Price x Reader. Age gap. Divorced Price. Older BF Price. Vaguely smutty. Follow-up to this.
Price realizes you’ve never had a reliable man in your life exactly the second time he discovers you looking up DIY home maintenance for very simple projects.
It missed him the first time because he was deployed. You’d mentioned offhand how you were figuring out how to rebalance a ceiling fan, and he’d just automatically assumed that you were doing it yourself because he wasn’t there, so he simply praised you for your resourcefulness and lived for the next three weeks off of the way you’d absolutely glowed at his words.
But then he gets home, and one evening on the couch he catches you googling “how to fix a leaky sink.”
“What’s that?” he asks you, tamping down on the sudden feeling of masculine inadequacy that reared up almost immediately at the discovery.
“Faucet handle’s leaking all over my counter when I turn it on,” you say, not looking up from your phone. “Landlord’s out of town and can’t fix it.”
“I’m in town, ain’t I?”
You look up at him then, brows raised. You hadn’t even considered asking him, then.
“Oh—I didn’t want to bother you, John, you only just got back, and you’re tired…”
You trail off at the droll expression on his face.
Price has learned a lot of lessons from his previous marriage. The foundational one: just because he hasn’t been asked to help doesn’t mean he is believed to be unreliable. Adding that lesson to his knowledge base about you—young, modern, independent—calculates out an obvious answer that curtails any sour mood that might have sprouted up over the issue.
He puts his hand over your phone screen and lowers it down to your lap. “I’m fixin’ the sink,” he says simply.
He enjoys the way your eyes dilate at the assertion.
The next day, he shows up at your flat wearing old work clothes and carrying his heavy toolbox in his hand.
(You don’t live together yet—something he’s keen to rectify—but he has a toothbrush in your bathroom and permanent space in your bedroom drawers. He can be content for now.)
And you—you answer the door in the filmiest of sundresses, the ribbon tie on one shoulder hanging at a loose angle.
“Heard you need some plumbing done,” he says in the gruffest of voices, already understanding the game.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here,” you say, barely able to hide your giggle, “I’ve been so worried.”
He steps in close to you, close enough to feel the heat of your body radiating off of your bare skin. He has half a mind to put the charade aside and lift your skirt here and now, but another lesson helpfully springs to mind: anticipation of the act makes the finale all the sweeter.
“I’ll show you to the kitchen,” you murmur, looking up at him with warm, dreamy eyes.
When he gets under the sink, he finds the problem easy enough to fix—the cold water supply line simple isn’t screwed in tight enough, and when he wiggles the whole contraption by the valves he finds that nothing has been tightened up to standard. A couple of years knocking the thing around had probably loosened up the locknut.
He elects to fix the whole problem in one go, while in the meantime you stand off to the side, watching him. He feels your eyes on his legs, trailing up to the hair on his belly exposed by his shirt riding up.
“Sir, I’m sorry, I should’ve said before,” you simper, “but I’m not really sure how I’m gonna pay for this.”
His cock jumps in his jeans, and he feels your gaze move to it as if it’s a physical touch.
He levers himself out a little and meets your eyes, keeping a stern expression on his face.
“I’m sure you’re gonna figure it out,” he says. Looking down at his groin and then back up at your face might be a touch unsubtle, but clear communication had been the most important lesson of all.
He slides himself back under, and pretends he doesn’t feel you approach, or lower to your knees between his spread legs. He ignores your gentle hands falling on the closure of his jeans, the pop of the button coming undone, the parting of the zipper as you pull it down.
“Of course, sir,” you say, “I’m sure I will.”
The softness of your hand meets his growing erection, caressing the head of his cock with your thumb—followed very close behind by the wet, liquid heat of your mouth.
Plot: You can’t stop shivering and Daryl can’t sleep. (Season 2-3 interim)
Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader
Word Count: 1.2k (I can't believe I wrote something this short)
A/N: it has been so cold lately, hence this small, barely proof-read fic. I hope it gives u some warmth :*
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The farm fell and winter came.
There wasn’t a moment more heartbreaking to lose your home. Where the walls that fostered generations of Greenes would’ve warmed your heart, the cold and sprawling forest took their place.
Some nights the walls of a different home kept you warm. Homes that once belonged to people you would never know, absolute strangers that were just gone; dead or lost.
Tonight was not one of those nights.
Tonight, there were no strangers whose pictures still lined the walls— because there weren’t any walls. Only the forest and a small fire. Barely embers.
“They might see.”
Rick’s voice echoed in your head frequently these days. An hour wouldn’t pass before he had another demand to make. His last, before patrolling the camp’s boarders with T-Dog and Daryl, was to keep the fire down. Since the incident with Randall’s group and the herd that ripped through the farm, you had a pretty good guess who they were; the living and the dead. A fester of fear and exhaustion lodged in the back of your throat the night you lost the farm, and it’d kept you in line with Rick’s order since.
The fire was nothing but a soft glow. Enough light to see the colour of the fallen leaves beside your head, but that was it. No warmth and certainly no comfort was found in the glowing ashes.
Your shivering had started an hour ago and despite your best efforts to curl under the scratchy blanket, the damp floor of the forest chilled you to the bone. The others had fallen asleep by now, lulled by the aches of exhaustion and the body heat of their closest family, and if you hadn’t spent an extra hour on guard duty, you were sure Lori would’ve pulled you in alongside her and Carl. But the constant worries in your mind kept you awake and alert— so your guard shifts lingered longer and longer with each night, and by the time you retreated, your ‘bed’ for the night was only yours.
Months ago, when the farmhouse had been packed with suitcases and sleeping bags, you would’ve cherished the space. That was before the empty air became cold and bitter, biting at whatever slivers of exposed skin it could find.
Now, being alone felt almost like another type of fight. A struggle to just get through the night without catching frostnip.
There were footsteps ahead of you. It took a moment too long to register it— blame the exhaustion— but when you had, your mind was awake again. Light and calculated, they avoided the crunch of crisp fallen leaves like they knew the forest floor off by heart.
Daryl.
You knew it even before your eyes peeked open. Fighting against the weight of your eyelids, you narrowly watched his shadowy frame sneak through the sleeping bodies of your people, until he moved around the fire and behind you. Your eyes shut again and you listened for the soft rustle of him laying down a blanket.
Another shiver hit and your muscles clenched.
Beyond the clatter of your teeth, a second or two passed in silence. Eventually, your shiver subsided and your body relaxed again, but your jaw was still stiff from the frigid air. You yanked the blanket up further, covering you up to your red-tipped nose, and waited for the tension to pass.
Something touched your shoulder— a hand— and your head snapped to the side. It was Daryl, crouched behind you.
“’S jus’ me,” he mumbled.
“What’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer.
In one swoop, he draped his blanket onto yours and laid down on his side beside you.
“Come ‘ere,” his voice was low. Not only quiet but soft, like he was worried it might break if he spoke any louder.
The blanket helped initially, you felt an extra layer of coziness engulf you, but when he finally moved closer...
It was almost instant, the way your body melted into his.
So tender and whole that every bit of you that had frozen from the constant death and heartbreak cracked open. It’d been months since you felt even a hint of comfort, since you’d even been touched beyond Maggie’s supportive hand at your shoulder. The way you curled into him was almost instinct; your nerves, once turned to ice, finally thawed again and felt.
Against your better wishes, your voice shuddered, “Are you sure?”
His arm snaked around you, pulling you closer by the waist.
“Can’t sleep with your teeth clatterin’ so loud.”
You huffed a breath, huddling your shaky fingers closer to your lips to catch a moment of the hot air. Even with his body heat sinking into your skin, your body was still stiff with the last effects of the chill, and you shivered once more.
He moved you— you couldn’t register where his hands touched specifically, but there were spots of heat up your arms and around your shoulders, like the touch of his skin was separated by thick gloves instead of the thin sweater you wore. You vaguely registered how cold your skin must’ve been for the sensation of his touch to be so numbed. Without any protest, nor much thought, you followed his directions, guiding you deeper into him. Even if it hadn’t been for that pesky crush of yours making you a willing listener of the man, his body heat alone was enough to convince you entirely. As long as you never had to feel that cold and disheartened again, you’d do whatever he asked. His hands stopped moving when you were facing him, forehead touching his chest and face almost completely hidden under the blanket.
Save those big, beautiful eyes that you looked up at him with.
“Thank you,” your voice was smothered under the thick fabric, but he knew what you meant from your stare alone.
He mumbled something, but you barely heard it, finding distraction in the way his chest rumbled with the effort— or the quick pound of his heart.
Daryl wasn’t particularly known as an affectionate man, hell, the stories you’d heard of his interactions with Merle sounded more like resentment than love. And for a while there, when he pulled away after Sophia, you wondered if he knew love existed beyond what his brother defined it as.
His pounding heart made sense, then. A life of inexperience didn’t give him the necessary bravado for sudden, almost intimate, contact with a person he only met a few months ago. No matter how necessary it might’ve been with the dropping temperature, holding you in his embrace seemed like an understandable source of nerves.
The feeling along your back, the slow rub of his thumb down your spine, became less fuzzy as your skin warmed up. By the time you lost your last chill, his heart slowed to a steady pace, and you could even feel the way he’d chewed his nail down to the edge through your shirt.
Thump.
When you inhaled, the air was still cold, but it was tolerable.
Thump.
His heat sunk into you, deeper with every beat of his heart.
Thump.
Daryl held you throughout his sleep. You weren’t sure how inviting your body could have been after hours of lonely shivers, but he held you closer and closer as the night passed.
Perhaps he just needed a little comfort, too.
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A/N: if daryl was ooc in this... no he wasn’t <3
also-- not sure if I should put a read more on this or not bc its so short... please lmk if it was taking up too much room in the tags/on ur dash :)
if you’re reading this, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this fic. please feel free to leave feedback, it helps so much and I love to read it. have a lovely day <3
Chapter 19/?
Fandoms: Mob Psycho 100, SPY × FAMILY
Relationships: Teru/Mob, Teru & Anya & Mob, Loid & Reigen
Characters: Hanazawa Teruki, Kageyama “Mob” Shigeo, Anya Forger, Reigen Arataka, Loid Forger | Twilight, Kageyama Ritsu, Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Inukawa Mameta, Kurata Tome, Telepathy Club
Additional Tags: SPY × FAMILY setting, Slow Burn, Comedy of Errors, Rivals to Rival-Friends to Rival-Lovers, Trans Teruki Hanazawa, expy cold war setting means Mob has a brand new complex about his powers, it starts out a little like three men & a baby in reverse except the 3 men are 2 psychic teens and they don’t even know about the baby at first, third-wheeling gremlin little sister Anya, Embarrassingly Oblivious Pining
As Reigen, Teru, and Loid all race to the scene, Mob comes dangerously close to hitting his limit. What will happen to Anya when she’s at ground zero for a psychic explosion?
-
If Spy Wars has taught Anya anything, it’s the power of a good redemption arc, so when she realizes that the only two other espers at Eden College are one of the school’s top bullies and his new rival, she makes it her mission to make sure they become best friends — even if it means a little (a lot of) meddling.
Or: Teru’s ready to prove that he’s worthy of being Mob’s rival by any means necessary. Mob’s just happy to make a friend at his new school, but everyone around him worries he’s being bullied when the most popular boy in his year starts sticking to him like glue.
Or: Through a combination of coincidence, confirmation bias, and dumb luck, Loid becomes convinced that Reigen is a secret intelligence asset.
“The gasp punches out of him. Pure, unadulterated elation vibrating inside Chat like a nuclear reactor as the brilliant pink detransformation light fades and leaves -
Marinette.
Marinette.
Chat Noir can’t breathe.”
Read on Ao3 | Read on Tumblr | Art commissioned from @glumby♥
hiiiii besties i'm writing a book <3 i wanted to do more creative writing (read: wanted to try writing creatively without using screenplay format ajfdklsjf) so i figured i'd play around with writing down some concepts that've been floating around in my brain
you can find it on tumblr and on quotev (please don't judge me i just hate wattpad and ao3), chapter 1 is up now and chapter 2 is in the works!
it's a little bit wargames and a little bit alien and whole lot sci-fi horror so if you're into any of those, come over and check it out! <3
n e way this is just a lil thing i'm doing for fun so don't be surprised if i go a long while without updating but i hope you enjoy if you decide to check it out <3
Pairing: carol danvers x reader x natasha romanoff
Words: 1550
Request: -
Summary: your carol and natasha’s good girl. they break your walls down. take that as you will.
Warnings: smut (18+), overstimulation, use of a safe word, “dirty talk” struggled with that one. i also refrained from a daddy/mommy kink. it was sO hard man.
A/N: my first poly fic! [its bad lmao] this was a request from a loooonnggg time ago, but it’s not in my inbox anymore so i’m not sure what happened to it. it was like reader in between nats legs and carol going down on the reader or...something like that. i’m not too happy with this, but it’s the first thing i’ve had the inspiration to write for in a while. wrote it while watching family feud and face-timing my crush ;) its 3:41am... enjoy! (also, don’t expect another fic anytime soon this seriously was a fluke lmao)
you sighed as you relaxed back into natasha. or at least you tried to. moans were constantly falling from your mouth, carol in between your legs. as you looked down at her, you could feel yourself getting wetter. your fingers had a vice grip on your girlfriend's thighs and she tweaked your nipples, your breath increasing faster and faster.
your hips jerked as carol sucked partially hard on your clit. you shook your head, and tears began to fall, backing into natasha. you had just gotten down from your sixth orgasm of the night. from strap-ons and vibrators, to old-fashioned fingering and oral, you had been pleasurably tortured for hours. you were sure if you came again, you would fall apart.
that’s what your girlfriends wanted, though.
another sob wracked your body and you tried your hardest to get away, but things weren’t going your way. natasha’s arms wrapped around tighter around your middle, her lips coming to kiss the side of your face.
“what’s wrong, angel?” another moan fell from your lips when her voice spoke into your ear. carol’s mouth was still relentless on your core, licking and sucking and biting her way to your orgasm.
your hips stuttered, and so did your lips. “i… i can’t take it. it’s too much and i’m so sensitive. please.” natasha purred in your ear, carol on your pussy. you felt natasha rub your stomach, helping to sooth the ache in your stomach just a little bit.
“aww baby, but you’re doing so well. you look so pretty, all fucked out and helpless like this. i think you can do two more maybe, break the record.” you groaned at her words, and you felt her laugh more than you heard it.
you felt carol’s fingers slipped inside of you, three fingers. the intrusion made your breath catch in your throat and your head fall back onto natashas shoulder. your body began jerking from the overstimulation. this was torture, but it felt so good.
“I wanna be good, wanna be good so bad for you but I- it’s just too much.” you knew the rule, how things work between you and your girlfriends in the bedroom, they weren’t just gonna stop because you said it was too much. until proven otherwise, you had to take it.
“you’re always gonna be good for us, princess.” carol finally spoke up. you couldn’t see but her mouth was glistening with your cum, the proof of your pleasure. “but if you really think you can’t handle it, you know what to do.”
it was so easy. red. red, red, red. it was right there on the tip of your tongue. it almost spilled out as carol curved her fingers in a specific way, causing your body to tighten up like a cork. you felt natasha grip your chip, your head still on her shoulder as she leaned down to kiss you, greedily swallowing up your moans.
you thought about it for a minute, as much as you could anyways. did you really want to stop? sure, your legs were shaking and your mind was blank, and it felt like your body was being electrocuted with every thrust of carol fingers, every twist natasha did your nipples. but, it felt so good. you couldn’t imagine what it would feel like if they both stopped. the warmth ripped from your body, the white heat being snatched away, instead of fading how it usually did, with soft kisses from your girlfriends.
you didn’t want it to stop, you wanted more.
you shook your head, a moan disconnecting your lips from natasha’s, your hands loosening as you tried to relax. “no, i. i can take it, i can do it. two more. please, just don’t stop.” you relaxed your body all the way.
carol detached her mouth from your pussy, kissing up your body. she pressed her lips to natasha’s first, wanting to her get a good taste of you. their sweet girl indeed.
once her lips left natasha’s, she moved closer to you, her lips ghosting above yours. “good girl, i promise, it’ll be quick. with how wet you are and how tight your getting, it’ll be fast. you’re doing so well for us baby, such a sweet girl.” carol leaned in to suck at your neck, biting love marks into your skin.
carol thrusted into you faster, making you choke on the air in your throat. a loud moan ripped through your throat when you felt natasha’s slender fingers fall to your clit. she rubbed fast circles, stopping sometimes to pinch and run her nails over it.
they always appreciated when they were able to break your walls down, literally and figuratively. it wasn’t often, due to their line of work. you kept yourself so closed off usually. you were deathly afraid of being too vulnerable at the wrong moments, scared of being so broken that you could never be put back together again, that you forgot that you had two people there with you every step of the way.
they took moments like these to remind you of that.
your eyes were clenched shut, your chest heaved. you were sure there would be scars in natasha’s thighs for days, but for now, you didn’t care. all you could focus on was the way the pads on carol’s fingers were hitting every spot inside of you, natasha aiding her swiftly. you could hear the soft moans of your girlfriends, in awe of how beautiful you looked.
carol was always the more vocal one, the one who would make you lose your mind with every syllable. so it was a shock (that got sent right to your core) when you hear natasha rasp into your ear.
“does it feel good, baby? you know we try our hardest, to make you feel good cum your pretty little head off. everything about you is so beautiful, baby. so sexy. we’re so proud of you, our precious babygirl.” her fingers began to move sideways on your clit, smirking when your mouth fell open. “you deserve this, more than anyone. to just be taken care of and catered to. ate out and fucked properly, you deserve it all. does it feel good?”
you struggled to get your next words out, your mind clouded by arousal. you managed a weak nod, whimper falling from your lips. “So good, so so good. I- please, i need to.”
“look at me, princess. can you do that?” you muster up all of your strength to look carol in her eyes. carol’s hand stilled inside of you, the sight of you making her moan on instinct. you looked...absolutely breathtaking. your lips swollen, eyes half closed, red and eyeliner smudged all around them, rolling to the back of your head when natasha hit a specific spot. the way your cheeks were just the perfect shade of red, you were absolutely perfect.
“god, baby. i don’t even know what to say. you’re so pretty, so good. taking my fingers well, natasha’s strap so good. i love making you cum, getting to feel you around my fingers, your clit in my mouth. feeling your body jerk when we keep going. hearing the desperate little whines that you do when you’re about to cum. we love it all, all of you baby.”
your head was reeling. all you focus on were both your girlfriend’s words and the way they feel. inside of you, on you, around you, everywhere. it was all too much. you were at the very edge, your orgasm was so close you could feel it. but you were a good girl, you so held it back.
“please.” they knew what you were asking, it didn’t take a mindreader.
“you can go ahead and cum princess, as much you want. give it to us, baby.” carol’s fingers sped it, using her powers to intensifying the feeling. nat sped her fingers up.
you forced your eyes to stay open, carol never breaking eye contact with you. the small ‘give it to us, baby’ being murmured from her lips repeatedly tipped you over the edge. your orgasm hit you quickly, and before you knew it, your body was locked tight in. a bow, the loudest moan you could manage tearing it’s way through your body.
you came back down with a loud shutter, your body still shaking as your girlfriends fucked you into your eighth and -- what you decided -- final orgasm.
“red. red, please.” you let out a sob of relief when you felt your girlfriends removed their hands from your pussy.
immediately, you curled into yourself. you body still wracking with the aftershocks of your orgasm. tears still running down your cheeks. it took you a second to recognize your girlfriends pulling you close to them.
whispering incessant praises into your ear, carol guided you to lay on her chest, while natasha came up behind you, wrapping her arms around your middle and pressing a kiss to your neck.
you were exhausted, you knew that much, and it didn’t take you long to be knocked out like a light, content in the feeling of your loves wrapped around you, and their soft voices in your ear.
best girl, so pretty, so pretty. such a good girl.
A/N; this chapter is a flashback chapter, and next chapter it will go back to current time. i really want this to tell the reader and draco's entire story, leading up to where they are now (in the first chapter), i hope you all like this story and sorry it took me so long to update it. :)
requests are open.
chapter one.
~~
It all started with a dance.
"He's staring at you again," Your best friend, Hermione Granger, pointed out sometime during your fourth year. You slowly looked up to find that she was right, Draco Malfoy was staring at you. A smirk slowly crossed his lips once he noticed he had caught your attention. You watched each other for a minute or two, eyes crossing each other like daring one of the other to do something, anything. You were the first to finally look away, looking at Hermione instead. She was already deep into the book she was reading again to even notice. "He's been doing that an awful lot lately, don't you think?" You didn't know what to think of it. You and Draco weren't exactly friends but it had been clear since the second year that he didn't exactly hate you as much as he hated most people at the school, those words had actually came out of his mouth. And even though he happened to be a gigantic pain in your ass most days, you didn't exactly hate him either. But the staring was new and it had been going on for about a week and a half. Hermione looked up from her book and shook her head. "I think someone wants to ask you to the ball." For some reason, her words felt like electricity had just shot through you. You looked back over at Draco and it felt like you had been tased. "No, I highly doubt that. If he did ask me I think I would be more scared than anything." You had actually been waiting for him to ask you, already turning down two others who had asked but hadn't been him. You were scared to admit that, though. It was Draco Malfoy, and he happened to hate most of your friends as much as they hated him and you felt a guilty pang in your chest everytime you didn't think of him as an enemy, too. "Why on earth would you be scared?" She asked you like it was the most ridiculous thing she had heard all week. You chewed on the inside of your cheek, trying to figure out the best way to answer that question without making it obvious that you might have liked him. "Because....what if he only does it on a dare or something?" She paused, clearly contemplating what you had said before laughing a little. "It does seem like a Malfoy thing to do, but if he does Harry, Ron, and I will make sure he regrets it." She was your best friend and you couldn't help but smile at that fact a lot. You found your eyes drifting to where Draco had sat not minutes before, but he was gone.
You were the only girl that could make him feel weak, like he was made out of slush. You were also the only girl that he wanted to ask to the ball. There was something different about you from the others that didn't make him want to cringe in disgust and he knew that had to mean something. You also happened to be one of the most unreadable girls in the school and he couldn't tell if you wanted to go with him too, which tended to be very aggravating.
You were leaving class when you noticed him leaning against the wall right outside, almost like he had been waiting for you. Had he been waiting for you? You tried to be subtle in the way you glanced up at him, but he noticed immediately. "Y/L/N, where are you off to so quickly?" He asked, following you down the hall, which was very impressive considering it was a challenge just for you not to get lost in the crowd of classmates. You couldn't stop or you would get run over, so instead you grabbed him by the sleeve, not really thinking about it. "Why do you care so much, Draco?" He didn't pull away from your grip, which was quite curious. Instead, he grabbed your sleeve too in a tone of mockery. He pulled you away from the crowd so quickly and swiftly you didn't have time to protest. The hall was nearly empty then, everyone disappearing into their respective houses. "Can you meet me tonight at the top of the astronomy tower?" His voice was low, but stern. His lower lip trembled ever-so-slightly, you almost missed it. He was either nervous or about to kill you. You couldn't help but laugh as how tense he was, "I guess so, yeah." How were you going to say no to an invitation to go to the astronomy tower, anyway?
It was a quarter past eleven o'clock exactly and you had arrived up at the astronomy tower before he had. It was quite dark but quiet enough to where it was peaceful. It gave you a minute to release all the anger you had towards Pansy who had came up to you in the hall after Draco left, clearly waiting until he was completely gone before she could start trouble with you. The truth was, she made it no secret that she wasn't fond of you in any way and you could tell by the way her annoyance seemed to peak when he was around you, that he was the reason why. She was amongst many of the other girls who you had overheard complaining about wanting Malfoy to take them to the dance and even then it had been a challenge not to grit your teeth but with Pansy it was different, because she had the nerve to say it to your face.
"What did Draco have to say?" Asked Pansy almost immediately as she reached you, grabbing your sleeve loosely where his hand had been not moments before. You didn't think twice before pulling out of her grip. "If he wanted you to know what he said, don't you think he would have said it to you?" You loved a lot of things but being a bitch right back to her was at the top of the list. She shot you a threatening glare but you only smiled. "Have a good day." You spoke in a mocking, sing-songy voice as you walked towards your house.
It was easy to act unbothered when you weren't alone. You snapped out of your daze as you heard footsteps approaching, and you were met with Draco standing a few feet in front of you. Moonlight pooled around him like a bright spotlight, lighting his silver hair in a way like the moon itself. You couldn't help the way a smile reached your lips at the sight of him. "Hi." You whispered as quietly as possible but where he could still hopefully hear you. "Hey." He greeted, finally moving to stand next to you, looking anywhere but at you. The air was full of something it usually wasn't - nervousness. After a few nearly uncomfortable moments of complete silence, you cleared your throat. "So, why did you ask me to meet you here?" You watched as he fidgeted with his hands, a nervous thing you noticed he did around you a lot. "Have you been asked to the ball by anyone yet?" You immediately looked away from him, like somehow he was way too bright. "Yes, I have." His entire attitude changed and he went back to standing straight and tall. "Who?" You grinned, "Well, actually, I've been asked twice so far. I turned both of them down, though. To be completely honest, I was waiting for someone else to ask me."
"Oh. Who?"
You let out a laugh, looking back at him completely again. "Well, you." You enjoyed these moments you got - especially around him - where you felt like you could spit fire, climb a mountain, the sky was the limit and you could do anything and everything you wanted. To put it quite simply, you felt most confident at times like these.
He seemed frozen for a millisecond or two and you let him stand in silence, you weren't nervous about what he would say next. You were too distracted by the moon and the way you were almost certain that you were the only two people alive. "Well, in that case, Y/N." He finally spoke again, his usual smile and stride right back in place where they should have been. "Would you like to accompany me to the ball? I don't have a date yet and you're okay . . . I guess." He joked and you couldn't help but laugh out loud, rolling your eyes.
You were already walking back down the stairs, knowing that Hermione would be waking up any minute now wondering where you were and where you had been. "Hm. I'll have to think about that one, Draco Malfoy."
He stood and watched you begin your descent down the stairs in awe and confusion and you left him like that . . . for a few seconds at least, before coming back up the stairs to see him running his hands through his silvery hair and offered him a smirk. "I've had time to think about it, and I would love to go to the ball with you, Malfoy."
He huffed out a laugh that sounded relieved and shook his head. "And what an honor it will be." He mocked, giving you a short bow.
The two of you laughed happily for what seemed like a blissful forever before you finally began to make your way back to your room, where you hoped Hermione would be awake now. You had something exciting to share with her, after all.
~~
"You're going to the ball with who?" Ron gasped aloud in the quiet common room, everyone else but your three best friends studying away in between classes.
"Oh, don't act so surprised, Ron. They've had eyes for each other for weeks." Hermione smirked, leaning into you.
You rolled your eyes dramatically, and in the process you caught a glimpse of Harry, who seemed a little more shocked than anyone else on the matter. "Everything alright, Harry?" You asked nervously, fearing you already knew the answer to that question. You already knew how Draco and Harry felt about each other but you had hoped they could both push it down for one night at least. It was just an innocent ball, after all.
"Yeah. Yeah," He repeated, seeming to snap out of his thoughts the second time around, "Just a little tired is all."
You nodded slowly, trying to read him like a book. His facial expressions had become blank though and so you settled for looking down at the book you were supposed to be reading instead. "This doesn't mean anything about me and Draco. We're just keeping each other company at a dance, nothing else." You spoke out loud, almost hoping it was the truth now. It seemed almost foolish to have feelings for the one boy your best friends despised and so if it came down to it, you would choose them in a heartbeat. You would always choose them, even if it meant having to never speak to the Malfoy boy again after the dance.
Before any of them had the chance to respond, you got the sudden urge to go up to your room and study alone. And that's exactly what you did, grasping your book tightly and walking up the stairs.
They watched you go.
