#it just feels like every year I get older I get further away from her. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rascalentertainments · 2 days

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Wish Granted 🌟👩🏾🎶 (Wish Reimagined)

Chapter 2: Into the Woods

Chapter 1

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As the trees closed behind him, Flazino slowly followed the well worn path into a small community, featuring many homes that were surrounded by nature. No magic was required or allowed here, for everything was built or crafted by hand from the ground up.

(Look how beautiful these look! They would've looked so good in 2D! I haven't really seen a whole lot of art for the Hamlet concept, so for extra reference, imagine the homes looking similar to Pacha's village)

The abundance and depth of the trees in the Uncharted Forest kept the people of this haven safe from the eyes of Magnifico. Those who realized his true intentions with their wishes fled here, where they could live in peace and save their families from a terrible fate.

Although it was late into the night, the people here were wide awake in preparation for their own ceremony. Which is exactly each month the young apprentice would take his monthly trip here.

He was greeted by an old man who was holding a mandolin and a warm smile on his face. "Young Flazino! You're just in time, the ceremony will beginning soon."

No sooner had the boy dismounted from the horse, he was caught in a tight hug by the old man. Though was smaller than other residents, his heart was as big as the forest itself. Flazino couldn't help but smile back as returned the hug.

"It's good to see you again too, Sabino." He said with a laugh. He took the bags off his back and started unpacking the supplies from it: Extra clothes, seeds to grow fruits and vegetables, food he was able to sneak away from the day's meals and a few toys for the children there.

"Sorry its not as much as usual. I've been having this strange feeling I'm being watched recently, so I didn't have time to get more..." Flazino sighed.

Sabino shook his head. "That's alright, lad. Every little bit helps. You've done so much for us this past year. We can't ask for a better friend." he patted the boy on the shoulder. "Come now, you can at least stay, have some food and chat for a while before you go."

He called over two other men to gather the supplies. "Alan, Howard, would you mind taking these and passing them to others?" The men did as instructed and Flazino followed Sabino a little further into the woods where right in the center of it, people were gathered around each other while most of them held bright colored ribbons in their hands.

Flazino knew very well what was happening. Just as the rulers of Rosas had a wish ceremony at the end of each month, the people of the Hamlet had an event of their very own. In order to keep their remaining wishes from Magnifico, each resident that turned 18 or older in that month would write their greatest wishes on ribbons and tie them to an old olive tree on top of a hill. In hopes that one day they will come true, without the fear of them being broken by the King.

An older woman announced that it was clear to travel to the tree, that there were no signs of spies or guards of Rosas near. She led the young people up the hill.

As the two of them began to follow the group, Sabino heard a small, but loud, "Baaa! Baaaa!" 🐐

He looked down and saw a baby goat rubbing his head against his leg and it looked up at the old man with a smile.

"Oh! Valentino! Nice to see you too!" Sabino said with a laugh as he picked up the goat and rubbed his head. "I bet you're as excited as me, hehe."

"There you are! How many times have I told you not run off like that without me? You could've gotten hurt." A concerned voice came from the distance. It came from a teen girl, with a worried yet annoyed look on her face as she approached. It seems like her pet did this a lot.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Asha." He waved a dismissive hand at her. "He's just excited. Just like me. Isn't that that right?" Sabino said as he nuzzled the goat's nose. "Baaa!" Valentino said in agreement.

Asha gently took Valentino in her arms and (finally) greeted Flazino. "Good to see you again, Flaz. I hope that our 'favorite' rulers are treating you well." she said with a hint of sarcasm.

Sabino joined the group, presumably to have a bit of a music session with his musician friends at the top. They all shared a love for music and found kinship with each other through their passions, so it was understood.

Flazino rolled his eyes and smirked at Asha. "Oh yeah. Being a sorcerers' apprentice is great! I run errands, invite some newcomers to their possible doom, Feed a deadly feline that literally wants to bite the hand that feeds him and oh yeah, try to write another song about how great the king is!" He said the last part with fake enthusiasm. "You know he made me a write a part that said: '♬ I let you live here for free, and I don't even charge you rent!♬' ?"

Asha raised an eyebrow hearing this. "Um, isn't that the same thing?" she asked.

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID TO HIM!" Flazino exclaimed and put his arms out in exasperation.

Asha couldn't help but laugh. Given that the guy had to deal with two royal pains and their spoiled exotic pet everyday, he had to vent to somebody, and Asha was always there to listen. He's helped keep the Hamlet safe for two years, he's at least earned it. Not to mention he tries to learn to use some of Amaya's potions in secret.

Asha herself ventured regularly in her dairy. She was completely fed up with hiding from the people that ruined their lives. As a child, she did see the world with wonder, but as she grew older, Asha started to see the world outside the Hamlet a bit more harshly. She just wanted one day see the world again without fearing for her family's safety. Asha had seen the cruelty of Maginifico. When his false sincerity was gone....he was a monster.

While the two of them (and Valentino) chatted and exchanged information on Rosas, Sabino and about ten people made their way up to the hill.

(We see in a faraway shot that Sabino is actually making his way ahead faster than some of his friends in excitement, telling them jokingly to pick up their pace, only for him to have to slow down himself, out of breath.)

It was a little long, but once they saw that tree adorned with ribbons as colorful as their wishes, it was always worth it.

As each individual tied their ribbon to the tree, they looked to the stars shining brightly above them if only they could hear the wishes in their hearts. There were days that it hurt to even put them out there. It was a high chance that they never get granted, but they had to try, right?

One older man was left in line, but as he looked at tree, he started to have doubts. What if it never came true? Was it even a dream worth keeping? He took a few steps back and apologized to the old woman. "I'm sorry, Germaine. I'm...just not ready." He said, with a touch of sadness in his voice.

The woman shook her head. "No need to apologize, Manuel. You can make your wish whenever you're truly ready." She said as she patted him on the shoulder.

The man nodded and proceeded back down the hill, passing by the other wishers. Sabino quickly gave him a comforting hug. "Don't be ashamed of your wish. Its a beautiful one." He whispered to Manuel.

This gave the man a bit of comfort, but he failed to realize that the ribbon he placed in his pocket earlier was now gone. Once the others had begun to return to the bottom, Sabino stayed back and quickly put the ribbon in his own pocket. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, "Hehehehe! *cough cough cough* ahem..." Luckily no one saw that...

Not long after, the young apprentice knew it was time to leave. He was given the requested mushrooms, said his goodbyes and gave Achilles the signal to depart. The tree entrance once again opened to let Flazino out, he waved goodbye to his Hamlet friends and watched as the trees closed behind him.

The horse took off in a dash once more leaving the Hamlet behind. However, he wasn't quite alone. We then see a closeup on a patch of open bushes, with a pair of glowing green feline eyes peering through, watching the boy leave. A devious smile appeared below it, then the face disappears into the black.

As some time passes, we see how the people hear take care of each other and live their lives. A few of them are washing clothes in a nearby river, others are making their own flour, and later bread. Both the men and women tend to a large field, where they plant seeds of various fruits and vegetables. Many of these end up producing large harvests for the people.

(Seriously, these concepts arts are GORGEOUS. And I've read a lot of Art books, but Wish's is on a new level!)

Another scene passes and Asha is seen reading to a group of kids, as they listened in wonder about a magical fairy that loved to help others in need.

The montage then cuts to the inside of Asha's family cottage, her mother Sakina had just finished making a couple new clothes for their neighbor's young sons. "Asha, I'll be back soon to give Hans these clothes. And Saba...?"

Sabino was in his chair snoring away, when he was startled by Sakina's question. "Huh? What? Where am I?" He looked around in supposed confusion.

Sakina raised in eyebrow. She loved Sabino, but there were times he tried to be sly, especially with Asha. "Don't get into any foolishness." she warned.

Sabino let out a loud yawn that woke Valentino up, who actually was sleeping by his feet. "Oh, fine. Fine. I'll keep an eye on the girl. "Riiiiight after my nap." he said in a groggy tone. He slowly leaned back in his chair and back to snoring.

Sakina took a moment, sighed and proceeded put the door.

Ten seconds later, Sabino opened one eye and made sure the overbearing mother was gone. Once the coast was clear, he leaped to his feet and grabbed his mandolin. Valentino followed the old man curiously as he proceeded to find Asha.

"Well, goodnight Saba." his granddaughter yawned as she started heading upstairs. She stops once she hears her saba's voice behind her.

"Asha, would you mind coming with me before we turn in for the night? I'd like to show you something important..."

youtube

Little did Asha know that her life would soon change forever, thanks to one wish of her own....

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Woo-hoo! Chapter 2 is done! I wanted to wait until I finally finish "Kingdom of Wishes", so now with that read though complete, I've gone back to writing this little story/movie! This one was a little shorter, but I was able to find lots of wonderful concept art pictures from not only Wish, but also other Disney films! I even found some perfect horseback scenes added them to Chapter 1, if you'd like to check it out!

The thing I wanted to show here is that while Sabino does have wisdom, he's a cheeky old man. 😆 I actually based him off of the grandmother from Mulan, so he has that extra kick to him. We haven't really had a fun elderly man character in Disney since "UP", and I wanted to bring the fun from past elder characters into this. In the actual film, Sabino did feel like a character and I liked Victor Garber voicing him, but we never get any time towards him. His whole character was done dirty, and he's just nearly cut from the film until the very end. Disney cut out HIS OWN SONG. The ENTIRE reason the plot even started, the reason Asha wanted to get the wishes back, and THEY CUT IT OUT. FOR PETE'S SAKE, MAN—

For this story, Saba's in his 80's but acts like a kid sometimes, and just wants Asha to have that same spirit again, since she lost the fun part of herself after her father died. She can still be kind, but her positive outlook is practically non-existent.

Also, a fun bit I came up with is that everyone else in the Hamlet is named after a Disney music composer, from the past and present. Even better, Lin Manuel's name is mentioned in the deleted scene, so it fit right in!

And for those who are wondering, yes, Star will be appearing soon! In chapter 3 we're gonna go back to our favorite royal pains, see more of Asha and her family so they can be fleshed out some more and then our sparkling boy is going to appear. Plus, I really wanted to start off with only a little humor since the story is more serious at this point. But then when Star comes in, he's gonna bring in a lot more fun and joy to the table. Plus, this is the first time I'm writing a fantasy based story here. I usually write sci-fi and/or superhero stories, so I pray I'm doing this right. 😅

I love to hear your comments, so make as many as you want, and I'll see you guys in chapter 3!

Thanks for reading!

@annymation @signed-sapphire @oh-shtars @kenihewa @chillwildwave @tumblingdownthefoxden @wings-of-sapphire @emptyblog7 @lazytitans-world @mythartist21 @kstarsart @uva124 @spectator-zee

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moteldogs · 7 months

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the saying about how the grief never gets smaller. yeah

#turns out my mom (stepmom) never adopted me and my brother #due to then we’d stop getting dead birth mom’s social security #(this is proof I was stupid as a child because I did know that adoption was a court proceeding I just thought I’d forgotten going to court.#plausible given the general state of my memory of that time of my life. but still)#anyways she wants to legally adopt us now which both me and my brother are happy about we love her very much #but when you get adopted you get an amended birth certificate with the adoptive parent on there instead of the birth parent #so my birth certificate won’t list my birth mom anymore.#and I won’t have a single piece of paper left to prove that my mama was real and she was alive in this world.#it’s kind of a small stupid thing to be upset over but it’s also like. visceral #it just feels like every year I get older I get further away from her.

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propertyofwicked · 2 months

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HOMESICK - LN

content warnings: just fluff really, mentions of anxiety, being far from family

2.4k words - lemme know if u want a pt2 for this one :)

masterlist

y/n hated new places, she hated change, and most of all she hated being away from home. y/n knew she would eventually feel a sense of comfort and familiarity in woking, but for now, her blood ran hot, and an icy sweat took over her body, her eyes tearful even though she couldn’t pin point why she felt so upset. the flat was silent, and yet deafening, every whistle of wind or creak of a floorboard serving as her constant reminder - you are alone, your are miles away from your family, everything is unfamiliar.

she found herself constantly shaking her head, trying to knock some sense into herself

you’ve done this before, you went to university even further from your family, you did this for 3 years, you can do it again. you are a grown woman now sort yourself out.

her thoughts battled loudly with each other, one side of her brain logical, the other trying to sabotage her.

it just didn’t make sense - she travelled across the world almost weekly, filming and editing content for the mclaren social media pages, working closely with the drivers, engineers and management and never once felt overwhelmed with the distance from home comforts. she supposed being constantly on the move, keeping her mind and body occupied with her work boded well in distracting her from feeling homesick. the close bond she’d formed with everyone in the garages probably aided her even further, provided her with a new sense of family away from home.

but for now, she sat cross legged on her desk chair, arms resting on the table, her head balancing precariously in her hands, deep in sleep. y/n had arrived at the offices at 10pm, unable to sleep in her empty flat, the feeling of constant nausea and upset overbearing, and deciding that being productive was a much better use of her time - a great distraction from her loneliness. she hadn’t intended to fall asleep, especially not in a position that put so much strain on her back, and yet here she was.

3am in the mclaren offices and all that could be heard was heavy, exhausted breathing and the soft whir of a computer fan that ran idly in the background.

this is something that lando found peculiar - who was sleeping in the office? and why were they sleeping here? he thought to himself as he and oscar snuck into the building from the side door.

as they rounded the corner, oscar’s mouth opened, starting to ask the same thing lando had been questioning, but was cut off by lando’s finger raising to his own lips, shushing the younger man before pointing to y/n’s desk, her head now resting on the table cheek smushing her forgotten glasses further into her face uncomfortably.

the two of them, stared at the girl before moving to look back at each other, a mix of confusion and amusement glossing their faces.

“wh- why is she here?” he asked, out of pure concern for the girl.

“i don’t know oscar, we walked in at the same time?” lando responds, taking long but quiet steps to stand behind her chair.

“didn’t she just get a new flat near here? why wouldn’t she go home?” oscar asked again, mindlessly, knowing that lando was also bewildered to the sight in front of them. the older man simply shrugged in response, moving to rest a hand on the sleeping girl’s shoulder, bending slightly till he was level with her face.

“y/n? y/n?” he asked her softly, moving her shoulder gently in his hand as to not startle her, “you need to wake up, darlin’, can’t sleep here,” he adds, noting her breathing change as she came back to reality.

“lando?” she asked, startled, despite his best efforts, “what are you doing here it’s like -” she wiggled the mouse on her computer to bring up the home screen, “3am?”

“what are you doing here at 3am? not to mention, fast asleep at your desk,” he retorts, standing back and crossing his arms over his chest. she finally clocks oscar stood awkwardly behind him, sending him a quick smile, before leaning back in her chair, looking at lando again.

“i asked first.”

“we’re breaking in to decorate zach’s office for his birthday,” he says as though it was obvious, laughing slightly at the thought of the hello kitty balloons stuffed into the bag oscar held behind his back, “now, what are you doing here?”

“working,” she replied, offering no more to her story.

“with your eyes closed? drooling on your desk? i don’t think so.”

“i was not drooling,” she argues, confident in her words despite the back of her hand moving to wipe her mouth just in case.

“you we-”

“didn’t you just move in to a new flat y/n?” oscar asks, interrupting what he was sure would be an entertaining round of bickering between the two.

“i did,” she says with a nod, “i just got so caught up in my work. didn’t realise what the time was,” she adds, dodging the subject of her empty flat. the flat so empty of life, but so full of overwhelming silence and dread, and yet she found solace in the silence of the mclaren offices.

“do you want a ride home?” lando asked, sensing there was more to the story, but leaving the can unopened, for now.

she shook her head, breathing out a long sigh as she did.

“no thanks, i might just stay here till the work day starts,” she adds, her hand rubbing her eyes slightly, feeling the exhaustion still looming in her brain.

“are you sure?” oscar asked, concern rising in his voice again.

“yep,” y/n replied, the ‘p’ exaggerated.

the boys looked at each other, a silent exchange of words between the team mates as they moved in the direction of zach’s office once again.

“we’ll come check in with you before we leave, yeah?” lando added, before turning on his heel and following oscar down the long hallway. she nodded even though they couldn’t see her, before pulling the hood of her jumper over her hair, and letting her head fall back onto the desk, using her arms as makeshift pillows.

it was nearing 4am when the two returned, once again guided down the hallway by the sound of y/n’s heavy breathing. they stopped just before they could see her, turning to each other.

“we gotta get her home. her back is gonna be ruined if she keeps sleeping like that,” oscar says, keeping his voice low.

“i know - she still hasn’t forgiven jon for letting her sleep curled up under a table a year ago. spent the whole week complaining about her spine aching,” lando replied, smiling softly at the memory of her trying to bend herself backwards over a chair to ‘reset’ her back, as she had claimed.

“how do we get her to leave? willingly? without the kicking and screaming?” lando asked after a moment of silence, the boys plotting their next moves.

“you’ll think of something, im sure. she’ll never say no to you,” oscar replies, his hands moving to grip his car keys in the pockets of his joggers.

“what do you mean? ill think of something? you’re not leaving me to deal with her on my own, are you?” lando asked, suddenly doubting his abilities to contend with the strong willed woman asleep not 3 metres away from them.

“i left lily sleeping 2 hours ago, and i don’t feel like explaining this,” he says, pointing at the room in general, “when she wakes up and realises im not there,” he finishes with a shrug.

“fine,” lando says with a huff, “wish me luck.”

“good luck. lemme know how she gets on,” the australian replies, walking away from lando slowly, but glancing into the office space to check on y/n one last time.

lando sighed again, before sauntering back into the room he had left her in an hour ago. he moved to crouch next to her again, his fingers moving to pull her hood back, tucking her hair out of her face as he did. she looked so peaceful like this, her eyes twitching slightly under the pressure of sleep, a lose strand of hair blowing with every exhale. he didn’t want to wake her, but there was no other option unless he wheeled her out on the chair she sat on.

“angel? y/n?” he paused, grimacing slightly at his slip up, “it’s time to go,” he said softly, stroking her arm gently. he hoped she was too sleepy to notice the pet name.

“go where?” she mumbled, in her half-asleep state, eyes opening to look at him.

“home, y/n. need to get you in a proper bed.”

“no, im fine here,” she said, quickly defending her choice of sleeping position, “you go, ill see you later.”

“nuh-uh,” he tutted, standing in front of her to grip both her arms, dragging her up from the chair, “you are going to go home and sleep in a proper bed.”

“i don’t have my car and there’s no buses at this time.”

“ill drive you home.”

“it’s out of your way, you’d be wasting a journey.”

“don’t care. you’re getting in my car and im taking you home,” he argued back, finalising the argument she knew she wouldn’t win.

“fine,” she huffed, still clawing for the last word even if she had lost the battle.

soon, they were stood in the car park, lando stepping to the side to pull the passenger door open, a hand firmly on her back pushing her into the car. she wanted to argue that she was fully capable of getting in the car on her own, but the pure exhaustion took over as she adjusted the seat to her comfort, clicking her belt in as lando started the engine.

the car was silent, asides from the fans that pushed warm air into the vehicle and the low humming of the engine. he tried his best to take the roads slow, especially as he neared her flat, fearing waking up the neighbourhood with the growling of his car when he accelerated.

“what’s the real reason you didn’t wanna go home?” he asked, arm coming to rest at his side.

“i told you, i didn’t realise what time it was,” she said, refusing to let her lie catch up with her.

“bullshit.”

“what?”

“i said, bullshit. that’s not the real reason.”

“im homesick,” she spat out, “ok? im an adult woman who can’t handle the prospect of being home alone, 200 miles away from her family. happy now?”

“happ- why would i be happy about that?” he asked, his tone softer than his previous outburst. they were now pulling into her apartment building, y/n still neglecting to answer him until the car pulled to a complete stop.

“you wanna come in, for a bit?” she asked, biting her tongue.

“do you want me to come in?”

“yeah, if you want to. only for a bit,” she said again.

“ok,” his response was simple, he didn’t really need to think it through. he glanced down at his watch, 5:15am, and yet, he could not feel more awake. he didn’t mind staying, especially if it gave her the comfort to move freely in her own home.

walking into her flat felt oddly natural to him, despite him having never been there. the two could be considered close friends, not that either of them would acknowledge it, but spending years working closely together, travelling around the world, tends to do that. they’d started working at mclaren at similar times, him as a driver and her as a content creator for the brand, the new job nerves acting as almost a trauma bond between the two. they’d spent many nights in each others hotel rooms, playing games, watching films, often with oscar in tow - anything to pass the time in between races - but the two had never crossed the personal boundary into each others homes.

and yet, lando strolled in, took his shoes off by the door, and threw himself down on the sofa as if this was a daily thing. y/n dropped herself down next to him, sighing as she did.

“you need to sleep,” he said, turning to look at her, his arm thrown over the back of the sofa where she sat.

“my brain is too awake now,” she said, voice never faltering despite her stomach turning as she realises how close they were sat, the way his warmth surrounded her as his fingers tapped a steady rhythm on the seat behind her head.

“you wanna watch something till you settle again?” he asked, tv remote already in hand.

“sounds good,” she replied, tight lipped, eyes focusing as he scrolled through her netflix, settling on a film she didn’t care to remember the name of.

before the opening credits had even started, y/n body slumped against lando’s, head dropping to rest below his shoulder. he tensed slightly, relaxing again when he looked down to see her eyes closed, chest heaving deep breathes once again. his arm resting on the sofa dropped behind her back, his hand moving to hold her waist gently, fingers drawing light circles on the fabric of her leggings.

a while later, he moved his hips slightly, trying to re adjust his position to stop his legs going dead. he feared he had woken her, when she mumbled something incoherent and began moving. lando allowed himself to let out a shaky breath as she twisted herself into his side, her arm moving to wrap around his waist, her leg bending upwards to rest on top of his.

he waited a moment, as if to check she was really sleeping, before leaning down to press a soft kiss to the top of her head.

“goodnight, angel,” he whispered.

lando told himself he’d leave when the film ended. in his silence he planned how to move from the sofa without waking her. but then his eyes grew tired, and he told himself he’d shut them, just for a moment.

the two of them lay on the sofa, fast asleep. his posture had sloped in his slumber, shifting their bodies into a recline, his arms wrapped tightly around her and she settled onto his chest. their legs entwined with each other, a blanket lando had attempted to wrap around her had fallen haphazardly to the floor.

#lando norris #lando norris x reader #lando norris smut #lando x reader #lando smut #lando norris imagine #lando norris fanfic #formula 1 #mclaren f1 #mclaren #lando norris fluff #propertyofwicked #oscar piastri #LN4 #OP81

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youcancallmeelle · 7 months

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She’s got a boyfriend anyway…

Rating: 18+ (Minors DNI)

Word count: 7K

Warnings: Semi public sex, Missionary, Cowgirl, Unprotected Sex, Creampie, Cunnilingus, Teasing, Sneaking around, Secret relationship, Brief David mention, Ellie being a menance, Tommy trying to play matchmaker.

Summary: Tommy has been trying to set Joel up for AGES, he’s got other interests.

You and Joel have secretly been seeing each other.

A03

Read below…

Life in Jackson is promising, nearly a year and half here and Joel feels comfortable, no longer itching for a way out of civilisation because he’s just not used to that no more. Ellie is settled too - finally. She’s attending school three days a week, enjoying the new responsibilities that come with being sixteen and the tad bit of freedom it brings. She helps out at the stables, in the kitchen too but she’s not a fan. She likes being in the library most, checking in and out books, tidying shelves, using her art to create eye catching displays aimed at the younger generation of Jackson.

Joel is proud, his heart feels like it could burst out of his chest all the time. Ellie is still full of wit and charisma that comes out in curses and daft puns that make Joel roll his eyes and get her in a headlock until she’s laughing so hard she’s pink in the face.

There’s times when she skips school completely if a male teacher has subbed in, she flinches away if someone comes too close and sometimes if it’s stew night at dinner, she’ll stare blankly into her bowl at the chunks of meat and see a severed ear, she’ll try to swallow but gag instead. These are nights Joel gives her his bread and Tommy will too, then he’ll make her a fruit salad when they get home with a little double cream poured over it.

The nightmares are persistent on these bad days where triggers occur, he finds Ellie in bed screaming and thrashing multiple times a week. She’ll sob and cry hoarsely as he holds her, hushing her gently and resting his cheek on her head. Most of the time she’ll fall back asleep with him beside her, curled into him like she did back at Silver Lake when death was close.

But mostly, everything’s okay.

Joel had been with Tommy every single day this week so far and it was Thursday evening, they’d been focusing on fixing up the bathroom in a house way further down from his, they were getting it ready for a family that had expanded to move in. The floor was rotten and the pipes wrecked, neither of them were particularly fond of plumbing but they sorted it between them. There was still the kitchen to do but that was a job for tomorrow and probably Saturday too but not Sunday, that was his day with Ellie.

Sunday’s were for late breakfasts of bacon and pancakes - before and after the world ended. The only thing that changed was the kid for Joel, he used to serve Sarah indulgent breakfasts on a Sunday and they’d do something together and the tradition was carried on with Ellie and Sarah remained tucked in his heart.

Tired and stiff from working hunched over all day, Joel was enjoying a quiet drink with Tommy. They were tucked away on a small table with two stools, Joel would have preferred something with a back but beggars can’t be choosers; he was grateful for the cold glass of bourbon nearly empty in front of him and the sound of Dire Straits playing over the old speakers.

As always, Tommy is picking and prying into his lack of a love life. Since he’s noticed his older brother being more settled within the community, he’d been trying his hardest to set him up with various women and Tommy Miller was nothing if not persistent.

At this point in the day, Tommy’s voice is almost just white noise.

“Cath is nice.” Tommy pointed out, Joel snorts.

“She’s also gay, Tommy.”

“Oh shit, really? I didn’t know.”

“Clearly. Can we please stop talking about this? It’s the same thing every fuckin’ time I come drinking with you.” Joel begs, Tommy sighs heavily but drops it for now.

Joel takes in the scenery as he sits there, grateful for the moments silence from Tommy. His eyes stray to the left of the table and he listens as you speak to Denton, an older gentleman in his late sixties with a love of horses. He’s quizzing you about the new mare in the stables, he hears you mention checking on her again after your shift because she’s been particularly temperamental since she was brought in from outside but you’ve developed a nice bond with her, she’s slowly becoming more trusting.

It occurs to Joel that everyone likes you - literally everyone, even Ellie and she was a tough nut to crack. You’re sweet, soft spoken yet confident. You’re always helping out where you can; on patrols, stable duty, in the communal garden, sometimes at the school and also here at the bar when Darius needs his shift covered.

You find good things on patrol and give them to Joel or Ellie before taking the rest for the community, so they get first pick of everything.

You’re just the sweetest thing.

Tommy sees you and beckons you with a friendly wave, you mutter a goodbye to Denton and pat his hand.

“Hey.” You hear your name called over the music and you turn as Tommy Miller grabs your attention as you scoop up two glasses and an empty bowl that once held nuts and dried berries from the table two away from his and Joel’s.

“Yes, Miller?” You patter over with your hands occupied, you sneak a look at his older sibling, sparing him a wink as a greeting, he smirks softly back.

“Has Darius got an other fuckin’ music or are we strictly limited to the sounds of 1985 tonight?” He questions and you laugh, shaking your head.

“You don’t like Dire Straits?”

“He doesn’t appreciate good music.” Joel interjects, shaking his head at Tommy.

“I do - but other music. Eminem or even fuckin’ Britney! Anything but this shit.” Tommy groans, tossing his head back.

“Keep talking smack about Dire Straits, Miller - and I’ll snitch to your wife about the fact you’ve switched patrols with Mark twice this week because you were too hungover to go.” You smile sweetly at Tommy, tilting your head.

“Snitches get stitches.” Tommy remarks playfully, not an ounce of malice in his dark brown eyes and your eyebrows rise, you beam back.

“That right? Well, troublesome men get barred for life.”

“Oooooh.” Joel chimes in, looking amusedly between you and his younger brother.

“Touché.” Tommy quips, folding his arms.

“Tell you what, next time I’m in, I’ll have a rummage out back and see if I can find you some Britney. Bless you.” You pinch his cheek as you walk past and he swats your hand, rubbing the spot while Joel laughs.

“You’re pushing your luck giving her lip, I’m not sure if you’re aware but this is the only operational bar in Wyoming.”

“Tell me about it.” He grumbles back, Joel shakes his head once more as the door behind Tommy on the back wall opens.

“Joeeeeeel?!” He hears yelled from close by, he looks up and sees Ellie dragging her sneakers across the floor, scouring the bar for him with her honey coloured eyes eagerly. She spots him within seconds, beaming and practically skipping over to him and Tommy in the corner. “There you are, I looked fucking everywhere for you.” She groans dramatically, throwing her head back. “I wanna go out, I’m bored shitless at home. There’s nothing for me to do and yes - I’ve done my school work.” She quickly adds.

“You done those quadratic equation questions we were going over last night?” He raises his eyebrow.

“Yep. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, though I did ask my teacher because I’m pretty sure you were figuring them out wrong. You were, by the way.” Joel puffs indignantly, rolling his eyes. Ellie spins to Tommy, the soles of her shoes squeaking. “Can I try that?” She’s laser focused on the bourbon swimming between globes of ice in Tommy’s glass.

“What have I said the last twenty times you’ve asked, El?” Tommy’s dark brows are high on his forehead, his mouth is twisted with hidden laughter. Ellie rolls her eyes with annoyance, sloping over to Joel now.

“No.” She huffs, swinging her lanky arms around Joel. She hums and rubs her face into his shoulder bone, resting there for a second before her attentions shifts comically fast. There’s a warmth that spreads through Joel every single time she does this, she’s so casual about it and he’s drawn the conclusion that it’s a teenage thing because Sarah was the same. There’s a sadness that blossoms too, a darkness that twists and anchors in his chest as he thinks of her and who she’d be now. He can’t dwell for too long, not now - he did that for too long.

At one dark point in time, human connection was not key to survival, hence why he always kept Tess at arms length and then referred to Ellie as cargo until one snowy day it became apparent she was no longer cargo when she was frenzied and panting in his arms, splattered with the blood of a predator and gasping like she was taking her last breath. The sound haunted him for a long time, all memories of Sarah hitting him like a freight train. He had to protect Ellie, the minute he drew her in - oh baby girl - and held her tightly, wrapped in his coat and clinging to him just as hard.

Ellie’s his kid now. She’s his. He’s hers. They’re a family. Ellie Williams Miller - that’s how she’s known now. It’s scrawled on her school books. The love he feels for this human tornado in sneakers is unmatched, the one thing he’s ever been truly good at has been restored and it’s a role he knows well; being a father.

Sure, this teenager that he’s raising is the furthest from bubblegum pink and Avril Lavigne she could be, she’s particularly jagged around the edges and does have the temperament of an unsocialised cat that will bite if you get too close.

He looks down at her, rubbing into him like she’s trying to get his smell on her because it’s comforting and she feels safe and feels his heart ready to burst.

Of course the sweet moment of affection is shattered when Ellie yawns directly into his fucking ear because why wouldn’t she?

He grunts when she bears most of her weight on his aching shoulders, leaning easily into him and twisting her small fingers into his flannel.

“So? Can I go or not?” She presses.

“Go where?” He prompts, raising his eyebrow.

“Toni’s from school. Her cat had kittens a few weeks ago and they’re starting to play. Five of them, Joel! That’s a lotta kittens!” Ellie enunciates, brown eyes wide and Joel can’t help the smile that graces his otherwise tired face.

“You mean a litter?” He corrects and Ellie pauses, frowning.

“Huh?”

“A bunch of kittens is a litter, Ellie.” He informs her and she somehow manages to frown even more, she makes a noise like she’s computing the new information.

“Yeah, whatever.” She mumbles, Tommy snorts in amusement. “So I can go see them?” She presses, shifting her weight again and Joel groans louder now, unhooking her arms from his shoulders with a quiet ‘don’t do that, baby’ that’s full of affection.

“Yes but you’re back at nine latest, okay? Nine. I’ll be waiting for you, the minute those street lamps turn on, you’re home.” Joel says, Ellie’s mouthing along to his instructions that he’s been laying out since Summer began and the evenings stretched longer. “Be good.” He speaks more softly now and she nods, he presses a kiss to the side of her head, her eyelashes flutter happily as the warmth blossoms in her too with the security that’s Joel Miller.

“Peesh. I’m always good. Bye Tommy!” She says excitedly, fist bumping him when it’s offered.

“See ya, squirt.” Tommy replies but before he’s even voiced his reply, Ellie’s hurrying away and knocking into a patron while waving to you on the way out of the door so hard it slams. Joel sighs, thinking she’s a literal hurricane.

The door hinge has barely stopped shaking before Tommy starts with the suggestions of suitors once more.

“What about Myleene?” Tommy proposes, Joel shakes his head quickly, downing the remainder of his drink.

“Too young.” He replies.

“She’s twenty five.”

“Too young.” He repeats firmer this time.

“Okay, fine. What about Michelle? She’s what forty? I was talking to her in the cobblers the other day, she’s definitely interested - mentioned something about making you a pie?”

“I’m good.” He grumbles looking down into his empty glass but quickly shifting his gaze to the bar, you’re leaning on your elbows, laughing heartily with a patron.

You look beautiful tonight - just like every other night. Your shoulders are sunkissed, your cheeks a little flushed and skin glowing from the summer humidity. He absorbs the way your hair tumbles down your shoulders and the way the thin straps of your tiered sundress slip down occasionally, only to be tugged back into place with dexterous fingers.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” Tommy jibes, Joel looks over with a firm scowl.

“What?” He asks, Tommy shakes his head.

“You can dream, brother.” Joel rolls his eyes, trying to act nonchalant. “She’s got a boyfriend anyway.” Tommy adds, Joel eyes him with full attention.

“A boyfriend?” He asks, trying to be sure he heard right.

“Yeah, overheard her talking to one of the girls in the garden a few days ago. Didn’t mention no names but she definitely said she was seein’ someone.” Tommy shrugged, Joel hummed with interest. “Anyway, it don’t matter because she’s way out of your league.”

“Thanks.” Joel retorts, sneaking one last look before focusing on the door behind Tommy, the one Ellie had not long barrelled in and out of just moments ago.

He wonders about the kittens she mentioned and gulps as he imagines her taking to one with its big eyes and soft paws, his mind is pulled back to a time in April when he’d come downstairs one morning to a sink full of tad poles she’d ‘rescued’ from birds out of the neighbours pond.

Basically, his girl can’t resist animals she deems too vulnerable to leave.

“Scared Ellie’s gonna come home with one of them kittens?” Tommy wonders, reading Joel’s mind.

“Terrified.”

********************************************

The sun is setting in bursts of burnt orange and marigold by the time he leaves Tommy to his own devices at the bar, he hazards a look around as he makes his way in the complete opposite direction to his and Ellie’s house.

He slinks around the back of the school house, slithering through the gap and walking up the winding path that leads to the stables. He climbs the short fence and hops to the other side, his boots kick up the dust from the dirt path and the crickets chirp beneath the skyline.

With one more look around, he opens to rear door to the stables and slips inside, shutting it softly behind him.

Immediately he hears the horses further down huff and puff, he can make out the swish of their tails hitting the walls as they munch on hay, there’s a neigh that is absolutely Shimmer kicking up a fuss about something.

He slopes around the riding gear and sees you leaning against the wall, hands behing your back. You grin.

“Took your time, cowboy. Was beginning to think you couldn’t take the hint and stood me up.”

“Never, honey.” Joel prowls towards you, ready to grab you. “Missed you.”

“You just saw me.”

“Not the same.” He yanks you close like a man starved, you’d shared company less than 24 hours ago but you greet and leave each other like it’s the last time you’ll ever be together. It’s the apocalypse affect, you know that, he does too

This arrangement had been going on for almost two months now, all started by a late night patrol together where you’d shared more about yourselves in an eight hour shift than both of your time in Jackson combined. There was an instant attraction, it was so easy to talk to one another and that’s what you did every single time you were partnered together and it became the highlight of your day. It started innocently and friendship had bloomed, then before you knew it you were sharing a rum laced thermos of tea with him in the bed of a truck and kissing him with reddened cheeks shortly thereafter. You’d first slept together in the same truck, just as dawn began to break. It was clumsy and quick but you couldn’t get enough of one another. You hadn’t cum but Joel promised next time would be better which lead to the question of next time? You’d been seeing each other most nights since.

Any chance you got, you were together. Nobody knew about you both, hence why Tommy was incessantly trying to hook Joel up with other women around town and jealousy burned as you listened in on their one sided conversations in the bar whenever you were covering for Darius.

You’d left the bar shortly before Joel had, waving farewell to him and Tommy, coming straight up here to check on the mare just as you’d told Denton. This was a usual spot to meet Joel, it wasn’t your first rodeo in the stables with him. It was the one place you could be alone after a certain time.

“Were you hiding from me, honey? Hmm?” He growls playfully, pulling you to him even though you were barely a millimetre away in the first place. You hum in response, so utterly lost in him. You’re nuzzling his throat, fisting his shirt, desperate for his attention. “God, you look so good today.” He murmurs, mouth finding yours. You moan softly, standing on your tip toes and kissing him in a way that makes his lungs and loins burn alike. His grey tinged moustache prickles your upper lip beautifully, his beard feels familiar beneath your soft hands.

He’s crowding you and guiding you backwards, kissing you hotly in a sense that makes your cunt throb eagerly. You moan into his mouth when he nips your bottom lip, squeezing the left cheek of your ass.

You love when he’s like this - playful and easy. He feels lightyears younger around you, it’s like the heaviness dissipates the moment he’s in your company. He loses himself in the way you smell, the way your hair feels when his fingers are entwined between the sun kissed strands, the way in which your eyes sparkle with mischief.

It’s easy to pull him towards the back of the stable, where the bales of hay were stacked created a nice wall of privacy. You’d been in here a couple of times with him, having gone as far to stash a flannel blanket in one of the cupboards to lay down as to protect you both from the cold floor and the prickle of loose hay.

Once behind the hay and seated on a bale with you in his lap, strong hands are moving the thin straps of your sundress down your shoulders, you momentarily break away from his mouth to aid the removal of your dress to your waist where Joel roughly bunches it up so that your underwear is now on show and so are your tits.

His eyes light up at your bare chest, like he hasn’t seen your breasts countless times before. One thing among many that you first noticed was that Joel Miller is a tit man through and through. His rough and work toughened hands cup them both gently before his tongue swirls around your left nipple.

“Joel.” You murmur, arching into him, rolling your hips into his. He’s hard already, age not affecting him like that in the slightest. He’s a hot blooded male, every single inch a man and that warms you to your core. You grab his hand, bringing it to the top of your panties and he slides it in without hesitation.

“Christ.” He curses, exploring your lips with his fingertips, gliding through the dewy wetness gathered there and coming back up for a split second to drag it over your clit roughly. You whimper, bucking into his hand. “Mmm, babydoll.” Joel huffs against your cheek in a hot pant, repeating the action.

“Need you so badly, Joel. Almost got started without you.” You confess.

“Fuck. You can’t- don’t say shit like that, honey.” He growls lowly, unbelievably hard beneath you. His fingers explore again, you aid his explorations by canting your hips just so.

Joel is eager to get things moving, he’s hard and frustrated, he has a beautiful woman in his lap and the perfect setting. He pulls his hand from your underwear, looking down to see the shine of you on him. He loses his mind when you take his hand and lead it to your mouth, sucking the tips of his index and middle finger as he watches with eyes blown wide; they look black instead of the earthy brown that sometimes melts into caramel or runny honey.

The minute you hum like a content cat, he has you lifted off his lap and braced against him. You squeal at the sudden shift, the ceiling looking closer than the floor but then he gently lays you back on the blanket and settles between your legs.

“Hey, who was Tommy trying to set you up with?” You blurt, Joel pauses.

“Cath.”

“She’s gay.” You frown.

“Michelle too.” He adds before diving down into your chest, pressing your breasts together, mouthing at the swell.

“I’m not sure you’re Michelle’s type, she’s a cougar apparently.” You remark, Joel ignores you in favour of sucking your nipples until they feel raw. “Why Michelle? I don’t understand why Tommy thinks she’s a good match for you.” You don’t know why this is coming up now, your mouth seems to have a mind of its own, the jealousy settling like lead in your stomach.

“He said she wants to make me a pie.” Joel pipes up, the confession half muffled.

“What kind of pie?” You ask, pulling his face from your tits. Joel groans frustratedly, looking up at you with eyes dark and deadly.

“I don’t know. Why does that even matter?”

“A cream pie probably.” You snarl under your breath, the jealousy swirling in the pit of your stomach like a rattled viper.

Joel laughs, shaking his head and coaxing your mouth back to his. “Gross.” He murmurs, kissing you softly and squeezing your hips as if to guide you back. “You know I only like your cream pies.” He jokes, this time you break into a smile.

“Now whose gross?” You snort, tugging his plain grey undershirt over his head and to the side. You run your palms over his chest and down to his softer stomach, digging your nails in as they drag a long his skin. Goosebumps erupt all over him.

Joel is softer in his older age but strong too, years of walking different terrain, heavy lifting and fighting have made him lean also.

You hum contentedly, tracing over those familiar scars that have been made in the 20 years since the world imploded.

“He said you were out of my league.” Joel suddenly admits, resting his hands on your spread knees. You frown up at him. “Tommy said you were out of my league.”

“Tell Tommy he doesn’t know shit.” You retort with an eye roll, grabbing Joel by his belt and yanking him forward. “I like you, Joel. Fuck what anyone else thinks, it’s not anyone’s business who we choose to be with.” You say softly now, kissing your way up his chin to his lips. “I like you.” You affirm again, Joel kisses you tenderly, weaving his hand into your hair as you moan quietly.

“Well, I like you too.” He says, kissing you with so much passion yet so much tenderness all at the same time as you fumble to unbuckle his belt. You yank it apart, tugging open the button and prying the worn denim apart with the hiss of his zipper.

He barely lets you wrap a hand around him over his boxers before he has both your wrists pinned above your head, you make a sad whine but all disappointment quickly dissipates when he shuffles down the length of your torso and yanks your underwear down so fast you feel the material leave a friction burn. He grabs your thighs and then manoeuvres your legs by the backs of your knees, you like where this seems to be going.

Your spine curves against the hard floor when his mouth makes that first contact, he starts slow with a lick up the length of you, then he lightly suckles your lips and gently licks over the hood of your clitoris.

“Joel.” You murmur, twisting the blanket beneath your fingertips, scrunching it and bitting down on your lower lip as he continues his gentle assault on your clit, the rubber toes of your hi tops dig into his ribs almost painfully.

His thumb comes up to gently push the hood of your clit back, the sensation of his tongue directly stimulating the nerve causes you to gasp and wind one hand down into his hair, you tug and he groans against you.

You’re transported back to one of the first times you’d been intimate together after sleeping together in the truck.

For some reason, it had shocked you that Joel Miller ate pussy like a champ. The first time he’d gone down on you - behind the bar just after you’d blown him - you’d prepared yourself for dissatisfaction and disappointment, only it never came. Joel had licked into you with such ferocity and precision that you’d almost keened over.

He’d made you cum so quickly that you’d barely had time to process the first swipe of his tongue on your clitoris and the climax that followed minutes later.

He’d looked up at you, moustache and beard slick with his eyes wide; ‘I forgot how much I enjoyed doing that’ he’d panted while you squeaked back in shock.

Now, as you live in the moment, you feel that tingle of pleasure building but you don’t want to cum without him inside of you. As much as it pains you, you tug on his hair, urging him back up.

“Wanna cum with you.” You pant when he looks up with dazed brown eyes, frowning a little. He seems to accept that and sits up, shucking his jeans and boxers down over his ass with the help of your clumsy hands. “Lay back.” You demand, he does so and you move to take his place.

You throw your legs over his and settle above his lap, he’s got one arm behind his head and watches as you take him in your first and tease yourself with the flushed tip of him. He breathes in sharply through his nose as you do it again before notching him at the site of your heat, you steady yourself and begin to sink down.

“Fuck me.” Joel sighs, closing his eyes briefly because he’s so sure he’s in heaven. The sensation of your wet heat surrounding him never gets old, he’d forgotten how much he loved sex before meeting you.

“You’re so big, Joel.” You whimper, stroking his ego deliciously and he hates to be such a guy but the compliment goes straight to his dick.

“Fuck, honey. Take what you want, I’m yours - just fuck me.” He begs as you slowly begin to move, your nails scrape across his torso as you fall into an easy rhythm of rolling your hips into his. “You’re so fucking perfect, baby.” He babbles, looking up and admiring the curve of your back and the way your tits bounce as you ride him.

“Mmm.” You whine, picking up the pace and throwing your head back which exposes your jugular and Joel just wants to sink his teeth into you because you truly look good enough to eat.

“Come here, babydoll.” He urges, pulling you down so you’re chest to chest. Your peer at him with pretty doe eyes, your lashes flutter as they shut to kiss him deeply, your tongue swipes his and you taste the tang of yourself on him. You moan louder when he manages to plant his boots on the floor and thrust up into you roughly, tangling his hand in your hair to keep you pressed against him.

It’s so hot in the stables, you’re both sticky and warm. But with your pretty moans and keens filling the air, Joel manages to easily forget the irritation from the heat.

You push against his chest to sit up and Joel grabs your hips, guiding you easily and you feel yourself getting close but you can’t achieve orgasm through penetration alone.

You brace one hand on his thigh behind you, tipping your head back as the pleasure becomes almost too much to handle. Your hips roll in an easy rhythm, his cock head hitting your G spot perfectly and you whine when the hand on your left hip moves ever so slightly until Joel was able to thumb your clit. He knows you so well.

“Oh f - fuck. You feel so good, you’re so good - fuck.” You babble, your hips moving faster.

“Jesus christ.” Joel huffs, throwing his head back against the hard floor, biting his bottom lip hard to stave off his orgasm. You feel so good wrapped around him; wet and snug, like crushed velvet.

He knows he can’t stay like this, he’s too close to finishing and he can sense you’re not quite there yet despite being edged so he makes the conscious decision to hold you and flip you both over with a nimbleness he didn’t know he possessed in his older age.

You stutter out a choked moan, arching into his strong hands. You drag your nails down his toned back, leaving a little spatter of blood in the red tracks.

Joel hisses when your nails puncture the skin on the globes of his ass, somehow trying to pull him closer and push him away at the same time.

“Where?” He asks, nodding downwards as he fights off his climax.

“Inside.” You reply without hesitation. You’d counted your cycle days, marking in a blank notebook the day number and your symptoms, pretty accurately guessing your fertile window and probable ovulation day by cervical mucus alone. You were four days from your period being due, it was safe.

“You sure?” He hesitates, brow furrowed hard with concentration, he’s a stroke away from finishing. He knows better than most people to not trust the pull out method and he knows the importance of contraception but he still ended up a Dad before he hit his mid twenties. Pushing sixty he’s still playing a dangerous game but so far, neither of you had gotten burnt.

“Yeah.” You gasp, fingers on your clit rubbing faster. You groan suddenly and twist into him, making pretty little whimpers and purring. He groans too, thrusting in hard once, twice and then three times. You feel his cock stiffen and twitch, then the pulse of subtle warmth of his cum spreading inside and aiming for your cervix. He works himself through it, you push in return as the aftershocks slow to a flat line.

Joel heaves a breath, resting on his forearms as you lazily kiss his neck in satisfaction and rapture. You sit there for a minute, basking in the afterglow until Joel grows too stiff and has to withdraw from you slowly, kneeling up between your legs to pull his boxers and jeans back up but he leaves them unbuttoned and his belt loose.

You don’t miss the primal look in his eyes when they drift to between your legs, he can see his cum leaking and the pearlescent finish it leaves on your lips. His cock twitches, perhaps if he was younger he could go for another round but alas, he settles next to you on the blanket, pulling you to his chest and cushioning your head with a strong bicep.

“I think that might have been the best time yet.” You pant breathlessly, looking up at the ceiling and seeing the evening sky through the cracks of wood.

“Maybe one day we can do it in an actual bed, I’m not sure how much more of these places my back can take.” Joel jokes, you giggle and turn into him, listening to the rapid pace of his heartbeat as it settles, a perfect mirror of your own.

“Not bad for an old timer.” You tease, giggling when he growls and squeezes your hip.

“Was patrol okay today?” Joel questions you, you nod lazily against him. “You come across anything?” Now you speak, leaning up to peer down at him.

“A couple of runners. We shot them in that abandoned gas station near the entrance to the offices off the trail. I think they were probably people passing through, one was infected on the journey and turned, then bit the other.” Joel hums, rubbing your lower back and hip. “I have some things for Ellie I found, by the way. I’ll drop them over tomorrow. Nothing crazy, just some things I thought she needed.” You say between kisses down Joel’s chest and sternum, your delicate fingers tracing out old battle scars.

“What like?” He asks, catching your hand as it reaches his happy trail, bringing it to his lips instead where he presses tender kisses to your fingertips.

“Pyjamas, underwear and some toiletries. Oh! And get this, a new casette tape for her walkman.”

“What tape?”

“Teardrops.” You grin.

“Womack and Womack? She’s gonna love that.” Joel says, laying back and smiling at the ceiling of the stables, humming the song in his head. “Fuck, I haven’t heard that song in - jesus - years.” He’s frowning, contemplating lost time, the whole concept of time evades him, it never used to at the start but now? It’s one big jumble, his time is defined by events and not a calendar.

“She still playing that one you got her on repeat?” You wonder.

“Yeah.”

“What was it again?”

“Bowie. Heroes.” Joel replies.

“Nice.” You nod.

As you lie there together in an easy silence, content to be together in the quiet solace of the stables, Joel’s mind wanders back to his earlier conversation with his younger brother:

“Hey, er - Tommy actually said something else earlier.” Joel winces at how awkward he sounds and you huff loudly, ready to hear what other dumbass thing he’s said. “He said he heard you say you have a boyfriend or that you were seein’ someone.”

You sit up, frowning down at Joel.

“Okay…” You reply hesitantly, uneasy now. “Am I not seeing you?” You frown.

“No - no! It’s… that came out wrong. I just meant - “ Joel grumbles, covering his face momentarily while you try to will your stomach from not sinking. “I don’t know, I just wanted to know if you meant me.”

“Seriously, Joel? This conversation is going so well.” You say dryly, utterly unimpressed.

“No! Oh my god! I can’t do this.” He groans, realising his mistake. “I’m sorry, that came out so wrong.” Joel apologises, you snort.

“Look Joel, I was talking to Mrs Patterson in the garden and she was telling me about her late husband, saying how lovely he was and how men just aren’t like that anymore. She asked if I’d found anyone and I let it slip that I was seeing someone, I didn’t mention any names and I can totally understand why you’re freaked when we haven’t even had that conversation ourselves. I shouldn’t have assumed this was anything more than sex, I’m sorry.” You annunciate, warm in the cheeks.

“You want to just have sex?” Joel is sat up now, matching your frazzled expression.

“If that’s what you want.” You shrug, taking an interest in your cuticles. A large hand lays over yours, squeezing. You shift your focus to his knuckles instead, tracing out the scars.

“Honey, look at me.” He urges softly, you hesitantly meet his eyes. “I think somewhere we’ve miscommunicated.”

“How so?” You press.

“Look… it’s been a long time since I’ve done this, I’m a little rusty. I’m sorry if I haven’t been clear about what we are or what I want us to be, I kinda just assumed you knew and yeah, that’s real shitty of me.” He says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “But I wanna be exclusive with you, honey. I mean, I have Ellie to think about so we’ll need to go slow just so I can ease her into the change. Is that okay?” He whispers, pressing his forehead to yours.

“That’s more than okay, Joel. I completely understand, I don’t want to spook Ellie either.” You confirm, Joel let’s out a relieved sigh.

“Good - good, okay. We’ll figure it out, baby.” He assures you, nuzzling his nose against yours and kissing you softly.

It’s easy to lose yourself in Joel Miller, you’re swept up in the gruff voice and strong arms, the softness beneath his outer shell reserved for those closest to him.

You’re kissing him back in earnest, he’s reclining to lay back down with you on top of him and you’re sure this could lead to round two or at least head from either one of you, maybe even both.

However, the moment is spoiled when you hear voices creeping closer to the stables. You both stiffen and wait, looking at each other with eyes opened wide.

The voices are getting closer and you decipher it’s two sets, it’s not made clear who it is until they’re walking behind the stables and you can see their shadows slink between the thin gaps in the planks.

It’s Ellie and Tommy.

You and Joel scramble, you yank your dress back over your breasts and pull the hem of it over your ass. Your panties are on the floor and you narrowly dodge Joel’s elbow as he hastily buckles his jeans back up just in time for the door around the corner to open with a shriek of the hinges.

“What if he’s gone out on patrol without telling me? Or maybe he’s swapped with someone and gone hunting? I know I’m back way earlier than he said but he said he’d be home! Do you think he’s left the gate? What if he’s hurt? What if - “ Ellie begins to ramble and Tommy sighs.

“Kiddo, stop worrying. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere, let’s look at the whiteboard and see if his name’s on there. I highly doubt he’s swapped shifts and he wouldn’t leave without telling you, he’s gotta be around here some…” Tommy’s reassurance comes to a stop when he round the corner of the hay bale wall and abruptly stops, staring at you and Joel with as much shock as you return.

Ellie slams into his back and he wobbles but his gaze never falters.

“What the fuck, man!” Ellie exclaims, shoving Tommy and stepping around his statue like form but also freezing too.

You look between them both, trying to formulate an excuse but Joel shoving his t-shirt on, the fact your clothes are crumpled and there’s absolutely hay in your tousled hair says it all.

Your panties are shoved behind your back out of view.

“Well I’ll be damned, you’re the guy she’s seein’!.” Tommy snorts, looking between you both. Joel growls, yanking on his flannel while Ellie manually retrieves her jaw from the floor.

“What the fuck is this?” She asks, looking between you and Joel. “You have a girlfriend? What the fuck, dude? You didn’t say anything!” She fumes, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Look, it’s complicated and new.” He says, which placates her slightly. She stares at you again and you see the betrayal hidden behind a scowl, she looks at Joel again.

“Fine. I guess this isn’t that bad, it could be worse - we could of caught you with Esther.”

“That’s true.” Tommy nods, pointing at Ellie, she nods back.

“Esther?” You question, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, Tommy’s neighbour, she totally fancies Joel.” Ellie tells you. “You should fight her.”

“No, she doesn’t and stop shit stirring.” Joel warns Ellie, she hides a smirk which tells you she’s winding Joel up.

“I could take Esther.” You say, playing along, Ellie’s eyes brighten with mischief.

“Nobody’s fighting no one.” Joel settles, you’re all silent for a millisecond and then Tommy throws in his two cence.

“You could take Esther.” He agrees.

“Enough about Esther, please!” Joel begs, beside himself.

“This is fucking embarrassing, Joel. What the fuck do you expect us to do? It’s awkward!” Ellie complains, Tommy nods in agreement, you do too.

“Yeah? Try being where we’re stood, kid.” He retorts.

Ellie kinda has to resist the urge to throw up in her mouth because Joel has sex which is so horrifying that she almost can’t bare to look at him but she’s equally happy for him and utterly disgusted, she swallows back a retch.

“Fine, whatever. I’m very happy for you and my da - Joel.” Ellie bursts and corrects herself at the last minute, you don’t miss the hitch in Joel’s breathing but this is not the time for that discussion. “I’m willing to negotiate a price for the emotional damage you’ve both caused me by lying to me, sneaking around and also having sex in front of my horse.” She lists.

“My horse too!” Tommy adds.

“And Tommy’s horse too, Crash and Shimmer didn’t want to see your bare ass.” Ellie continues and for some reason Joel knows exactly where this is going, so he braces himself.

“Name your price.” He bites, Ellie looks at him with a levelling glare, it’s getting hard not to laugh when you see Tommy observing like he’s watching a mafia deal go down.

“A kitten.” Ellie reveals.

He fucking knew it.

#joel miller smut #joel miller x reader #the last of us #joel miller fic #joel miller #the last of us fic #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller one shot #pedro pascal fanfiction

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blue-ink-pearls · 2 months

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Fig Isn't Meant to Be Cassandra's Paladin, Bucky Applebees Is

As most of us have realized since Ankarna's original domain was revealed, Fig is clearly supposed to be her paladin. The archdevil of rebellion united with the goddess of conviction and justice would be an incredible force for fighting wrongs, for inspiring revolutions, and creating true positive change.

But Fig wasn't wrong that Cassandra would be immensely helped by having a paladin swear themselves to her. Even though Kristen is an extraordinary cleric, she's only one person.

When we first meet Bucky Applebees in Junior Year, he is filled with doubt and uncertainty. He's a paladin of Helio, the same religion (cult) that Kristen fled from and he has been forced to take on the role of protector to his younger brothers that Kristen once held as the eldest daughter. He hasn't told his parents about the gold Kristen gave them, he thinks he's going to hell for lying, he misses his sister but thinks she's living in sin (maybe?), and he's curious about what beer tastes like (but never mind, he doesn't want to know. He bets it would be great. For sinners, would love it.).

When Cassandra dies/is kidnapped, Kristen first feels a connection to her goddess again when she thinks of how her doubt and uncertainty led to her escaping that life and finding freedom from Helio and her parents.

Ally: "I think she spent so much time trapped and feeling, like, super wrong, that doubt and mystery actually feel like a really beautiful escape, and more true." Brennan: "The concept of escape hits you. And for a moment you hear (clicking). And all of the locks on the windows and all of the locks on the doors of this room just open slightly. A little bit of divine magic flows through you....[W]hen you thought of escape, you thought of, yeah, embracing the unknown gives you the strength to leave a bad situation. Escape."

Bucky, Bricker, and Cork are still trapped and now that Brennan's brought Bucky back into the story, I don't think the season is going to end with Kristen leaving her little brothers in an abusive home life when there's every possibility for them to find safety and acceptance at Morded Manor.

I believe that if Kristen is able to help her brothers get away from their parents and the Church of Helio*, then Bucky is going to need a new god to follow. Why wouldn't Bucky, a scared, uncertain 14 year-old kid, not follow a goddess in the image of his older sister, whose very essence is that "whenever you're in the dark, I'm here holding your hand."

Kristen has always had a hard time doing the work of growing her church, of telling people about Cassandra. I think she'd find it easy to tell her siblings all about Cassandra when she's trying to help them find enough doubt and uncertainty in what they've known all their lives, that they'll have the courage to escape too.

*Also, there's definitely going to be further exploration of the Church of Sol, and by extension the Church of Helio, as they were 100% involved in what happened to Ankarna and Kristen is probably going to try to keep Bobby Dawn away from Bucky, just as she absolutely rejected Buddy Dawn becoming her brother's mentor.

#fantasy high #fhjy spoilers #kristen applebees #fig faeth #bucky applebees #fantasy high junior year #fhjy

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rrickgrrimes8 · 1 year

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Your Bear Part II

summary: you are found (part I)

Joel Miller x daughter!reader, Tommy Miller x niece!reader

warnings: angst, reunion, violence, infected, happy ending :))

not sure if i like this as much as the first part but i hope yall do. i just want to thank you all for the response to my past few fics (especially your bear). its been unreal. i stopped writing for a while and these were my first ones back so this was an insane response to it! thank you so much for your love and appreciation it really does mean a lot!

also! i tagged basically everybody who left a comment asking for part 2 - sorry if thats annoying idk ive never done a taglist before. thanks for the comments tho :)

masterlist

request guidelines (new)

requests are open

word count: 2.3k

22 Years Ago...

The world around you screamed for help. People ran around, skin on fire, missing massive chunks.

You wailed as they passed, hands tightened around your ears. You just wanted to find help. You wanted to save Sarah. This wasn’t what you expected.

“D-ad,” You cried, hiccupping, “D-addy!” You missed his touch. You missed his voice and his face. His laugh. You just wanted your daddy.

But which way had you come from?

You stood, idle, in an alley way you didn’t recognize, a man lay a few feet beside you. Blood seeped from his neck, running to kiss the tips of your shoes.

He twitched.

Your breath caught in your throat, the hair on your neck stood high. “D-daddy,” You whimpered, quieter than before, “Please.”

He looked at you now. His face grotesque, the shape of jagged teeth marked his greyish skin. White, stringy tendrils extended out of his mouth as he crawled to you – his legs being left behind as he did.

You screamed when his nails scratched against your shoe. In the panic, your bear fell from your grasp, landing in the bloodbath.

You tried backing up from the monster, but his hand stopped you. His claws captured your ankle.

You didn’t realise you were falling until your back hit the wet ground. You let out a shriek as he trailed up your body. “P-please,” You sobbed, “D-ad! D-addy!”

The creature didn’t even flinch. He opened his jaws further, searching for your small neck, ready to mark you just as he had been.

But a shot sounded off and his weight settled on your petite body.

A strong force tugged him off you, the same force pulling you into their arms. You wailed, fighting against the stranger’s grip.

“It’s okay, sweetgirl, you’re okay,” She told you, rushing you away from the scene, “You’re going to be okay; I promise.”

You didn’t know what to make of Jackson. It was nice, you supposed. Weird though. It felt like what you imagined before felt like. Not that you remembered much. You remembered how loud cars were, how the TV remote worked, how to strum a guitar.

You remembered your sisters voice, her hair, how smart she sounded even if you didn’t understand a word.

You wished you remembered your dad. He was a blur to you. Like you had missed a chapter of a book and now a new character had no face. You remembered his laugh though. It was sweet, slow. Like a lullaby. You recalled being held to his chest and feeling the vibrations.

You wished you remembered your dad.

Sarah had settled in quickly, at least that’s what you thought. She was happy to be around people other than her mom (you tried not to internalise it all that much).

In the week since you arrived Sarah had grown attached to the strangers that took you under their wing. You still weren’t so sure. But when Sarah made grabby hands to the older man and all she got was a dejected smile in response a part of you hurt. You didn’t understand why.

They’d kept their distance or rather he had. Ellie came round every day. She loved Sarah. She loved you, even if, like Joel, you were a little rough around the edges.

But for a reason unbeknownst to you Joel couldn’t be in a room with you for longer than five minutes. You didn’t let it bother you too much. You couldn’t. You didn’t want to make trouble and get the pair of you kicked out or worse separated.

Ellie had come to you earlier that day, smile wide, cheeks rosy. She had a glint in her eyes, a plan. One you really didn’t want to know about nor be a part of.

Excitedly, she told you about the couple who lived across from her and Joel - his brother. Tommy and Maria and the somewhat new addition of Lily, their little girl. Ellie had told them about you - although missing out some of the major minor details. They agreed to have you over she had said. And despite the age difference between Lily and Sarah the older girl was excited to meet her.

So, there you stood, Sarah shielded from the cold into your chest. You raised your hand awkwardly, knocking a little harder than you expected.

A woman opened the door. She was beautiful, smiley, friendly. You couldn’t tell if that was a façade or not. That made the nerves in your stomach stiffen. “C’mon in, sweetheart,” Maria ushered you inside after she confirmed it was you.

You forced a smile for her, “Nice place.”

Maria nodded, looking around the room proudly, “Thank you.” She urged you to take a seat, letting you know her husband, Tommy, was just dressing Lily.

“So, you’re younger than I thought you would be,” She confessed, “Not to be rude or anything.”

“No, it’s okay,” You cleared your throat, sitting opposite her, Sarah making a home on your lap, “I’m 27.”

“Wow,” She smiled, “And what about her?”

You stroked the top of Sarah’s head, where her hair had slightly begun to grow, “Couple weeks now.”

Maria shifted ever so slightly in her seat, unspoken sympathy in her eyes, “And the father?” You stilled, escaping her gaze you looked towards the coffee table, taking inventory of the odd books they had. “I’m sorry,” She spoke quietly, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“N-no,” You cleared your throat sheepishly, “There isn’t... her dad did what he had to.” You still remembered his screams.

“I’m sorry,” Maria frowned, hands soothing over her jeans, wishing Tommy would appear to aid the situation.

“Don’t be,” You said earnestly, “He got us here, right? One way or another...” Maria wasn’t sure you really meant that. The lost look in your eyes told her what she needed to know. As did your shaking knee. You’d give anything to have him back. She bit her lip, somewhat guessing the rest.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” A males voice cut through the tension, “Wouldn’t stop squirming for the life of me.”

Maria chuckled opening her arms to grab Lily, introducing you as she did. He blanched hearing that name. He near screamed seeing that face - your face but so much different, so much more mature.

Tommy blinked a few times, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. He whispered your name carefully, as if you were a wild animal, prone for violence.

Maria gave him an odd look, moving Lily over to you and Sarah. “And this is our sweetheart, Lily,” She told you as Lily began fussing relentlessly in her arms, desperate to touch the baby.

“Baby,” She cooed.

“Yeah, that’s right,” You mused, croakily, inching closer to the pair, “This is Sarah, Lily.”

Tommy wanted to throw up. He felt it dancing up his throat, teasing his uncertainty. He felt stuck. He truthfully didn’t know what to do or what to say. Should he straight out ask you? You didn’t seem to recognise him though. Maybe it was a clone? A doppelgänger? Should he run over to Joel’s for safety away from this confusion?

Joel.

Did Joel know? He had to know. He needed to know.

“Tommy what’s wrong?” Maria called to him. He choked a little, eyes trailing over to the plaque that watched over their new life. The plaque he knew had no place for your name. He knew it. You were here.

Maria followed his gaze, a weird feeling in her chest as she saw her husband so unlike himself. She read Joel’s daughter’s name. Sarah. Was he freaked out because they shared the same name?

She gulped - it wasn’t just the baby whose name was shared but yours too it seemed. You couldn’t be, right? No- You died. Joel was so sure you died and despite all Tommy had told her, all the hope he had for you, she always found herself on Joel’s side. Funny that. Any other situation she would’ve made a point to oppose the eldest Miller.

But now... You were just five. You couldn’t have survived on your own. You wouldn’t have had a life in this world.

But again, hadn’t you said you were 27?

“Go,” She told him, firmly, “Make sure.” Tommy nodded, failing to hide his tears as you watched in confusion and darted out of the room with a sense of urgency that unsettled your stomach.

“Is everything okay?”

Maria’s attention snapped back to you, “Fine... everything’s fine.”

A disconcerting feeling swam under your skin and a sudden resolve to flee hit you. “I- We should probably go,” You mumbled, bringing Sarah to your chest once more.

“Wait, please,” She attempted, “Just wait.”

You shook your head, apologising softly before rushing out of the house. You caught eyes with two men across the road - Joel and Tommy. They stood on his porch, seemingly arguing with each other.

You spotted Ellie watching through the window, a guilty look on her face - what had she done?

The brothers stared at you as you left the home. Their eyes didn’t leave you for a second. Tommy called your name, desperately but when he moved to catch up with you, Joel pulled him back.

He clenched his jaw as you rushed back to your home, out of sight. “She was my niece, Joel,” He scowled, “My fuckin’ family too.”

Joel shook his head, shaking off the shame Tommy was trying to force on him.

“You don’t get to keep this kind of thing from me,” He yelled, “You- You are unbelievable, Joel.”

“Unbelievable?” He mocked, “Is it so unbelievable that I didn’t want to advertise to the whole goddamn town that she was my daughter when, hell, I don’t even know if she really is!”

“Bullshit,” Tommy spat, “You’re not stupid. You knew. Of course, you fucking knew. You knew like how I knew. One look. That’s all it woulda took you. No… you knew. You were just too scared - like always. And that, your selfishness, takes us all down with you.”

“Fuck you,” He grunted, storming back inside.

“Christ,” Tommy mumbled, turning back to his own home.

You had a baby.

You were here, alive.

You steered clear from the group for a little while afterwards. The whole situation made you heart clench. It felt like a game that you didn’t know the rules of, but they did. All of them did and they were careful not to reveal anything. But you wanted to know - you needed to.

You knew it involved Joel or at least you felt like it had to. The way he looked at you when you first met. The way he spoke. The way he shook. It had to be him. He had to be the answer.

You gave up on your attempts to avoid them when you came to that realisation.

The same realisation that brought you here, at his front door in the middle of the night. You shyly knocked a few times - no response. You repeated the action with a little more force, a little too much. The door creaked open on the contact, but no one came to greet you.

You sucked in a harsh breath as you debated entering. The door was open right? Fair game? Silently you forced yourself to step inside.

Their home was dark - one lamp lighting a whole room. You frowned looking over to it. Someone had to be here, right? Where else would they be so late?

And then you saw him. Joel. The contradictory man. He was asleep. His body was sprawled all over the couch, an empty bottle of God knows what lay beside him as did what looked like... a bear?

Shakily, you took a step forward, his name dying in your throat as you saw the bear in a better light.

It was... yours.

Why would Joel have your bear? The bear that when you were a child was essentially an extension of you. The bear that chased away all the bad dreams. The bear that your dad had gotten you - your dad.

You gulped - the bear you hadn’t seen since the night you lost everything. Since the night you almost lost your life.

Joel shifted in his sleep, pulling the bear close to his chest, careful of its head as if it was a baby. Your eyes burned. A gasp escaped your lips. You could read the chapter now. You can see that character’s face - your fathers face.

Different but the same.

“D-dad,” You whispered before you could stop yourself and backed away.

Your back met the door, slamming it shut. The man jolted awake, alarmed eyes frantically searching the room before landing on you. They grew small, weaker, like he wasn’t all the way there.

Joel watched you closely, taking note of your falling tears, he spoke your name. You choked on a sob, hand clasping over your mouth. “Baby,” He shot up before he had a moment to think and approached you.

You didn’t flinch away, like he expected. You didn’t stop crying either. You studied him now. The wrinkles. The scars. The grey hairs. The same look in his eyes.

“How long have you known?”

He flinched at that. Your voice so familiar, so broken. “Since we met,” He didn’t have to try too hard to understand what you were getting at. He felt shameful, though. This shouldn’t have been the way, right? This felt too casual, too unknown.

You wanted to ask more, yell at him. Beg him to tell you why it wasn’t the first thing that he told you. But you didn’t. Instead you put one foot in front of the other, until you were mere inches from him. “Dad,” You shuddered.

He hadn’t realised how much he missed being called that, how much he missed being your dad.

“Babygirl,” He took your face in his hands, “My baby grown up.” He watched you closely, tears welling up, “I’m so sorry, babygirl. I’m sorry.”

You shook your head, slamming yourself into his chest, “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“Oh, baby,” Joel wrapped his arms around you, hand cradling the back of your head.

“With me, babygirl,” He smiled for moment before letting it fall, “Don’t go away again, babygirl, never go away again.”

You smiled into his chest, whimpering softly, “I won’t, dad, I promise.”

@meli-blacky @zaweashtonslover @3zae-zae3 @bbciwp @cloudroomblog @white-wolf-buckaroo @iguessweallcrazyithinktho @myboyfriendisbigfoot @mell-bell @hummusxx @sleepdeprived-barelyalive @dilfsaremyfavourite @specialagentmonkey @slutforstark @lizlil @unsaiduglywords @ellaprime7 @aphrcdites @zynbsblog @imonmykneessir @mandowhatnow @tomorrowseverything @livelovemusic0996 @icarusthefoolish @b-bloop @leemirna @hexaecana @littleshadow17 @sgt-morgan @adorreeabbie @abbiesxox @leviackrmnss @eternallyvenus @hai-kbai @daydreamerblues @abbyrxx12-blog @montenegroisr @chxosunbound @shqwqrma @littlemissporter @wonwoosthetic @riri53 @softsakusas @prettysbliss @katiemars @kik51199 @stupidthoughtsinwriting @ellele19 @newavenger @19891213 @dgraysonss

#joel miller imagine #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller angst #joel miller x daughter!reader #tommy miller x platonic!reader #tommy miller x niece!reader #ellie williams x platonic!reader #the last of us imagine #joel miller x platonic!reader

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kurogane2512 · 28 days

Note

Hello! I have a story idea but idk if it's thirst or not. I honestly don't know the difference between thirst and a normal fic ;-;

But here:

G!P Reader x Signora

Reader is one of the adopted children of Arlecchino. Signora visits the children with gifts from time to time and while others are afraid of her, reader is the only one seeking and looking forward to her visits. Reader would always tell her she loves her and wants to marry her in the future and Signora would laugh and just say yes thinking it was just child talk. Time skip to when the reader grows up and she starts actively pursuing Signora (Signora doesn't age and all so :3). Signora would act annoyed but on the inside she gets all flustered whenever the Reader flirts with her or gives her gifts. Signora eventually gives in and gives love another chance. Ultimately leading to a more intimate relationship.

Sorry if it's a long read. I got this idea because of that one Arlecchino voice line🕺

Idk if this is thirst worthy or not. Feel free to walk past this if it's not💙

Hii, it's okay anon I don't mind the request~

Ngl this would be.... questionable, to say the least, if it was any other situation. But as you said since Signora doesn't age, or is at least already way older than most mortals, it's honestly so sweet to think about. It's like a dream come true, imagine the random pretty lady you had a crush on in childhood and grew up to love 🥹

18+ CONTENT

Game: Genshin Impact

Characters: La Signora x g!p reader

Type: Fluff and smut

Long fic like really long, I honestly loved the scenario so I wanted to write it properly. Also note I haven't done Arlecchino's SQ so apologies if some stuff is inaccurate.

You were 10 years old when you first laid eyes on her, the most beautiful woman you had ever seen. She walked inside the mansion with her heels clinking, a big cape dragging behind her, long shining blonde hair that reached her hips with 2 rose buns tied above, a small butterfly clip on one side of her hair, a strange embroidered mask that covered her right eye and cheek, red lips and her free eye that scanned the surroundings.

You were spellbound as soon as she walked in, and so were the other children as they excitedly sprinted towards her to greet her. It wasn't every day you had such visitors; this woman gave an aura of authority and elegance as if you can't just say anything to her but the children clearly didn't catch that and were more excited to meet this new visitor. However, the woman's reaction caught everyone off guard.

"Do you teach them nothing, Knave? They don't even know the Harbingers they'll be assisting when they grow up, much less know the appropriate manners when in their presence." the woman harshly spoke with her eye squinted as she glared at each of the children in front of her, making them flinch in cowardice.

"....I know what and how to teach them plenty well, Fair Lady. You need not concern yourself with the affairs of the House." your 'Father' replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Hmph, such little brats will join Tsaritsa's Army? I better see them grow up to be capable Fatui soldiers, otherwise I'll take matters in my own hands once they come to me."

The woman declared then walked further inside and sat upon the sofa, draping one leg over the other with her arms crossed over her chest. The children stared at her in silence and hesitated to say anything then she looked at them again and spoke.

"Well? Am I not even going to be shown some basic hospitality?"

Your 'Father' sighed then instructed some of the children to bring over tea and snacks as prepared earlier. All this time, you were hiding behind a corner and silently observing the commotion but dared not get closer. Your 'Father' noticed you standing and called out to you.

"Y/n, go and assemble the younger ones here. I'll introduce everyone to the esteemed guest."

You nodded and went away to do as ordered, you gathered all the younger children of the house and had them assemble in the living room alongside the previous children.

"Well then, let me introduce everyone. The guest in front of you is La Signora, the Fair Lady, the 8th of the Fatui Harbingers and my colleague. You may call her Lady Signora or ma'am. Now, give your greetings to her."

"Welcome to the House of the Hearth, Lady Signora. We are honoured to be in your presence." all the children spoke together in an almost mechanical tone, this was a common greeting you all had practiced to be said whenever a guest came- which had been quite rare hence you were not used to it but still spoke flawlessly.

"Hmph, that's better now. Go on, tell me your names." Signora spoke and turned to face you all in anticipation. The children spoke out their names one by one and Signora surprisingly listened intently as if she was remembering everyone's. It was eventually your turn and you hesitated for a moment then softly spoke.

"Y-Y/n.... nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Hmm, that timidness won't do for someone your age. Have more confidence befitting a Fatui."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" you said with a bow and everyone around you chuckled at your state. You hated experiencing this, the laughing and mockery from others younger than you. Soon everyone had told their names and you all were dismissed as Signora proceeded to drink her tea and your 'Father' had to keep her company out of obligation. You had barely turned around the corner of the room when you heard the two of them talk and decided to listen in.

"What is your intention for coming here unannounced, Fair Lady?"

"My, are you also going to uphold Crucabena's rule of prohibiting us Harbingers from visiting?"

"I simply wish to know if you have been sent here by the Doctor, and if the two of you have some hidden motives. You must be aware of 'Mother's' previous dealings with him."

"Hmph, I have no connections with him. He does what he pleases and I do not barge in. My area of responsibilities is different."

"I will trust your word then. But that still doesn't answer my first question; what are you here for?"

"You have a knack for putting your nose in other people's business, don't you, Knave?"

"I believe the business here is completely connected with me and I cannot be excluded. So yes, I will question you until you answer."

You could tell your 'Father' wasn't pleased with her visit, especially since it was unannounced. You too wanted to find out more about this mysterious lady who was one of the Harbingers.

"Fine, satisfy your inhibition then. I was merely curious as to your operations, your methods. Now that you have replaced Crucabena, it seems I'm not the only one sceptical of your competency..."

Signora paused and put her tea cup down as a smirk formed on her lips, "....I'm here on behalf of Her Majesty herself. This is one of the things in my area of responsibilities. You'll do well to remember this, Knave."

"Huh, so you are here to snoop around and report to Tsaritsa if the House is still useful, is that it?

"If you wish to put it that way."

Arlecchino scoffed and stood up then excused herself out. You quickly ran away to the common hall as Arlecchino approached where you were standing and tried blending in with everyone before she could become suspicious of you. Signora left without announcing her return just as her arrival and the children finally eased out and started talking amongst themselves.

"That lady was so rude! Are all Harbingers this way?"

"She looked so pretty... but she was so mean...."

"Hey, will we have to join her unit when we grow up? I don't want to...."

Everyone showed clear disdain for her and wished she'd never come back, you too had similar thoughts but you felt she wasn't as bad as everyone thought. You remembered how she scolded you to be better, you thought you would feel hurt but instead you felt slightly motivation. You were treated as an outcast in the House, you didn't get along with other children but being one of the oldest you had to take care of them alongside Arlecchino.

You thought Signora would never visit again, but here she was just a week later. This time, she had some packets kept in the lobby and waited for the children to gather around her. Everyone looked at the packets in excitement and anticipation, expecting some kind of gifts. Arlecchino walked in with the remaining children and glared at Signora who ignored her then she picked up one box and began announcing.

"Since all of you behaved decently last time, I decided to bring over some presents. However, those who dislike me shall receive none, so it's better that you change your attitudes sooner than later."

Hearing the word 'presents' was enough to make everyone jump in joy but they held some reservations in front of Signora and acted moderately. You knew they didn't like her, but they pretended well enough in order to receive the presents. She proudly smiled and distributed boxes to everyone, now it was your chance and you walked up to her to receive yours.

"Since you are the oldest, I expect you to do well with this." she said while giving you your present.

"Thank you, ma'am." you earnestly thanked her, truly grateful for the gift, but you didn't know if she could tell that among everyone else who were simply pretending.

Your second meeting with her was different and more positive; but it seems first impressions were hard to forget so every time she came now, she brought over gifts. You, meanwhile, came to like her company a lot. While other children maintained distance from her, you got the chance to get close and talk with her. She seemed to appreciate your bravery and intelligence for choosing to interact with her over running away like everyone else.

Soon after, you no longer accepted her presents. Instead, you looked forward to her visits just to be able to see her and spend time with her. She visited once or twice a month mostly, sometimes once in two months if she was extra busy. She seemed to travel around a lot since she often brought souvenirs from other nations, but you preferred listening to her talk about what she did and saw.

"Ma'am, will you marry me when I grow up?" you suddenly questioned her one day while you escorted her to her ship. The question caught her off guard to a great extent, so much as so that she coughed and hid her blushing face before replying in her usual prideful manner.

"Such insolence.... kids these days are really unruly. Hmph, you'll have to do far better than that if you expect me to marry you, brat~"

You excitedly nodded, "I will! I promise I'll make you fall in love with me!"

Signora chuckled and patted your head in return. That was the first time she touched you in any manner, you knew she didn't take you seriously and discarded it as a child's ramblings. But you were determined to keep up your promise. For this, you knew you had to work hard and what your destination was.

"Father, may I make a request?" you went to Arlecchino one day after dinnertime to discuss with her privately.

"Hm, very well. What do you want?"

"I....I wish to train from you, combat training and anything else that's required to be in the Fatui."

"So that means you have decided to join the army once you grow up, is that correct?"

"Yes, I'm certain. Please train me, I humbly request." you spoke with a bow.

Arlecchino stared at you in silence as if she wanted to question your reasoning, but she decided against that and instead agreed to your request.

"We begin tomorrow. 5 am in the arena."

"Thank you, Father!"

Training with her was nothing short of grueling and hardcore, she didn't hold back and taught you everything as required. You learned various weapon skills in addition to strategies and tactics. Years passed as this routine continued, you were now 16 and changed significantly. Many children in the House had already left to pursue their own dreams as allowed by Arlecchino, this would have been impossible in the presence of the previous Knave.

It was time for you to choose your own path as well, which you had already decided long ago. Arlecchino called you to her office one day to discuss the same. She was, of course, aware of what you wanted. But she wanted a final answer now, and perhaps even satiate her curiosity finally.

"Thank you for all the time and energy you gave to train me, Father. I'm forever indebted to you. I will be sure to not disappoint you." you said with a bow and Arlecchino nodded.

"So, I understand your goal hasn't changed. You still want to join the army in Snezhnaya?"

"Yes, Father. I never once thought of anything else."

"Very well then, answer my question and you are free to go."

"Yes, Father."

"What is your reason for joining? You saw everyone else left to pursue a better life, you have been well aware of what constitutes being in the Fatui. So tell me, why do you still pursue this?"

You pursed your lips, you weren't surprised by the question.

"Because I want to help accomplish Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa's dream with you all. I want to walk the path of ice and destruction with my fellow Harbingers and create a new world together."

Arlecchino stayed silent for a while then let out a sigh, "A better answer than what I was expecting, you have surpassed my expectations. Very well, I shall have your name drafted right away."

"Thank you, Father. May I make one last request of you?"

"Go on, consider it your farewell gift."

"....If it is in your hands, could you assign me under Lady Signora?"

Arlecchino's eyes widened and a small smirk formed on her face before she replied, "Hm, it is not in my hands but I can recommend to the person responsible and they are more than likely to accept. However, the Fair Lady's unit may be a waste to you. She is a diplomat and engages in diplomacy related missions mostly, your skills are more suited for The Captain's unit."

"I...I appreciate that thought, Father, but I'd be grateful if I could be put under Lady Signora, please."

Arlecchino was intrigued, but not surprised. Truthfully, she always had a hunch about your true feelings for a long time. It was not hard to notice your attraction towards her colleague once she observed how much you clung to her whenever she visited, her colleague also admitted you were the best kid in the bunch and you both got along better than others.

"Alright, you are dismissed. Pack your things, you will depart tomorrow."

Just like that you were in Snezhnaya within a few days, the land of freezing landscapes and mountains under a blanket of stars and colorful lights. You were closer than ever to the promise you made years ago; perhaps it was foolish to pursue such a goal, Signora was a Harbinger, after all. You would merely become her subordinate now and from what you knew about her, she was very strict and hard to please.

Well, you had already seen some of that prideful side of hers as a child. But you also knew she cared much more than she let on. All these years when she came to the House, she presented no ulterior motive and even her previous statement to Arlecchino about being sent on Her Majesty's behalf looked like a fluke. You had sometimes caught her being happy surrounded by children, she really came just out of her heart's desire for love.

By next week, you were assigned to your unit and as you had hoped, you were in Signora's unit. She called all the new recruits to the training arena for your first brief session. You never told her that you planned to join the army, much less her own unit. You doubted Arlecchino would have disclosed it either so you assumed she may become slightly surprised seeing you. A chill flew through the hall as the door opened and your superior walked in.

"Begin with attendance right away." she ordered one of her subordinates who took out a list and began calling out names.

"Y/n Snezhevna" your name was called out after a while.

"Present!"

You looked over at Signora to see if she reacted in any manner but her face didn't shift from the cold, uncaring expression at all. She silently stood in front of you all and observed each and every one as if judging their competency right on spot, you wouldn't be surprised if she really was able to tell people's skills by just one look. After attendance, she introduced herself and gave a briefing about the Fatui's goal, Tsaritsa's noble dream.

You couldn't help but feel motivated and inspired with the way she talked about Tsaritsa's dream; you could tell she respected her a lot and worked hard to achieve the dream and she naturally expected the same from her own subordinates. You felt eager to work for her, she was as you had expected- strict, cold, relentless in work and tough to please. She paid no special heed to you; well, good thing you had prepared yourself for this.

It took lot of effort to make her open up to you- several early mornings of greeting her before anyone else, giving her flowers to start her day brighter, late nights of staying back for her and escorting her home, ranking the best in training so she'd choose you to take on missions- it took several months of all of this before she finally acted slightly more than your boss.

"Y/n, I'm going to the House next week. Come with me."

She hadn't been able to visit in a while; in fact, this was the first time she'd visit ever since you joined her unit. You agreed with no hesitation and by next week found yourself back in your home, the place you grew up in and made you into the person you are today, the place where you saw the woman you love who was currently standing beside you. You helped her carry the presents she bought along and distributed them to the children.

"There are less children here than before, did so many leave this year?" Signora questioned you.

"Yes ma'am, I'm the only one who joined the army. Others..... betrayed."

You carefully chose your words, you still had to abide by Arlecchino's rules and you couldn't disclose the truth. Signora hummed then crossed her arms over her chest, "I saw potential in some, it's a shame they left."

She paused and you nodded along then she mumbled under her breath, "Good thing you didn't...."

You didn't hear what she said and she didn't let you ask further. You departed after spending some time and were currently on the ship back to Snezhnaya. Signora called you to her cabin during the journey once, an unexpected call but you assumed she was going to brief you for the next mission. However, it was something entirely different.

"Say, Y/n, did Knave make you join the army because of your skills?"

"Ah— No, ma'am. I joined by my choice. And I didn't always have these skills, I trained after I decided I wanted to join."

"Hm.... Any particular reason you had for joining? Aside from Her Majesty's goal, a more personal reason?"

You hesitated to speak but she was adamant, "Um.... forgive me in case I overstep my boundaries with this." You walked up to her and kneeled on one knee in front of her and gazed at her affectionately, she suddenly became embarrassed at your position and remembered the silly promise you made as a child.

"It's to keep my promise to you, ma'am. To make you fall in love with me and to eventually marry you."

Signora's eye widened, she was definitely shocked to hear that you still thought of that. She had expected you to forget it after growing up, she certainly didn't think you'd take it this seriously.

"You.... you insolent child!" she lashed out and stood up with a stomp of her feet, you instinctively stepped back and bowed to her.

"That's your reason for joining?! A foolish reason like that? This is why you tried to get in my good books.... all the flattery and adulation was for this? You really expect me to fall for you and even marry you?!"

"I will try my best! I will keep trying until you grow tired of me and want to send me away! I will accept any punishment in that case, but I won't back away now! I promise!"

"You.... what did you even see in me? Do you not realize you are harboring a petty childhood crush?!"

Signora gritted her teeth at your unbelievable words. You continued bowing your head and waited for her to speak but she remained silent, you then slightly looked up at her and were caught by an unexpected expression on her face. Was she blushing? Was she blushing out of embarrassment? Did she actually become flustered at your words? You found it hard to believe, but she was unbearably adorable and you felt you had some chance.

"It's not that! I swear it's not that.... I love you, ma'am! I love you very much! I will do whatever it takes to show you!"

"You.... g-get out of my sight!" she ordered and turned away from you, showing her back to you. You smirked to yourself and retracted for now, it was better to be a little more patient. From that day on, you changed your tactics. You thought Signora would keep you away to discourage you but she made no changes to your schedule and rank. You knew she actually loved the way you treated her, the attention and praise fuelled her ego, and also nourished her needy self.

You flirted with her more from now on, in more obvious ways and sometimes even in public. People wondered why Signora tolerated you when you made her so annoyed, but you knew the truth. Just like that, a few years passed since you knew it would take a long time to win her heart and you remained steadfast. You were 21 now and determined to take things seriously. A perfect opportunity presented itself, a diplomatic gathering which Signora was invited to.

She usually attended these gatherings alone as the mission would become easier, she'd use her beauty to 'seduce' the host and important guests to get information from them. It was a tactic she was all too used to, even if she personally disliked doing it. You accompanied her and were ordered to remain hidden, to observe and be ready for any attacks. But you took some liberties and decided a different approach without telling her.

"Ahem, may I have this dance with the esteemed Fair Lady?" a familiar voice called out to her as she mingled with the guests, she turned around and saw a masked face, but she could make out it was you right away from your eyes. She looked at you from head to toe in surprise, you were wearing a formal suit as per the occasion giving you a very noble appearance. Signora hesitated and attempted to question you but you took her hand and pulled her to the dance area.

She looked around and saw many people staring at her with unpleasant looks, that's when it dawned on her. She decided to go with the flow, this wasn't a bad strategy either. In fact, it was more pleasant considering the person touching her now, at least it wasn't unfamiliar men with ulterior motives. You took up your positions; one hand each joined together, your other hand on her waist while hers was on your shoulder.

As the violins played, your bodies moved together in rhythm as if you had practiced several times like a couple. Signora never taught you to dance in all the time you had been with her, she was quite surprised how well you adapted to her pace and followed. Of course, you had learned from your ‘Father’. She figured it was better to know in case you ever had to do espionage missions to high-end gatherings like this. Signora actually felt impressed by you, she would have scolded you for defying orders but this was working better than she assumed.

“Is milady satisfied with my performance?~” you slyly questioned, earning a smirk from Signora.

“It’s not bad, slightly unpolished but nothing that some practice cannot fix~”

“Well, I hope to learn from the best~”

Signora smiled, “You acted against orders. You should know there will be punishment later.”

“As long as the mission is completed without hindrances, I’ll accept any punishment. After all, I already received my reward for it~”

“Oh?~ What might that be?~”

Your lips curled up from one side, you suddenly grabbed her thigh and tightened your hold around her waist before picking her up and spinning around. She instinctively held you tighter and barely registered what you just did, she was back on her feet before she knew it and heard the crowd bustling in awe at your action.

“To dance with the woman I love, the most beautiful of all. I couldn’t ask for anything better~”

Signora averted her gaze with a light blush, “You are mad.”

You leaned near her ear to whisper, “Only for you~”

Signora’s heart skipped a beat. The way you spoke that so earnestly, your eyes unwavering and determined, showing the depths of your feelings for her. Just why did you like her so much? What did she do to make you fall in love this badly? You then did another bold move; you made some distance from her then pulled her towards yourself and embraced her from behind. Her arms crossed over each other as you grasped them and caged her in your arms, holding her close in a possessive hug. You were close enough to bury your face in her neck and inhale her intoxicating scent, but you held back and gave her space.

Signora was startled as you tugged her near, a gasp threatening to escape her lips. Her surprise caved and she relaxed almost instinctively against you; the closeness of your bodies, the intimacy of your love- she could feel your heart beating against her body, it told her you were nervous but trying your best for her. She felt overwhelmed at this moment. She hadn’t let love in for so long in her life, she had closed herself off and dedicated her life to one goal. The love you touched her with was infinite and selfless, she had forgotten how it felt to bask in this kind of love.

She knew the children always pretended to like her, they only cared for the gifts. They were children, after all. She didn’t want to taint their innocence with her selfishness, she acted the way she did to satiate her own loneliness and desire for love. She never intended to make real bonds with any of them, she was content with knowing that they disliked her and would probably never think of her as someone more than who just bought expensive gifts. She was surprised the day she saw you in her unit, why did you come here? Why did you not run away when you had the chance? Now she knew the answer to that, and she didn’t know how to feel.

“Ma’am, one of our targets, Duke Cartier has been staring at us for long. He seems eager to steal you.”

Signora snapped out of her thoughts as you whispered in her ear, remembering the reason she was here and doing this in the first place.

“How do you know he’s not looking at you?”

“You were talking with him when I came, I saw him get angry when I took you away. It’s the perfect chance to get what we need from him.”

“...Fine, we’ll switch then. What are you going to do?”

“Our other target, Ms Lily, gave me a certain look some minutes ago. I suppose I’ll get to work with her.”

Signora raised her brow at that, “Can you handle it on your own? I had another strategy in mind for her.”

“It’s fine, she’ll be easy. I already got the toughest woman to dance with me, everyone else is a piece of cake~”

You softly chuckled in her ear making her smirk as well. You then turned her over and pulled her flush against your body before dipping her down and gazing at her passionately. The dancers moved in a circle and soon started switching partners, “Be careful with the Duke, he seems really unruly.”

Signora chuckled, “Don’t forget who you are talking to~”

Signora spun out of your arms and into the arms of the Duke who was one of your targets in this gathering. You looked at the way he possessively wrapped his arms around her and felt infuriated inside, but you had to hold back and focus on your mission. The other target walked up to you herself with a glass of wine in hand, you politely thanked her and engaged in a pleasant conversation. Signora danced with the Duke for some time before stopping as she was tired and started getting information out of him by trapping him in her words, she kept glancing at you every now and then and couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

The lady you were talking to was awfully touchy, it was clear as day she was flirting with you to get you in bed. Signora didn’t know why she felt this way, it was a strange feeling she never felt before. She wanted to walk up to you and take you away with her. Was this what people described to be jealousy? Was she actually feeling jealous looking at you with someone else? She noted how the lady ran her hands all over your body, feeling you up. The way she had you cornered against a wall and was covering your entire vision. She knew you wouldn’t act out of line, but she was also unaware of just how far you’d go for the mission.

What surprised her most was when she saw you walk out of the hall with the lady. So many questions ran through her mind now. Was this also part of your strategy? Were you still working for the mission? Did the lady seduce you to this extent that you’d go with her? And if you were so easy to sway, why say such heartwarming words to her and confuse her emotions? She couldn’t believe she felt this way over you now, what did suddenly happen that she had this unspeakable urge to have you? She decided to put her mind away from these thoughts and focus on her own side of the mission, this is what she was here for.

A lot of time passed when she finally pushed away the Duke from her after taking the required information and completing negotiations. She was exhausted now, she leaned against the wall and let out a sigh then picked up a glass of water while looking towards the door you had exited from. Within a few minutes, you finally came back all alone. The lady wasn’t with you, your appearance looked same as before. Your eyes met Signora’s and both of you nodded, indicating the successful mission completion then made your way out separately. You met up with her at the designated spot, happily going to her to congratulate her.

“Was everything okay, ma’am? He didn’t do anything to you, did he?” you asked with concern and checked her all over, ensuring her wellbeing.

She scanned you from head to toe as well and didn’t find anything amiss, she scoffed then turned around to walk towards the carriage and answered none of your questions.

“Mission report in the carriage.”

“Yes ma’am!”

You followed her and settled in the carriage together before it started moving. You sat on the seat in front of her and sense a strange aura around her, she refused to look at you and seemed angry but you figured she was just tired from the long night. You then started telling her what you found out from the lady, expecting some kind of input from her on the intel collected but she simply nodded and said nothing else. You knew something was definitely wrong now.

“Ma’am, are you okay? If you are feeling unwell then please tell me, I’ll bring over some medicine and anything else you need.”

“I’m fine.”

“O-Okay....”

You stayed silent for the rest of the way. You wondered if she was angry at you for defying orders, it took a lot of bravery for you to do something like that but you hoped for her to be pleased, but perhaps you took the wrong decision. The carriage reached her mansion after some time, you stepped out first and offered your hand to her as she got down. She stared at your stretched out hand and furrowed her brows then stepped out without holding your hand, you felt disheartened but tried to hide it and were about to bid her good night when she suddenly grabbed your hand and started pulling you with herself. You were confused and almost panicked, questioning her along the way but she shushed you with one gesture.

You had never been inside her mansion, this was the first time you stepped foot inside. But you were in no state to admire the house as she kept pulling you further inside, taking you upstairs and opening a door to a room. She pulled you inside the room and shut the door close then silently stood in front of you, her back turned to you while you leaned on the door and waited for her to say something. You had no idea what suddenly came over her. She wouldn’t act this way if she was angry at you for defying orders.

“....What did you do with her?” she mumbled under her breath, her words barely audible to you.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that, ma’am. Could you please repeat?”

Signora clicked her tongue then turned around and sprinted up to you before harshly pinning you against the door, her hands planted on either side of your head while she stared at you with an expression you had never seen before on her face.

“What did you do with that woman? Did you have sex with her?!”

Your face flushed bright red, “No! Not at all, ma’am! I would never—!”

“Then where did you go for so long and what did you do?! Do you think I was blind to the way she was touching you and being all over you?! This is how you negotiate?!”

“N-No, ma’am! Please listen to me, I did nothing of that sort! We went to the restroom and I—”

“This is how your love is? You say all those silly promises to me, pursue me for so long, and then you get swayed by a woman you just met?!”

Your eyes widened at her words and the expression on her face, she was annoyed and in distress. You didn’t expect her to feel this way, you didn’t even realize she thought this. To see her being jealous was strangely adorable, and also foolish of her since she had nothing to worry about.

“Ma’am, please listen to me. We went to the restroom and I used the truth potion on her then tranquilized her. It took me time to hide her unconscious body, that’s all. I came back as soon as I was done.”

Signora finally calmed down a little hearing your truth, “Is that all? Nothing else happened?”

You smiled at her then gently held her hand, “I swear on my ‘Father’s’ life. What I told you is the absolute truth, no more no less. I could never do something so important with a random person like that.”

Signora took a deep breath then nodded. She pulled away her hands from the door and let you rest easy. You were feeling over the moon at this reaction from her, you tried to question her back but she suddenly held your jaw and before you knew it, her soft and moist lips were placed on your own. It was a serene feeling; your mind went blank for a moment and all you could feel was the sensation of her lips moving with yours. Her hand released your jaw and instead cupped your face, her body pressed into you as she continued kissing you. It was a slow and gentle kiss; her lips were warm and tasted like strawberry with a hint of wine. It was intoxicating, addicting. You slowly felt like melting into her.

She stopped and pulled away soon, leaving you with a sense of emptiness. You gazed at each other with uneven breaths, a needy and desperate expression on her face that you couldn’t look away from. It gave you a sense of wanting to please her, pleasure her, service her, make her happy in any way. She did not know but you had long known about her past, about the fact that she witnessed the cataclysm and lost everyone, especially her lover. You knew about her legacy as the Crimson Witch of Flames, you knew everything about her pain and sacrifice and why she was so dedicated to the Tsaritsa’s goal. But none of that was the reason why you loved her. You found out all of that much later.

“I...I love you, ma’am. I love you so much. Please, let me make you happy. I promise I will do anything in my ability to make you happy. I will always be there for you, I will always support you and love you.”

You earnestly confessed to her; this was your real confession. You couldn’t put it in better words. If she refused you now, you’d probably give up but still continue to support her. Signora softly smiled at you and caressed your face before kissing your cheek.

“Do you still want me to say my answer? Was my action earlier not enough?~”

You blushed, “W-Well, it just feels good to hear it as well...”

Signora softly chuckled then leaned closer, her lips ghosting yours and you had the urge to kiss her again.

“I love you too. I’m grateful to have you here with me, I will love you back just as much as you have loved me and even more.”

Your cheeks flushed red, finding the situation slightly unbelievable. But she didn’t let your mind wander as she pressed her lips to yours again, this time she didn’t hold back. It was a needy and passionate kiss, her tongue licked your lips and swirled with your own in a heated exchange. She pressed herself even closer to you, essentially squeezing you against the door while her lips relentlessly sought yours. You slowly placed your hands around her body and held her as you kissed, she lodged her knee against your crotch and you almost gasped in surprise.

You then felt her hands rub across your chest, sliding off your coat and kissing you harder. She released the kiss and instead planted kisses on your jaw and down your neck, unbuttoning your collar for more access. Her lips imprinted on your skin, red lipstick marks forming where they touched. You threw your head back with a soft moan, she continued marking you with her lips as if to claim you as her own. You then felt her teeth graze your skin before sinking down near your collarbone, a startled mewl leaving your lips and your hands clenching her dress.

“M-Ma’am, please let me touch you....~”

“Say my name, Rosalyne. And...” she leaned near your ear to whisper in a low and seductive tone, “....Do whatever you want to~”

If that didn’t fire you up enough to take down Celestia then nothing would. You pulled her closer her grabbed her thigh up, she instinctively wrapped her arms around your neck giving you the opportunity to grab her other thigh too and carry her in your arms. She chuckled against your lips while you walked towards the bed and laid her on the edge, she roughly kissed you as you slid off her cape then dropped to your knees between her legs. She smirked and parted her legs for you, you caressed the soft skin of her legs then planted kisses up her knee and thigh. Her body trembled and breaths rose, you looked like a devout follower worshipping a goddess, and she enjoyed every bit of this treatment.

You kissed her inner thighs and looked up at her as if asking for permission to go deeper. She grasped your head in response, fingers interlacing in your hair and a slight tug to pull you closer. You wasted no time and slipped off her underwear then dove in to her inviting cunt. She intently watched as you lapped her clit, biting her lower lip and tightening her grip in your hair. You pushed her legs further apart and lapped up her outer walls now, her body arched in ecstasy feeling your tongue pleasure her, soft moans echoing in the room that were music to your ears.

“Mhm.... faster.... m-more...~”

Never in your wildest dreams did you imagine you’d actually get to do this with her, but you were going to give her the best experience possible. You wanted her to feel the greatest pleasure and happiness. You raised her legs and placed them on your shoulders as you pushed deeper, your tongue inserting inside her cunt and prodding her sensitive spots.

“Aaaah~ Yes.... right there~ Nghhh~!”

Her nails scratched your scalp as she grasped your hair tighter, your mouth wrapped around her core and sucked the bundle of nerves while your tongue scissored inside her.

“Look at me.... mmh.... eyes on me~”

She tilted your head up making your eyes meet. Her hooded eye gazed at your own hypnotized ones, an exchange of desire and hunger happening between you. She wrapped her legs around your head and caged you, her plush thighs squeezed your face as she body arched further with your ministrations.

“C-Close.... yes... keep doing that~ Aaah~ Right there!”

You braced yourself, your thumb circled her clit a few times and that did it for her. She threw her head back and came in your mouth with a loud moan, you drank up every drop of her essence while gazing at her as she released. The sight of her was incomparable, no scenery in the world could ever satisfy you this way. You parted from her cunt and felt your own erection straining against your pants, your shaft hard and throbbing to release. Rosalyne came down from her high and grabbed your collar to pull you up and rubbed her hand across your crotch, you flinched and buried your face in her neck making her chuckle and bite your earlobe.

“Hmm, is my darling eager to cum?~”

“Ngh... y-yes, please....”

“But have you earned it?~” she caressed the back of your head with her other hand, twirling your strands in her fingers.

You hissed as she pressed her hand into your crotch, “Mm, y-yes.... please....”

Her angelic voice flew in your ear making you even harder, your cock twitched against her palm and she licked her lips before grasping your hair and tugging your head back. She bit your lip then proceeded to unbuckle your pants, dropping them down with your underwear. You kicked away your undergarments as your cock stood up at full mast in front of her eyes. She wrapped her hand around your length and began to pump, intently watching as pre-cum gathered on your tip.

“Hmm, quite an impressive length and....girth~”

She slid her finger across the prominent vein on your shaft, caressing it from the base to the head then gathering the pre-cum on her thumb and spreading it across. You moaned from her movements, it was clear she wanted to take her time and tease you, all just to make you more needy for her. You were barely holding on from the way her hand rubbed, she then retracted her hand just as you were about to burst. You looked at her with a pleading look and she smirked then climbed on the bed more, discarding the rest of her clothes and presenting her naked body to you.

“Come in, I can’t wait anymore~”

Oh, how could you hold back after hearing that? You lunged forward enthusiastically, coming on top of her and rubbing your tip across her slit. Her juices and your own pre-cum mixed together, both of you softly moaning from the sensations. She wrapped her arms around your neck and pulled you as she laid down then connected your lips in a rough kiss, her ample breasts pressed against yours and you really felt like you were dreaming. You were surprised how eager she was for this right away, but you were going to give her anything she wanted.

“Aaah~ Come on, put it in.... ravage me~”

She moaned against your lips and you wasted no time to push your cock inside her. You aligned your shaft and slowly thrusted in then pushed all the way and sheathed inside, her warm and tight walls enveloped you as you moaned together at the penetration.

“S-So warm.... too warm....” you grunted.

“I-It’s my body.... mmh.... I’ll try to adjust....”

“It’s fine... aah~ It feels good....”

You had a hunch as to why her body was abnormally warm from the inside, but you really didn’t mind and it wasn’t unbearable.

“M-Move, Y/n... My love... move already~”

Did you hear that right? She really just called you that? Now you were even more motivated to pleasure her. You parted her legs more and adjusted them on your shoulders before beginning to thrust forward, she moaned and clenched the bedsheets as your bodies rocked together. Her breasts bounced in front of your eyes, you grabbed the mounds of flesh and squeezed them while continuing to thrust. Your dick rammed all the way inside, it didn’t feel as hot as before but her walls became tighter by the minute. She was clenching your cock as if to keep it inside forever and never let go.

“Aaah~ Aaah~ Y/n! So good! Aaaahn! More! Faster.... harder!~”

“You are so hot.... so pretty.... Rosa...!~”

The nickname was endearing to her. Her walls suddenly tightened around you causing you to groan and thrust more, practically pounding into her. Your thighs slapped against her hips, her moans and sounds of skin slapping ringing in your ears. The sight of her pleasured face, breasts bouncing and your cock lodged inside her- everything aroused you to no end, you could keep at this forever if she wanted.

“I love you... I love you so much, Rosalyne...” you moaned while gazing into her eyes, her heart skipped a beat once again tonight. How long had it been that somebody loved her this way? How long had she been yearning to hear these words?

She had forgotten the time now, but she wasn’t going to forget you and this moment that you gave her. Her hands held your shoulders and pulled you down into a loving embrace, her legs locking around your waist and caging you within so you won’t pull out. She moaned dirty words in your ear, the kind of words you’d never expect to hear from her in day-to-day life, her hands clenched your back and nails scratched down your skin as you drilled fast and hard into her.

“C-Cumming... I can’t hold on more.... let me pull out—ngh!~”

“No... inside... do it, aaahn~!”

You wanted to so badly, even though you were aware she likely couldn’t conceive. You just wanted your seed to be inside her, and it seems she wanted the same thing. You buried your face in her neck and kept pounding, she felt your dick twitch and finally a stream of hot liquid sprayed across her walls and filled her up. You groaned as you came deep inside her, she moaned as she also released and clenched your cock tightly, milking you of every last drop. Your cum kept pouring inside as if you had stored gallons worth, some of it dripping out from her. You panted out and rested on top of her body but your dick was still hard.

“T-That was amazing.... haah...~” you said while sweating and placed light kisses on her neck.

All of a sudden, your body was flipped over and the ceiling was in your vision before being overtaken by your lover’s face. Signora straddled you, still breathing heavily while gazing at you. Her hands cupped your face as she leaned down to passionately kiss you, your cock rubbed against her ass and she grinded back n forth on your lap. She released the kiss and stood up on her knees then held your cock up and aligned it to her slit, you eagerly watched as your cock split her open and the moment you connected with her.

The warm and tight feeling engulfed your cock once again, while your hard shaft scraped her insides in all the right ways. You both could become addicted to each other at this rate, but perhaps that was fine. She placed her hands on each side of your head and started bouncing up and down while her gaze was fixated on you, her face contracted to pure pleasure and ecstasy as her voice cried out with the way you penetrated her deepest spots. Her hips slapped against your thighs heavily, you were sure the sounds of your lovemaking could be audible in the whole mansion.

“P-Promise me... Y/n....” She suddenly spoke and clenched your jaw.

“You mean everything you said... promise me you won’t leave me....aahn~ Promise me you’ll always be here— hngh~ Promise me you’ll love me forever.... I won’t forgive you...mmh~ I won’t forgive you if you break any of them— Aaah!~”

A loud moan was pushed from her throat as you suddenly thrusted up into her and caught her off guard, she leaned forward on you and hugged your tight as both of you coordinated your movements.

“I promise....aaah....I promise....you don’t have to worry....I know everything about your life, your fear.... I won’t be like him.... I will always choose you....ngh!~”

Rosalyne’s eye widened hearing that, but somehow that’s exactly what she wanted to hear. You then sat up while holding her and rutted into her more, she held onto your shoulders and grinded back n forth too while gazing into your eyes. You pulled her in for a passionate kiss, your bodies convulsing as you rutted a few more times before cumming once again. She moaned and threw her body in a beautiful arch, your arms holding her as you bucked your hips and pulled her into you to fill her up.

She held your head close to her chest as your cum filled her up, both of you breathing heavily from the intense orgasms. She smiled in satisfaction and kissed your forehead then embraced you affectionately, she was glad she gave love another chance. She was going to do things right this time and love you to her heart’s content, just like you did all these years.

#genshin impact #genshin smut #genshin impact smut #la signora #genshin women #signora x reader #la signora x reader #genshin impact signora #genshin x reader #g!p reader

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lovifie · 3 months

Text

Immortal!Ghost x Reader that always comes back

The first time they met, they grew up together. Neighbours on their little village, since they met Simon felt this attraction towards her. Every second of the day, his mind was flooded with her.

She didn't feel it. A new soul, too anxious to experience, too eager to see, too impatient to learn.

In her first life, she died young, a tragic death that the whole village mourned. A young woman who curiously travelled inside the forest ignoring the threats behind the tree line.

Simon took it the hardest, they were supposed to go there together, but they argued about something so silly, and he stayed home while she perished.

But he never forgot her. And when he grew up, a grown man, travelling to close villages for his business, he felt the attraction again. Feeling mad at himself for breaking your trust, he waited for the woman to turn, as if ready to fault you for his reaction.

But he came face to face with you. Again. After so many years, there you were. He could feel the tears prick at his eyes, teasing to fall; and he felt as if he had been punched on his lungs the moment you looked back at him.

To Simon, he was looking at his old love, the one that never returned said love, that he lost so long ago. But to you, an older man, crying, was looking at you. So you quickly run back to your house, away from him.

Simon doesn't remember much of your second life, there are so many that blend together, at least those on which you didn't love him back. He hates those the most when he had to live through centuries of looking for you, finding you, watching you fall in love with somebody else and then, as always, die.

But sometimes, there are lives in which you would look back at him, with so much love in your eyes. Not as much as Simon, that would be impossible, Simon had a millennium's worth of love saved up inside his heart and you barely had a decade or two; still, you came second to the competition.

At some point, he stopped ageing, or at least it slowed down to the point it seems he stopped. He was relieved he did, keeping his image of 30-something Simon Riley. But it still added pressure to him; now on top of having to find you, there were lives where he needed to stay in the shadows, waiting for the woman he knew you were going to grow up to be.

He was patient, he needed to be, and he didn't mind waiting. At least, in those lives where you were not together, you keep meeting death at a young age. Always involving yourself with dangerous people or just plain old stupid. Not in the lives you were with him, you always died peacefully of old age in the lives you stayed together, impressed with how young he looked, and with him taking care of you until your last breath.

Having lived so many lives, some memories blend into each other and some simply get forgotten, but there are some he remembers as if they just happened.

Like when you first kissed him, or when you first said you loved him, when he first held you at night or when he almost messed it up once.

He thought you were ready to know the truth, that he knew you from many lives ago, that he was immortal and that you have died so many times he couldn't keep count. You almost left your home that night, only stopping after hearing him:

"Wait, you thought I was serious?" Simon laughed. "That's crazy, love. I was just playing, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

He never tried it again.

In any of your lives did you have kids, he was selfish enough to keep you only for himself. But having a kid, knowing that he would outlive him, and at some point he would disappear to look for you again without being able to give an explanation. It was not the child's fault Simon was a selfish man. But he was patient.

In some lives, you would reappear close. On one live, he found you going out of his house, meeting you next door when you moved into the apartment next to his.

On other ones, you would reappear further away. On some, he wasn't even able to find you. He came face to face with you once when you stayed in Manchester for a while, only being there for work. You didn't even speak English in that life, not to worry, he quickly got to work on learning your language just so he could tell you how much he loved you in a language you would understand.

Now, he could almost speak every single language in the world, not wanting to risk wasting time, even though he was a patient man.

As you were reincarnated again and again, he noticed your personality change. In your earliest lives, you were so energetic, always looking for trouble, getting under his skin, ready to run around the world. As lives went on, you began to be calmer, preferring being a listener rather than a talker.

Simon didn't mind, of course, you always remained kind, gentle and as lovely as in your first life.

Simon was a patient man, he had waited for you so many many lives. Always finding you, always meeting you. You always came back.

You are taking your time on this occasion, but he doesn't worry. He is a patient man.

The original attraction is slowly growing weaker as time goes on, but he doesn't worry. You always come back.

He is starting to forget the last time he saw you, but he doesn't worry. He is a patient man.

You usually only take a couple of decades to come back, but this time is growing closer to a century. But he doesn't worry, you always come back.

Simon Riley is a patient man. And you have always come back.

Masterlist

Hii, how are you?

I got this idea today and needed to write it and post it before I forgot or regretted it. So I hope you guys like it 💗

I'm testing out the "permanent" taglist, I'm adding the link if you want to be included it is also on the masterlist.

P Taglist: @whos-fran @thevoidwriting @sklt987659 @kayden666 @thatonepupkai @glocuseguardian3rd @Nothankyew @darkangel4121 @dumb12bvtch1212

#call of duty #cod x reader #cod #call of duty x reader #cod modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare #cod mwii #ghost #simon ghost riley #ghost x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #ghost cod #simon riley #ghost imagine #simon ghost imagine #simon ghost x you

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little-diable · 7 months

Text

Professor Malfoy – Prof!Draco Malfoy (smut)

At least y/n can experience all my professor phantasies. Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this, your comments keep us motivated. Enjoy my loves! xxx

Summary: The reader works as Professor Malfoy's TA, a man she had been crushing on ever since meeting him at Hogwarts all these years ago; but kind of just pwp

Warnings: 18+, smut, unprotected piv, oral (m), some face fucking, professor x ta

Pairing: Professor Draco Malfoy x fem!ta!reader (1.8k words)

“Here, let me take that.” Professor Malfoy’s voice rang in her ears, watching his hand reach out to take the books (y/n) was carrying. All she could do was nod her head, unable to speak up with the man standing this close. Could he hear her racing heartbeat? Could he tell that she was awfully nervous?

“Coffee?” Her mouth felt dry, unable to speak up, still not used to being this close to the man she was working for. (Y/n) had to clear her throat, slowly nodding her head as she stepped into his office. The door fell shut with a soft thud, a sound that finally managed to rip (y/n) out of her state, the ice was slowly melting, it allowed her to relax, to move without overthinking her every step. “Here you go.”

Professor Malfoy placed the cup down on the coffee table, watching (y/n) sink down on the all too comfortable couch. She didn't pick up on the smile tugging on his lips, didn’t pick up on the soft glance he shot her way, tongue kissing his teeth. He shuffled around, reached for the papers they still needed to grade, wordlessly sitting down next to (y/n).

“Do you have another pen for me? I think I lost mine somewhere.” (Y/n) thumbed through her bag, unable to find the red pen she had been using the past weeks. The two have built some kind of routine, after he was done with teaching his classes, where she’d support him whenever students asked questions, they found their way to his office, spending hours on end in the quiet room.

“Here, take mine.” Their fingers touched for a few seconds, a touch that shot shudders down her spine, pupils dilating as her body clung to the sensation. Fuck, she needed to get a grip, need to get over the crush she had fostered on the man for years. The two had met at Hogwarts years ago, barely sharing a word, since he was older and couldn’t care less about the younger students. But (y/n) had always found herself drawn to him, wanting to get to know him, wanting to feel his eyes on her – mere dreams she hadn’t been able to shake ever since their first run in at this university.

A comfortable silence engulfed the two, allowing (y/n) to relax even further into the couch, shuffling around to make herself comfortable. She didn’t notice the way his eyes ran up and down her frame, didn’t notice the smile he wore as he reached for her shoulder, giving her a soft push to pull her down to his lap, head resting on his thigh. (Y/n) looked up at him with wide eyes, not daring to move as he redirected his gaze to the papers he was reading.

Heat flushed through her, no longer able to focus on the papers she was supposed to grade. Her mind fully focused on the feeling of his thumb stroking the exposed part of her shoulder, making goosebumps rise on her skin. It took her a few more seconds to rip her eyes away from his handsome face, teeth buried in her lower lip as her shaky hands tightened their grip on the papers.

“You know,” he murmured his words, placing down his papers to fully direct his attention down onto (y/n). “Ever since I saw you in one of my classes, I wondered if we’d ever cross paths again.”

“Did you? I didn’t think you’d ever notice me.” A soft laugh left (y/n), hands also placing down the papers. He kept stroking her skin, hand slowly wandering down her arm, to her fingers. With her breath hitched in her chest, (y/n) felt him interlace their fingers, making her heart skip a handful of beats. The professor’s free hand found her face, cupping her cheek, with his gaze flickering between her curious eyes and her lips. She didn’t dare move, patiently waiting for him to do something, to give into the pull both were clearly taken hostage by.

His thumb found her mouth, softly tracing her lips. Draco didn’t expect her to part her lips, sucking his digit into her mouth – a movement that forced his eyes to darken. Before she could even begin to understand what he was doing, he had pulled her into a sitting position, lips clashing against hers without another warning.

It felt like her world had suddenly stopped spinning, everything was on hold, allowing (y/n) to fully focus on the feeling of his lips moving against hers. The kiss was spurred on by their longing, by the stolen glances they had shared over the past months, by their desires they hadn’t acted on till this very moment.

“If you only knew about the things you are doing to me.” He murmured his words against her lips, groaning into her mouth as her hands found his neck, tugging on his blonde roots. Their tongues met, battling a war of lust, of longing, a war both were determined to win. She crawled into his lap without breaking the kiss, clinging to him as if he was her lifeline, rescuing her from drowning in the cold, dark ocean.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for years.” (Y/n)’s confession forced a smirk onto his lips, hands finding her thighs, moving up her legs to disappear beneath her skirt. All she could do was to keep still, holding her breath as his fingers found her soaked panties, meeting her covered, pulsing bundle of nerves. His eyes didn’t dare break contact as he raised his eyebrows, wordlessly waiting for her consent, not wanting to keep on touching her without hearing (y/n) speak the words. “Please, touch me, wherever you want to touch me.”

A satisfied hum left the man, fingers successfully pushing her panties aside. (Y/n)’s quiet moans rang in his ears as he teased her clit, rubbing the soft spot to push forceful waves of anticipation through her. She tried to shuffle closer, wanting to feel more of him, desperate for him to own her body and soul. His cold fingers felt unfamiliar on her skin, a touch she had been aching for ever since she had first seen him, wondering how and if he’d ever pull her closer.

(Y/n)’s hands found their way down his chest, to his black trousers, toying with the silver buckle of his belt. A groan left the man as she freed his twitching cock, carefully grasping him in her hands. Draco watched her with amazement swimming in his pupils, gaze torn between her fingers and her features. He kept moving his thumb, forcing moans out of her whenever he added more pressure, trying to bite down the need to bury his cock inside of her. But (y/n) seemed to fight the same battle, pulling him in for another teeth clashing kiss.

“Professor,” the word was whimpered against his lips, leaving him to hum, waiting for (y/n) to keep on talking. “Fuck me, please. I’ll be good, I promise.”

Something inside of him seemed to snap, pushing her off his lap and back against the couch, hovering above her. The sound of her panties being torn apart rang in her ears, forcing a gasp out of (y/n) that momentarily distracted her from the feeling of his cock being aligned with her entrance. He sank into her all too effortlessly, forcing her walls to clench around him, needing to adjust to his size. The both of them needed a few seconds before Draco started to move, balancing his frame with one hand placed on the armrest of the couch and the other holding her thigh.

(Y/n) tightened the grip her legs had on his waist, keeping him as close as possible, not wanting to part from him ever again. Draco fucked her without holding back, sinking deeper into her tightness with every passing thrust, set on making her forget about their surroundings.

The sweetest sounds left (y/n), fingernails leaving marks on his neck, set on marking him up, set on claiming him with her heart beating in sync with his. Both tried to keep their sounds to a minimum, not daring to catch the attention of the people walking past his office, and yet they struggled to do so, connecting their lips again to swallow their sounds.

She choked on his name, eyes rolling back into her head as he nudged her swollen spot, grinning in victory about finding the spot that would push her into her orgasms' open arms. (Y/n) sneaked one hand between them, rubbing her clit to give in, to follow the call of the sensation she had been aching for for years.

“I got you, pretty girl, let go for me.” Draco felt her walls clamp down on his cock, telling him that she was about to cum, set on fucking her through her high before he’d give in. He watched her fall apart, watched the pleasure-drunken expression tug on her features as he kept burying his cock inside her tightness. It was a moment he’d never forget, Draco was sure of it, mind and heart fully taken over by her.

Draco pulled away from her before he could cum inside of her, groaning in surprise as her hand reached for his cock, shuffling around to put her mouth on him. Their eyes found back together as she slightly nodded, allowing the moaning man to fuck her mouth. She gagged around him, clawed her fingernails into his thighs, taking every inch he forced down her throat.

He twitched in her mouth a few seconds before he came, filling her cheeks with his cum, allowing a deep, raspy moan to claw through him. She greedily swallowed every drop, humming around him, wordlessly thanking him for what had just happened.

Draco parted from her with a grin, tugging himself back into his trousers, watching (y/n) reach for her torn panties, unable to stop a huff from leaving her. His chuckles forced her to give into her own laughter clawing through her, pulled back into his open arms with a kiss pressed to the corner of her mouth.

“We really need to finish these papers, but I don’t think I can concentrate knowing you’re not wearing any panties now.”

“And whose fault is this, huh?”

#Draco Malfoy smut #Draco Malfoy x reader #professor fic #Harry Potter smut

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steddieas-shegoes · 5 months

Text

more than everything else

For @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt ‘proposal’ wc: 999 rated m cw: suggestive language | tags: domestic fluff, sappy and romantic

💍💍💍💍💍💍💍💍💍💍💍💍💍

“Steve! Freezer’s working again!” Eddie yelled from his spot on the floor behind their previously defunct freezer.

Eddie insisted he could fix it himself, hence the hours he’d spent on the floor with tools that weren’t doing anything and a lip bitten until it bled.

“Told you if you took your shirt off it would work faster,” Steve said from the doorway, hands on his hips as he took in the sight of Eddie being half naked.

Sweat dripping down his chest.

A bruise forming on his side where he’d dropped a wrench on himself earlier.

His newest tattoo peeling because he’d forgotten to put Vaseline on it earlier.

“I always listen to you, sweetheart,” Eddie smirked as he stood up. “You got any plans later?”

“I actually do remember something on the calendar.”

Eddie walked over to him, covered Steve’s hands with his own and rocked him side to side. “Damn.”

“Why? You wanna make plans?” Steve raised a brow.

“I thought I could get a reward for all my hard work today,” Eddie pouted his bottom lip out, eyes widening as he leaned further into Steve’s space. “Maybe in the bedroom?”

“Reward? For fixing the freezer that you broke?”

“I seem to remember someone saying that the freezer was just ‘old’ and that this ‘could’ve happened to anyone.’ Or am I mistaken?” Eddie let go of Steve’s hands but stayed close to him.

“I’m not sure who said that. I do remember someone saying that if you turned it down too far for too long, it would break, though. Maybe you can recall who said that?” Steve leaned in to peck his lips softly, teasing just a little with his fingers along the waistband of Eddie’s pants. “Seems like a smart guy.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well. At least the guy who broke it could fix it.”

“That’s right, baby.” Steve backed away. “Now. I’ve got baked chicken spaghetti in the oven for dinner and I made cookies earlier if you-“

“Marry me.”

Steve froze, his eyes widened.

Maybe Eddie could’ve been more eloquent, more romantic.

Shit, maybe he could do that still.

He reached for Steve’s hands, smiling softly at him as his eyes darted between Eddie’s, searching for him to say that it was a joke.

“I’m serious.” Eddie kissed his forehead before continuing. “You think I survived the hell of ‘86 to not end up with Steve Harrington? You think I’ve spent nearly every day of the last six years trying to be the best partner you could ask for, the kind you deserve? You make me wanna be more than everything else.”

“What-“

Eddie shushed him with a kiss. “When I was little, like barely old enough to ride a bike, my mom brought me to a flower shop. She said I had to pick a nice flower for my teacher so she knew I was a sweet kid. I picked a daffodil. She laughed and said ‘you know the love of my life always brought my a daffodil’ and when I asked why dad didn’t bring them to her anymore she said ‘he never did.’ And as I got older I realized what that meant. I never could ask her about it, but I eventually asked Wayne. He said-“ Eddie sniffed, biting his lip trying not to cry. “He said sometimes the love you get isn’t what makes you feel better than everything else, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to feel more than everything else. And I still didn’t quite get it, ya know? Made no damn sense to me when I was 13. Kinda thought Wayne was high.” Steve laughed, Eddie smiled. “But then I saw you in the cafeteria one day, and I saw the way you held the door open for some of the band kids even though Tommy was teasing you for it. And I saw how much you did for me at my worst, even before you had a reason to, before you knew it would be worth more. I see how you love, and how you keep loving, even when some people may not deserve it. I feel how much you are, how much more you can still be. And how much I wanna be more to be worthy of you. I don’t have much, you know I don’t, but you love me anyway. And you make me wanna be more.”

Steve’s tears were falling rapidly, a sob escaping at the end of Eddie’s words as he fell forward, his tears soaking Eddie’s shirt instantly.

“You’re enough for me,” he finally managed to say against Eddie’s neck. “You’ve always been enough for me. I don’t want more. I just want you.”

“I know, sweet love. I know.” Eddie’s arms tightened around him. “You think you could marry me?”

“Eds. I would marry you every day if we could.” Steve sniffed as he pulled away. “We can’t really do it, though.”

“Maybe not. But we can wear rings, tell everyone. I can call you my husband around the people who love us.”

That was a hell of a thought.

Husbands.

“You’re sure you want that?”

“Of course I am. Who else is gonna fix your freezer when it breaks?”

“Maybe you could try not to break it in the first place.” Steve smacked his shoulder. He kissed him slowly, tongue brushing against his bottom lip but not looking for more. “But I guess it would be nice to have someone around all the time to fix the stuff he breaks.”

“Hey!”

“I love you.”

It was that simple.

“So. My reward?”

“My hand in marriage.” Steve turned away and looked over his shoulder. “And maybe my hand in other places. If you hurry up and shower.”

“I’ll be done in five. Be naked on the kitchen table-“

“Eddie, not-“

“The kitchen table!”

Steve rolled his eyes but threw his shirt to the floor and winked before making his way to the kitchen. “Five minutes!”

#steddieholidaydrabbles #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #proposal

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scribblesofagoonerr · 5 months

Text

Family, not by blood but by choice instead | awfc x teen!reader

I previously posted on another account, however, I didn't realise a second blog wouldn't allow me to follow people, so I am reposting again on my new one.

Let me know what you all think!

You should have known, there was tell-tail signs all throughout the last several years and yet you were so blind about it all.

Your mother was a narcissist, she was manipulative and gaslighted you your whole life, you were always made out to the bad guy and she was the victim.

It was clear as day to anyone on the outside, but your nieve self just chose to always believe different about things.

Looking back on the several years of your childhood, you had always thought you upbringing wasn't completely terrible. It was just the 2 of you, only your mum and you ever since you could remember. Your parents ended up splitting up when you were really little but ever since that day, you had always been made out to be the reason for their seperation.

You had always wonderd how it could be your fault. You was only 3 when he walked out, so how could it really be like that?

"You were always too much to handle. He couldn't cope," Your mum would say, all of them long nights when you would wrap your tiny arms around her and sob your little heart out to her.

"I'm here, you've got me. You've only ever got me," Her words were embedded in your head from the day that you'd decided to try and have an open conversation about the possibility of finding your dad. "Why go and find him? Haven't I been good enough. I'm the one that's looked after you all of these years and this is the thanks that I get in return?" It was always something that like, always a guiltrip and it was something that she knew would work well.

The harsh statement of the most recent conversation with the older woman left a bitter taste in your mouth and make you question every single thing in life.

"Aren't you happy for me? I made it, mum!" You exclaimed, you were happy enough to want to share the news with your mum but you found so dumbfound by her response which left you feeling shame and judgement for even wanting to tell her.

"Yes you have made it Y/N but you know, you only have me to thank for that now, don't you?" Your mum once again found a way to make it about herself, regardless of the situation; It was always and only ever about her. "I'm sure that you can find some way to thank me though. All of those years and the amount I have spent on football boots for you. You'd be nowhere if it wasn't for me and I think you owe me now, don't you?" she told you.

You remember feeling stunned by her words, there was a lot of emotions that you had felt building up inside as you were ultimately confused how she'd somehow managed to twist this to make it all about herself but of course she was quick enough to make an excuse to end the call when she grew bored of talking to you.

You should have knew better, every phone call always ended up being the same way and it always left you with a feeling of guilt for making a life for yourself and that phone call that night wasn't any different. You had just been so excited to spill the news, however that excitment soon faded and was replaced by confused feelings of upset and anger once you'd told her, you fought to hold in your tears during the initial phone call but you were on the verge of breaking by the time she had hung up.

That phone call was the one you told her about making it into the national team, you had only been a part of Arsenal womens' first team for under a year and it felt like a massive achievement to be selected to represent your country and immediately you couldn't wait to share the news with your mum - You thought that she'd be pleased for you but you couldn't be further away from the truth.

Ever since that phone call, you had tried your hardest to distance yourself from your mum but it hurt to do that. The women was the only blood related family member that you had, it had only ever been the 2 of you, together through thick and thin.

Flash forward to now, the current time where you are sitting on the sofa, you had returned home after a long training session and you couldn't help but think about it that conversation on a constant loop in your head.

"You were quiet tonight kidda," Leah perched on the arm of sofa as looked at you in concern. "I'm about to start cookin' tea. How's chicken dippers and smiley faces sound, eh?" she suggested.

"Mhm. Sure that sounds good to me," You mumbled as you kept your eyes focused on nothing but the telly.

The truth was that the conversation was constantly replaying in your head; The conversation, the bitterness and manipulation, every time you thought about it it then made you think of every other time that something like this happened.

Maybe your childhood wasn't as great as you really thought?

"Okay then... Is there anything that you want to talk about?" The blonde questioned, hoping for a bit more of an insight on your mood; Returning from her own rehab session, the entire car ride had been quiet compared to normal and the older woman couldn't help but feel something wasn't right.

"Nope," You stood firm in your reply, shaking your head as you kept your eyes glued on the TV screen; You couldn't really say that you payed much attention to whatever it was, the noise was pretty much a blur that was playing in the background.

"Are you sure?" Leah questioned, frowning worriedly as she took note of the tears welling up in your eyes. "Kidda, what's the matter? You look like you're gonna cry." she stated.

"I... I'm fine," You mumbled, fighting hard to keep the tears at bay until you could escape to your bedroom and allow yourself to be vulnerable and alone. You'd always felt complete shame to show any sort of vunterability in front of anyone, let alone the blonde footballer who'd virtually taken you under her wing ever since you joined during the transfer break of 2022.

You'd always been told that crying showed weakness and you refused to be seen as weak.

"Okay," Leah was quick to drop the subject when she realised you weren't going to open and talk about things. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it but just remember that I'm always here to listen. Anytime that you want too, alright?" she told you.

Unfortunately you were stubborn to not give in and blurt everything out in the open. You were just trying to wrap your head around the idea of things and see things for how they really were.

"Uh huh," You mumbled a response as you got up from the sofa and trudged in the direction of your bedroom.

Leah exhaled a sigh as she shook her head, herself heading into the kitchen to make a start on dinner. The woman knew better than to try and get you to talk if you didn't want too.

She'd always been around to witness the moments like this and the backlash of it. Of course the blonde knew this was all stemmed down to one person causing you to be like this and she hated that you were left upset every single time.

Every single time you and your mum fought, you'd always ended up quiet and in a bad mood, often resulting in lashing out at people around you as a coping mechanism.

None of the girls ever took it to heart, they were old enough to realise that none of your anger was directly aimed at them and there was bigger issues to be dealt with.

The Arsenal women all had their own opinions on the teens' mother but they would never voice them out loud to you. It wouldn't be fair on the youngest in the squad even after the countless times they had seen the girl upset by her own mums actions.

Ever since the teen had moved in, there had been several nights where Leah would be the one to comfort the girl and pick up the peices, waking up in the middle of the night to hear the teen's heartbroken sobs and feeling her own heart shatter every single time, wanting nothing more than take away any sort of pain the girl was experiencing.

It was heartbreaking for all of the team to witness and always sought out to comfort the teen no matter the situation. They knew that no matter they say, they couldn't stop her contacting her and she would be able to make her own decision soon enough when she turned 18 and until then they'd be the ones' to pick up the broken pieces when the mum let her daughter down.

They were your family, not by blood but by choice. You'd probably be lost without them sometimes.

"I... I should have realised sooner," You thought to yourself as you lay crumpled up on your bed that following night, it was almost near 4 in the morning and you were still wide awake with things racing through your head.

You couldn't help but think about things, how you should have noticed the tell-tail signs of her gaslighting you were old enough to properly realise, that was your first mistake.

Your second being that you believed her manipulation, she would always twist things to make her seem like the victim in all different situations - back when you were a child and even now as an adult.

How long it had taken you finally realise it after all of these years. Why hadn't you realised it sooner?

Without realising, you were sobbing aloud as you clutched on to your pillow tightly - the pent up anger was replaced by complete sadness and loss. You only ever wanted the approval of your mum about things and you fought so hard for it.

The phone call, the hopeful seal of approval... Every time it always seemed to be the same type of emotions when you spoke to your mum - It was a vicious cycle of emotional abuse, or so you'd been told from other people and you never wanted to believe it.

Only problem was that you'd not been able to see it yourself, even if it was clear as day. Even if regardless of a psychological therapist telling you this, you refused to believe them words. Nor your team mates, who had realised it the first time they had the chance to meet her and even then you wouldn't listen or hear them out.

It was your mum, your flesh and blood so how could she be like that? You had never been able to wrap your head around it.

The sound of sobs were what woke Leah up, she was quick to pad out of her bedroom and down the hall to where your bedroom was. "Kidda?" The women pushed the door open and her heart cracked to see you looking so distraught and vulnerable.

The blonde was quick to move to be right beside you, she was always the one to comfort you and she wouldn't ever stop doing that as long as you needed her.

"Hey, kidda. Come here," The blonde scooped you up in her arms and rocked you all while she ran her slender fingers through your messy bedhead. "You're okay. I'm here," she reassured you.

Leah was always patient enough to wait for you to calm down before she gave you the chance to speak, she wouldn't ever push you to talk if you didn't want too.

"L... Le," You cried aloud as you clutched onto her. You breath became shaky as sobs wracked your body.

"I'm here, it's okay," Leah spoke calmly, continuing to try and comfort you the best way she knew but she already knew it was going to be a long night ahead of them - An emotional night that would leave you drained tomorrow.

A vicious cycle of on a loop.

"Ready to tell me what's going on inside that head of yours, huh?" The blonde tried to carefully ask.

There was another brief pause of silence, nothing but the quiet sobs coming from you as the blonde continued to comfort you and reassure you that she was here and not leaving you.

To Leah's surprise, you did open up this time around, even if you didn't mean too.

"I should have realised. I should have... I should have realised," You made the mistake to speak aloud rather than think it like you thought you had.

"You should have realised what, kidda?" Leah questioned, confused about what you meant.

You snap your head in the blondes' direction as you bit your bottom lip, debating whether to be open with your thoughts that you tried so hard to keep buried inside.

"About my mum... I should have realised," You repeated your words as you fought the tears from spilling. "She's so... She's so-- Why does everything I tell her, why does it always get turned back around so it's about her?" That was it. You blurted out your own feelings - There was no hiding how you felt anymore.

Leah smiled sympathetically and moved onto the sofa to sit closer to you, wrapping her free arm around your shoulder to comfort you, "I... I don't know kidda," she spoke honestly.

"So many people, so many people have told me-- They've warned me about her but I have... I never wanted to listen," You confessed, the tears openly rolled down your cheeks and you probably looked a right blubbering mess but you couldn't stop your emotions pouring out. "And now... Now I finally realise how it's always been. Why is she like that, Le?" You asked.

"I can't say I know the answer to that one kidda, I wish I knew," Leah replied, exhaling a sigh as she couldn't fathem herself how a mother could be like that with her own child, she felt so much for the girl and always wished she could make the situation better for her. "Listen, I know it's hard but you've got us. All of us girls here at Arsenal and you're so loved by all of us." she told you.

"I... I just want her to love me, and she just... she doesn't even care about my feelings!" You stated, roughly wiping at your tear stained cheeks angrily to the point that you made them red. "Why does she always throw everything back in my face? Everything that I have ever done, she's always made it about her... Always!" you cried.

"I know, I know it hurts... I know it does," You kept your head buried in the blondes' chest as you hiccuped from the sudden breakdown in the middle of the night. "And I am sorry that you have to go through this. It's not fair on you kidda." Leah added, biting her bottom lip.

All of emotion had led you feeling exhausted in the end, you fought it hard to keep your eyes open as you lay slumped against the blonde woman.

"Come on let's get you back into bed, yeah? I mean you're almost falling asleep on me here, kidda," Leah joked with you, hoping for you to even crack a small smile as she gently moved you back to your bed and tucked you in under the duvet. "I'm so sorry you have had to deal with the kidda but you know you have a family here with us. We may not be blood but we really love you kidda." You heard the faint words spoken to you as you felt your eye lids close, completely warn out.

Sure, the Arsenal women weren't family by blood but instead they were family by choice and that was more important. They were there for you whenever you needed them and you knew you felt safe with them around. You truly felt happy with your chosen family.

#arsenal x reader #leah williamson #woso #woso imagine #woso fanfics #woso x reader #awfc x reader #light angst

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elliesbelle · 11 months

Text

nobody compares to you

chapter 8

pairing: ellie x reader

synopsis: you're in your junior year of college and at a party, you run into the girl who broke your heart: ellie williams. despite the time it took to reset your life, will you risk a broken heart again for her?

content warnings: modern college au, cursing, angst, lesbian flirtationship?, mentions of kissing, mentions of a weapon (it's just ellie's switchblade), descriptions of injuries and bruising, abby is hot and cocky (duh), minors do not interact

word count: 4k

chapters: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen

series masterlist

my masterlist

i have a ko-fi if you like my work so much that you feel compelled to tip me ♡︎

the "nobody compares to you" spotify playlist

You’d spent the last few days texting back and forth with Abby. She hadn’t changed much since your freshman year, still confident and charismatic and charming as always.

It was nice, taking a step outside of your comfort zone. It had been a while since you’d regularly socialized with someone other than your usual group of friends. The older you got, it seemed harder to feel comfortable getting close to new people.

But Abby made it easy, keeping things casual and light. She’d ask about your day, talk about hers, and inquire what you were up to. She’d flirt every now and again, and you’d cautiously flirt right back, but she never pushed much further than that.

You hadn’t told anyone yet about reconnecting with Abby. The girls from the Wilson Crew would no doubt be incredibly supportive, having partly seen you going through some of the disastrous aftermath with Ellie. But as loving and encouraging as they were, having six girls simultaneously asking you questions and being loud & abrasive about your love/sex life was too overwhelming a thought.

You considered disclosing your secret to Dina. But though you loved her deeply and she was the closest thing you’ve ever had to a sister, Dina was just a tad bit judgy. She wouldn’t say anything, but after a few years of knowing her and her mannerisms, you’d recognized her pursed lips and her one raised eyebrow as her judgy face. And right now, the last thing you needed was to be evaluated when you’re trying to break from behind the walls you’ve built the past couple of years.

After musing over it for a while, you kick yourself for not realizing right away who it was that you could confide in.

Jesse.

Jesse was an easygoing person, effortless to chat with and always cracking jokes. But when it came down to it, he cared about you and knew how to listen, judgment-free. You used to have long talks with him back in freshman year, separate from Dina and Ellie, while you watched old movies or played video games together. After Rafael died, he made sure constantly that you stayed stable and took care of yourself. He’s never failed to be a great friend to you.

Thursday morning, you make the decision to text Jesse as you get ready to leave for your first morning class.

You let out an audible “uhhh” as you remember that Jesse shared an apartment with Ellie. Jesse seems to suddenly remember as well a few seconds later.

You chuckle as you read Jesse’s last text before putting your phone in your pocket and walking out the front door of your apartment.

“So, you free tomorrow night?” Abby asks.

“Mm, that depends.”

“On?”

“On why you’re asking.” You reply cheekily.

Abby chuckles.

You were making your way to your Race and Sexuality in Popular Culture class and Abby, who supposedly had some time to kill, was walking you over.

“Oh, just curious.” Abby says.

“Uh-huh, just curious.” You reply, rolling your eyes playfully.

You stroll down the brick path holding a large textbook to your chest that you couldn’t stuff into your backpack with the rest of your things. Abby’d offered to carry it for you, but you insisted that you were a “strong and independent woman who didn’t need anyone to carry their books for them,” to which Abby laughed.

“Oh, I’m just fucking around,” Abby continues. “Wanted to see if you wanted to maybe come to this bar with me and my friends. It’s pretty close by.”

“Wow, getting drunk? On a weekday, Miss Anderson?” You joke.

“Friday night counts as a weekend, you weirdo.” Abby chuckles.

“Which bar is it?”

“The Bow and Arrow on Waverly Street.”

You purse your lips at this.

The Bow and Arrow was a lesbian bar that was near the university’s campus. It was a pretty small place with a nice set-up: friendly and welcoming bartenders, TVs that played a variety of movies or that were connected to old consoles for patrons to play retro games on, and a spacious dance floor on the rooftop.

Last year when you were still freshly heartbroken, you’d gone to the Bow and Arrow with a few friends from the Wilson Crew. Somehow, you ended up making out with a random girl in a dark corner who’d been eyeing you all evening. But after they’d asked if you wanted to go home with them, you chickened out and muttered a quick apology before rejoining your friends.

Before then, you’d gone a few times during your freshman year. But after one fateful December night that involved a random stranger, the dance floor, and Ellie, you didn’t frequent it much afterwards.

Abby doesn’t notice your hesitation, which allows you a second to come up with a calculated response.

“Do you mind if I think about it? Tomorrow’s kind of a long day for me. Might be too exhausted after all my classes.” You say.

“Sure, that’s totally fine.” Abby replies. “No pressure at all. If you wanna have a chill night, you could also come over and we can watch a movie or something instead.”

You smile at her thoughtfulness.

“You’re sweet,” You say. “But it’s okay, don’t change your plans ‘cause of me. You should go anyway and have fun with your friends.”

“Still trying to avoid hanging out alone with me, huh?” Abby jokes.

You roll your eyes and smile.

“Yes, that’s exactly why I’m letting you walk me to class today.” You reply sarcastically. “Definitely trying to avoid being around you right now, Anderson.”

“Oh, you’re ‘letting me’ walk you to class, are you?”

“Yup,” You say. “Now leave me, I no longer require your services, Miss Anderson.” You joke, gesturing for her to leave the opposite direction.

“Bossy.” Abby chuckles but continues to walk alongside you.

It’s a slightly chillier day today as October begins to slowly approach November. You’d opted for an oversized sweater that used to belong to your cousin Rafael (it had his alma mater stitched onto the front and your uncle had gifted it to you sometime after his passing), a beanie, and a pair of thick leggings. When you’d met up with Abby, you pretended not to notice her eyeing your ass in your leggings for half a second when she first spotted you.

“Alright,” Abby continues. “How about tonight? You busy?”

“Can’t tonight, sorry.” You say. “Meeting up with a friend.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, just having dinner with my friend Jesse.”

“Oh, Jesse Chang, right?”

You blink at Abby’s recognition.

“Yeah, you know him?”

“Just seen him around and all.” Abby explains. “He’s at the gym sometimes when I’m there. He lives with that friend of yours, Ellie, right? They’re both there together a lot.”

Your face drops at the mention of Ellie, but Abby has her eyes straight ahead and doesn’t catch it.

“Oh, and I see him sometimes playing guitar on the quad.” Abby continues. “He’s pretty good.”

You quickly compose yourself.

“Y-yeah. He’s known to play since he was a kid. A, uh, a family friend taught him growing up.” You say.

You feel a pang in your heart. Joel taught Jesse how to play the guitar when he was younger. Jesse and Ellie.

That summer that you’d spent in Jackson, Ellie’d told Joel during a Miller/Williams dinner night about how you were musically inclined. You’d felt embarrassed but you remember thinking that it was sweet how excited he got. Joel then proceeded to gush all about how he taught Ellie and Jesse how to play the guitar when they were just teenagers.

Jesse’d already known how to play piano from lessons he’d been taking and was curious to branch out (Ellie made a comment that he just wanted to learn because playing guitar looked so much cooler to girls). According to Joel, he had been a good, attentive student. When Ellie found out Joel was teaching Jesse, she competitively insisted on being taught too.

You remember chuckling when Joel’d told you how much of an impatient and temperamental student Ellie turned out to be. She’d easily get frustrated when she forgot a chord and curse herself out when her fingers would slip to play discordantly. But along with her hotheadedness came passion, and Ellie ended up teaching herself quickly into mastering the instrument anyway.

Something inside ached when the memories of Jesse and Ellie casually strumming on their guitars flooded back. You’d watched in admiration as they fucked around and even occasionally wrote songs together. Sometimes you’d sing along to whatever they’d be playing, and they would joke about how they should start a band (to which you’d tease that Ellie didn’t play nice with others to handle being in an organized group).

“That’s nice.” Abby says, interrupting your trance. “You’re pretty close to him?”

“Oh yeah,” You reply. “I’d say he’s one of my closest friends here.”

You quickly feel guilty saying that out loud, knowing that you’d pulled away from both him and Dina the past year.

“That’s pretty sweet,” Abby smiles. “He seems like a really chill guy.”

“He’s the best.” You say, smiling back.

“Well, I won’t get in the way of some bestie bonding then,” Abby says. “But at least consider coming out with us tomorrow night?”

You’re approaching the building of your next class now with just a couple of minutes to spare. You grip your textbook to your chest tightly, almost like it's a source of stress relief. Going out and actually being in public with Abby was a nerve-wracking concept. But you don’t want to disappoint her either.

“I will,” You say. “I promise.”

“Good.” Abby smiles.

��Now, go and get out of here,” You tell her. “You’re gonna be late for your next class.”

“Why are you always so eager to get rid of me?” Abby teases.

You roll your eyes, amused.

“You’re just so sickenly nice to me that I can’t stand to be around you.”

“Get used to it then.” Abby replies.

“Mm,” You muse. “We’ll see.”

Abby chuckles.

“Alright, well, I’ll text you.” She says, waving as she walks off. “See you, pretty girl.”

You feel blood rushing to your cheeks at this flirty comment as you wave her off. Your grip on your textbook loosens before you turn and proceed into the building.

“Another strawberry milkshake? Really?” You ask as the server walks away.

“What?! I’m having a craving!”

You chuckle before taking a sip of your water.

Ever the responsible and reliable friend, Jesse was ten minutes early to the diner for your meet-up. He’d pulled you into one of his classic bear hugs when you came in, and your heart jolted and your eyes teared up. You’ve really missed being around him.

“So, how’ve you been, kid?” He asks, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms.

“Mm, short or long answer?”

“Long,” He smiles. “I wanna know everything.”

You return his smile uncertainly.

“Don’t really know how to start, Jess.”

“How ‘bout telling me how classes have been going for you?”

You go on for a while about how you’d been handling your schoolwork, Jesse occasionally chiming in about his own classes. He laughed at your anecdotes and asked all the right questions at all the right times. Your orders were placed in front of you as you were complaining about your Women in Classical Antiquity professor who you swore has a vendetta against you.

“Then she looks at me like I’m crazy!” You complain before stuffing your face with a slice of chocolate chip pancake.

“Yeah, a buddy of mine had her last year, and apparently half the shit she was teaching made no sense.” Jesse replies, licking whipped cream off the top of his milkshake.

“It doesn’t!” You exclaim. “Like, I’m sorry that I corrected you in front of the rest of your students, but like? Do your job right the first time then, bitch!”

Jesse guffaws as you pour more maple syrup over your pancakes.

“Dude, she’s gonna fail you for sure if you keep it up.”

“Fail me for knowing more about Greek mythology than she does,” You grumble. “Get me up on that podium, and we’ll all learn something for a change.”

You continue your tirade for a couple of minutes until the conversation shifts from your classes to your friends.

“It’s so cute that they’ve been together since freshman year,” You say, discussing your friends Tara and Astrid who were celebrating their two-year anniversary in a couple of months. “Although I guess to you and D, two years is nothing.”

“Hey, still an impressive feat. And I definitely agree that they’re real cute together.” Jesse replies.

“Nice to know love is real after all.” You joke.

Jesse smiles at this but then suddenly looks thoughtful before speaking.

“How about you, dude?”

“What about me?” You ask, finishing off the last of your pancakes and attacking your side of grits.

“How’s your love life been going?”

You pause. This is exactly why you’d invited Jesse out, to confide in him. And yet somehow, you feel your mouth go dry and your heartbeat rapidly increase.

Jesse notices your hesitation and puts his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hands.

“We don’t have to talk about it, bud. But I’m here if you need someone. Judgment-free zone.”

You give him a soft smile. Jesse was so perceptive sometimes.

“Well, umm,” You start. “I’m sort of… seeing someone? Or trying to see someone, I guess. Not sure what to call it yet.”

“Oh, yeah? What does ‘trying’ to see someone mean exactly?”

“It means…” You sigh. “…it means I don’t really know what I’m doing or what’s going on or if I want to go further.”

Jesse chuckles.

“Well, what do you want?” He asks.

“I’m not really sure,” You reply honestly. “I guess, I’m a little tired of feeling lonely, and she’s so nice to me. She makes me feel good about myself. I don’t know. I just haven’t actually dated anyone in such a long time.”

“That’s okay. It’s been a rough couple of years for you. I don’t blame you at all.” Jesse says.

You look at him sadly before popping a spoonful of grits into your mouth.

“Well, I don’t think you should completely force yourself into something you’re unsure about,” Jesse says after taking a sip from his milkshake. “But I also think that you deserve to be happy. And unfortunately, that means putting yourself out there.”

You scowl at his sage advice.

“Do I have to?”

“Sorry, kid.” Jesse chuckles and you grimace.

“I just want to see you be yourself again,” Jesse continues. “Whether that’s because you start going out with someone new or because you just leave your apartment more often, it doesn’t matter. Do you think this girl could be good for you?”

You contemplate his question seriously for a few moments.

“Maybe?” You reply, unsure. “She could be. I don’t know.”

“Well, you don’t have to know now,” Jesse says. “Just do what makes you happy, okay? That’s really all I want.”

You feel something warm growing instantaneously in your chest. Gratitude is too small of a word for what you felt towards Jesse, and you make a note to yourself to start hanging out with him more.

“Thanks, Jess. You really are the best.” You say.

“Hey, that almost rhymed.” He jokes.

“Oh my god,” You laugh, rolling your eyes. “You’re so annoying.”

“You’re a poet and you don’t even know it!” He cackles.

You take one of your used, syrup-y paper napkins, ball it up, and toss it at his face. He catches it easily, chortling to himself.

“God, you’re a fucking dork!” You say.

“Don’t be a hater!” He says, holding his hands up defensively.

You giggle.

“I missed you, Jess.” You say.

“Missed you too, kid,” Jesse replies, eyes softening. “You’ve got to come over sometime. I haven’t beaten your ass at Smash in forever!”

You give him a hesitant smile, which he notices.

“Just come over when she’s not there.” He says, accurately assuming the reason behind your reluctance.

“Dude, I don’t know…”

“We’ll do it sometime when she’s not home. It’ll be fine, I promise.” Jesse reassures. “Plus, we haven’t had a jam sesh in forever. I miss my jamming partner.”

You smile, remembering the times when Jesse would convince you to teach him something new on his guitar or have you sing along to a song he’d been learning. He almost roped you into performing at an open mic with him back in freshman year, but you ended up chickening out.

“Don’t you have Ellie for that?” You ask timidly. You find that her name hurts to say out loud.

“She judges me too much for my exquisite and refined music taste,” Jesse complains. “She nearly threw her knife at me for trying to get her to duet a Taylor Swift song with me.”

You laugh, despite yourself.

“Yeah, well, that’s what you get.” You tease.

“Hey! This is a judgment-free zone. No judging my Swiftie habits.”

You roll your eyes playfully.

“Hey, by the way,” Jesse suddenly says. “Who’s the lucky lady?”

“What?”

“The girl that you’re ‘trying’ to see or whatever.”

“Oh. Right.” You say, biting the inside of your cheek. “It’s umm… Abby Anderson.”

You look up to see Jesse with an expression on his face that you don’t fully recognize. His eyebrows are furrowed and it looks as if he was trying to connect the dots about something you weren’t privy to. After several moments, you see what seems like a sudden realization reach his eyes.

“Oh shit, umm.” He starts. “Yeah, she’s pretty cool.”

“What is it, Jesse?” You ask skeptically.

“No, nothing. Just processing.” He replies unconvincingly.

“Jesse,” You press. “What is it?”

“Seriously, it’s nothing.”

“Dude, come on. Don’t bullshit me.” You assert. Jesse sighs.

“That just…That just explains a couple of things, that’s all.”

“What things?”

“I—” Jesse starts but his eyes suddenly wander away from you and towards the front door of the diner. “Oh, fuck.”

You follow the direction of his gaze. You feel your throat close up and your stomach lurch as you recognize the figures of Dina and Ellie entering the restaurant. The instinct you’d developed the past year to suddenly look elsewhere whenever Ellie entered the room vanished completely when your eyes fell on her face.

Ellie was sporting a black eye with a dark gash right underneath. The bruising didn’t look fresh, but you can easily tell it happened recently. Your eyes trail down and see that her right hand is also bandaged.

“Shit.” You hear Jesse mumble, breaking you out of your wildly unravelling thoughts. You turn to face him.

“I’m so sorry, man. I had no idea that they were gonna pass by—” Jesse immediately starts to apologize.

“I-it’s okay, Jess.” You stutter. “I just—”

You fall silent as you glance back towards the pair, your eyes inadvertently meeting Ellie’s ocean green ones. Your faces make the same panicked expression before you both break eye contact to hiss at your respective friends.

“You didn’t tell Dina where we were meeting?” You whisper fervently.

“I told her that we were gonna hang out, but I completely forgot to mention where.” He says apologetically.

“Jesse…” You whine.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, bud. Do you, uh, want me to go over there and—” His sentence is cut short as Dina approaches your table.

“Hi, babe.” She says, directed at Jesse. “So, what the fuck?”

“Why are you here?” You and Jesse demand simultaneously.

“We ordered takeout and we came to pick it up so we didn’t have to pay delivery fees.” Dina explains. “Jess, why didn’t you tell me—”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t think you were coming out with El!” He says defensively.

“Fucking hell,” Dina says before turning to you. “I’m sorry, honey. Are you okay?”

“I, umm,” You start, your eyes unwittingly wandering back to Ellie. She was standing awkwardly by the host’s podium, bouncing back and forth between her feet and twiddling her fingers. She seems determined to look at nothing else but at her Chuck Taylor sneakers. You shift your gaze back to Dina.

“Y-yeah. I’m okay.” You say weakly.

She smiles sympathetically, putting a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“Is…” You begin timidly. “Is that a black eye? O-on Ellie?”

Dina and Jesse share a worried look.

“Did you tell her anything?” She asks him.

“No, not yet.” He replies.

Dina sighs.

“Tell me what?” You ask, eyebrows furrowing.

Dina’s hand squeezes your shoulder lightly.

“It’s—” She begins. “It’s kind of… private.”

“Oh” is all you say in response. You feel a little rebuffed and excluded, but you decide not to press further. You knew it wasn’t your business. And after all, you were no longer a foursome.

“We’re just gonna grab our food and go, okay?” Dina assures. “I’ll text you later, hun.” She says to you.

“O-okay…” You reply meekly and watch as Dina makes her way back to Ellie.

Neither you nor Jesse says anything. From your peripheral vision, you see Dina and Ellie seemingly argue about something for a few moments before the hostess arrives with a plastic bag of food, which Ellie grabs with her good hand. They leave without another glance back at you.

“Jess, I’m…” You say after a second or two of silence. “I’m gonna go use the bathroom real quick, okay?”

Jesse responds with a simple “okay.” His eyes meet yours with an acknowledgement that you merely need a second to yourself. You nod, silently thanking him for his understanding before making your way to the diner’s bathrooms.

As you shut the door behind you, you lean against it and weep silently.

Why? Why am I here again?

You realize that it hasn’t even been a week since you were in this same, empty diner bathroom, breaking down and crying tears of frustration.

Am I not allowed to catch a fucking break?

You spend a couple of minutes breathing deeply the way your old therapist taught you before you can wrench yourself off from the door and look at yourself in the mirror.

Please, just… please.

Your right hand unwittingly comes up to touch your face, right where Ellie’s injury had been on hers.

What the hell did she get herself into?

Ellie wasn’t inherently a violent person, but she didn’t shy away from it either. She was reckless and impulsive, something about her that you used to love but also dread. A memory starts forming in your head, of you and Ellie and that December night at the Bow and Arrow.

Your reminiscence is suddenly interrupted by your phone buzzing in your pocket. You take it out to see you got a text.

Abby?

You unlock your phone, giggling when you read her message.

She really is so nice to me.

Your heart starts to feel warm before it stops completely upon reading her follow-up texts.

O-oh. Oh, okay.

You gulp and feel a chill going down your spine. You almost feel the need to look around and make sure nobody is watching you, only to remember you were alone in the bathroom. Your phone buzzes with another message.

You chuckle nervously at Abby’s last message.

She’s bold, I’ll give her that.

You chew on your lip for a few moments while one hand grips your phone tightly and the other taps nervously on the bathroom counter. You take a deep breath.

Fuck it.

Remembering Jesse’s advice, you make the decision to put yourself out there again.

Hastily putting your phone back in your pocket before Abby can text back, you feel every nerve in your body tremble. Your heart hammers rapidly in your chest, but you stare at your reflection resolutely.

Abby likes you, okay? I think. And I think I can like her too. This is a chance to be part of something healthy for once.

You stand in front of the mirror, conducting your breathing exercises and attempting to convince yourself.

Back at your table while waiting for your return, Jesse is hastily questioning Dina through text if Abby Anderson was the reason that Frat Guy Adam was nearly beaten to a bloody pulp by the hands of Ellie.

author’s notes:

omg a million years later and i finally update? gasp. now everyone clap for belle (pls clap)

tbh i was too lazy to do all the phone texting parts with the format i did in the past chapters cause i hate having to mess around with the html format for the customized grey text, so my lazy ass just did screenshots of the texts instead, sorry slfkjsddsf

if you recognize the lesbian bar that i loosely based the bow and arrow on, no you didn’t

i’ve been replaying tlou2 lately and i know many of y’all headcanon jesse as a himbo which i honestly love, i’m obsessed with himbo!jesse, but i personally didn’t wanna ignore the fact that jesse’s actually a very intelligent and level-headed guy who’s extremely organized and who’s a natural leader and etc. let’s acknowledge this jesse more!

also jesse’s last name is merely inspired by the last name of the actor who plays him (stephen chang)

also jesse is a musician because i say so. i’m also hcing him as having taken piano lessons as a kid cause which of us asian kids weren’t forced to take piano lessons or whatever when we were kids, let’s be real (i took them briefly but they were boring and i’d already known and i also mostly taught myself anyway)

the part about reader's professor not knowing how to teach her own class is just me being still bitter over a mythology professor who kept trying to fail me cause i knew more about greek mythology than she did (she couldn't cause i was literally correct all the time). the bitch even tried to accuse me of plagiarism! i'm still mad.

i added in the part about ellie not inherently being a violent person as a passive-aggressive reference to craig mazin, the creator of the hbo show, who says that ellie has a violent heart when she does NOT, he does not understand our girl at all

the image i used as abby's selfie is of the body model that they based abby's character on, colleen fotsch!

wow i added waaaay too much in the author’s notes lol sorry belle has adhd everyone

anyway thank you for bearing with me as i take time uploading. replies and reblogs and messages are fuel to new chapters, so pretty please! indulge me!

taglist: @lonelyfooryouonly, @elliesinterlude, @sawaagyapong, @peppesgirl, @iconsoft, @maybeidohaveadhd, @ellieswifee, @valiantllamapersonpony-blog, @nil-eena, @echostinn, @uraesthete, @softbunlvr, @cherriesxinthespring, @amitycat, @thefishymissy, @yevheniiaaaa, @machetegirl109, @bertandfearnie, @ximtiredx, @efam, @elliesnumber1gf, @digit4lslut, @tayyyystan, @emothurman, @livvy-2000, @abigaillovestoread, @gold-dustwomxn, @liabadoobee, @yuckyfucky, @qtefolleunpez, @libr4sonsa, @17luv, @robinismywifee, @villainousbear, @ashlynnnnnnnn15, @scarlettadore, @vianna99, @g0n3girls, @totheblood, @embermdk, @awyunh, @kenz-ee, @marvelwomen-simp, @eleactric, @simpforellie, @omgidksblog, @anxiouso, @nyrastar, @lillysbigwilly, @hopeless-y, @elliesbabygirl, @alexpritch, @thestarsanctuary, @aethelwyneleigh27

#nobody compares to you series #ellie williams #dealer!ellie #ellie x reader #ellie x you #ellie x y/n #the last of us #tlou #the last of us part 2 #tlou2 #ellie fanfiction #belle speaks #belle writes

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bettysupremacy · 10 months

Text

Always There - Steve Harrington

Summary

w/c 3.9k

a/n based off of this song that drops me to my knees every time I listen to it. Lyrics are out of order, ignore it ♡

Request

You’ve been waiting for your lover, what you’ll discover, is she’s always there.

Long were the nights you once thought about Steve.

Seven and knee scrapes, you’d been there with a GI Joe bandage. Twelve and arguing parents, you’d been there with your palms, warm over his ears.

It was natural with him, always had been.

Fourteen and his first girlfriend, you’d been there with open arms during their break up. Though, he didn’t seem to mind she’d left him for Jack Thompson, a stumpy boy a year older than them. Like he anticipated it, like he knew it was coming. It’d always bewildered you that he wasn’t upset his first girlfriend was stolen from him, but he had you he’d said, and that was enough for him.

16 and Nancy wheeler, you’d stub the toe of your shoe into the ground when she came along, and pretend she didn’t get to you the way she did.

Steve with her was a lump in your throat, but what were you to do? He loved her, he told you, It was different than the other girls. You couldn’t inadvertently scare her off with your silence, or push her away with darting glares in the halls. She loved him too. Or, so he’d thought.

Steve didn’t know why it felt like he was forcing himself to love Nancy. It stressed him, weighing down on his tight chest when he’d thought about the way she proclaimed them bullshit. Like he was just some fling, some distraction.

Not her distraction. His.

“Bullshit.” Nancy had slurred. “We’re bullshit.”

And Steve wondered why it was you he wanted to reach for in the moment. He knew you’d be there to wipe the cold water of Nancy’s indifference from his face.

His body ached as you held him that night under silly confetti sheets he’d bought you. The same sheets you’d brought to your new apartment. Pent up stress leaving his body in guttural sobs, It embarrassed him, pushed him further into your own aching chest. You didn’t mind, preening from the attention he’s been lackluster with.

You toe at his hip now, under the roof of an apartment you two call your own. Thinking about it makes you a nostalgic Steve calls you silly for, so you sit quiet as he grabs your socked foot, thumb pressing into the soft middle. “Foot message?”

20 and grown up, you feel like he’s been taking care of you more lately.

He drops your foot. “You wish.”

You smile, all the cheek he loves, but he doesn’t look away from the blindingly bright TV. Your shoulders drop, wishing you’d catch him looking at you the way you looked at him.

Twenty felt nice on him. Twenty warmed his skin and broadened his shoulders. It was shown in the way his arms filled the sleeves of his crew necks, the way he carried himself with a new lightness.

You’d always known he’d look good grown up, and twenty was grown up when you were sixteen. Taxes and rent, grocery shopping and working a job, you’d always known it’d be Steve you’d do those arduous adult tasks with. You just hoped it’d be as his girlfriend, not his roommate.

It ached the 14 year old inside of you. Roommate wasn’t the best adjective for what you were, but it worked. He was your best friend, your diary, your Steve. Not your roommate. He hated it, correcting everyone in a 20 mile radius when they called you that.

Movie night with your roommate?

best friend

It’s only fair when you decide to push his buttons a little. The lack of attention eats you, and you know he doesn’t like to talk about his dates to you. “How was Carrie?”

“Hm?”

“Carrie?”

“Oh,” Steve breathes out heavily. “She was fine.”

You nod slowly, though it still isn’t received, like the smile you had plastered on just for him 2 minutes ago.

He seems tired, though usually he’s able to muster a knock it off.

“There’ll be a second date?” You don’t know why you seek out this answer.

“Um,” his head lolls against the couch, turning to look at you. “No,” his head shakes, “I don’t think so.”

“What?” Your eyes squint. “Why not?”

His laugh is exasperated. “I don’t know, sweet thing.” Heat crawls up your neck, embarrassed at his unexpected attention. “Why are we playing 20 questions?”

“Sorry.” You murmur, drawing your knees up. Defensive, but he doesn’t mind.

“It’s okay.” He murmurs back, smile lilting his voice playfully. “Are you okay?”

Your eyes pop up to his. He’s grateful to make contact with them. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“Cause we’re playing interrogate Steve.”

“I said sorry.” There’s a loose thread of the couch in between your fingers. You tie it anxiously.

“You didn’t need to.” He teases.

“I know.” You tease back, lighthearted. Just loud enough to hear, just quiet enough that you don’t have to use your voice, you’re scared he’ll hear the choke in your throat.

The couch below you crinkles as Steve turns back to his tv, and you’re embarrassed. So embarrassed.

He doesn’t know this, of course, but it still gnaws that he could see through your interrogation. As he’d put it.

“Y/N.” His voice is quiet.

The TV still plays, background noise though you pretend to pay attention.

“Hm?” You feign attention, or a lack thereof.

His hand drops from the couch cushion to your knee, squeezing concernedly. “Are you okay?”

Or maybe he does know. Maybe he knows more than you’d think.

“Yes, Steve,” There’s a weak laugh that makes him frown. “Are we playing interrogate Y/N now?”

“No,” he drags out, gently. “you just seem.. sad?”

You nod. “Thank you.”

“No,” he says again, a little more stressed. “I just mean- shit, I can tell you want to cry.” his chest hurts. “Did I do something?”

Your head shakes, words failing you.

He’s upset now. Not at you, of course, but at himself for being the reason you weren’t able to talk.

“M’sorry.” His head shakes, dismissing his earlier question. “Please don’t be upset with me, just.. tell me when you’re ready.”

You nod, knowing that he‘s still watching, though he’s turned back to Full House.

Something about him noticing your upset doesn’t sit right with you. He’s known you since you were 5, of course he can tell when you want to cry. Of course he notices the freckle next to your eye and the birthmark on your hip. Don’t all friends?

Your stomach stumbles and you get up, tripping to get to your small bedroom before Steve sees the tears. You and him had a small budget apartment shopping, but it was yours, and that’s what mattered.

You’re grateful when Steve seemingly doesn’t follow, though he stands behind the door petrified. He’s the reason you’re hiding away, he’s the reason he can hear racketing sobs, and he doesn’t know what he did.

He thinks for a moment, that you must know what he’s been thinking lately.

—

Stay while in your slumber, tumble under, and never wake.

Family video is cold without you.

Steve doesn’t think there was ever a Family Video shift he didn’t work with you, and your vanishment has completely left him an absence of a boy.

Not that you quit or anything drastic like that.

Called in sick, is what Robin had said, and when Steve didn’t believe her, he’d had no choice but to tell the nosy girl what had happened the night before.

She’d sympathized with him like a good friend should, but that didn’t mean she agreed with him. She sometimes wish he had more interesting drama. He’d make a better coworker best friend.

“I mean, how do you think she feels, Steve?”

They sit on the floor of Family video behind the counter. Besides the establishment being empty of you, it was also devoid of customers, like your light drew them in. And they weren’t going to stand a ten hour shift if they hadn’t needed to.

His attention catches, looking up from the boxes Robin hands him to snap shut and throw in a crate. “What?”

She, unlike Steve, doesn’t look up, focused on the repetitious task of opening movie boxes, and stamping their return. “She’s your best friend of, what, 15 years?”

He doesn’t understand where she’s getting at, eyebrows scrunched in pure confusion. So what? “What does that have to do with this?”

Robin heaves a sigh, letting the stamp clunk down onto the hardwood loudly. If she notices Steve cringe, she makes no attempt to apologize. “I’m sure it gets tiring watching you go on date after date.”

“I do not go on ‘date after date.’” His pointed glare fails to cut through Robin.

“How many boyfriends has she had, Steve?”

On a normal day these questions would be tolerated. Today, they are not. “I don’t see what you’re getting at, Robin.”

She sighs again, more exasperated than before. His heart trips meanly at his friend being frustrated with him. “It hurts her feelings, Steve.” His head turns, Robin marches on. “I mean, she’s the only constant girl in your life, besides me, and you haven’t made a move!”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” His head shakes. “I just don’t want to lose her.”

“Did you want to lose me when you told me you loved me in the Starcourt toilets?”

Won't you tell her that you love her? And you'll hug her, most every day.

“I did not tell you I loved you.” His eyes roll. “Besides, I tell her I love her.”

Robin nods encouragingly. “That’s great, but is it the same way you told me you loved me?”

Steve loves Robin. It’s a deep twisting love that Steve is not ashamed to admit to anyone who asks, but even he knows that’s not the same love he holds for you. It’s different. Your his person. He feels a little sick.

“I think you should see sense, Steve.” Robin shrugs.

His hand runs over his eyes. “Thanks, Robs.”

“You’re welcome.” She chirps. “I just miss her here is all.”

Steve let’s his first smile of the day slip. “Is all.” He mimics

She laughs louder than him. “Shut up and finish your pile, you’re slowing me down.”

—

Walk a while in her summer, she is the drummer, of your beating heart.

Summer days are so much better when your best friend isn’t acting weird.

Weird is harsh.

The sun beating down heavily, your warm foggy head lays in Robins lap. Her fingers work through your hair, untangling tiny knots your brush didn’t glide through this morning. It’s nice. You breathe through your nose softly.

“Getting sleepy?” Robin murmurs, quiet in contrast to the shrieks of happy teenagers fifty feet away.

“No,” you huff, adjusting comfortably on her thigh, “just bored.”

“Hear that.” She nods, though only Steve can see. They’d wanted an outside day, wanted to skate and run and work themselves in the heat of the sun. Who was Steve to say no to that?

The blanket a languid tangle of teenage young adult limbs, he stares at the notable gap between your thigh and his. It’s raging and wide as the Mississippi River. He can’t stand it.

“What’s for dinner?” Robin asks into the air, but you know it’s not directed towards you.

“I don’t know,” Steve yanks a blade of grass from the ground. It’s soft between his fingers as his thumb glides against the smooth surface. He chucks it at Robin. “Ask the children’s mothers.”

She sniffs out as it hits her nose, he grimaces as she gently pulls it from where it’s landed in your hair. “Come on, you’re not gonna feed them?”

“What kind of dad are you, Steve?” You murmur into Robin’s thigh, tickling her softly.

He watches you, eyes still closed, reach out and flick his knee. It’s the first time you’ve directly touched him this entire evening. It sets off something awful in his chest.

“I mean- shit you know we gotta pay the electric,” His head shakes. “Can’t exactly afford Happy Meals for six.”

You sigh, ignoring Robin’s displeased mumble as you sit up. “I already paid electric, Steve.”

He doesn’t understand, tugging the brim of his cap down confusedly. Love will keep us together, it reads. Robin teased him for it, but he knew it was your favorite. “But we usually split that?”

“Just wanted to get ahead of things,” you shrug, not quite making eye contact. “figured you’d have some extra money for things like this.”

He hates the sincerity in your voice, eyeing your fingers as they tug the hem of his shorts absentmindedly. “You didn’t have to do that, babe.”

You shrug again, dropping your head back into Robin’s warm lap. “Wanted to.”

His head thumps with heat, or longing. He can’t tell them apart, covering his cool eyes from the heat of the sun with his hat. If it helps, he’ll know which the problem was.

Lucas is the first one to come running hungry. His nimble fingers punch a yellow straw into his capri sun, sucking greedily. Robin swats his hand when it overflows onto sticky fingers, mumbling something about the blanket. He doesn’t mind, tossing it into the grass.

“I’m hungry.”

“Hi, hungry.” You smile, though you don’t look up from your resting spot. Robin snorts at the unfunny joke, Steve cringes.

“Is she okay?”

“Just warm.” You nod, peeking at him. His visor covers the run from his eyes protectively, your eyes glint in a tease you won’t let slip. “We’re getting food soon.”

“Food?” Max drops to the blanket, kicking Lucas in the ribs softly, teasingly.

“We’re getting Happy Meals.” You affirm, reaching up to pull her thick red hair from her sweaty neck. Mike displeases.

“We’re not kids anymore.”

“You love the apple slices.” Wills elbow knocks Mikes.

“I could go for a Happy Meal.” Dustin disagrees with Mike. Max hums something of an agreement.

“Dollar menu.” Steve corrects, fighting off the petulant whines of 16 year olds in his ears. He’ll be buying you something pretty.

—

Don't you try to push or shove her, Find another, Or she'll walk away

The days following slow Steve down. Mentally and physically.

He doesn’t want to get up for work, doesn’t want to be ignored by you, to get a small smile for something that usually gets him your shining laugh.

You paid the electric in full so he could pocket some cash. He’d called the company that night to double check.

Not that he didn’t trust the veracious words from your mouth, it just startled him. You didn’t have to do that. You shouldn’t have done that. You’re a team, teams talk about these things.

He can’t help but feel that he’s the reason you haven’t talked to him.

You go grocery shopping and he could be sick. You buy for the both of you. Your fruit, his protein powder. Your snacks, your snacks x2 so Steve can share without feeling guilty. It’s a low punch to the gut.

It kills him that you do these things. These little things that splay your love embarrassingly on a table. You remember he doesn’t like Dawn dish soap and get Meyers instead. What is love if not attention? He doesn’t deserve it.

So he makes it up to you.

He does the dishes while your away, cleans the kitchen and stocks your coffee pods when they run low. Tiny acts he hopes won’t go unnoticed by you.

Though, this new act is not so tiny.

Creasing in the palm of his hand, the rough material of a tote bag handle squeezes. It’s warm, and slightly wet, from the warmth of his nervous hand. Is this too much? He’d got the prettiest bunch there, wrapping it in brown crinkle paper, cause no girl wants flowers in plastic Nancy had told him once.

He’s grateful to the teenage memory of her. A mental note to thank her.

Standing in front of your closed wood door, he can hear the loud music of the vinyl Robin had gotten you for Christmas last year. A thoughtful present, really, though you had to buy a record player to use it. You’d made Steve promise to never tell her, accepting the gift in a warm hug. She’d seemed really pleased.

“She's a woman in a dream, one that makes you fall in love”

He knocks, low enough to play it off if you don’t hear. But you do, of course you do.

There’s a soft shuffle. A click and a sputter of a record player dying down, a bed being situation on, and then a “Yes?”

He breathes out, turning the knob. It’s cold, and the gold paint chips off every so often, but it’s in your apartment that you and Steve pay for with your grown up jobs. If you could call family video that.

He can’t make himself walk in, leaving against the doorframe anxiously with his arms over his chest. It was supposed to be natural with you, you were his person. So why’d this feel so awful.

“I got you something.” He chokes out.

“You did?” Your eyes peak down at the brown paper crinkling out the tote bag. The sight of Steve Harrington with a tote bag. Where is your Polaroid?

Padding into your room cautiously, he pulls the flowers out gently. They’re rough around the edges, you can’t deny. Cleaned and snipped, you can see the spots he hadn’t meant to knick, and the way the paper dents in places it shouldn’t. “Still your favorite?” He hands them to you, still so gently.

“Yes,” you whisper, shocked beyond repair. “And the brown paper.”

“Eh,” he scratches his neck sheepishly. “Nance once told me girls didn’t like plastic wrapped flowers. I hope it’s not too fancy schmancy”

“I love any flowers.” Your honest voice mumbles. He almost doesn’t hear you as you look up to him. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem.” He nods. He opens his mouth to say something, closing it silently. Your amused smile rings around his head.

“Yes?”

His fingers twitch. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

You choke a swallow. “What are you talking about?”

“The dates.”

“The dates?” The space between your eyebrows crease like the paper in your hands. “Those never made me uncomfortable.”

“I just-“ He breathes out, dejected. “Never?”

Your brain sputters. “Did you want them to?”

“No?” He panics. “No, no!” His head shakes furiously. “Just, Robin said-“

He’s cut off by your loud laugh. “That was your first mistake.”

His head cocks.

“Taking advice from her.” You give with a shrug. He coughs, startled.

“Yeah,” he nods, serious, definite. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“I mean, I love her, but this is the girl that had a crush on a Nashville wannabe for three years.”

He huffs a laugh that’s not all there. “Still don’t see what she saw in her.” His head shakes.

You squint, his dejected limpness detected quickly by your roaming eyes. “A voice only a mother could love.” You beg a laugh from him.

His shoulder shakes and his eyes flick to the posters covering the off white of your walls.

“Ok,” he breathes, patting his hip. “well I’ll get out of your hair.” He nods to himself. “Just wanted to give those to you.”

“Thank you, Stevie.”

The nickname pinches him and it hurts. He nods to you this time. “Anytime, bug.”

Ouch.

Crestfallen as a kicked puppy, he heads for the door. The sight stomps your heart.

Your weak voice stops him. “They never made me uncomfortable, but maybe a little jealous?”

He turns. “What?”

“I mean-“ your head tilts to the side, slowly shrugging. “It wasn’t fun hearing about Cass,”

“Carrie.”

“Carrie, and the other girls.” You pause. “Even if you never gave me the details.”

You tread a line of no return. Steve kicks you forward.

“But jealous?” He whispers.

You shrug, sheepish. “Yeah.”

“Oh.”

Your esophagus closes, no longer letting you swallow without a fight. That hurt. “Yeah,” you repeat. “Oh.”

The silence is deafening. Wow, you think.

You bring your fingers up to scrub tired eyes. They burn from your lack of sleep and the tears that threaten to front. “Maybe let’s just forget this?” Your shoulders deflate and he hates the crack in the end of the sentence.

“What?”

“Your ‘oh’ said a lot,” you breathe out self consciously. “So let’s just drop it before we can’t take back our words.”

Before we can’t take back our words.

“But I want that.” Steve frowns. “I want to not take it back.” He’s scared of tightness in his chest.

You pause. “Oh.”

He smiles. “Yeah,” he copies you. “Oh.”

It’s quiet after that. The whirring fan above you clicking with each turn. What do you say to that? This boy, the object of your affection for god knows how long, reciprocates your love.

“Wow.”

He laughs, his eyes squinting. “Right?”

“What wouldn’t you be able to take back?” You push lightly, daring a look at him. His hair mussed, his shirt wrinkled, you know he’s lost as much sleep over this as you.

“That-“ he starts slowly “That I’ve been into you since I was 14.”

You sit in quiet apprehension. The corners of his mouth ache from the smile he can’t wipe away.

“That I date to find a girl who compares to you,” His head tilts. “and they don’t.”

“We’re so stupid.”

“Just a little.” He grabs your arms gently and pulls you up to stand under him. The way he looks down at you kills the butterflies in your stomach and replaces them with something stronger. He tucks hair behind your ear, admiring. “You’re the nicest girl I’ve ever met, even when I don’t deserve it.”

You paw at his chest. “Stop.” You murmur.

He shakes his head. “You tolerate me to an extent I don’t understand, but I’m grateful.”

“I don’t tolerate you, idiot.” Your lips bend down. “I like you.”

He agrees quietly, not wanting to ruin the moment with his insecurity. “You know, before I talked to Robin I thought you were upset because you could read my mind?”

Your head shakes, amusedly disbelieved. “I take back what i said earlier, going to Robin for advice was amazing.”

“Shut up,” he pushes you back without letting go. “I thought you were hearing how much I wanted to kiss you.”

Your nose scrunches. “That’s so silly.”

“So silly.” He agrees, swaying you forward and backwards. “Is it silly that I want to kiss you now?”

“No,” you whisper. “I already knew that,” your face is stony faux seriousness. “I read your mind.”

He snorts, bending down to press his lips to your own. It’s soft and slow. His lips are smooth and if you didn’t know him like you do, you wouldn’t know he’s been using aquaphor since he was 18.

He pulls back gently and kisses you again quicker. “You’re so soft.” His fingers itch to slide from your waist and pull you in by your belt loops.

“Your chapstick.” You murmur, dazed.

“That shit is $9,” You know his annoyance isn’t real. “I need you to write me a check for what you owe me.”

“Can I pay you back in kisses?”

He pauses. “One kiss is .50 cents.” His eyes close, dramatizing his seriousness. “I need 18 kisses on the lips now.”

On the lips. You laugh at his wording. “I think we can make that work.”

She is what our love is made of.

#stranger things 4 #steve harrington angst #stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x reader fluff #steve harrington x y/n fluff #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x fem! reader #Steve x reader #steve harrington x you

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towriteloveontheirarms · 4 months

Text

Alicent has got it going on (modern!Alicent x younger!Reader)

synopsis: You go out for a night of fun with your friends, but while you are at the bar, the object of your desire is somewhere entirely else.

warnings: age gap (reader is of age), flirting, dirty talk & smut adjacent, afab reader

word count: 2.1k

taglist: @hopelesswritergall @urmomsgirlfriend1

(If you want to be tagged for a specific character/fandom or in general let me know in my asks, comments or DMs)

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Even after countless years of being friends with Helaena, to a point where the two of you would call each other sisters, it still feels weird to just walk into the house that your mom had to drive you to almost every day for years when you were a kid. Times had changed. You grew up and so you could make your own way to the villa and enter through the front door with a key that Helaena had gifted you some years back when the two of you entered college.

Upon entering you hear a voice in the living room which, when further investigating, you find out to be Alicent´s. Currently arguing with someone on the phone. Once she sees you, she holds the phone away from her ear and hangs up.

“Oh, I didn´t see you there.” She greets you with a rare, genuine smile.

"Sorry. I didn't realise you were on a call. I just wanted to say hi." You greet your best friend's mother. You have always found Alicent to be absolutely stunning and so you can´t hide a small blush heating up your cheeks as you give her a small wave.

Alicent turns her full attention towards you at the sound of your voice. She knew you had grown up but hadn’t seen you in quite a while. “Hello, dear. How are you?” Her eyebrows raise, awaiting your answer, not even mentioning the call.

“I've been holding up just fine. How about you? Helaena has told me you're working a lot these days." You give the older woman a small smile in return.

"Yes, dear. It's been non-stop, but that´s business." At her words you remember that she had taken over leading the firm in her husband´s stead only a short while ago when Helaena´s father became too sick to continue to do so indefinitely.

Throughout all this time, she doesn´t take her eyes off you for a single second. Those beautiful, big, brown eyes that seemed to shimmer every time you saw her in spite of or maybe because of the stress she was put under. In the end she wasn´t that much older than you. That thought gets your cheeks to burn a little brighter.

“I hope you remember to take breaks too. The company can be glad to finally be led by someone competent, but it would be a shame to see you work yourself into a burnout or something.” You shuffle your feet on the ground, making her even more aware of your painfully awkward attraction towards her.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I've become quite used to it. Thank you for your concerns though, dear. That is very sweet.” Alicent says confidently, her tone is filled with pride and she takes your hand to let you feel her gratitude for your expression of concern.

The second the older woman´s skin touches yours, has your brain screaming so loud that you are scared anyone would be able to hear. "You know, if you ever do want a break, you should come out to our bar or something. If you don't think going out with your daughter's friend is weird or something. You would be surprised what an evening out can bring about."

The words let not only her eyes widen and eyebrows shoot up for a second, but your own as well.

Suddenly the air in the room is noticeably thicker. You feel like you don´t get enough of it into your lungs, making your head spin like a carousel and the way the older woman’s hand squeezes yours only throws you off the rails even more.

Before you know it, her hand lets go of yours, not giving any time for disappointment to settle, as they instantly settle on your waist, with her thumbs brushing over your ribs just below the swell of your breasts. In response to her pulling you closer, your hands go to tightly hold her by the waste rubbing tight circles into the soft, by lavish silk covered flesh.

Hesitantly your faces moved closer bit by bit. It felt right to be so close to her, to feel her auburn curls brush against your cheeks and make almost a curtain to shut out the rest of the world. Your noses rub against each other from the proximity and little fireworks tingle over your lips. The moment feels so magical.

The horn of Baela´s car being pressed down continuously, to alert approximately the entire neighbourhood and the muffled screams of the young woman to go along with it pull the two of you back to reality against your will.

“I have to go…” You whisper, basking in the energy of the moment a bit longer. Wishing you could stay there with Alicent for even just one more moment. A wish that is reciprocated by her. You are hyper aware of your hands that rest against her waist to keep her perfect body close when Alicent pulls away from you. And though they have never touched to begin with, your lips chase hers for a second and a whimper leaves your lungs.

"You are perfect." You whisper breathlessly when your eyes flutter back open.

Those moments with Alicent stay in your mind's forefront the entire time you sit beside your friends in the cinema. Thinking about the almost kiss rather than paying attention to whatever movie Helaena and Baela had decided on.

The three of you head to a bar afterwards to meet up with a few more friends. Each of you getting enough drinks to ensure everyone was a good bit more than just lightly buzzed. In your inebriated state you remember you still had Alicent´s number saved from something or another a few months ago. So without thinking you reach into your purse to pull out your phone to send the woman a short message. "I can't get you out of my mind. Your hands felt like pure heaven."

Normally you would have spent the time until the device pinged with a response biting at your nails to relief the nervous energy that would course through your system, but it doesn´t happen. The earlier interaction had made you feel quite confident in the attraction being requited. At the same time, back at the Targaryen-Hightower home Alicent smirked at the message as her body began tingling anew. "I miss touching you. Your body is just so irresistible." She replied, leaning back in her chair as she waited for her phone to vibrate again. If anyone would see her right now, they would probably say she looks like a giddy schoolgirl. And you didn´t look much better. Biting your lip to keep yourself from kicking your feet at the warm giddiness that spread through your body with every answer you received from her.

"Gods, I wish I could be with you right this second so I could taste your skin and worship you just the way you deserve." One of your friends that keeps you company while the others go to get more drinks eyes you suspiciously, but luckily says nothing. Counting myself lucky in that I put my phone away and try to concentrate on the conversation at hand, but feeling it vibrate once more pulls your thoughts right back to Alicent. "And what exactly would this worship entail?" Reads the message, making your mind reel and run wild with everything you wanted to do to her.

"It would entail me kissing all over your body and feeling you all over. Tracing your skin with my tongue up your thighs to your most sensitive spot and then I would spend my time between your thighs until your throat would be sore from screaming my name." You can feel your breath become shallow already even though there was no ending to the evening in sight yet and there was no chance to leave early either, but no matter how much you told yourself to calm down it is to no use. The arousal that pools between your legs and sticks your panties to your core at the thought of the older woman won´t let up. It takes longer for another answer to roll in this time, due to Alicent willing her reddened cheeks and racing heart to calm down in order to think clearly again. Only then she finds an appropriate response to type out and send with lightly trembling fingers. “You sure know how to make me feel things, don’t you?”

Despite willing herself to calm down, Alicent's body became flushed. Her breath hitched at the vivid description, and her body became flooded with a rush of pure heat. She couldn’t believe someone could speak so filthy. Her jaw hung open with a dumb expression as she read the message over and over again.

“It´s only what you deserve. You work so hard; you deserve to feel good every once in a while.” You respond almost instantly. Barely making it in time to hide the screen again as Helaena looks over your shoulder.

“The youth and their phones….” She clicks her tongue but breaks out in a giggle not even a few seconds after. “Who has you smiling like this?”

Judging by the redness spread over all over her face she is far more affected by the alcohol than the rest of you. Then again, she always was the one worst at handling her booze. Conveniently this gave you the perfect topic change.

“Maybe you should drink some water before you get another round.” You snicker at her antics.

“I´m fine, mom.” She chanted exaggeratedly, though even the sentiment can´t ruin her mood.

So, you shrug it of and decide that keeping an eye on her would be all you can do. A smart choice, as the night soon gets cut short, by her getting a little too hyper. Leading to Baela dropping you off at the house, before getting herself back to Driftmark. Bless the seven that the Velaryon stayed sober and thus could help you to basically carry her all the way from the car to her room as to not make a major commotion and wake everyone else up. Unfortunately, it is a whole different story to get her to sleep. A seemingly impossible task throughout which you have to remind yourself how much you loved your best friend repeatedly.

Once Helaena is sound asleep naturally you are wide awake. Tossing, turning and scrolling through your phone in a now much more sober state. Then you remember the texts you had sent to Alicent earlier and with your friend fast asleep, you sneak out of her room and down the hall to Alicent's. Opening and closing the door as quietly as possible, you find the woman splayed out in her bed. Clad in a short, dark green satin nightdress and illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window. The cool light makes her look even more gorgeous than the sunlight earlier, though you thought that wasn't possible. Her breasts rise and fall in deep, even breaths. It´s a sight for the gods. On your tiptoes you make your way over to the bed. Feeling the soft mattress dip underneath your weight, as you lean over her unsuspecting form. For a second you doubt what you are about to do, but when the Hightower woman shifts in her unconscious state to expose her neck more and her soft lips part for a sigh to escape, you´re done for.

Your own lips part and your head lowers to press a wet kiss to her neck. Then another and another as Alicent shifts and writhes beneath, before finally waking up with a gasp of your name.

“Shhh, yes it´s me.” You whisper to her to signal to stay quiet.

She blinks the sleep from her eyes with rapid movements and threads her fingers into your hair. “Don´t stop, please…”

She begs in a breathy, irresistible voice and who were you to deny her. With a brush of the fingers, you put a strand of auburn curls behind her ear, triggering a full body shiver when your nails scrape along the sensitive skin.

“I won´t. I promise.” You vow in return and seal it by sealing her lips with your in the kiss that should have happened hours ago. Followed by so much more that, if titled the best night of your life, would still be an understatement. Having her thighs tremble on the sides of your head as she tried to keep her body away from resting fully on your head, no matter how often you tried to nudge her down by the hips. Satisfied couldn´t even begin to capture the air around you as you lay beside each other, tightly entangled, bathed in the light of the rising sun and on the brink of sleep.

#alicent hightower #sapphic alicent hightower #alicent hotd #alicent x reader #alicent x you #alicent hightower x reader #alicent hightower x you #hotd #house of the dragon #hotd fic #house of the dragon fic #hotd x reader #hotd x you

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vbecker10 · 2 months

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Loki's Silent Sentry (Part 4)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Pairing: Loki x female reader (ofc)

Summary: You are not just a soldier in Asgard's Royal Army, you are Lieutenant Y/L/N, Prince Loki's personal guard, his sentry and you are not supposed to fall in love with him. If you followed your training properly, you should never have even spoken to him. As a sentry, you are expected to remain silent and invisible as you shadow your appointed member of the royal family or member of the court protectively throughout their daily tasks.

Rumors (that happen to be true) begin to circulate through the palace that you serve the younger prince of Asgard both outside and inside his chambers. There is little you can do once word of your off duty activities spread through every maid, cook, gardener and seamstress in the palace. You soon find even the soldiers in your own company are now questioning how exactly you had come to earn your seemingly quick rise to lieutenant.

As the annual Winter Solstice Ball approaches, you come to the heartbreaking realization that your relationship with Loki must come to an end if you are both to fulfill your duties.

Warnings: Angst, arguing, Thor trying to be a better brother, Odin being a terrible father... I lied about the fluff... it's not in this part lol but it's coming I swear 💚 I know this part is short but it was getting way too long so I keep breaking it up

"No! He can't do this," you think angrily. Your mind is spinning and your heart races. How could he take this away from his own son.

"You dare to tell me what I can and can not do!?" the king asks in a booming voice and you suddenly freeze.

You look at Loki, his eyes filled with fear and realize you didn't think that, you said it out loud. Odin slowly takes a step forward and you fight the urge to turn and run.

The only sounds you can hear in the crowded room are Odin's heavy footsteps as he decends the stairs and the pounding of your heart. Loki slips his hand free from yours as his father comes closer, he moves to stand in front of you protectively. It does nothing to stop the king, however, his eyes are fixed on you.

The king glares at you and says, "This does not concern you."

You don't know what gives you the strength or courage but you find yourself taking a step forward so you are next to Loki. He glances at you and you can tell he is obviously worried but you stand tall in front of the king and the whole council. You take Loki's hand again and answer Odin, "This concerns me because your ruling effects Loki's future and I care about him, unlike you or would seem."

Loki pulls you closer to him and further from his father but neither of you back away from the king.

"It is now becoming even clearer why we need to update the marriage law," Odin states, looking at the members of the council. He looks directly at Loki, "The prince does not understand his duty to this kingdom and that marriage is not to be taken lightly." Then he looks at you, "And you do not know your place."

"My place is with your son," you tell him.

"And my place is with Y/N," Loki adds in agreement.

A council member to your right says, "Prince Loki, you may think your place is with this soldier but you have a responsibility to follow the king's orders, as do we all."

You feel your chest tighten, you already know the answer to that question. You had spent many nights wondering if you were good enough for Loki.

"Is this really about my obligations as a prince?" he asks the council, "Or do you simply not think Y/N is worthy of my hand in marriage?"

"Lieutenant is barely an officer," an older woman says.

"If we take into account her family's years of service and the ranks they reached, we can easily assume she will at least rise to major like her parents before her," a younger man counters.

"Not for many, many years," another man responds.

"The law only states that a soldier must be a captain, that's clearly an obtainable rank," a woman you barely recognize defends you.

"But she is not yet a captain," someone argues. The chatter and disagreements begin to mix together and become louder as each person fights to have their opinion heard.

You keep your hand in Loki's, holding onto him to keep your bearings as you try to follow the numerous conversations. He squeezes your hand gently and you look up at him. He tries to give you a reassuring smile but you can clearly see he is as nervous as you are. None of this has gone the way he had planned and you are both terrified of what could happen.

"Enough of this!" Odin raises his voice, causing the room to go quiet in an instant. "I have made my decision."

"Father, please. Don't do this to us," Loki begs his father but the king seems unphased by how much he is hurting his son.

"Your highness-" you start but can't finish your thought.

"One more word from you..." he threatens and you become quiet, moving closer to Loki.

The queen moves forward, you had almost forgotten she was in the throne room as she sat quietly and observed the arguments. You and Loki both look at her with a mixture of hope and desperation. Is she going to overrule the king as she had when he wanted to send you away? Does she have a clever suggestion to keep you together? Is she going to agree with her husband? Your mind races as you wait for her to speak.

"I wish to hear what Lieutenant Y/L/N has to say," she says calmly.

Odin turns to look at his wife and something in his demeanor changes. You can't tell if he loves his wife but you can see he respects her enough to not challenge her in front of the council. He looks back at you and waves his hand slightly, "Very well, but these will be your final words in my presence."

You swallow hard and Loki squeezes your hand again to make sure you know you have his support.

"I love Asgard and I have dedicated my life to serving the crown and this kingdom," you begin, unsure of where you are going. "I admit, I am at a loss to discover that this means little to you. I have fought to protect the Bifrost, I have shed blood defending our outposts, I am willing to die in place of the royal family as a sworn sentry. Does this truly make me less worthy of marrying Loki than a woman who was born into one of the council families purly by chance?"

The members of the council begin to whisper again, discussing the question you posed but your attention turns to Loki. You keep your eyes locked on his and tell him, "I don't know what will happen but I need you to know that I will never stop loving you, even if they pull us apart."

"I will never let them take you from me, I promise," he says and you believe him with your whole heart.

The queen nods when you look back towards her but she looks heartbroken for her son and you fear she won't interfere again.

"Now, let us put this nonsense behind us and-" the king begins.

"Wait," Thor interrupts him as gasps spread through the crowd. Now it is Thor who approaches the edge of the throne. Odin glares at his oldest son but says nothing, allowing him to continue.

"I think it would be wise to explain why you truly want to disregard the existing law," he says.

"I have made my opinion on the matter perfectly clear and above all else, it is simply outdated," Odin answers but you can tell the council members are not sure that is the whole truth.

"If you do not tell them," Thor threatens calmly, "I will."

"What are you talking about brother?" Loki asks, his voice full of confusion.

Before Thor can respond, Odin says, "You will do no such thing."

Thor pauses for a moment as if weighting the pros and cons of disobeying his father and you hold your breath while he decides. He avoids Odin's stare and looks at you and Loki. "Loki," he starts.

"Stop this now," Odin commands.

Thor doesn't stop, "We knew about this law, we have for years."

"What?" Loki takes a small step back in shock. "You knew and you said nothing? Even after you knew how I felt about Y/N?"

"Yes but there was nothing to be done," his brother explains. "Even if I had told you, you would still never be allowed to marry her."

"Why not? Why are we being punished?" Loki asks desperately looking from his brother to his father and back at Thor.

"You are not being punished, you are being used as a pawn," Thor says, looking down as if he is ashamed to admit the truth. The queen looks to Odin, her eyes full of questions. The council begins to whisper again as they attempt to figure out if anyone knows what Thor is referring to.

"A pawn," Loki repeats, his eyes unfocused as he stares at the floor. You hold him tightly, hoping to bring his attention back to you.

"Everyone out!" Odin orders the council to clear the throne room but no one moves.

"What is Prince Thor saying?" one person asks. "A pawn in what game?" asks another. Dozens of questions fly through the air until Loki finally looks up again.

"Brother," he says and the room goes silent. "Please, tell me what you mean? That I am to be used?"

"I'm sorry Loki," he says and your heart pounds faster. "You can't marry Y/N, because you have been promised to another."

@soubi001 @michelleleewise @harlequin-hangout @ace-of-gay @xorpsbane @mochie85 @sheris532 @lokiswife-dark-fox-queen @kkdvkyya @animnerd @peaches1958 @peachyjinx @lokiandbuckysdoll @winterfrostlovetriangle @high-functioning-lokipath @winniewings @pics-and-fanfics @cabingrlandrandomcrap @icytrickster17 @lokisgoodgirl @mischief2sarawr @stupidthoughtsinwriting @mjsthrillernp @holdmytesseract @lulubelle814 @crimson25 @goblingirlsarah @janineb86 @chantsdemarins @simone818283 @tonystank8 @im-briana-stan @foxherder @chantsdemarins @catsladen @alexakeyloveloki @siconetribal @lokidokieokie @dragonmurray @honeydew3064 @malfoycassimalfoy @kneelingformyloki

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melrodrigo · 11 months

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Tardy, part 8

Tara Carpenter x Fem!Reader

Summary: An unexpected family member reveal sends you spiraling, will anyone trust you now?

Warnings: Angst that turns into fluff, mention of violence, mention of sex

Word Count 2.6k

A/N: I was dying writing this chapter (both physically and mentally) but I think the writers block is gone! Thank you for 600 followers!! As always, love u guys, and tell me what you think <33

“Mom, who’s my dad?” You asked absentmindedly, legs swinging from your living room couch.

“All the other kids at school know who their dad is, who’s mine?” You continued, blissfully unaware of the tension you had just created.

Your mom turned sharply, cigarette between her lips as she spoke.

“Oh, sweetie. Your dad’s gone. It’s just you and me now.” She said as she brought the lighter up and ignited the cigarette.

“What do you mean he’s gone?” You’d asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Your mom lets out a frustrated huff before she answers again.

“I don’t know, he’s just gone. Okay? He left town. Would you leave this topic alone now?” She sounded annoyed, and you don’t want to upset her any further, so you nodded quickly and turned your attention back to the TV screen.

“Okay, Ma.”

You flash back into another memory, this time you’re older; freshly graduated from high school, ready to move across the country to start university.

You’ve bid your farewells to friends and relatives, promising you’ll come visit every year.

Your mom’s pulling you aside looking at you weirdly. She’s getting old, you can tell by the increasing wrinkles on her face every day.

She smiles softly, and you think she looks like the sweetest grandma ever.

“Honey, I want you to know something. About your dad.”

You raise an eyebrow, mouth dropping slightly.

Your dad has always been a touchy subject for your mom, she’s never really allowed herself to tell you the full story.

Sure, as you’ve gotten older, you’ve learned bits and pieces. He was a dirtbag, leaving your mom right after she gave birth. You’d also learned that you were born in a small town called Woodsboro but had been whisked away almost immediately.

Your mom sighs now, and everything suddenly feels very heavy.

“I just tried so hard to be both parents for you, I know it wasn’t fair to keep this from you for so long. But if you’re ready to learn who your dad is, I’m ready to tell.” She says, voice cracking only the tiniest bit. You can see how strong she’s trying to be.

You suddenly see your whole childhood flash before your eyes. Your mom sending you off and picking you up every day after school. Making meals for the two of you every night, working overtime to support the family.

“No Ma. It’s okay. I already have a dad, and his name is you.” You say, pointing to her heart.

She opens her mouth but you cut in before she can say anything.

“No, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t need a dad when I have you.” You say, and you mean it wholeheartedly.

Your mother swells with happiness and takes you in a big hug. Wraps her arms around your shoulders.

“Be safe, honey.” She whispers into your ear.

You splutter, staring at the page in front of you with a jumble of letters that don’t look like coherent words anymore.

No…it couldn’t be?

There’s no way your dad was Stu Fucking Macher.

It doesn’t feel like you expected it would, finding out who your real father is. Years and years of endless crying; wondering why and why and why.

Every moment has led up to this.

This light, breakable paper in your palms. It’s telling you all you’ve ever wanted to hear, and yet somehow it’s also the thing you need to hear the least.

There’s quick flashes of déjà vu as you stare at the name.

Blood; lots of it. Splattered on the ceiling, all over your body. Screams, loud and clear as day, piercing through your eardrums and starting a ringing sound.

You snap back into reality as Sam steps up to you.

You brace yourself for the worse, you wouldn’t be mad if Sam kicked you out bare into the street right then and there, hell, she could hurt you and you wouldn’t even be mad.

She raises her hand but the impact never comes. Instead, she kneels down to you and holds your shoulders tight.

“It’s okay. I know it’s hard.” She says, soft. Her lips are pulled into a frown but her eyes are sorrowful.

“It’s- it’s okay?” Tara splutters, staring between you and her sister. Flabbergasted would be a minuet way to describe her expression.

“Yes. It’s okay. Can everyone leave the room for a minute? I want to talk to YN.” Sam says, and everyone heeds her orders; shuffling down through the living room hallway.

You stare at Sam, eyebrows knit tight together. She’s hated you since you the day you met, and now she’s the one protecting you?

“Why?” You ask, curiosity seeping through your voice.

“Everyone here has been through something.” She says, biting her lip. “And believe me, if anyone knows about being framed as the bad guy, it’s me.”

She hesitates a little before she opens her mouth again.

“Let’s not pretend that everyone here doesn’t have immensely traumatic things happen to them. Me and Tara…well we know about that. But Mindy and Anika and Chad? You wouldn’t believe the stories I’ve heard from them.” She says, twiddling with her thumbs.

“What if I’m actually the killer?” You press, gauging Sam’s reaction.

She tuts and answers sharply.

“I don’t believe for a second that you are.”

It takes you aback, her being so sure about it. You stay quiet, try to think of anything to say.

You can’t, it’s all too much information to get.

“How can you know that?” You say finally, tilting your head up to make eye contact with Sam.

She pats your back lightly. “You’re a good person YN. We can all tell.”

“We’re a family. One fucked up family, but family all the same. Including you.” She says, voice sure.

You hold eye contact for a while, a silent conversation being spoken. Setting aside all your differences, Sam was actually a really cool person. And you can tell she feels the same way.

Before you know it she’s out down the same hallway the group left in.

You’re sat on the couch, mouth open and eyes glazed.

Huh.

“YN? Mind if I come in?” Tara’s voice sounds from in front of you. You can’t decipher what the tone is.

“Yeah…yeah of course.” You answer, watching as Tara enters and stands before you.

You can’t handle her intense stare, and you drop your head immediately. Anxiety floods you, heart picking up speed.

You don’t notice her until she’s right in front of you, taking your cheeks in her hands. Stroking, softly.

10 minutes ago she was mad, and now she’s comforting you? This girl and her mixed signals.

“I believe you.” She murmurs, leaning down to press her lips on your cheek. She’s so short that even when you’re sitting down you’re almost the same height.

You don’t want to think about any of this now, you don’t want to think about it ever. You want to tell Tara this, but you can’t bring yourself to speak.

Your throat feels dry, eyes slightly teary.

“So what do we do now?” You whisper.

She continues stroking your face fondly, cradles you in her arms.

“We continue with the plan.” She says, and there’s a sense of finality in it that makes you shiver.

They’ve pushed back the date on their plan to capture Ghostface a little bit. Tara won’t admit it, but you know she’s the one who suggested it. She must think you need time to process the sudden father reveal, no doubt.

It’s sweet, but she’s wrong. In fact, right now all you need is a distraction. Something to take your mind off all the racing thoughts through your head, the sense of betrayal you feel.

Maybe I should call my mom.

“Hey. Whatcha thinking bout?” A voice sounds from behind you. It’s Anika, and you send her a soft smile; feeling weirdly glad to be in her company.

“Oh nothing much. Just about how my dad was one of the original Ghostfaces and that we’re literally running straight into danger in a few days.” You say, trying to make your voice sound light and teasing.

Anika seems to pick up on the underlying message, and you hear her sigh a little before speaking.

She rounds the couch to come sit down beside you, a pack of medical supplies in her arms. She splays it across the table and turns back to face you.

“If it makes you feel any better, I know what it’s like to have a rough family. My parents were…dipshits to say the least.” She says, casually.

Oh.

You try and think of something appropriate to say in response, but your brain seizes up and it goes blank.

“But you don’t have to feel bad for me. I have a new family now.” She continues, smiling at you; genuine crinkles at the tips of her eyes. She pats your back lightly.

“Just so you know, I don’t think you’re the killer. Who cares if your dad is Ghostface? It’s not like this is the first time it’s happened in our friend group. I trust you, really.”

It’s enough to make you teary-eyed again. You look away, hoping she can’t see them.

“Thank you.” You mumble. “That means a lot to me.”

She chuckles warmly before taking you in a hug. You guys don’t say anything the rest of the time she fixes up your wound.

“Are you blushing?” Tara asks immediately when Anika leaves the room, footsteps light.

“What? No, I’m not.” You say, running a hand through your hair.

“Did she make you blush?” She’s asking, a teasing smile on her lips.

You frown.

“She just said some very nice things to me, okay?” You huff, cross your arms like a child.

“Aw, baby. You look adorable.” She murmurs, giving you a peck on the lips.

“Are you not jealous?” You ask, cocking an eyebrow at her.

She brings a finger to her lips and feigns thoughtfulness. Then she smiles wide and takes your lips in a searing kiss.

“No.” She mumbles against them. “Because I know you’re mine. And I can definitely make you do a lot more than blush.”

It’s enough to make you flush completely red. You let out a little whine at her words.

“See?” She’s asking as she leans back, a smirk on her lips. You try and wipe it off by wrapping your arms around her neck and pulling her in for another kiss.

She’s not wrong. But you’re not going to admit that. It’s a fatal flaw, really. How easily you relent when it comes to Tara. You’d die for her, you’d kill for her, and she knows it.

“Come on,” She’s whispering. “Let’s go to my room.”

You pull back, amused.

“I don’t think I can even stand and you’re asking me to do what?” You ask pointedly.

She tugs on your shirt, obviously not in the mood to play one of your games right now.

“Then maybe I’ll just take you right here.” She whispers into your ear, laughing as you shiver beneath her.

You gulp, stare at her with big eyes. She crawls forward, leaning her elbows into your sides on instinct.

You can’t help but wince.

It seems to break Tara out of her lustful haze, because now she’s looking at you with worried eyes.

She’s getting up kind of panicky, fiddling with her hands.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I should let you sleep.” She says, sort of fast, words tumbling out of her.

You smile at her, grip her hands tight.

“It’s okay, Tara. Although, I do want to hit the hay for a while. Care to join me?” You invite, tugging her closer slightly to make sure she doesn’t leave.

She grins shyly and nods.

“Okay.” She says, biting the inside of her cheek. She’s the cutest with the excitement that radiates off her.

When you wake, Tara’s not in your arms anymore. You stir, rubbing your eyes aggressively.

“Tara?” You groan, trying to look around the weirdly dim room for any sign of your girlfriend.

You notice the candles immediately, more than a dozen of them lining the table and making a little pathway to the fireplace.

Your girlfriend appears in front of you now, wearing a little white sundress; one you’d specifically bought for her weeks ago.

She looks so good, you almost start drooling. Like an angel, the way she’s standing and staring at you, playful, excited gaze.

“I was wondering when you were going to wake up.” She grins, bending down to press a kiss to your cheek.

“What is all this?” You question, looking around the room in further inspection.

There are two plates set up quite nicely on the dining table, along with a bottle of champagne and a single flower in the middle.

It’s all so, romantic.

Tara twirls, and gives you a little show of her dress. Then she takes your hand and gently helps you up, leading you to the dining room with her.

“I never got to take you on a date. I think it’s time I return the favor.” She says, nodding along to her sentence; like a reassurance.

“You’re adorable.“ You say, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. She blushes a little.

“Thank you.” She mumbles.

The smell as you enter the dining room is mouth-watering. You recognize it immediately. It’s your favorite pasta, ravioli with white wine and tomatoes.

Tara’s an amazing cook, you know this already. But the flavors that explode in your mouth when you take a bite out of it are otherworldly.

“This is the best thing you’ve ever cooked.” You speak through stuffed cheeks, eyes wide and happy.

Tara picks up a piece of her own and eats it.

“I didn’t know what to make you, so I called your mom. She said this was your favorite, so I went on youtube and tried to replicate the recipe.” She says, somewhat shyly.

You beam.

“You called my mom?” You ask, teasingly. Boop her on the nose. You celebrate internally when you see her flush red.

“Yeah, it was no biggie. Just a phone call.” She disregards, biting her bottom lip to try and stop the color that’s overtaking her whole face.

She reaches forward to grab another piece of ravioli before she stops short and gasps.

“Oh! I almost forgot to give you these.” Tara says, reaching behind her chair for something. She pulls out a huge bouquet of flowers, filled with your favorites.

You don’t try and hide the surprise in your face, mouth open and gaping.

She slaps your arm lightly at your reaction.

“Hey! I can be romantic too you know.”

You nod sarcastically.

“Oh yeah no doubt no doubt.” You say, taking the bouquet from her hands in favor of bending over the table and kissing her.

“Thank you, baby.” You say against her lips. She smiles wide, scrunching her nose as she pulls back.

“You taste like pasta!” She’s giggling, pushing you back into your chair.

You finish the dinner in record time, and that’s due entirely to how good the meal was. You and Tara sit and talk for a little while before moving to the floor to watch a movie.

Tara’s annoyingly secretive about it, not letting you see whatever she’s setting up. You huff and go grab snacks from the fridge instead.

When you get back it’s to the TV covered, and there’s a small projector at the side shining light on a random bed sheet she’s hung vertically.

“Impressive speed.” You praise.

Tara’s sitting smugly, arms open and inviting you to come sit.

It’s playing 10 Things I Hate About You, one of your all-time favorite movies. You settle down into the spot next to her and sneak a glance over, but she’s already staring at you; hard.

You let out a breath of happiness and pull her closer by the waist. Kiss her on the forehead, murmur against her skin.

“Thank you for this. I needed it.”

She nods into you and pulls you impossibly closer.

“Of course.” She says.

You decide Ghostface can wait, your dad can wait. All that matters right now is Tara. Her and this movie and you.

The only three things that exist in the world.

#tardy #tara carpenter #tara carpenter x reader #jenna ortega x reader #jenna ortega #scream vi #mine #scream #tara carpenter x you

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