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bijouxcarys · 3 months

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𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 (𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧)

Masterlist

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five

Description: Sometimes the pain of what should have never been, opens your eyes to what can be.

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Being 19 is the perfect age. Not quite young enough to be treated like a child, yet not old enough to accept complete responsibility for your mistakes. It’s the bridge between coming of age, and the gruelling prospect of a life kids are conditioned to navigate as robotic entities.

Not Robert. No, Robert’s 19th was exciting for him. Even more exciting to know he was closing in on his 20s, and then eventually his 30s, 40s, 50s… So much life ahead of him, he could hardly contain the excitement. Well, there was that, and the fact that she would be there to celebrate with him.

Somehow, he had managed to work a conversation in the direction of celebrating his birthday, naturally offering Elena and John to attend. Nothing big, he assured them, just a gathering at the house he had been staying in, along with some old school friends. He wasn’t that thrilled about it being in the centre of Birmingham, but when he learned it was somewhat closer to where Elena’s recently rented flat resided, he could overlook the concrete jungle outside his window everyday. Though, deep down, he longed for the tranquillity of nature; almost as much as he longed to be in Elena’s presence 24/7.

There had been multiple times, since he and John visited Elena at work, that Robert had made sub-par attempts at approaching her. Flirting without it being too blatant, too embarrassing, and too damaging to the dynamic the three of them had formed. If he had an ounce of control, attempts would be next to none. Robert eventually, reluctantly, accepted the fact that Elena had a hold on him, unknowingly making it next to impossible for him to keep his distance.

And there it was: the crux of it. Robert was completely fixed on this feeling. Elena was everything. Elena. Elena, Elena, Elena… Everything he did, he thought of Elena. I wonder what Elena would think of this… I bet Elena would like that… I hope Elena’s having a good day today…

The only moments he found himself void of these thoughts were those in which he could inadvertently tell her how he felt through performing, and actually being with her. Just her presence was enough to temporarily curb the craving for something a little more.

Now, here he was, a can of Carlsberg down by 7pm, as he awaited her arrival with John. Despite it being his birthday celebration, his attention was entirely devoted to the house. Making sure it would be okay enough for Elena. I may live with unkempt idiots, but I promise I’m not one of them, Elena! So many friends surrounded him, unearthed opportunities to lose himself in the joy of being 19. Yet all he cared about… was Elena.

What is she doing to me?

Robert was busying himself with unveiling a brand new Little Richard record his mum had gifted him, savouring the fresh vinyl and the glisten across the grooves the low lighting of his living room provided, when three hearty knocks against the door broke the casual murmur.

On the other side of the door, Elena and John stood patiently. Elena was trying her best not to pick away the black nail polish she’d meticulously applied earlier, wanting to maintain the appearance she’d worked hard on crafting for the evening. She rarely dressed up to go anywhere; a small bit of mascara and a nice shirt was usually the perfect ensemble for a drink or two. However, tonight inspired a nagging need to make a little more of an effort.

Flares were making a bold entry in the world of fashion, and Elena eagerly embraced the trend, revelling in the opportunity to showcase her latest wardrobe addition. Tonight, she had chosen a striking pair of orange velvet flares, their fabric hugging her curves before cascading into a classic flare silhouette past the knee. The vibrant hue added a pop of colour to her ensemble, a welcome departure from the subdued tones of her usual attire.

Selecting a shirt was a breeze for Elena, as she boasted a diverse collection of button-ups in her wardrobe. She had settled on a brown and white short-sleeved button-up adorned with an intricate swirling pattern. Tying the hem at her waist, she effortlessly accentuated the beauty of her trousers while infusing her look with a touch of casual elegance.

Her chocolate eyes sparkled with the smoky allure of meticulously applied eyeshadow, their depth accentuated by subtle artistry. Framing her face, her deep brunette hair had been carefully styled with rags into gentle waves that laid comfortably over her shoulders and down to her chest. To complete her ensemble, she’d slipped into a brown corduroy jacket and matching boots boasting a chunky heel.

“You are such a girl.”

“Shut up, I need to make sure the ‘tache is perfect.”

“Why? Who are you tryna impress?”

“Myself.”

“I’m sure you’ve got a fucking vagina…” Elena mumbled, watching John as he leaned into the door, fixing his moustache in the reflection of the frosted glass panels.

Just then, the door swung open, leaving John face-to-face with Robert, who pulled his head back in a jarring motion when he realised how close he was.

“Bloody hell, I know it’s me birthday, an’ all, but I don’t need ya to kiss me.”

“I was fixing me bloody moustache!” John groaned, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Elena laughed, bringing her hand to her mouth and leaning forward a little. Robert grinned, pushing the door open further to allow the pair in, fixing his gaze on the little brunette and her bright giggling.

“Hi,” he said softly down at her as she passed him, placing a hand on her arm as he leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. She responded likewise, planting her own gentle peck on his bearded cheek, or at least as close to his cheek as she could reach.

“Happy birthday,” she stepped back to allow him to close the door behind him. As he thanked her, she dug into her pocket and glanced down the hallway to check John had moved into the living room, greeting some of the people he knew.

“What do you want to drink?” Robert asked, seemingly making his own way into the other room. But Elena’s hand shot to his wrist, gently stopping him. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” she looked down at her pocket, scolding her packet of cigarettes that had gotten in the way of what she was trying to retrieve. “Guess who got you something?”

“Oh, God…” he almost whined, crossing his arms, but still smiling giddily. He watched as Elena pulled out a small green box, not much bigger than the pack of Marlboros she yielded.

“I, uh… Sorry it’s not wrapped or anything…” She handed him the box. “I would’ve done that, only it took the stupid shop ages to actually get what I asked for… They only got it in today.”

Robert eyed her curiously, taking the box from her with care. “Y’know you really didn’t have to get me anything, Elena…” he told her as he gently pulled open the lid.

“Shh,” swiftly shushing him, she slipped her hands into her pockets, nervously watching as he unveiled his gift. “I just… hope you like it.” She looked down at her feet, shuffling against the carpet.

Peering up at him, she struggled to hold back a smile as she saw Robert’s mouth practically drop open at the contents of the box. He snapped his head up to her, gobsmacked.

“You didn’t.”

“I did…” she answered with a breathy laugh, the smile finally cracking through her suppression. “D’ya like it?”

“Like it?!” He looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language. “I’m never gonna take this off, luv.”

Moving with the utmost care, Robert lifted a silver Kingman ring from its protective foam, intricately adorned with carvings of archer’s arrows and snakes, all encompassing a large turquoise stone in the centre.

“It’s the, uh, the B–”

“The Black Mountain one!” His eyes lit up further, and his grin only grew wider. The moment, to him, seemed to stretch on beyond the interaction. She’d taken in so much information from the year of knowing her, clearly noting his love for Wales, and traditional jewellery. There was a slight mystical element to the ring, something that spoke of a world untouched by mortals, yet he was somehow worthy enough of wearing such an item.

She believed he was worthy enough of such an item.

“Thank you. Seriously, I love it…” he said earnestly after slipping the ring onto his right hand’s third finger. Not being able to hold himself back any further, he stepped forward and enveloped Elena in a warm hug, arms wrapping securely around her. Heart skipping a beat, he was sure she could hear it banging against his ribcage—feel it in his neck as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

Their embrace enveloped them in a cocoon of warmth, igniting a flicker of something deep within Elena’s soul. As their bodies melded together, a sense of familiarity washed over her, as if she had found a rightful place in the curve of his arms. With her eyes gently closed, she surrendered to the intoxicating sensation of his touch, losing herself in the comfort it brang.

A soft sigh escaped her lips, a whispered melody of contentment as she basked in his warmth. Her thumb brushed against the soft curls at the nape of his neck, a tender caress too gentle to will the rest of her hand to do the same.

For Robert, each moment with her was a fleeting treasure, a delicate balance between cherishing the present and fearing the uncertainty of the future, as much as he eagerly awaited it. He breathed in the scent of her hair, committing it to memory with a silent vow to carry it with him always.

But their sanctuary was shattered by the sudden crash of breaking glass from the living room, jolting them back to reality. With a sigh, Robert reluctantly broke their embrace, his gaze darting towards the source of the disturbance.

Left breathless and bewildered, Elena found herself adrift in a sea of conflicting emotions. A spark ignited within her, a stirring in the depths of her being that left her both exhilarated and unsettled. It was a feeling she couldn’t quite name, yet one that lingered in the recesses of her mind, silently begging to be explored as urgently as it faded with each soft thud of Robert’s departing steps.

Elena’s daze was fleeting. But it didn’t stop her from experiencing a similar jolt every time he looked at her throughout the night. Every time they’d be at opposite ends of the room, engaged in completely different conversations with other people, and they’d lock eyes. It happened then. When a song they knew they both enjoyed started playing through the stereo. It happened then, too. If John did something silly, it would be an instantaneous glance at one another. Yep… there it is again.

And the more alcohol they ingested, the more unavoidable it became.

By the time the party had moved over to the local pub, Robert and Elena became inseparable from one another. Virtually joined at the hip. If either one of them lagged behind, the other would wait for them to join. Even though the streets of Birmingham teemed with lively youths, adorned in vibrant colours, Robert’s attention never wavered. It was all Elena. Everyone else around them faded to a black and white hue, whilst she was doused in full technicolour.

With a watchful eye, he observed the ease in which Elena interacted with his friends—people she’d never met until that night. It didn’t take a genius to notice the charm she possessed, not only as a woman, but as a human all around. Now that she was a few pints and three shots deep into the night, her confidence was more prominent than ever.

Elena had a mischievous glint in her eyes as she clasped a sixpence between her palms, moving her hands around in a circular motion to disorientate her onlookers as they eagerly attempted to keep an eye on where the penny was. Then, with a swift and light-speed motion, she smacked her hands onto the table.

“Right, who wants to go first?” she asked with a smirk.

The row of lads in front of her, all with varying amounts of amber liquid in their pint glasses, drunkenly switched their gazes between each of her hands. Finally, Steve took the plunge, hesitantly pointing to her left hand.

“You sure?” she tested.

“Not really, no,” Steve huffed, taking a gulp from his drink.

“Steve says left… Alan?” she turned her attention to the man next to Steve, raising an inquisitive brow.

“Gunna go with Stevie boy,” he shrugged.

“Alan says left… Interesting…”

“C’mon, don’t mess with us!”

“I’m commenting on your guess, don’t get ya kegs in a twist.”

“The fuck are kegs…?” Alan mumbled as she turned to ask each lad down the line, most of them willing to throw poor Steve under the bus and go with his answer. Somebody to blame if they were wrong, really…

“Bon-Bon!” she chimed, a grin taking over her features as she rocked side to side giddily to the beat of the song playing in tandem with the pub’s lively atmosphere. I’m A Believer by The Monkees… It hit the chorus as John mulled over his decision, and the two of them instantly bopped their heads, laughing as they sang out the small key hook after the words ‘and then I saw her face.’

“Bon, come on, which hand is it under?” she coaxed him out of his musical trance through a giggle. The two of them shared an intense gaze, locking onto each other as though he was trying to read her eyes. He knew her. He could read her eyes. Easily. When sober.

“Ah fuck it, I’ll go with the left one as well.”

“Aw, you don’t want to risk the right hand, eh?” she pouted, tilting her head to the side. “Don’t be so scared of a right hand, boys, it happens to be my strongest,” she addressed the rest of them with a cheeky smile. Robert, positioned beside her throughout this whole game, stiffened as he went to take a drink, hearing her provocative jest. Eyes widening, he stifled a chuckle, rocking back on his heels.

Each of the lads let out a rambunctious “ayyy” in response, some of them clinking their drinks together. Aside from John, who instantly grimaced at his best friend’s implication. And then there was Robert, who simply stayed quiet, somewhat glad that he stood out of her eyeline as she had herself bent over the table.

“Alright, don’t get ahead of y’selves…” she snorted, shaking her head, before finally turning her head to the side, looking over her shoulder up at Robert. “Robert?” He took a step closer, drunk eyes gazing down at her. “Which hand do you want?”

The question was innocent. It was one she’d asked everyone else that stood around the table. But it was the drop in her tone, the delicate cadence. Like it was only the two of them, talking in a booth in the corner of the pub, away from the chaos. After that joke… I’ll take whichever hand you want, Elena.

However, the competitive streak in him wanted to win this little game, no matter how insignificant it may have been, and he, too, leaned forward on the table with one hand, squinting his eyes as he stared into Elena’s. With a gentle sigh, he reached out and placed his index finger on the back of her right hand, letting the light touch linger as he gave his answer.

“I’ll take your right hand…”

With a bright smile, she looked down at her hand, catching a glimpse of the ring she’d gifted him as he pulled his hand away.

“Okay… so Robert chooses the right…” She looked up at everyone. “At least one of ya ain’t afraid to take a risk.”

“Hey, I chose right, too!” Roy defended, swaying forward.

“Okay, you and Robert are the only risk takers here, it seems,” she chuckled. “Right, are we ready, lads?”

“Don’t keep us waiting, luv,” Robert encouraged.

Building the tension, Elena intentionally waited a moment before lifting her hands from the table. She crossed her arms as a majority of the group groaned, all turning to Steve to relay the blame, whilst Roy and Robert let out cheers, clanging their glasses together in celebration.

“I literally hinted at it the whole time,” Elena laughed, picking up her drink and finishing it off. The dramatic reactions from the guys amused her greatly, bouncing on her heels as she put her empty glass back on the table.

“See, some of us are just more vigilant, darlin’,” Robert laughed, before boldly holding his arm out to wrap it around Elena, pulling her into him. He gave her a small squeeze, akin to a side hug, but proceeded to keep her there. She continued to laugh, wrapping her own arm around his waist as they remained in this casual embrace.

She was more than certain she was imagining things in her drunken state when she felt the pressure of Robert’s lips pressing against the side of her head. Yet, she found herself resting her weight into him, closing herself into him as much as possible.

Sober Robert would never have made such an audacious move on Elena. But as she stood there, tucked into his side, temporarily his, he couldn’t restrain himself. Worst case scenario, she hated it, and he could blame the alcohol the day after. But she didn’t. She only held onto him tighter.

However, the feeling wasn’t satiated. Her hair, as perfect as it was, wasn’t enough to satisfy the need to be near her. So, after a brief moment of contemplation, Robert lowered his head to plant a kiss on her cheek.

He wasn’t expecting Elena to move her head at the last minute, his lips landing at the very corner of her mouth.

“Shit, sorry,” he immediately apologised, pulling his head all the way back. “Meant to…” he gestured to his own face. “Cheek…”

The spot blessed with Roberts lips tingled, as if he’d unloaded some of his energy onto her with the swift, accidental, action. Elena looked up at him in slight shock, her eyebrows raised. Thankfully for Robert, she just shook her head and laughed it off.

“You’re alright, it’s fine…” she reassured, letting her own eyes dance around his flushed features. “Do you want another drink?”

Stop talking like that, Elena, I’m on the verge of crossing a boundary here…

Still somewhat embarrassed by his sloppy approach, he nodded. “Yeah…” He placed his empty glass on the table beside Elena’s, reaching for his pocket.

“No, no,” Elena stopped him, grabbing his wrist. “I’ll get it…” Noticing the unconvinced expression on his face, she continued. “It’s your birthday, Robert, I’m buying your drinks tonight.” No shift. With a small huff, she stepped closer to him and clumsily took his face in her hands, his coarse beard scratchy yet heavenly under her palms. “Seriously…” Upon his reluctant nod, she smiled gently. “Another Carlsberg?” she asked in a whisper. He nodded again. “‘Kay…” Dropping her hands, she gave him a small wink as she passed him, heading to the bar.

Robert let out a long exhale, closing his eyes briefly. He ran his hand through his hair, silently begging his heart to slow down. John’s voice calling him over for him to take a look at Alan’s work-induced scar on his hand brought him down just enough to get through the rest of the night. Fuckin’ Elena…

At the bar, Elena tapped her nails idly along the surface, watching as the bartender darted back and forth. She had jammed herself between the hoards of people waiting to be served. Patient. Be patient, Elena. After a while, she found herself getting agitated, and it became clear that her attempts at getting the barman’s attention were all in vain. I’m gonna have to wait here until everyone else pisses off… Ugh…

“Uh, ‘scuse me, mate, this lady’s been waiting here for a while.”

Lifting her head from her hands, she met the most strikingly green eyes she’d ever seen. She looked over at the bartender as he approached her with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, love, we’re a bit chock-a-block tonight. What can I get for you?”

“Uh,” she glanced to the side. “Two pints of Carlsberg, please.”

As the barman turned to fulfil her order, Elena turned to look at the man next to her. He was sipping on a bottle of Double Diamond, gazing up at the vintage artwork behind the bar. “Um, thanks.”

He turned his head to look down at her mid-swallow, and shot her a charming smile. “No worries. Started to get a bit restless there, didn’t ya?” He nodded down at her feet that had now calmed from the relentless tapping.

“Yeah,” she breathed with a shake of her head. “Guess that’s what you get for being smaller than a man.”

“Yer not from around here, are ya?”

“No, uh, I’m from up North. Just outside of Manchester.”

“Ah, Manchester!” He nodded slowly, his smile growing. There was a silence as he took another sip from his bottle. “So, are you at university or somethin’?”

“No, no, I’ve lived here since I was, like, 4-years-old. Moved down to Redditch, and I’ve recently just got me own flat in the city.”

“Independent woman, then, eh?”

She snorted. “Not much choice for an 18-year-old other than to spend thousands on uni or go to work.”

“And you chose the work option, I assume?”

“You’d be assuming correctly, yeah,” she nodded with a smile. “Me friend owns a pub, so it wasn’t that hard to find a job.” She shrugged, standing upright as the bartender placed her two pints in front of her.

“That’ll be thirty pence then, love.”

Elena went for her pocket, but was stopped swiftly by the mystery man next to her. “Let me.”

“No,” she rejected politely, looking back over at where she had left Robert and the lads. “It’s my treat for my friend’s birthday.”

“Fair enough…” he watched her as she paid for the drinks. “Well,” he turned his body to face her properly. “If you won’t let me buy you a drink or two tonight, perhaps you could give me the honour of buying you one another night?”

Elena simply stared at the man, trying to pick apart his brain and search for any hint of deception. Nobody had ever been so straight with her before… It was alluring. A nice change of pace. What could go wrong? Just say yes.

“Alright,” she accepted with a confident nod. “I don’t see why not.” Biting her lip, she watched as he grabbed one of the pub’s feedback cards along with the pencil next to it, quickly jotting down his number and his name.

“Just call me when you get the time,” he handed it to her, but didn’t let it go until he added, “I’ll hold you to that… Sorry, I never got your name?”

“Elena,” she responded softly, looking down at the card once he’d released it. “I’ll make sure to give you a call.” Another glance down at it. “David Henning.” A shy smirk played upon her lips as she folded the card in half and slipped it into her pocket. “Uh, see you around.”

With that, she grabbed the two cold pints, heading back over to where Robert awaited her presence, once again.

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bratshaws · 1 year

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through the hourglass 91. brb x oc

a/n: I really needed a fluffy chapter. I really, really did. This month might be complicated and I hope I can manage it.

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: two idiots in love. <3

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64/65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84/85/86/87/88

/89/90

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@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

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Beatrice wakes up before he does, just as she planned to. She peeks up at him, seeing his eyes were closed and the soft snoring didn’t break when she moved a bit - wriggling out of his grasp. She bites her lower lip as she carefully lifts his arm from her waist, making a face when he groans a bit but just buries his face into the pillow instead of waking up.

She just wanted to pamper him a bit and she knew that the thoughts he had last night wouldn’t leave his brain that easily. She slid off the bed as quietly as she could, even falling on her knees on top of the rug, peeking over the edge of the mattress to check if he was still sleeping.

He was but his brows furrowed as his arm touched nothing, she even saw his fingers curling on top of the sheets. She didn’t have much time, so she moved as quickly - and as quietly - as possible. Beatrice fixes her nightshirt on her body as she sets his clothes on the chair, sneaking looks to her husband’s sleeping form every now and again, she sets his boots right in front of it and then with one of the sticky notes she had saved up she writes a little message to put on top.

“Okay.” she smiles but then immediately winces when she hears him moaning again, the type of moan that meant he’d wake up soon, “Oh shit. No, no,no.” she rushes over to the bed, leaning down to kiss his temple, sighing in relief when he relaxes.

“Where are you?” comes his groggy voice, eyes still closed.

“I’m going to the bathroom,Roos.’ It was a lie but he didn’t have to know that.

He hums deeply in his throat, “No, c’mere….bed feels empty.”

She smiles sweetly at him, kissing his cheek this time, “In a little bit,okay? I’ll be right back.”

And she steps back from the bed, waiting just until he gets back to deep sleep. Rooster’s brows relaxed and his shoulders sagged as he snored, Beatrice closing her eyes in relief as she leaves the room.

Except that Rooster wakes up seconds after she’s gone, so her plan is really not working that great.

He blinks his eyes open, blurred colors sharpening into the furniture in their bedroom, his irises moving around in hopes he could see Beatrice anywhere but, alas, she’s not there. He pushes himself to his elbows, looking back to the bathroom only to see it was dark “Bea?” he calls, only to hear her downstairs…almost trying to not make any noise but the obvious ‘shit!’ as she dropped something meant she wasn’t doing a good job.

“Bea?” he calls again, a bit louder but not loud enough to wake Nicole up, even checking on the monitor only to see his baby girl with her mouth open and eyes closed, sometimes kicking her legs in her sleep. After that he turns on the bed to sit up, blinking groggily at his surroundings until he sees the chair in the corner of the room.

His clothes were there, nicely folded and with something colorful on top.

At first he thinks he’s seeing things but there’s a bright pink something on top.

He groans as he rubs his face with a hand, yawning quietly - the subtle pop of his jaw making him wince a bit - and smacking his lips. He looks back at his folded clothes, kicking the covers off of him until he can stand up to check what was on top of his uniform.

He gently plucks the sticky note up, bringing it close to his eyes and a smile appears on his face.

“If you were a triangle you’d be acute one!” with the drawing of a smiling triangle under her writing. He chuckles, shaking his head at how sweet Beatrice could be. She didn’t have to wake up so early, even though he could hear her moving around downstairs, trying her best to be quiet.

Bradley just looks back towards the door, his smile only widening the longer he holds this little love note that she got for him…God he sometimes couldn’t believe they were married, because someone as sweet as Beatrice was so incredibly rare that he wondered if he was dreaming.

But after some thought he decided to actually take a shower, slipping the little note in his shirt’s pocket because he had to keep that with him that day. He took a quick shower, mainly to wake up, and walked out tightening his watch around his wrist.

As he steps onto the hallway, he does a double take towards the door where another sticky note was, this time in neon green.

“I love spending koala-ty time with you!” and the drawing of a little koala sitting on a tree right beside it.

He just stares at the little note with his stomach fluttering, plucking it off the door and chuckling as he holds it with both hands. He didn’t know what made her do that but he wasn’t complaining, in fact he loved it so much that he was wondering if there were more.

And he finds another one, sticking to the railing.

“I love your top, it must be made of husband material!” followed by a drawing of a Hawaiian shirt.

That one made him laugh out loud, slowly walking down the steps towards the first floor only to hear Beatrice’s soft giggle from the kitchen. He found another one by the kitchen’s threshold

“I can never be mad at you but I will always be mad about you!”

And this one was probably his favorite, because she drew them.

Well, their faces, close to one another with the dot eyes and cute smiles, tiny hearts surrounding them. He just laughs softly, “...this is really fucking cute.”

“I’m glad you like it!” comes her response and she practically skips towards him, keeping her hands raised so they wouldn’t touch his clean uniform. He leans down to meet her lips in a slow kiss, one that makes her laugh into his mouth, pecking him twice once he’s done, “I’m making something special for you.”

“Yeah?” he looks over to her hands, “What is it?

“Chocolate muffins.”

“No way.”

“Way.” she giggles, kissing him again, “Hm! I need to wash my hands.” she slowly backs away from him so her dirty palms wouldn’t touch his clothes, but he just tugged on her night shirt, preventing her from leaving.

“Roos.”

“Bea.” he replies in the same, endearing yet admonishing intonation, smirking at her, “I can lick them clean for you~”

Her face flamed up and she squeaked, “No!” she manages to slip away from his grasp, hurrying to wash her hands before he catches her again. “We both know what will happen after.”

“Oh I hope so.”

‘Rooster you have work today.” she whispers, biting back her smile when Rooster comes from behind, hugging her waist and kissing her temple, trailing the said kisses down her cheek until he reached her neck, “We can’t-” she inhales shakily when he nips her neck ,’W-We can’t d-do um…”

“Use your words, gorgeous.” God, his voice got so deep sometimes Beatrice swore it touched every single nerve in her body. His hands trailed up her thighs until he reaches her underwear, fiddling with the thin lace, “What did I do to deserve such a nice surprise from my lovely wife?”

That question sobered her up a bit, and she turned her head to face him, “...you don’t have to do anything.” she whispered, “I just want to give you something nice before you left.”

Rooster’s cheeks flushed, his golden skin made it a bit hard to see but Beatrice knew him well enough to know when he was blushing. He chuckled embarrassedly, looking at the ground before propping his chin on her shoulder, “I don’t mind that.” he whispers, kissing her neck, “I really don’t.”

“Good because I also got something from Mr.Scoops.”

“What? When?!”

“Oh a few hours back. Overnight shipping,” she grins, kissing his parted lips,top then bottom, before kissing both of them “And its Belgian crunch Macchiato cake.” He gasps “With dark chocolate frosting.” He gasps louder.

“Okay, hold on now.” he hasn’t let her go yet, “What’s all this,gorgeous? Really, why the sudden surprise- also when did you call Mr.Scoops,weren’t we both asleep?”

Beatrice sighs while slowly wrapped her arms around his neck,gently brushing the faded part of his hair with the tips of her fingers, “Roos,” she begins in that gentle voice that always makes him melt, “You don’t need to do anything for me to give you something nice,” she brushes over the Bradshaw pinned to his chest, “And you don’t need to worry if you need to do anything as such…I just felt like you’d like this when you woke up.”

Rooster’s gaze softened, his eyelids lowering just a bit as his cheeks flushed. He tightened his hold against her waist, then pulled her close to him until their chests touched, his lips pressing on her temple. He did that to hide the bashful smile and hopefully keep the butterflies inside of him.

How does she do this?

How?

It’s been three years together and she never ceases to surprise him every day. He keeps holding her, kissing her temple, then her cheekbone, her jawline before he meets her lips in a soft kiss, “Thank you. I really like it.”

Beatrice’s eyes glinted with pure adoration, “I’m glad.” and she stepped back from his hold, kissing his knuckles before pushing him to the kitchen table, “Now go,go! I’m going to give you your breakfast. And then I’ll check on Nikki, she’s going to wake up soon anyway.” and she cups his face one last time to kiss him again, giggling against his mouth, “Okay, enough kissing.”

“Is it?” he tries to meet her lips again, but she’s faster, tapping his own lips as she walks away from him. Rooster just lets out a soft laugh, keeping his head propped on a hand as he watches Beatrice move around, finishing his breakfast. She knew his time was limited but the fact she was preparing something so wonderful for him just…because she felt like he’d be happy to have something like that.

“Hey.” he calls and she turns around with a little smile,holding his steaming mug in her hands, “Wanna marry me?”

Beatrice’s eyes widened, then blinked and then she let out a soft laugh, tossing her head back with pure amusement, “Again? I thought we went through this before.”

“Will you?”

Her eyes softened, “Yes,always.” she giggles, setting his coffee mug in front of him, “Careful it’s hot.”

“Yeah, you are.” and he swats her left butt cheek when she turns around, earning a startled yelp from his wife, followed by her glare. He just smiles boyishly, sipping his coffee loudly and humming once he swallows, “Babe your coffee is out of this world,” he looks down into the mug, “Did you put some cocoa chips here?” Beatrice’s glare softens and she nods, “Fuck, marry me again.”

“Yes,”she laughs, kissing his cheekbone, “I will.” Beatrice looks at the door only to see Eleanor standing there, softly ‘boofing’ to alert her that Nicole is awake. Beatrice cups his face one more time, “I’ll be right back,” she giggles against his lips, pecking him a few more times before she walks away.

Rooster tilts his head towards her ass, smiling as he sees the red handprint vibrant on her pale buttcheek as he sips his coffee. He however relaxes, leaning back on his seat with his eyes closed. “...fuck.” he chuckles, rubbing his eyes, “Fuck, I–” he just shrugs at nothing, then looks down at Jolene who’s sitting next to him, “...she’s amazing, isn’t she Jojo?” the pittie wags her tail against the tiles, licking her maw, “She’s so incredible and she’s sweet, and she’s…mine. She’s my wife and ugh.”

Sometimes he felt like a boy with a crush with Beatrice, he loved her reactions, he loved how she smiled with her whole face when looking at him, he loved how she seemed to shine whenever he was close and how every time - every time - they met eyes at the bar she still blushed.

He drops his head on top of his folded arms, chuckling like a boy in love the more he thinks about it, “Fuck, she’s my wife.” he whispers “She’s my wife and the mother of our child- I–...” he couldn’t be happier, maybe this was the happiest he’s ever been. He still had doubts, demons and traumas to deal with but Beatrice’s presence…was soothing, was healing, it was what his heart wanted for so long.

And he got it.

Rooster’s ears perk up at the soft voices from Beatrice and Nicole coming down the stairs “That’s mommy’s hair, no biting it,” he smiles as he straightens himself, looking towards the door waiting to see his girls. And he sees Nicole first, her light eyes still squinting because of sleep and her hair messed up in all directions.

Nicole yawns, rubbing one of her hands against her eyes before she focuses on her father…and then she’s fully awake. Beatrice laughs when Nicole immediately vocalizes and reaches towards Rooster, “Yes,yes,I know you wanna be with him during the mornings.”

“Hey,there’s enough of me for everyone,” he grins, putting his plate and mug away to gently whisper ‘hi! hi birdie!’ to Nikki when Beatrice placed her in his hands, “Hi,sweetie! Hi!” he coos, kissing her soft cheek, “Good morning to you too, did you sleep well?” Nicole babbles something, holding his index finger and gurgling a laugh when he wiggles it in her grasp, “You are getting stronger and stronger every day Nikki.”

“She is isn’t she? She’s grabbing a lot of stuff.”

“She’s going to have a mean throw when she’s older.” he leans closer to his daughter, “Do you wanna learn baseball? I can teach you some things.” Nicole smiles more, patting his face, “Yeah? You do? I know a few tricks.”

Beatrice just sips her own morning latte with her eyes on Rooster and Nicole, loving how he managed to eat and talk to Nikki at the same time. In reality her heart warmed so much because of that, he was such a good father and she wanted to remind him of that, “Oh, by the way, today-” she says, “Me and Nikki are joining Ev for baby shopping.”

Rooster looks up from Nicole with his brows up, “Really?”

“Yes, she wants to get some infant clothes out of the way. She’s only one month pregnant but…maybe she’s more excited than she lets on…and Shells is coming with.” she says, “So me and Nikki are going to spend a lovely day with her aunties, isn’t that right Nikki?”

Nicole babbles something, her eyes directed to her father’s uniform, more specifically the buttons that kept it closed. Rooster smiles looking down at their daughter, gently swiping some of the bangs on her forehead to the side so he could kiss it, “It’s going to be fun,I’m sure.”

“I think so!” Bea grins, placing the mug aside, “Because I saw this adorable outfit for Nikki too and she’d look so cute,Roos!”

“Send me a pic when you get it.”

“As if you have to ask.”

Her smile just made his whole body feel warm, his whisky colored eyes shining with pure adoration towards her, “Baby.” he calls, making her look towards him, “C’mere.” she just gives him a confused stare, “C’mere.” and he pats his thighs twice.

“...Roos, you have Nikki in your arms.”

“They are big enough to hold both of you.” he pats again, “Please? Even Nikki wants you.” and he holds their daughter up so their cheeks touch, Nicole babblering excitedly with her little arms reaching for Beatrice.

The brunette lets out a pained sigh - followed by a smile - before walking towards him, “Alright, I need room-” and he immediately pushes the chair back with a loud scrape that scares Jack but only makes Nicole giggle, “You are relentless.”

“Yes.” he purrs, kissing her cheek when she settles on his lap, “I am,because my wife makes me feel that way.”

“Your wife, huh?”

“Yep.”

Beatrice adjusts Nicole in her arms, lowering her face until their noses touched, “You are lucky she finds you absolutely adorable.” he smiles, earning another quick kiss to the lips, only to have it again as Beatrice giggled, “And very handsome.”

Nicole, who was watching this whole thing wide eyed, just made quiet noises, waving her arms then shoving one of her tiny fists into her mouth, “She’s hungry,I’m sorry Nikki.” Beatrice said, looking around trying to find a way to escape only for Rooster to wrap his arm around her waist “...Roos…”

“You can do it, can’t you?”

“You just want to look at my tits.” he flicked his eyes down to her still covered chest quickly, cheek dimpling because that was exactly why, “Awful, awful man.” she giggles, but he does lean back a little more to give her extra room. She would never cease to be amazed with how broad and tall her husband was…because he was literally keeping both of them on his lap and it didn’t bother him at all.

Rooster took another bite of his breakfast, holding Beatrice’s sleeve as she placed Nikki close to her chest, wincing a bit when her daughter latched, “Ow.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she checks down at Nicole who just has her eyes closed as she enjoys her breakfast, “Just the usual pressure, she has no teeth yet.”

Rooster hums, propping his chin on her shoulder to watch the scene with his eyes soft, sometimes moving his gaze to Beatrice’s face just to see that cute smile spread the longer she looked at Nicole. He kisses her shoulder, making her eyes shift towards him, “I’m gonna miss you today.” and her eyes appeared to have hearts in them, her cheeks flushing a soft red as she let go of Nicole’s hand to rub his cheek, “I mean it.”

“You’ll be home soon,Roos.” she reassures, combing a few strands of sandy brown back, “And you’ll be home and you’ll see us.”

“I know.” he almost whines about it, burying his face on the back of her shirt, “But I can’t help it.”

Beatrice tsks cutely, “Aw,handsome,” she cups his chin to kiss his lips again, “You are so cute when you are clingy.” she laughs at his narrowed gaze, only to squeak a laugh when he playfully pokes her side, “Stop, I’m feeding Nikki.”

“Nikki doesn’t seem bothered.”

Both of them looked at their daughter, “When does she?” Beatrice smiles, “She’s the chillest baby I’ve ever met. Not even I was this cool with everything.”

Nicole in response just peeks one eye open then closes it, because she’s clearly unbothered. Rooster smiles, sipping the rest of his coffee, “Thanks for the breakfast,by the way. It was delicious.”

“Anything for you.” she smiles, kissing the tip of his nose, pressing their foreheads together “Anything.”

#bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x oc #top gun maverick #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw x named reader #tgm oc #tgm fic #tgm fanfiction

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astralisbelle · 1 year

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Dead Man's Hand 13 - It's Never Enough

Dead Man's Hand Masterlist tags: engineer!reader, gambler!reader, loose canon timeline, eventual smut, fluff, action, casino aesthetics, touch starved reader, touch starved din, reader and din get on each other’s nerves, also they’re idiots, defrosting ice king din, cinderella vibes, everybody loves grogu

chapter summary: They have a talk and she's determined to keep going. Unfortunately, there are other obstacles in their way.

notes: we've reached 1000 likes, 100 reblogs, and over 50 followers omg thank you all SO SO much. I love writing Mando content so I'm already thinking about what I can write next once this series wraps up. feel free to drops suggestions or requests in my ask box :) thank you again!

Grogu’s eyes regain focus and he smacks his lips, blinking away the rest of his tiredness. He makes a little squeak as he stretches his arms out, rubbing his eyes.

He hoists himself out of his pram and surveys the room, lit by the late morning sun. His big ears twitch when he hears the stream of the shower in the bathroom. Must be his father, seeing as how his armor is still laid out on the table. Speaking of table, he sees a tray two plates, one missing food and the other still covered. Did his dad order breakfast? Is there anything for him?

Oh, but he doesn’t want to eat alone. He waddles towards the bedroom door, wanting to go wake her up. Maybe she’ll let him take another bath with her too. Once the door opens, he climbs onto the bed and babbles towards her. She sleeps on her stomach, blanket covering her shoulders. Grogu walks towards her head and pats on her cheek. He coos, hoping the sound of his voice will wake her up.

“Mmgh…” She moans a little, stirring. A yawn escapes her as her eyes flutter open. “Mm… Grogu?” She pushes herself to sit up, the blanket slipping off her shoulders. It’s only now that she remembers she’s naked and quickly covers her chest. “Grogu!”

The child just tilts his head, confused at her reaction.

Memories flood back into her mind. It all happened in complete darkness, but each sound, each touch, each sensation was clear. So that… that really happened. Din and I… Her face reddens and she clamps her hand over her mouth to muffle a yelp. She looks over her shoulder… no Din. Oh Stars, he didn’t leave, did he? Wait, of course not, Grogu is still here. “Where’s…”

Grogu makes a noise and points towards the bathroom. Now that she strains her ear, she hears the shower turn off. Her heart immediately races. Grogu nudges her again, babbling and pointing towards the door. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.” She gulps and slips off the bed, wrapping the bed sheet around her torso. As she does, she winces and mouths a quiet “ow.” Why am I so sore — right…

Grogu leads the way, more interested in the food waiting for them. She lifts a brow. Food? Did… Din order this? She notices one plate is already finished. Sitting down, she uncovers the other plate, steam escaping and revealing a hearty plate of breakfast. Grogu jumps onto her lap, reaching for the small bites that he can shovel into his mouth. “You go ahead, kid,” she says, listening to the sounds behind the bathroom door. “I don’t think I can eat yet…”

She isn’t sure how this is going to go, but she doubts it’ll end in anything other than the Mandalorian telling her to forget about it, that it never happened. And will never happen again. She was, after all, just being selfish. Maybe he hates her for it. Her stomach feels too tight to accept any food, so she just waits in agony.

The door opens. She lifts her head and he steps out, helmet blocking any indication of his emotion. He’s fully dressed, apart from the beskar he needs to put back on. His heavy gait towards them makes her heart race and her mouth dry. Without a word, he sits down across from them, reaching for his armor and putting it on, piece by piece.

Nothing? He’s going to say nothing? She grits her teeth. “Okay, fine.” She breaks the silence. “I’ll make this easy for you, Mando.”

The use of the nickname stops his hands. He faces her. “What?”

“Let’s just forget about it,” she says, her eyes darting to the side, her voice wavering. “Pretend it never happened. I’m sorry. I… I shouldn’t have…”

Din’s chest heavies. Grogu is too busy eating to listen in on the conversation, but where he sits doesn’t go unnoticed. He even offers her a piece of fruit that she politely declines. “...Why?” Din asks.

“’Why?’ I…” She sighs, her hand running through her head. “Isn’t this… what you want?”

“When did I say that?”

She blinks in surprise. “You… don’t want that?”

“I…” Now it’s his turn to avert his gaze, even though he knows she can’t see his eyes. He rubs the back of his neck. “Oh boy…” He sounds stressed. “You… don’t regret it?”

“I-I don’t!” She shakes her head. “I th-thought you would regret it. I thought… I was being selfish. That I forced you into it and-and that you didn’t want to and—”

“Hey, hey, slow down.” He lifts a hand. “It’s okay. You weren’t being selfish. If anything, it was me.” He looks at Grogu, knowing it wouldn’t be the first time.

“Oh…” She cracks a smile, relief written in her visage. “S-So… what does that mean? If we’re… both selfish?”

“Well… the kid and I know a thing or two about that.” Grogu looks up with a gleam in his eye. It was selfish for Din to go back for him in the first place. It was selfish to endanger others just to rescue him from Moff Gideon. It was selfish for Grogu to leave Luke to return to him. At some point, it stops being selfish and becomes something else entirely. “So it wasn’t… bad?”

“Bad? Are you kidding me? It was...” She stops herself from sounding too giddy, considering the fact that Grogu is still present. And Din knows that he understands more than he lets on. “It was wonderful, Din.”

He grins. “G...Good…” Now that that’s taken care of: “Pack your things,” he says to her. “We’re going to leave.”

Her smiles drops. “Leave? Why? The tournament isn’t over.”

“I know.” He secures his vambrace. “But I’m not putting you in any more danger.”

“Hey! Wait just a minute!” She almost stands up, but Grogu is planted firmly on her lap. “You got rid of the danger, didn’t you? There’s just me and the Twi’lek now. I’m so close!”

“You were almost killed.” He stands. “You wanna walk around with a target on your back?”

“Oh, like you don’t?”

“That’s different. I’m a Mandalorian, I’m a bounty hunter. I know how to fend for myself.”

She huffs in frustration. “So I’m just supposed to give up now?”

“There’s other beskar in the galaxy. I’ll figure it out.”

Now she stands, carrying Grogu in her arms. “You listen to me, Din… I don’t know your last name—”

“Djarin.”

She blinks. “Really?” How pretty — not now! “You listen to me, Din Djarin!” Grogu giggles. “I didn’t come all the way here, get hit on, felt up, threatened, a blaster on my face, all to just give up right when I’m so close to the finish line!”

Din takes a step back. Felt up? “Wait… when did you get…?” His blood starts to boil.

She waves her hand. “It was Besporos, the trust fund kid. Said he’d give me some beskar if I went on a date, but we all see how that turned out. Anyway, I didn’t go through all of that for you to tell me to forget about it.” She takes a step forward. “I need to win this… for me. Don’t you get that?”

He resigns himself, lowering his head. “Of course I can.”

“Then it’s settled.” Another step forward. “But…” She lifts her hand, cupping the side of his helmet. “I do think it’s sweet that you care.” Din tenses out of instinct, but he breathes out and dares to lean into the touch. How he wishes he could feel it on his skin again… The best he can do is hold her hand, thumb brushing against her wrist. The bed sheet drapes around her makes her look like a work of art, like a statue that only he can admire.

He fantasizes about the curtain of night being drawn and carrying her back, their clothes on the floor leaving no barriers. Din never imagined he could feel so close to another person like that.

Grogu coos, tilting his head and giving him a look. Din knows the kid can’t talk yet, but he says enough with his expressions: what’s happening between you and her?

“Urm.” Din clears his throat loudly, pulling away.

She walks back to the table, setting Grogu down on it so he can continue eating. “I’m going to freshen up.” He nods, watching her walk towards the bathroom door. “The door’ll be unlocked, okay?” She winks, clicking her tongue before she walks in. Din’s throat tightens and he clenches his jaw. Din sinks into the couch and tries to shoo away those thoughts while Grogu eats.

He recalls how he once mused to himself that Grogu would be the death of him. Now he thinks the same thing of her, but for entirely different reasons.

---

Her bath that afternoon is long. She savors it knowing that it’ll be the last time she gets to experience such luxury before leaving Canto Bight. Kriff, she hasn’t even decided where she wants to go after this… It doesn’t have to be Tatooine, that much she knows. What if she stays here? Or maybe goes somewhere else fancy, like Coruscant? A whole galaxy is at her disposal. So, instead of being alone on Tatooine, you wanna be alone somewhere else?

She sinks into the tub.

Of course, her heart knows exactly where she wants to go. Could she do it? Travel the galaxy, hop from one place to the next, not knowing what the next day would bring? Hell, that sounds amazing. And it wouldn’t matter where she went, as long as she had them.

Slow down. Maybe… maybe focus on winning the tournament first.

She finishes her bath and walks to the bedroom to pick her outfit for that night. As she goes through the many dresses that stylist left her, she notices that the hotel staff had put her Tatooine clothes on a hanger, its dull brown colors looking even muddier next to the vibrant ones. Taking it off the rack, she notices that it’s been scrubbed clean of dirt and sweat, even smelling nice.

The corner of her lips curls up. It was fun dressing up like a rich noble the past few days, but something about wearing her normal clothes seems right for tonight.

“Okay,” she says, stepping out of the bedroom. “I’m ready.”

Din looks up, a little surprised that she came out in her regular clothes. The last time he had seen her in those, they were bickering and biting each other’s heads off. Yet, he knows she’s still the girl from last night, the one that pulled him into her arms and accepted him entirely. She’s still just as beautiful. “Then let’s go.”

Walking across the casino is like wading through tar. Hundreds of people watch them, congest the walkways as they stare and whisper. She meets their gazes with a firm look, her hand clutching his wrist. As they near the room of the tournament, they hear arguing from inside.

“Oh boy,” she says. “This could get ugly.”

Inside, Dastiv shouts at his bodyguards while the Twi’lek and the other competitors watch, occasionally joining in. As soon as the casino owner sees the three of them walk in, his face reddens with rage and he points towards them. “You!” he shouts. “I want you out of my casino! Out!”

“Tournament’s not over,” she says, hiding the rising rage in her voice.

“Oh, yes it is.” Dastiv hisses. “I’ve already made the decision.”

“What?” She glares.

“You — or rather, your friend — murdered Bras Luum, another competitor! You are disqualified!”

The crowd around them gasps. “What?! That’s not fair!” she shouts. “He tried to murder me first! And you!” She points at him, her finger right in his face. “You helped him!”

“I’d watch your tone, scum. You’re lucky I’m not calling for your arrest.” Din is ready to step between them before she puts a hand on his arm, stopping him.

“Afraid the New Republic’s gonna investigate into your friend? Yeah, that might not look good.” She seethes with fury. “I don’t want to be here a second longer, but you’ll let me finish this tournament if you know what’s good for you.”

“No can do.” He takes a step back. “I’ve already called it. Your winnings have been added to the final pot. And since there are no more competitors, I shall declare Hadira Vossall the winner of this tournament!” The Twi’lek woman narrows her eyes at Dastiv, not appearing the least bit excited about this development. “She will receive the entire pot and the beskar.”

She pales, feeling her heart break in two. “So it’s decided…”

“Yes.” Dastiv smiles smugly. “Glad you understand.”

Her hand twitches. “Yeah… means I won’t feel bad about doing this.” She takes her fist and swings with all her might, punching him right in the face, the crowd gasping in response while Grogu giggles. “That’s for drugging me, you bastard!” Din sees that her fist is cocked for another cross and he catches her hands, pulling her back.

“That’s enough. He’s not worth it.”

Dastiv holds his cheek, spitting out some blood onto his hand. “My tooth! She broke my tooth!”

Din glares at him. “You’re lucky she didn’t break more. C’mon.”

She wishes she could delight in the sight more, but the heartbreak was too much. Not only did she lose the beskar, but all of her winnings… Everything that she worked for was gone. She bites down on her lip as Din leads her away, holding back the tears. “I’ve had enough of this city,” she tells him as they reach the casino’s exit. “Let’s get out of here.”

Just as the doors slide open, they hear a feminine voice call “wait!” The trio looks back, seeing a young, green Twi’lek girl run up to them. “Miss. I come on behalf of my mistress, Lady Vossall. She would very much like to extend a formal invitation for you and your friends.”

She blinks, exchanging a look of confusion with the Mandalorian. “That’s… generous, I suppose. What for?”

“She did not say. She told me only to make sure you did not leave. If you are interested, please come to the penthouse in one hour.” She tells them how to find it, then she bows and leaves them be.

Din looks to her. “It’s up to you,” he says. “We can leave right now if you want.”

She takes the time to think. Why would Hadira want to see her? Maybe they could negotiate for the beskar so far. If they could get it, then she wouldn’t care about the money loss. It’s worth a shot. “You think it’s a trap?”

“She just won the tournament. I doubt it, but then again… I don’t trust anyone.”

“If it is, then at least we’ll escape it together. What do you think, Grogu?” He coos in affirmation.

---

Hadira Vossall’s penthouse sits on the top floor, overlooking the rest of Canto Bight. The first thing they notice is how warm it is, like a steam bath almost. If Din’s helmet weren’t specialized, it would have fogged up his visor. There are luscious green plants and flowers lining the hallways, alongside works of art and various artifacts. A servant leads them further into a spacious yet quiet room with a grand table in the center and a fountain on the back wall. At the head of the table, Hadira rises from her chair to greet them, stating the girl’s full name.

“That’s me,” she says. “Thank you for inviting us. You have…” she scans around. “A really lovely home.”

“Thank you.” Hadira walks around the table, servants following her. She walks like a queen… “I don’t know what transpired between you and Bras,” she says, folding her hands together. “And frankly, I don’t care.” She stops in front of them, a calm expression on her face. “Allow me to explain something to you. I don’t need to gamble for money. I do it because I love it, because I’m good at it. And I love winning… but you know what I don’t love?” She frowns. “Winning by default.”

She nods. “I… see.”

“I could tell that Dastiv had already made up his mind, but he cannot control what I do in my own residence. So, I ask you.” She once again uses her full name. “Would you kindly indulge in a game of sabacc with me?”

She blinks in surprise. “Wh-what?” Her heart swells in elation. “Really?”

“Indeed. I will gladly give you your earnings. However.” She holds up a hand. “Now that the beskar is in my hands, I ask that you provide something equal in value for the buy-in.”

At that, her face turns pensive. “I… I don’t have anything like that…”

Hadira grins. “Perhaps you don’t. But the Mandalorian does.” She turns to Din. “For five ingots of beskar, I believe his full set of armor serves an equal value.”

“No!” She shakes her head. “I-I can’t ask D– Mando to do that for me. It’s–”

Din says her name. He puts a firm hand on her shoulder and leans in so his voice through the modulator only reaches her ears. “Can you win?”

“I-I don’t know,” she stutters out. “She’s really good and… no, no, I can’t gamble with your armor—”

“Can you win?” he asks again, firmer. She closes her eyes, focusing on his voice, on his hand. “When you woke up this morning, did you think that you could win.”

“...Yes.”

“Is it any different now?”

“It’s your armor, Din.” She presses her temple against his. “I could never lose that.”

“...Then don’t.” He gives her shoulder a squeeze. “Go ahead. Play.”

She opens her eyes and gives him a look of pure determination, her brows fixed, her eyes brimming. A firm nod is all he needs to pull away. She faces Hadira.

“Let’s play.”

#the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian fanfic #the mandalorian x you #din djarin #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian #work: dead man's hand #fun fact #i like to think din put the blanket on mc before leaving #heheeh

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damagedintellect · 2 years

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Trafalgar Law x reader

💌 Fake it till you make it: Chapter 3 💌

Summary: To avoid an arranged marriage set up by Doflamingo, Law needs to bring home a girlfriend during the Christmas break and you just so happen to be a theatre major in the same dorm at One Piece University. What could possibly go wrong?

Tropes: College AU, Fake Dating, Idiots in love, [Later chapters have🍋]

💌 Word count: 3,938 💌 <= Previous Chapter | Next Chapter =>

At some point sitting turned into laying down and the next thing you knew your eyes slipped shut. As the credits rolled Law finally looked away from the screen. He didn’t even realize that you had fallen asleep let alone were using him as a pillow. He was perplexed on what to do. He was already surprised how comforting he found your presence. While the two of you were alone like this he actually felt at ease. He began to take notice when his hand sought yours out all day. Despite knowing you were being followed and that he should, the act of holding your hand was unintentional. He looked back at you sound asleep before moving the laptop away. He didn't want to wake you up. Slowly but surely Law managed to move you enough for him to lay down next to you. His mind was still lost at the prospect that he was not repulsed by your physical contact.

In fact part of him seemingly craved it. He couldn't tell if this was due to the fact that Doflamingo wants him to marry someone else or if he genuinely has latent romantic feelings he should address. His levels of stress could be causing the touch starved-ness but he never thought his love language was physical touch. Quality time sure but you were already practically joined at the hip and have been for the past two weeks. Law closed his eyes. There was no sense thinking himself in circles on the matter. He just needed to be prepared for whatever Doflamingo throws at him. His relationship query could wait, he had self control.

The next morning Law woke up first. His head was a mess but he often had trouble quieting down his thoughts. He slowly opened his eyes to see you laying on top of him cuddled into his chest. Adorable. He was about to move you when you started to stir. He closed his eyes enough for you to think he was asleep but open just enough for him to watch what you do. What he wasn’t expecting was for you to look at him, smile and go back to snuggling into him. Was he really that comfy? Suddenly you bolted upright with so much force you fell backwards tumbling off the bed. Law couldn’t help but laugh at the clear display of grace.

"Y-you were awake!" You stuttered out from the spot on the floor. Blood rushing to your face in embarrassment. "Who wouldn't wake up to that. You weren’t exactly quiet, you know." Law stretched while you picked yourself up off the floor. You grabbed your phone and remembered "Oh!" You shuffled through the presents you wrapped to find Law’s.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" You jumped back on the bed shoving the gift in his face. "Merry Christmas, you didn’t have to get me anything, I just assumed we weren't going to." He spent his time delicately peeling back the wrapping as you snickered "Well you thought wrong. Just hurry up already!" Law stared at the coin in his hands and looked back up at you completely at a loss for words. Your smile was blinding with how bright it was. "How did you know I wanted this? (Y/N)-ya they only printed 50 of these when did you-" Law paused, narrowing his eyes at you "That’s why you wanted takoyaki."

"Bingo, you were staring at it with heart eyes, it wasn't that hard to guess."

Law frowned "I was not."

"You totally were. You're little obsession with Sora warrior of the sea is cute. I'm just surprised you've never asked Sanji for an autograph." Law quirked an eyebrow at you "Why black leg-ya?"

"Oh, you didn't know? Sanji is a Vinsmoke."

"He's Germa!?" Law shouted in disbelief "Yeah he doesn't like people knowing about it but I just assumed since you were a big fan of the comic you would have known."

After breaking Law for a bit you both decided to see if anyone else was awake. All the kids were up, most of the adults were still waking up grabbing coffee. You used this time to put your gifts by the tree. As soon as Lao G woke up everyone gathered around the tree and started opening gifts. Yesterday you asked Baby 5 to help you pick out things people would like and for the most part you think at the very least people had a good laugh. Sugar got a mountain of plushies and luckily the one you got her she didn't have yet. Monet scowled but the blush on her face told you she really liked her new harpy shirt. Ever the tsundere. You got Baby 5 a heart locket. Whenever she does find love she can put their picture in it.

For Corazon you actually had his present made prior to coming. With the help of Bepo, Penguin and Shachi you made a photo album of all the candid photos of Law anyone in your dorm had on their camera roll. Personally your favorite ones were of him asleep at his desk when his bed was not more than two feet away. The blonde actually picked you up and spun you around meanwhile Law was sending some angry texts to his self proclaimed "former friends."

Doflamingo ever the methodical bastard saved opening your gift until he was the last one with a present. His expression was hard to interpret but everyone else got a kick out of it saying it was perfect for him. He chuckled darkly before getting out of his seat disappearing into the other room. When he returned he had one last present to give. You could feel Law tense beside you as Doffy handed it to you.

Upon opening it you were in awe. Inside was a gorgeous elegant pastel pink evening gown complete with a white capelet shawl, matching heels and jewelry. This was something you’d only seen people wear to a ball or some other high society event. You were speechless. "This is beautiful, thank you Doffy. I have no idea where I'm going to wear this."

"My business partners and I are hosting a charity Gala on New Year's eve. I doubt Law has said anything about it. Consider this a bribe to make sure Law will be in attendance. He tends to skip these events."

You could see sparks fly from Law and Doflamingo as they stare at each other neither backing down from the challenge. The situation was only diffused by Corazon's big family group hug. The rest of the day was spent playing more games, watching more Christmas movies and keeping Law from blowing a gasket everytime Doffy purposely sabotaged his chances at winning.

When evening rolled around everyone got dressed to go take this year's photo by the tree. After the photo was taken Monet snickered and pointed above your head. "Ooo~ Mistletoe." You and Law looked up and sure enough on the branch above your head someone had tied a mistletoe to it. You're pretty sure it was a set up by Monet but it also could have been Doflamingo. Heck it could have even been Corazon who knows. You and Law only stare at each other for a brief moment before he cups your cheek pulling you in as you rise on your tippy toes to meet him in the middle. You could feel your stomach flip in a pleasant way. His lips were softer than you thought they would be and when you pulled away you could see how red Law’s face became. As short and sweet as the kiss was, Corazon still managed to snap a picture of it. You laughed as Law complained and tried to grab for Corazon's phone but the Taller man held it just out of reach as he texted it to you.

On the way back to the house everyone was making fun of Law for being embarrassed over the slight PDA. Calling him "Lover boy" and "Casanova" causing him to pull his hat down further over his face. You were holding his hand one because it was warm and two because you were trying to make sure he didn't run into anything with his hat covering his eyes. After you got back to the manor dinner was served and the kiss was dropped from conversation. Although you'd catch Law stealing glances at you every now and then but he'd turn away as soon as you caught him.

Once dinner was done you stayed to help Corazon clean up. This time Law didn’t stop you claiming he wanted to take a shower and go to bed since he was exhausted from being around his family for such an extended period of time. Fair enough, you could imagine him throwing himself on his bed like the past few days. "Law is cute when he's flustered." You giggled as the aforementioned surgeon left the room.

Corazon grinned "In case you were wondering, that was a joint effort but it was Doflamingo's idea." You were shocked. "Really I would have guessed it was Monet."

"I think Doffy's warming up to the idea that Law can make decisions about his future for himself." Corazon paused to wink at you "Or you won him over and this is his way of approving your relationship." You hummed whatever the case you're silently thanking him. When this is all over and done you wouldn't have to think about what it would have felt like. You smiled as Corazon handed you the last dish.

"Oh, that reminds me. Do you know how to waltz?"

—

Law threw himself on the bed once again. He thought the shower would help calm his thoughts. He wasn't sure before but now he's definitely certain he developed a crush on you. He aggressively dried his hair with a towel. When he kissed you it just felt right. He melted into the touch and the whole way back home all he could think about was doing it again. To his defense he never had a horny teenage phase. He was too busy studying and defying Doflamingo for it to even be on the forefront of his mind. He always thought he had no interest in such things but now? He groaned in frustration. He had half a mind to ask if you'd even be interested. He noticed the way you stared at him when he was changing there could be a mutual benefit here. Truly he just didn't want to come off as creepy lest he make the rest of the trip unbearably awkward. There were too many cons that drastically outweighed the pros in this situation. He'll wait to see if you bring it up, repeating to himself that he has self control. He drifted to sleep

When you walked into the room Law was passed the fuck out. You couldn’t blame him honestly, you were surprised that he lasted so long spending time with his family. You were going to ask him if he could teach you to waltz since Corazon has two left feet but you guess that'll have to wait until tomorrow. As a musical theater major you were no strangers to partner dancing but it was all very choreographed and not a classic waltz. Once you changed, without thinking about it, you kissed Law goodnight on the forehead and fell asleep.

—

The next morning you woke up to the feeling of being suffocated. Law had you pressed into his chest. You didn't want to wake him up but you wanted air. You tried to shimmy out of his grasp but only got so far. Now your faces were inches apart and you were screaming internally. Feeling his breath on your face made you want so desperately to close the distance. Thinking back to that short lived kiss it was driving you mad. God you wanted Law to kiss you again, amongst other things. Fuck this is not what you should be thinking about right now. Not with him pressed firmly against you. Your head was spinning, you wonder if you could get him to kiss you if you claimed it was practice for…something. God no that was stupid, practice for what? A midnight kiss on New year's?

You were so lost in thought you didn't realize Law opened his eyes and was watching you mentally have a conversation with yourself. He didn't know what to say and clearly you didn't realize he was awake but he also didn't want to move. It was cold outside of the blanket and you were nice and warm. Law cleared his throat, snapping you back to reality.

"Oh God, how long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to know you're panicking about something, is it about the kiss?" Law was hoping you would say yes so he could say that maybe you guys needed to practice more to get comfortable. You know, to make it more believable and for absolutely no other reason.

On the other hand your inner voice was screaming to lie, DEAR GOD LIE, anything but the kiss but all you could do was stutter "N-no it's uh t-that's not. I, God, this is embarrassing but can you teach me to waltz?" Good, topic averted you could live another day. Law raised an eyebrow curiously and shifted to sit up "You've gotta be kidding me. You are a dance major!" You sat upright defending yourself. "Yeah, I'm trained in musical theater and Tap not ballroom!"

Law sighed in fake annoyance, at least this was an excuse to be close to you. As he keeps reminding himself he has self control but he still wanted to run some tests on how much your contact affects him. "It can't be helped. Did you pack a long dress or skirt with you?"

"Not really. Do you think Baby 5 or Monet would have? I mean worse case I could try on my new dress but I'd hate to ruin it before I get to wear it out."

Law choked, coughing to cover up his reaction knowing the only long dresses either of them have were maid outfits. "Yes they do."

You grabbed the heels Doffy gave you and made your way to Baby 5's room who gladly lent you a dress. With a sparkle in her eye she rushed to put it on you. She was so fast you didn't know it was a maid outfit until you looked in the mirror. She even managed to put the headpiece on you. You flushed at your reflection, you were so cute.

"Hey, Baby 5 have you seen (Y/N)-ya." You heard Law from outside the door before your eyes met he trailed off and froze. You smirked.

"Okaerinasai goshujin-sama~" you curtseyed for good measure, bowing your head slightly but continued to stare at Law. He used his hand to cover the lower half of his face as he turned around sharply. "If you have time to make jokes then you have time to practice." He started walking away to one of the many open rooms in the manor. You bounced to his side the four inch heels not slowing you down in the slightest. "Ooo~ did I strike a cord? Is your nose bleeding? Aw come on Law you can tell me I'm cute!" He pulled you in by the waist dipping you effortlessly, halting your teasing immediately as you stare into his eyes like a deer in headlights. "You're playing a dangerous game (Y/N)-ya" your heart was hammering in your chest. He had you literally swooning. This time Law smirked, satisfied with himself as he pulled you back upright.

As he explained how to waltz you realized you're an idiot. You do know how to waltz. Every pas de bourree, every step ball change was essentially a waltz. You ended up waltzing around the room as Law roasts you for not realizing sooner. The mockery fades away as Law lowers the hand on your back slightly pulling you in closer. You can feel your breath hitch. Since when was Law so nimble? You twirled with him effortlessly taken aback by how in sync you were with reading each other's movements. When he went in for the dip you were breathless, eyes half lidded Law wearing a similar expression. Just as he started leaning in to close the distance you heard a slow clap from the corner of the room breaking the spell you were seemingly under. You didn't realize you had an audience.

"Bravissima, such grace." Doflamingo complimented your performance. Despite Law tensing up you bow "Thank you." Now that he has your attention he stops clapping "I have business to attend to at Smile factory and was wondering if you wanted to show (Y/N) around the facility, maybe take the tour?"

Law turns to you "Do you want to see the over glorified build a bear?" You could tell he wanted you to say no but you'd rather jump ship than address your almost kiss from a few seconds ago.

"Sure, why not! Let me change first." You forced a laugh as you passed Doflamingo "Wouldn't want a maid running around the factory." You scampered off. Part of you thinks it was a bad idea to leave Law with him but it was too late to go back. You grabbed the first thing you saw and hurried back down.

When you joined the two, Law did a double take pulling his hat down once again. Doffy smiled at you and you both followed him out. You shot a quizzical look at Law as he gestured to what you were wearing. You didn't pay attention to what you grabbed, you just wanted something warm and comfy. You were wearing Law’s hoodie. Despite your blushing you remained composed "What it's warm and cozy."

Arriving at the factory you were surprised that Law wasn't kidding, it was just an over glorified build a bear. The tour consisted of you going to different parts of the factory to, by the end of it, complete your own toy. The idea was super cute so naturally you forced Law to sit through it. Other than the bear sewing pattern you had control over all the personal details of the bear and after staring at a certain grumpy surgeon you snickered to yourself. You chose a white bear, gave him real tired done with the world kind of eyes, with the staple dark rings underneath, a slight frown, and nearly matching tattoos. That's when Law gave you a disapproving glare "Really?" You only laughed. When you got to the voice box station you begged him to say something for the bear. Gave him big ol puppy dog eyes and everything but he continued to ignore you playing games on his phone. You snatched it from him and as he grabbed it back he shouted "Oi, (Y/N)-ya" before he realized his mistake. Now you were on to the clothing. You had to give him the surgeon's standard jeans, hoodie and the iconic hat. You contemplated putting a surgical mask and scalpel but decided against it opting for just his earring and it was perfect the way it was. You held it next to him and gave the bear a squeeze.

"Oi, (Y/N)-ya"

Law only rolled his eyes at you. You were very proud of yourself. You were hugging the bear for the rest of the day to the point where you could tell he was getting annoyed.

"Seriously?"

You snickered as you walked into the manor "What?"

"When are you going to stop hugging that thing?" Law grumbled as you joined the rest of his family in the living room. You hummed, glancing around the room deciding to play it up a bit. "Hmmm, dunno. Why is the real one jealous?" You elbowed him, not giving him time to answer as you sat down by Baby 5 and Sugar "So who's winning?"

"Lao G but we're playing by different rules. Lao G has to be first at all times. If you pass him you start over so the real winner is second place." Sugar explained while Baby 5 gasped "Did you make a little Law, that's so cute!"

You snuggled it into your face and heard Law suck his teeth in irritation "tsk" you know you're playing with fire but it was too fun. "I named him Trafalgrrr B. Water Paw, the B obviously stands for bear, but lil Law sounds good too." You kissed him on the nose for good measure and you could feel Law glaring daggers at you getting up from his seat. You giggled until you felt your chair tip back. You didn't have anytime to react as Law captured your lips with his. It only lasted for a second but it still flustered you. You were going to hug Lil Law again when you noticed he wasn't in your lap.

"Oi, (Y/N)-ya"

You snapped back at Law to see his smug ass expression holding the bear hostage "Shit it was a trap!" You hastily got out of your seat but he already disappeared upstairs.

Monet rolled her eyes "Again sickening."

—

You burst through the door to see Law reading on his bed. He looked up at you like nothing happened "What?" Your eyes dart around the room "You know what you did, that was a good trick by the way. Didn't think you had it in ya. Now where is he?"

Law put his book down and folded his arms across his chest, decidingly stalling "What's that supposed to mean."

"Well I have a natural flirty personality and you get all weird about pda." You started by looking under the bed. There weren't too many places he could hide the bear. "I don't get weird, I just don't understand how it's anyone's business." Law retorted going back to his book. You've looked through most of the room and you still haven’t located the bear you stare at Law. "Still didn't answer my question. Where's lil Law?" He didn't answer, just turned the page of his book. You filter through the drawers of his desk still kicking up dirt. You stare back at Law once more. "You're sitting on him." You accuse, trying to think of where else the bear could be. Standing at his side you were about to feel underneath the pillow he was laying on when he grabbed your wrist. "I knew it!" You tried to use your other hand but surprise surprise he grabbed your other wrist too. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You throw your leg over his lap straddling him. Trying to use your leverage to break your wrists free and feel behind him. It doesn't work. He's too strong; he turns the tables easily pinning you to the bed. You heard one knock and you both freeze as the door opens "Corazon says dinners ready." Sugar trails off before shouting "Oh God, my eyes lock the door next time!" She didn't even close the door before she ran off.

You laughed as Law rubbed his temples. He lived with a bunch of idiots he swears. It was only then that you realized the position you were in. "Honestly I don't know what they were expecting by bursting into the room after our show downstairs." Law murmured as he released his hold on you. That's right all of this was fake. None of this means anything. You shake the thought out of your head and carry on.

___

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i-me-mine · 1 year

Text

As time goes by | Chapter 5: The gift

Pairings: Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Word Count: 3.6k

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“Shit, shit, shit!” Eddie whispers.

It’s almost 8:50 am, and Eddie is supposed to be at Gareth’s place for band practice by 9 am, so he knows he will be late.

When he enters the kitchen, he looks at you with widened eyes. “Jesus, you scared the hell out of me! Give me a goddamn warning!” he screams, his voice high-pitched.

“Wow, I know I’m scary-looking, Eds, but thanks for the reminder,” you chuckle, and Wayne, who is also there, laughs a bit.

“Idiot,” he says, rolling his eyes. “What’s for breakfast?” he asks.

“Pancakes”

“Smells good! I’d love to eat, but I’m late” he seems disappointed.

“I know; I packed some so you can eat later.”

His hip bumps against yours. “You’re the best, sweetheart! I have to go, band practice now; a couple of deals later, I’ll stop by Reefer Rick; my stock is getting dangerously low… you two take care, ok?”

He kisses you on the cheek before going out, and you hope he has not seen you blush while Wayne says, “Take care, son.”

You take your pancakes and sit in front of Wayne, who is still eating his. “Now that he is gone, we can talk…”

“What happened, kiddo?” Wayne’s voice was suddenly urgent; he was worried something terrible had happened.

“You know our graduation gift idea? We may have a problem… Eddie doesn’t think he is graduating at all this year” you wait to see if Wayne will react or say something, but he is still looking at you, waiting for you to complete your line of thought, with no interruptions or judgments.

“And I know we are not exactly in our best behavior mode, and I’d understand if you change your mind… but I really want to do this.”

“I want the best for you two, and I know you are just trying to have fun… but people here don’t see it like that. I just want you to be safe and happy, try not to get in more trouble for now, will ya?

“We’ll try not to get caught.”

“That’s not what I said, kiddo,” he replies, trying to sound serious, but you can see the hint of a smile there.

You dodge his comment, changing the focus of the conversation again. “But what about the gift? Will you still help me with it? I can use my flirting skills and get us a discount…”

“No way, I’ll handle it! But don’t you wanna wait for next year then? I know that you are not getting many shifts lately.”

“My money for that is already saved up…, and it’s just because Ben is leaving for college after this summer, so they are training Keith to work at the arcade and can’t pay us all at the same time… but I’ll get my shifts back later, so no worries.”

“I wish I could help more; It doesn’t feel right to let you spend all that money…”

You smile warmly while reaching out to rub Wayne’s arm gently. It’s ironic to think that he wants to help more when he has already done much more than expected, not only for Eddie but for you as well. He saved you both and is the best caretaker you could have asked for. It seems that both Wayne and Eddie need to learn to recognize how incredible they really are. Better than most of the closed-minded people living in Hawkins, having to deal with being misunderstood by them.

“I would not be able to do this without you; you are already helping a lot. You always help. You do a lot for us, and I appreciate that.”

“You are so kind to us.” He gets up and pets your head. “Fine, I’ll speak with Miller again soon.”

“Thank you, uncle Wayne! Once you get it, remember to keep it out of sight… we don’t want to spoil the surprise!” you say in a cheerful voice.

“I just don’t know what she sees in him.” Jonathan shrugs.

“Bob is nice; give him a chance…”

You and Jonathan are spending the afternoon at one of the picnic tables at the trailer park, he occasionally taking pictures and you scribbling in your notebook when the subject of the conversation changed to his mother’s new boyfriend, Bob Newby.

“There is something wrong with him… that whole over-friendly attitude is not normal.”

“He is just a bit different than us; that’s not exactly a problem. It’s easy to see how devoted to her he is. I think that’s cute.”

Jonathan had seen firsthand how his father, Lonnie, was different from Bob, how he mistreated the whole family. He had worked extra hard to shield Will from it. And now Bob is much healthier to Joyce, but he also absolutely adores Will - which is not hard, as Will is such a sweet boy. You are the one that doesn’t get why Jonathan is so against Bob.

“If you think about it, it just doesn’t make sense; how did they become a couple?”

“Jonathan, love just doesn’t make any sense, and you have no control over it… but they love each other, which means they are luckier than most of us; let them enjoy it.”

You can’t help but think that you would like Eddie to love you as intensely as Bob seems to love Joyce. And speaking of the devil, you see Eddie passing in the back; he smiles and waves at you, making you wave and smile back, and right after it, you are startled by the flash of Jonathan’s camera.

“What’s wrong with you? You almost scared me to death!” you scolded.

“You’re in love with him.” It wasn’t a question, and his voice sounded like he was suppressing laughter.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” you say, throwing your pencil at him.

“Hey bunny, I know you, and I recognize that facial expression. Will I need the photo to show you concrete proof?”

He knows that using the pet name warms you; he is not playing fair. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” you murmur.

“Really? C’mon, you know you can tell me. You know I’ll understand.”

And he is right. If there is someone that you could trust that would understand how you are feeling and the conflicts that fill your mind, that someone would be Jonathan. But neither of you is good at talking about feelings.

“I didn’t want it to happen. It wasn’t exactly planned, Jonathan…”

“Love never is… so you do love him, right?”

“I love everything about him… except that he is not mine.”

“Yet! When are you telling him?” he throws the pencil back at you.

You catch it before replying, “Never, of course. I fell in love knowing there was never any chance of being with him, so no need to bring more misery into my life.”

“Knowing that something won’t happen doesn’t make you want it less.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

There was a bag of nuts on the table. You start eating them absently, staring out the trailer park. The idea of you telling how you feel to Eddie crossed your mind a couple of times, and the tiny hope that he would be willing to give you a chance burns in the corner of your heart, but the risk of rejection is too imminent. He sees you as his best friend only, maybe as a sister. You already have so many great moments together; you are afraid of being too greedy by making a move and losing everything.

So no, you will wait patiently, and maybe someday you’ll learn how to live in peace with your feelings, or they will simply vanish. Then, as if he could read your mind, Jonathan says:

“The feelings, the yearning, that connection you have with him… it won’t just go away like magic just because you don’t want it to be there… it will only grow. Trust me, I know. So you should tell him if you want to save yourself from suffering.”

“The same way you are telling Nance?”

He stares blankly at nothing, but you see the glimpse of pain crossing his eyes, which makes you regret saying that - because you know it hurts, and it’s not fair to push him like that. It’s not even the same scenario - Eddie is still single, while Jonathan has to see Nancy being happy with Steve every day and live with that. The guilt goes into a spiral mode within you. “I’m sorry, let’s call it a stalemate and drop the subject, shall we?”

Being pros at the art of hiding feelings, you engage in conversation without touching on this topic again.

Time is flying by. Everything seemed to be happening faster than usual, and before you knew it, it was the last day of your school year. You were exhausted by all the exams and happy when the end of the day finally came. Standing at your locker, you grab your things and notice Eddie approaching you with a smile and wave.

“Hi.” You say wearily, a soft smile on your face.

“So… did you pass?” he asks cheerfully.

“Yes, sir! Senior year, here I come.”

“That’s my girl!” he pulls you into a bear hug, and without warning, he throws you over his shoulders and runs to the exit door. “So long, fuckers!! We are getting out of here. We are freeee!” Just another loud and theatrical glory demonstration of despise for Hawkins High School by Eddie Munson.

“P-put me d-do-wn, Eds!” You try to tell him, but you are laughing so hard that you are unsure if he understands it. When you are at the parking lot, he finally puts you down, patiently waiting for you to stop laughing and start breathing again.

“You can thank me for the ride now, M’lady,” he says with a soft, enchanting laugh.

“Not very comfortable, you know.”

He hesitates a bit but then says: “Well, I can offer you a very comfortable movie session tonight at Munson’s trailer as compensation. Would that be enough?” He looks at you with hopeful eyes.

You usually have an end-of-school-year celebratory bonfire by the lake, and as some of the boys from Hellfire are graduating this will be their last one, and they will be probably overly excited about it. But Eddie is asking you to stay at home with him, watching movies. By looking into his eyes, you think that maybe he has not yet settled his issues related to not graduating this year and is not yet ready to face his friends celebrating graduation while he is not.

“That’s an irresistible offer, I take it!”

“Awesome! Wanna come with me to choose the movie?”

“I better make sure chores are all done back home to ensure my father won’t spoil our night. But I’ll see you later!”

“See ya!” he stroked your cheek gently before leaving, making you feel like your blood was on fire.

Doing laundry, cleaning, and tidying up the house took quite some time, but you additionally prepared dinner - you weren’t sure if your father was coming back home that night but wanted to ensure that he would have something to eat if he came. Once everything was ready, you showered and chose something cozy to wear.

You are brushing your hair, lost in thought. While you are still within the safety of your bedroom, you allow yourself to daydream how a movie night with Eddie could be if you were together, imagining the warmth of his embrace, his lips molding into yours, his firm touch and the contrast of his cold rings against your warm body, he sighing your name, you tangled together while the movie is playing in the background, forgotten as you both are too into each other to pay attention to it. You can’t help but smile before bottling up this feeling and getting ready to face reality.

Eddie opens the door as soon as you knock with a wide smile, making your heart flutter when you see him.

“I’m so glad you came, sweetheart!”

As you enter, you notice the clean trailer, and there are snacks, candy, orange juice, and beer at the table.

“I wouldn’t miss the chance of getting free food!”

He happily serves you, and you start chatting, updating each other on your whereabouts that afternoon. He reaches out to give your shoulder a nudge in the middle of the conversation, but due to his clumsiness, he spills his beer over your shirt.

He immediately apologizes and rushes to pick a dishcloth, and in an attempt to clean your shirt, he starts scrubbing it, touching your boobs while doing it, making your face scarlet. It takes him 2 seconds to realize what he is doing, and he drops the dishcloth.

“Ow, I’m so, SO sorry!” his eyes are wide, and he looks embarrassed.

“That’s ok, Eds. It’s just a T-shirt… mind if I borrow one?”

He seems so relieved that you are not angry.

“Go ahead, what’s mine is yours, remember?” he replies. Of course, you are both trying to laugh it off.

You are hyperventilating when you arrive in his bedroom, trying to bury the memories of what happened and how you felt when he touched you by accident in the back of your mind. “Not now, save it for later.” you think. You take deep breaths to calm yourself. When you return to the living room, now wearing one of his shirts, you see that he is waiting for you on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in his hand.

“So, what are we watching?” you say, climbing up the sofa and eating some of the popcorn.

“Graduation day. A slasher movie of a masked killer murdering senior students,” he replied playfully, seeming proud of the ironic movie choice.

Here is the thing, you don’t hate horror movies, you usually like them, but they could also scare the shit out of you, making you tense or sitting on the edge of the couch expecting a jump scare or something else to happen.

The movie starts, and soon you both eat all the popcorn. Finally, Eddie puts the bowl aside and picks up the blanket, wrapping it around you both. This would be something for you to think of as cute, just the two of you curled up on the couch, sharing a blanket, but right now, you notice your knuckles turning white due to how hard you are gripping the blanket due to tension while watching the movie.

“What the fuuuuuuuck!” you mumble in disgust as you see one of the characters being stabbed through the neck with a sword. Meanwhile, Eddie is just laughing and having the time of his life.

Later in the movie, you are not that afraid anymore, so each time you get scared or see something disgusting, you take the opportunity to squeeze Eddie tighter or hide your face in the crook of his neck. Just because he is not yours does not mean you won’t take the chances you have to get closer to him.

Wayne arrives home in the morning after a long night shift at the plant. The TV is still on, and you both are laying on the couch, you half-dozing, Eddie fast asleep. He gently speaks with you:

“Hey, kiddo, sorry to wake you up, but it’s important,” he hands you a small package. “Keep this. It’s here, at the end of the trailer park. You can show him today if you want.”

This makes you go fully awake mode, jumping out of the couch. “You’re the best!!” you say, hugging Wayne. Eddie opens his eyes, still sleepy and looking confused.

“Give me 30 min; I’ll be right back… be ready; we’ll take a walk,” you say, giving him a kiss on the forehead before storming out of the trailer, returning home to shower and change clothes.

Eddie is already waiting for you at his door when you come back.

“What’s going on, sweetheart?”

“I want to show you something,” you say, fighting the urge to give small jumps of excitement.

“Cool, let’s go.”

You come closer, wanting to clap your hand over his eyes to cover his sight before taking him but quickly notice that it would not work as you intended.

“Do you trust me?” you ask, your lips curling up mischievously.

“Absolutely not. Look at that face.”

“C’mon, Eddie… would you please borrow me your bandana?”

“What for?” the arc of his brow rising in suspicion.

“So I can cover your eyes with it.”

“No. Nope,” he says, raising his hand and moving it widely to demonstrate his dissatisfaction clearly.

So you put on your best puppy eyes and smile, hoping this helps. “Pleeease?”. It works; he takes out the bandana from his back pocket. You use it to blindfold him, thinking how much more attractive his lips are now, and a crazy thought of stealing a kiss from him comes to your mind.

“Is this really necessary?” he asks, interrupting your thoughts.

“Yes! Now come,” you say, taking his hand and leading him down the path, taking care not to let him stumble upon anything. He is curious, and a little confused but is going along with it.

After a quick walk, you stop and put the key from the package Wayne gave you this morning in Eddie’s hand. “Here we are,” you say, moving behind him to remove the bandana, revealing the surprise. “It’s yours. I hope you like it.”

“Are you shitting me?” he replies, but without moving a muscle, no other words are spoken after that.

You expected a more energetic and vibrant reaction from Eddie upon seeing the 1971 Chevrolet Van parked in from of you. But, on the other hand, he might not understand what was happening.

“Wayne and I thought you would like your own car, so we decided to give you one.”

Silence.

“I know it’s not black; we can work on that.”

You pause. Eddie was still frozen. You were afraid that maybe he thought that it was a gift too expensive.

“You know, this Van is going to need a lot of help before it runs again,” you warn him. “Miller would charge more to fix it than we paid for it; that’s exactly why he sold us so cheap... But I believe you can get it running again.”

The lack of reaction from Eddie’s side is making you nervous. You are on the verge of crying, but you try to say something funny to see if he says something.

“Don’t think I’m doing it for a selfless reason; you’ll drive me to school every day during our senior year.”

You are starting to freak out, wondering if this was a terrible mistake.

“I thought a Van would be a good idea because you could transport the band instruments and equipment, you would have the freedom to move around, do the band practices somewhere else, and even take them to play somewhere someday…”

You are sure you heard him gulp before he starts to turn to you slowly.

“This car is so…” he starts.

You sigh deeply. “Boring?”

“Perfect. The car is perfect. And so are you.” His voice is beautiful, high, clear, and filled with life, like melting honey and washing your worries away.

He gives you a massive, heartfelt hug. “You can’t keep giving me things. I don’t have anything to give you back.”

You roll your eyes in annoyance, but he can’t see it. Of course, being only friends with him causes you pain, but having him in your life, no matter how, gives you infinitely more joy, and that he should know. You would do anything for him because he would do the same for you. You treasure him more than anything.

“Now don’t you dare say you never gave me anything, Eds… because you have. You’ve given me an amazing life, reasons to smile, and good times to laugh about… you’ve given me memories I will never forget. You help make my life easier to deal with, and that’s something I’ll never be able to repay.”

You pet his hair, running your fingers through his curls, and he clings to you tightly. You can feel his heartbeat and breath on your skin; it feels so good. The sense of warmth and safety you feel is almost inebriating, making you feel protected and loved, wishing you could stay in that embrace forever.

“I never thought I deserved something like this. Dammit, I don’t deserve you,” he whispers.

“Eds,” you sigh, “you deserve all the good things in the world.”

“Don’t be melodramatic, sweetheart,” he replies

“Don’t you be so ridiculous, then,” you say jokingly.

Laughing softly, he lifts you off your feet and put you back on the ground before letting go of the hug, which almost makes you sad because you were in such bliss right there. Then, he runs to the van, checking every inch of it.

“Do you really think you can fix it?” you ask.

His face glows when he replies, “You’ll see, M’lady. All it needs is a little love and attention… and it will become our pride and joy. We’ll have such a fun summer!”

He seems genuinely pleased by the challenge, overjoyed and excited even. That is the reaction you were hoping for. He looks like a child that just received his favorite gift from Santa Claus.

You smile with high hopes that you’ll have a fun summer indeed.

Read next chapter

Notes: As promised, a chapter with a happier tone :) Thank you for reading; feedback is always appreciated! Please bear with me, as English is not my first language, and this had no proofreading - feel free to let me know if you find any major errors.

@sidthedollface2 @bimbobaggins69 @roxy9295 @aftermidnightwriting @ghosttownwherenoonegoes

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personasintro · 1 year

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Mimi, I just want to commend you on mh 54! 👏 You really know how to play with our feelings! 😭 u end mh53 with us being excited with this drama and jealousy, and now u end mh 54 with us with a heavy heart for yn and mh jk's relationship 😢

I cried for yn cause i can feel her guilt, disappointment and the feeling of being used. I also cried for mh jk because i can feel him willing to resolve things with yn but didn't got a chance. I just can't wait for the next chapter because I'm very sad with their relationship rn so when i see mh 55 is writing 50% aaaaahhhh maybe my agony won't be too long? 😭 Hahahahha thanks for the update, i love it!

Careful, careful ⚠️ she’s not feeling used, I don’t know why ppl keep bringing it up 😭 she feels guilty and overall just awful because she understood what her jealousy caused (it wasn’t only jealousy, it was jk’s reaction and the argument that escalated too). Both are wrong in these situations and honestly, both of them are the bad guys. They’re stupid and petty idiots 😭 that’s it!

I’m glad you enjoyed 54! 54, can you believe it?! 😭 thank you for the feedback! 🫂🫶

#ask #ask: mutual help

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chidoroki · 10 months

Text

182 Days of TPN - Day 95

Chapter 95: “Let’s Go Home”

Oliver is essentially the male-version of Emma with his view of Goldy Pond very similar to what she believed of Grace Field and the demon world itself.

We love a supportive parent, even if their kids wish for destruction. And aww the trio are so small and adorable. I’d love a story just about them and their several years spent at Goldy Pond. Hell, there needs to be more content of the GP trio in general. I’ll take literally anything.

Not to discredit Nigel and Violet, but it would be so much work for two people to watch over and guide 50+ kids, even with Lucas going with them.

Catch me crying over how sweet Oliver is. Also, that tiny flashback of Lucas being confused about Adam is cute. That kid certainly has a lot of questions surrounding him.

Y’all are just a bunch of self-sacrificial idiots and I love it. Ray could get along with them so well. I’d die to see him interact with the whole crew too.

Lucas once again being such a great dad by owning up to his mistakes (though I don’t think this one was even that bad since he was also suffering) and refusing to leave any of the children behind. I usually see people wish about how entertaining it could’ve been if Isabella met Yuugo, but Lucas is the real parent she needs to chat with. She could learn a thing or two from him.

Look how much my boy has grown! From not wanting to escape GF with the younger children simply because they were too young to understand and were bound to be a huge burden outside the wall, to now refusing to give up on anyone, no matter their age, potential, or how injured they are. Emma’s influence is so strong.

I wanna thank these kids for being so kind and ready to help out, but I also feel the need to apologize to them because aside from Theo, I remember none of their names. Wonderful additions to the family regardless!

Oh, I gotta say sorry to Adam as well because I forgot he was still around.. he’ll definitely be a big help during the long trip back.

Next on my list on content wish list is more of Ray just wearing the turtleneck. I know I should focus more on how he’s basically reciting both Norman & Emma’s words here, but c’mon, the turtleneck is such a good look! (Also, he looks super cute here.. and calm, which is surprising since he’s about to cauterize Emma’s wounds. I’d be freaking out but hey, he’s seems confident enough about it, so good on him.)

Aahh, even more memories I desperately wanted to see.

Emma’s dream continues to flourish and so quickly too, as it’s only been about two weeks since the escape. And Ray’s eyes look so pretty here wth.

Favorite panel/moment:

I can’t possibly just choose between these two moments because they’re equally as important to me as they are to the characters. Firstly, we got Ray offering his assistance to Violet & Nigel by guiding the 50+ kids along the three week route back to the shelter. This is so very important because he’s choosing other people over Emma aka his best friend/the girl he would give his very life for/the girl he promised to protect at all costs. This something he probably would’ve never done a couple months ago, but because it was Emma’s hope for everyone to survive and escape GP, of course he’s going to take charge of her wish when she’s down and out.

“He chose to escort a large group of children to safety, knowing he would be on edge for three weeks constantly worrying about Emma’s condition, instead of making the quick trip back with Yuugo because he knew how important it was to her that those kids, new members of their family, remained safe and feel what true freedom is.” - me, once again quoting myself because I’m lazy.

It isn’t like Ray’s making this decision haphazardly either. He goes the extra step to make sure Emma is well protected and given the best chance at survival, which means he’s gotta put all his trust into Yuugo (aka the dude he very much despised the previous day for allowing Emma to be snatched up by the poachers in the first place) to bring her back to the shelter in time. Also, this is the first time Yuugo calls Ray by name and I love how it parallels Yuugo using Emma’s name in ch90, as he agrees to follow each kid’s respective plans on both occasions.

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #182daysoftpn #chidoroki used chatter

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annieontheside · 7 months

Text

BUDDIE FICS RECS: ONE CHAPTER EDITION

hey, I'm back. i'm procrastinating the last part of my assignment so here are my recommendations for this weekend! hope you have a good time reading these:

Only Child of the Universe (Until I Found You). By: HMSLusitania. we all need Eddie with a cat. he’s SO a dad cat. we all can see it. this is perfect. it has a lot of fluff (not the cat, the fanfic), and buddie getting together. take it or leave it (take it, it’s the best decision you will take today). https://archiveofourown.org/works/33544489

This Earth is Burned But I’ll Sing Rain. By: HMSLusitania. oh boy. guess what. buck is injured (*people groan*). and eddie is sad and desperate because his boy is in a coma!! it’s 50% angst and 50% fluff. totally something to read while you wait for your taxi, or while you wait for the noodles to cook, or while you ignore all the college assignments you have to do! https://archiveofourown.org/works/39288816

Why can’t I Breathe whenever I think About You? By: HMSLusitania. God you have no idea how much I laughed while reading this. is short but it seriously will make your day. it’s just buck and eddie being the oblivious idiots they are. I love them so much. https://archiveofourown.org/works/39667098

Wait For It. By: oliviacirce. uhu. my god. basically: porn. but it’s more than that because we also have buddie realizing their feelings, which is always welcome if it comes with the hand of smut, orgasm denial and a lot of other things that buddie SHOULD look into but they refuse to because they’re idiots! anyway, enjoy it. https://archiveofourown.org/works/48469546

my evergreen. By: colonoscopys. oh my god another girl dad buddie! how did you get in here? ANYWAY in this one, we have domestic fluff (hell yeah), we have buddie pining AND realizing their feelings (slowly, reaaaaally slowly. so slow snails laugh in their faces. but its worthy). https://archiveofourown.org/works/38870445

keep my brittle heart warm (give me peace). By: extasiswings. girl dad buddie? anyone? does anyone want any girl dad buddie? awesome because this is IT. you’ll seriously die of cuteness with it. we have fluff, angst (a bit), eddie rethinking everything about being a dad and a son (because obviously). it’s a good read, actually. really nice. https://archiveofourown.org/works/32860312

No thing defines a man like love that makes him soft. By: justhockey. oh boy. chris will be the dead of buck and we all know it. just a bit of overhearing conversations and chris being three steps ahead of both buck and eddie. we all love buck and no one is allowed to not love him. https://archiveofourown.org/works/46444471

opened our eyes and it’s changing the view. By: markofalover. you know how i said chris is three steps ahead of buddie? yeah that also applies here. basically chris writes a poem for school and makes two grown ass men cry. and me, he made me cry. https://archiveofourown.org/works/37337218

I know you’re hurting (but so am I). By justhockey. I’m a WHORE for protective Eddie. And after reading this, so will you. A sneak peek: “...But let me be very clear about this: if you ever lay a hand on him again, me and you are gonna have some problems, Chim.” https://archiveofourown.org/works/34457893

#buddie #buck x eddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #911 show #ryan guzman #oliver stark #ao3 fanfic #buddie fanfic #fanfic rec

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ashxllbey · 1 year

Text

Poe Dameron x Fem!reader - Mortal Peril (Starman One Shot)

GIF by redheadspark

Word count: 1.3k Warnings: fluff, one or two 'idiots', otherwise none. A/N: Hello there. First of all, thank you for the love on the last chapter. Unfortunately, this is not a new update, as I'm still working on it. But! This is a 50 subs celebratory one-shot, taking place before last chapter, as a thank you for your support. Regarding updates - while I appreciate your enthusiasm regarding this fic, I'm extremely busy and I don't have a lot of free time. Those of you who follow me on AO3 might know that I'm a resident. I'm currently in my ICU rotation and I can't sit down and focus on a 10k chapter, though I would like to. So, please, be patient, and don't 'please update' me. Polite messages are always okay, though! That being said: I'm totally open to writing OS for our two favorite idiots (since it doesn't require nearly as much energy). If there's anything in particular you'd like to see, feel free to message me! I'll keep working on the next update in the meantime. Stay safe, I appreciate y'all!

Taglist for Starman (omg mom look at me, I have a taglist now! Message me to be added/removed):

@a-rose-of-amber

#starman #poe dameron x reader #female reader #poe dameron reader insert #poe dameron one shot #poe dameron fanfiction #poe dameron #star wars reader insert #star wars fanfiction #50 celebration

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artaxerxesthegreat · 2 years

Text

It All Started With a Smile

A/N: I love the Lost Boys-- I'm a hoe for them, I'm not sorry. This is a Poly!Lost Boys x Adopted!EmersonOC, might be a series, but there will definitely be a part 2. I hope you guys like it. I also used Google to find the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, and it's up for digital download if y'all are interested. I used pages 50-51.

A/N2: This OC is a WOC, again I'm not sorry.

Warnings: MINORS DO NOT INTERACT, 18+, Cursing, second hand stealing, not beta read, hints at a boner (ya gotta squint to see it lol), OC is a bit annoying but who isn't, We really only meet Marko (teehee)

Word Count: 9787

(GIF by @jordanlahey)

MINORS DNI!!!!

Chapter 1

“Well, kiddo, how was the trip?” Glancing up from my book, I pull my headset off, giving grandpa a questioning look, “Didn’t hear me, did ya?”

“Sorry, Papa E.” I give him a sheepish smile, book marking my page, as I sit up on my bed motioning for him to sit as well, “You now have my full attention.”

“Just wondering how you liked the trip over here.” He gives me one of his rare smiles, as he takes a peak at my book, “Homeric Hymn to Demeter, eh? Getting some light reading done before the semester starts?”

I can’t stop the smile that finds its way to my face as I admire the worn book cover, “Something like that, yeah… but I already graduated, remember?”

“Oh, yeah… It’s this growing old business, I tell ya. Don’t do it!” Papa Emerson furrowed his brow staring at a spot on the floor, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the look on his face, which caused him to give me a questioning glance before he started laughing himself. After a few moments, we clam down, and he pats my knee, smiling as he does.

“That was a good laugh, but as far as growing old goes, I don’t think I have much choice.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s true. Can’t live forever.” There’s something odd about what he said, almost as if he doesn’t actually believe it. I can’t help but look at Papa’s face questioningly, as he gazes back at that spot on the floor. A beat of silence passes between us, and before I can question his words, it’s broken by Sam and Michael running down the stairs.

“Those boys are going to tear my house apart.” There’s a grumble in Papa E’s voice as he casts his eyes to my closed door, sending his own hard glare through– like he’s willing those two idiots to stop. Chuckling, I shake my head at his antics, nudging his shoulder.

“Gramps, no matter how hard you glare at the door, and try to send a telepathic command to those buffoons, they’ll never stop… Unless, you know, they break something.” I sigh as I hear Sam’s muffled yell coming from downstairs, and Michael’s panicked voice as the sound of glass reaches our ears, “See.”

“BOYS!” Mom isn’t one to yell– not to me anyway– but when she’s had enough of the bullshit, she’ll let you know, and right now, she’s done with Sam and Mikey, “If you aren’t going to help, go expel all the energy outside.”

Papa E sighs deeply, rubbing his face as he worries about what just broke. Getting up, I walk to my door, glancing out, mom’s already found the dustpan and started cleaning up the broke mug.

“It’s alright Pops, it was one of the mugs I made in ceramics a while back.” Shrugging, I sit back down, smiling at him, “I made it for dad, but I guess it wasn’t something he cared for since it's here.”

“You know, your mother is the only woman I know, that gets the worst deal out of a divorce.” Grandpa looks up at me and laughs at the deadpan look I give him.

“Well, she married a dick, whaddaya expect?... Plus, she’s just so… so…” Sneering at my hands, I try to think of the right word, thankfully grandpa pitches in.

“Nice?”

“Yes! Like that bastard made your life miserable! Be angry, have rage! You’re entitled to it!” I don’t even try to hide my own distaste for mom’s civil approach to everything, “I don’t understand why– or how she’s so calm about all this?! He basically kicked us out of the house, because he isn’t man enough to go work and find his own place to stay.” By now, I’m pacing around my room, throwing my arms around, glaring at an invisible person as I give them a piece of my mind, “Like, dude, you kicked out your OWN KIDS! If I ever see his face again, it’ll be too soon.”

“Seems like you’re picking up the slack on that anger.” Papa E, has an awkward kind of smile, as he watches me with raised brows, “How do the boys feel about this?”

Sighing, I sit back down, picking at the threads of my ripped jeans, “Sammy is only 14 and has this thought that if it doesn’t work out here, we’ll go back to Phoenix, and dad will magically take us back… and Michael… Mike thinks he’s unbothered, cool, and in control of his very fragile 17-year-old life. I think he thinks that if he doesn’t talk about it, it's not going to bother him, but it does– it bugs the hell out of all of us. I can hide it better, but this is Mikey’s own father. How do you just roll with the thought of your own father dumping you and making you fend for yourself?... That piece of shit.”

“Hey.” Grandpa gives me face for my language, to which I apologize for, “... Well, I suppose I can’t be too hard on you… You’ve always been my favorite.”

Laughing, I lightly push his shoulder, “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that I helped you with your taxidermy when I was 7, would it?”

“... Maybe…?”

“Oh geez Gramps.” Sharing a chuckle, I recall when mom found the two of us in his ‘secret red room’ and totally flipped because my skin was turning red from the formaldehyde. On top of that, my throat got super irritated, and I was grounded, forbidden, and banned from Gramps’ workshop– by mom, “Remember when mom came in looking for me, and her eyes totally fell on the floor from how red I looked–”

“-- HA! Do I ever– and I said, ‘Lucy, relax, we’re in a red lit room course she’s going to look red’.”

“Oh my god, YES! And she pulled me out into the living room, then grandma came in from the kitchen, wondering what all the fuss was about.”

“... Yup… She wasn’t too happy.” He lightly chuckles at the memory of grandma walking out in a dirty apron and a wooden spoon with cookie dough on it, then the calm expression on her face morphing to extreme panic. She also ‘grounded’ Grandpa, but not before giving him an earful about responsibility and how not to let children play with dangerous chemicals.

He was banned from his red room for the next 4 weeks; so he taught me to ride a horse instead… and that is its own can of worms. Let's just say that mom freaks whenever I’m close to a horse.

“I had so much fun, though, I was so annoyed that they weren’t listening to me.”

“Yeah, well, they were just looking out for you. You can’t blame them for doting on you, you’re the only girl, after all.” Papa E gives me a gentle smile as I all but forget my previous anger.

“That’s true.” A comfortable silence fills the space as we sit side by side, then I hear the faint sounds of the horses neighing, “... Can I go ride a horse?”

“What?!” Grandpa snaps his head to me so quickly, I thought he gave himself whiplash for a second, I can’t stop the snort from the look on his face, “And give your mother another conniption, no, thank you. I plan to live the rest of my days as stress-free as I possibly can.”

“Ah, come on!” I smile widely at him as he gets up, disgruntled, and making his way to my door, “~It’ll be fun~.”

“No.” He points a finger at me sternly, but I still smile at him, mischief dancing in my eyes, “I mean it, Alex. Give your mother a break.”

Losing my smile, I nod my head, picking up my book, “Fine, I’ll just do some more ‘light reading’ then.”

“What about unpacking?”

“I’ll do it later.”

Laying down, I hold up my book, feeling bored and less enthused about the move. I’m not even reading what’s on the page, just aimlessly flipping through, wondering how in the hell am I going to make living here worth it.

I could get a job to help mom out, but Mike said there wasn’t anything legal around. How does Papa E pay the bills? He’s been retired for ages, but he owns a good bit of land, he has to have some way to keep the lights on, and feed not only himself but the horses also… He does have all that weed in the back…

“Maybe there’s a kitchen hiring?... Nah, that’s not happening, I don’t even like washing my own dishes. Damn, this growing up stuff is hard.” I huff out, slamming my book down on my lap. Turning on my side, I stare at my ‘Return of the Jedi’ poster, “What would Yoda do?... Okay, well, I’m not living in the swamp, so that’s out. Can’t join the ‘Living Force’ either… I could do a Princess Leia and kill my pimp, haha! Yeah, that sounds like a great time… Nanook’s my Chewbacca.--”

“--Knock, knock.” Sitting up on my elbows, I’m greeted with my mom’s serene face, peeking in through my doorway, “Hey Pumpkin, I saw your door was open.”

“It seems that everyone forgets to close it once they leave.” I roll my eyes, but motion for her to enter. I don’t miss her ‘subtly’ looking around my room– one Return of the Jedi poster, a stack of boxes in the corner, a few clothes hanging in the closet, a suitcase open and messy, a half filled bookshelf, a pair of boots, flip-flops, and 4 pairs of sneakers thrown about the room, “At least I started… and made my bed. Did the boys even make their beds?”

Mom playfully rolls her eyes at me, sitting on my bed with a bounce, “No they didn’t, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Then, pray tell, O’ dear mother of mine: Why hast thou entered mine sacred domain?” Mom lets out a small laugh at the way I dramatically lower my voice, answering in a high-pitched one in return.

“I have come to inquire, if thou– O’ Great One, wishes to be in attendance with thine brothers and I for a trip to the boardwalk?”

“Eh, sounds crowded.” Grinning at mom, I give her a light shrug.

“They have games.” She presses.

“Sounds loud.” I deflate slightly, losing my smile.

“Food?” She offers.

“Sounds like a stomach ache.” I grimace.

“... Boys?” She’s grasping at straws.

“Boys you say?” I’m intrigued, “Tell me more.”

“Oh you.” She hits my leg, and I laugh at her growing smile. Shaking her head, she continues, “I’m going to be looking for work, but I figured it would be a good time for you and the boys to go out and have some fun… So, would you like to come with us?”

“... Sure, someone needs to watch those two.”

“Thank you, but I just want you all to have fun, make some friends.”

“Mom… Me? Make friends? I haven’t ‘made’ friends since I was 10 years old. Besides, friends are so overrated.”

“Oh, pooh.” She swings the pillow at me, hitting the top of my head. Smiling, I dramatically fall back on the bed, “Come on, get ready, your majesty.”

“But I am ready.” I look down at my very wrinkled Queen t-shirt.

“Alex. You really what to wear those clothes?” She wrinkles her nose at my day-old clothes, then starts rummaging through my suitcase, “What about this? You’ll look so cute!”

“Mom, I hate pink… Plus, I think that’s yours.” We both tilt our heads to the side, looking at the blouse.

“Oh! This is mine. How’d it end up in your clothes?”

“I dunno.” Getting up, I pull out a cropped black and purple striped bowling shirt, “How ‘bout this, with the acid washed jeans, and… hmm… these paint splattered converse?”

“Very nice… Wait, isn’t that your father’s shirt?”

Chuckling, I look at the cut shirt with pride, “Yeah, but after it met my scissors in an unfortunate accident it became mine.”

“Oh, Alex!” Mom gives me a disapproving stare, before she smiles, “It looks better on you anyway.”

“Duh, everything does.” Tossing the shirt on the bed, I search for my towel, “Thought we’ve been over this before, mom?”

“Silly me, I must’ve forgotten.” Leaning against my door frame, she keeps her smile pointing at my leather jacket, “Remember to bring a jacket, it gets a little chilly here at night.”

“It’s like we never left Arizona.” Mom chortles at my joke, as I press a kiss to her cheek. Making my way to the boys' bathroom, I add, “I’ll be ready in 15.”

………

“So you think mom will be able to find a job in this hellhole?” I spare Michael a glance, waiting for his answer as we work our way through the crowd on the boardwalk. Part of me wishes I just stayed with mom while she did her job hunting, but I know she’d shoo me away to ‘go have fun’ and to ‘be young and happy’.

God bless that woman.

“Dunno, maybe. I hope so.” He tugs his jacket tightly around himself, as we brush past people, who are trying to get a good spot on the beach. He watches our surroundings like a hawk tugging Sam out of the way every now and again as people aimlessly walk around, probably trying to pickpockets as they bump shoulders with everyone, “If not, we need to get jobs.”

“Yeah, we know how much you guys hate working.” Sammy gives us a playful sneer, and I shove him lightly ruffling his hair in the process, “Hey! Watch it, Alex!”

“You’re such a drama queen, Sammy.” I chuckle, rolling my eyes at our younger brother.

“Am not!” Sam tries to punch my arm, but I take a big step forward, making him punch Mike instead. He gives Michael a sheepish look before running ahead of us, tugging on one of my braids in the process.

“Whatever.” I glare at Sam as he sticks his tongue out at me, while I lightly hit Mike’s chest and point to the different stands on the boardwalk, “I’m gonna go check those out.”

“What about the concert?” Sam’s face is full of childlike concern, as he looks a bit disappointed that I’m “ditching” them, “I promise not to tug on your braids again.”

“Yeah, you better, but I’ll be a few minutes, alright?” I look at the growing crowd making its way to the beach, slightly grimacing, “‘Sides, you know how I feel about crowds. If anything, I’ll be up here, and I’ll be able to see you guys just fine.”

“Alright, just be careful. Come find us if anything weird happens.” I smile at Mike’s words with amusement as he looks down at me, face completely serious, “I mean it, Alex.”

“Yeah, remember, we’re living in ‘The Murder Capital of the World’ now.” Sam smirks at me with raised brows as I playfully roll my eyes at him, turning to walk away.

“Alex.” I groan at the ‘mother hen’ tone Mike gives me, making me stop to turn and look at him, unamused.

“Okay mom.” I sass turning on my heel making my way to the stalls.

I take my time perusing the jewelry, clothes racks, and knickknacks spread across the different tables and stalls. One piece of jewelry catches my eye, when I hear someone let out a whimper, looking to my right I see a boy just got his septum pierced and tears threaten to spill from his eyes. Smirking, I walk over to the very open and not up to code piercing stall and watch as the boy admires his new bling.

“That’s a rip-off, you know.” A voice says in my ear, making me move away from the sudden voice with annoyance heavy in my features. I’m met with a grinning boy with hazel eyes, with blonde curly hair, in the most… interesting jacket I’ve ever seen— in fact his whole choice of wardrobe is interesting, definitely bold, that’s for sure.

His grin never leaves, but he ends up putting his gloved thumb in his mouth as he waits for me to say something, giving him another once over I tone down my attitude giving him a nod.

“No, duh. If I wanted an infection, I wouldn’t pay $30 to some guy on the boardwalk; not when I can do that at home for free.” Looking back at the piercing stand, I shake my head in disappointment as three girls get ready to get holes placed in their lobes, “Nah, if I want to get more piercings Imma just go to a tattoo shop.” I let out a light huff, flicking my braids over my shoulder, flashing my various piercings. The boy's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline as I send him a smirk. Turning on my heel, I continue to walk around the stalls, smiling at the sound of heavy footfalls chasing after me. Raising a brow, I send a quick glance over my shoulder as the boy crowds into my space once he catches up with me, “Personal space is a new concept for you, isn’t it?”

He doesn’t answer, just smiles widely, moving closer into my space before backing off. His eyes never leave mine during that entire interaction and under normal circumstances I would’ve freaked out, but something about this seems… far from normal, that and I was feeling adventurous. Not really the best feeling to have in the ‘Murder Capital of the World’, but I’m sure it’s fine.

“You’re new here.” It wasn't a question.

“Uh, yeah. How’d you know?” I squint at him, leaning away from him, making him chuckle at the look on my face. By now, the concert is in full swing and the fourth song plays over the speakers, making it more difficult to even hear yourself think, let alone someone else talking.

“Haven’t seen you before.” He shrugs his shoulders, moving closer to me again, causing me to continue to try to have some kind of distance between us. Just because I can’t hear him, doesn’t mean he needs to walk closer, he could just raise his voice.

“And you’ve seen everyone in Santa Carla?” I raise a brow at him as he slowly pushes us to the darker and more secluded parts of the boardwalk. Spinning on my heel, I turn back around, walking to where we just came from.

“Where ya goin’?” He catches up to me quickly, walking behind me. I stop abruptly, making him collide into my back; I have no idea how fast he was walking to catch up to me, but I wasn’t expecting to lose my balance and fall forward from it. Thankfully, he has quick reflexes and grabs my waist, halting my fall, “You alright, girl?”

“Peachy, boy.” My face is stern as I glare up at him, but that damn grin is still on his face– like he just hit the jackpot. Like this I can appreciate his features more; his smooth skin, the chisel of his jaw, the hook of his Romanesque nose, his big doe eyes— that at first glance seem innocent, but upon further inspection show mischief and danger. As the music continues to blast over the speaker, he begins swaying us to the music. He may not be the tallest or strongest looking guy ever, but that doesn’t mean anything; I can feel the strength behind his hands that seem to hold me closer to him, making me feel… the rest of him.

“Maybe I’m imagining that.” Turning to look up at him, my eyes jump from his lips to his eyes; before I look up at him through my dark lashes, “Or maybe not…”

Placing my hands over his gloved ones, I intertwine them, pulling them off of me and walk out of his grasp. He rolls his eyes at me as I flash him a wide smile, walking back to the stalls.

“I need to buy something.” I jog over to the table searching for the piece I saw earlier and let out a triumphant laugh as I pick up a small gold skull charm, “Sweet.”

The boy comes behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder, blinking at the charm with a furrowed brow. I hate to admit it, but he’s getting cuter by the minute, and it’s getting hard to think clearly with all this touchy-feely couple shit.

“You like skulls?” He takes the charm out of my hands, looking at it closely before looking back at me.

“Yeah, I like a lot of things, skulls is just one of them. You don’t know me, so I don’t know why you’re surprised.” Chuckling, I take the charm back, giving it to the vendor who bags it, but not before she shifts her gaze between the boy and me. I give her a questioning glance, but she busies herself with the other things on her table, ignoring us completely, “Weird.”

“So, what’s something a girl like you likes?” His voice pulls back my attention as he reaches a hand out to play with one of my braids. Quickly, I pull my head back and holding his wrist in a tight grip.

“A girl like me?” All friendliness is gone from my demeanor as I give him a warning glare, “Don’t touch my hair… unless you want me touching yours.”

All he does is smirk, and hold his hands up in mock surrender, but something in his eyes tells me he understands not wanting to have a random person touch your hair.

Continuing my perusing, I’m accompanied by my ‘golden noodle haired shadow’ who seems to have a reputation of sorts here, as people move out of our way, with the most apprehensive faces I’ve ever seen.

“So are you gonna keep following me or don’t have someone else you can bother?” I muse, sending the boy a glance over my shoulder. He keeps his eyes on me like a man on a mission, grinning as he does.

“Why? You tryin’ to get rid of me?” His smile grows at the playful eye roll I give him. Shrugging my shoulders, and slowing down my pace, so we walk next to each other, I link my arm with his. I don’t know why I did it, I just did, and he seemed to tense for a moment before relaxing as we walked at a leisurely pace.

“You know, I could get rid of you, but I figure why not get a tour from someone who seems to know this place like the back of their hand? Plus, I get the feeling you know where all the cool jewelry is.” Giving him a grin of my own, he nods his head in excitement, tugging me to all the small shops lining the boardwalk.

By the time we reach the last shop, I have four bags holding my precious treasures; the great majority of the pieces I bought are going to be made into necklaces, bracelets, and/or earrings– it’s a bonding activity my mom started with me when I was 8. It helps relax us and take our minds off of the stress in our lives, unfortunately during my parent's divorce, we haven’t been able to make or mend any pieces for the past 2 years.

My smile is bright and cheery as we make our way to the railing on the boardwalk, overlooking the sea of people headbanging and dancing to a very oiled up man playing a saxophone. I can’t stop the face that I make, taking in the man’s appearance, with wide eyes I glance at the boy who just laughs leaning against the railing.

“I mean, whatever floats his boat, I guess… He’s got the body for it.” Tilting my head, I trail my eyes over the performer's body, admiring the chains adorning his neck and waist, “Just wasn’t expecting the hip thrusts though.”

We share a laugh as I look over the sea of people, to find my brothers. Sucking my teeth, I turn around, scanning the ever-growing crowd. Furrowing my brows, I take a few steps forward until I’m stopped by a hand on my wrist, looking behind me, I raise my brow at the boy.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were tryin’ to ditch me.”

“Who me?” I feign ignorance as the boy squints his eyes at me, chuckling I shake my head at him, “Dude, I can’t ‘ditch’ you when I don’t even know you.”

“Marko.” Not breaking eye contact, he gently tugs me back to him.

“Really?” I scrunch my face, looking him up and down, “You don’t strike me as a ‘Marko’.”

“What do I strike you as?” There are goosebumps on my arms, as he rubs the top of my knuckles with his thumb. He begins leaning his head down towards me, but I pull back, looking up at him with a coy smile.

“I don’t know, but it sure wasn’t Marko.” The sounds of the boardwalk seem to melt into white noise as we simply stare at each other for what feels like an eternity. My eyes track his, and almost like magic I’m being pulled into those hazel pools– Oh man, if my brothers could see me now.

“Oh shit, I need to find them!” Blinking quickly, I take my hand back shaking off the haze I was in, “Well that was weird…”

Marko pouts slightly, but doesn’t make any more moves, much to my disappointment. Sighing, I rock on my heels awkwardly looking around, “Alright, well it’s been real, and it’s been fun, but I gotta go. So… bye…?”

Marko gives me a smirk as he watches me shift around, “So you are tryin’ to ditch me.”

“Well, I’m not, not trying to ditch you.” Scratching the back of my neck, “But I need to find my brothers, which means we then need to find our mom, so unless you want to meet her this is where we part ways, I’m afraid.” My tone is light and teasing as we start walking through the crowd aimlessly.

“If I meet yours, you met mine.” Marko lightly bumps his shoulder with mine, causing me to laugh at the action, “You’ll have more fun too.”

“Oh?” My questioning glance is meet with a proud smile.

“Mhmm, guaranteed F-U-N.” He drapes his arm over my shoulders, laying his chin on top of my head.

“Oooo he can spell!” Placing my hand on my chest in faux shock, I’m given a scoff and light shove.

“Shut up.” Marko rolls his eyes, but is smiling as he looks at everyone but me; it’s like he’s shy, but he doesn’t seem like the type.

“Well, maybe I can meet them next time.” Shrugging my shoulders, I stop walking, looking around the crowd for my brothers; then I spot Sam’s weird coat thing, “He wears the weirdest shit.”

My eyes shift to Marko, as I pause for a moment, “And Sammy isn’t the only one.”

“What’s so funny?” He squints his eyes at me, making me shrug and look away from him. He didn’t seem to like that, and grasps my shoulder, turning me to face him. Putting my hands up, I give him my best poker face.

“Nothin’.” I try to hide my growing smile from Marko by looking back into the crowd again. Sam looks so lost as he spins in circles, possibly looking for Mike. “Look, I gotta go, but maybe I’ll see you around?”

“I’m here every night.” He’s thrown out his line.

“That so?” And I’m the dumb fish swimming to the bait.

“It is. Maybe next time I can show you the sights.” Oh yeah, I’m a dumb fish.

“I thought I already saw the sights?” I trail my eyes over his form slowly and deliberately, when I lock eyes with him, his expression lets me know that he understood my hidden meaning.

I may have taken the bait, but he wasn’t expecting a catch this weighty.

Taking a few choice steps towards me, he stops when his chest touches mine. Tilting his head, he looks down at me with hooded eyes, “You liked ‘the sights’?”

“Oh sure! Why do you think I’ll be back tomorrow night?” I raise my chin up to him, giving him a sly smile, “How many brothers did you say you have?”

“Three.”

“Awesome, hopefully I can see three more sights.” I pause for a moment looking over Marko’s face with concern, “Just out of curiosity, how old are you– like, you are over 18… right?”

“You have no idea.” His words were mumbled, but I heard them clearly as I give him an unsure smile.

“What was that?”

He smirks at my questioning gaze, “I’m 19.”

“Oh sweet!... And your brother’s…?”

He sighs, raising his eyes to glance at the sky, like this was the dumbest line of questioning he’s ever been through, “I’m the youngest, so everyone else is as old as shit.”

“HA! My brothers feel the same about me. Speaking of my brothers, I really need to go find them. Til we meet again, Young Marko.” Grabbing his hand, I kiss the top of his gloved knuckles, giggling at his wide-eyed face, “See ya on the flip side, dude.”

With a skip in my step, I creep up behind Sammy, slamming my hands on his shoulders– scaring the poor kid– smiling gleefully at him.

“Alex!” He places his hand on his chest as he takes a deep breath, “Oh geez, you scared me. I thought you were someone else.”

“My bad, bro. You headed somewhere?” I give him some space before we walk side by side.

“Yeah, I found a comic shop! I figured you’d want to come.”

“Hell yeah, dude. Let’s go– wait, where’s Mikey?” I look around the crowd, trying to find Michael’s jacket.

“He’s following some girl.” Sam rolls his eyes, making his way through the crowd, while I’m stuck in place gapping like a fish. Once his words sink in completely, I run after him.

“What do you mean, ‘he’s following some girl’? Why is he doing that? Did he forget where we moved to?! Why am I related to an idiot?” Sam laughs at my words, giving me a look I’ve seen too many times to count, “I know I’m adopted, damn, you don’t have to keep reminding me.”

Wrapping his arms around, Sam rests his chin on my shoulder, “Adopted or not, you’re still my older, sassy, cool, and annoying sister, and I love you no matter what.”

“Alright, alright, let me go. People are starting to stare.” I glance around the crowd, feeling out of place and self-conscious about Sammy’s display of affection. Just because we were raised together, doesn’t mean everyone else knows that– it wouldn’t be much of a problem if we were the same race, but one look at us, and you know we aren’t ‘brother and sister’. Sure, Sammy and Mike don’t look alike, but both take after their parents… and I take after mine. Growing up was very interesting, but I wouldn’t trade my doofus brothers for the world.

Let’s just say, I add more… color to their lives.

“Let them. I’m hugging my sister, a few stares from random assholes isn’t going to change that.”

And they add color to mine.

I snap my head, staring at him with wide eyes, “Ooooo you cursed. I’m telling mom.”

“What?! You curse all the time!” He lets me go, glowering at me.

“Yeah, but I’m an adult, I can.” Flicking his forehead, I hand him two of my bags, “I won’t tell mom if you carry these two bags.”

“... You’re a slave driver, you know that, Alex?” He grumbles, but takes the bags.

“Consider it penance for my people.” I lightly shove him forward, as he stares at me with his mouth hanging open, “Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.”

“What’re in these bags, bricks?” Sam opens one of the bags, peering inside with furrowed brows, “Why is it so heavy? It’s just jewelry?”

“It’s not that heavy, Sam. I only got a few pieces.” Rolling my eyes at his whining, I start feeling the weight of my own two bags… and they are kinda weighty. Stopping at a picnic table, we place the bags down looking at the contents, “Okay, so I bought a bunch of little skulls, feather charms, an assortment of beads, a few chains, and patches– wait, patches?”

I pull out three stacks of random patches ranging from hellfire and skulls, to crude innuendos.

“You also got stickers– ooooo, you better not let mom see these.” Sam holds up a sticker with a topless lady sticking her forked tongue out. Snatching the sticker from him, I quickly put it back in the bag. He looks at me, unimpressed, and the way he crosses his arms, makes him look just like mom.

“I didn’t buy these!” Gazing in another bag, I see that it has rings, bracelets, and a few earrings. Saying that I’m feeling confused is an understatement, “I don’t understand, I don’t remember…” I feel Sam’s eyes on me as I try hard to remember if I did actually pay for any of this shit. Then it hits me, “That little bastard.”

“Who?”

“Nothin’, c’mon, I’ll deal with this later.” Gathering my bags, we continue our trek to the comic shop. Once we reach, we smile at each other like the nerdy little idiots we are and go our separate ways– Sam goes right to Superman, and I go to X-Men.

All my attention is placed on finding a new comic to add to my collection, but as I pick up comic after comic, my enthusiasm is slowly fading at the inconsistency of the comic placements. It’s like they were haphazardly placed, or just put down next to the comic that “looked” like it belonged to. Scoffing, I toss the comics back, annoyed that whoever did this, literally had one job, and they couldn’t do it. Turning around, I scan for Sam, wondering if he’s having the same problem I am; with wide eyes, I see that he has a whole different problem.

Two boys, around his height and age, are basically accosting him, as he probably tells them, he isn’t looking for trouble. Gritting my teeth, I make my way over to them, ready to fight these two little bastards if I have to– and seeing this is the ‘Murder Capital of the World’, I just might have to.

“What’s going on here?” Crossing my arms, I stare down the two boys, who jump at the sound of my voice. They move closer to each other, glancing between each other and my brother. The one with brown hair squints his eyes at me, sizing me up, before speaking– in the MOST ridiculous voice– taking a step towards me.

“This is a private conversation, it doesn’t concern you.”

“Oh, I think it does.” I hate when I speak like this because I sound like such a mother, but sometimes that’s the only way to make children listen to you– and listen, they did. Both boys blink in mild fear and confusion as Sam sheepishly shrugs his shoulders. And that’s when I catch a glimpse of the comic in Sammy’s hands, “Oh, hell no. No way, no how.”

Holding my hand out, he places the comic down, giving the boys an ‘I told you so’ face, “I told them I don’t do horror comics.”

“And they still pushed this on you?” I’m annoyed– you can hear it clear as day– jutting out my hip, I place the comic down on top of the Superman comics, “Let’s learn a life lesson, shall we boys? When someone says ‘no’, don’t go and pester them, or push them into doing something they don’t want, or like. If you’re not careful, you might wind up in the pokey. Thankfully you two are young and can learn from this mistake,” Stepping forward, I jab them both in the chest, giving them a warning, “Don’t make it again.”

A few seconds of silence go by as the two glance at each other, nodding back at me. Smiling oh so sweetly, I beckon for Sam to follow outside.

“Okay, but I still haven’t gotten a comic I want yet.”

“Ugh, Sam.” Turning around, I tilt my head at him, as he pouts at me. Rolling my eyes, I hang my head, defeated, “Alright, get your effing comic, but be quick about it.”

As I turned away from the trio, I couldn’t help but hear the sounds of harsh whispering that sounded along the lines of ‘who is that’, ‘are you in danger’, and ‘she’s scary’. All of which brought a smile to my face, because let’s face it, when an Afro-Latin American woman tells you off, it’s scary as hell.

They are so lucky I can’t speak Spanish, I would’ve cursed them up and down until the coqui’s came home. Glancing at them from over my shoulder, I see that Sam does seem to be searching for a comic, but those boys are still trying to push the horror comic on him again. Growling, I get ready to tell them off, when I see movement out of the corner of my eye; turning to see what it is, it’s a group of people guffawing loudly, almost like they were intoxicated. Furrowing my brows, I watch as they laugh and sneer at… me, I guess… but they’re also eyeing the comics in the cart next to them.

“Uhm, do you know who works here?” I keep my eyes on the group of people, while speaking to the boys over my shoulder.

“Us. Why?” A part of me wants to keep quiet about what’s about to happen due to the amount of suspicion coming from ‘Baby Rambo’, but swallowing my pride, I point at the group.

“I think they’re–” I jump at the yell that came from the seemingly quiet, dark haired boy.

“--HEY, WAIT!” He takes off at the group with Baby Rambo in tow, “COME BACK, YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THOSE!”

Puffing out my cheeks, I turn to Sam, who’s just as lost as I am. Not knowing what else to do, I point to the exit, “Wanna go home now?”

“Yes, please.” His voice is heavy as he shakes his head at what we just witnessed. I ruffle his hair, making him swat at me again, laughing I put my hands up in surrender, successfully lightning the mood.

“So where do you think Michael is?” My mind is going through a bunch of different scenarios as to what could’ve happened to Michael following a random girl on the boardwalk.

“Not sure, but if we see a girl running for her life, I think that means we found him.” We share a laugh, wiping our imaginary tears. Catching my breath, I pause for a moment, seeing a blur of blonde move through the crowd. Trying to see through the crowd, I lose sight of the blonde hair, frowning, I look back at Sam, but he’s not next to me anymore. Fear lurches in my chest as I look around for my baby brother, but instant relief washes over me when I spot him AND Michael. Breathing out a sigh, I walk over to them, hands in my pockets, “There you are, c’mon let’s go.”

Walking ahead of them, I hear Sammy chuckle, “She stiffed ya man, let’s go.”

At this I freeze, look over my shoulder with a face Sam describes as “The Joker”; basically, my eyes get wide with glee, and my smile is board line insane– according to Sam, but this is the same kid who thinks monsters live in his closet still. I’ll admit, it isn’t the most innocent of smiles, and it can be a bit creepy, but I just hit the ‘blackmail jackpot’! Who wouldn’t have an insane smile on their face, when they find the reason their brother’s being a total creep; I mean, just wait until mom hears about this!

Not moving from my spot, I reign in “The Joker” smile, glancing between Michael and the girl. She’s cute, with big brown doe eyes, even bigger brown curly hair, and she has a sweet kind of smile on her face, almost flirtatious, as she looks Mike up and down; but her smile fades away when she sees me. Raising a brow at her, I give her a smile of my own, sizing her up– unfortunately, the rest of her is blocked by a dude in all black.

Moving my attention to him, I can’t stop but smirk at the white hair he has; he gives me a once over, seemingly annoyed by my presence. At that moment Sam moves to my side, whispering something to me in my ear, but I wasn’t paying attention– he was giggling too much, and White Hair was staring at me hard. I’m not one to back down from a challenge, so I stared back just as fiercely. He shifts his gaze between Sam and I, and I guess something clicked, because the hardness in his eyes softens, and he smiles at me.

My own gaze softens as well, but instead of smiling, I squint at him, because that was a random 180, and nothing good comes from those. The sound of revving engines gets my attention, and I realize that there are more people with this duo. A brooding brunette with a child sitting on the back of his bike, who seems to be yelling at the person next to them, but that person isn’t paying any attention to the small boy; the reason being because they’re staring at me.

I’m greeted with an all too familiar grin, and mischievous hazel eyes; my eyes widen slightly at the sight of Marko, and that’s when I look over the group again. Locking eyes with Marko again, his smile confirms my unspoken thought.

These are his brothers.

He gives me a small nod, switching his gaze between Sam and Michael, I give him a lopsided grin, and a mild head bob, making him chuckle as he turns his gaze to the other blonde next to him– and this guy is… Woooo, I don’t think words can describe him. He has wild blonde hair, a black jacket, black mesh top, THE dirtiest white pants known to man, and seems to be headbanging like there’s no tomorrow.

… Huh, I described him… Sweet.

Shaking my head, I look back at Michael who is still staring at this girl like a love struck fool, and I don’t stop my eye roll. I’m never going to let him live this down– EVER! Looking down at my sneakers, I walk over to stand next to Michael, place my hand on his shoulder, squeezing it harshly. His tenses up, wincing as he finally acknowledges my existence… Well, the look on his face says that he had no idea I was there in the first place, so I give him the same look, only mockingly.

“What? Did you forget about me?” I send little glances to the girl, as she watches us with curious eyes, “That cuts deep, dude.” Michael gives the girl a sheepish, and embarrassed look as he brushes my hand off of him, and being the older sister I am, I’m going to take it a step further, “Wow, you don’t want me to touch you? That’s a first. Guess that means I won’t be sleeping in your room tonight then, huh?”

He snaps his head at me, cheeks turning red, with pleading eyes– to be fair, the last time Michael and I slept in the same room was when I was 10, and we shared a bunk bed, but these guys don’t need to know that.

So with a triumphant smirk, we watch as White Hair, snickers at Michael, and speeds off of the boardwalk with his gang in tow. Poor Michael, stands there, watching with a crestfallen face as the bikes disappear from our sights. Leaning on my hip, I sigh, watching with him for a few seconds before looking up at him.

“You know they aren’t coming back, just because you look so pathetic.”

“Shut up, Alex.” He sneers at me, bringing a smile to my face as Sam and I watch him stomp off. I nudge Sam, wiggling my eyebrows at him, “Watch this.” Sam looks at me expectantly, as I clear my throat, smiling, “~They’ll be back tomorrow night~!”

Mike stops in his tracks, looking at me over his shoulder with untrusting eyes. Sam laughs that the sudden interest Mike has now, and I smile as Mike’s face morphs into hope. He rushes back over to us, tightly holding my arms, he begins to shake me back and forth.

“Wait, they are?! How do you know?! Do you know her?! Did you talk to her?! What’s she–”

“Whoa, WHOA! Slow down, Lover Boy! Let’s just say I have a reliable resource.” I shake Mike off of me, smoothing out my jacket.

“Who?”

I frown at my brothers as they ask the same question almost in sync, “‘Who?’ What’re you guys? Owls?” Shaking my head, I walk ahead of them towards the exit, “Never mind who; c’mon let’s go find mom.”

Finding mom proved to be easier than we originally thought, because she was already waiting for us in the parking lot, as we neared the car, Sam started to tease Mike about how he struck out with Big Brown Doe Eyes. Mike retaliated by flicking Sam’s forehead and getting into the front seat before him. Sam whines about it, until I whisper in his ear.

“Let him have this, we have blackmail on our side.”

Sam’s face looks like it’s about to split in two from his smile, we side into the backseat, and mom looks at us with her sweet smile that crinkles around her eyes when something wonderful happens.

“I see smiles, did you all have fun?” Her voice is way more chipper than it’s been since we arrived in Santa Carla.

“Yeah, something like that.” I glance at the back of Mike’s head, as he glares at us from the rearview mirror. Looking back at mom, I incline my head to her, “But it seems like you’ve had a pretty good night too.”

“Oh! You’ll never believe it!” She gushes as she looks at each of us, we all have a pretty good idea as to why she’s happy, but we wait for her to share. Smiling even more brightly, she confirms our thoughts, “I got a job!”

“Yay! Congrats mom, that’s great.” Leaning over, I give her a hug and kiss her cheek.

“Does this mean we can get a TV now?” We all ignore Sam’s question, as we give mom her spotlight.

“Oh, thank you, sweetie. I wasn’t sure if I’d find a job, but I did.” Her smile is still going strong, and has me wondering if something more happened.

“She’s just really happy about getting a job.”

Pulling out of the parking lot, she turns the spotlight on us at the sound of Sam complaining about my ‘heavy bags crushing his feet’.

“So, Alex, did you have a good time?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Giving her a light shrug, I hold up my four bags, “I got some jewelry for us to work on, but since you’ll be working I don’t know how much we’ll be able to do…”

“We’ll find time. I promise.” I match her smile as she gazes at me through the mirror; but there’s something bugging me– something about her smile that rubs me the wrong way. It’s so happy, and genuine– it’s one I haven’t seen in about 3 years– I don’t want to ask her if she ‘meet someone’ while job hunting, but the nosy part of me reaaaalllly wants to know.

“... No. Now’s not the time.” I glance at Sam and Mike, knowing that if mom really did find that ‘someone’ they aren’t going to be thrilled– hell! I’m not thrilled… but I should be, it’s just hard. Sighing, I lean against the door frame, watching the city lights blur by; the sound of bike engines has me looking around out of Sam’s window and my own I hunt for the bikers, and I’m not alone, Mike is doing the same thing, which gains mom’s attention.

“What? What’s going on?” She begins to panic a bit, as she looks at the dimly lit road, and then at us.

Mike and I share a look of mile disappointment, but reassuringly smile at her nonetheless, “Nothin’ mom, just need to watch out for bikers is all.”

“Oh, I thought I was about to hit something.” She breathes out a sigh, rolling her eyes the way only a mother can, as we continue home.

My mind is still occupied with mom’s smile and this new job, and sucking on my teeth I lean forward glancing up at her.

“She’s still smiling.” Biting the inside of my cheek, I clear my throat, “So, mom.”

“Hm?”

“This new job– what is it?” I try to keep my voice as light and as innocent as I can, but it’s kinda hard when her smile widens again.

“It’s at a video store–”

��So we are getting a TV?!” Sam leans against me, pushing my face into the back of mom’s seat. Growling, I elbow him in the gut, making him sit back wincing, “OW!”

“Back off!” My voice is low, as I glare it him, making him gulp and scoot away from me.

“-- Well, no, not quite. Televisions cost money, and I only just got my job. But if you want one so badly, you can always save up and buy one.” Mom’s genuine smile shifts into a playful one as she watches Sam’s hopefully continuance morph into one of confusion.

“But… I don’t have any money. I used up the rest of my allowance to get toys for Nanook, and we won’t get any ‘til you give it to us.” Sam is out of sorts as he goes huffs out a sigh, crosses his arms, glaring at the floor. Mom just laughs as she pulls off the highway towards the smaller streets.

“So it’s a video store, sounds fun.” I give mom a smile, bringing her back on topic, and that ‘oh so happy’ smile is back, “Which store?”

“VideoMax.” She’s beaming.

“Uh-huh– met anyone?” Calm down, Alex, again, she could just be excited about the job.

Letting out a chuckle, I shake my head, “I like how I asked ‘which store’ like I know where anything is here. God, I’m an idiot.”

“At least you finally admitted it.” Mike chimes from the front, smiling mockingly at me, to which I respond with a smack to the back of his head, “Wha– HEY!”

“That’s for thinking you were being cute.” I glare at him as mom chides the both of us, “He started it.”

“Did not!”

“Did too.”

“Guys, please! We’re almost home– look, we all just had a nice night out, let’s not ruin it with petty arguments.” Mom looks at the both of us pleadingly, waiting for our answers; rolling our eyes, we give each other stony smiles ‘apologizing’ and looking out our respective windows.

Michael and I haven’t always been like this, but I can’t figure out why he’s turned into a dick around me, but if he doesn’t change his tune, he’s going to get punched in the face. For now, I’m just going to chalk it up to the move making things different and stressful. We still love each other– we both know that, and mom knows it. Unfortunately, she also knows we don’t mean our apologies, but she’s not going to push us since we’ve appeased her. Sighing, she continues to talk about ‘VideoMax’ and her boss, but I tune her out, glancing up at the moon, the cloudy night, and the few stars that can be seen, and the body falling out of the sky–...

Looking back over the ocean, I frantically look for any signs of a body hitting the water, but I never see any. Blinking in confusion, I try to focus on the water again, but I still don’t see anything– it’s too dark, and we’re too far away.

“I need to get a grip, how would a body fall OUT of the sky? There aren’t any planes.” For good measure I look up searching for airplane lights, and there aren’t any. Gulping, I shake the forbidding feeling that moves up my back, settling on my neck. Rubbing my neck, I can’t help but wince at the feeling of hands squeezing my shoulders; shivering, I zip up my jacket, looking up at the sky again, “It was all in your head. Relax, Alex.”

“Yeah, relax.”

It almost feels like someone whispered deep in my ear– which would really be in my head, but it wasn’t my voice, it was foreign, and it sounded like a guy. I glance at Sam, but he’s in his own little corner of the car, probably still thinking about his TV problem, while Mike is leaning his back on the seat, eyes closed.

“Alright, so… it wasn’t either of them.” Looking in the trunk with fear and timid movements, I’m greeted with an empty, dark trunk, “... I’m losing my mind. Awesome.”

I wasn’t able to dwell on my questionable grip on sanity, because mom has already pulled into her parking spot, turns off the car, turning to look at us with that smile again. Not sure if I should feel grateful or not for the car coming to a stop, as we take that as the queue to get out and head inside; I’m the last one out, since no one wanted to help me with my damn bags.

Huffing, I pick up a few pieces that slipped out of one of the bags under the driver's seat. Reaching under mom’s seat, I pull out the last skull charm, placing it in my jacket pocket as I flip my braids out of my face, “I’m gonna beat up that little imp, next time I see him.”

I’m not so annoyed with the fact that he snagged a few things, as I am that he put them IN MY BAGS, and didn’t say anything. If he got caught, we both would’ve gotten in trouble, and I’m not trying to make my mark in Santa Carla a bad one… at least not yet.

Slamming the door closed, I start my little trek to the house, taking a moment to look up at the sky again. Smiling, I close my eyes as a breeze blows by…

“See~...Ya~.... Alex~.”

Opening my eyes quickly, I look around the fairly well lit walkway, but with a frantic expression that would have my brothers in stitches. My heart is pounding in my ears, as I press my lips in a thin, tight line, slightly sucking them in, trying to hold back any potential scream from coming out prematurely.

Not gonna lie, the voice almost sounded like Marko, but there’s no way.

Is there?

Not seeing, or hearing anything, I open my mouth ready to ask the age-old question that gets people killed in every horror movie…

“Nope, not today.” Booking it to the front door, I swing open the door, making Papa E look at me with a scrutinizing gaze. Closing the front door, and locking it, I give him a wide awkward smile as I make my way to my room.

“You alright there, kiddo?”

“Oh, yeah! Totally not hearing things in the wind or anything.” I giggle out nervously as Papa E stares at me for a few seconds with the same expression– it almost seems like he’s trying to figure me out, but then he just blinks, gives me a nod, and takes a swig from his root beer, making his way to his Red Room. I look at him confused, “Uh, okay… Good– good night?”

Shaking my head, I head to my room, tossing the bags on top of my suitcase, laying down with a heavy sigh. Taking out the skull charm, I stare into its black eyes, thinking back on the events of the night. Tonight was definitely one for the books, I did things I wouldn’t have normally done back in Phoenix. Maybe this move was exactly what we all needed, who knows what lies ahead? This is our fresh start, a new chapter in our lives where we don’t have to worry about so asshole making our lives miserable anymore. We have a chance at something great, something wonderful.

“Marko, huh?” Grinning widely, I toss the charm in my suitcase, and get ready for bed.

While I brush my teeth, I pick up my book rereading what I skipped over– which wasn’t much, “Cha’ter 3, ‘Sh-ing, O Muse o’ Hermes, t’e Sh-on of Zeus,’ blah blah blah…” Spitting out the toothpaste, I rinse quickly, making my way back to my room, reading on the way, “‘... Cronion wooed the fair-haired damsel without the ken of the deathless gods or mortal men. Now when the purpose of mighty Zeus was fulfilling…’ Zeus really doesn’t know how to keep it in his tunic.” Making my way to my room downstairs, I slip under the covers, opening my book again, “‘... In that hour she gave birth to a son, subtle of wit and wile, a robber,’ this sounds vaguely familiar, ‘a reiver of cattle, a captain of thieves, a prowler of the night, a pilferer at gates, who was ere long to make known fine doings among the immortal gods.’” Closing my book, I stare at my comforter with a deep crease in my brow, “Is… Is the universe telling me Marko is Hermes?”

Shifting my eyes around my room, I seemingly wait for someone to just pop up and give me the answer, but of course that isn’t going to happen. Of course, Marko isn’t the god Hermes, even if he does seem to be an almost perfect replica of the god.

“Even if he does have similarities to Hermes, he isn’t him at all.” Scoffing at myself, I place my book on my nightstand, turning off my lamp, “‘Sides, it’s not like he can fly.”

Laughing to myself, I close my eyes, falling into a deep and calming sleep.

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Taglist: @jezabella8 @thelostone91

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Really hope you guys liked it❤️🦇❤️🦇❤️🦇❤️🦇

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missmaywemeetagain · 2 years

Note

Okay baby, so I’ve been reading people’s reactions and I believe that if she is pregnant (which come on y’all, they literally have been having sex without any type of protection and even if she was unable to have a baby with Jack, the doctor didn’t tell her she couldn’t get pregnant right? Only that she was unable to conceive. Hahahaha talk about Jack having shitty sperm 🤣), she’s gonna have to come to terms that Elvis has secrets about why he stepped away from her. And why he is hiding the fact that he was there in all of her big life experiences. Reader is definitely going to be upset with him because if she having his baby, she’s probably going to be scared of a repeat like at the rollerdome or she’s gonna want no secrets between them.

Anywho, we literally talk everyday about this but I just wanted to get on here and just praise you, darlin’ for giving us all the puzzle pieces at once. The word ‘love’ stood out to me the most because I feel like even at the end of the day, they have always loved each other. Elvis has his reasons for backing off from her just like the reader had her reasons from wanting to run away from him when she felt like things were about to blow up.

I am feeling a lot of feels and why did I think about the song ‘The Fool’ when I read this chapter because Jack is truly a FOOL and reader found her a new name who is obviously ELVIS 😂 Wonderful work as always, Angelface! 💕 I can’t wait for more! It’s going to be sick, this next update!

-Daisy (@powerofelvis)

My darling, darling Flower, how I love thee and your amazing reactions/theories! 💗

A LOT of you seem to have theories that Reader is preggers, so I’ll start by saying I’m not confirming or denying this possibility (because what fun would that be??). 😎 I will say there are issues abound if that were to be the case. But I do very much love these theories.

Oh, baby, the love with these idiots has me up at night, quite literally. There’s a lot of layers and different kinds of love happening here and I’m glad people seem to be picking up on that even though it’s not always specifically stated. And they both have their reasons for avoiding said feelings, as you mentioned, which y’all will learn more about coming up in Part 18. 💕

LOL The Fool, definitely for Jack in the present, but maybe even for 50s E, hmmm?? Just throwing that out there for y’all…😏

And thank you baby for being my biggest champion, since the beginning and for encouraging me to keep going! 🥰💋💋💋

#xoxoxoxoxox #elvis #elvis presley #pink scarf #pink scarf part 17 #if you’re looking for trouble #you came to the right place #elvis 2022 #elvis movie #elvis presley x reader #elvis x reader #austin butler elvis #answered #ask

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van-der-linde-worms · 1 year

Text

Take Your Cigarette From Its Holder, Burn Your Initials On My Shoulder

Pairing: Arthur Morgan/ Mary Gillis Linton

Fic summary: AU in which Mary is wanted for the murder of her husband and that of her father, and Arthur is a bounty hunter going after her.

Rating: Explicit

Genre: Idiots in love, slow burn

~~~~~~

Chapter XII: Indulging In A Pretty Dream

Word count: 7980

Last chapter: Chapter XI

Mary's arm suddenly goes weak and the pan drops onto the floor. The cast iron hits the hard wood with a thud. She sighs and hastily picks it up, putting it over the stove and turning up the heat. The scene feels oddly familiar, she thinks, as she melts a spoonful of lard over the pan.

Her legs are shaking as her shivering hands struggle to bring the pot of water to the stove. She can hear Jamie crying upstairs, she will have to check on him soon.

“A whole damn day at work, and I still have to starve for another hour. What a daughter I have here.” She does not need to turn around to know that it is her father grumbling.

She resists the urge to scream as she skins the potatoes. “Sorry, Daddy. Jamie caught a fever today and I had to take him to—”

“You're talkin' back at me now?” Her father drags the chair across the floor, producing a violent squeak.

She shuts her eyes, “No, sorry Daddy.”

A few minutes of silence passes by. “So, you took the boy to the doctor?” he asks, tone slow and sweet, the edge deadly.

“Yeah,” she replies, stirring the pot.

“Aight,” he takes a large gulp from his flask. “How much was it?”

“3 dollars and 50 cents,” she murmurs, her voice barely audible.

“What?” he yells from the living room. “I can't hear you from here Mary.”

She swallows. “3 dollars and 50 cents, Daddy.”

“Didn’t hear you there, say it again,” he says, walking into the kitchen.

“3 dollars and—” she stops upon seeing the look of displeasure on her father's face.

“3 dollars? What kind of physician charges 3 dollars for a cough syrup?”

“—and 50 cents, Daddy.”

Silence fills the room temporarily. She sees his nostrils flare and shuts her eyes, preparing for the upcoming outburst.

“3 dollars and 50 cents? This gotta be a joke,” he strikes the counter with the palm of his hand, making her jump. “You are not lying to me, are you, kid?”

She shakes her head, tears already pooling in her eyes. Don't cry, goddammit, don't cry.

“Jesus, you and your brother really don't know how to do anything 'sides wasting my money,” he exclaims. The broth in the pot boils and quickly overflows. She grabs a cloth to clean the liquid on the edge of the pot.

“Can't even cook like a proper woman,” Daddy grits through his teeth. “I'd have to laugh if anyone's willing to marry you. Should have just sold you to a whorehouse, at least you'd be of some use there.”

She ignores him, tears streaming down her face. “Answer me, should I? Bet Andy Gellard up the road would appreciate it, know he’s been staring at you.” he barks. He roughly grabs the shoulder of her blouse, forcing her to look him in the eyes. He reeks of alcohol far more than he should for having just started.

All she can do is shake her head as he forces her to look him in the eye. She tries to pull away, but he ignores her protest. “Think that Collin boy would like it too. What's his name, Philip? I've seen ya whore yourself out for that boy. You'd like it too if it was him, won't you? What'd your ma say if she knew she birthed a slut?”

She lets out a sob at the mention of her mother, and she quickly shuts her mouth, preventing herself from making another sound, knowing that it will only exacerbate his anger.

“No, I’m sorry, I’ll-I’ll start earlier next time, I’m sorry.”

Something pungent and smoky fills Arthur's nostrils. The irritating smell alarms him. He shoots his eyes open and sits up. Mary has already gotten out of bed. He finds her standing before the stove, still as a statue, staring at the sizzling pan.

“Mary?” he asks. She seems to ignore him. The smoke floats out and he shoves the pot away before it can catch fire. “What the hell are you doing? It’s ruined now, goddamn it.” he growls, tipping some water in it. He grabs her shoulder and turns her around, noticing her stiffening. She’s teary again, it melts what anger he felt toward her. “Sit down, it’s fine, just burnt is all. It’s nothin’ serious, calm down.” He gently leads her to sit down. He checks on the pot. “What’s wrong?”

“I-it’s nothing, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.”

“Jesus, so you burnt something, I burn somethin’ all the time, there ain’t nothin’ to worry about. I know you’re stressed, it’s fine.” he tries to console her. “What’s going on, really?”

“Nothing, nothing, it’s nothing. Please stop asking, I don't want to talk about it.” she squeaks out.

“Oh.” he responds. He understands, it must’ve been something bad. She just doesn’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. She falls silent and picks up another pot and quickly puts some water to boil, shying away from Arthur.

She sits at the far end of the table, the farthest chair from him as he scrubs the pan, swearing under his breath. She takes a breath and forces herself to look normal, wiping her eyes again. Can’t even cook like a proper woman, it’s only a matter of time until he tires of this, all of it. Her lack of willingness, her crying, everything, he would have her out in a few days or so. It’s just inevitable, she’s useless to him like this. Honestly, how is she not useless? There’s really nothing in her that isn’t in any other woman around? There’s someone younger out there. Someone prettier, someone more fun to be around, someone who isn’t loose and fallen, someone worth something. Why would he pick someone like her?

Why does she even care anyway? It's not like she has any right to tell him who to sleep with. She has no claim over him, and surely she should be glad for his happiness, after he has been so kind to her in the past few months. But why does the thought of him with another woman hurt so badly? Why must she feel so unbearably jealous?

He washes the pan clean and puts it aside, grabbing two mugs from the cabinet to fill them with coffee. She dries the pan and puts it over the heat again, and a new plate of breakfast is ready in a matter of minutes.

She silently lays the single plate down at the table before him. Grabbing the other cup of coffee, she sits down at the end of the table.

She takes a large gulp of coffee, though the liquid is still too hot. He gives her a questioning look. “You ain't eating anything?”

“Not hungry.” she mumbles and takes another gulp. He grimaces. It’s burning hot, he can tell by just a touch.

“You ain’t been hungry for days, Mary.”

“So what? You eat, ain’t like I’m doing anything worthwhile here.” she mutters.

“Mary please, I can’t watch you do this to yourself.”

“Look, I’m just not hungry.” she rests her chin on her hand again. She feels weak, he’s right on that, her stomach aches. Eating feels disgusting, like she’s taking advantage of him, as if it’s theft. She takes another sip of coffee. It’s been the longest time they’ve gone without, he’s clearly getting sick of it. She hopes not to owe him for it.

“Just eat. Please.” he places the plate in front of her and leaves the fork there. She stares down, right above the plate. She shakes her head. He picks a piece and places it on her lips. She reluctantly eats it. He places the fork in her hand and watches her eat. He stands up and quickly places a kiss on her forehead.

She looks up and gives him a puzzled look. He looks away, apologetic. “Sorry.”

Mary shakes her head. She puts down the fork. “I'm done. You wanna finish this?” he glances down skeptically.

“Two more bites,” he asks. She huffs and takes them, leaving the plate to him. “Take it.” He sits down. She had barely eaten, but it was something. She grabs the cup and moves out to drink on the porch.

The forest opens up in front of her, broad and wide. What little leaves there are have started to yellow, the lace of early morning frost embellishes the yellowing greens and what flowers hadn’t yet wilted in the face of the impending autumn. The cold wind tears through her clothes to the skin and bone, only eased by the heat of the mug in her hands. There’s nothing out in the world for her other than the hot cup of coffee and Jamie out east somewhere. Nothing more, nothing less. That feller’d be ushering her out the door by next week anyway.

At least it had been fun, up until the past few days. Immoral, disgusting, lewd, but fun. A pleasure she had not received from any man before. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it, yet the shame crushes her.

He rinses off the plate and places it up to dry. She’s still on the porch, he notices. She’d be fine soon, he knows that. But she looks cold. He grabs a blanket and the pot of coffee, as he steps outside. She notes his presence but doesn’t seem to acknowledge it, He drapes the blanket over her shoulders and tops off her cup. She raises her eyebrows and tilts her head. “What are ya doing?” “You looked cold,” he replies.

“Oh. Okay. Thank you,” she mutters. She keeps her head lowered, staring into her cup.

He swallows. A sudden nervousness overcomes him as he puts the pot back on the table and returns to sit down next to her. It is hard to read her face, but he can still see the hurt masked underneath her calm expression. He hates seeing her like that, so close, yet so distant, impossible to reach. He wants nothing more than to touch her, to pull her close and give her a fraction of his warmth, but she seems so fragile still, like a porcelain plate that he dares not touch. He is afraid of startling her with the slightest of movement, like how one would hesitate before reaching out for a shy kitten.

He can hear the quiet slurp as she sips on the coffee, and his attention once again returns to her face. Somehow, she looks even more beautiful under the morning light, the soft sunshine casting a golden hue on her skin. He can feel his heartbeat speeding up, pounding at his chest like a fist.

I love you.

“Mary, I—” he quickly seals his lips before he can blurt out the words. She raises her gaze and gives him a bewildered look. She wouldn’t, not now, not in a million years, never.

“Hmm?” She swallows the coffee.

He shakes his head. It would be a silly thing to say. There is no way she would feel the same. Hell, he doubts if she would even want anything to do with him if she wasn't caught up in this mess. At best, telling her his feelings would make her uncomfortable.

“I… I was just wonderin',” he pauses, trying to think of something to say, something reasonable. “I was just thinking if you would wanna get some warmer clothes. I could buy ya some.”

“Oh.” Is he preparing to ask her to leave? She knows it will happen any day, but not so soon. She can't blame him, though. At least he is being sweet enough to care about her being cold.

Her silence is making him all jittery. “So what'd ya say?”

She shakes her head, “Thanks, but I can't burden ya like that.”

“Oh, a'ight then. I can lend ya something though, if you don't mind,” he says, putting his hand over hers. She flinches at the sudden yet light touch and quickly withdraws. “Sorry,” he whispers, and shifts away from her, not wanting to make her uneasy.

Her lips slightly part before she pinches them together again, as usual when she is deep in thought, he has noticed it earlier. “Oh Arthur, it's very sweet of you, but it's not… it's not right if I take your clothes with me when I'm leaving.”

Panic washes over him. Is she planning to leave? He knows she would, there's no way to avoid it, but he didn't expect that day to come so soon. But what reason does he have to ask her to stay?

“I—I can't let you leave, not yet. I—your poster hasn't got taken off yet, there're probably still people going after you. Can't let anything happen,” he says, trying to put on a calm facade. Please, please stay, don't leave so soon.

Oh, so he isn't thinking about making her leave after all. That is certainly a relief. “Oh, I wasn't…well now that you have said it, I guess it's best that I stay for the month.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he says, relieved. “So, you wanna borrow somethin'? Think a couple of my sweaters might fit ya.”

She nods, “Thanks.” He gives a quiet hum in response. He lights up a cigarette as she finishes the rest of her coffee, the smoke mixing with the steam from the cup before dissolving into the air above them. The nicotine calms him down, though not entirely. His heart still jumps in his chest. A drop of coffee rolls down her chin and she quickly wipes it off with her sleeve, while he tosses the glowing cigarette butt aside and stomps on it.

He watches as Mary finishes the last bit of her drink, looking away when she casts him a quick glance. He will never get tired of looking at her. Her dark hair is a few shades lighter in the sun, a gorgeous shade of brown that suits her just perfectly. Her brows frame her deep brown eyes almost perfectly. He can't help but be amazed by how long her eyelashes are, he can even see their tiny shadows just under her eyes. He should draw her again some time later. God knows if he can keep looking at her like that for anything longer than another month. But who is he kidding, really? A beauty like that can’t be captured with a pencil so easily.

She swallows the last drop of coffee and sets down the mug, letting the blanket slip off her shoulders. She folds it up upon her lap and looks up to find him staring at her with his mouth half open, a trail of drool dripping down the corner of his mouth, all the way to his chin. She raises an eyebrow, “Arthur?”

He doesn't seem to be able to hear her. She reaches out and lifts his jaw shut. That movement finally brings him back to reality, and his eyes quickly refocus.

“Arthur, you're drooling,” she giggles, pointing at her chin. He quickly cleans his jaw with the corner of his neckerchief. You desperate fool, he scolds himself. At least it made her laugh, though her smile faded within seconds. Her face returns to its calm state and her gaze drifts back to the forest.

“I’ll… I’ll go get one for you.” he stands up, she follows him into the house. It’s easy to find the one, it’s shrunken and dark green, it’d fit her okay. The elbows have been worn thin, but it was okay enough. It looks far too big when looking down at her on the ground. He hands it to her. “Here.”

“Thank you.” she looks it over and pulls it on. She had noticed his other sweater was in much worse shape. He could use another one, especially with how cold it’s getting. His sweater’s warm, but still way too big on her.

“It’s a little big on ya.”

“I can see that, it’s fine though, gives some room.” she waves her arms up.

“So, um, you planning anything today?” he asks. She shrugs.

“Think I’m gonna knit something. I don’t feel like doing much else, I’m sorry. How about you then, Arthur?”

“Think I'll head to the post, got a letter for 'sea. You got anything you wanna send Jamie?”

She shakes her head. “ He hasn’t written me back just yet. Oh, by the way, you mind helping me do something else?” she asks, walking into the bedroom.

“Sure, what is it?” He sits down at the table again. She comes out with a key and opens the drawer, taking out his moneybox, which is technically theirs now. She opens the heavy metal case and takes out a small velvet box.

“You mind helping me sell these?” she asks, handing Arthur the box. He opens it and finds a pair of pearl earrings. They must be quite expensive, he thinks, pearls this size aren't common around here.

“You sure? Why?” “I know we ain’t doing well financially and, well they ain’t something we need.”

“Oh I can’t be takin’ money from a lady. ‘n we’re fine, trust me.”

“Arthur, please, it’d make me feel better.”

“C’mon, I can’t do that, these must be worth a lot.”

“Please, do as you’re told for once in your life Morgan, take ‘em.” she shoves the box into his hands.

Arthur sighs. “If you insist, but I’ll pay ya back when I get the money, I swear.”

“That ain’t a loan, you’ve done a lot for me anyway.”

“ ‘m still gonna give it back.”

“No you ain’t. ‘sides, it’s in both of our best interest you get the mortgage paid off.”

“You can’t stop me from payin’ ya back, I can’t be takin’ money from ya Mary.”

“Get over yourself, Arthur, just do it for me.”

“Fine then, if you insist.” he flips it open and shut and shoves it in his pocket.

“Thank you. And remember to grab the socks on your way out.” she reminds him, as she sits down. He grabs the bag and walks out. Saddling Bo, his thoughts wander. It-it doesn’t feel right to take her money! He notices her staring at him through the window, he can swear he saw a small smile tugging at the corner of her lip before she turned away. Maybe it wasn’t wrong, she had insisted after all and- god, he’d do anything to see her smile again. He must be insane. At least with Dutch, he asked for it, he would tell Arthur exactly what he wanted and he’d run off and do it. She wouldn’t even have to ask, he’d do anything for her. It wouldn’t hurt to have more money this month, he’s running a few dollars short again. Nothing really different from before her.

Oh, he should probably go cut down Ryder too. He’s been up there for days. Maybe on his way back, if he happens to remember. He isn’t even sure if he feels like it. The feller has family and they’d like him back though. Mrs. Ryder hadn’t really been looking for him. Apparently she heard about the incident in Strawberry from somebody and she wasn’t happy to hear about it.

Yeah, he should go give that bastard another visit, if he bothers to. Hard if.

****

“Aight, think I'll head to bed now,” he announces, getting up from his chair. He glances at Mary and sees her hand weaving through a tangle of gray and blue yarn. “Don't stay up too late workin' yourself.”

She nods. She continues to work on her new project as Arthur settles down in bed. She has got Arthur's measurements from his shirts earlier that day. She is hoping to make Arthur a sweater for the winter, it would make a good parting gift, she thinks, or a Christmas gift, if she will be staying through the winter. She is hoping that it will be a Christmas gift though; the weather has been crazy this year, it'll be much better to have a roof above her head to shield her from the cold rain. She doesn't know whether Arthur would be tolerating her for so long though. She shakes her head in an attempt to repel the thoughts. It's no use thinking about it, she has no say in this matter anyway.

A yawn escapes her mouth. Guess she should go to bed right about now. Leaving the yarn on the table, she makes her way to the bedroom. She decides to undress for the night; sleeping with her outer clothes on hasn't been real comfortable, and Arthur seems to be already asleep. Lazily, she unbuttons her blouse and quickly discards the rest of her clothing, folding them up to be laid on the nightstand.

She swiftly slips under the covers. To her surprise, Arthur's arms quickly reach out and pull her into an embrace. Oh, so he is still awake. Alright, she won't mind some cuddling before bed. It feels nice being held by him, his strong arms firm around her waist and shoulders, his warm chest pressed right against hers. But then he leans in to kiss her on the lips, and it isn't simply a quick peck. She lets out a shaky breath. She isn't quite prepared to do it again, not yet, at least. Yet, refusing him feels wrong. He has already done so much for her, it won't be right for her to deny him this.

It won't take too long, hopefully, she can deal with this. Having made up her mind, her hands trail up to his collar.

Unexpected by her, he pulls away as soon as she undoes his first button.

“What are you doing?” he asks. He seems to be rather shocked by her response.

“Huh?” She pauses, he's not trying to…well? “Oh, I just thought you wanted to…” she trails off.

He just stares at her for a few moments before replying, “Just wanna kiss ya, that's it.”

“Oh, oh. Alright then.”

“You can say no if you don't want me to do something, y'know? You're stiff as a rock just then,” he points out.

“Hm, okay,” she says awkwardly. “Goodnight then.”

He lays a quick kiss on her forehead, “Goodnight.”

Mary lies back down on her bed and closes her eyes. The night is silent and calm, with their breath being the only sound in the room. Yet neither of them seems to be able to fall asleep. She tosses and turns around the bed, trying to get into a more comfortable position.

He opens his eyes, and sees her staring at the ceiling.

“Still thinking about it?” he asks, turning to lie on his side, looking at her.

She remains silent, but gives a small nod in response. He sighs.

“You really don't have to mind what Ryder said, I told ya, he's an idiot.”

“I can't help it, y'know that,” she mumbles. “And it's not just what he said.”

“What is it then?”

“I can't care less about what that feller thinks, I just… it reminded me of what my Daddy used to say.”

“What'd he say?” he regrets it as soon as he blurts out the words. “Sorry, ain't right for me to ask.”

“S'okay. All kinds of mean things, don't think I'll have to explain much to ya.”

He hums in response. He knows how cruel one's own father can be all too well, but it is hard to imagine that anyone can have the heart to be cruel to her. Their childhoods are real similar, in a way: a mother who died too soon, a father who didn't die soon enough. At least he met Dutch and Hosea; it wasn't an easy life, but it was definitely better than what she went through. He can't imagine how hard it must have been for her to raise an infant as a teenager. Then she married that asshole of a husband, then the murders, then the running. She didn't deserve such a cruel fate, no, she deserves to be loved, to be cherished and to be happy.

Arthur wants nothing more than to be the man who'd make her happy for the rest of her life.

“Mary?”

“Yeah?”

“If we weren't… you weren't… well.” A thousand words flood his mind, but they all stop right behind his lips. “If I weren't, me, but the handsomest, best guy in this world, I would… I think I would just ask you to marry me right now.”

He stops, anticipating a reply. Panic quickly consumes his entire body as the silence fills his ears. Arthur knows he ain't a smart man, but that has to be the stupidest shit he has ever said in his life. It wasn't exactly a confession, but he is almost certain that she will find it ridiculous.

“Oh, oh, thank you Arthur, didn't… wasn't expecting to hear something so sweet from ya.”

He exhales in relief. It wasn't the rejection that he was expecting, thank god. “Well, I'm just sayin' the truth.”

“You flatterer,” she laughs, lightly elbowing him in the abdomen. “Goodnight.”

“'night,” he says, once again closing his eyes.

****

“Yer a good girl,” he pats the side of Boadicea's neck soothingly. The clothesline had snapped at some point and Mary's dark blue skirt had caught on a branch, spooking the horse. He dismounts and calmly removes the saddle and brindle, eyeing the clothes on the ground. The knot had always been shitty, it was inevitable, really. He grabs the end of the rope and ties it up again. They’re still all wet. She must’ve washed them just a while ago. He throws them back on the line.

Finding the last sock on the ground, he reaches for it. A whine breaks the silence. His hand freezes.

“Arthur… Arthur, fuck,” he hears her again, panting. The covers shift and the bedframe groans under her. He hears the same sounds he heard back at the cabin through the open window. It’s been far too long since he’s heard her moan like that. His other hand trails down to his thigh.

Arthur glances inside, but turns his head before he can see a thing. It wouldn’t be right. She whines his name again. He exhales and hastily walks off, trying to force his mind back to-to, uh, whatever the hell he was doing.

He bites his tongue and furrows his brow as he walks back. What the hell had she done to him? He’s hard already, it took next to nothing.

It’d be so easy to go in. She’d already be ready for him there, wet and excited. He could take her so easily. He wonders if he could make her beg again.

He shouldn’t be thinking of that, like that. She isn’t quite right yet, who knows how much it might set her back again. There has to be a reason why she is only pleasuring herself when he is gone. He settles down to wait, lighting a cigarette in an attempt to distract himself from his own arousal.

The sounds quiet and he hears her get up. Arthur stands up and moves to open the door. He grabs the meat and steps inside. She seems to spook a bit.

“H-hey, I wasn’t expecting you back this soon!” she greets, her voice still quivering. He notices the flush on her face and her frazzled state, she quickly moves to rinse her hands. Her voice seems to be a tad higher and breathier than usual. He can almost taste her in the air.

“Oh, er, yeah, I caught a good sized rabbit,” he replies, averting his eyes. The bed is unmade, again.

“That’s nice, no more squirrel for us, right?” she laughs.

“You’ll never forget about that one, will ya?”

“If we’re gonna be pretendin’ to be married, what kind of wife would that make me if I didn’t remind you of stuff?” “Shut up,” he chuckles. “Mind helping me out with this then?” “Sure.”

He must’ve heard her, she notices his state, his awkwardness and general demeanor. It’s nothing he hasn’t heard before, but she can only hope he didn’t spot his shirt on the bed. She quickly tosses it into the laundry pile.

Arthur pulls back the wax paper and sprinkles salt and spices on the meat. She kneels to light the stove.

“How are ya doin’ then?”

“Fine, I guess,” she responds. “Better than a few days ago at the very least.”

“Really? ‘m just concerned is all.” “Hm, well, guess I still ain’t really myself yet.” she shrugs and closes the hatch. “Can’t really shake the feeling.” “Ain’t really something to be ashamed of. We all got needs.”

“I- I know, but, it’s not normal, women ain’t supposed to want it like that.”

“That ain’t true, I’ve been with plenty of girls like ya, all of ‘em wanted it. It’s natural, I guess.” She falls silent for a moment.

“It’s different, being with men, no matter what ya do you’ll feel bad about it, you’re always disappointing someone,” she says, pulling out a cutting board from the cabinet.

“Who then?”

“Hm, well, I don't know. Think it started when I was a girl. You know my father, he wasn’t always too kind to me or anybody else for that matter. He was always protective, when he came home at least, didn’t like me talking to any men. He-he well, he called me every word in the book. Didn’t much care if there were ladies visiting-” she bites her tongue.

“And then there was my husband. I think he only married me to keep his affairs covered up. He was a good man, for the most part and I understand why he did that, but it, it still hurt, I can assure you that. He used to call me all sorts of things if I tried to initiate.”

He scrunches his nose upon hearing the last sentence. “Your own husband? Jesus, I'm so sorry.”

She shrugs. For a moment, the only sound in the room is the sound of her chopping carrots. He breaks the silence, “Well, I say ol' Barry was an idiot. Your pa, too. Ya really don't need to mind the bullshit they said.”

“It's not just them. I-I don't know, honestly. It's just what I grew up hearing.”

He watches her bring the pot to a boil before adding in the vegetables. “Me, I never found

anything wrong with women seeking pleasure, but I guess some people think differently. But people can be wrong, y'know.”

“I suppose,” she says, adding a sprinkle of salt to the water. He continues as he cuts the meat apart, “Just because everyone tells ya it's wrong doesn't mean it is— but if yer still uncomfortable with the whole deal we can stop. ”

She sighs, he isn’t quite sure what to make of the response.

They quickly get dinner done together, sitting down to eat soon enough. She seems a bit lighter, less saddened for sure.

She steps off to rinse the dishes as he finishes. He’s so… understanding, it’s insanity. She picks up her spoon and cleans it off, catching him in the reflection. He’s done with it, she notices and quickly grabs his dishes before he can.

He’s right though. It’s not like anyone would ever know. He’d be a moron to tell anyone he fucked the mariticidal murderer, ain’t like it’s bragworthy anyway.

“You need any help with those?” “No, thanks. You just sit down.” Arthur sits to light the fireplace. The house was growing cold anyway. Mary places the utensils up to dry. Her eyes drift to him again, bending over to light the kinding. His thighs part, she turns to stare at him. What’s the point of refraining now, she’d be gone at some point. It’d be foolish, wouldn’t it? She wonders. He certainly doesn’t seem to mind it.

Her father's words be damned, he's long dead anyway. This Arthur Morgan is way too pretty for her to keep her hands off him.

She watches him sit down on the old armchair, as she places the last one up to dry.

Suddenly her hands are on his shoulders, her lips on his neck and she loops around, sitting on his lap. She pulls him close and hungrily kisses him, as she adjusts herself to straddle him. Arthur pulls away from her.

“Mary… what the hell are you doing?”

“I really missed this, Arthur, please.”

“You sure, you really don’t have to-” “Shut up, ‘n let me.” she whispers in his ear.

“Yes ma’am.” he replies. She chuckles and pulls him closer by his bandana. His hands move to her hips, he pulls her closer. The swell of her hips feel natural in his hands, like they belong there.

“Put your hands back.” she demands. His hands return. She leans in and kisses him again, pulling the fabric from his neck. She wraps it around his eyes, effectively blindfolding him.

“C’mon, Mary, lemme see you.” Arthur whines. Mary laughs again and cups his cheek, before pinching it.

“I don’t think so.” she strips off his shirt. His pants and boots follow suit. Mary straddles him again and slowly peels off his union suit. She somewhat loosely ties it around his wrists. “My, ain’t you a pretty boy?” She steps back to admire her work, ruffling his hair. She kisses him again and nips his lip, making him gasp. Her lips gently trail down his jaw. Each nip draws a groan from him. “You heard me, didn’t you?”

“Heard what?” he asks, just in case.

“Me, taking care of myself. I know I heard you, right outside, by the window.”

“I did. You ain’t quiet.” he remarks. She chuckles and bites him again.

“Wasn’t trying to be. Why didn’t you join me then?” she asks, her hand teasingly rubs his thigh, painfully close to his member.

“Didn’t feel right, I didn’t wanna make you uncomfortable.” Arthur drawls. That’s… awfully polite of him. Huh.

“Wouldn’t mind you crawling into bed next time. You’re my favorite toy y’know.” she trails down his chest and shoves apart his thighs, kneeling between them. Her hand finds his balls, she trails down to his muscular thighs. Arthur whines, as she drags her tongue up to his crotch. His cock twitches.

“You just gotta goddamn tease me woman.” he growls. She laughs again and moves up, placing her lips on his stomach, tantalizingly gently. Mary glances up at his face, it’s contorted in some desperate grimace. Her light touch leaves his skin tingling.

“Like you ain’t enjoying this.” she scoffs. “Are ya, pretty boy?”

“Please just touch me Mary,” Arthur begs.

“Fine then, since you asked so nicely.” She kisses up his shaft, her tongue sweeps up the pearly bead of precome, lazily stimulating him. He sighs, she dips down and takes him in her mouth. He’s a tad salty, she licks him again, before once again sucking him in. Arthur groans. Mary pushes herself down and hears his grunts intensify. She pulls away, finding him too hard to resist in the moment. It’s been so long.

She hastily discards her clothing, stripping down to her chemise, before remounting his lap. He whimpers, feeling her slickness at his tip.

“P-please just fuck me Mary,” his voice breaks at the last word. “I've—ugh—I've been such a good boy, please.”

“Have ya?” she teases, quite pleased by his desperation. She can see the redness on his cheeks, even under the dim light from the fireplace.

“Yes, yes ma'am,” he pants.

“Call me that again,” she instructs. Despite not being able to see her smirk, he can sense the smugness in her tone, and somehow, it seems to make him even harder.

“Ma'am, please,” he begs again.

She gives him a gentle kiss on the lips, “Now that's a good boy.”

He lets out a sharp moan as she finally sinks down on him. She takes her time, allowing herself to accommodate his girth again. Impatient, he squirms underneath her, only to be stopped by her hand pressing down on his shoulders.

“Did I say you can move?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” her hand moves to his throat, she pushes him against the chair.

“You’ve been so good for me so far, you should know better sweetheart.” she slowly rises with a hiss. Her hand tightens around his throat. His already lust-clouded head feels even dizzier as she cuts off his air supply. She sinks down on him and leans against his chest, he lets out another groan. She finds her pace and bites his neck, leaving a new bruise for him to find in the morning. Her movements speed up as she starts to groan. “How’d ya get so pretty? God, you fill me up so perfectly,” she whispers into his neck. She loosens her grip and allows him a full breath, before continuing to squeeze. “You like that?”

“Yes ma’am,” he grunts. “Please don’t stop-” his pants crack into a moan. She stops and his breathing slows.

“You came, didn't you?” She asks, slow and dangerous, shifting up to let him fall out. His seed drips out of her in a steady stream, there’s far more than usually.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” he breathes out. She dips her fingers inside of herself and pulls out his cum, inspecting the fluids on her fingers. She glances up at his flushed face and stuffs her fingers in his mouth.

“Lick ‘em clean, boy, and don’t think we're done here. I still got plans for you,” she growls. His tongue shyly flickers between her fingers, lapping up his own semen. She pushes her hand in his hair and pulls him closer to shove the digits deeper. Mary pulls her fingers out of him and checks them over, finding them clean. She lets out a resounding hmph and shoves him down to sit on the floor. He gasps as she adjusts his head to lay on the seat, his back pressed against the body of the chair. She swings a leg over the armrest and lowers herself closer to his face.

The air feels more humid, her arousal is hanging heavy in the air. A drop falls onto his lips. She lowers herself and leans against the headrest. She glances down and pulls away from his nostrils. His tongue dips inside her, he hungrily laps at her, her taste speeding him on. She’s looser this time, having been gaped open just moments ago. He moans, beckoning her to push herself down. She chuckles and places more weight on him. He explores her cunt and sucks in her clitoris. She whines and pulls up.

“Easy!” she hisses, tugging at his hair. Arthur corrects himself and swirls his tongue around it. She lets out a shuddering moan and lowers herself again. Her sweet tanginess mixes with his saltiness, it leaks onto his face. He penetrates her again, drawing out his cum again. “You’re being such a good boy for me again, Arthur,” she murmurs, her grip on his hair easing into strokes. He feels himself hardening again, the pressure in his cock mounting again. She grinds down on him and whines. Arthur moans and struggles, attempting to free his hands to pull her down. “Come on, you know better, boy, don’t even try,” she croons, stroking his hair. He relaxes under her and lets out a pitiful whine. Her pants intensify and he suckles on his harder. A string of profanities escape her mouth, she allows herself to squeeze his head between her thighs. He feels her relax and she moves away. She catches her breath as she guides him to return to the seat. “Good job,” she ruffles his hair again. She looks him over and takes his cock in her hand again.

“Still ain’t done, are ya?” he asks. Mary chuckles and places a kiss on his cheek.

“Nope. And I’ll tell you when you’re allowed to cum, sweetheart. Don’t make that mistake again.”

“Yes ma’am, I’m sorry ma’am.”

“That’s my sweet boy,” she croons again, straddling him. Mary leans to kiss him. “Wasn’t that easy? You can do better, can’t you?”

“I can, I’ll be better, ma’am,” she slips him back into her and sinks down on his cock. Arthur lets out a moan as she gasps. Almost involuntarily, he thrusts into her, once again protruding through her slick entrance. She chuckles breathlessly, amused by his desperation.

“Good,” she pants as she moves herself up and down his shaft. He wants nothing more than to see her, to watch her mouth open in pleasure as she engulfs the entirety of him in her wetness, yet he can hardly see anything through the cloth that she has blindfolded him with. But his lack of vision only intensifies his pleasure as she rides him, making every single strand of his muscles weak and puddy.

“Oh Arthur, my Arthur,” she whispers into his ear. “You're being awfully good tonight.”

He lets out a grunt as a jolt of heat once again blooms from his groin upon being claimed as hers. It spreads all the way to his spine, making him shudder. She gently bites his earlobe and he has to bite down on his lip, hard, in order to stop himself from coming. She lets out a soft sigh and lets her pace speed up.

“You cummin' yet?” he asks, his voice hoarse and breathy.

She gives him a rewarding peck on the lips, “Close. You're doing a good job darling.”

He thrusts into her in response. She doesn't stop him this time, only chuckles and dips down to nibble on the skin of his throat. He lets out another groan. “Careful there, sweetheart.”

“Hah, please, Mary,” he whines, thrusting into her again. He bites himself again and pauses for a moment.

“J-just a bit longer, Arthur,” she mumbles, burying her face into his neck. She pauses, her whine muffled by his skin. “Do it, you deserve it now A-Arthur.”

“Ya sure?” he asks, voice quivering as he holds back.

“Yeah, y-yeah,” she whimpers, holding his shoulders for anchorage. “G-give it to me darlin'.”

He doesn't need to be told twice. Another squeeze of her thighs and his orgasm is already washing over him, rendering him motionless. Every inch of his muscle tenses up as his cock twitches, filling her with his seed. Determined, he gives her a few more thrusts as he comes, finally pushing her over the edge.

She lets out a loud, harsh moan as she climaxes, her grip around his shoulders tightening. They stay joined for a few moments after their orgasms, catching their breath and regaining their strength. He silently enjoys the feeling of her smooth skin against his. The sensation of her warm softness only seems more intense with his vision deprived. Oh, how he loves this perfect body of hers, though it isn't the only thing that he so dearly loves. Should he tell her that? He desperately wishes to, but it doesn't sound like the right choice to make, god knows how she will react to this.

She gives him a rewarding kiss on the forehead as she lets him slide out of her, interrupting his thoughts. He lets his head fall back and emits a heavy sigh as she removes herself from his lap. The surrounding air suddenly feels a lot colder, despite the cackling flames in the fireplace.

She pulls her chemise on and unties him. Arthur pulls the blindfold off and stretches out his arms again.

“ ‘m thinkin’ I’ll go to bed, you wanna come along with me?” he asks, redressing in his union suit.

“You go ahead,” she places a kiss on his forehead. “I gotta do some knitting anyway.”

“C’mon, you can do it in the mornin’ can’t you?” Arthur takes her hand.

“Don’t take that tone with me mister, I’ll be in soon. Sleep well.”

“Goddamn it, fine.” he playfully rolls his eyes in an attempt to hide his disappointment at not getting to cuddle with her. She giggles and ruffles his hair.

“Good boy.” she ushers him off. Mary pulls the little basket out from under the chair, taking the knitting needles in her hands. He sits at the edge of the bed and pulls out his journal. A collection of rough and delicate lines comprise her portrait, his pencil dragging along the rough paper, another one of her. His pencil rests on her jawline and he smears away an errand line with his thumb. He works down her shoulder, forming her braid. It must’ve been the tenth one this week.

I love her, yet I’m a fool for it. I’m sure she likes me well enough, or at least I’m foolish enough to think so. Mary, she’s one of the best women I’ve known, she seems to lodge herself more and more into my life by the day, though it’ll only make it hurt more when she’s gone.

If only we could have something more. She’d despise me if she truly knew me, though it’s a pretty dream. Brings something Dutch said to mind, don’t remember quite how he worded it. Something about loving someone for what they can do. I don’t think it’s like that. Or maybe it is. I hope not.

I don’t think it’d change if she didn’t fuck me, I suppose I wouldn’t mind if she did nothing at all anyway. A ♡ M

Mary sets down the large tube she’s been working on and glances back at him. He had already gone to bed, she can tell by the light. She carefully stows it back in the basket and leans back, looking back at him under the covers. He stirs. Mary leans on her hand, watching him in the room. It’s a damn shame it’d never be… well, anything. Arthur’s a good man, despite everything. He deserves better than any of this, this little shack, this sad lifestyle. He should be married by now, not playing house with a lunatic rat he picked out of a different hovel. Hell, she should still be married and not doing whatever this is. Mary sighs wearily and leans back on the chair. Such messy lives we lead.

What’s the point of abstaining when it’ll end anyway? They’d go their separate lives. It’d only be a wild fantasy in a while, the months spent at Arthur Morgan's house, indulging in a man who seemed to enjoy every moment as much as she did. Someone as experimental, as curious, as depraved, someone like no one else.

If he’d only ask for her hand she’d gladly give it , even if it was only to keep him between her legs for years to come. He’s far more endearing than most men that came knocking to court her anyway, someone she’d rather have had for a husband than Mr. Linton. Doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty either.

She stands up and blows out the light, leaving the hot coals and starts to illuminate the house. She strips down and very carefully lays by him, trying not to wake him. As she lifts the blanket and slips herself under it, he pulls her in.

“You were just waiting, weren’t you?” she lets out a soft hum, resting her chin on his head. He rests his head by her chest.

“Maybe. Couldn’t really sleep without you,” Arthur mumbles. He hears her heartbeat spike for a second, a hopeful sign to his weary mind.

“You better get some sleep, Arthur, ain’t good to stay up too late. Sleep tight.” each soft word reverberates through his core.

“G’night…”

#take your cigarette from its holder burn your initials on my shoulder #mary linton x arthur morgan #mary linton/arthur morgan #mary gillis #mary gillis linton #mary linton #arthur morgan #rdr2 #rdr2 fanfic #our fic

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bratshaws · 1 year

Text

through the hourglass 92. brb x oc

a/n: god i hate these two ( my day...was better so I hope this chapter was too <3 )

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: two idiots in love. <3 again.

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64/65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84/85/86/87/88

/89/90/91

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He missed her, just like he said he would.

Today more than any other day for some odd reason, maybe it was just because he was so clingy that morning. Maybe it was because Beatrice was - no,is - the kindest person he had ever met in his life and worried about his well being so often his own heart couldn’t fathom the reasons for it.

Beatrice was like that and Nicole the same way, both of his girls had him around their fingers and he wouldn’t have any other way. He pulls out the folded sticky notes from his pocket, smiling down at the cute puns she wrote that morning, brushing his finger over the tiny drawings on the sides as he leaned down on his chair.

Ah, he was a fool in love really.

He inhaled softly, slipping the papers inside his pocket before he stood up with his reports clutched in his hand. As he opens the door however, he’s surprised to see McAllister outside with his hand up as if he was about to knock. He’s about to ask what happened, only for McAllister to salute him so fast Rooster could feel his hair move because of how quick it was, “Sir!”

He clenched his eyes, then arched his brow, “McAllister.”

“Good morning,sir!” he still has his hand up, so Rooster has to physically put it down to his side before walking around the young recruit, “How is your day going,sir?”

“Good,” Rooster arches his brow to the recruit, “Yours?”

“Very good! Oh!” It was only then that Rooster noticed he had one of his hands behind his back, pulling out to reveal a glittery bag with a large red bow keeping it closed, “Here sir, it’s our gift for the little miss.”

Rooster blinked at the bag, then at McAllister, letting out an amused chuckle, “Well,I’ll be damned, thank you.” the young recruit nods, about to salute him only to keep his hand down, “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

“It’s a gift from all of us,sir!” McAllister smiles, “I hope she will!” but before Bradley could turn around and put it inside his office, he’s only able to see that McAllister’s face was pale…as in, ghostly white.

Rooster frowned, keeping his eyes on the young recruit whose mouth opened without any sounds coming out, like a fish out of the water trying his best to keep alive. The Lieutenant just frowned, “McAllister.” he tries, ‘What’s wrong? You look ready to pass out.”

A sudden clap on his shoulder makes Rooster look behind him…then a few inches lower, meeting his godfather’s light colored gaze, “Rooster, good morning. So, lunch on me today yeah?”

Oh.

“Oh, yeah Mav.” he smiles, looking back at the young recruit who just looks absolutely flabbergasted by the whole situation, “By the way did you meet recruit McAllister?” The poor boy seemed like he was ready to jump off his own skin at any second, wide eyed and slack jawed at the mere presence of Maverick. Maverick, who either didn’t care about the wide eyed stare or was oblivious to it, just smiled towards the younger recruit.

“I didn’t but nice to meet you kid.” He just gets no response as McAllister is just staring googly eyed at him, his face going from white to red in a matter of seconds “You okay? What’s wrong with him?” Mav questions Rooster, leaning closer to his nephew in hopes the other pilot wouldn’t hear.

“I think he’s starstruck.” Rooster replies as he crosses his arms, the gift bag dangling from his fingers as he watches the scene with pure amusement. He knew the three new recruits referred to Mav as an ‘unbelievable fighter pilot’ and asked Rooster if they could meet him one of these days.

He was pretty sure McAllister didn’t think he’d be the first one to do that. He just stared and he stared hard at Pete who looked just a tidbit uncomfortable, “Rooster.” he tries again, “What is he doing?”

“He’s starstruck,Mav.”

“By who?”

“You!”

Pete blinked, “Me? What? No, come on, kid.” he gently touches McAllister’s shoulder, earning a gasp from the younger pilot whose eyes only got bigger, “ I’m no one, you don’t have to act like that,you hear? McAllister,hey.”

But poor McAllister just looked so shocked and ready to cry that Pete felt almost too bad to continue talking to him. He sent his nephew a worried look, one that Rooster only shrugged his shoulders and smirked at, “Oh…my God…” it was the first thing McAllister said after minutes, “...Cpt.Mitchell– Sir! I–” he quickly salutes him, “I-It’s an honor! I-I…you–we!” He salutes Pete again, out of nervousness and it only makes the older pilot offer him a confused smile.

“Rooster…?” his uncle calls, through gritted teeth but Rooster is too amused to do anything else right now.

“Oh my God, the guys will never believe me.” McAllister says, elated, “I can’t believe I’m standing face to face with you! They’ll be so jealous!”

“Rooster…!”

“I have so many questions,Cpt.Mitchell! I have,” he holds up a finger, patting his uniform, “Hold on,I keep some notes with me– wait, can I ask you about them over lunch?”

Pete was ready to say no, but Rooster cut him off “Of course,McAllister.” his uncle just gave Rooster a confused look, “He won’t mind,right Pete?” there’s no response but a heaved out sigh from Pete who immediately regrets it because the younger recruit is just so excited.

He shakes Pete’s hand again, letting them know that the other guys would ‘go crazy’ when they find out about it. Both Bradley and Maverick watch as McAllister leaves them alone, saluting them one more time, before almost skipping away from them. Pete just makes a face, “That was something.”

“Sure was.”

“And you sound too happy about it.”

“Sure am.” Rooster chuckles, holding up the gift bag on his index finger, “Let me just put this in my office so I can deliver these reports.” and check on his phone but he didn’t want to appear desperate because of Beatrice.

As he walks back to his office, something flutters down his shirt onto the floor, making Maverick blink and tilt his head at it before crouching to pick it up. It was a bright colored folded paper and when he opened it he couldn’t help the smile on his face. Okay, that was pretty cute, he thinks looking down at the obvious pun and the tiny versions of himself and Beatrice drawn on it.

Pete looks back up to where his nephew’s office is, only to sigh softly because…well, memories come back and sometimes you feel a huge amount of sorrow. Because Carole used to do this with Goose, many times he’d find folded pieces of paper - mainly notebooks pages ripped quickly - whenever Goose was seated and/or staying.

He ‘huh’s quietly, folding the little piece of paper closed again just in time for Rooster to return, “Hey,” he holds it up between his index and middle finger, “You dropped this.”

The look of realization on his face only makes Mav grin, speeding his steps towards his uncle to shove it inside his pocket as if it was the most precious thing he had ever held in his hands, “Thanks I uh, must’ve let it slip.” he muttered, clearing his throat with a soft flush to his cheeks.

“Hmhm,of course.”

“Did you look at it?”

“Me? Who do you think I am,Rooster?” his nephew just stared at him with the subtle squint of his eyes, “I did yeah.”

“I don’t know why I bother asking.” but he’s smiling, there was no anger in his voice. He wasn’t ashamed of Beatrice nor about the love he had for her…he just liked messing with his uncle a little bit, “So, uh, next week Nikki is going to stay with you.”

“Oh yes,” Pete grins, “I know.”

Rooster rolls his eyes, “Well, please don’t teach my daughter weird shit, okay? That’s my job when she gets older.” which will take a long time, she’s not even one year old yet!

“No promises.” Mav laughs, clapping his shoulder.

By the time lunch time arrived, and so did the three over enthusiastic recruits, Rooster excused himself from the table - leaving his uncle wide eyed and horrified - to talk to Bea. It wasn’t an excuse considering he did want to talk to her every day.

But it was pretty fun seeing Mav looking so worried.

Rooster pressed her contact and waited, checking his nails and patting his shirt of any crumbs as the phone rang, twice, three times and he was about to get worried if Beatrice’s laughing voice didn’t come from the other end “Hi,Roos!”

Oh just her voice was enough to make him melt, “Hi,gorgeous.” he smirks, “How’s your day going? Having fun with the girls?”

He could hear laughter and the sound of cutlery in the background, followed by a modern song he couldn’t identify, “Yes! We are at the mall right now.” she giggles, “Nikki is enjoying some carrot purée and I’m having sushi with the girls! It’s been really good. How are you though-” there’s the subtle sound of Shells’ voice teasing Bea, asking if she wanted some alone time but the brunette just scoffed on the phone, “Ignore that if you heard,Shells is trying to be funny.”

“I am funny!”

“Sometimes you are Shells,” Evelyn’s voice adds up “Tell Rooster hi,Bea.”

“I will, Ev and Shells said hi.”

He closed his eyes with a sigh, leaning his back against the wall because holy shit she was so sweet, “I know gorgeous,I heard them.” he smiles, folding his arm over his chest and under his opposite limb, keeping his eyes around just to pass the time, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Oh,yes! Yes I did and I got even more stuff- oh Roos,baby stuff is so cute and Nikki will look so precious! I even got her new shoes!”

“Did you now?”

“Yes, they look like tiny combat boots but like…made of cloth.”

Rooster smiles more, keeping his eyes closed to hear her voice, anyone around him would be aware of the fully enamored look on his face, “Of course,gorgeous.” he sighs dreamily, “...I miss you.” and it comes out quiet, his eyes still closed as he whispers, “I miss you a lot today.”

Beatrice is quiet for a few seconds, only to laugh softly on the phone “I miss you too.” Shells’ obvious fake vomiting could be heard as well, followed by an ‘ow!’ because Evelyn undoubtedly slapped her “I miss you so much, but…I know you are safe and okay and I’ll see you again later.”

“Baby…” he chuckles, “You are too cute.”

“Did I make you blush?”

He snorts, looking down at his shoes, “A little.”

“Good!”

Oh my God he couldn’t handle her. He just…he was in such a peaceful state in his life, he’s so happy, he’s so fulfilled and so eager to have this life with Beatrice and Nicole. Some of the older officers made fun of him when he announced his engagement then wedding then Nicole’s birth, saying it was too soon too fast and he wouldn’t even see much in his early years.

But what the hell, he was happy with this, he couldn’t ask for something better. Maybe it was…the hole inside of him that longed for a full family, longed for days spent together on a beach, seeing their daughter’s milestones together with a woman who loved him so unashamedly and so purely…he couldn’t really complain. He had nothing to complain about.

His job was dangerous and stressful and even if he loved it he couldn’t deny he got thoughts every now and again. Worrisome thoughts, thoughts that involved him and his father, thoughts that dared to think about the what ifs of his profession…and how much these what ifs weighed on him.

Maybe that’s also why he was so…open about his love for Beatrice and Nicole. He had to live day by day to his fullest, that’s all he had to do. “Roos.” her soft voice snaps him out of his thoughts, blinking his eyes open “You got quiet, everything okay?”

“Everything is just great,gorgeous. Just great…still thinking about you, about Nikki…about us and the many things we’ll do together when I get home later.” he lowers his voice when he says that, chuckling through the phone at her surprised inhale followed by her quiet giggle.

“You,” she whispers back, “Are a menace.”

“I am, especially to my wife.”

Beatrice laughs again, it’s like music, before she continues speaking “Your wife appreciates it. She really does…oh! I also got something for you!”

“Something? Baby you already gifted me today…”

“I know but I saw it and thought of you!” she replies sweetly, “Plus, I think your home office needs…something more but I won’t tell you anything else besides that!”

He smiles with the phone still glued to his ear, looking back to where Mav was just to see his uncle trying to desperately find him in the crowd…so Rooster just backed away even more to hide himself from his view, “Oh,you are not telling me anything else.”

“Nope!”

“Can I guess?”

There’s a short timed pause, “...no.Because you’ll manage to answer out of me and I don’t want that!”

“...baby I love you so much,did I told you that?” he says sweetly, “Because you are the sweetest woman I’ve ever met and my God I’m going to–” he lowers his voice even more “Kiss you so much when I get back.”

“Good,I’d hope so.”

It takes one fleeting glance down at his watch to earn a sigh out of him, “Gorgeous,I need to go back.” He sounds so disappointed it makes her giggle a bit, “Have fun with the girls,okay? I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“I love you too,Roos! See you later!”

He whispers ‘bye’ to her with so much softness he almost felt like he was floating, finishing the call only to fall back against the wall with a dreamy smile on his face. “Fuck,I love her so much.” He pushes himself away from the wall so he could walk back to where Maverick was with the three young officers, his uncle still looking distraught and annoyed at the same time when he meets his eyes.

“Had fun?” he asks once he’s close to the table, earning an amused glare from Pete, who just rolled his eyes because the three recruits were still talking amongst themselves, about Maverick specially.

“Yes, yes, joke all you want.” Pete says, “How’s Bea?”

“Good,she’s out with the girls and she’s having a lot of fun.” he smirks sweetly, “That girl got me good,Mav.” and he didn’t even care if the three other guys were within earshot, hell he didn’t care at all.

“She sure did, Rooster.” Mav adds, “And so did Nicole.”

Rooster’s cheek dimples when he gives his uncle a small grin, sliding his phone in his pocket before he sits back down.

Beatrice sighs dreamily while looking at their wedding picture - her background that she couldn’t really change even if she tried to - giggling like a little girl with her longtime crush as her friends watch amusedly, “Well,” Evelyn begins, sipping her lemonade, “Love sure does look good on you.”

The brunette just offers her friend a knowing look, “I can say the same about you.” she smiles, “You and Jake are adorable together.”

Evelyn’s smile widened subtly, but Bea knew she appreciated it a lot. Jake was a good guy and he really liked her, he had his issues - obviously - but he was really in love with her…and he was going to marry her…and they were expecting their first child together, a child that already had a very nice wardrobe. “Ahem.” Shells arches her brows, pointing at herself, “What about me?”

“You are crazy about Bob, Shells and you make fun of me because of how I act around Roos…when you are the same way.”

Shells smiled knowingly, “True,I do love my sugarpuff.”

Beatrice sighs softly, leaning back into her seat while keeping her eyes on a sleeping Nicole, “...I’m so happy.” she whispers, ‘I…I feel like…I don’t know, it’s–when we dated it was amazing, then we got married and now we have a child. And he keeps making me feel like I’m over the moon every single time.” she looks down at her wedding ring, rubbing the golden band with her thumb, “And we have a house and we have a healthy relationship and…and there’s nothing hidden in there. It’s so crazy…sixteen years old Bea would never believe it.”

If she could talk to her younger self she was sure she’d be stared at like she was crazy, “Yeah, well, you two are just two peas in a pod,” Shells smirks, flicking her eyes towards Nicole as she sips her juice, “So…”

“So?”

“Are you and Rooster planning for another one?”

“Planning for– wait, you mean another baby?!” Beatrice’s eyes widened at Shells’ nod, “I…no? Shells,Nikki is not even one year old yet. She doesn’t even have teeth.” just imagining getting pregnant again so quickly was crazy. There was no way they’d do that, they’d have to really think about it and then figure out if it was viable or not.

Sure, they had enough rooms for more kids - and maybe she’d like more - but there was only so much that could be done…during the time they had. Especially Rooster. “We aren’t thinking about it yet, no.”

“Jesus,Shells, let me have my own baby first.” Evelyn muttered, “You got baby fever of some sort?”

“I’m an only child,I wanna be an auntie!”

Beatrice huffed a laugh, mentally hating how the thought of more children ingrained itself in her brain…no. No she shouldn’t think about that when Nikki was so young, and especially because they couldn’t have more children yet, they talked about having one not more than that.

She looks down at the sleeping baby by her side, Nicole’s hair mussed up because of the seat and one of her favorite toys close to her side - obviously it was the chicken Jake gave her - and Beatrice just thought that she could talk to Rooster about it, at least to have it out of the way.

Yeah, just to have it out of the way.

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