#marcus moreno and reader

Gif by @pascalsky​

Word Count:  2,238

Rating: G

Warnings: sweet moments, some dirty thoughts here and there

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who is reading and commenting! It’s so amazing for @the-purity-pen​ and I to know that people are enjoying what we are writing! We have been having a blast writing it together!! 

Part 1|Part 2|Part 3

The individual pizzas had been a huge hit. The kids had loved deciding what toppings went on their own crusts. And the twins, Fast Forward and Rewind, had especially liked the fact that they didn’t have to share with one another. Everyone had finished eating and you were packing up the leftover food while Marcus put popcorn kernels into the air popper. 

You carried a short stack of tupperware to the refrigerator and placed the items inside. Once the door was closed, you turned and leaned against it, releasing a small sigh of relief that the chaos of dinner was over. The kids were pretty active inside the classroom, but that was nothing compared to what they were like on their own time. Your ears rang with the laughter and happy shouts from earlier. 

Turning your head, you watched Marcus load the air popper, his biceps moving just below the short sleeves of his shirt. Your eyes started to drink in the rest of him, but you stopped yourself. You were afraid to let your body react to him again like it had earlier. Suddenly thirsty again, you pushed away from the fridge door so you could open it. The cold air felt good on your warm skin. “So, that was a success,” you commented as your eyes searched the chilly space without seeing anything inside. 

Marcus finished popping the corn and turned his head towards you before placing the popped kernels into separate little brown paper bags for the kids. He nodded with a soft smile on his face. “It was. I’m glad you were here to help,” he commented quietly, feeling himself having to turn away from staring at your body.

He focused on the popcorn and scooping an approximately even amount of popcorn into each bag. He moved slowly and carefully so as to not waste a single kernel. He knew that if Missy’s friends were anything like her, they would be devouring the popcorn and would definitely want more. He was thankful for the concentration because the more time you were closer to him, the more he felt the need to explain his feelings for you.

You sighed quietly and shook your head and when Marcus heard you, he swiped his hands on his jeans of butter and salt and came over. “What are you looking for? Can I help you find something?” he asked as he tried to lean into the fridge to look with you but the sudden closeness of him had you holding your breath. Marcus turned his head and realized he’d made a mistake. He could smell your shampoo and it made his head swim. 

“Uhh… just trying to figure out what I could have to drink…” you stammered the words out and turned your eyes back to the fridge contents. 

Clearing his throat, Marcus did the same, “Help yourself to anything… Do you want a beer? I think I’ll have a beer.” He reached back behind the orange juice and retrieved an IPA. When you nodded, he handed it to you and felt the immediate absence of your body next to his when you backed away from the refrigerator to find the bottle opener. When he closed the door he had his own beer in his hand. 

You popped the top off yours and held the bottle opener out to him, which he took, careful not to let his fingers graze yours in the process. Trying not to stare at him, you took a long swallow of the cold beverage. Just then Missy burst through the door from the living room, “Is the popcorn done yet?”

You startled slightly as Marcus smiled, focusing on his daughter, “Yes, hija.” The three of you made yourselves busy as you took the bags into the living room to hand them out. You followed Marcus and Missy and finished handing out the bags to which all of the children said thank you. You smiled at each of them but you gave Wheels a little wink which he reciprocated.

The kids all started to dig into their popcorn and get back to watching their little movie marathon that Missy had turned on. You had no idea what the movies were about but they all seemed to be very excited about it. 

Marcus left the living room with you, the two of you nearly walking side by side down the hall. Your shoulders just grazed each other as he took a few steps faster and you felt your breath hitch for a moment before you were clearing your throat and walking over to where you had set your beer down. Marcus grabbed his and walked over to the table and you opted to follow him to sit at the table beside him.

At first there was a silence between you and Marcus as you focused on the beer bottle label which had become loosened with condensation. You began to pick at it, peeling it bit by bit. Suddenly, Marcus cleared his throat, “So… tell me about you. Is your family local?” 

Family was an interesting subject for you. You knew you didn’t fit in with them, so even though you all lived in the same town and you saw your older brother quite regularly, you still felt as if you were hundreds of miles apart. You let a small smile lift your features, “Ummm… yeah… but, we aren’t very close unfortunately.” You wondered if he would push the subject. You knew a lot about Marcus Moreno. You heard many stories about him over the years. Some of them you knew were true. Others you wondered about. “It must be nice having your mom around to help you with Missy.”

You went back to peeling at the label on the bottle. Half of it had come loose now. You paused in your hyper focused activity to take a drink, startled when Marcus met your eyes. You swallowed hard and set the bottle down, feeling incapable of looking away as his dark eyes searched your face. 

Marcus couldn’t help his staring, that’s just how he listened. And when the conversation turned back to him, he sat up a bit straighter and swallowed a lump that had formed when hearing how you weren’t close with your family. He couldn’t imagine that and how lonely it might be.

“My mom certainly is great,” he said with a small nod. It was true though. Anita had been around much more after his wife died and was more than willing to help train Missy and her friends during the first alien attack last year. Marcus had a brief moment of wondering if you were a mother because seeing how you were with the kids made him think you’d make a great one.

But that comment was lost on his lips as he watched you, his eyes dancing over your features. He swallowed hard again and your own eyes couldn’t help but follow the movement of his throat. Your heart was racing and your nose flaring, which Marcus would later admit was very cute, as the two of you had a moment of intensity.

The moment seemed to draw itself out but neither of you looked away. Instead it seemed as if the space between you was closing. You inhaled sharply as his hand came up to your shoulder, stroking it lightly with his thumb, making you shiver. All the reasons you shouldn’t do this, right now, flooded your thoughts. The kids, his daughter, your students were in the next room. He was a Heroic and … your history with Heroics had not been good. 

A protest formed on your lips as you whispered his name just before his lips found yours. The kiss was gentle but firm. There was yearning there, but no demands. Your mouth opened, inviting him to deepen things and your tongue pressed against his, sweetly. A soft moan escaped your throat as your hands reached for him, finding purchase on either side of his torso. You could feel the way his ribs expanded with his own labored breathing. 

Marcus leaned in closer, if he could even manage that, when he felt your hand on his torso. Your touch was electric in ways he would have never imagined. He had been pining after you for so long and it was finally the moment he had thought of for so long.

His mind whirled with emotions as he kissed you deeper, slowly pressing his lips and tongue against you and into you, like a slow motion dance. The hand on your shoulder came up to cup your face, holding you to him as you kissed him with emotions you didn’t know you were capable of. It was a silent message between the two of you, a love letter written in the dark of night with whispers spoken into the ink.

Marcus pulled away in what felt like a too soon moment and you couldn’t help the soft whine that escaped you. Both of you were breathing hard, trying to catch your breath. Marcus rested his forehead against yours for a moment, his thumb tracing over your jaw before he pulled back just enough to look you in the eyes.

You licked your lips and treasured the taste of him for a moment longer as you tried to catch your breath. Your eyes searched his face, yearning for more, but wondering if you should even want that. Hesitantly, you pulled your hands away from his body, letting them rest a moment on his knees only for a moment, like a butterfly searching for a place to land. 

Finally, you reached for the bottle again, taking a drink trying to quench the rampant thirst Marcus had brought out of you. Nervously, your hands moved to the label once more, peeling the last of it off in one swift pull. You laid it flat on the table, letting your eyes wander to the shiny paper, then returning to his immediately. He had a pull on you that you couldn’t seem to resist. With a shaky breath, you finally voiced one of the many thoughts you were having, “What, uhhh …. What does this mean?”

Marcus felt you shift back and he let his hand drop from your face but not before sliding it down to your arm slowly. His heart wouldn’t calm down as he watched you pull the label off but his eyes were only watching the movement in his peripherals. He was watching your face, watching your eyes, your lips and he could feel the way his own still tingled from the contact.

Your voice broke his stares and he cleared his throat. His lower lip quivered a moment, unsure of how to answer it without feeling too forward. Hell, you had just kissed in his kitchen with kids in the other room. Was there really such a thing as being too forward at this point?

“It uh-” he paused, his other hand coming to the label you had peeled off and picking at it slightly. A momentary distraction to try to gather his racing thoughts, ”I guess it’s me telling you that I like you. Ha- have liked you. For a while now,” his words stammered out. He let his gaze fall upon the label as he nervously picked at the corners, feeling the plastic coated paper peel away from itself as he touched it.

You couldn’t help but smile at his words, his shy movements. This was the great Marcus Moreno, leader of the Heroics, confessing that he liked you. “For a while?” You wondered aloud. You’d had no idea. A warmth filled your chest at this new knowledge and Marcus finally looked at you from the corner of his eyes, smiling shyly. Your heart hitched at the adorableness of that look. 

But, then reality came roaring back to the forefront of your thoughts, forcing you to look away again. You thought of the kids in the other room. Of the way your family had always looked down at you, when they were the ones who were supposed to love you. The way you’d rebelled as a teenager, lashing out and getting into trouble. “I … uhhh, I like you too… but…” you didn’t want to tell him this wouldn’t work between you. But, some part of you wondered if that was true. Were you just getting in your own way? Letting your past affect your future. 

Marcus waited patiently for you to gather your thoughts, even though he was dying to know what came after that “but”. He couldn’t imagine what it could possibly be. He hadn’t felt anything like this in years. 

Finally, you shook your head and finished your thought, “why me? I’m nothing special.” You’d heard that enough times to know it was the truth. Marcus’s face dropped. That wasn’t the end of the sentence he was expecting. He thought it would be one of the other numerous excuses he had heard from others he had shown interest in. “Too busy.” “Too focused on work.” “Not good at relationships.”

He wasn’t expecting this but when he saw your own face change he reached over and held the underside of your chin gingerly. He slowly lifted your face to look him in the eyes. “You are though. So special,” he reminded you quietly as he leaned in and let his lips press against yours softly.