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#anyway it is gone midnight and I did not exactly sleep well last night (i was on cushions on the floor bc my dad. forgot.
ace-malarky · 9 months
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oop I have asks I will get to them but also I have family over and yaddayadda probably the last time we'll all be together (mortality's a bitch) so like. capitalising on that so I haven't forgotten I just. haven't been around. Who knows when I will have time!
... maybe tomorrow I don't think I have to like Be places until the afternoon but the housework is also piling up lmaoooo
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sandcobangevent · 20 days
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Whatever May Come and Whatever May Go, That River’s Flowing
by @iwantthatbelstaffanditsoccupant and Eve283 Read the fic and view the art on AO3!
He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. He picked up the phone and read the text.
Yet another apology. This one even more ridiculous than the last. So now Sherlock is claiming his mug (his meaning John’s) had made him (him meaning Sherlock) feel like he (meaning John) was in the room with him (meaning Sherlock…again). Selfish bastard. Stealing all the hims along with the Swindon mug. John’s Swindon mug. To hold God-knows-what.
John placed his (meaning John’s) hand on his (John's again) forehead and sighed. He’d had a bit to drink and he’d maybe try to sleep it off if possible. But first, some more water, along with a paracetamol.
It was almost sweet. The text. Not the paracetamol.The sort of confession that made John both immediately suspicious as to its veracity and glad he hadn’t heard the ping over the general noise of quiz night at the Volunteer. He’d have responded, he was sure of it. And then he’d have forgiven the bastard for using his mug again.
And three missed calls. Lovely. Lovely and jubbly, his mind supplied. Which made him smile, in spite of himself. And that made him frown.
John was beginning to think he might be pissed. In the American sense as well as the British. Fucking Sherlock Holmes.
You wish, responded a voice inside his brain. Yeah. I guess I do, he replied back.
Not exactly a new thought for John, but not a welcome one right now. Water and sleep. Much more welcome.
A voicemail.
Sherlock never left a voicemail. John stared at the number in its tiny red circle for a full minute before he remembered to press play.
“John. I…”
Not good.
“I…  Apologies. For the mug. I… It’s true, what I said about the mug and your presence. Well, that and the top is curved slightly outward, so I can stir it easily when adding a solvent without scraping the sides. The sound is…discordant. But, what I wanted to say was…” There was a pause and his voice cracked as the message continued. “…Well, I will be home sometime tomorrow morning. That was not my intent, and I am not sending any sort of message through my absence. Oh, and I acquired a replacement mug. So don’t worry.”
John sighed. Sleep would have to wait. And his buzz was gone for good. He texted Sherlock.
Where are you?
On a footbridge. Looking down at the water. It’s calming.
And where is the bridge?
In Swindon.
Swindon.
Yes.
Well that explained the overnight absence. The last train back to London left at 11 and it was past midnight.
Can you tell me why you went to Swindon?
To get another mug, of course. London shops wouldn’t have one.
So you what, took a train, to Swindon?
The 9:17, yes. I wanted to do something productive while waiting for midnight. But the return is… Well
Is a 5 hour stop in scenic Reading for the night before it continues into Victoria, yeah.
Yeah.
Might as well stay.
Yeah.
Wait. How did you buy a mug at eleven-something in Swindon?
The shops would all be closed. Those sort of shops anyway.
I purchased it. I knew you wouldn’t want it if I hadn’t. 
I left payment on the counter next to the register. 
You broke into a store, took a Swindon mug, and left a tenner?
20. You underestimate the value of your mug. 
And a thank you note.
John laughed.
Ok you absolute nutter.
Then he paused. He was certain he was missing something. Something important. John scrolled up. 
Why were you waiting for midnight?
Is the fairy godmother meeting you to take her shoes back?
Another reference to the cindersweep woman? You must like that one.
Yes it is. And I guess I do. 
But why were you killing time till midnight instead of, you know, going back?
Or even leaving tomorrow morning to buy my mug in person at a reasonable hour instead of committing B&E?
It isn’t breaking and entering unless I do something illegal once I’m inside.
And I did pay for it. Overpaid, even. 
But Victor is 9 hours ahead.
And while he has always been an early riser, I thought waiting till 9 am would be the polite thing to do.
Oh. So you wanted to call him.
Yes.
John waited for more information. None came. Then the stark realisation that he had gotten angry at Sherlock and his response to the argument was to run off to replace the mug and to call what had once been his only friend in the world.
Did you reach him?
Yes.
Three white dots appeared, then stopped, then appeared again. It felt like ages before anything appeared on screen.
Lionel Trevor, or rather the man we have chosen to refer to as such, is dead.
John collected his thoughts and then responded.
I’m sorry. What happened?
He hoped to God Lionel hadn’t made the decision to end his own life. 
Natural causes.
John felt a wave of relief, only to have it dashed upon the rocks as the message continued.
It was already late so I thought I’d grab a coffee and call. 
Just to check in. 
Late here, early there. 
He had died two weeks prior.
Where are you?
A footbridge in Swindon, Watson, do keep up.
 I believe I mentioned it earlier when I said I’d be returning late.
What bridge? I’m coming to get you.
No need. I’ll be back in the morning. 
No. Just tell me which bridge. Cross-streets.  
More delay. John paced around the flat, waiting.
It’s a stunning piece of architecture. It spans the canal between Waitrose and the Hall & Woodhouse pub. A laser-cut steel masterpiece.Truly the Pride of Swindon.
Hall & Woodhouse. Got it. I’ll grab a rental and be there in two hours.
John, it’s just an hour-long train ride in the morning
As opposed to a two hour drive here and two back. 
I’ll be fine.
I’m on my way. If you get cold, go in the pub, k?
I will.
It wasn’t two hours. More like an hour forty. Or maybe John was just driving more than a bit on the fast side. 
There he was, a dark silhouette leaning on the railing of a non-descript bridge over what may have once been something which bore a far greater resemblance to a river. Now it was perhaps a stream at best and it looked as if they could have built the road right on top of it and no one would have been the wiser. Still, John walked across the tiny bridge in slow, measured steps, not quite sure what he should say when he reached Sherlock, who was standing dead center, staring into the struggling current. It turned out the right thing to say at that moment was nothing at all.
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slaasherslut · 1 year
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Peeping Tom, Keep On Looking At Me
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Summary: Billy finds a hole in the attic floor that is just over your bed. He cant help but watch you as you squirm under your sheets.
Warnings: smut, male + female masturbation, excessive cursing, voyeurism
1.7k words
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Billy had discovered something interesting earlier that night. He had one of his many violent temper tantrums in the attic. He threw things around, screaming and crying wildly. It was triggered by the fact that no one had picked up the phone when he tried calling downstairs followed by some minor teasing. You and some of the other girls who hadn't gone home for the holidays yet had decided to go on a night out on the town. Get dinner, go shopping and do whatever you felt like before not being able to see each other over Christmas. The phone rang as you guys were throwing on your boots and jackets.
"Eh, just leave it." Barb waved her hand dismissively. "Probably just the moaner anyways."
The last thing Billy heard from the upstairs bedroom was one of the other girls imitating his moans before a chorus of laughter echoed throughout the old house and the front door shut. The house was left with a thick silence minus the tall strangers heavy breathing. Billy was furious as he stomped back up to the attic. He then began wildly screaming and crying while throwing things all over. Shoving things, throwing them to the other side of the room, just making a huge mess of the already cluttered attic. In the midst of his tantrum, he had kicked a small box and watched it slide across the floor. In its place, a small sliver of light was barely noticeable as it came up through the floor. He sauntered over to the light and saw a small hole in the attic floor. Kneeling on the floor he pressed his face against the dusty wood to look through the hole. It was barely big enough for him to see through. On the other side of the hole was one of the nicely made beds in one of the girls' bedrooms. Billy couldn't help but giggle at the thought of watching one of the girls sleep and do whatever else they got up to.
"Billy’s gonna have so much fun!" His fit of giggles grew louder at the thought of the glorious things he would be able to witness.
You and the rest of the girls got home a little after midnight. Arms full of shopping bags and the drinks from dinner still in your system as you walked up the stairs with a tipsy Jess. The two of you giggled as you talked about the hijinks some of the other girls had been up to that night. You adjusted your bags in your arms as the two of you reached your bedroom door.
“A few of the girls and I were going to make some snacks and watch a scary movie. Did you wanna join us?” Jess took a few more steps toward her bedroom while she asked.
“I think i'm okay, i'm just gonna head to bed.” You knew you would have had a fun time with them and you weren't exactly tired yet but you had some other things to attend to tonight. Jess nodded.
“Okay, well if you change your mind we’ll all be downstairs in like half an hour!” She dashed off to her own bedroom to drop off her bags before going back downstairs. You got your bedroom door opened and threw your shopping bags down in front of the closet.
Billy sat on the attic floor listening to all the footsteps and voices going on below him, making his plans for who he would visit tonight, if anyone at all. A new light came shining up from the hole in the floor and caught his attention. His soft brown locks bounced as he carefully crawled across the floor to investigate. The sound of your bedroom door shutting made his ears perk up. Once he was in eyesight of the hole his eyes darted around to find you. After a few seconds you walked into his view with what appeared to be a shirt and underwear in your hands that you tossed onto your bed. Billy watched carefully as you slipped off your clothes you wore out tonight. A devilish grin broke out across his face once you were down to your bra and underwear. He had to wipe the drool that poured out of his mouth onto the sleeve of his green sweater as he watched you slip the garments off. He giggled to himself, covering his mouth to keep as quiet as possible.
“Such a pretty little piggy..” Billy thought to himself as he stalked your naked form across the room.
Billy watched as you grabbed your clothes on the bed, thinking for a moment before slipping on the shirt. It was long on you, way too long. “But just the right length” Billy thought. His cock twitched in his jeans as he watched you toss the panties to the floor instead of putting them on and climb up onto your bed. The shirt pulled up at the motion stopping about halfway up your ass. Billy just barely got a view of your pretty cunt from under the shirt as you crawled up your mattress. His groin began to develop a deep ache deeper than he could ever reach as he watched you move. Each tiny movement of your hips drove him wild, he wanted to touch you, he needed to touch you. He watched as you turned around and laid back onto the bed, head cushioned by your soft pillow. He knew just how soft it was from the times he would explore your room and play with your things while you were out of the house. It smelled just like your lovely shampoo.
He wanted to take you in this position so badly. To be towering over you and squeezing you. Digging his fingernails into your plush flesh hard enough to draw blood as he fucked himself inside of you. Your insides would be so pretty.. all soft, warm, and wet for him. He watched with ravenous eyes as you hiked your shirt up above your breasts and a wandering hand went between your legs. Billy couldn't believe his eyes, he was drooling even more now. Ragged breaths tore through his chest as he watched you. He covered his mouth as he let out a moan and a giggle.
“Pretty piggy loves to play, Billy wants to play with piggy too.” He whispered to himself. Billy laid down on his stomach on the wooden floor, lining up his eye to get a better look at your writhing form on your mattress in the room below. He couldn't help but grind his clothed crotch against the hard wood beneath him, careful not to make too much noise and alert you that you were being watched, and by a pervert no less.
"P-pretty.. pretty cunt, pretty slut.." He ground himself down harder against the floor, sending jolts of pleasure throughout his body. His cock became hard and greedy in his tightening jeans. Billy sat himself up and tried to unbuckle his belt and pants quickly yet silently, tucking the metallic belt buckle into his pocket so it wouldn't make any noise against the attic floor before pushing his pants down to his mid thighs. He wrapped a tight fist around the base of his aching cock and started pumping himself. The need to be closer to you overpowered him as he stopped his hand as he laid back down on the floor. He lay on his side so he could freely jerk himself off while getting to be able to see you clearly. The way your fingers danced on your sweet little bud caused Billy to buck his hips into his hand. Mimicking the actions of himself thrusting inside of you, he shuttered when you shoved two fingers into your aching cunt without warning.
He bit his hand hard to stop himself from moaning too loud. It looked like you were starting to get close to the edge, close to coming around the fingers that should be his. Part of him hoped you knew he was watching and were imagining his long fingers thrusting deep inside of you instead. Billy would fuck you deep, he knew he would. He would make sure of that. He would finger fuck you hard and deep to get you ready for his fat cock head pushing past your folds. The taste of iron from his hand was subtle in his mouth. His long tongue lapped at the puncture marks left behind from his sharp teeth to clean up any remaining blood. He wanted to leave bite marks like that all over you. Billy wanted absolutely nothing more than to be slobbering all over your cunt instead of his hand. Licking you up and down, sucking on your swollen clit, shoving his tongue inside you. The way your pussy would be soaking wet with his saliva mixed with your own cum. The images of you in his mind and in front of him were getting him so close, he wished he was blowing his load inside of you instead of in his hand. It seemed like such a waste. The closer he got the harder he squeezed and pumped, panting heavily. High pitched whines and moans were being torn from his throat.
"Pretty slut, pretty cunt, Pretty slut, pretty cunt, Pretty slut, pretty cunt." He muttered as his tongue wildly moved. Thoughts of you cumming in his mouth and swallowing every drop caused the knot in his stomach to burst. "Pretty pretty piggy!" He looked down at you as your face contorted in pleasure as you came on your fingers, rubbing yourself through your orgasm. Billy came in sync with you as he shook violently. Heavy breaths and harsh moans as cum spilled over his hand and dripped down onto the wood floor. His strokes slowed as he came down from his exquisite high. Once he had relaxed he had looked down at your orgasmic form. You were sprawled out with your eyes closed, heavy breaths violently shook your chest which drew in Billy’s eyes. He could have swore you were glowing right then. You looked ethereal post orgasm and he wasn't sure how many times he could handle watching you before the craving for having the real thing became too strong.
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light dividers by rainbowkisses31 ☾ notes: kicking off day one of my billy week with a bang! I hope everyone likes it! I love writing for billy he's my favorite canadian lunatic
☾ tag list: @rottent33th @cries-in-latino  @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better @the-pinstriped-hood @allthingsblood @25bohemianmoons
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puffpasstea · 1 year
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OMGG you can do this whenever you feel like it but I have a request for satellite fluff. Maybe Alice is trying to do something nice and romantic for Harry as a gesture of her love, and maybe it doesn’t go exactly as she planned so she’s all frustrated and Harry comforts her and tells her that she tried her best and he appreciates her anyway??!? 🥹❤️
Hi lovie! Thanks for the request and for asking so politely; you're so nice! I hope you like this one. Please let me know what you think!
Warnings: Fluff, VERY SMALL mentions of smut.
---
The sound of a door slamming and Harry’s voice, cursing, “shit,” under his breath startled me out of my slumber. 
 
“Harry?!” I jumped, sitting up instantly. 
 
“I’m so sorry my love.” He tiptoed over to me, his voice just above a whisper. “That was me. I- was tryin’ to get my clothes out of the closet without wakin’ you.”
 
Harry sat on the edge of the bed, his hand gently squeezing my shoulder as he leaned in to kiss my lips. “It’s still early. Go back to sleep, honey.”
 
“Hmm.” I agreed. Relieved that everything was alright, I closed my eyes and let him tuck me back safely into the covers. He kissed my forehead sweetly before withdrawing out of the room. 
 
Harry had been overworking himself lately. Though, I think, one thing I quickly learned as soon as we got together, is that he did have a tendency to do that. He always overbooked his schedule; had a hard time saying no to anything; constantly overextended himself. I’ve yet to figure out where this stems from. Perhaps a fear of disappointing fans, or a feeling that he’s lucky to have the job that he does so it’d be ungrateful of him not to take every opportunity that he can, or a mix of both. Whatever the case may be, it was clear he’s been stressed lately. Leaving for work at ungodly hours, and coming home well past midnight, most nights, after I’d already gone to bed. 
It was all taking a toll on him, and he showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon. 
 
I’d been there myself, not too long ago, in fact. Last month was midterms season at the college, which meant that my workload had tripled, seemingly out of nowhere. Throughout it all, Harry always found ways to be supportive. Not all of them were obvious, either. For instance, he’d sneak into my office after I’d left for the night and organize my chaos into small piles of “needs grading”, “needs revision,” and “complete.” He'd leave me little messages on post-it notes around the room, for me to find throughout the day. He’d complain that he was “bored” and use it as an excuse to sneak in some time with me and bring me some snacks to  make sure I was eating. He’d wash my clothes; cook my meals with enough leftovers to be packed as lunch the next day; beg me to go out for a walk with him and get some sunshine; bring me flowers…. He even remembered my therapy appointments and set reminders for me to keep on track. When he heard that I was thinking about skipping out on therapy one week because “I just don’t have time for it this week” he forced me to go. Harry excelled at all of this. The supportive boyfriend role came naturally to him. Though all of these gestures would seem to be mostly practical; simply about keeping our life running smoothly and doing chores around the house, picking up slack, they made me feel so loved and cared for. None of these things included him actually saying the words “ I love you,” but I felt as though he had, every time. 
 
It was my turn now. I needed to step up and show him that I love him. But, unlike him, gestures of affection were entirely new to me. I didn’t have a knack for knowing what made people feel loved at any given moment. And, Harry was rich enough to just “throw” money at any inconvenience. No time to do laundry? Send it out. Too busy to find time for grocery shopping and cooking dinner? No worries, just dine out or order in, better yet, call up the personal chef! What do you give someone who already has everything they could ever want, or need? Where does that leave me as a partner?
I couldn’t believe I had stooped this low, but I went online and googled “everyday gestures of love,” almost throwing up in my mouth at how embarrassing this was. While some of the recommendations on the list involved things like “buy their favorite snack” that I didn’t need to do, there were a few ideas that I could get inspired by. Alright. I had some planning to do. I wanted this coming weekend to be the best couple of days that Harry has ever had. 
***
 
Friday night had rolled around, and I was ready to deliver. My plan was to be so ridiculously sweet and romantic with him that, if I were a literal edible sweet, I’d kill him with a sugar overdose. After much contemplation, I decided to make us dinner. Surprising him with all of his favorite things: shrimp pasta, that weird healthy salad he likes, wine, and finishing off with a heart shaped, raspberry-white chocolate cake. It was shaped like a heart. It was chocolatey, it was red, what’s more obnoxiously romantic than that? But that was only the beginning. I dressed up, hiding an elaborate (and frankly quite uncomfortable) little piece of lingerie under my dress. I lit candles, decorated the dining table with flowers, and I waited to surprise Harry as soon as he got home. 
 
What I didn’t expect, however, was just how long I’d have to wait. It was already 7 pm and Harry hadn’t come home yet. I checked my phone to see if he’d called or texted, but I had nothing from him. Perhaps I should text him? But I didn’t want to rush him. This was about being supportive and loving, not impatient and attention-seeking. So, I waited. Then I waited some more. Then, I fell asleep. In my tight dress, makeup, and lingerie. Right on the couch. 
 
It was almost midnight when I heard the shuffling of Harry’s feet as he walked  into the room. 
“Oh my god, Alice! Did- did we have plans? Did I just completely forget and stand you up? Baby, I’m so, so sorry!!” Harry rushed over to me, grabbing me in his arms. Even in the poorly-lit living room, I saw his heart drop, the dark circles under his eyes, his chapped lips. He was exhausted. 
 
“N-no, no. Harry, calm down.” I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “We didn’t have any plans.”
“Oh.” His shoulders relaxed instantly. “You’re just dressed up, and….I’ve been so forgetful of everything lately, I just assumed-“
 
“Relax, Harry. Alright? I- umm. I made us dinner!” I said, springing to my feet. “You just stay right here. I’ll go get you a drink while the food heats up, okay?”
 
Harry’s lips parted, he was ready to protest. I stuck my finger out, pressing it to his lips. “Hush. Don’t wanna hear it. Just take a breather, okay? I’ll be right back.”
 
I got the oven started, turned on the stove, and set out the cake. Pouring Harry a drink, I began to feel nervous. Okay, so, the pages online said to be cheery. Ask him about his day. Listen to what he wants to talk about. Give him compliments. Play with his hair. Those are the things that he can’t buy with money. I can do that. Sounds simple enough. 
 
In the living room, Harry looked like he was ready to doze off. I stood over him with his drink in my hand, not sure if he was even awake. Then he stirred. 
 
“H-hey. Sorry, nearly fell asleep.” He smiled, reaching his hand out for the glass I’d brought him. “The lighting in here is making me sleepy.” I was going for romantic but okay. 
 
“I’ll turn the lights on, sorry.” I rushed to the light switches around the walls, turning them on one by one. “Better?” Harry nodded taking a sip of his drink. I shook my nervous off and sat next to him, rubbing his thigh gently as he drank. “S-so, how was your day?” Mentally, I checked “ask about his day” off the list.
 
“It was fucking torture. Had all these meetings all day, none of which went well. By the time I got to the studio most people had already left, but I didn’t want this day to be an absolute waste so I tried to get some work done, but- it just- it wasn’t happening! I kept pushing through the frustration but- everything I wrote was horrible-“
 
As Harry went on venting about his day, I tried to focus and be present in the moment, but my mind quickly drifted off to my role in all this. What was I supposed to say? What would he want to hear right now? I asked myself what Harry would say to me if the tables were turned. I tried to remember the tips I’d read online. Before I knew it, I was zoning out and completely missing what he’d said. 
 
“Well, uh, you’re home now. So, that’s all that matters.” I  smiled reassuringly and took the glass out of his hand, setting it on the end table. I jumped in his lap. “Just relax, okay?” brushing my fingers through his hair and feeling him relax at the gesture. Yes! Finally, some success. He nodded sluggishly, a hum reverberating in his throat.
 
“’S nice.” His eyes fluttered shut as he rested his head against the couch cushion, releasing the tension from his shoulders. “Thank you for being here.” He mumbled, smiling up at me. “Kiss me, please?”
 
What started out as gentle kissing quickly heated up into more steamy territory. Harry’s arms desperately wrapped around me, as if worried I might escape. His tongue pushed against my lips, moaning into my mouth. Eventually, his hips were pushing up against mine, his clothed crotch looking for friction. “A-Alice,” he whined. “I-need- I’m a mess.” He confessed, blushing and hiding his face in my neck. “It’s not gonna take much.” His hips bucking up again, pushing his center against mine. “Please?”
 
“Been a while, hasn’t it?” I smiled, curling the ends of his hair around my finger.
 
“Mhm. I’m so, so close. It’s actually quite humiliating, but- ahh,” He gasped as our bodies collided. “Please? help?” 
 
It’s not that I wanted to be cruel. Not at all. But Harry’s desperate hands squeezing all over my body reminded me of my plan. I’d dressed up for this. Shaved my body head to toe. Cooked. That’s not when the plan says to have sex. Plus, I had the oven going. I was too in my head to register Harry’s trembling, or the fact that my squirming and scrambling to get off his lap had rubbed enough on his groin to give him the most painful and underwhelming ruined orgasm ever. He moaned in pain as I jumped off of him.
“Wait, it’s time to eat!” I rushed into the kitchen, leaving Harry behind to deal with the waves of pain hitting his body. 
 
At dinner, Harry said nothing about the table decor, or the flowers. In fact, when I looked down at his plate, he’d hardly taken a bite. 
 
“I-is everything alright?” I looked at him; he seemed like he was falling asleep right at the table. 
 
“Yeah, mhm. All good.” He smiled, swirling his fork around.
 
“You’re not eating.”
 
“No, I am. I promise.”
 
“What? Does the food not taste good?” I  reached over and took a bite out of his plate, seeing if I could taste anything wrong. It seemed fine to me.
 
“The food’s great! I love that you made my favorite dishes. It’s so sweet of you. You definitely didn’t have to.” Harry forced a smile on his face, consciously squeezing his eyes open.
 
“What’s the matter then?”
 
“Well- it’s nothing. I just- I kind of already ate. Just before I got here actually. I…I thought you’d be asleep. Didn’t know you had a whole thing planned. I’m sorry. But I can still eat! It’s fine!”
 
“Why didn’t you say anything?!!”
 
“Honey, I tried to. When you said you’d made dinner, I was trying to tell you, but you just got out of the room so fast. It seemed important to you. And…like, you’ve put in all this effort. It’s okay, really. I always have room for pasta!” Harry went to dig his fork into his plate, but I reached over and grabbed it. 
 
“It’s fine, Harry. You don’t have to eat if you’re full. That’s ridiculous. Let’s just go to bed.” It was kind of him to want to do it for me, but it was entirely unnecessary. 
 
“Are you sure? I mean, you made all this food, and-“
 
“I made it because I thought you’d be hungry when you came home. Cuz I was trying to make sure you ate something. Not because I wanted to force feed you. You’ve eaten! You’re all set. That’s all the matters. That you’re looking out for yourself. Let’s just go.”
 
Relief washed over his featured as he set down his silverware. “Okay.”
***
 
At least I had one last trick up my sleeve, though if I weren’t so caught up in trying to make this night work, I might have had the presence of mind to know that saving this trick for another day is perhaps the wiser choice. I unzipped my dress and walked out of the bathroom. Harry had barely taken off his shoes. His feet dangled off the bed as his lower half hung over the edge. He stared up at the ceiling, his eyes already half-closed. Before I could turn back around and put on a robe, he noticed me. 
 
“W-wow. You look- wow.”
 
His speechlessness made my cheeks flush.
 
He got off the bed and reached for me.
 
“No.” I pushed him back down. “Stay right where you are. Let me take care of everything this time.”
 
“wait, babe- before we-” Harry hissed.
 
“Don’t worry about it, Harry.”
 
“I- ah, I need to- I gotta tell you something-“ 
 
I unbuttoned his jeans, pulling them down his legs by the hips. Harry grabbed my wrist as I hooked my fingers into the waist band of his boxers. “This is gonna sound- wait-“
 
I yanked them down in one swift motion. It was more aggressive than sexy. In my head, the assertiveness was meant to be hot. But it certainly didn’t look, or feel, that way. 
 
I saw the wet stain on the front of his boxers and looked up at him with tight lips and eyebrows quirked up. 
 
“It’s not- gosh, it’s not what it looks like, I promise. It’s-“
 
“Hey, I’m not judging. Like I said earlier, it’s been a while since we’ve….you know. You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. I just think…I mean, maybe next time pack a spare-“
“W-wait, what? No! God, no! That’s not- what am I? some kind of animal? Jesus, Alice!” Harry blushed, looking away for a moment, then back at me. “This…it just happened earlier. On the couch?”
 
“What?”
 
“Yeah…told you it’s embarrassing, but, I don’t know. I got a bit too excited I guess, and, when you left to check on the food…you were a bit rough and…it’s- whatever. I- wanted to go change, but-“
 
“I did this to you?”
 
“C-can we not…I don’t know. Can we not talk about it?” He giggled.  I’ve always thought of myself as a free and comfortable guy, but- I guess admitting to your girlfriend about prematurely finishing in your pants brings out the worst in a man.” He licked his lips nervously.
 
“I’m so sorry, Harry- I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I wanted to make you feel good!”
 
“I know; I know, baby. It’s okay. It was- god, I mean, this is sexy, huh? It was an accident.” He laughed, reaching for my necklace and fiddling with it anxiously. 
 
“Well, let me make it up to you.” I leaned in to kiss him. Harry pecked my lips quickly and pulled back. “Actually…Could we- maybe not? Not tonight. I’m feeling… im just a bit tired. Just wanna rinse off in the shower and go to sleep.”
 
“Oh.” I scampered off of him, gently, this time, and helped pull his clothes back on. “Of-course. Yeah…yeah, that’s a good idea.” I was aware that I sounded as though I was trying to convince myself that I was okay with this.  “Ummm..” I looked around the room to avoid his eyes. “Let me, just, wash off my makeup and you can go into the bathroom, yeah?”
 
“Take your time baby.” He gave me a tired smile and rested his head back down onto the bed. 
 
I understood why he’d turned down sex, and I certainly never wanted him to feel uncomfortable saying no, or feel like he had to sleep with me whenever I wanted, but even with all that in mind, I couldn’t help but feel a bit rejected. I took a deep breath and stood frozen in front of the mirror, watching my face for any signs of disappointment. I didn’t want him to feel guilty for having said no. But this was about more than the sex. It was about the fact that this night was looking nothing like I had planned it. All I wanted was to wrap him up in my love and appreciation and make sure he knew that he had a soft place to fall when things got to be too much. Somehow, I’d done the exact opposite. I was a failure as a partner. I mean, what does it say about me if I’m only good at receiving love, not giving it? Doesn’t that put a lot of pressure on the person cursed with having to be with me?  I was back at square one. Not knowing how to communicate my love for him. 
 
A sudden, piercing noise snapped my thread of thought in half. I ran out of the bathroom in a panic. “What is that?!” 
“It’s…the fire alarm” Harry yelled out over the sirens. “But I haven’t heard it in years.”
 
Fuck. My stupid cake. 
“Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuckkkk.” I rushed downstairs cursing and yelling. 
 
The kitchen and dining area were barely visible behind the black smoke. “SHIT!” I ran into the kitchen and turned the oven off; leaping to open ever window on the floor. My eyes were watering, my lungs filled with smoke, I struggled to breathe.
 
Moments later, Harry appeared behind me, speaking on the phone.  “No, sir. I promise. All is well. Just a cooking accident. Yes, I’m sure. It’s- it’s no big deal. Not at all please don’t bother. We’re okay there’s no reason you should drive out here at this hour. Yes. Thanks. Good night.”
 
I ran back into the kitchen with oven mitts, pulling out the flame-roasted remains of what was once my romantic gesture. Tears ran down my face and onto the black sludge in the pan.
 
“What was it in the oven, anyway?” Harry followed me, clueless.
 
I turned around, holding the cake in my hands and showing it to him. “My black, loveless heart is what it was!” I broke down sobbing.
 
“Oh, honey….” Harry looked down at the pan and back up at me with pity. “Don’t cry! What is that?”
 
“Cake! What else would it be, Harry?”
 
“I don’ know, Matilda, S’ kinda hard t’ tell at this point…” He laughed.
 
“I’m glad this is funny to you! Go ahead and laugh at my failure!” My screeching had reached fire-alarm levels of high pitched. 
“I’m sorry. Okay, you’re right. I shouldn’t be laughing. Ummm, why don’t you set that down so I can give you a hug, hmm?”
 
I did as he suggested and ran straight into his arms. He pulled me into him, rubbing my back and whispering in my ear. “we’re okay. It’s all good, babe. It’s okay.” We stood there  for a while, long after my sobbing had quieted down. “Thank you for my cake, baby.” Harry broke the silence, chuckling. I elbowed him right in the chest but it only made him hug me tighter and laugh harder. “Looks delicious. Really, I can’t wait to dig into it. Jus’ if I may, uh, what…flavor is that supposed to be?” 
 
He managed to make me laugh.
 
“There she is! Yes, no more crying.” He kissed my cheek.
 
“I’m so sorry, Harry.” 
 
“Hey, it’s alright.”
 
“Not it’s not!”
 
“It’s just a cake, Alice….”
 
I pulled my body out of his arms and sat at the kitchen table. “N-no it’s not! The cake is a metaphor.”
 
“I’m sure it is, baby. But- it’s late, and I’m tired. Explain to me?”
 
“It’s…it’s just the perfect example of my failures tonight. All I wanted was to be romantic! I wanted to cook for you, and love on you, and….” I reached over the kitchen table and handed him a piece of paper.
 
“Love, intimacy, time…” He read out loud. “What’s this?”
 
“It’s a list! Of relationship things you can’t buy with money.”
 
“th-that’s sweet-“
 
“I wanted to give you those things. All weekend. I did my research. You know, about all the healthy things that romantic people do?”
 
“R-research?”
 
“You’re just so good at the lovey-dovey stuff. I always feel so loved and valued whenever you do things for me. I wanted to do the same for you.”
 
“Babe, you did research for me?”
 
“I know, it’s pathetic! I’ve just…never done this before. Loved someone like I love you. Nothing ever feels enough, I…wanted you to feel my love for you. Wanted to take care of you like you always take care of me.”
 
Harry rushed over to me, pressing our lips together firmly. “I love you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” I whispered against his mouth.
 
“I’m the luckiest man in the world.” He pulled away and grabbed the chair next to me, moving it closer so he was mere inches away, and sitting down. “Listen to me! No, I mean it. I’m the luckiest man in the world…I’m so glad you were thinking of me. I can see that. Really. All the effort you put in? You made me a heart-shaped cake, for fuck’s sakes!” 
 
“Wanted you to feel loved, to rest, to eat a balanced meal. But I burned your house down.”
 
“the effort that you put into burning my house down is what matters.” He laughed at his own words, shaking his head. “Baby, listen. I love that you did all this for me, but you don’t have to try this hard. I certainly wouldn’t want you to do things that don’t feel natural to you, just to make me happy. It’s okay, if you’re not into all this over the top stuff. I don’t expect you to suddenly become someone else just cuz we’re dating now. That’s not who I fell in love with anyway.”
 
“B-but, what about you? Don’t you wish you had someone to spoil you like you always spoil me?”
 
Harry shook his head. “The way I see it, we don’t both have to need the same things, you know? Like, I only do those things because I know that’s what you need to make your life easier, and to make sure you’re safe. What I need looks different, and that’s okay. I don’t cook for you one night then expect you to cook for me the next one. That’s just not how it works.”
 
“H-how does it work, then? W-what do you need?”
“You. No, I’m serious. I’m so happy right now, all I wanna do is kiss you. Because you just said you loved me. Twice in the last 5 minutes. You almost never say ‘I love you.’ I always do it first, and then you say ‘I love you, too.’ Hearing it come from you, unprompted? I’m on cloud nine! Would’ve just been happy calling it a night as soon as I came home, and cuddling in bed with you. You’re the person I want to see at the end of the day. Just wanted you to hold me, and to hear about your day, or just talk about mine. Nothin fancy. Just you and me.”
 
“And I was too caught up with online tips and white chocolate- raspberry cake, and perfect bedroom sex…”
 
“I LOVE that. I do. Shows me that you love me. Now, every time I’m feelin’ down I can just think about this night and I’ll never have to wonder if I’m enough for you. You’ve given me so much just by trying. I mean, you did research just to make me happy! If that’s not romantic, I don’t know what is.”
 
“It’s the thought that counts?”
 
“exactly.”
 
“Hey, Harry?”
 
“Yes, darlin’?”
 
“I love you.”
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lazuli-writes · 11 months
Text
Dream
summary: Jeonghan sings to his son.
pairing: Parent Yoon Jeonghan & Son Lee Chan | Dino
genre: domestic / spy au
estimated word count: 500 words
a/n: Remember folks, copying other people’s works is plagiarism and that’s illegal. Don’t be that kind of person. Anyways, hope you all enjoy it :)
©little-lazuli. Do not copy, repost, or translate without permission
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“Papa, can you sing me a lullaby please?”
The former agent froze at his son’s words. Of course he was familiar with what a lullaby was. But since when did being a singer ever come with the job of being a parent? Jeonghan sighed in slight annoyance, being a spy was easier than being a parent.
“Chan it’s already so late. Midnight in fact. Do you really need a lullaby to send you to bed, little one?”
Chan’s growing, toothy smile was a stark contrast to his obviously sleep ridden eyes. Eyes that struggled to even remain open.
“Yes.”
Jeonghan exhaled a small chuckle at Chan’s sleep ridden cheeriness. How he ended up with such a firecracker for a son will always leave him wondering.
‘I thought children were supposed to be products of their parents? This child is not broody, callous, nor holds a single droplet of wrath within his heart.’
Moving over to allow his father to lay down next to him, Chan’s smile maintained itself, in anticipation for another lullaby from his father.
“Tell me again why you want to-“
“Need. I need a lullaby papa.”
“Apologies, my bad. Tell me again why you ‘need’ to hear a lullaby before you close your eyes.”
Jeonghan watched with a softened heart as his son looked up to the man with nothing but wonder in his eyes.
“Because! Uncle Shua said that if you go to sleep happy, then you’ll have happy dreams. And I want happy dreams!”
Jeonghan thought back to that moment, way back when he had first become a single father. Escaping a life of espionage was difficult. Leaving said life to start anew as a single parent…. even more difficult.
Chan was four when Joshua stopped the two one day at a nearby park. Jeonghan was consumed with rage and worry at that time. Fearing his former coworker had come on behalf of the league for another mission, or worse. To come and take his Chan away—For no spy can work successfully when they have things that they love… as Wonwoo had always said, love was the death of duty and vice versa—Jeonghan wasn’t exactly ecstatic at his visit.
Luckily, Joshua was just visiting, and stopped to say hello. Chan was in awe with Joshua’s stories of adventurous spies and secret warriors who fought in the dark. And how if you go to sleep wanting something, you can sometimes dream of want it is you want. Jeonghan was too busy in a sour mood to notice his son internalizing every little word from the only piece of his father’s life prior to Chan’s presence.
“I see you took your uncle’s words to heart, little one.”
Chan nodded calmly at Jeonghan’s words.
“Well, since you so desperately love to dream happy things, may I start that lullaby?”
“What does desk-er-tly mean?”
Jeonghan neatly shushed the young one before starting.
Hush now my little one
Please don’t you cry
Lay your head down
On my shoulder and sigh
The sun has gone away
Papa will pray
Silence will keep all, while you’re asleep
Jeonghan’s humming of the last few notes at the end, was just enough for Chan to succumb to the realm of slumber. And Jeonghan could smile at the precious sight before him.
“Goodnight my son.”
Leaving his son with a soft kiss to the forehead, Jeonghan walked out and onto his own bed, hoping to possibly have wonderful and bright dreams as well that night.
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hellishrebukesystem · 3 months
Text
System Update--Graham and David @ Front 02/12/24
Got a break from the psychosis today--no sightings of deerwomen crucifixes, priests in neighbor's yards, tarantulas, or burning men with flesh wings in our living room. The creepy whispering as gone away for today as well--we slept for 11 hours and 2 minutes after not sleeping for nearly thirty six hours. That being said, we are starting our sleep fast over and plan to stay awake for the next 72--it is hard to explain exactly why we are doing this but it mostly has to do with trying to commune and communicate with other dimensions/timelines/etc. We know that sounds like psychosis, but we aren't so sure that it is, rather we think that maybe it might be a spiritual awakening of sorts. We didn't take our night meds to achieve this goal and will continue to not take meds for the next 72 hours.
***This is not an endorsement of going against treatment plans or doctor's advice--I'm not telling you what to do--I just know what's right for me and my needs as of this moment in time.***
We got major headache around five today, but it was gone by nine tonight, so hopefully we can keep our physical health problems to a minimum--we also hope to go on a liquid fast and only drink liquids and consume no more than one meal a day for the at least the next 72 hours. This also not for weight loss or ana reasons and I do not support that, and I am not encouraging that--this is for religious reasons and if you are struggling with an ED, you should not take this for some kind of diet or reason to starve yourself. I have clear reasons for doing this, I have a therapist and people taking care of me--this is not something to do without doctors and people around you to monitor you and make sure you will be okay, okay?
Anyway--Graham is annoyed because he thought he was done with having to deal with shit like this--He and I try to be friends, but we usually end up getting on each other's nerves, because well--we just handle these things very differently; he wants to be responsible and keep house/keep things clean/make the bed/take care of the body--yada yada yada and I'm more the type to just get exhausted and want us to take a break. Let stuff slide a little and just enjoy the quiet moments we get; we were both disappointed about all the sleeping but for very different reasons, ya know.
I was disappointed because I had a gillion fun things planned, but we fell asleep instead and that was frustrating, like I wanted to get caught up on all the relaxing we hadn't been doing for the last however many months and I wanted to feel good, ya know? I was pissed at Graham too, because he took the damn morning and night meds (yesterday) even knowing that was gonna make us fucking tired! He took the day meds today too--but fortunately I did not take night meds even tho he tried really hard to convince us to. I know if I can make it past midnight, I will stay up all night--and I'll be happy to. I'm not happy to have to start the fast over again. It is so stupid--like we get the instructions on what to do and Graham wants to ignore them all the time.
He was disappointed in us too for falling asleep--not last night--but the nap that we took--which we wouldn't have taken if we hadn't fallen asleep last night--it's a momentum thing--the longer you stay awake the easier it is to stay awake after a certain point--it tips in your favor. If he had let us keep browsing Tumblr too--we would've been fine--we would've been wide awake. That's another trick; you can't let yourself get bored. It fucks up everything. He disappointed about the nap because he wanted to do some homework/revisions for our MFA class--but honestly, I was pretty pissed at him for it--we didn't even have feedback from the professor yet and he wanted to pressure us into doing some stupid ass unfocused work. It would've been easier if he would've let us have this. I can't believe he undid our work.
Honestly, sorry this is so long--this probably won't be the last you hear about it--honestly, I might just, like, idk, do a call-out for Graham, not that he'll read it the little bastard, but I'd feel better about. Separate post. KK bye.
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lianahayze · 1 year
Text
Shadow and the Midnight Misery: Chapter 6
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Check out chapter 5 here. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Freedom
When they call me to the main office the next day, I assume I'm fucked.
Maybe someone had found out about me collapsing in the hall, or maybe the know that I'd trashed my bathroom within the first few hours of being here, but either way, I know it's not good, and, as I walk down the hall, a ball of dread begins to form in my stomach.
I'd slept better last night. I'd at least been able to get a couple of hours. It was on and off, sure, but I'd gone straight to bed as soon as the sun went down. I'd skipped dinner in favor of an early night, and I'd somehow managed to sleep in. I don’t exactly feel well-rested, but I no longer feel like I’m on the edge.
It's quiet outside the office. I stand there for a moment, glancing around as I stand by the door. After I’d checked in at the front desk, this office where I'd had my intake. I’d sat there, not saying a word, not paying attention. I wish I had been paying attention, though; maybe they wouldn't have been able to force me to go through all of this.
Actually, it hasn't been as bad as I'd assumed it would be. Talking to Dr. Norris is a pain and the food always looks questionable, but maybe a few days away from the guys is what I need.
Well, that and a stiff drink.
I take a deep breath and knock on the door. When no one answers, I knock again, this time louder. Knocking with more force makes my knees rattle, and I realize I'm shaking. As I hear a voice on the other side answer, I force myself to calm down and push open the door.
What—rather, who—I see damn near makes me want to slam the door.
It's Wyatt.
He's seated with Dr. Norris. His head is down, eyes scanning a stack of papers in front of him. Taking one look at me, Dr. Norris says,
"Shadow, come in. Are you alright?"
"Uh." No. Not really. I step inside and close the door. "Hi," I say.
Hearing my voice, Wyatt looks up. I don't look at him though, instead focusing on Dr. Norris and the wall behind her.
"I was just meeting with Wyatt."
I want to ask her why but find myself unable to. Instead, I choke out, "Okay,” and there's as much confusion in my voice as there is disgust written on my face.
"I won't be long,” she says, “but I just wanted a few minutes. Did you do what we discussed?"
For a moment, I have no clue what she was talking about. Remembering the diary, I nod. Though I hadn’t written much, I had given it a go.
Dr. Norris smiles. "Wonderful. I'm proud of you. We'll have to discuss it." I hope she doesn't mean right now in front of Wyatt. "Anyway, I have news."
News? What kind of news could she possibly have? And why is Wyatt here?
Standing, she walks over to me. It's awkward, and I can't look her in the eye. After a moment of looking me over, she asks, "Ready to go home?"
I gasp. Wait, I’m free? I can leave? "I can go home?"
She nods. "I think so. In my opinion, you're not a danger to yourself and you aren't in danger of overdosing at the present time."
I squeal. Oh, I'm so happy, I could hug her!
"Don't get too excited just yet. We have a few things to go over."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I wave my hand. "But I can go?" She nods. "Today?" Nod. "What time?"
"As soon as your discharge papers are signed." I ask for a pen to speed this up. Whatever it is, I'll sign it; I don’t even need to read it. But she shakes her head, saying, "Wyatt is working on that currently. You'll be released to go with him."
For the first time, I look at him. As Dr. Norris continues, my eyes stay on him.
"There are some things that we need to discuss,” she says, “just the two of us. Wanna go do that now as Wyatt finishes up here?”
I nod, continuing to stare at him. Even after Dr. Norris has opened the door and I'm walking out, over my shoulder, I keep looking at him. It's only when he leans back and closes the door that I finally break eye contact.
Once Dr. Norris and I are in the next room over, I let out a huge exhale.
"Sit, sit," she tells me, and I follow. "We have a lot to discuss."
"When did you decide?" I hadn't met with Dr. Norris today, and I’m curious. Had she known all along that I was fine and that everyone else around me had just overreacted? Or was it something that she'd made her mind up on just earlier today?
"When I was looking through your file. I think you have a lot a potential to grow, but I don't necessarily think you need to do it here."
Her saying that means a lot.
"That being say, we need to talk about your plan of aftercare. We still need to keep meeting. Twice a week, at minimum. Unless you have another doctor you'd prefer to work with?" I shrug. I don't have a regular psychologist, if that's what she's asking. "I'll leave the schedule up to you, but on the way out, I want you to stop at the front desk and set up our next appointment. Fair?"
I tell her that it is.
"There's also the matter of what you plan is going to look like over the next couple of days. Though some people can quit things cold turkey, I don't advise it unless it's under medical supervision. Therefore, I want you to be very mindful about your habits. Before you do any cocaine or smoke or drink, I want you to give yourself ten minutes to consider it. Ask yourself what you'll gain from it." What I'll gain is a nice buzz, but don’t say that. "After those ten minutes, I want you to re-evaluate."
"What if I'm at a party? Can I drink then?"
"Do you really think now is the best time for you to go to parties?"
She has a point with that. "What about if I just want a glass of wine at dinner?"
"I'll leave it up to your judgement, but the thought process behind it is important. You can't change your habits unless you're consciously aware of the decisions you're making and trying to break. Does that make sense?"
"It does. What about Wyatt?" She asks me what I mean. "Does he know all of this, too?"
"No. What we've discussed--and will continue to discuss--will be kept in confidence. Think of Wyatt as your unofficial chaperone."
My eyebrows raise as I repeat her words. "A ‘chaperone’? What, is he supposed to be with me for the next twenty-four hours or something? Never leave my side?" It comes out as a sarcastic joke, but I really need to know; am I leaving one place of supervision just to be supervised somewhere else?
"No, not per say. It's recommended that you don't spend the next couple of days alone and that you choose to be around someone who is supportive and will keep you honest, but it's not a mandate that he stays with you. We just needed someone to come pick you up, and he's the one we got ahold of first."
She leans back in her seat. "So what questions do you have for me?"
Questions? I take a moment to think about it. I don't think I have any questions, but the fact that she's asking makes me think that I should. "Um, so I don't to do anything else?"
"Just take care of yourself." She stands. "You want to go get everything packed up and I'll tell Wyatt to meet you at the front desk?"
I practically leap up when she says that. Without hesitation, I leave the room. Once I'm back in the bedroom, I begin to gather my stuff.
In hopes that I wouldn't be here too long, I hadn’t really unpacked. There are a few things that I need to pick up--dirty clothes, my notebook, makeup that wasn't destroyed in the other day's episode--but after I finish that, I take a moment to look around.
I've only been here three days and it feel like a lifetime. Praying that I'll get better sleep tonight in my own house in my own room in my own bed, I stare down at the bed in the middle of the room. I lean forward to look into the bathroom. I wonder if I should tell them about the hair dryer but decide against it. When they do find it, they’ll just add it on top of the already outrageous bill I’ve racked up by staying here.
I turn the light off on my way out. "So long, suckers," I mutter.
As I walk down the hall, I pass Tally. I slow down a bit. At first, she looks happy, but, as she sees my bag, her smile falls.
"Ah. Looks like someone's being released today."
I nod, a true smile on the face. "Yep. And not a day too soon."
"Good for you." She pauses. "Take care of yourself, Shadow."
"You--" But before I can finish, her back is towards me and she's walking away quickly. She looks like she’s in a hurry or late for something. I shake my head. What I strange girl.
Wyatt and Dr. Norris are waiting for me at the front desk when I arrive.
"Take care of yourself, Shadow," says Dr. Norris. "It's been nice getting to know you. I have to run, but don't forget to book that appointment."
She walks off, and it’s and now it's just Wyatt and me.
He's staring at me, but I pay him no mind. Looking at the woman behind the desk, I tell her, "I'd like to make an appointment, please."
After my appointment is booked and we’re all set to go, Wyatt offers to carry my bags. I’m still ignoring him, though, so I walk past him, forcing him to try to catch up.
Eventually he does, saying, "Shadow, wait. Hold on a minute." I continue, forcing him to pick up the pace. He gets two steps ahead of me just in time to open the door. I take my first step outside and take a moment to soak up the sun.
Everything feels warm and open and inviting and all I want to do is take a nap. Preferably in a sun beam like a cat. Yes, a nap after a bath sounds amazing. My own house, my own bath, my own... everything.
But first I need to ditch Wyatt.
"How are you doing?"
I roll my eyes. Is he serious? Lips tight, I say, "Fine."
"Yeah?"
Finally, I look up at him. I have so much to say and nothing at all. He doesn't care about me. No, if he cared about me and my feeling, he wouldn’t have forced me into this situation to begin with. He probably wants to know just whether or not I'm safe to return to the band.
"Why are you here?"
He frowns. "We came to pick you up."
"No, like why are you really--" Suddenly I realize what he's said. "Y-you're not here alone?" When he shakes my head, my stomach drops, and my heart begins racing.
"We're all here." He points at a car that's parked a few feet away. Ethan's car. "I just volunteered to be the one to come in and get you."
I stare at the car. Though I can't see inside, I know they can see me. Clutching the strap to my bag, I shake my head. "Nope," I tell him. Nope, this isn't something I can do right now. Moving as fast as my weary legs can take me, I walk in the opposite direction. Wyatt calls my name, but I pretend not to hear it.
"Hey! Hey, what are you doing? Aren't you ready to go?"
Sure, I'm ready to go, but not with them. I take out my phone and request an Uber. I check the time. Five minutes.
Wyatt catches back up. He grabs my arm. I violently pull back, nearly stumbling over my own feet. I glare up at him, yelling,
"Do not touch me!"
He puts his hands up in surrender. To any other person looking at him, his face is blank, but, for me, I know better. There's shock at my outburst, shock that he's not quite sure how to handle.
"I don't want to see you right now," I say. "I don't want to see any of you right now. I can't believe I have to say that, but the fact that any of you are here pisses me off so much. I don't care that you're here to sign the paperwork; that's fine. But don't expect me to suddenly be excited to see you."
He sighs. "You're mad."
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock." I glance down at my phone. Three minutes now. "So just get back in the car and go home."
"But--"
"Yeah, I'll be at the next rehearsal. That's what you're going to ask, isn't it? I'll be there and I'll be early and I'll be sober. Just shoot me a text and I will be there."
A brief silence falls between up. I can feel him looking down at me, but my eyes are trained on my phone. I watch the little car moving down the streets, praying that it gets here sooner than it says it will. Even just a few more minutes with Wyatt is too many.
Eventually, he speaks; and when he does, his voice is soft. "We just wanted to tell you that we're happy you're back out." I roll my eyes. He's sounding more and more absurd. "So, can you just let me take your stuff so we can go?”
I don't respond to him, but, luckily, I don't have to. A few seconds later, a car approaches. Checking the license plate, I see it's the one I've requested. I exhale. Finally.
"Sorry," I say, "I've got my own ride."
He doesn't say anything as I walk away. Was getting an Uber the smartest thing to do? My wallet would probably say no, but, as I slide into the car, greet the driver, and look back at Wyatt as we drive off, I know:
It’s the only thing that I wanted to do.
-
Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to sound off here. Talk to you on Friday!
-LH
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sellieellie · 2 years
Text
writing this post to distract me from the recent supreme court decision:(
so i saw spencer again last night.
bella and i were at jason’s house with a few of his friends and he told us we could invite more people over so we invited spencer, another friend who i will call will, and we tried to invite connor but he was busy. spencer and will showed up around midnight and since spencer had to drive home a couple hours later he didn’t drink. jason was already wasted and had thrown up so he didn’t drink anymore, will only drank a little bit and bella only drank a little bit as well. the point i’m trying to get to is that i was the most, maybe only, drunk there.
spencer left his phone at jason’s when he went to pick will up and gave us his password in case his mom texted him. being the nosy bitches we are bella and i looked through his text messages and found the girl that he was talking about at the last party, we’ll call her chloe. this is not my proudest moment at all and in fact i feel horrible about it but we looked at their messages and it looked kind of serious like they have good morning goodnight texts and she even called him baby. so of course i was sad and i told bella we should stop looking which she understood because she knew i was hurt.
earlier in the night i had found out exactly who this chloe was. there are so many people with that name at our school so i didn’t connect the dots but it turns out that this particular chloe is one who was in my fourth period class last year and the teacher often got us mixed up and mistaked us for one another. additionally, the last girl he “dated(?)” has been mistaken for me before. basically he has a very particular type?? idk. but that was kind of nice to hear because i thought the reason he wasn’t with me was because i wasn’t pretty enough but that’s not the case i guess. but i’m still comparing myself to them and it just kind of hurts to know that he chose her over me. idk. he was talking to her first so it makes sense but it still kinda sucks.
bella also told me the full story of our last party. she said that when she spoke to spencer about me he said that he was gonna talk to me but he was also talking to other girls and bella didn’t want me to get hurt so she told him not to. which i’m kind of pissed at her for because i know she had my best interest in mind and i also don’t want another girl to go through what i’m going through but i really did like him and i wanted to at least talk to him. but i know that it’s for the best that i didn’t.
anyways, back from that side note. spencer came back with will and asked if we went through his phone and we said no of course not and i think he believed us. spencer and i seem to have gone back to a more normal friendship dynamic. he didn’t drink which is why i think he wasn’t as touchy as he usually is with me. either that or things have just recently gotten more serious with chloe. we had some good conversation and i really do love talking to him but it still hurts. it’s something i just need to get over like i’m really milking it and i don’t even mean to i wish i could just turn my feelings off sometimes.
anyways, later in the night when it was just bella and i, i told her that i was open to something with connor. i told her that i didn’t want to go to college the next year without even having my first kiss yet. i said i was open to anything. earlier in the night spencer let it slip that when connors not at work he’s just bored at home, which is exactly my situation. i hang out with bella as much as i can but she’s often with jason and when i’m not doing that i get so bored. when bella and i were driving back to her house to go sleep i confessed to her that i wanted to spend more time with the rest of our friends. she said she felt like it would be weird for her to hang out with any of them alone which makes me feel weird for wanting to because she’s the one who introduced them to me. i told her that i felt like i could hang out with all of them without her while she’s on vacation but i don’t actually see that happening. i feel like i’d be okay with spencer and connor alone because i just feel like they’re fun to smoke with as well. i also mentioned that i think it’d be nice to hang out with connor since spencer said he’s often bored at home.
bella proposed a plan to get me alone with connor so it wouldn’t be awkward to hang out alone after that and it just seems so obvious. i don’t want to force him to hang out with me if he doesn’t want to but if spencer says he’s bored then i’m hoping he’d want to. i just don’t know if i’m the person he wants to hang out with because we both only really talk when we’re drunk. but i do want to hang out with him, even if it’s not romantic, so that i have someone to hang out with when bella is with jason.
i just always feel like i’m the person who puts more effort into a relationship and wants to hang out more and i don’t want to be overbearing but i just want to be close to my friends, especially since we’re splitting up next year.
anyways, i think that’s all for this one. long story short, i’m still trying to get over a guy who literally just cuddled with me and i’m also trying to hang out with his best friend. that makes me sound like such a hoe but i swear to god i’m not i haven’t even kissed someone before lol.
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parkersbliss · 3 years
Text
Fourteen | K. Brekker
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pairing: kaz brekker x female reader
warnings: blood, death, angst, torture(?), crooked kingdom spoilers
wc; 2.5K
synopsis: some things are better left unsaid. you learned that the hard way.
prompts: 003: I’ll never love you 010: I just want the pain to stop 017: “Just tell me that you love me! Please…”
a/n: I uh… sorry in advance? I just read a heartbreaking story before this so now there’s this
Masterlist | Taglist | Prompt List
Decisions, decisions.
They weren’t easy to make, but they had to be.
It was one or nothing.
Make a choice, or you get neither.
Perhaps, not making a choice is better in this case, but you already know what the decision is.
It’s clear in your mind, and though you don’t want it to be, you’re not naive.
The world was cruel. It didn’t care for mercy.
Mercy was a luxury in Ketterdam. It was a luxury no one could afford.
Most things were unaffordable in Ketterdam, but you stayed anyway. You could leave, could’ve. Past tense. It was too late now.
And yet, you didn’t.
You stayed for the boy in the coat with a troubled past. You stayed for the hope.
Of course, you paid the price now. Mercy was expensive enough, but hope… hope simply didn’t exist. Surviving Ketterdam was a matter of kill or be killed, which is not an exaggeration. Knives are at your throat every day, and if you don’t make the choice to grab them and put them in the enemy's eyes, then you don’t survive to see the next blood bath.
For some people, that might be a relief, but others had unfinished business. The people in Ketterdam were driven by two things: money and revenge.
Both sweet and hard to retrieve, but to some, it was worth it. Every casualty was worth it if it meant getting what they wanted.
“Be ruthless, and don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do.”
Even now, you could still hear his voice in your head. At the time, it was good advice. You hadn’t expected it to be used against you.
“You should have no attachment to anything, and especially anyone. You have to be willing to let them go.”
That should’ve been the first sign. You had regarded his words with a grain of salt. You didn’t realize the meaning behind them because you thought he could learn to grow out of it. He didn’t really mean that.
Everyone says things they don’t mean in an attempt to seem stronger.
Everyone was lying.
Lies, lies, lies.
Oh, how everyone lied.
Just like how Kaz lied. He did that a lot, but never in a way that would hurt any of his crows. At least, you had thought.
“It’s a simple plan,” Kaz said, laying out the blueprints on the table. “Jesper, you will come in from this entrance, Inej and (Y/N), the roof, and I will come through the back.”
It was just the three of you.
Matthias… you didn’t speak of him. It was too sensitive of a topic. Well, it had been for Nina, at least, but then she left to return home to Ravka.
And there wasn’t a need to not speak of it, but you had all gotten used to it. Some things were better left unsaid.
Wylan was out on business, though he didn’t speak of what. Inej was often gone to traversing the seas. When she returned home, Kaz always planned the biggest heists. She was the best one here.
Jesper was still Jesper, young as ever, but that’s the plus of being Grisha. Most days, he was with Wylan, salvaging what time they had left.
Though it was plenty.
Which left you with Kaz a lot of the time. It wasn’t a bad thing, but spending too much time with someone is dangerous.
But you were drawn to him like that of a moth to the flame. Maybe it was an effort to try and fix his broken parts because you couldn’t fix your own.
You would learn soon enough Kaz didn’t want to be fixed. There was only one person that could do that.
It wasn’t you.
It never would be.
“What about the guards?” Jesper inquired, leaning against the polished wood.
“Two shots is all you’ll need. He doesn’t keep it heavily guarded,” Kaz replied.
“What if there are more?” You asked. “I doubt Black doesn’t have a few personal.”
Kaz glances at you, raising an eyebrow. “There won’t be more,” he spat. “Don’t question me.”
You wince at his tone, mumbling a sorry under your breath and letting your gaze slide to your boots.
“Jesper takes out the guards, I’ll take out any extra, and Inej and (Y/N) will head straight for the safe room. Then, Jesper will stand guard while I keep Black at bay with a deal he can’t refuse. Inej will pull the fire alarm, and then we run.”
“Will we have enough time between here and the exit?” Inej asked, using her finger to trace the space between the safe room and the central doorway. “I don’t think it’ll work, Kaz. You won’t have enough time.”
Kaz doesn’t lash out at her. His eyes linger on her face, drawing all the features he already knows in his mind. He’d memorized them before she left so that he could see her in his dreams. He did not want to forget her.
“You’re right,” He said softly, like a hushed whisper between them. An intimate moment that you shouldn’t be a witness to. “Is there a window nearby?”
“There’s one here.”
“Can you get out that way?”
You don’t bother to call him out when he only asks Inej when it’s the two of you that need to escape.
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll count in my head. You have exactly 130 seconds to get in and out.”
“Understood.”
Kaz nods, satisfied, and rolls up the blueprints and tucks them under his arm. “Be here at midnight, sharp. I’m looking at you, Jesper.”
The said boy winks, “Wouldn’t miss it, boss.”
“You would,” Inej quipped.
“Well, guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Jesper.”
“Fine. Midnight sharp.”
Kaz exits the room after that, Inej trailing after him and Jesper swings his revolvers around, instantly drawn to a gambling crowd.
That would occupy him until midnight.
You stand at the empty table, feeling just that. It was lonely.
What used to be six felt more like three, someday two. If you were lucky, four.
“Kaz,” You muttered. “When was the last time you slept?”
He shrugs. “Am I supposed to keep track?”
“Yes.”
He exhales, gripping his desk before meeting your eyes. His face softens. “I don’t know.”
“Kaz-”
He holds a hand up. “I know, I know. Coffee isn’t sufficient enough to keep me awake.”
You raise an eyebrow at him, crossing your arms over your chest. “If you know, why do you still do it?”
“It’s addictive,” he hums.
“Addiction is bad.”
“Is it?” Kaz inquired, grabbing a stack of Kruge off his desk and flipping through it. “Addiction drives us all. It’s the root of every being.”
“So what?” You snorted. “Your addiction is coffee?”
Kaz falls back into his leather seat. “Greed is my addiction. I supposed coffee as well. What’s yours?”
“You,” You breathe out. The answer had slipped from your lips with such ease. You didn't even notice.
Kaz freezes, his pen staggers in the middle of a signature.
“To be like you,” You add for good measure.
“That’s impossible.”
“So is living off coffee.”
“Then it seems we are both at an impasse.”
“It would seem so.”
Kaz’s gaze lingers on you, making your heart pound madly in your chest. “Then let’s come to an agreement.”
“What do you propose?”
“I will attempt to get a good night’s sleep if you try to be yourself.” He sticks his hand out for you to shake. You grab it, making sure it’s quick, but when you try to pull back, Kaz grips it and pulls you towards him.
“And for the record, you are my addiction as well.”
“Me?”
“To be more like you.”
He lets go after that, and you’re unsure if he’s mocking you or if he’s serious.
“Have a goodnight, (Y/N).”
“You too, Kaz.”
Jesper isn’t late. He makes it on time. Courtesy of Kaz grabbing the collar of his shirt and dragging him away from the gambler’s table.
“Do we need to review?” Kaz asked.
You all shake your heads.
“Good because I wasn’t going to.”
Kaz turns sharply on his heels and walks into the Ketterdam night. It’s no different from the day, in fact, the night is more lively. It was better for thieves and mischief. The shadows were in their favor here. The people part for the basted of the barrel; it’s common knowledge to them. They don’t think twice about it; they just move.
It makes for a quick walk to the Mercher’s house.
Jesper takes the front, Kaz the back, and Inej throws you a rope to get onto the roof. Her footsteps are silent as she looks for a way in. She finds a latch on one of the windows and calls you over.
You were always better at picking locks than her. She was better on her feet, and though Kaz tried to teach her, he had gotten fair luckier with you.
In a few clicks, the latch pops open and Inej dives in. You wait for her to clear it before dropping in. You’re not as stealthy as the wraith.
Inej was one of a kind.
You land with a soft thump, both of you waiting five seconds before making any kind of movement. Inej cracks open the door, a stream of light filling the room.
It’s empty. There's nothing except cold, bare walls and a plush rug in the center.
It doesn’t appear to be in use.
Oddly enough, it looks like it’s waiting for someone or something.
Inej taps your shoulder, using your head to gesture to the hallway. You follow after her, staying pressed up against the walls just in case.
But there’s no one; the house is eerily quiet. There are no servants, no guards, and no wife or children. You didn’t know much about Black, other than the fact that he was a wealthy merchant. He mostly kept to himself. Sometimes you’d see him at The Crow Club. He was a cold and calculated man, every move he made was planned out ten in advance.
You could tell by the way he played his cards.
“It should be right about here,” Inej said, opening the door.
At the same thing you can hear Kaz’s voice, slight panic evident. “What did you-,”
As you open the door, your legs are being kicked in, and you drop to the floor next to Inej. Two guards from behind you are quick to bound your hands together as you both push against them.
Black tuts, laughing at the fear on Kaz’s face.
Poor Jesper was knocked out on the floor at his feet.
“Did you really think you could outsmart me?” Black asked, “The power is getting to your head.”
Kaz doesn’t say anything, but his nostrils flare in anger.
“Take them,” Black dismissed, clearly speaking to the guards. “Put… Brekker in a room with the girl, not the Suli one. And put the Zemeni boy and her together.”
The guards nod, roughly seizing you all. Inej shouts in protest, trying to hit them, but she’s unsuccessful.
Kaz grunts when they lay his hands on him, but he obeys because he knows it’ll be worse if he doesn’t. They throw you and Kaz into the room you dropped into earlier. They put you back to back, and you know it’s for Kaz because he hisses every time your hand's brush.
You try not to move as much as possible because it pains you each time you hear it.
Black strolls in a moment later, leaning against the door. He wears a satisfied smirk when you and Kaz glare at him.
“Confess.”
“What?” Kaz said with a snarl.
Black holds a knife between two fingers, spinning it. “Confess something. Your deepest, darkest secret, and maybe you’ll make it out with all your limbs. The Suli girl was quick to do so, and naturally, I’m curious what you two have to offer.”
“What did she say?” Kaz asked.
“Well, maybe if yours is just as good, I’ll tell you.”
“What if it’s not interesting?”
Black pretends to think about it for a moment before throwing the knife at you. You scream when it lands itself in your leg.
Kaz flinches, hard, screwing his eyes shut.
“That,” Black taunts. “So, confession time.”
When neither of you says anything, he grabs another knife. It’s only then that you notice their Inej’s. He had at least twelve more.
“I-,” Kaz starts, but he chokes on his words. They never make it out of his mouth and Black raises his dagger.
“I’m in love with Kaz,” You blurt.
The said boy stiffens against you.
Black lowers his dagger. “Now that is juicy.”
“I’ve been in love with him since we were fourteen," You whisper, letting your head fall. It was good to get it off your chest, but you'd prefer to not have a knife sticking out of you when doing so.
“Brekker?” Black inquired. “Reply?”
Kaz doesn’t say anything.
Black rolls his eyes, tossing another knife at you, and a muffled sob leaves your lips.
“I’ll keep going.”
“Kaz, say something, pl-”
Another one, this time your stomach. You cry out, thankful that at least they’re keeping the blood from rushing out.
“These things are so fun,” Black said. “Where ever did she get them?”
More knives are thrown your way each minute Kaz doesn’t say anything. You feel like a pin doll, except alive and with knives sticking out of you.
Many knives because Kaz couldn’t open his damn mouth.
“I just want the pain to stop,” You sob, unknowingly letting your head fall on his shoulder. You’re exhausted, your body is exhausted as it fights the intrusion. It’s a losing battle. “Kaz, please.”
“I can’t.”
“Just tell me that you love me, please!” You’re begging at this point. You just want to hear those words, even when you know they aren’t true. You knew they weren’t true the moment the third knife landed itself.
“Give the girl what she wants, Brekker. Or the other one gets it.”
“I’ll never love you,” Kaz said, milliseconds after Black had threatened Inej. Somehow, that hurts more than the fourteen knives sticking out of you.
“Don’t touch her,” Kaz shouts when Black backs out of the room.
“You love her, don’t you?”
“Yes!”
Black smiles. “Well, today is your lucky day. That was her confession as well. Since you two are so cute together, I’ll let you leave. All limbs intact.”
“What?” Kaz asked.
Black walks over to you, grabbing the knife from your stomach and pulling it out roughly as you cry.
“Oh yes,” He said, “You two - three - I forgot about the Zemeni boy,” He cuts Kaz’s ties. He’s quick to be on his feet and away from the contact.
“You can leave, you can live out the rest of your lives happily.”
“Three?”
Blood rushes from your open wound. He had nicked an artery when drawing it out. You were somehow thankful for that because at least death came quicker.
It came in fourteen agonizing seconds.
It came knowing that Kaz never loved you. He never cared. And he would sacrifice anything and anyone for Inej.
You were just the first.
Addiction will kill you. You just proved it right.
“My bad,” Black apologizes. “You and the Suli girl can love each other for as long as the saints may deem, but just know, you made that choice.”
“I didn’t choose anything.”
“You did, Brekker. I’ll leave the guilty conscience to you, Dirtyhands.”
The name stings Kaz more than it usually did.
“You chose Inej,” Black said simply. “And you’ll pay the price. And do send me an invite to the wedding.”
Black is gone before Kaz can do anything, and when he looks to you.
You’re already dead.
And he wonders what the lasts words you heard were.
If it was up to him, he would’ve said: I love you too.
— END —
🏷 Kaz taglist: @kaqua
want to be added? click here!
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x-pair-o-dice-x · 3 years
Note
How about some crimeboys noms?
it has taken. SO LONG to answer this anon i am so sorry.
anyway!!!!! noms time noms time noms time noms-
UPDATE: now on ao3!! please read it on ao3 instead it's got proper casing and also slightly less typos
warnings for: mentioned child neglect, safe vore. if there’s any more please tell me bc it is 11 pm at night i started this at like 8:30 dkndkdmdldk.
any normal kid probably wouldn’t be out in the forest late at night.
tommy isn’t a normal kid — hasn’t been for a while.
normal kids would be in bed, or staying up talking with friends, or maybe having a movie night with their family.
normal kids wouldn’t get locked out of the house because their family forgot they existed — again.
this, unfortunately, wasn’t a completely uncommon occurrence. sometimes he stayed out too late trying to avoid his fosters, and ended up coming home to a locked house.
usually, he would only have to wait only a while before they remembered their source of money — the previous record was over an hour and a half.
this time, however, no one came to his rescue. it had been over three hours before he decided to call it quits, three hours of banging on the door, knocking on windows, kicking the wall — and ouch okay maybe that last one wasn’t a good idea — and.... nothing.
you’d think the family would be more careful about him, considering how much being a foster paid, but you’d be surprised.
and with being locked out, that left him with pretty much no where to go.
except for one place, really. tommy hopes he isn’t asleep.
and that led to now, walking in the forest almost aimlessly.
it’s been about half an hour since he left the house, he can’t exactly check the time — he hasn’t had a phone in a long while, and he never bothered with watches — but the moon is pretty high up, so he guesses it’s around midnight, maybe one in the morning? definitely the ideal time one would wander in the woods. absolutely no one would be asleep at this time.
he’s beginning to think that this trip in the woods was for nothing, when faintly, he could hear a rustling of leaves. it’s far away, he can just barely hear it, but it’s there.
it’s there, and it’s getting closer.
it almost seems like the rest of the forest has gone quiet — and maybe it has, maybe it’s aware of the danger that is approaching, slower and slower, growing louder and louder. tommy can’t quite tell where it’s coming from, it feels like it’s coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. closer and closer it comes, it feels like it’s right on to of him-
and suddenly all is quiet. not a bird nor rodent to be seen. just him.
and then-
a chuckle.
“what’s a little morsel like you doing all alone in the woods?”
tommy can’t quite see where the voice could be, it’s musical tilt surrounding him. he looks around, but all he can see is trees.
there’s the rustling again, even closer than before, and he can tell it’s meant to disorientate him, frighten him.
and prime is he tired of this — it’s one in the fucking morning and he just wants to sleep.
another chuckle, fading into a sharp hiss, and-
“wilbur, you dramatic fuck, it’s me.” tommy groans, and suddenly everything stops.
silence for a moment.
“tommy?”
suddenly a figure in the trees move, and a giant creature hidden in plain sight comes into view.
a naga.
normally, the sight of one would scare someone half to death— or, well. no, normally no one knew nagas existed in the first place. but like, if they did, the first instinct would be to run.
not tommy.
“ayup.” he nodded towards the naga.
the naga, wilbur, was confused. rightfully so, if tommy’s really being honest. which, he’s not.
“tommy, why the fuck are you out here in the middle of the night??” wilbur crouched down as low as he could — which, honestly wasn’t that far, but it’s the thought that counts. “it is- it’s the middle of the night.”
“oh really?” tommy raised an eyebrow. “i hadn’t noticed.”
wilbur hissed in frustration, before scooping tommy up in his hands and raising him up closer to his face. tommy, for the record, did not like being manhandled like this at the moment, but he was incredibly tired and didn’t really want to stand anymore, so... he’ll forgive it this time.
“tommy- please explain. now.” wilbur hissed low, and- oh jeez, wil was.. actually pretty worried about this. huh. that.. tommy hasn’t had another person — besides wil — worry about him in.. a long time. not even his case worker gave him the time of day anymore.
...okay, maybe going to wilbur wasn’t the best idea, if it made him worry this much..
oh, wait yeah he was supposed to be. giving an explanation wasn’t he. he shook his head clear.
“uh- sorry big man, fuckin uh. got locked out of the house again, no one was awake to let me in. didn’t- didn’t mean to make you worry, i can go back! don’t know, why my first thought was to come here, but i can get out of your hair.” usually he would try to walk away, but uh. he was currently a ton of feet up in the air, and doing that would be a bad idea, to say the least.
and wilbur- wilbur’s eyes widened in disbelief, and oh shit ah fuck he said something wrong didn’t he. god damnit.
“again-?” wil whispered under his breath(though tommy heard it just as if he were speaking normally), before seemingly registering the last few sentences. “wait- tommy you don’t have to leave!” he paused. “well- if, you really wanted to, i won’t stop you, but.. i’m not gonna make you leave.”
tommy stared at him.
“you’re.... not?” okay voice you didn’t need to make that sound so broken, he’s fine, he’s a big man, he’s-
“of course not, toms..”
and- fuck okay that’s hitting way harder than it really should.
he’s not tearing up, something just. got in his eye or something.
wilbur notices his totally-not-tearing-up, and coos, before nudging a finger over to tommy, who totally doesn’t latch onto it as tight as he can.
and.. if the two sit there while tommy cries his feelings away, well. no one has to know but them.
it takes a while for tommy to finally fall down, but he does eventually. and by then, the exhaustion of the night finally catches up on him. he lets out a big yawn, drawing a chuckle out of wilbur.
“the little gremlin is all tuckered out now, huh?”
“fu-k off....” he mumbles half-heartedly, still clutching the finger.
“you want to go to sleep now, toms?” wilbur cooed.
he’s met with a moment of silence, before a faint nod can be felt on his finger.
and.. wilbur pauses, before looking around.
“huh.. uh, where exactly would you sleep..?”
...oh, yeah, that is a good question. wilbur doesn’t really have a house, he’s way too big for one. he just lives in a cave not too far from here, but that doesn’t really have anywhere good to rest, not for him. and sleeping out in the forest just seems like a bad idea.
wilbur looks deep in thought, almost like he’s debating something. he’s about to question it, but he’s beaten to the punch.
“i.. might have some place for you to sleep in?”
he looks at wilbur, waiting for him to continue.
“i- ...how much do you trust me?”
tommy blinks. not the question he expected, but okay.
“a lot.” he says without hesitation, and it’s true. “why?”
he can tell wil is warmed by that, by the soft smile that appears on his face, before it’s replaced by a much more hesitant look.
“what... if i... put you in my stomach?”
he blinks again. and again. and a few more times.
“what?” did he? hear that right?? surely not.
“what if i put you in my stomach..?” nevermind then.
wilbur rushes to clarify. “well- it’s not quite a stomach, stomach. more like a place you store things in — all nagas have one. it’s completely safe, i promise you, i wouldn’t offer it if i was even a little bit unsure about it-”
“wil.” tommy speaks up, stopping the naga’s rambling. tommy pauses, thinking things over, before- “it’s.. safe?”
“absolutely safe.” wilbur nods.
“then...” another pause. “okay.” a whisper.
“you’re.. sure about this?” wilbur asks, lifting tommy closer to his face.
he nodded. “i trust you, wilbur.”
wil has been better to him than any of his foster families in the recent years. he’s only really had one good foster — and that was because they did the bare minimum, for all of the foster kids under their care. wilbur.. he was doing way more, he felt like he actually cared. and.. if that didn’t deserve trust, he didn’t know what did.
wilbur smiled again, before slowly lifting tommy up again, closer and closer to his mouth, before gently setting him in, being mindful of his fangs.
and- oh jeez this was. a little bit weird, to say the least. everything was humid and wet, and oh so warm — he didn’t expect the cold-blooded naga to be so warm on the inside, but here he is.
and then he was being licked, which. felt even more weird, honestly, but also.. weirdly, comforting?
he was licked all over, getting absolutely soaked, and he could hear wilbur purring — could feel it, too. he didn’t even know nagas could purr.
he is absolutely making fun of wilbur for it when he’s in the mindset of actually making jokes.
soon, he feels himself sliding down, down towards a pathway, and he’s sure that if he weren’t so sleepy, his brain would have the sense to panic, if just a little bit.
but this was tired tommy, and tired tommy did not give a shit where he was going, as long as it was comfy.
as his feet entered the throat, he heard a loud gulp-, and soon he was in some sort of tube thing, which felt both crushing and comforting at the same time.
and then everything relaxed, and he ended up in some sort of pouch — the stomach, he presumed. and, for a stomach, it was oddly comfortable. it felt warm and plush, and leaning into it felt like he was on the world’s best mattress.
wilbur hadn’t stopped purring.
tommy felt himself drifting off, and he let out a faint, “good night, wilby,” before everything went blank.
155 notes · View notes
marauders-venting · 3 years
Text
I Love You
pairing: wolfstar (remus x sirius)
genre: fluff
warnings: none
words: 2304
note: based on a textpost by @moonyspadfoot45
a/n: yes i know disposable cameras didn’t exist until the mid 80s but i wrote that part before i googled it and i don’t want to change it so we’re gonna go with it
Remus sighed in the direction of the stack of boxes that looked like it was about to topple over.
“Sirius?” he called, walking into the living room.
“Yeah?” Sirius replied, peering at Remus around the stack of boxes from the couch where he was sitting.
“I swear to god if you and James used any of the boxes marked ‘fragile’ for your fortress…” He left the sentence hanging as he reached up to lower the box on the top. “How did you even manage to stack the boxes that high? Did you have to stand on a chair or something to reach up here?”
“Rude,” Sirius said, coming around to Remus’ side of the fort. “I’m not that short.”
“James had to do it, didn’t he?” Remus teased, turning around.
“Moony, stop making fun of me,” Sirius pouted. “Come on, we’re going into the fort.” The ‘fort’ was made of boxes that contained all of Sirius and Remus’ possessions stacked to form walls with a sheet stretched over the top. And it was right in the middle of the living room of Remus and Sirius’ new apartment.
Sirius grabbed Remus by the hand and pulled him into the fort. The sheet, which was their makeshift ceiling, was hanging so low that even Sirius had to sit on the floor. They sat down and Remus looked around. Then he spotted a box labelled ‘kitchen ware’ and turned to Sirius.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he said. “I was looking for that box for like an hour! I nearly called the movers to ask them to double-check that they hadn’t missed any boxes!”
“I didn’t know you were looking for it!” Sirius said defensively.
“I literally asked you if you’d seen the box!” Remus said, laughing and shaking his head.
“Uhhh,” Sirius started, scrambling for an excuse, “I’m sorry, Remus, but you should know by now that I answer most questions wrong.”
“That is the worst excuse I’ve ever heard,” Remus said.
“Then you obviously haven’t heard any of the excuses I gave McGonagall for breaking the rules,” Sirius said.
“What are you talking about, I was there 90 percent of the time,” Remus said.
“Yeah but when you were there you were giving the excuses.”
“Yeah, my excuses were good, they got us out of detention,” Remus said.
“Feels weird knowing I’ll never have another detention,” Sirius said, lying down on the carpet he and James had brought into the fort earlier. “I keep thinking we’re gonna go back at the end of the summer.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Remus said, lying down next to him. “It feels like just yesterday you were asking me to move it with you and now we’re here. In our living room. In a fucking fort.” Sirius laughed and kissed Remus lightly.
Remus remembered the day Sirius had asked him to move in. He’d never forget it. It was their first anniversary and they were up on the astronomy tower, the same place they’d gotten together the year before. Remus remembered how hard he was trying to put aside his anxiety about the upcoming exams just for that day. Sirius made it easier. Sirius made everything easier.
“Can I give you my present now?” Sirius asked. Remus had felt his cheeks heating, despite the fact that he was quite cold up on the tower, in the cool breeze stinging his face.
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” he muttered.
“I know,” Sirius said. “But I wanted to. Besides, you were the one who planned out this whole day. And you're the one who’s taking me out on the Hogsmeade weekend after exams.” Remus supposed it was true. He had planned out the day down to the last detail. He felt very cliche doing it but it was worth it to see the look on Sirius’ face. And to feel Sirius’ lips on his.
“Oh alright,” Remus gave in. He was curious now. Sirius handed him a small grey box. Remus cocked his head at him but Sirius’ expression was unreadable. He opened the box and inside it was a silver key and a disposable Muggle camera. Remus picked up the key and turned it over, examining it.
“Pads, what is this?” he asked finally. He was afraid he had ruined something. That this was something sentimental that he was supposed to understand.
“It’s a key,” Sirius said. Remus rolled his eyes.
“I’d figured that much out myself, funnily enough,” he said. “What is the key to?”
“Look at the camera.” Remus did. He picked it up and, glancing at Sirius to make sure this is what he was meant to do, looked through the photos in the camera.
“An apartment?” Remus said, still confused.
“Our apartment,” Sirius said. He was looking at Remus, his grey eyes alight.
“What?” Remus said, gaping at him.
“Only if you want it to be,” he added hurriedly. “I just thought… Everybody's been talking about living arrangements after school and I–I thought maybe you might like to live together. I mean, I haven’t finalised anything yet so we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Or we could still pick a different place. The owner’s of this one won’t vacate it until August so we’d have to figure something out for the first month and a bit after we graduate but I’m sure the Potters won’t mind if we stay there for a little while. And Lily and James might want to be alone in the beginning but I doubt they’d kick us out if we showed up but… do you hate it?” He had barely breathed in between words until now. He looked up at Remus nervously, biting his nail.
“Are you kidding me? I love it,” Remus said. “Sirius, this is… this is incredible. You’re incredible. I—” Remus hesitated. He knew what he wanted to say. But he couldn’t form the words. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“So you’re saying you’ll do it?” Sirius asked. “You’ll move in with me?”
“Yeah,” Remus said. “Yes, of course I will.” Sirius beamed at him. But then something occurred to Remus. “Sirius, you haven’t paid anything yet, have you? If you have I’ll pay you back, I—”
“Shh, don’t worry about that now,” Sirius said. “We’ll figure out all the technical details later.” Remus bit his lip.
“Okay,” he said. He could put it out of his mind for that night.
“Happy anniversary, Moony,” he said. And then he kissed Remus, there on top of the astronomy tower and Remus felt just as much excitement then as he had when Sirius had kissed him there for the first time, exactly one year previously.
And here they were now. In their apartment. They ended up deciding on the one Sirius had originally chosen, the one that he’d shown Remus photos of that evening. The owners had ended up vacating a bit earlier than they had said because there was still a week until August. Sirius had stayed at the Potter’s for the first few weeks and Remus had gone back home. But as they were spending every waking moment at Lily and James’ house anyway, they suggested that Remus and Sirius just stay with them. They had invited Peter to stay with them too, just while Sirius and Remus were there but he’d turned down the offer (“After seven years of sleeping in the same room with three other blokes, I think I’ll be good on my own for a while,” he had said). He still came over every day and stayed until around midnight but he always preferred to sleep at home. He said he’d never get used to it if he stayed at Lily and James’.
James, Peter and Lily helped them move in too. They’d been with them to Ikea a few days previously to buy furniture. And they had come over today to help start unpacking things. Well, Lily and Peter helped unpack. James was more interested in building a fort out of the boxes with Sirius.
Remus remembered worrying that he might spend less time with his friends after school since they’d no longer be living in the same big castle but so far the amount of time he spent with Lily, James and Peter had not decreased even a little.
But Lily and James had gone home now and Peter had gone back to his studio flat; Remus and Sirius were alone, together in their new apartment.
“Are you hungry?” Sirius asked, snapping Remus back into reality. “I could make you dinner.”
“You’re going to make dinner?” Remus snorted. “I’m sorry but have you ever made food in your entire life?”
“I have actually,” Sirius said. “Mrs Potter taught me how to make food when I lived there. I’m not as good at it as James is but I can make something edible without burning down the kitchen. Although I nearly did that the first time I tried to make food.”
“Well, that’s very convincing,” Remus said sarcastically. Sirius elbowed him in the ribs. “I’m kidding!” he said. “I’ll be on standby with the fire extinguisher.”
“What’s that?” Sirius asked.
“Kind of in the name, babe,” Remus said and then he crawled quickly out of the fort before Sirius figured it out and elbowed him again.
But Remus was pleasantly surprised because not only did Sirius manage to not light the whole house on fire, but he even produced some pretty good food.
“You know, this is quite nice,” Remus said, taking another bite. “Mrs Potter must be a really good teacher if she managed to get you to this level of cooking.”
“Why can’t you just have a little bit more faith in my talents, Moony?” Sirius said. “But yeah, she’s a great teacher. James, on the other hand, is a terrible teacher. It’s not that he can’t cook because he can. He just can’t teach other people to cook. But don’t tell him I said that.” Remus snorts.
“As if you haven’t already told him that to his face.”
“You know me too well,” Sirius sighs.
After dinner, Sirius goes to shower and Remus continues unpacking boxes. The more boxes he unpacks, the more he realises how much crap they’re missing. But he’s not too worried about it. They’ll go to the store tomorrow and find whatever it is that they’re missing. It’s nothing essential. The only essential thing to Remus in this house is Sirius. As long as Sirius is here, Remus would be fine.
Remus opens another box with a utility knife. He looks inside and his jaw drops.
“Rem?” Sirius asks, coming into the room, his hair still wet from the shower. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Remus says. “Look at this.” He takes out the contents of the box and sets them on the table. It’s photos. Loads of photos of them from school.
“Wow,” Sirius says, looking through the photos. “Oh my god.” He holds one of the photos out to Remus laughing. Remus looks at the photo and starts laughing too. It’s him sitting next to a dog, a stag and a rat. His friends in their animagus forms and him in the middle, smiling awkwardly as Lily takes a photo.
They spent a little longer looking through the photos, laughing at how much they had changed since the first day they’d met each other in first year. They all looked so little. And now… well, now they’re grown up. Remus didn’t feel like it though.
He returned the photos to the box, deciding he’d find a place for them tomorrow. He was reaching another box when Sirius took his hand.
“Come to bed, darling,” he said. “It’s nearly midnight and you’re still unpacking boxes.”
“Yeah, okay,” Remus said. He smiled and laced his fingers with Sirius’.
He showered and put on a massive sweater (despite it being midsummer) and clambered into their new bed, where Sirius was already waiting for him. Sirius pulled him in and kissed his forehead before resting his head against Remus’ chest.
As they cuddle in their brand new bed, in their brand new apartment, Remus is overcome by the urge to tell Sirius, to just say it. To say what he wanted to say months ago on their anniversary but had been too afraid. He doesn’t even care if Sirius says it back. He just wants to say the words. He wants Sirius to know. Sirius deserves to know.
He lifts Sirius’ chin with his hand so their eyes meet as he brushes his thumb against Sirius’ cheek.
“I love you,” he says.
“I– I–” Sirius stutters.
“And you don’t have to say it back or anything,” Remus assures him. “I just wanted you to know.” Tears spill from Sirius’ eyes.
“You’re crying?” Remus said, sounding concerned. “What’s wrong?” he asks softly.
“No, nothing wrong, I just—” Sirius hesitates, sniffing. “That’s the first time anyone’s told me that,” he admits.
“That’s a shame,” Remus says, pressing a kiss to his temple. “I’ll always remind you how much I love you. I love you so much, Sirius.” He pulls Sirius into a tight hug. “You deserve so much love.” Sirius kisses him softly. It’s a quiet, gentle kiss, tears still flowing freely down Sirius’ face.
“I love you too,” Sirius whispers.
“You don’t have to say it just because I did,” Remus says.
“I’m not,” Sirius said. “I really do love you.” Remus smiles as he feels the blush blooming on his cheeks. And suddenly he can’t remember what was holding him back in the first place. He feels like an idiot for waiting so long to say this. He loves Sirius. He loves Sirius with all of his heart and he’s going to make sure Sirius knows it.
142 notes · View notes
seita · 4 years
Text
— don’t ask | hitoshi shinsou (m.)
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pairing: hitoshi shinsou/f!reader
genre: angst, fluff, smut
wordcount: 𝟷𝟹𝟻𝟿𝟶
cw: roommate!au, sugar baby!au
tags: heavy pining, arguments, briefly ft.kaminari, rejection, possessiveness, jealousy, crying, dirty talk, pet names, dom!shinsou, fingering, riding, cunnilingus, multiple orgasms, praise (?), marking, creampie, angst with a happy ending.
note: this is a thank you for 5k followers! i can’t believe i hit such a milestone in only like a month and a half! i appreciate the love and support everyone has given me and i promise to put out more quality content going forwarad!
— you thought it was strange a guy your age made such good money by seemingly doing nothing. whenever you would question him about his income, he’d grow defensive. once a month, a left the house for a few days; leaving to perform a mysterious job he didn’t want you to know about.
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© all content belongs to seita 2020. do not modify or repost.  
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When you saw the flier for someone looking for a new roommate, you honestly thought it was one big scam. You assumed that the second you set up a meeting, you would be kidnapped and never seen again. 
Being a lowly college kid meant you didn’t have your sea legs in the adult world quite yet. Swamped with studies, horrible at managing your time and your stress levels, you were left a constant mess. So, your solution was to stick to studying for the most part and work part-time so the job didn’t take up too much of your time. 
Another genius idea you had was the age-old roommate situation. You started out looking for listings online for preferably Musutafu or Tokyo. Alas, you came up with nothing after a handful of weeks and were intending to give up. 
However, a stop by the grocery store changed everything. It was a flyer for someone looking for a roommate in an area of Tokyo that you knew to be pretty pricey. 
It was close enough to your college campus so you wouldn’t have to worry about a stupid commute. You thought it was too good to be true as you looked at the information stating you wouldn’t even need to pay rent. You’d simply have to split some bills and buy your own groceries. 
The idea of not having to shell out hundreds of dollars a month was appealing on its own; you’d definitely be able to save with a living situation like that. 
The logical side of you was weary, however. The entire thing could be a ploy to trick some unsuspecting victim, like yourself, into who knows what. 
Still, it probably wouldn’t hurt to contact the person just in case it wasn’t a trick. No harm in checking, you supposed. 
Tugging the flyer down from where it was pinned up on the bulletin board, you folded it up and tucked it away in the front pocket of your purse to take care of when you got home from classes. 
All of that led you to meeting one Hitoshi Shinsou. He was a tall, tired looking guy around your age. His most prominent feature was the fluffy mess of purple hair that was atop his head. When you first met him, he fixed you with a cold gaze ― his purple irises burning holes into you. And for a second you were sure that you were right on your hunch and you were never going to return home. 
Nothing of consequence happened, naturally, and instead he showed you the bedroom you would be using and handed you a key before sitting down on the couch to watch TV. The whole exchange was unlike anything you expected. When you questioned him he simply told you he’d get everything straight for you and that you could begin to move in whenever. 
So you did.
As expected of such an expensive apartment, the room you were given was great. It was roomy and nothing like you assumed you would wind up with. Most college students wind up with a shitty roommate, a one-bedroom apartment, and instant ramen for dinner every night. 
Instead you got the chillest roommate known to mankind. Shinsou barely even made a peep. Most of the time you found him relaxing in front of the TV watching murder documentaries. You did learn that the poor guy had insomnia and as a result was up almost every night. Sometimes you would catch him snoozing on the couch but that rarely lasted more than 2 or 3 hours before he was up and about once again. 
You did learn that the man was a lousy cook so he mostly lived on instant ramen before you moved in. Luckily for him, you enjoyed cooking and decided to be the one to make meals for the two of you. To say Shinsou was appreciative was an understatement. 
Simply put, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. 
And so bloomed an easy friendship with him. Shinsou made it easy to befriend, although he was a quiet guy he was funny and charismatic; the type of guy who probably had a lot of friends. 
You lived there for about a month when you noticed the first weird disappearance. 
You had been laying in bed, eyes closed as you slowly began to drift off to the white noise of your overhead fan. 
What lulled you from your daze was the beep of the alarm at the front door. Sitting up, you listened carefully only to hear a couple beeps and the click of the door shutting. 
Frowning, you got out of the bed and wrapped your blanket around your shoulders to shield yourself from the chilled apartment air. Your footsteps were silent as you padded your way to the entryway. You immediately noticed that Shinsou’s shoes were gone from where they should have been sitting beside the front door. 
You checked his bedroom to find that he was, indeed, not there. You simply assumed he had gone for a walk or to a convenience store or something since he couldn’t sleep and went back to bed. That was certainly not something uncommon for the insomniac you called a roommate. 
When you got up in the morning, however, you noticed he was still gone. 
You wandered into the kitchen, intending to open the fridge to start something for breakfast only to find a cute cat-themed sticky note plastered to the front of it. Written in your roommates sloppy handwriting was “I won’t be home for a few days.”
Short and to the point but still causing questions to arise in response. 
You had no choice but to carry on. You could text him and question him but you had a feeling you wouldn’t actually get any information. 
Two days was how long he was gone for. He turned on the second night, looking as tired as usual. 
“I’m home,” he called with a heavy sigh, kicking his shoes off before dropping the heavy duffle bag he carried to the floor. 
“Hey,” you greeted over the back of the couch, “I uh...made dinner but I didn’t make any for you. I didn’t know when you’d be home.”
“It’s fine, I already ate anyway,” he hummed, dropping his full weight onto the empty cushion beside you. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. 
You eyed him and decided to simply not ask about the hickey on his pale skin. 
The time ticked past midnight and you stood up, yawning as you stretched, “I’m heading to bed.”
“Alright,” he mumbled, finally stealing the remote from you, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Hey…” you paused at the entrance to the hallway, deciding to chance it, “Where did you go anyway?”
“...To work,” he replied, simply. 
His tone held a sense of finality to it, leaving no room for you to inquire exactly what that meant. So, with a final bid, you went to your bedroom. 
It was almost like deja vu, laying in bed as you fell asleep only to hear the beeping of that alarm. You sat up and climbed out of bed, intending to catch Shinsou before he was gone but as you reached the living room, you heard the front door click shut and he was gone. 
Sighing, you wandered to the kitchen to find another note like you’d seen last time stuck to the fridge. 
As you glanced at the calendar on the wall, you realized it was almost exactly a month since the last time he did this ― you remembered because he left on the 23rd and it was currently the 22nd. You could practically feel the dots forming but you had absolutely no way of connecting them. 
Deciding to retire to bed, you attempted to sleep but found yourself thinking of Shinsou. 
Two months in a row he vanished around the same time, in the middle of the night leaving only a note. Now that you thought about it, he didn’t seem to have a job ― he only said his disappearance was part of his job. But he came back with a hickey. 
Sighing, you rolled over and attempted to fall asleep. 
Two days later, he came home. 
“I’m back,” he grumbled. 
Immediately, you noted the aggravated tone to his voice. Sitting up from where you were sprawled out on the couch, you eyed him. Instead of just dropping his duffle bag like he had last time, he took it straight to the laundry room. 
As he disappeared into the kitchen, you got up and followed him. He was squatting on the floor, rummaging through the bag as he tossed out pieces of clothing. You leaned on the door jam with your arms folded on your chest. Whether or not he knew you were there, you didn’t know. 
“There’s some dinner left for you,” you said softly, watching him pause and look over his shoulder at you.
“I already ate,” he replied, voice cold. 
You frowned, standing up straight, “Alright, well…” you sighed, “I’ll wrap it up and put it in the fridge in case you get hungry tonight.”
He didn’t reply but you kept watching him. He moved to fully sit on the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him with a grunt. You noticed that he was separating the clothes into two piles. Closer inspection brought your attention to the price tags attached to the clothes in one pile. 
You found yourself wondering where he got those clothes from but you decided not to ask. He seemed to be in a rather sour mood. 
He left the new clothes on the floor and dumped the others into the washing machine. With quick efficiency, he started the cycle and stuffed the remaining clothes back into his bag. 
You backed up to allow him to leave the laundry room. His shoulders were stiff and his posture was tense. It was a complete 180 from how you usually saw him. 
“You um...you alright?”  you finally asked when he sat down on the couch. 
He barely spared you a glance before propping his feet up on the coffee table, turning the TV on. Realizing you weren’t getting a response, you attempted to brush off the brief anger that flashed through you and instead went to the kitchen to clean everything up. 
You didn’t know why he was being so rude to you ― it’s not like you did anything to him. Deciding to just head to your bedroom to study, you shut off the kitchen light and skirted behind the couch to avoid getting in his way of the TV. 
He didn’t say a word as you disappeared down the hallway. 
As opposed to last time, his ‘work’ seemed to have not gone too well this time around. At least the last time, he was just tired and feeling lazy. 
You could still hear the TV going when you put all your stuff away and crawled into bed. 
The next morning, you awoke with a sigh. Sitting up, you stretched until you felt your joints pop.
As you wandered out of your bedroom, you heard the shower going, indicating Shinsou was still around. Not that you were expecting any different. 
You fixed a quick, simple breakfast for you and Shinsou, hearing the shower turn off as you finished. Wiping your washed hands on your pants, you made your way to the bathroom.
You only got to knock on the door once before it was yanked open. Suddenly, your mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. 
He stood there, his usual fluffy hair flattened and hanging haphazardly around his face. He wore his usual bored expression despite the fact he was standing there, dripping wet with only a towel around his waist. Immediately, you got a whiff of his body wash and shampoo, making you swallow thickly. 
Fuck, he smelled really good. You always thought so, when he sat on the couch beside you, you could always smell that delicious, musky scent of his body wash mixed with the spice of his cologne. But freshly washed with it, you were nearly salivating at the smell. 
“Um…” you swallowed thickly, tearing your gaze away from the well built muscles under those baggy clothes he always wore, “B-Breakfast is ready…”
“Okay,” he mumbled, moving to skirt around you. 
You sighed, assuming he was still in a shit mood again. Running a hand through your hair, you shook the delectable sight of him fresh out of the shower from your mind. As you went to go back to the kitchen, a large hand grappled around your wrist. 
“Hey,” he mumbled. You looked over your shoulder to see him nervously rubbing the back of his neck, a habit you’d seen numerous times before, “I’m sorry...about yesterday.”
“Huh?” you raised a brow, trying to ignore how big his hand was around your wrist. 
“I was in a shit mood and I took it out on you,” he explained, “So I’m sorry about that.”
“Oh,” you relaxed slightly and smiled, realizing he was actually in a decent mood today, “It’s okay.”
He gave you his own relieved smile, making your heart lurch in your chest at the sight. It was rare to see any other expression beyond that tired, bored look he always wore. Finally releasing his hold on your wrist, he spoke again, “Let me get dressed and I’ll come eat.”
“Alright,” you nodded, biting your lip as he turned his back to you. As he walked you could see the way the muscles flexed under the skin. 
When he finally vanished through his bedroom door, you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. Shaking your head you moved back to the kitchen intending to stuff your face to forget about how hot Hitoshi Shinsou really was. 
Before, you thought he was good looking. Usually dark circles were unbecoming but they looked almost at home on his face. His skin was nearly flawless and looked soft to the touch ― you’d seen the skincare products housed in his cabinet. It was expensive shit too. Seriously, what was the guy's job?
That thought had your mind wandering back to the monthly disappearances. 
The chair scraped against the floor as he came back ― wearing a baggy t-shirt and black sweats. He immediately dug in and began to eat. 
“So...I have to ask,” he paused, brows coming together in a scowl as you uttered those words.
“Don’t ask,” he mumbled, shaking his head.
“I just wanted to ask...if this is a monthly thing. I’ve only been here for 2 so...I just wanted to make sure,” you clarified, watching his shoulder relax. He seemed extremely defensive over any questions related to his ‘job’, you noted. 
“Yeah. Once at the end of the month I leave for two days to work,” he answered simply, obviously avoiding giving any more information that you could feed off of. 
He was smart at least. 
The sun finally dipped below the horizon and the two of you were sitting on the couch watching TV. He had some documentary on but truthfully you weren’t paying a whole lot of attention to it. 
For some reason, your mind kept bringing you back to the sight that morning of Shinsou. As you looked at him sitting beside you, arm tossed casually over the back of the couch as he slouched with his legs spread, you found yourself admiring him. 
He had a sharp jaw and pretty lips. A look lower, your eyes landed on his hands ― long, pretty fingers with prominent veins beneath the pale skin. 
Suddenly, his sharp gaze cut from the TV to you and you found yourself locked in a gaze with him for a split second before you broke away to look at the TV once more. In your peripheral, you swear you saw a smirk crossing his face. 
But he didn’t comment and for that, you were thankful. 
You bid him goodnight and as usual, he stayed up. You began to wonder if the man even tried to sleep anymore. 
You stepped into the bathroom, warning your roommate that you were taking a shower. He shouted back a simple ‘okay’ before you shut the door. 
You stepped under the stream of water after stripping, the steam of the hot water filling the bathroom and relaxing your muscles. You tipped your head back to wet your hair, humming to yourself. 
You eyed Shinsou’s body wash sitting in the purple caddy handing on a hook on the wall. It brought you back to how nice he smelled when he was close to you. When you could feel his body warmth radiating off of him. You would look at him, his shoulders broad and his body warm and inviting. It was nearly impossible to resist the urge to cuddle yourself into his chest. 
You wondered what it would be like to lay against him, his arms wrapped around you as he softly stroked your skin. Maybe he would press a soft kiss to your forehead ― the idea alone made you melt. 
Realizing you had lost yourself in thought, you hurried to finish your shower and get to bed. 
You fell asleep with Shinsou on your mind that night. 
Shinsou’s third monthly work time finally rolled around once again. This time, you stayed up late so Shinsou had no choice but the interact before he left. You were hoping to maybe get more hints about what it is he did. 
He shut his bedroom door, hoisting his duffle bag over his shoulder with a grunt. You were surprised to see him in actual clothes ― rather nice ones as well. 
His jeans fit him perfectly and the button down shirt he wore was tucked in, showing off his lean figure. The belt buckle on his jeans indicated it was name brand and you found yourself wondering how much his job even paid. 
“I’ll be home same as usual,” he mumbled, bending down to slide his shoes on at the door. He looked so good doing just a simple task and you found your heart racing in your chest. His shoulders were accented so well by his shirt. The sleeves were rolled up halfway on his forearms and there was an expensive looking watch on one of his wrists. 
Butterflies erupted in your stomach as he opened the door ― suddenly finding that you didn’t want him to leave. 
“Um…” you called, making him pause in the open door, looking over his shoulder with a brow raised in question, “You...uh…” you struggled to find something to say but he waited patiently for you to form your next words, “Have a nice time...come home soon.”
Your heart thudded painfully as you watched his gaze soften, a smile forming on his lips as he nodded, “I’ll see you later, ______.”
Your ears were ringing as he shut the door, the sound of your name coming from his lips echoing in your head. You sunk down onto the couch, hand on your chest as you came to a startling realization. 
You had a crush on your roommate. 
Living with Shinsou after coming to terms that you had a crush on him was...difficult to say the least. Simple things he did that you used to pay no mind to, you now found yourself getting jittery at the sight. 
Like the way he rubbed his eyes with a fist when he woke up from a nap on the couch, a sound you could only describe as a whine coming from his throat as he sat up. 
The day your kitchen sink stopped working and he had to fix it was one you wouldn’t ever forget. He was leaning beneath the sink, in the cabinet on his back as he fiddled with some tools on the pipes. His white t-shirt became see-through as he sweat from the hard work, his biceps flexing with every movement he made. His shirt rode up a bit over his stomach, exposing his abs that moved and rippled with every movement. His sweats were riding low on his hips, exposing that delicious v-line and happy trail that vanished beneath the band.
The worst part was the way you could see everything in those gray sweatpants he wore. You were pretty sure he wasn’t wearing any underwear. 
You had to leave the room and hide in your bedroom with the window open until he finally finished fixing it. 
You definitely didn’t let your hand slide down your panties to the mental image of him that night. 
Despite living together for nearly four months, you knew close to nothing personal about Shinsou. Putting aside his weird, shady two-day job once a month, you didn’t have anything else to go off of on who he was. 
He was a quiet guy who liked documentaries, video games, and had insomnia. He really loved to eat breakfast foods and cats. Although you hadn’t been in his room even once, only had a couple peeks inside, you knew he owned some cat-themed stationary at the very least. 
Despite his cold appearance, he was actually quite kindhearted and gentle but seemed to have no desire to show it unless necessary. One time, you cut your finger while cooking and you swear you’d never seen him run faster to get a bandaid from the bathroom ― one with a cat on it, no less. 
You still remember the feeling of his hand holding yours and how close his face was as he inspected the cut. You could have leaned in and kissed him so easily then. 
And god was that tempting. 
So lost in your thoughts, you didn’t realize the glass you were holding in your hand slipped free until it shattered in a million pieces across the linoleum floor. You gasped, startled as you looked around for a way to escape but a single step in an area you thought was clear brought a cry from your lips as you stepped on the tiny shards. 
You heard a loud thump from the living room where he had been playing a video game before the thundering footsteps raced into the kitchen. Shinsou’s eyes were wide, like he was terrified of what he would find. 
“Don’t move,” he snapped, noting the way you leaned against the counter to take your injured foot off of the ground. He opened the storage cabinet and pulled out the broom and dust pan. 
It took only a few minutes for him to clean it up enough to get to you safely on his own bare feet. Instead of you limping your way to the living room however, you found yourself swept off your feet. 
Your heart raced so hard, you could hear it pounding in your ears. You were cradled against his chest, so warm and firm with his strong arms beneath your knees and shoulders. His heavenly scent surrounded you ― more intense than you’d even smelt it before. As you finally got a close look, you took notice of how his long lashes framed his pretty eyes. 
All too soon, you were placed on the couch and he was disappearing down the hall with quick efficiency. You were still stunned from being in his arms that you barely noticed he had returned until he was on his knees in front of you. 
Immediately, your cheeks bloomed hot with a blush. The image of him on his knees like that immediately sent your mind to a wicked place. 
Luckily your dirty mind was stopped in its tracks when he began pulling glass from your foot.
You gasped in pain, attempting to pull away on reflex but he held strong, sharp gaze burning holes into you.
“Sit still,” he growled, sending a shiver down your spine. 
His voice was so low, so commanding that you found yourself immediately doing what he said. You always were weak to a dominant man. 
Soon enough, your foot was cleaned and he deemed that the bleeding had stopped.
“It’ll probably hurt like hell for a little while when you walk on it,” he warned, packing the first aid away. 
“Thanks Hitoshi,” you smiled, earning a soft nod of acknowledgement from the man. 
The memory of being in his arms, even for that brief moment, was imprinted in your mind. As you laid in bed, you thought about it. It made your stomach flutter in excitement as you fell asleep. 
The fourth monthly job for Shinsou came and unfortunately, you missed him leaving. You had stayed up studying and as a result fell asleep earlier than usual. When you woke up he was already gone and you were left with a painful throb in your heart. 
You missed him. 
As you lazed on the couch, you found your mind wandering to him again. Like always. It was like your mind was cursed. 
You wondered if he thought about you at all. The idea made you feel giddy and you had to bite back a smile. You felt like a silly schoolgirl with your crush ― the way he made your stomach flutter, your heart race, and your cheeks burn was getting ridiculous. It wasn’t like you could confess, he hadn’t given much of a hint that he even thought of you as a friend. Plus, you weren’t sure if you were willing to give up the killer apartment and perfect roommate gig you currently had with a foolish confession. 
You heaved a sigh, sitting up with a new idea in mind. 
A way that you could learn more about him.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the...most noble means. 
Standing outside his bedroom door, you bit your lip. It felt wrong to go into his room without permission. It wasn’t like he went into your room ― as far as you knew, who knows what he did while you were at school or working. 
The metal doorknob was cold in your palm as you turned it and pushed it open with a soft click.
You’d seen his room in quick glances before when he opened it but you’d never gotten to fully inspect it. He had a large bed that took up the most space in his room. Situated on a dresser at the end of the bed was a TV, a Playstation set up beside it. Against the opposite wall was a desk with a gaming computer setup and a red and black gaming chair pushed in neatly. 
There were a few articles of clothing littering the floor around his laundry basket and his closet was partly open to reveal his primarily monochromatic wardrobe choices. 
Walking into the bedroom, you immediately got a whiff of his cologne, making you smile at the addictive scent. You took a seat on the edge of his bed, the black comforter incredibly soft beneath your hands. 
You leaned forward and opened his nightstand drawer, finding nothing too interesting ― a picture of him standing with a smiling boy with crazy green hair, a pink-skinned girl, and a beaming red-haired guy. 
You hadn’t really given it much thought ― that he had friends. He didn’t really talk about anyone, in fact you never heard him mention anyone in his life besides his mom a few times. You did note that he texted on his phone quite a lot and sometimes you could hear him laughing and cursing from his bedroom as he played a video game. You wondered what his friends' names were, what they were like ― what it was like to be friends with Shinsou. 
What you wouldn’t give to be someone...important in his life. 
Sighing, you closed the drawer and moved to his dresser. Your own thoughts caused your heart to ache and you tried to brush it off by looking through the drawers for something interesting. 
Fortunately, you got what you wished for. 
The last drawer to the right contained a little black metal box buried beneath some clothes. You pulled it out and took a seat on the floor, pressing the button to open it. It popped open and you gaped at what you saw. 
It was filled with money. More money than you’d probably ever seen in your whole life. The bills were wrapped together with rubber bands ― there had to be thousands of dollars in even a single stack. As you pulled out the bundles, you found that there were things located beneath them. 
Jewels; all types. Diamond rings, necklaces, bracelets, ruby and emerald gems decorating them. You pulled out a ring and held it up, watching as he gleamed under the light. 
You tucked everything back inside the box and hid it back the way you found it, shutting the drawer before standing up. 
You had no idea what to think as you shut his door once again, moving to your own room. How could he have all that money hidden away like that? It was certainly shady. 
Perhaps it was counterfeit? Or maybe he stole it! 
And what about those jewels? Did he steal those too? Why were they hidden instead of sold off somewhere?
You had so many questions and absolutely no answers. 
Suddenly you were regretting going snooping in his room. 
The fifth month of living with him would have to be where things started to go downhill. 
He came home from his weekend away, tired and grumpy, just wanting a relaxing shower. However, you hadn’t realized he was home so in your tired, sleep-filled daze you stumbled to the bathroom with the urgent need to pee. 
You pushed the bathroom door open and halted in your tracks, heart stopping in your chest at the sight of shirtless Shinsou. 
He had his back to you, displaying the angry red scratch marks that raked down the pale skin of his back, making them stand out even more. He realized you were there and spun around, eyes narrowed in a glare. With his chest in view, you could see all the hickeys and bites that trailed down  his body, disappearing in the hem of his jeans that he had yet to shed.
“Get the hell out,” he snapped, ripping the door from your hand before slamming in shut in your face. 
You stared at the wood for several, long seconds, stunned. You heard the shower start and snapped out of your daze. Forgetting your once desperate need to pee, you trudged back to your  bedroom and quietly shut the door. 
You weren’t a fool ― you knew exactly what those marks meant. You crawled under the covers and found yourself wondering what kind of woman got Hitoshi Shinsou’s attention enough to get him into bed. 
And what did she have that you didn’t?
Truth be told, you couldn’t even imagine him as the type to sleep around. He wasn’t exactly sociable and he rarely seemed to go out of his way to interact even with his friends.
You could hear the shower turn off and you were suddenly reminded of the way he slammed the door in your face ― the ache from realizing he’d been with someone else only exacerbated by the knife of his shouting at you. 
You closed your eyes and attempted to sleep, ignoring the sting behind your eyes. 
The next morning, you found yourself not wanting to get out of bed. You could hear Shinsou shuffling around the house, doing god knows what. You heard him walk down the hallway, heart freezing as he stopped in front of your bedroom door. 
You closed your eyes, willing him to go away. 
Luck was not on your side, however, as he knocked thrice on your door. It was loud enough that you knew you wouldn’t be able to feign sleeping through it. 
You sighed and crawled out of bed and trudged over to the door, pulling it open just a bit to get a look at him. 
He had his head down, hand clasped around the nape of his neck with his other hand shoved in his pocket. He looked up when he heard the door open, brows drawn together as he gazed at you partially hiding behind the door. 
“I uh…” he cleared his throat, “I went out and picked us up some breakfast.”
“Oh…” you shifted on your feet awkwardly, nodding your head, “Thanks...I’ll eat later.”
You were about to close the door, desperate to escape the burning in your eyes as you remembered last night. Before it could close, however, he shoved his hand in the crack. You paused, not wanting to crush his hand in the door. You let him push it open to show more of you ― clad in shorts and an oversized t-shirt that you loved to sleep in. Thankfully the shirt was big enough that he wouldn’t be able to tell you weren’t wearing a bra. 
“I have to apologize,” he grunted, meeting your gaze, “I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that last night. I was just ticked off…” he trailed off.
You bit your lip, “I uh...I didn’t know you were home...so that’s why I just...walked in…” 
He shook his head, “No I understand, really. Y-You just surprised me and I reacted. I really need to stop taking my shit out on you, I’ll work on that, really. I shouldn’t have slammed the door like that either. It was a shit night but it wasn’t your fault you didn’t know I came home.”
“I-It’s alright, Hitoshi, really,” you smiled, though it faltered a bit at the memory of those scratches and hickeys.
“I...hope you’re not hiding away in here because I upset you,” he muttered, making you frown once more.
“What do you mean?” you questioned.
He bit his lip, looking away awkwardly, “you’re usually up around 10 and it’s...getting close to noon. You don’t do that normally so...I can only think you were trying to avoid me and that’s the last thing I want. This is your home too and I never want you to feel like you can’t be comfortable here.”
You gaped at him, processing what he was telling you. First, he paid close enough attention to you that he knew what time you got up ― that thought made happiness bloom in your chest and second, that was probably the most you’d heard him say in one sitting.
“It’s okay now, Hitoshi,” you smiled, “let me get dressed and I’ll be out to eat, okay?”
He smiled, making your cheeks burn at the sight as he nodded, turning away from you to move back to the living room. You closed your door and sighed. 
It was crazy how just a simple smile from him had your heart fluttering. However, it was quickly halted by the memory that he had someone ― maybe it was a girlfriend. That made your chest ache and you bit your lip to halt those negative feelings as you stripped and changed out of your pajamas. 
You had no idea how you were going to get past the painful clench in your chest every time you looked at him now. 
Month six rolled around and nothing very interesting happened. Shinsou moved his playstation into the living room so the two of you could play some games together. It was a fun bonding experience and you got to watch the way his eyes would light up whenever he beat you. The sound of his laugh still rang in your ears and you couldn’t help but smile every time you thought back to that pretty smile of his. 
It became a weekly thing for the two of you, every Friday night you would sit down on the couch together and play into the early hours of the morning. You got to know more about Shinsou than you had ever before. 
Sometimes he would jerk his body and brush against yours, sending goosebumps across your skin. He was always so warm and inviting ― just having him near you sent your poor heart into palpitations. 
You almost forgot about what happened the previous month when he came back ― those hickeys and scratches on his back finally having been cast out of your mind. 
Your heart did ache when you bid him goodbye the night he left again, wondering if he was going to see her or not. 
The seventh month was when that already precariously balanced life came crumbling down all at once. 
Shinsou was in the shower as you played on his Playstation, sitting in front of the TV with a frown on your face. You could hear the shower running and in the back of your mind you pictured what he might look like ― water running down his flawless skin, his hands caressing. You felt an almost pitiful clench in your core at the mental image. 
Your perversions were cut short by the sharp ring of the doorbell. You paused your game and groaned as you stood up, your knees popping from being sat in the same position for too long. Unlocking the door, you pulled it open and paused. 
A woman stood on the other side of the door, a well-fitting black dress and fur coat wrapped around her shoulders. Her ears, neck, and wrists were adorned with sparkling jewelry and you could see the red bottoms of her expensive heels. She wore vibrant red lipstick across pretty, smiling lips as she acknowledged you. However, you could see the cold gleam in her eyes that made the smile all too fake. 
“Can I help you?” you asked, leaning against the door jam. 
She hummed, tucking some hair behind her ear with perfectly manicured nails, “Is Toshi here?”
“Toshi?” you raised a brow at the nickname, “He’s in the shower. What do you need?”
“Just to talk,” she replied, stepping forward like she wanted to come in. When you didn’t budge she raised a brow, “You don’t mind if I come in, right? I’m sure Toshi would love to see me.”
“Uh…” you didn’t get a chance to reply as she brushed past you, her shoes clicking on the hardwood floor as she made her way towards the living room, “Sure...come on in…” you whispered sarcastically, rolling your eyes as you shut the door. 
You could hear the shower was turned off, indicating Shinsou would be returning in a minute. You looked at the woman as she glanced around the apartment, feeling a sting of jealousy burning within you. 
Was she the girl he was dating?
“So...how do you know Hitoshi?” you asked, making her smile. 
“I’m his girlfriend, of course!” she beamed, voice far too peppy for your liking.
The words sent an arrow through your heart and you looked away with a hum, ignoring the need to flee to your room and cry into the pillow like a stupid middle schooler. 
As if on cue, the bathroom door opened and Shinsou strolled down the hall, towling his hair as he moved. 
Any other time you would have drooled over the sight of a shirtless Shinsou, gym shorts hanging loose on his hips as he walked.
“Uh...Hitoshi…” you mumbled, getting his attention. 
He looked up from beneath his towel, meeting your gaze before his eyes moved to the woman beside you. Immediately his eyes went wide and he stood up straight. 
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snapped, startling you with how aggressive those words came out. 
The girl didn’t seem too affected, merely pouting as she spoke, “I wanted to talk to you.”
“You have no business being here,” he growled, jerking his head to the door, “Get out.”
“No!” she argued, walking right up to him, “I deserve answers before you throw me away like trash, Hitoshi!”
“I don’t owe you anything,” he replied coldly, breezing past both you and her to go to the kitchen. She followed him but you remained in the kitchen, listening as they argued.
“Why won’t you see me anymore?!” she cried, petulantly stomping her heeled foot. 
“Because you got too damn attached,” he spat, opening the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water before walking into the living room again. 
“Attached?!” she gasped, grabbing his arm to force him to look at her, “I have given you so much. How can you just break it off without a real reason! Come on, Toshi, just...be with me, you won’t have to work anymore.”
He tensed, glancing over at you at the mention of her job, jaw set, “Just get out, Kana.”
She looked over at you, a sly smile forming on her lips, “She doesn’t know what you do, does she? Is that why you’re avoiding this?”
He didn’t reply, simply glared at her. Kana scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, “After all I spent on you, you have no right to just run away. You know I can treat you better than anyone else can, Hitoshi. You’re making a mistake.”
“I have plenty of other clients lined up, Kana,” he shot back, making her frown. He chuckled at the sign of weakness she showed, “What? Did you think you were the only one? No, sweetheart, I have plenty of girls waiting to spend even just one night with me. You’re not special. You’re certainly not the highest paying one either. There’s nothing of importance tying me to you. You have nothing special to offer. You got too attached, starting having feelings for me...you know it would never work with my job. So just leave before you get your feelings hurt.”
Both of you were stunned silent. You because you had never heard him speak so coldly and harshly to someone before ― even when he was having a bad day and accidentally took it out on you. Her because the words he spat out with such venom wrecked her pride and made her burn with anger. 
She clenched her fists and snapped her head towards you, “Best not to get close to this prick,” she warned, her voice watery with unshed tears, “A man who makes money being a sugar baby isn’t one you want to get attached too.”
With those last words, she stormed out. The slam of the door made both you and Shinsou flinch. The silence that followed was even more deafening, however. 
Shinsou cursed under his breath, running a hand through his half-dry hair.
“So...she wasn’t your girlfriend?” you asked, making him look over at you. 
He was quiet for a second before chuckling under his breath, “You learn what my job is and that's the first thing you wonder?”
“Well!” you defended yourself quickly, “She introduced herself as your girlfriend!”
He shook his head, moving around the couch to take a seat, “No, she was just...a client I spent time with for a while. She started catching feelings so I cut it off and referred her to a friend of mine. Apparently...she didn’t like that.”
“How’d she know you lived here?” you asked, sitting beside him.
He shrugged, “She could have looked through my shit at some point, I suppose.”
You hummed, not wanting to push him to reveal more than he wanted to. After all, it wasn’t even his choice to expose his line of work anyway. 
Well, at least you had answers on why he had all those expensive clothes, cash, and jewelry. It was good to know he wasn’t some type of shady thief in the end. 
“It’s...just a really bad idea to get involved with clients,” he explained suddenly, “It’s not a relationship that’s built up on anything real. Having to pay for the company of someone is not a good foundation,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair again before looking at you, “I hope you...don’t think differently of me because of my job.”
You shrugged your shoulders and shook your head, “It’s not really my place to judge you, you know?”
“Thanks,” he smiled, “It’s not really something that’s as bad as people think. It gets a bad rep for having sex for money and shit but...truthfully majority of my job is just...being company to rich women. Sometimes they want to take me around to some fancy parties to show me off or go on dates because they’re lonely. Sex isn’t the majority of what I do. I mean...I will but...it’s not the most common occurrence.”
Once again, the vision of those hickeys and sex-scratches crossed your mind and you found yourself wondering what kind of woman gave him those. At least you could be assured he wasn’t going out to see his girlfriend when he went to work ― they were strictly clients.
Which meant...he was probably single. 
Your heart stuttered in your chest at the hopeful idea. 
“How about I order some take out?” you asked, standing up to retrieve your phone. 
“Get some pizza,” he called as you disappeared down the hall. 
After his occupation was revealed to you, things began to look up. He became more open and carefree around you ― as he no longer had a big secret to hide. He didn’t really talk about his work but he wasn’t hiding it from you either. 
You decided not to ask too many questions, knowing you’d only burn up in jealousy at the idea. You knew you didn’t really have a right to be jealous since you weren’t his girlfriend or anything but you couldn’t help it either. 
The peaceful feeling didn’t last long, however. Once the fire started burning, it had no other choice but to rage. 
“You should really just tell him, _____!” your friend, Uraraka whined, head against the table.
“It’s seriously painful,” Momo agreed, “All this pining is making me sick.”
“Oh real nice,” you rolled your eyes, taking a sip of your coffee. 
It felt nice to hang around with your friends for once ― it wasn’t something you frequently got the opportunity to do. 
Just as Uraraka was about to open her mouth and reply, a looming shadow dropped over the table. You all looked over to find the familiar blonde hair and wide grin.
“Kaminari,” you greeted with a smile.
“Hey _____,” he waved before tucking his hands in his pockets, “Listen, I’ve been wanting to ask for a while but...would you like to go out with me sometime?”
The question left you stunned. 
You weren’t super close to Denki Kaminari, you shared a few general studies classes. He was a goofy, excitable guy who always seemed to know how to light up a room. Everyone around him was always in a good mood, in general he was just a very positive person. 
Not just that but he wasn’t too bad to look at either; with his pretty, wide eyes and sharp jawline. The black lightning bolt streak through his hair just made him look even more charming. 
But you hesitated, your mind drifting to Shinsou. 
Sighing, you bit your lip, “Can I get back to you on that?”
He smiled, nodding his head, obviously relieved you didn’t tell him a flat out no, “No problem. I’ll see you later!”
Once he was gone, a sharp smack landed on your back making you cry out.
“Why didn’t you give him an answer?!” Momo cried.
“Denki’s a great guy, _____! You should do it!” Uraraka added.
You shrugged, “It’s just…”
“If you’re holding out hoping something will miraculously happen with stupid Shinsou, it’s a stupid idea,” Momo said, making you pout that she had read you so easily.
“Just tell him how you feel, _____,” Uraraka sighed, “If he rejects you, you can accept Denki’s date!”
You sighed but didn’t reply. Your two friends shared a look before changing the topic, drawing the attention away from your hopeless crush on your roommate. 
When you got home, you were filled with a sense of urgency. Shinsou wasn’t in the living room so you went to his bedroom, knocking a few times on the door before he opened it. 
“Hey,” he greeted, a tired smile on his face, “Welcome home.”
“Hitoshi,” you swallowed thickly, steeling yourself.
He frowned, “What is it?”
“I need to talk to you,” you breathed.
“Okay,” he stepped aside, waving you into his room.
You hesitated for a second, realizing that there would be no turning back once you walked inside. The door shutting behind you echoed in your head. He moved past you to take a seat on his computer chair. The screen was lit up behind him, indicating he had probably been playing something before you interrupted. 
“I’m all ears,” he said softly, relaxing back in his seat.
“I…” you shifted on your feet, biting your lip, “I got asked out on a date.”
He raised his brow, cocking his head to the side. Part of you had hoped you would see some hint of jealousy from him at your words but his face remained as steely as ever.
“And...you want advice or something?” he chuckled.
You shook your head, “I want to know if…” you took in a deep breath, “If you like me before I accept him.”
He was silent for what felt like an eternity, just staring at you. Shinsou was always the type of man to think before he spoke, running through all possibilities before opening his mouth. His throat moved as he swallowed, a soft sigh coming from his nose.
“You...have a crush on me, or something?” he asked, making you deflate slightly.
“Yes,” you admitted, “And...if you don’t like me back then I’ll accept this boy’s date. There’s no reason for me to wait around and hope you’ll like me back when I could be out meeting someone new.”
He nodded his head, quieting once more. You watched as he stood up, taking a few steps towards you, “_____…” you heart clenched at his tone, knowing what was coming, “My job...it doesn’t leave me room for personal relationships.”
Despite how much you prepared yourself for it, hearing him reject you hurt. You nodded, forcing yourself not to cry as you backed up towards the door.
“Alright then,” you gave him a tight-lipped smile, turning your back to him, “I guess I’ll accept Kaminari’s date then.”
As you walked out his door, you didn’t see the pained look in his eyes. Your name lingered on the tip of his tongue but he didn’t dare speak out. The click of his door was deafening in his ears and when you were gone he sighed, hanging his head as he sat on the edge of his bed, feeling like an idiot. 
The next day, you hunted down Kaminari, telling him you’d love to go out on a date with him. He was thrilled, going off excitedly about how he couldn’t believe you actually accepted him and that he would make it the best date ever. 
And truth be told, the date was a blast. You had told him you’d never been to laser tag before and immediately he said that was exactly what you do then. The sound of Denki’s laughter still echoed in your ears as he lost to you, accusing you of cheating in a lighthearted tone. 
You didn’t see much of Shinsou after you started seeing Kaminari. Although it was casual, you spent a good bit of time hanging out with him ― he began eating with you, Uraraka, and Momo on campus and the two of you texted often. 
It seemed that Shinsou wasn’t making a big effort to hang out with you anyway. As much as that hurt, you knew it was for the best. It spared you a lot of hurt and him of the awkwardness of living with a girl who had a crush on him. 
It was fair enough, you mused. 
But when you laid in bed at night, your phone on silent and the faint sound of Shinsou’s voice floating through the walls as he gamed with his friends, you felt the now familiar tug on your heart. You longed to be with him. 
But you knew it was pointless now. 
You’d been seeing Kaminari for a month when he showed up on your doorstep to pick you up. Usually you would leave and meet him but due to the rain, he opted to pick you up and save you both from the hassle. 
You were in your room, putting the final touches on your makeup when the doorbell rang. Before you could react, you heard Shinsou open the door. 
You quickly grabbed your purse, tossing the strap over your shoulder as you opened your door. You could hear their voices carrying down the hallway.
“Holy shit!” Kaminari laughed, “What a small world ― it’s been a while Hitoshi!”
“Denki,” Shinsou greeted curtly. 
“You ______’s roommate?” Kaminari asked, tucking his hands in his pockets as he waited for you, “She’s talked about you a bit. Didn’t know it was you, though, man!”
“Denki―” Shinsou was about to say something more but was cut off by your entrance.
“Hey there babydoll!” Kaminari greeted with a grin, holding his hand out for you to take, “See you later, Hitoshi!”
Shinsou didn’t respond as he watched the two of you leave, his jaw set tight as he held himself back from calling out. 
-
You felt like you’d never been more angry in your life as you stormed home. Things had been going so well between you and Kaminari, you felt like you could genuinely start to like him. You enjoyed his company and began to think less and less about one purple haired roommate of yours. 
You slammed the front door, startling poor Shinsou on the couch. He turned around, eyes wide at the blazing anger visible on your face.
“What the hell is your problem, Shinsou?!” you cried, kicking your shoes off and tossing your backpack to the floor.
“Huh?” he raised a brow dumbly, only fanning the flames of your rage. 
“You…” you heaved, fists clenched, “Who do you think you are?! Telling Denki to break it off with me?!”
Realization quickly flashed over his face and he groaned, standing up, “I didn’t tell him to break up with you!” he argued. You opened your mouth to retort but he put his hand up to stop you, “I just told him to think it over. Do you know how we know each other, ____?”
“No,” you shook your head, tossing your hands up, “What does it matter? You still have no right to interfere in my relationship!”
“He’s in the same line of work I am!” he snapped, rounding the couch, “He does the same exact thing I do.”
You paused, letting the information sink in, “Why does that matter?”
He shook his head, “Do you really want to be with a guy who spends his nights in bed with women, _____? That’s not exactly the easiest job to trust a man with.”
You didn’t have a retort, “I thought...the majority of the job was just being a companion.”
Shinsou sighed, taking a seat once more, “It really depends on the guy. Denki is pretty popular because he loves to get his dick wet.”
You thought those words would make you feel jealous. The idea of the guy you were seeing fucking other women should make you feel something but instead...you felt almost relieved. Still, it didn’t simmer the anger you felt towards Shinsou at putting his nose in your business.
“You should have come to me and told me your concerns, Shinsou,” you snapped, narrowing your eyes at him, “Instead of going behind my back for me to be dumped.”
“You’re right,” he admitted, biting his lip, “I just...wanted to see if Denki was still the same as he was when I last knew him. It’s just how it happened. I am sorry.”
Sensing his apology was sincere, you relaxed and nodded, “I’ve got to study.”
With that, you hid away in your room. 
You couldn’t deny you still felt a bit ticked off with him but at least you were able to move past it. You realized you weren’t truly attached to Kaminari, you were just using him to shove your feelings for Shinsou away ― a pretty dick move on your part. So you were relieved to be out of the relationship.
Unfortunately, this left you with Shinsou once more. Where he once was pushed from your mind for the most part, he now resumed plaguing your thoughts. 
You couldn’t deny how tired you were. 
It was emotionally exhausting feeling your heart race at the mere sight of him only for it to ache when you remembered there was no chance in hell he’d even give you the time of day. 
Things reached a head when he returned from work. Eleven months in and all the negative feelings and tension finally culminated. 
“Hey Shinsou,” you called, finding him leaning against the kitchen island with a cereal bar in his hands. 
He looked over his shoulder, an unusually cold look in his eyes as he regarded you, “What?”
You tried not to flinch at the tone, frowning, “Is everything okay?”
“Fine,” he snapped and you sighed, realizing he was in one of his moods, “What do you want?”
“I...nevermind,” you shrugged, “We’ll talk when you’re in a better mood.”
You hadn’t meant for it to be something to piss him off further. You truly meant that you would wait until he felt better to talk. For some reason, however, he took it wrong.
“The hell is that supposed to mean?” he growled, pushing himself off of the counter to storm up to you.
“Nothing!” you defended, “I don’t want to get into anything with you, okay?”
“If you have something to say then just say it!” he snapped, making you shake your head.
“No!” you argued, turning on your heel to storm into your bedroom. 
Before you could get very far, however, a tight hand was wrapped around your elbow, pulling you back.
“Don’t fucking run from me!” his tone sent shivers down your spine, the angry fire burning in his eyes finally snapping something inside you.
“I am so fucking tired of this!” you tore your arm from his grip, not missing the frustrated grunt he gave in response, “This shit isn’t working anymore, Shinsou! You clearly don’t know what the hell to do with yourself; you come home from working and you’re in a shit mood and you take it out on me. Then you act like everything is perfectly fine. You know how I feel about you, so you can’t even pretend that doesn’t have anything to do with your behavior. In fact, I know it affects you because why else would you have convinced the only guy I’ve seen in the past like two years to dump me like trash! All over this stupid fucking job of yours. I don’t want to deal with the shitty way you make me feel, Shinsou!”
“So?” he snapped, teeth bared.
“So I’m gonna fucking move out!” you threatened, standing nose to nose with him.
His eyes narrowed and he let out a humourless laugh, “Fine! The sooner the better!”
With those last words he stormed past you, slamming his bedroom door with deafening finality. 
You were left alone in the living room, fists clenched as tears you’d held back so long finally broke free. 
A stupid purple haired idiot was not worth being hurt so much over. That you were sure of. 
It’s not like he even cared, apparently. 
With that thought finally pushing you into action, you returned to your own room to begin looking for new housing. 
In all your time living with him, the longest you went without seeing him was two days. Once a month when he went to work ― that was the only length of time you didn’t see him every day. 
Now, however, the two of you were avoiding each other like the plague. You had been busting your ass finding a new apartment, going to school, and working as usual. Shinsou had been hiding in his room the majority of the time. 
You even stopped cooking. 
Part of you wondered if he even noticed. Deep down, however, you knew he probably didn’t care. 
He would just get a new roommate and go on like usual. Like you had never existed. 
At least you’d be able to get over him then. 
It took a month before you found a decent place. It was nowhere near as nice as your current one but there was nothing you could do about that. Your situation with Shinsou was unique and you knew you were never gonna have an opportunity like this again. 
You came to terms with that. 
Wandering out of your room, you were surprised to find him sitting on the couch. His nose was buried in his phone but the TV played his usual shows. 
“Hey,” you greeted, keeping your voice even. He grunted in response, not looking up, “I found a place. I’ll be out by the end of the week.”
He didn’t say anything and you sighed, feeling your eyes burn. 
How you wished he would say something to stop you ― to show you that the past year wasn’t a huge waste of time and that you really meant nothing to him. You felt you could have at least called yourselves friends but...apparently that was one sided. 
The thought hurt so you escaped to your room once again to hide. 
The night before your move, you were laying in bed playing a game on your phone. Laying on your back, you held the screen up and tapped your thumbs aggressive against the screen. Your momentum was lost by three sharp knocks on your door. You cried out as your phone fell from your hand and dropped on your face. 
“Shit,” you groaned, tossing it away and getting up from bed. 
Opening the door, your words caught in your throat at the sight of Hitoshi Shinsou’s sleepy gaze fixated on you. His hand was clasped around the nape of his neck and he was looking away nervously. 
“What the fuck are you doing here?” his head snapped towards you, eyes wide before you realized how that sounded, “I-I mean I thought you were supposed to be gone! You know...to work.”
His shoulders relaxed slightly and he shrugged, “I cancelled. I...wanted...no, I needed to talk to you. Can I come in?”
You stood there for a few seconds, thinking it over before stepping aside to let him in. He gave you a tight lipped smile before you shut the door behind him. Turning to face him, you took note of the way his free hand was shoved into his sweats pocket. The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. 
“What...what did you need?” you asked, sitting on the edge of your bed. 
He remained standing, obviously thinking over his words carefully. His back was to you, his figure hunched slightly in his usual posture. But you couldn’t miss the tension his form held. 
“I never intended this to become a long-term thing,” for a moment you thought he was talking about your living arrangement but before you could refute, he was turning to you, “This sugar baby thing, that is. I had a friend who did it and made some good money from it and eventually I got into the scene and realized just how good it could pay. It’s been like 2 or 3 years now since I’ve been at it.”
He dropped his hand from around his neck, beginning to pace around your room to gaze at your various knick-knacks. He paused at the few boxes you had packed up already, a frown marring his face.
“I make even more money by selling the presents I get. Sometimes the clients will give me jewelry or clothes, I always sell them,” he sighed, picking up a snow globe that sat atop your dresser, shaking it mindlessly to watch the fake snow float around the glass. 
“Why are you telling me this?” you asked softly.
“The truth is, I hate the majority of my job,” he confessed, ignoring your question, “Most of the people are pretentious assholes who think they’re better than me because they pay me. I don’t mind being arm candy, it doesn’t really bother me. And not gonna lie sometimes the sex is bomb,” he chuckled almost lifelessly and you ignored the pang in your chest at his words, “But the position I’m in forces me to basically do whatever they want me to. Naturally, I have limits and shit but if they want to dominate me I let them and that sucks.”
“Hitoshi,” you grumbled, making him look at you, “Why are you telling me about your sexual preferences?”
“Oh right…” he shook his head, “I hate doing it because I don’t have much control in my life because of it,” he looked at you with fierce eyes, “That’s why...I want to say fuck it.”
Before you could respond, he was walking up to you, cupping your cheek in a warm hand. Your eyes were wide, staring up at him as he moved close to you, his lips brushing yours. 
“It’s been so fucking painful letting you go,” he whispered, “Having to reject you and let you go out with fucking Denki nearly broke me down, not gonna lie. I didn’t want him to hurt you, that’s why I interfered...but I also...didn’t want to let him have you when I wanted you so damn bad myself.”
Your heartbeat stuttered as you stared up at him, wide eyed, “D-Does that mean you…”
He nodded, “Shit, I’ve liked you for so long, _____. It’s been so hard not telling you how I feel every single day.”
“Hitoshi,” you likced your lips, reaching up to fist the front of his shirt. He hummed before you spoke again, “Please kiss me.”
There was a quick flash of his smile before his lips met yours ― every bit as soft as you expected them to be. You could faintly taste toothpaste on his lips but you didn’t mind one bit, he probably tasted the same from you. 
His hand moved from your cheek to your jaw, angling your head to deepen the kiss. Your own hands moved around his shoulders, pulling him closer. 
You quickly found yourself on your back, his hand wandering up the hem of your shirt, touching the bare skin of your stomach. You whimpered, fisting his hair as you kept him locked in a kiss. He didn’t seem to mind, simply sighing against your lips. 
You still had questions but you couldn’t bear the thought of stopping this so you tucked them into the back of your mind, devoting yourself to what was right in front of you. 
Shinsou sat up just slightly, breaking the kiss. You almost whined but the feeling of his hand creeping upwards towards your bare breast stopped you.
“Is this okay?” he asked for your consent, pausing before he actually touched you.
“Very,” you breathed, tugging him back down for another kiss. 
Immediately, he cupped your breast, thumbing your already erected nipple. You gasped into his mouth, earning an amused chuckle from him.
“Sensitive?” he asked, pecking your lips before suddenly sitting back. 
This time you did whine at the loss. He flashed you a fond smile before pushing the hem of your shirt up to your neck, revealing your chest to his greedy eyes. 
“D-Don’t just stare,” you complained, feeling your cheeks burn as he admired your body. 
“Sorry,” he replied insincerely, cupping your breast once more, “You have such pretty tits, you know? I couldn’t help it.”
You scoffed but it turned into a choked gasp as he enveloped your pert bud in his hot mouth, wet tongue lashing against it before he pulled away with a firm suck. You wrapped your hands in those soft, purple tresses and whined. His other hand came up to pinch your other nipple, making sure to give it just as much attention. 
“Toshi…” you whined, tugging his hair until he pulled away, his lips swollen. 
“What is it, baby?” he hummed, nosing at your neck to press soft kisses there.
“T-Take your shirt off,” you breathed, tugging at the hem until you were able to pull it over his head with a bit of assistance. 
Once he was as shirtless as you, your hands began to wander to touch every bit of skin you had long to for so long. He let you explore, letting out a soft sigh when you brushed over one of his hardened nipples. You didn’t linger in one place for long, quickly growing too curious at the sight of his member straining against those damn sweatpants he always wore. 
His head tipped back as you palmed him through the fabric, quickly noticing that he wasn’t wearing any underwear. Eagerly, you dipped your fingers beneath the hem and pulled his cock free, your fingers not even able to touch once wrapped around. 
He was thick, a curve to his length that you just knew would hit a certain spot inside of you that would make you lose your mind. The head was a flushed red color, leaking precum that you used to give him a couple easy strokes. 
He reached down, grabbing your wrist to stop you before slipping his own hand down the hem of your shorts and panties. 
Your hips bucked the second his fingers made contact with your folds ― already dripping wet and coating his digits generously. He gave a few soft circles to your clit, testing your sensitivity before finding the pressure that had you cunt clenching around nothing. 
You whined, grinding your hips against his touch in hopes he’d slip at least one of those long fingers into you. Thankfully, you were granted your wish and more as he easily slid his middle and ring fingers in. 
He groaned as you walls tightly clenched around him, trying to desperately pull him back in whenever he pulled them out slightly. 
“Feel good?” he breathed, already knowing the answer but craving your praise.
“So good,” you whimpered, biting your lip. He curled his fingers suddenly, nailing that sweet, spongy spot on your upper wall, “Right there!” you gasped. 
He grinned, massaging that one pleasure-point with vigor, “Yeah? Right there, kitten?”
You keened at the name, walls clenching. He groaned at the feeling, suddenly pulling his hand free from your shorts. You didn’t have time to complain before he was tugging the remaining articles down your legs to toss away. 
He moved with practice expertise, grabbing you beneath the thighs to pin them open. Your wet cunt was exposed to his all too greedy eyes. He licked his lips at the sight, making your cheeks burn. 
Before you knew it, he was kneeling on the floor beside the bed, tugging you down just a bit so your ass was almost hanging off the edge. The position left you completely at his mercy. He knew it too. 
You watched with bated breath as he spread your folds open ― revealing the shiny, pink hole that continuously dripped your arousal. It clenched beneath his leering gaze and he groaned. 
“Fuck!” you squealed when he dove forward to wrap his lips around your hardened clit. 
He hummed at your taste, sending vibrations through the little bud. He quickly abandoned that in favor of getting a full taste of your juices. Tonguing your entrance, he reveled in how tight you were around his tongue. 
You reached down, tanging your fingers in his hair as he ate you with all he had. His tongue worked expertly to circle your clit before dipping back down to your hole once again. 
“Please, put your fingers in,” you begged, desperate to be filled. 
He quickly obliged, slipping two long digits into your clenched pussy before mouthing over your clit eagerly. He could already feel you clenching sporadically around him and he couldn’t resist setting a quick pace, hammering against your sweet spot with every movement. 
Your muscles were taught as you felt that glorious high building up. Soft pleas left your lips as your back arched. 
“Gonna cum, kitten?” he tasted, flicking his tongue against your clit.
“Y-Yeah!” you sobbed, abandoning your hold on his hair to tear at your blankets ― not wanting to hurt him in your throes of pleasure. 
“Cum then,” the casual way he said those words flicked a switch and you were cumming. 
He groaned through your high, feeling your cunt spasm around him. He felt your cum gush from around his digits, soaking them as you clit throbbed beneath the pad of his tongue. Once your body began to relax, he pulled away. 
Your thighs slammed shut once he was out of the way, your muscles trembling through the intense aftershocks. While you were coming down, he stripped himself of his sweats, popping his cum-soaked fingers into his mouth with a groan as he fisted his cock to the sight of you trembling. 
The fact he made you cum so hard was a boost to his ego and he didn’t bother fighting the prideful grin on his face. Sweat coated your skin and made your hair stick to your neck. 
After several seconds, he climbed onto the bed and maneuvered you so your head was in the pillows. You bit your lip and grinned slyly at him as he climbed onto the bed. 
“Shit uh…” he looked around your room quickly, a frown on his lips. You looked up at him curiously before he explained, “Condom?”
You bit your lip and shook your head, “D-Don’t worry about it.”
“Huh?” he gaped down at you.
You shrugged, “I’m on the pill and well...I’m sure you use condoms with you...job, right?”
“Always,” he blinked.
“Then…” you wiggled your hips at him with a cheeky grin. 
He chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips. Reaching between the two of you, he gripped his cock and tapped the head of it against your folds. Your thighs jumped as he slapped lightly against your sensitive clit. 
Finally, he began to press into you and your mouth fell open at the delicious stretch his cock gave you. He clenched his teeth, letting you soft groans as he sunk more of his length into you. Your walls gripped him so tightly, spasming and clenching as he was fully seated within you. 
The two of you had to pause before continuing, the feeling of him filling you up too much. His cock was thick, making you feel like he was stuffing you full. 
“Please,” you begged, fisting the pillows on either side of your head as he sat back on his heels. 
Gazing between your thighs, he nearly lost it at the sight of your cunt stretched tight to accommodate him. He thumbed over your clit, receiving a sharp cry from your lips. 
“Fuck...you’re so fucking tight,” he growled, circling his hips against yours with a groan, “I can feel you clenching so tight around me. Bet you wanna cum again, huh?”
“Yes!” you cried quickly, mouth agape as he gave a sudden thrust, “Please make me cum!”
He shushed you, rubbing his thumbs over your hips, “Don’t worry, kitten, I got you...I’ll get you there.”
Before you could respond, he was setting an almost brutal pace. You always imagined what Shinsou would be like in bed ― you pictured it too many times at night. Sometimes you imagined he would take it slow with deep, intense thrusts. Other times you’d picture exactly this; rough, harsh thrusts that you were sure were going to leave you sore when the morning came. 
You had no complaints though. 
Hitoshi gripped you beneath your knees, pinning your legs to your chest as he fucked you. Your cunt gushed around him, making lewd, wet noises reverberate around the room and mingle with your mixed moans. He let out groans of pleasure, strands of purple hair sticking to his forehead. 
You couldn’t help but admire the sight of him ― muscles rippling and moving with the force of his thrusts. Reaching up, you pulled him closer against you, dragging your nails across his shoulder blades. 
He winced but you felt his cock twitch at the pinch of pain inflicted as a result. You thought back to what you saw that one night ― the marks some random woman left on his body. Suddenly, you were overcome with the need to mark him as yours. 
Catching him by surprise, you managed to flip him over, straddling his waist, using his strong chest as leverage to fuck yourself on his thick cock. The new angle allowed him to reach even deeper, almost hitting your cervix every time you sunk down on him. He gripped your hips, assisting your movements as he tossed his head back into the pillows. 
“Shit, that’s it, kitten,” he praised, reaching up to pinch one of your nipples.
You keened at the praise, leaning down to deliver a sharp bite against his shoulder, sucking at the skin until a bright red mark bloomed. You eyed it proudly, biting your lip as you ground against his cock, making sure your clit got the attention it needed. 
Shinsou bucked into you, making you whine as he started a steady pace of bouncing. Your thighs burned but it was worth the sight of having him beneath you. The way he stared up at you, as if you were a goddess made your heart race. 
“Toshi…” you whined, leaning back to steady yourself on his thighs as he started to thrust up into you. 
“What is it, babygirl?” he grunted, gripping your hips tightly as he fucked his thick cock into your gushing cunt. 
“Make me cum, please!” you begged, biting your lip. 
He grinned, bringing his thumb to his lips to lick the pad of it, “I got you, baby.”
Before you could think of a response, he was circling his thumb around your clit, the bud desperate for attention. Your body tensed with just a few quick circles of his thumb, his cock angled against your g-spot so perfectly that you immediately reached your high. 
Through your own cries of pleasure, you heard him moaning alongside you before he froze, his cock buried deep inside you as he came. His cock throbbed and pulsed with every jet of hot cum he released into your clenching walls. 
All at once, things stilled. You both relaxed against each other. His cock was still stuffed inside you, softening as his cum leaked out around him to make a mess between the two of you. You laid your head against his chest, his large hand cupping the back of it, pressing soft kisses against your forehead until your heartbeats finally slowed to a reasonable pace. 
“Let’s take a bath, baby,” he groaned as he sat up, keeping you secure in his lap.
You were surprised he could carry you so easily after he nearly fucked the very life out of you. 
Soon enough, you found yourself surrounded by sweet-smelling water with a fucked-out Shinsou cuddling against your back.
“Not to...ruin this afterglow bliss,” you hummed, leaning back against him as the warm water ripped around you, “But what brought this confession on suddenly? I thought you said your job doesn’t allow room for relationships.”
He was quiet for several, long seconds before he leaned forward to press a kiss to your shoulder, “I didn’t think it was fair to let myself be with you when I was going out once a month to hang around with a bunch of women. It isn’t something I want to put you through.”
“So you’re going to quit?” you asked. 
He nodded, “I probably won’t be able to make enough money to keep this place but...if it means I can have you without feeling like shit about hurting you, then yeah. It’ll be worth it, I’m sure.”
“Why don’t you just…” you bit your lip, pausing.
“What?” you questioned, gripping your chin to make you look at him, “Talk to me.”
You hummed, “Just stop with the sex and kissing stuff...just be arm candy, like you said. Hang out with them. They’ll still pay for that, right?”
He raised a brow, shifting so he could look better at your face, “You’d be okay with me going to hang out with a bunch of women who want nothing more than to sit on my dick?”
“Well…” you cleared your throat, your cheeks burning, “As long as only I get to sit on your dick then it’ll be fine. I trust you, Hitoshi.”
He was quiet once again before a smile fell across his lips, leaning forward to press a kiss to your lips, “We’ll talk more about it later. Let’s just relax.”
He tucked you against his chest, leaning back against the porcelain of the tub. With his fingers caressing across your skin, you allowed yourself to drift off ― finally wrapped up in those damn arms you dreamed of.
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ickle-ronniekins · 3 years
Text
forever, i choose you
desc: he’s always been everyone’s second choice, in every aspect of his life. george weasley just wants to be someone’s first.
word count: 3.9k
pairing: george weasley x muggle!reader
warning(s): idk you might cry, i sure did but what else is new. loneliness/discussion of sexual content/idk
A/N: i still have no motivation to write and/or read. and it’s the absolute worst. but i wrote the bulk of this story back in december/the beginning of january, and i figured maybe i’d try and write the ending and publish it and see if it’ll spark any inspiration in me. i’m real, real, real sorry if i haven’t gotten to your fics to read (i’ve got them all saved!) i just don’t know what’s wrong with me atm and it’s THE WORST. also it might evoke more emotion if you listen to this while reading this lil fic. thank you, to all of you, for your support and patience, always.
disclaimer: i do not give consent for my work to be posted on ANY other platform.
Seven-year-old George Weasley watched with wide eyes and a goofy grin as his father twirled his mother in the family space of their normally bustling and loud home. But tonight, the Burrow was quiet. Everyone was already sound asleep, his five brothers and his younger sister. George should be too, but he just couldn’t fall asleep no matter how much he tried. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his sheets and kept groaning, and it wasn’t long before his twin brother Fred threw a few pillows at his face, and eventually, George decided to get up and go for a stroll.
He hid strategically on the staircase so his parents wouldn’t see that he was still wide awake at nearly midnight, and he watched as they swayed lightly to the music emitting from somewhere in the house. It was light as a feather, the music, a small piano tune that echoed through the lower level, its sounds traveling effortlessly up the stairs of the home. Mr. Weasley dipped his wife and Mrs. Weasley giggled like some of the young girls George had seen in the village, kind of a nervous giggle, and he watched her blush. He saw his mother placed her head gently on Mr. Weasley’s chest and they both closed their eyes, and George wondered if they were happy to have a moment of peace without their seven children running around causing mayhem.
He wondered if they danced like this every evening, after everyone had already gone to bed.
George noticed a weird sort of feeling in his chest; he wondered why his heart was hurting. Was it because there was something wrong? But then he realized that wasn’t the case, for the aching in his heart came from his pure desire to find exactly what his mum and dad had -- a love like none other, with seven children, a home with multiple stories, and more treacle tarts than one needs.
He vowed in that moment, as he watched his parents from the staircase and tapped his foot quietly in rhythm with the music, that he’d find love like that one day.
He wanted someone to choose him first, just like his parents chose one another.
He brought his hand to his chest, as if to calm his rapidly beating heart, for the sheer idea of finding a love like theirs filled him with such excitement that he was certain he wouldn’t be able to sleep now. Seven-year-old George Weasley laid in bed, ignoring the soft snores from his twin across the room, his eyes wide with wonder as he dreamt of the woman he’d dance with one day.
Twelve-year-old George Weasley wasn’t ready to date. He was only twelve years old! He much preferred to dream.
He knew when he looked at the girl across from him that she wasn’t the one, lovely as she was. He adjusted his Gryffindor tie and cleared his throat and focused on the Potions assignment in front of him. It wasn’t exactly a date, was it? He was in a Potions lesson with his classmates, and Snape. But when the cute blackhaired Hufflepuff approached him and asked if he’d like to work together on the next of Snape’s ridiculous concoctions, Fred poked his brother in the ribs and winked, as if to say, If you don’t partner up with her, you’re a right prat.
And so George did what he thought was gentlemanly and he said yes. He could tell by the rose pink colour that flooded her cheeks that she was smitten with him, and that she’d asked him to be her partner because she was smitten. And he had to admit, she really was quite cute and very, very kind.. and rather smart for her age as well. And he knew that she’d make some man very, very happy someday. It just wouldn’t be him.
He did what was asked of him. He measured out the correct amount of powdered Griffin claw. He made sure he and his partner had enough salamander blood for their strengthening solution. And he smiled back at his partner, though his heart and his mind were still with the girl he’d dance with one day.
The Hufflepuff tried her hardest to capture his heart, but it belonged to someone he had yet to meet.
She wasn’t the one that felt like home.
-- -
Sixteen-year-old George Weasley didn’t understand why all of his classmates wanted to snog people and move onto someone else without so much as a blink.
So many people were pairing off and lasting less than a week before moving onto someone new. George rattled his brain for answers, he searched the eyes of his classmates for explanations, but he couldn’t understand why people would want to hop from one person to another. Didn’t they want to find love, a love that’s long lasting and pushes boundaries and moves mountains and weathers the storms it meets?
But perhaps, he worried, maybe that’s where he was going wrong.
Maybe, in order to find what he truly yearned for, he needed to be reckless and love without really loving.
Maybe he needed to search less, in order to find her.
And so he decided, with much persuasion from Fred, that he’d ask that pretty brunette Ravenclaw to the Yule Ball, and he’d dance and drink firewhisky and maybe he’d even kiss her, if the courage he tried to summon stayed with him throughout the night.
And maybe if he did all those things, he’d forget about the one his heart desperately craved.
And for a little while, he really did forget. Perhaps he could get on board with this “love the one you’re with” mentality. Maybe he could just be in the moment without worrying about everyone else. Maybe he could kiss girls without feeling anything, maybe he could date casually, maybe he could be like everyone else his age and not think about weddings and marriage and having children.
“Georgieee,” the Ravenclaw slurred on the dance floor. She tugged on his tie and pulled him close. He could smell the firewhisky on her breath and his heart began to pound when she pressed her lips lightly to his cheek. “Dance with meeee.”
No, this wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted more than this. He’d always wanted more than this.
George begrudgingly agreed and caught Fred’s eye from across the dance floor. The elder twin threaded his brows together and pushed the air with his hands, as if encouraging his younger brother to go for it. The Ravenclaw dazedly draped her arms across George’s shoulders and he sheepishly looked down toward his feet, but didn’t wrap his arms around her.
“George Weasleeeeyyyy,” she slurred again, hiccoughing in between giggles, “I said dance with meeeeeee.”
He tried to fight it, tried not to think of what he always did, but he couldn’t help it.
This girl was not the one. He could tell, because there was no love in the way she said his name. There was no true feeling in the surplus of kisses she kept pressing to his jawline, and there was no warmth radiating from her -- not the kind that mattered, anyway.
He knew, as he placed his hands gently on her waist and swayed with her to the music, that this was not what love felt like. This is not what home felt like.
He danced anyway, even though it was not the kind of dancing he’d seen his parents do all those years ago, and he allowed himself to think about what the rest of his classmates weren’t -- the person he’d hold in his arms, who’d be the mother to his children, who’s kisses would send him spiraling, who’s embraces would become all too familiar in a way that would comfort him in the darkest of times.
He allowed himself again, to dream of true love.
-- -
Seventeen-year-old George Weasley was sick and tired of waiting for the one.
It sounded kind of dramatic in his own head, seeing as he was only seventeen, but he’d known now for ten years exactly what he was looking for, and ten years seemed like a lifetime.
It didn’t help that nearly all of his friends had gotten over their casual dating scene and were now all enthralled with their significant others. He felt so painfully lonely, though he’d never admit it to a soul. He could hardly admit it to himself.
One evening, he shot up from the couch and out of the common room in a fit of fury, for if he had to see Fred and Angelina snogging in the corner for one more minute, he was quite certain he was going to explode from disgust. He was happy for his brother, of course he was, but he didn’t need to see it. Not as often as that.
He found Ron sitting in the Great Hall with Ginny, Harry, and Hermione and plopped beside them all before engaging in exciting rounds of exploding snap. But as the night grew darker and he grew more tired, George noticed the undeniable chemistry between his sister and Harry and his brother and Hermione. Though they all hadn’t admitted to one another how they felt, George had found it obvious, and he politely excused himself before he tugged his jacket rather angrily around his shoulders before he walked out into the winter storm, just to feel the cold air numb his skin.
He walked out of the castle, over toward the owlery, through the treacherous amounts of snow. Anything to distract George from everyone who’d apparently been hit by Cupid’s bloody arrow.
Ever since he was born, it had always been Fred and George. What about George and Fred? Was it because Fred was older? And why were people always lumping them together? Just because they’re twins? George loathed that. They were individuals too. He was always second, in everything.
In getting hand-me-downs from his older brothers. In being referred to with his twin. In lessons when the professors would call out their names for attendance, because F came before G in the alphabet. And even when it came to love; all the girls always seemed to flock to Fred instead, because he was more exciting. More boisterous. Less shy.
The cold, winter air bit violently at his exposed skin, and he reckoned it hurt less than watching everyone around him find someone that chose them, all while he was still waiting for the right person to choose him.
George Weasley didn’t want to be someone’s second choice.
He wanted to be someone’s first.
-- -
Twenty-year-old George Weasley didn’t know how exactly he ended up here.
He didn’t know how he ended up in a relationship three years deep, without having said “I love you” once and actually meaning it.
George thought he might’ve found her, his person, during his seventh year. She was beautiful and kind and everything he thought he’d hoped and dreamt of. Her soft touch, her yearning eyes, the way she curled up next to him in the dormitories late at night and held onto him as she slept -- it was everything, and it seemed to be perfect.
He thought that maybe, perhaps, she was it. But even so, he found himself waiting, still, for that feeling… the one on the staircase he’d felt so long ago.
But the pain of realizing that she wasn’t who he’d been searching for was more heartbreaking than the pain of him asking her to leave.
He’d been looking at her through rose coloured lenses and had been ignoring the truth that was right in front of him.
He should’ve left years ago, when that Gryffindor girl began to make backhanded jokes about the shop, and his dreams of becoming a business entrepreneur, claiming that she was only joking around.
He should’ve left when that girl showed up late to the grand opening of their shop, nearly a year into their relationship.
He should’ve left when he held her in his arms, and still didn’t feel comfortable beside her.
His heart ached for it, what he’d felt on the staircase at the mere age of seven. And perhaps he’d become so desperate for it, that he took something disguised as true love.
But the truth was that he knew, deep in his soul, that this Gryffindor girl wasn’t the one. He’d just chosen, outright, to ignore it. Perhaps if he could forget that idea that “the one” would smack him square in the face with an overwhelming sensation of knowing, he could have learned to love her, even when he hadn’t had that smack in the face moment when he’d met her all those years ago.
But it hadn’t happened, had it? He hadn’t grown to love her. Not truly, anyway. And she hadn’t grown to love him. Not in the way he wanted to be loved, at least.
Because it was more than just heated kisses and lazy days in bed and all things physical that he wanted.
It was about love. Pure, blinding, unadulterated love.
He stood frozen solid in the middle of his tiny flat and watched as that Gryffindor girl grabbed her coat off of the hanger and raised her hand slightly before slipping silently into the dimly lit hallway for the very last time. And George poured himself a glass of bourbon and sat near the window, looking up at the stars, expecting to feel sad at her departure, but in fact, he didn’t feel sad at all.
He felt hopeful.
He hadn’t found the one yet, but he knew she was out there, getting to him as fast as she possibly could.
Though his brothers had urged him to come to the pub and meet someone else, George didn’t fancy the idea of doing that. He was over that entire scene, just as he was in school when everyone was pairing off and moving on immediately. He didn’t want something fleeting, and he didn’t want something meaningless.
He wanted something true.
-- -
Twenty-three-year old George Weasley was certain that he was never going to find that feeling ever again, for as long as he lived.
While all of his friends were out at the pubs, meeting people and fooling around as if feelings weren’t involved, George was walking aimlessly through the streets to work. He was constantly dealing with the haze above his head, waiting for it to lift. He was turning down girls left and right and ignoring his brothers’ insistence on dating casually again.
He didn’t want to waste any more of his time on people who weren’t going to reach out and trace circles onto his chest in the middle of the night, or who weren’t going to dance around the kitchen in his clothes while cooking dinner, or who weren’t going to look at him with eyes so tender, it would render him useless for days to come.
He’d been waiting sixteen years to find his person, the one who would choose him everyday over everyone else, and in hindsight it didn’t quite seem like a long time. But as he cried silently to himself every few nights in bed, feeling the empty space next to him and yearning for the one who was meant to be there, sixteen years felt like a lifetime.
He thought for a long while, that maybe she was in another country, or maybe she was an auror or something, fighting her way through the monsters of the wizarding world.
He’d thought for a bit that perhaps he just hadn’t met her yet.
But as the days dragged on and he found himself lost in crowds, searching face after face, looking for hers, he truly felt as though all hope was lost.
And so George paced back and forth in the kitchen of his flat, biting at his nails and pouring himself hefty glasses of wine, keen on ignoring everyone’s attempts at getting him to come out.
Maybe this was what he deserved.
Maybe because he wasn’t out there, sleeping with people whose names he wouldn’t remember come morning like everyone else, he was just going to be alone.
Maybe there really wasn’t someone out there for him. Maybe not everyone finds true love. Maybe his parents had just gotten lucky.
The dull ache in George’s heart grew stronger, and for the upteenth night in a row, he laid in bed and gripped the covers and cried himself to sleep, his tears sliding down his cheeks the same way the evening rain slid down the window terrace.
-- -
Twenty-four-year old George Weasley stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he felt it.
That feeling. The one from the staircase as he watched his parents dance, all those years ago.
Heart pounding, chest rising, hands freezing.
It hit him square in the chest without warning, nearly knocking him over though his feet were rooted into the ground at the spot, smack dab in the middle of that cafe in the middle of London.
Someone was playing a slow, soft piano tune coming from the other end. People were filtering in and out, asking the man in front of them what exactly he was staring at and why he wasn’t moving. But George Weasley stood where he was, not taking his eyes off of you.
You were reading furiously, flipping through pages of a book gripped tightly in your hands, as though you couldn’t devour the plot fast enough. George watched with admiration as a gentle smile tugged at your lips, as your eyes scanned the words quickly, as you tapped your foot on the ground, in rhythm with that slow piano.
He watched with dazed eyes and parted lips as you finished the end of your book. You dabbed your eyes with a tissue and clutched the book tightly to your chest, overwhelmed, clearly, by the end of the plot. George’s heart soared so high at your passion that he found himself struggling to hold back the I love you that was pressing behind his lips.
You immediately took a long sip of your tea and placed your finished book back into your bag, only to pull out another and immediately immerse yourself in the next story. George laughed to himself, stunned that you were so intent on falling into someone else’s storyline, if only for a little while, that you hadn’t dared take a break from one book to the next. You merely jumped right in.
He wondered if his overwhelming feelings called out to you like a signal of sorts, because just as he was working up the courage to walk over to you, you looked up. You searched the room for a moment before meeting his gaze and suddenly, the world around you both stopped.
George found himself wanting to know everything about you. He itched to devour up any and all information you’d be so kind to provide to him -- your name, your favorite color, your birthday. He wanted to know what book you’d just been reading, and what about it had moved you so much to the point of tears. He wanted to know everything, but deep in his soul, he also knew that he’d have years to learn it all.
In fact, he’d have the rest of forever.
Your eyes went soft and George began to feel the steady pounding of his heart increase, and to his amazement, he noticed a gentle smile tug at the edges of your lips.
And he smiled back.
He’d been right all along. That feeling of finding the one would smack him square in the face. He wondered, as he peered at you now, biting down on your bottom lip and looking toward the ground, why he’d ever doubted himself in the first place. And he wondered when you looked back up at him once again and raised a hand to say hello, if you’d been smacked in the face with that feeling too, just like he had.
He resisted the urge to pour his heart out to you, right here and right now. He’d have time.
Perhaps today was just about having today, and recognizing that you were everything he’d been looking for since that evening on the staircase.
He’d tell you this one day.
-- -
“And what does… Lumox mean again?”
George laughed and squeezed your hands. “You mean, Lumos?”
You bit your lip in embarrassment and laughed, too. “Yes! Lumos. That’s the one that produces light, right?”
George brought your hands to his lips and kissed them gently. You two were seated inside a bustling restaurant in Diagon Alley, and he wondered if people passing by realized just how cozy you two looked together. “You’re more brilliant than most witches I know.”
You cocked your head to the side with an air of confidence and batted your eyelashes at him. “What can I say, Georgie? I may have been born a… Mugglie… but maybe I was meant to be a witch.”
George had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing. He couldn’t get over how painfully adorable you were as you attempted to pronounce these wizarding words and learn spells and charms and things as he taught you all things about the wizarding world. You took his wand and pointed it at your wine glass, pretending to transfigure it. You couldn’t, of course, since you weren’t a magical being. But George didn’t mind. He could watch you pretend all day long.
In all his years of studying magic, he’d never felt anything quite like this.
BONUS, just because i hate feeling sad asf:
Thirty-two-year old George Weasley rocked his redheaded daughter back and forth in his arms, until he was certain that she was sound asleep again -- her mouth open wide as she began to snore softly when he placed her back into her crib.
He peered up at the clock on the wall and blinked a few times before 4:32 a.m. came into focus. Exhausted, he made his way back into his room before sliding into bed.
And there it was again. That feeling.
You turned over in bed to face him, squinting in the darkness as your eyes adjusted to the scene unfolding before you. Groggily, you reached out and traced your fingers across his jawline. His heart nearly stopped. “Is she alright?” you asked sleepily.
George grinned softly and leant forward before pressing a kiss to your forehead. He whispered, “She’s alright. Go back to sleep.”
Though your eyes were already shut, you reached out again and took his hand in yours before bringing your lips gently to his fingers. “Okay.. I love you.. G’night..”
But you were asleep again before George could respond, so instead he pulled you closely to him and began to gently trace circles on your bare shoulders. He breathed in the smell of your shampoo, and listened intently for the beating of your heart that had fallen into sync with his.
Tears pushed at the edges of his eyes, but he slowed his breathing and reminded himself, again, that there was no longer an empty space beside him in bed.
Maybe he shouldn’t have ever given up hope, but perhaps giving up hope was what made finding you so much sweeter.
If only he could tell seven-year-old George what he’d find when the time was right.
And in the darkness, as the rain pattered on the rooftop of his house and he felt your embrace tighten around his body, he whispered into the silence, “I love you, too.”
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noaltbruh · 3 years
Note
I hope this follows the rules! But is it okay if I request a scenario where Giorno has a nightmare of turning into Diavolo and S/O comforts him when he wakes up?
My first request in so long, what an honor!
You're surely a fan of this scenario, I've seen you requesting it quite a lot of times.
Either way, let's get into it!
Esci dalla mia testa
06/04/2004
Midnight had just struck, it had already been three years.
Three years since Giovanna had become the new Don of Passione, and since the former had been punished for his actions.
But in reality, time had lost meaning to the young boy years ago. Everything he did, it felt so...Mechanic, so frivolous, simply keeping track of the days in order not to forget an important reunion.
He buried himself under thousands of piles of work, which only seemed to grow bigger and bigger with every day that passed. This was supposed to be his dream, his greatest goal, and he had reached it at such a young age.
But then...Why did he feel so empty?
He was supposed to be happy, after all the sacrifices that had been made to arrive so far, he had to be grateful for everything that's been given to him.
But he couldn't be, because those sacrifices were not his own, because innocent lives had been taken away, because he had come.
He truly was no different than the man whom he had condemned to suffer for all eternity. But he had to clinch his teeth, and keep on going with his head high, for the few people that were still by his side. Most importantly, for his partner.
As everyone around him had found a significant other, pressured by his best friend, he had decided to reluctantly indulge in this so called 'romance'.
And when you two finally met, he felt like a tiny fickle of faith had risen inside of his heart again.
You listened to him, to his struggles, to his doubts, to each one of his complaints like the were the only worries in the world. He failed to express how much you meant to him, after those...'Accidents', he had become even more close-up about his feelings.
You were very well aware of his workaholic tendencies, as most nights, you were the one to ask him to put down all the documents and get some rest
And this...Was one of those.
As you rapidly fell into a deep sleep, exhausted from your own day, you felt a soft hand gently caressing your forehead. You were so warm and comforting, like a puppy, the only one able to give him hope in this twisted world.
But sadly, your presence could not magically make all his guilt and insecurities go away, and he had accepted that.
After contemplating your dreaming figure for a minute, he slowly closed his eyes, wishing to escape, just for a short while, from all those crushing responsibilities and expectations.
His consciousness started to slip away, he felt ready to conclude another day. Until, he heard whispering. Weak, confused, peculiar sounds, he could not understand a word of what those voices were trying to tell him, they were too far from the boy.
But they wouldn't stop. Delicate, constant and unbearable like the sound of a drip of water falling into a sink. They were playing with the Don's patience, a sleeping lion that should not disturbed, unless you wanted to be torn to pieces.
His mind immediately connected the situation to a possible Stand attack, nothing out of his normality, per se, but he was not concerned for himself. You were still peacefully resting, clinging to your sheets, it was a quite cold night. He wouldn't have let a single soul cause any harm to his darling, she was his only true happiness, his sunshine.
In the moment he stepped outside of the bedroom, what he was faced with sent a frozen shiver down his spine, as he brought his hand to his chest, to control his heartbeat.
There were four doors, floating in absolute darkness. A weak stream of light, that seemed to be originated from nothingness, illuminated each one of them singularly.
The whispering got louder and louder, faint giggles could occasionally be heard. The young one turned around to look at the entrance of this cursed place, the one he had just walked through.
But there was nothing there.
And so, like a captured prey that had nothing left to lose, he ventured himself into the first door, only to be met with a monochromatic version of Fugo. He was breathing heavily, desperately sobbing and all curled up on himself, on the shore of the same place where the rest of the gang had decided to betray Passione.
Giorno was standing on top of the water, unable to move a single inch of his body.
"Look at what you did"
A deep voice murmured in his ear. One he hadn't heard in a long time, one he wished he could have erased from his memories, that infected his mind and was more deadly than the sobbing boy's stand.
Diavolo.
"Me? Fugo chose not to leave, it was his own fault if-"
"If he was abandoned by everyone he loved? Do you have any idea of how selfish it sounds?"
The boy hesitated for a brief moment, staring at those warm tears falling into the canal.
"It was just...A temporary matter, he rejoined Passione, he's doing better now"
"My, it must have surely been fun to prove your loyalty to someone who caused the death of half of the people you cared about, after refusing to participate in his little suicide mission"
The blond's legs started to tremble, mantainig his composure was starting to look impossible.
"They...They didn't die because of me, they sacrificed themselves for a noble cause, for making Italy a better place, they wished it as much as I did"
The man contained his laughter, then he continued.
"Is that so? Why don't say that in their faces then?"
The image of the lonely boy disappeared, together with everything in the room. Giorno was back to that black space, but the door was now missing.
And the next one...Had nothing better reserved for him.
He found himself in the island of Sardegna, the only sound that could be heard were the small waves that met with the coast.
He knew perfectly why he was here. He took a closer look at the seaside, there were some footsteps printed on it. He felt a knot in his stomach at the thought of where they would have brought him.
Abbacchio's lifeless body was laying on top of a rock, surrounded by dead flowers. His entire torso had been torn apart, and yet... His corpse was smiling. A tiny, melancholic smile on his purple lips.
"Do you still have the courage to repeat what you said?"
Diavolo began, in a mocking tone.
"When he became part of the Organization, he was at his lowest, he had nowhere else to go, every path he took brought him nothing but sorrow and disappointment. The only thing that gave him comfort was following Bucciarati...And so, with that excuse, I transformed him in one of minions"
The thought of calling out Gold Experience hit Giorno's mind, but he knew that there was no point of lying to himself. The albino was gone, his soul had left his body long ago.
"I don't need you to tell me just how disgusting you are"
He said, his voice was filled with a suffocated rage, as he knelt over to look closer at his former companion.
"Abbacchio couldn't have cared less about killing me, he came with you because Bucciarati did, because he so desperately wanted to follow him, he felt like scum at the thought of no longer having him in his life"
The boy with emerald eyes felt an hand touching him on his shoulder, but there was no one there, except for himself.
"You exploited his dependence from the man, and used at your advantage, just as I did"
He stopped for a brief moment, enjoying the desperation in the other's eyes.
"But at least, he didn't die under my guidance
And with that, the second room disappeared as well. The boy contemplated whether to remain in that hellish void or to move forward, the image of what was waiting on the other side hurt way too much, his juvenile soul was starting to crush.
But he couldn't remain there, it would have meant giving up to Diavolo's twisted games, seeing him break down was exactly what he was waiting for.
He turned the doorknob, when he felt something humid staining his clothes: there was fresh blood streaming from his lady bug pins. The trail that it formed on the ground invited him to follow its path. He knew he couldn't decline, none of what he wanted seemed to matter in this place.
A metallic railing stood in front of him, his entire pins bled so much to the point of consuming themselves. An horrific scream coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time echoed through the room, as he directed his gaze to the top of the grey construction.
"What a shame...Oh well, he was the most disposable member of the team anyway"
Narancia's corpse was resting among dozens of spikes, his faded orange bandage slipped from his dark hair, landing right next to Giorno's feet.
"Oh Narancia...So young, so naive, just another victim of this unfair world. That's what you're thinking, isn't that right, Giovanna?"
"This is why people like him should not be involved in this business..."
"Mh? And why is that? Childish minds are the easiest to manipulate"
Ignoring his last statement, the other leaned down to pick up the bandage, but his hand went through it. His body was starting to feel dizzy, like it belonged to somebody else.
"Not answering won't make me go away, the damage has already been done, after all"
"Narancia should have NEVER joined Passione in the first place. He could have gone to school...Have a normal life, but-"
"But he died for your cause before he could. What he said before I activated King Crimson melted my heart a little, how cute...He really trusted you that much to the point of thinking that he would have come out of it alive"
The railing emanated a cracking sound. For a second, he was afraid it would have fallen off, causing him to get impaled as well.
"I took away his chance of living an happy, standard life when he decided to work for me, and you did the same, allowing him to come along with the rest of your team"
The small boy suddenly faded away, together with the rest.
"But at least, he didn't die under my guidance"
At last, there it was: only one room left. Despite how deeply he cared about each one of his former team members, the premonition of what would have come next was more painful than everything he's seen so far altogether.
He sat down, staring at the door from a distance, his eyes emptier than the ones of his old allies. They say that eyes are the window of the soul, and nothing else could have been used to describe his inner turmoil. Nothing but a faded, dull green, testimony of all his battle scars and the survivor guilt that he tried so much to repress.
Perhaps his eternal punishment had arrived: having the chance to confront his inner demons, to move on, to show how fearless he was.
...But never truly grasping the idea of freedom, never facing and accepting what really happened, he was never given the time to. So much had oppressed him all at once, he couldn't keep up with it.
He was a child, a child that had to grow too fast.
But then, someone came out of the door. A bittersweet figment of his imagination, that made his heart stop beating for a second.
The one he hadn't seen in years, the one he had tried to subdue the most, the one that showed him for the first time in his life what love was, stood in front of him. There was no hole in his chest, no sign of blood or wounds, a reassuring smile accompanied his face, as he held out his hand to the grieving kid.
"What are you doing all alone in here? The others are worried for you. Let's not make them wait any longer, shall we?"
Giorno ignored his help, his gaze was stuck on that endless floor. He didn't have the courage to look at the other, his presence alone felt like a sadistic joke.
He didn't look sad, depressed, miserable... He was just...Tired.
He wanted to cry those tears that he had denied in the last three years, he wanted to yell at that illusion to leave him alone, that wasn't the real Bruno, it couldn't be.
But, as he impeded any of this from coming out, something he didn't think he would have felt in a thousand of years struck him.
Bucciarati hugged him.
A tight, comforting hug like one of a mother, that he was waiting for his child to reciprocate. The latter's breathing became heavier and heavier with every moment that passed, as weak laments rapidly turned into audible sobs.
"There's no reason to be sad now, I'm real, you can feel it, can't you?"
"Y-You...You're here...But h-how is it p-possible?"
The brunette chuckled, the sound of his laughter was more comforting than an angel's voice.
"It isn't"
Giovanna's stand penetrated the man's torso, but its arm...It was not Gold Experience's. It had a checkered red and white pattern that extended in its entirety, and it possessed an amount of physical strength which was out of any possible expectations for the creature able to give life.
"Foolish child, I thought you were better than this, I'd lie if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed"
The sound of Bruno's corpse falling to the ground resonated through that empty space, as the last door vanished. A puddle of blood originated from his horrible injury, it was big enough for the boy to see his reflection in.
"You are no better than me under any point of view. We took advantage of his kindness, we used him as a simple pawn for our own gain. The only difference between us, is that I was not manipulating enough to convince him to join my side voluntarily. He was a tool to the both of us, but you were the one who caused his demise"
The mirror that had been created showed two people, but the transparent figure of Diavolo immediately ceased to be visible. The only one left was Giorno, though his reflection seemed to mutate with every second that passed.
His blond curls started to change shape, turning into a fuchsia mess, with dirty green stains on it. His eyes had a killer, maniacal look inside of them, his pupils got smaller in horror. His entire body structure was different. He looked older, more muscular, his clothes, too, were no longer his own.
"Mista loved him, and you killed him"
"Fugo loved him, and you killed him"
"Trish loved him, and you killed him"
"Narancia loved him, and you killed him"
"Abbacchio loved him, and you killed him"
"You loved him, and you killed him"
...
"Giorno? Giorno please, wake up!"
You screamed, your sleep was interrupted by the sound of your boyfriend hyperventilating, as he desperately held you to himself, still trapped in that horrible dream.
You sighed in relief when he abruptly opened his eyes, so swollen and red from all the tears he's shed.
"Another nightmare, uh?"
You asked, gently caressing his back to try and calm him down, he was as vulnerable as a baby that runs to his parents after having a bad dream. Waking up in the middle of the night to comfort him is something you had grown accustomed to, but you had never seen him this shaken up.
He slightly nodded in response, grabbing the top of your pajamas. You put an hand behind his head, making him rest on your chest, and kissed him softly on his forehead.
You could hear him murmuring something, you couldn't tell wherever he was talking to you, or to himself.
"I-I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm s-so sorry..."
He repeated like a broken record, you could barely make out what he was trying to say.
"Tesoro, you've done nothing wrong, there's no one you owe your apologizes to"
The boy raised his head slightly, intertwining your fingers with his, he needed to feel sure that this was not another tremendous trick of his mind.
"See? I'm here, you don't have to be afraid. I know that you feel unworthy of my feelings, but there is no one out there that deserves love more than you do. Nobody is perfect, Giorno, you did everything that was in your power to help them"
"But I...I was the one w-who put them in danger in the first place"
"No, you were not. You all shared the same ideals, you saved them from the oppression they were put in"
As you swept those remaining drops away from his face, you could still feel his entire body shaking like a dried leaf in a windy day of autumn.
"N-None of this would have happened if I didn't come along..."
"Exactly, none of them would have known what it meant to be free. I...Understand that the sacrifices that were made are not easy to forget, but blaming yourself like this...Do you really think that's what they would have wanted?"
Not receiving an answer, you laid down once again, still holding him in your arms. You forced a tiny smile, kissing him delicately on his lips, and whispered in his ear that everything would have been okay.
But, in reality...You felt you were trying to reassure yourself as well. This was not something you could have solely resolved through staying by his side, healing from this would have taken a lot of time, but...At least, you could offer some temporary safety, and it seemed to be enough for the time being.
In fact, after some minutes, everything seemed to cease. The boy fell asleep once again, this time with the knowledge that you were there to protect him.
You sighed, praying for your darling to finally find some peace.
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sleepy-belphie · 4 years
Note
I have a request if you’re up for it. An MC who just arrived in the Devildom who’s lover just dumped them the day prior. The bros know MC isn’t emotionally or romantically available at the time but the bros still fall in love regardless. How will the bros handle the situation? Thank you! 🙏💗
Hi! I sort of took this idea and ran with it and wrote basically a headcanon short story for each bro lmao. Sorry I got a bit carried away but I hope you like this and it satisfies you! :) 
Also thank you so much @midnight-dome for the help with Asmo, you’re a lifesaver
Tags: @kawaiiblack
~~~~~
Lucifer:
The success of the program depends on your wellbeing
So he checks in on you every other day like clockwork 
“Is there anything you need to make your stay more comfortable?”
You always say no
At first, he’s glad you’re staying in 
Because it means less trouble for him
But when you skip all of your classes one day, he comes to your room ready to give you a firm reminder of your tasks here
He’s about to knock when he hears you sob 
Now, Lucifer has heard a lot of crying in his life
But he’s never heard someone sound so completely broken
He shocks himself when he turns on his heels and walks away
He shocks himself even more when he texts the group chat and demands everyone leaves you alone for the day
That evening he comes into your room with a small plate of food
By then you were are least on top of your sheets
You knew he was gonna ask the same question as always
But this time, his words were different
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Help?” 
He simply nods
And though he didn’t outright say what he meant by help, you knew
“I...don’t know?”
“Hm, okay. I’m going to listen to some music in my study. The door will be unlocked should you wish to join me.”
Then he’s gone
The few precious moments Lucifer isn’t working, he prefers to not be disturbed
So why on earth did he invite you to join him in his study?
He doesn’t have time to ponder it because the door opens and you come in with a blanket wrapped around you
The first night you both listen in comfortable silence
A few nights in, you start asking Lucifer about the records he puts on and he has no qualms educating you on it
On night 10 you tell him about the breakup
Once you’re done he, again, asks the same question
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
‘You’ve done more than enough to help me Lucifer, thank you.”
He finds himself blushing from the sincerity in your eyes and the warmth in your smile
That night you fall asleep before the record finishes
Surely you’d wake up aching if he left you in a chair
So he picks you up, carries you to your room, and tucks you into bed carefully
He tells himself he’s doing it for Diavolo
It’s for the program, this is his job
He’s gonna need time to accept his own feelings before he can tell you anything
For now, he’ll keep doing his “job” and spending evenings with you
Mammon:
He didn’t want to be your babysitter
He was a busy guy! He had stuff to do, money to make, things to steal
Some days he gets Beelzebub to keep an eye on you so he can do what he wants
One night in particular he heads to your room to make sure you won’t interfere with his plans
“Yo! The Great Mammon has things to do so don’t-”
He pauses when he sees you sitting on your bed with your headphones plugged into your laptop
He would have assumed you were just watching a sad movie by the tears streaks on your face
But the pain in your eyes…
He’s seen that look before
His brothers held that same look the day they fell from Heaven and lost Lilith
Mammon sits on the bed and you jump, finally noticing him
You expected him to make fun of you but instead, he grabs the tissue box on your bedside table and hands it to you
He glances at your laptop to see what you were watching and sees a paused video of you and someone else
You tell him about the breakup and Mammon listens closely
“What a jerk! Ya deserve better than that! I’d teach ‘em a lesson if they ever showed their face around here!”
You smile for the first time since he came in the room and he feels like he’s done something right
“How about we get some late-night food? I know a 24-hour restaurant with the best baked newt ever. Your treat.”
He’s shocked when you agree
He makes a point to hang out with you more often
He can’t recall exactly when you went from “a human” to “his human” 
Maybe it was when you held his hand while you erased all your photos and videos of your ex from your computer
Or when you texted him at 3am because you couldn’t sleep and before he could even think about it he was up and on his way to your room
Or when he spotted you in one of his jackets while walking home from RAD
But his greed was kicking in and he wanted you to be his and only his
However, much like he puts himself first, he knows you need to do the same
So though his nature and mind wants to kiss you silly and have you for himself
Part of him knows he’ll ruin things if he lets his greed take over
So he’ll fight his nature and try his best to be patient
Leviathan:
He had been playing one of his games online
He’s on a big winning streak and feeling a bit cocky
He sees he’s been matched with someone else so he gets into gamer mode 
Then he loses the first round
He’s a bit shocked and pissed that his streak was now broken but he has to prove his superiority to whoever this opponent was
So he rematches them
And loses again
And again
He loses 7 rounds in a row
By this point he is fuming
So like any salty gamer he sends a very lengthy, angry message to their inbox
Accusing them of using cheats and hacks because there was no way anyone was more skilled than him at this game
He gets a reply a few minutes later
“Um.....is this Leviathan? Avatar of Envy? It’s MC…”
You knew it was Levi because his username is the same across all his social media platforms
Cue Levi barreling into your room a minute later
“How are you so good!? You’re cheating, aren’t you!? You cheater!’
You weren’t cheating, you just had been playing games day in and day out to distract yourself so you got really good at it
Levi all but demands you to come to his room and show him what you know
You were already playing all night anyway so why not play with someone? 
Initially, Levi would have you come over just to show him your tactics 
(Also to get some team wins on his stats because he never has anyone to play with)
But you were actually pretty chill for a normie
Maybe if he exposed you to his otaku ways you would take to them and he wouldn’t be the only one in the house anymore!
You don’t become an otaku but you do get invested in almost every anime he shows you
He starts inviting you over for midnight premieres of new episodes
He starts buying extra merch because what if you wanted one?
He was used to disproving looks from his brothers when he mass buys stuff from Akuzon
But you only smile and listen when he tells you about his new special edition item
You never once judged him and his unconventional ways
This epiphany makes him extra nervous for your weekly hangouts
It was only a matter of time before you came across a break up in an anime
When the episode ended you told him about your break up and how the protagonist reminded you of yourself because they also were taking a break from love
Levi has seen this anime before actually
He remembers how the protagonist reacted to a side character confessing to them and it went bad
So while he knows he likes you, he holds off on saying anything because the last thing he wants is to be a bad story arc in your life
Lucky for him he’s always a flustered blushing mess so you shouldn’t suspect a thing
Satan:
He is the Avatar of Wrath so whenever there is rage, he is aware
He feels anger radiating through the house one day and thinks his brothers are just fighting again
Imagine his surprise when he realizes the source of the anger is coming from your room
He walks in and sees you throwing things around and screaming, your room was destroyed
He sees you’re about to step on some glass and instantly swoops in and picks you up so you don’t hurt yourself
But then you curl up against him and burst into tears
He stands there, not quite sure what to do 
He ends up sitting on the bed and letting you cry for a while
You word vomit about your break up and he listens carefully and notes the anger welling up inside you as you speak
He knows all too well what anger can do to someone and a fragile human shouldn’t have to go through that
“Would you like some tea?”
He can spare 30 minutes for some small talk with the human if it meant that you wouldn’t be left in your thoughts
You look at him like he has three heads but agree because your room is a mess and you don’t wanna deal with it right now
Tea time becomes a daily occurrence and soon enough it escalates to full-on hangouts
Going to the bookstore, going to cat cafes, going wherever you wanted to really
One time you both took a day trip to the human world
Lucifer wasn’t happy to find out his brother and you were gone for an entire day but he lets it go when he sees that you’re smiling genuinely for the first time in weeks
What Satan didn’t expect was how these outings made him feel
He finds himself distracted from his books because he can’t stop thinking about how cute you looked holding that black cat at the cafe
Or how happy you looked when you took him to that ice cream shop in your hometown that you really love
He wakes up and you’re the first thing to pop into his mind
He’s not dumb, he knows he’s fallen in love
But he also knows this isn’t the right time, you aren’t ready
So he’ll keep being there for you as a friend
And if you ever want him to be there as something more, he’ll happily oblige
Asmodeus:
There was a movie night at the House of Lamentation
Today’s movie was an action movie, courtesy of Mammon
Amidst all the face punching and explosions, there was a budding romance between the main characters
After the third obnoxious makeout scene, you leave the room claiming you need to go to the restroom
But you leave just a *little* too fast and Asmo can feel something is up
And he thrives on gossip so he intends to find out what is it
He leaves the room a few minutes later and catches you in the hallway, determined to get you to spill the tea
You tell him about the breakup
He wasn’t prepared for the tea to be so bitter
“Oh. Well, you know what’s good for that? Face masks!” 
He had to save face somehow and beauty was his default
He’s a bit shocked when you agree but you both ditch movie night to do face masks and talk a bit
He decides to share a couple of bad date experiences he’s had to make you feel better
“Trust me, you haven’t felt embarrassment until you have someone vomit Enfield brains on your new pants and shoes while at one of the hottest clubs in the Devildom.”
You spent the entire night giggling and listening to his stories
Devildom products are surprisingly effective on your skin so you keep asking Asmo to show you new products
Plus his company is nice
Self-care days become a common occurrence
Then those self-care days become self-care sleepovers
He starts intentionally waiting to try anything new because he wants you to be there when he does
He buys more of those scented candles you told him smelled nice
A few weeks later you’re having a self-care sleepover again and you have this really cute focused look on your face while painting your nails
He knows he likes you, but this was different than his usual attraction
He didn’t want to fuck you
Well he did but not just fuck you
He wouldn’t mind if there was something more
But you routinely ended your self-care nights by yelling ‘Fuck love!’ at the top of your lungs and laughing
So he knows now isn’t the time and he’s actually okay with that
You were a sight to behold regardless of his relationship status with you
But he hopes you’ll indulge in him one day
Beelzebub:
Mammon keeps pushing his human watching duties on Beel
But he doesn’t really care because he’s being paid in cheesecake
After his third day of keeping an eye on you, he notices you aren’t eating much
Being the Avatar of Gluttony, this is basically a crime
He starts bringing extra snacks with him when he hangs out with you
“I think the chocolate flavor is better than the vanilla. What do you think?”
He actually doesn’t have a preference 
He just wants to know which snacks you like more so he can bring more of them
He makes a game out of it so you don’t think about how much you’re eating
“It motivates me to work out longer when I get a snack, could you help me?”
You sit on his back and after every pushup, you both eat a bit of whatever snack he has
He keeps going until he thinks you’ve eaten a decent amount
Or you say you’re getting full
Belphie notices that Beel is refilling his snack stash more often but he doesn’t say anything
Beel feels an immense sense of accomplishment when you finish your plate at dinner a few days later
Soon after you tell him about the breakup
“It hit me hard but you made it easier to cope, Beel. These hangouts are the highlight of my day so thank you.”
There’s a certain pang Beel gets in his stomach when he’s really hungry
Somehow your words made that pang happen in his chest
But this didn’t hurt him, quite the opposite actually
He felt good, he felt happy
It was strange for his stomach to be the quiet one while his heart went wild
But this wasn’t a change he minded too much
He wasn’t sure what to make of it but he knows he wants to figure it out with you
And he’ll take his time doing so because he liked how things were now
Belphegor:
He’s intrigued by you after the first week of your stay
He’s never seen a human who slept as much as he did
Frankly, he was impressed
Until Lucifer informed everyone about your recent breakup and made it clear to not upset you
That’s when Belphie realized these were not the leisurely naps he takes, but depression naps
One day he sees you sleeping in the living room and you looked so distressed
Sleeping was meant to be a peaceful state but you looked so unhappy
So he wakes you up
“You’re in my sleeping spot.”
You weren’t in his sleeping spot.
“Oh sorry, I’ll move-”
“You’re already here. We can both fit.” 
Before you can protest he’s all comfy next to you and falling back asleep
Having another person next to you was kind of comforting so you let it go and go back to sleep
What you didn’t know was Belphie could partially influence your dreams
He can make them more pleasant but he can’t control what you dream about
He knows it works when he wakes up and you have a relaxed expression on your sleeping face
You wake up soon after looking confused
“Good dream?”
“I think? I had a dream I rode a unicorn to the moon then carved my initials into it?”
Napping together in the living room becomes a routine
And every time you woke up you told him about the dream you had with a small smile
A few weeks later he notices he no longer has to influence your dreams for them to be good
So he leaves you be and instead curls up in the attic for his afternoon nap
He wakes up a bit when he feels someone lay down next to him
It’s probably Beel
“Why didn’t you tell me you moved napping spots?”
His eyes open and he looks over to see you pouting at him
“I just sorta ended up here.”
“Well, I can’t nap without my cuddle buddy now can I?”
You’re teasing him and he should be annoyed
But he’s blushing
He spoons you to hide that fact, resting his forehead on your shoulder
But while your dreams were getting better, it didn’t mean you were ready to move on
So he just enjoys his intimate cuddling sessions with you and tries not to think too hard about the fact that he really likes how your body fits against his
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snelbz · 3 years
Text
Life As We Know It {Chapter 26}
Summary: After the sudden deaths of Nesta’s sister and Cassian’s best friend, they gain guardianship of their nephew, Nyx.
Based on Life As We Know It (2010) and a prompt sent in by anonymous for our Nessian fanfic contest. This is a modern au.
Instead of doing a tag list for this story, we have decided to have a set posting schedule. Chapters will be posted weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Occasional surprise chapters could be posted at miscellaneous times. Chapters will be posted on both my and Tara’s blogs! >> @tacmc.​
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Nesta awoke with a pounding headache and the need to vomit, even though she was fully aware her stomach was completely emptied out. She began to shift on the mattress, but froze when she realized that a heavy arm was draped across her waist.
Behind her, Cassian was sleeping soundly, spooned up against her.
Stay.
She remembered asking that of him the night before, remembered everything from the night before.
She had been drunk, horribly drunk.
They had fought.
She had tried to sleep with him.
She had vomited all over the kitchen.
He had cleaned it up.
He had cleaned her up.
He had carried her to bed.
He had stayed.
She hadn’t deserved for him to stay.
Carefully and slowly, Nesta took Cassian’s hand and removed it from her body before dragging herself quietly out of the bed and sneaking out of the room.
She had been so fucking irresponsible the night before, shouldn’t have ever tried to drive here, yet here she was. No wonder Cassian had been so pissed.
She planned on getting a quick cup of coffee to settle her stomach and sneaking out, but as she found Elain in the kitchen, she knew that was no longer possible.
Her sister, never one for anger, raised an eyebrow. “You owe me for my landscaping.”
Nesta cringed and dropped into a seat at the end of the table. Her head fell into her hands with a smack. “I know, I’m sorry.”
A cup of coffee appeared in front of her and Nesta did nothing but breathe in the life-changing scent for a minute, her forehead still pressed into her hand.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Elain said, leaning against the counter. “I love having you here. But as far as I knew, Cassian was staying here because you were at the house. Imagine my surprise when I find both of your vehicles in my driveway this morning.”
Nesta cringed, yet again.
“And the bush by my mailbox flattened,” Elain added, sipping from her steaming mug.
Nesta groaned, her head falling against the tabletop. “I fucked up, I get it.” There was no malice in her voice, only exhaustion.
The chair across from her was pulled out and Elain sat down with a sigh. “You know I’m not letting you leave until we talk about this, right?”
Nesta huffed. “Talk about what?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Elain sighed. “The fact that you showed up at my house at midnight, drunker than you’ve been since college, to fight with Cassian?”
Nesta looked up at her.
“At least, that’s my husband’s version,” Elain said, watching her sister. “Correct me if I’m wrong.”
Nesta leaned back in her chair and shook her head, slowly. She fiddled with the fabric around her thighs, only now realizing that she was in Cassian’s shirt.
He had taken her dirty dress off and replaced it with something clean, something of his.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Nesta said, simply.
“How about promising me you’ll never be stupid enough to get behind the wheel while drunk again?” Elain asked, a slight edge to her voice. “The last thing I need is you getting in an-.”
Her words dropped off and she shook her head, sipping from her mug to avoid the word that Nesta knew was meant to come next.
Accident.
A newfound guilt flooded Nesta’s stomach. She felt like she was going to puke all over again. How could she do that, after all that had happened? After what had happened to Feyre and Rhysand?
“I fucked up,” she said, again, and leaned across the table to take Elain’s hand. “I was drunk, I made a poor decision in the heat of the moment because I was pissed, and I was irresponsible. I know that, and trust me, I am full of regret and feel like a fucking idiot this morning. I promise, Lainy, that I’ll never make that mistake again.”
Elain looked at her for a moment before her eyes softened and she nodded. “Good. I believe you. Now, care to tell me why you made such a dumbass decision to begin with?”
Dumbass. Elain rarely swore.
“Cassian and I had sex in the store room last night,” she sighed, not looking at Elain.
“You what?” Her voice raised an octave.
“Shh,” she said, glancing around her to the living room beyond. “I don’t know how exactly it happened, but it did. I went in there for some air, he followed me, and we got into it. Next thing I know, my back is against the far wall, he’s buried inside of me, and I’m halfway to an earth shattering orgasm.”
Elain had stilled, her mug midway to her lips as she stared at her sister. She repeated, “You what?”
“I don’t need a lecture if that’s what you’re building up to,” Nesta snapped.
Elain sighed, setting her mug down on the table. “It’s either a lecture or silence.”
Nesta just shook her head.
“Nesta, that man is madly in love with you,” Elain said, lecturing, anyway. Nesta stared at the table. “And you love him, too. This…unhealthy need to push everything and everyone away that makes you happy is going to make you nothing but miserable in the end and, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let you be miserable.”
Nesta shook her head. “Feyre wouldn’t want—.”
“No,” Elain interrupted, her voice going harder than Nesta typically heard it. “Feyre would want you to be happy. She’s gone, Nesta.” Her eyes lined with tears as she reached across the table and took Nesta’s hands. “She’s gone, and yes, maybe that’s the only reason that you and Cassian ended up together, but you know what? Maybe it’s not. Maybe you and Cass would’ve ended up together at another time, another place, but you didn’t. This is how it happened. And Feyre, wherever she is, is so damn happy that you two are happy. She wanted you two to be together five years ago, and she wants you to be together now, if he’s who makes you happy. You can’t feel guilty, Nesta. Your happiness does not deserve guilt.”
Nesta said nothing, didn’t bother wiping the tear that fell down her cheek.
“You love him,” Elain said, and it wasn’t a question.
Which meant that Nesta didn’t answer.
“He cleaned up your puke and carried you to bed after you treated him like garbage,” Elain said, her voice lightening. “Men like that don’t just come around, Nes.”
A door opened and closed from the back of the house and Elain picked up her coffee, standing.
“Where are you going?” Nesta whispered, her eyes going wide.
“You need to talk to him,” Elain said, heading for the living room. She didn’t say another word to her sister, but she heard her start up the stairs. “Good morning, Cass. And good morning to you, sweet boy.”
She didn’t hear a response from either of them, so she assumed Nyx was still dozing on Cassian’s shoulder, but Elain’s soft footsteps retreated up the stairs.
“Morning.”
She turned to find Cassian leaning against the doorway. Nyx, indeed, was still near sleeping where he had his head resting against Cassian, holding onto his shirt.
Clutching her coffee cup, Nesta breathed, “Good morning.”
“How are you feeling?” he asked, walking to the fridge and opening the door, pulling out a jug of orange juice.
“Honestly?” she muttered. “Shitty.”
Cassian snorted. “I’d say so.”
Silence ensued, and Cassian kissed Nyx’s forehead as he handed him to Nesta. “I’ll get him some breakfast.”
Nesta nodded, taking the sleepy baby and letting his head fall against her chest.
Cassian got oatmeal out of the pantry and mixed it with some milk before cutting strawberries into small squares. The entire time, Nesta watched him. The entire time, Cassian didn’t say a thing.
She could see the way his back muscles flexed through his old, white t-shirt.
It made her weak in the knees.
“Dada,” Nyx said, arm outstretched to Cassian.
“Almost ready, buddy,” he promised.
As Cassian walked toward the table, Nesta put Nyx in the highchair. She’d move him once Seph was awake and ready to eat. She had a feeling Nyx would be finished long before that, though, because the second Cassian sat the bowl on the tray, Nyx’s hands were covered in oatmeal.
Cassian chuckled and retreated back away from the table.
Nesta cleared her throat. “Cass?”
“Hmmm?”
“I-,” she hesitated, and sighed. “Thank you. For last night. I’m… I’m sorry, I was completely out of line-.”
“It’s fine,” he interrupted, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.
“It’s not fine.” He still hadn’t turned back to look at her. “It’s not, at all. What I did last night was stupid and irresponsible and selfish. And you took care of me and I didn’t deserve it. So… Thank you and I’m sorry.”
He was quiet for another minute, pouring a cup of coffee alongside his juice. “You’re welcome. Like I said, it’s fine. It happened, you recognize it was a dumbass decision to make. Just don’t make it again.”
She nodded, though he still couldn’t see her, since he still had his back to her.
Nesta asked, “Can we… Can we talk about last night?”
“I don’t know what there is to talk about, Nes,” he sighed, finally turning to look at her. He leaned back against the counter. “Before or after you showed up drunk?”
“Both,” she stood up and crossed the kitchen toward him. She suddenly remembered she was wearing nothing but his t-shirt. “Like I said, I was way out of line.”
Cassian watched her for a moment before letting out a breath, his shoulders sagging. “Yeah, well… The store room was just as much me as it was you, so don’t apologize for that one.”
Nesta nodded, and looked over at Nyx, stuffing his face. “Do you regret it?”
A beat passed. “The store room?”
She nodded.
Cassian drank from his glass. “Do you?”
I asked you first, she wanted to say, but didn’t. Instead, she said, “It was unprofessional.”
“That’s not an answer,” he said.
“Neither is refusing to answer the question at all,” Nesta pointed out.
Cassian snorted. “Fair.”
They fell into silence, yet again, the only sounds coming from Nyx and his excitement about food.
“Is that all you have to say this morning?” Cassian asked, and she knew he was looking at her, so her eyes remained on the floor.
“I apologized,” she said. “I thanked you. What else is there to say?”
Cassian nodded, apparently that was answer enough for him. “Alright, well, Viv is planning on meeting you and Nyx back at the house at noon. I’ll see you at work.”
He turned his back to her and started walking out of the kitchen.
“Wait,” Nesta breathed, making her way toward him. “There is one more thing I’d like to say, like to ask.”
Cassian stopped and slowly turned to face her.
It was all too familiar. Him, in his sweatpants and old tee. Her, in his shirt, after a night spent cuddled up together.
Even if the night before had been under completely different circumstances.
She cleared her throat. “I think you should come back home, Cass.”
He searched her eyes, searched for the underlying meaning. “Why?”
“Because Nyx misses you,” Nesta said, without missing a beat. “He misses seeing you everyday.”
“Is he the only one?” Cassian asked, taking a step toward her.
“Cassian,” she breathed, shaking her head.
He nodded, slowly, taking a deep breath. “That’s what I thought.”
He turned around, but Nesta reached out for him. “Cassian, please, just come back-.”
“I can’t,” he said, quietly. “I can’t be there, every day, seeing you, and not being able to do something as simple as give you a hug, Nes. I can’t be there and pretend like things are fine, and that I’m not completely miserable. I can’t. I can’t do that. I’m not ready for that.”
The brush of her fingers against his arm felt like a brand and it took everything in him not to rip it from her grasp.
“I’m going to get ready,” he said, as calmly as he could. “I’ll see you at work. Viv will be there at noon to watch him.”
Her fingers fell away as he stepped out of reach and walked back through the living room and down the hall. As always, he never slammed the door. He never let his anger get the best of him. She heard it shut with a soft click.
“Mama?”
Nesta whirled, her eyes falling on Nyx. He was a sticky mess, oatmeal and smashed strawberries all over his hands and cheeks, but he was looking right at her. “Mama,” he repeated, holding out the empty bowl for her. As if he was saying, all done.
She gave him the best smile she could muster, before crossing the room and taking the bowl from him. “Thank you, sweet boy.”
A few minutes later, she’d left the bowl soaking in the sink, had wiped him down as best she could and had nabbed a pair of leggings from Elain’s clean laundry. She didn’t want to have to interrupt Cassian to ask about her dirty dress.
Without another word to anyone, she packed Nyx up in the car and was gone, heading for home. A few minutes later, she pulled in the driveway, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that something was missing.
Without that stupid truck parked next to her car, it didn’t feel quite like home. Going inside and not finding a game on the TV, or the smell of bacon cooking this early, it didn’t feel like home.
Without Cassian there, nothing did.
And she knew she was the only one to blame.
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