Request: “Thank you so much for your stories! I love them so much! Can I request another Lin one? Maybe involving jealousy? It doesn’t matter who is jealous. They can both be jealous even. Maybe Lin makes the reader jealous and she’s hurt, so she purposefully makes him jealous? Thanks!!” - @heatherdawn82
Word Count: 1.5k
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Lin was having a party with the entire Hamilton cast. Lin and I were roommates and best friends so he had invited me too.
Lin and I had been best friends for a while and everyone always said we acted like a married couple. We were super affectionate and always hugging each other. I enjoyed it because I had noticed myself crushing on Lin recently. I thought that maybe Lin had feelings for me too, since we were always so touchy. It felt like our own special thing.
But, right across the room, Lin was sitting on the couch, with a girl named Chelsea sitting in his lap. They were talking and she would obnoxiously laugh at every joke he made. It was like she was bragging to the world about how Lin was flirting with her.
He told me that she was a friend from high school. He said she had moved to Europe and happened to be back in New York for a weekend, so he invited her.
All I knew was that she was a super pretty girl and Lin was being super affectionate toward her. I felt betrayed, I thought that it was our thing. I knew it made me beyond petty, but I just felt so hurt.
I figured that I would try and get him alone, and maybe try to spend some time with him, one on one. I mean, he was my best friend and I liked to hang out with him.
I walked over to them and tried to ignore the anger I felt boiling in the pit of my stomach. “Hey Lin” I said, smiling at him. “Oh hey Y/N, you’ve met Chelsea, right?” He asked me. “Oh..uh no I haven’t” I said. “Well, Y/N this is Chelsea, Chelsea this is Y/N, my roommate” he said, introducing us.
“Yeah, it’s uh...nice to meet you” she said, looking me up and down. “Yeah, you too” I said, putting on a fake smile. “So, Lin. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something real quick?” I said, changing the subject. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just getting caught up with Chelsea. We haven’t hung out in years. But I’ll find you later tonight, yeah?” He asked me.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Oh yeah...uh okay” I said, hurt. “Bye” Chelsea said, with a mocking tone.
I walked away and was fighting back tears. First of all, she had been so rude to me and Lin just sat there and watched it happened. He was supposed to be my best friend, and best friends stand up for each other. Also, he had called me his roommate, which I guess is true. But he couldn’t of introduced me as his best friend? Roommate just sounded so distant, it didn’t imply a connection. However, best friend implied that we had a really strong bond.
I walked into the kitchen, where I knew no one was hanging out. I walked in and leaned against the counter. I felt absolutely pathetic. Here I was, hiding during a party, because a guy was making me jealous. I was better than this. I figured I would take this into my own hands.
I walked out of the kitchen and found Anthony. Lin had introduced us once, and we followed each other on Instagram.
“Hey Anthony” I said, smiling. “Oh what’s up Y/N? How’ve you been?” He asked me. “Well, I’ve been better. I need your help with something though, can you do me a favor?” I asked him. “Of course, what do you need?” He asked, kindly.
“So I may be feeling a tad bit jealous and petty. But I can’t stand to even look at Lin and that girl he’s with, I need to do something about it” I told him. “Oooo somebody’s got feelings for Lin. So you want to make him jealous, right?” He asked me, clarifying.
“Yeah, do you think you can help me?” I asked him. “Of course, I got you” he said, smiling.
Anthony grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a couch, that was on the opposite side of where Lin and Chelsea were. We both sat down next to each other, with barely any room between us. Then Anthony put his arm around my shoulder.
“Is he looking yet?” Anthony asked me, since he was turned to face me. “No, not yet” I told him. “Okay, guess we’ll have to get his attention then” Anthony said, mischievously. “Wait what are you-“ I started to ask, before I got interrupted. Anthony’s hand went to stomach and tickled me. I squirmed and pushed his hand away. “Anthony, stop it” I squealed.
“Did that get his attention?” He asked, smirking. “Yeah, he’s looking. Nice one Ramos” I complimented him. “Laugh like I just told you a really funny joke” he instructed me. I started to giggle and also started twirling my hair in my fingers.
I glanced over at Lin, and he was staring. Chelsea was talking to him, but he couldn’t even focus on her.
“He’s really watching now, pretend to whisper something in my ear” I told him, smiling. Anthony leaned in close to me and whispered “You know you owe me for this, right?”. I giggled to myself, which I figured went along with this fake narrative.
“Oh hold on, he’s coming over here” I whispered to Anthony, while trying to not look up at Lin. “So I walked right up to him and I told him that now he knew not to mess with me or my friends again” Anthony said, completely rambling and pretending like he had been telling me a story.
“So I see you’ve met Anthony” Lin said, and he looked furious. “Yeah, you introduced us. You didn’t tell me how funny he was though. He’s absolutely hilarious” I said, laying my hand on Anthony’s chest and slightly leaning in toward him.
“Oh really?” Lin said, while gritting his teeth. “Have you ever noticed how pretty she is, Lin?” Anthony asked, brushing a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Oh stop” I said, smirking to myself.
“Y/N, I need to talk to you” Lin said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into the kitchen. “What the hell is the matter with you?” Lin asked me, slightly raising his voice. “What are you talking about? You’re the one who just dragged me in here, out of nowhere” I argued back.
“I’m talking about you and Anthony” Lin said, like it was the most obvious thing ever. “What about us?” I asked him, annoyed. “Why were you flirting with him?” Lin asked me, he sounded really angry.
“I’m sorry, are you my dad? You don’t get to tell me who to flirt with. I’m an adult and I can make my own decisions. Seriously, what is up with you?” I asked him. “I know you, this isn’t how you flirt. I’ve seen you flirt and it’s not like this. This is you trying to rub it in my face. You’re trying to get a reaction out of me, and you’re trying to make me angry. I don’t know what the hell I did to deserve it though” Lin said, angrily.
“Are you kidding? You can sit with Little Ms.Perfect in your lap all night and completely ignore your best friend, but I’m not allowed to flirt with a guy?” I asked him. “So this is about Chelsea? You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Lin asked.
“This isn’t just about being jealous. This is about you ignoring me so you can hang out with her. This is about her being rude to me and you not even standing up for me” I corrected him. “I told you that I would talk to you later” Lin told me. “Lin, you’ve been sitting with her for three hours. You haven’t talked to a single other person at this party” I told him.
“Well she’s visiting from England and I haven’t seen her in ages” Lin argued. “That doesn’t mean that you can make me feel ignored and unimportant” I told him. “You know that wasn’t my goal” he explained.
I couldn’t believe that he truly thought he did nothing wrong.
“You sat there as she looked me up and down and mocked me and you did nothing. You just sat there” I said, with hurt in my voice. “Y/N, I really didn’t notice that she did that. I would never want you to be hurt” he said, sincerely.
“You say one thing, but you’re actions say something completely different” I said, rolling my eyes.
Then Lin cupped my face suddenly, and leaned in to kiss me. I was shocked, it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting in the middle of an argument.
It truly felt like Lin was pouring all of his love into the kiss. I could feel the weight off my shoulders of finally having all my pent up emotions out in the open.
“I’m sorry that I got so upset about Anthony, I just got so jealous seeing you with him. Why would you do that to me? You knew it would make me jealous” Lin asked me, after we pulled away. “It’s called payback sweetheart” I said, smirking.
Summary: One night, it all gets too much for Naru and Lin’s left to pick up the pieces.
Pairing: Implied Lin x Naru but can also be read as friendship.
Fandom: Ghost Hunt
Where else is this posted? FF.Net under the author Amethyst Skulkyrie Cain. View it HERE. Tagging @amoureux-de-la-litterature in case she’d like to see this!
While it was completely expected for Lin and Naru to be the only ones left in the office late at night, it was completely unexpected for Naru to open the door just enough for him to slip through and then to stand there before Lin, his face paler than normal, his fists clenchd by his sides and his usually unsmiling eyes to be shimmering with tears.
Lin sighed internally, though not unkindly. He had been expecting this. After all, anyone would crack if they had lost their twin brother at only sixteen and then moved to the country where his brother had been killed, to find the body before returning home. He had been through so much and lost the one person in the world who knew him better than his own parents - except maybe Lin - and if he was being honest, Lin was surprised that Naru had lasted this long without cracking.
“Naru?” Lin kept his voice quiet, feeling as though saying his charge’s name too loudly would make him shut down and he’d never give voice to the overwhelming emotions that he was feeling right now.
Naru took one step forward, breathing deeply and trying to rein himself in. He took another step forward, and Lin stood up, his arms leaving his sides in preparation to catch Naru, who would either collapse or throw himself at Lin in childish abandon.
Naru may have been seventeen and the head of the Japanese branch of SPR, but he was still a child and Lin was ashamed to say that sometimes, even he forgot how old his charge as. He was always so composed, so mature, that to see him like this, expressing emotion lie a normal person and openly grieving, was threatening to throw Lin off. He needed to keep it together and be there for Naru.
“Lin, I -” Naru bowed his head, his shoulders hunched as the weight of the world threatened to crush him.
Lin took pity on him. “I know, Naru. What do you need?”
Naru sighed and bit his lower lip, those damning tears finally spilling over and pouring down his cheeks. “Gene... My brother... I saw it, Lin. I saw it all and I can’t get it out of my head.” The last few words came out in a rush as Naru sharply exhaled and his knees buckled.
Lin had been ready for this and darted forward, catching Naru in his strong arms as the teenager collapsed. Lin shifted so that Naru was sat sideways on his lap, Naru’s head under Lin’s chin. Lin was uncomfortable in this position but he didn’t care about that - Naru was his only concern and not just because he had been employed to watch over him while he was in Japan.
“I can’t take this anymore...” Naru whispered and Lin had to strain to hear him. In response, he only held Naru tighter.
Swallowing thickly, Lin knew that of all the times he had spoken wisely, this was one of the most important times to do so. Naru needed to hear something, though Lin wasn’t sure what, to show Naru that he wasn’t alone now that Gene was dead and gone. Especially not now.
“Time doesn’t heal wounds like this, Noll, but it teaches those left behind how to deal with their grief. Nothing I or anyone else says can help you grieve, only you can do that in your own way and in your own time, but know that I’m right here.” Lin took Naru’s hand and placed it over Lin’s own heart, which was beating steadily. He let Naru’s hand go but Naru kept his hand there, pressing on Lin’s chest as though he needed to feel the proof that Lin was alive. Lin supposed that he did, in this moment.
Lin tightened his arms around Naru and stood with him slowly, taking the both of them over to the sofa in Lin’s office before sitting down, sliding up so that he was propped up against the arm of the sofa, Naru still in his arms and settlled on his lap. He had a feeling that Naru would fall asleep here, in his guardian’s arms.
“It hurts.” Naru whispered, looking up at Lin, who was taken aback by the sheer amount of grief in his blue eyes.
Lin said nothing, for there was nothing to say. He merely cuddled Naru to him and rested his head against the back of the sofa, watching Naru carefully.
Finally, when the silence of the room was getting too heavy for Lin, because he missed Gene too, though of course not to the extent that Naru did, Lin said, “Gene would probably say something like,” He cleared his throat and put on a higher voice, “Live enough for the both of us, you idiot scientist.”
Naru huffed a laugh despite himself, though it ended with a choking sob. Lin rubbed Naru’s back soothingly and pressed a kiss to Naru’s temple, his lips lingering for longer than strictly necessary. Naru found himself leaning into the touch, closing his eyes briefly at the contact.
There was nothing either of them could say or do to help Naru, but together, they’d make their way to the end. They had to, for Gene.
pairing: alexander hamilton x reader modern au
words: 2700
warnings: angst, drinking, death, and puking yeah boii (and I am obviously an underage minor so I have no clue what drinking and all this adult stuff is like lol)
summary: song imagine based off of "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur. this is literally the worst thing I've ever written so please brace yourselves. might have a james madison one next!!
I met you in the dark, you lit me up
You made me feel as though I was enough
------
His life had been chaotic. Anyone could attest to that.
He had pushed his childhood away from him, as far as he could. Reliving those hellish years was the last thing he wanted to do. But lately, they had begun to resurface, and the dreams, the nightmares that shook him and forced him awake, sweat pouring off him, began to drain him. His work was growing busier and the load forced upon him became too much to bear. There was no time for anything else; his days consisted of writing and eating quickly, with an hour or two of sleep shoved haphazardly into his crammed schedule if at all possible. Even a man of his constitution and pure stubborn will couldn't keep up with such a timetable. He began to feel dark tendrils of hopelessness, of depression, curl around him, their hold ever tightening.
That was, until he met her.
He hadn't wanted to go to the party, but Hercules and Laf had insisted.
"Alex," Hercules pleaded. "Only for a few hours. I promise it won't be much. You don't even have to drink. Besides, you need a break and I'm going to push you out of this door and into that bar if it's the last thing I do."
"You might even meet someone special," Laf added.
"That doesn't interest me," Alex told him, although something inside him, a small voice in both his head and heart exclaimed that it did. His weary soul was desperate for some type of companionship, someone who would care for him and make sure he was fine.
Needless to say, Lafayette must have predicted the future. He walked into the bar and promptly sat on a stool, shaking his head at the bartender when asked if he wanted anything. He prepared himself for five hours of extreme boredom, until the voice came along and wiped everything away.
"Is this seat taken?" you had asked, your light perfume wafting across him. He looked up and promptly forgot how to speak.
Beautiful eyes, soft-looking mouth, hair slightly disheveled. Every small imperfection blended into a perfect vision.
"Uh—um, no, no one's sitting here," he stuttered out, feeling his face grow warm.
"(Y/N) (L/N)," you said, shaking his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Alexander Hamilton," he managed. "Can I—can I buy you a drink?"
The rest was history. He stammered out a request for your number and texted you ten minutes after you had left the bar. That led to a couple dates and he finally asked you out three months after that fateful night.
You made him feel like he owned the world, like he was worth it. You gave him an incentive to work through the fog in his brain, to endure the long hours of stress, and your smile swept him away every time.
------
We danced the night away, we drank too much
I held your hair back when
You were throwing up
------
"Alex, please? It's my birthday!" You pleaded with him until he finally gave in. It was your birthday, and you wanted to go to the same bar you had met him at. He was wary (he didn't like to drink and his tolerance levels were astronomically low) and secretly didn't like you being in such an atmosphere (he felt like the first man you saw would sweep you away from him), but he finally relented. You bounced excitedly on your feet and kissed his cheek.
"You're the best!" He blushed and touched his cheek softly. Your heart melted at the small action.
"You're so cliché. I love you," you added.
No matter how many times he heard you say those words, a spark went through him that felt brand new each time.
"I love you too."
When you arrived at the bar, you went straight for the seats that you had occupied when the two of you first met. Thankfully, they were empty and you plopped yourself down. "One shot of (drink), please," you told the bartender energetically.
"And for your man?" he responded.
"I'll take a wine," Alex said, thinking of the least potent thing he could.
You had downed three shots when Alex put a hand on your arm. "Babe, you better stop. I don't want you hurting yourself." You smiled at him, already feeling a buzzing from the alcohol in your system.
"Oh, stop. I'm responsible; I'll be fine," you replied. "Come dance with me." Alex looked hesitant, but put down his barely-touched drink. You led him to a mostly uncrowded spot on the dance floor, and the two of you began to dance.
You looked up at him and he gazed back with a small smile as the bright lights streaked across his face. His eyes were full of love and you beamed even brighter. "Thanks for taking me," you told him happily.
"Anything for you," he replied.
The lights and loud sounds were beginning to get to you, and you could feel a queasy sensation starting to build up within your stomach, but it wasn't bad. You pushed it aside and continued to smile, although it was more forced. Suddenly, your gut twisted unexpectedly and you ran for the bathroom. You heard Alex calling your name but couldn't stop. You could feel the alcohol coming back up and you bolted for the nearest toilet. Thankfully, no one else was in the room.
You retched into the porcelain bowl as your stomach turned itself inside out. It subsided for a bit and you clutched the sides of the toilet, your hands shaking. The door opened and you turned to see Alex.
"(Y/N), what's wrong—oh," he said, as he took in the scene.
"Alex, I don't want you to see me like this," you told him, but then had to stop as you doubled over again. He ran to your side and held your hair back as you emptied your stomach again, rubbing your back softly and murmuring comforting words to you. You finally finished and stood shakily up.
"I need to wash my face," you said, and proceeded to do so as he flushed the toilet.
"Are you feeling okay?" you asked him when you had finished.
"Yeah, just a little light-headed. You're the one I'm worried about, though. Do you want to go?" he asked you.
You nodded. "I'll be fine, but I think we should go. I don't wanna risk anything else."
------
Then you smiled over your shoulder
For a minute I was stone-cold sober
I pulled you closer to my chest
And you asked me to stay over
I said, I already told ya
I think that you should get some rest
------
You smiled at him, pouring all your love and gratefulness into that one gesture, and Alex felt a shock wave crash over him. Any trace of fuzziness and alcoholic affects was purged from his body and his thoughts ran on a crystalline track, sharper than ever before. He held out his arms to you as this happened, and you collapsed into them. He pulled you tighter, catching a whiff of that same perfume over the much more prominent smell of bile.
You looked up at him—and oh, the things those eyes did to him—and said, "You should stay over tonight."
"As long as you get some rest," he told you. "I want you feeling your best."
"That rhymes," you said impishly, and he rolled his eyes.
"Glad to see your sense of humor hasn't suffered any."
"Shut up," you giggled playfully, cuffing him on the arm. "Let's go home."
------
I knew I loved you then
But you'd never know
'Cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go
I know I needed you
But I never showed
But I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old
Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go
------
You fell asleep in his arms, feeling the safest you ever had in your entire life. His body seemed to form a barrier between you and the rest of the world and he was warm and real and this was love.
He noticed you had fallen asleep, and he brushed a piece of hair away from your face as he traced a heart on your shoulder. As he stared lovingly at your sleeping face, his mind began to work overtime—you always had that effect on him. Sure, he knew he loved you, but something within him shifted in that moment, something that shifted him up another notch. I want to spend my life with her, he realized.
She's the one and nobody else.
------
I'll wake you up with some breakfast in bed
I'll bring you coffee with a kiss on your head
And I'll take the kids to school
Wave them goodbye
And I'll thank my lucky stars for that night
------
You blinked as your eyes opened to seemingly blinding sunlight flooding into the windows of yours and Alex's bedroom. A shape materialized in front of you—Alex (unshaved) with a tray in his hand.
"I brought you some breakfast, darling," he said. "You deserve it."
"Alex—" you started.
"And I took the day off. We have the entire day to ourselves."
"Alexander Hamilton, you shouldn't have!"
"That's the name. And don't you 'Alexander' me," he grinned. "I'm taking Philip to school."
"I'm so lucky to have you," you told him.
"No, I'm the lucky one," he said, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead. "Just relax. I'll bring Philip in after I make sure he's ready." He left the room, closing the door softly. You were left alone with your breakfast, and you smiled out the window as you put on your ring. The peace didn't last long, however, and your oldest son burst into the room with all the whirlwind joy of a nine-year-old boy.
"Morning, Mama!"
"Hi there, Philip," you said, smoothing back one of his curls sticking straight up on his forehead. "Ready for school?"
"Yeah," he said. "I have a history quiz today, but I think I'm ready."
"Knock 'em out, Philip. I know you'll blow everyone away," you said.
"Thanks, Mama," he said. "Love you." He kissed you sweetly on the cheek and you held him tight.
"I love you too, my son." He exited in the same uproarious manner he had arrived and you heard the car backing out of the driveway.
What a family.
------
When you looked over your shoulder
For a minute, I forget that I'm older
I wanna dance with you right now
Oh, and you look as beautiful as ever
And I swear that everyday you'll get better
You make me feel this way somehow
------
Alex turned on the radio, a love station. A song came on, one of the ones that had played on the night you first met.
"(Y/N) Hamilton, your husband of ten years admits that he is not as young and handsome as he used to be, but he requests the singular honor of this dance."
"How can I not accept," you responded, and he took you in his arms.
The two of you twirled around the living room, and your cheeks grew rosy and your eyes sparkled with laughter.
"I see you're still as dashing as always," you told him, a slight pant edging your voice. He looked down at you lovingly.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered softly, and a wave of happiness washed over you. Your swaying slowed as your lips met and he traced the same heart on your shoulder as he always did.
Every kiss was as pure, as beautiful as the first.
------
I'm so in love with you
And I hope you know
Darling your love is more than worth its weight in gold
We've come so far my dear
Look how we've grown
And I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old
Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go
I wanna live with you
Even when we're ghosts
'Cause you were always there for me when I needed you most
------
You flipped over in bed, surprised when your arms met only air. Not again, you thought. You got out of bed and made your way to Alex's study, your nightgown trailing behind you. The door was closed and a crack of light shine through the bottom. You opened it softly to see your husband scratching away in a notebook like you knew he would. Even now, at age fifty, his store of words flowed unchecked.
"Alexander, come back to sleep," you implored him. "You write like you're running out of time."
He turned and smiled at you, his hair glinting with threads of gray in the light.
"I'll be back before you know I'm gone," he replied. You knit your brows together. "Hey. You're the best of wives and best of women."
You kissed him on the bridge of his nose, just above the wire of his glasses.
"Don't be too long."
------
I'm gonna love you till
My lungs give out
I promise till death we part like in our vows
So I wrote this song for you, now everybody knows
'Cause now it's just you and me till we're grey and old
Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go
------
You knew something was wrong with Alex when he began complaining of chest pain. The doctor had thought nothing of it at first, diagnosing it as just high blood pressure. However, your instincts told you otherwise and, after his pain began getting significantly worse, you had him taken in for scans that revealed a tumor on his heart. He had two months to live, if that.
"How could you miss this?" you sobbed to the doctor.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hamilton. I really am."
"Please. Just leave."
A month later he was rushed to the emergency room. You rode in the ambulance, your heart feeling as if it was being ripped apart as you held your husband's hand. The doctors tried an operation, but shook their heads when you asked them frantically if your husband was still alive. Finally, you were called out of the waiting room and into Alex's room.
"He's got a few minutes, tops. We'll leave you two alone," said the lead heart specialist, and the medical personnel all filed quietly out of the room. They had seen it a thousand times before.
You sat on the edge of the bed. "Alex?" you whispered, trying not to cry as you took his hand.
He opened his eyes and gave a weak smile. "(Y/N). My love."
"Are you all right?" you asked him, the tears flowing freely now despite your efforts.
"A lot of pain. I know what's going to happen. (Y/N), I love you more than anything in this life." His other hand moved and you saw he was holding out a piece of paper. "This is what I've been working on. For you. Somehow, I could sense my time was running out."
You looked at it briefly, unable to see through your tears. A song. "Oh, Alex," you cried, your voice choked.
Suddenly, his eyes clenched tightly in pain and his breathing began to slow and become ragged. You held on tighter, as if that could stop the pain, stop the whole nightmare.
He opened his eyes. One last time.
"(Y/N).'
"I'm here." The words were barely distinguishable.
"You're—you're my everything. I love you."
A machine beeped, but you didn't need to see the now-flat line that measured his heartbeat to know that your love was gone.
You wept, alone with his legacy in your hand.
------
Just say you won't let go
Oh, just say you won't let go
Summary: Lin cheated on reader and reader remembers so they can forgive him.
Word count: 2.5K
Warnings: None
A/N: I just can’t imagine Lin doing this to his wife tbh
When you first met Lin, you couldn’t describe the feeling inside you, it was like a blast of energy directly from your heart to every inch of your body. Now 20 years later after that and 12 after you get married. Every inch of your body was full of an energy. A bad energy. You were trembling with anger and pain. Because the only person you’d ever want to spent the rest of your life with had cheated on you and you were trying to forgive him. You loved him so much you wanted to forgive him. So you tried to remember all the good times you had with him.
From the moment I met you, I knew you were mine.
You were 15 at the time and he was 2 years older than you. You met him because you were neighbors in Inwood. You just moved from another country, because your father get a job in the United States and you were trying to get the little boxes that belonged to you out of the truck. You put them one above the other. You were struggling a little bit and almost dropped everything. Suddenly someone grabbed the box that was on top and you turned to look at the person. I was him. And since your eyes laid on him you knew you were helpless. His smile was so bright and his eyes were shining. He was beautiful.
“Can I help you with these?” His voice was quite funny and got inside your mind like and echo. “I mean, it seemed like you were having a little bit of problem… Excuse me? Are you listening to me?” You were staring at him all the time he had been talking. His voice…
“yeah…yeah. Of course, I’d really appreciate that” You said after taking a grip of yourself. You were acting ridiculously with a guy you didn’t know the name.
“Ok. Don’t worry. Just tell me where to put them… I’m Lin by the way” Lin? That was a very peculiar name…
“Hi, Lin, you can put them inside the house next to the door. I’ll tell my father to bring them upstairs later” You were making a great effort not letting you voice crack, which was something that happened every time you were nervous or crying. He get inside the house and put the boxes down. He looked at you and you looked back. You didn’t know what to do right now. Your mind was numb.
“You know… You haven’t told me your name yet” He smiled and you immediately blushed. He instantly blushed too and added “Only if you want to, of course.”
“What? Oh! Yeah! Sure! I’m sorry I was a bit distracted. I’m y/n”
“y/n? What a beautiful name...” You blushed again and you could feel your face even hotter. “Anyway I have to go, but it was nice meeting you, y/n” he smiled and turned away. You watched him walked away with the memory of his smile still in your mind.
“y/n? Who is he?” Your sister asked you. You didn’t answered your her question and just shrugged.
“Just a beautiful gentleman”
Be careful with that one, love.
It passed 1 year in which you felt, as your sister liked to say, like flying. Lin had come to your house a lot of times and he was like family. He was so charming with your mother and so respectful with your father. Everyone seemed to know that you liked him and that he liked you, but not everyone seemed to liked it.
“I don’t know what is your problem, why you don’t like him?” You were talking about this new letter he wrote to you about this new idea that he was thinking about and your sister sighed so loud that it interrupted you. You looked back at her and decided to face her.
“It’s not that! I’m just worried, y/n. You really like him, but it doesn’t mean he feel the same…” She said.
“How do you know? You know nothing. You are just saying that because you liked him too!!” You snapped back. You were tired of her attitude towards him. He was so nice with her, but she didn’t care.
“What?!?”
“You think I don’t realise the way you see him. But he likes me too, I know. And you can’t do anything about it!”
“STOP IT! That’s not true. I’m just worried for you. I don’t want him to hurt you. I’m your big sister is my job. I want you to be happy. y/n, I swear I don’t feel anything for him, but please be careful.” You looked her in the eyes and decided she was telling the true. She was just worried. You smiled
“Don’t need to worry. He would never hurt me.”
The world seemed to burn.
After 2 years of meeting him, after countless letters, going outs and adventures. He finally asked you out. Everyone in your family was happy for the two of you, including your sister. He was super sweet about it. He asked your father first for his permission and then planned a dinner for the both of you. You remembered his face, all shy and nervous trying to ask you. You remembered him dropping the bracelet he got for you that night, after accepting.
“You look beautiful…not that you aren’t beautiful. I mean even more, if that’s possible.” You laughed. He always knew what to say, that was you loved about him. You fell in love with him, because he was so intelligent, so creative. You were so into him and he into you. After that, you did everything together. You were one, yet still had your own space; it was a wonderful relationship. Everything seemed to burn.
After 6 years of dating and 8 of knowing each other. He asked you to be his life partner. He surprised you with a choreography with your friends and one song he just composed for you. It was slow, yet catchy and danceable. After he finished he stood in front of you, whose face was burning from the happy tears, and kneeled.
“y/n, will you…”
“Yes” You interrupted him. He laughed
“Let me finish. Ok?” You nodded “Y/n, will you… I’m serious… stop laughing!” You nodded still laughing.
“Yes I’m sorry”
“Ok… y/n l/n, I knew I wanted to know you since the first time I looked at you. And I knew I wanted to be with you since the first time you laughed at one of my bad jokes, so… will you do me the honor to spend the rest of your life with this pain in the ass who is talking to you?”
“YES! I love you, Lin. I’ll always do. No matter how many bad jokes you make.”
“I love you, y/n” He said putting the ring in your finger.
It had passed 12 years since you get married and 18 years in a relation most people would kill to be in. Passionate and sweet. Always caring for each other, always trusting each other. So how? How things ended up like this?
You were brokenhearted and rethinking everything. Trying to understand.
In clearing your name, you have ruined our lives.
You remembered how you found out. You were eating your breakfast one morning, trying to stay awake. You had waited for Lin all night to come home, but he never appeared. He had been staying out for a few nights, but you never worry. He was just busy with all his work. He became famous through all these years, but what could you expect after 2 really successful Broadway shows and 1 soundtrack for a Disney movie. He really was non-stop. Your phone beeped and you took it. You though it was one of Lin’s motivational messages, but you were wrong. It was your sister.
“Are you ok? I can’t believe he did that” You read out loud. You were confused. What happened? You decided to call her for an explanation, but your doorbell sounded. You opened the door and it revealed your sister, with a worrying look in her face, who immediately hug you.
“Please tell me how you feel” she said.
“I don’t know what you are talking about… Why am I supposed to be bad?” She gave at you with an incredulous look and then followed it with a pitying one.
She told you everything you needed to know. She told you how she found out. It was on the news. You listened to her and could feel your heart broke. After that you felt nothing.
“Y/n, I told you. I knew he was going to hurt you one way or another. I’m so sorry, but I’m here for you. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
“I want to be alone” You said. Your voice was dry “Please”
She got up and kissed you. You waited her to be out and then got up from the chair you were in. You looked around you. Why? Why he cheated? Why he told everyone? Wasn’t he happy with you?
You and your words, obsessed with your legacy.
You remembered how you stood there in the middle of your house for god knew how long until you heard a knock on your door. You opened the door and looked at him. He looked miserable. He opened his mouth, but then stopped. You let him in without saying a thing and then slammed the door closed. He jumped at the sound and turned to look at you.
“I’m sorry” He just said. He looked at you. His eyes were red and swollen. He took a step toward you but you stepped back. He looked down. You could tell he felt embarrassed. It was ok. He should.
“Why?” You asked. Your voice sounded like a mix of anger, pain and confusion. He swallowed before answering.
“I don’t know”
“You know better than that. Why?”
He dropped to his knees and started crying, you didn’t feel anything. He looked pathetic. He looked nothing like the boy you met, like the man you fell in love with. The man you loved.
“I was so helpless… I felt so helpless” He was sobbing in the ground
“Why you published it? Why you told the whole world something that wasn’t their business?” You didn’t understand why he cheated, but some part of you knew you’d eventually could forgive him, but that wasn’t the thing that bothered you the most. It was why he told everyone about it. It was something it concerned just the both of you, not the others.
“Because if it wasn’t me, they would have told everyone!!! It was because….” He hesitated. Now you knew why. Everything he had done in his life was because of that. “Because of our future. Because of our legacy” You laughed.
“You didn’t do it because of that. You writing a 5 pages of explanation and then post them in every social media wasn’t because of our legacy. It was because of yours.” He was, all his life, obsessed with that legacy thing. Even if he didn’t admitted it, but it was true. All his musicals had that. Usnavi, Hamilton, all of his characters at some point had touched that subject.
“Please…please forgive me, y/n. I didn’t know what I was doing, I-”
“Just leave, Lin” He started shaking his head, still in the ground, maybe denying the words that just came out of your mouth “Lin, get up and leave. I need some time to think” He got up and locked eyes with you. His eyes showed regret and desperation, yours showed pain and emptiness. He knew he hurt you, and the only thing he now could do was to give you everything you could need and now you needed time.
I’m erasing myself from the narrative. ( You have torn it all apart)
You spent the next 2 months on your own. Lin’s belongings were still in your house. They belonged there. Just like him. You knew that, but you needed that time alone. Most of the people in your social media were giving you their support, others were blaming you for making him do that. Wow. Like it was your decision to be cheated on. You didn’t care, though. Everyone could talk shit about you or Lin. Nothing was going to make you made a public statement. You would never destroyed Lin’s thrust like he did with yours. He destroyed your relationship with, no one wrong choice, but two of them. Cheating and telling the whole world about it. You were still mad at him, but you couldn’t help missing him. Missing feeling his arms at night, missing his love. He was staying at the theater every night. You knew only the guys of the show were supporting him, even though they were quite disappointed, the girls were on your side and left the girl he cheated you with on her own. You didn’t blame her completely. It was his choice too. You hoped that he would feel the same way you were feeling now. You hoped that he would burn.
You forfeit all rights to my heart (With only the memories of when you were mine)
The next month from then, you weren’t on your own. Pippa would be in your house every night so you wouldn’t feel alone and Renee and Jasmine always come in the day to help you feel better. The only times you were completely alone were in which they were at the show and when you shower or go the bathroom. You used that time to think about the past, about those days in which it was no one, but you and him. Everything was burning then, in a beautiful way. Everything was shining. Now you were burning and you could only hope it would stop. You had talk to him the day before. He seemed sad. You were sure he was. You had talked to him about your current situation. You both agreed to start from the beginning in each other thrusting. You both admitted you were feeling incomplete without each other. Then, you just hugged quickly and say goodbye.
I hope that you burn the same way I do
In the next two weeks, everything was back to normal. At first, things were awkward. You were together again, but you were starting over. It passed 4 days until you hugged and 1 week for you to kiss. Then everything seemed came back to normal. All your feelings were familiar, yet fresh and with each touch he would give you, an energy, directly from your heart, filled every inch of your body. You were rediscovering each other slowly in this new phase of your life, but you were happy, because you were sure all bad things were left in the past. And you hoped that he burned with these new and familiar feelings on the inside the same way you were.
Request: decoy bride au part two! part one here (there’s one more part left)
Pairing: Lin-Manuel Miranda x reader
Word count: 3,366
Warnings: physical fighting, near death experience of drowning, misunderstandings
A/N: The amount of support I received for this fic has been amazing- thank you to everyone who sent love! Thanks also to @fragmentofmymind for proofreading and being amazing.
Lin stretched out on the bed, staring at the canopy. You sat cross-legged beside him, digging through the massive pile of gifts that had been left on there for the happy couple. “Is this a signed copy of your own book?” you asked incredulously, holding up a heavy, bound copy of the Hamilton book.
“Yeah,” Lin laughed sheepishly. He propped himself up on one elbow and took it from you, opening it to the title page, “Probably Chris’ idea of a joke.”
You reached back into the pile and held up the matching Hamilton t-shirts you had found, raising an eyebrow. “They’re nice t-shirts!” he said defensively.
You just laughed and set to refolding the shirts. Lin looked at you thoughtfully for a moment. “What’s your actual job?”
“My actual job?”
“Yeah,” he said, “I assume you don’t spend all your time in a shepherd’s hut or fake-marrying Americans.”
You bit your lip. “I’m between jobs,” you said finally, “my last one was in Edinburgh with my boyfriend.” You winced to remember the morning you had stormed out of the apartment you had shared, your clothes stuffed into your suitcase and the image of him in bed with another girl seared into your mind.
“Why did you come here?” you asked, mostly to distract yourself. When Lin looked confused, you elaborated, “You could have got married on a beach in Puerto Rico or in a picturesque old town upstate in the US- why this place?”
The wedding dress was spread around you on the bed, the veil tossed over the side of a chair and the pins that had kept it and your hair in place scattered. Lin was still in his suit, though he had loosened the tie and undone the buttons on his jacket.
“We wanted somewhere where the press would never-” he grimaced at glanced towards the window- “find us. Chris found this place and its associations with Hamilton and here we are.”
You snorted. “A Hamilton themed wedding- there’s an ego-boost if I ever saw one.” You spotted a bottle of champagne on the side and reached for it. “What’s she like?” you asked as you uncorked the bottle.
“Who?” Lin took the bottle from you and had a swig. His leg jiggled, disturbing the neat pile of wedding gifts that you had stacked up. He must really be worried about his fiancée, you realised.
“Your wife-to-be,” you clarified, “what’s she like?”
Lin’s eyes softened and his gaze fixed on something just beyond your shoulder. “She’s perfect,” he smiled dreamily, “Kind and generous and selfless and beautiful inside and out.”
You fiddled with the cork, trying to imagine having someone who loved you as much as Lin clearly loved Vanessa. You set the bottle down and flopped back, wincing as a last bobby pin poked at your scalp, “She sounds nice.”
“She’s out there,” Lin said quietly, “and I’m not there for her.”
“She’ll be alright,” you stared at the bed’s canopy, which was decorated to look like the night sky, and felt awkward and tongue-tied next to Lin, “You’ll be more of a help to her here than blundering around the island leading that lot to her.”
Lin grimaced and took another swig from the champagne. You wished you had been able to take your phone so you could call for help, but wedding dresses didn’t seem to come with pockets, infuriatingly enough.
“Did you sign the register?” you asked.
Lin frowned, “Course- I thought it was real, remember?” A beat. “Why?”
You lifted your hand, the simple golden wedding band already feeling familiar on your ring finger. “I think,” you said slowly, “that in all the fuss I might have signed my own name.”
The silence stretched as Lin’s jaw dropped. He lifted his own hand, as though he had only just realised what the ring meant- and what it represented. “I think I want a divorce,” he said faintly.
Abruptly, the door opened and the two of you sat up. A man was in the doorway, a camera hanging round his neck. A paparazzo, you realised, if his practiced hands on the camera were anything to go by.
He looked confused as he scanned the room, frowning when he saw you and Lin on the bed. “Where is Vanessa?” he asked.
You looked at Lin. A vein was pulsing in the side of his neck and his fists were clenched. He looked like he’d like nothing better than to jump up at start throwing punches. So they knew each other.
“None of your business,” he growled.
“Oh?” the newcomer raised an eyebrow and lifted his camera, “she is missing and you are cavorting with- with a prostitute?”
“I am not a prostitute!” You glared, holding up your hand to display the wedding ring still glinting on your finger. The paparazzo gaped. “I’m his wife,” you said proudly.
“You bastard,” he said to Lin and Lin snapped, hurling the copy of the Hamilton book at him. The paparazzo ducked but Lin was on his feet and reaching for the next thing to throw. You rolled off the bed and decided to stay out of the way as the paparazzo grabbed a teddy bear from the pile of gifts and threw it at Lin.
You stood up and started to edge towards the door. A particularly badly aimed glass paperweight thunked against the wall beside you, shattering. You winced as a fragment caught your shoulder, thankfully not cutting you.
The paparazzo had headed back to the door. “You will never be worthy of Vanessa!” He yelled furiously before slamming the door.
Lin yelled something after him and tried to open the door again, but it had locked. “Fuck,” Lin said emphatically and kicked the door, wincing at the pain. “I hate that guy.”
You were too busy examining the wall where the paperweight had shattered. “Lin!” You pried a chunk of the wall away with your fingers- it was almost soft, “Look!”
He hurried over as you picked at the wall. “Styrofoam?” He frowned, then laughed. “That'll be Chris’ idea of trying to make the room smaller and cosier.”
You took a step back, hitched up your skirts, and kicked the wall, wobbling dangerously on your one heel. The styrofoam bricks gave way and you and Lin pushed your way through. Behind the realistically painted and stacked styrofoam was a stone spiral staircase.
Lin rushed down them immediately. “Wait up!” you called, struggling to pull off your heels. With them in hand, you ran down the stairs with your skirts lifted just enough that you wouldn’t trip. By the time you dashed into what was clearly a storeroom Lin was already peering out the single window.
“There’s a pedal boat in the moat just below the window,” he said as he climbed up onto the wide stone window ledge. “I’ll get help.”
You dropped the shoes and started to climb after him. “I’m coming,” you pointed out indignantly- as if you’d just stay in a cold castle cellar while he left! “Wait.”
Lin had already dropped into the boat and was busy untethering it from its peg in the moat. “No,” he insisted, not even looking up, “there’s water in the bottom of this- you’ll get Vanessa’s dress wet.”
You ignored him and started to climb out of the window. The dress caught on a nail. “Fuck,” you muttered and set to pulling it loose. It seemed to be stubbornly stuck and you yanked and pulled until it suddenly loosened. Balance thrown off, you felt yourself fall and reached desperately for the edge of the window.
Lin was already pulling away in the boat, but he turned back when you let out an undignified shriek followed immediately by a splash as you hit the water. The dress is wet, you thought a tiny bit hysterically. You flailed and pushed up towards the sun-dappled surface, but something pulled you back. The dress. Again.
Whatever combination of stones and rubbish had accumulated at the bottom of the moat had caught on the dress. Your feet pushed off the bottom again, hoping to tear the dress, but you didn’t move. I’m going to drown, you thought, almost resigned. A little way away you could see the shadow of the boat. Made clumsy and slow by the water, you struggled to release your dress.
But you had no more air and your chest was tight and the edges of your vision were beginning to blur and you watched your last bubbles of air drift up towards the surface. You closed your eyes and thought of your mother.
--
Lin saw you disappear into the water and swore. You just had to follow him, didn’t you? He waited for you to resurface, wincing when he imagined the state Vanessa’s dress would be in. She might actually murder him for this.
You still hadn’t come up for air. Lin frowned, and then started to pull off his suit jacket, tossing it into the boat. He took a deep breath and dived, opening his eyes once he was under water.
You were floating there and for a moment his heart stopped. Then he saw the dress, caught firmly on something metal. He swam down and pulled. The dress resisted. He tried again. You’d been under too long.
He yanked instead at the seam and, with a water-muffled tear, the skirt of the dress tore. Lin tore it clean off and, hooking an arm around you, kicked for the surface. You were heavy and waterlogged but Lin made it to the edge of the moat and lifted you up onto the grass.
Every moment that you didn’t breathe seemed to last an eternity. He climbed up onto the bank beside you and carefully rolled you onto your side and opened your mouth. Would he have to do CPR? He thought back to the first-aid classes he had taken in college and wished he had paid more attention.
Before he could decide what to do you coughed. Water dribbled out of your mouth and you panted, relief in the set of your shoulders. Then you spotted Lin leaning over you.
“Thanks,” you managed, then noticed your dress. Lin’s tearing had reduced it to a mini-dress, the hem just barely covering your underwear. You blushed and Lin laughed.
“Sorry about the dress,” he said, averting his eyes as you struggled to tug it lower.
“It’s my fault,” you pointed out and scrambled to your feet.
--
“Where now?”
You walked along the sandy beach, shivering in the windy and cold that never seemed to leave the island. You held the torn dress down to cover your underwear and Lin walked along beside you, clothes soaked.
“My house isn’t far,” you said, teeth chattering, “we can change there.”
Lin had wanted to set out looking for Vanessa immediately but you had pointed out that neither of you would be much use to her with hypothermia. Plus you were more likely to draw attention in your current outfits and, since the paparazzi hopefully still thought you and Lin were in the castle, not the best of ideas.
“Thank you for saving my life,” you said.
“You’ve still got so much of it left,” Lin pointed out, “It seems a waste. I’m sorry you almost drowned.”
You smiled. “Don’t be- my life flashed before my eyes down there, and I was bored halfway through.” You turned off the beach and started along the rocky path to your home, Lin easily keeping pace beside you, “I want to do something more.”
“You can,” Lin said, “the world is waiting for you, Y/N.”
You snorted as you pulled the spare key out from inside the fake bird-feeder and unlocked the door. “The world isn’t waiting for a small island in the Hebrides, Lin.”
Lin frowned and looked like he was about to argue, but you beckoned him inside. The house was deliciously warm after the biting cold outside, and it appeared to be empty.
You took Lin into the kitchen and set the kettle to boil. “I’ll grab you something to wear,” you told him and dashed upstairs.
You grabbed yourself some clothes and rooted around in your cupboard until you found a neat pile of clothes. Your first boyfriend- a cute, scruffy, arty boy boy from Aberdeen called Douglas- had left them behind and never come back for them. They did, admittedly, consist of an absurd pair of tartan trousers, a hideous yellow and paisley-patterned shirt, and a fluffy gilet-like jacket, but it was all you had.
Lin was pouring tea when you arrived in the kitchen again. He raised an eyebrow when you handed him the clothes, but didn’t complain. There was a washing line that stretched across the kitchen and you pegged a sheet to it for a little privacy. You set a timer for the tea- you’d forget it if you didn’t.
The stockings- laddered and torn- were the easiest to get off. Twisting your arms behind you, you started to undo the long line of buttons that trailed down your back. At first they were easy, but then you couldn’t reach, so you reached from above. But a couple of buttons still stayed stubbornly unreachable. You took a deep breath.
“Lin?” you asked tentatively. Lin lifted the curtain. You turned around so he could see the last few buttons, looking back over your shoulder.
“Need a hand?” he stepped past the curtain, letting it fall back into place behind him. He had taken off his shirt, his undershirt tucked up and still wet enough to cling to him.
You looked away, forcing yourself to focus on the rain that had started to batter against the windows again. But when you felt his fingers brush against your skin as he undid the buttons, you shivered. You felt Lin still for a moment.
The timer for the tea went and Lin jumped. He undid the last button quickly and headed over to pull out the teabags, sticking them in the compost. You focused on your breathing and finished getting changed.
A mistake, you told yourself firmly as Lin cheerfully asked if you took milk or sugar, and not one that can happen again.
--
Lin emerged from behind the curtain, rolling up the sleeves of the shirt you had lent him. You stifled a laugh at the sight of him in your ex-boyfriend’s clothes. The tartan trousers fit alright, though their orange and red pattern clashed horribly with the shirt. The gilet-like jacket was fluffy and the same orange as the trousers, with bits of the fluff sticking out weirdly or squashed flat from being in the cupboard for a couple of years.
“Quite a look,” Lin laughed. “Whose were these?”
“My ex-boyfriend’s,” you handed him his tea, “he played in a bagpipe band called Hot Red Chili Pipers- the band’s quite successful now but he’s not in it anymore.”
The radiators in the living room were the warmest, so you and Lin headed through to warm up. Other than your bedrooms, it was the only part of the house that guests weren’t allowed to stay in. Even B&B owners needed privacy, however infrequent their guests.
“It’s not much,” you said, abruptly aware of how rural your house must seem compared to a fancy New York apartment.
“I like it,” Lin looked around, gaze landing on the line of photos along the mantel above the fireplace. Photos of you as a baby, as a frowning toddler, a child on her first day at school- your life in wooden frames. You never realised how much of your life stayed at home every time you went away.
You settled yourself on the carpet by the radiator, hoping your hair would dry quickly at least. A warm shower would have been nice, you thought wistfully, but the hot water wasn’t reliable on the best of days.
Lin sat down beside you. “What now?” he asked. He slid the ring off his finger and held it up. “What do we do about this?”
“We’ll go to the vicar- he’s married everyone on his island,” you paused, considering the simple gold ring on your finger. “Well, everyone except me, I suppose. But he’ll know what to do.”
Lin pulled out his phone. “It’s broken,” he pressed the home button but the screen stayed black. “I don’t suppose you have a landline?”
You reached over to the rickety coffee table and pulled the landline towards you. “Do you know her number?” you asked.
He bit his lip but, after a moment, nodded. “I need to know if she’s alright.” He took the phone and started to punch in the number before he seemed to realise he’d need to add the country code for Vanessa’s American phone. You got up and started to walk out. “Where are you going?” Lin asked.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” you said, nodding vaguely towards the kitchen.
--
You washed up the last few plates from that morning’s breakfast and tried to ignore the strange feeling that had seemed to well up inside you when Lin had asked to call Vanessa. It wasn’t like you had feelings for him, you told yourself. The gold ring, which you had taken off to do the washing up, seemed to sit almost accusatorially on the window sill.
The front door opened, jarring you out of your thoughts. “Y/N!” your mother’s familiar voice sounded from down the hallway, “Grab your shoes and a waterproof bag!”
She appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, hair blown into disarray by the wind that was starting to get up outside, her old yellow macintosh damp still damn from that morning’s rain. You set the plate you had been washing down in the sink, curious. “What?”
Behind her, you saw Lin leave the sitting room, a frown creasing his forehead into worried lines. “There’s money all over the cove,” she said, “but not for long- we need to hurry if we want to get it!”
You raised an eyebrow and sighed. Though you weren’t struggling to get by, your mother had been saving for years for a chance to travel the world. Raising you on dwindling funds and the proceeds of a tiny bed and breakfast hadn’t left much room for much saving, and you knew your constant attempts to leave weren’t helping either. But as much as you sympathised, your mother did tend to get a bit… fanatic about it.“What money?” you decided to ask instead.
Your mother tossed you the hand towel. “The money I got from selling that Miranda guy’s story to the press,” she said impatiently. “They’re all outside the castle waiting, but his fiancee made me throw the money away.”
You felt sick swooping sensation in your stomach and clapped a hand to your mouth. “You did what?” you whispered.
“I see what this is,” Lin stepped into the kitchen. He looked furious, clutching his mug so tightly that you worried he would break it, “This is a nice little scheme you have set up here.”
“Lin-”
“Who is this?” your mother demanded, wheeling to face Lin.
You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. “This is Lin, Mum.”
“Lin,” she repeated, and you saw the moment she realised. “Lin-Manuel Miranda.”
He nodded. “So what was the plan? You sell out my wedding while she makes cow-eyes at me in hope of another payday?”
“Cow eyes?” you said indignantly. “I was not making cow eyes at anyone, thank you very much-”
Lin slammed the mug down on the countertop. “I hope you’re happy,” he snarled and stormed out.
“Lin wait-” you called, but the door was already slamming behind him. You watched him walk away through the kitchen window. You felt tears well and hastily wiped them away.
“Y/N,” your mother said quietly, “I’m sorry.” She opened her arms and pulled you into a hug. You clutched at the fabric of her jumper for a moment.
“I messed up, Mum,” you said, throat thick. You remembered the sadness you had seen on Lin’s face before the fury had set in and winced, “I really messed up.”
Summary: You never thought helping a tourist out would make such an impact on your life.
Word count: 3214
Warnings: a swearword or two, mentions of dragon slaying
Author’s notes: This is a completely platonic piece. No romance. None at all. I wrote it because, as someone eloquently put it, “I just want to be friends with Lin, is that so much to ask?”. This is exactly how my meeting with Lin would go down in a perfect universe. Self-indulgent? You bet.
At first I wanted to include a scene where reader tries to teach Lin a bit of their language, but it just didn’t want to fit anywhere. Maybe I’ll post it separately later, since it was pretty hysterical. Polish is a hard language to learn, guys.
Also, the reader’s gender neutral!
(Just a warning - I’m not a native English speaker, so this might be a little awkward in some places. If you notice any mistakes, please point them out to me!)
“Co podać?” (“How can I serve you?”)
“Miętowe z czekoladą, poproszę” (“Mint and chocolate, please”), you said to the vendor, already excited to taste the sweet treat. It was the nineteenth of May, and that was your first ice cream this year. You always had to be careful about eating frozen food, since you were prone to catching colds, but the air was perfectly warm. An ideal day to enjoy some minty goodness.
You’ve been lucky this semester: no classes on Fridays. At first, you’ve been planning to get some work done, but seeing the pleasant weather outside you decided to get some “you” time. It’s been a while since you’ve taken a break, and your skin was yearning for sunlight.
You strolled down Basztowa Street, observing both people rushing towards the shopping mall and crows hanging around the park on your left. You liked this place; it was right in the heart of Cracow, but it never felt truly crowded, probably thanks to the greenbelt surrounding the Old Town. It was a perfect spot to people watch; something about here made you feel less lonely. Well, at least less than usual.
It was hard, starting university in a whole new city. Even though you were familiar with Cracow before, thanks to many weekend trips, living on your own was still challenging. You found yourself missing your family a lot. Making friends never came easy to you, so most of your free time was spent exploring the city and expanding your Spotify library. Not exactly what you thought life would look like at this point, but it was nice enough. Usually.
You were about to head towards the main square and check out your favourite bookstore when you noticed a man standing nearby and looking around frantically. He was the only stationary person in the smooth flow of pedestrians. That, combined with the lost expression on his face, made him stand out like a sore thumb. Was he lost?
He must have felt you staring, as he caught your eye in a matter of seconds. To your surprise he started walking right towards you. You bristled reflexively; he was definitely older than you, more or less in his mid-thirties. There was no telling what he was about to do.
“Excuse me”, he said, looking at you like you were his last hope. “Do you speak English?”
Oh. Just a tourist, then, you thought, relaxing a bit. It explained why he looked so lost.
“Sure. Can I help you?”
His relief was almost palpable. “Yes, thank you! I’ve been looking for an ATM for like, half an hour already, all those streets look the same and no one I asked was able to guide me…”
His voice sounded vaguely familiar, but you were unable to put your finger on it.
“Oh, okay”, you replied, trying to think of the best way around. “You need to go down this lane,” you gestured to a nearby street, “then turn right, go straight ahead, turn left into the third street you pass, and then the ATM should be right around…”
You stopped, watching the guy. The lost look was back on his face, and you were sure he wouldn’t be able to follow your directions properly. There was no denying that the streets of Cracow could very well be a maze to someone who didn’t know their way around.
“You know what,” you said, “it’ll probably be faster if I just go with you.”
The man brightened at the suggestion.
“Would you? I mean, thank you, but I don’t want to take so much of your time…”
“It’s fine”, you waved your hand. “I don’t really have anything to do right now. Might as well help a guy out.”
You started walking, the guy matching your pace. The silence felt a bit awkward, so you decided to make some small talk on the way.
“So I gather that you’re not from around”, you started. “Just a short visit or are you planning to stay?”
“Nah, I’m only here for a week”, he replied. “A friend invited me. Never been to Eastern Europe before.”
“Do you like it so far?”
“Yes, a lot! It has this… quaint feeling?” He gestured to the tenements around you. “It feels like time travel, a bit. Those buildings are older than my country. It’s incredible.”
“Oh, are you from the US?”, you realised. That’s what his accent suggested, but you weren’t sure before. Most native English speakers sounded more or less the same to your ears, unless they spoke with a heavy drawl.
“Yeah! You ever been there?”
You laughed.
“No, and I don’t think I ever will. Applying for a visa is a pain in the ass.”
The smile on the guy’s face dimmed a little.
“Right, I forgot you guys still have to get visas. That’s a shame.”
You shrugged. “It’s alright. Not really a fan of the US, to be honest.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Well,”, you started, without thinking too much, “your gun laws are ridiculous, for once. You don’t have Kinder Surprise eggs, too, and no paid maternity leave. The country was more or less built on genocide and slavery. Most of your population are kids of immigrants, and yet there’s so much xenophobia and racism. And don’t even get me started on your last elections, that was ridiculous...”
You ended your rant abruptly, realising your mistake a second too late. You didn’t know anything about this guy and you just insulted his home country. In a big way. You knew your inability to shut up would one day put you in big trouble, and it seemed like the day has finally come.
A heartbeat later, however, the man begin to laugh. A wave of relief crashed through you. Thank God he wasn’t offended, or this situation might have become really unpleasant.
“Fair enough”, he said, a trace of laugher still noticeable in his voice. “I can’t say I don’t agree. But there are lots of cool things about America too, you know. Oh, and by the way,” he extended his hand to you, “I’m Lin.”
“Y/N”, you replied, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Your little chat was going so well, you didn’t even notice that you managed to arrive at the ATM in the meantime. A part of you was reluctant to leave Lin. You had fun talking to him; it made you feel much less lonely. Still, he was a stranger, and it probably wasn’t like someone more than a decade younger than him would be his ideal company on vacations, anyway.
You accompanied him as he did his withdrawal, making sure he didn’t struggle with operating the ATM. As far as you knew, most of them had the option to switch to English, but they could’ve been different from the US ones.
Things went smoothly, though. As Lin pocketed his cash, you fidgeted a bit.
“So, I guess you’re on your way to check out the rest of the city. Hope you have fun and don’t get lost again”, you said, turning around to leave.
“Wait”, he blurted out. Surprised, you stayed in your spot. “My friend works late tonight, so I’m on my own here, and… would you mind showing me around a bit?”
The request caught you off guard. He actually wanted to spend more time with you? Was this some kind of a trick? He seemed nice, sure, but who knew if he wasn’t actually a thief, or a kidnapper, or just some sort of a creep? Your doubts clashed with the good first impression, and you found yourself unable to find your words.
Lin, noticing your silence, started to fret. “I mean, you don’t know me, and you’re probably busy, it’s fine, I just-“
You took a deep breath. It’s not as if you were in some sort of deserted place, you figured. There were lots of people around; it was unlikely he would try any funny business. And it wasn’t like you had anything better to do, really.
“Sure”, you said, interrupting him. “I, um, have a day off anyway. Didn’t make any plans. So, yeah, if you want to…”
The look of surprise on his face was quickly replaced with a bright smile. “Thanks! So, where to now?”
You showed Lin the Old Town, making sure to point out all the famous landmarks. You didn’t know all that much about the city’s history, but Lin didn’t seem to mind. Everything fascinated him – from the Veit Stoss altarpiece, to Wyspiański’s stained glass windows in St. Francis church, to the Wawel Castle. He seemed to enjoy Polish food, too, which you were adamant he tries at least once. In turn, he insisted on buying some grain to feed the pigeons on the main square, laughing as five of them sat on his shoulders.
It should’ve felt weird, hanging out with a much older guy that you barely knew, but you were really enjoying yourself. Making friends with Lin was easy, and you were glad for his company. It gave you an opportunity to hone your English, as well as see the familiar city with new eyes. And he was just fun - asking interesting questions, constantly joking around, never missing a chance to do something silly and make you laugh.
You were in a souvenir shop, with Lin determined to at least consider buying every tacky thing he laid his eyes upon, when your phone suddenly ringed. “SILENCE! A MESSAGE FROM THE KING!” You reached into your pocket to read your message.
“Nice ringtone”, said Lin in a teasing tone. He was looking at mugs with traditional folk prints, but you could tell his focus suddenly shifted to you for some reason. He looked almost… nervous?
“Thanks”, you said. “It’s my mum’s text notification. Thought it’d be funny. You know Hamilton?”
“Yeah”, he replied somewhat absentmindedly, still eyeing the mugs.
“Well, figures, it’s much more of a thing in the US. Not many people here have heard about it”, you said, pocketing your phone and turning to browse through tote bags.
“So how come you know it?”
“Spotify thought I’d like it, and it was right”, you grinned. “It’s really good. Wish I could see it live.”
“But that’d require travelling to that hated US”, Lin joked.
You shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anyway, I don’t have the cash.”
Lin finally settled on some postcards and a plushie of the Wawel Dragon and you returned to the main square to rest a bit and enjoy the afternoon. It was around six PM, and though there was quite a lot of people, the place didn’t feel crowded. You sat on a fairly secluded bench, watching the horse carriages come and go. The clopping of hooves on the cobblestone was one of your favourite sounds, lulling you into a peaceful state.
You glanced in Lin’s direction, your attention focusing on the green plushie in his bag. It occurred to you that you hadn’t visited the statue on Vistula’s bank. A shame, since it was funny to watch people’s reactions when it started to breathe fire.
“Do you even know the Wawel dragon’s story?”
“There’s a story?”, Lin asked in return, taking the toy out of the bag.
“Oh yeah. Everyone knows it. One of the Polish classics.”
“Well then, would you mind telling me?”
“Okay, so,” you began, “there’s this den under the castle hill, right? In the legendary times of king Krakus, a dragon lived there. It was a nuisance, mostly, setting things on fire, eating livestock, killing people… You know, general dragon-y things. So the king said that whoever killed it would get to marry his daughter. It was a pretty sweet deal, so many valiant knights tried to slay the beast. They all failed, though. By which I mean died.”
Lin giggled.
“Then, one day, instead of another knight, a shoemaker’s apprentice showed up and said he would kill the dragon. He stuffed a sheep skin with sulphur and left it outside the den. The dragon soon found and ate it, and because of the sulphur, it started to feel like it was burning inside. It figured that water should fix this problem, so it went to the Vistula river and started drinking. It drank so much, its belly kept swelling with all the water, and finally it exploded. The apprentice married the king’s daughter and became the next king, and they lived happily ever after.”
“That’s one cool story”, Lin grinned. “Now I’m even more glad I bought the plushie.”
“It’s short and simple, but it’s a good one. And the moral rings true.”
“What moral, exactly? Don’t eat sulphur?”
“Well,” you said, looking at the Sukiennice hall, “Hamilton has basically the same one, doesn’t it? Anyone can become someone, if they’re clever and use their head. A bit cliché, but still relevant.”
You glanced at Lin. He kept staring at the plushie dragon, looking thoughtful.
“Think that’s the message of Hamilton?”
“Well, it’s a complicated story with many possible morals to find, I guess. It’s also about finding your voice, supporting your family, the conflict between patience and drive, about legacy, and knowing when to push on and when to take a break… But the ‘zero to hero’ one seems the most important to me. Hamilton’s story proves that hard work pays off. It says so right in the first verses, right? How does a bastard, orphan… and so on… grow up to be a hero and a scholar? He got a lot farther by working a lot harder, by being a lot smarter, by being a self-starter.”
You started rapping the verses at the end, earning a laugh from Lin. “Hey, that was mean. I know it was probably the whitest rap you’ve ever heard, but I’m trying.”
“No, it was pretty good.”
“I can hear the sarcasm in your voice. Think you can do it better?”
“And what if I can?” Lin’s smirk kept getting bigger.
“Oh, it’s a bet now? Well, I guess I could get you a coffee. But there’s no way you’d do better than my rendition of My Shot.”
“You’re on.”
You got off the bench. The hours you spent rapping along to My Shot were now finally gonna pay off. There was no way you were going to lose this.
You rapped the whole first part, stopping right before Lafayette’s verses. You were quite pleased with yourself: didn’t need to stop for breath, got all the lyrics right… There was free coffee in your near future, and you could almost taste it already.
Lin clapped enthusiastically, grinning at your performance.
“Okay”, you said, sitting down. “Now it’s your turn.”
Lin hesitated for a second. Then he hopped off the bench and stretched his arms, which earned him a laugh. Smirking, he cleared his throat and began rapping, starting at “I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory”.
And your jaw dropped.
He finished after one chorus and looked at you smugly.
You still couldn’t quite believe what your ears were telling you. But there was no mistaking that voice. Now you knew why it sounded familiar from the start.
“So I believe you owe me coffee”, said Lin, still grinning like crazy.
You struggled to find your words.
“That was unfair”, you managed at last.
Lin shrugged. “Never said I was gonna play fair.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t realise earlier.” Now that you knew, it seemed so obvious.
“Can’t believe you listened to it often enough to memorise the lyrics, but never once saw a picture of my face.”
“I was gonna check out a bootleg recording… after my exams.”
“Bootleg? Really?” Lin looked displeased.
“It’s not like I can fly over an ocean to watch it live”, you said defensively.
“Well,” Lin smiled at you. “Why not?”
You stared at him.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am, though.”
”I still can’t afford the trip, even if you could get me tickets.”
“That’s really not a problem.”
“And why would you do that for me, anyway?” You raised your eyebrows. “I’m just a fan you met at some exotic European country on vacations. And quite a shitty one at that, because I didn’t even recognise you. You’re saying that you’re willing to pay for my plane, a hotel room, my ticket, and then fly me back?”
You couldn’t interpret the look on Lin’s face. Was it… disbelief? Disappointment?
“You’re not just a fan”, he said with a serious voice. “You’re Y/N who helped me find an ATM in this maze. Who agreed to spend their day off with a stranger giving him a tour of their city, free of charge – free of any ulterior motives, in fact. Who showed me all the best places around, fed me great food, told me a local fairytale. Without you, I’d probably waste most of that time on getting lost, and never find half of those amazing things you showed me. So, yeah, I’m willing to fly you to the US. Mostly so I can prove you wrong about that country and make you enjoy your stay as much as I enjoyed today. But also because I’d just like to see you again. I had fun.”
“So… you had fun with a fan?”
Lin groaned. “And they say that rhyming “son” with “sun” was bad.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself”, you grinned. “It’s just… it all seems kinda unreal, you know?”, you gestured in his general direction. “I was just casually enjoying an ice cream this morning, and now Lin-Manuel Miranda is inviting me to the US at his expense. What’s next? Mark Hamill showing up and asking me to be an extra in the new Star Wars?”
Lin laughed.
“Well, if you’d like to, that could be arranged…”
“No”, you interrupted him. “God, no. That’s enough of surreal stuff for one day, thank you very much. Can we… go back to when you were just a nice foreign guy I randomly met? Without all that being famous, my-shows-were-on-Broadway, I-sell-out-theatres stuff?”
Lin’s smile dimmed a little.
“There’s no escaping my celebrity status, eh? Even here, half a globe away.”
You stopped, looking at him. He was right. Even on vacations on a different continent, he had no break from being the Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“I’m sorry”, you said, biting your lip.
Lin shrugged. “Well, it was to be expected. Felt nice, though, being able to be just… Lin. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to walk around a city and be completely anonymous.”
You fell silent for a moment.
“I’m sorry”, you repeated. “It’s not like you changed in any way in the last twenty minutes. It’s just hard not to look at you differently when I found out you’re the guy I’m listening to on repeat every day. I’ve never met anyone even remotely famous before.”
“It’s fine. If I shut up before and didn’t bring up Hamilton, you probably would never recognise me”, he laughed a little.
“Fair enough. So,” you held out your hand to him. “I suggest we just go back to being Y/N and Lin, unlikely friends bonded by an ATM hunt. What do you think?”
Summary: Could you do a Lin x reader where Lin and the reader have been friends all throughout the early stages of Hamilton and when it finally gets to the first show on broadway, just before Lin is about to go on, he tells the reader how appreciative he is of them always being there and stuff? Maybe fill it with tons of fluff and stuff? Thanks
As you approached the door to the dressing room, you could hear heavy footsteps and faint mumblings on the other side. Knowing what was going on in there, you quickly opened the door to see Lin pacing across the room, fully dressed in his costume.
“Lin,” you say. He turns his head up from the floor to look at you.
“Hey,” he says, giving you a weak smile.
“What's up? Why are you pacing around your dressing room?” you asked, already knowing the answer.
“I'm just,” he begins, nervously running a hand through his slicked back hair. “I'm just so nervous. I mean, what if nobody likes the show? What if they think it's stupid and they hate it?” He lets out a shaky breath, finally sitting down on the couch. You join him and take his hand in yours.
“I love you Lin, but seriously, shut the fuck up.” He looks up at you, slightly annoyed.
“Not helping,” he mutters.
You roll your eyes but continue nonetheless. “You have nothing to worry about. The show is amazing, the cast is crazy talented, and the audience will fucking love it.”
“But what if they don't?” he asks.
“Then fuck ‘em. If they don't like the show then something's wrong with them, not you.” You start to rub slow circles on the back of Lin’s hand. “I’m telling you, you have nothing to worry about,” you say, dropping your volume down to barely above a whisper. “I've seen you bust your ass everyday for this show, and now is the time for all that shit to pay off, so go out there and knock it out of the park.” You smile at him and bring a hand to the back of his neck to run your fingers through the ends of his hair.
Lin leans over and rests his head on your shoulder, letting out a content sigh. “Thanks,” he says. “I really needed this.”
“I know you did.”
“Cast and crew, this is your five minute call, please go to your places.” Lin tenses up at the announcement, but slowly starts to relax again.
“You’ll do fine,” you say quietly. The two of you stand up and hug.
“I love you,” he whispers into your neck.
“I love you too,” you whisper back. You then step back from the hug and pat his back playfully.
pairing: lin manuel miranda x reader, daveed diggs x reader
summary: Your cousin Anthony drags you along to one of his neighbor’s infamous parties with his girlfriend, keeping you from a night in. Mr. Miranda, the host, is a mysterious man, but that isn’t the part that gets to you.
warnings: smut, cheating, lil bit of angst, 1920s slang(??), my portrayal of a 1920s burn, lots of fluff
words: 6660 (im so sorry for so many reasons yall)
a/n: Alternatively titled: Poor Anthony™
hi guys i swear i still write stuff! it’s just been a crazy last month, but I’ve finally finished this part! I’m so sorry it took so long, I feel kinda bad about it, but I hope it was worth the wait!
I figured out the only bright side to burning my arm this past week and treating it at home; firsthand research and experience for TMM! I learned more in 2 days than the 2 weeks I had spent researching the topic.
Thank you to @psychedemigod for keeping me company while I was writing a lot of this and helping out here and there, and thank you to @secretschuylersister for being so supportive and reading it over, leaving much-appreciated commentary.
If you want to be tagged in the next parts, just shoot me an ask! I absolutely love to hear feedback from anybody and everybody, I can’t begin to express how much it means to me.
part one part two part three part four part five part six part seven part eight part nine
SLANG TRANSLATIONS:
Barneymugging — Lovemaking
Now you're on the trolley! — Now you've got it!
Slimp—Cheapskate or “one-way guy”.
“Her heart sank into her shoes as she realized at last how much she wanted him. No matter what his past was, no matter what he had done. Which was not to say that she would ever let him know, but only that he had moved her chemically more than anyone she had ever met, that all other men seemed pale beside him.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Daveed! Stay still!” You let out a soft laugh, tightening your grip on Daveed’s arm slightly to keep it in place as he moved it around, preventing you from dousing the burn in lavender oil.
It was your fifth day home from the hospital and the eighth day since the accident, and frankly, Daveed’s burn was not doing terribly well. He had developed a mild infection just a couple days after the fire so you were informed to treat it with the finest of essential oils.
Every morning, you poured enough oil on the injury to cover it, and it always had your husband writing in pain for a few moments. The pain seemed to subside only moments later, but it was enough to keep him dreadful of the treatment.
Once the oil had dried, you were to wrap the entire arm in a bandage wrap to keep it from outside toxins that could be harmful. However, Daveed was a bit irritable after the initial pain of the lavender, so he always argued the most trivial things.
“You aren’t doing it right!” He protested while trying to grab the bandage from your hand.
“I have been doing this two times a day for eight days, five of those days at home on my own. For the last time, I think I know how to change your bandages.”
“Mary taught me how to change the bandages as well, darling. It must be done left to right and bottom to top.”
“What are you talking about? I have been doing it top to bottom and right to left since the very first time.” You tied the end of the bandage once it was wrapped around his arm snugly. “I reckon it doesn’t much matter anyhow. Let’s continue to wrap it this way, alright dear?”
Although Daveed’s face scrunched up at your suggestion, he kept his arm relaxed in your hold. “If you insist.”
“I do.” You leaned in to press your lips to his cheek briefly and let out a laugh. “You can have your arm back now.”
He squirmed around for a second before turning some knobs on the radio nearby, tuning into the local station. “Have we got any plans for the day?”
After passing the extra bandages and bottle of oil over to a servant, you propped your legs on the ottoman by your couch, positioned to face Daveed. “Well, Anthony invited me to tea this afternoon, so I reckon Ferdie will drive me to his cottage in West Egg rather soon here.”
Daveed ran his long fingers up and down your arm absently as you spoke, a tactic he typically used to relieve you from stress, and it never ceased to do just that. “Just tea? No funny business?”
“No funny business, I’m hoping. Frankly, I’m growing tired of such games.” The smile you flashed your husband had nervous undertones that you hoped he wouldn’t notice. Not because you knew something he didn’t, but due to the simple fact that he now knew almost exactly as much as you did.
Anthony had asked you to come to tea alone, which did seem like a reasonable request to you, but if Daveed knew that information and that Anthony refused to divulge any details of your tea aside from time and place, he would insist on joining you, on account of something feeling just a bit off. The risk felt far too significant to let any details, or lack thereof, slip.
“You let me know if any of that craziness ensues and I’ll be sure--”
“Darling,” you interrupted. “I’ll be alright, trust me. It’s only tea with my cousin, I’ll be home before you even know I left.”
“I trust you both. I just worry about you, you know.”
“Don’t. If anyone should worry, it’s me for you. I haven’t yet left your side since you set yourself on fire. Will you be alright for a few hours?”
“I’ll be quite alright, dear. Truly, I don’t require as much care as you believe. All I’ve to do today is change the bandage before bed. Simple. I’ll even wrap it your way to keep you satisfied.”
You couldn’t help your soft chuckle at his words as you leaned into his gentle, assuring touches. “You should rest while I’m gone. Heaven knows you aren’t getting near enough.”
“It’s merely half past two!”
“Your sleep has been restless all week, Daveed. I expect you to be asleep when I arrive home.”
His grumbling protests only lasted a few seconds before your sharp glare cut them off and he sighed in submission. “I suppose.”
“Thank you. Now, I must get ready. Otherwise, I’ll be late for tea.”
“Well, go on, now, I don’t want to hold you back!”
You pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek before turning to walk towards your bedroom, calling back to him, “Well, don’t sound so anxious to get rid of me, deary!”
A subsequent laugh rang out from behind you, causing a smile to tug at your own lips as you shuffled through your large closet.
You shifted through several dresses of different styles and colors before settling on a salmon colored dress with matching faux rose petals hanging off as decoration. It had a halter neck, though it appeared strapless since the top half was a sheer chiffon that was hardly notable. The waist on it was a fitted ribbon that tied in the back, rather than your typical front-tie dress, and the skirt flared out slightly until it stopped right at your knee.
Mumbling various ideas to yourself, you found a few casual accessories to pair with the dress, then began changing from your beige colored day outfit. As you accessorized your outfit, you hung a brand new pair of rose-gold earrings from your ears and slipped a matching Cartier Trinity Ring onto your right ring finger. You also clipped a diamond studded headpiece into your hair to hold it out of your face all evening.
After looking through your ever-growing collection of bracelets, you decided on a four strand set of pearls for one wrist and a diamond cuff for the other, both of which rested atop your white, fishnetted gloves, each held in place with a ribbon tied in a bow.
Once you applied a light pink lipstick, pulled a white fur cardigan over your shoulders, and slipped on beige heels, you were finally ready to walk out the door. “Ferdie! Ferdie, I’m all ready to leave for Anthony’s house,” you called out across the mansion, hoping your driver would locate you quickly.
“You know, Daveed... If you rest now, you’ll hardly even notice I’m gone.” Your voice was a bit teasing as you spoke to him, but he responded with soft laughter, standing up to give you a quick good-bye kiss.
“I suppose we’ll just have to see, Y/N. Enjoy yourself. Tell Anthony I say hi, won’t you? I ought to take him to The Yale Club for lunch some time.”
You returned the peck to his lips. “Of course, dear. I’ll be sure to let him know.”
When you arrived at Anthony’s little cottage amongst the mansions just thirty minutes later, rain was pouring down as thunder roared in the distance, puddles forming on the ground where you would usually step out of the car. Thankfully, Ferdie had pulled right up to the stepping stones that brought you to your cousins front door, so that was the path you took with your driver's umbrella overhead.
Before you even got the chance to knock, Anthony was greeting you outside of the door in a green sweater vest and red striped bowtie. This immediately put a smile on your face. “Now, why did I have to come alone, my dearest one?” You raised a curious eyebrow at him.
“Send away your driver before I show you.” His expression was just as mysterious as your own, though his wide smile was a bit crooked.
“Ferdie! Come back in an hour!” You waved the driver off and immediately turned your attention back to the man leading you inside, a coy smile toying on your lips now. “What, are you in love with me, deary?”
Unfortunately for you, your cousin knew better than to play these games with you because they always seemed to land him in awkward situations. Your coy remark was just met with laughter and an eye roll.
“Well? Are we going to have tea, or will we just stand around here lamely?”
“I’ll make the tea and meet you in the sitting room, how’s that sound?”
“Splendid.” You flashed a grin then made your way to the sitting room where you were greeted by hundreds of flowers. Orchids, to be exact, which had always been your favorite, and they were in a variety of colors.
The largest of the bouquets were a combination of white and pale green orchids, and those displays occupied more than half of the entire room. However, a couple smaller bouquets consisted solely of light pink orchids with a yellow lip and creamy undertones.
Upon closer inspection, you saw an array of brightly colored macarons, two-inch strawberry cake squares, and a few other small desserts, sitting on the coffee table. This piqued your curiosity.
Anthony had never been one for making casual events extravagant, but maybe that had changed. Perhaps it was your birthday and you simply forgot. A whirlwind of ideas whipped through your mind.
“Oh, it’s absolutely beautiful! What's the occasion, my dearest?”
You grazed your fingers across the soft petals of several flowers as you explored the small room, again lost deep in thought by the time he had entered the room. You expected an answer to tear you from your thoughts but instead, it was Anthony brushing past you to look into his back yard.
His expression was bewildered, though probably not to the same degree as your own, but that wasn't the point. Quickly flicking his head over his shoulder, he rushed around the small room as if something important was missing. There most certainly was some funny business going on at this meet-up; not a single word had left his mouth since he wandered into the kitchen for tea.
Suddenly, the doorbell ring filled the entire cottage and Anthony rushed to answer it. As you examined the flower bouquets closely, you heard hushed arguing between two people in the next room. Their tones were rather rushed and frantic, but when you peered towards the doorway, the other frame was hidden.
You went back to admiring the flowers. They were extremely high-quality orchids, something only sold by the best florists in New York or grown in personal hothouses by the wealthy. However, Anthony didn’t have money like that at his disposal. Even though he came from a wealthy family, he lived in a shack at $80 a month and worked in the stock market business.
In fact, only one person stuck out in your mind, and that was… No, it couldn’t be. You twirled around on your feet to take another glance at the men in the doorway, but the answer you had been avoiding was standing four feet from you in a white suit.
None other than Lin-Manuel Miranda, the man who hadn’t reached out to you in over a week, not even to apologize for his behavior, stood before you. One hand was stuffed in the left pocket of his pant pocket, thumb hooked into the belt band as water dripped off of him slowly. He was frozen in place for a few moments before he straightened out his gold bowtie and powder blue vest, staring at the ground with his mouth agape.
Taking in a sharp breath, you finally found a few words to squeak out with two raised eyebrows. “Well? Are you going to speak?”
“I-I... Ho-How are you, darling?” The man stumbled on his words nervously, tapping his fingers against his leg, and he finally managed to turn his gaze to meet your eyes.
You quickly turned your eyes away and hesitantly moved to Anthony’s sofa, tucking your legs underneath your body as you sat. “My husband set himself on fire last week.”
Lin appeared quite taken aback by this, if the way his eyes went wide was anything to judge by, so you quickly deducted that the information hadn’t been relayed to him. “I’m-I’m sorry, what?”
“Not purposefully, no; he was making breakfast for me. The morning after he shared that he is in love with me.” You looked at him briefly before chuckling bitterly. “Why, that was the same evening you betrayed my trust.”
“I didn’t-” He was quick to defend himself, but realized just as quickly that it would get him nowhere.
“What are you here for, Lin?”
Once again, he was frozen. Your patience was wearing thin.
“I could just leave.”
“I-I’m sorry. I asked Anthony to set this up in order to apologize. I feel terrible for last week, darling, you must believe me. I treated you terribly.”
“Well, lucky for you, I made up with Daveed. As a matter of fact, this is the first I’ve been away from him since that night. You, on the other hand? You didn’t even call once, Lin.”
“I relayed a message through Anthony. I've been informed not to call your home, have I not?”
“That rule is of no use now that my husband knows we’ve been barney-mugging,” You pointed out blatantly, watching a blush flush across Lin’s face.
When no response came from him, you called out for Anthony. “My dearest, could you bring the tea here?”
His head immediately popped through the doorway, curls bouncing just a bit as he brought over a tray with a teapot, three teacups, lemon slices, and sugar cubes. “Sugar or lemon for either of you?” He filled up the teacups and passed one to you and Lin, dropping a sugar cube into his own.
“No.” Lin took a sip of his tea.
“I’m alright, but thank you, darling.”
Anthony just nodded once with an awkward, forced smile on his face, and he took the seat across from you.
“You never answered my question.” Lin was up and walking around while you sat on the edge of a stiff chair, gaze glued to the table before you. He found his way to the mantel which he leaned against, and if it weren’t for his trembling voice, you would think he was perfectly at ease. He was not.
You opened your mouth to speak but the mantelpiece clock he was leaning against tilted dangerously away from its proper location. Lin didn’t realize this until the clock was already falling, though he was able to reach up and fumble it around in the air to prevent it from shattering on the wood flooring. Luckily, he was able to grab hold of it with trembling fingers soon after, placing it back on the mantel where it belonged, jamming the top piece back in harshly until it fit.
Once Lin took a seat next to Anthony, he spoke again. “I’m sorry about the clock. I’ll send someone to fix it tomorrow morning.”
It seemed that Anthony didn’t expect the conversation to include him, so his expression was blank and cheeks red before he could manage proper words. “It’s an old clock.”
“Very lovely, though!” You chimed in, reaching to give his hand a gentle squeeze.
“Lovely, indeed.” Lin’s words lingered in the air for a few tense minutes.
Nobody else attempted to break the silence, so you decided to finally answer Lin’s question after the silence had become unbearable. “I have been very well, Lin. Worried. Not only for my husband but you as well.”
“Is that so?”
“Well, when you’ve not spoken to me in eight days, what else am I to do?”
Lin pursed his lips. “Look, dear, I'm very sorry. I made a terrible mistake, and I understand why you're displeased with me. I realize I should have consulted with you before saying anything unplanned, seeing as your entire marriage was on the line.”
You raised an eyebrow, unable to suppress the smirk teasing across your face. “Oh, now you're on the trolley! Go on now, Lin, I'd just love to hear more on your great mistake.”
“Of course you would,” he muttered under his breath and you could hear his eye roll without looking to the man. “I spoke in an unacceptable, unjustifiable manner. To make such personal remarks regarding a relationship I know nothing of? That makes me no better than an every day slimp.”
You tried your best to hide the amusement threatening to take over your expression, but let out a soft giggle when that become far too much effort. “Where did you learn the word slimp, darling?”
“I picked up a copy of Flapper at the newsstand just last week; it made me think of you. As I was flipping through the pages, I saw an article entitled A Flapper’s Dictionary. Well, it made me think of you, and I thought that…”
Although Lin trailed off as if he’d lost his train of thought, you had a strong feeling you knew what would have come next. He assumed knowing more words relevant to you would give him an edge on your fairly traditional husband.
That assumption would be correct, though you’d never admit it to his face.
“You picked up a magazine called Flapper on a streetcorner, on account of it reminding you of myself?”
“I-Well, yes. But! See, now I know just what flappers are all about! I feel as if I understand you much better now; the short skirts, shorter hair, rolled down socks, and by golly, your independence. It’s no wonder you’ve grown tired of your husband.”
“It seems maybe you should become a flapper as well,” you teased the man and laughed fondly as a deep pink color flushed his cheeks, his gaze dropping to the ground.
From the corner of your eye, you saw Anthony moving about in his seat anxiously, clearly no longer interested in his tea. He appeared about ready to burst from discomfort, but he was a fantastic host, not interrupting once and filling the tea cups as needed.
When he finally found a silent moment, Anthony rose from his seat and cleared his throat. “I should really get going now. I won't wander too far, should you happen to need me.”
Lin’s head whipped around at the words with a bit of worry in his eyes, looking at Anthony. “Where are you going?”
“I'm not exactly certain. I've got some errands to sort out, some gardening to work on, maybe even a book to read. I'll find something to do.” His voice was hurried, and it was evident that he desperately wanted to get out of the awkward situation. He so often found himself stuck in the worse scenarios without a real place in conversation and he was finally starting to take the initiative to avoid such events.
“Go on deary, and don't forget your coat. It may be warm, but you see that weather, now don't you?” Your eyes crinkled up at the corners in a smile when Anthony started scurrying away, making sure to grab his tan trench coat on the way out.
When Anthony had exited the house and left you and Lin alone, an awkward silence lingered in the air with tension you could slice with a knife. Lin’s fingers tapped on the table, giving him something to do, no matter how annoying it was to you. Though in his defense, he probably didn't realize it was annoying you in the first place.
You were the one to break the silence. “I've missed you,” you admitted softly with a quivering voice. “I know it's only been a week, but I desperately need you in my life. As much as possible.”
“I miss you every time we’re apart, darling. You’re my entire world. You should know that.” Lin’s voice was unwavering in the same way his love for you was unwavering and able to get through any rough patch. He was slow and cautious as his hand reached forward to rest on your own, gently entangling your fingers together, causing a more secure smile to tug at your lips.
“I know.” Your voice was but a whisper as his face moved gradually closer to yours, his cold hand reaching up to cup your cheek. “I love you far too much to stay mad at you. I truly do.”
The moment the final word of that phrase came out of your mouth, Lin’s lips were pressed to your lips in a kiss that had the butterflies in your stomach wrecking up a storm. You didn’t mind, though.
Nobody could stir up your emotions and the passion inside of you the way that Lin did, the way he always could, and there was no denying that. If you weren’t sure of it before, you were now. When he kissed you, all the stars aligned and you couldn’t be more certain that it was him. It had always been him. Not Daveed.
As your lips meshed together like two puzzle pieces, you made your way onto Lin’s lap and let your right hand grip the hair on the nape of his neck. Your lips didn’t break apart once, not even as his arms moved to wrap around your waist.
The first time the kiss broke was when Lin moved his lips down your jawline slowly, trailing down your neck in a timely fashion, and he spent just enough time on each spot to have you dying for more. It wasn’t teasing, per say, but he definitely wasn’t giving everything to you right away.
“Jesus,” you breathed out. One hand of his ran down your waist to your hip while the other rested on your arched back to keep you close to his body.
“Mm, not quite,” came his whisper in your ear. You felt the smirk as his lips brushed across your ear but ignoring his comment was easy with his hot breath just teasing against your sensitive neck.
Before too long, you were laid on your back on the small sofa with Lin’s legs on either side of you, his hands now roaming various places of your body. You only squirmed under his touch for a moment before relaxing and letting your head tilt back so his lips could wander wherever he pleased.
Lin grazed his teeth across the tender spot on your neck and sucked at it eagerly. You knew he would leave a mark or two and they wouldn’t go unnoticed by Daveed when you got home, but as you laid beneath the man, gasping at his touches and moaning his name breathily, you couldn’t bring yourself to care.
“We’re still at An-” You started to half heartedly remind your lover of your location when his touch ghosted along your inner thigh beneath your dress, eliciting a gasp from you and stopping your sentence in its tracks. Just seconds later, you had forgotten what you were going to say.
You were consumed by the feeling of his hands on your body, so much so that you hardly noticed a new pet name fall from his lips in a husky tone. “Shh… Don’t speak, baby. My house is just across the way if we must.”
“Jesus,” you moaned under your breath when his lips trailed up to your ear where his teeth nipped at your earlobe. “I don't want to get up.”
“You don’t have to, then,” Lin whispered in your ear, his dull nails digging into your thighs now, sending a shiver up your spine.
As you arched your back off the couch, you gripped a knitted blanket that sat across the back of the couch and pulled it underneath your body. It was easy to ignore the itchy fabric against your skin with Lin’s fingers trailing farther up your thigh. Instead, you were a writhing mess, melting into his touch.
Lin untied your dress and pulled it over your head in a swift movement, tossing it onto the ground beside the couch as if it wasn’t a brand new, comically expensive dress. His lips now moved down from your neck slowly, leaving no skin untouched until he reached your bra, where his lips couldn’t yet reach.
The look in his eyes as he reached back to unhook your bra was unmistakably lust, but his eyebrows furrowed in frustration when he couldn’t figure out the contraption. You tried your best to suppress your laughter but the longer he tugged at the band across your back, the harder it got.
“Need help, darling?” You giggled out after not long, reaching back to unhook your bra in one fluid motion, letting it fall to the ground. The slight look of defeat across Lin’s face didn’t last too long before he was going at the sensitive skin of your breast with his mouth.
You head fell back on the couch in a fit of soft moans, squirming beneath his touch as his hips rolled against yours. Your hands made quick work of his multi-layer suit, leaving him bare-chested on top of you a few short moments later.
While he left hickeys on your chest, you moved your hand down to palm at his bulge, giving him the friction he was desperately trying to find against you. “Y/N, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” Lin whispered against your skin, making his way down your stomach until his lips were between your hips.
Lin was busy littering your skin with kisses when you decided to unzip and remove his dress pants, adding them to the pile of clothes on the ground that now included your panties. His boxers came down with the pants, unintentionally though you couldn’t complain, and before you could prepare, his tongue flicked over your clit gently.
Your back arched off of the sofa as you took in a sudden, sharp breath, digging your nails into his back. His tongue pressed briefly against your entrance before he pulled your clit between his lips, leaving you breathless.
“Lin...” You gasped, attempting to catch your breath, rolling your hips up towards him in time with his head movements.
Not too long later, his focus moved so his tongue dipped inside of you now and quickly found a pace to thrust, causing your nails to drag down his back. With his tongue movements, his nose occasionally rubbed against your clit. You knew there wasn’t a whole lot more you could handle.
You grabbed Lin by the hair on the back of his head and pulled him up into a feverish kiss, full of desperation and desire. It was messy, no doubt, and easily one of the most passionate kisses you’d ever shared.
“I wan--No, I need you, Lin.” You managed against his lips, your voice a whimper full of a sort of urgency. “Please. I need you.”
Without warning, he was pushing into you slowly, hands firmly holding your hips in place as you adjusted to his size. His lips moved down to your neck where you left a trail of kisses until he found a bit of sensitive skin to suck on harshly. When he pulled his lips away to breathe in, he bit down lightly on the skin.
His pace quickened over the next few thrusts, but he stayed gentle in his touch, keeping his gaze on you to make sure you were still alright. When he was certain you were fine and enjoying yourself, you felt his dull nails dig into your hips and he thrusted into you roughly, keeping his steady rhythm.
You sunk your teeth into your bottom lip to suppress the loud moans threatening to fall from your mouth, almost as if that would prevent anybody from walking in. This didn’t last very long because Lin whispered, lips pressed against your ear so you felt the hot breath, “I want to hear you.”
You immediately let your jaw fall open and allowed noises of pleasure to fill the air. “Oh, Lin..” The breathy moan almost resembled a whimper as he mumbled little words of praise in your ear.
As his thrusts grew more sloppy and less rhythmic, your moans grew louder and your breathing more shallow. Your nails dragged across his back slowly, back arched off the bed as you felt a familiar pit of warmth growing in your stomach.
His breath quickened significantly in the moments leading up to his release, and he pressed his lips to your sensitive neck, groaning against it as he rode out his high. The sound of his moans was what finally pushed you over the edge, your back arching off of the bed, his name the only word you could form in the midst of the overwhelming pleasure.
Half a minute later, Lin rolled onto his side on the sofa and pulled you into his arms. “I love you,” you mumbled between your still shaky breaths. He nudged his nose against your cheek in response, causing you to chuckle just a bit.
“We can’t stay like this very long,” you pointed out, though made no attempt to move from his arms.
“Just another minute.” He kissed at your neck affectionately. “You’re too beautiful not to admire.”
You were engrossed in conversation when Anthony got back from his errands not terribly long later, so much so that you didn’t notice him banging pots and pans together in an attempt to grab your attention. It took him sitting on the ottoman a few feet away and practically shouting your name to tear your attention from Lin’s voice.
“Oh, hello, old sport!” Lin turned his gaze to Anthony, absolutely glowing with joy.
“It’s stopped raining,” the man pointed out, gesturing towards the windows across from him. Lin looked a bit shocked by the news at first, as were you, but one peek out the glass showed the sun coming out from behind the clouds. Parallel rays of sunlight beamed from the clouds towards the ground, giving the sky a sort of heavenly appearance. A rainbow had formed from one end of the sky to the other and it almost appeared to connect Anthony’s cottage to your mansion across the bay.
“Well, what do you think of that? It’s stopped raining!” He turned to you with nothing but love and fondness radiating from his brown eyes.
A smile tugged on your soft lips at his excitement. “I’m glad. Should we make something of it?”
“How about we go to my house? We can make use of my pool if you care to.”
“Oh, I would love that, but I haven’t got anything to wear swimming.” You stood from your seat on the stiff couch. “And Daveed would notice if I came home from tea smelling of saltwater.”
“Another time. Anthony, would you care to join us?”
Anthony raised his eyebrows as he looked over his shoulder, immediately shaking his head. “I’m quite alright, but thank you. Make sure you’re home at a reasonable time, Y/N. Your husband is still injured.”
“I know, deary, don’t worry!” You pressed a kiss to your cousin’s cheek. “You know where to find us if you need us.”
With that, Lin was grabbing your hand and pulling you out the front door. You took long and careful steps along stepping stones to avoid muddying your heels but just a few strides in, you were lifted into his arms so you didn’t have to walk.
Once he had reached the pavement leading up to his gates, you moved from Lin’s grasp onto the ground and gaped at the grand house you would never get used to seeing. For the first time since reuniting a couple months before, you actually took the time to admire the beauty of the mansion.
It was truthfully more like a castle than anything else, with neatly trimmed ivy growing across the front of the house and fountains surrounding the building. The detail work was all done in solid gold and the hedges were still impeccably well kept. The size of the building was so monumental that you weren’t even sure if Lin had seen every room in his own home, but that was a question for another day.
The sun was still out, so it wasn’t lit up like Coney Island, but you were in awe nonetheless. Rather than rushing inside, you made your way to a landmark you hadn’t seen before; a little gazebo close to the front fountain pool.
Apparently, you had gone over to it rather quickly because when you looked back for Lin, he was trailing by several yards. Even from that distance, you could see joy radiate from his eyes. “You couldn’t wait up for me, now could you?” He called out with a laugh.
You leaned against the white railing coolly, a smirk teasing across your lips, and smoothed your hair out with the palm of your hand. “It isn’t my fault you can’t keep up with me, now is it?”
Just with the way he laughed, you could tell he was absolutely enamored with you, and it was music to your ears. You were careful not to get caught up in his beauty, instead keeping your enticing facade on display as he strolled slowly closer to you through his marvelous greenery.
You walked in a circle around the gazebo with your fingertips trailing along the white rail, keeping your gaze on the sky. The sun was no longer behind the grey and white clouds even partially; rather, it was again a glowing white ball in the sky, surrounding itself in a halo of light. A second rainbow, more faded in color, had formed just above the one you took note of before and upon further inspection, you realized that the colors were flipped from the original rainbow. Purple was towards the top, and red sat at the bottom.
When Lin finally made it up to the gazebo, his arms wrapped around your waist from behind and his lips pressed against your ear, the hot breath sending an involuntary shiver down your spine. His hands moved to rest on your belly gently, even though a bump wouldn’t begin showing for a couple more months.
Opting not to say anything, you just enjoyed being in Lin’s arms while you could, knowing the moments were few but meaningful. Silence with him wasn’t uncomfortable like you’d experienced many times before. Words didn’t need to be said for you to know he was enjoying himself, to know that he cared for you; you could relax in the quiet.
That’s how you knew that everything would be okay when you were with him.
“Let’s dance,” Lin whispered in your ear and before you knew what was happening, you were in Lin’s arms being carried up a grand outdoor staircase to his mansion, passing by huge fountains that greeted you with a bit of a sprinkle.
As soon as you reached the extravagant front doors, you got to your feet and walked into the main room, something that could easily fit Anthony’s cottage two times over, decorated with floors of black marble and various flowers. The man clearly loved flowers. Perhaps he thought of them as a sign of his immense wealth.
“Klipspringer!” Lin called out loudly, his voice echoing throughout the expanse.
Within a minute, a skinny, disheveled man in a yellow sweater vest came scrambling down the stairway, looking to Lin with tired eyes. “You called for me?”
“I’d like you to play the piano.”
“What would you like me to play? I’m-I’m a bit out of practice!”
“Anything, old sport. I’d just like you to play.”
With that, the man called Klipspringer was running up the stairway to the piano room where he quickly began playing a piece that you didn’t recognize. Regardless, Lin pulled you closer suddenly and began to move around the room, leading you in a slow dance.
The wind was loud outside and it appeared that you’d just missed the weather worsening by a few moments. The faint growl of thunder reverberated along the Sound and rain started pouring down almost immediately after the thunder rolled. It struck the windows in torrents, adding a natural backbeat to the soft melody filling the room.
As you danced around the room with Lin, you could’ve sworn a flash of lightning passed through the house, though that didn’t even seem possible. The trees in Lin’s yard were blowing to the side, significantly more than they had been in the previous storm just an hour before, and the soft whisper of the wind whistled past your ears when the front door cracked open briefly.
When you turned your attention back to the man you were dancing with, you noticed his affectionate gaze focused on you and it appeared that he hadn’t looked away since you began dancing. A fond yet subtle smile was forming on his face with his eyes crinkled up at the corners in the slightest way and the corners of his mouth just barely turned upwards.
“I don’t want to go home,” you admitted in a whisper, laying your head against his chest. His fingers combed through your hair as he lead the dance effortlessly, his quiet breath another calming sound amongst all the others.
“Someday you won’t have to.” Lin’s voice could hardly be heard over a particularly loud roar of thunder. “I’ll be your home someday.”
The dance continued without words for a few more minutes, the two of you just appreciating the other’s presence, moving swiftly through the vast room without much effort. The sharp ringing of a telephone a couple rooms away pierced through the relaxing atmosphere, startling you a bit, so you instinctively looked around for the source of the sound.
The ringing was cut off just as abruptly as it had begun, instead replaced with brief chatter between a butler and the person on the other line. A minute later, the same butler who had answered the phone was approaching you and Lin. “A Mr. Ramos is on the other line, searching for Mrs. Diggs.”
You exchanged a confused look with Lin but followed the butler to the phone, bringing it up to your ear once you approached it. “Anthony dearest, what is it? Is everything quite alright?”
The greeting you received made it clear that everything was not alright. His voice was frantic and panicked, difficult to understand, so he had to repeat himself a few times before you could understand him.
Your husband’s infection had grown much worse than you had thought and the symptoms listed off by Anthony were painfully familiar; chills, cool legs and arms, high fever, mental confusion, and difficulty breathing.
A servant at your house had called Anthony to inform him of the situation, knowing you were with him for the afternoon, and assured your cousin that he was in the care of the doctors now. Your driver, Ferdie, was on his way to the cottage to pick you up.
Unsure of what else to say, you thanked him in a shaky voice before rushing back over to Lin. “I can’t stay. Daveed is back in the hospital and I fear he may be in septic shock.” Your voice was shaky and you were on the verge of tears. “It sounds exactly like how we lost Betty. I have to make sure he’s okay, I’m sorry.”
Lin’s eyes were wide as you spoke hurriedly in a worried way and he pulled you into a warm embrace before you had the chance to run off. “There’s no need to apologize. Keep me updated, alright dear?”
You gave him a quick nod and rushed off after he kissed your cheek, releasing a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding when you saw Ferdie waiting for you.
