rock lee u are the world 2 me….

Sparring (Skyward Sword Zelink)

@zelinkweekofficial​

“Okay, we have to make this more interesting,” Zelda said as she swung her training sword a little, getting a feeling for the weight; it had been a while since she’d used one of these. “If you win, you get a special surprise tonight.”

 Link cocked his head to the side, confused for a moment, before dawning comprehension lit up in his eyes, and a deep blush colored his cheeks and the tips of his ears. Zelda giggled at the sight of it. Honestly. As if they hadn’t been married for two months, as if he wasn’t used to their loving nighttime activity by now, even if they’d been too busy as of late to do anything recently. He was adorable.

 “So what do I get if I win?” she prompted, swaying in place.

 Link raised an eyebrow. “I feel like that reward is pretty win-win for both of us, honestly.”

 Zelda laughed. “I can’t argue that, but you still need to come up with a prize if I win.”

 Link pouted, but Zelda was unmoved. She sheathed her sword and crossed her arms, waiting.

 “If you win…” Link said thoughtfully, putting his hands on his hips. “If you win, I’ll be in charge of organizing the building efforts in the settlement for the rest of the week.”

 Zelda raised her eyebrows. Since the settlement had been her idea, she’d been the one to approach concerning all the problems associated with it, and while she was more than willing to accept that responsibility, it was nice to get a break. It was a lot of work, after all… which was why it was a surprise Link was offering to shoulder it.

 She nodded approvingly, all the more eager to beat him just to see how the rest of the week would play out. They’d have a good time tonight whether she beat him or not, after all, not that she was telling him that.

 “Very well,” she said. “Hope you’re ready to be the leader, because I’m not holding back!”

 Link smiled eagerly, his brow furrowing in concentration and making it look almost like he was daring her to even try and land a blow on him. She felt all the more incensed by it, and she drew her blade.

 The couple circled each other briefly, sizing each other up. It had honestly been a little while since Zelda had fought on a regular basis, but she hadn’t abandoned her skills. She still sparred with other knights in what little free time she had, and she had helped to clear the area of monsters when they’d first started founding their settlement near the Sealed Grounds.

 Also, she had memories of fights long before the settlement, before Skyloft, and she had techniques that no one knew. Techniques that she had yet to share with Link, simply because she was still sorting through all the memories herself.

 She could win this. She would win this.

 Link continued to watch her, undaunted. He usually wasn’t the first one to attack in a sparring match, being patient and observant. Zelda was typically the more aggressive fighter between the two. But neither of them had actually sparred the other since everything that had happened a year ago, so she was curious how much his ability had changed.

 There was, after all, a huge difference between fighting off monsters and dueling a skilled sword fighter.

 Zelda eventually took the first move, tired of waiting. She lunged forward, her sword reaching for his right shoulder, and he quickly and easily deflected it, pushing her blade to the side. The move left her wide open, and she quickly retracted her arm as he tried for an upward slash, taking the hit bluntly on her blade and almost knocking her off balance. Link took advantage of her momentary pause and swung his sword down along her right side and then pulled it across in a strong motion. Though it hit her blade directly with little movement from her, it did succeed in throwing her off, and she skidded on her feet as her blade almost left her grip.

 Zelda dove into a roll rather than give Link a wide opening to her unprotected back. When she righted herself, she was a few paces away from him, gritting her teeth in determination. Fine, he got the advantage there, but the fight wasn’t over yet.

 Maintaining a good distance, she held her sword at the ready. This time, Link didn’t wait, striking along the side where he spotted an opportunity. A quick parry and riposte made him take a step back, but he wasn’t pressed back for long, moving his sword in different angles and forcing Zelda on the defensive. She decided to break the cycle by side stepping an attack, jutting her sword towards his outstretched arm from the strike that he had just done. Link twisted hard, gripping his blade with both hands to grant himself some more speed and strength in the sloppy parry, knocking Zelda’s sword and balance off to the left. Link’s desperation granted Zelda a moment to recover as well, and the couple took two steps from each other to create space.

 If there was one thing she remembered from her battles prior to Skyloft, it was that she had been much taller, which made this awkward. However, her opponent had also been enormous and insanely strong. Quick movements and flexibility in her strikes had been her advantage, and it had won the fight millennia ago.

 Blowing out a breath, Zelda commented, “You certainly are motivated to win.”

 Link raised an eyebrow and gave her a coy smirk. Then he lunged again, bringing his sword in an upward diagonal strike. She stepped back with the motion, letting his blade cut the air in front of her and leaving his arm open for an attack. Bringing her sword around his blade, she came down on his arm, but Link pulled back, shifting his momentum just in time for his blade to make contact with hers rather than his arm. He used the strike to give his sword some speed as he swirled it around to come at her from above after being shoved out of the way. Zelda flipped her blade momentarily, closing the distance and smacking him on the forehead with the pummel of her hilt. Dazed, Link stumbled back with a grunt.

 “Where’d you learn that?” he mumbled, rubbing his face.

 “Fight’s not over yet!” Zelda yelled excitedly as she closed the distance yet again, ready to knock him flat on his back with his guard down as it was.

 Link caught the movement right on time, but instead of deflecting her blade off to the side, he met it full force, pulling them into a temporary bind. Before Zelda could pull back, Link took a large step towards her, angling his blade downward, his wrist twisting so that the guard of his blade locked with the guard of hers. The tip of her sword slammed into the ground, pinned, and Link held his left fist up at eye level. Zelda flinched, realizing she was about to get punched in the face, but Link didn’t follow through with the move. Instead he dipped in and pecked a quick kiss on her lips and pushed her away, breaking the bind between their swords.

 Zelda huffed, flustered despite herself. “You think I’m going to go easy on you because of that?”

 Link smiled innocently.

 Agitated, Zelda gave an annoyed growl as she charged towards him. Link took several hasty steps back to maintain a safe distance as she sieged him with slashes and cuts. He parried, his face set in stone as he focused, and eventually he took a large step back and raised his sword high, bracing.

 Zelda knew that pose. She’d seen it firsthand when he’d fought Demise, and she’d seen the vestiges of it since then.

 Skyward strike.

 But he was not armed with the Master Sword, it would not grant him any favors in doing such a move and opening himself up in such a way. It was almost odd to see him doing it; he’d been breaking the habit over the past year so he wouldn’t get himself hurt.

 She wasn’t going to be upset about it today, but they’d definitely have to talk about it.

 Taking advantage of his now defenseless body, Zelda lunged straight at his abdomen.

 Link took a large step back, angling his abdomen from her with speed she wasn’t expecting, and then brought his blade down to bat hers away, and this time she couldn’t drop or roll fast enough to avoid leaving her back exposed to him as her body twisted with the parry.

 Zelda felt a heavy blow on her back, making her face plant into the dirt.

 She heard Link’s heavy breathing at her ear an instant later as he bent down over her. “You okay, Zel?”

 Of course she was, they were using dull training blades and wearing chainmail. Her pride, however…

 Grumbling, Zelda kept her face in the dirt. It was better than looking at him at the moment. She’d been duped and she knew it.

 “Zel…” Link whined, and judging by the noise he had decided to lay down prone beside her and stare at her with his pleading eyes.

 Zelda huffed. She couldn’t stay mad at that goofball. Turning her head to the left, she stared at his face, inches from hers, and jutted out her lip in irritation. “Fine, you win.”

 Link’s smile was practically radiant, and as Zelda rolled onto her side to face him fully, he pulled her to him and gave her a kiss. “Don’t worry, I’ll still run the settlement for the rest of the week.”

 Zelda blinked. “You will?”

 “Of course I will,” he said softly, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against hers. “I know you’ve been stressed.”

 By the Three, she didn’t deserve him.

 Sighing, she nuzzled into his neck, holding him tightly.

 “Aw, aren’t you two adorable.”

 Link flinched and Zelda jerked away, both looking up to see Groose standing at the entrance to the clearing.

 “Hate to break up the moment, but we got some extra supplies and were getting ready to divvy it up. Cawlin is trying to petition for more and some of the others aren’t happy about it.”

 Zelda heard Link sigh irritably. She made a motion to stand and play mediator when his hand settled on her shoulder.

“I got it,” he muttered, rising.

 Zelda smiled apologetically. Well, if he insisted.

 She’d head back to their residence and tidy up so he wouldn’t have anything to worry about for the evening.

 And then she’d stockpile on herbs and tea because her husband would no doubt have quite the headache when he got home.

Hi! I know I left a comment on my reblog, but I felt the need to send something a little more heartfelt. I'm going to try to be normal about this lol

That picture you drew was the first thing I saw this morning, and it has been sitting on one of my monitors ever since, just so I can glance at it any time I want—which quite honestly has been incredibly frequent.

It might seem like I'm a little too excited about this, but it's a huge deal to me. Before I started putting fics out (just south of a year ago now) I hadn't written anything in nearly a decade, so I didn't really have any expectations for what I put out. Of course, I thought about how cool it'd be if someone drew something directly inspired by something I wrote, but I always considered that a kind of a lofty thing? Would be nice if it happened, but I wasn't expecting it. And if it did happen, it'd probably happen much later on when I'm a little better at writing.

All of that to say this is the first time I've inspired anyone to make art from my material. That means so much to me and I am unbelievably grateful to you for that. Also, WOW, it's from someone who has also drawn one of my absolute most favorite SciSet pics ever too?? I adore the way you draw Sunset, so when I saw this was from you I actually gasped so loud my wife heard me from the other room lol.

I mentioned this briefly in my reblog, but I really love the way this picture is composed. When I write scenes, they tend to play out in my mind in full motion with great detail, so what I envision can be incredibly specific, yet I really feel like you managed to capture details I hadn't really put words to. The color scheme in particular—lots of blues and purples, but with just the right amount of saturation to match the pink. Visual arts are not my forte, so I apologize if that doesn't make the most sense.

Lastly, I would like to ask just a couple things:

Would you be alright with me posting a blog about this on fimfic? This might seem like kind of a weird question, but I always like to make sure I clear this kind of thing with someone first. Naturally your username and links to everything would be prominently featured.

May I put this in the author's note of Chapter 8(b)? Just like before, your username and links will be prominently featured alongside it (also, if you'd like to send me a watermarked version, I'd be alright with putting that up too). I just really love this picture and would love it to be the way people visualize that part of the chapter, but I want to make sure that's alright with you first, and I also want to make sure you get the credit you deserve.

Anyway, I won't ramble any longer than necessary. Sorry for throwing a book in your inbox, but thank you for the picture, and for ensuring that no matter what else happens today, I have something to be happy about 🥰

hi!!

we've actually been mutuals for a little while (you reblogged something of mine, and i liked your taste in horse content) but back in april by complete coincidence i stumbled across your fimfic account as well and kind of fell in love with your work. the way you write sunset, your inner voice for her, speaks to me on an insane level to the point where it's informed some of my personal projects (ocs) a bit. i also really enjoyed seeing how rapidly and drastically your writing had improved over the works you had up at the time-- it made me really excited to see what you would do in the future! i even made a new account and started using the site again just so i could keep up :3 if nothing else, you've touched this creature's heart very deeply

like i said in the original tags, i've been meaning to make fanart of this scene for MONTHS and finally releasing those brainworms felt a bit like an exorcism, lol. i'm so happy i hit the mark and brought you as much joy as you've brought me !!!!

to answer your questions!:

sure!! it is fanart For You after all

same as above, go for it :3 (it is actually watermarked already! i prefer making it difficult to see so it's not distracting. take a closer look at sunset's elbow)

silly bonus trivia about the drawing: i needed a visual reference to help me with the poses, and the best ref i found just so happened to be a picture with obama in it. it's not my fault they look so tender

I posted 308 times in 2022

31 posts created (10%)

277 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@bughead-bones

@2minutes2midnight

@valentinaonthemoon

@libbyweasley

@springmagpies

I tagged 292 of my posts in 2022

Only 5% of my posts had no tags

#fitzsimmons - 83 posts

#<3 - 59 posts

#fic rec - 30 posts

#leo fitz - 21 posts

#agents of shield - 17 posts

#jemma simmons - 16 posts

#fitzsimmons fic - 15 posts

#iain de caestecker - 13 posts

#alternate universe - 12 posts

#agents of shield fic - 11 posts

Longest Tag: 120 characters

#love it when translation is actually smart like that and doesn't just stupidly translate something that's not gonna work

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

27 notes - Posted November 23, 2022

#4

Just for the Night, chapter 2/2

FitzSimmons, rated M, 7900 words Summary: Bringing home her cute new colleague for the night sounded like a good idea to Jemma Simmons. He's cute and a fantastic kisser, just what she needed to relieve the stress of spending Christmas with her whole family. She just hadn't planned that she would end up snowed in with her one-night stand AND her family for Christmas.

Once more, happy Christmas Libby <3 "I'm so sorry, they weren't supposed to be here until much later!" she whispered as she closed the door behind herself and leaned back against it as if someone might burst through it anytime. "I know, you said so but I bet they wanted to avoid--" "The snow, yeah. My mum tried to call but my phone was in the living room. I probably wouldn't have heard it anyway, I slept like the dead last night." Fitz smiled at that and there was something so sweet in a way that she didn't tell him the orgasms weren't the only responsible. Even though he'd greatly contributed to the short-lived state of relaxation she'd felt that morning, she'd been exhausted for weeks. "Anyway, the road's closed so--" His lips pressed against hers softly, taking her by surprise. She was busy panicking about the whole situation, how dare he interrupted her like that? But then, his arms wrapped around her waist, impossibly warm, and Jemma melted into the embrace with a slight whine. Maybe she should have gone and talked to him weeks ago. She might have brought him home to her London flat and gotten the opportunity to enjoy his affection longer without being interrupted in the worst possible way. "Good morning," he said, eyes and tone equally soft when he pulled back.

Continue reading on AO3

29 notes - Posted January 8, 2022

#3

Finally finished this portrait of Fitz/Iain from the wedding scene in 5x12 <3 It had been a while since I drew him and I’m pretty happy with the result! Done in watercolor and color pencils! Commissions open for this type of portrait or digital ones, more details via DM :) REDBUBBLE / ETSY

33 notes - Posted December 4, 2022

#2

It Was All Make-Believe

FitzSimmons, rated T, 2609 words (for now) Chapter 1/6 @libbyweasley​ and I are very excited to finally start posting this fic we've been working on for months based on Libby's original idea. The fic is all written and a new chapter will be posted every week. I've written three chapters from Jemma's POV and Libby has written all chapters from Fitz's POV. Hope you enjoy :) Summary: Fitz and Jemma go undercover as a couple and discover it isn’t as difficult as they’d thought it would be. But what happens when those feelings become a little too real? Season 1 AU They all moved to the briefing room, May and Ward looking as awake and ready as ever. Fitz, not so much.

"Didn't even have time for breakfast," he grumbled as he took his place next to Jemma. "Why do these always have to be so early?" Jemma shook her head and pressed the second mug of tea she was holding into his hand. "Oh thank you." He took a sip and his face turned a little less grumpy for a second. "Maybe the problem is that you stayed up working in the lab so late," Jemma pointed out and he huffed. "You're one to talk!" "But I can function on five hours of sleep, you obviously can't." If his still only half open eyes and messy curls weren't enough to prove her point, Jemma reached out to straighten his collar. "That's because he's still growing!" Skye tousled his hair as she walked past him to take her place in the briefing room.

Continue reading on AO3

41 notes - Posted April 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

It had been a while since I’ve worked on a Liz/Jemma art :) (Based on that gorgeous Liz photoshoot I’m planning I’ve done this one using both color pencils and watercolor and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.  I’m currently open for commissions (both traditional and digital fanart). Send me a DM to know more :) 

44 notes - Posted July 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

Ok so here’s another spontaneous doodle dump of sketches early on from February this year! …Yeah that means its taken me a total of 8 months before I felt comfortable posting these online jksjksp. And even now I’m only doing it because there’s a high change no one will notice lol

There’s actually a couple stories written down here, although it’s difficult to read them since the character dialogue takes up the entire page practically. Essentially, I created my own version of the My Little Pony universe based on my toys + silly story ideas me & my cousin made up years ago. In this version of MLP, multiple villains from different fandoms (aka different dimensions) have been trapped within the pony world and cause havoc by taking souls. So it’s like a massive confusing crossover episode that never ends and has no real plot lol. SOMEHOW my interpretation of snatcher got jumbled into the mix during 2019 and now he’s dating this pink colored version of Princess Celestia and in the future they adopted a child named Audrey. So yeah uh…I accidentally created a crack ship between Snatcher & Celestia, but they make me very happy nonetheless << I might be cringe & confusing but I’m free. And now you understand why I’ve tried to keep this art hidden under the rug for so long jksjskp

So with that long winded explanation out of the way (which hopefully justifies why I drew snatcher x pony art) I’ll let you try to decipher the dialogue on your own, because I’m too tired to type it out word for word. Sorry :/

Earliest I remember in my dream, my college classmates and I were entering the student union for lunch. It had been a while since I had been there (maybe just come back from the summer, maybe the years it's actually been in reality, timeline unclear). I was looking at all the different places trying to find something I could eat and it was still stupid difficult. I eventually got enough of something and sat down to eat with a really close classmate friend, who I actually saw in person recently, and my spouse, who back in those days would take a break and eat lunch with me when possible.

After lunch, it morphed into attending middle school classes with my high school classmates. Actually went through what felt like a day's classes, including art where I drew and water colored. And then the next day. And then the next day. Oddly detailed classes, lots of dealing with pencil cases and notebooks, even a locker. One of my current coworkers was the art teacher. The other teachers seemed to be middle and high school teachers I actually had. Each class I was making an effort to sit next to someone I wanted to be closer to. I can remember three specific people I sat next to in these classes who I really would have liked to be better friends with but I hadn't spent the time on them because of our different friend groups.

The last class while I was asleep was sitting across from my main high school crush. He talked to me a lot and we had a legitimate conversation, maybe more than we ever had back then, very good amount of interest in each other's lives and things that were going on in school. Lots of discussing homework. Also for some reason there was food and drink available in this room so I got a bunch of it for us and we had a great meal. Reality started to bleed in, I was talking about the art project I was working on where I was going to collage or trace in a photo from the downtown of the place I live now, which is hundreds of miles from where I grew up. And I mentioned how nice all the cars are here, how safe it is and my parents would let me go for a walk whenever I felt like it. To be fair, everywhere I lived with my parents was like that, thanks to growing up in places and times where that was ok. Our teacher sat down by us and reality intruded more, we started talking about one of my coworkers who got married during the pandemic and had twins now. I also was having flickers of acknowledging how even though I was feeling this connection to him and even though the intensity of the crush was pressing on me, increased by the impact of him actually paying attention to me and talking like reasonable human beings, not only am I married but he and I would not make a reasonable couple given the whole bit about him being devoutly Catholic from a large Catholic family and me being a queer nonbinary person who isn't religious and struggles with spirituality.

This portion of the dream largely mirrored a dream I had over a month ago that I had recorded in my writing app and happened to stumble upon and read yesterday. The setting was different but the feelings behind the interaction were the same, I think. Massive ego validation by receiving attention and possibly interest from this person who rejected/ignored me years and years ago tempered by acknowledging that I have it better already and this person wouldn't fit my life even if I wasn't in a healthy monogamous relationship.

I swear if I meet this man again and it turns out he went off the rails of traditional catholicism, and not in a more judgemental direction, my dream mind is going to be irritating. Also I wish in these dreams I would see some of the other people I had crushes on because I miss them quite a bit.

7.5 hrs.

Picture Perfect

__

Draco Malfoy x Fem. Reader

Warnings: Sexual implications (a lottttt of them)

A/N: I might do a part two to this...

Word Count: 1,635

“Like them? I love them.”

__

You watched with anticipation as Draco popped another one of the Bertie Botts Flavour Beans into his mouth. His sculpted jaw moved up and down as he chewed. His eyes suddenly shut tightly and his face contorted into disgust. You leaned forward a tad, curious to see what mystery flavor he had picked. He swallowed hard and coughed at the foul taste.

“Soap.” He sputtered, reaching for the glass of water on his bedside table.

You bursted into laughter, laughing even harder at the way he brought a hand to his chest as the taste dissipated from his tongue. He grinned at you from over the rim of his glass, taking another sip.

“Your turn.” He said. 

This was a game of sorts that you and Draco liked to play whenever the two of you made a trip to Hogsmeade. Honeydukes Sweets Shop was your absolute favorite place to go and make pleasurable purchases. There were endless rows of candies and other tooth rotting snacks that were your ultimate guilty pleasure. 

You were always sure to snag a new box of Bertie Botts Flavour Beans. You and Draco would sit in his private, prefect room and take turns selecting a bean and seeing which flavor you were bestowed with. You were snug in one of his Quidditch jumpers, your legs wrapped around his waist while the two of you sat on his bed. 

Draco was always less fortunate than you during this game.

You took a bean into your hand, taking a breath when you put it in your mouth. Your tense shoulders relaxed when you started chewing. A delicious, fruity taste flooded your tastebuds, a cheeky grin appearing on your face. Draco threw his head back in exasperation at the sight of you getting yet another good flavor.

“Again?” He asked.

You nodded.

“Cherry.” You smiled, swallowing the small candy.

Draco’s blonde eyebrows raised, a devious look crossing over his face. His hands rested on your thighs that were secured around him, leaning forward.

“Mmm. Do you mind sharing?” He smirked.

You hummed affirmatively, capturing his lips in a hot kiss. His tongue danced with yours, tasting your familiarity and the traces of cherry candy. His hands went to the side of your neck to bring you closer, while you gripped at the collar of his sweater. His kisses muffled your girly giggles, a chuckle vibrating out from his own chest. 

You tapped his shoulder to pause your make out session, a mumble of realization sounding out from your throat. He whined when you stopped kissing him, but based on the bright look on your face, you had something in mind. 

“I have something for you.” You announced in a playful way.

His gray eyes darkened a touch, his fingertips drumming on the skin of your leg. 

“Is that so?” He questioned, making guesses already in his head.

You were giddy with joy as you scrambled from his array of blankets and his comforter. You reached into your backpack, pulling out a solid black book with a red bow on it. It was a rather large book, about the size of his Care of Magical Creatures textbook. Draco felt a quick surge of panic. He was the worst about remembering holidays and birthdays, and he instantly thought that maybe he had forgotten something special.

“Don’t get mad if I have, but...did I miss something?” He asked.

You let out a snicker as you rejoined him on the bed. Ever since he had forgotten your birthday a few months ago, now he was always afraid he was going to miss something else. 

“You haven’t. This is just something I’ve been working on.” You bubbled up gleefully.

You set the book on his lap, watching as his eyes raked over the cover. He felt a warmth in his chest at being given a gift just because you cared. He pushed the bow off of the sides of the book, opening the cover to see a little note you had written for him, signed at the end with your name and everything. The thick pages indicated to him that it was a picture album. 

He turned to the first page, an unmistakable smile of jubilation appeared on his face. The first two pages each had four Polaroid like pictures secured evenly. You were smiling happily in each of the first several photos, wearing different outfits and in different locations. Draco’s heart was beating with exuberance in his chest as he looked through the first couple of pages. 

“Oh, darling. These are great,” He praised; “They’re positively stunning. They-” 

His sentence was cut short when he got about halfway through the pages, his voice getting caught in his throat when the pictures immediately took on a new theme. His smile faded into a shocked, slight jaw drop. The second half of the book was filled with sultry, boudoir style photos. His fingertips trailed over one in particular where you were wearing your school robes, but the only thing you were wearing underneath was one of Draco’s Slytherin uniform ties settled between your breasts. 

In other photos, you were wearing different sets of lingerie. There was one lacy, black colored set that almost made him faint right then and there. 

He was knocked speechless, unable to string together a single sentence. You were beginning to feel a little self conscious, and even a bit embarrassed that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. You had honestly expected him to completely attack you with feverish kisses or fuck you right then and there. The fact that he was completely silent was unsettling.

You fiddled with your hands in your lap, uncertainty in your tone as you spoke up to break the silence.

“I...do you like them?” You wondered, hoping to get a positive reaction.

Draco’s eyes never left the book. He turned to the next page, a rush of arousal flushing over him at one in particular where you were completely naked, stretched out on his bed and giving a look so seductive that it made Draco’s belly flutter. The sight of you naked on his bed...it was hot.

“Oh, baby. Darling, my love...” He breathed out, trying to complete at least one full thought; “Like them? I love them.” He almost growled.

You exhaled a breath of relief, feeling a sense of excitement as he continued to rake over them. He turned to a new set of pictures, a hot blush creeping onto his cheeks.

“You’re so stunning...so sexy.” He purred.

You laughed shyly, a bashful smile washing on your face. You rubbed his knee, your hand feeling like electricity on him. He couldn’t look away from the scandalous photos, each one becoming more dirty than the last. He was riled up and he was already looking forward to having this book at his disposal.

“Who took these?” He pondered, wondering which one of your lucky girl friends had the pleasure of seeing you actually model these outfits and strip down naked.

You just had to take advantage of this moment. You couldn’t help but mess with him just a little bit. You choked down the chuckle that would surely give you away.

“Potter.” You lied.

Draco’s head snapped up so fast and his eyes filled with an indescribable look of hot jealousy. He chest tightened, but relaxed when he realized you were kidding based off of your burst of laughter. He sighed harshly and rubbed his forehead as you laughed at his intense reaction. The thought of you asking Harry Potter to take these photos for you filled him with such a rage, but he even laughed it off when he knew you were joking.

“That’s not funny.” He said pointing a finger at you, and continuing to go through the photos.

Your giggles died off, and you answered him honestly.

“Pansy took them. That’s how I was able to sneak in here when you weren’t here.” You explained.

Draco nodded, his jaw still slightly ajar as he loomed over them. You patiently waited as he finished looking through them, his pupils dilating more and more by the minute. He closed the book once he was finished, his eyes finally flickering up to you. He had grown a very prevalent erection, and his eyes were filled with an intense amount of lust. You knew one thing for sure.

He was going to rock your world tonight.

Over the last year or so of dating you, he tried not to be so aggressive when it came to your sex life. He tried not to pounce on you every time he felt turned on. He knew that sex was supposed to be the ultimate romantic connection, and not always supposed to be rushed. After those pictures though, he wanted you BAD. You could tell he was antsy, waiting (and also praying) for you to give him the okay. 

You leaned in, your lips just barely brushing over his, before you brought your lips to his ear. You purposely let out a wanton moan in his ear, a tantalizing sound to your voice.

“Touch me, Draco. I know you want me.” 

In a millisecond, Draco was on you. He kissed you roughly and pushed you down onto his mattress. He kept your hands pinned above your head, leaving open mouthed kisses on your neck as he intentionally drew the most wonderful sounds out of you. 

“What are the chances of you wearing one of those hot little outfits under this jumper?” He said in a steamy voice.

You squirmed against his hands, but to no avail. You rolled your hips into his, trying to create some friction. You threw him a wink, your response sending him into full fuck mode.

“Why don’t you find out?”

Welcome to Club T’s

One of my fan favorites from the old blog, enjoy:

One could look at Emily and assume her life was perfect A nice home, well off family that was well known in California.  Naturally blonde hair, a petite little figure and long legs all around a smile that could turn a man to stone. Going to movie premieres, sports events and mingling with LA bigwigs, Emily was never long without something to do. Oh dont get me wrong, Emily never complained. She loved her family, loved her friends, loved her job. She’d never complain for a second. But still something was missing.  That’s why Emily found herself where she was, in a taxi outside a new and mysterious club in downtown LA.  She stared at the door for a long time before the driver finally asked “Are you gettin out or what?” Emily came back to reality and paid the driver, and stepped out of her car as confidently as she could.  What she couldn't sell her blue dress and black heels could. She walked into the club like it was nobody’s business, and was an instant bombshell to the eligible young men at Club T’s.   What made her walk into this particular club that night? Well, to understand that, we have to go back a little bit.  Emily had a friend named Stephen, and one time not too long ago Stephen did something she couldn’t get out of her head.  He tickled her.  It wasn’t her first time being tickled, not by a longshot.  For some reason, the feeling she got when he finally stopped kept coming back to her head like a drug, needing to come forward again and refusing any lesser pleasure. She had no trouble finding a man to do anything she wanted, but for some reason this one request proved elusive to her charms.  After a brief search on the internet, she found out that club T’s was the place to find what she wanted.  It wasn’t easy to find out how to get in, the people she was here to see were very secretive.  The main club was just like any other club. The music was too loud, the drinks were too expensive and you couldn’t see or move anywhere.  After a few minutes of moving around she found the specific corner that housed the VIP section of the club, she said the codeword to the bouncer, and with a smirk he let her in.  It was the look a wolf gives a deer after a day without food, and it unsettled her. Inside, the VIP area was another world.  The clothes were different, the lights were a bit brighter, and you could hear yourself over the music.  The men were dressed in anything from suits to T-shirts while the girls were wearing some pretty revealing clothing, anything that exposed the belly, shorts, mini skirts and few of them wore heels.  They wore colored wristbands, green yellow and red.  Green was an open invitation, yellow required an ask, and red meant not to approach.  Emily had a yellow wristband, fastened around her ankle like the website advised. There was more seating space than at any normal club here, couches and chairs everywhere.  The dance floor had some people, but others were chasing each other around the floor, and in a couch by the corner a man had a captive girl in his lap.  Her hands were bound and her feet were in his lap.  As he grabbed the toe of her sock, her bound hands came up to her face to conceal her smile and she shook her head.  He grinned evilly and slowly pulled the sock off, revealing her bare foot. At the edges of the dance floor were a few suspended cages, each with a girl inside and a person outside sticking a feather duster in.  Emily asked the bartender “What’s all that about?”  A cute redhead in a black corset said “Those girls work here.  The customers pay to use the feather dusters for a time.  They can also pay to remove clothing or lower the cages.  It breaks the ice for the newcomers.  Speaking of, is this your first time?” “Why yes” said Emily looking around. “Is this actually for real?” The bartender, whose nametag read “Sam” said “It sure is.  I can lock you in that cage if you’re too nervous to get started on your own?”  Emily blushed, and suddenly a voice came from behind her that said smoothly “Sam, hasn’t your boss told you not to mess with the new talent? Or do I have to tickle you for your tips again?” Sam blushed now, and backed towards the liquor shelf nervously.  Emily asked the tall, suit clad stranger “What?”  He said “Oh you haven’t heard? If you find their service in any way lacking, you have to give them the oppurtunity to get their tips tickled back into them.  That’s why she wears a corset, her pits are her worst spot.”  She hissed “Damon!” So you weren't kidding on the website” Emily asked. “This really is a tickle club.” Damon said “Oh yes, but if you want to see come by when Sam brings my bottle of Dom.  She needs a good tickling to earn her tips back after that hiss…”  Sam gulped.  She’d done it now.  Damon slapped down a 20 and said “Whatever the lady likes is on me.” Sam fixed Emily a drink and grabbed a champagne bottle, but Emily hesitated as Sam left.  Sam looked over her shoulder and said “You comin? This is what you wanted right?”  Emily finished her liquid courage, and followed Sam to a door labelled “Barefoot Room”  Upon entering, Sam said “It’s quite literal, no shoes allowed inside.”  Sam quickly kicked off her pumps and went inside, and Emily removed her peep toed heels to join her. “You learn quickly Emily” Damon smiled as he smiled at Emilys little feet as she flexed her toes “Im just amazed” Emily replied blushing as she felt Damon's gaze on her toes “Theres nothing to feel scared about Emily" Damon smiled as he took a sip of his drink. “so tell me what brings you here”” Emily took a deep breath, and then she started “It all started when my friend Stephen tickled my feet a few months ago.  It felt...well I guess how a normal person feels being tickled.  Sure, the laughing was fun but when it was happening I just wanted him to stop after a few seconds...afterwards I couldn’t get it out of my head.  I tried forgetting it, distracting myself.  Anytime I was alone with my thoughts, I thought of that sensation and how badly I wanted it back.  So I found this place...and here I am.” “And here you are.” Damon said.  He saw Emily look down nervously and said “Emily, come sit by me.”  She came and sat down next to him hesitantly, and drew her feet behind her knees, where Damon couldn’t see them.  It was all she could do not to blush.  He asked her “Sam needs to be tickled if she wants her tips from me, where should she be tickled?” “Her underarms” Emily replied without hesitation.  Sam shut her eyes and raised her arms, beginning to breathe heavily.  She begged “Please be gentle.” Damon looked and raised an eyebrow “you answered that quickly for a newbie; I think we may have a little sadist here.  Sam, I think we should let your new friend here do the honors” Emily looked nervous again, and said “You want me to tickle her?”  Damon nodded silently and said “If you'd prefer I can tickle her.  The whole time you watch her suffer knowing that it's coming for you next…” She was up in an instant, and facing Sam directly.  Sam felt her breathe and winced, that gave Emily an inexplicable pleasure.  She pounced. Emily dug her nails into Sam’s underarms, and Damon smirked as she screamed.  Sam was able to hold her arms up for a few seconds, but within 15 seconds they came down reflexively.  Sam laughed like crazy but Emily wouldn't let up.  Sam tried to turn away, but Emily kept at it, and pulled Sam closer. The punishment became a wrestling match soon as the girls came to the ground, with Emily straddling her hips.  Emily leaned forward and pinned the poor bartender’s wrists over her head and blew on her underarms, which drove sam into a mad fit of giggles.  She begged “HEHEHEHE Stop teasing!” Emily couldn't tell you why she said this, but she shouted “This is club tease!”  Before she could sink her nails back into Sam’s smooth hollows, Emily burst out laughing “HAHAHAHAHA!” And lost her grip. Sam scrambled out from under her, and went to Damon, who was holding Emily’s ankle, with his other hand gently stroking her sole.  She giggled gently with each stroke of his hands.  He patted Sam on the butt and said “That’s enough sweetie.  Call me when you get off work.  For now I have some soft, pretty feet to break in.” This comment made Emily blush, and wiggle her baby blue toes.  As Sam walked out of the room and grabbed her shoes, Emily looked down, anticipating the tickling.  The tickling was slow, methodical.  He was really tickling her brain more than her sole.  Reminding her that he could do what he want, control her body against her will.  He could make her laugh whenever he pleased.  All it took was a foot and a finger.  He had the finger, and the foot may as well have been a plaything of his.  It was in his grasp and she wasn’t getting it out. Emily remained on all fours(or threes, not counting the foot that belonged to Damon at the moment), and giggled when Damon wanted her to, otherwise she just accepted the breaks and caught her breath.  Sometimes she would look back at Damon, nearly melting him with that forced smile.  Other times she looked away and tried to just take it. During a break, Damon rubbed her sole with his palm and commented “I see you took the website’s advice and got a pedicure.  How recently?”  Emily giggled “A couple hours ago hehehe.”  she heard Damon inhale deeply and felt his lips rub along her sole now. His lips tickled ever so slightly. She giggled “hehehehe are you smelling my foot?” She read many of the men here also had foot fetishes, but never expected to find herself here tonight… He replied “You used a vanilla scented lotion.  It’s my favorite.”   “EEP!” She squealed, something had pinched the ball of her foot, and one look back at Damon licking his lips told the whole story.  Could she really drive him so crazy with just her feet? This could add some fun to the tickling...but before she could finish that thought, her mind commanded her to laugh again. Emily fell flat on her belly as she felt a warm, wet sensation streak across her arch.  She turned her head to the side to release peals of laughter, and started pounding the carpet with her fist.  If Damon’s finger was mean, his tongue was just cruel.  Emily was at once suffering and feeling an indescribable ecstasy.  All she could do to cope was laugh, and between breaths beg “Hahahaha! Stahahahahap!” Emily got herself a momentary respite from Damon’s tongue, but only because he needed it to taunt her.  His fingers returned to gently stroking her arches as he taunted “Oh you don’t want this to stop.  If you did you’d pull your foot away.  Look.”  Emily flipped over and saw that his hand was open, only cupping her heel.  He tickled with all his fingers slowly, and she reflexively pulled back a few inches, then paused. Emily hesitated a few seconds, it tickled so bad but there was just nothing like it.  Her foot slowly slid back into his grip, and his hand closed around her ankle.  She gasped, what had she done? Damon taunted “See? I knew you liked it!” And he tickled her sole all over again with his fingers, making her laugh even louder, wondering why she gave her foot to him.  He lifted her foot up to his mouth, but there was resistance from her tight little dress.  Damon lowered her foot and said “Emily, your dress is lovely but if you want to have more fun, it may be best to change.” Emily blushed again and said “I don't have a change of clothes.”  Damon began stroking her instep and commented “Not to worry.  There is a private changing room in here with spare clothes, better for our activities.”  Damon helped her up, and opened a wall panel that led to a cozy changing room. Emily removed her dress and placed it on a hanger, then found a pair of little pink shorts and a white tshirt to put on.  The shirt was awfully short, and only came down to her ribs, leaving her midriff vulnerable.  The shorts were quite short, revealing her long tanned legs. She emerged a little sheepishly, but Damon gushed over her, making her blush for the umpteenth time tonight.  She came up to the couch where he sat and requested “Where do you want me?”  She felt his eyes combing every inch of exposed skin, searching for a spot to make her squeal.  She felt uneasy, but exhilarated. Damon grabbed her by the hand and sat her on the couch next to him.  He draped her legs over his...and once she breathed out he lobster clawed her knees.  Emily shrieked, breaking down in helpless laughter as she tried to sit up and reach his hands. After a few moments of squeezing her legs and knees, Damon began to gently scribble his fingertips all along her thighs and up towards her hips.  Emily’s laughter went up in pitch as Damon reached her hips and pinched, and he licked his lips looking at that bare midriff. Damon gave Emily a break to catch her breath, and breathing heavily she sighed “hehehe that was fun.”  Damon had an evil smirk on his face, she asked him “What is that look for?”  Damon said “I’m going to have that cute tummy of yours next.  But I’m going to give you a choice, my tongue or my hands?”  Emily’s eyes bugged out, and she couldn’t possibly choose between tortures for a moment.  She thought about her feet, and his tongue was much worse there.  She answered “Hands.” Damon smirked, had she chosen wrong? What was he playing at?  She didn’t have time to think any further as ten fingers began wiggling along her midriff, and her tummy exploded with ticklish sensations.  She let out a loud belly laugh, and cursed as her hands wanted nothing more than to seize his and make it stop.  Despite this desperate need, her mind would not allow them, making them twitch up and down her sides in a comical fashion.  The game changed utterly when Damon managed to wiggle a finger into her navel, making Emily scream like a banshee before breaking down in frantic laughter.  She tried to get him off of there, but her hands were swatted away by his free hand.  This was almost as bad as her toes, or that tongue! Maybe she should have let him use his tongue after all… After a minute or so of her navel being explored and prodded, Emily couldn’t take anymore.  Her begs became more desperate, and Damon heard it in her voice.  She cried loudly “Uncle! Hahahahahaha! Please! Mercy! Hahahaha!”  Damon stopped rather quickly, but Emily didn’t manage to stop giggling for another minute.  He rubbed her belly during this time, and at last she recovered.  She propped herself up on her elbows saying “That was wicked...I’ve never felt anything like it before.”  Damon smirked, and said “I bet not.” Before they could say anything else, a blonde woman and a brunette with golden brown hair came into the room dancing with each other, kicking their shoes off as they entered.  They plopped on the couch opposite Damon and Emily.  The blonde said “I told you if we danced Damon would get us a snack!”  Emily covered her face nervously as she blushed like a teenager, and would have curled into a ball had Damon not held her knees.  The brunette asked “Who’s the tickle toy?”  Damon said evenly “Girls, this is Emily.  Emily, that is Shay, and Blair.  Two tickle slaves of mine, who need to remember what happens when they don’t use their manners.” Damon continued “Emily is new, and I think she has had enough for one night.  Blair, why don’t you tie Shay’s arms over her head?”  They got to work, enjoying themselves and clearly under the influence a bit.  Emily asked “So what, just like that we’re done?”  Damon smirked and said “For tonight, after I do one quick thing.  If you want another session I’ll see to it that you can contact me.  Sit tight.”  Damon got up and tested Shay’s bonds, who was standing on her tiptoes in the middle of the room, suspended from a chain.  Damon produced two more cuffs and said “Your turn Blair.”  She giggled as she assumed position for her restraints. Once they were restrained Damon instructed Emily “Give me your sole” holding his hand out.  She placed an ankle in his hand, and he produced a pen.  He slowly and painstakingly wrote something on Emily’s sole, but she couldn’t tell.  All she could do was laugh and scream until he finished.  It felt like an eternity of that ball point pen stroking her arches, but it was bliss for her.  When he finally finished, he pecked each of her soles goodnight and she left for the evening.  She inspected her sole before putting her shoes back on, and it read Damon’s number and address.

Everything I Do, I Do It for You

A/N: This was an anon request I received and I hope I did it justice?? Fluff is definitely not a strength of mine lmao

Summary: After becoming pregnant with their first child, Ed is more protective than ever of his wife.

WC: 1,482

Lorraine awoke with a content smile playing on her lips, gentle streams of the morning sun shone through the curtains. Out of habit, she reached her hand over and found the mattress to be cool under her touch, a sign that it had been long since abandoned.

She lifted her head, glancing around the room for any trace of Ed. She groaned as a wave of nausea hit her and she ran into the bathroom, a new part of her daily routine.

She emptied the contents of her stomach and leaned back against the wall, taking a few deep breaths before getting up and rinsing her mouth out.

“Lorraine?” She heard Ed call as their bedroom door opened.

“In here,” she called weakly.

“You okay, hon?” He asked softly, running over to her.

“Great,” she murmured as another wave rocked her stomach. She breathed deeply, trying to focus on anything else and it worked because the feeling passed.

Ed noticed her body trembling and carefully led her back to their bed. “I’ll be right back,” he said, disappearing back into the bathroom. He came out a minute later with a warm wash cloth he laid across her forehead.

The warmth felt good, she could feel the onset of a headache.

“Maybe we should call the doctor?” Ed suggested.

She shook her head, knowing this was normal. “It’s just morning sickness, I’ll be fine.”

“I know. I just worry about you and the baby.”

Lorraine smiled, knowing how protective he was of her and how that only increased as her pregnancy progressed. “We’re both fine,” she promised, grabbing his hand and laying it across the small swell of her stomach.

He grinned, it was still hard to believe that there was a baby in there, a piece of both of them and their love.

They had found out she was pregnant a couple months ago by accident, but they had been overjoyed with the unexpected news. Ed jumped right into his protective mode, making sure she was taking it easy and eating healthy. He also made them take a break from new cases for now, his priorities were on his wife and baby and the cases would just have to wait.

He wasn’t going to put Lorraine in danger and he didn’t want to solve cases without her, knowing that they were a team. And since the pregnancy was his fault, as Lorraine let him know many times jokingly, he decided to take a break too.

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah,” she replied, noticing her grumbling stomach.

“What do you want, hon?”

“Waffles and bacon and eggs,” she said, “oh, and toast!” She added.

He chuckled at her response and kissed her cheek before heading downstairs. Now alone, she stretched across the bed, her muscles tense.

She decided on a quick shower and she welcomed the hot water on her back, loosening her muscles a bit. Changing into fresh clothes, she then made her way downstairs where the smell of bacon drew her in.

Her gaze shifted to Ed who was standing in front of the stove, stirring eggs around. She padded up behind him, snaking her arms around his waist and taking him by surprise.

“Hey, you,” he replied softly. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Mhm, smells delicious. You didn’t have to do all this.”

“And face your wrath?” He teased. She pinched his side slightly, laughing when he jumped in her arms. “Ow, okay, I’m sorry,” he joined in with her laughter. He moved the pan off the burner and turned around, pulling her impossibly closer. “I love you, I don’t think I’ve told you that today.”

“No, but you get a pass today. If,” her voice turned serious, “breakfast is as good as it smells.”

“I make no promises,” he laughed again.

“Do you need help with anything?” She offered, knowing his answer before he said anything.

“No, you can just sit at the counter and look beautiful as always.”

She shook her head with a laugh and took a seat on the stool, opening the morning newspaper and reading it. A few minutes later, Ed brought her plate to her, laying it down in front of her.

“Thank you, hon,” she said graciously. He kissed the top of her head in response.

They ate breakfast and made light conversation and afterwards, Ed insisted on doing the dishes saying she needed her rest, a phrase that was becoming all too familiar to her.

She was only a couple months along, not even into her second trimester yet and it was already impossible for Ed to let her do anything.

She plopped down on the couch and turned on the tv, scrolling through the channels until she found something that caught her interest.

Ed walked out a few minutes later, saying he was running to the store to pick up a couple things they needed. “And don’t do anything strenuous,” he added, emphasizing the ‘strenuous.’

She rolled her eyes and agreed to his terms. As soon as she heard the front door close, she got up and headed to the laundry room where their clothes had been building up.

Sorting the clothes into their respective piles and colors, she started the machine. It wasn’t long before they were clean and since Ed still hadn’t returned, she decided to move them over to the dryer.

“Hon? I’m home,” she heard Ed call her just as the door shut with a thud. She ran out of the laundry room, thankful it was close to the kitchen and she could make it seem like she was getting a glass of water.

“In here!” She called.

He made his way into the kitchen and laid the bags on the counter. “I got you a few things,” he said, pulling out a carton of ice cream, chocolates, and pickles; a favorite of hers since she got pregnant.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” she replied, kissing him lightly on the lips before grabbing the ice cream and pickles and going back to claim her spot on the couch.

“Do you have any clothes upstairs?” He asked.

His question made her freeze in her tracks, almost dropping the glass jar of pickles. “Um, why do you ask?”

“I was going to do the laundry since it’s been building up.”

Crap, she thought to herself. “N-no,” she stuttered.

“You okay?” He asked, noticing the color drain from her face.

“Yeah, but laundry can wait, can’t it?” She asked hopefully.

“Lorraine…” he sighed. “What did you do?”

“N-nothing…” she trailed off. He gave her the look that he knew she was lying. “Well, I wanted to help you out and so I washed the clothes for you. They should actually be done drying in a few minutes,” she said, looking at the clock on the wall.

“You really shouldn’t be lifting things, hon.”

“I’m fine, Ed,” she defended. “I’m not fragile, just pregnant.”

He walked closer to her, “I know. I just… I just don’t want you to overdo it. Your health and safety is my top priority and now that there’s a baby, I don’t want to risk it. I know it’s hard for you not to do things for yourself, but I’m also here to help you in any way I can.” He said understandingly.

“And that’s one of the many reasons I love you, but I still want to be able to do things. At least while I still can.”

“Okay, still no heavy lifting,” he added.

“Yes sir,” she smirked.

“You and your stubbornness,” he said jokingly, tapping his finger on her cheek eliciting a laugh from her.

“You love it,” she replied.

“I love everything about you.”

Tears gathered in her eyes, another symptom of her pregnancy was her severe mood swings. She’d be laughing and smiling one minute, and then crying the next. “My hand is cold,” she complained, as a single tear slid down her cheek.

He took the ice cream from her and grabbed her hand, rubbing it with his to warm it up. “Better?”

She nodded with a gentle smile. “Can we watch a movie?”

“Anything for you, hon.” He picked back up the carton and took the pickles from her as they walked in the living room and sat down. She snuggled into his side as his arm wrapped around her as she picked up a pickle and dipped it into the ice cream.

Another thing of her pregnancy, the cravings. It was the most absurd combination she quite enjoyed and Ed always looked on in disgust and awe. Disgust of the combination and in awe that his wife was growing a tiny person inside of her.

She was amazing, he’d come to that realization a long time ago, but this only proved it further. He was completely and utterly in love with this woman even if she ate ice cream and pickles together.

crisis - shouto todoroki x fem!reader

a/n: enjoy! my requests are open, so if you liked this fic, please feel free to drop me an ask -leo

warnings: marital issues, mentions of parental neglect and abuse (in relation to todoroki's backstory), mild angst

because i write from a third person point of view, i recommend using the interactivefics extension! it replaces y/n, l/n, etc, with whatever you insert into the extension, and helps to make fics super immersive! it's a chrome extension, and you can find it in the chrome store.

[the song that inspired this fic is Crisis by Annie Eve]

𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚. . . 𝑰'𝒎 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. . . 𝑰'𝒎 𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. . .

𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐒

Y/N's keys chimed together softly as she dug them out of her coat pocket, her gloved hands struggling for a moment to take hold of the cool metal. Her face still stung from the cold of the snow outside, and she hurried to unlock the door to the apartment, stepping inside and letting her shoulders slump as soon as the door was shut behind her.

The place was silent, but a glance towards the kitchen, where a light shone dimly through the doorway, told her that Shouto was home.

Without announcing her presence, she slid her coat off, then removed her boots and placed them on the shoe rack, where they stood alone. The coat hanger in the entryway was the same way—her coat was the only one there, looking lonely as it hung in solitude from the rack.

"I'm hom—I'm here," Y/N called tentatively, catching herself before she could say the word 'home.' She lingered awkwardly by the front door, as though afraid to enter. "I'll get started on dinner soon."

There was a long silence as she crossed the hall into the living room, which was pristinely clean, but looked more like a picture from a catalogue than anywhere actually inhabited. The sofa cushions were uncreased, the table spotless and uncluttered. She stared at the room blankly, and realized that she felt like a stranger.

"I've already eaten."

There was no surprise, only a dull sting as she let out a soft sigh, pressing her eyes shut. "Alright. That's fine."

It had been a month of this already, and Y/N knew that most husbands, most couples, would have already worked a way around something like this—at the very least, they would have found a way to sweep it under the rug for a few more months, pretend that it didn't exist. But Shouto wasn't most husbands, and they were not most couples.

When Shouto wanted to hold onto something, he could take it to his grave; how else could he have gone for years without using an entire half of his quirk? She had always loved his stubbornness, admired him for his tenacity, but now when she looked at him, all she could see was a wall that she didn't know how to scale.

It was her fault, this whole argument. She had been the one to bring up the idea of having kids, she had been the one to press him on it, to try to have the conversation before he was ready.

They had been happy. If she had just left well enough alone. . .

Another long sigh drew itself from her chest, and she turned towards the kitchen, footsteps soft against polished hardwood. "Sho. . . Can we at least talk? Please?"

He was sitting at the kitchen table, staring down at an untouched mug of tea that Y/N could only assume had already gone cold. His dual-toned gaze flickered up towards hers for just an instant, and for a moment she thought she saw a spark of progress. Then the ice took over again, and he cast his gaze back down, his mouth bent into an uncomfortable grimace.

Y/N wasn't used to not knowing what to say to him; part of the reason that they had worked so well as a couple was their ability to practice utter candor with one another. This feeling of words being stuck on her tongue. . . It was foreign to her, daunting. Temptation to indulge in her anger sparked in her chest; it would be so easy to snap at him, to remind him with vicious fervor how badly he was hurting her, but those sparks died down as she took another look at his face. She knew that he was hurting too, that he was just as lost for words as she was. "Shou," she tried again, leaning against the doorway, her voice gentle. "We can't do this forever."

His grimace settled deeper into his features, and she saw his shoulders tense, his hands tightening around the ceramic mug. "What can we do?" he finally asked, brow creasing.

"We can talk about this. I know what you're scared of, Shou." Y/N crossed the kitchen to be at his side, her hand coming carefully up to the side of his face, fingertips skimming the red, rough skin over his scar. "You won't be like him. You won't be like your fath—"

"Don't."

Her breath caught in her throat at the feeling of his grip around her wrist, pulling her hand away from his face. His eyes were burning with something that rested in the valley between grief and rage.

His grip tightened again before he let her go, his chair wailing as he shoved it away from the table, his gait hurried as he rushed away from her.

Y/N could only watch as he left the kitchen and disappeared up the stairs like a ghost, drifting farther and farther away. Her eyes stung and a lump burned in her throat, and she fell into the seat that he had been occupying just a moment ago, burying her face in her arms.

She sat in silence under the dim kitchen light until her joints began to ache and her eyelids felt heavy. Eventually, she pulled herself up and padded slowly up the stairs, careful not to walk too loudly. The door to the bedroom felt heavier than usual, and the sight of Shouto lying with his back to her brought her pause. She didn't know if he was awake, if he knew that she was there or not, and part of her didn't care. He didn't move as she retrieved her pillow from her side of the bed and left the room, heading back down the stairs and finding a restless sleep on their barely-used sofa.

The events of that night had alienated her even further, and if there had been a wedge between them before, it now felt like a chasm.

Weeks passed with little change, and though they shared a space, Y/N could hardly say that it felt like they lived together. After the first few nights, Shouto had told her that she could have their bedroom—he would sleep on the couch.

Part of her was angry with him for it; even when he was being infuriating, he still found a way to remind her why she loved him. One kind gesture, however, wasn't enough to make up for almost two months of dysfunction. Y/N realized that she couldn't take this. Not for much longer, at any rate. She got home from work one cold evening, and found him as she usually did, sitting at his desk, handling paperwork for the agency.

"Shouto." Her voice was even, steady because she'd rehearsed this conversation in all its permutations before she'd even made it to their front door. She needed to be ready, or else she knew that she would break.

His hand tightened around his pen, and he froze for a moment, before setting it down and turning in his chair, not quite meeting her eyes. "Yes?"

"Look. . . I love you, but I can't do this. I can't stay here if you're going to act like I don't exist. If avoiding one conversation is worth our marriage, then fine. I'll accept that, but I won't stay. Do you understand?"

His eyes snapped to hers, widening ever so slightly. In that moment, he looked more attentive, more alert than he had in months. "Y/N. . ." His eyes fell shut and he leaned forward against the desk, raking his hands through his hair and drawing in a shaking breath. "I just- I need time. Don't go."

"I've given you time, Shouto," she shot back quickly, raising her voice slightly. "I need you to give me answers."

He fell silent again, staring down at the desk, his hands still tangled in his hair as he realized that he was stuck within an ultimatum.

She was deafened by his silence, and she looked to the side, jaw tightening before she began to step away and out of the room. "I'm going, Shouto." "Y/N—" "Don't."

As soon as she had packed her things, she left the apartment without sparing him another glance.

A week passed, and Y/N quickly realized how accustomed she had grown to living with Shouto; even when they had been sleeping in different rooms for weeks, it felt odd to live somewhere where he wasn't. She found it difficult to sleep in her friend's apartment, and even more difficult to eat with the growing uncertainty that was gnawing a pit in her stomach.

She knew that forgetting her notebook was a weak excuse to go back to the apartment, but she didn't have a better one, and part of her was too prideful to admit that she had simply missed him, that she was starting to feel like it was better to struggle with him than to try to move on without him. At the very least, she wanted to see him again, and maybe there was a little part of her that was hoping that he wanted to see her too.

It was late on a Friday night when Y/N drove back to their apartment, hoping that maybe he'd be asleep, and that she could sneak past him and he'd never have to know that she was thinking about coming back to him.

She tried to muffle the sound of her keys, but they rang loudly as she unlocked the door, trying to remain silent as she slipped back into the apartment. In her absence it had hardly changed; the furniture still looked unused, the kitchen was still perfectly clean. Shouto had never been the type to let his internal turmoil leak out into his surroundings, and Y/N didn't suppose that he was spending much time outside of his office.

She slipped off her shoes, then crept up the stairs without turning on the lights, navigating the dark apartment by memory as she made her way to the bedroom. The door was shut and the light was out, and a feeling of relief washed over her as she realized that he must have been asleep. Slowly, she pushed the door open, and stepped into their room.

Even in the dark, the room was achingly familiar; the colors that she and Shouto had picked out together stood out vaguely in the darkness, and it was all she could do not to succumb to the lump in her throat. She pressed forward, moving towards her nightstand and trying to ignore Shouto, who seemed restless as he slept alone.

When she realized that he was whimpering, she stopped dead in her tracks, her gut twisting. Nightmares were rare for him, but Y/N had always been the one who was there to pull him out of them; now he had no one, and guilt burned at her chest at the idea of leaving him there like that, forsaking him to the demons in his head.

Against her better judgment, she reached forward and flipped the switch on her nightstand lamp, washing the room in a dull, warm glow. In the light, she could see the sheen of sweat on his face, the way his muscles tensed and his face twisted in discomfort. Her heart ached, and she stepped toward him, her own heart pounding in her chest as she did.

This was a bad idea.

He wouldn't want to see her.

She should turn around and let him think that she had never been there.

God, if it wasn't hard to remember why she'd left him at all.

"Shouto," Y/N whispered, moving to his side of the bed and placing her hand lightly on his shoulder. "Shou, wake up. Please, wake up."

The way he started awake made her heart ache—his eyes were wild, ringed with dark circles, his face drained of all color. He searched the room frantically until his eyes fell on her, and his face softened immediately, his hand coming up to her face as though against his will. "Y/N. . ."

She gave him a bittersweet smile, compassion glimmering in her gaze. "You're okay, love. I'm here now." Tears welled up in her eyes as she took him in, took in how exhausted he looked, took in how much he was revealing as he stared at her.

He looked dazed by his swell of emotion, and he didn't hesitate to pull her into his arms, burying his face in the crook of her neck as the tension went out of his shoulders, his breaths coming out in ragged gasps. "I'm sorry, Y/N," Shouto whispered, his arms tightening around her. "All of this. . . All of this was because I was scared. I didn't think I could give you what you wanted, and you payed the price. And- And my mother-"

"It's okay, Shou," Y/N murmured, running a gentle hand through his hair. "You don't have to explain."

"No, Y/N. Listen. Please." He drew in another breath before he continued. "After you asked me about having kids, my father came to mind. I didn't—don't—ever want to be like him. But my mother. . . I would go to see her, Y/N, after we had that talk. And when I looked at her, and thought about what my father did. . . All I could see when I looked at her was you. You don't—you don't understand how badly that scared me, Y/N. And I felt, stupidly, that if I said anything about it, that it would make it real. I was too scared to take that risk." His voice was trembling now, vulnerable in a way you'd never heard from him. "Do you understand? I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"God, Shou," Y/N choked out, tears spilling freely down the sides of her face as she clung to him. "You should have told me. I could have- I could have helped you."

"I know, love," he murmured, and Y/N remembered for the first time in months how good it felt to hear him call her 'love.' "I'm still just. . . Learning."

"I'm sorry too. Walking out on you like that, I. . ."

"No, Y/N." He pulled back to stare at her intently, meeting her eyes directly. "You did what you had to do. You were right. You gave me every chance to talk, and I didn't take it. That's on me. I won't let you blame yourself for my mistakes—that's what he would have done."

She knew better than to argue with him, so she merely nodded before burying her face in his shoulder again, relishing in the feeling of having his arms back around her, of finally having broken through the walls that had been built between them.

Shouto was lying on his back with her draped over his chest, dancing on the verge of sleep when her voice broke the silence.

"For what it's worth. . . You would make an amazing father."

He didn't reply, but Y/N could feel his hold on her tighten, could hear his breath catching in her throat—and if she really listened closely, she could hear quiet sniffles as she drifted off to sleep, happy again in her husband's arms.

The forsaken road

Requested: yes by anon

Summary: You have been gone for a year now, even though Finn and you have been friend since ever. Now he is trying to convince you to come back to Birmingham.

Author’s note:

Finn is a little sassy, but this is supposed to be a close friend and usually nobody is shy around close friends. Maybe he got the usual Shelby sass.

This was super funny to write and I hope I did the request right. This thing whole x reader thing is still new to me.

The reader is female, I couldn’t work around that. I’m sorry. There are only two times or so, when the reader is referred to as “she.”

Requests are still open~ If you want to request something or want to be added to my tag list, just write me!

John is dead in this one q.q

And the reader is stubborn as fuck

Word count: 4260

Warnings: major character death, swearing

It was the first time Finn was nervous behind the steering wheel. Even when he started driving, he felt completely comfortable with it. Cars just were his thing and he wasn’t the only one to notice. Tommy himself chose Finn to be his driver more than once and Finn was a good driver. He didn’t panic nor did he take unnecessary risks.

But this time it was different. He was alone in the car, nobody by his side and his destination was on the countryside. Far away from his usual ways. His hands clung around the leather wheel. The grip so tight, his knuckles shined white. Nevertheless, this was important and he had worries, if he would find the small cottage in the middle of nowhere. Polly drew the way on his map, so he wouldn’t get lost, but he still feared, what would happen, if it was getting dark and he was still driving.

With all his might he tried to push his insecurities away. These wouldn’t help him find his way through the unknown. And it was not like he had another choice. You didn’t seem to return to Birmingham by yourself, so he needed to get you back. Actually, he didn’t understand why you left in the first place. You had a job and friends, who cared about you and yet you left in the middle of the night, without even saying goodbye.  You should have come at least to him, your best friend.

When Isiah told him, he refused to believe it. Maybe it was just a bad joke. You wouldn’t run off without a word… and yet you did. The realization knocked him down. Finn couldn’t imagine his life without you and now he had to. Even worse, he didn’t know why. He thought, he meant as much to you as you did to him. Apparently this wasn’t the case. You left him heartbroken and he would never say that out loud, but he cried.

And yet, he wasn’t over you. Somehow he just couldn’t forget you. The way you smiled, when he cracked a joke or when a new pint of beer arrived at the table. He missed the smell of your hair, when you leaned against his shoulder late at night. Or that one time you held hands under the table at the Garrison. You swore Bonnie saw the innocent act, but Finn doubted it. You had some much fun together and now everything was gone with the wind.

That was the reason, why he took the forsaken road. If he couldn’t bring you back, he needed at least an explanation. Otherwise he would never have a peaceful sleep again. He had prepared everything he would say. There were a couple of things on his mind and he needed to say them. Hopefully you would listen. Finn thought about the whole scenario over and over again. And even when you would be as stubborn as ever, he had one last option.

His heart jumped, when he noticed the small cottage down the road. This had to be it. The house of your aunt and her husband. Now it was just a few meters ahead of him and he was getting even more nervous. The hands were all sweaty and his knees started to shake as he pulled into the driveway.

The motor stopped and everything was dead silent for a while. Finn was too scared to move and froze right on the driver’s seat. Inside of him there was a voice yelling at him to get out of the fucking car and ask you, why you had to break his heart. But he couldn’t, not until he heard steps on the gravel path that went around the house. Wary like a watch-dog he turned his head to see who was coming.

Until now he was worried, that he might have the wrong address… or you wouldn’t be there anymore… or something worse. Now he had his proof. You stood just not far away from him and yet it felt like you were miles away. Finn stumbled out of the car and ran to you, before you could hide in the house.

“Hey”, you managed to say, while you couldn’t believe your own eyes. After all this time you spend dreaming about him, he was here. Right in front of you. Suddenly you had a lump in your throat and your heart was racing. This reunion seemed so surreal and you doubted you would like how this would turn out. You knew that he wasn’t pleased with the way things ended. It was visible in his face. His cheeks were so red, his freckles weren’t even visible.

And even though he seemed so angry, all you wanted right now was to pull him in for a long hug. Of course, you missed him. He was your best friend and you had spent so many great nights together with the others at the Garrison. But still you couldn’t move and prepared for the worst.

“Hey!” he yelled: “Fucking finally.”

Nobody moved, but you felt the tension. You knew you should say something, anything, but there were no words to explain your inner tumult.

Finn signed and added: “You should have said this months ago.”

Slowly you nodded. Unable to speak, it was the least you could do. And he was right though. You should have had that conversation sooner, but you feared it so much, that you just packed your things and went.

Then you heard something, you certainly didn’t expect. “I missed you.”

You hadn’t comprehended this sentence and suddenly you felt his arms around you.

He whispered in your ear: “Every fucking day, Y/N.”

It was the long hug you needed and it gave you the idea, that maybe and just maybe things weren’t as bad as you thought. With croaked voice you mumbled: “I missed you too.”

But you were wrong. Things were bad and four soft spoken words couldn’t obliterate one year in misery. He pulled away and the look on his face was quite surprised as he asked: “Then why you left?”

Your mouth was dry as you tried to prepare some kind of an answer, certainly not a good one. It felt like your lips were glued together and even when you tried to open it, it wouldn’t work.

His hands caressed your cheeks. “What was the reason? Why did you leave me?”

“I was…”, you begun to say, but paused to take a deep breath: “I was scared.”

“Of me?” he asked with concern in his eyes.

You shook your head. “No… of course not.”

Right now you felt more feelings in the glimpse of this moment than ever in your life. It was like a rollercoaster. Everything went up and down. Yes, you were happy, he got all the way here, just to see you again, but you still feared this conversation. Running away was stupid, you knew, there was just no other option to get out of this mess.

Your body shivered as you felt his warm breath on your chest. “What were you scared of?”

How could you answer it? There was no easy way to say it.

“Of Tommy?” You shook your head, while tears filled your eyes. “Arthur?”

“No”, you whispered: “Don’t be silly. Nobody from your family was the problem.”

His frustration reached a peak. He got even louder as he shouted: “Then tell me who!”

You winced, because he frightened you. Even though he was the sweetest and most innocent of the four Shelby brothers, Finn still got the temper. And this time you really deserved it.

“Nobody”, you cried: “I was just scared.”

Finn took another step back. His hands left your cheeks gently, but were clenched into fists just seconds after. “Of what?” he repeated once again.

This time you tried to explain: “I don’t know. I thought something bad would happen. I could feel it coming.” There wasn’t a clear sign, when you knew you couldn’t be there anymore. This feeling grew inside of you for a long time. While being friends with the Shelbys you have witnessed violence, drug abuse, gang fights and other things, you weren’t ready for.

Things that changed you until you couldn’t sleep anymore and you couldn’t breathe anymore. That was the reason why you left. But of course, Finn didn’t seem to understand it. The tiny wheels in his head kept turning, but he still looked clueless.

“Why?” he whispered with a face like he seemed to choke on his own words.

You had to reach out for him, pulled him into a hug and patted his back. “I was scared of losing you”, you said. It didn’t even sound like your voice, not stubborn and strong as always but very weak and broken.  

He wrapped his arms around you and squeezed you until you couldn’t breathe. “But why then… I had to lose you?”

Just when you were about to answer, he added: “I mean… this year without you was horrible. All the sudden you were gone and you took all the colors with you. Everything seemed so bleak. Nobody could cheer me up. I couldn’t… do anything without you. I was useless after you left… and you didn’t even tell me yourself. Isaiah noticed, you weren’t at home and then I asked Polly and she confirmed it. You know, I thought it was all my fault… because what happened the night before.”

That night. Yes, you did remember that. Actually you planned to tell him on that fateful night, that you were leaving, but after he kissed you and you kissed him, you couldn’t bring yourself to confess. You bit your lip.

“It wasn’t your fault”, you mumbled. Your fingers were running through his hair so careful, as if he would break, if the pressure was slightly higher. “It was mine. The night was great, but I couldn’t be in Birmingham at that time.”

He lifted his head to look you in the eyes. There were so many questions in his mind. You could see it.

“After John’s death I knew, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you the same way. Shot multiple times. My feelings for you were to strong. I had loved you and your end would have been mine as well. Every time, we met at the Garrison, I feared some day you wouldn’t show up, because you were lying dead somewhere. I’m not the type of person who would seek revenge but more the type of person who would crumble to pieces”, you professed.

But this wasn’t even the end of the story. Finn was keen to say something. You shushed him. “I wasn’t done yet.”

“With the time I had realized this wasn’t the life I wanted. I wasn’t ready for all this violence and I still think it would ruin me. When I still did snow, it was okay. I could tolerate the fact that everything we had was bought by blood. But when I stopped doing drugs, I felt sick every time I saw what your brothers did to defend their power.”

Slowly you let him go. Not as sudden as the last time. He forced you to explain it and you did as he wished, but you knew, this wouldn’t make better.

You just weren’t the right person for him, even though you loved him. Others might have stayed, but it was too much for you.

Now the both of you were crying. When he realized, that things hadn’t changed, he felt worse than before. “You had loved me?” he asked like he couldn’t believe his own voice.

“Actually… I still do”, you confessed: “Not a single day has passed, I didn’t think about you.”

Finn stared at you. “Why didn’t say something sooner?” The red vanished from his face and it left him even paler than before.

You shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought you wouldn’t feel the same way.”

“But I do!” he protested: “I always have.”

It was what you wanted to hear, even though now it was too late. It didn’t matter anymore. You decided to stay here. Maybe the life in the small cottage was boring, but at least it was peaceful. From morning till dawn you spend your time in the garden or in the kitchen and nothing bad ever happened, unlike all that drama in Small Heath.

You glared at the cloudless sky. It was a warm, yet windy day, just like it was one year ago, when the husband of your aunt picked you up at a station nearby.  Back then you thought you would never see him again. Now he was standing here and declared his love for you. Should this feel like a happy end?

“Maybe… it’s too late”, you murmured. The time for sweeping love declarations was months ago. Finally you wiped the wetness from your cheeks.

At first Finn just gazed in abstraction, then he frowned. “What?”

“Maybe it’s time for you to leave. You don’t want to get lost in the dark.” Yes, you pushed him away, but it has been hard enough for you to forget him. His family still had shady business and they would always have enemies. Neither could Finn escape them nor you, if you were his girlfriend.

“Fuck no.”

Now you were baffled by his words. With an intense glare you stared at him. This was very unlikely for him, which made you think, he might have changed while you were gone.

“Stop making decision for me. Everybody else already does this. I won’t leave until we had a proper talk.”

Obviously, you were lost in translation. Didn’t you just have that talk, did you? “Tell me what you want to know”, you demanded, while you crossed your arms in front of your chest.

Finn took another step towards you. “Just tell me why we should not be together. I mean, I love you and you love me and yet you keep pushing me away.” He held out his hand for you to grab it. You didn’t.

“Love isn’t everything Finn”, you argued: “I want safety.”

Just when you were about to explain this further the front door opened behind Finn. Your aunt stepped out of the house. “Dinner is ready, Y/N.”

“I’m coming”, you said as you were on your way to the dinner table. The young Shelby followed you with his eyes. This talk had come to an end, at least in your opinion, but Finn didn’t seem to agree with you.

He grabbed your hand and gave it a squeeze, while he begged you silently to stay.

“I heard you two talking”, your aunt tossed in: “You were pretty loud, dear.”

Your cheeks were getting hot. This was embarrassing. Since you left Birmingham, you had found a new home here in the middle of nowhere. Your aunt was sweet and caring. She never had children and loved the idea of getting a little help around the house. Now she had heard why you had fled.

And again you had no good apology. But this time you didn’t even have to say something. Your aunt did. “Now come inside. It’s getting cold and your boyfriend probably wants to eat something after the long drive.”

You babbled some incoherent words, while Finn started smiling like an angel. “Thank you. I sure would love to have dinner with you, Mrs.” he nodded.

Since you were still completely overwhelmed with this whole situation, Finn guided you to the entrance. When you realized, he was about to enter the house, you started moving yourself and picked up the pace.

Inside you noticed the fourth plate on the dinner table. Your aunt had already planned to invite him in. What a back-stabbing bitch.

You glared at her with passionate hate. Yeah, okay, you loved Finn, but this still didn’t mean you could have a life with him, a known gangster. However your aunt disrupted your plans to forget about him. Now he thought he still could turn things around, which wasn’t possible.

“You can sit here, sweetie”, she said and pointed at a chair. Finn followed her order and took place.

This damn smile wouldn’t leave his darn beautiful face. With clenching fists you sat down right in front of him. “After this… you’re leaving”, you threatened him.

Pointless, but you tried. Of course, you didn’t know that Finn thought you were the cutest, when you tried to intimidate someone.

“We’ll see about that”, he grinned and then turned to your aunt: “This house is beautiful…. But it was very hard to find.”

Your aunt giggled and put a steaming pot in the middle of the table. Inside of it was a delicious stew and the smell filled the room. “Well, it’s very quiet here and the sea is nearby. Maybe Y/N can show you the beach. You probably know, how stubborn she can be.”

Finn burst out in laughter and agreed: “Yes, she can be quite a pain in the ass, but she is still my best friend. Everybody back home missed her so much. I had hoped to bring her back for a couple of days… She said no.”

“Wait…”, you interrupted him: “Who said that?”

“What?”

“That they missed me?”

Finn was surprised for the glimpse of a second, and then he laughed. “Everybody! Isiah said it a couple of times. Bonnie too! Arthur said he missed hearing you singing drunk in the Garrison. And Esme said the fair isn’t half as funny without you.”

Your mouth formed a silent “Oh” like you just realized that you had left everybody behind and not just Finn.

He made a wiggly movement with his hands. “You probably won’t believe me but… even Michael said something is different since you left.”

You gave him a skeptic stare and just shook your head. “No fucking way.” Not even in a thousand years Michael would say something like that and not about you from all people. He was a jerk who would always make snarky side comments about you and you would do the same about him. It wasn’t friendship- not even close, even though you had the same group of friends.  

“Yes, of course he did. Everybody is sad that you left without saying goodbye”, he responded and hiked his shoulders.

Slowly, your head turned towards your empty plate. Maybe leaving like this was kinda selfish.

Your aunt was filling the bowls with stew, when her husband arrived though the backdoor. His face was stained with dirt, but his eyes widened as he noticed Finn. “Who is that?” he growled and sat down at the table.

“Y/N’s boyfriend. He came all the way from the city to see her again.” Apparently your aunt thought she was being funny.

Her husband didn’t seem to be happy with that answer either. He grunted and then began to eat his dinner in silence.

Finn’s cheeks were red once again, but this time it wasn’t anger. He was nervous. “Nice to meet you, Mr. I’m Finn Shelby.” You heard it in his voice.

Your uncle nodded and didn’t stop shoveling stew in his mouth for one second. He wasn’t a man of many words. More like the silent type of guy. You liked it. At least he wasn’t as noisy as your aunt.

The dinner was exhausting. Your aunt kept asking Finn all types of questions and he was hesitant to answer most of them. Once or twice you helped him out. He was still your friend and seeing him in discomfort made you feel the same.

And the discomfort didn’t end with the dinner. “Finn, dear, it’s already dark outside. Do you still want to go back today? We still have a guestroom. You can stay there, if you want to? You two still have so much to talk about.” The suggestion of your aunt may seem nice, but it was meant to torture you.

“Oh, that’s so nice”, he said: “Thank you. I just have to get some things of mine from the car.”

Finally he stood up. You followed him back to his car. Now you had at least the opportunity to talk him out of this stupid idea. He shouldn’t be here and both of you knew it. Tommy would be furious with him, if he left for so long.

“You can’t stay”, you decided.

With a wide grin on his face he replied: “Oh, sure I can. Your aunt said it… and since you’re not my girlfriend… you can’t make decision for me.” He poked your nose and smiled.

Then he turned around to his car and opened trunk. It was full of all kinds of stuff. Why did he need a dress? And it wasn’t even his color!

You took a deep breath before pointing out the obvious: “What the fuck is this?”

“Gifts”, Finn answered: “When I said, I would be visiting you everybody gave me something for you.”

Now you had to take a closer look of the ragbag of things inside of the trunk. The Shelby coughed slightly and explained: “The dress is from Ada and the jewelry box is from Isaiah… but don’t worry, his sister chose it. Tommy gave you a bottle of gin. He started making some, while you were gone. Actually… I took the bottle, but it doesn’t matter. Tommy bribes everybody to try his gin. It’s the family recipe. And Bonnie got you a scarf. Well… it’s all kind of stuff.”

“I can’t accept that.” It was too much and too expensive. You were never part of the family, just Finn’s little friend.

Finn clucked his tongue. “Yes, you can.” Then he started to put some gifts in your arms.

“Let’s get this stuff inside and then go to the beach your aunt mentioned.”

You were ready to argue and yet you had nothing left to say. “Why are you so stubborn all the sudden?” you asked.

He took the rest and closed the trunk again, before responding: “Because usually you’re the bone head of us, but this time I have something to say and I’m not leaving until you heard it”

“Trust me just once. This is important”, he added with stern eyes and stroked your cheek with his finger.

When he looked at you like that, something inside you melted and you got weak in your knees. There was something undeniably sexy about him. Your head felt so hot when you squeaked: “Fine.”

Then you walked together with him back to the house and put the things in your room. Finn was prying, but you didn’t stay long enough for him to snoop around.

After you were done, you pulled him out of your room again. “You were never interested in my stuff. Why now?”

“Well, I wanted to know which things you kept and which things you had thrown away”, he explained as the both of you walked out of the house.

You crossed your arms before your chest and argued: “My other stuff is in my old room in Birmingham… but it’s not like I had so much to take with me.”

Finn was just about to walk in the wrong direction, so you took his hand and pulled him back. “It’s this way to the beach.”

“Okay, take the lead, lady”, he laughed: “But you still wear the necklace I got you.”

Immediately, your hand searched the pendant. It was nothing expensive, however it was very important to you, because Finn gave it to you on your birthday. “Well, I said I would never take it off.”

“Good”, he nodded and glanced at the sky with all his stars. He was more than a head taller than you, so you couldn’t see how happy your words made him.

Then you walked in silence to the beach. It was even windier here and you forgot to take your jacket, because you just wanted to get over with this and then go back to your boring life.

Finn noticed your shivering and put his coat on your shoulders, which made you smile. It has been a while since you felt like that. Your tummy rumbled in excitement.

“I still have one last gift for you”, he whispered.

You looked up and down, but you didn’t find it. “Where?”

His handy were jittery, when he said: “Promise me you think about it at least for one second, before saying no.”

“Of course”, you answered and took his hand so he wouldn’t be distracted. Your fingers intertwined with his and you smiled again. “C’mon, Finny, what is it you want to talk about?”

Slowly he went down on one knee. By that time you knew what he was going to say, but you still couldn’t believe it. He pulled out a small box and presented you a very beautiful ring, before saying: “Marry me.”

Your head was empty. All you could do was staring at him.

“I’m serious, Y/N. If you agree to be my wife, you won’t have to worry about your safety anymore. Then you’re part of the family and everybody would protect you. And I need you in my life. This year- without you- was the worst in my life. After losing my brother and almost my cousin I lost you too. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep and I missed you more than you could imagine. Please come back with me… or at least think about it, before you’re being stubborn again.”

Tagging: @bonniesgoldengirl​

Drakgo in December! #21

A/N: Sorry I'm so behind... The writer's block thing. But anyway, enjoy.

Read on:  FFn     AO3

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21. “Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” -Karl Barth

December, 2006

Shego was out.

She was out a lot. Though, Drakken tried to remind himself that just because they were a couple now, they were still allowed to have separate lives. He knew it was a lifetime of insecurity that had him always worrying she would meet someone better than him while away. And he could find rational justification for the thought—after all, so many people were better than him.

Especially better for her.

He glanced at the presents under their tree and thought about all the plans for the holiday season... Traditions he hoped to share with her, and new ones he hoped to forge. He smiled for a moment as he imagined what might arise from shared moments. Perhaps a spontaneous frosting fight, as had occurred at his mother's house the prior year. Or maybe he could get Shego to recall a tradition from her own past that she would like to incorporate into their lives, as he had the exchanging of a gift a week before Christmas.

But of course...in order to forge new traditions, she would need to be there with him. His expression saddened as he reached for the photo album on the coffee table—perhaps the most meaningful gift he'd ever been given—and began flipping through it. It was true, she may not be with him right then... But he was grateful for every minute, every smile, and every memory they already had. And he grinned as he slowly flipped through the pages she had made for him with such care, that proved she did in fact value their lives together.

His smile broadened as he heard the door open and familiar footfalls come down the hall. He watched eagerly for Shego's appearance and while doing so flipped past the final page of the album by accident. But a flash of color on what should have been a blank page caught his eye.

At first he was confused, thinking he'd somehow turned back to a picture he'd already looked at. But then he realized...the images on the page before him were new.

It was a photo strip, like the one from the infamous days of the moodulator incident as he referred to it. But these photos from several months ago had been taken deliberately. And the kiss in the last grainy picture of their memorable first official date had most definitely been consensual.

"Hey Dr. D., I— Oh..."

Drakken looked up to see Shego surprised and a little disappointed as she saw him looking at the album, but nothing could put out the flame of happiness that had begun burning inside him upon seeing the pictures.

"I...had meant to show you that as part of our week-before gift exchange, but...it's fine that you saw it."

Shego set her shopping bags on the floor and moved to sit on the sofa beside him.

"I wanted to surprise you," she continued. "I figured...we should keep adding to the album? Since we have more memories we'll want to hold onto, now. Maybe with actual pictures like those ones, instead of just grainy security camera captures."

She was chuckling, but Drakken was still in awe as the feeling like warm flame overtook every fiber of his being. His fingers touched the photo strip, from the awkward posed smiles in the first, to the harsh nudge to lighten up in the second, the hair pulling in retaliation in the third, and the passionate and laughter-filled kiss in the last.

He was transfixed on the image in the album as he felt every insecurity float out of him and pop like bubbles. He finally became aware of Shego's hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. He glanced at her and found that words had failed him.

"Sorry, I...sorry. I should have... I...I should...say thank you," he stammered as his heart beat wildly in his chest for the assurance of her feelings that the tiny gesture had brought.

"No need," Shego whispered as she drew her feet under her and knelt on the sofa nearer to him. And before she'd even fully turned, his lips found hers in a deep kiss.

Part 3! This is the last part, containing Beel and Belphie's sections below the cut. Please enjoy~

Part 1 | Part 2

~

Beelzebub:

Things were peaceful with the pregnancy for a while.

Even in the beginning, when MC was barely showing and faced very little issues, the sixth brother was waiting on her hand and foot

And he almost always had a smile on his face. He was just insanely happy about becoming a dad, about having a baby with MC.

He handled every thing more or less with stride.

When she started showing and the woman felt self-conscious about the fact that she was losing her figure, he'd hold her close and kiss her, telling how beautiful she was, that the belly she was growing made her no less so. In fact, it made her even more beautiful because to him, what her body was doing was a beautiful thing: growing and carrying his child, something that meant the world to him.

Yeah, he was a bit anxious about how things would go since Lucifer told them the pregnancy could become dangerous for her, but he was still truly happy for the two of them to become parents.

Unlike his siblings in the other timelines, Beel had no fears about how he'll be as a dad; he knew he had so much love to give their son or daughter and was ready to give it.

It wasn't until MC's fourth month when some concerns were raised.

MC's belly had grew at an unusual rate. Despite just entering her fourth month, her belly was roughly the size of what it should be in her sixth or even seventh month of pregnancy, according to Satan.

Beel didn't really know anything specific about pregnancy so he didn't see it as anything to worry about. I mean, he was the Avatar of Gluttony and this was his baby. MC developed quite the appetite because of this and was eating at least twice more than she used to. Surely that's all this was? And if so, the man couldn't see it as anything dangerous, at least.

Still, MC's anxiety grew over it, causing him talk over it more with the blonde to figure out if there was anything he could do for her.

And so the time came; the rune! Satan drew the rune over the human's belly to collect the data they needed.

After a minute or two of absorbing the data, the blonde raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" MC asked.

"It... well, I suppose for a start, Beel is correct that his sin is part of the reason for the growth spurt." Satan began. "But only partly."

Beel leaned towards his brother, listening closely.

"However, there are some more difficult elements at play here." The fourth brother continued. "The most pressing being... the number."

"I... what?" The woman stared at the demon in front of her.

"It seems you two are having twins. Two girls, in fact."

Beel immediately pulled MC in for a hug. The woman cried heavy tears, but they were paired with a smile. The big guy teared up as well.

"Twins. Beely, we're having two little girls." She said from inside his arms.

"I know." The man pulled back and gave her a sweet kiss before laying both hands on her belly. "Our little girls--"

"I hate to interrupt," The Avatar of Wrath said, but of course, did so anyway. "But... do either of you realize the danger this poses to any degree?"

Beel turned back to his brother, furrowing his brow.

Satan sighed.

"Beel... one baby was going to be rough on her body, but two?" He pointed out. "Honestly Beel, she'll likely be eating at least as much as you, if not more, and that still might not be enough for her body. It's manageable now, but once she enters the last trimester, it'll be very difficult to keep two gluttony demon children fed as well as the mother they're siphoning nutrition off of faster than she can get it."

Basically, MC was going to be eating an extreme amount of food and still literally be starving. That's how Beel understood it at least.

The man looked at his girlfriend and frowned in worry. He hated feeling hungry and didn't wish that on his Muffin, but knew she'll end up feeling even worse than that.

"Is there anything I can do for her now?" The redhead asked.

"Right now... all we can do is stock up and hope for the best." The blonde answered. "Lucifer should probably be informed so things can be planned out."

And so he did. He walked his girlfriend to their bedroom so she could lie down for a bit while he went to Lucifer's study to inform him. The older brother was instantly stressed out, but let out a sigh and told him that he'll handle it.

Lucifer did warn Beel though that he probably won't be able to eat as much as he's used to because of this. The Avatar of Gluttony only nodded. If he had to go hungry to keep MC fed and alive then so be it. It was worth it to him.

As the months went by, Satan's predictions were proven true. By half way through her seventh month, MC was bedridden. Her belly had grown so big that she literally could not get out of bed on her own.

The woman was never alone though. She constantly had either Beel or Belphie or both with her to bring her food or carry her to the bathroom or cuddle her so she didn't get lonely.

What was equally as worrisome as her gravid boulder of a belly was the rest of her. The woman had lost so much weight in her thighs, arms, and face that she looked like she's been starved for years.

Each touch of Beel's was extra gentle because his girlfriend looked so fragile like this. He was afraid to hurt her even more, especially because of their girls' kicks.

The twins had inherited their daddy's strength. Occasionally, one or both of them would kick their mama a bit too hard, causing a bruise to form on her belly.

This led to lots of belly time. Beel would kiss and rub his Muffin's belly while talking to his girls, telling them how loved they are, but how they need to be more gentle with their mama.

Despite how difficult the situation was, both Beel and MC kept positive, smiling through it. After all, this was all for their little girls so of course it was worth it.

Good End:

Oh this poor woman. It took ten months of pregnancy, being a full month over due, but her twins were finally ready to come out into the world and meet their parents.

It was a long twelve hours for the couple; after all, these were two very big, overdue demon babies of gluttony being pushed out by a mom they've seriously weakened for months now. Yet despite the odds, both Mama and babies made it out okay.

Beel kissed his girlfriend's head and watched as she fed their girls. Their girls. This was really happening. Beel was a daddy. His sweet Muffin was a mama and those sweet girls feeding from her chest were their daughters, sporting his hair, eye color, horns, even delicate versions of his wings, but still had all of their mother's facial features. They were identical, unlike him and Belphie, but the demon truly hoped the two could forge just as strong of a bond together as he had with his twin.

When the two were done drinking, Beel took the one from MC's left arm and brought her into his own. Just then, a knock came to the door and it clicked open to reveal Belphie, who Beel texted a few minutes ago; he wanted his twin to be the very first one to see his daughters.

The couple smiled at him.

"Belphie, come see them." MC invited him to come closer.

The seventh brother approached the bed and gave a small smile.

"So... whose who?"

MC looked up to Beel, letting her boyfriend introduce them. The man smiled.

"This is Arsenia." The redhead stared down at the little girl in his arms, kissing her head before looking to the one in MC's arms. "And right there is Anais."

The three talked for a bit and watched the babies before MC needed to sleep. Beel laid the twins in their cribs before giving his Muffin a quick kiss on her head.

"Sweet dreams, Muffin. Thank you for everything." He smiled.

Bad End:

Twelve hours. Twelve hours of labor that seemed like it was going no where. The first baby was barely even crowning after all this time and MC was losing what remained of her strength. The woman honestly didn't know how much more she could take.

Beel felt so helpless as he watched her struggle. He was so hyperfocused on his Muffin that he hadn't even thought of food once during these twelve hours and even a non gluttony demon would be getting hungry right then.

It took another hour, but MC eventually got the head out and then the shoulders. But that was it. That was as far as she made it. She had lost the last of her strength and just... faded away at that moment. Beel couldn't accept it at first and just kept calling her name and shaking her shoulder, begging her to wake up. But she didn't. The man let out a howl of pain before collapsing on his knees in sobs. He cried for a minute before remembering his girls.

Beel quickly shot up and freed the first baby, Arsenia, from her mother's body. Anais... Anais, he never got to save. They never knew it, but the cord had been wrapped around her neck for most of the labor and she left them before even MC did.

And just like that, the Avatar of Gluttony lost his Muffin and one of his daughters. As he held tightly to Arsenia though, he vowed that he would never, ever let any harm come to her.

Beel was a loving, but fiercely protective father. His daughter handled it in stride for the first twelve years of her life, but after that, grew to really resent him. He never let her truly live her life. By fifteen, she actually ran away to the Human realm in search of what was left of her mother's side of the family, leaving a note saying that she couldn't handle him suffocating her anymore. Arsenia had succeeded in finding her grandma and Lucifer convinced Beel to just let her be for a few days. Then he came to get her and the two had a heart to heart talk.

The man didn't know how he could grow to let go more; all he knew was his fear. This was his daughter. His worse nightmare was losing her just like he did with MC and Anais. But he knew if he didn't learn then he was just going to lose her in another way. The man just didn't know what to do anymore. Not without MC, who kept him grounded. Not without MC, who he sees everytime he looks at his daughter's face. And so he was stuck feeling desperate and lost and just wanting his daughter to understand him and be happy.

Belphegor:

After the two's three month fight, Belphie was dedicated to taking care of MC.

He was an ass to her when he found out of she was pregnant and he knew it, never even denied it, but it came from a place of fear and love for his human.

Seeing just how important this baby was to her though... it was enough for him to bury his fear deep inside of himself for her. He had to; she needed him and he was not going to abandon her again.

Her second trimester was... well, let's just say he stepped in to support her at just the right time.

MC was always so exhausted and went through her days in almost a daze.

She even passed out at the dinner table one evening, face falling straight onto her plate.

Normally, the Avatar of Sloth would find this funny, but the pregnancy had him on edge.

She woke up fairly easily though. Just a couple shakes of her shoulder and the woman was lifting her head, wondering why there was mashed potatoes in her hair.

That was enough for him though. Belphie picked his girlfriend up and carried her to his room. He cleaned the food out of her hair before laying her back on the bed.

"I'm sorry..." She mumbled.

"Don't apologize, Butthead." He said softly, pulling her to his chest.

He knew she couldn't help it. In general, pregnancy could be tiring, but when the baby daddy is the literal Avatar of Sloth? Yeah, that made things harder.

The human fell asleep, barely staying conscious long enough to hear his response.

Belphie leaned in and kissed her forehead.

Even after such an early bed time, MC didn't wake up in the morning. Or the afternoon. Belphie was tense as hell, but tried to be patient.

Around 3pm, after sleeping for about twenty hours straight, the man tried shaking his girlfriend awake. But she wouldn't.

Belphie started freaking out and shaking her harder. She still wouldn't wake up.

He had to triple check that she was alive. And she was; the woman still breathed slow, sleepy breaths and had a calm pulse like any sleeping person would.

But she wasn't waking up? Why?

At some point, the younger brother wasn't sure when, but Beel had gotten up and rushed to Lucifer.

The oldest brother put a hand on his youngest brother's shoulder, stopping him from shaking the human anymore.

Belphie instantly shook the oldest off and gave him a glare.

"Stop, she's not waking up!"

"Shaking her is not going to help the situation."

Belphie was frustrated with the Avatar of Pride, but knew he was right. But what else could he do?

Lucifer did most of the talking with Beel after that. The two went back and forth on different things as Belphie simply held his girlfriend close.

Eventually, the two left the room and came back with Satan, book in hand. Belphie growled as the blonde approached the bed.

Satan sighed.

"Enough with that. I believe I know a way to figure out the problem."

And with that, the fourth brother explained step by step everything he was going to do.

The boyfriend scowled, but let the blonde do what he needed to do.

Satan opened his book and laid it on the bed. He gave a glance at the page before pulling down the blanket and raising up the woman's shirt.

Belphie growled again, but stopped as Beel laid a hand on his arm. The man then took a deep breath and just sat up, watching the blonde's movements carefully as he guarded his girlfriend. Yeah, Satan was his brother, but more importantly, that was his girlfriend the blonde was messing with. Whatever he does, he better be gentle.

The three other men watched as the Avatar of Wrath drew a rune around MC's navel. The woman stirred, making some noises in her sleep, but didn't awake.

When the blonde finished the rune, it glowed a very bright purple. The fourth brother raised an eyebrow at this.

"It's... not supposed to do that." The blonde picked up his book, rereading the passage once more.

"What did you do?" Belphie immediately jumps to the worse scenarios.

Satan waved off his words and continued to read the passage.

"It's suppose to glow green since I am the rune's scripter... however, it shows itself in your color."

The Avatar of Sloth didn't say a word; he didn't understand what was going on. He looked down at his human, whose sleep had turned a bit restless since the other man drew the rune on her.

The fourth brother finally sat down the book and reached out to lay his hand on the rune

...and was immediately shocked.

Satan cursed and pulled his hand towards his chest.

"What happened?" Lucifer asked.

The fourth brother just shook his head and breathed for a minute in order to keep calm.

"It... I seemed to be locked out." The blonde answered in a controlled voice.

"What do you mean, you're locked--"

"It means I don't have control over the rune!" The Avatar of Wrath snapped at the oldest before taking a deep breath. "Belphie, you do it."

"Do what?"

"Just put your hand on the rune; it'll do the rest."

Belphie stared at his brother for a minute before slowly laying his hand on MC's belly, right above the rune.

Suddenly, his eyes glowed as his brain was flooded with information.

Okay, first off, he learned the rune was purple because of the baby. As soon as they sensed the rune intruding on their safe place, the baby locked Satan out... apparently to protect themselves and their mother. Belphie only has access because they seem to trust him.

It also seemed that the baby has inherited their dad's protective instincts. Belphie approves.

That's not the only thing they got from him though.

The reason MC has been out cold for past twenty hours is because they inherited their dad's miasma powers, the ability that he uses with his aura to weaken people and put them to sleep

The very same power he used the night he killed MC.

Belphie wanted to curse, to scream, to aim all his anger at the little being doing this to her

But then he discovered why.

The baby... they sensed their mama's great distress, something MC had been trying so hard to hide from him.

It all went back to the first revelation; the baby was protective of their mother. They weren't just protecting her from outside forces, but from herself too.

Lastly, he learned learned that there was no single baby; there was two

Twins. A boy and a girl.

Belphie pried away his hand so quickly that he almost fell off of the bed. If it wasn't for Beel being right behind him and catching him, he would have.

"What is it?" His twin asked.

Oh dear devil, where should he even start? The seventh brother didn't even know if he wanted to say anything; he just wanted time to let it all sit within him, but he had three pairs of eyes trained on him at the moment.

Belphie glanced down at MC's sleeping face and a fresh wave of guilt washed over him. She was essentially being drugged into sleep by his kids. Once again, this was his fault.

Sensing how overwhelmed his twin was, Beel turned to Lucifer and said some things that the younger twin didn't even try to hear before the oldest and the blonde left the room, leaving the twins alone.

Belphie sat with his knees to his chest and hid his face in his arms.

Beel came up and hugged his brother.

"It's my fault..." Belphie's voice cracked.

The younger twin told the redhead everything, who listened patiently to all of it.

Beel's arms tightened around his brother.

"You know she wouldn't blame you for it." Beel told him.

"Doesn't change the fact that it's my fault..."

The twins talked together for a little over an hour. After that, Belphie fell asleep next to MC and Beel left to update Lucifer.

The conclusion? Wait. All they could do for now is wait. Satan looked into some human-safe potions that would be strong enough to wake MC if she took too long, but otherwise, waiting is all they could do.

Two days later, MC woke up in severe need of water. Beel ran to go get some for her as Belphie held her close, relief washing over him.

A few bottles of water later, MC asked what happened.

Belphie didn't know what to say. Or rather... how to tell her.

But he did. He admitted everything with a heavy heart and actually apologized to her.

Wide eyed, his girlfriend pulled him in for a hug.

"Hey... none of that." She told him. "I'm fine, I-- it's okay."

The two laid there and cuddled for a while. Belphie laid with his head on her chest, feeling it rise and fall with each breath (and being incredibly grateful for each one) as his girlfriend stroked his hair.

"So...twins?" She asked softly. "How...how do you feel about that?"

Belphie let out a sigh. How could she lay there and worry about him despite the situation she was in?

It didn't help that the demon honestly had no clue to how to answer that. How did he feel about any of this now?

He hated all of this in the beginning and he resented this baby for even existing. Since his experience with the rune and getting the chance to understand the babies inside of her... he really didn't know.

They seemed... anxious and overall just wanted to protect their mother. That was no different from Belphie himself.

His twins just... devil, he could feel his heart softening for them as he thinks over everything.

He didn't resent them anymore, but how did he feel about them? About there being two of them?

Honestly, it sounded like a hassle. Even once this whole pregnancy is done with, MC and him will have twice the responsibility; he was exhausted just thinking about it.

Still, he accepted it all.

"Dummy, you shouldn't be worrying about what I think." Belphie shook his head. "...How do you feel about it?"

Silence.

"A bit... scared." She admitted. "I don't want you to get overwhelmed again and... and leave me."

Belphie sat up and stared down at her.

"I'm not leaving you. Ever." He said firmly. "I know I was a dick in the beginning, but I'm staying with you. Period."

MC looked away.

"Y-Yeah, but..."

Devil, he had to keep her stress levels down or their twins are gonna drug her again. The demon leaned in and kissed his girlfriend before laying his head back down on her chest.

"I love you, Butthead." He mumbled. "I'm not leaving you or our kids so stop worrying."

He could feel her body relax underneath him.

Months went by with very little issues. She went through somedays with a really froggy mind and that was concerning on it's own because she was extra clumsy like this, tripping over furniture and starting little fires in the kitchen.

Belphie and Beel were always hovering around her because of this, ready to catch her when she tripped. They also took over her cooking duty and took turns. MC felt bad and said she should be contributing more, but Belphie would always silence her with a kiss and tell her she's contributing enough by carrying his little gremlins.

This made her smile because she knew he was joking. If he was able to joke about them like that then there must be affection for them underneath it all. And she was right.

Her coma-like sleeps were rare but they did happen twice more in her pregnancy. Luckily between Belphie and Beel, they were able to keep her stress down enough to where it usually wasn't an issue.

Good End:

MC had woken him up in the middle of the night. Her contractions started while she was asleep and woke her up when they got too strong for her to sleep through. Belphie woke up to her crying and clinging to him.

From 3am to 9am, a long six hours, MC labored hard till she pushed both twins out. Their son had his dad's dark hair while their daughter had MC's hair. Both had Belphie's purple eyes though. Their daughter had their dad’s horns while their son had their dad’s tail.

MC held their son close to her chest as Belphie held his daughter. He stared down at the little girl, who lightly squirmed in his arms and let out soft cries.

"Belphie..."

He looked over to his girlfriend, just to notice that he himself had been crying as he watched his daughter. The demon looked away, blushing. After a moment, he spoke.

"I know we really didn't talk about this beforehand... but I want to name her Lilith."

His girlfriend gave him a smile.

"Of course."

The two discussed it for a few minutes and decided to name their son Judas.

Bad End:

Things fell apart early in MC's eighth month. The woman suddenly just collapsed where she stood, seconds after whispering Belphie's name and trying to reach out to him. The man caught her before she hit the floor. She had suddenly fallen into one of her comas. But why? He thought his girlfriend was okay, but apparently she had been bottling some feelings up. She would have had to have been or otherwise their children wouldn't be doing this to her.

It was three days later that Belphie woke up in the night to feel that the bed was wet. Very wet. MC's water broke! She was still in her coma though so how did this work?? Even with the contractions, could she birth the twins if he she wasn't awake to push?? Belphie quickly woke up Beel who in turn rushed to Lucifer. The oldest called a doctor, who had Belphie stay outside of the room.

The youngest brother paced back and forth in the hallway, cussing, and overall more awake then he has been all of his demon life.

In the end... MC didn't make it. But the twins did. The twins survived even when his girlfriend didn't and that fact destroyed him.

For the first two years of their life, Belphie had absolutely nothing to do with his kids; Beel raised them for him. It wasn't because of what you might think. Belphie didn't resent his kids or blame them for their mother's death like he thought he would. Belphie was drowning in self-hatred because it was his fault. He believed this with every fiber of his being. He couldn't even look at his children, especially Lilith, who he saw both MC and his sister within her whenever their eyes met.

Eventually, he got his shit together, at least somewhat. He always needed help though so Lilith and Judas were raise by both their father and their Uncle Beel. Belphie was pretty laid back as a father so between him and Beel, the kids had the freedom to do just about anything. However, they grew to be a bit bratty. Good hearted, but bratty. Any time anyone other than he or Beel tried to discipline them or said anything awful to his kids, Belphie was ready to murder a bitch and slowly at that; it was a lot easier to set this man off now as a parent. Luckily, Beel was always able to drag him away and calm him down.

Those around them were always put on edge by the Avatar of Sloth's presence because of this; even the other brothers weren't sure how to interact with him somedays. Still, his kids were safe and between himself and Beel, they never went without anything. They grew up loved and protected... just like MC wanted.

He sometimes got into these depressive moods when he thought of her and couldn't leave his bed. At first, Beel would try to occupy the kids elsewhere so he could have his space and the twins didn't have to see their daddy like that. One day though, when they were five, they snuck away and into the attic room that he hid in. Wordless, the two just climbed into bed with him and he held them close to his chest.

As much as he missed MC... he loved his kids and moments like that reminded him just how important they are to him. There was once a time where he told himself that if he had to choose between MC and their kids, he wouldn't hesitate to choose her; he simply couldn't imagine how he could care about anyone as strongly as he does her. Now that they're here though, he doesn't have to imagine it; it's his reality and though he missed MC with every fiber of his being, he wouldn't trade his children for anything in the three realms.

~

Part 1 | Part 2

By Your Side - Chapter 1/3

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham

Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, No Game Spoilers, Coming Out, Other Tags To Be Added

Summary: The epilogue of Aid, in which Soda finally comes out to those around him, and accomplishes a goal he's had ever since that fateful day in the beach house.

Chapter: 1, 2

Read on Ao3

This Chapter: Soda remembers some important moments with his friends while enjoying a morning with the love of his life.

_____________________

Soda woke to the faint sound of a hamster wheel and squinted at the bright sunlight filtering through the window. He groaned and stretched out his arms while rolling onto his back to take in the beautiful sight behind him. A soft smile found its way to his lips.

Gundham was sleeping soundly, hair messy and face peaceful as he breathed deeply.

Soda couldn’t resist, he rolled to his side and pulled his boyfriend to his chest, just because he could. Gundham grunted, but shifted closer in his sleep. Soda pressed his face into his hair and smiled.

He would never get tired of waking up like this.

It had been eight months since the end of their beach vacation, and so much had changed. It had been a little stressful at times, but, despite that, Soda could definitely say he’d never been happier.

He felt more content and more loved than he ever had before, and he felt free now to just be himself.

–

Coming out to their friends had been… weird. It wasn’t some big dramatic event the way Soda had pictured it in his head, hell, it wasn’t even an event, more of a series several quick conversations and supportive gestures spread out over a couple weeks.

Hajime was the first to know, obviously, and Nagito had been included in that conversation because it just made sense.

It happened the day after Soda had finally stopped being such a dumbass and actually managed to tell Gundham how he felt. Hajime had raised an eyebrow at him over breakfast, glancing meaningfully between him and Gundham, and Soda responded by asking if he and Nagito wanted to hang out in his cabin later. Nagito had made a remark about how rare it was for Soda to want to spend time with him, but Hajime had cut him off before he could ask for a reason and agreed for the both of them.

Gundham said nothing, but placed a hand on Soda’s knee below the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Later, once the four of them had entered Soda’s cabin, Hajime took Nagito’s hand in his, confirming what Soda had already known. Despite knowing no one in the room would have a problem with it, Soda had still felt embarrassed when he reached out to take Gundham’s hand in his own.

There had been a few moments of silence, before Nagito broke it.

“Ah, so that was what we heard yesterday, Hajime. You’re so perceptive.”

Soda’s face drained of color and Gundham blushed deeply.

“W-what do you-” He looked at Hajime, who was covering his mouth and trying not to laugh. “You heard?”

“Unfortunately.” Hajime tried to look upset, but his laughter won out, and pretty soon he was grinning broadly at Soda. “Happy for you, dude, even if I am gonna need so much therapy to get the sounds of your boning out of my head.”

“Fuck you, man.”

“I don’t think Gundham would appreciate that.”

After the laughter died down, they had spent a good part of the morning just hanging out in Soda’s cabin. Sure, the experience had been mortifying, but not for any of the reasons Soda had previously worried it might be.

No shouting, no violence, and no lost friendships.

Once his embarrassment passed, he just felt happy and relieved. He relaxed into Gundham’s side and made as many jokes at Hajime’s expense as he could while his soul friend did the same to him.

It had been so easy. It had felt so good.

Soda and Gundham were careful to be a little quieter at night for the rest of the trip.

–

Gundham began to shift in his arms, burying his head into Soda’s chest in an attempt to convince his body to remain asleep.

Soda held him a little tighter and pressed a kiss to his brow, not quite ready to start their morning either.

–

Sonia was the only other person they had told before the trip ended.

It hadn’t been on purpose, they had agreed to wait until they were home to tell the rest of their friends to avoid creating unnecessary tension on their vacation.

Or maybe Soda just wasn’t ready to be out yet, and Gundham had just gone along with that story so Soda wouldn’t feel pressured.

Either way.

It was a few days after telling Hajime and Nagito, and they had been having tea with Sonia out on the patio of the hotel’s restaurant. Gundham had suggested the three of them start spending time together as a way for Soda and Sonia to build a better relationship, and afternoon tea had quickly become a regular thing for the three of them.

Soda and Sonia really had been getting along better. They only really hung out together in groups, but most of the weird tension between them had been lifted.

That day, the topic had somehow shifted to space, and Soda couldn’t help but mention his dream of building a rocket ship. He was surprised when Sonia had been interested, and elated when she had started prodding him for more information. Before he knew it, he was rambling away about all his different ideas and dreams for the rocket he hoped he could one day build, and was hardly even paying any attention to Sonia and Gundham anymore.

Sonia, however, was paying attention. She had seen the way Gundham’s face softened as he watched Soda speak so openly about his dreams, noticed the way he shifted and slid a little closer to Soda when he ‘secretly’ pressed their knees together below the table. Noticed the way his eyes had drifted to Soda’s lips as he spoke.

She apparently hadn’t planned on saying anything.

But then Soda stopped talking, and Gundham, lost in how much he loved to see Soda happy and excited, had leaned in and gently kissed him. Soda kissed back, just for a second, before they both remembered Sonia was right there. They froze and turned to Sonia, who had gracefully hidden her surprise by sipping her tea and averting her eyes.

She had looked down at her cup for a moment before looking back up to them and smiling.

“I did not realize you two had become a couple.” Her smile widened, and both of the boys relaxed a little. “Congratulations are in order! We should organize a party to officialise your courtship!”

“Ah, Miss Sonia, that’s kinda…” Soda had panicked a little, he really hadn’t been ready for everyone to know yet.

Gundham had just gently placed a hand over one of Soda’s own and smiled at him.

“That is a most gracious thought, dark queen, but my consort and I are trying to be… discreet about our new bond.”

“Oh! I apologize! If that is the case, then I understand. I will be most inconspicuous about this matter, no one will suspect a thing!”

Soda was glad Sonia understood, but he was a little worried about her ability to keep things “inconspicuous”…

To his surprise, though, she had no trouble acting as if she didn’t know they were dating around their other friends, staying true to her word and never giving anyone any reason to suspect they were a couple.

She even covered for them when they had not so subtly shown up late for breakfast one morning, clothes rumpled and faces a little flushed, by asking if they “had managed to recapture the dark beast they had been chasing” before anyone could get any less innocent ideas.

Soda was once again surprised by how easy coming out had been, and how well it had gone.

Once again relieved that he didn’t have to choose between being himself and being happy.

–

Gundham heaved a sigh against Soda’s chest and groggily drew himself back. Soda leaned in to kiss him.

“Mmm. Good morning, my consort.”

Soda smiled as he moved back to look at his sleepy boyfriend.

“Morning babe.”

They kissed again, only to be interrupted as one of the Devas squeaked loudly, apparently realizing they were both awake and thus demanding to be fed. Soda groaned in protest as Gundham slowly got out of bed to feed his hamsters.

–

Fuyuhiko had been the next to know they were dating, as well as the last of their classmates that Soda had to tell directly.

Soda and Fuyuhiko had been eating lunch together at a cafe, just the two of them, when Gundham texted him. He had sent a photo of himself with the puppies his mother’s dog had given birth to that weekend, and Soda couldn’t help but smile goofily at it.

“The fuck you smiling at?”

Soda just smiled wider and turned his phone to show Fuyuhiko the picture.

Fuyuhiko glanced at it and rolled his eyes. He had been getting pretty sick of watching Soda fawn over Gundham when he thought no one was looking.

“So when’re you gonna stop being such a pussy and ask him out?”

Fuyuhiko smirked and watched as Soda blushed and stuttered, feeling smug until-

“Um… like a couple weeks ago?”

There was a long silence.

“The fuck?”

Fuyuhiko had looked so pissed that Soda had actually considered running.

“And what? You just weren’t gonna fuckin’ tell me?”

“I, uh-”

“Thought you could just keep that shit a secret forever?”

“N-no, I just, um…”

“You what?”

“I was… look dude, I was just kinda scared to tell you, alright?”

Fuyuhiko had sat back in his chair after that, still looking pissed as hell, but there was something else in his expression as well. Eventually he sighed.

“You were… scared? Did you think I was gonna beat you up or some shit?”

“I mean-”

“Fuck you man. Thought we were close, you should know I’d never fucking hurt someone over dumb shit like that…”

Soda had been surprised by how upset Fuyuhiko had sounded. He really had been worried Fuyuhiko would hit him, not because he actually thought he was the kind of guy to get violent over who someone dates, but because his stupid brain wouldn’t let him not worry.

They had a long conversation after that. Soda did his best to explain to Fuyuhiko how his shitty brain worked and that he didn’t actually think he was a bad guy, while Fuyuhiko did his best to pretend like he wasn’t hurt by the fact Soda had been so hesitant to tell him about him and Gundham. By the end of it they were both feeling a little more awkward and a lot more vulnerable than they were used to around each other, but looking back, Soda was glad it had all gone the way it did. It had strengthened their friendship in the long run.

They ended up parting ways once they finished eating, but not before Fuyuhiko ad asked Soda if he wanted to hang out later that night. Soda had told him he couldn’t because he was going to help Gundham with the puppies, and Fuyuhiko had just rolled his eyes.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be fucking helping him all right. Just make sure you put the dogs in another room, they don’t need to see that shit.” He smirked at Soda’s blushing face and turned to leave with a wave.

Despite the embarrassment, Soda had been relieved that Fuyuhiko was back to being his snarky self. Maybe it hadn’t been the smoothest of way to come out, but overall, it had still gone pretty well.

Later that night, Soda was sure to lock the puppies out of Gundham’s room, just for Fuyuhiko.

–

Soda watched as Gundham fed the Devas, making sure to give them all a few gentle pets as he did, mumbling away about keeping up their power levels and checking them for any signs of “evil spirits”. As Soda watched, he couldn’t help but let his gaze wander lower.

Gundham rarely wore anything to bed, especially when Soda was over, so his ass was on full display for Soda’s wandering eyes. He chuckled sleepily to himself when he found the still healing bite mark on one of Gundham’s cheeks.

Maybe not the best decision he had ever made, but Gundham had seemed into it, so no harm no foul, right?

When he finally stopped staring at Gundham’s ass and let his eyes wander back up, he noticed he’d been caught. Gundham smiled coyly at him.

“Were you not satisfied by last nights activities, dearest paramour?” Gundham carefully closed the Devas’ cage before turning and slowly climbing back onto the bed. Soda took his time responding, letting his eyes travel up and down the front of Gundham’s body as he straddled his lap.

“Hmm. I’d say it’s less ‘not satisfied’ and more ‘looking for a repeat.’” He smiled as he slowly sat up and brought his hands to Gundham’s hips, before leaning in to kiss him.

It was so easy now. So easy to just let himself be with Gundham, to kiss him whenever he felt like it, to tell him how he felt, tell him what he wanted.

He wished he hadn’t been such a coward on their vacation, wished he had just confessed right away and spared them both a lot of pain.

Wished he had known how easy it could be, how right it would feel.

_

After Soda told Fuyuhiko about their relationship, they had agreed to stop trying to hide it from their friends. It was slow going at first though, as neither of them were entirely comfortable with public displays of affection.

Soda was pretty sure Chiaki had been the first to notice. They were all at Ibuki’s house drinking, and Soda had been feeling a little jealous while watching Hajime and Nagito cuddle on the couch. He had grabbed Gundham’s hand and tried to act casual about it. If they had been sober, everyone in the room likely would have noticed they way both his and Gundham’s faces suddenly flushed, but, as it was, only Chiaki seemed to notice.

She had looked up from the game she was playing at just the right moment and happened to glance at their intertwined fingers. She had just looked up at Soda’s face, smiled, and returning to her game.

That had been it.

When Chiaki had found Soda looking for snacks in the kitchen later and they started chatting, she referred to Gundham as his boyfriend without even hesitating. Soda had to wonder if maybe Hajime had accidentally told her they were dating before hand. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around how well things were going.

He wasn’t really sure if anyone else had noticed that night.

Ibuki had definitely figured it out the next morning when she found them cuddled up half naked in her guest room, though. Soda’s hungover brain had processed the volume of her voice before the words, and he had just tried to muffle the sound by burying his face into Gundham’s chest.

Then a second later he realized she was yelling “You two better not have fucked in Ibuki’s guest bed!” loud enough for anyone else in the house to hear.

He jumped out of bed and managed to get her to quiet down by assuring her they didn’t fuck.

He didn’t mention that it was only because neither of them had thought to bring lube, or that they had absolutely blown each other in her guest bed, but really, she didn’t need the details, and they still technically didn’t fuck, so it was fine, right?

She had been happy enough with his answer and left the room, closing the door behind her. A few seconds later he got a text from Teruteru asking who exactly he had fucked in Ibuki’s guest bed. He was too tired to deal with him at that exact moment, so he just responded with a hamster emoji before climbing back into bed and snuggling up to a half awake Gundham.

They slept off their hangovers for a few more hours, and when Soda woke up he had a phone filled with texts from Teruteru. In the first message he congratulated Soda and wished him happiness in his relationship. It was actually pretty heartfelt and sappy, but the effect was immediately ruined by the next twelve messages where he asked for details on exactly what they had gotten up to the previous night, then made several animal-based sex jokes.

He had also received a single thumbs-up emoji from Byakuya. Somehow it was equally mortifying.

Soda was embarrassed to learn a few of their other friends had stayed the night as well, and almost certainly heard Ibuki yelling, but no one else said anything.

Hiyoko had definitely tried to say something when she caught Soda and Gundham leaving the guest room together, but Mahiru had been there to shush her before she could get out more than a teasing “Oh?”

Soda hoped the look on his face had told Mahiru exactly how grateful he was to her.

After that, he wasn’t really sure who told who, but it seemed like all their friends were aware they were dating.

And not a single one had and issue with it.

Soda couldn’t believe it. He spent so long worrying about how other people would react, and then they just… accepted it, accepted him, without so much as a disapproving look.

He might have cried about it one night after he realized it, but that wasn’t something he was ever going to admit to.

Coming out had been so easy, so freeing.

If only it had stayed that easy.

_

He looked down at Gundham as they both caught their breaths. He seemed so content laying on Soda’s chest that he almost didn’t want to move him, but he was heavy and Soda’s legs were falling asleep. Soda carefully rolled onto his side as Gundham let out a sigh.

He was surprise when Gundham just readjusted and cuddled closer instead of getting up. He was usually very strict about waking up early to take care of all his other animals.

Soda wasn’t about to complain though. He loved the mornings where Gundham decided to spend just a little more time in bed, and he was going to cherish it.

He pressed a kiss to Gundham’s slightly sweaty forehead.

He was going to cherish every second they had together.

Next Chapter

Merry Pitchmas @anotherbechloeshipper !!

Had so much fun writing this one, hope you enjoy it :)

Title: In From the Snow

Pairing: Bechloe

Chapters: 1/1

Wordcount: 2943

Summary: Beca didn’t anticipate making many friends her freshman year, much less become best friends with one Chloe Beale. When a snow storm ruins both their plans to travel home, they get to spend some quality time together. Beca thinks this might be her best chance to tell the other girl how she feels.

Read on AO3 or below.

Beca stared gloomily at the large flakes falling outside her dorm window.

There was no way her old Camry would be able drive more than ten miles an hour in these conditions. The forecast said “heavy snow”, but she didn’t realize it’d be this bad.

She totally would have left a few days earlier if she didn’t have a final scheduled for the absolute last day of the semester. It’s not like she was super excited about heading back home either, but she knew her dad and step mom would give her shit for it.

She sighed. Might as well text them now to rip off that band-aid.

Shortly after she sent the message, she heard a knock on her opened door.

“Hey, you’re still here!”

In the doorway stood Chloe Beale, undoubtedly the coolest person on their dorm floor. Beca (to her surprise) got along with most of the people on her floor, but something about Chloe specifically drew her in.

Admittedly, she found the other girl annoying at first, as she seemed like the high school girls that were fake nice just to talk about you behind your back. She soon learned, though, that Chloe was the real deal.

But not of course before giving her a hard time for a couple of months. Frustratingly, but thankfully, Chloe was incredibly persistent. Beca hadn’t really expected to make so many friends, intending to keep her head down and make her way through, but everyone grew on her. Especially Chloe.

“Yeah, unfortunately still here.” Beca replied. “Wanted to drive out today but doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.”

Chloe invited herself in and hopped onto Beca’s bed. She hummed in understanding. “I just got back from the store and driving was for sure a struggle. Definitely would not recommend.”

“Great. You’re staying here too, then?”

“Yep! Which means you get to spend time with little ol’ me.” She propped her head on her hands. “Any plans for the day?”

There wasn’t really a Plan B since she didn’t expect her driving-back-home Plan A to not work out. “Not really, probably just gonna work on some mixes.”

“Can I join?”

“Yes, please make it a little less sad that I’m stuck here on Christmas Eve.”

“Sweet, I’ll be back.” Chloe slid off the bed and make her way out the room. “Don’t have too much fun without me!”

Beca just rolled her eyes and started setting up her laptop.

Chloe came back moments later with her sketchbook and colored pencils, and settled on Beca’s roommate’s bed. Both of them were friends with Stacie, so they knew she wouldn’t mind her bed being used.

They passed time peacefully like this for a couple of hours, each doing their separate thing.

Beca was so engrossed in her music that she doesn’t notice Chloe call out her name until the other girl waved at her to get her attention.

She slipped off her headphones. “What’s up?”

“I was thinking about getting some food soon. You in?”

The hunger hit her stomach now that food was mentioned. “Yeah, I could eat. Where at?” Though the dorms stayed open, dining halls were closed. There were plenty of places nearby though, and many of whom delivered. They went back and forth suggesting restaurants until Chloe looked like she had an epiphany. “We should go to that new ramen place!”

Beca’s immediate reaction was to pout, as they didn’t deliver. Chloe laughed.

“Oh come on, it’s a five minute walk, max. You big baby.” Chloe playfully poked her cheek. “Plus it’s super pretty outside.”

“And it’s super warm inside.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’m going with or without you.”

The ultimatum was effective. Beca grumbled but put her coat on anyways. The reluctance was really just all show, as she would probably walk naked into a freezing lake for the other girl.

Snow was steadily falling outside, blanketing all the surfaces in a thick layer of white. Campus was quiet, as most of the students had already left for the holidays. It was both eerie and calming. The absence of drunk frat guys yelling, though, was definitely a plus.

“Okay I admit, it is pretty outside.” But you’re prettier. The automatic thought was so cheesy she almost threw up a bit in her mouth. Since when did she think such gross things? She could practically see Stacie smirking annoyingly at her.

Chloe grinned in victory, and Beca’s heart swooped.

Her brain definitely wasn’t lying though: Chloe was undoubtedly beautiful. The snowflakes in Chloe’s hair contrasted perfectly with the red color, making her look like some sort of magazine model. It felt kind of unfair that she could exist like that and not know what she was doing to poor Beca’s soul.

—

When the waitress asked if they needed one or two checks, Chloe replied “just one” before Beca could get a word in.

As the waitress walked away, Beca sent a questioning look to the redhead.

Chloe shrugged, “It’s easier for them to just run a single card.” Beca offered to pay her back, but she insisted it to be a holiday present. If Beca didn’t know better, she would have swore it was a date.

They were on their way back to the dorms when Beca felt something hit the back of her head.

She whipped around. “Hey!”

Chloe was already packing another snowball, clearly out for blood. She quickly launched that one too, which Beca barely managed to sidestep. She bent down to create her own snow projectile.

Chloe began to run away to get out of range, so Beca went to chase her. Unfortunately, Beca slipped on the snow and fell. Chloe was immediately at her side. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

The snow cushioned her fall pretty well, but Beca didn’t want to give that away just yet. She faked a grimace. “I think I broke my leg.”

“Oh shit.” Chloe furrowed her eyebrows in worry. “I’m so sorry I-“

Beca felt too bad that she immediately stopped her. “I’m joking, I’m actually fine.”

It took a moment to register, and then Chloe slapped her on the arm. “You scared me!”

Beca rubbed the spot where she was hit. “Ok now I actually have to go to the hospital.”

Chloe just slapped her arm again, before offering a hand to pull her up. Beca took it but didn’t get up. Chloe looked confused as Beca smirked, and then pulled the other girl down into the snow with her. She fell on her face in the fresh snow with a satisfying poof.

“Oh my god, you asshole.” Chloe laughed after pulling her face up, and shoved at the other girl, who was still laying in the snow.

“Chlo you have a beard.” Beca was practically wheezing at the sight of Chloe having snow stuck all over her face. “Still hot though.”

Chloe modeled it, striking poses and getting up to walk down an imaginary runway, while Beca yelled after her, hyping her up.

They messed around in the snow for a while longer, then took the long way back. Beca considered complaining about the cold and wet seeping in, but Chloe just looked so happy. Plus, it really was nice outside. Walking with Chloe in the peace of campus was a moment Beca wanted to keep tucked in her pocket forever.

—

After getting back, they went to take showers (separately) to warm themselves up, deciding to reconvene later in Chloe’s room. Beca sat on her bed with her hair in a towel, scrolling through her phone. She opened a message from Stacie, who was definitely one of her best friends in college so far. She flew out a couple of days ago and told Beca not to “get too freaky” while she was gone. Beca practically shoved her out the door.

Stacie [6:31 pm]: You make it home?

Beca [7:13 pm]: No, stuck here. Stupid snow.

A reply immediately came in.

Stacie [7:13 pm]: Ugh that sucks, are you by yourself then?

Beca hesitated on what exactly to say, knowing Stacie would immediately make fun of her for the truth.

Beca [7:15 pm]: Not exactly…..Chloe is also still here

Stacie [7:16 pm]: !!!!!!!!!!

Stacie [7:16 pm]: BECA

Stacie [7:16 pm]: THIS IS YOUR CHANCE

Beca [7:17 pm]: Dude she doesn’t like me

Stacie [7:18 pm]: Do NOT bother coming back to campus if you don’t shoot your shot right now

Stacie [7:19 pm]: Joking but also not

Stacie [7:19 pm]: She hangs out w you all the time. She actually listens to your music recs. Plz do something.

Stacie [7:20 pm]: Ok talk later family is calling for dinner, good luck!!!!!

Beca [7:21 pm]: ??? I’m going to ignore that you basically implied not listening to any of the music I’ve suggested

She fell back onto her bed. She wanted to make a move, and she did feel like there could be something between them. However, each time Chloe was nice to someone else, she got psyched out believing that Chloe was always just being platonically nice to her. No flirting involved.

With each passing day, though, it became harder to deny she wanted her. And how badly she did. She caught herself staring a bit too long, and hung endlessly on the small touches Chloe would always do. A brush of the finger here, and a hair tucked behind an ear there. Beca thought some days she might explode.

She texted Chloe to ask if she was ready yet.

Chloe [7:25 pm]: Sorry got distracted!! Hopping in the shower now.

With the extra time, Beca decided to finish the mix she was working on earlier that day. There was something off about it that she couldn’t quite figure out, but coming back to it now, she figured out what it was missing. She listened to it a few times to make sure she was really happy with it before mastering it.

A text came in from Chloe, letting her know she could come over whenever.

Beca quickly added the song to a USB which already contained many music files, then placed the drive into a small pink, cardboard box she got from Stacie. The box originally held a necklace, which made it the perfect size for her gift.

She stashed it in her sweater pocket then made her way to Chloe’s room in the other wing of the floor.

It was still relatively early in the night, so Chloe suggested a movie. Beca wasn’t one for movies usually, but it wasn’t like she had any better ideas.

They cuddled together on the small dorm bed in Chloe’s den of pillows, with the laptop in front of them. The movie was actually pretty good, despite all the bad decisions the main character kept making, and the fact that Beca missed half the plot due to glancing at Chloe instead, and being nervous about how close they were.

“Thoughts?” Chloe turned down the volume as the credits began to roll.

“I think she should have gone with the second guy.”

“Really? I thought he was kind of iffy.”

They proceeded have a lively discussion about the movie, with Beca continuing to argue mostly to mess with Chloe, who seemed quite adamant about the main character’s end choice of romantic partner. It ended with Chloe tickling her until Beca finally admitted her defeat.

“Okay, close your eyes.”

Beca looked at Chloe warily, still catching her breath from the tickling attack. “Um, why?”

“Just do it.”

She sighed but did as she was told.

“No peeking!”

Her index finger drew a cross above her heart, signaling her promise to not look.

“Okay, you can open them now.”

In front of her was a piece of paper carefully rolled into a tube and bound with a red bow. Beca picked it up, gingerly untying the ribbon, unraveling her gift. Her jaw dropped.

“Chloe…”

In her hands was a pencil sketch of her with headphones on, smiling and almost on the verge of laughing. Honestly, she never thought about what she looked like while she was happy. The image of herself in her mind was always some version of broody. Is this how Chloe saw her? Beca wasn’t one to usually cry, but she might have teared up a bit.

“This is…incredible.”

Chloe looked kind of nervous. The same way that Beca was protective of showing others her music, Chloe was hesitant to show much of her art. “You like it?”

“Dude I love it. Seriously.” That reassurance seemed to put Chloe at ease. “Okay, your turn to close your eyes.”

Chloe did it without hesitation, and also held out her hands. Beca shook her head a bit in amusement and placed the small box into her palm.

“Okay, open.”

She opened her eyes and lifted the lid of the box to find a black USB drive, with a piece of tape on the side simply labeled “For Chloe”.

Her smile widened as she realized what her present was. “Do I get to finally listen to your music?”

“Maybe.”

“It means a lot, Beca. Thank you.”

“Um yeah, no problem. Don’t tell me if you end up thinking it’s bad.” She joked.

“Oh please, you’re going to have to block me with how many good things I’ll say.”

“Don’t tempt me, I might delete your contact right now.”

Chloe laughed. “Oh please, like you could last a day without me. Also, I actually have another present for you.” She scotched a bit closer to Beca.

“Oh,” Beca furrowed her eyebrows. “Well, I don’t have anything el-“

She was swiftly cut off as Chloe kissed her, soft and sweet. So polite and unassuming it almost felt platonic.

But god did it give Beca butterflies.

Chloe pulled away so quickly that Beca wasn’t sure it even happened. Like maybe she just daydreamed too hard and manifested a hallucination.

She must have had a deer in the headlights look because Chloe suddenly got super shy. “Was that okay?” She whispered, face still close.

Beca finally came to her senses. “Yeah, totally. More than okay. Amazing really.” She must look like a blushing mess.

The corner of Chloe’s mouth quirked up in amusement and relief. “Yeah?”

“Still could be better, though.” Good work Beca, make a joke to regain some semblance of having her shit together.

“Oh?” She watched Chloe lick her lips, a mesmerizing motion. The shyness was all but gone, replaced by something much more confident, and destined to ruin Beca’s life. And she knew she’d welcome it with open arms.

—

Beca woke up in the morning to the light touch of fingers trailing along her jaw. She smiled, remembering where she was, and more importantly, who was besides her. She probably had the best night of sleep in her life. “Can’t keep your hands off of me, Beale?” She asked, keeping her eyes closed.

“Are you going to try and stop me?” Chloe whispered. Her raspy morning voice was really so damn attractive.

She opened one eye, smiling. “I wouldn’t dare.”

“Good.” Chloe leaned in for a long kiss, the hand on her face pulling Beca closer. Her breath hitched. She didn’t think she could ever get used to this. Kissing Chloe Beale. Touching her.

She pulled away all too soon, just as Beca began to want her even more. Beca was quickly learning how much of a tease Chloe was.

“i’m going to get ready, and then maybe we can go get breakfast somewhere?”

“Or…we can stay in bed all day.”

Chloe giggled, and Beca almost professed her love. “Becs, both of us gotta head home.”

“Do we though?”

Chloe just smiled as she slipped out of bed and grabbed her toothbrush and face towel. Before she was completely out the door, she gave her butt a little shake, as if she could tell Beca was staring at her clad in a large t-shirt and sleep shorts. Beca was sure Chloe was smirking as she did it.

As soon as she was out of sight, Beca grabbed her phone from the desk. A text from her dad and a couple from Stacie. She opened the messages from the latter.

Stacie [11:13 pm]: How’d it go?

Stacie [11:30 pm]: I’m assuming the silence is a good thing and ur just too busy making out with Chloe to reply ;)

Beca typed out a quick message.

Beca [9:30 am]: So…..

Stacie [9:30 am]: THIS BETTER BE GOOD NEWS

Beca [9:31 am]: How do you keep replying so quickly??

Stacie [9:31 am]: How about you stop avoiding

Beca thought of the million different things she could say, but opted for simplicity.

Beca [9:32 am]: :)

Stacie [9:33 am]: Is that good

Stacie [9:33 am]: Beca is that good

Stacie [9:34 am]: ?????

She set her phone down, feeling giddy. It might have been a bit cruel to leave Stacie hanging, but she’d get over it. She’d get the full story eventually, but right now, Beca wanted to keep as much of this thing with Chloe to herself as possible. Definitely not like a shameful secret, though.

Something about telling someone about it, however vaguely, made last night and this morning seem actually real.  She had this feeling deep in her chest that this was the start of something incredible, which made her both excited and a bit scared. Ok a lot scared. Terrified even.

It sucked that they’d have be apart right as they were starting something. Winter break couldn’t be over soon enough.