fandom etiquette for some people when it comes to fiction is that you can like anything about murder, gore and violence, but the second thereâs anything sexual and non consensual about it, youâre a predator who condones these fictional things in real life and you must be locked up.
and before people try to twist my words: you can absolutely enjoy whatever you want in fiction for whatever reason. no matter how taboo or messed up or disgusting it is. itâs all play pretend and fantasies (and if some people cannot separate fiction from reality then chances are thatâwith or without the fictional things they consumeâtheyâre already troubled and they need help, but their inability to separate fiction from reality is not your business or concern, youâre not their parent).
thought crimes are victimless and not real. donât let puritans on the internet tell you how you can and canât enjoy your harmless hobby. be wild. have fun. as long as youâre not harming anyone in real life, you do whatever you want forever.
RIP Marjane Satrapi, author of the amazing graphic novels Persepolis about living during the fundamentalist revolution in Iran in the 70âs and 80âs. She also created the animated movie based on the graphic novels, which is where these gifs come from.
Reblogging in honor of Marjane Satrapi, one of THE great graphic novelists. Her comic Persepolis was a crucial text for shaping my belief that comics can deeply explore identity, culture, politics, and history.
Thank-you to all of my new Internet stranger friends for being so gracious about having my post shoved onto your dashboards. I loved reading all of your kind tags and comments! Both Martin and Bosco have been gone for several years now but for 24 hours, they felt very present in my life. I greatly appreciate this gift. â€ïž
Shout-out to people with sleep disorders who can't hold down a "regular" job because of it. Sleep issues are so wildly disrespected or outright dismissed, and it's shitty.
People refuse to believe that, yes, my sleep problems really ARE that severe. They think I just need more alarms and a can-do attitude. Chronic pain, fatigue, and insomnia are a BRUTAL combination and, no, I cannot cure it by setting ten more wake-up alarms on my phone. I have tried. đ«
The only "regular" job I've ever had was only doable because I could set my own hours and come in whenever the hell I wanted as long as the work got done. Even that job was something I couldn't do long-term. I was permanently in an exhaustion-induced haze and it was horrible. I didn't feel like a person.
summary: you take care of lena, clean up around the house, and always leave dinner for him when he gets home late. and among constant and never-ending change, you are andrew's northern star.
pairing: andrew cody x babysitter!reader
word count: 13.3k
warnings: read carefully! age-gap dynamics, reader is said to have recently graduated college, i basically ignore anything from the show that wouldn't make sense in my perfect little world. smutâarm humping, oral sex, penetration, the tiniest bit of breeding if you squint real hard.
author's note: and here she is. also known as shea wants to write about doing things to pope's arms.
you used to complain if someone called you their nanny. youâre just a babysitter. this would notâcould notâbe your full time job. itâs just so demanding. you love the kids you take care of but the idea of saying that youâre a nanny makes it a little more real. like you wouldnât be able to get out of this, despite how hard youâre trying.
you just donât want to be a babysitter forever.Â
but the first time mister cody introduces you as lenaâs nanny, you donât think you mind it all that much.Â
babysitters are temporaryâgirls in high school looking for money to pay for coffee and nail appointments, covering date-nights and overtime at the office.
nannies are permanentâitâs a career. youâre responsible for the kid pretty much twenty-four hours a day. kids with nannies are rich, mom and dad too busy at work to be at home. from the little you deduced, nannies buy groceries and make three meals. they go to doctorâs appointments and organize play-dates with other nannies.Â
you do some of those things for lena. her uncle tries to take her and pick her up from school when he can, and when he calls to tell you that he wonât be able to make it every now and then, he sounds so sorry about it, you donât know what you can do to reassure him that itâs okay. lenaâs young, she doesnât care about stuff like that so deeply. and she likes you, which helps matters a lot.
you had finished the last few classes you needed to graduate a couple months ago. before that, youâd have to tell mister cody no, iâm sorry occasionally, something that you really didnât like doing. he seemed like he had enough going on without the babysitter cancelling.
and besides, after you had told him that your classes were done, you were supposed to tell him that you would be looking for a real job, something with your degree, that he should start looking for a real nanny for lena. you were supposed to politely, yet firmly allude to how youâd been scrambling with classes, finishing assignments in the car in between picking up his niece and after sheâd fallen asleep at night. how you missed an important lecture because the pediatricianâs office was running behind an hour and lenaâs grandmother wasnât available to take her.
instead, the second you had met his eyes (which were terribly green and incredibly sad), you had folded, and told him youâd be available whenever he needed. and you thought maybe that would garner you a smileâand youâd been wrong. he had looked your way for about five seconds, muttered thank you, and walked away.Â
and maybe if you could resist those terribly green and incredibly sad eyes, you wouldnât have wound up as a full-time nanny. life could always be worseâthatâs the motto youâve grown up with. there are so many worse things in oceanside than spending every day in a pretty house by the beach and taking care of a quiet little girl.Â
if not anything else, you could start making payments on your student loans, if you wanted. mister cody paid you in cash, and he paid you way too much, probably his way of apologizing for how much you had stepped up in the last couple months. but again, you didnât really mind anymore. maybe if it was another family, you would care more about finding a real job.
but you like lena. you like her uncle, too, you think, as much as you can like a man who is virtually silent and stares at you like heâs boring into your soul when youâre making dinner. you like him because heâs good with her, you can always tell heâs trying his absolute best, his hardest with her. (it doesnât help that heâs cuteâcute in the way that strays are, like you wish you could fix everything wrong with him and reassure him that heâs doing enough, and tell him to stop staring and just come tell you what heâs thinking instead.)Â
the first couple months were the hardest. lena wasnât eating, wasnât sleeping. she hated school, hated all the things she had still cared for when her dad was alive. youâd tried bribing her with trips to the beach, the playground, ice cream with extra fudge and sprinkles. all the things that kids liked. but she wasnât just a normal kidâand it seemed that you and her uncle were the only ones who understood this.Â
you didnât realize you had such a maternal instinct inside of you. maybe itâs because the other kids youâd babysat in your life had been brats, sticky handed toddlers going through the terrible twos and making your life hell while you were trying to pass your classes. lena is the opposite.Â
sheâs the saddest child youâve ever met, and you know nothing that you or her uncle do is going to fix it overnight.
but progress comes in stages. the first step had been getting her to want to eat again. youâd sat on the couch next to her, watching a nature documentary that her uncle had probably left playing on the tv.
(he is a whole other can of wormsâhe doesnât sleep or eat that much either, and one time you had come in really early to get some work done before getting her to school. heâd been awake, watching something just like this, at five-thirty in the morning. and when youâd asked him when heâd gotten up, he had shrugged, and murmured something that sounded suspiciously close to i donât sleep. thatâs your next mission, because you can only focus on one at a time.)
âyou hungry, sweetie?â you didnât want to be pushy. she wouldnât like that, would only retreat further into herself. you wanted her to come to you when she was ready to eat. lena shook her head and focused back on the television. âokay. well, if you get hungry later, iâll eat with you.â
lena says okay in her quiet voice, holding onto a stuffed animal and staring ahead. you wait a couple of hoursâthereâs always something to do in the house. you clean up, wiping counters and sweeping while she stays on the couch. you check in every now and then to make sure she didnât fall asleep.Â
and then, thirty minutes before her new bedtime, she comes and sits on the chair by the dining table while youâre wiping it down.
âcan we get pizza?â she asks, and you nod right away.
âof course we can. what kind do you want?â
another thirty minutes later, the pizzaâs there, and youâre both eating slices of pepperoni and spinach. youâve formulated your plan for the rest of the nightâher uncleâs still not home, which means you can crash on the couch or stay awake. you decide to stay awake, since thereâs no follow up text from him. if he wasnât going to come home tonight, youâd expect the standard, concise message; wonât be back tonight. is lena okay?Â
and youâre stupid, because you think itâs sweet that he always asks if sheâs okay. like you wouldnât call him the second something went wrong, like he doesnât believe that youâd trust him with that information before anyone else. but thereâs no texts tonight from the contact youâd saved as andrew cody (lenaâs uncle).Â
lenaâs finishing her last slice and youâre cleaning up when you hear itâthe rumble of his truck pulling up to the house. then a minute later, footsteps and the front door opening.
âwhatâs all this?â he asks, and you have to remember to find the words.Â
you donât know why that happens when he comes aroundâyouâre usually great with dads. maybe itâs because he looks tired, more tired than usual, at least. his copper curls are messed up, like heâs been running a hand through his hair all night. lenaâs uncle is always stiff, but it seems worse today, somehow.
(another thought seeps in, an uninvited guest in your mind, about how youâd really like to take care of him. he just needs some sleep, a little peace of mind. thatâs it. youâre still trying to figure out the best way to give it to him.)
âwe got pizza, uncle pope,â lena fills in, setting down the last piece of crust you knew she wouldnât finish.Â
âthere should be enough for you,â you add, smiling at him. he doesnât smile back, but youâre used to that at this point. and you can tell whatâs about to come. âlena, can you go brush your teeth and get your pajamas on for me?âÂ
she nods and climbs off the chair, running into her room.Â
âitâs past her bedtime,â he starts, taking a few steps closer to you. âand pizza for dinner-â
you interrupt him, even though you probably shouldnât. you close up the box, setting it on the island and you go back to wipe the table.
âsheâs not eating, mister cody,â you put the paper towel down, getting your bearings in order to face him, make the dreaded, never-ending eye-contact. âwhen kids donât eat you have to meet them halfway. i thought this was better than her going to bed without eating at all.âÂ
he keeps looking at you. you think you should be a little nervous, but you donât get like that anymore. flustered, sure, but not nervousâlenaâs uncle is just kind of a starer, and youâve gotten used to it by now.Â
âiâm sorry. iâll run it by you next time, i promise. i just wanted her to eat something.â heâs silent for a while, like heâs processing what you said.Â
âyeah. okay. thanks.âÂ
you smile again, a small one. the kitchenâs clean now, or at least as clean as you can get it. youâre sure that when youâre back in the morning, itâll be spotless, which you can only assume is one of mister codyâs nocturnal activities. you have a routine before leavingâyou say goodnight to lena, make sure you didnât leave anything behind, and tell her uncle youâll see him in the morning.
he doesnât normally say anything back, maybe a grunt of acknowledgement. so youâre surprised tonight, when you grab your bag and your keys and hearâ
âhave a good night.âÂ
âyou too, mister cody.âÂ
+
it took time, but youâve gotten her schedule better. she eats dinner with you now, whatever semi-healthy thing you can think of with the stuff in the pantry and the groceries you picked up while sheâs at school. her uncle leaves money for that sort of thingâan envelope filled with hundred dollar bills. itâs labeled lenaâs babysitter in stiff, neat handwriting and he told you to use it for copays and ice-cream and anything else that lena needs. but it feels wrong to use his money when he already overpays you, so you just use your own.Â
you thought he might not have noticed that the envelope isnât getting any thinner, until one morning when you arrive and see him counting the notes in it with his head down. now youâre the one staringâwatching his arm flex and the muscles move as he flips through the bills. he wears the same kind of shirts every day, short sleeve button-ups, and every day, you are subject to watch his forearms while he does whatever he does. itâs a cruel and unusual punishment.
the worst had been when you needed a box down from the cabinet, the one with the muffin tins and cookie cutters. he had appeared behind you and taken it down for you in seconds, carrying it to the kitchen for you. you had been staring then too, uncomfortable and slack-jawed and wondering why his arms had your mouth dry. (you know the answer, itâs just better to live in denial, you think.)
âgood morning, mister cody.â you set your bag down on the sofa, heading inside to get started on breakfast. you open the fridge, taking out a carton of eggs and orange juice and avoiding looking right at him. you donât need to be flustered before seven-thirty am.
âyou havenât been using this money,â he states. you wish you could figure out what his tone meansâthereâs no inflections, no emotion simmering behind the words. itâs just cut and dry, stating a fact.
âwell, i-â you turn back and look up from the stove and your words die on your tongue. heâs standing up, looking right at you, a fist full of cash like heâs going to make you use it one way or another. a single vein running through his arms tenses. your gaze flickers from it to his eyes quickly, looking at you like he wants you to start listening to him.
âi, um, i had enough.â
âyou should use it.â
âbut you already gave me a lot, so i-â
âi want you to use it.â the way he says it, itâs not a request.Â
âright. i-i will. is lena awake?â
âsheâs getting ready.â
âgreat. thank you.â you turn back to the eggs with a flushed face. and even though youâre not facing him anymore, you can tell heâs still staring at you.Â
âi might not be back tonight.â you turn around and meet his eyes again. terribly green, incredibly sad. youâre too far now to see the brown, but you know itâs there. âiâŠiâve got some work. itâll be late, if i do.â
âthank you for the heads up. i, uh, iâll crash on the couch then.â you think he might say something else, but youâre not sure. itâs silent for a moment, while you get the eggs onto a plate and hurry into the hallway to get lena.
she comes out first, carrying her backpack. you follow with her hairbrush for once sheâs done eating, getting her already packed lunch out from the fridge to sort into her bag. thereâs a whole routine that you had learned when you first started babysitting her, and now itâs just a way of life. filling up her water bottle, checking the calendar on the fridge to make sure thereâs nothing youâre missing, pulling her jacket from the closet if itâs cold outside.
you get the bottle out, glancing back at her uncle. heâs leaning in while lena takes a bite of the eggs, probably telling her that he wonât be home, and to have a good day, and all the other things youâre sure he says to her. then they hug, and you feel like youâre intruding.
he picks up his keys, which rest in the small blue bowl by the door where yours sit too. and without thinking, you call out after him.
âhave a good day at work.â he doesnât say anything back, but he looks at you before he leaves. you donât even know what he does for work.
âready for school?â lena shakes her head no like always.
+
the days are long, but the weeks are short. you bring lena to school, but they have a half-day, so thereâs no point in going home for the day if you need to be back in a couple of hours. so you head back to mister codyâs place, focusing your attention on cleaning the remnants from breakfast. you check the fridge, making note of how much fruit and milk you have left, scribbling onto a piece of paper for later. and for once, you listen to him, taking a single bill out of the envelope and putting it into your wallet. thereâs other hundred dollar bills in there too, ones you need to deposit.
it hasnât been making sense lately. a lot of nannies live with their families because it avoids the wastefulness of paying rent for an apartment you hardly ever visit. you pay internet and electric for a one-bedroom thatâs empty the entire day. and now that youâre done with classes, you donât even need to work on anything late at night or even at lenaâs house. you carry around a book with you, and you think youâve even left a couple on the coffee table, just for the future.Â
you donât know why you still have your apartment. well, you know whyâmister cody has never mentioned you moving in. and he probably never will, because he doesnât want you to. but it just doesnât make sense the more you think about it. you show up between six and seven and sometimes you donât go home until ten. sometimes you donât go home at all.
after making your list, you rack your head of things you can do to occupy lenaâs time today. the library has a weekly reading, and thereâll be other kids there. you like to pick things so she can get some company from kids her age, so sheâs not only stuck with you and her uncle all the time.Â
closer to when school gets out, you get in the car, bringing in your emergency bag with a change of clothes and your toothbrush since youâll be staying the night. itâs not an entirely uncommon occurrence, which is why the bag, and a couple others like it, is always ready to go. you go to the bank first, depositing everything except the single hundred-dollar bill you took today. then you drive by the park, see if theyâre having any of those pet-therapy sessions today. and then finally school to pick up lena.
the rest of the day goes how you planned. you forget how exhausting it is keeping a little kid entertained for hours on end, unsure of exactly what her uncle pope and his brothers do with her sometimes, when you struggle to fill up a couple of extra hours. the grocery storeâwhere you splurge and buy ingredients to make stove-top smores because lena asks and youâll take your wins where you can get themâthen the library, where you take out a couple of books for lena to read at home and smile when sheâs talking with some of the other girls there, then the playground for an hour, before home for dinner.
you make spaghetti while she finishes her homework, and review her homework while she changes into pajamas. and then itâs time for the routine she loves so much, just like her uncle, a nature documentary about penguins while you toast the marshmallows on a fork.Â
an hour later, lenaâs asleep in bed, and youâre scrubbing hardened chocolate off the counter next to the stove. you donât want more work for her uncle when heâs back, and youâve learned lenaâs a heavy sleeper, so you get to cleaning. itâs not like, as pathetic as the thought is, you have anything better to do.Â
and then about two hours after that, itâs eleven-thirty. itâs right around the latest that mister cody has ever come home, so youâre pretty sure he wonât be back tonight.Â
the only thing you have to look forward to in your apartment is the shower you take after a long day. youâll have to make do with the shower inside the room where mister cody sleeps, since lenaâs is close to her room and filled with products for an eight year old, and at the very least, you need adult shampoo and soap.Â
the room is bareâyou would have guessed itâs a guest room if you didnât know better. youâre not nosy, but you look around, trying to see if thereâs anything there that makes the room her uncleâs. you know thereâs still another bedroom, the one her parents used to share, since lena sometimes goes in there when she canât sleep. so this was a guest room, and now itâs mister codyâs, and now youâre lurking in it.
besides for a closet full of clean-pressed button up shirts and organized shoes, you canât discern anything that makes this room his. thereâs not a single thing out of place, from the garden-variety decor that someone else had picked to the artwork to the sheets. the bathroom is more of the same, the entire place having that lemon-cleaner smell to it.Â
you turn the water on and strip, trying to avoid thinking about how youâll be sleeping on the couch after this. and even inside the shower, you stare at the two-in-one shampoo bottle and the old spice body washâold spice. who would have thought?âlike you canât believe what youâre looking at. you inhale the scent for longer than you need to. wrap yourself in a clean towel that doesnât belong to you. brush your teeth with his spearmint toothpaste. and then you open your overnight bag, and find nothing but sundresses and bathing suits.
itâs past midnight, and youâve grabbed the wrong bag. you need to get up in about six and a half hours to get lena ready for school, and youâre not positive you have the correct bag in the back of your car.Â
hesitantly, you open one of the dresser drawers. thereâs black and white t-shirts folded precisely, tucked in evenly. one drawer up thereâs folded socks and boxers.Â
you chew on your cheek. he did say that he wonât be home tonight. thereâs no way he would know you took anything if you ran a load of laundry as soon as you woke up and folded it after morning drop-off. he might not even be home until the afternoon or evening, for all you know.
your tiredness makes the decision for you. the couch isnât that comfortable, and you refuse to sleep in the shirt and jean skirt you spent all day in. you take a white shirt and black boxers, and then sneak back in for a pair of black socks because the living room is cold at night. and then you set your alarm, turn on another documentaryâthis one about hummingbirds, wrap yourself in the throw blanket on the couch, and close your eyes.Â
andrew comes home at quarter to three. it would have been a lot soonerâhe doesnât like leaving you alone here at night with lena if he can avoid itâbut he doesnât always have control over it. a bullet had grazed deran and heâd spent two hours cleaning up that mess, and then they had to organize their splits before leaving. he had to make sure to stay for thatâhe needs the cash to pay you, rent for bazâs place, money to put into lenaâs savings account.Â
but he hates leaving you alone in the apartment with lena. not because he doesnât trust you, but because he knows now itâs not safe, not without him there. he likes to get you home early but itâs rarely the case, and then he feels like he should pay you extra since heâs making you drive home alone in the dark.
telling you to stay is a better option. you can sleep in his roomâitâs not like heâs going to sleep in there anyways. but he doesnât say that, doesnât need the nanny thinking thereâs something wrong with him too. so he settles for telling you to stay the night, and letting you decide where youâll sleep.Â
you always pick the couch. and sometimes, heâs not back early enough, sometimes youâre already up making breakfast or gone out for the day with lena by the time heâs back.
 but tonight, youâre asleep on the couch. he sets down the bag with the cash on the couch, hovering over you. the television is still on, stuck on a are you still watching? screen, covering up a photo of some birds. a breath leaves him when he realizes youâre watching what he always watches. youâre knocked outâhe can tell since the front door opening didnât wake you like it sometimes does. youâve kicked away the blanket you usually use, and he thinks for a second he should just cover you up and let you sleep.
but he doesnât. he stands over you, staring at your sleeping form. he doesnât like itâhow pretty you are when you sleep. itâs a distraction that he canât escape, knows that the next time he closes his eyes, heâll think of you. that the next time he sits on this couch, heâll be able to smell your skin. you snore softly, chest rising and falling evenly.Â
and then he notices itâthe plain shirt, black socks with a familiar logo. are those his boxers? and now he definitely canât look away. he puts the pieces togetherâyour hair is wet, meaning you must have showered and then put on his clothes before coming back out here. if you were going to do all of that, why didnât you just sleep in his room?
yes, pope decides, he needs you to sleep in his bed. he needs the couch anyways, since he wonât be sleeping, so he might as well bring you inside.Â
he lifts you carefully, not wanting to stir you accidentally. his shirt is a little big on you, hanging off your shoulder. you stay sound asleep the entire short walk to his bedroom, not stirring even when he sets you down. you must have been really tired, but that makes sense, given the fact that youâve been out all day with lena.
he thought about sticking a tracker on your car, but the first time he was taking care of lena, after baz, you had shared your phoneâs location with him so he could keep track. you had offered it, voluntarily, saying something about how thatâs common with babysitters now, and that you never go anywhere without your phone so he wonât have to worry about you leaving it at home.
you thought reassuring him that he would always have lenaâs location in his phone would make him feel better. and maybe it had, but heâd never mentioned it again after that day, never brought up if he actually checked it or not.
(itâs not like you would know if he was using it, it doesnât work like that. deran had explained it to him.) he did check it, pretty frequently, actually. he checked it after youâd leave when he got home, after lena was asleep. heâd watch your little circle drive home and pull into the parking lot of your apartment complex. it wasnât as bad of an area as it could be, but it wasnât that safe either. he liked to check it every now and then too, middle of the night, saturday evenings when he was home with lena and you got to leave early or had the day off.
he assumed, somehow, that youâd be in bars or parties at your college, maybe. but when he looks at your location late at night, youâre always at home. he checks other times tooâbut heâs just trying to keep you safe. (thatâs what he tells himselfâthat finding another babysitter than lena liked and that he trusted would be a hassle. he needs to keep you safe.)
but it doesnât seem like you like any of that stuff. heâs never seen you drink the beer in the fridge, though you offer one to him every now and then. youâve met smurf and deran and craig before, like when youâd go to drop off lena before one of your classes, back before you had finished school.
you were smartâhe knew that much. that was the kind of good example he needed around lena, someone who had gone through school and finished. he didnât know what your degree was in, but it mustâve been something smart, something important. you were always typing on your computer and reading books. whatever it is that you studied, he wants someone in lenaâs life that can help her with that stuff, stuff he doesnât know much about, when itâs time.
you were smart enough to turn down every joint or bump that craig offered. you never accepted a drink from smurf that didnât come from a can that you opened yourself. and baz used to tell him that you were just a local college kid, that you didnât have any family nearby or anyone to occupy your time, really.Â
it didnât make senseâpretty girl like you. he would have thought you had a boyfriend, but if you do, youâve never brought him around. and if he didnât live with you or live at that coffee shop you liked that was down the street from your apartment, then he didnât know if you even had one. maybe he shouldnât spend any time thinking about your hypothetical boyfriend, but thatâs just what comes up sometimes when he thinks about you for too long. like right now.
you look peaceful lying in his bed. your eyes flutter quickly like youâre having a dream, and he sits on the bed next to you, watching you sleep. your hair falls across your face, and his finger twitches. he almost moves his hand to brush the hair away, but he decides not to, settling for just watching you for another minute or two.Â
the bed creaks slightly when he gets up. no one uses it much, so itâs a little weary. he doesnât think the noise is anything, but your eyes blink open. the doorâs open, light from the living room illuminating a sliver of the space.
he thinks he should get out before you can ask any questions, but he doesnât, hovering over the bed while you look around.Â
âandrew?â and god if it doesnât sound different coming from your lips. youâre too tired to remember that you usually stick with mister cody, which is so formal it hurts. it sounds real, sincere, not filled with fear or anger or anything else. you havenât even said anything and he thinks heâs losing his mind.Â
itâs just the way you say it. thereâs no question attached, no demand, no sacrifice. just you, making sure itâs him.Â
âthat couch is bad for your back,â he says.Â
he knows it is, the couple times he tried to lay down and stare at the ceiling. heâs always sore, muscles screaming and joints aching but he knows how to ignore it. he doesnât think you should start feeling like that. feels angry at the very idea that you would be sore after spending a night on the couch, taking care of his niece, looking after bazâs house. doing all the things that heâs too busy to do.
you take care of things. you do a good job tooâfiguring out how to get lena to eat and sleep again. making sure her routine doesnât go awry just because heâs gone on a job all day. you remember things that he doesnât even know aboutâactivities with kids after school and how the school has soccer practice starting soon. you think a couple steps ahead when it comes to lena, and sometimes, he doesnât think you see it as a job.Â
like when you make enough breakfast for the three of you. leave dinner on a plate inside the microwave with a note on the counter. when you clean like itâs your house, make sure things stay in the place theyâre supposed to, which is so much harder when thereâs a kid around. heâs not stupidâitâs why he gives you so much money each week, shoves an envelope into your hand despite your protests. why the first thing he does after he gets his cut is make sure you get yours.Â
and as hard as the thought is to swallow, he doesnât think he could do all of this without you.Â
âmmh-â you agree, making a soft noise. he wishes he could engrain it into his brain and replay it whenever he wants. âi thought you donât sleep?â you ask, and he sees your lips turn up into a smile. he wishes the lights were on.
âi try,â he replies, realizing that heâs still hovering over you. he wonders why you werenât scared the moment you woke up. âsometimes. i try.âÂ
âdo you wanna try now?â you ask, whispering. and he goes silentâbecause what is he supposed to say that?Â
you reach out in the dark for his hand, and he flinches, taking it back. but you donât retreat, reaching out again until youâre grasping his fingers.Â
âtry for a couple hours. i set an alarm,â you say, and the way you say it, it doesnât sound like a bad idea. you have a way of convincing him, or maybe itâs just late and youâre tired, and your sleepy voice isnât helping matters. nor does the fact that you donât seem even remotely concerned that youâre inviting him to come sleep on the bed next to you.
you sit up a little, and he regrets even staying as long as he did. you need your sleep, unlike him. youâre still holding onto his hand, and your skin is warm on his. it couldnât really be, but it feels like itâs burning his, where your palm rests against his, where your fingers twist with his.Â
âhey,â you start, slow and soft. âdonât think about it. just sleep for a little.âÂ
âyeah,â he says. âokay. a little.â
you move over, and when he lays downâback straight against the mattress, staring up at the ceilingâitâs warm where your body was resting. youâre still holding onto his hand, not letting go. your grip is loose enough that he could free his hand easily, and even if it wasnât, he could overpower you if he wanted.
but he doesnât want to. and somewhere between your slow breaths and how you rub his knuckles, running your soft skin against dozens of old scarsâbecause thatâs his punching handâandrew falls asleep.
you can hear it, his breaths getting steady, evening out. your hands stay together in the middle of the bed, between you, and you wonder for a split second how youâre going to deal with this in the morning, how youâll make sense of this in daylight. the semblance of a professional relationship you had maintained this entire time might turn into dust in a couple hours. and then you breathe in andrewâs comforting scent, clean linen and saltwater, and fall back asleep.
the best thing about this house is the light and the waves. golden rays pour in through the half-way open blinds and you can hear the ocean crashing against the rocks in the distance. itâs the perfect way to wake up, even if it is six-thirty and your alarm is going off in the living room, where your phone must be.
you need to get up. you donât want lena to wake up from the noise, even though you know she wonâtâthat girl can sleep through anything. itâs a problem for when sheâs older, when she goes to college and thereâs no one besides a roommate to make sure she doesnât miss class. even half-asleep, you smile thinking about it.
and somehow, when you look on the other side of the bed, it hits you that it wasnât a dream. andrew is asleep next to you, still in whatever clothes he was wearing throughout the day. a short sleeved button up and pants. youâre surprised that he didnât fall asleep with his shoes on.Â
he looks very calm when he sleeps. the lines of tension on his forehead and around his eyes are soft when heâs like this, his hair a mess and cheek smushed against the pillow, against your hand.
heâs still holding your hand. it makes a certain kind of warmth rain all over you, flooding you from inside out. heâs on top of the covers and youâre under the throw blanket, and you donât remember doing that, which means that he did.
an exhausted, half-asleep andrew cody covered you up before he fell asleep on top of the covers. he fell asleep holding your hand and your chest hurts because he wonât wake up holding it still, since you need to go turn that stupid alarm off.Â
he never sleeps, you know this. heâs never been asleep when you show up early, never heading to bed when you leave for the day. this bed is pretty much always made, sheets never rustled and not a pillow out of place because no one sleeps here. you hope you can start changing that.
you donât want to pull your hand away from him. itâs so simple, so sweet that you canât bring yourself to do it. that this whole time, andrew just needed someone to sleep beside him. you rest your head back on the pillow, continue staring, creepy as it is. youâve never been able to study him like this before, have never been close enough.Â
the hand holding onto yours is softer than youâd imagined. the veins running through his forearm are thick and tense, even when heâs like this. you think it might be from how tightly heâs holding onto your hand, like even in his sleep heâs worried he might lose you somehow.Â
andrew cody has frecklesâall across his arms and on his hands too. thereâs a splatter of them across his nose and cheeks, places where he must have gotten burnt as a kid, maybe when he was lenaâs age. the tips of his ears flush pink while he sleeps, and he snores. all things that make you smile, things that are so personal you feel your face getting warm, like you shouldnât have access to that information.Â
you need to turn that god-damn alarm off, before it wakes him up. you think youâd rather die than disrupt the few hours of peaceful sleep heâs getting right now. so you wriggle your hand, trying to find the best way to get it out of his grip and make sure you donât wake him in the process. nothingâs working, even in his sleep heâs thrice as strong as you. the generic alarm tone keeps going in the background.
you lean in, pressing a chaste kiss to andrewâs cheek, whispering that you promise to be right back. and for a split second he moves around, and you regain control of your tingling hand.
the bed creaks a little when you get up, but you do it slowly so itâs not too loud. walk to the couch as fast as your bare feet will take you, looking down and realizing youâre still in andrewâs socks.
(his shirt and boxers too, but youâre choosing to ignore that for now. if someone walked in through the front door in this moment, it would look like you and him were something other than a guardian and babysitter. you think youâd actually enjoy trying to see him explain to his brothers why youâre in his clothes head to toe. you might like this more than you think you did.)
you can hear the ocean again once the alarm is turned off. itâs a beautiful thing to wake up too, you think, pulling open the curtains and looking outside on the street. people are on runs, doing yoga on the beach, watching the sunrise with their dogs.
and inside, andrew cody is sound asleep.
the first part of your day is waking up lena. she grumbles and takes five, sometimes ten, minutes to get up after you go in there. in that time, you set out clothes for her and then head back to the kitchen. you have a habit of making sure her backpack has everythingâthe colorful pens sheâs always telling you about and yesterdayâs homework. if she forgot something at home, the school would call andrew, and then andrew would call you, and you hate adding more work to his life. so, you make sure itâs all there before she leaves.
then breakfastâeggs and toast if youâre running late, pancakes if you got there early. itâs seeming like a pancake sort of day.
you make the batter and then pull out the bag of chocolate chips and head back to lenaâs room. you use the semi-sweet morsels as an incentive to get her up, which works like a charm. while sheâs changing and brushing her teeth, you make three pancakes. two for lena, and the first one you peeled thatâs never quite as good is for you.Â
lena comes to the table to eat her pancakes, and you tell her to stay just a little quieter than usual because her uncle pope is still sleeping.
âreally?â she asks, and you feel something inside of you twist in discomfort. as if you had imagined before you met him, maybe he was sleeping, that maybe this was something recent. you smile at lena.
âyeah, sweetie, really.âÂ
you bring lena to school, come back home, and check on andrewâwho is still sleeping. you cover him up with the blanket youâd slept under and then make three more pancakes and some scrambled eggs. thereâs no bacon in the house or you would have made that too.
you scribble it on the grocery list and then head back inside the bedroom, carefully perching yourself on the edge of the bed and maybe a little too comfortable, too quick, run your fingers through his messy hair. he sighs against the pillow and it makes you smile immediately. you keep going, fingers not stopping until you see his eyes fluttering open. you donât want to make him uncomfortable, though you donât want to stop either.Â
âi made breakfast,â you say quietly. andrew looks up at you, and then to your slept-in side of the bed. he moves, sitting up in the bed and you take back your hand tentatively. his hair is soft like youâd imagined.
 he wipes his face with his hands, rubbing at his eyes. and when he looks at you, you feel any prudence that once was inside you melt away. well-rested, sleepy andrew cody, waking up in the bed you shared last night, while you tell him about the pancakes you made for him. you couldnât have imagined this, for some reason, which makes it feel all the more real.Â
âwhat time is it?â he asks, in a gruff, sleepy voice.
âalmost nine, i think.â he looks up at you quickly.
âlena?â
âi brought her to school already. you-you were sleeping. i didnât want to wake you.âÂ
âwhen did you get up?âÂ
âsix-thirty. my alarm. remember?â you do remember telling him about it before you fell asleep, one of the last things you had said in a conversation that feels like it was light-years ago.Â
âyeah.â you know better than to expect anything right now. heâs always been quiet, sentences curt and expressions relatively blank. youâve had a few hours to simmer in itâthink about whatâll happen tomorrow and next week and what it means to sleep in the bed next to the man whose niece you babysit. he just woke up a few minutes ago.
âwell, thereâs pancakes. and eggs. thereâs no bacon but iâll go get some later-â
âdid you eat?â you catch his eye. perched on the bed next to him, you can see more than just green. brown too, around his pupils. not nearly as sad as they had seemed yesterday.Â
âyeah. i had one.âÂ
âjust one?â you donât have an answer for that, but unusually confident, you stand up.Â
âiâll have a bite of yours if you come eat with me.â
and though you couldnât have imagined it last night, you end up leaning against the counter with andrew, splitting bites of chocolate-chip pancakes (yours drenched in syrup, his comparably dry as a bone), and luke-warm scrambled eggs.Â
he washes the dishes, and you put them away. itâs incredibly domestic.Â
âiâm sorry about your clothes,â you say, sliding a plate back into the cupboard. âum, iâll wash everything today.â you had to bring it up at some point.
and then andrew turns to look at you. head to toe, he stares, gaze flicking up and down for what seems like eons. you donât have a guess for why, maybe heâs trying to decide if heâll accept your apology.
(heâs trying to memorize it, capture it like a picture in his brain, seal it up and hold onto it forever. how you look right nowâhis white shirt, with nothing underneath, which must be why he can see the outline of your breasts when you turn to put another dish away. his boxers, that you bunched up around your waist, his socks, one rolled up around your ankle and the other halfway up your calf. did you go to the school drop-off in his clothes, too?)
âand i can wash your jacket too, iâm sorry. it was kind of cold and i donât know where my hoodie is. i-iâm sorry.â
he turns to look at you again. you seem worried, chewing on your cheek, waiting for his answer.
âdonât wash the jacket,â he says, and turns back to the sink. he doesnât want it to stop smelling like you, but you donât need to know that.
âyeah. sure. i wonât. sorry again, andrew.âÂ
his heart thuds in this chest at the realization that you might never go back to calling him mister cody.Â
the two of you finish the dishes. he wipes up the counter while you put away lenaâs things, and then he grabs his keys and puts on his shoes. you stand there watching, feeling awfully close to something like a wife watching her husband about to leave her for the day. and when you open your mouth, you canât stop it from coming out.
âdo you know when youâll be back?â
âiâll be here for dinner. can you pick up lena?â he doesnât want to leave you, but thereâs about ten texts and three missed calls on his phone that he needs to deal with. when he shrugs his jacket on, it does, in fact, smell like you. it might be enough to keep him calm the rest of the day.
âyeah, of course. well.. iâll go start the laundry.â a vision of you peeling off yourâhisâclothes plagues his mind momentarily. âiâll see you later?â you say, smiling hesitantly.Â
and without thinking too much about it, andrew comes up close to you, leans in a little awkwardly, and kisses your forehead.
âiâll see you later.â he leaves you there in his shirt and socks, blinking stupidly at the door.Â
+
andrew does come back for dinner. you make an attempt at chicken parm at lenaâs request, which really just turns out to be a sort of chicken parm-casserole situation, but lena likes it and the garlic bread tastes good, so you will call it a win for now.
while youâre simmering sauce and frying the cutlets, your mind flicks through everything you know about lenaâs uncle. heâd never once been anything but nice to youânice is one way to put it. polite is another. courteous, appropriate, reserved.Â
one night you had been waiting for him so you could leave, and heâd come home with lenaâs other uncles. you had introduced yourself and smiled nicely, and when you left and gotten into your car, it hadnât turned on. you remember debating if you should go back inside or just call triple a and wait, but somehow, andrew had known something was wrong. he had come out a few minutes later, told you that he would drive you home while his brother stayed at home and that heâd be back in a minute.Â
heâd dropped you off at home and told you heâd come get you in the morning. and you had slept anxiously that night, wondering what was wrong with your car and how much of a disturbance it would be to andrew to come get you.Â
but after the two of you had dropped lena off at schoolâagain, disturbingly domesticâhe brought you back to the house. and without any words at all, he worked on your car while you sat and watched. you held a flashlight when he needed it, and he said it shouldnât happen again when he was done.Â
and you guess thatâs the kind of man andrew cody is.
true to his word, andrew comes home in time to eat dinner with you and lena. after dinner, since itâs friday, you let her have a brownie and a half, the ones youâd made earlier that day. you have one too and you offer one to andrew, but he shakes his head, and youâre only mildly disappointed.
you havenât been home, so youâre wearing one of the dresses from the wrong overnight bag youâd brought here. (your disappointment goes away when you notice that he hasnât stopped staring at your exposed thighs since the minute he walked through the door.)
lena watches a cartoon before bed and you try to clean up the rest of the kitchen, but itâs hard, since andrewâs done most of the leg-work already. he tucks lena in and you gather your belongingsâand true to your word, you did laundry and put his clothes back in the exact place you found them.Â
(you did steal another pair of socks, but you hardly think he minds now. he kissed you goodbye this morning like he was actually your husband, or something, and every minute you spend in this house washing dishes and scrubbing counters next to him is not helping. he stares at the straps of your dress like he could slip them off your shoulder with his mind, like itâs the only thing heâs thinking about. you donât mind.)Â
âsheâs out,â he says, coming back into the living room. youâre sitting on the couch, knees tucked to your chest while you change the channel to one of those documentaries youâve been so fond of recently. you turn to smile at andrew and he comes and takes a seat next to you.Â
âthatâs good. i can go soon.â but you make no effort to move, staring at the screen in front of you. this one is about sea-life, shades of blue flooding ahead of you both.Â
âyou can stay,â andrew says, quiet like always. âif you want.â his voice is deep and gravelly, and the words he says scratch an itch somewhere deep inside of you, and the relief is visible on your body. you sink a little further into the sofa, knees falling next to andrewâs, thighs touching.Â
âif thatâs okay with you.â you whisper it, as if saying it too loudly might make the entire idea crack open and fall apart.
you two stay like that for a while. you donât know when, but andrew swings an arm around your shoulder, and you rest your head against his chest, collapsing into his comfortable grip. you can hear his heart beating, can feel every breath he takes. his hand brushes the top of your shoulder every time you breath, and his other hand is clasped with yours. you watch schools of fish and pods of dolphins, and you think that any other night, you could fall asleep like this.Â
âandrew?â you ask, still staring straight ahead. you brush your fingers over his knuckles like you had done last night, and you can feel his hand tense under your touch, until it finally relaxes. âdo you want to go to bed?âÂ
âyeah, kid,â he says. âletâs go to bed.âÂ
and youâll be damned if the domesticity doesnât kick you in the stomach, sucker punch you in the chest and knock all the wind out of you. andrew turns the tv off, puts the remote back in the right place. and then he picks you up, and you make a quiet noise of surprise, underestimating him momentarily. you should know better.
one hand wraps around your legs and the other around your back, bridal-style (fitting, you think), and he sets you down on the creaky bed. you worry, how loud itâll be and how youâll have to be quiet but then andrew hovers over you, nothing but a tiny lamp brightening up the room, and you lose your train of thought.
âyou sure you wanna do this?â he asks, that rough voice again. like youâve thought about anything else for the last twenty-four hours. you nod quickly, bringing your hands to his chest, and then his arms, fingers tracing the sinewy veins and thrumming muscles up and down on both sides. his eyes shut while you do it, breaths getting heavy and deep. but you keep goingâitâs only fair. youâve only thought about it a million times.Â
âdoes that feel good?â you whisper, and he lets out a quiet, almost painful groan.
ây-yes,â and you smile, fingers moving on their own while you lean in for the kiss youâve been waiting for.Â
andrewâs mouth is hot, and his kisses are like fire. as soon as your lips touch, he pins you all the way down, his body weight on top of yours. he kisses you the same way he had held your hand last night, the same way he held you on the couch, like youâll slip away if he stops for even a second. your lips start to ache, but you moan quietly into his mouth, letting him swallow them while you still stroke his arms. one day, youâll crawl into his lap and play with his hands until heâs sick of you, but today, you need to feel him.Â
you canât do much from your position, but you can wrap your legs around his waist, one hand going towards his chest to pull at his shirt. he takes it off in one motion, yanking the fabric at the back until it comes off, messing up his hair while he pulls it. your free hand goes there, running through his hair again. you use it to steady yourself, gaining leverage while he keeps kissing you like thereâs nothing else for him to do. like his life depends on it. he thinks it just might.
âan-andrew,â you get out in gasps, moving your mouth away for a second. âi need to breathe,â you pant, but he doesnât stop, kisses your cheek and your jaw and buries his face in your neck. you feel the skin there between his lips, then his teeth, and you grip hard on his arm while he keeps going. you want him to keep going, you want to see the marks he leaves tomorrow and every other day. you want everyone to look at you and know that heâs the one who left them. and you think your wish is about to come true.
your fingers let go of his arms and he groans against your skinâthereâs no words but you know he didnât want you to stop. instead you guide them to both sides of his face, staring up at him and then bringing him back in for another kiss. you think youâd be perfectly content to do this forever, that you could spend hours, days, weeks in bed kissing andrew cody. that youâd be stupid to ever leave this bed, leave this house, when thereâs a man here who kisses you like each touch of your lips is a prayer, like heâs here to worship.Â
heâs not hesitant anymore, not wondering if youâre going to pull away and walk out and ask to pretend this never happened. you keep your hands on his face, and then work down to his jaw and neck, clasping your arms around to keep him in place.Â
and his mind is empty. he thinks he should know what to do with you, with your labile body flush against his, all the things heâs been thinking about for the last months, if not at least what he was thinking since this morning. youâre still in your little dress, one of the thin straps fallen over your shoulder and dangling on the skin of your upper arm. he pulls away and you whine, another noise he wishes he could capture somehow. itâs a melody, one he wants to keep hearing.Â
you wish he hadnât stopped the kiss, and you expect him to lean right back in after you both catch your breath, but he doesnât. andrewâs hovering over you, eyes fixated on your shoulder, staring intently at the strap of your dress.Â
âandrew?â you whisper, the hand on his neck rubbing the tense skin there, wondering if you could get your kiss back. âis something wrong?â
his lovely eyes flicker up to you, staring while you swallow and wait patiently. maybe youâd been too eager, maybe he was having regretsâafter all, youâre the nanny and heâs the dad and maybe youâd been too presumptuous in assuming that he wanted you as badly as you wanted himâ
âno. nothingâs wrong.â you sigh a tiny breath of relief, it comes out before you even notice. but andrew is nothing if not perceptive, and he wraps his hand around your back and lays you back on his bed.Â
âwhy did you stop?â you question, flustered and embarrassed as the words come out, sounding like a spoiled child. but you suppose you had been spoiled these last few hours, getting everything you wantedâhis hot touch, breathless kisses, the ability to finally see what the veins on his arms feel like under your palm.Â
he doesnât answer your question, just flicks his eyes back to your shoulder. and then he leans in, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to the end of your collarbone, tracing more kisses down through the length of your shoulder, stopping when he reaches the skimpy cotton of your dress. you take deep breaths, watching it happen in front of you. he repeats the same with the other side, pulls the strap down like heâs unfolding a gift, kisses your skin like youâre his present. and you think you are.
thereâs nothing between you two except your thin dress, and you pull on it eagerly, trying to get it off, when his hands come and stop on top of yours.
âyouâll rip it,â andrew says, fingers going towards the zipper in the back, undoing it slowly.
âi donât care,â breathless, eager, unable to wait even another minute to get what you want. he pulls the zipper all the down, your dress falling off as your shrug out of it.Â
and you want another kiss, you want his touch, you want something, anythingâbut all you get is andrew staring at your naked body. and you think somehow this is worse than anything else, anticipation burning in your belly painfully. your thighs feel sticky and sore and your underwear is soaked through. and all heâs done is kiss you.Â
âyouâre perfect,â he says quietly, and you feel your entire face burn hot. you donât think youâve ever felt like this beforeâand you know how andrew is. he doesnât lie, he doesnât say things he doesnât mean.Â
you tilt your head up, pressing your lips to his for a moment, a soft kiss in contrast to the ones from earlier.
âso are you,â and you kiss him again, smiling against his mouth. he feels it, though he doesnât smile back. and when he pulls away, he looks down at you, naked and willing in his bed, smiling up at him and telling him heâs perfect, when you donât even know half the monster he is. âyou are,â you repeat, watching andrewâs eyes as he thinks a million thoughts in his head, carries a million burdens on his shoulders. âeven if you donât believe me. i think youâre perfect.âÂ
you feel cheesy saying it, though you know there isnât another man in the world who needs to hear it more. you can hear him make a noise of protest, like he doesnât think you mean it, and incredibly desperate for him to believe you, you sit up.
your hands go to sturdy shoulders while you try to get him to move, until heâs sitting back against the headboard and you can crawl onto his lap. heâs silent, watching you as you do it, exposed body flush against his skin, and yet, you donât feel scared. you donât feel embarrassed, or worried. you just want to make him feel good.
you start with a kiss to his jaw. andrewâs body tenses under yours, the slightest bit of contact making him groan and buck up, his hands tight on the soft skin of your waist to keep you both steady. you work your way down to his neck, pressing kisses everywhere in your path.Â
âdo you want to know what iâve thought about you?â you ask, though you donât wait for an answer. you kiss down his chest, stopping at the strong muscles of his chest and the old bruises and scars that cover some of them. âi thought that youâre so good at taking care of your family.â you move down to his abs, more kisses, hearing more noises from andrew that you never would have thought he would make for you. he takes shuddering breaths, not replying to you but grunting from pleasure while you keep going. âi thought that youâre so good to me. that i donât have to worry since i know i can always come to you.â you think of your car and the money he gives you and how you woke up in bed despite falling asleep on the couch.Â
finally you make your way to the waistband of his jeans, undoing the belt with surprisingly steady hands. he reaches down, his hands covering yours for a moment, but you stare up at him with your glassy eyes, not even pulling the entire belt off, just enough to get you what you needâwhat you want. and then you undo his zipper, tug down his boxers, and take his girthy length into your hand, stroking up and down while still staring up at him.Â
âcan i take care of you, andrew?â and you donât realize how it must sound to him, his head thudding back onto the pillow. you press a gentle kiss to his leaking tip, both hands wrapped around his dick and stroking while you wait for your answer.Â
ây-yes, yes-â and you donât wait any longer, taking as much of andrew into your mouth as you can fit. you drive your mouth up and down, your hands twisting around the base, everything wet and warm and sticky from your spit. and you think you would do this forever, that you would do this everyday if you could hear the noises he makes and how his body takes the pleasure you give him. you gag around him, feeling his hand snake into your hair, pulling you off gently. you smile up at him, though youâre sure you look like a mess, hot tears running down your cheeks and lips shiny and wet.Â
but you donât stopâlicking up and down until you bring him back into your mouth. you can feel how embarrassingly wet you are right now, can feel yourself leaking onto your thighs and the sheets, wanting friction as badly as you wanted to make andrew feel good right now. and then you hear itâandrewâs moan, louder than any of the other noises and full and from the chest. he bucks up into your mouth and you take it, ready to hear what he sounds like when he finishes, when he pulls you off of him.Â
âandrewââ you whine, as though you were the one about to come. he pulls you up, naked bodies pushed against each other, and kisses you until you feel light-headed.
ânot until you do,â he murmurs, and you feel dizzy all over again.
âbut iâm not done,â still eager to kiss the rest of his body and tell him how good he is, until he starts to believe you. you wrangle out of his loose grip, knowing full well if he wanted to stop, he could have. he could pin you down and do whatever he wanted to you and you wouldnât be able to fight him, a thought that makes you feel like youâre going to faint. but you resume quickly, starting at his shouldersâstopping to admire all the sunspots spattered thereâand starting your journey again, working down his bicep and to his freckled forearm, the ones you stared at whenever the opportunity presented itself, the one you thought about all the time.
andrew doesnât know about that, and youâre not sure you can bear to tell him. it feels too revealing, despite how youâre naked on top of him, your breasts pressed against him and wet pussy on top of his hard, leaking dick. but sureâthatâs what you get nervous about.Â
you stop and trace all the veins with your fingers, feeling him pulse underneath you, repeating on both sides. heâs got his head tilted back, soft groans filling the empty space between you as you keep going. if theyâre this sensitive for him, you can only imagine what it would feel like for you, especially the one leading down to the middle of his wristâand then the words slip out before you can realize you had said them out loud.
your face goes hot again. he looks up at you a little confused, and you have to stop yourself from collapsing and burying your face into the pillow next to you.
âandrew?â you ask, shy and embarrassed and yet not stopping yourself at all.Â
âyou⊠you like my arms?â he says, and you feel your face heat up.
but so many things have happened already that you couldnât have even dreamt about twenty-four hours ago, so you think itâs worth a shot. (thatâs a lie. you have dreamt about this, so many times that youâve woken up in your bed covered in a cold sweat, that youâve burned through a vibrator and ruined pillows imagining what it would be like to rub yourself against his veiny arms. you guess youâre about to find out).Â
your fingers trace the length of them again.
âi like everything about you,â you say quietly, understanding just how silly you sound. âbut we donât have to do anything.â you try to cover your tracts, worried youâve just messed up the incredible time youâve been having so far littering his body with kisses and feeling butterflies in your cunt from the fact that andrew will be inside of you soon.Â
âhow would you-â andrew starts, and you watch him carefully as he gets out the next few words. âdo it? how?â and itâs just cut and dry way he speaks, though itâs really going to your head (and other places) right now.Â
âwell, i-â
âshow me.â oh.Â
you feel yourself pulse and throb in response to his words. even below you, you can still feel how hard andrew is. you try to start positioning yourself, but you must be moving too slowly for him, and you feel his hand on your ass, grabbing you and pushing you up to his chest, face to face. he lays his arm next to you, watching your naked body as you try to balance yourself between it, his free arm on your hip, keeping you steady.Â
when you lower yourself, just an inch or two, just until you feel the ridge of his forearm and you can decide what to do after realizing that you are, in fact, doing this, andrew curses under his breath.
âfuck, youâre so wet.â he can feel it. feel you, on his arm, leaking, for him. you take a deep breath, pressing your hands against his chest to keep your balance, moving your hips up and down slowly. and your eyes flutter shut because fuck, if it isnât better than every fantasy youâve ever had.
you hadnât known that your pathetic attempts to recreate this at home would have never lived up to the real thing, and now you realize youâll never be able to go back to anything else but andrew, that no one else could make you feel this way. months of pent-up desire leave your body as you rock yourself against him, finally getting the stimulation youâve been craving.
when you open your eyes, just for a second, you see andrew, his eyes glued to where your pussy meets his arm, his breaths heavy and deep, like he wouldnât look away from the sight before him for anything.
and then you feel the veins rub against your clit, and your eyes roll back into your head. you keep going, trying to muffle your moans and sighs, but you canât get the image out of your headâandrew staring at you, like he wanted this as much as youâve wanted it, like he needs to see you cum like this. you start going faster, the friction and the slide from your juices making it easier and the veins rubbing at you just the right wayâ
he leans in, putting one of your peaked nipples into his mouth, flicking his tongue against it, before letting go and repeating the same with the other one. but itâs really when andrew starts talking that youâre pulled over the edge, his hand hot on your back.
âplease,â he says, and you feel yourself falling into it, hanging onto every raspy word, so much better than you could have ever dreamed, â-i-i need you to cum for me. i need to feel you, i need to see it, please-â
and you do. you always listen to andrew, all the white-hot tension wound up in your belly releasing, flooding your entire body with the relief youâve been wanting all night. your body tightens up, stopping, but he moves you with the huge hand on your hip, makes you rub on him all through it, pulling your body like youâre a toy for him.
your mind is empty while your toes curl and uncurl, thighs aching and sore in this position. andrew ushers you towards him, and you collapse on his chest, heaving and sweaty and tiredâand the realization hits you that he hasnât even been inside of you yet.
he kisses you while he has you trapped in his arms, your eyes shut as you breathe him in, moan into his mouth and let him swallow it.Â
ây-your arm,â you get out, realizing youâre not speaking in coherent sentences. âiâm sorry-â
âwhy?â he asks, and you shut up instantly. âdidnât know you liked them that much.âÂ
he laughs quietly, a sound you have only heard a few times. you laugh against his chest for a moment, before pulling him in for another kiss. this time, it deepens, and he gets you on your back in front of him before he pulls away. you stare up at him, mind empty and chest heaving, seeing how his eyes stay on your tits, and you reach up, putting your hands on his chest while he hovers over you.
âit might hurt,â he says, and you feel your entire body tighten, your walls clench at his words. thereâs nothing but truth behind his statementâitâs not meant to be arrogant or boastful, heâs warning you. itâs going to hurt, you know it isâyou could barely fit half of him in your mouth and it took you both hands to be able to comfortably stroke him.
but the way he says it elicits a fire in you, and suddenly you need him now, no matter how much it hurts.Â
âi donât care, andrew, please,â you beg, staring up at him. he still hovers, licking his lips and staring at your how tits bounce while you beg him to fuck youâa thought that he cannot process, even with you splayed out in front of him. he brings his arms out, fingers teasing your sensitive nipples until youâre covering your own mouth to avoid being too loud and you think youâre going to black out. (even in the dim light you can see the shine on his forearm from you, and the memory of it takes over your mind like a twister.)Â
âi have to stretch you out first.â the words possess your body like a demon. andrew takes your knees and spreads them apart, and no matter how hard you try to close them, you canât compete against him. when he slides in one huge finger, your eyes roll back. he slips in so easily, the noise is obscene. the second finger goes in just as quickly, but thereâs more resistance. two of his fingers are at least three of yours (if not more, you think, and then you want to faint again). the stretch is delicious, your pulsing walls realizing that this has been what youâve been craving all along. that no toys or pillows or fingers of your own could ever compare.
when he slips a third finger in, he doesnât change the pace. just keeps pushing them in and out of you like youâre a toy heâs testing the limits with, seeing how much you can take before you break. thereâs no instructions for you besides to sit back and take itâand your toes curl and your head spins at how good he feels. the stretch hurts, but you want it so badly, you hear yourself crying out and saying incoherent things. you think you see andrew smile from where he is, watching your cunt suck his fingers in, his entire hand coated in your juices.
and when he hovers over you, bringing his tip to your entrance and prodding against you for a moment, you think youâre in heaven. heâs so flushed, tips of ears and his cheeks pink, sweat coating his body, just like yours. you can only imagine how hard he is, how youâll get to feel how hard he is soon enough. his eyes stay at your pussy, pushing in, just barely, but you need more. you bring your hands to his arms, holding onto him while he slides in, and when you feel him push all the way inâso much bigger than you could have imagined, three of his fingers is nothing compared to this, nothing, nothing, nothingâheâs on top of you and kissing you.Â
whatever noises you make are tuned outâyour ears are ringing and you canât hear anything besides andrewâs grunts and moans as they come into your mouth. you keep kissing him, pulling on his lower lip and feeling his tongue on yours, but your entire body goes slack when he starts on a brutal pace, pulling all the way out and slamming into you. the bed is creaky, and the only noise besides it is the obscene oneâthe squelch of your soaking wet cunt taking andrew all the way, the repetitive slap of his skin meeting yours. you feel everythingâthe pressure of his hands while he holds you incredibly tightly, the fullness in your cunt that makes it feel like you canât breathe.
and then andrew kisses your lips and makes a noise that makes you leak even more, and you know youâll be just fine.
âi-i want-â he starts, and you feel him slow down the pace slightly.
âplease, andrew,â you beg, and he resumes, fucking into you with an intensity that reminds you how badly he wants you, how long heâs wanted this. it reminds you of every time you caught him staring, every time you smiled at him wondering what he was thinking. and now you think you knowâmaybe he was thinking about something like this.
âi want another one,â he says into the skin of your neck, feeling him lick the sweat there and kiss the skin. âi want to feel it while iâm inside-â and god if you canât comply. you want to do every single thing he tells you for the rest of your life, you donât want to make another decision without andrew cody.Â
he changes the position, pulling out of you for a second and making you whine again. (spoiled, you think, heâs spoiled me for anyone else forever.) he holds both of your knees up and spreads them wide and wraps your arms around them, keeping them in place. and then he slides back inside of you in one swift movement, making your eyelids flutter shut. he doesnât get right on top of you, leaving space between you that makes it impossible to lean in for a kiss, and you keep whining, impossibly and irrationally angry that you canât kiss him, wondering why he wants you like this, when you feel his fingers circle your clit slowlyâthen quickly.
your head falls back onto the pillow. andrew can feel you pulsing around him, walls clenching every time he rubs your sensitive clit, and thatâs what he wants, thatâs what he needs, wants to feel you cum around his dick and squeeze him even tighter than you are right now. wants to see how you look completely fucked out, wants to see if you can give him a third. (heâll get it, he decides, later. heâll give you a chance to breathe, get you water after this. all the things he would do to take care of you, just like how you deserve, how a husband would take care of his wife.)Â
because at the end of the day, isnât that what you two basically already are? you couldnât be a girlfriend, because you have to get comfortable around a girlfriend.Â
no, he thinks, watching your fucked-out, flushed body take him like you were made for it. you already know him, know what he likes and doesnât like, know how to make him feel good like you had been inside of his head already. you have been inside. youâre all he thinks about. thatâs a wife, that is something that is forever, what the two of you have.Â
he doesnât realize how hard heâs going, how fast, or how youâve been squealing with your entire body tensing while he was stuck in his thoughts about you. this time when you finish, it explodes through you, the electric current staring from your core and spreading to every finger and toe. you jolt, legs shaking and head heavy, the after effect rolling through you while andrew keeps fucking you, keeps going even though he should probably stop. youâre incoherent, writhing and crying and feeling completely numb and like your entire body is burning all at once.Â
and when you blink open your watery eyes at andrew, smile sweetly and reach out for a kiss, one that he happily gives you, you say it quietly.
âi love you, andrew.â and you feel his thrusts stutter, his body weight almost collapsing on you. you feel andrew cum, feel it filling you up while you listen to his quiet moans and run your hands over his tense muscles, saying sweet things that he can barely understand in this state.Â
he rolls over minutes later, not pulling out until you were done kissing him. the room is filled with nothing but your heavy breaths. you need a shower, and you need to sleep.
you curl up on andrewâs chest like you had been on the couch what felt like a lifetime ago. you play with his fingers and he runs his other hand up and down the expanse of your arm. you can hear birds outsideâand you know you need to get up soon, but you canât find any words.Â
âyou think that was enough?â andrew asks, and you look up at him with a confused expression. he looks at you with so much sincerity you feel like crying. your andrew.
âwhat do you mean?â you ask quietly, still not sure what heâs even talking about. your head is spinning and your eyes are tiredâevery part of you is tired.
âwe can go again after you get some sleep. it might take more than once.â
âandrew?â
âyou donât have to worry about it. iâll figure it out. i wonât stop until i put a baby in you.â
summary: andrew starts to see more of himself in his son than he would like. you're there to prove to him just how special that is.
warnings: none! fluffy dad!pope/mom!reader
notes: #breakingmysilence sorry for the impromptu break! im back on my bullshit, here's something short and sweet to ease us in!
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âhe needs to take turns.â you can tell andrew is anxious by the way heâs rubbing his palms against his forearms. âthe other kids are waiting.â
heâs not wrong. thereâs a group of kids standing at the lip of the ramp, watching your son in the half-pipe, just rolling back and forth from edge to edge. he doesnât do tricks, doesnât shout, and doesnât stop.
itâs his routine. heâs carrying it out.
âthey know him, andrew. they understand,â you say, taking his hand.
itâs meant to be comforting, but all he can think about is that those kids hate him. kids arenât all sweet like you.
kids arenât nice to the boy who doesnât take turns. theyâre not nice to the boy who doesnât speak to anyone other than his parents.
âauggie!â he shouts too loudly. it startles your son, sending his board flying out from under him, and him tumbling down the edge of the ramp. âshit.â
you and andrew both rush down the steep bowl and to your sonâs side. heâs wearing all of his pads and his helmet. no blood, just a frown that tugs at your heart.
âiâm so sorry, auggie,â andrew coos, scooping him back up to his feet. âcâmere, letâs get you all checked out.â
âiâm fine. i want to keep skating.â augustine grabs his board from across the concrete.
âi think we should let somebody else have a turn,â you suggest. âhow about we go grab some lunch and then we can come back?â
he looks up at you with those eyes that are too much like his dadâs.
andrew named him after st augustine, something you suspect came from a religious debt he felt he owed. it isn't something he talks about often.
but he needed a saint in his life, and your little boy was the perfect one.
they favored each other so much, both in appearance and in personality. which is why you suspect andrew is having such a strong reaction to him taking up the half-pipe.
âgood idea, sweetheart. french fries on the boardwalk sound pretty good to me,â andrew nods along as he says all your son's favorite words. really, you both know itâs the only way to get him out of the bowl.
âyeah, ok.â he stalks off ahead of you both, helmet and board in hand.
andrew sighs heavily as he follows your son, sharing a rueful smile with you.
---
that night, andrew sits at the kitchen table with his head in his hands. his shoulders are tense, like he's anticipating a blow.
you approach quietly, rubbing a gentle hand along the back of his neck.
âhey, handsome.â you press a kiss to his temple. âwhatâs on your mind?â
âi canât stand watching auggie at the skatepark,â he admits, broken gaze meeting yours. âitâs not himâ itâs the look on the other kidsâ faces. theyâre talking about him, judging him and i- i hate it.â
you frown, pulling out the chair next to him and sitting. he puts a hand on your leg, tracing patterns on your bare skin. his eyes stay focused on the motions.
âi used to do the same thing. i knew the other kids didnât like me,â he tells you quietly. "i was always so scared of him turning out like me. i wanted him to be like you."
hearing that feels like being gutted. the man you love so much seeing his least favorite parts of himself reflected in your son. your two favorite people struggling to handle the cards they've been dealt. you know he doesn't mean anything badly about your son, he's just worrying.
âiâm so lucky that he turned out so much like you, andrew.â you bring his hand to your mouth and press a soft kiss to each of his knuckles. "he's our perfect boy. he's thoughtful like you. he's smart like you. he's got those beautiful eyes that speak for him. he's a great kid, sweetheart. he's better than i could have ever imagined. i love him, and i love you, and i love our little family."
looking up, he matches his lips to yours slowly. you kiss him back, giving him all of the love and reassurance he needs right now.
âyou know i love him too. i just want him to feel like he belongs,â he says.
slowly, you nod, thinking of how you can make this all a little better for both of them.
âcan we build him a ramp here?â you propose. "or at your lot? he can have it to go back and forth, and he won't be taking turns away from anyone else while he does."
andrew looks at you with adoration written in every feature of his face.
"i love you."
---
six days later, you're sitting on a picnic table that andrew and augustine hand-made. they've spent every day here after school working on the ramp and the table.
you're making his lunch for school while he rides back and forth on the half-pipe. the sun hasn't come up yet, so you're using the lights from your car to illuminate the ramp.
"what's going on?" a familiar voice comes up behind you, then the rattling of the chainlink fence as he unlatches the gate. andrew presses a sweet kiss to your temple. "sweetheart, it's 5 in the morning."
"he wanted to ride." you shrug, continuing to smear mustard on his sandwich. "he agreed to leave when it's time to go to school, and he promised he'll get an A on his spelling test today. we practiced whether and weather the whole drive here."
andrew picks you up off the bench and into his arms. immediately, he's peppering your face with kisses.
"i love you, i love you, i love you," he repeats while he showers you in kisses. he smells like metal and sweat.
he's got his own skateboard at his feet, undoubtedly looking to blow off some steam after whatever family meeting he's getting back from so late.
"i love you, andrew." you catch his lips in a deep kiss. "i'm glad you're here. go show the kid how it's done."
he chuckles, setting you down on your feet.
"can i help you make his lunch instead?" he nods toward the table. "why's he eating three sandwiches for lunch, sweetheart?"
it's your turn to giggle.
"that's a breakfast sandwich for mom and for him. then one sandwich for his lunch. want one?" you raise your brows playfully, picking up the package of square bologna and waving it toward him.
and before you take your son to school, you have a nice picnic-style breakfast with your two favorite boys: bologna sandwiches and barbeque chips as the sun rises over the horizon. it's not typical, but it's perfect for your little crew.
"alright, aug. tell me the difference between whether and weather," andrew quizzes as the three of you wait in the drop-off line at his school.
you squeeze his hand tight, happy to see that little grin on his lips again.
I reblogged this last month, tagged it, and said âmight as well see if it works.â I used this video as a reference to find all the forms that i needed (which is A LOT, especially if youâre a dependent) and sent them through the mail, not really allowing myself to hope.
dude.
$2,714 of medical debt from my top surgery - gone. im shaking this was such a weight on me for 2 years and it fucking worked. what the fuck.
PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IF YOU HATE THE NEW UPDATE REBLOG THIS POST
[ PT; please for the love of god if you hate the new update reblog this post ]
I am organizing a lights out protest on tumblr, from March 20th 6AM UTC until March 21st 6AM UTC. It is best if as many tumblr users as possible can join this protest, as a mass downtime in users is the only way the tumblr staff will listen to us.
If you cherish this hellsite, participate. Do your bit. Every person counts.
Thank you for reading, and to @staff @changes: give us our tumblr back, or the people will migrate somewhere else. This is a threat.
transition is slow and full of folks that dont want me to do it, but very recently, when i look in the mirror, i see a beautiful woman and she's smiling, she's so happy she gets to be here
transition is worth it, and especially so in the face of bigotry, so let's meet the beautiful women in the mirror together, ok?
yeah yeah monsterfuckers but what about humanfuckers. what about the dragon who leaves flower arrangements at the base of the princessâ tower? what about the werewolf who pines for a human to protect? what about a naga who is so so cold and wishes she had a nice warm human to coil around? what then