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justmightyshadows · 3 months

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This chapter came to me a bit faster than some of the others probably because it is setting up what is to come. It has tender moments but is mostly filling in lore and dissing Selune.

Aylin and Isobel picked a place in the upper reaches of the furthest tower when they set up camp outside of Baldur’s Gate. Isobel tried to remove some of the dust before the others arrived but had barely made a safe space for the fire before Muira stood before them. She wore a long black night gown with a high split up her leg that had been picked out for her by Minthara who had recently fallen into the habit of dressing her lately. Minthara followed behind her in a matching black jumpsuit that had a plunge to her navel. They sat silently across from Aylin and Isobel as the pair tended to beginning of the small fire.

Isobel cast a couple quizzical looks at Minthara - her eyes showed the yearning of a question forming on her mind - but she chose not to speak. The silence was punctuated by the small pops of the embers until eventually Muira sighed and spoke “Out with it then winged one. I need to know what happened. How did you get caught and what magic trapped you?” She began to pass around small glasses to drink out of and a large bottle of elvish spirit which Minthara looked at with disgust.

Aylin threw two overflowing glasses back and wiped the excess from her face with the back of her arm. “I was caught by Ketheric, he used my oath against me. I was distraught at the time over my dear Isobel’s death and searching for ways to do good for Selunite’s in the area. He wrote to me about a threat to them there so I made my way quickly to offer my aid. In other times I would have waited for reinforcements or at least an ally at my side. When I arrived I was overwhelmed by Shar’s forces and bound by the necromancer Balthazar.” Isobel reached over tenderly and stroked Aylin’s face but Aylin lowered her hand gently and moved forward. “At first I was resigned to my fate. To die truly felt like a relief I could not have had any other way, every death felt like a chance to be by her side again. In truth I was not sure if immortality was a real thing, a long life yes but to be killed as I was, I did not think it possible. At the same time I could feel every blow that Ketheric took and his pain ravaged me as well.” She filled her glass again and poured it into the back of her throat. Minthara wondered if it did anything to numb her at all or if the act itself made her feel better, more mortal. “Killing him was a joy I did not think I could have but my pain had already been endured, there was no turning back time.” She shifted in a rare moment of uncomfortable energy and allowed Isobel to hold tightly to her arm.

“You endured a great deal but did you not see the signs? Did you not know he was a Sharran?” Muira asked in an even tone. She watched the facial expressions of them both to glean any clues about the truth of this tale. “I knew he was a sick and twisted man but I assumed it was by grief not by falling to a lost goddess. I spent no time around him or that area after Isobel died. There was nothing I wanted more than to be far from the places that held our memories together.” Her voice quivered and Isobel began to look in concern she thread her hand under Aylin’s tunic and rubbed her back while she poured her another heaping glass of drink. Aylin tipped it back as well and looked off into the distance.

“I pity your predicament in a way, but I had far more technical questions in mind than your emotional state. How did they bind you for so long? Was it with the magic that I suggested?” She made a manageable glass for herself and pulled a small bejeweled bottle from her waist lining and passed it to Minthara who sighed in relief at the drow wine.

Isobel furrowed her brow in confusion “What do you mean that you suggested?” Aylin interjected loudly over her questioning “Do not stir trouble for me, child of Umberlee. I will not stand for it.”

Muira ignored Aylin and shifted her intense gaze to Isobel instead moving her legs to widen the slit which drew everyone’s attention to her thighs. “I came to visit sometime before you died and tried to convince Aylin to bind herself to you if she felt you were her true love. I explained the soul bridge to her and she rejected me fully.” She let a bit of the drink slip from her mouth down her chest and pretended to look surprised. “I assumed she was either too self-righteous or not in love enough to take my advice.”

Aylin jumped up shaking the twigs in the low burning fire, her eyes glowing white with fury while Muira finished with a cool “I warned her the magic could be used against her otherwise. I could not be the only one to think of it. She never told you this?” This angered Aylin even more as she pointed down at Muira “You have no right to come here and stir up trouble in such a way! I did not tell her because I did not trust you! I still don’t. You are too power hungry and too willing to make alliances with dark forces.” She turned to face Minthara “Look, even now who you keep in your bed.”

Minthara rose in a dramatically slow way and breathed out “She keeps someone in her bed who is worthy of the position. Do not blame Muira for your inadequacies and careful where this sentiment goes. You are so far an ally but an enemy can be made just as quickly.” Muira rubbed her hand gently up Minthara’s leg and pulled down at her waist as she spoke to Aylin directly “I was born of a dark force! That is your problem with me golden one, and when I extended my hand in friendship you rebuked me on prejudice alone. Now you must live with where that has put you. You are angry with yourself far more than you are angry with me.” Minthara settled to the floor reluctantly crossing her legs but brought Muira underneath her arm in a protective way as she glowered at Aylin.

“Tell us Isobel, what trapped her for so long.” This time it was Minthara who spoke catching the cleric off guard, she flinched a bit dramatically at being addressed by her. “A soul cage. It bound her and kept her in a state of suspended stasis while her life force, her soul, was used almost like a shield by Ketheric.” She avoided Minthara’s gaze instead looking at Muira with soft eyes, as if she hoped her admissions would win her favor.

“It sounds similar to the soul bridge which would be more of a shared connection. You are both too young” She gestured at Minthara and Isobel “but this was a favorite of the gods before, to make their favorite mortal warriors -immortal through the binding of their soul to something immortal, in most cases a blessed weapon. Many a legendary weapon has a soul bound to it, giving it the properties and knowledge of the warrior it homes. The truly powerful can even extend their mortal body and transfer between the two shapes.”

Muira felt the heat of the drink across her body as she tipped another glass back. She gave a soft kiss to the underside of Minthara’s jaw who smirked at Isobel’s jealous face. “There is nothing stopping you now Aylin, once I’ve gotten the details for the soul bridge you should not make the same mistake twice.”

Aylin looked down at Isobel and spoke in an apologetic tone “It would offend Selune to give my immortality to another.”

Minthara laughed harshly and made a sweeping motion at the room around them. “Look at where we are? You owe Selune nothing! She let you rot away for a century, she let her sister kill you thousands of times and for what? She sent no army, no weapon, no warrior to your aid. We lifted the curse and felled Ketheric on our own. You owe her nothing, oh mighty paladin. ” She let the last sentence fall as the insult that is was and enjoyed the angry look on Isobel’s face.

“We owe her everything.” Isobel whispered, she drank her first glass into the silence of the room. Muira let the silence drag on as she stared longingly at Minthara, she gave another playful kiss and Minthara gave her a stern look to behave. She did not mind pda but seemed to be taking stock of the company before them.

Isobel yawned, tired from the talk and seemingly annoyed by the display of affection before her. “It matters not, we will lead two different lives for two different lengths it seems. However, to destroy this cult you still have our help. You saved Aylin, you saved me and you helped Jaheira as well, that is not something we take lightly.” She spoke directly to Muira, and held her gaze, then lowered her head slightly in deference.

Muira rose and put a hand out to Aylin “You do not need to trust me yet - look into it on your own. Ask yourself if you can endure her death again.” She then put a hand out to Isobel who raised it to her mouth and gave the knuckles a light kiss as she whispered “I owe you a great debt, child of Umberlee. I hope one day to repay it.” Minthara bristled to her side as they said their goodnights and headed back to the tent.

They had barely crossed the threshold before Muira has opened a map on their bedroll. “They gave us the information we were looking for. In Baldur’s Gate we need to find that book on soul binding to weapons. I think it holds the key we are missing. We also need to enter the Wave Mother’s Temple. I believe we will be safer there than sleeping in the streets of Baldur’s Gate.” She circled two areas and then added two symbols in the corner for Bhaal and Bane. “Of course we must also kill Orin and remove this tadpole.” Minthara listened absentmindedly as she sat in front of Muira. She reached out and rubbed both of Muira’s arms following behind with soft kisses that trailed up to her neck. She pressed their bodies together and leaned into Muira’s ear enjoying the feel of the demi-god’s heart rate quickening from her touch. “You will give me this gift then my love?” There was no doubt what she meant. Her question was as tender and soft as she’d ever been but in a way that was drenched in a sort of desperation. She wants to live forever. “Yes, of course, ussta kulggen*(my shield)” Minthara moved to rest on her lap pressing her weight into Muira. “Promise me you will not stop until we are bound as such.” She flickered her tongue along the edge of Muira’s ear. “Usttan Iglata. ** (I promise)” she moved her mouth to bite down harshly into Muira’s neck. “Make it so then, my love. Before we do not get the chance and end up like them.” She pulled back a bit to stare deeply into Muira’s eyes, the dark brown of the gaze returned looked like pools of the deepest water. “I would never allow us to be like them. You have my promise.” She rubbed her head into Minthara’s and continued “Rest now. I will be lookout while you meditate. I have plans to make.” Minthara nodded and shed her clothes wrapping herself in the soft blankets and furs that Muira kept for them. She draped one hand over Muira’s crossed legs, even in resting she yearned for the closeness of their bodies.

Muira waited for Minthara’s breathing to slow before she called out to Aenwyn. In a flash her trident shifted and aneleven was before her. She had piercing emerald eyes, light gray skin and jet black hair that falls neatly below her cheek, across her face is a large scar that crackles gently with electricity. Her head is adorned with a three pointed circle and she wore a billowing green dress that fell above her knee. “My lord?” Her voice is almost two each word in perfect unison but the harmony of it sung like a small choir. “Watch the perimeter while she rests.” Muira did not look up from her reading when she spoke, staring instead at a small book on binding spells. “Of course my lord.” Aenwyn gave a small bow and walked off, the sound of her feet nonexistent as if she hovered right above the ground.

The night labored along slowly until Minthara’s breathing became shallow. She writhed in agony, sweat beading on her forehead. “No” she whispered into the darkness over and over. “Aenwyn, bring cold water now!” Muira called out. Within seconds Aenwyn was at her side with a small cool basin as they stared over the drow. “She looks haunted.” Aenwyn’s voice was even as Muira dabbed at the sweat that had formed on her lover’s head. “Give her time - if she isn’t awake in an hour you must wake her.”

Muira nodded and allowed Aenwyn to plant a gentle kiss on her head. “Stay close, Aenwyn.” She called as Aenwyn stepped out of the tent. “I am never far my lord.”

#OC Muira #Muira #bg3 #ao3 #ao3 wr #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #minthara #dame aylin #bg3 aylin #bg3 isobel #bg3 oc #bg3 minthara #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fic #bg3 lore

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middleearthpixie · 11 months

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Better Days ~ Chapter Sixteen

Summary: Frerin Durin had the perfect life, until he found out his wife was cheating on him. Now, he’s navigating uncharted territory as an about-to-be divorced single dad. Dating is a mess, he’s dealing with the fallout where his kids are concerned, and really, he would just love a vacation away from all of it.

Elena Madison is new to Sidleburg, and also navigating life as a newly single parent. The last thing she needed was for her daughter to come down sick, when she hasn’t even had time to unpack the moving boxes, never mind find a pediatrician. And the last thing she ever expected was to meet a man like Dr. Frerin Durin…

Neither Elena nor Frerin were looking for anything, but fate has a way of messing up even the best laid plans. However, both have been hurt and both aren't at all sure they trust themselves, never mind trusting someone else...

Pairings: Modern!Frerin x ofc Elena Madison

Characters: Frerin, Elena, Dan

Warnings: None

Rating: T

Word Count: 2.8

Tag List: @mrsdurin @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @arrthurpendragon @exhausted-humxn-being @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketchy-loo6195 @sherala007 @enchantzz @knittastically @notlostgnome @myselfandfantasy @medusas-hairband @guardianofrivendell @jotink78 @sorisooyaa @ruthoakenshield @frosticenow @quiall321 @dianakc @buckybarnes-thorin @glassgulls @evenstaredits @heilith @asgardianhobbit98 @albionscastle @absentmindeduniverse @way-too-addicted-to-fandoms @sazzlep @court-jobi @masterofhounds

If you’d like to be added to (or removed from ) the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here.

Elena lifted her head and squinted through mole-eyes at the clock on the bookshelf across from Frerin’s bed. Ten after eight. Sun splashed through the windows on the eastern wall, bouncing across the rumpled and disheveled bed, and she smiled as she sank back into the soft pillows. It truly was one of the better Christmases.

Frerin lay sound asleep behind her, his arm resting along the curve of her waist. Heat from his chest sank into her back, the tips of his fingers brushed her stomach. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so well. Actually, she wasn't sure she’d ever slept as well as she did last night.

Carefully, she eased out from beneath his arm and slid to the edge of the king sized bed. The master bedroom was at least twice the size of hers, with a small alcove at the front, with a comfy looking gray-upholstered overstuffed armchair and ottoman tucked into it. A pair of jeans and a black hoodie lay draped over the ottoman, and she snagged the hoodie to drag over her head.

It was huge on her, considering he was probably a good foot taller than she was and she stood at not quite five foot three. But, it was cozy and it smelled nice, clean with a hint of cedar. She tugged on her socks and made her way down to the kitchen in search of coffee.

The Keurig was on the counter next to the refrigerator, tucked beneath the cabinets. She powered it up and then tugged open the drawer directly below it in the hopes of finding coffee pods there.

Apparently that was the junk drawer, for it held a tape measure, several screwdrivers of different lengths and heads, a handful of twist ties, a green marble, two rolls of scotch tape, and a bag of what appeared to be glue sticks.

“So much for that.” She smiled as she moved to the pantry, which on the far side of the refrigerator. Everything in the world but coffee pods could be found there.

She finally found them in the drawer alongside the junk drawer, in a metal mesh organizer. He had everything from Obsidian dark roast to cinnamon light roast, so she chose something halfway between and slid in into the machine. While it was brewing, she found sugar and half and half and coffee mugs. She took out a Princeton University mug and smiled. Her degree had come out of Rider University, which was located only a town away from Princeton. It was entirely possible that at some point, she had bumped into Frerin or had seen him in Princeton, as the Rider students spent their fair share of time in the town.

When her coffee was ready, she took the cup and moved to the kitchen table, near the French doors that opened out on to a deck. A light coating of snow covered everything, made the parklike landscape behind his house look something out of a Christmas special. A family of deer meandered through the sloping backyard, along the perimeter where it backed woods and she almost sighed at the peacefulness of it all. A hint of of cinnamon hung in the air. The pinecones on the dining room table, no doubt. And combined with that were hints of garlic from dinner.

She settled into the chair nearest the French doors and smiled at the memory of what happened last night at this very table. There was something so very heady about the sight of Frerin on his knees before her, and her whole body tingled now just thinking about it. It had been too long since any man made her feel like the center of his world, where her pleasure was just as important to him as his own, as it certainly seemed to be to Frerin. Most of the men she’d dated since Dan thought foreplay involved buying dinner then pouncing on her in the front seat of their car in the driveway. It was awful enough that she’d seriously considered just giving up dating altogether.

Then Alyssa caught the flu and Elena found herself in the ER, smiling at a good-looking doctor with beautiful blue-gray eyes, an amazing bedside manner, and who was single to boot. She never would have guessed that same good-looking doctor would make her melt and scream in bed for all the right reasons. She wasn't so sure guys like him actually existed, but that the dating pool was filled with jerkoffs who could populate a thousand Buzzfeed articles on why dating men actually sucked.

She sipped her coffee, completely at peace in Frerin’s kitchen, in his hoodie, her legs tucked up under her, pondering the way life could throw curveballs at you that weren’t quite as curved as they seemed. She’d left Lavallette to get a fresh start on a new life. Never in her wildest imaginings would she have thought just how her life would change.

But then again, Dan was the perfect guy in the beginning as well and look how that turned out. It seemed every woman he met thought the same thing and he wasn't at all hesitant to let them admire him, or to let them think he was single. She would do well to keep that in mind. All men were Prince Charming when they wanted to fuck you. She really hoped Frerin wasn't that guy as well.

“I thought maybe you’d snuck out on me.”

She smiled at the sleepiness in Frerin’s voice, and twisted to see him, clad only in dark grey sweatpants, coming into the kitchen, absently scratching his chest. “I would never do that. I was just watching the deer. It’s beautiful out here.”

“Yeah, we get a lot of wildlife. Deer. Turkeys. Foxes.” He moved to the Keurig and took out a coffee pod for himself. “Have you been awake long?”

“Maybe half an hour. It took me a while to find everything.”

“You could’ve woken me.” He padded over to her, leaning to press a kiss into the top of her head. “How’d you sleep?”

“Perfectly. Your bed is really comfy.”

“Yeah, it was the first thing I bought after Toni moved out.” He went back to the Keurig, made a cup of coffee, and joined her at the table. “I had an aversion to sleeping in the bed where my wife fucked another guy.”

“Can’t say I blame you.”

“I sound bitter, don't I?”

She raised her cup. “Just a little.”

“I’m sorry, Lena. It’s also kind of shitty to talk about her after a night like last night.” He smiled. “I’m glad you made it over.”

“So am I, Frerin.”

He took a sip of coffee, set the mug down, then rose to come over to where she sat. “What do you have planned for today?”

“Not a damn thing.” She shook her head. “You?”

“Same.” He reached for her hands to draw her up. “I’m off until tomorrow night, so… why don’t we spend the day together?”

Her stomach fluttered at the low growl in his voice. “Doing what?”

“Whatever you want.”

“But what do you want to do?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Truth?”

“No, Frerin. Lie to me.”

His low chuckle rumbled through her as he slid his arms about her waist and tightened them to pull her flush against him. “I’d like to start by seeing what you look like naked and wet. Although, I’ve kind of already seen that.”

“Frerin!”

“What? I’m being honest. And it was hot as fuck, as my sister in law would say.” He bent toward her, and before his lips met hers, he added in a soft purr, “And so are you.”

Before she could reply, he captured her lips with his. It was so easy to melt against him, to wind her arms about his neck and pull him closer still. In all honesty, she’d had such a wonderful time since arriving at his house, and not only because he was so fucking good in bed, although, that was a plus. She just felt… comfortable with him, as if they’d known each other for years instead of weeks. So, when he swept his hoodie up and off of her… well, what else could she do but just give in to the melt?

“We should probably think about dinner,” Frerin murmured, his lips brushing her ear. “Because it’s dark out.”

Elena smiled into that darkness. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent an entire day in bed, without being sick. She snuggled closer. “We can DoorDash something.”

“Or I can actually take you out.” He pressed a kiss into the top of her head before pulling away to sit up. “That way, you know I’m not just in it for the sex.”

The soft glow of the bathroom nightlight highlighted the swells of muscle along his shoulders and down his back. He definitely used his gym time wisely, and she wondered how many of his patients’ mothers had any idea just how magnificent he looked beneath his sensible clothes?

She rolled onto her stomach, bunching the pillows beneath her cheek. “So, wait… you’re not just in it for the sex?”

He had just stepped into his boxer briefs and was straightening the waistband when she said this, and he looked up, almost surprised. “Did you think I was?”

“Well, yeah… I mean, what else is there?”

His hands came to rest on his hips. “I don’t know—I guess I thought there might be more here, but—”

She couldn't hold a straight face any longer. “I’m kidding, Frerin. I didn't think that at all. No guy who’s just in it for the sex asks you spend the night in his home with him. You go to a hotel or you’d suggest going to my place so you have an excuse to leave.”

He sighed, visibly relaxing. “Okay, so I’m an idiot.”

“Nah, I was kind of an ass.” She rolled back to sit up. “And I would love to go to dinner.”

“The Thai food we didn't get last week?”

“Sounds good.”

He smiled and leaned forward to brush her lips with his. As they met, he kept coming toward her, pressing her back into the bed as he flattened against her and his kiss deepened. He obviously enjoyed kissing, as he did so slow and almost leisurely, and when he pulled back, she slid her arms about his waist. “So, you think there might be something more here than just incredible sex?”

“Yeah,” he murmured, nodding. “I do. And I’m kind of hoping you do, too.”

“I normally don’t let myself think that way,” she admitted softly. “Because it always comes back to bite me in the ass.”

“Not this time,” he brushed her lips with his, “I want to introduce you to my kids. To my family.”

“I’ve already met your brother.”

“His wife. My sister. My nephews.”

Her stomach did a slow flip that was equal parts wonderful and nerve-racking. “Are you sure? I mean, we haven’t even really gone out yet.”

“Lena, we talk almost every day. I’ve met your daughter. You’ve met my brother. You’ve slept in my bed and shared my shower with me. Yeah, I’m sure. I want you to meet them.”

She met his gaze and saw no sign of anything insincere in his blue-gray eyes, and smiled up at him. “If you’re sure…”

“I am, honey.” He brushed her lips with his once more.

“Okay. I have to admit, I am curious about them.”

“I think you’ll like them and I think they’ll like you, too. It might be a bit of a shock to them, since I haven’t dated any woman long enough to want her to meet them, but I think they’ll be okay.”

“I guess we’ll find out, huh?”

The Thai Kitchen was crowded, but they were still seated quickly and while the food was every bit as good as Frerin promised, Elena was just as happy when they were nestled back in his car in the parking lot.

His hand came to rest on her knee, his fingers tightening about it as he said, “Can I convince you to spend another night with me?”

She looked over at him. “As long as you won’t think I’m easy as a result.”

He chuckled. “What if I like the fact that you’re easy?”

She smacked him in the upper arm. “What a thing to say! You do need to work on your flirting.”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said, leaning over to brush her lips with his. “I don't think you’re easy, Lena.”

“I hope not. You should only know how many people have been told not to call me Lena.”

“Not to call you that? You don’t like it?”

“Not really, no.”

“Why didn't you say something? I’d have stopped—”

“Because I don't mind you doing it,” she interrupted softly, covering his hand with hers. “But, before I agree to spend another night, can we stop by my apartment so I can at least pack a toothbrush? I know it’s weird, but so’s using a guest toothbrush.”

“No problem.” He gave her knee another squeeze and turned over the ignition. Half an hour later, they were back at his house, where it wasn't long before they fell back into bed once more.

****

The apartment seemed so much quieter than usual without Alyssa playing music in her room or playing on her Switch curled up on the sofa. Before she left, Frerin told her he’d give her a call when he had a break, but she had the feeling that a Saturday night, over a holiday weekend, was most likely going to keep him very busy, as he was covering the ER again.

She went through her mail, sorting bills from junk, and poured herself a glass of wine as she tackled said bills. Halfway through, her cell rang, and she smiled.

Until she picked up the phone.

“Hi, Dan, what’s up?”

“Where have you been?”

She rolled her eyes. “Hello to you. What did you need me for?”

“I tried calling Alyssa on Christmas and she didn’t answer. I tried calling her yesterday and she wasn't answering her phone. And each time I tried her, I tried you after and you weren’t answering your phone. What gives? Where were you?”

“I was out, okay?”

“On Christmas? All day? And yesterday?”

“Yes, Dan. I have a life as well. And Alyssa isn’t here. The reason she probably didn't answer her phone is she’s with your parents and they were probably busy.”

Dead silence.

And then…

“Why is Alyssa with my parents?”

“Because they’re her grandparents and they asked her to visit for the holiday. Dan, what do you care? Aren’t you in the Caribbean somewhere? Aruba, I think?”

“Puerto Rico. Carina got sick our first day in port and we haven’t left the ship since.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Sick at Christmas is no fun.”

“Yeah, you sound like you really give a damn.”

Give me strength. “What do you want, Dan? If you want to talk to Lyssa, call your parents.”

“Can’t you just text her and tell her to give me a ring?”

“No. I’m not your secretary. If you want to talk to your daughter, talk to her.”

“Thanks, Elena. You’ve been a huge help.”

“I wasn't aware I was supposed to be.” She sank into one of the kitchen chairs. “Now, did you need me for anything or what?”

“Are you going to tell me where you were all weekend?”

“That’s none of your business. We’re not married anymore, remember?”

He sighed softly. “I didn't call to fight with you, Elena. I just—I wanted to wish her a Merry Christmas.”

“So call your mom and ask her to put Lyssa on the phone. She’ll probably talk to you.”

“Yeah, maybe. Okay, I’m sorry to bother you and I hope I didn't interrupt anything.”

“You didn’t.”

“Good. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Dan. Enjoy what’s left of your trip.”

“Yeah, we’ll be home in a couple days. I was hoping to take Lyssa for New Year’s.”

“She’s not coming home until the second. Maybe next year.”

“Yeah. Okay, good night.”

“‘Night, Dan.” She clicked off and set the phone down. Sometimes she wondered how she had managed to remain married to him for as long as she had, but at the same time, she found much of her anger at him, at what he’d done to cause their marriage to fall apart, faded into the deeper recesses of her mind. Perhaps it was because deep down, she knew their marriage was over long before he’d begun cheating. And if she was really honest, she would admit it was also because of having met Frerin.

And now he wanted her to meet his kids. That terrified her to no end because what if they hated her on sight? She’d never dated a single dad before and had no idea exactly what would happen or how uncomfortable it might possibly be.

But, she’d find out soon enough, she supposed.

#Gerard Butler #Frerin Durin #Frerin x OC #AU #Frerin Fic #Is it hot in here?#Romance #Modern AU #ER AU #Hospital AU #Richard Armitage #The Hobbit #Thorin Oakenshield #Hobbit Fic #Hobbit Fanfic #Fan fiction #The Hobbit fan fiction

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lyutenw · 9 months

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ACOD| Chapter XVII

Tw: sa

"I wouldn't want to miss the departure of the princess." Ellian said as he stood next to Aria. He had come back that very morning, 5 days before he was supposed to be back. Aria had been surprised that he had done a trip back all that way just to say goodbye to Zaya. Aria wondered whether he believed that she would find a way to leave with her sister.

"As if I could..." Aria muttered under her breath, lost in her thoughts. Going back to Celenial would be a suicide mission for her as she had nowhere to hide from her cruel father. At that point Aria didn't know which fate was crueler; escaping to Celenial and being found by her father or going to the far away village trying to escape Ellian. She decided she was screwed either way, but at least in Oceana she had a fighting chance with Raven by her side.

"What?" Ellian asked and Aria realized she had thought out loud. She smiled forcefully and looked at Zaya who was walking down the large corridor to where they were. Her maids were walking behind her, each with a solemn face.

Zaya was fighting back tears as she run up to her sister and hugged her, not caring about the proper etiquette of a princess greeting a queen. They were sisters above all.

Aria hugged her back tightly and softly stroked her long brown hair, just as Zaya had done the previous night for her.

"It's going to be okay." Aria whispered in Zaya's ear and tightened her hug. Zaya's tears escaped her eyes as she nodded. They both knew that nothing would be okay for either of them. They had hope, but Zaya knew her fate.

After what seemed like minutes but was only seconds, Zaya let go of Aria and wiped her tears with the back of her palms, smearing her makeup on her cheeks. Aria softly cupped her sisters face and wiped the smears with her thumbs, trying to force a smile for her sister.

"I'll come to visit you again, sis." Zaya murmured so only Aria could hear and then turned away from her and walked to Ellian who was standing a feet away. He bowed before him, a deep bow as a sign of respect for the king of Oceana, despite a rotten one.

"Have a safe trip princess." Ellian said and half-bowed his head for her.

"Thank you, my king." Zaya answered and after her all the maids followed after bowing collectively before the king and queen.

As soon as Zaya was out of sight and the palace hall was empty apart for the servants and Ellian, Aria ran to her room. She didn't want Ellian to see her cry, despite it being a grief separate from him. Showing weakness once was enough, she didn't want him to take advantage of her ever again.

Aria realized that since Zaya was now gone, her hatred for Ellian had taken the first stage once again. It had been pushed back by the love for her sister and was now resurfacing again by seeing his face. What she truly hated was his eyes, those twisted pits of darkness. He was otherwise handsome, someone seeing him for the first time would definitely be charmed; just as Zaya was. That was until they learned what kind of monster he was, if they ever did, as it seemed he was only treating Aria like that.

Unbeknownst to her, Ellian had followed suit behind her.

"Not even a word to me, little doe?" Ellian asked as he locked the door behind him, Aria not noticing it.

"Why are you here?" Her words were as cold as her gaze to him; she had been able to quickly wipe away her tears, so he didn't see her crying.

"Is that a way to greet me, now?" Ellian's voice got deeper, and Aria ignored the chills that ran down her spine. She took a step back as he took a step forward, not wanting to decrease the distance between them. He was an unpredictable bastard, and she didn't want to deal with his sick and twisted games.

"You didn't answer my question." Aria raised her head proudly, standing her ground, despite the red alarm going off inside her head. Ellian quickly closed the distance between them and grabbed her by her neck, squeezing his hand tighter as the seconds went by.

"Don't get an attitude with me, little doe, or you won't like what happens next." He leaned closer to her face so that they were just a breath away.

"I won't be so nice as last time." He whispered but stressed every word, making Aria avert her gaze from his in embarrassment. She had tried to forget that night, her subconscious had shoved it into a dark place she rarely revisited unless she was asleep; and when she did it made her want to scream and break everything.

Despite her better judgement, and in a fit of rage and stupid bravery, she looked back into his eyes, her own gold eyes darkening to a liquid honey.

"How worse can it get?" She spat out and furrowed her eyebrows. Ellian chuckled, a heavy gurgle of his throat and leaned even closer, now dangerously close to her lips.

"I can break you like a doll, little doe." He leaned into her ear, his breath brushing against her neck, making the little hairs stand up, alert.

"I can fuck you so hard you will scream and beg, but no one will come to save you. I can choke the life out of you and only let you breathe a second before you pass out." As Ellian was talking, the momentary bravery of Aria was escaping. Now, she was utterly terrified.

"And don't get me started on knives, little doe. I don't think you know that about me." Ellian chuckled and let Aria's neck go. She gasped for air and brought her fingers up to her now tender neck. Ellian had a sadistic smirk plastered on his face as he took a step forward, then circled around her slowly like a vulture ready to tear her to pieces.

"I really love how a knife slices someone's skin. And, oh, the blood that comes out..." He stopped behind her, and Aria didn't dare to turn and face him; she was frozen in place.

"It's so delicious and gets me so hard." He whispered and took a step back. Every hair in Aria's body was standing up and repeated chills were running down her back. Once again, she had been rendered useless, paralyzed by the fear this man had instilled in her. In a deep part of her mind, she wondered how a young man like that could be so fucked up.

Aria stayed silent and frozen in place. Ellian was also not moving behind her, but she didn't want to turn and face him. Her breaths were slow and shallow, and she was sure that Ellian would do something to her; the atmosphere was heavy and sticking to her like a shadow.

"My meeting didn't go as planned..." Ellian trailed off and walked slowly back and forth. Aria let out a breath she hadn't known she had been keeping and her muscles relaxed a tiny bit.

"So, what are you going to do about it, little doe?" Ellian's smirk was apparent in his voice and Aria closed her eyes shut. She cursed under her breath, of course she wouldn't get off so easily.

"What do you want me to do?" Aria asked defeated, her voice a meek, lifeless, whisper.

"Get on your knees. Now." Ellian instructed as he untied his pants and let them fall to his ankles, then with a swift move shoved them away. Aria took a step towards him and slowly lowered herself to her knees, her eyes shut tightly. She didn't want to see more of him than necessary.

"Your eyes here, little doe, look at me." Ellian said as she also took off his underwear, revealing his hard dick to Aria. Aria despite not wanting to go against him, couldn't open her eyes. She heard Ellian sigh, and then she was quickly swept up from the floor by a tight grab on her neck. Ellian threw her on the bed like a ragdoll and paced to the dresser.

"Fail to do as I say, bear the consequences." Ellian raised his voice and grabbed a knife from the drawer. Aria noticed that that was her knife that her father had given to her by the jewels reflecting the light on her.

Ellian quickly got on top of her and sliced off her dress, revealing her naked body to him. Her body was paler than before and skinnier; her ribs were showing, and she had no more curves. Her breasts that were plump before, now were smaller.

Ellian hesitated as he truly saw how his wife had changed. The first time fucking her, she had been a woman torturing his dreams with her sexual body, now she was just a shadow of her past self.

One tear trickled down Aria's cheek and she breathed deeply. She knew the sudden sting of a blade slicing open her skin; she had been through it for so many years she had grown numb to it. But that had been years ago, she had almost forgotten how it felt, until Ellian reminded her.

Ellian slowly slid the cold metal blade down her skin, starting from the pit at her neck to her stomach and stopping just before her clitoris. Aria shivered from the coldness of the blade and flinched lightly.

"This is what happens when you refuse to do as I say." Ellian smirked and applied the slightest pressure on the well-sharpened blade, drawing a drop of blood right down her neck. He then dragged the blade down again, leaving a bloody trail along her whole body. Aria could see him enjoying it more as the seconds ticked forward. She lay immobile, not being able to do anything, not wanting to do anything.

"One slight move and you die, little doe." Ellian said as he brought the blade right up to her neck, close enough to her skin to feel the coldness, but not close enough to draw blood. Ellian grabbed her chest with his free hand and entered her quickly.

Aria bit her lip down so she didn't scream and tried to fall back into the pillow, so the blade of the knife is not so close to her. The feeling of Ellian penetrating her was painful and she could tell that he enjoyed it; he enjoyed making her feel as much pain as possible.

"You feel really tight today little doe... Maybe I haven't fucked you enough these days." Ellian said in between his moans and Aria didn't answer, just turned her head to the side. She didn't want to see him; she didn't want to see the face of pure joy and fun on his face as he was fucking her.

After a few seconds his moans grew louder and her pain greater, then she felt his warm semen in between her legs as he exited her. He took the knife away from her neck to reveal a cut that wasn't too deep and without saying anything he dropped the knife to the floor and stepped down from the bed.

He quickly left just as he had appeared and left Aria alone once again, but this time with no one to console her, or hug her. It was back to normal again.

------------------

Tag List: @angie-j-kay @mysticstarlightduck @boundedsea @pheonix-thefirebird @quillinhand @lottierae1 @puckpuckett @aalinaaaaaa

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the-talking-fishbone · 2 years

Text

Just Allergies?

Ao3 | Author's Note | WC: 10,004

It was just a sore throat, Hiccup had been assuring his team all day. Just allergies. Just pollen. Nothing to worry about.

But they weren’t convinced, especially not when his voice finally gave out as they ate dinner that night. He was in the middle of telling a funny story when, after a rasping squeak, he stopped talking, a baffled look crossing his face.

“Are…you okay?” Fishlegs said hesitantly. The rest of the team fell silent, awaiting Hiccup’s response.

Hiccup coughed, swigged some water, and coughed again before croaking, “I don’t think I can talk much more. My throat–”

Astrid leaned forward, eyes widening. “Is it worse? Should we fly and get Gothi? Are–”

“Astrid!” Hiccup rasped. “Really! It’s just allergies. Nothing I can’t handle.” He drank some more water, grimacing as he swallowed. “Darned pollen.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Snotlout said around a mouthful of chicken. “You look kinda red.”

“It’s the fire,” Hiccup said wheezily. “That’s all.”

“I might be wrong,” broke in Tuffnut, “but I’m pretty sure fires don’t do that to people.” He gestured at Hiccup, who shot him a glare, then resumed eating his fish. “But what do I know?”

“Nothing,” snickered Ruffnut. “Nothing at all.”

“You take that back!” Tuffnut growled. There was a brief spat between the twins, until Astrid loudly cleared her throat and they went quiet.

“Look, I’m telling you guys I’m perfectly fine,” Hiccup said hoarsely after a moment. “I just need some tea and a good night’s rest, is all.”

The rest of the team traded worried glances. “Hiccup, I think–” began Fishlegs, as at the same moment Astrid leaned to touch Hiccup’s arm.

“I said I’m fine!” Hiccup snapped, causing his friends to jerk back in surprise. He stood up, a scowl crossing his face. “Stop worrying about me!” He turned and began stalking up the hill towards his hut. “Come on, Toothless.”

As the black dragon slunk apologetically away from the rest of the group after Hiccup, the team exchanged looks again.

“Gosh, I hope he’s not sick,” Tuffnut said, his brow furrowing as he finished off his fish. “I mean, it’s probably just allergies like he said, right?”

Astrid looked over at the small figure trudging away from them up the hill, his dragon walking worriedly at his side. “I…hope so,” she mumbled. “If Viggo’s men decide to attack and Hiccup is sick–”

“Hey! We held ‘em off before,” Tuffnut said. “We can do it without Hiccup. He’s not that cool.”

Snotlout waved a chicken leg in the air, earning an offended look from Tuffnut, who pulled his pet chicken closer. “Personally I think we would be fine without the ‘Great Hiccup’,” he said confidently, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the last words. “It’s not like he’s super necessary, you know?”

“Then why do you look so worried?” shot Fishlegs.

“I’m not worried! I’m relieved that maybe we won’t have to deal with Hiccup’s bossiness for a day or so!”

“Everybody, shut up,” Astrid growled. “This really isn’t something to joke about. If Hiccup truly is sick, we have to make extra preparations, and take care of him.” She scowled at them all. “And don’t go saying we would be fine without Hiccup, or that he isn’t necessary. Without Hiccup, we wouldn’t even be here. Dragon riders wouldn’t be a thing. So just….shut up !”

“It’s called sarcasm ,” said Snotlout slowly, like Astrid was a child who couldn’t understand what he was saying otherwise. “Perhaps you might have heard of it.”

“Yes, Snotlout, I know! I know what sarcasm is! How could any of us not know, not when Hiccup–” She broke off, drawing a deep breath. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be getting so worked up, not when we could be down a team member.” She sighed, tightening her grip on her mug of hot chocolate. “I’m just…worried.”

“Aww, Astrid is worried for her pookie poo,” Ruffnut said teasingly. Tuffnut and Snotlout snickered.

A split second later, Astrid’s hot chocolate had made its way onto the unfortunate Ruffnut, and Astrid was tossing her mug angrily to the ground. “He’s not my pookie poo,” she hissed. “I will kill anyone who disagrees.”

“Geez, calm down,” said Tuffnut. “She was just teasing.”

“That’s just the problem! None of you are taking this seriously!” Astrid massaged her forehead with her fingertips, then stood. “You know what? I’m going off to bed. See you all in the morning.”

The rest of the team watched her storm away. “Guys,” said Fishlegs in his best lecturing voice, “I think maybe you went a little too far with the ‘pookie poo’ thing.”

“Oh, really? You think so?” Snotlout rolled his eyes sardonically. “Come on, though. You gotta admit it was funny.”

Fishlegs scratched under Meatlug’s chin, looking doubtful. “Okay, yes, it was funny, but I don’t think Astrid wants to admit that it’s true…. It just made her angrier to hear someone say it out loud.”

“Wait.” Tuffnut stared at Fishlegs in disbelief. “You mean to say that Astrid actually thinks of Hiccup as her pookie poo? Like, for real? You’re not pulling my leg?”

Fishlegs squinted at him in disbelief, and Ruffnut wheezed, “Haha, pulling your leg– hahaha— cause Hiccup only has one – hahaha–”

As the twins dissolved into uproarious laughter, Fishlegs put his head in his hands. “Oh, Thor,” he groaned. “I think Astrid was right.

<><><>

Astrid was up by dawn the next morning, dressing quickly and stepping out into the cool air. After feeding Stormfly, she walked around to see if Hiccup was anywhere nearby. He was usuall the first one up, so he should be around. However, she didn’t find him down by the dock, or at the forge. In fact, after a careful search of the entire outpost, she realized that he was not outside at all. He always left a note at the forge if he went for a flight on Toothless before anyone was up, but there hadn’t been one, and Toothless’s saddle was still hanging on a peg on the wall. With sudden panic clogging her throat, Astrid half-sprinted, half-stumbled up the hill to Hiccup’s hut and burst through the door.

The hut was completely silent, with an eerie stillness coating the atmosphere. Astrid saw Toothless curled up on his sleeping platform, his eyes trained worriedly on Hiccup’s bed. Upon Astrid’s entrance, the dragon raised his head and released an anxious mooooooooooowwww.

“I know, bud,” Astrid said as she hurried past the dragon, leaning over Hiccup’s bed. Hiccup was buried beneath his blankets, mumbling something unintelligible. “Hiccup!” Astrid tugged the blankets off his head. His eyes were closed, and he was flushed and sweaty, his hair plastered to his forehead. “Hiccup!” Astrid repeated, grabbing him by the shoulders and giving him a vigorous shake. “Hiccup, wake up!”

“Hoozewaffle,” Hiccup muttered darkly, rolling over in his sleep and ignoring her. Astrid bit her lip, then reached out and shook him again.

“Hiccup! Hiccup, come on, you gotta wake up!” Please wake up! “Hiccup!”

“ Snargfoofen ,” Hiccup insisted vehemently. His eyes flew open a moment later, and he stared up at Astrid with bleary perplexion and a slight hint of unrecognition on his face.

“Whazzz wrrrong?” he slurred, still half-asleep, before sneezing like a chipmunk and closing his eyes again.

Concern thrummed in Astrid’s chest as she knelt beside Hiccup’s bed. “Hiccup, you’re sick. Can you tell me how you’re feeling?”

“Ssssssick?” He groaned, flinging one arm dramatically over his face, before suddenly sitting bolt upright, his eyes wide as sleep cleared from his face. “Wait, I have to– it’s daybreak?!” he croaked, staring at Astrid in horror. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner? How could I have overslept??” In a panic, he threw his blankets off and tried to get out of bed, but was stopped by a burst of coughing.

Astrid placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back onto his pillows and covering him again with the blankets. “Hiccup, you’re sick. You can’t do anything today.”

“But there’s so much to plan, I don’t–” His face wrinkled, and he sagged backwards, a massive sneeze shaking his body. “I can’t–” AAAACHOOoo. “Viggo could–” AAAACHOOOO. “We need–” AAAAaaaAACHOOOOO. “Uuuuuughhhh.” Hiccup sniffled miserably, sinking into his pillows with a groan.

“See? You can’t do anything today, okay?” Astrid reached out and felt his forehead– it was alarmingly hot beneath her wrist. “You’ve got a pretty bad fever. Let me go get Fishlegs, okay?”

Hiccup blew his nose vigorously in a handkerchief. “Okay,” he said stuffily.

Astrid threw him one last worried glance, then headed towards the door. Toothless moved over to Hiccup’s bed and dropped his head on the boy’s stomach, resulting in an oooooooof from Hiccup, who sneezed on the dragon a moment later. Astrid shook her head and slipped out of the hut to find Fishlegs.

Fishlegs’ hut was relatively silent as she approached it, save for the massive snores emanating from it. Astrid couldn’t tell whether it was Fishlegs or Meatlug doing the snoring as she pushed the door open, and after a moment realized it was a combination of both. Fishlegs was hanging half-off of his bed, one arm resting on Meatlug’s head. Astrid walked over to him and leaned down.

“Fishlegs!” she yelled directly in the boy’s ear.

“AAAAAAAAAH!” Fishlegs shrieked and jolted awake, limbs flailing wildly. He relaxed upon seeing Astrid. “Thor, Astrid, what was that for? Can’t a man sleep in peace?”

Astrid rolled her eyes. “Look, Hiccup’s sick. He’s got a pretty bad fever, and I think his throat is probably still hurting him. What can we do?”

Fishlegs rubbed his head, nose wrinkled in thought. “Well, he needs to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. He should rest, of course, and if someone can sponge his face with a wet cloth every now and then to cool him down….” He paused, ticking off items on his fingers. “Oh! Steam, too, to help him breathe; and tea for his throat.”

Astrid nodded. “Okay. Rest, liquids, steam, a cold cloth—”

“I can make the tea,” offered Fishlegs.

“Right. I’ll wake up Snotlout and tell him to boil some water.” Astrid dashed out of the hut without stopping to thank Fishlegs, who yawned before going to prepare the tea.

After several difficult moments in which Snotlout wouldn’t wake up, Astrid finally dumped a pitcher of water over his head. “Idiot! Wake up!”

Snotlout opened one eye, looking offended, then sly. “That anxious to see me again, huh, Astrid?” he smirked.

“Shut it! I need you to boil some water.”

Snotlout stretched, looking confused. “Why?”

“Because Hiccup’s sick, and he needs steam. Also bring some to Fishlegs; he’s going to make tea for Hiccup.”

“What about you?” Snotlout said grumpily. “Are you doing anything?”

“Yes, of course!” Astrid scowled at him. “Now go! Boil the water!”

“Okay, okay! Don’t fuss!!” Snotlout climbed out of bed like an old woman and, muttering to himself, grabbed a pot and left his hut.

Astrid, in the meantime, filled a kettle with water and brought it into Hiccup’s hut. She poured some into a cup, then went over to Hiccup’s bed, where the boy was curled in a shivering, sniffling heap. Toothless moved out of the way, and Astrid knelt by the bed, holding the cup to Hiccup’s lips. “Drink,” she ordered. “You need fluid.”

Hiccup swallowed the water, making a face. “Your throat?” Astrid asked. Upon Hiccup’s nod, she hummed in sympathy. “Fishlegs is bringing you some tea that should help with that. How’s the breathing?”

“Not great,” croaked Hiccup. “My nose is all stuffed up, and there’s this horrible pressure in my head too.” He coughed. “I feel awful.”

“Snotlout should be in soon with some boiling water,” Astrid murmured, “so you can breathe better. I’m sorry you’re sick.”

“It’s fine,” Hiccup rasped, blowing his nose. “I’d rather it be me than anyone else.”

Astrid dipped a cloth in the kettle of water and pressed it against his forehead. “Yeah, well, I wish it was anyone but you,” she said, then, when his green eyes flickered to her in surprise, she quickly backtracked. “In case Viggo attacks, I mean. It would be a bad time for him to do so.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup mumbled. “It would, wouldn’t it?” He sighed, causing Toothless, who sat attentively to the right of Astrid, to moooow softly. Clearly he was worried about his human— and so was Astrid. So far, Hiccup was looking more flushed. If Fishlegs and Snotlout didn’t show up soon, Astrid might just cut their heads off with her axe.

The thought made her smile a little. Astrid glanced over her shoulder at Toothless, who sat with his tail curled around his feet and a miserable expression on his scaly face. He yowled faintly, his pupils dilating in distress.

Hiccup rolled his head to look at Toothless. “Hey, bud,” he said softly, stretching out one arm with his hand open. Toothless wiggled with excitement and thrust his nose into Hiccup’s palm, making a series of anxious sounds as he looked up at his human. “I’m fine, Toothless,” Hiccup murmured, scratching under Toothless’s chin before dropping his arm in exhaustion. His eyes fluttered closed.

Astrid bit her lip and sponged his forehead again, exchanging a glance with Toothless, who nuzzled against her in worry. “It’s okay,” Astrid whispered to the dragon. “He’s in good hands.”

Toothless didn’t look convinced, especially when Snotlout and Fishlegs burst in noisily a moment later. Snotlout carried a steaming pot of water, and Fishlegs bore a gigantic mug filled with what Astrid assumed was tea. The two were arguing loudly about whether or not Snotlout had actually boiled the water, and Astrid glowered at them viciously. “Guys! Could you maybe shut up?” she hissed.

The two boys’ eyes widened, and they glanced at Hiccup before stopping their arguing. “Sorry,” Fishlegs apologized. “I, uh, I made some chamomile tea with lemon and honey. It should help your throat a lot.”

“Thanks,” Hiccup grated, taking the mug Fishlegs offered him and taking a long sip. In the meantime, Snotlout set down his pot of hot water, and Astrid fanned the steam towards Hiccup with her hands.

Snotlout grabbed a chair and plopped into it, putting his hands behind his head. “So, Hiccup. How ya feeling?”

Hiccup glared at Snotlout over his mug of tea. “Obviously I feel amazing,” he said in a stuffy voice. “Fantastic. On top of the world.” He rolled his eyes. “Geez, how do you think I feel?”

Snotlout huffed. “I was just trying to be nice!” he said defensively.

Hiccup grunted into his mug.

Fishlegs sat on the floor beside Astrid, staring intently at Hiccup. “Is….everything good?” Astrid said warily, glancing at Fishlegs. “I mean, am I missing something or—”

“No, sorry, I was just trying to see if there were any more symptoms. You know, bloodshot eyes, incoherent babbling, blood.”

“Blood?!”

Fishlegs held up his hands. “ Joking.”

“Incoherent babbling? Why would that be a symptom? Hiccup always incoherently babbles,” put in Snotlout.

“Says you,” scoffed Astrid. She glanced at Hiccup, who was still drinking his tea, and then back at Fishlegs and Snotlout. “He should probably rest after this. I think maybe you guys should go in a minute…”

Snotlout gave Fishlegs a sly look, then leaned forward and said brashly to Astrid, “Oh, so you can get some alone—”

Fishlegs lunged towards Snotlout, clamping a hand over his mouth, and grinned a little too widely at Astrid. “We were just leaving!” he said cheerily. “You just rest, Hiccup!”

“Thanks,” croaked Hiccup. He finished off his tea, watching as the two boys stumbled out of his hut, Snotlout muttering about how Fishlegs always ruined his fun. When they were gone, Hiccup glanced at Astrid. “You don’t have to stay, you know,” he said hesitantly. “I…I’ll be all right.”

Astrid reached out and took the mug from his hands, setting it aside, before soaking the cloth again and pressing it to his forehead. “I don’t have to,” she said, trailing off a little and not meeting his gaze, “but I want to.”

Hiccup stared at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable, and then smiled softly. “Okay.”

Astrid cleared her throat, setting the cloth aside and fanning a bit more steam at his face to help clear his sinuses a bit. “I think you should probably try to go back to sleep now,” she told him.

“What, after you woke me up?” Hiccup smirked at her, his expression quickly morphing into a grimace as another coughing fit blossomed in his lungs. When he had finished hacking, he pulled his blankets up over his shoulders. “I guess you’re right,” he said with a yawn. “I do feel really tired.”

“Be prepared for me to make you drink a ton of water when you wake up,” Astrid warned him.

He gave a half-hearted chuckle. “Noted…...I might not drink…it all…..” His voice trailed off, and he nestled into his pillow, his breathing evening out.

Astrid busied herself by filling a mug with water for when he woke up, then with scratching Toothless’s chin for a few minutes in an attempt to reassure him. Toothless eventually curled up, still seeming anxious but content to rest for a bit, and Astrid sat on the floor by Hiccup’s bed again, drawing her knees up to her chin. She watched the sleeping boy worriedly, but he was dozing peacefully, a small smile etched on his face. His breathing was a little raspy, but no more than before, thankfully.

Astrid sighed, studying Hiccup’s face for a few moments before leaning her head against the side of the bed. She closed her eyes, praying Hiccup would be all right and that Viggo wouldn’t decide to attack anytime soon, and that everything….would be…just……..fine……..

<><><>

“Are you sure we should go back?” questioned Snotlout, looking at Fishlegs skeptically. “When we were there like, an hour ago, Astrid almost bit our heads off. I’m not exactly thrilled about going back.”

“Gosh, I’m glad I wasn’t there,” put in Tuffnut, who, together with Ruffnut, was polishing Barf and Belch’s scales. “Astrid is scary.”

“She wasn’t scary!” Fishlegs said. “She would have been if you had said that thing I stopped you from saying—” he narrowed his eyes at Snotlout— “but I think she was mostly just worried about Hiccup.” He frowned. “And Hiccup could probably use some more tea for his throat, and some moral support from his team! Am I right?” He glanced at the rest of them for confirmation.

“The only support Hiccup wants right now is Astrid’s,” Ruffnut snickered. “I doubt he wants us.”

“Of course he wants us!” Fishlegs retorted, looking hurt. “We’re his best friends!”

��Yeah, and Astrid is his best best friend. He doesn’t—”

“Guys! Let’s just go, okay? Either way he needs more tea, and probably some food.” Appearing more confident, Fishlegs trotted into his hut, returning a few moments later with a mug and a satchel. “All right. Mount up and let’s go!”

“We’re bringing our dragons?” said Snotlout incredulously, even as he climbed into Hookfang’s saddle.

“Why not?” Fishlegs climbed onto Meatlug, waiting until the twins had mounted Barf and Belch, and then the four of them lifted into the air and flew towards Hiccup’s hut.

“This is gonna be so fun,” grumbled Snotlout as he pushed open the door. “I mean, it—”

He trailed off, staring in disbelief. Hiccup lay snoozing in what looked like an extremely uncomfortable position, twisted half off the bed. Astrid was leaning against the side of it, sound asleep, with Hiccup’s hand resting limply against her cheek. Toothless lay watching them curiously, his tail flicking, and upon Snotlout’s entrance he lifted his head, snuffling the air.

Snotlout wheezed, slapping a hand against his thigh. “You guys gotta see this,” he choked. “You gotta—”

At Snotlout’s exclamation, Astrid’s eyes fluttered open, zoning in a moment later on Hiccup’s hand against her face. Her gaze then traveled upward to his head, which was a little above her, and then over to the rest of her friends and their dragons, who stood in the doorway trying to suppress their laughter. There was a moment in which Astrid appeared to be processing all that was happening, her eyes wide and darting from face to face, and then—

“EEEEYYYAGHH!!” Astrid bolted upright with a shriek, accidentally whacking herself in the face with Hiccup’s hand. That, in turn, woke Hiccup up— he blinked sleepily at the upside down faces of his friends before twisting back onto his bed.

“Hah! Uh! Hi— hi guys! Um hi— N-nice to see you all, I-I— I was just—” Astrid gulped, looking frazzled. Her hair stuck out in every direction. She coughed awkwardly. “I was, um, just—”

“You fell asleep ,” jeered Snotlout.

Hiccup, who was blowing his nose, froze, glancing first at Astrid, then Snotlout. “You fell asleep too, Astrid? Are you feeling all right?”

“I feel fine! I just closed my eyes for a moment, a-and I didn’t sleep so well last night so I guess I was tired—”

“You didn’t sleep well? I bet I can guess who you were thinking about,” Ruffnut giggled.

Astrid flushed, running a hand over her frizzy hair before getting to her feet and shoving water at Hiccup. “Okay, all of you just— shut up, okay? Hiccup, drink your water.” Astrid stormed across the room to grab the tea Fishlegs had brought. “Why are you all here, anyway?”

Fishlegs tapped his fingertips together, looking awkward. “Well…I thought Hiccup could use the moral support of his team—”

“That’s a really nice thought, Fishlegs,” Hiccup said froggily. “I appreciate that.”

Fishlegs beamed, glad somebody was grateful for his efforts. “Have you eaten anything today?” he asked.

Astrid gasped. “ Thor !” she cursed. “I didn’t think of that, I—”

“Astrid, it’s okay,” rasped Hiccup. “You’ve done a lot for me already.”

“Don’t worry, Astrid, I already thought of it. I brought some food for him.” Fishlegs held out the satchel he’d brought. “Some bread and dried fish.” He paused, considering. “Have you eaten either, Astrid?”

She shrugged. “I guess I kind of….forgot.”

“Well then, eat some of it too,” Fishlegs ordered.

Hiccup and Astrid did as Fishlegs said, as the rest of the gang made themselves comfortable. “We should figure out a schedule for who sits with Hiccup,” said Fishlegs. “Astrid’s already done a lot, so we should give her a break.” Ignoring Astrid’s sound of protest, he continued, “I can do it next, and then maybe Snotlout?”

“Guys,” Hiccup interrupted, looking exasperated. “I’m not dying. I just have a cold. It’s not that serious.”

“But—” began Astrid.

“Really. Fishlegs is right, Astrid. You should take a break.” Hiccup drank some of the tea he’d been brought, then broke into a coughing fit, followed by a violent sneeze. He lay back, massaging his forehead with his fingers. “Oh, Odin.”

Toothless roared gently, crawling up to the bed and resting his chin beside Hiccup’s head. “Hey, bud,” said Hiccup fondly, scratching the dragon’s chin. He glanced at the others. “See? I have Toothless to take care of me. I’m fine. You guys don’t wanna hang out with me all day, do you? You could get sick yourselves.”

“That’s true,” whimpered Snotlout, as if he hadn’t thought of that before. He pulled his shirt up over his nose. “Guys, we could all be breathing in his germs right this second. Probably not a great idea to hang around.”

“Well…yeah, I mean, probably not.” Fishlegs shrugged, acknowledging this. “I guess we probably should go.”

“What, and miss the opportunity to get sick?” Tuffnut drew a long breath, an appreciative look on his face. “All those germs. So awesome.”

“You’re weird,” Ruffnut scoffed.

“Yeah, but we already knew that,” her twin responded. They burst into snorting laughter, head-butted, and then got up and went over to Barf and Belch.

“Well, we’ll check in on you later,” said Fishlegs, looking back at Hiccup. “Try to rest.”

“Thanks, guys,” Hiccup said, blowing his nose and watching as they trailed out, one by one. He glanced over at Astrid, who stood beside his bed, looking uncertain. “Astrid? You should go, too.”

“But I—”

“Actually, would you mind patrolling the Edge for a bit? Just to check that nothing’s going on.” Hiccup gave a raspy cough and took a drink of tea, green eyes fixed on Astrid. “Will you do that for me?”

Astrid sighed. “Okay. I guess so.”

Hiccup nodded. “Thanks.”

Astrid reluctantly went to the door and opened it, giving Hiccup a halfhearted wave. He smiled back, but she heard him blowing his nose as she closed the door and went off to find Stormfly.

<><><>

Hiccup said he was feeling a little better that evening, and sat on the grass outside his hut with Toothless, watching the sunset and doodling in his journal. Astrid, who felt like maybe she should back off a little, worked on trimming Stormfly’s talons, glancing every now and then towards the small figure up on the hill. There was a heaviness in her chest she couldn’t quite describe, but she ignored it, resolutely blocking it from her mind.

When she had finished with Stormfly, she climbed on the dragon’s back and went for a last patrol around the Edge, hoping also to clear the fogginess in her head. There was nothing unusual to be seen, so at last Astrid landed and headed to check on Hiccup a last time before she went to bed.

He was still outside, coughing a little and making notes in his journal. A slight chill was settling in the air, and with a bit of concern Astrid said, “You should go back inside. It’s getting damp.”

Hiccup quickly closed his journal on her approach, his gaze flicking to her face. “Ah, yeah, you’re right,” he answered, getting slowly to his feet and stretching. “It’s just so nice out here.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Mm…still better than earlier. I guess I’ll see how tomorrow is.” He shrugged. “You haven’t felt sick at all, have you?”

“No, no.” Astrid scuffed the toe of her boot across the ground. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” Hiccup hesitated, his journal clutched in one hand, before stepping forward and giving Astrid a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for all you did today,” he said softly in her ear, placing one hand gently on her arm. “I really appreciate it.”

Astrid’s mouth opened, but no sound came out, and then Hiccup was gone, the door of his hut clicking softly closed. Astrid gathered her jaw off the ground after a moment, then smiled a little to herself and walked dreamily off towards her own hut. Hopefully Hiccup would be completely better by tomorrow. Then maybe they could go for a flight together, or a patrol, or maybe go fishing, or axe-throwing, or just hang out....

The stars were shining softly as Astrid entered her hut, and at that moment anything seemed possible.

<><><>

“—rid.”

Someone was speaking to her, a muddled underwater sound, and Astrid scowled, clamping her pillow over her head and rolling away from the voice. “Go away,” she mumbled groggily, still not fully awake.

“Astrid!” the voice persisted, and she felt something shake her shoulders. “Astrid, Hiccup’s worse. He’s not responding to anyone.”

“WHAT?!” With that, Astrid flung her pillow to the floor and jolted awake, eyes wide. “He’s unresponsive?!”

She found herself staring into the alarmed face of Snotlout, who clearly expected her to impale him or some other such thing. “Um,” he said after a moment, “yeah. His fever has gone up, he’s coughing really bad, and his breathing is super raspy. His eyes look really weird, too. Kinda glazed. Like Hookfang when he’s eaten too many fish, heh—”

“Why wasn’t I woken up sooner?” Astrid said frantically, shooing Snotlout from her hut so she could change. “How could I have slept in?!”

Cursing herself, she quickly got dressed, then bolted out of her hut, mounted Stormfly, and flew to Hiccup’s home in a flash. She burst inside to find everyone else already huddled around Hiccup’s bed, looking grim. Toothless had been exiled from the hut, having been so worried he accidentally trashed Hiccup’s hut with his anxious movements.

“Astrid,” greeted Fishlegs cautiously.

“What— what does he have? What is he sick with?” Astrid fell to her knees beside the bed, squeezing between Ruffnut and Snotlout. “I thought it was just a cold!” She stared at Hiccup. He was tossing feverishly back and forth, mumbling incoherently. His eyes were closed, and a dark red flush suffused his face beneath his freckles. His forehead was sweaty, with his hair sticking to it, and the rest of his visible skin was unnaturally pale.

“He’s been like this since I got here an hour ago,” Fishlegs said. “And he’s been throwing up really bad, too. I don’t know why he’s worse. He was feeling better yesterday, right?”

“That’s what he said,” Astrid answered, panic forming a lump in her throat. She grabbed for a cloth and a bucket of fresh water someone had brought, dipping the cloth into the water before using it to sponge Hiccup’s face. As she did so, she glanced anxiously at Fishlegs. “Has he spoken to you guys at all?”

“He opened his eyes once or twice,” Fishlegs responded, “but he didn’t say anything. We tried talking to him but he just looked confused, and then passed out again.”

“Yeah. He’s being a real airhead this time,” Snotlout said, making a weak attempt at a joke, before he sighed heavily and looked at his feet.

Tuffnut leaned over his sister to look at Astrid. “When his eyes were open, they were suuuper creepy. Kinda like a Whispering Death’s. All white and cloudy— no pupils at all—”

“No, he had pupils,” said Ruffnut, “his eyes were just really weird.”

“Not gonna lie, this is giving me massive Asia fondue to the time Hiccup almost died as a kid,” Snotlout remarked casually.

The rest of the gang stared at him in horror, not bothering to correct Snotlout’s misspoken words as their minds flooded with memories of the circumstance he had just brought up. When he was a child, just seven or eight years old, Hiccup had caught a disease that was going around the region. For two weeks he had battled the sickness, and none of Berk had known whether he would live or die— it had seemed as if it would be the latter. Eventually, though, the frail boy had pulled through, although it took a while for him to fully recover.

Snotlout was right. This was highly reminiscent of that time, although back then none of them had associated much with Hiccup.

And this time, it was worse. Astrid could tell that the fear burning in her own chest was not unique to her— from the looks on the others’ faces alone, she knew they felt it too.

“I’m sure he’ll be okay,” Fishlegs said in an attempt to be cheerful.

None of the others responded. Astrid reached out and gave Hiccup the gentlest of shakes. “Hiccup,” she said, quietly at first, then louder, “Hiccup!”

The boy mumbled, his brows furrowing, and grabbed wildly at his sheets, his head rolling back and forth on his pillow. “No,” he muttered, his fingers tensing. “Please.”

Astrid swallowed, glancing at the others. “A nightmare, do you think?” she whispered.

“A fever dream, probably,” Fishlegs said. “So yeah, basically.”

“He needs to wake up.” Astrid tapped Hiccup’s chin with her finger. “Hiccup! Hello! Wake up!”

“I don’t think that’s gonna work,” said Tuffnut. “You gotta really try.”

“Tuff, what—”

Tuffnut gave a bloodcurdling yell, leaned forward, and booped Hiccup on the nose.

“That wasn’t any better than what Astrid did, dummy,” Snotlout scoffed. “Booping his nose isn’t gonna do anything.”

“Oh yeah? Well, you try something, Mr —”

“Wait, no!” Astrid leaned forward. “I think he is waking up!”

Hiccup’s eyelids were fluttering madly, a distorted grimace crossing his face. “No,” he whispered softly a final time, before his eyes opened just a crack, then widened fully. Their leafy green color was dull and faded, glazed over in an eerie sheen. Hiccup’s eyes moved over each of their faces in turn, confusion and unrecognition mingling on his countenance.

“Hiccup?” Astrid said gently. “How do you feel?”

“Astrid—” Fishlegs said warningly.

Astrid didn’t listen, instead reaching out and touching Hiccup’s hand, which rested atop his blankets. “Hiccup,” she repeated. “Are you okay?”

He stared at her, his gaze hollow. She felt his hand trembling beneath her palm. His lips parted slightly, not a shred of recollection on his face. He didn’t remember her. He didn’t know who she was. That realization was more crushing than anything else that could have happened, and Astrid faltered, withdrawing her hand.

“He doesn’t know who I am,” she said haltingly.

“It’s the fever,” Fishlegs replied. “He’s delirious, I think.”

Astrid swallowed, unable to tear her gaze from the green eyes that didn’t recognize her. Hiccup returned her stare, his facial muscles clenching in concentration, before he abruptly rolled his head away, his lashes fluttering shut again. He began to mutter vaguely, sweat shining on his forehead.

Fishlegs locked his fingers together, his thumbs fidgeting back and forth. “I think maybe we should go to Berk and get Gothi,” he said anxiously.

Astrid’s stomach lurched. “It’s that bad?” she whispered.

Fishlegs didn’t reply, instead glancing at the twins and Snotlout. “Ruffnut and Tuffnut, would you guys go with me to Berk? I should go so I can say what Hiccup’s symptoms are, and there might be medicine and stuff to transport too.”

“Cool by me,” Tuffnut answered, getting to his feet. “Come on, sis.”

Fishlegs stood up as well, turning towards Astrid and Snotlout. “If he wakes up, make him drink some water,” he instructed. “And wipe his face every now and then with a wet cloth to cool him down. Don’t let him get up, okay? And remember– fluids. If he keeps throwing up like he was earlier, he’s gonna be really dehydrated.”

Astrid nodded, glancing at Fishlegs for a brief moment. “Safe flying,” she said haltingly.

“Thanks.” He hesitated, looking at Hiccup, and then added, “We should be back in five to six hours. Hold on till then.”

“We will,” Astrid answered softly.

The door to the hut swung shut with a resounding thud , and Snotlout and Astrid traded a long look.

“So uh….” Snotlout cleared his throat, casting a glance towards Hiccup. “Maybe I should patrol for a bit while they’re gone. Just for peace of mind that Viggo isn’t attacking, you know?”

Astrid stared at him, feeling suddenly grateful. While there was reason to scout around, she knew Snotlout was mainly offering to patrol so that Astrid had an excuse of being alone with Hiccup. Because Thor, she needed it. Just to reassure herself that…just to reassure herself.

“That would be great, Snotlout,” Astrid murmured quietly after a moment, looking away so she wouldn’t betray her emotions. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Snotlout replied. “You can always count on the Snot!” Grinning, he backed away, slipped out the door, and was gone. Astrid heard him telling Toothless to calm down, and then there was silence.

Astrid sighed, shaking her head. He really could be a sweetheart sometimes, although usually she just wanted to strangle him. But he did have his moments, she’d grant him that.

She reached for the cloth and sponged Hiccup’s face again, accidentally waking him up. Remembering what Fishlegs had said, Astrid snatched up a mug of water and brought it to Hiccup’s lips. “Hey,” she said gently. “I need you to drink this. Can you do that for me?”

Hiccup stared at her, his forehead wrinkling. A violent cough rasped in his lungs, and he gasped for breath, sucking in air desperately before looking at Astrid again. His eyes were still clouded with fever, but silently he accepted the cup and drank from it, draining it dry. Astrid refilled it and offered it to him again.

Hiccup dutifully took a few more gulps, then looked at Astrid, his breath rattling. “W-who are you?” he said shakily, slowly, as if he wasn’t quite certain. “I…I can’t recall your name–”

Astrid’s fingers tensed. After a moment she responded, “I’m Astrid. Do you remember me at all?”

He shook his head faintly, his lips trembling. “I– your face is familiar but I don’t…I don’t….” He trailed off, another cough seizing his thin frame.

“That’s okay,” Astrid quickly soothed him, resting a hand on his arm. “You’re sick. It’s just affecting your memory a little bit.”

“My memory,” he repeated, taking another drink of water and looking perplexed. He gave another weak cough, his eyelids fluttering sleepily, before his face twisted in nausea. Predicting what he was about to do, Astrid grabbed a bucket and held it in front of him, and Hiccup threw up into it, then sank back into his pillows with an expression of exhaustion.

Astrid gave him some more water, and he drank it slowly, his face pale, his eyes dull. Astrid set aside the bucket, and Hiccup glanced at her apologetically. “S-sorry,” he stuttered, his teeth chattering as a chill took hold of him.

“Don’t be.” She offered him a small smile, hoping to reassure him.

A sudden breeze gusted through the hut from an open window, and Hiccup shivered even more violently, burrowing under his covers. His whole body shook uncontrollably, and yet another hacking fit seized him. Hiccup coughed so hard his face turned beet red with the effort, and his bedframe shook. When he had finished, he rolled his head across the pillow tiredly, a grimace on his face as his chest rose and fell in raspy breaths.

“Try to rest,” Astrid said softly, reaching out after a moment of consideration and placing her hand lightly on his arm. He looked down at it, his gaze hollow, before reaching his other arm across and gripping her fingers loosely in his.

Astrid swallowed, wishing he would remember her but knowing that in his fever he probably wasn’t aware of much of anything. She watched as Hiccup’s eyes closed, his face twitching, before his breathing evened out somewhat and he fell into a restless sleep.

With a sigh Astrid rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand, anxiety burning in her throat. She hoped that the others would reach Berk quickly, and get the supplies they needed. She hoped Hiccup would be all right. She hoped….

She caught sight of Hiccup’s journal, poking out from beneath his pillow, and moved it to a table behind the bed so it wouldn’t cause any unnecessary discomfort. A scrap of parchment slipped from the pages of the journal, drifting to the floor, and Astrid leaned down and picked it up. She was about to slide it back into the journal when her eyes caught a single word, or rather a name.

Her name.

Astrid’s breath clogged in her throat, and she glanced at Hiccup’s sleeping form before grasping the parchment more tightly, her fingers shaking as she brought it closer and peered at the messy scrawl covering its surface. It appeared to be part of a page that had been ripped out somehow, and bore several fragments of sentences that Astrid couldn’t figure out due to their incompletion. But she could see her name, written plain as day at the right edge of the scrap, each letter formed in jumbled, swooping handwriting.

Astrid ran her finger across the scrap of paper, every part of her being longing to flip through Hiccup’s journal to the page the fragment had been torn from, but after a moment she replaced the fragment in the front cover of the journal, pushing it away. Forcing the thought of it from her mind, she turned back to Hiccup, staring at his face.

Why are you writing about me? she thought, wanting to wake him up and ask him, but knowing at the same time that she wouldn’t have the courage to go through with it. Astrid Hofferson was unafraid of most things, but bringing her feelings into the light was possibly her greatest fear, and she wasn’t about to ruin her friendship with Hiccup, either.

Especially not while he was sick, although it was likely he wouldn’t remember the encounter. But still, it was a risk she wasn’t willing to take, so she rolled her lips together and sat in silence by the side of his bed.

After a half hour or so, Hiccup woke up sick again. After he had emptied the contents of his stomach and drunk a mug of water, he tossed feverishly back and forth on his pillow, his eyes glazed and his cheeks flushed, and an expression of discomfort on his face. After several moments of watching him thus, Astrid said, “Hey. Hiccup. C’mere, okay?”

He stared at her, not comprehending, so Astrid slid her hands gently under his arms and tugged him over to her, resting his head beneath her chin. Hiccup was quiet, his eyes flicking upwards to look at her, and Astrid ran her fingers through his tangled hair. “You’re okay,” Astrid whispered to him. “It’s okay.”

Hiccup’s tense body finally relaxed in her arms, and he let out a long, hoarse sigh, his fingers twitching. Astrid focused on his hand for a moment, watching as slowly he moved it upward, finally sliding it into her free hand, which rested lightly on his chest. Hiccup’s hand trembled in hers for a moment, his palm hot with fever, before slowly, uncertainly, he laced their fingers together. Then, before Astrid could fully grasp what was happening, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers lightly.

“Thank you, milady,” he murmured in a rasping whisper, pressing their clasped hands against his cheek and rubbing his thumb across hers. Astrid’s heart soared. He remembered her! He remembered her…he….

She was trying to collect her thoughts when a soft snore met her ears, and she looked down to see Hiccup had dozed off in her lap, his lashes splayed across his freckled cheeks. Astrid chuckled softly, then, feeling particularly bold, leaned down and cupped his face in her free hand. She was going to place a peck on his cheek or forehead, but after a moment of listening to his slow breathing, decided to risk it and placed the softest of kisses on his lips. His were warm and soft, if not slightly chapped, and she wished that somehow he could return the kiss before she reluctantly pulled away.

After she had checked that he was still asleep, Astrid again tangled her fingers in his hair, a sigh escaping her as she felt him shift in her lap, his head bumping her chin. She doubted she would have this chance anytime else, so she settled back, enjoying the feel of Hiccup in her arms, a thing that likely would never occur again.

<><><>

Hiccup stirred a few times in the next few hours, but didn’t wake up until the sun was beginning its journey down the length of the sky. When his eyes finally opened again, they were glazed and unfocused once more, and Astrid swallowed the hope she had harbored that maybe he was finally getting better.

“Hey,” she greeted him softly, helping him to sit up a little and propping him against her shoulder. “Here’s some water for you.” She handed him a mug, and Hiccup took it, his fingers brushing hers. He drank the water slowly, his gaze wandering to Astrid’s face, where it remained for quite some time before finally he looked away.

“How do you feel?” Astrid questioned him.

Hiccup frowned, staring down into the depths of the mug. “Pretty rough,” he said hoarsely after a moment. “Like I’ve been run over by a dragon.”

“I’m so sorry,” Astrid murmured. “Hopefully Gothi will arrive soon with medicine for you.” She peered at him closely, but he didn’t appear confused upon hearing Gothi’s name. Maybe he was still more aware of things now, at least.

Hiccup took another drink of water, then coughed, a miserable expression crossing his face. “I feel like someone dragged a knife down my throat,” he mumbled, drawing a few shallow breaths. “Or like somebody filled my nose with water.”

“Would tea help at all?” Astrid asked.

Hiccup glanced at her, sniffling loudly. “Mm…maybe,” he said doubtfully. He coughed again. “At least I don’t feel nauseous anymore.”

“And it seems like you’ve returned to your senses a bit,” Astrid added.

Hiccup started. “Was…was I out of my senses?” he said, alarmed. “What did I do? Did I say anything weird or–” He paused, a flush crossing his face that wasn’t related to his fever. “...I….didn’t, right?” he finished in a small voice.

Astrid chewed her lip, wondering if he remembered kissing her hand. “No,” she said finally. “You didn’t.”

Hiccup looked relieved. “Good. You never know, huh?” He chuckled nervously, then began to cough again. Astrid poured him some more water.

A sudden commotion erupted outside the hut just then. Snotlout was yelling something along the lines of “get your feet off me, you dumb reptile!” and then there was a muffled thump against the door that rattled the hut. A moment later, the door flew open, and Toothless galloped in, skidding across the floor and crashing into a chair. He crawled up to Hiccup’s bed, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and his pupils wide in curiosity.

“Hey, bud,” Hiccup greeted the dragon weakly, leaning against Astrid as Toothless excitedly sniffed his hands. “Yeah, I missed you too.”

Snotlout limped into the hut a few seconds later, his helmet askew, with twigs and mud stuck to his clothing and a large scratch across his face. “What happened to you ?” Astrid questioned.

Snotlout made a face. “Well, we were patrolling, and then Hookfang decided it would be a brilliant idea to dive into a lake to catch a giant fish, and then later we crashed into a thicket because he got scared by a widdle tiny wobin and flew out of control.” He scowled, pulling a branch from his hair. “Honestly, he’s such a scaredy cat.”

Astrid smirked, and Hiccup gave a wheezy laugh beside her. Snotlout plopped down on a stool, regarding the two with interest. “So Hic,” he said breezily, brushing dirt off his pants. “You feeling better?”

“I mean….” Hiccup sniffled and shrugged. “Not really. I think maybe the fever could be breaking, though. I feel a little more ‘with it.’” He glanced at Astrid. “Astrid’s been really helpful.”

“Yeah, I bet,” snickered Snotlout. Hiccup looked confused, and Astrid leaned down, snatched up an old sock that Toothless had discovered under Hiccup’s bed that morning, and chucked it at Snotlout’s face, clobbering him directly in the nose with it.

“Ew! Gross! What was that for?” shrieked Snotlout, jumping off his stool as if he’d been slapped.

Astrid glared at him. Hiccup’s gaze shifted between the two in confusion before he took another drink of his water. “You two are weird,” he commented.

Snotlout snorted and opened his mouth to say something, but Astrid threw a blanket at him and nodded. “ Snotlout is weird,” she corrected. “Not me.”

“Ha! As if!” Snotlout smirked, leaning forward. “I could mention a few things–”

“Shut up,” Astrid hissed.

Snotlout threw her a wink, then glanced pointedly at Hiccup, who stared back, a puzzled look on his face. “Am I missing something?” Hiccup said slowly after a minute, pausing to blow his nose.

“Nope! You’re not missing aaaaanything ,” Snotlout said in an exaggerated tone. He stood and stretched, adjusting his helmet. “Just a few key things that you may or may not figure out eventually.” He plucked a twig off of his vest. “No biggie, though.”

“Hm.” Hiccup frowned into his mug, then sighed and shifted against Astrid’s shoulder. “The others are bringing Gothi, you said?”

“Yes,” Astrid confirmed. “They should be here any minute now, although at this point I think you’ll be fine. But still, maybe she can help you get better faster.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup agreed, closing his eyes.

Astrid took that as an opportunity to shoot daggers at Snotlout with her eyes, glaring at him so ferociously his own eyes widened in surprise. “What?” he whispered. “I was just teasing!”

“Yeah, well, you– you shouldn’t. You’re wrong about that,” Astrid whispered back. “I’m…it’s not like that.”

Snotlout rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure,” he mumbled. “Of course.”

Astrid was about to say something else, but at that moment the door flew open and Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Gothi, Gobber, and Stoick burst in. “Hiccup!” Stoick exclaimed, hurrying forward and kneeling beside Astrid.

Hiccup’s eyes opened and focused on his father. He gave a tired smile. “Hey, Dad.”

“Son. How are you feeling?” Stoick questioned anxiously.

Hiccup hummed. “Still gross. I think I’m past the worst of it, though.”

Gothi stepped forward, whacking Tuffnut with her stick and snatching a leather bag from his hands. She raised her eyebrows at Gobber, then began scratching on the hut’s dirt floor with the end of her staff, forming sloppily carved symbols.

“Eh…” Gobber frowned, placing a finger on his chin. “She says that ye need tae give Hiccup a mixture of the tree bark, herbs, and belches–” Gothi whacked him with her stick. “Sorry, berries– that she brought, and it should settle ‘im right quick.” Gothi scrawled in the dirt again, and Gobber added, “Oh, and he has to take it once every hour along with a cup of warthogs–” Thwack! “Beg yer pardon, water. ” Gobber nodded in satisfaction, and Gothi stopped writing.

“And….that’s supposed to help him?” Astrid asked dubiously.

“Yes,” Gobber confirmed. “But don’t kill the messenger if it don’t work.”

Gothi shot him a glare, and Gobber stepped quickly out of reach of her staff.

Astrid began rummaging in the bag Tuffnut had been holding, pulling out the required ingredients. She and Ruffnut pounded them into a dusty mixture, then poured a helping into a cup of water and handed it to Hiccup.

Hiccup gripped the cup and looked at it doubtfully. “Er…what does this taste like, might I ask?” He didn’t say anything else, but Astrid could hear his unspoken question. Gothi’s medicines had a reputation for tasting absolutely horrendous.

Gothi frowned and scrawled something in the dirt. “She says…” Gobber’s eyebrows shot up on his forehead. “Well, not that I’ll say it aloud. But basically, lad, she says to hush yer yap and drink up.”

Hiccup shrugged, flinched, and drank the concoction in a gulp. This produced a fresh fit of hacking. Stoick, trying to be helpful, gave Hiccup a giant whack on the back with his hand, which resulted in Hiccup’s eyes bulging from his head and his coughing only getting worse.

“So….” Gobber scratched his head. “Is that all then? I gotta admit, it’s just a wee bit less than I was expecting.”

“What…were you expecting?” Hiccup said breathlessly, fighting to draw air into his lungs.

“Eh, I dunno. I thought mebbe she would extract blood, but I guess I’m not as much of an expert as I thought.” Gobber shrugged, looking disappointed.

Gothi brightened and wrote something else in the dirt.

“Ah, she says that drawing blood might help with the frog!” Gobber said excitedly.

Thwack !

“...Fever, I mean,” Gobber corrected himself, rubbing his arm. “I’ll go get some pointy objects!”

Hiccup made a strangled noise around the last bits of coughing.

“I think– he’s probably fine,” Astrid put in hastily.

Hiccup shot her a grateful look.

“Well, if ye say so. But let me know if the chance should arise!” Gobber twirled his mustache. “Feel better then, laddie. I got to get Gothi back to Berk safely.”

Gothi scowled at him and hobbled out of the hut in front of him. Gobber gave a last wave, then trailed out behind her.

Stoick turned back to Hiccup. “Well, son, I wanted to check in on ye. Seeing as how ye’re doin’ fine, I might head back as well. There’s a big meeting tonight I need to be there for.”

“I understand, Dad,” Hiccup croaked, scratching Toothless’ head as the dragon nosed his side. “Thanks for coming.”

“Anytime.” Stoick hesitated, then gave Hiccup an awkward one-armed hug. “I hope ye feel better.” He nodded at the rest of the riders, then ducked out of the hut as well.

Tuffnut flopped onto a chair. “Well, I’m glad that’s over with,” he groaned. “That flight was horrible. Fishlegs was talking the entire time about a scrape Meatlug has on her paw. And Ruffnut wouldn’t shut up either.” He rolled his eyes towards his sister.

“Aw, you know you love me,” she jeered, giving him an affectionate punch to the arm.

Hiccup laughed, then took a long drink of water, exhaling in a long sigh. “Well, thanks so much for doing that,” he said. “It means a lot.”

“I’m glad you’re getting better, Hiccup,” Fishlegs said earnestly.

Astrid didn’t say anything, but she fully agreed.

<><><>

Three days later, Hiccup was fully recovered, and able to sit around the fire again at dinner with his friends. The meal that night was fried fish and potatoes, or at least it was supposed to be. Fishlegs, who had prepared the food in celebration of Hiccup's recovery, burned the potatoes to a crisp and seasoned the fish so heavily it tasted like seawater. However, it was all they had on short notice, so the gang scraped off the fried, seasoned part of the fish and ate the meat instead, which was just a bit better (he had burned the fish too).

After they had finished eating, Ruffnut surprised them all with mugs of hot chocolate. “I didn’t know you could cook, Ruff,” Hiccup commented as he sipped his hot chocolate and discovered it tasted very good, shockingly enough.

“I didn’t either,” Ruffnut said with a shrug. “Not that this is really cooking, but yanno.”

“This is amazing!” Fishlegs gushed after taking a long drink, a hot chocolate mustache having appeared on his upper lip. “You should make this more often.”

“I agree,” Snotlout chimed in. “Especially during winter. That’d be nice.”

“But it’s so much nicer to have a Thorston sandwich in winter to keep you warm,” complained Tuffnut. “Who needs hot chocolate when you have two hot–”

“On that note,” Astrid broke in quickly, “it’s getting pretty late, guys. We should probably head to bed so we’re well rested for tomorrow.”

“Astrid’s right,” put in Hiccup. “We need our strength.” He stood and dumped water over the fire to put it out. Smoke billowed through the air, and the twins, coughing and choking, wheezily said goodnight to the rest of the gang and headed off to their hut.

Fishlegs finished off his hot chocolate and stood, brushing crumbs off of his pants. “I’ll say goodnight too, then,” he said cheerfully. “See you all tomorrow!” Fishlegs was about to head off, but glanced pointedly at Snotlout. He sat smirking at Astrid and Hiccup, who were trying very hard not to look at each other.

“Snotlout, doesn’t Hookfang need to be fed?” Fishlegs said.

“Hm? No, I fed him–” Snotlout caught Fishlegs’ urgent look and jumped. “Oh! Right, I forgot to feed him actually, haha! I’ll, uh, go do that.” He stood up, said goodnight to Hiccup and Astrid, and headed off with Fishlegs towards their respective huts, their dragons trailing behind.

Hiccup and Astrid remained sitting in silence, staring into the last embers of the fire. Astrid was just getting ready to say goodnight and head to her hut, when Hiccup broke the silence, startling her.

“So um,” Hiccup said, staring down at his hands. “Astrid…I wanted to say that I–” He paused, his brow furrowing in what appeared to be panic, before his face cleared slightly.

Astrid looked over at him, hoping he would chalk her red cheeks up to the remaining glow from the fire, and not anything else. Such as the fact that she was sitting alone with him.

“I…really appreciate all you did. While I was sick, I mean,” Hiccup said awkwardly.

“Oh!” Astrid stared into her empty hot chocolate mug, her face burning. “I– It was nothing. Really. I was just trying to be helpful.”

Hiccup gave her a side glance, his lips tilting upward in a smirk. “That’s what Snotlout said.”

Astrid coughed, slamming her mug down. “So? H-he didn’t mean anything by it, he just…”

He chuckled, leaning towards her so their shoulders touched. “Well, still. I really appreciate it.”

Astrid nodded, fiddling with a loose string on her skirt and not looking at him. “I– yeah, of course. Anytime.” She bit her lip, staring out across the moonlit sea.

There was a long silence, and a breeze blew softly past, rustling the grass and trees. Astrid felt the stillness stretch and swallowed, wishing she could think of something to say. But her mind was blank.

Beside her, Hiccup examined a scratch on one hand, then darted a look at her. After a moment, he cleared his throat, scooting even closer so their thighs were pressed together. He turned slightly towards her, placing one hand on her knee. “Astrid?”

“Y-yes?” Astrid stammered, her cheeks ablaze. She glanced at him, tensing up slightly and feeling her heart hammer in her chest like a frightened bird.

Hiccup considered her thoughtfully for a moment, then smiled gently, reaching out and sliding his fingers under her chin to cup her face. Astrid shivered at his touch, and Hiccup stared into her eyes for a moment, sweeping his thumb lightly across the skin beneath her lower lip. Then he leaned forward, his breath ghosting her lips, his other hand resting on her knee, before he brushed her mouth softly with his own. For a moment all Astrid was aware of was him , kissing her, his lips caressing hers tenderly, his thumb rubbing against her chin, but all too soon it was over. He pulled away slowly, his eyes sparkling at her in the firelight, gazing at her like she was the only other thing on earth.

“I, um,” he whispered, so close she could feel his lips moving against hers, could see a flush staining his face as he brushed a finger over her cheek, “I owed you one.”

His hand slid off of her face, and, with a final smirk in her direction, he turned and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Astrid to sit in shock by the dying embers of the fire.

She placed her fingers on her cheek where his had just been, her brow wrinkling in confusion.

He owed her one—?

Only then did she recall the kiss she had given him when he was sick. When she believed he was asleep. When really he was still trying to fall asleep. And she had kissed him, and he had known but–

Astrid’s eyes widened in humiliation. He had known for the past three days? And said nothing? She groaned and buried her face in her hands, wanting to sink into the earth forever.

I owed you one.

His voice echoed in her head, and Astrid suddenly recalled the gentle tenderness in his eyes right after he kissed her. She gasped softly.

Maybe…just maybe....

A slow smile spread over her face.

Astrid kicked dirt over the remaining embers of the fire, called for Stormfly, and wandered slowly back home, towards sleep.

Meanwhile, Hiccup watched the stars from the upper window of his hut, his chin propped in his arms, a dreamy smile on his countenance. He touched his fingers lightly to his lips, then turned and looked at Toothless, who graaoor-ed softly and closed his eyes.

Hiccup chuckled. “Me too, bud. Me too.”

He climbed in bed, and blew out the light.

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kiingsroar · 1 year

Note

You know what I wanna see? I want him dealing with the death of his brother and sister in law. I want him to be forced to become king regent until his nephew comes of age. Will he change the kingdom for the better, will he raise cheka to be the king the people needs? Or will his thirst for the crown drive him to raise his nephew to be dependent on him, letting him be the shadow king?

It wasn't a burden he truly wanted for himself. The weight of a crown was a big responsibility. One he felt he could carry, not that he would choose it if it sat right in front of him for the taking.

Everything felt unreal. He never expected to wake up to that kind of call from Kifaji. Never expected those words would come out of his lips. Leona's fate had been sealed since he was born. He never expected to hold the crown, and after a long time he realized that it wasn't what he wanted in the end. He just wanted them to see him. Wanted his family to see that he was great too. Acknowledge his abilities, at least try to understand him.

He had escaped this life when he decided to go to Night Raven. He refused to look back. This school, while academically useless for him, the people he had come to know . . . his dorm, he felt like he belonged here. This was the place where he was seen for who he was, and not because of the order of his birth.

Leona's sure he's blanked through half of the day's events. Servants rushing back and forth, arranging for his brother's funeral. He didn't know how to feel, Farena who was his brother, someone he looked up to. Admired. Wanted to be like. Now he was like a stranger, someone who overlooked him and didn't try to understand him. He loved him, and he resented him. Those feelings stirred in his stomach, twisting around in his gut making him feel sick.

Funerals were done quickly, in his homeland it was both a time for grieving but also celebration, because it was the way of the circle of life:

Death was not the end.

His fists tightened as he and his family circled around his brother's coffin, all dressed in white. His mother stood with her head held high, truly dignifed as queen, keeping strong for her first son, but the grief that filled her eyes was a look Leona could not quite bare to see. Njeri stood next to him, Cheka in her arms as he sniffled against his mothers chest. Njeri had strong, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She understood the tradition, that her husband would not be by her side, but would be somewhere better. It did not mean, that it did not break her heart.

Leona's eyes stayed fixated on the coffin before him. Expressionless as the ceremony began and ended. His mind was static, sizzling in his brain as he tried to still process that this was actually happening. It was torment, pain, not just for his brother and the loss of his life, but for Leona as well. As he had no choice but to say goodbye to the life he was just learning to love. To be dragged back with a whole kingdom placed in his hands. Hands that could destroy so easily. Were they sure this was what they wanted?

Once the ceremony had concluded they made the walk through the kingdom, where music played and the civilians sang joyous songs to wish their king a pleasant journey as he goes to join the ancestors. The day had felt long, and once the festivities were over, the mourning period had begun, and the city grew quiet as the dead. They would all mourn, from the crawling ant, to the leaping antalope. Many would not leave their houses, nor speak or laugh. Abstaining from any kind of sex, or having children. Some would even shave their facial hair or heads to represent the beginning of new life. All in recongition and tribute to their fallen king.

Leona stood outside the balcony in his room. He had made plans, after graduating. Being with Ruggie and becoming world famous magift players. He had found a place for himself and now. . . he had to give it all up. At least until Cheka came of age. Still, it wasn't fair. The thought alone had made him laugh to himself quietly. Life never was fair, was it?

He had never believed in the ancestors, the great kinds of the past. They had never listened to his cries before, but those green eyes look up to the stars anyway.

' You were always such a pain in my ass, always nagging me, never listening to a word I say, always giving me hell and then you go and die ? ' There's anger, resentment in those words, a tremble in his voice he hadn't felt since he was a child. ' You said you'd always be there for me as kids, but you weren't. . . '

A single, hot tear roll down his cheeks. The ancestors never listened to him before, but maybe . . . maybe it would be different this time.

#anonymous #SORRY ANON THIS GOT LONG #i decided to write it out #but truthfully #i dont think the crown is something he wants #it never was #he just wanted his family to love him as he was #but instead was neglected #now he doesnt know how to feel #he loved his brother but also #there is that resentment he feels deep down #it makes grieving and being sad #very hard for him #hes upset and hes angry #he had just found something he was caring for #and now its been stripped away #i think he would be a good king #but i dont think hes what he wants #˚✧ 𝙯𝙕𝙯𝙕 ic. / ❛❛ ᶜᵃˡˡⁱⁿᵍ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵗᵒ ᵐᵉ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵗʰⁱˢ—ʸᵒᵘ ᵈᵒⁿ’ᵗ ˢᵉᵉᵐ ᵗᵒ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ᶠᵉᵃʳ #˚✧ 𝙯𝙕𝙯𝙕 answered. / ❛❛ ᵉⁿᵒᵘᵍʰ ᵃˡ��ᵉᵃᵈʸ ⁿᵒ ᵐᵒʳᵉ qᵘᵉˢᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ #anyways i am sad now

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sparklefics · 2 years

Text

Cuddles & Cocoa

For Kathie’s @pellucid-constellations writing challenge. #loveletterswritingchallenge

Chubby!College!Bucky & F!Reader

WC: 5.7 ish

Warnings: Hurt comfort, loss, grief, depression, overall sadness, therapy.

A/N: Happy Valentine's enjoy the most self indulgent piece I've ever written. It got a bit out of hand. What can I say, I was inspired.

Prompts were: "I take it you’re here cause you read my letter." & "I'm sitting here, with this stupid pen in my hand, and damn I can't believe you have me writing right now."

Part 2 ➡ because I have no self control.

"So, you're back early. How'd it go with Sweets? Isn't she great?" Steve asks as Bucky walks through the door of their shared apartment.

Steve tried to set up Bucky with you. Bucky was fresh out of a failed relationship.

"She's nice." Bucky says with a grimace already expecting Steve's reaction.

"Hmm, so when are you going out with her?"

"I'm not...I didn't ask her out."

"WHY NOT? She's perfect for you. She's sweet and nice, and smart which is a step up for your usual type."

"I can tell from just two hours of knowing her. That girl gives off wifey and best friends vibes, that shit is rare. She's not rebound material, she's the type of girl you bring home to meet your ma."

"Hey, Buck." Your sweet voice brings him out of his thoughts about you. "Mind if I join you?"

It's way past midnight and Bucky had tossed and turned in bed for the past two hours, he eventually gave up and decided to sit by the fireplace in the living room. He'd rented out this cabin to enjoy one last holiday break with his friends in their last year of school. It'd be their last hoorah before fully going off into adulthood.

"Not at all." Bucky smiles and pats the space beside him for you to join him. "Couldn't sleep?" he asks when you curl up in between his legs and lay against his chest, turning your face towards the fireplace.

"Nope. Nat and Lillian were making out and doing some heavy petting, they think they're quiet but they're really not."

Bucky chuckles and brings the blanket higher up on your body until it rests at your shoulders along with his big arms. You tilt your head to the side and a shiny piece of metal catches your eye. "Oh hey, what's this?" You bring it closer for inspection. James Barnes

"They were Grandpa's dog tags."

Bucky had a hard time dealing with his grandpa's passing earlier that year. His grandfather James had been sick for a long time, his illness had taken its natural course and earlier this year passed away in his sleep. At least it was peaceful, but that doesn't make it hurt any less to Bucky.

"What about you, why are you still up?" you gently squeeze his bicep.

"I don't know. Couldn't get comfortable enough I guess." he sighs.

"How about cuddles and cocoa?"

Cuddles and cocoa were your thing. It was a totally normal occurrence between the two of you.

It all started when you got ghosted by your date in your sophmore year. Bucky came to the rescue and met you at the cafe you were supposed to have a date but got stood up instead. He got you hot cocoa and cuddled up with you in the reading nook by the back of the cafe. A couple of weeks later, when Bucky failed a calculus test you showed up to his and Steve's apartment with hot cocoa and your old notes from when you took the class. You drank the cocoa, cuddled and then tutored him. He aced his next test. Ever since whenever either of you had a bad day you'd treat each other to hot cocoa and cuddles.

You were truly the best of friends, always in tune with each other's needs.

Bucky smiled and bopped your nose. "Yeah, cuddles might help."

"You stay right here, I'll be right back." You get up and tuck the blanket around him, dropping a quick kiss on his forehead before dashing to the kitchen to prepare the hot cocoa.

It hurts to see him still hurting like this. He's put himself on the back burner for so long.

After his grandpa passed Bucky stopped going to the gym, stopped going out with the guys and started over eating, missing classes. It was starting to become a problem, Sam and Steve didn't know how to talk to him without it sounding like an intervention or like they were judging him. So Steve asked you to do something, when you showed up with a loaded cardboard cup holder from your favorite cafe and a box of pastries he protested.

"No,Sweets, come on. I just got him to stop eating pancakes for dinner. We're trying to help him here--"

You cut him off. "Steven, just let me do my thing. He doesn't need to be told what he can or cannot do, what he can or cannot eat, or when he can or cannot eat. What Bucky needs is comfort. Now, get the door for me, please."

Steve knocked on Bucky's door before opening it and announcing your presence. Bucky just grunted in acknowledgement, you stepped into his dark room. Dirty laundry laid on the floor, old stale food on his bedside table, you took note of everything around you, cluing you into his state of mind.

You remind yourself that you are not there to judge but to help.

"Bucky."

"I can't believe Steve called you in."

You move to open the curtains and Bucky winces when the sunlight burns his eyes. You get a good look at him, pale face, dark circles around his eyes, a hint of a shadow where a beard used to be-- apparently Steve got him to shave at some point. Bucky wore sweatpants and a big sweater, it was all he wore since he started gaining weight. His hair had gotten longer and began curling at the base of his neck, a side effect of not going out- not even to get a haircut. Objectively speaking Bucky looked bad,of course he was still handsome, but the guy laying in bed was merely a shell of your best friend.

"Get up. Shower, wash your hair," You instruct. "And be quick, I don't want our hot cocoa to get cold."

At the mention of cocoa Bucky perked up and disappeared into the bathroom. While he showered you decided to clean up around his room, picked up his clothes and threw them in the hamper. You took out the trash, tidied up his desk, and even changed the sheets of his bed. Steve was impressed when you asked him for clean sheets.

When Bucky came out of the shower in a clean set of sweats, you noticed he'd shaved which you didn't ask him to. He did that all on his own. You smiled at him and patted the spot next to you on his bed. "C'mere. It's cuddles and cocoa time."

Bucky takes the cup of cocoa and the box of pastries.

That's another thing that's developed. Bucky is so quiet now, the total opposite of him. You're used to him being loud, the life of the party, the glue that keeps the friend group together. He's so withdrawn and monosilabic it's very sad to see him this way. There's really only so much you can do for him, which is being here. That's why Steve called you.

"How are you, Buck? Like really."

"I'm okay."

"Jamie…" You go in for a hug but he pulls back from your touch. That hurts.

"Please, don't call me that." He begs quietly on the brink of tears.

You want to take it back but it's too late. "Jame-Bucky, please, I just want to help you. Just tell me how."

He whispers 'shut the blinds' so quietly you almost miss it.

It's all he says, he's already met you halfway and now it's your turn. He showered like you asked so you shut the blinds like he asked. The room goes back to darkness and Bucky exhales loudly. You go back to the bed in the dark and immediately Bucky takes a hold of your hand. You don't say anything, neither does him. For a while you sit there holding his hand and drinking cocoa, you pass him the box of pastries and he takes an apple turnover, it's not his favorite but he can't tell the pastries apart in the dark.

"Buck, Steve told me you haven't been going to class."

"Yep."

"Why not? Do you want to drop your classes? It's okay if you do."

"No, I just don't feel like being around people."

"Well, why don't you switch to online courses?"

"I can do that?"

"Yep! I can set up an appointment with the counselor if you'd like."

Bucky stays silent for a minute pondering about it. "Would you go with me? I don't wanna back out…if you go then I can't not show up. I could never let you down."

"Aww that's sweet, Bucky. Of course I'll go with you, I just have one condition."

"I guess that's fair. What is it?"

"Cuddles?"

"Okay."

Bucky has gone through an emotional rollercoaster since his grandpa died. After the funeral Bucky retreated into himself, which you expected since he was depressed. When Steve started to worry alarms went off in your head, you got closer to Bucky just to be sure that he knew he wasn't alone, that he could count on his friends for support.

When your own father died you had no one to turn to, no one understood your pain. But for Bucky it is different, you understand his pain and thankfully he lets you be there for him.

You were there to help him cope, whether it was with cuddles and cocoa or just sitting with him in his dark bedroom holding his hand.

Eventually the cuddles and cocoa turned into cuddles and cocoa and talk.

With a belly full of warmth, and his arms full of you Bucky feels talkative and once he starts, he can't shut up. "...it's pathetic. It's almost been a year, everyone has moved on but me. Now I'm almost done with school, no future job lined up after graduation, fat, single and miserable."

"Uh-huh. Right. Pity party for one." You jab his ribs with your elbow.

You're both lounging on the pillow fort Bucky made while you prepared the cocoa. You are wrapped up with Bucky in between some thick blankets, your arms bound around his torso and one of his arms around your shoulders while the other trails up and down your spine.

"I'm not having a pity party, I'm being a realist."

"Well if we're being realistic, you still have months until graduation, plenty of time for you to line up a job. Second, you're not fat, there's just more of you to love." You move your hands to squish his cheeks in that adorable way that makes his lips pout. "Third, you're single and miserable by choice, I know a lot of girls who would love to date you."

"I don't want a lot of girls, just one in particular."

"That's good, Buck. See? You are moving on, setting goals for yourself. What's that thing your therapist says?"

"Celebrate the small victories." Bucky mumbles.

So you remind him that he has made progress. Bucky goes to therapy now, which has helped him out a lot. He no longer avoids his friends, or his family. He also switched back from online classes to in person for the fall semester, and then he planned this whole holiday getaway. He's very different from the sloppy, sad guy from months ago.

So what if he doesn't have his future figured out? It's no big deal.

"Grief is not a one size fits all type of situation. Not everyone has their futures figured out."

"You say that because you have that sweet job at Stark Industries lined up." Bucky trails his fingertips up your spine stopping at the side of your neck to tickle you.

"No, I say that because the future is uncertain, there are no guarantees. Like what does it matter that I have a job lined up, who says I'll even like the job?" In return for the tickling you wet your pinky finger and bring it up to his ear.

"Ew! Okay! Okay!" He swats your hands away. "I see your point."

You laugh and lay your head on his chest and hug him tightly. Bucky kisses your cheek, "Good night, Sweets."

"Good night, Bucky."

____________________________________________________________

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!!"

You startle awake with the sound of your friends shouting. Bucky's arms are still around you and his legs are tangled with yours, his chest vibrating with laughter.

It's a holiday miracle!

You get to witness Bucky laughing, really laughing like he used to. His eyes are closed, mouth wide with his pearly white teeth showing, his nose doing that signature scrunch along with the crinkle around his eyes. You feel your eyes start to water, vision becomes blurry, you're so happy to see him back. Bucky, your Bucky is smiling like he used to, so carefree and genuine.

Merry Christmas indeed.

You smile and quickly wipe the tears from your eyes before anyone notices you, and get up and wish your friends a Merry Christmas then go get ready for the day.

Immediately after you leave for the bathroom, Steve and Sam ambush Bucky asking if he'd finally confessed his love for you.

"Not this again. Drop it." Bucky's friends really know how to damper his mood.

"You wait around any longer and you're gonna lose her, Buck." Steve warns.

"I'm telling you she's not interested." Bucky replies.

"Yeah, right cause she's been single for two years. Two years, Buck. Not a single date in two years. That's not suspicious at all." Sam argues. "Do you know what that's like? Don't answer that, it was rhetorical. You know cause you've been single since you met her!"

Bucky chose to ignore Sam's point, afraid he might be right.

Since the moment he met you, Bucky recognized exactly the kind of girl you are. And as he's gotten to know you and become your friend, he's realized you are his dream girl. You are all he's ever wanted and more. It's been too long, he knows he missed his shot with you. You two are too good of friends to actually be more. Yes, he has wanted you all this time and now he's afraid that you only see him as a friend.

But...then again...

Facts are facts though, and Sam does have a point. What are the odds you've both been single all this time? Could it be that you feel the same way about him as he does about you?

Or were you just projecting your daddy issues onto him? Did you just want to 'fix' him?

Bucky has a lot of questions and a lot to think about. He wonders what his therapist would tell him. He knows Dr. Raynor would point out that you might be projecting but that wouldn't be a bad thing, it would just mean that Bucky means as much to you as your father.

Bucky had a lot to dissect through.

Bucky remembers that summer night in his room when the two of you were cuddling. You thought he was asleep when you couldn’t hold your tears any longer.

Bucky was disappearing right in front of your eyes. Reflecting on how it felt to lose your father and how he withered away to nothing in front of you.

Bucky may not be dying but it feels like he is.

Bucky felt you shaky breaths, heard your whimpers and sniffles. “Sweets. Are you-- What's going on?” He turns you over to face him, a soft caressing hand on your cheek.

You can’t look at him. It hurts so much. The Bucky you knew was fading away and you couldn’t do anything about it. His eyes didn't hold that sparkle anymore. “Jamie. Jamie, come back to me.”

Bucky dry swallows, he's never seen you like this. You're an emotional person but he's never seen you this affected. "I'm right here. What are you talking about? Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"No. This is the nightmare." Your sobs make you hiccup, Bucky hugs you to his chest. He holds you tightly until you calm down a bit.

"Sweets, you're scaring me."

You bury your face into his neck and hold on to him for dear life. “I’m gonna tell you something, but please don’t hate me for it.”

“You can tell me anything.”

“You need help, Bucky. Real help, there’s only so much I can do. Cuddles and Cocoa is not enough.” You choke on a sob, but continue on. “I don’t want you to keep fading away.”

“I’m not going anywhere." Oh, it dawns on him that your tears are for him, because of him. "I have an appointment with a therapist next week.”

The relief that washes over you is unexplainable. You know it’s not a quick fix but it’s a start. It’s hope and that’s all you need.

“I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to figure things out. I’m not going anywhere. I promise."

"I know. Can I go with you?"

"That'd be great. I'm actually terrified..."

"Of what?" you ask, still sniffling, gently running your fingers through his hair.

"That I'll never feel whole again." A tear slips from his eyes, his voice cracks.

Bucky's words shatter your heart into a million pieces. You know that feeling, you understand it well. It takes you a while to find your words so in the meantime you hold him.

"From my experience, in our lives we give pieces of our hearts to those we love. So when we lose them it feels just like you said, like we'll never be whole again. But I choose to see it this way: in your case, your grandpa moved on to another journey, to another life or whatever you want to believe in-- the point is he took pieces of love with him. Your grandpa took a bit of love from you, your grandma, your whole family."

"When I lost my dad...Bucky, I too felt like that. It took me a fucking long time to realize that the hole in my heart, the bit he took, it wasn't empty or incomplete. It's still there, it's a bit of his heart now in its place. My dad took a piece of my heart with him and left me a piece of his instead. So I can tell you, from experience, that I know it sucks and I hate that there's no way to fix it. That this feeling will sit with you until you deal with it. And sadly, that fucking line that time heals all wounds, I hate to say it but it's true."

_____________________________________________________________

1 Week later // New Years //

You and Bucky were drinking the last bottle of champagne and eating the remaining grapes. It was 2 am and everyone had already either passed out or gone to bed.

Naturally you and Bucky settled in by the fire pit on the deck at the back of the cabin. It wasn't that cold outside so you could sit comfortably by the fire with a blanket and be fine.

You two get to talking about your expectations for this year, both academically and personally. Bucky admits he's excited to graduate but nervous about his little sister Rebecca who will be graduating high school and then going to you guys' school in the fall. "I wanted to look out for her, bust her balls too."

"You can if you stay in the city."

"I think I might."

"This might sound corny or stupid, or both, but I think this is gonna be great year." You take his hand and entwine your fingers, never looking at him just staring off at the flames of the fire pit.

"It's not stupid or corny, I know what you mean." He squeezes your hand and you look up at him. He smiles down at you. "Beginnings...they're special." You hum in agreement and Bucky continues. "And speaking of special, I wanted to thank you. This year, well past year was by far my worst one, but looking back at it...it had it's nice moments too." With the way his eyes bore at you, you know he's actually referring to you. "I want to start off the year on a positive note, set the tone, you know."

"Thank you for letting me be there for you. This will be your year Bucky Barnes. You fucking deserve to be happy."

Bucky smiles at you. He smiles at you a little too long. You start to imagine the way he leans into you.

Your heart leaps to your throat as he gets close. His warm lips press to your forehead. The prickly sensation of his beard against your skin makes you giggle. "Your beard tickles."

He leans back and runs a hand down his chin. "Been thinking it might be time to shave it off."

"No!" You protest. "You can't shave it off. It completes your look."

"It completes my look?" he asked amused.

"Yeah, the big burly, long haired, bearded look. It's really sexy in a lumberjack kinda way."

Bucky had noticed you had never complimented him on his looks, not even before he gained 30 pounds. So the fact that you were complimenting him when he was at his 'worst' did wonders for his self esteem, in fact his face was burning red. "Thanks? I guess."

That night Bucky got an answer to one of his many questions regarding you: Did he even have a shot with you? Yes.

After finishing the bottle of champagne you head inside, he follows you, unsurprised when you head straight for his room. You're already in sweatpants and a sweater he recognizes as his. It was a gift from Rebecca, it read 'It's okay if you don't like me. Not everyone has good taste.'. It didn't fit anymore. He gave it to you when you stayed over at his apartment after getting locked out of yours. He didn't ask for it back but he also didn't think you'd keep it.

You settled in the left side of the bed, taking your time fluffing your pillow. Once you settled in, Bucky slipped into bed beside you. Before turning off the bedside table lamp, he turned to check on you. "You good? Comfy?"

With the comforter up to your neck you nodded your head. "Yep. Good night, Buck."

Bucky turned off the lamp and got comfortable on the bed. He felt you roll over on your side to face him and smiled when you pressed your face to his shoulder. He extended his arm and pulled you to his chest. "Good night, Sweets."

Bucky could barely keep his eyes closed, every single ruffle of the bed set him off. You turned your back to him, and he thought he might finally get some sleep, but then you grunted. "Cuddlebug, you're so far away." You reached a hand blindly to grab him and pull him to you.

Bucky grabs your hand and your fingers find their place in between his. He pulls you back to the center of the bed, molding his body to yours. "You keep rolling off, sweetheart." He murmurs at the back of your neck before pressing his lips there.

_______________________________________________________

A couple of days later you all head back to the city and settle back into your daily routines, back to school. The semester starts off with a bang and a lot of work. Weeks pass by so fast you barely have time to meet up with Bucky. He’s been pretty busy too, but he always makes time to text you and check in on you.

And even though he texts and calls, you miss him.

You feel off, like something is missing. When you go to bed and toss and turn you realize that what you're missing is Bucky. You miss sleeping with him, just being around him brightens up your day.

And then it happens. Your old lab partner Peter Parker asks you out on a date. It feels weird being asked out on a date. Your immediate response was to say no, but before you can answer he tells you to think about it and let him know. No pressure.

Just then you see a smiling Bucky approaching with to-go cups that you're sure are hot cocoa. Your reaction is a pure knee-jerk, it happens without conscious thought, you squeal with delight. “Bucky!!”

Peter Parker, still standing before you, gives a tiny wave with his hand, “See you around, Y/N.”

“Bye, Pete.”

Hours later, Peter texts you. Peter: I'm sorry about today. I didn’t know you were spoken for. My bad 🥴

You stare at the text for like an hour. That’s how Nat finds you, sitting in the living room staring at your phone.

“Y/n? You’ve got thinky face.”

You give her your phone instead of explaining. Nat takes a seat and takes your phone.

“I don’t get it.”

“Peter asked me out and I didn’t know what to say, then Bucky showed up and now he thinks I’m not interested. He thinks Bucky is my boyfriend.”

“Understandable.” Nat sighs and fails to muffle her laughs.

“Why on earth would he think that?”

“Jesus, I thought you were in denial but you really don't see it.”

“Nat, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Sweetie, come on." She gives you her signature smirk, "When Bucky is around you act like no one else exists. Don’t even get me started on the way you look at each other and your grossly cute cuddles and cocoa thing. You two act like a couple.”

“We do?"

"Yes! I cannot believe this...I'm gonna try something. I will ask you a series of questions, and you will answer rapid fire. Okay?"

"Okay but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the questions, trust the process. Okay, here we go. How long have you known Bucky?"

"Almost three years."

Nat keeps asking questions, varying topics, it's hard to find a pattern or what kind of information she's trying to pull out of you. About three minutes in she asks, "Do you want to date Peter?"

"No." You kind of already knew that.

She shits topics again to food and colors, and up and down. Then she asks, "You're in love with Bucky, aren't you?"

"Yes."

You gasp and Nat laughs so hard she tears up. "Don't say I never did anything for you."

You sit there and ponder what to do with this piece of information. Should you tell Bucky how you feel? Would that weird him out? Or would he feel the same way? It's safe to say you don't sleep well that night.

________________________________________________________

Three days later, Natasha comes home with the mail. She got a care package from home, full of goodies and Russian candies, pictures and letters from her family. Her sister sent her a vest she saw and thought Natasha would love it, it had a lot of pockets. "Oh, hey, here." She hands you an envelope, "almost forgot. You got a letter."

You take the envelope in your hands to examine, your eyes nearly pop out when you read the name of the sender.

James B. Barnes

You tear open the envelope and take out two handwritten papers.

My dearest, Y/N

Did you know people still write letters?

I just got one from my grandma. She sent me some pictures of my grandpa and Steve’s. I’ll share them with you someday soon.

The other day I was on the phone with my grandma and I was telling her about you. She really wants to meet you. Something she said got me thinking. 'All the what-ifs, you're missing out on what is.'

She meant for me to live in the moment and in the spirit of that, that’s why I’m sitting here, with this stupid pen in my hand, and damn I can’t believe you have me writing right now.

Here's a wild thought: Maybe we're missing out on the what-if...

I’ll start at the beginning. It'll hopefully make sense by the end of this letter.

From the moment I met you, I knew exactly the kind of woman you are. And in case you didn't already know that was Steve's poor attempt at setting us up, there was no pressing matter he had to tend to that day. When I got home he was waiting for me, already asking if I had asked you out on a date.

I'd just gotten out of a relationship and was not looking forward to getting my heart broken yet again. But then I met you...and that's it. I was sold.

I know you're probably confused at this point. What is this idiot saying?

I WANT TO DATE YOU!! is what I'm saying.

You might think then why didn't this idiot ask me out if we were being set up by Steve?

I didn't want you to be my rebound girl...which is stupid now that I think about it, cause I've been single since I met you… for almost three years I've avoided dating altogether because after only two hours of knowing you, I couldn't picture myself on a date with another girl that wasn't you.

So I figured I'd take my time to get to know you instead of just jumping to the deep end. You are so special and wonderful. There aren't enough words in the English language that can fully describe you.

You are incredible.

You are perfect.

I could not have even dreamt you up.

I'm so happy I got to know you and become your friend. Being your friend has brought my life a whole new perspective, you have shown me kindness, love and compassion. Everyday you continue to blow me away, you are honestly the strongest person I know. I admire you so much. I am thankful to have you in my life.

You’ve been everything I’ve needed, a friend, a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, but you’re also all I’ve ever wanted.

I’m taking a risk here writing you this letter— and no pressure, I cannot stress this enough. I would love to take you out on a date. We have an awesome friendship and I would understand and respect if that’s all you want this to be.

I thought since Valentine’s Day is a holiday based on love and friendship (and we’ve already got that part down) it’d be a good day to test out the waters.

I’d love to have more with you.

I don’t want to have any regrets, especially when it comes to you.

So if you‘d grant me the honor—nay, the privilege to take you out on a date,

again no pressure if you don’t. Meet me at the cafe this Valentine’s at 7pm.

Your Cuddlebug,

James

P.S. I really mean no pressure.

Between you and the therapy I've become a sap! You have no idea how long this letter originally was...but I'll tell you it was giving Rachel's letter to Ross a run for its money. Ha! Another reference I get to make because of you introducing me to that show.

I will stop writing now. :)

You are speechless.

This is the absolute last thing you expected. A handwritten letter from Bucky asking you out on a date.

There’s no doubt you want him too.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bucky Barnes does not get to be the only one to get cheesy and romantic over Valentine’s Day. You write down a response to hand deliver when you meet him at the cafe.

Natasha helped you out picking out a dress and getting ready for your date.

Walking into the cafe you realize that for the first time you're actually nervous about meeting up with Bucky, which is stupid because you already know that he wants to date you. You two have nothing to be nervous about. You've basically been on tons of dates already. The girl working the cash register notices you waiting, looking around, looking for someone. "Excuse me, are you Y/N?"

"Yep, that'd be me. I'm meeting someone here."

"Eeep! You're blue eyes' hot date!" She smiles and sighs, "He's waiting for you at the reading nook."

The reading nook! The very same were you shared your first cuddles and cocoa.

You turn around and go back to the counter and ask the girl for two hot cocoas.

You walk back to the reading nook with one hot chocolate in each hand, your clutch tucked beneath your arm. You almost drop everything when Bucky comes into view.

There he is. Bucky in a navy blue suit, black dress shirt. You do a double take because, yes he did, Bucky shaved his beard. Yet he still looks as handsome as ever, if anything it makes his eyes pop even more. And the smile that takes over his face when he sees you is absolut magic, it makes you want to melt.

"I take it you’re here cause you read my letter." Bucky says as you place the cups of cocoa on the table, along with your clutch.

"I did." You hug him. "I brought my reply." When you pull away from the hug you look up at him and smile, he smiles back. You can't hold on any longer, you pull his face down and quickly press your lips to his. It was a quick peck that lasted about a second but it left Bucky dizzy.

Bucky arranged for food to be brought to your table, a couple of Montecristos and other goodies like bonbons, macarons and those apples turnovers you love. As soon as you get to talking the nerves wear off and it feels like any other time you’ve hung out with Bucky. The only difference is that he holds your hand and tells you how beautiful you look. You live for that adorable way he looks at you while dropping kisses to the back of your hand.

By the end of the night he confesses he wished he would’ve asked you out sooner.

He walks you back to your apartment and you invite him in, he seems surprised. "Oh, did you seriously think we'd have our first date and not have cuddles? It's us, cuddles are our thing."

"I like the sound of that."

#loveletterswritingchallenge #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x f!reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes x y/n #fluffy #chubby!bucky #Chubby!College!Bucky #hurt/comfort #college au #loss #grief/mourning #friends to lovers #best friends #tw depression #love letters

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thewildwaffle · 3 years

Text

Humans are Weird: Antibiotics

A story prompt from a user on a03. Apparently, this is my 50th short story, or at least the 50th installment of m humans are weird short stories. Hurray!

****

Ni Andu watched a dried sickle leaf roll across the empty courtyard from her window. A deep sigh made her breath fog up the glass. The courtyard wasn't supposed to be empty. Especially not this time of year. The Gauru Ni Moon Festival usually brought visitors from around the world and across multiple star systems right about now. But the disease meant no bright banners were hung. No music echoed cheerily through around the corners and down the streets. There were no wafting scents of fresh fruits and fried breads.

It was amazing and terrifying that something so small that it couldn’t be seen had done all this. The Ni were a proud race, rich in culture, and until now, seemingly sturdy in constitution. Diseases had come and gone in the past, but in such small and freak cases that they were hardly given much attention. It was assumed that Ni immune systems were the best in the galaxy and many other races had even requested to study how they were so effective.

Those prideful memories felt hollow now as Ni Andu sighed and pulled herself away from the dreary sight outside. As a new and reluctant head of the house, she had more pressing things to deal with than moping in the past. Several members of her own family were still sick, two of her hatch mates had been very touch-and-go as of late. She slowly made her way to the cushions where they were sleeping to check on them. To her relief, she saw the soft blankets they were wrapped in rose and fell slowly. She stood there, watching them for a bit in the gathering darkness of their shared humble abode. Matki’s breathing sounded like gravel stuck in a child’s rolling skiffer.

“What are we going to do?” Andu’s wide nose scrunched up as she begged the silent house. “What am I supposed to do next?”

She wasn’t sure how long she stood there trying to think of everything and nothing all at once. It was a good while though and was only interrupted when a small light turned on in the meal room. Andu looked up at the light streaming out of the door’s archway. With a sigh, she gathered her strength to move again to see who was up. As she approached, she heard small claws scrabbling on the stonework floor and storage pods opening and closing.

Sure enough, when she peeked in, Andu could see little Piri shuffling through food storage pods that looked even less stocked than she thought they’d been. There were a few bottled foods, a few containers of ingredient-prepped soup containers, but certainly nothing immediately ready for consumption. Most easy and ready-to-eat foods had been eaten long ago or destroyed when they began to decay and grow dangerous molds. And to a small three-year-old Ni, that basically meant there was no food at all.

“Hey Piri, are you hungry?” Even though Andu had kept her voice quiet, little Piri still jumped and tucked his small thin tail like he was ashamed he’d been caught. Andu smiled comfortingly and stepped into the room to pick up one of the soup packs.

“It’s okay, you’re fine,” she patted him on the head softly, “I think it’s time for a meal too. I’m sure everyone else would agree once they wake up and smell the food.”

“There’s not much left,” Piri’s small voice was so sad and only made the words themselves feel sharper to Andu’s hearts. She tried to think of something she could say to make their situation seem less dire, but nothing came to mind. Instead, she scooped up Piri’s small form and waited until his thin arms latched securely around her scruff before she walked over to get a pot to cook in. She was going to have to add quite a bit of water to this if it was going to make enough to sustain everyone for a meal.

Cooking, even making something simple, helped ease Andu’s mind. There was a sense of normalcy in standing in front of a firebox and stirring a bubbling pot of soup. She tried to ignore how thin it was. Still, the smell made her feel warm and it must have wafted across the house as she could soon hear the tell-tale signs of her hatch mates waking up. She gathered bowls and filled each one. Lowering Piri back down, she handed the young Ni a bowl and carried the rest to the cushions where the rest of the family was slowly waking up.

They ate together slowly, trying to make the contents of their bowl last and talking quietly about anything they could to distract themselves from their situation. Matki was recalling a story from four lunar years ago when Andu had entered a fried bread pastry into a competition. Between Matki’s coughing and Andu interjecting to defend herself, the story kept getting interrupted! She’d worked on the recipe for her pastry for so long and was so proud of it, but the night before, something went wrong when she was making her entry. Whether it was nerves, exhaustion, oversight, or Jentala above forbid, sabotage, it went very wrong. From the way Matki described the judges’ reaction, one might have thought Andu had purposefully tried poisoning them! As everyone chuckled, Matki claimed he still had the video recording from the competition and pulled it out, much to Andu’s chagrin.

Andu pretended to be exasperated by the teasing, but really she was just glad everyone felt good enough to laugh again.

It took a while before she and the others noticed that Matki hadn’t pulled up the video. Instead, his eyes locked on the comm tablet screen.

“Matki?”

“Hey, did you find it?”

“Matki are you okay?”

Matki finally looked up, eyes still wide from whatever he’d been looking at. “They’re coming to help.”

Everyone shared a worried look. What?

“Who are you talking about? Who’s coming?” Andu broke the confused silence.

Matki tapped something on-screen with the pad of a finger and a holographic projection display rose up.

Everyone watched enraptured by the newscast. It was about humans. From halfway across the galaxy, they’d heard about the Ni’s plight and had come claiming they had a cure. They were offering aid and resources to run tests to make sure their medicine was safe and effective for Ni use and make alterations if needed. They were even claiming they’d help distribute the finalized cure the moment it was given the go-ahead. In the meantime, they were also sending ships of food and supplies.

Andu could feel the back of her throat tighten. Was this real? Did she dare hope? There’d been so many reports before about help being promised, well, not help to this extent, but help nonetheless. They’d ended up being just for show and were proven empty once those who offered realized how impossible the situation really was.

But humans? She’d heard they were tough. And stubborn. Maybe they were stubborn enough to see their promises through?

The embarrassing video of Andu’s failed pastry was long forgotten, the conversation instead jumped between wild rumors her family had overheard about humans and speculation about how long it would take for the humans to actually lend aid if they were really coming at all. Andu could see a shimmer in the eyes of her hatch mates as they spoke that she hadn’t seen in a while. Although she wished she could feel the same optimism, she could also see how quickly they were all tiring out. Although they’d slept most of the day, the disease was still taking its toll on them all.

Once the meager meal was finished, she stood to gather the now empty bowls. She noticed Piri quickly scrape a finger along the side of his bowl to snag any last morsel before she came along to collect it. ‘Jentala above,’ she prayed mentally, ‘if help truly is coming, send it along soon.”

With bellies no longer completely empty, everyone settled in, and soon the room was full of sleeping or near sleeping Ni.

Andu slept fitfully. She dreamed, but it was fractured and confusing. Even before the disease came, she had a hard time remembering her dreams once she woke up. It was near impossible now. She did remember a loud humming noise though. As she blinked her eyes and lifted her head, she realized the humming was still there. She rose and searched for the source. It almost sounded like… engines? But that, that had to be impossible - the quarantine…

She looked out the window. Dried sickle leaves were flying around wildly as a large shuttle slowly came in for a landing in the courtyard. Andu opened her mouth to call out to the rest of her family, but nothing would come. How were they still asleep with this racket? Apparently, it managed to wake up Piri, who nearly made Andu jump when he bumped into her side while trying to climb up for a better view out the window.

“What’s going on? Who’s outside?” Piri waited to ask until Andu had resettled herself after being startled.

“I’m not sure yet,” she answered as they both watched the shuttle’s doors slowly work through the unsealing process. Across the courtyard, she could see other Ni’s faces peeking out their windows. As far as she could tell, expressions seemed to range anywhere from fear to curiosity to… was that hope? Wait, had they seen the newscast last night? Did they think this was… there’s no way the humans could be here already, right?

They both watched intently as the doors finally opened and a ramp extended. Soon a line of creatures she’d only seen on screens filed down wearing yellow vests and hauling huge boxes in their arms or on carts they pulled behind them.

“It is the humans!” Piri yelled and jumped down from his perch. He ran to where everyone was stirring on the cushions, “Wake up! Wake up! The humans are here!”

Andu wasn’t sure if she should reprimand Piri for disturbing them, or if she should join in. Instead, she watched as the humans in the courtyard started setting up stations and continued hauling load after load filled with what must have been hexaheebs of food, clean water, and various supplies.

She turned to look back at her family who were trying to rise as fast as their weakened bodies would allow. Matki began coughing violently and had to rest against the wall. Andu went to help support him when a knock at the front door startled everyone. They all stared at the old chirrowood door, then around at each other. It had been so long since quarantine had started, they’d almost forgotten what a knock on the door sounded like.

After a pause, the knock came again, this time followed by a worried and drawn-out, “Hello?”

Once she was sure Matki was standing stable, Andu, being the least sick among everyone, walked to and slowly opened the door.

A human from the shuttle stood in the doorway. They were wearing a mask over their mouth and nose, but it was definitely a human! Their eyes closed slightly and creased in the corners as they nodded a greeting. “Hi, my name is Ali, I’m part of the relief team that’s been assigned to this district. We’ve got food and essentials to distribute and I just need to know how many are in this household and if anyone here is in critical condition.”

Andu blinked at the human for a moment as she took in what they’d said.

“We, uh, we have four adults and one child. There, there were more, but…” she couldn’t finish that sentence. From the look the human gave her, she didn’t need to finish it. Her sinuses stung as she fought to not cry. The first visitor in how long and here she was almost crying in the doorway?

“I'm so sorry for your loss,” the human’s head bowed and their shoulders dropped. “I wish we’d known and could have helped earlier. Is anyone here in need of immediate emergency care?”

At that point, Matki started coughing again. Andu and Ali looked back to see him sit back down until his coughing died down.

Andu sighed and turned back to the human. “None of us are great right now. Matki’s probably the worst out of all of us. He sounds bad, but he actually has started to stabilize in the past few days.”

Human Ali gave a short nod and started writing something on a tablet in his hands.

“Do you,” Andu’s voice trembled, “we heard a report last night about you. That you were coming. That you… do you…” she swallowed and fought back desperate tears, “do you really have a cure?”

The human’s eyes creased again. “We do.”

Andu didn’t need to turn around to know the effect this had on her family. She heard it. She felt it. This time, she didn’t fight back the tears.

“Right now,” Human Ali continued, “it’s in the final stages of approval for Ni use, we’re just waiting for the ‘go-ahead’ and we’ll help distribute it as soon as it arrives. Until then, I’ve got some food and supplies for you. I can help unload and unpack if you need?”

“That… that would be... thank you,” she wiped at her tears. “Thank you so much.”

Over the next few days, more shuttles came and went, bringing more supplies, food, tools, and just in general, a brighter outlook and mood to the entire neighborhood. The humans really were here to help, and they seemed happy to do so. Not only were they good with their promises of aid, but they also delivered on the cure they said they had. Ni were instructed on the drug’s use and administration directions thoroughly for both the tablet and liquid forms of the cure. The effects were quick, and from the reports on the newscast, overwhelmingly positive. The Ni were cured! The plague that had once threatened to wipe out their entire population was gone! Celebrations larger than even the Gauru Ni Moon Festival were planned, songs were written, stories shared and spread. It was wholly agreed by all that this was a historic time in Ni history that they all survived through, and all thanked Jentala above for sending the humans to help.

It went without saying that everyone wanted to know more about the cure itself. And that meant everyone, not just the Ni, but the rest of the galactic community who before, had written the Ni off as a lost cause because of the horrific disease. What was this miracle cure? What other things could it do? Where, by all that is bright and shining, did the humans get it, and could it be easily replicated?

The humans, for their part, were again as open and gracious with their information as they had been with their aid. It was an old medicine they’d discovered long ago on their planet. Considered to be the first “antibiotic,” it was widely used on Earth and had saved millions of lives since its discovery. It worked by interfering with bacteria cell walls and destroyed them by causing them to burst.

It was called

Penicillin.

“Amazing!” “Spectacular!” “So simple, yet so ingenious!” many in the galactic community praised. “How ever did you discover this amazing drug?”

The initial answer wasn’t too surprising, for humans at least: it was an accident.

Andu almost snorted as she read the report to the rest of her family. Granted, the end of the plague was the first time any of them had come in direct contact with humans, but they all had heard many of the stories about human escapades. Wild experiments that on paper seemed more like a drunken brainstorm party that ended up advancing rocket fuel technology by at least 8 lunar years. Crash-landings on category 3 death worlds and they ended up liking them so much they decided to set up colonies. Half of what they did seemed to be mistakes that just went right for them. Apparently, the miracle drug penicillin was included in those stories.

She looked up its history and manufacturing.

Andu felt claws dance down her back as she read more. It came… from mold? Mold?! She looked up from the tablet to the faces of her equally horrified hatch mates. It took them a moment to remember how to close their mouths.

"You mean like mold on old bread?" Piri broke the shocked silence.

Andu blinked and looked back at the report. Old bread? How many times had they not eaten bread fast enough in the warm humid seasons only to pick up a bul of bread and find mold growing on it. It was dangerous, it had to be carefully disposed of, it was… able to save lives?

She returned to the report. The more she read, the more comforted she became in the safety of the miracle antibiotic. That, and she couldn't argue with the results. Her family was around her, now loudly being altogether boisterous together as they "discussed" the humans and all the ways they played with death in order to save life.

Matki snatched the tablet from her claws, wanting to read the report for himself. As Andu was jostled by her now healthy, energetic family, she was just happy and eternally thankful that the humans were crazy enough to play with something as dangerous as fungus, and then kind enough to share what they discovered.

#humans are weird #aliens #space orcs #disease #penicillin #antibiotics #immune systems #space #hfy #ni #space australians #writeblr #original writing #short story

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nighttimewrighter · 2 years

Text

My Dearest, Oh My Dearest Child

Thomas Shelby x fem!Reader

Summary: A sad story with actually no real plot, just felt like it. Reader and Thomas had a stillborn baby and now have to deal with their loss, blaiming themselves (This fic is in no way meant to shame who ever had this happen to them, it is purly fiction if you know someone or who had to go trough this or maybe you had to go through something like that yourself, you have my condolences and I wish you the absolute best in your future babes. ❤❤)

Warnings: As just mentiond above, a stillborn baby, so death of an infant (Nothing is described in anyway) just a short reminder that english isn´t my native language

MY SHELBY BOYS MASTERLIST

The Rain was dazzling down on the rooftop as (Y/N) sat in the armchair.

Staring into the burning fire right in front of her.

It was so unbearably hot but so shivering cold at the same time.

She didn´t know what to do anymore.

Just don´t leave me...please just don´t leave me!

She didn´t even try to make any noise as she heard the front door cracking open.

What good would it do her? No one could bring her back.

Just stay forever...I beg you! Stay, don´t leave me!

“(Y/N)” She would normally have heard. But this day? Nothing.

He just silently stood in the hallway. Eyes dull just like hers. Their faces drawn of any colour and emotion.

Oh God had she cried. But all of those tears had dried up long ago.

Leaving the bitterness of the salty taste for her to endure as the only cruel reminder of her sad reality. If she would have been able to feel it, it would have made her furious.

They both knew who was to blame.

And it hurt him, it hurt him so much. He knew she was right, he couldn´t even be angry with her.

And it hurt her, it hurt her so much. She knew he was right, she couldn´t even be angry with him.

He had cried as well, he had seen her and she had seen him.

They both had cried.

But not out of happiness as they actually should have had on this oh so wonderful day. No. They had to stare at the innocent live lost, how unbearable.

And she knew who was to blame.

And he knew who was to blame.

They once had promised each other,

until the world falls apart we´ll dance upon rubble and ashes, forever together. She had promised to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. He had promised he´d love and honour her all the days of his life.

And here there were now, in bad times and sickness, love and honourless.

Just sitting there, being shells of themselves.

(Y/N) silently looked at the prominent wedding ring on her finger. It sat there, silently mocking her with all of its glamour and innocent purity. It reminded her of better times.

Oh how happy she had felt! The Queen of Small Heath!

She had risen from ruins, she had defeated cruel fate!

The King of Small Heath had chosen her!

He had actually chosen her to marry him! To spend all of eternity by his side!

Oh how happy she had been! Ignoring all the warning signs.

She marched up into this life of cruelty and she had just sat there. In her golden Palace, ignoring the ones suffering for her to have what she had.

She truly was a selfish witch!

Oh God had she been deaf and blind to all of it. And now God punished her for it.

Oh how happy he had been!

Having the sweetest, the kindest the most beautiful, the smartest and the most loyal of all standing by his side.

The true Queen of Small Heath.

And now God punished her for getting married to the Devil himself. To him. He truly was one selfish Arshole!

He had taken so many lives. So many lives of Fathers and sons. It was only fair! But why did it have to be her? Why had he been so blind!?

Oh, how he hated himself for being the one to do this to her.

Oh, how she hated herself for being the one to do this to him.

Silent tears ran down her icy cheekbones again, as she looked back into the fire.

Face as expressionless as cobblestone.

Her Immortal soul would never be pure again. And it had been all his fault! The Devil corrupted her with his frivolous ways. And he knew what people called him, and he began to think it was true.

And now she had to pay! She had tired eyes...tired hands. Seeing so much sin through all of the cigarette smoke and shed blood.

No one would come to save her now, would they?

In the days without laughter

Between passion and pain

When we make a thousand mistakes

Our hearts will turn to stone

Maybe it was better that way. No angle deserved to walk upon a world with monsters. Just like her father was.

He spoiled it, she was deaf and blind! Chained to the weights that were her dreams.

They had long been immune to the plagues of doubt.

They forgot, they had lost now

They had lost the one thing special to them.

The only thing that would ever be worth more than life itself to both of them.

(Y/N) had rather died herself that day and to be honest? A big part of her did. A part of her will do so for the rest of her life. The rest of her life as only a third of what she was used to be.

But just upon touching her, she had known. Angels weren’t meant for a world like this.

The Angels will rise, they will rise and return home.

And she was no angel, she would never be.

And he was no angel, he would never be.

But she had been. Their daughter had been.

What were they to do? They wanted their child back. But all was gone now!

She didn´t love him anymore, right? He took her baby from her.

He didn´t love her anymore, right? She took his baby from him.

Silently stepping closer, Thomas finally reached her armchair.

He stood right there, right beside her… But it still felt like he was miles away.

“(Y/N)”

It had been such a silent, such a fragile whisper, so soft, but she still had heard it.

And it pained her so deeply...they would never hear their daughters voice.

“(Y/N)” He called out again. Stretching out his arm, to softly lay his hand on her shoulder.

“Thomas” She silently answered as she looked him in the face, for the first time in days.

“Oh (Y/N)”

“Oh Thomas!”

Quickly reacting, he bent down to her height, wrapping his arms around her. She nuzzled her head into the crave of his neck.

“I am so sorry!”

And there they sat, softly sobbing into each other’s bodies.

Both realising what they had lost.

Both realising that they had lost their daughter.

Never to hear her first words, see her first smile, see her beautiful eyes shining on her birthday, witnessing her first love, witnessing her wicked shelbyness… They had lost a part of themselves.

They would never know whose looks she got. They would never know whose character she got.

She would never be.

Because she was too good for them.

She was an angel never meant for this world. Never meant for them.

They never had deserved. That, they were both sure of.

And (Y/N) had it all written down in the most beautiful letter she had ever written.

For her special child. For her baby. For her oh so dear, dearest child she never got to meet.

...My dearest, oh my dearest child. I will never forget you, never not love you. Oh please forgive my faults, my mistakes. Oh please oh please just give me one smile. Take me with you...

#thomas shelby #thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby x you #thomas shelby x y/n #Peaky Blinders #bbc peaky blinders #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinder imagine #reader insert #x reader #Tommy Shelby #tommy x reader #tommy shelby x reader #nighttimewriter

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buckyownsmylife · 3 years

Text

Worst Behavior - Chris Evans smut

The one where it was supposed to be a sex scene, but Chris fucked you for real - and he didn’t care that your boyfriend was watching

Warnings: infidelity (reader cheats on oc boyfriend with Chris), smut, exhibitionism, public sex, dirty talk, angst.

Word count: 1.7K

A/N: thank you to my ride or die, @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog for looking this over and giving me her thoughts about it. Writing is such a better process with you to scream about it!

Chris’ P.O.V.

I was seething when I burst through her trailer’s door, so out of my mind that the sight of her raising a hand over her heart, clearly startled, didn’t make me feel even remotely guilty.

“So this is it, huh? We’re gonna film this one last scene, and then you’ll be back by his side, like you and I were nothing, like I never even mean anything to you.” Somewhere inside my troubled mind, a tiny, still emotionally sober part of me saw her wiping a stray tear after it immediately fell from her eye, clearly not wanting to show this sign of weakness in front of me.

But again, I was too out of it to care. I wanted her to hurt, I wanted her to feel the pain that I was feeling, after all she put me through. How could she expect me to leave this set like I was the same man that met her? She had fundamentally changed me, by showing me how to love and be loved, how it was possible to find in a single person the answer to all of my needs and desires for my future.

I couldn’t just go on pretending I didn’t know what I knew now. But that’s what she intended to do. She wanted to leave and keep living in the pretense that nothing had changed, that she was still in love with the man waiting for her on set.

I knew for a fact that wasn’t the case. I knew it because there was no way my feelings were one-sided, no way everything we had gone through had only mattered that much to me. I knew her, probably better than I knew myself. And I knew this was all just fear and anxiety, clouding her mind and stopping her from going after what she truly wanted.

Unfortunately, the only way I could process these emotions at the moment was through anger.

“Is that how you see me?” Her sweet voice surprised me, I didn’t expect her to actually respond to my hurt-filled accusations. “Do you think I’m that cruel, that I would just be able to… to leave and forget you like this?”

I huffed, too inside my own mind to relent now. Yes, this is how I saw her, at least at that moment. She was the cause of my hurt, because she was the object of my desires.

“You’re doing this out of your own free will,” I reminded her. “Don’t try to pretend you’re just some innocent little victim in all of this. You have our fate in your hands, and you’re deciding to let it all go to waste.”

At the sight of tears rolling down her cheeks, my decision to leave was made even before she ordered me out of her trailer. I couldn’t stand to see her cry, couldn’t deal with the knowledge that I was the cause for it.

So, once again, I turned that distress into anger.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

The air was chilly on set, and the fact that I was practically naked under the robe didn’t help. Neither did the tension between Chris and I. I wanted to make things right, I wanted to reach over and run my hands over his shoulders, relax the muscles I’d come to know so well. But I couldn’t do that right now. Not with my boyfriend watching us.

So I resigned myself to fiddling with my fingers as we waited for the set to be ready. Since it was one of those artistic sex shots, it would be filmed from a distance and there wouldn’t be any lines or sounds that we had to make, just movements to simulate. Which meant that the few people that were allowed to stay on the set had to watch the whole thing unfold from afar, and we would be free to fake having sex while they filmed us.

I don’t think I realized this could very well be the last time I had Chris this close to me until I had his mouth on mine again. I could still feel the emotions from earlier that day right beneath the surface, boiling his blood as he buried his hand on my hair and devoured my lips like he’d done so many times before.

Good thing the scene called for desperation.

I kissed him back just as desperately, wanting to enjoy every second of this experience, even if it wasn’t exactly what I desired at that time. Chris always kissed me so well, guiding me to where he wanted, and in no time at all he had me sprawled on the bed, underneath his larger body. I couldn’t help but to moan lowly when his lips attached themselves to my jaw, and I felt his smirk against my skin.

I couldn’t blame him. The effect he had on me was incomparable. He had every right to be smug about the sounds he could pull from me, Lord knows I’d cried out his name enough times to permanently puncture my own ear drums.

And still, it didn’t seem like it would be enough. The more he touched me - even if it was under a blanket, for a scene - the clearer it became that it could never be enough. I still wanted him. I wanted him forever, in fact.

But just as the realization occurred to me, his thumb slipped over my covered clit, pressing on the little nub and making me jerk away in surprise. “Shhh…” He directed, making sure to cover my face with his bicep so the camera wouldn’t catch my shock. “Just relax so it doesn’t hurt.”

I didn’t understand what he meant until I felt him pulling the flimsy excuse of underwear aside. That’s when my cunt pulsed, just before he positioned his cock and easily slid right into my wetness.

The feeling of his thickness was too much, especially when I wasn’t expecting it. My mouth fell open in a silent gasp, and he moved his arm so the camera could see it, but also turned his head to the other side so they wouldn’t notice his lips moving as he murmured to me, “Careful, sweetheart. Can’t make any real sounds. Not like the ones I usually pull from you. Wouldn’t want your boyfriend to realize that we’re actually doing it, huh?”

Chris’ P.O.V.

My desire for her ran so deep, I could hear my blood pumping in my veins as I fucked her right in front of her boyfriend. Right in front of everyone from the filming crew, for the camera to see.

I took sick pleasure in knowing this moment would be eternalized for history. Everyone would see just how pretty she looks for me and only for me, and no one would ever know the truth.

No one would ever know the truth. That I had her, that she was mine, but only for a bit. That I got to hold her, and have her screaming my name, but I’d never get to hear it again. I’d never get to have her again.

I didn’t want to have to pretend that I forgot it. Like I didn’t know this other side of her, that we never shared these sexual experiences that felt much more intimate than anything I’d ever shared with anyone else before.

It was hard to pretend that I didn’t care underneath the mask of a character that cared too much, because I was that character. I loved this woman just like he did, and I wanted to show her just how much.

I’d looked for her in everyone I’d met before. Slept with so many women, went out on so many dates, and now here she was, clenching around my cock, reaching for my hand and still, she wasn’t mine.

How can you keep looking for the love of your life if you’ve already met them?

And even if there was emotion - and there was so much emotion, ours or of our characters, it didn’t matter anymore - this felt so dirty, dirtier than anything else we’d ever done before.

I’d had her in so many ways, and still, having her now, right in front of him, brought new feelings I never expected to feel. And I couldn’t suffer through them alone. I needed to make sure she’d acknowledged it too.

“He has no idea, you know,” I whispered, low enough so the only person who could hear was her. Her eyes met mine in surprise, but she kept in character, while I took advantage of my position to taunt her more. “No one has. No one knows you only look like this when you have my dick inside of you.”

A moan broke free from her, making me smile inwardly even though I couldn’t smirk like I wanted to. I let go of one of her hands to push a few strands of hair away from her face, so both the camera and I could get a good vision of her expression.

“You’re such a good girl for me, honey. He could never get you like this. Only I can do that.” The way she clawed at my back made it obvious that I was right. And still, the reality of our situation didn’t allow for me to feel any sort of pride in that.

I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to cum and have to pull out of her, let her go back to him and their life as I was left by myself. “I can’t let you go,” I admitted, and her eyes opened up to meet mine, a slight sparkle of understanding in them. “Not like this,” I continued. “Not ever.”

And still, my hips picked up the pace and brought us to that old familiar high, right when I came to terms with the fact that I’d have to leave her. “Baby,” I whispered, this time knowing the microphone would pick it up.

Our eyes connected once more, but this time, there was mostly pain, from my gaze and from hers. I stood there for as long as I could, thumbs brushing over her cheekbones, until the director’s voice freed us from the scene, and then I was forced to leave.

Before I did though, I had one last thing to say.

“I don’t want to have to miss you.”

One thing was certain. It would be impossible to remain professional during the press conference.

#my fics #chris evans smut #smut #chris evans #famous reader #chris evans x reader #chris evans reader #chris evans reader insert #chris evans reader inserts #chris evans reader smut #chris evans fiction #rpf

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avnkin · 4 years

Text

Shake On It [ d. malfoy ]

Author’s Note: I originally planned on posting this as just one long fic buuut instead i’m going to do a mini series, ya know torture you guys just just a lil bit (gif is not mine) also I got all the information about the potions and the ingredients from harry potter wiki and of course I do not own harry potter or the storyline/characters.

Word Count: 8k

Summary: There’s little to nothing Draco values more than his reputation so when he sees it slipping, he’ll do anything in his power to catch it.

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader

Warnings: angst, foul language, some bullying and asshole!draco.

This is an AU so all the information doesn’t exactly line up with the hp storyline for example it takes place in sixth year but there’s no Voldemort so Dumbledore doesn’t die etc.

You’d never been much for the ‘social scene’ you just didn’t find enjoyment in the same things your classmates did, so you never really had a big friend group, your only acquaintance having been Irma Prince… The librarian.

That was until your second year when Hermione Granger came into your life like a ray of sunshine brightening up the dark loneliness that had consumed you your first year.

She introduced you to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, although you were never as close with them as you were with Hermione you still couldn’t be more grateful for your newfound friend group, especially since you now didn’t have to endure Draco’s and his fellow Slytherin classmates torment alone.

You were and had always been an easy target for Draco and his entourage since you never really stood up for yourself, instead choosing to ignore how he continuously called you ‘a blood traitor’ for hanging out with ‘the likes of Hermione’ which you never understood, how was someone different from him just because they didn’t have magical parents?

It was a well-known fact that Draco’s father Lucius Malfoy was the cause of his attitude towards muggle-borns, you truly believed that man didn’t have a kind bone in his body.

You remembered once when you’d arrived at platform 9¾ after your third year Draco went to greet his parents and whilst Narcissa (his mother) gave him a big welcoming hug, embracing her son after not having seen him for many months Lucius simply stared down at him with a glare that could only be described as disgust and disappointment before turning and walking away without as much as a greeting to the platinum blond.

Still, that didn’t excuse Draco’s foul behaviour, he was old enough now to have his own opinions and morals and he didn’t seem to be planning on changing them anytime soon.

You were now in your sixth year and unsurprisingly nothing had changed, Draco was still the same arse he’d always been, but as the years went on it was getting progressively easier to ignore him since you’d gotten so used to it.

It almost felt like it had become a part of your daily routine for him to yell something degrading in the hallways, mostly directed at you or Hermione or whatever Gryffindor he felt like bullying that day.

Intently focusing on the potions book that laid opened before you, you carefully followed the detailed instructions, not wanting to get a single thing wrong since you needed at least an outstanding in this class to keep up your average.

The last part was to add: ‘One drop of Unicorn blood’

You grabbed the flask that contained the silver liquid and as steadily as possible you leaned the bottle over your cauldron, letting a small drop slip past the edge and into the black water, but as you began leaning back Pansy Parkinson ‘accidentally’ bumped into you causing the entirety of the bottle to spill into your potion.

You glared up at her as you watched the black liquid turn sickly green instead of sparkly blue as it should. She shrugged her shoulders innocently, before walking back to the station she shared with Draco who greeted her with an amused smirk before turning back to his work.

“Try not to think too much about it” Hermione’s comforting voice sounded from beside you. “I’m so sick of those two” you argued pouring the remaining containments of the cauldron into a sink, now having to start the entire potion all over again.

“I know, I am too” Hermione frowned glaring at the two Slytherins who didn’t even bother to look over at her.

“Miss Y/L/N weren’t you nearly finished a couple of minutes ago?” Professor Slughorn’s voice could be heard from behind you as he looked over your shoulder, an unimpressed look on his face.

“Uh- yes sir it’s just I accidentally put too much Unicorns blood and had to start over again” you lied looking into the now-empty cauldron before you, glaring at Pansy once you heard her quiet laughter from the other side of the classroom.

“Well alright, but I’d hurry if I were you, I’m afraid you’re running a bit short on time” he smiled before moving on to the students sat in front of you.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hermione frowned once Slughorn was out of earshot, you gave her a knowing look having had this conversation with her on more than one occasion.

Tattling on them wouldn’t change anything it would simply make their torments increase and you didn’t need that, especially with the N.E.W.T.S coming up you didn’t want anything distracting your studies.

Despite having been interrupted by Pansy you managed to be the only one who brewed the potion right and the displeased scowl placed on Pansy’s face as she watched you get praised by the teacher and the rest of the class was nothing but amusing.

Once you were finally dismissed, you were walking alongside Hermione down the long corridors leading to the Great Hall when someone again bumped into you causing all the books you’d been clutching between your arms to go flying towards the ground and you along with them.

“What a klutz” you heard the familiar squeaky voice of Pansy Parkinson, you hurriedly got back up onto your feet whilst Hermione picked up the remaining books that had sprawled all across the stone floor.

“You did that on purpose” you growled charging at Pansy who cowered away from you as you neared her but once she noticed Draco was watching she stopped dead in her tracks, a side smirk resting on her lips before she tilted her head to the side.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” she innocently smiled before walking around you and back to Draco who held an emotionless expression on his face as he walked with her down the hall.

“Bitch” you mumbled underneath your breath just before Hermione came running up to you. “Are you okay?” she faintly smiled before handing you your things.

“Fine” you deadpanned before the two of you began walking back down the hallway again.

Once you’d made it into the Great Hall you immediately spotted Harry and Ron a smile on your face as you took a seat next to Harry, and Hermione the one next to Ron the previous events being long forgotten as you distracted yourself with the comforting company of your friends.

“Since when did Y/L/N and Potter become so close?” Draco’s face held a scowl as he watched the two of you interact from afar, he truly didn’t know why it bothered him, but for some reason it did.

“Why do you care?” Pansy replied as she began shifting in her seat to move closer to Draco who almost instinctively moved away causing a bright red tint to appear on her cheeks as she hurriedly moved back to her original seat.

“I don’t” he simply replied tearing his eyes away from you and Harry as he began playing with his food.

“You know what I think” Blaise raised an eyebrow as he daringly stared Draco down, “I think Malfoy’s gone soft” Blaise finished, the words earning loud snickers from the students sat next to them.

Draco’s stomach churned in anger at the words of his best friend throwing the boy a nasty glare before turning back to his food, but Blaise didn’t intend to stop there.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you never pick on her anymore and you always get really defensive whenever- “

“Shut the hell up Blaise” Draco commanded and even though Blaise knew he was skating on thin ice, Draco’s fury only seemed to egg him on further as his eyes wandered towards the Gryffindor table to look at you.

"You know what Malfoy since you claim you have no feelings for her at all I dare you to break her heart"

"What?" Draco questioned genuinely confused at his friends' statement. "Make her fall in love with you and then dump her" Draco looked over at Pansy who seemed almost giddy at the suggestion, of course she'd be happy about this.

Draco thought about it for a moment, he knew that if he didn't do this he'd never hear the end of it, and keeping up his 'I don't care about anyone but myself' attitude had served him well over the years so as he weighed out the pros and the cons it seemed the cons were outnumbered and without a second thought he reached his hand out to Blaise.

"You've got yourself a deal" Draco spoke as they shook hands "and when I win, you'll be my personal servant for the rest of the year" Draco finished as he pulled his hand back causing Blaise's cocky facial expression to quickly drop.

"Fine but when I win, you have to do my homework for Defence Against the Dark Arts till we graduate" Draco rolled his eyes but nodded as he let his hand fall back into his lap.

He stared at you watching as you laughed at something Harry said and couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt knowing what he was about to do, but he shook the feeling away engaging back in the conversation of his friends, pushing all thoughts of you into the back of his mind.

The following week Draco still had yet to make his move on you. He was brainstorming ideas as he made his way to Potions, none of them good enough to follow through with but when he’d finally made his way into the classroom, he went to walk over to Blaise like he usually would but instead he found himself staring at the empty seat next to you.

He looked over at Blaise who was already quizzically staring at him. Draco mouthed a ‘watch this’ in return before he made his way towards you, grabbing a hold of the chair next to yours he stared down at you before asking.

"Is this seat taken?"

You looked up from your book turning to greet who you thought would have been Harry or Ron but instead, you were met with a pair of grey eyes you were not expecting to see, your mouth slightly parting as you stared wide-eyed at him.

"Yes actually-" you began but he had already sat down before you'd been able to reply, placing his backpack on the floor below him.

You raised an eyebrow at the blond, to which he replied by smiling over at you acting as if him sitting there was the most normal thing in the world.

"Do you mind?" you finally managed to choke out as he turned to face you.

"No, not at all" your eyes went wide at his words as you frantically began looking around the classroom for Hermione.

Once you made eye contact with her, you gave her a pleading look silently begging for her to help you, but she only took a hesitant seat next to Neville shrugging her shoulders indicating that there wasn't much she could do.

You grabbed the handle of your backpack beginning to stand up when you felt a hand wrap around your wrist preventing you from moving any further.

"Seems like all the other seats are taken Y/L/N" you frowned at his words turning your head to look around the classroom and sure enough there wasn't a single seat available.

You glared at him before ripping your hand out of his grasp and reluctantly sitting back down.

"Good morning" Slughorn's voice could be heard as he made his way towards the front of the classroom.

"Today we'll be working in pairs so whoever you're sitting next to is your partner for this assignment" your eyes widened in horror at his words as you glanced over at the Slytherin clad boy next to you.

"You're going to be writing an essay on the properties of Moonstone and its uses in Potion making" why did he have to announce this assignment today of all days?

You again looked over at Draco who seemed to be smiling, why was he happy about this? You placed your head in your hands as your mind began to wander, this was probably some stupid plan he and his friends had made to get you to fail the class.

"Professor" you eagerly raised your hand "is it too late to change partners?" you asked, silently begging for him to say no so you could work with Hermione or anyone else for that matter.

"Well I'm afraid everyone else seems to be taken Miss Y/L/N, I'm sure you and Mister Malfoy will be just fine together" you felt a flash off anger as you turned to look at the boy sat next to you.

"I swear if this is your idea of some sort of sick joke Malfoy, I'll hex you into oblivion" you threatened not daring to break eye contact with him, smirking once you noticed his taken aback expression.

"Y/L/N calm down, It's not a joke? You're the best at Potions in our year so I wanted to see if you'd be willing to work together but doesn't look like you have much of a choice now" he shrugged his shoulders; something was definitely off about this.

"So, you couldn't just ask me before we got to class?" his eyes seemed to widen a bit as he thought of a response but you continued before he had the chance to say anything "because I would have said no" and with that, you turned away from him pulling a piece of parchment out of your backpack along with your quill so you could start planning the next few weeks.

As it was nearing the end of the class you and Draco hadn't spoken a word to each other since you'd shut down all his attempts of starting a conversation, not having been interested in anything he had to say.

When class was over you handed Draco the piece of parchment that had a very detailed description of what his part in the project would be, so you'd be able to spend as little time together as possible, although he seemed to be quite displeased at this beginning to protest that you should work together so you'd get a better grade.

"I'm not spending any more time with you than I have to Malfoy so if you'll excuse me" you stood up pushing him out of the way before making your way to Neville's station where Hermione stood shoving her books into her bag.

Once you finally reached her you grabbed her by the arm, quickly pulling her after you out of the classroom. Ignoring her protests until you finally reached an empty corridor, void of any students and teachers.

"Please tell me you saw all that" you pleaded as you let go of her arm.

“You mean Malfoy?” Hermione replied, “yes Malfoy! He’s acting like we’re all of a sudden, the best of friends? Like he didn’t just call me a ‘blood traitor’ last week” you exasperated a scowl on your face.

“I think that was Zabini” Hermione acknowledged making you furrow your brows your mind wandering back to the encounter and sure enough she was right, Zabini had been the one to hurl the insult.

“What does it matter who said it, he’s one of them!” you protested, angrily turning to look at Hermione once you heard her stifled laughter from beside you.

“This isn’t funny! I’m stuck with him for the next- who knows how many weeks on this stupid project” you complained letting your head fall back as you let out a groan.

“Its okay Y/N don’t worry… I reckon he just fancies you” Hermione teased wiggling her eyebrows as she lightly nudged you in the shoulder.

“Have you gone mad?” you practically gasped although you couldn’t help the unfamiliar heat that began rushing to your cheeks at her words.

“Merlin Y/N you’re blushing! You like him?” you frantically covered her mouth as you noticed students beginning to fill the previously empty hallways.

“Would you hush! And no! I do not like Draco Malfoy, I could never like someone like him” you hissed your anger only growing once you noticed the same smile still linger on her lips.

“Whatever you say” Hermione jokingly sing sang, and in response you lightly hit her across the head with a piece of parchment you’d been holding unfortunately not getting the results you wanted since it only seemed to be egging her laughter on more.

“Alright calm down you lunatic I’m only joking” Hermione frowned rubbing the spot on her head you’d begun repeatedly hitting her, “you better be” you hummed, again pulling her after you as you two began walking down the hallways blending into the crowd of students.

“You know I can walk by myself” Hermione frowned once you’d found yourself standing out in the courtyard, your eyes searching for your two other friends since when you had Potions they had a free period which they spent most of their time here.

You finally spotted them sitting on a bench below a large brown oak tree, Seamus and Dean stood in front of them.

It was now Hermione’s turn to pull you away and in mere seconds you were standing next to the four Gryffindor clad boys who all turned their heads towards the two of you.

“Hello” you smiled before looking over at Harry who had already begun scooting over gesturing for you to come and sit down next to him, to which you happily obliged.

They all greeted you and Hermione before continuing their conversation about the upcoming Quidditch game they had against Slytherin next week.

“Yeah well Malfoy hasn’t caught the snitch when competing against Harry once, so I think we’re going to be okay” Ron assured Seamus who didn’t seem to be all that convinced but still began to make his way back into school Dean following behind him shortly after.

“Speaking of Malfoy” Hermione knowingly smirked at you before turning towards the two boys.

“Hermione no-“ you began but it was already too late, “seems he as a little crush” and there it was, you inwardly face palmed feeling the now-familiar heat in your face as you turned away from the confused glances of your two friends.

“Malfoy fancies Y/N?” Ron seemed to be more disgusted rather than confused as he scrunched up his nose.

“Hermione first of all I’m going to kill you! And second of all, he doesn’t like me! He just wanted to be partners on some stupid assignment in Potions” you assured them.

“And you said yes?” Harry perplexed.

“No! Of course not, he- he didn’t give me much of a choice” you rambled scratching the back of your head before glaring over at Hermione.

“What? He forced you to work with him?” Harry again furrowed his brows, “No- or well he sat next to me in class and I couldn’t move anywhere else since all of the other seats were taken and when Professor Slughorn arrived he immediately announced that we’d be working on our essays with whoever sat next to us” you began rambling, causing your three friends to share amused glances, unbeknownst to you.

Harry seemed to understand slowly nodding before claiming him and Ron had quidditch practice pulling the ginger boy along with him out of the courtyard, leaving just you and Hermione.

After a few minutes of silence, you turned to face her, “I think I’m going to go to the library, care to join me?” Hermione shook her head at your words pointing at the book she had just opened already beginning to make herself comfortable on the little bench you’d been sitting on.

You rolled your eyes “suit yourself” you breathed out offering her a small wave as you stood up, which she returned before you began walking back into the crowded hallways.

As you neared the library you began to hear footsteps behind you, smirking since you thought Hermione had changed her mind about joining you.

You turned around expecting to see your best friend but instead, you were met with Draco who now stood still a few feet away from you.

“Are you following me?” you crossed your arms raising an eyebrow at the boy.

He shook his head now walking towards you “just wanted to see if you’d like some company and since you’re heading towards the library we can work on our essay”

“So, you were following me” you accused but before he could answer you continued, “I thought I already told you I’m not spending any more time with you than I have too so if you’ll excuse me” you turned your back to him continuing your way to the library.

“Your loss Y/L/N” you heard him teasingly call after you making a smile appear on your lips which you tried to the best of your ability to contain.

Your next Potions class was one you’d been dreading, knowing that the people who were paired together on the essay had also been assigned to sit next to each other, very much to your dismay.

Professor Slughorn had asked all of you to join him at the front of the classroom so he could show you a couple of the potions you’d be brewing for the next couple of weeks and of course the one you’d be working on today.

“And this one right here is-” Slughorn was abruptly cut off by the sound of the classroom door swinging open. You quizzically looked past Slughorn’s shoulder and furrowed your brows at the two boys who had entered.

“Harry?” you asked a bit louder than you intended to causing the attention of the class to turn to Harry and Ron rather than Professor Slughorn.

“Ah! Harry my boy I was beginning to worry, and you’ve brought someone with you I see, what’s your name then?” Slughorn asked, brightly smiling at the two Gryffindors.

“Ron Weasley sir, but I’m dead awful at potions- a menace actually so I’m probably just gonna-“ Ron’s voice wavered as he began to turn around but Harry quickly put his arm out in front of him pushing him back into the classroom.

“Oh, don’t be silly, we’ll sort you out! There are some books in the cupboard over there if you need them” Slughorn pointed towards the end of the classroom where Ron and Harry quickly began fighting over the last book in there.

You and Hermione both gave each other confused glances before your attention was back on the Professor stood in front of you.

“As I was saying I’ve prepared some concoctions this morning. Any ideas what these may be?” you quickly raised your hand Hermione copying your actions as Slughorn’s eyes wandered between the two of you before he eventually pointed at you.

“Yes, miss Y/L/N” Slughorn stepped out of the way as you took a step forward towards the two pots that rested on the table.

“This one is Veritaserum a truth-telling serum and that one over there is Amortentia the most powerful love potion in the world. It’s rumoured to smell differently to each person according to what attracts them” you smiled proudly at yourself before taking a step back towards the other students.

You heard Pansy scoff causing you to quickly turn around to glare at her and just as you did you saw Draco elbow her in the side whispering something in her ear before shaking his head at her actions.

You quickly looked away before Draco’s eyes could catch yours since you felt the annoying feeling of warmth rush up into your cheeks and a smile replace the frown you’d indented to direct at Pansy.

“Very good Miss Y/L/N” Slughorn smiled before beginning to tell the students that whoever managed to brew an acceptable Draught of Living Death would be walking out of the classroom with one vile of Liquid Luck.

You quickly walked over to your station Draco following in suit behind you as you both turned to page 10 on your ‘advanced potion making’ books.

Your eyes wandered over the page before you spotted the instructions.

1. Cut up one Sopophorus bean.

You frowned down at the text as you glanced between it and the bean, it didn’t look like it was meant to be cut, and your suspicions were right as you began noticing your fellow classmates struggle around you.

Your eyes widened as Draco’s bean came hurling at your face at an ungodly speed, you practically had to throw yourself to the floor so it wouldn’t hit you in the face.

“Bloody hell Y/N are you okay!?” Draco panicked as he rushed to your side offering his hand to help you up which you ignored to distracted by the fact he’d called you by your first name.

You quickly got up onto your feet still ignoring his outstretched hand. You’d never in all your years at Hogwarts heard him call anyone by their first name, let alone you, a Gryffindor he’d hated since the first year.

“What did you just call me?” you asked although it came out a bit harsher then you intended it too. You didn’t mind that he was using your first name you just found it incredibly odd especially for someone like him.

“What, Y/L/N? that’s your name isn’t it” he was acting clueless as he walked back around the table to attend to his potion.

“No, you said Y/N” you raised an eyebrow as you watched him grab another bean now simply resorting to ignoring you, whatever you thought, brewing this potion was more important than what name Draco decided to call you.

As you continued to observe the students around you, you noticed Harry grab a silver knife and slowly press it onto the bean. You mirrored his actions and to your delight, it worked.

“How did you do that?” Draco could be heard from opposite you as he furiously looked between the instructions in his book and the crushed bean in your hand.

“Crush it don’t cut it” you shrugged, your finger traveling further down the page and stopping at the second step.

2. Pour in 250 fl.oz. of Standard potioning water and add 5 oz. of African Sea Salt to the beaker. Set the beaker aside after all the water has been added. Be very careful not to shake or move the beaker now.

The rest of the lesson had gone by in a flash and even though you felt like you’d be the one rewarded with the Liquid Luck, it ended up being Harry and you couldn’t help but wonder how the hell he managed to brew something better than you.

You remembered Harry continuously failing all his Potions classes never getting more than a poor or an acceptable on any of his assignments or tests.

After class you immediately cornered him, and it didn’t take long for him to confess to the book he’d found. Property of the half-blood prince it read and as you flipped through the many pages it had all the ‘correct’ recipes to every single potion you’d be brewing throughout the term.

“I knew it! You’ve always been dreadful at potions” you finally felt at ease knowing that Harry had only won you by cheating, shaking your head as you placed the book back into his arms.

“Hey! I am not ‘dreadful’ at potions” he imitated you his hands making air quotes at the word dreadful, a laugh slipping past your lips as you remembered a certain incident from when you were younger.

“Oh really? Don’t you remember third year when Snape told us to make a shrinking solution and you poured it all over Hermione-“ you began but Harry quickly cut you off.

“Alright! Alright! You’ve made your point now shove off I don’t feel like listening to this story right now” you threw your head back in laughter as you thought back to a tiny Hermione who hadn’t spoken to Harry a whole week after the incident.

“Doesn’t seem like you’re doing a great job with Y/L/N, I reckon Potter’s in there more than you” Blaise sounded amused as he came up behind Draco who was watching yours and Harry’s exchange from afar.

“Don’t worry Blaise, I’m only getting started”

Later in the day you, Harry, Ron and Hermione had all decided to take a little trip down to Hogsmeade for a much needed break from your studies.

“No sit beside me” Harry insisted as the four of you made your way into the Three Broomsticks, you gave him a confused glance but nevertheless dragged the chair out from underneath the table and sat down next to him.

You went to ask why but quickly managed to put two and two together once you noticed professor Slughorn sat at the bar, a beer in his hand as he talked with one of the other professors.

“What’s your deal with Slughorn?” you questioned as Harry began waving the professor over. “I need to get into the slug club” you furrowed your brows but before you could question it any further Slughorn had arrived at your table.

“Ah! Mister Potter lovely to see you, you as well Miss Y/L/N” Slughorn smiled completely disregarding Hermione and Ron who sat opposite you.

“Likewise, Professor” you smiled as he and Harry began talking about something you couldn’t be less interested in, instead your eyes began to wander around the small tavern until they finally landed on Draco who was already staring intently at you.

“You’d be welcomed to Y/L/N” your gaze diverted from the platinum blond towards Slughorn who was smiling brightly down at you. “I’d love too!” you agreed having faintly heard him mention a christmas dinner.

“Wonderful! Look for my owl” you couldn’t help but let out a laugh at Hermione’s face who seemed to be more than distraught that she hadn’t received an invitation of her own.

“Oh, how silly of me Granger, I hope I’ll also be seeing you there” Hermione’s face lit up at his words as she repeatedly nodded, Slughorn awkwardly looking over at Ron before speaking, “good to see you Wallenby”.

You were finally able to let out the laugh you’d been holding in as Slughorn exited the tavern. “Oh, shut up Y/N” Ron frowned crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back into his chair.

When your laughter had finally died down you offered to go and order your drinks since the waiter had yet to make an appearance at your table.

“Four butter beers please” you smiled at the worker as you leaned onto the bar going to turn around but instead you were met with a black suit your eyes wandering upwards to see Draco towering over you.

You cleared your throat causing him to take a step back, “anything I can help you with?” you questioned as Draco stood motionless in front of you.

“Yes, would you like to join me?” Draco asked gesturing to an empty table at the far end of the tavern. You looked over to where he was pointing causing you to quickly spot his friends who were all sat at another table, their eyes set on you.

“Uhm- I think they’d loved to join you” you pointed towards them causing Draco to quickly snap his head in their direction, making them all quickly turn to each other acting as nonchalant as they could.

“But I’d much rather spend time with you” you felt a weird tingly feeling at his words but nonetheless you didn’t dare act on it your eyes going to your friend’s who were all staring quizzically at you.

“Sorry I- Uhm I can’t I came here with them” you gestured towards your table Draco’s eyes following in the direction you pointed before they were back on you.

“Well alright, but you owe me a date then” he winked before turning around and going back to join his Slytherin friends.

Your mouth hung open as you watched him walk away, did he just say date?

You power walked back towards your friends hastily taking a seat next to Harry who already had his eyes glued on you.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Ron asked as soon as you’d fully sat down.

“Oh- Uhm, he just wanted to ask me about our assignment” they all looked skeptical at your reply but didn’t question it any further another topic quickly consuming your table.

“Do any of you have a date to the Jingle Ball?” Hermione’s question rang throughout the table, causing both boys shook their heads and you along with them, in all honesty, you didn’t expect to get asked so you’d probably just end up going with Harry like last year.

“Guess we know who Ginny’s going with” you giggled gesturing towards her and Dean who were currently taking a seat at a table not so far from yours, their fingers wrapped around each other’s.

“I’d like to leave” Ron shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he stared at his sister and who he had once considered a close friend. “Honestly Ron they’re only holding hands” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“And snogging” you added on as Ginny connected her lips with Dean’s. “Yep that’s it we’re leaving” Ron stood up grabbing the coat that hung on the chair beside him.

“Oh come on we haven’t even gotten our orders yet!” you protested as all your friends began to stand up, maybe you should have joined Draco before.

“Fine” you huffed once you noticed they had no intention of staying any longer. “Why don’t you just ask Malfoy to come join you, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind” Ron teased causing you to quickly hit him in the arm.

“Shut up Ron!”

Once you’d all made it back to Hogwarts you and Hermione separated from Ron and Harry since they claimed to have yet another quidditch practice although you figured it was code for going to scout possible dates for the Jingle Ball.

“So, what did Draco really want earlier?” Hermione gave you a knowing look as she lightly bumped you in the shoulder.

“It was so weird he-he said that I owe him a date” your voice was hesitant as you turned your head to look at Hermione who didn’t seem at all surprised.

“Well, now you know who you can go to the Jingle Ball with” she stated matter of factly causing your eyes to widen as you gaped at her.

“Hermione, I love you but have you gone mad? Me and Draco? I don’t think so” you denied but there was still the lingering feeling of hope deep down in your stomach that you tried with all your might to suppress.

“Well he obviously has a thing for you, and I mean he’s not too bad to look at”

“Shove off”

You had been actively avoiding Draco ever since the Hogsmeade trip, something about the entire ordeal just felt weird to you, why was he all of a sudden so bold about his apparent feelings towards you when a couple of weeks ago he wouldn’t even look your way.

But it seemed your luck had run out since he now stood in front of you, hand outstretched as he leaned it against the stone wall preventing you from continuing your way to your Transfigurations class.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something” Draco breathed out. He was getting desperate, it was unbearable, the teasing he’d been receiving from his friends once they’d noticed he wasn’t making any progress with you, and he knew if he didn’t do something soon he was going to lose the bet.

“Well can it wait? I need to get to class” you huffed watching as he pushed himself off the wall to come and stand in front of you, causing your body to turn with him, your back eventually colliding with the wall behind you.

“I was wondering” Draco smirked placing a hand next to your head as he leaned in closer towards you, you now only realizing how much taller he was then you as you found yourself craning your neck upwards to meet his eyes.

“Would you like to be my date for the Jingle Ball” the words made your stomach flip and you felt the sudden urge to let out a squeal, but you somehow managed to keep yourself together, taking in a deep breath before you took a step forward his hand slipping from the wall your faces mere centimeters from each other.

“No” you stated watching as his eyes went wide, clearly, he wasn’t anticipating that answer.

“If you want me to even consider going out with you after all the shit you’ve done over the years, you’re going to have to work for it.”

He watched your ascending figure before you fully left his sight and when you did he angrily kicked the wall cursing underneath his breath, he was used to getting everything and anything he ever wanted without as much as a snap of his finger so this was something he wasn’t used too.

The stakes were high, his entire reputation was on the line and he did not intend to give Blaise the satisfaction of being right or his housemates a reason to tease him for what would probably be the rest of his life.

All the girls at this school would practically fall at his feet, why couldn’t you be like those girls? Make this easy for him, not once in his life had Draco Malfoy had a real challenge when it came to girls but now it seemed the tables had turned, he was going to play your game and he was going to win.

It was now the day of the Slytherin versus Gryffindor quidditch game. You, Harry and Hermione, were all sat in the Great Hall watching as Ron entered in his Quidditch gear, helmet, and everything.

You had yet to tell Hermione about Draco asking you to the ball since you didn’t really know how you felt about it yourself and also because he probably wouldn’t be asking you out again, you having let him down quite harshly.

You glared over at the Slytherin table once you heard them beginning to yell things along the lines of ‘Ron you’re a loser’, ‘he doesn’t stand a chance’ and ‘nice hat Weasley’.

“Ignore them, Ron, I know you’ll do great” you reassuringly smiled up at your friend as he took a seat opposite you, his face contorted in worry as he looked over at the Slytherin table who continued to laugh at him.

“Yeah, thanks” he gulped once he turned back to face you, this had to have been the first time you’d ever seen Ron leave his food untouched.

“You look dreadful Ron” Luna’s voice could be heard from the other end of the table, your eyes widening as you looked over at her, “Is that why you put something in his drink” she finished, the last part of her sentence directed at Harry.

You looked over at the boy sat next to you and faintly managed to see a glimmer of light before it disappeared fully into his pocket.

“Liquid Luck?” Hermione sounded from opposite you and you finally managed to put two and two together.

“Are you mental Harry? You’ll get in so much trouble if you’re caught” your eyes widened as you watched him pass Ron the cup of pumpkin juice he’d poured his one vile of Liquid Luck into moments ago, well according to Luna at least.

“Don’t drink it Ron” Hermione scolded, before you both gasped as you watched Ron without a moment’s thought chug the remaining juice in his cup.

You watched intently as his frown was turned upside down and he slammed the cup back onto the table, a sly smirk now playing on his lips.

“You could be expelled for that” Hermione pointed out glaring at Harry who innocently smiled at her before shrugging and stating that he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Come on Harry we’ve got a game to win” Ron’s sudden aura of confidence was radiating off of him as he quickly pushed himself away from the table and began exiting the Great Hall.

“We’ll see you guys there?” Harry questioned as he looked between the two of you also beginning to stand up.

“We wouldn’t miss it” Hermione assured him as you both watched him awkwardly wave before he turned to follow Ron.

“This is going to be interesting”

Loud screams and chants began filling your ears as you watched the two teams make their way out onto the Quidditch pitch, you and Hermione quickly joined in beginning to clap and cheer as you made eye contact with Ron who looked as ready as ever.

A particular blond seemed to have caught your eye since before you knew it Madame Hooch was announcing the start of the game causing you to snap out of your trance, when you looked back at Draco he was already smirking up at you making you quickly look away as your cheeks turned bright red, pulling your Gryffindor patterned scarf up over your face in hopes that he wouldn’t notice the crimson colour.

“Seekers shake hands!” you watched as Harry and Draco walked up to each other clasping each other’s arms before Draco retorted something in Harry’s direction causing him to quickly pull his hand away from his the game now officially beginning.

It had been almost an hour now and so far Gryffindor was in the lead the score being 23-45. You were beginning to think you’d lost your voice but nevertheless you still raised your hands high in the air and cheered Harry on as he dove towards the snitch with Draco hot on his heels.

You anxiously began biting your nails as the two continuously bumped into each other both their arms outstretched as they neared the golden object.

“Come on Harry” you whispered the anticipation was killing you, but you didn’t have to wait much longer since the two boys suddenly crashed into each other sending them both flying off of their brooms and hurling towards the grass below.

You gasped as you stood up beginning to lean over the railing to get a better look at the two seekers who now both laid on the grass clutching their stomachs, but you widely smiled once you noticed a familiar shimmer coming from Harry’s hand.

“Yes!” you screamed as he carefully sat himself up raising the golden object up into the air for the rest of the stadium to see. Your happiness was quickly replaced with worry once you noticed the Slytherin boy laid next to Harry wasn’t moving.

“Is Malfoy okay?” you frantically shook Hermione as you pointed down at him but Hermione paid you no mind her eyes trained on Ron who was proudly raising his hands in the air as it was announced that Harry had caught the snitch.

Since everybody seemed to be too caught up with themselves you again leaned over the railing before screaming Draco’s name hoping it would at least capture the attention of someone from his team so they could help him.

You felt a wave of relieve wash over you as you watched his previously limp body turn over before he placed his hands on the grass pushing himself to sit up, the hand that wasn’t holding him up immediately going to rub his forehead.

He sent a glare Harry’s way before he grabbed his broom and began storming off the field his teammates following shortly after, for some odd reason you began to feel bad for him as you watched the disapproved glances from his fellow Slytherin’s being thrown his way but you decided to push the feeling away joining in on the celebration of your house.

Once you arrived at the Gryffindor common room a celebration had quickly ensued the hollering of Ron’s last name began sounding all around the room as you began clapping in rhythm to all of their chants, you and Hermione watching as Ron got pushed in the middle of the crowd.

Before you knew it a girl you didn’t know the name of had wrapped her arms around his neck, harshly pulling him down to meet her lips, you gasped as you faintly remembered a conversation between you and Hermione where she’d admitted to harboring a crush on the ginger boy.

You quickly turned to see Hermione pushing her way through the crowd and out of the common room. You began following her but quickly lost sight of her as you tried your best to squeeze through the teenagers who had now begun lifting Ron into the air.

“Hermione!” you called out but it was impossible to hear anything over the celebrations so you gave up on calling out to her simply resorting to pushing the students that stood in your way.

Once you finally managed to reach the door that led out into the hallway you frantically pushed it open beginning to search the corridors for your best friend.

When you rounded a particular corner, you came crashing into a much taller figure then yourself sending you flying towards the ground at the impact.

“Watch where you’re goin-“ the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy sounded from above you but stopped once he made eye contact with you. “Y/L/N?” he questioned before reaching his hand out to you which you accepted letting him pull you back up onto your feet.

“What are you doing out here, shouldn’t you be celebrating?” there was a defiant malice to his tone as he scowled in the direction of your common room where chants could still be faintly heard.

“I could ask you the same thing Malfoy” you raised an eyebrow since you weren’t anywhere near the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was.

“Just needed some air, some people aren’t exactly thrilled with the outcome of today’s game” Draco shrugged causing your stomach to drop slightly at his obvious disappointment. He sat himself down on a bench a heavy sigh leaving his lips as he let his head fall back onto the wall.

You slowly sat down next to him carefully contemplating your next words. “Not that it would mean anything to you but I thought you were really good” you tried to comfort him as you watched a faint smile appear on his lips before he turned his head towards you.

You didn’t realize just how close you were to each other until his eyes quickly looked down to your lips and back into your eyes. You suddenly remembered why you were out here in the first place, your thoughts traveling back to Hermione who had disappeared only moments ago.

“I’m sorry but I really need to go, uh- I’ll uh see you in class” you excused yourself before standing up and continuing your search for your best friend, but a hand wrapping around your wrist stopped you dead in your tracks as you were turned back around.

Your eyes slowly travelled up from Draco’s tight grip on you and back into his icy grey eyes. You carried a confused glance on your face which Draco seemed to notice since he quickly let go of your wrist.

“Thank you” is all he said before he swiftly turned back around and began walking down the corridor, disappearing out of sight.

next part

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twjournals · 3 years

Text

So Wrong It's Right

Sequel: What's Wrong is Right

Warning: dark!Peter Parker x reader, DUB-CON, manipulation, age gap, drinking

PLEASE READ MY WARNING BEFORE CONTINUING. I am not responsible for your media consumption. Any and all negativity will be blocked.

Word Count: 5.4k

Summary: You're an old troubled friend of May's. Your life consists of being a workaholic, a party animal, and bringing home the shittest of guys for a one-hit-wonder. Just when you get your life in order, you're knocked right back into your old habits. Peter has watched you suffer long enough. He can make it all better.

Your life was far from where you thought you would be. It was sad to say, but you were anything but a role model. Yet May still tolerated you, regardless of Peter. Maybe she used you as an example to show Peter what not to be or maybe she was just too good of a friend to leave you on your own. To say the least, your life was a mess but you could not be more grateful to have a friend like May.

"Peter, go get me a wet rag, please," May spoke quietly. Peter left your side once he helped May get you over to the couch. You were beyond the limits that someone should be drunk.

You were in a fit of hiccups, giggling to yourself as May bent down to take off your heels. You had far too many drinks, that much was clear.

"Maaay, you.." you hiccupped, "are suuuch a good.." you hiccupped again, "friend."

May shook her head with a sigh, taking in the drunken sight of you. She was not sure how you managed to let yourself get this far gone, but every time you would drink, this is how you ended up. Either you had zero limits or you loved to push the limits you did have.

"Pet-" May started to call over her shoulder, but Peter was already hurrying in the room with his hands full.

"I'm here, Aunt May." Peter reminded and she watched as Peter sat the trash can nearby the couch. He then placed the bottle of water on the table with some medicine for the headache he knew would come with your awake in the morning. He kneeled down beside you on the couch, pressing the rag to your forehead.

May only smiled to herself as she pulled the blanket from its spot on the back of the couch and pulled it over your figure. She didn't say anymore. Peter had seen his Aunt May take care of you many nights when you were so shit-faced it was a wonder you could still see faces.

Your head was propped up against a pillow on the couch as Peter wiped your forehead with the cool rag. Your skin was burning up. Peter could not help but wonder how you let yourself get like this. You were quite a few years younger than May, but it amazed him how different the two of you were to be the best of friends.

You were fast asleep in no time, making Peter smile as his eyes gazed over your face. He had always thought you were so beautiful. Too precious to be taken advantage of by the guys you went after. He witnessed many nights when you had told Aunt May about a new guy you had hooked up with. Everyone knew it was nothing more than a one-night stand, but Peter could not help but hate any guys that touched you only for only their benefit.

It was not until you had eventually settled down with a guy you had met from one of your nightstands that you finally stopped ending up on May's couch. You had moved on with your life, still keeping in contact with May every now and then. You were happy. Not just the sex but he was truly seemed like a guy you could see yourself spending forever with.

You had stopped drinking. You had stopped going out to parties. After the first year, you had moved into the city and got an apartment together. Another year later, you guys were engaged and everything seemed to fall into place. After 3 years, the wedding was right around the corner.

Your world moved at a quicker pace now considering all the things you needed to get done before the wedding. In between work and house chores, you were planning for your big day.

As time went by, you were so wrapped up in your own little world you did not notice the slow-burning flame in your partner slowly being put out. While your plans had been coming together, your relationship was falling apart. You had for the most part ignored all the signs and assumed he was having a bad day. It amazed you how many he was having. When you would try to talk to him, it seemed useless since you could never get him to talk about it. In reality, it all brewed into something bigger. It all hit you like a ton of bricks.

You had been working later hours than usual for extra money. It wasn't cheap, but you had told yourself it was okay to want the things you wanted. After all, this was going to be your first and hopefully wedding. You wanted everything to be perfect. You even tried to get opinions from your fiance to include his vision of it, but he insisted you were better at this sort of thing. You couldn't argue with that.

You wrapped up your work at the office fairly early so you decided to call it a night and surprise your fiance. You felt like everything was on track. One night worry-free was much needed. You had earned it.

You pushed open the front door to your apartment before walking through the living room into the kitchen. You sit your keys on the counter, placing your bag on the stool by the counter. You peered around the apartment for a moment. All the lights were off and it was quiet. Had he already gone to bed? You checked the time.

7:13pm

You were surprised you did not hear his game or at least him yelling at it. You started down the hallway to the bedroom you shared, staring at the closed door. Why was it closed when it was just him? You shook the thought a little too soon. Maybe if you had just thought a little longer, you would have prepared yourself for what was on the other side.

You pushed the door open just a little to see inside when you heard a faint moan from the other side. Your heart stopped. You stood in shock taking in the sight of the man you were in love with hovered over another girl in your bed under your covers. Your face was hot in embarrassment, anger. You were feeling so many things right now you could not think straight. You were hurt.

"Are you serious??" You blurted out, causing them both to jump to try and cover themselves.

"You're sick, Chris." She shoved his chest, pushing him off of her as she quickly got out of the bed. "He told me you guys were no longer together."

She scowled as she hurried to gather her clothes off the floor and pulling them on. If it were even possible, your eyes could have burned holes through the girl. You were in disbelief. Your jaw would have already been on the floor if it wasn't connected to your face.

"I'm so sorry." She mumbled, embarrassed as she hurried past you out of your apartment.

You were left to deal with Chris. You starred at him with tears kissing your eyes.

"I-"

You took a deep breath, shaking your head. "Don't."

"I can explain." He started to get out of the bed to dress.

"There's nothing to explain, Chris." You stared at him, trying to restrain yourself from coming across the room and punching him in the face for acting like an explanation could even justify his actions.

"She meant nothing to me." He started to walk over to you.

“You told her we weren’t together. How is that nothing?”

“It felt like we weren’t. You were so busy.” He tried to touch your arm but you shoved his hand away.

"Don't you dare think about touching me when you were just touching another woman." You looked at him with dark eyes, struggling to fight back the cry. He wasn't worth your tears. "I want you to get out."

"Get out?! Where am I gonna go?"

"I don't know." You shrugged your shoulders. "Maybe you could have thought that through."

He frowned, running his fingers through his hair frustrated. "It doesn't have to be like this. Can't we just talk this out?"

"No!" You shouted at him, making his eyes grow wide. You could tell he wasn't telling this as seriously as you. "I don't want to look at you right now." You turn to leave the room, but he grabs your arms to turn you to face him.

"Please. Look, I can- I can stay on the couch tonight. I'll give you your space and when you're ready we can talk about it. I was wrong for that. I fucked up and I'm sorry." You yanked yourself from his hold.

"You can give me space by leaving. Pack yourself a bag and go."

"I love you, Y/n. I never meant to hurt you."

You shook your head as your eyes wandered over the bed to where they once were before meeting his eyes. "You mean you never meant to get caught."

He sighed before hanging his head in defeat and walking by you to gather up some of his things. You didn't move from your spot. Only stared at the mess of a bed. The place you made love to him while he made love to another. You listened to the front door close behind him on his way out before you finally covered your face, letting the tears fall.

For days, weeks, all you could seem to do was feel sorry for yourself. You couldn't find the strength to get out of bed. No matter how many calls you received, you let them ring through to voicemail. Everything you had felt for him was in ruins. You changed for him. You let yourself grow for him and even that wasn't enough. After all the time you spent picking up after him, cooking, cleaning, planning, staying loyal for crying out loud. You didn't know what else he could of you.

You had called off the wedding in the time you stayed closed up in your apartment. Even took some time off of work to handle it all. You took that time to gather every piece of him scattered around the apartment and packed it up. You wanted to end this as painless as possible aside from the pain you were already feeling. You had thrown away the sheets and replaced them, even get a new comforter and it still didn't feel the same anymore to lay in your bed. You stared at your phone beside you as it lit up for what felt like the hundredth time. You finally sighed, lifting the phone. You knew without even looking at the name it was from him.

You canceled the wedding? It doesn't have to be like this. I still love you, Y/n. You were so busy with work and all the planning. You abandon me. Whenever I wanted your attention, you were always too tired to pay any attention to me.

It's like the girl I fell in love with was gone. Some time ago, you couldn’t keep your hands off of me now it’s like I have to beg you to touch me.

You're being selfish.

You can't be THAT mad, Y/n. I’m a man. I have needs. You were busy and she was willing to help. We can fix this. Don’t give up 3 years. Don’t give up on me.

There were loads more, but you could not care to bother reading the rest. You tossed your phone back down on the bed, rubbing your hands over your face. You didn't owe him anything, not even a response. The girl he was talking about was not gone. She was only on hold to plan a wedding by herself and it was more stressful than he knew. You wanted to forget everything that had happened. You wanted to forget you wasted 3 years of your life planning on growing old with this man.

You weren't sure how you had got this far and with that being said, May wasn't either. You had talked May into joining you to a night out at a club. She needed a night to herself and you needed a break from everything. Along with that, if you had stayed inside that house a moment longer, you might have gone insane.

"You're going to be hammered if you keep on like that." May reminded with a laugh, both of you clinging onto the bar and each other for the extra support. You thanked the bartender as he pushed your last round of shot glasses in front of the two of you.

You smiled, passing a glass to May before keeping one for yourself.

"We can only hope." You winked at the bartender who only chuckled before clinking your shot glass with hers and downing your shot.

Your throat was already numb from all the alcohol you had already numbed it with. May wasn't far behind you. You took your final shot, grinning and pulling May along with you to the dancefloor to get lost in the sea of people. You threw your arms around May's, moving your hips as you both danced to the music.

This was the therapy you needed. Sometimes you had longed for nights like this. You had freedom. You had no worries, aside from worrying who you might wake up beside. But you had fallen in love and even though you had grown up, you had not nearly grown out of this lifestyle. It was all too familiar.

"Hey! I'm going to the bathroom! I'll be back!" May moved closer to you, raising her voice to be heard over the loud music. You nodded, watching her pushing her way through the crowd of people to get to the ladies' bathroom before easing yourself back into your dancing.

You swayed, grinding your hips with the rest of the crowd. You weren't the slightest bit bothered to be dancing by yourself. You used to lose yourself on the dancefloor for hours days after days years ago.

"I've missed this." You heard a familiar voice speak from behind you, startling you when their hands landed on your hips with your sway. They pulled you back against them, catching you off guard. "I've missed you." He mumbled in your ear, sending chills down your spine.

You peaked over your shoulder to make sure your mind was not playing tricks on you. It wasn't. You prayed it was an old one-night stand, but of course, it was the one person you were trying to get away from.

"It doesn't work like that, Chris." You dropped your hands down to his on your hips, trying to push them off your hips but they only hold you tighter. "Get- get off of me." You gritted through your teeth as your eyes glared at him. "Get off!" You raised your voice.

"Now, now, let's not cause a scene. You've had quite a bit to drink haven't you?" He wrapped your arms around your figure, making your blood run cold as his body pressed to yours.

"That's none of your business."

"I'm your fiance. You are my business."

"Ex." You corrected him. His nose flared slightly.

"You really want to go there? You're nothing without me. You're shit-faced in the middle of the club and you can't even accept my help?" He growled and you pushed on his arms.

"I don't need your help."

"You're drunk. You don't know what you need." He spat.

The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted your argument. "I think I've got it from here." You looked up to put a face to the voice, your eyes widening slightly.

"And you are?" Chris didn't budge while staring down Peter as if challenging him.

Peter was reaching his hand out for yours. "Her boyfriend." You stared up at Peter in shock at how much he had changed over the years and he smiled reassuringly.

Chris stiffed slightly and you could feel his eyes burning a hole into you. "Is that true?"

You didn't take your eyes off of Peter, taking a hold of his hand and letting him pull you out of Chris's arms. "Yes." Your voice was hushed.

Chris scowled. "Wow. I wish you luck there, man. She's a real catch." He laughed, making you look down. You couldn't believe he was really trying to ruin your night when he had already ruined everything else.

Peter only snaked his arm around your waist, letting his hand settle on your hip while his eyes never left Chris's. "She certainly is." He agreed. He gave your body a warm squeeze, grabbing you closer into his embrace. "Now, if you'll excuse us."

With that, he guided you through the crowd off of the dance floor.

"You okay?" He finally broke the silence once he got you back to the bar, sitting you down on one of the stools.

You nodded, letting your eyes wander up to him as he motioned the bartender over. "I'm just curious as to why you're here right now. Aren't you supposed to be in college?"

He smiled as he pulled out his wallet to pay your tab and you grabbed his hand, shaking your head. "No, no. I can pay for my own."

"What if I insist?"

"You don't have to, honestly. I have money."

You started to reach into your purse for some cash but Peter covered your hand, giving you another reassuring smile.

"You'll have plenty of other times to pay. I'll get it this time." He reminded you and you sighed in defeat, giving him a playful scowl. He only grinned, proceeding to pull some cash from his wallet to give to the bartender.

"You didn't answer my question." You continued as he turned back to you.

"I'm still college. I just sometimes stay with Aunt May on the weekends."

"And you just so happened to be here?"

Peter chuckled, pointing in May's direction as she stumbled over her feet returning back to the two of us. "Aunt May called."

You raised your eyebrow, looking over at May as she stood beside you now. "You called Peter?"

"Someone has to get you back home." She reminded you and you hit her arm slightly, tilting your head.

"May, I could have got a taxi or an uber. You didn't have to call him for me." You scowled at her and she shook her head in a tsking manner.

"No, no, no. I called Peter so I can rest assured you got home safely and not by some random stranger."

You rolled your eyes slightly and Peter butted in with an awkward chuckle. "I really don't mind. I don't consider this anything out of the way. I'd rather it be me than some stranger or someone." He noticed him giving the floor a swift scan around the three of you.

"Fine." You pouted your bottom lip slightly before rising from your seat at the bar. "You guys make me feel irresponsible or something." You grabbed a hold of May's arm and pulling her with you to the exit of the club while Peter followed behind the two of you.

"Are you coming?" You muttered over to May and she shook her head.

"Happy is here." Just as the words left her mouth when you started out the door, you spotted Happy parked in front of the building to pick up May. "Peter isn't too bad of a driver." You stopped in front of Happy's car.

"Oh goody, rest secured." You muttered and she laughed. Your arms looped around May's neck, hugging her tight. "I'm so glad to have you back. Message me when you get home." You told her and Happy a quick goodnight before letting her go.

Peter led you over to his car, unlocking the car and opening the passenger side for you. You settled comfortably in the front seat, leaning your head back against the headrest. You didn't like how it felt as if you couldn't take care of yourself, but you were in no position to complain when Peter Parker had yet again saved the day.

Peter glanced over at you in the passenger seat from time to time as he drove the distance to your apartment. He tried to keep the glances quick to keep you from noticing. You were just as beautiful as he remembered. It had been years since he had actually seen you, but you seemed like the Y/n he still remembered. Not that it was anything bad. He adored you then, and now a bit more.

He had always had the hots for you for as long as you remembered. Of course, you never minded when you ended up staying with him and Aunt May. You were always kind to Peter and he did his best to nurse you back to health to take on the hangover that awaited you the next morning.

He had never forgotten what you said to him one day while you were sick from the night before. You had been clinging onto the toilet and he had taken the opportunity to hold your hair back out of your face to keep from getting anything in it.

You sighed as he rubbed your back in soothing circles. You leaned against the toilet miserably. That was the day you learned to stay away from tequila.

"I hope I meet a guy at least half as amazing as you someday, Peter."

No doubt did the compliment find its way to his cheeks. He blushed a deep shade of red. He tried to restrain himself from making a big deal but it was a big deal to him. Though he knew he didn't stand a chance right now with his age, it meant if he had been of age, he had a chance. He thought about it even when you had stopped coming around so much. He knew this was all a coping method for you. You were hurting then and he could tell by the way you seemed toward the guy back there that there was more to that counter.

He noticed your shiver as you stared out the window. You mentally cursed yourself for wearing something this revealing. You rubbed your arms to try to warm yourself a little. Peter reached behind him in the back seat to retrieve a hoodie of his he always forgot in the car and handing it to you.

"Here." He offered before fumbling with the heat in the car. He smiled at your quiet thank you, putting your arms in the hoodie and pulling it close for warmth with putting it all the way on. He tried to control the big grin threatening to break across his face.

"I'm sorry you had to keep seeing me like this." You looked over at Peter as he kept his eyes on the road. He didn't realize how thankful you were for him in times like this. It was embarrassing how many times this had happened but you were still thankful Peter didn't think any less of you.

"You really don’t have to apologize.” He smiled at her before turning his attention back to the road.

“I really do though. I feel like you’ve taken care of me enough. I’m grown, you know? It should be the other way around.” You giggled and Peter glanced over at you.

“I’m 21.” He reminded you.

“And I’m pushing 30.”

“You’re 28. You’re still young.” He chuckled.

“Almost 29!” You huffed as he pulled into the parking lot to your apartment. “My point is- you know what my point is.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at your frustration. Your age didn’t matter to him. He could always settle for his MJ, his best friend, but seeing you tonight relit the flame to his crush for you. There was just something about you.

He parked the car in the parking lot, walking around to your side to open the door for you. You slid your arms out of his hoodie and leaving it in the seat as he helped you out of the car. You could feel the shots hitting you all at once when you stood. You stumbled out in your heels, grabbing onto Peter’s arms for support.

“Easy now.” He held onto your waist as he guided you to your apartment, asking for your keys. He took your keys when you dug them out of your pocket, letting you in your apartment.

You couldn’t help but notice all the little things he did for you. You kicked off your heels at the door, stumbling over your own two feet again as you wandered down the hallway to your bedroom. You could hear Peter in the kitchen getting you a bottle of water from the fridge along with some medicine from the medicine cabinet.

You sat on the bed when you hear his footsteps coming down the hallway toward the bedroom. You looked up at him, pouting your bottom lip out slightly when you saw him with a bottle of water and medicine for the headache to come.

He set them down on your nightstand, noticing your pout. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Peter, you’re seriously too good to me.” You sighed.

“How’s that?” He looked down at you as he towered over you.

You motioned over to the stuff he had placed on your nightstand and frowning. “All of this. You- you really didn’t have to do this for me.”

“You’re right I don’t. But I want to. I would want it done for me if I were ever in your shoes.”

You laughed slightly at the thought of Peter drunk and you smiled to yourself. “I would definitely be there anytime you needed me.”

You thought back to all the time you had ever been drunk, remembering all the time you woke up to water and medicine from him. Only from him. Even a trash can in case you were to ever get sick, but you never got that with Chris. You always took care of him, but no one ever took care of you. You shook your head with a frown. You had tried so hard to hold it together, but it felt like you were slowly falling apart. He wasn't worth your tears, yet he was always the cause of them.

He kneeled down in front of you, tilting your head up to meet his gaze. “Talk to me. Everything okay?”

You couldn’t stop the words from coming out. “Why am I never enough?”

His eyes widened at your words. “You are more than enough and anyone who doesn’t see that, who doesn’t appreciate you and the things you do for them doesn’t deserve you.” He corrected you, his thumb stroked over your jaw as he held your face to keep your attention.

You didn't know what to say. All you could do was stare. Your eyes scanned over his face before stopping at his lips. Don't. Don't you do it. You mentally told yourself. You couldn't control the effect the alcohol had on your mind and your actions. You tried to fight back the urge but the alcohol only pushed down the buriers you had built.

Your lips smashed against his firmly, catching him by surprise. He was frozen about your lips for a first, in shock, this was actually happening but he surely gave in the kiss. Your hands grabbed at the back of his neck and pulling him onto the bed with you without breaking the hungry desperate kiss. His body hovered over yours as your fingers curled against his shirt, gripping on it. You knew it was wrong. It was so wrong, but you couldn't bring yourself to stop.

Your smaller hands slid underneath his shirt, brushing your hands over his defined abs. He was sculpted by a God. He knew he should stop, but he couldn't find it in him to stop. He didn't want to miss his chance to prove himself to you. He wanted to take care of you.

Your lips parted for air even though you left like you could hardly catch your breath when his lips started to kiss down your neck. Your hands tugged on his shirt until you started to pull it up and over your head.

His hands pushed your tight dress up the curves of your body, tossing it beside the bed once he peeled it from your body. Your lips still tingled from the loss of his and you whined quietly, your hand grasped the curls at the nape of his neck to bring his lips back to yours.

He kissed your lips passionately and letting your lips mold together. He could taste the alcohol on your tongue but it didn't bother him any. He had dreamed of this moment since he was a teen. Your fingers worked desperately to undo his jeans, feeling his bulge already through his pants before your hands pushed his pants off of his hips along with your boxers.

You were so desperate. You couldn't stop the whine that escaped against his lips. "Peter, please..." His cock twitched at the sound of his name falling from your lips.

He dragged your panties down your legs swiftly, placing himself back between them when he spread them open again. He peppered light kisses to your lips as he dragged the tip of precum-coated tip through your folds, not wasting any time to give you what you wanted.

You cried out as you clung to Peter's bareback, feeling his cock stretching you in all the ways you craved. You moaned out, letting him swallow them in a kiss as his hips rolled into yours again and again. He sighed in pleasure against your lips as your walls invited him in. You were even better than he could have imagined.

He couldn't believe this was actually happening. His lips covered your body in his kisses, admiring every part of your body as it sang for him. This was nothing like what you used to. He pressed small kisses against your bottom lip, nibbling on it as your core ached with a building climax. Your legs wrapped around his hips, causing you to gasp at the deeper strokes.

Your head fell back against the pillows, a loud moan drawing from your parted lips. Your fingers held onto Peter's hair as he hit that spot over and over, making your eyes roll slightly. You needed so badly for him to stop, but you couldn't bring the words to the surface.

"Oh my god..." Your core tightened with every deep thrust. His cock touched parts of you no guy had ever. You had never felt a climax so fast or so strong. "Please don't stop..." You couldn't fight the words from coming out. Your grip tightened on his dark hair, feeling yourself falling apart with an orgasm with every thrust.

"You're so pretty when you cum." He couldn't stop even if he wanted to. He was not far behind you by the way your walls sucked him in, milking him for all he was worth.

"Do it again. I want to make you cum again." He groaned against your chest as his tongue dragged over your hardened nipple, flicking his tongue against it teasingly before letting out a groan against your warm skin. He didn't want it to stop. He didn't want it to end. "You feel so good, Y/n..."

His hand reached between the two of you, rolling his fingers over your clit in circles. You gripped onto his wrist at the overpowering feeling. You were soaked to the core. This man made you crumble.

"I-I'm gonna cum.." His voice cracked slightly as your walls clenched around him tight In your second orgasm, pushing him over the edge into his first. His cum filled you full, marking you as he pressed delicate kisses across your neck while praising you in the process. "So beautiful, so perfect."

Your eyes were heavy with exhaustion, smiling to yourself when Peter laid down on the bed behind you. He wrapped an arm around your body, pulling you back against his chest.

It only took a matter of seconds for sleep to claim you as Peter pulled a blanket over the both of you tiredly. It was only a matter of time before the morning came to rain on your parade. Bringing along the guilt and regret that followed.

#dark!peter parker #dark!peter x reader #dark!marvel #tom holland fan fic #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker #dub con #peter parker one shot #dark!tom holland

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bonky-n-steeb · 3 years

Text

𝑅𝐸𝑀𝐸𝑀𝐵𝐸𝑅

PART ONE

𝙇𝙊𝙆𝙄 𝙭 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍 | 𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙑𝙀 𝙍𝙊𝙂𝙀𝙍𝙎 𝙭 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍

𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬: Bored after staying on Asgard your entire life, you decide to sneak on earth. But what happens when Steve falls irrevocably in love with you, the Queen of Asgard, wife of Loki.

𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦: yandere, obsession, death, violence, cursing, manipulation. If you find any of this triggering, please DNI. Also inform me if I left something out.

ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇᴛᴀ ʀᴇᴀᴅ, ᴀʟʟ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ᴍɪɴᴇ

As you know my previous account got deleted and therefore I have to post this again... Hope you guys like it!

SERIES MASTERLIST || MASTERLIST

You sat reading a book in the ethereal gardens of the Palace, with your back pressed against a tree. Loki had brought that book from Midgard. You loved reading, and Loki always got you books from all over the nine realms. That’s how you had bonded in the very beginning.

As you read the book, you had a feeling you already knew what was going to happen, as if you had already read it. So, you closed it and stared at the grand garden before you. Filled with plethora of flowers, the sweet smell diffusing in the air, the palette of colors pleasing the eye.

“Do you need something?” Your maid asked. You shook your head, “I don’t, and even if I needed something I would take it myself.” You gave her a smile at that.

You were the daughter of a common farmer; you were independent since your birth. You had a habit of doing everything by yourself and even despite it being years since marrying Loki, you still couldn’t quite get adjusted to maids. They weren’t servants for you, they were your friends. Your humility and intelligent was something Loki had fallen head over heels for.

The entire Asgard was happy and wonderfully surprised when Loki had announced that he would be marrying you. A common girl with barely any powers was marrying the God of Mischief and the king of Asgard; that had generated quite the rumors, some even thought it was one of his pranks. Even you were worried, but Loki had chased all your worries away.

Despite Thor being the elder brother, Loki had been crowned as the king. Though Thor was powerful and had immense strength, he neither wished to be the king, nor did he have the time to be one. He was rather busy with Midgard and thus Loki had taken the mantle.

When it came to you, even despite being the God of Lies, Loki never lied. He was the best husband you could ask for. Taking your opinions in consideration, asking for your help, cherishing you, loving you more than anybody else. He didn’t rule Asgard alone, no, he ruled Asgard alongside you.

You had changed him; from the selfish Loki whose heart was filled with vengeance, you had made him into a noble and beloved king. But still he never stopped pulling pranks on you, and you took it just as lightly. He was still very mischievous at his heart and you had accepted him with all he brought along.

There was just one thing he didn’t allow: you visiting Earth. And that was only because he was worried for you. The people of Midgard had not taken his attack lightly, and they were still very much furious. Though they were now on good terms, he didn’t want anything to happen to you. You were his everything.

And visiting Earth at least once was one of the only things you wanted. Literally everyone had been to Midgard except you. Even Loki and definitely Thor frequented Midgard, but not you. Once a month you both used to come to that topic and he would brush you off, promising you to take somewhere else. And that maybe fueled your need to go to Midgard even more.

“What are you thinking about, my love?” When you heard his sweet yet authoritative voice, you smiled softly. Lost in thoughts you hadn’t even noticed he was sitting beside you. You inhaled deeply, “I was thinking about the forbidden fruit. I was thinking what would go wrong if I went to Midgard. Just once Loki, just once. That’s the only thing I ask of. I’ve heard the Earth is circular, unlike Asgard!” You asked giving him your best puppy dog eyes.

“Now my beloved, how many times, huh? How many times do I have to list the reasons why you shouldn’t visit Midgard. I won't be able to live if something happens to you. I will go insane, there won’t be a point in living.” He gently took your chin between his fingers and pressed a soft kiss to your cheek.

“I know Loki, I love you too. But aren’t your relations with Earth better now? And Thor goes there all the time and so do you! And I have powers Loki!” You had the powers of making anyone reveal the truth. You were a rarity; a commoner with powers. Your ability to extract truth was really an ace at your side while ruling Asgard.

“We don’t know if someone is holding any grudge. I can’t risk it. Ask me anything, I will search the entire universe for it and bring it upon your feet. Just not Earth. Now I don’t want to ruin such a perfect day by arguing with you.” Before you could speak further, he shut you with a kiss.

As you both laid in each other embrace, you got lost in the abyss of his eyes. “Oh Loki, do you know how much I love you?” With eyes full of mischief, “Well you do know a certain way to show your love, my beloved wife.” He quipped.

~~~

Today Thor was leaving for Midgard. And at the same time, you had made your plans to sneak. You had started wondering if Loki had a mistress there, well what else could be his reason for not permitting you to visit Earth.

One part of the plan was already in action. You had shared your concerns with Heimdall. He had been awfully quiet but when you had pleaded and asked of it as a favor for his Queen, he had agreed. On the condition that you would return within 3 days, or else he would pull you back to Asgard. You had happily agreed.

The plan was simple, while he would transport Thor, you would go too, you just had to stand close enough to Thor. All excited, you got ready in the best of your clothes. You knew they didn’t dress like this on Midgard, but you had an impression to make as the Queen of Asgard.

The dark green silk robe complimented your emerald wedding ring; you wore button earrings and connected them to your hair clip with chains. You let your hair down but not without braiding few locks of hair; your right index and ring fingers were adorned with your best rings. You wanted to wear your crown, but decided it would be too much for Midgardians; after all you were going there for vacation, you had no plans of ruling earth.

Not many were there to say goodbye to Thor, the Prince travelled very frequently. You were glad that today neither Loki nor the warriors were there. “Goodbye Thor, have a safe journey!” You said as you stood a little too close to him. It was your signal for Heimdall to transport you to Midgard. “Thank you, sister...” before Thor could complete his sentence, you were both sucked into the wormhole.

~~~

It was a.... cool experience to say at least. To be honest, you had no idea. You had kept your eyes closed through half of the journey, and you had probably screamed your throat dry. You did travel through the Bifrost at times but Loki always held you tight. Today though you were spinning all by yourself in the rainbow tunnel. Thank the Norns, it was over faster that you expected.

As Thor landed gracefully in the Avengers compound, you landed straight on your ass and skidded halfway across, bruising you elbow and knuckles.

Thor’s voice boomed aloud, as you tried to get up rubbing your aching ass, “Oh dear Sister! Are you alright?” He said as he helped you get up, “Well, Heimdall didn’t tell me how to land.” You tried to lighten the mood.

“There must have been some mistake. Don’t worry I’ll call Heimdall to send you back.” He said softly while rubbing your elbow as he began praying to Heimdall.

“Uhh, well Thor, that’s not needed. And this... this wasn’t an accident at all. I kind of made a deal with Heimdall and he sent me here...” Thor’s eyes widened with shock and what you thought was anger. You had never ever seen Thor get angry at you, ever. And you were truly scared now.

Thor and you were best of friends. It was as if you two were siblings, not Thor and Loki. As you looked at him now, you knew you had truly screwed up. You knew your decision would anger Loki, but his anger you could handle. You weren’t quite sure about it with respect to Thor.

“You did what? You aren’t supposed to be here! You are going back to Asgard before anyone sees you.” He held you by your elbow and it hurt like hell. “But Thor,...” you tried pleading. Maybe you had not guessed the extent of your family’s anger correctly and you knew you were going to pay for it badly.

“I wasn’t asking you.” He said in an impersonal tone. “You need to understand this is for your own good.” You were tired of listening to the same thing over and over again for so many years. And you finally snapped.

“Tell me the truth Thor! I know that’s not the only reason, why don’t you people want me to come here? Does... does Loki have a mistress here? Huh? I’m so sick of listening to you people give me all kinds of stupid reasons to keep me away from here! You know, if maybe you had not reinforced the fact that I’m not allowed to visit Midgard again and again, then maybe I wouldn’t be so obsessed with coming here.” You couldn’t hold your tears back.

“It’s not what you are thinking, trust me sister, Loki only loves you. But we need to go now and don’t use your powers on me.” You snatched your hand away from him. He was correct in guessing your intentions, you were going to use your powers on him to make him say the truth. But his anger held you back. After all, he was your family, and this visit to earth was just three days long.

“There’s one catch; you can’t take me back. I told you, I’ve made a deal with Heimdall. It includes that He won’t open the Bifrost for me to leave Earth until the evening of the third day!”

~~~

The Avengers were all gathered in the briefing room. Thor was coming back and they needed to discuss an important upcoming mission. As Steve stood telling everyone about the mission, they could hear the tell-tale noise of the rainbow tunnel as they called it.

Tony yawned loudly and stood up from his chair, he was least bit interested in the meeting and just wanted to get out. “Thor is here. We should go meet him.” He said stretching. Steve rolled his eyes, while Nat and Clint got up.

“We can continue, Thor knows where to come.” Steve interjected. “I guess Tony is right on this one.” Wanda said shrugging. Before they could continue, they heard the noise of Thor and a lady arguing. Her voice was vaguely familiar.

“Let’s go!” Tony said excitedly as he hoped to get a little more spice on this dull day. Reluctantly even Steve joined the entire group as they walked outside. Thor was facing them and from his gestures even they knew he was truly angry. The lady had her back to them, her golden magic swirling around her hand, showing her anger and annoyance at Thor. She was dressed in the finest fabric.

Thor stood still and suddenly stopped fighting as he saw literally all of the Avengers looking at the two of them with keen interest. You saw his stunned and somewhat worried expression, so before he could stop you whipped your head around.

The moment you turned, Steve’s heart stopped in his chest. He couldn’t believe his eyes. This was not true; this couldn’t be true. You were just like in his dreams, if not more beautiful. Your eyes pulled him in like sirens calls. Your voice a sweet balm on his heartache. You looked like a goddess, and he was sure you were one. But, how could you possibly be here? So very real, standing in front of him in all your grace, just as if to taunt him.

You tilted your head in confusion, all of them, literally all of them were staring at you as if they had seen a dead person walk out of the grave. “Uh, well, you must be the Avengers I’ve heard so much about! It was rude of us to fight out here, and I apologize for the commotion. Let me introduce myself, I’m Y/N, The Queen of Asgard and the wife of the beloved King Loki.”

As you said the words, all of the Avengers’ eyes widened with confusion, as fear and anger gripped their hearts.

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