close to you | javier peña
Take The Weight Off His Shoulders - Chapter Nine
Chapter Summary | A week of not hearing from Javi since he ran out has you tearing your hair out, so you throw yourself into your work as a distraction, with catastrophic consequences.
Chapter Warnings | mentions of drugs and the drug trade, alcohol consumption, threatening language, violence, blood, descriptions of a head injury and concussion, Javier Peña to the rescue, soft!Javi.
Pairing | dbf!Javier Peña x F!Reader
Word Count | 3.2k
Authors Note | I am forever appreciative of how patient you guys are for updates of this series! Thank you for hanging in there whilst my muse and creativity ebbs and flows, I love you all! We're getting towards the conclusion of this little story, with only a few chapters left so I hope you guys are still enjoying this! If you are enjoying this then reblogs and comments really do help and if you’d like to support me further, please consider a donation to my Ko-Fi.
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You wonder when staring at the work in front of you might actually yield something worth writing about. It’s all you’ve done since you picked up this stupid story and decided to chase it. Staring at the pages on your desk has become all the more common in the week since Javi ran out on you. He’s avoided your calls to his phone, you’ve not seen him around town, and the one time you decided to call the house, Chucho answered and with the most sincere voice you’d ever heard, told you he wasn’t in but that he promised he’d ask him to call you when he got back. That had been two days ago, so you’d practically given up all hope of ever hearing from him again.
For the first couple of days, you’d cursed yourself, wondering why you’d kept any of that stuff in the first place. Newspaper clippings and annotated notes about everything he and his team had done in Colombia. You didn’t need it anymore, thesis done, completed, and with a better mark than you could ever have hoped for. But until you’d seen him in the flesh, knew he was back for good and safe in Texas, it was the only way to feel close to him. Stupid for sure. But then the anger had set in - he’d no right to rifle through your drawers, pick up your notebooks and thumb through them. The barrage of different emotions was hard to deal with, and at the very base level, you missed him, you wanted him back, and you wanted to explain everything to him - that’s incredibly hard when he won’t answer his fucking phone though.
Turning your attention back to your work, you try and focus. You’ve met dead end after dead end with this stupid story and there really is only one place left for you to go. If it’s not Tyler then it has to be someone else in the family that’s involved. You can’t imagine it’s head of the family, so that really only leaves Tyler’s brother. It might be stupid and you might make a terrible enemy out of the mayor’s family, but there’s something else going on here and whatever it is, you’re going to get to the bottom of it, no matter how.
You can still never get over the size of the Johnson family home. Richard and his wife had two sons, one their pride, the other, not so much, but if you looked at their house, you’d think they had at least twelve children. No family needed this many rooms, you think, as you walk up the driveway.
It’s the early afternoon and you can see Garrett’s car parked in front of the house. Tyler will be at work, as will Richard, and you’re pretty sure their mother is never at home. You don’t really know what it is she does, but it’s some form of charitable work that involves travelling more than it does time at home.
You take a deep breath and ring the bell, waiting the appropriate amount of time before ringing it again. It’s a huge house after all, it must take a while to get from anywhere to the front door. A few seconds later, the door opens, and Garrett is stood in front of you, dressed in dress pants and a shirt that has the arms rolled up to the elbows. He smiles at you and opens the door a bit wider, invites you in - it’s much warmed than the reception you got from his brother.
“Lovely to see you,” He smiles, guiding you through the foyer and into the kitchen, “Can I get you a drink?”
“Water would be great, thank you.” You smile back, waiting for him to put a glass in front of you, topped up with water and fresh ice.
“I assume you’re here from the paper?” He asks, leaning cooly against the kitchen counter.
“That’s right,” You nod, sipping at the water, “Has Tyler spoken to you recently?”
Garrett shakes his head, “No, I haven’t seen him in a few weeks actually.”
You hum, nodding your head, thankful that you have the upper hand of surprise still - that this part of the family don’t know you’re sniffing around looking for a reason that one of their houses was used as some form of drug den.
“How have you been since Dylan died?” You ask, “I know you were really good friends.”
It’s a question that makes sense, they were very good friends, and although it’s been a while, you’re hoping your feigned concern for his mental welfare might make him open up.
“It’s been hard,” He starts, “He was my best friend, and to suddenly not have him around anymore…” He trails off, “I miss him.”
You nod, hoping the look of concern you think you’ve got across your face is projecting enough to make him feel like he can trust you.
“Was he the reason your dad has started being heavier with drugs in town?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Garrett nods, “He saw how fucked up it made me to lose my friend and decided enough was enough, that someone needed to do something to fix the trouble we’ve been having in town for years.”
There’s another nod from you, “Makes sense,” You offer, “Not really working very well though, is it?”
“These things take time.” He offers, in that perfectly practiced politician way that they always answer things.
“Look, I’m gonna cut to the chase Garrett,” You sigh, “That house in town that got raided recently? We’ve been looking into it and it all leads back to you, to your family, and it doesn’t matter who I ask, no-one knows why that place was being used as a drug den, but someone in this family knows exactly why.”
Garrett scoffs, “You’ll want to talk to my brother about that.”
“Well, that’s the thing Garrett,” You speak, “I did, and that man is clean as a whistle, he hasn’t taken drugs in at least a year, and the last time he was at the house, it was clear of anything,” You shrug, “I can’t imagine your dad being involved in anything like this, so that just leaves you.”
You can see his demeanour change almost immediately, he’s uncomfortable, moving from foot to foot and you can see the start of perspiration on his forehead.
“You’re telling me you think I’m involved in something?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“Well, you’re wrong.”
“Am I?”
He pushes himself from the counter he’s been leaning against, takes a few steps towards you, trying to intimidate you, but you know you’re pushing in the right direction, he wouldn’t be reacting like this if you were barking up the wrong tree.
“Where’s your evidence?” He asks.
“Maybe you’ll have to buy the paper to find out?”
“Listen here you little bitch,” He spits, pointing his finger in your face, “You ought to be careful about this, you think this is just me?” He asks, stepping even closer to you, making your breath catch in your throat, “You think you publish this story and it’ll just be me you have to worry about? You’re dead wrong, publish whatever story you’re planning and you’ll have a rain of fucking fire to deal with from people you don’t want to get on the wrong side of.”
“So, it was you then?” You can help but smirk, having caught him redhanded in a confession, the recorder in your bag that you’d pressed on before he’d answered the door your little secret.
You watch some kind of fury flick over his eyes as he grits his teeth, his hands pressed into your shoulders to push you back, “Stupid little girl.” He says as he pushes, but it’s a lot harder than you’d anticipated and it makes you lose your balance, falling backward.
It all happens in a blur, the side of your head makes contact with the corner of the kitchen island, pain spreading almost immediately across your forehead, vision blurring as your backside hits the floor. You’re sort of aware of something warm and wet dripping down your cheek, which you brush away with the back of your hand as you try and quickly reorientate yourself. Then you feel a hand wrap around your arm and a presence next to you, not quite all there enough to push it away.
“Oh shit,” You hear Garrett speak next to you, “Shit, shit shit,” He’s touching your face now, “I'm sorry, I- oh god - I didn’t mean to push you that hard.”
You groan, letting your head tip back against the cool marble of the kitchen island, “Am I-” You struggle to speak, “Am I bleeding?”
“Oh god-” Garrett mutters, “I’m going to be sick.”
And then he’s gone, the sound of his shoes clipping against the floor as he runs to God knows where, leaving you disorientated and bleeding on his kitchen floor. You know you need to get out of here, slowly moving yourself just enough to push yourself to your feet, hands gripping the counter as you reach for your bag. You’re dizzy as you walk towards the door, looking down at the floor because as soon as you look up, you feel like you’re going to throw up and pass out. You can see yourself leaving small drops of blood on the floor as you move - a trail that follows you all the way down the driveway and to your car. You fumble with your keys, dropping them on the floor. When you bend over to try and pick them up, your vision goes fuzzy before you can grab them from the ground. You know you can’t drive like this.
In the haze of confusion you look around, a little way down the street you spot a phone box. It’s slow going, but you make it, pulling open the door, leaning against the glass wall, pinching the bridge of your nose to try and ease the ache behind your eyes. You shuffle through your bag to find your wallet, pulling out a handful of coins that you push into the slot. You think about phoning your father, but realise there’s only one person you want right now. Despite having his number memorised, you pull the worn card from your wallet, mainly to make sure that the haze of confusion doesn’t make you dial the wrong number. You drag your thumb over the faded number, watching a smear of blood cover it, and then press the number into the dialling pad, listening to it start to ring.
“Please Javi,” You whisper, “Please answer.”
You’re about to lose hope, expecting the phone to ring out, but through some form of divine intervention, the ringing stops and you hear the voice you’ve craved all week.
“Peña?”
“Oh Javi,” You sigh out in relief, feeling the prick of tears behind your eyes, “Help me.”
“Cariño?”
“Javi please, I need you.”
“What’s happened?” You can hear his tone change, concern and something else you can’t quite place, “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know, I just-” The ache behind your eyes is making you tired, “I need you to come and get me.”
“Has something happened?”
“Yes,” You reply, “I’m so tired Javi, I can’t drive.”
“Where are you?”
“The mayor’s house,” You reply, “Well- no - I'm in the phone box down the road.”
“You stay right there, okay?” He’s frantic on the other end of the phone, you can tell.
“Please hurry.”
He’s beside himself as he drives from the ranch and into town. A week of avoiding you, of avoiding his feelings towards you, and you’re hurt. He still can’t think about what happened. He doesn’t even know why he’d answered the phone this time - he’d avoided answering anything that had come through on his phone since he’d run out on you before, but there’s something today that made him pick up, and by God is he pleased he did. He doesn’t think he could have lived with himself if he’d let you call and left you hurt and injured in the middle of nowhere.
He thinks of all the other women throughout his life that he's let down. Lorraine and the way he left her, Helena and the way she risked herself for him, for the promise of a fucking visa, and paid the price. Most women in his life ended up hurt, emotionally or physically, and it was becoming evident to him that you were no different.
Not knowing, and not caring about how many speed restrictions he breaks, he makes it to the phone box in record time, cutting the engine and slamming the door behind him. He takes four or five big steps to the phone box, tearing open the door to find you slumped on the floor, eyes fluttering open at the disturbance. He takes a deep breath, dropping to his knees in front of you.
“Cariño, it’s me,” He speaks softly, “Can you hear me?”
He takes your face in his hands, turns it towards the quickly fading light, finding the cut on your forehead. The blood has dried and scabbed over, but there’s a trail of crusting blood down your cheek and side of your neck. He thinks of Helena in this moment, about draping his jacket over her naked body, cradling her to his body, reluctantly handing her over to a paramedic, not knowing what would come of her.
“Javi?” Your voice is quiet, but your eyes are looking at him, glassed over, but at least you recognise him.
“That’s me,” He speaks softly, “Are you okay?”
“Tired,” You mumble, and then you shake your head in his hands, “Head hurts.”
“Shall we move you?” He asks, knowing he can’t leave you here, “Come here.”
Letting go of your face, he runs his palms down your arms to where your hands are clasped together. He gently pries open your fingers and takes hold of the card there, holding it up. It’s the card he’d given you with his number on, edges torn and worn. He can clearly see where you've run your fingers over the printed text, and where it's sat in your purse, pulled out and slotted bacon whenever you've needed him. He tries to take it, but your hand clasps over it again.
“Don’t,” You whisper, “It’s mine, don’t take it.”
“It’s okay, Cariño,” He replies, “I’ll keep it safe, just let me have it whilst we get you into the car.”
“My keys,” You mumble as he stands up, leaning down despite the protest of his knees and his back, “I dropped them.”
He’s scooping you up, not quite able to carry you, but able to lean you against his side to walk you to the passenger side of his truck.
“Where did you drop them?” He asks, settling you into the passenger seat, leaning across you to clip your seatbelt in.
“My car-” Your head lolls to the side, eyes hooded as you look at him, “On the ground.”
He presses a kiss to your cheek, shutting the door gently. He finds your keys on the ground by your car, and then after checking that the doors are still locked, he shoves the keys into his pocket and focuses his attention back to you.
The drive out of town is slower, Javi conscious that he doesn’t want to jostle you too much. Each corner he turns makes you groan. He had considered taking you to your own home, but he decides instead to take you back to the ranch. He pulls up, noticing the lights on in the living room. He knows he’s going to have questions from his father, but he doesn’t worry about that, instead he focuses on getting you out of the truck and into the house.
There’s a look from Chucho when he bursts through the front door, but Javi gives him a clipped shake of his head and instead walks you up the stairs and into his room. He sits you down on the side of the bed, kissing your forehead as he grabs some supplies from his bathroom - a warm, damp washcloth and his bag of first aid supplies, put together by Chucho when he’d come back to the ranch - his dad not convinced he wouldn’t injure himself with the manual labour.
“Hey, cariño?” He speaks softly, on his knees in front of you, “Look at me?”
You do, but your eyes are barely open. He works quickly, wiping away the crusted blood from your face first before he turns his attention to the actual cut. Once he’s cleaned it a little, he can see it’s not as deep as he’d anticipated. He brushes it with an antiseptic wipe, soothing you when it stings enough to make you gasp, and then covers it with a small plaster.
“I’m sorry.” You mumble as he eases you back on the bed, head down on his pillows.
“What for?” He asks, sitting down on the edge of the bed, brushing your hair from your face.
“Scaring you off.”
“Oh hermosa,” He breathes, feeling guilt pool in his stomach, nut not ready to quite face the conversation of what really made him run that night, “I’m here now, okay? And I’m not going anywhere.”
He listens to you groan in approval, moving your body to get a little more comfortable.
“What happened today?” He asks quietly, trying to keep you awake so he knows who did this to you.
“Went to the house,” You speak, punctuated with a yawn, “Asked Garrett about the house.”
It’s almost like you get a second wind, trying to sit up, but he knows you need to stay still, so he gently pushes you back down.
“It’s him Javi,” You groan, “He’s the one dealing the drugs.”
“Shhhhh,” It’s the only thing he can think to do, “Just rest, cariño, we can talk later.”
Javi sits there for longer than he needs. You’re softly snoring within minutes, but he still sits there to make sure you’re out for the count. When he’s sure you’re settled and still breathing, he heads downstairs, ignoring his father’s knowing look as he pours himself a generous amount of whiskey.
“When were you going to tell me?”
Javi shrugs, “I’m not sure,” He answers honestly, “It’s new.”
“Not that new,” Chucho huffs, “You were always shit at sneaking around,” He picks up his own drink, “Saw you after my birthday.”
Javi tips his head back and can’t help but chuckle because it’s true, he was never good at keeping things from his dad. He just hopes you’ve both done a better job at keeping things from your parents.
“You know what you’re doing with her?”
It’s a question he doesn’t really know how to answer, mulling over the answer in his mind before he lets his mouth speak.
“I just know I want to keep her safe,” He speaks, “And that I think I might love her.”
Javi watches as Chucho’s mouth grows into a smile, a small nod given in his direction.
“Will she be okay?”
Javi nods, “I think so yes, hit her head pretty hard, but I think after she’s slept she’ll be okay.”
Chucho pushes himself from his chair, draining his almost-empty cup. He puts it in the sink and then puts a warm hand on Javi’s shoulder with a squeeze.
“I just want you to be happy, finally,” He says, “That’s all that matters.”
Javi watches as he walks away, off to his room to sleep, and speaks into the silence of the empty kitchen once he’s gone, “Thanks, dad.”
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In Handwriting - Tanaka x Reader
written for my supersecret fix exchange with @haikyu-mp4
“Will you marry me?”
You blink in surprise. “Eh?”
The guy across from you blushes a feverish red, though he does not lose any of his confidence.
“I’m Tanaka,” he offers you his hand like it’s a sword and you’re the princess he’s sworn to protect. “The love of your life.”
You can’t help but giggle at that. He’s creative, you have to give him that.
“You’re very confident.”
“Confidence is my middle name,” he boasts, bringing your hand to his lips for a kiss.
“Ah? Is that so? And what’s your first name.”
“Guess.”
“Ryūnosuke.” You can’t help but snort when his jaw slackens in disbelief.
“No way, how did you guess- Are you psychic?”
“It’s on your shirt,” you point at the name tag. “And I don’t spot a C for Confidence there.”
“Oh, that’s… uh… that’s because there was no more space,” he stutters for a second before getting back to his confident self. “But you looked at my chest.”
“I did,” you snort, “And you still need to tell me what you want to order.”
“What’s your favorite drink?”
“I don’t think you’d like it.”
“Mhm,” he smiles, “Try me.”
So you tell him, fighting a smile when he actually orders it, along with a cup of straight black coffee for his coworker.
You write his full name on both of the cups - even though the coffee shop is as empty as it could be - and add a little heart to both of them.
“Aww, you love me too,” he coos when you hand him the drinks. “Can I have your pen for a second?”
“Of course,” you hand it to him, watching as he scribbles onto the cup that contains your favorite drink.
“Here,” he hands you both the drink and the pen. “This one’s on me. I have to get back to work, but call me, okay? I need to know your ring size.”
You’re left speechless - and maybe swooning a little - until you look down at the cup.
His handwriting is awful and coupled with the curve of the cup it’s impossible to make out more than a few numbers.
What a shame. He’d been really cute.
-
He doesn’t come in the next day.
And it’s a shame, you think. You would have given him a chance - despite his ridiculous flirting, or maybe because of it.
Maybe he thinks you’re ghosting him now and that sentiment feels so wrong you start looking a little closer at the shops left and right, hoping you’ll find one with the same color scheme as his uniform.
But what if he’s not working at a store? What if he’s some assistant?
Your shoulder’s slump under the realization that you’ll probably not meet him again unless he’s the one initiating.
What a shame. He’d really been cute.
-
“Missed me?”
“Tanaka!” You almost drop your pitcher of milk. “What took you so long?!”
He reels back in surprise at your outburst.
“Sorry, I didn’t… wait, you really missed me?”
“Not really,” you start, slapping a hand on your mouth when you realize how that sounds, “I mean, that’s not what-... I have been looking for you.”
“You have?” He’s leaning in again now, lips stretched into an almost hopeful smile. “What for?”
“You’ve got the worst handwriting,” you huff out, taking him by surprise again. “I couldn’t decipher your phone number.”
“You wanted to call?” The surprise in his voice is so evident you can tell he’s not had much look with his flirting before. Well, not everyone has great taste.
“Yeah,” you huff again, looking to your left and right before pulling your phone out of your pocket and unlocking it. “Save your number before I change my mind.”
“You won’t regret it,” he insists. Something tells you he’s right.
-
“How did you guys meet?” Kiyoko asks, “Tanaka mentioned something about a coffee shop.”
“Oh yeah,” you nod, “I work there. He asked me to marry him.”
She laughs. “That sounds like him.”
“What are you talking about?” Her husband Kōshi asks, wrapping his arms around her.
“Tanaka asked her to marry him when they first met,” Kiyoko explains simply and you watch with fascination as Kōshi laughs as well.
“Tanaka,” he calls out to your boyfriend, “Where’s the ring?”
Ryūnosuke, to your surprise, blushes a feverish red, hand clutching something in the pocket of his jeans.
Oh…
-
My Kofi if you'd like to tip me
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in a turn of events that doesn’t surprise anyone im sure, @impishtubist has caused yet another scene to be stuck in my head until i wrote it down. so, have some sexy, greying sirius; a deeply thirsty, appreciative james who won’t let him dye it; and a very-fed-up-of-his-parents-antics harry for prongsfoot wednesday!
x
Harry entered the house with ‘I’m home!’ on his lips that died an instant death as soon as he registered what he was seeing.
“Er,” he hesitated. Does he really want to—? One more look at the scene in front of him and he decided to bite the bullet. Better to clear the air now than keep stewing on it later.
“Um. Is this a—kink? A fetish? Should I leave and never come back?”
In any other scenario, the way both his parents froze and looked at him with wide eyes would’ve been comical.
If only Dad wasn’t straddling his Papa on the ground, one of his hands holding both of Papa’s above him with disturbing ease.
“Er—“
“It’s not what it looks like, Haz!” Dad yelped, cutting across Papa who’s face and neck were turning a steady pink. “I swear.”
“Then why are you still—like that?” Harry asked, deciding to play it safe and look at the boring grey couch in the living room instead. Nothing scandalous going on there.
He could hear the scrambling of feet, a few thumps, and a mini-yelp, absently wondering about the amount of noise the simple act of getting up could produce.
“Right.” Dad cleared his throat. “So, Harry, would you please tell your Papa that he is, under no circumstances, allowed to dye his hair?”
Harry blinks, turning to his other, exasperated, father in silent question.
“Harry, will you please tell your Dad that this is my hair and I can do with it as I please?”
“Not when you promised yourself to me!” Dad yelps and Harry is hit with an intense wave of regret at instigating this.
“Promised—?”
“Yes! Our wedding, you said, and I quote, ‘I give myself to you, James Potter, mind, body and soul’, don’t tell me you forgot.”
“Of course I didn’t forget,” Papa throws his hands up in the air. “But c’mon James—this is not what I meant when I said body!”
“What, you think I only wanted you for that ars—“
“Dad!” Harry, yelps, mortified. He can feel his cheeks heating in a violent blush. He can feel a similar flush creeping up Papa’s neck. Sadly, his words don’t have the deterring effect he’d intended.
“I mean, it is spectacular, don’t get me wrong, but you’re more than just a beautiful body, Si!”
“James, please, have some mercy for our child, if not me,” Papa says. Thankfully, this seems to register as Dad’s eye widened, part horror and part apology. Harry waves it away tiredly; though he’s no less embarrassed every time it happens, growing up in the Potter household with two extremely affectionate parents has exposed him to much worse. He’s accepted it as his lot in life.
“Er—yeah, anyway,” he coughs, ruffling his hair, “Bottom line—Sirius isn’t allowed to dye his hair.”
“I literally never agreed to that.”
“Too bad because you will,” Dad says, slowly moving towards Papa with a look on his face that Harry is loath to describe as predatory. If only it wasn’t so true.
“Oh?” Papa’s left eyebrow rises extraordinarily high, as it tends to do quite often. He crosses his arms over his chest in challenge. The motion makes his Dad smile.
“Mhm.” The two of them are chest-to-chest by this point, staring into each other’s eyes. Harry could probably conduct a whole rave party right here, right then, and they wouldn’t even notice. That is when he decides it’s high time he should step in—not literally, Merlin, no—before they end up doing something that makes him try to run away (again).
“So I was right—it is a kink,” Harry says dryly, once again regretting starting this entire conversation in the first place. He should’ve just turned back around and gone to the Weasleys instead.
“Harry, no—“
x
Three years later, Harry—who’s almost blissfully forgotten about the entire incident—walks into his parents’ house to an almost identical scene, just with his Papa on top this time. This time, he makes the sensible choice he still regrets not making all those years ago, and walks right back out the door.
Let those two sort it out on their own. Merlin knows his intervention hadn’t helped a bit the last time around.
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