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storiesforallfandoms · 3 months

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oblivious ~ eddie munson;stranger things

word count: 3103

request?: no

description: in which he has a huge crush on the scoops ahoy girl, but she's too oblivious to notice

pairing: eddie munson x female!reader

warnings: swearing, use of y/n

masterlist (one, two, three)

The first time Eddie came into Scoops Ahoy, he was on a date.

He had been so excited for this date. It had taken him forever to work up the courage to ask the girl, a sweet girl in his grade named Noel. When she said yes, he felt like he could fly. He had planned out the perfect date: ice cream, a movie, and then maybe dinner if they were feeling up for it. If not, a drive in his van to stargaze before he brought her home.

It was all perfect, and it was already going well even though it had only just started.

And then, as he walked into Scoops with his arm around Noel's shoulder, his eyes landed on the girl at the counter, and he found himself breathless.

He hadn't seen her before. He thought he was about to run into Robin Buckley, who he knew had a part time gig at this place and who liked Eddie enough that she might've slipped him a free sundae with two spoons for him and his date. Instead, there was the most beautiful girl Eddie had ever seen standing at the cash, looking down at the book she had opened on the counter. When she heard them walking up, she looked up and smiled, and Eddie felt like she was the only woman in the entire world.

Not exactly the best thing to be thinking when you're on a date with someone else, he thought to himself.

"Ahoy, you two!" she said, marking her book and setting it aside. "What can I get you two?"

Eddie opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Noel looked up at him, and he quickly plastered a smile on his face so she didn't see his obvious attraction to this girl. He looked back down at her and said, "Whatever you want."

She ordered a large sized sundae and asked for two spoons for them to share. The cashier took their payment and got to work scooping the ice cream into a sundae glass. Noel was chattering away to Eddie, but he had a hard time focusing. He tried to keep eye contact with Noel, but he kept glancing up at the worker. She wasn't looking at the two of them, but he wished she would. He wanted her to see him, to maybe have a flicker of the same thoughts he was having about her.

When she passed him their ice cream, she smiled and said, "Enjoy."

"Thank you," Eddie said, pausing to glance at her name tag. "(Y/N)."

~~~~~~

The second time Eddie went to Scoops Ahoy, he was alone.

It was a week later, and he had been thinking about (Y/N) the entire time. He couldn't get her out of his mind. It was summer time, so there was no way for him to try and see her at school. His only hope was to go into Scoops and hope she was working.

Lucky for him, she was.

She was leaning against the counter, reading another book. The place was surprisingly not busy for an ice cream store during the summer, but Eddie was going to use that to his advantage while he could.

"Still not through that book?" he asked, playfully. "You must be a slow reader."

She looked up at the sound of his voice and smiled. "Oh hey, I remember you."

"I would hope so. I like to make a lasting impression."

She chuckled and marked her book. "For your information, this is a new book. Actually, the third new book since you were here last week. I finished that one the day you were here."

Eddie whistled. "That's impressive."

"There's not much else to do during the slow periods. They schedule two of us on at a time and usually by, like, 3pm it dies off here. Everyone is either going home for the day or getting dinner, or going to a movie. Which reminds me, where's your girlfriend?"

Was she asking because she was genuinely curious, or was she trying to figure out whether or not Eddie was single?

"Not girlfriend," he responded. "Just one date, and not a good one at that."

"Oh, that sucks. What happened?"

"I took her to a movie and she really did not like it. She was almost insulted that I took her to it as a first date."

"Which movie? There's plenty of good rom-coms out, and most of them are really good from what I've heard."

"I'm not really a rom-com type of guy, so I took her to see that movie Aliens."

(Y/N) started laughing. "That's a horror movie! You took a girl to see a horror movie on your first date?"

Eddie put his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey! I just said I'm not a rom-com guy! I didn't think that would be a bad choice. Wait, how do you know it's a horror movie? Have you seen it?"

She nodded. "I'm really into sci-fi stuff. I went to see it the weekend it came out."

I'm in love.

They continued to talk for a while until a customer finally came in. Eddie stepped aside so that (Y/N) could do her job. Robin emerged from the back room just as (Y/N) started to get the kid's ice cream and told her she could go on her break. Eddie itched to ask her if she wanted to get lunch together, but he didn't want to seem too eager or obvious.

(Y/N) looked over at him. "I'd ask if you wanted to grab something to eat, but I brought lunch today and I'm not one to waste food."

His heart fluttered. She would've asked. Maybe I'm not too eager.

"That's okay. I wouldn't want you to waste whatever you brought either. Maybe if I'm ever in the area again."

She was smiling again. "Yeah! That'd be cool. You should stop by whenever you're in the mall. It's super boring here when the crowd dies down, and Robin is only good for conversation for so long."

"Hey!" Robin said, throwing a used sample stick at (Y/N).

(Y/N) screeched and moved out of the way. The two were laughing as (Y/N) walked to the back room for her break. Eddie stood for a moment longer, watching her go, before he reluctantly decided to leave the shop. He would've stayed all day if he could, just to talk to (Y/N). But he definitely did not want to give her stalker vibes. Maybe he'd come back tomorrow, or give it a few days. But he would definitely be back.

~~~~~~

Later that evening, while Robin and (Y/N) were doing their closing duties, Robin said, "I didn't know you knew Eddie Munson."

(Y/N) looked at her in confusion. Robin raised an eyebrow. "Long, brown hair? Ripped jeans? Band shirt? Was here talking to you earlier?"

"Oh!" (Y/N) said, the lightbulb of recognition finally lighting up in her head. "That's his name? He hasn't told me yet."

"So you don't know him then."

(Y/N) shrugged. "He came in last week on a date, then came in again today. We were talking for a bit. He seems nice."

"Wait, wait, he was here on a date? Does his girlfriend know he's coming in and flirting up a storm with the Scoops Ahoy girl? You don't want some crazy coming in here ready to scratch your eyes out because she thinks you're trying to steal her boyfriend."

(Y/N) laughed. "You're funny, Robin. He wasn't flirting with me. He was just talking. And he doesn't have a girlfriend. The date went poorly he said."

Robin gave (Y/N) a look. She was surprised to see that (Y/N) wasn't blushing or flustered talking about Eddie. She seemed to genuinely think Eddie was just being friendly while he was there. Had she really been that oblivious to not realize Eddie was smitten with her? He hadn't bought any ice cream while he was there, and left right after (Y/N) went on her break. Was she not connecting the dots?

After a moment, Robin realized that (Y/N) really hadn't.

The next morning, Steve had come in for his shift to find Robin erasing the "You Suck/You Rule" board she had made to keep a tally of all the times he had struck out with girls.

"Finally giving up on your bullying?" he asked her.

"No," Robin said. "I'm starting over with a new target."

At the top of the board, Robin wrote (Y/N)'s name.

~~~~~~

The third time Eddie went to Scoops Ahoy, (Y/N) hadn't been working. He had to order ice cream that he didn't even want as to not seem so obvious that he was only there to see her.

The fourth time Eddie went to Scoops Ahoy, (Y/N) was there. It was the next day, which he felt silly about but he had been sad he didn't get to see her the day before, and didn't want to wait more time before trying to see her again.

Luckily, (Y/N) was working with Steve and not Robin, which was who had been in the day before when he walked in.

This time, (Y/N) told Eddie she hadn't brought a lunch in hopes of seeing him, and they decided to get food from the food court together. They spent the entire half hour getting to know one another. When Eddie told (Y/N) about Hellfire, she seemed genuinely interested, despite not knowing anything about Dungeons and Dragons.

"Do you have sessions over the summer?" she asked.

"Sometimes. I try to give the kids a break from getting absolutely demolished by my sadist campaigns, but they often ask me to hold a session every now and then."

"Maybe I could come by sometime to watch. I would be absolutely garbage to play, I know nothing about the game and I'd definitely hold your team or whatever back, but I'd love to see you in full Dungeon Master mode. You seem to be really passionate about it."

Normally, spectators were absolutely not allowed. New people weren't even allowed to join the campaign unless Eddie approved of them, and Eddie approved of very few people for his DND campaigns.

But he definitely approved of (Y/N). Even if she just wanted to come and spend the entire time not paying any attention to what was going on, he would let her. Just to have her involved with his world.

"I think that could be allowed," he said, trying to remain nonchalant.

"You're too kind, Dungeon Master."

She said it in a teasing way, but Eddie found himself liking the nickname coming from her mouth a little too much.

When it was nearing the end of her break, Eddie walked (Y/N) back to Scoops. Steve was on the cash with a line up almost to the door.

"Shit, I should go help him," (Y/N) said. "Thanks for having lunch with me today. Don't forget to let me know about your next campaign."

"Wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart."

(Y/N) paused at the name. "I like that. Keep calling me that."

Eddie smiled. "Will do."

He watched her rush into work before reluctantly leaving again. Mentally, he celebrated the small wins that he was seeming to have with (Y/N).

Meanwhile, (Y/N) was quick to help Steve fulfil the orders of the sudden crowd they had. Once they were most ways through and no one else was coming in, Steve asked, "How was your lunch date with Eddie?"

(Y/N) gave him a look. "It wasn't a date, Steve. It was just two friends getting lunch."

Steve paused to look at her. The realization that she was being serious hit him as hard as it had hit Robin days before.

When he was able to step away from the counter for a moment, he added a tick to the "You Suck" side of the board.

~~~~~~

The tallies on the "You Suck" side started to add up. Robin and Steve were almost impressed with how quickly (Y/N) was catching up to Steve's score in just a few weeks. They couldn't believe that she was so oblivious to the way Eddie felt about her. They couldn't tell if she didn't feel the same way, or if she just really could not see that Eddie was head over heels for her.

They started spending time together outside of the Starcourt Mall. The next time Eddie had come in while she was working, they exchanged phone numbers and started meeting up when (Y/N) was off. Usually they would go out somewhere or he would go to her place, too embarrassed to have her see the trailer that he lived in. But when she finally asked him at one point about where he lived and he confessed to her that he lived in the trailer park with his uncle, she insisted she wanted to see his place and meet Wayne. She didn't judge him in the slightest as she walked into the tiny, messy trailer, and when she left that night Wayne told him, "I like her. Don't fuck it up, boy."

But it was hard to fuck something up that wasn't really happening. Eddie didn't want to outright say anything to (Y/N) about how he felt in case she didn't feel the same way, but it was hard to gauge how she felt. She was so kind to him. She wanted to know more about him and never judged him for anything that he said or did. She even took interest in the things he liked, like DND and metal music, even when she said it wasn't something she liked. But, on the other hand, there was no clues from her that she liked him any more than a friend. Eddie didn't want to overthink things with her, but he felt like he was getting such whiplash from going back and forth on whether or not she liked him.

One night, when he knew she wasn't working, Eddie came to her house. He knocked at her door, like a gentleman, and smiled when she answered it.

"Hey Eds!" she said. "What's up?"

"I'm taking you on an adventure, sweetheart," he said.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "An adventure, you say?"

"Nothing special, but there's this place I wanted to show you. I promise I'm not taking you to my serial killer spot, though."

She laughed. "Damn, that's too bad. A serial killer spot sounds fun."

(Y/N) called over her shoulder to her parents that she was going out with Eddie before following him to his van.

The ride wasn't terribly long, but once they went off road onto a dirt path it got very bumpy. (Y/N) held onto the door and laughed with every jostle of the van. They came to a clearing in a field that Eddie had found some time ago. He parked the van and turned to look at (Y/N).

"Are you sure this isn't a serial killer spot?" she asked.

He chuckled and nodded towards the back of the van before getting out. (Y/N) turned to see that Eddie had thrown some blankets and pillows into the back of his van. When he opened the back doors, (Y/N) noticed that, this far away from town and with the lights of Eddie's van off, the stars were perfectly clear in the sky.

"Whoa," she marveled.

"Beautiful, huh?" Eddie asked. "I come out here whenever I wanna be alone and have a smoke without Wayne getting on my case about it. I thought...well, I wanted to share it with you."

Eddie climbed into the back of the van and gestured for (Y/N) to follow. She climbed between the seats and sat next to Eddie. He arranged the blankets and pillows around them so that they had some cushioning underneath them. (Y/N) leaned into Eddie, watching the sky with wide eyes. She didn't notice that he was looking at her, a small smile on his face.

"I don't think I've ever really looked at the stars like this," she admitted. "I feel like it's one of those things you take for granted. You don't really focus on how beautiful the sky can be."

"I didn't used to either, but after I found this place I started coming out to appreciate them more."

She turned her head to look at him. "Would you bring me out here to see them more often?"

"If you want me to." She nodded her head vigorously. Eddie chuckled. "Okay, then I'll keep bringing you out then."

And then, in that moment, with her looking at him and the beautiful night sky as a backdrop, Eddie took his chance. He leaned forward and kissed (Y/N). His hand came up to gently cup her cheek at the same time her hand moved to the back of his neck. Her response was a shock to both of them, but Eddie wasn't about to cut this moment short.

(Y/N) ended up pulling away first. She rested her forehead against his and looked into his big, brown eyes.

"Sorry," he said, softly.

She giggled. "Why?"

"I don't know. I feel like maybe I should've asked before I kissed you."

"I liked the spontaneity of it."

"Well, in that case."

(Y/N) giggled again as Eddie leaned in to kiss her again. They ended up tumbling back onto the blankets underneath them, but didn't break the kiss as they went.

"Wait," (Y/N) said. "Wait, you actually did like me this entire time?"

"You didn't know?" She shook her head. "Oh my God. All this time, I just thought you didn't like me back."

"I just thought we were friends!"

"Well, we were, but I had a crush on you!"

She put her hands over her face. "Oh my, God! I'm an idiot!"

Eddie chuckled and lowered her hands from her face. "You're not an idiot. Maybe just a little oblivious, but in the cutest way possible."

"I didn't know oblivious could be cute."

"Everything you do is cute."

His words made (Y/N) want to float into the air, all the way to cloud nine. She cupped his face and started kissing him again. They couldn't get enough of kissing one another.

The next time (Y/N) went to Scoops, Robin finally got to add a tally to the "You Rule" side of the board.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson imagine #joseph quinn #joseph quinn imagine #joseph quinn x reader #stranger things #stranger things imagine #netflix #one shot #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom

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scintillyyy · 4 months

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the steph brown conundrum aka the problem with steph being a character with hugely divergent doylist and watsonian readings

okay, so like. there is always a part of me that feels that to this day, didio kind of won when it came to the destruction of steph's character. like she wasn't a toxic character like he thought before he got his hands on her, but since he did & there was fallout from it, it has completely destroyed dc's desire to do anything potentially interesting with her, even as they've brought her back. like. she will always just kind of be a shell of her former self, doomed to stay uncontroversial and in the background. because when it comes to steph, and the problem with utilizing steph as a character now, you have to acknowledge two things

steph from an editorial and out of universe perspective was treated horrifically. the nonsensical and terrible things they made her do to move along the plot of post-crisis are awful and excessively reckless to the point of intentional character assassination & it was all done to justify her fridging for bruce's (and tim's) manpain which is awful

but the things that steph did as a result of the above are extremely load-bearing and important on plot and character dynamics and motivations from war games all the way to reborn era & to try and remove or minimize things that happened as a result of those actions just because they were arguably out of character from her has the unfortunate result of completely and intentionally warping the characterization of everyone who interacts with her to the point where it negatively affects almost every single other character instead.

so in order to show this we need to start at war games, talk about what happened, & go into how this affects things & why her character assassination is not as easy to fix as cass's or leslie's

so war games. ah war games. you know, having recently reread it, war games is frustrating because it's arguably a semi good event for most everyone except steph and leslie (especially leslie--now that was character assassination.). so let's get into the bare bones of what exactly happens in war games (war games being the three main events of this time: war drums (the prequal), war games proper, & war crimes (the follow up & worst part of the event)) (and i'm not saying i necessarily agree with this, just. this is what we have to consider.)

war drums:

this event has two main stories - the bruce & leslie story and the steph becomes robin story

in the bruce & leslie story (which is definitely racist), we have a young teenage pregnant girl who shows up at leslie's clinic having been shot. leslie attempts to save the girl and baby, but is left in a precarious situation where only one can be saved. she reluctantly calls bruce for help finding the girl's family, who finds out that the girl in question is popstar l'shea's sister--the popstar and her entourage in question kidnap leslie & the girl & bruce finds them, where it's revealed the girl is actually l'shea's daughter (like i said. racist.). l'shea makes the decision to save the baby, which kills the girl. leslie tries to get bruce to see that he can't save everyone, and ultimately gets upset about the cycle of violence she feels he perpetuates when he goes to take mr. freeze back in. she later comes to talk to bruce & it ends on a positive note fairly consistent with the bruce & leslie relationship--one in which leslie wishes he could devote himself to saving lives nonviolently & hoping he could see her as an example. my only quibble is that bruce responds as "ha-ha" leslie when if you compare to the batman chronicles #18, bruce absolutely counts on her to challenge his worldview & be a shining example of what he cannot be.

we do start to see the seeds of character assassination for leslie here imo, though this part is the best understanding of her by far--she's always been a foil to bruce as far as her pacifism and her determination to try and show him that there are other ways than his crusade, but traditionally she's always been defined as well by her immense love for him & he for her. she fundamentally disagrees with his crusade, but she's going to be there for him because she knows there's good in him that's worth saving--because to leslie, every life, including bruce's, is worth saving. anyways, read the batman chronicles #18, where she's determined to use O- blood on zsasz because of her firm commitment to the belief that every life is precious & she and bruce talk about their differences in opinion but how she's determined to keep showing him there's another way & he wants her to do so. this leslie who has, up until this event, been troubled by his crusade--but has decided it's tireless, but worth it to show him the good in people, suddenly seems a lot more, hm. overtly hateful of how batman operates & the fact that he puts criminals back in prison just for them to break out and the cycle to continue & has a sudden desire to not work with him if at all possible because of her total disagreement with his methods. which is. hm. somewhat but not entirely consistent with leslie's motivation. leslie would have no problem asking bruce for help if it meant saving an innocent & the fact that he believes in the redemption of criminals is something she inherently believes in. anyways i digress-

the other main story is, as we all know, the steph becomes robin story. and while you do not have to agree with how it is written wrt stephanie, the barebones of what exactly transpires is thus: tim has quit robin for his dad. he is attempting to live a normal life--go to school, hang out with friends, & not do the vigilante thing even when he sees people in need. he meets up with steph, who tells him of her determination to return to spoiler now that her broken leg has healed & he tells her that it's very hard for him to leave the house on account of jack always being suspicious that he's going out to be robin & be involved in anything vigilante again (it is implied that this is the first time he had been able to get out in a while because of his dad, as he didn't know she got her cast off). one day, when tim is at school, darla aquista, who has a crush on him, kisses him out of the blue. this happens to be seen by steph, who is now officially active again & chooses to be active during the day as a result of wanting to avoid batman as she doesn't have his approval, has gone over to tim's school to check on him because she's suspicious he's hiding something from her other than he's basically under house arrest from his dad atm since it had been so long since she had seen him. it, of course, looks terrible to her and she flounces off--deciding that she's going to become robin. bruce agrees, which everyone--alfred, barbara, eventually tim, etc completely understands to be a scheme to lure tim back. steph proceeds to completely ghost tim for the next two months--he calls and leaves messages, and she never calls back or comes to see him at all--she is completely radio silent & avoiding him and he doesn't know why but he is worried. bruce tells stephanie that she will not be privy to any secrets & the minute she disobeys an order she's out (a double standard, yes, but completely consistent in that he, again, is using her basically only to lure tim back). meanwhile, scarab is hunting tim, killing boys in his age range with dark hair and their families in an attempt to kill robin as there is a contract out for his life. tim then finds out through the newspaper that the reason steph has been avoiding him is because she became robin & calls the batcave to finally talk to steph & ask her to meet so they can finally talk in perso. about what exactly happened and how on earth steph became robin. cassandra comes instead--steph doesn't show up because batman and robin are busy hunting scarab who is trying to kill tim/previous robin & tim needs to be put under protection. steph gets a tracking device on scarab. day 49, bruce and steph go to get scarab, bruce goes in while steph is let behind for support in the batplane, bruce gets blinded, steph disobeys bruce and comes in to help, steph gets caught by scarab, scarab gets away in the batplane because steph forgot to arm the security system. steph officially gets fired 3 weeks later for disobeying an order on day 71.

yea, it's something. but it is what it is.

war games:

so we get to war games proper. overnight, a gang war has erupted & set the city ablaze and into chaos after a letter was sent out calling all the crime bosses to the harbor where a firefight breaks out on account of the main player who was supposed to be there if those letters were sent out, matches malone, not showing up. since tensions are high, it's easy for then to start shooting and killing each other & in doing so creates an immediate and widespread vacuum of power in the criminal underworld of gotham that people leap to try to fill & wipe out their competition in the meantime. innocent people are caught in the crosshairs.

nightwing (who is already having a terrible time) shows up to help (with tarantula) & is personally dealing with the emotional fallout of letting tarantula kill blockbuster amongst other things.

barbara is doing her best to help out and triage people to help, but there's really only batman, batgirl, nightwing, tarantula, & orpheus against a whole city. and at this point, tarantula has taken over a gang under batman's command to try and control things and can't overtly help & orpheus was already in control of a gang under batman's command in an attempt to protect women & children and exert some control over the criminal underbelly of gotham and also cannot overtly help out.

stuff with hush is happening in gotham knights but i don't care aj lieberman, by god, i do not care.

tim is doing his best to go about his day and keep his promise to his dad and not go out to help despite the fact that the city is falling apart. this becomes harder when a rival gang comes to kill his friend darla aquista at their high school, on account of her father being a mob boss. the kids are panicked and run into the school for sanctuary and safety, but are followed in and darla is shot.

what happens next is that tim's school is taken over by gangsters--the ones who came to kill darla, and the ones who see the opportunity to kill the ones who are trying to kill darla--and the kids are trapped in there with them, doing their best to hide, but some are taken hostage & are at the mercy of their captives (kids are killed). tim shelters in the nurses's office & does his best to go out and help who he can bring to safety, alone with getting a lay of the school (which gang is where).

meanwhile, bruce, cass, & dick have been informed that tim's school is taken over and kids are dying. along with all their other current trauma, they have to go find tim in an active shooter zone where he could very well be dead. dick gets to be the one who finds him (such a traumatic time for dick btw), and he's thankfully okay. they get control back of the school and free the kids. batman comes out on live television holding darla's body--she's not dead yet, but she's close.

we find out where steph is. selina finds her and we finally find out why this happened: upset at getting fired and frustrated that she's never been able to truly land their approval, steph lashed out & stole a plan designed to unite the crime families in gotham under batman's control hoping that if she was able to set off a plan for batman & it worked he would take her back and she'd finally have his approval. however, the main man didn't show up and it fell to pieces--doomed to fail. and the reason that this all happened is because steph was never told that batman is matches malone. there's actually a ton of 'bruce what have you done' here. catwoman shelters steph & tells her to stay put. steph does not do so, she leaves so she can try to find orpheus & help get the situation under control because she knows he's key to the plan.

tim, unable to stand by any longer despite his promise to his dad after the thing at the school, returns to the manor where he is greeted by alfred & returns to being robin.

batman finally also realizes that what happened is his war game contigency plan/hypothetical/thought experiment just as a citywide blackout hits--a plan he never intended to implement, it was one of his hypotheticals. & they also start looking for orpheus, as he's the key because they need to keep him alive as the plan was for the criminal underworld to reform united under his, and therefore batman's, rule.. steph finds him first, just in time to see his throat slit--by black mask.

steph gets into a one v one altercation with black mask and is overpowered and at his mercy. he tortures her. it's gross, we all know.

tim tells his dad he's returned to being robin. we get what is probably some of the best jack drake charactetization. tim meets jack and dana so they can go help out at leslie's clinic to help the injured.

steph, eventually, after being tortured, finally tells black mask that the plan required orpheus and is now obsolete because orpheus is dead.

cass is looking for steph because she's probably the only one aware that steph is out as spoiler & she knows that the last time she saw steph steph was lying to her about something

leslie is currently acting extremely out of character. and she's kind of a jerk to cass when cass comes looking for steph & is downright hateful about his mission. (which. is ooc for leslie--while she's never agreed with bruce's mission she's always, always, loved and respected them all--consider her in NML vs here. she wants to end his crusade and him to do something better, but she's always looking to be a beacon of hope that there is another way. every disagreement should be steeped in her love for them).

hush is still here for some reason and will tell black mask where the batcave is

catwoman is concerned about steph--who has passed out from the torture--calling her "the kid you messed up so badly she started this whole mess"

batman takes over oracle's & the police's system by force. we're really in it now. steph wakes up, determined to get to batman to tell him about orpheus's death.

black mask, however, has taken over orpheus's identity and is contacting batman, ostensibly to continue the "plan". and darla officially dies, meaning her father is out for revenge and wants everyone killed.

batman meets up with black mask as orpheus & figures out spoiler was there, but he assumes she fought zeiss. he leaves, black mask is planning...something as orpheus.

batman has barbara take over the police waves once more. barbara is getting really sick if this shit.

gotham city is starting to rail against vigilantes as a result of the widespread chaos of war games, calling for them to turn themselves in.

batman has orpheus call a grand meeting. ostensibly to end things and ensure peace in gotham with everything unified under orpheus's commands. orpheus is, however, dead. black mask uses the meeting to set everything ablaze again & barbaba has to call off the vigilantes from helping to protect the gcpd to go help batman--this is the straw that breaks the camel's back of this causes an official break in the uneasy alliance between vigilante & gcpd and comissioner akins gives the order to shoot to kill vigilantes on sight (as also, as a result of the plan failing due to orpheus's murder it seems as if batman et al are on the side of the villains causing mayhem)

at this point the game it out of control & they have to focus on stopping it. cass finally has a chance to talk to batman and tell him her suspicions that steph was the one who set the entire thing into motion, which he has now figured out (on account of him finding traces of spoilers's at orpheus's)

dick gets shot in the leg by the police while fighting firefly

tim meanwhile is happy to return to robin, and actually has bunch of nice things to say about steph's time as robin--that she kept things light for bruce, that he's not too proud to learn from her--even if he did admittedly resent her a little bit for how it all went down. he's also currently in the middle of a breakdown over darla's death and is pretending everything's okay by just go go going.

steph has freed herself from her bonds and gets into it with black mask, finally overpowering him when she realizes "this isn't a game". she gets a gun to his head & wants to pull the trigger and end him for good, but can't--as that would mean betraying everything she's been taught. the hesitation costs her and black mask gets the gun and shoots her in the shoulder & kicks her down the stairs & leaves

she manages to get herself up despite her extensive injuries and escapes by rooftop, where she's finally found by batman, who brings her to leslie and begs her to save steph. he then tells her she did good & that she did everything she could & that the city owes her after everything she went through.

and black mask is still causing trouble--hush supposedly told him the location of the batcave & he plans to solidify his reign as the undisputed crime lord of gotham by sending everyone there--it's not the batcave, however--it's the clocktower. all the criminals are now converging on and headed for directly for barbara. they get in and make it past all her defenses and invade her safe space, black mask making it to her control room & taking her hostage. the gcpd also descend upon the clocktower.

batman goes ham and almost kills black mask, saying it'd be worth it to end everything that's transpired. tim creates a diversion by lying saying they'll turn themselves into the police. barbara blows up her clocktower so that bruce has to make the decision between saving her & killing black mask. bruce chooses to save her & it's over. bruce gets called to leslie's clinic, where it turns out steph had too much internal damage to save her. steph tells him that she started it all, and bruce says he knows but that they took care of it. he tells her that tim isn't mad at her and that the baby she had won't want for anything ever. he lies and says that taking her on as robin wasn't just to bring tim back, that she was really robin & that he'll be watching over her. she dies. black mask takes over as the new criminal overlord of gotham city.

as a result of all of the above, we get the following: gotham is no longer safe for vigilantes to operate. tim has been set in motion on the path of loss from darla to steph to his dad in another event that will eventually lead him to the mental space he needs to be in to become red robin and leaves for bludhaven. cass follows in her grief of all that transpired. dick is out of commission due to his gunshot wound & dealing with the fallout of working with bruce while feeling like he doesn't deserve to, but is also the only one left to work with bruce. barbara, whose safe haven was trampled upon and destroyed, feels gotham to go be with the birds of prey in another city. bruce is operating all but alone, save for a couple of other distant vigilantes.

we find out that bruce didn't--couldn't--tell tim steph had died until hours after the fact, and that's when tim was finally able to hear the whole story as to how steph became robin all the way to how the gang war got started. this is also when dick finds out the whole story as well.

and thus, war games ends

war crimes:

so we make our way to the epilogue of this storyline. the very aptly named war crimes

the public is still railing against vigilantes. it comes out publicly that stephanie brown was spoiler, then robin, and that her injuries were not thus that should have killed her. batman finds out and goes to leslie's to find out who leaked stephanie's information, only to find out leslie has resigned and her chief resident left with her. batman finds the resident, murdered in a clear attempt to set batman up. (it's black mask setting him up). a man named aaron black is railing against black mask, batman, & the gcpd for the gang war

we find out that treatment was deliberately withheld from stephanie and she was purposely left to die. we find out aaron black is the not so dead arthur brown. & we find out that crystal knows something and is prepared to spill it all. black mask comes dressed as batman to attack crystal brown on live tv. we find out the joker is after black mask for killing robin. the joker gets arrested, black mask gets arrested (and escapes), a tv reporter gets indicted, the leader of the odessa mob gets indicted, commissioner akins and athur brown don't get indicted, and batman has finally figured out who killed stephanie and goes to africa where she fled to.

in, quite possibly, the greatest moment of character assassination in this entire gd event we find out it was leslie who let stephanie die because she was tired of batman's crusade, destroying everything she once stood for just to prove a point to bruce about the senselessness of it all and to try and put an end to it. congrats to dc for this horrific epilogue.

so there it is--the entire event. it certainly is a thing that happened. and that's the problem--it happened. and it was very, very much intended as a personal fuck you and goodbye to the characters of stephanie brown and leslie thompkins. and that's terrible on so many levels. but unfortunately the fact of the matter is, despite that and regardless of any personal feelings about it, war games became a load-bearing event to batman canon.

because war games had so much influence on fundamentally upheaving and changing the status quo of the characters involved and storylines following this could not happen without war ganes existing. without war games, tim does not become the tim that will eventually become red robin. without war games, dick is not injured and out of commission and does not flee to new york and the mob, leaving bludhaven for tim and cass and on his passively suicidal mission that will eventually lead to infinite crisis and the one year boat ride. without war games, barbara does not leave gotham because she needs to leave it behind, only to return during the reborn era & all the tension that entails. without war games, bruce doesn't end up alone & isolated as needed for the red hood storyline. without war games, stephanie is not killed and thus can't be evolved into batgirl as an apology for the way she was treated. the dynamics caused by war games are essential to the stories that come after it. and then you're left with two very, very uncomfortable truths:

one, war games was a horrific fuck you and. fridging to a female character solely because of the evil sexism present at dc editorial at the time and of course you want to delete anything that had such awful intentions behind it

two, war games happening is essential to the trajectory of every single bat characters' story that comes after it including hers. and so it had to happen. and the thing with war games is that steph, while not completely to blame for it transpiring, was humongous part of it transpiring no matter what. because we end up with what it seems to me, the grand circle of blame. it goes as follows: war games never would have happened if bruce hadn't made his contingency plan to begin with -> yes, but. even if it is one of bruce's toxic traits to do that, he never intended for the contingency to go into effect and it was more of a hypothetical than anything and the only reason it ever saw the light of day was because steph stole it and put it into action -> yes, but. if bruce had been less of an asshole and told steph the basic information of matches malone is batman she wouldn't have made the mistake -> yes, but. to completely blame bruce is to remove any and all agency from steph, because nobody put a gun to her head and forced her to implement the plan, that was entirely her decision. and as much as we would have liked her to have decided she no longer needed batman's approval, the fact of the matter is she did want it and she did make the decision to send those letters -> yes but, if bruce hadn't had a contigency to begin with she wouldn't have had such an awful plan to steal -> yes, but having contigencies for plans that will never come to fruition is honestly a normal thing for them and bruce planning out a hypothetical is just another tuesday, and it was steph who set it into motion -> yes, but... and so on and so forth endlessly until the end of time. like, whether things were out of character or whatnot is a valid discussion (though all comics characters are doomed for stories where they're out of character), but putting that aside: the fact is, for every character's trajectory into the reborn era, war games had to happen. and for war games to have ever seen the light of day and happened, steph had to make the decision to send those letters.

and so we're left with this. steph made those decisions because of horrificly sexist behind the scenes decisions. if steph didn't make those decisions, then no other character trajectory makes sense. and that's how we end up with a steph conundrum that is so much harder to fix than any other character assasination of the time. because cass's was easy to retcon as brainwashing, it makes sense for slade being involved. leslie was easy to retcon as faking steph's death, that removes her intent to kill a child and restores her original characterization of every life is sacrosanct. but war games? war games does not and can not happen unless stephanie decides to send those letters. things with tim and barbara and cass and even through steph becoming batgirl don't happen unless steph sends those letters. and when she sends those letters, hundreds of innocent people die and even though bruce is largely to blame (and is blamed, by the narrative), there is a culpability of steph's active decision in the entire mess that exists.

and if that culpability exists, if she sent those letters and war games happened, and innocent people died and barbara had to blow up her home and tim had to do cpr with darla's blood pouring over his hands and dick got shot in the knee and had to find tim in an active massacre, and cass lost herself to grief, then from an in-universe perspective while it's easy to for them to blame bruce for the majority of it, it also is true that every single one of those people has the right to question whether she is capable of making good judgements because of the extremely bad one she made that had so many in-universe consequences & they were all victims of it. from an out of universe perspective, it is so, so, so hard to put that kind of culpability on her, though, because of the sexism involved in deciding to make her make those decisions.

(as an aside. you also get this same issue that occurs as a part of the last arc of the robin series--wherein in order to justify steph no longer being spoiler and graduate her to batgirl, they need her to make a mistake so bad it would justify the idea that spoiler is a tainted mantle & she can't go back to it--so they decide that she needs to hire assassins to try and kill tim under batman's orders. now this is stupid & nonsensical, and she makes a mistake like that due to writer sexism thinking that that was the way to go. but her making that mistake and hiring those assassins is essential to the overall self isolation of tim & him being unable to trust her amongst everyone else that he needs to be in the headspace to kick of red robin & steph needs to have made a mistake that taints the spoiler mantle & makes people not want her to be it otherwise why would she become batgirl... it's messy. very messy.)

but because of all the horrific sexism out of universe behind the decision to write her to do these things, you're left with. hm. it is hard to want to make her have any culpability because that would just be entrenching the sexist writing she's had & she was the biggest victim, but to just completely throw it out is to make every other character appear completely irrational and unreasonable when it comes to dealing with steph. and that's truly hard for dc--who, once they make her a headlining character in her own right as batgirl, now has to be a lot more careful when dealing with steph. because if any other character does have reasonable concerns about steph continuing to exist as a vigilante after the decisions she made that sparked off war games, or hire assassins for tim, or etc etc etc then you risk people being like "no, maybe these people have a point. maybe these people shouldn't have to work with her if they feel at all uncomfortable by decisions she made that resulted in truly terrible times for them."

so you end up. dc finally has to do something grand, something triumphant for stephanie's character to make up for the completely atrocious way she was treated before. and you get batgirl 2009, which is a triumph for her character, it's the approval she's always deserved but never given, she finally gets to show all her naysayers that she's worth it--that they were all wrong about her and she deserves to be there just as much as them. and she does deserve a big doylist apology--she was treated terribly & cruelly & it wasn't right for dc editorial to do so. but you run into. hm. this problem of in order to make this big doylist apology work, you need everything that came before it to have happened. because it's a big doylist apology you can't actually have it that those things to have happened because if steph has to prove herself to the naysayers, the naysayers have to be completely wrong about her.

and that's hard given we're in reborn era and bruce is "dead". because in that case, steph's naysayers have to be barbara, tim, & dick. and while steph shouldn't have to prostrate herself for forgiveness & they shouldn't blame her for everything ever (they've all had their own issues where they've made mistakes, some with tragic consequences, and therefore can't call the kettle black), the problem with having to make them her naysayers is that you have to make them unreasonable about her & that's hard to do when they were all victims of something that occurred in part due to a decision she made. you have barbara, who should be able to have reasonable concerns about whether steph is fit for the job because she had to blow up her own sace space because steph sent those letters. but you can't acknowledge that because that would be entrenching the sexism behind that decision. so you make it so barbara is the one in the wrong about her. you have dick, who should not be able to look at stephanie without remembering his little brother calling him, wanting to commit suicide over everything that's happened, without remembering the tim at the edge of the pit, without remembering getting the call-code 619-and realizing that tim's at the site of a massacre occurring at his school and could be dead, and he gets to realize he was completely wrong about her with no consideration to what complicated personal feelings he may have about her on account of his own most precious relationships. you have tim, who does have things to apologize to her about, to be sure, but has to be cast as completely in the wrong despite the things she did having to have happened such as hire assassins & everything he had to endure as a result of her sending those letters. and that's not to say that any of this means that she shouldn't be a vigilante of course, you can't have a double standard where male characters are allowed to make mistakes and continue on regardless of mistakes made and not afford that same grace to female characters. but at the same time, it's uncomfortable to cast barbaba, dick, and tim in the role of naysayers to be overcome because that erases their victimization by the events that had to have happened in order to make it to this point. and again, they don't have to blame her to feel like it's her fault to have reasonable discomfort because discomfort =/= blame, necessarily.

and you get into this entire mess solely because of the decisions didio made because he hated her character and was determined to destroy it. and it's gross! we hate didio! but like. way back to my original thought, in a way, he did succeed a little. because of the horrific things that happened to her due to cruel and gross out of universe editorial decisions, you do have to be extra delicate with the character. you've lost the ability to show steph making any sort of mistake that has significant ramifications because to do so is to go back to war games & all the baggage that that entails. you need to play it incredibly safe with her. she can't be shown to be in the wrong because of the horrific way she was treated. at the same time, you need things to have happened, but you need things to not have happened. it's just a lot of baggage for a character, and there's probably a reason why they still play it safe by sticking her with tim (until they broke up) and now cass. it's uncontroversial after everything she's been put through. idk. i think current continuity is the best chance to finally really do something interesting with her again given that the mistakes of the past are so softened and don't need to be forefront to the character anymore because we are in an era ripe for things happened but they didn't happen, but will they? i don't know.

#anywho this is probably super incoherent #but this is also the thing i rotate in my mind when i think about steph #this is why i like to envision steph as an unreliable narrator of bg #because then you have more space for the fact that others were also victims and they're not necessarily unreasonable #but since steph is also extremely traumatized and a victim of horrific things she has to not thing about the ramifications of her decisions #or something idk

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graves-simper · 6 months

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What really happened in Room 302?

Yes, just like everyone else I am finally doing a small essay/analysis on TCOAAL.

This time I wanted to dive in something that wasn't a big part of the game, but has been on my mind since my first play through of the game and that is like the title states; What really happened in Room 302? Lets begin.

I wanted to start off by talking about the Lady in Room 302. Who is she?

We really don't know much. Her eye color isn't shown, she looks somewhat average but in terms of others opinions (ie; the Warden's and even Ashley) She is a very pretty woman. Even at a point Andrew says that she looks good. Take a look at some of the dialog below:

I mean, wasn't she?

After this very tasteful conversation these two love-birds have, Ashley heads up to commence the ritual to sacrifice the 2nd Warden, and of course Our Ashley pulls it off with no problems, and back downstairs she goes with full intentions of painting the wall with Lady 302's brains, but it appears someone beat her to the punch.

AND NOW I PRESENT WHERE I IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO CALL CAP ON MR. DOORMAT EXTRAORDINAIRE AND HIS SILLY LITTLE LIES.

Your honor, this man is absolutely lying. The first thing that made me question everything about his story here is where she is lying dead. On the damn bed. Your honor, let's enhance this real quick.

That nail gun is a damn good several feet away from where Lady 302 lies dead on the bed. In fact it is in exactly the same position as when we left Andrew alone with her, and look at the sheer distance. These apartments clearly aren't huge but let me just be critical for a minute. Her mattress appears to be a single style mattress, so lets take in some measurements.

I can settle on the length being 75" or 6.25ft. So the apartment is about 12 feet wide. Not huge by any means, but to go from sitting down on a bed, even the edge, she would have to make quite the lunge while accounting for some random maniac being right next to you with a meat cleaver. I also do not think she would be the type to risk her life for a daring escape. Look at how absolutely bewildered she is the second Andrew rushes her.

That is NOT the face of someone who is absolutely down to fuck around and find out. She also had a chance to get help while also risking her life, when she is given the radio she could have screamed for help, and while yes she would've died, at this point I would say the risk factor was relatively similar.

Now that I have established my reasoning for why I don't think this lady tried to kill Andrew with a nailgun or even had the chance to, let's go over some of the reasons I think he DID choose to kill her.

No Witnesses.

This is a very boring theory but I have to bring it up no less. I think there is a good chance he just said fuck it, and killed her for the sake of not leaving evidence behind. She saw their faces, heard their names, and they even said they were her neighbor from upstairs. Leaving her behind could've ruined EVERYTHING for them after this point, and based on Ashley's sour reaction to her mere existence, I think he already knew damn well Ashley would want her dead too.

Make my Ashley happy.

This ties back to the point I made in No Witnesses. Ashley took her as a threat, and obviously Andrew noticed. She was not pleased after he called her "Pretty". I think once he was alone, he figured he would off her to show Ashley that he wasn't ogling her or wanting to do anything with her. In fact she meant so little to him, he butchered her right on her bed. To support this, the way Ashley reacts when she returns absolutely floors Andrew, he is calm about what happened but Ashley is still coming up with thoughts that he tried to fuck her, when in his mind, he was probably hoping she would be thrilled that he killed this awful, hell-bound, hussie. But instead she is still somehow mad despite her being now a corpse. He becomes to fed up that even though he did what she would've anyways, it is somehow not good enough for her. (I will dive deeper into this interaction below with another theory that relies heavily on this.)

The Hussie hit on him.

This one ties into Make my Ashley happy. There is a good chance this obviously sexually attractive woman tried seducing Andrew while they were alone. She had no problem doing it with the Warden's to get better treatment, and I have no doubt this was her go-to get out of trouble free card. This charming young man would surely fall for her good looks right? Right? There's two thought processes that would make this reasonable. 1. He was worried how Ashley would react if she walked in with her clearly flirting with him and how that would make her feel. 2. My personal favorite of these two, he is dedicated to Ashley and was offended by her advances and killed her in a show of devotion to her.

Now that we have the more sane theories out of the way, lets get to the GOOD STUFF.

Andrew's Fantasy.

This theory is more of a mental guess as to Andrew's relationship and views of Ashley. He has been clearly fed up with her more than once up to this point, having arguments, dealing with her shit, and all the trauma he just experienced from starving for weeks, isolation, and having to butcher and eat someone, and then murder a man to save her.

What if once Andrew had a moment alone with someone who was essentially his victim, he decided to truly see how he felt about something. I believe Andrew may have not seen Lady 302 as Ashley, but just for the hell of it, imagined that she was Ashley. Despite the different appearances, I'm sure he could overlook it in the state of mind he was in at this point, and decided how it would feel to finally kill "Ashley". The way he kills her just doesn't feel like he said fuck it and wanted the lady dead, she is laid out on the bed, there's no signs of a struggle either. Later in the game during one of the visions, there is the one where Andrew finally kills Ashley. When she accepts that he will kill her, he brings the cleaver to her throat similarly to how the throat of Lady 302 was cut. The similarities just feel so similar that I had to bring this up despite it being possibly far fetched but that's what makes these fun!

and now for my most absolutely far fetched theory yet.

Don't these two look similar?

This theory is much more far fetched but hear me out on this!

I know this may be a result of Nemlei's artstyle but these two have some stark similarities in my opinion. Both blonde, same eye color based on the greyscale of them, similar hair parting, and a similar face shape.

After all the trauma Andrew went through in the weeks locked in their apartment and then killing several people and eating one no doubt sent his brain to a bad place.

I think after all that hell he endured he may have simply had a breaking point and felt like he saw a ghost or just the stark similarities between Lady 302 and Nina just made something snap.

I want to back this up by making a point to the story telling in the game. Before they go and escape their apartment conveniently before the Room 302 incident, there is a dream about how Andrew and Ashley killed Nina. This could be just the flow of the story telling however, I feel like it was a lead up to what really happened in Room 302. It just feels too perfect to include that scene right before he kills someone who I am assuming is what Nina may have grown up to look like, AND then with this scene occurring once Ashley returns almost feels like a nail in the coffin of this theory.

Nina isn't brought up in the apartment, or once they're in the motel. Nina is brought up during a heated exchange in Room 302 right after Andrew might have felt as if he killed Nina once again, yet just like when they killed Nina, Ashley still somehow thinks that Andrew has a thing for a woman he helped kill, and this absolutely drives him off his fucking rocker.

This exchange floored Mr. Doormat so intensely he finally was ready to absolutely throttle the life out of her. Andrew was finally so fed up with being berated for doing things for Ashley's sake he just wanted it to be done and over with forever. Andrew once again found himself in the same place Ashley put him in all those years ago, but this time he knows he isn't as vulnerable as he was and uses it to his advantage, but after their little squabble, they leave together to bless our hearts with Chapter 2.

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

Perhaps this was as plain as the story made it out to be. There is a good chance that Andrew didn't want to leave a witness and said hell with it and butchered the woman in Room 302. But I'd like to believe that with all the hidden details Nemlei has scattered throughout this game that there is truth to one of these theories, hell maybe even a giant jumble of them all together is the true story of Room 302.

But with everything I presented today I hope you all perhaps are too questioning what really happened in Room 302 like I was.

I'd love to hear any theories you guys have regarding this or twists/opinions on the ones I presented here!

Thank you all for reading!

#andrew graves #ashley graves #gravecest #tcoaal #the coffin of andy and leyley #andrew x ashley #ashley x andrew #leyley graves #tcoal #andy and leyley

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sweetiecutie · 1 year

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Pairing: dark! Sirius Black x fem! Reader

Warnings: NSFW, dry-humping, yandere themes, non-consensual touching, obsessive and toxic behavior, drugging, don’t read if you’re not comfortable with those things!!!

A/n: this is part 2 to my dark!Sirius drabble, just like promised. Better read it first before starting with this work. Turned out not exactly how I wanted it to be, but it’s better than nothing ig

Sirius has always been handsy, trying to touch you in any possible way at all times. And you almost got used to that, really, but now that you two were officially “dating” his touchiness increased tenfold - it felt like every minute of every day consisted of you swatting away Sirius’ prying hands and him trying even harder to lay them upon your body.

You’d look pleadingly at his friends, eyes watering and bottom lip trembling - Sirius’ behavior was obviously not normal. Remus seemed to understand that too, but still - he did nothing. He’d give you an apologetic look, eyebrows knitted together and corners of his mouth pulled downward in disapprobation, yet still he never intervened. James, as you got to know him better a bit further in your forced relationships with Sirius, was just as sick in his head. Not as dangerous as his best friend was, but certainly just as twisted. You saw how he was with Evans - following her everywhere like a lost puppy (or ravenous beast), suffocating her and everyone around with his heavy presence, attached to her like a chewing gum stuck in her pretty red hair.

So here you were, pressed against the stone wall in empty classroom of a huge castle, where Sirius made sure no one could interrupt you. Sirius’ lips were greedy, devouring you with such longing that made your knees buckle, and if it wasn’t for his thigh delved in between your legs - you’d be on a floor long time ago. Your tried to push at his shoulders, trying to get a boy off of you, but fruitless.

You’ve noticed a few weeks ago that something was off with you - your body became weaker by the day, as if all strength was seeping out of your pores hourly, leaving you a powerless rag barely able to keep up with all your classes. It didn’t take a genius to understand what was happening - Sirius was putting something in your food. You’ve stopped eating in front of him, only having an occasional toast or apple to not attract his attention too much; all the numerous sweets Black has ever given you as a gift ended up straight in trash - you didn’t risk consuming definitely drugged dainties. Madam Pomfrey blamed it all on your nerves and upcoming N.E.W.T.s, ignoring your numerous complains and advising to sleep and eat more. Yet still, continual trembling of your hands and weakness of your legs told that Sirius somehow managed to feed - whatever this shit was - to you, and pretty successfully.

Sirius’ hands snaked their way down your body, resting on your ass unashamedly. You squealed in protest, hitting his upper arms with shaky fists, but to no avail - Sirius just chuckled at your ‘shyness’ into your kiss, giving your butt a loving squeeze.

He forced your hips forward so that your bodies were pressed flush against each other. Sirius exhaled shakily at the feeling of his bulge rubbing against your stomach; he rutted his pelvis a few more times, moaning into your mouth sweetly at the feeling of his throbbing cock humping you through numerous layers of clothing.

- Fuck, I want you so bad, - he murmured softly against your lips, his hot breath hit your face, making you shiver unpleasantly. You gripped his upper arms, feeling his muscles flex under your touch.

- Sirius, please I-

- Shhh, I know, my dearest, I know. But not here. Not like that, - Sirius interrupted you with soft voice, red lips made their way along your jawline and down to your neck, scattering sloppy wet kisses on your skin, making sure to leave marks in all most obvious places.

- You deserve to be lavished, worshipped among finest silks like a princess that you are, not some quick shag on the desk.

You felt his hands moving up you back, caressing your body with tender touches - wide palms glided over your buttocks and up your lower back. One heavy hand came to wrap around your waist, giving it a firm squeeze; the other one followed the path of your spine, softly rubbing in-between your shoulder blades before cupping your nape, craning your head backwards for easier access. Soft wet lips slotted onto yours with such yearning, greedy tongue pushed assertively into your mouth; Sirius moaned as your taste engulfed him once more, he breathed hard and deep through his nose, hand on the back of your head pushed you even further into him.

You couldn’t help a little squeal tearing through your throat at the pressure. A few tears rolled down your cheeks - you were scared to near death; you still couldn’t understand Sirius’ emotional pattern, he was as unpredictable as weather, which only made him more dangerous. You knew he wasn’t all that scared of hurting you. And you were sure he would certainly do so if he deemed your attitude towards him unacceptable. You were scared to try getting him off yourself, especially since he had completely free access to your neck.

- But please, indulge me just this once. You’re driving me absolutely fucking mad, Y/n, I’ve never wanted anyone so bad, - Sirius blabbered, his hips humping against your stomach, strong arms keeping you firmly in place, not giving a single opportunity to inch away.

Sirius grunted and whimpered into your neck, you were sure that it was completely covered in bright hickeys and bite-marks at this point. Black moaned out your name quietly, his hips rutting against you erratically - he was nearing his high.

- I love you, I love you, I love you, fuck… ‘m so fucking close, - he mumbled mindlessly, hot lips pressed aimlessly agains your temple, hands gripping your shaking form as tightly as ever.

With a low growl and final jerk of his hips Sirius stilled; his tense body was trembling slightly, breathing uneven and shallow. He slumped against your smaller frame after a few moments, letting out an airy giggle. He buried his nose deeper into the hair on the side of your head, inhaling lungfuls of your scent.

- Sorry, shit. That was insane. I can use my fingers to make you-

- No, Siri, that’s okay. We’re gonna be late to class, - you interjected, gripping desperately on every opportunity to end all this as soon as possible.

Black-haired only huffed in reply, ducking down to lock your lips in a strong wet kiss. He broke away from you, unraveling his arms from around your body; Sirius did leave one hand on the small of your back though, rubbing your tense muscles with soft touches. His other hand came to fix your hair and askew collar of white uniform shirt, satisfied with the fact that it couldn’t cover all the dark marks he has left on your neck.

After quickly fixing each other’s clothes you hurried out of the classroom and through endless corridors of the castle, finally reaching your destination. Luckily, you came a few minutes before the start of the lesson, so you didn’t have to explain professor the reason of your yet another belatedness. Sirius sat you at the desk at the end of the row, saving himself a seat next to you by dropping his belongings there. He tilted your head up by your chin using his thumb and index finger, placing a what might be seen as loving kiss on the center of your forehead.

- ‘m gonna go clean myself up a bit. I’ll be back in no time, don’t have too much fun without me, ‘kay? - Sirius winked and placed yet another kiss on your forehead. ‘Quite a confidence he has for a guy with pants full of cum’ flashed in your head, but you quickly dismissed this thought.

You noted how Sirius gave a short nod in James’ direction, which, you figured, meant ‘watch over her while I’m gone’. Potter nodded back curtly and with that your “boyfriend” retreated.

You threw a short look around, catching your best friend’s - well, now ex-best friend’s - worried eyes, her eyebrows knitted together in worry as she noted your wet eyes and reddened face. You barely mouthed word ‘don’t’, knowing all too well how vicious Sirius would become if he happened to know about this short interaction between you two. If there was a person Black despised more than Severus, it probably was her - all because she could see right through his bullshit, trying to get you out of that hellhole despite all his numerous threats and blackmail. Her frown only deepened, but she turned away from you nevertheless; you relaxed a bit seeing that James didn’t notice anything.

For now, you were safe. Sirius’ needs were satisfied and he was practically purring with joy, hip pushed into yours as he sat next to you through the rest of your classes and at the great hall, babbling his usual Sirius nonsense. You forced a tight smile on your lips and nodded to his gibberish, your mind relentlessly giving ideas of all the possible nightmares tomorrow’s day may bring.

Likes, reblogs and comments are highly appreciated, they inspire me on creating even more content for you💖

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wannabeanotter · 16 days

Text

THE LOCKER ROOM (SPA INTRO)

(sorry if this one's a bit dull, I just wanted to get the next part out and felt it needed a set up ;) )

Hey guys, thank you all for voting! The spa seems great so far, but there's just one problem...

Where the fuck is everyone? I've been walking around for like 20 minutes and I haven't seen a single other guest. The woman at reception was really nice, she told me to go join the others and have fun. Now that I think about it, that was a bit of a weird thing to say. But she would have told me if I wasn't supposed to be here.

Something in my gut tells me to take a left turn, and as I slink down the corridor, I start to hear loud and rowdy chatter. There's a door with a mens sign on it, this must be the changing room. Ah, what a relief, there are loads of guys in here. I start taking my clothes off, when I notice... they're all fucking glaring at me.

They're huge. A horde of 20 or so beefy jocks. Fuck, I really shouldn't be here. A guy comes over. Hey bro, uhh... we rented the spa out for the weekend. What the fuck are you doing?

AH, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to... I didn't even notice, I-

He grins. Nah, you know what bro, nevermind. You're in exactly the right place

MPPHHHHHHHH

He grabs me and stuffs my face into his huge, thick, sweaty pit. I squirm, but I can't get free. Fuck... my head... I want to get out, but all I can think about is his huge biceps crushing my face. I start to drool. Bro, I want biceps like that. I wanna be squeezed, I want to be pulled. I want to be crushed.

Bro, I wanna be a wrestler

Wait, bro?? I would never say bro? What the fuck is happening to me? The dude lets me catch a breath of air. Why did I call him a dude? He smirks. Bro, how are you liking it, huhu

Tight, elastic muscles begin to bulge across my body. My legs grow and my glutes become thick and powerful. My tight stomach turns into a set of washboard abs. I'm stringy, powerful, and fucking pumped!!

The switch has flipped in my mind. I'm so fucking ready to get on the mats. Fuck, I need to stretch these new muscles. In my head, I see my bros lying down, twisting and turning their bodies. Glutes here, abs there. Two hot fucking wrestlers tied up in a sweaty knot. One of them NEEDS to be me. Bro, I'm ready

But he looks at me, pitifully. Like he's trying to let me down nicely. Sorry bro, you're not ready yet. You'd make a great fucking lightweight, but I don't need a lightweight. I need a lumbering, stinking, horse. Bro, what I need from you is meat.

To be continued

#jock tf #jockification

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melodic-haze · 15 days

Text

☆ — DEMO TRACK: sub!Arlecchino (GI) x dom!Reader

☆ — TYPE: NSFW

☆ — CONTENT WARNINGS: Pet play, using a hidden vibrator in public, reader with a cock/strap referred to as the former, ROUGH sex, spanking, a lot of painplay actually, blood cuz have you?? Seen her nails????? What the hell, overstimulation, dumbification 🫶

☆ — NOTES: I haven't actually played Genshin since the eternal Ayaka timer lol but anyway I got carried away I think LMAOOO I just have a huge thing for authority figures who are all subby for me 😞 I might do an aftercare continuation post idk

☆ — PARTS: Part 1 (you are here), Part 2

I really need to put a collar on this woman and call her my personal attack dog

This tall, scary woman who wields a SCYTHE, this Harbinger slash one winged fallen angel with crosses for eyes, this person who people call 'Father'???? Imposing as hell, very much the type that you can't look at in the eyes or else you're probably marked for death next.......but who could EVER expect that all that would go off and crumble down at the mere sight of you with a collar on your hand, a smile on your face and the intent to reduce her into nothing but your personal little pet?

Intimidating? Oh, please. Maybe she'd cut everyone else, but she wouldn't dare do that to you! Not even when she has a vibrator stuffed in her pussy. What's she gonna do realistically, hurt you? Oh no no no she wouldn't dare do that, you've done nothing wrong, could NEVER do anything wrong so whyever would she do that to you?

You've always wondered how Arlecchino could ever balance on those shoes of hers, with the way her heels narrow down into practically nothing by the time its length reaches the ground.

It's an impressive feat, being able to balance on such technically impractical footwear.. especially when the wearer has a small vibrator stuffed in her cunt, controlled by none other than you and the equally small device resting in your pocket, ready for you to use when you felt like it.

And you did exactly that—as the Harbinger went to talk to some person about whatever it is (you never really cared about the current semantics), you dug into your pocket idly, innocently, even, but the both of you know full well that it was anything but.

Despite Arlecchino keeping a straight face, you know the effect was immediate; you could tell from the slight stumble and the quite-literal split-second glitch that you miss when you blink. Unfortunately for her, though, the third-party hadn't blinked so she's left to scramble for an excuse as you watch on nearby, utterly delighted.

Eventually you see her excuse herself early, making it appear as if whatever they were discussing didn't seem to work. And who would ever question Arlecchino, of all people?

You.

"Well, now," you begin with a raised eyebrow as you watched your approaching lover approach you with a surprising amount of grace, wondering how she's kept herself steady with those heels of hers, "I thought you were going to take longer. What happened?"

You see her eyes stare at you, the red crosses within them practically burning so bright it's as if you were so close that you could touch the sun and burn... Though instead of looking away like a normal person with a sense of self-preservation, you dared to flash her an innocent smile as if you were utterly clueless, but both of you knew VERY well that that was, simply put, pure and utter bullshit.

She licks her lips before answering, "I have.. rescheduled for the discussion to continue when his pr-- ..proposal has been polished to the standard I require. We can return to-- ..!"

Her breath hitches, and she moves on to sit down swiftly and cross her legs in a futile effort to keep the toy still within her, though that turns out to be a mistake as you increase the intensity even further. Her mouth practically drops open before she looks down and covers her mouth as she grabs onto your wrist, nails digging and causing you to wince, though it doesn't keep the smug look on your face from increasing.

You narrow your eyes, as if utterly unimpressed by her antics, as you speak only for your lover to hear, "Flaking on your responsibilities just for you to get some relief sooner rather than later? Okay, then." And she hears, sees you laugh, and you both know that she knows she's crossed you, "Let's go home."

The only thing your pet Harbinger could really do was nod.

She need need NEEDS to be treated roughly for her to feel things bc tbh she probably has a high FEELING threshold in general. And like she's insane but that's another thing

Pull on her collar, her leash. Actually no pull on her HAIR there's a reason why she has it in a low tail 🤨🤨 pull it use it to direct her where you want her and she'll do whatever it is you require for her to do

Please do absolutely spank her, put her in her place, urge her on. Pain is a great stimulant, and is a great teacher 🫶

Needs she NEEDS you to hold her up as you pound at her without stopping, vibrator still in her cunt and being pushed deeper into her over and over by your cock and she doesn't tell you to stop either bc she's telling you to give her more, please!!

This deadly woman is asking you, pleading you, begging you for you to absolutely ruin her!!! But nonono you can't let her have what she wants when she's been uncharacteristically not doing her job like she's meant to so you pull out of her and immediately turn off the toy inside her and she looks at you with such shock that it's so strange to see on this ever-so-composed-and-strict member of the Fatui. But at the end you don't really care as you start up the whole process again after waiting for long enough, even switching your positions and paces and everything

Once you deem it enough and that she's basically at her limit, you decide to grant her.. mercy. Fuck her until she cums and she cums HARD, her nails reducing the sheets into damaged tatters of fabric and leaving bloody claw marks and bites on your skin as she writhes and twitches and glitches violently (you'll take care of it later, you reckon, but right now do you really care?) before she settles down.......

But you don't stop. Nononono you don't stop not at all!! This IS what she wanted, right??? Being fucked so hard until she's all dumb and forgets everything she has to keep track of in that brain of hers, make her forget that she's supposed to be this scaryyy Harbinger who could kill you in the blink of an eye, reduce her into nothing but your obedient little puppy desperate for a powerless mortal, of all things. That has to be humiliating, it SHOULD be humiliating when she has all that power, but she doesn't care. Not now, not ever.

Not when it's you :33

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buckttommy · 5 days

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i don't think i really understand pr and what actors should and shouldn't say. why is what oliver's saying so wild?

Hi, it's okay. I'll walk you through it. The tl;dr version is written in bold.

So. PR, or, Public Relations, is the dynamic between the general public (us) and any entity that has interests to protect (in this case, that would be the network + 911). PR teams are designed to ensure the relationship between the public and [their entity] is as harmonious as possible. Happy relationship, happy consumer, happy company.

Because keeping the peace is the intention of good pr, pleasant ambiguity is the name of the game. People can speculate, and people can guess, but no one should ever be able to look back at your words and claim that you've given a definitive answer on anything—good or bad—because definitive statements can harm the entity's bottom line, whatever that may be.

Oliver is very good at keeping the peace between the network and the public. We know this because we have seen evidence supporting this fact for years. He always says a little bit of what everyone wants to hear—he'll keep things vague (plausible deniability) for the sake of the network, while also giving nods of support and encouragement to the fandom without promising anything. You know how he's talked about being cautious and aware of what he's saying in interviews because he knows the impact it could have? Okay, well, aside from wanting to avoid "queerbaiting" allegations, this is part of the reason. PR is a very delicate game and he plays it very well.

Or at least he did.

Right now, Oliver is using binoculars to identify the line, making sure the line is exactly where he left it, and then taking a giant wrecking ball to it. Because now, Oliver is saying things that should absolutely not be said in interviews, or to anyone in the general public, at all. Now, he's elevating the conversation from pure speculation, to actively confirming and placing the blame at people's feet for things that have gone on behind the scenes.

Saying that Buck's Queer storyline was floated years ago? Huge no-no. Why? You were on tumblr yesterday. You can see why. People were angry, and people were hurt, but most importantly, people started to ask questions. We started to look at past arcs, past moments in Buck and in Buck and Eddie's relationship (because, whether you like it or not, Buck's queerness is and always has been tangentially linked to the existence of Buddie) to try and pinpoint when/how his queer arc could have launched. Now. Most of us have been here for years, so we can easily look back at the show and see where it's pretty damn obvious how Buck's Queer arc could have launched, depending on the arc(s), the characters at the time, things that were going on outside of the show (re: Oliver liking Buddie edits before/after the shooting), etc.

But we're not the only ones who are reading these interviews. Other people—casual fans, new fans, people who don't give a damn at all and are just clicking around on the internet—are going to look at these interviews, they're going to look at the things Oliver is saying, and they're going to have the same questions that we had. When could this have happened? And, more importantly, why didn't it? To keep it simple: everyone is going to start looking a little closer at the man behind the curtain, and the network does not want that.

Now, sure, it could be argued that, "hey, 911 isn't with FOX anymore, so maybe Oliver is allowed to say these things." But that's not really how it works. Sure, he might have a bit more leeway (as in, a microscopic, so-small-it-might-as-well-be-insignificant amount of leeway) to say whatever it is he wants, but this isn't the first time a major transfer/acquisition has occurred, and there are safeguards in place (such as NDA's—Non-Disclosure Agreements—which often do not expire for years post-acquisition, depending on the entity they're protecting) to prevent him from harming FOX's bottom line. So, that reasoning rings hollow. Especially because, now, it's not just FOX he's pulling into the fray either.

In the article that dropped today, he openly acknowledges this thing between Buck and Eddie in Season 7. And at this point, we're well into ABC's era. So the fact that he's saying, "I went to Tim and asked if there's something I can play with when Eddie says he's going on a date"—that's odd behavior from him. Not necessarily bad, just odd. And after years of toeing the line, the question that has to be asked now is why? And, more importantly, why now?

Does this mean that Buddie is going canon? Not necessarily (and, before anyone freaks out, I'm not saying it's not going canon either; I'm just saying this isn't an indication). But The Buddie Problem, at least, in the way Oliver is addressing it, is something the Higher Ups would want to keep quiet for as long as possible, for whatever reason. Maybe because they intend to go forward with it. Maybe because they don't. But the fact that he's cracking the shades open and letting light through is deeply fascinating.

But, despite all this, it's important, also, to realize that, even with demolishing the good PR line he's always walked so carefully, Oliver still isn't promising us anything. He's still treading carefully regarding how we, Buddie shippers, will interpret his words. He's not claiming Buddie canon is a go and it'd be remiss to think that's the implication here when it's not. He's not that stupid, and he's not that cruel. But all of it is very curious.

So that's why a lot of us are looking at each other, and then looking at Oliver, wondering what the hell he's doing. Because he knows better, and we know he knows better. We know he's very good at playing this delicate game but right now, he's making moves that are... intriguing... to say the least. And it's not just him, even though he's the main culprit. 9-1-1's move to ABC—and this entire press junket since 7x4—has been rife with sensitive information being released to the public, starting with Lou's untrained self revealing that it was supposed to be Eddie and Tommy that were going to get together, and circling back around to... literally every single word Oliver has uttered in the past three weeks.

So. It's odd! As you can see. So I'm sitting back, and I'm waiting and seeing because something is happening behind the scenes, and I don't know what it is (and I don't even think it's bad!) but it is still very much happening. So.

#god this was so long and i'm so fucking late for work #jack answers mail #tv: 911 #oliver stark

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auteurdelabre · 6 months

Text

Something to Fight For (part 2) Dad!Joel x f!reader

Word Count: 6.2K

Pairing: Dad!Joel Miller x f!reader (no use of y/n, no physical descriptions)

Warnings: This is saccharine slice of life with smut and a Soft!Joel. You have been warned. There is swearing, there is smut, but when it gets to those chapters you will have plenty of warning. (That is if there is interest in my story!)

A/N: This is part of a sweeter series (lots of angst, pining and smut ahead) Also despite Sarah's young age Joel is early 40's in this because slightly grey babygirl DILF Joel is the best Joel.

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

Ever since the most uncomfortable blind date in the history of your life, your feelings on Joel Miller aren’t exactly positive ones.

What started as a casual irritation has swiftly morphed quickly into a full blown dislike. The way he'd rushed off that night, the way he'd barely looked at you during the meal, the way he'd made it uncomfortable for everyone. The way he'd never apologized.

You know it's not fair, that after your outburst in the parking lot you left little room for him to be pleasant. And yet the irrational part that recalls the humiliation of him saying that the date was a 'waste of time' clouds this.

The worst part is now that Tommy and Maria are even more officially an item, which means you crossing paths with Joel is inevitable.

Maria is renovating the kitchen of course, which is how she met Tommy in the first place. But now that one of the larger projects are finishing up for 'Miller Construction', she tells you Joel will be dropping by to help speed her own renovations along.

She tells you this as a courtesy you think. And because this isn't your house and you don't pay rent you force a smile a nod when she tells you.

So you decide to suffer through it.

You get very good at not interacting with Joel. If you both happen to be arriving at the house at same time you quicken your pace and go through the back door to your suite.

Maria tries her best to be understanding but you know it hurts her to see you isolating when he's around.

"I know you don't like Joel," Maria says to you over drinks over night. "But I promise he's not always like new was that first night. He's actually really funny."

"I find that impossibly hard to believe."

"It's true!" Maria insists, her eyes luminous from the wine. "He apologized to me for how rude he was that night. Said he was just anxious about Sarah."

You'd wanted to ask her why Joel didn't apologize to you if he was such a fine, upstanding citizen but had decided there was little point. First impressions were everything and you'd both shown your worst.

But your days aren't all Joel focused. In fact today you make your way home with a huge smile on your face and Joel Miller isn't even in the peripherals of your thoughts.

You rush into the house without knocking, as you have always done. Only instead of cooking or reading, Maria is entwined with Tommy on the sofa kissing feverishly.

"I got the grant!"

They break apart like guilty schoolchildren and you pause at the door suddenly feeling wrong footed.

"I'm s-so sorry," you stammer a laugh feeling both embarrassed and amused.

"Did you just say you got the grant?" Maria says, throwing herself from the sofa into your surprised arms. She squeezes you tightly, bouncing excitedly.

"I'm so sorry," you say hugging her. "I didn't know Tommy was here. Hey Tommy."

Tommy gives an awkward wave and smile from the sofa.

"Oh he's fine," Maria assures you. "When do you get the money?"

"They're making it a bit tricky," you admit. "Instead of just giving me a blank check I need to submit the official work orders on the office renovations. Ya know, to prove I'm not lying."

"Annoying," Maria scowls. "So I guess the new kennels are a no-go."

You join her as she sits back at the sofa next to Tommy. You take the seat opposite them in the dark green wing back chair Maria has had since her first apartment.

"There must be a work around," you insist, letting your purse fall to the ground at your feet. "I spoke to James and he said he would think on what we can do."

James is your co-worker extraordinaire, a whiz with money and grant writing. He's the real reason you got this one. The two of you make a very good team. You're good with people, getting donations that way. You easily make human connections whereas James is pure analytical focus.

"Why don't you just get a company to do the Reno's but ask them to keep it vague on details when it comes to receipts?"

You both look at Tommy who is seated at the edge of the couch, his elbows on his knees. He's looking at you both as if his reply is the most obvious thing in the world.

"The things an office Reno would need like lumber, nails, etc are things you could use for making kennels," he continues when he sees both you and Maria looking at him with rapt focus. "Just get the builders not to be specific when it comes to what the structure or structures are when it comes to the invoice you need for the grant."

It's genius. Perfectly simple and yet inspired. And the way Tommy is raising his brows at you makes you think he may just be offering his services.

"Do you know of any such construction company that would do this?" You ask with a sly smile that Tommy returns.

"I might."

Maria looks at Tommy with a gaze of such open devotion that you find yourself blushing. He returns it, and you know that if you weren't here they'd be kissing like mad.

"Alright then," you say standing abruptly. "You're hired."

Tommy does an exaggerated fist pump in the air that has you and Maria giggling. You decide on going over details at your office next week. You're amazed at how well this came together and how quickly.

"Let's go out to dinner to celebrate!" Maria insists with a wide grin. You're about to agree when there's a knock at the door. You watch as your friend goes to the door, because unlike with you they were obviously expecting this guest.

"Good timing," Maria says as she opens the door to a tired looking Joel. He's got a

Carpentry belt slung around his narrow hips. His grey t-shirt is damp at the collar; he's obviously come right from another job.

"Sorry I'm late," Joel says gruffly. "Couldn't get Marko to stop talking and finish the fencing properly."

"No worries," Maria assures him. "We were just chatting about renos."

"My favorite subject," Joel smirks. He's looking at Maria but his eyes eventually swim over to you. You make sure not to be glancing in his direction when they do.

Irritation is overtaking the good mood you'd been savouring, like a bucket of cold water to the face. Joel Miller's mere presence has you agitated.

"Were you still needing me to finish up the cabinet knobs today?" He asks.

"Nah, those can wait," Maria insists. "We've just had good news that needs celebrating!"

Maria explains about your grant and Joel forces out a barely audible congrats. You give a tight smile and equally quiet thanks.

Ugh, this fucking guy.

"Figure we can celebrate down at the Tipsy Bison," Tommy suggests, pulling on his jean jacket. "I think they have live music on Thursdays."

Joel is just standing there by the door, obviously itching to escape. He doesn't seem to know how to respond so he ends up shrugging and nodding.

"You guys have fun," you blurt as the trio of eyes fall on you. Tommy looks confusedly between you and Maria as if he's missed something.

"But we're celebrating your good news," Maria says with a voice full of confusion and hurt.

"I'd love to," you lie, slowly making your way to the door that leads down into your basement suite. "It's just I have so much prep to do this week. We have a ton of adoptions going through this month and I really need to get started."

You whirl around, opening the door and bounding down the wooden steps. You're halfway down when you hear the door above you close.

Maria is standing there, arms crossed. It's the look that you always associate with her: serious and focused.

"What?" You ask defensively even though you know exactly why she's here.

Maria gives you a serious look as she makes her way down the steps. She drops her voice to conspiratorial whisper, clearly not wanting the men upstairs to hear.

"You need to give Joel a chance."

"I am," you insist even though you both know it's a lie. You're frustrated that just by showing up he's ruined your good mood.

"I really like Tommy," Maria sighs. "And I love you. Please make an effort with Joel. For me."

"I will," you promise even though you have no intention of following it through. "I just can't tonight."

You go the rest of the way downstairs, shame rouging your cheeks. A buzzing sounds in your pocket and you bring out the phone, flipping it open to check the text that just came through.

hey how r u? Just checking in.

You give a disgusted scoff and throw your phone onto the bed.

/// /// /// /// /// /// /// ///

Frank proves to be no help at all in the Joel situation once he sees him.

One afternoon you're over there waiting to eat Bill's famous lemon cake when it all goes pear shaped.

"You can't tell its sugar free," Frank is saying from the kitchen, the sound of clattering dishes. "It's just that delicious."

Bill is seated across from you looking miserable. He's already got himself a slice and is holding it in his lap. You notice that Bill never starts eating until after Frank has.

"Sugar is the silent killer," Bill murmurs.

You hold in a smile. This isn't the first time Bill has given you the 'sugar is evil' talk.

Frank is rolling his eyes good-naturedly as he enters the room with two plates.

"They start 'em young," Bill continues as Frank makes his way towards you. "They put brightly colored cartoons on the front of sugary cereal boxes for Christ sake. It's insidious."

Frank hands the plate to you, the fork clattering on the porcelain. You take it gratefully, looking at the pale yellow cake with its white swirling icing. You almost don't want to eat it, it looks so beautiful.

"This is gorgeous."

Bill gives the smallest smile in your direction and a slight nod of thanks. His bright eyes move to Frank who is taking his first bite. You know that for Bill this is the only review he cares about.

"Amazing," Frank promises Bill. "Even better than your last one."

Bill is very pleased at this and about to say something when the sound of Joel's truck comes rambling up the street. The windows are open so you tilt your head at the noise, giving an exaggerated sigh when you realize who it is.

Frank and Bill exchange an inscrutable look before Frank launches himself off the sofa to come stand next to the window you're glaring out of.

Joel pulls himself out of the cab of the truck to grab lumber out of the back. He carries a two by four over his shoulder and heads towards Maria's. His jeans are dusty and the t-shirt he's wearing clings to him with sweat.

"That's the grey sprinkle?" Frank gapes looking out the window. It's almost comical how his blue eyes are blown so wide.

"Yeah," you frown looking out at his frame loping across the grass. "The one and only Joel Miller."

"He's sex on legs," Frank informs you, pulling back the curtain with a forefinger. He cranes his neck so he can follow Joel's form moving over the lawn.

You think you must be missing something here. Joel attractive? Pffft. Stone-faced, sad-eyed, moping bastard. Your judgment clouds any attraction you might feel.

Bill shuffles over with his piece of cake balanced on his plate. He glances at Frank's open mouthed stare and then out the window at Joel. He squints as he watches Joel enter Maria's house with the wood and toolbox.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about," Bill frowns after he takes in Joel's form.

"Exactly," you say victoriously. Finally, someone who isn't drawn into whatever spell Joel Miller is casting.

But then you watch as Bill digs into his cake, aggressively popping it into his down turned mouth as Frank looks over with a disbelieving smile.

"Bill are you jealous?"

"No."

/// /// /// /// /// /// /// ///

A month later you have officially hired Miller Construction to renovate your "office". Tommy tells you he needs to come by and do an official estimate and you happily agree.

You trip over one of the jutting floorboards as you head for your desk that morning, giving a soft grunt of irritation before stamping it back into place.

Your office is a cramped thing, built a hundred years ago in what is a converted church. It's simple with wood floors and walls and you spent the better part of the month cleaning the backyard of the space in anticipation of building the kennels out there.

It's exciting to think that you'll actually be seeing animals more regularly at your job. Usually you're just grant writing or travelling off - site for donation requests. You muse that for a job all about animals, you rarely get to see them.

James is out of the office today, you've both started on sourcing a new area for a sanctuary. You're hoping to go to the city with the idea and James is out there today seeing if the land you want will be appropriate.

You look at the big yellow board in the center wall and give a smile. On it are a variety of photos collected over the years of the animals your office has saved. Your favorite photo is that of a little redheaded boy holding a turtle and smiling widely. It was the first adoption you'd ever overseen yourself.

There is a knock at the door and you move quickly, excited to show Tommy what you're going to have him build.

Your body physically starts in surprise when it's Joel that appears behind the door looking none too pleased.

Fuck no.

Up this close he's taller than you realized his shoulders broad. He's wearing a green flannel and he looks tired.

"I thought Tommy was the one handling this," you say trying not to sound accusatory.

"He asked me give him a hand with the estimate."

"Oh."

You move back from the door, opening it so he can enter. You look around him to see empty space. "Where is Tommy?"

"He's bringing my daughter from school," Joel says stepping into the space and glancing around before looking at his watch. "Should be here quick."

"She's coming here?" You can't hide the surprise in your voice at that.

"Yeah?" He gives you with a challenging look.

"Should I --- I don't have crayons but I have some highlighters I think and I guess she can use printer paper to draw on?"

"She'll be fine. You don't need to do that."

"Oh. Okay."

You want to ignore him but you keep thinking of Maria.

I really like Tommy. And I love you. Please make an effort with Joel.

The words roll around in your head as you go back to stand behind your desk. Joel is sauntering around your office, looking at the flooring with a frown.

"Does Sarah always come with you to work?" You broach trying to sound interested even if you couldn't care less. Joel glances over at you shaking his head.

"No. Teacher called to say she had a stomachache. Tommy was closer to the school so he said he'd pick her up for

Sometimes Joel sounds as if he's trying to conserve words, using as few as possible.

You nod and not really wishing to extend the conversation any further, you turn back the email you'd be writing earlier.

A few minutes pass of you typing away on the keyboard, your eyes focusing on the email you're composing.

"You always worked with animals?"

"Huh?" You glance up from your computer, surprised. Joel is standing across the room from you near the yellow board and its photographs.

"Have you always worked with animals?" Joel repeats.

It takes you a minute to register that he's actually asked you a question about yourself.

"Uh yeah. My mom's a vet tech, my dad raised horses. Can't remember a time I wasn't around them."

Joel doesn't seem to know how to reply to this so he shrugs and looks down at his boots, shoving his hands in his pockets and moving to look around the office. He goes to the shelving holding up years of old adoption records.

You watch this and wonder why he bothered asking you a question if he had no intention of actually listening to your reply?

The answer suddenly becomes obvious: because Tommy probably told him the same thing Maria told you. Make an effort. Be nice.

The whole thing seems a bit silly to you. You're not children for Christ's sake. And the idea strikes you that you don't have to pretend.

"Joel?"

He turns from where he is at the window, his brows quirked.

"Let's be honest here for a minute. I know you don't enjoy my company and I don't enjoy yours," you say officiously. "But Maria and Tommy are very happy together and I have no intention of ruining that. Since I assume you care for your brother, I think you probably feel the same way."

Joel is staring at you without saying anything. It's one of his party tricks, you decide; being so quiet the other person feels the need to fill the silence. After a beat he nods.

"So I propose that we act like we don't despise one another when we're in their company. Other than that, I see no need for us to act like friends," you explain diplomatically. "You don't have to pretend to be interested in my life and I don't have to pretend to be interested in yours."

Joel is quiet for the length of this speech, seeming to take the information in and digesting it. For a horrible moment there is a paranoia that your suggestion was too blunt.

"So we'll just dislike each other in secret," Joel eventually says with what looks like a slight quirking of his lips.

"Exactly," you nod. "After the kennels are done here and Maria's kitchen is finished we'll see even less of each other. Holidays, dinners, the occasional pub night. It's manageable, don't you think?"

"I do."

"Great."

With that settled you go back to your email, typing rapidly and feeling accomplished.

"So since we're not friends and I don't have to pretend to be nice, I'm just gonna point out that spending all that grant money on kennels is insane."

Your fingers abruptly pull back from the keys and you dart a look up at him. "What?"

"This office is falling apart. These shelves have maybe a few months left in them, maybe." He presses on one and you can hear it creak under his palm. "The flooring is fucked, you're gonna break your neck walking on it if you don't fix it quick."

You stare at Joel, flabbergasted. Not just because this is the longest you've heard him talk, but because after the weeks of planning he thinks he can waltz into your workplace and completely up-end your idea?

"You can't save animals if your whole office is trashed," Joel continues. "You ever hear the expression 'you can't pour from an empty cup'?"

The fucking gall of Joel Miller of all people trying to give you self help advice. Pot meet kettle.

"Well, I only take advice from friends, so... "

You let the meaning sink in as you turn back to your work. He gives a look that clearly says 'it's your funeral' You glance up from under your hair as Joel goes to the far side of your office, pulling out his measuring tape and marking something in the little notepad he's pulled from his back pocket.

You scowl at his back, irritated once more by his arrogance. He just came in here and totally shit all over your plans! What does he even know? The kennels are a necessity! Yeah your office isn't great, but you've always gotten by haven't you?

You hear the sound of a truck outside and know it must be Tommy and Joel's daughter, Sarah.

You look at Joel and muse about what kind of child a man like Joel would raise. You think she must be a feral nightmare if she has Joel for a father. Hopefully she takes after her mother.

You go to the door of the office and pull it open before Tommy even has to knock.

A small girl with large hazel eyes and a shock of light brown curls bursts into your office, her hand dropping Tommy's.

"Daddy!"

Joel's face breaks into a large grin. He drops to one knee, his arms widening as a squealing girl leaps into his embrace. He squeezes her tightly before pulling back, his face serious.

"How's the tummy?"

"Real bad," Sarah says, sighing in that way all precocious children seem to do. As if the world is so exhausting when you have no responsibilities.

"Oh yeah? That's a shame." Joel looks terribly upset. "I thought we'd go to McDonald's on the way home, but since you're so sick-"

Sarah immediately changes tack.

"I'm actually feeling better, Daddy." Her eyes are large and unblinking. She fiddles with the zipper on Joel's coat. "I think I'm better enough for McDonald's."

"Mhmmm," Joel says sending a smirk in Tommy's direction as he stands.

Who the fuck is this guy? The one with the charming, boyish smile? The one with soft eyes and a sweet warmth to his voice? It can't be Joel Miller.. You've met that bastard. This guy is new. This guy is almost.... Attractive.

Tommy follows you to your desk, a beat up Longhorns cap over his glossy locks.

"The big day is here"

"It is indeed," you say with a grin. "I'm really excited to show you the back -"

You stop talking because Tommy is frowning and looking around the office. He moves over the creaking floorboards, taking in the poorly sealed windows before putting his hands on his hips in quiet contemplation.

"Hmmm."

"What?"

You walk over to where Tommy is now standing beside Joel, surveying the space by the window. The Brothers exchange a silent look that makes your stomach wobble.

"I know you wanted to put the money towards kennels," Tommy says wincing. "But I think you might actually have to put it into this office."

Your cheeks flare pink as you actively ignore the smug look Joel is undoubtedly shooting you.

"I don't think that's necessary," you say tightly.

"I mean it's your money," Tommy shrugs. "But in my opinion this is where you should put it. This place is barely holding on. No real point in kennels out back if the office is closed, right?"

You feel like you've been punched in the gut. And you're upset because this is exactly what your coworker James said when you first told him about your plan for the grant. You just put that down to him being financially conservative.

"Well this is just fuc-" you stop yourself from swearing when you remember that Sarah is there.

Sarah takes one long look at you before going to hide behind Joel's legs, her hazel eyes staring out at you from behind him balefully as the men talk above her.

She's definitely Joel's kid.

"Maybe we do the repairs in here and see if we have any money left over for the kennels," Tommy suggests. "We can get a good discount on materials."

"But we're not being underpaid on labor," Joel quickly cuts in. "So there's a good chance there won't be much left."

Tommy gives Joel a warning look. You know he'd been hoping to swoop in and save the day for his girlfriend's best friend. He can tell you're disappointed and you know that he feels guilty about it.

But that doesn't stop you from feeling deflated. The vision you had is gone, replaced with renovations you don't even want.

"Sure. Whatever you think is best, Tommy. I trust your judgment."

You go back to your desk and slump into the chair feeling defeated. You pretend to write something on a piece of paper but instead you're doodling, trying not to feel too devastated.

Tommy and Joel are murmuring to one another, making marks on the wall, tapping gently with their knuckles to find the studs.

"I got the tape," Sarah's squeaky voice calls out to Joel as she races over to him, the measuring tape large in her small hands.

"Don't run babygirl," Joel says with a soft smile in her direction as he takes the tape from her and Tommy writes something down in his notebook.

It's clear that despite her young age, Sarah desperately wants to help her father with the job. It makes your throat tighten.

You have such little experience with children. You're an only child yourself, most of your friends are childless and you've never really seemed to understand kids. They're loud and emotional and messy. This one seems especially troublesome if she has Joel Miller as an influence, so you go back to your work trying to see if there are other financial avenues for the kennels.

As you with you can hear Joel and Tommy discussing lumber costs and which yard is best for the type of work you need.

"Hi. I'm Sarah."

You start at the sudden appearance of Sarah at your elbow. She's tiny for her age, her eyes taking up such a large portion of her face. You furrow your brows at her.

She puts on a smile, a small dimple appearing in her cheek, the same side as her dad's. She pats the ends of your hair gently.

"I like your hair. It's pretty."

You're surprised by this. "Uh, thanks."

She steps closer. "I like your desk. It's pretty."

"Thank you."

"Is that candy?"

She points to the clear jar on the left side of your desk. It's filled with brightly colored jellybeans. You look towards the tower of confectionery and realize her motivation for buttering you up. You hide a smile.

"It is."

You turn your attention back to your work and continue writing, feeling her serious gaze on you.

"I really like candy," she tells you.

"Oh yeah," you reply trying not to smirk.

It's obvious she is waiting for you to offer her one. But can kids this young even have candy? She shuffles a bit closer to you.

"Can I have one candy? Please?"

Your eyes dart over to see Joel and Tommy measuring something in the corner. Your gaze flicks back to the expectant child at your elbow. For some reason Bill's recent rant creeps into your brain.

"Sugar is really bad for you especially at this age," you offer helpfully. "But it's no wonder you're obsessed with it. I bet your favorite cereal has a fun cartoon character on the front."

Sarah takes a longing look at the jellybeans on your desk before turning her attention back to you and nodding.

"It's all a marketing strategy," you explain patiently. "They attract you with colorful images and happy music in the commercials and make it seem like sugar isn't really a silent killer. It's pretty insidious when you think about it, targeting kids."

Sarah's face is pinched into a look of confusion. "Huh?"

You feel the dual gazes of Tommy and Joel on you from the side of the room. They've stopped what they're doing and are staring at you with bemusement. Tommy's lips are twitching.

"Have you ever spoken to a child before?" Tommy broaches, trying not to sound insulting but failing miserably.

"'Course I have," you lie, even as you feel your cheeks reddening. "Lots of times."

The Miller men exchange a look of barely suppressed amusement before Tommy turns back to the shelves. Joel is still staring at you with what looks like a mixture of pity and humor. You don't appreciate either.

"So can she have a few?"

Joel nods and turns back to speak to Tommy. You open the lid to the jar, pulling out a handful of jellybeans and placing them into Sarah's cupped hands. She decides that there are too many for her to hold so stretching her arms up she puts the small pile on the edge of your desk before she pops one into her mouth, chewing.

"Are they okay? They've been sitting there a while."

Sarah nods, offering a gummy "thank you."

You go back to making notes for James and she begins moving her eyes over your desk as she eats her jellybeans one by one.

'Who's that?"

You look up from your notes to see her pointing at one of the few framed photos on your desk.

"That's my dog from when I was a kid," you answer with a fond smile. "Pongo."

"Like the Dalmatians," Sarah says popping another jellybean into her mouth. "Pongo and 'Gita."

"Yeah," you smile. "I loved that movie so much I wanted a puppy of my own. Christmas morning there he was."

"He's not a Dalmatian," Sarah tells you as if you weren't already aware.

"No he was a rescue," you explain patiently. "He's one of the reasons I started this job. I wanted to help other animals like Pongo."

"I have a pet," Sarah tells you with a serious countenance.

"Oh really?"

She nods, reaching into her pocket and producing a small toad stuffy. He's obviously been carried with her from place to place, well loved with parts of his spotted back rubbed off.

"This must be toad," you say with a grin. "I've heard about him."

She gives you a surprised look but then smiles. "Do you wanna hold him?"

"Sure." You hold your palm out expectantly, watching her serious little face as she places the creature in the center of your hand. "Oh he's very handsome."

Sarah giggles at this, looking at you with amusement. "He's not handsome. He's a toad."

"Well sometimes a toad can look handsome," you reason. "I have a few ex boyfriends that prove that point."

Sarah doesn't know what to make of that joke. So she takes toad back, pocketing him and going back to her jelly beans on your desk. She takes a pink one and before it reaches her mouth she's pointing to another photo.

"Who's that?"

You glance over to see the photo she's referencing. It's you and your mom and dad on your birthday. Judging by the candles you were about Sarah's age. Your arms are hooked around both their necks and the three of you look like you were laughing when it was taken.

"That's a photo of me," you tap the young image of yourself gently before tapping the faces of the other figures in the photograph. "And my mom and dad."

Sarah stares at the photo a long time, her head tilting as she regards it. You find yourself intrigued by her reaction. Her small dark fingers trace the frame. Finally she swallows her candy and looks to you curiously.

"You have a picture of your mommy? I don't."

You're surprised by this. You knew Joel was divorced, but to not have any photos of Sarah's mom around the house seems kind of strange.

You stare down at Sarah and wonder how much hurt hides behind those large eyes of hers.

"Sarah," Joel calls sharply from across the room. "Leave the lady alone, she's workin'"

You don't really mind Sarah as much as you thought you would. She's inquisitive and sweet tempered.

Perhaps this is an opportunity to extend an olive branch towards Joel, especially since you'll be seeing a lot of him.

"It's alright," you say, shooting a friendly smile his way. "I don't mind -"

"Well I do mind," Joel interrupts. The familiar chill is back in his gaze and you feel your own irritation rising, the smile dropping from your face. Why do you bother trying to be nice to this guy?

Joel holds a hand out in his daughter's direction, his face softening. "C'mon babygirl, we're goin' home."

Sarah takes the remainder of her jellybeans and shoves them into her dungaree pockets before toddling over to her dad who picks her up.

She's in his arms, looking over his shoulder at you. She gives you a brief wave that you return before the two of them disappear out the door.

/// /// /// /// /// /// /// ///

"Can you do me a huge favor?"

You never enjoy mornings that start like that. You're still in your sleeping clothes, the coffee Maria brought you still warm in your hands.

"Depends what it is."

Maria and you are sitting on your sofa, a striped pillow behind your neck.

It's been two days since Tommy and Joel dropped the bomb that you'll need to spend your grant money on the office repairs. It's only Wednesday but it feels like years since you had your dreams shattered.

Tommy is starting the work on your office next week. That means you'll have a solid three days of off-site work while he does that and you'll come back to an office you never wanted refurbished in the first place.

Great.

"It's me and Tommy's four month anniversary," Maria is blushing shyly. "He wants to take me away for the weekend."

You don't point out that celebrating monthly anniversaries is asinine and borderline juvenile. Mostly because those thoughts usually only occur when you're under-caffinated. And you know it's partially because you're still in a terrible mood about the office.

"Sounds fun," you say between sips of your coffee. "You need me to water your plants or something while you're gone?"

"Not exactly."

You don't like the way Maria isn't meeting your eyes.

"Maria?"

"Well, Joel has a meeting with Kathleen for that construction job on Saturday night. A big one. If they win the bid that's huge."

You nod, not really understanding where you come in.

"Sarah needs a babysitter. Tommy is usually the go-to but he's got this really good deal on a weekend away for us."

"Okay."

You sit staring at her a while before the other shoe drops and you see her bracing herself for your response.

"You want me to willingly enter that man's home and babysit his child?" You put your mug down on the coffee table so harshly it splashes.

You remember the pact you made with Joel. To act like you don't despise each other for the sake of Maria and Tommy. But this is asking too much.

"Why can't he just reschedule the meeting for the following week?" You suggest, desperate to find a solution that doesn't involve you in Joel Miller's home.

"I asked Tommy that but the bids open Monday. Saturday is Joel's only opportunity. She's busy all the other nights."

"Why can't he just get a sitter from the newspaper? Or an agency?"

You don't love the plaintive edge your voice has taken on.

"You saw what happened with Connie," Maria says with a roll of her eyes. "You've met Joel. He's particular."

Understatement of the century.

"Grandparents?"

"Dead."

Well, that's one thing you have in common.

"Sarah is his life," Maria continues. "He wouldn't let just anyone take care of her."

"Exactly. What makes you think he'd want me of all people to sit Sarah?" You figure this will solidify why you're a poor choice.

"Because when Tommy suggested you be the one to babysit, Joel said yes."

That surprises you enough to choke on your coffee. Joel Miller approves of you babysitting his daughter? This is unexpected.

Then another thought occurs to you, pushing this thought entirely to the back of your mind. Your eyes immediately narrow on Maria's suddenly very bashful face.

"Tommy's already talked to Joel about this?"

Maria is looking everywhere but your face as you raise a questioning brow.

"The tickets were non-refundable," Maria finally explains with a guilty laugh. "And there's a couple's massage!"

"Maria!"

"You'd barely have to interact with him," Maria promises. "He leaves when you get there and you leave when he gets home. In between that you get to hang out with Sarah."

Hanging out with a five year old you barely know is not the compelling selling point Maria seems to think it is.

"Plus I'll pay you for your time," Maria continues, going to pull the wallet from her purse. "It's the least I can do."

You inwardly groan. You know for a fact that you're going to say yes because when it comes to Maria you always do.

"Put it away," you say with a dismissive wave of your hand. "Think of it as an anniversary gift."

Maria nearly tackles you into a hug whispering words of thanks over and over before squeaking happily that she's going to call Tommy to give him the good news.

You shake your head watching her rush up the stairs before going back to your coffee and drinking deeply.

So much for a relaxing weekend.

#dad joel miller #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x you #joel miller x reader #joel miller smut #pedro pascal #the last of us #fanfic #fanfiction #smut #series

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missycolorful · 5 months

Text

The scene with q!Forever and q!Philza at Global spawn in Pugatory is something that will always kinda sit in the back of my head. Because it truly, truly solidifies the strength in their dynamic, and neither of them will probably realize it lol. Hello, I'm here to be insane about q!philever, so buckle up

Like everyone else, q!Phil was dealing with a lot in Purgatory. He began to lose trust in close friends. He wasn't sure he'd even be able to save his children. While trying to uphold his morality and not kill except in self-defense, he was very much walking a fine, jittery line. All while trying to keep his team organized and motivated. Aside from kind of losing his mind like the others, there was no clear indication that Phil's composure was dangling by a loose thread.

But then he's allowed a moment of peace to exchange information with another team. It's just him and Forever. No kills planned, nothing. Just two people allowed to talk about the absurd situation they've been thrown into. A moment to really take everything in.

During the conversation, Forever doesn't hold judgement toward Phil or anyone else due to the event, even when he comments on Philza's kill on Rivers. Even when Phil tries to justify his actions, Forever doesn't hold it against him. It's hard to say exactly how important this is to what happens next, but I feel like it means something here.

It's when q!Forever says that once they leave Global Spawn, that they become "enemies" again, this is when q!Philza breaks. And I think this moment has been glossed over by many (I want more fan art, dammit >:T) cause it doesn't feel big on the surface. It's not like cc!Philza genuinely sounds heartbroken, his cries sound... a little exaggerated/dramatic, you know? What he cries about isn't anything groundbreaking, it's what many of them feel ("I don't want to be here." "I don't want to kill my friends."), even though Phil fans can sense a deeper meaning here. And after Forever briefly consoles Philza ("Everything is going to be good. This is what we need to go through."), Phil, like a flick of a switch, is right back to his composed, level-headed self. It was like that moment never even happened.

But it did, and it drives me crazy that he did it in front of Forever. cc!Phil made that conscious choice to have his character lose composure, his character that he and his fans knows is an emotionally constipated motherfucker. And the reason it drives me nuts is because how the fuck did we get here?

I can imagine this scenario with lots of characters, and it never plays out like this (i.e. with Tubbo, he'd likely just keep it all in. Et cetra.). I don't see him letting himself be this vulnerable around most others. Hell, before this, I never would've imagined he'd do this in front of Forever, either.

But the more I think about it, it kinda makes sense.

Phil and Forever's relationship is a funny one. Early on, Phil wouldn't trust Forever with a toothpick. He'd never be emotionally open with him. Forever even held a bit of animosity toward Philza after Phil'a final rejection. But that rocky start is honestly a huge part of why it is as strong as it is now. Cause, well, the strength of any relationship comes from accepting all parts of a person. Flaws and all.

Some characters hold Philza up on a pedestal (i.e. q!Missa). They don't really see his flaws. They don't think about his ugly sides. They just see a pillar of a man who is always willing to help, who can do anything and everything, who keeps composed and lighthearted and level-headed in any scenario. q!Forever was kinda like this, at one point.

But Forever realizes that isn't the case eventually. Because Phil's not great at dealing with emotional situations, and Forever learns that the hard way. Phil's not good at talking about feelings, he can be blunt and a bit harsh, because he's a pragmatic sort of guy. But it takes a softer, gentle approach to reject someone, and Phil wasn't ready for that. So, in retaliation to the hurt Phil caused him, Forever had a conflicted relationship with him. It didn't last long, but I digress. This brief shift in their relationship was for the better. By not placing him on this pedestal anymore, Forever began to see Philza in a different light. One that didn't cast Brunim in its shadow.

With Philza, Phil saw Forever at, arguably, his worst in the beginning. Obsessive, threatening, clutching onto a pipe dream with no regard for Phil's feelings. But over time, Phil got to see the much more real sides of Forever. When Tallulah lost her first life, when Forever made NINHO. He saw a passionate and intelligent side to this guy who was obsessed with him, and he respected that person. And with this recognition, he offered his trust to Forever, such as giving one of his presidential votes to Forever.

Both of their perspectives for the other changed throughout the first few months, and I believe they gained some level of appreciation between them because of that. They share this newfound respect and trust. And that is the core to their new relationship. Consistently, Forever and Phil have given each other open and mutual respect and trust. Never is either of these things taken for granted, abused, or manipulated in any way.

When Forever is hooked on the happy pills, he subconsciously seeks out Philza's help, which Phil offers with ease. Before Forever goes to the Nether, Phil expresses his worry and wants to help. But he doesn't push, because he respects Forever's agency, and trusts that Forever is doing what he thinks is best. (also during this scene, when Forever gave him access to the warpstone in that secret part of his base, only Forever and Richas had access to it beforehand, which feels like a big moment according to his fans, so! :D). So when Forever returns to the Nether, while he doesn't believe Fit and Pierre when they say they tried to save him, he absolutely, 100% believes in Philza.

Because he knows Philza by now, and Philza knows Forever. Maybe not on equal levels, but still. After merely a few months, they've slowly begun to understand each other a bit more. So I guess it's only natural that they'd be more open around each other.

I'd even argue that this isn't the first time Philza lets down his walls around Forever. It just didn't happen when Forever was awake.

I wouldn't say that Phil talking to Forever while he was in a coma is the same level of vulnerability as the scene in Purgatory. Because Phil wasn't totally direct with his feelings, he sort of deflected (the story, banging the pots and pans, calling him an idiot, etc). Hell, even when he is expresses how he feels, he's not entirely direct: "We just really care about you. We wanna see you come back. You're making us worry." Like, of course everyone cares, but to say this as we when it's just the two of you obviously feels like a moment of vulnerability but not wanting to admit to it. Cause, hey, under different circumstances, he absolutely would've committed to visiting Forever in the hospital every day. Still, his very open worry did give off a sense that his walls were crumbling.

So with all of this, if Philza can meet with someone alone in practical hell, and that someone, a person he openly trusts and cares about, can look him in the eye and say "I don't judge you" on the things he's has done, maybe that allowed the floodgates to open for a bit. Maybe once Forever said they'd be enemies outside those doors, the situation hit Phil like a truck, and he just couldn't keep it in anymore. And maybe knowing it was just the two of them, Phil knew he could be a person around Forever, not a leader or a mentor or a force to be reckoned with. And Phil really needs someone on equal footing with him like this. He needs someone he can feel safe around. So for him to find this in Forever, of all people, even if it's just for this moment, is extremely important to me.

The way their relationship has progressed, perhaps it would've been simply a matter of time for Philza to be open with Forever. I dunno when Phil will be quite so open around Forever again, but I do say when with a fair enough of certainty (or I could be wrong and I'm simply talking straight outta my ass but who knows). Because to have this moment with Forever was intentional, even if it feels like a blink and you miss moment. It may have been under a minute, it may not feel important to other viewers. BUT to me, it genuinely says so much about their relationship, how far they have come, and where they are now.

#qsmp #qsmp meta #sugarduo #philever #philza #forever #missy rambles #or none of it means anything and this never gets brought up or anything like that again and phil is mocking us for our dramatics🤷#either way idc let me have fun i love these two so muchhhhhhhhh <3 #long post

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jjkeverlast · 10 months

Note

HI LATI CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MILESTONE! can i request jk smut drabble with a prompt “My tongue still remembers the way you taste.” lemme eat that pussy out yeah 🤭

taste | jjk (m)

>> pairing jungkook x fem!reader

>> genre/au's college reunion AU | smut

>> summary jungkook shows you what he's been missing at the college reunion.

>> word count 1.9k

>> warnings oral (f. receiving) | hair pulling | slight exhibitionism | ft. taehyung & jimin

>> author's note hi anoniieeee!! i hope you enjoy this and thank you for requesting <3

[keep in mind that i do not have taglists for request, and prompts are marked in bold! thank you.]

Since you left college, you had never expected to come back. Reunions were always a bit silly in your eyes, the mere thought of seeing everyone again and hearing them babble on how perfect their life is made you want to stay home.

Although, Jimin was a pro in convincing you. It took him merely three words to get you in the car with him and towards where the reunion was held.

“Who are you most excited to see again?” Jimin asks, smiling with his pearly whites as he glances towards you before averting his gaze towards the road.

“No one.” Jimin gasps, turning it to a high pitched laugh. He isn’t surprised by your answer. You were never really the type of person to hold on to people from college except Jimin but you’re living with the guy.

“You sure about that? I heard from Taehyung that Jungkook is stopping by.”

Your eyes pop out by the name. Jeon Jungkook. One of the greatest swimmers at your college — also, the one you found yourself hooking up with a bit too much during college.

Some would say it was a friends with benefits situation, others that you were dating but you frankly didn’t care. Jungkook and you had a lot of fun and that’s all that mattered. It didn’t really surprise you when you parted ways after college, losing complete touch. After all, he was moving to the States to pursue his swimming career, and you stayed and moved in with Jimin not long after.

Either way, Jungkook was a fun college experience, and that’s all there was to it. Yet for some odd reason, your stomach is acting up at the minor thought of seeing him again after so many years.

“Interesting.” You answer in a monotone voice, not wanting Jimin to read on too fast that you’re kind of excited now for this reunion.

“Taehyung and I already betted some money on if you and Jungkook get together after the reunion.” You shake your head, laughing at the stupidity of Jimin and Taehyung as a duo. It doesn’t even surprise you that they made a whole bet about this, after all they were the victims when it came to you and Jungkook sneaking around.

Time surely passed quickly, Jimin already put the car to a stop in front of the building where a huge sign indicated this was the right place.

Surprisingly the inside is crowded, it almost astounds you because, were there really that many people in your college? You weren’t exactly one to fill yourself up with crowds, Jimin the same which explains how he dragged you directly to Taehyung and Jungkook the moment you stepped inside.

At first you can’t even recognize Jungkook. His hair is shorter than last you saw him, dyed in a minty color and he has a lip piercing. You scold yourself internally for imagining what that would feel like against your bare—

“Wow, can’t believe you’re here!” Jungkook jokes, knowing you’re not fond of social gatherings.

“Shut up, Jeon.” You roll your eyes, Jungkook laughing as he grabs onto your waist, pulling you in for a hug. Before you pull away, Jungkook lowers his head for his lips to reach your ear.

“You look fucking great.” He whispers, letting you retract right after. You gulp down, hating yourself for being affected when you haven’t seen Jungkook for years. Yet here you are, finding yourself getting hot and bothered over a simple compliment, while Jungkook acts as if nothing happened.

“I’m gonna take a look around, see you later.” You say to Jimin, excusing yourself to wander around the place.

There’s apparently a second floor, filled with empty spaces, some rooms are locked while others are free to use.

“Did you find something interesting?” You halt in your tracks, recognizing the voice. Of course he followed you.

“Just looking, Jeon.” You look back, smiling innocently, returning back to walking further down the hallway, hearing a huff behind you before he joins you in rapid steps.

“So… how are you? It’s been a while.” Jungkook tucks his hands in his pants, smiling in your direction while you slow in your steps.

“I’m okay. How about you? With swimming and everything?” You let it slip, proving you remember how Jungkook was the best swimmer back in college. A minor detail as such, makes Jungkook’s eyes light up before he gives you an answer.

“It was fun, I’m doing coaching now for professionals.” The news surprise you. Jungkook doesn’t swim anymore?

“You don’t swim anymore?” You ask with caution, scared that it’s a sensitive topic.

“I do! I just fell in love with helping out young boys who are thriving after becoming the best. I don’t know, it just makes sense for me to help them.” Jungkook’s smile never fades when he talks about his job, and your heart might’ve swooned over how soft he sounds.

“That’s amazing Jungkook.” You respond, both of you finally reaching the end of the hall. To the right there’s an empty office, the only furniture inside the room is a table.

“Well, we should head ba–”

“Do you ever think about back then?” Jungkook surprises you with the question. You can’t exactly lie and tell him no. Sometimes it just slipped your mind whenever you had some time alone, thinking back to everything you and Jungkook did.

“Maybe…” You grin when Jungkook begins to frown, not exactly content with your answer.

Instead, he steps closer. “Maybe? Doesn’t exactly sound like a no.” He sounds hopeful.

“Jeon, why are you—”

“I’ve missed you, isn’t it obvious enough?” Okay, so maybe you’ve lied a bit. There might’ve been a bit more between you and Jungkook than just casual sex. But, it would’ve never worked out so you kept it as it was.

“Is this your way of flirting with me?” You suggest, hoping he’s simply trying to relieve some old memories.

“Why? Is it working?” He smirks, humor laced in his tone to state that he was obviously flirting with you.

“I don’t know… What else have you missed about me?” You’re testing him. He catches on quickly, pondering to drag out the time between you.

“The way you taste.” He steps closer, his lips able to brush against yours.

“You can’t miss something you don’t remember. Jungkook, that was a long time ago.” You try to explain, fighting off how your underwear is becoming damp by his words.

“Trust me, my tongue still remembers the way you taste.” Your breath hitches at his words.

“Holy shi—” Jungkook cuts you off, kissing you without a second's doubt. The way he kisses is just as you remember, gentle yet with a rough pull. His hands are roaming on your back, shamefully grabbing your ass to pull you against his hard on.

Before you can grab onto his hair, he pulls away, resting his forehead against yours. “Tell me you missed this.” He breathes out, his eyes searching for an answer while you contemplate what to say.

“I—” You hesitate. “Fuck. I did. I did miss this.” You answer truthfully, Jungkook lips capturing yours once more, this time with a goal.

Somehow he manages to push you inside the empty office, forcing you to sit down on the desk while he hovers above you, clutching his hands on your ass.

You truly wouldn’t mind if Jungkook fucked you right here, even though anyone could walk upstairs and hear it. Then again, you’ve done way worse in college.

Patiently waiting for Jungkook to ask you if you want this, it doesn’t happen. Instead, Jungkook pulls away, staring you down before he drops down on his knees.

His hands are now on your thighs, spreading them apart as his palm feels warm against your exposed skin. It’s easy for him to have access, simply pulling the fabric of your dress until he sees your covered core.

Jungkook looks up, noticing how he’s stunned you with his sudden action. Your breaths have shortened, hands clutching on the edge of the desk. You want this. Jungkook can easily tell.

So, he proceeds, licking his lips before he peppers your thighs with kisses, some with small bites to them. The action sends an unexpected rush to your core, making you whine. You can see the shape of Jungkook’s smirk as he continues, moving upwards, his face almost disappearing under your dress.

Jungkook used to tease you a lot during college. He loved to rile you up and make you beg, which is why you’re expecting him to do the same now — but he doesn’t.

He seems rather impatient, tucking your underwear down, instead of kissing you above the fabric like he used to. It’s new, seeing Jungkook like this but fuck, you love it.

After grabbing a hold of your underwear, Jungkook just goes for it. The action catches you off guard, his tongue tracing every inch on you.

“S–Shit.” You gasp, your hand reaching for Jungkook’s minty hair, pulling it with every movement of his tongue on you.

It’s hard to pinpoint how it feels as you’re too overwhelmed by the situation in the first place. You just can’t believe that Jeon motherfucking Jungkook is on his knees for you.

You throw your head back, the feeling intensifying when his lips wrap around your clit, sucking it gently. Slowly with time, the room begins to fill with your moans and Jungkook groaning against your mouth whenever you grind down on his tongue, desperate for more of him.

It’s not until Jungkook adds his fingers that you feel that familiar pit in your stomach growing. Jungkook is eating you out like he’s been craving it all this time, not caring how loud his tongue is against your core with every lick.

Jungkook’s fingers slide in with ease, finding your g-spot easily while his mouth continues to suck down on your clit. When your orgasm starts to near, you feel yourself clench against his fingers, yearning for the release that’s nearing.

What surprises you more is Jungkook accidentally whining against your core when you continue to clench. Fuck, he’d do anything to fuck you right here, feel you clench against his cock instead of his fingers — but time is ticking and for now, Jungkook just wants you to finish all over his tongue.

When your orgasm is on the brink of releasing itself, Jungkook pulls out his fingers, his tongue replacing your hole, while his nose rubs against your clit with every buck of your hips. The new sensation is the last push you need, finishing on Jungkook’s tongue with a high pitched moan and a harsh grip to his hair.

It takes a minute for you to collect yourself, breathing out while Jungkook slowly removes himself. Half of his face is covered in your slick, the view arousing you, despite you just having an orgasm a second ago.

“Holy fuck.” You say, trying to catch your breath.

“Just as I remember.” Jungkook says to himself, guiding you back to his earlier comment about how he remembered how you tasted.

“You’re crazy, you know that?”

“You flatter me, should we join the guys?” Jungkook suggests, completely ignoring how he’s half hard after eating you out.

“What about you?” You ask, moving your hands towards his belt, indicating you’d love to help him out.

“Trust me, the minute we’re out of here, I’m gonna fuck you.” He promises, winking before he grabs onto you and leads you out of the office.

Now there’s only one thought left wandering in your head, how much did Taehyung and Jimin bet?

#jungkook smut #jeon jungkook smut #bts jungkook smut #jungkook #jeon jungkook fanfic #bts fanfiction #bts fan fic #bts jungkook fic #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook #bts jungkook #bts jeon jungkook #bts jungkook drabble #jungkook drabble

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robinbuckleysfringe · 1 month

Text

you are in love.

tom blyth social media au

pairings: tom blyth x reader

warnings: accused cheating

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged rachelzegler & tomblyth

liked by joshandresrivera, tomblyth, hunterschafer, rachelzegler and others

yninstagram as promised, here's some more bts pics for tbosas. massive thanks to suzanne collins for letting me be apart of your universe 💚

View comments

rachelzegler not that photo of me 😭

↪️ yninstagram sorry babes 🫶🏻🫶🏻. forgive me?

↪️ rachelzegler always 🫶🏻🫶🏻❤️

tomblyth did me dirty with that photo when I know you took hundreds of nicer ones

↪️ yninstagram sorry not sorry, just giving the fans what they want 😘

hunterschafer it was so lovely to finally be in a project together ❤️

↪️ yninstagram here's to hoping there's more 🥂❤️

user is that y/n with tom in the 2nd pic?? they look awfully close

↪️ user back off and leave the cheating rumours alone. y/n confirmed that they were only friends during filming

↪️ user exactly!! leave them alone!! plus, they were probably just going over the script or something. it's not your business dude.

user these photos are everything

user everyone say thank you to y/n for listening to the fans and giving us more bts pics

user y/n stoppp, I can't fall in love with snow again

user can't decide if tom's hotter with blonde hair or brown

↪️ yninstagram I've been asking myself the same thing

↪️ user 😂 she's one of us!!!!

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged robertdowneyjr, sebastianstan, chrisevans, gwynethpaltrow, anthonymackie & marvelstudios

liked by zendaya, tomholland2013, jacobelordi, tomblyth and others

yninstagram happy 10 year anniversary to my marvel debut (and also CATWS). huge thanks to @/robertdowneyjr for being the best onscreen dad, let's be in another project together soon pls ❤️

View comments

rachelzegler omg forgot that you were in the mcu!! iconic behaviour

↪️ yninstagram little me was really living the dream!!

tomblyth can't wait to see what the future of the mcu holds in store for you ❤️

↪️ yninstagram love you tom ❤️

↪️ user omg confirmed y/n return to the mcu??

↪️ user I hope so!! missed her character so much!!

zendaya happy 10 years to my favourite marvel character

↪️ tomholland2013 hey, what about me? :((

↪️ zendaya I said what I said 🤷🏻‍♀️

↪️ tomholland2013 no, but for real @/yninstagram, congrats on making it a whole decade in the mcu. it's awesome to be able to share a screen with you xx

↪️ yninstagram aww, thanks guys 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻. let's meet up next time I'm in town 💕💕

jacobelordi you used to be so cute. what happened? 😂

↪️ yninstagram shut up (said with love 🫶🏻)

user are you coming back to the mcu??

↪️ yninstagram you'll have to ask the marvel execs, sorry lovely. I wish I knew x

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted to her story*

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged tomblyth

liked by zendaya, florencepugh, tomblyth, joshandresrivera and others

yninstagram award show season was a blast 🥂💜

View comments

tomblyth stunning 😍😘

↪️ yninstagram no, you 😘x

rachelzegler obsessed with you 😍😍😍

↪️ yninstagram I expect nothing less 🫶🏻🫶🏻❤️❤️

joshandresrivera I wanna know what was said to make you pull that face in the 3rd photo

↪️ yninstagram probably someone bringing up that once again I wasn't nominated smh 😤

user mother is mothering 😍😍😍

user you were snubbed. you should've been nominated 😤

↪️ user for real!!!

↪️ user she defo deserves an award, but I don't think any of her projects last year (other than tbosas) was really award worthy. don't get me wrong, they were brilliant. but they weren't on the same level as the stuff that was nominated

↪️ user 100%

user you just know she's so fun to hang out with

↪️ user for real!! she emits such friendly energy

user what's the new project??

↪️ user wdym??

↪️ user she posted a story the other day with the caption "new project pending"

↪️ user it's probably stranger things season 5 tbh

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged greysabc

liked by tomblyth, rachelzegler, camillaluddington, jessicacapshaw, caterinascorsone, taylorswift and others

yninstagram shoutout to the stars (and my schedule) for aligning and allowing me to make my greys anatomy debut. thank you @/shondarhimes for letting me step through the doors of Grey Sloane Memorial hospital 💙

View comments

tomblyth super proud of you ❤️❤️

↪️ yninstagram ❤️❤️

camillaluddington welcome to the family ❤️

↪️ yninstagram thanks for letting me join ❤️

rachelzegler watching you get your dream roles is the best thing in the world 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻. endlessly proud of you bby 💕💕💕

↪️ yninstagram stoppp, you're making me cry 😭💕💕

hunterschafer we better be having a watch party at your house

↪️ yninstagram of course!! ❤️

joshandresrivera iconic

taylorswift big fan of this news!! congrats lovely ❤️

↪️ yninstagram love you!!! ❤️❤️

jacobelordi how the hell did you manage to keep this a secret??

↪️ yninstagram it was a real struggle

zendaya insanely proud of you!! 💕

↪️ yninstagram 😘

user I hope you're in it for at least more than one episode

↪️ user same, tho I doubt she'll become a series regular

user omg!!!

user congrats!!!

user yes yes yes!!!

user ooh, who are you playing??

user this is so cool!!! love greys anatomy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

parts 5 and 6 will probably be the last parts to this social media au, unless there's anything you guys want me to write for this series

#tom blyth #tom blyth x reader #the hunger games #tbosbas #rachel zegler #marvel #tom holland #zendaya #greys anatomy #social media au

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tarirose · 11 months

Text

New Beginnings

Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x F! Reader

Warnings: Fluff, Smut, Language, Oral, NSFW 18+

Word Count: 12.6k (I am sorry it’s so long. I was going to do chapters.

Summary: You and Bradley used to date when you were younger. But you left him behind and what you had to start your dream job. Ten years later, you find yourself back home. And Bradley has never let you go and wants you back.

Note: I also might carry this one on, in shorter chapters if people like it. Maybe delve more into seeing what happens between them.

Fightertown, USA was the last place you ever expected to return to. It had been ten years since you were last here. Back then you were a free spirit, young enough to not want to settle down, but old enough to not mess around. A little rebellious, which piqued the interest of a certain man, Bradley Bradshaw. You were both young and fun, took things as they came. And things were great, until the day you suddenly left. Yet here you were, standing in front of the Hard Deck, the last of the sun shining onto your golden colored skin, a short tight black dress hugging your curves. The mid afternoon was already busy and the jukebox was playing 80’s classics. You took a deep breath, squaring your shoulders before opening the door and walking in.

The Hard Deck was full of the typical locals, girls draping over the shoulders of pilots. It was always a fun atmosphere. One that you had always missed. Whilst you loved your new life in Paris, new beginnings, a part of you always wanted to come back to what you called home.

“Y/N?” A voice coming from behind you said in surprise. You turned around from the bar to see one of your oldest friends. Natasha, standing there with a huge grin on her face. “It can’t be you!”

“Natasha!” You said with a smile. Nat set her drink down on the bar before swooping in to pull you into a hug.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe you’re here! It’s been far too long. I thought you moved to Paris?” Nat questioned, grabbing her drink and signalling to Penny for a beer for you.

“Ten years too long?” You joked, bumping your shoulder into hers.

“Yeah! What are you doing back?”

Penny came over and placed two bottles in front of you, as well as two shots of tequila. “It’s good to see you back, Y/N. Have these on me, for a welcome back.”

“Thanks, Penny. It’s great to see you!” You flashed her a smile before turning your attention back to Nat. “I have a shoot here. If you can even believe that. They wanted one in my hometown. So here I am.” You cringed at even saying that out loud, just the thought of being back made your eyes roll. Grabbing your beer and taking a sip.

“That’s great! You look amazing by the way. In case you haven’t noticed, every guys eyes are laid on you.” Nat winked at you before speaking up again. “I’m so proud of you, I know you took a big risk leaving this place and leaving people behind, but you followed your dream and now look at you!”

You clanked your beer bottle into Nat’s and flashed her a wide grin. “Well, I’m glad to see you, I wasn’t exactly expecting to be back here.”

“I’m glad to see you as well, and I’m so glad you’re here. Everyone has missed you, you know? I’m sure they’ll all be eager to see you again. Where are you staying? Didn’t you sell your old place?” Nat asked as she sat down on one of the bar stools.

“Yeah, but I bought that place on the beach, you know the one? Well, I figured I should at least have somewhere to call my own if I ever plan on staying here.” You replied as you gazed over to Maverick who was chatting to Penny from across the bar.

“So, someone is staying longer than expected, any company?” Nat winked at you, throwing her arms out to any pilot that was around without a girl drooling over them.

Rolling your eyes and taking a shot of tequila, you laughed in response. “Honestly, I’ve missed it. I knew how much my mom loved this place, she always wanted a house on the beach. And well… after losing her, it only felt right to eventually come back. Even if the house I bought does have memories attached to it.” You said quietly.

“Yeah.. I’m sorry about your mom. She was so proud of you. And as for the memories of that house, you know he never shut up about you? For years. He still loves you. Don’t be surprised if he’s here tonight.”

“Can we not talk about that.” You quickly responded to her. Not wanting to remember him.

“Yeah. Anyway, you know you’re always welcome here. It will always be home.” Nat said as she laid her hand on top of yours.

“Thank you, Nat. So what about you? You’re a pilot now?” You asked her with a smile.

“Naval Aviator actually. Lieutenant Trace, call sign Phoenix.” She proudly replied back.

A few hours had past by, the pair of you telling each other stories about your job, things you have missed out on, catching up. A few of your old friends had joined. The Hard Deck was now full of off duty pilots. You and Nat were slammed across the bar, but you were both enjoying every minute of it. As you handed a beer to a handsome pilot who had caught your eye and arm, your eyes averted from the pilot to the door, as a familiar figure came walking in. Sunglasses on, denim jeans and a Hawaiian shirt you’d recognise anywhere. You froze immediately as your eyes found Mav’s. He smiled slightly, with a sad but happy feeling gazing back at you. He knew how Bradley still felt about you.

You wanted to catch up with them both, but right now wasn’t the best time for that. Your eyes wandered back to the familiar figure and brought you back to the present. The sound of the piano playing that song you loved, by a man you had once loved. That distinct male voice singing. It was a voice you would never forget, no matter how hard you tried, no matter how much you never wanted to hear it again. You tried to ignore it, turning your attention back to the pilot whose hands were currently on your waist. You could feel a pair of eyes burning into you, even through his sunglasses.

Your turned back towards the piano as the song came to an end. Your gaze meeting the eyes of a man who once owned your heart, and yours his. He had grown gorgeous. His golden skin peaking through his low tank top, the sweat pouring from his face and chest. His lighter colored hair, even grown a moustache that suited him and already had you slightly weak to the knees. He was a different man from the one you fell for. Yet you were also a different woman. He stood up and walked towards the bar. Your gaze returning to the pilot by your side, whispering into your ear. Bradley froze mid step, removing his aviators fully and placing them around his top so that he could get a better look at you. Clenching his jaw and tightening his fists into balls. He looked you up and down. Taking in all your beauty. Feeling a ping of jealousy at the sight of you in a short tight dress and seeing another man’s hands on you. When they should be his.

Leaning on the bar next to you, he signalled Penny for a beer. “Y/N?” He questioned. His dark eyes staring daggers into you and the pilot next you. Turning your head towards him, a thousand memories began flooding your mind of what used to be.

“Hey, Bradley.” You replied with a smile.

This cause Bradley to stagger and go silent for a bit when you said his name. It had been ten years since he had heard that voice say his name. You felt a hand around your waist again and you broke eye contact with Bradley to look at the pilot.

“I’m sorry, can you give us some space?” You asked the pilot, and he nodded in agreement and left you both alone.

Bradley’s throat tightened, you were still as magical and ethereal as you were all them years ago. Clearing his throat before he spoke up again. “What are you doing here? I thought you moved to Paris?”

“I did. I got here a few weeks ago. I have a shoot here, unfortunately.” You admitted. You hated this. Being in front of the man you had walked out on.

“Unfortunately? You aren’t glad to be back?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowing in annoyance.

You sighed and picked up your beer, downing it all wanting this moment to be over. Picking up your purse, you decided the best place to be was home.

“Where are you going?” Bradley asked, grabbing your arm as you got up.

“Home? I’m already tired of this conversation.” You harshly bit back to him.

Bradley stopped and inhaled. “Then let me drive you back.”

“No, I’m good. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” You calmly replied.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not gonna let you walk back alone, come on.”

Opening the passenger door, he helped you get into his Bronco. The same car he had all them years ago “So where are you staying?”

“That beach house. The one we said we were going to buy when we were older. Yeah, that’s mine now.” You said, softly. Feeling like your heart was going to pour out. Reminding you of the conversation the two of you had years ago.

“Ah. I see.” The drive was silent. An uncomfortable silence. Every now and then, you could feel Bradley staring in your direction. He wanted to reach over, rest his hand on your thigh like he always used to. Pulling into your driveway, you quickly gathered your things and made your way to the door. Bradley rushed out, running up to you. “Wait! Can we talk?”

You sighed, and let out a deep breath. Turning to face him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He was now stood in front of you, towering over you, even in heels. His face was inches away from yours. Feeling his breath so close. His cologne filling your nostrils with every breath you took. You inhaled his scent and looked up to him.

“Please.. I’ve waited ten fucking years to talk to you. I’m not going to waste this opportunity. Now I know you’re back home.. I won’t..” He shook his head, meeting your gaze. He struggled to get out what he wanted to say, desperately wanting to pull you into his chest and hold you – hating how angry and upset he was at you. “Y/N, I was so in love with you, I was head over heels for you. And you just left me, left what we had. Like it was all nothing to you! Like I meant nothing to you! You broke my fucking heart! Left me wondering what I did wrong. Where I went wrong. If there was something wrong with me.”

Tears began steaming down his face as he stuttered the last words out. You dropped your eyes to the floor. Guilt ridden and in a situation you never thought you would ever be in again.

“Fuck!” His voice cracked as he rubbed his face free of tears.

You turned to your front door, fumbling with the key in the lock before you unlocked it. “Come in, we’ll talk inside.” You motioned for him to enter first.

He stopped in your living room, taking in the view of the house you were going to share together. “How long have you owned this?” His eyes diverting to one certain picture of you in Paris, for your first shoot. You looked gorgeous, and so happy.

“Awhile. I bought it after mom passed. But just never actually returned here until recently.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” He quietly said, not wanting to push the conversation further until you were ready.

You sighed, running your hand through your hair. “Drink?”

He nodded, and you made your way into the kitchen, collecting a tumblr of whiskey and two glasses. You wandered back into the living room, watching him fall onto your couch, his muscular arm draping over the back of it. “You didn’t answer me before.” He accepted the glass and took a sip.

“I didn’t realise it was a question.” You took a seat next to him and sighed loudly, downing your drink all in one.

“It wasn’t. But I think I deserve to know.” He eased himself more into the couch, rubbing his face.

You took a deep breath. “You did nothing wrong. You will never know how much I regretted walking away from you, how much I hurt you. It hurt me just as much you know? It took everything in me to just leave.”

“Then why the fuck did you not even bother to reply to me? I sent so many texts, you never answered my calls. I even went as far as emailing you! I made myself look stupid, everyday for years and never got a reply. I just wanted to know how you were. Yet you just forgot about me.”

You tilted your head back into the couch, rubbing your forehead.

“Why?! Did I really mean nothing to you?!”

“Stop saying that!” You angrily shot back, lifting your head to meet his gaze.

“Then tell me!”

“God damn it, Bradley! I blocked you! It hurt too much seeing you keep pop up on my phone, so I thought it would have been easier for both of us if we didn’t have any means of contact.” You admitted.

His eyes dropping away from yours, smoothing down his moustache and running his free hand through his hair. “Maybe for you, but it made me look desperate. Or maybe I was just desperate to hear from you, to get your attention, and having you back.”

You set your glass down, groaning a displeased noise and you stood up. “Maybe you should g-“

“I’ve missed you, darling.” He interrupted you, towering his full height over you, taking your chin in his hand. “You didn’t have to push me away like that, I told you I’d always be here for you. Or was that all bullshit to you?”

“Can you stop doubting how I felt for you. Yes I loved you. Yes I missed you, more than you will ever realise. Like I said, I regretted it the moment I left. But it was for the best. We had different paths. You wouldn’t of left behind your life and dreams to come to a new part of the world with me.” You replied, tilting your head up to look him in the eyes.

“I would of followed you anywhere, sweet girl. If it meant being with you. But you never gave me the chance.”

“Well we both know that isn’t true.”

“You know I had to resist the temptation to fly over there and see how you were doing? It was only because of Nat and Mav who told me to let you go. But I couldn’t. I’ve never been able to get over you.”

Falling into an array of silence, his heart broke at every word you had told him. Losing his own parents, he knew the grief you were going through. Yet he never knew the things you went through, and certainly didn’t want to push any sort of conversation onto you. Apart of him wanted to take you in his arms, and make sure you forgot every bad thing that has happened to you in your life since leaving. It killed him to know that you also suffered the same grief. Not only that, but knowing all this time, that you regretted leaving him.

He spoke up, breaking the silence between you two. “You look beautiful. I mean, you always have been. But my god, baby, you’re unreal.” Rubbing his thumb over your cheek, whilst still holding your chin in his hand.

The corners of your mouth slightly raising up, letting a small laugh out. “You don’t look bad either, Bradley. The new stache suits you well.”

“I don’t want to leave. Please don’t make me leave.” Bradley said, as he lifted his hands to cradle your face.

“Bradley.. This isn’t how we should do this. Things have changed.” You begged, your own hands clinging onto his shirt.

“What’s changed, baby?” He whispered relatively close to your ear, his breath hitching a soft spot under your ear. He knew every nuance of your body, he knew how to get you started with just a slight touch or breath. He gripped your hand and brought it up to his lips, the bristle of his moustache tickling you as he placed a tender sweet kiss to your knuckle.

You removed yourself from his grip, not wanting to fall into this new charm of his. “We shouldn’t.”

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Can we talk another day then? I’m not going to let you get away this time.”

“Well, fortunately for you, I’m here for awhile.” You replied back, taking a step back.

“Let me take you out then? Properly. Unless that guy from the bar has your attention?”

You laughed at his question and stood silently for awhile, admiring the man in front of you. Thinking long and hard about an answer. Which made Bradley nervous. Was he about to be let down again? Were you already seeing someone?

“Okay.” Was all you could reply, not wanting to entertain his jealously.

“Then you need to unblock my number, ma’am.” He joked, which resulted in you rolling your eyes at him. “Please don’t leave this time.”

He took your hand one last time for the night, placing another kiss to your knuckles before turning around and making his way back home.

You made your way to bed after your shower. Fluffing up your pillow, you flopped onto the bed turning to your side, wondering if it was a good idea that you made Bradley leave. Or should you of let him stay the night? Let out all of your frustration and hurt on each other’s bodies? You shook away all the thoughts and looked over to your phone to see that Nat had messaged you.

Nat: How are things? I saw you leave with Rooster? Have you two made up and fucking each other’s brains out?

You: Haha, very funny. Rooster? And no, I told him to leave actually.

Nat: Rooster is his call sign, but I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it. If you let him.

You: Maybe. But it’s all too much. Is it?

Nat: Babe, you know he’s deeply in love with you, always has been. He would pester me most days asking if I’ve heard from you. Give him a chance, he’s a good guy, and he’s missed you terribly..

You: I’ve only just gotten back, and he’s quickly entered my life again. I just don’t know how to feel.

Nat: Just give it time, take it slow. It’s been ten years. You guys just need to start again and talk about things.

You: We’ll see how it goes. But I’m not promising anything.

Nat: Do you still love him?

You: I don’t know. I tried so hard to get over him. And I did. And now he’s back.

Nat: Try and get some sleep, and see how you feel about it all. Just… don’t break his heart again. You’ve both been through so much.

Sleep didn’t come easy that night. You couldn’t stop replaying the moments from last night. You were sat wide awake questioning everything you ever had with Bradley. Every memory you cherished together, all the future plans you talked about. Everything came flooding your mind at once, making it impossible to sleep.

You managed to roll out of bed and have a shower, freshening yourself up from the hangover that was currently residing over you. Throwing on a baggy tee and rolling your hair into curlers to air dry. You checked your phone to see that poor Bradley had been messaging you, and was left wondering if you were going to leave him again without a word.

Bradley: I see my messages still aren’t going through.. I guess that means I’m still blocked.

You: I’m sorry. I just showered and went to sleep after you left.

Bradley: I’m sorry if last night was too much. Can I come see you?

You: Sure… I’m free later?

Bradley: Perfect! I’ll be around about 6? Is that alright?

You: Sounds good. I’ll see you later.

Bradley: I can’t wait x

You kept yourself busy most of the day, and now it was approaching 6pm, knowing that Bradley would most likely arrive early. You opted to wear something casual, a graphic cropped tee and some tight dark jeans. Just when you were finishing off your hair, you heard a knock on your front door. Making sure you looked good, you made your way over to the door. And there he was. One arm leaning against the doorframe, the other behind his back. A shy but sincerely happy smile creeping onto his tanned face. A well pressed black tee clinging tightly to his body, and jeans that hugged his thighs perfectly. His cologne instantly making your head go crazy.

“Hello, gorgeous.” He said warmly, taking his hand from the doorway and placing a gentle kiss to your cheek.

The apples of your cheek immediately flushed from this sudden affection. “Hey.”

“How you always manage to look sexy even in casual clothes always blows my mind.” He laughed whilst admiring every part of you from where he was standing. “Sorry, I got these for you.” He removed his hands from behind his back, handing you a dozen beautiful red roses.

“Bradley… you didn’t have to.”

“No. But I know you always liked flowers, and I’ve gotta try and impress you again somehow right?” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. He was nervous. The usual Bradley Bradshaw you knew was always a confident guy. This guy, was new to you.

This was different, and it drew you in even more than you wanted. He was incredibly gorgeous, you knew he was always good looking, but now, all these years later. You couldn’t keep your eyes off him. His sun kissed skin, those hazel colored eyes staring deep into your own. How much lighter his hair was, the way his clothes hung to him. And of course, his body was so much more defined and muscular. He was perfect.

Getting your head out of the gutter, you quickly snapped out the thoughts of him. “Come in.” You took the flowers from his hand and guided him into where he had just been last night.

You made your way into the kitchen, to vase the roses he had given you. Making your way back into the living room, Bradley was already nursing himself a glass of whiskey. Placing the roses on the coffee table, you poured yourself a glass and sat down next to him.

The two of you talked for a few hours about how your lives turned out, you told him all about your job, the places it took you, he told you all about how he became a Naval Aviator, all about Top Gun and all of his missions.

“You know, I didn’t imagine this would ever happen. I always dreamed it would, but I never thought I’d ever be sitting here with you again.” He admitted, bringing the glass to his lips.

“Yeah well… I didn’t exactly expect this to happen either.”

“Did you ever think about me?”

Your silence told him everything, and he hung his head low. “Was there someone else?” He asked anxiously. Fearing for a reply he didn’t want to hear.

“No. There was no one else.. and yes, I thought about you a lot. That’s why I found it so hard to block you.” You replied, putting his mind at ease as his gaze met yours again. “Honestly Bradley, I’d rather not talk about the past. Because in truth, I missed you so much, and no one else has ever loved me the way you did.” You admitted, resting your legs onto his lap. “I was foolish for ever leaving you. What I did wasn’t right. I left you without a heads up and I’m sorry.”

Bradley sighed, his hand resting on your thigh, kneading into your skin. He huffed out a slight chuckle, “Yeah.. ten years wasted, darling.” He fell silent for awhile. “You know I’ve always loved you. There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t think of you. Everyday I wondered how you were, what you were doing, how your job was going. I even asked Nat about you, as I knew the two of you kept in contact.”

“I know. She said.”

“Of course she did.” He sighed again. Reaching out closer to you, moving a stray of hair from your face. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

His hands still lingering on your face, you felt a blush creep onto your cheeks. “A few times.”

“Well, I’ll remind you a million times, just to see that pretty smile I fell so much for.” His hand now cupping your cheek, rubbing his thumb over the softness of your skin. “God. I still remember the day I first saw you. At that shitty party, those high raised shorts and your cowboy boots.” He snorted trying to picture you in that same outfit now. “And gods, that smile, when I made my way over to you and asked for you name.” He swallowed hard. “You instantly had me wrapped around your finger. And even then you played hard to get and made me work hard for a date with you. I should of known you were going to be trouble from that moment.” He chuckled quietly, gazing lovingly into your eyes.

“Uh huh, but you got the date, did you not? You obviously did something right.” You playfully slapped his arm.

“Fuck yeah, I got you. That was the best move of my life.” He told you, softly.

His eyes searched for yours, desperately wanting to touch you, hold you, have your body close to his. You gently reached for his hand, tracing over his palms. “I am sorry. I should of contacted you. I was only thinking about myself and my future.” You finally admitted.

He sighed and shook his head, intertwining his fingers with your own. “Don’t be. I should have been proud of you for following your dreams. Who was I to stop you from doing that?”

“So.. Lieutenant Bradshaw.” This one sentence made his cheeks heat up rapidly, and felt his cock go hard. Why did that turn him on so much? Coming from you, it was so sexy. “Do I call you Roost? Rooster?”

“You can call me anything you want, darling.” He licked his lips, staring at you intensely which only made you grow hot under his gaze.

Grinning widely, you snuck closer to him. His arm that was spread out behind the couch was now resting on your shoulder. “Fuck, what do you do to be, baby?” He asked, as he took your chin in his palm. Your faces now inches apart from each other, so close… your lips slightly parted, desperate to be kissed. “How is it just seeing you drives me crazy all over again.” His voice was low and raspy, but he couldn’t stop himself from speaking the truth. You didn’t break his gaze, instead opting to rest your hand on his thigh. Bradley could feel himself sweating profoundly to where your hand was heading.

“Fuck this..” he whispered against your skin, grasping your face tenderly. His lips feeling hot against your own. He drew you closer to him, his strong hands resting on your waist, pulling you onto his lap. Deepening the kiss that was already so needy. “Tell me you want this as much as I do, otherwise I won’t stop.” He asked you, taking a hand from your waist and running it through your hair, as his lips were back on yours.

Gasping into his mouth, you pulled back, knowing that if it carried on much longer, you both wouldn’t be able to control it.

“What’s wrong sweetheart? Did I go to far?” Bradley asked nervously.

You chuckled softly, readjusting your hair. “No, but maybe ask a girl out for dinner first before you try and bed her.” You mischievously winked at him and smiled into his mouth.

“You really are going to be the death of me, you know that right? And I did ask you last night.”

“Not properly though.”

“Alright.” He cleared his throat, “Will you go on a date with me?” He warmly smiled at you, his hands kneading into the bare skin on your waist.

“Hm, I’ll have to check my calendar, see if I’m available from all my other dates.” You joked.

He gripped tighter into your waist, causing you to jolt in your spot. “Oh yeah? Go on a lot of dates do you? Although I think you should prioritise our date first, babygirl.”

“Mhm, and why’s that?” Your hands finding their way into his curls and gripping tightly, making his head jerk back.

Bradley loved this new dominant side of you. Not afraid to show you how hard he was under the tightness of his jeans, as he grinded you against him. “Because you know I’ll make it worth your time, baby.” His lips turning into a wicked grin. He was falling apart under you.

Your hands moving down to clutch onto the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer to your face. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” Removing yourself from his lap slowly. He shook his head, letting out a raspy scoff.

“You’re impossible. Is that a yes?”

“Well, it’s not a no, sir.”

This made Bradley lose his damn mind. He just wanted to take you here and now, and show you what you’ve been missing out on.

“Where?” You stood up with your back facing him, flicking your hair back.

He bit down on his knuckle, taking in the form of your body in front of him. Your ass looked so damn good and perky and he just want to squeeze it. “Let me sort that, all you have to do is make yourself look sexy, as always.”

“Deal.”

In truth, Bradley hadn’t been on a date in years. He tried, wanting to get over you somehow. But each date was a fail. He didn’t enjoy any of them. Because in the end, nothing ever felt right to him. Sure, he occasionally had a girl over, but that’s all it ever was. A one night stand. No one had ever caught his eye like you had. And if it wasn’t going to be you, then he didn’t want to settle with anyone else.

“Then I’ll let you know when and what time, darling.”

You nodded in agreement, with a very flirtatious smile. This only made his palms sweat more, and his heart was fucking racing. He grinned as he stood up, his hands finding the curve of your back, rubbing smooth circles in a spot he knew you liked. “See me out?”

He took your hand and linked your fingers with his as you led him to the door, he pulled you close to him. “I’m never letting you leave again.” He inhaled deeply and kissed you again, this time more soft and passionate. How was this man able to make your knees want to collapse from under you?

“Then you’ll have to try hard to make me stay, Rooster.” You replied.

Squinting his eyes, breathing into your mouth. “Oh baby, I promise, you’ll be staying this time.”

Pressing yourself fully into his chest, you whispered enough for him to be able to hear you, “Cocky, I like it. You’re pushing your way to the top of my dates.”

Shaking his head, “I’ll make it perfect.” He kissed you again. “I meant everything I said. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I’d be stupid to let you go again.”

“Then don’t.”

He smiled softly, grazing his hands across your cheek, he could feel all the blood rushing from his body. Was this a dream? He had you back in his life and he was a nervous wreck. Scared of fucking it all up and losing you all over again. “God, you make it hard for a man to leave.” He teased, kissing you one final time before pulling away. Knowing himself that he would lose himself fully to you if he stayed.

“Goodnight, beautiful.” Bringing your hand to his lips, placing that ever so gentle kiss to your fingers.

“Goodnight, Lieutenant.” You said boldly, making your way back inside, shutting the door behind you and sighing. Running your hands through your hair. You stumbled back into the living room, pouring yourself another glass of whiskey before throwing yourself onto the couch where he had just been. A million thoughts running through your mind of what just happened.

Nat had texted you a few days later, telling you to get your ass to the Hard Deck tonight with some of the girls. She wanted to know all the gossip between you and Rooster. You had been texting him back and fourth since you last saw him. And there still wasn’t any valid communication of when this ‘date’ was going to happen. You sighed, zipping up your dress and putting on your black boots heels. Overdosing yourself in your favorite perfume.

Nat: Just so you know, lover boy is here.

The Hard Deck was already over flooded with people, music bustling through the crowd. You spotted the girls over near the pool table, with a few guys hanging around them. Typical, you thought, as you made your way over to the bar.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing around here?” A voice asked from beside you. His fingers grazing over your wrist. “Let me buy you a drink, gorgeous.”

Turning to look at the stranger beside you, sure he was good looking. But you simply replied with a “no thanks.” Moving past him to the other side of the bar. Of course, Bradley had his eyes on you from the moment you walked in. A part of him wanted to see what you would do. If you would entertain and pursue this guy. But the other part was seething with rage.

“Come on, you’re gonna turn down a free drink? Why don’t we go somewhere mo-“

“Penny, two beers here, please.” Bradley wandered over, tapping his fingers on the bar, hovering next to you. His body heat was radiating in close proximity to you. His cologne overwhelmed you and instantly making your knees want to buckle under you.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go somewhere else.” The man was a drunken mess, moving his hands lower down to reach your ass.

Bradley quickly snatched his hands away. “Touch her again pal, and me and you will be outside. Now fuck off.” He moved his arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him. “I don’t like sharing what’s mine.” He squared his eyes, watching the man walk away.

“Oh, I’m yours? Since when? I didn’t realise I was.” You replied back sarcastically.

“No. But you soon will be. You look incredible. Although that dress would look better on my bedroom floor.” He placed a kiss on top of your hair, knowing the two of you were being watched. You pulled away, a grin plastered across his face. He knew what he was doing. He wanted everyone in here to know that you were off limits. He was possessive of what was his.

“Aren’t you forgetting something? You asked.

“I’d never forget our date. Don’t worry, I have it all planned, just one more thing to sort and then you’re all mine.” He replied, squeezing your waist tighter.

“Thanks for the beer, baby.” You winked, leaving him breathless as you walked away from him, flicking your hair behind you.

You caught Nat’s eyes and she motioned for you to come over. She pulled you into a warm hug. “You’ve made a complete mess of him, you know?” She whispered quietly in your ear, watching him at the bar, his eyes not once letting you out of his sight. “The minute you walked in, he was drooling over you. He’s obsessed. And when that guys hands were on you, well… he looked ready to kill him.”

You just had to laugh, pulling away from her embrace and looking over your shoulder to see Bradley’s eyes staring deep into you. Sending him a quick smile.

“So what happened? Did you make up. Have you slept with him yet?” Nat asked, patiently waiting for your answer.

“No, we haven’t slept together.”

“Yet.” Nat quickly jumped in, snickering a laugh as she looked over to Bradley and then back to you.

“We just talked. And kissed. It’s been ten years, I’m not about to just hop straight back into his pants.”

“Oh but you will. I know you guys have genuine feelings for each other, or well… maybe him more than you. Which is something he probably fears. But, take it easy on him, when you left, he was different. Just a shell of who he used to be. And now you’re back, well just look at him. He’s absolutely smitten over you. You know more than anyone that he’s a good guy. He’s never once hurt you, he wont ever hurt you. You two are made for each other. Always have been. Everyone knows that.” She turned her face towards the bar, nodding in his direction.

“You need to shoot your shot, man.” Jake muttered, silently watching you drunkenly dance around. “That girl will quickly have someone to bed if you don’t take that chance to do something.”

“Shut up, Hangman.” Bradley hissed, smoothing down his moustache. He knew he was right though. If he didn’t do something soon, you would easily be swooped up.

“Just saying, she’s a sight for sore eyes.” Jake shrugged, leaving Bradley to bask in his own head, beer paused at his lips. His gaze never faltered from you.

“Last call?” Nat asked.

“No, I’m gonna head back. I’ve reached my limit and I have my shoot in the morning.”

“Are you gonna be alright getting back?” She asked worryingly.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” You reassured her.

You grabbed your purse and began making your way outside, until Bradley caught your arm. “Let me take you home. You know I don’t like you walking back on your own.” He pleaded with you.

Closing your eyes, your body suddenly heating up from the idea of drunken sex with your ex, you nodded. His fingers locking with yours as he led you to his Bronco. He prompted you into the passenger seat, leaning over to fasten your seatbelt. Fuck, he was so close. And he smelled divine. Watching as he got into the drivers side, biting the inside of your cheek watching how one of his hands rested on your thigh. A smug pleased grin sitting on his face as he drove you back home.

Pulling into your driveway, turning the engine off, he turned to face you. His hazel eyes peering across from you. “Fuck, baby. I don’t know how much more of this I can handle. Watching you tonight, it’s fucking torture… Tell me you want this too? And I’m not just going insane.” He sighed deeply, rubbing his hands over his face.

Grinning, you got out of the passenger side and started heading towards the door. “Are you coming?” You asked.

“Fuck yes.” His eyes drifted up and down your body, taking in the sight of that dress sitting tightly around your curves. Hopping quickly out of his car, he ran over to you and blindly followed you into your home. Closing the door behind him, he eased you back against the wall, his hands running down your sides and gripping the curve of your ass. A surprised noise left your throat. His lips finally landed on yours, his tongue pushing its way past your own, savouring all the taste of you. His large hands finding the back of your head, as they tangled themselves in your hair. The gentle pull of his fingers slightly forcing your head to tilt back, roped another surprised gasp escaping your parted lips.

Your hands grazing over the ripples of his shirt, hastily lifting the hem of it up to trace your fingers over the smoothness of his abdomen. He sucked in a deep breath, pushing himself closer towards you, moving his thigh to be pressed between your legs. He used a free strong hand to pin your own hands above your head. Leaning back down to kiss you deeply, tongues intertwining. It was messy, and so desperate. His hands bunched at the bottom of your dress, tugging at it for your approval. Not wanting to push any boundaries onto you if that’s not what you wanted.

“Don’t stop.” Your voice was needy as your teeth bit down into his bottom lip. Causing a grown to escape his own mouth. At this point, you had completely given in to him. “I need you.”

That was all Bradley needed to hear. Using his hands, he lifted you up wrapping your legs around his waist, carrying you to your bedroom. His hands gripped tightly around your thighs, he dropped you gently onto the bed under him, before he climbed over you. His height towering you. God, he was gorgeous. He lifted your legs around him, as he pushed further into you, bringing your bodies even closer. You could feel how hard he was under his jeans. He wasn’t shy to show you how you made him feel. But you both wanted more, to feel each other’s skin on each other. “Fuck, baby. You’re driving me wild.”

You couldn’t let go of each other, even if you tried. His hands began wandering over your body, slowly lifting your dress up, gripping his fingers into your hips. His fingers gliding over your soft, warm skin. He grabbed your chin, tilting your head to the side as he buried his mouth into your neck. Kissing you all along your jaw, down to your neck and then back to your lips. He deepened the kiss, moving hungrily against your own, flicking his tongue around yours. Biting down on your bottom lip, you pushed your hips up closer to his thigh. The dampness between your legs was becoming insufferable. You reached up and began pulling his shirt over his head. You were even more desperate, using your hands to start unbuckling his belt.

He chuckled and pushed you back down onto the bed. “That can wait, I gotta make sure my baby comes first.” He unzipped your dress and pulled it down, throwing it down to the ground. Taking a step back, he sat up for a moment, taking in the sight of you. “My god, you’ve been naked this whole time under that dress?! Fuck… you’re so fucking beautiful.” He mused, licking his lips.

Before you even realised, his warm mouth was wrapped around your breast, flicking and circling around your nipple, whilst caressing the other one with his hand. A high pitched moan coming from the root of your throat, you felt him smile against you. A pleasing noise he enjoyed hearing. The heat in your gut causing an impossible ache that just needed to be relieved.

His fingers gliding down your body, until he was at your core. “Damn, baby. All wet for me? Good girl.” He says against your lips. Gently rubbing and circling around your clit, his mouth moving back down to pay attention to your nipples. My god, this man knew how to work your body.

He continued the motion, slowly sliding a finger in, whilst using his thumb to rub circles over your slick folds. Finding the right pace of movement, he slid another finger in, fastening the pace. You were writhing under him, completely lost to the sensation. He closed his eyes, bringing his head down lower back into your neck, finding that one sensitive spot that he knows how much you like. You let out a breathless moan, as your hands gripped into his hair. “I wanna feel you on me.”

“As you wish, babygirl.” He removed his fingers, moving his hands up and down your thighs, lifting them over his shoulders, placing kisses all along them as he lowered his head between your legs. The sweet friction of his moustache against you. The feeling of his hot, wet mouth buried into your clit. Sucking and pulling at your folds, he then drags his tongue in a perfectly fast motion deep around you. Your fingers once again winding into his hair, pushing him more into you.

“Fuck! Bradley, you’re so good.” You moaned out, feeling a wave of emotion rush over you.

He teased you more, his eyes never leaving your own, intensely watching how you react to him with so much lust. He could feel your body reacting to him, the arch of your back and the way you couldn’t keep still, it sent him over the top. He continued to bury himself more into you until you could no longer take it. You called out his name, in a way he would describe as ‘angelic’ before feeling your release come washing over you.

“You liked that, baby?” He asked, licking his lips tasting all of you on him.

Without a word, you pushed him onto his back, gripping at his jeans and unbuckling them so fast. His underwear was gone in an instant. You smiled to yourself, taking in the sight of him now under you. “I almost forgot how big you were.”

He watched you as you placed yourself over him, grinding yourself over his hard cock. “Fuck, you’re perfect.”

The alcohol was burning out of your system by now, as you were nearly fully sober. This was definitely something you would remember in the morning. Bradley threw his head down as you lined his cock to your entrance and slowly lowered yourself onto him. Each tantalising inch stretching your walls just enough. You both groaned out loud as you sunk yourself fully onto him. He looked up at your face, sweat beading down his eyebrows and along his chest. His hands grabbed onto your waist as you guided him into a rhythm. God, you were so good at riding him. He wouldn’t last long if you kept this up.

His hips rocked into you as he matched your rhythm, pounding more and more into you. Moving a hand from your waist, he reached up to your neck, gently grabbing with enough pressure. A sweet cry leaving your mouth with each and every thrust he was doing. He looked up at you, a grin on his face. The sight of you bouncing on his cock was something he could never tire of. And he only wanted more.

The more he picked up his speed, the more he could feel you tightening around him. He released his hand from your neck and placed both of them on either side of your face. Pulling you down closer to him. Faces inches away from each other. Both breathing heavily as you panted into his mouth. Each groan, each whine, every sound coming from your lips only drove his hips to delve deeper into you.

The heat in your core pooled until you reached your limit. A relief rushing over you. “Cum for me, baby.” Bradley captured your lips ever so slightly, enough that you screamed out your moan into his mouth. You rippled around him, and your own orgasm was enough to bring him to his end. A few final thrusts into you, he pulled you tighter to him as he spilled himself all over you. His hot, heavy breath right in your ear.

He pulled you closer to him, breathing into your hair, taking in your scent. Running his hands over your body. “Told you I’d make it worth your time.” He kissed your forehead, resting one of his hands on the curve of your back. His large palm pressing up and down your spine. He dragged your leg over his hip, bringing your bodies ever closer together. “God, I’ve missed this. Not just the sex, but this. Having you in my arms, so close.”

Taking a deep breath in, “No one has ever loved me like you. I’ve missed you too.” You said softly. “After mom passed, I thought about… well, all I wanted was for you to hold me. Tell me everything was going to be alright. I was gonna fly back out, come home and see you.. but the thought of it was too much.”

“Oh, darling. We’re here now. And I’m not letting you go. I promise. After losing both of my parents, all I wanted was to find someone in this life the way they did. They were so happy together, and I know they would of wanted the same for me. You made me happy. There wasn’t a day that went by where you didn’t put a smile on my face. And losing you was the worst thing I’ve experienced since losing mom. I felt like my life just meant nothing anymore. I lost everyone I loved. And it distracted me in my flying. It took me a long time to realise I asked too much of you. If I could go back and take things as they came, fuck… I would.” Swallowing hard, he continued, “I planned my life with you, this house, a family. Then it was gone. And a part of me always wondered if I pushed you too far. Ten years that has stuck with me.”

You heart yearned for him as he poured his heart out to you. “We’re older now, things have changed. We’re not the same people as we were back then.”

“True, but that doesn’t change how I feel about you. I don’t want to rush anything, but just know I want this. I want us again.” He sighed. “I am so in love with you. I always have been. I’ll wait for you always.” He admitted.

“Then how about we start with this date?” You chuckled, trying to lift the mood.

He gently cupped your cheek, moving a stray of hair that had fallen onto your face. “Sounds perfect. Friday, at about 7pm? That sound good to you?”

“I can’t wait.” You pulled him into a kiss, looking over at your alarm clock, realising that you had to be up in a few hours for your shoot. “Shit! I have my shoot today.”

“I guess that’s my cue to leave?” He smiled lightly.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine, I know this is important to you.” He helped you to your feet and stood up himself. Stepping away, he buckled his jeans back up and grabbed his shirt, whipping it over his head, messing up his golden locks even more. He looked so fucking sexy, looking so unruly. As handsome as Bradley was always looking preem and proper, his messy hair had you feeling ways you never thought you’d feel again for him.

Moving yourself in front of him, standing on your tiptoes to try and reach his height, you kissed him deeply. Hoping that it would show how sorry you were about cutting this short. He wrapped you up into his strong arms, lips moving greedily against yours, his palms grasping into your ass, giving it a playful slap, the other hand holding you tightly to him around the waist.

You pulled away from him, but still close enough so that his breath was hitching on your skin. “You’ll see me soon.”

“I’ll be counting down the days. Get some sleep, baby.” He pulled you in again, leaning into your hair to place a tender kiss to your hair. “Goodnight, beautiful.” He said as he made his way out of your house.

Falling back into your bed, feeling empty without him in it. Tugging the pillow he had been laying on close to you as you inhaled his scent. There really was no turning back now.

You had kept yourself busy for the next remaining days leading up to Friday. It was getting closer to 7pm and you were still preparing for your date with Bradley. You spent most of the afternoon trying to make yourself look as amazing as you could. Looking at the choices of outfits you had hung up, it was either between a satin red dress that screamed ‘wine me, dine me, 69 me’ or a casual leather corset and jeans. You had no idea where he was taking you. Would you be too over dressed? Too under dressed?

In your head, you wanted to impress him. When in reality, you could be wrapped up in ten jackets and he would still be madly in love with you. Standing in front of the mirror, you admired yourself in the new lingerie you had bought specially for this occasion. Knowing damn well that Bradley would lose his mind the minute he saw it. “Fuck it, the dress it is.” You slipped the dress over your shoulders, pulling it down so it sat nicely around your curves.

Slipping on your heels, you heard a faint knock at the door, you paused looking over at the time. “Well, here it goes.” Giving yourself a once over in the mirror and over powering yourself in perfume.

Grabbing your purse, you made your way over to the front door. Slightly nervous and giddy to see him. You opened it widely with a smile. “Hello.” You said, biting down on your lower lip. He looked so fucking good. He opted for a black shirt, velvet navy blue blazer, tight black pants that hung to his thighs and smart black loathers, and smelling incredibly divine.

He looked down at you, his gaze taking in every inch of your body, mouth wide open. Resting his arm on your doorframe to stop him from falling over. “Shit… you look fucking stunning.”

“Thank you.” You teased, giving him a little twirl to truly show off how amazing you looked and felt. “You don’t look half bad yourself, handsome.”

Smoothing down his moustache, he pulled you into his arms, his palms resting on your lower back. Staring down at you with eyes that were already undressing you in his mind. His heart was racing, any more and it would of exploded out of his fucking chest. Leaning down he kissed you sweetly, “I can’t even put into words how sexy you look. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to concentrate on anything tonight.”

“The feelings mutual, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so good.” You winked at him, sliding your arms around his neck, running your fingers through his hair.

“Fuck… I’m trying so hard right now to behave and not just take you right here, right now.” He considered it for a moment, staring down at your lips and licking his own in this built up anticipation. “You look so beautiful, darling.”

You hummed in response. “Should we go?” Reminding him that you both had a date.

“Okay.” He took your hand and guided you out of the door. Looking down at your hands linked together, you loved the feeling on how large his hands felt in your own small ones. How tightly he held onto you. His did something to you. Something that made your head swirl. He let you lock up and set your house alarms and directed you to his Bronco. Opening the passenger door, he helped you step into it, one of his hands holding yours, the other resting firmly on your hip. If there’s one thing you always liked about Bradley, it was how much of a gentleman he was. He had manners, respect. That was something you always loved about him.

Watching him walk around the car, he scooted into the drivers side and you buckled yourself in.

“You good?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been in here plenty of times, you know?” You replied and smiled.

“It’s a sight I have missed.” He huffed a heartfelt laugh. Gently reaching over and grasping your thigh. He placed a kiss on your cheek as he didn’t want to ruin your lipstick.

Arriving in front of the restaurant, you were greeted by a valet. Which shocked you because you knew Bradley didn’t let anyone touch his pride and joy. Unbuckling yourself, he jogged around to the passenger side to help you out of his car, before giving the keys to valet.

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” You jokingly said as he placed your hand in his, leading you into the restaurant.

Bradley wasn’t big into making an impression. If someone didn’t like him for who he was, and what he was, then he just simply wasn’t interested. But for you, tonight, he made an effort. He picked the most fanciest and well-rated restaurant in town. It was known for its combination of mixed cuisines and fancy wines. He thought it would be the perfect place for your first date. It was very strict on dress codes, and now you know why he looked so good.

There was a warm glow from the candle that sat flickering between you both. You had one of the best views in the place, a window table with a view of the beach and the sunset shining over the water. The dim surroundings and the smell of all the delicious food, it all felt so romantic. There was a band playing live jazz music that added to this romantic atmosphere. You could tell that Bradley was nervous, he was shaking his leg under the table and fidgeting with his hands.

“Bradley, are you okay?” You said softly.

“Yeah… I’m just a little nervous.” He replied, taking a sip of his drink.

“Just relax. This isn’t exactly our first date is it? We were a couple once.”

He laughed at this, but it wasn’t a joyful happy laugh. It was more of a sincerely sad thinking back on memories sort.

“I’m sorry, baby. It’s just, you look so fucking unreal and I just can’t believe you’re here with me, on a date. I’m trying not to mess this up.” He was genuinely in awe of the fact you were here in front of him. It felt like a dream to him.

“Bradley.” You paused, trying to figure out how to word what you wanted to say. “I’m happy to be sat here having dinner with you. Really, I am. And I appreciate all the effort you’ve made. You look gorgeous.”

He reached over the table and placed his hands on top of yours. Smoothing down circles into the skin of your knuckles. “Do you remember our first date? How hard I had to try and persuade you to go out with me?”

Chuckling softly, you replied. “I remember. You took me to that not so ‘fancy’ restaurant and made me look way too over dressed!”

“Yeah, but you looked so sexy, sat there eating a messy burger in that short little dress. Oof!”

You threw daggers at his eyes, trying to forget the whole ordeal. “Although I will admit, that burger was fucking delicious.”

“So were you.” He said with so much confidence.

“This is nice.”

He smiled, “Im glad you like it. I wanted to make it special.” He took your hand and placed it up to his lips, kissing your knuckle gently. “How’s the wine?”

“I’d much rather a nice cold beer and a few glasses of whiskey!” You scoffed.

“That’s my girl.” He grinned.

You were on your last course of the night, dessert. Bradley ordered a couple of plates so that you could share. With how small the rest of your plates from you main meal were. At this point, you were beyond charmed with him. This side of Bradley was completely different than the Bradley you dated years ago. It was like falling in love all over again for him. But in whole new ways.

“These meal portions have been ridiculous, I feel like I’m gonna have to take you to a certain burger place after this.” He teased.

“I wouldn’t say no to that greasy burger right about now.” You replied back, taking a whole bite of the small cheesecake with a raspberry drizzle.

Bradley was absolutely memorised by you. Watching you smile, and laugh over stories and jokes he was telling you. His own face lightening up and grinning widely listening to you tell your own stories. There was a glimmer in your eyes whenever you spoke about something you loved. The way you listened intensely to everything he was saying. It captivated him and his entire attention to you. If one of the other guys were to see him right now, they wouldn’t even recognise him. Not with this goofy grin on his face, that never once faltered. You both had this connection, there was no denying that. You could talk to each for hours about anything and it was all so seamless.

You watched as Bradley got up and made his way over to where the band was playing. You propped your chin up with your elbow, resting it on your knuckle and stared with curiosity when he leaned over the pianist. To your surprise, he got up and let Bradley take a seat. Now you were even more curious. His fingers glided over the white keys and he glanced up and over to where you were sitting. A smile spread on his face, sending you a flirtatious wink. It wasn’t until he started to play did you heart begin to race. It was your song. After your first date, he took you down to the beach and slow danced in the moonlight with you whilst singing ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ by Elvis Presley. And now here he was, playing a beautiful melody of it. His eyes were trained on yours as he began to sing along. The rest of the band accompanied him. It was beautiful. He really did go all out to make sure tonight was perfect.

You told yourself that you wouldn’t allow yourself to fall back into this. But with everything he was doing, you only fell deeper for him. When the song ended, the entire restaurant applauded him and he made his way back over to you.

“Still trying to impress me then?” You asked, flashing him a smile.

“Telling me you’re not? Damn, guess I’ve gotta try harder.”

You took a sip of your wine. “You’ve impressed me, Bradley Bradshaw. That was beautiful.” You reached over and placed a kiss on his cheek, leaving a red lipstick stain on him. He didn’t even bother to wipe it off. He was too proud to show off what he had.

The rest of the dinner went amazing. But it was coming to an end, yet the both of you wanting nothing more than to carry it on.

“You know my mom always liked you. Whenever I would see her, without a doubt she would always ask about you. Always badger me with questions about when we’re going to buy a house, when we’re getting married, blah blah. And before she passed… she told me she wanted me to be happy. And said that I always found happiness with you.” You paused for a moment, feeling your eyes begin to tear up.

Bradley stood up, moving his chair and positioning it close to you. Resting his arm around your shoulder, he pulled you in close to him. Placing a light kiss on top of your head, circling his thumb pad over your shoulder. “She was great. I loved her. Do you know she would message me and ask when I’m finally going to put a ring on your finger?” He confessed.

You looked up at him, letting out a faint breath of air through your nose. “I’m not surprised. She wanted nothing more than for us to do something. She thought we were perfect.”

“Well she wasn’t wrong.” Resting his head on top of yours. “We are kinda perfect together.” He said, looking at the reflection of you both in the window.

After paying for the bill, the two of you walked hand in hand back to his car. Once helping you get into the passenger seat and getting in himself. He didn’t drive you back home. Instead, he parked up at the beach. You smiled to yourself, knowing exactly what he was doing.

“Come on.” He guided you out of his car, coming to a halt. “Foot please, ma’am.”

He removed each of your heels and lifted you bridal style onto the sand.

The night breeze was a little chilly. Since you were only wearing a little dress, you were slightly shivering. Goosebumps appearing on your skin. He gently placed you down onto the sand, removing his blazer and draped it over your shoulders. Taking your hand, he slipped his fingers between the spaces of yours and tightly held on. His thumb brushing against the surface of your hand.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face you. Both of his hands wrapping around you and pulling you close to his chest. “I wanna make you happy, baby. I feel like I’ve gotten to know you all over again. Fall in love all over again with you.”

You hummed, “Since when did you turn so romantic?”

“Since you came back in my life. I had to make this right. Make you feel special. Because you always have been special to me.”

He gently started to sway you both together, humming along to that same Elvis song. You clasped your arms around his neck, resting your forehead on his. Every now and then, a breeze from the ocean blowing past you making you shiver as his arms held you tighter around the waist, moving up and down your back.

“It’s like our first date all over again.”

He lifted your chin with his fingers, kissing you deeply. “I meant it when I said I’m never letting you go again.” He kissed you again. “I’m so damn crazy about you. You’re all I want in this life.” He confided.

“Bradley… show me the way home.”

When you returned back home, you quickly led Bradley to the bedroom. Stepping behind you as his fingers grazed over your skin, moving your hair to the side. Placing kisses to the crook of your neck, to your shoulders. Looking at yourselves in the mirror, he wrapped his arms around you, resting his head on your shoulder. “God, I love you.”

“Mhmm. I know what else you would love aswell.” You turned to face him, pushing him down onto the bed. He spread his thighs wide open, inviting you to sit on him.

His eyes were only on you. Watching as you slowly swayed side to side as you began to remove your dress. Letting it fully slip off and fall to the floor.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Bradley’s mouth was hung open and went dry. He was greeted with the sight of you in the matching new lingerie set you had bought. He had to bite down on his tongue and run his hands over his face. Was he dreaming? “Fuck, baby. You’re so fucking sexy. Is this all for me?” He quickly sat up, grabbing you and dragging you down onto him. His fingers digging into your hips causing you to jolt.

Undoing the buttons on his shirt, you made haste to remove it and throw it to the floor. Your fingers drifted across his chest, down to his abdomen. Tracing over the belt of his pants and over his hard cock. He took your face in his hands kissing you breathlessly as your hands made steady work undoing his pants and boxers, pushing them down to his ankles before he kicked them off.

“Now it’s my turn to make you feel good.” You said confidently.

He was now fully exposed to you, already full on hard over you. You admired him for a few seconds before your hands wrapped around him, one on his shaft and the other teasing his balls. Bradley let out a slow breath, trying to calm himself otherwise he would just cum instantly from your touch. You made your fingers into a ring at the base of his tip and squeezed. Cause the blood to flow to his shaft where you started to skim your fingers up and down. Spitting on the tip, you slowly made work to massage it in and begin a steady pace stroking him.

“Mhm, that feels so good, baby.” Bradley moaned out, looking down at you.

You moved yourself lower down on him, your mouth wide open. The flat surface of your tongue lapped gently at the tip. He bucked his hips up as you began lapping at him. Using the tip of your tongue, you catched some drops of pre cum, licking at his head resulting in an attractive low gruff moan coming from his throat.

You looked up at him, without breaking eye contact, you took his entire head into your mouth. Closing your lips around him, leaving red printed lipstick marks all on him. Taking him out of your mouth, you swirled your tongue all the way around his head as you pulled him in again. Your tongue teasing him around the sensitive head. Taking him deeper into your mouth, you began sucking back and fourth.

Bradley watched you take him deeper, clenching his fingers into your hair and gripping it tightly, as he started to thrust into your mouth. He could feel himself sliding deep down the slick of your throat, and it felt fucking amazing. You took his entire length into your throat, not gagging once.

“Just like that, baby. I’m gonna cum.” He groaned out, gripping your hair more tighter, looking you deep in the eyes as he watched your head bob up and down on him.

His knuckles turning white, you held his cock deep in your throat and swallowed. Bradley let out a loud husky moan, as he felt his release all in your mouth. Closing his eyes and throwing his head back, his back arched as his hips came higher, his cock twitching and jerking in the sensation.

“Come here, gorgeous.” He said, turning his head to the side to face you as you lay next to him.

Kissing you softly and gentle. His hands drifted down your back, running soothing circles on your skin. “That was so fucking good. You’re incredible.” He moved himself over you, putting your hair to the side as he placed a trail of wet kisses down your neck. Leaving gentle bites and kissing each one of them after. He unclasped your bra, throwing it across the room. “You’re so beautiful.” He smiled down at you.

Pulling his body closer to yours, you crashed your lips onto his. He desperately increased the kiss, sliding his tongue and twirling it around with yours. His hands gracefully roaming over your body, caressing every inch of you. Your breathy moans right in his ear overwhelmed him. He pressed his body right to yours, moving against each other in a steady rhythm, one of his legs pressed tightly between your thighs. Your hand lowering down his body, taking his cock in your palm and slowly stroking the base of him.

“Hm, hard for me already?” You whispered into his ear.

“I always am”

He removed your underwear before hoovering himself back over you. “That’s a shame. That lingerie was so fucking sexy.”

Placing himself between your legs, he positioned himself at your entrance. One hand holding down your hip as the other was teasing his length around your slit and rubbing it up and down before gently pushing himself in. A sweet and needy moan escaping your mouth. He wanted to take his time, slowly inserting himself fully into you. “Mhm, you fit me so good, baby.”

He breathed straight into your ear, letting out his own thick moans as he was fully in you now. Finding a steady pace, he began to thrust into you. Each hit filling out the room with the sounds of your bodies slapping together as one. Bradley knew how to work your body. He knew all your weak spots, your sensitive areas, where made you feel extra good.

He started to pound faster and harder into you, as you could feel a tension flowing throughout your bodies. A wave of pleasure rushing over you, making your toes curl and your back arch. Sweat dripping from his torso. He rested his head in the crook of your neck, your delicate fingers clinging into his hair.

“Don’t stop, it feels so good.” You practically begged into his ear and he obeyed all of your wishes. Picking up his pace even more, his thrusts were getting deeper and sloppier and you could feel yourself tightening around him. You screamed out one last moan of his name as your body started to shake from the feeling of your release. “Cum for me, baby.”

Bradley pushed himself up, groaning and gripping at your hips, pounding into you as hard as he could. His own breath was unsteady and so loud. “Fuck! I’m gonna cum.” With a few final extra thrusts, he found his own release.

Rolling onto his side, he pulled you into his chest. A tangled, sweaty mess of limbs intertwining together. He kissed you passionately. His hands dragging down your back before resting one in your hair and gently stroking it.

“How’s my girl?” He asked, kissing the top of your head.

“Never felt better.” You nestled yourself closer to him, resting your head under his chin. His heartbeat was racing crazy. “Will you stay?”

“Is that what you want?” He asked.

“Mhm, I’d like to see your face in the morning. Stay.”

He snuggled you closer, drawing small soothing circles on your back. He smiled into your hair, “God, I really love you.”

#bradley bradshaw #rooster #top gun #top gun maverick #miles teller #bradley rooster bradshaw #top gun rooster #rooster bradshaw #rooster top gun #rooster fanfic #rooster x reader #rooster x y/n #bradley bradshaw fic #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw x y/n #bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw imagine

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flowerandblood · 7 months

Text

Glass Cuts Deepest (3)

[ professor! • Aemond x student! • female ]

[ warnings: angst, trauma, mention of sexual harassment, violence, swearing, self-destructive behavior ]

[ description: A female painting student is finally able to choose the specialisation she has dreamt of - stained glass. She wants to become a student of the best specialist in this field, but he, for some reason, refuses to accept female students into his workshop. She finds out that he once slapped a female student of one of the other professors. Nevertheless, she makes an attempt to find out what happened then and to convince him to teach her. Slow burn, sexual tension, dark, agressive Aemond, great childhood traumas. ]

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Previous and next chapters: Masterlist

_____

What she had done echoed hugely throughout the university. Some looked at her in awe, some in horror wondering why she had done it, whether she really thought he was so good to put up with his awful behaviour.

"What if he keeps humiliating you? Or if he hits you?" Lysa asked as they walked together to their joint Renaissance art history class. She shrugged her shoulders, feeling light and happy.

"I'm only there for a trial, for a month. If I find I don't like it there, I'll go to another workshop. And if he does something to me, I'll report it to the police straight away." She replied briefly, taking it for granted.

If he violated her personal space in such a way she wasn't going to stand idly by, but for some reason she felt that if she respected his boundaries he wouldn't do anything to her.

She hopped up on her bed with joy when she saw an email on her inbox from Cregan informing her of a task for everyone to complete, covered by the competition Professor Targaryen had mentioned at their first meeting.

Good morning, congratulations to you once again and I am sending below the details of the project you need to complete. The first overview sketches are to be made at a scale of 1:5, only the one selected will be made at a scale of 1:1. The project includes 3 windows, each with 8 rectangular quarters. The dimension of the entire window is 10x2 m, the gaps between the quarters are 10 cm on each side. The Bishop would like these three quarters to include a representation of the Mother of God with the Child with a white dove above her, surrounded by the Twelve Aspotols. If you have any questions, I remain at your disposal Cregan

She immediately got to work, calculating the size of each of the quarters on A3 sheets of paper, thinking about how she would like to arrange it, how to show it.

She first thought of a baroque representation, with figures in motion, Our Lady in the centre, the apostles surrounding her as if they were floating towards the sky in clouds together with her.

When she had refined this design sufficiently she decided to take the opportunity that her professor was working on the other side of the room, standing, as always, with his back to her.

She approached him, stopping at an appropriate distance, and grunted quietly, wanting to let him know of her presence.

He glanced at her coolly out of the corner of his eye without ceasing his work, cutting a piece of glass in a confident, fluid motion with the loud swish of a diamond blade.

He picked it up and tapped the back of the handle with the special rounded end against the part of the glass he didn't need, and it broke at the point of cut to form exactly the shape he wanted.

"Lay it down here." He said indifferently, pointing with his chin to an empty spot on the illuminated table next to the glass he was working on.

She placed the piece of paper in front of him and stepped back, waiting anxiously for his opinion, feeling her heart pounding fast as she saw her year mate glance in their direction.

Professor Targaryen cast a quick look at what she had been preparing for the past two days, his face expressing absolutely nothing.

She looked at her project again and thought with regret that he was probably right.

"Overdone and tacky. This is not a competition for the most pompous baroque stained glass. Don't show me things like that again." He said briefly, turning back to his work, and she nodded, tightening her lips and returned to her table, trying to swallow his words and not cry.

It was contrived, as if she wanted to prove to everyone that she could create the most surprising and complicated design.

And after all, it was supposed to be simply the best.

She started to look through more classical stained glass representations from France, Germany, Spain and the UK at home. She noticed with interest that static figures depicted with just the right cuts of glass were suddenly gaining a lot of expression and she thought this was the way out.

She took inspiration for her pose of the Mother of God with the Child from Raphael's Sistine Madonna, but gave her face and hands a softer, more slender expression, her robes arranged in a Gothic manner, with strong creases and folds.

Our Lady stood in the rays of the colour of the setting sun, as if emerging from among the clouds, from the left, through the bottom of the composition, to the right the apostles emerged from behind the window frames, looking at her in silent awe, the whole thing seemed to her calm and solemn, warm.

She made another attempt to approach him. She settled on the opposite side of his table, looking at him expectantly, and he lifted his impatient gaze to her, his lips tightening.

"Are you sure you want to show me this?" He asked warningly, as if he wanted to make sure that if he saw something similar to what he had seen last time again, he would lose patience with her.

She nodded, swallowing quietly.

She really liked this project.

She laid it in front of him, the lead outline and the linear layer painted with a pen using black ink, the colours of the glass painted with watercolours.

He stopped in mid-motion, looking at what she had drawn, she could see that he was thinking strenuously, his gaze roaming over the entire composition.

"Were you inspired by someone?" He asked coolly, and she nodded quickly.

"Yes, Raphael's Sistine Madonna." She said quickly, and he hummed under his breath, his hand involuntarily escaping to his mouth and chin, looking intensely at her drawing.

"On the left and right the composition is too filled in. You need to leave those four apostles lower, give more space to the background. Let them form an arc under the figure of Our Lady, not half a circle." He began to speak quickly, pointing his finger at the areas of the work he had in mind, and she nodded, visualising his changes, recognising with joy that, indeed, with his corrections it would look much better.

"Yes. You're right, Professor, I will." She said excitedly, looking at him with her eyes wide open, she had the feeling that happiness was literally beaming from her.

He liked it.

He looked at her for a moment, biting his bottom lip, and then lowered his gaze, returning to his work.

Thus approved and prepared, she handed her design to Cregan, who smiled warmly at her.

"That's all." He said dryly, and she nodded quickly, took her sheet of paper and applied all the corrections he had mentioned, painting and drawing the whole thing again.

"Congratulations." He said calmly, and she reciprocated his smile.

Seeing the impatient gaze of their professor looking at them from across the table she moved away from him, picked up her things and left, saying a polite goodbye, wanting to go get something to eat.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she changed into her usual clothes in the toilet, it was getting warmer outside and she was sitting in her workshop in a black t-shirt tucked into long black trousers and dying of heat.

Being already in her summer dress and trainers, she left putting her backpack on her back, heading to the canteen to buy something warm to eat and go to her wall painting class in a completely different building.

She stopped in mid-step and started to take a step back when she saw her professor standing by the coffee machine right in front of her, but she didn't make it, he took his coffee cup and bumped into her, his gaze quickly going from her top to bottom, as if he didn't recognise her for a moment.

She swallowed loudly, lowering her gaze, wanting to disappear, to hide, though she didn't actually know why. There was something awkward about the situation, as if he had caught her in the act.

He merely hummed under his breath, taking a sip from his cup, and walked past her without a word. She looked back over her shoulder at him, swallowing loudly, wondering if he was frustrated by what he had seen, or if he would be more judgmental and unpleasant to her than usual.

He, however, remained just as indifferent to her presence, acting exactly the same as before. She figured he wasn't cruel enough to expect her to dress that way all the time in case she ran into him.

When it was time for the results of the competition to be announced, everyone gathered in the room he read out the attendance list for the first time. She took her seat at the very end, just as she had done then, waiting impatiently to hear what their professor would say.

"I presented the bishop with the projects which, in my opinion, were the best of those you gave me. He made his choice, announcing that he wanted our workshop to prepare Miss Wright's design for him. I made no objection to that decision." He said dryly, standing in front of them with his hands folded behind him, looking to the side, his voice expressing some kind of weariness, as did his gaze.

They were all silent for a moment and then her colleagues began to congratulate her loudly, Royce sitting next to her embraced her and said that she deserved it.

She looked into her professor's eyes and somehow saw a kind of discomfort and frustration at the sight of such familiarity, so she pulled away politely, covering her mouth in disbelief, unable to believe that he hadn't objected, that he had allowed her to win.

She heard him grunt loudly, shifting from foot to foot, everyone turned their gazes towards him again.

"As I mentioned, the whole workshop will split the work on this big project. Myself and Cregan will take care of the faces and hands, the third year and fourth year students will take care of the robes. The second year students will take care of the backgrounds." He said coolly and she felt a squeeze in her heart, even the other students looked at him surprised, though no one dared to speak up.

Despite the fact that her project had won, she was only supposed to deal with the background?

She lowered her gaze, feeling a tightness in her throat, Cregan moved restlessly.

"No. Everyone will perform the work according to their skills. Miss Wright will prepare a 1:1 design in colour and line within a week, numbering each of the templates, and then cut them out herself. That's all, get back to work." He said lowly and left, leaving them alone.

"I think if Miss Wright won, let her stay more involved and help cut the robes." He said lightly, intending to sound casual, but Professor Targaryen did not even look at him.

Although she tried to keep a smile, she felt tear after tear run down her face, wiping them away quickly with her hands as her colleagues approached her, trying to comfort her.

"It's true, be happy that you won and will have an input. It will be our collective success, of the whole workshop, but remember it's your composition and your idea." Said Ned, her yearmate, and she smiled with gratitude.

"Don't worry. The fact that the professor wants to paint faces for your project means that he really likes it. He doesn't get involved in work that doesn't interest him." Said one of the fourth year boys.

Despite how their professor behaved, her colleagues showed her great support and understanding, for which she was grateful.

She decided to go along with her professor's decision and spent the next week creating a huge design, cutting a template for each piece of glass with special double-blade scissors that reduced the volume of the card by the thickness of the lead surrounds into which the glass would be embedded.

One day they were even visited by Professor Lannister himself, and hearing of her success and taking advantage of the fact that she was alone in the room, he approached her, smiling in a way she didn't know what to think of.

He was a tall man, with light hair pulled back and an elegantly trimmed beard in a pressed light-coloured shirt and smart trousers. He looked at her large project hanging on the wall behind her with a form of admiration, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't know what you did to Professor Targaryen, but apparently it works. You certainly must have made a great effort." He said and looked at her curiously, she blinked, swallowing loudly, feeling subconsciously uncomfortable at the thought that he was trying to imply something.

"Please don't measure everyone by your standards, Professor." She said lightly so that for a moment he didn't understand what she meant. He glanced at her frowning his eyebrows as soon as the meaning of her words reached him, outraged.

"Are you insinuating something?" He asked roughly and she glared at him, cutting out the template with two intense, firm cuts of her scissors.

"And you, Professor?" She asked, raising her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders, seeing that he swallowed loudly, embarrassed.

She looked away and saw her professor standing in the entrance, measuring Lannister with an anxious, watchful gaze. When the man saw him he became tense, as if caught in the act, and grunted.

"In any case, congratulations again and I wish you well in your future work." He said, forcing a smile, and she reciprocated his gesture, beaming with satisfaction and contentment.

When Professor Lannister left she immediately returned to her work.

She looked up surprised when she saw that for the first time her professor had approached her of his own free will, standing on the opposite side of her table, looking at the templates she had cut so far.

"What did he want?" He asked drily, and she sighed quietly, cutting open the next sheets of paper, numbering them one by one.

"To learn the secret of my success." She replied softly and glanced up at him, his intense gaze fixed on her. She swallowed loudly, feeling shivers from the way he looked at her.

She grabbed another piece of paper, unimpressed.

"What did you tell him?" He asked expectantly, coolly, menacingly, clasping his hands on the edge of the table.

"That he shouldn't measure everyone by his standards. His attitude towards his female students was one of the reasons I didn't want him to teach me." She said quietly, truthfully, wondering if she was crossing the line by saying such things about one professor to another.

She felt that he was still looking at her, although he had always avoided any eye contact, now she felt that his gaze was burning her.

"And did you hit her, Professor?" She asked in a trembling voice, feeling that her hands were shaking and she had to concentrate very hard to cut straight.

"And you came to ask for a place with a professor who hit his student?" He asked seriously, lowly, and she lifted her gaze to him, feeling her heart pounding hard, sensing that this was her chance to find out what had happened.

He was silent for a long moment.

"Yes." He said emotionlessly, indifferently, with a kind of weariness.

She pressed her lips together and swallowed loudly, for some reason afraid to look at him.

"Why did you do that?" She asked quietly, and he chuckled under his breath.

"Does it matter?" He asked, as if the answer was obvious.

"It matters if you did it for no reason or if you were trying to defend yourself against her, sir." She replied wearily, still not looking at him, feeling the atmosphere between them becoming increasingly tense. She heard him snort at her words, surprised.

He was silent for a long moment, she could feel that something was happening to him, his lower lip trembling slightly.

"In what way could she harm me? Hit me?" He asked mockingly, but there was something in his voice that troubled her, some kind of frustration through which she knew she had hit the target, that something more had really happened there.

"Women can hurt men in all sorts of ways. It's just that they are hardly believed." She whispered and heard him swallow loudly, his chest rising and falling in anxious breaths. She looked at him uncertainly, his healthy eye was wide open.

"You prefer to defend the abuser instead of the victim?" He asked in disbelief at last, the corner of his mouth twitching in what she might have called a smile if not for the look in his eyes.

"No. I just know her version of events. I wanted to hear yours before I decided what I thought of you, Professor. I thought it was only fair." She said in a trembling voice, feeling that at that moment she was truly afraid of him.

He did not answer anything for a while, looking at her with a clenched jaw and licked his lips.

"There is no excuse for me. But I don't regret what I did. What do you think about it, Miss Wright?" He asked tauntingly and she looked at him in pain, tightening her lips.

"That I feel sorry for you, Professor. Just like I feel sorry for that girl. I hope you find the decency to apologise to her one day. Excuse me, but I would like to focus on my work." She said quietly, swallowing loudly, feeling regret and disappointment.

She wanted to believe that he wasn't such a bad person, that something had happened that would give him a reason to behave like that.

However, she now knew that she could only count on him in artistic matters, and that in others he could be no authority for her.

She lowered her gaze, returning to her cutting, her hands trembling, feeling that he was still standing in the same place, that he was looking at her, she could hear his accelerated breathing.

After a moment he was gone, she heard him take his leather jacket from the back of his chair and just leave.

From then on it was she who didn't look at him and avoided him even though she saw that he glanced at her occasionally. She knew he was working on detailed sketches for the figure's faces; he was sitting at one of the desks with a sketchbook and pencil, absorbed in his thoughts.

Their gazes met suddenly and she turned away quickly, swallowing loudly.

She knew there was only one day left until the end of the month, after which he was to decide what to do next, whether he would let her stay or kick her out.

She had lost any remnants of a good opinion of him privately, however, he organised their work well and was very dedicated to it, she felt that with him and her colleagues she had learnt more about the subject of stained glass in these few weeks than she had in her entire life so far.

When the day came, however, he was sitting locked in the second room, reserved for him to paint his already-cut glass. This required a lot of concentration and it was easy to make a mistake, so no one disturbed him.

She reasoned that if he had wanted to tell her he was throwing her out, he would have done so immediately.

On her way out of class and walking down the corridor, she saw that the door to the room he was working in was ajar and she looked inside uncertainly. Whatever she thought of him, he was an outstanding painter and she was dying of curiosity as to how he depicted her figures.

Noticing that he had to leave for a moment and that the room was empty, she walked slowly inside, leaning over the illuminated table on which lay the cut, painted and patinated faces of various saints.

Looking at the faces of the apostles, she involuntarily marvelled, noticing the incredible accuracy in the proportions and the lightness with which he had given their faces expression; they seemed both emotional and calm, their faces showing excited anticipation.

Around the glasses were sketches made with pencil that he had prepared beforehand, which accurately represented what he wanted to portray.

She moved on to the face of the Virgin Mary and froze, feeling her heart pounding hard. She looked at the sketch next to it to be sure and swallowed loudly.

Mother of God had her facial features.

Then, when their gazes met, he didn't glance at her casually.

He was portraying her.

She didn't know what to make of it, at once horrified, excited, concerned, shocked. She shuddered when she heard someone's voice behind her.

"Get out." He said lowly, coldly, his gaze menacing, dark, warning. He stood in the entrance with his hands clenched into fists and she wondered how long he had been watching her.

"I'm sorry. I −"

"Get. Out." He repeated in a tone that suggested he wasn't going to say it a third time.

She lowered her head, swallowing loudly, and moved to leave on trembling legs, he, however, caught her firmly by her shoulder as she passed him and stopped her without looking at her.

"Don't ever come in here again without permission. Your painting room is next door. This is my private studio. Do you understand?" He asked in a razor-sharp tone, and she nodded quickly, unable to get anything out.

He let her go and she almost ran out, only drawing in a loud breath in the corridor, she felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest.

His Virgin Mary, the central figure of the whole composition, would have her face.

_____

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