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threecrowsinatrenchcoat · 3 years

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Plant Your Hope With Good Seeds

Dukeceit Week Day 3: Snakes/Bugs

Remus and Janus break up. But literally everyone knows that's not what they want. Everyone, including their plants.

AO3 Link: [here]

Word Count: 4337

Warnings: n/a

@dukeceitweek <3

Unknown Number

hey so i kno i said i wouldnt text u but rupert isnt doin good. can i bring him back? he misses u

Janus stared at the text for several minutes. Rupert was, of course, the Monstera Variegata that he and Remus had raised together all the way from propagation. It had been one of the pride and joys of their plant collection. Losing Rupert in the split had hurt almost as much as losing Remus.

...Almost.

Janus

Is it getting enough light? Remember it needed the grow light even next to the window.

Janus texted back against his better judgement. He and Remus were broken up. They’d agreed not to text for a while. They’d agreed to give each other space, get used to being apart.

It sucked, though. The apartment felt empty without Remus and half their plant collection.

Unknown Number

ya i kno. but i don’t have any south facign windows here. our place is better

Unknown Number

i mean ur place

Janus sighed morosely. Well, if it was for Rupert…

Janus

Fine. Rupert can come back.

Unknown Number

yay! ill be in town this weekend. ill bring him ok?

Janus

Ok.

And then Janus promptly threw his phone across the room.

Because here’s the thing. Janus and Remus were broken up. Remus had moved eight hours away and everything. He’d been accepted into the Nuclear Engineering graduate program a state away, and they had both heard too many horror stories about long-distance relationships to brother trying. So they’d had a very civil and mutual split. Janus kept the apartment. Remus took the TV. And they’d divided their plant family between them: they each kept their favorites, and Remus had taken the hardier plants, while Janus kept the ones that were likely not to survive an interstate move.

And then… Remus left.

And Janus had not immediately wanted him back. Not at all.

(And, of course, Janus was lying to himself.)

Remus texted him Saturday morning that he was on his way, and Janus spent the first few hours of the wait stress-cleaning. He then checked on every single plant in the apartment. Watered the ones that needed it. Rotated some of the more vivacious growers so that they wouldn’t lean full-body toward their light source. Moved his small army of Sansevierias out to the apartment balcony for some extra sun.

Then, when all that still failed to fill up the entire eight hours of waiting, he started stress-cooking. So by the time Remus texted that he’d just gotten off the highway, Janus had himself a pot of minestrone soup simmering on the stove, a tray of made-from-scratch lasagna in the oven, and was mixing up a batch of double chocolate chip cookies.

There was no way he was going to eat all this food himself, he realized. He was so used to booking big meals like this, because Remus ate like he was three people. And lasagna was his favorite.

“Oh, Jake, what am I doing?” he groaned to the N’Joy Pothos that cascaded down the side of the refrigerator. And then his doorbell rang.

Janus opened the door to find Remus, dancing awkwardly from foot to foot, with his face half-hidden behind the green-and-white leaves of Rupert.

“...Hey,” Remus said, sounding sheepish. Janus’ heart clenched.

“Hi,” he said. They stood there in the doorway for a full minute before Janus stepped back and motioned for Remus to follow. Remus hesitated, but obeyed.

“Uh… I’ll just…” Remus looked around. Janus hated how uncomfortable he looked. Until about two weeks ago, this had been Remus’ apartment, too. “Can I put him in his old spot?”

“Sure,” Janus replied with a nod. Rupert’s old spot had been in the bedroom, where the big, beautiful south-facing window let in a ton of light. He’d moved Venus de Milos, his Marble Queen Pothos, and La Hoya Jackson, the finicky Hoya Carnosa that Remus had wanted but didn’t expect to make the 8-hour drive without going into shock, to free up Rupert’s spot. Remus hesitated again, before he nodded awkwardly and wandered off to the bedroom, all three feet of plant and two gallons of soil in tow. Janus went to the oven and took out the lasagna.

“Howl looks good,” Remus said when he came back into the kitchen. Janus glanced up from where he was laying balls of cookie dough out onto baking sheets.

“Thank you,” he replied. Howl was their dramatic fiddle leaf fig tree, which had decided to throw a fit just before Remus left. “I switched it to a terracotta pot with peat moss and pearlite, and doubled its water intake. It seems to be tolerating it well.”

“Good.” There was a long pause. Then,” How are you?”

Janus looked back to the cookies. “I’m doing well,” he lied. “And you? Do you start class soon?”

“Next week,” Remus answered. “And, uh. Yeah, I’m doin’ good.” Another long pause. “Uh… I’ll just. Head out, I guess.”

“You could stay,” Janus blurted out. Shit. “For dinner, I mean.” He gestured to the tray of lasagna, fresh from the oven. “If you want.”

Remus gave him an uncharacteristically shy smile, then nodded slowly. He didn’t say anything, though, so Janus just gestured for him to take a seat at the table. And then he joined him, a plate of lasagna for each of them.

“So tell me, how’s living with Roman again?” Janus asked, a few bites into the meal, because he could not take the awkward silence a moment longer.

“It’s ok,” Remus answered. He shoveled another forkful of lasagna into his mouth. “This is really good, Jan.”

Janus smiled softly. “Thank you.” A pause. “Roman doesn’t mind all the plants?”

“Nah, he’s dating this guy Patton who apparently loves plants, so the apartment being full of houseplants is a huge plus to him now.”

“Good for him.” The oven timer went off, startling him slightly. He started to get up, but Remus waved him off.

“I got ‘em, you did all the cooking.”

Janus didn’t protest. Remus got up and took the cookies out of the oven. And he even moved them to a cooling rack like Janus had taught him to do. He came back to the table.

“How’s work?”

Janus sighed. “Oh, terrible as always,” he answered. “I really must start looking for a new job.”

“Finally getting fed up?” Remus teased. Janus rolled his eyes. More seriously, Remus continued, “You deserve better, Jan. You gotta find some place that treats you right and pays you what you’re worth.”

“Thank you, Remus.”

“And hey, just sayin’, I still think you’d make an excellent stripper.”

Janus snorted at that. “I haven’t fully ruled out that particular career change.”

They fell easily back into their usual banter, lingering late into the night over a dessert of milk and cookies. It was pushing 10pm when Remus glanced at his phone and cursed softly. Janus glanced at his phone as well.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you so late,” he said. Remus shrugged.

“Nah, it’s cool. Thanks for dinner, Jan. It was real good, as always.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Uh… well, the plan was to stay with Logan, but I guess he had some kind of family emergency, so I don’t wanna trouble him. I’ll probably see if I can find a hotel room.”

Janus’ brow furrowed at that. “Why don’t you just stay here?”

“Oh, uh. I don’t wanna trouble you. I kinda feel like I already overstayed my welcome a bit?”

“Nonsense. A hotel room will cost you at least $100 for the night, and that’s simply ridiculous,” Janus insisted. “You should just stay here.”

Remus worried at his lip, which Janus knew meant he was mulling over his options. Then, he nodded. “If it’s not a bother?”

“Of course not. You’re not a bother, Remus.”

Remus’ eyes softened, and he smiled. “Ok. Thank you. Oh… lemmie go get my overnight back outta my truck.”

When Remus came back inside, Janus had just about finished making up the couch.

“Hey, you don’t gotta get all fancy,” Remus teased. “You know I can sleep basically anywhere.”

“This is for me,” Janus replied. He fluffed up one of the pillows a bit more. “You take the bed.”

An odd look flashed across Remus’ face. “No way, Jan. I’m good on the couch.”

“Remus, you just drove eight hours, and you’re doing it again tomorrow. I am not letting you fuck up your back.”

‘I don’t-”

“Yes you do, no matter how often you say you can sleep anywhere,” Janus scoffed. “You can’t lie to me.”

Remus’ eyes softened, and after a moment, he sighed. “Ok, Jan. But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You hate sleeping on couches.”

“It’s only one night-”

“And don’t you work tomorrow?”

“Yes, but-”

“You’re going to be so grumpy at work without a proper night’s sleep.”

“I’m usually grumpy at work anyway,” Janus pointed out. Remus snorted.

“Ok, that’s true. But I don’t want you to be even grumpier,” he said. “Let’s just share the bed.”

Janus eyed him for a moment. This was a terrible idea. They should not do this.

“Ok,” Janus said anyway.

They got ready for bed in awkward silence, which just made Janus miss Remus’ long, rambling chatter that much more. When Janus finished in the bathroom, he found Remus sitting gingerly on what used to be his side of the bed. Janus came over and sat down on the other side.

“Hey, uh… thanks,” Remus said. “For lettin’ me stay.”

“Of course,” Janus answered. “I… I still think of you as a friend, Remus.”

At that. Remus grimaced slightly. He didn’t say anything, seeming unable to find the right words. Before he could, Janus pulled back the top blankets on the bed and laid down. After a moment, Remus did the same.

“Good night, Remus,” Janus said quietly.

“...Good night, Janus,” Remus answered. Then he reached over and shut off the light.

Remus played that night over and over in his head in the days after he got home, and each and every time, he was just as stumped.

He knew, in his brain, why he and Janus had broken up. It had been the only thing that made sense at the time, when the facts were just that Remus was moving away to pursue a lifelong dream, and Janus would never ever try to stop him from doing so. So they broke up. It made sense… right?

But… That morning, he’d woken up to Janus curled up in his arms, face smushed against Remus’ neck, and… Remus had completely forgotten why they had even broken up in the first place.

Remus was back at Roman’s apartment, now. Eight hours away in his own cold bed, arms empty of the man he loved, just staring at the ceiling. A sharp knock on his door snapped him out of his daze.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty,” Roman called. “Don’t you have class in like an hour?”

“Fuck!” Remus scrambled to get up, but succeeded only in rolling out of the bed.

“Don’t forget to lock the door when you leave,” Roman added. Clearly he was unconcerned by the loud “thump” of a body hitting the floor.

“Yup, got it,” Remus groaned in reply. He staggered, successfully this time, to his feet.

Getting dressed was a rushed affair of ‘grab whatever’s closest,’ and soon he emerged from the bedroom with one shoe on, the other in his hand, and his backpack slung over one shoulder. He rushed into the kitchen to grab the travel mug of coffee Janus always set out for him in the mornings. And then the realization hit: Janus didn’t live here.

Remus dropped his shoe.

The rest of the day went about as well as it could have gone without any coffee- that is to say, terribly. He got lost trying to get to campus, then he got lost again trying to get to class. Then he got stuck in traffic on the way back to Roman’s apartment. And then, to top it all off, the grocery store had been out of his favorite chips.

So here he was, mopey and chip-less, and fucking exhausted. He dumped his backpack and collapsed face-first onto the couch. Roman, who happened to be sitting on said couch, made a noise of protest.

“Move, I need to sulk,” Remus mumbled, though his voice was thoroughly muffled by Roman’s thigh, since that was where his face had landed.

“What on earth do you need to sulk for?” Roman asked incredulously. He moved to shove Remus off of him, but Remus went full ragdoll, and Roman couldn’t do a damn thing. “You are a grown man, you know.”

Remus turned his head just enough to stick his tongue out at Roman. Roman stuck his tongue out back.

“I had a terrible day, I earned a good sulk.”

“Didn’t like your classes?”

“Nah, they were great.”

“Professors?”

“Great.”

“Classmates?”

“Great.”

“Then Zeus Almighty, what are you so mopey-dopey about?” Roman remanded.

Remus squirmed around so he was laying on his back, head still in Roman’s lap, to look up at his brother. “So… uh… you promise not to get all, like. I told you so and shit?”

“You miss Janus!”

“No! I-”

“You do!” Roman crowed triumphantly. Remus rolled onto his side so he didn’t have to look at his brother’s dumb gloaty face.

“...Maybe,” he groaned. Abruptly, he clamored to his feet and started for the stairs. “I gotta go build a chair.”

“Carpentry won’t solve your relationship problems,” Roman called after him.

“I know,” Remus called back. “Wrong type of wood.” If Roman had a response to that, Remus was already out the door and didn’t have to hear it.

Patton found him out in front of the apartment building some time later, a jigsaw in hand, and a pile of cut wooden dowels at his feet.

“Hey, kiddo, what are you up to?”

Remus looked up from where he was balancing a plank of wood precariously across a milk crate, because his work table was one of the things he’d had to leave behind at Janus’ place.

“Oh, hey. Ro-bro’s upstairs.”

Patton gave him the sort of smile teachers gave to the kid they caught eating glue for the fourth time. “That doesn’t look super safe. Do you want any help?”

Remus took in Patton’s soft blue sweater and the dad-jeans from the nicer end of his closet, as well as the reusable grocery store bag that smelled suspiciously like some kind of lovely home-cooked meal; he shook his head. “You look dressed for a date night,” he said. “I don’t wanna fuck up two relationships this week.”

Patton’s eyes, impossibly, got even bigger and softer than they normally were, which honestly was quite the feat. He walked over to the stairs but, instead of making his way up to Roman’s apartment, he plopped down on the third step, facing Remus. Remus stared, bewildered.

“Uh, what’chu doin’ there, pops?”

“Well, it just sounded like you needed to talk,” Patton replied cheerfully. “So here I am.”

Remus stared a moment longer, somehow even more bewildered than before. “Uh…”

“I know I haven’t known you very long,” Patton continued. “But something tells me you’re the type of person who busts out the power tools when you’re upset.”

“How the hell can you tell that?”

Patton glanced over his shoulder, then leaned forward slightly. “Because,” he said, voice lowered conspiratorially. “I’m like that too.”

Remus blinked. “You?”

“Yup! I replaced all the tables and chairs in my house with ones I made myself after my last breakup,” Patton giggled. “Only two of them collapsed when I sat in them, too!”

Remus glanced down at the jigsaw in his hands, and then he sighed. He set it down, and went to sit next to Patton on the steps.

“Ok, well. Yeah, maybe I’m kinda upset.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah? No? Maybe?”

“Yup, those are your three options!” Patton teased. Remus rolled his eyes.

“Ok, fine. You win, daddy-o. I’m upset because I miss my boyfriend. Or, well, my ex-boyfriend. I want him to be my boyfriend again.”

“Have you told him that?”

“Of course not,” Remus whined.

“Why not?”

“Because… I mean. It wouldn’t change anything. I still moved away. And I don’t even know if he’d want to be my boyfriend again either. Maybe he’s happier now.”

“You don’t know that,” Patton said gently. “Sure, maybe the circumstances aren’t the best right now, but if you both want it, things have a funny way of working out. But you have to talk to him.”

“I…” Remus paused. And then he sighed deeply. “I guess you’re right. Hey thanks, that did actually sorta help.”

Patton offered him a gentle smile. “Of course, Remus! Any time!”

“Hey!”

They both turned to see Roman standing at the top of the stairs, arms crossed.

“My own brother, hogging my boyfriend like this! The betrayal-”

“Relax, Ro, he’s not my type,” Remus shot back. “I prefer sarcastic little menaces.”

Patton giggled at that. He stood up and patted Remus on the shoulder. “I hope things work out,” he said. Remus smiled back.

“Yeah, I hope so too.”

Really, he just wanted Janus to be happy. Ideally with him, but if Janus was happier without him, well… so be it.

- - -

Janus was miserable.

“Dude, c’mon,” Virgil grumbled, immediately upon seeing the state of the apartment. “You’ve been watering your plants and filling the humidifiers, but you can’t be bothered to throw out your gross pizza boxes?” A pause. “Wait, you don’t even like pizza, what the hell.”

Janus just shrugged. After letting Virgil and Logan into the apartment, he’d gone straight back into blanket-burrito-on-the-couch mode. And really, he’d only bothered to get up and let them inside in the first place because Virgil had threatened to axe down the door- and Janus knew for a fact that Virgil owned multiple axes.

“I believe he is engaging in what is described as ‘emotional eating,’ or using food as a coping mechanism in a time of stress and emotional turmoil,” Logan said helpfully. Virgil just huffed.

“That’s fine and all, but Jesus Christ, dude.” He gestured around the livingroom where… ok, yeah, it was a mess.

“Did you two come here just to insult me?” Janus grumbled. His face was half-mashed into a pillow, though, so who knows how much of that was actually discernible.

“We came to make sure you were still alive,” Virgil snapped, indicating that at least most of what Janus had said was discernible. “You weren’t answering any texts.”

“Yes, and you called out of work three days in a row,” Logan added. “We are concerned for you, Janus.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Janus lied from the comfort of his depression blanket burrito. He was not particularly surprised when neither Virgil or Logan looked even remotely convinced.

“Alright, drastic measure time,” Virgil growled. He walked over to the window, and picked up the young Burgundy Rubber Tree Janus had yet to name. Janus sat bolt upright.

“Virgil? Don’t you dare-”

Virgil walked past him and vanished down the hall. When he came back, his hands were empty, and he had a smirk on his face.

“Oh, fuck you,” Janus hissed. He dragged himself up off the couch to go rescue the poor thing, finding it stashed in the dark, windowless bathroom. When he came back to the livingroom, Virgil and Logan were sprawled across the couch.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Janus set the rubber tree back on the windowsill alongside the Snake Plant Army. “Ok, I’m up. Are you heathens happy now?”

“I take offense to that,” Logan muttered, while Virgil just crossed his arms and said, curtly, “Spill it.”

“Spill what?”

“Why are you so upset?”

“I’m not upset-”

“Falsehood,” Logan interrupted. “I have known you since high school, Janus, and I have never seen you like this before. It is highly alarming.”

“Is this about Remus?” Virgil asked.

“No,” Janus said immediately. “Of course not.”

Virgil and Logan exchanged a Look. Janus groaned.

“Fuck. Ok, fine. Maybe it is.”

“Was that so hard?” Virgil asked.

“Yes.”

“You-”

“Janus,” Logan interrupted Virgil’s retort. “It is my understanding that emotional distress is often alleviated through, as they say, ‘talking it out.’ It is clear you are not handling the break-up as well as you initially believed-”

“Of course I’m not!” Janus snapped. He took a deep breath, and turned back to the plants on his windowsill. Kaa, the Sansevieria Moonshine Remus had gotten for Janus as an anniversary present last year, was already leaning slightly toward the window again. He rotated it, and a few of the other snake plants on the sill. And then he realized the others had been quiet for far too long. He turned to find them both watching him with sympathetic expressions. “What?”

“Keep going,” Virgil prompted. Janus sighed. He felt exhausted.

“Of course I’m not,” he said again. “Because I love Remus.”

“And?” Virgil prompted.

“...And I didn’t want us to break up,” he finished, feeling glum. Wordlessly, Virgil stood up, and approached Janus, arms out. Janus stepped into the embrace. Nobody said anything; Janus didn’t cry, but he stood there for a long time. Then, he stepped back.

“Thank you,” he said, and he meant it. Virgil gave him a small smile. Logan cocked his head, seeming confused.

“I don’t understand. You just… needed a hug?”

“Hugs are great, Logan,” Virgil replied. “You should try them sometime- hey, where are you going?”

Janus strode past them both, beelining for his bedroom to find his laptop. Over his shoulder, he answered, “To fill out some job applications.”

- - -

Remus was outside building a new bookshelf- because Patton was moving in, and Roman's teenie-tiny sad little excuse for a bookshelf, which held only Disney DVDs and no actual books, wouldn’t suffice for all of Patton’s cookbooks- when his phone rang. Which was weird, because nobody ever called him, because he never fucking answered.

“Not interested, Mr. Spam Man,” he crooned over the sound of the generic iPhone ringtone. He was learning how to do kerf bending for this bookcase, and goddamn it he wasn’t going to be distracted by-

His phone started ringing again. He swore and ripped off his gloves to silence his phone. But as he did so, he realized the number flashing across his screen was a familiar one.

“Janus? Are you ok?” he answered the call, half panicked, because Janus hated phone calls almost as much as he did.

“Hi. Yes, everything’s fine.” Janus sounded slightly hysterical, which made Remus feel even more frantic. “Where are you?”

“I’m at Roman’s. Are you sure you’re ok-”

“Great, don’t leave. I’ll be right there.”

“What does that mean-” Remus demanded, but the line was already dead. Remus swore again. He briefly considered calling him back, because what the actual fuck was that all about, but he was only about 30 seconds into that brief consideration before a familiar car tearing through the apartment complex parking lot caught his attention. He quickly brushed as much of the sawdust off his clothes as he could because holy shit Janus had just parked right there in front of Roman’s apartment.

Remus watched, dumbfounded, as Janus scrambled out of his car- dressed in his very nice black suit and pale yellow button-up- and came running across the lawn toward where Remus was working. He had a tiny plant clutched to his chest.

“Uh, Jan, you good?” Remus asked. Janus stopped in front of him and doubled over, breathless, for a few moments. Then, he straightened up, and fixed Remus with a look of sheer determination.

“Remus. I want to get back together.”

Remus’ heart, the traitorous bastard, leaped up into his throat and blocked all his words from coming out.

“It’s… it’s ok if you don’t want that,” Janus continued. His look of determination faltered slightly. “It’s ok. But I needed to tell you. Because I love you, so much. And I… I didn’t want you to think I didn’t, even if you don't-”

Remus found his words abruptly. “Jan, fuck! I do! I do love you. I never stopped loving you. All I want is to be with you.”

Janus’ eyes softened. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Good, because I’ve just been offered a job here.”

Remus choked. Janus was eyeing him smugly. “You. Just like that, you got a job here?”

“Just like that,” Janus grinned. “I just came from the interview. They offered me a position on the spot.”

Remus couldn't help himself any longer. He lurched forward and pulled Janus tightly into his arms.

“Hey, be careful,” Janus said, though he made absolutely no effort to get out of Remus’ embrace. “You’ll crush our new son.”

Remus pulled back just enough to look at the small plant Janus held in his hands, and only then did his brain register what it was.

“Is! Is that-”

“Yes,” Janus replied, holding up the tiny Drosera Capensis seedling. Remus had wanted one of these for ages.

“For me?”

“Well, for us, ideally,” Janus answered, with a shy smile. “But, mostly for you, yes.”

Remus gently plucked the baby octopus plant- their new son!- from Janus’ hands, and placed it carefully on top of the milk crate that was serving as his carpentry workbench. Then, he hoisted Janus up off the ground and spun him around.

“Oh- Re-” Janus exclaimed, though he was laughing. “Put me down!”

“No!” Remus trilled. He spun Janus around once more. Then he just stood there, holding Janus, gazing up at him. Janus’ eyes grew soft. Slowly, he carded his fingers through Remus’ hair.

“Hey,” Janus said.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Remus set Janus down, but kept his arms still wrapped tightly around him. His heart felt warm.

“Hey.”

Janus looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“I love you, too.”

#dukeceit #dukeceitweek #remus sanders #janus sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #kye writes

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t-lostinworlds · 5 years

Text

Subverting Expectations (Shawn Mendes)

A/N: Am I being extra with the title? Maybe haha. Anyhow, here’s a quick birthday blurb I wrote that may suck since I really wrote this in a few hours (yay me *gives self a cookie* aslkalska) Hope you enjoy!

AND HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY TO YOU SHAWN! ILY

Summary: Shawn expected his birthday to not be as happy since you couldn’t make it, but it was his birthday, of course there was a surprise.

Warnings: Fluff and typos.

Word Count: 2.2k+

Masterlist in Bio

-:-:-:-:-

"Come on man, lighten up, it's your big day. I'm sure she has a good reason why she can't make it." Brian tried his hardest to comfort the birthday boy, but much to no avail, Shawn didn't even bother to move a muscle. He was all bundled up in his bed on the bus, a deep frown etched on his face as he stared blankly at the conversation shown on his phone.

They were on their way to New York at this hour to celebrate his 21st birthday, but Shawn couldn't find his excitement anymore as he re-read the two text messages his girlfriend of 2 years, sent him just last night and one this morning.

iMessage from Y/N: Hey bub, I am really really reallllyyy sorry to tell you this over text but I don't think I can make it to New York :(( Something came up with work and I can't say no unless I want to jeopardize my job. I feel soo awful right now but I will make it up to you in due time, I promise. I love you with all my heart my wonderful rockstar. Happy birthday. xx

iMessage from Y/N: Hey baby, my boss just said it's a no phone event so I won't have access with my phone the whole day. I really am so so sorry Shawn :// I will make it up angel I promise. I love you loads x

Shawn had been so thrilled for months on end leading up to this day, not only because he was turning into the big twenty-one but he was finally going to see her after months of being away. But now, even that plan has flunked and he wasn't sure when he was going to see her, if it was sooner or later.

The young man's hopes were definitely crushed with those simple text messages, and he doesn't even have the energy to get up anymore. Sure it may sound a bit too extra, but he just misses her so damn much and he was looking forward to celebrating this special day with the love of his life.

"Bro, don't make me drag your ass out of bed." Brian's voice echoed around the space again, followed by a loud thump as a pillow was thrown right at Shawn's face, making him drop his phone on the floor.

"Seriously dude?" The curly boy reached for the device with a groan as he shot his friend a death glare, to which Brian only shrugged. "We're almost there, get up or I'll be throwing something less soft than a pillow."

"Okay fine. Jeez, I didn't ask you to become my dad all of the sudden." Shawn grumbled, sitting up fully with a deep sigh as he ran a hand through his unruly hair.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she sends all her love to you dude. And she would want you to have as much as you can; it's your big day." Brian gave his friend a reassuring smile, trying his best not to say anything or else Y/N would definitely kill him for good this time.

"Yeah, I know. I just really wish she was here."

***

"Does he suspect anything?"

"Not a single clue. Idiot has been moping around the whole day." Connor chuckled as he helped you with your bag, loading it in the car as quick and as low key as you can, making sure both of you will go unnoticed.

Connor's alibi of buying more film not raising any suspicion in Shawn's mind, and you were thankful.

You couldn't help but feel bad a little though, knowing that he was probably so gutted when he found out you couldn't make it, or at least that's what you made him think.

What you told him wasn't entirely a lie, but you've managed to charm your way out of the situation, thankful that your boss was an understanding person. You owe that woman a lot.

Though the last text was totally made up, since you can't find the courage to lie to him more when he calls you, and knowing your man, you best believe he's going to blow up your phone.

Besides, he is turning 21 after all, a little surprise won't hurt.

"And none of you has managed to slip something up this time?" You raised an eyebrow at your companion, Connor scoffing in response as he placed a palm flat on his chest, feigning offense.

"Are you doubting our ability to keep secrets Y/N?" The young boy teased, to which you only roll your eyes. "Oh please, I haven't forgotten Amsterdam." You stated, still remembering how both him and Brian managed to slip that you weren't missing Shawn's first show after all.

"Touché."

"Come on, party starts in a few hours and I need to get ready." You laughed as you nudged Connor to get in the car, the boy nodding with a chuckle of his own as he slid in the backseat.

This was going to be a fun party.

***

You went straight to the back once you got to the venue, keeping your head down low as you met with Jake who stood just beside the cake that sat at the table.

"Hey there kiddo." The big man chuckled as he brought you in for a hug, you returning the gesture with a bright smile of your own, casting your eyes at the cake once the two of you pulled away.

"Is it heavy?" You asked, wondering if you would be able to carry it with ease without it toppling over. It was a cute cake to say the least – a simple three tiered cake with the colors of blue, pink and purple in swirls, sort of like a galaxy with the tour flowers littered everywhere along with musical notes, and of course, with a guitar right up top – and you definitely don't want it to end up on the floor.

Jake only gave you a knowing nod as he gave the cake a once over. "It's nothing you can't handle."

You flashed him a genuine and grateful smile. "Thank you so much Jake. Are we set?"

"Yup, you should hear Brian yell in just about a few minutes."

***

Meanwhile, Shawn was across the room from where you were hiding, constantly checking his phone to see if you had responded to any of his texts, also while trying to keep up with the conversation with his friends.

Shawn had a smile on his lips while he talked, going around and thanking each person for coming and for greeting him happy birthday, but that smile never did once reach his ears for the whole duration of the party.

He was being a Debbie Downer at his own birthday bash but he just can't help it. He hasn't spoken to you the whole day and he was worrying himself sick just thinking about where you are and if you were okay.

It was maybe the hundredth time he's checked his phone when Brian pulled it straight out of his hands.

"Dude what the fuck?" If looks could kill, Brian would've been straight up dead as Shawn glared at his friend, nowhere near pleased with what he did.

"Relax man and enjoy your party! You're being so grumpy right now and you're ruining the mood." The ginger boy joked, punching Shawn's arm playfully with a loud laugh.

Shawn sighed, a hand threading through his curls as he thought about how awful it might have looked, that he was mopping around when a lot of people went their way to celebrate his birthday with him. "Fine, I'm sorry. Just give me my phone back."

Brian did so as he handed the 21-year-old his phone, giving his arm a comforting squeeze as he said. "Just enjoy your night man and besides... It's cake time!" The boy yelled the last part at the top of his lungs, making sure that his voice was heard through the loud thumping music.

Everyone cheered at Brian's announcement, the DJ quick to transition the tune to the usual happy birthday song as the crowd sang along. "Happy birthday to you..."

People started to slowly make way for the cake at it slowly approaching the birthday boy, the crowd singing with bright smiles as the sparklers on the cake glowed high and bright, just enough to hide who was actually carrying it.

Shawn smiled, waving his finger in the air as if he was conducting an orchestra as he was relishing his moment, giving his friends and family thankful glances, heart filled with nothing but love and gratitude from them.

"Happy Birthday dear Shawwwn, happy birthday to you!"

A series of applause was heard soon after, Shawn laying his eyes back on the cake as the sparkler started to die down, but before it could fully go out, Jake came into view, taking the caking away from the holder's hand.

And when Shawn finally saw who it was, he felt his whole world halt, full stop.

"What? Did you really think I'd miss your big day?" You giggled, tilting your head to the side as you opened your arms wide. Shawn stood frozen in his spot for a split second, glancing at Brian who shoved two thumbs up in the air before casted his eyes back on you, a mixture of shock, and confusion followed by pure joy flashing on Shawn's face as his brain finally registered what's in front of him. And that was when he ran – like really ran – into your arms as he buried his face right on the crook of your neck.

“You’re so sneaky. I hate you but I love you.” The boy whispered against your skin, his voice soft and gentle but with a little hint of annoyance that you couldn’t help but giggle.

A chorus of Aww's filled the air as Shawn held onto you as tight as he can, scared that if he lets you go, you might disappear before his eyes. Your heart was melting at the seams as you rubbed his back comfortingly, the more so when you heard a soft sob escape his lips.

"Oh baby, are you crying?" You pulled away slightly with a pout, hands going to cup his face to get a better look at him and sure enough, your boy stared right back at you with glossy eyes, bottom lip quivering as he lets out tiny sniffles.

"I just miss you so much." He croaked, resting his forehead against yours as he grips at your waist, the look in his eyes enough to make your tear up a little, an adoring smile on your lips as you pulled him down for a sweet and loving kiss, both of you sighing in a combination of pure relief and content to finally be this close again.

The howls and cheers from the people around you made the two of you pull away with wide grins, a giggle heard from you as wiped away the tear the ran down his cheek with your thumb before your finger got lost in the mesh of his curls and oh how you've missed that feeling. "I miss you too Shawn, happy birthday bubba."

Shawn's never left your side after that. He was somewhat attached to your hip as the two of you went around to room to great new and old friends. Him introducing you to some people with that proud smile on his face and that made your heart grow ten times its normal size.

It was an hour later and a few drinks more when you can tell that he was close to being fully drunk as he can’t seem to keep his hands to himself anymore. Always leaving kisses on sensitive spots and trailing his hand too far down your back as you sat on his lap right on the couch.

"Can we go back to the hotel now please? I just wanna love on you." Shawn whispered in your ear, a pout on his lips as he looked up at you with those pleading eyes.

You couldn't help but giggle at your boy, shaking your head in the process as you boop his nose. "You can't ditch your own party you dork." Shawn shot you a wink, bottom lip now caught between his teeth as he chuckled deeply. "Watch me."

A hearty laugh filled the air as you threw your head back, his offer sounding tempting but you can't just steal him from his own party now can you? "Okay how about I make you a deal: you be a good boy for the rest of the night, enjoy your party, have the greatest fun and in return, I'll be your good girl after hours."

Before Shawn could even get a word out, you dipped your head lower, placing a soft kiss just behind his ear as you whispered, "Plus, I have one more surprise for you later tonight too." You felt Shawn shudder a little under you, hopeful and now blown out eyes looking at you expectantly, a growl like chuckle rumbling in his chest.

"Oh really now? Then it's a done deal miss."

And throughout the rest of night, the birthday boy had the widest smile the world could have ever had the pleasure of seeing, so grateful to be surrounded by so much love and so happy to have you by his side to celebrate this special day that would for sure be a night to remember.

The more so when it was finally left to only you and him back at the hotel, alone and in love with all the time in the universe.

-:-:-:-:-

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13-reasons-ideas · 4 years

Text

Finding Peace In Another Part 25

A/N: This chapter contains some smut. Additionally, Jake’s death is heavily referenced in this chapter so please be respectful of the discussion and how it plays out. posting this one early. I couldn’t wait anymore. This chapter is heavy on the angst. It is also pretty long, so sit back and enjoy. I’m sorry if the spacing is weird. Much love. Word count: 6655

That Thursday night, Monty stayed the night at my house again. I had begun to find it harder and harder to sleep without him with me. We slept curled up in my bed together under the blankets. He woke me up the next morning with soft kisses from my shoulder all the way to the top of my head. “Good morning.” I smiled, groggily.

“Good morning cutie.” He smiled back. I rolled over and rested my head on his chest.

“It’s not usual for you to be up before me.”

“I know.” He replied, carding his fingers through my long hair. I’m a little overdue for a haircut.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just couldn’t sleep anymore.”

“Mmkay. How about we just stay here today? I’m too comfy to get up.”

I felt his chest rise and fall as he chuckled. “I would love to Becks, but there’s a game tonight. I have to go to school. And don’t you have plans with Justin at lunch?”

I groaned in response. “Tell Coach you have to stay here and cuddle me. I shall keep you here where it’s warm. Justin will understand.” “Becca, I really would if we could. Come on, time to get up sleepy head.” He began sitting up, moving me to the side some. My head hit the pillow again and I snuggled back into the comfort of my bed. “I will pick you up and carry you if I have to.”

“Mhmm, yes dear. That’s nice.” I muttered back, half asleep.

“Rebecca, you need to get up now.” He laughed. Wonder how he likes a taste of his own medicine. I groaned in protest as I rolled over and sat up, running a hand through my hair.

“Fine. I’ll get up. No after game cuddles for you though.”

“You say that now. When we win, your tune will change.” He smirked, confidently.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t, you’ll be explaining more about our private life than I would like to Coach.”

Monty smirked at me again before he put his arm around my waist and under my knees, picking me up before setting me down again. He then proceeded to go about going through my closet for some clothes for me. I cleared my throat. “I can dress myself you know.” I told him, a little grumpy from being physically removed from my bed.

“I know.” He said. He gave up on trying to find me actual clothes, so he turned his attention to my underwear drawer. When I realized what he was doing, my eyes widened.

“Montgomery.” I exclaimed, throwing my arms in the air.

“Hmmm?” he hummed, as he began digging through my undergarments.

“That is my underwear drawer.”

“Very astute of you Becks. You know where your laundry goes.”

I sighed and walked towards him, before I began pushing him from my room. “Out.”

“But-.”

“Go make a bowl of cereal or something.” I pointed to the stairs and shut the door. Going through my underwear. Seriously. I can’t believe him sometimes.

Downstairs, I found him standing by the coffee pot, on his phone. He looked up when he heard me. “Yeah, you did much better than I would have.”

I looked down at my outfit. I didn’t think it was anything that special. I had simply grabbed a black and white tank top to go with the black maxi skirt and blue overshirt to wear. Since my hair was slightly too long to manage, I had thrown it into a messy bun and did some quick makeup. “It’s not that special, but okay.”

“Becks. If you hadn’t kicked me out, you would be better off wearing your bunny pjs to school.” I thought for a moment and decided he was probably right. He passed me a cup of coffee and I took a long sip.

“Yum. Thank you, babe.” I went around the house and gathered the last-minute things I needed for the day. As I looked around the main floor, I couldn’t help but feel like something was off in the house. It’s probably nothing.

Monty had been right when we told people. By the time we got to school today, people mostly ignored us, instead interested in something someone else did that was shocking. He met me at my car and walked me to my locker, before kissing me and heading off to find his friends. Bryce wasn’t at his locker thankfully. Classes were busy, as we were getting close to the end of the year. This is so not how I expected this year to go.

Lunch with Justin was nice. We avoided the cafeteria and ate outside in the sun, something I couldn’t really do at home in April because of rain or snow. Some things about California are nice. Still could use universal healthcare though. “How have you been?” I asked, watching him separate his lunch.

“Good.”

“That’s good. You and Jess are good?”

“Yeah. How’re you and Monty?”

“We are good. He made me get up this morning though.”

“Made you?” He asked, leaning back as he ate his sandwich.

“Yeah. Picked me up and put me down.”

“Oh wow. Didn’t want to get up today, I take it?”

“Nope. I was very cozy in my bed.”

“Hey guys.” Zach waved to us, walking over.

“Hey Zachy. How was bio?” I asked.

“Better than history. Are you coming to the game tonight Becca?”

“I can’t tonight. I have some stuff to take care of though.”

“Bryce’s after?” Justin asked me.

I tried to keep a straight face when I responded, “I’ll try to make it out. You guys planning on winning tonight or will there be a need for more consolation cookies?”

“The goal is to win. Would you make us congratulations cookies?” Zach asked.

“I can see. It depends how much time I have this weekend.”

“Chocolate chip?”

“Do you want chocolate chip cookies, Zach?”

“Maybe?” He grinned.

“I think I can make that happen.” The bell rang before we could really talk more. I really need to find some time to talk to Justin about how he’s doing.

I got home from school a few minutes after four and I knew something was different when I pulled into the driveway. I had a feeling. When I walked in the door and saw my dad’s travel briefcase by the door, I sighed. Wonder how long he will be in town this time. I shook my head and decided to get a head start on my homework for the weekend and worked on it for a few hours before I got hungry. Monty texted me before the game started and I hadn’t responded yet, so even though I knew he was on the field I shot him a quick text. I hope you’re having fun babe. Wish I could have been there tonight, but I’m swamped with school stuff. See you in a while. I didn’t mention that my dad was home as it didn’t seem pertinent. It was around seven thirty by that point and I knew the game would likely be ending soon, so I went to the kitchen to make myself a snack.

I almost dropped the knife I was using to cut myself some cheese slices when my dad cleared his throat behind me.

“Fuck.” I gasped.

“Do you have anything you want to explain to me Rebecca?” He asked, accusatorially.

I made a confused face before turning around to face him, “no? And hello to you too.”

“Really? No? That’s your answer?”

“Yes?” What the fuck is his problem?

“Nothing at all you want to explain? Not a single thing?”

“No Dad. Do you think I need to explain something?”

“I do actually.”

“What?” I asked, completely lost as to what he was on about.

“Maybe we can start with why when I got home last night and went to your room to check on you, there was a boy in bed with you.”

“Are you serious?”

“Very serious. Start explaining young lady.”

“I don’t have to explain shit to you Dad.” I shook my head, trying to walk around him with my snack.

“You live in my house. You damn well better explain yourself.”

“You wouldn’t know it’s your house by looking at it.” I muttered.

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit. We can discuss that next. Now explain.”

“He’s my friend. Figured you would be happy I’m not just in the house alone.”

“Why would you sleeping with some random guy make me happy?”

“He’s not some random guy. He is my friend. Not that you would know anything about that.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means Dad, that you’re never here.”

“I am so.”

“One or two weeks a month doesn’t count.”

“Bull.”

“It’s not. Look at your fucking calendar for once and take note.” Before I could continue, there was a knock at the door. I stopped arguing with my dad for a moment to look. He had walked out of view of the door and I went to answer it. Standing on the other side of the door, were Monty and Scott. It’s like he knows when I’m busy. “Hey guys, it’s not really a good time.”

“What’s up?” Scott asked.

“Who’s at the door Rebecca?” my dad called from behind me.

“Just a friend from school.” I called back to him. “I have to go but I’ll see you in a bit okay?” I said quietly.

“Is everything okay Rebecca?” Monty asked, very concerned.

“Yeah, its okay. I’ll explain later. Bye guys.” I shut the door before they could answer me. The fight with my dad picked up right where it left off.

“I work for a living Rebecca. I have to go to work in order to pay the bills so you can live here.”

“Trust me. I know.”

“Do you have any idea how ungrateful you sound right now?”

“Do you have any idea how much of an asshole you are?”

“Watch it. You’re on thin ice as it is.”

“Oh, whatever Dad.” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Your brother never would have acted like that.” He said, venomously. I felt the wind get knocked out of me.

“Don’t fucking talk about Jake. Especially not like that. Not with me.” I was fuming now.

“Why not? He wouldn’t have. He was my son. I think I know how he would act.”

“How? How would you have any idea how he would act right now? You were hardly home when we were kids.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“It is so true Dad. Mom stayed home when we were little so you could go on your business trips. When we got older, she got a job where she would be home right after school, so we weren’t alone when you were out of town. And then….” I had to stop, to keep the tears from spilling.

“And then I was home.” “Yeah. You were home because your wife was dying so she couldn’t take care of the two of us on her own anymore. You came home because you had no choice. Don’t act like you did it for us.”

“Well who else was going to watch you?”

“That’s not the point Dad. As soon as her funeral was over, you were scheduling your next business trip. You left your kids alone at home two weeks after our mother had died. And you had no issue with doing it.”

“You were old enough to take care of yourselves.”

“I was sixteen Dad! Jake was eighteen. We weren’t fucking old enough to take care of ourselves. Not after that.”

“Well you seemed to do just fine on your own together.”

“Just… just fine? I’m not sure you remember but your son fucking killed himself while you were on one of your stupid trips.”

“You think I could forget something like that? That I could forget having to get on a plane because my son was missing?”

“Well you could have fooled me.” My dad rolled his eyes and didn’t say anything else. “You never even asked me how I was or if I needed anything. You just told me that we were moving to California and started making plans.”

“Don’t act like the idea of moving wasn’t nice to you.”

“It wasn’t! I never wanted to move. I never wanted to move here. I wanted to stay at home. I have people at home. You took me away from everyone and everything I had ever known, right after I lost the most important person in my life. And since you seem to think I was so okay with moving and you’re so convinced you are parent of the goddamn year, why don’t we talk about the fact that you literally fucking stayed in town long enough to hook up the utilities before you were gone on another business trip? I’ve been raising myself since Mom died. More so now, since it’s just me in the house.”

“I can’t do anything about where work wants to send me and when Rebecca.”

“That’s crap and you know it. You didn’t have to leave less than two weeks after we moved.” Again, my dad had no response. I’m not stupid. I know you think I am, but I’m not.

“We aren’t talking about me. We are talking about you.”

“Actually, we are talking about how you think you’re an amazing parent or something equally untrue.”

“No, we aren’t.”

“Dad. You left me home alone in a foreign country. A country with the right to keep and bear arms. You thought that was a safe idea? If it was my kid, I would be overjoyed that she isn’t home alone every night.”

“Jake would never have had a random girl in the house without consulting me first.” I saw red now.

“I told you to stop talking about him. You had no idea what he was like or who he was as a person.” I turned on my heel and grabbed Jake’s jacket from the banister, making for the door.

“Rebecca Catherine Samuels. We are not done this conversation. Get back here.” I ignored him. “Don’t you dare open that door.” I ignored him again and yanked out the door. I was about to step out when he spoke again. “Fine. Go. Have fun living it up in your dead brother’s jacket. Bet the boys find it so attractive that you wear your brother’s jacket around.”

I stopped briefly. “Go fuck yourself.” I growled, slamming the door shut behind me.

I stomped my way over to Bryce’s house. I was too angry to even consider the fact that I was going to be in his space once again. Party goers noticed my expression and the way I was walking, quickly making a clear path for me. Upon entering, I spotted my boyfriend, our friends, and Bryce gathered down the front hall. Marching up to them, I took Monty’s cup right from his hand and slammed the rest of his drink back. He and the small group stared at me, wide eyed. They seemed shocked at my actions. I turned my attention to Bryce. “Do your parents try to parent you when they get home from their trips?” I asked, still angry.

“Yeah, sometimes.”

“Is it as infuriating as what I just experienced?”

“Sometimes.” He answered, sharing a look with Monty and Zach.

“What happened Becca?” Justin asked.

“Are you okay?” Monty asked, reaching for his cup to take it away from me.

“Fucking peachy. And what happened Justin, is my dad got home last night. And today he decided to go off on me for no fucking reason. By the way, he knows you spend the night now.” I directed my last sentence to Monty. His eyes widened in fear. “I told him to deal with it. He’s the one who made me move here and decided to leave me home alone all the time.”

“You got into that bad of a fight because Monty spends the night at your place?” Scott asked, scratching his chin.

“No. We got into that bad of a fight because he proceeded to try and play father of the decade and ‘talked’ about Jake. He was hardly around when we were kids. He didn’t know shit about him. That’s why I’m infuriated with him.”

“Holy… I’m sorry Becca.” Zach said, pulling me into a hug and rubbing my back.

“Do you need a place to crash tonight? I’m sure Mom and Dad would have no problem with you sleeping in Clay’s old room for the night.” Justin offered.

“I don’t know Justin. I don’t want to impose.”

“It wouldn’t be an imposition. I’ll call mom and we can stop to grab your bag on the way to my place.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I felt familiar arms going around my waist and leaned back against my boyfriend. He kissed the top of my head gently. I began calming down some, being in his arms. “This is nice and all, but that beer was terrible. I need a real drink.” I told him, sighing.

“Okay, let’s get you a drink then.”

He took my hand and we walked to the kitchen. He poured me a bourbon and Coke and I paced myself a little bit drinking it. When it was empty a while later, I went and got a vodka Diet Coke. That one didn’t last as long as the bourbon, mostly because I could hardly taste the alcohol in it. Deciding that would be my drink of choice for the evening, I went in search of my third and a half drink of the night. When I had a thought of Jake or the fight I had with my dad or Bryce, I drank some more, and it went away. I wasn’t so drunk that I couldn’t stand, but I was pretty confident I wouldn’t remember much of anything in the morning.

Monty or one of my friends must have been watching me and told him to cut me off, because before I could have number five or was it six, my cup was removed from my hand. “I think that’s enough for now Becks.”

“But-.”

“No buts. Come with me.” I thought for a moment, but the look on his face said there would be no use in arguing. He took me by the hand, giving my drink to Zach as we passed him, and led me to an empty, secluded area. I trust Montgomery completely but the thought of being alone with a boy in this house made me queasy. I tried my best to chock it up to the alcohol I had consumed.

He sat on the floor in the hall near what I assume is the master bedroom, given its lack of people, and patted the spot next to him. Reluctantly, I sat down cross legged and he rested his elbows on his knees. “What’s going on Rebecca?”

“Nothing. I’m fine Montgomery.” I told him. Sure, my vision is blurry, and my head feels all cotton-y, but I’m fine.

“No, you’re not. I’ve never seen you drink like this before. Zach called Bailey. He told him he’s never seen you drunk before. He has known you for years. And don’t try to say you weren’t allowed to drink at home until you were fifteen, because my point stands.”

“He called Bailey? Why?”

“Because he’s worried about you Becks. I’m worried about you.” I looked down at my feet. I thought about telling him what was going on, but Bryce’s words replayed themselves in my head. You may be Monty’s flavour of the week, but he is my brother. So, if you do decide to talk, he will take my side. Instead of responding, I leaned my head on his shoulder. He placed one of his hands on my knee and we sat in silence for a while.

I watched him draw patterns on my knee absently and smiled softly to myself. I heard the words coming out of my mouth quietly, rather than just thought in my head, “I love you.” His hand stopped drawing for a few seconds while he thought about what I had just told him. He seemed to be trying to tell if he had heard right. He was quiet for a while. “You don’t have to say it back though. No pressure or anything.”

“I love you too.” He said, equally as quietly. I lifted my head from his shoulder, and he moved to cup my face with one hand. I leaned in and kissed him. I had to pull away to adjust slightly but after I had, I kissed him again. I could taste the alcohol in his kiss, and he pulled me closer to him by my waist. We pulled away and leaned our foreheads against each other. I giggled, giddily. I didn’t expect the first time I told him I love him to be when I am heavily intoxicated but hey. It seems to have worked out.

“Becca? Monty?” We heard Justin’s voice from around the corner.

“I guess that’s our cue that it’s time to get up and get you to bed.”

I nodded, beginning to feel sleepy. He stood first and offered me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up.

“There you are. Do you want to head out now? Mom said it is no problem for you to spend the night tonight.”

“Okay. I’ll just write dad a note saying I’m staying with a friend tonight.”

“Sounds good. I’ll let you know when we get to my place Monty.”

“Thanks Justin. Have a good night beautiful. Take some Advil before bed.”

“I will.” I agreed. The three of us walked to the door and I turned to give Monty a bear hug. Or at least, what could pass for a bear hug in my current state. “I love you.” I said into his chest.

“I love you too.” He spoke into my hair.

Justin took me home to get my things and I woke up the next morning in the Jensen’s guest bedroom. I didn’t remember everything about the night before, but I did remember talking to Monty and what feelings were confessed. I sighed as I got up and got changed out of pyjamas and made my way downstairs. His family was very kind, as usual, and soon it was time for me to head home and face the music. I walked into the house quietly and tiptoed past my dad’s office. The door was mostly shut, and I could hear him typing away. The remainder of the week at home was very quiet between the two of us. I was a lot more cautious about closing my door if Monty came over for the night.

School was still busy, and I was finding it harder and harder to focus. Monty and I spent almost every lunch hour together, trying to make up for all those lost hours while we were seeing each other in secret. Friday was one of the few nights our team had a bye week, so they didn’t play. That meant that Monty could come over after school. We confirmed our plans over our morning coffee from Monet’s before class. In history, I gave Zach his congratulations cookies. He beamed all class. The rest of school passed mostly uneventfully. There was a fire drill, but that was the only real exciting thing.

We got home from school and studied for a bit in my room, sneaking glances at each other the whole time not really focusing on our work. My dad was out of town for the weekend again, so we weren’t in a rush tonight. I managed to somehow finish my paper before he crawled over to me and whispered, “anything else you need to do?”

Whispering back as I nodded “there is this one thing. Though I’ll enjoy it much more than a stupid History paper.” I pulled him close and kissed him deeply, feeling his arm come up to hold the back of my head. He pushed our books out of the way, being careful of my laptop, before moving me up the bed. I made quick work of removing his flannel and T-shirt as he worked on unbuttoning my top. He kissed my neck as I ran my fingers through his hair. Once he had my shirt unbuttoned and slipped off, he moved to the button of my jeans, waiting for permission as he rubbed that sweet spot near my hips. “Yes.” I breathed and the word was barely out of my mouth before he was undoing my jeans and pulling them off. I felt his hand play with the waistband of my underwear before he pulled at the sides, taking them off. He teased me for a bit, never really touching where I wanted him to and never staying in one place for very long. My moans got louder, and I bucked my hips trying to get him to touch me where I wanted it most. I felt him smirk and finally touch me. I gasped in ecstasy, pulling on his hair harder than I meant to. He chuckled against my neck and nipped at it drawing more sounds from me. As he kissed my neck and rubbed me, I felt his finger enter me. I froze. In one second, I saw it all in my head again his hands holding my hips, the feel of his hands on my body, him entering me over and over. “S-stop.” I choked out. I felt Montgomery freeze for a split second before quickly yet gently removing his finger from my body. I struggled to catch my breath as he looked at me very concerned. He let go of my side and looked into my eyes.

“Are you okay Rebecca?” He asked, trying to mask his arousal from our previous fooling around.

Breathing heavily, I nodded, not trusting my voice. He looked at me until I had calmed down, afraid to touch me again in any way. “Just have cramps. They’re pretty bad this month.” I replied shakily.

“Do you want some Advil or anything? I can grab it for you. Just lay there.”

“Uh... yeah. There should be a bottle in the medicine cabinet with a prescription label and blue pills. Can I get one of those please?” I asked, not really needing it for cramps, but rather to try and get my muscles to relax. He nodded, getting up and heading to my bathroom. He grabbed the bottle and headed downstairs for some water. While he got my medicine, I got up and put on a pair of underwear and shorts before sitting on the bed waiting for him.

“It said to take it with food, so I brought you a little snack.” He said, carrying a piece of cheese, a glass of milk, and the pill over to me. I took them gratefully and after finishing the milk and the cheese snack, he pulled me up and embraced me tightly.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized into his chest. I felt him kiss the top of my head and then step back so I could look at his face. He tilted my head up and looked at me seriously.

“Rebecca. Never feel like you need to apologize for telling me to stop. I don’t care if we are on round six and I’m just about to finish, if you want me to stop, I will. It’s only fun when we both enjoy it.” I looked up at him and nodded. He leaned down and kissed my forehead, before asking me “now for the most important question of the night…” oh no. Please don’t ask why. “Big spoon or little spoon?” He grinned as I let out a breath and giggled.

“Little spoon please.”

“Alright then, come here baby girl.” He grinned again as he climbed back into bed and pulled me with him. He held me close and played with my hair. It wasn’t until I heard his breathing even out and his grip loosen around me, signalling he was asleep, that I finally let the tears fall.

A few days passed uneventfully and then Wednesday rolled around. The day was going well. Possibly even too well. There was no traffic on the way to school, my friends were all in good moods, the sun was shining but it wasn’t too hot outside, no homework had been assigned. It was a good day. I guess one could say that was the calm before the storm. While Tony and I walked to lunch as we usually do, I noticed Justin talking to Bryce. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but I saw Monty put his hand on Justin’s shoulder, as if he was telling him to back off. Scott moved to the side as Justin pushed Montgomery’s hand away. In one quick motion, so quick you would have missed it if you blinked, Justin pushed Bryce back into a locker. There was a second of still before all hell broke loose. Montgomery grabbed Justin as Bryce kneed him in the groin and suddenly the hallway was full of action. Students everywhere throwing punches left and right. Before I could stop him, Tony went in to help. He went straight for Monty, pulling him off of Justin holding his hands up he said “I don’t want to fight you. Just breathe.” Montgomery advanced on Tony and called him a coward faggot. Tony lost it and punched him in the face. Given his short stature it would have been funny if it was a movie scene or something. But it wasn’t. This was real life. I blinked and Tony was on Montgomery, punching him in the face repeatedly. I heard Cyrus yelling to get his friends involved and watched in shock as the fighting grew more intense. Scott was pulling Clay back to my left and Zach ran into the fighting to my right. He jumped on Bryce and Montgomery jumped on him. I watched in horror as my boyfriend punched my best friend here repeatedly after throwing him into a locker. As the fighting continued, I saw Alex hobble into the fight. He seemed to be going straight for my boyfriend. He lifted his cane and whacked Montgomery across the back with it before losing his balance and falling over. Again, had it been a movie I would have laughed. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the scene before me. Montgomery grabbed Alex and shoved him against a locker. They stood there for a moment, as though reliving something they had done before, when Montgomery pushed him back to the ground. Mr. Porter and Coach Rick came upon the scene to try and break up the fight before they both seemed to get bitten by the fighting bug as it were. Now they were fighting each other amongst the group of teenagers. Finally, I heard someone pull the fire alarm and the fight broke up. Montgomery looked up and saw me standing there, watching him. His face immediately went from angry to shocked. I stayed long enough to watched everyone get detention before shaking my head at him and walking away, vibrating in anger.

I decided to be a good friend and wait for Tony, Clay, Justin, Zach, Alex, and Cyrus to get out of detention. It gave me an excuse to catch up on some reading that I had slacked off on since the move. As the foolish teens were released from detention, I caught Montgomery’s eye. He started towards me, but I pointedly ignored him, hoping I conveyed my displeasure and disappointment with him as well as I intended. I saw Alex and Zach leaving the room and waved them over. “Guys! Come here, I’ll take you back to my place and fix you up.” I said loud enough for Montgomery to hear. He can stitch his dumb aggressive ass up himself this time. As they walked over to me, I caught sight of my other friends and had them come over too. When they were all gathered around me, we started towards the door to go back to my place. I turned to take one last look at Monty before leaving. He looked sad and a little bit offended. Serves him right. Arriving at my place, I got everyone inside and set to work patching them up. Some took longer than others, but I didn’t mind. It gave me time to stew in my anger at my idiot boyfriend. “Stupid people punching each other in the damn hallways. Stupid stupid.” I muttered not realizing I was speaking out loud. The boys all cleared their throats. “What? Oh... not. Not you guys. Sorry.” I mumbled looking down.

“It’s okay. You’re pissed off we get it.” Justin said, understandingly.

“What were you fighting about anyway? I mean I know Bryce is a shitty person but still. I don’t know what you were all fighting about.” I asked, though I had a bit of an inkling. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one who he... hurt. I thought to myself, still unable to even think the word. My question was met with awkward silence until Justin cleared his throat.

“Bryce did something to a couple of people who mean a lot to me. A couple of girls.” He said, the disgust clear in his voice.

“You mean he assaulted them.” I said, suddenly finding the hem of my shirt very interesting. Justin just nodded. “And my idiot temperamental boyfriend didn’t believe it.” Great... wonder if he will believe me. Bryce was probably right. He will believe him over me any day. I’m just the girl he’s seeing for now. Bryce is his best friend. More than that, he is his brother. Again, I was met with silence. The silence was punctuated by a heavy, impatient knock on my front door. I had a feeling that it was Montgomery coming to grovel for forgiveness. I shook my head and motioned for one of the boys to answer it. I wasn’t really expecting Alex to go though. Zach stood up with him, to block me from Montgomery’s view.

“What do you want de la Cruz?” Alex spat after he opened the door.

“I want to talk to her Standall.” I heard Montgomery say.

“Well she doesn’t want to talk to you. Go home Montgomery.” Alex said and I flinched at how angry he sounded. I assume he must have stood his ground given I couldn’t actually see him.

“I just want to make sure she’s okay Alex.”

“Well she’s fine. Now you know. So, leave.”

“Monty. Go home. Give her some time. She has every right to be upset with you right now. You told her you were done with the fights and stuff. When she’s ready to talk she will.” I heard Zach speak up.

I heard Montgomery sigh and turn to leave, probably realizing he wasn’t going to get his way this time. Alex shut the door and turned back to me. “Do you have any junk food? My mom is still on her health food kick. And maybe a drink?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

I laughed as I started going through the cupboards looking for some junk for Alex. “Beer in the fridge if you want. Or wine if you’re into that. Or juice and stuff if you’re not drinking. You are all welcome to stay over if you’re going to drink. Anything stronger and I’m not fighting anyone to get up for school in the morning. So only take it if you can handle it. How do Doritos sound Alex?”

“Good. I’ll just text my mom and tell her I’m staying over. Don’t need her seeing the bruising and freaking out even more. Might take away my recently earned video game privileges again.” Alex said before taking the chips and grabbing a beer. Justin was the only one who refused a drink, trying to stay sober and all. The boys texted their parents while I went upstairs to change and get some blankets and stuff for the night.

“You’re welcome to the guest room if anyone wants, or you can sleep on my bedroom floor, or we can crash in the living room. Couch isn’t great for a full night sleep but if you want a shitty back in the morning, more power to you. Doesn’t really matter to me where you want to sleep.” I told them when I came back down and started on dinner. Cyrus walked over to help me while the rest of the boys argued about a movie to watch. No one agreed to watch The Notebook with me. The evening passed fairly quickly after we all got to be a few drinks in, and we crashed in the living room.

The next morning, I knew I was going to have to face Montgomery. Although I figured I could put it off a little longer than first thing in the morning. Scott had other plans though. He cornered me when I got to school. “You have to talk to Monty.”

“And say what exactly? You beat up my friends but it’s cool. Let’s fuck? Yeah that’s not happening.”

“No, you don’t have to say that. But you need to talk to him. He’s been in a mood all night.”

“Scott, I have nothing to say to him. He needs to learn that he can’t just hit people when he has a fucking emotional response to something.” I told him plainly before turning and walking away. I avoided everyone for the rest of the day. Didn’t talk to any of my friends in class, ate lunch in the library, and made sure to be the first one in and out of class after the bells rang.You’re doing it again. Pushing everyone away. I heard Jake’s voice in my head. Yeah well you don’t get to be my moral compass anymore. Maybe if you had talked to me instead, none of this would have fucking happened. I thought bitterly. Get out of my head.

I managed to avoid Monty for the day until final bell. He was waiting for me outside Peer Communication.

“Becks can we please talk?”

“About what? The fact that you’re friends with a rapist? Or the fact that you beat up my friends?”

“Don’t call him that Rebecca. That’s not fair.” He told me, grabbing my arm as I tried to get past him. I pulled my arm away from his grasp roughly.

“I have to go to my locker. I got a ride with Tony this morning so I’ll need you to take me to my place so we can talk about this privately.”

“Okay.” He said as he fell into step beside me. We went to my locker and got my things before going out to his Jeep in silence. I once again, ignored Bryce, pretending he didn’t exist and being near him didn’t make me want to scrub myself down again. When we were almost at my place he finally spoke, breaking the tense silence. “Bryce isn’t as bad as they make him out to be you know Becca.”

“By they do you mean my friends, who you beat the shit out of by the way?” I asked him shortly.

“I mean yeah. You can’t believe Hannah or Jessica. They probably just regret having sex with him. And Justin shouldn’t have stuck his nose in someone else’s business.” I turned to look at him not believing what he just said, shaking my head incredulously unable to form the words to respond to him, before jumping out of the Jeep and stomping harshly towards my house.

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rabble-dabble · 4 years

Text

CHOOSE:

==>Dirk Strider

==>????????

>Dirk Strider_

Your name is Dirk Strider.

And you have a pretty awesome big brother.

At least, you like to think so. He might not be around very much for most of the time you’re home, but when he is, he doesn’t disappoint you with the brotherly bonding he likes to do. Engaging in your interests, encouraging you to do the things you like to make, and even sharing nearly the same humor and potent irony that the both of you are pretty sure you’re the two funniest people to have lived, ever, in the history of living.

From all the surfing on the internet, though, it’s sort of unexpected from a sibling conducted relationship. You’ve read all about them, and siblings are supposed to be supportive, and if not, the viral enemy of one’s childhood. Since you can’t really debate whether or not the enemy of your childhood was loneliness or the ideas you’ve thought about doing due to it - even once coming close to making an A.I. copy of yourself - you’re pretty sure you and he are in the clear here. Yup. Nothing ever uncool goes on between the Striders - why would it? You and he have reached an understanding that’s so unrivaled that you don’t ever think anyone could possibly beat it. As long as you don’t get yourself into trouble and he makes some time to come home and be the presence of adult you need, it doesn’t ever get weird.

Well, only whenever you don’t find yourself breaking the rules.

It’s not like it was your fault. You did not ever have any intention in using the empty program that sat unfilled and unchummed on your desktop - you don’t even remember how it appeared there. You don’t quite remember having it downloaded or getting a particularly rancid virus. You like to keep your gear in top shape, thank you very much, because not only has your brother taught you the importance of being grateful even with the kind of provisions you have, but you learned the very hard way that being careless led to preciously lost save data on games you liked to play ironically.

(Dave had to stay home for a week straight and binge cartoons for you to get out of that depressive episode.)

You liked following the rules though. The rules kept you safe, and kept you generally happy, and you really didn’t mind there being rules in the first place. They are obviously supposed to be there in the first place, and considering you are a kid who has no business in parenting yourself, the terms of the rules are pretty relaxed for as long as you didn’t have rules when you were first growing up.

You think it makes it worse, though, that this was the first rule. Generally, the rule he was pretty series in making, especially if it came in first.

“Number one, little dude: No hitting it up with digital strangers.”

And yet, the little chatbox had appeared before you like a forbidden last cookie at dinnertime, inciting years of worry and doubt and loneliness like the bitter aftertaste of an unproperly made microwave dinner.

uranianUmbra [UU] started cheering timaeusTestified [TT]

UU: cheers!! hello lovely being.

UU: woUld you perhaps be interested in making a friend?

CHOOSE:

==>Dirk Strider

==>Roxy Lalonde

==>????????

>Roxy Lalonde_

Your name is Roxy Lalonde.

And you think your mom is the funniest mom ever.

Oh, no, not in humor. Your mom sucks at making good jokes. In fact, you don’t think except for her well constructed book series that was able to become a best seller, and you have every copy of stored under your bedframe, she cannot make a joke to save her life. You know this because you have heard her calls with Dirk’s older brother Dave Strider over the phone, attempting not to giggle lest you be heard, and the joke she tried executing fell flatter than the “ironic” fanfiction of MLP you have bore witness to Dirk’s easily crackable computer drive. She is, as best as you can really put, not funny at all.

Oh, but she’s a great mom. She’s the greatest mom ever! Granted, you’ve only ever had her as your only mom, but the time the two of you have had together has just been a-okay in your book. More than a-okay, really, because you finally have her with you, and you get to do a bunch of mom-daughter stuff that you used to daydream about after an exhausting day of feeding carapaces, petting mutated kitties and sipping on some fermented juices.

You don’t get to touch the juices anymore. She put a stop to that almost immediately - and although if irked you just a bit, because after all she had put that there to begin with - you thought long and hard about it. And you came to the conclusion that she was right about it, and, honestly, she was mom, so what were you going to do about it? Complain??

Why would you complain about finally having a mom??

So you think she’s pretty great.

You can tell Dirk thinks the same about his brother, even if he doesn’t admit it as easily. Once upon a time, you thought Dirk had been a little bit of a snobbish guy who got too much into your biz and about everything you two did. But, really, with the help of your mom and Dirk’s bro, you understand now - he was only trying his best. And, in some way, you had been too. Neither of you were ever supposed to take care of yourselves like that.

But now you have Mom, and Dirk has Dave, and even though it’s really small, you couldn’t wish for anything more.

What more could you possibly wish for than Dirk, Dave and Mom??

uranianUmbra [UU] started cheering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

UU: greetings, gracefully esteemed friend of dirk!!

UU: i was wondering if perhaps yoU woUld like to make acquaintances?

CHOOSE:

==>Dirk Strider

==>Roxy Lalonde

==>Jake English

>Jake English_

Your name is Jake English.

And your Mum...

Is the most infuriating person you have ever met!!!!

Granted, she is the only person you have ever met. In real life. Ever. And that is sort of her fault too!!!! She never let’s you go anywhere, and she never let’s you think about the outside world, and if you so much as look at skyscrapers or parks or places with snow for too long she get’s this weird, contorted look on her face and you’re subjected to another talk about how the “island is the safest home we have, the world is a dangerous place, don’t go expecting it to be cozy and gentle and soft, Jake,” and now you can’t even deal with all of her nonsense about a world you have never explored.

And it’s not like you don’t think about it. Every night that you go to bed, you listen with an open hear close to the window frame in case of the first rumble of unnerving technology comes close. Every day you’re up and around the island, you have to see and worry and think about the creatures that live among you, thinking about how easy it could be for your Mum could become seriously injured and you would have no way of reaching an outside source of help. You think a lot about how the world could be, and how fun it might be, but how overrun with horrid things it could be too. Your Mum has certainly sealed that image permanently, if not since forever and also when you first watched your (first and only) horror movie. The house had been extra barricaded that summer.

But you’re not a little child to coddle over anymore. You’re not the little boy who easily runs into his mother’s arms in the first instance of danger. Not only are you not that young scampering lad anymore who would trip and scrap his knees and cry, but you don’t think that at least seeing what the world out there looks like would ever hurt you in the slightest.

You don’t even have to stay out there. You just want to see it. See the people, real people, moving along and living their lives and watch as the cars run closely and the chatter of a good evening rolls around and see the rush of life around. You want to see snow and your breath puff coldly into the air and ice forming naturally instead of a refrigerator. You want to see the long meadows and the empty fields where the land won’t suddenly end on the other side. You just want to see it, it is nearly your biggest dream, and you hate that your Mum won’t even let you use the web without regulating what you can and cannot see.

You’re pretty cheesed about it. You love your Mum, but at this point, you’re itching to just go anywhere, anywhere, but stay here.

You wish you could see just the world from anywhere but your home.

uranianUmbra [UU] started cheering golgothasTerror [GT]

UU: hello fellow chUm!

You had sat there for around ten minutes staring at that message.

UU: i hope yoU don’t mind, i’m not meaning to intrUde so brashly. i’m simply aboUnd looking for potential friends!

UU: so perhaps yoU woUld be tickled to become mine?

You had to look around and make sure Mum wasn’t near you. You hadn’t realized you were holding your breath until you let it out, and turned back towards the screen to assure that, yes, someone was able to message you. Even though Mum had blocked it and your ability to contact anyone yourself, someone had gotten through.

GT: Why, salutations!

GT: My name is jake!!

Your name is Jake English.

And, against all odds, you have made a friend.

#story #crocker au #jake english #dirk strider #roxy lalonde #dave strider #rose lalonde #jade english #calliope #another fan contribution to skys lovely au!!!!#i wrote this sort of..uh. up to interpretation??#i mean very very vague as much as i could #its heavily implied that roxy and dirk WERE alone during their first few years but eventually dave and rose got to them #i still dunno whether or nots its them going to the future and coming back or not...#i mean we dont really have the baby stories about jane and jake either...BUT WE ARE GETTING THERE #maybe #this was fun to write!! i have wanted to expand on the stridelalondes situation for a while #i mean john and dave are friends #so yknow it extends in some way???#maybe the alpha guardians are dumb and dont think about letting their kids connect like that...#also I REALIZED ONCE AGAIN JAKE IS STUCK ON THE ISLAND DUE TO JADE AJLDSJFLA;KSFJD;#jake is the only one who isnt available to be able to reach. at all #jade is just like nope! :D #id imagine after all those years he would be..less than happy about being contained #hes got that free spirit after all!! its almost like a certain...condy....0_0 #hehehe bUT its up to interpretation!!#i just wrote this for funsies :p

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letsperaltiago · 4 years

Text

I call it magic when I'm with you |Jake x Amy|

So for my b99 Fall Fic Exchange 2019 I got to write for my fave @amyscascadingtabs and got these 3 prompts to inspire my story:

Halloween costume parties

Baking together (could be something Halloween-related or general fall coziness)

Peraltiago kids celebrating Halloween

I decided to combine all 3 of them (somewhat? I mean there’s no party but there’s the mention of costumes) with a main focus on nr. 2. Hope you like it even though I finished it so last minute and it’s kinda not what you asked for... I’m so sorry! I don’t know what happened. Started out good and next thing you know there’s Harry Potter sexy times going down... Anyways happy Halloween and fall-season to you, Johanna and everyone else on here. You’re sweetheart and I hope you still enjoy it though my take on your prompts is... alternative.

———————————————————————————————————

The sound of crunching leaves beneath her feet secretly provoked a happy, giddy feeling in Amy’s stomach and an extra pep in her walk as she made her way back from the deli down the street from their apartment. It was the day before Halloween, a Friday, and this just so happened to be her and Jake’s weekly common day off which had lead to the purpose behind her trip to the deli: Instead of simply handing out candy, the sergeant was going to (see: try to) bake cute Halloween-themed cookies for the cause. Today was truly a day of mysterious events. Not only was Amy Bad-at-anything-culinary Santiago-Peralta going to bake for innocent kids who didn’t know any better than to politely accept her cookies… She had also willingly gone grocery shopping and everyone knew that she far from handled anything colder than 60 degrees very gracefully. Yet Amy couldn’t help but smile just a bit as a fresh breeze played with both her hair and dead leaves in various shades of red, orange and yellow.

Also extra plump from all the unconscious smiling, her husband couldn’t help but notice the extra bright pink shade of her cheeks when she finally walked in the door with a stuffed paper bag.

“Not too cold?” He hurriedly made his way from the living room to where she was standing by the door to grab the paper bag from her grip.

“A bit,” she shrugged off her coat before putting it away along with her shoes. “But also kind of nice. Refreshing even.”

A scoff could be heard from kitchen the room where Jake was now in the midst of putting down the heavy bag and its content. “Amy Santiago enjoying the cold? Must be a lie.”

“Perhaps adding Peralta to my name changed me for the better,” was mumbled into Jake’s left ear suddenly, letting a tiny giddy shock run through him as an effect from feeling her arms wrap around his waist from behind him. Not that he minded one bit but he hadn’t noticed her making her way from the door to him. Instantly in a reaction to the pleasent surprise, a smile grew on his face and though she couldn’t see his face, it didn’t take much more than the slight change in the tone of his voice to tell her that he was smiling.

“Well… ” the affectionate touch had quickly captured Jake’s full attention causing him to stop his dutiful process of unpacking the groceries onto the counter as to allow himself to turn around in her grip on him to look at her. Their nose-tips briefly brushed across each other, bubbling chuckles dancing from their lips, accompanying their stupidly happy grins. There was barely what could be called space between them. A tiny readjustment was all it would take for them to get that loving lock of lips they always craved. Indeed Jake was in the midst of leaning in to kiss his wife whilst mumbling, “Guess I’m the best thing that has ever happened to you then-“ when a loud wail interrupted their little moment, this bursting their otherwise bulletproof bubble, just as their lips were about to come together and he’d just barely been able to sense that his wife’s lips were still cold from her trip to the deli. A sigh was the only thing Amy got to feel, not at all as satisfying but nonetheless replacing the kiss, before she drew back to shoot him an apologetic yet slightly amused smile.

Jake returned the exact same look. “Did you tell her to do that?”

In a split second Amy’s cheeky apologetic blush switched to a look of defence followed by a playful punch to his shoulder. “How dare you!”

Seriousness being a rare matter it all of course just earned her a soft laugh from Jake who put his hands in the air in what was supposed to look innocence as he slowly backed away from the kitchen towards the hall. “I’m just saying… She’s been napping peacefully ever since I put her down before you left for the deli so it seems rather suspicious that she just now, all of the sudd-“

“Shut up, Peralta,” she scowled picking up on where he’d left off unpacking the groceries, “… and feel free to collect your daughter since you two seem to be ganging up and framing me.”

Though she was clearly messing with him there was no way she’d have to tell him twice; apart from Amy, their new barely 3-month old daughter was Jake’s favorite human and every second with her, wailing furiously or making happy gurgling-sounds, was precious. Still, even after a few months into fatherhood, her daughter was even better and more perfect than he’d ever dared to expect. Actually he never actually knew what to expect since he was so damn scared, but Marcy was incredible. It felt amazingly incredible to not be able to imagine a life without someone that you used to not be able to imagine your life with.

“Hey, Marcipan,” he cooed as he carefully pushed open the door to the infants little, pastel yellow painted room. The little girl of course didn’t answer but simply let out another wail as to call out for someone’s (preferably mom or dad’s) attention.

“Shhh,” he shushed her calmly all while safely leaning down over her bassinet to cradle her tiny body his warm hands. Within seconds, making sure to be careful with the tiny human still as fragile as porcelain, his daughter was safely cradled in his arms and a warmth that had come to grow very familiar spread within him. “What do you say we go help mom bake some cookies, huh?”

He pecked Marcy’s forehead before slowly making his way out the room and down the short hall before continuing the one-sided conversation. “Just between the two of us, we have no choice but to help her,” there was a truth in the words that provoked a chuckle from the father’s own lips. “If we don’t she’s gonna burn the place down and we’ll have to spend Halloween in the streets. Your mom might be tough enough for that but I sure as hell am not.” Whether is was on purpose or not, his sentence ended as he rounded the corner to the kitchen.

“I heard that, you know…” His wife currently had her back turned to them, hands working on something on the kitchen counter and allowing Jake to admire the long, shiny pony tail flowing down her back. Pony tail meant serious business in the book of Amy Peralta-Santiago.

“Just being honest with her, honey.”

There was barely any time for her to react before she felt his figure’s presence besides her, presenting her her now awake and curiously observing daughter. A smile instantly appeared on the mother’s face, her hands interrupting whatever she was doing.

“Hi, baby,” she cooed sweetly ahead of bowing down to place a kiss, similarly to how Jake had just seconds ago, to her daughter’s soft forehead. “Did you nap well while mommy was gone? Or did you just spend the entire time plotting against me with your father?”

“Oh mommy, me and dad would never be mean to you,” Jake spoke in a high-pitched, phony voice as to take on his daughter’s role.

Amy straightened back up to take in the funny sight of her husband’s parody with one hand on her now popped hip and a suspiciously cocked eyebrow. Though there was no way she was actually mad at him, this kind of banter was a Peralta-Santiago trademark. Not a day went by without it and Jake incorporating their newborn daughter was definitely to his advantage.

“Hm,” she turned back to what appeared to be a bowl with mixed ingredients. “I don’t know if I believe you two…”

“Please believe us, mommy,” Jake continued his little sketch, following Amy’s movement away from them trying to close the remaining distance between them. “I napped really well and daddy just sat there thinking about how much he loves you and how he can’t wait to see you wearing that sexy Hermione costume he bought-”

Upon hearing those last few words slipping off her husband’s lips (her husband who was currently holding their tiny daughter in their arms!!) Amy’s head snapped back to him and away from where it was looking at what was slowly but somewhat surely becoming cookie dough. “Jake!” Though his wife’s eyes would forever and always be the most beautiful, soothing and perfect brown pair, for a second right there in that moment, he feared them and the threatening daggers they shot. “Don’t say stuff like that in front of Marcy!”

“Babe, she’s a baby,” he chuckled warmly to his defence, leaning in before tenderly placing kiss to his wife’s cheek followed by replacing them directly onto her ear so that his breathy whisper could hopefully cause shivers to run down her spine. “I could add so many more details about what you and I do when she’s asleep and she wouldn’t understand a thing.”

One side of Amy, the one that did quiver beneath the feeling of his whisper into her ear, wanted to give in to the tension her husband had managed to sneak into an otherwise very innocent and domestic moment. Yet her contradicting side, the one that was eyeing their tiny daughter safely cuddled up in his arms, managed to fight her urge. Yes, it was a fact that the otherwise incredible arrival of their daughter had kept them from any particularly intimate activities. Whenever Marcy happened to somewhat sleep through the night the two exhausted parents made sure to use every precious second to catch up on the constant state of lacking sleep that they currently lived in. Yet she couldn’t get herself to act on her urges right in front of the tiny, innocent human.

“Jake…” Amy’s vocal chords barely managed to generate a mumble with a longing quiver as she fought the fight between giving in to the side of her that was simply a craving human and the side that was a parent.

Deep down she knew that they couldn’t go any further - at least not right now when her baby’s beautiful, innocent face was looking right at her. Nonetheless she couldn’t break the spell without allowing herself to give into the intrigue that her husband’s familiar lips waiting expectingly against her ear brought to life within her. There barely even time to acknowledge the movement before her neck and head had twisted just enough in his direction for her ear to be replaced by her lips. Years later and he still made her feel like a bubbleheaded love-sick teen.

“I know she’s a baby…” Amy whispered into the merge of their moving lips, somehow managing to keep up with Jake’s lips that happened to be persuasive as ever in the act of pursue this rush of affection for his wife. “… But we need to behave.”

“Uhummm,” as carefree as he was known to be, there was no way the mumble meant Jake planned on stopping. Itself the fact that he’d been able to keep Amy going, partially against her morals, for this long was a tiny victory that sparked the teasing competitive within him that he loved almost as much as her.

Though Amy kept telling herself that she was indeed about to break it up, Marcy letting out a tiny squeal beat her to it. The two enamoured adults quickly broke the embrace both instantly redirecting their wild gazes down at their fussy daughter. Both had to let out a small chuckle meanwhile Marcy looked anything but pleased by her parents’ lack of immersion in her presence.

“We pissed her off,” Jake joked before taking a step back from his position previously glued to his wife, allowing room to gently rock the infant which instantly reacted by quieting down. Still by the kitchen counter and having learned quite early into their new role as parents that Jake was very much capable of handling their daughter’s small tantrums on his own, Amy had resumed to the process of her Halloween cookie-experiment (Amy doing anything in the kitchen was an experiment, Jake had learned a long time ago).

“She’s tired of her dad being so obsessed with her mother instead of her.”

Jake could hear the smirk in her voice as she shuffled across the tiny kitchen to turn on the oven for her.

“That must be a big misunderstanding then,” he carefully repositioned the tiny human. Instead of cradling her carefully he was now holding her by the armpits, Lion King-stylez, facing him as he raised his arms to hold her at his eye level. “Isn’t that right, Marcipan?” He kissed his daughters forehead tenderly before holding her back out to look into her eyes. “You and I both know that you’re my favorite, don’t we?” his voice immediately indulged in his daughter’s universe, mushy and goofy, only adding sweetness to the sight of him simultaneously nuzzling her tiny with his big nose.

Moments like these could only kindle a varm feeling in every corner of Amy’s body.

Since things were going so well for them she rarely gave it any thought, but in moments like this specific one it suddenly hit her that at some point Jake actually doubted his abilities as a parent. Yet here was, goofing around with their child like it was the most natural thing in the world, and Amy could only burst with pride at the sight. Not only had she witnessed Jake picking a tough battle in order to disobey the voices in his head telling him that there was no way he could be a better father than his own was; now she was also witnessing him, on a daily basis, being what she could only consider as being the most loving, dedicated and hard-working father to their daughter.

“I’m okay with that,” Amy smirked, making her way to the fridge to put the dough to rest. Jake’s eyes followed her, staying attentive for many reasons, as he carefully placed his daughter back into a cradled position in his arms. There was no way he was going to be let off with being right; something was coming to shut him up and all he could do was observe, wait patiently for his witty wife to pull out the last trick hidden up her sleeve. Her every move was noted.

Slowly closing the fridge was step one. The movement wasn’t exactly slow enough to seem suspicious, like it was leading to something else, but what happened afterwards or better known as step two would definitely blow his mind.

“… cause at the end of the day, as soon as I put on that costume… I’ll be your favorite.” Just in time to match her reaching the end of her venomous sentence, Amy tantalisingly turned around (right on that very same spot by the now closed fridge) and like a dagger stabbing him in his hopelessly devoted heart her deep, her brown eyes told him everything he needed to know. As so many times before she was more than right - and as so many times before he didn’t mind one bit. If she wasn’t smirking before (which she was) then she definitely was now and it was driving Jake crazy which with the biggest guarantee in the world she immensely enjoyed. Amy Santiago-Peralta had driven him crazy with great, legendary purpose for the past 11 years and by the looks of it she wasn’t planning on stopping; yet another fact Jake didn’t mind one bit.

He especially didn’t mind later that evening, after saving five entire batches of cookies from burning, when Marcy decided to stay asleep and his wife suddenly walked into their bedroom clad in a what Hogwarts would definitely define as a scandalous outfit: a way too revealing school girl outfit (if you asked Hogwarts - not Jake), red knee-socks and tie, only to be topped off with a magic wand. Needless to say that Jake, who’d quietly been sitting in bed on his phone playing Candy Crush (such a dad) dropped his jaw through their bedroom floor right at that very moment. Ambushed was not the word; this was so much worse (better).

“Hey, babe…” She smiled teasingly, posing by the end of the bed well knowing that she hypothetically could say or do nothing at all and it would still drive Jake insane. But where was the fun in that?

“Wanna explore my chamber of secrets?”

His reaction to those words, to her brief dismay, reminded her of Scully’s famous heart attacks. “Oh my God, Amy,” he basically gasped for air and Amy loved it as she took her time making her way around the bed before straddling him with the dopiest yet sexiest grin on her face.

“Jake Peralta!” She gasped playfully. “Is that a wand in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

And though he loved his daughter more than anything in the world, he prayed that tonight would be the night Marcy Santiago-Peralta would make him proud and sleep soundly.

“Guilty as charged…” He returned the grin, having finally returned from his stroke-like state, only to put his phone aside to slide his hands all the way up her thigh to her waist, burying them under her robe to pick at the edge of her skirt. Amy Peralta-Santiago-Granger… You’ve definitely got me under your spell for the night.”

#b99 fall 2019 fic exchange #b99 fic #peraltiago fic #peraltiago #jake x amy #amy santiago #jake peralta #brooklyn nine nine #b99 #fanficition

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endlessly-searching-for-you · 5 years

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Cookie Thief (Part 2)

Summary: Zahra and Craig are hosting a Christmas party for the gang, and their friends try to help. And because no party would be complete without something sweet, let’s start baking tonight! Catch up with Part 1 here.

Warnings: pure fluff and lots of sugar

Word Count: ~1700

A/N: I plan to take part in the Endless Summer appreciation week (Dec 8-15), but I promise the party preparations will pick up the pace after that ❤

A beautiful redhead pushed the bakery door and tossed her head, shaking the snow off her wavy hair. Opening For Goodness Cake was her dream for a long time, and it finally came true just before Christmas. It wasn't a big shop, but the reviews were stellar, and it was a hit especially with the high school kids. She already had requests for birthday parties in May. Who would have thought that a few years ago?

“How are you, Allie?” Quinn smiled at the girl behind the counter and reached for her apron. “I thought you might like to take the rest of the day off.”

The girl wrapped her in a hug, whispered thank you's and Merry Christmas's and ran from the shop quickly, grabbing her jacket and hat on her way, as if she was afraid her boss would change her mind. Quinn laughed, opening the cabinet and taking a bowl out. Zahra asked her to bring some of the famous cupcakes to the party, and she was determined to make them the best ones they ever had. Her head was already filled with thousands of flavor combinations, and while Allie was a good baker, Quinn wanted to do them all by herself. Humming along to the Christmas carols playing on the radio, she waltzed through her kitchen, whisking the ingredients, sampling the frosting, adding a pinch of spices here and there and testing different nozzles. When she finally finished, five dozen of perfect, mouth-watering little cupcakes stood on the counter, almost begging to be eaten. She reached for one, making a quick calculation in her head—we only need fifty-six, right?—but her hand froze mid-air as the phone started to ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi there.”

Quinn smiled, recognizing the warm and soft voice. Emily. They met a few weeks ago at a party she almost didn't go to. Her date canceled last minute, and she didn't know anyone there, but her sense of adventure won. She bumped into Em by the dessert table, and the two hit it off right away, talking the whole night about different recipes. Emily was a photographer for a food magazine, and they met a few times discussing business, but recently Quinn felt there might be something more to it. Tingling in her fingertips, butterflies in her stomach? These weren't things you feel when you think of your business partner.

“I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas,” Emily continued. “I was hoping I could see you before you go to the party, but my family decided to crash at my place.” She sighed. “And you probably have plans for tonight anyway?”

“I do, actually.” Quinn smiled. “I'm going on a date!”

“Oh.” The disappointment in Emily's voice was almost palpable. “I thought... nevermind. Have fun. Who's the lucky one?”

“He's the most perfect gentleman. Brown hair, blue eyes, big smile. And he's four,” she giggled. “My friends wanted to go on a date, and they asked me to babysit their son.” She heard a breath of relief on the other side of the line, and her giggle turned into a throaty laugh. “Sorry, couldn't resist. About the date... I thought maybe we could go out together sometime. After Christmas?” Please, please, please. She held her breath and crossed her fingers.

“I'd love that.”

Yes. Yes! YES!!! Quinn did a little happy dance when someone knocked on the closed door, startling her. She peeked carefully, waving her hand when she recognized the tightly wrapped figure.

“I need to go,” she sighed to the phone, reaching for the door handle. “My ride is here. I'll call you later. Merry Christmas!” She broke into another fit of giggles when she saw Jake's chattering teeth. “Oh, come on! It's not that cold.”

“I'm freezing!” He whined, looking at her miserably. “I hate being cold.”

“Tell me about it. Remember how we were all fighting a heat stroke, and you always had your jacket on?” She sneered. “I'll pack the cupcakes, so we can drop them off at Zahra's on the way. Okay? Hey! DON'T EAT THAT! IT'S FOR THE PARTY!”

***

Taylor was already one foot out the door, but she turned to Quinn one last time. “Please, call me when he's too much,” she asked just as Jake tugged impatiently at her sleeve and mouthed silently, “Please don't!”

“I'm sure we'll be fine,” Quinn glanced at the blue-eyed boy holding her hand. Mike looked like a sweet, perfect child who didn't do anything mischievous in his life, no matter how hard his mother insisted it was the other way around. He waved his parents goodbye and blew them a kiss, and she felt her heart melting already.

“Can I watch TV?” He asked as soon as the door closed.

“I have a better idea. We should prepare something special for Santa.” She smiled at Mike, leading him to the kitchen and piling various utensils on the counter. “Do you know what he likes?”

“Cookies!” He jumped. “And whiskey.”

“What?!” The cookie tray she was holding fell from her hands with a loud crash, and she stared at the child with wide eyes and open mouth. “Who told you that?”

“My daddy!” Mike smiled back at her.

Right. It was too easy to guess. Telling a kid that Santa loves whiskey? The idea just screamed Jake. Quinn bent to pick up the tray and chuckled quietly, hiding behind the island counter. This guy just won't grow up, ever. After all those years, everyone expected Taylor knocked some sense into him, but apparently even she had her limits. There was only as much as you could do, and Jake was... kind of a lost cause. She sighed deeply. “And what does your mom say about it?”

“Daddy said I can't tell her. It's our secret.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Quinn lifted his chin with her finger. “Do you even know what whiskey is, young man?”

“I do! I saw daddy drinking with uncle Sean. And they were walking funny,” he giggled, wrinkling his small nose. “But mommy and auntie Meech were angry. Said they were in trouble.”

“See? You wouldn't want Santa to get in trouble, right?”

“Well...” He stared at his feet. “No.”

“Let's just stick to cookies. I'd say we go with the classic gingerbread. What do you think, sweetie?” She stopped to look at Mike, and he gave her a solemn nod, climbing up onto a chair. “And we can decorate them, too! I brought all kinds of icing and sprinkles from my shop. Decorating is actually my favorite part.” She chattered happily, collecting the ingredients, and handed him a bag of flour, measuring cup and a bowl. “Do you think you can measure two cups for me?”

He carefully tipped the bag and started pouring the flour. Quinn laughed at the concentration on his face, little brows knitted together, tongue sticking out. A cloud of flour flew out of the bowl as the boy emptied the second cup, causing them both to sneeze. They looked at each other and burst into laughter, wiping the white dust from their faces.

“It happens to me all the time!” She ruffled his hair. “Don't worry. Now, we'll add the rest of dry ingredients. Sugar...” Another puff rose from the bowl. “Spices... soda. Can you mix that for me?” She handed him a spoon and turned to lift the milk pot from stove just as it was about to spill. “And this is where things start to get interesting,” she said, adding honey, butter, and eggs to the mix. “But I'll do it myself, the milk is too hot, and I don't want you to get burned. Okay?”

Mike pouted a little, but gave her the smallest nod, propped his elbows on the counter and watched as she added just one little splash of milk at a time and kneaded the dough gently, working it into a smooth and shiny ball.

“Nice, right?” She smiled, seeing his wide eyes. “I need a rolling pin. Do you have one?”

I should have asked that sooner, she realized, but he hopped from the chair, ran to his room and returned holding the rolling pin triumphantly. Quinn inspected it, squinting her eyes, scratched something blue off the surface and looked at the child questioningly. Mike's gaze dropped to the floor.

“I borrowed it,” he mumbled, staring at his feet. “It's great for playdough, and mommy never uses it anyway. Don't tell her, please?” He looked up at her, tears pooling in his big blue eyes and lips trembling.

“I promise I won't tell.” Quinn winked, and his face brightened immediately. A pair of skinny arms wrapped around her and she dropped to her knees to return the hug.

“You're the best, auntie Quinn!”

***

They weren't joking about him being intense. Quinn sighed, plopping onto the sofa. After they finished baking and decorating cookies (making a big mess and eating half of them in the process), Mike insisted on building a snowman and having a snowball fight (they ended up being completely soaked, and she was hoping he wouldn't catch a cold), then poured what looked like a whole bottle of bubble bath into the tub (“I like bubbles”), and asked her to read the same book twenty times before finally falling asleep on the sofa (she almost had a heart attack when she carried him to his bed, and he opened his eyes). He actually tried to coax her into watching TV, but at this point, she started to suspect his “mommy lets me do it” was a blatant lie. She had to admit one thing, though: he had the charm of both of his parents combined.

Her phone buzzed with a text message, and she reached to her pocket. Taylor.

She giggled, sending the last message, and grabbed a blanket. Just when her mind drifted off to sleep, the phone buzzed again, and she fished it from under her pillow with a sigh. Seriously? Right now? Who could it be at this hour?

“Zahra? What happened?” Her voice still had a hint of sleep hanging in it, but the scream at the other end of the line made her jump out of bed immediately.

“It's a disaster! A complete fucking disaster!”

_____

Tags: @darley1101 @brightpinkpeppercorn @mind-reader1 @zaffrenotes @likethetailofacomet @mysteli @lolablackwrites (please let me know if you want to be added or removed!)

#choices #endless summer #endless summer au #endless christmas actually #quinn #quinn kelly #bonus: mckenzie spawn

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graceivers · 7 years

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Review #67 - I Only Have Eyes for You

I Only Have Eyes for You Author: Bella Andre Genre: Contemporary Romance, Pregnancy & Babies Rating: ★★½ Recommendation: not worth it; once was enough Summary: Sophie Sullivan has been in love with Jake McCann since forever. Always seen as the nice sister of the family clan, Sophie sets out to change that and show Jake what kind of girl she can be. Jake can’t resist her, yet his past demons and some stark differences between the two of them threaten to ruin what ties them together.

Female Lead: Sophie… meh. I think I had less of a problem with Sophie’s character and more of a problem with the way Andre chose to describe Sophie—meaning I was quickly annoyed by the whole ‘nice’ thing. The supposed image of Sophie being the nice twin sister in the Sullivan clan droned on and on. I got it the first time. I didn’t need to be constantly reminded. Sophie didn’t need to be constantly reminded. Why did everyone need to have judgments and images of people? Why couldn’t they just be them? I liked Sophie because she was quiet but could also show boldness and spontaneity. I liked that she had close relationships with her family, that she was a bit of a hopeless romantic. She was kind of useless around Jake, though, which was not my favorite. Those situations showed a type of indecisiveness and flightiness that I did not enjoy much at all. It was almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts—Andre hammering down the ‘nice’ and meek image of this character and then subsequently fulfilling it when it came to her relationship with Jake despite the author’s previous attempts to illustrate that Sophie was supposed to be more than that. Male Lead: I did not like this dude. I thought I would during the first fourth or so of the book, but nope, that didn’t happen. In the beginning, I liked the idea that Jake was secretly enamored with Sophie, but refused to let those feelings show, which led him to push her away. There was a decent angst setup there that I enjoyed right up until the point where he left Sophie after they had sex for the first time together. Then it all went downhill. Like, big time. Jake became an annoying and kind of pseudo alpha male that put Sophie’s indecisiveness to shame. One minute he was demanding Sophie to move in and marry him literally five minutes after finding out she was pregnant after he had ignored her for over two months, the next minute he was pushing her away and yelling at her. Figure it out, dude. Seriously. Stop making demands and pretending you’re in control when you should be groveling. Plot & Writing: So, I saw this book was free on iBooks and decided to download it after seeing decent reviews on Goodreads and having previously read(ish) another one of Andre’s books in this series. To say the least, I Only Have Eyes for You wasn’t my favorite. Overall, all contents of the book seemed forced to me from the plot, to the characters, to the trite scenarios Andre wrote to create her conflict that didn’t garner much of my interest.

First of all, the ‘two and a half months later’ note? Yeah, no good. Obviously I understood why Andre wanted to skip some time given that she made Jake skip out on Sophie the way he did and to incorporate Sophie’s pregnancy. Still, no good. The decision was especially unfortunate juxtaposed next to the fact that the majority of the rest of the book took place in about a week when Sophie and Jake were trying to figure out what to do since she was pregnant with his babies. Andre’s complete lack of pacing here did the book no favors. How was I to believe in character and relationship and plot development when the author skipped out on two months only to cram everything into a week’s worth of time?

Likewise, Jake and Sophie’s relationship seriously suffered from not only pacing issues but also lack of communication and trust and other things that couples probably need to make their relationship last. They rarely talked to one another about the serious and important life stuff. Jake just avoided all that plain and simple. And I got that he had demons that he didn’t want Sophie to know about, but come on. You cannot all but force the girl to marry you and be okay with it if you’re not going to give her anything to work with. And then, when his secrets did come out, all he did was yell at her. Did I mention that I did not like Jake? The relationship seemed forced enough, and he just went on and made it even more unnatural. I wasn’t feeling the chemistry between these two much at all.

Also, side note. No, I didn’t need to know what exact disability Jake had that made him more or less illiterate for a good chunk of his life. What I could not believe, though, was that he got through school and graduated and got a diploma without any of his teachers noticing. Even back then with different standards or whatever, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I didn’t think he would even make it to middle school if he legitimately could not read at that point. Frankly, the hole in Jake’s disability history took me out of the story because I couldn’t stop wondering how he graduated high school without being about to read. It just didn’t make sense! Favorite Part(s): The mini flashback after kid-Jake and kid-Zach got into a fight at school, and they were sent home, but no one was there to take kid-Jake home so the Sullivan matron just took him to their house. And she gave them milk and cookies and left them to their own devices to work on their reading project together without berating or punishing them. Bless Mary Sullivan. Final Thoughts: I was rather disappointed with I Only Have Eyes for You. Less because I expected the book to go a certain way and more because Bella Andre seemed like a fairly established indie author of romance novels, so I thought what so many people liked would be something I might enjoy as well. More and more, I’m coming to the conclusion that that isn’t the case. I Only Have Eyes for You lacked a natural chemistry between the leads, poor character development, and a bland plot that didn’t engage me. I suggest you skip unless you’re an undying fan of Andre’s books.

#book: i only have eyes for you #author: bella andre #genre: contemporary romance #genre: pregnancy & babies #rating: two and a half stars

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brie-n-kat-write · 7 years

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Freedom Part 2 (Greaser!Peter Parker x Reader AU)

Request: hi doll i was wondering if i could request a kinda greaser!peter parker au? like he saves you from your dick boyfriend and idk fluffy shit lmao sorry if this prompt sucks

Read part 1 here

A/N: Sorry this took so long, I had trouble getting inspired. But, here it is, I hope it’s not too terrible!

- Written by Kat -

When Peter finally stopped, pulling the motorcycle into a parking structure attached to a small apartment building, you were half asleep. Your arms were wound tightly around his waist, your body pressed against his back, loving the warmth that radiated from him. Coming to a space next to the stairwell door, Peter stopped the bike, kicking out the stand, before carefully pulling away from you and climbing off the bike. You groaned at the absence of warmth, the cold night air washing over you. You pulled Peter’s jacket tighter around you, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. You looked around curiously; you had never been in this part of the city. Your father had always told you nothing came from this side of town but trouble.

“Where are we?” you asked, stretching your arms above your head, a yawn escaping you. Peter chuckled, shoving his keys in his pocket and turning to face you.

“We,” he began, a small smile quirked his lips, bringing his arms around your waist to gently lift you off of the bike, “are home.” Setting you on your feet, he immediately took his arms from around you, but took your hand instead, pulling you to the apartment entrance. From what you had heard you father say about the buildings in this area, you expected the interior of the complex to be dark and hostile. Instead, you were met with a pleasant warmth and the smell of home cooked food. Despite the building being shared by multiple tenants, the atmosphere was more like one large home - welcoming and safe.

You followed behind Peter as he lead you up the stairs and through the building. In your drowsy mind, you thought about how nice it would be to live here, with all of these people, unlike how you lived now, alone, in a big house on the upper East Side. You also thought about how nice it was to hold Peter’s hand, though it was just to lead you through the halls, you thought about how warm his hand was around yours and how gently he led you, like you were delicate. It was so different than how Jake would hold your hand - not at all controlling or oppressive. You were jostled from your thoughts when Peter came to a stop outside one of the apartments. The number of the door read “APT. 216.” A screw at the top of the ‘2’ had come off, so the number tilted slightly to the right.

Peter bent down and picked up what looked like a rock from beside the “Welcome” mat. You watched as he flipped it over, taking a key out of the back. You felt a laugh bubble in your throat at the irony of it. Bringing a hand up to hide you smile, you raised an eyebrow at Peter.

“You use a fake rock… in an apartment building?” Peter glanced at you, a light blush on his cheeks, and chuckled sheepishly.

“I know it’s silly, it was my aunt’s idea.” Peter responded, inserting the key and unlocking the door before returning it to its rock. Before he opened the door, he paused and looked at you for a moment. “ Speaking of, she is probably asleep, so we should try and keep quiet.” You nodded in understanding, miming zipping your lips and throwing away the key. Peter smiled again and pushed open the door, pulling you in before silently closing the door. Stepping into the apartment, you were overwhelmed by the smell of pastries and cookies, you couldn’t explain it but it was the type of smell you wanted to wrap yourself up in and never leave. You looked around, noting all the pictures on the walls of Peter and - who you assumed was - his aunt.

Locking the door, Peter turned and took your hand again, quietly making his way to the kitchen. He had told Aunt May he would be home by 10. Glancing at the clock it read 12:45 AM. He was so dead. He was thankful she was already asleep, he didn’t know how she would react to him bringing a girl home in the middle of the night, but he could assume it wouldn’t be good. Making his way through the kitchen in the dark, he made his way to the fridge, planning on getting some ice for his hands, and (Y/N)’s face. His plan was to have (Y/N) hide in his room, then in the morning he would sneak her out, then wear gloves for the next couple days to hide the bruises on them. Aunt May hated it when he got into fights.

Reaching the fridge, Peter grasped for the freezer handle, then suddenly the room was flooded in light. Hissing slightly at the sudden brightness, he turned to the entry way and saw who had turned them on. Standing in the doorway was a very tired looking Aunt May. She stood in her robe, with her arms crossed over her chest, her fingers drumming on her bicep, the unspoken irritation evident. From where she stood, Aunt May couldn’t see you hidden slightly behind Peter and the fridge.

“Nice of you to join me, Peter.” she said, the anger laced in her words as clear as day. Peter swallowed thickly, feeling (Y/N) squeeze his hand. Aunt May’s slipper clad foot began to tap inpatiently on the floor as she waited for Peter to speak.. She narrowed her eyes, as if daring him to make an excuse. Pulling himself together, Peter tried to give an innocent smile. One wrong word and he was done for.

“Hi, Aunt May! I was just uh…” he trailed off dumbly, searching for a way out of this. Her fingers stopped drumming on her arm and her foot fell still as Aunt May let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose and rolling her neck from side to side, trying in vein to ease the tension in her shoulders. She ran a hand over her face, seeming too tired to fight with Peter right now. The smile on Peter’s face fell away, noticing the bags the hung under her bloodshot eyes, he realized just how tired she must be. She had stayed up waiting for him, even though she had work the next day.

“I’m sorry Aunt May. I just… I got caught up in something…” he reached up to rub the back of his neck feeling extremely guilty. As he brought his hand up, Aunt May caught sight of the fresh cuts and bruises on them. Uh oh… wrong move.

“What did I tell you about fighting, young man?!” she half-heartedly scolded him. Peter’s eyes widened, realizing his mistake and quickly burying his hand in his pocket. He opened his mouth to try and explain, but Aunt May quickly cut him off, raising her hand. “Save it! I tell you time and time again, you need to stay away from those boys! Something bad could happen! I don’t need to lose you too!” She walked forward, continuing her rant. “One day someone is going to get seriously-” When her eyes fell on (Y/N), she noticed her bruised face and busted lip; the anger drained out of her, replaced with concern. “Hurt…” she glanced at Peter, who was looking down at his shoes, then back to you. She took in the blood and dirt maring your pink dress and the large leather jacket that covered your arms before finally landing on yours and Peter’s intertwined fingers. She couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“Aunt May this is (Y/N).” Peter introduced you, keeping his head bowed. Fear boiled in the pit of your stomach. You were scared of what she would do. You had no right to be here in her home, especially at this time of night. Glancing at Peter, you took a step forward, feeling that it was unfair for Peter to take the blame for a fight that was your fault.

“I’m sorry Ms. Parker, I was in trouble, and Peter-he helped me.” Tears pricked at your eyes and your voice shook slightly as you spoke ”I-I didn’t mean to involve him, it’s just my boyfriend, he-he was-” Aunt May shook her head, smiling gently and quietly shushing you.

“You don’t need to explain, dear.” The kind smile she offered you chased away your fear. She stepped forward and reached a hand out, cupping the side of your face, her eyes searching over the damage. “The important thing is that you’re both okay.” Her gentle touch soothed your rattled nerves. Removing her hand, she opened the freezer and took out two ice packs, tossing one to Peter, who caught it with one hand, and placing the other in your hand. She smiled once again and chuckled lightly. “I’m sorry you had to see me like this.” She gestured to her robe and slippers, “I would have worn something more presentable if someone would have told me we were having company.” She shot a look at Peter, who smiled sheepishly.

“It wasn’t exactly planned Aunt May.” Peter said. She only rolled her eyes, taking a step back she looked over the two of you again.

“Well, there is no helping it now.” She sighed before offering you another kind smile. “Is there anyone I need to call dear? Your parents? To let them know you're okay?” She asked. You blushed, pressing the ice pack to your swollen lip.

“My parents are out of town, there is no one at home.” You answered, praying she wouldn’t make you go home to that place, absent of warmth. The idea of being alone right now rattled you.

“Well, you are welcome to stay here as long as you like,” Aunt May offered, leaning back against the fridge. “I don’t like the idea of you alone after something like this.”

“Me neither…” you heard Peter mumble under his breath, giving your hand another squeeze. Relief washed over you, the fear of being alone was enough to make you dizzy. With everything that happened, you were sure Jake would be coming after you, and he knew where you lived.

“Thank you ma'am, I promise I won’t be any trouble.” Aunt May waved away your concerns, yawning.

“Don’t worry about it dear, if you need anything just ask Peter. I’m going to bed, I have an early shift in the morning.” She grumbled, shuffling over and giving Peter a kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight Peter, goodnight (Y/N).” She mumbled, walking out of the kitchen. Suddenly, you felt beyond tired, like you could sleep for days. Glancing at Peter, you caught his eye, causing the both of you to smile. He gently rubbed his thumb over your knuckles, a small blush on his cheeks.

“Welcome home.”

Part 3: Here

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #spider-man #spider-man imagine #marvel #marvel imagines #superhero #tom holland #imagine #au #alternate universe

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