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rxsilixnce · 4 years

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I have some really profound analyzations I want to share of the masterpiece “Jennifer’s Body” after watching it so many times over the last couple years. Too bad Transformers fucked Megan Fox over because she doesn’t get the rep she deserves, she is such a talented actress and she’s been so overlooked.

Jennifer and Needy have an intensely strong connection with one another, yet Needy doesn’t fully understand Jennifer until the end of the movie. They both have lots of intuition and they can sense what the other is planning or doing. Needy doesn’t have to tell Jennifer who she likes, Jennifer already knows, and when Jennifer shows up at her house, Needy knows its her. They have said “Hopeless” at the exact same time, when Needy and Chip were having sex, and when Jennifer was murdering Collin. At prom, the feeling on her lips was Jennifer kissing Chip. Needy knows exactly where to go in order to save Chip. Their connection is almost supernatural. They look at each other like they are in some sort of a trance, especially Jennifer, she adores Needy, especially when Needy watched her cheer from the bleachers and how Jennifer waves at her, and how she tucks Needy’s hair behind her ear and admires her before kissing her. When Jennifer says “We can play boyfriend, girlfriend like we used to,” it reveals that they may have been with each other sexually before, and it also shows Jennifers desperation to always have Needy by her side and her attraction towards her. Jennifer is quickly dismissive over Needy’s concerns, yet Needy still comes to the right conclusions. When Needy begged her not to get in the van with the band, Jennifer told her to “Shut up,” when Needy kept asking her what happened the night of the fire and what happened when Jennifer showed up at her house covered in blood, Jennifer kept acting as if it wasn’t a big deal. After Jennifer opened up about the night some, Needy figures out, “Maybe you did die that night.” After Needy asks what she needs to do to “stay full,” Jennifer dismisses her yet again says, “You know Needy, maybe you should talk to someone about these disturbing thoughts that you’re having,” and “I think Chip may be having second thoughts about you.” This is an attempt to force Needy into feeling insecure and protect herself from Needy knowing the full truth, but Needy connects the dots on what Jennifer means, as the next day at school she imagines Jennifer with blood running down her face. Jennifer seems to know exactly how to manipulate Needy, until the end of the movie...

In the film, Jennifer continuously says the word “hopeless,” more importantly, she says, “I need you hopeless.” Now, we know that Anita (Amanda Seyfried) was nicknamed “Needy” by Jennifer, and I believe Jennifer and Needy had a codependent relationship, majorly initiated by Jennifer because she wants Needy to be reliant on her and “hopeless” without her. The word “hopeless” is also written in blood on the wall in the pool scene. You see this constantly throughout the movie, Needy listens to demands from Jennifer, Jennifer is the leader, the alpha. Needy is starstruck in the beginning as she watches Jennifer cheer. “People find it hard to believe that a babe like Jennifer would associate with a dork like me.” Needy immediately changes plans with her boyfriend after Jennifer guilts her into going out, “You and me are going out tonight.” After an attempt to tell her she already has plans, Jennifer says “Boo, crossing out Needy,” “Wear something cute, okay?” Jennifer makes Needy scared to loose her and doesn’t take no for an answer, and Needy does whatever she says in return. Jennifer criticizes Needy and especially her boyfriend, “It smells like Thai food in here, have you guys been fucking?” “You’re totally jealous.” Needy and her associations will always be lower than Jennifers, making Needy feel like she is owned by Jennifer. Jennifer schedules Needy’s life and tells her what to do, she can’t even call her boyfriend without Jennifer saying, “Crossing you out” to insight fear into Needy. Jennifer kills Needy’s boyfriend Chip, and others who may be a threat for coming too close to Needy, she is angered by Amet, Jonas, and Collin for gaining attention from Needy. Jennifer needs Needy to be her ultimate, the only power figure in her life, and she eliminates anyone who could take that away from her. When a guy is talking to Needy at the bar, Jennifer talks down to him, walks over and grabs him, showing him that Needy is her property. “Are you gonna cuff me?”

However, when we are taken to the flashbacks of their childhood together, because “Sandbox love never dies,” Needy is actually the more protective one and has much more confidence than Jennifer, “Don’t tell my mom, she’ll give me a shot.” Jennifer is weak and insecure yet puts on a facade of being the superficial popular girl. We know this because we see Jennifer’s weak side time and time again throughout the film. For example, before she is killed she shows genuine fear and humanity, when she is in the van with the men who killed her, she tries hard to convince them that she isn’t the person they want to kill, because she thought they didn’t want a virgin. As she is stabbed, she is screaming and crying, begging them not to kill her. She appears to be fierce and indestructible, but she’s really sensitive and she is the one who needs Needy, she relies on Needy to depend on her. Needy appears to be an empath and she is also secure in herself, and she cares for Jennifer deeply, when Jennifer continues to watch the band when the fire starts, Needy pulls her out of the bar, and begs her not to get into the van with the band, as she fears for Jennifers safety. “I watched her get into that van and I knew something awful was going to happen.” Jennifer is clearly easily manipulated and gullible, as it doesn’t take much to convince her to get into a van with men she hardly knows. Jennifer cares about Needy somewhat, but she mainly cares for herself and her own needs, therefore, has taken away anyone who would give Needy happiness other than herself, and showed no remorse for anyone she has killed or the innocent people who died in the bar that burned down. Jennifer is a coward, and she doesn’t want anyone to know about the relationship she wants to have with needy, “Don’t talk to yourself, that’s one of your more freakish behaviors, and it makes us both look like total gaylords.” She preys on Jonas when he is weaker and devastated about loosing his best friend in the fire, because he will be easier to manipulate. “It’s what Craig would have wanted.” After killing/dominating Jonas, she feels stronger than she did before, and she takes pride in hurting other people, because it makes her feel powerful. She calls Needy and tells her “I’m having the like the best day since Jesus invented the calendar.” She gets insecure when Needy answers the other line, “Don’t blow me off? Boo, i’m crossing you out.” “I am a god,” she declares to Needy after Needy and Chip decide to go out together. When Needy arrives to rescue Chip, she accuses Jennifer of being insecure, Jennifer gets defensive and says, “I am not insecure, Needy. God, that’s a joke, how could I ever be insecure? I was the snowflake queen.” Needy continues criticizing her, “You were two years ago, when you didn’t have to take laxatives to stay skinny,” at which point she is so angered at Needy and screams, “I am going, to eat your soul, and shit it out!” Although, Jennifer didn’t, because she couldn’t, she could have demolished both Needy and Chip with the amount of demonic powers she has, but she chose not to.

Another reason why Jennifer is so territorial over Needy is because Jennifer has a strong hatred for men, and sees them as toys to play with. While she views needy as the only person she has a connection with, and she really sees Needy as higher than herself for that reason. She could never hurt or kill Needy, and doesn’t appear to want to kill any other girl, because she views women as more valuable than men. She see’s men as so worthless, that she can kill them with no remorse. After Needy says, “You’re killing people!” she replies with “No, i’m killing boys...” insinuating that its no big deal. She also says “Boys are just placeholders, they come and go.” When Jennifer shows up at Needy’s house after being killed and raids the food in the fridge, Jennifer pushes her against a wall and asks, “Are you scared?” after Needy says yes, she gets close to Needy’s neck and we think she is going to bite her, but Jennifer pushes her temptations away and throws her across the room and leaves to protect Needy from herself, because she can’t bare the pain of hurting Needy. Jennifer grabs Needy’s boobs in the bar and encouraged her to use her body to get what she wants, which today is a clear portrayal of empowerment for some modern day feminists. After Collins is practically drooling over Needy in the hallway, Jennifer steps in and asks him to ask her out, she rejects him and explains to Needy, “He listens to maget-rock and he wears black nail polish, my dick is bigger than his.” After seeing how much Collins means to Needy, she accepts his offer to not only make Needy more dependent on her, but to gain the trust of the boys and lure them in to eliminate them. This makes Needy feel invalidated and Jennifer convinces her that nice things won’t come her way unless Jennifer is the top dog. This is confirmed when Jennifer says that she can have one of the lower band mates, but not the top one, because he is hers, and when she says how Chip has been looking really cute to her recently after needy blows her off to do something with him. The reason she is so sexist is simply because she has always seen men as a threat that would take away the only person she can be emotionally dependent on.

Again, Jennifer could never hurt Needy, and Needy goes after Jennifer later to kill her in order to protect other boys from getting killed, Needy knows this is what she has to do, she now sees Jennifer accurately and she realizes the horrible person Jennifer is, though, this is exactly was Jennifer wanted, she needed Needy so badly so that ultimately, she would kill her. In the beginning, it was not like this, but after becoming a succubus, and feeling “empty” so much and being forced to kill to keep herself alive and powerful, Jennifer had enough. The moment Jennifer made the decision to go after Chip, she made the decision to let Needy go, because after facing so much rejection from Needy, and the charm she once had on her faded completely, Jennifer was more insecure and heartbroken than ever, she didn’t want to live if she couldn’t have Needy, and she knew that if Needy felt betrayed enough, she would kill her. She also couldn’t hurt Needy since she is in love with her, making Needy the only person that could kill her. Jennifer could have went on a rampage and killed anyone she wanted to after Chip’s attack to make herself strong and beautiful again, but she chose to go home hungry and weak and wait for Needy to come murder her. Jennifer pretends to fight Needy, and give her all into hurting her, but keep in mind she has to make Needy feel strong and brave enough to kill her, so she criticizes her and continues to act like the villain, “Do you buy all you’re murder weapons at Home Depot? God you’re butch.” We then see Needy say “I’m crossing you out,” the line Jennifer used for so long to have power over Needy, the power exchange is exactly what Jennifer wants. Needy rips their BFF necklace off Jennifers neck and we are shown an emotional moment of it falling to the floor, this symbolizes the end of their friendship, relationship, and codependency. Jennifer’s plan has been a success as she see’s Needy will be okay without her, and she knows their relationship is over, she lets everything down and allows Needy to kill her. After Needy stabs her in the chest, Jennifer says, “My tit,” and Needy says “No, your heart.” However, Needy was not okay without Jennifer, in fact, Jennifer destroyed her, “I don’t know who Needy Lesnicki is anymore,” she says as she is shown in a jail/mental hospital. We are shown that she will become a succubus herself after Jennifer bit her, which is what Jennifer wanted, and yet again, we are shown how selfish Jennifer was, she wanted Needy to become what she hated most. “You just might absorb some of the demons abilities, and you just might get lucky for once in your miserable life.”

Jennifer is truly not like any other “classic mean girl” portrayed in Hollywood movies, and it’s so sad to me that Jennifer’s Body received bad ratings since I feel Jennifer and Needy are such complex characters with an interesting relationship. Needy may not even be bisexual like Jennifer, she may have just been so enticed and manipulated by Jennifer and looked up to her in ways of wanting to be like her. This would explain why Needy was so bothered by Jennifer kissing her, because she really just saw Jennifer as a mentor, and why wouldn’t she? She had to be jealous of Jennifer, she had to want certain qualities Jennifer possessed, she watched so many boys leave her for Jennifer. And in the end, Needy became Jennifer.

#jennifers body #megan fox #amanda seyfried #horror #movie #dailyhorrorfilms #movie reviews #lesbian #needy lesnicki #jennifer check #hidden message #jennifer's body icon icons 00s

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unabashegirl · 4 years

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Omg so glad you opened requests! Can you do a ddXreader where she is an actress (Netflix original level not superstar) and they’re adjusting to life including both of their fan bases and having to merge worlds

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FAME

Fame. It is something that sought and dreamt by many. Some aren’t lucky enough and end up spending the rest of their lives seeking it. Running after a dream that wasn’t meant for them. You are one of the expectations. It wasn’t long ago that you were stumbling into different castings and giving it your all to try to accomplish your dream.

Three years ago your time to shine finally came. That month not only had you accomplished what many had failed to do, but you had also signed a contract with one of the biggest entertainment companies. Netflix.

The first season of the show was a success. Shortly after the premiere, Netflix announced a second season. The audience demanded it and craved for more. A few days after the release of the second season you met him. He had been invited to one of your co-star's afterparty. The way he carried himself with such confidence, but without any arrogance -- called your attention that night.

He is everything you have ever dreamt of in a boyfriend. He does all the little things like putting socks on your feet when he notices they are too cold. He serves you coffee in bed, even though he doesn’t like the taste. He plays with your hair when you lay your head on his lap while going over scripts. He even laughs at your awful jokes. After long days at work, you lay on the bed with one another and he tells you about his day while holding your hand. He just truly cares

“Baby?” You heard from the inside of the room, followed by the sound of the front door being shut. You sit on the bathroom floor with a box of tissues and your phone close by.

“I’ll be right out!” You yell back as you try to clean up the mess that you had created in your bathroom. Nonetheless to say it has been a rough day. You have been stuck reading over the script for the third season of the show. David had promised you to have dinner with you and stay over after a movie.

You have been crying all afternoon after reading some comments under an Instagram post. That only lead you down a vortex of hate comments that essentially made you feel like trash and not good enough for David or Netflix. Devastated, you locked yourself in your bathroom and cried your eyes out for a couple of hours. If it wasn’t for David you would have probably continued to cry until the next day.

“I got us your favorite!” David had picked up Thai food from your favorite place. He made sure to order your favorite dish -- coconut chicken curry with jasmine rice. He settles the brown paper bags on the coffee table in the living room. He heads towards the bedroom in search of you.

You quickly wash your face and attempt to look like you haven’t spent most of the day crying. There are a few minutes of utter silence before you hear David attempting to open the bathroom. You take one last breath before opening the door and revealing yourself to your boyfriend.

“There you are” he smiles at the sight of his girlfriend. You look around and try your best not to look at him straight in the eyes. You don’t want David to find out. You don’t want him to think that you are weak. “I’ve missed you”

“I’ve missed you more. How was your day?” You ask as you step closer to him. You wrap your arms around his neck, thinking that maybe some contact with him will heal you.

“It was pretty good. We got enough content for the vlog. Yours?” He asks, wrapping his arms around your waist, pushing your bodies closer together.

“It was alright. Nothing out of the ordinary” David nods before leaning down and gently kissing her lips. You kiss back for a few minutes before he pulls away.

“Let’s go eat. Food is getting cold” He takes your hand in his and pulls you towards the living room. The food is already unpacked and ready to be eaten. You don’t have much of an appetite yet you force yourself to eat. Just for David since he had gone to all the trouble to get your favorite.

You choose a movie to watch while eating and proceeded in enjoying the deliciousness of the Thai food.

By the end of the movie both of you are stuffed and ready to fall into a food coma. Your feet rest on his lap while you both struggle to stay awake. When the movie comes to an end, David shuts off the move. You wait for him to rise for you to do the same, but he never does. He just stares at you while drawing circles on your ankle with the tip of his index and middle finger.

“Let’s go to sleep” You suggest feeling exhausting. Your eyes are still stinging from crying so much. You just want to cuddle up to him and forget about today.

“Y/N?” He calls out, “Why were you crying today? Is everything okay?” He had noticed from the very beginning. He knows you too well to know that something is bothering you.

“It’s nothing,” You say, chocking up in tears. David’s sleep instantly goes out the window when he notices the change in your voice and your eyes welling up with tears. You shake your head at him as he sits up straight and leans forward.

“How are you going to say that it’s nothing? Look at you, baby. If something is bothering you, please let me know” Your breathing becomes more difficult, you choke up and sob. You look away as the tears start falling.

David sighs heavily, throws the blanket off your bodies, and pulls you by your wrist. You close enough to hide your face in the crook of your neck. You grip the soft material of his back shirt as you allow the big wave of tears to unravel. David’s hands travel up your back trying to soothe you while the other holds you close.

“Why are you so sad, baby?” He whispers as he continues to hold you. He tries his best not to move you an inch and just allow you to cry. A few minutes pass by before you take your head off his shoulder.

David's hands come up to should face and gently pull the strands of hair that have stuck to you face. He cups your face in his hands as he tries to get a good look at you. In his eyes, even after all that crying, you still manage to look breathtakingly beautiful.

“I- r-read some comments” You hiccup trying to catch your breath. David frowns knowing where this was going.” They just said I should be with you. They say I don’t deserve you” you wipe your tears with the back of your hand.

“How many times have I told you to stop reading the comments? People are mean, baby. They don’t worry about hurting anyone's feelings. They are selfish. They don’t know about us” He grips your chin, forcing your glances to meet.

“What if they are right? What if I actually don’t deserve you and you are too good for me?” You exhale loudly, finally catching up with your breathing. Your head is pulsating and you can feel the headache creeping up.

“They don’t know shit, baby. You know how many people comment on my videos and Instagram post, comparing me to him?” By him, he refers to your co-star. He is every girl's dream. He and you are in a romantic relationship on the TV show. Some people take it out of context and make up stories like you only dating David for more exposure. “They all think that you should be with someone like him” You shake your head at him. His eyes swell with tears and his voice break. For the first time, he looks vulnerable and so different from the confident man that you had met at the party. You lean in and peck his lips while caressing the back of his neck.

“and do you think I let those comments get to me?” You shake your head at him.”I don’t because no one beside us knows what we have and how special it is. Let them talk and let them say whatever they want. At the end of the day, you are mine and I am yours” He grabs your hands and kisses them.

“I love you, Dave” You whisper as you look at him with adoration. You had read the comments on your Instagram, but you haven’t stopped to think about the comments on his Youtube channel. “They have to get used to us because I am not going anywhere”

“Really?” He smiles as he hands strokes your back. “I thought I would finally get rid of you” You gasp and smack his chest, earning a heavy laugh from him.

“Way to ruin the moment, doofus” You giggle as he hides his face in the crook of your neck, hiding his big smile.

I hope you liked it! Let me know!

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amerrierworld · 4 years

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Curtain. (i)

Carol (2015) fanfiction

Summary: An on-and-off job as photographer can only pay so much, so Therese Belivet has taken a job at an elementary school's art program to help pay the bills. One of her last jobs before the school year begins is photographing a preview night of a successful play where she meets the well-known artistic director of the show, Carol Ross. She forgets about their meeting until September rolls around and she starts teaching an inquisitive young six-year old by the name of Rindy.

Characters: Carol x Therese

Word Count: 1,491

Warnings: none yet!

June.

Therese was staring intensely at her laptop, watching as all the little photo icons from her camera began transferring over to her drive. Rain tapped gently against her windows and a can of Coke sat on her desk, half-empty. She had shut all the windows to avoid any light or outdoor distractions as she tended to daydream while looking out in the distance, but this time Therese was determined to get this job finished.

As she waited for the files to continue transferring, the brunette arched her back, yawning as her body creaked and popped from sitting for so long.

It had been three days since her lucky photography gig at the Hudson Theatre. Thinking about it still made her limbs jittery. It was a smaller theatre, but being the oldest theatre in the city and having hosted many successful shows, it was still a landmark. Therese had been overjoyed at the prospect of working inside the theatre for once and seeing all the ins and outs of the show she had been asked to document.

Her phone pinged from where she had haphazardly tossed it on her bed. She stood up and shuffled over, stretching again and giving her legs a shake as she opened a message from Dannie.

preview done. again.

how was it?

tbh a little messier than when u were there, richard kept missing his mark

of course he did.

yeah ross wasn't too pleased with him...

At the mention of the director's name, Therese's stomach lurched a bit, though she couldn't tell why. They had only exchanged a few words during the preview when she'd been there.

...anyways, manager wants to know how ur doing with those photos

workin on em right now actually

tsk that's too bad

why? did she need them now? i thought i had until next week

nah i was just gonna ask if u wanted to get some food and then get plastered w me and phil

Therese snorted and looked back at her laptop, which lit up, indicating all the files had been successfully imported. Temporarily forgetting about her conversation she hurried to glance through them, immediately noticing the faulty pics that she knew she wouldn't be able to use.

Her phone rang and she picked up.

"Is that a no?" Dannie asked from the other end. Therese rolled her eyes.

"Dannie, not responding in 30 seconds does not automatically mean no. But yeah, I don't know if getting drunk right now is such a good idea, I have a lot to go through. Plus, don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"Preview isn't until the afternoon, Belivet. I have all morning to sober up."

Sighing, Therese flicked through a few photos, stilling as she found one of the director whose back was to the camera as she directed Gen, the lead actress, who stood off to the far side of the stage.

"Therese?"

"Hm? Yeah, for sure. I'll come for food, but I'm going home afterwards, I really don't want to be hungover. I've had three cans of Coke already, alcohol and caffeine don't mix well for me."

"Alright, sounds good."

"When do you wanna head out?"

"...now?"

At that, the intercom buzzed at Therese's front door, indicating someone was in front of the apartment building.

"Jesus, Dannie, really?"

"I know you're always hungry, Therese. Plus, getting off the subway from work at your place is so much closer than mine. Forgive me?"

"Ugh fine, give me 20 minutes to get ready though. I don't care if you're stuck in the rain outside. That's what happens when you constantly drag me out for last minute plans."

"Yeah, yeah, Belivet, just hurry your ass up. We're not going anywhere fancy cause God knows I don't get paid enough to afford anything like that."

"Is Richard coming?" Therese asked, brow furrowing in a split second of worry.

"Him? Nah. I actually think he somehow managed to lure Gen into a date tonight. I saw them talking after the show."

"Oof, poor girl."

"Yeah, maybe I should warn her, y'know. Get her out while she still can."

"Terrible idea, McElroy. You know how actresses are with stage hands."

Dannie barked out a laugh. "Shut the fuck up, Belivet. You're one to talk, considering you were ogling the director the entire night."

"I was not."

"Yeah you were. Now get going, or I'm gonna melt in this downpour."

Therese smiled and ended the call, closing her laptop and hurrying to put on some decent clothes before meeting Dannie outside.

"C'mon Terry, not even one shot? As a celebratory drink for this job and the next."

"No, Phil," Therese laughed. "I already told Dannie, I have work to do later."

"Alright, suit yourself, but that means I'm gonna drink extra just to make up for you!"

After having grabbed a bite at a cheap Thai restaurant, the McElroy brothers had dragged Therese to their usual bar even though she was still determined to stay sober.

"Do you even know how to deal with kids, Therese? Elementary school can be vicious, y'know," Dannie said, sipping his beer as he ignored Phil stumbling from his seat to order another drink.

"It's only part-time, Dan," Therese shrugged. "Plus, what kid doesn't like art? If one of them throws a temper, I'll just let him go ham on a canvas with some paint, no big deal. It's therapeutic that way."

"How'd you manage to get a job there anyway?"

"Well, their usual art teacher had to take a break for a year 'cause of an injury, so I'm just filling in for the younger grades. They were desperate for more staff for their programs."

"Jeez, is that allowed? You've barely worked with kids until now."

"I dunno. I did a full police check and stuff, besides I'm not hired for the school, just the programs afterwards so I'm not technically a teacher. But it's a small school with a shit ton of younger kids that often need an after-school program. Chances are they won't even need me in the New Year if the other teacher comes back."

"So they just really need extra hands on deck?" Dannie concluded and Therese nodded. Phil came staggering back with a glass of water, grouchy and mumbling something about the bartender not letting him have another.

"Yeah. What about you though? What's happening after Woolf?"

Danni sighed and slumped back in his seat. "Who knows at this point? Ross is taking a break too, from being artistic director-,"

"Wait, really? She's not retiring is she?"

Dannie smirked at Therese but ignored her sudden eagerness in the conversation.

"Nah, just something about needing to be home with her family. She's worked her butt off for the theatre more than anyone, so it makes sense she wants a break for a little while after this show's done. But she'll probably be back in no time, cause she's like that. In the mean time, Gerhard is taking over. I don't know what she has up her sleeve yet, but I'm thinking a typical Christmas show is coming up."

"Any idea what it might be?"

"Nope. Everyone's talking and wanting to do A Christmas Carol but it's been so overdone, and Abby's always doing unexpected things."

"Damn, I wonder what it could be," Therese chewed her lip in thought.

"You sure you're not just upset at the idea of Ross not working there anymore?" Dannie teased. Therese smacked his arm.

"Dannie," she scolded.

"What! Even a blind person could see she's literal eye candy, though she can be a tough boss. I'm not blaming you for liking her, but I am telling you that she's not as sweet as she looks."

"Hmph, whatever. She's probably got someone anyways, if she's taking a break with family."

"I dunno, Belivet, I've never noticed a wedding ring." He winked at her.

"God, you're the worst y'know?" Therese sighed, though her eyes were twinkling. "I never should have come out to you when all you do is tease me about every girl who I just happen to find kinda cute."

Dannie grinned. "That's what you get for being besties with the McElroys, Belivet. Besides, since Phil doesn't like girls, who am I supposed to go to when I get lady problems?"

Therese shook her head and chuckled before checking her watch.

"Damn, it's getting late. Alright boys, I'm going home. I really need to work on those photos. Don't drink yourselves to death, please?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Belivet!"

She grabbed her purse before going to hail a cab as Phil and Dannie waved goodbye, her mind whirling with thoughts of the intriguing blonde director. Therese wondered who she was, besides the 'literal eye candy' that she'd managed to capture on camera. Sighing, Therese shook her from her mind during the brief cab ride home, deciding it was best to leave her daydreaming behind for the rest of the night.

A/N: heh... hi. here's my take on carol/therese because i can’t get enough of them honestly. Let me know what you think; this’ll be a pretty packed series so enjoy :3

I’ve also been posting my stuff on AO3 if any of you use that as well so you can find this and my other stories there too! <3

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in-anotherlife-au-blog · 5 years

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You Know Why | Chapter 2 - Tuesday

"I think we should date."

"Date?"

"Yes, as in you, me, dinner, candles, I walk you to your door, we play that will she won’t she kissing game, that whole thing.”

Kara blushes at the thought, her mind racing a mile a minute.

“Kara?"

The blonde snaps out of her thoughts and finds her roommate looking back at her.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

"Sorry."

"That's okay, you don't need to run through lines with me if you don't want you know? I know you wrote them," Lena smiles before collecting her script and heading into the kitchen only to re-emerge seconds later with a bottle of red and two wine glasses.

"So where's Veronica tonight?" Kara asks trying to make conversation. Things had slightly been, not necessarily off, but different since Kara’s realization of her feelings for her roommate.

"Back home, she's not due to shoot for two more weeks."

"Ah, I'm sorry."

"What for, Kara?"

"Long distance, it's rough."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

"It was a long time ago," Kara says giving Lena tight-lipped smile before taking a long sip of her glass.

"You know what you should do?" Lena says a bit too excitedly for Kara's liking. "You should download Tinder! I’m curious what kind of guys Kara Danvers falls for, plus you’d get a ton of right swipes.”

Kara scoffs, "Absolutely not. I can get a date on my own, thanks."

"Oh come on Kara! You don't have to do anything, the attention alone is just fun."

"Says the actress," Kara mocks.

"You deserve someone to spoil you Kara Danvers.”

Kara's breath catches in her throat, Lena looks at her like she's the purest thing in the world and Kara melts because she wishes it was Lena.

"Thanks, Lena."

"Of course, what are friends for?" Lena says before settling in next to Kara and flipping through what's on TV.

The next time Kara sees Veronica is on a Tuesday morning in her own kitchen.

"Hey Kara," the actress greets her.

"Morning, got any coffee left?" Kara asks pointing to the pot behind her.

"I was actually just going to brew another pot, let me grab you a mug."

It's not that Kara necessarily dislikes Veronica, despite her and Lena's past and the rather aggressive approach Veronica took to be back in Lena's life, Veronica Sinclair has been nothing but kind to Kara since then. Especially over the past few weeks in which she's become a permanent fixture at the girls' home which further reminds Kara of her current living situation.

The girls keep to themselves, Kara on her laptop going over the latest script notes while Veronica peruses on her phone.

"Well look at you two getting along," they look up to find Lena towel drying her hair as she leans over to give Veronica a kiss and Kara internally groans.

"Was there ever a time we weren't getting along?" Kara asks and Veronica snickers.

"Don't be cute," Lena replies snagging Kara's coffee mug and taking a sip.

"On that note...I gotta get going," Veronica says gathering her dishes into the sink. "See you in a few weeks?"

“Definitely," Lena smiles giving her a sweet kiss. "Have a safe flight."

"Later Kara!" Veronica waves behind her as she makes her way to leave, who just waves back in reply.

The roommates are left alone and things aren't necessarily awkward but they're a little awkward.

“She’s not staying?”

“Oh! No, she’s got a few auditions back in LA and stuff, she’ll be back in a few weeks though, if that’s okay?”

“Lena, it’s your place, you don’t have to ask.”

She doesn’t mean to be short but it comes off that way and Lena doesn’t have it in her to ignore it this time.

“Kara, this is your home too, you know?”

“It really isn’t,” she replies.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“You sure as hell don’t seem fine,” Lena fires back.

“All I said was that you didn’t have to run things by me, this isn’t my home.”

“Then why are you here, Kara?”

Kara looks up from her coffee and tries to ignore the pang in her stomach at the hurt look on Lena’s face. This isn’t how it was supposed to go, Lena’s become a best friend to her and she just wants her to be happy and right now, she’s the furthest thing from happy.

“Kara, I didn’t mean - “

Kara cuts her off. “No, it’s…It’s really okay, you’re right. I think I’ve overstayed my welcome, I’m going to email the front office and get a place figured out. I’m really sorry, Lena.”

“No, dammit Kara, no,” Lena says taking a seat across from Kara. “That’s not what I was trying to say, I just. What’s going on with us? Is it Veronica? Do you not like her?”

“No, Lena, that’s not it. I just, I’m just going through some stuff. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you like this.”

Lena can tell Kara’s withholding something, but she doesn’t push. Instead, she completely takes Kara by surprise.

“Do you have to go in today?” Lena asks.

“Not really, nothing I can do there that I can’t do here, why?”

“I’m off, how about we finally push through the final season of Buffy and I whip us up some waffles.”

Kara’s eyes bulge.

“Your cinnamon waffles?” She’s practically salivating and Lena’s smiling, already making her way towards the fridge.

“With fresh strawberries and maple syrup…”

“Lena, don’t tease me if you’re just going to serve me Eggos!” Kara laughs, because truth be told, she’d eat whatever Lena put in front of her. Peeking from behind the refrigerator door, Lena replies, “Kara Danvers, you deserve nothing but the best, now pull up Netflix, I want to know if Faith bangs the principal.”

“Tell me it isn’t true,” she says practically sobbing.

“Morgana, calm down,” Veronica as Roulette says taking a step towards the other girl.

“Tell me…” Lena shuts her eyes, her fists are trembling and while Kara knows she’s acting, she can’t help but want to cross the set and pull her friend into an embrace.

“I wish I could, I know there’s nothing I can say to make you…baby, I did this for you.”

“For me?” Anger fills Morgana’s voice. “How dare you pin this on me.”

“I love you,” Roulette whispers and Morgana’s face shifts into a genuine look of surprise.

“CUT!” A bell rings out, the actors slip out of character but the underlying tension between Lena and Veronica is so apparent that J’onn calls for a 30-minute break before the reset. While the rest of the crew filters outside, Kara feels like she’s impeding on a personal moment while the actresses settle to hushed whispers and soft smiles.

It’s that Tuesday afternoon that Kara decides she has to find a new place to live.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding.”

Kara’s attention breaks from her journal and shifts to the woman at the door.

“The Lena Luthor is gracing the writer’s room with her presence?” Kara teases.

“Don’t be rude, I brought you lunch,” the brunette replies dangling a bag from Kara’s favorite Thai restaurant.

“Jay’s Thai doesn’t deliver, how’d you swing that one?”

“Perks of having a girlfriend,” Lena replies already pulling out their usual orders and setting them on the table, missing the way Kara’s face drops.

“Well that was very sweet of her, I’ll be sure to Venmo her,” Kara mutters grabbing her spicy pad thai.

Lena’s brow furrows but she doesn’t push it, a regular occurrence for the roommates as of late.

“So I was thinking…”

“Well that’s never good,” Kara teases which Lena replies with by throwing a pair of chopsticks in her direction.

“As I was saying,” Lena smiles in between bites of her meal. “We haven’t had a good girls night in awhile, what do you think of getting the group together this weekend? Me, you, Maggie, Alex?”

“No Veronica?”

“She’s out of town after tomorrow. She’s got a final callback for a film she’s pretty excited about,” Lena replies rather nonchalantly.

“That’s great,” Kara replies with sincerity in her voice. “So girls night, what did you have in mind?”

Kara’s definition of girls night and Lena’s definition of girls night are two very different things Kara concludes after emerging from her bedroom clad in skinny black jeans and a white v-neck. Meanwhile, her roommate is donning an emerald green dress with a v dip in the back, paired with black Louboutins.

“Do I look okay?” Lena asks as she puts the finishing touches on her make up in the hallway mirror.

Kara visibly gulps, “I’m underdressed,” is all she manages to say.

Lena laughs, “As much as I love you in those skinny jeans, I think you’re going to need to fancy up a bit for what I have planned tonight.”

Images that should never cross her mind are crossing Kara’s mind but efore she can manage to say anything she’s saved by the doorbell with faint yelps from her sister and Maggie to be let inside.

“I’ll get that,” Kara says sidestepping Lena and beelining for the door.

“Was I the only one that didn’t realize we were going clubbing?” Kara asks when she takes in her sister and Maggie’s outfits.

“Come on, I’ll help you get dressed,” Alex says grabbing her sister’s hand while Maggie makes herself at home and pulling out four shot glasses and a bottle of tequila.

“Please Sawyer, help yourself,” Lena teases.

“Don’t be rude, I brought you a gift too,” Maggie replies dangling a ridiculously expensive bottle of scotch.

“So, what’s new?” Maggie asks as she expertly pours four equal shots of tequila, sliding two towards Lena and keeping two for herself.

Lena raises her brow but says nothing as she matches Maggie shot for shot without disgust.

“We see each other nearly everyday, surely you know more about my life than I’d like,” Lena teases.

“Perhaps…What’s the deal with you and Sinclair?”

“What’re you a detective?”

“Only on TV, but c’mon, spill. We all saw that ad-lib the other day.”

Lena blushes, “She told me she loved me, yes.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Did you say it back?”

Lena doesn’t reply nor does Maggie need her to, the look on her face says it all.

“So how does Kara feel about her?” Maggie asks, not so subtly steering the conversation, she’s got a bet to win after all.

“You know, I’m not quite sure. She acts like she’s fine with it but ever since Veronica’s been around she’s just been…I don’t know, distant?”

“Does that bother you?”

“Would it bother you if your best friend didn’t seem keen on Alex?”

“Point taken,” Maggie says pouring them both another shot.

“She’s just…How long have you known Kara?”

“Long time,” Maggie replies. “I’ve known Alex since we were in high school, the Danvers’ adopted Kara when we were Sophomores.”

“She’s adopted?”

“It’s not exactly something she likes to talk about, but yeah.”

Lena’s brows furrow with a sense of frustration beginning to flow through her but all thoughts are lost the second Kara and Alex join them in the kitchen.

“Well look at you, Little Danvers,” Maggie grins sliding her a shot. “Looks like someone is totally going to get -“

“Maggie!”

“Babe!”

Lena laughs, a knot churning in her stomach but still, she pushes it aside.

“Luthor, if you’re done staring now we’d like to down these shots and get outta here,” Maggie teases and Lena whips her head to her co-star so quickly in embarrassment she misses the obvious crimson on Kara’s cheeks.

“To girls night!”

“Miss Luthor, welcome back,” greets the bouncer at one of the hottest night clubs in National City as he opens the door to the club’s VIP area.

A bottle of Scotch and a bottle of champagne are already waiting for the girls and neither of them waste a second filling up their glasses and making their way to the dance floor.

An EDM version of one of Dua Lipa’s songs is blasting through the speakers as the lights dim and begin flashing in an array of colors. Lena, always the bold one, grabs Kara’s hand and spins her so eloquently before pulling her back in and swaying her body to the beat. Kara gulps and if it weren’t for the lighting everyone within a mile’s radius would see the blush across her face.

“How is it I’ve never seen you in this before?” Lena yells, gesturing to Kara’s outfit, a fitted black dress with just enough cleavage to remain classy.

“Never had a reason to I guess,” Kara replies as she takes the lead and takes her turn to spin Lena, only as Lena reels back in she places her hands around Kara’s neck and dances closer. For a moment they lock eyes, Kara swears she’s in slow motion with the way Lena’s eyes flit down to her lips and bites on her own, but then the beat changes and their rhythm falters slightly.

Lena takes the opportunity to take control of the situation, a hand on Kara’s waist, gently pulling her in, the other around Kara’s neck guiding her to follow her movements, which Kara doesn’t hesitate to do.

It’s getting hot, too hot and while Kara knows this isn’t doing anything to help her crush, she does nothing to stop it.

A sudden grip on her arm snaps her out of her trance, it’s Alex looking tipsier than when they arrived and she’s motioning to get another drink. Kara nods in agreement and instinctively grabs Lena to follow her. She swears she’s never felt softer hands.

Back in their booth Kara pours herself another glass of champagne and heads to the private balcony excusing herself to get some air. Maggie pours another round of shots and instantly loses herself in Alex’s eyes, leaving Lena to make herself busy.

“Hey, you,” Lena calls out to her roommate.

“Having fun?”

“With you? Always,” Lena smiles.

“What’s Veronica up to tonight?” Kara asks hoping to divert the conversation away from herself.

“Probably out at whatever LA club has been named the latest hot spot,” Lena chuckles, taking a sip of her Scotch.

“That doesn’t bother you?” Kara asks, suddenly regretting her question when she sees Lena tense up.

“Do you think I should be bothered?” Lena asks the annoyance fairly obvious.

“No, I’m sorry, I just…I guess I don’t know much about her other than what you’ve told me from the past,” Kara replies.

“If you don’t like her, you know you can tell me, right? I won’t be upset.”

Kara debates actually coming clean right then and there. Laying it all out and telling her how she feels. There’s a glint in Lena’s eyes daring her to say it but she chalks it up to cloudy champagne judgement and smiles instead.

“She makes you happy Lena, that’s all I want for my best friend.”

Lena smiles, looping her arm through Kara’s as they look out at the skyline.

“Thanks, Kara. She does.”

Lena returns to the dance floor with her friends leaving Kara to her thoughts.

Kara texts the front office saying she’ll accept the first apartment available.

It’s a blur, it really shouldn’t be but after her chat on the balcony with Lena, she made sure to keep her distance and maybe drink a bit more than she usually does. Images of a red dress, grabby hands and needy lips flash through Kara’s mind when she wakes. Her head is throbbing and there’s a distinct sound of something buzzing on the ground.

She finally finds it and winces as the brightness from her phone only adds to the pain of her hangover. Kara swipes away the usual, social media notifications, work emails and then finds a slew of messages and missed calls from her friends.

Alex (11:39 pm): Please tell me you’re safe.

Alex (11:42 pm): I mean it Kara, please don’t make me explain to Mom how I lost you at a club!

Maggie (11:45 pm): Ignore your sister, getchu some Little Danvers!

Maggie (11:46 pm): ;)

Alex (11:49 pm): Okay, gross. Maggie just filled me in…use protection see you tomorrow!

Lena (11:50 pm): Hey - Alex and Maggie told me you went home with someone. Just be safe okay? I can come pick you up in the morning if you want. Or now ever. Just let me know?

Lena (11:53 pm): It was really great to spend time with you last night.

Maggie (11:59 pm): Lena’s being a pouty mcpout face in the Uber after we told her you ran off with someone!!!

Maggie (12:00 am): I’m just saying maybe she’s into you too! Omg how cute would that be!!

Alex (12:00 am): I’m taking Maggie’s phone away now. Okay, bye!

Kara groans, wanting to bury her head under her pillow but stopping when she realizes she’s not home. She’s…well, she’s somewhere and at least she’s alone. She quickly dresses, grabs her clutch and tiptoes out of the room. She’s half way to the front door when she hears someone slightly laugh behind her.

“Well, hello there.”

Kara half debates running the rest of the way out but her politeness wins out as she turns to face her host.

“Hi.”

“Leslie.”

“Leslie…Leslie! Right! I…I remember!”

The blonde laughs, “Listen, I’m going to save you the embarrassment because I’m pretty sure I was just as drunk as you last night, so how about I pour you a cup of coffee?”

Kara relaxes, “That would be really great, thank you.”

It’s not as awkward as she thinks it’ll be. Leslie’s a sweet girl and actually hosts her own radio show with CatCo. Kara fills her in on her line of work and she’s relieved that the other girl doesn’t ask much else.

“So listen,” Leslie starts. “I don’t…I don’t normally do things like I did last night. I’m just getting out of a relationship and…”

“I totally get it. Truth be told, I actually have feelings for someone else and I…I don’t know what got into me.”

Leslie smiles, “Well I’m glad we’re on the same page then.”

Kara’s relieved to know Leslie’s isn’t too far from her own home, well Lena’s home, and then it hits her. Her text to the front office.

“Shit.”

Kara half jogs, half walks back to Lena’s and when she steps into the elevator she feels a rush of…guilt and she can’t seem to shake it. She reminds herself, she owes Lena nothing, she has nothing to be ashamed of, plus it was just one night. She’s an adult.

The bell dings snapping Kara out of her trance, she takes a deep breath and enters the apartment. She shouldn’t be surprised to find Lena sitting on the couch when she walks in but she is. It’s a beautiful yet eerie sight. The sun perfectly hits Lena’s dark hair making them look a magnificent shade of espresso, her eyes are a dark emerald and Kara swears she’s never seen anything so amazing and yet, there’s something off. Instead of the soft sounds of the TV playing in the background there’s silence and instead of Lena’s warm smile there’s a frown.

“Lena?”

“Courier came this morning, said you need to call them by noon to secure the apartment.”

Lena points to a manila envelope with a stamp from the production company addressed to Kara.

“Lena, I can exp-“

“You better respond, it’s nearly noon.”

With that Lena stands and silently passes Kara on the way to her room, locking herself in there for the remainder of the day.

Kara didn’t sleep a wink that night. What started out as casual girls night out turned into a hot mess of a one night stand and then Lena. Disappointing Lena. Kara respected her need for space, she paced in her own room for what felt like hours and sometimes felt brave enough to even pace down to Lena’s bedroom but then reminding herself she doesn’t owe her anything, if anything Lena’s overreacting.

It’s during one of her middle of the night paces that Lena’s door finally opens and finds herself face to face with the blonde.

“Kara, I’m really not in the mood for this, it’s 3 am. I came out here to tell you to go to bed.”

“Lena, hi - no, we need to talk about this. I need to talk about this because this isn’t…” she sighs a frustrated groan. “I’m not doing this right.”

“How about you start with why you’re moving out? Is it because of Veronica because I thought things were better between you two.”

“No, it’s nothing to do with Veronica.” Lie. “I just don’t really want to cramp your style, I’ve put you out enough.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am not.”

“Now you’re lying and being chlidish. Crinkle, remember?” Lena’s frustrated and moves into the living room settling into her leather reading chair and wrapping a blanket around her. Kara taking the hint, takes a seat on the couch across from her.

“What did I do, Kara?” Lena barely whispers and Kara’s heart aches.

“You didn’t, you didn’t do anything Lena, I’m just…”

“Spit out Kara!” It comes out with more bite than she intended but it does the trick because Kara’s responding in full force.

“I like you, okay? I like you and I can’t live with you.”

Lena’s face drops, clearly not expecting that response and it only makes Kara cringe even more.

“I’m just going to go,” Kara replies unable to hide her reaction.

“No, Kara, wait,” Lena reaches forward and pulls Kara back down to her seat. “I’m sorry, you just took me by surprise, I didn’t even know you liked, girls?”

“As gay as they come,” Kara laughs.

“So last night, you went home with…”

“A girl, you can say it,” Kara laughs. “Listen, it’s just a stupid crush, okay? I promise it won’t change anything, I just think it’s time I got my own place.”

Lena studies her for a minute, searching for something but she comes up short.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’m sorry I overreacted earlier, it just came out of nowhere and I thought it was maybe because of what we talked about on the balcony last night and I’m sure this was a bit more dramatic in my head.”

“I’d be upset if I were in your shoes too.”

They smile at each other for a hot second, both feeling light as if a weight’s been lifted off their shoulders and then suddenly the moment passes.

“So where’d they end up placing you?”

“Funny thing about that…”

“Did you really need us to help you move?” Alex scoffs as she tosses a bag of Kara’s clothes into an empty corner.

“Babe, be nice,” Maggie replies giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek before setting down a box of Kara’s belongings.

“I mean she’s literally moved next door,” Alex continues to complain. “Why isn’t Lena helping?”

“It’s Tuesday, she’s picking Veronica up from the airpot,” Kara replies emerging from the hallway. Truthfully, Kara could have moved in the weekend after she got the apartment but Lena asked her to stay until Veronica came back and Kara found it difficult to say no.

“Oh,” Alex mutters.

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Kara replies, dusting off her record player that she pulled from storage from Eliza’s, with a smile.

“Alex - why don’t you finishing packing the last of the boxes at Lena’s and I’ll start helping Kara unpack.” Alex nods leaving them alone and Kara already knows what’s coming.

“I’m serious, I’m fine.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Maggie replies unpacking a few books.

“Has she said anything to you?” Kara asks.

“Lena? No. I think she knows better than to ask me of all people.”

For a while there’s nothing but the sound of items being rearranged in the living room until Maggie speaks again.

“Alright Baby Danvers, I’m going to be honest with you.”

Kara groans and Maggie smiles.

“You already know you’re like a sister to me, quite frankly I can’t wait to make it official,” she smiles as she looks at her engagement ring. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to get soft on you. Alex, she worries about you, she baby’s you. You know I’m not going to do that.”

Kara stops what she’s doing and pulls her knees to her chest giving Maggie her undivided attention.

“You have one of the kindest hearts I know. After what you went through, I don’t know a lot of people, especially kids, who’d be able to come back the way you have. So when I see you doing something like admitting your feelings and confronting Lena like that head on, I know how much it’s taking a toll on you.”

“Maggie, it’s just a crush, it won’t be like last time.”

Maggie hesitates in her reply knowing Kara’s being very calculated in her replies and she needs to get the conversation back to familiar territory so she puts on her best face, she’s an actress after all, and brings it back home.

“Listen, you know I’m not one for being a sap but Alex and I are really proud of you for moving back here. Taking this job and now living on your own. We just hope you know that and we love you, always.”

Kara lifts her head to look at her soon-to-be sister-in-law with glossy eyes but she shifts her feelings and smiles.

“You’re such a sap Maggie Sawyer,” Kara replies throwing a pillow in Maggie’s face and immediately things are back to normal.

Books are stacked neatly in the bookshelf, plates and cups are stowed away, a wooden piano sits in a corner near the floor to ceiling windows and everything feels like home.

Almost.

She can’t sleep. She knows why. She doesn’t want to admit it but she knows why.

Tuesday becomes the first night Kara sleeps without the promise of seeing Lena in the morning.

#supercorp fanfic #supercorp #kara danvers #kara x lena #kara danvers x lena luthor #lena luthor #supercorp fic #supercorp ao3 #supergirl

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fallinfor-youreyes · 7 years

Text

Chicken Soup

When she finally opens the door, Eric is standing there, acting like it’s totally normal for him to be outside her apartment on a Tuesday evening. If she wasn’t so sick she would have given it more thought but instead she stares at him and tries not to sneeze.

“I brought chicken soup.” He holds up a bag, and she remembers that she hasn’t eaten anything in three days except stale crackers.

“You can make soup?” She asks. She walks back to her cocoon she made in the couch and lets him decide what to do with the soup.

“No. But the deli down the street from me that you love does, so I thought I would give it a try.” He stops and turns to her. “How are you feeling?”

She glares at him from her cocoon and he nods. “Right. The flu sucks. Do you want some soup now, or some tea? Hetty gave me her get-well-soon blend. She only gives that out to people she really likes.”

“Um-” she’s interrupted by a sneeze, and he tosses a new box of tissues at her.

“I ran out of all my tissues within the first 48 hours, so I picked some up on my way over.”

“Eric?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing?”

He stops moving around her kitchen and brings her a cup of tea. “I’m checking up on my best girl.” He smiles at her, and walks back to the kitchen again.

“Your best girl?”

“You know what I mean. You checked up on me when I had the flu so I thought I would return the favor.”

She takes a sip of the tea and it might be wishful thinking but she feels better. “I don’t think skyping you because I was stuck really constitutes as checking up on you.”

He shrugs. “I gave you the flu, so since I am now immune I thought it would be nice to give you company. The worst thing about being sick is being lonely.”

“How did Hetty know you were coming?”

“Hetty knows everything.” He settles down next to her and pulls her close so he can wrap an arm around her.

She knows he’s in dangerous territory, both from sickness and from his heart. He’s too nice to her. Nell isn’t blind. She knows how Eric feels about her but she doesn’t know how she really feels about him, but he brought her chicken soup because she’s sick. It’s so cliché and adorable that she almost feels like she’s dreaming.

“You didn’t have to come over.” She can hear his heart beat even through her blanket cocoon.

“Yeah, but I wanted too.” He kisses her hair, and maybe it’s the tea, or maybe it’s the company but Nell feels 10 times better than she had in the past three days.

Once she’s better, she figures she might as well return the favor. He’s not sick, but she knows some nights he forgets to eat dinner because sometimes he more of a mess than a human being.

His door swings open and he’s standing in front of her, shirtless, covered in what looks like flour.

“It’s not what it looks like.” He says, holding up his hands in surrender.

“What exactly does it look like?” she asks. She pushes her way inside to find most of his apartment covered in the same flour he is.

“You know, I don’t actually know what it looks like, what do you think it does?”

“Eric?”

He sighs and closes the door. “I tried to make a pizza.”

“And?”

“Well, I tried to open the flour and well, it exploded.”

“And your shirt?”

“I might have burned it trying to make pasta.”

Nell tries her best to keep a straight face but she can’t. Nell also tries her best not to look at his chest but she can’t do that either.

She already knows she’s attracted to him. He’s not the type of guy she usually goes for, and she doesn’t need his stupid naked chest for her to come to terms with shit she already knows.

“Go put a shirt on.”

“You sure you want me to?”

Most of the time Eric Beale is a mess of a human being who can barely flirt with her, but then there are times when he can, and she doesn’t know what to do with herself.

Because she usually goes after guys who are more like the rest of the team. Built, confident, maybe a little bit cocky. So when Eric can actually flirt with her, especially when standing half naked in front of her, her already confused feelings become even more confused.

She walks up to him, close enough so she can hear his breath pick up when she places a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes, Eric. I brought dinner and I really think you should put on a shirt.” She wipes some of the flour off his chest, and he all but stumbles out of the room to get a shirt.

They clean the kitchen before she pulls out the Thai food and he looks like he’s about to kiss at least three times before she leaves.

“Thanks for the food. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” He says. He’s walking her to the door, and for a second, she feels like she doesn’t want to leave. But she has to. They have work in the morning, and there’s no reason for her to stay.

“No problem. I was just returning the favor for the other night.” She reaches up and pulls him into a hug, maybe so she can stay for just another second, or maybe because her brain is telling her to get her head out of her ass and realize she probably likes him for more than just his stupid attractive face.

She pulls back and he smiles at her. “Looks like we missed some flour,” His hand reaches out and brushes her cheek. He’s going to kiss her. She can feel it, but she can’t find it within herself to stop him.

He’s going to kiss her and she’s going to kiss him back.

But he doesn’t.

He pulls his arm back and dusts off his hand. “See you tomorrow, partner.”

Nell leaves not really knowing what she feels about Eric Beale and cursing his stupidly attractive face.

Eric’s name flashes on her phone, and Nell has to force her eyes away from the stupid movie on T.V.

It’s a Friday night, and she’s drinking, alone, and watching cheesy, terrible Hallmark movies. The one she is currently watching one of the worst she’s ever seen, and she somehow got invested in it. But Eric texted her. Either it’s an emergency, or he’s drunk, which could be more entertaining than the stupid movie on the screen.

Are you busy?

He’s too coherent to be drunk, and he doesn’t ask that when there’s an emergency, so she nearly ignores it.

But it’s Eric. Anything he has to say would be more entertaining than the lead actress running into the arms of the love interest.

Nope.

Before she even has time to take another sip of her wine, someone bangs on the door. Eric strolls in when she opens the door, like it’s something they always do, and drops a kiss to her cheek as he makes his way to the kitchen.

“I hope you haven’t eaten yet.” He says, pulling things out of the shopping bag he brought with him.

She’s frozen in place, her brain still trying to process the kiss he planted on her cheek. That’s something new for them. She knows it’s a thing some friends do, but the extent of their touches were usually reassuring hugs and sometimes punching each other’s arms. Never casual kisses on the cheek as a form of hello.

“What were you going to do if I answered yes?” She says instead of what she is thinking. Her brain is still a muddle of kisses and his walking in so casually. It shouldn’t even bother her that much, because she uses the spare key he gave her to storm into his apartment when she wants company all the time.

“Hmm? Oh, I was going to run back to my car and hope your neighbors didn’t call the police.”

“Hmm.” She walks over to him and grabs the bottle of wine from the bag. “What’s your plan?”

He grins at her before taking the wine so he can open it. “So I had a craving for those chicken sandwiches we had last month, but I didn’t feel like going to the restaurant by myself, so I thought, hey why don’t a try to cook them, when I realized that I can’t make pasta without burning my shirt. So I bought all of the stuff, and was like, hey, I owe Nell dinner, and she can cook! So I’m here, and I bought chicken cutlets.”

She pours herself another glass of wine and passes one to him before she takes out the pan.

“Think you can keep your shirt on this time?” She says. She’s not looking at him, but she knows his ears are probably red and he’s probably struggling to open the jar of peppers.

Good, she thinks to herself. It’s what he deserves for making her so flustered before.

By the time they finish cooking, she’s a little wine drunk and more than a little sleepy. It’s bad enough that the voice in her head that usually tells her not to think of Eric as anything more than just Eric is silent. Silent enough that when he leans forward while telling her his story that her brain tells her to close the distance.

She stops herself just before she moves.

But Eric’s still talking, and moving his arms around his head to emphasis his words and he’s smiling at her.

“What?” He stops, his head tilted to the side, looking at her, his smile never wavering.

She stops herself from staring at his lips and his smile grows even more.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

She’s been caught, but she doesn’t know what to do about it. Instead, she pummels him with a pillow and tells him to continue the story before she kicks him out. Even though she is much closer to asking him to stay the night than leave.

But she doesn’t know how to do that so instead she tells him to put on a movie and falls asleep in his lap, hoping maybe he would stay the night anyway.

She makes chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

Nell didn’t really expect him to still be there when she woke up, but he was. It makes her almost giddy in a way, but she knows it’s because she had trapped him as her pillow and he really had no other choice.

She's halfway through the second batch when he wakes up, stumbling into her kitchen, his body stretched by a yawn.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” His voice is still racked with sleep, and his hair is more of a mess than usual, and it makes her smile.

“Don’t sweat it. Now I get to pay you back for dinner.” She tosses the last of the pancakes onto a plate and places it on the table.

He yawns again before pulling the syrup out of her cabinet and stacking four pancakes onto his plate.

“At this rate we’ll owe each other forever.” He says. He moans when he takes a bite and Nell is one again struck with how attractive he is, and how maybe she wouldn’t mind if she was making breakfast for him after he stayed over for a different reason.

“Holy crap, Nell these are amazing.”

“They’re just pancakes.” She’s flushed as his words and she hates herself. Hates herself for letting this happen, hates herself for feeling this way, hates herself for not being able to do anything about it.

“No, I would buy you dinner all the time if you would make these pancakes again.” He reaches for more as he talks.

“Planning on having another sleep over?”

He drops the fork. It clatters to the table, and it’s the only sound she can hear expect for her heart beat.

They do this all the time at work. Flirt with each other, fluster each other, tease each other until one of them backs down and they get back to work.

But there’s no work for them to get back too.

“That depends - is the offer open?”

It’s her turn to feel flustered now. Even though his ears are still red and he can’t seem to pick up the fork.

“I don’t know; you may have to buy me dinner first.”

The tension in the room disappears and Nell thinks maybe they’re clear. Maybe they can ignore the flat-out flirting they are doing at 9 am on a Saturday in her apartment.

“Name a date, and I’m yours.”

This time she nearly knocks over the milk. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to be over this part.

“Are you asking me out on a date, Beale?” The words escape her mouth before she fully understands what she’s saying. He pales, and stares at his plate for a second too long.

“Do you want me to be, Jones?” He finally looks up at her, and she has to catch her breath. She’s used to Eric, used to being attracted to his stupid face, but she’s not used to Eric Beale’s face possibly asking her on a date at 9 am on a Saturday morning. Somehow he’s even more stupidly pretty than usual.

“Maybe.”

“Then it’s a date.”

They eat the rest of their pancakes in silence, and when she walks him to the door, he gives her another hug and this time, she wants to be the one who kisses him, but she feels like wherever they are is too delicate to be drastic. So she settles for a hug.

It takes him until after ice cream to finally kiss her. He tastes like mint chocolate chip and sprinkles and it takes all of her will power to not make out with him in the middle of the pier. Instead she settles for this, this brief and stupidly short kiss with only one hand to grab his hair with, because her other is too busy holding an ice cream cone.

<p>She grabs his hand and runs with him back to her apartment. Her hands are shaking so badly she nearly drops the keys to the door because she’s waited so long to actually kiss him and she’s not settling with one kiss. She wants more, she needs more.

Nell want to know what Eric tastes like when she kisses her way down his chest. She wants to know what sound he makes when she bites his collar bone, wants to know how his hips feel against hers.

Nell wants everything from him, and from the way he’s smiling at her, she thinks maybe he wants everything from her too.

“You know,” she says, pressing her lips to his neck as her hands fumble along the edge of her shirt. “I never thought I’d day this, but thank God for the flu.”

He laughs, dragging her lips back up to his, his hands sliding up her back, his teeth pulling her lip.

“More like thank God for chicken soup.”

It doesn’t take long after that for her to get everything she wants.

#neric #ncis la #Nell Jones #Eric Beale #my fic #I'm testing out whether or not i should put my fics on here as well as fanfic #we'll see how it goes #this is the first thing I wrote from them that I ever posted #so i thought it would be fitting #idk

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hiraeth-doux · 7 years

Note

would you consider writing a one shot about "Who goes on a multitude of dates, none of them successful, who tries to be sincerely disappointed for them but can’t stand the thought that they might not be together forever. ( “not that we are together in that way but you know”)" ? :)

This was meant to be posted almost a week ago, and it wasn’t supposed to be this long, but you know me :) You can thank Nicky for this lovely request, and I hope I did it justice!

AO3

Time Of Our Lives

His name was Steve and when he leaned into kiss Claire good night after walking her to her car, she pretended tomisread his gesture and offered him her cheek instead. Admittedly, she wasn’tthat good an actress. A flicker of recognition flashed across his face whentheir eyes met again, and she knew he wouldn’t be asking her out again, whichleft her relieved and somewhat guilty at the same time. This was supposed to bea date after all. This was a date. She was supposed to want tokiss the man who was nothing but nice and charming, or at least tried to benice and charming, and she did appreciate the effort.

Yet, it felt more like taking a test, andafter 2 hours of conversation about their jobs and the movies they saw and thebooks they liked, she couldn’t name one thing about him, and she also couldn’twait to leave, the weight lifting off her shoulders at the sight of her carparked across the street from the restaurant.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Claire waved her goodbye and slipped intothe driver’s seat, habitually reaching into her purse to pull out her phone,the buzzing she’d heard just as the server asked whether or not they wanted adessert – no, thank you – had been making her palms itch for the past twentyminutes.

There was a missed phone call from Owen,followed by two texts – one asking whether she wanted Chinese or sushi fordinner, and the other one (that came when she didn’t respond) saying that he forgotabout her date and that he was picking up Thai food from a small place twoblocks away from her apartment that she’d never noticed in all the years she’dlived in the area and that Owen found within a week of moving in. He was good likethat, more observant to his surroundings than Claire would ever be. She couldfind an error in a financial statement at first glance and whip up apresentation out of nothing, and then she’d just as easily get lost in athree-block neighborhood.

She wondered sometimes if this was theproblem. If this was why she hadn’t noticed the real him for so long. Likemaybe he wasn’t in her face enough.

Until he was.

Until the incident happened, and suddenlyOwen Grady was everywhere in her life, following her to the press conferencesand court hearings even though he didn’t have to, talking her through the worstof it, his words not as important as the soothing tone of his voice thatwrapped around Claire like a blanket, keeping her safe, being the wall shecould lean on. Until he became the only person who made her feel sane when therest of the world was downright deranged.

However, when Owen said that they shouldstick together, she didn’t exactly envision the two of them becoming nothingbut roomies, didn’t think he would claim her guest bedroom – the one that she’doffered to him when he has nowhere else to go – as his own and spend endlesshours on her couch in the company of beer and Halo. For a while, Claire’s heart kept dropping down into herstomach whenever he stepped into the room, expecting him to… well, do something, give her a sign. Anything,really. He kissed her after all – Claire wasthere, she didn’t make it up. And she remembered the moment all too well, herlips burning for days afterward.

Except it didn’t seem to have meantanything whatsoever. Not to him, at least. Truth be told, she didn’t exactlyexpect him to pounce on her the moment they were alone, but the days turnedinto weeks and the weeks turned into months, and she might have as well beenanother piece of furniture in her practically and tastefully furnishedapartment. Owen cooked her dinners and picked up her mail. He held her hand whenshe cried and saw her first thing in the morning, bedhead and all, handing her acup of coffee without Claire having to say anything because apparently herhabits were easy to pick up on. Come to think of it, maybe he’d seen too much,she mused. Maybe he didn’t want to know what her pre-coffee self was likebefore they even had a second date. Speak of shooting the mystery in the head.

It was a mess, but it was the kind of messClaire hoped they would manage to figure out somehow eventually. God knew shewanted it to happen, preferably before they turned into her grandparents andbrought weekly Bingo game into the picture. She thought they had a chance.

Until Dan from Marketing and PR asked herout a couple of months ago.

That night over dinner, she mentioned itto Owen with pointed casualty, hoping for… well, something. Anything. A part of her hoped that maybethe possibility of her becoming unavailable would push him into action orsomething. Instead, he told her to go for it, live a little – Owen’s words, nothers. And just to spite him, she said yes to Dan, uncertain of whether she’deven liked the guy or not, but since the one she was actually into was far moreinterested in lounging in her living room and talking about the culinary skillsof the Iron Chef contestants, itdidn’t seem like that big of a sacrifice at the time.

Until Dan turned out being about asexciting as a piece of stale bread, and Claire nearly fell asleep, listening tohim talk about long-term investments and importance of the real estate marketfor the economy, or something of that nature. Suddenly, discussing the meritsof different knives became fore more appealing. She’d honestly wished she’dspent the night with a bowl of ice-cream, debating the pros and cons ofcilantro with Owen. It wasn’t that thought that scared her, though, but therealization that it was probably a matter of time before he started datingsomeone as well. Unless he already was and he simply forgot to mention it toher. Not that Claire had the guts to ask….

To say that it was messed up was anunderstatement of the century.

And then Mitch came along, a CommercialLoan Manager who owned a car that cost twice more than all of Claire’spossessions combined. Well-read and witty, he was a step up from Dan in theright direction. They went out twice. He took her to the restaurant that normalpeople needed to book eight months in advance but that he could walk into on awhim and there would always be a table for him, the staff beaming so bright atthe sight of him Claire feared the rest of the patrons would go blind.

He was her type. Hell, he was a definition of her type, and a few years ago,she’d be thrilled to spend time in his company. So what if their dinners wereinterrupted by the phone calls he had to take? She got it. She got theimportance of the things that couldn’t be put off for later. It had never beenan issue before. But it made her think of how Owen wouldn’t even check histexts when they were eating cheap takeout out of paper boxes, and she longedfor it. She wanted undivided attention, and not just anyone’s, too.

Mitch faded away, swallowed by his job,and Claire was more than a little tempted to give up on the whole ‘living alittle’ idea. The only problem here was that she knew that the only way to get overOwen would be to focus on someone else.

Sadly, Steve definitely wasn’t it.

The ‘it’ was probably finishing a secondhelping of fried rice or green chicken curry right now while Meredith Grey didsomething unfathomably stupid on TV. Again. What was it with Owen and Grey’s Anatomy?

He poked his head out of the living roomwhere the residents and interns were calling code something-or-other, a takeoutbox and chopsticks in his hands.

“That bad, huh?” He asked around amouthful of… something.

Claire quirked an eyebrow, her fingersexpertly undoing the straps of her high-heeled shoes “What makes you think itwas bad?” She inquired, uncertain if she was insulted by the assumption or not.He wasn’t wrong, after all.

He left the food behind and stepped intothe hallway, his arms folded over his chest and his hair tousled from hispost-work run and curling at the ends after the shower. She could smell herbody wash on him even from fifteen feet away, her chest nearly caving in fromlonging.

Owen gave her a pointed once over, thenchecked his phone. “For one thing, it’s not even 9,” he noted. “And I know the look.”

Which could’ve easily been a very boldstatement coming from someone else, perhaps, but of course, he knew the look.He’d seen it first-hand. Clairescowled at him without a comment.

“C’mon, let’s fix it.” He peeled of the doorjamband, hands on her shoulders, steered her toward the couch the coffee table infront of which was full of leftover takeout boxes. Her lips curledinvoluntarily at the sight of an ass-shaped mark on one of the cushions.

Truly a view she missed in a fancy restaurant,Claire thought without a hint of irony as she plopped down and reached for hishalf-finished dinner.

“Beer?” Owen asked, offering her a bottle,but she shook her head, her eyes already glued to the screen. He slumped downnext to her and reached into her carton with his fork with the comfort andfamiliarity she no longer found odd, all things considered. “Come on, gimme thedeets.”

“Read my face,” Claire retortedhalf-heartedly, mad at herself more than him for keeping her goddamned hopes upeven after all this time. One of these days, she was going to show up at homeafter work and find a sock on the door, a universal sign for Do not disturb. It was like living witha ticking bomb in her house, the one that was emptying the pantry like a vacuumcleaner and forgetting to unload the dishwasher.

“For what it’s worth – I’m sorry,” hesaid, not a trace of sarcasm in his voice. He was watching her, Claire couldfeel it, even though her own eyes were still on the screen, feeling like shewas 13 again, but in a very pathetic way.

“No, you’re not,” she said with a huff.

“Maybe a little,” he admitted with asmirk. “Although, let’s face it, we both know what the problem is.”

She turned at him, surprised to find himcloser than she expected, his face barely an inch away from hers, making itpretty damn hard to resist the urge to push his hair back from his forehead,see if it was as soft as it looked. Claire narrowed her eyes skeptically as shetried to ignore her pulse that escalated by the second, her heart pounding sohard and so fast in her chest it was making her dizzy. “Do tell.”

“These guys… They’re vanilla ice-cream,”Owen announced with confidence, digging through the carton of food she wasstill holding but had long forgotten about.

She blinked. “Is that supposed to make anysense?”

“No, I mean it,” he added quickly, shovinga forkful of chicken curry into his mouth and finally looking up. “There’snothing wrong with vanilla ice-cream. Everyone likes it. It’s a good, solidchoice. But no one ever picks it when there’s Rocky Road or Cookie Dough orwhatever else on the menu, you know?” He rolled his shoulders in a half shrug.

“Is that so?” She hummed, struggling tokeep a straight face. “And where does that deep wisdom come from?”

“Oprah,” he replied proudly. “Screw thoseguys, Claire. You gotta find your Rocky Road.” He nudged her shoulder with his andthen pulled her feet into his lap and leaned back, his fingers digging expertlyinto her soles, massaging the tension away. “Or Cherry Garcia.”

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” she promised,shaking her head.

“Either way,” he flashed a megawatt smileat her, cheeky as hell, his eyes crinkling with amusement. “You keep coming hometo me.”

She stared at him, the words running on anendless loop in her mind as she took them apart and put them back together, theletters and syllables thrown into a mix, somehow still falling into the samepattern each time she rearranged them. And it was so easy to see more into hiscomment than he’d probably meant, her fingers flexing involuntarily and hergaze dropping down to his mouth curled crookedly while the ambulance sirenswailed on Channel 10.

“Hey, there’s a new guy in my office.You’d totally hit it off. I could introduce you…” Owen said all of sudden and trailedoff. He cleared his throat, his unfinished question falling between them like awall and making her sick to her stomach.

“You know what? I think I need to recoverfrom tonight’s date first.” Claire pulled her feet off of his lap and stood up,the spell broken and the cocoon of intimacy around them torn to shreds.

She stepped over a stack of magazines thathe pushed to the floor to make room for his dinner and trying to pretend thattwo minutes of foot massage were worth the subsequent disappointment.

—

Fuck.

Owen flopped down onto his bed – well,technically Claire’s guest bed, whichwas a double fuck, really – and ran a hand over his face. His chest constrictedwith a shuddered sigh, his gaze fixed unseeingly on the ceiling.

Did he just honestly offer to fix Claireup with someone?

On a scale of one to dumb, he wasofficially unapologetically stupid.

Behind the wall in their shared bathroom,he could hear the water running, Claire drawing herself a bath, probably withone of those Lush bath bombs that would make her and the rest of the housesmell like an exotic resort, or a bubble gum factory. Or a freaking bakery –cinnamon and vanilla. Like he didn’t already want to eat up her alive, his bonerbeing a perfect example of the cause-and-effect charts she loved to use in herbusiness presentations. Once she kicked him out – which he was starting tosuspect was going to happen sooner rather than later - he’d have to buy everythingLush ever made, quite possibly incapable of jerking off to anything else.

How exactly they ended up being the kindof friends who braided each other’s hair and painted each other’s nails wasbeyond him. Basically, they were a stone’s throw away from having pillow fightsin their underwear – not that Owen would ever say no to that – and there was nocoming back from that. In all fairness, it wasn’t like he thought they’d get atit the moment the hotel door closed behind them on Costa Rica, and the firstfew weeks were so intense it hardly was the right time to bring up the ‘I kissed you and maybe we should take it toa new level’ issue. But between that and the fact that Claire was nowdating, apparently, it was starting to seem like he’d missed his windowentirely, and the idea was filling him with dread.

And what was he supposed to say when shementioned that what’s-his-name ask her out? If anything, it only proved thatshe was ready and willing to move on… not from him, obviously, because theywere never a thing to begin with, but from everything else – the incident, theinvestigation, the chaos their lives had turned into.

Owen was more than a little surprised thatthe banker didn’t stick around – from what he’d heard from Claire, they were amatch made in heaven, or however the phrase went, but it was still only amatter of time, he figured, before she got sick of his company and politelyasked him to vacate the premises. They both knew that after a few months, hewas quite able to afford his own place, and Claire didn’t seem like the typewho needed a roommate. Admittedly, it wasn’t just that at first - the incidentbrought them together like no relationship could. There was the kind ofunderstanding between them that he had trouble putting into words. And truth betold, Owen was scared of being alone, locked in four walls one on one with hisdemons, knowing that Claire feared it, too.

“Just ask her out, man,” Barry told him onmore than one occasion. They took to running together now and then, and normallyit was a silent occasion interrupted only by the heavy pounding of their sneakersagainst the pavement, but Owen’s doom and gloom was starting to weigh down bothof them at this point.

“Just ask…” Owen echoed, his breathingcoming out in labored puffs and his calves burning. “S’like saying if you wantto fly to the moon, just fly.”

Barry slowed down and then stopped, bendedat the waist, his hands gripping his knees. “What’s the worst thing that canhappen?” He inquired.

Owen squinted in the sunlight, his chestheaving, the air that smelled strongly of the ocean and magnolias clinging tohis skin. Hands on his hips, he grimaced a little, the pleasant post-run buzzsettling inside him. Scoffed, when he caught Barry watching him quizzicallybecause apparently the question wasn’t rhetorical.

“Where do I even start?” He muttered,which wasn’t entirely a joke.

He had never wanted anyone more than hewanted Claire, and several months of shameless fantasizing about her did littleto help tame his urges. But the most important thing was that she was hisfriend, the one he never expected to find in none other than Claire Dearing, ofall people. If he did something stupid and Claire didn’t reciprocate hisfeelings, he would lose not only the idea of her, however impossible, but alsothe person he could talk to, the one that listened to him and seemingly cared.In the best care scenario, they would end up with a perpetual wall ofawkwardness between them. Their conversations would go strained and their eyecontact fleeting. With Owen’s luck, he’d have to move to another planet and learnto grow crops because anything else would be too unbearable.

So yeah, the stakes were kinda high, andas much as he appreciated Barry’s wisdom, Owen figured he might need a slightlymore solid plan than Why don’t you just.

Which was problematic to come up with whenhe could oh so clearly picture her in the goddamned bathtub only a wall awayfrom him, and all he could think of was kissing every inch of her body andevery freckle and those plump red lips that he was more than certain would feelpretty damn good everywhere on his skin.

No wonder even Lowery, a guy whose lovelife was desperately sad, was making fun of him.

—

“You’recoming to Gray’s graduation, right?” Karen inquired, which sounded morelike a statement than a question. “Claire?”

Her phone squeezed between her ear and hershoulder, Claire bit her lip, trying to stay focused on her sister and thebalance sheet spread before her on the desk at the same time, her eyes scanningthe narrow lines filled with figures. Choosing impeccable timing was certainlyone of Karen’s undeniable talents.

“I’m here,” Claire muttered, rubbing herforehead. “Yes, of course. I told you I was.”

The one good thing that came from thegoddamned incident was, perhaps, patching up her relationship with her familythat had been steadily falling apart for years. She had to admit that there wasnothing quite like a near-death experience to prompt some actual bonding, andmuch to her own surprised, she actually missed Zach and Gray more than sheexpected, or was willing to admit, especially to Karen who had been on her caseabout being more involved with the boys for as long as they lived. Trying notto dwell on all the missed birthdays, holidays, and milestones, Claire wasquite looking forward to her visit to Madison in several weeks, her feetitching to walk the familiar streets, among other things.

Not that was it was making Karen’suntimely phone call was any less inconvenient.

“Andyour… boyfriend?” Karen pressed.

Claire sighed and leaned back in herchair, choosing to give up on the report for the time being. “He is not myboyfriend,” she repeated for what felt like a millionth time, pointed patiencein her voice because she knew Karen couldn’t stand it – probably about as muchas Claire hated this whole conversation.

“I’msorry. The man you’re living with,” Karen snorted. “Gray talked my ear off about him, and considering your situation--”

“There is no situation, Karen. Actually,we’re seeing other people,” she added, which was vague enough to mean justabout anything while not being a compete lie.

“People?As in – plural? Both of you?” Claire didn’t dignify that with an answer,and her sister went on. “Anyway, he is more than welcome to join you.” Apause. “They both seem to think veryhighly of Owen, and… well, it’s up to him of course. And you. I mean… I don’teven know if he can take the time off.”

“I’ll ask,” Claire promised before Karen’srambling got out of hand.

In the past few months, the incidentbecame sort of a taboo topic that neither she, nor Karen brought up, and eitherby an unspoken agreement, or by their mother’s instruction, the boys nevermentioned it to her either, their Skype calls usually revolving around theirdaily lives. She knew Karen got rid of Gray’s dinosaur collection, and neither ofthem would probably go anywhere near Costa Rica for the rest of their lives,but if that was what healing was, Claire was willing to take it.

—

Contrary to popular opinion, Owen wasn’tan impulsive person. His whole life was a series of carefully calculateddecisions and thought-through steps, the consequences of the possible mistakes alwayson the periphery of his attention. Sure, he had his fair share of baddecisions, the nights he regretted, and roughly a hundred tequila shots that heprobably could’ve live without. No to mention a tattoo that Owen had to turninto a Navy one because getting into a truth or dare game with a bunch of drunkbuddies was hardly ever a good idea. However, his choice to join the Navy andthen accept the offer from Simon Masrani was not made lightly.

Therefore, buying a motorcycle with hisfirst post-incident check was not exactly something he did on a whim. Inretrospect, he could have and should have done something useful with thatmoney. Something like getting his own apartment, for instance, and if he wasthinking with his head at least on some occasions, he’d do just that. However,when he cautiously mentioned moving out to Claire, she scanned his list ofselected Craigslist ads, her face pinched like he’d handed her a dead rat,crossing one after another while she explained to him how exactly the peoplewho posted them were going to kill him, and ‘have you never done this before?’

For a moment, it almost seemed like sheactually wanted him to stay, although Owen refused to actually think of it. Buthis search for an apartment had been stalling since. And even Claire didn’tseem particularly surprised when he rolled into the driveway on a slightly usedbut still impressive-looking Triumph he’d found on the used-cars lot, clearlyoverlooked. He didn’t technically need it, but sharing Claire’s was growingmore and more inconvenient for both of them, and a bike seemed like a perfectsolution at the time.

She merely raised her eyebrows when hefinally came to a stop and propped his newly acquired beast on a kickstand, hishands shaking slightly from tension, unaccustomed to the feel of power beneathhim again. It wasn’t exactly like riding a bicycle, but his body knew all themoves, curving at the right angles as he swerved at the curves of the road.There were things he didn’t miss about the island – stifling heat and humiditythat felt smothering and thick, mosquitoes and the shower that kept braking onthe days ending with a ‘y’, but this was something he used to enjoy quite a bit,the accelerated heartbeat and the speed that felt like flying.

On that first day, Owen pulled off hishelmet, grinning at Claire who was watching him from the porch, her arms foldedover her chest. He pattedthe passenger seat behind him, to which Claire informed him that she didn’thave a death wish, thank you very much, although her lips were curved into asmile that suggested that she didn’t mean it, her face soft in a way that madehis heart leap up into his throat – a hot lump that made it hard to breathe.There was some colour in her cheeks, the wind tugging at her hair gently, andhe thought he was losing his mind. She’d been referring it his bike as hishobby ever since, noting that everyone needed one and thank god his was mildlysuicidal but not overly so.

Owen turnedonto their street, slowing down at the curve, the roar of the engine stillringing in his ears.

There wassomeone on the porch when the condo came into his view, two shadows in the palelight of the porch lamp over the door, and Owen’s stomach twisted uncomfortably.Claire had a date by the looks of it, and this time the guy made it all the wayto the door. He felt sick at the idea of her thinking that he wasn’t at homeand maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to invite the guy in – not that Owenexpected his presence to stop her from doing it, and they could always go tothe man’s place anyway – but it still was akin a punch in the gut, and by thetime he rolled up the narrow driveway and stopped in front of the garage door,he was practically hyperventilating.

Maybe heshould have turned around and headed wherever, Owen was thinking, except if hedid that right now, it would be too obvious and deliberate, and he didn’t wantto give anyone the satisfaction of seeing his tantrum. Not that Claire wouldsee it that way, he figured, considering how she didn’t really care. Maybe hecould do that, after all. Pretend he’d forgotten something at work. Pretend… hewas getting frustratingly good at it lately, and it was starting to grate onhis own nerves more than he was willing to admit. At this point, he couldprobably wish her all the best with the straight face, without batting aneyelash, and it made him disgusted with himself to the point of feelingnauseated.

Owen pulledoff the helmet, sliding as gracelessly off the bike as he could, given that hiswhole body was shaking with too much adrenaline coursing through his system.

Claire wasstill wearing her office clothes, as was her date, both of them looking likethey’d just tumbled out of a corporate meeting, except it was nearing 11 PM andthe personal space didn’t seem to be much of a thing, from where he wasstanding. Claire was clutching her purse and a folder with some papers in herhand, her back turned to Owen, and the man was leaning if a little toocomfortably into her, his tie loosened a little, his voice louder than Owen liked.Not that it was any of his business. Frankly, the only thing he really caredabout right now was that there was no back door in her condo through which hecould sneak in unnoticed rather than having to walk past them.

Claireturned to the sound of his footsteps, a flicker of something that looked verymuch like relief flashing across her features for a second, making him pausebriefly in his tracks.

And this waswhen Owen noticed that something was off. The guy she was with was clearlydrunk, and not just tipsy, but shit-faced hammered, and his swaying was notflirty. He simply couldn’t stand still without the gravity pulling him down.From this close, he could see the difference in Claire’s body language as well– tense and wary, her smile bit too tight around the edges.

“Owen.”

ClaireDearing knew how to deal with men – be they drunk, overly opinionated, or justassholes in general. She knew how to say no and get them to understand that shemeant it, and she knew how to make her position perfectly clear. She wasperfectly capable of getting them to back off and thinking that it was theiridea in the first place, and she wasn’t above using physical force to ensureher safety. That being said, it didn’t make certain situations any lessuncomfortable and more than a little uneasy. Especially when they were takingplace on her porch after what felt like a waste of 2 hours of her life shecould’ve spent not hating her choices.

Frankly, shehad never been happier to hear the familiar road of Owen’s bike coming fromaround the corner, a stiff line of her shoulders going slack by the second. Sheknew it was a bad idea to say yes to Nathan – not because she saw his orderingone cocktail after another coming, because she certainly did not, but becauseshe didn’t care about him in any way that mattered. He seemed nice enough andthey worked in the same field, which made it quite impossible to lapse intoextended periods of awkward silence. However, she did it out of habit, said yesbecause it was easy to do so, and it was unfair to both of them, consideringthat Claire regretted it not a second later, knowing for a fact that it wouldnot be happening again. In fact, in the few hours that passed between theirconversation and the actual dinner, she was tempted on more than one occasionto call him and use whatever excuse she could come up with to cancel.

She didn’t.

And now shewas having to deal with the fact that not only he insisted on walking her homebecause she’d left her car parked near the office and he had at least somesense left in him to know he shouldn’t be driving, but with the idiotic idea hecame up along the way.

She hopedher adventures would be over for the night after Nathan dropped her off, but hewas dead set on walking her to the door, leaving Claire with a sinking feelingin the pit of her stomach. And then he got it in his head that he wanted tocome on for ‘coffee and chat’, and nothing that Claire had said in the pastfifteen minutes convinced him to leave. She wasn’t worried he’d do anything –after all, the man downed enough scotch to knock out a bull – but it was darkand he was a fairly large person, and she could easily knee him in the area thatwas meant to be treated nicely, but she didn’t particularly want to go there,or make a scene, or call the police, for that matter.

All thingsconsidered, she didn’t need Owen’s help, like she never needed anyone to saveher ever in her life, but he was here, and her heart grew five tons lighterfrom the familiar warmth of his body that appeared right behind her and thescent of his aftershave that permeated her very skin, the one thing sheassociated with safety for what felt like forever.

“Hey,”Owen echoed flatly, his eyes sliding up and down Claire’s company.

Shecleared her throat. “Nathan, this is Owen Grady. Owen – Nathan Gibbons.”

Nathanoffered Owen a sloppy salute. “Sorry, man, we’re kinda in the middle ofsomething here.”

“Idon’t think so,” Owen responded mildly tucking his hands into the pockets ofhis jeans. Standing beside Claire, he seemed like a solid wall, and just asunmovable.

“It’sokay,” Claire assured him, feeling slightly less wobbly in her stomach.

Nathan’sgaze darted between the two of them, his eyes narrowed. “Wait, him?” He jabbed his finger at Owen’schest. “Is this why you wouldn’t putout?”

Owen’shand darted forward at lightning speed, closing around Nathan’s finger andbending it backward until the other man yelped in surprise and pain, strugglingto pull away from him.

”Isuggest you choose your words very carefully, man,” Owen said in a low, dangerous voice.

“Owen,don’t.”

Thesound of her voice drowned in the swoosh of the first punch.

—

“Wasthat really necessary?”

Owensnorted as she pressed a pack of ice wrapped in a towel to his bruisedknuckles.

Shestill didn’t quite understand how exactly the fight broke out, and moreimportantly – how Nathan managed to even swing his fists, let alone to causeany damage when he could barely keep the upright position. She blamedequilibrium, and a great deal of luck, for the matter. Thank god, it was overbefore one of the neighbors called the police and Nathan stumbled unsteadilyinto the night, making Claire wonder if a little absently if their businessinteractions in the future would be as uncomfortable as she suspected theywould be.

Shedidn’t have a chance to catch a glimpse of Nathan’s face, but Owen ended upwith scabbed knuckles, a split eyebrow and an impressive bruise on thecheekbone that would stick around for a while, she assumed.

“Apologiesfor ruining your date night,” Owen deadpanned. “Would you like me to go catchup with him and apologize?”

“It’snot what I meant,” she countered with an exasperate sigh that only made hisscowl deepen, although it remained a mystery as to why.

“Would you like to run after him?” He offeredin a voice that suggested that he half-expected her to take off.

Sheswallowed down a smile and shook her head. “Thank you,” added softly. “Thisneeds to be cleaned.”

Hergaze on the cut over his eyebrow, Claire reached for his chin to tilt his head tothe side to have a better look, maybe figure out if he needed stitches, but Owenleaned away from her touch.

“It’sfine. Just a scratch.”

Hepushed past her, stepping toward the fridge. Dove inside for a moment beforestraightening up again, a bottle of beer in his hand. In a tight shirt that wasstretching over his chest, his face battered and his hair tousled and stickingout at odd angles, he looked like he just fell out of a bar fight. Which wasn’tthat far from the truth, and which, under different circumstances, she wouldgladly comment on. However, it seemed an unnecessary joke when he was lookingat her like the events of the night were purely her fault. Like he could barelystand being in the same room as her.

Clairedropped her hand. “You can’t possibly be this repulsed by me.”

Owenfroze with the bottle halfway to his lips, his eyes popped out in shock. “Comeagain?”

“Forgetit,” she muttered, turning on her heel to leave.

“No,wait a sec…”

OwenGrady was many things, but slow wasn’t one of them. Unless ignoring her not sosubtle hints counted – in which case he was the deafest and blindest man alivewith the reflexes of a snail. Still, he crossed the distance between them intwo quick strides and blocked the doorway as effectively as a wall would,forcing her to stop, his brows knitted together in confusion.

“What thehell was that?”

“Nothing.”She raised her chin, willing her voice to remain steady. “I didn’t sayanything.”

Exceptshe did, and his frown deepened. “You can’t seriously think that.”

Clairethrew her hands in the air, the frustration she’d been stewing in for the pastseveral months finally boiling over the edge. “What was I supposed to think,Owen? I didn’t quite imagine…”

“What?”

She bither lip, feeling the heat rise up her cheeks. “When you said we should sticktogether, I didn’t exactly think you meant it in the watching-Netflix-on-the-couchkind of way!”

Heregarded her grimly. “Is that why you started dating?”

“Youseemed to be fine with it,” Claire remind him, her voice dripping withaccusation.

“Ididn’t know you needed my permission,” he retorted, and winced when it came outsharper than he intended.

“Ididn’t need your permission. I neededto know what you cared, which obviously was a criminal lapse of judgement on my part.”

For along moment, they simply glared at one another, chests heaving like after asprint and lips pursed into thin lines. The air between them felt charged,their gazes fastened on one another’s – jade-green and deep blue, Owen’s facecontorted with more hurt than she’d anticipated, shimmering underneath thelayer of fatigue that was radiating off of him, almost palpable to the touch.

Shecould feel it now, the seismic shift between them. Could feel it under her skinlike jolts of electric current shooting through body, and the change she’d beencraving all those months was staring right in her face, terrifying in its immensity,making Claire wish she could step away from him, or better yet – disappear, putas much distance between them, chagrined under his stare.

“Fuck,”Owen cursed under his breath, his expression closed-off and unreadable.

Shethought he’d storm out – god knew she would if he wasn’t blocking the door.

Instead,he yanked her toward him, one hand on the small of her back and the othertangled in her hair as his mouth crashed against hers, hard and demanding andunapologetic, claiming rather than asking. Caught momentarily off guard, Clairegasped against his lips, surprised by the suddenness and the sheer force drivinghim and reverberating into her with every beat of his heart.

Herhesitation only lasted a moment, mixed with panic that he might change hismind, and then she was kissing him back like they were still on the island andthe chaos raged around them. Gripping the hair on the back of his head, shepressed closer to him, deepening the kiss and ripping a guttural groan from himthat made her feel like her body was on fire. Owen’s tongue pushed past herteeth, his fingers bunching her skirt on her ass, his desperate needy wantingricocheting right through her with sweet, burning ache. He smelled of his aftershaveand leather and sweat, and the memory was so vivid she could almost hear thescreeches of Pteranodons all around them, muffled by the loud hammering of the bloodin her ears.

She hadnever wanted anyone so much in her life.

“Stillthink I don’t care?” Owen chuffed against her mouth between sloppy, breathlesskisses.

Oh, hedid. Claire could feel it hard and clear – pun intended – pressing against herhip.

“Shutup,” she mouthed soundlessly as her fingers closed around a fistful of hisshirt and she pulled him down to her again.

Theystumbled out into the hallway, bumping into the decoration table, nearlyknocking it down to the floor, and then into the bedroom – whose she had noidea and didn’t care one way or the other – Owen’s hands sliding over her bodylike he had at least six of them all of sudden, tending to whatever parts ofher he could reach, none of it ever enough. She tripped over a cord on thefloor and he caught her before she lost her balance, holding her close to him.

“Claire…”

“Don’tstop,” she whispered, her fingers tugging at his shirt, pulling it from underthe belt of his jeans, hands slipping under the hem to find his skin.

Shescraped her nails down his chest, and he growled and pressed a slow, hot kissto her neck, Claire’s eyes fluttering shut, her breath nowhere to be found.Owen chuckled as he tossed his shirt aside and started to work on the buttonsof her blouse with one hand while the other hiked her skirt all the way up toher waist, his fingers tracing the along the waistband of her panties, inchingcloser to where she wanted to feel him the most. She whimpered, the sound turninginto a shuddered sob when his fingers brushed to the sensitive spot.

More.

“Letme,” she murmured and pulled her half-buttoned blouse over her head.

“Handy.”

In nearcomplete darkness, dispersed by the faint light coming from the hallway, hiseyes looked black and bottomless, his ragged breath on her skin making hershake all over. He raised his hand, traced the strap of her white lace bra, hisfingers slipping inside as his other palm cupped her face, and he was kissingher again, with deliberate precision this time, artfully removing the remainingpieces of her clothing as he did so, allowing the gravity to take them. Her brahit the floor and Owen’s thumb ran over her nipple, earning a tug on his bottomlip in response while Claire’s unsteady fingers tried to undo his belt withlittle to no success.

She couldn’tremember the last time someone consumed her mind so completely, the primal needto feel him until he was all there was in the world zinging through her withsparkling, sharp clarity. Giving in to her desires was not something Claire wasoverly familiar with, the territory she found herself in terrifying with theenormity of possibilities, but when Owen pushed her skirt down her thighs andit pooled at her feet in a puddle of silk, his hands sliding up and down herback, probably leaving blisters in their wake, she knew it didn’t matter, hermental itinerary shredded into confetti.

Hefollowed her to the bed, pressing her into the sheets, his hands and lips trailingover her smooth skin, ready to drown in her. His gaze skimmed lazily over herbody, pale in the dark and more perfect than his wildest dreams, the ones thatleft him incapable of looking her in the eye the morning after for fear ofletting her in on something that felt like a secret. Owen fitted his mouth tohers, his face caught between Claire’s hands, tasting her smile, his fingersdigging into her flesh, marveling in the silky feel of her body, wrapped in thescent of vanilla and something that was purely her.

Hishand slipped behind her back, all but yanking her lace panties off in one swiftmotion, before tucking her neatly beneath him, their lips meeting in hungry,hot kisses, one sound of pleasure morphing into another. Her teeth closedaround his earlobe as his fingers skittered over her belly, her hips rising tomeet him in a silent invitation – she knew what she needed and wasn’t shy todemand it, and for once, Owen was more than willing to oblige. His palm slidalong her side and under her thigh, lifting her knee. Claire’s gasp of surpriseat the suddenness of him filling her completely turned into a whimper ofacceptance, a sound low in her throat that jolted from the top his head to hisvery toes.

Owen caughther wrist, pressed it into the mattress above her head; kissed her again, theslick wetness of her nearly undoing him in the best way. His hips snappedforward, the instinctive need to curb his urges, make the moment last dimminginstantly, pushed back by the raw need he’d been keeping at bay for far toolong. His vision tunneled, zeroed in on her and thank god, and finally,her legs wound tightly around him reeling him closer.

Thesqueeze, the rhythm, her breathing coming out in soft moans, her usuallyimpressive vocabulary now reduced to yesand more, the sound of her voicevanishing in the sheer joy of gliding in and out of her, teetering on theperiphery of his attention. His breathing grew ragged, his quickening thrustsalmost frantic. And then she was shuddering all around him, a delicious clench,grasping and groping, her outcry breaking through his blurred awareness andthrowing him over the edge in the explosion of pure delight.

Theworld shifted into place slowly, taking shape around them, its edges sharpeningand then dissolving, and coming into focus again.

A slow,lazy laughter bubbled up in his chest as Owen kissed her temple, her cheek, hisfingers laced through hers flexing to make sure she was real. Claire purred,nuzzled into his stubbled jaw before he collapsed on the sheets beside her,completely spent in the most incredible way.

“Oh,god,” she breathed out, rolling onto her stomach with a giggle, waiting for herheartbeat to find itself.

Owenthrew his arm over his eyes, his chest rising and falling rhythmically, andsuddenly she wished she could see more than a mere outline of him, her skinstill tingling with the memory of his touch, every inch of her body alreadymissing the contact.

“Ican’t believe it,” he groaned with a short, incredulous laugh.

“Whichpart?” She asked, mellow and limp for all the right reasons, the thoughtshaving serious trouble forming in her mind.

“Wecould’ve been doing this for months,” he responded, sounding comically miserable,making Claire’s smile stretch out wider. “Years even.”

Shesnorted. “Months – maybe. Years?”

Owen turnedhis head to look at her, his features nothing but a dark smudge, but she knewhe was grinning for all he was worth, could feel it wash over her in tidalwaves.

Herolled onto his side. Propped up on his elbow, dipping his head to press a kissto her bare shoulder, then the base of her neck before finding her lips again,kissing her slowly and sweetly and like they had all the time in the world,which they probably did, and the thought filled him with such consuming elationit almost hurt.

Hebrushed her hair that smelled of strawberries and lemons back from her forehead,twisting a strand between his fingers. “I have never not wanted you, Claire,”he murmured between the pecks.

“Youhave a funny way of showing it,” she grumbled.

Owenwiggled closer to her and gathered her in his arms until she was half-sprawledover him, their legs tangled together and their sweat-slick bodies glued to oneanother, and pulled the covers over them when she shivered. He didn’t seem tobe able to stop touching her, tracing the lines of her body and drain lazycircles on her back, cocooned into the scent and the delicious weight of her.God, she felt so good, so right, so damn amazing - all of her curved into everycurve of him.

“ShouldI have punched someone for you sooner?” He inquired.

“Youshouldn’t have done it, period.”

“Nexttime I’ll hold your purse and you’ll do the swingin’,” he suggested.

Shescoffed and rubbed her nose into his chest, pressed a kiss to a spot below hiscollarbone. “How was I supposed to know?”

“Knowwhat?”

“I didn’tthink you were interested,” she explained.

“Bywhat logic wasn’t I interested, Claire? Why’d you think I haven’t moved out?” Mock-insultedsounded good on him, Claire decided.

“Theocean view?” She suggested. “Free parking?”

Hesnorted like she couldn’t have been more ridiculous even if she tried. “Please!You asked me to move my bike so many times it would’ve been less of a hustle tobuild my own garage.”

“Whatwas I supposed to do? Get naked and throw myself at you?” She demanded with ascoff.

“Workedtonight,” he noted, and she smacked him on the shoulder with the back of herhand.

“Youdidn’t make a move.”

Owenlet out a long sigh, his fingers threading lazily through her mussed hair, the amountof affection making her heart squeeze. “I thought you’d kick me out if I did.Thought I was your charity case or something, I don’t know.” He poked the soleof her foot with his toe.

Shepressed her face into the curve between his neck and his shoulder. “You’re suchan idiot.”

“Itseems to be a popular opinion,” he admitted. “So… now what? Are you still goingto keep seeing those morons?”

Clairechose to ignore the second question, caught all of sudden in the what now part,seeing as how even her wildest fantasies never went past sleeping with him – whichwas so much better than she ever imagined that she had no word for it.Afterwards, she assumed, they would probably ignore it happened and move onwith their lives. Which, as it turned out, was not the case at all.

“We canstart with moving you here to my room.”

“Technically,this my room.”

Sheraised her head, finally noticing the chest of drawers that was sitting in the‘wrong’ corner, and Owen’s gym bag left on the chair, and it was only now thatshe noticed that the bedding smelled of his cologne, too. “Technically, it usedto be my office, and I want it back.”

He laughedand pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “Well, that can be arranged.”

—

“So, youare bringing a ‘plus one’?” Karen pressed, and for a moment Claire wasn’tsure whether to be amused or offended by her undisclosed surprise. Especiallyconsidering the fact that Karen was the one who kept calling Owen her boyfriendfrom the day she met him.

“Stopcalling him that,” Claire huffed as she flipped through the hangers, lookingfor something to match the dark blue shoes she loved but almost never wore.

“Okay, then… what should I call him?”

And that was a very good question indeed,the one that Claire was still struggling with to a certain degree, torn betweenthe need to label and compartmentalize the progression of their relationshipand the tentative idea of actually letting it unfold at its own pace.

Owenmoved into her bedroom almost two weeks ago, his clothes now crowding hercloset and drawers and his books piled on the second bedside table that used tomostly collect dust. And one day last week, he’d actually turned what used tobe his bedroom back into a study while Claire was at work – a gesture that lefther with glowing contentment pooling in the pit of her stomach.

Attimes, it felt like nothing had changed, their routines seemingly the same asthey were before, and yet her mind was still reeling from the clash of newnessand familiarity, the seamless way their lives clicked together like it wasmeant to be this way from the start, and she knew that if she brought it upwith Owen, he’d have a word or two to say about how their date should haveended differently almost two years ago.

Clairebit into her lip, trying to tune out his off-tune humming in the shower andfocus on the conversation with Karen and maybe getting dressed for work beforeshe was late.

“A workin progress,” she said with a small smile.

“You sound… good,” Karen noted.

Clairecaught her reflection in the vanity mirror – in a tank top and pink panties, hercheeks flushed and her hair framing her face in soft waves she no longerbothered to straighten, not with the same religious devotion she was so intofor as long as she remembered, at least. Frankly, she’d never been happier. So muchso that that the woman looking back at her almost looked like a stranger, butthe one she couldn’t wait to know better.

“Itfeels good,” she admitted.

Thedoor behind her opened, and Owen emerged from a cloud of pine-scented steam,his wet hair slicked back from his forehead and a towel wrapped loosely aroundhis hips, making her heartbeat trip over itself. An eyebrow quirked, a cutabove it reduced to a pale scar that Claire knew would fade before he evennoticed, he offered her a lopsided grin, his eyes glinting with amusement, andshe knew instantly that her not particularly subtle once-over didn’t gounnoticed.

“Reallygood,” she added, hanging up without saying goodbye.

Two minuteslater, she forgot what she wasn’t supposed to be late for.

#clawen #clawen fic #claire dearing #owen grady #jurassic world #claire x owen #jealous Owen will always hold a special place in my heart #so much for quitting...#but maybe a few more stories...

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starfreaky · 7 years

Text

BadBoy!Yoongi Imagine

(wrote this for a friend, decided to upload it. Don't judge me it's bad okay, thanks!)

Tonight was a usual Friday night for me staying in my studio apartment ordering from my local Thai restaurant and watching shitty rom coms. I was already comfortable sitting on my broken in sofa watching some movie how this girl was falling head over heels for this wannabe but i was already sucked in. my phone rang and startled me tearing my attention from the film.

"Hello?" I said with a mouth full of food.

"Hey baby! What are you doing tonight?" It was namjoon. I faintly hear his voice over the loud background music.

"First of all I'm not your baby so don't call me that. Second I'm sitting comfortably at home why?" I already knew why he was asking me what I was doing. And I already knew what he was doing. He was at one of his usual house parties. Namjoon and I had been introduced by a mutual and we just became close. He was one of the many fuck boys who attended the schools popular frat. He is nothing more than a friend though.

"Why don't you like it when I call you baby huh? I call everyone it, and I'm at a party unlike you, you loser." He said back.

"I know you call everyone that but I still find it weird. And for your information I'm not a loser you generic Playboy. I just don't enjoy being in that type of scene..." I say in an annoyed tone.

"Okay if that's what you say babe" he said teasingly back at me. "Why don't you get out of that shit of an apartment you have and come out."

"Uhh.." I say hesitantly

"C'mon I'll call you can Uber. All you need to do is get ready okay? Tonight's on me." He tells me eagerly.

"I just-". I can't finish my sentence

"It'll be there in 15 go get ready okay?"

You huff and you just agree to shut him up. honestly he was sort of right.. I mean I don't really go out maybe I did need to interact with people. It'll help me with my acting skills, you know so I can act and appear interested in whatever some loser is trying to talk to me about.

I walked over to my room and through on my usual: black jeans, a black v neck and a leather jacket. I was left debating whether or not I should wear converse or boots. I decided on the boots, I liked the added height it made me feel more how do you say, powerful? I went to the bathroom and put some eyeliner, mascara and lipstick on my lips and a little on my cheeks to use as a blush. I get a text, it's from namjoon he's telling me that the Uber is arriving. I grab my purse, phone, keys and pocket knife and head out the door. I bet you're asking me a pocket knife? Realllyyy?? Yes because I don't fuck with people. I'm exiting my apartment and I see the car already waiting outside. For namjoon? Yeah I quickly answer and I get in the back seat it is quiet the whole ride there. He pulls up in front of the house and I thank the driver and get off. I stood there waiting for the driver to take off. I stared at the house .

You heard the loud music blaring I sighed. I wanted to get back in the car and leave. But I guess Nam had gotten the notification that I had arrived because he was already waiting outside.

Hey baby!! He yelled as he walked over to be with his hands out ready to embrace me in a hug. He was wearing some converse, black jeans and a black v neck with a jean jacket. and to top it off a black baseball cap worn backwards. His smiled and open arms greeting me.

"Finally!!"

He already smelled of alcohol.

"Hi" I muttered.

"Welcome to the crib! I'm glad you were able to find room in your busy schedule to come over". He ended his comment with a laugh

"Oh you're ever so welcome" I say sarcastically.

He walks me into the house. His hand on my waist making sure the crowd of people doesn't swallow me alive. The music is loud and it hurts my ears. I stay as close to Namjoon as possible. I just want to get into the kitchen as fast as possible, I don't even want to be here. Namjoon keeps getting stopped by people on the way to the kitchen it feels like we're never going to get there. But slowly but surely we arrive. He asks me what I want to drink and I tell him I want a Coke and he just laughs. He offers me a beer but I politely decline. So he just pops open a Mike's hard for me. I glare at him and he just laughs. He leans into me and says c'mon just one. I sigh and tell him that I wasn't a pussy that I can drink a beer but he ignores my comment and pushes me through the sea of people until we hit the back yard. We talk for a bit he tells me which girls are on his fuck list. I just half listen to him as I see people drink.

"Are you even listening to me Sam?"

"Uh yes I am." I say unconvincingly

"No you're not you're in your own little world. but thanks for lying and saving my feelings. Youre not the best at it though, you should work on it." He laughed.

"Fuck off." I say.

"Hey watch your language!" He says teasingly.

"Don't tell me what to do!" I spat back. He just laughs and takes another sip from his red Solo cup. a group of 4 guys come over and a girl. Ugh the time I most dreaded had come. The time to socialize.

"Hey guys!! Glad you could make it!" Namjoon exclaims to the group of people who were approaching us. I just smile at them.

"this is my friend Sam. Sam these are my boys Jimin, Hosek, V, and Yoongi." Jimin smiled and said hi to me. He almost looked either gay or just smooth. He was one of those comfortable smooth people? He just knew how to speak. His voice was soft. He made me feel comfortable. He wore a Hawaiian shirt with blue skinnies. Hosek was loud from the start he spoke to me as if we had known each other for a long time. He wore black chinos and a white v neck. You could tell he was the outgoing one. V, He has a girl with him. He was wearing a fireball shirt and dark blue skinnies. He just smiled and his girl glared at me. Bitch I don't even wanna be here. The last thing I am going to do is steal your man. Last but not least was Yoongi. He has a dark vibe to him.he wore black skinnies a black tee and a leather jacket. He looked like he didn't even want to be here. He almost looked like he hated me for whatever reason it was. We all say in a group and talked well everyone except Yoongi he only said about to things and just sat back and stared at everyone taking sips from his solo cup every now and then. We spoke about our majors and intrests for a while before slowly they all left first it was v with his gf I guess? Who knows who she was to him. It was Namjoon, hosek and yoonji leeft. I tried to initiate conversation with yoongi but he just spat out rude sarcastic answers towards me. I'm just trying to be nice to his punk ass fucking prick. I had told him I was an aspiring actress and he just laughed in my face and mockingly said "okay" I don't know what his problem was. Namjoon had announced to us that he was going to get a drink that he was going to be back and I just nodded at him. And I was going to ask Hosek a wuestion until he had gotten a phone call. He excused himself. It was just me and Mr. Emo left.

Sooo I asked him how he was and he just stared at me and raised his eyebrow.

"If you're going to make small talk with me then I don't want to speak to you." He rudely said to me.

"Why the fuck are you so rude?!" I spat out

"I'm not I just don't want to talk about stupid shit with Namjoons toy for the night."

"First of all asshole I'm not his toy. I'm no ones toy! We're just good friends okay? Second of all get whatever is up your ass out because I'm just trying to be nice to you, you prick"

He just sat back into his chair and laughed and took another sip from his red Solo cup.

"Oh baby me? An asshole? never."

You just rolled your eyes.

It was quiet you looked around in search for.namjoon but he was nowhere to be found. So I resorted to my phone trying to look busy.

Suddenly the silence broke.

"You know he's not coming back right? Namjoon. ."

I stayed quiet.

"He's out probably fucking some girl"

I just stared at him.

"Are you going to say anything?" He asked annoyed

"What do you want me to say to ya huh?" I say upset

"I don't know but don't leave me here looking like a psychopath talking to myself." He was becoming more annoyed.

"I don't want to give my attention and time.to people who won't appreciate it." You say.

"Who says I don't?." He questions.

"The way youre looking at me says it all. You made fun of me for saying that I want to be an actress!" I shout irritated by him.

"You don't look like an actress to me. You don't fit the look. That's all..." He sees no offense into what he's said.

I just rolled my eyes.

"Stop rolling your eyes at me. They're going to get stuck like that." He says

"Good! At least I won't have to see your ugly face." I shout I'm done with him. Why won't he understand that?

He took offense to that, you can see him grit his teeth.

"So what kind of music do you like huh?" He was really trying to make conversation

"I primarily like indie/Alt." I say

"Do you like the smiths?" He asked

"Yeah why?" I say

"What's you're favorite song?" He asked

"There's a-" I didn't even finish my sentence.

"Ha of fucking course. You're like the rest of these fakes and losers out here." He snarked.

"First of all you don't know me! Why ask me stuff if all you're going to do is shit on whatever I say!!" I was fed up.

"I know you well enough just through your shit answers." he said annoyed.

"Listen mister know it all you think you're better than everyone else. But you sir you aren't shit! I'm going!"

"No you're not" he says.

"You don't own me!! So you don't tell me what to do okay asshole?" I yell at him. "You don't go anywhere until I tell you" he says possesivley. " lets go" he says to me. I don't get up. I'm not going anywhere with him. "Let's go! /" He yells. "No!" I spat. He yanks my arm and he drags me into the house were going through the people and dragging me up the stairs. His hand wrapped tightly around my wrist. I try to loosen my wrist frim his grip but he just made it tighter. We reach the second floor of the house and he approaches a room door. He knocks and there is no answer. He opens the door and closes it shut right after me. My back is against the door. "Youre looking nice" he murmured. His face was close to mine. I didn't look him in the eyes. "Look at me" he said. I dont "Look at me!!" He demanded. He smirked. "What's the problem you scared?" Hmm? He says "No I'm not scared of you." I say. "That's not what your body language is saying" he says cockily. "I see the way you look at me you want me." I just stare at him. "why are you doing this? You were being a dick to be no.more than 20min ago and now you're holding me hostage in this strangers room". "Don't act like you don't like it." he says in my ear. I can smell the liquor he had been previously drinking. I tremble. He has a certain dominance to him and he knows the effect he has. . "Look at me." He says softly. I take my time and he changes his tone "look at me now" he says in a deep voice. I do and suddenly he kisses me. I taste the hard liquor he had been sipping on earlier. I didn't want to admit it but he had me wanting more. I didn't want to give in. I didn't kiss back. He only kissed me harder. He moved one of his hands to the back of my neck and his other to the small of my waist. The sudden touch made me gasp and he moaned. He liked hearing me sound vulnerable. I finally gave in and kissed him back and that's when he stopped. He stared me in the eyes and laughed. Then he walked out of the room. He just left me there. Lost. What did he want from me? What even happened. I stood there in silence. I couldn't move. I couldn't mutter any words. He just left me speechless. What the fuck just happened?

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