocked his head to the side slightly, pursing his lips. “Already?” He wiggled the wand again, making you cry out. “Poor girl, you have a rough time ahead of you.”
“I’m cumming, Suguru!” You looked back at Suguru, your mouth agape and eyes clenching shut.
Your volume increased, making a laugh huff from your dom’s nose. “Good girl. Let’s see you make a mess.”
Your orgasm was intense, your clenched fists were clawing at the pillowcase above you, your toes buried in the sheets, your breathing practically stopped, and your cunt spasmed so strongly, Suguru almost wondered if he should stop before you end up kicking him from the pleasure.
“Oh fuck! Fuck, Suguru! Oh my god—!” You sounded insane, babbling streams of cuss words all while you tried to calm down… but that wasn’t on the plans tonight. The second your body said no more, you instinctively tried to escape the pressure, but Suguru’s hand followed.
“No, no, no. Can’t have you escaping your punishment, can we?” He used his other arm to hold your leg down while sitting on the other one. “There, thought you mind need some help staying still.”
“Fuck! I don’t know if I can take it! It’s so much!” You still tried your best to move your hips around, finding any escape you could and you were grateful he didn’t stop you from doing that.
However, Satoru can’t help but feel a little jealous, if it were him trying to wriggle away, Suguru would tell him he can’t move or else he’d raise it a level. He babies you way too much! Regardless, he was getting to his limit, watching how Suguru looked at you so lovingly while looking nowhere in his direction. He’s tired of this boring plastic cock! It tastes like silicon and it doesn’t feel good hitting the back of his throat. Not to mention, there’s no pretty dark-haired sorcerer moaning about how good he’s doing. Instead all he gets to hear is—
“See, good girl, you can take it.” Watching as your eyes water and body twitches makes his own cock throb. And as much as he wants to ignore Satoru, the sounds of him whining around the cock and slobber pooling around the base of if is intense. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Satoru’s spit roll off onto the sheets, leaving a wet spot right beside him. You look so perfect, pulling at the sheets like you’re holding on for dear life, and if he turns to look at his other partner, his heart might fall out of his chest. Or he might cum just from watching Satoru fuck his own throat.
Each time you looked at Suguru, he was smiling with a twinge of sadism in his eye and each time you happened to look at his face his eyes would snap from your cunt to your face, to see how beautiful you look. And each time you looked at Satoru, his eyes would be on you, hungry and desperate for something else. He’d briefly look at Suguru, or really, his weeping cock, and hope he’d be blessed with the privilege of either fucking you or getting his face fucked instead.
You repeated Suguru’s name over and over with pleads spilling from your tongue. Please stop or please don’t stop, does it matter? Once that initial torture is over, you’re ready to cum again and you suppose that’s the fun part. But then you remember you’ll have to deal with that non-stop over sensitivity again. To cum or not to cum, beg for mercy or beg for more? You were at a crossroads, indeed.
“Ah, I can tell you’re getting close again, let’s just do three, hm? Your sensitive cunt is addictive, but I think for being such a good girl, I won’t torture you for too long.” Suguru leans down to kiss your stomach, vibrator pressed firmly against you.
You nodded weakly and watched him cock an eyebrow. “Yes sir, thank you sir.”
He nodded and hummed along, rubbing it in circles now. “At least one of you has manners.” He finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, looked at his cockslut of a brat to the left of him. “Satoru, why don’t you entertain me a little once she cums this second time?”
He pulls the toy out, ecstatic and grinning. “Oh, yes please!”
“Did I say stop?” Suguru warned him and Satoru quickly went back to fucking his own throat, knowing that Suguru showing him any mercy is a rarity. Bedroom or no bedroom.
“Suguru, I’m gonna—“ You brought their attention back to you.
“Yes, that’s right. I bet you love watching Satoru fuck his own throat, yeah?” He cooed.
“Mm-hm, yeah.”
“Does it turn you on to know he’s watching you get punished? I know it does. Admit it.”
You could barely focus on words, but you knew you had to answer. “I love it when he watches.”
“So cute, our pretty angel doesn’t seem so innocent now. You really wanted this, wanted it so bad. That’s so sweet. Go ahead and cum for me, angel.”
“I wanted it so bad! So bad! Thank you!” You came with a cry, not even able to finish your praises for him, just shaking and throwing your head back. You didn’t even care that your noggin hit the headboard, fuck anything else in that moment, all you could focus on is how your pretty pussy gushed and spilled for him.
“Ah-haha!” Suguru couldn’t help but laugh at the sound of your head hitting the board. “Is it that good, baby? Not even Satoru has done that!”
You couldn’t even protest before the pleasure became overwhelming again. This time, your wrists flew down to push him back against his own orders but he wasn’t mad, instead it only made him laugh more.
“Oh, angel, can you not take it?” He laughed. “Come on, please, I know you can. Here, let me show you some mercy. Count to 5.”
He lifted the vibrator off and you knew you had to count. “1…2…3…4…5.” And in that brief respite, all you could do was just count. It was immediately back on your clit and somehow it was even more overwhelming. “Oh my fucking—GOD!”
Satoru sighed beside Suguru. “I’ve should’ve warned her.”
Suguru looked to Satoru, their eyes meeting. “So, wanna talk her through it, for me. You’re just so much better at making people melt. As a reward, you can stroke my cock for me, yeah? Then once I cum on her pretty cunt, you’ll lick her clean?”
Satoru nodded and spat on his hand, moving it to Suguru’s needy wanton cock, then he looked at you.
You accepted your fate. With this level of pleasure combined with Satoru’s nasty mouth, you might die when you cum.
Satoru was more than eager to help you achieve heaven. “Look at that pretty cunt, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this swollen, have you? I bet if I were to just stick one finger inside, she might scream.” Oh hell, Satoru was really gonna kill you. Letting out a chuckle, he continued. “Aw, look at her whine, it’s like she can’t hold it in, never thought that she’d break down like that.”
You clamped your eyes shut, his condescending tone sending you further into pleasure but also embarrassing you, you almost wanted to hide. He would just chase you down anyways.
“Ah ah, open your eyes, I need to see them on me. Can you cry out for me? Keep begging for me? I wanna hear you say what you want, baby.” You didn’t say anything, the words caught in the back of your throat. Then Satoru suddenly grabbed one of your hands. “It’s alright, I got you baby.” He held on tightly.
“Fuck—fuck you guys!” You didn’t know if you were serious or not but that made both of them smile.
“Sorry love,” this time Suguru spoke up in-between panting and sighing, “but I think you might pass out if you fuck us.”
Satoru harrumphed in agreement. “She can barely speak, it must feel so good.” Satoru sped up stroking Suguru, knowing that you were already getting close and Suguru was too focused on you. “Our angel seems to be getting close again, much faster than earlier, you really like it when I talk to you huh? You like it when I hold your hand while Suguru tortures that clit of yours?”
“Yes-yes-yes!” You repeated, that familiar feeling coming up again. “Please don’t stop, I’m gonna cum!”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it. If I get to see you squirt all over Suguru again, it’ll give me more motivation to keep on fucking you, to keep on letting Suguru punish me too. I know our pretty angel has a mean streak, she sure does, but she’s at her best when she’s begging for more. Do you want more?”
“Yes!”
“Oh you’re cumming?” Suguru mused in a breathy, desperate voice, knowing that his own high was approaching soon after yours.
“Yeah she is! She is! Cum for us baby!” Satoru encouraged you and right when you hit your peak, he could feel your nails dig into his palm, clutching onto whatever you could with the strength you have left. “Good, that’s our angel, good girl.”
“That’s right, that’s right.” Suguru echoed. “That’s my girl.” He turned off the toy and you breathed in like you’ve never breathed before.
Satoru chuckled and looked at Suguru now, who was grunting and mumbling about cumming all over you under his breath. “Please, Suguru,” Satoru’s tone changing. “Cum for me please, I wanna taste it, cum baby, please.”
And once you calmed down, you joined him, spreading your lips wider to give him a perfect shot. “Cum all over my cunt, please I wanna feel it.”
His brain was going numb with both of your praises and begs. “Gonna cum all over your cunt and Satoru is gonna lick it up like a good little brat.” He grunted through his teeth.
“Please Suguru, I wanna lick it up, feel it on my tongue!” Satoru pleaded once more and you could see Suguru’s eyes roll back as his cock exploded.
It was messy and it was a lot. Thick ropes covered your clit, your abdomen, and rolled down between your ass cheeks. Satoru’s eyes widened like he was looking at his last meal as it spilled all over you. Suguru watched as Satoru immediately lapped at your stomach and travelled down to catch all that he could. “Thank you.” Satoru snickered, smirking as his tongue gathered his cum.
You and Suguru watched him, but you were the only one who could feel his hungry tongue, somehow pressing into your cunt like he wanted to taste all of Suguru and all of you. When he finished lapping up what was left on you, he licked Suguru’s pretty cock clean, licking each drop like he’s starved. “Thank you for the meal.” You heard Satoru say, his tongue finally disconnecting.
You spoke up. “I wanna taste.” Satoru leaned back and kissed you, swapping your tastes back and forth, relishing in how you worked to match his energy despite your exhaustion.
Suguru watched his pretty babies kiss and smile into each others mouths. Once you both noticed him staring, it was instantaneous the way you both went to kiss him.
“Hey!” Satoru pushed your face back down and you bit at his finger. “Don’t bite me!”
“One at a time.” Suguru said gently. “Since you’re so needy, I’ll get Satoru first.” You didn’t actually mind it, knowing he endured the most torture today. Their kiss was passionate but gentle and when it came to be your turn, Suguru leaned down to connect with your mouth. You caught his face in your hands and shared a breathy, open-mouthed kiss and then finished with giving him a peck on the nose.
“I’m exhausted.” Satoru plopped down beside you and rolled onto his stomach with his face in the pillow.
“Me too.” You giggled, copying him.
You could practically hear Suguru roll his eyes. “Such children.” He picked up all the toys from the today, the dildo, vibes, and Satoru’s cuffs from earlier and rose from the bed. “I’ll be back.”
Satoru moaned obnoxiously. “Abandoning us, I see.”
“Imagine not immediately taking your perfect, amazing, and gorgeous subs to the bathtub and lighting like 5 candles with rose petals.” You ran your hand up Satoru’s back and he turned his head to face you, still on his stomach.
“Honestly, what kind of person doesn’t worship their subs, so weird.” Satoru joked again.
From the bathroom, Suguru shot back. “You’re a switch, Satoru.”
He pouted and whined. “But not tonight!!!!!”
Suguru reemerged from the bathroom with a wet towel and started to wipe in-between your legs, gentle enough to not stimulate you again. You rubbed your head into Satoru’s shoulder, smiling. Suguru gave Satoru the same treatment. Suguru also had another clean towel on hand to wipe your heads, paying extra attention to your sweaty ass forehead. Satoru was the first to get up, sitting on the edge of the bed and stretching. You got up and went to the bathroom to piss, looking at yourself in the mirror and splashing your face with cool water. Meanwhile you could hear Suguru strip the bed of “sex sheets” and bringing out fresh ones. Satoru also walked into the bathroom, poking you with a water bottle on your cheek.
“Yes, yes, I’ll drink.” You snatched it from the grinning man and gulped practically the whole thing down. Satoru drank the rest of what you left and kissed your cheek.
“How are you feeling?” Suguru was now as the door to the bathroom.
“Naptime. I feel like nap time.” Satoru answered first.
You nodded and turned on the shower. “Shower time.”
Suguru looked content, placing a brief peck on Satoru’s cheek. “Were you okay with everything? Is there any feedback?”
You shook your head. “You didn’t go too far or anything. You were still so sweet the whole time. I really liked how you made sure me and ‘Toru both were entertained.” Checking the temperature of the water, you waited to hear anything else.
Satoru looked over to you. “Sorry if what I did was too unexpected, I just know you’re kinda scared to admit what you want sometimes. It’s pretty common with chicks.”
“No, it’s alright. It was actually really fun.” You admitted, mirroring Suguru’s kiss on his cheek. “If I wasn’t okay with it I would’ve said something.”
Suguru stretched and popped his neck. “Next time, we should talk more about what we’re doing.”
Satoru whined. “Predictability can be boring though!!!! But I guess it’ll help avoid bad things.”
“Satoru.” You both say, but you let Suguru finish talking. “We can still be spontaneous, that’s been basically our entire relationship.”
“I know.” He whined again and stepped into the shower. “I’ll be the spontaneity!”
After the three of you shower and wind down, you end up snuggled between both men, just talking the night away. You really couldn’t ask for more from them. Satoru made jokes the entire night, mostly cheesy, but all funny. Suguru started to get overly curious about what all you’re afraid to admit and you realized you’d rather be interrogated by Gojo, because at least whatever you say it’s nowhere near as freaky as Satoru’s brain.
“Hey.” Satoru poked your cheek.
“What?”
“Stop assaulting our angel.”
“Shaddup, I have an important announcement.” He rolls over and whispers in your ear. “I love you.”
Suguru puts his hand to his ear. “What was that?”
You follow suit. “Yeah, say it again.”
“I hate you both.” Satoru rolls over, now a red mess.
“Love you too.” Suguru says first, reaching his head across you to kiss Satoru one more time.
“I love you both.” You say, pulling the covers up and then attaching yourself to Satoru like a koala bear.
Satoru huffs and grabs your arm that wrapped around him. “If you didn’t we’d have a problem.” You nuzzled into the back of his neck and soon after, Suguru’s body weight shifted so that he had a hold on you. In one big triple spoon, you closed your eyes and just before you finally got to sleep. Satoru repeated himself. “I really do love you guys.”
#gojo x reader#gojo satoru#jjk x reader#satoru gojo x reader#gojo smut#jjk#jjk smut#satoru gojo#cockygojocockygojocockygojocockygojo#jjk gojo#jjk geto#geto suguru smut#geto smut#geto x reader#geto suguru#getou suguru x reader
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"Espionage" - Kaz Brekker x Reader
SUMMARY: Lord de Witt is throwing an exclusive banquet for socialites - just the perfect opportunity for Kaz to put his hands on whatever the aristocrat has in his safe. Fortunately, being an ambassador's daughter, you can easily smuggle him in but the two of you must pretend you're engaged to avoid suspicion.
WORDCOUNT: ~ 3.7k
>>Grishaverse-inspired playlist<<
If Jesper didn’t know Kaz, he’d think he was having a laugh.
“When you said you know someone, I was expecting everything but the daughter of an ambassador.” Then, in a slightly anxious manner, he turns to look at you apologetically. “No offence.”
There is something quite amusing in his uneasiness as though Jesper is expecting to be decapitated for as much as giving you a sour grimace. You’re probably the closest thing to nobility he’s ever been around.
“Worry not, sir,” you reassure him with a polite smile on your face, “I will try my best not to spoil your criminal quality.”
His eyebrows furrow and he leans towards Inej. “Did… did she just call me ‘sir’?” he asks quietly.
“Don’t get used to it,” she answers half-heartedly, busy pondering something else.
“How do you even know each other?” Jesper points between you and Kaz but the moment his index finger is directed towards you, he quickly puts his hand down. “I doubt you’ve been to the Barrel before.”
To any passerby, the sight of you and the Crows standing next to each other must look like a skit. With your expensive, light-coloured dress and back about as straight as a broomstick, you really do stand out like a sore thumb. Are those lowlifes bothering a proper lady or is she perhaps noble enough to offer them a few coins?
“That’s quite right. When my father was fraudulently accused of conspiring against the crown, mister Brekker,” out of pure habit you vaguely gesture towards him, “had been so kind as to solve this perplexing hoax. It is only fair that I agree to help him when he asks.”
Kaz checks his watch. Then, his expression suddenly becomes stern, focused, and you know exactly what it means.
“We should go,” he states. His eyes have a strange glint of both coldness and concealed worry to them. “There’s no backing out now.”
Your polite smile doesn’t falter. “I wasn’t considering such a thing.”
The dearth path around the lawn in front of the manor is blocked with countless carriages - horses of one freight have their nostrils pushed against the rolling stock of another cart. It seems as though Lord de Witt has invited half of the continent to his exclusive banquet. Half of them, one might assume, came out of courtesy or simply because of the other guests sure to attend.
Mixing into the crowd of rich men and aristocracy, choking on the powder and perfume, you tell Kaz the basics of banquets like this:
“Let me do the talking. You’re accompanying me, which among socialites makes you akin to a show horse. Of course, someone might ask you a question but it will be pure courtesy. They don’t actually care, because they don’t know you. Answer shortly and politely.”
“Will it not raise suspicion that the ambassador’s daughter is engaged to a no-one?”
“Not if he’s a First Army veteran, wounded on the front lines by a Fjerdan savage,” you say in a theatrical manner. His perpetual frown elicits a chuckle from you. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m sure you can sell it. Besides, if you seem grim enough, which shouldn’t be a problem honestly, the guests won’t dare ask any more questions.”
The porter nods knowingly in your direction. Despite his old age, he’s quick to recognize the little lady you once were. You offer him the invitation but he waves his hand in dismissal. His fingers tremble slightly, making you wonder in all of your melancholy whether he’d still be able to do all those small magic tricks he used to entertain you with.
Following the mob of guests, you end up in a spacious ballroom. Crystal chandeliers reflect candlelight, causing ethereal rainbows to dance across the frescoes painted on the ceiling. Some of the artwork presented landscapes, other battles and even Saints - all of them equally breathtaking. The hall is filled with a plethora of scents: vertigo-inducing perfume, imported fruits, freshly-cut flowers, braised meats. To Kaz, this is the smell of wealth but to you, the ballroom only smells of home.
Appearance-wise, Kaz falls a bit behind compared to the three-piece suits and cylinders but the difference is not stark enough for people to give him contemptuous glances. In all honesty, this will help you sell the yarn you’re spinning. After all, what veteran has enough money to buy a whole suit for just one evening?
“Come on, we should say our greetings to the host,” you say quietly while gently nudging his arm.
As though you are something of a Grisha yourself, the middle-aged man in question suddenly appears in front of you. His face has gained a few deep wrinkles since the last time you saw him but still, his prominent laughter lines are the first thing people notice about him. Considering what kind of person Lord de Witt is, it’s a reliable first impression - a rare occurrence among thieves and noblemen alike.
The man’s face beams with happiness when he recognizes you, his eyes nearly disappearing in a genuine smile. “Ah, принцесса!” he exclaims, opening his arms. “You’re more beautiful every time I see you.” Holding your hand, he meaningfully leans down but never presses a polite kiss against your skin. Instead, he curtly nods while maintaining eye contact, uneasy at the thought of such a gesture.
“I thank you for the kind words, Lord de Witt,” you answer. “It is a pleasure to be your guest.”
He furrows his eyebrows and dismissively waves his hand. “Nonsense, you’re not just an ordinary guest. Tell me, how’s your father? Is our ambassador in good health?”
“The weather is terrible on his knees, I’m afraid. Only laudanum and nettle curb his pain enough to let him work. If I may inquire as to where Lady de Witt is? I haven’t seen her among the guests.”
Lord’s face grows brighter once again but this time there’s a sense of longing in his tired, grey eyes. “My dear Betty left for Novyi Zem just a few days ago. Ever since Lady de Serre expressed interest in her antique collection, she’s been eager to go back.”
Kaz, so far unnoticed by the aristocrat, glances between you and the man. You’re exchanging mere greetings and courtesies, yet he’s learned quite a few interesting things in just those few sentences. Nobility, as it seems, will say everything and anything as long as they think they’re talking to an equal.
His inquisitive thoughts must have pushed some Saint’s hand because Lord de Witt suddenly turns his attention to him, although continues talking to you. “The dapper young man is your husband, I presume?”
“Not yet, unfortunately,” you say with a bashful giggle - very ladylike, even if forced. “Igor Dreesen,” you introduce him. Kaz shakes the Lord’s hand without ever giving away that he’s never heard that name before. “He has fought in the First Army, on the front lines.”
“You have my eternal gratitude, gentleman.” Lord de Witt has an iron grip on Kaz’s hand, holding it significantly longer than Brekker is comfortable with. “May we all have your bravery and loyalty. Please, enjoy the evening.”
Kaz waits for the Lord to be out of earshot before turning to you. “He seems to know you well.” Maybe you’re reading too much into it or maybe there is a hint of suspicion in his tone.
“When I was younger, I used to come here every week. Valeriya de Witt, Lord’s eldest daughter, taught me embroidery. I know this manor like my own home.”
“Then you surely know where the safe is.”
“It could be in his bedroom or in his office.”
Kaz cocks his head. “So you don’t actually know.”
“I’ve met quite a few noblemen and state officials, Kaz. The older the money, the less we’re careful. De Witt’s office is next door,” you motion your head to the side.
Strolling through the ballroom towards the office door, weaving your way between gold-threaded gowns and made-to-order suits, you can’t help but wonder about the master thief by your side or rather what the world looks like through his eyes. You can recall so many gossip exchanges where a group of complete strangers would discuss their wealth and business, believing that their secrets are safe among socialites similarly to unaffiliated thugs discussing their commissions over a pint of watered-down beer. In a thief’s world, you’re something of an encyclopedia on fast enrichment. Maybe telling a secret or two could be treacherous of you but in the grand scheme of things, you think it’s not nearly enough to cover your debt.
You lean towards Kaz, speaking in a low voice. “See that lady with a scandalously huge hat? That’s lady Maria de Bouvier, harbors so much contempt towards her stepmother, she’d probably be elevated if some of the jewelry was to disappear.”
Brekker spares you a questioning glance but doesn’t say anything.
“Or that retired soldier by the pillar? Next to the girl dressed in all-white?” you ask him. His keen eye quickly finds the dark green jacket with an obnoxious amount of medals attached. “Captain Geoffrey van der Greiss, earned most of his fortune from smuggling. Open any crate with fish at the Eastern harbors and the sides of the box will be filled with cash. Yours to take if you can bear the smell.”
Kaz suddenly steps in your way, stopping you. His usual frown appears more like a scowl now. “Why are you telling me all of this?” he spits out. “You’re so eager to point me towards easy wealth. It’s not just about returning a favor, is it?”
You look away for a moment - you should have expected that if someone was to notice your motive, it would be Kaz Brekker himself. His face is still contorted into an expression of contempt or anger when your stare returns to him.
“Have you ever, even for a single second, considered what would have happened to me had my father been found guilty?” you ask in a hushed tone.
“I can’t say I have.”
“I often do. He would have been locked up in Hellgate or simply killed. The family fortune would dwindle rather quickly as my mother and I would live off of it. Then one day the money would run out, we’d have to sell our house and live modestly if not on the streets. No one would employ us because of the scandal and soon we’d find our place in a brothel. All of that did not happen because of you, Kaz.” His expression visibly softens, even if he’s doing his best not to show it. “I owe you my life.”
“I don’t want it.”
Without waiting for you to continue, he resumes walking towards the office door. Although off-limits to the guests, the manor staff is simply too busy to pay attention to anything else other than restocking drinks and food. On the other hand, the guards employed by Lord de Witt are so convinced drunk aristocracy doesn’t need nannies that they’re playing cards in some dark, isolated corner and drawing lots when someone has to go swipe some alcohol and lamb from the kitchen. Perhaps they are paid to complete much different tasks but if someone is familiar with de Witt’s banquets, they wouldn’t be exactly surprised - a scandal is yet to happen inside his manor.
You meet Kaz’s gaze but immediately regret it. There’s something both chilling with determination and burning hot with focus, making you feel rather flustered at the intensity of it all.
“Make sure no one comes in here,” he says quickly before swiftly crossing the remaining meters and sliding inside the room. For a man with a limp, he’s exceptionally agile.
Minutes go by while Kaz is absent and you begin to worry. What if someone caught him? Or if he got injured somehow? He may be something of an atelier of theft but he’s still a man, after all.
Debating whether to go after Kaz or trust his expertise, you don’t notice a young man approaching you:
“Excuse me, my lady, but you are the ambassador’s daughter, are you not?”
Torn out of your spiraling thoughts, you look up at him with wide eyes. He has a kind face with strong features. His tanned skin is in contrast with his creme-coloured suit, creating a quite enticing sight. Warm, brown eyes study you with interest.
“I am, master…” you make a meaningful pause.
The man immediately picks up on your cue. “Tolkov Ilya Romanovich. My father is the legat of Ketterdam’s Merchants’ Guild.” Contrary to Lord de Witt, Ilya doesn’t hesitate to plant a kiss on the back of your hand.
“Oh, I have heard about you. Horse racing enthusiast, is it not?”
He gives you a flustered chuckle. “My vices precede me, I see. As does your beauty, if I may say so.”
You feel your cheeks warm up. There’s something about Western men’s charm that really gnaws at a lady’s heart. “That’s very kind, master Tolkov.”
“Lord de Witt spoke of you with exceptional fondness. I thought it only appropriate to witness your marvel myself.”
At the same time, Kaz is slipping back through the office door into the ballroom. Judging by the lack of interest he attracts, none of the guests even noticed his disappearance. He is making his way back to you, when he catches the sight of a rather dignified man politely kissing your hand. Although you don’t look swept off your feet, there’s nothing akin to discomfort on your face either. Kaz feels sudden uneasiness in his chest like he’s watching something he shouldn’t be, while being unable to place his gaze elsewhere. He doesn’t even know his face has turned into a grimace of distaste.
“You’re finally back, my love!” you dramatically exclaim when Kaz reaches you and the stranger. His expression is rid of anything pleasant but you decide to play along for now. “Master Tolkov, this is my fiance, Igor Dreesen. Darling, this is the son of the legat of the Merchants’ Guild, Ilya Romanovich.”
Legat of the Merchants’ Guild? Finally someone worth knowing of.
Kaz shakes Ilya’s hand but that marks the extent of his politeness. “I do not take kindly to anyone descending on my lady,” he says in a stern voice.
“But of course, sir.” Tolkov nods curtly. Annoyed or not, he’s proficient at keeping his face blandly kind. “My sincere apologies.”
Ilya gently bows his head towards you before leaving the two of you alone. Your gaze follows him until the man disappears among coiffures and cylinders. Then, you look at Kaz with hardly hidden amusement:
“You play your part better than I was expecting.”
Kaz, however, completely ignores your comment. “The safe isn't here. It must be in the bedroom. Where is it?”
“Upper floor. There’s the grand staircase in the vestibule but we can take the kitchen stairs, there won't be many people in that part of the mansion.”
The presence of ground floor guards is revealed only by loud laughter from behind the door leading to the staff rooms. All of the guests could just leave at once and none of them would notice. Still, you’re exceptionally careful when sneaking between the tables that are bending under the weight of food - even a small misstep, nudging one of the silver platters, could cause a cacophony loud enough that someone might hear it, even if not the guards in question.
You’re leaning against the wall when walking up the spiral stairs. Cocking your head to the side, you’re trying to look into the hall on the first floor but there’s not much you can actually see. As it appears, theft takes a lot more faith than you had previously thought.
The upper floor guards are out of sight but you don’t let yourself give in to the sudden feel of relief - this is only the first step into this little big scheme. There’s still a safe to find and an exit to make.
There’s a long, red carpet covering most of the floor. Although it muffles Kaz’s cane, it also makes the steps of the guards hardly audible. If you do see one, you’ll have to rely on quick thinking and a certain level of stupidity accredited to aristocracy.
Left turn. Pair of doors. Two right turns. Another left and another right. And then - footsteps.
“Someone’s coming,” Kaz whispers. His keen eyes are scanning the long corridor to find anything remotely close to a hiding spot. Decorative cabinets could well work but only if the unwanted passerby doesn’t walk past them.
The idea, a true testimony of quick thinking and aristocratic carelessness, hits you like a bolt out of the blue:
“Push me against the wall,” you order him.
His head snaps towards you, eyes wider than you’ve ever seen. “What?” he stutters out.
“No one likes clingy couples.”
There isn’t any time to discuss and ponder as the footsteps grow louder. Visibly displeased, he puts his arm against the wall next to your head. At first you’re wondering just how enraged your father would be had he heard about this but then you smell Brekker’s cologne and suddenly one nervousness is changed for another, a more bashful one.
The footsteps, as one might expect, belong to a lonely guard patrolling the manor. His face is grim even before he notices the misplaced lovers. When his eyes do glance at you and Kaz, the soldier’s cheeks visibly raise and the frown quickly becomes more of an expression of disgust. Passing by the two of you, he grunts in distaste or irritation and continues walking farther down the corridor.
Kaz, to your surprising displeasure, wastes no time in putting more space between the two of you when the guard is out of sight. No words are exchanged like a collective agreement to pretend this little embarrassment had never taken place. But, it can’t really hurt him if he doesn’t know you’re thinking about it, can it?
With a confident push, you open the ivory-coloured door, their golden decorations glistening in dim lighting.
Lord de Witt’s bedroom is strangely dark compared to the rest of the house. At first glance, there is nothing that stands out as a possible hiding spot for a safe: a bed that could easily fit five people, a vanity with boxes of jewelry and cosmetics, a small desk with private correspondence, a cold fireplace, a folding screen. The artisan taxidermy hanging on the walls only adds a touch of grim macabre.
But a master thief is not so easily dissuaded. You watch Kaz in a slight confusion and interest as he walks through the room, gently knocking against solid wood or carefully. brushing his hand along some surfaces. More than once he tapped different parts of the floor with his cane, only to let out a short sigh as if the strange rite gave him some kind of information but not necessarily the one he was hoping for.
Then, as though he had known all along or played a secret magic trick, he pulls the base of a taxidermied boar’s head. The decoration, for a lack of better word, moves on hinges, revealing a strongbox - one of those that will survive explosives as the manufacturer promises. The safe has a dial and a handle, rendering any kind of traditional lockpicking useless. But Kaz Brekker, as you’re about to witness, is not much of a traditional thief either:
He puts his ear against the iron box, turning the dial a few times in one direction and the other. Then, he lays his other hand on the safe’s door, his whole body leaning against it. Kaz begins slowly turning the dial in one direction. A silence falls between the two of you.
You can’t be sure whether the tension you’re feeling is because of the hallway perplexity or because he’s so determined to open this strongbox but either way, you’re completely uncomfortable with that. “To be honest, I used to be intimidated by you,” you throw at him in hopes of some kind of conversation, no matter how pointless.
“What changed?” he asks in an absent voice. His hand stops turning the dial only to start rotating it in the opposite direction - whatever he’s doing, it seems to be working.
“You have turned out to make a rather lovely spouse.”
A loud click resounds in the room and Kaz immediately pushes down on the handle, opening the strongbox. He reaches inside, pulls out some documents and quickly reads through them. Some he puts back, others he stuffs between his waistcoat and shirt.
“Such nimble fingers you have. I know a market for that,” you joke partially expecting the thief to say something sultry enough to get you to be quiet for the rest of the night.
He spares you a glance and goes back to rummaging through the contents of the safe. In an unexpected act of goodwill, he takes only some of the cash. “Are you trying to flirt with me?”
“Even a lady of my sort has her weaknesses.”
You wait for his answer but Kaz doesn’t as much as look over his shoulder at you as though he hasn’t even heard your words. Although awkwardly, you patiently wait for him to be finished with whatever selective theft he’s committing. That tense silence again.
After a longer while, he closes the safe and locks it again. When he turns around to face you, something glistens between his fingers - a string of pinkish pearls. They flow along the shape of his hand as he offers you the necklace.
A quiet sigh escapes your lips. “I don’t want a payback, Kaz,” you shake your head to accentuate the refusal. “You have helped my family tremendously, this,” you make a vague gesture with your hand, “is the least I could do for you.”
“This isn’t payment,” he states.
Your eyebrows furrow. “Whatever do you mean?”
His intense gaze bores into you for a minute or two before he slowly answers. “It’s a bastard’s inclination.”
With a flustered ‘oh’, you take the string of pearls from him, feeling blood rushing to your cheeks. Still feeling his passionate gaze gliding along your face, you’re a little too abashed to meet his eye. Who would have thought - a thief with a heart!
#kaz brekker#kaz brekker x reader#kaz brekker x you#kaz brekker fanfiction#kaz brekker fanfic#kaz brekker imagine#shadow and bone x reader#shadow and bone x you#shadow and bone imagine#shadow and bone fanfiction#shadow and bone fanfic#sab#soc#six of crows imagine#shadow and bone#six of crows#six of crows fanfiction#six of crows x reader#six of crows x you#six of crows fanfic#Spotify
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BRO OMG I LOVE YOUR MAKEUP SEX WITH TOKIO HOTEL BUT CAN YOU PRETTY PLEASE WRITE THEM (SEPARATE) WITH A READER WHO IS RLLY FUCKING STUBBORN
TOKIO HOTEL W A STUBBORN S/O
no pacific pronouns can be seen as any gender
THANK FOR THIS REQUEST POOKIEEE IDK IF YOU WANTED SMUT OR FLUFF SO I DID SMUT. IF U WANT FLUFF PLS REQUEST AGAIN WHEN REQUESTS ARE OPEN😊
2008 and up
BILL
I heard bill loves people are kinda challenging in the relationship, so he would definitely chuckle at your stubbornness.
He probably wouldn’t admit it but he definitely got turned on at least once by your stubbornness 😭.
Now if he had a bad day and you had something to complain about to him, trust you will be dealt with😭.
“Bill you said you would be home earlier than this. It’s almost fucking 3 are you out of your mind?!”
“Schatz I had a bad day today so I went to drink. I’m still in a bad mood please don’t argue with me right now.”
Of course you are stubborn you would keep pushing his buttons while following him upstairs, trying to prove your point.
“Bill are you serious right now?! You always fucking—“ Your words would be stopped by him pining you to the bed.
“I already fucking told you I had a bad day but no, you wanted to be a fucking brat and push my buttons like you always do.”
This man would pound tf out of you, he would bend you over and push your head into the pillow. You couldn’t even talk any when you would try he would tease you.
“What was that? Hm? I can’t hear you, speak up if you want something.”
Begging him to slow down? Nuh uh aint finna happen.
“Huh? You want me to slow down? Mm, you remember how you were acting like a little brat earlier? Mm, I think I shouldn’t even be fucking you right now, I should leave you to beg me to fuck you.”
TOM
Tom is kinda stubborn himself, he would literally be stubborn back 😭.
He would literally ignore you yelling at him and walk upstairs, pretending to not care and you would follow him while yelling.
“Tom don’t you fucking walk away from me, you do this every time we have a argument! You act like you can’t fucking listen for once, you always walk anyway!”
He’d literally snap at you💔.
“I walk away because your stubborn ass wanna do too much, I get tired and stressed too Y/N! Your not the only one.”
“Me stubborn? I’m being fucking stubborn for bringing up problems YOU caused? Are you fucking kidding me right now?!”
You guys would definitely be huge brats to each other. Stubborn and stubborn arguing isn’t the best, since you both get pretty loud when arguing.
“I’m done arguing with you meine liebe. Now please, leave me alone while I cool down.” He would try to reason out but you being you, you couldn’t let him walk away so easily.
You push at him until he pinned you on the bed, grabbing your chin with two fingers. You would be taken aback but secretly enjoy the lust in his eyes.
“Your such a brat you know? Always yapping about some shit. You should really learn to know your place.”
He would FUCK the stubbornness out of you, face down ass up. He would be a bit rough, pounding into you nonstop. You would beg him to slow down, but would he listen? Nope.
“T-Tom!! Slow down..!” You managed to let out but he ignored you and only increased his pace. You wiggled around making Tom grab your waist.
“No, this is what you get for being such a fucking stubborn person!” He slapped your ass while thrusting into you ruthlessly.
He would pretend to not hear you and purposely push deeper to make it seem like he didn’t hear you whining and begging for him to slow down.
GEORG
Now..
Georg will put you in your place‼️.
He will definitely be a little stubborn back but definitely would also let you have your way. And if you’d be super stubborn about something he will glare at you and you’d shut up.
Georg can handle your stubbornness, but if he’s in a bad mood expect to not get what you want‼️.
Let’s say one day georg came from a afterparty a little drunk, and Georg told you earlier he would come straight home and not go to the afterparty, so your stubbornness kicked in.
“Georg, I thought you said we weren’t gonna go to the afterparty?”
He would look at you a little zoned out but he would answer you. “I’m sorry love, the band wouldn’t listen to me when I said I was gonna go.” You would definitely get a bit heated, but you tried not to just lash out on him because he was tipsy.
“Then why didn’t you tell someone and leave when you got there? Georg it’s literally 4 in the morning. I was fucking worried! And you are out getting drunk like I’m not here??”
“Schatz, I got a little carried away okay? Right now it’s not the time to argue. It’s 4 and everyone in the neighborhood is probably asleep. Let’s talk in the morning.” Georg tried to reason but you weren’t having it.
You kept pushing his buttons but maintaining your voice so you would yell too loud for everyone to hear, while georg got some water to sober up.
Georg got tired of it and put his cup down angrily, his hands showing veins for how hard he was gripping the cup and pinned you onto the couch.
“You know, I always let to have your way, but you like to get carried away. Such a brat, I should punish you for how you’ve been acting towards me.”
He would go SO slow, he would make you beg for him to speed up. He would go slower if you tried to touch yourself or move your hips. He would grip your waist and tell you not to move.
“Such a brat, trying to please yourself? I shouldn’t even be fucking you, I should make you beg for me to pound the fuck out of you.”
He would tease you, and you’d finally give in🤭..he would definitely tease you about giving into him.
“Oh? What’s this? What happened to my bratty Y/N? I wouldn’t expect you to listen to me so easily. Shows how much of a slut you are.”
GUSTAV
Gustav is so sweet omg😭 he’ll give into your stubbornness, and you’d sometimes feel bad because he would always do whatever you say.
I have a feeling like he’s literally angry and rude to people when he’s tired especially after a long day with rehearsals so he would always go shower and sleep.
But one day you just didn’t want to put up with it and you lashed out on him. He didn’t expect it at all.
“Gustav? We need to talk.” You called out to him, sounding it a bit serious in which made him kinda nervous.
“Yes schatz?”
“I feel like we are drifting apart somehow. Like, it’s like you come home and shower, eat, and sleep. We barely talk.”
“I’m sorry love. I’m really tired, can we talk about this later?”
You were so angry. Like he js straight up ignored you trying to communicate with him after weeks.
“Gustav what the fuck? Are you seriously just gonna ignore me after fucking trying to COMMUNICATE with you??”
You’d yell at him while he walked to the room, not caring if the neighbors heard. He’d ignore you but you said something that just pissed him the fuck off.
“The fuck did you just say?” He’s turn around and you’d stop in your tracks. “You fucking heard me. Loud and clear.”
He’d grab you and throw you on the bed but not too hard.
To me Gustav is the type of guy to take out his anger on you in bed😉.
“Oh yeah? Let’s see if you can say that with my fucking cock inside of you, pounding you.”
Gustav is a soft dom, but he can be rough when he wants to🤭. He’d grab your hair while you take him from behind, whispering into your ear.
“You wanted this so bad huh? Look at your little hole taking my cock. It’s begging for more.”
He’d thrust into you faster every time you ask him to slow down, he’d slap your ass while you shake and cum on his cock.
Gustav would definitely go slow, making you beg and whine for more even when he was deep inside.
You’d cry out for him but he would ignore the fuck out of you.
“Gustav please! Go faster!”
“Hmm..nah…I wanna tease you more, see how long you’ll last hm? You think you can last for me? Hm?”
“Fuck, I know I said I was tired but you turned on something inside of me that I can’t turn off, liebe.”
pic credit tokiosaturn0 dm to remove if owner only!
taglist: @bored0writer @saumspam
pls lmk if u wanna be on my tag list 🤗 AND SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO DO!! 💔 requests closed rn because I’m finishing up some!
#tokio hotel#bill kaulitz#tom kaulitz#georg listing#gustav schäfer#tom kaulitz smut#bill kaulitz x reader#tom kaulitz x reader#georg listing x reader#gustav schafer x reader#bill kaulitz smut#georg listing smut#gustav schäfer smut
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Every once in a while I think about Adrinette and am just overcome with love again.
It would have been SOOOOO easy to make it cliche and simple. Marinette is a shy little fashion designer. Adrien is a model for her fashion idol/favorite brand. It would have been so simple to say “he represents everything she wants in the world and her dream future so of course she daydreams about being In His World and having him as a beautiful model boyfriend.” And it still would have been so fun and cute!!!!
But INSTEAD!!!! Instead this show said.
Marinette took One look at this boy and went. “Good LORD not another pretty person. There was a time I had an open heart but now I am THIRTEEN and know how the world is. BEGONE. Begone you horrid little demon. I will not stand for your evil little games. I am a Mature Woman so i KNOW that you and your stupid little pretty-boy facade and your extravagant wealth are just tools that you use to get what you want and you don’t think your actions have consequences but GUESS WHAT. I’m a human being. Now SCRAM.”
And then he Did. And then later that day he came crawling back to her like “hi. hi hi hi. Sorry for bothering you I just??? Don’t know what I did wrong??? And like i’m not… you’re allowed to be mad it’s fine I probably messed up!!! I’m not making excuses!!! I just???? Can you please tell me so I can fix it??? Please I’ve never had friends before and you seem sooooo cool and I really really want you to like me and I’ll do literally anything,.. here take my umbrella it’s fine i’ll just get soggy… i just want you to be okay. Please like me”
and it worked so well she was like “Okay. Change of plans. I’m not gonna kill him I decided he might be redeemable” and then she went home and IMMEDIATELY started planning their wedding and just forgot the step of Telling Him She Didn’t Hate Him Anymore and also the step of Proposing and went straight to planning their fiftieth anniversary family reuinion party with all their grandkids.
And THEN!!!!! There’s this whole arc when they finally DO date???? Like????? She’s part of the reason he quits modelling. She’s like “the fashion world is HORRIBLE to you” and yet it doesn’t make her give up she’s like. “I could do better though.”
Like. Instead of giving us “marinette likes adrien because he gives her an Opening into her dream future” (which would STILL be so good and girl power and all of it) this show gives us “marinette likes adrien and he shows her the flaws in the fashion world and she gives him a way OUT. AND he gives her the motivation to go against every barrier and fix an entire industry so that The Horrors don’t happen again and so she can make the world as pretty and perfect as it is in her middle school daydreams.” She likes him bc he shows her that there is good even in the darkest places and that you CAN choose to be kind and that the world is fixable and that she has the power to make her dreams come true and that her dreams are important. and I’m just. I’m so feral about this show how does it keep DOING this
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Invisible Smoke - Five
Summary: There is something going on with Jake’s favorite mechanic. And everything comes to an end.
Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin/F!Reader (No Y/N)
Word Count: 26.5k (from the bottom of my heart…my bad)
ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS ALLOWED
A/N: This is the final chapter! Thank you for all the love on this little story of mine, I truly appreciate it.
Warnings: Naval and medical inaccuracies, stalking, bodily injury, hospitals, blood, unprotected sex, female-receiving oral, my love of happy endings, pregnancy and children, and overuse of italics.
Jake hated hospitals.
He hated the scent of bleach and the crinkle of the overwashed sheets on the tiny beds. He hated how everything was said in gentle murmurs while machines beeped and hummed in every nook and corner. But he would sit in this stupid, uncomfortable plastic chair for a week straight if it meant that he would be told how you were doing.
Everything since your house had been a blur of blood and flashing lights. He nearly fought the paramedic that shoved him out of the way to get to you, adrenaline keeping him focused on you. There had been blood everywhere. He still had some dried beneath his fingernails. The cops that had shown up had, for a moment, believed Jake had been the one to hurt you until your neighbor had yelled about a man running through his yard, covered in blood.
But they lost him.
The cops lost Luke somewhere in the next neighborhood over and you were taken away in the back of an ambulance before Jake could even get the chance to climb in beside you. They then spent another hour and a half getting Jake’s statement and taking pictures of his bloody clothes before telling him not to leave town. It was a fucking mess. Three more cops, who looked like they were more interested in getting a blonde nurse’s number than protecting you, were stationed around the hallway of the emergency room waiting area.
It had been hours since they had rushed you into surgery. No one would tell him anything about you because he wasn’t listed as your emergency contact. The nurse behind the desk did seem to take a modicum of pity on Jake–with a grim look on her face that had Jake’s stomach sinking–and told him to be patient and that the emergency contact had been left a voicemail and she hoped that they would be arriving soon.
What kind of emergency contact doesn’t pick up the phone?
Jake scrubbed a hand over his eyes, stinging and tired. But he couldn’t leave. Wouldn’t leave. Not until he knew you were okay. The one thing he did to help pass the time was telling the group chat which hospital you’d been taken to—but he kept his phone on silent when almost everyone asked what had happened. They’d probably be able to connect the dots if they were on the way to your house. There was blood smeared out onto the front stoop and into the driveway. It would paint quite a picture. The only person he actually replied to was Rooster, who had texted him outside the group.
It was him, wasn’t it?
All Jake could think to type in return was, Of course it fucking was.
He jumped when someone fell into the seat beside him and it took a stretched moment for Jake to realize that it was Maverick. He hadn’t even seen the other man walk in.
“How’re you holding up?” He asked.
“I, uh, I guess I’m fine.” That was a blatant lie but neither man commented on it. “Why are you here?”
“Rooster is calling her brother and sister, and the Kazanskys, keeping them updated. He’ll be here soon but he wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Cotton was stuffed between Jake’s ears as he stared at the older pilot, mind buzzing. “Rooster is her emergency contact, isn’t he?”
Mav nodded but had his eyes trained on the cop currently flirting with the nurse at the desk.
“What does he know? Does he-”
“He was only told that she was in surgery. As soon as he’s done with her family, he’s coming here, too.” Maverick’s voice was calm and even, the tone Jake knew he used when talking to his students.
Jake wasn’t sure if he should feel insulted or comforted. So he settled on neither. “He doesn’t know anything? Seriously?”
“They couldn’t give him an update every minute. They’re concentrating on keeping her alive.”
Jake smashed his tongue between his teeth so he didn’t say something that would get him brought up in front of Cyclone or Warlock. “Fine,” he said through clenched teeth.
The doors to the waiting room opened again and Rooster jogged in, eyes wide as they swept the lobby before they landed on the two pilots. He was then yanking Jake up and out of his seat and wrapped him in a tight hug that smelt of more bleach and sweat. And Jake froze for a moment and his arms hung limply at his sides before returning the embrace. “She’s gotta be okay, right?” His voice was strained like he was trying to speak while pulling Gs.
Jake only nodded. You had to be okay. Selfishly, he didn’t want to just have a taste of what it was like to have you only for you to be ripped away from him, bleeding out under his hands. He had felt your heartbeat slow and your body go slack. He had seen your eyes roll back, unseeing. The last thing he’d heard from the paramedics when they were shoving you into the back of the ambulance was, “she’s crashing! She’s crashing!”
But Jake still had to hope. He didn’t know what else he could do.
Rooster stepped back after a moment before Maverick suggested checking in at the nurse station to see if he could get an update. He was quick to do so and Jake watched the nurse turn to her computer, heart in his throat. Her eyes darted to Jake for a moment before she whispered something to Rooster. The other man’s hand clenched into a fist on top of the desk before relaxing again as he nodded and turned away.
Before Jake could even open his mouth, Rooster said, “they don’t know how long she’s going to be in surgery. But they’ll tell us as soon as she’s out.”
“That’s it?” Jake bit out. “That’s all they could tell you?”
“Seresin-”
Jake stepped away for a moment, shoving a hand through his hair. Screaming in the middle of the waiting room wouldn’t help. You would still be on a table in a room he couldn’t get in and he’d probably get thrown out of the hospital. That wouldn’t help you.
He just wanted to see you again. Wanted to know you were going to be okay.
“Listen,” Rooster started, “I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. I had to call Georgie and Danny and Georgie was afraid she’d gone into early labor as I was telling her. Then I had to call Sarah just as Bob and Phoenix showed up to clean up Punch’s house. We didn’t want her to come back to a mess after all this is settled.”
If she gets out was left unsaid. Truthfully, Jake wasn’t even sure you would want to go back to your house after all of that. Hedidn’t want you to go back, but that was a different argument.
Maverick stood, slapping his hands on his thighs as he did. “I’m grabbing coffee. I’ll bring you back a cup.” He didn’t let either of the other men argue before he was setting off down the hall where he’d surely come back with three cups of brown sludge.
Rooster sank back into a plastic chair and Jake slowly followed his lead.
The cops hadn’t even turned their heads when Jake had yelled. There was no way he was leaving until he knew you were safe. “Is Georgie okay?” Jake finally asked after a stretched silence.
The barest hint of a smile pushed at Bradshaw’s mouth before quickly fading. “Yeah. She’s okay. Baby is, too, and has a few more weeks before her due date. I had to convince her not to get on a plane and come down here.” He sighed. “Danny said he’d come down only if Punch asked him herself. He knows how she gets about people wanting to take care of her.”
Jake almost laughed. Yeah, he knew that, too.
“But I think he called the chief of police here and is threatening legal action for their shoddy work already.”
“Her entire family operates on a different frequency, huh?”
Bradshaw’s eyes cut to him for a moment. “I think they’re gonna like you.”
That made Jake smile. Just for a split second. Just until he remembered that you still had to pull through in order for him to meet them. He didn’t want to meet them at your funeral. “You think so?”
“Yeah.” It was soft. Softer than anything he’d ever heard come from Rooster’s mouth. It twisted behind Jake’s ribs. “You just gotta, you know, actually get your head out of your ass and ask her to dinner or something.”
Jake huffed, another trace of a smile on his face. He could refute that claim, tell him that you had promised to go get steak and that Jake saw a future with you that he would tear the world apart to see. But he didn’t. That was your secret for now. “What did you tell everyone?”
The man sighed. “The truth: Punch was nearly killed by a crazy ex-boyfriend with a vendetta.”
It was an oversimplified version of the truth, but it was a kindness, Jake supposed, to keep the gory details unspoken. You would tell the Daggers if you wanted. A small bit of shame bit at the back of his mind when he realized how intent he had been about learning your secrets. Did you resent him for it? He hoped not, but he would closely guard your secrets anyway. If he was given the chance, he’d keep all your secrets.
Rooster shook his head, letting his head fall against the wall with a dull thunk. “Georgie knows most of what happened with Luke but apparently Punch made her promise not to tell Danny that the money she gave their parents to pay off his medical bills came from Luke’s father paying her to keep her mouth shut.”
Jake screwed his eyes shut with that revelation. You were always taking care of someone else.
Maverick came back with three cups of coffee that did actually taste like tar but Jake choked it down anyway. Just as he threw his cup into the trash can, a door down the hallway opened. A woman in dark scrubs stepped out. Jake watched her step to the nurse’s station and say something before the nurse pointed at their small group.
All of them stood as she approached and Jake’s blood roared in his ears as she asked which one of them was Bradshaw. He stepped forward and Jake felt a small glimmer of hope start to spark in his chest when she smiled. “She’s a fighter. She coded twice but she came right back each time. Her lung did collapse but the second stab wound missed anything vital. If she makes it through the night, I would consider it an ‘all clear.’ She’s going to need to take it easy for a few weeks after she gets discharged here, but I am almost certain that she’ll make a full recovery.”
The rock that had settled over Jake’s heart disappeared.
You were going to be okay.
You were going to be okay.
He was going to take you to get steak. He was going to take you on that promised date. He was going to make you smile again, make you laugh. You were going to be okay.
“Can we go see her?” Maverick asked.
The doctor nodded. “She’s sedated and we’ve moved her to a private room, but I’m a firm believer in surrounding yourself with people who love you helps with the healing process. Visiting hours are over, so you’ll need to keep it down but I’ll bring you to her.”
The square hospital hallways seemed to stretch on forever and the elevator actually did stall between floors but soon Jake was pushing into your room, ignoring the pair of uniformed cops on either side of your door. There were machines everywhere and an IV drip, too.
He must have paused in the doorway because Rooster clapped him on the shoulder before scooting by him to stand at your side.
“She’d want you to be here.”
Jake looked to see Maverick standing at his side, more than a little uneasy with the glint in the older man’s eye.
“I’m not blind, Seresin. If I hadn’t known before, the way you acted tonight made it glaringly obvious.”
Shit. This could be bad. Maverick could report the ‘relationship’ to the brass and you both could be reprimanded if not worse. “Mav-”
“But I can turn a blind eye when necessary. She means a lot to you, to Rooster. The entire squadron is either cleaning up her house or waiting for word on how she’s doing. This thing, whatever it is, makes you both happy. I’m not going to stand in the way of it.”
The smallest bit of tension slid off Jake’s shoulders with that. Maverick was known for breaking the rules when he thought he was doing the right thing. If he was grouping Jake and Punch into that, he wouldn’t fight him on it. So, he offered the other man a nod, thinking it was better to keep his mouth shut anyway.
“I’ve been told she’ll have a guard at her door for the entirety of her stay here. I’ll have an orderly take down the names of anyone you’re allowing to visit.”
Rooster nodded and Jake imagined he was probably making a list of all the Daggers’ names, the Kazanskys, and a few of the other ADs to have written down.
You looked so fragile. So breakable. Of course, Jake was well aware how finite life could be. He was a fighter pilot–he knew the chances of dying could always be slim to none when it came to real dogfights or combat. But there was something different about you. You weren’t supposed to be in this hospital bed and he wasn’t supposed to be waiting for you to wake up. Not like this, anyway. He had once thought about how it would be to wake up beside you in his bed, with blankets and sheets that smelled like you and your perfume. Not of bleach and metal. You were supposed to be full of life and giving him shit, all with a smile. Not this. Not confined to a hospital bed and unconscious.
Slowly, he followed Maverick into the too-small room and took the chair on your bed’s left side while Rooster and Mav were on your right. The chair at least had a bit of padding and his spine didn’t feel like it was trying to rip itself out of alignment. But he saw how still you were. Your chest was barely rising and falling with each breath. He couldn’t hear your breaths over the beeping machines. There were thick bandages covering both of your palms, held together with sticky medical tape. A fresh wave of anger stormed at the back of Jake’s mind for a moment. He hadn’t even realized your hands had been hurt when he had rushed into your home. There had been too much blood all over you; he had only seen the two stab wounds, pumping blood out of holes in your ruined shirt. What else had Luke done to you? It was a small solace to see that most of the blood had been washed away. There were still splotches of dried blood around your fingers and beneath your chin, staining around the crux of your elbow in a ring, just clean enough for all the machines to patch in, and even more beneath your nails. Just like Jake. You had fought so hard.
“I wanted to get steak with you.”
The simple sentence you had labored to say had echoed in the back of Jake’s mind since the paramedics had ripped you away from him. Had you been scared? Were you trying to say goodbye with those words but wanting to soften the blow?
He wanted to reach out and just feel the warmth of your hand in his again, just to give himself some peace that you really were alive. That you made it out. But the furthest he reached was right beside your unmoving hand. Just out of reach. What if he hurt you? What if he was the reason everything went wrong now? He couldn’t do that to you.
“I’ve called Cyclone,” Maverick said, breaking the tense unquiet. “He has notified the MPs and said we could formally request Naval security and he would personally make sure it gets approved.”
Jake looked to Rooster to see him already looking at him. “I’d prefer that.” The cops haven’t exactly proven themselves to be reliable; the fact that Luke had managed to evade the cops while covered in your blood didn’t exactly give them any credibility in their ability to keep you safe. Jake needed you safe. Knowing someone like Cyclone was willing to throw his weight around to make sure you were as safe as possible was a calming thought, as calm as anything could be in this situation.
“Me too,” Rooster agreed.
The three men were quiet as another doctor came in a few minutes later to look you over and read your chart. His eyes did seem to flit from Bradshaw and Mav to Jake and he wasn’t subtle when he checked the time on his watch. But there was no way they were leaving. He did seem to get the hint–or the cops outside may have helped–because he didn’t say anything about them being in there well past visiting hours and said that you may wake up in a few hours. He then left the room without a look back. It wasn’t a great deal of information, but maybe they’d get more out of the day shift.
After Rooster yawned for the third time, Maverick suggested they all go home for the last few hours before dawn. “I don’t think we’ll be much help here anyway.”
“I’m gonna stay with her,” Jake said immediately. He wasn’t going to leave you now. What if you woke up and you were all alone? Someone needed to be with you until you woke up. And Jake wanted it to be him. It needed to be him.
Rooster nodded, as if expecting that, as he stood and wiped at his tired eyes. “I’ll bring you food when I swing by tomorrow.”
It was a simple enough sentence. But Jake knew what it was. Approval. They trusted him to take care of you. Sure, they trusted him in the skies and enough to help in the infrequent bar fight at the Hard Deck. But this was different. This was you.
Rooster squeezed his shoulder on the way out the door and Maverick nodded at him in goodbye before saying, “you have my number if you need anything. You call, I’ll answer.”
Jake wordlessly nodded and told them to get home safe before turning back to you. You hadn’t moved. God, he wished you would have, selfishly. He just needed to know you were going to be okay. Again, he wanted to reach out and just touch you. His hand inched across the bed and fell short again. His one comfort was feeling the warmth of you start to soak through the bedding and into the starchy sheet beneath Jake’s palm.
But he still couldn’t touch you. Not yet.
Hours ticked by and Jake tried to not yell when he heard the repeated squawks from the cops’ radios outside your door, continuously saying that they hadn’t found Luke. It was like he had vanished. Then, when he tried to watch the tiny television screwed into the wall on the other side of the room, it was tuned into a local news station that was, of course, broadcasting their story about a “violent domestic disturbance” with your house in the background lit up in blue and red lights. “Police say that the suspect is still at large.” He quickly turned the television back off with a grimace and a matching curse. There was no way to make the chair more comfortable and Jake settled for leaning forward to settle his arms across the bed near your legs and drop his head onto his hands. This could work, right? And he hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but a few minutes later, he was snoring.
Jake woke to the sound of poorly hidden whispers scratching at his ears and a crick in his neck. His eyes slowly opened, squinting against the brightness of the room to see Bob and Phoenix bickering not-so-quietly near the door. Both had large bouquets of flowers in their arms, along with a small bag from a diner down the street, and were dressed in their khaki uniforms; they must have stopped by before heading to base. A quick glance at his watch let Jake know that it was still fairly early, probably not even close to proper visiting hours.
“You owe me ten bucks,” Phoenix said. “I knew he wouldn’t leave her.”
“I refuse to acknowledge a bet right now.” But Bob still pulled out his wallet and handed over a crisp bill to his pilot. “Ridiculous.”
“I am clinging to the fact that she’s alive enough for him to fall asleep at her bedside, all right? I need a little joy.”
“And ten dollars, apparently.”
“I’m awake, you know,” Jake groused as he sat straight. Both his neck and back popped noisily and Bob grimaced at the noise but Jake hardly cared as he turned to look at you, hoping that your beautiful eyes would be open and you could smile at him again.
But you were still unmoved on the flat pillow. Nothing had changed.
As if on autopilot, Jake reached out to grab your hand but stopped short, curling his fingers into his palm before his hand fell back into his lap.
“I’m surprised you slept at all,” Bob said as he took the flowers from Phoenix and filled a vase–that he apparently brought with him–with water and dropped both bouquets into it before setting it near the window.
“It was an accident,” Jake said, turning his head left, then right, eliciting another pair of pops. He probably should get up and splash some water on his face at least. Maybe he could ask Rooster or Javy to swing by his house and grab him a change of clothes. He scrubbed the sleep from his eyes as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw a text from Maverick telling him that he had been cleared to take the day off. He hadn’t even thought about that. All of his thoughts had been consumed by you. Phoenix handed him the diner bag and said it was from Rooster but he caught the knowing look in her eye. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered right now. He didn’t care about hiding how he felt about you now. To be fair, she had probably suspected something at brunch.
Bob hummed and took the chair Rooster had used last night before scooting closer to the side of the bed. He carefully took one of your hands in his, mindful of your bandaging and the wires and tubes connecting you to the machines, and kissed your fingers. “Hi, Punch,” he whispered.
Jake looked away, feeling a bit like he was intruding. He knew how much this must be hurting Bob, too. To know that the man that he had saved you from once, had tried to kill you again.
Bob had no problem touching you. So, why couldn’t Jake? He just needed to reach out and touch you. Just slip his fingers beneath yours and give himself that small bit of peace. He continued to war with himself when Phoenix leaned over just enough to kiss your forehead. “I have so much to tell you and I have so many questions, but you have to get better first, all right?” She whispered. “First you need to get better.”
Jake stood and gave them a moment, moving into the small ensuite to freshen up as much as he could and scrubbed a bit more blood from under his nails. When he glanced at himself in the mirror, he nearly grimaced. His hair was a mess. He had dark circles beneath his eyes, and his shirt–not the one that was covered in your blood, that one had been handed over to the cops–grabbed from his gym bag in the backseat of his truck, was rumpled and smelt of hospital. He texted Javy and asked for him to bring a change of clothes and his toiletries go-bag if he had the chance after work. It felt like his entire universe had shifted on its axis ever since Phoenix’s text had come through. How many different ways could he tell himself that he nearly lost you? Still, he pushed out of the bathroom to see Phoenix flipping through the charts usually clipped to the end of your bed, and Bob slowly pulling away from you as he stood.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to be going through those, Phoenix.”
But she waved him off, eyes flicking over the papers. “My sister is a neurosurgeon, you know. I helped her study all the time. I can read a chart just fine.” The other pilot looked over your charts in silence before dragging her gaze to him. “Rooster said you were the one who found her before the paramedics arrived.”
It wasn’t a question but Jake still nodded with his stomach curling into knots.
She snapped the chart shut and clipped back onto the edge of your bed. “You helped save her life. Keeping pressure on her wounds likely kept her from bleeding out before they could sew her back up. Your hands helped her then, they won’t hurt her now.”
Bob stepped to his pilot’s side with a sigh, halting anything Jake could have said. “We should probably get back to base.” He then clapped Jake on the shoulder with a small smile. “Let us know if you need anything. Either of you.”
Phoenix essentially did the same and turned toward the door. Just before she disappeared into the hall, she turned back to Jake and set her mouth in a firm line. “You are two of the most stubborn people I’ve met. But don’t be stubborn with this. Okay?” And then she turned and left, leaving Jake alone with you again.
Damn.
They won’t hurt her now.
He had to believe her. He had to. Slowly, Jake sat back down and reached out. His hand hovered over yours for a moment before gently falling over yours, mindful of your bandages. You were warm, so warm. Alive. Tears stung at Jake’s eyes as he curled his fingers around yours. He had nearly lost you. He could still see your scared eyes looking up at him. He could still see the blood on your teeth. He could still see it all. Jake raised your joined hands to his mouth and he brushed a kiss to your fingers. “I’m right here, Punch. All right? I just need you to wake up for me. Show me those beautiful eyes, darlin’.”
But you didn’t open your eyes. You didn’t move. And Jake had to continue to hope that you would soon.
A nurse came in a few moments later and looked you over, carefully poking and prodding before injecting something into one of your IVs. The twitching of your fingers grew slower and slower until it stopped.
“What did you give her?” Jake asked.
The nurse threw him a look over her shoulder before scribbling something in the chart. “Just something for the pain. She’s going to be uncomfortable when she wakes up. That should just take the edge off for now, until we can figure out how she’ll respond to other pain medication.”
Before Jake could even think to ask if they knew when you could wake up, a familiar face was bursting through the doorway and nearly leveling the nurse who was trying to leave. Sarah Kazansky was a flurry of movement as she came in, looking like she’d sprinted out of her house at first light to arrive at the hospital.
“Oh, my sweet girl.” Sarah’s voice shook as she took the chair at your side and set both her hands over yours. “What has he done to you?” The woman sniffled and moved to press the back of her hand to your forehead, the standard mom move to check a kid’s temperature, before setting her hand on your cheek. Sarah was quiet for a moment before she slowly turned to look at Jake with tears in her eyes. “Bradley said you found her.”
Apparently Bradley had told everyone more information than he had let on. “Yes, ma’am.”
She nodded. “I’m glad it was you.” It was a strange thing to say, but Jake didn’t voice that opinion. Sarah knuckled at the corners of her watery eyes. “You know, I always wanted another child—it wouldn’t happen, but then she came barreling into our lives and she just fit, like she’d always meant to be mine. Always meant to be the third kid for me and Tom. She knew exactly how to help me when I needed it, knew what Tom needed without him needing to ask for it. Lord knows he’d never ask for anything.” She huffed, a wet laugh. “She might not have come out of me, but she is mine. She’s my girl. And she looked at you like you hung the moon, you know.” She smiled at him then. “I’ve never seen her look at anyone like that. And then you looked at her like she had done the same.”
Jake didn’t particularly know what he was supposed to do with that observation, but he found himself smiling. Maybe he hadn’t been as good at hiding it as he had once hoped. And you had let your guard down enough in the home of the family you loved to be open enough to show how you felt. “Sometimes, I think she did.”
Sarah’s smile widened a fraction but still didn’t quite reach her eyes. “She deserves that. She’ll make you work for it though.”
“She’s already put me through my paces, I promise,” Jake said with a small smile of his own. “But she’s worth it.”
The older woman looked at him then, quiet and calculating, and Jake once again found himself fighting the urge to stand a little straighter in the presence of a Kazansky woman. She must have found something in his face because she gave a shallow nod before turning back to you. Her thumb swept over your knuckles. “Thank you for saving my girl.”
Both of them were quiet for a stretched moment, not needing to say anything else to each other. Sarah did stand when yet another doctor walked in and grabbed at your chart. “What can you tell me about her prognosis?”
The doctor, a man who looked like he’d been waiting for this exact question, nodded with a small smile as he folded his hands over the chart. “The fact that she needed little more than observation overnight is only good news. From what I understand from the surgeon, she is resilient. Once she wakes up, which should be shortly, she may be in a great deal of pain. It will only be temporary and I can assume that she will make a full recovery if she has the support she will need.”
“She’ll have it,” Jake said. You would have him no matter what you needed.
**
Coming back to yourself felt like swimming through tar, slow and strenuous. Even opening your eyes was a herculean effort and you immediately hated how bright the room was. It felt as if you’d tried to inhale an over-bleached towel and you tried to swallow any spit to help with the dryness but only ended up coughing. That was when your body decided to remind you that you had been stabbed twice. The pain stretched across your body like a whip of heat lashed out from your stomach. You bit back another cough and grimaced as it only made your throat ache. You looked to the side to see if there was a glass of water or something you could sip on and the room tilted for a moment.
“Fuck.” You hurriedly shut your eyes to keep your stomach from lurching. A section of the bed falling near your knees had you slowly opening one eye.
It was Jake.
Your Ken.
And he was sticking a bendy straw into a small cup of water before holding it near your mouth after pushing the button on the side of the bed to get you into a slightly elevated position, sitting instead of fully on your back. “Small sips, okay, Punch? Don’t overdo it.”
The water almost had you wincing as it filled your overly dry mouth but you still took a few more sips, breathing easier when your throat didn’t feel like sandpaper anymore. As you took a final sip, straw falling from your lips, you were still looking at Jake, feeling a little less like a human bobble head, but still a little strange.
He only stepped away from you for a moment to call for a nurse before returning to your side again. He didn’t say much, but his eyes were roving all over you, making you think he was trying to find something you were hiding. In your hazed mind, you wondered what you could possibly be hiding. Did you take his car keys?
The small bit of confusion continued as a nurse swept into the room and started to ask you a few questions you blearily answered and then had to sit still while a doctor looked you over, too, pressing lightly at your side and checking the weird tube and patch jutting out under your arm. By the time they finished and you were nodding along when they said they would be back to check on you again later in the day, you felt a little more settled in your skin.
Jake, who had stood near the window the entire time and hadn’t moved aside from nodding when the doctor or nurse told or asked him something, moved to stand at your side again. “How’re you feeling? What do you need?”
“Are you okay?” you asked in return.
Jake’s smile was shaky and you could tell he was tired–you couldn’t miss the rumpled shirt and matching hair, nor the dark circles beneath his eyes. But he was still beautiful. “I think I’m supposed to be asking you that, Punch.”
“I feel like I’ve been stabbed twice and then put in one of those spinners at the state fair.”
“Well, you look great, all things considered.” His fingers brushed your cheek and you leaned into it as best you could.
“You’re such a liar. I know I look like shit.”
“You’re beautiful, same as always. Just a little banged up.” And he said it so sincerely that you almost had tears in your eyes.
You hated that it took being stabbed twice for you to give yourself permission to really try to be happy again. Jake could make you happy, wanted to make you happy, would make you happy. You knew that even with the residual effects of the anesthesia and everything else falling on your shoulders.
You just had to let him.
“Do you still want to get that steak dinner with me?” You asked, hating how small your voice sounded.
Jake smiled—fucking smiled—and moved to smooth a hand over your forehead before brushing a kiss to your temple. “Let’s get you cleared for solid foods first, okay?”
“Is that a yes?”
“It’s a hell yes. But let’s make sure you can move without tearing a stitch.”
You smiled, ignoring how you felt one of your lips start to crack. “I’ll even let you pick me up.”
Jake’s sea glass eyes sparkled in the shitty fluorescent lights. He’d always been so pretty. “And you’ll let me pay? What about bringing you flowers, can that be negotiated?”
Just for a moment, you paused as thoughts raced through your mind. This was different. He wasn’t Luke and you weren’t scared of him. “Only if I get to take you out to ice cream afterward.”
“Oh, you’re already thinking you’ll make it to dessert?” He teased with a smirk you could feel pressing into your skin as he brushed another kiss against your forehead. “Presumptuous.”
“I have it on good authority that you may like me, even when I look like death.” You hoped your smile was convincing as he stepped back, warm hand still holding the side of your throat.
His thumb smoothed a gentle path across your pulse as his green eyes locked with yours. “You look like you beat death back with a stick.” He paused and you knew he was trying to choose his words carefully. “It’s a good look, you know. But I’d appreciate it if I never have to see you like this again.” His words held none of his usual bravado or confidence and your heart dropped when you noticed just how sad he looked. And not just sad. Scared.
You blindly reached up to grasp at his hand, curling your fingers over his thumb in an attempt to prove to him that you were okay–you could deal with the slight ache in your hands later. You just needed him to be okay, too. “It was a baseball bat, but I can promise you I have zero intention of trying to do it again.”
“Good.” He pulled in a slow breath and you felt him twist his hand in our grip so he could pull your joined hands up and he pressed a kiss to your fingers before holding your hand gently between both of his on the edge of your bed. It was like he couldn’t stop touching you and you reveled in it. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
The simple sentence had your entire chest flooding with warmth. Feelings you had tried to ignore were pushing at the tip of your tongue but you couldn’t form the words. Not yet. Not even with Bradley’s words ringing like a bell at the back of your mind. “I’ll try to make sure you never have to find out.”
The look in Jake’s eyes had the warmth in your chest growing hotter. It was too knowing, too wanting, too…
His mouth opened and then shut again and Jake shook his head. He hooked a foot around the leg of the chair behind him and lowered himself into it as he kept a hold of your hand. “I have to tell you something.”
“What is it?” You asked, feeling your face scrunch in confusion.
Jake licked at his lips and took a deep breath in. “They still haven’t found him.”
“What?” The single word cracked on your tongue as familiar claws of dread started to close around your heart. “What do you mean?”
“The cops lost him somewhere behind your neighbor’s house but-”
“No, no, no, no. Don’t tell me that.” One of the machines at your side started to beep and flash. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. “Jake. Don’t tell me that. They-they have to ca-catch him! How-”
Jake moved to smooth his hands up your arms until he was gently grasping the back of your neck and he pushed his forehead against yours. “They’re out there, right now, looking for him. They’re not going to stop until they catch him. And he is not evergoing to touch you again. I won’t let that happen.”
“J-Jake.” His name broke in your throat and you hated that the tears you knew were forming in your eyes only brought you more pain and embarrassment. This had to be a nightmare. Had to be. There was no way you nearly died and Luke was still out there. “He…he…”
“Luke is not going to touch you ever again. I swear it.”
Tears blurred your vision despite the strength shading Jake’s words. “You don’t know that.”
“I do because I’m going to make sure he never touches you again. I don’t care if I have to put him in the ground, he’s not putting his hands on you again.”
The machines were still whirring, sounding your distress out into the room and letting it echo like a wraith in the sterile air. But Jake did not pull away, did not tell you that you needed to calm down or negate anything that you were feeling, but he held you through it until your breathing evened out again and you slumped further into your flat pillow but did not pull away from Jake. “I can’t do it again,” you whispered.
“You won’t have to.”
You blinked away the tears in your eyes and pushed Jake back just enough to look at him. The fear you saw in his face was gone now, replaced by a steely determination you only usually saw before climbing up into the cockpit of his jet. He was going to do anything for you–the thought was equal parts horrifying and comforting. “I don’t want you to get hurt for me either.”
“We are going to be fine. Both of us. And we’re going to go get that steak.” He reached up with his other hand to carefully cup your cheek and you remembered that he held you like this when he’d kissed you in your living room. It all seemed like ages ago now. And you wanted his words to be true, to know that you'd both be okay when this was finally finished. But something whispered at the back of your mind that you and Jake weren’t safe. Not yet. Not when Luke was still out there.
A knock at the door had you separating and looking to see a grim looking MP walking into the room. “There’s a detective here to speak with you,” he said, looking at you. “I can send him away if you’re not available.”
Jake looked at you, waiting for your answer. “Let him in. I should probably get this over with.”
The MP nodded and stepped out again before escorting a man in an ill-fitting suit into your room. “I’m Detective White, I just need to ask you a few questions.” He held out his hand but quickly retracted it when you reached out with your own bandaged one and then hurried to grab a small pad of paper from inside his jacket and tapped a pen on the top of it with a terse smile. “It won’t take long.”
Instead, Jake squeezed your hand with a small smile. “I’ll just be right outside.”
Would it be ridiculous for you to want him to stay? To say that you felt safer with him in the room? You could feel the detective’s eyes on you and you hated it. You hated how stupid you felt in that moment and how insecure and ridiculous. “Can he stay?”
“Miss-”
Jake immediately said your rank and last name, making sure to put enough emphasis on it that he knew that was the correct way to address you. It made you smile for a moment, knowing he meant it as a way to protect you. “I’d like him to stay.”
The detective’s eyes darted to Jake for a moment before he squeakily cleared his throat. Your name and rank soon followed and he tapped his pen on his pad of paper again. “That isn't standard procedure.”
“Look, I have two holes in me that shouldn’t be there. Jake held me together and kept me alive until I could get to the professionals. And I’d still like him to stay.”
Jake hid a smirk behind his hand before he sank into the chair by your bed.
“Okay, well,” the detective started as a ruddy blush blotched across his cheeks, “we can work with that.”
The interview took hours. You only stopped once to sip on some water and poke at the bland hospital food that was delivered and that was mostly at the behest of the bedraggled nurse who came in to check on you. And Jake did not move from his post at your side. When you had paused to catch your breath, embarrassed, angry tears biting at the back of your eyes, Jake always managed to keep you steady without even needing to say more than, “it’s okay, Punch, you got this.”
Detective White did actually shake your hand on his way out and you tried to ignore how his grip made you innately aware of the stitches in your palm. “We’ll get him, I swear it.”
You hoped he had more confidence in his police work than what you heard in his voice. He sounded unsure. When the detective left, you turned to Jake to see him frowning, yet again. “You feel as good as I do about that, huh?”
He sighed and shook his head. “They haven’t exactly proved to be reliable. Or competent.”
You laughed—it was worth the sharp ache in your stomach. You had to laugh otherwise you may cry again. “Well, I guess we will just have to wait and see.” What else could you do?
Another knock at the door pulled your attention and you were thankful for the distraction, even more so when you realized it was Rueben and Mickey now sticking their heads into the room. You quickly waved them in and let them shower you with movies and books they had brought to help you pass the time and you laughed when Mickey said you now had no excuse to not start watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The pilot and WSO were always kind and funny, but you could tell they had questions and you set the Blu-ray set aside before taking a deep breath. “You can ask. ‘s all right.”
You had always thought the bond between pilot and WSO was intrinsic and nearly magical, and you got to watch it in action when Reuben looked to Mickey and they were quiet for a moment before turning back to you. “Are you okay?” Reuben asked gently.
Your shoulders slumped. They were always so nice to you. “I’ve been told that I’ll be okay eventually. I just need to take it easy for a while.”
They asked if you needed anything in particular and didn’t take your ‘no’ for an answer and promised to bring you every unhealthy food they could think of once you were cleared for “real people food,” as they called it. Mickey’s watch beeped a few minutes later and he sighed. “Time’s up for us, Mav’s only given us an hour each.”
“Apparently he thinks that Cyclone would notice if we all just didn’t show up today.”
You had to smile at that. Captain Mitchell creating a timetable so all the Daggers could come visit without higher brass permission to skirt duty was probably the most on-brand thing you could think of him doing. It was a kindness, truly. Perhaps you should have confided in him—Tom had trusted him, Bradley, too. But maybe trusting people implicitly would take more time.
You said your goodbyes to Mickey and Rueben and Jake somehow got a blu-ray player delivered to your room and set it up quickly after belatedly pointing out the flowers Bob and Natasha had brought you—they were your favorites. You’d have to text them a thank you later.
“Look at you go, Ken. So handy. Next I’ll have you painting walls and tightening leaky faucets.”
A lazy wink was thrown over his shoulder in your direction. “Whatever you need, Punch. I’m pretty handy.”
You laughed and tried to ignore the stinging bite that came with it but you still set your hand over your stomach as if that would help disguise what you were feeling from his gaze. It didn’t work at all and Jake abandoned his task to hurry to your side. “I’m fine,” you said, pushing a smile to your face and hoped that would be enough for him to ignore how the heart rate monitor beeped erratically for a moment as you tried to breathe through the new wave of pain.
Jake shook his head. “You don’t have to lie to me. I’m here to help you.”
You sighed. That would be another thing you would have to work through. “Sorry. I just…” Your words trailed off as Jake once again took your hand in his. He might be fond of touching you, but you knew you were fond of him touching you. He was always so gentle with you. “I just don’t want to cause a fuss.” Which you knew was stupid because you were in the hospital after being nearly murdered.
“You are worth the fuss.”
Was it pathetic to think of that as romantic? Maybe. But your heart still leapt as he looked at you but a familiar, self-satisfied smirk started to push at his mouth when your heart rate monitor betrayed you and let out a happy little beep-be-beep and there was no way you could talk your way out of it.
His smirk faded the slightest bit before he said, “I mean it. You’re worth the fuss. You’re worth a lot more than what you’ve been given.”
The fact that Jake wanted to be the one to prove it to you was even better. You just had to let him, you reminded yourself.
“Am I interrupting something?”
You and Jake retreated from each other (you mostly just pushed further into the pillow at your back) as Callie and Neil came in with balloons and another bouquet of flowers. They told you how the Daggers and other ADs were keeping it quiet about why you were currently in the hospital, but the Top Gun hopefuls did send along their well wishes that you supposed they mostly meant (except Royal, who you knew didn’t have a sincere bone in his body).
When they left, you got exactly seven minutes and twelve seconds into the first episode of Deep Space Nine before Billy, Logan, and Brigham came in with a teddy bear wearing a miniature version of their flight suits and your last name stitched over the heart. They also told you that there has been increased security stationed at every entrance to the base with extra protocols in place for entry.
Good. Luke probably wasn’t quite dumb enough to try anything on base, but knowing your friends would be safe on base was a comfort.
Javy was the next to visit, a small duffle bag in hand for Jake and wearing a suspiciously wiggly coat. He unzipped it with a wink and a familiar dog was carefully placed on your bed. “Sweet Pea!” You happily squealed at the sight of the tenacious Pekingese. She was quick to clamor up your legs to offer you a lick at your chin in greeting before immediately making herself comfortable in your lap. “You’re breaking so many rules right now,” you said, more traitorous tears stinging your eyes as you sank your fingers into Sweet Pea’s soft fur. You had watched Sweet Pea for Javy during his deployment a few months ago and had fallen head over heels for the dog immediately, even going so far to ask Javy for weekly updates, which he readily gave.
Javy waved it away and gave you a quick kiss on the temple. “You’re worth it, Punch. And she was missing you anyway.”
Jake nudged him with a halfhearted scowl but you hardly cared when your fingers sank into the dog’s fur again. You didn’t even mind when Sweat Pea started to gnaw on the teddy bear, she was your favorite and the bear was probably machine washable anyway.
Javy eventually left after a close call with a doctor who came in to administer another dose of pain medication and to check on your stitches. You and Jake eventually settled in enough to watch a few episodes after he changed into the fresh clothes Javy had brought him.
(“What is this show even about?”
“I have no idea.”)
After another gelatinous meal was presented to you and Jake only half heartedly tried to get you to eat it, you were handed a new set of pills by your doctor who told you that they would help stave off infection and probably make you a little sleepy, too.
“I do recommend you take them with food,” the doctor said after spying your uneaten lunch pushed off to the side.
Well, that certainly wasn’t going to happen but you said you would eat it before taking the pills just so he would leave the room.
“You’re not actually going to eat that, right?” Jake said in a low and disgusted voice as soon as he was sure the doctor was out of earshot.
“Absolutely not.”
“Good. I’ll grab you a smoothie or something from the cafeteria downstairs. Do not take that without eating.” And then he was dashing away, startling one of the MPs at your door by the sound of it, too. When he returned, your favorite smoothie in hand, you had a hard time keeping the smile off your face even as the large pills stuck briefly in your throat. No one had really taken care of you like this. Not since you were a child, anyway. Red tape had kept you alone after Luke’s first two attempts on your life and you had to heal alone and in silence. This was new. Different. And for the umpteenth time, you realized that Jake wanted to do this for you. All of it.
You really needed to have a talk with him. A real talk. Unfortunately, it seemed the doctor’s warning that the medication would make you sleepy was an understatement. As soon as you finished your smoothie, you were already fighting to keep your eyes open. Jake took your empty cup from you and threw it away and you saw him starting to settle into his chair again, a wince already scrunching his features.
“You need to go home and get some sleep.”
Jake’s eyes cut to you with a frown. “I slept just fine here last night. And it is barely past lunch anyway.”
You sighed but the fondness clouding your lungs had it sounding a little forced and your limbs were sagging with the need for sleep. “Stubborn man. You have work tomorrow. I won’t have you falling asleep at the controls because of me.”
“I could just not go in,” he muttered like a child.
“Ken!” You chided, fighting a smile, lips twitching at the corners. “I’m not worth going AWOL.”
His face scrunched, as if he was insulted. “I already told you this: you’re worth a lot.”
God. He was infuriating and adorable. And usually only used one of those words when describing him. “I need you to go to work, all right? After getting a goodnight’s rest in a bed.” You watched him open his mouth and quickly added, “and no, I can’t just scoot over to make room for you in this one.”
Jake was quiet again, mulling over his options, before standing. “I can be back in time for dinner, or whatever slop they give you in a few hours, and-”
You raised a lethargic hand toward him and sighed when he laced your fingers together, letting his sentence go unfinished. “I need you rested, all right? I need you flying; that’s where I know you’re safe. Happy.” You yawned, the ache you’d been fighting settled into your bones, low but manageable. Damn, those pills were something else. And so were Jake’s eyes.
“I can be happy here, too.”
“Go home, sweet man. Visit tomorrow. Take a shower. Sleep.” You definitely were about to fall asleep. Everything felt so warm and loose, almost like you had one too many drinks to be tipsy.
“You saying I smell?” He asked with a laugh, but he still leaned down to press another kiss to your forehead.
“Yes—like blood and hospital. But you’re still so pretty. Pretty Ken.”
He chuckled and you felt him stand rather than saw him as your eyes finally closed. “Yeah, my pretty darlin’. You win this round.” With another careful kiss to your temple and his thumb pressing at the edge of your chin, he was gone and you were out like a light.
The next afternoon, you woke up to the sun shining in through the window and Bradley setting a bag onto the chair beside your bed. When he noticed you were awake, a slow smile started to push across his mouth. “Hey, sleeping beauty.”
“Hey,” you replied, the single syllable slow and syrupy with sleep.
He moved a little closer and you could see the circles beneath his eyes and his caramel waves were in a bit of a mess. But his service khakis were still neatly pressed—that was good. “You were asleep when I came in yesterday. Seresin said they gave you some pretty heavy duty stuff. How’re you feeling?”
That pain medication must’ve truly been something else because you mostly just felt uncomfortable rather than anything else. “I’m okay. Might be hungry though.”
Bradley’s smile widened a fraction and he opened the bag and pulled out a sandwich from the deli just off base that you frequented, usually with Bradley, and your cellphone which had almost 200 notifications. “I asked, like, four nurses if you were cleared for real people food and they said as long as you don’t overdo it, you should be fine.”
You weren’t entirely sure how you could overdo eating a sandwich, but you weren’t about to ask in fear of them taking the sandwich away and replacing it with the slop you managed to evade yesterday. It felt like heaven in your hands when Bradley (carefully) set it in your grasp. “Yeah sure,” you said, suddenly much more awake than you had been moments before.
But he also held out a bottle of water and shook it. “Water first. Sandwich later.”
“Then you should have led with the water,” you grumbled but you still drank it with careful sips after he glared at you after you sputtered over your first overzealous mouthful. He let out an exaggerated sigh when you pouted as he put your medication on the little table beside your bed and said you needed to take those, too. He really did bait and switch with the sandwich. A true big brother move that you begrudgingly accepted with a smile you tried to hide behind your water bottle.
(The sandwich in question was delicious and you didn’t even care that Bradley told you to slow down twice—you should have listened because you felt nauseous for a solid hour after polishing it off. Worth it.)
Bradley sat and watched an episode of Deep Space Nine with you before he told you that Sarah was planning on stopping by again today and that Bob and Natasha would probably try to swing by after being dismissed for the day, too. “Your sister is a very avid texter, by the way.” He pulled out his phone and showed you the fifteen texts he’d received from Georgie in the last two hours. They were all about you, obviously, and your stay in the hospital. Toward the end of her barrage of texts was a quick, also, Danny is wondering who this ‘hangman’ is. Might want to give both of them a heads up.
You almost laughed at that. After noticing your parents’ complete detachment from you, Danny had taken up the self-imposed role of ‘protective brother’ and had tried his best (either from a hospital bed or across state lines or both). It had always made you smile because he was more likely to throw a textbook at someone and then run away than to actually throw a punch. He was a good man. Gentle. A good brother to you. You knew he and Georgie would like Jake, even if they pretended not to for a solid five minutes.
“I’ll handle her. Promise. How was everyone yesterday and this morning?”
“Hangman was a little distracted.”
“Was he okay? Did he-”
“He’s fine,” Bradley said, fighting a smile. “But he did pull some stupid stunt when Royal was about to get tone on him.”
“Oh? It must have been something else if you’re calling it stupid,” you teased, earning a halfhearted glare in return. But this was good. Almost normal. Like you weren’t in a hospital and Bradley wasn’t taking a day of leave to stay at your side. Then you remembered… “Oh, Bradley, your date with Natasha! I ruined it! You were supposed to go to dinner, weren’t you? Natasha had a plan-”
Bradley’s hand settling over your arm quickly halted the rest of your rambling. “Please chill out.”
“Okay, but, what if I don’t?”
“They’ll probably have to sedate you,” he said, trying to keep a straight face and failing. “It is fine. Really. We rescheduled.”
“Easy as that?” You asked. Guilt still twisted your stomach. They had been in love with each other for years and had one date and then you had to get stabbed and ruin their second.
But Bradley nodded. “Easy as that. I took my time to get off my perch, I don’t mind waiting a little longer for a second date. We both would have just been worried about you anyway.”
You grimaced, guilt still gnawing at your bones. “I’m sorry anyway.”
“You did not purposely get stabbed so we couldn’t get a second date,” Bradley said, voice more serious than it had been just a moment ago. “Please don’t beat yourself up about it. We have time. We made time.”
You moved to set your other hand over his with a sigh. “If you say so.” God, you hoped it was true.
It would be a long recovery, you knew that. But it seemed a little easier this time, even with the extra damage, because you had people that cared about you. You weren’t lonely and twiddling your thumbs alone in the hospital room, waiting to be released and being told to keep your mouth shut or to report to the brass as soon as you were discharged. This was different.
It was different when the Daggers still took turns visiting you and your fellow ADs did, too. Sarah stopped by as well, and made you video chat with Junior and Lily who both worried over you until you promised that you would be fine. They both offered to visit, or in Lily’s case she offered to smuggle you out of the hospital, but you declined and told them to both just focus on wedding planning or classes. “I’ll be fine!” You even winked for good measure.
Yeah. This time was different. Recovery wasn’t exactly a walk in the park and the tube coming out of your side was always annoying and bordering on itchy, but you got through it because you had people who cared about you. To your delight and dismay, Jake was the most frequent visitor to your stuffy hospital room. He brought food and books and seemed to be watching Deep Space Nine on his own because he was never lost when he sat down to watch an episode or two with you.
It was good and gentle and god you wished you could kiss him again. But it seemed he was trying to give your poor heart a break and rile you up at the same time. You had never been treated so…delicately before. Like you were something, someone precious. But god you wanted to kiss him. Even more so when he was the one to wheel you out of the hospital, complete with boyish car noises when he would speed around a corner. You weren’t even a little surprised when he drove you to the temporary housing on base instead of your house, only relieved. Bob and Natasha had been the one to tell you it was probably a good idea for you to not stay at your house for the time being and had set up your stay on base. You didn’t need a ton of convincing; you weren’t sure if you’d ever be able to step foot into your little bungalow again without seeing Luke hiding in the shadows or your blood staining the floors.
The temporary housing was little more than a hotel room with a kitchenette, but you weren’t about to complain. Not when all of the Daggers and your fellow ADs were waiting inside with balloons and your favorite junk food to welcome you ‘home.’ Natasha and Bradley had brought all of your clothes and a few of your pictures, too, to help make it seem a little more like home. Over a glass of a virgin Bee’s Knees, whipped up by Penny who asked you if you were taking your medicine with a motherly look, you caught Jake’s eye across the small living room as he spoke with Callie. He smiled and raised his beer in your direction with a wink.
Oh, what an asshole. It should not be allowed for him to look like that and not want to kiss him senseless. Or have him kiss you senseless. Either way, someone should be getting kissed senseless. But he had been almost resolute in not kissing you. A small voice at the back of your mind whispered that maybe all of this, the stalking, the blood, the stress, the hospital stay, had all been too much for him. That you had been too much for him.
But he had been sweet. He kissed your cheeks, your temples, the tip of your nose. He held your hand and made you smile and laugh when you needed it most. He wanted to be near you. Didn’t he? You hoped so. He never seemed to care when you called in the middle of the night with another nightmare filled with Luke and hidden knives, making the drive across base to sit with you in the low light of your temporary living room, sipping on hot chocolate and watching Golden Girls reruns in silence until you fell asleep again. “If you call, I’ll come,” he had said. And he did. Every time. Didn’t make it any less confusing though.
It was entirely unsurprising to be put onto desk duty when you were finally able to report back to base two days later. Admiral Bates was kind and popped his head into your office every other hour to make sure you were comfortable. “You can leave at any time, if needed. Please take it easy.” Admiral Simpson also seemed to be doing the most to not even give you paperwork to do. They were being kind but you were so bored. It didn’t feel like you worked if you didn’t have oil soaked into your skin by lunch. The other ADs kept you up to date on what each of the jets needed every day so you could jump right back in when you were cleared for it.
You actually volunteered to take on the extra paperwork from the other ADs so you could still feel like you were contributing a few days into your new duties. It sometimes had you staying later than everyone else but you slowly started to enjoy the quiet of your office when almost everyone had gone home, especially on Fridays before the start of the weekend.
Almost everyone.
A knock at your door had you looking up to see Jake leaning against the frame and you hated how your heart leapt at the sight of him…and how the sleeve of his service khakis strained against the bulk of his arm. “Hey, darlin’.”
“Hey stranger,” you replied, setting your pen down. With the outgoing of the Top Gun graduates and the incoming of a new class, Jake had been busy alongside most of the Daggers. There were rumblings of a deployment, too, so you tried not to take his absence personally. If you had been out in the hangar or on the flight line, you would have seen more of him. Also, a lot of your free time was filled with check ups with your doctor and your new therapist. Both seemed to be hopeful for you. Your writing was going well, too, if you did say so yourself. Both Natasha and Bradley were still buzzing in that new relationship glow and you were so happy for them to finally be together—you even made sure to have them do the necessary paperwork as soon as possible so nothing would take them off guard. Detective White and the rest of the cops on your case were apparently following leads about Luke’s whereabouts but didn’t have much more to say other than, “when we know something, we will let you know.” You tried not to dwell on it, focusing on what made you happy. And you hardly left base anyway.
“I’ve got a question for you.” He walked into your office with a smirk playing on his mouth and an arm tucked behind his back.
“I’ve got an answer.”
When he reached the edge of your desk, he pulled an almost comically large bouquet of flowers out from behind his back. It was a beautiful mix of sunflowers, peonies, and tulips and you took them carefully as you stood, your heart in your throat. “These are for you.”
“They’re gorgeous, but that is not a question, you know. Questions are meant to gain an answer, or elicit information from another party-”
Jake groaned, rolling his eyes. “Busting my balls after I give you flowers? I should have expected that.”
You laughed and brushed your fingers against the buttery petals, delighting in the soft aroma of the bouquet. “Probably.”
“But my question was,” he started, pausing either for dramatic effect or just to rile you up. “Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
The smile that split your face almost hurt and you attempted to hide it behind the flowers for a moment before Jake hooked a finger in the wrapping and slowly pulled it down with a smile of his own. “You sure did take your time asking.”
Jake’s smile grew. “Technically, you asked back at the hospital, but since you never followed up on it, I figured I could be the bigger person and ask you.”
Your mouth opened then closed again as an embarrassed heat started to inch its way up your throat. “That…is not fair. You technically asked back at my house.”
“And I’m asking again.”
God, he was something else and you couldn’t help but let the growing smile split your face as you nodded. “Then yes, I am saying yes again.” What else could you possibly say?
“Perfect. Phoenix has a dress and shoes waiting for you in our locker room and I will meet you back out here in thirty minutes, okay?”
“Oh, you thought of everything, huh?” You asked with a shake of your head.
“I had some time. But you don’t—our reservation only has a five minute window.”
You grumbled good-naturedly to try to keep the butterflies you felt rioting in your stomach at bay. “Fine. I’ll be back.” And if your steps to the locker room were a little hurried, he thankfully didn’t mention it. The dress Natasha picked out for you was perfect, midi length with a slit up the thigh with a floral print—she must have found it at the back of your closet. The shoes were sensible but cute, found in a box you had kept at the back of your closet, too. Damn, she knew you so well. There was a sticky note on the dress’ hanger: Have fun! But not too much! Your makeup bag was on the shelf above and you hurriedly touched everything up before meeting Jake out in the hallway with your heart thrumming a happy beat behind your ribs. He had changed, too, into a smartly tailored pair of black trousers and a button up shirt of the same shade tucked in. It was almost unfair how beautiful he was.
Another smile broke across his face as he looked you over and you felt like one of your heroines when he reached out for you. “You look beautiful.”
As promised, he drove you to the ritzy restaurant and you delighted in the weight of his hand on your thigh the entire time as your flowers were safely kept in a vase in the backseat. It wasn’t until you pulled into the filled parking lot that you realized that you hadn’t looked out the window once in search of a black charger.
You felt safe.
He held the door open for you and tucked your chair into the table. It really was like a dream, even when the waitress flirted with Jake. Why? Because he simply reached across the table to curl his hand over yours as you fiddled with your silverware roll.
Gentle. He was being gentle and choosing you.
The conversation was quiet and easy as you ordered and you tried not to laugh when your original waitress was nowhere to be found.
“There’s this Italian place a little up the coast. We should try that next.”
While you enjoyed this peaceful bubble, you couldn’t resist poking at him like you always did. You cocked an eyebrow as you cut into your perfectly done steak. It almost melted in your mouth as you saw Jake glance at you as he cut into his own. “Oh, I was presumptuous by thinking we should get ice cream after this but you’re already planning the next date?”
His fork froze just in front of his mouth and you watched his eyes go wide for a moment. “I…”
“Relax. I’m always game for pasta.”
Jake’s answering smile split his face and couldn’t hide the tinge of pink on his cheeks. “Good. That’s good.”
As promised (after bickering over who got to pay for dinner), you had Jake pull over into the parking lot of a small ice cream shop on the way back to base and you each ordered their version of snickers ice cream. You both happily ate it as it tried to melt down to your fingers when you watched the moon’s reflection over the ocean after Jake found an overlook a few minutes down the road. As you licked the remnants of the treat from your lips, Jake hopped out of the truck and you watched him jog over to your side and pull open the door. He reached over you for a moment, letting his expensive cologne flood your senses again, and turned up the radio. Some old country song—yes, you would make fun of him for this later—filled the truck but you still put your hand in Jake’s when he held out a hand for you to take.
“Dance with me?”
The singer crooned about love and the moon and you laughed as Jake spun you under his arm. This could have been a scene from one of your books, you could scurry home after this, write it all down, and sell a million copies of your next book just because of this scene. But you knew you wanted to keep this just for yourself. This was just for you and Jake. You’d never feel like this before; happy, desired, fulfilled but hopeful for more. Hopeful for more with Jake.
Just for a few beats of the song, you wished you hadn’t waited so long. Hadn’t tried so hard to keep him at arm’s length. Hadn’t let Luke win for so long.
One song turned into two, turned into three and you only separated because a car drove by and honked obnoxiously. You laughed and pushed your face into Jake’s chest for a moment, listening to the rumble of his own chuckle. When your giggles subsided, you tilted your head to smile at him, probably looking like a loon but you hardly cared when he brushed his knuckles against your cheek.
He leaned in slowly, giving you enough time to pull away if you wanted, but you didn’t move. His lips pressed against yours gently before you surged forward, making it abundantly clear that you were not going anywhere. His warm hands held you firm as they slid up your arms to frame your face. There was no resistance when he licked at the seam of your lips, and you didn’t even care about the happy sigh you let out, hands scrunching into his soft shirt. He tasted like ice cream and that damned minted toothpick and you couldn’t get enough, pressing closer closer closer to let him keep kissing you in any way he wanted.
It wasn’t until your lungs protested that you broke away, chest heaving with the need for air. Jake stole another quick kiss anyway, letting you feel his smile against your mouth. “Let me get you home, darlin’.”
You nodded with a smile you hoped wasn’t too wide and let him buckle you in after he opened the truck door for you again. The smile, however, couldn’t be contained when his hand once again found a home on your thigh. When he pulled into the small parking lot in front of the stretch of temporary housing buildings, you let out a laugh when Jake all but bolted out of his seat to run around to your side of the truck and open your door, your flowers in hand. You slipped your hand into the crook of his offered arm and let him walk you toward your door.
“I had a great time tonight,” you murmured as you looked at him out of the corner of your eye. The dim light from the nearest streetlight cast him in a buttery light and almost made him look like some sort of old Hollywood leading man���you’d never tell him that. His ego was big enough.
“I did, too.” The warmth in his tone matched the soft look he sent you as you stepped up to your door.
You could have asked about the Italian restaurant he had mentioned earlier or bargained with him that you get to pay for dinner next time and he could pay for dessert as a reversal of what happened tonight, but instead, you listened to the butterflies in your stomach and asked, “would you like to come inside?”
Jake paused for a moment before nodding, almost hesitant.
You unlocked the door and waved him in, watching as he set your flowers on the small table beside the door. After setting your purse on the couch, you turned to face Jake and tried to resist the urge to wipe your slightly sweaty palms on your dress as you kicked off your shoes. Maybe you had misread everything. Or maybe he was still trying to “treat you right,” by his standards and take things slow. You wanted to respect what he wanted. “You don’t have to stay, Ken.” But god, you wanted him to.
Jake huffed before shaking his head. “You gotta know that I don’t want to leave, Punch. But I don’t want to hurt you. I would never-”
“I’m okay,” you let out in a rush. “I promise.” The smile you tried to keep from your face pushed its way free anyway as you shuffled a little closer to him.
“And I want to keep you that way.” Jake shook his head and you almost shivered when he let his fingers trail down your arms before dropping back to his sides, like he just needed to touch you. “Trust me, there’s nothing more I’d like than to keep this date going, but I would not be able to live with myself if I set you back in your recovery because I did something.” The slightest bit of pink dusted his cheeks as he said that, too.
It was so sweet. So adorably kind that all you could do was smile. “I’m not in danger of dying right now, Ken.”
“That’s not funny.”
You sighed and reached out to grasp his hands, pulling at them until they were pressing at your hips. “I’m here. Upright and mobile. I’m okay.”
“Your doctor said-”
“That I was cleared yesterday,” you said with a growing smile. That appointment had been a bright spot of your week for several reasons.
There was a slight pause before his hands tightened on your hips. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, Ken.”
You felt his fingers drum against the low of your back before he leaned closer. “So, for twenty four hours, this entire date, I’ve been trying to be a gentleman and you-”
“Oh, just kiss me.”
And he did. His kiss immediately dominated all of your senses, hot, heavy, and hard. Your back hit the wall beside the door and you could feel Jake’s smile again as you giggled against his mouth. This was perfect.
The smile faded as Jake’s mouth slid down the side of your neck, no doubt feeling your thrumming pulse, and a breathy moan slipped from between your lips.
“I’ve hardly touched you,” Jake said, words vibrating against your heated skin as you let your hands grasp at his shoulders, needing to anchor yourself to something. “You already singin’ for me?”
Your laugh was just as embarrassingly breathy, too. “Can’t help it.” You really couldn’t. Every nerve ending was starting to spark and burn delightfully, your mind already hazing. He kissed you again and his grip tightened on your waist before trailing up your sides.
He pulled back just enough to breathe against your lips. “You want this?”
The question cleared your mind for a moment but only served to send a bolt of soft warmth straight through you. “I do. I want you, I want this,” you whispered in return.
You could feel his answering smile before he kissed you again, harder and bordering on desperate.
You wanted him.
He wanted you.
Jake pawed at the top of your dress until your breasts were spilling out, nipples instantly hardening against the air conditioned chill of your room. “Fucking beautiful,” Jake muttered before diving down to press a searing kiss right over the swell of your heart. His large hands yanked the rest of your dress down just enough for him to grab at your chest, squeezing your breasts together as he lathed attention on one and then the other and then back again. Kisses turned into licks, turned into the lightest scrapes of his teeth that had your breath stuttering and knees shaking.
“Jake…” Your voice was little more than a moan, torn from your throat.
Big sea glass green eyes peered up at you, nearing sparkling in the low light of the room, as he continued to bite and suck and kiss at the exposed skin. But then, as if knowing you were already too far gone for words, his lips closed around a nipple and tugged, pulling a keening whimper from you as your hands wove through his short blond hair, drawing him closer. The heat of him, of his talented mouth, was all consuming. You couldn’t control the tightening in your lower stomach, nor the whimpers that left your kiss-bitten lips as he switched to the other side.
“So perfect,” he said, words muffled as he burrowed his nose into your sternum. “Perfect for me.” He glanced up and your heart stuttered at the heat in his gaze. The green of his eyes was nearly entirely gone, eaten by the black of his pupil.
Your grip on his hair tightened the slightest bit, dragging him up again to press an open mouthed kiss against his wanting lips. “Take me to bed,” you panted.
It was a blessedly short trip to the bed on the other side of the room and as soon the backs of your knees hit the soft bedding his hands skimmed up your sides, dragging your dress with it. His lips followed, lathing heat against your skin and up your sternum. Then he slowly, carefully pulled the offending fabric off, taking care to not jerk your arms up too high or too quickly. But his attention was soon back on your skin, pressing his mouth against the swell of your breasts.
“So fucking beautiful,” he said, words muffled against your heated skin. He could probably feel your heart beating a mile a minute beneath your ribs. But you knew he did when he took a moment to press kisses to the raised scars that now littered your torso.
It was almost too much for you and you pulled him up and fumbled with the buttons on his shirt before shoving it off his shoulders and then did the same to the button on his trousers and shoved them down before grabbing handfuls of his unfairly toned thighs and squeezing. You didn’t let go when he had to step out of his shoes and shoved his trousers off the rest of the way. God, he was warm everywhere. “You’re pretty,” you murmured against his neck, letting his expensive cologne and heat keep your mind buzzing.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” You had to laugh but it quickly faded when Jake’s roughened hands slid down the expanse of your thighs, and his mouth followed, sliding along the soft skin on your right leg and then the left, making sure to press a hard kiss to the scars there, too. The simple touch had you quaking beneath his grasp. “It’s only fair, darlin’. You know how much I love these legs of yours.”
“Y-you’re ridiculous!”
“Maybe, but you’re still beautiful.” His thick fingers slipped under the lace edges of your underwear and quickly pulled them down and you just as readily kicked them away. A hot kiss was pressed to your right hip and then your left before he gently shoved you back onto the bed, your legs falling open. Wider shoulders had your legs spreading further as he shoved his way between them and he licked a bold strip through your folds and nearly had you wailing. “And you taste so good, too.” Again and again Jake licked and sucked and nibbled until the heat that had started burning with the first brush of his lips overwhelmed you and stars burst behind your eyes.
When you came down, your thighs were wrapped around Jake’s head and shaking but he didn’t seem to care as he pressed a slick kiss to each of your thighs before carefully helping you set your legs back down before helping you lay further back across the bed. “Yeah, still beautiful.”
With aftershocks still shaking your fingers, you pulled him up again, tasting yourself on his tongue when it slipped between your lips. “Still want you,” you murmured, unabashed.
“You’ll get me. You’ve got me.” Jake curled his body over yours as he took your mouth again. You greedily shoved at his boxer briefs and let out a sigh when you felt the length of him press against the meat of your inner thigh. “Condom?” He asked.
“Got a clear bill of health and just renewed my birth control prescr-” The rest of your explanation was cut short when he kissed you again and you felt him press at your entrance. The first push knocked the wind right out of your lungs. “O-oh!”
“God, you’re so warm.” His words were pulled taut and his knuckles were nearly white as they pressed into the blanket beneath you.
You pawed at his shoulders as he sunk further, further, further. God, he was so deep. “J-Jake!”
“Almost there, darlin’, you’re taking me so well.”
When his hips finally touched yours, each breath was ragged and short as you tried to breathe through the burn that came with his size. He was so deep. Jake pressed gentle kisses across your jaw, murmuring to take all the time you needed but you saw his arms shaking on either side of your head.
“Move,” you said.
“You sur-”
“Move!” You laughed, but it was quickly taken over by a broken moan with Jake’s first thrust. Every drag and pull of him had new sparks sizzling up your spine until you were nothing more than a heap of shaking limbs and heated skin. “Jake, please!” It was all you could say. What you were pleading for, you wouldn’t be able to articulate, but it didn’t matter because Jake seemed to know as his thrusts grew more forceful, pushing you further up the bed and dragging a hand down your leg to squeeze at the dough of your thigh and having it tighten around his hip so he could reach further into you. “Jake!”
“Give it to me, darlin’. C’mon. I know you can.” His whispered words were scalding against your ear and you let out a wail as he hit something deep inside you again again again again. The feeling only grew when his hands swept beneath you on the bed and hauled your hips higher as he drove into you. “Is that it? That where you need me?”
All you could do was moan and hang on as he continued to hit that spot you had never known existed. Your legs lifted, too, wrapping around his waist and that seemed to be the right thing to do as Jake slid one hand down to grab at one, widening you up to his thrusts—and with just a handful more snaps of his hips, you broke into a million little pieces of stardust.
**
With just a few more thrusts, Jake met his own end, shuddering above you. And you were glorious, beautiful, sated. He had never seen anyone look so wonderfully undone as you. Jake pushed up onto his knees and could only smile down at you before stealing a kiss against your mouth and then another and another until he got what he wanted: a soft laugh, breathy and satisfied, if he did say so himself. The simple sound had his already thundering heart leaping. Then you reached up and pushed a few errant strands of hair away from his forehead. The words he wanted to say were on the tip of his tongue but he bit them back—he wanted to tell you with flowers and something sweet, not when you could think he was just caught up in the endorphin rush.
“You’re impossible, you know,” you said, snapping him out of his train of thought.
“What?”
“You’re still so pretty after all that? Impossible.” You punctuated it with a soft tug at his hair before your hand swept to his cheek and your thumb smoothed an easy path on the half moon beneath his eye.
God. He could look at you forever. “If I’m pretty, then you’re-”
Your fingers pressed over his lips as you halfheartedly rolled your eyes. “You already got me in bed, Ken. Don’t need to butter me up.”
Jake kissed your fingers before pulling your hand away from his mouth and leaning down to steal another kiss. “I think you should be told how beautiful you are every day.”
Jake felt you freeze for a moment, rigid under his grip. “Sounds exhausting.”
“I’m up for the challenge.” He could have said it then, too. Almost did. Instead, he carefully pulled out and smirked at your moan with the movement. Jake swept a hand down your sternum to your belly before rolling off the bed and walking into the bathroom. He quickly found a washcloth and ran it under some hot water and wrung it out before walking back out.
God, you were beautiful. Still trying to catch your breath on the rumpled blankets (and if Jake felt a little zing of pride and seeing you so debauched, so be it), Jake slid next to you and carefully cleaned up the mess he’d made of you. He couldn’t stop touching you. Didn’t ever want to stop, but he did eventually pull away to drag his underwear back on and brushed his lips against your palm as you reached for him, curling your fingers around his cheek. But even with you still on his tongue and your body heart bleeding over him, he felt the first tendrils of doubt start to creep up the back of his mind.
Did you want him to stay? Did you regret it? Did-
“Will you stay?” You asked, voice much quieter than you had been all night. It reminded him of when you were surprised he had wanted to go to Junior’s engagement party. Maybe you were nervous, too.
“Of course I’ll stay, Punch.”
Your answering smile was near blinding and you wiggled around on the bed just enough to pull the blankets down to invite him under the sheets beside you—wow, you both really just fell onto the bed, absolutely no patience. After you washed up in the bathroom and turned off the rest of the lights, you slipped beneath the sheets too, eyes bright in the moonlight streaming from the small window.
He could look at you forever. He just had to tell you that. Some day.
**
Things were good and fun and wonderful. Jake took you to that Italian restaurant and then you danced in your little living room. You went out to the movies and laughed behind your bucket of popcorn when the horror movie victims lived up to their cliches. Jake would press smiling kisses to your mouth in good morning in the shadows of the hangar. But he was also fond of swallowing every sound you made while driving deep and holding you close and you got to find out what it felt like to have the weight of him on your tongue.
Yeah, things were good.
Things were good even when Detective White called to tell you that Luke might have been spotted back on the East Coast—at least he wasn’t still lurking somewhere in the shadows of San Diego, waiting for you. It was good because you only had about a week left on desk duty and Bradley and Natasha were still annoyingly in love and Bob had agreed to (eventually) meet the woman Jake said was “perfect” for him. Georgie had given birth to a healthy, happy baby boy and you had plans to visit in a few weeks’ time with Danny.
You may have still had those words waiting on your tongue, unspoken and waiting, but you knew they were going to spill out sooner or later, especially when Jake kissed you so sweetly. Everything was strangely easy with him and you knew it was a little too early to think of the future when it was so soon into whatever this was with Jake, but maybe it really could be this easy. There were short tiffs, of course, but it was good.
Things were good.
“Hey, darlin’. Can I talk to you for a moment?”
You looked up from the paperwork on your desk to see Jake standing in the door of your office. A joke was on the tip of your tongue when you spied the envelope in his hands. You knew what that envelope meant. You knew that look in his eyes. “How long?”
“Eight weeks.”
“Oh.” You swallowed the lump in your throat and set down your pen with unsteady fingers. “You leave next week, don’t you?” You already knew the answer—Admiral Simpson had been heard talking about it yesterday.
Jake set the envelope down as he rounded your desk and pulled you up and close, pressing a kiss to your forehead, your nose, then a slow kiss to your lips before standing straight again as his hands settled on your hips. “I don’t want-”
“You and I both know that the Navy doesn’t care what we want, Ken. You have to go. And I’m going to be waiting for you when you come back.” You tried to smile but you knew it looked more like a grimace. So, you tried a different tactic. “It’ll fly by.”
Jake pulled his lips into his mouth for a moment before sighing but you could tell he wanted to laugh. “That was a terrible pun.”
“I think you like me anyway.”
Jake smiled then, all softness and sweet. “Yeah, I think I’ll keep you around.” He pulled you close again and had you giggling the moment his lips touched your neck.
“You went on plenty of deployments before me and there will be deployments after-”
“Don’t say ‘after you,” Jake grumbled. “I don’t want there to be an after you.”
The words had your heart leaping. “I wasn’t going to say ‘after me,’ Ken. I was saying that after I’m cleared, you’ll have a few more with me. Okay? It is just this one.”
A small bright spot was knowing Javy, Callie, and Neil were also going with him. You and Jake tried to make the most of the week you had left before his deployment. There were quiet dinners in your small room and falling asleep in your bed as reruns of old sitcoms played on the television. There were quickies, too, of course, that always left your legs shaking and his come running down your thighs. But you still weren’t entirely sure what you were with Jake. He obviously wasn’t picking up women at the Hard Deck and spent most of his nights with you, slotting into place like he’d always meant to be there. But neither one of you had put a label on it. But you remembered Bradley’s scolding. You remembered that Jake himself had said that he knew you felt the way about him the same way he felt about you.
You tried and failed not to think about it too much as you walked with Jake through the muted crowds on the dock near the carrier. Dawn had just started to break on the horizon and your fingers brushed against Jake’s for the fifth time as you neared the ramp onto the hulking mass of steel. You only broke away to hug the others and wish them luck and safety before coming back to Jake’s side. There were too many eyes out here. Your relationship—no matter how undefined it was—was still unapproved and discouraged by Naval Regulation. There could be consequences if you kissed him goodbye now.
But you wanted to.
“You stay safe, okay?” You murmured as you turned to him.
“I’ll try my best, darlin’,” he said in return, grip tightening on his bag for a moment before letting loose again. Like he was fighting the urge to touch you, too.
The most you allowed yourself to do was hug him like you did the others while you blinked back the tears stinging your eyes. You should say it now. Say it. Say it. Say it. But wouldn’t that be cruel, to say it now when you couldn’t do more?
As you pulled back, it looked like Jake wanted to say something—his mouth opened and—
The carrier’s horn blasted and halted anything he might have said. You watched him shake his head before his hand fell to your shoulder. Only the careful swipe of his thumb against your pulse separated the touch from anything platonic. “I’ll be seeing you, Punch.” And then he was turning and walking away, a tightness in his shoulders you hadn’t seen since the hospital.
Something inside you cracked at the sight of it, growing larger with each step he took away from you. Every deployment could be dangerous. Hell, every time he got into the cockpit was dangerous. You could lose him.
And he wouldn’t…
“Jake!” You called out, his name bursting out from between your lips.
He turned back to you, brows pinching.
This was it. You didn’t want to hide. You would handle the consequences, no matter what they were. You needed to tell him. You pushed through the crowd and Jake dropped his bag at his feet and he reached for you just as you reached for him.
Your hands slid over his broad shoulders and up to cradle the back of his head as he curled his arms around your waist and hauled you close. You kissed him. You kissed him and didn’t care who saw as you felt him press at the seam of your lips and happily let him lead you through the unhurried but all consuming embrace; he had wanted this, too.
“Come back to me, okay?” You whispered against his mouth as you broke away, chest heaving. “Promise me.”
“I promise,” he said, voice strong despite the desperate look in his eyes. “I’m coming back to you. No matter what.”
“I love you, you know that?” There, you’d said it. For better or worse.
Jake’s smile started slow but soon lit up his entire face and he kissed you, pressing his lips to yours so intensely that you thought he might be trying to sear the touch into your marrow. “I love you, too. I have for a long time, I think.” And then he kissed you again and didn’t step back until the carrier let out another horn blast. “I’ve got to go but I will be back. I’ve gotta come back to my girl.”
You could only nod as he slowly walked backward toward the carrier, trying to keep you in his sight for as long as possible and taking your heart with him.
**
Jake hadn’t been expecting to be called into the Admiral’s temporary office before he had even put his duffel on his tiny bedroll, but here he was, standing in front of Admiral Simpson, hoping beyond hope that this wasn’t what he was thinking it was.
You loved him. You loved him and he didn’t want to have it ruined by something as stupid as regulation.
Cyclone crossed his arms over his chest before sighing. “I should have you formally reprimanded and have her moved to a different squadron, if not an entirely different shore station. You and I both know that, Lieutenant Commander.” He was quiet and Jake felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his neck. He couldn’t lose you. Not now. “But I made Kazansky a promise. I promised to keep that young woman safe whenever she stepped foot on base. She is a remarkable AD and has proven herself to be an irreplaceable part of this team. The Daggers are better with her, and she is better with the Squadron.” He was quiet again and Jake tried not to feel too hopeful as the man continued. “I will require the necessary paperwork on my desk by 0700 the day after we are back stateside so I can pretend that you two went about this correctly and I won’t have someone with more stars on their collar trying to rip this squadron apart. Am I understood?”
“Understood, sir.” Jake didn’t even care that he was supposed to be on shore leave for two weeks after every deployment. He would get that paperwork to Cyclone an hour after docking if he had said so. Jake would happily do a thousand pushups before dinner and be grounded for a month if it meant that you didn’t have to hide, that you wouldn’t be separated because of protocol or paperwork.
Cyclone nodded. Just once. “Good. Dismissed.” If Jake sprinted out of Cyclone’s office, neither of them mentioned it. But the Lieutenant whom Jake would be sharing a bunk with definitely asked why he was smiling like a mad man when they finally crossed paths.
Jake didn’t care.
Come hell or high water, he was going back to you.
**
If Bradley asked if you were okay one more time, you were going to steal his lunch.
“I just worry about you!”
“Get away from me, Bradshaw. I swear to god-!” The rest of your rant was cut off by sweet Bob pulling you into a different classroom and handing you a water bottle.
“Drink this.”
You did as you were told and by the time the bottle was empty, you felt marginally less prone to lunch thievery. When you handed the bottle back to him, Bob sighed. He seemed to do that a lot lately and it had only been a week since Jake and the others had gone. “I’m bad at this, aren’t I?”
(The rest of the Daggers had been given a hard launch of you and Jake being together after Callie posted a photo to the group chat—it was supposed to be of her and Neil before they got on the carrier but you and Jake were clearly seen in the background kissing.
Not your finest moment but everyone seemed to be happy for you both and Admiral Bates chuckled after calling you into his office to tell you to fill out the required paperwork—how he found out was anyone’s guess but you were thankful that he was fine with it all. While the stack of red tape was a bit of a slog to get through, you finished it as quickly as you could despite being told that you’d have to wait to formally file it until Jake completed his, too. The stack of paper was kept safely in the bottom locked drawer of your desk, just waiting for Jake.)
“I’ve been told it gets easier,” Bob said with a small smile. “It’s only been a week, Punch. Give yourself time.”
You sighed and leaned just enough to press your forehead against his shoulder. Maybe tensions were high (with you in particular) because today was supposed to be your first day back in the hangar and…it rained so everyone was grounded until the weather cleared. “I mean, whenever you guys would get sent out I would worry, but this feels different. Is that stupid? Or am I just losing it?”
Bob sighed and you felt his hands start to press careful, patient lines up and down your back. “Not stupid and not losing it. But I think ‘s different when you care about the person leaving.”
“I care about you,” you muttered into his shirt.
“Not the same way and you know it.” His hands continued their careful touches and you relaxed a little more. God, whoever earned Bob’s love was going to be so lucky. “If I was a betting man, I would say Seresin is probably feeling the same way except he’s stuck in a tiny metal room.”
You laughed and a tiny bit of tension slipped from your shoulders. “Thank you, Robby. I promise to not throttle Bradley or steal his lunch.”
And now it was Bob’s turn to laugh. “Reasonable.”
The rest of the day didn’t exactly crawl by but you were still thankful to walk out to the parking lot by the end of the day, even if you knew you were still only going across base to watch more Golden Girls with a frozen meal. You’d get through this.
You knew it.
Just as you pulled into your usual spot outside your temporary home, your phone rang. Detective White’s name flashed across the screen and you sighed, bracing for no new news, before answering.
“Have you been to your house today?” He asked instead of a greeting.
“What?”
“We need you to come here, take a look at things.”
You were struck silent, sitting in the driver’s seat of your car. “I…” What were you even supposed to say to that? “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” The drive to your little bungalow was done in a haze, you didn’t even remember turning down your street or pulling into the driveway. Three patrol cars and a beat up Cadillac were parked along the curb, too. Two uniformed cops were waiting by your front door and checked your ID when you asked for Detective White before waving you inside.
Just for a moment, it did actually feel like coming home. This had been your home for almost two years and…
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, baby?”
The cruel echo of Luke’s voice had you flinching before the faded scent of bleach did. Your next breath stuttered in your throat as you glanced toward the bookcases and the floor beneath them. You had nearly died here. Nearly bled out in your home. It looked like all of your books had been placed in boxes, stacked at the mouth of the hallway.
You hardly saw any of it as your eyes were drawn to the broken glass that littered your kitchen floor and then the terrible deep, dark red paint splattered on the wall above your television.
COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE
“Good, you’re here.”
You jumped at the sound of Detective White’s voice and turned to face him with an unsteady smile. “I’m assuming you called to tell me about this?” You asked, hooking a thumb over your shoulder at the crude paint job.
Detective White nodded. “Yeah.”
“I thought you said Luke was on the East Coast?” Keeping the angry disbelief out of your voice was a Herculean task—one that you failed, spectacularly, if the detective’s flinch was any indication.
He tapped his pen against his stupid pad of paper. “We had a tip that he was.”
“But nothing concrete? Have you stopped the search for him around here?”
“No, we still have the tip line open here, too.”
“Tip line,” you bit out. “But no one is looking? You’re just hoping that someone will spot him and you’ll be able to catch him this time?” Dragging a hand over your mouth, you tried to suck in a steadying breath that only marginally worked.
“We follow up on each one,” he said as if that would help.
“Sure. Of course you do. Is there a reason you needed me to come here?”
He then went on a spiel about you needing to look around to see if anything was missing or broken because there had been a series of break ins in the neighborhood and they just wanted to make sure that this was connected either to Luke or to the low level thieves before proceeding.
It took you about three and a half minutes to realize nothing was missing other than one of the knives from the block but you had a hunch that it was probably in an evidence bag, if the cops had found it at all. Your anger at the cops swiftly disintegrated into fear when you realized that it meant Luke was now back in the city. Or he had never left. Neither was a great option and you told Detective White what you thought and only earned another tap of his pen against his stupid fucking notebook.
You seethed as you stomped to your car and tried to pull in a soothing breath when you buckled yourself in. It didn’t work. But fine. You just needed to get back to base and slip beneath your room’s mostly soft blankets and pretend this didn’t happen for at least a few hours. Sure. You could do that.
But, just as you pulled onto the highway, your low gas light clicked on. Perfect, just perfect. There was a gas station just off the next off-ramp so you took it, hoping for a quick stop. But, of course, when you pulled up to the pump, there was a sticker over the card reader, stating that you’d have to pay inside. With a sigh, you locked your car and started toward the gas station. You made it two steps before coming to an abrupt stop when a bright red car screeched around you and came to a stop at the pump just beside your car. Whatever. Not your problem.
You heard the other car’s door open and close and then…
“Hi, baby.”
There was no way he was here. No way. No. Every hair stood on end and it took you a stretched moment to even muster the courage to turn to face him.
“Luke…” His name cracked in your throat as your heart hammered against your ribs. It only increased when you caught a flash of something in his hand, shining and terrible.
A gun.
You took a step back and then another and another as your eyes bounced around the parking lot, looking for someone, anyone to help you. And you saw no one, nothing except other empty cars.
“Don’t do this.”
Luke smiled, all teeth. “I’m having fun with it now, baby. I wonder how many times I can shoot you before you actually die? Maybe I should have gutted you, you know, see what you’re hiding inside you that keeps your heart beating.”
The more he spoke, the more you realized that he was drunk, every few syllables slurred and messy. Your next step nearly had you toppling over as your heel collided with the curb. Pain lanced up your palm as you blindly thrust your arm out to keep yourself upright by grabbing the concrete pillar. Luke took a step forward and raised the gun-
The lights of a car coming into the gas station pulled his attention for just a moment and you made the split second decision to dash into the gas station when his head was turned. You nearly bowled over another woman as soon as you were inside, the bell above the door screaming your arrival, and you quickly bit out an apology before yelling, “he’s got a gun! Please—call the cops!”
The man behind the register immediately pulled out his cell phone and you saw him dial 9-1-1 before your blood ran cold when you heard the bell chime again. All the air in the tiny shop was sucked out when the telltale sound of a gun’s hammer being pulled back filled the air. You knew if you looked behind you, you’d see Luke pointing a gun right at your head. Without sparing a look back, you dove down the nearest aisle, nearly bashing your head against a row of chips. You heard the shot tear through one of the freezer cases before the cacophony of screams and shouts of the other patrons rang out, too. Before you could even crawl behind another row of snacks or curl into a protective ball, the screech of the bell came again and the gas station was silent and still.
Instinctively, you knew he was gone again. In the wind.
You didn’t particularly remember the police arriving nor the “escort” down to the station. Giving your statement a handful of times felt robotic, detached. You didn’t react when the responding officers said Luke likely fled when he realized there were other people in the gas station. You barely flinched when Detective White came in and you saw him tap tap tap his pen on his notepad.
“It was Luke,” you muttered. “You can probably see it on the cameras.”
Your drive back to base hours later wasn’t exactly memorable and you sat on the small couch in the dark for a stretched moment until your phone rang. It felt like your arms had fallen asleep as you fumbled to get it out of your purse.
“Hi, sweetheart.” The sound of Sarah’s sweet voice immediately had you sobbing.
Unsurprisingly (but still embarrassingly), Sarah was in your little room within the hour and didn’t mind at all when you slouched into her lap as more Golden Girls reruns played on the television. Her soft fingers traced flowers and stars into your arm after your tears eventually ran out. She said nothing when you had told her what had happened other than a soft, “I’ve got you, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”
**
Four weeks into the deployment, Jake was finally given allowance to make a video call to you—he had been told that he was allotted two calls every two weeks but so far he’d only been able to call his mom once. The entire deployment had been a clusterfuck. Jet malfunctions mixed with food past its expiration only added to the usual stress that came with a deployment of this scale. Having Javy, Omaha, and Halo with him was nice—Javy much more than the others, if Jake was being honest—but he still wanted you. He didn’t want to be away from you, especially not with how things were left when he had been called away. The fact that Luke still hadn’t been caught had bit at the back of his mind daily. He knew you were safe on base but…
The call rang twice before your pixelated face came into view and Jake felt something shift behind his ribs, like he was waiting to take another breath until he saw you again. “Hey, darlin’.”
“Hey, Ken.”
Jake’s spine went rigid at your tone. Even with the shitty connection, he heard how tired you were. “What’s going on?”
Your answering sigh crackled through the connection. “I’ll tell you when you get back, okay? How…how is everything going? Are you doing-”
Jake leaned a little closer to the tiny camera as if that would help you understand what he was saying. “No, c’mon, Punch. Don’t do that, not to me. You can talk to me, remember?”
You rolled your lips into your mouth for a moment. “Fine. But first I need you to know that I’m safe, all right?”
Ice ran through Jake’s veins. No one should have to start a conversation with that. “Punch-”
“No one was hurt. I, um, I’m not really leaving base anymore—but I will be there to pick you up when you come back in. Luke seems skittish with crowds anyway. I’ll be safe there, too.”
“Just tell me what happened,” he said, voice a little harsher than he wanted and his anger dissolved when he saw you flinch. “Jesus, sorry. I wasn’t yelling-”
“I know,” you murmured. “I know you weren’t.” Another sigh pushed through you before you shook your head. “Luke found me at a gas station. He had a gun. He’s a lousy shot and took off when he realized there were other people around. Sarah and the Daggers are on a rotation; someone is with me all the time. Admiral Bates also had even more security put on each entrance to base, too, after I had to tell him what happened.”
Jake nodded, knowing that it was standard protocol to tell your commanding officer if something happened and the civilian authorities had to get involved. Knowing Admiral Bates was stepping up security was a small relief but Jake wondered how quickly he’d be court martialed if he just flew back to you.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” you said next.
“I wasn’t go-”
“Ken.”
He might have laughed if this were a different situation. Realizing you knew him well enough to pinpoint exactly when a thought as stupid as flying back to you was crossing his mind, if you would be able to call him an idiot to his face and say something about using his two remaining brain cells to only make moronic decisions, he might have laughed about it. But he couldn’t so he didn’t. “What can I do?”
You were quiet for a moment before the smallest hint of a smile pushed at your lips. “Can you tell me something funny?”
Jake didn’t have to rack his brain a lot to find something, but he hoped it could keep that smile on your face. “Well, I’m on this boat with another aviator, right?”
“I know how deployments work, Ken.”
“His callsign is Honey.”
“Don’t throw stones in glasshouses, Hangman.”
Jake almost smiled then, too, and continued on. “But his backseater’s name is Badger.”
The quiet laugh you let out would have to be enough for now—it seemed like that small sound was all you were capable of right now. But the tight line of your neck and shoulders unraveled. So, for the rest of his allotted time, he took every opportunity he had to make you laugh. Before he was kicked out of the little room, you made him promise to keep himself safe.
“I love you,” you whispered.
“Love you too.”
He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of saying it.
**
You waved to Bradley and Tasha as they stood like guard dogs near the entrance to the parking lot. They’d come with you without a grumble but they appreciated the pastry and coffee you brought them as a thank you anyway. God, you just wanted to set eyes on Jake again. These past few weeks had been so fucking weird. Not leaving base had been fine, mostly. Having a friend or Sarah with you every night was nice for the most part but you did always feel like you were interrupting their lives with your bullshit. But even without that, the threat you had always managed to ignore or push to the back of your mind was now front and center.
Luke wanted you dead, no matter the cost.
And you, no matter how cliche it was, felt like you had just started living.
People had started to trickle off the carrier’s ramp and you tried to shake off the nerves you'd been living with for weeks. This was supposed to be a good thing. You scanned the crowds and spotted Javy’s girlfriend, Hope, and Neil’s parents beside Callie’s wife, and then you had to squint at the next group you spotted. Green eyes. Blonde hair. All of them. You knew them, didn’t you?
They seemed to spot you, too, and quickly turned course toward you. And then it dawned on you.
Oh god.
This wasn’t how you wanted to meet Jake’s mother and sister.
Sandra was leading the charge with one of her daughters behind her. There was no mistaking it now, they were headed right toward you.
“Hi there!” A delightful Texan twang hit your ears over the excited din of the crowds and you hoped your answering smile didn’t betray how nervous you were as you held out your hand for her to shake.
“I’m-”
“Punch!” Sandra finished for you before she threw her arms around you in a tight hug. And there was little fight in you to do anything but reciprocate. She rubbed your back for a moment then stepped back, holding you at arms length with that same warm smile on her face. “Oh, I am so happy to meet you, officially.”
“It is wonderful to officially meet you, too. I’m sure Jake will be so happy to see you both.”
Sandra laughed with a shake of her head as she dropped her hold. “We will probably just be an added bonus—you’ll be the star of the show, I’m sure.”
A surprised chuckle escaped you, a little strangled. What exactly did they know about you? What had Jake said? “Agree to disagree.”
Sandra was quick to introduce Mia, who also gave you a quick hug. “Kelly and Alex weren’t able to take off work but they’ll probably demand to FaceTime later.”
“I didn’t know you all were coming! Did you have trouble finding the port?” You asked, feeling a bit like you were intruding.
“Oh, not at all. And don’t you worry about us stealing too much of your time with Jacob,” Sandra said with a wink.
It immediately made your stomach twist. Oh god. This was embarrassing. “N-no, I, um-”
“You’re killing her, mama. Let her breathe,” Mia said with a smile. “Jacob probably still hasn’t grown a pair and said-”
“Mia!” Sandra scolded. “Language!”
Both you and Mia snorted (Mia more so than you) before her mother huffed and shook her head. “But she’s right. We’re just in town for a few hours and then heading up the coast to a cattle auction. We figured we could see him for a bit, we hope you don’t mind.”
You shook your head, chest warming at learning how adorably close Jake was to his family. “Of course not. I know he’ll be happy to see y-” Your words cut off in a scream as familiar arms wrapped around your waist from behind and hauled you into the air for a moment as you were spun in a circle. As soon as your feet touched the ground, you turned and poked at Jake’s chest. “Don’t do that! You-” His lips on yours quickly stifled any halfhearted argument you may have had, too. At least for a moment. When he pulled back, a familiar smirk on his face, you were quick to say, “that's so rude. You can’t just kiss me-”
He kissed you again and probably would have continued if someone hadn’t cleared their throat behind you.
“Please tell me my mother isn’t here.” His words vibrated against your smiling mouth as he stood stock-still with you still in his arms. Oh, this was hilarious.
“I don’t think the Jurassic Park Tyrannosaurus Rex rules apply to your mom, Ken. She can definitely see us.”
**
“Yes, she can see you,” his mother said, a laugh muddling her words.
Jake gave you one last kiss before stepping back and hugging his mother, trying to will the intense blush he felt blotting his cheeks away. He really hadn’t been expecting them—he had only had eyes for you as soon as his boots hit solid ground. And the fact that he hadn’t slept properly for eight weeks might have muddled his thought process anyway.
“Surprise!” Mia exclaimed.
He was quick to hug her, too, happy to see her smiling in person again. After his mom explained that they were only in town for a few hours, you suggested getting a bite to eat at one of the diners down the road. That worked for everyone and Jake started to herd the small group of women toward the parking lot, only pausing when he saw you stop to speak in low tones with Phoenix and Rooster. It seemed the pair needed a bit of reassurance to let you leave their line of sight but Phoenix eventually poked Rooster’s side with enough force to have him relent. Jake raised a hand in thanks to them before you rejoined his little group and he let you lead him to your car as you gave directions to the diner to his mother. The ride was short, thankfully, but he was happy just to feel the warmth of your thigh beneath his hand as you drove.
The hostess was quick to seat them when they arrived and his mother made sure to shove Jake onto the same side of the booth as you with a wink that had another blush inching its way up his face. She’d never been subtle.
“Well,” his mother started with a smile as her gaze moved between you and Jake after you all had ordered, “it seems like we may have been left uninformed about a few things.”
“It’s…new,” Jake said, feeling like he did when he was twelve and had been caught with his hand in the literal cookie jar.
“It doesn’t seem new.”
Jake kicked his sister beneath the table and earned a boot to his knee in return. She hadn’t even flinched. “What does that even mean?”
“It means that you guys seem settled, happy.” Mia paused, unsuccessfully hiding a smirk behind her hand. “Like an old married couple.”
Jake felt your eyes on him and it did little to deter that thought of you in a white dress and a smile on your lips walking toward him. Married. Jake knew he had thought of you in that way for months before he even knew what it was like to kiss you, but to hear someone like Mia say it? It felt like…
“Either way, we’re happy to see you both so happy,” Mia said with a wink, giving him an out. “And now we get to finally learn all about you. Jake was pretty sparse in the details he gave about you. Other than your ability to keep him on his toes and the way your eyes seemed to stare straight through him.”
His face was on fire now and the temperature only grew when he heard your laugh. “Straight through you, huh? What else has he said?”
“Nothing. I’ve said nothing.”
You patted Jake’s leg with a laugh. “Let the women talk, Jacob. You can try and fail to tell me that you didn’t say any of it later.”
The food arrived by the time Jake’s ears were burning and you were laughing like old friends with his sister and mother. He couldn’t help but laugh, too, at a few of the stories they told about him.
“Oh, but enough about Jacob,” his mother said, “tell us more about you. What do you do when you’re not keeping him safe at work?”
You smiled around the straw to your strawberry shake. “I’ve had some time on my hands lately, so I’m trying to write a book.”
“You write?” Mia asked, setting her fork down to give you her attention. “What do you write?”
Jake couldn’t resist teasing his sister and his tired brain forgot a key piece of information when he opened his mouth next. “Oh, c’mon, Mia. You’ve read her books, I gave them to you, remember?”
The silence that followed swallowed the table.
It took two stretched moments for Jake to realize what he had revealed and it washed over him like a wave of cold salt water. “Oh shit.”
You leaned forward to set your head into your hands for a moment before sighing. “Did you knock something loose when you were in the air, Ken?”
“I’m sorry!”
“You’re Georgia Torrance?”
You nodded as you sat back with a small, uneasy smile. “I am. I hope you liked the books.”
“She loves those books! She and her girls talk about them all the time!”
It was Mia’s turn to blush. “Thanks for that, mama,” She grumbled. Mia fiddled with her fork for a moment before her shoulders slumped. “Please tell me my brother hasn’t inspired your books. I’ll never be able to read them again if he did,” she said, only half joking if the strained chuckle she let out was any indication.
Jake hadn’t thought about that. Where did you find inspiration? While it may be a bit of a stroke to his ego if you did see him as a book worthy romantic lead, he could understand why his sister would never want to read them again. He watched you smile and set your hand over Mia’s across the table.
You leaned closer with a glint in your eye that told him whatever came out of your mouth next was probably going to leave him fighting for his life in front of his family. “He wishes.” And then you winked as Mia giggled. As his sister’s giggles petered out, your smile grew, but maybe a little less sharp at the edges. “I just wrote about what I wanted most in the world at the time. Someone gentle and strong and understanding.”
“And they’re gorgeous.”
“Oh, of course. I mean, not everyone is going to think all of my leads are their cup of tea, but if someone finds a bit of joy in my book, I think that’s just as good. I wrote most of them when I was at my loneliest, but I think the stuff I’m working on now is just as good. I hope you still like it.”
Mia’s smile grew and Jake watched her set her other hand over yours. “I’m sure I’m going to love it.”
“We could talk about it later, if you want? I’d love to get your input.”
“I’d love that. Really.”
The rest of the meal flew by and you earned a motherly frown from his mom when you managed to pay for everyone’s meal without them noticing just as they noted it was time for them to hit the road again. You and Mia walked ahead out to the parking lot, exchanging numbers and giggling about something he didn’t hear—but the sight of two of his favorite people getting along made Jake smile, too.
His mom grasped at his arm and pulled him to a top with a gentle look he knew well. Jake was about to be told something she thought he should know already. “She’s wonderful, Jacob. And you’re so happy with her.”
“I am happy, mama.” And he was. He hoped you were, too.
She reached up and gently patted his cheek. “You let me know when you want Gram’s ring.” Then, after kissing his cheek and reminding him to still call on Sunday, she said she loved him and she and Mia were gone.
And, really, who could blame Jake for thinking about the antique diamond and white gold ring on your finger? No one.
“They’re nice,” you said as you climbed back into your car a few minutes later. “I might like them more than you.”
Jake groaned, letting his hand find its usual spot on your thigh as you pulled out of the lot. “I don’t think I’ve ever been dumped for my sister or mom. That would be a first.” He then squeezed your thigh for a moment, earning a squeal.
You halfheartedly slapped at his hand as you pulled out onto the road, heading back toward base. He watched you bite your lip for a stretched second. “We would have to be together for me to dump you.”
What were you talking about? “Do you…”
“Look,” you cleared your throat, “I know we don’t have to put a label on things, but I’d like to know where we…stand. Together.” You then steadfastly refused to look at him as you took another turn.
And, really, Jake couldn’t really comprehend what he had just heard. “Punch, I was under the impression that we were together since you asked me to dinner at the hospital.”
You were quiet for a moment before letting out a soft, “oh.”
So, Jake continued, knowing he needed to lay all his cards on the table. “There is no one else I would do all that paperwork for, you know. I am all in. I’ve been all in with you since before I knew that you snore in your sleep.”
“I do not snore!”
“Yes, you do,” Jake said with a laugh. “But I am happy to hear it. All the time. Whatever you want, I want, as long as it is with you. You’re my girl.” This felt just as important as telling you that he loved you.
“And if I want the whole nine yards? Marriage, babies, a home?” You looked at him out of the corner of your eye. “For a long time, I didn’t think I could get any of that, deserve any of that.”
When you rolled to a stop at a red light, Jake reached out to tip your face in his direction. He wanted to make sure you knew he meant every word. “You deserve it. You do, all of that and more. And I would be honored to be the one to make sure you get it. I love you, darlin’. And I want everything with you.”
**
It was good to have Jake back for several reasons. One of them was that he took over all the “guard dog” duties (as he called them) at night so your other friends could get back to their normal lives. And you would never mind waking up to him on the pillow beside yours in the morning.
Knowing that you were on the same page with everything and this relationship was just…perfect. Something wonderful to focus on instead of knowing Luke was still out there.
Your name being called pulled you away from Natasha and Bob’s jet and you wiped your hands on the rag you kept in your jumpsuit’s pocket as you turned to look at Admiral Simpson a few paces away. “Sir?”
“I need you in my office. Now.” His mouth was set in a firm line with his hands on his hips. That was never a good sign.
A few of the other ADs looked at you as you followed the man out of the hangar and you tried to smile reassuringly at them, despite not knowing just what the hell was happening as you followed him all the way to his office. The grim look on his face didn’t budge even when Jake walked in a few moments later.
“Good. You’re both here.” He turned to grab paperwork from his desk. “I don’t want to be having this conversation. I want you both to know that.”
The rest of what he was saying was little more than a dull ringing in your ears as you realized what he was holding, what that paperwork meant. Something cold ran down your spine when you read one of the names signed at the bottom. You immediately recognized it. It was one of the big brass people who went golfing with Luke’s dad. It felt like the world had been taken out from under your feet and you were falling falling falling with no hope for a soft landing.
“We went about this the right way,” Jake argued, voice cutting through the sudden fog that had permeated your senses. “We filed the paperwork, we-”
“This comes from someone higher up than me, Lieutenant Commander.”
“Well, then what is going to happen?”
Admiral Simpson sighed and your heart dropped when his eyes landed on you. “The easiest route would be to have one of you reassigned.”
You knew it would be you. You were outranked and easily replaceable, all things considered. It would be you. And that was what Luke had wanted to do: to rip your home away from you, to leave you alone in the world again. But you just…
“No.”
“No.”
You looked at Jake and saw him already looking at you when you had spoken in unison.
“There are protocols that need to be followed. If it was up to me, this wouldn’t be an issue. Both of you have proven to be professional while on the flight line. But it is out of my hands. I don’t have a choice.”
“But I do,” you argued, turning to look at him. You rolled your shoulders back, wanting to stand as tall as you could with what you said next. “Please consider this my official acknowledgement that I will not be reenlisting at the end of my contract.”
“Punch!” Jake’s shout only strengthened your resolve.
“You do not have to make this decision now.”
“I do. I…I made a family here. I’m not going to lose it by being transferred to a different shore station.”
Jake whispered your name but you couldn’t look at him now. Not just yet. Not when you had all but set everything in stone.
“Are you sure this is the route you want to take?” Simpson asked, a surprising softness to his tone.
“I am. You can tell your superiors that this situation will be wrapped up in a neat little bow in a few weeks’ time.” You could feel both Jake and Admiral Simpson’s gazes pushing into you as you took a moment to glance down at your boots, trying to keep the resolve you had felt only a few seconds before.
Simpson was the one to break the silence. “I’ll get the paperwork started for you. I’ll have it on your desk by lunch tomorrow.” He paused and you looked up at him to see his mouth set in a sharp downturn. He shook his head before extending a hand out to you and you took it with a small smile. “It was a pleasure serving with you,” he said, making sure to enunciate your name and rank, too. You saluted him as he stepped back and then excused himself after a pointed look at Jake, leaving you alone.
“Punch…what are you doing?” Jake’s voice was soft but you could hear the tension hiding behind each syllable.
“I had to. I am not going to let Luke take this away from me. I have friends here, my best friends. I have made a family here. I…I have you here. I’m not going to let this all go. I won’t.”
Jake was quiet for a moment, sea glass eyes searching your face. But then a small smile pushed at his lips. “All in?”
“All in.”
And when he kissed you, you could feel his smile against your own. This was good, the start of something new.
**
Jake knew that the Daggers would take you leaving like a blow to the chest. When you asked them all to come to the Hard Deck, a place you felt safe in, a little before opening the following Saturday after your discharge papers were filed, there had been yelling and finger pointing and then tears.
Bradshaw had been the one to pull Jake aside when you were distracted by Harvard and Yale trying to get you to apply for one of the civilian contractor positions on base so you’d never be “too far away.”
“This is about Luke, isn’t it?” He asked.
“Yeah. Punch thinks his dad called in a favor with his buddies and had had our paperwork pulled. God knows what he said to his dad to make him think this would help, but-”
“I’ll kill him,” Rooster said through gritted teeth.
“Which one?” Jake asked, not laughing.
“Doesn’t matter. Both of them deserve it.”
The group eventually turned into an impromptu goodbye party for you as the bar opened, despite you still having a few weeks left of your contract. Drinks were bought and shared and Jake noticed how you smiled through it all.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” He asked quietly as he twirled you beneath his arm.
“It is,” you said with a soft pat to his chest. “I told you I wasn’t a lifer. Sure, this wasn’t exactly how I pictured getting out, but…I think I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll make sure of it,” he murmured before reaching up to carefully hold your face.
The night continued and Jake bought a round for everyone after Javy announced that Hope had accepted his proposal. Hope showed off the gorgeous ring (which Jake helped pick out) to almost everyone with a bright smile and then Javy asked Jake to be his best man while you were pulled away by Bob and Phoenix for something. By the time Javy had told Jake the entire proposal story and Jake had already started a mental list of possibilities for his bachelor party, you had disappeared from view.
Jake was not entirely too proud to realize he started to panic when he didn’t immediately find you in the steadily growing crowd, but his heart settled when he spotted you on the back deck. You and Phoenix were talking out on the deck, dying sunlight painting both of you with a golden light. You were rolling your water bottle between your palms while Phoenix stared out toward the waves.
You were telling her about Luke. You were telling her everything. He could tell by the way you held yourself, back straight and uncomfortably rigid, only relaxing when Phoenix reached out to lace her fingers with yours.
“You’ll be good to her, won’t you?”
Jake turned to see Bob and Rooster both looking at him. Jake might have laughed if he didn’t see the sincere looks on their faces.
“I will. And she’s doing this so she can still be near you guys, it isn’t like she’s being sent across the country.”
Bob looked at Rooster, some silent communication passing between them before Rooster nodded. “Still, be good to her.”
“I plan to, for the rest of my life.” And he meant it.
The rest of the night passed with you beneath his arm, smiling and laughing with your friends. It loosened something tight in Jake’s chest each time he heard your laugh. You were going to be okay.
By the time midnight rolled around, the party had quieted a bit, Jake pulled you out to walk a little ways down onto a quieter stretch of the beach in front of a restaurant that had closed for the night, so you could watch the waves again, making you elbow him when he said it was “romantic because it was like our first date again.”
“You’re a sap.”
“Tell anyone and I’ll deny it.”
You hummed, a happy noise, and turned to rest the point of your chin on his chest as you wound your arms around his waist. “Yes, I know. You have a reputation to uphold.” But you still stood there with him and watched the waves until you shivered, the night air coming off the sea cutting through your thin dress.
“Ready to head home?” His hands traced slow circles into the low of your back, earning a soft sigh in return. You were content. Happy. That’s what he wanted for you.
“Yeah,” you murmured.
The yawn you let out next only made Jake smile. “Yeah, let’s get you tucked in.”
“You gonna rock me to sleep?” You asked with a lazy wink as you started to walk toward the parking lot.
Jake groaned only so he wouldn’t have to admit that the line worked on him. “Awful. Truly awful.”
You only laughed. “C’mon, Ken. Let’s go.”
He let you guide him up the bank to the restaurant's empty parking lot—he really did love watching your hips sway with each step. Just as you both stepped onto the asphalt, you froze and Jake didn’t realize you had stopped until he bumped into your back. “What is it?” Jake asked, looking up and trying to find what you were seeing but his blood ran cold when he spotted it. Spotted him.
It was Luke, lurking like a beast in the shadows of the lot’s street lamp.
**
“Get behind me,” Jake said, already pushing you to his back.
“Jake!”
“Come out and fight me! What, you have to wait until she’s alone again?”
You wrapped a hand over Jake’s arm as blood roared in your ears. You needed to leave. Now. You didn’t want Jake to get hurt, you wouldn’t allow it. “Jake-”
But Jake gently shook out of your grip and took a few steps toward Luke. “I’m here now, what’re you gonna do, huh? She’s not alone now—but that’s never stopped you from failing on doing anything worthwhile. You really are the biggest fuck up I’ve ever heard of.”
You knew what he was doing, goading Luke into attacking first so there could be plausible deniability. Jake wouldn’t be the aggressor if anyone asked. But still, you just wanted to leave. To leave and never see Luke again. You swallowed hard and moved to stand at his back again, hand tightening on Jake’s arm, ready to run. “Jake, c’mon.”
“How many times are you going to try to kill her, man? How many chances do you need to actually do something? Don’t you think it’s a little pathetic that you can’t do anything right the first time? And when you can’t, you need your father to come in and clean up your messes.”
Luke gritted his teeth, shining in the moonlight. His hands were curled into fists at his sides and muscle memory had you wanting to run. Hide. Or try to calm him down. But you couldn’t, not now.
“Shut your fucking mouth. You don’t know shit.”
“I know that you beat a woman for doing your job better than you because you liked the bottle more than keeping your pilot alive.”
“I was good at my job!”
Jake laughed, low and rumbling. “And you’re a shit liar, too. You don’t even believe that.”
And that was enough. Luke charged at Jake and you tugged you both out of the way, watching in muted horror as Luke pulled a knife from his pocket and swung blindly. When he swung again with a shout, you shoved Jake to the side and managed to step back just enough to only feel the air rush by your neck.
Jake stumbled and you saw his eyes go wide before he pivoted and threw himself forward, catching Luke around the waist and tackling him to the pavement. He reared back just enough to haul his arm up and landed a blow to Luke’s face. But Luke was not finished either. His head snapped to the side only for a moment before you saw the knife still in his hand.
“Jake!” was all you could scream. Not him. Not your Jake. He couldn’t take him from you.
But you weren’t fast enough. The moonlight caught the blade just before it arced across Jake’s chest as Luke threw his entire weight behind the move, shifting them both to the side. Blood bloomed and soaked through Jake’s shirt as he let out a sharp yell before he wrenched backward, away from Luke who was slowly sitting up, poised to try again.
You dove for them and your knees slammed against the pavement, skidding into Jake’s thighs. Your shaking hands wrapped around Luke’s hand and slammed and slammed and slammed it into the pavement until his grip on the knife loosened and you wrenched it away with a guttural scream of your own.
Luke ripped his hand from yours just enough to backhand you. Pain rippled across your face as white spots danced in front of your eyes for a moment but you hardly had time to recover before a punch left you gasping for air—Luke snarled something, drool gathering at the sides of his lips, but you hardly heard it over the ringing in your ears.
And then you were shoved backward, your spine flattening against the pavement with a muted shout of your own. Luke pushed himself up onto his feet, looming over you for a moment, cloaked in shadow. But you couldn’t be scared. Not now. You kicked, your heel connecting with his crotch, and sent him to his knees again.
“You bitch!” He seethed. “You-”
The rest of his threat was cut off as Jake’s arm wrapped around his throat, you hadn’t even realized he had moved. Luke reached up to claw at Jake’s skin but he didn’t falter, even as he thrashed in his grip.
Heaving yourself back onto your feet, you watched Luke’s face get steadily redder and his attempts to get out of Jake’s hold grew more sluggish by the moment. A small bit of you liked it, liked seeing the man who had tried to ruin your life and murder you over and over again be so utterly helpless. You looked at Jake to see him looking at you, silently asking for you to tell him what you wanted.
So, you said nothing. Nothing until Luke’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went entirely limp. Jake let go of him after you nodded and you almost laughed as you watched Luke’s face bounce on the pavement just as red and blue lights started to bleed across the street. You weren’t surprised someone had called the cops, maybe they’d do something worthwhile this time.
Jake reached out for you as the sirens grew louder and you happily set your hand in his before carefully pressing your lips to his. “Thank you,” you whispered.
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
By the time the paramedic had cleaned the thankfully shallow slash on Jake’s chest, Luke was being read his Miranda Rights and you had given your statement to the responding cops.
You watched Luke get shoved into the back of the cop car; one of the cops actually pushed his head down with a palm on the back of his neck like a disobedient puppy.
When Jake stepped in front of you and gently cradled your face, you sagged into his grip, all the remaining fight and tension bleeding out of you in a moment. “It’s done,” was all you could say.
“You finished it,” he said softly.
“We did. And I…” The words stalled on your tongue. “What happens now?”
Jake shook his head before pulling you close to press a kiss to your forehead, your temple, then your lips. “I don’t know, darlin’. But we’ll figure it out together.”
**
The dance was slow and easy, you and Jake simply swayed to the beat as other couples moved around you.
“How are you tonight, Mrs. Seresin?”
You laughed with a shake of your head. He called you that more than your name, more than “Punch,” more than anything else. It had been five years since you’d surprised all your friends and family at your Ugly Holiday Sweater Party that it was actually your wedding and he still didn’t get tired of calling you Mrs. Seresin. But you didn’t think you’d ever tire of hearing it, either. “I’m fine, Captain Seresin.”
His pleased smirk grew and he pulled you a little closer. Well, as close as your bump would allow. Just for a moment, he let go of your hip to smooth a hand over the silk of your gown stretched across your growing bump before resuming your dance.
Your fingers inched up his shoulder to push into the hair at the back of his head, ruining his carefully coiffed style. He was so handsome in his dress whites. The tinge of grey starting to grow at his temples only added to his enduring appeal—and he was all yours. “Your speech was wonderful,” you added with a smile.
He chuckled and shook his head, glancing at another dancing couple beside you. Bradley and Natasha were in their own bubble; it was to be expected at their wedding reception. But you did get a chuckle out of Natasha stealing her husband’s dress white’s hat and wearing it atop her carefully styled hair. To be fair, it did match her gown, too. Their son, welcomed two years ago with the help of a surrogate so both parents could keep flying up until they took their parental time off, was happily eating cake in Bob’s lap at a table in the corner. Bob’s wife was making a valiant effort to keep crumbs off Bob’s dress trousers while Pete kept a napkin beneath the toddler’s chin in an attempt to help. Today had been beautiful and perfect, exactly what you wanted for your best friends’ wedding.
“Thank you for looking it over for me.” He leaned down to brush his mouth against yours and you could feel his smile.
It had been a blissful five years. You may have been a bit of a naval cliche, getting married within a few months of really dating but it worked for you. You were happy. Getting out of the Navy allowed you more time to write. Your publisher was nearly ecstatic with the increase in productivity and offered you a new royalties deal. While it still wasn’t Stephen King money—and you knew you’d never reach that level—you were proud of it.
Jake had made sure the house he bought on the coast had an office for each of you and he happily helped you paint it a soft green that you swore helped you write. When you offhandedly mentioned that it reminded you of his eyes, he fucked you bent over the pricey cherry wood desk he’d bought for you after your latest book hit the best seller’s list. If your math was correct (it was), that was when your first child was conceived. Little Elsie came screaming into the world a few months later and immediately had Jake wrapped around her tiny fingers. She was currently being babysat (aka spoiled) by Grammy Sandy while you and Jake took the weekend for Bradley and Natasha’s wedding—you were a bridesmaid and Jake a groomsman, so you had quite a few things to take care of. The house was filled with pictures of quiet moments you cherished, like Elsie asleep on Jake’s chest a few weeks after she was born, and then more rambunctious moments, too, like the last Halloween party you attended where you were dressed as Ken and Jake was your Barbie. Apparently Jake looked good in everything, including hot pink. Pictures of the Daggers and their families were hung up beside pictures of Danny at his first lecture after earning his PhD and Georgie with her husband with her little boy on her hip. A picture of you and Jake surrounding Mia at her wedding a few months ago was on the mantle above the fireplace beside a picture of you and Lily with Sarah, Junior, and Taylor at Junior’s wedding, too.
Luke had been sent away for a few decades after pleading guilty to attempted murder and aggravated stalking. You doubted he would ever be a threat to you again but you and Jake had both been granted restraining orders against him, too. From what you had heard from the grapevine (Beau mentioned it in passing with a knowing smile), Luke’s father quietly retired from his position in the Navy before the trial and all of the relationships he had cultivated over the decades of his service crumbled when they’d learned of how he had paid for your silence. The ordeal had been exhausting and had left you reeling day after day when you needed to relive all of it while on the stand. But you had a support system. You had the Daggers, your siblings, the Kazanskys, your in-laws, and Jake. Your Ken. He never left your side.
“Is my son giving you any trouble tonight?” It was a recurring question since he learned you were pregnant again. Elsie had given you a few scares in utero and he wanted to make sure you were comfortable.
“He’s on his best behavior.”
“Good.” Jake stole another kiss and then you stole one right back.
It wasn’t always perfect. No relationship was. You still had to deal with deployments and growing pains that came with expanding your family, and the infrequent disagreements that arose. But it was good. It was worth fighting for. Jake had given you a home that could never be taken from you.
“I love you,” you whispered after he spun you under his arm.
“I love you more.”
A/N: that’s all she wrote, folks! thank you so much for going along on this ride with me. I hope you enjoyed Xx
#Jake seresin x reader#jake hangman seresin x reader#hangman x reader#jake hangman x reader#Top gun maverick fic#jake hangman seresin#tgm#top gun maverick#female reader
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Bang Chan
You awaken to the sun pouring in through the gaps of the curtain. You roll over to check the time on your phone only to see that it was 6:05 in the morning. Mentally groaning, you curse yourself for your body’s natural reaction to waking up at this time.
You normally would be up, getting ready to start your day at this time, but you didn’t have work today and you wanted to sleep in as much as you could.
Pouting to yourself you turn to your side and see the back of the man sleeping next to you, shirtless.
You trace a finger down his back, a soft smile settling on your face before moving closer to him, wrapping your arms around him from behind.
The slight groan you hear lets you know that the man in your embrace was starting to wake.
“Sorry Channie, go back to sleep. It’s still early.” You whisper in your boyfriend’s ear.
Chan hums at you before grabbing your hand that was wrapped around his waist and bringing it up to his lips where he places a kiss on the back of it.
“Can’t sleep?” Chan’s deep morning voice always sends a shiver down your spine.
You snuggle up closer to Chan, “with you in my arms? I’m sure I’ll be out again for the next couple of hours.”
A giggle escapes Chan as he replies, wrapping your arm tighter around him, interlacing your fingers together over his stomach. “Good, you need to rest.”
“So do you baby.”
“Well then we should go back to sleep then, in fact, why don’t we stay in bed all day today?”
“I think that’s one of the best ideas you have ever had.”
“They only come when you’re around, how else do you think I’ve been able to make those songs huh?”
You just softly laugh at Chan before placing a kiss on the back of his neck, “go back to sleep bub, we can talk later.”
“Mmm, okay. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Lee Minho
You hadn’t seen Minho for a couple of days, work got him busy and you completely understood that. You both had kept up with messaging each other and the occasional call when you had time.
You were currently on your way to the company, Minho had told you earlier that he was going to be in the dance practice room, just going over some stuff by himself. So you decided to pay him a visit.
Quietly opening the door you slip into the room, gently dropping your bag to the floor. You look over at Minho who had not heard you come in.
Minho seemed to be watching a video on his phone, from what you could guess, it was probably a video of himself dancing and he was monitoring it.
Making your way over to Minho, who had still not noticed you were there, you wrap your arms around him from behind.
“Hey Min.” You say into Minho’s back.
Minho turns his phone off and throws it on top of his jumper on the ground, “what are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to see you.”
“You know this is kind gross right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m all sweaty and you’re hugging me.”
“Well I think you look hot.”
Minho turns around in your embrace and grabs you by the waist, “of course you do.”
“What? Can’t I think that my boyfriend looks hot when he’s sweaty?” You pout.
“Oh no, you definitely can.” Minho leans down and gives you a kiss before pulling away from you.
“Well since you’re here, do you mind having a look over what I’ve got so far?” Minho walks over to go and get the music ready.
“Show me.” You say as you settle down on the ground.
Seo Changbin
Changbin had been in the studio for a couple hours straight and had not come out. Chan had messaged you 10 minutes ago because he was worried about Changbin. He had said that none of them could get him out and he was hoping you would be able to .
You were extremely worried bout your boyfriend after hearing that and said of course you would. You were lucky that you had finished off all your work earlier and could leave to head over to the studio.
You’re walking down the hall to the studio Changbin is in, food in hand when you see Chan and Jisung heading your way.
“Y/n!” Jisung says as he gives you a hug.
“You made it.” Chan pulls you in for a hug as well.
“Yeah, I brought him some food and I’ll try my best to get him out.” You say.
“Please, we’ve tried everything. We didn’t want to disturb you at work but you were the only thing we could think of.” Chan says with an apologetic look on his face.
“No, please don’t be sorry, I’m actually really glad you called.”
“You take care of him okay? And please let us know how it goes, we’re all quite worried.” Jisung pats you on your shoulder before the two head off down the hallway.
You carry on in the direction of where Changbin is and open the door to the room. You peek your head around the door and see Changbin sitting at the desk with his headphones on.
You slip into the room and gently shut the door behind you, dropping your stuff on the floor and placing the food down on some of the shelves that are in the room. Making your way to where Changbin sat in his chair, you slowly wrap your arms around him from behind.
Changbin at first jumps a little at the touch but settles down once he notices that it’s you. Pulling his headphones off of one of his ears, he gives you a quick glance. “What are you doing here?”
“Chan called me.” You softly say, as to show that you weren’t mad, but concerned.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, the boys are worried ‘bout you baby.”
“I’m sorry,” Changbin whispers s he pushes himself away from the desk.
“It’s alright love, I know you didn’t purposely mean to worry them.”
Changbin pulls away from you and stands up, he then turns around and pulls you into him, hiding his head in your neck. “’M still sorry.” You manage to make out Changbin’s words despite them being muffled.
You gently run your fingers through his messy, curly hair and pull away from the hug, grabbing his hand and interlacing your fingers together. You then lead your boyfriend over to the couch in the room. “Let’s have something to eat, yeah?”
Changbin just nods his head at you as he sits down, accepting the food you give him. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Binnie. Just could you please give Chan a call? I bumped into him and Jisung when I was on my way here, I think they would appreciate it.”
“Of course, I think I’m done here for the night anyway. Can I come back to your place? Stay the night?”
“Of course you can, I’ll even run us a hot bath with some candles and essences if you’d like.”
“Thanks baby.” Changbin reaches over to pull you in for a kiss.
“It’s nothing love, let’s head home after you finish eating ‘kay?” You say stroking your fingers through Changbin’s hair with a warm smile on your face.
Hwang Hyunjin
It was late, like 2:30 in the morning late, or you suppose early. But you and Hyunjin were both awake, his schedule leaving him up until the early hours in the morning and you just couldn’t sleep knowing that he was still awake.
So this particular day, you fought it within yourself to stay awake until he returned home.
Hyunjin opens the front door of your house and quietly lets himself in, thinking that you would be sound asleep, tucked away in bed. So imagine his surprise when he spots you on the couch asleep.
Hyunjin could tell from the way your phone was laying on the ground and the tv on, that you had fallen asleep waiting for him.
Gently dropping his bag on the ground, Hyunjin makes his way over to you.
With a soft smile on his face, he reaches a hand out and gently pushes some hair out of your face. Hyunjin leans down and plants a kiss on your forehead before heading out to shower.
After finishing his shower and changing into comfortable clothes, Hyunjin quietly makes his way over to the kitchen where he opens the fridge. Seeing the dinner you had made in there, he pulled it up and put it in the microwave.
Lost in thought, Hyunjin didn’t hear you sneak up behind him until he felt arms wrap around him from behind. Immediately recognising your hold, Hyunjin sinks into your embrace.
“Work good?” the sleepy sound of your voice sends a slight giggle through Hyunjin.
“Yeah, it was good. What about you baby?” Hyunjin intertwines your fingers together.
“Hmm, just tiring.”
Hyunjin gently turns around in your arms and kisses you.
“Go back to bed baby.” Hyunjin slowly pulls you away from him.
“But-”
“But nothing. Come.” Taking your hand, Hyunjin leads you towards the bedroom and pulls back the cover, helping you into the bed.
“I’ll be back after I’ve eaten okay?” Placing a kiss on your forehead, Hyunjin softly closes the door to your room after he leaves.
Han Jisung
Jisung had texted you earlier on in the day that he had finished schedules early and was heading over to your place. You had just now gotten off of work and were heading home, you quickly stopped to get some take out for the both of you before continuing on your journey home.
Walking through your front door, you take your shoes off and walk into your kitchen where you place your stuff and the food on the counter.
Hearing no noise coming from the lounge, you wander the house in question of where Jisung was and why was he so quiet?
Entering your bedroom you spot Jisung standing with his back towards you, he seemed to have some clothes laid out on your bed and was peering down at them.
With a small smirk on your face, you silently creep up behind Jisung, wrapping your arms around him.
A shriek leaves his mouth as Jisung spins out of your hold and jumps back from you, a hand on his chest.
“Y/N!” Jisung exclaims when he sees you, “were you trying to kill me?”
You just shrug your shoulders with a smirk on your face, “I mean the opportunity was right there, I had to take it.”
Jisung glares at you before grabbing your hand and pulling you next to him.
“So?” Jisung says, pointing towards the clothes on your bed.
“What?” You question, confused.
Jisung rolls his eyes with an exaggerated sigh before reaching over and pulling the clothes up, showing them to you. You now notice that they were matching onesies.
“I got us matching onesies.” A wide smile forms on Jisung’s face as he holds them up.
A smile just as big forms on your face as you squeal, jumping into Jisung’s arms, “oh my gosh, these are so cute, can we wear them, like, now?”
“I knew you would love them.” Jisung says, a proud smile on his face. “But only if we get to take a really cute couple, pinterest worthy photos and send them to the boys so that I can brag about how cute we are.”
“Oh course, that's not even a question. Now pass it over mister, I’m going to get changed.” You grab your onesie from Jisung and run off to the bathroom to get changed
What you don’t see though is the fond smile on Jisung’s face as he watches you leave the room full of excitement.
“I love her.” Jisung comes to the realisation. You both had not said the three little words to each other but Jisung right then and there knew that you were the one.
“Hey wait for me babe,” Jisung grabs his onesie to go and join you in the bathroom.
Lee Felix
It was late, but both you and Felix could not seem to fall asleep. You were both currently in your apartment, soft, lofi music playing in the background while you baked some of Felix’s infamous brownies.
“Hey love, can you pass me some of that butter over there please?” Felix points over his shoulder in the general direction the butter was.
Looking up from the bowl you were mixing, you spot the butter and walk over to grab it.
Handing it over to Felix, you wrap your arms around him from behind, gently swaying the both of you to the music playing in the background.
You hear Felix put down the spoon he was using and turn around in your embrace, wrapping his arms around your waist as you move your arms up and intertwine your fingers together behind his neck.
“You’re beautiful,” Felix says as he reaches down to place a kiss on your lips.
“Mmm no, I think you’re more beautiful,” you respond as you pull away from the kiss.
“No, that’s not possible. I truly believe that you are the most beautiful human being to ever exist, both inside and out.” Felix brings your head to his chest, placing a kiss on your forehead.
“I love you,” you whisper into his chest.
“I love you too beautiful.” Felix gently moves you both to the music, just enjoying each other's company.
Kim Seungmin
“Hey Y/n? Can you come have a look at this please?”
You hear Seungmin shout out from the living room, setting down the knife you were using to make you both some lunch, you head out of the kitchen and into where Seungmin was standing.
Walking up behind him, you wrap your arms around him, “yeah? What did you want to show me?”
Seungmin holds up some papers, “the lyrics that I’ve been working on, I think I’ve got some good stuff but I want your opinion.”
“Min, I don’t really know anything about lyrical writing.”
“I know that, but your opinion matters to me, I want to know what you think about them.”
Seungmin wasn’t always openly affectionate towards you. You knew he loved you wholeheartedly but also knew that he didn’t see the need to openly express to the world his love for you.
It was these little things that expressed the love and affection he held towards you.
You unwrap yourself from the hug you were giving him from behind and move to sit down on the couch. You gesture for Seungmin to take the seat beside you and he does, handing you over the papers.
“Well, I’ll try my best to give you what you want.” You say grabbing the papers from him.
Taking your legs and placing them into his lap, Seungmin gently rubs your thighs, “anything you give me matters. So whatever you’ve got, just the first thing that pops into your mind when you read them.”
You look over at Seungmin from the papers and smile at him, “I can promise you now baby, that I’m going to love whatever you write, I always have.”
“You never know, it might change this time.” Seungmin says as he shrugs his shoulders.
“I highly doubt that.” You say as you settle into the couch. “What was your inspiration about this time though?”
“You. It’s always you.”
Yang Jeongin
“You alright baby?” You say as you walk up to Jeongin and you wrap your arms around him from behind.
“Y/n? didn’t know you were here yet.” Jeongn says surprised.
“Yeah, Minho let me in. I did text you that I was on my way though.”
“Oh, I haven’t been checking my phone.”
“I gathered that. But do you want to explain to me why you’re still in your jammies?” You ask with a slight chuckle to your tone of voice.
“I was having trouble trying to pick out what to wear. I know that we’re going out on a date but I wanted to get you to take some photos for me so that I can post them for Stay later on.”
“You know Stay will love whatever you wear right?”
“I know that, but I just wanted to look nice.”
“Babe,” you move to stand in front of Jeongin and reach out to cup his face, “you always look nice. You could go out in what you're wearing now and I would still think you look amazing, I’m pretty sure Stay would agree with me as well.”
Jeongin still wears a pout on his lips so you reach up to kiss it away.
“Well come on then,” you say as you pull away from the kiss. “Let’s choose an outfit. How do you feel about subtle matching with me?”
The big smile on Jeongin’s face causes one to form on your face as well.
“I love you.” Jeongin says.
“I love you too. Now help me out here mister, we’ve got a date to go on.” You say as you give Jeongin a slap on his butt. His cute yelp that he lets out, followed by his playful glare causes you to laugh.
“You’re lucky you’re cute.” Jeongin walks over to his closet and opens it up.
“Yeah, you’re alright too.” You say as you walk over to join him.
#skz scenarios#skz reactions#skz fluff#stray kids#stray kids scenarios#stray kids x reader#stray kids imagines#stray kids bang chan#stray kids lee know#stray kids lee minho#stray kids changbin#stray kids hyunjin#stray kids jisung#stray kids felix#stray kids seungmin#stray kids jeongin
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all the right buttons: part 2 GOKU (college AU goku x reader)
alright goku fuckers, come get y'all juice
and don't worry geta lovers, you'll get yours soon too
You stared at the coin in your hand, anxiously rubbing your thumb over it. The only way to discover your true feelings was to flip it. Heads for Goku, tails for Vegeta.
The coin sailed through the air. You captured it between your palms and flipped it onto the back of one hand. Eyes opening, you lifted your hand. Heads.
YOU: ummm i guess i felt like i had a slightly better connection with goku?
You climbed into bed and laid in the darkness, wiggling your toes impatiently between your bed sheets. Your stomach floated nervously within you, waiting for her response. What if your guess was wrong? Would you be disappointed if it was Vegeta? No, certainly not disappointed. But there would be at least a tinge of FOMO in your heart at the thought of missing out on Goku. He seemed so sweet and easy to get along with. But perhaps he was just a nice guy with everyone and you were nothing special to him. Whatever the case, you jolted when your phone finally buzzed with Bulma’s reply.
BULMA: as soon as you left, goku said you were cool and that you should come over again soon :) and he said you were really pretty
An automatic smile spread across your face and you kicked your feet up with a delighted squeal.
YOU: omg i’ll come over right now if he wants haha
BULMA: easy tiger :) i gave him your number and told him to hit you up, so hopefully you’ll be hearing from him v soon
YOU: did you tell him anything I said about him? Did you put in a good word for me?
BULMA: I told him you’re super sweet and lots of fun to be around, but he was already kinda smitten and didnt need much encouragement. it was actually really cute
Your cheeks were starting to hurt from all the smiling. Then your phone buzzed again.
Unknown Number: hey, it’s goku! i got your number from bulma, i hope thats alright
You stomped your feet on the bed, pleasantly surprised that he was texting you already. This guy doesn’t play games!
YOU: omg hey! ofc thats okay! I know I can trust bulma not to give my number to creeps. I had a great time playing with you today!
GOKU: yeah me too! I’ll have to dig out some other games we can play together sometime
YOU: I’m absolutely down for another game sesh! Wish I still had all my old games, I’d bring some
GOKU: just bring yourself and I’m sure we can find something to play! theres actually an old tenkaichi tournament movie, we could try and find it somewhere and watch it
YOU: ive heard its actually a horrible movie! but that isn’t gonna stop me, i love making fun of bad movies
GOKU: haha cool! Vegeta and I always go to the gym friday afternoons, but I’m free after 5 or so. We could order some food and just hang out here
Wow, he really doesn’t beat around the bush! Straight to asking me to hang out already?
YOU: that sounds great! And will your roommates be joining us?
GOKU: they’ll probably be around. But i was kind of hoping it might just be you and me
YOU: i think i’d like that :) so it’s a date then?
GOKU: yeah, if that’s okay with you
YOU: definitely okay with me! I can bring some drinks if you want
GOKU: yeah sure! You like chinese takeout? Theres an awesome place just off campus I order from all the time, they give you sooo much food
YOU: yeah, that sounds great to me. I’m sure you need big portions, you’re a growing boy after all!
For the rest of the week, you texted Goku without the conversation coming to a natural end. As midday turned into Friday afternoon, an anxious, fluttery feeling flooded your stomach. What should you wear? What should you do with your hair? What about makeup?
In the end, you opted for a pair of high-waisted jean shorts, a cute camisole with lace trim and an oversized cozy cardigan that kept falling off your shoulder. The peek of skin would be enticing, if he was interested in hooking up of course. And you certainly weren’t against that idea. Since the day you met him, you had been thinking about climbing all over him, especially right into his lap…
You put your hair up into a clip and dotted your cheeks and lips with a soft glow. After a touch of mascara, you admired yourself in your full length mirror. Scrubbed, shaved and smelling lightly of perfume, you felt confident in your natural beauty. Your heart danced in your chest when your phone buzzed with a text from Goku, saying to come over whenever you were ready. You grabbed the case of chilled vodka soda from your dorm fridge and headed across campus.
By the time you arrived at Bulma and Goku’s front door, your cheeks were aching from smiling so much. Your heart still twirling like a ballerina, you knocked and awaited your date’s appearance.
The door swung open, revealing Goku in a tight black tee and another pair of short shorts in bright orange. He grinned and adjusted his glasses on his nose.
“Hey! Good to see ya!” he said, giving you a brief but warm hug as you stepped over the threshold. Your arms snaked around his thin waist, pleasantly aware of having his hard body flush against yours.
“Good to see you again too, Goku! How was your workout?” you asked as he led you into the kitchen.
“Great! Vegeta hit a PR on bench today, so that was cool!”
You tilted your head as he took the case of vodka soda from you and put it in the fridge. “What’s a PR?”
He blinked. “Oh! Personal record. Sorry, I forgot you aren’t a gym rat like me,” he said, shyly scratching the back of his neck. “Oh, Bulma left this for us by the way.” Goku tapped a knuckle on a bottle of white wine with a fancy label.
“Oh my gosh, that looks expensive!” you said as you examined it. “But what a sweetheart she is! I’ll have to tell her thank you!”
Goku led you to the living room where the game console and old TV had been shoved to the corner and Bulma’s fancy flat screen once again dominated the space. A new coffee table sat in front of the couch as well.
“She’s been busting my balls all week about you,” he said with a shy chuckle as he plopped onto the couch.
“Oh yeah?” you asked in a teasing voice. “What about me?”
A warm blush started to overtake Goku’s cheeks. He smiled and shrugged. “Just that she’s happy to see me take interest in someone, I guess. Apparently she thinks its about time!”
You sat on the couch and propped your arm over the back, turned to face Goku. “Has it been a while since you dated someone then?”
He nodded. “Yeah, since high school. I had a long term thing with this one girl but it didn’t end so great. She was a bit of a hot-head. But since her… I haven’t even been on a date. Just been trying to sort my own stuff out, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it. I’m not the most experienced with relationships either. Shit’s complicated,” you laughed.
Goku smiled. “Yeah, you’re telling me!” His phone buzzed. “Alright, dinner’s here! Be right back!” His eyes grew wide with excitement and he raced out the door before you could even reply. He came back just as quick and unloaded a surprising amount of food onto the coffee table.
“Are you sure you ordered enough?” you asked sarcastically.
Goku furrowed his brows and looked over the selection of takeout containers. “Well, I thought five entrees might be enough, but I’ll be happy to order more if you want!”
You laughed and opened a pair of chopsticks. “I was kidding! This looks like enough to feed my entire family back home!”
His frown quickly inverted and he grinned. “Oh, okay, good! Should we break out what you brought to drink or try Bulma’s fancy wine?”
“Let’s have the wine with the movie, I think,” you suggested, padding over to the fridge and grabbed a drink for each of you.
Per usual with Goku, conversation was steady and comfy. You chatted and laughed as you sat on the floor across the coffee table from each other, both of your cell phones sitting untouched.
“Is this table new?” you asked.
Goku nodded as he scarfed down some lo mein. “Yeah, Bulma bought a new one because Vegeta and I kind of broke the last one.”
You sputtered a laugh. “How on earth did you manage to break a coffee table?”
“Well, we were just kind of goofing around and Vegeta slipped and… Fell right through it! It was all glass, he complained about it being invisible all the time anyway. Bulma is convinced he did it on purpose because he hated it!”
You covered your mouth full of food and laughed heartily. “That is hilarious! But what the hell do you mean you were just goofing around?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, just… Goofin’ off like guys do?”
“Sounds just like my brothers,” you said, shaking your head.
You finished your meal, with Goku eating the lion’s share of the food. You didn’t mind, he clearly required more calories than you did. As he was clearing away all the takeout containers, you watched him in the kitchen from behind. His wide shoulders and slutty waist made your head feel light. Or was it the vodka soda?
“You ready to bust out this bottle of wine?” he called over his shoulder.
Your eyes grazed over his silhouette, admiring his stellar ass in those tiny shorts. “Sure, let’s do it!”
Goku rummaged around in the kitchen drawers. “Crap, I have no idea where to find a corkscrew.”
You rose from your place on the living room floor to help him look. “Well I sure hope you at least know how to use one, because I sure don’t! I only ever buy the cheap wine with the screw top.”
Goku bumped into you, then placed a hand on your hip to navigate around you in the kitchen. You blushed at the contact.
“Bulma’s not here, is she?” you asked. “We could ask her if she knows where it is.”
“No, she said she was heading back to West City to see her parents this weekend. And Vegeta said he’d be out late tonight.”
Way at the back of a stuck drawer, you felt a spiral shape. You turned and twisted it until the drawer could move again, finally able to extract the object. You held it up with a bright smile.
“Ta-da!” you said.
“Hey, nice!” Goku said, giving you a high-five. He took the corkscrew and carefully opened the fancy bottle to pour you both a glass.
You returned to the living room with two stemless crystal glasses as Goku made a quick trip to his bedroom.
“The library had the Tenkaichi movie on DVD!” he called down the hall as he returned. You sat on the edge in the middle of the couch, watching him lean over to load the DVD into the player. Those damn shorts are giving me heart palpitations, you thought. His body is godly.
Cheeks growing warmer by the second, you slid your cardigan off one shoulder for some much-needed cool air. You caught Goku’s eyes taking you in as he turned around, peeking at him over the rim of your wine glass.
“How’s it taste?” Goku asked, his voice quiet and soft.
You raised the crystal and gave it a swirl before taking a sip. You closed your eyes and breathed through your nose as you swallowed the aromatic liquid, a trail of pleasant warmth growing in your chest.
“Expensive,” you said. You both laughed.
Goku grabbed the remote and sat on your right, his left arm automatically fanning over the back of the couch cushion. Once he started the movie, he exchanged the remote for his glass of wine, taking a sizable swig.
“Hm, it’s sweeter than I expected. The last time I tried wine, I felt like it sucked all the moisture out of my mouth,” Goku said.
You took another sip. “Yeah, this one is nice and mild. I could drink the whole bottle of this,” you said, your head starting to feel pleasantly heavy.
Eager to move closer to your date, you sat back into the couch and tucked your feet up, leaning onto your hip. There was still space between the two of you, but it was Goku’s turn to come to you next.
The movie began with a vibrant action scene, filling the dark room with bright flashes of light. After draining half of his glass, Goku leaned forward and placed it on the coffee table. When he leaned back, he closed the small gap between you, nestling your shoulder under his wing on the back of the couch. A rush filled you immediately, and you happily leaned your weight into his firm torso. At that, Goku moved his arm from the couch cushion to rest across your shoulders. Another pleasing rush of adrenaline raced through you. You licked your lips and sipped on the wine.
“This okay?” he said, barely above a whisper.
You gave a smile and warm mm-hmm before placing your glass on the table and snuggling up to him even more. His thighs spread slightly, making his leg press into yours. Like chess opponents trading moves, you thought about what your next move should be. Your mind flashed back to the last time you saw Goku. That blue tank top had shown off his pecs just right…
Biting your lip, you leaned your head over to rest your burning cheek against his chest. With your ear pressed to him, you could hear his heart beating wildly. The excitement of snuggling up with such a handsome guy was not lost on you, as your heart was purring like an engine. His pecs really did make for a great pillow.
Goku began brushing his fingers softly over your exposed shoulder. You sighed happily and relaxed into his touch.
“You’re comfy,” you said as you worked your arms around his waist. He leaned back, pulling you into him even more.
“Thanks,” he chuckled. “You’re cute.”
“Thanks,” you breathed, heart leaping at the compliment.
As the movie progressed, you paid less attention to it and more to every fiber of Goku’s body. After polishing off your glasses of wine and feeling delightfully buzzed, you curled up even further into him, feet tucked up and thighs falling over onto his. Your head also migrated from resting atop his muscular chest to nuzzling into his neck. All it would take would be a subtle movement to start kissing his neck…
It took a while to muster the courage to make such a bold move. It was only your first date after all. Perhaps this was moving too fast. But he really did seem into you. And you were undoubtedly into him. While gently petting your hand over his chest, you parted your lips, and allowed a steamy breath to escape and tickle his neck. His heart began to drum hard enough for you to feel. You let your lips touch his skin with a feather-light press. Goku’s dark eyes slid closed with your next kiss, the fullness of your gorgeous mouth lighting up each nerve along his neck. You gave a gentle suck to it, causing a sweet sigh to fall from his lips. You trailed your hand up to hold the opposite side of his neck as your tongue began to tease him with tiny kitten licks, then bold circles.
Goku’s hand went from your shoulder to the back of your head, guiding you. You felt his pulse pound as you kissed him. His other hand found your wrist and squeezed.
“Hah,” he breathed. “Need to kiss you.”
You pulled back enough to look at his handsome face. His cheeks were pleasantly pink and his eyes were dazed and dreamy behind his frames. He took your chin with one hand and brought your mouth up to his, finally letting your hot breaths intermingle before he sweetly caressed your lips with his own. Goku’s tongue softly brushed over your lip, silently pleading for yours. You obliged and his tongue invaded to massage yours. Every movement was slow and sensual, tender yet incredibly erotic.
While shifting yourself to face Goku more fully, your leg brushed past something hard, and you were certain it wasn’t just his meaty thighs. Your core heated and revved like a racecar. Unable to keep them suppressed, sighs and heavy breaths from Goku encouraged you to continue kissing.
“W-wait,” Goku said, pulling away slightly. “You aren’t too drunk for this, are you?”
You pulled back further and looked at him, his black eyes full of concern. Your heart clenched. What a sweetheart!
“No,” you giggled, pulling his glasses off and placing them next to your empty wine glasses. “I may be a bit buzzed, but I’m fully aware of what I’m doing. And I don’t intend to stop.”
With that, you climbed over Goku to straddle his lap. Without the black frames, his eyes shone with gentleness, and lust. Using his shoulders for support, you adjusted yourself atop his lap until you found exactly what you were looking for. His lips fell open with a sharp, breathy groan.
“This okay?” you asked as you returned your mouth to his.
Goku kissed you between heated breaths as he gripped your thighs. “Hahh, yeah. Definitely.”
You shrugged off your cardigan and tossed it aside as you made out. One of your hands worked into Goku’s wild hair as his hands wandered up to your hips. He pulled you towards him, chest to chest, and your tight jean shorts gave you both a taste of delicious friction. That made him shove his tongue messily down your throat, like he was slowly fucking your mouth. You whined, grinding your hips down. He responded with a tight squeeze to your ass.
“I’ve… I’ve never really done this whole hooking up thing before,” he admitted.
You scratched his scalp lightly, making his eyes flutter in pleasure. “We don’t have to go any further.”
“But that’s the problem,” he said, kissing your throat. “I don’t wanna stop. You’re really hot and I don’t know if I can control myself.”
You giggled as his lips trailed down to your collarbone, sweet sensations filling you from head to core. “Then by all means, continue.”
“You gotta tell me if you wanna stop, or if I go too far.” He slid the strap of your cami and kissed your shoulder.
“Okay. And you do, too,” you breathed as his fingers softly traced your arm.
Just the touch of his hands was enough to make your eyes fall closed in bliss, and you wanted his big hands all over you. Under your shirt, on your waist, in your shorts…
“Can’t believe you aren’t bringing girls back every night. You’re so fucking hot,” you said as he sucked on your pulse point.
He smirked and took your cheek in in his palm. “I’m not a fuck boy. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.” He gave you the most saccharine kiss yet, making you melt completely in his lap. “Which reminds me…” He pulled back slightly to look you in the eyes. “This… Isn’t just gonna be a one time thing, is it? Because I really do like you, and I want to get to know you.”
You smiled and put your hands on his gorgeous chest. “I like you too, Goku. And I’d love to get to know you better, and make out with you more, too.”
He gave a glowing smile and endearing chuckle. If he were any cuter, you feared your heart may burst. “Yeah, I really like kissing you. Like, a lot.”
And so you did just that. Desperate yet tender, Goku’s tongue reconnected with yours as your hips began to roll against his. Those shorts of his were blessedly thin, and your tight denim put pressure right on your sweet spot.
“Mm, touch me more,” you pleaded.
“Where?” he whispered.
“Anywhere. Everywhere.”
You took Goku’s lower lip between your teeth as his big hands roamed freely. His thumbs brushed the undersides of your breasts, then boldly over the fullness of them just as your hips hitched against his stiff cock print. A moan ripped from your throat.
You gripped the back of the couch on either side of Goku’s head and started working your hips into a rhythm. It was agonizingly slow for him, just enough stimulation to tease and make him want more. Foreheads sealed together, mouths exchanging breaths, you humped his lap as he tenderly squeezed your tits.
“Can you go faster?” he asked, a desperate tremble to his voice.
You grinned and did as he asked while bringing your chest close to his face. He pressed your breasts together and kissed the tops of them, slightly pulling down the top of your camisole. You slid the straps off your shoulders and pulled the shirt down to expose your tits to him. Goku’s eyes shone brightly as they drank you in.
“Fuck. You’re perfect,” he praised, circling his thumbs over your nipples.
“Use your mouth.”
He obeyed immediately, placing delicate kisses over one while softly pinching the other. You sighed and rewarded him by continuing to hump him. But he teased you, only lightly lapping your nipple with his sweet tongue.
“Mm, harder,” you whined.
Goku proved to be pleasantly obedient, taking your directions well. He sucked and pulled back to let your tit bounce, then sought your eyes for approval. You groaned in pleasure and mussed his hair, forcing his head back to your chest. One of his large hands supported your upper back, the other smearing saliva over your pert nipple. The telltale tingle between your thighs was beginning to grow steadily. Based on the way he was whining and bucking underneath you, Goku was feeling good, too.
“Damnit, please don’t make me ruin these shorts by cumming in them,” he begged.
You slowed your pace and lifted Goku’s chin. “Where do you want to cum then?”
His pupils wide in awe, he failed to form any coherent words. “I… Well, wha…”
“Aw, did I make you dumb already, big boy?” you patronized.
“I was never that smart to begin with.” His expression was dreamy and he stared up at you like you were a goddess.
You giggled and stood up. “Why don’t you let me finish you off?”
You got on your knees between his, your breasts still exposed and holding his attention. Your soft hands rubbed up his sculpted thighs, sneaking under the hem of his shorts. His eyes met yours as you palmed his aching cock. His perfectly kissable lips hung open as you teased him, and his throaty little moans each sent a pulse straight to your pussy.
As you pulled at the waistband of his shorts, you saw two wet spots of precum had soaked through, a sign of a job well done by you. Goku lifted his hips and pulled down the obstruction to reveal his gloriously sized dick. You almost growled at the sight, feral with desire.
“Holy shit,” you said, eyes devouring the perfect specimen before you. The tip was fat and shiny, begging for your lips to wrap around it. “This still okay?”
He blew a puff of air through his nose. “Of course.”
You wrapped your index finger and thumb around his thick cock, teasing up and down his shaft slowly. He tried to strangle his moan in his throat. You met his eyes as he reclined and you lightly pressed a kiss to his tip, then trailed more kisses down one side of his length. You never would have guessed he could made such sinful sounds from his candy-sweet personality, but each noise weakened you. Eye contact still unbroken, your lips finally enveloped his cockhead, then pulled off with an obscene slurp. One hand on his shaft and the other squeezing his thigh, you circled your tongue around Goku’s beautiful cock. Worshipping it with your mouth and hearing his vocal approval made you clench your leg muscles, stimulating yourself.
“Decided where you wanna cum yet?” you asked as you licked up the underside, making him shudder.
“Ahh… I’m really not picky,” he chuckled.
With that, you started sucked him off with purpose and vigor, eager to hear his whines of pleasure. Your saliva dripped down, making a mess of him as your hand twisted and pulled. You kept constant pressure and pleasure on him, making his moans pitch up. They came in short, desperate bursts and you finally dove deep, taking his entire length down your throat in one swift motion. As you lifted to dive down again, Goku gripped the arm of the couch with one hand and guided your head with the other. While his touch was light on you, you feared his intense strength might rip the upholstery of the poor couch.
“Ahh, almost there!” Goku cried, hips beginning to twitch.
End in sight, you watched his face as you sucked him. A few final strokes and one beastly growl had him shooting hot strings down your throat. His brows knit together tightly, mouth hanging open, head tossing. He writhed in pleasure as you slowed, swallowing every drop he offered you. And it was a lot. You swallowed at least three times, taking more cum each time. Even when your mouth left him, tiny beads formed at the slit of his cock. You smeared them with you thumb, then licked him clean.
“Hope you didn’t mind that I decided for you,” you panted, proud of your hard work.
Goku slumped on the couch wearing a dazed expression. “I can barely move. Damn,” he said with a soft chuckle. “But what can I do for you now?”
Just as a grin started to form, the sound of someone unlocking the front door jolted you both out of your haze. Your eyes grew wide.
“Vegeta’s back already?” Goku whispered, frantically stuffing himself back inside his shorts as you fixed your shirt. You stood quickly enough to make your head spin and grabbed your empty wine glasses to busy yourself. Just as you made it to the kitchen to wash the glasses (and your hand covered in spit and cum), Vegeta shoved his way through the front door. You gave him a soapy-handed wave.
“Hey Vegeta,” you said, hoping he wouldn’t take a long enough look at you to notice your flushed face, neck, and chest. Thankfully, he just gave you a grunt in reply.
“You’re back early,” Goku said, a lilt in his voice.
“Not really,” Vegeta grumbled, barely giving Goku a glance as he passed. His bedroom door shut with a stern thud.
“Sounds like he had a bad day,” you mused.
Goku stood from the couch and replaced his eyeglasses. “Well, yeah. He’s jealous that you picked me over him.”
Your heart screeched to a halt. “Wait. What are you talking about?”
He tilted his head and padded over to you at the sink. “Bulma said that you said you had a better connection with me.”
Your cheeks began to burn. “She told you I said that? But she said one of you asked about me! She told me to guess which one! I couldn’t decide which of you I liked better, so she… That Bulma!” You dried your hands and tossed the dish towel onto the counter, pouting that Bulma had tricked you into making a decision. “Wait, so neither one of you actually asked her about me?”
Goku smiled warmly. “Actually, we both did. As soon as Vegeta got back from his lab, we had an argument about which one of us was gonna get to ask you out. Bulma overheard us and told us she’d figure out who you liked better!”
“But I just flipped a coin! Literally, I couldn’t decide!” you laughed.
“You did? So you didn’t really pick me at all, did you?” Goku asked, looking like a kicked puppy.
You stood on your toes and reached your arms around his neck, pulling him in for a sensual kiss.
“Fate picked you for me. And for the record, I’m really, really glad it was you, Goku.” His hands held your waist as he returned your kiss. When you pulled back, his sugary smile had renewed completely and his eyes sparkled with affection.
“Me too.”
tags: @artof-aristocracy @ghostlylovesstuff
#dbz x reader#goku x you#son goku#goku x reader#goku smut#fuzzfeet#fuzzfeet figure#dragon ball#dragon ball z#all the right buttons
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Blue
featuring Winter Soldier!Bucky x reader
fandom mcu- pre catws
a/n based on my idea here - here the beginning to set the idea.
warnings attempted physical assault (not from bucky), brooding winter soldier xD - idk if there was anything else tell me otherwise
When you entered your apartment - you could already sense an uneasy presence within the atmosphere.
He had found you again. . .
The tension felt high and the air seemed thicker than usual.
Of course, the shadow of the man in your kitchen could not go unnoticed.
You felt yourself gulp as you walked into the kitchen quietly - the Winter Soldier was seated. He was as still as a statue.
“Sit.”
He said - motioning towards the chair opposite him.
You were - Y/N Pierce, Alexander Pierce’s daughter - but unlike your father you didn't want to be part of Hydra - but you were forced to know Hydra.
As the Winter Soldier - he was always told to watch over you and made sure you didn't escape like you tried countless times already.
Now once again, the Winter Soldier found her. . . he always found her. . .
“So, what now? You gonna drag me back kicking and screaming again?”
You asked - a little irritation in your voice.
The Winter Soldier remained silent - studying her from a distance. His expression was neutral - but his gaze was fierce and intense.
He looked her over once again - his eyes scouring over your appearance. He was seemingly looking for something - but it was hard to tell what.
He took a step forward - his stride confident and measured.
"Sit."
He only repeated.
“What are you going to do, Blue?”
You ask him with a sigh.
You had hated always calling him Soldat or the Winter Soldier, like your father and Hydra did - so you always stuck with calling him Blue, because of his blue eyes. He didn’t remember his own name - and no one would tell him or you either. . .and you wanted to make him feel just a little human. . .
He cocked his head slightly at the nickname - considering it for a few moments before deciding to allow it. You sighed realizing they had wiped his mind clean yet again - as he had seemingly forgotten the name.
“I intend to take you back to base”
He said calmly - “Do cooperate..”
“. . .So what actually happens if I don’t cooperate?”
You asked.
“I will be forced to use physical force to restrain you and transport you to our base”
He answered.
The Winter Soldier’s voice was cool and detached - but he was still assessing you, as if weighing his options.
“What if I don’t want to return?!”
You crossed your arms.
He glanced at you sharply - eyes narrowing.
“You will obey your father.”
He said forcefully.
“I can have a life here, Blue. I don’t want to go back to my father!"
You glared.
“He is still your father, Y/N!”
He said coldly - and you realize this is probably the most he has ever spoken to you.
“And it is your duty to do as he says. You may think you have a life here, but that life is not yours. You belong to your father. You belong to HYDRA.”
He continued.
“I don’t belong to anyone! I want nothing to do with my father, or Hydra!"
You snap - holding your ground, knowing he wouldn’t hurt you unless deemed necessary.
His face was stony and his expression still, but you could hear the ice and frost beneath his words.
“I am afraid, Y/N - your opinion does not matter. Your father is a high-ranking HYDRA official and he expects you back at his side. Your life belongs to HYDRA, whether you like it or not.”
“I’m not coming!”
You said - glaring and balling your hands into fists.
“Then I will bring you back by force!”
He said, standing up from his seat.
He looked straight at you, eyes like ice - “And I suggest you do not try to resist me, you have no chance of winning.”
You glare before turning back and running.
The Winter Soldier's eyes narrowed as he watched you run away. He stood up straight and ran after her - gaining ground quickly.
He wasn’t going to let her escape - you belonged to HYDRA and he was going to make sure you got back to where you belonged.
You ran down the stairs of the apartment building trying to get away from him.
He continued chasing her, his steps getting closer and closer. He was gaining ground quickly, his speed was unparalleled.
He didn't know how much longer till he caught you - but he wasn't going to let up.
You quickly run out the emergency exit and shut the door on him - locking it back in - momentarily forgetting he was a super soldier with a metal arm.
The door was shut to his face - leaving him standing on the other side. He let out a low growl - angry at her.
Swiftly using the metal arm he began pounding on the door.
His metal fist was louder than any knock you had ever heard, echoing through the building. The door couldn't hold out for long.
You kept running down the back alleyways.
The Winter Soldier continued pounding on the door - his knuckles leaving small dents in the metal hinges. He let out a low growl in his throat - annoyed that he was having to chase after you.
Once the door finally gave way - he stepped through the doorway and looked around, scanning the alleyways for you.
You curse at your damn luck as you managed to run right into drunkards and shady men high on drugs.
The Winter Soldier’s eyes narrowed and he took notice of his surroundings.
There was a group of drunk men sitting around in the alleyway - obviously waiting to ambush someone.
He paused - deciding whether or not to attack the men to get you out of the alleyway, or letting you deal with the situation yourself.
“Why, hello there, gorgeous. . .”
One of them slurs - stepping towards you and you immediately stepped back.
The Winter Soldier saw one of the men approach you - and it didn't take much to figure out what his intentions were.
The man was eyeing her up like a wolf eyes its prey - his eyes roaming all over your body.
The Winter Soldier had half a mind to kill him on the spot - but he held back, for now.
“Awe, it’s ok - you look like you could use a little fun!”
He laughs - the other men laughing too as he steps closer and closer to you.
You grit your teeth balling your fists.
The Winter Soldier felt his blood boil inside of him as the men surrounded you.
All laughing and joking - their comments getting more depraved and vile with every passing moment.
He took a deep breath - trying to stay calm and level headed. But he was getting closer and closer to losing his temper.
The moment the drunkard tried to grab you - you immediately reacted and knocked him off balance, using the skills you were taught and trained with.
The drunken man stumbled back - dropping a glass bottle that shattered on the ground.
The other men laughed at their friend’s expense - but he quickly got back to his feet and they began to surround you again.
You glare as they surround you. You were no super soldier, you couldn’t take them all at once - but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to try.
The men surrounded her, their laughs turning cruel and menacing.
They began to circle around you - their eyes leering at you.
They didn’t care if you were innocent or not - all they wanted was to have their way.
Their eyes were cold and hungry - like wolves salivating over their prey.
Instantly you tried to fight them off trying to watch your sides with every kick and punch.
But what you hadn’t excepted - was for one of them to grab your hair from behind and try to knock a punch to your face.
The moment they tried take her at once - and the man raised his first for a punch, you scream for the Winter Soldier
“BLUE!”
The Winter Soldier’s face immediately changed when you cried out the nickname.
He instantly appeared by your side - punching one man in the face and knocking him to the ground.
The other men backed off - shocked after the sudden appearance of the man out of nowhere.
He stood before you now - his back toward you - shielding you from the drunkards who had been attempting to grab you.
The men were now wary of him - seeing the extent of his strength and skills - the metal arm included.
You gulped watching the Winter Soldier protect you and just hid behind him - tired and out of breath from your own fight.
The Winter Soldier stood still - his face stoic and emotionless as he stared down the drunkards.
His intimidating presence was enough to have run out the alleyway. With a final glare at you - the men backed away and ran.
You watched as they immediately scrambled away.
The last drunken man disappeared down the alleyway, leaving only the two of them there.
The Winter Soldier waited for a moment - his eyes scanning the alleyway, watching for any sudden movement. After a while - he turned towards you and looked down at you with his expression unchanged.
“Are you hurt?”
He asked - his voice still cold and detached.
You blinked - that was the first time he asked you that and you shake you head - slightly surprised.
“Thanks . . .”
You said.
“. . .but you’re still gonna take me back to my father aren’t you?”
You then asked - after a moment passed of them just staring at you.
He remained silent for a moment - as if contemplating your question.
“Yes”
He said finally, his voice still cold and detached.
His eyes were still set upon you - but his voice had changed. You could almost felt like you could see his inner conflict.
“I don’t wanna go back, Blue!”
You said - almost begging.
“Your choices are either to come with me voluntarily. . .or you risk being dragged back by force.*”
His voice - becoming cold and emotionless again
“I don't wish to harm you but if you continue with your insubordination - I’ll be forced to use force to get you to comply. Это понятно?”
He asks - if you understood in Russian.
“No!”
You glared.
The Winter Soldier only remained still and stared straight at her with that cold gaze. His tone was still emotionless.
“You’re still refusing orders I see. Now - you leave me no choice.”
The Winter Soldier leaned forward - and his voice dropped a small level below the monotone and emotionlessness it had before.
“Do you need to be dragged back by force? Is this the route you are choosing?”
He asks - low and dangerous.
You tried to run again - but your attempt to get away was stopped this time when he grabbed your wrist in a tight grip. His grip was incredibly powerful from the super strength he was granted from the serum that was injected into him.
He looked her in the eye and said nothing - instead, letting his icy blue eyes do the talking for him.
“You won't wanna do this!”
You said - struggling against his grip.
“You’re being rather stubborn - you’re my mission and I must return you!”
His grip tightened around your wrist - he was now gripping harder, showing you his power.
“So I will ask yet again. Are you going with me voluntarily?”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Blue, please. . .look they are only gonna wipe your mind again!”
You said - trying to see if there was any hope to connect with the man underneath the brainwashing and mind control.
He stayed still and silent as you tried to talk to him.
His grip on you held tight - he didn’t even blink once as he listened to you.
But still - his blue eyes remained cold, devoid of any emotion - and his voice remained as emotionless and monotone as it could ever get.
“Your attempts at swaying me will fail.”
He said bluntly.
You sigh - eventually accepting your fate and stopping fighting him.
”I’m glad you’ve realized that I’m not one to be swayed by your words. Now - you’re going to come with me -and I will finish my mission.”
The Winter Soldier slowly turns slowly - his grip on your wrist; keeping hold of you.
He began to drag you back.
“I really don’t like you right now, Blue. . .”
You grumble as you were forced to follow him.
“Your opinions of me are of no concern to me. My sole purpose and mission is to retrieve you and bring you back.”
His grip around your wrist didn’t tighten as he dragged you towards the transport vehicles where Hydra personnel were waiting.
This wasn't the first time he had returned her back to Hydra.
And - it probably wasn't the last time either.
PART 1 | PART 2
#sergeant james buchanan barnes#sergeant james barnes#sergeant barnes#james buchanan bucky barnes#james buchanan barnes#james bucky barnes#james barnes#bucky barnes#winter soldier#the avengers#avengers#marvel#bucky barnes x female reader#bucky barnes x reader#bucky barnes x y/n#bucky barnes x you#bucky barnes fluff#bucky barnes oneshot#bucky barnes imagine#bucky x reader#eunoiawrites#winter soldier!bucky#winter soldier x reader#winter soldier x you#the winter soldier#winter soldier fanfiction#winter soldier x y/n
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Our Babies
“Our babies would be so cute.”
“Oh, yeah?” - Ominis Gaunt x MC
You had just escaped from the hospital wing, your boyfriend helping to escort you there when you had began to feel incredibly nauseous and dizzy during potions class with Professor Sharp. Matron Blainely had insisted that you spent the rest of the day in the hospital wing until whatever ails you passed, having sent Ominis back to class straight after he was sure you were settled. Matron Blainely had run some tests throughout the afternoon and come to only one conclusion, one that you should’ve probably suspected given your most recent turn in your relationship with your boyfriend. You made your way through the door into the room of requirement, having sent Ominis an owl when you were being released from the hospital wing for him to meet you there. You settled on the couch having noticed that he hadn’t arrived yet. Deek appeared a couple minutes later and bowed in front of you saying
“I have a plate full of plain crackers and some soup at Matron Blainely’s request for you Miss Y/N, she said that given your certain situation at the moment you may not feel like eating what is being served for dinner in the Great hall”. You take it gratefully, and chew slowly on the crackers
“Thank you Deek, I appreciate it greatly. Do you mind giving me and Ominis some space while I tell him?” you ask and Deek nods, taking your hand in his small one before he says
“Mr Gaunt has been worried sick about you all day Miss Y/N, kept on calling me to see if I knew any more about your condition. I’m sure he will be positively thrilled to hear your news”. And with that theres a poof and Deek is gone.
You don’t have time to even think or dwell on what Deek had just said to you because the door cracks open and you hear the worried voice of your boyfriend call out
“Y/N? Are you in here? I got your owl and came as quickly as I could” he says as he rushes into the room. You stand and make your way over to him, suddenly very nervous about the whole situation. You had known right from the beginning of your friendship with Ominis that he didn’t care much for his family or for what they had done and how much he wanted to escape. How much after this last year of school he wanted to leave and never return to his families home ever again. You hadn’t really talked about children apart from that if you had them they weren’t to be anything like his family. But you couldn’t help but worry what would happen given that you were both unmarried and - you couldn’t think of that. Your hands are ringing together, a sign of how anxious and nervous you are, something that even though Ominis can’t see he can still pick up
“My sweet Y/N, what is wrong?” he asks, placing his hands gently on your arms to reassure you
“Our babies would be so cute” you say, blurting the first thing that comes to your mind, another anxious trait you had. He raises an eyebrow even more confused as he asks
“Oh yeah?” and you nod your head before gently taking his hands and placing them on the slight bump that is your growing baby. You watch the different expressions flicker across his face, from shock, astonishment and wonder, to happiness and excitement
“Are you serious right now?” he asks, his voice a whisper and you nod leaning in and whispering
“Yes Ominis, we’re having a baby, Blainely thinks I’m about 12 and a half weeks pregnant”
“We’re having a baby” he whispers before pressing a kiss to your lips and you smile
“Ominis, what does this mean for us and the baby?” you ask and he places a kiss to your forehead
“We have two months left till graduation my sweet girl, and then we can marry and raise this baby together” he declares as if it was the surest thing in the whole world.
“Are you sure?” you ask and he nods
“Of course I’m sure my sweet girl, a life without you in it just doesn’t seem worth living and now that I know we’re having our own precious little one well that’s even more reason for us to be together don’t you think sweet girl?” he asks and you nod, as tears slip down your face
“I love you Ominis” you whisper and he beams.
Tag List: @tiva-jenry-caskett-rizzles-densi, @jimmybpride, @dressed-up-just-like-z1ggy, @nikkiwierden, @samchelforever007, @kirkspockbones, @xoncisxncislaxncisnolaox, @lasalle-pride-sebastian-love, @haliannej, @brooklyn-99-amyxjake, @mizzezm, @genius2050, @twilight-twihard, @cullencoven2019, @wxlfgirlx, @luciferxchloeislove, @drethanramsey-ismybabe, @sawyer-oakley-is-mighty-fine, @loverofoneshots, @aelin-thefirebreathingbitchqueen
#hogwarts legacy#hogwarts legacy fic#hogwarts legacy reader insert#hogwarts legacy imagine#hogwarts legacy x reader#ominis gaunt#ominis gaunt x reader#ominis x mc#ominis gaunt imagine
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Again and Again
Tangerine x Reader
Word Count: 1,435
Tagging: @waiting4ff
Summary: You find yourself in an awkward situation so you want to make it worse.
It was supposed to be a nice business dinner, the Twins taking you out to eat after you helped them with some very tricky information gathering on their last job. They wanted to show their gratitude. The restaurant wasn’t super fancy, but it was nice and you wondered if they had to grab a reservation to get a table or just flash a gun.
“You guys really didn’t have to buy me dinner.” You started, almost feeling uncomfortable with the way they were both looking at you, as you sat across from them.
“Of course we did. You helped us in a right tight spot. Without that last bit of information and the way you flew through that building, we would’ve been goners.” Lemon said. He was right. If you hadn’t run to the compound and through a lot of dead bodies, the Twins would have tried to open a door with explosives attached to it.
“I don’t think we would have been goners. Singed, but not goners.” Tangerine interjected. It was funny because he could never seem to give you a compliment. He was polite to women, calling them “love” or “darling”, but he always called you “bruv”. Anytime Lemon gave you a compliment, Tangerine had to dispute it.
“Goners, Tangerine. Are you fireproof? Is that something I didn’t know about you?” Lemon scowled at his brother.
“I’m not fucking fireproof, I just- shit.” His attention went right over your head, literally. Lemon turned to look at what Tangerine was staring at and his mouth dropped.
“Shit is right. I didn’t know she still lived here.” Lemon’s scowl deepened.
“What is it-?” You moved to turn around, but Tangerine pulled your arm so you were looking back at him.
“Don’t make it obvious.” He seethed.
“Well, what is it?” You asked in a hushed tone.
“HIs ex-girlfriend.” Lemon murmured.
“Don’t fucking tell her my business. Jesus fucking Christ it’s nothing.” Tangerine’s face was twitching, which meant that he was starting to get really, really angry.
“Biblical break up.” Lemon looked at you, leaning forward as he whispered to you.
“Biblical?” You asked, leaning forward, too.
“He said “I love you”, she didn’t. He’d take her on dates, she’d fuck other guys. She was a right bitch.” Lemon concluded.
“You can say that again.” Tangerine muttered. “Shit, she’s coming this way!” You all sat up straight and pretended like you weren’t muttering to each other.
“Hi, I thought I saw you across the room.” The woman was tall and very pretty.
“Right, you saw me.” Tangerine said dismissively.
“I see your brother is with you, but who’s your little friend?” She said in a patronizing tone. Really you wanted to shrink up in your chair and die. This was probably the most awkward interaction you ever experienced. And it was about to get worse.
“She’s, uh-” Tangerine started.
“His girlfriend. We were just catching dinner together.” Lemon interjected. You stared at him and felt like your eyes were going to pop out of your head. Tangerine slowly turned to his brother and then back to his ex, a sickly sweet smile on his face.
“That’s. . . that’s right. (Y/n)’s my girl. Right, love?” He looked at you, begging you to go along.
“Is there a problem?” You turned to his ex with an icy stare.
“Oh no, not at all. We actually used to date. Broke up and have been better since. He had a ring and everything, but I can’t tie myself down like that.” She sighed haughtily. You were disliking her more and more. Tangerine looked like he wanted to shrink into oblivion and you hated it. You had never seen him shaken like this.
“Well, isn’t that lucky for me because I have a ring, too.” You said, holding up your hand. In truth it was just a silver band you wore, but you moved it to your ring finger.
“Why aren’t you two sitting together if you’re on a date?” The ex smiled.
“I like looking at his face.” You shrugged. “It’s buried in my thighs so often that I sometimes forget what he looks like.” You smiled back.
Tangerine choked on his drink and Lemon stared at you like you were his favorite person in the world. The ex was visibly shaken.
“I’m meeting a date tonight, why don’t you come and sit with us?” She offered. You and Tangerine shared a look.
“No thanks.” He said.
“We’d love to.” You said louder.
“Wonderful?” The ex said, walking over to her table. There was a gentleman already sitting there who helped pull over two more chairs.
On the walk over, Tangerine came up right beside you and aggressively took your hand.
“What are you doing?” He said between gritted teeth.
“Showing this cunt that you can’t treat people like that.” You responded.
“We should come up with a plan.” He muttered.
“Here’s the plan. Make them extremely uncomfortable, right love?” You smiled innocently. Tangerine almost laughed, thinking how silly and stupid and fun this would be.
“I could kiss you right now.” He chuckled.
“Save it for the performance.” You rolled your eyes playfully. He sat down with you at the table. The way you called him “love” had sent electricity through his veins. He didn’t know how your voice had such an effect on him.
“These are some old friends of mine.” The ex introduced you both to her date. He seemed completely unaware of the situation. Even sitting in two chairs, you scooted as close together as possible and Tangerine put his arm over your shoulder. He wore a smart suit that fit him just right and you were certain anyone would be jealous of him.
The meal was pretty tame, but you kept throwing in dirty anecdotes here and there, making the new couple visibly awkward.
“Have you been to the new gallery?” The man asked.
“We had a date there but barely made it on time. You know how women can be in the morning.” Tangerine smiled. “They practically won’t let you leave the bed.”
“I- I mean, yes.” The man tried to keep up.
When dessert came around, things were starting to heat up.
“Love, you have something on your face.” You said. Instead of grabbing a napkin you held Tangerine’s face still and licked up the side of it, getting the bit of whipped cream by the corner of his mouth. He looked just as stunned as everyone else.
“Thanks, doll.” He finally got control of himself to come up with a response. By the end of the night, you all said your goodbyes and you and Tangerine ran off before the check made it back to the table.
Once out of the restaurant, Lemon had disappeared back to their hotel, you and Tangerine shared a look then burst out laughing. He pulled you away from the busy street and down an alley. If it was anyone else, you’d worry, but not with him. He practically lifted you off your feet as he hugged you.
“That was. . . you’re the fucking best, love.” He laughed. Your cheeks burned at how easily he was starting to use that pet name with you.
“I can’t believe you licked me like that. I thought they were going to faint.” Tangerine said.
“I just wanted to show off my tongue skills.” You giggled.
“Well, you’ve got skills darling.” He smiled. You suddenly realized how close you were. His forehead was practically touching yours and he still held your hands in his. There was a spark. There was heat and an electricity running between you two.
“I don’t want this night to end.” You said quietly. Tangerine looked at you and his eyes were suddenly soft. You thought he was going to back away, start calling you “bruv” again and pretend this never happened. You didn’t want that wall to come back up. But instead, he squeezed your hands and let his forehead touch yours. You felt his breath on your face.
“Then let’s not end it.” He said softly. You leaned forward to kiss him, just a quick peck, testing the waters. He let go of your hands and held your face, kissing you with so much pent up energy. He pressed his body tightly against yours and when he pulled away from the kiss, he cheekily licked a strip up the side of your face, which made you laugh.
“I love hearing you.” He admitted. “You’ve got the best laugh.”
“Kiss me again.” You said against his lips and he did. He kissed you again and again.
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Night
It’s so quiet, this late at night. Her shoes squeaking on the linoleum floor seem almost blasphemously loud as she approaches him. The neon lights wash all the colour out of the already drab hospital waiting room.
He looks so small, all of a sudden. When she was little, he was always larger than life to her, with his big gestures and his sweeping coat, his music, his experiments. He was colour and whirlwind and adventure, ramrod straight and impossibly tall. She loved it when he picked her up and whirled her around, the way they both towered over Dad when she rode on his shoulders, the way he always swept into and out of rooms. Always make a good entrance, Watson, he used to say.
She worshipped him as a child. He was always the more interesting parent to show off, with his deductions and his experiments, with his bespoke suits and sharp wit. It was never quite safe, of course, he offended people as easily as he charmed them, but she knew he’d always put his best foot forward for her. He was reliable in his glamour, always interesting, always there for her. For them.
For a long time, he didn’t change in her eyes. Dad wore glasses and had greying hair and used a cane, but Paps was still dark-haired and sharp-eyed. Age didn’t seem to affect him the way it did others.
But now, as she sees him sitting there, clutching a styrofoam cup containing bad hospital tea, she realises that there’s more white than black in his hair, and his ramrod straight posture has started to stoop a bit. Age and gravity have caught up with Sherlock Holmes. He looks frail and old and scared, like nothing so much but the grandfather he is.
His eyes haven’t changed, though. He looks up when she approaches, his eyes still as sharp and as all-seeing as ever. “It’s bad,” he deduces, probably from her face, her gait, from the stethoscope she grabbed from a nurse.
She sits down heavily next to him. “Well. it’s not good. Doctor Layton will be in in a minute to talk us through the options, but it looks like they’re going to have to go in and do a coronary bypass.”
“Is he stable enough for that?”
She shrugs. “It’s a risk, but they wouldn’t suggest it if they didn’t think it was absolutely necessary.”
He swallows, asks the next obvious question. “Did they let you see him? Is he awake?”
“He’s in and out, the nurse said. I got in for five minutes, but only because I’m on staff.” She looks at her hands. “He wasn’t conscious when I was in.”
She doesn’t say how much that scared her, seeing her father, her bulwark against all evil, just lie there, unresponsive when she reached out to him. He was always there for her. Always. It’s unimaginable that this might change.
Paps reaches over, takes her hand. His fingers are cold and clammy, and she rubs them to get a bit of warmth back into them.
“Is he going to die?” His voice is clinical. Detached, almost. The trembling she feels from him tells a different story.
Rosie bites down on the inside of her cheek to hold on to her composure. As much as she would like to just break down and cry, this isn't the time. She needs to be the strong one now. For both of them. “I don’t know,” she says, always the hardest thing for a doctor to say to a family member. Always the hardest thing to hear as well. “I don’t think so. He’s strong, and he has the best care in the world. He should be fine.”
Paps nods, just once, to denote that he heard her. Whether he believes her is another matter.
“Mark’s taken Joanna home,” she adds, reverting to practicalities. “I’ll swing by the house tomorrow to pick up the rest of her stuff.”
Is this her fault? Did the stress of a five-year old for a whole week prove too much for Dad?
“Don’t be stupid, Watson,” Paps admonishes her, as ever answering unasked questions with his uncanny ability to know what people are thinking. Especially her. Especially Dad. “You know it doesn’t work like that.”
Rosie smiles a bit at the old nickname. He used to call her that all the time when she was little, but it got rarer over the years, especially after he and Dad got married and they all changed their names. “I know,” she says quietly.
Silence falls as they sit there. The clock over their heads ticks away the minutes.
The doctor comes. Talks to them in respectful, clinical terms, to Rosie’s infinite gratitude. Surgery will likely take several hours. The doctor recommends going home. They both ignore her.
She’s bone tired but sleep is unthinkable. In a bit, she’ll get them some tea from the nurses’ station, maybe she can scrounge up some muffins as well. Her colleagues in paediatrics almost always have a stash.
The minutes tick by. This night already feels like several lifetimes, and every bone in Rosie’s body hurts.
“I’m not ready,” Paps says, after what feels like hours of silence.
Rosie nods, takes his hand, noting the age spots, the wrinkles on his slender musician hands. Still strong, but fragile in a way he never seemed to her before. “Neither am I,” she says softly. She isn’t ready in the slightest. Sometimes she still feels like a little girl, turning around when people call her Dr Watson-Holmes, convinced they must be talking to her dad. But she knows she’ll never be ready to lose him. To lose either of them.
She squeezes his fingers. “It’ll be all right.”
“And what if it isn’t?” he asks, and there’s the old sharpness in his voice, the razor intellect unwilling to be anything but brutally honest.
“It is what it is,” she says softly, watching as he deflates.
He puts a hand over his eyes and she can hear him try to control his emotions as he says, quietly, barely audibly, “I don’t do so well alone.”
“You’re not alone, Paps,” she says quietly, putting an arm around his shoulders. “I’m here, Mark’s here, Molly and Greg are here. Jo’s here. She needs her grandpaps.”
“I don’t—” he takes a deep breath, swallows. “I’m not. A nice person. A whole person. Without him.”
Rosie takes a deep breath and lets it out again. She knows what he means. She knows the stories about the Sherlock Holmes she never met, the young cocky genius arsehole. The man he was before he met Dad. But she also knows, from experience and because Dad told her, that meeting Dad didn’t change him. Not truly. Not fundamentally. “That’s not true. Dad just showed you the value of your heart. He didn’t give you one.”
Paps smiles, even though his eyes are sad. “He told you that.”
It’s not a question, but Rosie nods anyway. “You know how sentimental he really is. Even if he hides it well.”
“He doesn’t hide it well at all, actually.”
They both laugh, quiet but real. Then Paps looks at her, serious again, and says, “He lied. He did so much more than that. He made me a person, Ro. Before I met him, I thought love was for the weak. And he made me realise that to love someone, you have to be strong. Loving someone means constantly being afraid of losing them. And only the strong can handle that.”
“I know,” Rosie says gently. “You both taught me that.” She takes his hand into hers once more. “We’ll get through this, Paps. The three of us, together. Like we’ve done so many times before.”
He nods, and she can see that he’s trying to put up a brave face for her, but in truth, he’s as terrified as ever, and she can’t blame him.
They lapse into silence again, and she can feel more than see Paps slowly drift off to sleep. She puts her head on his shoulder and dozes a bit as well.
As dawn approaches, a hand touches her shoulder. She looks into the surgeon’s eyes, sees her smile, and breathes a sigh of relief.
He’ll take a while to recover, she knows this. And he’ll be an absolute pain to manage during his convalescence, she thinks, as she wipes the tears of relief off her face.
She’ll wake Paps, and then she’ll take him to see Dad. She’ll probably have to force Paps to go home, have a meal, get some sleep, before he’s back here. He’ll hound the nurses and she’ll have to make apology tours through every department of her hospital until her fathers are free to go home.
And she will enjoy every goddamned bloody second of it, because it means she doesn’t have to face the inevitable just yet.
What do we say to death? she thinks, as she smiles and remembers when he taught her CPR, barely ten years old and already knowing in her bones that she wanted to be a doctor. That she wanted to be like him.
Not today, Death. Not today.
-----
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