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httpdabi · 3 years

Text

"Swallow it“

Step siblings, enemies, to lovers.

Word Count: 8.1k

Genre: romance, smut

Warnings: 18+, spit kink, public sex, creampie, unprotected sex, fingering, stepcest (THEY ARE NOT BLOOD RELATED)

,,Open your mouth’’ little Touya said, hiding the small piece of sweet chocolate behind his back happily. Tapping in one place as he waited excitedly. You did as he told hoping he won’t pull any of his stupid pranks. But somehow, you always end up doing what he wanted, trusting your Niichan.

You excitedly clapped your hands once you tasted the sweet taste of the chocolate, smile appearing on your face. ,, Don’t swallow it so fast’’ he said, a little bit disappointed that you didn’t enjoy the taste a bit longer, but it was already done. Chewing few times, you swallowed it.

At the age of 6, your father met Rei. Divorced mother, giving her best to raise her child as good as possible. It didn’t took them long to fall in love with each other, finding the comfort in each other. They both suffered the same way, so it was like a match made in heaven.

Once they married and Rei moved in with her son that was just one year older then you, your heart was almost blowing from all the happiness. You always wanted to have older brother to play with, to protect you and to love you. And Touya was all you wished for. Touya accepted you, not minding that you aren’t blood related. None of you didn’t mind it, since your parents taught you better.

,,Kids, dinner is ready’’ your stepmother said loud enough for you two to hear her. Annoyed that you have to stop the play, you and Touya made your way downstairs, Touya mumbling under his breath how he’s not even hungry.

Your smiled widely once you saw that Rei made your favorite dish, Lasagna. Jumping on the chair, you took the fork and waited for everyone to sit down so all of you could thank God for the dinner and finally eat.

,,Ahhh’’ Touya said, ready to feed you with your favorite dish. Opening your mouth you couldn’t wait to taste it finally, it was such a long time since you’ve ate it. Chewing it fast, you swallowed it in a second, making Touya roll his eyes on you ,, Don’t swallow it yet omg ‘’ he said frustrated with you, making your parents laugh finding it adorable how their kids get along.

,, He told me that I’m ugly Niichan’’ you cried out loud, feeling embarrassed and disappointed. It was your first crush, and yet he called you ugly in front of everyone in the class. You didn’t cry in front of them, but once you found yourself in front of your older brother, you couldn’t stop the small sobs coming from your mouth. You knew that kids were rude, but you still expected less.

,, You are the most beautiful girl in the whole world’’ he said angrily. How dare someone breaks his little sisters heart ? Even tho he was so mad he could burn everyone down, he calmed down, taking one small Schoko-Bon out of his pocket and unwrapping it.

,,Close your eyes’’ he said smiling, his hand on your head patting it slowly. You did as you were told, tears rolling down your cheeks. He didn’t even have to tell you what to do, you opened your mouth waiting for Touya’s surprise. Once he placed the sweet in your mouth, you started chewing it.

Touya’s blood was boiling, that’s not how you eat Schoko-Bon. If you weren’t so sad, he would definitely lecture you how you have to let it melt in your mouth to feel the beautiful sweet taste, but he simply let you have it your way.

,, Should I swallow it ?’’ You rubbed your eyes, cleaning the tears away. You hoped you ate it how he wants, but every time you eat something, you simply had to eat it fast.

,, Swallow it’’ Touya said. It was already too late, you’ve already destroyed the real pleasure the candy was offering you. You were so weird, he thought to himself.

It was midnight, when you tiptoed into Touya’s room, not being able to fall asleep. At your luck, Touya was still awake, playing with his Dragon your father bought him. He was happy that you were there, even tho you were a girl, he always loved to play with you.

,, Oh my god, yess, yess, yess. ‘’ you two heard Rei, giving each others confused looks. ,, Niichan, what is mommy doing?’’ you asked, petting his Dragon slowly.

,, She’s praying, obviously’’ your Niichan said proudly, telling you how it’s probably the best if you two pray too. Of course, once again you did as he told you, praying together with him.

At the age of 16, you found yourself having more friends then you expected. Even tho your parents were encouraging you to live a little, you loved more to spend your time with Niichan then with your friends. If you could, you would spend every minute, every second with him. Your lovely Niichan. If only he felt the same. You were sad when his friends would come over, and he would ignore you.

Once he finally called your name, even tho his friends were over, you almost died out of happiness. Making your way to his room happily, you hoped they will let you spend some time with them.

,, Sit here’’ Touya was tapping with his hand beside him. His friends sitting on the floor. You sat fast beside him, listening to your older brother not wanting to embarrass him in front of his friends.

,, Want something sweet ?’’ Touya asked, making you smile innocently. Once you closed your eyes and opened your mouth , you felt one long and sour Haribo in your mouth. It wasn’t so sour as it was supposed to be, but you still didn’t like the taste of it. Still, chewing it fast and swallowing it, making a weird face.

Touya and two other boys laughed, while Touya was petting your head. ,, Go do your homework, your Niichan will correct it later’’ he said smiling. Once you got out of the room, you could hear the boys laugh saying something about indirect kiss, which you didn’t understand.

,, IT’S HER FOULT TOO! ARE YOU BLIND ?? SHE WAS LEADING HIM ON ALL THE TIME’’ you heard your stepmom scream, not sure what was going on you just ignored them and made your way upstairs slowly.

,, YOU ARE INSANE, HOW DID SH-´´ your father was cut of in the middle of yelling. ,, CAN’T YOU SEE WHAT SHE’S WEARIGN? HOW SHE’S BEHAVING??’’ Rei screamed, loud steps coming your direction as you were about to knock at Touya’s door.

,, DON’T YOU DARE GET INSIDE THAT ROOM’’ Rei screamed. You didn’t understand what was going on. When you left home, everything was very normal, but just two hours later you faced the scary fight your parents prepared.

Their first and last fight. Since after that fight Rei packed her and Touya’s stuff leaving that same night. Looking at Touya, he just passed by you, afraid even to look at you, while his mother was pulling the sleeve of his sweather.

After that night you didn’t see Touya or Rei. Your father was trying to explain to you what happened that night, failing completely. Every night you would cry yourself to sleep, missing Touya. Every day your father would tell you tons of shit about Touya, saying how that boy was devil. How it’s much better it ended this way.

You remembered how your parents weren’t that happy as he was feeding you with the strawberry. Both of them looking at each other as if you did something so terrible.

As the years passed, instead of sadness, you felt so mad. You developed so much hate toward Touya. Why didn’t he contact you ? Not even once. You heard that he and Rei moved in other city shortly after the huge fight. No one told you directly, it was just a rumor for you. Sadly that rumor ended up being truth, since after that night every trace of him disappeared.

Every night you would check your phone, getting mad after seeing that he didn’t contact you, even tho it was so easily to. With instagram and facebook, it was so easy to contact anyone these days. Every time you saw a message or call from unknown number, your heart would go crazy only to find out it was a mistake and on the other line wasn’t him.

,,You have to keep your elbow up and don’t move your upper arm once you throw it’’ Shiggy told you calmly, trying to teach you how to throw that fucking dart. If someone told you that you will start hanging out with your ex brothers best friends, you wouldn’t believe them. Throwing the dart, it ended up at the end of the board, giving you no points.

,, She’ll never learn’’ Kai chuckled, wrapping his arm around your best friend Momo. Rolling your eyes, you wanted to prove yourself, throwing another one but missing again.

Shiggy’s cellphone started vibrating. Not paying any attention to it you just continued throwing the darts around uselessly, while he was facetiming someone. ,, Look who I’m hanging out with’’ he said, placing the phone in front of you, as his head popped beside your own with a big smile formed on his face. Once you moved your focus from the dartboard to his phone, you felt your heart sink, making you feel sick in your stomach.

,,Get that motherfucker out of my face’’ you hissed, pushing the phone away from you and throwing the darts with all the power your had, not giving a shit about the instruction Shiggy gave you few minutes ago. The fact that Touya was in contact with him almost made you throw up from all the anger. Shiggy froze in shock, not expecting that kind of reaction from you, fast moving away from you.

Years passed, and he never contacted you even once.

NASTY MOTHERFUCKER, you thought to yourself, biting your lip in anger.

After the call ended, none of them had courage to ask you what was that about, letting it go simply as that and never mentioning anything about it again. Not even Momo.

You were excited for your hard earned summer holidays. You didn’t plan much, but you were just happy that you could spend the time with your friends without stressing about work or anything.

,,What movie do you want to watch tonight ?’’ your father asked, placing the pizza you just bought in the oven, while you were preparing all the snacks.

,,Hmm..’’ you sighed, thinking. ,, Dumbo’’ you said happily. Momo always laughed at you for watching Disney movies. But in your defense, no one is too old for Disney. You just loved to cuddle yourself in blanket, with warm cocoa drink in your hand and watch some old Disney movie.

Your father laughed loudly once he saw you tearing up, then sobbing when those assholes started separating Dumbo’s mom from him. You were a crying mess every now and then.

,,So, do you have a boyfriend?’’ your father asked, trying to be a good father figure to you and open a conversation, telling you that he would love to meet your boyfriend in the future, only to push his lips into a think line once you told him that you don’t have one.

You laughed when he asked you if you are a lesbian, telling you how he would support you. ,, No dad, I’m not ‘’ you laughed out taking your phone and opening your Instagram feed.

,, Darling, you are really paying so much attention to that silly device ’’ he said. He was always against phones and almost any electronic, always telling you how was it when he was younger.

,, Dad, I want to delete all my social media so bad, but what the fuck am I gonna do ? Go for a walk?’’ you said, as you replied to a text from Momo.

,, Ah whatever, I’m gonna take a nap.’’ He said, standing up as he took the glasses from the table, making his way to the kitchen to clean them.

,,And I’m gonna make your wish come true, and go socialize with people’’ you said, helping him out with cleaning.

Since it was pretty warm, you wore your plaid skirt and simple white shirt. Hopping into your nike airforce, you took wallet and made your way out, to meet Momo in the café.

She wasn’t alone, of course. Shiggy and Kai were there as well, waving their hands at you, like you couldn’t see them. You loved the dull lightning of the café you spent so much time in. Greeting them all, you hopped in the armchair beside Shiggy, crossing your legs as you decided what you want to drink.

,, Dabi, my man’’ Kai said, standing up, hugging the man that just walked in. Still focused on the small menu with different kind of drinks. Looking up at the tattooed man, your felt your blood boiling as he offered you his hand. You just ignored him, acting as you still didn’t decide what to drink.

A knot formed in your throat, giving you the feeling if you say even one word, you will end up sobbing in front of them.

,, It was about time’’ Shiggy said not hiding his happiness, while all you wanted to do is vomit all over the table.

,, Yeah, I wanted to visit sooner, but I couldn’t’’ Touya said, as you played with your phone, trying to ignore his whole existence. In the moment the waiter asked you what you want to drink, you were too scared to say anything. Knowing that you were about to break down any time.

,, Hot chocolate please’’ you said quietly, smiling softly to the waiter you knew now for the ages. Standing up, you excused yourself and made your way to the toilet. Taking few deep breaths, you took a cigarette out of your bag and lit one in the toilet.

Trying to think about how much he hurt you. You made yourself believe that he doesn’t deserve your sadness. ,,Get your shit together’’ you said to yourself, inhaling the smoke of the cigarette deeply, before going back to your friends and that fucking asshole.

,, Hawks bought you a cake’’ Shiggy said, pointing at the cake beside the hot chocolate. You turned off cigarette and sat down, fixing your skirt.

Touya couldn’t keep his eyes of you, the fact that you were ignoring him was eating him alive. He didn’t give a fuck about all the questions coming from Shiggy’s mouth, all he wanted to do is talk with you. Looking you vacuuming the cake in front of you, he couldn’t help but smile.

,, I love youuu Hawks’’ You screamed, eyes closed and mouth full. ,, Taste’s good?’’ you heard his voice and you nodded happily to him, thankful that he noticed your fucked up mood.

,, How’s your mother ?’’ Kai asked, curious about Touya’s life.

,, Yes Touya, how’s your mother?’’ you gritted, finished the cake. If a stare could kill, Touya would be long dead by now. Momo looked at you confused by your sudden behavior.

,, She’s good. Always stressing me out’’ he laughed, taking a cigarette and lighting it up. You did the same thing as he did. Every word coming out of his mouth making you more angry if that was even possible.

,, I saw a photo of you two on your instagram, I’m glad she’s good’’ Shiggy said genuinely, being a good friend as always.

,, Yes Touya, I saw it too. I love the feed of your instagram. So aesthetic’’ you hissed puffing on your cigarette. At this point you didn’t care about the fact that you made the air hard to breath for everyone. They didn’t know what actually happened.

Touya’s eyes were getting darker with every word you spat, like he was getting mad about it. None of your friends dared to say anything, afraid that you’ll spill more oil onto the fire.

,, Anyway..’’ Shiggy broke the tension. ,, your username is so weird’’ he said, trying to find words that won’t make the situation worse, but failing miserably.

,, Such a weird username Niichan’’ you said, saying the last word thru your gritted teeth as you bit hard onto the straw, finishing your hot chocolate.

,, What’s your problem ?’’ Touya hissed, leaning over the table.

,,You are my problem, you tattooed piece of shit’’ You hissed, biting the straw even harder as you leaned over the table. Your behavior surprised him. He didn’t expect from you much after everything that happened. But what he didn’t expect at all, was the rude behavior you were giving him at the moment. You were always so sweet to him.

,, Guess you’ll have to deal with it then’’ he said. You wanted to wipe that fucking smirk from his face away. In your opinion, he was the one who was supposed to stay quiet. He was the one who didn’t bother to message you even once, he was the one who hurt you.

,, I dealt with your shit for a long time, so sell it to someone else’’ you said, as you placed the money on the table, getting ready to leave. Sure, you could sit there and argue with him till tomorrow, cursing him out and saying anything that got on your mind, but there was no need for it. He didn’t deserve even the bad words coming out of your mouth.

,,Ah come on guys, don’t fight’’ Shiggy said awkwardly, standing up once he realized that you were about to leave. You just ignored him, as you took your bag and made your way out.

,, Wait’’ you heard Shiggy’s voice once you got out. You didn’t want to turn around or stop, but of course he was fast enough to catch you. If he thought that there was even the smallest chance to change your mind, he was so wrong.

,,What ?’’ you snapped, still walking. You didn’t want to listen to anyone at all. Not even Shiggy, or Momo or anyone on this fucking world.

,,What was this all about? Don’t you think you’re overacting ?’’ he asked as he stopped you from walking. Your eyes widened at his words, almost shaking out of anger that he dared to say these word without thinking at all.

,,OVERACTING? WHO EVEN INVITED THAT MOTHERFUCKER’’ you yelled, ready to burn the whole place up.

,, We did, we thought you’ll be happy about it too’’ he said placing his hands in the pockets of his black hoodie. Happy? Happiness was the last thing you felt the moment you saw him.

,,Well, I’m not. Call me when he leaves’’ you said, leaving Shiggy all alone. Shiggy didn’t have his hopes high, but he still wanted to try to stop you from leaving.

Once you finally got home, you were glad that your father had change of plans. You were keeping your shit together, not wanting to wake him up. But once you found a small piece of paper on the kitchen counter saying that he’s out with his friend, watching some soccer game, you started crying. Loudly.

You wished he was dead.

How could he do this to you? Come back and act like you were someone he just met. You cried a lot because of him, but nothing could compare to tears that were rolling down your cheeks at the moment. You forced yourself to wash the make up of your face, before you found yourself buried into your pillow, sobbing into it.

The moment you heard the lock of the door and your father entering the house, you chocked your last cry, not wanting to worry him or to find out that Touya was back.

,, Did you fight with your friends?’’ Your father asked as he ate the eggs you prepared for him. Of course your father noticed the sudden change in your behavior. Of course he noticed that you didn’t leave the house last three days.

,, Yeah’’ you lied.

The three of them contacted you more times, begging you to meet them. Saying how you can simply ignore Touya and just meet them. It was easy for them to say something like that, since they didn’t know what happened. They didn’t know how much you suffered all these years.

When your father left for work, you found yourself alone once again. Since it was pretty early, you thought it would be alright if you go grab a coffee. As much as you remember, Hawks has morning shift on Friday, it wouldn’t harm you to chat with him a bit.

You wore your simple skirt, and choose a random baggy shirt, before you lazily made your way to the café.

Even tho the morning sun was really strong, the dark windows and the dull lights of your favorite café killed every sign of it. You loved the chilly and relaxing atmosphere of the café, and you loved that always the same people visited it.

,, What’s my favorite girl doing here so early’’ Hawks smiled, once he saw you sitting on the table he chills at when there aren’t many costumers. Somehow he always managed to figure out your feelings, trying to cheer you up with a cake or too much whipping cream on your hot chocolate.

,, Missed me a bit?’’ he joked as he prepared your favorite coffee for you. You just rolled your eyes lazily at him, as you took one cigarette and placed it between your lips.

,, You make the best coffee Hawks’’ you said honestly taking a sip of it. The too sweet taste of it made you close your sleepy eyes and enjoy it fully.

,, It’s because it’s made with love’’ he said as you cringed on his comment. You took the cellphone out of your bag and scrolled your Instagram feed, liking some photos of the strangers you follow.

While you were just scrolling thru your phone, and chatted with Hawks, every now and then he would sit down with you, you noticed the tall figure that entered the café. Eyes meeting with his, you broke the eye contact like it never happened.

He sat in the armchair on the other side of the room, facing you as Hawks made his way toward him happily.

Not paying any attention to him, you just tried to stay focused on your phone and the tasty coffee Hawks made for you. But you could feel him stare. You felt his eyes burn into you and once you looked up, you were right. Touya was simply sitting there, his head leaned back into the armchair as he looked at you shamelessly, not trying to hide it.

The whole time he sat there, he didn’t even touch his phone or coffee, totally focused on you. Not caring if he’s making you uncomfortable or anything like that. At one point you were done with his shit, you rolled your eyes and told Hawks that you will go out on the terrace. You didn’t really want to go out, but you wanted to avoid his stare in any way possible and going home wasn’t really a solution for you, since you would show him that he’s winning again.

You didn’t want to watch his face.

There were more people on the terrace, since everyone normal would like to enjoy the sun and beautiful weather. Greeting the people you knew, you sat under opened window where Hawks table was.

,,Want another iced coffee?’’ Hawks asked, his upper body peeking from the tall window. You nodded your head, as you placed your legs on the other empty chair, getting yourself comfortable and trying to ignore Touya’s presence.

,, How are you and I missed you is more appropriate way to greet someone you didn’t see for such a long time’’ you heard a deep voice you didn’t want to acknowledge. Looking on your phone and acting as you were actually busy with it.

,, Fuck off’’ you hissed, looking up at him when you realized that he isn’t leaving.

,, That’s not a nice way to talk to your Niichan’’ he said as he comfortably sat beside you. You were about to stand up and leave him, but a firm hand was on your tight putting you back into the chair.

,, You’re not going anywhere’’ he said, his hand still on your tight.

,, Would be much better if you just ignored my existence like you did all this years’’ you said, trying to push his hand away, only to end up failing. He got so much stronger over these years. Touya swallowed at your words, taking a deep breath not knowing what to say, as you tried to wiggle out of his grip once again.

,, Didn’t think you would hate me this much’’ He said as he took one cigarette and lit it up, doing it all with one hand, while his other hand was still making sure you won’t leave.

The message you’ve received from your father made you forget about the person sitting next to you for a second.

,, I don’t know what happened between you and your friends, but don’t let some silly reason break your friendship. You will regret it later. Say if you need some snacks, ly’’

He was right. Why would you ignore your friends just because this piece of shit came back after all those years.

He. Was. Not. Worth. It.

,, Move that dirty hand away from me before I break it ‘’ you hissed at him.

,,Ouch’’ he said sarcastically acting all hurt suddenly, placing the same hand over his heart. He was about to say something, but was stopped with Shiggy’s voice all of sudden.

,, Finally’’ he said hopping beside you two. You were about to leave, but your fathers words were in your mind.

You sat there quietly, answering to Shiggy’s question every now and then and ignoring Touya’s existence. Shiggy didn’t want to push you, so he just let you be, he was glad that you were with them at that moment.

,, We are going to Momo’s holiday cabin this evening. Come with us!’’ he said. Momo planned to visit you today and ask you, but since Shiggy already met you, he hoped luck will be on his side.

,, Sure. What time ?’’ you simply asked. Touya raised his eyebrows in surprise, while Shiggy gave you a high five happily.

,, We’ll pick you up at 17PM. OK?’’ he said and you just nodded in agreement. There’s no way you’ll let him ruin your summer holiday you were so looking forward to. You deserved to have some fun with your friends. Fuck that tattooed grinch.

Since a sleepover was planned, you packed your pajama, phone charger, hoodie and few things you needed into you bag. You sent a message to your father thanking him for his message, and saying that you will spend your night with them.

When they arrived, you saw that Momo was sitting next to the Kai who was driving. You were about to hop behind Kai, but Shiggy told you to move in the middle since you were the smallest one and don’t need much place as he and Dabi need.

Discrimination, you thought to yourself, as you sat in the middle. Trying to cuddle yourself to Shiggy and get away from Touya as much as possible. Acting like the smallest touch of him would actually kill you.

,, Can you move your fucking legs away, you are acting like you own this fucking car’’ you hissed pushing his long legs to the side with your knee.

,, Then sit in his fucking lap if I’m bothering you so much’’ Touya snapped back while taking even more place from you on purpose.

,, Who let this sidekick tag along anyway?’’ you said pushing his legs once more, making Momo laugh. Dabi found it cute how you weren’t even try to hide all the anger that was boiling in you and he only wanted to trigger you more if it was possible.

It was 8PM when you finally arrived. Maybe you could have arrived sooner, but every time Kai would speed up a bit, Momo would start to scream around how he drives like a maniac, and how he will get you all killed.

You were glad when you finally got out of the damned car. Stretching your body out, you took a deep breath. Making your way to the cabin, you placed your bag on the old couch once you got inside.

Not wasting any time, all of you started making plans. Momo and Kai prepared the dinner, while you were changing the sheets for everyone.

Shiggy and Dabi were preparing the table and everything that was on the terrace, like cleaning the chairs and everything else.

You sat on the swing seat, slowly moving with your legs while you waited for food to be ready. The smell of the food made you much hungrier then you expected, making you wish it will finally be done so you can dig in.

The evening was really beautiful. All of you were enjoying it to the fullest, talking about random things and choking on the food. The cold wine was also helping you all with the good atmosphere.

,, Yeah, Toga was always so sick’’ Shiggy clamed as he talked about the girl you all knew from your high school days. He talked about his experience, saying how she turned from such a cute girl into a crazy psycho, stalking him all the time.

,, She seems so cute tho’’ you said taking a sip. You never talked with her, but she looked too cute to be such a psycho.

,,Yeah right, if she had a chance, she would skin you alive’’ Kai said laughing a bit.

,,True, she couldn’t stand you at all. It was all Touya’s fault’’ Shiggy laughed, explaining to you how she had such a huge crush on Touya back then and how she couldn’t stand the fact that you were spending so much time with him.

,, We have a little problem’’ Momo said, coming back to the terrace. ,, We forgot the bag with the rest of the alcohol’’ she added, smiling awkwardly.

,,That’s fine, I’ll go buy us some wine or something’’ you said standing up. You wanted to take a walk anyway.

,,Shiggy get your ass up, you’re coming with me’’ you added as you pulled the sleeve of his hoodie a bit, making him whine loudly.

,,I’m coming with you’’ Touya said, grabbing your arm, not giving you a chance to protest normally. Your friends laughed loudly once they heard your loud curses coming from the inside.

,,Don’t be such a brat and just go, why are you making every single thing so complicated’’ Touya hissed as you were bragging how you won’t go then at all.

Rolling your eyes, you took your wallet and made your way out, speeding up as much as you could, trying to walk away from him.

Maybe it was the wine that was already in your blood, but as much as you tried, you couldn’t escape him at all.

,, Can’t you see that you ain’t fast at all’’ he said annoyed. You raised your eyebrows, ready to complain. You were pretty sure that you were fast as fuck there. At the end you finally gave up, deciding it would be the best to ignore him and deal with it.

,, How long will you keep this shit up?’’ he asked, walking lazily beside you. The fresh air was brushing your skin, as you hugged your wallet close to your chest, ignoring his words once again. When Touya realized that you won’t speak up, he rolled his eyes as he grabbed your arm and pulled you with him into the small alley, left from the sidewalk. Your eyes widened at the sudden change of his behavior.

,, You think you were the only one hurt ? ‘’ He said looking you in the eyes. ,, You think I didn’t want to contact you every day ?’’ he added while his grip got stronger.

,, Oh please, if you wanted you would have contacted me long time ago’’ you said, as you tried to pull your arm away from him.

,, You stupid little girl. There wasn’t a day I wasn’t thinking about you. Every time Shiggy sent me a picture of you, it was eating me alive’’ he said as his eyes were getting a shade darker.

,, I was going thru a fucking hell and you think I had it easy ?You think that you were the only one that suffered ? Doll, I was so in love with you that my mom found me a fucking therapist ‘’ he said not breaking the eye contact. You froze once he started saying all those words.

In love ?

,, You fucking drove me insane’’ he said, pushing you against the cold wall of the building. You couldn’t progress what was going on at all. You never knew that he had that kind of feelings for you. You never knew anything about it. You wanted to think about it, to try and figure out what happened back then. But you couldn’t. His face being so close to yours didn’t let you focus on anything else besides of him

,, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry that I couldn’t contact you. But I didn’t want to make things any worse for you’’ he said making you even more confused, unsure of what he meant with that.

,, But I’m back. Can’t you see ?’’ he said placing his forehead on yours. You could feel the pain in his voice. You didn’t know what happened back then, but at that very moment you decided to forgive him and purge all the terrible feelings that were choking you for such a long time now.

Once you two got back with more wine, your friends were surprised when they realized that you didn’t bark at him like you did just 20 minutes ago. They were surprised that instead of being all aggressive, you were trying to avoid eye contact with him, but none of them tried to question it.

It’s not that you were shy, but guilt was eating you alive at the moment. The fact that he went thru as much as you did or even worse, made you feel bad. But hearing him laugh at Shiggy’s jokes and thinking about how he’s here now, you decided to get drunk with them now and think about it later.

,, What took you so long that day anyway?’’ Shiggy asked you, as you guys talked about that one time when Shiggy and you visited your old friend and his girlfriend Melissa one year ago. Talking about how he accidentally came in her, and you had to go buy the DAY AFTER pills for her while she was bawling her eyes out thinking about of the risk that she might get pregnant.

,,Bitch, I didn’t know the city at all. How the fuck could I know where the pharmacy is ???’’ you raised your voice in defense. ,,Not even google maps could help me. How the fuck can I know what HEAD WEST IS ??? I’m not a fucking sea captain’’ you hissed making everyone around you laugh, as you mixed your fourth glass of wine with cola.

All of you laughed and talked about everything. Talking about intimate topics as much as about crazy ones. Kai talked about how he fall for Momo, when she liked his picture on Instagram from 2016. ,, You just didn’t look good in a while’’ Momo said, kissing him on the cheek with a huge grin on her face.

They were so cute.

First one to go to bed were Kai and Momo. The things were getting hotter between them with every new drink they had. Next one was Shiggy, saying he wanted to face time Melissa before bed, leaving you and Touya all by yourselves.

At first none of you talked, focused on the drinks you were too scared to say anything somehow. But you wanted to say so much to him, you really did.

,, So, how have you been?’’ he broke the silence, making you laugh at the random question he asked. The fuck with the formalities.

,, Oh shut the fuck up, don’t how have you been me’’ you choked out while drinking your drink, making him smile at how you were trying to break the tension.

You weren’t sure if it was the alcohol, or if he was always like that, but he totally opened up, talking about his stupid therapy and about everything his mom was telling him on a daily basis. He was joking around about it, but it broke your heart when you learned about what he went thru.

You talked about all the anger you had for him, about how much you were waiting for him to contact you. You told him about your work, and about billion small and unimportant stories that he gladly listened to.

,,Yeah, I remember that day’’ you laughed as you remembered the day when Touya fed you with the sour candy in front of Shiggy and Kai. ,, But I don’t understand what you did with that candy ‘’ you said as you placed your glass in front of you.

,,I literally sucked it’’ he laughed out, making you roll your eyes at him.

,,Let’s go buy some candies’’ he said as he stood up. Tipsy like that, you clapped your hands and hopped up. Since the night air was getting a little colder, you wore your hoodie and followed Touya outside.

The two of you bought all possible sweets, happy that the shop was the one that was 24h a day opened. Once you got out of the store, you opened the pack of Schoko-Bons, immediately unwrapping one and eating it fast.

,,Oh my fucking God stop it’’ Touya hissed while smile was forming on his lips. ,, Open your mouth’’ he laughed as he grabbed the pack out of your hands. You laughed with him as the memories of you two were going thru your head.

Touya unwrapped the candy, as he explained to you how to eat it. Once he placed the candy between your lips he told you how you shouldn’t chew it at all, how you should just melt it down and enjoy the taste.

,, You are crazy, I don’t see anything special in this method of eating’’ you said trying not to laugh.

,, Sure, nothing is special to you if you can’t vacuum it in a second’’ he said as he ate one of the bon’s. He couldn’t keep his eyes of you, smiling as he watched you trying to melt the candy in your mouth. He missed you so much.

,, Wanna know a secret ?’’ he mumbled to you as you nodded your head in a second, curious what he will tell you. Ready for the tea.

,,Come here’’ he said, leading you to the small alley you were few hours ago in.

,, Wanna know what happened that day ?’’ he asked, smirk forming on his lips as you choked onto the candy not expecting him to start that topic at all. You nodded your head still, wanting to know what made your father and Rei break up in less then one day.

,, Rei caught me masturbating with your panties in my hand’’ he whispered to you, making sure only you heard it, even tho only the two of you were standing there. All alone.

,,Wha-‘’ you caught out in shock. You thought about many reasons of what could happened that day. But nothing dirty as that was on your mind. You immediately started laughing loudly imagining Rei’s reaction.

Thinking about it, you would lie if you said that the image of him masturbating with your panties in his hands didn’t turn you on. Maybe you would be freaked out if you found it out few years ago. But in the image you had in your head wasn’t Touya as your ex brother, it was the attractive tattooed Touya that was standing right in front of you.

He saw the little blush on your face, and immediately commanded you to close your eyes and open your mouth for him. Leaning on the cold wall slowly, you did as he told you.

He placed the small candy in your mouth again. You ate it your way, finding it funny how easily he gets frustrated over it. A quiet laugh escaped his lips, as he got a little closer to you.

You twitched once you felt his gentle hand around your neck, making you open your eyes immediately. ,, Close your eyes’’ he commended again, as his thumb was rubbing your neck gently. Touya told you again to open your mouth.

You smiled and opened your mouth, waiting for the sweet taste of the candy, totally ready to provoke him a little more.

You froze when you felt a warm and watery texture, instead of the sweet candy. Realizing that he literally spat in your mouth, you opened your eyes in shock. Touya tightened his hand around your neck, forcing you to close your eyes again.

,, Now, swallow it for your Niichan’’ he whispered in your ear, spitting loudly in your mouth again. You were surprised when you found yourself obediently swallowing it. The moment you swallowed it, he crashed his lips with yours, pulling you up in his arms with his free hand, only to smash you back against the wall again.

You could feel him smirk into the kiss when he realized that you didn’t hold back at all. Holding onto his arms and kissing him back. Every time his grip around your neck would get tighter, you would open your mouth without him telling you to do it as he would spit all over again.

,, Don’t swallow it yet’’ he said spitting again. ,, Your Niichan has to teach you how to enjoy things properly. ‘’ he added as his hand left your throat alone and made it’s way toward your clothed pussy. Pushing the shorts to the side and rubbing your clit gently.

Once you moaned, Touya spat into your mouth again, while sticking his one finger inside you, slowly pumping it in and out of you. You found yourself swallowing the saliva inside your mouth, a quite but now more clear moan escaping your lips.

Touya added his second finger in, as you started to breath more heavily because of his touch. Wrapping your legs around him, you threw your head back, leaning onto the wall more while his fingers were thrusting in and out faster and faster.

,, Oh my fucking god’’ you moaned out, while his fingers were doing wonders on you, rubbing your walls like no one ever did.

,, Oh, you wanna pray, I see’’ he said, making you laugh unlocking the memory from the past. You tried your best to get the closer you could to him, moving in his arms and trying to get off on his fingers.

,, Does my doll want to cum?’’ he asked, as he sped up turning you into a whiny mess. You wrapped your arms around him and burred your head into his neck, trying to hold your moans since you were in public. Once your orgasm hit you, you had to bite onto his shoulder to keep your moans down.

Touya once again grabbed your throat, and pushed your head against the wall. You whined at the sudden loss of his fingers. Taking his chance he spit into your mouth once more, and placed the two finger between your lips, making you taste yourself.

,,Suck’’ he said, playing with his saliva in your mouth. The fact that you were obeying to every word, was driving him crazy. All he could think of was fucking your brains out.

,, Swallow it doll.’’ He said, and you swallowed it gladly.

The way home felt like forever. The moment you entered the old cabin, you were again in his arms kissing him passionately. Both of you having trouble walking, too focused on each other, you didn’t give a shit if your friends were maybe awake.

Touya couldn’t keep his hands to himself, grabbing your ass while kissing you with desire. Once you finally got into the room prepared for him, he pulled your hoodie together with your shirt over your head and threw it on the floor. Grabbing your hair, he yanked you towards the bed, pushing you onto it and immediately hovering over you. He started kissing your neck and chest, leaving wet and sloppy love bites all over it. Grabbing both of your wrists into his one hand, he pinned them above your head, trying to give you biggest hickey on your neck for everyone to see.

He wanted everyone to know who you belong to.

,, Touya please’’ you beg. You wanted to feel every part of his body. You wanted to touch him, to feel him inside you.

Leaving your arms alone, he pulled your shorts and panties down, not being able to wait any longer. He wanted to tease you, to beg you for him more. But he couldn’t, he had to be inside you. He was waiting for this moment for too long. Without a warning he slammed into you. You were still wet from all the fingering, so he slid in without a problem, still stretching you out with his size making you moan in both pain and pleasure.

,, So tight for your Niichan’’ he breathed out, as he started to move in a steady pace. His hands on your hips now, holding you firmly in place. Every move was getting faster and stronger, making the bed shake and hit against the wall.

You were a moaning mess, hands grabbing onto the sheets as was fucking you hard. Rocking into you roughly as the bed shakes, you didn’t give a single fuck if your friends could hear you, moaning his name out loudly and shamelessly.

,,Touya, I’m so colse’’ you managed to say somehow, as he was kissing your neck roughly, his hips getting more erratic.

,, Cum. Cum all over my cock’’ he said as he started rubbing your clit roughly, while fucking you even harder. Closing your eyes, you moaned his name out loudly as you finally cum again.

,, Fuck’’ he breathed as your walls squeezed his dick. Closing his eyes, he started moving roughly reaching his own climax. His dick twitching and spilling all his seed inside of you.

Just when you thought that he was done, he flipped you over onto your stomach, and started roaming into you again. Grabbing your hair, he pulled your head back harshly as he abused your neck with his lips.

,, Touya, ahh, too much’’ you moaned as he pushed your head into his pillow.

,, You are taking it so good.’’ He moaned as he fucked you recklessly. At this point you were sure that your friends were awake listening to you two.

,, Such a good girl for Niichan’’ he said. Touya wasn’t turned on because he was fucking his ‘’EX sister’’. You two weren’t blood related anyway, but once he felt your walls tighten around his dick again, while you called him ‘’Niichan’’ he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

Fucking you thru your third orgasm, Touya pulled out of you, commanding you to get on your knees.

,, Open your mouth’’ he said, wanting to do something he always wished for. Stoking his dick, one look at you, with your mouth open and tongue out was enough for him to cum in your mouth.

,, Swallow it’’ he said, breathing deeply.

,,I already did’’ you said, as he pulled you up and kissed you passionately.

The next day, you didn’t know how to face your friends. Dabi was acting quite the opposite, looking at you proudly, yet so lovingly once you showed up in his shirt, with bruised neck. No words could describe how much he loved you, how much he was ready to fight for you.

Pulling you into a warm hug, he kissed you in front of everyone. He didn’t know how will he go against your dad and his mother. But in one thing he was sure, he will never let you go again.

You are his, and only his.

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tearsofgrace · 4 years

Text

written for suptober20 day 13: ladies

my mind heard ladies and went “well, father, it’s the women” and here we are

wc: 1.1k tags: very light angst, way less prosey than normal for me, literally just scene rewrite with inner monologue, idk man it’ll work i guess

also on archive!

“Um…it’s the women, Father. Where do I begin?” Dean started nervously. This was stupid. Part of him was convinced Sam was making him do this just to watch him suffer and laugh, because there were a million other ways they could take care of this ghost. But, whatever.

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, is usual,” Father Delaney said from the other booth. Right. There were procedures and policies. God, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been in a church when it wasn’t a job. They used to go as a family… before Mary-

Before their mom died. But after that John had given up. There was nothing at church for them.

“Right. Good. Yeah. So, that,” Dean muttered. Why was this so hard? It wasn’t like he had to lie. “And, um…so the women. Uh, and this is not something that I’m proud of, but I let them think that we have more of a future than we do, you know? Ah, Gina.” He’d never known a Gina. Why was that what he went with? Why did his mind jump to-

No. He couldn’t think about that now. Not here.

“Gina?”

“Well, now, don’t get me wrong. I mean, she was – it was good times. I mean, you know how it is – the sex, the lasagna – but I was not honest with her. And sometimes, I was seeing two, maybe three girls at the same time, sometimes in the same day.” He added in a chuckle for effect and then went on, “You get the picture. And it wasn’t just Gina. It was endless. It’s making me sick.” He spat out the last line with an eye roll. The sooner he could get out of this damn booth, the walls closing in on him, begging him to give them his secrets, the better.

“And you wish to be forgiven, my son?” Father Delaney sounded bored too. At least they had that in common. But this had to seem somewhat real, if this ridiculous plan was going to work.

“I do. I need to clean up my act.” The words rang a distant bell. His father pulling him from the Impala by the cover of his shirt, his eyes looking darkly on the figure still inside. Spittle flew from his mouth as he screamed at Dean. Told him he better clean up his act or “he would fucking kill him.”

Why hadn’t he made Sam do this?

“As penance, you shall say five “Hail Mary’s” two “Our Father’s”, and reflect on your transgression.”

Of course that’s all it was. Church was bullshit. “And then, that’s it? then I’m good to go?”

“One would hope some…inner exploration might occur. The prayers are just the beginning to some serious soul-searching.”

Dean snorted. Soul-searching. Right. The cure all to inner problems. If that were true, he would have cured himself a long time ago.

“Is there anything else on your mind, Agent Allman?”

Dean paused. He could walk out. Right here. They could salt and burn the damn bones and leave this town in the rearview mirror. But something stopped him. He laughed nervously, then took a plunge. “What if I said I…I didn’t want to die…yet, you know, that I wasn’t ready?”

“Are you expecting to?” the priest asked. He sounded a little taken aback, which was only fair. Dean forgot sometimes that not everyone walked around with a target taped to their back.

“Always,” he said truthfully. “You know, the life I live, the work I do…I pretty much just figured that that was all there was to me, you know? Tear around and jam the key in the ignition and haul ass until I ran out of gas. I guess I just thought sooner or later, I’d go out the same way that I live – pedal to the metal, and that would be it.”

“But now?”

Jesus, why hadn’t he just left? This was ridiculous. He was talking to a priest who was probably a hypocrite about a life he would never understand. And if he was in here any longer Sam would get suspicious.

Then he shrugged. He’d gotten this far. “Now, um… recent events, uh… make me think I might be closer to that than I really thought. And…I don’t know. I mean, you know, there’s – there’s things,” he paused for a minute. He shouldn’t do this. They were dangerously close to the truth now. And this wasn’t the place for that. But he went on anyway. “There’s…people,” he banished Cas’ blue eyes from his mind the minute they showed up and went on, “feelings that I-I-I want to experience differently than I have before, or maybe even for the first time.”

“Go a little deeper, perhaps, than with Gina.”

There hadn’t been a Gina. There had been a Greyson. In the back of a bar when Sam had decided to stay home one night. When he was sure no one else would see them, would let anyone know how disgusting, how wrong he was. Which was the problem of course, it wasn’t wrong. But Winchesters… His mind went back to the car again. To Lee and him in the backseat. To his father’s angry pounding on the door.

Winchesters are not fags.

He didn’t answer the priest. Just pushed out of the confessional, slamming the door in anger behind him. He left the memories there, too. There wasn’t any place for them here. They were working. And Sam would know if something was wrong. So he told himself there was nothing. No new feelings, new people, new whatever the hell he’d been spouting off about in there. Lee had been his friend, Greyson had been Gina, and Cas was nothing to him but a brother.

“So, you think you had an eavesdropper in there?” Sam asked as he came up to the pew his brother had been waiting on.

“Hope so,” he responded tightly.

They beat the ghost, came out on top, just like they always did. And just like always, as soon as they were off the clock, Sam wanted to talk feelings.

“You know… you were in that confessional a long time,” Dean looked up from the bag he was packing and rolled his eyes. “Look, man, I’m just saying, I’m your brother, Dean. If you ever need to talk about anything with anybody, you got somebody right here next to you.”

For just a brief second, he was tempted. He was tempted to just come out with it. He was sure Sam already knew, was just giving him time or some bullshit. But he couldn’t. John’s voice was too loud in his ears. So it would have to stay his dirty little secret.

So he muttered, “Okay.”

Because it was easier this way. He was dying soon anyway. No one ever needed to know.

tag list {ask to be added or removed:3}

@fandomstuff67 @menjiiii @witchyanaels @starlightcastiel @chaoticdean @larryforeveralways @samhainsam @ghostsforcas @tlakhtwritesdestiel @wanderingcas @hallowena @spooky-things-do-happen-dean @jayus-fandom-writer @cas-you-assbutt-dean-needs-you @starrynightdeancas @radiantdean @piemaker-from-gallifrey @on-a-bender @eshaninjer @trasherasswood @dreadful-delight

#the confessional was a coming out scene #idk man #suptober20 #destiel fic #spn fanfic #supernatural fanfic #spn fan fiction #destiel fanfic #deancas fic #destiel ficlet #my writing

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justgillespie · 4 years

Text

Missing (3/?)

Summary: Your next door neighbor, Luke Patterson (a.k.a. your longtime crush) has gone missing, and you think you could help finding him.

Word count: 2.9k

Warnings: None!

Author’s note: So the third part just needed to be edited and now here it is! When I said as soon as possible, I meant it lol xo

Part 4

•

“This better be good. I was in the middle of a game-.”

“I have news”

At last, you decided to call Max first.

“I have one of the band members’ phone number.” You added.

“What?! How?”

“My sister gave it to me. Long story. Should I call now?”

“Well, yes obviously!”

“Okay, okay I’m on it. I’ll call you later.”

You finally dialed the number and patiently waited.

“Hello?” You heard a male’s voice.

“Hello, um...” It wasn’t until that moment that you realized: you didn’t know who you were calling, exactly.

You decided to improvise.

“Is Alex home?”

“Alex?”

The confused voice made you panic.

“What about Reggie?”

The silence made you add “Bobby?”

“Sorry, wrong number.”

The man hung up before you could say anything else.

You groaned.

I’m gonna get so pissed if Tamra was playing with me, you thought, but you wanted to believe that that was not the case.

“What if Tamra wrote a wrong number?”

Max asked once you called him back and explained what happened.

“Don’t think so. She told me the guy gave it to her.”

“Maybe he wrote it wrong.”

“I don’t know.” You sighed. “I guess we’ll just call it a night. See you tomorrow.”

He said goodbye back and you hung up.

“So? How did it go?” Tamra asked from the couch, when you were heading to the kitchen.

“It was a wrong number. Were you just making fun of me?”

She scoffed. “I’m not that bored. No. That was the number he gave me. Maybe he changed it.”

“Thanks anyways.”

You went to grab a popsicle from the freezer and went to your room.

The only idea stuck on your head was to go to the Patterson’s. And you knew pretty well there wasn’t much they could give you. The other idea was to convince Max to stop being complicated and just ask people in his school about the band.

You would go for the second one. You rapidly came up with a plan, and the next morning, you were ready.

Max woke up pretty early for school because he took the school bus, around the corner.

That morning, you woke up thirty minutes earlier than usual (and before anyone else), got ready as fast as you could, and, in a blink, you were next to a sleepy Max in the bus stop.

“What the-? What are you doing here?” He asked once he saw you.

“Going to school. With you.”

“Are you asleep? You do know we don’t go to the same school, right?”

“Oh, I know.”

You faced the street in front of you, pretending to wait for the bus.

“First of all, I barely believe you will get away with getting into my school. And second of all, why would you want to go?”

“Because if you don’t wanna talk to your classmates about Luke, then I will.”

“You can’t be serious.” He said, just when the bus was turning the corner to their street.

“You better believe I am.”

The bus stopped in front of them and you decided to take a step ahead Max and get into the bus, but he stopped you on the steps.

“Y/N.” He said laughing nervously. “You can’t go to my school, that’s insane.”

“Kids, come on. I don’t have all day.” The bus driver said from his seat.

“Then talk to people! We can finish this as soon as possible if you at least try!” You talked despite the man’s warning.

“Oh my gosh! Why do you insist so much?!”

“Are you serious?! We’re talking about a missing person!”

“I’m leaving.” The bus driver said, and you took one more step before Max stopped you again.

“Fine. Fine! I’ll do it. Okay? Just, please stop this and go to YOUR school.”

You squealed and hugged him, and you finally left after thanking him.

Your heart was still racing even after you silently entered your house from the backdoor and you rested against it. You sighed, a laugh in between. You did not know what would have you done if your plan didn’t work. Maybe you were trusting Max too much. He could’ve just said he would do it for you to leave the bus.

But your optimistic self didn’t mind that thought.

You went back to your room, and as soon as you lied back down on your bed, your usual alarm went off. You stopped it. You were ready anyways, so a little bit more of sleep didn’t harm anyone.

Except yourself.

You fell asleep and you didn’t hear your parents calling you until your mom went up to wake you up.

“Y/N-.”

You snapped your eyes open.

“I’m so sorry! I’m going downstairs now, I’m all dressed, I-.”

“You’re not going. Your sister already left.”

You checked your alarm clock. It was 7:57. You always left at 7:40.

“I can’t believe her sometimes. I told her to come call you. It was weird you were still asleep.” Your mom rubbed her temples. Then, she looked back at you. “Your dad and I are going to work now. You’ll stay here, okay? And go to the Pattersons’ for lunch. I’ll call Emily.”

“Mom, I can cook for myself.” If calling Nito’s Pizzeria counted as cooking. “You don’t have to bother Mrs. Patterson.”

“You’re going.” She demanded. “I’ll see you later, okay? Take care.”

She kissed your forehead and left the room.

Well, you had a lot of free time now.

You smiled. This was good. You could continue your investigation.

You got up ready to get started but then you realized. You didn’t know what to do. You still counted on Max to get the important information. And unlike you, he did go to school. You had plenty of time before he came back.

You lied back down on your bed, looking at the ceiling.

You were going to the Pattersons’ house.

You knew you weren’t gonna get out of there with much information but, maybe there will be something...

You got up and opened your window.

Luke’s room was the same as the last time you checked it. Which was last night. Now, it was neat. You figured Mrs. Patterson must have cleaned it.

You focused on the Sunset Curve poster. Why was it so hard to find any of them? If only you could see his room a little closer, maybe you could find something there that could help you.

His room.

A smile slowly appeard on your face.

You were going to Luke’s house today. Maybe you could ask Mrs. Patterson to check his room...

You shook your head. That was something weird to ask. Even if you had good intentions. At least you had the first step done, which was going to his house.

You decided to show up earlier than expected, hoping Mrs. Patterson didn’t mind.

“Oh, hi, sweetie!” Emily said when she opened her door. She was clearly surprised.

She looked tired, but still managed to have a smile on her face.

“Good morning, Mrs. Patterson. I hope it’s okay I come earlier than my mom told you I would”

It was just 8:30. You weren’t supposed to be there until four hours later.

“Oh, no, it’s totally fine! It’s nice to have some company. Come in.” She motioned for you to get into the house and so you did.

You looked around, curious. It was a really nice household.

“Mitch goes to work early and I stay here pretty much all day until he comes back. So I’m really glad you’re here.” She smiled at you again. “I was actually now deciding what should I make for lunch. Does lasagna sound good to you?”

“Sounds perfect.” You smiled back at her. “Do you need any help with that?”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. You make yourself comfortable. Oh, and for dessert I was thinking that maybe we could bake some cookies?”

You immediately gave her a big smile and Mrs. Patterson chuckled.

“I think I have my answer. I’ll call you to make the dough once I’m finished with lunch, okay? You can turn on the tv if you want to. I’ll be right there.” She pointed the kitchen.

You thanked her before she left.

So, you were there. You were at Luke’s house. The next step was to get into his room. You could sneak in but, would that be fair to Mrs. Patterson, who’s been super sweet to you? But how were you supposed to ask to get into her son’s room?

You bit your thumbnail.

But you were there already. You couldn’t just lose that opportunity.

You visualized some framed photos around the living room and you took one with your hands to see it closer. It was Luke, when he was a baby. You smiled and felt embarrassed for being excited about baby pictures of a boy who you barely knew.

You shook your heard. Remember rule number 1, you thought.

Still, you couldn’t help but keep watching the rest.

There weren’t many in sight. They probably kept way more in photo albums. If you didn’t know that Luke had some issues with his parents (and you didn’t until a few nights ago), you could’ve never tell there was something going on. In every single picture, Luke wore a beautiful smile. He seemed happy. And not only in the pictures.

He looked happy when he was singing, when he was playing the guitar, when he said hi to you on his way to who-knows-exactly-where...

Of course, it could be quite suspicious the fact that he wasn’t home most of the time. But still. How many times did he probably come out of his house after a fight with his mom, and still managed to pretend that anything happened?

He’s been suffering by himself.

It was then when you noticed the flyers on the sofa. A picture of Luke was plastered on it, with the word “Missing” on top of it.

Your heart skipped a beat. You forgot your mom said they were hanging flyers if Luke didn’t come back yesterday. You felt the urge to shred them and throw them away.

He will be back. You will find him.

You left the living room and made your way to the kitchen.

“Everything okay, sweetie?” Mrs. Patterson asked when she saw you. She was boiling something on the stove.

“Everything’s perfect, Mrs. Patterson. Thanks again, for letting me come.”

“Oh, it’s okay, really. You’re always welcome.” She smiled at you and went back to stirring whatever was in her cooking pot. “Your mom told me you fell asleep.”

“Yeah... I was a little extra tired today.”

She chuckled. “I understand. At least you set your own alarm and get ready by yourself. I have to fight Luke to just wake up. And don’t get me started on getting him out of bed.”

You chuckled, not adding anything else. The moment was very fragile, and you didn’t want to say anything wrong.

“You do dance, right?” She asked then.

You nodded, thinking that maybe your mom told her something about that too.

“I figured. Of course, Sandra told me something but it’s easy to tell you’re a dancer by the way you’re standing.”

You smiled shyly, knowing what she meant. You were standing in a nice third position, ironically, because dancers your age don’t even use that position.

You talked about your dance experience and after a while, you both were just talking about everything. You felt at ease with Mrs. Patterson pretty quickly. She just made it feel that way. You helped her making the lasagna, after all, and after putting it into the oven, you both started making the cookie dough.

“I usually bake with my sister. We both have a sweet tooth.” You commented, cracking two eggs into the bowl Mrs. Patterson had in front of her.

“Oh, me too. Dessert is completely mandatory in this house. A rule that I made, of course.” Mrs. Patterson said and you laughed.

“I should make a similar rule in my house. We only have dessert on birthdays or holidays.”

“I encourage you to do so.” She chuckled, mixing with a whisk the batter in her bowl.

She then asked you to hand her the vanilla and baking powder.

“You guys seem close.” She said, still mixing in her bowl. “You and Tamra.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess.” You leaned your head. “It’s just been harder to hang out ever since the start of this year. It’s her senior year.” You said, although you thought she might’ve known that already. “But I guess I get it. I’m sure she just wants to enjoy her friends before going to college. Her family will always be here but her school friends won’t. She’s going to Berkeley, by the way.”

You thought about it, but you didn’t mention how glad you were she didn’t want to leave the state. You didn’t want your parents to transform Tamra’s room on a gym (something they never actually talked about, but you saw it on a movie).

Mrs. Patterson added the flour and she let you add the chocolate chips, before mixing again.

“Sandra told me so, I’m really glad... here. You can start to shape them into little balls. I’ll grease the stray.” You obeyed and she also did her task. “How old is Tamra, by the way?”

“She’s turning nineteen in a few weeks. She failed first grade, so she’s a year behind.” You explained, as soon as you saw the confusion in Mrs. Patterson’s face.

“Really?”

“Yeah... back then they just came from Texas due to my parents’ job, so they were with lots of stuff like bringing all of their belongings, they also had to work and on top of all that, they had to take care of Tamra. They didn’t want her to grow up with a nanny, so they would take her with them everywhere. She would ditch school a lot, and therefore she didn’t have a great time at exams.” You placed several dough balls in the tray.

“I think that’s pretty sweet. There are kids that grow up with practically strangers and then go against their parents for that.”

“Mhmm.”

She took the tray and put it in the freezer.

It was 12 p.m. when you both sat on the table and had lunch.

“Your mom... told me about what you’re doing. That you’re helping to find Luke.”

Your heart raced. And you thought that maybe she noticed the panic in your eyes, because she rapidly added something else.

“I just wanted to say thank you, Y/N. Because... I know you guys weren’t close. I don’t think I ever even saw you talking but... you’re still doing this, and I can’t thank you enough. And I just wanted to say that if you need anything, don’t hesitate on calling me.”

She had tears in her eyes which immediately softened your heart, and made you tear up too.

You squeezed her hand.

You knew she said all of this for two reasons. She meant it, but she also knew you were just a sixteen year old, after all. You were aware of that too. How much could you possibly do? But you were willing to do anything. Even when the adults around you didn’t exactly believe you could.

“Just promise me you won’t forget about school or dance while you’re at it. That you will take care and will not go through this alone.”

“I promise.”

She had a doubtful look on her face for a moment, but at last, she spoke. “You know, we haven’t talked to the police yet. But I think we might soon. I just... I didn’t want to call them because I know Luke is safe. I know he’s smart enough to go somewhere he’ll be okay. But he hasn’t come back. And I just can’t help but be worried. I wanna see him. I wanna talk to him. I know he might be in a friend’s house. I suspect it might be someone from his band... Oh!” She sobbed. “I just wish I supported him more. I wish I was more interested on the people he was seeing. Maybe that way we could’ve found him already...”

You got up to hug her from behind, around the shoulders, while she stayed on her seat. “It’s not your fault, Mrs. Patterson. When he comes back, you’ll have another chance. I promise I’ll do anything I can to help you get that second chance. Maybe you won’t even need to call the police.”

“Oh, dear.” She hugged your arms. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

You then pulled back and went to your seat.

“What a mess.” Emily chuckled, cleaning her face with a kitchen cloth. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You looked like you needed it.”

She nodded. “I really did. Thank you.”

A comfortable silence grew between the two of you after that conversation, while you finished your food.

“Mrs. Patterson, actually, I was thinking on asking you something...”

“Sure, sweetheart, what is it?”

Your heart pounded against your chest again. You were doing this.

“I just wanted to know if... if I could check Luke’s room? It’s all for the investigation, I promise I’m not a creep.”

For your surprise, she chuckled, and then looked down for a second.

“Luke really didn’t like people getting into his room... but I guess this could be an exception. It is a peculiar situation, anyways.”

#luke patterson x reader #luke patterson #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms x reader

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slvtbible · 4 years

Text

yours, mine and ours

summary: your former partner left you during your pregnancy then after four months you met Harry, who took care of you and the baby. years later an unwanted guest shows up at your house at night

a/n: hiii! i was bored and realized i haven’t written in a looong time. GOLD is still in the making, don’t worry. but lately i’m a sucker for dad!harry so here it is! if it sucks i’m sorry, i’m a little rusty after not writing for a while. nevertheless hope you all enjoy it! give me feedbacks after! xx

***

Back in college, you met whom you thought was the love of your life. It all started when he asked to borrow a pen from biology class and had asked you out shortly after to hang out with him. You were inseparable ever since. You two had begun dating for over two years and the thought of being with someone else new didn’t even cross your mind back then, the two of you were too in love. Even your friends were getting sick of it. He had treated you with love and respect, your family loved him and vice versa. The thought of getting married had always been a conversation between the two of you and you were so sure of it.

But your future fairy tale had ended when you found out you were pregnant. You woke up with a headache before fleeing towards the bathroom and threw up on a toilet bowl. When you bought a pregnancy test from the nearest pharmacy to make sure, you were terrified but at the same time delighted that you were pregnant. You thought that Brian would feel the same way as well when you broke the news to him. Instead, his face fell. He was angry and upset, asking you how could you be so stupid to let something like that happened. He wasn’t ready at all. He loved you but he wasn’t ready. His priority was now his work and he’d be damned to let a baby ruin that for him. At least that’s what he said.

You were broken and disappointed when he left. The whole thing was frightening you. How on earth could you possibly take care of your own baby alone? Your family lived in a different city and although you have friends who care about you, they still have their own lives to deal. It was crazy and you were losing your mind.

Then you met Harry. A sweet, shy yet gentle loving man who adores you. You two met at a supermarket. You were craving for a yoghurt and had no one else to ask to buy it except yourself, although your feet were tiring and your back was hurting it must have been done. Harry was nearby when you were struggling to grab the item due to the height. He walked over to you and helped you by giving it to you. He was so sweet and kind plus he was a sucker for pregnant women, he loves babies.

For twenty minutes the two of you were talking and had shared a few stories here and there, it felt really really good. It has been a while since you talked to people other than your mother and your best friend, Janice. He was telling you how he loved coming back to this city because LA had always been such a pressure to him and he needed to get away from all of that. When he learned that your former partner had abandoned you while you were carrying a child, he was angry yet he remained calm on the outside. How could anyone hurt a gorgeous woman like you and left his own baby because of his selfish needs? How?

And that’s when he asked you out to go to lunch, he promised himself to take good care of you and be there for you whenever you needed something.

Now, here you are at twenty five years old, working at a local hospital and has a two year old daughter along with your beautiful fiance. You feel so happy to be with two people that you love more than anything in this world. Nothing could ever replace them.

“Mommy look! I drew unicorn!” Your daughter, Bella squeals. Excitedly showing you her drawing full of purple and pink color. She is honestly the cutest baby you have ever seen.

You smile down at her as you are preparing for dinner, wiping down your hands on your apron. “Wow baby! You’re really good, aren’t you my little artist? Why don’t you show it to daddy when he gets home?” You lean down and kisses her chubby cheek,

She giggles and nods her head before running off to the living room to draw some more. You go back to put a few utensils on the table when you hear the front door open,

“I’m home! How’s my two beautiful girls doing?” Harry walks in with a huge grin on his face. Work has always been so stressful for him but knowing that he gets to see his girls at the end of the day always turns his frown upside down,

“Daddy!” Bella squeals, running quickly towards his tall broad figure and hugs his leg as she laughs, “You home!”

Harry’s smile is even wider now, lifting his leg up before grabbing her small body and holding her close to his chest. “How are you my baby angel? Were you being good to mumma while I was out?”

Bella nods, wrapping her tiny hands around his neck. “Missed you daddy. I drew unicorn! Daddy see!”

Harry smiles and kisses his baby girl’s cheek and puts her down. “Really? You did? Go and get it then, pumpkin” he says, petting her head before she walks off, excited to show her daddy. After he sees her rushes towards the living room, he turns towards the dining room, seeing you place the home cooked meal. The sight of your hair up in a messy bun and dirty apron causes his heart to swell, you may think you look absolutely ridiculous at the moment but to him, you still look beautiful as ever.

“Hi, lovie” He greets you, wrapping his arm around your waist and kisses your temple. “I’ve missed you at work today.”

You look up to him and give him a warm smile that he always adores, pecking his soft lips. “Hi, H. How was your day?” You ask, untying your apron before putting it down on the counter,

Harry lets out a frustrated sigh, giving you a weary smile. “Better now that i’m home with you. Couldn’t wait to get home to see my two favorite girls. Was pretty bored.”

“Mhmm, i’ve missed you too. I switched my shift with Maya today so no night shifts for me, I get to spend time with you and Bella.” you say, heart warms when he pulls you closer and pecks your forehead, taking your hand as the two of you walk towards the living room

“Finally. Bella has been dying to watch Toy Story 4 with us. Said she doesn’t wanna watch it alone with me, wants her momma too.” He says, pulling off his coat before placing it on the couch. His eyes then turn to your daughter, whose hands are busy grabbing all of the drawings she created. “Are those it, baby?” he asks, kneeling down to her level,

She gives him a toothy smile and gives the papers to him. “Look daddy! This one for you!”

Harry’s heart warms at her statement, gasping slightly as he takes the paper from her little hands. “Oh really? Thank you so much, baby! Daddy will keep it forever!”

Bella giggles and pecks Harry on his cheek before moving her tiny legs towards you. “Mommy, pee.” she says, her big brown eyes looking up to you as she tugs your pants,

You laugh before picking her up. “Okay baby. Harry, love, can you please take the lasagna from the oven please? And go place it on the table. We’ll eat right after Bella takes her potty.”

Harry gets up and nods his head, “Sure thing, bub.” He walks back into the kitchen, taking out the lasagna from the oven and nearly waters at the smell. You sure really know how to cook.

“God, i’m a lucky son of a bitch.” He mutters, smiling softly and places the food on the table. As he struts his way towards the living room to wait for you, he hears a knock on the door. He frowns, looking at the clock noticing it is almost 7pm and wonders who could it be. He doesn’t think you or him called anyone.

The knocks don't even stop, so he slowly makes his way to the front door before grabbing a bat just in case it was a stalker or worse.

He unlocks the door and the sight causes him to almost fall on his knees. He doesn’t even need to ask who he is. He knows exactly who’s the bloke. The same man who broke your heart years ago, left you with a baby to take care of and had made you fear of falling in love again because the trauma was unbearable.

Seeing this man standing there and all Harry sees is a picture of you breaking down to tears, blaming yourself for what happened and wishes that you could be good enough for this son of a bitch. He sees red. But he needs to remain calm and collected or else this could go downhill.

Brian is startled, seeing Harry open the door is unexpected. He thought that it was you instead. “Uhh, does y/n lives here?”

Harry crosses his arms, clenching his jaw. How could this asshole even dares to say her name?

“Yes. Can I help you?” Harry asks, leaning against the door frame. Struggling not to kick his ass.

“I uh kinda need to talk to her mate. It’s kind of important.” Brian says, shoving his hands inside his jacket,

“You’ve lost that privilege a long time ago. She doesn’t wanna see you. Get out.” Harry demands. There is no way in hell, Harry would let this man talk to you. Even for a slight second.

Brian scoffs, “look man, you think you know about our relationship but you don’t, now can you go get me y/n? I’m not leaving until I see her.”

“Get off my property before I call the police.” Harry threatens, clenching his fists. He is absolutely ready to throw a punch if he doesn’t leave,

Brian is about to say something back to him, that is after you walk back and call out Harry’s name making the two men freeze,

“Harry? Who’s that on the door?” you question, putting down Bella on her playpen. Your heart stops beating for a couple seconds, you swear it, soon as you see who’s on the front door.

“Brian?” you squeak, lips beginning to tremble. You cannot believe he found out where you live and had the guts to stop by. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi, y/n” Brian greets awkwardly, seeing you walking closer to the front door. Harry sees how your demeanor changed in a sec. That’s how much this Brian guy had made you suffer and he can’t accept that.

“Just came to say hi.”

“Say hi?” you ask beginning to get mad, tears fill your eyes as he smiles softly at you. “You left me with a baby, alone. You blamed me for everything that has happened and you thought that it was okay to stop by and say ‘hi’?”

Harry breaks when he sees you like that, your voice cracks. You were being just fine, already forgot this bloke for what he did to you and now he showed up years later to ruin that.

“Baby..” Harry starts,

“I know i’m so sorry but i am here to let you know that i’m a changed man. I still love you all these years. I was wrong to leave you with the baby. I’m … ready to be a father to our baby. Ready to be with you again. I promise i won’t ever leave your side again, love.” Brian says, eyes never leaving hers.

For a second, Harry’s face fell. He’s very much upset with it. With this Brian guy. The word ‘father’ coming from his mouth is just like a stab to Harry’s heart. A father?! Brian was never the father and never will be! Harry is! He loves Bella and treats her like his own daughter--because she is!-- and no one could ever replace that.

“It’s a she” Harry butts in, glaring at him. Gently pushing y/n behind him because he can no longer see her breaks,

“What?” asks Brian dumbfounded,

“The baby is a girl. And she is not yours. She’s maybe your blood but i’m the one who’s been taking care of her, i’m the one who loves her, i’m the one who helped y/n throughout her pregnancy and i was the one who’s there when y/n gave a birth. You are not her father but I am.” Harry says, stepping forward, chest to chest with Brian.

Somehow, brian doesn’t see Harry as a threat, instead he laughs. “Call yourself whatever you want but that’s MY daughter. And I am ready to be there for her, both of them. That’s my family inside not yours.” Brian seethes.

Harry can no longer express his anger because he was too hurt. So he pushes Brian and sternly says, “Get out.”

However Brian isn’t finished, he has something else to say but that soon cut off when you interfere,

“Get the hell out of here, Brian. You are not welcome.” you snap, feeling yourself might break down,

“y/n please…”

“No!” you yell completely exhausted by now, “get out now!” you threaten, ready to close the door.

Brian looks at her for a while to see whether she could change her mind but noticing that she won’t, he scoffs, shaking his head and back away from her before walking back to his car and driving away.

you sigh out and walk back inside the house before closing the door. Soon as you walk back in, you see your fiance standing in the middle of the living room with his head hanging down and his hands on his hips. You can tell that what happened has upset him. He is close to crying and you can’t help but feel your heart breaks at the sight.

“Harry, baby..” you call out, walking towards him and standing in front of him. Putting your finger under his chin and making him look at you. Your eyes sadden as you see his eyes beginning to get glossy. “He’s gone, baby. He left. It’s okay.”

Harry sniffles and nods his head as he looks at you. “It’s just.. I love Bella and you. He’s not her father but I am. She’s OUR baby not his. Ours. i know i may not be her real father but--”

“Stop. you ARE her real father. You may not be her blood but you have done more for her and me than he ever did. Yes, she is ours. She has always been our baby, my love. Bella calls you her dad not Brian not anyone else. She loves you. You’ve always been there for her, right? You’ve never left her side.” you say softly, placing her hands on the either side of his cheeks, thumbs rubbing softly underneath his eyes.

He begins to smile softly after what you just said to him. His heart and soul are warm now, he should’ve known that you and Bella are his family not that bloke’s. He proposed to you and Bella calls him ‘daddy’. He is so lucky. Nothing could change that ever. He was there to mend Bella’s booboo, he was there when you needed him to get groceries because you were working late and won’t be back home till 10, he was the one who was lucky enough to have a movie night every friday with Bella and you.

He was the one who got to witness Bella’s first ballet recital with you and had her run towards him after the show was over, calling him ‘daddy!’ over and over to ask him whether she did great on the recital or didn’t, he was the one who Bella made a pancake for on Father’s Day and gifted him a ‘world’s best daddy’ drawing with him and her on the paper and lastly he was the one who gets to make love to you every night, confessing each other’s love and gets to take care of you after, cuddles you close to his chest not caring about the sweaty bodies.

“And you should know that we both love you with all of our hearts. No one could ever take that away. No one.”

#harry styles writing #harry styles blurbs #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff #harry styles one shots #dad!harry #harry styles x reader #harry styles imagines

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solartranslations · 3 years

Text

AF2 Common 12/28: A Long Night

Even if they’re somewhere new, what doesn’t change is the time they spend at the bar. …It’s the start of a long night

~*Scene: Nordia Bar*~

Pace: So gooood! I’m so glad Nordia has lasagna too

Debito: Ahh, that hits the sport…Nordia has the best drinks

Luca: I can’t believe you two…a client is coming to meet us soon. Be professional

Debito: What for. I thought this was a friend, not a client

Pace: *eating*…Debito’s right! Wouldn’t she actually get mad if we acted that way?

Luca: Maybe, but…

Felicita: Who is it? A friend of yours, Luca?

Luca: Yes. You met her the other day. It’s Agata

Felicita: Agata is…

Debito: Don’t worry, Bambina. She is strict, but she won’t do anything while over a meal

Pace: Huh? She’s scolded me while I was eating before. Agata’s whip sure is painful

Agata: That was because your behavior required discipline. I don’t raise my hand to others without reason

Pace: Uwah!? Agata, when did you get here? Don’t scare us like that

Debito: Our guest of honor is finally here. You’re late

Luca: Sorry for calling you out here when you’re so busy

Agata: I don’t mind. I wanted to talk with you all too

Agata: It’s been so long since we were all together. Debito, Pace, Luca, have you all been well?

Pace: Of course! You still got your whip, Agata?

Luca: Pace, don’t be rude! That’s no way to greet someone

Debito: You could show us if you wanted. It’s been a while after all

Luca: Debito! I said not to be rude!

Agata: Haha, you really haven’t changed. They sure must be a handful for you, Luca

Luca: Yes, dealing with these two certainly is

Pace: Really? I thought Luca was the handful. Right, Ojou?

Felicita: Um…

Debito: Yeah, Bambina’s definitely had it the hardest. You tell her how much of an airhead your attendant is

Luca: Are you trying to say that my head is filled with nothing but air?

Luca: It’s not true. I think a lot about Ojou-sama, but not air…

Pace: Same thing, isn’t it?

Debito: Yeah, it is

Luca: It’s not!

Felicita: You all need to settle down…

Agata: You all are causing trouble for your lady. Pay more attention to those around you

Debito: Wow~, nice one, Agata. You haven’t lost your touch at all

Pace: Your whip sure is quick, Agata. …It’s scary though

Felicita: Um…thank you, Madam Governor

Agata: Agata is fine. No need for titles. I regret that we couldn’t talk more the other day

Agata: So I was excited at the chance to talk to you now. There’s no need to be humble, just act as usual

Felicita: Thank you, Agata

~*Scene: Nordia Bar VIP Room*~

Felicita: [There was a room for special guests in the back of the bar]

Felicita: [We were able to talk freely there]

Agata: So tell me, why did you call me here?

Debito: Well we had to say hi to you since we came out to Nordia after all this time. It’s a courtesy, right?

Agata: You’ve got guts to talk about courtesy. There’s more to it, right?

Luca: Ah, it’s nothing too important…we just wanted to see you, that’s all

Agata: —Let me put it this way then. Are you curious about the contract with Vir that I mentioned the other day?—

Pace: Why are you bringing that up? Didn’t you say you couldn’t talk about it?

Agata: I just thought it’d be a dull and pointless topic to end things on

Agata: Anyway, I have things I wanted to ask you too

Agata: If that girl with Vir really did hurt Sumire, then I can’t stay quiet about it either

Agata: It won’t sit right with me until I hear the whole story

Luca: Agata… you don’t need to worry about Mama

Luca: Though she did suffer some shock and will need to recover with rest

Felicita: We don’t know why Mama got hurt. But…I don’t think Neve is the kind of person who would do that

Agata: Right, Neve. I know of her too

Agata: Sumire is like a little sister to me. I understand why you’d blame Vir, and I have no intention of sticking up for him

Agata: But for Nordia, Vir is—

Agata: Someone we need. The basis of our contract is that Vir lends us his power

Agata: So we can’t lose him, no matter what…

Agata: I’ll say it again. I won’t get in your way. But I can’t help you either

Agata: I’m under that contract. It’s to protect Nordia—

Felicita: If it’s to protect Nordia…. Can we help with that in any way?

Pace: Yeah. If it’s something Vir can do, we might be able to help you instead

Agata: No, it’s…

Luca: You can’t talk about the details of your contract then

Debito: Any more talk is pointless. I have an idea. How about we play a game?

Agata: A game? What kind?

Debito: Chess. We used to play it a lot, right?

Agata: Hmph. Looks like you’re all quite desperate to get information out of me

Debito: As you know, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t do anything without a good reason. And I’d still only do the minimum

Agata: Huh, interesting

Agata: The masquerade is soon. We should have a match for the tournament on its last day

Debito: Then let’s make a deal. The loser will have to do one thing that the winner wants

Pace: Huh!? Should you really promise that? Every time we played against Agata before…

Agata: I’m surprised you’d bet with such high stakes against me…

Agata: Hm… did you forget our games in the past, or are you that confident you’ve improved?

Luca: Debito…are you sure? Do you have a plan?

Debito: No I don’t. It’s just the only way I can think of to get any information

Agata: Having the loser listen to the winner’s request is too obvious. You just want information on Vir, right?

Agata: How about this. The loser will tell the truth about what they’ve been hiding. You’ll be witness, Felicita…

Agata: We’ll use “The Lovers”

Felicita: You want me to use “The Lovers” to see if you’re telling the truth…

Luca: I see. Even if it was a lie, Ojou-sama’s powers will see through it

(*smirk) Debito: I’m fine with that. Let’s get started

—And then—

~*Scene: Nordia Bar VIP Room*~

Pace: Yay! Haha, I won!

Felicita: Amazing, Pace! Even Debito and I couldn’t win…

Luca: It must have been his animal instincts

Agata: I truly didn’t think I would lose. I underestimated you

Debito: Since we won, we’ll be asking the questions then. Pace, what have you got?

Pace: I’ve been curious about something ever since we started playing

Felicita: Curious…?

Pace: Yeah. We never told you about Ojou’s powers, right Agata? So how did you know that she can use “The Lovers”?

Felicita: Right

Luca: Can you tell us, Agata?

Agata: That’s simple. I heard about them from Vir. That’s all

Luca: It was from him? But we never told Vir about her powers

Felicita: Yeah, I don’t remember saying anything

Agata: You didn’t have to. He knows everything about the Tarocco…

Pace: Huh? Is Vir really that smart?

Debito: That’s not what you should be impressed about

Agata: He knows about the Tarocco you all host too

Luca: …Just how much does he know?

Felicita: Who exactly is Vir?

Agata: Vir has formed a contract with “Agata” to protect Nordia for generations

Debito: Protect it from what?

Agata: A great storm that occurs once every 100 years, “Acqua Tempesta”— (TN: storm water)

Agata: It causes much greater disasters than when a normal acqua alta raises water levels (TN: when high tides cause flooding in Venice etc.)

Agata: And Vir protects Nordia from that threat…as is our contract

Pace: But that doesn’t make sense. Vir still looks so young…

Debito: Don’t be dumb, Pace. She said it was for generations

Debito: She just means he inherited the name “Vir” like she did with “Agata”

Luca: He’s right. Even if we don’t know how old he is, a person can’t live for hundreds of years

Luca: Probably, I think…

Agata: …Yes. You’re right

Debito: So the contract you made with Vir was that he’d protect the city from the Acqua Tempesta…now it all makes sense

Felicita: So that’s why Agata says she can’t help us

Agata: I had no choice but to keep it a secret. But it’s just as you say

Agata: The next Acqua Tempesta is in January…when the New Year comes, the whole town will be washed away. We can’t stop it on our own

Agata: I will protect Nordia no matter what. It’s my reason for being “Agata”—

Felicita: Your reason for being “Agata”…?

Agata: If we survive this Acqua Tempesta, the next one will be in a hundred years

Agata: In that amount of time, I can persuade my people to move elsewhere to safety

Agata: And if technology advances enough so that we don’t have to, all the better

Agata: Time brings change and progress. But, time makes people forget as well

Agata: I wasn’t able to get my people to believe me in time

Agata: The burden I carry from my ancestors is heavy—

Felicita: Agata…

Agata: People are like pawns in God’s game

Agata: And right now, I’m a failure at carrying out my duty as a pawn

Debito: Saying that’s not like you

Pace: Yeah, it’s like you’ve gotten old, Agata

Agata: Idiot, just say I’ve matured. I’m only old enough to be your sister

Luca: You’re older than Mama though

Agata: …I thought you were a genius when you were younger, but now I know you’re just normal. Well, maybe not. I see you have a one-track mind with your Ojou-sama

Luca: Um, why am I the only one you’re saying that to?

Pace: Why don’t you like hearing that? Being obsessed with Ojou is something to be proud of!

Felicita: Pace, I don’t think she means it in a good way…

Luca: It definitely isn’t praise!

Felicita: [Agata shoulders the responsibility of Nordia and its people. No matter how hard it is, she doesn’t give up and tries to find a way]

Felicita: [Agata is strong…that’s clear to me. I want to protect Regalo too, so I send my thoughts out to its people…]

Agata: Isn’t there anyone besides Pace who can challenge me?

Luca: You’re just too strong, Agata. Strategy games like this are your forte

Agata: You’re not wrong. I couldn’t be governor if I wasn’t

Felicita: Agata…I want to play another round with you

Agata: We’ve already seen the outcome, so no. Maybe another time

Felicita: …Please?

Agata: *sigh*… Children are so tiring. If you were my son, I’d have brought out my whip

Pace: You did that to us too before

Debito: Yeah. No mercy at all

Luca: Then, how about you play against me next? Is that alright?

Agata: Yes, let’s give it a go

~*Scene: Nordia Bar VIP Room*~

Luca: It’s been so long since I’ve played chess with you, Agata

Agata: Yes, it has. And just like before, only Pace would be able to win out of the three of you

Luca: I think I’ll be joining him this time. I will win

Agata: I can’t believe you can say that while looking at the board now. Your king and queen are cornered

Luca: This is where I turn things around

Agata: Haha, very interesting

Felicita: Luca’s good at chess?

Pace: Hmm, he could get pretty far but…

Debito: Yeah, but he could never finish it. Neither of us have ever won against Agata

Luca: If I take this pawn next…

Agata: That won’t work, unfortunately

Luca: Wha?

Agata: Checkmate

Debito: Oh well. Luca lost

Luca: Another loss… You certainly are strong

Agata: Those who think too hard about their actions won’t win against me. But people who act on instinct are harder to read

Agata: I’ve won this time…but you were the ones to ask questions during the last round

Agata: I know. I’ll give you an opportunity

Pace: What opportunity?

Agata: You can do it when I’m not around, but answer one of Debito’s questions

Luca: We’ll answer Debito’s questions…?

Debito: Huh? What’s that about? I didn’t ask for you to give me your prize

Agata: Luca, you are a very stubborn man. You try to maintain balance even while fooling yourself. It’ll be easier if you break that just once

Luca: ……

Pace/Debito: ……

Agata: I will take my leave then. You all can do as you wish

Felicita: I should probably go too…

Debito: …Yeah, let’s go. I’ve got nothing to ask anyway

~*Scene: Nordia Street*~

Pace: Wow, it’s totally dark out. All the shops are closed too

Debito: It’s not that late. And isn’t this when grown-ups really start having fun?

Luca: Only for you. And if that causes you to stay in bed until noon, I think you need to reevaluate your priorities

Debito: It’s not your problem

Luca: It is. The Coins are always…

Felicita: !?

Luca: That person getting off the gondola is…

Pace: It’s definitely Vir

Debito: Perfect. We’ve got business with him after all

~*Scene: Nordia Waterway*~

Vir: Hm?

Luca: Haaah!

Vir: *laugh*…

Luca: He knocked away my attack!?

Vir: It looks like alchemy hasn’t advanced one bit

Vir: It’s the same as it was 400 years ago. No, it’s actually gotten weaker

Luca: …!

Debito: I guess Agata meant what she said literally

Pace: You mean when she said she’s known him for 400 years?

Vir: You really thought such a small flame could capture me?

(*click) Debito: Nope. These are the real goods

Vir: That’s quite the greeting. Hm? Your right eye…

>Debito Route

>Pace/Luca Routes

Vir: What a nice gem. It should last you the rest of your life. Perhaps I should sell some in my store

Vir: But, that amethyst won’t last much longer. Do you have a replacement ready?

Luca: Why would you know…we don’t need your concern. I have a replacement

Debito: Tch, you really do know everything…

Vir: That gem was made with alchemy. Is it your creation?

Luca: …

Vir: You’re even better than your teacher. You couldn’t have made that if you hadn’t watched him for so long

Vir: I’d love a gifted student too. Will you join me?

Luca: I humbly decline

(Luca: Because I have Ojou-sama) (This line is Luca route only)

Vir: Unfortunate. But, it seems those two do need you too. Now then

(*shing) Felicita: You aren’t getting away

Debito: We came all the way from Regalo to capture you

Pace: Yeah. Finding you here makes things a lot faster

Vir: Didn’t Agata tell you? You can’t touch me yet. This is Agata’s city. You aren’t the law here

Vir: And I’m not someone you can catch that easily

Vir: Haaa!

Dodge!

>Hit

(+10 Amore)

>Miss

(-20 Amore)

(*dodge) Felicita: Hah!

Felicita: Ah…

Luca: Ojou-sama! Watch out!

Luca: … L’Armonia della Luce!

Vir: Haha, you can run if you like. I’m not in the mood to fight you today

Felicita: Well I am!

Vir: Stubborn aren’t you…fine then

Debito: You’re fighting me too. So don’t turn your back!

Felicita: Debito! I’ll cover you!

(*whish) Felicita: Yah!

Attack!

>Hit

(No Amore)

>Miss

(-20 Amore)

Vir: Guh…

Vir: That’s all you’ve got?

Vir: You have to mean it if you’re going to attack me. And you won’t catch me anyway

Pace: If you’re just going to run away, doesn’t that mean you’re actually weak?

Vir: I’m running for your sake. If you hit me with your powers, punishment will befall you

Felicita: Punishment…

Debito: You’re not going to trick us with a joke like that

Vir: Is it really a joke?

Pace: If you won’t attack, then I will!

Pace: Hyaaah!

Vir: Hah, that won’t hit me…

Debito: Didn’t I tell you already? You’re not just fighting one of us!

Debito: Hahaha!

Vir: Those bullets won’t work on me. I’ll just erase them

Felicita: No you won’t!

(*whish) Felicita: Haaah!

Attack!

>Hit

(+10 Amore)

>Miss

(-20 Amore)

Vir: Guh…Right. You’re here too

Vir: Where are you aiming?

Vir: …So tiring. This is all the time I have for you today

Vir: Haaah!

Luca: All of you, get away from Vir!

Luca: I’ll block his attack, so get behind me!

Felicita: Right…!

Luca: Guh…

Vir: See you tomorrow then

Felicita: Luca! Are you alright?

Luca: *panting*…Yes. I’m sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve fought that hard…

Debito: I am interested in one thing he said

Luca: ……

Debito: He said “You couldn’t have made that if you hadn’t watched him for so long”

Felicita: …

Debito: If this hadn’t happened, I never would have asked…

Debito: Back then…who’s side were you on?

Pace: Debito…

Luca: I…

Debito: Honestly, I don’t care what the truth is though

Pace: It feels late bringing this up now, but I’ve been hiding things too

~*Flashback: Back Alley*~

Pace: Um, because of a special trait of my Tarocco, I––

Pace: I can only live until age 30

~*End Flashback*~

Pace: I guess Debito’s been the most honest out of us

Debito: Shut up, Pace

Pace: I guess the best thing is for Luca-chan to come clean and for us to give him one good hit for hiding it?

>Luca, I want to know too…

>I think you should tell Debito and Pace

Luca: Ojou-sama…

Luca: Right. I never was good at keeping secrets

Luca: And I didn’t plan on hiding it this long either

Luca: It might make things easier if I just told the truth…

Luca: I don’t know if hearing this will help them

Luca: But I think it will be better for me

Luca: It hurts to keep this a secret. …I just want to tell you

Luca: This is the opportunity that Agata gave us

Luca: I’ll tell you…about the secret I’ve been keeping

Luca: Back then, I had a lot of feelings that I had a hard time putting into words

~*Flashback: Bedroom*~

Debito: Uw, ahhhhh!

Pace: Debito!? Where are you?

Luca: I can’t see him…but I can hear him. Are these Debito’s Arcana powers…?

Debito: *panting*…

Pace: Ah! There’s blood near the bed… Debito, are you there?

Debito: Uaa, Pace…

Luca: If I could see you, I could neutralize your powers with mine, but I can’t touch you like this

Pace: Ah! I see him! Debito, can you hear me? Debito?

Debito: ……

Luca: He’s not conscious. And his right eye is bleeding…he hit himself on that pillar…

Luca: Hurry, Pace! At this rate, Debito will…

Pace: But where should we…

Luca: We’ll take him to Jolly

~*Flashback: Alchemy Room*~

Pace: Jolly! You have to help Debito!

Debito: Guh…ahh…

Jolly: …What happened

Luca: Debito’s powers are out of control. He struck his eye against a pillar…

Luca: He settled down after losing consciousness, but he hasn’t woken up yet

Jolly: His powers…

Pace: Jolly, what’s going to happen to Debito?

Jolly: He’ll die if we don’t do anything. He must not have the emotional strength to handle his powers

Luca: …No way

Pace: I don’t want Debito to die! Since you experiment all the time, can’t you save him!

Jolly: …I have an idea. But I can’t guarantee that it will work

Jolly: Do you still want to save Debito?

Pace: Of course we do!

Luca: Yes…

Jolly: Good. I’ll get started

Jolly: We’ll put this gem in Debito’s right eye. It will amplify his emotional strength to make up for what he lacks

Luca: An amethyst…

Pace: You’ll stick that in him!?

Jolly: He won’t be able to use his eye anymore either way. This is better than dying

Debito: Ahhhhhh….!!!

Jolly: This should last for a while

Pace: Thank you, Jolly

Luca: Thank you

Luca: Jolly…

Jolly: Pace already left. Was there something else, Luca?

Luca: I know you saved Debito…but will he really be alright like this…

Jolly: Hmph, I don’t plan on leaving this be. You’ll be paying me back for saving him

Jolly: …How about this. From now on, you’ll have no contact with Debito or Pace

Luca: Wha…

Jolly: Or you’ll help me with my experiments again. It’s an equivalent exchange. You’ll pay me back one of those two ways. The choice is up to you

Luca: …I…

~*Flashback: Bedroom*~

Pace: Don’t worry us like that, Debito. I told you not to push yourself

Debito: Yeah, but I had to. I’m not good at staying put

Luca: Calm down, you two. Debito’s awake, and that’s all that matters

Luca: I’ll be going now. I’m doing a little favor for someone

~*Flashback: Alchemy Room*~

(*knock knock)

Luca: It’s me

Jolly: Come in…

~*End Flashback*~

Luca: My…heart was always with you two, but I was acting on Jolly’s orders

Luca: I stayed to protect you. But, it’s true that I was still observing you as directed by Jolly too

Luca: I wanted to protect you, but still felt guilty. I thought protecting you was my duty

Luca: And it’s why I feel so conflicted into inaction now

Luca: And then, Ojou-sama’s powers went out of control

Felicita: …!

Luca: I was ordered to live with Ojou-sama, and went to that small house with her and Sumire-sama

Luca: I had a peaceful life there. And that’s when I realized that I was making up for what I did to you two…

Luca: It’s because of Ojou-sama that I found the strength to accept myself

Luca: It’s thanks to Ojou-sama…that I realized what I should protect

Luca: I’m the weakest one out of us. I just couldn’t live on if I lost even a single one of you

Felicita: Luca…

Luca: ……Is that all you wanted to know?

Felicita: Luca…!

Luca: Wah! O-Ojou-sama…

Debito: You shouldn’t be crying at your age

Pace: Yeah. You’ve hit a milestone so you really should grow up

Felicita: Luca, how could you keep smiling before now?

Luca: Because…you all…were with me

Debito: Oh get a grip! Pace, let’s throw Luca in the canal!

Pace: Okay! Heave-ho!

Luca: *bubble bubble*…

Felicita: Luca, are you okay!?

(*splash) Luca: *cough*…

Debito: Yeah, he wouldn’t drown

Pace: Yup. That’s his punishment from us instead of getting hit

Debito: Yeah I figured

Luca: You weren’t going to let me get washed away, right!?

Debito: Okay, let’s head back

Pace: Oh wow Luca, you look just like Dante. Let’s go, Ojou

Felicita: O-okay…

Luca: Can you at least pull me out of here!!!

~*End of Scene*~

(Continue to Common Route December 31 (Pace Route)) Coming Soon!

(Continue to Debito Chapter 4)

(Continue to Luca Chapter 5)

(Back to Directory)

#common route #arcana famiglia #arcana famiglia 2 #december 28 #solar translations #psp game #translation #releases #just when you thought jolly didn't actually do it for evil reasons #but then trolololol #and omg that ending #poor luca TwT

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artsy0wl · 3 years

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He Needs You (A VLD fic)

I don’t care if I was late to the Voltron train, but I did enjoy most of it. I finally got around to it around the time season 8 had been released. This was a fic that I had written back when I had finished season six and then rewritten a month or two back.

It’s basically a post season 6 au addressing where Keith's mind may have been.

Since getting settled back on Earth, everyone started getting into a routine. When not forming Voltron or assisting new recruits, each Paladin found hobbies to keep their minds and bodies at ease. And with it, thoughts and emotions were finally beginning to sink in. Unfortunately, they were not all positive as fatigue and anxiety settled. While three of the Paladins were settling in well enough, over time, one had became noticeably absent.

It had been a few days and Keith had refused to make an appearance. He may have been known to withdraw when needed, but now, it was getting into concerning territory. And for those who were observant enough, the last time he was seen, he appeared exhausted. He never stuck around for questioning, so whether or not it was physical or emotional, it could not be determined.

Shiro was the first to really get concerned. The others, though uncertain, weren't too sure if it was as concerning as Shiro was. And while he couldn't blame them, Shiro seemed to be the only one who could affirm that this was a problem. Keith's sudden disappearance heightened the need to deal with concerns that have progressively been building up in Shiro. He entered the lounge area, hoping to find him hiding there. Unfortunately, it appeared to be a dead end. However, since Coran was in the room, there was a small amount of hope that he might have seen Keith.

"Have you seen Keith?" Shiro asked.

"Oh, Shiro." Coran greeted approaching him. "I was just about to ask you the same thing." He let out a sigh. "I'm starting to worry. I know he can get quite sullen, but never for this long."

"I know, that's why I'm worried." It was disappointing that Coran did not know, but it was a possibility. "I'll keep looking. If you see him, tell me immediately."

"Of course. You have my word."

The doors to the kitchen slid open. It had been a few hours since Shiro had spoke to Coran, and Shiro still wasn't having any luck finding the missing Paladin. He soon realized that he wasn't alone. Krolia was in the kitchen, sitting on the counter, snacking on some of Hunk's leftover lasagna. She was in a tank top and a towel was draped around her neck, clearly indicating that she had recently finished some training. Shiro grabbed a glass of water, frustrated by the lack of progress.

"I think I saw a red bundle go into the dark room." Krolia stated.

Shiro nearly choked on the water. T He was both shocked and intrigued by the statement. This was one of the few times she referred to her son in such a soft way. On top of that, this was the break he needed.

"And you're just bringing this up know?" Shiro choked.

"Well he's been staking out in the infirmary, the armory, and the library up until today." Krolia admitted. "With how often he was there, I thought you were aware. But based on your reaction, I guess not. I bring this up now because photography doesn't quite seem like his thing."

Shiro couldn't deny her observation. He was usually spotted in those places along with the training room. Keith must have been shuffling it up recently, so that no one knew which place he was in at what time in an attempt to hide from everyone. The dark room was initially added as a recreational space for some of the crew and to show Allura and Coran an old, but still enjoyable, way to develop photos. That said, photography wasn't really Keith's strong suit, so it was the perfect hiding place when he finally did disappear. Not that he was open to being photographed much.

"He's become a bit of a recluse these days." Shiro explained, setting the cup down. "At first we thought it was Keith being Keith. But I started to notice that it got progressively worse the last few days and he pretty much disappeared yesterday."

"He does seem to have a lot bothering him lately."

It was good to know that she seemed aware of the situation. However, her tone signified that she hadn't talked to him about it herself. Shiro wasn't sure if that had to do with her unable to get to Keith before he hid, if she tried and he shut her out, or if she was still catching up on all of those years of being absent and was unsure how to approach this kind of situation.

"And you haven't talked to him?" Shiro curiously inquired.

Krolia set her plate down and hopped of the counter so she could give Shiro her full attention. She clearly had something on her mind and might have known something that Shiro didn't. She leaned against the counter for a moment, thinking of how to word it.

"Well, I think I know what's troubling him, but I don't feel like it's my place to intervene." Krolia explained.

Her reason was a little confusing. She knew, but why she didn't want to get involved was a curious thing. Shiro didn't believe it was a Galra way of parenting, given how she wanted to be in his life compared to Zarkon, but it was still a little weird. Was it because they had only been reunited as recently as they were? Or was there more to it? Krolia noticed this and knew she had to elaborate.

"Keith's shook up about the whole clone incident." Krolia stated. "Part of him did fall for it, not wanting to believe that they truly lost you. However, when your clone went A.W.O.L., it wasn't the kindest experience to him." Krolia flinched slightly as she recalled what her son told him about the incident. "In short, he ended up having to fight you, someone he cares deeply for. And you weren't exactly the nicest person to him in that moment. Quite the opposite in fact." She recalled the pain in his eyes not long after that fight. "Your clone fought him, degraded him, and even tried to kill him. He still has the burn mark to prove it. Permanently at that." Krolia stood up, a little disheartened. "He's confused. Scared that such a prominent figure in his life turned evil and tried to kill him. I bet that image hasn't fully gone away despite your return." Krolia sighed, looking at Shiro with concern. "As his mother, I want to do what I can for him. I want to help him get through this and tell him that everything's okay. However, I think he needs you to help him with this. He needs to talk to you. I know you were not the one that did this to him, something I'm sure he's aware of in some part, but it was a physical copy of you that caused it. It's your image that's imprinted on the memory. I can't talk him through something that I know you would be better handling."

Krolia began walking towards the door. One quick whiff of her shirt was all she needed to tell her she needed a shower. She looked back at Shiro, urgency in her eyes.

"I'd hurry of I were you." Krolia emphasized. "Who knows how long he'll be there."

The red tint of the dark room was enough to make the search for Keith difficult. Shiro could manage once his eyes adjusted, but it was still a bit of a challenge. When he didn't see Keith out in the open, Shiro began opening the cabinets. He eventually found Keith hiding in one with his kneels held against his chest. Kneeling down, Shiro got as good of a look as he could at Keith. Hair blocked Keith's face for the most part, denying Shiro access to a visual of his face and expression even more so than the already hindering lighting of the room did. Keith wasn't moving outside of shifting whenever he breathed.

"Hey Keith." Shiro greeted.

Keith didn't acknowledge Shiro's presence. Or at least he didn't appear to. Keith still didn't move either. Shiro thought about what to say next.

"Mind if I join you?" Shiro asked. When he didn't get a respond, he tried to think of something to lighten the mood. "You're right, even with a levitating arm, I still couldn't fit in a cabinet like this. I'm a little too husky."

When Keith ignored his attempt at, albeit dark, humor, Shiro knew he had to do something. His arm reached inside, aiming to grab Keith's right shoulder and nudge Keith out. The motion startled Keith, causing him to panic. He started writhing in the grip, wanting to get out of it.

"Let me go!" Keith gasped.

Shiro refused Keith's demands, not wanting Keith to disappear again. Once he managed to nudge Keith out enough, Shiro wrapped his other arm around Keith and yanked him out and set Keith on his lap. The movement caused Keith to start kicking his feet out. Not hard enough to hurt Shiro, as even in his panic, Keith didn't want to hurt Shiro, but enough to try fighting back. Shiro didn't care, tightening his hold. He didn't say a word, wanting to wait for Keith to calm down. Shiro didn't have to wait long as Keith's exhaustion took over and slowed his movement down. Once Keith stopped, Shiro finally gave Keith room to move.

Keith almost bolted, but Shiro's prosthetic arm was already behind him, stopping him. Keith gave up the option to run as he locked eyes with Shiro, silently letting Shiro know he wasn't leaving. Shiro's arm returned to his side, accepting Keith's admission of defeat.

The duo got comfortable, sitting on their knees. Shrio began inspecting Keith for damage, lightly brushed Keith's bangs aside. The first thing Shiro noticed was the dark circles under Keith's eyes. From what Shiro could tell, Keith hadn't slept in days. If he had to guess, at least four days by his estimation. However, exhaustion wasn't the only problem. Keith was clearly suffering physically. Not only did Keith have noticeable dark circles under his eyes, but he also seemed thinner. It wasn't at an absolutely terrible state, but Keith's cheekbones were starting to show through, which was a sign that Keith had been starving himself.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the only reason why Shiro was there. These were just the physical symptoms to a much larger problem. Keith's emotional turmoil. Shiro knew he had to address the anxiety and stress. As much as they both were going to hate it, for Keith's health, it had to be dealt with.

"Talk to me." Shiro requested. "I can't watch you suffer like this."

The room went silent. Waiting for Keith to speak up, Shiro hoped that Keith knew that he would always be there for him. Keith's pride may have prevented him from opening up as easily as the others, but his isolation was not the way to go about fixing the issue.

"I didn't give up on you." Keith whispered. "I knew something was wrong. I knew you wouldn't hurt us. They were suspecting something was wrong, but I knew it wasn't like you." Keith bit his lip, shaking slightly. "The next thing I knew, I found myself having to fight my closest friend. And no matter what I said, he wanted to kill everyone. To kill me."

Shiro was relieved that Keith wasn't being difficult. Be it due to his exhaustion or knowing he couldn't run forever, Shiro welcomed Keith's honesty. However, hos honesty was not painless. Hearing Keith go from hopeful to confused, from calm to near death hurt Shiro. It was a lot to put on Keith, and he hated that it was his own imaged that caused it. Keith flinched slightly, almost closing his eyes. His body was trying to speak to him, but Keith refused to listen.

"You need to sleep." Shiro advised.

Keith shook his head in refusal. The thought of sleep seemed problematic. An enigma that was undesirable to Keith.

"Every time I close my eyes I see you trying to kill me." Keith stated, picturing the fight. "I see glowing eyes and a voice demanding for my death." Keith's breath hitched. "I know everything's fine, and that it wasn't really you, but I can't let it go. I'm terrible."

Shiro had no response to that. He knew Keith was demeaning himself out of grief, but he did not wish to speak incorrectly. Keith repositioned himself, bringing his knees to his chest. Shiro may have been able to get through to Keith and help save everyone, but he wasn't able to prevent this. The pain of losing Shiro. Realizing that a fake was in their midst and led the team while Keith was away. Having to fight someone that Keith held close. Keith's stress and emotional baggage had to be through the roof. it was a lot to process, but Shiro didn't blame him for any of it.

Looking at the scar on Keith's face put something else entirely on Shiro, guilt. A hand gently traced along it as Shiro thought about its cause. All of this was caused by Keith's dedication and an outcome that wasn't deserved.

"I'm sorry." Shiro apologized. "I'm sorry you had to suffer because of a manipulative witch and a clone. You didn't deserve what you went through."

"No I'm sorry." Keith argued. "You did everything you could, died even, to make sure everyone was safe. I just took over for you and failed as their leader."

Shiro's hand stayed on the side of Keith's face, wanting to give Keith a sense of security. A sense of reality, letting him know that Shiro was there. Shiro hated that Keith was blaming himself for the situation. While maybe not perfect, Keith did so well with the Paladins and Marmora, and he deserved credit for it.

"That's not true." Shiro disagreed. "You did so good with Voltron and the Blades of Mamora. You led the Paladins so well and I'm impressed with how well you took control of situations given to you. I just wish you didn't have to suffer to the extent you did. I am so proud of you Keith."

Grabbing Keith's shoulders, Shiro brought him in for a hug. Keith didn't have the strength to really fight back, but he did attempt to squirm away to no avail. Keith just accepted the embrace, actually wanting it deep down. He wanted that feeling of comfort in Shiro's arms.

"It's okay." Shrio reaffirmed. "I'm here now Keith and everything is going to be okay. Those dreams aren't real, and the clone no longer exists."

Keith rested his head against Shiro, soaking in his surroundings. Being with Shiro, the real Shiro, was surreal. The black and grey uniform, Shiro's voice, the smell of Shiro's aftershave, all of it was familiar. And none of it threatening or fake. This was real. Shiro was real. Tears sprinkled down Keith's face. He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't stop.

"It's okay." Shiro whispered, gently rubbing the back of Keith's head. "Everything's going to be okay."

Several hours later, Krolia went looking for her son and Shiro. Figuring that Shiro successfully made it to Keith in time, she entered the dark room. Scanning the room, a dark lump on the ground caught her eye and caused her to grin softly.

Shiro was sitting on the floor with his back against one of the cabinets. His eyes were shut and he was softly snoring. In his arms was Keith, who was comfortably sitting in Shiro's lap. His head was resting on Shiro's chest and he too had his eyes closed. Keith was finally sleeping, and Krolia was glad that he was. Based on their position, she knew they must have talked it out and Keith must have accepted Shiro's comfort. She knelt down, softly patting Keith's head. He unconsciously shuffled slightly, loving the affection.

"Good night." Krolia whispered.

She exited the dark room, not wanting to disturb them. She got the answers she wanted and her son got the peace that he deserved. In the back of her mind, Krolia was thankful for Shiro's help. everything was going to be okay, and that was all that mattered.

#Voltron legendary defenders #VLD #keith kogane #krolia #shiro #takashi shirogane #fanfic #fanfiction #feels #AU #Shiro and Keith #Angst

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emmakillianfan · 3 years

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A Christmas Story for You

To @whimsicallyenchantedrose for Christmas. While I haven’t had as much time for it as I had hoped, I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas and enjoy this little story that kind of got away from me. Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to you!

Due to illness and post graduate studies I’m a bit rusty on the fanfiction story writing, but I hope you enjoy it. I have loved the opportunity to be your secret santa. As I said from the beginning, I’m a big fan of your writing.

Getting to Know You at Christmas

Emma Swan hated to mingle at these social events her parents held each year as a welcome to the holiday season. Her mother easily socialized with people, remembering names and details of each person’s life in the coastal town of Storybrooke, Maine. Her father was just as gregarious, shaking hands and clapping older gentlemen on the back as the mused over details of long-ago exchanges and funny occurrences that she never quite could understand. She liked people, even had friends. But there was something missing for her from the conversations and laughter that seemed to lift over the swell of Christmas carols and the flashes of lights from the tree and cameras snapping shots of huddled groups of friends, family, and compatriots.

“Your mother is worried about you,” Ruby Lucas-Gale said with a knowing smile as Emma reached for another mini pizza and shoved it in whole. “You don’t look happy.”

Keeping her lips sealed, Emma shot her friend a plastered smile and shrug.

“You could at least move away from the bar. She’s going to think this is a re-do of last year’s party where you went to bed with a bottle of tequila under each arm after telling everyone that you were sleeping until the new year.”

“I should have kept that promise,” Emma groused, giving a slight wave when her mother looked at her pleadingly. “I could have avoided the Christmas Karaoke party at Victor’s, the cookie exchange at your grandmother’s, and let’s not forget the pot luck at Regina and Robin’s where I was shamed for bringing your grandmother’s frozen lasagna as my contribution. Not only had Regina made one, but I didn’t even realize it was still frozen.”

“You brought a pie too,” Ruby reminded her. “I don’t remember anyone noting that was store bought.”

“I ate it in the car working up the nerve to go inside because my mother set me up on a date. Who does that? Blind dates on Christmas?”

“She means well,” Ruby added consolingly, patting her hands down her red dress that seemed to creep up her toned thighs each time she moved. “And Graham was…”

Emma held up one hand in protest. “Don’t defend him. First he was your ex. He was nice but a little or more than a little too intense with his whole getting back to nature and communing with animals thing. My mother has horrible taste in men for me. For a woman who believes in fairy tales and calls my father her prince charming, I don’t think she would survive a day on Tinder.” It had been the long running commentary at the parties that somewhere in the crowd was there to be set up with Emma. Some who did not partake in the dancing or singing along around the piano would try to guess who it was going to be this year. Bets were currently on about a gawky man with a green tie who was currently chatting up Zelena Mills in the corner.

“Just remember she means well.” Linking arms with Emma, Ruby pulled her friend out onto the makeshift dance floor and began to sway her hips to the beat of a modern Christmas tune that Emma knew was by some current pop singer. “So I’m guessing your next date is in here somewhere. Where oh where could he be?”

“You are annoying,” Emma pouted, folding her arms over her chest yet still swaying a bit to the up-tempo beat. “I thought you had money that guy in the green tie.” He was the typical type her mother would love to see her date. She could hear the school teacher turned public servant now telling her how she just knew he was the kind of guy she would love to get to know.

“Possibility,” Ruby said, tapping her bright red lips in mock thoughtfulness. “What about Archie?” He’s been hanging around over in that corner in a conversation with Regina and Robin for a little bit now. Seems to look over here every once in a while.”

“Everyone is looking at you, Ruby,” Emma hissed in exasperation. You are showing more skin that is advisable with the temperature and you’re currently bumping and grinding to Christmas tunes.”

“Maybe he’s setting up some pre-marital counseling for them. Okay…one of the guys from the mines? Leroy?”

“That’s a tad incestuous since they are practically my uncles.” Emma scanned the crowd to see her father and mother in conversation over by the French doors leading out to the patio that had been sprayed with twinkle lights and that included a new audio system he had spent the day fiddling with as her younger brother tried out the microphones in his own rendition of some sort of heavy metal meets classic rock rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. He was just 14 and still at that awkward stage, suffering the embarrassment of parents who doted and friends who loved to point that out to him. Her own son idolized him though. “I’m thinking he’s a no show. My mom is in her plotting mode. Look at the way she’s talking to my dad.”

Sure enough her parents were furtively whispering, her mother holding up a hand to hide her mouth as though nobody would notice. It would be debated for years to come which of the two women noticed him first though. A slender, tall man with piercing blue eyes and sardonic smile seemed to rush up to her parents and hug them in turn. Even though Emma couldn’t make out the words, her father gave the man his double shoulder clap before spinning him about to the crowd and pointing out a few people.

��Maybe him,” Ruby said, lifting onto the balls of her feet even higher than her shoes allowed and balancing herself against Emma. “He’s a hottie.”

“Doubtful,” Emma noted, swinging her gaze across the room to the man in the green tie who was now eating a banana and doing nothing for his resemblance to a simian creature as Ruby had declared. “I don’t have that sort of luck. My mother doesn’t…” She never got to finish the sentence when she noted who had just entered the party and made a line straight toward greeting her parents. Neal…the once love of her life turned affection into weapons and her self confidence into a puddle of what if. She was better now, but the sight of him seemed to jangle her nerves in a way that made her doubt her recovery. They managed to co-parent their son with little trouble, but he wasn’t one she wanted to see socially. The fact he always had a date on his arm just added to her discomfort.

Ruby was one of the few people who understood. Twirling her in the direction of the mystery man who was now noshing on a few of the crisp veggies without bothering to dip them into the various sauces, Ruby leaned in and whispered loudly in Emma’s ear. “Don’t question it. Just go introduce yourself. It’ll be less awkward that way.”

Emma would forever question the logic in that, but for the moment felt her feet begin to move one after the other and in no time she was standing in front of him. His eyes were even more striking up close and she caught a whiff of his cologne that was a spicey scent that she would later blame for her mouth watering and her words feeling like they slid off her tongue without regard to custom or reason.

“Emma,” she said by way of invitation. Her smile was a little forced and her hand held out in mid air a beat too long as he shoved a celery stick in his mouth and raised his own in greeting. “I guess my parents probably told you that.”

“Your parents?” he repeated, the smiled he was giving her lifted higher on the right side of his face as did his right eyebrow. He seemed to be surprised by her, almost as if he was not expecting the conversation. That irritated her a bit.

She gave a wave over her shoulder to where they stood by the fireplace. “Mary Margaret and David. The Nolans. You were just talking to them.”

“Aye, David and my older brother went to school together back in the day. They invited me to…”

She brushed off his explanation. “No, I get it. It’s so them. They don’t think I have any skills in that area at all. Apparently, they have given up on finding someone local.” She shrugged and when he seemed he wasn’t going to answer, she reached across and grabbed a carrot stick. Placing it in her mouth she made a face and immediately removed it. “Rabbit food.”

“You do know how to flatter man, love. I’m not sure I would want to be just one of the multitudes.” His smile was wider as he watched her, his questions about her easy and slick as she tried to explain that her parents were young when she was born and waited nearly two decades before their miracle child was born. He seemed to know nothing about her, which was odd for a set up. Maybe he was just being polite.

“So you’re not from around here,” she asked when he paused to take a drink. Even over the rim of the cup his eyebrows raised again. “I’m the sheriff. I sort of notice things like accents. I do sort of like accents like yours. Different than other guys around here.”

“Boston by way of London,” Killian answered. “And you, love? Always a resident of this seafaring town?”

“Most all my life,” she admitted, leaving out a few pit stops along the way. “Mom probably told you that the best place to take me for a dinner date is Granny’s. She loves it there, plus Granny will spy on us and give her updates every few minutes. I’m more into this Italian place near the docks. Awesome seafood and pasta. And their lasagna isn’t frozen. It’s more date like, I think. You know, checked table clothes, drippy candles, wine, and all that.”

“A classic romantic?” he asked, clearly amused.

“Well, I mean if we have to go out, it makes sense to go someplace like that.” She held out her hand and gestured to his phone. “I’ll give you my number in case mom hasn’t already. A date is a date, but might as well get a good meal out of it.”

“By all means,” he said, handing her the latest device on the market. She noted that he did everything with his right hand, his left staying next to his side and covered in a black glove. She was about to mention it when she heard her father’s voice and laughter.

“You’ve met our Emma,” David said, joining the duo at the table and placing one hand under Emma’s elbow. “Our daughter can be a bit blunt. I hope she hasn’t insulted you or made you change your mind.”

“Dad,” Emma said, swatting him playfully.

“She’s been absolutely brilliant,” Killian answered, shoving his phone in his pocket. “By the way, love, name’s Killian Jones. I don’t believe I properly introduced myself.”

David nodded knowingly. “Killian is here to work with your mother on her bid for the mayor’s office. He’s a wiz when it comes to all things in local politics. Very highly recommended.”

“Work for mom?” Emma asked weakly, trying to ignore the not quite so humble smile that played about Killian’s mouth. “You mean he’s not…”

“Of course, Regina is taking time off to plan her wedding and then get settled into married life. She recommended Killian to run your mom’s campaign since Archie is considering and Mal has already announced. Anyway, it is good you met. Killian’s going to need to talk to you about your role in promoting our family. Maybe you can meet up at Granny’s later this week.” David glanced around the room and gripped his daughter’s arm harder. “I wanted to introduce you to someone I met when I was buying supplies for the farm. His name is Walsh.”

Emma stammered a bit, her face turning pink as Killian continued to hold that smile that showed both bemusement and cockiness. “Walsh…”

“Go ahead, love,” Killian said. “We’ll finish our conversation at this Granny’s or perhaps you might like the atmosphere.”

Emma was sure that her face was bright red as his eyebrows lifted up and down in a way that made her wonder just what lascivious thoughts were rolling around in that head of his. She felt those blue eyes on her as her father made another excuse and led her over to the man in the green tie who was smiling nervously at her and oblivious to her discomfort and not so secret looks over at Killian Jones.

She nodded appropriately and even asked a few questions about Walsh and his furniture design business. Her own rental was outfitted with castoffs and hand me downs that had seemed comfortable and worn at the time. He was telling her why it was important to have pieces that spoke of her uniqueness and character. At least that was what she heard on the occasions she bothered to listen and didn’t internalize the flinches and groans as her parents introduced Killian Jones to every person in the room. She wasn’t pleased to see most of the single women giggling and flashing him flirtatious smiles that he easily returned. There was no need to be jealous, but still the emotion was creeping up her spine as she watched him actually kiss Ruby’s hand like something out of a novel.

“I could show you sometime,” Walsh interrupted. She jumped at being caught unaware and repeated the words back to him in hopes of making some sense of the situation. “My shop. I have some really beautiful pieces I think you would like.”

“Well, if I am ever in the market,” she said, realizing that he was holding out a business card with his personal number written on the back. “Have you met August and his father Marco. They do some of the most beautiful woodwork you have ever seen. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~

“We were right about the monkey guy,” Ruby said defeatedly, kicking off her shoes and reclining on the bed in Emma’s childhood bedroom. The room didn’t quite do justice to the angsty teen she had been, but still boasted teen idol posters of boy bands and even the dollhouse brought by Santa one year. “But that other guy was cute and quite the charmer. Even I was about to hit on him. I had such high hopes for your mother.”

Emma flinched as she unclipped her hair and left it to fall around her shoulders in soft waves. “Yeah, so he’s not my set up of the year. Yet I asked him out, sort of. I don’t know. I made a fool out of myself.”

“He didn’t seem too offended,” Ruby suggested. “I mean I was distracted once Dorothy agreed to dance but every time I looked in his direction he was looking in yours. And I might add that was pretty often.”

“Right, he was probably trying to figure out what was wrong with me.” Emma was about to bemoan her embarrassed state a little more when her phone dinged out one and then another text message. She reached over to grab it and groaned with the realization. It was Killian. Ruby immediately wanted to know what he had to say and proceeded to inspect the picture he sent just in case Emma was confused if he was the guy in the green tie or not.

“Emma, you might have had a rough start, but he’s hot. And he’s clearly interested. Why else would he text?” Passing the phone back, she shrugged. “And let’s face it, you and commitment aren’t that strong of allies. He’s from out of town. Mary Margaret said he travels all over to do these little campaigns. I’m seeing excellent fling material.”

The text was taunting her, a coy comment about Italian restaurants and then a reminder of who he was with the picture. “I should answer him. I mean it would be rude not to answer, right?”

“Your mother would say not to be rude to anyone, but I’m telling you there is no reason to be rude to that guy.” Ruby reached over and grabbed a 10 year old magazine from the table, clearly bored with the conversation. “But I mean it is up to you. Text him. Don’t text him. Your choice.” Ruby flipped the pages casually, bringing up what dresses Regina was going to want them to wear at her wedding. She insisted that red wouldn’t be that garish at a Christmas event. It wasn’t until Emma refused to correct her that Ruby even looked over cautiously. “You haven’t texted him?”

“I was thinking about it.”

“You like him, don’t you?” Ruby propped herself onto one elbow. “It’s written all over your face.”

Emma shoved the phone back in her bag and let her head loll against the mattress as she sat cross legged on the floor. She rarely was in this room now, but somehow it felt comfortable and almost nostalgic to discuss dating and boys with her friend just down the hall from her parents. At least she wasn’t practicing writing his name with hers or anything like that. “I don’t get crushes.”

“You’re much too tough for that.”

Emma wasn’t exactly wrong about her aversion to crushes. She was in her twenties and already sheriff of the small coastal town. She wore practical boots or sneakers more than heels and her long hair had not seen princess curls in months. This event at her parents was the first time she’d worn a dress except to church. “If I did, and I’m not saying I do, what difference does it make. I’m a grown woman, mother of a 10 year old, and I have a career. I’m hardly going to make cootie catchers and see if his name comes up after saying some horrible rhyme.”

Ruby nodded thoughtfully and went back to the magazine. “Not to mention horribly ugly and boring. I don’t know how I put up with you.”

“You are going to pay for that one, Ruby,” Emma laughed, tossing a pillow and joining in as Ruby cackled with laughter. They were both laughing so hard that Emma barely heard the familiar chirp of her phone ringing. Holding up a hand to silence her friend, she shushed her and reached for it. She only hoped she sounded less winded than she felt as she said her own name and waited for the response.

“I hope I didn’t call to late,” a male English accent sounded on the other end. Even without seeing him in person, she could already picture that bemused smirk and light in his eyes. “I meant to check back with you, love, but time got away from me and then you were gone.”

“Oh um…good…I mean great…I mean you didn’t call too late,” Emma gestured wildly at her friend who was making choking signs in response to her word vomit. “But why did you call?”

“Well, love, you did give me your number,” he reminded her. “I tried texting, but didn’t get a response. I thought perhaps you were screening, but I had to give it a shot. I was hoping you might have a bit of time for me tomorrow – breakfast perhaps? I know you said you preferred that little Italian place, but I have never known such an establishment to be open very early. Perhaps that Granny’s, you spoke of? We could save the Italian place for our dinner date. I have been craving some ravioli lately.”

“Date?” Emma stammered, ignoring the way that Ruby looked ready to pounce. “I…”

“You did sort of ask me out and I must say it was a masterful way to do so. I would love to accompany you for dinner, Emma. But first we have a bit of business to discuss about your mother’s campaign. Breakfast then? 8 a.m.? Granny’s?”

“I’ll be there,” she answered dully as he spoke politely for a moment about thanking her for her time.

~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~

Emma’s father had not gotten the memo that she was going out for breakfast, as he was flipping pancakes onto a large plate as she descended the stairs, handed her son his permission slip for the field trip, and dodged the family’s collie that seemed to be underfoot. Her mother showed no signs of worry as she sipped her morning coffee and reminded Emma to wear a scarf and hat as she consoled her husband that there were not too many pancakes and Emma wouldn’t have eaten them all anyway.

She pulled her yellow bug up in front of the diner, taking the last of the spots at 8:05 a.m. That was early for her and not a big worry that she was late for meeting with Killian. That was until she walked in, kicked a bit of the snow off her boots (the black ones with a heel that were in her old closet and could not be described as practical – don’t judge), and spied Killian at one of the booths talking to Tink. The bubbly blonde was petite and perfect, a face and voice like a cherub in a painting. Every year she had the solo at the church choir’s Christmas Eve performance and every year people wiped away tears at her beautiful rendition. She didn’t look very angelic as she perched on the edge of her seat and leaned forward to talk animatedly with Killian. Her smile flashing at him and even an occasional stroke of his arm with her hand to emphasize a point. Even in the 90 seconds she had been standing there kicking her boots and unwinding the mile long scarf from her mother, she had watched the waitress stop by and lean across the table to give Killian quite the view down her shirt.

Ruby must have noticed too, as she left her spot behind the counter and fluffed Emma’s hair with an encouraging nod and a teasing note that Emma was wearing lip gloss. Spinning her with one hand on her shoulder, Ruby sort of nudged her in the direction of the booth with a hissed reminder to smile.

“Killian,” Emma said, ignoring the pout from Tink, whose real name was Isabella but didn’t want to be confused with the town librarian, Belle, “sorry I’m late.”

“Don’t trouble yourself, love,” he said, scooting out to stand as she arrived. “I was going over a few notes for the kick off and Tink here was catching me up on some of the ideocracies that make small town politics so fun.”

Emma flashed a quick smile at her childhood friend, watching her slink out of the booth and tell Killian she was in the town directory if he wanted to call. He did not follow her with his eyes as she sashayed toward the door, nor did he smirk like Emma wanted to do when Ruby called after Tink to tell her that she still owed for her morning tea. It wasn’t that she disliked Tink, but there was that feeling that made her feel ill when she saw her flirting with Killian.

He gestured for her to sit down a simple glance toward the counter sent the waitress scrambling to bring them menus and take their orders. Or maybe it was just his order, as he had to call her back to get Emma’s. Despite his seemingly healthy eating style the night before, he matched her order of a hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon. Granny had even fancied it up with chocolate shavings.

His questions were easy at first, wanting to know about her childhood and then her job. While a few were personal, he did not seem to be prying. She even managed to ask him a few and he offered some answers of his own without objecting too loudly and then quickly getting them back on track. She learned of his naval experience that paid for his education and how he had become involved in the campaigns and politics of small cities and his love of the ocean and aged rum.

“So is your position as sheriff an elected one?” he asked, casually resting back in the vinyl seat across from her.

She was taking two sips to his one when she noticed the way he smiled as he watched her. Instinctively she raised her hand up to swipe at the whipped cream that might have gathered on her nose but found none. “What?” she asked in exasperation. “Did I make a mess?”

“No, I am simply enjoying watching you share your experiences as sheriff. Your passion for it shines on your face, love.”

She knew she was probably blushing and rolled her fork through the home fries as a distraction.

~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~

For the next few days they saw each other often. There was the announcement of her mother’s candidacy where she helped place signage. She ran into him when she went to inspect a license of one of the vendors at the skating rink and ended up sharing a drink and conversation. While pondering which type of creamer to buy, he popped up out of no where and offered a suggestion. He was even there when the church choir had a rehearsal, claiming he was talking to some potential volunteers. He did apologize for that when the choir director called Emma out for missing two of her cues in a row because she was watching him, in the words of Regina, make doe eyes at her and silently flirt.

In the mean time, her mother had been talking up Walsh’s skills in design and potential as a date for Emma. There was now a gaping hole in the living room at the farm house where her mother was having him design a custom entertainment center. Her brother was already complaining that the television on the floor was not the greatest idea. Emma tried to explain Walsh wasn’t her type, but her mother wasn’t hearing it and was asking when she was seeing him again. Given that she had not saved his number and had mutually agreed with him that they weren’t really each other’s type it seemed unlikely. However, Mary Margaret was so cutely sure she had done well this year that Emma hadn’t the heart to tell her.

One morning over doughnuts at the station her mother read the speech Killian had written for her campaign and asked her daughter for feedback. Emma offered a few remarks as the woman adjusted the clutter on her father’s desk.

“I think he’s handsome,” her mother said at one point. “Kinda has that mysterious look to him.”

“Who?” Emma asked distractedly. “Dad?”

It was the pronoun game.

“No, I was talking about…” The phone ringing cut off what Emma was sure was a pep talk about Walsh. The conversation was left unfinished as Emma went to investigate the case of the missing trash can lids. Spoiler: some of the kids were using them for sledding.

It was a full two days later before she saw Killian again. Granted he had texted a few times and called her “by accident” when he claimed he had meant to call her mother to discuss strategy. He was humming a tune and scrolling through his tablet when she and her son, Henry, spotted him inside the library. Apparently, he had set up shop in the corner and had everything but a receptionist there to greet visitors. Her son, who had heard his name a few times from his grandparents, pointed him out in a totally obvious way that made Emma want to crawl under the table. Somehow she managed to take a few steps closer and do more than the wave she originally planned.

“Nice office,” she said of the table he had commandeered. “Quiet I guess.”

“It has it’s perks,” he offered. “I was heading over to talk to your father. He said he would be at the station this afternoon. I take it you are not?”

“Short break to get my son home before I go back to face the files on my desk.” She knew her son was already done checking out his three books and would be joining them any second. She only hoped he would not blurt out an inappropriate question. She was about to send up a silent prayer when she noted that the glove Killian normally wore on his left hand was off and a synthetic material prosthetic was in its place. Before she could say anything, he looked down at the hand as though surprised by it and shrugged.

“Naval accident, an accident.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize,” she said not sure what else to say about it. It was clearly an old injury and hardly one she had a blame in causing.

“Tis an old pain,” he told her. “Most days I don’t really think of it.”

She nodded, glancing at her son who was still in conversation with Belle. “Does that mean you are getting more comfortable with me?” She instantly regretted saying that, as it came off a little weak.

“You do seem to put me at ease, love.” He winked at her and leaned a little to the left as her son ran up beside her. “You, lad, must be Henry. Your grandparents tell me you are quite the author.”

Henry nodded enthusiastically and continued the conversation for a few more beats, nearly forgetting his mother was there. Even a comment from another patron, Will, that Killian was clearly trying to get to the mother through the son, went unnoticed by all but Emma who stood taller and tried to let it slide. Killian was quite the conversationalist, observantly noting that Henry was holding a book on piracy along the New England states. That really got them going until Emma reminded Henry that she needed to drop him off at home to meet the tutor and get back to work.

That was how she ended up with Killian sitting in her living room and then the two of them walking side by side back to the station to interview her father. He opened doors for her, asked her less probing questions, and complimented the way she handled one of the boys known for getting into trouble with a stern look and warning. She was starting to feel natural about it all when he stopped short at the wreath decorated double doors and scratched behind his ear.

“I was wondering, love,” he said, shifting his eyes to the door and back to her again. “Rather I was hoping you might…well, bloody hell, I was hoping to ask you on that date. I gather you weren’t aware of who I was or why I was here when you sort of asked me.”

“I thought you were the guy my parents set me up with this year. It wasn’t my finest moment.”

He smiled nervously, his lips tight and his eyes again darting to the doors. She realized he was looking to see if her father was lurking. “It was rather adorable actually and I was thinking…”

She closed her eyes as he searched for the words, something she was sure he rarely did in his life. He always seemed to know the perfect thing to say and the perfect way to say it. “Killian, you don’t have to…”

“And if I want to?”

“Then maybe we could meet up tomorrow evening? Or wait no…tomorrow is the winter carnival for the kids at the orphanage and I am hosting the movie portion. Maybe Thursday…no Henry’s got his soccer game. I would say Friday but I’ve got choir practice and Saturday is mom’s campaign rally.” She truly looked sorry about her schedule as she shifted from one foot to the other.

“Busy lass,” he muttered. “I suppose we’ll have to consider another time. Or by chance are you free this evening?”

Biting down on her lip, she closed her eyes briefly. “I want to say yes, but my father is in there and I’d rather not mention this to him. And given that my son is likely to either eat potato chips and chocolate milk for dinner, stay up past bedtime for video games or inappropriate movies, or worst yet burn the place down in an attempt to see what he can melt in the oven, I’m thinking I need a back up babysitting plan that doesn’t include my parents.”

“Rather not hear the I told you so? Or are you hoping to keep me your little secret?”

“My parents are a little on the enthusiastic side when it comes to my love life.” She tilted her head back for a moment and then made eye contact again. “I have a plan, but you have to swear to me that we won’t be going to Granny’s or any place else they would be spotted.”

He assured her that paper napkins weren’t on the menu. “I have no issue with being circumspect, love. Trust me, I can plan an evening for us.”

If she didn’t trust him, she didn’t show it as he ushered her inside and greeted David. His cheeks were a little red from the cold and she knew hers were too. However, David never seemed to notice their conversation outside. She saw him pulling out his notes when she spoke up and asked David if Henry could perhaps have dinner with them. She managed to ask nonchalantly, simply a scheduling glitch.

“Any particular reason,” David asked, barely hiding his smile.

“I’m going out,” she answered vaguely, crossing her denim clad legs and pulling a stack of files into her lap. “Did you see Leroy’s file? I need to check about his court date.”

“Haven’t seen it. Anyone I know?” He was trying to watch her in the reflection of his computer screen, sneaking a few knowing looks at Killian who was flipping casually through his notebook.

“Oh you know,” she said, pausing to look at a document, “that guy from your party.” She didn’t want to lie to her dad, but she could tell he was not going to let up. It was one thing to have her father believe it was Walsh but another to flat out tell him that.

Killian seemed to understand, interrupting the awkwardness with a cheeky smile. “Since Emma appears to be on a deadline and you’ll be entertaining the lad this evening, it sounds like we need to get through these questions to prepare your wife’s talking points. Let’s start with the most obvious. You have a role that is second in command here at the station and in the community. How does that work with you effectively reporting to your own daughter?”

Emma let out a little sigh and as her father droned on about how proud he was of her, she shot Killian a grateful look. Her father seemed to take pride in both his work and how well she did her job, showing him pictures of celebrations after tough cases were solved and the commendations she had gotten from the governor. Most grown children worry that they aren’t successful enough or are somehow a disappointment to their parents. Emma didn’t have that worry when David Nolan talked about her.

He was still talking about how well Emma had worked with Regina who was stepping down to concentrate on her new life when Emma slipped out to change. Neither he nor Killian seemed to notice that she almost spoke up twice to tell Killian that maybe tonight wasn’t the best timing. Then she reminded herself of Ruby’s advice. He was a nice and more than good looking man. He didn’t even live here. So what if she went out with him. It was just fun.

She repeated that to herself as she went to her car to head home and change. That is until the realization hit that she didn’t really have anything to wear. A trip to one clothing store in town would rouse suspicion and the tailor was a friend of her mother’s. There was only one place to go.

~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~

“No leather, no spiked heels, no red, no plunging necklines, and I would preferably like to sit down without flashing everyone in town,” Emma said as Ruby dove into the bowels of her closet up above Granny’s. The woman had squealed, hugged Emma, and asked if certain parts had been shaved or waxed. Emma assured her that was not an issue and that she just needed something that didn’t have the capacity for her shoulder or hip holster. Ruby had of course said she had just the thing.

With no sign of her wardrobe addition, Emma looked at her phone and two unread texts.

Killian: Your father is in search of your old scouting badges. I feel like we should have code words. Perhaps not. Meet me at the docks at 7?

She answered quickly, not wanting Ruby to interfere with the response that would probably be inappropriate. A quick see you then and an internally debated smiley emoji would have to suffice. The next message was from her mother.

Mom: David says you have a date. Very exciting. When you come by to pick Henry up, I want to hear all about it. I’ll wait up.

Her mother was going to be an issue. She loved the eternal optimist that was her mother, a woman who had more than her fair share of darkness, including losing two parents early in life, but rose above it to see the good in people. Wasn’t that what Emma was doing. She was seeing the good in Killian despite the voices inside that said this was a bad idea. Well, she could rationalize it that way. Her mother truly wanted a happily ever after for her daughter, something even Emma couldn’t disagree with in scheme of things. The fact that her mother even believed in such things was pretty amazing.

Ruby emerged with a black dress that looked more like a set of random strips all stitched together. Beneath it was a red dress that flared out and looked more appropriate for dancing. And beneath that was a soft mauve frock with a full skirt and wrapped bodice. She knew that was the one she wanted to wear, but knowing Ruby she had to at least try the others. Half an hour later she was wearing the lighter colored dress, matching nude heels, and her hair was what her friend called casually curled.

She was standing with her arms crossed for warmth at the docks at 7:01 when Killian emerged from one of the sailboats with a single red rose in his hands. “Apparently,” he said, steadily walking the gang plank despite the swell of the waves that had her not quite sure if she was standing still or not, “it is nearly impossible to procure just a rose this time of year. You almost ended up with a pot of poinsettias.”

“It’s beautiful,” she remarked. “You didn’t have to go to the trouble.”

He assured her that it was no trouble and that she was beautiful herself. Below deck he had a small table set with real dishes and flatware, a bottle of wine and containers of pastas and sauces from the Italian restaurant she had mentioned. The only thing, he mused, was that he could not do the candles since such items were not really safe on a boat.

“Confession time,” he said, clinking his glass with hers. “I borrowed the boat. I don’t have one here in Storybrooke.”

“I knew that,” she admitted. “It’s my uncle Leroy’s boat.”

“Short man, scruffy looking, kind of grumpy?”

“Always grumpy, yes. It’s nice of you though. Not too many prying eyes.”

He took a sip and pondered that for a moment. “I take it that you would prefer to keep things clandestine just in case. I am also guessing that you gave the information to your friend Ruby just in case I turn out to be a murderer.”

“I can take care of myself.” She squared her shoulders off.

“Aye, I believe you can, love.”

The rest of the meal passed with pleasant conversation and only a few awkward pauses that were usually filled before it got to be too much. Killian had even brought along a set of speakers to stream music allowing them to dance. It was a tough that even Emma thought was sweet as his arms were around her in a way that she admitted fit. She wasn’t sure how much life was left in his phone or when the clouds that had been building all day would open up with snow, but time seemed to stand still as they swayed. Her eyes closed and her head resting against his right shoulder. He lifted their entwined hands and softly kissed hers. She was glad her eyes were closed and her head nestled against his chest.

She could feel his breathing change and his hold feeling tense. Her name came out as a whisper from him. She lifted her head and found his eyes searching hers. “Emma? I would very much like to kiss you.”

“I’m not sure you can handle that,” she teased in just as soft of a voice. Yet she closed the space between them and let him close the rest. Their lips touching softly at first and then with more passion. Her hands gripped at his shirt, pulling him toward her and his hand hovered at her hair before threading through it with a sort of awe she had never experienced.

They might have stayed like that for a while had the siren of her dad’s cruiser not shattered the cold and quiet night. Maybe they should have stayed below deck, ignored her father’s presence on the docks. However, that plan faded as his footsteps grew closer and she knew, just knew that someone had spotted them on Leroy’s boat and reported it. Resigned to the fate that her father was about to find out who her date was with and probably have an opinion about it, she took a step back and turned to climb up into the cold. While he said nothing, Killian placed his own jacket, a worn leather one, over her shoulders. It was a gentlemanly gesture and one that shouldn’t surprise her.

“Dad?” she asked, holding one hand over her eyes to shield it from the giant flakes falling silently from the sky. “Did something…”

Her father looked startled and even a little embarrassed to see her there. His breathing was normalizing when Killian emerged too, which sent his eyes wide and his gasp of surprise sharpening. “I didn’t realize…”

“Everything okay, mate?” Killian asked. His dark colored shirt and black vest offered little warmth against the plummeting temperatures. However, he did not indicate it by shivering or otherwise complaining.

“Sure…I mean I was just answering a call about someone attempting to break in cars when I saw Emma’s bug. Someone said they thought they saw the suspect run this way and…”

Emma gave her father a nod, taking a deep breath to switch back into her role as sheriff. “Any description?”

Her father’s eyes drifted to where Killian’s hand was covering hers and giving it a slight squeeze of reassurance. They narrowed and his voice faltered as he answered, “light colored hair, red sweatshirt, about 5’9”, thin.”

“Sounds like a juvenile,” Emma assessed. “I’m assuming we don’t have any camera visuals. Last time we investigated over here the cameras were malfunctioning and I haven’t noticed…”

“Emma,” her father said, his boots shuffling a little on the worn planks of the dock that were beginning to be covered in snow. “You don’t have to…I mean…You’re on a date…I guess you are.”

“Well, yeah,” she said, glancing at Killian who seemed to be enjoying the moment. Suddenly she felt the urge to clear up the misconceptions she had caused. “I didn’t mean to…” She cleared her throat. “I know you probably thought I meant I was seeing that Walsh guy.”

“Your mother’s buying an entertainment center from him,” David answered with confusion. “It’s not my business who…but where is Walsh?” He did manage to lower the flashlight and seem less ominous there on the docks, but still had his hand on his hip and was rocking backwards as he waited for explanations.

“I’m not really sure. I haven’t exactly seen him since the party.” Emma glanced at Killian who was standing closer to her than she realized. That wasn’t exactly unpleasant as a prospect. “Killian and I…”

“You and Killian,” he father parroted with the confusion that it hadn’t dawned on him. “You and Killian what?”

Killian gave her hand another squeeze and took a step forward as though offering himself as tribute. “Aye, mate. I do fancy your daughter and she and I have been spending time together.”

Blinking back at them, David appeared to running through the occasions he had seen them together and attempting to digest this information. “So the conversation about intentions toward Emma should be delivered to you and not Walsh?” It was too dark to know for sure, but Emma thought he looked a little disappointed.

She reminded him that there was a potential thief on the loose and he assured her he had it under control and to go back to her date. Killian just sort of shrugged and offered his analysis that it wasn’t that much of a secret after all. They talked a bit longer, took a slow walk toward her car, and both hopped in with him saying he would walk to Granny’s after she was safely at her parents with her son.

“That’s ridiculous,” she said, speeding up the wipers against the snow. “I can drop you off. No need for you to freeze.”

He looked toward her in the dark car and gave her a soft smile. “Your father is bound to have told your mother about our date, love. I know you had hoped to keep it secret. I only wanted to offer my services should you want them to fend off her disappointment and concern.” He jumped when she placed her hand over his prosthetic.

“I didn’t mean for it to be a secret. I guess I just don’t want to disappoint them with another failed attempt at matchmaking. My mother has to be ready to give up by now.”

“Perhaps,” he said thoughtfully, “she might have to give up anyway. If we were to date, surely she would not attempt to replace me each year.” Her hand jerked away fast, something he noticed. “I hoped you might want…”

She sighed, turning her car off the coastal road to the one that led toward town. “Killian, I am the one who originally asked you out. Even if that was a misunderstanding. I had fun. I enjoy spending time with you. But…”

“But?”

“But we live in two different cities. The special election is going to be over next month. What kind of relationship can we have when you’ll be off on your next job and I’ll still be here? I’m not 18 and free to wander around after you. I have a job, parents, a son, and responsibilities.”

“We could…”

“Killian, I like you. I like spending time with you, but I’m not interested in starting a go no where or long distance relationship. I want more than a pen pal. Think about it. You do too.” The driveway of the farmhouse was coming into sight and then disappeared as she passed it. “I’ll take you back to Granny’s. No sense in talking to my mother about this. We’ll just say it was a one time thing.”

“As you wish.” His voice was quiet, deep, and almost wistful.

~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~ CS ~~

As the holidays grew nearer, Emma’s parents and Killian went into campaign overdrive. There were photoshoots of the whole family on the farm. Her mother even managed to sneak in a few candid shots of Emma and Killian. Speaking of Mary Margaret, she was only mildly disappointed at Emma’s secret that she was not seeing Walsh. That was quickly erased as she said she had considered setting her daughter up with Killian, but was quickly dissuaded when her internal voice said her daughter would object. Nobody corrected her on it.

For his part, Killian worked hard and would try to sneak in time with Emma. They shared a few lunches, walked around the farm discussing a few strategies, and shopped together for a present for her parents. He sat with them on Christmas Eve when Emma performed with the choir for mass, looking just as in awe and proud as her parents did. He even joined them for the evening meal on Christmas, leaving behind a gift for Emma rather than making a big deal of her opening it in front of everyone.

As the wreathes were removed and the snow seemed not as white, the election day finally drew close and Killian was even more of a fixture. He was constantly showing up with a new tactic and shoving his client in front of cameras to announce a proposed initiative. Everything from illiteracy to hunger would be addressed by Mary Margaret Nolan for mayor. When election day arrived, more than 60% of the voters chose her and he beamed proudly from the sidelines. Most people noticed the hug shared between Emma and Killian, but it seemed to be just part of the celebration. It went so long into the night that nobody really saw the two of them saying goodbye the next morning.

“I wish it was different,” she admitted, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry.”

“Perhaps someday, love. After all, nothing stays the same.”

She watched as the Uber driver loaded his bags and Killian reluctantly slid into the backseat. Their eyes were locked and the unsaid words hung in the air. She wasn’t sure she even breathed again until she was pulling up in front of her parents’ house. Her father was flipping pancakes, but her mother was at the doorway even as she dragged up the steps of the front porch.

“I like him,” her mother said. “He’s a good man.”

“Yeah,” Emma agreed, accepting the hug and hurrying in before the next gust of wind. “I just…I don’t want this every time we see each other. I don’t want to miss him and have the constant feel like a clock is counting down the hours.”

“I know, Emma. And that is very practical, but if you…”

Emma didn’t wait for her mom to finish the statement before greeting her father and asking about setting the table. It wouldn’t be the last time that her mother brought him up. She would over the next few months, mentioning seeing him at some event or another. Emma never asked, but her mother would always update her on his well being. It wasn’t that Emma didn’t know. He still called. He texted. When he was in the area he would invite her to dinner or to an event. She occasionally went but always told herself it was just casual. He never tried to kiss her again and she never sat herself too close to him, despite Ruby’s advice to do so.

A book he had mentioned to her once said of the protagonist and her lover turned best friend, “they would continue to call and write until eventually they were just acquaintances and no longer a real part of each other’s lives.” That’s what Emma resigned herself to when he didn’t answer her text or voicemail inviting him to her parents’ annual party. He’d been pretty scarce for the past few weeks. Their conversations short and usually interrupted by something or someone. She once even heard a female voice in the background and wondered if he was seeing someone. That idea hurt more than she wanted to admit.

She wore red to her parents’ party, her hair hanging loose and the smile on her face tense and unyielding. She was sipping on champagne and watching as Regina and Robin twirled around the room still in bliss nearly a year after their wedding. Walsh was there too, dancing with Zelena and inking a new design deal with Marco. Neal had brought Tink as his date, which made Emma roll her eyes. And her parents were at their prime greeting and hugging all of those in attendance.

“Emma,” her mother called out when a few more guests were greeted. “Come here. I want you to say hello to someone.”

Ruby gave her a sympathetic look as Emma begrudgingly dragged her feet over to where her parents were standing. And there he stood, Killian in a freshly pressed suit with a wide smile on his face as she approached. Her mother was giddy as she mockingly introduced them. “Emma, you remember my old campaign manager, Killian, right? Well, he was in town getting settled because his new job at the governor’s office starts next month. I was thinking that he might be just the kind of guy you’d like to get to know.”

#csss #csss2020 #Captain Swan

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cirrius-akiyo · 4 years

Text

YOU ARE MADE OF STARDUST

(Part 1/?)

Evan: I'm craving for cheesecake. I'm going out to get some. Do you want any?

Eddie is helping Hen stocking up the ambulance after their last call depleted 'em dry when the notification came in. His eyebrows shot up after reading the message.

Eddie: You know you are not allowed to drive yet. I'll get you some later.

Evan: :( But the doctor said I'm clear for light activities. I'm driving. Not running there. :<

Eddie: Which is still a bad idea with your condition.

Evan: But I'm dying for a cheesecake. How could you. :(

Eddie: You will not die from a cheesecake craving.

Evan: Meanie. I'll have the bed for myself tonight. >:(

Eddie can't help but to let his eyes roll so far, he thinks he saw his brain back there. He can actually hears how Buck is huffing in displeasure right now, looking like a kicked giant golden-retriever. He knows Buck is joking with the "d" word, but after experiencing how near death is always lurking around, the word just send shudders to his spine.

He can hear Hen snorts in amusement beside him. "Already looking for trouble, that husband of yours?" Hen teases in mirth.

Eddie just shakes his head in resignation. "According to him, he's dying for a cheesecake and wanted to drive out to get some. And now I'm the bad person for not allowing him to." Eddie rants, hands swinging around to make his point.

Eddie understands the house rests are driving Buck crazy. Not allowed to do everything he usually does himself must be frustrating. If anything, Eddie is actually proud with his husband for not throwing much tantrum in the course of his healing. Eddie's eyes proceed to linger on his phone's wallpaper, the recent image of Buck and Chris snuggled in their blanket fort acts as a reminder for him that Buck is still here.

Hen, blessed the patron of observance that she is, notices how Eddie's facial expression suddenly falls. She gingerly moves closer to Eddie, patting his back in an consoling motion. "Eddie. Buck is okay. Little scratch there, but he is fine." Hen enunciates to Eddie slowly, like she usually would when comforting the distressed victims during calls.

That makes the wall Eddie has build so thick and high crumbling down.

"But he almost not be." Eddie chokes on tears. "He almost leave us, Hen. Buck almost died." Eddie swallows the bitter taste on his tongue. Oh God. Saying that out loud just make the whole ordeal more concrete. More tangible than Eddie had previously perceived. He was in a state of constant obscurity after the doctor delivered the news when Buck was admitted to the hospital. Feeling like the color of the world seeped out from the corner of his eyes, leaving only grayish fog in his view.

Hen is now hugging Eddie, letting him to cry out his burden away. "Hey now. It's okay. Everything will be just fine."

"But what if it's not? I kissed another woman on the night before he collapsed, Hen." Eddie admits. He never tell anybody about that night, too ashamed of himself. But also afraid of the judgment that may come with it.

Hen stalled. Her face morphes in confusion.

"But isn't that the night of the parents-teachers conference?" Hen frowns, recalling her memory to that day. It's not like Eddie goes to a bar or something.

Eddie nods weakly.

"Who?" Hen queries. Her face returns back to neutral and it make Eddie queasy in his stomach even more.

"Ana."

Oh boy. Hen knows Buck is insecure about Shannon, uncomfortable with the thought that he is replacing her in the Diaz's household. Hen also knows other women that Buck are still insecure about are Lena and Ana, both of different reasons but it is not her place to say.

"Have you talk about it?" Hen then pries. She is still regretting the day she decided to cheat on Karen with her ex, and the downfall Denny might has to suffer. She knows what had happened between Karen and her was bad, so she is confident Buck and Eddie will come back from this, seeing that Buck didn't kicked Eddie out of his hospital room once he woke up actually lucid.

"He forgives me, Hen. Easily." Eddie sighs. He still feels like he doesn't deserve love from Evan Buckley. Evan Buckley-Diaz now. "He forgives me too easily." Eddie murmurs under his breath, not intending for Hen to hear, but she heard them anyway.

"If Buck forgives you, then maybe you need to start forgiving yourself too." Hen offers.

"We're only humans floating on a rock

But I think that you are made of stardust

Unconditional, you put up with so much

I can never repay the way you love

Back to the sky, we all have to fly back home, back home

The sweetest goodbyes are never with smiles at all"

///

Eddie swings open their house door without any grace, blaming his occupied hands. He can hear the clacking sound of his son's crutches and the stomping of Buck's socks-clad feet coming towards him. Within seconds, his once full hands are left empty when the box exchanged ownership. The duo are gone as fast as they come, robbing the cake away from Eddie.

"Well hello to both of you, too." Eddie huffs in mock annoyance.

The boys are too busy in deciding which flavor of cheesecake to start off with to even acknowledge Eddie's jeer. Eddie just smile fondly, not slightly bothered. He then snakes his hands around Buck's waist and pulls on his stomach so that Eddie's chest collides with his husband's back, tendering a chaste kiss to the corner of Buck's full lips.

"Kiss later Daddy. Pops and I need to choose now." Chris admonishes him, as if Eddie just disrupt their very top-level mission.

"Listen to our son. You know how much this decision is important to both of us. And you have me tortured all day craving for these." Buck teases, fluttering his eyelashes sinfully.

"Well, sorry for missing my husband." Eddie pulls his lips downwards, feigning hurt but tighten his hug regardless.

"You know I miss my cheesecake more than ever today. So can you please go take a shower while we plate this. You stink." Buck continues to bat his eyelashes, poking fun at Eddie.

Loosening his hold on his husband, Eddie reluctantly walks over to their bedroom, ready to wash away the day. Being alone in their room, Eddie remembers what Hen had said. Forgiving himself. Eddie never thought that is an option until Hen had spelled out to him today. It is a nice concept. Nevertheless, Eddie cannot see himself doing just that yet. Eddie feels like if he ever forgives himself, then whatever Buck has endured is meaningless. Eddie does not deserve the salvation, what more from himself no matter how nice the sentiment is.

Eddie is brought back to the reality when his phone vibrates in his back pocket.

Evan: Better be quick. I'm not to be accountable for a sugar-high child tonight. ;)

Eddie lets out a chuckle, his self-loathing forgotten for a moment.

***

Showered and shaved, Eddie steps out to the kitchen where Chris and Buck are still sitting around their plates of half-eaten cheesy and sugary goodness, chatting about something school related. Seeing Eddie, Buck immediately stood up and walks towards the oven, pulling out Eddie's share of dinner, still perfectly warm when Eddie took the plate from Buck. What has Eddie done in his previous life to deserve this man.

Sitting down next to Chris, Eddie can see the anticipation bubbling from Buck's face as he scoops up a hefty serving of lasagna with his spoon. Eddie doesn't need to pretend. He actually honest to God lets out a huge appreciative moan when he took the bite. No offense to Bobby, but Buck is surpassing the Captain in no time in the cooking department.

And there are the twinkles again.

The twinkles that Eddie has longed before and now seeing them making their comeback just make Eddie's appetite that somehow was lost to grow.

"I love you." The words automatically fall out of his mouth, despite being loaded with food. He can imagine Abuela scolding him for talking with his mouth full.

Buck's cheeks tinted with pink. "You only love my cooking." Buck flusters, eyes looking everywhere but Eddie. His forks keep poking the remaining cheesecake in his plate. He's used with Eddie's declarations of loves, but often they are done privately. Other time is just chaste exchange of kisses and hand-holding or sometimes they were said in playful banter. Not in serious manner as how Eddie just did.

Chris, blessed his innocent soul supplies, "No Pops. Daddy really loves, loves you. He's very sad when you're sick." Oh. Buck knows Eddie must be worried, but he is good at masking his emotions especially in front of Chris. For Chris to be able to see that, Eddie must has shown his vulnerability, which is unusual. Now the pink has changed to red.

Eddie think it is impossible for Buck's cheeks to get redder than this. Eddie can actually see the flush travels down his neck to his chest and he tries his best suppressing the urge to imagine how far the tint goes like they usually does when they are in their bed. A child is present, Eddie.

"I, I... I love you, too." Buck finally confess shyly.

Chris cheers in delight while finishing his last bite of cake in one inhale.

"Am I still on the couch tonight?" Eddie wiggles his eyebrows seductively which only successfully making Buck to blush deeper.

"You are."

"But when our lives are running out

And your heartbeat has taken the draw

Could you try to look around?

I'll be there to pull you back up

I'll be around you

I'm nothing without you

I won't leave you alone

'Cause when the stars are falling down

There's love in the dark (I'll be there) (I'll be there)

There's love in the dark (I'll be there) (I'll be there)"

///

Eddie in fact did not end up on the couch.

Waking up to some delicious smell is not foreign in the Buckley-Diaz household now Buck has taken over the position as their chief chef. Buck literally is their savior, saving Chris and him from the damnation cereals, frozen meals and takeouts.

Eddie rubs the sleep off his face, still feeling the leftover fatigue from yesterday. A 48 hours shift will never get easier no matter how accustomed his body might be.

No matter how inviting the smell is, he knows he needs to wash up first or else Buck will dismiss him from the kitchen. "We don't mix filth and food at this table, Eddie." Not that Buck really mind when Eddie christened the kitchen, making Buck bending over the dining table some times ago.

Later Eddie will find vast array of baking ingredients on the kitchen counter still unpacked in the shopping bags.

"What are you doing?" Eddie asks once he steps into the kitchen.

Buck turns around from the stove. "Erm...French toast?" He then expertly flips the toast to its other side. "Yours will be ready in a minute."

Eddie shuffles closer, stroking Chris' hair who is happily nibbling at the toast Buck had prepared for him.

"No, Evan. I'm talking about the baking ingredients. Did you go out to buy all this?" Eddie's voice full of concern.

Buck proceeds to transfer the toast to an awaiting plate before turning off the stove. "What if I did?" He challenges defiantly.

"Evan, you know you shouldn't drive by yourself. Not yet." Eddie pulls Buck's hands into his.

Buck's face breaks into mischievous grin. "No, you worrywart. Carla brought this over when she stopped by this morning."

Eddie doesn't realise he was holding his breath. "Why didn't you ask me to buy them for you?"

Buck actually scoffs. "Because you will mess with the list, opting sub-standard brands in favour for cheaper ingredients. Which I will not tolerate because this is too important."

"And what is this that is too important to not have subpar ingredients in them?" Eddie knows Buck loves to bake, more than cooking actually. But the amount of ingredients on their kitchen counter is almost equivalent to what a bakery needs daily.

That only makes Buck to grin even wider. "Tell your Daddy, Chris." Buck calls out.

"Bake Sale!" Chris shouts in excitement from his chair, hands high in the air cheering to the news.

///

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Eddie chance a glance to Buck who is still unpacking the ingredients from the shopping bags, separating them from dry to wet. They have enough ingredients to bake almost anything, so Chris is in the living room, tasked to research on what will they bake for the school's Bake Sale.

Buck looks at Eddie with confusion etched on his face. "Why wouldn't I be?" Buck asks without hesitation.

Eddie exhales. "Ana will be there." Now Eddie wish for a hole to swallow him down so he doesn't have to face his husband scrutinizing eyes.

Buck pauses. "So? Why is that a problem?" Buck replied back, tone almost challenging.

Eddie doesn't really know how to react to Buck's questions. He then clears his throat. "I...I don't want you to get uncomfortable." He stutters, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

A beat of silence wash over them.

After a moment, Buck closes their distance, pulling Eddie forward. Buck smells like cinnamon and powdered sugar.

"Maybe I want to be there." Buck honest to God smirks at him. "Maybe I want to stake my claim." He whispers behind the shell of Eddie's ear, making him shudders in delight and terror. "Maybe I want to show her that you're mine. That I'm yours." Buck continues boldly, slyly.

Eddie feels the heat burning him all over. He takes a shuddering breath, all while thinking about Chris in the living room to prevent him from grinding their hips together. Oh God. Is this how Buck will punish him from now on? To let him succumbs to blue balls?

"Pops, I found it!" Christopher pipes in from the living room, yelling in delight.

"I'll be there in a second, buddy." But Buck's seductive smile doesn't falter. In fact, he proceeds to wet his red lips sinfully before kissing Eddie deeply. It takes all of Eddie's willpower not to moan, but as fast as the kiss start, Buck breaks apart with teasing grin and a wink. Eddie's mouth went dry.

Dear, Lord.

Eddie then is left alone in the kitchen with a hard on. Why does Buck likes to torture him this way? If this is the path to his salvation, dear God please help him.

///

Just like the weather forecast had predicted, it's raining cats and dogs that night. Eddie leaves the couch and walk towards Chris' bedroom to check on his son in case he is woken up by the thunder and lightning dancing outside their windows. Seeing that Chris is still sleeping undisturbly, he decides to settle for the night, switching off the television and checking at all the locks again.

When he enters their bedroom, he can see Buck's messy curls poking out from under the duvet. Buck is sleeping in the center of their bed, leaving little to no space for Eddie to squeeze in.

Eddie stroke the soft curls lovingly. Usually that does the trick to wake Buck up. "Hey, darling. Move over a little will you." Eddie pulls down the duvet, but Buck doesn't budge.

"Evan, you need to move over a bit so I can slide in." Eddie slowly shakes his husband gently, trying to rouse the man. Still no response.

Worry immediately creeps into Eddie. He ungracefully kneels beside the bed, half of his body on the bed. "Please Evan, open your eyes. Hey, Evan. Wake up." Eddie craddles Buck's head in his hand, tapping his cheek firmly. Yet Buck's eyelids remain glued shut.

"Sweetheart, please wake up. Please." Eddie pleads brokenly, still shaking Buck's shoulder. When Buck's head lolled back, his features slack and unmoving, Eddie can feel his heart stutters.

No. Not again. Not yet. Not like this. God. Oh God.

"I'd do anything to relive our memories

And listen to your songs play in my head

'Cause I hate the silence, it's the only thing I get

I wish I could hear your voice once again

And your heartbeat, all of the small things, oh, oh

The sweetest goodbyes are never with smiles at all"

///

#cirrius akiyo's bunkdump #edmundo diaz #evan buckley #buck x eddie #eddie x buck #buddie #buddie fic #buck!whump #buddie fanfiction #911 fics #911 fic #911 fanfic #911 fox #rambler not writer

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p-artsypants · 4 years

Text

Longest Night (33)- Waking

A lot of people commented about how horrifying it would be to wake up in the middle of surgery. Anesthesia awareness happens to about 1 in a 1000 patients, and I was one of those lucky ducks!

It wasn’t major surgery, but I still wasn’t supposed to wake up. I was getting my wisdom teeth removed. They recommended I bring in headphones and listen to music. I was only conscience enough to hear my music. At one point a song came on that I didn’t want to listen to, so I opened my eyes and looked down to my iPod. The orthodontist stopped and said, “Oh just changing the song?”

And then I looked up, seeing two doctors there, with blood covered gloves, and a bunch of instruments sticking out of my mouth.

It’s the only thing I remember from getting that surgery. Not the recovery, not the appointment, not even the song that prompted it. It also only felt like it took 15 minutes, but apparently it was two hours. Anesthesia really messes with the perceived perception of time when you’re only semiconscious.

It’s really a horrifying experience.

Ao3 | FF.net

—

Dr. Ernest Boucher would consider himself lucky. He had a loving wife, and a patient son, who understood the importance of his father’s job and didn’t take it personally when he had to suddenly leave.

And now, after a 48 hour shift, he was returning home. Exhausted, hungry, and stressed, but home.

“I’m home!” He called in the door.

“Oh honey!” His wife called from the other room. “We just sat down for dinner! Come take a seat, I’ll make you up a plate!”

Ernest hung up his coat and kicked off his shoes. Home cooking, a hot shower, and to sleep for a few hours in his bed…that’s all he wanted.

His wife wrapped an arm around his waist and smooched his cheek. “I made Lasagna.”

“Lasagna…I love lasagna…” He said dreamily.

As he came into the kitchen, he saw his son, pouring himself a soda. “Hey Pop! You look like you got hit by a truck!” The boy laughed.

His son was 17 years old, blonde hair, athletic, looked a lot like Adrien. Several times during the surgery, Ernest imagined it was his boy on the table.

He sympathized with Gabriel Agreste, who looked like a complete mess.

“Pop? You good?”

Ernest yanked on his son’s arm and pulled him into a tight hug. “Just happy to see you, Kiddo.”

With a shrug, Ernest’s son hugged his father back.

—

After a filling dinner and a 8 hour night’s sleep, Ernest arose. His pager hadn’t gone off in the middle of the night. So surely Adrien and Marinette were either in the same place they were, or any minor problems were solved by the team.

He showered, shaved, and got dressed.

His boy was already at school, but had left him a text in the morning.

“You’re my superhero!” It read, simply.

The words brought tears to his eyes.

His wife made him breakfast, a big one with lots of protein to keep him full until he had a late lunch. She also filled up his coffee mug with a fancy kind that outdid the hospital brew.

And then, with another kiss, he was back off to the hospital.

Or at least that was the plan. He was not expecting to be swarmed outside his house by the media.

“Dr. Boucher! What kind of surgery did Adrien have?!”

“Is Marinette alright?”

“Did Chat lose his arm?”

“Did Adrien survive from the whipping!?”

“Have you talked to the families yet?!”

“Dr. Boucher!”

“Dr. Boucher, over here!”

Completely overwhelmed, his head swiveled everywhere his name was called until he was dizzy.

“Stop!” He shouted, hands out.

The crowd calmed to a murmur.

“Everyone be quiet! Just give me a moment!”

Well, if he was a little dazed before, now he was wide awake.

The media settled down, waiting to hear him.

“Bring the mics closer, I’m only going to say this once. Then I must get back to the hospital!”

Obediently, the news crews all passed microphones up to the front, where some poor intern was put in charge of holding them up like a bouquet in front of the good doctor.

Ernest clear his throat. “Alright. Due to patient confidentiality, I can’t get into specifics. But I can tell you that as of when I left last night, both Marinette and Adrien were alive and asleep. They both received care for several wounds inflicted from Salo, including the flogging. Adrien’s arm has not yet been addressed, because of other more serious surgeries first. That is all I can tell you now, thank you.”

The crowd parted as he headed to his car, but they continued to ask questions as he climbed inside.

Ernest took a sip of his coffee as he started the car. He wasn’t sure how the media found out he was in charge of the team. He didn’t worry about it, but it wasn’t expected. Some nurse who hadn’t read their email probably blurted something to someone.

Oh well. He supposed the nugget he gave was fair enough. After a month of knowing absolutely everything happening to the heroes, and then knowing nothing? It would leave people asking questions.

And with Hawkmoth battling with the auxiliary heroes on the Arc de Triomphe, there probably weren’t any more threats to worry about.

He hoped.

—

A waft of wind came sweeping down the laurel-walk, and trembled through the boughs of the chestnut: it wandered away—away—to an indefinite distance—it died. The nightingale’s song was then the only voice of the hour: in listening to it, I again wept. Mr. Rochester sat quiet, looking at me gently and seriously. Some time passed before he spoke; he at last said—

“Come to my side, Jane, and let us explain and understand one another.”

“I will never again come to your side: I am torn away now, and cannot return.”

It was a weird dream. No visuals, no feelings. Just a soft voice of a mother recanting a story. She spoke quietly, tenderly, just a hum above a whisper.

Then she felt sensations. Pins and needles of sleepiness in her toes, the ache and twinge of long set wounds.

Her knees ached, as they were unaccustomed to having her legs stretched out. But she found she lacked the strength to move.

Was she awake? Or asleep? Neither, she supposed, balancing on the edge of both. That blissful state of absolute comfort.

Slowly, Marinette back tracked in time. What did she remember?

The haunting image of Adrien bleeding out in that chair, watching him collapse in the hall, his slowly languid breaths in that room.

And then a haze. They moved, somewhere. Wetness, like rain. Running?

It was like looking through a thick cotton curtain, muffling sound and sight.

And now she was here. Wherever ‘here‘ was.

Still I did not answer, and still I writhed myself from his grasp: for I was still incredulous.

“Do you doubt me, Jane?”

“Entirely.”

“You have no faith in me?”

“Not a whit.”

It was the perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too cold. A soft bed, cradling her as if she was fragile, and a warm blanket weighing her to the bed. A soft ambient light held back the darkness, but didn’t pierce through her lids.

Marinette tried to open her eyes, caked as they were. The light was dim, illuminating gridded ceiling titles immediately above her. It smelled faintly of chemicals, while a droning hiss carried through the air. Her neck ached, but as she tilted her head, she briefly looked around the room. No one to her left, though she did see a strange machine and a metal stand, an IV stand. A tube ran from the bag down to her arm. A door cracked open revealed a bathroom and another door on the far side of the room was closed, but silhouetted figure stood in the window.

To her right, she found the owner of the voice, her own mother, sitting in a chair by her side, hand in hers, and reading from a book. Jane Eyre, as it looked. Farther down the bed, her father sat in another chair, his hand wrapped loosely around her foot.

Behind her parents, orange light filtered through the light curtains.

A bright red blob caught her attention. Tikki laid curled up on her chest.

A moment more, allowing her brain to digest all she could see, and she realized she was in a hospital.

The how and when escaped her.

“What, me!” I ejaculated, beginning in his earnestness— and especially in his incivility—to credit his sincerity: “me who have not a friend in the world but you- if you are my friend: not a shilling but what you have given me?”

“You, Jane, I must have you for my own—entirely my own. Will you be mine? Say yes, quickly.”

“Mr. Rochester, let me look at your face: turn to the moonlight.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to read your countenance—turn!”

“There! you will find it scarcely more legible than a crumpled, scratched page. Read on: only make haste, for I suffer.”

“Marinette?” Her father interrupted.

Marinette didn’t respond verbally, not knowing if she had the strength to do so. Instead, she squeezed her hand and twitched her foot.

Warm lips pressed to her forehead, as she came to find a mask on her face. She couldn’t speak, even if she wanted to.

“Just sleep, my darling.” Sabine said softly. “You’re very tired.”

She was. That was true.

The warmth, the quiet, the softness, it was soothing.

Safe.

Sleep.

Safe.

Adrien.

She awoke with a jolt. It had only been a few minutes, so she thought, but the room was different. Brighter. Day light peered in the window, and her father was gone.

“Honey? Are you okay?” Sabine asked, seeing Marinette startle awake. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Adrien.” She said, in response.

Understanding came over Sabine’s face. “Yes darling, he’s here. He’s in ICU. He’ll be okay.”

She pulled on the mask that covered her face, immediately struggling to breathe. “I need to see him!”

Sabine just calmly replaced the mask. “You’re in no shape to go anywhere.”

Marinette grabbed her wrist. “Where is he? Where’s Chat?” She began to cry.

Sabine pressed a button nearby. “Ssh, darling. He’s alright. Just relax.”

Marinette shook her head, forcing the mask from her face. “I don’t believe you! I need to see him! Adrien!”

A female nurse hurried into the room. “Oh dear, she’s up!” The woman smiled.

“She wants to see Adrien.”

The nurse came to the bed, clasping Marinette’s hands. “Oh honey, I know you do. But you’re in no shape to get out of bed.”

“I don’t care! I need to see Adrien! Please!” Her voice was breaking, as she desperately tried to get out of the bed. She was exhausted, and everything hurt as she moved.

“I’m sorry dear, but you need to calm down.” The nurse pressed the mask back to her face and held it there, as her other hand went to the machine at her side.

“Let me go! He needs me! Please I don’t want to leave him alone!”

The nurse petted her hair gently. “Shh, just relax. Breathe. Breathe nice and deep.”

“No! No! No…no…” she felt weaker. Her vision blurred as the room tilted.

Sleep. Her brain demanded.

Sleep.

Adrien.

She jolted again. Wakefulness coming to her quite quickly. Things had changed again, though she was only out for a few minutes, right? Except, now it was dark outside, and both of her parents were missing.

“Marinette! You’re awake again!” Tikki chirped, floating in front of her.

Marinette stared, not knowing what to say. Surely there should be some tearful reunion, right? Or perhaps shame or guilt?

But her mind was in one place.

“Tikki, spots on.”

Tikki had a millisecond to gasp before being sucked into the earrings.

The suit disconnected her from all the tubes and wires. The needles in her veins were forced out, the pads on her chest were peeled off. She ripped the mask off, finding it difficult to breathe again, but not eager to go back to sleep.

All resulting in alarms blaring.

Ladybug had to act quickly to find him. She pushed up, her arms trembling with the action. Her back twinged, as her torn flesh stretched and twisted.

By time she swung her legs over the side of the bed, the nurse appeared. A male nurse this time, roughly the same age as her father, and built like a fridge.

“Whoa there, little lady!” He rushed to her. “You can’t be getting up. Do you need to use the bathroom? We can get you a bedpan.”

She swatted him away, “don’t touch me!”

“What are you trying to do, Ladybug? Let me help you before you hurt yourself.”

“I’m going to see Chat! And you’re not going to stop me!” She glared at him, daring him to try to stop her.

He studied the intensity of her glare, and sighed. “Alright. Just relax a second, alright?”

She didn’t, but stopped trying to stand.

“My name is John, I’m the night shift nurse for you.”

She looked at him blankly.

“Now,” he took her hand gently. “I will take you to Adrien, but we have to do it the hospital way, okay? You don’t want to hurt yourself more, right? Chat wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

She softened at the tone. “You’ll take me to him?”

“Yes, sweetheart. I’ll take you to your husband.”

Husband.

So that wedding really was official after all? It hadn’t felt real. No one treated them like husband and wife. They were only treated like garbage.

Her shoulders relaxed, fist uncurled, jaw unclenched. “What’s the hospital way?” She asked.

“I’m going to get you a wheelchair. We’ll reconnect you to the IV, because you’ve got to get your fluids up. Then we’ll stay for a little while, but when it starts hurting too much, we’ll bring you back.”

“I can’t stay with him?”

John knelt in front of her, and held her hands tightly. “Ladybug, Adrien is in critical condition. He lost a lot of blood. We gave him a blood transfusion, but the rest is up to him. He needs constant surveillance.”

“Is…is he going to be okay?”

“I think so. He hasn’t passed yet.”

“How long was I asleep?”

“You were admitted four days ago. You’ve been in and out of sleep for the last two.”

She frowned, considering this. Finally, she relented. “Spots off.”

In a flash of pink, Marinette returned, and with her, more pain. She cried out, as John squeezed her hand.

“I’m going to go get that wheelchair, alright? Stay seated, please.” And he hurried out of the room.

Marinette rested her hands on her knees. Her very knobby, scabbed over knees. She wore thick socks, which made her stick legs look even smaller. She was covered in all sorts of cuts and bruises she hadn’t seen in the dark, and her right hand, which had been branded, was wrapped with thick gauze.

She dared not look in the mirror.

“Marinette?” Tikki asked, sadly.

“I’m sorry, Tikki,” was all she could say.

“You don’t need to apologize.” The kwami nuzzled against her cheek. “I’m just glad you’re safe now. Things are going to be weird, and you might be a little irrational. But that’s okay. I still love you.”

Marinette shuttered at the affection, reaching up to hold her against her cheek. “I love you too Tikki.”

John returned shortly, pushing a chair along. “Here we are.”

At his arrival, Marinette pushed against the mattress and tried to slide to the floor. But as her feet made contact, a sharp pain bolted up her legs and she moaned in pain.

“I gotcha,” John directed her to sit, not allowing her to stand for more than a second. “I’m sorry, I should have warned you.”

“What…what’s wrong with my legs?” She asked as the pain subsided.

“You have infection in both of your feet. From running around the catacombs for several hours with no shoes on.”

She hummed in understanding.

Carefully, John eased her into the foot rests. Then he had her hold out her arm so he could reattach the IV. “This is a saline solution, just to get your fluids up. You’re still pretty dehydrated.”

“I’m thirsty.” She admitted.

“I’ll get you some water in just a second, okay?”

Marinette couldn’t watch as he inserted the needle, but did look after he started to secure the tube for the IV. “Its…bizarre.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s…so strange to have you be nice to me. Like…I know you’re a nurse, and that you’re only trying to take care of me…”

“But you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, right?”

She nodded.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Marinette. I might boss you around a little, but I only have your best interests at heart.”

She decided to relax then, leaning back. Her back twinged with the movement. “Agh,” she hissed.

“When we get back, I’ll get you some pain killers.”

“…thank you.”

Marinette was escorted into the hall, and they almost immediately were stopped by a man in a white coat.

“John? What do you think you’re doing?” He spoke firmly, but calmly. “Miss Dupain-Cheng should not be out of bed.”

“She shouldn’t.” John agreed. “But I found that she is liable to hurt herself if she doesn’t see Mr. Agreste. She transformed.”

“Ah,” the doctor nodded, in understanding. Then he crouched so that Marinette didn’t have to crane her neck to look at him. “Hi Marinette, I’m Dr. Boucher. I’m the main physician for you and Adrien.”

She didn’t say anything, just studied him.

“I know you probably have a hard time trusting anyone right now, but I promise—“

“Stop wasting my time.” She bit, pain starting to creep into her body without the aid of painkillers. “I was promised to see Adrien.”

The doctor smirked. “Yes, of course my dear. John, I will relieve you, if you would go tell the parents where Marinette will be? I believe they are having dinner at the cafeteria right now.”

“Yes sir.”

“Thank you. I’ll meet you in ICU.” He took hold of the chair and started to push her towards the elevators.

“Are you sure I can’t stay with him?” Marinette whispered.

“No, my dear. I’m very sorry. I’ll take you to see him, but I’ll warn you that he looks very scary right now. A lot of tubes and wires all over him. But I promise it’s very his best interest.”

Marinette didn’t outwardly react, but she did feel saddened.

Over the years, Ladybug had seen Chat Noir die several times. Whether it was turning into something, vanishing completely, or hitting the side of a building too hard.

But after the cure, he always bounced back to his normal pun-loving self.

However, this was different. Of course it was. No kwami, no powers, no five minute alarms blaring in her ears. All of it was permanent. She knew that in her head.

But her heart didn’t want to see his scars.

Dr. Boucher wheeled her to an elevator, and then pressed the button for the ground floor. The back wall of the elevator was a window that looked out into the courtyard. In the night, she could look across the yard to a set of large windows, showing the cafeteria, busy with people.

The elevator came to rest, and she was led into the hall.

This was a very nice hospital, with art and sculpture along the walls. As they passed various rooms, nurses and doctors alike spotted her and stared as she went.

“They’re looking at me.” She told the doctor.

“They mean no harm.” He assured. “You should know that you and Adrien are the biggest topic of conversation in Paris right now. Everyone is curious to hear how you are.”

“It’s none of their business,” She bit.

“It’s not.” He confirmed. “But…that woman made it everyone’s business. They just want a happy ending.”

Marinette gripped the armrests. “So do I.”

“Recovery won’t be easy, but you have a wonderful support network. And I have several therapists for you both to utilize. That should make it easier for you.”

Marinette didn’t respond, only digested the information given.

Before too long, they arrived at a room in ICU, being guarded with a police officer. He frowned when he saw Marinette.

“I’d like to see Adrien.” She said sternly.

The man just looked at the doctor. “Far be it from me to stop this…but she should be up?”

“It’s only for a visit. It’s alright.”

The man nodded, and allowed them in.

Marinette’s eyes immediately fell on the figure in the bed. He was barely visible under all the tubes and wires, and bandages. He was leaning to his left, propped up with pillows, so he wasn’t resting flat on his back. She could see his bruised eyes, as his face had a heavy mask strapped to it. Some stray locks of hair stuck out from the strap that led over the top of his head. His left hand had a tube taped to it and a oximeter clamped on his finger. A blanket was pulled up to his sternum, making his chest visible, but it was covered in pads and wires, as well as the tubes that ran into his mask. Under all that was a thick gauze right in the middle of his breast bone, taped on all sides. His right arm, which had been dislocated, was in a sling, resting against his stomach. His hand, wrapped in gauze, rested on top of a Ladybug doll, the one she had made herself. Plagg rested in the crook of his wrist.

“Adrien?”

“He’s sedated right now, which is for the best. He’s intubated so he can breathe better. It would be painful if he was awake.”

“Bring me closer.”

“Please don’t move him.”

Marinette reached out and rested her hand on his wrist, careful not to accidentally nudge his arm. Her thumb rubbed over the frigid skin, trying to give him some heat.

Plagg awoke at the movement, flicking his eyes up. Many hands had come and gone in the few hours he and Gabriel had finally been allowed to see Adrien. Ever watchful, he took note of the nurses, and what they were doing, what they were checking, applying.

But seeing Marinette had confused him for a moment, because he hadn’t recognized her immediately.

But then he saw Tikki on her lap.

“Pigtails?”

“Hi Plagg,” though there wasn’t much warmth in the greeting. She did scratch him between the ears with her finger. He only looked at her sadly.

“He’s cold.” She told the doctor.

“I can get him another blanket.” He stated as he moved from behind her. “Stay put.”

She studied Adrien’s eyes, closed to slumber, but twitching slightly. The ECG graphed his steady heart beat, and the ventilator pumped air at a calm rate. Yes, he looked scary right now, but admittedly, he looked better than he had in the hell hole. He looked peaceful, comfortable, and not at all like he was fighting for his life, though he very obviously still was.

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to that sliver of skin. “I’m right here, Kitty. I want to stay with you, but I’m not allowed to.” She wiped a gentle tear from her eye. “But I think we’ll be together soon. Once you’re healed enough. So get better soon, please.”

Tikki floated from Marinette’s lap and hovered over him. “Plagg? Where’s the worst injury?”

“…I don’t know.” Said the kwami. “It’s…it’s all pretty bad.”

“Probably his back.” Provided Marinette. “It was right…right down to the bone.”

Tikki nodded and flew over to his other side. Very gently, she nuzzled into his spine.

Adrien’s eyes twitched more, before they settled.

“It probably didn’t do much,” Tikki stated. “But it will help.”

“Would it help if you stayed with him?”

“He’d have to wear the earrings to get any benefits from me.” She looked meaningfully to his ears, which were bright red in most spots, while the top of his left ear was gone, stitches in place. “I don’t thing we should attempt that now.”

Marinette moaned, feeling helpless.

But Plagg wouldn’t stand it. “Hey, I’ve got some healing properties too, you know!” He floated into her face and nuzzled against her cheek, purring. The sound reverberated into her skin, her sinuses, her skull, her spine…she felt a little better. “I just have to keep purring. So tell someone to make sure I’m properly fed with cheese.”

“Oh Plagg…I will. I absolutely will.” Her voice filled with emotion.

“Oh kid…don’t cry. I’m just trying to keep things light.”

Doctor Boucher had returned to the room, but stayed in the doorway, watching with curiosity but privacy. When he noticed Marinette’s tears, he approached her. “How is your pain?”

“I’m not ready to leave yet.” She answered by deflecting.

“Okay. Just let me know.” He unfurled the blanket he’d fetched, and carefully started to drape it over Adrien’s legs. “His hands are cold.” She argued.

“That’s normal for someone with blood loss. Though he’s had a transfusion and should be alright now, he’s not moving, so his circulation isn’t very good.”

“But he’s cold. Can’t you cover him?”

“Not just yet. You can hold his hand though. Just watch the bandages.”

Marinette said nothing, just held his fingers a little tighter.

She wanted to climb up on the bed with him, snuggle up under his chin, and press delicate kisses to his cheek. But hearing that it would be bad for him stopped her from just ignoring everyone and embracing him.

This wasn’t fair.

“When do you think he’ll wake up?”

Dr. Boucher sighed. “We’ll keep him sedated a week, at least. Maybe more. We will bring him out of sedation for about an hour a day, but the goal is to keep his anxiety reduced, especially while he’s on the ventilator.”

“So I won’t be allowed to see him.” Marinette finished.

“Unfortunately, no. His father and Plagg will be here for him, though.”

It was then that Marinette realized that Adrien wasn’t wearing his Miraculous. “Plagg, where’s the ring?”

“Gabriel has it.”

“Shouldn’t Adrien be wearing it?”

“You’ll have to forgive me, Marinette.” Said the doctor. “I’m the one that suggested he not give it back to him just yet. I worried that Adrien might try to transform at the first chance he was given. And given that you did, my theory is correct.”

Marinette sighed, hating that she had been caught.

“You’re not in trouble, and we don’t blame you for doing it.” The doctor clarified. “We just can’t have either of you doing that. It won’t help.”

“I understand.” She rubbed her thumb over Adrien’s knuckles. “Thank you for letting me see him. I’ve been worried.”

“Of course. What’s your pain level?”

“Just a little longer, please.”

“Alright.”

It was then that nurse John came, accompanied by her parents, and a disheveled homeless man.

“Marinette! You shouldn’t be out of bed!” Her mother scolded.

“She knows.” Said Dr. Boucher. “But this is necessary to keep her calm. I’m watching her.”

The nurse brought over a styrofoam cup with a bendy straw. “Here you are, Marinette.”

“Thank you.” She said, taking it skeptically.

Everyone watched as she popped the lid, shook the ice around, and smelled it. Then she sipped a little bit through the straw. At the relaxed look on her face, it was obvious she found the water to be clean. She popped the lid back on and sucked more down. “This is really good.”

“It’s just water,” said Sabine, eyes watering.

“It tastes good.”

The disheveled homeless man spoke. “I’m so glad to see you awake, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I hadn’t get to check in on you since you were loaded into the ambulance.”

She hunched her shoulders. “Who are you?”

He chuckled weakly, rubbing a hand over his short beard. “I’ll admit I look pretty bad. But I didn’t realize I was unrecognizable.”

“It’s the beard, Gabriel.” Said Sabine. “It suits you though.”

“Gabriel? Gabriel Agreste?”

“Who else would be here with Adrien?”

She frowned. “Don’t know. Anyone else. Nathalie? The Gorilla? Never like you supported him before.”

“Marinette…” Sabine chastised, horrified at her behavior.

But the Marinette from the torture chamber was not known for kindness or tact. She didn’t flinch at her mother’s rebuke.

“I suppose I deserve that.” Gabriel said sadly. “Plagg has informed me that I…I may be a sociopath. This was something I wasn’t aware of before. I’m trying to improve my behavior. I’m sorry if you felt like I neglected Adrien. Things are going to be different now.”

Marinette cast her eyes over to Adrien, to her husband. “A shame this had to happen for you to see that.”

“Marinette!” Sabine exasperated.

Marinette winced, as a headache started to grow, and her wounds ached.

“I think it’s time we got you back.” Said Dr. Boucher. “We’ll get you some dinner too, hm?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Do you think you could choke down some soup? You really need to eat something.”

“I said I’m not hungry!” She barked, triggering a coughing fit. The doctor simply rubbed her back as she rode it out. After it subsided, she sobbed. “I don’t want to leave him!”

The doctor crouched at her side. “Marinette, I promise you, Adrien’s not leaving this hospital without you. He’s safe. You’re safe. It’ll only be for a little while, and then we’ll put you in the same room together. Okay?”

She glared at him.

“But you’re making yourself worse by staying here like this. You’re so brave, and so smart…but let me take care of you for a little while, okay?”

A few more tears leaked out. “It hurts.”

“Then let’s get you back upstairs, and we’ll give you pain killers, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Thats a good girl!” He smiled.

#longest night #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ladybug #chat noir #fanfiction #ml #adrienette #adrinette #ladynoir

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hollandsosterfield-blog · 5 years

Text

happy father’s day - t.h.

pairing: tom holland x reader

warning: woman giving birth (nothing too detailed)

request: could you write something about tom helps his wife to give birth in their home becuse they can't go the hospital due to storm outside?

summary: You went to Tom's parents's country house for the weekend, but your baby decides to surprise you and arrives earlier than expected, making father's day unforgettable for Tom

words count: 1,557

As your pregnancy was almost due to term and the date of delivery was scheduled for next week, Tom and you decided to leave and spend some time in in his parents's house in the countryside.

You arrived early in the evening on friday, the house being a bit far from the city, there was no wi-fi, only the tv and the landline worked. It was a cozy house, beautifully decorated, and outside there was grass stretched for miles, a pool where you needed to spend some time before leaving and a beautiful lake where a few ducks lived.

You put a hand on your round belly, smiling to yourself. You couldn’t wait to come back here once your baby was born, watch him play in the garden with Tessa, or see him play on a swing that Tom built for him, or teach him how to swim on a summer afternoon, do family barbecues, or celebrate his birthday here...You knew that when he would be here, your days would always be filled with laughter and joy with him by your side.

A shiver ran down your spine and you rubbed your hands over your arms, trying to warm up yourself a little as the wind began to get a little colder and the sky darkened, "Tessa," you called, her head popped out of the grass that was almost as tall as her and she looked in your way, before running towards you. She went past you and entered the house, you followed her and closed the double glass door and the curtains.

Tessa went to lie in her basket in the living room while you went into the kitchen, where Tom was preparing dinner.

"Hum, it smells good, what are you cooking?" You approached him to have a better view of what he was doing.

He looked up at you smiling. "It's a surprise."

"Is it almost ready? I don't want to complain but I think someone is very hungry." You say stroking your belly before going to sit on a chair. "And a little agitated today."

"He's probably looking forward to being next week so he can see his parents, especially his dad." Tom laughed as he put the plates on the table.

You huffed. "Or maybe he doesn't like the sudden change of weather." Tom kissed your forehead, still laughing, and took the dish out of the oven. He had cooked lasagna, your favorite dish, hoping you would like it.

He put the dish on the table and scratched the back of his neck, "Eh, I used my mom receipe but I don't know if I did it well, I hope you will like it, but please if it taste horribly don't tell her." You giggled as he sat next to you before serving you one part.

"I promise to not say it." You said, kissing his cheek gently before grabing your fork and tasting a small portion. Tom looked at you, waiting for you to tell him if you liked it.

"So?" He asked, not having touched his plate yet.

"Well..."

"Oh okay, I know, it's horrible. I'm sorry." He said, lowering his head, looking like a sad puppy.

"I'm just kidding you, babe. It's actually delicious." You couldn't hide your smile when he looked up at you, smiling, his whole face lighten up again.

"Really?"

"Yes", you said, in fact, it wasn’t really good but he had put all his heart to make them wanting to please you and you didn’t wanted him to be sad, so yes, eating a dish that wasn’t very good was not the worse and if that made him happy, it was worth it to suffer.

You took another bite, fake smiling at him, while Tom looked delighted. You hoped there was at least some chocolate for dessert.

But unfortunately, you didn't have chocolate, there was a cake in the fridge, but Tom said it was for tomorrow, that you would eat it when you would came back to his parents's house to celebrate father's day.

You mumbled to yourself while eating a yoghurt’s banana while at the same time Tom went to close the shutters outside before it started to rain. You putted a hand over your belly, "Don't worry baby, tonight we'll get a little piece of this cake when dad will be asleep." You whispered, caressing your swollen belly.

After closing the shutters Tom came back inside, he was a little wet, apparently he had already started to rain and he decided to go take a shower.

After finishing your yoghurt you came into the living room and laid down on the couch a few minutes before getting up again as you felt more contractions.

You decided to go upstairs and watch a movie in bed with Tom, as the storm seemed to be more violent and loudly but that didn't stopped Tom from falling asleep.

Around 11pm you left the bed discreetly, trying to not wake up Tom, you couldn't sleep because of the noisy sound of the storm and the contractions, and you were a little hungry.

Tessa who was sleeping down your bed woke up. She followed you downstairs. Stopping frequently when you were a little long, as if she wanted to check that you were still there and that you were okay.

Once in the kitchen, you turned on the light and saw Tessa rush to her bowl of water as you walked to the closet. You took out a plate and a fork and put them on the table before heading to the fridge.

As you went to open the fridge door you felt a liquid fall from your vagina. You stepped back and looked down, seeing a gush of clear fluid on the floor. You let out a brash sound, as panic started to invade you. "Tom!" You yelled.

"Tom!" You shouted again, your breathing speeding up as another contraction hitted you. You putted your hands on the counter for support, closing your eyes, doing the breathing exercises you learned trying to calm yourself a little.

With the sound of the storm he didn’t hear your calls, so Tessa rushed upstairs and jumped on the bed. She barked loudly, trying to wake up Tom and after a few seconds, he did.

"Uh, Tessa, what are you doing?" He said rubbing his eyes, he looked next to him and saw that your place was empty. He threw the sheets off his body and stood up. He was going to go in the bathroom, to see if you were there, but Tessa barked and he decided to follow her.

She ran into the kitchen where you were sitting on the floor, in agony.

Tom rushed to your side

"Oh my god, we need to get you to the hospital!" He says panicking, not knowing what to do.

"I-I don't think I will be able to get up and there a storm outside." You winced as another contraction hitted you, each contractions becoming more violent and longer.

You knew it was only a question of minutes before your baby was here. Tom got up and rushed to get the phone and a cushion that he placed under your head, while stroking your forehead.

He called the emergency and a woman answered, he tried to explain as best he could the situation. The woman on the other side of the line told him to calm down and explained that help couldn't come yet because of the storm, but that she would help him help you.

She gave him advice and explained how to proceed. He helped you as much as possible, following the woman's advice. You pushed, holding one of Tom's hands. He put the speaker on and the woman told you to stop the panic, as the babies were still usually in the ideal position head upside down while she speaked to you, Tom grabbed some towels.

You pushed, panting and sweating. Tom wiped the sweat from your forehead with a towel, still holding one of your hands.

"You can do it, you're amazing baby, he's almost there." He continues to say encouraging things, but you were too exhausted to hear everything as you continue to push.

Tom went to see how things were going and told you to push again. After a few seconds, you hear soft cries. Tom wrapped your baby in a towel and looked at him with pure adoration as tears ran down his cheeks. He went next to you and put your baby in your arms, as you started to sob.

He was so beautiful, you put a kiss on his temple, he whined softly before closing his eyes.

"You had a very exhausting first day, right baby." Tom said stroking his head, you both looked at him with pure admiration, not believing that you both created such a beautiful thing.

After the storm calmed down, the emergencies arrived and they took you with the baby to the hospital, Tom came with you, obviously. Both your vital and those of the baby were good and of course, Tom put a spider-man body on him that Nikki and Dom had taken with them when they came to see the baby.

His parents and brothers were all already in love with the baby. Tom looked at his son, named Tony, who was looking at all the faces around him in the hospital room curiously.

"I think it's the greatest gift I could have dreamed of for Father's Day." Tom said before kissing your son's forehead.

___

thanks for reading!*ೃ

permanent taglist: @dragneel-cutie @spider-girls-world @chennyetomlinson @awkwardfangirl2014 @screeching-student-unknown @osterfieldholland01 @mandatheredpanda @nikkixostan @just4muggles @shamelessmelanie @kira-mariee @superheroesaremytea @cartiertom @nicole-lynne @miraclesoflove @herbluebirdmiracle @little-miss-existencialcrisis @tessxblxckthorn @xxtomxo @sspideytom @dangerdolns @nymphetsuicide @lou-la-lou @trustfundparker @jackiehollanderr @propertyofmarvel @thomastanleyhollands @roastedpug @spidey-caps @sunshine-rainbow-lollipops17 @marvelismylifffe @p-peterparkers @kaylathekittykat225 @tristfulsighs @sebbystansstuff @ghostofdrfluke @alisoncdariel

tom taglist: @llady-peculiar @marveltrashandstuffs @webbedwonders @pignolithecookie @tomhollandvibes @ophcelia @awhollandx @squishychar1ie

mutuals who might like this: @akaspiderman @lavenderholland @petey-verse @moonstruckholland

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willow-salix · 4 years

Text

Random bit of fun that popped into my head. Grandma Tracy + Selene + cooking sherry =

Selene checked the recipe again and nodded to Grandma. It couldn't be that hard could it, to be all domesticated and shit? She had many manly men that she had to cook for, not that she went in for all the "a woman's place is in the kitchen" stereotypes, but she did think it was important that they came home to something better than their Grandmother's cooking attempts after a tough rescue, and this one looked like it would be a nightmare mission.

She could cook most things, basic and homely she called it, having learnt baking from her Nan, although she did like to challenge herself now and then.

She had decided in her infinite wisdom that if she was capable of making simple dishes like lasagna, chilli's, soups, burgers, pizza's pancakes, breakfasts and the like, coupled with the fact that she was actually good at baking, she could manage to help Grandma in her mission. It shouldn't be that hard to make their boys some lovely fresh donuts, something they all loved. Yep, that was a plan!

Grandma Tracy had wandered back and forth while Selene was assembling the ingredients, flour, salt, yeast, eggs, milk and melted butter and insisted on helping, trying to add her own selections to the mix which Selene gently vetoed, hiding them in the microwave. It would be fine, with her overseeing the proceedings Grandma couldn't get into too much trouble, could she?

Selene directed Grandma as they slowly added the wet ingredients into a big mixing bowl, one at a time until they made a relatively smooth mixture, then Grandma added that little by little to the flour, Selene mixing with her hands until they had a rough dough.

She dribbled some oil onto the worktop, dumped out the bowl and began to knead the slop, gradually feeling it grow thicker and less gloopy, more springy. Damn this was hard work!

"Let me have a try, you youngsters don't know the meaning of hard work."

Selene stepped aside to let Grandma T take her turn, but within a minute the older lady was huffing as bad as Selene was.

They tag teamed back and forth for a few minutes but her fingers were cramping and she was sure that she had inhaled so much flour she'd be sneezing bread rolls. She went to wipe her forehead but her hands were so greasy with the oil she gave in. She didn't want to resort to cheating, but needs must.

She whispered a little chant under her breath when Grandma made her excuses to go to the bathroom and watched as the dough kneaded itself, plumping up and down and flipping itself over as she washed her hands and settled down with a can of cherry coke. The dough flopped itself back into its bowl after a few more minutes and she covered it over and placed it on the windowsill to rise for an hour.

And she promptly forgot about it, wandering off with Grandma to catch up on "The bold and the beautiful" a TV show that Grandma watched religiously and that had become Selene's guilty pleasure whenever she was on the island.

Upon returning to the kitchen after learning that Chico was Marion's secret son and that Charlie's amnesia was fake, they found the bowl overflowing and the dough creeping its way towards the floor.

"Stupid magic kneading!" Selene dived at the dough, nudging Armstrong out for the way just as he tried to bat at it with his paw. "No! Bad cat. Leave it!"

She cradled it in her arms like it was a baby, a big, messy, yeasty baby that was determined to get the fuck out of dodge. She balanced on one leg as she tried to hold it up with her knee, kneeing it like she was playing keepy uppy with a football.

"Grandma, get a bowl! A big one!" She gave it a big push upwards as Grandma shoved a huge bowl under it, catching the evil, still growing blob.

"What's wrong with it?" Grandma asked as she poked at it with her finger, diving back when it looked like it would consume her whole hand.

"Nothings wrong with it, I'm sure it'll be fine."

Against her better judgement, and Selene wasn't known to be entirely sane at the best of times, she grabbed the biggest saucepan they had and filled it with oil, setting it on the stove to boil. Should only take a few minutes....

She watched as the oil began to bubble and smoke, knowing it was about as hot as it would get. Witches didn't like boiling oil, call her silly but that had always been something to avoid in the olden days, which was probably why she had taken the few minutes to kit herself out in a huge apron, Scott's spare bike helmet and a pair of Virgil's thick work gloves. Couldn't be too careful.

She dug her hands into the dough, hitting it with her elbow when it looked like it might try to be the one to eat her before they cooked it. "No! Down! Bad dough!"

She was sure it would be fine once it was cooked, witches made everything a bit more lively, the boys could attest to that.

"Watch out Grandma, don't get too close."

She scooped out a handful and rolled it into a ball then holding it at arm's length, dropped it in the oil like it was a hand grenade. Boom, the oil jumped up to meet her and she stepped back with a squeak of shock. Not good. Nope nope so much nope. Not doing that again.

"Oh don't worry, it always does that when I cook too," Grandma shrugged as she crossed to the fridge to get herself a drink. "Keep going, it'll be fine."

After rolling another ball, which she caught before it rolled off the counter and across the floor yelling 'cry freedom', she sourced a pair of BBQ tongs to hold it with and dropped it carefully in the oil.

"That seemed to work," Grandma encouraged. "Keep doing that."

Ball after ball followed and her roll, grab and drop operation was going so well she completely forgot that the oil was actually cooking the damn things.

"Uh…little too brown maybe…" she fished them out and dumped them into a bowl lined with kitchen towel. She poked them, were they OK?

"They'll be fine with some powdered sugar on them," Grandma proclaimed wisely, although Selene wasn't too sure. "Do the rest, that's nowhere near enough to feed my boys."

Grandma supervised as Selene slowly worked her way through the dough mass, which seemed to have lost its determination now she had effectively scooped half of it away, though it was still making a strange wheezing noise as it attempted to grow some more. She'd soon put a stop to that! She quickly rolled and tossed more balls into the oil, having perfected her drop and duck technique. Paranoid that she'd burn the next lot she got them out earlier...Perhaps a little too early, as they stuck to her tongs as she slapped them into the bowl.

"Damn it."

"Jelly will fix them, " Grandma nodded sagely, "Jelly fixes everything."

Selene threw the last of the balls, now looking slightly less ball like and more like lumps of dough that she was too fucked off with to fix, and began to search the cupboards for something to insert the jam inside the balls.

She located a turkey baster that Parker had insisted they needed to cook a decent Christmas dinner, and that Alan had secretly been using to squirt the Gordon with. Selene had filled it with whisky that one time and used it to fire at Scott from opposite ends of the couch in an attempt to reach each others mouths. She grinned at the memory.

As if reading her mind- maybe she was a witch too- Grandma vanished and reappeared with half a bottle of cooking sherry.

"Would you like a little taste? I find it helps me relax sometimes when I'm cooking, you're too tense."

Well, that might explain a few of Grandma's more adventurous dishes.

Selene looked at the bottle, she could actually do with a little of that right now. She held out her coke can and Grandma poured a healthy splash into the remains of her coke.

"Don't tell John," Selene warned as she gulped down some of the drink for strength as she faced the fried dough balls she was supposed to fix.

She grabbed a pot of smooth jam out of the cupboard and sucked some up into the baster -not that easy to do it turned out- and holding one of the cooked balls she stabbed it with the end of the rubber syringe. It went right through.

"Shit!"

She tried again, splitting another one.

"Fuck!"

"Language, Selene!"

"Sorry, Grandma."

"Let me try," Sally managed to get the tip in one and squirted a generous amount into the donut. But didn't count on the force of her squeezing making the donut shoot off the end and fly across the room to smack Armie in the eye.

"Fuck!"

"Grandma!" Selene was shocked, but had the terrible urge to giggle.

Sorry," Grandma apologised, both to Selene and the cat, trying again.

***

The bowl was a jammy, powdered sugar covered, slightly oily mess and Selene was on her third can of sherry and coke and honestly, she no longer really gave a shit.

Who's stupid idea had this been? It was the thought that counted right?

Grandma had given up over an hour ago and gone to bed, knowing the boys would be heading home soon and Selene desperately needed a shower. She had jam in her hair, sugar sticking to her hands and she'd lost the will to live.

She plonked the bowl in the middle of the kitchen counter.

"Sexy spaceman of mine," she texted, "sorry they look like shit…yeah, can't really explain what happened there…but I'll be naked in bed if that helps." She snapped a picture to go with it and called it good, promising to clean up in the morning.

And she wound her way on slightly unsteady feet, up the stairs and into the bathroom to shower off the remains of her one and only attempt to cook something you could buy easier, promising herself a trip to Krispy Kreme in the very near future, and flopped on the bed wrapped in nothing but a towel.

***

"John?" Gordon stared at the text that had popped up on all their comms less than 30 seconds ago.

"I don't even know."

Their brother's long suffering, defeated tone just made the whole thing even funnier.

"Think you had better get down here, bro," Virgil chuckled. "We'll be home in five."

"Yeah, that's probably wise," Scott added.

Even EOS seemed to find the whole situation amusing, which in itself was a little bit worrying, as John rode the elevator down to the island.

Alan and Gordon were staring at the bowl as if it might explode any minute. John spotted the empty sherry bottle in the sink and sighed.

"Grandma got the sherry out."

"That's not good," Scott agreed as he too entered the war zone, formerly known as the kitchen, his eyes taking in the precariously piled bowls, the flour that coated every surface, the oil patch that Alan almost slipped in and the grease splattered stove top, the pan of oil sitting abandoned. His bike helmet was on one of the stools and one of Virgil's gloves peeked out from the bottom bowl of the stack, though it was so covered in dough you could barely tell what it was.

Virgil brought up the rear, his nose wrinkling at the slightly smokey, oily smell that hung in the air.

"Dare you to eat one," Gordon nudged Alan.

"Hell no! John should, it's his girlfriend that made them."

"Fiancée," John automatically corrected, poking gingerly at the contents of the bowl. "And no, I don't think so."

"Scott, you're the brave one, you like to take a risk now and then, you do it."

"Like the rescue wasn't risky enough? No way. Virg, you try, it's like modern art, appreciate it."

"Nope, I like my taste buds where they are, Gordo, you do it, it was your idea."

Gordon paled as he looked into the bowl. "All of us?" he asked hopefully.

The boys exchanged glances and then one by one they all reached into the bowl, their competitive streak unable to resist, selecting the least offensive looking offerings.

"On three?" Scott confirmed. "One…two…three!"

As one they all tossed their donuts into their mouths, chewing madly, their faces contorting into identical grimaces of horror and disgust.

Alan raced to the trash can, opening his mouth to let the offending evil drop out of his mouth.

"Urghh, it was raw inside," he shuddered.

Gordon followed suit, spitting his out. "Mines burnt."

Virgil managed to swallow his. "Mine was all sugar which pretty much hid everything."

Scott had a dribble of jelly running down his chin to drip onto his uniform, his mouth hanging open as if he didn't dare close it again. Virgil handed him a paper towel and he grateful spat out the offensive food.

"My God, that was foul."

They all looked at John, who was still chewing his dough ball, now matter how much he worked it, it never got any smaller. In the end he too gave up and spat it into the trash. "It was like trying to eat a rubber ball."

Virgil tossed the remains into the trash to spare Kayo and Brains the same horror. "At least they tried."

Too tired to actually be bothered with real food, Scott handed round some bowls and Virgil grabbed a box of cereal and some milk.

They all ate quickly, eating in companionable silence, standing up, leaning against various cupboards and furniture, knowing if they sat down they would likely never get up again.

"Damn!" John moved suddenly, breaking the silence of the room, dumping his half eaten cereal in the sink.

"What's wrong?" Scott frowned, instantly worried.

"I just remembered the rest of her message," he was already running towards the stairs, "I've got a naked woman waiting for me."

Alan shuddered, gagging on his mouthful of cereal. "I did not need to know that."

#thunderbirds are go #No idea how this happened #Lets blame Grandma #john tracy #virgil tracy #scott tracy #alan tracy #gordon tracy #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds 2015 #fanfic #fan fiction #fandom #fan fic update #funny post #funny writing #funny

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brideofkylosolo · 4 years

Text

OK, so I’ve processed the movie (and had a yummy supper of lasagna) so here’s my thoughts on the Rise of Skywalker.

WARNING SPOILERS AND MAJOR RATING AHEAD:

So overall, I liked it. I feel like it went fast but I was fine with the pace. I agree that regulating Rose to a background character when she could have been with the “trio” would have made sense but I felt JJ did that to bring the idea that Finn and Rey could now face their feelings and be a couple which I think they should do. They make more sense than the OTHER “romantic couple” which I will deal with. I though Zorri and Poe’s banter was cute and I wasn’t bothered by it since they had a past and obviously still cared about each other. did it come out of nowhere? Maybe but then again it made sense since I felt they were trying to “buff up” Poe since he didn’t get a lot of backstory in the first two films besides “he’s a pilot for the resistance”.

Now the reylo crap. Yes, I called it crap because that’s what it was pure crap. it was soooooo rushed and forced. they had zero interactions that could be even remotely called romantic in that film it was all “I’m coming for you” and “NOOOO I’ll never join you!”. Yeah she healed him but it felt more like “Oppsie, I just killed Leia’s son. Let me fix this since I’m so good and pure that I’d heal my enemies. Yes, I do that since I’m the most perfect and pure of all the Jedi. I have not a mean bone in my body!” And no I’m not buying the whole “dyad” bs either. Their bond was forced upon them by Snoke plus they showed no signs of it until their minds were FORCED TOGETHER by Snoke (”it was I who bridged your minds!’). I think Palpatine told Ben that to get him to convince Rey to join him as he manipulated them to think they were in “love”. She didn’t even give two shits he died by giving his lifeforce to her. Not one tear. It was all “whelp, a guy I “love” just gave his life to me so I’m gonna hop on back in his uncle’s ship that he gave me, return to my big old found family, then go bury his mom and uncle’s lightsabers on the family farm! Oh, and while I’m at it, I’m a Skywalker! Yep, I’m taking the name of his family who couldn’t even bother to come to his aid when he needed them! Aren’t I such a hero? And the whole “wanted to take Ben’s hand, not yours” line? BITCH YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM! Just a film ago he was a monster to you! You only felt bad for him when he told you what really happened to him. and you still thought he was a monster up until he repaid you the favor you did of healing him. The scene where they kissed felt so fake and like such an afterthought to give the Reylos what they wanted, their big old kiss! it was so gross.

And they so botched Ben’s arc in that story. He got a short end of the stick the entire film, no the entire trilogy. Luk only really reached out to him once (on Crait to save the resistance some time). Leia only did at the very end, not once during the entire time he was suffering, when she knew old Grampy Palpy was torturing her only son. Anikan never did, Obi-wan, the man he was named after, never did, not Mace Windu, not Qui-Gon, not Ezra Bridger, no one. NOT ONE SINGlE JEDI CAME TO HIS AID AT ALL. The only one who did was his dad and he wasn’t even a force ghost but a memory (fuck did I ever bawl my eyes out in that scene!). He got no send off, he wasn’t honored or mourned, again Rey didn’t even cry. It was all “ding dong, Ben is dead! no one gives a fuck!” He died as he had always felt, alone.

In the end, this is the end. The last film. I don’t feel like it was a good ending but not much I can do besides write fanfics to fix this. Expect them hopefully soon and may the force be with you .

#tros spoilers #tros #star wars au #rant #rant post #ranting #movie review #just my two cents #just my thoughts

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solartranslations · 3 years

Text

VF Dante Chapter 5: Ebb and Flow

The two go after the heroine who has been taken by Joshua. Dante has no further doubts…

~*Scene: VF Captain’s Cabin*~

Felicita: Zzz

~*Flashback: VF Deck*~

Dante: Right now, your family is something I’ve sworn to protect—

Dante: And they are my future!

~*End Flashback*~

Joshua: …His “future”…

Felicita: *wakes up*

Joshua: I see you’ve awaken, Princess of Regalo

>That fog…

>Where’s Dante?

Joshua: It is one of “Justice’s” Arcana powers

Joshua: I remember…using it to protect the island a long time ago

Joshua: Your beloved and Ash should be headed this way

Joshua: You will see him soon…

Joshua: I’d tell you to relax, but I doubt you trust me

Felicita: …

Joshua: This is off topic but, are you the daughter of Arcana Famiglia’s Papa?

~*Flashback: VF Staircase*~

Dante: Did you know that in the past, Mondo was even more unreasonable than he is now?

Dante: He thought the way he was raised was wrong. So, he was always very strict on the son he had with his first wife

Dante: …As a result, that son rebelled by running away

~*End Flashback*~

Joshua: I see Mondo hasn’t changed…has he already forgotten about me?

>There’s no parent who doesn’t care about their child!

>You’re the reason Papa dotes on me so much?

Joshua: …Yes. I agree

Joshua: Right now…I’m actually in the same situation. But it might be too late…

Joshua: Is that what happened after I left? *laugh*…should I apologize then?

Joshua: I’m sure you know that’s also part of his love

Joshua: *laugh*…Your father may be strange, but he is very kind

Joshua: I wish I could have seen him again while I was still myself

Felicita: !

Joshua: Take these… I’m sorry for being a terrible older brother

Joshua: …Ah, I’m, out of, time…

(*grab) (*whish)

Joshua: …I have you. My sister… “Wheel of Fortune”

~*Scene: VF Staircase*~

Ash: So just to be clear. You really weren’t Strawberry Head’s dad, old man?

Dante: No! Ojou-san’s father is the top of “Arcana Famiglia”

Dante: He’s the first person you must see when you come to the island

Ash: Who said I was going?

Dante: We’ll talk about that later. Saving Ojou-san comes first

Ash: Still, I did think something was weird between you two. But I didn’t expect you had that kind of relationship

Dante: Yes, it is “that kind”

Dante: Hm? That looks like…

Luca: Dante! …And, you!!

(*crackle)

Ash: The useless alchemist. Relax. I’m not in the mood to fight

Debito: Well, I’m not going to waste my strength either. Luca, cut the damn flames

Luca: Guh… You all have such foul mouths

Dante: I’ll take responsibility for Ash. We have more important things to do

Ash: Yeah. The old baldy is going to go save his amore

Luca/Debito: Amore?

Ash: You’re his friends, right? Then help

(*glare) Luca: Dante, how exactly did you explain who Ojou-sama was!?

Dante: Well, a lot happened…

Dante: But I fully understand that enjoying myself in this situation wasn’t proper as your superior and—

Debito: Ugh, you’re going to brag now? I’m not listening to this…so I’ll go ahead

Dante: Of course, when we get back I’ll be sure to…

(*smile) Luca: …When we return to the mansion, I’m sure you’ll need time to speak with your “amore”

Dante: No, actually I was…

Nova: There you are, Dante!

Nova: Why are you muttering to yourself? And I’d like an explanation regarding the guy behind you

Nova: Jolly said he was leaving the captain’s cabin to Pace and Liberta. We should get back as soon as possible

Nova: I’m glad we were able to regroup, but now…I feel uneasy about them

Nova: And, Dante. Why is there steam coming out of your head?

Dante: S-steam!?

Ash: People who group together really are laidback…

Dante: L-let’s go!!

Fukurota: Hoot…

Dante: You’re worried about Ojou-san too, huh Fukurota?

Dante: It’ll be alright. I promise I’ll save her

~*Scene: VF Deck*~

Jolly: The fog has cleared so now is our chance

Jolly: We’ll finish this while the “Justice” Tarocco is still dormant…

Jolly: I’ll leave the skeletons to you two

Pace: You got it!!!

Liberta: Hehe…here I stand, against a countless sea of skeletons

Liberta: Yeaaaah!! This is so exciting!

Liberta: Hiyaaah!!

Jolly: This ship was created using the same principles as the Tarocco…how very interesting

Jolly: It’s also full of things that pique my interest

Jolly: I’ll make sure it serves Regalo to the fullest…

Pace: Let’s hurry home and have lasagna!!

~*Scene: VF Captain’s Cabin*~

Felicita: !

Joshua: I can’t lose this host…before returning to the Tarocco…

Joshua: Now, change my relationship with my host into the form I desire, “Wheel of Fortune”

>What does that have to do with losing your host?

>The “Wheel of Fortune’s” power…

Joshua: If I lose him, it will be too late

Joshua: Are you really a contractor if you don’t use your power?

(*crash!)

Felicita: !

Dante: You treat your sister much too roughly, Tarocco of “Justice”!

(*glare)

Felicita: !?

~*Scene: VF Deck*~

Joshua: …Do you know why…I haven’t been able to find a new contractor for so long?

Felicita: …

Joshua: Hah!!

Felicita: !

Dodge!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

Felicita: *dodge*

Dante: Hah!!

Dante: I don’t know any of the specific rules between Tarocco and their contactors

Dante: You’ll have to ask your creator, or an alchemist who studies your power

Dante: All I know is that “the cards choose their hosts”

(*hoist)

(*whoosh) Dante: Uryaaah!!

Joshua: Hah!!

Felicita: *dash*

Felicita: Hya!

Attack!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

(*whack) Joshua: Urk!

(*dodge) Joshua: …!!

Joshua: Quiet

(*whish) Joshua: Hah!!

Felicita: !

Dodge!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

Felicita: *dodge*

(*whack) Felicita: Ah!

Dante: Ojou-san!!

Joshua: I was in a lone slumber after my host passed, you wouldn’t understand how I feel…

Joshua: With power beyond your knowledge, we Tarocco can control our hosts

Joshua: Using this host, I can even stay in this world forever by my own will…

Dante: …So it’s already lost all reason…

Joshua: Who decided what was “reasonable”? Humans?

Dante: Then I ask you. Why do the cards choose “humans”?

Dante: Beside the Tarocco, there are many things that hold great power…like guns, or important documents

Dante: If that power brings blessings and wealth—

Joshua: Grrraaa!!

(*rumble) Joshua: Find your way to despair…Un Labirinto Atmosferico

Dante: It can also cause suffering depending on its wielder’s ambition and intent

Dante: If that happens, I will put a stop to it

Dante: Let all be swallowed by the storm, and return to nothing…

Dante: Dare un Ordine! (TN: To give an order)

Felicita: …

(*dash) Felicita: Yah!

Attack!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

(*whack) Joshua: Gaaah!

(*dodge) Joshua: …!!

Dante: If someone doesn’t take the first step, then nobody will

Dante: And I want to be that “someone”

(*crash!)

Joshua: Graaaaah…!!

>I admire you, Dante

(No Amore)

>I want to stand by your side, Dante

(+20 Amore)

>I want to support you, Dante

(+10 Amore)

Dante: Can I really become a good role model?

Dante: But, I’m satisfied being your guide…

Dante: Hahaha! Usually you stay behind so I can protect you. Isn’t that logical?

Dante: But…since you’ve chosen to be by my side—

Dante: I’m happy to hear that

Dante: You’ll support me? You’re quite confident, aren’t you?

Felicita: *mad*

Dante: I know. I’m probably already relying on you a lot

❤≪Dante≫ Seems concerned ❤≪Dante≫ Seems concerned ❤≪Dante≫ Seems concerned

Pleasure: I’m happy to receive her praise

Link: Saving Joshua will also be my repentance

Link: My greatest achievement was earning your heart

Pleasure: Her words are reassuring…but deep

Person: Saving Joshua will also be my repentance

Pleasure: I’m glad we’re close enough to trust each other

Link: Saving Joshua will also be my repentance

(*grip) (*whish)

(*step) Liberta: Dante, watch out!

❤≪Liberta≫ Seems confused

Pleasure: The skeleton!

Pain: What’s up with this ship!?

Felicita: !?

(*clang)

Dante: Thank you, Ojou-san, Liberta

❤≪Dante≫ Seems concerned

Pleasure: Ojou-san and Liberta both saved me

Person: I can’t let my guard down

Link: Saving Joshua will also be my repentance

Liberta: Geez, Dante! Focus! Is that skeleton the leader!?

Joshua: Ahhhhh…

Dante: Joshua…

Dante: …Ojou-san, is it possible for you to save him using the power of “The Lovers”?

❤≪Dante≫ Tarocco

Person: Ojou-san should be able to use her powers without issue now

Link: Saving Joshua will also be my repentance

Arcana: I’m not just denying our powers

Dante: “Justice” has lost sight of its true self…so use your powers to see what it truly wants

Dante: You should be able to do that now

Felicita: Okay

>It must…not really want to be apart

>”Gli Amanti”, lend me power

Gli Amanti: How interesting

Gli Amanti: I’m not the only one who likes my host

Gli Amanti: The power of your love has certainly grown

Gli Amanti: I can see that, so I will gladly lend my power

Gli Amanti: “La Giustizia” is confused…it wants to return, but is attached to its host

Gli Amanti: When it awakened, its host had no need for it, so perhaps it is resentful

Gli Amanti: It isn’t enough to need “La Ruota della Fortuna’s” power like it desires

Gli Amanti: Well, that’s all I can do

Gli Amanti: Continue to nurture your love, my master…

Felicita: !

Dante: Joshua…was set free?

❤≪Dante≫ Seems concerned

Person: Joshua looks…

Arcana: So “The Lovers” has provided the answer

Place: This light is…

Joshua: The Tarocco couldn’t return…because of my regrets…?

Dante: That’s just how you see it. “Justice” has already returned to its card

Dante: That was to be its fate sooner or later

Joshua: Fate guides us…you mean

Dante: …You understand, right Ojou-san?

Dante: The Tarocco was created by a human, and have not only power, but also emotions and a will of their own

❤≪Dante≫ Tarocco

Pleasure: Ojou-san seems to be friendly with her Tarocco

Arcana: The relationship between humans and that Tarocco is unknown but profound

Person: Joshua looks…

Dante: All we can do is struggle as we are manipulated by the Tarocco’s great power

Dante: Since it seems that is what they desire

Liberta: Dante! Where’d the leader skeleton go?

❤≪Liberta≫ Seems concerned

Pleasure: It’s so bright

Person: The one with clothes is the leader, right?

Daily: I haven’t fought it yet!

Dante: The leader of the skeletons…returned to where it belonged

❤≪Dante≫ Seems concerned

Arcana: The relationship between humans and that Tarocco is unknown but profound

Person: Joshua is Liberta’s…

Place: He’ll pass on in his rightful form…

Liberta: Aw, really. It ran away? …But, this view is really nice…

❤≪Liberta≫ Seems shocked

Daily: But I didn’t get to fight it

Place: Now we just have to get home to Regalo!

Dante: Yeah…

Joshua: …What kind of place is Regalo?

Liberta: Huh!? Why’re you asking that?

Joshua: I’m asking because you’re the one who’s here. Regalo was the destination of my journey

Dante: …Answer him, Liberta

❤≪Dante≫ Arcana Famiglia

Link: It’s not my place to say

Arcana: We have one more job left…

???: I can’t see very well here

Liberta: Dante? Oh, okay. You look like a ghost, so I’ll tell you before you go

❤≪Liberta≫ Seems concerned

Place: He knows Regalo?

Pleasure: Talking to a ghost will make for a great story later

Liberta: Regalo’s the best! There should be tons of flowers blooming right now, and everyone’s really nice

Liberta: …You should visit in your next life!

Joshua: Yes. I hope to as well. Thank you…

Liberta: Yup!

Dante: ……

Dante: …My last job here is done then…

Felicita: …

>I was scared, but I waited for you

(+30 Amore)

>Don’t leave me alone

(+20 Amore)

>Joshua has…

(No Amore)

Dante: Yes, you did well…

Dante: You’ve always been easy to scare since you were young

Dante: Yes…I apologize for making you scared

Dante: …I remember you clinging on to me like this the same way a long time ago

(Skip the next dialogue choice box)

Dante: This may sound cold, but his fate was already decided

Dante: …I’ll stay with you in his place. That has always been my duty

(Skip the next dialogue choice box)

>You remember?

(+10 Amore)

>I wish you’d forget…

(No Amore)

Dante: You spread your tiny arms wide and clung to me with all your might…

Dante: How could I forget?

Dante: It’s alright now…

Dante: What? Now is the only time I can say it

Dante: You get embarrassed too easily

Dante: It’s alright now…

Dante: But our feelings for each other have changed since then

Dante: Now…we’ve become closer kind of family

Dante: It’s embarrassing to admit, but when I’m with you, I end up acting so disgraceful

Dante: Like when you look at me with such honesty in your eyes…I never want to give you up to anyone

>I don’t want to let you go either

(+10 Amore)

>I want to stay with you forever

(No Amore)

Dante: I see…so you feel the same way

Dante: We’re alike…so we’re a good match

Dante: Felicita…

Dante: Of course you can

Dante: I’ll stay with you to make up for the time we were apart…

Dante: Felicita…

Liberta: The heck…I can’t watch!

❤≪Liberta≫ Can’t seem to handle it

Place: I can’t go over there!

Person: Have Dante and Ojou always been that flirty?

Nova: Cut it out already! And please explain what’s going on with shady Alchemist #3 over there, Dante!

❤≪Nova≫ Seems nervous

Person: This is unsightly!

Arcana: We aren’t done here

Place: Wait until we’re home

Ash: #3…you mean me!?

❤≪Ash≫ Seems irritated

Person: Shut it! Soybean!

Arcana: I’m the one who went after the old man

Link: Joshua…was saved

Luca: Well, the alchemist shouldn’t be a problem if he causes no harm

Luca: But the other thing is a different matter!!

Pace: Luca-chan’s making funny faces!

Debito: Leave them…I just want a drink and a nap

Dante: Haha…they can’t seem to bear this, but I suppose it means they care for you

❤≪Dante≫ Seems nervous

Person: Ash reminds me of how I used to act brave

Love: I don’t want to look like this in front of the young ones…

Ash: Don’t think you’ve won, old man. I’ll be staying in Regalo until I can get back at you!

>You can just ask for help

(No Amore)

>I won’t leave my “family” behind

(+30 Amore)

Dante: Yes, you’re still young. It’s the best time to be honest

Ash: I’ll pass if that means becoming a pervert like you

Debito: I agree he’s definitely a pervert

Dante: Yes. While you’re in Regalo, you’ll be “family”

Ash: Well if I just live on my ship in the sea, I won’t be family. Take that!

Luca: So another twisted person has joined our Family…

❤≪Dante≫ Seems to be having fun ❤≪Dante ≫ Seems concerned

Daily: It won’t go that easily though

Link: Ash needs to be around people

Pleasure: Words fitting of our future “Donna”

Link: Ash needs to be around people

❤≪Ash≫ Seems concerned ❤≪Ash≫ Seems concerned

Person: Don’t cling to each other in public

Link: I’m glad Joshua was saved

Arcana: I’m the one who went after the old man

Person: I’m family too?

Arcana: I’m the one who went after the old man

Link: I’m glad Joshua was saved

Liberta: Wait, why do you and him get along?

❤≪Liberta≫ Seems concerned

Place: This ship is interesting!

Person: Isn’t he our enemy?

Pleasure: This’ll be fun!

Ash: Listen! Don’t go calling us friends, family, or anything like that

Dante: Hahaha! Come then, if you want! I’ll take you on any time

❤≪Dante≫ Seems happy

Pleasure: I feel like I’ve been saved by saving someone

Love: I’ve been saved by having Ojou-san by my side

~*End of Scene*~

Special Voice obtained. It can be heard in the Profile section

(Continue to Famiglia Epilogue)

(Continue to ED1: 700+ Amore)

(Continue to ED2: 400+ Amore)

(Continue to ED3: <400 Amore)

(Back to Directory)

#dante #arcana famiglia #vascello fantasma no majutsushi #chapter 5 #solar translations #psp game #translation #releases #wow it took a long time for heart reading to show up

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euphoric-melancholyy · 5 years

Text

The Secrets We Keep

I’m on a personal vendetta against “May’s abusive boyfriend” trope so I thought it would be fun to give May a really awesome, loving boyfriend who’s just a little confused as to why she lets her teenage son stay out til 1 every night and sleep somewhere else every weekend. Also, he’s friends with Tony Stark? Chris - May’s new boyfriend - feels like he’s missing something here.

I’m posting this instead of a fic rec today

Also on Ao3 and Fanfiction.net

May Parker hadn’t planned on stepping back into the dating scene, but then again she hadn’t planned on most of the important life events that seemed to shape her. His name was Chris. He was handsome, tan with dark hair and scruff that couldn’t quite be called a beard yet, and hooded green eyes that all the hospital patients commented on. Chris worked alongside her at Queens Memorial, exchanging quips about 90s pop culture and recipes to actually cook for Peter. He cared for his patients with a rare sensitivity to their needs, always trying to brighten their day and learn a little bit about what makes them happy. Like her, he was a widower, having lost his wife eight years prior to cancer. And she hadn’t planned on him crashing her little bubble, being a balm for the isolation of raising a super-powered kid who seemed to attract danger like a magnet. Not that she could tell Chris that.

But even so, he soothed her worries when Peter was out on patrol and being with him felt like relearning how to breathe. It felt euphoric, and scary and soothing and exciting all at once. She wasn’t sure when she had last smiled as much as she did when Chris entered the picture. It didn’t go unnoticed by Peter either, her newfound giddiness after long days at work now more commonplace than exhaustion.

After three dates, she tells her nephew, nervously twirling spaghetti around her fork as she awaits his reaction.

His eyes brighten as she speaks and he puts down his fork, eagerly leaning forward as she tells him about the Italian dinner he made for them on their last date. “That’s great, May! As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. I know Ben would feel the same way, by the way."

Peter’s lips are pressed together in a soft smile and she’s not sure why she’d been so worried to tell him. Pride overwhelms her in that moment, of who he is and his kindness, his inability to let the little guy suffer when he knows he can help. She might not love that he’s risking his life as Spider-Man, but she can still be proud of him for it. It coils in her chest with the near constant ebb of fear, but it’s warm and inviting and she’s not sure how she got to raise the best kid in the universe.

"He’d be so proud of you, Pete.” She beams at him before eating a forkful of spaghetti. “Spider-kid.”

“It’s Spider-Man, May.” He protests. “You sound like Mr. Stark when you make those nicknames.”

“Oh, we can’t have me sounding like him, now can we?”

“You already tag team me like divorced parents who stay friends, so I don’t see why not.”

“It’s called co-parenting,” she responds and Peter rolls his eyes.

“So when can I meet this Chris?” Peter asks and she doesn’t even try to stifle her smile at his eagerness. She might not be able to help him with homework or any of his Spider-Man activities, but this - this she can handle.

-/-/-

They set ground rules. The first and most important rule is that Chris can’t know Peter’s Spider-Man, at least not for awhile. It means Peter can’t leave his suit lying around or continue crawling on the ceiling out of boredom or stress or whatever reason he decides it’s a better place to pace than the floor.

They also agree not to tell Chris that he spends half his week with the Tony Stark.

(“People at school already tease me about it being fake and I don’t care, but…it isn’t normal for a random teenager to just hang out with Mr. Stark. And what if he connects Spider-Man? Then that puts him in danger too and I just, I- I don’t want him to know yet May.”)

This is a secret May still thinks she can handle — at least, for a time. If asked, she says that Peter has an internship with Happy Hogan.

And, in some weird twist of fate he never wants to experience again, Peter finds himself giving the talk. He’s beat red the whole time, cheeks flushed as he stammers through his explanation.

(“May, I-I have enhanced senses and um, I can hear your heartbeat. And I can hear a - hear a conversation happening two blocks over right now. So like, if - if he’s gonna spend the night, or something, please for the love of my innocence, let me be at the Compound. Or- or just tell me. I need a heads-up.”

“If your hearing is actually that good, I’m sure you’ve heard worse.”

“Yeah, but not from you and I never want to.”)

-/-/-

The second rule is broken three weeks after Peter meets Chris. Though they get along famously, Peter usually isn’t around when Chris is at the apartment. It isn’t planned, he’s just busy and overcommitted. At this point, it’s only his third time being in the older man’s presence.

They’re all at the table together, eating lasagna that Chris had made when Tony knocks on the door and May answers.

“Ah, Ms. Parker, lovely to see you as always. Mind if I borrow Peter for a few days? It’s for,” he glances at Chris and gives a signature fake smile and nod, “Internship stuff.”

“Uh, Mr. Stark, what are you - what are you doing here?” Peter asks, his voice getting higher the more he talks. “I thought Happy was coming, not that it isn’t great to see you. It is I just - I-”

“Happy’s in the car, kid.” Tony says, smiling to himself at Peter’s nervous rambling.

May sighs and side steps, inviting him in while Peter gets a bag together. “If anything happens to my kid Stark, I will personally come and kill you. FRIDAY will let me in and you won’t even see it coming.” She keeps her face stern for a moment, then breaks into a wide grin. “Chris, meet Tony Stark. Tony meet Chris."

Chris is unsurprisingly starstruck and confused, stumbling over his words in a way that May finds to be the most adorable thing she’s ever seen. "Hi, uh, hi. You’re I-You’re here? And you’re Iron Man. And Peter?” he stops mid-ramble and extends his hand. Tony takes it. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Stark.”

“Likewise. Peter’s told me a lot about you. Speaking of, kid, hurry up. I don’t have all day."

Peter runs back into the common area, backpack in tow and wearing his suit, sans mask, under his clothes. The red spandex peaks out at his wrists. Tony cocks an eyebrow at his protege.

"What?” the teen asks.

“Nothing. Let’s go."

Peter kisses May on the cheek, promising to be safe and update her three times a day, before following his mentor out the door.

-/-/-

The next night, they’re curled up on the couch together with May’s head on Chris’s chest and legs intertwined. The news plays softly in the background but May isn’t really paying attention.

"So when were you gonna tell me that you’re BFFs with a billionaire? With Iron Man himself?” Chris asks, running his fingers through her hair. There isn’t anything accusatory in his tone and May cuddles closer to him.

“We’re not BFFs. He mentors Peter sometimes with… science stuff. It all goes over my head. Peter asked me not to mention it. He doesn’t like drawing attention to himself."

"And Iron Man just whisked Peter off to. . ?” he lets his question trail off.

“Some nerdy science conference in Italy.”

“Damn, that’s-” he pauses, looking at the TV and pointing. On the screen, there’s a breaking news alert about The Avengers fighting another alien army, because apparently normal villains went out of style in 2012. “Wait, that Italy?"

She sees Peter, Spider-Man, next to The Hulk, Iron Man flying above as they fight off their oppressors. Everyone’s there - Cap and Widow and Iron Patriot and Hawkeye, but they are pulled away to another part of the fight. They’ve been fighting for at least half an hour when she watches as Spider-Man is thrown into a building. The bricks break with the impact and it begins to cave and she swears she stops breathing for a moment. It’s another five minutes before she sees him again, red and blue swinging around and webbing up the aliens. Iron Man fires his repulsors at the last big baddie and Hulk smashes their foe’s head half a dozen times.

"Don’t worry. I’m sure Peter’s fine,” Chris offers, his voice low and serious. “He’s at a conference, not fighting these monsters."

"Yeah.” It’s barely above a whisper and she takes out her phone when she gets a message from Peter.

Don’t worry. I’m okay. It’s gonna take more than that to take me out. Tony is going all “dad mode” on me. It’s embarrassing.

May looks up to the TV to see Iron Man cradling an injured Spidey and flying them to their jet. She smiles and types out a response.

I can see that. You did great, Pete. Take an ice bath or something, that looked like it hurt. Love you.

“He’s fine,” she says, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV.

“Told you,” Chris quips, leaning in to kiss her. It’s soft and it calms her nerves in a way she can’t explain. “So, you know Iron Man, but who’s your favorite Avenger?”

“I’m partial to Spider-Man. He is Queens’ local vigilante after-all."

"May Parker, a Spider-Man fan,” he teases. She throws a pillow at him.

-/-/-

“Shouldn’t Peter be home by now?” Chris asks one night. May glances at the time on her phone. It reads 12:33 a.m.

“He has until 1 a.m.”

“Isn’t that kinda late? I mean he’s only sixteen - he could get seriously hurt out there. Or partying and drinking his weight in-”

“He’s fine, Chris. Peter’s a good kid. I trust him.” She looks towards his bedroom door. It’s shut so he can just silently swing in. The crime has been quieter lately - thank god. No alien attacks or evil mutant who has it out for her kid. “His curfew goes back to 11:30 once school starts up."

Chris looks skeptical, but he’s not about to tell her how to raise her nephew. "Whatever you say.”

-/-/-

Peter’s body aches, muscles throbbing with the all-enveloping pain of post battle. Blood trickles down from around his left eye, which is now swollen shut. He cries, a short high pitched wince as he comes back into consciousness, his body pressing against a pile of rubble.

A sharp pain erupts at his most definitely broken ribs and he bites down another cry. He could hear someone calling his name in the distance, their voice muffled as if they were screaming underwater.

“Peter! Spider-Man!"

Peter groans, opening his eye as he tries to recall where he is but there’s a glint of red and gold blocking his sight.

"T'ny?”

“Yeah, bud. You blacked out there for a few minutes and I thought I’d come get you.”

“I’m o-” His word is caught on a hiss of pain as Tony lifts him into his arms and Peter curls into himself. “Shit.”

“Maybe don’t become a ragdoll for steampunk Ursula next time, okay?”

“Wha?”

“Otto Octavious - madman with mechanical arms. I’ll explain it to you when you’re more coherent. Pretty sure you have a concussion.”

Peter wakes later in the dim light of the medbay. Mr. Stark sits in a recliner next to him, checking and promptly ignoring his emails. Peter’s head throbs, his left eye still swollen shut, his body aching, but it’s duller than before, the pull of drugs making his mind fuzzy. He’s been stripped of his suit and looks down to find he’s wearing an old MIT hoodie of Tony’s and…his Hello Kitty pajama pants, great.

“Four broken ribs, a concussion, a skull fracture, and of course there’s that eye - I’ll get you an eye patch and you can cosplay as Nick Fury.” Tony remarks, looking to the kid.

“Better that than these pajamas. Really, Mr. Stark?”

“Punishment for scaring the shit out of me,” he says with a smirk, but the rest of his face betrays his cool demeanor. There’s worry lines etched into his expression that furrow his brow and dark bags under his eyes. His hair is disheveled and Peter has the urge to reach out and fix it, but decides that would be weird. It’s strange to see his mentor like this, so unguarded and worried, and not TV ready. Tony isn’t even trying to hide it, which seems to be the worst part for Peter. He hates that he caused this.

“I’m sorry. Thanks, for - for saving me.” Peter says with a sheepish smile.

“Don’t mention it,” Tony says, reaching a hand out to ruffle his hair. Peter leans into the touch. “Actually do. Please mention it to your lovely Aunt. She gets off at two tonight so I’m gonna drive you back. Don’t worry, I’m sending some Captain America level narcotics with you for all that,” his hand makes a circle in the air, gesturing to Peter’s everything.

Peter gets home at 1:45, the hood of Tony’s sweatshirt pulled over his head in a sad attempt to hide his eye and some dry blood caked into his hairline. The smell of homemade pizza overwhelms his senses before he even walks in the apartment. It’s odd, May rarely cooks especially in the middle of the night.

“Hey hon,” Chris calls as Peter walks through the door. He’s standing in the kitchen, looking in the oven. “I thought I’d make you some dinner befo- oh my god Peter!”

Peter freezes, trying to stifle the panic that’s bubbling in his chest. Chris is already by his side less than a second later, hesitantly pushing the hood off Peter’s head and examining his eye with a concerned what the hell happened?

“Uhh…I was jumped? Yeah. Jumped. I was jumped.”

Chris considers him for a minute, soft gaze searching Peter’s in a way that makes him uncomfortable, like he’s learning something new. “C’mere,” Chris’s says, voice low and laced with so much concern that Peter doesn’t even protest as he follows him to the couch.

“I already went to the doctor. Mr. Stark took me. Really Chris, it’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Even if you already went, I’m worried and I’m a doctor, and I’d feel a lot better if you let me look. Please, Peter.”

The way he says Peter, it’s not unlike how Tony says his name sometimes, like a whispered prayer for him to be okay, and it breaks his resolve. Slowly, Peter lifts the hoodie over his head and tosses it to the floor. Chris gasps and it’s full of surprise and fear and all the emotions Peter wanted to avoid for at least a week, and Peter chances a look down. His torso is littered in bruises of varying shades and there’s a cut along his stomach. He can feel the medicine Dr. Cho gave him wearing off and it hurts.

“Pete,” the older man whispers, hands held in suspension above Peter’s ribs, like he wants to touch them but he’s terrified of causing anymore pain. “Your ribs…You-”

“They’ll be fine in a few days. I have a concussion too, so can I just,” Peter sighs, resting his head against the back of the couch. It’s soft and comforting and he’s just so ready for this day to be over. “Go to bed, please?”

The door opens in that moment and May walks in. She’s wearing blue scrubs and her hair is tied in a loose ponytail. Immediately she locks eyes with Peter, and her face crumbles as she rushes over. “Peter, baby! I- Tony said you were in a fight, but this…”

“I’m fine, May. Really. It really wasn’t a big deal. It’s not even worth worrying over.”

May shoos Chris to the side and sits down in between them. Her eyes run over Peter in a professional way, ending on his swollen eye. One of her hands goes to cup his cheek, “Okay, first off you cannot possibly say it’s not a big deal when you look like this. What did Dr. Cho say?” Her thumb brushes over his temple and a scowl replaces her worried look. As if wanting to prove her point, a gut-clenching pain shoots through him and he pulls his knees to his chest, sucking in air when his ribs protest painfully.

“A couple of broken ribs, skull fracture…” Peter whispers, wishing his metabolism didn’t work its way through all the painkillers in five minutes.

“And a concussion,” Chris reminds, his hand resting on May’s knee.

They look like a team, Peter thinks, and May’s presence had calmed Chris’s erratic heartbeat the moment she came home. The idea elicits pangs of guilt on top of everything - guilt at the lies he and May have concocted to keep his identity of Spider-Man safe. He wonders how hard it’s been on May and Chris’s relationship, how many white lies she’s had to tell, but he pushes the thought down and focuses on the throbbing in his head instead. At least that can be dealt with, he thinks, and asks May to get his medicine from his backpack. She hands it to him with a sad gleam in her eyes. It makes him want to crawl under the nearest blanket and hide from their sympathetic glances.

“Really May, it’s nothing I can’t handle. Just everyday stuff,” Peter tries to reassure her.

“Peter, you were jumped,” Chris says, his tone serious. “That’s not an everyday thing, or at least I hope not. It’s a big deal and it’s scary. Your ribs are broken for god’s sake. Your eye is swollen shut. I just-” Chris pauses, looking down at the cut along Peter’s ribs. May’s brows furrow in confusion at the mention of Peter being jumped, but she quickly schools her expression.

May sighs. “We’ll let you get some rest, okay superhero?” She offers her hand to help Peter get up. He takes it and stands. “Call if you need anything. We’ll be right here.”

“Thanks May. Thank you, Chris.”

He’s asleep not even ten minutes later, lulled by the concerned whispers of May and Chris from two rooms over. When he wakes the next morning, his body is sore, but his eye is almost back to normal.

-/-/-

Five months have passed when May wakes to the shrill of “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath playing from her phone at 3 a.m. Peter had thought it’d be funny to set it as her ringtone for when Tony called and she never got around to changing it back. Her bedroom is coated in darkness, save for the light from her phone and she squints at it. Chris is wrapped around her like a koala, arm slung over her stomach and lips pressed to the back of her shoulder.

“ ‘Ello,” she yawns as she answers, her eyelids drooping and the remnants of sleep threatening to pull her back in.

“May,” Tony’s says, his voice serious and raw with emotion that she’s never heard from the billionaire and it scares her, wiping away all the tiredness and replacing it with fear. May shoots out of bed, trying to keep her breath even but it fails. “Peter’s alive, first off, so don’t worry about that. He’s okay, kind of, well, he will be. He’s - he was shot earlier on patrol - twice. The damn kid. And Happy is on his way to get you, he should be there in ten minutes, so-”

“Peter was shot?” she whisper-screams, the words knocking the air from her lungs. And she can’t help it, the way her mind immediately goes to Ben on that fateful night, Peter at the police station covered in her late husband’s blood, silent sobs racking his body. The edges of a panic attack seeps in at the memory and her heart is going to beat out of her chest and she can’t breathe, she can’t breathe, can’t breathe, can’t-

She hears someone call her name, but she isn’t sure where she is anymore, and her mind takes her back to that first night without him, an inconsolable Peter wrapped around her muttering apologies between broken sobs. Peter didn’t go to sleep until noon the next day. She’s at Ben’s funeral, and there’s flowers everywhere - bright and vibrant and sickening wisps of color among black suits and dresses and her husband’s cold body. Everyone comes up and shakes her hand, offering words of comfort and food, but she doesn’t want any of it. Peter’s at her side and she squeezes his hand, tries to reassure him (and herself) that it’ll be okay. Peter nods, his eyes red and his motions slow and robotic and Peter-

Peter. This is about Peter. Peter’s been shot.

Her world comes back into focus and she sees Chris kneeling in front of her, sleep mussed hair and wide green eyes full of concern. His thumb wipes at a tear on the apple of her cheek and she presses the phone to her ear. Tony is still talking, telling her to breathe and that Peter’s okay and Happy’s almost there.

“I’m sorry,” she chokes out a sob. “Tony, I…”

“It’s okay. He’s gonna be okay. He has to be okay,” he pauses. “Do you want me to stay on the line?”

She leans her head on Chris and her eyes flutter closed. He wraps his arms around her and it’s grounding. Peter’s alive. Peter isn’t Ben. Peter’s alive. She repeats it over and over, a silent mantra and she realizes both Chris and Tony are waiting for a response. “I…” she speaks into her phone. “Chris is here. I- I’m okay,” May hangs up and turns her attention to Chris.

“Peter was shot. He - I have to go. I - Happy, he’s outside I gotta-”

“Let me go with you,” Chris says. And god, she wants him too. She wants to curl into his side in the car and tell him everything, but she knows she can’t do that to Peter. Not right now. He asked her to keep his identity safe, to keep Chris safe, and that’s the least she can do when her nephew is out saving the world every night.

“I need you to stay at the apartment, please I- I know you want to come, but I need you here. I’ll be back in a few days. I just - I’m sorry, I need to go.” She kisses him, soft and quick and rushes out the door before he can protest.

-/-/-

Unable to process the night’s frightening turn of events, Chris is left standing at the doorway. He had called multiple hospitals looking for Peter, but none of them seemed to have anyone that matched his description. It wasn’t until May called the next morning saying that Peter was okay and recovering at the Avengers Compound, that he figured out why.

Why is he at The Avengers Compound, May? That’s insane he had said, but she acted as if it was normal, saying that Tony preferred treating him there. When he asked about what happened, she said it was an unfortunate wrong place, wrong time, but that it didn’t matter now because he was okay.

Now, five days later, Peter and May were coming home. He waits inside the apartment for them, pacing the living room as he cleans the countertops for the seventh time in the few days they’ve been gone. He can hear laughter down the hall and it takes him a moment to realize it’s them. Peter is rambling excitedly about something - he can’t tell what - and he stops as the door opens. What he doesn’t expect is to see Tony Stark behind her, his arm around Peter’s shoulder, beaming at a perfectly healthy, energetic kid. It throws him for a loop how domestic they look.

Like a family.

And that’s when it hits him. The internship, the nights at the Compound, the easy banter, Stark taking care of him after he’s injured. Chris pauses his inner monologue, sweeping the group from head to toe with his gaze. “Wait…Is Peter Tony’s secret son or something?”

Fin

#irondad fic #spiderson fic #irondad and spiderson #iron dad and spider son #peter parker #tony stark #alex writes #my writing #let me know if you like this please #may parker #in this house we love and respect aunt may #irondad and spiderson fic #iron dad and spider-son

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a-secondhand-sorrow · 5 years

Text

supermarket flowers

I love Zoe and I’m Sad

trigger warnings: suicide mention, implied abuse, swearing

title from supermarket flowers by ed sheeran bc I’m basic

read on ao3

***

Even through the haze of grief right after Connor died, there were moments that stuck through. Moments of clarity, of happiness, of extreme sorrow. Moments when she could see everything through her old viewpoint, even when she could barely stand without feeling like she was falling.

Even years later, Zoe remembered the endless arrival of cut flowers.

After news got around, it seemed like the doorbell was ringing at all hours with another flower delivery, or lasagna, or flower delivery, or unannounced company, or flower delivery, or sympathy card, or flower delivery—

It came to the point where the doorbell ringing echoed around her brain just as much as Connor’s voice did, although with the former it really was ringing half of the time. It was certainly more than she heard either of her parents speak in that time, and more than she felt like speaking herself. The pleasantries between delivery people where the only words she spoke with another human, really, in those days.

(It wasn’t like she could muster much more energy to engage her parents or see her friends, not when her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and there was a voice-no, a ringing-no, a voice-or was it a ringing?-constantly at work.)

Pretty soon, she was choking under the sheer number; vases of flowers lined every flat surface in the house common areas, peppered with cards and notes. Some actually brightened her spirits whereas others just sunk her right back down. Cynthia adored them, often wandering into the kitchen to view them while she took a break from staring into space on the couch and crying. Larry couldn’t get far away enough from them, retreating even further into his proverbial shell, and Zoe was starting to understand why as she found herself face-to-face with another flower at every turn.

She didn’t need tons of flowers to remind her of what had happened. She appreciated the gesture, sure, but her family didn’t need another flower arrangement delivered to their door when they barely began to puncture the broken bubble taking all of the air in their home. The flowers made it real yet detached, like something out of a movie. She knew no one sending the flowers really understand what that grief felt like. And she didn’t hold it against them. They couldn’t possibly know that, for her, it was as though her life had just been completely demolished in the space of one final breath.

The flowers wouldn’t fill Connor’s seat at the table. The flowers couldn’t erase all of the times he’d screamed at Zoe ‘til he’d gone hoarse. The flowers wouldn’t fill some brother-sized hole in their family. The flowers couldn’t erase Connor’s dead body from their minds.

The flowers couldn’t hurt her like Connor did.

(And there were so many it was possible they were going to start taking over Connor’s seat, but in the poetic flow of the moment Zoe chose to overlook that fact.)

She also just didn’t have the heart to remind her parents she was allergic to pollen.

She was at the kitchen table—with all of the flowers, and a slab of lasagna even though she hasn’t been hungry in a week—when she googled something she knew she’d regret.

As she pulled her phone out of her back pocket, she could’ve sworn she saw Connor looking at her from across the table, but when she looked up all she saw was a judgemental poppy staring at her.

She stared back for a moment before swiping Google up and keying in the letters of her search.

showing results for Connor Murphy obituary

She never actually read it before then. Either Larry or Cynthia had written it some point between the hospital and the wake, but Zoe hadn’t brought herself to be able to care enough to read it. She was too caught up in how screwed up it was, that at sixteen she had to worry about shit like what the obituary for her brother would be or what to wear to the funeral.

But there was nothing else to do, since some foreign part of her felt guilty when she hid away in her room instead of suffering it out with her parents. All of the contact made something just under her skin itch, and the pollen was starting to make her feel a little loopy, as well as the fact that the shock was starting to wear off and the reality of Connor being gone had sunk in. She’d pushed it away, still expecting Connor to come flying into her room in the dead of night and threaten to kill her just as their new normal had become. The frozen reality of it still thawed slowly and steadily, trickling its way through cracks into her memory.

Pushing away her fears, she clicked on the first link, screen smooth against her calloused thumb.

Connor Murphy, 17, passed away surrounded by family early Tuesday morning at St. Peter’s hospital. Connor was a high school student at Woodcreek High and had just begun his senior year. Connor is survived by his younger sister Zoe, 16, and his parents Larry, 49, and Cynthia, 48.

A beloved son, brother, and friend, Connor was an avid reader and could frequently be found at the Woodcreek Public Library at nights and on weekends ever since he began his trips with his parents as a young boy. On several occasions, he discussed his love of the book The Little Prince, being able to read it fluently both in English and in its native French.

Wake services will take place at the Morris Funeral Home from 5 to 8 PM on Thursday the 8th of September. A private funeral service for family will take place the following day. At his parent’s request, donations can be made to the National Suicide Prevention Center at the following link.

That was it, save for directions to the funeral home.

Zoe read the blurbs again, searching more and more as though it could provide some insight as to who her brother actually is-was. But there was nothing there. It was quick, polished, forgiving of her ‘beloved’ brother. She felt anger coil in her, tight around her heart. Where was the real part of his life, the parts where he spent all his free time getting high and terrorizing Zoe? Where was the part about how he loved weed more than his family? Where was the part about how he spent the past few years trying and failing to kill himself? Where was the part about how he tried to take Zoe down with him? Where was the part where he decided destroying anything near him was preferable to getting help?

(Going to the library every night. Please. She and her parents knew plenty well he wasn’t haunting the library when he wasn’t home ‘till 2 AM.)

His favorite book was the Little Prince. She didn’t even know that.

Maybe Cynthia was right. Was she was too caught up in every bad part to even try to find a positive?

(Did he go to the library? It’s not like she ever asked.)

(But that he would have told her. Or been civil.)

Her throat constricted and her already pollen-itchy eyes began to water as she wondered why she was even crying. He didn’t deserve her knowing his favorite book. He was broken beyond what Zoe could help. She’d tried to help him, she’d tried to give him her love, but all he’d done was throw her trust away time after time.

She’d tried to help.

Because there’s Zoe, she remembered, and all my hope is pinned on Zoe.

She didn’t really believe herself.

She didn’t even know his favorite book. She’d learned it from his obituary, where every past tense verb hit her like a punch in the gut.

(Where she’d been mentioned as a throwaway, a survivor, nothing more than an add-on to her brother’s life, just as she had been while he still lived and breathed. Where it treated surviving as some kind of privilege rather than a duty, a duty she now had to carry since he hadn’t been willing or able to do so. Where she almost felt bad for not being the name the obituary shared, in some kind of fucked up survivors’ guilt, even though it felt more like survivors’ envy.)

She’d learned something as juvenile as his favorite book from his obituary, sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by cut flowers, at age 16.

Zoe shook her head quickly, hair swishing around her face. The tiny sting against her cheeks focused her just a tiny bit, the din of tuning and his voice pausing.

She just wanted to feel normal. But there was nothing normal about her life, at that moment. Her father was home from work, hiding in the basement or his room or maybe even plain sight, just blending into the walls of the living room. Her mother had barely moved from the couch in several days, too distraught to walk past her brother’s room. She was home on a Monday afternoon in September, all school work forgiven. She’d just learned her brother’s favorite book from an obituary she’d looked up online. She was sitting in a kitchen that practically doubled as a plant nursery, eyes so itchy they were ready to fall out.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.

A day or two after Connor died, Cynthia had announced the family was going to grief counseling, the first session being that Monday afternoon. Zoe already had an appointment scheduled with the school counselor for when she finally returned to school. She didn’t know why. She was coping just fine. Connor was an abusive jerk and her life was easier without him there to kick down her door.

She knew what would come next. The counselor would ask her to say out loud what he put her through, and it would all sound stupid once she said it, but she’d still get pushed too far and probably have a panic attack or something and all the while the counselor would be saying she’d been misinterpreting his behavior and she’d never given him a chance and she clearly should have given him a supportive network rather than been self-absorbed and taking it personally. She’d have to excuse herself to go to the bathroom and to work herself down from sinking to the floor and breathing until her lungs gave out, all because she didn’t know how to explain just why she took what he said so personally, how much every word he spoke hurt, how much she grieved him while he still stood in front of her. She’d engineer some lie to tell Cynthia so she’d never have to go back, but only once her pulse had calmed down and the tears had dried on her cheeks.

She was just fine without the counseling.

At least if she could stop sneezing from all the damn pollen.

And then she was crying, even though she didn’t really know why she was crying. Pressing a hand over her mouth, she tried to cover the sobs for a moment before she finally gave in and lay her head on the table in her arms.

Only when she pushed her arms out, they collided with a vase of carnations.

Before she even really knew what she was doing, that anger coiled up in her again and she batted out a hand, sending the flowers in their vase toppling to the floor with a shatter that evoked one too many nights in the Murphy household.

She stayed like that for a moment, letting her heart rate slow down even as her hand stayed raised. She could swear she heard a cruel, taunting laugh filling up the room, and her hand flickered with a ghost of chipped black nail polish.

Seems more like something I would do then you. Don’t worry, though, I’m impressed. Guess you do take after me, after all?

Zoe was up in a flash, hand gripping her fork so hard her knuckles paled to white, a bit of lasagna flying off of it when she spun around.

The kitchen was empty, besides her.

She threw the fork back to the table, savoring the clink it made as she remembered that he was gone and nothing more than a voice in her head and a phantom memory.

As she eased herself back down, she tried to forget about the flowers around her and the old memories of what had happened at the table. There were some things that she didn’t want to drudge up, especially while tears were still drying on her face.

Neither of her parents had even made a sound when she’d broken the vase. She thought about cleaning it up, and wondered if she was a bad person for wanting to leave it for Larry or Cynthia to take care of.

Because she really wanted to. They’d always left Zoe to clean up her own messes while they ran after Connor putting out all the fires he set. Now that Connor was gone, it was much of the same. They’d barely stopped to ask Zoe if she was okay, much less tried to help her get through it.

Which she didn’t need. Obviously. It just would’ve been nice to know they remembered that they had a daughter, one who had real feeling and problems, not just a son who was (a sharp inhale drawn from nose, eyelids fluttering) six feet under ground.

Before she could fully decide what to do with the vase, a knock sounded from the front door. A frown creased her face, unused to a knock rather than the doorbell (the damn doorbell) running. She paused for a minute, a waiting game to see if either of her parents would make a move towards the door and not leave their only (another sharp inhale, paired with a bitter half-laugh and quirk of the lip she knew exactly the cause of yet really didn’t want to think about) child to do all the work.

Neither made a sound, as usual. She would think she was the only one left if she didn’t know better.

Silently cursing whoever invented flower deliveries for the umpteenth time that week, Zoe padded her way through the kitchen and down the hall towards the door. She couldn’t see anyone through the window, but she opened the door anyway. There was no one in sight, and she nearly eased the door back shut and slunk back down the hallway. At the last second, she looked down at the mat to see-

More flowers-colorful, mockingly cheery, aggressive.

At first she was angry, but as the sight of the flowers got processed in her sluggish, tired brain, she could tell that they were different from the ones inside of her house. They weren’t cut. Instead they were potted in a plastic pot, looking a little sad even though they were so abundant. They looked like something you’d pass at the supermarket. Zoe didn’t know much about flowers, but she did know these were bright. A folded-up note was stuck on top of the pot, Zoe scrawled on the front in unfamiliar handwriting.

These were hand delivered, and they were for her, specifically. Not her family. Not for “their loss.”

For her.

With a twinge, Zoe realized she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had something all for herself.

After a moment’s pause, Zoe bent to pick the pot up, sticking out one hand to pluck the paper from the flowers. Without thinking she sniffed them before immediately turning to sneeze into her elbow.

If she never saw another flower after that, it would be too soon.

Damn pollen. Damn allergies. Damn doorbell.

Once she got to the kitchen table after sidestepping the broken vase, she unfolded the note.

Dear Zoe,

I know that everything can be a little overwhelming, and I saw that you had a lot of flowers, so I thought that having some of your own that will (hopefully) survive a little longer than the cut ones couldn’t hurt. (Too many flowers over all? This may have been a poor plan, in hindsight.) But I know I feel a lot better when taking care of a plant or two. It’s calming for me at least, so maybe it can be a little calming for you, too.

Things might be a little chaotic, now, but I know you’ll pull through, and hopefully this little plant will with you.

-Evan

Zoe smiled almost imperceptibly, a tiny little quirk of the lips, but it was more than she had smiled in what felt like a long time. She glanced over at the other side of the table where Evan Hansen had sat for dinner a few nights previously before looking back at the flowers he’d given her.

They were a little sad, but she figured she could get them to perk up again with work and a little time, and probably some google searches. Maybe she’d even forget about Connor and the upcoming therapy session for a minute while she tried.

The flowers were kind of cute, really. And it was nice of Evan to drop them off, given he didn’t know her at all. Hopefully she wouldn’t kill them too, just like it seemed she killed everything else.

She sneezed again, her allergies taunting her and asking her if that was what she really wanted.

Stepping over the shards of glass and heading to the kitchen for some water, she decided that, well, it certainly couldn’t hurt to give those supermarket flowers a second chance at life.

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