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hugshughes · 5 months

Text

invisible string L. Hughes

Luke Hughes x fem!reader

synopsis - Luke had been one of your closest friends since childhood. Somehow, everything in both of your lives just came back to each other.

wc - 3.8k

contains - cursing, literally nothing, extremeeeeeeeee fluff, kissing, hugging, cuddling, (im just a girl ok), obliviousness, this is a bittttt cliche... THEY CONFESS AND KISS IN THE RAIN OK???? idiots in love, eating and drinking. TAKES PLACE SUMMER 2023 (like end of May???)

an - SLIGHTLY EDITED!!! im hunrgy. anyways THIS WAS SO FCUKINF CUTE TO WRITEEEEEEE. my luke baby is so invisible string😇😇😇😇. ugh i miss him. i (possibly intoxicatedly) karaoked better man by Taylor Swift the other night just fyi. my author notes are like my personal diary because i assume no one reads them. i could prob say my ss number and full name address and no one would ever know. do u guys know how fuckign embarrassing it is to reread a fic u posted a few days ago and find typos like u guys probably think im stupid and hate me now. this was not at all about Luke Hughes or Invisible String... ENJOY BABIES!!!!

green was the color of the grass, where i used to read in centennial park. i used to think i would meet somebody there.

You were what some would call a hopeless romantic. You loved love. You loved reading it, watching it, seeing it in real life, it was just beautiful to you.

You'd grown up with the Hughes boys. They were your neighbors during the summer, your family's lake house being next to theirs. You were the same age as their youngest son, Luke. You two were ride or dies during the summer, and when you finally got a phone in seventh grade, you two texted the rest of the year.

It was finally summer, your school year at Notre Dame had come to a close and you were able to fly home and go to the lake with your family all by May 13th. You watched the final Canes games against the boys, you were sad for them, but so proud of your best friend.

It was nearing June, and you were alone in the lake house, opting out of the afternoon boat ride for some peace and quiet. You walked through the halls, stopping at the dresser covered in summer photos. You and your brother, you and Luke, more you and Luke, and some of your brother and the Hughes.

teal was the color of your shirt, when you were sixteen at the yogurt shop. you used to work at to make a little money.

You noticed one of your favorite photos wasn't there, the one of you and Luke when you were about 16, you're both standing behind the counter at the ice cream place you two worked at during that summer. You spent all day with Luke during those days, and it was the best.

You opened the dresser the photos sat on, seeing more photos. The ice cream shop one, and one you weren't anticipating. You didn't know your mom had printed and framed it. It was you and Luke the summer you were 18, both smiling at the camera with the sunset in the background as you sat on his lap in an Adirondack chair in the backyard of the Hughes' house.

The photo gave you crazy butterflies. That summer was the last time you saw Luke during the summer. Last summer you two were both at the lake at different times, you'd seen his whole family, minus him. His mom told you how he was still with his college teammates on a different Michigan lake. You had to act like you didn't really care, even though you did, so much.

Since the picture was just sitting in the dresser, not on display, you decided to take it to your room. You placed it gently on your bedside table, smiling then leaving to go down to the pool.

time, curious time. gave me no compasses, gave me no signs.

It was weird how you and Luke always seemed to be pulled together. There was some driving force between you two that was unbreakable, not even if you wanted it to. When it wasn't the summer, you lived three hours from the Hughes family, so randomly bumping into Luke was even more bizarre than anything else.

You remember when you were 15, you and your mom were picking up dinner one night at a local place and in walks Luke, Jack, and Ellen. You squealed when you saw him, running over to say hey. The boys had been in town for hockey, weirdly enough.

Interactions like that happened way more often than normal, you randomly bumped into the boy at least once every two or three months for years.

were there clues i didn't see? and isn't it just so pretty to think,

You remember when you were surprised by Luke at age 17. He came and surprised you as your prom date and you were floored. He had flowers and a corsage for you, and his tie matched your dress perfectly. Your moms thought it was the cutest thing ever, how you both blushed and giggled when near each other.

all along there was some invisible string, tying you to me?

Even though you two couldn't seem to get away from each other, neither of you ever made a move romantically. It just didn't seem realistic, you already lived hours away from each other and were going to colleges even farther, well Luke was going to the NHL but you get the point.

You guys were just best friends, always best friends. Your families knew, especially his brothers. They were your biggest fans, probably because they saw how you made their baby brother, how soft he was with you. You made him gentle, but also made him more comfortable and talkative, which Quinn and Jack loved.

ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Luke made you weak, and your family noticed. You could jokingly bicker with him, but when it came down to real disagreement, you never could with Luke. He just gave you those deep hazel eyes and you were melted on the floor. He was just that person for you. The one who could ask you to do anything under the sun and you'd do it for his praise.

You spent long nights with Luke, sitting in the backyard of one of your lake houses and watching the moon and stars and talking about anything. You could listen to Luke talk about property tax for hours and probably never get bored, that's how much you admired him.

bad was the blood of the song in the cab, on your first trip to L.A. you ate at my favorite spot for dinner.

You remember the weirdest instance of your bumping into each other, you were in Los Angeles with friends during the very beginning of winter break and saw Luke eating in the same restaurant as you with a couple of his friends.

You texted him, not believing what you were seeing. You asked him if he was in L.A. When he responded 'Yes just for a few days why' you were shocked. You stood and made your way across the noisy restaurant and went up to his table, where you put your hand on his shoulder and when he turned around, he was the most surprised he'd been in a long time.

You remember he jumped up, hugging you so tightly, pulling away with his jaw still dropped. You guys always told each other you had to stop meeting 'like this', but it never seemed to stop.

The next day, you two planned to branch out from your friends and meet up for lunch. You guys drove a little ways from Los Angeles, east into the country, and ate at the cutest restaurant that had a view of a lake. You two always found yourselves together by lakes.

bold was the waitress on our three year trip, getting lunches down by the lake. she said i looked like an american singer.

You remember how bold your waitress was at that restaurant, immediately boasting about how she thought you two were the cutest couple she'd ever seen. Your face was burning hot, trying not to have a breakdown in the middle of the restaurant. It got even worse when Luke didn't correct her and just said 'Thank you', instead.

That was the last time you saw Luke, you were hoping to see him very soon, though. It had been almost two weeks since the loss to the Canes, so it made sense for the boys to be arriving soon. You'd already seen Ellen and Jim a couple of nights on the back porch with your parents, but no 6'2 boys named Luke were to be seen.

time, mystical time. cutting me open then healing me fine. were there clues i didn't see?

You'd had two boyfriends in your life. One in your 8th-grade year and freshman year of high school, then one in your junior year of high school. You'd broken up with boyfriend #2 because you realized you compared him to Luke, every move he made, you compared to Luke. It made you feel terrible, but you were head over heels for another boy.

You and Luke had your senior sunrises on the same day during your senior years, and decided to skip them and drive to the lake to watch the sunrise together. Your moms were furious, but it was one of the best memories you had with him.

Your interest in each other was so painfully obvious that most of your and his family referred to you as his girl during the summer. 'Where's Luke's girl?', or 'We're just waiting for Moose's girl.' It was never when you two were in the same room, so your reactions were always priceless.

and isn't it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string, tying you to me?

Your family was back from their afternoon boating escapade and you could hear them all bustling in. The second they walked in you heard your brother shout for you.

"Moosey's girl! Come down here!"

ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

You blushed madly, getting up from your bed and walking down the stairs with an annoyed look on your face. When you got to the bottom of the stairs you could see your sister-in-law slapping your brother across the back of his head, telling him to leave you alone.

"What do you want?"

You immediately went from annoyed to overjoyed when your almost two year old niece ran over to you, shouting out your name. You picked her up, giving her a kiss on her tubby cheek, embracing her sandy and salt water ridden love.

"We're going out to dinner in like, an hour and a half? Honestly just whenever we can get that little monster bathed and dressed."

You nodded but immediately jumped to defend your little best friend.

"This thing? This baby is an angel, aren't you?"

The little girl nodded, a sassy smile on her face as she tried to say 'angel, dada.' in her slurred toddler speech.

"See?"

Your brother gave you both a look, before springing into action to grab his baby, tickling all the giggles and sqeals out of her.

You talked and played for a little longer before getting ready to go. You quickly showered and dried your hair, putting on a little linen white summer dress, and your old pair of Birkenstocks. You drove with your brother and sister-in-law on the way to dinner, sitting next to your niece in the backseat.

a string that pulled me out of all the wrong arms, right into that dive bar.

You guys were seated immediately at the restaurant, you sat between your sister-in-law and dad at the table, just close enough to talk to your favorite niece.

The restaurant was a popular spot for locals and tourists near the lake. It had a big bar in the middle and lots of tables surrounding, it was loud, but not obnoxious, and very homey. You'd probably been there over a hundred times in your life.

You were watching a random golf tournament on one of the many TVs in the bar when your brother called out your name. You looked up and the look on his face was excitement and shock.

"Look who happened to show up!"

something wrapped up all of my past mistakes, in barbed wire. chains around my demons. wool to brave the seasons.

He pointed behind him, and your eyes followed the trail to the entrance, where you saw none other than Luke Hughes standing with his family, waiting to be seated. Your jaw dropped, and a smile came over you. You saw Quinn hit Luke and then point directly at you, and when your eyes met Luke's, you could've fainted. He was in khakis and a white polo and looked so handsome.

You stood up, mumbling something to your family before practically running over to the entrance, throwing your arms around Luke.

one single thread of gold tied me to you.

"Holy shit."

Luke had his arms wrapped around you so tightly, he was so surprised to see you. He knew he would have seen you tomorrow if not tonight but he still just missed you and was shocked.

"We have gotta stop meeting like this."

You giggled when you pulled away from him, as reluctant as you were on the inside. You quickly hugged the rest of his family, not without Jack whispering, 'hey Moose's girl' to you.

You pleaded with the bar staff to push more tables together so you could sit with the Hughes, and it didn't take much convincing, seeing they'd known you since you were 6.

You sat next to Luke after the readjustment for the new tables, now sitting between him and your niece, who had all but thrown a fit about how she wanted to sit by you, not her dad, which made you laugh in his face.

At some point, you'd taken the baby from her high chair and brought her into your lap. You and Luke were both in your little world with her, she was so cute and loving. You guys didn't notice how practically the whole table stared at you with knowing eyes, they all knew, everyone except for you two.

The food came, and the baby was back in her seat. You just talked and talked and talked to Luke. You'd last seen him in December, and there was just so much to say. You'd both had tons of stuff happen to you, his NHL career, your career, everything was so exciting to tell him about.

Luke was so heavily infatuated with you, it was funny. His brothers watched as he folded for you so easily, admiring every syllable that left your mouth, nodding like a man possessed. They mumbled to each other, making fun of their baby brother's obliviousness.

cold was the steel of my axe to grind, for the boys who broke my heart. now i send their babies presents.

At some point, dinner got a little bit boring so you pulled out your phone, and what popped up was the baby registry you were buying something off of for your ex-boyfriend's pregnant wife. It was funny, how everything boiled down. Luke saw the infant clothing on your phone and gave you a questionable look.

"'S there something you're not telling me?"

You looked up at him, then back to your phone, your eyes going wide at the insinuation.

"Oh my God, Luke, no! This is for Darren's soon to be born baby, with his wife.

"Darren? Like your ex boyfriend Darren?"

You nodded, laughing and explaining the whole thing to him. You'd somehow become friends with his now wife in your freshman year of college, her junior year, and with the way the world worked for you of course she was married to your ex-boyfriend.

The rest of the night was perfect, and ended with your whole family, minus your sleeping niece, in the Hughes' backyard around the fire pit. That night you ended up right back where you were in the picture on your nightstand, right in Luke's lap in your favorite Adirondack chair.

You spent the next week with the Hughes boys, specifically your Hughes boy. You drove the boat out on the lake, wake surfed, Luke even convinced you to go golfing, not that it took him very long because you would say yes to anything he asked.

gold were the color of the leaves, when i showed you centennial park.

You sat by Luke at the end of the dock while you two watched the very cloudy sunset. There was supposed to be rain soon, but it didn't mean the sunset wasn't still pretty. Your thighs were pressed together with how close you sat to each other, giving you both warmth in your chest.

Neither of you said anything, but you both felt something when you let your head rest on his shoulder.

"This is so pretty, Lukey. I missed this with you."

It wasn't much, but it was a way to say that you loved him without saying the real words. I missed watching the sunset with you, I've always loved you.

hell was the journey, but it brought me heaven.

"I missed you."

You closed your eyes, you just wanted to be with him, didn't matter where. You could be watching a sunset on the lake or climbing a mountain, if you were with Luke you were happy.

"Think it's gonna rain soon?"

You looked up at him when you asked, your head never leaving his shoulder. He looked down for a second, before looking out at the sky.

time, wondrous time. gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies.

"Probably, but let's just stay for a few more minutes, okay?"

"Okay."

You relaxed into him further. His arm went to your back, rubbing back and forth. It could probably be pouring down rain and you wouldn't even notice, not when you had Luke with you, like this, you were Moose's girl after all.

It started sprinkling, causing you to look back at Luke, waiting to see if he reacted. He didnt, so you just stayed. Rain never hurt anybody, you'd be the last person to ruin this moment complaining about rain.

This was so strange. It felt like you were stuck in time, the gentle rain made you feel encapsulated in the moment. You sat there, staring off at the sky, the sunset was not as clear now with the thick clouds rolling in, but the colors were still there. The rain kept on passing through, the drops gaining weight and speed.

Luke didn't mind the rain, but he didn't want you to feel like he was forcing you out here, so he shifted to stand, grabbing your hand.

"C'mon, you can't get sick during summer."

You sighed, letting him pull you to your feet. He didn't let go of your hand as he turned to pull you back to your house. You don't know what came over you, but the circumstances seemed perfect, you felt like you had to tell him. You pulled him to a stop, and he turned to look with a confused face.

"What's wrong?"

You looked from him to the ground, looking at your feet, the worn dock you'd run around on summer after summer, the lake you grew up swimming with him in. This place was so full of Luke, of you and Luke.

"I, I really like you Luke. Like literally since we were 12, and I, I just.."

You trailed off, looking anywhere but those eyes.

Luke was flabbergasted. That's the only word to describe how he felt. The girl he was in love with, just said she liked him since they were little. He just stared at her, not believing what he heard.

"Are you for real?"

You would've been embarrassed, had you not heard the pure hope in his voice. You nodded, feeling your face heat up. You covered your face with your hands self-consciously. If you could look at Luke's face, you would’ve seen how he was red all from his neck to his ears.

Luke gently grabbed your hands, pulling them away from your face, and replacing them with his own. He tilted your head back so you looked at him, staring at you for just a second before pulling you in, kissing you, finally.

and it's cool, baby, with me.

Holy shit. You were freaking out, you were probably gonna be jumping up and down whenever he decided to stop kissing you. He did pull away, after a long while, when the rain started pouring. The colors of the sunset had been drowned out by the thunderclouds but you two still felt all sunny on the inside.

There was a rumble in the far distance, while you stared at him, and him back at you. You couldn't contain your excitement, you felt like running a marathon.

"Oh my God."

Your hands went back to your face, and you literally jumped. Luke laughed as you surged with happiness. He felt the same way, his smile bigger and brighter than ever before.

You grabbed his hand, tugging him back to your house quickly. You were finally under the cover of your back porch, out of harm's way. You grabbed two towels from the outside cupboards and wrapped yourselves up, you dried your feet off before running up the stairs, Luke hot on your tail.

You two got upstairs and sat on your bathroom counter while you dried off. You talked quietly, giggling an awful lot.

Once you got dry enough, you led him to your bedroom. You grabbed one of his sweatshirts you had before going to take a pair of your brother's shorts, throwing them to Luke when you got back to your room.

"Here, go change so you don't get sick."

You noticed he had more than the stuff you'd just thrown at him in his hands, he had the picture that previously sat on your night stand.

and isn't it just so pretty to think,

"I like this picture, you have to send it to me, baby."

Baby? You could've died. You nodded, mumbling out an butchered agreement, gesturing for him to leave and get dressed again.

While he was gone, you changed into some sweatpants and another one of Luke's sweatshirts, one you'd had for almost two years. When Luke came back into your room, he'd noticed your sweatshirt immediately. It was from his travel team when he was 16, and it made him so happy.

all along there was some invisible string,

You smiled at him sweetly as he walked back over to you, grabbing your face and kissing you for the second time in the last thirty minutes. You got the same butterflies you'd had living inside you since you were a little girl. This boy had been living in your head since you'd known him, and he was finally yours after you'd been his girl for so many years.

tying you to me?

You both pulled away, wrapping each other in a hug. Luke rocked you two back and forth, leaving kisses on your head.

"I love you, Moosey."

"I love you."

ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh he-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

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goldsainz · 11 months

Text

THE ERAS TOUR — one shot.

pairing: charles leclerc x reader

MASTERLIST.

NOTE: this is fully to ignore the fact that i probably will not see taylor in argentina bc the chances of getting tickets are insane, which is okay (i already cried my eyes out) — still doesn't make it hurt any less — but i have hope another opportunity will come! nicki is amazing and after yesterday’s race (forza ferrari fr) all ferrari fans need a pick me up. enjoy this random fic!! this is kinda all over the place, but we move (italics = translation)

iked by charles_leclerc, taylorswift and 1,476,038 others

yourusername QUE?? chicos yo no puedo creer esto... ABRO EL SHOW PARA TAYLOR SWIFT!! esto es un sueño cumplido y mucho más... les dejo esta foto de cuando me enteré sobre esto hace unos meses 🙃

WHAT?? guys i cannot believe this... I OPEN TAYLOR SWIFT'S SHOW!! this is a dream come true and so much more... i leave you this picture of when i found out about this a couple months ago 🙃

view all 22,140 comments

taylorswift You are gonna kill this!!! 💕✨😁

⤷ yoursername estoy llorando!!! te amo 🤍 i'm crying!!! i love you

ynfan1 I LITERALLY DIED DEAD

taylorfan1 when world's collide... i need tickets rn

ynfan2 argentina >>

charles_leclerc So incredibly proud of you ❤️ ps: I took that picture while she face-timed me 😉

⤷ yourusername let's all thank charles

⤷ ynfan3 thank you!!

charlesfan1 don't know how ¡'m gonna get tickets... but i will

ynfan4 im broke but never broke enough for taylor and y/n

ynfan5 verla irse internacional me pone contentísima seeing her go international makes me so happy

liked by taylornation, mariabecerra and 1,392,674 others

yourusername méxico, fuiste mágico! siguiente parada, argentina 🇦🇷 no puedo esperar para cantar en mi país!! los amo tanto, esta oportunidad sin ustedes no sería posible ❤️‍🩹

mexico, you were magical! next stop, argentina 🇦🇷 i can't wait to sing in my country!! i love you so much, this opportunity would not be possible without you ❤️‍🩹

view all 20,891 comments

ynfan21 KILLED IT!!!!!!

charles _leclerc Even though I couldn't make it, I always go where you go, this time it was by watching every clip I could find. Words cannot describe how proud I am of you, amour

⤷ yoursername i'm so lucky to have you!! te amoo i love youu

charlesfan21 the fact that taylor played ciwyw, sweet nothing and cornelia street for her and charles... now that's true love

charlesfan22 missing her at the races

ynfan22 PODER VERLA FUE LO MEJOR QUE ME PASO!!! BEING ABLE TO SEE HER WAS THE BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO ME!!!

charlesfan23 charles's comments keep my hope for true love alive

ynfan23 LA AMO I LOVE HER

charlesfan24 need to see her live

liked by ynfan31, charlesfan31 and 28,576 others

ynupdates Y/N at the Monza Grand Prix 03/09

view all 429 comments

ynfan32 SERVING LOOKS

ynfan33 best couple ever cause she’s on break and still travelling to see charles

user31 her and rosalia together is everything to me

charlesfan32 i need pics of them together NOW.

user32 rauw being cropped is killing me

ynfan34 mother is mothering fr

charlesfan33 her presence is the good luck ferrari needs

liked by ynupdates and 1,037 others

liked by scuderiaferrari, carmenmmundt and 2,185,703 others

yoursername CONGRATULATIONS!!! it never fails to amaze me just how talented you are, the year started rough but you pushed forward!! P1 is everything you hoped for and more, but no matter the result, i will always cheer you on

view all 32,785 comments

user41 IF MY PARTNER ISN'T THIS SUPPORTIVE, I DON'T WANT IT

scuderiaferrari Thank you, Y/N, for your endless support!

charles_leclerc Thank you for supporting me and letting me hug you when I'm soaked in champagne!

yoursername always, mi amor 🫶 my love

ynfan41 THE CARDIGANS ARE SOOO CUTE

charlesfan41 the fact that when y/n goes he drives like there’s no tomorrow

ynfan42 idk but y/n ignoring ferrari's comment is kind badass…..

⤷ charlesfan42 after all the shit they put him through it's well deserved

charlesfan43 THERE IS HOPE FOR FERRARI AFTER ALL

ynfan43 alguien que me consiga una relación asi someone get me a relationship like this

charlesfan44 y/n is just like us fr, ignoring ferrari and loving

liked by sabrinacarpenter, landonorris and 2,504,781 other

yourusername que ciudad tan mágica que es buenos aires! nunca me sentí tan amada en mi país como en esas horitas que compartimos!! gracias por las pulseritas de amistad que me dieron, no me las saco nunca más 💞💞

what a magical city that is buenos aires! i never felt so loved in my country as i did in those hours we shared!! thank you for all the friendship bracelets you gave me, i will never take them off 💞💞

view all 37,568 comments

charles_leclerc Never met someone that made me feel the things I feel, you are the one for me. Cannot wait to see you after so long and have you in my arms, watching a livestream to see you perform will do for now. I love you, so much, mon chéri ❤️

⤷ yourusername i just shed a couple tears... te amo tanto 🫶🥹 i love you so much

ynfan51 charles's comment... the highway looks so nice rn

ynfan52 REINA LA ROMPISTE!!!! QUEEN YOU KILLED IT

charlesfan51 lover is actually about them, taylor told me herself

orianasabatini llore cuando te vi!! sos una genia, hermosa 🤩 i cried when i saw you!!! you are a genius, beautiful

liked by yourusername and 26,930 others

charlesfan52 CHARLES YOU BETTER TREAT HER WELL

⤷ ynfan53 after the comment that he left there is no doubt

user51 entre que la vi a taylor y a ella 2 veces, mi vida esta completa!! between seeing taylor and her 2 times, my life is complete!!

ynfan54 nothing will ever top seeing her live

602 notes · View notes

kykyonthemoon · 12 days

Note

Xavier doing a light show for you short story please? Thank you. 😊

Fireflies

Lost in a dark place after a mission, you find comfort and support from the little friends sent by him.

ಇ. Xavier x Reader/MC

ಇ. Tags: soft fluff, no established relationship yet, guiding lights

ಇ. Word count: ~1k1

ಇ. Masterlist

ಇ. Notes: This fic was inspired by the two songs: Fireflies by Owl City and Daylight by Taylor Swift.

Thank you for the request <3

The lights above your head flickered and then turned off completely, plunging you into darkness in the heart of a cold abandoned tunnel. You quickly turned on the watch on your wrist, but its flickering light was little compared to this pitch-dark place.

Trying to remain cool, you used the watch to scan the surroundings once. There was no longer any threat as your mission was completed. What remained was to find a way out of here. Since this location was relatively distant from Linkon, the tunnel had been abandoned, and the map had not been updated, you could no longer rely on the Hunter's Watch to discover the way out. So you fumbled in the dark and returned the same way you had entered.

But the battle just now with the Wandering Monsters had collapsed a section of the tunnel, making it impossible for you to return, so you must go on. The further you went, the darker it became. The cold and all the unpleasant smells in the tunnel made you dizzy. You truly wanted to escape this place.

Because it evoked unsettling memories.

You had no idea what those memories were or when they had happened to you. You felt a faint sense of being imprisoned, abandoned in the dark and cold. There was no life—only oblivion. All of a sudden, you were paralyzed with fear. You were not a weak Hunter and were completely able to finish the mission on your own. But, at that very moment, you needed a companion more than ever.

At that point, you noticed a tiny bit of light ahead. Perhaps the exit was right there. You rushed towards it, only to find that the light was also racing at you.

You paused. The light moved. It resembled a firefly, but with a brighter golden hue than usual. It danced around you, as if it was delighted to have discovered you in a place like this. You extended a hand to receive it. Its warmth seeped into the palm of your hand, calming and reassuring you.

Then, from where it came, hundreds more fireflies just like the first one appeared. They flew close together, filling in to wake up the tunnel that had recently lost power as if they were hosting a light party. They followed one another, whirling over your head and buzzing around you. Then they fanned out on both sides of the path, carefully lined up to illuminate the route ahead for you.

Why were there fireflies? You were startled, yet grateful to these lights for coming by your side, accompanying you and supporting you when you didn't want to be alone in this situation. You thanked them with a nod before taking a step forward.

You followed the guiding light. Every turn and obstacle on the route was clearly marked by their lights. Sometimes they even formed an arrow to indicate the direction. And occasionally they made you giggle by forming adorable plushies that were so similar to the ones you had piled up in your bedroom. Such a pleasant and familiar warmth had you wondering, were these guiding fireflies sent from an angel you might know?

Feeling the chilly wind and the rustle of leaves over your head, you knew you had exited the tunnel. However, the landscape ahead was still somewhat gloomy. The moonlight was unable to penetrate through the foliage, and the woodland in front of you was dense with mist. But you were no longer terrified. The fireflies that had always been at your side suddenly flew forward, guiding you through the forest.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" You couldn't help but be fascinated. "Are you taking me home, or somewhere else?"

A small cloud of fireflies gathered in front of you, creating the shape of a charming rabbit. He gave you an adoring gaze for a brief moment. His warm, luminous nose caressed your fingertips, beckoning you to follow him. The entire woodland blazed with firefly light as the rabbit galloped onward, dashing into the mist.

You hurriedly followed. The rabbit led you along the path up the mountain. The woods thinned out as you ascended higher, revealing a pure sky with the moon and stars lazily staring down. All the rays of light raced past you, converging on that very golden rabbit. Then the entire thing flew into the sky, exploding like magnificent fireworks.

Your eyes were wide open, in such amazement that you were speechless with the light show above your head. You climbed to the top of the mountain and recognized that silhouette from afar.

"Isn't it pretty?"

A familiar voice rang out. Xavier stood there, surrounded by tens of thousands of glowing fireflies. He turned slightly to look at you. He raised one hand to chest level, and the dots of light gathered into a swirl, as if he were holding the entire galaxy in the palm of his hand.

“It's you.” You shouted in joy. You had already guessed it. Who could possess such a warm, beautiful Evol light other than him? Who could find you no matter any darkness you were, but him?

The light from him gradually flowed towards you, touching your body, your hair, gently leaving a tickle on your nose, and making you laugh. You gazed at him, who was gently striding towards you. You used to think that love had all kinds of brilliant colors, but it turned out to be just a simple yet wonderfully warm golden. His golden color.

Xavier released the lights up high, allowing them to blossom into a new series of fireworks. Then you both sat down on the grass and watched.

“How did Xavier find me? I recall you have no missions today."

Xavier smiled. He did not rush to answer right away, simply gazed at you like that. Perhaps you had also guessed something. Was it not a coincidence that every time you went on a mission alone or got into a dangerous situation, he would always appear in time to help?

"Thank you." You said. Despite the fact that you had only known him for a short time, you felt at ease with him, almost dependent on him somehow.

“In the future, if you get lost, just follow the light from my little firefly friends.”

You nodded. The breeze wafted the aroma of wildflowers about. Shoulder to shoulder, you and Xavier seemed to be drawing a little closer together.

No matter how frightening the darkness I fall into, I will always find my way home, thanks to you.

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esther-dot · 5 months

Text

MODERN AUs

tis the damn season 5k by @wildflower-daydreamer

Every year, Sansa comes back to her small hometown of Winterfell for Christmas. And each year, she and Jon fall into their old routine for her short stay. This year would be no different. Okay, maybe a little different. Inspired by the song 'tis the damn season by Taylor Swift. corresponding gif

Mistletoe Merriment 4k by @geekprincess26

Theon Greyjoy loves kissing pretty girls, so naturally he loves breaking out the mistletoe and spiked punch every year at the Starks' annual Christmas party. And every year, the girl he kissed the prior year shows up with an awesome new boyfriend - every girl except for Sansa Stark, who ends up with slimy, pathetic gits. Theon will have to go to ridiculous lengths, not to mention risk the legendary wrath of Jon Snow, in order to get Sansa the boyfriend she deserves. But he'll do it, because Theon Greyjoy is a loyal friend - and he'll never let a stupid sprig of mistletoe get the better of him.

When the Grinch Met the Redhead 1k by @yenstarkofrivia

the one where Sansa likes to sing Christmas songs at 3am and Jon is a miserable Grinch

merry and bright 27k by @cellsshapedlikestars

ex-child star Sansa Stark is in desperate need of money and takes a role in a Hallmark Christmas movie, filming in the mountain resort town of Wintertown, Vermont. There, Fire Chief Jon Snow is on set to oversee safety regulations. Sansa hates Christmas and she hates small towns, but a casual fling with a rugged local fireman might be just what she needs.

four 5k by @cellsshapedlikestars (I've reread this fic many times)

She had never put Jon and Christmas together, but now she thinks she'll never be able to separate them. or, four Christmases, three midnight excursions, two angry siblings, and one boy at the center of it all

Be My +1 47k by @vivilove-jonsa

Seven months after she attended a wedding with her brother's work colleague (and gave him a tipsy, unrequited kiss when he walked her to the door), Sansa Stark finds herself in the unenviable situation of desperately needing a date for her prep school reunion at a ski resort which will also be attended by her ex-boyfriend/boss's son, Harry Hardyng and her Former-BFF/Frenemy, Margaery Tyrell.

The Best Christmas Present (Is You) 3k @foreverreadingbeautifulbooks

Every year the Starks and honorary Starks spent the week of Christmas in the most northern of the lodges they owned. No guests were allowed to visit the lodge during that week and it was the one time a year where no one in their family was allowed to work. Everyone hung out, played in the snow, skied, baked, ate lots of food, and simply enjoyed being together. It was refreshing to spend so much time with her family since she felt like she’d barely seen them this last year. But, if Sansa was honest, after five days of hanging out with them nonstop, she’d been looking forward to spending a little bit of time by herself. Every year on Christmas Eve, while her mom and dad picked out the tree, Bran would play chess with their neighbor’s son, Lyanna - who was notorious for buying gifts at the last minute - went shopping, Arya and the rest of the boys would challenge each other to skiing contests, and Sansa would take that opportunity to have her own private holiday celebration indoors. She would warm up some hot chocolate, turn up her Christmas playlist, and snuggle down in some blankets to wrap all of her Christmas presents. But not this year. This year she was stuck with Jon Snow and his broken ankle.

the perfect gift for christmas for me would be 5k

“Be my boyfriend,” Sansa says. Jon's eyebrows raise, and she amends, “My fake boyfriend." or, Sansa, Jon, and fake dating for the winter holidays.

Christmas Carriage Ride 1.5k

Jon Snow has grown tired of his holiday job driving a horse-drawn carriage around the streets of Chicago. Then Sansa shows up, and Jon sees the city through new eyes

#LockedinLovers 8k by @amymel86

the one where Sansa and Jon are locked in a big ol' department store over Christmas because of a convenient snow storm

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3k by @ladysalvatore3

Sansa Stark was far from being perfect; she occasionally forgot to put the lid back on the toothpaste, she was constantly arriving late to places, she didn’t know how to change a tire or had any idea of what path her life was going to take, but there were three things that Sansa was absolutely sure about. She loved to write. Christmas was the best holiday ever. She hated Jon Snow.

'Tis the Damn Season 4k by @justhereforfandomandfriends

Four times Jon doesn’t ask Sansa to stay, and the one time he does. Sansa Stark was sneaking out of her childhood bedroom to sleep in Jon Snow's bed. If you'd told teenage Sansa, she'd have laughed in scorn (but she’d have flushed too). Twenty-nine year old Sansa was almost used to it. By now, it was practically a tradition, and there was nothing Sansa loved more than holiday traditions. corresponding moodboard

when the snow falls and the white wind blows 10k

Sansa Stark and Jon Snow had never been particularly close, but since her brother died and the two moved to the same city they have been spending more time together. Sansa tells herself Jon sees her as the little girl who lived in the house beside his. Jon tells himself Sansa sees him as nothing more than her brother's best friend. But when the two are snowed in on the way back home for Christmas, their thoughts change.

Shamelessly Un-christmas 3k by @jade-masquerade

After Jon denied her a kiss under the mistletoe last Christmas, Sansa tries to make amends.

A Tale of Two Christmases 2k by @jade-masquerade

A Christmas gift mix-up involving a special sweater brings Sansa and Jon together. corresponding fanart by @grrmartin

all i want for christmas is you...to tell everyone we're together 2k by @ben-barnes-is-my-husband

It's Christmas and all Jon wants is for he and Sansa to be public with their relationship.

Who's coming to you tonight? 1k by @kissed-by-circe

“So you want me, me and no one else, to dress up as Nikolaus and bring wee-“ his mind scrambles as he tries to remember the boy’s name, because Arya only uses pet names for him, and he doubts that her sister named her child Woolfling, Dr Snuggles, or Baby-Bear, “wee… Ar- Artos some candy, and tell him that he’s been naughty?” Arya forces Jon to play Nikolaus for her lil nephew, and somehow forgets to mention that singlemom!Sansa is really really hot

Lights 7k by @charmtion

Two years ago, Arya turned up on Jon and Sansa’s doorstep and left after a single, soul-aching conversation. Now they are gathered back together for a Stark family Christmas, where old wounds and new secrets threaten to collide.

Door to Door Delivery 2k by @hilarychuff

A drabble inspired by my While You Were Sleeping (1995). Jon walks Sansa home during a Chicago winter.

The Spirit of Christmas Gifset by @aureliacamargo

All I Want for Christmas Jonsa vid by @aerishe

FOLGERSCEST INSPIRED

(yes, that commercial prompted Jonsa content which makes me laugh so it gets a special shout-out!)

Perks of the Queen 5k by @intothecest

After years in his exile in the Night's Watch, Jon Snow finally answers a summons to Winterfell from his sister, Queen in the North, just in time for a festival. Gifts are exchanged, long-simmering feelings percolate up, and, oh yes, coffee has come to Westeros.

The Best Part of Waking Up 5k @jillypups

After a long stint up in Alaska doing manly things, Jon Snow comes back to the Stark family home where he spent nearly all of his childhood, where he called the Stark kids brother and sister. But things change after a few years go by.

Gifset by @cindy-clawford

OTHER

Light in the Darkest Days of the Year Little Women AU/historical AU 9k by @sibyldisobedience

Winterfell was a handsome old house of modest proportions, that had once seen better days. Its green shutters and gables had faded to a dull grey. Its stone walls could use a new coat of whitewash. And its family, the Starks, had once been counted amongst the most distinguished in Wintertown — a small, sleepy hamlet, just north of the bustling port city of White Harbour, where it was as likely to snow in the summer as not. But despite this dreary description, Winterfell was the happiest little home in the neighbourhood. Even on the darkest, coldest days of winter, the little grey house radiated warmth and light from its frosted-over windows, like a beacon.

Fairy Lights and Mistletoe 3k Hogwarts AU, by @maybetwice

Sansa has every intention of going to the Yule Ball with Jon, even though he isn't sure why.

Shine Your Light on Me 2k canon verse @thatgirlnevershutsup

Let's celebrate a Northern holiday with Sansa and Jon! Think about a Hallmark Christmas movie set in Westeros, and you're on the right track.

A Stark Solstice 1.5k canon verse @ritzintherabbithole

It’s only fitting, she thought, that fresh snow should blanket the land around Winterfell today of all days. It is pristine, virgin white snow, seemingly pure, but Sansa know knows the kind of monsters that hide in the cold and her time spent in King’s Landing cured her of any instinct to trust appearances.

A midwinter night's dream 2k canon verse

After the Long Night, Sansa fears winter more than ever. How will her new born daughter survive a winter that might last for years? But magic is gone from Westeros, and soon it becomes clear that every season only lasts for a few moons. Though winters are still brutal, there is always an end in sight. And every year on the darkest day of them all, the Starks in Winterfell have a feast.

Festive Jonsa Edit

Christmas Is Here Gifset and Merry Christmas Gifset by @tiny-little-bird

PRE CANON - WESTERN - FAIRYTALE - REGENCY - LITTLE WOMEN - SEASON SIX - ANNE OF GREEN GABLES - THE GIRL IN GREY - FREE CITIES - FAIRYTALE PART II - POLITICAL MARRIAGE - SALTY TEENS

#jonsa #jonsa fic #holiday au #christmas au #modern au #dot fic list

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reikaryu · 1 year

Text

“ enchanted ”

— a yoon jeonghan x fem!reader one-shot ! for years, you’ve been trying to find the perfect one to be your husband. on one enchanted night, you finally meet him. but he isn’t who he seems to be. based off enchanted by taylor swift.

GENRE. fluff, royal!au

WARNING(S). mentions of food, very little angst somewhere at the back, intentional contradiction

WORD COUNT. 2.2k words

A/N. this song makes me so emotional because it played at my most memorable camp ever. that night is so special to me, which makes this song (and two others that I will write fics of too !!) special as well. I hope everyone likes this ! I put a lot of effort into it <3

There I was again tonight Forcing laughter, faking smiles Same old tired, lonely place

You were slipping in between the little gaps people left in the crowd, careful not to spill the wine in your glass. You greeted almost everyone who was in your way, keeping a kind smile plastered on your face. You hated these kinds of gatherings (or balls, as what your parents always preferred to use), but due to your heritage, you had no choice in the matter of attending.

As the only child of your parents, you had to take on the role of their heir. (They were their own parents’ only children and heirs too, which made you wonder whether they had no siblings by choice or genetics — or whether having only one child was a curse to the members of the Heralle family and those who married in.) And as their heir, attending these balls was absolutely necessary.

It wasn’t that you hated being an enchantress yourself. You actually loved it, but the duties that came with the title were dreadful even to mention. Finding suitors, going on ‘dates’ with them — you name it. They were boring and useless to you, because these suitors never piqued your interest once. You couldn’t even call any one of them handsome or good-looking. You were turning eighteen in a few days and spent the past six years searching for the one. But he never came.

So today was your nth chance to find him. You made sure no one familiar was invited, because anyone familiar couldn’t ever make your heart race.

But today’s ball was no ordinary ball. It was a ball every enchantress would experience only once in her life; a ball that was held especially for her to find her lifelong partner, even if she was convinced that she had. The Ball would be held precisely eight days before her eighteenth birthday, so they would be able to spend some time with their newfound significant other before their big day.

Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy

Everyone you had met since your Enchantress’ Ball had started was not the one. You just knew it. Every man that approached you with what they thought were the most charming smiles on their faces was given a polite smile and curtsy in return, which perfectly hid your growing annoyance and frustration. Where was he? Did it usually take this long to find him?

You never stayed in one place for more than five minutes, your eyes frequently wandering in search of him. You might have already passed out from all the wine you drank if it wasn’t for your apparently high alcohol tolerance. The various guests must have found it vexatious that you kept switching tables, though it wasn’t your fault you were so alluring — one of an enchantress’ many gifts.

After switching tables for the seventeenth time, you made your way to your parents’ table, the guests excusing themselves, assuming you wanted some privacy with your parents. You sat down beside your mother, letting out the deepest sigh you’ve ever had that day. Your father smiled at your actions, leaning in to say, “By the way, sweetheart, your mother didn’t have the easiest time finding me.”

She chuckled, reaching out a hand to rest on yours. “Your father’s right, sweetie. I met fifty-eight suitors before he came about. I counted because they were all very memorable in a bad way,” your mother assured you, giving you a smile with all the motherly love she had. You felt better after your parents’ reassurance, excusing yourself to find more potential love interests.

Vanished when I saw your face All I can say is, it was enchanting to meet you

You walked around the ballroom, conversing with new people cordially, even making friends with the sisters of a few suitors, empathising with each other how arduous it was finding the one. That lifted your spirits by a ton.

You were nine suitors in after the conversation with your parents when you made your way to the drinks section, planning to refill your glass of wine, which had become your staple of the night. On your way to nowhere in particular after retrieving your favourite type of wine, you locked eyes with a suitor you hadn’t met before.

Your surroundings seemed to stop as you gazed into his irises longer (which they did, considering you’re a literal enchantress). Your eyes fell on his short blonde hair, noticing how it grazed his eyelashes and settled beautifully. His face looked so angelic, much like he was an angel himself.

Maybe he was the one.

Your eyes whispered, “Have we met?” ‘Cross the room your silhouette Starts to make its way to me

The world started moving again and no one raised any questions at the sudden pause in time. The blonde suitor cocked his head a little to the side, as if asking, Do I look familiar? Of course, he couldn’t have known that familiar faces don’t show up at gatherings held for you.

You forced your eyes to look away, turning slightly when someone called out your name near the dance floor. You made your way over, gracefully taking a sip of your wine. You remembered your mother had told you once, “If he is it, he’ll come to you if your attention isn’t on him.” Heeding her advice, you started small talk with one of the sisters you had met earlier.

Just like you’d thought, the handsome blonde suitor approached you from behind, apologising to those in the way. You felt his breath before he spoke, “Enchantress Heralle?” His voice matched his appearance all too well, and your assumption was all too right. You were going to excuse yourself but the sister you were talking to did it first, sending you a wink before taking her leave. You hoped she was right.

The playful conversation starts Counter all your quick remarks Like passing notes in secrecy

You smiled up at the blonde suitor. “Hello. It’s a great night, isn’t it?” you started, happy to see that he grinned at your reply. “Yes, it really is,” he breathed, “but I find it especially inappropriate to continue this conversation without introducing myself. I’m Yoon Jeonghan; don’t know if you’ve heard about me before.”

He was so graceful with his words, you’d almost thought that he was the male equivalent of you. You chuckled lightly, downing some of your wine, then swirling it in your glass out of habit. “Your family is quite well known in my household. The Yoons have been mentioned quite a few times during dinners,” you stated elegantly, keeping your smile. “I must say, however, that it is a pity I haven’t got to meet a member of the family before you.”

Jeonghan — god, even his name is so pretty — seemed flustered at your statement, but he managed to cover it up with his coolness. “The Enchantress Heralle has just praised my family. I find it quite an honour,” he teased lightly, “or do I call you Madame Enchantress Heralle?” He really did know how to make your heart flutter.

(The noun ‘Madame’ is only used when the referred woman is married.)

“Shall I remind you, Mr. Yoon, that the Ball you are currently at is my Enchantress’ Ball?” you answered in the same tone he used, “I must add that marriage is a topic for a more grown-up me with experience in love.”

“But of course, my Enchantress.” You did not fail to notice the change in approach. He sounded more dignified. “Forgive me for this, but I doubt you have yet to find a suitable partner.” He was now carrying a smirk on his beautiful features, and you find yourself lost in his eyes again. Those dazzling eyes of hazel.

“And I should be correct to say that I am definitely the one for you, should I be an enchanter looking for love as well.”

And it was enchanting to meet you All I can say is, I was enchanted to meet you This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you

That night, before you fell asleep, the happenings of your Enchantress’ Ball replayed in your head like a movie.

Your favourite classical piece was playing as you and Jeonghan navigated the dance floor. Everyone (including you both) was doing the dance that came as a set with the currently playing piece. You couldn’t be happier dancing with, at last, the man that made your heart flutter and butterflies erupt in your stomach.

Jeonghan seemed to be the best at whatever he did. He could dance without once stepping on your feet while keeping a conversation going on with you, as well as respond to passing dancers’ congratulations for him (which included your parents). The way he spoke with them made you wonder how this was your first time meeting. But after all, love at first sight is what every enchantress is cursed to.

When your feet got tired from all the dancing in heels, you pulled him aside to an empty table. You two shared fun things about yourselves and got lost in the moment as midnight neared, which meant that you would be Blessed soon.

Fortunately, the Blessing went smoothly — it was better than anyone could think. A total of forty-three lords, ladies and those with titles offered their Blessings for you and Jeonghan. It was a record that broke your great-grandmother’s, who had forty nobles Bless her.

Soon enough, your parents had said their words and the guests were taking their leave. Jeonghan bowed and left a kiss on the back of your hand before he turned and exited your home.

“I’ll see you sooner than you think, my Enchantress.”

If only he knew the state he left you in. How did he do that to you? This effect he had on you seemed so foreign, but what were you to expect when you didn’t engage in any romance for almost eighteen years?

The lingering question kept me up 2 AM, who do you love? I wonder ‘til I’m wide awake And now I’m pacing back and forth Wishing you were at my door I’d open up and you would say, “Hey”

You couldn’t sleep thinking about the handsome blonde suitor. You flipped over multiple times on your bed just to keep pondering about your love at first sight.

Did he actually feel the same things you did to him? Was he an actual enchanter?

But of course, he is. An enchantress will always find their future partner or soulmate at her Enchantress’ Ball.

With that thought finally drifting towards the back of your mind, you got out of bed as you simply couldn’t fall asleep. You remembered your mother telling you that love does many things to people. You recalled that it blinds them, which was the most prominent trait of love, but it also keeps them pondering about many things.

Which was currently happening to you. There you were, pacing around your bedroom, your mind filled with nothing but the handsome blonde suitor— Wait, why are you still calling him that? He told you his name, didn’t he?

Oh, Jeonghan. What a beautiful, angelic name that rolled off your tongue so smoothly. The name of the man that you so desperately wanted to appear right outside your door.

Hell. You couldn’t get your mind off of him.

This is me praying that This was the very first page Not where the story line ends My thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again These are the words I held back, as I was leaving too soon

He attempted to will himself not to think about how wonderful the night was. As much as he tried to gaslight himself, his mind was persistent.

Swearing at himself, under his breath, Yoon Jeonghan started to regret his decision.

Damn him for being banished all those years ago when he was seven. Damn him for creating an entirely new identity for himself. Damn him for ruining a happy family. Damn him for falling in love.

He knew he shouldn’t be doing this. He knew before the Ball started. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

This fate — he thinks he knows what its plans are. He thinks that his fate is to be locked up in that dark tower of dungeons forever.

How he wished he could stay with you just a little longer. As selfish as it was, he wanted this to be the start of something. He can’t deny his feelings even if he wanted to. Magic was strong like that.

He hoped for a day more to spend time with his first love. Maybe even a chance to say those three words.

Please don’t be in love with someone else Please don’t have somebody waiting on you

It has never crossed his mind that you might not have experienced ‘love at first sight’. He realised that soulmates may not always have positive feelings towards each other.

He had always dreaded the day he would experience one-sided love. He imagined it to be the most painful type of love to ever exist.

It was so hard trying to find a Ball he could attend. A family that reminded him of his own, whose members probably already forgot about him.

Jeonghan wanted so badly to start his own family and raise the future generation unlike his parents. He wanted to be a good — if not, the best — father to his children, especially alongside the woman he loved. He would never, not in a million years, abandon his children as his parents did to him. He would fight heart and soul to free a child of his from the grasp of those dark dungeon walls.

He desperately wanted to prove to the gods above, and everyone else, that he was not a bad person. That he was not a criminal and he would never be.

He hoped he was your one and only chance. Because you were his one and only chance. He wished upon the millions of stars in the sky that he was reaching that point in life where he could officially turn over a new leaf. That milestone.

After you, Yoon Jeonghan would never find it in himself to love again.

──────

Two hopelessly in love individuals — one well-versed and one with limited knowledge in the history of Enchantment — fell asleep thinking about each other that night. Little did they know that fate had plans and it wasn’t going to change them anymore.

reblogs are appreciated ! ♡

taglist — @i520sn @piakae @enhacolor

[ gen. masterlist | svt masterlist ]

#seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #seventeen reactions #seventeen x reader #seventeen fluff #seventeen fanfic #svt imagines #svt x reader #jeonghan scenarios #jeonghan imagines #jeonghan reactions #jeonghan x reader #jeonghan fluff #jeonghan fanfic #yoon jeonghan #seventeen #raena writes

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hayleythesugarbowl · 6 months

Note

can you do a one shot for courtney where the reader sees an edit of shane and courtney on her phone, and gets jealous/insecure but doesn't say anything. And courtney being able to see that there's something bothering r, but decides to wait till she comes to them. She doesn't, but Court mentions something about like a live with Shane and R makes a snarky comment and then it all just clicks and Courtney is quick to tell reader there's nothing she should be jealous of and they only love her.

Only You || Courtney Miller x reader

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • smosh masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆

summary: when you begin to get jealous of courtney and shayne’s relationship, courtney assures you that you’re the one they love

word count: 1.2k

warnings: none

a/n: hope you enjoy this love!! i actually love this idea sm and it works perfectly for a short little fic <3💋🎀

edit: well this didn’t age well 🤭🩰 congratulations to shayne + courtney on their marriage!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Try Not To Laugh is starting in 30 minutes,” you heard one of the directors call. You were done with your makeup a little early, but that was ok. It would give you a second to relax before the shoot started.

You looked at all of your coworkers around you passing the time and you did the same thing, sitting down to wait and pulling out your phone to begin to endlessly scroll while you waited. That was as good a way to pass the time as any, right?

You were barely focusing on what you were seeing. Book recommendations, the newest makeup hack, out of context clips from some reality show.

You sat up straight. The video currently on your screen caught your attention. It was a fan made edit of Shayne, one of your coworkers, and Courtney, another one of your coworkers who also happened to be your partner of nearly a month.

You watched in the video as a bunch of shots of Shayne and Courtney hugging and glancing at each other—and even one of them kissing—were put together while the words to a Taylor Swift song ran across the screen.

You gripped your phone tighter. You couldn’t look away.

“Oh, I’ve seen that video,” you turned around to find Amanda watching over your shoulder. “Isn’t it amazing? Some of these fans are crazy talented. I almost believe they’re dating.”

“Almost,” you managed through closed teeth. You knew Amanda didn’t know that you and Courtney were dating. How could she know when you’d been sure to keep it private? You hadn’t told any of your coworkers yet. But the comment still stung.

You shut off your phone and took a deep breath. The worst part was, this wasn’t the first one of these you’d seen. Sure, the most convincing maybe. But you had seen a number of edits centering around their relationship. Add that to the constant slew of comments shipping them, the infamous fanfiction you’d heard about, and everyone at Smosh’s comments about Shayne and Courtney being ‘work spouses’ and you could almost believe they were together too.

When you’d first joined Smosh (and started dating Courtney not long after) you’d recognized how close them and Shayne seemed. You’d been ready to dismiss it as merely a friendship but lately you weren’t so sure. Did you have something to be worried about?

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Courtney walked over to where you and Amanda were sitting. They smiled at you and you managed a weak smile back.

“We were just—” Amanda started, but you interrupted her.

“Nothing,” you told them. You did not want to have this conversation now. Because then you’d have to tell Courtney the truth and you definitely didn’t want to do that. How would they react if they realized you were that jealous and insecure?

Courtney furrowed their brow, “Oh ok. I was just going to ask if (Y/n) wanted to run to get coffee with me before we start shooting.”

You knew what they meant. Whenever you could, you and Courtney tried to sneak away to have a little alone time without everyone’s eyes on you. They now smiled at you expectantly but you honestly didn’t have it in you to pretend like everything was fine and that you weren’t questioning your relationship.

“I just had some coffee, actually,” you said smiling, “You go ahead.”

Courtney looked at you like you’d slapped them in the face and you felt bad, you really did. “Oh ok, I’ll ask Shayne or someone if they want to come with.”

As they started to walk away you suddenly didn’t feel bad anymore. You were sure they’d rather go with Shayne anyway. You were just helping them by getting out of the way, you thought bitterly.

By the end of the week—a week filled with watching Shayne and Courtney talking and laughing and how had you never noticed this before?—you were ready to go home for the weekend.

You were headed out the door when you heard, “You ready to go?”

You turned around to find Courtney standing there with their keys in their hand. You had forgotten that Courtney was your ride that day.

You nodded and waited until they caught up to you before falling into step beside them.

“It feels like this week went faster than usual,” they said, “Doesn’t it?”

You nodded, thinking that actually it drug on and on and you couldn’t wait to be away from work, but you didn’t say anything of the sort and you saw Courtney turn to look at you while you kept your eyes firmly on the ground.

“(Y/n), are you ok?” They asked you.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” You asked back, attempting a smile.

You assumed they had probably noticed you acting differently that week even though you had done your best to act normal. But it was hard when you had to pretend everything was normal and fine when it wasn’t.

You kept walking. Courtney chattered on about their day and your coworkers throughout the whole long walk to their car.

“So, are you here on Monday?” They asked you.

“I am,” you answered, “But only for a couple of hours. I have a few things to do and then I’ll be out. You?”

“Same, but I have to be here early. I have a live with Shayne that I’m doing in the morning.”

You kept walking but you clenched your fist tight. Of course.

“Oh?” Was all you could manage.

“We’re giving dating advice and stuff like that. Should be fun!”

“Yeah, well I’m sure you and Shayne would just love talking about dating together,” you bit out. You couldn’t help it. You didn’t mean to say anything to Courtney. To let them know what you were feeling. But it just came out. You couldn’t take it anymore.

Courtney looked at you for a moment before realization dawned on their face.

“Is that why you’ve been acting strange lately? Because of Shayne and me?” Courtney asked.

“It just seems like you two are a lot more than friends,” you mumbled, embarrassed.

Courtney closed the distance between you and pulled you into an embrace.

“(Y/n), you don’t have to worry about that. Ever,” they said leaning back a little to look at you. “Shayne and I are good friends, but that’s it. I promise. Ok?”

You nodded, “I know and I’m sorry, I was being stupid. It’s just—I don’t want to lose you.”

Courtney rubbed your back. “You never have to worry about that. I love you. It’s you, (Y/n). It’s only you. I’m yours forever.”

Tears spring to your eyes as you realized how foolish you’d been and how lucky you were to have Courtney. You loved them and they loved you.

You hugged them tighter as you said, “I love you, Court.”

“I just wish you’d come to me,” Courtney said, “If you’ve been feeling this way for a while.”

“I just didn’t want you to think I was a pathetic and jealous girlfriend all the time,” you said quietly.

“Well, you have no reason to be jealous and you could never be pathetic,” they said, “and you can always talk to me. About anything.”

“And I will,” you said, “from now on.”

You both stood there in the silence for a moment before you they it.

“So what do you say we get some coffee now?” They asked you. “Not with Shayne. Just me and you.”

“I would love that,” you said, taking their hand, “I would love that a lot.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ˋ°•*⁀➷ I hope you enjoyed this, I adore writing for courtney!! have a lovely week <3

#courtney miller x reader #courtney miller #smosh #smosh imagine #smosh fanfiction #smoshblr #smosh pit #smosh squad #shayne topp #fanfiction #fanfic #reader insert #x reader

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princessofmarvel · 1 year

Text

Begin Again

summary | You and your neighbor/ best friend renfield both share rough pasts, yet you fall for each other despite you being scared to fall for someone again. requested!

pairing | robert montague renfield x fem!reader

wc | 1.6k

warnings! | talks of an emotionally and mentally abusive ex! not really proof read yet!

genre | angst and fluff! (the ending is fluffy I promise, lol)

author’s note! | i loved this request! please keep them coming! italics mean flashbacks! this is a part of my “swift series” (where I write fics based on Taylor Swift songs) so if you have any requests for the swift series (or for just something that you would like for me to write) please send them in! I would be happy to write about them! And as always, I do I have really bad OCD that causes me to write in some random capitalization, and punctuation, But I think that we don't have to worry about that in this fic lol. And let me know if there are any mistakes, but please be kind!

She took a quick look at herself in the mirror making sure that she looked alright before walking out the door, locking it behind her, and putting her earbuds in to walk down to the cafe that she met her neighbor at every morning for a cup of coffee. As she walked in she noticed Renfield was already sitting there with his tea and what she assumed to be her order sitting across from him. When he noticed her walking over he stood with a smile on his face.

“Morning (Y/n)! I ordered your regular, I hope that's alright” He said, sounding a little bit nervous.

“Robert, you don’t have to stand everytime we meet.” She said, taking her seat. “And, yes that's perfect, let me repay you real quick.” She said going to get the money out of her purse before Renfield stopped her.

“No, no, it’s on me, don’t worry about it.” He said taking his seat across from her, that’s Robert Montague Renfield for you though, forever the gentleman.

“Oh fuck!” she said while trying to pick up the box from the trunk of her car, not noticing the man walking towards her.

“Excuse me miss, would you like some help with that?” The man said as he was getting closer to her, but far enough away to not make her uncomfortable.

“That would be great, if you don’t mind sir.” She said, sighing in relief.

He felt the breath catch in his throat when she turned towards him. Barely being able to get his next words out without stuttering. “I’m Robert Montague Renfield” He said, putting his hand out to her.

“(Y/n) (L/n)” She said, shaking his hand. He started going towards the box that she seemed to have trouble with once they pulled apart. “Oh be careful that one is quite” But he lifted it up with ease as she got the last word out “Heavy”

“Which apartment?”

Renfield and her very quickly became each other's best friends. Spending basically every hour they were home at the others place. Whether that would be a movie night, him coming over to listen to the new album she was excited about. Eating together, or if they just simply wanted the other's company.

“I did?” She said, sounding slightly shocked. She very rarely slept peacefully. Having nightmares about how her life used to be.

“I wanted to apologize for falling asleep on you last night.” She said, sounding slightly embarrassed. “You could have woken me up, you didn’t have to carry me to bed.”

“You looked so peaceful that it would have been a crime to wake you up.”

Renfield practically broke down the door to her apartment when he heard her scream in the middle of the night. If he hadn’t remembered where she hid the extra key, he would have. Her scream was not so loud that it would wake others up, but loud enough that he could hear it from his apartment next door. “(Y/n), are you alright?!” He said while rushing into her bedroom, only to find her sitting up in her bed with her face in her hands, before she jumped noticing that he was there. “I- Robert what are you doing here?” She asked, while wiping away her tears that had slipped while she was asleep.

“I heard you scream, I thought you were hurt.” He said placing his tin of bugs that he kept on to her dresser. What he really thought was that Dracula had somehow returned and found out about her, and decided to take his revenge. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, I'm sorry Robert, I have bad dreams sometimes, I didn’t mean to wake you.” She said while keeping her eyes from meeting his.

“Nonsense, I could barely sleep anyways.” He said with a chuckle. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“No.” She said without hesitation, she wasn’t ready to tell him about her past yet.

He nodded, thinking that maybe she just wanted to go back to sleep. While he was heading for the door he stopped in his tracks when he heard her voice. “Um, Robert?”

‘Yes?” he said, turning towards her.

“Can you stay with me?” She said quietly, if it hadn’t been for his super hearing, he may not have been able to hear her at all.”

“Of course.” He said, heading for her couch.

“You can sleep over here if you want.” she said while moving to the other side of the bed instead of the middle.

“Are you sure, I want you to be comfortable.” He asked, while making his way towards her.

“Yes, I’m sure, I would like the company, your company.” She said, finally meeting his eyes.

He smiled and layed down next to her. He would never tell her, in fear of embarrassing her. But, she clinged to him the whole night, she even whined when he tried to get up in the morning.

“You did, I stayed for a little while afterwards to make sure that you would stay that way.

She smiled and looked down at her cup. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me (Y/n), I don’t mind.” He said. He seemed nervous, like he wanted to get something over with. “I need to ask you something.”

“Yes?” She said looking up from her cup

“Would you like to go out with me?” He said, nervously, “Like, on a date, romantically.”

She stopped, she seemed taken aback. He worried that he had messed up, so he quickly added. “I understand if you’re not interested, It was just a thought-” She cut him off from rambling.

“It’s not that I'm not interested, I just don’t think I'm a datatable person Robert.” Now that stunned him.

“What? Of course you are, you’re hilarious, you’re strong, you have a heart of gold, you’re brave, and to add to all of that, you’re stunning.” He said, not being able to believe that she thought that of herself.

“You really think I'm funny?” She asked, earning a nod from him. “He never did.” She mumbled to herself.

It finally hit Renfield, the reason for her being closed off, why she screams in the night, Why she never brings up her past, why she never shares her problems with him. “(Y/n), did someone hurt you?”

She wiped a stray tear from her eye. “I was in a bad relationship before I met you Robert, It was never physical, but he would just say the meanest things, and start the most random fights with me, and then after he would shower me in affection, it was awful. I never realized it was abuse until it got worse, I found myself scared to mess up around him in fear of him blowing up at me all of the time.” She found herself just finally letting it all pour out to Renfield. “I’m scared to try again, because what if the love and affection is leading up to something awful, just preparing me for the blow.”

“(Y/n), listen to me, you didn’t deserve that, you deserved none of it, he was, what do that call it? Love bombing, that’s it. Okay? I can promise you that not every relationship that you have will be like that, whether your next relationship is with me or not, I need you to know that.” He felt his heart break when she told him that. He went through something so similar, something that he would never wish on anyone. He had told her a few months ago what he had gone through, and she helped him get through it. He hated that he didn’t know, that he couldn’t see that she was facing the same issues.

“I know, I know.” She let out a sigh, “I’m sorry for dropping all of that on you.”

“Don’t be, I wish you would have sooner, never feel like you have to hide your worries from me, okay? I am your best friend after all.” He said, trying to lighten up the mood.

“We could be more though, if you still want to go on that date, that is.” She said, looking up at him.

The date went beautifully. He picked her, took her to this beautiful new restaurant, he even brought her favorite flowers, Neither one of them wanted it to end.

“I would love to, but only if you’re ready.” He said, reaching over grabbing her hand from across the table. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to say yes right now, if you’re not ready.”

“It’s been 8 months, I’m ready.” She said, smiling at him. “So when's this date?”

“I had a great time tonight.” Renfield said as she unlocked her door.

“I did too. I like dating someone who I already trust, Makes it so much easier.” She laughed as she got her door open. “I guess this is goodnight.”

“May I kiss you goodnight?” He asked, but as soon as he said it, she placed her hands on his face and pulled him in for a kiss. He placed his hands on her back and pulled her closer. He pressed his forehead to hers as she pulled away. “I should have done that ages ago.” He breathed out, making her laugh lightly. “I agree.”

He watched her walk into her apartment and close the door. About an hour later, after he had his pajamas on, he heard a knock on the door, he answered to reveal her in her pajamas holding her pillow and a movie. “I can’t sleep, sleepover?” She said as he pulled her inside of his apartment, his arm around her waist. “That is a brilliant idea, love.”

#renfield #renfield imagine #renfield fanfic #renfield x reader #renfield fluff #robert montague renfield #r.m. renfield #renfield fic #renfield movie #nicholas hoult #nicholas cage #ben shwartz #awkwafina

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whatacaitastrophe · 1 month

Text

Everything Has Changed - Chapter 6

Previous Chapter

Chapter Song Inspiration: "I Can See You" - Taylor Swift

Chapter Warnings: none

Spotify Playlist: Here

Author Notes: Thank you all so much for reading, reblogging, liking, and commenting on this fic (and the first one)! If you are interested in supporting me in other ways, I have a Ko-Fi link. ya girl has been behind on bills for two months and i've got a dog to feed, and every little bit helps <3

Chapter 6: Baby, If You Only Knew

Fallon shouldn’t be laughing. Firstly, laughing was incredibly painful. This was the primary reason that Fallon was desperately trying to hold in her laughter as the situation unfolded in front of her. Second, it was Astarion who was the misfortunate one who they were laughing at, and he would definitely be bothered by the fact that she laughed with Gale and Arabella. Then again, it wasn’t every day that her boyfriend was accidentally turned into a cat by her ex-boyfriend’s wild magic, so perhaps this was one of those rare moments where, despite her lover’s displeasure, laughing through the pain was acceptable.

She didn’t need to be able to understand the meows coming from the fluffy white cat at her feet to know Astarion was furious. “Gods, to have a Potion of Animal Speaking on me right now,” Fallon giggled, wiping tears from her eyes. She looked between Gale and Arabella. “Do either of you have one?”

“I do, actually.” Arabella offered, quickly standing up and rushing to her tent to grab the potion.

“You know he’s never going to forgive you for this.” Fallon warned Gale, and the sorcerer chuckled.

“I’d expect nothing less,” He shook his head. “Is it bad that I’m not sorry?”

Fallon snorted, which earned them both a devastating glare and a hiss from the cat. “Maybe a little.”

Arabella returned with the potion and handed the bottle to Fallon, who quickly uncapped it and swallowed down the potion in two gulps.

A tingling sensation worked its way through her body and within moments, the angry meows coming out of the cat’s mouth were in Common.

“Not sorry, I’ll show that bastard what not sorry looks like.” Astarion ranted as he paced and his tail lashed rapidly back and forth.

“Are you okay, Astarion?” Fallon asked, trying to suppress her giggles once again now that she could speak with him.

“Don’t bother holding back your laughter now, darling, it didn’t stop you before,” He huffed. “If by ‘okay’ you mean 'not at risk of being burned to a crisp by the sun', then yes, it appears I’m fine! But if you’re concern is regarding the fact that Gale turned me into a bloody fucking house cat, then no, I am ABSOLUTELY NOT FINE!”

The last time Astarion shrieked at her like this, it was when Fallon accidentally locked him in the Githyanki creche after she and Shadowheart convinced him to steal The Blood of Lathander, and the building exploded with Astarion still inside. The effect was lessened, however, by his current fluffy situation.“Well at least we know you’re not a vampiric cat.” She offered, trying to find the silver lining of this situation.

“Tell him to change me back this instant, or I will shred his pillow.” Astarion demanded, ignoring her optimism.

Fallon looked at Gale. “Do you think you can turn him back?”

Gale shook his head. “I’m not even sure how he got turned in the first place, so, no. I don’t think I can.”

“Perfect, just bloody perfect.” Astarion growled, and Fallon offered him a sympathetic look.

“Any ideas, Arabella?” Gale inquired of the teenager, a slight blush creeping back into his cheeks at the embarrassment of having to ask someone more than half his age for advice about magic.

She shrugged. “I could try, but transformational magic that complex isn’t something I’ve done much of, so I could end up just making it worse.”

“Yes, let’s not leave my fate to the teenager, thank you.” Astarion hopped up onto the log and perched next to Fallon.

“He said no,” Fallon summarized, leaving Astarion’s passive aggressive insult out. Instinctively she reached over and began scratching behind Astarion’s ears, like she would with any other animal. “Is it any comfort to know that you’re an extremely handsome cat?” It was a hilariously awkward situation, but maybe if she could appeal to Astarion’s vanity he would calm down enough so he wouldn’t hurt Gale once he was human again.

Astarion huffed again. “I know what you’re doing, and no, it is not,” He pressed his furry head into Fallon’s palm and purred. “Though that feels nice.”

Fallon continued scratching behind Astarion’s ears, and kissed the top of his head. “So none of us have any idea how long this is going to last?”

Arabella and Gale shook their heads, and Fallon sighed. “Well, at least we weren’t planning on traveling today anyway.”

“Gale, would you like me to show you some more basic spells while we wait for Astarion to turn back? That way, you’ll at least be able to defend yourself when he tries to murder you.” Arabella offered.

Gale glared at the teenager. “Yes, that would be most appreciated, thank you.” He replied dryly before turning his attention to Astarion. “Astarion, I do hope you know that I didn’t turn you into a cat on purpose, and that you will consider this fact before maiming me or my belongings.”

“I’ll maim whoever the fuck I want, I got turned into a bloody cat.” Astarion hissed, and Gale flinched.

“He said he’ll think about it.” Fallon grinned, giggling again at the sight of a grown man being afraid of a cat.

“Don’t lie to him.” Astarion ordered her as Gale walked away with Arabella.

“You’re not really going to hurt him, are you?” Fallon asked, scooping Astarion up into her arms and carrying him back to their tent so she could lay down. She might as well spend their rest day curled up with a book, and a cat in her lap. “It kind of feels like bullying a toddler, with the way he can barely control his magic right now.”

“Gods, will you ever stop trying to make me a better person?” Astarion whined.

“Probably not.”

“Fine, on my honor, I will not harm the baby sorcerer.” Astarion rolled his eyes. Fallon didn’t know cats could do that. “Can I at least be a thorn in his side until I turn back?”

“You don't need my permission, love, but why would you do that when you could stay here and have a cuddle with me?” Fallon set Astarion down on the ground once they were inside the tent, and sat down next to him. She scratched behind his ears again, and the cat purred.

“Mmm tempting as that is, I think I’d rather be a nuisance to the man who turned me into a cat since you won’t let me kill him.” He licked her hand affectionately, and then trotted back out of the tent, leaving Fallon alone. She shook her head and picked up her book.

Over the next hour, every so often Fallon heard the sounds of something being knocked to the ground, followed by the sound of Arabella giggling and Gale snapping Astarion’s name. With each sound of an object clattering to the ground, the volume of Gale’s voice increased, as did his frustration. She knew that Gale didn’t have many personal items with him, so it was very likely that Astarion had taken it upon himself to repeatedly knock the same object over, much like a normal cat would. She would never say this to his face, but Fallon was of the opinion that Astarion made an excellent cat. He certainly had the right attitude.

Fallon did not put her book down until she heard the telltale “wooshing” sound of transformational magic, followed shortly by a surprised shout from Gale and the sound of Astarion’s voice.

“Don’t you run from me, Gale!” Astarion shouted, and Fallon moved so quickly she barely had time to register the pain that shot through her body as she exited her tent to bear witness to whatever was happening outside. Arabella was standing between the grown men with a large force field surrounding her body, causing Gale and Astarion to run in circles around her as they tried to get to each other. A wide grin bloomed on Fallon’s face and she just stood there, watching, not bothering to intervene. Gale’s gaze fell to Fallon and lingered there a moment too long, grinning at her. That was when Astarion struck, tackling Gale to the ground.

They tumbled in the dirt, wrestling each other like two schoolboys. Fallon looked at Arabella, and the tiefling shook her head. Whatever the goal was, neither Gale or Astarion seemed to have any intention of actually causing the other serious physical harm, so Fallon was inclined to just let them burn each other out. Fallon walked over to Arabella. “How was spell training?” She asked.

“It actually went pretty well– Gale is a fast learner. Of course, we didn’t get through many of them, thanks to Catstarion causing chaos.” Arabella giggled, her eyes still on the men in the dirt. “I don’t remember the two of them being this…combative the last time I saw you all.”

Fallon laughed once. “You’ve missed a lot.”

“I mean, I had a feeling since you’re sharing a tent with Astarion now, and not Gale.” Fallon had forgotten that the last time Arabella shared a camp with them all, Fallon had been in a relationship with Gale.

“Fair enough,” She conceded. Fallon turned her head to look at Arabella. “Did you see Gale blush earlier when you asked if they kissed?” Fallon needed to be certain she hadn’t been the only one to notice. She’d heard the way Gale flirted with Astarion the night the vampire called him Fallon’s new stray dog, reminding him that Astarion loved Scratch, too, but Fallon had assumed that was just to shake Astarion’s confidence and confuse him.

“Oh, he totally blushed.” Arabella confirmed. “Do you think they have? Kissed?”

Fallon went quiet for a moment and turned her attention back to Gale and Astarion wrestling. As Astarion’s partner, the thought of him kissing someone else, especially her ex-boyfriend, should bother her. Only…it didn’t. When she pictured Astarion and Gale kissing, it wasn’t an unwelcome sight. Her mind drifted and the picture in her mind shifted. Fallon pictured herself between Astarion and Gale, their hands roaming over her body as they kissed each other, and she could feel her body heating at the thought. After perhaps a second of hesitation too long, Fallon shook her head to rid herself of the fantasy and to deny Arabella’s question. “Definitely not. Astarion can barely stand to be around the same campfire as Gale. It would never happen.”

Gale and Astarion had finally slowed, as Gale had finally tapped out and apologized to Astarion for turning him into a cat. As they lay on the ground next to each other panting, another image flashed through Fallon’s mind: the two of them laying next to each other, panting because they’d just satisfied her so thoroughly she couldn’t remember her own name. Fallon’s heartbeat picked up as treacherous arousal bloomed inside of her. No, she wouldn’t mind any of those things at all.

Well, she thought to herself. That’s going to be a problem.

Chapter List

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale #astarion #bg3 fanfic #female tav #gale x tav #astarion x tav #astarion x gale x tav #bloodweave #baldur's gate 3 fanfiction #baldur's gate 3 fanfic #bg3 fan fiction #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fic #baldur's gate 3 fan fic #baldur's gate 3 fan fiction

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lovelycupid47 · 6 months

Text

Enchanted | Kim Namjoon One-shot

a/n: Second one fan fic. This is based on the song Enchanted by Taylor Swift. Hope you enjoy it!

pairing: Prince!Namjoon x Princess! Female Y/N

warning: A**hole men, no hate towards any idols involved, disapproving parents, and cheesy lines.

"There I was again tonight

Forcing laughter, faking smiles

Same old tired, lonely placeShifting eyes and vacancy"

You were yet again at another ball that your parents forced you to attend. You are the heir of the Busan kingdom, and currently, your parents are looking for a prince for you to marry. You were excited. You were going to find the love of your life and live happily ever after, however, you didn’t think that every prince you met was a complete asshole.

Prince Seokjin was nonstop complimenting himself and even commented that I should watch my figure. Prince Jungkook asked if he was allowed to have many other princesses to sleep with. Lastly, Prince Yongbok was judging you on how you talk with other men, then he would have you follow him everywhere which just annoyed you to the bone. Every man you tried dating was nowhere near the guy you dreamed of. The constant change meant attending more balls to find the suitor. It was fun in the beginning, but now it was becoming more tedious and forced. It was the same thing over and over. Smile, curtsey, introduce yourself and your status, and try to listen to the prince bragging themselves. Everything was just the same thing as usual until someone captivating caught your attention.

"Your eyes whispered, “Have we met?”

Across the room, your silhouette

Starts to make its way to me"

A tall man in a royal blue pristine suit approached you. He was smiling so beautifully with his tan milky skin and adorable dimples that were protruding out, his hair was chocolatey brown and swept to the side, no strand misplaced, “Hello, my name is Kim Namjoon. Prince of Ilsan.” He bowed down with his left arm behind his back while his right arm was around his waist.

“Pleasant to meet you, Prince Kim. My name is Park Y/N. Princess of Busan.” You curtsied. You were so distracted by his sparkling eyes that was gazing at you and only you.

“If you don’t mind, may I have this dance?” He extended his hand towards you and you gladly accepted it. Your hands were so small compared to his and noticed how smooth and warm his hands were. You both walked toward the middle of the dance floor. There were a couple of people there, but it felt like it was just you and him at that moment.

“So why is Princess Park doing here by herself?” He gently puts his right arm around your waist and holds your left hand while you put your right hand on his shoulder. You had a more clear view of his gorgeous face where you noticed a mole below his lips that you found adorable.

“Well if you must know Prince Kim, I’m looking for a potential suitor and I’m not alone. My parents are talking with fellow friends. What about you?”

“I’m here just for the fun of it. Parents are trying to save their reputation, so going to parties and showing face is the only way.” He seemed like he was forced to me here too.

“That is really a bummer.” You pouted.

“Not really. If I wasn’t forced to be here, I wouldn’t be able to lay my eyes on the most gorgeous lady in the room. Especially a lady who has delicate features that can resemble a bunny, sparkling eyes that can hold the world in them, and glossy pink lips that are hard to resist to kiss.” He looked directly into your eyes and made you gasp. You felt your stomach flutter and your heartbeat fast. This was the only time a prince actually complimented you so intimately. It left you feeling giggly. You shyly smiled and looked down at your dress.

“Well aren’t you being bold Prince Kim-”

“Call me Namjoon.” You looked up and saw him smiling with dimples and his eyes glittering in the lights.

“Namjoon… Then call me Y/N.”

“Y/N. A beautiful name for something you want to love.” At this point, you haven’t paid attention to anything surrounding you because you are so captivated by the handsome man in your arms.

"The playful conversation startsCounter all your quick remarksLike passing notes in secrecyAnd it was enchanting to meet you"

Through the whole night, you and Namjoon talked through the whole ball. You both found interest in reading novels, loved being in nature, and wrote poems in your free time. He is quite poetic and always any way to compliment you using quotes from his poems. The night was so wonderful that you didn’t want it to end. You both ended up outside in the garden, admiring the stars that shone on both of you. It was such a magical night that nothing could ruin it.

“Y/N, where are you?” You can hear your mother calling you from inside. You looked back at Namjoon and grabbed his hand.

“Come inside, I can introduce my parents to you. They would love you, I know it.” You tried dragging him inside but he was pulling away. “Y/N, I don’t think they would like to see me.” He was standing away from you while looking away.

“Of course they would. They are the ones that have been wanting to find my suitor and now I have you and they would be delighted.” You tried persuading but it seems like he doesn’t believe it.

“It’s not that, its the fact-”

“Y/N! There you are. Your father and I have been looking for you.” You saw your parents walking towards you and you excitedly dragged Namjoon towards them.

“Father, Mother. I finally found a suitor that I wanted to marry. This is Prince Kim Namjoon of the Ilsan Kingdom.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you your majesties.” Namjoon bowed in front of your parents and you saw the shift of expression from your parents that didn’t sit right with you

“Prince of Ilsan, you say?” Your father questioned with narrowed eyes.

“Y-yes sir.” You can tell that this is not going to be good.

“The Ilsan Kingdom that is slowly going down and losing their citizens?” Your father advanced close to Namjoon and you started feeling scared.

“Yes sir, but we are slowly gaining back our population and with me in charge, we are changing for good.” Namjoon was sweating really bad and he knew where this conversation is going. He has been in this situation many times and sometimes it does bring some humiliation to him, but he tries to be confident.

“Yeah, I don’t believe that. That is the same thing your father said to me when he was becoming king.” your mother spoke up. This made Namjoon tensed up because he knew that was true. The Ilsan kingdom has been in shambles for decades and it seems like nothing was working. That is the reason why he is here. To gain some connection, but he got distracted by the beauty beside him.

“I understand ma’am, but I can guarantee that this time everything will change.” Both of your parents didn’t say anything which worried you even more.

“Mother, Father, I was wondering if it would be okay that Namjoon becomes my suitor. I really like him and believe he can become an excellent king in the future. He is bold, strong, and intelligent. He has every good quality to become a king and a husband.” You tried bragging hoping that if you smoothed them over, they would be less tense with him.

“Daughter, you want him to be your husband. You must be joking.” Your mother insulted you, which you didn’t take kindly.

“Yes, I do.” You stood your ground and didn’t stand down from your mother’s stare.

“We don’t approve.” Your father declared. You never thought your heart could break from hearing those words.

“But I want to-”

“It is not about what you want, daughter. It is about what is good for the kingdom. You marrying him would not only tarnish our image but also our kingdom. It would be in shambles just like theirs.” Your father argued, “You are not to marry this failure of a prince. Do you understand me?” You were speechless but didn’t want to comply. “DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND?” He yelled. You sadly nodded.

“Good. Say your goodbyes, and meet us at the front.” That was the last thing your mother said before she and your father left to go back inside.

You and Namjoon stood in silence. Neither wanted to leave the other. Wanted to grasp onto any little time you guys had left.

“Y/N, can you promise something?” He blurted while grabbing both of your hands into his.

“Of course anything.” You stared deeply into his eyes. You actually think that this man could be the love of your life. You enjoyed your time with him more than anything in the world.

“I know that I may not be the best suitor because your parents don't approve, but please wait for me. I would come back for you and ask for your hand in marriage once I handle my kingdom.” You can tell that his eyes were glossing over, this was hurting him as much as it was hurting for you. You don’t want to let him go. He was the only man that has shown any genuine interest and felt a deep connection.

“I’m pretty sure if I can persuade them, they would love you as much as I do. It’s okay Namjoon, we can figure it out. Please stay with me.” You were close to tears at this point. You don't want to let go to the only man that you can love.

"It's okay, everything will be okay. This was the very first page. Not where the storyline ends of me and you." He pressed his forehead against yours and it felt like it was just you and him.

"My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again." Tears started to cascade down your cheeks.

"Please don't be in love with someone else, while I'm gone. It was enchanting to meet you."

That was the last thing he said to you before you never saw him again.

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sagesolsticewrites · 2 years

Text

Sweet Nothing | Austin x Reader

You serve as a sweet domestic escape for Austin when the fame gets too much

a/n: I had originally planned this as sort of a sequel to another fic I’m working on right now (working title: Lavender Haze 👀) but this can also be read as a standalone! Highly recommend listening to Sweet Nothing by Taylor Swift while reading ☺️ Reader in this one is fem, referred to as Austin’s girlfriend.

Word count: 928

Warnings: mentions of paparazzi/media being rude, I think that’s it? As always, please let me know if I missed anything!

Please like/rb if you enjoyed! 🤍

Masterlist | add yourself to my taglist!

Austin sighs as he enters the apartment, kicking off his boots at the door. He had just wanted to go for a walk and enjoy the cool fall weather, but the paparazzi had been particularly aggressive today, and while he’d tried to avoid them as politely as possible, it had turned his mood sour as vinegar.

His heart lifts as the sweet smell of… what was that, cinnamon?… reaches his nose, and he follows it to the kitchen to find you at the stove, removing what looks to be the first of several batches of cookies from the oven. You haven’t noticed him yet, and he takes a moment to drink you in: your hair is thrown up in an adorably messy bun, a maroon apron tied around your waist, remnants of flour scattered on your hands, in your hair — pretty much everywhere, from what he can see — and he practically melts as you start humming along to the song crooning from the speaker on the counter.

“And I’m crazy for loving you,” Patsy Cline croons from the speaker as you hum along, transferring cookies to the wire rack you have set up nearby, and it’s such a sweet, soft, domestic scene that Austin’s almost afraid to move, afraid that he’ll break whatever spell is at work here. As much as he loves your attention, he loves these moments, too: the simple ones, where you’re not Austin Butler’s Girlfriend, you’re just Y/N, puttering around the kitchen on a cozy fall day.

Inevitably though, you turn around and practically jump out of your skin once you catch sight of him leaning against the wall at the entrance to the kitchen. You recover quickly, the startled expression on your face melting into a bright smile as he approaches you.

“Hey, I didn’t hear you come in!” You greet him brightly, leaning up onto your tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek, “How was your walk?”

“It was alright,” he chuckles, quickly changing to topic, “Whatcha working on here?”

“I found a recipe for gingersnaps, and today seemed like a good day to try it out,” you explain cheerfully. You keep your eyes on him, scanning his expressions carefully, and something tender flashes across your face.

“Did something happen while you were out?” You ask gently, setting down the spatula still in your hand and turning to give him your full attention.

He should’ve known he wouldn’t be able to hide his sour mood from you; you’ve gotten very good at picking up on if he’s feeling down, no matter how hard he tries to hide it.

“Just the paps,” he shrugs, allowing some of the gray mood he’s in to show through, “They were more… I dunno, aggressive? Today for some reason.”

You let out an aw and pull him in for a hug, “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

He shakes his head from where it’s resting on your shoulder, stray strands of hair that came free from your bun tickling his nose.

“It’s not a big deal, I mean… it’s kinda what I asked for, being an actor, right? But it’d be nice to just take a walk in peace every now and then.” He says lightly, though some of the bitterness seeps through in his voice.

You pull away abruptly and take his face in your hands, forcing him to look into your eyes.

“Austin, listen to me,” you say gently but insistently, “Just because you’re a little famous,” your voice lifts to a teasing lilt for a brief second before returning to its urgent tone, “doesn’t mean you don’t deserve some sense of privacy, or at the very least the chance to walk around without a bunch of people with cameras hounding you. You got that?” Your eyes search his until he nods in understanding, “Good. You deserve to have a normal life, don’t forget that.”

Well-intentioned lecture over, you hop up to sit on the counter, picking up the spatula again. “Wanna help me with these?” You ask, gesturing with the utensil to the remaining cookies on the tray.

Instead of answering, Austin steps forward and wraps you in a hug. Though you’re eye-level with each other now, thanks to the height of the granite counter, Austin dips to rest his head on your shoulder, his nose brushing against your neck. He closes his eyes and inhales, taking in the scent of brown sugar and cinnamon mixing with your vanilla lotion to create what might possibly be his favorite scent on Earth.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He breathes against your skin.

He doesn’t need to say for what.

“Always, Aus,” you whisper in response, lips brushing a gentle kiss to the shell of his ear as your hand comes up to stroke through his hair.

The two of you stay like that for a while, wrapped in a gentle embrace in the kitchen that smells like all the good things in the world put together, only stepping apart when the oven timer goes off to announce that the next batch of cookies is done.

Without prompting, Austin takes out the tray, all traces of his previous sour mood gone as the two of you dance around each other in the kitchen in a perfect display of sweet domesticity.

The outside world might be constantly demanding things from him — the price he had to pay for his dream career — but he could always count on coming home to you: the one person who asked for absolutely nothing but his love, which he happily gave freely and unconditionally.

Taglist: @queenslandlover-93 @anangelwhodidntfall @austin-butlers-gf @butlersluvbot @killerqueenfan @kittenlittle24 @beauvibaby @kingelviscreole @justjacesstuff @sweetheartlizzie07 @coldonexx @londonalozzy @kaycinema @annamarie16 @adoreyouusugar @djconde58 @mirandastuckinthe80s @luke-my-skywalker @tubble-wubble @apparently-sunshine @kisseskae @whotfatemywaffles @gyomei-tiddies @friedwangsss @shynovelist @sassy-ahsoka-tano @she-is-juniper @hallecarey1 @adoreyouusugar @iheartcbe @nora-nexus-34 @finelineskies @dontbesussis @fangirl-imagines

#austin butler x reader #austin butler imagine #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler fic #austin butler fluff #elvis (2022)#elvis 2022 #austin butler

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themorriganwitch · 1 year

Text

The Way I Loved You (Roosters Version)

Summary: Fic inspired by the way I loved you by Taylor Swift. You and Rooster are friends - or more? And Jake Seresin is your Ex- or isn’t he?

Warnings: some 18+ content, MDNI (no actual smut), just Rooster reading spicy books, some curse words, Jake being the bad guy

Length: 3,6k

Pairing: Rooster x Reader, Hangman x ExGirlfriend! Reader, Bob x Platonic!Reader

English is not my first language, so there might be mistakes.

_______________________________________________________________________

Falling in love with Bradley Bradshaw felt comfortable.

Watching an old movie in an outdoor cinema, covered beneath a warm blanket and your mouth full of tooth rotting sweet popcorn, comfortable.

Slow Saturday morning sex, while the sun has not fully risen yet and fluffy pancakes with maple sirup in bed after, comfortable.

Falling in love with a good friend, comfortable.

The first time you have met him was six months ago, when your joint friend Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd had introduced the two of you to each other.

Back then, you had only lived in San Diego for a couple of days, where you moved by trying to escape the never-ending rain and depressing greyness in your home state Washington.

You have never been to the West Coast before but the first time you came you had nothing but one friend, a laptop, and a broken dream you still were not able to give up – yet.

‘That sounds like the Introduction to one of those cheap Rom Com books you get for 3$ in every mall’. That’s what Bradley had said when he had heard your Story for the first time.

‘Hey, if my book becomes a word wild bestseller, don’t come running back and begging me to borrow you money for some real clothes’, you said playfully offended eyeing his yellow-brown Hawaiian Shirt.

The tall aviator had just scoffed but smiled back at you. ‘Anyways, this still sounds better than telling new people that I am a 28-year-old, with no job who just got kicked out of their old apartment because they had not enough money to pay for the rent’.

‘Yeah, from this point of view I can see why you would stick with that Rom Com shit’, he laughed.

Looking back this has probably been the moment when you decided that Bradley Bradshaw is not that bad.

The moment when you really started to like him had occurred a couple of weeks later, when he helped you landing the job as a Barkeeper at the Hard Deck.

After moving to California, you had moved in with Bob, who had just got permanently stationed at Top Gun, together with Bradley. Bob, or Robby how you like to call him, has been kind enough to pay for your half of the rent the first month, so you had the time to get your life in order and find a job.

Even though you had hesitated at first, being afraid borrowing money from a friend could harm the relationship, you gratefully accepted his offer later on, because you simply had no other option.

When you took the money, you had promised Robert to find a job in the next two weeks, to make you to pay everything back as fast as you could. But after 3 ½ weeks and no job in sight, your anxiety started to get the best of you.

When you had told your new friend Bradley in secret about your problem, the tall aviator promised to help you out and not even 4 days later you had worked your first shift at the Hard Deck. All of Bradley’s drinks on you, of course.

Thanks to your new job you were in the lucky position to enjoy Bradley Bradshaw’s presence for at least 4 nights a week. Due to the fact that he and Bob had been the first two of their so-called Dagger Squad, that have been stationed permanently in Fighter town, Bradley wasted most of his time by sitting at the bar, sipping on a beer he mad you pay for while he complained about how boring his social life is.

Not that he had anything against Bob, of course. They used to spend their whole weekends in your living room screaming at several sport Teams which drives you absolutely nuts. One time you even threatened Bradley to key his Bronco if he won’t stop his ‘Fuck the Cowboys!’ song.

But since you started to get to know Bradley Bradshaw a bit better you had to notice that this man has to do something all the time, otherwise he acts insane which leads to everyone around him also getting absolutely insane.

So, after one night where he had made you listen to every disastrous college frat boy party he had ever attended, which were unsurprisingly surprising many! you concluded to cut this shit.

‘Bradshaw for fucks sake, if you are that bored with your life, I will take you shopping, so you finally have something to do.’

‘Shopping’, he frowned, finding the thought of an overcrowded mall on a Saturday midmorning horrendous.

‘Yes, be ready at 9, I’ll pick you up. And if you behave, I maybe let you take me out for Lunch’, you said smiling sheepishly at him.

He snorted. ‘You let me take you out? How graceful of you. Definitely an attitude you should dedicate to your female Protagonist’.

‘Hey! I am paying for your beer for the last six weeks! The last thing you could do is getting me some nice Lunch’.

Bradley had held his hands up as a peace offering. ‘Okay, Okay. You are right, as the true gentleman I am I will take you out for Lunch tomorrow’.

You shot him an amusing smile and before you could even think twice you had leaned yourself over the counter and had pressed a soft kiss on his smooth cheek.

‘Was not that hard, honey. Wasn’t it?’, you said with a wink, before turning around to another customer at the other side of the bar.

Bradley’s reddened cheeks and his soft, nearly shy smile fully slipped your attention.

—————————

To his surprise your destination for the next day was not the mall or a target but a tiny bookstore, a little beside the main street near the beach.

‘Damn it, Trickster, I never thought you were the one for those quite bookstores. Maybe you are still a romantic after all’.

The glare you had shot him when you hear his newly found pet name for you slipped as much his attention as you soft smile when he had gone out your car first, to open the door for you.

‘A true gentleman’, he said while he had saluted you with two fingers on his forehead.

You laughed while leading the way into the small shop, where he again opened the door for you.

Bradley let you take the lead while you wandered through the aisles, knowing exactly the way to your favorite section.

‘What kind of books are those?’, Bradley’s mouth hangs wide open, after he studied some of the covers in front of him.

‘The spicy ones’, you answered absently while picking out a promising new book.

‘Spicy?’ he had uttered after grabbing a book, which he opened randomly on a page between middle and end.

‘His thick, long tail started to slip in and out my dripping cunt while his skilled fingers circle over my swollen clit’, he ended his reading as fast as he started, his face now nearly as red as the book cover in his hand.

‘A tail?!`, he said stunned after a couple of seconds. ‘Hmm?’, you had answered, your eyes still on the back of the book in your hand. Then you had blinked a couple of times, processing his words before you had busted into the loudest laughter in a while.

‘Why the fuck does he have a tail? Stop laughing on me, Trickster’, Bradley had murmured, his cheeks still a red as a tomato.

‘The book is about a Gargoyle, Rooster’, you had answered, still chuckling while you pointed on the cover. ‘Gargoyles have tails.

‘But why do they fuck people with it?’, he had said, still fully stunned. You grinned. ‘Never saw a porn about double penetration, sweets?’

‘Yeah, I watched it. Like normal people do.’

‘If you‘re boring, Bradshaw, just say it’, you giggled while taking the book out of his hand. ‘Ready to go? I‘ve got what I need’, you said.

Bradley nodded enthusiastically.

‘Which book did you pick?’, he asked then, with a careful undertone. You smiled sheepishly at him. ‘Oh, it’s about werewolves. No tails. Just some knotting’.

‘Knotting?! What is… Wait never mind. I don’t need to know’.

After your little excursion to the bookstore, where you definitely had the fun of your life, the two of you started to make those book trips a weekly habit.

—————

You were not exactly sure when it happened.

When the boundaries were crossed and your greeting hug started to last several seconds instead of a short moment?

When he started to pay for some of your books?

When he helped you clean up after a tough shift at the Bar and walked you home afterwards?

Or was it when it gave you his jacket the first time during one of those walks?

You were not exactly sure, but you could definitely tell that those warm tingling sensations in your stomach were not an indication of friendship anymore. At some point in the last six months, you had started to fall for Bradley Bradshaw.

Bradley Bradshaw who loves to talk, who enjoys a good German beer and who hates the cowboys passionately.

Bradley Bradshaw who always made sure to hold your door open and who never came too late to any date you had.

Bradley Bradshaw who only is supposed to be your friend.

At some point not only you had noticed the change in your relationship with Bradley but also Bob did. It was on one of those Saturdays when some football game played in the TV and Bradley came over to watch it with your roommate

By now it had become your new normal to join them, not because you were interested in the game but because they always had the best beer saved for their weekly sport watch sessions. And definitely not because you wanted to spend more time with your just friend.

You had a feeling that Robby noticed something for a bit longer now, but after you noticed him glaring at every interaction you had with Bradley in the last two hours, you confronted him after Bradley left to use the bathroom.

‘Could you please stop watching me?’, you asked annoyed. ‘Sure’, your friend answered sweetly. ‘When you tell him how you feel, I surely will stop watching’.

‘I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about’, you said trying desperately to seem clueless, but Bob just shot you another knowing glare.

‘Listen, sweets. I know the topic of relationships is a difficult one for you. But Bradley is a good guy. A very good guy, you should give him a chance’.

You opened your mouth to deny his words a second time but were stopped by Bradshaw claiming his seat next to you on the couch again.

Even though you weren’t focus on the game before your conversation , you were now fully zoned out, Roberts words wandering through your mind and waken things you hoped you would have erased out of your mind by now.

—————————

While falling in love with Bradley Bradshaw felt comfortable, falling in love with Jake Seresin had felt freeing.

Like being on the highest and fastest rollercoaster at night, while the rain is pouring down in the evening breeze and you feel so alive that you want to scream from the top of your lungs.

Like feeling so much at once that your heart feels like it must explode at every second because you are so consumed by the intensity.

Falling in love with Jake Seresin had felt like finding yourself and losing your sanity all at once.

You had left his live nearly 3 and a half years ago. Left it without a word because you knew that you otherwise wouldn’t had left at all. But you simply were at the edge. Only a hairbreadth away to fully lose yourself and never find it again.

When you had met him for the first time you simply hated him. He was cocky, overconfident, and probably the most annoying piece of shit you ever had the pleasure to meet. And when he noticed how much you hated his presence, Jake Seresin had made it his personal mission to get under your skin.

You were 22, fresh out of college and working on a farm in Texas back then, trying to earn some money to pay of your school depts. Jake had come back home from flight school for the summer, finding in you the perfect way to make his stay at home enjoyable.

It only took him a couple of seconds to notice how inexperienced you were when it came to men. You had always been a book nerd, never been shy or an introvert but you simply preferred your books and good friends over some disgusting frat guys trying to get your V-Card just to brag with it later.

Jake Seresin had been your first. You trusted him in that summer evening on the ground of his dad’s cow stable. You also trusted him hundreds of times after that. He was extremely good at what he did, always telling you how he had ruined you now for everyone else coming after him.

While he was talking about the guys you would have after him, all you did was beg the Universe to never let there be someone else for you. That’s probably the reason you had not had any Sex since you left him.

For a very long time you honestly thought that he might had really ruined you for anyone who could have come after him. Not even regarding the sexual aspect but when it comes to relationships in general. Jake Seresin does relationships like he does flying, even though you have no clue about that, he does them intense.

As much as you loved each other, you hated each other. For every sweet nothing he whispered softly into your ear, he had insulted you in every fight you had. For every kiss you shared, he had taken a piece of you heart when he lied to you.

After you shared that one summer together you had thought it would mean you would share your life.

That’s what you thought for 3 years.

3 years of long distance while Jake went to Top Gun and later was send on missions.

3 years of love, passion, tears, grief, pain, silence, and anger.

A never-ending rollercoaster with one loop after the other, a never-ending cycle until you had to crash the whole amusement park and set it down in flames.

For you own good. Your own sanity.

You had never looked at a man like the way you used to look at Jake.

Not until now. Not until Bradley Bradshaw.

Bradley Bradshaw who was now waving with his hands in front of your face, a mixture of amusement and worry in his brown eyes.

‘Trickster are you okay?’.

‘Sure’, you smiled trying to sort the memories in your brain.

Brandley handed you your phone, which you know noticed he had held in his right hand, a picture of Penny, your boss, was shown on the screen.

‘Hey Penny’, you said hastily into your phone.

‘Hey, honey. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?’, you could hear the curiosity in her voice, after Bradley answered the call for you.

‘No, you didn’t’, you simply said, your mind still consumed by all those memories coming up. ‘What can I do for you?’.

‘I know it’s quite spontaneous, but could you work this evening? They ordered a bunch of naval aviators back to Top Gun and we are quite full.’

‘Sure, no problem. I can be there in 30.’

‘That would be great, thank you! Tell Bradshaw he won’t have to pay for any drink if he makes sure that you come home safe tonight.’

You ended the call, your eyes meeting Bradley’s who beams with a wide smile. ‘I always knew that it was a great decision to help you get this Job.’

You simply rolled your eyes while you stood up and left Robby and Bradley alone to get yourself quickly ready for work. After you sprayed some perfume on your neck and grabbed your wallet, you hasted back into the living room where the boys were sitting in jackets and shoes on.

‘Oh, are you coming with me?’, you asked in surprise while slipping in your Vans. ‘Yeah, the others of our Squad are finally stationed at Top Gun with us, we are meeting them at the bar’, Bob answered, already on his way to the door.

You simply nodded. Now that your thoughts have been around Jake this evening it was hard to tame the beast called anxiety which grows every time you heard that new Top Gun Aviators are coming back.

Of course, you were aware that Top Gun was the school your Ex-Boyfriend finished best of his class, but he always used to tell you barely anything works related. You don’t even really know his callsign. Bagman, Hungman or something like that.

It was surely a risk to befriend naval aviators who were also Top Gun graduates, when you are trying to keep your past as far away as possible, but in the 2 years of you and Bob knowing each other, everything had always went occurring to plan and Jake Seresin had stuck in your past where he belonged.

——————

When Bradley parked his Bronco in front of the Hard Deck and came around to open your door, Robert shot you a knowing grin which you answered in showing him your middle finger. If Bradley had noticed anything of it, he did not show it.

At the bar the three of you split. Robby and Bradley waved you goodbye, Bradley after offering you a kiss on the cheek which set your heart on fire and Bob giving you another knowing glare which made you decide to double everything that will be added to his tap tonight.

You headed behind der bar, where you were greeted by Penny who again thanked you for helping spontaneous. After looking through the bar you definitely understood while she asked for help, even for a busy Saturday the bar was so overcrowded that new guest would barely fit.

But you welcomed the work stress with open arms, it helped you to lead your thoughts from Jake and your past back to Bradley.

The bar was too full, you did not even notice that you have been working for 2 hours now, but then started to wonder why neither Bradley nor Bob had been coming yet to order something. You worries got tamed after you heard a familiar: ‘Hey Trickster’, coming from right behind you. A happy smile growing on your face by noticing Bradley’s voice.

Since you knew what his order will be, you did not even hesitate to turn around and look at him but wandering straight to the little fridge beneath the counter to bring him his favorite beer.

‘Please make it two, honey. On my tab’.

‘Damn it, Bradshaw. How generous of you’.

Your hand which was about to grab the second beer out of the fridge immediately froze.

Please. Please. Universe. God. Whoever is listening right now. Please. NO.

But there he was again.

‘A beer for free and a pretty girl bringing it to me. What a great way to be welcomed back’.

You will never forget that voice. It’s curved inside your heart, your brain, your soul, and every single piece of you he had broken himself.

‘You don’t know if she’s pretty, bagman. You have only seen her back!’, Bradley snorted. If you weren’t to focus on trying to find a way to dig a whole into the ground and make your way to China, you would be giggling about the jealousy in his voice like a lovesick teenager.

You had no chance but face him.

‘Bradshaw, you sound kind of jealous’, Jake Seresin snickered. ‘Does that sexy back belong to your secret girlfriend?’.

Before Bradley had the chance to answer and make the whole situation even more embarrassing, you silently counted backwards from 3 to 1, then turned around and slammed those beers on the counter.

Bradley cleared his throat. ‘Thanks, Sweets’. You nodded; eyes focused on the counter.

‘What a shy little thing, you have found yourself Bradley. Does not even want to look up’.

And as much as you had hoped he would have lost his spell about you, you cannot but feel the anger build up in your chest. The anger no one else but Jake Seresin can evoke so perfectly in you.

‘I am not shy’, you said, voice firm and finally looking up. His mouth hangs up, the witty answer he surely wanted to say died on his tongue. His green eyes went wide and his face pale.

‘Hi Jake. Long time no see.’

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youunravelme · 17 days

Note

Hope you are okay re the medical issues you mentioned!! Just wanted to say that I cannot wait for Murphy’s Law!! Your fics are truly some of the best I’ve read on tumblr and I definitely consider you my favourite Mat Barzal writer!! Can I ask how you come up with the plots for your pieces? Maybe my imagination just isn’t great but I don’t think I’d ever be able to do it haha

Keep up the amazing work! 💞

i'm good now lol, to summarize my medical problems: i had gallstones and really bad flare ups. i'll probably have to get surgery to get my gallbladder removed at some point, but that's a problem for a later date lolol.

you're too kind!! seriously, thank you for sending sweet messages like this, makes my day/night each and every time.

now i'm gonna warn you, this is way more in depth than you probably wanted, but we both know i'm not good at being succinct.

as far as plot, maybe this isn't the best way, but it works for me. for most of the fics i'm currently writing, i think of a trope and build off that. so for this is how you fall in love, i started with fake dating and built in mommy issues and other female character's internalized misogyny and the reader's insecurity. for the first fic i wrote, head start, i wanted a childhood best friends to lovers for jack. for murphy's law, i took the brother's best friend trope and added fwb to it. for this matty tkachuk fic, i took the second chance romance with a heaping pile of suffering and angst and started writing that.

now for to all the girls you've loved before, i was projecting because i was a nanny at the time (i wasn't in love with the dad lol, in case that was ever a thought someone had) and wanted to create a world where ordinary people could fall in love with a famous person lolol my favorite disney princess is cinderella, can you tell?

for the worst wing woman, i built the story off the reader's profession and personality instead of a specific trope.

but i also use music to inspire me as well! drops of jupiter was taken from the train song but an angstier version, if that makes sense. it's nice to have a friend was inspired by seven by taylor swift.

i read a shit ton of fics (which is one reason it takes me so long to write lolol) and i find so much inspiration in just the words people are using to create beautiful stories and phrases (i'm looking at you @chewingcyanide). i think improving your writing means reading other people's work and getting inspiration from the things they're creating. i literally look at emme's (chewingcyanide, linked above) work and take mental notes at the sheer talent in her word choice, it's so evocative. or i'll look into @thewintersoldierdisaster's works and get righteously jealous of her banter and dialogue (seriously check her stuff out!).

i say all this to say there's not a wrong or right way to write and find inspiration. i think starting with tropes or songs might be the easiest, but i always shoot to make it my own. ultimately speaking, it's about writing what you love and what inspires you the most.

#sorry this was such a long answer #ask #i have the sweetest anons ever #writing process

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sesamestreep · 4 months

Note

New Taylor Swift prompts! 16, Matt/Foggy

16. I’ve missed you all this time (from this prompt list) I don't know what this is, but it's technically set in the 60s, even though I did not make that explicitly clear anywhere in the text and it serves no purpose beyond just...vibes. I mostly just wanted to write silly new year’s fic, don’t worry about historical accuracy or world-building, everyone be cool! happy 2024, you silly and sultry geese! on ao3 here 🥂✨

Matt can still hear the noise of the party, barely dampened even when he's several rooms removed. He’d be able to hear it from the lobby of the building, truth be told, but here he can still make out conversations without having to focus that hard. He tries to direct his senses somewhere else—somewhere with less overlapping chatter and clinking glasses and shuffling feet over plush carpets—and breathe deep, so that maybe he can regain some equilibrium and hopefully go back to the party in a few minutes and act normal. It’s almost midnight, after all, and who goes to a New Year’s Eve party just to ditch out before midnight?

“Matthew Augustus Murdock,” a voice calls out from the far end of the paneled hallway.

“Not my middle name,” Matt says, smiling, “as you already know.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if it was?” Foggy asks, as he slides down to sit next to Matt.

“Yes, I imagine I’d have lived a much easier and more successful life, if only my middle name was…what was it again?”

“Albert,” Foggy says, “or something. Who cares?”

“Good point,” Matt says, pressing his shoulder into Foggy’s happily. “How’d you find me?”

“I used the one and only superpower God graced me with: I’m like a homing pigeon for you specifically. I always know where to find you. It’s eerie, frankly, and damned useless, but—“

“Not to me,” Matt interjects, too readily. “I mean, for what it’s worth.”

Foggy nods, his overly long hair that he keeps meaning to get cut rasping over his shirt's stiff collar as he does. “That’s a good point.”

“I make those occasionally.”

“Occasionally,” Foggy repeats in a comically shrill, tiny voice, like he’s doing an impression of a cartoon mouse, for whatever reason. He’s a little drunk, clearly, which Matt could tell from the way he’s talking and the way he’s moving and the way he smells and, well, that’s probably enough evidence.

“If I’m ever in trouble, I know who to call,” Matt says, which is maybe too honest, but Foggy doesn’t have to know that.

“You wouldn’t even have to call, Matt,” Foggy replies, solemnly grasping his shoulder. “If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll know and I’ll come running.”

“I would pay real money to see you actually run anywhere.”

“You’d have to, my man. I imagine it would take a massive breakthrough in science for you to see anything at all, and those things tend to cost a pretty penny,” Foggy says, grandly. “And also, on a much more serious note, go fuck yourself.”

Matt laughs and collapses against Foggy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just know how much you hate running.”

“Which means you’ve entirely missed the inherent capital-R romanticism of me offering to do it for you! Classic Murdock. Absolute philistine behavior. I should expect it by now.”

“Your gallantry is wasted on me,” Matt agrees, still doing that thing of being too honest.

“I know,” Foggy sighs, theatrically, “and yet, here I am.”

“Why are you here, anyway?”

“Missed you, came looking. Same as ever.”

“Aw,” Matt says, leaning into his side even more. “You’re right, I really don’t deserve you.”

“I never said that. You said that,” Foggy says, poking him. “But anyway, I lied and the real answer to your question is that I got tired of girls coming up to me and asking where my handsome friend had got to.”

Matt knows two things with a decent degree of certainty: Foggy hadn’t been lying when he gave his first answer (Matt would have heard it in his heartbeat and likely noticed any other number of tells that Foggy has when he does lie, besides) and that no one would have had to ask him to go looking for Matt after he disappeared. His joke about homing pigeon-like tendencies is more truthful than either of them would like to acknowledge. When Matt goes missing—as he very frequently does at these types of things—Foggy always comes to find him. Matt’s been doing this since way before he met Foggy—having overly heightened senses does not make crowded social functions more manageable in general—but he can probably admit that he does it more now that he knows someone will come looking for him.

He also knows that girls like Foggy a lot more than Foggy thinks they do. He’s always talking about how girls seek him out to get in with Matt, but Matt doesn’t really believe that. There have been a few girls, here and there, certainly enough that Foggy’s right to be a little paranoid about it, who have turned their sights from Foggy to Matt, which on top of being unkind is just bad business sense. Anyone with a brain in their head would see that Foggy’s the better option of the two of them. And Matt’s got plenty of flaws, but he’d certainly never take up with anyone who hurt his best friend, so it doesn’t work out the way anyone hopes it will, anyway, when they do. Still, he's sure Foggy could have found a nice girl to keep him entertained until Matt got back to the party, if he put his mind to it, and that maybe he'd just been looking for an excuse to duck out himself when someone asked about Matt.

“This is where I got to,” Matt says, with a slightly pathetic shrug.

“Who says I meant you?” Foggy asks, absently. “I have other friends that are handsomer than you!”

“Not only do you not have a single handsomer friend in all the world,” Matt says, belatedly unsure if ‘handsomer’ is even a word, but otherwise too confident to turn back, “you don’t even have another friend at this party.”

“I’m exceedingly charming, Matthew,” Foggy over-enunciates. “Everyone at this party is my new best friend.”

Matt loops his arm through Foggy’s and leans his head back against the wall. “Sounds like I’ve got a lot of competition.”

“You’re not having fun?” Foggy asks, the change of topic so sudden and his tone so unexpectedly serious that Matt has a brief moment of confusion that he means with this joke they’ve got going. It takes a second to realize he means at the party in general.

“It’s fancy.”

“Too fancy, you mean…”

“You know I don’t go in for all this stuff,” Matt says, shrugging.

“Like I do, you mean?” Foggy asks, lightly, even though Matt can feel him warming with embarrassment.

“Like I used to,” Matt clarifies, and trusts his meaning to be clear.

“Right,” Foggy says, and the tone in his voice is the one he uses exclusively when he refers to Matt’s ex-girlfriend from junior year who almost caused him to drop out. “Fair enough, I suppose.”

“You can head back. Really, I don’t mind. I just need a few more minutes.”

“No, you’re right. It’s…a bit stuffy, isn’t it?” Foggy muses. “I mean, I didn’t even know people still had apartments like this, outside of, well, the Rockefellers.”

The apartment belongs to the parents of one of their friends from law school and the only reason they have free rein over the place is because the parents are vacationing in Aspen with friends. Even without being able to see it, Matt can tell it’s a swanky place. The rug he’s currently sitting on is so plush that he can basically sink his entire hand into it. Every table he passed on his way to this hiding place smelled so strongly of Pine-Sol that there has to be a maid on staff, if not a team of them. He’s fairly certain this random hallway he discovered is actually a back passage to the kitchens, so the servants don’t have to be seen coming and going. He's not sure if he asked their host about it that they'd even know it existed. And Matt’s shoes, as well as most of his clothes, are secondhand.

“You were having fun until I made you feel bad,” Matt says, tucking his chin onto Foggy’s shoulder and trying to look contrite.

“No, I mean—I like having you around, Matt. You keep me honest,” Foggy laughs. “Two and a half years of law school, four years at an Ivy before that, I think I’ve just made peace with having to go to parties in uncomfortable clothes and to make conversation with people I don’t really like. I don’t think I’d call it fun, but it’s a social life of some kind, I suppose.”

“We should have gone to Josie’s,” Matt says, holding onto him too tightly, even with the excuse of a few drinks.

Foggy snorts, thinking of the beloved dive bar they sneak off to in Hell’s Kitchen whenever they can, whenever they’re home. It’s only a matter of blocks to get there, but sometimes, at school, it feels farther away than all that.

“I don’t dare imagine the caliber of our prospects for a kiss at midnight there,” Foggy says, with an exaggerated shudder.

“Can’t be any worse than our prospects here,” Matt replies.

Foggy whistles, low, under his breath. “You’re going to be disappointing a lot of nice girls with that kind of talk, Murdock!”

“Better to disappoint them now than later,” Matt says, fully burying his face in Foggy’s shoulder now. He gets like this when he drinks. Foggy's used to it.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t do the whole ‘going steady’ thing anymore,” Foggy says, leaning in conspiratorially. “You’re too damaged and that means you’re never going to get married, so you’d rather not lead anyone on.”

“You say that like it’s not true,” Matt whispers back.

“It isn’t true, you moron!” Foggy laughs. “One day, some beautiful girl is going to turn your head so quick, you’ll have neck problems for the rest of your life!”

“Sounds uncomfortable,” Matt says.

“And I’ll be there,” Foggy continues, like Matt didn’t even speak, “laughing.”

“Well, as long as you’ll be there, Foggy.”

“Did I mention you’re a moron?”

“Yes. A few times now, in fact.”

“Then, I’ve done my duty.”

“And what about you?” Matt asks. “When’s somebody going to turn your head?”

“Somebody turns my head every goddamn day, it feels like,” Foggy grumbles. “The problem isn’t my head. It’s everybody else’s.”

“There’s plenty of girls who’d be more than happy to trap you in matrimony.”

“Hmm, well, I’m sure that’s true enough,” Foggy replies, thoughtfully. “I guess it’s more about finding someone you wouldn’t mind being trapped with.”

“And you haven’t found her yet, I take it?”

“No,” Foggy says, sadly. The girl he dated for most of their sophomore year—the one everyone had been certain Foggy was going to end up marrying—had just gotten engaged last month. Foggy still wasn’t entirely over it, Matt was pretty sure.

“And you’re certain she’s not here?” Matt asks, encouragingly.

“Unlikely,” Foggy says. “None of the girls here would be caught dead with me in the daylight. One of them might be unscrupulous enough to let me kiss her at midnight, though.”

“So, go back,” Matt replies. “Find the girl in that room with the lowest standards and lay one on her!”

“I will if you will.”

“I don’t know this for sure, but I do have serious doubts that any girl in the room will let the both of us kiss her at midnight.”

“I meant, you should—you know what I meant!” Foggy exclaims, embarrassed again.

“I was trying to be funny!”

“‘Trying’ being the operative word there…”

Matt sighs. “What’s the point of kissing someone at midnight when there’s almost no chance of seeing them ever again after tonight?”

“You’ve just described the point yourself! It’s just for fun, to start the year off right! There’s no pressure!” Foggy says, disbelieving. "What’s gotten into you? I thought zero expectations romance was your specialty!”

“Maybe I’m just not a New Year's kind of guy.”

Foggy hums thoughtfully. “Can I tell you my theory?”

“Your theory? About what?”

“About you, and New Year's, and all of that.”

“Oh. Sure. Go ahead.”

“I think you’re afraid,” Foggy says.

“Afraid?” Matt asks. “Of…New Year’s Eve?”

“You don’t want to participate in these silly little rituals, like kissing someone at midnight, because you’re secretly terrified that something good is going to happen to you, and then you won’t know what to do with yourself.”

“Really, Foggy. Be serious!”

“I am serious,” Foggy replies, casually. “You’re scared of being hit over the head with it again.”

“Hit over the head with what?”

“Love,” Foggy says, simply. “You felt it once and it nearly derailed your whole life, so now you avoid any situation where you might accidentally meet someone interesting or have more feelings than you’ve carefully rationed out for yourself for that particular day.”

Matt swallows, feeling utterly exposed. It’s not something he would have been able to say for himself an hour ago, but the words feel true to him coming from someone else. He doesn’t like anybody knowing him well enough to know all of that, though, and if it wouldn’t be so utterly obvious, he’d pull away from Foggy right now just to be safe. Like that would even help, he thinks reluctantly.

“You missed your calling not going into psychiatry, Foggy,” he says, stiffly, once he’s gathered his wits enough to form sentences.

Foggy’s hand, warm and a little damp, closes over Matt’s where it’s still resting on his arm. Matt wants nothing more than to flinch away from it, but he controls the urge in the interest of saving face.

“Don’t be mad at me,” Foggy says, quietly, like there’s a chance they might be overheard somehow and he wants Matt to be the only one who hears this. “I’m just trying to tell you that, in avoiding fun and frivolous things, you are not sparing yourself from being hit over the head. If you’re meant to get hit over the head, it’ll happen whenever and wherever Cupid so chooses. It’ll happen at the deli or the bank or while you’re waiting for the bus. Which means that the only thing you’re ultimately sparing yourself from is fun and frivolity, and that’s a stupid way to live your life. That’s all.”

“I think you just called me a moron again,” Matt says, weakly. He doesn’t know what else to say. The rest of it is...too much to consider.

“I called you stupid, actually, but I see your point.”

In the distance, Matt hears the noise of a crowd of people all simultaneously trying to shush each other, with limited success. He imagines even Foggy can hear it too a moment later when they all begin counting aloud.

“Last chance…” Matt says, tipping his head backwards in the direction of the room where everyone’s gathered.

“It doesn’t matter,” Foggy says, apropos of nothing, as far as Matt can tell. He’s about to ask what he means when Foggy continues, anyway. “I have someone who meets your criteria.”

“My criteria?”

“Yeah. You’ll only accept a kiss from someone you’ll see again after tonight, right?”

“Uh, I don’t think I said ‘only’, I just meant—”

“Too bad,” Foggy says, as the countdown reaches its conclusion. “Happy New Year.”

Matt’s halfway through formulating a question or an objection of some kind, which is the only reason he turns in Foggy’s direction at that moment. It’s clear from the noise of surprise Foggy makes that he absolutely had no intention of kissing Matt right on the mouth and was probably, in fact, aiming for his cheek, trying to be funny and charming after Matt was such a spoilsport about the whole kissing at midnight thing. If Matt hadn’t moved, there’s no doubt in his mind that that’s what Foggy would have done and then it would have been over and they’d already be laughing about it and moving on. But Matt did move and, even awkwardly off center, Foggy is kissing him on the mouth right now and they’re both just frozen like that, shocked and useless.

Matt doesn’t give himself much credit for genius. He’s reasonably smart, and can be even smarter if he applies himself to a subject and really studies up on it, but there’s plenty of people in any given room smarter than he is, most of the time. He has his moments, though, and this is one of them. He sees very clearly the two paths available to them. Down one, this moment stretches awkwardly and they allow it to become a source of discomfort and then outright pain that they'll avoid talking about for years, or maybe possibly forever. Regardless, it has the power to ruin their friendship and Matt simply can't abide that. Down the other, they don’t flinch from it and they don’t make it any stranger than it has to be and it becomes one weird but not fully objectionable moment in their long and storied relationship. They’re not going to trot it out as an anecdote at parties, sure, but they’re not going to become crazy about denying it happened either. If Matt can steer them in the direction of the latter, he thinks maybe it will all be okay, but it’s going to require him not to make matters worse. For whatever reason, the only way he can think to not do that is by kissing Foggy back.

It’s immediately apparent that, momentary genius or no, while it does not technically make things worse, it also does not make them better. Then again, Foggy makes a sort of interested noise as he feels Matt return the kiss, which Matt is infinitely better off for knowing about and having heard and being able to think about some other time when he’s alone preferably.

They don’t take it any farther than just that. They’re not necking in some random person’s hallway or doing anything truly objectionable. They just stay there, mouths pressed together so that Matt can smell (and sort of taste) the champagne Foggy’s had and the last cigarette he smoked and a hint of that sugary gum he always chews, even though he hasn’t had a piece since before they came to the party. It mostly feels, more than anything else, like they’re breathing together and it’s not sexy the way wild, passionate groping in the dark can be, but it’s intimate in its own unique way. Matt, against his own better judgment, puts a hand on Foggy’s cheek, and he doesn't really know why beyond just really wanting to and that seems to be reason enough.

Foggy doesn’t try to slip his tongue into Matt’s mouth—despite the alarming reality that the moment Matt realizes that’s not what he’s doing, he also realizes he’d let him—or try to escalate matters one bit. His hand is still grasping Matt’s collar from when he first pulled him in, but his other one doesn’t roam. His lips, still pressed to Matt’s, only move to exert a little more pressure and to alter the angle at which they meet slightly. He takes precisely zero liberties and makes no effort to get fresh with him at all. It’s very gentlemanly, and Matt doesn’t know what to do with himself because it doesn’t feel awkward or fumbling at all. It feels like restraint, and once he knows that, everything is different.

The tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ reaches him from the other room, but it’s drowned out almost entirely by the sound of Foggy’s heartbeat in Matt’s ears. Foggy must hear it too, though, because he breaks their kiss with the worst sort of gentleness, pulling back only enough for them both to have space to breathe but not far enough that Matt can’t feel that breath on his face.

Matt traces his thumb over the curve of Foggy’s cheek before dropping his hand back down into his own lap and licks his lips as he slowly turns away.

“Happy New Year,” he says, aiming for calm and unaffected and likely missing it by a lot.

“You too,” Foggy says, even though he already said it first. His heart is still beating too fast and too close and too loud for Matt to read his tone, which is too bad, because he’d really like to know how Foggy feels right now and if he feels anything like Matt does.

Because Matt feels like he’s been hit over the head.

✨

#mattfoggy #daredevil #matt murdock #foggy nelson #matt x foggy #prompt fill #ask #firstelevens #taylor swift song prompts #homelywenchsociety #that's my writing tag! don't worry about it!#SLOWLY BUT SURELY FILLING THESE I PROMISE #it just takes me eight or so scrapped attempts before i find something i like #also this is um...definitely becoming a series.... yikes....#do not yell at me I KNOW #anyway #happy almost new years i hope 2024 is good to all of us

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moodymelanist · 1 year

Text

❅ Many Times, Many Ways ❅

Merry Christmas, @talkfantasytome! Tis I, your Secret Santa mwahahah. I was so excited to work on this fic, especially since you wrote me such a lovely one last year, so I hope you enjoy<3

@acotargiftexchange thank you for putting this wonderful event together for the second year in a row!

Summary: When Nesta finds herself without a date to her family's annual Christmas vacation, Cassian agrees to pretend to be her boyfriend for a week. Can they keep up the charade, or will they realize this is more than just a performance?

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Word Count: 15k

Read on AO3 here!

❅❅❅❅❅

Nesta

Nesta was driving home from a long day at her law firm when her ringtone interrupted her Taylor Swift playlist. Sighing at the name on her caller ID, she dutifully hit the answer call button anyway. “Hello?”

“Hello, Nesta,” came her mother’s cool reply. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well,” she answered. It wasn’t a complete lie, but she wasn’t in the habit of filling her mother in on every single detail of her personal life. “How have you been?”

“Oh, I’ve been alright,” Rhea told her. There was a muffled sound in the background, and Nesta figured her mother was sitting down on one of the large sectionals in their living room. “We’re in full throes for planning the holiday, as I’m sure you know.”

Nesta was honestly surprised it had taken this long for Rhea to call her to ask about Christmas. Every year, the Archerons gathered in their winter home in Connecticut to spend a week together, which mostly devolved into a lot of drinking before the week was up on Nesta’s behalf. In the past, she’d been able to get away with only coming for the weekend leading up to Christmas, but considering her law firm had allowed her to work remotely near the holidays, it wasn’t as ironclad of an excuse anymore.

“Who’s coming?” Nesta asked, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel as she waited for the turn signal.

“So far, your father and I, your grandmother, and both of your sisters,” Rhea answered. “Feyre’s bringing Tamlin, and Elain will be coming with Graysen. Will you be bringing Tomas again?”

Fuck. What was Nesta supposed to do? She hadn’t exactly been thinking about her holiday plans when she’d caught Tomas with the secretary he’d sworn up and down he’d wanted nothing to do with. She’d broken up with him three months ago and hadn’t thought to mention it to her mother – it wasn’t like their conversations were usually long enough to get into the gritty details. And considering her grandmother was coming, Nesta would rather walk over hot coals than show up without a partner when both her sisters were in relationships, too.

“No,” Nesta answered slowly. She already knew Rhea would be making a pinched face under her blunt-cut bangs, but it was best to rip the bandaid off. “We’re not together anymore.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Rhea paused before asking, “Will you be bringing someone else instead?”

“Yes,” Nesta agreed far too quickly. Fuck, this was stupid, but she’d certainly come up with worse ideas where her family was concenred. “I met someone and I’ll be bringing him instead.”

“Wonderful!” Rhea exclaimed. Of course her mother was thrilled Nesta wasn’t by herself – nothing was more horrifying than the idea of one of her daughters being single forever to a woman like Rhea, especially considering her own mother’s ideals about marriage. “Alright. I’ll make the proper arrangements. Let me know if anything changes, please?”

“I will, but I don’t expect anything to,” Nesta responded. She turned at the light and spied her building’s garage entrance coming up on the corner. “I’ve got to go, I’m about to get home.”

“Okay. I’ll be in touch.”

“Sounds good. Bye, Mom.”

“Goodbye, Nesta.”

Nesta parked and lightly hit her head against the steering wheel. Where the hell was she going to find a date to her family’s holiday vacation in three weeks?

❅❅❅❅❅

“So you decided to make up a fake boyfriend instead of… I don’t know, telling your mom the truth?” Gwyn asked, confused.

“Nesta has mommy issues like you wouldn’t believe,” Emerie said with a roll of her eyes. “Trust me, this isn’t even the worst thing she could’ve came up with.”

Nesta just scowled at her two friends. It had been hard enough attempting to explain things over the phone last night, but the three of them had met up for drinks after work for a “brainstorming session.” Thankfully the bar was crowded enough from happy hour that no one was paying attention to them – she would hate to end up on one of those overheard in Washington, DC Instagram posts.

“Mommy issues aside, what the fuck was I supposed to do?” Nesta exclaimed before taking a deep sip of her cocktail. “I can’t just show up empty handed! My mother would never let me hear the end of it, let alone my grandmother.”

“I don’t think that’s mommy issues aside, but whatever,” Emerie replied with a knowing look.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I can’t go back now,” Nesta responded with a heavy sigh. “I knew it was stupid when I said it, but I’ll look even more ridiculous telling her sorry, I made it up.”

Emerie and Gwyn exchanged glances before Emerie bit the bullet. “Well… if you’re that worked up about it, I know a guy.”

“Keep talking,” Nesta said while she motioned for the bartender to come back and refill her glass.

“His name’s Cassian,” Emerie told her. “He runs the gym I do my kickboxing classes at. I’ve known him for forever, and he’s crazy enough to be down for your brand of bullshit.”

“What Emerie means to say,” Gwyn cut in, shooting Emerie an exasperated look, “is that Cassian is an open-minded guy who would love a free vacation.”

Nesta studiously ignored the way Emerie tried to kick Gwyn in retaliation under the table. “Let me see what he looks like.”

Emerie pulled out her phone, tapping at the screen a few times before pulling up Cassian’s Instagram and handing the phone over. His bio was short and sweet, listing some MMA championships he’d won and tagging his gym, but the moment Nesta saw his pictures her mouth went a little dry. He was easily one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen, with pretty hazel eyes, dark curls that reached his shoulders, and an eyebrow scar that only added to his appeal. Even though he had clothes on in all his posts, Nesta could tell just how built he was underneath them, and a large part of her wanted to feel those muscles rippling under her own hands.

He could probably bench press her three times over. Nesta wanted to climb him like a tree.

“Yeah, I’ll give him your number,” Emerie said with a knowing smirk. “I know what that face means.”

“Shut up,” Nesta grumbled. She passed Emerie back her phone and pretended like she wasn’t proving her friend’s point.

“Lucky for you, he said he’s free to meet up tomorrow if you are,” Emerie announced after a few minutes.

“Can’t wait,” Nesta grumbled, a little embarrassed by how transparent she was being.

“Come on, we’re just teasing,” Gwyn attempted to placate her with a smile. “And even if it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll have a funny story to tell.”

❅❅❅❅❅

Nesta fiddled with her cup of hot chocolate as she waited for Cassian to show up. Through Emerie, they’d agreed to meet in one of the District’s many coffee shops, somewhere in between both of their workplaces, and she’d arrived a little earlier than the agreed-upon time just to calm her nerves.

It wasn’t working, but at least she’d had time to order herself something to drink and pick out a clean table.

“Nesta?” she looked up at the sound of her name to see Cassian before her in all his glory. He’d unbuttoned his dark coat to reveal a tight-fitting exercise shirt that left nothing to the imagination, and she had to wrap her hands around her cup just to stop herself from reaching out and touching him. He was taller than she’d guessed from his pictures – probably closer to 6’4 – and his cheeks were adorably pink from the cold air. “Hey. I’m Cassian.”

“Hi,” she squeaked out, willing herself not to blush at how much more attractive he was in real life. “Thanks for coming.”

“No problem,” he told her with a grin. “I’m gonna get something to drink – you want me to grab you anything else?”

“No, I’m okay,” she managed to reply without embarrassing herself further. “Thanks, though.”

She used the few minutes he was gone to pull herself together. So what he was even hotter than his pictures? She’d faced scarier things than a man who made butterflies flutter in her stomach, and besides, she knew she was just as easy on the eyes as he was. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths and smooth her hair back, putting on her game face when he eventually returned to the table.

“So, Nesta,” Cassian said after he sat down. “I don’t have that many details, but Emerie said something about a free Christmas vacation?”

“Something like that,” Nesta replied with a heavy sigh. So much for Emerie doing the heavy lifting for her. “I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend for a week during my family vacation. All you have to do is show up and act like you’re in love with me, and once we get back to DC, we can act like this never happened and go our separate ways.”

“Seriously?” he asked, blinking back surprise.

“Seriously,” she confirmed. “I know it’s weird, but my mother asked me if I was bringing someone for Christmas this year, and I may have said yes before I completely thought it through.”

Cassian studied her for a few moments before a chuckle escaped him. “Sorry, I promise I’m not laughing at you.”

“Then what’s so funny?” Nesta asked, scowling. She hated being laughed at more than anything else, and this guy seemed to have picked up on how to push that button within a few minutes of meeting her.

“I just find it hard to believe you’d have a problem finding a guy to date you for real,” he answered. “Or that you’re so against telling your mom the truth that you’d make up this whole big lie.”

“You haven’t met my mother,” she told him flatly. She wouldn’t get into the other half of his sentence – she’d never had a problem finding men who were attracted to her. It was finding the ones actually worth her time that was the problem.

“Not yet, anyways,” he said back, grinning. “Okay, so let’s say I do this. What do I get out of it?”

“A free, week-long vacation in Stamford, Connecticut,” she answered. “All the holiday activities you can think of – snowboarding, sledding, snow tubing, polar bear plunge, you name it. Plenty of alcohol and food, all paid for. Really, all you need to do is show up and pretend you like me for long enough to get my mother off my back.”

Cassian studied her for so long Nesta started to worry he would say no. What if she had to go back to the drawing board? She hated the idea of having to go through this with someone else, of having to explain her situation again and hope to God they actually took her seriously.

Nesta sighed heavily after they’d been sitting there in silence for longer than she liked. “Look, are you going to help me or not?”

“Show me where we’ll be staying?” Cassian asked. She dutifully unlocked her phone and let him scroll through some photos of their family vacation home. The Archerons had been going up to Stamford for summers and winters for as long as she could remember; it was the perfect vacation spot away from their family home on the Upper East Side. “Okay, but only if you say please.”

“Are you serious?” she questioned, snatching her phone back with a glare.

“As a heart attack,” he responded sweetly. “I mean, I could always go and make plans…”

“We’re adults, not kindergarteners,” she hissed. He had to be fucking with her. Right?

He paid her complaints no mind as he continued to talk. “You know, my brother said he wanted to go someplace warm for the holidays this year. The Caribbean sounds way nicer than Connecticut…”

“Fine,” she huffed, defeated. She needed him more than he needed her, so she took a deep breath and put on the fakest smile she could manage. “Would you please, please, pretend to be my boyfriend and save my Christmas?”

“It would be my genuine pleasure, sweetheart,” Cassian replied with a grin, though his was much more smug than hers. “Has anyone ever told you how pretty you look when you say please?”

“You’re insufferable,” Nesta muttered, crossing her arms as she sat back in her chair. She couldn’t believe Emerie had suggested this guy.

“Maybe, but you need me too much to complain about it.” He mirrored her and sat back in his chair, but he winked at her instead of crossing his arms. “Just let me know when and where I’m supposed to be.”

“Thank you,” she told him through gritted teeth. “We’re going from December 23rd through the 30th, so make sure you’re ready to go bright and early. We can figure out our story on the train ride there.”

“Sounds good to me,” he agreed, still smiling. “How long’s the train ride?”

“I don’t know, maybe five hours?” she guessed. It had been a while since she’d taken Amtrak from DC, but that sounded about right. “I already have your ticket, so you don’t have to worry about that. You just have to show up and be boyfriend material.”

“I can definitely do that, sweetheart,” he promised with a wink. He looked like he wanted to say more, but he got distracted by his phone ringing. “Sorry, let me check this.”

Nesta waited patiently for Cassian to read his notification. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just have to head out earlier than I thought I would,” he told her. He fired off a text of his own before turning his phone around to face her, the contacts app already open. “Give me your number and we can talk details later?”

“Okay,” she agreed. She took the phone from him and dutifully put in her name and number before passing it back. “Don’t blow up my phone.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t interrupt your beauty sleep,” he teased. He stood and grabbed his empty cup, taking care to push his chair in. “I’ll see you around, honey.”

Nesta rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that evening. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, sweetums.”

Cassian just grinned and mock saluted her before walking away. If she stared at his ass the entire way out, that was her business.

❅❅❅❅❅

Three weeks later, Nesta rolled her luggage into Union Station and followed the familiar signs for the train to Stamford. Cassian was waiting for her just like he’d promised, looking comically out of place in the tiny waiting area seats, but he perked up when he saw her approaching him. By the time she made her way over to where he was sitting, someone announced that their train was beginning boarding, and he was already out of his seat and taking her bag from her.

“I got it,” he declared, gently taking the bag out of her grip with a rogue grin. “Gotta play the part from the beginning, right?”

“Right,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. As annoying as he could be, she appreciated not having to pull her bag even for the short walk to the train. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, sweetheart,” he responded, looking over his shoulder to wink at her.

They walked in comfortable silence to the train, Cassian having no problem with Nesta picking where they sat. She’d sprung for the business class car, wanting to be comfortable for such a long trip, and considering how much leg room Cassian needed to be comfortable she was glad she’d spent the extra money.

If only she’d known at the time she’d be bringing someone who actually needed the leg room. If Tomas could see her now.

Nesta watched as Cassian effortlessly put her bag in the overhead bin and let her take the inside seat. She murmured her thanks and settled in, sighing happily the moment she was sitting down.

“I have to get some work done, but we can get our story straight once I’m finished,” she said once he’d sat down next to her. She reached down for her briefcase and opened up her laptop, making sure to snag her earbuds so she could have something to listen to while she worked.

Cassian just nodded and put on some noise-canceling headphones while she got to work. Between the gentle rocking of the train and the calming music she was listening to, the time flew by as she finished working on the memo she’d been drafting for one of the senior partners. She was so in the zone that she barely noticed when Cassian got up, only coming back to herself when a to-go cup of hot chocolate appeared next to her laptop.

“Thank you,” Nesta said once she’d saved her document for the last time.

“No problem,” Cassian replied. He motioned to his own cup of hot chocolate with a sheepish grin. “It was complimentary.”

She huffed a laugh as she took out her earbuds, placing them back in the case before turning to face him. “So.”

“So,” he repeated. He slid his headphones off his head and down around his neck. “Where do you want to start?”

“We need to have an ironclad story when we meet my family,” she answered. “To that end, we met through Emerie and have been dating for two months.”

“Two months and you’re already bringing me to meet your family? You must be serious about me,” he teased. At her deeply unimpressed look, he sighed and relented. “Fine, two months. But you’re the one who asked me out.”

“Fine,” Nesta agreed through gritted teeth. “I asked you out and the rest is history. How do you feel about public displays of affection?”

“I’m a big fan of them,” Cassian told her with a smirk, but he quickly grew serious. “I know I joke a lot, but I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

“I… appreciate that,” she said slowly. It was rare to meet a man so respectful of her physical boundaries — she’d had so many boyfriends tell her how cold she could be that it was a little strange to not have to argue about it. “But I’m fine with showing physical affection. I just don’t want to get too over the top in front of my family.”

“Totally understandable,” he agreed with a nod. “What kinds of affection are you comfortable with?”

“Holding hands is fine,” she answered. “I like little touches like that, and if we want to sell it to my family, we’ll have to do at least that.”

Cassian nodded. “I’m a pretty tactile guy, so that works for me. How do you feel about kissing?”

“Who said anything about that?” Nesta fired back, suddenly flustered.

“It’s what people in relationships do, sweetheart,” he replied slowly, like he was speaking to a child. “If you’re scared about kissing me, don’t be. I’ve been told I’m a great kisser.”

“I’m not scared,” she hissed, suddenly tempted to smack him upside the head. She managed to keep her hands to herself as she added, “I just don’t know what situation will come up when we’ll have to do… that.”

“I’m sure you can think of one in that big brain of yours,” he teased. He was clearly enjoying how flustered she was, but thankfully he decided to take pity on her. “How about kisses on the cheek, and if we have to kiss for real, we’ll keep our tongues to ourselves?”

“Closed mouth kisses are fine,” she agreed after a few moments. “Let’s move on to the personal details. What do you do for work?”

Over the course of the next hour, Nesta learned more about Cassian than she’d ever guessed. He was only two years older than her – thirty to her twenty-eight – and he owned the gym where Emerie attended kickboxing classes. Unlike Nesta, he was native to the DC area, having grown up in Maryland and staying in the area after graduating from college. He’d been orphaned young, but thankfully had been taken in by family friends so close he considered them brothers.

“Everybody always thinks we’re brothers, anyway, so it was just easier to go along with it,” Cassian told her with a roll of his eyes. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to show her some photos, and once she saw the three of them together, she had to agree.

“Yeah, I can definitely see the family resemblance.” She pulled out her own phone and scrolled to find a picture of her own family, careful to pick one from last year’s vacation without Tomas in it. “Since we’re talking about family, here’s mine.”

Nesta took the time to point everyone out – her father was easily identified, but the women in her family needed their own introductions. They looked so similar it could be difficult to tell everyone apart sometimes, but at least they all had different hairstyles. Eira was easy to distinguish with her snow-white hair, and Rhea had always favored a sharp, shoulder-length cut with bangs. Feyre’s hair was almost always braided back out of her face, but Elain was easy to tell apart with her brown eyes and long waves.

“Jeez, your mom’s side must have some strong genes,” Cassian joked. “It’s like your grandma just copied and pasted her face onto all of you.”

“You could say that,” she muttered. Similar faces hadn’t been the only thing to carry over from generation to generation.

Sensing her discomfort, he expertly switched the topic of conversation. “So I told you my life story. What about you?”

“Well, I’m from New York originally,” she began her spiel. “I’m the oldest of three sisters – Elain’s about a year and a half younger than me, and Feyre is four years younger. I’m a double Columbia grad, but I wanted a change after law school so I moved to DC a few years ago. I haven’t looked back since.”

“You being a lawyer makes so much sense,” he said, chuckling.

“I’m choosing to interpret that as a compliment,” she replied.

“You should.” He shifted in his seat to make himself more comfortable. “What do your sisters do?”

“Elain has her PhD in botany, and Feyre teaches painting techniques at an art school,” she answered proudly. “I’m the least interesting out of the three of us by far. What do your brothers do?”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree about you being the least interesting,” he told her with a wink, “but Azriel works in IT. Rhys helps his dad run Night Industries, if you’ve heard of them? They’re big in consulting.”

“Consulting work in DC. What a shocker,” she replied sarcastically. “Good for him, though.”

They lapsed into silence for a few moments before Cassian cleared his throat and broke it. “Well… if that’s everything for now, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when we get there.”

“Okay,” she agreed, not put off by the sudden end to the conversation. It was going to be a long week; she supposed they should take their breaks where they could.

The rest of the ride went by peacefully. Once Cassian was safely asleep, Nesta reached for her iPad and went back to the romance she’d started a few nights ago. She wasn’t ashamed of her reading habits, but she certainly didn’t want to give him anymore ammunition than necessary.

Once they were within fifteen minutes of the Stamford station, she gently shook him to wake him. He thanked her and started gathering her belongings, and before she knew it, they were getting up and walking through the station.

Nesta knew it was only a matter of time until they had to really start their performances, but Cassian was already in character. He automatically grabbed her bag for her and let her lead their way outside, his large body shielding her from the worst of the wind.

She hailed a cab and sighed as she shut the door behind her. “Shouldn’t be much longer now.”

“Don’t look so glum,” he replied as he clicked his seatbelt into place. “This place looks nice.”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” she answered.

Nesta told the driver the address and they settled into comfortable silence for the ride. Cassian hadn’t been lying when he said it looked nice — Old Greenwich really went all out for the holidays, and it looked like something fresh out of a Hallmark movie as they got closer to the Archerons’ home on the water.

The drive was over in a flash. Once they’d gotten out of the car and Cassian had grabbed the bags, Nesta led the way to the front of the house. As usual, the house was decorated like something out of a magazine, with lights and garland strung tastefully on the porch. There were flickering, electric candles in all the windows that they could see, and the amount of lights on suggested everyone was congregated downstairs. Great.

“Here we go,” Nesta muttered under her breath before knocking on the door.

“Nesta!” Feyre squealed as she flung open the door. Her sister looked a little thinner than the last time they’d seen each other, but Nesta lost any chance she had to keep examining Feyre the second her sister threw her arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re here. Mom’s driving me fucking insane already.”

“Hi to you too, Fey,” Nesta replied good-naturedly. She squeezed Feyre back for a few seconds before awkwardly patting her sister’s braid, silently asking for release. “This is my boyfriend, Cassian.”

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Feyre said, moving aside so she could let Nesta and Cassian inside. The inside of the house was decorated to the nines already, the gently flickering lights and tastefully placed garlands complementing the similar decorations from outside. “You’re a bit of a surprise, big guy. Nesta hasn’t said anything about you.”

“What can I say? Nes likes keeping me to herself,” Cassian replied with a wink at Nesta. She willed herself not to roll her eyes — they were supposed to be a couple — and instead smiled as convincingly as she could. “Where should I put the bags?”

“You two are in the second room off the right,” Feyre answered, motioning to the stairs behind her. Cassian nodded and gathered all their luggage, and Nesta busied herself with taking off her coat and shoes before Rhea could catch her tracking snow inside.

“Nes?” Feyre echoed the nickname once Cassian was out of earshot, raising both eyebrows at Nesta.

“Not one word,” Nesta demanded.

“I’m just saying,” Feyre replied with a twinkle in her eye. “You must really like him to let him get away with a nickname.”

Nesta rolled her eyes as she let Feyre lead the way to the living room. “What happened to not one word?”

“I never agreed to that.” Feyre grinned brazenly before raising her voice so the family could hear her. “Hey everyone, look who’s here!”

Everyone gathered turned to look at Nesta. Her parents were here, as was Tamlin, Feyre’s on-again-off-again boyfriend. Elain and Graysen hadn’t arrived yet, but Nesta’s grandmother was already eyeing her shrewdly from the corner. She looked the same as ever, not a white hair out of place in her usual chignon, and her back was perfectly straight even though she was sitting in the most comfortable chair by the fire.

“Merry Christmas, everyone,” Nesta said, forcing herself to stand tall before her grandmother could correct her posture. “It’s great to see you all.”

“Don’t tell me you came alone, Nesta,” Eira replied, her lips tightening in disappointment. So much for a normal greeting.

Thankfully, Cassian had the best timing in the world. “She didn’t, ma’am,” he said, sneaking behind her to wrap an arm around her waist.

“This is my boyfriend, Cassian,” Nesta announced to the room at large, immensely satisfied at the way everyone’s stares lingered on him. His personality could be… lacking at times, but he certainly made up for it with the way he filled out that flannel. “Cassian, this is my family.”

Unsurprisingly, her father cracked first, his brown eyes crinkling around the edges as he smiled at them. “It’s nice to meet you, Cassian.”

“The pleasure is all mine, sir,” Cassian replied. He briefly abandoned Nesta to shake her father’s hand, moving toward the sectional where her parents were sitting. “Thank you for having me.”

“Just Owain is fine,” Owain said, leaning forward to shake Cassian’s outstretched hand. Her father wasn’t a particularly small man, but next to Cassian he certainly looked it. “And I can’t claim any credit for this. It’s all my wife’s doing.”

“Then I suppose I should be thanking you, Mrs. Archeron.” Cassian pivoted flawlessly to shake Rhea’s slim hand, and Nesta heaved a sigh of relief that he’d remembered her explicit warnings about how to refer to her mother. “Thank you for having me. The house is gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Rhea responded coolly. She shook his hand once and allowed him to continue making his rounds, but Nesta’s entire body tensed as she caught the look she exchanged with her grandmother.

“Come over here and let me get a look at you,” Eira demanded. Even in old age, her grandmother’s presence was no less fierce, and Cassian didn’t hesitate to shuffle over to where she was sitting. “Mhm. You’re a large one.”

“I come from a tall family, ma’am,” he responded earnestly. She didn’t hold out her hand to shake, but he took it in stride. “I’ll try my best not to bump my head on anything.”

“You do that,” she told him, ice-blue eyes narrowing slightly. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

“You’ve already met me, but this is my boyfriend Tamlin,” Feyre said once Cassian made his way over to the loveseat they were sitting on. Tamlin gripped Cassian’s hand so tightly that Nesta suppressed a wince, but Cassian didn’t falter.

“Nice to meet you all,” Cassian told the room at large. “We’re still waiting on a few people, right?”

“My other daughter and her fiancé should be arriving tomorrow afternoon,” Rhea replied. She cleared her throat and motioned toward the kitchen. “Nesta, come help me get started on dinner?”

Nesta was up and out of her seat before her mother could even finish the command designed as a question. “Coming.”

Feyre shot Nesta a supportive look as she passed by the couch. At least someone here was on her side.

“He’s… different,” Rhea said once they were both inside the kitchen, already moving to take out various pots and pans. “How did you say you two met again?”

“I didn’t, but a mutual friend introduced us,” Nesta answered. She doubted her mother would remember Emerie’s name, and she didn’t want to set herself up for disappointment when Rhea inevitably failed.

“I see.” Rhea moved to the fridge and started taking out what looked like the ingredients for a roast. “And how long have you been seeing each other?”

Nesta reached for a knife and started chopping the vegetables Rhea placed in front of her before her mother could ask her to do it. “About two months.”

“A little soon to be bringing him to a family holiday, isn’t it?” Rhea asked, her voice full of judgment.

“You didn’t seem to think so when I told you I was bringing him,” Nesta replied icily. She was already fighting to keep her cool and they’d barely been here for an hour — what a surprise.

“Well, he’s already here. There’s nothing to be done about it,” Rhea said decisively, shaking her head slightly to get her bangs out of her eyes. She looked over at Nesta’s chopping board and clicked her tongue. “Those are too large, Nesta. I want them diced, not cubed.”

Nesta just sighed heavily and moved to correct the mistake. It was going to be a long trip.

❅❅❅❅❅

Dinner had been positively excruciating for Nesta, but she somehow managed to survive it without clawing her own eyes out. The moment it had been socially acceptable to do so, she’d made their excuses and dragged Cassian upstairs with her so they could get ready for bed.

Cassian showered first while Nesta unpacked her belongings, doing her best to calm down while she had a moment alone. Thankfully, he was a quick showerer, so she got to do most of the calming down under a spray of hot water.

She should’ve known better to expect the peace to last, though.

“What are you doing?” Nesta asked when she returned from her shower. Cassian was spread across one half of the bed without a care in the world, his impossibly long legs covered by a pair of plaid pajama pants.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m too damn old to be sleeping on the floor,” Cassian said with a careless flip of his hand. “What’s sharing a bed between two friends, right?”

“I don’t know if I’d go so far to call us friends,” she said back, throwing a fierce glare his way as she leaned over to plug her phone into charge.

“Sweetheart, you wound me,” he responded. He threw a hand over his forehead and sighed dramatically. “How will I ever recover—”

“Shut up and move over,” she cut him off, pulling back the comforter on her side of the bed. In a flash of inspiration, she grabbed some of the throw pillows and used them to start building a pillow wall between them. “This should do it.”

“Seriously? A pillow wall?” Cassian scoffed, incredulous. “And you said I’m the childish one.”

“That statement still holds true,” Nesta responded haughtily. Once she was satisfied with the barrier between them, she turned off her bedside lamp and got under the covers facing away from him. “Stay on your side of the bed and we won’t have any issues.”

“Aye aye, captain,” he replied. She didn’t need to be looking at him to know he was probably firing off a crisp salute, especially from the noise the sheets made as his arm moved. “Any other requests?”

She pulled the comforter up over her shoulders. “That’ll do for now.”

They laid there in silence for a few seconds before Cassian told her good night and she responded in kind. It was a little weird having someone in her bed after so long sleeping alone — especially someone she hardly knew, all things considered — but as she slowly drifted off, Nesta found maybe it wasn’t as terrible as she’d feared.

❅❅❅❅❅

The next morning, Nesta woke up to a face full of warm, hard muscle. She snuggled in before she remembered just whose chest she was laying on, and then she was jerking backwards so hard she nearly toppled off the bed.

“Good morning to you too, sweetheart,” Cassian said, clearly amused. His voice was groggy with sleep, and even Nesta couldn’t deny how much she liked the sound of it. “So much for the pillow wall, huh?”

“Shut up,” she replied shortly. She wasn’t a morning person by any means, and it was too damn early to be this talkative. “What time is it?”

“Clearly too early for you,” he joked, but he reached for his phone anyway. “It’s 8:12.”

“Too fucking early,” she grumbled. She eyed the sad remainder of her pillow wall and decided it wasn’t worth the effort of trying to rebuild it right now. “I’m going back to sleep.”

“Whatever makes you happy, sweetheart,” he told her, still way too chipper for the time. “Sweet dreams.”

Nesta ignored him and let sleep take her again. When she woke up the second time, Cassian’s side of the bed was long cold, so she shoved her feet into slippers and grabbed a robe before heading downstairs.

Her parents were nowhere to be seen, but Cassian and Feyre were talking quietly on the couch in the family toom. Her sister was still in pajamas, but he’d clearly showered and changed into his clothes for the day. They both turned at the sound of Nesta entering the room, smiles lighting up both their faces.

“Sleeping Beauty awakens,” Feyre called out, voice teasing. “Come hang out with us!”

“I’m coming,” Nesta grumbled. She tied her robe tighter around herself once she reached the bottom of the stairs and made a beeline for the couch. “Is there coffee?”

“I put on a pot when I got back from my run,” Cassian told her, still clearly enjoying how grumpy she was. That explained the shower, but she really must have been out of it if she’d completely missed him banging around the en suite. “It should still be warm.”

Nesta didn’t even bother responding, instead changing her trajectory so she was heading toward the kitchen instead. Just like he said, there was a pot of fresh coffee waiting for her, and she didn’t waste any time making herself a mug. Someone had left out the bagels, so she quickly buttered one and brought it with her.

“…so adorable in the mornings,” Cassian was saying when she returned to the family room.

“What’s adorable?” she replied, taking a deep sip of her coffee before sitting next to him on the couch.

“You, in the mornings,” he answered with a shit-eating grin. She scowled at him as she shoved a particularly vicious bite of her bagel into her mouth. “You’re so grumpy. I was just telling Feyre about how cute it is.”

Feyre’s grin only widened when Cassian casually slung an arm around Nesta’s shoulders. “Okay, you’re officially my favorite boyfriend Nesta’s ever had.”

“Is the bar really that low?” Cassian joked.

Feyre grimaced and looked at Nesta, who was thankfully saved by the arrival of Elain and her boyfriend. Rhea and Owain came through the door behind them, explaining their absence, and suddenly the house was alive with chatter where Nesta wasn’t the center of attention anymore.

“It’s so good to see you, Nesta,” Elain said as they hugged, her face adorably pink from the cold. She lived not too far outside of DC, but she traveled so often for her research that it was hard to pin her down. “And you must be the boyfriend I haven’t heard a peep about.”

Cassian just grinned before sweeping Elain into a hug. “That would be me. It’s so nice to finally meet you, Dr. Archeron.”

“Oh, just Elain is fine,” Elain replied with a chuckle. Once Cassian moved on to introduce himself to Graysen, Elain gave Nesta a we’ll be talking about this later look that Nesta did her best to ignore.

Graysen looked annoyed as usual, but as much as she didn’t care for him, at least he and Nesta were usually on the same page about how annoying Archeron family gatherings could be. Once everyone made their introductions — and Tamlin and Eira joined the fray — they decided they’d spend the day going gift shopping at the Winter Market in town before preparing for their annual Christmas Eve party.

“You don’t come with gifts already?” Cassian asked once they were back upstairs. He was already showered and dressed, so really Nesta was the only one who had to get ready between the two of them.

“For my sisters, yes,” Nesta answered. She looked away from picking an outfit to vaguely motion toward the corner she’d placed their gifts in. “But for everyone else, we usually just buy things while we’re here. It’s usually just better to wait and see who actually shows up.”

“That’s so crazy,” he replied, shaking his head. “In my family, the only way you can get away with keeping your gifts secret is by buying them way in advance. They’re some nosy motherfukers, but I love them.”

Nesta just snorted before heading into the bathroom to take her shower. When she emerged twenty minutes later dressed and ready to go, Cassian slid his phone back into his pocket and motioned for her to lead the way.

“Oh good, you’re ready,” Rhea said when they came back downstairs. They were the last ones to come downstairs, and Nesta was easily distracted from firing off a retort by the feeling of Cassian’s arm sliding across her shoulders. “There’s a lot of us, so we’ll take two cars. You two can ride with us.”

Nesta found herself sandwiched between her father and her pretend-boyfriend during the car ride, and spent the entire drive trying to hold Cassian’s hand like a regular person instead of using his stupidly-warm hand as a stress ball. Being this close in proximity to her mother and grandmother stressed her out like nothing else, and if Cassian had any complaints about how strong her grip was, he certainly didn’t voice them. If anything, he squeezed her hand a few times back in reassurance.

“We’ll meet back at home for lunch, yes?” Rhea said once they’d parked a few blocks away from the market.

“Yes, Mom,” Nesta agreed, wincing at the sudden blast of cold wind. Cassian immediately stepped closer to shield her from it, somehow completely unbothered by the way both Rhea and Eira narrowed their eyes.

“And keep your… displays appropriate,” Eira added, her face tight with disapproval. “There are families here, you know.”

“I’m sure they’re familiar with affection, ma’am,” Cassian responded before Nesta could even open her mouth. He kept his voice light as he defiantly wrapped an arm around Nesta. “We’ll see you all at lunch.”

Nesta was powerless once he started walking, and she threw a half-hearted wave over her shoulder before paying attention to where they were going. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” he replied easily, becoming more relaxed the further they got away from her family. “Are they always like that?”

“Pretty much,” she answered. “You see why I couldn’t show up empty handed now?”

“Screw being empty handed, you need a buffer,” he scoffed. “They’re ridiculous. It’s not like we’re fucking in broad daylight.”

Thankfully, they were far enough away from the Winter Market that no one overheard the profanity. Once they got into the thick of the crowd, Nesta let herself be tugged from stall to stall, eyeing the many handmade goods on offer.

“These are pretty,” Cassian said, pointing out some earrings at one of the jewelry stalls. “I think I’ll get something from here.”

By the time Cassian had finished picking out some earrings and bracelets for the women in his life back home, Feyre and Elain managed to find them in the crowd. Nesta sighed in relief at the sight of them, waving them over once she recognized Elain’s familiar puffy hat. “Oh, thank God.”

“The car ride was that bad, huh?” Elain replied sympathetically. Graysen and Tamlin were nowhere to be seen, so at least the three of them could speak freely for now. “I felt for you, I really did, but not enough to offer myself up.”

“Please, you practically sprinted out toward the car,” Feyre shot back with a roll of her eyes.

“I honestly don’t know how I’m going to survive the week,” Nesta responded, sighing heavily. “It’s only been one night and I’m fantasizing about going back home.”

“No, don’t say that,” Elain said. She reached out to squeeze Nesta’s hand with her own gloved one. “I know it’s hard, but I never get to see you two at the same time.”

“I know, I know.” Nesta squeezed Elain’s hand before letting go. “I’ll stick it out. I’ll just hate every minute of it.”

“Hopefully not every minute,” Cassian chimed in from next to her. Nesta turned to see him standing there with a gift bag, holding out his hand expectantly. “I can’t be that bad, sweetheart.”

“I guess you’re fine,” Nesta begrudgingly joked, easily falling into her role. She took his outstretched hand and turned back to her sisters, who were looking at her like they’d never seen her before. “Okay, where to next?”

By the time they made it to the end of the market, Nesta’s credit card balance was considerably higher, and Cassian’s hands were significantly fuller with purchases. She’d gotten a new cookbook for her mother, some woodcutting carvings for her father, and a set of fancy soaps for her grandmother. She’d even felt generous enough to buy Cassian a nice, soft sweater while he’d been distracted talking to Tamlin and Graysen, figuring it was the least she could do.

Besides, she didn’t know what kind of outfits he’d packed for the trip. He’d probably need to wear it tonight for the party anyway.

❅❅❅❅❅

A few hours later, Nesta found herself on one of the second floor balconies, shivering on the small couch as she took a much-needed break from her mother. She’d already been chewed out for somehow not following Rhea’s instructions to the tee, and that had been before her grandmother had a chance to join in. Nesta had fled up the stairs the moment she caught a whiff of Eira’s perfume, mumbling something about needing to use the bathroom, and hadn’t even thought to grab her coat before coming up here.

God, it was freezing. She’d only been up here for a few minutes, but she was seriously reconsidering heading inside soon. She could always hide in one of the bathrooms instead, right? Make her lie more believable?

Nesta turned at the sound of the balcony door opening, sighing in relief to see Cassian standing there with two steaming mugs of what smelled like hot chocolate. “Cassian?”

“The one and only,” he replied with a grin. He gently placed the mugs down on the coffee table and rummaged around one of the storage cubes for a blanket, taking great care to tuck all the soft edges around Nesta’s shivering form. “What are you doing out here all by yourself, sweetheart?”

“Hiding,” she muttered, reaching for the hot chocolate so she could warm herself back up. He’d made it perfectly, and she sighed happily as she took a deep sip. “What are you doing out here?”

“Looking for you, obviously.” He sat down next to her and she almost cried at how warm he was. “I’m just glad I found you before the drinks got cold.”

“I’m surprised my mother let you escape long enough to even make them,” she replied bitterly. Rhea had no qualms about ordering everyone around, even the people not related to her. Last Nesta had heard, Cassian had been conscripted to help bring in firewood for the giant fireplace in the sitting room.

“Well, her opinion doesn’t matter as much to me,” he responded, thankfully leaving the not as much as it does to you unspoken. “And neither does your grandmother’s, if I’m being honest. I know it’s easier said than done, but you don’t need their approval to be the perfect woman or whatever bullshit you had to grow up with.”

“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled. “You’re not related to them, and even if you were, you’re a man.”

“Yeah, but all that means is I recognize a badass woman when I see one,” he told her earnestly. “I’m serious, Nesta. You’re intelligent, you’re successful, and you’re gorgeous on top of it. It drives me crazy that they nag you so much when you’re already so accomplished. Maybe my definition of success is different from theirs, but from where I’m sitting...”

Nesta’s cheeks were burning from all the sudden praise. “You don’t have to make me feel better, Cassian. Nobody’s watching.”

“I don’t care that we don’t have an audience,” Cassian replied, shifting closer. “Maybe I just want to make you feel good regardless.”

She didn’t know what to say back to that, but she could feel herself getting caught in the pull of his hazel eyes. His gaze quickly darted down to her lips, which were parted slightly like she expected something from him, and she tilted her head ever so slightly to make the angle easier—

The sound of the balcony door hitting the side of the house abruptly shattered the moment, and Nesta jerked back from Cassian to see Tamlin standing there awkwardly with an unlit cigarette in hand. “Shit, didn’t see you two out here.”

“It’s all good, man,” Cassian replied easily. He shot an unreadable look at Nesta before standing and offering her his hand, which she took before grabbing her forgotten mug of hot chocolate. “We should be heading back inside anyway.”

He grabbed his own mug and led them past Tamlin, who at least had the decency to shut the door behind them before he started smoking. They didn’t speak until they were back in their shared room.

“I’m… going to get changed,” Nesta said, still not sure how to feel about what had just happened. What had almost just happened.

“Okay. I’ll take these downstairs,” Cassian replied while motioning to their mugs. “I’ll see if I can spike them or something. I’m sure we’ll need it.”

“Wait,” she told him, feeling awkward but deciding to power through it anyway. “I, um… you should wear this. Instead.”

He watched as she headed toward the gift corner and grabbed the sweater she’d bought for him earlier. It was dark green and soft and she hoped she wasn’t imagining the way his eyes lit up when she handed it to him. “Here. My mother would have an aneurysm if you wore plaid.”

“Thanks, Nes,” he replied after a moment, seeming genuinely touched. Then his brow furrowed as he motioned to the flannel he was wearing. “But what’s wrong with what I have on?”

She just rolled her eyes and grabbed her own change of clothes to take with her into the bathroom. “Just put it on, Cassian.”

When she emerged wearing a cream sweater dress and tights he was already gone, but judging by the heap of fabric he’d left his flannel in, he must’ve changed into the sweater she’d given him. The mugs were gone too, but in their place were a pretty pair of gold earrings from the same vendor he’d bought things from earlier.

Nesta didn’t hesitate to put them on, shifting her usual earrings around so the new ones were on full display. She hadn’t expected him to get her a gift, appearances aside, and she certainly hadn’t expected to like it so much.

Just another perk of having a fake boyfriend around, she supposed. She shoved down the very real feelings she had bubbling up from the gift and went back into her closet to pull on the boots she’d brought, taking her time to make sure she was pulled together enough to face Cassian and her family.

When Nesta made it downstairs, it appeared the party was about to begin. Rhea seemed to have gone into full hostess mode, Owain already had a glass of scotch in hand, and Eira was bossing Elain and Feyre around for once instead of Nesta. She didn’t want to get caught up in all the craziness, so she looked around for someone worth talking to and sighed in relief when she spotted Cassian.

He looked handsome in his new sweater, and with the way it highlighted all those muscles, Nesta was grateful to her past self about deciding to size down. He lit up when he saw her approach, his grin softening into something like fondness when he noticed she was wearing the earrings. “Do you like them?”

“They’re lovely,” Nesta answered truthfully, gently touching a hand to her ear. “Thank you.”

“I was going to give them to you tomorrow, but someone spring her gift on me early,” he responded cheekily. He reached for her hand and she let him take it, firmly ignoring how good his warmth felt against her cool skin. “You look beautiful, Nesta.”

“Thank you,” she replied, feeling a bit like a broken record. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

They were interrupted by guests starting to arrive, and Nesta threw herself into being the perfect, doting girlfriend. It wasn’t that hard when it seemed Cassian was just as eager to pretend, always noticing when her glass was almost empty or she needed an out from whatever conversation her parents’ friends had dragged her into. If anything, it was almost too easy, especially with how easily he touched her — a hand on her waist, the sweep of his thumb against the back of her palm, the way he’d lean over to whisper a joke in her ear.

By the time Rhea had called the room to attention for a toast, Nesta wasn’t anywhere near as on edge as she usually was during these kinds of events. Crowds stressed her out, especially those filled with people whose opinions her mother valued, but even as a fake boyfriend Cassian had been a stable presence at her side.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight,” Rhea began, a glass of champagne in her left hand. She looked beautiful in a dark blue dress that brought out the blue in her eyes and highlighted her slim figure. “I’m always so grateful to have both family and friends by my side each year, and I couldn’t imagine going through life without any of your support. Merry Christmas, everyone! Enjoy!”

“Merry Christmas,” Nesta murmured with the rest of the room.

Before she could take a sip, Cassian clinked his glass against hers with a wink. “Merry Christmas.”

For whatever reason, she couldn’t help but blush, and she quickly looked away from him before taking a sip from her glass. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but between what happened on the balcony earlier and now this, she was feeling all sorts of off-kilter.

The rest of the party passed much in the same way. Nesta felt increasingly off-kilter the longer they stood there and mingled, and with every gentle touch and sweet compliment that Cassian gave her, she only felt even more wrong-footed. What was wrong with her? One almost kiss and she was suddenly falling apart. She needed to pull herself together.

She would’ve been successful, too, if not for the dancing that started about an hour and half into the party.

“We should get out there,” Cassian said during one of their rare breaks from mingling. Feyre and Tamlin had started shuffling around the makeshift dance floor, and clearly Cassian was getting ideas. “Dance with me?”

“What?” Nesta asked, not sure if she’d heard him right. She wasn’t a bad dancer by any means, but the idea of putting herself into the spotlight at a family gathering made her want to curl up into a ball and disappear.

“Dance with me,” Cassian repeated, holding his hands out. “I promise I won’t step on your toes.”

Nesta sighed and set her champagne flute down. “Fine. But if you step on my feet, you’re absolutely sleeping on the floor tonight.”

He just laughed and took her hand, gently pulling her toward the dance floor. She wrapped both her arms around his neck and did her best not to melt into his hands as he gently placed them around her wasit, but it was a losing battle from the moment she felt that warmth through her dress.

“See, I’m not so bad,” he said as they swayed to the beat of the song.

“Whatever you say,” she replied, rolling her eyes. He really wasn’t as bad as she’d feared; so far, he hadn’t come close to stepping on her feet, and she sent a silent prayer up to whoever’d taught him to at least manage a decent shuffle. “I guess we can’t all be trained dancers.”

“Are you saying you’re a trained dancer?” he asked, delight creeping into his voice.

“Yes,” she grumbled, pretending she didn’t notice just how excited he was about it. “Don’t mention it to my mom, I’m sure she still has photos somewhere.”

Cassian’s grin somehow stretched even wider at this new information. “You’re not doing a good job of convincing me, sweetheart.”

“Just shut up and stay on beat,” Nesta told him. It was a hollow criticism and they both knew it, but she needed something to say.

His grin faded into something much softer, and she forced herself to look away from him before she did something stupid. Instead, she let herself get closer to him so she could rest her head on his shoulder, and he immediately shifted his hands to rest more comfortably around her waist.

As they gently swayed to the song, it was like the entire party faded to the background. Nesta’s focus narrowed to the smell of Cassian’s cologne, to the warmth of his skin, and long after they stopped dancing she swore she was still able to feel the weight of his hands on her.

❅❅❅❅❅

The next morning, Christmas dawned bright and early in the Archeron household. Nesta didn’t have the luxury of sleeping in today, and she dutifully showered and made her way downstairs so that she could help Rhea and Eira in the kitchen. Cassian was hot on her heels, not bothering to shower before he could get some coffee in him.

Her sisters were already awake and sitting on the couch, both of them curled up with steaming mugs of tea and coffee while Miracle on 34th Street played on the TV in front of them.

“Look up,” Elain said, giggling as she spotted the two of them standing in the arched entryway to the family room.

Nesta held in her groan as she realized she and Cassian had walked underneath some mistletoe. Rhea wasn’t too crazy about using it in her decorations, so Nesta figured one of her sisters was to blame.

“Well would you look at that,” Cassian replied with a grin. He was far too chipper this early in the morning, and by the way his smile widened, he was enjoying her morning mood way more than she was. “Pucker up, sweetheart.”

He moved slowly enough that she had a few extra seconds to prepare herself to be kissed, but thankfully he remembered their conversation on the train. That didn’t make his lips any less soft against hers, even if it was just a quick peck.

“What kind of kiss was that?” Feyre exclaimed once they’d broken apart.

“An appropriate one?” Nesta replied, using her annoyance to try and mask the way her lips were still tingling. “I’m not making out with my boyfriend for your amusement.”

“No one said you had to make out with him,” Elain tried to reassure her, jumping in before Feyre could open her mouth with a retort. “It was just a little… boring?”

“Oh, we can’t have that,” Cassian said, rising to the challenge. He turned back to Nesta with a challenging gleam in his eye. “Care for a redo, Nes?”

Nesta saw the way her sisters were exchanging glances and knew she’d been outmatched. “Fine. But don’t get too carried away.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he responded.

Nesta squeaked in surprise as Cassian reached for her and dipped her, his hands warm and solid against her back as he effortlessly supported her weight. She tilted her head slightly so their noses wouldn’t bump as they kissed again, this time both of them parting their lips without thought as they put on a show worthy of any audience. It felt so good to kiss him that she even chased his lips for a moment after he moved back, earning a quick peck before he gently pulled her back up to a standing position.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Feyre said smugly.

“Whatever,” Nesta grumbled. She felt warm all over and she needed to remove herself from the situation before she did anything really stupid, like try to kiss Cassian again. “I have to help Mom in the kitchen.”

“And I have to call my brothers,” Cassian said, reaching for his phone.

“Uh huh,” Elain replied with a knowing look at both of them. “Have fun working on Christmas Day.”

“She’ll come for you soon enough,” Nesta told her with a knowing look. “Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, little sisters.”

True to her word, Nesta continued into the kitchen to help Rhea and Eira get started on the cooking. She was usually entrusted to make some of the side dishes, like the mashed potatoes or some of the vegetables, while Rhea and Eira handled the more important dishes. By the time her mother and grandmother put her to work, Nesta had mostly forgotten about the way Cassian had kissed her, and her lips had almost stopped tingling.

That went right up in smoke when Rhea decided to recruit the men to help with collecting firewood. Owain was automatically exempt considering the way his knee tended to act up in cold weather, but Cassian, Tamlin, and Graysen were rounded up and ordered to chop up some of the firewood that had been drying out in the shed outside.

“Oh, I love this part,” Elain whispered to Feyre, the two of them giggling as they worked on making pastries. Elain had decided to make individual creme brûlées this year, and Feyre had been more than happy to wield the blowtorch.

The kitchen had large windows on the far side that looked over the backyard, so all the women had excellent views as the men started hauling over the dried-out wood. Everyone had on coats at first, but by the time the axes started swinging, everyone had shed down to their thinnest layers because of how hard they were working. Nesta wasn’t paying much attention to her sisters’ partners — Tamlin was fine enough to look at, but Graysen was a little lean for her personal tastes.

Cassian, however.

The man was a walking wet dream and he knew it. All that time he clearly spent in the gym showed with every sure swing of his ax, and Nesta was viciously reminded of how badly she’d wanted to climb him like a tree when she’d first seen his photos. When he lifted up his shirt to wipe some of the sweat off his brow, she nearly mashed her own finger into the bowl of potatoes she was working on. Feyre snickered at her near-miss, but how could Nesta help it when her fake boyfriend looked like that?

“Stay focused, Nesta,” Rhea lazily reprimanded her from where she was working on glazing the ham. “Surely you’ve seen it all before.”

“Yep,” Nesta replied, gritting her teeth as she forced herself to look away from Cassian’s gleaming body. She focused all that energy on the mashed potatoes instead, and if they came out smoother than usual this year, who was to say she couldn’t channel her feelings into something productive?

Eventually, all the food was prepared, and the sisters were shooed out of the kitchen so they could all start getting ready to eat. Nesta managed to beat Cassian upstairs in time for a shower, and when she emerged in a cloud of steam, he was lounging on the floor with his feet laying against the top of the bed.

“What are you doing on the floor?” Nesta blurted out, confused.

“Outside clothes on the bed are gross,” Cassian replied with a roll of his eyes. He righted himself and sat up. “You done in the bathroom? I feel disgusting.”

“It’s all yours,” she told him. She had to hold back a squeak as he stood and pulled his shirt off in one fluid motion, all that golden brown muscle suddenly on display nearly sending her into cardiac arrest.

“Great, thanks,” he responded like she wasn’t struggling to retain higher function. He started walking toward the bathroom, and just when she thought she’d escaped, he turned and added, “Close your mouth, sweetheart. You’ll attract flies.”

“Oh, fuck you,” she snapped. He just laughed before shutting the door behind him, and the shower started up a few moments later.

❅❅❅❅❅

Christmas dinner was practically uneventful compared to what had happened this morning. The fire was burning warm and bright thanks to the men’s efforts, and the food tasted delicious thanks to the women’s work in the kitchen. Cassian praised Nesta’s cooking to no end, and she was just as quick to compliment his wood-cutting skills.

Eventually, all the food was eaten and the party moved to the family room. Owain started another fire while everyone started passing out gifts. Nesta was pleased to have received a signed copy of one of her favorite books from Feyre and two tickets to an orchestra performance at the Kennedy Center from Elain. Her sisters were equally happy with her gifts — new art supplies for Feyre, and a book about the language of flowers for Elain — and everything was going well until it came time to exchange gifts with Rhea and Eira.

Owain had been easy enough to shop for; he let out a happy noise at the new wood carvings Nesta had gotten him from the Winter Market. Nesta had kept things simple for her mother and grandmother, figuring she could never go wrong with jewelry, and let out a relieved breath when neither of them made a negative comment about their gifts.

Nesta had been happy enough with the spa day they’d given her together until they decided to open their mouths about it.

“You’ve been looking a little tired, Nesta,” Rhea commented, immediately destroying any goodwill she’d managed to cultivate with that simple sentence. “You’re getting older, you know. You want to make sure you’re aging gracefully.”

Cassian laughed incredulously, somehow managing to miss every single abort mission glare that Nesta was sending his way. “She’s only twenty-eight!”

“Fine lines wait for no one,” Eira responded, pursing her lips. “I’ve made an appointment for you with my esthetician, Nesta. If you act quickly, you should be able to reverse things before it’s too late.”

“I think you look gorgeous no matter how many fine lines you might have,” Cassian retorted, narrowing his eyes at Eira before turning to look at Nesta with a reassuring smile. “Not that I notice those kinds of things. Your face is perfectly smooth.”

“Nice save,” Feyre muttered under her breath.

Nesta’s heart pounded in her ears as both her mother and her grandmother looked at her, and the weight of the judgment in those gray-blue eyes was nearly too much to bear until she remembered Cassian’s words from the other night.

“Thank you, Grandmother, but that’s alright,” Nesta said slowly. She felt like she was going to throw up from how wrong it felt to say no to Eira, but she would feel even worse knowing she’d failed to stand up for herself in front of Cassian. “Besides, I haven’t lived in New York in years. It would be a bit of a hassle for me with my work schedule.”

Eira’s eyes grew even colder as she stared at Nesta. “I see.”

“Who wants more wine?” Elain suddenly interrupted, glancing around the room a little desperately. “Nesta, come help me refill everyone’s glasses.”

Thankful beyond words for her sister’s intervention, Nesta got up and went to help Elain with whatever she needed in the kitchen.

“God, she drives me crazy,” Elain seethed as they went into the pantry to grab more wine. “I don’t know how you stand it, Nesta.”

“I’ve had lots of practice,” Nesta replied, thinking of all the nasty comments she’d been forced to let roll off her back growing up. “It’s fine, Lainey. Really.”

“It’s not, but whatever,” Elain responded with a heavy sigh. “I really like this Cassian guy, though. It’s nice watching him stand up for you.”

“Yeah, he really doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit,” Nesta commented. It was nice, especially in contrast to Tomas, who absolutely would’ve agreed with Rhea and Eira had he been invited on the trip still. “It’s… different, but a good different.”

“He’s even more my favorite now,” Elain said, grinning. She reached for a random bottle of red and grabbed a decanter. “He’s definitely a keeper.”

Nesta just smiled, the only one here in on the joke. “I think so, too.”

Thankfully, once the two of them returned to the main room, the conversation seemed to have moved on. Cassian immediately threw an arm around her and started rubbing comforting patterns into her shoulder, and Nesta learned into him without even thinking about it.

By the time the rest of the gifts were dispersed, she was more than ready to go back upstairs. Today had been a ridiculously long day, and she didn’t know how many more helpful comments she could take from Rhea and Eira without really going off the deep end.

“Are they really always like that?” Cassian asked once they were back in the safety of their room. “I know we talked about this before, but I really can’t wrap my head around that.”

“Yeah,” Nesta answered. She still felt strange after telling Eira no like that, and it was like her body couldn’t handle the change in routine. “They’ve always been… harder on me since I’m the oldest.”

“There’s being hard on your child, and then there’s whatever the hell that was,” he fumed. “For fuck’s sake, you’re twenty-eight. You don’t even have wrinkles for them to be fucking complaining about!”

“Thanks,” she told him wryly. It was adorable seeing him get so worked up on her behalf, and strangely enough, she found herself relaxing the more agitated he seemed to get.

“And even if you did, so what?” he continued, starting to pace around the room now. “You’d still be gorgeous anyway. Wrinkles and lines and all that bullshit are a sign of a life well-lived!”

“You clearly have a different definition of a life well-lived than they do,” she replied wryly. It was honestly adorable seeing him get so worked up on her behalf. “They wanted me to have a very different life than I ended up getting, so… they just try to control me wherever they can get away with it, really.”

“That’s fucked up,” Cassian said seriously.

“Yeah, well.” Nesta shrugged as she started taking off her accessories, the two of them moving around one another like they’d been doing it for much longer than a few days. “We only have a few days left of this and then we can go home. At least now I have the option of leaving.”

“On a scale from one to ten, how bad did they fuck you up?” he asked, aiming for levity.

She rolled her eyes before disappearing into the bathroom to change. “That’s between me and my therapist.”

When she came back out, Cassian had also changed into his pajamas. He slipped past her so he could use the bathroom, and when he came out he raised both eyebrows when he noticed Nesta in bed without the pillow wall. “No pillow fortress tonight?”

“No,” she answered. She took advantage of the way she needed to turn her face away to plug in her phone to charge, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to see her blush. “It’s been a long day, and it’s too much effort.”

“Amen to that,” he replied. He turned off all the lights and managed to find his way to his side of the bed without bumping into anything. “Well, at least the hard part’s over, right?”

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. Silence fell between them for a few moments before she gathered the courage to talk again. “I wanted to say thank you. About… earlier. You didn’t have to defend me like that.”

“I know,” he told her, the sheets sliding together as he shrugged. “I did it because I wanted to.”

Nesta didn’t know how to respond to that, so she didn’t. She just muttered a good night and rolled over so she could fall asleep without the weight of Cassian’s eyes on her.

❅❅❅❅❅

Now that the main holiday festivities were over, Nesta could focus on taking advantage of the fun winter activities she hadn’t gotten to do since last year. Cassian was more than happy to come with her, and if he looked hotter than usual with his cheeks flushed from the cold, that was between her and whatever god was listening.

The day after Christmas was mostly spent lounging around and enjoying leftovers, but once Tuesday the 27th revealed a fresh coat of snow on the property, Feyre got it into her head that they should have a couples’ snowball fight.

“It’ll be so much fun,” Feyre wheedled until Nesta finally gave in. “Yay! You have an hour to get your forts ready.”

Tamlin just snorted before making eye contact with Cassian. “The things they rope us into.”

“Speak for yourself,” Cassian said back, eyes already gleaming with challenge. “I’ve been snowball fighting since I was a little kid. You two won’t know what hit you.”

Nesta was more than happy to let Cassian take the lead after a declaration like that. He eyed the empty backyard with near-military precision before settling on a corner of the yard with a firm nod.

“You start making snowballs, and I’ll work on shoring up our defenses,” he instructed her seriously.

“Sir, yes, sir,” she replied, snapping up a perfect salute. If she got a little thrill out

He just rolled his eyes. “Get to work, private.”

Nesta rolled her eyes right back but complied with Cassian’s instructions anyways. By the time she’d managed to assemble an arsenal of snowballs, he’d managed to construct a serious looking wall of snow big enough for them to duck down behind once snowballs started flying. Feyre and Tamlin and Elain and Graysen had built similar looking defenses, but Nesta could definitely say none of them looked as good as her and Cassian’s.

“So are you just freakishly good at snowball fights, or is there a reason behind that?” Nesta asked as she made yet another snowball. Thank God she’d decided to wear the thickest gloves she owned; her fingers would’ve frozen off fifteen minutes ago otherwise.

“My brothers and I usually have a snowball fight every year,” Cassian answered, his voice turning fond. “This is the first year I’ve had to miss it in a while. I hope Azriel kicks Rhys’ ass.”

“Oh,” she replied, that wrong-footed feeling suddenly returning. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you miss it.”

“Don’t feel bad, sweetheart,” he said, managing to correctly interpret the way she was feeling with just a look. “I knew I would miss it when I said yes, and it’s just a snowball fight. We’ll just have another one when I get back.”

The snowball fight picked up pretty soon after that, leaving no room for conversation other that didn’t include taunting their enemies. Cassian had a killer aim, but Nesta had the competitive spirit that came with being an Archeron.

“That’s for ruining my favorite jacket!” Nesta yelled as she hurled a snowball at Feyre. Her sister managed to duck out of the way just in time, laughing hard as she nearly brained herself on her defensive wall.

“I never touched that ugly thing!” Feyre shouted back. “Elain’s the one who took it!”

“Nesta, Nesta, I’m sorry!” Elain shrieked with laughter as Nesta completely abandoned their snow fort so she could dump ice down Elain’s back. “Fuck, that’s freezing!”

“That’s the point,” Nesta replied with a smug grin. She flipped Elain off before running back to the safety of her snow fort, Cassian already laughing as she returned.

They all managed to get some lucky shots in, but in the end, her sisters were no match for the team Nesta and Cassian made. He was like a machine as he kept throwing snowballs, and she had no shame in aiming for the body parts he wouldn’t out of his self-described “snowball fight code of honor.”

By the time they all trudged back into the garage, Nesta’s hair was soaking wet from a hit from Elain, Cassian’s front was similarly soaked through from all the hits he’d protected Nesta from, and everyone was red-faced and laughing as they slowly took off their thick coats and snow pants.

“That was so much fun,” Nesta said before they all went their separate ways to clean up. “Thanks, Fey.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Feyre replied, shooting a big grin Nesta’s way. “And Cassian, you better be back here next year so we can have a rematch.”

“You mean another chance for me to kick your ass?” Cassian shot back with his own grin. “Whatever you say, Feyre.”

The two of them trash talked each other all the way up the stairs, Nesta and Tamlin making eye contact and fondly shaking their heads at the sight. The perils of being attracted to competitive idiots with big heads, she supposed.

Once everyone had showered and changed into warm, dry clothes, the rest of the day went by without too much fuss. Nesta caught up on some work she hadn’t finished on the train ride over in the office, and Cassian pulled out a book to keep her company. The sound of pages flipping was comforting to her as she continued drafting her memo, and she was so in the zone that she didn’t even realize he’d left to bring her some more hot chocolate until he was pressing the mug into her hand.

“Thank you,” Nesta told him absent-mindedly, taking the mug from him. She placed it on the desk in front of her and grabbed his arm, pulling him in so she could press a kiss to the inside of his wrist without thinking.

Cassian made a happy noise before leaning down to press his own kiss to her temple. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

She didn’t realize what she’d done until a few minutes had gone by, and then she was panicking. Oh God, he probably thought she was being weird, especially since they didn’t have an audience to put on a show for, but she couldn’t help the way he made her feel warm all over and how badly she wanted—

“Relax, Nes,” he called out softly from his side of the room, effortlessly interrupting her train of thought. “I can hear you overthinking from here. I liked it.”

“Okay,” she eventually replied, her cheeks still burning at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. She didn’t know how she’d manage to get back to work with the taste of his skin still on her lips, but she had to at least try.

❅❅❅❅❅

Wednesday turned out to be the most relaxed day of all. Even more snow came down overnight, so Graysen suggested everyone stay inside for a Christmas movie marathon, a suggestion that their group readily agreed to.

“By the time this week is over, I think I’ll be more hot chocolate than water,” Nesta teased as Cassian appeared with yet another steaming mug.

“Let me enjoy my love language, dammit,” Cassian replied playfully. He took a giant sip out of her mug and made a big show of licking his lips before handing it over. “Mhmmmm.”

“You literally have your own mug,” she told him, rolling her eyes as he sat down next to her. They’d commandeered the loveseat for themselves, while her sisters and their partners were stuck sharing the sectional.

“Yeah, but taking from yours tastes better,” he responded with a wink. He gently placed his mug on the side table and worked to make sure the blanket she’d pulled out covered both of them. “You’re more than welcome to have some of mine if it’ll make you feel better.”

“It will,” she said primly. He just chuckled before handing the mug back over, his eyes crinkling around the edges as he watched her take a sip. “Thank you.”

Feyre cleared her throat to get the room’s attention once Nesta and Cassian were done going back and forth over their hot chocolates. “Okay, so I think we should start with Elf.”

“What about Miracle on 34th Street?” Graysen asked, earning an eye roll from his fiancée.

“We already watched that one,” Elain answered as she squeezed his thigh. “Can we watch Home Alone after Elf?”

“I hate that movie,” Nesta chimed in with a huff.

“We know,” Feyre said, rolling her eyes.

“What about The Grinch?” Cassian suggested. He threw an arm around Nesta’s shoulders before waggling his eyebrows suggestively at the rest of the room. “Reminds me of someone I know.”

“Shut up,” Nesta replied, elbowing him in the side. “I have a heart of gold and I love Christmas, thank you very much.”

“Stop flirting so we can stay focused, please,” Elain ordered with a smile. “We can add all of those to the list.”

“I will exchange Home Alone for The Santa Clause movies,” Nesta grudgingly offered. Elain whooped and clapped her hands together, and before long everyone was snuggled on their respective couches as the first movie began to play.

As the day wore on, Nesta slowly ended up further and further into Cassian’s arms. She dozed off during the first Santa Clause movie, and when she came to during the opening credits of The Grinch, Cassian was absent-mindedly running his fingers through her hair while she used him as a human pillow.

“Sorry,” she whispered. She moved to get up, but his arms tightened around her to hold her in place. “I’m probably crushing you.”

“Don’t move,” he whispered back. “I’m comfortable.”

She took him at his word and settled back down, sighing happily as he resumed carding his fingers through her hair. She hadn’t bothered with her usual coronet today, instead leaving it loose around her shoulders since she knew they’d mostly be lounging around, and she thanked her earlier self for making that decision. She felt so warm and safe in his arms, and the soothing feeling of his fingers easily carried her back to sleep.

When she came to the second time, the sun was significantly lower in the sky and her stomach was growling something fierce. Love, Actually was playing on the screen, but given the empty sectional, the movie marathon had clearly been abandoned for other activities.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Cassian murmured once he realized she was awake. “Or maybe I should be saying good evening?”

“Ugh,” Nesta replied as she sat up. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost six,” he answered. “You’ve gotta be starving. Want me to grab you a plate?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” she agreed. “Thanks.”

Nesta missed Cassian’s warmth the moment it left her, but thankfully he didn’t take long. He made her a huge plate with a little bit of everything on it, and the two of them shared it in comfortable silence.

“Where’d everyone else go?” Nesta asked once her stomach wasn’t trying to eat itself.

“They’re all out to dinner,” Cassian answered. “I told them we’d be okay here. I didn’t want to wake you up, and I figured you didn’t want the third degree from your mom again anyways.”

“Very astute of you,” she told him. She didn’t want to think about how it made her feel that he’d just let her sleep on him for hours, so she changed the conversation topic. “Did you want to finish this movie?”

“Hell yeah,” he said with a grin. “I love rom coms.”

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for the type,” she said back, and then sighed heavily once she realized the opening she’d left him. “Don’t you dare make the joke I know you’re thinking of.”

He just laughed. “Hey, your mind went there first. But what can I say? I’m a romantic at heart.”

“I never would’ve guessed,” she responded dryly. He just laughed again and reached for the remote, turning up the volume slightly so they could turn their attention back to the movie.

Nesta was much more self-conscious about cuddling into Cassian this time, but he made an annoyed noise before bodily moving her back into the position she’d been in before he’d gotten up to get them food. It was a show of strength that really got to her in the best way, but over her dead body would she admit that to him right now. Or ever.

Eventually she relaxed back into his arms, making her own noise this time — a happy one — when he started stroking her back gently through her pajama shirt.

“That feels nice,” Nesta mumbled into his chest. Between the only source of light in the room being the Christmas decorations and the comforting weight of his hand on her, he was making it difficult to stay awake.

“Good,” Cassian replied, amusement slipping into his voice. “You deserve nice things, sweetheart.”

“Yeah?” she responded. Something about the way his voice had gone soft made her look up at him, shifting her attention away from the movie they were barely watching to what she really wanted to look at.

“Yeah,” he echoed softly. His eyes were shining with something she couldn’t quite place, but it only served to make him even more handsome. “Is it crazy that I want to be the one giving them to you?”

“Maybe a little,” she whispered, her heart pounding ferociously in her chest. He couldn’t be saying what she thought he was saying… right?

“I like you a lot, Nesta,” Cassian said after a moment, shifting them so she was still in his arms but they could make eye contact. “I don’t know how you haven’t figured it out with that big brain of yours, but...”

“What?” Nesta replied, continuing to feel like her brain was short-circuiting a little bit. He wanted her? “Since when?”

“Since the first time I saw you?” he responded like it was obvious. “Did you think I was just doing all this out of the goodness of my heart?”

She just stared at him for a few moments. “Yes?”

“You must think I’m a way better person than I am, then,” he told her, laughing as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I like you, and I know you like me too no matter how much you try to act like you don’t.”

“But I’m…” she trailed off, her voice uncertain. There was no way a man like that actually wanted her, especially after what he’d seen this week. “You just spent the last few days learning how much of a mess I am and how much my family sucks. Are you sure you didn’t lose some brain cells during the snowball fight?”

“Very sure, sweetheart,” he replied. “You’re an incredible woman and I’d be an idiot not to be interested.”

“Okay, but —” Nesta began.

Cassian just gave her a look that made whatever argument she’d been about to make die on her tongue. “Can you just accept that I like you so we can do this for real already?”

“Okay,” she reluctantly agreed, that wrong-footed feeling finally going away the moment he touched her and she knew it was real. He looked so handsome silhouetted against the twinkling lights that he almost didn’t look real, but he was — and he was all hers, for real this time. “Fine. Whatever. Just stop talking and kiss me already.”

Cassian wasted no time in sliding his hand up to cup her face and press his lips to hers. His lips were soft and warm against hers, moving slowly like he didn’t want to scare her off. She was tired of waiting, though, so she surged up to kiss him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and finally plunging her hands into his hair to pull him closer like she’d been thinking about all week.

It had been one thing to kiss him in front of her sisters, but this was something else, something only for them. They shifted positions again so Nesta was straddling him, spreading her legs to bracket those powerful thighs, and she gasped once she felt how hard he was underneath her.

“Let’s go upstairs,” she said between kisses.

“Best idea you’ve had all week,” he replied. He shoved the blanket aside and stood up, effortlessly supporting her weight as he started walking toward the stairs.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” she muttered into his mouth. She loved how strong he was, how easily he could move her around like she was nothing.

“I’ll show you hot,” he told her, pulling a giggle out of her, and that was the last coherent sentence either of them were able to string together for a while.

❅❅❅❅❅

The next morning, Nesta woke to a chest full of muscle, but she didn’t jerk away this time. Instead, she pressed a kiss to Cassian’s warm chest, sighing happily when she opened her eyes to see he was already looking at her.

“Good morning,” Cassian said, his voice deeper than usual. He was so adorable that she almost couldn’t believe she got to have him all to herself.

“Good morning,” Nesta replied with a small smile. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah,” he responded with a grin of his own. “This absolutely gorgeous woman managed to put me right to sleep.”

She rolled her eyes, but from the way his gaze went soft, she knew he knew she didn’t mean it. “Must’ve been one hell of a bedtime story.”

“That’s definitely one way to put it.” Cassian leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, making his way down her face to eventually press a chaste kiss to her lips. “What are the odds I can get a good morning story too?”

“Pretty high,” Nesta responded, squirming as his cool hand found its way underneath her warm pajama shirt.

“It’s a Christmas miracle,” he teased.

“Yeah, well,” she said, managing to steal another kiss as he rolled on top of her, “I hear those aren’t in short supply these days.”

Soon, they’d have to get ready for their train back to DC, and they’d have to figure out what their relationship would look like back in the real world. They’d have to figure out time to see one another around work schedules, family obligations, and whatever else life decided to throw at them. But for now, as they pressed their bodies together while the snow continued to fall outside, all Nesta and Cassian had to think about was how right they felt pressed against one another.

#acotar #acosf #acotar secret santa 2022 #nessian #nesta archeron #cassian #moodymelanistwrites #seasonal prompts

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ilguna · 2 years

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☼ eyes open (Finnick Odair) ☼

summary; ' Could you do a fic with finnick where the reader his gf is a Victor and a singer and finnick goes to all her shows and at the end of her show he runs on stage picks her up spins her around and kisses her and the audience clap please? ‘

warnings; swearing, might be a lil cringy tbh

wc; 3k

notes; this is a songfic. the song is Eyes Open by Taylor Swift.

extra notes; i don’t know how to read and forgot to include that she’s also a victor. i’m so sorry.

–

You were just thirteen years old when you came out to the market to sing for the first time. It was in the middle of winter, sometime in December. You’d put on three layers of clothes to keep yourself warm, managing to sneak your father’s expensive winter work boots from the closet to keep your toes from freezing.

You’d convinced the neighbors to take your younger siblings for a few hours, promising to pay them for the trouble of caring for them. Your mom was at work, trying to make up for the recent loss of money, picking up every shift that needed to be covered on the boats.

Your dad had only died a few weeks prior due to an accident out on the water. It could’ve been preventable, if he’d been paying attention. From what the men were telling your mom in the living room, hats in their hands, heads bowed to show respect when they were telling the story. He’d been standing in the middle of a tangle of rope, without realizing that it belonged to the anchor, which they’d already dropped.

It was unwinding fast in the water, and he had no time to react. It was up in the middle of his thigh, and then the entire leg was gone. The rope took it clean off, and could've probably reattached it if they weren’t in the middle of the ocean. They didn’t know how to stop the bleeding, and so he died beneath the deck, trying to make him comfortable. He died from blood loss.

The best the mayor could do was present an award for his loyalty to District Four and the Capitol, one that you were forced to take home. Later, your mom begged you to try and find a way to pawn it for cash. It wasn’t worth anything, none of the metal was real or usable. The award ended up in the trash can, and she was hit with the bill for the funeral.

It wasn’t affordable.

You hadn’t seen her that upset in years. It was late at night, she’d already put your siblings to bed, you were the only one left at the dining room table. You were the oldest, they were all far too young to understand what was going on, much less be able to provide money in any way.

She was leaning over the counter, sobbing over the paper. She wanted to be able to give your dad the funeral he deserved. She loved him, and she didn’t want him to end up cremated. She wanted him buried in the ground, in the same area that your grandparents were buried.

Your mom had pulled herself together long enough to look at you, and told you that there was going to be changes in the house. She was going to have to sell the expensive belongings, and a few of the meals would be cut unless absolutely necessary for the two of you. It was out of the question for your siblings, they needed to be eating.

And then she said, “Unless you sign up for tessera, or find a way to help me.”

She sent you to bed after that, as if that was a comforting thought to fall asleep to. Your choices were to starve, lose all your belongings, work when you weren’t going to school, or put your name into the Hunger Games bowl more for shit government food that would last the year. Except, you’d have to get enough government food for everyone in your family, which meant putting your name in five more times a year instead of just the one.

You wouldn’t make it to seventeen without being drawn.

So, you chose the only option that you could stomach, and you were going to put yourself to use. You were going to sing in the market at the busiest time of the day; when the fishers came back from the boats. They would have to buy their family’s dinner that night and any essentials that they’d need.

You walked a mile down the road with your guitar and a bucket that you fully intended to fill. The guitar that your mom had been planning to sell for the past few days, because that was one of the more expensive gifts that your dad had given to you for your twelfth birthday. Like most of your presents, it went untouched despite the fact that you begged for it.

You stopped in front of the fountain, put the bucket down by a bench, and got to work on making sure you were comfortable. The beanie was over the top of your ears, the scarf was pulled down from your mouth. Each time you breathed out, a puff of white air would appear and dissipate.

You then sat down on the bench, pulled off your gloves and tucked them inside of your pockets. You removed the guitar from the case, tuned it. You did a series of quiet warmups, shaking your hands, playing a few repeating melodies on the guitar. Once you were sure that you were ready, you cleared your throat and started playing.

It didn’t catch anyone’s attention at first, they were all too absorbed in what they were doing at the stalls, but when your voice broke through the music, loud so that it couldn’t be ignored, you got a few heads turned. The songs you were singing were familiar to people who spend their entire day on a boat, ones that you were taught by your parents.

After the first few songs, to make sure that people got your rhythm and style, you started to take suggestions. That’s when the tips started to come in, because people felt obligated to show their appreciation. It started out slow, and it turned steady within the hour.

They would shop, and when they were done, they’d stand in a half-circle around your bench. Listening to your voice, watching your fingers on the guitar. You weren’t perfect by any means, but your mom always told you that you had a talent for music. No matter the instrument you’d touch in school, you managed to play it decently well the first time.

That’s why you wanted the guitar, because the ones at school had to stay there. You promised that if they bought you one for the house, that they’d regret it because you’d play it so much. The guitar lost its appeal after that, and ended up on display in the corner of your room. Just another hobby that you’d picked up and abandoned.

There you were, though, watching coins and bills get tossed into the bucket. You realized pretty quickly that at the pace you were earning, you’d have enough for the next few days. Which brought on a new problem for you; how you’d explain to your mom that you followed her advice without her getting fussy.

She could be straightforward most of the time, but she doesn’t mean what she says all the time. Her telling you that you need to sign up for tessera might’ve been a warning to tell you that times were about to get tough. You know she’d never actually want you to put your names in more times. She can hardly stand the fact that your dad is dead, how would she live with herself if you naively followed her advice? She’d never sleep again.

By the time the rush ended at the market, you still had a few patrons standing around, not quite requesting songs but listening nonetheless. The sun was setting, you needed to get home to retrieve your siblings from the neighbors and pay them before they’d get antsy. If your mom were to get home before you…

You finished the song you were playing, and after the round of applause, you told them that you’d be back tomorrow at the same time, and that you hoped you’d see their faces. With the way that the Capitol has District Four’s schedules regarding fishing, there should be new people the next day, new opportunities to make money, and fix the mistakes you made.

You bought dinner while you were at the market, stuffed it into the bucket on top of the money that you’d have to sift through later. When you got back home, you had enough time to put your guitar in the house and count out the cash to give to the neighbors, more than you said that you’d give them. You wanted to show them that you could pay them, and that you wanted them to babysit often. They take your siblings and make an extra income, and you’d have freetime to make that money.

Well, coming to that agreement was a lot easier than you thought it would be. She was more than happy to watch your siblings, mostly because they were well-behaved, and you didn’t take as long as they thought you would. They’d thought that they’d have them well into the night, as if you got an actual job and weren’t singing on the street. Not that you told them that.

You got your siblings started on their homework in the living room, while you made dinner in the kitchen. By the time your mom came home, it’d been done for a few minutes, and they were eating at the dining room table. You watched her face contort at the smell of the air, and the blood ran from her face when she saw what you made.

Her immediate reaction was panic, because you didn’t buy anything cheap. You managed to calm her down, telling her that you’d explain how you afforded it later that night, and she didn’t need to worry about the savings right now. She was suspicious, but decided not to argue.

For the first time in weeks, it wasn’t tense at the table. Your siblings went on and on about telling her how their day was, what they did at school, the projects they’ll be doing. She was relaxed, and nibbling at the food on the table because she didn’t want to eat it all tonight, save some of the leftovers. You had to tell her to eat, motioning to the table, begging her to enjoy herself.

As promised, that night you pulled the bucket out of your closet and dumped it all over the floor. She was apprehensively standing inside of your room with the door closed, staring at the cash and coins that littered the floor. She was speechless, and you explained to her how you did it.

“And I’ll do it again tomorrow.” You told her, “And the day after that. We will make it through this.”

She cried again. Together, the two of you counted how much money you made that night, put half of it towards the savings, and divided what was left over for other essentials that you needed in the house. Bathroom products, new clothes, food for the rest of the week.

The reason why you started singing in the market was because you needed the money to keep your family afloat. That’s why you started. It wasn’t because you were passionate about music, and because you enjoyed singing in front of a crowd and pricking your fingers with the guitar strings.

It evolved into that point, though.

As the years went on, money wasn’t tight anymore. Most of the debt that your mom and dad had been in, were paid off. You weren’t struggling on your mom’s income. You could’ve stopped going to the market everyday after school. You could have a few hours to yourself to fuck around with your friends, but you tried that already. It didn’t feel the same, it was an empty gap in your day that felt wrong.

You were destined to be at the market everyday, sitting on that bench, singing in front of a crowd. You went from singing old District Four songs to creating your own, ones that people would come out specifically to hear you sing. They weren’t requesting what they knew. They wanted to know what you’d come up with in the time that they hadn’t seen you.

If you had stopped singing, you never would’ve met your boyfriend, Finnick Odair.

You knew his name in middle school, he was a friendly face to most of the people in the hallways. You never had any classes with him, and you wouldn’t know what he looked like until he was reaped during the summer. He was fairly tall, tanned skin, bronze hair and green eyes, fourteen years old.

Everyone seemed to think that he wouldn’t make it home. They had a good reason to, before him the youngest tribute that’d ever come home was fifteen, and that was a hard year to win. He was the first person you ever wrote a song about, the boy that has to fight against what the whole world thinks. People still ask you what gave you inspiration to make it, and you give them knowing smiles, saying: “Guess.”

He came home, against all odds, Finnick Odair was the winner of the Sixty-Fifth Hunger Games, the youngest victor to ever win at the ripe age of fourteen years old.

You’d seen his face a few times in the market before while singing, but once he won, he was there constantly. He had no shame about it either, he’d pick a spot right in front of the bench and sit down with his legs crossed, watching you sing, humming along on occasion.

The two of you very quickly became friends after that. The two of you had something in common regarding status. Finnick’s name is known by the whole country because of the Hunger Games. When before he was the friendliest boy in school. And you could relate because you’re the girl that sings the pretty songs in the market everyday. You have fans of your own. It creates this line in school that few are brave enough to cross.

Suddenly, he wasn’t approachable anymore. And he noticed that when he came around you during class or lunch, that you wouldn’t gravitate elsewhere. You weren’t shy, you passed that stage in your life. You needed friends you could relate to, friends that you could trust.

Finnick Odair was your best friend.

He would walk you home, asking about your plans that night. He’d stick around while you got your siblings setup at your neighbor’s house. And then he’d follow you to the market, carrying your guitar for you, asking if you’d be able to teach him how to play like you do.

The more you hung out together, the more you realized that you liked him. It took years for the both of you to admit it. You liked being around him, talking to him, the way he made you feel. If you weren’t at the market, you were at his house or he was at yours. The two of you were together.

And then he asked you to be his girlfriend your senior year, and told you that he would be with you for the rest of his life, but the two of you had to take baby steps first.

You can’t imagine life without him.

“I’ve got one more song for you tonight.” You murmur into the microphone, adjusting the microphone stand so that you’ll be able to sit on the stool comfortably without having to lean forward.

It took a whole month to organize this event, getting permission from the Mayor to use the front steps of the Justice Building. You had to pay him to use the lights, the speakers, the microphone, because it’s normally reserved for the reaping. The good news is that everything has a price, you just have to figure out the cost.

It’s been more than just yourself setting this up. You found a few people that had the same idea as you did when it came to singing or performing. You managed to convince them to spend their night on the steps in front of a crowd. The more they get their name out, the better it’ll be. They might not be getting paid to do it, but you all start somewhere.

You spent a lot of time convincing local shops to invest in the event, to sell their food at reasonable prices. If there’s going to be a show, then people are going to want to eat and drink during it. You’re sure they’re not regretting it like they said they would. The last you checked, the lines were long enough to ensure they’d sell out before the event was over.

The sun set about an hour ago. That’s when you had them turn on the big lights on the rooftops to make sure people could still see. Besides that, all you have is the night sky and the stars that are splattered across it. It’s a beautiful night to be out having fun with everyone.

You back up onto the stool, sitting up, placing the guitar on your lap, and then leaning over it. You pull the mic in front of you, “This is the first song I ever wrote, and I always save it for last because it means the most to me. Everyone always asks who it's about, and to me it’s always been obvious.”

You look into the crowd, finding Finnick, “It’s about a certain boy that won the Hunger Games despite the odds that were stacked against him. This one is called, ‘Eyes Open’.”

—

“Everybody's waiting Everybody's watching Even when you're sleeping Keep your ey-eyes open

“The tricky thing Is yesterday we were just children Playing soldiers just pretending Dreaming dreams with happy endings In backyards, winning battles with our wooden swords But now we've stepped into a cruel world Where everybody stands and keeps score

“Keep your eyes open

“Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown Everybody's watching to see the fallout Even when you're sleeping, sleeping Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open

“So here you are, two steps ahead and staying on guard Every lesson forms a new scar They never thought you'd make it this far But turn around, oh they've surrounded you It's a showdown and nobody comes to save you now But you've got something they don't Yeah you've got something they don't You've just gotta keep your eyes open

“Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown Everybody's watching to see the fallout Even when you're sleeping, sleeping Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes

“Keep your feet ready Heartbeat steady Keep your eyes open Keep your aim locked The night goes dark Keep your eyes open

“Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown Everybody's watching to see the fallout Even when you're sleeping, sleeping

“Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open.”

—

You play the last note, placing your hand over the strings to stop the noise. The crowd erupts into applause immediately, drawing you out of your thoughts. You look up, grinning.

Finnick has abandoned his place below, crossing the line that was put up a few feet away from the steps. You carefully balance the guitar on the stool, walking up to him. He cups your face, pressing his lips to yours, holding you there. You can’t help the smile that comes over your face.

He wraps his arms around you, picking you up and spinning you in a circle.

You laugh, “I love you, Finnick.”

#ilguna #finnick odair #finnick odair imagine #finnick odair oneshot #finnick odair fanfic #finnick odair x reader #requested #thg #the hunger games #fluff

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