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hobbitingryffindor · 3 years

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Don’t respond after 9 pm

So I've never written fanfic before, but apparently, I'm pissed at Jane. Please be kind, but also let me know if I should continue. I have a few other rules and scenes in mind. I have no idea if this will grow into anything more. Constructive feedback would be great.

___

Maura was ruminating. It was never good when she couldn’t get through her Saturday morning yoga session, but these days, it was becoming the norm. So after she finished her cup of tea, she locked herself in her yoga room, rolled out her yoga mat, and settled in with herself.

She had rules. They were new, and it was hard to keep to them some days, but they were there because she knew better. She knows she deserves more. She may not have had an attentive family growing up, but she knows her worth, or at least she’s gotten better at reminding herself. She knows what they have goes beyond friendship. She also knows it will never be more. Jane just keeps holding back the final piece of the puzzle. She could resign herself to a lifetime of this sexually charged and emotionally mediocre but never fulfilling relationship OR she could take a step back from Jane and a step forward for herself. But last night she forgot. She forgot the first rule she put in place almost a month ago.

1 - Don’t respond to Jane after 9 pm

Recognizing the anxious feeling that started in her chest, she told herself that it was a slip-up and it wouldn’t happen again. But she couldn’t help but grab her phone and reread last night’s messages.

10:36: J - Hey, you still up?

10:42: M - Just finished Bass’ enrichment and heading up to bed.

It had been such a simple response, it just floated out of her fingertips. She was so used to just always responding to Jane.

10:43: J- Enrichment? You can just say that you were in the sandbox hiding food for Bass to find.

10:44: M- Fine yes, I was reading his namesake’s new foreword in “Skeletal biology and bioarchaeology of the Northwestern Plains” while bass dug up the cactus leaves and strawberries I hid in his sandbox.

10:44: J- You make my night of watching the Sox lose seem like an exciting night

10:45: M- What can I say? We love to party over here.

10:45: J- I don’t know when it started, but you’ve gotten really good at sarcasm

10:46: M- You must be rubbing off on me ;-)

As Maura reread that line, she couldn’t help but cringe a little. She really couldn’t stop herself from going there last night, it was yet another small slip up, that showed how their friendship was always a little more than friendship.

10:59: J- I feel like I haven’t seen you at all this week, is the morgue backlogged?

11:04: M- It’s no busier than usual. Actually a little less so without a murder yet this month.

11:04: J- Give it time, Boston can’t go more than 2 weeks without a new murder. Have you been in court on other cases this week? I went to see if you could grab lunch a few times and I never caught you.

11:05: M- We must have just missed each other, I did lunch out of the office a few times.

11:07: J- You going to fancy places without me now?

11:09: M - Really Jane, any place that doesn’t allow jeans, you label as fancy. But no, a friend from my residency, Erica, did a few guest lectures at BCU. I caught one of her lectures and we had lunch a few times.

11:09: J- I see how it is, replacing me with other genii.

Reading this for a second time feels like a needle in her chest, last night it paralyzed her, she didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t replacing Jane, per se. This was also the point last night where she realized her mistake in responding to Jane’s late text. Even now, she still isn’t sure she handled it correctly.

11:18: J- Any plans for tomorrow?

11:20 M- While genii is correct, you can just say geniuses, you don’t have to try so hard. And, no I’m not replacing you. I was planning on browsing Newbury St in the afternoon.

11:21 J- Great, so I’ll pick you up at 2, I’ll carry the bags and then we can hit up Eataly for dinner? We haven’t been there in a while.

11:25 M- That’s okay Jane, I know you don’t enjoy my long shopping ventures, you don’t have to come. And I’ve got dinner plans, I’m sorry. But I’ll see you Sunday night for dinner.

After that, it was radio silence from Jane. Even after all these years, all the social cues Jane’s helped her learn, she still doesn’t know how to read the silence. Last night she was torn. She wanted to hang out with Jane but didn’t. Now she had to live with rejecting Jane’s plans, and what felt like a rejection of Jane herself.

That’s what brought her here, meditating as the sun was rising, or trying to anyway. Maura shook herself out and realized she was going to need a little help this morning clearing her mind. So she opened up the Calm app and resigned herself to a guided meditation. Maura went through the motions of her day, finishing off with an overzealous stop at Diane Von Furstenberg’s on Newbury just because. She still hadn’t heard from Jane and was trying to tell herself it was okay, they were okay, they were just both adjusting to this new normal. Maura hadn’t figured out what this new normal was supposed to be, but she knew she was unhappy with how Jane and she were a couple in every way, except in the way that mattered. Their friendship was unhealthy as it was. If they were only going to be friends, Maura was going to start making space in her life for other friends and possibly a lover or two. She can’t pinpoint when it happened, but her very active and healthy sex life seemed to slowly dry up the closer she and Jane got.

______________

Dressed in her new Midi dress, and a brand new pair of St. Laurent sandals, she waived to Angela across the courtyard as she headed off to meet Erica. Driving to the Chart House, she couldn’t help but reflect and acknowledge that Eric’s timing was creating a good distraction for her. She and Erica had done their residencies together, they hadn’t been best of friends, but she was always warm to Maura and tried to include Maura in her social circle. A few years after Maura moved to Boston, she reached out when she landed in Providence doing a Post Doc Fellowship at Brown. They’d do dinner a few times a year, trade interesting journal articles, nothing special, but it was nice to have a friend outside of BPD. When BCU invited Erica to guest lecture for the week, Maura decided she’d just drop in on the first lecture, which led to a couple of lunches earlier in the week, and a celebration dinner as Erica was just offered a tenure track faculty position starting in the fall. Pulling up to the valet station, she decided that this was just what she needed to expand her social circle a bit. She’d enjoy her evening, celebrate Erica’s new position and enjoy the late spring evening.

______________

Like clockwork on Sunday around noontime, the Rizzoli’s started to filter into her home. Angela always led the parade, bringing groceries and starting the prep process. Over the next couple of hours Jane, her brothers, little TJ, Frost, Korsak, Kiki, and even Susie sometimes would wander in and fill her house. When she invited Angela to live in the guest house almost 4 years ago, she never thought it was going to be permanent, nor did she think she’d enjoy having her there as much as she does. For all of Angela’s meddling and snooping in Jane’s life, she’d been nothing but respectful of Maura’s boundaries and privacy. Maura treasured how their patchwork family considered her house their gathering place, when it was full, it felt like the warm home she yearned for as a child. The amazing dinners, even if sometimes unhealthy, were a vehicle for that love and inclusion Maura had spent over 30 years searching for. She’d found it with Jane and her family, but she still craves more. She wants more than a patchwork family, she wants her own family.

As Maura was finishing up working in the garden beds Tommy and TJ arrived. By the time she’d entered the kitchen freshly showered and ready for Angela to put her to work, she saw Jane and Frankie had joined Tommy in watching a basketball game. Maura greeted everyone while looking at the TV, she noticed no one was wearing a green jersey so she knew Boston wasn’t playing, which usually boded well for her couch and rugs. TJ was in his high chair feeding himself some plain pasta while Angela sang to him. Maura and Angela quickly fell into their rhythm with this week’s batch of Ragu simmering on the stove. By the time the lasagna was in the oven, Frost, Korsak, and Kiki had arrived and, Angela and Maura joined the gang in the living room to snack on some arancini before dinner.

While Maura and Angela always cooked, the most relaxing part of Sunday dinners was when Jane and Maura cleaned up. Never fail the boys would head out not long after dessert and the games were over. And Jane in her way of appreciating her mother would kick her back to the guest house for an early night, while she took charge of cleaning up the kitchen.

“Another glass of wine while you work?” Jane asked Maura while grabbing the bottle

Maura just put her glass in front of Jane while nodding for more. The pots and pans were washed, the dishwasher had already started its cycle and Jane and Maura were moving to the living room to straighten up before settling in to catch up on their week. Normally all this happened with a comfortable level of conversation between them, but tonight, there was a little more silence than usual. With blankets folded and the remote located, they settled into the couch, each sitting against an arm, facing each other.

“You know mom asked me how your date went last night, I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone” Jane started.

“It wasn’t a date, I told you I was going to dinner with Erica, she’s just accepted an offer at BCU.”

“No, you said you had lunch with Erica” with a slight hint of annoyance that only Maura could pick up on. “I didn’t know you guys were doing dinner, I thought you might have been hiding a new boyfriend from me”

“No, no new boyfriend Jane. Although that would be nice or maybe a girlfriend, I haven’t dated a woman since I first moved to Boston”

Jane nodded, her eyes a little bigger than normal, sometimes Maura could swear Jane forgot she was pansexual.

“What about you? You seeing anyone new?” Maura asked, mostly to take the heat off of her. She didn’t know what was worse, talking about her lackluster dating life or trying to appear supportive of Jane's dating life when all she wanted was to be the person dating Jane.

“No, although Frost mentioned his old college roommate is single. I can’t believe I’m even entertaining the idea of letting him set me up.”

“You should at least meet him, if Frost is setting you up, I’m sure he’s a good man.” Maura grinned through a fake smile.

“I don’t know” Jane responded, Maura saw the walls going up “ I don’t want to talk about dating. Is Erica going to move to Boston? You know you’ve never introduced us, are you scared I’ll embarrass you?” Jane half-joked, changing the topic.

“No Jane, you have to stop with the self-deprecating humor, you know I’m not embarrassed by you. And yes, she needs to finish teaching a summer seminar at Brown, and then she’ll move up here.” The next words fell out of her mouth as soon as they occurred to her “I should see if she wants to come to next Sunday’s dinner.” Seeing Jane’s small annoyance grow into jealously, she redirected. “She can meet everyone, but please don’t interrogate her for college stories. You already know I was weird and awkward, you don’t need more things to tease me about!”

Jane took the bait “Ohhhh, I didn’t even think of that! I wonder if she’s got pictures!!

Maura just rolled her eyes, relieved that the tension was broken. She really did want Jane and everyone else to accept Erica, she remembered what it was like moving back to Boston and not having anyone. The rest of the night passed quickly, Maura kept the topics to mostly work or Boston politics. Jane could rant about local politics for hours and it didn’t put Maura at risk of gazing at Jane like she wanted to take her upstairs. A little before 11, Jane sighed and made her excuses about getting back to Jo before she relieved herself on the rug again. Pre-rules Maura might have made some comment about how much wine Jane had and how she should stay the night. Post-rules Maura kept her mouth shut. As Maura locked the door behind Jane, she couldn’t help but hope that just maybe, with some delicate balancing, she’d be able to move on from Jane and keep her as a friend.

________

Later that week Maura found herself at the Robber with the whole group, even Susie joined them. Maura was finding her new footing and it felt nice, it gave her a boost of confidence. Jane no longer acted as her interpreter when Frost made a joke, Korsak no longer felt the need to censor his dirty jokes and Susie actually had a pretty foul mouth once she had a few drinks. More than ever she noticed how breaking down her walls, allowed others to break their own down around her. She didn’t feel like Queen of the Dead anymore, she was Maura. As the night stretched on the table shuffled around a bit, Korsak left to meet Kiki, Frankie and Nina joined, Susie went home and Frost tried his luck with a pretty blonde at the bar.

Maura didn’t even notice how slowly Jane crept to her, close enough that her side was against Maura and her arm draped behind Maura across the back of the booth. But she did notice when the vibe between Jane and her started to mirror that of Frankie and Nina, right down to Jane ordering Maura another drink before checking with her. Maura and Jane were a couple, they couldn’t help it. The small touches, the laughing into each other’s sides, even the stolen glances. It no longer felt like hanging out, it felt like they were on a double date. It was too much for Maura, she excused herself to the bathroom to regroup. Looking at herself in the mirror, she scolded herself. She had to get out of there, she needed more distance. How could she possibly have her own relationship if she always ended up with Jane?

“I didn’t realize how late it had was,” Maura said marching up to the booth. “I’m going to head home. I’ll see you all in the morning? Those cultures should be ready by 10, I’ll page you when I have the report ready.” All of a sudden Maura infused a formalness into the air that wasn’t there before. Frankie raised his eyebrows but said nothing. It was weird for Maura to leave without Jane, or at least inviting Jane back to her house.

“I’ll leave with you” Jane started to get up.

“Oh no, that’s fine, I’m parked just across the street. I’ll be fine, stay, enjoy the rest of your beer” Maura responded with a slightly stern note. Jane nodded, “Party pooper, leaving me with these love doves” gesturing to Frankie and Nina, while they responded with mock offense. As Maura walked away, she didn’t see Frankie lean in and whisper to Jane.

Once Maura settled into bed for the evening she decided it was time for her to get out there. Even if it meant her joining one of those annoying dating sites. It was better to be trying than pining. Last week Erica had suggested How About We, it was worth at least signing up. She decided that it couldn’t hurt more than she was already hurting. While she hadn’t opened up to Erica about how frustrated she was with her’s and Jane’s relationship, she had expressed a desire to get out there more and Erica had offered a few bits of advice. If she couldn’t go to Jane about this, it was nice to at least have another friend to commiserate with about dating. As soon as she completed her profile, her phone beeped and a notification popped up on the screen.

11:17 PM

Jane Rizzoli

You awake?

Clicking her screen off, Maura put her phone on her nightstand and turned over for what would be a very uncomfortable night’s sleep.

#rizzoli and isles #rizzoli & isles #fanfic #Fanfiction #rizzles #rizzles fic #jane rizzoli #maura isles

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kelieah · 4 years

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surprise (peter parker x stark!reader)

summary: you give peter a gift he would have never expected to receive from you

word count: 2.9k

warnings: angst angst angst, fluff, language

edited: sorry this is super late :(

a/n: hehe, happy bday to the cutest puppy of all! thank you to everyone who helped me come up with ideas for this fic, ily all 3000

masterlist

You and Peter have been dating for almost a year now. You both decided to get together after all the chaos that took place in Europe. You two have been friends for quite a while before that, so the fact that your friendship with Peter flourished into something even better is one of the many reasons why you adore him.

His birthday is tomorrow and you wish to make it as special as it can be. Though you’re not exactly sure how to do that. You know your dad would’ve easily bought something tremendously big and written a cheesy yet short letter with it, and Peter would love it. But if you did the same, it wouldn’t be right. Right?

The night before his birthday, you were in a spiral. You had already planned a surprise party for him at his apartment though that was the least of your worries. You were pacing around your room, unsure if the gifts you’ve been preparing for weeks was enough or if you should add more things.

Over the years you’ve been friends with him and the months you’ve been dating him, you put together memories and experiences all in a scrapbook. It looked cute and simple on the outside, but once you opened it up, the pages were filled with photos, letters, doodles, and colors. Many references or inside jokes were scattered along the side margins and stickers were put accordingly. You made sure it was perfect, but your gift still felt incomplete to you.

You wanted to be extra. You had to be extra. You remember your mom saying it was something you got from your dad. That man was always one for his dramatics. So you stayed up a bit later than you should’ve, making tiny little paper stars with sweet compliments, affirmations, and advice in them. Then you made as many as you can to fill up a glass jar shaped like R2-D2.

Though to you, that still wasn’t enough. So you searched and searched and eventually found some vintage Star-Wars comics. Ignoring the fact that they were over a thousand bucks, you bought a dozen or so. His gifts were spread across your bed and you stared at it for what felt like hours.

Is this enough? Is this too much? Will he love it? Will he even like it? Shit.

You remember wanting to sleep and putting it all aside to figure out in the morning. You might’ve forgotten his birthday was the next day with how much you focused on the gifts than the actual date, so you woke up with panic.

You also remembered there was one last thing you wanted to get for Peter but once you glanced at the clock, it was already noon. You overslept.

You feel your heart drop immediately realizing that you weren’t able to text or call Peter a happy birthday or good morning. You assume he must be worried, or hurt or maybe upset? You place your face in your hands and fall into deep thought. Then it hit you, the surprise party is in three hours.

“Morning Friday, read my text messages and voicemails please,” you groggily lean against your bed rest.

“Are you sure, Y/n? You have 243 text messages and 94 voicemails,” Friday informs you.

Your eyes widen and you shake your head, “Uhm, actually just read the ones from Mom, Peter, Aunt May, and Happy please,” you mutter.

“Understood,” Friday responds, beginning to go through your messages and voicemails, “Mom has messaged you, “Morning honey. Had to go to some meetings. Nanny is leaving at 1, please watch Morgan. I’ll meet you at the party. Could you bring Morgan with you when you go?” Peter has not messaged or called you. Aunt May has messaged you, “Hi dear! I’ve already baked up some cherry pies for the party, when are you going to be over to decorate? By the way, Peter went out and is probably patrolling,” with a smiley face and heart. Happy has messaged you, “Hello, I already ordered the catering, and went over the invite list. Are you up yet?” and he also left the voicemail saying, “Hopefully you’re up by the time you get this. Most of the Avengers are coming, except Thor, the Saviors, no wait, the Guardians of whatever they’re called, and Captain Marvel. I’m sure you could figure out why. Give me a call when you’re up.” Done.”

“Shit,” you whine loudly. You throw yourself out of bed and get to your morning routine. You quickly tidy up your room, take a quick shower, go through your skincare routine and get dressed up. You decided to put on some makeup and wear nicer clothes for once given it’s your boyfriend’s birthday.

You look around your room and inhale deeply, “Just that one last thing,” you remind yourself and walk off. After getting what you need, the nanny informs you that she’s leaving. You walk over to Morgan’s room and knock the door before entering, “Hi princess, you ready for Spider-Man’s birthday?”

She turns around, all dressed up in a pretty floral dress, “Hi sissy, yes! Don’t you mean, your friend boy?” she giggles, running up to you.

You roll your eyes playfully, “You mean boyfriend? Yes, c’mon pretty girl. We’re going to go now.”

An hour or so later, you’re making your way over to Aunt May and Peter’s apartment with Morgan in the backseat. You felt bad for not greeting Peter at all today but you decided to make it a part of the surprise. “He still has a tracker in his suit!?” you burst out in laughter as you stop at a red light.

“Seems like Tony didn’t get rid of it before, I don’t blame him,” Happy mutters. “You got everything right? Morgan, Peter’s gifts, the decorations, and your head?”

“Yes Happy,” you glance into your back seat, checking in on Morgan and seeing the piled clutter. “I feel like Santa Clause with a bunch of gifts and an elf in the backseat,” you chuckle. Morgan gasps and makes a silly expression at you that brings a smile to your face.

“Maybe you are with all the cookies you eat,” he jokes.

“You’re one to talk, anyway where’s Peter now?” you ask as you drive off as soon as the light turns green.

“He’s swinging around, I saw the news. He’s interacting with fans and interviewers, a pretty rare case.”

“True, he must be trying to distract himself. Am I the only one who hasn’t greeted him yet?” you ask, nervously biting on your bottom lip.

“Yep.”

“Shoot, well I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Let’s hope so, I’ll see you and Morgan when you both get here. Gotta help May out with the pies.”

“Sure, the pies,” you tease, causing Happy to roll his eyes and end the call.

You feel your heart stop as Peter suddenly gives you a call. You fight the urge to pick up and shower him in reassurance and love, but ignore for the sake of the surprise.

Ten to twenty minutes later, you and Morgan arrive at May and Peter’s apartment. You smile and knock on the door, struggling to hold everything in your arms while holding Morgan’s hand.

“Hello hello, you two,” Aunt May opens the door with a bright smile on her face. She lets you in and helps you out, “Took you long enough.”

“Sorry, I overslept. I wasn’t sure if my gifts were enough,” you pout and kiss her cheek.

“That’s okay. Morgan baby, Happy’s in the kitchen.” May smiles and ruffles Morgan’s hair. Morgan hums and hugs her leg, running off.

“These are all your gifts for him? Sweetheart, it’s his birthday not Christmas,” she giggles. “I’m sure he would love anything you get for him, even if it was a cheap lego set.”

“I know I know, it’s just Peter has been through so much. I feel like he deserves the world,” you say bashfully.

“You’re so cute,” she hums and helps you place the many gifts on a certain table. “Remember, you have been through a lot too.”

“Yes, but today’s his day,” you cross your arms. “Anyway, enough chatter. We should decorate now, everyone’s coming over in an hour right?”

“Yep. I also told Peter to swing around for a while and bring Thai food home at 4. He thinks it’s just going to be him, Happy and I. I told him you have work,” she says, grabbing some decorations.

“Okay, perfect. I feel so bad, I haven’t communicated with him since last morning,” you huff and grab some streamers.

“I’m sure he understands, kid gets busy too,” Happy walks over from the kitchen with Morgan trailing behind him. “Man, are these all your gifts for him?” he glances over at a table filled with only your gifts.

“Y-Yes? Why is that such a bad thing,” you groan.

“It’s not, I think,” he glances at May who gives him a look. He puts his hands up in defense and slowly walks back into the kitchen.

“You’re fine, honey. Also, I love your dress, isn’t that?” she tilts her head.

“Yeah, it’s the dress I was wearing on our first date,” you smile to yourself, glancing down at your cherry red dress. It fit perfectly, not too loose or tight and it had pockets. Something you and Peter were always amused by.

After the three of you finish decorating, the guests begin to arrive. Most of the team showed up and you and Peter’s close friends. You let out a sigh of relief and lean on the fire escape railing, looking out at the city. You glance at your watch, “Almost time.”

“Hey there,” you hear from behind you. You look back and see Happy.

“Hey.”

“You doing alright? Peter’s coming soon,” he says and walks next to you, leaning against the railing.

“I know, I just feel like. I did too much? Too less? I’m not sure, I just wanted this day to be perfect for him especially after last year,” you mutter and glance at Happy with teary eyes.

He smiles sadly and pulls you into a hug, “It’s absolutely perfect. You know, Peter isn’t going to be the only one who’s proud.”

“Who else? You?”

“Well, besides me and a bunch of other people. Your dad,” he murmurs.

You feel your heart tighten and you stifle a cry, stuffing your head into his chest. He sighs and hugs you close, “Thank you.”

“No, thank you. Sometimes I feel like he never left, because everyday I see him in you,” he pulls away, holding your shoulder.

You smile softly and nod, “T-Thank you, Happy really,” you sniffle.

“Of course. You should probably tidy up, your makeup’s running,” he takes a step back.

You laugh half-heartedly, “Alright. Could you tell everyone to get in their places?” you begin to walk towards the apartment.

“Got it,” he nods and follows you back inside.

Your heart was racing, everyone wasn’t sure if he was going to show up at the front door or his room. Happy gives the signal that he’s arrived and everyone goes silent. You feel a slight sense of relief when you hear noises from the front door. If he came through his room, he probably wouldn't be that surprised.

Peter sighs and holds the bag of Thai food in one hand, opening up the door with a key in the other. His senses have been all over the place today and his heart didn’t feel like it was in the right place. He was beyond worried about you, he didn’t even care that it was his birthday. He just wanted to know if you were okay.

He opens the door, calling out for May. “May, I’m home-”

“Surprise!” Everyone appears out from their spots, greeting Peter with bright smiles and confetti.

Peter instantly jumps and places a hand over his heart. “G-Guys!? Bruce? Scott? Wait, Ned? MJ!?” he stammers, looking all over the place.

“Happy birthday, Spidey,” you come out of your hiding spot, smiling warmly at him.

“Oh my god, Y/n,” he breathes out and rushes over to you, pulling you into a hug. You let out a gasp as he picks you up and spins you around. He places you down and hugs you closer. He pulls away and glances at your dress then at you, “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he sighs, kissing your cheek.

You blush at his comment and fiddle with your dress. “Thank you,” you smile, hoping he notices your outfit.

“Wait, isn’t this the dress from our first date?” he holds some of your dress and glances at you. You grin and nod, he sighs happily and pulls you back into a hug.

Everyone reacts sweetly until Flash, who was surprisingly invited yells out, “Get a room!” Everyone instantly glares at him and he shrivels up, smiling sheepishly.

You roll your eyes and Peter ignores him, peppering your face with kisses. “I thought you were mad at me or something, or hurt, or just forgot about me,” he rambles, holding your face.

“Well, luckily none of those are the cases. I just wanted to surprise you,” you hum.

“You planned all this?” he gapes, glancing around his apartment once again.

“Yes, but I had a lot of help,” you hum.

“Friend boy!” Morgan squeals and rushes over, hugging you and Peter’s legs. “Happy birthday,” she beams.

Peter’s eyes soften and his bends down, “Thank you cutie,” he grins.

She squeals and hugs him, “Can you be my friend boy?”

You gasp dramatically, “Morgan, he’s my friend boy.”

“I don’t know babe, Morgan looks amazing in her little princess dress,” he picks up Morgan, holding her close.

You pout and cross your arms. Morgan bubbles happily and wraps her tiny arms around his neck.

To say Peter was overwhelmed with happiness was an understatement. He felt relief, appreciation, love and support. This whole time he was worrying that he had done something wrong when really nothing was wrong and everyone was just hiding and being quiet for his surprise.

After catching up with some of the Avengers and friends and eating dinner all together, it was time for cake and presents.

You couldn’t express how unbelievably happy and emotional you felt for Peter as he stood in front of his cake as everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. His face was filled with pure joy and you wish that could stay on his face forever, because to you, that’s what he deserves and more.

Not much later present time begins and Peter starts to open up everyone’s gifts. You told him to open yours last. You absolutely adored this boy and your heart swelled up every time he held a genuine smile to his face as he opened his gifts. He got up, thanked and hugged every single person who had got him a gift. You truly are smitten for him.

“Who are all these gifts from?” Peter asks, glancing at the huge piles of gifts left. “I thought I had opened everyone’s except Y/n’s already,” he chuckles.

“Those are all mine,” you walk over, sitting next to him.

“Oh, flower,” he mutters softly and pouts out his bottom lip. “You didn’t-”

“Ah, please open them and shut your mouth,” you cross your arms. Everyone laughs in amusement at your sass and watches as Peter begins to open up the gifts.

Peter first opens up the comic books and jars filled with little letters, “Oh my god, you didn’t,” he whimpers happily. “This must’ve cost a fortune,” he holds up the comic books.

“What? All I did was write on little pieces of paper and-”

“Babe.”

“I know! I’m joking, on to the next please,” you coo and kiss his cheek.

He huffs and unravels the next gift, his eyes beginning to glisten with tears. He slowly flips through the pages of the beautiful scrap book you made for him. He comes across a page where it was you, your dad and him in multiple photos. He lets tears slip form his eyes and glances at you with softened eyes, “Y/n,” he mutters.

“Larb you,” you kiss his cheek. He places the scrapbook aside and pulls you into a hug, kissing your forehead.

“I larb you more,” he sighs.

“I thought that was our thing,” May pouts, causing everyone to chuckle at her comment.

“It can be our thing too,” Peter teases. “Is that all?” he sniffles, glancing back at you.

“One more thing,” you smile cheekily.

“Oh man,” he sighs, placing his forehead on your shoulder. “I don’t know if I can take it.”

“Morgan,” you look up, running your hands through Peter’s curls. She grins and grabs the last small box, bringing it to Peter.

He looks up and smiles, silently thanking her. “You want to help me open it?” he asks her. She nods and sits on his lap, helping him pull away the ribbon. As they both do so, the box falls and reveals the gift your mom once gifted your dad, then to you. Peter covers his mouth, “No, I can’t-”

“Peter,” you shake your head.

He sniffs once again, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks as he glances at the glass case with your dad’s arc reactor inside. He glances down at the words surrounding the arc reactor, “Proof that Tony Stark has a Heart,” he sobs.

You glance up seeing that your mom smiles sadly, wiping away some tears. “Happy birthday,” you repeat, kissing his cheek.

“Why are you giving this to me?” he stammers, hugging Morgan back as she hugs him close, nuzzling her head into his neck.

“Mom, Morgan and I already have many parts of dad with us. You don’t have as much and we all know how much he meant to you. You really are a part of our family too Peter, and I felt like you deserved this. Now you can see that his heart also belongs with you,” you smile warmly, cupping his cheek and wiping his tears away.

Everyone watches the heart-touching moment unravel, a sad yet understanding smile appearing on their faces. “I love you. I love all of you, and you,” he pokes Morgan’s nose, causing her to giggle.

“We love you too Peter,” everyone chimes in.

“I love you more,” you whisper, kissing his nose.

“I love you 3000,” Morgan pouts, playing with his shirt. You and Peter look at each other with sad smiles.

“I love you 3000 too.”

tagging some mutuals who might be interested! @ariistotles @cosmicholland @petersholland @tonguetiedholland @theamazingtomholland @tombrina @spideyyeet @toms-gf @peterspideysstuff @chloecreatesfictions @mcdwcman @hollandsrecs @the-salty-asian @fallinfortom @hermayone @allegra-writes @waitimcomingtoo @futuremrspcy @dreamofaprilsblog @t-lostinmendes @musicalkeys @icyhollands @beverlyparkerr @marvelhoesworld

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lunar-girl-fic · 3 years

Text

Against All Odds- Week 1

Warning: Harrassment/assault, language, suggestive, threats

Y/N POV

Word Count: 2530

A/N: As mentioned before this is based on my personal life. Even though not everything in this story happened, some of the more serious topics actually did. So a quick warning, there is content in here than can make the reader uncomfortable, specifically se**** harassment/assault. My intention in mentioning this in the series is to make people aware that this kind of stuff does actually happen in places you might not think it happens in. Also I try write relatable content. In my opinion Y/N reaction was kind of realistic. I reacted like that as well but instead of telling a boyfriend I told my close friend who worked with me and his reaction was the same as Eunwoo’s. Soooo in conclusion I hope you don’t think I’m writing this to be insensitive. I’m just trying to be as realistic as possible since it is based off my life.

A/N 2: I am a brown (If ya wanna know my exact ethnicity you could ask and I'll gladly tell :)), curly hair girl and since this is based on my personal life/experience I'm gonna write this series with those details in mind.

*Beep beep beep beep*

Your turned to your side to turn your alarm clock off. When you turned it off you gently pried the hands that were on your waist off. Even though your boyfriend was going to school the same time and place as you, you wanted to get ready first so you could make breakfast.

You took a quick shower and put on some home clothes because you didn't want to mess up your new uniform. After dressing you woke up Eunwoo.

"Eunwoo wake up" You said while shaking his shoulder.

He lifted his head towards you and barely opened his eyes, "Mmmh 5 more minutes", he mumbled dropping his head back onto the pillow.

You understood why he was so tired. You guys had stayed up late finishing the homework assignment that was due today. Had you guys known it was going to take so long you would've done it a week before but there's no point in dwelling on the past.

You shook him again, "Eunwoo, you have to get up. Class starts in an hour." He turned onto his back and whined.

"Morning sleepy head."

"Mornin’“

"You should start getting ready. We don't know how this man handles lateness."

"But I'm soooo tired." He said as he grabbed you and pulled you back onto the bed.

"I know, so am I."

"I can think of a couple ways to help us feel more energized." He said while caressing your thigh.

"So can I and it's called a shower and breakfast." You said while slapping his hand away.

He pouted, "You're no fun."

"I'll be sure to remind you of that next time you wanna have se-"

"Okay okay you win."

"I always do, now hurry up and get ready. You have about 15 minutes to shower and eat."

"Hmph, unlike you I don't take an hour just to shower."

"Wh-what?!? I don't take an hour!"

"How would you know if you've never timed yourself?"

"Well-I-you-"

"My point exactly." He said with a smirk as he closed the bathroom door.

You scoffed in disbelief but then thought about it. Maybe you did take an hour to shower but who cares. At least you were thorough when you cleaned yourself. You put your school uniform on and packed you and Eunwoo's lunch. Even though your school was close to fast food places, you guys needed to save up to pay for necessities. Plus who knows if your professor is actually going to give you a long enough break to buy food in those dreadfully long lines.

Just as you finished packing lunch Eunwoo walked out of your shared room fully dressed. You looked down at your watch and realized it was time to go if you guys wanted a seat close to the front.

As Eunwoo went to take a bite of his breakfast you snatched it out of his hand and bagged it.

"Hey! I was about to eat that."

"I don't think so, you took too long to get ready so now you have to eat it on the way."

"Sounds like too much work." He said as he tried to grab his food out of your hand. Of course since you were smaller than him you were able to escape and quickly ran to your bookbag to put his food in it.

After you zipped up your bag, you turned to look at your pouting boyfriend.

"As I said before your going to eat on the way there but since you'll be driving I'll feed you. How does that sound?"

His face beamed at your offer, "Let's get going then."

As you promised you fed him on the way there. By the time you arrived you had about 5 minutes to spare. Before you guys entered the gym you saw one of your classmates you made friends with when you took Pharmacology.

"Hey Laura!"

Laura turned around to see who was calling her name. When she saw who it was she instantly smiled. "Y/N! How are you?"

"I'm good, how have you been?"

"Pretty good, can't really complain." She said but then looked at Eunwoo who was just standing there looking like a teen whose mom just saw an old friend. You wouldn't have mind at first since this would be the first time she ever saw him. But the look she was giving him ignited a fire in you that only happens when you get jealous and that doesn't happen often. So you just stood there and tried your best to keep smiling and act like nothing was wrong.

"Who's your friend?"

"This is Eunwoo, my boyfriend." You said making sure to put emphasis on the boyfriend.

"It's nice to meet you." He said sticking his hand out for a handshake. She shook his hand. An action that is generally an innocent and friendly greeting seemed so wrong in that moment that you couldn't take it anymore.

"Ohh would you look at the time, we should probably go find a seat before all the good ones are taken." You said while pulling on Eunwoo's arm.

"Maybe we can sit together." Laura said as she tried to catch up to you guys.

"Mmmm I don't think we'll be able to." You said while you scanned the room for a row with only two seats available.

Bingo you thought when you saw row 3 only had 2 seats. You quickly pulled Eunwoo to the spot. You looked back to see what Laura was going to do and saw the look of defeat on her face. Which of course brought a smile to your face but quickly dropped it for a look of remorse.

Once you both pushed your chairs closer to each other you sat down and pulled out your syllabus, textbook and notebooks. You didn't even have a chance to talk to Eunwoo because it just turned 8 o'clock.

"Okay, Let's get started." The class immediately got quiet. "Welcome to Process 1, this is where you will learn the fundamental skills of nursing. I covered most questions in our previous zoom meeting so I will not be answering any today unless it has to do with the material. As I said before you must abide by the rules because this is Nursing and we need to shape you into future nurses. I will NOT baby you because this is college and if your looking for an easy class then you can go do Business Administration."

Oh great, another smart a**, you thought.

"Now let's get down to business. Today we're going to be watching videos of what you are going to do for your head-to-toe assessments. But before we do that I am going to let the other clinical instructors introduce themselves."

After they introduced themselves your professor started the videos. At first they seemed interesting but then after a while you started to get sleepy. And you weren't the only one. You looked over at Eunwoo and he was already sleeping. You gently pushed his shoulder and he woke confused about his surrounding until he realized he was still in school. Thankfully your professor finally gave you guys a break from watching videos.

"Okay now we are going to practice what you just saw. I want you to take a finger and find the 1st intercostal space and then the 2nd and don't stop until you get to the 5th one. You will do this on yourselves first and in a few minutes on your partner. But when you are with your partner you will only go to the 2nd one. "

That shouldn't be too hard, it's literally just the space between your ribs, you thought. But boy were you wrong. You couldn't tell if what you were touching was a space or something else and it started to hurt because you were putting a good amount of pressure. You looked over at Eunwoo and surprisingly he seemed to know what he was doing.

The few minutes were up and your professor told you to find a partner and find their intercostal spaces. Obviously you chose Eunwoo as your partner.

"Did you find it on yourself yet?"

"Yepp, it was actually pretty easy to find."

"Can you help me please?"

"Are you sure you want me to touch there?" He said with a smirk.

You narrowed your eyes at him, "Fine. I'll ask someone else. Maybe that guy by the projector... "

"No don't do that."

"Then help me and don't you dare try to do anything."

"Yes ma'am."

He took his pointing finger and started in the upper middle of your chest and dragged it side to side. In a non sexual way of course. He found it to be bit difficult to find it because of the fat in your boobs. However he finally found it.

"Ah, there it is."

"You found it?"

"I found two of them. The other 4 are a bit difficult to find since they’re underneath your top. The only way I can find it is if I stick my hand in your top."

"Eunwoo." You warned.

"What? I was just saying. I never said I was actually going to." He said feigning innocence.

"Could of fooled me."

He just shrug his shoulders, "Give me your finger so I can help you locate it."

It took a minute before he was able to locate it again but when you finally felt it you let out a breath of relief. You knew you needed to find this for your finals and if you weren't able to you surely would fail the class.

"Do you feel it?"

"Mhmm"

"Good, now find mine"

Since Eunwoo had a flatter chest than you it was easier to find despite him laughing from being ticklish. Before you had a chance to tell him your finding, your professor interrupted you.

"Fooling around isn't going to get you to pass my class."

"But we-" You said.

"Aa! Talking back isn't going to help you pass either. Now go find another partner. You need to practice on your other classmates because your not going to know who you'll be testing with until testing day."

You felt your insides boiling. You had to deal with this crap in high school and now your dealing with this in college. When he left you let out a strained sigh and Eunwoo instantly rubbed circles in your back to calm you down. Normally you would welcome this but you didn't want the professor coming back over to scold you so you pushed his hand off. He looked at you clearly hurt by your actions but you brushed it off and went to find a new partner. Unfortunately the only person available was actually the guy by the projector but at this point you didn't care.

You walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, "Excuse me, do you uh have a partner?"

He turned around to see who tapped his shoulder. You expected him to answer but then he started to check you out with a smirk on his face. "Well hello there, what can I help you with beautiful?"

You rolled your eyes, "I asked do you have a partner?"

"Oooo sassy too, I like"

You narrowed your eyes and turned to walk away, "I don't have time for this."

"Wait! I'm sorry I was just surprised you asked me when you have your boyfriend."

"Not trying to be mean or anything but I wouldn't had asked you if I wasn't forced to choose another partner."

He looked at you slightly deflated by your confession, "Ah... I see but since you need a new partner I'll gladly take the spot for now." He said as he got up to make his chest more accessible.

"...okay... thanks I guess."

At first it started off fine., You were able to find it on him rather quickly. However when it was his turn that's when it turned into a problem. He found the first one and gradually went lower until he reached the beginning of hem of your scrub top. You expected him to stop there but when he started to put his hand lower in your top you instantly jumped back.

"Wh-what are you doing?!?!?!"

"Just doing what we were told to do."

"You were supposed to stop at 2."

"Was I? Must've misheard, my bad." If you weren't paying attention to his tone you would've thought he was being sincere just by his facial expression.

Not wanting to cause a scene the first ay of class you excused yourself and went back tp your seat to think about what just happened. Was this something you would need to report or were you over exaggerating? Should you tell Eunwoo? What if the guy was right and made you get in trouble for not listening to instructions? All those questions raced through your mind until Eunwoo saw your troubled face and left his partner to comfort.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked as he placed a comforting hand on your back not caring if the professor saw.

"Yea... actually no."

"What happened?"

"I was working with that guy over and he was about to put his fingers down my shirt before I stopped him."

Eunwoo's gaze instantly hardened and if looks could kill that guy would no more. But you couldn't have your boyfriend fighting your battles for you. You gently cupped his face with your hands and made him look at you.

"Promise me your not going to do anything."

"I don't know..."

"Promise me."

"I can't promise I won't do anything but I do promise to not intervene over something you can handle."

"I guess I can take that."

"You'll have to because I am not about to just let some guy touch you like that without your permission. He's lucky I wasn't there because he surely would've been picking his teeth off the floor."

"You know, I never took you as the violent type."

"I can promise you I'm not but this is a different story."

That was the end of the conversation because your professor continued on with the rest of the lesson which was fairly easy. He dismissed the class an hour earlier since it was the first day. However when you guys went home instead of relaxing you started your clinical homework because you didn't want a repeat of what happened last night.

It was about 11 o'clock when you finished half of the assignments. Eunwoo was starting to lose focus so you decided it was time to go to bed. After you finished putting on his t-shirt and your curls in a bun, you went to join him in bed. He pulled you closer to him so that there was barely any space between the two of you. You knew this was his way of silently comforting you. He wasn’t going to lie. He was looking forward to having sex with you but after todays events he knew you probably weren't going to be in the mood and just want to sleep off the days problem. You were thankful but deep down you knew you weren't going to get much sleep that night...

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the photo’s used. I got them off of Google.

A/N: Soooo sorry for the long wait. I had so much to write that Ii realized I couldn’t put everything in this one post. On that note I’m hoping I can have the next post up by next week. :)

#eunwoo #eunwoo smut #eunwoo angst #astro smut #astro angst #eunwoo fluff #astro fluff #eunwoo x reader #nursing au

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agentsoftie · 3 years

Text

marry me? — spencer reid | ch.1

— false engagements

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summary: the one where you propose to your brothers girlfriend for him, and your boyfriend just happens to witness it

spencer r & fem! reader : 1.5k

warnings: pure fluff and confusion

authors note: a series! guys! ahh! omg! i can’t believe it! i’ll try to upload once a week with this series my loves! but ahhhh, i can’t believe it! hope you guys like this first chapter! also, thanks @feverdreamreid for reviewing this. love you kenna <3

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“Y/N, Y/N, could you come here real quick?” Mark nagged.

You and your brother, Mark, were both forced to go to a family reunion. And by forced I mean, they were forced to bring their partners. Mark and Y/N tried to stay away from family reunions, especially when it means coming with their partners. Because every time they came with them, the baby pictures and the awkward stories always came.

“What do you want Mark?” You sneered as you followed him into the empty room.

“Okay, woah, um, I’m gonna propose to Christy tonight ... I think.”

You were amused, “What? Oh my gosh! Do you have a ring? When did you know? Am I gonna have a sister-in-law?”

“Calm down Y/N,” he hushed while looking out the door to make sure no one heard. “To answer your questions, yes, I do have the ring on me, and no you can’t see it. And I just knew one night that I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.”

“Mark! That’s spectacular! The only thing, can you wait for Spencer to come?”

“Y/N, I’m not gonna wait for your boyfriend to come and just so he can watch me either get a wife or be rejected. Plus who knows if he’s even gonna show?”

“Hey, okay, that’s kinda harsh. You know Spencer with his job! He travels a lot! It’s part of his work! He really does care for me you know. And, if you would bother to talk to him like one-on-one without me being there, you might actually become friends.” You said, defending Spencer. Good thing he wasn’t here yet, or else he would never let go of this.

“Okay well, I haven’t even proposed to her so whatever.”

“Speaking of that, you got something planned?”

“Well um,-” He was cut off by Christy walking in.

“Oh, there you two are! I was looking all around! Now come on,” she chirped while grabbing both of our hands. “Nana Rose found some new pictures!” And you both looked at each other with the same look you do every time they invite you over for a reunion.

Quickly letting go you rushed into the kitchen to pour yourself some wine. And by some, I mean lots. Quickly chugging it down, you noticed that people were gathering around the fireplace and so to find out why you quickly put your glass down and went over there. And to your surprise, there was Mark, in the middle of the living room on one knee.

A couple of people around him murmured some things, but he, on the other hand, couldn’t say anything.

“I- Christy um- I’ve- um-” He stuttered. It was almost as if he couldn’t move.

“Wow okay, I’m doing this.” You muttered under your breath while tapping on his shoulder to signal him to get up.

“Christy,” you said getting down on one knee. “Imagine as if I’m Mark right now, it will make things much easier, trust me. Christy, ever since the first time I met you and your beautiful blue eyes, I could t get you off my mind. Even if it took me 5 months to admit that I liked you, I’m glad I did. Because every day waking up to you, is a day I leave the house with a smile on my face. And frankly Chris, I like that feeling! And I want to feel it every day! So will you ... Christy Brie ... Marry me?”

“Yes ... Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course, I will! Mark, I love you!” She cheered as he quickly ran and hugged Mark. You got up and looked around, and saw him. Your boyfriend, Spencer. Standing in awe and amusement.

“I can explain.” You said as you went up to him.

“Oh I’m sure you can,” he smirked while trying to hide his laughter.

Mark and Christy came over right after and immediately went for a hug. “Oh Y/N I love you so much! I would marry you right on the spot if you didn’t have a boyfriend!” Mark nudged her a little, “oh yes and I wasn’t getting married!”

“Y/N/N how did you know what to say?” He asked.

“Mark, every time we’re together, all you do is talk about her. That’s all you do.” You deadpanned.

At this time, Christy had just hugged Spencer, “Spencer, I can imagine the shock on your face coming in, I’m so sorry if you felt any discomfort. I promise I’m not trying to get with your girlfriend.”

“Christy, It’s fine don’t worry. All that matters is that you, Y/N, and Mark are happy.” He kept his hands in his pockets, slowly jumping up and down, with a very mediocre expression on his face. You could tell he wasn’t uncomfortable, more just tired. Trying not to say that many words. His hair was still a little messy, and his socks were mismatched. It had looked like he just came from work since he was still wearing the suit he had left the house in.

Spencer and you had been dating for 3 years now. You moved in after the second though. He thought that it would make things easier on both of your ends. Not having to drive almost an hour to see each other. So you moved in with him (saying he had to go to work at a moment’s notice). Of course, you both did fight sometimes … It’s completely normal. No couple would never fight. Not even the best of them.

Although, sometimes … Most of the time, it would be about his work. You knew of course that his work was important. But sometimes even that couldn’t cut it. One time, you got vigorously mad at him when he missed a date. Of course, it wouldn’t make sense to get into an argument over something so small, but he had been promising you about this date for over two months. And this time, you weren’t gonna take any of his “oh I got stuck in work” or “I just got too caught up in a lot of paperwork”.

You had both seated for dinner now, all of you had. Your mom and aunt had just brought the warm food in, and you couldn’t wait to dive in.

“So, Mark,” my mother asked, “When are you guys getting married?”

“Mom,” he chuckled, “We just got engaged. We haven’t had enough time to talk about it.”

“Sure, sure.” She said in defeat. “Well, at least now I’ll have another daughter! You know how much your dad and I wanted girls! But, we got stuck with you and your brother Luke instead. Thankfully we had Y/N after. But even she left us. Promise you won’t leave me, Christy. Promise me.”

“Mom!” Mark and you both yelled in unison, causing everyone to laugh a little.

“I promise that I’m never going to leave you, Lucy,” Christy said chuckling.

“And Spencer now that Mark and Christy are off the market, when will you be proposing to my dear- dear Y/N?”

“Mom!” You yelled, jumping up slightly.

“I- um-” he stuttered.

You grabbed his hand from underneath the table. “You, you can’t ask that question to people. Especially my boyfriend!” You yelled in a hushed whisper voice.

“Oh, you can’t ask anything nowadays! Did you know that your father and I got married when we were only 25!”

“Mmm, okay well Mark’s almost 30, so nag him instead of me.”

“Okay, okay, no more fighting, I’m hungry. So can we eat?” Mark asked.

“Let’s eat!” Your mom said.

It was around 10 pm now, and you had just gotten home. Deciding to leave early, and a good thing too, because right after you left you got a text from Mark saying “SOS, Nana’s telling stories! Please save me!!!!”

“Okay,” you said getting into your bed, “I should probably explain what happened back there. If the whole proposal thing.”

“I think I already know what happened, but go ahead.” He spoke as he turned on his alarms for the morning. He didn’t really need it, but you did so he always put them on.

“Okay so, Mark had told me that he wanted to propose and I was like ‘What that’s amazing!’ and he’s like ‘Yeah, I know’ and so he does it but he can’t say anything. So me being the amazing and incredible little sister I am, got down on one knee for his girlfriend and proposed to her for him.”

He simply just laughed.

Laughed.

That’s all he did.

“Hey! You could at least say ‘I’m proud of you, or something! It’s not that difficult you know.”

“Y/N, Y/N calm down. You know I love you. And I’m really happy you did that for your brother … Happy now?”

“Whatever,” you mumbled while snuggling into him. “I’m tired, so goodnight.”

He kissed your forehead before turning off the lamp. Quickly, he made sure that you were asleep. He turned the lights on and then off 4 times to make sure you had no reaction, and then he called his friend.

“Derek, hey,” he whispered, while looking at you for any sign of movement, “think I’m finally ready … I wanna marry her.”

#marry me?#spencer reid fluff #mira writes #please i’m doing this omg #y’all #omg #YALL #OMG #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #reader x spencer reid #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #y/n x spencer reid

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gossip-girl-of-middleearth · 3 years

Note

Hello! I hope this doesn’t make you uncomfy but I was wondering if I could get a bit of advice? From your recent posts, you said you left your home from toxicity and just bad things in general.

I’m in a similar situation, but my dad will be taking me away from my mom. And I just know it’ll be a shit show. And I’m absolutely terrified when we tell her and what the backlash will be afterwards towards my brothers and me and dad in general

How did you do it? How did you take the leap? Do you possibly have any advice on how to deal ?

Hello, friend!! ☀️

Thank you so much for reaching out, it means a lot that you value my advice <3

Hmm, okay from what I can tell of your situation, that is indeed a tricky one, but nothing can’t be overcome!

It’s important to remember, though, I was 19 when I left (now 20), so the way I handled things is going to be a lot different than how a minor can handle things (legally at least, feel free to replicate my insane stunts lmao)

Advice below the cut! (family violence trigger warning, I suppose?)

My entire family was and is extremely volatile, and I don’t speak to any of them anymore except for my older brother, but I’ll be cutting him off in 3 weeks too when I move.

Fortunately, my dad and brother were both kicked out of the house years ago due to violence, which left me with my mother, who’s quite insidious herself (just watch any Conjuring movie and that’ll give a good idea of what it was like living in that house lol)

I get the same feeling watching this scene as when I was around her in that house. Granted she didn’t try to change my gender, but the hatred for my father getting taken out on me is pretty accurate lol, paired with the immediate “motherly love” afterwards (she never hit me though, pleased to say — she wasn’t physically violent, just emotionally, financially, mentally and verbally. She did try to run my dad over once though, so, there’s that too)

youtube

Yikes…yeahh the same eerie feeling for sure, still makes all my hairs stand upright in memory.

(For further context this clip reminds me of my father and this one of my brother)

In the clip about my father, he definitely reminds me of Frank Gallagher, except he despises my mother instead of revering her. He’s a workaholic instead of a drug addict, too. But the mannerisms are the same. I always handled him in the way Fiona does.

Regarding my brother, I think everything about our family hit him the hardest, despite being the oldest. He developed a very violent streak, and has very poor impulse control. I love him dearly but he’s a snake in the grass, and has thrown me under the bus multiple times to get ahead in life. I mostly just pity him, since I know what our life was like growing up. But still, I can’t defend him forever, especially not at the cost of myself. Literally yesterday I woke up to a text from him asking me to come pick him up because he got arrested for starting a fight at a bar and smashing their windows.

When things started getting pretty bad with my mother earlier this year, I started to realise in my heart that there was no way I could go forth in life with her in it. I focused on the future relationships I would have one day when far away from this town — romantic partner, children, friends etc

I sort of realised one day I’d care about them a lot more than I care about my mother, because those future people would care about me. That in turn got me realising that I do deserve love, despite how my mother made me feel, and that I don’t want her to deprive another second of that in my life.

Something very unique that triggered this too was going to go visit an old family psychic, who’s basically just the Gandalf to my Frodo (ily, Chris <3). He very accurately predicted my birth years ago after my mother was told she was infertile — he got the date, year and time right three years in advance, and even knew ahead of time what my personality would be like, which he was spot-on about.

Well, I went and visited him a few months ago because I was lost with my direction, and he ended up pausing and had a sudden feeling, which led to him telling me that he’d just found out I would be having twin boys one day.

Normally I don’t buy into that stuff, but this Gandalf dude…well I knew he was right.

Knowing I’d have sons of my own one day took me from a scared daughter mindset and into a maternal mother bear in an instant, and I knew I didn’t want any children of mine around my mother or the rest of my family, for their safety alone, which made me realise, “Well, if I wouldn’t allow my own children near them, why do I allow myself?”

I started grey-rocking her in the lead-up to me leaving, which of course frustrated her (she’s a malignant narcissist), but it was a necessary step to start emotionally detaching myself from her.

It all bottled over one night after a pretty distressing argument (I had locked myself in my room to avoid it, but she was still at my door carrying on).

My cat, who’s been my best friend for years, was sitting on the floor next to me, and sort of looked up and I swear he spoke with his eyes, saying, “You know we can’t keep doing this, right? You know this abuse has an expiry date?”

I agreed with my cat and knew right then and there that I’d be leaving that night after my mother fell asleep.

Well, when she was finally done (with threats that there’d be more in stock in the morning, mind you) I went to bed early and set my alarm to 3am (was a little inside joke with myself, since that’s biblically the “witching devil hour”)

I started quietly packing my quilt and cat up (I’d already been secretly packing the boot of my car up with all sentimental and important items weeks in advance, except she caught on and took all my baby albums and more to her boyfriend’s house, so I don’t have any baby photos or information on me when I was a baby anymore, like first words, size and just general things I’d have liked to compare to my own kids one day, rip)

Once that was all in my car, I quietly said goodbye to the old family dog and cat (they weren’t mine to take, not that I could’ve anyways, since it was troubling enough taking Buddy, who’s actually my pet and not the family one). That was pretty heartbreaking, as I knew that’d be the last time I’d see them (I grew up with them and was the only one who took care of them — mother neglects kids and pets alike lmao).

Once that was over, I looked around my house with my hand on the front door and was very melancholy, but knew Buddy was right: it had all reached its expiry date.

I left very quietly and drove to McDonalds for a coffee, as I had a long drive ahead (I had organised to be a nanny in this rich family’s house far away in the city — two hours drive). Luckily they were away on their country farm 4 hours away, so I had time to sneak Buddy in.

The nanny thing recently backfired horribly because they discovered Buddy, which led to more AM escapes with my car, but I’m staying with my older brother and his gf for 3 more weeks only. Something I’ve been working towards for months now is moving to a wilderness island to live in my country’s equivalent of Bag End — a beautiful country cottage, amazing job and fantastic study opportunities.

Best feature yet: it’s 60 hours away from my hometown by car, and then you’d have to take a boat for 10 more hours!! They shall never find me hahaha

One of my friends has also told me recently that my mother has started spreading horrible, defamatory rumours about me around town, but I don’t care anymore because I’m almost out.

So, although I can’t offer any practical advice (idk if you’re a minor or not, but regardless it’s great your dad is helping you!) this is the best advice I can offer:

Find a dream and hold onto it, one that doesn’t involve your immediate family. For me it’s moving to that island and enjoying all the fresh air. It’ll push you forwards and remind you of what you’re fighting for when at your lowest.

Remind yourself there will be other people in your life, whether a spouse, friends, children or even a dog! (I’m getting a golden retriever next year 🐾) And then remember that you deserve all of them and the unconditional love they offer you.

Remember that if you don’t want your mother/family screwing those people over by proxy of her/their relationship to you, then there’s no way in hell you alone should put up with it either, as I guarantee those future people only want good things for you ☀️

There is a good life after abuse, I’ve seen it, and I know you can achieve it, too!

Be prepared for tons of backlash and bullshit — it’s inescapable when dealing with people like this, but I recommend educating yourself on narcissistic parents and tactics to deal with them.

Finding a good therapist who deals in PTSD regarding childhood abuse is important, too. I found an amazing one in the town I’m moving to, who had nearly the same upbringing as me!

So while I’m still struggling with a lot of fear (scared my mother will find where I’m working and living one day) and guilt (I feel horrible about leaving the family dog and cat behind, especially when they need veterinary help, only to then go and get myself another puppy) I understand I’ve done the best I can in a very abnormal situation, and that I can only do better from here.

Also, this song has been a saving grace when going all angsty over wanting to leave your current situation:

It’s from my favourite Broadway Musical, “Newsies”, and lemme tell you — discovering this as a 17-year-old when I was just starting to realise the severity of my situation was pure divinity.

Jeremy Jordan, my beloved Broadway Bard <3

youtube

When I finally get my cottage, I’m getting a wooden plaque with the name “Santa Fe” engraved on it, and am hanging it on my front door.

I wish you much luck and love, my little anonymous friend! And please know my inbox is open any time you need anything — vent, advice, a laugh or something else, ANYTHING, it feels good to know my past can maybe help someone else’s present ☀️

Please update me, too! I’m following your story along ardently now! (Also, be sure to take your sentimental items and store them somewhere safe away from your mother — ie baby albums, birth certificates, other paraphernalia/memorabilia etc).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must hit the road. DESTINY AWAITS!

#ahh yes #Newsies my beloved <3 #and bless my family Gandalf #I’m gonna send him a gift next year from the small country town I’m moving to for his birthday as a thanks #also I’m torn between naming the golden retriever ‘Jaskier/Dandelion’ or ‘Glorfindel/Glorfy’ now #so happy that’ll soon be my only dilemma in life <33

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mosh-4 · 4 years

Text

when you were sleeping

harry styles imagine

when you were sleeping - your family has a crisis when he’s away.

warning: angst. suicide

you and Harry were currently braving a long distance relationship. it was difficult, but you both managed. you loved him, but you were also a very independent person. you didn’t need to be constantly surrounded by him to know that he loved you. you were on your last year of college, and he was in Tokyo writing music. you both had goals and were striving for them together.

from where you lived, Tokyo was 14 hours ahead. that meant you could only talk to Harry from 6 pm to 2 am your time, which would be 8 am to 4 pm his time. you only could talk to him within those 8 hours since you both had to sleep at some point and he also had to write music. it got to be frustrating, but you made it work.

you received your daily call from Harry when you were laying in bed. it was midnight where you were, 2 pm where he was. you decided to come home to visit your family since your university was having a 4 day weekend. you had thursday and friday off going into the weekend. it was nice. you got to see your dogs and eat home cooked meals.

“i think ‘m gonna have a late night tonight,” Harry muttered through the phone.

“oh yeah,” you said brushing a hand through your almost dry hair.

“yeah,” he said. “some of the guys want to go out tonight.”

you laugh. “sounds fun.” you roll onto your stomach. “when can i expect you to be awake?”

he laughed. Harry was big on getting up early. most days he got up at 8 am, sometimes 9 am if he was pushing it, but on mornings after nights he stayed out late, he tended to get up from 10 am to 11 am, if it was really late, he even slept until noon.

“i don’t want to stay out past 3 so hopefully no later than 10.”

you laugh. “okay, you goof. text me when you go to sleep so i know you’re still alive.”

“will do. how did your test go?” he asked changing the subject.

“it was good…” you continued to tell him about how well you did, and you began to talk about the production you were currently working on at school.

on thursday at 1:43 pm, you received a text.

harry: night night lovie

you laughed to yourself in the kitchen as you made yourself a cup of tea. your boyfriend was a goof. it was 3:43 am his time. you knew he wouldn’t be awake until at least noon his time. it wasn’t so horrible for him to sleep in. he got a lot of writing done this week. you remember him telling you about one of the songs he was working on and how it was almost complete.

you finished making yourself a cup of tea and took a seat on the couch with your two dogs putting on a movie you found on tv.

it was 5:36 pm. you had just gotten home from visiting with some of your friends from high school who were home on an early fall break. you were soaking wet from the rain. you were still home alone. your parents were at your brother’s teacher night at school, and your brother was at his football practice. you let the dogs out and gave them their dinner.

you decided to call your cousin, Lauren, to check in on her. she was the same age as your brother, and you three were extremely close along with your other cousin Collin, who was three years older than you.

when she answered the phone, your whole world came crashing down.

“hey,” you chirped into the phone before you could hear her cry.

in a shaky voice, she said, “(y/n).” she let out a few quick sobs before she finally spoke again. “Collin killed himself.”

you stood frozen in the doorway of your kitchen. “what?”

“Collin killed himself, i found him in his closet, and i screamed for my mom, and then i fell down the stairs and i scared the dogs, and Collin’s dead.”

your voice was caught in your throat. you knew Collin was suffering from depression, and it hadn’t been good for a while. you didn’t know it was this bad. you finally spoke. “oh baby,” you said gently. she cried harder. “do you want me to come there? do you need me to come to you?”

“no,” she said. “my mom has to call 911. i have to call my brothers. i have to go, (y/n), i have to go.”

with that, she hung up the phone quickly. you stood in your kitchen. numb. you felt incredibly numb. you had to do something. he couldn’t be dead. he wasn’t. this wasn’t real. everything’s fine. you’re crying now. when did you start crying? you had to call your mom. you had to tell them. oh god. your brother. he and Collin were best friends. they were so close despite their difference in age. how were you going to tell him.

you rung your mom’s phone. no answer. you rung your dad’s phone. no answer. they were probably meeting with a teacher. you would have to wait.

you heard the garage door open. the dogs went crazy as your brother came into the kitchen with his football bag and backpack in arms.

“hey,” he called to you while petting the dogs.

you cleared your throat. “Tom,” you took a breath to keep yourself from crying. he looked up at you as he put his bags on the floor by the kitchen table. “Tom, Collin killed himself.”

“what?” your brother peered up at you confused.

“Collin killed himself.” you said with tears in your eyes.

he sat himself in a chair at the kitchen table with his head hanging. you wrapped your arms around him and cried with him.

“can i use your phone to call mom and dad?”

he nodded and placed his phone on the table.

it was 6:27 pm. you were driving to your cousin’s house after you called her to tell her your parents were on their way there. she told you to come too.

when you arrived at their house, a police car was placed outside in front. you saw your oldest cousin’s husband standing outside handing his baby to his parents to take for the night. he caught you and Tom before you could go into the house. he pulled you both into a hug.

“just warning you, it’s not easy in there. you can’t see him. he’s still upstairs. they have the room taped off.”

he led you both inside to where everyone was gathered. the house was dark. your family was sitting in a dark room crying. you pulled your aunt into a hug as you both cried in each other’s arms. she let go of you and pointed a shaky finger to Lauren, who was curled up on a couch crying.

“she needs you. go to your buddy.”

you and Tom collapsed onto the couch with her and sandwiched her into a hug. all three of you sobbed into each other’s arms.

later that night, you cried with your family and listened to your aunt and cousins talk about how bad his depression was. you stood with your cousins when they brought him downstairs on a stretcher. you watched as your aunt and dad said their goodbyes to him. after his dad left, your dad was the closest thing he had to a father, and Collin was the only one who could make your dad laugh like a little kid. your mom held you as your cried. you watched as they placed him into the ambulance and took him away.

10:14 pm. 1 missed call from Harry Styles.

1 message:

harry: hi lovie, i survived the night

you left him on read.

the next morning, your eyes were swollen and raw. you woke up a little after 9:30. you saw another message from Harry at 11:26 pm.

harry: goodnight love. i’ll call you again tomorrow.

you left him on read again. you don’t mean to be a bitch. you’re still processing.

Harry noticed you left him on read again. you normally would respond fairly quickly, and you never went to bed before midnight. he found your lack of response odd. it was 11:45 pm his time. he decided to catch at least a few hours of sleep and to call you at 6 am, which would be 4 pm your time.

he woke up at 6:12 am. he rubbed his sleepy eyes before grabbing a drink. he cleared his throat, and he picked up his phone.

it was 4:23 pm. you were sitting on the floor of your grandparents living room. your cousins were surrounding you as the adults sat in the kitchen. you were playing with your oldest cousin’s 1 and a half year old daughter. she was the only thing that kept your spirits up.

your phone began to ring. Harry’s contact picture appeared on your screen. you watched your phone as it rang. your eyes began to cloud with tears.

“answer it,” Lauren said as she caught her niece in her arms, who was running back and forth between her and her sister tackling everyone in hugs. she was so young yet she understood that we were sad and needed comfort.

you nodded to her. clearing your throat and sliding to answer the phone, you walk outside to sit on the front porch.

“hey lovie.”

“hi haz,” you let out in a raspy voice. it had been a while since you had actually spoken.

Harry could tell you had been crying. your raspy voice was a telling sign.

“hey, what’s wrong? are you okay?” Harry’s eyebrows were furrowed together as he heard her shaky breath through the phone.

“Harry, my cousin killed himself last night.” you blink back tears as you drop your head into your hand.

“oh love,” he said gently. “i can’t imagine how you feel right now.” he didn’t know what to say. who was it? which one?, he thought to himself.

“it’s okay, haz. i’m sorry i ignored you. i just didn’t know what to say-”

“no, no. it’s okay. i understand. you don’t need to apologize.” he took a breath to calm his voice. what he would give to be there right now for her. to hold her as she cried. he felt horrible that he wasn’t there. “do you want me to come home?”

“no. that’s okay.” you said. he felt like she had punched him in the gut. she doesn’t want me there, he thought. “i know you’re busy and working right now. you don’t need to come home for this. i’ll be okay.”

you lied. you wanted him there. you wanted him to hold you and to rub your back as you cried. but, you know his work is important. so you lied. you told him you were gonna be fine. you were most definitely not fine. you had a hole in your heart. someone so loved and brilliantly smart and witty who could make the whole room smile was gone, and you were not okay with that.

“you’re important too,” harry started. he wasn’t going to let her push him away. “i know you like to be an independent person, and you don’t like to depend on people, but you can depend on me. i want to be there for you. it hurts me that i can’t be there for your right now. i love you so much, and i wish i could take the pain away for you. can i be there for you? can i come home to you?”

you burst into tears. you had tried so hard to hold them in. “yeah. okay,” you let out in a shaky voice. you couldn’t see anymore. your eyes were blurred by the tears. “come home to me.”

“okay. i’m coming home to you. ‘m gonna book a flight, and ‘ll text you when i find out when i land.”

“mkay,” you said your voice thick from the tears.

Harry landed at 8 am on saturday morning. you picked him up at the airport, and silently waited at the baggage claim for his luggage holding his hand. you had been quiet since he arrived. you were scared that you would burst into tears if you said anything.

you broke down when you got to your car. he held you in the parking lot of the airport as you sobbed into his chest. he took your keys and drove you home.

later saturday afternoon, you, your family, and Harry were at your aunt’s house. you were sitting with your mom, aunt, Lauren, and her older sister. you were putting together a photo board and were looking through pictures of Collin. you reminisced with Lauren about funny moments with him on your numerous family vacations.

your dad and brother were running around town to each department store to find green ties for each of the men in your family. Collin’s favorite basketball team was the Boston Celtics. his signature look was khaki shorts with a Celtics jersey or some sort of Celtics apparel. he wore mostly green. the men were wearing green ties as a tribute to him.

Harry was in the kitchen unboxing pizzas he ordered for everyone. he couldn’t really do much so he made himself useful by getting everyone food. you were extremely grateful for him.

the funeral was monday. you had to get up early to drive to the service. you were sitting at the vanity table in your room doing your makeup while Harry stood in front of your mirror putting on his cuff-links. he was wearing a simple black suit. his tie was hanging untied around his neck. you put the finishing touch on your hair and makeup and moved onto putting on your earrings.

your dad knocked on your bedroom door just as Harry was about to tie his tie. you both looked up at your dad.

“i-uh,” he started to say looking from you to Harry. “i have an extra green tie.” he looked down to the tie in his hands before reaching it out to Harry. “would you wear this today?”

Harry gently took the tie from your dad’s hands. your eyes welled with tears. Harry looked up from the tie and into your dad’s eyes, which were red from crying.

“i would be honored.” Harry spoke removing his tie to replace it with the green one. he tied it swiftly in the mirror before turning back to your father.

your dad nodded in approval, not saying much. it warmed your heart just as it broke it. that had meant a lot to your dad. he had allowed Harry to take part in this extremely difficult day, not as just a boyfriend of his daughter, but as a member of your family.

his voice broke you out of your thoughts. “we are leaving in 10.”

the funeral was a blur. Tom and your cousins were the pallbearers. Harry stood by your side the whole time. his arm around you or his hand holding yours. it was a difficult day. your makeup was trashed. your eyes were red and raw. Harry got you some food at the luncheon afterwards. he made you eat a few bites every now and then.

when you got home, you just wanted to crawl in bed and sleep. he helped you take your dress and jewelry off. you put on your comfy clothes while he grabbed you a makeup remover wipe, and he helped you take your makeup off. he let you climb in bed with the shade over your window drawn down darkening your room. he got out of his suit and changed into his comfy clothes before crawling into bed next to you.

you cried in his arms, and you were so grateful for him being there.

hope you enjoyed. i know this was a bit darker. it was inspired by my cousin who passed in october. - mosh

#harrystyles #harry styles imagine #harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles imagines #harry styles angst

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wannawritefast · 3 years

Text

Whiplash: Ch. 4- Pretending

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all the love on the last part! I totally didnt realize there was no title or link to the previous part. I distinctly remember doing that... maybe Tumblr had a goof... Just a heads up that a fixed it and all that jazz.

Pt. 3

Pairing: Gwilym Lee! Brian Lee x Reader

Donna left the end of that weekend grateful to have spent time with her sister. And you felt equally as grateful to have gotten some bonding time before the holidays rolled around.

You and Brian continued your charade until before long it was time to leave for your family’s house. There was a plethora of Christmases where you didn’t want to go back home for the holidays or even want to celebrate the ‘happiest time of the year’ at all. But this Christmas… this one took the fruitcake.

The night before you left you didn’t get a wink of sleep. You often chalked it up to the fact that your cat was not present (having been put in a kennel earlier that day) and the subsequent lack of him in your bed. But you knew deep down that it was because, this time, you would be coming home with a boyfriend. A fake one.

That seemed to scare you more than you thought it should. If they didn’t believe you or if they found out, you would NEVER be able to live it down. And then there was Brian.

He was too kind and sweet and caring and goofy to you. He treated you better than you deserved. Sometimes you didn’t think it was real. Brian was your best friend and you knew that you could always depend on him. If anything ever happened to jeopardize that, you didn’t know what you’d do.

The two of you left in the mid-morning on the 21st, Brian picking you up and getting breakfast along the way. It took a few hours but you got to your parents’ house by mid-afternoon. Even though you jammed to cassettes the whole way there, your nerves still wracked your body.

7 days at your parents’ house in the English country and 7 days at his. Two weeks. You could do two weeks.

Finally the two of you arrived at your family’s big country house, pulling up in front of the large property. Brian put the car in park and turned off the engine. He reached to unbuckle his seatbelt in the now silent car but you grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“Brian, we don’t have to do this,” you looked him right in the eye.

He coughed out a chuckle. “What?”

“We can turn around right now. I can just say I got sick,” you reached to turn the ignition but he shooed your hands away.

“We’ve come this far and you want to turn around?” Brian questioned. You nodded emphatically. “Oh, come on now. I’m ready and you’re ready.”

“No, Brian,” you let out a panicked breath. This was such a bad idea. You should have just been honest with them from the beginning. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“We’re basically at the front door,” he turned in his seat. “We can’t go back now.”

“Watch me,” you reached for the ignition again.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Brian grabbed your hand and held it. “We’re here. It’s going to be alright.”

You looked out the windows nervously for any sign that your parents or siblings had seen you arrive. “How can you be so sure?”

“I’m not.” Brian fiddled with your fingers and kissed the back of your hand, stirring up butterflies again. “But there’s only one way to find out.”

And with that, he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened his car door and went straight to the trunk, making sure that his keys were in his pocket. You jumped out after him. He was smart. Leaving the vehicle before you could object further…

He opened the latch and was beginning to take out the luggage. “Brian, I mean it. We can still leave. No one’s seen-”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” His green-eyed gaze was fixed on the front door.

“Y/N’S HOME!!”

“Y/N’S HOME!!” Donna exclaimed, throwing the door open. Her voice echoed down the driveway. She was clad in a Christmas jumper that your mum had made for you, your brother, and your sister a few years back. Mum always insisted that you wear it for at least one day when you visited. As per her request, it was folded neatly at the bottom of your luggage.

“It’s too late,” you whispered to yourself. “If we regret this, it’s not my fault.”

“We’ll be okay,” Brian put an arm around you and you leaned lazily into the hug.

“Y/n! My baby!” That was mum. Although your mum was loud at times, you loved her a lot. Your mother hustled from the front door clad in a loudly patterned apron, which itself was covered in flour and sugar.

“This doesn’t seem too bad,” he mused to you.

You looked at him from the side of your eyes. “Oh, just you wait.”

You took Brian’s hand and moved to meet them in the middle. Your sister practically jumped on you and knocked you over when she gave you a hug; the two of you tumbled as you hit the ground in a burst of laughter. Brian and your mother both rushed to help the two of you up.

“Hey, Brian,” Donna gave him a friendly hug. “So did she drive you crazy on the way here?”

“Absolutely bonkers.” He teased. You scoffed and bumped him with your shoulder.

“Hi, mum.” You moved to embrace your mother and she pulled you into a bone crushing hug. She held you at arms length.

“I missed you so much.” She gushed. Her fingers moved to hold your face. You couldn’t help your smile.

“It’s only been like a month and a half.” You laughed at her emotions.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t miss my daughter!” Your mother exclaimed. “Of course your father misses you too! I tried to get him to take work off today to come greet you two but you know him!” Unfortunately, you did. She rubbed your arms soothingly, turning her attention to Brian. “Now... introduce me to this strapping young man!”

You rolled your eyes but, deep down, it was your stomach that was really rolling. “Mum, this is Brian, my boyfriend.” That word still felt weird.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Brian,” she said as he extended his hand for her to shake. Your mother brushed his hand aside and pulled him into a tight sweet hug. Brian took it with a chuckle. “You don’t need to be formal with me. If you’re good enough for Y/n, you’re more than good enough for me.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Y/l/n,” he replied politely. Brian put an arm around your shoulders for emphasis. You wrapped your arms around his waist.

“Please, call me ‘Y/m/n.’” She froze all of a sudden. “Wait a second… is this the Brian from university?!” Your mum turned to you.

“Yes,” you smiled at your mom, “that’s where we met.”

“Oh my heavens! I remember you talking about Brian!” Your mother excitedly recalled. Uh-oh…

You laughed nervously and feigned forgetfulness. “What? I don’t think I remember-”

“I do!” She insisted. “You were her best friend.”

“I’d like to think I still am,” Brian replied. “I’m honestly surprised she didn’t run for the hills the moment I opened my mouth.”

Your mother chuckled, “Nonsense! I can see why she said you were so charming. And I remember one time she called me and said that she thought she fancied-”

“OKAY MUM!” Donna cut her off. Brian gave you and her a confused look. Thank God for Donna… “Don’t we have something in the oven?”

“Oh, good heavens! You’re right! Donna will show you to your room.” She turned and ran back inside. “JAMES!” She screeched. “HELP YOUR SISTERS AND BRIAN WITH THE LUGGAGE!”

There was grumbling from inside the house and you steeled yourself for the arrival of your brother. You turned to face Brian quickly as the two of you went back to the car to grab your bags. “I apologize in advance for anything that he says.”

“I can handle it.” He assured you. “I’ve already heard snippets of his typical vocabulary. I’ll be okay.”

As if on cue your brother materialized in the doorway looking classy as ever in an old pair of denim trousers and a stained t-shirt. He tiredly hobbled over, giving Brian a strange look as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“You must be Brian,” James grumbled out. He looked him up and down suspiciously. “I see my sisters weren’t lying about you.”

“I am very much real. Were you expecting a bloke that looked like me? Perhaps less poodle-ish,” Brian called out, trying to lighten the mood up a little bit as he pulled another suitcase from the trunk.

Your brother hummed, unsatisfied, and finally looked at you. “You brought him.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t lying,” you said, cocking your head up proudly.

James hummed again, eyeing your, unbeknownst to him, fake boyfriend. Brian leaned against the car, having unloaded the last of the luggage, nodding a greeting at your brother.

“We’re definitely dating,” you urged. You stood next to Brian and he kissed the side of your head, while you stared down James.

James hummed a third time, oddly quiet. He glanced between you and Brian as if trying to see through the ruse. You were getting nervous.

“Yeah,” your brother stared right through you, “we’ll see about that.”

You, Brian, and Donna fidgeted nervously, not quite sure how to respond to what he said.

You cleared your throat and attempted to diffuse the tension. “Is this any way to greet your sister?”

He gave you a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes and a half-assed hug. Ah, yes, the depth of your brother’s affection…

Brian and James went to work grabbing the luggage wordlessly. You grabbed one of your bags and walked arm-in-arm with Donna. The two of you shared a look as you went inside and up the stairs.

“Here you go, lovebirds.” James half-tossed the luggage into his old room.

So this was where your mum had placed the two of you… It was the quietest and most isolated room in the house. Sitting above the garage, in the corner of the second floor, it was hard to disturb anyone with noise especially since the other two rooms on the floor were a decent distance away.

You wouldn’t have minded the space so much if the bed wasn’t a full-size and Bri wasn’t such a tall man.

“Are…” you started, “we sharing?” You hadn’t prepared for this. You couldn't even look at Brian.

You hadn’t counted on this being a part of the deal. And, of course, neither had Brian. God… you should have asked! At the very least to prepare yourself… To prepare Brian. You felt a pit forming in your belly.

“Yep,” he responded. “Mum figured the two of you would want to stay in the same area during your stay.”

“She and dad were okay with that?”

James leaned against the doorway. Donna stood behind him sheepishly. She had left that part out conveniently during the phone calls. “Mum was insistent. Dad put up more of a fight. They agreed though eventually.”

You looked at him with your mouth ajar, much like a fish. “Oh.”

“Is that going to be an issue?” James looked you and your fake boyfriend in the eye, a challenge.

Brian jumped to action. “Not at all. Thank you, James.”

He gave a tight-lipped smile and walked away with his arms crossed. You waited to hear his footsteps go down the creaky stairs before tearing into Donna.

She lowered her voice with her arms outstretched in front of her. “Before you yell at me, I didn’t know how to tell you. There are ears everywhere.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose. “You couldn't have mentioned that? Like at all?”

“I’m sorry!” She whisper-yelled. “What would you have wanted me to do? Say that the two of you shouldn’t share a room? It’ll be easier to communicate with the both of you in the same space. Could you imagine being separate for a week while you try to pull this off?”

You supposed she was right. “No, no. You’re right.” You took a deep breath and changed your tone of voice so the rest of the house could hear you. “Thank you, Donna. I think we’re going to nap.”

She matched your tone. “Of course! I’ll let the two of you get settled in!” You mouthed a ‘thank you’ at her before she closed the door behind her and skipped away.

And then there were two.

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Br- What are you doing?”

Brian was setting up his luggage next to the loveseat in the room and had found the spare blankets from the closet. He was making a bed on the couch. If he thought he was taking the couch, you’d be damned.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“It looks like you’re making my bed, how kind of you! But really I’m the host so I must insist that you leave your accommodations to me, Mr. May.” You grabbed the spare pillow out of his hand and kicked his bag toward the bed. You began lugging your bag close to the couch. Brian stuck his foot out and stopped the bag.

“‘Your’ bed? I’m taking the couch.” He gently grabbed your bag and chucked it onto the bed. Your jaw dropped.

“No, Brian. I’m taking the couch. You’re too tall for it.” It was true. You could fit the couch much more comfortably than he could.

“Ah, but you see, as your boyfriend,” you rolled your eyes goodnaturedly, “I must be chivalrous and relinquish the bed to my beloved.”

“You’re being an ungrateful guest,” you countered.

He winced. “Low blow.”

“I’m not above it.” Brian snatched the pillow back and began rubbing his hair on it. “What on earth are you doing?”

“Staking my claim,” he answered, matter-of-factly. His hair was a static-y mess. As if to prove his point he tossed his body haphazardly onto the couch and sprawled out, limbs and all. “This is mine.”

“You act like you laying on top of something is going to deter me in any way.” You laughed at his logic. “Being on the couch does not mean it is suddenly uninhabitable.”

“It does.” He pointedly stretched his limbs out more. “Watch me.”

“This argument is going nowhere.”

“I agree. Which is why you should just let me take the couch.”

“What if we-”

A knock on the door sounded. Brian shot up and the two of you tossed the blankets and pillow haphazardly on the bed. You answered the door with Brian hovered closely behind you.

James. He had a smirk on his face. How much of the conversation had he heard?

“Yes?” you asked through gritted teeth.

“I don’t know if I mentioned it or not but I thought I’d be thorough and tell you that this room gets rather cold in the winters. The garage isn’t insulated and neither are the walls that this room shares with it.”

“Oh, really?”

“I mean, you’re already sharing a bed so that’ll help but you might want to grab some extra blankets on top of that. Perhaps a second bed’s worth.” He peeked in to see the mound of blankets on the bed. “But it looks like the two of you have already figured that out.”

You chuckled dryly. “Yep. Thanks for the pointer.”

James hummed a laugh. “Anytime.” And like the asshole he was he sauntered away humming a Bob Dylan song. You pushed the door closed and rested your forehead on it.

“We could switch nights?” You offered. Brian knew you better than that; of all the sensations that you hated (fatigue, hunger, headache, etc.) being cold was what you loathed the most.

“Or we could just share the bed like they suspect us to…” He suggested. You looked at him. He didn’t seem to be pulling your leg.

“You wouldn’t be uncomfortable with that?” Your fingers picked at the ends of your hair.

Brian had his hands on his hips. “Not at all. Unless you would be.”

You looked him in the eye and then to the floor, your arms crossed. “I’m fine with it.”

“I guess we’ll share it then,” he affirmed.

“Yep.” You popped the ‘p.’

The two of you looked at the surrounding room and its four walls. The couch. The bed. The windows. Anywhere but each other. This was real. All the time you had pretended to be dating before you got to your parents house suddenly felt like dress rehearsals. This. This was real. And things were different.

This was showtime.

“Well, then,” Brian filled the silence. “Now that it’s settled why don’t we set up the room? We did tell them we were taking a nap. We can get settled a little bit.”

You nodded.

“I’ll do the bed if you do the closet?”

You nodded wordlessly again and took a deep breath before kicking off your shoes and opening the closet. You heard Brian take off his coat and toss it onto the couch. You set yours on top of his and reminded yourself to put in the coat closet downstairs by the front door.

As promised you began hanging some of your items and with Brian’s permission began helping him with his. The bathroom that was conjoined to the room soon had your various shampoo, tooth brushes, and regular hair brushes strewn across the counter top and among the shelves in the shower.

Amongst the thoughts of how absolutely spoiled rotten James had been up here while you and your sister had to share a smaller room was another more alarming notion. As you put yours and Brian’s shoes down on the floor of the closet and split the drawers between the two of you your mind drifted to the small part of it that realized how naturally it looked, how naturally it felt to have the items in the same space. To have Brian’s giant shoes next to yours. To have his various hair brushes that resembled Medieval torture devices right next to your own weapons of choice. To dance and bustle about a small space in a rhythm so natural that an onlooker would swear it was rehearsed.

“You’ve been awfully pensive,” Brian snapped you out of your stupor as you pulled a dress of yours onto a hangar and set it on your side of the closet trying to move in such a way that maybe you’d forget your hands were shaking and maybe Brian wouldn’t notice your hands shaking. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“I…” you took a breath. You didn’t really know what to say. Instead you just turned and let yourself fall onto the couch back first and stared up at the blank ceiling. “This is really happening.”

“Hey.” Brian appeared into view as we walked to you and looked down. “Are you alright?”

You finally made eye contact with Brian and shook your head. Trying to will your tears back into your ducts with the help of good old-fashioned gravity you stared back up at the ceiling again.

Brian rushed to crouch at your side. “Woah, woah, woah. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

You turned to face him and sat up so that he could sit next to you on the couch. “No, it wasn’t you. I’m just overwhelmed. I still can’t believe I’m in this mess. That my family sees so much of my value in my relationships and not me. That it went this far. That I actually care so much about what they think even though I shouldn’t. That I dragged you into this.”

Brian hummed in understanding and pulled you into a hug. “Well, first of all, you didn’t drag me into this. I body slammed myself into this. You didn’t even really need to ask me to help you; if anything I dragged you into this. Remember our little moment on the driveway?”

Yes… How infuriatingly encouraging he had been. How embarrassingly frantic you had behaved. He was right. Brian was unfailingly loyal to you. If he hadn’t backed down then, when you had offered him a way out.

“You know you’re earning your ‘poodle’ title more and more,” you commented.

Brian cocked his head. “How so?”

“Lanky, tall, high-maintenance-”

“Feeling the love. Thank you.”

“But still an excellent companion and unbelievably sweet.”

Brian gave you a soft smile and rubbed his arm up and down your back. “If I was a humbler person I might tell you to stop.”

“Oh I’m stopping,” you said, sniffling back your tears and exhaling the panic. “If your head gets any more full of hot air, your hair is going to start defying the laws of physics without any assistance.”

“Yeah, you’re feeling better,” Brian quipped, feigning offense.

“I’m sorry… which one of us brought more brushes and styling products?”

“I want to make a good first impression! I may be a fake boyfriend but I still want your family to like me.” He defended.

“You’ll be great! Aside from James, you’d have to do something really out of character to get them to not like you.”

“Not this ‘be yourself’ stuff again,” Brian complained and threw his head back to rest on the back of the couch.

“It’s true. They’ll love you!” You encouraged him.

Brian’s face took on that infamous cheeky expression. Uh-oh… “Is it because I’m… so charming?”

Your face flushed in remembrance of what your mother had almost let slip. You leaned forward and covered your face with your hand. “Why did I know you were going to bring that up?”

“Because you know me better than anyone else.” He replied, matter-of-factly.

“I think your mum might contend with me on that, Bri,” you offered.

“And I knew you were going to say that.” Brian shrugged in consideration. “Fine. You and my mum know me better than anyone else.”

“Well,” you set your hand on his knee. A once platonic gesture, it felt different this time. You continued, hurrying your way through what you were going to say so that it wouldn’t be as awkward when you stopped touching, “since we know each other so well, I’d say we stock up on rest while we can.”

“You talk like we’re going to be running a marathon for the next week.”

“Trust me, Bri,” you responded, standing up and laying down comfortably on the bed. “You’re gonna need it.”

Brian looked at you in disbelief. “Oh please. I’ve dealt with concerts for years. How bad can it be?!”

TAGS: @andtheswordwentsnickersnack @phantoms-lynn

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puckyess · 4 years

Text

4 Times His Teammates Said “I Love You” + 1 Time He Did | Ryder Donovan

S/o to @penaltbox for being my favorite brainstorm partner and encouraging the hell out of me. Inspo: @that-fandom-stuck-in-your-head

I found the one TikTok that was deleted, so now all TikToks are linked!!

** FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED **

Words: 7.5k

Shay Donovan

You weren’t allowed to have favorites on the team outside of Ryder, but if you did it would be Shay hands down. The relationship you had with him was like that of a brother. He watched out for you and you for him. You’d play the part of his best wingwoman and he supported your relationship with his brother. You’d fight like siblings too. He knew exactly which buttons to press and you knew how to get under his skin. You knew each other well and this is what made you two Ryder’s worst nightmare. You constantly ganged up on him with his brother. You were able to get Ryder to do/fall for just about anything and that made you Shay’s favorite secret weapon.

The boys had some free time this weekend and wanted to make the 5 hour drive to Duluth to spend it on their boat since it would probably be one of the last times they would get to do so with the season ramping up. Ryder’s annoyance for you and Shay began promptly at 6 a.m. He was not a morning person and you definitely weren’t either, but Shay insisted you both get up early so that you get to the boat at a decent time in the day. He did not however, set his alarm for 6 a.m., rather 6 p.m. and was awoken by his brother’s shouts to get out of bed. You, on the other hand, were just running late because you thought you could get ready in a shorter amount of time than was realistic. By the time you and Shay make it down to Ryder, who already has the car packed and ready to go, he’s huffy. “You guys know I hate when you tell me a specific time and then you show up late”. “Well this should be a fun trip, right Rizzer?”, Shay speaks up with fake enthusiasm. You shoot Shay a look from the front seat as a signal to shut the hell up, to which Ryder appreciates.

The first hour is pretty smooth, not a whole lot of talking going on in the car. Everyone just appreciating the sunrise, or at least that’s what you thought until you glanced in the backseat and saw Shay sound asleep. At your “awh” Ryder moved his eyes from the road to the rear view mirror. “So that’s why it’s been so peaceful”. Even though you laughed you gave Ryder’s hand that was on your thigh a light squeeze. “Don’t be so grumpy Rydes. This is going to be a fun weekend, I just know it”. He can hear the smile in your voice without even looking over and he knows you’re right, flashing you his signature bright smile of his own.

As if he knew he was being talked about, Shay begins to stir. The quietness is disturbed immediately upon his awakening. He takes over the AUX and the road tripping can finally begin. Him and Ryder argue over music, whether to play alternative or country and which has more of a summer vibe, until finally a summer playlist, containing both is chosen. You pick up your phone, scrolling through some Tiktoks when you find one you just have to send to Shay. You watch as he gets the notification and opens it immediately. The music is broken up, replaced with the voice of a guy saying, “Send this to someone you don't like. You look like a rat, and you are so fat. I would be so sad, if i looked like that”. You’re dying laughing in the front seat at the offended look on Shay’s face and the death glare he’s receiving from Ryder. “I hate you” is all Ryder spits out, as this is a regular occurrence in any car ride. You love how you can get Shay in trouble without even really trying and how Ryder only yells at his brother when you’re the one who sent it to him.

The rest of the ride is spent on the highway and though you love the singing of the boys in the car with you, you’re getting pretty bored just watching the trees pass by so you say, “Let’s play a game!”. They both look at you like you’re 12.

“What? It’ll be fun I promise”. They shoot you skeptical looks, but ask what the game is anyway.

“It’s like license plate bingo kind of. You see the type of car first, you call it out and then you get to punch whoever you want”, you say with a shrug.

“Ooo, I like this game”, Shay says rubbing his palms together as he studies the list of “rules” you sent him: Slug bug, no punchbacks. PT Cruiser, get a bruiser. Tacoma, put you in a coma. Kia, wouldn’t wanna be ya, could be substituted with kia kick. Big truck, no luck. Subaru slap. Jeep jab. Honda hit. Train, feel the pain. You read them out loud to Ryder so that he can play too while he drives. Ryder shakes his head as you continue down the list, clearly not as impressed as Shay was.

“Where do you come up with this stuff, Y/N?”, but he agrees to participate nonetheless.

The rest of the ride is now much more exciting, everyone on high alert for a vehicle that would allow them to inflict pain on a passenger. You and Shay are admittedly better and much more active in the game since Ryder has to also pay attention to the road. As a result, he also ends up taking most of the hits, both from you and his brother. Everytime you would excitedly jab him, he’d give you puppy dog eyes. He was easy pickings, as he was right next to you, but the sad eyes did make you choose Shay as your target a little more often.

After Shay slugs Ryder in the arm for about the fifth “Kia, wouldn't wanna be ya”, his personal favorite, Ryder expresses his annoyance for the game. “This is abuse. I can’t even play right since I’m driving. The only person I can hit is Y/N, and unlike some people”, he says, shooting you a look, “I don’t enjoy hitting my significant other”.

You just roll your eyes at him, but Shay is quick to jump in, unhappy that Ryder is squashing his fun. “Awh can widdle brudder not take a few punches? You’re going soft, Ryder” Shay says with his fake baby voice.

You know it grates on Ryder’s nerves like no other so you call the game quits before they engage in an argument in the small space. Luckily, you were just pulling into the drive leading to where the Donovan’s call home. Getting out of the car Shay throws an arm around you, “I liked our game, Y/N. Very fun. We should play it more often”.

You all enter the house long enough to drop off the bags and pack some snacks for the boat. Shay leans over to you. “Want to see something funny?”, he asks with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. You raise your eyebrow at him in response. “I’m going to get Ryder in trouble with only four words”, he promises. You use your hand to gesture him on to whatever it is he has planned.

“OW, Ryder! Ryder, stoppp!” He suddenly yells. Ryder, who was digging through the fridge, turns around, giving Shay a confused look as if to say “Wtf”.

“Ryder, seriously! Stop!”, he continues yelling.

“Knock it off!”, their mom calls down from upstairs. Ryder’s clued into what’s happening now, giving his brother a little shoulder check as he passes him to drop the strawberries on the island, just in time for his mom to come around the corner.

“Ryder stop!”, Shay yells at his brother one last time for good measure.

“Seriously, Ryder? You two are home for not even two minutes and you’re already trying to test my patience? And with a guest in the house. Did I teach you boys nothing?”, she reprimands her sons and you have to hide your smile as Shay’s plan plays out accordingly.

She’s bringing you in for a hug then and eventually her two sons the same. She catches up with the boys for a few minutes, but knows they’re impatient to get to the boat so she doesn’t chat for long.

Once she leaves the room you turn to Shay, “I have to say, I’m impressed. I didn’t think it would be that easy.” Shay has a very pleased smirk on his lips.

“I used to do it when we were kids, all the time. Good to know it still works now too, isn’t that right, Rydes?” he says nudging his brother.

Ryder looks back and forth between you and his brother, shaking his head. “You were in on this? You two are the worst. I’m about to drive back to Wisconsin and leave you both here”, he says with a huff.

Unfortunately for Ryder, your antics with Shay weren’t finished yet. While he was driving the boat, Shay had found a Tiktok that he wanted to make, but he needed your help to do it. You were lounging at the front of the boat when Shay brought it to you, explaining his plan.

“Okay, so I’m going to sit over there and just act like I’m on my phone, but I’m actually going to be filming. You’re going to put your fingers like this”, he says showing you his thumb and pointer finger touching like in the ok sign, “and then tell him to do that on his chin, but put it on your cheek. “I want to see how many times it’s going to take him to get it right. My bet is 5. You in?”.

You felt bad goading your boyfriend like that, but you knew he was the perfect victim for it. You loved Ryder, but he was a little slow to catch onto things sometimes. The punchline of jokes? Not his thing, he’d get it a few seconds after everyone else and even then, sometimes you weren’t really sure if he even got it then. It was a wonder how he played such a fast paced game and came up with chirps on the fly. Mulling it over once more, you finally nodded your head. “Yeah, I’m in, but $10 says it’s going to take him 8”, you say with a wink.

Shaking on it, he says, “I like the way you think. You have a deal”.

Getting up you go over to your boyfriend, trying not to feel guilty. “Babe, I have a test for you”, you say as innocently as possible.

“And what is that?”, he asks, giving you his full attention.

“Put this,” Showing him the same sign Shay showed you, “on your chin”, demonstrating for him, placing the ok sign on your cheek.

He narrowed his eyes at you. “Is this a tiktok or something?” he asked, looking around for your phone. Your eyes widened with fake offence as you pointed to your phone over on your towel. “Babe, do you see me filming? My phone is way over there. It’s fine. Just put this on your chin”, you said, once again demonstrating for him.

He looked around, still suspicious. “You’re not going to hit me right? This isn’t another one of your ‘beat up on Ryder games’?” You shook your head, promising him you wouldn’t even touch him. Satisfied with that, he gave in to your request, like he always did and copied your actions. Meanwhile, Shay was trying his hardest to remain camouflage but his brother’s predictable actions were making it very difficult to not start laughing behind his phone.

You repeated your phrase again, “Put this on your chin” and he again mirrored your movements, putting his ok sign on his cheek and looking at you expectantly. You tried again, enunciating the “this” as you watched him. He again put his fingers on his face.

You tried not to laugh, repeating the phrase, trying to clue him in as you said the words slowly this time. “Put this on your chin.” He studied you real hard this time, but copied your placement exactly with his ok sign on his cheek.

You tried again, “Put this,” showing him your ok sign in front of his face and speaking slowly, “on your chin”. This time the poor boy grabbed your wrist, bringing your ok sign to HIS cheek and waiting for your approval. This time you had to let out a little chuckle and as you glanced over at Shay he was ready to bust a gut trying to hold back his laugh. You tried to compose yourself, as you tried to get your boyfriend to do the simple task.

“Put this on your chin” you practically yelled at him. Even though he was frustrated with what you were saying, he had a big smile on his face because you did. “I’m not fucking stupid” he said through laughs and grabbed your hand with two hands this time and put it on his cheek.

You were really laughing now, pulling your hand away and trying one last time. “Ryder. Put this. On your chin”, you said hoping this time would stick. But nope. The boy really put that okay sign on his damn cheek and really had the audacity to look at you to say he did it right.

You took a deep breath, trying to catch your breath from laughing so hard. “On your chin”, and he just looked at you, processing what you just said and then finally his hand shot to his chin and he started laughing again. “Oh shit”. You started cheering for him and Shay practically exploded from his spot as he fell to the floor laughing.

“Oh my god. That was too good. I’m so posting this”, he said between laughs.

“I believe you owe me 10 bucks, Shay. Pay up”, you responded with your hand out.

Ryder once again was stuck looking between you and Shay. “You set me up!” he accurately accused. “And you BET on it? You bet against me?” he said, turning to you. Seeing the hurt look on his face you felt bad.

“Rydes I didn’t bet against you per say, I just guessed how many times it might take you to catch on to what I was saying. I love you though”, you say as you run your fingers up and down his arms at an attempt to get him to forget your tricks. He’s not pleased with your answer though.

Now you’re pouting and sticking your lip out at him, throwing Shay under the bus. “It was Shay’s idea!”.

“Dude!” Shay exclaims.

You roll your eyes at him, “Oh like he didn’t already know”.

The slight frown on Ryder's face had turned into a small smile as he spoke to Shay. “I can’t believe you turned my own girlfriend on me. You guys are being extra annoying today”.

“It’s all for the tiktok, bahd” Shay answers with a shrug, unbothered by his brother’s annoyance.

You, however, spent the rest of the afternoon trying to suck up to Ryder.

“I hate you,” you said as you passed Shay to get to the cooler to fetch Ryder a drink for the fifth time as part of your penance. Shay just grins up at you, shooting you a wink. “I love you too, my little partner in crime”.

---

The following weekend you’re out with the guys, walking down State Street and a car passes your group. Shay glances at you and then Ryder and an ear splitting grin takes over his features. Lightning fast he hits Ryder, yelling “Lamborghini, hit you in your weenie!”.

You stop in your tracks as your boyfriend doubles over in pain and you double over in hysterics. The guys, as well as the few passerbyers who had heard Shay’s outburst look on in confusion.

As you finally catch your breath you move to help your still struggling boyfriend. You crouch down so you can see his face as you ask if he’s okay, but his grimace tells all. There’s nothing you can really do for him but let him breathe it out so you stand back up, high-5ing Shay. “That was pretty good,” you say shaking your head at the memory of what just happened and your road trip from last weekend.

“How long did it take ya to come up with that one?”.

He proudly announces that he’s been thinking of new ones to add to the list all week.

“Whoever introduced you two was a real idiot and is 100% regretting that decision” Ryder says from his still bent over position. You only offer your hand to help him stand straight in response.

Shay’s animatedly trying to explain the game to the boys, who all seem very excited to play. They spend the rest of the walk to KK punching each other and calling out the phrases as they search the cars lining the sides of the road. You walk a few steps behind them with Ryder leaning on you for a little support and maybe some protection.

“You’ve really created a monster now” he sighs, watching the boys.

All of a sudden he strikes your arm. “PT Cruiser, get a bruiser!”, he hollers and takes off down the street, suddenly fine. He looks back at you with a big grin.

You shake your head, “Smooth, Ryder Donovan, smooth” and you chase after him.

Mike Vorlicky

Being in a group chat with a bunch of hockey players meant that you were no stranger to your phone blowing up with nonsense, but you knew the boys were at practice, as Ryder had left for it 15 minutes ago, so when you heard more pings from your MacBook- 4 in a row to be exact - all from Mike, you knew something was up. Quickly checking your phone, your brows knit as you read the succession of messages, confirming your suspicion that something was definitely up.

“Y/N! SOS.”

“I know you have your phone, I NEED YOU”

“Come on my ass is about to be shipped back to Edina”

“Y/N! I hate to do this, but Ryder got hurt on the way to practice. I mean like really hurt”.

The messages didn’t make sense, but the last one had you calling Mike immediately.

“Oh, thank God-'' he answered, but you cut him off, wanting to know about the status of your boyfriend.

“What happened? How is Ryder? Where are you?”. The pause on the other end of the line had your heart beating in your ears, filled with anxiety and worry for your boyfriend, at least for a moment.

When you heard “Dude she’s gonna kill you” from Cole in the background, a different emotion filled you.

“Mike Vorlicky, what the HELL is going on?”

Despite the anger and annoyance in your voice, Mike still let out a smug chuckle. “I knew that last one would get you to answer your damn phone. But listen-“

“So he’s fine? Nothing happened?”, you asked just to be sure.

When Mike lets out a nervous chuckle you release the breath that you had been holding. “I should hang up on your ass right now, Vorlicky. You can’t just-“

“No seriously, Y/N this is important. You can yell at me later, but will you pleaseeee, pretty please with a cherry on top please bring me my practice jersey? I was serious about coach shipping me out. This is like the third time. He’s gonna bench me next game and my parents are coming to this one...”.

Even though you were extremely pissed off at him for even speaking into existence your boyfriend getting hurt, you also couldn’t deny him or any of the boys when they needed your help and he knew that. After letting out a groan you asked him where the jersey was and made your way over to his dorm. Getting into his building was scarily easy and the jersey was surprisingly right where he said it would be, laid out on his bed. It’s a wonder how he forgot it.

Minutes later you were pulling up to the practice facility and walking through the glass doors that led to the rink. You were met with cool air and smiling faces. As the boys noticed you began to head your way, but not before Mike rushed over. He was coming so fast he barely had time to stop before he hit the boards and wrapped you in a hug, “I love you so much right now I could kiss you” he said, taking the jersey from your hands.

“Don’t even think about it, Vorlicky” Ryder called to him as he made his way through the boys to give you a quick kiss before the whistle blew signifying practice starting, just in time for Mike to slip the jersey over his gear.

Owen Lindmark

Cooking had never been your thing, still having never really gained that skill even after living on your own. But as much as it was not your best quality, it was even less so for the boys that were about to come crashing through your door any minute. Dating Ryder was amazing and equally as amazing were the 20 other boys who’ve you’ve come to call close friends that came along with him.

You had just gotten an air fryer and were excited to test it out. You’d been promising the boys you’d cook for them for weeks and figured what better time to do so than now. They had a big rematch coming up that weekend against PSU anyway so you had told Ryder to invite some of his teammates over for a mini team dinner.

You were pretty impressed with yourself you had to admit. Not only had you planned a full meal and dessert, you had timed it perfectly so that everything was just about finished as you heard the door unlock.

“Honey, I’m hooommee”, Shay called out as he dropped his bag in the pathway of the others behind him.

You shook your head as you stirred the marinara sauce one last time, knowing that the pet name bugged Ryder even though it was a movie line and he was so obviously joking.

“Dude it smells amazing in here”

“What’re we having?”

“I’m starving”, and curses could all be heard as the crew continued to pour into the apartment, the noise and chaos level instantly rising.

You cleared your throat and very dramatically tapped your spoon on your wine glass to gather the boys’ attention.

”First of all, everyone is to wash their hands before eating, please and thank you. Salad is already on the table. You guys can grab yourselves a plate, the pasta is over by the sink, the sauce is right next to it and then the chicken’s already been cooked in the air fryer so it follows your guys’ diets (kind of) and parmesan melted on it so you can just put that on top of the pasta. I have bread in the oven that I’ll bring out when it’s done. Oh and dessert for when everyone’s ready”. You barely finished your spiel before the boys were shoving each other to get in line.

Shay of course had battled his way to the front of the line, claiming seniority, Mike unsurprisingly behind him, followed by Lex, Owen, Cole and Dylan. For being as large as Dylan was, he had been easily bullied to the end of the line. Ryder stuck around, wrapping you in a hug and placing a sweet kiss on your forehead.

“You’re amazing for doing this. The boys haven’t shut up about it all week. You really went all out didn’t you, babe?” He asked with a proud smile on his face. His little acknowledgment coupled with how proud he looked made you blush. You knew he wasn’t lying about the boys obsessing over this meal either, as you had been receiving daily texts from each of them about it.

“Don’t get too excited, you haven’t even tasted anything yet. What if it’s the worst Chicken parm, you’ve ever tasted in your life?” You asked pouring on the dramatics. It was your first time using the air fryer after all, you had no idea how it would turn out and you were a bit nervous, but had warned the boys ahead of time that they may be ordering pizza instead.

Your disclaimer was countered by moans coming from the living room, a chorus of them actually. You and Ryder share a look before busting out laughing. “I guess there’s your answer for ya.” He replies, followed by a “No one better be having sex out there”.

You shoo him along so that he can eat with his friends and you can grab the bread out of the oven. After slicing it and putting it on a plate you deliver it to the vultures in your living room and prop yourself on the armrest of Ryder’s chair, rubbing his back as he eats.

The boys don’t stop gushing about your cooking as they continue to shovel food in their mouths. “This is seriously- the best meal- no, scratch that- food- I’ve had in months”, Cole says between bites.

“Hey, I just made you that really good burger and Mac cheese thing last week and you gave it 5 stars!” Dylan protests.

You and Owen lock eyes and instantly start laughing. “Dyl, did it come in a red box with a glove on the front?” You ask, still giggling. His eyes light up, happy that you recognize it and he nods.

“Dude, that’s Hamburger Helper!” Owen howls.

“And an insult to Y/N’s cooking”, Alex chimes in.

”Even this salad is more gourmet than Hamburger Helper, sorry bro”, Cole adds.

At this point everyone’s laughing at Dylan’s expense, yourself included. He’s immediately apologetic, hoping he didn’t truly insult your cooking, which just eggs the boys on assuring him that he did in fact insult you.

“Yeah, that’s like comparing Wayne Gretzky and Shay in hockey, but for cooking”, Mike chirps, feeling the need to get involved.

”Nice one Mikey. Dylan fucks up, but let’s roast Shay”, Shay retorts.

You grin, loving being a part of the relaxed banter that’s going on but wave them off. Dylan attempts to grumble out his weak defense, claiming that he’s from Canada and didn’t know about Hamburger Helper, just making you giggle harder.

“Okay, okay okay,” you say in an attempt to calm yourself and the room down. You were wiping tears from your eyes. “I’m going to go get the dessert so you clowns can get out of my apartment”.

Once in the kitchen you opened the cabinet by the fridge and felt around for the plate of brownies you knew you’d hidden up there so that the boys, specifically your boyfriend, wouldn’t pick at them before dinner. You felt a pair of hands on your hips. You had expected it to be your boyfriend, but with his body slightly pressed against yours you knew it wasn’t him.

“Need some help?”, the voice confirmed your thoughts. It was Owen.

“Please”, you said, accepting his offer.

He grinned once he pulled the plate down and saw the perfectly proportioned brownies. You had used one of those baking pans that had individual brownie shapes so that every piece had four edges, the best part and Ryder’s favorite.

“I love these, my mom makes ‘em like that. Smart to keep these hidden from Ryder”, he says with a wink. Though his tone is light toward the end with the little chirp at Ryder, you don’t miss the hint of sadness that laced his voice in the beginning. And he doesn’t miss the look of concern on your face either.

He puts the plate down and leans against the counter. “I love you for doing this tonight. I really can’t thank you enough. I needed this, the laughs, the home cooked meal”, he confesses, running a hand through his hair.

“Missing home a little extra?” You ask, knowing exactly how he feels.

”You could say that. I know the guys and I don’t say it enough, but we love you and appreciate how much you take care of us and keep us sane. What you do for Ryder is obvious, but stuff like this that you do extra for us, making a really good dinner and dessert, always letting us hang out here, and come to you with our problems. It means a lot”.

Not really having words for all that he’d just told you, but wanting to show him you really did care for him too, you wrapped your arms around him and gave him a good squeeze.

“Awh, O. I don’t know what to say. You and the boys are like family to me. You always have a second home here.” The sentimental moment is broken up by Mike shouting about dessert and someone telling him to shut up and stop being rude.

“I guess we better get this dessert to the boys so they can get out of your hair”, he says grinning.

Before letting him go you pull back and say, “Tell your mom I said hi when you call her later”. He picks the plate of brownies back up and you make your way toward the rowdy group occupying your living room.

“You know me too well. But I surely will let her know. I’m sure she’ll appreciate you keeping me alive”, he says with a chuckle.

Dylan Holloway

Everyone was huddled close together in the dimly lit booth as it came down to just Roman and Dylan, each with two fingers on the full pitcher in the middle of the table. The two boys were half out of their seats staring each other down. Roman had a smug smirk on his face as he watched Dylan sweat it out across from him, his mind clearly going a mile a minute.

The guys had just swept PSU and were definitely feeling themselves tonight. They decided to opt for the usual celebratory tradition of KK and Fingers, a game that Dylan was historically terrible at.

It was Dylan’s turn and he was still shaking his head, both at himself for overthinking a simple drinking game and at Roman who was continuously chirping him, which was not helping him decide. He only hoped the winning luck of the night would continue as he began counting down, “Three, two, one - two!”, Roman yanked one finger off the pitcher as Dylan left his two on, for a total of three fingers.

The team erupted as Dylan threw his hands in the air, “Fuck! I always lose this stupid, fucking game”.

“Drink up, bud!”, Roman chided him, pushing the pitcher closer to him on the table.

Dylan just groaned and stared at the full pitcher of unknown alcohol with a grimace.

“Come on, Dyl, you know the rules. Or at least you should, you’ve lost enough times by now”, Shay chirped from behind him. You felt bad for the guy because Shay wasn’t wrong. Of the handful of times you had watched and played the game, Dylan had lost all but maybe twice.

“You’re right Shay, maybe we should spice it up this time, eh? What do we think boys?” Mike suggests with a devilish smile and a rub of his palms. You don’t miss the look that he shares with Roman and your eyes narrow in on the boy who suddenly has a mischievous look in his eyes.

“Dylan, I dare you to go ask that girl for her number”, he challenges, nodding toward a blonde who had been looking over at the group.

Following his gaze you notice who exactly it is that he pointed out and you choke on your drink. You want to stop Dylan before he makes a fool out of himself, but he easily gulps down the pitcher and quickly makes his way over to the girl waiting for him. You can’t get your words out as you’re sputtering and coughing from your drink.

When you finally catch your breath you give Roman a shove and hiss “Fuck you Ro. What’re you doing? Aren’t you talking to that girl?”. He doesn’t answer, just shrugs as he watches on with a smirk plastered on his face, as if he knows exactly what is going to happen. Ryder nudges you in confusion at your little interaction with his teammate. Moving closer to him you filled him in on the unknown drama that was going on. “I played wingwoman for Roman a couple weeks ago so that he could pick up this same girl. Of course with my 90% success rate, he got her and I guess kept her. He’s been texting me about her all week”.

Suddenly understanding, he said “You have to go save D. The guys will never let him live this down” and you knew he was right. A freshman hitting on an older guy’s girl? Even if it was on a dare and even if her and Roman were just talking, it would still be embarrassing on Dylan’s part and chirp content for the team for the weeks to come.

So with a flip of your hair and a pat to Roman’s head you strode over to where Dylan was flirting with the blonde. He was really pulling out all the stops trying to earn this girl’s number, you had to give him that. You would even say that it actually appeared to be going well, but judging by the look that was on Roman’s face, you knew it wouldn’t end well.

“Excuse me, mind if I borrow him real quick? No? Ok great, thanks! I’ll give him back in just a second!”. You gripped his wrist with both hands and all but yanked him off the barstool until he was stumbling toward you, very confused. Once you were a few feet away, you steadied him with your hands. He was clearly annoyed with you.

“What the hell, Y/N? what’re you doing? I need to get back there. Things were actually going well”.

“And you will, D just listen to me for a second. I’m trying to help you here”.

“Help me? What’re you talking about?”.

“Dylan, Roman’s been talking to that girl for weeks now. He’s just trying to set you up because he knows she won’t actually give you her number because she’s with him so you end up coming back to the table empty handed and the guys can chirp you for weeks about trying to get with Roman’s girl”.

Realization washed over his face as he took in the situation. He glanced over at Roman’s now displeased but confused face and back at the girl who was seemingly waiting for him to return to the empty seat next to her.

“Whatever you have to do to get that number Dylan Holloway, do it. You can’t come back to that table empty handed, got it?”. He nodded furiously. “Good boy. Now go charm her pants off!” And with that you sent him on his way and returned to the group, all of whom were looking at you with quizzical faces.

You just shrugged it off saying, “He just wanted me to check if he smelled like beer. I guess she hates that stuff, only drinks Claws.” With that, Roman shoots you a look, knowing that was a load of shit and a jab at him. Her hatred of beer and love for white claws had been one of the many “fun facts” he had shared with you over the week. His attention turns as the guys erupt once again in cheers as the girl plants a kiss on Dylan’s cheek and sends him back to your table. He smiles victoriously as he stops in front of Roman. “I hope you don’t mind sharing your girl, she seems pretty into me”, he says and drops the napkin with her phone number on it on the table in front of Roman. The “ooos” and hollers from the boys are golden, but pale in comparison to the look on Roman’s face. Ryder fist bumps him and Dylan leans in to give your hand a squeeze, “I love you so much for that. The look on his face? Totally worth it. Really saved my ass. I owe you”.

Ryder wasn’t one to overuse the phrase “I love you”. He held great value in those three words and reserved them for times when it was just the two of you or for when the moment deemed necessary. Today was one of those moments.

He had gotten home from practice early to find you out on his balcony wrapped in a blanket and your computer on your lap. He hadn’t thought much of it as he shed his bag and went to wash his hands and make a snack, but the door was cracked and he could hear a familiar laugh that wasn’t yours. He stopped what he was doing and listened for it again. As if right on cue, his baby sister’s laugh found his ears. He debated with himself whether or not he should make his presence known. Curiosity eventually winning out, he decided to wait it out and see what his two favorite girls were talking about. He’d be lying if he said his heart wasn’t ready to burst at seeing you voluntarily FaceTiming his baby sister.

His snack forgotten, he sat himself on the couch out of view and just listened and watched. He watched the way your hair fluttered with the breeze, how you focused your attention on the girl on the screen, and nodded your head in agreement with whatever she was saying. He watched the way you interacted with his sister and couldn’t deny the feeling that was consuming him.

Even more so he watched the way Clara’s face lit up as you spoke to her, a look he’d seen before, one she reserved for her big sister. It was one of idolization, respect, and love. He watched her smile and her head tip back as she laughed with you like you were her best friend. Mostly he watched as the two of you had become part of each other’s lives in a way he hadn’t even known.

He listened to the beautiful sound of your laugh mix with hers and to the way both of your voices were so animated with each other. He listened as you spoke naturally with her, your kindness genuine instead of just treating her as some little kid. He knew she hated that but had unfortunately had her share of heartbreak by girls who only used her to get to him. He hated that he had caused her any kind of pain, but loved that you had somehow found a way to right his mistakes. He knew right then and there that he’d never take you away from her and she wouldn’t let him.

His thoughts were broken up by you reentering the apartment.

“Having a stalker moment there, Rydes?”, you ask him with eyebrows raised.

Deflecting the question, he clears his throats and instead asks what you guys were talking about. “Didn’t you hear the whole conversation already?”, you tease him. He just rolls his eyes, so you divulge as you pull stuff out to make dinner.

“We were just checking in. She was making sure you were still alive, taking your vitamins, treating me right, our usual. She had some drama stuff, but V is busy getting stuff ready for the baby so she didn’t want to bother her. Oh, and we’re planning your sister’s baby shower! Well, Clara’s in charge but she wanted my opinion on some details”.

The feeling he had before as he watched you two only intensified as he discovered what you had actually been talking about.

“What do you mean your usual?”

You’d stopped adding ingredients to the pot as you looked up at him, realizing you had just let Ryder in on something you hadn’t planned on. “Um. You know how you FaceTime Clara every week? Well uh, I do too...that’s ok right? That’s not like weird?”

He processed the information you had just told him. You actually took the time out of your busy life to get in touch with his sister every single week and were asking him if that was ok? He hadn’t even imagined you doing that, but you continued to amaze him. The smile he gave you was so warm and full of love. “Of course that’s okay. I love that you do that and I’m sure she does too. I saw the way she looks at you, you know. The same way she looks at V.” Your heart swells at his comment and you almost start crying on the spot.

“So she’s coming to you with drama huh? Anything I should know about?”. You laugh and default to “girl code” aka Ryder doesn’t get any deets. Despite his best efforts, including puppy dog eyes, he doesn’t get anything out of you.

“You’re MY girlfriend, you can’t let my sisters convert you to their side already” he whines.

You laugh and respond with “Well would you rather I convert to your brother’s side? I’m sure Shay could pitch a good argument.” He looks offended that you’d even say such a thing and grumbles out a “no”.

After he’s decided he’s done pouting he comes around the counter and wraps his arms around you from behind, nuzzling his face into your hair. “You told Clara I treat you well, right?” He questions, still thinking about your conversation with her. You’re surprised to detect nervousness in his question and that he’d even ask that. Turning in his arms you answer him, wanting him to see the conviction in your face when you say “Of course, Ryder. You don’t ever need to doubt that, baby”. He looks relieved and surprises you again with a confession.

“Good. I want Clara to see how she should be treated. What good love looks like, a healthy relationship, ya know?”.

Tears start form in your eyes and it takes you a second to find your voice. Eventually you do and you gently pull his face down to yours, running your thumb over his cheek. You melt over the way he leans into your touch. Even though your voice is barely above a whisper, it’s strong as you tell him, “You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been. You show me what love is everyday and inspire me to be better for you and for me. You are such a role model to her Ryder. When she looks at us, I promise you all she will see is genuine, pure love.”

His heart is beating so hard as he absorbs your words. He takes your wrist and pulls your hand to his lips. He kisses your palm then cups your face in his hands, bringing your foreheads together. His own eyes are glassy and throat thick as he tries to put what he’s feeling into words that will convey the same amount of strength and emotion. “Every time I think ‘she can't get any better’ you surprise me. Well not surprise me because I’m not surprised you get better, but- fuck! I can’t get my words out right now.” He can feel you smiling and takes it as a sign to keep going.

“What I’m trying to say is you keep loving me and showing me that you love me in new ways that I didn't even know existed. You’re always taking care of me before games, after games and practices. Even just asking about practice and my day and coming to my games, waiting up for me after road trips. The highs of winning and you right there with me are amazing, but what I love most and what are even better are when you sit there and watch us lose, me lose and you just know how to deal with me afterwards. I can’t tell you how much it helps me to have you hold me after a game or offer dessert or just let me bitch about it. The lows are better because you still want me after. Like even if I couldn’t play hockey anymore, you’d still want me. You still believe in me to do better next game. You inspire me to be better. Off the ice especially”, he takes a deep breath then and as badly as you want to say something, you don’t interrupt him knowing he still has more to say.

“You’ve shown me what it feels like to be loved. Really, truly loved. You take care of my friends, regardless of what they need and you do so out of the goodness of your heart. Watching you with my family, I can’t ever imagine you being anywhere else but a part of my family, Y/N. The fact that my favorite people in the entire world love you makes me so happy I can’t even describe it. You’re FaceTiming my baby sister of your own free will, planning a baby shower with her for my other sister? You keep up with Shay and get Boden out of his shell. I couldn’t dream it up better if I tried. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but somehow I was blessed with you and I swear to you, promise you I will never stop loving you, ok? I love you with my whole heart and then some, Y/N”.

The tears are absolutely streaming down your face and into his hands and his into yours. The moment had gotten so intense and so fast. These were rare between you two, preferring to keep the relationship light and fun, but occasional moments like this where you attempted to pour your whole heart and soul into each other would occur and you were left breathless every time. But of course, you couldn’t resist a good chirp.

“You’re gonna have a hard time topping that for a proposal, Donovan”.

#ryder donovan #shay donovan #owen lindmark #cole caufield #dylan holloway #roman ahcan #mike vorlicky #rydesdono

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rmtndew · 4 years

Text

All I’ve Ever Known ~ Chapter 3

Summary: Fiona’s life is a shattered fraction of what it used to be. She’s trying to navigate her new normal when she meets Detective Marshall, who gives her something more to look forward to.

Pairing: Marshall and OFC.

Rating: PG

Warnings: Mentions of death, cancer.

A/N - This was intended as a short drabble but it got out of hand and became a multi-chapter story instead. It’s my first Marshall fic and the first fan fic that I’ve written in over a decade. The title comes from the song ‘All I’ve Ever Known’ from Hadestown: ‘I was alone so long, I didn’t even know that I was lonely. Out in the cold so long, I didn’t even know that I was cold. Turned my collar to the wind, this is how it’s always been. All I’ve ever known is how to hold my own, but now I want to hold you, too.’

Tag list - @hollydaisy23, @readings-of-a-cavill-lover, @onlyhenrys, @omgkatinka, @speakerforthedead0-blog, @gearhead66, @thethirstyarchive, @oddsnendsfanfics, @littlerinoa, @agniavateira, @aaescritora,

If you’d like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Wednesday morning we had so many orders to fill that I was left filling the one for the police station all by myself. I saved Marshall’s for last and when I knew Darcy wasn’t looking (not that she would have minded), I wrote a quick note on the paper sleeve the cookies went in.

‘Thank you again for Saturday night - Fiona’

Then I put in two extra cookies in the sleeve and placed it in the box before sealing it with the store sticker.

When I arrived at the station, I kept my eye out for Marshall, hoping to see him again. Despite being convinced that he wasn’t interested in me and that nothing would come out of my crush on him, I hadn’t been interested in anyone since Ezra had broken up with me and it felt nice to know that I was capable of feeling things again.

I worked quickly, doing my best to not be sloppy, as I tried to get done before Marshall could come in. I wanted an excuse to take his lunch to his office. I craved the opportunity to talk to him one on one again, even if it was short. I managed to set all of the orders out and pack up my stuff before he came in, so I grabbed his box and excitedly made my way towards his office. I was looking for his name on the doors and almost passed his up because his door was open, making the nameplate hard to see. I backed up and stood in the doorway for a moment, deciding how to announce myself. I finally settled for knocking on the outside wall. There was no answer. I waited for about half a minute before stepping in. I looked around, but his office was empty.

My heart sank a little, but I went to his desk so that I could leave his lunch on it, but it was almost completely covered in files and folders and notepads. There was a small space right in front of his chair that was empty with the exception of a yellow Post It note. Since his desk was full, I decided to leave the box on his chair, but when I circled around to it, I glanced at the note, then did a double take.

‘Thanks for lunch, Fi.’

I immediately started blushing. I almost wanted to take the note with me but I didn’t. I left his lunch and got out of there before someone came by and wondered why a delivery girl was in one of the detective’s offices smiling like a lunatic.

The rest of my day, to put it mildly, was a real dumpster fire. I got a flat tire and had to change it on a busy road where no one stopped to help, but a few people did honk. Back at work, I burnt my forearm taking bread out of the oven. Then, when I checked my phone before getting in the car to go home, I saw that I had two unread texts from Demi. One was cold but simply said that being friends with me was no longer working for her. The second, sent an hour later, went into greater detail and basically circled back on her comment the other night about me being ‘immature’. I tried to hold it together, I tried not to let it bother me, but I couldn’t. I sat in my car and cried. It was the only safe space where I could cry like that in peace. Or at least I thought it was. After several minutes, there was a knock on my window. I expected to see Darcy checking in on me. Instead it was Marshall. I was so surprised to see him that I stopped crying immediately and let out a little squeak.

His brow was knitted together in concern as he made a hand motion for me to roll my window down. I did and he lowered his head to look me in the face. “Are you alright?”

I tried to smile and nodded, but then I realized how silly that was. No one cries in their car when they’re fine. It wouldn’t take a skilled detective to figure that one out. So I paused, let out a breath, then shook my head. “No. I’m having a bad day,” I said. “But it’ll pass.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Can I…?” He pointed to my passenger’s seat.

“Yeah.” I unlocked my doors and wiped at my tears, trying to dry my cheeks as he walked around. When he sat in my car, his knees went up to his chest and his eyes went wide for a second, looking like a confused puppy. I laughed. “You can adjust the seat with the bar in the front,” I said. “Sorry, I should have slid it back before you got in. Mom’s the only person who sits there and she’s pretty tiny.”

“It’s alright,” he said, pulling on the bar under the seat and sending it back almost all the way. He let out a relieved breath as he stretched his long legs out.

“Why…” I started and trailed off. “Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“So you’re not here for your case?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you, but I didn’t have your number. I called here and your boss said that if I hurried, I might catch you.”

I turned in my seat so that I could look at him better. “What did you need to talk to me about?”

“Will you tell me about your day first?” he asked, reaching out to put his hand on my forearm, right on my burn. It hurt and I instinctively pulled my arm away. He looked confused, his wide puppy eyes coming back. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to hurt you. I shouldn’t have -”

“No, you’re fine. It’s not you.” I pushed my sweater sleeve towards my elbow and held my arm out for him to see. “I burnt myself earlier. I was getting bread out of the oven.”

“Is that what you were upset about?”

“It’s one of the reasons. It’s just been a horrible afternoon.”

“Can I make an offer that might help?”

“Yeah, of course.”

He looked at me, pursing his lovely lips for a moment, then said, “Would you let me buy you coffee?”

I laughed. “Out of pity?”

He smiled, a full beautiful smile, showing his teeth. “If that’ll make you say yes, then sure.”

“Oh,” I said, heat creeping up my ears. “Oh. You really want to take me out to coffee?”

He swallowed. My eyes were instantly drawn to his Adam’s apple as it moved. “If you would let me, yes.”

I suddenly felt shy and couldn’t look at him. “I, um… I would love to.”

“Would right now be a good time for you?”

I nodded. “It would be perfect,” I said. “Unless it interferes with your job and your case.”

“We actually closed the case today.”

I smiled. “So you had the good afternoon,” I said. “Congratulations.”

“It hardly feels like a victory but I’m pleased that it’s finally closed and to have answers for the family.”

“You don’t strike me as the type of person who finds victory in any case as long as there are victims.”

He let out a breath and shook his head. “No, I don’t.” He rubbed his hands on his thighs, almost nervous looking. “So, coffee?”

“Coffee,” I said. “Do you have anywhere particular in mind?”

“There’s a place called South York, do you know it?”

My anxiety hit me in a rush. I was caught between excited nervousness from the offer of coffee with Marshall, to a sudden kick of nerves at the mention of South York. I was trying to figure out a way to politely suggest another place without getting into detail as to why, when he caught my eye and smiled.

“You don’t like it?” he asked.

“No, I do, it used to be my favorite.”

“Used to be?”

“I, um, I just had a bad experience the last time I was there.”

His brow furrowed again as he looked at me more intently. “I have a feeling you’re referring to more than just a bad cup of coffee, yeah?”

I nodded. “But I feel like every time I’m around you, I end up telling you more about myself than you’re bargaining for, so I won’t go into details.”

The corner of his mouth turned up in a slight smirk. “Well, I am a detective and getting people to talk is a big part of my job, so maybe that bit is on me,” he said. “And just because I’m not great at talking doesn’t mean that I mind other people who are.”

“That’s the thing - I’m not, it’s just when I’m around you.”

“Is that a bad thing, though?”

I rubbed my neck. “I don’t know. My ex-boyfriend used to hate it when I rambled, so it can get annoying, I guess.”

“Is that why you broke up with him? Because he was an idiot?”

I smiled. “I should have dumped him because he was an idiot, but no, he actually broke up with me,” I said, my smile faltering. “Right after I got the call about my dad’s wreck.” I managed to look him in the eye. “We were on a date at South York.”

I watched his eyes change as he took in what I said. There was no more soft puppy, it was all angry ocean like it had been that night in the bar. I hated admitting to myself how much I liked that look when I knew he was angry on my behalf.

“He broke up with you after you found out about your father dying?” he asked, his voice tight.

“Dad wasn’t… He died later that night. I just knew that it was a bad car wreck. I went into shock after Mom called me, so I was calm when I told him what happened. He said later that he didn’t think it was that serious because I wasn’t reacting like it was. But the whole time he was driving me to the hospital to drop me off, he kept asking if I understood what was going on, that we were through.” I shook my head. “I had never wanted to throat punch someone as much as I did him, and if he hadn’t been driving, I probably would have.”

“For a completely unrelated reason, I need his full name and last known address.”

I laughed. “There’s a very big part of me that would actually love to give that to you.”

“What’s stopping it and what can I do to change it?”

“I don’t know that you can change it because what’s stopping it is the other, bigger part of me that would rather start with a clean slate and not be the woman you have to rescue from a bar and has the idiotic ex-boyfriend who needs to be taught a lesson.”

“You’re not either of those.”

“I’m just the wreck you find crying in her car and won’t stop talking?”

He shook his head, his brown curls bouncing at the nape of his neck. “No. You’re the beautiful woman who seems to be holding everything together as best as she can and is having a hard day,” he said. “And who left me a lovely surprise of extra cookies.”

I could hear the blood rushing in my ears as my heart began pounding. I stretched my palms out on my legs, trying to covertly wipe the sweat that was suddenly pouring from them. I swallowed hard. “You think I’m beautiful?” I asked, my voice a rough whisper.

“You are beautiful.” He said it like a fact.

I looked at him from under my lashes, feeling too shy to look at him straight on. “You’re not too shabby yourself.”

South York had been my favorite coffee shop since my senior year of high school, but that afternoon my new favorite became Birchwood Coffee. Sitting at a table by the window with Marshall, feeling the last of the afternoon’s sun shining through, warming me up as we drank coffee while we sat talking was the loveliest feeling that I’d had in a long time. I’d forgotten what it was like to have someone interested in me. Someone who cared enough to ask me questions and actually listen. I’d been lonely for so long, I’d forgotten that that’s what it was. I thought it was just a part of me, like my anxiety used to be, like my grief was. But talking to him I realized it was something far easier to sweep away. At least he made it seem easier.

“Do you mind if I ask about your daughter?” I said.

“What would you like to know?”

“You told me that she was thirteen, but I don’t think you told me her name.”

“It’s Faye.”

“That’s pretty,” I said. “What’s she like?”

He ran a hand over his beard, his fingers combing through it while he thought. He gave a small laugh as he let his hand fall back to his thigh. “She’s stubborn and strong willed, like me. But she’s smarter, far smarter than I was as a teenager. A lot more social, too. Which doesn’t make it easy to keep up with all of her friends, but I try,” he said. “And she can hold her own. She won’t take crap from anyone. Her mother and I got called into a meeting at her school not long ago. A boy had flipped up a girl’s skirt and tried taking a picture. Faye pushed him and he broke his nose when he fell. His parents wanted an apology for assaulting him. She refused. She said that if they were going to excuse him harassing a girl and attempting to violate her privacy as ‘boys just being boys’, then her physical assault to prevent him from doing that was just ‘girls having to be girls’ and that she should get the same slap on the wrist that he got. I said, ‘good girl’ and we both got kicked out.”

I smiled. “Did she get in trouble?”

He shook his head as he picked up his coffee cup. “No. My ex-wife is far more level headed - not to mention better at arguing her point - and she handled it.”

“Is it hard spending time with her with your job? I imagine you don’t have the typical nine to five hours,” I asked as he took a sip of his coffee. Again, my eyes were drawn to his Adam’s apple. I tried to drag my sight away before he caught me staring.

“We make it work,” he said. “I try to take her to school as often as I can and she stays over on occasion.”

He had an errant curl that drooped down over his forehead and I had to restrain myself from reaching out to brush it back. Something about him inspired a desire in me to take care of him. I wanted to make sure he got enough sleep, drank enough water, ate right and regularly while working a case. I couldn’t explain it.

He set his cup down on the table, his hand still clutching it. His arm was close enough to my own that was resting on the table in front of me that I could feel the heat from it. “How’s your mum?” he asked.

“She’s...okay. She’s going a bit stir crazy and keeps talking about going back to work, but I don’t know if she’s ready for it.”

“What did she do?”

“She taught music. The violin,” I said. “That’s how she met my dad; they both played the violin in the city orchestra when they were in college.”

“Did he teach as well?”

“No. He was a physics engineer. I think music was just a way to shut off the analytical part of his brain for a while.”

“Do you play the violin, too?”

I laughed. “No. That was my form of rebellion, I refused to play it or any stringed instrument.” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “I did play the piano, though.”

“You did? Not anymore?”

I shrugged. “I haven’t played in the last couple of years. With everything going on, it just slipped to the bottom of my list.”

He nodded. “That’s understandable.”

“Do you play any instruments?”

He laughed, the corners of his mouth quirking up in a smile, making a dimple visible on his cheek through his beard. “No, I was never patient enough for that. I was always outside, running about or riding bikes with my brother, getting up to no good.”

“Were you a trouble maker as a kid?”

He kept smiling as he nodded. “Nothing terrible. Not like the boys who stole or damaged other people’s property, but yeah, we got into our fair share of trouble.”

One of the women who worked at the shop came to our table to ask if we needed refills on our coffee. I passed but Marshall accepted. While she poured it for him, I couldn’t help but notice how she looked at him, how unnecessarily close she stood, how her touch lingered on his fingers as she handed his cup back. I couldn’t tell if he was really good at pretending not to notice her attention or if he was so used to having women fawning over him that he’d become oblivious to it. Something told me that it wasn’t the latter. The thought that I held his attention above all of the attractive options surrounding him made my heart flutter. I tried to hold back the smile that thought brought on, but I couldn’t. He noticed.

“You’re smiling. What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“I’m thinking that you’re a pretty good cure for a rotten day.”

Eventually, despite all the coffee he kept drinking, exhaustion seemed to catch up to Marshall. I noticed him yawning more and more, and his already limited talking slowing down. When I pointed it out, he apologized but admitted that he hadn’t slept much while working his case and that it was finally getting to him. I told him that I understood and that as much as I was enjoying myself, it would make me feel even better if he went home and got some much needed sleep. He agreed, but not before asking if we could exchange numbers. I’d never given mine out with so much enthusiasm.

We’d parked side by side in front of the shop and he walked me to my car. After I unlocked it, I looked at him. He was standing in front of me, the warm lights of the coffee shop shining behind him, lighting him up like some other worldly being. I couldn’t remember ever being more attracted to someone as much as I was him in that moment.

“Thank you for the coffee. I really enjoyed it,” I said.

“Yeah, I did, too,” he agreed. “Would you like to do it again sometime? Perhaps when I’ve had a little more sleep?”

I smiled. “I’d love to. I’m very interested in what a fully rested Marshall is like.”

He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly, smiling back at me. “I don’t know if he exists anymore, but I can offer you a partially rested one, how’s that?”

“I’ll take it.”

He nodded, chewing the corner of his lip for a moment. “Can I call you?”

It shouldn’t have caused butterflies when he asked me that, we’d just exchanged numbers after all, but the simple act of him asking made my stomach feel like a thousand butterflies had taken flight. I tried to stay calm looking on the outside, though.

“Yes. Of course. Whenever you’re free.”

He gave me a smile, the kind where it was more in his eyes than his mouth, and I loved what it did to his already beautiful eyes. “I’m probably going to go home and sleep for the next four days, so it may be some time after that, but I’ll call you.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” I said. “Now go home and rest.”

His smile widened. “Yes, ma’am.”

I called out for Mom as soon as I got in the door. She had been in the kitchen and came and met me in the entryway after I locked the door. When I saw her, I let out a happy little squeal.

“A good date, I take it?” she said, beaming at me.

“He’s just so stinking handsome!” I exclaimed. “And he’s lovely. And he smells nice. And he’s so warm that you can feel it just by sitting next to him. And I swear he’d be the biggest teddy bear if I could ever get the chance to hug him.” I sighed. “Mom, I feel like a teenager. I’ve not had a crush on someone like this in my entire adult life. I never felt this way about Ezra. Ever.”

“I’m so happy for you, sweetie,” she said. “What Ezra did to you was wrong. Breaking up with you after Dad’s wreck was bad enough, but leaving your stuff on our front lawn while we were at the hospital, and then ransacking your apartment to get his stuff back while we were making funeral arrangements.” She shook her head. “I still get so angry when I think about it. No one deserves being treated that coldly, especially not you, Bird.”

“And you let him know it, didn’t you?” I said, taking off my coat. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on his face when you told him to sit down so that you could look him in the eye while you scolded him. That was a lot of anger jam packed in a tiny lady.”

“Am I going to have to do that with your Detective Marshall?”

“Scold him? I don’t think so. Sit him down so that you can look him in the eye? Absolutely,” I said “But it’s just Marshall, Mom. I’m not naive enough to believe he’s my anything after a single coffee date.”

I may not have believed it, but it didn’t keep me from wanting it.

#Henry Cavill #Walter Marshall #Night Hunter #Nomis #All I've Ever Known #Walter Marshall fan fiction #Henry Cavill fan fiction #Night Hunter fan fiction #Walter Marshall/OFC #HenryCavillFanfic #Walter MarshallFanfic

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stxphxn-strange · 4 years

Text

death doesn’t discriminate

a/n: so when i first started my college au, i came up w a lot of angst and tragedy that i forgot about when i introduced you to it. so here’s my solution: you’re getting angst now! tw for death in this fic, keep that in mind as you read. I’m super proud of this so i hope you read and lmk ur thoughts Tags: @stark-strange-love @ah3m @grumb-lin @ironstrange-chaos @maya-custodios-dionach

“You’re perfect, you know that? You’re the most precious thing in existence.”

His words were met with a content (read: blissed out), sleepy sigh.

“Hey, you good?” Stephen asked, softly ruffling Anthony’s already wildly messy hair.

“Great, but exhausted,” Anthony murmured, pressing his face into the pillow. “You know you tired me out, just let me sleep.”

Stephen smiled and kissed him softly. “Do you want to shower first? Maybe a snack? And then I promise you can rest.”

“And you’ll hold me all night?” Anthony asked, looking up and batting his eyelashes.

“Ugh, you’re impossible!” Stephen scoffed, overcome with love for his boyfriend. “Of course I will.”

All Stephen wanted to do was kiss Anthony senseless and hold him forever, but he couldn’t for a couple of reasons: tomorrow he was leaving on SI business, and someone was knocking on their bedroom door.

During Stephen’s unusually infinitesimal period of reflection Anthony fell asleep, unintentionally forcing Stephen to get out of bed. He tightened his robe as he answered the door, tiredness making his smile more forced than normal. “Rhodey, I’m not going to moderate another debate about almond milk between you and Harold.”

“Stop calling me Harold!” Harry yelled from somewhere down the hall.

Rhodey shook his head. “Oh no, we’re not getting into that again. I was just going to ask if Tones got the PDFs yet.”

“He’s asleep,” Stephen said, a blush creeping onto his face. “Although I need to wake him up again, I can ask or just tell him to text you.”

“That sounds good,” Rhodey replied, a knowing look in his eye. “Just remember: our business trip is only a week, and no wall in this apartment is 100% soundproof.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Goodnight, Rhodey.”

He closed the door again, sitting on his bed beside Anthony, who appeared to be falling deeper into sleep.

Stephen sighed, gently shaking one of his shoulders to wake him up. Another restful night filled with banter and love was ahead of them, and Stephen wanted to make the most of it before Anthony left in the morning. Grumpy as he was when he finally woke up, Stephen could tell that Anthony wanted to make the most of the night as well.

++++

“It’s official: I hate goodbyes!” Stephen tried not to convey how upset he actually was.

He did hate goodbyes. He hated that Anthony was leaving for a week, though he never liked to admit how much he actually missed his boyfriend. Stephen would always nod whenever Wong complained that the house was quiet without Anthony, Rhodey, and Harry, but his face always fell when it struck him again that his boyfriend was away.

“Let me ask you something,” Wong began.

“Do I want to know?” Stephen replied, filling the kettle with water.

“I won’t beat around the bush,” Wong said. “Why haven’t either of you proposed yet?”

“Unlike the rest of you, we’re not in a rush,” Stephen quipped. “If I know Ant as well as I think I do, he’s waiting for what he thinks is the perfect moment. I’m doing the same.”

“That’s a load of bullshit,” Wong said.

Looking up from his phone, he continued: “You know, we thought you were going to propose before graduation! I’m already out $300 because of all of the bets I lost to our friends.”

“I don’t think I want to know this either, but who did you bet with?” Stephen asked.

“Carol, Rhodey, all of the Odinson siblings, and Christine,” Wong replied.

“And you all know why I didn’t do it then, yes? As in you didn’t bet $50 with six (6) different people after winter break?” Stephen asked. “Anthony and I talked about it and it just felt too soon after his mother and Howard died.”

“No, I didn’t,” Wong said. “That makes sense, though. We really aren’t trying to rush you.”

“I know you don’t mean it seriously, what in our friend group isn’t dealt with through absurd amounts of teasing?” Stephen asked, rolling his eyes. “But you know what? I think when they come back from the trip might be a good time.”

“Fucking FINALLY!” Wong replied, leaping into the air. “Let’s call Christine right now!”

++++

A few days later, Wong woke up to the sound of one of his housemates frantically opening and closing the kitchen cabinets. He was about to text the housemates’ chat, before he remembered that Stephen was the only other one that was home, the others wouldn’t be back for another three (3) days.

So that left a singular question: why was Stephen, somehow the quietest of the group, slamming cupboard doors?

Wong found his bunny slippers and shuffled down the hallway, locking eyes with a distressed Stephen. “What are you doing?”

“I’m rearranging the kitchen.”

“Why?”

“How many reasons do you want? I don’t know what to do with myself, I’m stressed, and it’s too early to call Anthony although I doubt he’s asleep as it is since he rarely sleeps while traveling, but—”

“You can’t be this nervous to propose, can you?” Wong asked, his tone ignorant and teasing but without malice. “He won’t be back until the end of the week, so you have time to plan and replan everything until you’re happy.”

“I was going to propose when he got back, I was going to ask you to help me plan something nice as a welcome for him and Rhodey and Harry, but... shit I have to go home,” Stephen said. “To my parents’ farm, I mean.”

“Why? Everything okay?” Wong asked.

Stephen ran a hand through his bedhead. He knew he was shaking but didn’t have the energy to care. “My mom isn’t doing well at all. I... Victor needs me.”

“When do you leave?”

“Later this evening. I just need to call Anthony, both to hear his voice and to keep him updated.”

“He’s calling you now,” Wong said, glancing at where Stephen’s phone was vibrating towards the edge of the counter.

He began to make something for breakfast as Stephen picked up the phone.

“You know I love you, but why are you calling so early?” Stephen asked, trying to keep his voice light.

Anthony, sleep deprived and stressed as he was, knew him too well and could immediately tell that something was up. His voice was rough when he spoke, “something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean? Are you okay?” Stephen fretted.

“I’m fine, I meant something’s bothering you. I can hear it in your voice,” Anthony clarified. He sounded like a warm hug that Stephen just wanted to hide in until the end of time, his tone gentle as he asked what was going on.

“I’m just upset, that’s all,” Stephen replied. “Um... Victor called me about an hour ago. He says Mom isn’t... doing too well and he really wants me to go to the farm, at least for his sake. So I’m leaving tonight, just to spend some time there while I can. Apparently a lot of the family is flying out... Vic didn’t go into detail but he said it’s bad.”

Anthony hummed, and Stephen could hear rustling on his end of the line.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“I’m looking for my laptop so I can book a flight,” Anthony said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No way, I can’t ask you to—”

“Stephen? My darling, my sweet baby boyfriend who can be more obtuse than a triangle?” Anthony interrupted.

Stephen scoffed. “You’re one to talk.”

“My mind is made up,” Anthony said. “I’m sure someone can cover for me, this is a family emergency after all.”

“You...” Stephen’s voice broke. “Anthony...”

Anthony hushed him quietly. “I want to be there for you, and for your family, and I promise you I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Fucking hell,” Stephen whispered, trying to keep himself from sobbing. “Thank you.”

“I just want to support you, Steph,” Anthony replied. “I’m going to have to go wake Pepper up, she should be getting up soon. I just want to brief her before the day starts, but I’ll be free for a bit after I find her if you want to call me back.”

“I might FaceTime you,” Stephen said. “You haven’t even been gone that long and I still miss you like you wouldn’t believe.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Anthony murmured. “I love you.”

“I love you too, tell Pepper I said hi,” Stephen replied.

He put his phone down when the call ended, sighing and running his fingers through his hair.

“Do you want french toast?” Wong asked quietly.

Stephen jumped, forgetting his friend was even in the kitchen. “Yes please. And then I have to go and pack some stuff.”

++++

“Hey guys, I need you to cover for me. I have a flight to Nebraska at 4, it’s a family emergency, Stephen’s mother...”

“Tones what are you still doing here? You need to get there. I’ll help you pack,” Rhodey said.

“I’ll drive. Be ready to leave in no later than two (2) hours,” Harry added. “

Pepper smiled sadly. “You know we’re going to cover your ass no matter what, especially if it has something to do with Stephen. By the way, w—”

“Now is hardly the time to discuss a proposal, Miss Potts!”

++++

“You know, I always liked Anthony better than you,” Victor said. “I think Donna did too, God rest her soul.”

“Alright Vic, enough,” Stephen replied. “I only came home for you, don’t chase me away. Besides, Donna liked me better than you, and that’s all that really matters.”

“I’m telling Dad you said that,” Victor spat, his light tone betraying his words. “You know I’m happy you’re home. And I’m glad you have Anthony.”

“He’s loyal, you know? I tried to tell him not to come, but he insisted. And he was in California for business,” Stephen said, smiling at the mention of his boyfriend.

“You’re going to do something embarrassing once you see him, aren’t you?” Victor scoffed.

“No, I’m just going to hug him,” Stephen replied. “Fuck off Vic, it’s none of your business how I show affection.”

All things considered Stephen didn’t break his word, because he did hug Anthony as soon as they made eye contact. Nobody had to know if there were tears in his eyes when he rested his head on Anthony’s shoulder and held him as if they’d been apart for years.

Victor, impatiently standing a short distance from the couple, cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to rush this reunion, but we should get home now.”

“Since when do you drive?” Anthony teased, giving Victor a short hug. “The last time I saw you—”

“Don’t you dare say I was ‘just a baby!’ I’ve heard that from all of my relatives these past two (2) days,” Victor replied. “And let me address that now: I’m driving so I control the music.”

Victor’s taste in music wasn’t bad, so neither Stephen nor Anthony objected. Plus, they were both exhausted from traveling and the fact that they didn’t sleep very well apart. It was no surprise that Anthony fell asleep on the drive from the airport to the family farm. Stephen thought back to the other day, to the way Anthony soared under his praises and how he fluttered his eyelashes at the end of the night, just before falling asleep. He was trying to be coquettish, but fell asleep before they could trade anymore banter. Stephen had to fight to keep from laughing (it was more like giggling) at how adorable Anthony was.

Tonight, as the moonlight through the car window highlighted his closed eyes and slightly parted lips, Stephen just wanted to cry. It wasn’t a sad kind of cry, it was perhaps relieved. Things would always be okay with Anthony around, and that realization never failed to bring Stephen to tears.

++++

It was the best sleep he’d had in three (3) days, and it came to a sharp end as urgent knocking cut through his dream.

Anthony slipped out of bed, pulling the blankets up around Stephen. No matter how cold he got in the middle of the night, he always kicked the comforter away.

His fond smile at the thought of Stephen’s idiosyncrasies died when he saw the stricken look on Victor’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked, immediately placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He’d always seen Victor and Donna as the siblings he never had, and it was very important to Anthony that all of the Strange siblings knew he cared for them. Stephen obviously did, although reminding him never hurt, but the familial bond Anthony had with his siblings was valuable to all parties involved. Understandably, the idea of Victor being this upset troubled him.

“Is Stephen up?” Victor asked. His voice was almost shrill, marching the chaotic background noise from elsewhere in the farmhouse.

Anthony shook his head. “Do I need to wake him up?”

Victor nodded. “And hurry up, we have to go downtown now. Meet me in the kitchen as soon as you can.”

++++

The rest of the Strange family descended upon both the farm and the town after Bev Strange passed. The next few days consisted of funeral arrangements, people running errands, speedrunning the stages of grief, and little to no sleep. There were two (2) points during that week where everything came to a screeching halt, and everyone was just taking on tragedy like a sponge soaks water. The night before Mrs. Strange’s funeral was one of them.

Eugene Strange jogged down the stairs that night, an envelope in one hand and his other clutching his chest.

“Dad you okay?” Stephen asked.

“Completely fine, I’m just running something to your aunt and then I’ll settle in for the night,” Eugene replied.

“Do you want me to take it?” Victor offered. “You don’t look well, you should rest.”

“No, son, I’m okay. A little drive to town can’t hurt,” Eugene said, waving his hand in dismissal of Victor’s offer.

A little drive to town couldn’t hurt on its own, but coupled with a heart attack it was fatal to Eugene.

Stephen was livid when he found out, mostly angry with himself for not going and running the errand. “Why did I let him go?”

Victor was also livid, his anger directed at Stephen for most of the week. “Yeah, why did you?! How can you say you care about our family when you took Donna to the lake that day, AND you let Dad go when he was in no condition to drive? I’m lucky you even came around for me and for Mom, everyone knows all you care about is yourself!”

As the Strange family planned their second funeral of the week, Victor and Stephen didn’t talk much. Victor wasn’t right to be angry with Stephen, which he did eventually realize. Victor was even the one who advocated for Stephen going home and taking care of himself for a few days.

“He’s right, you do deserve to be cared for. Especially now,” Anthony murmured, tracing Stephen’s collarbones. “You’re so strong and selfless, I just want to give you the world, if you’ll let me.”

“You’re too good to me,” Stephen murmured. “Ant, do you know I love you so much it hurts? The fact that we’ve been in each other’s lives for so long and have come so far means so much, and there’s no one else I’d rather go through all of this shit with. You... you’re just everything. I love the way you drown me in praise but catch me when I fall... and—”

“If anyone gets drowned in praises, it’s me from you,” Anthony whispered, as Stephen broke off with a sob. “You’re the one always catching me and keeping me grounded. But that’s what our relationship has always been, you know? I never would have gotten through the things that happened in the past few years without you, and there won’t ever be a moment you won’t have my equal support. I think you’ve been stuck with me since we met and talked about... remind me, with your picture perfect memory, what it was?”

Stephen didn’t reply, only shifting a bit closer to Anthony.

“Steph?” Anthony asked quietly, brushing a soothing hand through his hair.

Stephen snored softly. It wasn’t really a snore, as Stephen didn’t snore, more or less a soft exhale that ghosted over Anthony’s collarbone. Either way, he was asleep.

Anthony smiled sadly and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight Stephen. Get some rest, I promise I’ll always be here.”

++++

“If you need anything, do you swear that you’ll call or text or just fly to New York to see me?” Stephen asked again.

“Stephen, I promise I’m going to be okay,” Victor assured him. “And I will.”

“You don’t need anything else while we’re here?” Stephen asked.

“No, I’m fine!” Victor said, feigning annoyance. “Just go home, and Anthony take care of my hardheaded brother, please.”

“I always do,” Anthony replied, giving Stephen a soft kiss.

“Get your PDA out of my face,” Victor teased. “Have a safe flight. Text me when you’re home.”

“You do the same,” Stephen said firmly.

The events of the past week took their toll on the brothers, and Stephen’s usual fearlessness disappeared. The smallest things rattled him, a routine lurch of the plane almost sending him into a panic attack.

“If we survive this flight, will you marry me?” Stephen asked at the crux of takeoff.

Anthony smiled and hugged him, murmuring, “I thought you’d never ask.”

“I swear I had this whole gesture planned but I don’t want to live another second without asking. A part of me needs this trip to have something of a happy ending, and I was really going to wait until we were home, but I waited long enough to be your boyfriend, I don’t want to wait to be your fiancé,” Stephen rambled.

“I have my own romantic gesture planned too.” Anthony’s voice was low and gravelly from tiredness, and his voice combined with his closeness sent shivers down Stephen’s spine. “You’ll love it, I’ll show you when we’re home.”

“I can’t wait.”

++++

Wong‘s friendly, grumpy face was a nice surprise waiting for them at the airport. “Harry and Rhodey are home, sleeping I think but you never know with them. I figured you’d both be tired, so I’d just come get you and let you sleep on the drive home.”

“You might be a Saint,” Anthony replied, leaning fully against Stephen.

“I’m just a good friend, one who accepts payment in the form of bread,” Wong teased. “Let’s go home.”

Harry was the only one in the kitchen when they got back, Rhodey on the phone w T’challa in his room. He greeted them with a warm: “Hey guys, you okay? I made sandwiches if you’re hungry.”

“My friend, I’m going to take you up on that,” Wong replied, pulling up a stool.

“I’m exhausted, and Ant is too, so we’re going to bed. Text if you need anything, but we’re going to just go pass out,” Stephen said. He didn’t bother waiting for a response, taking Anthony’s hand and leading him to their bedroom.

It was right before they climbed into bed that he got down on his left knee, taking hold of Anthony’s hands.

“There’s no limit to the things I want to say to you, and we both know that I’m never usually short on words but I just need to get my point across now. I might combust if I wait any longer,” Stephen began.

“Ask me,” Anthony murmured breathlessly. “I won’t interrupt again, just go ahead a—”

Stephen frowned as someone, it sounded like Harry, shouted from the kitchen.

The knocking, uncoordinated and loud, only intensified the longer Stephen and Anthony ignored it.

“What?!” Stephen called.

“We need a moderator for another debate about food!” Harry yelled.

“I’m in the middle of proposing!”

#tony stark #stephen strange #ironstrange #my ironstrange college au #tw death #wong #happy hogan #james rhodey rhodes #rhodey x t’challa #pepper potts #protective pepper potts #tony and stephen have praise kinks #they love each other a lot #tumblr ate my first draft :(#the strange family #victor strange #donna strange #beverly strange #eugene strange

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glacecakes · 3 years

Text

Alchemy Lullaby (11/?)

Of all the changes that came with living in the castle, becoming a father was not one he anticipated. When Eugene encounters a small child suffering like he did, he gives them the opportunity to grow up the way he never did… helping them both heal. (AU where Varian is 4 and gets adopted by Eugene)

Varian comes down with a cold; the ramifications of learning the truth.

Read the rest on AO3

Starting making this, had a breakdown, bon apetit.

No deadass that's what happened @space--butterflies and @finnoky gave me a rly good idea, I rewrote the whole chapter, had a mental breakdown, went to therapy, cranked this out. So. sorry for being late rip.

Uhhh it's 2 am I'm too tired to do my usual spiel remember to vote tomorrow if u can, comment, kudos, blood sacrifice, thank u i would die for u all

So apparently staying up all night with your negative thoughts in order to win your father’s love was a bad idea.

The rest of the day was silent and somber. Rapunzel and Eugene kept sharing looks that Varian couldn’t comprehend. Cassandra paled whenever she looked at him. But they never spoke a word of what had occurred, and it was driving Varian crazy. He didn’t get any of the victory glory, no, instead he got bitterness and despair. At least momma would have been proud of him; she’d always wanted him to control his powers.

Around bedtime he got cranky. It started with not wanting to eat dinner. Usually Eugene would let Varian throw a tantrum; he refused to bow to Varian’s wishes and let him have his way. But not then. Eugene was terrified of a tantrum, what the destruction could entail. So when Varian refused to eat, he didn’t question it, and simply carted Varian off to an early bedtime.

But when he and his girlfriend came to get Varian in the morning, exhausted from a night of conversing and debating and crying, they found Varian not much better off.

The boy’s face was coated in sweat, radiating an uncomfortable heat. He whimpered, not even complaining when Eugene lifted him up out of bed. Instead he buried his face into the crook of Eugene’s neck, hot tears dripping down onto it. While morning cuddles were usual, this crying was definitely not.

It was so concerning that they had booked it down to the infirmary half out of their minds with worry.

“You said he woke up like this?” The doctor asked, brushing a gloved hand across Varian’s temple.

“Yes, he won’t talk to me, is he ok? I mean, obviously not, but-”

Eugene’s panicking was cut off by an abrupt sneeze, then another. Varian moaned, shifting away from the doctor’s hand.

“Loud,” Varian mumbled. “Hurts.”

They all quieted. “Sounds like a bug, or the flu,” Rapunzel hummed.

The doctor nodded. “He just needs rest and fluids. Has he ever been sick before?”

“Not while with us, no.”

“Alright. Take his temperature every hour until the fever breaks, and if it gets above 103 bring him back.” With a ruffle to Varian’s hair, the doctor wandered off, likely to see another patient.

“I’ll take him back to his room,” Eugene muttered. “You’re probably busy today, right?”

“Not too busy for him!” The princess whispered back. She frowned, reaching a hand over and brushing it against Varian’s cheek. Poor thing. “He’s miserable, he’ll need some love and snuggles.”

“Did you not hear the doctor? He needs rest.”

“How can he rest when he’s in pain!?”

The conversation became more biting the more both of them spoke. Even without them running on minimal sleep, taking care of a sick child would not be ideal. And it seemed they had wildly different ideas on how to help.

It didn’t help they’d been up all night thinking about the… other problem.

“Look,” Rapunzel finally sighed. “We all need sleep. You can take the first shift, I’ll come get you in a few hours. Ok?” Her eyes, while misty from frustration, tried to shine with their usual kindness. Eugene felt like he’d been punched in the gut with a guilt fist, but also, he remembered why he loved this woman so much.

Eugene smiled sadly. “Alright, get some rest. Love you.” She gave him a peck on the cheek, and with that, she left.

For a moment he was lost in thought, but Eugene frowned as Varian began to squirm. Tears of pain still streaked down chubby cheeks, at least until Eugene began to bounce him in his arms. He kept one hand on Varian’s head and pulled it to his chest, the other kept supporting his son. Varian, despite being past infancy, still retained a love for being cradled and rocked. Likely because he never really got it before. It did the trick, and he was back to an uneasy calm in minutes.

He kept up the bouncing, letting Varian rest while they walked back to Varian’s room. He only stopped his soothing motions to deposit Varian back in bed, and then switched to stroking his son’s soft hair.

“Daddy don’t go,” Varian whispered. “‘M sorry.”

Eugene blinked. There it was again, calling him dad. So far Varian only did it when especially upset or tired, but it warmed his heart every time. The situation wasn’t great, but still the fuzzies remained.

“What are you sorry for, bud?” Eugene hummed. “Not your fault you got sick. It just happens.”

“For the rocks.” A hazy, clouded blue peeked open to stare into the man’s soul. Through the pain Eugene could see fear, despair, and anguish; and it wasn’t because of the illness.

“Those…” He sighed. True, they caused problems, and it was a miracle Rapunzel didn’t touch them and cause an explosion, but it could wait until Varian was healthy again. “It’s… ok. Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

Varian shrugged. “Cuz momma….” his voice trailed off. He didn’t even know where to begin. If he told Eugene everything, about the experiments and running and pain, would Eugene do the same?

No, no. Eugene and momma were not the same. Eugene loved him. Eugene cared for him! He would never.

Thankfully, Eugene picked up on it. “Get some rest, ok? We’ll deal with it when you’re feeling better.”

Varian unconsciously grabbed his stuffed toy, bringing the ear up to suck on. “No,” he mumbled through felt. “Not tired.”

His dad suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. “What are you then?”

“A frog.”

He let out a bark of laughter at that. “A frog, eh? Like Pascal? Well this little frog,” he poked Varian’s nose which earned a breathless giggle. “Needs some rest.”

“Story?” Big blue eyes gazed up at him, pleading.

Yea, he should’ve seen it coming. Now that he was thinking about it, Eugene prayed Varian had never gotten sick while on his own. Or with his mom. It’s unrealistic, of course Varian has been sick before, but what if his mom had done the same as him? What if she refused to comfort him, refused to snuggle and wipe his snot?

So despite every fibre of his being wanting to avoid getting infected, this was a losing battle. He grabbed the Flynn Rider book off its nightstand. They’d been blazing through each book; in the few months since Varian joined them they were now on book 6.

“You’re just one crazy event after another, aren’t you?” Eugene hummed. He got a wet cough as a reply. Gross.

He’s totally gonna get sick isn’t he?

Despite her words, Rapunzel couldn’t sleep.

Every time she shut her eyes, visions of obsidian danced behind her eyelids, willing her hair upright. She couldn’t get them out of her head, and it really was no surprise why. It’s not everyday that your boyfriend’s son reveals that he can control the rocks that gave you back your 70 feet of hair!

Back when it first grew back, she and Cassandra had scoured the library for any information they could, before finally getting some help from Xavier the blacksmith. He’s a good man, and he knew a lot about legends, but legends aren’t facts. Now, she wonders if the rocks were leading her to him, to Varian, and it was by sheer coincidence Eugene found him first. But she’d never say that out loud. Varian was destined to be Eugene’s son, even if he wasn’t born it. Maybe it was a sign that he was her son too.

Three delicate knocks ring on the King’s Office’s door. “Dad, can I come in?”

At his affirmation, she opened the door. Frederick, regal as ever, stood on one end of the table, with Quirin at another. Oh, she’d been meaning to speak to her dad in private, but it’s not a big deal! Right…?

Well, maybe it was. Despite her and Eugene and Cassandra all vowing to keep Varian’s ability a secret for now, lest magic-fearing Frederick find out, the point remained that she needed to speak to him about it. While Varian had taken up most of everyone’s time and energy, the rocks never vanished from her list of problems. No, they still lingered around Corona, causing problems left and right. And something told Rapunzel that Varian’s outburst from before didn’t help matters.

“I was wondering about… the black rocks?” She started, and both men froze. A silent conversation occurred, shared in frantic, locked eyes. Quirin fidgeted helplessly, unsure of what the king wanted him to say. His eyes glanced down at the map where black flags pinpointed the locations of each rock spotted. While most were clustered in Old Corona, to the east, there were a few dotting the island capital. Rapunzel’s heart sank the longer she stared.

Francis’ tailor shop.

The schoolhouse.

The tunnel system.

The alley where it all started.

Varian.

She struggled to keep from screaming.

“I’ve been aware of these rocks for… quite some time now.” Frederick rested both hands on the diorama that encompassed much of the office. “They posed a real problem, displacing people from their homes, damaging roads…”

“Oh no,” she breathed. How much of it was intentional? How much of it was an accident?

“But fortunately!” Frederick perked up, giving her an encouraging smile. “We’ve taken care of them! In fact, I’m sending Quirin to Old Corona tomorrow to make sure our efforts have succeeded.”

“You are?” Quirin asked, confused. He got an elbow in the stomach. “I-I mean, yes, your highness, I’ll be headed out first thing tomorrow.”

She furrowed her brow, uncertain. Old Corona… so that was where Varian lived before the alley, before them. “Great, then I hope you don’t mind if I join you? I haven’t been out that way in a while, I’m sure the people would appreciate a visit.”

Frederick scowled, but before he could protest, Quirin hastily agreed. “O-of course, your highness, I would be honored for you to… accompany me.” He raised his eyebrows in a concerned smile, desperately trying to convey a silent question. Did Rapunzel know what he had seen? Is she trying to protect the child? Please oh please don’t force him to hurt a child to appease her father.

But alas, she didn’t seem to get the message. “Great, now if you excuse me, Varian isn’t feeling very well and Eugene needs a break.” She marched out of the room. The moment the door closed both men sagged in relief.

“Sir,” Quirin managed. “You and I both know the rocks haven’t been dealt with-”

“Don’t let her see or learn a thing.”

The knight fell silent. “Yes sir,” he whispered, but for once, he didn’t mean it.

Varian fell asleep relatively quickly, and thankfully it seemed more or less steady. So much so that Eugene was able to swap with Rapunzel without issue.

“I spoke to my dad, I’m headed to Old Corona tomorrow,” she whispered. Her eyes were exhausted but full of fire.

“How come?”

“It’s where she lives.”

Instantly, Eugene’s face fell. Right. The source of the fighting last night.

Eugene had been adamant. He’d met Varian’s momma once before, and that was enough. She hated her kid, she abandoned her kid and didn’t complain once when Eugene whisked him away. But Rapunzel had insisted in truth above all else. If anyone knew what was going on, it’d be her. He knew deep down it was a losing argument, but the point remained that he promised to clock her next time she showed her face.

“I’ll stay with him then. Hopefully this is just a 24 hour bug, I can’t do another day of this.” She smiled. It wasn’t the caring for a child wearing him down, that much was clear.

“Go take a nap, I’ll hang with him,” she whispered. The words flowed over him like charmspeak, and next thing he knew, it was late afternoon and he was waking up in his own bed.

He went to fetch some supplies. Nothing too much, just some pain medicine, towels, and cold water to soak them in. He’d probably also have to run a bath at some point, which Varian would despise. Much like Ruddiger, the child was happiest when covered in dirt and mud and soot.

It’s no wonder Varian adores the creature so much, he thinks with a chuckle.

In fact, Eugene is so lost in his thoughts he doesn’t notice someone coming his way until he nearly spills the bowl onto the Captain.

“Oh, shoot! Sorry Cap,” He winces, praying the man doesn’t try to kill him. He’s yelled over less.

“Fitzherbert,” the man sighed. He looked peeved, but said nothing of it. “I was wondering why you didn’t turn up to training today.”

Shit! He totally forgot to tell anyone that Varian was sick! Ears reddening, Eugene stuttered. “I-uh-yea, about that…”

The Captain raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. His face was impassive, but his eyes said it all. He’d better have a good explanation, or his ass was toast.

“Varianissickpleasedon’tkillme.” he braced himself for the smack.

“I get it.” And with that, all the air flew out of Eugene’s lungs.

“Oh thank god, I was afraid you’d kill me.”

“Fair enough.”

Eugene shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. He and the Captain never really spoke about personal matters, it was strictly a business truce. But it appeared that was about to change. The older man put a hand on Eugene’s shoulder.

“Fitzherbert, I believe Cassandra told you about her own adoption story?”

“How you took her in, yea.”

“I was just like you, back then.” The man’s eyes are stern but kind. Eugene had seen it directed at others, but never him.

“I hovered, and I worried about every little thing. They become the center of your world so fast, and you want to savor every moment. The first night with Cassandra, I never left her side, I just… sat there, and marveled at how something so small could be so important to me so quickly.” He gave the new father a weary smile.

Eugene glanced down at the water, rapidly warming. Cogs turned in his brain as he thought of a proper response.

Captain sighed. “Look, you said he’s sick?” Eugene nodded. “Then I’ll let it slide. Hope he gets well soon, for both of your sakes.”

That caused Eugene’s head to snap up. “What? I’m fine.”

“You’re missing your sass, Fitzherbert. Your color, your spice. You live for that kid, I can tell.” He let the man go, and walked off with a wave. “Hope he gets well soon. Oh, and bring him to training some time, eh?”

Eugene raised his hand in farewell, dumbfounded. The Captain had never been that… nice to him. Ever.

He didn’t ruminate on it for too long. He heard a faint cry from the end of the hall, where his son was.

The door creaked open, revealing a sad sight. Varian tossed and turned in the bed, whimpering and hiccuping tiny sobs. His fists grasped light blue sheets, the same color as eyes which were currently closed. Rapunzel looked to him helplessly.

“Hey hey, bluebird,” Eugene cooed, sliding into the bed and pulling his darling boy into his arms. “Shh, you’re ok, you’re safe. Are you awake?”

Varian whimpered, and Eugene couldn’t tell if it was an affirmation or coincidence. The boy was a furnace, he could only imagine the pain and discomfort. Being sick was never fun, especially at that age.

A more violent cry escaped small lips as Varian squirmed.

“Varian?”

“Momma, it hurts…”

Eugene’s heart plummeted into his stomach. He felt like he was going to vomit, and he wasn’t the sick one. Rapunzel stifled a gasp. Haunting memories of another mother resurfaced.

“H...hey, Varian,” her voice shook to high heavens. “Varian, it’s time to wake up.”

“Don’t wanna… no more.”

Oh lord, no more what? What did this woman do to her son? Their son? Eugene buried his nose into Varian’s sweaty hair and Rapunzel wrapped her arms around them both, a familiar position for the family. His mind raced at light speed, trying not to let too many possibilities flood his mind. He was scaring himself, but he dreaded the real answer more.

Varian’s leg kicked out in his sleep, and a tear rolled down his cheek.

“Oh, bud,” Eugene sighed, biting his lip. Usually it was Rapunzel who took charge of lullabies, but…

“Look to the stars... my darling baby boy...” Almost like magic, Varian began to settle. His foot, which had been raised mid kick, landed softly on Rapunzel’s chest, the fuzzy socks pressing against his shirt.

The blonde smiled and joined in. “Life is strange and vast, filled with wonder and joy…” As the furrow on Varian’s brow smoothed, Neither of them could help the overwhelming love that filled their souls. All directed at the boy in their arms. Even if he was a handful, and possibly, apparently, dangerous.

Eugene laid Varian back down into bed, brushing unruly hair back. He repositioned so Rapunzel was resting against his chest as they sang in unison.

“Face each new sun with eyes clear and true Unafraid of the unknown Because I’ll face it all with you.”

Varian smiled in his sleep.

#varian #tts varian #tangled the series #tts #tangled #eugene fitzherbert #tangled eugene #tts eugene #team awesome

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jenni42085 · 4 years

Text

Love in the Time of Corona <One>

One.

“So Scott, got a question for you, well, maybe your brother.”

“Honey, what’s wrong you look stressed.”

Colton sighs as he rolls over to look closer at his boyfriend Scott Evans. “I know we are on lockdown but. . . “

“But what?”

“I don’t know if I can stay here with you at your brother’s when my sister is alone at her apartment.”

Scott relaxes and runs his hand through his boyfriend’s curly dark brown hair. “You know we can ask Chris to come let her stay with us.”

“Do you think he would be ok with it?”

“If she’s family and she’s alone. I don’t see why not.” Scott stands and walks to the side of Colton’s bed pulling him to his feet. “Let’s go ask him now since I think you’ll keep tossing and turning if you don’t.” he says as he gives his boyfriend a hug and kiss.

*knock knock knock*

“Come in.” Chris sits up in bed waiting for his brother to come in. “What’s up?”

“Well I, well we have a HUGE favor to ask.”

Colton cuts off Scott while coming in behind him. “Feel free to say no. If it’s too much I understand but. . .” He takes a deep breath.

“So first off thanks for letting me stay with you and Scott but, my sister is quarantining alone and her birthday is in a few weeks and I’d rather her not be alone. So . . . “

“So you were wondering is she could stay here?” Chris asks letting his right eyebrow arch.

Colton’s eyes became large as two saucers when he was cut off but Chris. “Yeah. If it’s too much it’s fine I understand completely.”

Chris adjusts more in bed and thinks for a minute and figures the more the merrier. Plus it’s her birthday is coming up soon. It’ll suck being stuck in a house anyways but all by yourself would be worse. “Nah, it’s fine. Tell her to come on. Does she cook or anything?”

“Oh yeah she cooks and she cleans.” Colton says, “She makes amazing fried chicken but her pepperoni rolls are life.”

Chris and Scott both look at him curiously and reply in unison “Pepperoni rolls?”

“Yeah pepperoni rolls. Don’t worry I’ll call her before bed and tell her. I haven’t mentioned anything to her so it’ll be a good surprise. Thanks so much.” Colton says as he goes back to the bedroom he shares with Scott.

*Ring. Ring. Ring.*

“Hello?” Nico groggily answer her phone.

“Hey sis, did I wake you?” Colton replies.

A deep sigh comes out of Nico, she was in the progress of falling asleep in front of television yet again. “No, just laying here. What’s up? Are you ok?” he replies.

“Yeah, just worrying about you. So, do you want me to come quarantine with you?” He asks trying to test out the waters. He knows she is stubborn true to her Taurus sign so he has to ease her into it.

Nico adjusts her pillows then lays back in bed again. “Honestly, it would be great if you were here but I know you are with your new boyfriend Scott, so I don’t want to sound selfish and make you leave him.”

“Well, what if there is another way for us to be together.” He replies smiling after hearing her response. Always so giving, even if it hurts her.

“How’s that going to happen? I don’t even know where you are at.” She replies slowly shaking her head.

Colton takes a small breath, “ We are with his brother in the outskirts of Boston. He’s got a big house and yard, AND I asked if you could stay and as long as you help out with cooking and stuff you can come stay!”

“Colton . . . “

“Hear me out sis. It’s either this or I’ll have someone else come stay with you. And I don’t mean friends. Maybe mom and dad or one of the other sisters and their families.”

Hearing that threat makes Nico shoot up from bed instantly feeling stressed, “Why would you say that? Of all things! Why?”

“Because I’m your big brother and I worry about you and your mental health. So how about you load your car up with a month full of clothes and whatever else you need. I’ll have some extra groceries sent to us so you can make some of those delish pepperoni rolls.”

Nico’s head falls to the side. “Are you sure you actually miss me, or are you just craving pepperoni rolls?”

Colton chuckles at little bit at his sister, “Nah, I miss you but pepperoni rolls are like an added bonus.”

A deep sigh leaves her, “Fine. “I’ll pack up tonight and leave in the morning I guess.”

“Awesome! Can’t wait to see you, it’s like a 4 hour drive from New York so it’s not too bad. I’ll text you the addy. I’m going to bed and you should too since, you have some driving to do.”

“Yes yes, I’ll go to sleep after packing my stuff up. Nighty nighty Colton.”

“Night Nico.” He replies as he hangs up.

***********************************************************************************************

When Colton left to call his sister, Scott and Chris talk for a few more minutes, “So what do you know about his sister?”

“She’s a cosplayer and runs a party planning business. She’s the middle child out of the five of them, lives in New York.”

“Do you have any pictures or anything of her?” Chris asks wondering if inviting her is a good idea since Scott just mentioned her being a cosplayer. He wonders if she would be a fan girl or something making the quarantine lockdown a little awkward and miserable.

Scott looks at his brother perplexed, “Are you having second thoughts?”

“No, not really. But if she’s a cosplayer, is she a fan girl?”

“No idea to be honest. He talks about her the most but, didn’t mention her celebrity crushes. I’m sure she has met a few celebrities at conventions and knows how to act. Mainly, I know she’s a great cook. She’s sent him some cookies and cakes not to long ago and they were amazing.”

Chris nods his head in understanding but still curious. “Do you at least know her name?”

“Nico.” He replies with a happy face.

“Nico? What kind of name is that?”

Scoot sighs and rolls his eyes, “It’s short for Nicolette. The few times we’ve chatted on the phone she seemed really sweet. But don’t call her Nicolette. She’ll correct you.” Scott states and chuckles. “It's honestly like a curse word to her.”

“OK then, I’ll call her Nico.” He says with a small smile. “You do realize I’m going to Facebook stalk her.”

“Ohh I figured as much.” Scott shrugs as he leaves the room. “Thanks brother. I think he was really worried since the others have spouses and they usually do everything together. Plus he knows how her anxiety and depression gets a little crazy at times.”

“How crazy?” Chris asks as he stops typing her name on Facebook, “anything life threaten?”

“Ohh no no no, never anything like that at least I don't think so. But if you see her cleaning and organizing stuff, she is probably having some racing thoughts. Sometimes she can’t sleep or a few times she has called Colton in the midst of a panic attack and he has to talk her through things and breathing exercises. Apparently they get so bad it feels like a heart attack.”

Chris nods his head in understanding because he knows how this panic attacks feel. He’s gotten better at getting himself in the right head space but he can definitely sympathize with her. After typing in New York in location in Facebook he was able to pull up her page. “Gotcha, well I’m going to look around on her page. Good night.”

Scott picks up on his body language and leaves, “good night.”

***********************************************************************************************

Chris looks at Nico’s Facebook page, while most of it is under private which he likes there are a few pictures of her. She looks honestly beautiful. Her most current picture is of her dressed up as Pikachu with a few other girls as other Pokemon. Even though she isn’t center stage, his eyes automatically goes to her. He can’t tell how tall she is but, she is about average build with large brown eyes, her skin is a little lighter than her brother’s almost like a burnt caramel complexion, and a big curly head of black hair with purple tips.

The other profile pictures that were there shows a few other of her cosplays of a Hufflepuff student from Hogwarts, the Powerpuff girls where she was Buttercup, and the last one took him by surprise. A few years ago she was dressed as a female Captain America with another girl who has been in a few other pictures of hers as the Winter Soldier.

She nails the look of Captain America with the colors and the stripes and stars but the girlie feel for it. To be honest she looks hot with the corset and the tutu bottom and knee high blue boots. Her hair was still curly but hair of It pinned back with a few large silver stars. When she smiles her eyes light up making her star lip ring show most prominently.

Out of curiosity and boredom he looks at the Winter Solider girl’s profile to see if there were any other pictures of Nico. Fortunately, her page was public and he could see some other pictures of her. The sweetest picture was a shout to Nico being an amazing friend and godmother to her kids. She was laying on the couch with a small toddler in her lap asleep the caption read, “the sweetest and best godmother.”

With what he could see of her, she seems like a really sweet girl. And beautiful to boot. Hopefully she’ll be all that and more when she comes. He reclines a little more in bed and slowly starts to fall asleep.

***********************************************************************************************

Scott closes the door to his shared bedroom with Colton, “I think my brother will be shocked meeting Nico.”

Colton hits send on his message to Nico then looks up from his phone, “Shocked? Why?”

“Well because, she might be something he needs in life. He was Facebook stalking her and didn’t look to upset about her.” He says as he crawls back into bed with him.

“Oh wow. Has he ever been with a black girl?” He looks at Scott as his raised eye brow finally returns back to its normal position. “Because I’ll be honest she's only ever dated white guys so it’s no problem for her. But I don’t want his end game to get in her pants. No pun intended. But she is my little.”

“As far as I know, he has never dated a black girl but it’s not out of the realm of possibly. He’s open minded but he’s not just trying to have sex with her. He’s ready to settle down.”

“I guess that is good. But we shall see tomorrow how they interact.”

Scott nods his head in agreement, “Did you tell her who my brother was?”

Colton runs his head through he hair, “No I did not because . . .”

“Because why?”

“Well because I don’t want her up all night overthinking or her changing her mind and staying home. Plus, I want her to be shocked. I like seeing her shocked. It’s funny.”

“Gotcha, I love you Colton.”

“I love you too Scottie. Now let’s go to bed. I’m exhausted.”

***********************************************************************************************

After getting off the phone with her brother Nico goes to her closet and pulls out her two biggest suitcases, sighing she starts to pack to stay with people she doesn’t really know for a month or so. While she’s not really thrilled with going outside of her comfort zone but she knows she can see and hang out with her brother, so there is some comfort and security in that.

Moving to New York has been the best and worse thing she has ever done. She enjoyed being away from small town life but sometimes she missed not knowing really anyone here minus her close friends and coworkers.

Thankfully, her brother did make frequent visits but after he got with Scott it was less frequent. She wasn’t jealous or anything just wishing to see him more with or without Scott.

Sighing once again, she starts packing leggings, tank tops, and other clothes. She knows she won’t be going anywhere so she doesn’t feel the urge to pack anything to fancy. Thinking harder on what to pack, she goes ahead and packs some crafts, her MacBook, and her Nintendo switch.

Looking at the clock she realizes it’s almost midnight and she’s not even tired. Since there were no places open for her to go she takes her wet curly hair out of her messy bun and decides to blow dry it straight then flat iron it. It’s been a while since she’s straighten her hair but figures that it’s better now then never. After an hour she is finished straighten it and does a quick trim on it then braids it and puts on her bonnet and falls asleep.

***********************************************************************************************

The sun shines into Nico’s room slowly waking her up. She stretches and gets a hot shower then packs up all of toiletries. She opts to wear a black pair of leggings and a cami along with an oversized mustard yellow sweater that compliments her skin. She brushes her now straight hair again and rebraids it into a side ponytail.

Finally after a few hours she was able to finish packing different odds and ins that she might need or want, emailing and calling a few coworkers to let her know she was going to be out of town but still be available for conference calls. She notified her neighbors so they could keep an eye on her place. After putting the address into her map app, she lets her Driving Mix on Apple Music and hits the road.

***********************************************************************************************

Chris walks into the yet to be occupied bedroom to make sure everything looked good for her arrival. Even though he slept good last night, he would be lying if he didn’t dream about Nico. He was excited for her arrival. Not because she was beautiful but, for a new person for to have there and someone who actually cooks from scratch, plus she would not make him the third wheel with Scott and Colton.

It had only been a week but he was already getting burnt out on take out and fast food already. He didn’t want to bug his mom with her making food for not only him but Scott and Colton even though he knows she wouldn’t mind. But seeing as older people are more at risk, he would rather her just keep interactions to FaceTime.

“So, when’s your sister getting here?” He asks casually as he walks into the kitchen. Colton and Scott are sitting at the island drinking coffee.

Colton looks at the clock and counts, “She should be here in about 30 minutes or so. Keep an eye out for a silver Subaru Outback with hello kitty on it.”

“Wow, ok then.” Scott says, “I’m surer that doesn’t stick out at all.” The three chuckle at the description of her car.

“So, is she excited to come here?” Chris asks.

“Honestly not too sure. She was a little apprehensive, but after I threaten to tell the rest of family she was glad to pack up her car and make the drive.” Colton replies with a smirk.

“You had to threaten her?’ Chris laughs.

“Wow, I thought I was bad but I can see you know how to twist her arm. So, I’m just going to be nosey.”

“Shoot. Be nosey. I don’t mind.” Colton says as he takes another sip of coffee.

“Why did she not want to be with other family members?”

Colton makes a small smile, “Don’t get me wrong, we love our parents and sisters BUT they are all married and have kids and we don’t. We have kind of have always been the black sheep of the family. Nico and I haven’t always gone down the beaten path of our family. I’m gay and she’s a blerdy girl.”

Chris’ head cocks to the side, “Blerdy girl?”

“A black nerd. Geez, Chris get hip with the slang.” Scott says while rolling his eyes.

“Exactly. It was kind of hard for us growing up with family being very straight lace while, I was out and proud since I was 17 and she finally accepted the fact that she would never have a stuffy office job that would make her hate her life. She’s great though. Her love of rainbows, unicorns, Hello Kitty among other things helped her to forget our family kinds of forgets that it’s ok to be different.” Colton looks at the clock and realizes she should be here any moment.

“I have to admit, I looked at her Facebook page. What I could see of it she looks pretty awesome. I just kind of hope she doesn’t completely freak when she sees me.” Chris says while smiling.

“Nah, she should be ok. She’s met a few people from the Avenger movies so she should be ok.”

“Really ?” Chris asks as he stands up to stretch. “Who has she met?”

“She met Chris Hemsworth and said that he was really nice and funny. I think I have a picture of her with him I think.” Colton answers as he scrolls through pictures on his phone. “Here I’ll send it to you. Ask him if he remembers her.”

Scott looks at his boyfriend like he is a little crazy. “I doubt he is going to remember her out of all the fans he has met.”

“Hey now, you never know. My sister has a way that people never forget her.”

Chris looks at his and saves the picture of Nico and Hemsworth. He decides what the hell and send it to the group chat he has with him, Sebastian, Anthony, Jeremy, and RDJ. “He might remember her, it was from a few months ago.”

The room gets quiet when they hear a car pull up the drive way. Dodger starts barking at the sound of someone new. Sure enough the three walk outside to a silver Subaru being put in park. Colton walks over to the drivers side to greet his sister.

“There she is! My little sister.” Colton says in an excited tone.

“Colton!” Nico replies as she gets out the car to give her brother a hug. She’s considerably shorter than her 6’4 tall brother. As he hugs her, he picks her up and spins her as her legs dangle. “I’ve missed your face brother bear.”

“I’ve missed you too! You look cute and comfy. Is that the sweater I got you for Christmas?”

“Of course, it’s like the most comfortable sweater I own and it works well with leggings.” She replies as she does a spin. “So where is this new man of yours? I get to finally meet him and not just talking on the phone!”

Scott pipes in excitedly from behind the pair. “I’m right here! Hi I’m Scott it’s good to finally meet you in person. He’s told me a lot about you.” He extends his arms and give her a hug. “Sorry, I don’t know if you are a hugger but I am. Even with all this going on, I like a good hug.”

“No, it’s fine. I haven’t touched anything outside of my apartment minus me lysoling my car so I’m clean. And no point of social distancing if we might be here for the next month or so.” She pulls away and looks at him again to figure out where she has seen him. “You look like someone I’ve seen before. I know my brother says you are an actor but I still can’t place your face.”

“It’ll hit you don’t worry. Ohh and here is my brother Chris.” Scott replies with a wink.

Chris slowly approaches the three of them waiting for Nico to either faint or fangirl. “Hello Nico, I’m Chis.”

Nico’s large brown eyes became even bigger as she realizes that Chris wasn’t just Chris but Chis freaking Evans and Scott was Scott Evans. Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. “Oh wow, Chris Evans. Nice to meet you.” She sticks out her hand and gets pulled in for a a big bear hug from Chris. When he pulls away her cheeks were a little red.

“Sorry, just figured since you gave everyone else a hug I’d get one also.” He replies sheepishly as he pulls away.

“No worries, just wasn’t expecting to meet you. And . . . yeah.” She replies still blushing.

While the two were having this awkwardly cute interaction Scott pokes Colton in his side and mouths “See!” Colton shakes his head and looks at the pair and can kind of see it.

“So, if you two are done with the awkward meeting how about we get you and your stuff inside.” Colton says as he walks past Chris and Nico and opens her trunk and back door. “Did you pack enough stuff?”

Nico’s head tilts to the side and gives her brother a dirty look, “Hey now! It's honestly not a lot of thing, PLUS I’m sure you packed WAY more than me.”

“That he did.” Scott states with humor in his voice. “Also you need extra stuff because you really had no idea of where you were going and what we already had.”

“Exactly!” Nico squeals as she puts an arm around Scott, “I think I like you already.”

***********************************************************************************************

After one trip they successfully all of Nico’s things in her guest room. Walking into the house Dodger greets Nico by jumping up on her a few times. Chris tried to pull the dog away from her but she wasn’t even upset she welcomed the dog’s affection. He was kind of surprised that Dodger took to her so quickly but it was cute.

While she was unpacking in getting settled, Dodger sat outside of door watching happily and wagging her tail. Every once in a while he would come in for a few pats then goes back to watching her unpack.

***********************************************************************************************

Chris goes to his room to relax for a few minutes and looks at his phone to see a few messages from the guys:

RDJ: So who is this girl with Hemsworth exactly? She’s adorably pint sized.

Hemsworth: Ohh! I remember her. She was from a convention a few months ago. The girls loved her Eevee cosplay.

Sebastian: She’s cute. Why do you have a picture of Hemsworth with a random girl?

Chris: That’s Nicolette, Scott’s boyfriend’s sister. She is joining us for the quarantine. What do you guys think of her?

Hemsworth: What I can remember of her, she’s very sweet and has a few Avenger tattoos. If I can remember correctly her right upper arm has the symbols lined up with the Black Panther one included.

RDJ: That’s really specific.

Chris: Agreed. How do you know this?

Hemsworth: Well if you look at the outfit she has on it was strapless and her friend pointed it out. Her friend was fangirling a bunch but she was just so chill and a little shy.

Sebastian: Is she single? If so, your quarantine time might be a lot more fun. 🍆🍆

Chris: LOL. I honestly have no idea. I’d imagine single because she is staying with us but you never know. She is beautiful. Much more in person than the pictures. I did hug her and it was nice.

RDJ: Watch out hugging her. You really do sound like Cap right now. I think he really has rubbed off on you.

Chris: Dude! I just met her and in front of her brother no less couldn’t be grabby. You know that's not how I roll.

Jeremy: Yeah you very well couldn't dick her down in front of everyone. lol.

Anthony: Sorry guys late to the party once again. I remember seeing her at another convention. She was Pikachu and it wasn’t revealing but still sexy.

Hemsworth: Agreed a subtle sexy. I’d say that is your kind of girl.

Anthony: Most definitely. She might be the girl next door with a wild side.

Chris: I don’t know about all that but she is currently unpacking in the guest room and Dodger won’t leave her side.

Sebastian: Dogs always know the good ones. Might want to continue making a good impression on her.

Jeremy: Did you find out her favorite avenger yet?

Chris: No. Should I?

RDJ: Ummm yes up your chance to see if she likes you.

On that note, Chris closes out the texts and sees how she is doing.

***********************************************************************************************

*knock knock*

“Come in.” Nico says as she is putting her last stack of clothes in the drawer. She was expecting to see her brother but saw Chris instead. Her eyes got slightly larger but her face stayed neutral. “Oh hey!”

“Hey, so hows the unpacking going.” He asks while leaning against the doorway taking in her form better now that she has taken off the oversized sweater and is now in a tank top with her black leggings and pastel hulk no show socks.

She surveys her open suitcases one more time, ”Actually I think I’m done. I didn’t overpack because I didn’t see myself going out anywhere so it was just lounge clothes mainly.”

“Yeah, don’t blame you. It’s crazy how quickly it all escalated. You know?”

“I couldn’t agreed with you more. One moment I’m going into the office. Next I’m working from home and then I’m here, thankfully I'm still getting paid but I can at least work on future events that I've been putting off.” Her facial expression looks unreadable so Chris walks in closet just to make sure she is ok. His movements caught her attention and she gave him a small smile with a hint of sadness in her eyes. “It’s ok though. I’m alive and I have a job. Just stresses me out a little bit.”

“Understandable. How’s the anxiety?” Chris asks gently.

She turns fully to him and gives him a half smile. “Surprisingly, that’s been pretty okay considering. I’ve only had a small panic attack but nothing major.”

He shakes his head in agreement. “I’ve been making sure friends and family are safe. It went from nothing to something big. But I just hope people don't forget to do mental health check ups to make sure they can survive this.”

Dodger comes up and puts his nose under her hand because he wanted so affection so Nico reaches down and scratches him behind the ears. “I bet having him around helps. They know when their owner feels stressed.”

“Yeah, he sure does. So, are you hungry or anything?”

“Not yet. I had some oatmeal before I left.”

He nods his head not really sure of what else to say because he wants to know more about her,” Would you like a tour of my humble abode?”

“Sure! That sounds great.” She replies. He puts his arm out and she links it with his as he shows her around the house and the outside.

***********************************************************************************************

After Nico finishes her tour with Chris, she goes to the living room and sits down on the tan ultra plush couch with her legs under her. Since being here Dodger has followed her around like a baby duck. Once she gets comfy he places his head on her leg and cuddles closer to her. Even though she slept last night she was kind of anxious to get on the road and get resettled.

Looking at her phone she sees that is almost 5 and the sun was slowly setting as much as she knows it’s way to late for a nap she gets cozy with Dodger and drifts into dreamland.

***********************************************************************************************

Chris was done with working on his few projects for his website and wanted to check in with everyone. Scott and Clinton were in their room about to come out. “Hey guys, any thoughts for dinner tonight ?”

“Nothing really. We could see if my sister wants to cook something for us.” Colton replied as he walks towards the door.

“Where is she anyway? I know she unpacked and looked around with Chris but haven’t seen her since.” Scott asks. He couldn’t help but bring up that Nico and Chris were together just so Colton would acknowledge the fact that Chris night have some interest.

“Hard to say. She wanders off a lot. . . Especially if she is drunk. Go check her room.”

Chris pipes in, “Nah she want there I already checked." His statement makes Colton look at him but doesn't say anything.

The three walk into the living room/ kitchen area and see a sleeping Nico on the couch with Dodger curled up to her for warmth. Chris being worries that she might be cold since she was curled up almost in a ball so he gets his favorite blanket off the other side of the couch and covers her with it. Once the warmth is around her, she snuggles closer under it with Dodger.

“So . . . Should we wake her?” Scott asks as he sees her body rise and fall in a deep sleep.

“Nah, it’s best to just leave her there for maybe another 45 mins to an hour.” Colton says as he walks back to the kitchen to figure out what their dinner plans will be. “But you don’t want her up all night making noise.” He laughs at his own statement, “she’s done it before a few times. Growing up she would nap during the day then 2 o’clock in the morning she would be up doing art or her hair or just something.”

Chris nods his head with a chuckle running his hand through his hair. “Noted.”

Colton pulls out a bag of chicken nuggets and French fries then places them on a baking sheet and seasons them while the oven was preheating. He sees the way Chris is admiring his sister and feels unsure of it all. He wants the best for his sister and has always been leery of any man who wants to be with her but, a celebrity has never been interested in her and wants her to be happy and safe.

“Ni Ni, wake up.”

“Five more minutes, I’ve only been asleep for like 20 minutes.” Nico says sleepily.

“You mean more like 2 hours or more.” Scott says as he helps Colton pull the blanket off of her.

Her body goes from stretched out into a small ball as soon as the cool air hits her skin. Slowly she shifts and sits up to stretch remembering where she is. “Sorry guys, didn’t mean to be asleep that long I was going to make dinner.”

“It’s fine your brother has it right Colton?” Chris says as he lets Dodger out.

“Yeah. Yeah, Baby sis already slacking. I swear.” Colton replies with a chuckle as he shakes his head.

Nico rolls her eyes and walks over to her brother giving him a hug. “I’m sorry. Don’t worry I’ll make pepperoni rolls for us tomorrow and that will fix it all.”

***********************************************************************************************

After a tasty dinner, the group watched a few BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime episodes then at around 10 they all said their good nights and went to bed for the night. Nico laid down and played some online games but honestly, she just wasn’t tired. She finally laid down and closed her eyes but then tossed and turned for a while.

11:45 the clock blared at her, after realizing that she wasn’t going to sleep, Nico pulls on some gray cotton shorts, readjusts her tank top, brushes her hair, and throws it into a high messy bun. Thankfully, her brother had kept the promise of getting extra ingredients sent to the house so she decided since she couldn’t sleep she would make his pepperoni rolls.

Nico finally figured out where everything was located in the massive kitchen and started mixing the dough. The wooden spoon wasn’t really mixing it like she liked but, didn’t want to pull out the mixer because that would more then likely wake the whole house. So after a few more stirs with the wooden spoon she pulls out the spoon and washes her hands again really good with soap and water then starts mixing it with her hands.

She got tired of the silence of just her breathing and decided to have Sir pull up one of her mix playlist to keep her company. Even though she was cooking, she decides to load her Shower Time Mix on Apple Music. Good Thing by Kehlani & Zedd fills the kitchen and she is swaying and humming. Baking and music were part of her happy place and helped to soothe her nerves. Lost in the music and mixing the bread she didn’t hear or sense anyone watching her.

Chris had tried to sleep but couldn’t so he laid there for a little bit until he heard faint music and decided to go see what was going on. He notices the door to Nico's room was open and figured she was in the kitchen. She was there with her back to him swaying to the music . After a few minutes of watching her short frame saying he decides to see what she could possibly be doing at almost 12 at night.

“So, should I be concerned that you are in my kitchen at almost 12 at night and it has been pulled apart and your hands are covered in dough?” He asks as he comes into the kitchen. Humor laces his voice which causes her body to jump and she slowly turns around her eyes were like a deer caught in headlights.

“Chris, oh hey!” She replies as she scrunches her nose and pulls her hands out of the now blended dough. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to start working on the pepperoni rolls.”

“Ohhh ok.” He replies as looks into the bowl. “Is that going to make enough dough?”

“It has to rise silly. I measured out enough to make about 24 rolls.” Nico replies as she washes her hands again then moves the dough into a greased bowl and then covers with plastic wrap and a dish towel.

He nods his head and crosses his arms across his chest. “It’s a little late to be doing all of this you know?”

“Maybe just a little bit but I couldn’t sleep and then you guys can have it for lunch tomorrow.”

“Point taken. He’s been talking about you and the pepperoni rolls kind of nonstop. I’ve never heard of them or had one.”

Nico doesn’t look too shocked but places her hand on her chest, “Well, you are totally in for a treat. They are soo yummy and filling. This is actually the recipe of the school kind so it’s authentic.”

“Noted. So would you like some company while the dough is rising?”

“I mean if you want to hang out with me in YOUR house, I wouldn’t mind. Some days it gets boring being alone.” She replies lightly.

He smiles at her answer while uncrossing his arms and takes in her beauty while she starts cleaning up the kitchen while the dough rises. “Minus the few things your brother has told me, what else should I know about you?”

She stops and looks at him curiously making her colorful unicorn glass fall down her little nose. Cutely and probably unconsciously she wiggles her nose to push the glasses back up. “Not really sure what all you are wanting to know about me. Honestly, I’m not that exciting.”

“Sure you are! You are a late night baker!” He states with humor laced in his voice making her chuckle.

Soon the kitchen was cleaned up while the oven was pre-heating to help make the dough rise quicker, she joins him on the couch. “Point taken. I’m a nerdy black girl. Currently, I work as a party planner so since the world is on lockdown, I’m just on break. It helps to relax me and help give me more ideas for planning and for cosplay ideas.”

Chris looks at her as she slouches on the couch, the action caused the back of her shirt to ride up her back. “Don’t blame you, I needed a small break and this is so helpful.”

#chris evans x black reader #chris evans interracial #Chris Evans

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cass-y0inks · 4 years

Text

“First Man”

Ok before we start this little fic was inspired by the song, “First Man” by Camila Cabello. It reminds me of the time on relationship that Dick would have with Marinette growing up. You can choose who she ends up with I probably won’t focus on that you may leave it in the comments, your choice (Y/C)Also I decided that I’m going to make Kori Marinette’s mother figure. Btw I’m sorry that the other part is taking very long but I will try to finish it and post it sometime this week, hopefully. Anyway Enjoy! (Warning long post)

Yes I’m gonna stay with him tonight, I’ll see you in the morning, no of course, he won’t drink and drive. Can you say bye to mom for me?

“Papa I’ll be fine, it’s just for one night. You know I won’t be able to make it in time, there’s to much traffic.” Marinette really loved her papa, she really did but sometimes he would let his anxiety get to him.

“I know my little Angel, just please be very careful. Oh and Y/C, bring her back in the morning unharmed. Capiche?” Her papa really did love his nicknames for everyone, especially her’s. She was his little angel no matter what, even if he did steal the name from her uncle Damian.

Y/C looked over to her phone and gave him a small smile, “Yes sir, understood. We’ll see you in the morning”

“Keep your eyes on the road Prince Charming. Good night Sunshine, sleep well” her papa sended her a small kiss after he said that.

“Good night papa, sleep well to. And tell mama good night for me too. Love you” she hung up after she returned his small kiss.

Oh, you’ll like him, he’s really kind and funny like you sometimes. And I found someone I really like, maybe for the first time.

Marinette was fixing her papa’s tie for the third time it just never stayed put. She was beyond nervous, her whole family was meeting him today, her mama, her great grandpa, her grandpa, and all her uncles and aunties! It’s not that they embarrassed her, it’s just that she really likes Y/C and her family could get a little... out of hand.

Dick noticed the doubt in her eyes when he looked away from the mirror to look at her. He sighed, he knew what that felt like of course. He gently pulled her into a hug and thought of a way to distract her. “Hey.... wh-why don’t you tell me more about him”

He saw how her eyes lit up almost instantly, “Papa you’ll like him, he’s confident, kind, and funny” she looked down at her feet remembering all the jokes he would make when they would hang out. “Almost as funny as you, who knows? Maybe even funnier papa.”

“Excuse me? Funnier that me! No no no, impossible” that he would never allow.

“Fine not as funny or funnier than you” she sighed out. “Thank you sunshine” he said back with his arms crossed on his chest.

“Just way more stylish.” With that she left him with his mouth wide open.

That nigh went great, he wasn’t intimidated at all by her family, and it didn’t change anything.

No, I don’t need a jacket, it’s not that cold outside. And you worry, I get it but he’s waiting outside

“Mari come on, I don’t want you catching a cold!” Dick was trying to get her in a fuzzy-warm light toned jacket before her movie date with Y/C.

“Papa it’s the middle of July, I won’t need I jacket” sometimes her papa would try different ways to stall her even for just a couple of seconds. “Papa I know you worry but he’s been out there for almost 3 minutes. Look if anything happens I’ll call you, ok? Tell mama I love her to, goodbye.”

Giving her one last hug he said, “goodbye, I love ya to sunlight”

I swear on my heart that he’s a good man. I know you’ll stay up late just waiting for me, you held me so tight now someone else can. But you were the first man that really loved me.

“Papa I promise he’s the sweetest guy I have ever met. He cares, loves and protects me. Like you.” Marinette finally had some free time with her parents. Her mama, papa, and herself were at a a restaurant having a peaceful dinner. The restaurant were she and Y/C had there first date, that brought back memories.

Her mama, Kori, was the one to talk sense into him. “Dick you knew that she would eventually grow up and find someone she liked, just like you and me.” Kori saw how he still had a small pout on his lips looking down at his food.” She smiled. “Remember when you first asked me out on a date. We held hands, laughed together, took pictures. Remember what we felt. We felt special and loved, that’s how they feel. Loved.”

Kori saw how he didn’t really move much, she looked over to her daughter and gave her a small smile and nodded her head pointing at Dick. She got the message and took her papa’s and mama’s hands and held them together. She took a few moments to form her words. “Papa, you’ know how you would hold me and mama on our worst days. How it felt like home, like safety... that’s what I feel with him. You worry about me when I’m with him and sometimes loose sleep but I swear that he means well.” Her papa finally looked up at her with teary eyes.

She stood up from he seat and hugged him. “Papa no matter how much I’m with him or he says he loves me please remember, You were the first man that really loved me.”

Now you’re driving to the airport, not just me you pick up anymore. I’ve got eight days off coming up, and I can only come home for four.

“Papa! Over here!” Marinette rushed over to him, following closely behind was Y/C smiling at him. Dick opened his arms and almost fell back when Mari crashed into him. How ge missed hugging her, memorizes coming back. This wasn’t the first time he picked her up from the airport but, it was the first time she came back with someone else.

“It’s good to see you again sir.” Y/C slowly stood out his hand in front of him. Dick eyed him before carefully taking his hand into his and lightly shaking it.

“You to son.” Marinette stared at her papa in shock, ‘son?’ That was in improvement. Last time she checked he was still skeptical about him. Maybe Alfred or mama finally knocked some sense into him.

Yeah I just met his family. They’re just like you and mom. He makes me really happy, I think he might be the one.

To say the least Marinette was, anxious? She really couldn’t explain what she felt. Today she was finally going to meet his parents. Her long time boyfriend’s parents. She could only remember one time she was this nervous. It was when he was going to met her family.

Different scenarios ran through her head, a variety of ‘what if’s’. It felt like the world was spinning in circles. A familiar ring caught off her thoughts, her phone. She took out her phone from her pocket and read the name on the screen. ‘Papa’. Before answering she took a few deep breath’s trying to calm herself down.

“H-hi pa-papa. H-ho-w ar-are y-you.” Damit. Her papa on the other side of the line clearly noticed the stutter in her voice.

“Mari what happened? Are you ok? Do you need help?” She noticed panic in his tone.

This time she took multiple slow breaths and told him what was bothering her. After what seemed like an hour, she calmed down. Venting always helped her out. She was still nervous but she had at least calmed down a bit. She looked down at her phone to check the time. ‘4:52’ he’d be here any minute. “Papa I have to go, but thank you for calling me. I really needed to talk”

“Anytime sunshine. I love you” he sent her a kiss through the other line.

“Love you to dad”

The dinner night with his parents when great. She had a lot of fun throughout the night. His parents almost reminded her of her parents. They were fun, energetic and loving. She had to thank her papa Ofer helping her calm down.

Now you’re on the driveway faking a smile. You wish you could tell him he doesn’t deserve me. So I had to stop the car and turn around to tell you, you were the first man that really loved me.

She was going back to Paris after a few week’s back In Gotham. Audrey Bourgeois wouldn’t be waiting for her all day. She and Y/C had previously convinced her to let her stay a few more day in Gotham, Audrey’s patience was already running out. Everything was in the car by now, all they had to do was say goodbye.

One by one she said good bye to her family all that was left was her papa. Step by step she made her way up to him until she was right in front of him, he wasted no time in pulling her into a tight hug. Once they broke apart she heard a sniff, her papa was crying. And so was she.

“I love you papa/Marinette” they told each other at the same time. Giving him a sad smile she made her away to the car where Y/C was waiting for her in the passenger seat. Buckling up she started the car and drove away. After a couple of feet she looked at the rear view mirror and saw her papa shedding multiple tears from his eyes waving goodbye at her. Before she could process what she was doing she pulled over and got off the car.

Her papa saw her running towards him, and he planned to meet her at the middle. Once she was close enough she jumped into his arms. He caught her and spinned her around. He carefully put her down after a while but didn’t let her go. She felt a few tears running down her face. She got closer to his ear and quietly whispered, “You were the first man that really loved me” she took a short pause before continuing. “I love you papa, thank you”

And before they open up the door,I say I’ve never seen you cry before. You say “you’ve never looked so beautiful before. You know you’ll always be my little girl.”

Today was the day, she was getting married. She would have never imagined every little detail like this, it was a dream come true for her. She had designed her own dress. It was long with loose sleeves and instead of traditional white it was a very pale pink and a floral like pattern. He papa was in a black suit and a tie that matched her dress. She was nervous of course but having her papa next to her helped her a lot. It was a few more minutes before her uncle’s opened up the doors.

She felt a tear landing on her hand. She looked up and saw her papa wiping his eyes. A smile making its way across her face. She raised her hand and placed it on his cheek. Her papa let out a teary laugh. “Papa I��ve never seen you cry so much before.” It was true. He wouldn’t really cry so much, but this was like it almost looked like a small waterfall leaving his eyes.

He let out another quiet laugh, “It feels like just yesterday you were learning you first steps. Now your walking down the aisle, you look gorgeous Mari.” Wiping away his tears he told her, “ You know you’ll always be my little girl.” Seconds before the doors opens he placed a light feathered kiss on her forehead. Time to go.

You’re looking at me, while walking down the aisle with tears in your eyes. Maybe he deserved me, you don’t even know how much it means to me now

This was it, just a few more steps and she’d be at the altar. Y/C was looking straight at her with the biggest smile he ever had. Her papa still had tears in his eyes, as did the rest of her family. Even the baby of the family had to grow up eventually.

Dick didn’t think this day would come, he imagined it yes but for it to actually be here was unreal. He couldn’t control his tears from flowing down his eyes. They wouldn’t be stoping anytime soon. Maybe he did deserve his daughter. Maybe this was a good day. Looking back down at her he saw she was looking at the altar, specially at Y/C. This day was big for her, he knew that. This was her day. Of this was special for her, it was special for him.

They finally reached the altar.

You were the first man that really loved me, that really loved me.

It was the end of the night, everything went perfect. If she had to be honest, she was tired. Yet that didn’t stop her from going out to the balcony where her papa was. She quietly leaned against the railing like he was. They stood in silence for a moment. Her papa broke the silence first.

“Well you did it, you grew up. When will you stop?” He turned to her and let out a chuckle. She giggled a bit and gave him a light hug.

She pulled away shortly, “Papa even if I still grow, I will always be there with you. You are the reason why I’m who I am, why I’m here today and always.” She stoped and looked down for a second then quickly looked back up at him. “You are the first man that loved me.”

Kori stepped onto the with hot chocolate. “Would you like some Mar-” The sight in front of her caught her off. Dick and her daughter were sleeping on a chaise. Her head tucked under his head.

You really loved me

That’s the end. Sorry if I missed someone in the tag list. I hope you all liked it. Goodbye.

Tag list (closed):@virgil-is-a-cutie @caffeinetheory @theatreandcomicfreak @thepeacetea @abrx2002 @fertileleaf @tog84 @kawaiigiantjudgefish @captainartsypants @witchsblackfox @myazel @echpr @drarryismylife101 @dorkus-minimus @dast218 @tired-butterfly @jeminiikrystal @iglowinggemma28 @lilyellowink @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @aestheticandpoetic @daminett4life @weird-pale-blonde-person @tbehartoo @onelargemcbitch @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @crytallized @queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm @princess-of-fangirls @winter-gardenflower @jardimazul @littleredrobinhoodlum @oodle-n @isabellemasen @luleck @akalovelymaybe @hauntedfreakdeputyhero @finallyaniguana @smolplantmum @if-you-give-a-chat-a-cookie @mystery-5-5 @thesunanditsangel @vixen-uchiha @minightrose @melicmusicmagic @crazylittlemunchkin @queenmj10 @my-name-is-michell @draco-kasai @blackrosee3 @elmokingkong @sassydepression @dragonflyswing @bigpicklebananatree @thetinymoonflower

#maribat #maribat au #adopted!marinette au #papa dick #mb batfam #mb marinette #mb dick #mama kori

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unfolded73 · 4 years

Text

My Heartbeat Shows the Fear (3/4) - schitt’s creek ff

Summary: A canon divergent story: Patrick gets into a car accident and it brings the Brewers to town sooner.

Notes: This fic will be posted in 4 chapters, every other day. There is some description of injuries, but nothing too graphic or life-threatening.

The title is from “Overkill” by Colin Hay, which thanks to the show Scrubs puts me in mind of hospitals.

Thank you to Amanita_Fierce for putting so much time and thought into betaing this fic - you made it so, so much better. And thanks also to @high-seas-swan for some helpful suggestions, particularly on that one scene that I tore apart and rewrote.

Rated Teen, this chapter 4390 words. (ao3)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

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Chapter 3

“Well, you look like shit,” Stevie said as she and David walked into his hospital room Wednesday morning.

“Thanks,” Patrick said as David took advantage of his parents’ absence to lean over and kiss him.

“Did you sleep okay?” David asked, pulling up a chair to sit close. Patrick reached for David’s hand, taking it and squeezing it.

“Not really.” He felt terrible, but it was hard to tell if that was because of the constant aching pain coming from his arm and torso.

“So Alexis and Ted were able to get onto the lot where your car was towed and they found your phone,” David said, pulling a phone with a cracked screen out of his pocket. “We’ll have to plug it in to see if it still works,” he said as he grabbed Patrick’s charger out of the duffel bag and plugged the phone in.

“What about the merchandise?” Patrick asked.

David grimaced. “There were a lot of broken bottles. They saved what they could.”

“Let the vendors know that we’ll pay them for the lost merchandise. It should be covered by our insurance,” Patrick said, shifting his body and wincing at the pain in his side. “We’ll have to file a claim.”

“Okay, but I don’t want you to worry about that right now,” David said, leaning over and nuzzling against Patrick’s cheek. It felt like David was trying to absorb as much physical affection as he could while he had the opportunity.

“So what did your arm look like before, was it really gross?” asked Stevie from her spot leaning against the wall.

“Don’t answer that,” David warned. “Are you in a lot of pain?”

“It’s a little better. And I’ve managed to walk to the bathroom to pee without passing out, so that’s a big accomplishment.”

David laughed. “I’m so proud.” He let go of Patrick’s hand and stroked up and down his right arm affectionately.

“I assume my parents got settled in okay?”

“Oh yeah,” Stevie said, “we were going to talk about the lube—”

“No, we weren’t,” David said quickly, then in explanation to Patrick, he added, “Stevie went over and scrubbed the apartment of evidence of our relationship yesterday before your parents got there.”

Patrick’s stomach sank. Now his cowardice had not only hurt David, but had forced their friends to sneak around like they were in a farce. “Thanks, Stevie.”

“And I told my family not to say anything if they ran into your parents in town. Although they can’t really be relied on at all not to open their big mouths, so really it’s a bit of a crap shoot. But I told your parents that the food at the café was terrible, which wasn’t even a lie, so hopefully they won’t go there.”

Patrick imagined Johnny Rose stumbling through a conversation with his parents and revealing the nature of David and Patrick’s relationship. It was a terrifying idea, although he had to admit that a tiny part of him wanted it to happen. At least it would save him from having to break the news.

He really needed to tell his parents before this went on any longer.

“I’ll tell my parents when they get here this morning,” Patrick blurted out.

David grimaced. “You don’t have to rush, honey,” he said, still stroking his arm.

“No, David, this isn’t fair to you. I—”

“Good morning!” And there his parents were, walking into the room. David flinched back, his hand dropping from Patrick’s arm.

“We didn’t know you’d have visitors already so early,” Marcy said warmly, looking back and forth between David and Stevie.

“Yeah, we thought we’d stop in before I have to open the store,” David said as if a visit to the hospital didn’t require almost an hour and a half of driving.

“Should I point out that you’re already late opening the store?” Patrick gave him a teasing smirk.

“Everyone in town has heard about your car accident; I’m sure they’ll be forgiving,” David said.

“It’s good to see you again, Stevie,” Clint said, and Stevie gave him an awkward little wave.

“You guys met already?” Patrick asked.

“Yes, we met at your wonderful store, dear,” Marcy said.

“I gave your parents a quick tour of the store yesterday afternoon before they drove over to Brebner’s. I told them our fresh vegetables were much better,” David added.

“You were right,” Clint said.

It all felt like it was spinning out of his control, if it ever had been in his control — while Patrick lay helpless in his hospital bed, David and Stevie were spending time with his parents. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was supposed to have told them about his relationship with David, and they were supposed to see the truth of his life in Schitt’s Creek. He was supposed to have given them a tour of the store. They were supposed to see how settled and happy he was in the town with the people that knew him as half of ‘David and Patrick.’ Instead they were getting this incomplete, false version of him.

“David, I need to get back to the motel soon,” Stevie said, and David stood up. Patrick felt an urge to grab for his hand, to stop him from leaving. Instead he lay there, paralyzed by doubt.

A nurse came in then. “Goodness, you’re very popular this morning, Patrick,” she said, picking up his chart and making some notes from the screens behind his head.

“I’ll meet you in the lobby?” Stevie said to David, and then patted Patrick’s foot. “Feel better,” she said before disappearing from the room.

“You’re scheduled for blood work today, so I’m here to steal some blood,” said the nurse. Her name was Janice, Patrick remembered; she’d been on duty before. She pulled some tubes out of her pocket and lined them up on the table.

“Stevie seems nice,” Marcy said. ‘And she’s very pretty.”

“Marcy,” Clint said, a warning tone in his voice.

“What? I’m just saying.”

“No, you’re matchmaking,” Clint replied.

As she tightened the rubber band around his bicep and skillfully inserted the needle into his arm, Janice raised her eyebrows at Patrick, cut her eyes over to David, and then tilted her head almost imperceptibly toward Patrick’s parents. Her meaning was as clear as if she’d spoken out loud — they don’t know David is your boyfriend? Patrick shook his head as the first tube filled with blood. No, they don’t know. Janice nodded.

“I’m not matchmaking,” Marcy said. “But you can’t blame me for wanting to see Patrick happy in a relationship.” Patrick glanced at David, but David was studying his nails, his face carefully blank. Whether he was averting his gaze to avoid seeing blood or to avoid this conversation, Patrick wasn’t certain.

“Oh, don’t worry, Patrick’s having a torrid affair with most of the nurses on staff, the heartbreaker,” Janice said with a conspiratorial wink.

His parents laughed, and his mother dropped her line of inquiry. Thank you, Patrick mouthed to Janice, who smirked.

Once the four vacutainer tubes were filled, Janice checked his chart again. “Whoops, forgot to record your temperature.” She pulled out a thermometer and put it under Patrick’s tongue, waiting for the beep before reading the number.

“38.1,” she said, clucking her tongue. “You’re running a bit of a fever today, Patrick.”

“What does that mean?” David asked.

“Could be nothing — patients get unexplained fevers in hospitals all the time — but we want to rule out an infection stemming from his forearm fracture. I’ll page Dr. Barnes.” She patted Patrick’s hand and left the room.

His mother took Janice’s place, putting her hand on his forehead. “You do feel warm. Would you like me to get a wet cloth for your head?”

“No, Mom. I’m fine,” Patrick sighed as he shut his eyes. No wonder he was feeling so shitty.

“I’m sorry about before,” she said. “I know you told us that you weren’t seeing anyone, but I guess deep down I was hoping to meet a girlfriend. You’re such a catch, sweetheart.”

Patrick opened his eyes and met David’s. He could tell them now, but the fever was making him feel like he wanted to sleep for a thousand years. “There’s no girlfriend,” he said.

“Not in all the time you’ve lived here?” Marcy asked.

Patrick shook his head, still looking at David. He just needed to say it. I’m gay. There isn’t ever going to be a girlfriend. There’s David, who I think might be the love of my life.

He opened his mouth, and Dr. Barnes came through the door.

“Patrick, what’s this fever nonsense?” she chided jokingly. “Didn’t I teach you better than that?”

Chuckling weakly, Patrick tried to communicate to David with his eyes that he’d been on the verge of coming out, if only his doctor didn’t have the worst imaginable timing.

Dr. Barnes probed and prodded him, removing the splint from his arm long enough to unwrap the bandages and examine it. The movement was excruciating, but Patrick tried not to show the pain on his face in front of David and his parents. David was averting his eyes again anyway to avoid seeing Patrick’s injury.

“Still no sign of infection from the wound, so I think this is just a run-of-the-mill fever,” she said as she replaced the bandages and the splint. “But we can’t take any chances, so we’ll have to keep you at least one more night for observation.”

Patrick sighed in frustration. He really wanted to go home. He desperately wanted to be in his own bed being held by his boyfriend, even if having David moving around next to him in the bed would make his injuries more painful. He didn’t care.

“I know, it sucks. But infections are no joke.” The doctor made some notes on Patrick’s chart. “I’ll check in again toward the end of my shift, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, lying back on the pillows as she left.

“Your phone seems to be working,” David said, holding it up from where it was plugged in to show Patrick the screen. His voice sounded strangled. “I’ve gotta go. I can’t keep Stevie waiting any longer.” He reached out briefly, but then dropped his hand. “Maybe you can text me later?”

“Of course,” Patrick said, his own voice almost cracking with emotion.

“Bye,” David said, turning quickly and leaving the room.

His father was looking thoughtfully at him, and Patrick tried not to squirm under the scrutiny. “You’ve got a good friend there, Patrick.”

“Yeah, he’s… he’s the best,” Patrick said, drowsiness swamping out his ability to say anything more.

~*~

“He’s not going to tell them,” David said to the passenger window of Stevie’s car.

“David, give the guy a break — he’s clearly not feeling a hundred percent right now.”

He ignored Stevie’s very logical argument. “I mean, look at him. Look at his parents. I’ll never fit in with the wholesome, clean-cut vibe they have going on. Why would he want to tell his parents that he ended up with…” He gestured manically up and down at himself. “... this?”

Stevie cast a vicious side-eye in his direction. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” he blurted out in a high voice.

“David, he loves you. You know he loves you. Stop with this bullshit.”

He didn’t want to argue about it. Stevie wasn’t going to understand — she didn’t know what coming from a home that wasn’t dysfunctional was like anymore than he did. She didn’t understand that broken people like him didn’t have a place with families like that. Families where parents dropped everything and came rushing to their son’s aid, and not just because they thought he’d taken a prized crocodile bag.

He finally got the store open at ten-thirty, and a few people stopped by before lunch to inquire about Patrick. It was sweet, David thought, that people cared so much, but having to field their questions about Patrick’s health wasn’t helping his anxiety. By the afternoon, he was doing a fairly brisk business, which limited the amount of time he could spend spiraling about his relationship. Worrying that Patrick was realizing that if he was too ashamed to tell his parents that the two of them were dating, then their relationship was probably doomed.

By the time the Brewers themselves walked into the store just before closing, David was just about ready to jump out of his skin.

“Hi,” David said, and then immediately began to fret that he’d lost the ability to even say ‘hi’ like a normal person. “Is Patrick okay?”

“He is,” Marcy said. “They did some more tests and there’s no sign of infection, so he should be discharged tomorrow. They also went ahead and put a cast on his arm.”

David nodded, relieved. “Do you know how long you plan to stay in town? Do you have to get back home for work, or…?” He racked his brain, trying to remember what they did for a living. Clint did something in an office, he was pretty sure, and Marcy he couldn’t remember at all.

“We both had personal days to spare,” Clint said, “but I think we’ll head home on Sunday morning if Patrick doesn’t need more help.”

He has me, David wanted to shout, and he pressed his lips together to keep it in. “Do you need a place to stay for the remaining nights after Patrick is discharged? I can call Stevie and have her reserve a room at the motel.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s not a high-class establishment, but at least it’s close.” It would also put Patrick’s parents in close proximity to his own parents, which was risky, but he couldn’t think of a good excuse not to have them stay at the motel.

“Oh, that would be great, David. Thank you,” Marcy said.

“We were thinking,” Clint said, “we’d like to take you to dinner tonight.”

David tried to limit his physical recoil to the suggestion of spending so much uninterrupted time with Patrick’s parents. “You don’t have to do that.” He wasn’t sure if he could keep up this charade for another minute, much less an entire meal without Patrick there as a buffer.

“Please, David?” Marcy was weaponizing her eyes — he could see that Patrick came by it honestly. “It’s the least we can do.”

He looked around for a good excuse not to have dinner with Patrick’s parents. “I have to close up the store.”

“We can pick you up whenever you’re done,” Clint reasoned. “I’m in the mood for pizza, and I spotted a place near the hospital. Do you know it?”

David nodded reluctantly. “Reginos. It’s surprisingly good.” It was where he and Patrick had gone for their second date.

“Great. What time will you be finished here?” Clint asked, in a way that indicated he wouldn’t be taking no for an answer.

David thought about it. He didn’t have Patrick to help, and he’d let most of the closing up tasks slide the night before. “Umm, six-thirty?”

Clint clapped his hands together. “We’ll be back at six-thirty to pick you up.” He seemed very pleased, so David tried to look pleased too. He suspected his smile wasn’t quite cutting it.

As soon as they left, he texted Patrick. He wasn’t sure if Patrick would be checking his phone, but he hoped. Help, your parents are taking me for pizza. No response came immediately, so David went to work cashing out the register drawer.

His phone didn’t ping until he’d finished with the bookkeeping and was starting to sweep the floor. David leaned the broom against the counter and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Patrick: I would kill for some pizza.

David: I’ll get you as many pizzas as you can stand when you’re home.

Patrick was typing for a while — David assumed he must be doing it with one thumb, poor thing.

Patrick: I miss you. Been thinking about you all day.

It wasn’t until he saw this text that David realized — ever since he left the hospital that morning, a part of his brain had been spooling out a scenario in which Patrick had decided to break up with him. Seeing that text made him weak with relief. He pressed the button to call Patrick.

“Hey,” Patrick said as soon as the call connected.

“Your typing was too slow. And I miss you too. But what the hell am I going to talk about during an entire meal with your parents?”

Patrick sighed heavily. “I’ve just made this worse for you. I was going to tell them this morning, but doctors and nurses kept coming in and out, and I felt like shit, and—”

“Honey, I told you. You don’t have to apologize.” David probed his feelings for the resentment he knew he’d be justified in feeling, but all he could find was sympathy. “I know this kind of thing is hard for you.”

“I keep wondering if you’re just holding back on being angry with me because I’m in the hospital,” Patrick said.

“I promise I’m not.” David took a deep breath. “I keep wondering if, faced with the idea of telling your parents about us, you’re realizing that I’m all wrong for you.”

“David. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

They were silent for several seconds, basking in each other’s reassurances.

“Ask them to tell you stories about when I was little, that’ll keep them going for a while,” Patrick said. “Or talk about the store.”

“Okay, good ideas. Got any others?”

“I don’t know, tell them about the time you went parasailing with Anderson Cooper?” Patrick said with a laugh.

“Yeah, I’m not going to be doing that.”

“Will you be here in the morning when I get sprung from this place?”

“Won’t your parents think it’s weird, me being there?” David asked.

“I think I’ll ask them to meet us at the apartment. Can you pick me up? Just you?” His voice sounded small.

“I guess I’m going to be doing a lot of that until you can replace your car,” David responded with a smile that he hoped Patrick could hear.

Patrick groaned. “I hadn’t really even thought about that yet.”

“And you don’t need to,” David said, immediately regretting that he’d brought it up. “Just get some rest tonight and I’ll see you in the morning.”

~*~

Clint ran his fingers over the edge of the checkered tablecloth as the server put menus in front of them. “What’s good here, David?”

David’s eyes widened like he’d been asked a personal question rather than just what kind of pizza he liked. “Um, the meat lover is good. And the chicken pesto.” His lips slid to the side in a little half-smile. “Patrick likes the spicy barbecue chicken.”

Marcy wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like spicy pizza.”

“Yes, thank you,” David said. “Spicy food is fine, but that’s another genre of food from pizza. Spiciness destroys the flavor palette of a pizza; I’ve told him a million times.”

“I’m afraid he gets that from me, but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that there are certain foods I can’t get when I’m out with my wife,” Clint said, winking at Marcy.

“Or when you’re going to be sleeping next to me afterwards,” Marcy said, which made David laugh with surprise.

They ordered the meat lover pizza on David’s recommendation, and with that task completed, their conversation lulled. Clint tried not to be too blatant in his observation of David, this man who had gone into business with his son last year. This man who Patrick often ended up talking about during their phone calls when he ran out of other things to tell them about.

This man who, after this morning, Clint was convinced his son was in love with.

He didn’t think Marcy had noticed, and he’d decided not to bring it up to her in the car. He wanted to turn it over in his mind some more, determine if it had the weight of truth. But he’d seen the look on Patrick’s face when his eyes met David’s in that hospital room, and he was fairly certain he wasn’t wrong.

“So did Patrick really start playing hockey when he was four?” David asked suddenly. He grimaced almost like he was surprised the question had come out of his mouth.

Marcy launched into the story of the time she strapped their son into hockey gear and put him on the ice for his first lesson, and Clint watched the warmth grow in David’s eyes as he listened to the tale. It became clear during the conversation that David didn’t know anything about hockey, but he seemed interested nonetheless, asking follow-up questions about what Patrick had been like as a child until the pizza arrived, steaming and delicious.

They asked David about his own family as they ate. He hesitated at first in his responses, but he soon warmed to the topic. He talked about his father going into business with Stevie to save the motel, his mother serving on town council, and his sister starting her own business. It became clear that David was proud of what his family had accomplished in Schitt’s Creek.

“You’ve all done so much after such a terrible thing happened to you,” Marcy said.

“I think most people see what happened to us as karmic justice,” David said. “People love stories about rich people being knocked down a few pegs.”

“Well,” Marcy said thoughtfully, “I can’t pretend to know what your life was like before, but regardless, it’s unfair that you had everything stolen away. And it’s admirable, what your family has done for your town.”

David blushed, averting his eyes and wiping his hands with a napkin. “Thank you,” he said in a soft voice.

After dinner, they dropped David off at the motel before driving back to Patrick’s apartment. Marcy excused herself to the bathroom, and Clint pulled out his phone and called Patrick.

“Hey, Dad,” Patrick said when he answered, his voice sounding stronger than it had earlier in the day. “How was dinner?”

“It was good. Just checking to make sure they’re still planning to spring you in the morning.”

“Yeah, as far as I know.”

“What time should we be there to pick you up?” Clint asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. David’s going to pick me up tomorrow,” Patrick said.

“Doesn’t he have to open the store? It’s no problem for us to be there.”

“Nope,” Patrick said firmly. “We’ll meet you at the apartment.”

Clint smiled to himself. “You must be excited to get home.”

Patrick chuckled. “You have no idea. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dad. Love you.”

Marcy came out of the bathroom just as Clint was getting off the phone. “Patrick said David’s going to pick him up from the hospital tomorrow. He wants to meet us here.”

She frowned. “There’s no need for David to do that.”

“Well, Patrick wasn’t taking no for an answer.” He moved over to the window, shifting the curtain aside to look out on the nondescript lawn in the front of the apartment building. He remembered the last time Patrick broke up with Rachel, the night he came over to tell them he needed to move away and get a fresh start. “I keep going back to her by default but it’s never right. It’s not what I want.”

“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” Marcy asked him.

He took a shaky breath, his eyes changing focus so that he mostly saw the reflection of the apartment in the window glass instead of the landscape outside. “Do you remember that boy, Mark? The captain of the baseball team when Patrick was in grade ten?”

“The catcher? Yes, I remember.”

“Do you remember how much Patrick used to talk about him? Walking us through every play at the plate he made?” They would ask Patrick how baseball practice had gone, and inevitably the story would turn to Mark — the way he played, or the funny things he said in the locker room.

“I mean, I guess so. Why?”

“He never talked about Rachel like that. Not even back then.”

“Clint, what are you talking about?”

He turned and faced his wife. “I said before that I thought David had unrequited feelings for Patrick, but I watched them at the hospital this morning. I watched Patrick. There’s nothing unrequited about it.”

Marcy frowned. “So you’re saying—”

“I’m saying if they aren’t a couple, then they’ve both got feelings for each other they aren’t talking about,” Clint said.

Confusion was evident on Marcy’s face. “But Patrick dated Rachel for years. And other girls.”

“I’ve been thinking about that a lot today,” Clint said with an unhappy sigh. He sat down on the sofa and put his elbows on his knees. “He was almost boxed into dating Rachel before he’d finished going through puberty. They were best friends for practically their whole lives. Everyone expected them to start dating when they got old enough, us included. And Patrick has always been such a people-pleaser; he did what was expected of him from the time he was little.”

He stood up again and paced across the floor, unable to sit still. “And, look, he could be… bisexual. Or some other orientation that I don’t know the name of. I don’t know. I just saw the look on that boy’s face this morning when he looked at David. And I don’t think I ever saw him look at Rachel that way.”

“So if that’s true, why hasn’t he told us? Why are they keeping it a secret?”

Clint ran his hands over his face. “I don’t know.”

“We’ve never given Patrick any reason to think we wouldn’t accept him, have we?”

“Other than to encourage him to get back together with Rachel when they were struggling?”

Marcy’s face fell. “And then I just assumed … with Stevie earlier, and other girls… I defaulted to the idea of him being straight. It never occurred to me not to.”

Clint walked over and took her hand. “Me either. So, we start making up for it now. Yeah?”

She wiped away a stray tear. “Yeah.”

Chapter 4

#schitt's creek #schitt's creek ff #schitt's creek fic #david x patrick #david x patrick ff #david x patrick fic #my fic

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